Chapter 1: Demon King
"Six!" the announcer shouted. It was the final of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. The audience had fled. The stage lay in ruins. And one contestant-the reincarnated Demon King Piccolo-lay unconscious at the bottom of a crater, half-covered in dirt.
"Seven!" The other fighter-Son Goku, the world's most powerful martial artist-stood triumphantly over his defeated opponent. Once again, he'd defied the impossible, overcoming all odds, even surpassed the Guardian of the Earth. He was battered, his training uniform shredded, but the smile never left his face. This was, after all, what he lived for.
"Eight!" Goku's friends, standing behind him, all joined in the count, as if this would mean that in some small part, they had helped to defeat Piccolo.
"Nine!" The count was almost a formality really; no-one expected even the toughest fighter to get up after an attack like that.
"Te-" With blinding speed, Piccolo leapt to his feet, opening his mouth and unleashing a brilliant yellow wave of energy. It shot through the air in an instant, piercing right through Goku's shoulder. Everyone froze in horror, unable to believe their eyes. But their despair lasted only a moment-Goku's image, pierced by the beam, faded and vanished. The warrior had dodged at the last second, leaving an afterimage.
Goku suddenly appeared right in front of Piccolo. "Nice shot-you almost got me there!" He grinned as the green demon took a stumbling step backwards in shock. "Let me show you how it's done!" Goku drew back a fist.
Piccolo lunged forwards, but the battle had worn him out and he was slowing down. Goku slipped through his defences and rammed a punch into the side of Piccolo's face, putting all of his ki behind it. Goku felt bones crack in his opponent's jaw, and the demon was sent flying. He crashed to the floor several yards away.
"Hey, uh, announcer?" Goku asked, pointing at Piccolo's prone body. "Is he out of bounds?"
"Uh… oh! The tournament!" The announcer, still clutching his microphone, wiped sweat from his forehead and scurried over to the unconscious competitor. "Well, it's hard to tell… there's not much of the ring left, after all… but I'd say…" he looked back and forth a bit. "Yep! Piccolo is out of bounds! Goku wins the tournament!"
The group standing behind the stage ran up to the victor, cheering and congratulating him. "Nice job, big guy," said Bulma, Goku's oldest friend, patting him on the shoulder. Standing apart from the others, Kami, the Earth's Guardian, shook his head in disbelief.
"Aargh!" The guttural cry split the air as Piccolo's eyes snapped open. He sat up, one hand holding his aching jaw. "You…" he stared straight at Goku, who immediately raised his guard.
"Will you just give up already?" The spike-haired fighter asked, moving in front of his friends. "Or are you back for more of the same?" He tried to focus whatever energy he had left-he knew this monster wouldn't care for the rules of the tournament.
Piccolo grunted, standing up slowly and painfully. "You… how did you defeat me? I… I am the great King Piccolo… you are a mere human! You are nothing to me!" He snarled. "I cannot accept this! This… will not stand! I will return, even stronger, and you will suffer!" He clenched his fists, shaking slightly as he tried to summon up the strength to fly. He could barely manage that; continuing the fight was out of the question.
One of Goku's allies stepped up from behind him-a bald warrior with a third eye in the centre of his forehead. "What are you talking about? You're not just going to leave." Tien turned to Goku. "Finish him! You're the only one who can! Or he'll just return to kill more people!"
But Goku shook his head. "Get out of here, Piccolo. I've beaten you twice already-you should learn when to give up."
"Fool." Piccolo took off, and within a few seconds he vanished beyond the horizon.
Tien shook Goku by the shoulders. "Goku! Are you crazy? You heard him, he's just going to come back and do the same again!"
"I'm not so sure." Goku brushed Tien off of him. "Ever since he was reincarnated, he hasn't seemed as bad to me. I mean, I haven't actually seen him kill anyone." He shrugged. "The first King Piccolo destroyed an entire city. This one seems more angry than evil, really. And besides, if I had the chance to show mercy, and I chose not to, wouldn't that make me just like him?"
"But-"
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure-" Goku was interrupted as Chi-Chi tackled him, embracing her fiancée.
"Oh Goku I was so worried you were fantastic that was amazing let's go get married we have a house ready and everything and we'll have kids and a family and…"
Over a hundred miles away, Piccolo stood motionless in a vast, empty plain. The anger was building inside of him. It was impossible-a human defeating the almighty demon king at his strongest. It simply went against everything he knew and believed. He couldn't contain it anymore. Piccolo roared his anger to the wind, releasing all his power outwards. A raging storm broke out over the entire continent. Miles away, in East City, windows shattered. Babies woke up screaming. And back on that island, where a group of friends stood, having just witnessed the fate of the world being decided, all felt a chill run down their spines. Primal fears passed over the group, fear from the darkest corners of the mind, fear of nameless things that lurk in the shadows. All but one. One, who stood above the rest. One who was not of this world. His kind had no fear of terrors in the night. Half the galaxy trembled at their name. And soon, so would Earth.
Five years later…
Piccolo stood atop a cliff, surveying the devastation around him-a result of his intense training. At first his plan had been to create a devastating new technique-one which would destroy Goku in one attack-but he had since contemplated the speed Goku had dodged his surprise attack with, and the strength he had countered with. Besides, he'd already tried creating a new 'ultimate technique', and at the Budokai, that too had failed. No, to defeat this opponent, he would need to be stronger, faster, and tougher. So he had trained his body into the ultimate fighting machine. He was the most powerful being on the planet, and he would crush his enemy with ease-like stepping on a bug.
All of a sudden something caught his attention. "I sense a great power… coming closer…" he turned to face the approaching ki slowly. "Is it Goku? If so, he's been training harder than I expected…" A figure appeared in the sky, flying towards him with incredible speed. "No, it's not him," Piccolo muttered to himself. "Then who…"
The approaching figure landed. It was a tall, muscular man with knee-length, untamed hair, wearing strange armour. He had some kind of device over his left eye.
"Hmm. You are not Kakarot…" he said.
"And who are you?" Piccolo demanded. "Do you have business with me?"
"One does not deal with insects," the stranger replied with a grin. "One simply crushes them."
Piccolo growled. "If you're looking to die, keep talking like that!"
"Heh heh heh… quite a temper you have…" the visitor said, tapping a button on his device. "Eh? Power… 536? I wouldn't have thought such a being could exist on this little planet… besides Kakarot, of course…" He was visibly taken aback by the reading, but quickly shook off his unease. "Still, you're no match for me ."
" What ?!" Piccolo yelled. "Do you know who you're talking to?!"
The other snorted. "Do I care?" There was a long silence. Piccolo stood silent, staring down the stranger, who returned his stare with a smirk. Then, Piccolo smiled back, his confidence returning.
"You sure think a lot of yourself…" He hurled his cape off, and his turban followed. Both hit the ground with a heavy thud . The stranger took a step back, surprised.
"What?!" He hissed, incredulous. "Y-Your power… just jumped to nine hundred… w-well it makes no difference! You're nothing to me!" But Piccolo ignored him.
"If you won't tell me who you are or where you come from, I'll just have to beat it out of you." He flexed his muscles, settled into a low, wide stance, and gritted his teeth. The wind picked up. Veins throbbed all over his body. "Hrr…"
The stranger began to sweat. "W-What is this?! What are you doing? Your power level's rising again! Now it's over a thousand!" A faint blue glow appeared around Piccolo's body. "How are you doing that? Answer me!"
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Piccolo relaxed. "How do you like me now?" He asked, baring his fangs.
"E… Eighteen hundred… even higher… than mine…" The stranger said, shocked. "No… no, the scouter must be broken!" He clenched his fists. "It's inconceivable that any being on this world is the equal of a saiyan warrior!"
Piccolo shifted into a combat-ready stance. "Want to test that theory?"
A vein throbbed on the saiyan's forehead. His eye twitched. "You dare to mock me ? Prepare to die!" He charged straight at Piccolo, but his fist swung at thin air. Piccolo appeared behind him, and landed a kick to the small of his back. The saiyan was sent flying, landing in a heap in the dust. He pulled himself up on one elbow, fear in his eyes. Piccolo stood over him, one hand crackling with energy. This was the first real test he'd had of his new power, and he was delighted. He was dominating an enemy who was many times stronger than he or Goku had been at the world tournament.
"I was going to make you tell me who you are, but I don't think I care anymore," he chuckled. "Good riddance."
Chapter 2: Saiyan Pride
Raditz couldn't believe what was happening. Here he was, on this barren little world nobody had heard of, which Kakarot was supposed to have wiped clean of all life, and this green creature was somehow outclassing him.
"What happened to all that pride you had a minute ago?" Piccolo asked, the cruel smile never leaving his face. "I know your type. Lording it over lesser beings without ever facing how weak you really are."
Those words stung. Raditz had been called many things. Monster. Evil. Heartless. None of them meant anything to him, a warrior who had brought down whole civilisations on his own. But weak? That bit to the core. It brought back too many memories. Laughing saiyans. His own father. Their voices filled his head, overwhelming. To a saiyan warrior, strength was everything. Without it, he was worthless.
The saiyan growled, and Piccolo saw something dangerous in his eyes. Then Raditz vanished, and a fist slammed into Piccolo's gut. He staggered back, gasping for air. Raditz pressed his advantage, hammering vicious blows into his enemy. A sweeping kick sent Piccolo flying backwards, and he landed on his feet, skidding a little from the force of the impact. He panted, trying to regain his breath after the unexpected assault.
"I am not… weak." Raditz's chest heaved. His fists trembled. It was made worse by this being the first fight he'd been losing for many years. Piccolo spat out a cracked tooth, then grunted as a new one popped into its place.
"Touched a nerve, did I?" he asked, taking a step forwards. "You're just like a child, lashing out at everything that upsets you."
"Enough!" Raditz yelled. "I will not stand for this! You will pay for this insult!" He thrust his hand out, launching a brilliant beam of red-pink energy that detonated on the ground where Piccolo had been standing. But the demon was already moving. He was darting left and right as he dashed towards Raditz. The saiyan kept firing, sending out a volley of energy blasts, but none connected with their target. Within just a few seconds, Piccolo reached him, and smashed his elbow into Raditz's chest.
His armour cracked right in the centre, and he stumbled backwards as pain exploded through his body. "Agh… ah… huh…" he tried to shake off the pain, raising his guard to fend off any more attacks. But just as Piccolo was readying himself for another blow, his eyes widened. He turned to the left, staring off into the sky.
"Something's coming…" he muttered. Just then, Raditz's scouter beeped.
"Eh?" He tapped the button, homing in on the detected powers. "One-no, two… combined power level, almost 600. Closing in fast." But somehow this green thing had sensed them too. Could it be that it was possible to detect powers without a scouter? It was probably just a genetic feature-to do with his antenna, perhaps. But who could be coming? On this planet, they were more likely to be enemies than friends. Which meant Raditz's chances were getting even smaller…
An unspoken agreement was made-both fighters were curious as to the identity of the newcomers, and besides Raditz needed time to catch his breath. So neither made a move.
Soon, two dots appeared on the horizon, growing into humanoid shapes, until finally the two arrived. One, a bald man with three eyes, touched down on the ground, having flown under his own power, and the other, with spiky hair and wearing an orange gi, hopped off of an odd-looking golden cloud which had somehow been carrying him. Raditz stared in shock. Could it be…? It was! "Kakarot!" He exclaimed, waving to the one who had ridden the cloud. "All grown up, I see! You look just like our father…"
"Huh?" Goku asked, scratching his head in bewilderment.
"Goku, who's this?" Tien asked. "What's he talking about?"
"I don't know… but he's incredibly strong, and somehow… Piccolo's even stronger! No wonder I sensed this battle all the way from Kame House… you must have felt it, too."
Tien nodded. "Right. Chiaotzu wanted to come, but I couldn't let him get into something as dangerous as this…"
"What happened here, Kakarot?" Raditz asked. "Your duty was to exterminate this species! Did this green thing stop you?"
Piccolo, meanwhile, relaxed. It was only Goku and one of his friends. And, though he was using his weighted clothing to hide his power, Piccolo could tell he had barely improved at all. That was what happened when you settled down and let yourself grow soft.
"I've had enough of this!" he declared. "Prepare yourself! And Goku, you're next!" In an instant, both he and Raditz disappeared. Goku and Tien swivelled around, desperately trying to keep up as the battle between these two titans accelerated. Craters appeared in the ground. Gusts of wind rushed by as the fighters dashed past them, faster than their senses could follow. After several tense seconds, Raditz and Piccolo reappeared. Piccolo's fist was planted firmly in Raditz's face, and the saiyan flew backwards, spinning in the air from the force of the blow. He landed on his hands and knees, cracking the ground beneath him.
"Should we do something?" Tien asked.
"Honestly, I don't know who I want to win… I wish I knew who it was Piccolo's fighting," Goku replied. "And besides, they're so far above us-I don't think we'd make a difference."
Piccolo leapt at Raditz to deliver the finishing blow, but Raditz rolled sideways at the last second. What had appeared to be a furry belt unrolled itself, and Raditz caught Piccolo around the neck with his tail, mid-lunge. He spun around, hurling Piccolo away. Piccolo somersaulted, landing upright, but had trouble keeping his balance after the attack.
"What the-a tail?!" Goku stared. "Just like I used to have…"
Raditz nodded. "So, now you know who I am?"
"Uh… no…"
"What?" Raditz was getting exasperated. "How could you have forgotten me, or your mission? Did you take a blow to the head, Kakarot?!"
"You keep saying that name!" Goku scowled at him. "My name is Son Goku!"
"You're insane! It must be the result of brain damage!"
Goku rubbed his head. "Okay, fine! I did hit my head, but I barely remember-I was a baby back then!"
"Damn it all, that would explain it…" Raditz clenched his fists. "Then you probably don't remember that you are not from this planet! You are a saiyan, part of a great warrior race!" He indicated himself. "And I am Raditz… your older brother!"
"No way…" Tien whispered. "Goku's an alien?"
"Take it back!" Goku growled. "If I'm one of these saiyans, why am I here?"
"Well, you may not like the answer…" Raditz grinned. "We saiyans are in the planet trade business. We locate suitable planets and sell them to rich customers. But first, of course, we must exterminate the native inhabitants! Adult saiyans like me are assigned to the most difficult worlds, with the toughest inhabitants. But first, for practice, our infants are sent to depopulate the weaker worlds… like this one. Or so we thought, anyway…" he glanced over at Piccolo, who was still coughing and clutching at his throat. "Say, who is that, anyway? I had no idea the inhabitants of this planet could grow so strong…"
Goku looked shaken. "That's, uh, Piccolo. I'm not even sure if he's from this planet… but that's not the point!" He took a step forwards, discarding his weighted wristbands. "You're telling me that my 'mission' was to kill all the humans living here? I'd never do something like that! It's just plain wrong!" He stepped out of his shoes and slipped his undershirt off too, removing all his weighted clothing.
"Getting serious, Goku?" Tien asked.
"Even at my best, I don't think I'm a match for them," Goku said, flexing and stretching, "but I don't think there's a 'good guy' here. I need every advantage I can get, no matter which one wins."
Raditz frowned. "So, you really are brain-damaged… irritating. But I'm not leaving without you. I suppose you've forgotten that our homeworld, planet Vegeta, was destroyed by a meteor. Our entire race was wiped out… all but four, you included. We three recently found a planet that would fetch an excellent price on the galactic market. However, the locals are powerful-even three of us might struggle to conquer it. But four ? Well, it's a good thing I remembered you! And while your power isn't exactly impressive-" he tapped his scouter again, "-even with that increase, it's only just over 400-I'm sure, given some real training, you'd be in good enough shape to help us."
"I told you, I'd never kill innocent people!" Goku shouted. "Get it through your head! I'm not this 'Kakarot' anymore! I'm Son Goku-leave my planet alone!" Raditz was about to reply when Piccolo, having recovered, kicked him in the side. The pair of them immediately resumed fighting, each blow resonating through the ground and shaking Goku and Tien to the core.
"Now that's some serious power!" Tien exclaimed. Raditz swung a quick jab, which Piccolo blocked with his forearm, sidestepping and countering with his elbow. Raditz ducked under it and jumped up towards Piccolo, who smashed his knee into Raditz's face. He followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks, then jumped away to avoid Raditz's clumsy counter-attack. He vanished, appeared again in time to punch Raditz in the exact same spot on his face, then retreated again, skidding to a halt several metres away. Raditz shifted to face Piccolo, trying to stand upright. "Damn you… I come all this way to this planet, and instead of my brother, I get you, you damn irritating freak! And then when Kakarot does turn up, he's brain-addled and in no fit state to help me win! It's like the whole universe has it in for me today!"
Piccolo laughed out loud. "Don't be foolish! You're blaming your own failure on luck now?" He raised his guard, assuming a combat stance. "You're simply outmatched. I'm stronger than you-faster than you-and even with your armour, it's clear you can't stand up to as much punishment as I can. My energy manipulation is superior to yours, you rely on that silly gadget to sense energy, you're arrogant beyond belief, and if all that wasn't enough, I know your mental weak spot." Raditz snarled, shaking slightly. Piccolo grinned. "Isn't that right, you pathetic weakling?"
Raditz roared, a faint purple aura flickering to life around him, and launched himself at Piccolo.
Chapter 3: Kakarot
Raditz hurled himself at Piccolo, screaming with rage. The battle, it could be said, was not going his way. Piccolo jumped over Raditz, who stumbled as he tried to recover his balance, then grunted in pain as he felt the impact of Piccolo's foot on the back of his head. He shook off the throbbing pain and swung himself around, his fist swinging for Piccolo. But the demon smiled and raised a hand, palm forwards, firing a beam of energy which exploded on contact, sending Raditz tumbling backwards.
Raditz stopped himself in midair, breathing heavily, and charged again, blind to the consequences. Every hit he took just made him madder and less likely to try and strategise. He launched a mad rain of punches and kicks, and Piccolo dodged left and right, walking slowly backwards as Raditz's fury worsened his aim. After several seconds, Piccolo got bored, and elbowed Raditz in the neck. He followed up with a punch to the stomach, and Raditz doubled over, gasping for breath. Piccolo kicked him away, then dashed around behind him before he could hit the floor, stopping Raditz's fall with his fist. They hung there, in mid-air, until Piccolo threw Raditz to the floor. The saiyan groaned, trying to stand, but failing.
Piccolo turned to Goku and Tien, who were watching in horror. "I'll finish him in a minute," he said, striding towards them. They readied themselves for a fight they knew they couldn't win. "I've been waiting to fight you for five years, so this supposed brother of yours can wait." The ground shook as Piccolo focused his energy, preparing to charge the duo. Suddenly, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He tried to turn around, but wasn't quick enough.
Raditz had leapt up from behind, wrapping one arm around Piccolo's waist and the other around his neck. "Never turn your back on your opponent!" Raditz hissed. "Especially if they belong to the deadliest warrior race in the universe!" He threw Piccolo over his shoulder, then as he crashed to the ground, Raditz landed on top of him, driving his knee into Piccolo's back. He grabbed Piccolo's head in both hands and started slamming it into the ground. The third time, Piccolo lashed out with a fist, then as Raditz flinched away, he took the opportunity to jump to his feet. Raditz started hurling ki blasts his way, and Piccolo was hard pressed to knock them all away. As the barrage continued, he kicked off the ground, and from several feet in the air, charged a huge ball of energy.
"Oh, that can't be good," Raditz muttered, then started running as Piccolo released it, smiling gleefully. He flew into the air, lifting his legs clear as the ball flew under him.
"Look out!" Goku yelled. He and Tien fled, as the ball touched the ground, detonating with amazing force. Raditz glanced down at the crater.
"Too close," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead. Then Piccolo appeared in front of him, and punched him to the ground. Raditz landed in a crumpled heap, twitching slightly as he struggled to move his battered body. "No… I can't be defeated… like this…" His fingers dug into the dirt, and he raised his head, straining himself to try and get up.
Piccolo floated to the ground in front of him. "Still trying to fight, eh? You're determined, I'll give you that." He cracked his knuckles. "But you have to realise there's no way you can win. Oh, and thanks for the advice-I'll finish you right now, just to be sure." He prepared to stamp down on Raditz's neck, when something collided with his face.
"Aagh!" Piccolo staggered back, raising his guard. "What the-" Goku stood between him and Raditz, a grim look on his face. With a chill, Piccolo realised he'd seen this look before-in the memories he'd inherited from his father. This was Goku's face before he'd killed the original King Piccolo
"You stay away from my brother," Goku said, preparing himself for what was to come.
"Ka… Kakarot?" Raditz rasped, words coming slowly. "Why? You rejected me-you said you'd never join me. W-Why are you helping me?"
"Because you're family," the younger saiyan replied. "And besides, Piccolo's a bigger threat than you."
Piccolo frowned. "What do you think you can do, Goku? You've seen my power. Not even this 'Raditz' can stand up to me. What chance do you have?"
Goku charged, completely fearless. "I don't care how powerful you are! You have to be stopped!"
"You're welcome to try!" Piccolo yelled. Goku had almost reached Piccolo, when he raised his hands to either side of his head.
"Raditz-I'll buy you time to recover! SOLAR FLARE!" he shouted. Piccolo recognised the technique a fraction of a second ahead, and turned to face the opposite direction, shielding his eyes from the blinding flash.
"You think that'll work? I know that trick-" Piccolo was interrupted as he saw Tien, standing in the same pose behind him.
"SOLAR FLARE!" Tien repeated. Piccolo hadn't expected it a second time, and this time he was blinded.
"Aah! My eyes! Damn you!" His eyes burned unbearably, and he clutched at them, howling in pain.
"Now, Goku!" Said Tien, jumping over to stand next to Goku. Goku cupped his hands at his side, focusing all his ki, as Tien raised his hands in front of him, forming a triangle, and tapped into his life force for power.
"KA… ME… HA… ME…"
"TRI-BEAM…"
"HAAA!" They shouted in unison, as twin beams, bright blue and yellow, burst forth and crashed into Piccolo, sending out shockwaves for miles around.
Raditz, struggling to his feet, stared, wide-eyed. "What the… they can focus their energy into one point-their combined power is over 1000!" A new determination came over him, and he stood up straight, shaking slightly. "I… am a saiyan warrior… and I will not be beaten by this… green creature! My amnesiac, ill-trained, long-lost brother can stand up to fight." He clenched his fists. "Why shouldn't I?!" He started taking steps forward, becoming more confident with each step. "Kakarot! Stand aside!"
"Huh?" Goku looked around, seeing his brother on his feet. "Raditz! You okay?" Before Raditz could respond, Piccolo appeared out of the dust cloud, looking a little worse for wear. He kicked Goku to the ground with ease, and batted Tien aside with the back of his hand.
"The game is over!" Piccolo snarled, charging energy around both hands. "Go ahead and try to dodge…" He smirked. "If you don't think you're strong enough to survive it, that is."
"What?! Are you deaf? I am part of the most powerful race in the universe! Are you still calling me weak?!"
"No, Raditz!" Goku shouted, but Piccolo stamped down on his back. "Don't… agh! Don't listen to him! Get out of the way!"
"Bring it on!" Raditz yelled. "I can take anything you can throw at me!"
"Let's find out!" Piccolo brought his hands together, launching an almost pure-white ki beam. Raditz stood firm in its path as it lanced towards him.
There was yet another explosion as the beam hit home, drowning everything out in a burst of light and sound. Goku stared in horror-Raditz had played right into Piccolo's hands, letting his emotions get the better of him again. And, trapped under Piccolo's foot, Goku couldn't do anything to help him.
The dust began to clear. Someone was standing there. But-Goku squinted to see through the smoke-it didn't seem right. The outline was different… The smoke blew away, revealing Tien, who stood in front of Raditz with his arms crossed in front of his face, shielding him from the attack.
"What… no way! Damn him!" Piccolo was breathing hard. "These energy attacks have drained my power… and Raditz is still alive…"
Tien gasped as his strength failed, and fell backwards. Raditz caught him. "Why?!" He asked, not understanding. "Why would you do something like this for me? You know I'm the enemy of your whole species!" He was shocked. His brother saving him was one thing, but this Earthling…
Tien smiled, coughing up blood. "Because… you're Goku's brother… he's the best guy I know, so… you can't be all bad… right?" His body convulsed, and his eyes closed.
"Tien!" Goku yelled, reaching out a hand in his friend's direction. "Hold on! Don't give up!"
"It's too late, Kakarot," Raditz said quietly. "He's gone." He laid Tien down on the ground, then stood up, turning to face Piccolo. "That was a powerful attack-it must have severely drained you." He shifted slowly into a fighting stance. "Foolish as it was, Kakarot's friend's courage has finally given me the opportunity to end this battle. It's gone on too long already."
Piccolo kicked Goku away, then glared at Raditz. Both of them were injured, blood dripping from small cuts, bruises and scrapes all over their body, clothing torn and armour cracked. It was anyone's guess if Piccolo was still stronger. Raditz launched himself forwards, colliding with Piccolo, and they locked hands, pushing against each other.
They struggled, forcing all of their power forwards, digging craters with their feet, veins popping out on their foreheads. Piccolo began to push forward, his crackling energy threatening to overwhelm Raditz. Raditz's knees began to bend, and he was forced down and back. Piccolo started to crush his hands, and small flares of energy bit at Raditz's skin. Images started to flash by in his mind, as his eyes closed, almost resigned to his fate. Saiyans laughing at him. His father, dismissing him. Were they right? He was too weak to save himself. He deserved this. Unexpectedly, the images continued, now different. Kakarot, coming to his aid. The Earthling, sacrificing his life. His father, Bardock, again. But now he realised. He saw the look on Bardock's face for what it was: a challenge. The other saiyans would only be right if he lost.
Raditz's eyes snapped open wide. He gritted his teeth, forcing his way to his feet. He reached deep within, finding reserves he never knew he had. Piccolo scowled at him, unable to understand.
"You… can't win!" Raditz shouted, pushing with all his strength, sending Piccolo flying back with a wave of pure force. The demon tumbled through the air, mind reeling, bones shattered. This time, when he hit the floor, he didn't get up.
Silence fell. Raditz took a deep breath. "It's over…" He lurched forward, step by painful step, coming to a halt in front of Piccolo's prone body. Slowly, he raised a hand. "I won't make the mistake you did. A battle is not won until you have crushed the life from your enemy." Before he could strike the final blow, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Stop," Goku ordered him. The dangerous look was back in his eyes.
"What?! Kakarot, are you out of your mind?" Raditz spluttered.
"Nobody else is dying today." Goku stood firm. "I won't let you kill him. I don't want to have to use force, but if I did, you don't have enough energy left to fight back."
Raditz stood there for an agonisingly long time. Finally, he lowered his hand. "Damn you, Kakarot. This world… it's made you soft. He killed your friend! Don't you care?"
"Of course I do! But on Earth we have these things called Dragonballs. We can use them to grant any wish-like bringing the dead back to life."
"You… you could have any wish? You could be immortal! You could have unlimited power… and you only think of him?" Raditz asked, shocked.
Seemingly from nowhere, a harsh voice spoke. "Any wish, you say? Immortality? Unlimited power?" It chuckled, and Goku realised it was coming from Raditz's scouter. "I like the sound of that…"
Raditz gulped. "Ve… Vegeta…"
Chapter 4: The Saiyan from Earth
"So, these 'dragon balls' can grant any wish?" Vegeta's voice sent a chill down Raditz's spine-his hunger for power showed itself through every word. "Picture it: the immortal saiyans, rulers of the universe!"
Raditz forced himself to smile. It was an exciting prospect, but he still felt uneasy for some reason. "Yes… we'd be unstoppable-an eternity of combat!"
Vegeta chuckled. "Ah, Raditz… what's this 'we'? You honestly think you deserve immortality?"
"W-What?"
"You were beaten by a creature with a power under 2000, and you had to rely on your laughably weak brother and one of that planet's pathetic inhabitants to survive." His voice grew angry. "You dishonour the saiyan race! When we arrive on that planet, you and Kakarot will die along with your fellow insects-and then I will reign supreme over all of creation! Enjoy your last year, you utter failure!" The connection was cut off.
Raditz sunk to his knees, despair filling his mind. "How… how could he betray a fellow saiyan?" He pounded the ground, leaving a crater several feet wide. "I won the battle, damn it! I… I've got to get off this planet!" He stood up, only to discover his strength was finally running out, and he collapsed. Goku, standing next to him, caught him before he hit the ground, propping Raditz on his shoulder.
"Hey… Raditz! What's the matter? You sounded upset…"
"Kakarot, we have to leave this planet immediately!" Raditz looked up at his brother. "The other two saiyans, they're going to come here-it'll take them about a year-and they're going to kill every living thing on this planet, then use your dragon things to wish themselves immortal!"
"They'll kill us, too? Don't they have any loyalty or honour?"
"Apparently…" Raditz coughed, a trickle of blood running down his chin from his mouth. "… not."
"Well, whatever we're going to do, you need medical attention. I'll just get Tien's body and-" Goku looked around, but couldn't see the body. "-eh? I can't see it anywhere… and it was right over there. Maybe… someone made it vanish? Kami, or someone like that?" he shook his head. "I'll worry about that later." Bracing himself to fully support Raditz's weight, Goku took off into the air. "NIMBUS!"
"… And that's the whole story," Goku was saying. He was sitting on one of the couches inside Kame House, with his four-year-old son Gohan on his lap. Sitting opposite him were Bulma, Krillin, Master Roshi, Launch, and Chiaotzu (who he had met up with on the way back). Raditz was unconscious next to Goku, and Launch (currently in her shy, blue-haired personality) had thoughtfully placed a towel under him to stop him bleeding onto the couch.
"I… can't believe Tien's dead…" Chiaotzu sobbed, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't worry, little guy," Goku replied. "We'll bring him back. But it'll take a while to gather the dragon balls. Right now we have to try and think what we're going to about these other two saiyans."
Krillin snapped his fingers. "Maybe we could ask Piccolo to help us!" Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Come on, think about it! If he's as powerful as you say, he might be our best bet at beating the saiyans. And why wouldn't he? If earth is destroyed, he won't get to rule it, right? So it's in everyone's best interests to fight them."
Roshi nodded. "You might be right-" He was interrupted by the hum of an engine outside. A few seconds later, the door opened and a short, somewhat round man carrying a katana walked in.
"Yaijerobe?" Bulma asked. "Hey, long time, no see… so what are you doing here?"
"Hey, nice to see you and all that stuff, but Korin said Kami wants to see you, Krillin-and he said to bring that Yamcha guy with you." Yaijerobe pointed at Krillin, looking slightly bored.
"Uh, why-" Krillin started to ask.
"Oh yeah," Yaijerobe continued, ignoring him, "and I got a message from Tien. He says he's gonna go get special training in the afterlife, or, uh, something… so don't wish him back until the year's up. Oh, and he said he doesn't want Chiaotzu to fight the saiyans."
"What?" Chiaotzu stood up. "Why not?"
"Uh, somethin' about… really powerful… doesn't want you to die, you've already been brought back once so it won't work again… that kinda thing." Yaijerobe turned to leave, heading out the door and hopping back into his aircar. "Well, see ya… I got somethin' nice in the oven."
"Wait!" Goku stood up, running out the door. "Yaijerobe, have you got a spare senzu bean?"
"Uh…" Yaijerobe rummaged through his pockets. "I didn't bring any specially for the occasion, but I usually have one or two around somewhere… aha." He produced a small, grey-coloured bean, tossing it to Goku. "Is that all I'm good for these days? Delivering messages and senzus?" Grumbling to himself, he drove off into the distance.
Goku walked back inside, then crouched next to Raditz, placing the bean in his mouth. He pressed two fingers to his brother's throat, making him swallow, and after a couple of seconds Raditz's eyes opened.
"Wha…" he sat up, looking down at his uninjured body. "I'm healed?" The humans in the room shrank back a little as he moved, especially those who could sense his enormous ki.
"Yup!" Goku grinned. "It's a senzu bean. Eat it, and all your wounds are healed! Neat, huh?"
Raditz stood up. "I appreciate your assistance, but I'm going to get to my ship and leave this planet. I'd advise you to come with me, unless you have a death wish." He retrieved a remote control from inside his armour. While this was happening, Launch felt a tickling sensation in her nose. Oh, here we go… she thought.
"Ah…"
"I'll just remotely activate it, and fly it here… can't find the damn button, I always get them mixed up…" Raditz muttered, not hearing the sharp intake of breath.
"Ah…"
"Ah, there-right next to the emergency brake, and the self-destruct on the other side." His finger hovered over the button.
"-CHOO!" Launch's sneeze, a sneeze of truly epic proportions, caused Raditz to flinch slightly, making his finger's trajectory skew slightly to the left as it pressed a button.
His eyes widened in shock. "No… it…" He glared at Launch, who had transformed into to her blonde, aggressive personality. "You imbecile! Do you even know what you've done?!" Raditz yelled at her. "You've made me activate the self-destruct on my ship! Now I can't get off this planet, unless your primitive little species has somehow developed interstellar travel, which I doubt!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Launch shouted back, producing a machine gun as if from nowhere. "The big tough alien warrior can't handle a little sneeze, and now it's my fault? Go to hell!" She opened fire, and Raditz batted the bullets aside with a sweep of his hand as the other humans cowered behind the couch.
"Go ahead! Make me even angrier! That'll work out well for you!" Raditz raised a fist, then noticed Goku staring at him. He struggled with himself, finally lowering his hand. "You're not worth the effort," he growled, "but if Kakarot wasn't here, I'd at least make some kind of example. Do not cross me, woman."
"Hmph." Launch crossed her arms. "I'm not scared a' you." She stormed off.
"Heheh… sorry about that…" Goku pulled Raditz aside. "But, uh, I think we need to get back to the matter at hand. If your ship's broken, you think you could use mine?" he asked, scratching his head.
"The one we sent you in?" Raditz shook his head. "No, you'd have stayed inside it until the first full moon, then destroyed it when you first transformed…" He didn't, of course, know that Goku's adoptive grandfather, Gohan, had found him before this happened-and Goku had been too small to remember clearly.
"Uh, full moon? Transformed?" Goku blinked. "Did I miss something?"
"Oh, come on, you can't have forgotten that!" Raditz glared at him. "You must know that the saiyans' full power only shows itself at the full moon… wait… your tail! What happened to it?"
"It got cut off a long time ago, so people couldn't grab it!" Goku looked thoughtful. "But… this does sound a little familiar… describe to me exactly what happens."
Raditz sighed. "Fine. If you must know… when a saiyan looks at a full moon-I won't go into the science of it-they transform into a giant primate-like creature."
"A… a giant monster?"
"Yes! Is there a problem with that?!" Raditz snapped.
Goku felt cold, empty, all of a sudden. "Then… that's why my Grandpa told me never to look at the full moon… and the monster that crushed him to death… it was me…" He fell silent, his face drained of all emotion.
"Ka… Kakarot?" Raditz asked tentatively. His brother was completely unresponsive. "Are you…"
"No… it's… it's okay." Goku sniffed a little, blinking several times and managing to keep his eyes from filling with tears. "I'm okay. I just needed a few seconds… l-like I said, we've got bigger things to worry about. So-we've established you can't get off the planet. So, either you can wait here for these other saiyans to come along and kill you, or you can spend the year we have preparing to fight them. There are plenty of strong fighters on this world-when they get here, we'll be ready. The only question is, will you help us?" He held out his hand.
With only a moment's hesitation, Raditz shook it. "It doesn't look like I have any choice, does it? As a true warrior, I can't go down without a fight!"
"All right then!" A huge smile filled Goku's face. He picked Gohan up from the floor, where the boy had been wandering. "I'll go drop the kid off at home, then I'll head to Kami's! Krillin-pick up Yamcha and meet us there. It's above Korin Tower, okay?"
"Got it." Krillin jumped up, stretching. "It's been a while since I've had a real fight." Goku headed for the door, but before leaving Raditz took off his scouter and placed it on the table in the centre of the room.
"Huh? Why're you leaving that?" Bulma asked.
"Because I've seen it's possible to sense power levels without one-and I'm going to learn how. It seems a lot more convenient than having to rely on a piece of technology. I figured you'd have more use for it than I would." He went to follow Goku. "And stop staring at me!" he snapped at Launch, who'd emerged from the other room as her shy persona.
"NIMBUS!" the younger saiyan called, jumping on as it arrived. Raditz, leaving the house, floated up next to him.
"Peculiar, that cloud of yours. Can't you fly under your own power?" he asked.
"Oh, sure," Goku shrugged, "but the Nimbus cloud is faster. Shall we go?"
"Lead the way," Raditz said with a hint of sarcasm, and the saiyans soared off into the horizon.
Chapter 5: Preparation
Goku and Raditz continued their flight towards Goku's home on Mount Paozu. Goku's son Gohan, being carried along in his father's arms finally found the courage to speak, having listened in silence for most of the day.
"Daddy… is he my uncle?" the boy asked. "You said he was your brother…"
"Huh?" Goku looked down as his son. "Uh, I guess so. Yeah! Say hi to Uncle Raditz!" Gohan gave a nervous smile, and waved.
"Hi, Uncle Raditz!"
"Hmph." Raditz scowled and turned away. "By his age, a saiyan child would have already been sent to conquer some remote planet."
"You really know how to kill the mood, don't you?" Goku muttered, patting Gohan on the head. "It's okay, Gohan-Raditz is in a bad mood, 'cause he got beaten up by Piccolo."
Raditz wanted to retort-something along the lines of 'for the last time, I beat that green freak!'-but something else was pressing on his mind. "Kakarot… you offered to let me use your ship, when we were talking back in the island house."
"Yeah, so?"
"It sounded like you weren't going to leave-just let me go and leave you here. Why would you stay behind and face the invaders, but let me escape?"
"Because this is my home now." Goku looked at Raditz, his face open and sincere. "I couldn't just abandon my friends and family-let alone leave the entire human race to get wiped out."
"What has it come to, when an amnesiac, tailless, low-class renegade has more honour than the prince of our race?" Raditz grumbled, ending the conversation.
The minutes crawled by in silence. The mountains loomed in the distance.
"So… you gonna keep calling me Kakarot or what?"
"Well, I'm just glad you had the sense to keep my Gohan out of all that fighting," Chi-Chi said, holding her son close to her, "but it's just all so hard to believe! I mean… you're from outer space? Are you sure?"
"Look, I wouldn't lie about something like this," Raditz growled, "and as you may be able to tell from the state of my armour, I haven't exactly had an easy time today, so I don't feel particularly inclined to argue about it with you. Now, we're going to go meet with this world's fighters at the headquarters of some kind of guardian."
"Yeah, Kami," Goku interjected. "Remember him from the World Tournament, Chi-Chi? He's the good side of Piccolo." He waved. "I'll be back for dinner!" He jumped onto the waiting nimbus cloud, and Raditz followed him into the sky.
"Stay safe," Chi-Chi whispered, suddenly feeling anxious about her husband's safety. Gohan, standing by her feet, waved.
"Bye-bye, Uncle Raditz," he called. Chi-Chi frowned. That alien brother of Goku's had better stay away from her little boy, or there'd be trouble…
As they made their way towards Kami's lookout, a thought struck Goku. "Hey, Raditz-you gonna get your armour fixed up?"
"I will at some point," his brother replied, "but first we need to meet with this planet's warriors and determine a plan of action."
"What's there to plan?" Goku asked, going faster now he didn't have to worry about Gohan. "We spend this year training in preparation, and when they get here we fight them. Simple."
"True, but we still need to know who we have, any advantages we can get in terms of the battle's location, and what training facilities this world has."
"I guess so. Plus, we can make sure everyone's clear on exactly what's going on."
It didn't take them long to reach the Lookout, to find Yaijerobe, Krillin and Yamcha waiting for them. Shortly, Kami walked out to meet them.
"I have been watching recent events," he said, "and it pains me to know that such a terrible evil will so soon be descending on the Earth. Are you all aware on the situation?"
Yamcha nodded. "Yeah, Krillin told me on the way here. So, this is Goku's brother?"
"Why does everyone ask that?!" Raditz snapped. "Do I not look like him or something?"
"Hey, no offense." Yamcha flinched back involuntarily at Raditz's glare.
Krillin spoke up. "Well, what would be helpful right now is if Raditz told us more about these two other saiyans. We could really use information on what we're up against."
"All right." Raditz stepped forward, standing in front of the others. "I'm afraid it's all bad news. Both of the other saiyans' strength greatly exceeds my own-or even that of the demon I fought today… Piccolo, was it?"
"That is troubling…" Kami muttered. "In one year, we will face twice your strength, and more…"
Raditz frowned. "I don't think I've made the extent of their superiority quite clear yet. One of them-a large brute called Nappa-is, on his own, greater than double my power."
"Woah… so, he's the one to watch out for, huh?" Goku asked, trying to picture fighting an opponent more than twice as strong as Raditz-half nervous, half excited.
"I'm afraid not. You see, the other-Vegeta, the prince of all saiyans- his power is greater than ten times my own."
"W-what?" Krillin started trembling. "No way! We're doomed…" Yaijerobe began to sneak away, feeling that this battle was not for him, but Yamcha caught him by the back of his shirt and held him in place.
"Hey! Let go a' me!" the samurai whined.
"Not a chance!" Yamcha held firm. "You're not getting away that easy, you little coward!"
"Well… the odds are certainly not in our favour…" Kami said, leaning heavily on his staff. "However, I will do what I can. Krillin-Yamcha-Yaijerobe-I offer my training to you. I have nothing left to teach Goku, and I doubt Raditz needs any instruction from one such as I."
"Indeed." Raditz turned to Goku. "I suggest we train together. There are certain aspects of saiyan physiology which you might not be familiar with, which may aid you in increasing your power." He drove all thoughts of fear from his mind. There was only the coming battle.
"Sounds good! Let's start straight away tomorrow. You want to stay at my house for the night?"
"No, thank you," Raditz shook his head. "I think you should wait and explain the situation to your family today-my presence could aggravate the situation. In any case, that island house we were at earlier, being home to multiple people, would probably have a greater range of clothing I could choose from until my armour is fixed." This logic didn't quite seem to be enough reason for Raditz to choose to stay with a group of complete strangers, but Goku wasn't the questioning type, so he let it go.
"Uh, okay." Goku shrugged. "I'm sure they won't mind."
Raditz floated a couple of feet into the air. "And Kakarot, meet me tomorrow in the wasteland near where you live. And fly there under your own power."
"Huh? But the Nimbus is faster, I told you-and flying tires me out…"
"That's the point. You need to become self-reliant. For the same reason, I'm not going to use my scouter, and I aim to learn to sense energy without it." He flew off, vanishing within seconds.
Goku turned to Kami. "You might want to use your telepathy and get in touch with Kame House-so Raditz doesn't take them entirely by surprise."
"That would be wise," Kami replied. "I shall also contact Piccolo-as I believe has already been said, even he surely would not wish the Earth to be destroyed, and his assistance would be extremely valuable."
"Yeah, good idea." Goku ran to the edge of the Lookout and jumped off, catching himself in midair and flying away towards his home. He flew as long as he could without the Nimbus, until finally running out of energy and calling it.
The two saiyans met at sunrise in the wasteland, the mountains to their left. Raditz was wearing a spare turtle school martial arts uniform, and kept grumbling about how undignified he looked. "So, how was Kame House?" Goku asked.
Raditz scowled, which was fast becoming his signature facial expression. "Try and imagine a galactic warrior, conqueror of planets, sitting around the table and eating dinner with a couple of Earthlings. Then double the awkwardness."
"That bad, huh?" Goku gave an I'm-innocent grin, as if this was somehow his fault. "Aheh… sorry about that, then…"
"The old man would tremble every time I walked near him-I'm fairly sure he could sense my energy." He put a hand on his forehead, as if even the memory irritated him. "And as for the girl with two personalities… the blonde one kept trying to pick a fight with me, and it took all my willpower not to just tear her head off. The shy one I can't figure out at all. Humans are such strange creatures. It's impossible to tell what they're thinking so much of the time."
"Yeah, I always thought that too." Goku thought back to his past. "I guess that explains why people always thought I was simple-it was just that I'm a saiyan."
"No, you're a saiyan and a simpleton." Raditz crossed his arms. "So, shall we commence our training?"
Goku nodded, stretching his muscles and mentally preparing himself. "Let's do this!"
Chapter 6: Arrival
Training with Raditz was intense beyond belief. All his life, Goku had pushed himself, and been pushed by others, to overcome his limitations and climb to new levels of strength. But this was entirely new. Raditz, unlike most of Goku's allies, was less of a martial artist and more of a soldier. His sink-or-swim attitude meant that if a session left Goku incapacitated, Raditz would carry on training without him, telling him to come back when he'd reattached all his bones.
A lot of the brutality came from the fact that Raditz knew, and took advantage of, the saiyan ability to come back stronger after injury. This trait was used heavily-they'd take a bag of senzu beans, spar until they were half-dead, then eat a bean to heal themselves and start over.
After a couple of weeks, Goku started bringing Gohan along to watch-he'd been asking where his daddy and uncle were all day, and Chi-Chi agreed to let him go and see, as long as he took his ever-present study books with him.
Goku collapsed next to his son after a hard day's training. "How you doing, kid?" he asked, ruffling the boy's hair. He'd noticed Gohan staring wide-eyed at the two saiyans as they fought at incredible speed, their blows echoing throughout the valley.
"Daddy… will I be big an' strong like you when I grow up?" Gohan asked.
"If you work hard and practice often, sure," Goku replied, smiling a little, "but remember, your mom doesn't want you to be a fighter." He shrugged. "She doesn't want you getting hurt-and I can't blame her, it is dangerous."
"It's not fair!" Gohan pouted. "Why can't I be smart and strong at the same time?" He looked up questioningly. "Then you an' mommy'll both be happy, right?"
Goku laughed. "Well, that's harder than you might think. Anyway, I should get back to it. Raditz is looking impatient." He jumped up, and headed over to his brother. "Great kid," he said. "He wants to fight too, but his mom won't let him."
"A waste," Raditz observed, watching Gohan. "His saiyan heritage could make a fine warrior of him-and we need every advantage we can get."
"Out of the question." Goku folded his arms, standing firm. "I'm sure he could grow up to be a great fighter, but he's a four-year-old child. There's no way he's getting into a life-or-death battle."
"At least train him a little." Raditz shrugged. "Who knows what battles he might have to face as an adult, and besides, when the other saiyans arrive, the whole world will be at stake. If we lose, he definitely dies. You don't want that for your son, I assume?" He raised an eyebrow.
Goku sighed. "… Fine. I'll give him some training. But he's not fighting unless he absolutely has to, you understand?" Raditz nodded. "Good," Goku continued. "And we have to be sure not to let Chi-Chi know. He's such a smart kid he always finishes his homework long before we get home, so… each day, we'll start training him once he's done with it. Then everything will seem normal to Chi-Chi."
"You worry about that." Raditz picked up a stone from the ground. "I need to test something." He hurled it at Gohan with a flick of his wrist.
"Raditz, what are you-" Goku made to intercept it, but Raditz held him back.
"Watch," his brother told him.
The stone flew in a slight arc straight at Gohan's head. At the last second, he noticed it, and his eyes narrowed. There was a flash of light, and the stone disintegrated.
"I knew it!" Raditz grinned. "The child has great power. All we have to do is teach him how to use it." Goku nodded-Gohan's power was almost as high as Raditz's when he'd first arrived on Earth. Maybe this was going to be easier than he'd thought.
About six months into their training, Bulma drove over to Kame House, having finished Raditz's new armour-the old armor, she said, had been too broken to fix entirely, so she'd just incorporated the pieces and the protective technology into this one. He took it with muttered, somewhat forced thanks. It consisted of black leggings and vest, an armoured top, and his old boots and gauntlets. Bulma had dispensed with the shoulder and leg plates, declaring them too unwieldy-plus, just about every battle simulation she ran ended with them broken. Now she'd made one suit, she could mass-produce them, so Raditz wore them for training, and once he'd busted up one suit just picked up another. Needless to say, Bulma constantly berated him for his 'carelessness', but she was basically a good person and never refused to make any more. For his own part, Raditz knew if he snapped the Earth woman in two for her constant whining, he wouldn't get any new armour, so he managed to restrain his anger for the time being.
As time went on, Goku's flight improved to the point where he let Gohan use the Nimbus, and Raditz's ki sense developed until it was almost as good as any human fighter's. Gohan, training in one of Goku's old turtle school uniforms-from when he'd been a child himself-had come on in leaps and bounds, enjoying being able to join in his father's favourite pastime. He was even starting to rub off on Raditz, who now wouldn't snap at him every time he said anything-only, say, half the time. The child's latent power had surprised both the adults, even for a saiyan child. It seemed a saiyan-human crossbreed was a particularly powerful hybrid. They had been about to remove the boy's tail to prevent him from transforming, but received a telepathic message from Kami, who wearily informed them that Piccolo had dealt with the situation as soon as Kami had told him of the saiyan transformation. They were somewhat taken aback next nightfall to discover that their planet no longer had a moon. Again.
Piccolo, meanwhile, had agreed to hold off on his efforts to conquer the world until the invading saiyans were defeated. In his conversations with Kami, he hinted at a new technique he was developing, though he was a little vague on the details. The preparation for the saiyans' arrival continued all around the world-Krillin and Yamcha, having completed Kami's training, separated, Yamcha heading out into the wild, and Krillin returning to Kame House, both to continue their training. At Capsule Corp, Bulma was replicating Raditz's scouter, so that the humans unable to sense energy would be able to follow the battle in some way.
Finally, the year was almost up. The seven Dragon Balls were gathered at Kame House, and Shenron summoned forth-no matter how many times they saw the sky darken, and the burst of light shine into the heavens, it never quite got old. "Speak your wish," the dragon rumbled.
"So this is the dragon…" Raditz whispered, in awe. "To think I'd written this planet off as a backwater mudball when I arrived… but it just keeps on surprising me." He stood with Roshi, Krillin and the shy Launch, all gazing up at the hovering dragon.
"Hey, uh, I don't want to sound rude, but you're not gonna try and intercept the wish, are you?" Krillin asked.
"What?" Raditz realised what he was talking about. "Oh, you mean to wish for immortality like Vegeta wants to?" He shook his head. "I thought about it for a while. Nothing lasts forever. If you were immortal, eventually everyone else would die." He frowned. "You'd be alone, in an empty universe, forever. Count me out of that one. Besides," he gave a little smile at the thought, "I have no particular desire to fight Kakarot over it. He's grown in skill and power far faster than I'd have imagined."
With no further discussion, Roshi stepped forwards.
"Mighty Shenron-"
"Hold on," Krillin put a hand on the old master's shoulder. "Why don't we use the wish to destroy the saiyans, and bring Tien back next year?"
"That wish is impossible," Shenron boomed. "The wishes I grant cannot exceed the power of my creator, Kami. The saiyans are too powerful for me to destroy."
"All right then." Roshi nodded. "Good idea, Krillin-shame it didn't work. Shenron! Please restore Tien Shinhan to life!"
There was a pause as Shenron's eyes glowed bright red. "Your wish has been granted." In a brilliant flash of yellow light, Shenron was gone, and the Dragon Balls soared into the air, scattering across the world.
"Of course, if he's still got his body in the afterlife, he's got to physically travel back here…" Roshi shrugged. "He might not actually get here for a while."
"We're putting a lot of faith into that human," Raditz said. "Whatever training he's gone through in the afterlife, it had better have paid off."
"Don't worry." Launch smiled at Raditz. "I'm sure Tien will come through for us."
"Faith is a wonderful thing," Raditz muttered, heading back inside. "It must be nice not to know how bad the odds are."
The next morning, at 11:43 a.m., two saiyan attack pods collided with the Earth. Raditz looked up from his meal, his eyes widening. "They're here," he said to the others. "They'll head for the highest power level on this planet, and unless I'm mistaken, that would be me. Launch! Get the old man out of here. This island is about to become a battleground." He pulled on his armour, stretching his muscles.
"So she gets a name, but I'm 'the old man'?" Roshi grumbled.
"Get moving, old-timer!" The blonde Launch shoved him out the door. She glanced back at Raditz. "You better win!" She followed Roshi outside, and they sped away in their hovercar.
Raditz and Krillin stepped outside, waiting for the saiyans.
"Better bring your A-game today, baldy-eh?" He paused. "Your ki sense may be better than mine. Did you feel that?"
Krillin nodded. "Y-yeah." He was trembling. "They just wiped out thousands of people in an instant-a city, I guess-and I don't think it took them any effort! Hold on… you were right! They're heading this way!" Something caught his attention. "Hey, what's-" Goku appeared from behind them, landing next to Raditz. He hadn't bothered with his weighted training clothes-this wasn't the time to play around.
"You ready for this?" he asked, warming up. He noticed Raditz was wearing his arm and leg bands today. "Hey, Raditz, those red bands-you haven't worn them since you fought Piccolo."
Raditz nodded. "It is a saiyan tradition. When a comrade dies in battle alongside you, someone very close to you, you soak a white cloth with their blood and wear it into battle in remembrance."
"Do you mind me asking… who were they?"
"This one," Raditz pointed to his leg band, "is in memory of a brave ally of mine. She died on the last mission I was on before Planet Vegeta was destroyed, and had that not happened then there would have been five saiyans left in the galaxy today." And, he thought, it would have meant not all the remaining saiyans were male-their race might not have been doomed to extinction. Something which didn't seem to have stopped Kakarot…
"I'm sorry."
"So am I. And this one on my arm…" He paused. "It is in memory of our father-Bardock, a great warrior. He died with our planet, but his blood runs in my veins, so I coloured this with my own to honour him."
"Oh." Goku looked thoughtful-he'd never really thought much about his saiyan father. "Let's hope you don't have to add any more today." He realised he didn't know much about the saiyan race in general-he'd have to ask Raditz after the battle.
"No more time for talk!" Raditz pointed at two rapidly-growing specks in the sky. "Here they come!"
Chapter 7: Battle for the Earth
The two saiyans landed on the beach in front of Goku, Raditz and Krillin throwing up clouds of dust with the force of their impact. Nappa, a huge warrior with a shaved head and a thin moustache, stood slightly in front of Vegeta-smaller but even more intimidating. "Well," Vegeta said with a smile, "it's been a long time, Raditz. How's your baby brother? Oh, and I see you've got a little human friend who thinks he can make a difference." The saiyan brothers and their human companion stood silent. "Fine. I'll get down to business. Tell us where the Dragon Balls are, or we'll kill you."
"Not a chance!" Goku stepped forward. "People like you don't deserve that kind of power!"
"All right." Vegeta shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. We'll kill you, leave one alive, and beat the answer out of him. How does that sound, Nappa?"
"Not bad!" Nappa grinned. "A year of space travel's got me itching for some action!" His scouter beeped. "Hey, Vegeta, we got a couple more power levels headed this way." Piccolo soon became visible, landing with the group of Earth's defenders. From the opposite direction, Yamcha appeared.
"So these are the saiyans?" Piccolo glared at the pair of invaders. "Let's get on with it." Secretly, he was seething with anger-he couldn't believe that Goku and his brother had become so powerful. And as for the shorter saiyan invader…
"Indeed!" Vegeta pressed the button on his scouter. "Let's see now… there's a surprise. Kakarot's at 2000 and Raditz is at 4000…"
"What?!" Nappa did a double take. "Raditz can't possibly be as powerful as me!"
"Calm yourself, Nappa. Anyway, the Namekian here's at 1000, and the humans are both over five hundred. Now," he smirked, "why don't we stop playing around and show us your real power?"
"Back up a bit." Piccolo frowned. "Namekian?"
Vegeta snorted. "Is it something about this planet that makes visitors lose all memory of their race? The Namekians are a mostly peaceful species, but those warriors they do produce are usually high-calibre. They are fabled to be able to create enchanted items, some of which match the description of your Dragon Balls. Hmm, if there's a Namekian here… yes, it all starts to add up." He laughed. "Anyway. I know you can conceal your power levels-and besides the Namek was higher than this when he fought Raditz. So, let's see it!"
Raditz turned to face Vegeta. "All right, but you may be sorry you asked." He released his mental blocks, letting his ki flow freely. "Yaaah!" A purple aura flared around him. Goku did the same, his pure-white aura igniting. The sand around them began to levitate in streams, then dropped as they finished, exhaling in unison.
"Ah…" Nappa was visibly pale. "Vegeta, are you getting the same reading as me?"
"Yes, indeed." Vegeta, on the other hand, was still smiling. "Kakarot at six thousand, Raditz at twelve… impressive. I didn't expect that kind of increase in such a short time. I suppose I will have to deal with these two… you take the rest, Nappa. Judging by how much our renegade friends were hiding, I'd estimate the Namek to be about equal to you. Plant the Saibamen, let them deal with the humans so they don't get in the way."
"Right." Nappa was doing his best to stay calm. He knelt down, pushing six holes in the sand, and carefully putting a seed in each from vials he took from inside his armour.
Several seconds later, six grotesque green creatures, a couple of feet high, burst from the ground, screeching with ear-piercing volume. "Saibamen!" Nappa pointed at Krillin and Yamcha. "Kill the humans!" The Saibamen started to advance.
"Careful," Raditz warned. "If they think they've been beaten, they'll try to self-destruct and take you with them!" He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and jumped into the air as Vegeta's fist flashed past his face.
"Nice reflexes!" Vegeta grinned. "Let's see how long they keep you alive against a warrior of the highest class!" He took off after Raditz, and Goku followed, knowing from what he'd felt of Vegeta's power that Raditz wouldn't stand much of a chance on his own.
The Saibamen stalked towards the humans. Krillin snapped his fingers as an idea entered his mind. "Get inside! Their numbers'll work against 'em!"
"Right!" Yamcha nodded, and the pair dashed into Kame House, the Saibamen in hot pursuit. The six creatures surrounded the house, all jumping in through different windows and doors. With the humans and Saibamen inside the house, and the three saiyans in the air, only Piccolo and Nappa were left facing each other on the beach.
"So, you want to fight me?" Piccolo threw his weighted clothes off, and stood in a combat-ready stance as Nappa charged. "Come get me!"
Nappa threw the first punch, but Piccolo dodged to the side. He leapt over the hulking saiyan, landing behind him and kicking at his back. Nappa jumped forward to avoid the attack, spinning to face his opponent and launching a barrage of brutal attacks. Piccolo parried each one, getting into the rhythm of the fight. The combatants separated, pausing for breath and weighing up their opponent. "I'll tell you the truth, I'm a little in shock at Goku and his brother surpassing me by so much," he said.
"You and me both…" Nappa muttered.
"So it's good that I've got a big, bald punching bag to take it out on."
Nappa glowered at him. "You'll regret crossing the saiyans!"
"You're all the same. Saiyan this, saiyan that. You're like a stuck record. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Both fighters charged in, and the fierce combat resumed.
Inside Kame House, Krillin and Yamcha moved cautiously across the living room, waiting for their enemies to appear. Something green blurred into view, and Krillin kicked a leaping Saibaman out of the air. It rolled, jumping to its feet, and hurled itself at him.
"Behind you!" Yamcha yelled as a second leapt at Krillin's back. Yamcha intercepted it, punching it to the floor. The humans stood back to back, facing their opponents. "Let's take 'em out!" Yamcha said with a grin, charging to the attack as Krillin did the same. The four of them battled back and forth around the room, smashing furniture and opening up gaping holes in the walls. Krillin dodged under a jet of acid which melted the lampstand. "Change over!" He shouted. Yamcha somersaulted away from his opponent, and they swapped enemies. Krillin focused his energy as he flew towards the disorientated Saibaman. "KAMEHAMEHA!" He thrust his hands forward, the blue energy beam sending the Saibaman flying right through the wall, disintegrating it.
Yamcha dodged a flurry of wild attacks, narrowing his eyes. "Wolf Fang Fist!" he yelled, launching a whirlwhind of powerful blows which slammed into the Saibaman, knocking it through the floor and down into the building's foundations. The two warriors breathed heavily as silence fell. Abruptly, the Saibaman Yamcha had beaten jumped back up, screeching hysterically and trying to grab him around the middle. Yamcha sidestepped it, then kicked it away. It flew through the wall, exploding violently in mid-air outside.
"Good thing Raditz warned us they can self-destruct, or that could have been me…" Yamcha wiped sweat from his forehead, then jumped back as the ceiling caved in-three Saibamen leapt down through the hole.
"Here we go again," muttered Krillin, raising his guard.
In the sky above the island, Goku and Raditz rushed Vegeta, who vanished, appearing behind Goku and elbowing him in the head. As he tumbled away, Raditz dashed in, but Vegeta blocked all his punches easily, then rammed his knee into Raditz's stomach. "You'll have to do better than that!" he gloated, kicking Raditz away. The brothers hovered in the air below the prince.
"Man, he's fast," Goku whined, rubbing his head. "I can barely keep up."
"Indeed." Raditz managed to stand up straight. "I had my hopes up when we'd overtaken Piccolo and Nappa, but I forgot just how powerful Vegeta is…"
"Don't worry!" Goku prepared to attack again. "We can win this-sure, it won't be easy, but we never thought it was going to be!" They charged again. Goku disappeared as Raditz stayed on course. He kicked at Vegeta, who idly leaned to the side, slamming an uppercut into Raditz's chin. The brief second he'd spent dealing with Raditz had bought Goku time to get behind him, and he punched at the side of the prince's head. Still distracted by Raditz's attack, Vegeta couldn't dodge in time, and he fell head-over-heels away from them, rolling backwards and catching himself in the air. He floated up to face them.
"That was clever," he said, grinning. "Well, such a low-power attack didn't really hurt much, but I appreciate the effort. You did at least break my scouter," he indicated the smashed device on his face, before hurling it into the sea, "but I've already measured your strength and it's not nearly enough to defeat me. Of course, I appreciate the effort-it's not every day I actually have to pay attention to win." He rushed forwards, punching both his opponents simultaneously and sending them flying backwards. "Come on, you can do better than that!"
Piccolo blocked a punch to his chest, jumping up and backwards. He began to charge energy in one of his hands, but thinking about this he momentarily lost track of his opponent. Nappa appeared above him, using both fists to hammer him downwards. Piccolo hit the water and rocketed straight down into the seabed. The ripples faded, and the water stilled. A hush fell as Nappa hovered a few feet above the ocean, glancing around. "That's funny," he muttered to himself, "his power level just disappeared. I couldn't have killed him with that attack, so he must be hiding it-" Piccolo, having leapt up behind him, kicked the saiyan brute full force in the back, launching him back towards the island. Nappa hit the ground in a massive cloud of sand, and climbed back to his feet. "You know, that's gonna take forever to get out of my armour…" he grumbled, looking up at the hovering Namek. "All right, come on!"
Krillin and Yamcha dodged away from the madly attacking Saibamen. "Three on two is not good odds!" Krillin said, ducking under an attacker. "Hey Yamcha, I think I have a technique that'll take care of these guys, but not if they're coming after us like this! Can you hold them for a bit?"
"Leave it to me!" Yamcha stepped between Krillin and the Saibamen, a ball of energy rising from his upturned palm. "Spirit ball-go!" The ball flew at the Saibamen, scattering them, then as Yamcha gestured in different directions, it chased them around the room, keeping them busy as Krillin charged energy in both his hands.
"All right!" He fired a slow-moving beam which stopped in the middle of the room, then split into three. Each beam arced towards one of the distracted Saibamen, vapourising them in mid-air. "Heh… I hope the old man has insurance on this place…" Krillin looked around at the half-destroyed house.
"What would we tell the company?" Yamcha asked. "That little green men from outer space wrecked it?"
Krillin scratched his head. "Good point…"
"Okay!" Goku tapped Raditz on the shoulder. "We need to make sure we're working together, or we don't have a chance."
"Agreed. We're not going to win like this. The only other option would be to stall and wait for your human friend to arrive, but I'm not sure if he'll make a difference here."
"We can only hope…" Goku readied himself. "Until then, we're on our own. We've been training together for a year now. We know each other's moves, our styles-we should be able to link our attacks and catch him off-guard." Vegeta appeared behind them, startling them both.
"Making plans, eh? It's no use, you know-no matter how much training you do, whatever clever stratagem you have-I represent something you will never surpass. Low-class warriors like yourselves have no chance against an elite!" Goku and Raditz both threw close-range punches, and Vegeta caught one in each hand, smiling. "Try harder." The brothers nodded at each other, and attacked. Goku kicked at Vegeta's legs while Raditz swung his elbow at the prince's face. Vegeta caught Goku's foot, but had to leap aside to dodge Raditz's attack, leaving him disorientated. Before he could recover, they appeared in front of him, both punching him in the stomach. He coughed up blood, doubling over, and Raditz kicked him away. Goku appeared behind Vegeta as he hurtled back, but the prince hurled an energy blast, knocking Goku out of his way. Vegeta righted himself, breathing heavily, a vein throbbing angrily on his forehead. "You… dare!"
Piccolo lunged at Nappa, but the saiyan stepped out of the way, painfully wrenching Piccolo's arm and twisting it almost to breaking point. The Namek swivelled around, pulling his arm out of the hold, and fired a full-power energy blast at point-blank range. The explosion vapourised the water for half a mile back, practically deafening Piccolo. "Huh..ah… huh…" he tried to regain his breath, then stared in shock as the smoke cleared. Nappa stood there, almost unharmed-armour chipped in a few places, but essentially unaffected by the attack. One hand was held in front of his face to protect his scouter from damage.
"You know, Vegeta said you were about equal to me." Nappa dusted himself off. "And sure, your power is impressive, but I don't think you have the stamina to keep up."
"Shut up!" Piccolo growled, rushing forwards. Nappa punched him in the chest, stopping his charge, then kicked him into the air, sending him flying clean over the house.
"See? No stamina."
Krillin and Yamcha looked around, but saw no sign of any Saibamen. "Did we get them all?" Krillin asked cautiously.
"I..think so…" Yamcha headed for the door. "Well, let's go check on the others."
"Right." They walked out onto the beach, just in time to see Piccolo flying over their heads. "Well, that can't be good-huh?" Krillin's ki sense warned him slightly too late, and he turned to see the all-too-familiar sight of a leaping Saibaman. Yamcha, too, only saw it as it was almost on them, without time to react. However, inches away from them, it was knocked out of the air and flew into the sea. The human fighters turned to see their saviour.
A small boy with scruffy black hair and a monkey-like tail, wearing an orange martial arts uniform and with a short red staff on his back, stood on the beach next to them. "Leave them alone!" he shouted, launching a barrage of energy waves which crashed into the sea, detonating underwater and engulfing the Saibaman.
"G-Gohan?" Krillin asked, peering at the boy. "That you?"
"Yeah! I remember you!" Gohan smiled. "You're Dad's friends, aren't you?"
"So this is Goku's kid…" Yamcha crouched down. "Thanks for the help, little guy. That thing came pretty close to getting us both."
Gohan nodded. "My mom said I shouldn't be out fighting, or I might get hurt, but I wanted to see! Is… is it okay if I stay here?"
"I guess," Krillin said, shrugging, "but try to stay out of trouble, okay? Those two saiyans are way out of our league."
Vegeta snarled at Goku and Raditz. "You think you're so clever, eh? You're nothing! Just low-class, renegade scum! I am the prince of all saiyans! I cannot lose to the likes of you!"
"All evidence to the contrary," Raditz replied, grinning.
"This will not stand!" Vegeta held his arms out straight to either side, and fire blazed in the palms of his hands. "Remember this technique, Raditz?!" He swung his arms forwards, throwing a volley of fireballs.
"Kakarot, dodge!" Raditz flew to one side, and Goku sped away in the opposite direction. Vegeta kept up his bombardment as they dodged and twisted out of the way. As soon as they were far enough from each other, he stopped firing, and appeared in front of Goku, punching him away, before dashing over to Raditz, faster than their senses could follow and kicking him in the side, his foot raking painfully against Raditz's ribs.
"You see?" He shifted to a low stance as his opponents tried to recover. "Now, in case you still don't comprehend the impossibility of your task, allow me to show you the full power of a saiyan elite!"
Chapter 8: The Warrior from Otherworld
"How d'you think they're doing, guys?" Bulma asked nervously, pacing up and down the room. She was in the Capsule Corp headquarters, where she'd met up with Roshi, Launch, Chi-Chi and Ox-King.
"It's hard to tell…" Roshi muttered. He could sense ki, but the others were all wearing reverse-engineered scouters Bulma had given them. "The news crews are still at the landing site and the destroyed city-they haven't traced the saiyans to Kame House yet, so we can't see what's going on…"
"Well, I don't think any of them have been killed, so there's something." Bulma fiddled with her scouter. "I mean, I measured everyone's power levels while they were training, so the six thousand is Goku and the twelve thousand is Raditz. The two smaller ones are Krillin and Yamcha, and the four and eighteen thousand are the saiyan invaders, 'cause they came from the direction of the destroyed city…" she scratched her head. "So I guess the other four thousand reading must be Piccolo. I never got the chance to scan him-he was way too hard to track down."
"That doesn't explain everything." Launch, still in her blonde/aggressive state, frowned. "I mean, just as the battle started, six little power levels appeared, and then disappeared. Then another one appeared, and it keeps jumping all over the place."
"I'm sure everything will be just fine, you guys." The Ox-King waved a reassuring hand. "They've never let us down before."
Chi-Chi bit her lip. "I don't know… that one saiyan is as strong as Goku and Raditz put together!" She put her head in her hands. "Oh, Goku… come home safe…"
Nappa hovered above Kame House, waiting for Piccolo to resurface from underwater. "Namek… Oh, Namek… come on, big green, I haven't got all day…" No response. "Ah well. First, I'll get this out of the way…" He pointed one finger at Kame House, and it exploded, pieces of charred wood scattering in all directions and sinking into the ocean. "That's better." He dropped to the ground, feet sinking slightly into the sand. The huge saiyan noticed Gohan, Yamcha and Krillin cowering on the beach, and gave a cruel smile. "Oh, I'll get to you-just wait right there. But first, I've got to… huh?" His scouter started beeping frantically. "That must be the Namekian, but… that's some crazy power…"
Piccolo emerged from the sea, two fingers held up in front of his forehead, teeth gritted and sweat pouring down his forehead. "All right, saiyan, let's see you stand up to this!" Electric bolts of light started flaring around his fingertips. "I've concentrated all of my energy into a single point!" Waves of force rolled out from his body. Whole schools of fish were flash-fried as the water around them boiled.
"Bring it on!" Nappa grinned. "I don't think you can sustain such a high-power attack-by the time it hits me, it'll lose most of its energy!"
"If you think so…" Piccolo thrust his arm forward, a beam of yellow, spiralling energy emerging. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" Nappa realised his mistake too late, as the attack shot straight for him faster than he could avoid it.
At the last moment, Vegeta hurled himself down towards Nappa, moving easily at least twice as fast as Piccolo's attack. "DODGE, you imbecile!" He kicked his larger comrade out of the way of the blast, and it sped by, knocking a chunk out of Nappa's armour. Vegeta turned to see Goku and Raditz charging at him. "Hurry up and deal with these pests!" he snarled, launching himself back into the sky.
Nappa turned back to Piccolo-the Namekian was breathing heavily, completely exhausted. "Well," Nappa said, smirking, "you have pretty good energy control. If Vegeta hadn't intervened, I'd have lost my head. Too bad for you. Now," sparks started to build around his body, "my turn. Raaaaah…" The ground shook as Nappa's power built up within him. Piccolo's reactions were still sharp, tired as he was, and he knew he had to attack before his enemy had finished preparing his attack. Piccolo leapt forward, throwing a punch at Nappa's throat, but the saiyan caught it in one hand, and with the other he dealt Piccolo a devastating blow to the side of the head. Piccolo staggered back, clutching at his aching skull.
"Hey, Namek!" Nappa lifted his head, then threw it forwards, a yellow energy beam bursting out of his mouth. "YAAAH!" Piccolo looked up just in time to see the oncoming attack, and the blast hit him full-on. A huge smoke cloud formed, and when it blew away, Piccolo was still standing. At first it appeared he'd survived somehow.
"Damn… you… saiyans…" he growled, then stumbled, fell, and lay still. "I'll… revenge…" He fell silent.
Nappa wiped his mouth. "Hey, not bad! He lasted longer than I expected. Now then," he turned to Yamcha, Krillin and Gohan, still staring at him in shock, "who's next?"
In the air, Vegeta again faced Raditz and Goku, smiling slightly. "My sincerest apologies. I believe before I left I said something about showing you the full extent of my power?"
"Hmph." Raditz didn't see the point. "We get it, you're powerful. Well, we're strong too-why don't we show you?" He raised his guard.
Vegeta grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you are. But nowhere near this !" He spread his limbs outward, then sent out a huge wave of power.
"What the-" Goku shielded himself. "All that energy… it just came out of nowhere!" Storm clouds gathered, and a hurricane-force wind picked up. Tsunami-sized waves flung themselves outwards, and at the centre of the maelstrom hovered the saiyan prince, flinging around massive amounts of energy like it was nothing. Across the sea, whole buildings collapsed as tremors ran through the earth. Abruptly, Vegeta lowered his hands, and the storm died down. Silence fell.
"Now," he asked them, "do you see what you are up against? Now do you realise that it is impossible to overcome such power?"
"Well, uh…" Raditz was visibly shaken. "That is, ah, quite impressive."
"Yeah." Goku had been pushed back by the force of Vegeta's power, and had only just flown back up to him. "I really can't believe this guy…"
"Of course." Vegeta clenched his fists. "I could destroy this whole planet if I wanted to. And now that you know it's futile to fight me… let me make you an offer. Come with me. Rejoin the saiyan race! Think of the worlds we can conquer together! The battles we can fight, the glories we can win! Either of you would serve me much better than Nappa…"
"No way!" Goku gestured down at the planet. "Raditz already made me the same offer-and I've got everything I need right here! What you do is just wrong, no question!"
"Hmm. I expected that from you-you're an Earthling through and through now. One of the 'good guys'." Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "But… how about you, Raditz? I was going to kill you for incompetence, but with such a high power level that'd just be a waste now. You only allied with these lesser beings out of necessity. Join me! Together, we can dispose of this renegade trash Kakarot, cleanse and sell this world, and carve out an empire!"
"Heh… heh heh…" Raditz seemed to be laughing.
"Eh? What's funny?!" The prince growled.
"You know…" Raditz looked up at Vegeta. "You almost had me there. I was seriously considering accepting your offer. But…" His eyes narrowed. "That 'renegade trash' you're talking about is my brother ! You want me to turn on him like that?!" He spread his arms out, building energy and igniting his aura. "Go to hell!"
Nappa advanced slowly towards the two human fighters, who stood shielding Gohan. "Oh, man," Krillin moaned, "that guy just killed Piccolo! We're doomed…"
"Not yet we're not!" Yamcha took a step forwards. "We took those green guys out, and there were six of 'em! I know we can take this one! Let's try our most powerful techniques right off the bat-don't want to take any chances."
"Okay." Krillin nodded to Gohan. "You might want to stay behind us, kid." He put one hand in the air, palm up, as Yamcha held his hand out in front of his face.
"KIENZAN-HAA!"
"Spirit Ball-go!"
The two attacks arced their way towards Nappa, who grinned. His scouter warned him about Krillin's razor-edged disc of ki, so he jumped over it, but he grabbed Yamcha's attack between both hands and-
"Did he just eat my Spirit Ball?" Yamcha asked, incredulous. Nappa landed in front of them.
"Hey, not bad! Anything else you wanna try before you die?" He kicked Krillin in the chest, the short warrior flying away and landing face-down in the sand next to Gohan. Yamcha grimaced.
"All right, that does it! You can't just toss us around like we're some kind of joke! Wolf Fang Fist!" He leapt at Nappa, but the saiyan caught both of his swinging hands, and headbutted him into the ground beside Krillin.
"Apparently I can."
The humans climbed to their feet. "Ow… somebody get the number of that truck…" Yamcha rubbed his head. "All right, we're not finished yet!"
"Right!" Krillin looked at Gohan. "Hey Gohan, did your dad ever teach you the Kamehameha technique?" Gohan nodded anxiously. "All right-think you can try it now? We're both gonna fire, so we want to add all our power together!"
"Right!" Gohan turned to face Nappa, and the three defenders of the Earth cupped their hands by their sides, focusing all their energy into a single point.
"KA… ME… HA… ME…" They all said together.
"Ooh, this should be fun." Nappa stretched his shoulder muscles. "Let's see it!"
"HAAA!" The three blue beams shot at Nappa, meeting just in front of him and colliding with the saiyan brute as one. For a moment, the light from their attack blocked out everything. Then, they began to see movement. Nappa was striding forward through their attack, pushing it back. He kept walking, completely unfazed, until he was standing inches away. Then he just stood still until they finally ran out of energy and their beams faded and died down.
Nappa stood towering above them, smoke rising from his ruined armour, his scouter smashed. "Hey, I almost felt that one." He grabbed Krillin by the head, lifting him clean into the air. "But I'm getting bored now, so I figure it's time to finish this." He effortlessly twisted Krillin's head a hundred and eighty degrees, snapping his neck like a twig. Still smiling, he dumped the body at Yamcha's feet. "You're next, Scar-Face, but I thought I'd give you a minute to soak it up."
Yamcha stood motionless, trying to speak. "N… no… Krillin… y… you…" He shrank back in fear of Nappa. Gohan, now in front of Yamcha, stared down at Krillin's lifeless body. His shoulders shook, and tears rolled down from his eyes. It wasn't that Krillin had been a great friend-he'd only seen him twice in his life-but Gohan had simply never seen anyone die before. " You… YOU KILLED HIM!" It wasn't the most eloquent of battle-cries, but coming from a child of five, it was enough. Gohan charged forward, slamming his shoulder into Nappa's gut. The half-saiyan child jumped up as Nappa doubled over wheezing in pain, smashing both fists into Nappa's face. Nappa howled and staggered backwards, and Gohan kicked him straight back into the water.
"What the…" Yamcha stared in disbelief. "Gohan?!"
Raditz charged at Vegeta, landing a solid punch to the prince's jaw. As Vegeta spun round, Raditz, still in a rage, grabbed him by his hair and smashed Vegeta's face into his knee. Before he could land another blow, Vegeta spun out of his grasp, raining punches on Raditz and knocking him away. Vegeta stood upright in the air. "Well, Raditz, I didn't think you had it in you…" As Raditz was about to reply, Goku interrupted.
"Gohan! What's he doing down there?" He flew down towards the island at full speed. "I've got to get him out of here-" Vegeta intercepted, appearing in front of Goku and kicking him away. "Oh, no you don't." Vegeta laughed a little, noticing Gohan's tail. "So, you've got a son on this planet? Well… let's see how well he does against Nappa, shall we? Your human friends, too." They hovered there, in a stand-off, watching events unfold. But the tension snapped when Krillin died. Goku flew at Vegeta, uncaring of the odds. "KRILLIN!" Raditz charged in after his brother, joining the brutal combat. For every blow they struck, Vegeta would give them two or three each in return. Every time Goku broke away to help his son, the prince blocked his way. "Damn you!" Goku yelled. "Hold on, Gohan!"
Gohan was breathing heavily, almost unable to believe he had just fought like that. But before he could fully recover, Nappa leapt back onto dry land, shaking water off himself like a dog. "Well! The kid's got spirit!" He raised one gigantic fist. "Maybe a little too much…" Gohan trembled in fear.
"Gohan! No!" Goku tried to reach them, but Vegeta knocked him away again, spinning to face Raditz.
Nappa's fist swung downwards-"DODON RAY!" A narrow beam of yellow light slammed into the side of Nappa's face, knocking him flat on his back. Everyone turned in the direction the attack had come from. A bald, three-eyed man stood on the beach, one smoking finger held out in front of him.
"T-Tien?" Goku's face lit up. "Tien! It is you! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! Wow, you must have been hiding your energy real well-none of us even knew you were coming."
Tien's stern expression lightened. "It's good to see you all too. I'm sorry I took so long to get here-it could have been even longer, but luckily I remembered how long it would take me to get back down Snake Way, and left early."
"Uh…" Goku blinked. "Snake in the what now?"
Vegeta stared at the newcomer. This can't be… the human that died defending Raditz? Proof that the Dragon Balls do work, at least…
Nappa pulled himself to his feet. "I'll tell you the whole story later," Tien said, nodding to Goku.
"Why, you…" Nappa rubbed his cheek. "I don't know where you came from, but you're gonna regret that!" He made a grab at Tien, but swung at thin air, stumbling forward. "Hey, what the-" Tien now stood behind him. He ignored Nappa, walking over to Yamcha and Gohan. He noticed Krillin's body.
"Damn it!" He clenched his fists. "I was still too late!"
Yamcha indicated the water where Piccolo's body floated. "He got Piccolo too…"
Tien glared at Nappa. "Which means the Dragon Balls are useless! And even if they weren't, Krillin's already been wished back-it won't work again!" He strode towards the massive saiyan. "You're going to pay for this!"
"Shut up! You're nothing compared to us!" Nappa lashed out, but Tien caught his fist in one hand.
"Well, I can't say much for your speed…" he smiled. "But you look pretty resilient. Beating you could take a while, so I think I'll speed things up a bit."
He shifted to a lower stance, concentrating all his power at once. A flame-red aura blazed into life around him. "KAIOKEN!" Moving even faster than before, he started hammering away at Nappa, easily countering the blundering counterattacks and raining precision strikes all over Nappa's body. After a few seconds the saiyan could take it no more, launching a wave of energy in every direction which staggered Tien back. Tien jumped over Nappa, landing behind him. "All right, I need to finish this-KAIOKEN TIMES TWO!" He became a blur and disappeared. Nappa glanced around frantically, and a fraction of a second later, something impacted with his back. There was an audible crack as his spine gave way, and Nappa toppled to the ground, his face twisted in agony. Tien reappeared in front of him, his red aura fading.
"What the-what was that?" Raditz asked in disbelief. "He was almost as fast as me for a second there-and for a mere human…" Tien floated up next to Goku and Raditz.
"It's a technique King Kai taught me in the Otherworld. The Kaioken-it multiplies my strength, but I have to be careful, or it could damage my body if I use it too much. He said especially to never use it to more than double my power."
"But that's incredible!" Goku laughed. "Using that Kaio-thingy, you've surpassed me! All together, we might have a chance of beating Vegeta!"
Vegeta was speechless. A power high enough to crush Nappa… in a mere human… what was he?! Tien turned his three-eyed gaze on the prince. "Vegeta, right? Hey, Goku, Raditz-why don't you give me a shot at him?" He stepped in front of the saiyan brothers, before turning back for a moment. "Oh, and Raditz-good to see you on our side. You don't have to be like them." He focused back on Vegeta. "Now, you… let me show you the true strength of humanity." Tien was a realist-he'd felt Vegeta's power all the way from Kami's Lookout, and he'd seen him toss around Goku and Raditz like they were amateurs. And because of his Tri-Beam technique, he had experience with pushing his body to the limit, so hopefully he could manage this. Sorry, King Kai… he thought grimly. "KAIOKEN TIMES THREE!" Power exploded around his body, and Tien dashed in, the sudden burst of speed surprising Vegeta. A flurry of punches sent him flying backwards, and Tien spun around behind his opponent.
"Incredible…" Raditz couldn't believe his eyes. "He's more powerful than I am!"
A kick to the stomach sent Vegeta flying, and Tien raced forwards, pressing his advantage. However, Vegeta vanished before Tien's next attack connected. He appeared above Tien, crashing into him with both feet and knocking him away. Tien flipped upright, his aura evaporating.
The prince wiped blood from his face. "You will pay for that, human!" He resumed his stance. "Now, if you're done showing off, I've gotten over my surprise, and even with that boost, It'll still be easy to wipe all three of you from this world!" He flew at his three enemies, and battle re-joined.
Gohan and Yamcha stared up at the high-speed combat. "Wow," Yamcha muttered, "look at 'em go!"
"Can we win?" Gohan asked, wide-eyed.
"I don't know." Yamcha squinted, trying to keep up. "Whatever that attack of Tien's was, it must have drained him, 'cause he's stopped using it. And even with three of 'em, that Vegeta guy's picking them apart. They just can't match his speed…"
At Capsule Corp, everyone was thoroughly confused. "Uh…" Bulma hesitated. "Both of the four thousand power levels have vanished, so I guess one of the saiyans is down, but so is Piccolo…"
"That could be a good thing, y'know," Launch pointed out. "I mean, Piccolo was pretty evil too-he was only fighting for us 'cause he had to."
"Yeah… I guess. Anyway, what worries me is I'm not picking up Krillin's power anymore, and suddenly there's this big new one, which has been jumping up and down-sometimes almost as high as that other saiyan!"
"Oh…" Ox-King shifted nervously. "You don't think Krillin is… is…"
"I just don't know." Bulma sighed. "This far away, if he fell unconscious, or was just really tired, it wouldn't pick him up at all-so it's impossible to tell until the battle is over."
Chi-Chi folded her arms. "Well, I'm just glad I stopped them sending my Gohan out there! Can you imagine my poor little boy fighting aliens at his age? No, it's better if he just keeps up his studies. There are more ways to make the world a better place than fighting, you know."
"Yeah… I guess…" Bulma answered. Not really relevant…
Vegeta grabbed hold of Goku's leg and swung him away into Raditz, sending both saiyans flying away in a tangle of limbs. Tien hung in the air in front of Vegeta, struggling to think past the pain from the beating he'd just taken. "Well, that was quite a dramatic entrance," Vegeta told him, "but I think it's fair to say you haven't quite lived up to the hype. After what you did to Nappa, I was expecting more of a fight… well, I guess you are only a human."
Tien scowled at him. How is it possible for somebody so strong to exist? Even a Kaioken times three didn't faze him… well. I guess there's only one option. He closed his eyes, summoning up his strength, his third eye always remaining open, staring at Vegeta. Goku and Raditz separated, looking over at Tien as steam rose from his body. The ocean started to evaporate beneath him, creating a whirlpool of boiling water. Please, body! He thought. Don't fail me now! "Yaaaah… KAIOKEN… TIMES FOUR!"
On King Kai's planet, the blue-skinned deity's antenna pricked up. "Times WHAT?!"
Goku and Raditz saw only a flash of red as Tien slammed into Vegeta. The human warrior knocked Vegeta back and forth, one way and the other, past them and back again, much faster than their senses could follow. The fighters reappeared mere feet away in front of them, Tien kicking Vegeta away into the air. Tien relaxed, his aura disappearing. Veins stood out all over him. Sweat rolled down his body. He gasped for breath. "Take… that… you overgrown monkey…" Goku steadied his friend.
"Take it easy, Tien! You did great…"
"Hold that thought." Raditz tapped Goku on the shoulder, pointing to Vegeta, who was just starting to recover from Tien's ferocious assault. He hovered shakily in the air, one eye half-closed from a vicious elbow to his forehead. Bruises, cracks in his armour and dripping blood dotted his body.
"I… will not stand for this!" He roared. "I will not be beaten… by you… HUMAN!" He launched himself into the air, coming to a halt several hundred metres above the Earth. "Feel free to dodge this attack! If it hits the ground, it'll destroy your whole planet!"
"What?!" Raditz gasped. "Vegeta, are you insane?! You'll die with us!"
"That… is the difference between us!" Vegeta started to glow with purple energy. "I am a true saiyan! I will sacrifice anything for my pride! What do you know of honour?" He raised his hands next to his head. "GALICK GUN…"
"Kakarot!" Raditz charged energy in both his hands. "Human person! Prepare to deflect his attack!"
"You don't need to tell me!" Goku focused his power. "KA… ME… HA… ME…"
Tien raised his hands. "I don't have much energy left-but I'll give what I have! TRI-BEAM…"
The three warriors released their attacks simultaneously. "HAAAAH!"
Vegeta, seeing the oncoming beam, threw his hands forward. "FIRE!"
Chapter 9: The Last Hope
The gigantic purple beam of energy raced down towards the Earth, only to be met by the opposing attack, a blend of Raditz, Goku and Tien's attacks-red, blue and yellow. The explosion when the two beams collided sent out such massive waves of force the island Kame House had stood on completely sank beneath the waves. Tidal waves of unprecedented scale swept the coasts on all sides of the ocean which the battle was being fought on. News crews, hurrying to track down the aliens, found their helicopters grounded. At Capsule Corp, all the reverse-engineered scouters being used to track the battle exploded simultaneously, unable to handle the massive energy spike. All over the world, delicate scientific instruments scanning for electromagnetic waves suffered fatal malfunctions, sometimes detonating violently.
Goku struggled to keep pushing his ki forward, but maintaining his Kamehameha was an uphill struggle-even with all three of them working together, Vegeta's attack was beginning to push its way downwards-they were losing.
Raditz grinned. "At least I'll die… knowing I was right about just how conceited… this guy is…"
"Huh? What's that?" Goku found it difficult to concentrate on Raditz talking, with all the effort he was putting into his blast, but he tried to focus.
"'Galick Gun'… Galick was a great saiyan hero… he claimed to be descended from… the Super Saiyan… I can't believe Vegeta has the nerve… to compare himself with such a great warrior…" The three fighters started to sink lower in the air, trying to use as little ki as possible to fly, to put more into the struggle.
"Super… Saiyan?"
"I'll have to… tell you that one… in the next world…" Raditz turned back to face upwards, focusing on staying alive as long as possible. Goku grimaced. There didn't seem to be anything they could do-if they dodged out of the way, the Earth would be destroyed. "Tien!" Goku shouted. "Any chance you could… try that Kaio-whatever?"
"I don't think so!" Tien shouted back over the roar of Vegeta's steadily-approaching attack. "I've already pushed it way past the limit-my body has barely enough energy left to sustain this Tri-Beam as it is! I don't think I could do even the basic level Kaioken…"
"I know this is asking a lot of you, Tien, but you have to try! We'll all die anyway if you don't!"
"I… I don't know… it's too much…"
"Tien! Do you want Earth to be destroyed or what?!" Goku's eyes narrowed. He knew it sounded harsh, but it was the only way they could win. "Everyone will die! Chiaotzu! Do you want that for Chiaotzu? Does he deserve that?!"
Tien took a deep breath. All three of his eyes closed-a rare sight. He reached deep inside himself, summoning the last of his strength. "SAIYAN!" He yelled up at Vegeta. He didn't know if the prince could hear him, and he didn't care. "Even if it kills me… I can't let you win! YAAAAH!" The familiar flame-red aura exploded to life around him. The veins on his neck and forehead bulged angrily.
"We're with you, Tien!" Goku reassured him, redoubling his own efforts.
"Hurry up!" Raditz muttered shakily.
"KAIOKEN! TIMES! THREE!" There was a furious roar as power flooded out of Tien, pouring up into the combined beam and colliding with Vegeta's at full force.
Vegeta was grinning, almost laughing-at last, he'd created a situation these fools couldn't escape from. It was their planet or themselves, and of course they chose to die like heroes. "This is the end for all of you! There's nothing you can do now! Nothing left to… to… what is-" The colossal energy wave crashed into Vegeta, flinging him away into the sky, with one final scream of rage.
Tien collapsed, almost unconscious, and Goku caught him, holding his friend up in the air. "That was awesome! Nice work, Tien!" Tien gasped, drawing in ragged breaths as his muscles burned from the strain he'd put himself through.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" Raditz folded his arms, staring up at the sky. "… But I don't think that killed him."
"Are you serious?!" Goku's eyes widened in shock. "After that ? Nobody could have survived it!"
"Vegeta could." Raditz scanned the sky above him for some sign of their enemy. "Never underestimate someone like that. But… he may be getting desperate…"
Vegeta hung in the air miles above, battered and bruised, smoke rising from small burns all over his body. "This… cannot be happening! I am the prince of my race! I should be able to crush this entire world! And yet these low-class warriors and this Earthling resist me!" His whole body shook with anger. "How can they? How… how dare they?! What right do they have to stand in my way? If I claim this world, they should obey me!" He hurled himself off through the air. "I WILL be immortal! I just need to find this world's moon…" Several minutes of searching yielded nothing. "What the… where is it? You can't just hide a damn moon!"
Raditz spun around as his ki sense flared up. "Here he comes!" Goku, still holding up Tien, turned in the direction Raditz was looking. "That's him all right… he's not gonna be happy… hey Tien, I think I'm going to have to fight. Can you fly on your own?" Goku looked down at the sea. "Otherwise you might have to swim…"
"I'll try…" Tien pushed away, holding himself in the air-a little shaky, but it was enough. "Okay… I can't fight, but I can hang here under my own power and leave you free…"
"All right. Raditz-you ready?"
"I don't think I've ever been ready to fight someone like Vegeta…" Raditz muttered.
Vegeta came to a halt in front of them. "I bet you're feeling pretty good about this battle right now. And maybe you thought destroying the moon would stop me transforming."
Goku took a second to realise what he was talking about. "Oh… that was Piccolo…"
"I don't care who it was! The point is…" he thrust one hand upwards, producing a pure-white ball of light. "… you haven't stopped me! This technique creates an artificial moon, which means nothing's changed! Once I transform, you're all going to die! Oh, and I wouldn't look too closely at it if I were you…" he grinned. "Only high-class fighters like myself have learned to control this form, so if you transformed you'd attack friend and foe alike-you wouldn't be helping your friends at all." The ball of light hovered in the air, and Vegeta stared up at it. "This battle is over!"
"His transformation will take a few seconds, right?" Goku frowned. Raditz had told him all about the saiyan transformation. "We've gotta think of something, or he'll kill us all!" Vegeta began to grow, reaching double his normal size in under a second.
Raditz glanced down at Gohan and Yamcha, staring up at the battle above. He remembered just in time-Gohan was part saiyan, too! "Gohan! Don't look up! Keep your head down-Vegeta's made an artificial moon, and you'll transform if you look!" Fur began to sprout all over Vegeta's body, and his face lengthened out into a snout.
"Right!" Gohan turned his gaze down to the ocean. "Hey Yamcha-I can't look at it, so will you tell me what's going on up there?"
Yamcha nodded. "Sure thing, kid."
Tien spoke up. "Goku, Raditz… there's something I could try. The other technique King Kai taught me-the Spirit Bomb."
"What's that?" Goku asked.
"It uses energy gathered from the entire world-every living thing, even the planet itself-to make an extremely powerful attack. I don't know if it'd stop Vegeta, but it's worth a shot."
"Then do it! Anything's worth a try if it'll help us win!" Raditz grinned. "We might have a chance!"
Tien stretched his hands out upwards, calming his mind. "The problem is, I'll need time to gather all the planet's energy, and I don't think we have much-uh… I think he's done…" Tien pointed, and the others looked around. Vegeta had finished his transformation, and was looking down at them with an evil grin.
"Now what will you do, insects?" He rumbled.
"Tien!" Raditz stared straight into the artificial moon. "You'll have your time! I'll hold Vegeta off!"
"But it's like he said-you won't be able to control yourself!" Goku started to panic. "How will you know who to attack?"
"The driving thought in my mind for the past year…" Raditz said, through gritted teeth which were already lengthening into fangs, "has been to beat Vegeta. Hopefully it's a strong enough drive to at least direct my anger when I transform… rgh…" He, too, began to grow, within ten seconds becoming a second gigantic monkey-like beast. "Raaagh!" Raditz's eyes narrowed, and he hurled himself at Vegeta.
"What?" Vegeta raised his massive arm to block the first thundering blow. "How is that…"
"He does remember!" Goku grinned. "Tien, how are you doing?"
"It'll take a couple of minutes, but I'm getting there." Tien smiled. "I hadn't realised how much energy this planet has-the Spirit Bomb will take care of Vegeta for sure!"
"All right… I just have to take care of something." Goku flew down to Gohan and Yamcha. "Hey, guys."
"This is intense!" Yamcha was still staring as Vegeta grappled with Raditz. "They've turned into giant apes!"
"Well, apes don't have tails…" Gohan pointed out.
"Oh, right." Yamcha rubbed the back of his head. "I knew that."
Goku put a hand on each of their shoulders. "You've both been really brave-thanks for all your help. But it's too dangerous here. I can't let my son get caught up in a battle like this. And Yamcha, I need you to look after Gohan. Will you do that for me?"
Yamcha laughed. "No need to hide it, Goku-this battle is far beyond me. You're just trying to be nice. But sure, I'll watch Gohan. C'mon," he said to Gohan, "let's get you back home. With any luck, your mom will never know you were gone!"
"Right…" Gohan took something off his back-a short red staff. He held it out to his father. "Take this, dad! I found it in your room at home, and it made me feel braver…'cause it reminded me of you…"
Goku took it. "My old Power Pole, huh?" It grew slightly longer to accommodate its larger wielder. "Thanks! Why don't I use it-to remind me of you!" He whirled the weapon around a bit. "It's been a while, huh?"
"Well, let's get going," Yamcha said. He and Gohan took off, heading for land.
Goku flew back up to Tien. "How's Raditz doing?" he asked.
"Not great." Tien indicated the transformed saiyans, trading blows which vibrated in the two onlookers' bones. "He's putting up a good fight, but Vegeta clearly has the advantage."
"I expected that," Goku replied. "Raditz told me that a saiyan gets ten times stronger when they transform-so since Vegeta started out more powerful, he's going to stay that way. Plus, having full control over the form lets Vegeta use his skill more efficiently-he's still able to plan and fight like an intelligent being."
"I think Raditz knew he'd lose…" Tien started to glow faintly with white light as he gathered energy from the planet. "He never planned to do anything more than buy me time for the Spirit Bomb… it's taking much longer to gather than I thought!" He grimaced. "I spent too much time practicing the Kaioken! It helped earlier, when I used it up to times four, but here it might mean my Spirit Bomb isn't finished in time, and Vegeta kills us all!"
Goku turned back to the battle. "Come on, Raditz… hold on a little longer…"
Vegeta sidestepped Raditz's lunge and grabbed the other saiyan's arm in both monstrous hands. He cruelly twisted it around, feeling the bones underneath snap under the pressure. Raditz howled and broke away, his arm hanging loose. Without warning, he shot a massive energy wave from his mouth which bowled Vegeta over. Raditz leapt after his enemy, but Vegeta caught him in mid-flight with his foot, then hammered both fists into Raditz's chest, ribs cracking with the force of the impact. Vegeta grinned, kicking Raditz down into the sea. After the massive impact of the monster hitting the water, there was nothing. The sea died down, and no movement came from underneath. Vegeta turned to the other two-they would be even easier to kill. Maybe he'd make Kakarot tell him how to find the Dragon Balls before killing him. Maybe not-there were bound to be others on this planet who knew.
"Damn!" Tien moaned. "Raditz is down, and I still need a little more time…"
"I don't think I can buy you more than a few seconds…" Goku tried to come up with a plan as Vegeta slowly approached.
"You've cause me a lot of trouble, Earthlings…" Vegeta growled. "But finally, I'm rid of you!" He opened his mouth, and a purple glow came from within as he prepared to fire an energy beam.
"Oh, that's not good…" Goku put himself in front of Tien-maybe he could shield his friend from the attack.
Vegeta roared, throwing his head forwards, but just as the beam was about to leave his mouth, he froze. Silence fell for several seconds, then was broken by a huge splashing sound-Vegeta's severed tail, hitting the water. "Ah… no… what… what did you…" Vegeta shrunk as quickly as he'd grown, his bestial appearance fading until he'd returned to normal. "No! Damn you… who could have…" he turned to face his attacker, to see a short figure, hovering in the air, holding a sword.
Goku and Tien gaped at the sight. "That looks like Yaijerobe's sword, but… that's not him…" Tien muttered.
"No, it's… it's…" Goku did a double take. " Gohan ?!"
Gohan stood facing Vegeta, a determined expression on his face. Vegeta looked down at the child with a mixture of confusion and hatred. "How did you… you can't…" he tripped over his words in shock.
"My Uncle Raditz told me, if you cut a saiyan's tail off, they can't transform!" Gohan replied to Vegeta's half-spoken question. "And I couldn't leave him and my dad to fight you on their own-I knew I had to help them!" He leapt at Vegeta, swinging the sword, but the prince had got over his disorientation upon losing his tail, and kicked Gohan away.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Yamcha shouted, hovering between Vegeta and Gohan.
"Get out of my way!" Vegeta launched an invisible kiai of energy, launching the two of them backwards. "I'm not here to fight children and Earthlings. That's what I had Nappa for." But, he thought, for the loss of his tail, he'd be back for the half-breed when he was done with the real fighters.
Goku appeared behind him. "Had? Tien didn't kill him, you know." Vegeta turned to face him.
"Ah, Kakarot. Back for more, I see." He smiled. "And actually, we all killed him. He was lying on the island-which, if you remember, sunk into the ocean when I launched my Galick Gun! It's been far too long for him not to have drowned-though Raditz might still be alive, he hasn't been under long…"
Goku, reminded of Raditz's predicament, pointed down at the sea. "Yamcha! Go get Raditz and pull him back up, or he'll drown!"
"But he's grown so large…" Yamcha shrugged. "I don't think I could lift him…"
"Then take the sword from Gohan and cut Raditz's tail off! Hurry!" Goku yelled. Yamcha did as he was told, diving under the water. "Gohan, guard Tien." Goku readied his Power Pole. "I'll take care of Vegeta." He wondered how Gohan had got hold of Yaijerobe's sword anyway-he'd have to ask him later. There were more important things to worry about now.
The two saiyans stared each other down. "What makes you think you can fight me, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked. "Tell me where the Dragon Balls are and I might kill you quickly and cleanly!"
"We've been through this!" Goku answered. "I don't care how powerful you are, I'm not giving up!" A thought occurred to him. "Although… if you want to go home now, feel free."
"Huh? You want me to run away-on the brink of victory?"
"Actually, you've already lost. The Dragon Balls were created by a being called Kami-and he's linked to Piccolo, the Namekian you killed."
"What?"
"If Piccolo dies, Kami dies. And if Kami dies, the Dragon Balls cease to exist!"
"WHAT?!"
Goku smiled. "So you may as well go. There's nothing to fight for anymore. Leave this planet in peace!"
"Nothing, you say?" Vegeta clenched his fists. "I have my honour to fight for! I can't let myself be humiliated by low-class scum like you and Raditz-much less these humans! Besides, if it's Namekians that can create Dragon Balls, I'll just go to their home planet of Namek when I'm done here-and make myself immortal there! And in the meantime, that makes you and all your friends useless to me!" He charged at Goku. "Prepare yourself!"
Chapter 10: Vegeta's Assault
Vegeta struck the first blow, his fist crashing into Goku's head and knocking him back. Goku recovered his senses and dodged to the left to avoid Vegeta's next attack, and swung his Power Pole at the back of his opponent's neck. Vegeta caught the weapon in mid-swing, twisting around to face Goku. He was not, however, aware of the Pole's unique property, and was now holding it in front of his face.
"Power Pole extend!" Goku shouted, and it grew in length in an instant, the end crashing into Vegeta's face and causing him to let go, staggering away. Goku followed up with a kick to the side, which Vegeta batted away with an uncoordinated swing of his hand, only just avoiding another hit due to the pain in his face. "Damn it… Kakarot… I'll crush you, just like Raditz! Your power is-" He was interrupted as Goku moved to the attack again, fending off a volley of feet, fists, and strikes with the Power Pole.
"You're injured now, Vegeta!" Goku answered, gritting his teeth in intense focus-one mistake and the prince's superior strength would give him the upper hand again. "And you're slowing down. Looks like all of us working together is too much for you." And, he added in his mind, while I probably won't win in the long run, I don't have to. I just need to last long enough for Tien to gather energy for the Spirit Bomb.
Vegeta broke away, flying around behind Goku, the renegade saiyan turning to face him. The battle resumed, with Vegeta on the offensive now. After a few seconds of perfectly-timed strikes and blocks, one of Vegeta's attacks got through Goku's guard, knocking the wind out of him. Vegeta grabbed Goku by the shoulders and started flying straight down towards the ground. "Hey, Kakarot! Ever wanted to see the ocean floor up-close? Only, without all that irritating water to soften the landing…" He narrowed his eyes, using the force of his ki to push all the water for miles around out of his way, leaving the surrounding seafloor empty for several minutes.
Damn it! Goku struggled in Vegeta's grip. This is gonna hurt… "NIMBUS!" He yelled in desperation. Come on, get here in time… The fighters hurtled towards the floor, but mere metres from impact a golden cloud swooped by, carrying Goku off to the side. Vegeta, surprised by the sudden interference, tumbled head over heels through the air, and Goku took advantage of the distraction, appearing to his left and landing a devastating blow to Vegeta's stomach. The prince bent double, gasping for breath.
Goku prepared to deliver the final blow, but discovered too late that Vegeta was only faking incapacitation, as the evil saiyan stood up straight, blasting Goku at point-blank range with a quick two-handed energy blast. Goku flew away, eventually slowing himself to a halt. "Well, that wasn't very nice," he said, smirking.
"I seriously hope you're being sarcastic… that would be a whole new level of stupidity, even for you," Vegeta growled.
"Shall we continue?" Goku raised his Power Pole.
"Allow me!" Vegeta leapt back into battle. Goku ducked straight under his lunge, slinging his Pole on his back, and came back up behind Vegeta, who immediately turned to face him, lashing out with both hands. Goku twisted to the side, dodging between the punches, and raised his hands to his face. "SOLAR FLARE!" To his surprise, Vegeta carried on moving through the light, grabbed Goku by his shirt, and headbutted him in the middle of his face. Goku fell away, clutching at his face.
"You know," Vegeta gloated, "it's almost as if I was listening in on a fight when you used that exact attack! And to work out I should close my eyes would require, ooh, average intelligence-you wouldn't know anything about that, of course."
Goku hadn't quite recovered when Vegeta barrelled into him, his fists, feet, elbows and knees finding their targets with cruel precision. Already injured as he was, Goku couldn't stand more than a minute or two under the onslaught, and soon his defenses dropped. Vegeta held up his limp body and rammed home a few more punches for good measure. Then he hurled Goku towards the shore with all his strength. "Drowning's too good for you, after the shame you've caused me. I'll finish you later-slowly, and one piece at a time." He turned to the other still-standing fighters-Tien was hovering with his hands in the air, a brilliant light surrounding his body, and Yamcha and Gohan floated in front of him, facing Vegeta in combat-ready stances.
Completely out of the blue, Vegeta felt something-like a tingling in his mind. "What? Did I… yes, it must be starting to work… I knew I could replicate their ability to sense energy without a scouter… but I haven't mastered it at all, so for me to sense anything would require an…" He stared at Tien, still glowing with energy. "… an… enormous power… they were stalling for time! Damn it all!" He shot forward at full speed, rocketing for the three fighters. Yamcha was first to intercept, but Vegeta flung him aside like a rag-doll. Gohan was faster than expected-he dodged over Vegeta's first strike, and started furiously attacking. "Stop hurting my daddy!" he bawled, as Vegeta struggled to fend of a hurricane of tiny fists and feet. Finally, Gohan overreached an attack, and Vegeta slammed his knee into the child's gut, then smacked him out of the way.
"And now… !" He dashed over to Tien, holding his neck with one hand and crashing the other fist into the human's jaw, again and again, each strike punctuating a word. "Never! Never! Never be beaten by a lesser being like you!" His anger was reaching its peak, and he snarled like a rabid beast, holding Tien's barely conscious body. "What will you do now?! You can't launch your attack like that!"
Tien coughed, blood spraying into Vegeta's face. "Just… ask yourself… why am I not glowing anymore?" Time seemed to stop. Vegeta's face froze in horror, as he heard the movement behind him too late. He spun around, ready to lash out, but stopped in bewilderment, seeing another Tien behind him. This one held a blindingly white ball of energy in one hand, and was flying straight at him.
Tien rammed the Spirit Bomb right into Vegeta's chest, and let go.
The detonation blinded Tien, Gohan and Yamcha for a full ten seconds. When they could see again, Vegeta was gone, and Tien had merged back into one person, somewhat less injured that the one Vegeta had beaten up, but still extremely tired and worn.
"D-did we win?" Yamcha asked, hesitating in case Vegeta came back for another round.
"I think so." Tien smiled. "We did it, guys! Now, let's go pick up Goku and head home!"
Yamcha nodded. "Come on, Gohan. Let's tell your dad we've won."
"Right!" Gohan flew off towards where Goku had landed, on the shore to the west, touched down and ran up to him. "Daddy! Daddy!" Goku looked up, his face lighting up when he saw his son.
"Gohan! You're okay! And Tien and Yamcha, too!" He added, noticing the humans following Gohan. "I'm so proud of you, son." Father and son embraced, and for a moment, all seemed well. "How did you get Yaijerobe's sword, anyway?" He asked. "And where is it now?"
"Well, right about when I decided to come back and help, Yaijerobe came driving up-I guess he wanted to fight too. But as soon as he saw Vegeta as that monster, he turned right back around and left. I made him give me the sword, though-and when Yamcha hid Raditz somewhere safe, he left it there with-
"AAH!" Came the guttural cry from over to the right. Everyone looked around.
"Oh, no way!" Yamcha shivered in fear. "Over there, up the beach… don't tell me that's…"
"Vegeta survived," Tien said grimly. "I knew I should have spent more time practising the Spirit Bomb! And of course, it hit him from the side, knocking him in this direction…" He trudged over towards Vegeta, who was pulling himself up on his hands and knees. Yamcha followed Tien, telling Gohan, "Wait here with Goku, no matter what." Gohan nodded silently.
The human warriors approached their defeated enemy, as he rolled to a sitting position, retrieving a remote control from inside his armour. "Heh… still intact… guess the armour is good for something after all…" he tapped a button, scowling when he saw Tien and Yamcha approaching. "Stay back! Stay away from me!" His attack pod streaked out of the sky, landing a few feet away, and he started crawling towards it.
"You've caused enough pain!" Tien nodded. "Yamcha, I don't have much energy left… can you…?"
"I got it." Yamcha raised a hand, a pulsing ball of energy forming in his palm. He prepared to fire it into Vegeta's skull. "End of the road, saiyan!"
"Wait!" Goku's voice was shaky, but strong enough to carry along the beach. "Don't do it!"
"Goku?!" Yamcha hesitated. "You'd better have a damn good reason for this!"
"Please, don't kill him." Goku remained determined. "It's not right-not like this. To kill an enemy in battle, to defeat them when there's no other way, is one thing… to shoot them in the back as they flee in defeat, that makes you no better than Vegeta."
"I-I'm sorry, Goku!" Yamcha sniffed, raising his hand again as Vegeta reached the open door of his ship. "I hate disagreeing with you, but he's killed so many people-I can't let him escape!"
" Yamcha! " Goku yelled. "I'm a saiyan too, remember! And despite that, I'd never kill an innocent person! He might not show it, but Raditz has changed too! If the most vicious race in the universe can show compassion, why can't humans?! And who's to say he can't change too? Raditz was just like him when he came to Earth!"
Tears were rolling down Yamcha's face. He hated himself for arguing with his best friend, but he couldn't let go of his convictions, and his conscience stood on a knife-edge. His hand wavered in the air. "I… I don't know…"
"Yamcha, if you kill that man, I will never forgive you! " Nobody seemed to know where that had come from. Goku never got angry with his friends-his saiyan side was showing itself. Yamcha collapsed, the mental strain overwhelming him. Everyone watched in silence as Vegeta pulled himself into his ship, the door closing behind him. "You… haven't seen the last of me… scum…" he hissed through bruised lips and shattered teeth. The ship took off, and as it had almost left the atmosphere Yamcha released his energy blast-just as a warning shot, and partially a stress reliever, but it cut a little close and grazed the side of Vegeta's ship, sending it spiralling off course as it shot off into space.
Everyone relaxed, the threat to Earth finally ended. "It's over…" Tien sighed. "Finally, it's over."
Shortly afterwards, Yamcha (after retrieving Raditz from further inland and laying him with the others) went and told the group at Capsule Corp that the battle was finished, and shuffling his feet whenever he told them of a death, he recounted the events of the day. They flew over in Bulma's spacious hovertruck, immediately charging out to see their friends and family. Chi-Chi learnt that Gohan had been fighting, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth (and much leaping for cover).
The injured were taken to the hospital, where the doctors agreed not to ask any questions and give them privacy when they were talking.
"I still can't get over both Krillin and Piccolo dying…" Goku said the next morning. Everyone was gathered around the hospital beds where Goku and Raditz lay, having taken the worst beatings from Vegeta.
"It was the second time for Krillin, the poor man…" Roshi added. "And I'll miss the Dragon Balls, too-without Piccolo and Kami to sustain them, they're useless… and that means all the people who died when they blew up that city are gone too."
"Idiots." Raditz's eyes opened for the first time in hours. "Am I the only one who was paying attention to Vegeta and Nappa? Piccolo and Kami were members of a race called Namekians."
"Uh…" Came the chorus from the rest of the room, and met with a wall of blank stares, Raditz groaned.
"Look, somewhere out there is a whole planet of beings with the ability to create Dragon Balls!" He would have slapped his forehead in exasparation, but both his arms were heavily bandaged, and in fact it hurt to move just about any part of his body. "If you really want to wish them back, just go to planet Namek and use the ones there!"
"But…" Launch, timid at the moment, scratched her head. "How would we get all the way to outer space?"
"I don't know!" Raditz shut his eyes again. "I've had my bright idea for the day, now I'm going back to sleep, if you don't mind!"
"That's all right, you sleep now…" Launch went to pat his shoulder, remembering just in time how painful the contact would be.
"Well, as it happens," Bulma said with a grin, holding up a remote control, "I have an idea about that."
Unfortunately, the remote control was a little damaged, and-as the news report of the government team investigating Nappa's ship so helpfully showed-as soon as Bulma attempted to activate the ship, it set off the self-destruct, obliterating it. Everyone stared in shocked silence.
"Cheer up, all! A solution has presented itself!" Someone appeared silhouetted in the doorway-a tall man smoking a cigarette and wearing a white lab coat, with blue-grey hair and a large moustache.
"Dad? What is it?" Bulma asked as Dr. Brief entered the room. He smiled.
"Well, according to Raditz, Goku would have destroyed the ship he arrived on Earth in, correct?" Scattered nods. "Well, Master Roshi told me a story while you were all staying at Capsule Corp, Roshi told me an interesting story, told to him by Goku's adoptive grandfather Gohan…"
"Huh? My Grandpa?" Goku looked over at Roshi and Dr. Brief. "What did he tell you?"
"Apparently," Dr. Brief continued, "Gohan found Goku while out walking in the woods-and here's the bit Roshi told me almost without thinking, or realising its significance- he found him in some sort of strange craft . It wasn't until after he'd taken the child home he learnt of his nocturnal transformation."
"Then that means…" Tien grinned. "Goku's ship is still here, on Earth-Gohan must have found him before he ever transformed. We can use that to get to Namek!"
"Indeed." Dr. Brief nodded. "However, it's a small ship-it could only fit one of you, two at a stretch I suppose… and anyway, it's sat there for years, hatch open, at the mercy of the elements. It's not ready anytime soon. I can solve both problems-repair and expand the thing-but unfortunately it'll take weeks, or even months."
"And Vegeta will be heading to Namek as soon as he's healed…" Goku frowned. "If we have to wait for months, he'll beat us there. There has to be a way of getting into space quicker!"
"You need a space-ship, I hear?" Came a polite voice from the window. Heads swivelled to see Mr. Popo, hovering on his flying carpet just outside the window. "I might be able to help."
Preparations for the journey to Namek went quickly, once Bulma had confirmed that the ship Mr. Popo had found-Kami's old ship-was still functioning. Bulma was the obvious choice to pilot the ship-Dr. Brief needed to stay on Earth to work on Goku's ship, and besides, no force on Earth could move the good doctor or his wife from their home in Capsule Corporation. Tien and Yamcha, as the two fighters not still incapacitated after a few days, volunteered-some powerful warriors would be necessary when heading off into the unkown. Gohan, feeling responsible for ensuring the return to life of all those the saiyans had killed, also volunteered, and despite firm resistance from Chi-Chi, he stubbornly refused to change his mind. Raditz, pretending to be asleep, smiled when he heard Gohan stand up to his mother. Goku was also smiling, but that was because he really was asleep, dreaming about a martial arts tournament with a built-in all-you-can-eat buffet.
The day they set out was an emotional one-Bulma wasn't too bothered about saying goodbye to her family (she'd been on long journeys before) but Gohan spent a long time on farewells, first in the hospital (tearful final words with Goku and a vaguely acknowledging grunt from Raditz), then with his mother as he was about to board Kami's ship. Tien gave a final wave to Chiaotzu as the hatch closed, then the engines thundered to life and they were off.
Chapter 11: Deal with the Devil
Vegeta awoke to blaring sirens. " Warning-impact to hull has sent ship off-course-warning-set destination untenable-rerouting course for closest controlled world within new trajectory parameters, Frieza Planet 325. ETA three days. " The computer fell silent, and Vegeta tried to go back to sleep. It must have been that human's energy blast as he left. But it didn't matter. He'd get back to a Frieza-controlled world, and from there… to Namek.
"All right everyone, strap yourselves in-we're here!" Yamcha, Gohan and Tien scrambled for their seats as Bulma engaged the visual display. Planet Namek filled the screen, growing larger by the second. The ship shook as it passed through the atmosphere, swooped down over the ground, then touched down, less than gracefully.
"We made it!" Yamcha said, grinning as he leapt out of his seat. Ignoring Bulma's warnings about the atmosphere, the gravity, and so on, they climbed down out of the ship and walked out on to the planet's surface. "So… this is planet Namek, huh?" Tien asked, gazing around at the blue-tinted vegetation and the small islands that dotted the planet, with no major landmasses like Earth's continents.
"I can't believe I'm actually standing on another planet…" Yamcha stood next to Tien, Gohan slightly behind them and Bulma running to catch up. "Well, I guess we'd better start right away. Bulma-you got the radar?"
"Sure thing," she replied, smiling as she activated the small device. Bulma was still wearing a scouter, having taken several spares on the ship. "Man, hunting for Dragon Balls-this brings back memories." She pressed the main button on the dragon radar, and several blinking dots appeared. "Hey, it works! Let's see… four of them are in one place… the other three scattered across the planet. We should-" Her scouter beeped, right as the others looked around, warned by their ki senses. Two humanoid creatures stood on a rock face above them.
"Uh…" Yamcha stared at the newcomers. "Those guys are wearing armour like the saiyans!"
"But saiyans they're not-don't look Namekian either," Tien added. One had blue skin and small horns on his forehead, the other was purple-skinned and reptilian. "Whoever they are, they've got weapons and armour, so let's just hope it's not us they're going to pick a fight with."
One of the aliens laughed. "You picked the wrong planet to land on, with pathetic power levels like that! Hey, Sui, let's give 'em a scare!"
"Sounds good," the other replied. He raised his arm-mounted weapon, which fired a blue beam of energy that crashed into their ship, blowing a hole into one side and out the other.
"Our ship!" Bulma shrieked. "How are we gonna get home now?!"
"Hey!" Yamcha flew up towards the aliens. "Tien, Gohan, let me handle this."
"If you say so." Tien nodded.
Yamcha scowled at the aliens. "That was not smart. Start running or I break you in two."
"Ah, shut him up!" One of the aliens ordered the other. They raised their blasters and fired, the beams detonating violently on impact. "Hah! Stupid tourist, should have at least tried to dodge-" Yamcha, completely unharmed, appeared inches away from them.
"Shoot me again! Go on! See what happens!" He flexed his muscles, and the aliens turned to run. Moving faster than their eyes could follow, he intercepted them, quick targeted blows knocking them unconscious. He jumped back down to the others, smiling with self-satisfaction. "They'll be out for a day or so. Not bad, huh?"
"Not bad? NOT BAD?!" Bulma stomped up to him.
"Oh, here we go…"
"The ship! Has! A hole in it! We are stuck here ! On this planet! With no way home! Why didn't you stop them before that happened, huh, Mr. Big Brave Warrior?!"
"They… they didn't seem like much of a threat at first…"
" They had space guns !" And so it went, for quite a while.
Goku and Raditz, still recovering, often found themselves on their own for hours at a time, and as boredom set in (in the younger brother's case, this didn't take long) Goku started asking Raditz about the saiyan race.
"What were they like?" he asked first. "It's hard to imagine a whole planet full of us."
Raditz nodded. "It was wonderful, while it lasted. A life of battle, of conquest-everything our kind lives for. The only downside… our victories were not ours alone. We served another… the tyrant… Frieza!"
"Frieza? Who's that?" Goku started paying more attention. "What kind of hold did he have on us, to make an entire planet of warriors his servants?"
"The only thing a saiyan respects-power." Raditz frowned. "Frieza is the most powerful being in the universe. Remember how Vegeta had to summon up all his energy and push himself to the limit to produce an attack with enough power to destroy the planet? Frieza could do that with the merest flick of a finger. There is no being alive that can defeat Frieza. Even if all of our armies had risen against him in unison, millions and millions of the galaxy's finest warriors, he could have killed them without any effort."
"That doesn't sound good… there's someone out there far more powerful than Vegeta…"
"Right. Now you see how he so easily enslaved us. Vegeta was always talking about how he'd keep fighting and fighting and get stronger while Frieza sat around doing nothing, and one day Vegeta would become the strongest in the universe and defeat Frieza once and for all." He chuckled. "Personally, I think he's crazy. I've never seen a being with even a tenth of Frieza's power. It's impossible."
"Don't say that!" Goku sat up a little. "Anything's possible-you just have to work hard for it. A year ago, I would have said it was impossible for us to get strong enough to fight Vegeta, but we won the battle! He had to run away!"
"You're wrong." Raditz's face darkened. "Frieza is completely unlike Vegeta. There is no fighting him. But Vegeta would always insist, one day, he'd do it. He'd become the Super Saiyan, and free us from the tyrant. Of course, since a meteor destroyed our home planet, there aren't many of us left to free-less since Nappa died."
"There's that phrase again." Goku raised an eyebrow. "Super Saiyan. What is that?"
Raditz sighed. "Well, according to legend, a thousand years ago, on the original home planet of the saiyans, a demigod emerged. A golden warrior, who could only control his power in his transformed state. But his anger, and his power, were too great to control, and he destroyed our home planet-and himself. Some saiyans escaped, to the planet Plant, which after we conquered it many centuries later, we named Vegeta-after the warrior who led us to victory, the father of the Vegeta you and I fought."
"Wow… and Vegeta thinks he can become this Super Saiyan? Would he be able to beat Frieza then?"
"It's just an old story! It doesn't mean anything! Goodnight!" Raditz rolled over and pretended to go to sleep.
"Well, it looks safe," Tien said, indicating the cave in front of them, "and we'll need somewhere to sleep tonight, so come on in."
"All right. I'll set up the capsule house and-" Another scouter alert, and Bulma went pale. "Guys, I think we should get inside right now !" The four travellers scrambled into the cave, getting inside just in time to avoid a large group of assorted aliens which shot past through the air at incredible speed.
"That… can't be good…" Yamcha muttered, breathing out once they'd passed.
"I know what you mean." Tien wiped his forehead. "Some of those guys must have been as strong as Vegeta…"
"And that guy in the middle!" Gohan was trembling. "He was unbelievably strong! He made Vegeta look like nothing!"
"I'm afraid the news just gets worse…" Bulma indicated the dragon radar. "Those guys have got the four Dragon Balls with them! What do we do? There's no way we can beat people like that!" She trembled a little. "We owe it to all the people the saiyans killed, but how are we going to make our wish with these people around?"
"We'll find a way." Tien nodded to Yamcha and Gohan. "Let's follow them discreetly. Sorry, Bulma, but you can't move fast enough."
"I'll have a Capsule House waiting in here for you guys," Bulma replied, starting to unpack her bag. "You come back safe."
"Will do!" Yamcha gave a thumbs-up. "Let's go, guys!" The three of them took off, moving in a strange hopping semi-flight to suppress their power. The group they were following seemed to have stopped; there was that at least.
Only a few minutes later, the three of them were lying in hiding on a ledge overlooking a Namekian village. But judging by the state of Gohan's temper, they weren't going to be in hiding for very long. The Namekians were being uncooperative and refusing to give Frieza their Dragon Ball-and the tyrant, in a typical display of his short temper, was having them killed one by one. Finally, when one of the two fleeing children was vapourised in mid-step, Gohan snapped.
"They… they killed him!" He hissed, his whole body shaking.
"Calm down, Gohan!" Tien put a hand on the child's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do against guys like that!"
"We'll just get ourselves killed too!" Yamcha added.
"I don't care!" Gohan leapt to his feet, rocketing down towards the village. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
"Oh, this is going to suck…" Yamcha muttered, following him. Tien flew along wordlessly.
The monstrous Dodoria, Frieza's #2 henchman, stood over the Namekian child Dende, one arm raised to crush the life from his target. Without warning, Gohan crashed into Dodoria, knocking him through the wall behind him. Yamcha kicked Dodoria away as he was about to get up, and Tien stood between them and the bewildered soldiers. "Move!" He urged. "They won't take long to recover!"
As Yamcha and Gohan took off with the surviving Namekian child, Tien stood his ground to buy them time to escape.
"Dodoria…" Frieza chimed in sweetly as Dodoria struggled to his feet. "What's wrong with this picture?"
"Uh…" the pink-skinned brute scratched his head. "Is that a trick question…?"
" Kill him and get after the others, you buffoon !"
"Right, right!" Dodoria leapt at Tien, who immediately tensed up.
"Kaioken times two!" The red aura flared, and Tien's foot collided with Dodoria's neck, sending waves of force rolling away. But Dodoria just smiled, unaffected, and elbowed Tien in the stomach, doubling him over. "Gah!" He choked, falling away. Dodoria took off after the others, and Tien caught his breath, giving chase and powering up to a Kaioken times four. He's gaining on them… even if I can move faster than him, the others can't… he swooped over Dodoria's head, coming down between them and their pursuer. "Guys, we can't outrun him! Get behind me and protect the Namek kid!"
"Right!" Yamcha stood in a combat-ready stance, Gohan at his side, Dende trembling behind them. Tien gritted his teeth as Dodoria came to a halt in front of him. "Eh? Back for more? Impressive stunt, hiding your power level like that, but in the end it's useless against me." Dodoria grinned maliciously, pounding his fists together in anticipation of the oncoming battle.
"Oh, this isn't hiding my power…" Tien summoned up his strength. "It's flat-out increasing it!" Having experienced using the Kaioken in battle, and then getting a few weeks to refine it, I've achieved a greater level of control… hopefully enough to sustain this… "KAIOKEN TIMES FIVE!" He charged forwards as realisation dawned on Dodoria's face.
The pair disappeared in a blur of arms and legs, attacking and defending with expert technique and incredible force. Gohan and Yamcha were relegated to mere bystanders by the intensity of the battle. When they separated, Dodoria was battered and bruised, and Tien was almost uninjured, albeit clearly worn out from the effort of using what was becoming his signature technique. He smiled, preparing to deliver the final blows. "You act tough, but it seems you can't deliver." He was interrupted as a green streak of light sent him flying down into the water below.
Zarbon, the only soldier on Namek with higher standing than Dodoria, hovered next to his comrade, a smirk on his face. "Is this the creature who gave you so much trouble, Dodoria? When I saw the speed he took off after you at, I knew he had enough power that my assistance might be required… I'd have pegged him at twenty thousand, perhaps a bit higher given that he almost beat you. I do wish we hadn't lost our scouters, but that old Namek had to go and be a hero…"
"Well, with us together he shouldn't be much of a problem," Dodoria answered, "so let's do this quickly-I imagine Our Glorious Leader can't be too happy just watching the Dragon Balls."
Zarbon rolled his eyes. "And don't I know it. Hey, you! We were fighting! Is that still happening, or what?" He scanned the water for signs of Tien. "Where'd he get to… ah!" The lake under the two soldiers began to boil, then the water flew away in every direction, revealing Tien glowing red with his amplified power.
This doesn't look good… he gritted his teeth, trying to stay focused under the immense strain of a five-times increase. Just have to hope I can beat them before I wear myself out! He shot up at Frieza's minions, heading for Dodoria first. His kick got through his target's guard, smashing into Dodoria's face, but before he could turn to guard Zarbon landed a dizzying punch to his head, following up by driving his other hand into Tien's stomach. Tien faced Zarbon, blocking the next three blows, but Dodoria grabbed him from behind, allowing Zarbon to rain attacks on Tien until he fell still, his aura flickering out.
"There!" Zarbon folded his arms, smiling as Dodoria flung Tien away. "That wasn't too difficult! And now to clean up…"
Yamcha caught Tien before he fell into the water below again, looking up to see Zarbon's hand raised, energy crackling around it as he prepared to fire.
"W-wait! Hold on!" Yamcha backed away slowly. "You really don't want to shoot me!" He gave his best innocent look-something being with Bulma had given him plenty of experience with.
"Oh, I really think I do." Zarbon grinned maliciously. "I think I'll take your leg off first. I do love it when they scream."
"N-n-now hold on!" Yamcha became frantic. "If you let us live, you can have a wish granted-anything you want!"
"The stuff of childish fantasy. Hmm… after a leg, maybe an ear, then I'll start removing your fingers…"
"No, really!" He turned to the others. "Gohan! Namek kid! Back me up on this! It's the Dragon Balls-that's why Frieza's after them!"
"Yeah. They can grant any one wish." Gohan nodded.
Zarbon slowly lowered his hand, lost in thought. "That would make sense… that's how he intends to become immortal… any wish, you say…"
"Yeah! And we know how to activate them-Frieza doesn't!" This was pretty much a lie; activating the Dragon Balls wasn't difficult, at least on Earth.
Dodoria tensed up. "Zarbon! You can't possibly be thinking of betraying Lord Frieza!"
"Oh, of course not, Dodoria," Zarbon answered, then as his comrade relaxed his guard, casually reached up and snapped his neck.
Dodoria's body made a dull wet noise as it hit the ground from almost a mile up. "There." Zarbon turned back to Yamcha, and there was a hunger in his eyes. "I will let you all live-for now. You will attempt to secure at least one of the Dragon Balls. I will aid Frieza in collecting the other six. Then, I will create a distraction-I have something fittingly grandiose in mind-and we will meet, and then I will have my wish. I know you won't betray me, because if you do I will kill you. If I can't find you, I will destroy the planet and you on it. So you will hold to this."
"But they'll work it out, right?" Gohan asked. "They'll see your friend died, and won't it seem weird that you beat us all on your own?"
"First, Dodoria was no friend of mine. And second, I assure you that my real power would make short work of all of you at once. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He soared off, back towards the village. Finally, he thought, I will be free of my curse-having to rely on that monstrous form for power! Never again will I need to tarnish my divine beauty! And if all goes to plan, Frieza won't be around to interfere…
Chapter 12: Betrayal
Yamcha, Gohan, Tien and Dende watched Zarbon leave, collectively breathing out as they realised they'd live to see another day.
Tien broke the silence first. "Thanks, Yamcha… I didn't think we were going to make it through that one."
"But are we gonna do it?" Gohan asked. "Should we help him get his wish?"
"Hmm… it might be worth it, you know." Yamcha shrugged. "It may be bad letting someone like that get their wish, but if Frieza gets it instead, that'd be much worse. Plus, getting all seven for ourselves, now they have four, would be practically impossible."
"Excuse me…" Dende finally found the courage to speak. "Are you here to help? To protect my people?"
"I really don't know if we can, against enemies that powerful," Tien replied, "but we'd like to."
"Then I guess I should tell you… the dragon grants three wishes."
"Wait, three?" Tien looked over at the small Namekian. "That's great! I bet when our 'friend' has gotten whatever it is he wants, he'll spend a while gloating about it-leaving the other two wishes for us! If we're clever with our wording, I bet we can fix things on Earth and here on Namek in one go."
"C'mon, let's go tell Bulma," Gohan said, smiling now they finally had a plan, and at least a little hope.
Zarbon landed back at the Namekian village, where Frieza and the remainder of his soldiers waited. "Lord Frieza! I have eliminated the threat, but I regret to inform you that Dodoria is dead."
"Is that so?" Frieza stroked his chin. "And yet you survived, unharmed?"
Zarbon struggled to keep his voice steady. "Yes, sir. Only one of them was strong enough to pose a challenge, but he was already tired and worn from fighting Dodoria, and I didn't even need to transform to beat him." He smiled, playing it up. "As for the others, their flesh cooked deliciously…"
"Well, no matter." Frieza shrugged nonchalantly. "There's more where he came from. Well, not literally on the planet he came from-not since my last visit, anyway…"
"Indeed." Zarbon glanced around. "If the Dragon Ball is secure, how should we proceed? Locating the Namekian villages without scouters will be troublesome."
"Well, get to it then," Frieza ordered, waving a hand vaguely. "Zarbon, accompany me back to the ship. The rest of you-comb the planet! Find those last two Dragon Balls, before I lose my patience with the whole lot of you!"
"Now look, you have a fracture there, and if we can't shave the hair off we can't set the bone-"
"The fracture be damned!" Raditz snarled, fending off a shaving-razor-wielding doctor. "You remove one hair and I remove your face, Earthman!" Their struggle was interrupted by a familiar-but not always welcome-voice.
"Hey! Goku! Goku's brother!" Yaijerobe called out, entering the room. "How you doing?"
"Oh, I'm okay, but…" Goku stretched as best he could. "I'm gonna be stuck in hospital for another couple months… how are you doing, Raditz?"
"Oh, you know…" Raditz grumbled. "I'm fine… just locked in mortal combat over here… damn it, leave me alone!" He frowned, focusing his ki and sending the doctor flying across the room.
"Well, whatever." Yaijerobe pulled out a brown leather bag. "But here's your ticket outta hospital, if you want."
"Senzu beans?" Goku's face lit up. "You're the best, Yaijerobe!"
"Yeah, sure. Korin was gonna give Tien some when he went to fight the saiyans, but you two used 'em all up training-try to save some for everybody else this time!"
"Will do!" Taking the bag, Goku popped a bean in his mouth, much to the bemusement of the medical staff, then tossed one to Raditz, who ate it gleefully.
"You know, Kakarot," Raditz said as they leapt out of bed, shaking their bandages off to reveal fully-healed bodies, "irritating doctors aside, I'm really starting to like your planet. This beats the healing tanks any day… so what now?"
"Well, there's good news and bad news." Goku pulled on his gi as Raditz fastened his armour. "The good news is that my ship is ready to go-and I think I'll be needing it, 'cause on Namek there are apparently fighters even stronger than Vegeta, after the Dragon Balls too!"
"What?! When did you hear this? How come I didn't?" They climbed out of the window and took off, as the patients and doctors stared in shock.
Goku shrugged. "You were asleep. You do sleep a lot when you're healing. So anyway, you going to come to Namek with me?"
"Hold on, you're not serious about going, are you?" Capsule Corporation appeared on the horizon. "You'll be killed!"
"I'd expect more courage than that from a saiyan warrior!" Goku answered as they touched down just outside the main building.
"Are you calling me a coward?" Raditz gave his trademark scowl.
"Um…" Goku scratched his head. "Yeah, you could say that, I guess."
"Well, I'm sorry for being a realist." Raditz folded his arms. "Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?"
Goku shook his head firmly. "Nope. We owe it to everyone the invaders killed to bring them back, and besides, I'm not leaving my friends stranded in outer space!"
Raditz followed Goku towards the building, still grumbling. "Well, damn it all, Kakarot, I can't very well let you run off to get into life-or-death battles on your own!"
Goku's smile grew. "You're coming with me? All right! And don't worry about those fighters there-we can train on the way, with the gravity machine I asked Dr. Brief to build!"
"… So that's why we came to Namek," Tien was saying, as Dende listened in silence.
"Then you are good people. I'm glad…" Dende sighed. "… that there are people out there in the galaxy who aren't like Frieza." He was sipping from a glass of water-Namekians required no food, and the scientist in Bulma was wondering if they photosynthesised like plants. Their green skin could be due to chlorophyll, and the constant sunlight on their planet would-she shook her head, trying to focus on matters at hand. "So, uh, Dende… from what I hear, we just need to keep one Dragon Ball hidden, and Frieza can't make his wish."
"Right." Tien nodded. "Do you know where we could find one?"
"Each village has one…" Dende's eyes flicked back and forth around the room. "… Except for one. Guru keeps that one safe."
"Guru?"
"The eldest of our people. He is very wise-perhaps if we went to see him, he would know what to do."
"It might be worth a try." Tien stood up. "You guys stay here. There's no need for us all to risk going out there." He followed Dende out the door, but just as the two of them were about to take flight, Bulma ran up to them. "Wait!" She shouted.
"Huh? What is it, Bulma?"
"I was going to tell you when you got back, but then you told me all about what you'd been doing and I forgot!"
"Tell us what?" This was from Yamcha, who was leaning out of the door behind Bulma.
"My dad called-he said Goku and his brother are out of the hospital, and are on their way here! We've got back-up, and a ride home!"
"That's great!" Tien grinned. "Now all we have to do is stall Frieza and his men until they get here. If we can get our wishes, that's a bonus, but I'll take a stalemate over an immortal enemy. Come on, Dende, let's go see Guru."
"Uh… right." They lifted off and shot away into the sky.
"Zarbon." Frieza addressed his henchman bluntly.
"Yes, Lord Frieza?" The two of them were on their way back to Frieza's ship, with their five Dragon Balls in tow.
"Any idea who those three you killed were?"
Zarbon nodded. "I didn't want to say this earlier-might have panicked the men-but I interrogated one of the weaker ones before I killed him."
"… And?"
"He said…" Zarbon took a deep breath. There was no going back after this. All or nothing. "… He said he was sent by Cooler."
"Cooler? Hmm… not in uniform, he could have been lying…" Frieza considered this. "But then again, if they were spies, there would be no reason for them to be in uniform, and if he'd got wind of my plans somehow, I wouldn't put it past my big brother to interfere." They approached the ship, landing outside and entering the hatch. "Very well. Send for the Ginyu Force, for back-up-now I've discovered him, he may resort to a more direct attack. I'm sure the Ginyus can handle whatever rabble my brother throws at us, while I take care of Cooler himself." He smiled. "And if the 'spy' was lying after all, the Ginyu squad can at least use their scouters to speed up the search for the last two Dragon Balls."
"As ever, my lord, your plans are flawless." Zarbon bowed, and left Frieza to his plans. Doubts filled his mind as he strode down the corridor, receiving salutes from passing soldiers. Had he acted too rashly? Was he just sealing his own fate? No. No, this had to be done. The galaxy would be better off without at least one of those tyrants-but anyway, this wasn't about the galaxy. It's about me. And for all time I take trying to make my appearance immaculate-always, when a battle goes against me I have to resort to that… hideous thing. I can finally be free of the curse of my people…
Hurrying over to the communications console and making sure nobody was around, Zarbon switched it on, inputting the frequency a friend of his had given him. "Come in! Come in, this is Zarbon, do you copy?"
"'Ello? Salza speaking." A heavily-accented voice replied. "This had better be important."
"It is." Zarbon took a moment to compose himself. "Salza, old friend-I have urgent news. Frieza is on a planet called Namek, and he has discovered the means to make himself immortal!"
"Immortal? Are you sure?"
"Positive. It sounds far-fetched, but trust me, all right?"
"Why are you telling me this? I will 'ave to inform Lord Cooler, who will come to this Namek and take immortality for himself."
"Oh, I'm aware of that. But Cooler was always… more reasonable than Frieza. He doesn't incinerate his followers quite so often. Tell him to hurry, or Frieza could already be immortal when he arrives."
"As it happens, we are in the area. Lord Cooler was wondering why Frieza took so many troops into this system, and we were already nearby, observing his flight path."
"I have to go-Zarbon out."
"Take care." The line went dead, and Zarbon immediately opened up another channel. "Come in! Ginyu Force-urgent news from Planet Namek…"
A flickering display on the control panel read '10G'-at his level, it hadn't taken Goku long to get used to it, and Raditz had grown up with ten times Earth's gravity on planet Vegeta, so this was normal to him.
Impacts rocked the ship as the two saiyan warriors battled back and forth, moving from attack to defense and back, launching punches and kicks that could level mountain ranges and shaking the ship to its core. Goku jumped over a low kick from Raditz, somersaulting over his brother's head and countering with an elbow jab from behind. Raditz caught it, spinning around and throwing Goku away, jumping after him and pressing the attack. They had been training for hours on end, and both were at the limit of their endurance, gasping for air as rivers of sweat dripped down to the floor.
"I'm done," Raditz moaned. "I can't take any more. Session over."
"Yep," Goku nodded, "I'm exhausted too. The perfect time to step it up a notch!"
"Wait, what?" Raditz was pulled to the floor as Goku increased the gravity to twenty times Earth's-twice planet Vegeta's.
"Hey, get up!" Goku folded his arms. "This is only twice what you're used to-I'm dealing with Earth's gravity times twenty!"
"You're crazy…" Raditz muttered, climbing unsteadily to his feet. "Just like Vegeta."
"Well, just remember there are fighters even stronger than Vegeta on Namek!" Goku resumed his fighting stance. "If you just accept your limits, we'll never surpass them. Overcome what you thought was possible! We've already improved massively over the last year!"
Raditz grinned. "Heh… maybe a little bit of crazy is what we need right now…" He lunged at Goku, kicking at his head. Goku blocked with his forearm, three punches from his other arm in rapid succession smashing into Raditz's face. I can't believe how strong Kakarot's become ¸ he thought as he fended off another barrage of attacks. When I met him, he was barely a quarter of my power, but now he's practically caught up with me! How does he do it?
It took twenty minutes for the brothers to finally run out of energy for real, so-leaving the gravity machine on 20G to try and get used to the setting-they crawled over to the bag of senzu beans and ate one each, feeling instantly renewed and stronger than ever. "Well, I think that went well-" Goku was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice in their heads.
"Hello? Is this Goku and Raditz?"
"Um… yes…" Goku looked over at Raditz, as if to say, are you hearing this too? Raditz nodded. "Who is this?" Goku continued.
"I am King Kai-the one who trained Tien, remember!"
"Oh yeah! Thanks for that, by the way."
"Sure. And I'm about to tell Tien this, but another friend of yours-little bald guy-made it down Snake Way even faster than Tien did! He wants me to train him too."
"Wow, Krillin? That's great!" Goku grinned as he spoke, imagining Krillin getting as strong as Tien.
"What about Piccolo-the Namekian the saiyans killed?" Raditz asked.
"I'm afraid he was sent straight to Hell," King Kai answered. "Kami, on the other hand, heard you were planning on resurrecting him, so instead of going up to Heaven he's been helping King Yemma with the paperwork. Nice guy. So, any news from Namek?"
"Well, it's probably a good thing we're on our way." Goku wasn't sure which direction to look when talking to King Kai's disembodied voice, so he settled for vaguely upwards. "Apparently, there are fighters there even stronger than Vegeta, and they're looking for the Dragon Balls too!"
"Huh?" King Kai paused. "More powerful than Vegeta, you say? There aren't many in the galaxy who are… hold on, let me scan Namek." Another, longer pause followed, and then shortly after came a strangled choking sound. "Goku! Raditz! When you get to Namek, take your friends and leave! Don't try to fight anybody!"
"Huh? What's the matter?"
"F… Frieza is on the planet Namek… you mustn't try to fight him! Nobody can defeat Frieza!"
Raditz nearly jumped out of his skin. "Frieza's there?! Turn this ship around!" He leapt for the controls, but Goku held him back. "I'm not going anywhere near that monster!"
Goku punched Raditz in the face, with enough force to knock him to the floor. "And you call yourself a saiyan!" he growled. "What happened to our 'proud race of warriors'?"
"You don't understand!" Raditz held his head in his hands. "There will be no survivors-Frieza will kill us, and all of your friends, and the entire Namekian race! Frieza… the most terrible being in the universe… I'm sorry, Kakarot, but there's just nothing we can do against him!" He looked up too late, as Goku's foot connected with his forehead, knocking him down through the hatch to the lower floor.
"Come back up when you grow a spine!" Goku told him. "My own brother, trying to run from a fight…" He set the gravity up to 30G, flooring Raditz again just as he was standing up, and resumed training.
Tien landed on the raised plateau, slightly behind Dende. "So this is Guru's place, huh?" He gazed up at the spherical grey building, with the mysterious spikes and bubble-shaped windows common to Namekian architecture. Out of the doorway stepped a tall, broad-shouldered Namek warrior. "Greetings, child. Is the visitor…"
"Here to help," Dende replied enthusiastically. "He and his friends saved me from the invaders today!"
"Very well." The warrior Nail turned to Tien. "If you wish to see Guru, follow me." Dende and Tien walked with him, through the doorway and into the shadow-filled home of Guru.
Chapter 13: The Ginyu Force
"Lord Guru-this is the visitor." Nail spoke reverently to the huge, ancient Namekian sitting in the throne at the back of the room. "He comes seeking our help in protecting this planet, and his own."
"Step forward," came a deep voice which seemed to come from every direction at once. Tien walked over to Guru's throne, looking up at the elder and wondering how many years, and how many generations, someone like him must have seen go by. "Uh… Guru? I'm from-"
"Earth."
"Huh?" Tien raised an eyebrow.
"I felt your mind from afar, Tien Shinhan. Such a strong mind. You and your friends have travelled far."
"That we have…" Tien glanced around. "I was told you have a Dragon Ball here, and I wanted to ask for it-while I'm sure your guard is very loyal, we can hide it in a place far less obvious than your home, sir."
Guru smiled. "Your mission, it is a noble one. Nail, bring forth the Dragon Ball." The ever-alert warrior nodded and retreated into the darkness. "Stand close, human. There is another gift I can bestow upon you."
"A… gift?" Tien asked. "What do you mean?"
"I sense great power within you." Guru held out his hand. "Let me awaken your true potential, and your coming battles may be easier."
When Nail re-entered the main area, carrying the Dragon Ball in both hands, Guru's hand was resting on Tien's forehead, and a shimmering white aura enveloped the human fighter. When it faded, Tien stood completely still, stunned at what he could sense inside himself. "This power… it's incredible! I've had it all along?"
Guru nodded, and Nail handed Tien the Dragon Ball. He accepted it cheerfully. "Thanks so much! I won't let you down! Dende…"
Dende answered the unspoken question. "I would like to stay here, if Guru allows it."
"Of course," the eldest Namekian replied. Tien waved farewell, sprinted for the door and took off, soaring through the green-tinted skies.
Goku was getting the hang of 30G training, but he was troubled-Raditz still hadn't rejoined him. So he jumped down to the lower level of the ship, to find his brother lying on his back, eyes closed. "Hey, what's got into you? We haven't got much time until Namek, ya know!"
"What's the point? Frieza's going to kill us when we get there," Raditz groaned. "I don't know, maybe Vegeta was right about fighting anyone-maybe you were right, too-but then, I guess that'd make two things you're right about. I'm no warrior."
"Huh?" Goku scratched his head. "That's ridiculous. You were awesome against Piccolo and Vegeta!"
"No…" Raditz rolled over, facing downwards. "Do you know, I was always mocked on Planet Vegeta. Raditz, the weakling. Raditz, the joke. Bardock's son, the failure. I was supposed to be a warrior of the highest class… it's no wonder our father disowned me."
"He what?!" Goku's eyes widened.
"And I'd constantly be on missions, just to get away from the ridicule. Weak planets, of course-places like Earth, where I could feel like a god among insects. I'd delude myself, thinking for just a brief moment… that I was special. That I was important."
Goku crouched down next to Raditz. "So you were on one of these missions when the meteor hit?"
"That's right." Raditz looked up at his brother, fighting to keep his face straight and failing. "And then-I came to Earth, to find you. You were only so weak because of the gravity you'd trained under. If you'd grown up on Planet Vegeta, you'd probably have been a match for Nappa. You saved my life from Piccolo, and then I just kept proving myself worthless."
"Don't say that!"
"It's true! Who defeated the invaders? Who really won the battle? Not me-you. You, Tien, and your son. And I've lost my tail, too-my greatest source of power. And then you, you Earthling in all but name, you show more courage than me-and despite knowing I should be relishing the prospect of battle, I turn coward and try to run. I don't deserve to be called saiyan, much less warrior." His eyes closed again, and he slumped to the floor.
"Wow… I was just trying to make you more determined, but I guess it backfired…" Goku stood up, staring down at Raditz. The silence lasted a full minute, then Goku sighed, stretching out a hand. "Raditz."
"Uh?" One eye half-opened cautiously.
"Take my hand. Do you want to be a fighter?"
"What?"
Goku smiled. "Do you want to prove them wrong? You don't have to be weak if you don't want to. Come on, Nappa's already nothing compared to you."
Raditz took Goku's hand, standing up slowly. "Woah… how do you move around in this gravity?"
"The same way I do everything-with hard work and dedication! That's the warrior's way, right?"
"Do you really think we can become powerful enough to defeat Frieza?"
"Anything's possible." Goku shrugged. "We won't know until we try!"
"Lord Frieza-the scouts have reported back, the sixth Dragon Ball is in our possession." Zarbon informed Frieza. Those three had better have found the seventh, or there won't be much I can do to stop Frieza attaining immortality… just how long is Cooler going to take?!
Frieza nodded. "Very good. Not long now… now, if we can just locate the seventh before Cooler makes his move. Dismissed." A soldier ran in, seconds after Zarbon departed. "Sir! The Ginyu Force are minutes away! Their signal is approaching fast."
"Then I shall go and meet them. With their scouters, obtaining the final Dragon Ball will be easy." Frieza headed for the door. "Oh, and flunky, find something useful to do."
The five Ginyu Force pods collided with the planet's surface, throwing up a satisfying dust cloud. Out climbed the five eccentric and colourful elite soldiers-Captain Ginyu, his right-hand man Jeice, resident speedster Burter, hulking giant Recoome, and dimunitive psychic Guldo. They leapt around like maniacs, forming their 'special fighting poses' Ginyu loved to work so hard on. Frieza rolled his eyes. "Yes, very good, Ginyu. Your ballet is, as ever, flawless. But the mission is somewhat urgent-as you know, Cooler is quite possibly on his way here at this very moment."
"Indeed, my lord Frieza." Ginyu bowed. "Rest assured, we will make short work of the 'armoured squadron' your brother loves to parade around!"
"Very good. However, your first objective is to locate the seventh-" Frieza was cut off by Guldo, who somewhat unexpectedly exploded.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this a nice little gathering." Standing a few hundred metres away stood a short man with spiked black hair that stood up on end. He wore personalised battle armour, and had one finger outstretched, smoke rising from the tip.
"Ve… Vegeta?!" Captain Ginyu spluttered. "How the hell did you get here? And why didn't our scouters pick you up as you approached?"
"A simple trick, but I don't think that's the most pressing matter on your mind right now, am I right?" Vegeta smirked. "I'm here, fully recovered from my last battle, to offer my services to Frieza in a new capacity-as captain of his elite squad!" Frieza watched all this silently.
"You must be joking!" Ginyu burst out laughing. "You, monkey? Replace me? Still, as funny as your little delusions are, I can't let the death of a team member go unavenged. Prepare to die, at the hands of the finest soldier in Frieza's empire!" Ginyu charged forwards.
Vegeta simply grinned, catching his punch, and when the captain swung his other fist, Vegeta vanished, appearing behind Ginyu and kicking him away. The other Ginyus stood puzzled. "Vegeta was never this strong…" Jeice muttered. "He's standing up to the Captain, and…" he tapped his scouter. "… What?! That's impossible! He's just a saiyan!"
Ginyu gritted his teeth, swinging around and launching an elbow strike, which Vegeta ducked under. The prince leaned in, grabbing one of Ginyu's horns in each hand and headbutting him, drawing blood. Ginyu staggered away, clutching his face. "Where did you get all this power? Answer me!"
"That's for me to know, and anyone who's still alive in two minutes to find out."
"Lord Frieza! Kill this traitor!" Ginyu shouted, but Frieza just chuckled.
"He's challenged you for leadership of the squad, Ginyu. If you forfeit, Vegeta wins by default."
"But… trial by combat has never been a tradition in this army…"
"It is if I say it is. And I want only the strongest captain leading my troops. If Vegeta beats you, perhaps he'd be a better leader than you would." Frieza waved a hand. "Do carry on."
"Well, Ginyu?" Vegeta stood, completely at ease, waiting for his opponent. "It's your move."
Hmm… Ginyu, having got over his shock at being outclassed by Vegeta, began to stratgise. I can't beat him in a straight fight… but, of course… to overpower me like that, he must have a very powerful body… yes, indeed… He laughed again. "Perhaps you will be the captain-just not in the way you'd imagined!" Opening his mouth wide, Ginyu prepared to fire his Body Change technique. "CH-" Vegeta moved faster than Ginyu's eyes could follow, appearing behind him and cutting through the Captain's neck with the edge of his hand.
Captain Ginyu's severed head rolled along the ground, stopping at Burter's feet. The blue, serpentine soldier recoiled in horror. "C-captain…"
"Yes, that's right." Vegeta pointed at himself as Ginyu's body hit the floor. "Captain. Am I correct, Frieza?"
Frieza nodded. "Indeed-well done, Vegeta. I grant you leadership of the Gin… ah, should it be the Vegeta Force now?"
Vegeta waved his hand in dismissal. "Call it what you like. The galaxy knows and fears the Ginyu Force, so there's no need to cause confusion by changing it."
"Cunning strategy, by the way, Vegeta." Frieza smirked. Vegeta stared as if Frieza was a cat that had just done long division.
"Uh… Strategy?"
"With that increased power of yours, you could have easily beaten any of the squad, so you killed the two members with abilities not reliant on power alone-Ginyu's body change technique, and Guldo's psychic abilities. Impressive… for a primate."
Vegeta ground his teeth. "Thank you, sir ." One day, Frieza… one day, very soon…
Frieza walked leisurely over to Vegeta and his new subordinates. "And by the way, there are two questions which spring to mind… how did you increase your power by so much? And I believe Cui was chasing you-what happened to him?"
"Well, as I retreated from my last mission, I was aiming for Frieza planet 79, but my course was diverted by enemy fire, and I ended up on Frieza planet 325. This world had ten times the gravity of Planet Vegeta, and realising how beneficial this would be to any training I did, I formed a plan, the fruition of which you just saw. Cui arrived a couple of weeks into my training, and he tried to kill me for some perceived treachery or another. Needless to say, it was an extremely short battle."
Frieza began to re-enter his ship. "Well, just remember that this mission, if successful, will make up for your unsanctioned attack on Earth. Now, go find that last Dragon Ball. As in, now."
Tien was leaving Guru's house for the second time. This time, Gohan and Yamcha came with him, having also both received Guru's gift. As they were about to take off, Yamcha looked over to the left, staring into space. "You guys feel that?"
Tien nodded. "That energy-it's the guy who made a deal with us. And he's flying away from the rest of them, on his own. I think he's signalling us."
"Then let's go see him-he might have the Dragon Balls," Gohan suggested. "Let's get ours from Bulma. And if it's a trick or something, with all this new power he won't be a problem, right?"
"Right!" Yamcha agreed, and they headed off in Zarbon's direction.
Zarbon watched the specks in the sky grow into three humanoid figures, and smiled as they landed. "Ah, I was hoping you'd notice me coming out here." He was carrying a Dragon Ball in each hand.
"Where are the other four?" Tien asked-Yamcha had their one.
"Back at Frieza's ship-I can't carry them all in one go. I'll go and sneak them out like I did these, but first I wanted to make sure you were here with the seventh and ready when we have them."
"Hey," Yamcha whispered to Tien. "Do we need to go through with the deal? Why not let him get the Dragon Balls, then beat him up and take the wishes for ourselves. We should be able to beat him now."
Tien sighed. "It's fine, Yamcha. Two wishes will be plenty, and as long as he doesn't wish to kill us all or something like that, there's no problem."
"All right… so, uh…"
"Zarbon, if you must know."
"Right, Zarbon." Yamcha shrugged. "Time is of the essence and all, so if you could…"
"Of course." Zarbon turned to leave, but then the others all started staring at a point in the sky. "What are you… oh no…" another group of figures was heading their way, and in less than a minute the four soldiers of Frieza-Vegeta, Recoome, Jeice and Burter-had reached them, touching down gracefully.
The three former underlings of Ginyu performed another over-the-top pose, at which Vegeta and Zarbon groaned while the humans stared in confusion.
"You morons!" Vegeta growled at them. "Stop that before I kill you all where you stand! You're not working for Ginyu anymore!"
"Uh…" Zarbon tried to make sense of the situation. "Vegeta… and… the Ginyu Force?"
"Yes, the squad is under new management." Vegeta stepped forwards. "And when our scouters detected you all on your own, Zarbon, who'd have thought we'd find a full-scale case of treachery?" Not that I needed a scouter myself…
"Treachery?" Zarbon blustered. "No, I'm not-"
"Caught red-handed with three Dragon Balls and a bunch of Earthlings?" Vegeta pointed at Zarbon and the Earthlings, smiling cruelly. "Ginyu Force-attack!"
Chapter 14: Declaration of War
The Ginyu Force charged into battle, Jeice swinging for Tien, who blocked his first punch. Burter ran right between Gohan and Yamcha, bowling them over, and Recoome leapt at Zarbon, who gritted his teeth. Concentrating hard, he activated his transformation, his muscles bulging out as his skin became hard and scaly and his face monstrous and reptilian. Zarbon launched a vicious elbow strike at Recoome's face, but the giant soldier took it without flinching, kicking Zarbon into the air and sending him flying away.
Jeice kept up the pressure on Tien, throwing a series of rapid punches and kicks. Tien retreated, blocking and dodging with expert precision. Jeice overbalanced, staggering past Tien, who hammered him away with both fists, sending the red-skinned warrior skidding along the floor in a clod of dust. Tien ran the other way, towards Vegeta. Jeice jumped to his feet, pursuing. Tien ground to a halt, Vegeta in front, Jeice behind. Vegeta was already preparing for battle. Whoever I go for… Tien thought, the other will attack me from behind…
Burter stopped on the other side of his opponents, as they climbed to their feet.
"Wow, this guy's fast," Yamcha moaned.
"That's right!" Burter grinned. "I'm the fastest being in the universe!"
"Ah, haha, no." Yamcha shook his head.
"W-what?"
"Well, Vegeta over there has a much larger ki than you-and Tien's about equal to you now, and he can increase his energy with the Kaioken technique. A greater ki boosts your speed-there's no way you can be as fast as them with that kind of power."
"S-shut up!" Burter spluttered. "Prepare to die!"
"Oh, here we go…" Yamcha grimaced. "Gohan, watch yourself!" He pushed the kid out of the way as Burter came around for another high-speed rush, knocking Yamcha to the floor. Gohan spun around, firing an energy beam at Burter's speeding form. Burter darted to the side, Gohan's blast detonating on a cliff behind him as he continued his charge, smashing into Gohan and launching him into the air.
Zarbon landed on his feet, spinning to face his motionless opponent. Recoome grinned. "So, Zarbon, you think you're really something, huh? Frieza's right-hand man!" He began to walk slowly towards Zarbon. "Well, I was serving long before you were-and you're just small fry to me!"
"Hrr…" Zarbon growled. "We'll see!" He jumped forwards, charging an energy bolt between his hands. Recoome's fist swung at him, and Zarbon twisted to the side, catching Recoome's arm and vaulting over it. Bringing his arm back around, Zarbon shoved the charged energy into Recoome's face, detonating it and staggering the towering fighter back. But Recoome just righted himself, resuming his grin-albeit minus a few teeth. "Nice try, bud!" Zarbon kicked at Recoome, who blocked with his forearm, his other fist crashing into Zarbon's face and sending him tumbling backwards.
Tien glanced back and forth, and was about to make his choice when an energy blast took Jeice off his feet. Tien and Vegeta swung around to see a tall Namekian warrior in a black jacket, standing with one smoking hand extended. "Nail!" Tien grinned. "You're here to help us? That's great!"
Nail smiled. "Guru sensed the saiyan's arrival, and sent me to warn you." He shot a glance at Vegeta. "It seems I'm too late, but I can still help out here."
"Thanks!" Tien turned away from Nail. "I've got Vegeta-can you handle the red one?"
"If you say so." Nail shot off towards Jeice, who was just standing up.
Vegeta nodded to the Earth's most powerful human. "Time for round two, Earthman." Tien frowned, feeling his ki rising. "Haaaah… Kaioken times five!" The times-five increase was much easier now that Guru had unlocked his power. He kicked at Vegeta, who vanished, appearing behind him. Tien turned as fast as he could to block Vegeta's first strike, but it was a feint, and the real punch got past his guard, knocking him back. Wiping blood from his nose, Tien raised his guard again as Vegeta pressed his advantage.
"So, you work for Frieza? Figures." Tien ducked under another swing from the saiyan's arm, launching a quick counter-attack that Vegeta batted away.
"Hah! Not for long, I won't." The prince ducked under another swing, then launched a barrage of punches that Tien struggled to dodge. He jumped above Vegeta, flying towards him with both feet extended, and Vegeta grabbed a leg in each hand, throwing Tien to the ground.
He jumped up and away, firing an energy wave volley which impacted Tien as he tried to stand, flooring him again. Vegeta fired one final, larger blast, but Tien shimmered and the beam went right through his afterimage. Vegeta turned to see Tien flying at him from the side, and the battle resumed, close-ranged punches flying at high speed, each flawlessly blocked, countered and returned.
Burter ran up to Gohan's prone body, preparing to kick him while he was down, but stopped short when he heard the cry: "Spirit Ball!" Burter saw Yamcha's energy sphere just in time, jumping away to avoid it, but to his surprise it turned with Yamcha's directions and followed him. Yamcha gestured left and right as Burter fled the attack, and while it couldn't keep up with him, it was fast enough that he couldn't stop running. Banking left, Burter made straight for Yamcha. "If I take you out, you can't maintain that attack!" Yamcha left the Spirit Ball just enough energy to continue in a straight line, then stopped controlling it and placed his hands together at his side. "Kamehame… HA!" A bright blue beam of energy shot out towards his oncoming opponent. Burter grinned as his scouter beeped. "Is that all? That kind of power isn't even a challenge!" He skidded to a halt, backhanding the beam away.
"Actually, I just wanted to slow you down!" Yamcha gloated.
"Huh?" Burter remained oblivious until the Spirit Ball hit him in the back, knocking him over.
Jeice opened with a quick uppercut which Nail sidestepped, smashing into Jeice's side with his elbow. Jeice jumped away, grimacing in pain, but managed to block Nail's next punch, kicking up into the Namekian's face and following up with a knee to the stomach. "How'd ya like that, greenie?"
Nail somersaulted away, remaining silent. They faced off for a few seconds, then without warning, Nail darted forwards, making to punch Jeice, but at the last moment opening his hand and blasting out a massive energy wave. Jeice was flung away, landing on his back as Nail leapt towards him.
Zarbon charged back into the fray, grimly determined to survive the battle. "You're powerful, I'll give you that… but there's no way I'm giving up this soon. Nothing will stand between me and my wish!" He fired a two-handed energy blast into the ground, propelling himself up and out of the way of Recoome's wild attack. He landed behind Recoome, who spun around and gripped Zarbon's shoulders, trying to crush the bone under his hands. Zarbon grunted with pain, but smiled. "Hey… did you forget about that blast just now? You think it was just to dodge?" He raised one hand into the air, and on cue his energy beam burst out of the ground under Recoome's feet, engulfing him. Zarbon rolled away as the hold was released, struggling to his feet as Recoome strode out of the explosion, armour smashed and torn, but with only minor burns to his body, and of course still grinning. "Heh… you're more fun than I expected."
"Damn!" Zarbon clenched his fists. "Can nothing kill this brute?"
Vegeta mistimed a block, and Tien landed a solid punch to his face. Tien followed up with a kick to Vegeta's abdomen, but his next punch swung through empty air. Vegeta darted around, kicking him in the small of the back, and grabbing both Tien's wrists, pushing against him as Tien tried to push through Vegeta's hold and punch him again. "Damn you… Earthling…" Vegeta hissed. "I am from a race of the galaxy's finest warriors… not only that, I am the prince-the highest of the elites! Where are you finding the strength to oppose me?!"
"If you must know…" Tien grunted, his blood-red aura flaring around him, "I do a lot of sit-ups and push ups-and drink plenty of juice!"
"Juice? Juice?!" Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "To hell with your juice! You can't sustain this technique forever, whereas this is my natural strength! If we keep this up, you'll quickly be worn down!"
"Think so?" Tien grinned. "If you weren't so focused on boasting about your power, you'd have noticed me, slowly positioning my hands like this…" while pushing against Vegeta, he'd moved his hands into forming a triangle with his fingers.
"Wait…"
"TRI-BEAM, HAA!" A burst of yellow light exploded outwards, hurling Vegeta away. Tien knew he only had a few seconds to act before Vegeta got back up. Jeice and Nail were trading blows, Burter was back on his feet and was dodging Yamcha and Gohan's attacks with ease, and Recoome was slowly advancing towards Zarbon, brushing his energy blasts off like they were nothing. Tien flickered and vanished, relaxing his Kaioken down to a three times boost-he'd need to save energy for Vegeta.
Burter raised his hand to punch Yamcha again-his already-scarred face was bloodied from the beating he'd received-when Tien appeared in front of him, kicking him in the chin. Burter's head snapped back with a vicious crack, and he toppled backwards, falling to the floor. "Woah-I think you killed him!" Yamcha exclaimed. "But, uh, thanks."
Tien put the guilt aside. He didn't have time now. "I guess I don't know how to control my new power yet. Got to go." Recoome had his hands around Zarbon's neck, and was squeezing the life from their unlikely ally. Tien flew over at full speed, slamming his forearm into Recoome's ribs, feeling the bones buckle and give way. Recoome wheezed, dropped Zarbon and collapsed. Tien sped off, seeing Vegeta start to recover and knowing he was almost out of time.
Nail dodged a punch from Jeice and kicked him into the air. Tien appeared next to Jeice as he flew upwards, hitting the last Ginyu Force member's shoulder with the edge of his hand, shattering his arm and causing him to pass out from the shock.
Tien landed in front of Vegeta, his aura flaring up again as he powered up to Kaioken times five. "Well, here we are again."
"Just die! Just stop breathing already!" Vegeta roared, hurling himself at Tien and staggering the three-eyed human back with a furious combination of vicious attacks. Tien jumped away, preparing to launch his counterattack when he felt a large power level approaching. He could see Vegeta, and the others arrayed behind him (including Zarbon, who was wearing the scouter he'd taken from Jeice's body), had noticed it too. "Huh? Who could that be…" He let the Kaioken fade out, preferring to conserve his energy-the technique was still very draining, even with his new strength.
"I think I know…" Vegeta grimaced. "Three powers, each greater than Captain Ginyu's… Cooler's Armoured Squadron."
"Uh… who's what?" Yamcha raised an eyebrow. Gohan didn't have anything to add, but inside was trembling at the thought of yet more strong enemies.
"What? First the Ginyu Force and now this…" Zarbon groaned. "They were supposed to fight each other, not all get in my way!"
"Ah, so that was the grand plan." Vegeta smiled. "Set Frieza and his brother against each other. Not bad. Of course, my plan is far worthier of a true warrior!" He indicated his assembled enemies. "I was counting on whoever I came across on this planet to give me a good challenge, and so far you haven't disappointed-though I just wish it didn't have to be an Earthling…" his disgust was clear in his voice (his prejudice against humans mainly due to his failed assault on their home planet). "But I've already pushed my strength well beyond what we thought was the limit for saiyans. If I can come back from the brink of death just once more… I'll become powerful enough to tear Frieza into pieces! I shall be the legend… the Super Saiyan!" He grinned, imagining himself destroying the tyrant Frieza-and his brother too, he supposed, while he was at it. "All I have to do is fight, and recover from, a hard battle before Frieza becomes immortal. And with your motley crew-" he indicated Tien, Yamcha, Gohan, Nail and Zarbon, "-and the armoured squadron together in one place, that shouldn't be too-" An energy beam cut him off, detonating in his face and knocking the saiyan prince to the ground.
The Armoured Squadron descended, their leader-the blue-skinned, blonde-haired Salza, decked out in his brightly-coloured body armour-smirking as Vegeta fell. "The moron… all he ever does is talk." The three soldiers of Cooler advanced. "Who's next?"
Chapter 15: The Legend and the Tyrant
Salza smiled as he surveyed the battlefield. The Ginyu Force had been taken apart by Tien, whose fight with Vegeta had broken off when Salza and the Armoured Squadron intervened, taking the saiyan prince down with a surprise attack. "Well…" the heavily-accented soldier said, warming up. "Time to clean up. Zarbon, stay back and you will not be 'armed."
Tien readied himself. All three of the Squadron were much stronger than he was, and he didn't know to what extent he'd have to power up to beat them. "Stay back, guys-this is beyond you," he warned Yamcha and Gohan. He didn't worry about Zarbon-Frieza's top soldier may have been a big deal a short while ago, but he'd make virtually no difference to this battle. Silence fell as Tien weighed up his opponents. Then, initiating the Kaioken, he darted of to the right.
"Get after him!" Salza yelled, racing to intercept with his comrades close behind. Tien skidded to a halt as Salza and the squad's mandatory large brute, this one called Doore, cut him off. The third soldier, Neiz-the shortest of the group-stopped behind him, trying to prevent him from retreating. Tien jumped into the air, but Doore got there ahead of him, and Tien kicked off a wall of his own ki he hastily threw up, catapulting away from his enemies. Neiz appeared under him, grabbing hold of one of the fighter's legs and hurling him to the floor. Tien grunted, the hard ground grazing his limbs, and looked up in time to see all three soldiers hurtling down towards him. He leapt away, somersaulting backwards as their combined attack crashed into the ground, forming a substantial crater. Tien gritted his teeth, raising his guard as the Armoured Squadron prepared for another attack. If I was at full power, this would be easier, but using the Kaioken times five against Vegeta-plus the beating he gave me-is really making it difficult to fight at my full potential! "All right, come on!" He shouted.
"Heh heh… quite eager to die, isn't he?" Neiz asked the others. Doore nodded, chuckling. "Mm." Salza grinned. "Let's stop playing around and fight seriously then, shall we?" Tien grimaced. They were just testing my strength… He calmed his mind, trying to achieve total focus. "Kaioken times four!" Within seconds, the Armoured Squadron was upon him, raining down lightning-fast blows that he barely blocked. He dodged past Salza's kick, but Doore got around behind him, smashing an elbow into the small of his back. He rolled away, gasping for air, rising and turning to charge straight back into the fight. I can't let them keep the offensive!
The three soldiers split up, avoiding his attack, and charged him from three angles. Tien realized this was the perfect opening-they wouldn't expect a counterattack. "Multi-Form!" At the cry, he split into three copies, all using the Kaioken times four to be slightly more powerful than the original Tien, each of which landed a solid blow to their designated opponent. The Squadron fell to the floor, and Tien rejoined into one being. The soldiers sprang to their feet, only slightly injured. "Damn him!" Salza muttered. "This should have been over in seconds." He fired an energy beam, which Tien jumped over, ducking under another from Doore. He landed on his feet, spinning to face them again. I'm getting nowhere fast, and I can't use the Kaioken forever! Salza started walking towards him, charging an energy blast in each hand and frowning in frustration. "You've caused us enough trouble!" He raised his hands to fire, when a blur of movement sent him flying, landing in a heap a couple hundred yards away. He struggled to stand up, glancing wildly around. "Who…?"
"Who do you think?" Vegeta stood behind him, a nasty burn on the left side of his body, but he showed no outward signs of pain. "Earthling, do what you will. The blue one shot me from behind, so I'm going to kill him. When these three are done with, I'll be back for you, so don't think I'm changing sides or anything-got it?"
"Right." Tien nodded, relieved that his two most powerful enemies were going to be fighting each other. He looked back to Neiz and Doore. "Now, where were we?"
A powerful kick launched Salza into the air again, and this time he was knocked right through a plateau, the rubble collapsing around him. Vegeta gestured the universal 'come and get me' sign, and an enraged Salza flew straight at him. He started punching wildly, and Vegeta deflected each one with ease. "Come on, Salza, where's the might of the strongest soldiers in the universe?" He jumped away, dodging another punch. "Or are you all talk?"
"Go to Hell!" Salza screamed, leaping after him. He continued his frenzied, unsuccessful attack, Vegeta no longer even needing to block, simply shifting from side to side to avoid each strike, his arms folded and a nonchalant expression on his face. "I'll see you there when I do!" He boasted. Salza grimaced, summoning his power and forming a flickering energy blade around his hand. "This technique will cut you in two, no matter if you are stronger than me!" He yelled, but Vegeta caught Salza's hand mid-swing. Grunting with the effort, Vegeta twisted it around, snapping Salza's wrist. The blue-skinned warrior howled in pain, and Vegeta pressed his advantage, hammering blows into Salza's chest and stomach, then scything his hand right through Salza's armoured shoulderplate and knocking him to the ground-deliberately attacking the most armoured target, just to show off his strength (and though he wouldn't admit it, his hand was aching from the last blow). Salza groaned, trying to get away, but Vegeta swept his arm around, incinerating Salza with a blaze of energy.
Tien caught Neiz's first attack, which the brown alien followed up with a series of fast strikes that drove Tien back. He jumped over a low kick, but Doore was running up behind him. Blocking one more punch, Tien backflipped over Doore's head, landing facing his two opponents. Neiz and Doore continued their relentless offensive, and Tien dodged and twisted, ducking under Doore's sweeping fist and rolling away from Neiz's downward elbow strike. He jumped up and away, rebounding off a nearby tree and leaping away just in time as Doore's kick knocked the tree clean out of the ground. They charged again, and Neiz's next punch ripped off one of Tien's wristbands, missing him by the tiniest fraction. He blocked another three punches from Neiz, then grabbed him by the head and swung around, crashing into Doore with both feet. Doore was sent flying away, crashing to the ground, as Neiz's renewed attack on Tien forced him to back away, dodging the onslaught. "Wow, you guys are relentless!" Tien said, sidestepping another kick. He saw an opening and punched Neiz in the jaw, following up with a kick that bent Neiz's knee, making him stumble. Tien brought his fist down on the back of Neiz's head as he staggered, jumping into the air as his opponent fell. Neiz tried to get up, but Tien, sweating as the Kaioken times four began to take its toll, came around for another attack, kicking Neiz away-a loud crunch heralded bones giving way under Tien's foot.
Doore was just standing up, when Neiz's flying form collided with him, sending them both tumbling to the ground again. Doore looked up to see Tien, red aura blazing around him as he held out his hands in front of him, hovering overhead. "TRI-BEAM!" The burst of yellow light enveloped the two soldiers, the impact making them black out instantly.
Tien floated slowly down to the ground, panting in exertion. "Woah… I don't think I have anything left after that…" He looked up, grimacing to see Vegeta walking towards him, methodically incinerating the Ginyu Force and Armoured Squadron members who remained alive but unconscious.
"That took you long enough." Vegeta flexed his arms, preparing for battle. "Now, I have another score to settle. And judging by the state of you, it won't take long."
"Wait…" Tien held up a hand. "Let me fight you at full potential… don't you want a challenge?"
"I'd give that honour to another saiyan," Vegeta answered, his anger showing clearly on his face, "and maybe to an opponent as mighty as Frieza. But you? You, Earthling who tries to climb above his sation as a lower life form? You don't deserve the thirty seconds it'll take me to kill you." He was about to launch into another degrading sentence, when something caught his attention. Within a second, Tien noticed it too.
"Hey, you feel that?" Yamcha asked. "Another high power just arrived on the planet!"
"Hmph." Vegeta snorted. "What is this, a tourist attraction? How come everyone and their mother is coming to this planet?"
"Well, whoever they are, they're strong." Tien looked in the direction of the approaching power. "And they're heading right for us-fast!"
Gohan's eyes widened as he saw the approaching figures in the sky. "Look! Look, it's my daddy! And Uncle Raditz!"
Vegeta gaped. "What?! Kakarot? That can't be him! It's incredibly strong! The only power in that league I've ever felt was Frieza… !"
Tien felt a strange mix of relief and jealousy. You've done it again, Goku. You've truly surpassed me. I guess I'll just have to train even harder next time…
Goku and Raditz, fresh from their training in one hundred times Earth's gravity, arrived to find the battlefield a scene of total devastation. Half-burnt corpses lay scattered around. Tien, Yamcha and Gohan stood, injured and exhausted, in a group with a green alien warrior (Zarbon had, by this time, reversed his transformation-he hated his monster form with a passion). And at the center stood Vegeta, glaring at the newly-arrived brothers. He tried to smile, his grin shaking a little. "S-so, you've improved! Good! You'll give me a-a challenge!" He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "It won't do you any good, you know. I have undergone the most intense training you can imagine, and since then I've been fighting almost non-stop. I'm finally becoming the legend-the Super Saiyan!" He laughed, reminding himself of the old stories and driving out his fears that they might have surpassed him. Never. Never!
Raditz folded his arms. "Well, that's nice. But crazy old stories aside, we've been training too. And you wouldn't believe the kind of potential Kakarot has-he's long since overtaken me. In fact, I don't think you'd have a chance if you tried to fight him… So why don't we put aside our rivalry, just for now-and together, defeat Frieza once and for all?" He held out a hand, and Goku smiled. "Come on, Vegeta. Don't you want to be free of Frieza?"
"Hrr…" Vegeta shook with rage. " How dare you! You think I, the greatest of a race of fine warriors, need help from your kind?! I shall defeat Frieza-alone! You two are just a pair of renegades to be exterminated, and I cannot allow you to interfere with my destiny!" He roared a battle cry, leaping at the pair of them as his blue aura burned into life. "Prepare yourself for the might of a Super-" His voice cut off in a surprised choking sound as Goku stepped between him and Raditz, catching his fist with ease. "Get out of the way, Vegeta." Goku narrowed his eyes. "If you won't help us, then leave." Vegeta swung his other hand, and Goku vanished, now standing behind him. Vegeta, now trembling, swung around, letting fly a two-handed energy wave at point blank range-but when it cleared, Goku was unharmed. The young saiyan's expression lightened. "But hey, you've improved a lot-well done!"
"STOP MOCKING ME!" Vegeta flew at Goku in a rage, launching into a frenzy of high-speed attacks, but Goku calmly avoided each one as if Vegeta was moving in slow motion. "Calm down, Vegeta. You're not getting anywhere." A vein stood out on the prince's forehead. Flecks of foam hissed from his mouth. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He rushed again, and this time Goku reacted, ducking under his attack and slamming a punch into Vegeta's stomach. Stepping back and away as Vegeta gasped for air, Goku rammed his elbow into Vegeta's face, knocking him to the floor. The two simple strikes were devastatingly effective. "Give up. You're not going to beat me like this." Normally, Goku would have payed more attention, relishing a rematch with Vegeta, but Frieza kept weighing on his mind-he could already feel the tyrant's power, all the way from across the planet. When Vegeta had regained his breath and the world wasn't spinning so much, he raised his head, a new look in his eyes-awe. "I… I was wrong… look at you, Kakarot. You-you must be as powerful as Frieza." He smiled. "It's you…" He coughed, bringing up blood. "You're… the Super Saiyan!" He climbed to his feet, struggling to stay upright. "Heh… we did our best, Raditz-and we came so far-but it was your long-lost little brother after all… and in case you need any incentive to fight Frieza… did Raditz ever tell you what happened to Planet Vegeta?"
Goku nodded. "It was destroyed in a meteor impact."
"No." Vegeta shook his head, wavering a little as he almost lost the strength to stand. "It was… Frieza!"
"Huh?" Both brothers looked shocked.
"He destroyed us… because he was afraid! That one day, a Super Saiyan would arise, and slay him! You must do it, Kakarot." He ignited his aura, lifting slowly into the air. "You must defeat Frieza!" He soared off, his flight path slightly shaky. I've got to get off this planet… if those titans clash, the whole of Namek could be destroyed!
"Should we just let him get away?" Raditz asked.
Goku shrugged. "He's no threat now-and I don't think it'd be right without giving him a chance to train some more. It was so easy… but anyway…" he turned to his friends. "Hey, guys! How's it going?"
"Better now you're here," Yamcha answered.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Gohan raced up to his father, who picked him up and held him tightly. "You're here! I knew you'd come!"
Goku smiled. "You've been very brave. Well done, son." He turned to face Zarbon. "So, uh, who's the Piccolo lookalike, and the, uh, other green guy?"
"I am Nail-Namek's most powerful warrior, if that is not too great a boast." Nail bowed.
"I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Zarbon, a… former… soldier of Frieza," Zarbon replied. "I formed an alliance with these Earthlings, and saved their lives-in exchange for one of the dragon's three wishes."
"Oh, three?" Goku scratched his head. "I guess we'll have to be careful then. So, we've got a few Dragon Balls, I see."
"Yup." Tien indicated to the left. "The rest are at Frieza's ship, over there. But Frieza himself is there too."
"That's no problem." Goku cracked his knuckles. "Whether or not I'm this Super Saiyan like Vegeta says, Frieza has to pay for everything he's done. Fighting him was always the plan. Come on!" He took off, and the others followed him.
"So, I reckon we should give Zarbon the first wish-I'm pretty sure it's a relatively small thing anyway," Tien was saying on the way there.
"That's right." Zarbon replied. "I want to have all of my power available with my normal appearance, without having to assume that hideous form."
"All right then…" Raditz closed his eyes. "Not that I care, mind you. I'm just here to make sure Kakarot doesn't do anything stupid. I can't imagine I'll be of much use, though," he said, sighing, "I could take the Ginyu Force now, but not Vegeta or Frieza. It won't be my battle, in the end."
Tien nodded. Raditz had indeed gotten a lot stronger-though nowhere near as much as Goku-but Tien reckoned he could use the Kaioken to overcome him, for a short period of time anyway. "Okay. Goku, what do you think? I say first wish is to bring Piccolo and Kami back."
"Yeah, I guess." Goku looked back at Tien. "I'm not sure about having Piccolo around again, but we can't have one without the other, and having Dragon Balls on Earth sure is handy… then I guess that leaves the third wish for the people the saiyans killed. Maybe then we can use the wish on Earth to restore the Namek people… I can't wait to see Krillin again. I wonder how he's doing on King Kai's planet…"
"Speaking of whom," a familiar voice spoke in their minds (taking most of them by surprise), "remember what I told you not to do? The one thing I warned you against? I'll give you a clue-it starts with 'fighting' and ends with 'Frieza'! You braindead imbecile! You-will-die!" King Kai ranted.
"Aw, come on King Kai," Goku replied nonchalantly, "didn't you hear Vegeta? I'm a Super Saiyan now!" He clearly wasn't taking the situation seriously. King Kai's voice receded into incoherent splutters.
Zarbon was about to comment on the strangeness of hearing a disembodied voice in his head, when another thought occurred to him, completely blocking out everything else. "Wait… I know now! I thought I recognized you!" He flew up to Goku. "Yes, you look almost exactly like him!"
"Who?" Goku asked.
"I was watching when Frieza destroyed your planet. There was one saiyan-who looked just like you-who flew right up to Frieza, and opposed him to the end. Frieza stared into his eyes as he killed him, along with the rest of his race."
"This warrior…" Raditz mused. "What did he look like? Besides Kakarot."
Zarbon tried to remember. "Well, if you must know… he wore, I think, was it green armour? And the scars on his face were quite memorable."
"Bardock…" Raditz whispered. "So Father fought to the last…"
"Huh? Our dad?" Goku blinked. "He must have been really brave." He frowned, speeding up. "And Frieza killed him personally. That monster…"
Frieza was, at the moment, infuriated. "Scouts! Report!"
"Scouts are missing, sir!"
"Then somebody had better bloody well report, before I lose my temper!" the tyrant yelled, vapourising a random passing soldier.
"Er…" a flunky hazarded. "We've lost contact with Vegeta and the Ginyu Force, but we've picked up readings that match Cooler's Armoured Squadron-they've disappeared, too, but some new signals have arrived."
"And then what?"
"We're… not sure, sir," the technician admitted. "One of the readings was so high it broke the, er, the scale. Sir." Frieza's eyes narrowed, and the entire ship exploded. A single dimunitive figure stalked from the wreckage. Worth it. There were plenty of other ships on this planet. Frieza turned his head, hearing feet touch the ground. A pink-skinned humanoid stood facing him, with wild scruffy hair and wearing a bright orange martial arts uniform. "And who are you supposed to be?" Frieza asked irritably, not in the mood for any more trouble today-he was expecting Cooler soon.
The saiyan from Earth walked towards his enemy, weighing him up and preparing for battle. "Frieza…"
"Yes, that's me, now go away, today I'm liable to utterly destroy you and wipe all trace of your existence from history ." Frieza turned to face the stranger. He supposed he'd have to teach this one some manners. Frieza disappeared, coming around from behind Goku. He lashed out with one arm, and Goku caught it, holding back Frieza's attack without flinching. "That… that's not supposed to happen…" Frieza stammered.
Chapter 16: The Terror of Frieza
Frieza jumped away from his unexpected opponent, glaring as Goku straightened up, waiting for another attack. Goku realized something. "You don't even know who I am, do you? You don't recognise me."
"Nothing comes to mind," Frieza replied offhandedly. He really didn't have time for this, but he was curious that a warrior so powerful who wasn't of his race could exist. Well, he'd still be done with this in short order-even if it did require him to transform.
Goku frowned. "Well, I'm the son of a saiyan you killed. His name was Bardock-not that you'd care."
"A saiyan, eh?" Frieza nodded. "Well, it makes sense you'd be powerful, but… so much… it'd be a shame to destroy that. Why don't you work for me? Vegeta, Ginyu… they can be replaced, especially by one as capable as you. Otherwise, I hope you know a good funeral director."
"No thanks." Goku prepared for battle. "I'm happy as I am-there's nothing someone like you can offer me!"
"Very well." Frieza raised a hand, almost instantaneously firing a bright purple energy beam from his index finger. However, Goku sidestepped, the blast hissing harmlessly past his head. "Nice try," he said. "So are you just going to keep doing that, or are we actually going to fight?"
Frieza sighed. "You saiyans… all you want to do is fight…"
Raditz, Tien, Yamcha, Gohan, Zarbon and Nail stood on a rocky outcrop half a mile away, watching the godlike beings face off. "So, you're clear on the plan?" Raditz asked.
Tien nodded. "If Goku goes down, you and I charge Frieza while the others provide covering fire. All together, we might have a chance, but we'll at the very least buy Goku time to recover."
"Good. Remember it well." Raditz stared straight ahead. "I hope Vegeta's right… that Kakarot is the Super Saiyan. If he can defeat Frieza, we can finally be free-not just us, the whole galaxy." Raditz shook with anticipation. "Come on, little brother… it's all down to you now."
"I suppose you're here out of some sort of misplaced sense of revenge," Frieza said with an arrogant smile. "You won't achieve anything. I'm the most feared being in the universe, you know… and with good reason."
"I don't care who you are!" Goku shouted back, leaping forwards at Frieza. "You're just another obstacle to overcome! Hyaah!" Frieza spun away, and Goku's first punch swung on empty air. The frost demon struck back, and Goku batted his arm away, jumping into the air and swinging a kick at Frieza's head. Frieza leapt out of the way, rebounding off the ground behind him and springing back at his saiyan nemesis. He spread his hands and fired a small energy beam out of each finger as he advanced, and Goku twisted and spun in the air to avoid all ten. One beam grazed his shoulder, and he grunted in pain, just as Frieza took advantage of the distraction, appearing in mid-air behind Goku. Frieza kicked him in the stomach, slipping past his defenses and catapulting him into the water below.
Frieza looked left and right, narrowing his eyes. "Where are you, monkey… ah!" An orange and black blur shot up towards Frieza, swinging both arms at him. Frieza dodged away, touching down on a mesa behind him. Goku hung in the air, dripping wet and a little scratched up, but relatively unharmed. "Woah," he said to himself, "this guy's really something. Even after my training at one hundred times gravity, he's matching my every move!"
Damn him… Frieza thought. How did a saiyan become my equal? Well, my first form's equal, but nevertheless it is a disturbing thought. I suppose I was right to wipe them out. Vegeta will have to be next, if he is still alive…
Ten silent seconds passed, and then without warning Frieza waved a hand, and the air around Goku exploded. The sudden, violent detonation of ki shook the ground for miles around, forming a huge cloud of smoke. Chunks of rock tumbled to the ground, thrown up by the shockwave. The smoke cleared, revealing Goku, his clothes a little tattered, a shimmering protective bubble of energy formed around him. He breathed out slowly, lowering his arms from in front of his face. "Not bad!" Then, he rushed at Frieza. Just as he reached his enemy, Frieza lashed out with his tail, but it cut through an afterimage. Goku appeared behind a shocked Frieza, and punched him clean through a nearby mountain. The mountain crumbled and collapsed, and Frieza climbed to his feet. His skin was marked with dirt, but he didn't appear hurt at all. "Huh. That was clever… it won't save you, of course." Goku appeared behind him again, but this time Frieza was ready.
Goku threw a quick punch, but Frieza blocked with his forearm, reaching out with his mind and grabbing hold of the rubble around the two fighters. Rocks and boulders rose from the ground, launching themselves at Goku. The saiyan hero jumped and flipped away, dodging and ducking the onslaught of flying rock. "Psychic power, too? Man, Frieza's full of surprises!" He somersaulted over a boulder, punched another into fragments, then formed a wall with his ki, smashing the rest into dust as they flew at him. "You done?" he called to Frieza, who grinned.
"So, you don't like my telekinesis?" He flew over, landing about a hundred metres away from Goku, perched on a small cliff. "Then maybe we should fight the old-fashioned way, if that makes you more comfortable."
"That sure is generous of you," Goku replied, bracing himself as he looked up at his powerful opponent.
"Heh heh… oh yes, I'm really a nice guy, just misunderstood…" he held up his right hand. "I know! I won't use this hand to fight you-only my left. Now how about that for a deal?"
"Go ahead, it's your choice." Goku stretched his muscles, warming up. "If you want to hold yourself back, I won't stop you."
"Very well." Frieza held his right hand behind his back. "If I used both, it would seem like I actually had to try to beat you…"
"Do what you want! Let's go!" Goku charged, his aura pulsing to life in bright white flares of energy. He threw the first punch, but Frieza retreated, avoiding it, and struck back with his left hand. Goku ducked under it, sweeping under Frieza's legs to try and trip him up-but Frieza jumped over his attack, kicking off of Goku's face with both feet. Goku fell back, pain rushing to his face, but he pushed his ki to the maximum, righting himself. Rushing back into the fight, he feinted low and Frieza fell for it. Grabbing Frieza's head in both hands, Goku rammed his knee into the tyrant's face. Frieza hissed, his own blue aura flaring up as he thrashed around blindly. Goku jumped back to avoid his flailing opponent, but Frieza soon returned to his senses, and the battle.
They traded blows with rapid precision, Frieza-now using both hands-having perhaps a slight edge in sheer power and speed, Goku in technique and skill. Eventually, Frieza messed up a block, and Goku's fist hit home, driving into Frieza's stomach. Frieza gasped, but quickly countered, knocking Goku to the ground with a sweep of his tail. Goku grimaced as he rolled away from Frieza's follow-up-he wasn't used to fighting enemies with tails they could use in battle. He'd occasionally done the same when he was a child, but he could see Frieza's tail was far stronger and more useful. He sprung to his feet, and Frieza overbalanced trying to hit him. Goku landed behind Frieza, landing a kick to the small of Frieza's back. He tried to follow up, but Frieza yelled in rage, his aura exploding outwards and bowling Goku over.
They stood facing each other again, Frieza glaring in disbelief at how long this bloody monkey was taking to die, and Goku amazed and excited that he'd found such a challenging opponent. However, Frieza suddenly calmed down. "Well, I see I shall have to get serious… and you?"
"Huh?" Goku knew this couldn't bode well. "But… I was already going all-out…"
"Well, then." Frieza chuckled as he spoke. "I guess you're about to learn why I am feared throughout the galaxy, and you are not."
An eerie light began to emanate outwards from Frieza. His body shook with power as cracks began to appear in his armour. "Yeeaaah!" His whole armoured top shattered as his muscles bulged outwards-but he wasn't done yet. His limbs began to thicken, and the bluish light that crackled up and down his changing form became red. "AAAH!" Frieza's cry intensified as he tried to achieve total concentration on his transformation. He shot upwards, his height doubling, tripling and still increasing as he bulked up, each limb the size of his previous form's whole body. His horns curved upwards, like those of a bull. The red light gave one final angry pulse, and faded. Goku stared up at Frieza's towering second form, shivering as he realised the task that lay ahead of him. Anyone can see that he's gotten physically stronger, but his ki's increased too-maybe doubled!
"Well, monkey, how do you like me now?" Frieza asked, giving a mocking bow. Goku breathed deeply. Come on, Goku, don't give up! This isn't impossible-it's just a challenge, like I said! Yeah, a challenge! He took a step forward, but Frieza moved faster than he could follow, instantly appearing in front of Goku and kicking him into the air. Goku recovered spinning to face Frieza-but the monster was gone, now in the air behind him, and as Goku tried to react Frieza hammered him to the ground with both fists. Goku struggled to push himself up. I can't keep up! And the force of those blows… Frieza landed hard on his back, driving Goku into the ground with his feet. Frieza hopped away, standing a couple of feet from his downed opponent. Goku gasped for air, pulling himself to a crouch, then jumped up and away. Frieza followed him with his eyes. What will he try now?
"KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAA!" Goku let fly his charged energy beam, Frieza standing straight in its path, not bothering to dodge. At the last moment, he swung both hands, knocking the beam out of its path and launching it into the atmosphere. Frieza smiled slowly. "Well now, don't tell me that's your best! Come on!"
"I can't give up!" Goku told himself, charging again. "Vegeta was right… I have to be… the Super Saiyan! I have to beat Frieza!"
Frieza dodged his lunge with ease, knocking Goku away with his tail. "Super Saiyan? Have you been listening to Vegeta's stories? There's no such thing." He inclined his head slightly, looking down at Goku, who was picking himself up again. "You see, the difference between us," Frieza said, "is that you achieve a power level of about half a million and are so impressed you decide it's the fulfillment of some ancient prophecy. I, possessing the same power in my first form, merely think, 'why does this body have to be so weak'? This form, you might be interested in hearing, has a measured power level of over a million. So, have fun." He spread his arms. "You haven't given up yet, have you?"
"YAAH!" Goku hurled himself back into the fray.
"I guess not," Frieza added. He took Goku's next punch directly to his face without flinching. "But you should at least consider it. This is getting old." He spun around in the air, delivering a roundhouse kick to Goku's side that made him cry out as he tumbled away again. Frieza pursued him, knocking him further up into the air and then back down to the ground in a cloud of dust. Goku rolled over onto his back, struggling to stay conscious. "Eh?" Frieza raised an eyebrow. "Still not dead? I'm impressed."
"All right, stick to the plan." Raditz lowered himself into a combat stance. "Attack on my-"
"DADDY!"
"-signal?" Raditz finished in confusion as Gohan rocketed past him. "Gohan! Come back-don't attack on your own!"
Gohan came from behind, taking Frieza completely by surprise as his foot buried itself in Frieza's face, throwing him backwards. Gohan carried on madly attacking, hitting home a continued series of powerful blows, then shoving an energy ball into Frieza's chest and blasting him into the ground. Gohan raced down towards Frieza, trying to keep attacking, but Frieza finally reacted, grabbing Gohan's head in one hand and hurling him away. Gohan bumped and skidded painfully along the ground as Frieza stood, dusting himself off. "Where did that child come from?" he asked himself. "And how was he so powerful for that brief moment?" He advanced on Gohan, raising a hand to cut him in two. "Ah well. I'll just kill him, and then I won't have to worry about it anymore."
"Hold it!" Raditz and Tien flew at him, Tien pushing the Kaioken attack all the way up to the five-times increase. Frieza saw the attack coming this time, and turned to face them, grinning. He decided he didn't like the look of Tien's burning red aura, so he launched a quick energy beam that took Tien out of the sky, but Raditz carried on his charge. Frieza recognised this attacker. "Raditz? What are you doing?"
"We're not your slaves anymore, Frieza!" Raditz punched, kicked, punched again, but hit nothing. Despite his size, Frieza's speed was unbelievable. Raditz kept attacking without hitting, and then Frieza vanished. He appeared behind Raditz, and was about to counter-attack when an energy beam struck his back. It caused more irritation than damage, and he turned to see Yamcha, Nail and Zarbon standing behind him, preparing to fire. "Zarbon, too? I'm surrounded by traitors today… !" They all launched their attacks, but this time Frieza anticipated them, dodging past them all. He landed in front of the small group, and with a casual motion, took Yamcha's head off with one hand. He tossed the dead fighter aside, and turned back to Raditz. "Well… still feeling confident?" He prepared to fire an energy blast at the rebel saiyan, when Tien rose from the ground, flaring up his aura. "Frieza!"
"Hmm?"
"That was one of my best friends you just killed!" Tien narrowed his eyes. "You won't get away with it!"
"I think I will, actually." Frieza waved a hand dismissively. "You're certainly not in a position to stop me."
"We'll see about that!" Tien's ki skyrocketed. "Hyaaah! KAIOKEN… TIMES TEN!" The explosion of power flattened the ground around him, sending tidal waves rushing outwards from him. "FRIEZA!" He charged up at the demonic ruler, his fist crashing straight into Frieza's face. They hung there for a second, and it seemed that Tien might stand a chance, but then Frieza straightened up, his head pushing Tien's fist back. Frieza scowled. "Well… you're almost as strong as that saiyan who took on my first form. If it was any other day, I might play with you a little, but I'm expecting my brother to get here soon, so…" He batted Tien away, but the world's strongest human stopped his flight with an effort, summoning up all his energy. "I won't lose! TRI-BEAM!" The burst of yellow light enveloped Frieza, and Tien kept pushing, pouring all his power into the attack. Then a point of purple light appeared amid the yellow, and expanded as Frieza pushed his ki out in all directions, shattering Tien's attack and emerging unscathed. He rushed at Tien, just as the warrior's Kaioken aura faded, and began to beat him bloody, fists, feet and tail raining down on Tien's unprotected body. After only five seconds of this, Tien fell to the ground, blacking out. Frieza surveyed the battlefield. "Well? No more challengers? Then it's time to clean up." Once again, he vanished.
Raditz, Nail and Zarbon-the fighters still standing-glanced around nervously. "I can feel his energy somewhere…" Nail muttered. "But he's moving too fast for me to pinpoint it."
"I knew this was a bad idea, going against Frieza." Zarbon scowled. "I let myself be tempted, and now he's going to kill us all."
"Well-" Raditz began, but he was interrupted as Frieza appeared in the air next to him, stabbing right through the saiyan's body with his right horn. Frieza laughed as blood gushed from the wound, and Raditz screamed hoarsely, struggling to free himself from the impalement. "Oops, how clumsy of me. I guess I don't know my own strength…" Frieza shook left and right, his horn twisting in Raditz's stomach, piercing organs and cracking bones. He angled his head, sliding Raditz off and dropping his shaking form to the ground. "Now, do you see? I am the strongest in the universe! There is no being that can match my-" A purple and white blur soared past, slamming into Frieza and carrying him off into the distance.
Nail's eyes widened. "What was that?"
"Cooler!" Zarbon realized. "Frieza's brother. He had to get here eventually." He looked around at their dead and injured companions, of which Gohan and Tien were picking themselves up. "We need to treat the injured," Tien said, "and fast. Do you have any senzu beans on your ship, Goku?"
"Sorry." Goku half-sat up. "There were barely enough to get us through our training-I don't think Korin's used to having to provide for two battle-hungry saiyans."
"Damn!" Tien looked around. "Well, any bright ideas, guys?"
"I think I know," Nail replied. "The Namekian child your friends saved-he was staying with Guru, and he had his power unlocked too. Only, it wasn't battle ability, like your friends. He gained healing powers."
"Convenient." Tien considered this. "It'll be hard bringing everyone over there, so can you go get him and bring him here? Meanwhile, I'll go pick up Bulma-she's been on her own for a while, and probably wants to know what's going on."
"Well. It's been a long time, brother." Frieza was saying as he began to transform into his third form. Spikes erupted from his back, his shoulderplates shot out to the side, and his head extended backwards. His brother Cooler was already in the fourth and final form of their race-smaller than the second and third, sleek and almost metallic-looking.
"It has," Cooler said. "So, who were you fighting just now?"
"Oh, assorted renegades and pests." Frieza shrugged. "They killed all my soldiers, you know."
"Hmm. It must have been them that wiped out my Armoured Squadron too, then." Cooler stroked his chin. "I mean, it couldn't possibly been your little rabble of an army."
"Cute. Now, just one moment…" Frieza began his final transformation. "YAAAH!" His third form shattered, and an explosion rocked the planet as his true form was revealed beneath it. Frieza was mainly white, with touches of purple, whereas Cooler's natural colours were the opposite. "It was awfully generous of you to let me transform, Cooler."
"If I'm going to prove my superiority over you, baby brother, it's going to be over you at full power. I will have proved to myself that I've truly overcome you."
"A mistake you'll soon regret." Frieza prepared himself, raising his guard. "Remember our last battle?"
"Things are different now." Cooler settled into a ready stance. "Do you know, the phrase 'winner takes all' could have been invented for this moment. Immortality, control over the entire galaxy, and the added bonus of wiping out the little group of pests that killed our troops… let's go!" The brothers clashed, their battle rocking the planet.
Chapter 17: Ruler of the Universe
The awe-inspiring battle between Frieza and Cooler took a brief pause. The combatants alighted on cliff faces opposite each other, fighting for breath. "Careful, brother of mine," Cooler warned his younger sibling, "you're causing considerable damage to the planet. If you destroy the Dragon Balls, neither of us gets immortality."
"That's hardly your concern anymore." Frieza smiled slightly. "I think we both know who's going to come out on top." Cooler was considerably more damaged and battle-worn than Frieza, although the younger frost demon was far from unscathed himself.
"You think so?" Cooler straightened up, stretching his legs. "I think you'll find I have a few surprises in store for you. I've learnt to keep things close to my chest-as the weaker child, father always ignored me when you were around…"
"Well, without strength, what are you?" Frieza replied. "How can you expect to be an efficient leader without the power to keep your subjects in check? And power is what I have-more than you know."
"What's this?" Cooler raised an eyebrow. "Been holding back, Frieza? How very like you."
"Something like that…" Frieza hunched over slightly, his previously thin body bulking out as his muscles bunched and multiplied under his skin. His cold blue aura burst into life. "Prepare to face the mighty Frieza at full power!" he declared. Cooler was visibly taken aback, fear evident on his face.
Frieza's aura grew, engulfing the land around him and grinding rock into dust. Small sparks of energy flew off in random directions, detonating on contact with ground or water. Any that happened to fly in Cooler's direction, he ignored, being powerful enough to simply shrug off the minor explosions. Frieza hissed, gritting his teeth to avoid screaming, as his power rocked his body, pouring out in a wave of force and flattening the surrounding area. "Heeeaaagh!" Steam rose from his back, lifting into the sky and blocking out the sunlight. The ground shook, and arcs of electricity enveloped Frieza's body. "Yaaaagh!" A burst of white light signalled he was fully powered-up. Frieza stretched his limbs a little-his muscular state at 100% was always difficult to get used to-then turned to Cooler and grinned. "Well, how do you like me now? I was already above you, but now there's just no contest!"
To Frieza's surprise, his brother was laughing. "Haha! That's excellent! You had me worried for a second there!" A strange glint appeared in Cooler's eyes. "Is that all?"
"W-what?" Frieza glared at Cooler, uncomprehending.
"Well," the elder explained, "remember when I said I had a few surprises? For a minute there, you had me thinking you were about to do-this! Hrr…" Chunks of rock broke off from the ground and levitated around Cooler as he began his transformation. This wasn't a slow release of stored power like Frieza-it was tapping a sudden flood of energy which simply hadn't been there before. "Rrr… Huuu… Raaah!" Cooler's shoulders sprouted armoured plates, and he grew several feet taller in an instant. He thickened out to match his new height, but his muscles were toned and proportionate-not bulging and unnatural like Frieza's 100% state. A spiked crest jutted out from the top of his head, and his voice deepened to a guttural growl. "Haaah!" He continued to grow, more bony spikes emerging from his forearms. His teeth lengthened into fangs, and then an armoured 'mask' slid over his lower face, leaving his now glowing red eyes the only exposed part of his head under all the armor plating. "Heh heh heh… so, what do you think, Frieza?" Cooler now dwarfed his brother, towering above the other galactic ruler. The transformation had also healed all his previous wounds from the battle with Frieza.
"What… how…" Frieza tried to form coherent words, and failed.
"It's a fifth form I unlocked-unlike you, I actually had someone I could aspire to beat. Our father is too far above us, and nobody else in the universe can possibly challenge our kind. But you-you were an achievable goal to overcome. And that desire to become stronger fuelled my transformation."
There are forms above our true, original form? Frieza thought. But… I'm far superior to Cooler-I should have been the one to discover it! he mused, before returning his attention to Cooler. "Well, what of it? I'm still more naturally talented. Transform all you like, I'm simply stronger than you!"
"If you think so…" Cooler spread his arms. "Come and get me." Frieza, blind to the odds without his scouter, his belief-that his power was unchallenged (with the exception of his father) in the entire universe-unshakeable, charged into the jaws of death.
"Can you feel that?" Tien was staring into the distance as the brothers clashed on the other side of the planet. The warrior could sense their ki, but it was so huge it was beyond his level of comprehension. However, since Goku and Raditz had been healed by the Namekian child Dende, they'd also passed beyond that level-he just hoped, if it came to it, the saiyan brothers would be able to defeat whichever frost demon emerged the victor.
"Yeah… no kidding, that's some serious power. It's all they can do not to destroy the planet as they fight," Goku replied. "I feel unbelievably powerful myself all of a sudden, since I was healed-but I honestly don't know if it will be enough." Their group, consisting of Goku, Raditz, Gohan, Tien, Bulma, Zarbon, Nail and Dende, was gathered in a loose circle near the wreckage of Frieza's spaceship. "Funny… even I can feel the battle this time…" Bulma-the only non-ki-sensitive among them-noted, "The whole planet's shaking, and I'm struggling not to fall down… so, is everyone healed?"
Tien nodded. "I was the last. Let's summon the dragon while those two are occupied."
On Nail's command phrase, in the Namekian language, the seven assembled Dragon Balls glowed with a brilliant yellow light, and the great dragon Porunga burst forth. It had a roughly humanoid upper body, and was much larger than Earth's dragon. Spikes sprouted from its back, and antenna hung from its brow. "Woah… now that's a dragon and a half…" Goku muttered.
"All right. Zarbon, you've been a great help, and I think two wishes will be plenty for what we need, so you can have the first wish." Zarbon's face lit up.
"You mean it?" He stepped forward hesitantly. "I… I guess I'm so used to the world of backstabbing and power-grabbing, it almost feels strange to be trusted… I could get used to it."
"YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME," Porunga bellowed, its words magically understandable to all present, no matter what their native language, "NOW SPEAK YOUR WISHES, FOR MY PATIENCE IS NOT INFINITE."
"Er… oh, mighty…"
"Porunga," Dende supplied.
"Yes, right-Porunga! Grant me freedom from my hideous transformation-I want to be far more powerful as I am, without ever needing to become that creature in battle again!" Zarbon gazed up at the dragon. Immortality? He'd rather live his life to the full, and enjoy it. Nail translated his request into Namekian.
Porunga's eyes pulsed red, and the same light enveloped Zarbon, filling him with a feeling of sudden vitality. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. NOW, WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?"
"I guess we should wish back everyone the saiyans killed…" Tien said.
"I'm afraid that won't work." Nail shook his head. "Porunga can only restore one life per wish."
"All right." Tien looked up at Porunga, and Nail continued to translate. "Dragon! Please restore the being that is Kami and Piccolo to life-they're really two halves of one entity, so it's one life!" Again, the eyes glowed, and again, Porunga spoke. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED."
"Oh, I see." Goku smiled. "Good thinking, Tien-Shenron can restore groups of people with one wish, so we can use Earth's Dragon Balls for the rest now Kami's alive. Great idea!"
"SPEAK YOUR FINAL WISH, SO THAT I MAY LEAVE," Porunga boomed.
"All right, keep your hair on…" Raditz pushed his way to the front of the group. "How about if we wished everyone on this planet to Earth, including the remaining Nameks? There can't be more than a hundred left alive, so there wouldn't be a problem of space, and it'd be much easier to plan for the future if we didn't have to worry about Frieza and Cooler having the battle to end all battles on our doorstep." The shaking ground was a constant reminder of the ever-present danger.
"Sounds good." Goku nodded. "Go ahead."
"Uh, Porunga!" Raditz called up to the gargantuan, floating figure. "I ask you to move everyone on Planet Namek to the planet Earth-except Frieza and Cooler!" There was a brief pause, but just as the dragon's eyes lit up again, the light was snuffed out. A second later, the dragon vanished, and the dragon balls crashed to the ground, transformed into lifeless stones.
"W-what happened?" Raditz looked around frantically. "What went wrong?"
"Well, it didn't work, I guess…" Goku answered calmly.
"I CAN SEE THAT, you buffoon! What I want to know is why ?!"
Nail's face fell. "I think I know. Guru, the Grand Elder of our people… he must have passed on. He was old, sick and weak… it was only with the greatest reluctance I accepted his decision to send me to help you in the first place. The effects of the battle between Frieza and Cooler were too violent for him to withstand…" Nail fell silent, and Dende sobbed quietly-Guru had been a father figure to practically the entire Namek race.
"And with this battle going on, we can't use one of the ships scattered around the planet…" Raditz added. "Can you imagine taking off in the middle of this, let alone trying to leave atmosphere?"
Bulma nodded in agreement. "The physical effects are bad enough, but the amount of energy those two must be putting out would play hell with the electronic systems. It'd be impossible."
"I don't know… it can't be that hard, can it?" Goku asked.
Bulma scowled. "Okay, you ever hear how it's hard to fly a plane through a hurricane? Well, now imagine it's two hurricanes, each with enough force to rip a planet apart, trying to kill each other, and since you're in a space vessel, not an in-atmosphere plane, you're trying to avoid the slightest bit of damage to the vehicle, because any damage would mean you could expose everyone inside to the lethal vacuum of space!"
"Oh… that is pretty difficult… I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Goku did some push-ups to pass the time. "But I feel stronger than ever right now! Whatever comes up, I'm sure we'll be fine."
Kakarot… what is it about you? How do you just keep improving like this? Raditz wondered. You were stranded, with no memory of your kind, on an alien world, but rose to the top, becoming its greatest hero… you learned about the saiyan race and needed to fight Vegeta, and increased your power level more than tenfold… greater challenges appeared on Namek, and you rose to meet them… and now, Frieza and his brother have shown ther true power, and again you've broken down all your barriers to match them-maybe that's why Vegeta thinks you're the one. You have the ability to meet any challenge, face any enemy… I think I'm starting to believe. It's you-the Super Saiyan. The one who will avenge our lost race. He was roused from his internal monologue by something-or rather, a lack of something.
"Hey, the shaking's stopped. And… one of the huge power levels disappeared." Gohan looked over at the horizon where the battle had been taking place. "Are they done?"
Goku nodded. "One of them is dead. I can't tell which-both of their powers are so huge…" He mentally prepared himself. "The other's bound to come for the Dragon Balls-and for us. I'll fight him. Raditz, you with me?"
Raditz shook his head. "I may have gotten a lot stronger, but if they're anywhere near your level, I'd just get in the way. You have to win, Kakarot. I hope it's Frieza-then you can redeem the honour of the saiyans."
"You still don't get it, do you?" Goku's voice had taken on the serious quality it occasionally had-when he felt what he was talking about was important enough to stop joking around.
"Uh…"
"I don't care about the honour of the saiyans!"
"What?" Raditz blinked, trying to tell himself he'd really heard that. So why was his brother so determined?
"It doesn't matter which of them, even if it was both, I had to fight. Their kind shouldn't have the kind of power they do." Goku's face was set in determination. "They judge everyone, and care about nobody. Just tap your scouter, and there's a whole living, breathing person, reduced to a number!" He gritted his teeth. "Cooler's just the same as Frieza. He'd have killed the saiyans just as easily-I'm sure he's wiped out plenty of species, warriors and innocents alike, himself."
"How do you know?" Tien asked. "I mean, I assumed Cooler would be bad, but you've never met him…"
"He was lured here by the promise of immortality, like it'll fix all his problems. He's a product of the same soulless society that created Frieza. He attacked without warning, shooting first and never stopping to ask questions. He's exactly like his brother, trust me. Frieza or Cooler-I'll fight them. And I will beat them. Until there's no fight left in them. No more venom or hatred, that makes people who could have been just like us casually wipe out billions of lives. It has to stop here."
Frieza lay in the dirt, broken and bleeding. Cooler stood over him, resting one foot on a rock, wiping his brow-more a symbolic gesture of the effort mortally wounding his brother had taken, as his highly efficient fifth form did not in fact sweat. "Well, I'd say we've learnt a few things today, hmm?" he taunted.
"Cooler… help… me…" Frieza pressed one hand to a gash in his stomach to try and slow the blood loss, shakily reaching his other hand up towards Cooler.
"What's this? Help you ?" Cooler smiled behind his mask. "I've just spent the last hour or so trying to kill you, so that would be a little counterproductive, you have to admit."
"Please…" Frieza gasped. "Mercy…"
"Mercy." Cooler's eyes widened. " Mercy . Oh, that's rich, coming from you. Mercy, indeed. How about, no." Cooler reached down and, with a sharp twist of his arm, he tore Frieza's head from his shoulders. "Enjoy sucking vacuum for the few hours it'll take your brain to shut down!" Cooler called, tossing the defeated ruler's head into the atmosphere-Cooler was easily strong enough for it to break through the atmosphere, and Frieza's skin was tough enough to survive intact-as Cooler intended, their race's ability to survive fatal injuries would allow him to drift alive for a while before slowly dying. Laughing to himself, Cooler incinerated the remains of Frieza's body, regressing to his more natural fourth form.
"Here he comes… everyone, get behind me!" Goku raised his guard. He squinted into the distance, seeing an approaching purple-and-white shape. "Huh… I just realised, I don't know what Cooler looks like-or Frieza at full power, for that matter!" The figure landed several dozen metres away, dusting itself off.
"I've never seen Frieza's true form either…" Zarbon added. "But that one I recognise-it's Cooler. He's killed Frieza, and now he's come to clean up…" I hope this goes well… I've finally got a life free from my transformation, but I might not live to enjoy it…
Cooler studied the group assembled before him. Zarbon, one of the few surviving saiyans, a pair of Namekians and a couple of assorted humanoids. "Well, this is a merry little gathering. Why don't we start with the proper introductions? I am Lord Cooler, and as of today supreme ruler of the galaxy." His face rose in a half-smile. "How do you do?"
"Don't worry about the others. My name is Son Goku. I'm a saiyan, from Earth. You want a wish to make yourself immortal, right?"
"But of course." Another saiyan… and what's this 'Earth'?
"That on its own tells me all I need to know! It doesn't matter anyway-the Dragon Balls are gone. You'll never get your wish."
Cooler's eyes widened. "You lie! You're hiding them somewhere-so I'll just have to remove you and your friends from the picture, then I'll be at leisure to search the planet for them."
Goku shifted to a more defensive stance. "Believe what you want, but make a move to hurt any of them and I will stop you."
"You mean you'll try." Cooler smiled, then vanished. Goku frowned, and disappeared too. Shockwaves rocked the whole area as they clashed, faster than the others' senses could follow. Cooler appeared right in front of them, raising a hand to strike Raditz, but Goku jumped between them, blocking Cooler's punch, and they leapt off again.
Goku jumped backwards, back-flipping away, rebounding off a boulder and crashing into Cooler's stomach with both feet. Cooler slid back, not showing any outward sign of pain. He countered with his elbow, and Goku was sent spinning away, righting himself with a quick burst of ki. "How do you have such speed?" Cooler wondered aloud. "Nobody outside my family has ever shown such talent for fighting. I'd have expected that blow to kill a lesser being like you."
"What-are you going to try and recruit me or something?"
"No, actually." Cooler idly flicked his tail back and forth. "You've openly fought against my family-and an affront like that cannot be ignored. I do wish you hadn't, as your ability would make you an excellent servant. Ah, well…" He ran at Goku. "I suppose, since you're making it difficult for me to get to the others, I'll just have to destroy you first."
They battled back and forth, the fight moving over the ocean, and continuing suspended in mid-air above the water. "You know, I think I preferred fighting Frieza," Goku said, blocking a quick jab from Cooler. "He offered to fight me with only one hand."
"That's just like him." Cooler dodged Goku's kick. "He always did like to play games." He used the opening Goku's attack had made to slip past the saiyan's defences and land a punch to Goku's shoulder. Goku ducked away, moving to the defensive and knocking away Cooler's next few attacks. "Not… bad… Cooler!" He deliberately let Cooler's foot get under his guard, catching it before it made contact, and using the leverage to throw Cooler into the air. Goku pursued his opponent, vanishing and appearing in the air above Cooler as he shot upwards. Goku narrowed his eyes, throwing out an invisible burst of ki. "Haah!" The force knocked Cooler down into the water below, and Goku didn't waste a second, beginning to charge up his energy between his hands. "KAMEHAME… HAAA!" The blue energy beam shot down into the sea, vapourising the water for a mile around instantly. The shockwave opened up fissures in the earth running all the way back to where his friends were standing, and Tien had to pull Dende out of the way of one.
"Wow, this must be the battle to end all battles!" The three-eyed fighter muttered. Nail nodded in agreement. "Who would have thought… the saviour of our planet would turn out to be a saiyan. The universe works in mysterious ways…"
Raditz was entirely focused on trying to follow the battle-if he concentrated hard, pushing his new powers to the limit, he could catch glimpses. He doubted the others could keep up, but they could doubtless feel the effects of the fight-it would be hard to miss, given the amount of damage the Namekian countryside was taking. Come on, Kakarot… you can't lose! The fate of the entire universe hangs on this… the frost demons have ruled for longer than anyone can remember. You have to prove they aren't invincible…
Goku hung in the air, heaving for breath. The former sea was now a steaming crater, and the forests around it had been completely burned to the ground from the heat of his blast. But as he looked closer, he was equal parts surprised and dismayed-Cooler was picking himself up, scratched and burned but having suffered no major injuries. "Damn you, monkey!" He yelled up at Goku, flying up to hover opposite the other warrior.
"Hey now, there's no need for name-calling," Goku replied. "If we're fighting, you've got to expect to take some hits!"
"Not from the likes of you…" Cooler inclined his head. "I suppose I didn't tell the entire truth before. I do sometimes enjoy a bit of a game like my brother… for instance, hiding my true power from an ignorant little saiyan!"
"Wait… what?"
"I thought about five or ten percent of my power would be sufficient to break you, but you were a little tougher than I thought." There was a sudden flare of energy from Cooler's body. No drama, extended screams, or bursts of light. It was just there. "So, what do you say to full power?"
Goku gulped. "I think that sounds like an absolutely terrifying idea."
"Good."
"What's happening over there?" Gohan was looking intently at the two distant figures, who had resumed their battle.
"Nothing good." Tien shivered a little. "Cooler's power just increased massively. I… I don't think Goku can win."
"No! He has to!" Raditz's face filled with fear. "He must defeat Cooler… he must… be the Super Saiyan…"
"I am sorry," Nail told him, "but I think that possibility is becoming less likely every second."
"I don't care!" Raditz ignited his aura, blue and white energy mixing and flaring up around him. "I'm going to help him!" He flexed his ki, and his armoured top exploded off of him, leaving his plain black vest underneath. Really, his body had become tough enough that the armour barely made a difference anymore. "And I won't wear that symbol of their dominance anymore, either!"
"Don't do it!" Nail warned. "You'll die!"
"We're dead anyway when Cooler finishes with Kakarot!" Raditz took off. "Stay and hide under a rock if you want-I'm no coward!"
"Damn it!" Tien flew off after him, and Nail followed.
"Hold on, Dad!" Gohan flew off as well, leaving Dende, Bulma and Zarbon behind.
"You're not going?" Bulma asked Zarbon, who shook his head.
"They're all morons. Cooler won't be able to find us without a scouter-I say, as soon as he's finished with them and the fighting stops, we take a ship and head out of here."
"I… guess so…" Bulma wasn't entirely comfortable with abandoning her friends. Dende, for his part, stared silently into the distance, hoping Nail and his new friends would be all right.
Cooler landed another devastating blow, and Goku cried out in pain. He lost his balance, falling down to the ground below. Cooler floated down, landing in front of him. "Hmph. Is that really all you've got, primate?" Cooler prepared to launch into another series of attacks, when Raditz rocketed into him from the side, launching Cooler away. "Raditz?" Goku looked up. "Heh… this looks familiar…"
"Huh?"
"You're defending your brother from an opponent who's beating him, even though they're both way out of your league…"
The battle with Piccolo flashed through Raditz's mind. "I guess so. Hah! What a way to go. History repeating itself."
Cooler stood up, and faster than they could follow was back, standing barely three feet away. "Well, you've saved me some trouble, getting together over here so I can kill you."
"Enough, Cooler!" Raditz shone with power, glaring at his opponent and baring his teeth. "Your kind-you've taken our freedom… our lives… but there's one thing you can never take from us… our pride!"
" You're going to fight me ?" Cooler raised an eyebrow. "You'll die."
There was nothing but hate in Raditz's eyes. "I know." For a brief moment, Cooler felt fear. "RAAAH!" Raditz charged in, his fists and feet crashing into Cooler's invulnerable body. The sheer momentum of his attack staggered the tyrant back, but he quickly righted himself, spinning and wrapping his tail around Raditz's neck. He smashed a fist into the saiyan's ribs, then let go, letting the force of the blow send Raditz flying to the ground. Cooler looked up to see Nail, Tien and Gohan flying at him. "Oh? More of you?" He dodged the initial charge, and with a wave of his hand, the force of his aura sent Nail flying. Gohan and Tien stood opposite him.
This is insane! Tien tried to prepare himself mentally. I can only imagine how Gohan's dealing with it… well, on the bright side, it seems Guru's is a gift that keeps on giving. I seem to have gotten even more powered-up while waiting for Cooler and watching the battle, but I think I've reached maximum now. I could maybe take Vegeta without the Kaioken now, but this guy… he's like a god… Tien gathered his energy, trying to achieve inner calm before attacking, before Gohan rocketed forward. His small frame crashed into Cooler, hurling them both down into the ground and below.
There was an earth-shaking series of shockwaves, before Gohan shot back up out of the earth, battered and bruised. Cooler followed, unhurt. "Well, that was a nice little diversion. The child has talent."
Tien looked around. Damn it! I'm the only one left! Got to make this count… and go even further beyond what I thought were my limits! "Hey, Cooler! Don't count us out just yet!" Red energy burst into life around him, as he summoned up his inner strength.
"Oh? What's this? Some fight left after all?" Cooler gestured his little 'come and get me' signal. "Let's see it."
"Rrrr…" Veins bulged on Tien's forehead, and he exploded with power. "Yaaah! KAIOKEN… TIMES… HAAAH… TWENTY!" Tien shot forwards, punching Cooler in the face and immediately following up with a knee to the stomach, finishing by kicking the frost demon away with both feet. "Hyah!" He propelled himself down towards Cooler's plummeting form, but his enemy vanished, appearing behind him. "Nice try," Cooler said menacingly, taking hold of Tien's arm between two fingers and snapping it, before throwing the fighter to the ground. "You caught me by surprise, but really, even with that technique you were barely stronger than the long-haired saiyan-and still below the one in orange, and you can see how easily I took him out. Points for effort, though. Now…" Cooler left Tien to lie on the ground, clutching his arm in agony. "Ah right where I left you."
Floating over to Goku, Cooler grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "Watch, monkey." Goku's eyes opened a little. "You were fighting to protect your friends, if I remember correctly." He pointed a finger off into the distance. "Well, as you've seen by now, you can't. Nothing can save them from me. You couldn't help all these fighters who tried to attack me just now…" his finger flashed, and a beam of energy shot off into the distance. "You didn't save the traitorous soldier of Frieza I just killed…" Another beam. "Or the Namekian child…"
"Damn… you…" Goku's eyes blazed. He tried to punch Cooler, who simply stepped to the side and dropped Goku, letting his limp body crash to the ground and landing on next to him.
"It seems cruel, but the universe has to know. To understand-nobody crosses our family. We are the rulers of the universe. You don't have a say in the matter."
"Cooler…" Raditz was on his feet, staggering towards Goku and Cooler. "Leave him alone!"
"Ah, still trying to save him? The hero riding to the rescue" Cooler shrugged. "I've already given the 'you can't save them' speech, so I hope this example will suffice…" He casually waved his hand, and with a flash of red light, Goku ceased to be.
He didn't explode. He wasn't incinerated, or get smashed into a thousand pieces. Cooler simply ripped him into his constituent atoms with the power of his mind, and scattered them into the wind. He was just-gone. "There. Now, do you understand? Don't be sad, now-you lesser beings die all the time. Really, what difference does one more make?"
It begun.
Something new came over Raditz. He'd felt anger before-it had been burning in his mind when he'd attacked Frieza and Cooler, always overriding his sense of self-preservation. But this… this was new. This anger drove everything else out, filling his head. He stared at the spot where Goku had been, moments before. His shoulders shook, as if his internal rage was trying to escape his body. "You… you heartless bastard!" His entire body was shaking now, and he felt his anger swell up like a wave of heat inside his body. "Hrh… rrh… rrgh…" Words were hard to form, as his conscious mind began to slip under the all-consuming fire in his brain. "Rrr…" The skies darkened, as if the physical world was coming to reflect his state of mind. A bolt of lightning struck the ground not ten feet away from Raditz, not that he noticed-he could think of nothing but Goku, and the casual, unthinking way Cooler had destroyed him. Lightning continued to strike, raining from the sky all around. As Raditz felt the inner heat pushing up out of him, a bolt struck right next to him, barely missing.
"Hhh… Rrrh…" An inner light seemed to emanate from the enraged saiyan, and Cooler frowned. What is this? What is he doing?
Waves of silent energy started to flow out from Raditz's body, stirring up the waters around them. The rocky ground began to crumble, rocks breaking off and floating up into the air, levitating around Raditz. "Rrrh… Haaagh…" His head snapped up as if pulled by some unseen force, then sank back down to stare at the ground. He forced himself to speak coherently. "I… I won't let you… get away… with this… !"
Chapter 18: I Am
Raditz had no idea what was happening to himself. The rage inside was boiling over, manifesting as storm-clouds, bolts of lightning, and chunks of rock breaking off out of the ground and floating around him. And with it… he felt some new kind of power, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. It was like an unbearable heat inside of him, roaring to be let out. "Hhh… haaagh…" he was beyond words now. One thought dominated his mind, drowning everything out: Cooler must die.
But then… it seemed like it was starting to fade. The heat, the power began to recede. It was rejecting him. He wasn't the one. It should have been Kakarot! Rational thought began to flood back in, and with it, fear. I… I can't do this! That was the power of the Super Saiyan… but I wasn't chosen. I've failed. Father… mother… Kakarot… Vegeta… I've failed you all. Cooler was only holding back out of confusion. He'd come to his senses soon, and Raditz would die. Vegeta would soon follow, and the saiyan race would finally be extinguished. Raditz fell to his knees, despairing. Convinced he was about to die, half-mad with fear he thought he heard a voice-Bardock's. F… Father?
"What is this?"
Father! I'm… sorry… I can't do it. It's too much…
"What are you saying?" Bardock's voice grew stern. "Failing me again, are you? Just like always. You've let me down, son. As strong as you've become, in the grand scheme of things-to a being like this-you're still just the same old weak trash the other kids used to kick around for fun."
No! This isn't like that! Nobody could win this battle!
"Kakarot could. If he was still alive, he'd harness this power. Vegeta too. They're talented enough. You don't think I would?" Bardock's voice began to fade. "Such a cruel trick of fate… the only one of us to even come close to accessing the power of the Super Saiyan is the one little coward who can't handle it."
Wait! The hallucination, if that's what it was, ended. Don't leave me, father! I can't bear this alone!
But wasn't Bardock right? He'd always been a failure. No matter what heights he climbed to, there was always someone better. Nappa. Vegeta. Kakarot. Frieza. Cooler. He'd never amounted to anything, and he never would. Raditz closed his eyes, and waited for the end.
No.
His eyes snapped open. Where had that come from? It was… his own voice.
Get up! Fight! It was his voice, but distorted, twisted as if some kind of savage animal was trying to mimic his words. It rose, with a grim determination, from the deepest part of his mind-the inner drive that lived at the very core of every true warrior. The one thing that remained when nothing was left, that made them fight to the end. That would drive them to attack an opponent they knew they couldn't beat. For the sake of their family-or for the sake of the battle itself. I… can! I have to! Bardock died fighting Frieza… his kind, they've taken our home, enslaved the remnants… killed countless innocents for no reason at all… my own brother… they have to pay for what they've done! Starting with him. If the power wouldn't accept him, he'd make it. Mentally, he grabbed hold of the receding anger and pulled it to the surface, forcing it every step of the way. It resisted. It hadn't chosen this one. But he didn't care. He made it his own. The heat surged back into his body, and this time a flash of gold ran through his hair. Cooler took a step back instinctively, and that moment-Cooler flinching away in fear, Raditz standing out, enveloped in his inner light, framed against the blackened sky-would forever remain locked in Raditz's memory. But not quite as vividly as what followed. "Rrr…" It was building.
Cracks spread from Raditz's feet, all the nearby grass withering and dying in seconds, crumbling to ash before the rising heat. Larger rocks began to float into the air, rising around Raditz, until they hung over his head, then shattered from the shockwaves pouring out of him and fell to the ground as dust. "Hrr… rrrgh… haaah… huh…" Another golden flash, and he seemed to struggle to lift his head, glaring at Cooler, who stood immobilised, uncomprehending. Thunder struck again, as Raditz's body shook with building tension. The scene was playing over and over in his mind. Cooler just waved his hand, and Goku died. Like it was nothing. "Grrr… hhh… AAAAAAHH!"
Golden light exploded outwards, lighting up the unnatural night and hurling back the clouds. Raditz's scream lasted a full second. There had been many screams during the battle on planet Namek. Some screams of pain, some caused by the effort of powering up or shifting into another biological form. This, though, was pure anguish, and hatred. The light dimmed to a bearable level, and Cooler gasped-Raditz had been transformed. A bright glow enveloped his body. His hair had become golden, standing on end and shining brightest of all. His eyes had lost the pupil-iris distinction, and the centre was a pure dot of piercing blue. Raditz stood silently for a moment, taking in the change.
What is this? What does it mean? Cooler wondered. Saiyans transform into giant apes-in fact, this one's lost his tail, he can't even do that. So what the hell is going on? "Hey, saiyan! What is this? What did you do?" Raditz gave no reply. Thinks he can ignore me? Well, I'll just take out one of his knees, and see if he get any more talkative. Cooler pointed a finger, and shot out a purple beam much like Frieza's attack. However, Raditz batted it away with a casual swing of his hand, without even turning to look at it. "W-what…?"
Raditz was still looking at the patch of ground where Goku had been, minutes before. He's been… completely destroyed, his blood isn't left to honour him with. He tore a strip of cloth from his trouser leg, pressing it to a bleeding cut on his arm from his earlier attack on Cooler. But again-like with Bardock-his blood is mine. The red soaked through, staining the dark blue cloth, and he tied it around his head-another band, another memory. Three now. How many more? He asked himself.
Slowly, deliberately, Raditz's head turned. His ice-cold gaze pierced right through Cooler, who shivered, taking instinctive steps backwards. Raditz flickered, and instantly appeared in front of the terrified frost demon. "No more, Cooler."
"Uh…"
"No more of you and your kind. I've had ENOUGH!" He grabbed Cooler one-handed by the head, and slammed him face-first into the ground. Cooler cried out, spitting blood, but Raditz wasn't finished. He took off at high speed, dragging Cooler's face along the ground, sharp rocks buckling and tearing at his skin. When they reached open water, Raditz let go, letting Cooler hurtle away and crash to the ground on the other side of the lake. Raditz floated down to the planet's surface, walking slowly towards his enemy. Cooler struggled to stand, turning to face the enraged saiyan. "Grr… damn monkey-I'll show you your place!" Cooler threw a punch at full strength, and Raditz moved to the side at the last moment, swinging one hand down towards Cooler's upper arm and the other up towards his forearm, wrenching the limb painfully, and following up by backhanding Cooler to the ground again.
Cooler flew up into the air, breathing heavily. "What is happening?!" he shrieked, firing a barrage of purple beams. Raditz just concentrated, the beams bouncing off his invisible shield of ki. "What do you want from me, saiyan?" Cooler called. "Surrender? To admit I can't win against… whatever you are now?"
"No." Raditz narrowed his eyes. "I want you to bleed. I want you to suffer. And I want you to die."
"But… I…" Cooler clenched his fists. "Not a chance! Take this!" He focused his mental energies, bringing his psychic powers to bear and lifting slabs of rock the size of buildings out of the ground, bringing them in a loose orbit around his body. "All right, big guy, just try and dodge this one!" He threw the boulders with all his mental might simultaneously at Raditz, who stood still until the last second, then rocketed forwards, smashing through the rocks one by one, darting back and forth to make sure he destroyed them all, coming to a halt inches away from Cooler's face. "Eyaaah!" Cooler howled in impotent fury as he flung a barrage of punches and kicks in desperation, none of them finding their mark. Raditz only had to move the slightest fraction right or left, but he'd always dodge in time. Finally, he counterattacked, his fist connecting with Cooler's face and sending him tumbling back and away through the air.
Cooler righted himself, wiping blood away from his eyes and feeling the scratches on his face. "You… hurt me! In my true form! Nobody outside my family has ever…" his fear was building. "You're no saiyan. You can't be! They never amounted to anything! What… what are you?!"
Raditz's expression never lightened. He didn't taunt, or laugh at his opponent's relative weakness. He just glared . Like all the anger in the universe was bottled up behind those terrible, cold eyes. "I am the answer to people like you, Cooler. I am the fire in every warrior's heart. I am release for all the dead souls who cry out for vengeance. I am the avenger! I am your end!" He frowned. "In case that's too big a concept for your brain, let me make it simple for you." He flared up his aura, the force of his ki throwing Cooler back. "I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN!"
"Raditz is this… Super Saiyan, then?" Krillin scratched his head. "That's good, I guess. But, uh, King Kai, I can't help wondering-is he on our side, or what?"
"I'm not sure," King Kai responded. "He's so filled with anger… it's impossible to tell what he'll do after this battle. He could be a saviour, or a destroyer. Hope of the universe… or bringer of death?"
"Come on! Get to the ship Goku and Raditz arrived in, and hurry!" Tien was telling the others. The battle was taking place several miles away, and they were fleeing for their lives, Tien clenching his teeth and holding his broken arm as still as possible.
"But… what happened?" Bulma asked. "Are you sure Goku died?!"
Tien nodded. "Come on, the others are already ahead. Something… happened to Raditz. I don't know what. When Cooler killed Goku, he just… snapped. And his power is enormous. We'd better get off this planet while we can."
"But, what about what we decided before-about how we can't leave with a battle like this going on!" Bulma protested.
"We'll just have to take our chances! Come on, we're dead if we stay here!"
"No… It can't be true…" Cooler hadn't believed the stories. Who had? It was just an old legend. But seeing this golden warrior here, now… what else was there to believe? "Wait-" Cooler was cut off by Raditz's foot in his stomach, driving the breath from his body. Raditz spun around, driving an uppercut into Cooler's chin and downing him again. Cooler forced himself to keep getting up. If he could just get an opportunity… "Hey! Super Saiyan!"
"Hm?" Raditz was about to launch his next attack, but paused to hear this.
"You surely don't want to fight me in this weak form, do you?"
"Weak?" Raditz folded his arms. "That's your true form. I know that. This is your full power, and frankly, it's not much to boast about."
Cooler let the remark slide-he didn't want to provoke the saiyan. "My true form, perhaps… but not my final form!"
"Do what you will." Raditz didn't make a move to attack. "I'll fight you at full power, and I'll break you."
"Very well." Cooler initiated his transformation to his fifth form, this time not standing on ceremony or showing off-it took him less than five seconds to change into his much larger fifth form. His spikes gleamed, his eyes blazed and behind his organic mask, Cooler grinned. "All right, monkey, are you ready for round two?" he growled.
"Well, if you don't stop talking and attack in the next few seconds, I will," Raditz replied, not even mentioning Cooler's transformation.
"You… you're not impressed by my final form?"
"What, this is really your full power?" Raditz eyed Cooler, weighing him up in his mind. "Is that all?"
"Is this all? Is this all ? You…" Cooler trembled with rage. "How dare you!" He charged up at Raditz, and they struck simultaneously, Raditz's foot catching Cooler in the head as Cooler's fist smashed into Raditz's side.
They fell away from each other, catching themselves in mid-air and preparing to continue fighting. For the first time in quite a while, Raditz smiled. "That's more like it," he said. "Show me what you're really made of!" They sped off, battling back and forth, plowing through hills and lakes like they weren't there. Each blow resonated throughout the whole planet-even the battle between the frost demon brothers hadn't been this intense. Raditz leapt up out of the ocean, Cooler following him. Cooler swung his tail in a surprise attack from the side, but Raditz ducked under it, leaping back into the fight, and they continued to trade lightning-fast attacks, neither gaining a clear upper hand.
Cooler had, perhaps, a slight edge in physical strength-he took a minor, glancing hit to his armoured shoulder, and threw a devastating punch that knocked Raditz to the ground. He followed up with a thick purple energy wave fired from each hand. Raditz jumped to his feet and dodged one, but the other hit him in the back, making him stagger away. Cooler tried to press his advantage, but Raditz spun around, lashing out. Cooler caught his attacking leg and fired another energy blast at point-blank range, making Raditz cry out in pain and tearing a ragged hole in his shirt. Raditz flexed his aura, pushing outwards with his ki and forcing Cooler to let go. Raditz charged after him, driving his fist between two armour plates. Cooler grunted with pain, but quickly recovered and the fast-paced combat resumed.
The fight was dragging on; the individuality of each strike was lost, and they merged in the fighters' minds into one great struggle, an unrelenting clash of wills. They broke off and fired quick blasts at each other, the gold and purple beams meeting in the middle and detonating. Cooler rushed through the smoke, renewing his attack with incredible force, driving Raditz back. A double fist to the back knocked Raditz out of the air, forming a crater as he landed and stood back up. "Well, what do you think?" Cooler asked, as Raditz rubbed a slowly-forming bruise on his shoulder where he'd taken several hits. "Are you impressed yet?"
"Is that it?" Raditz glared straight up at Cooler. "Is that the legendary full power of the feared ruler of the universe? You can't even crush one monkey! Come on!" He soared up and slammed his body into Cooler, knocking the frost demon away. He pursued his opponent, but Cooler spun around, dodging his charge, and elbowed him in the head. Raditz didn't stop to let himself feel the pain, launching himself back towards Cooler and punching him straight in the chest, injuring his hand but cracking the armour plates. Cooler seized the Super Saiyan by the shoulders and slammed him down to the ground, through an empty Namekian house. Cooler picked Raditz up and threw him away, the golden warrior crashing into a cliff face and sliding down to the rocky floor below. Raditz heaved himself up onto his hands and knees, bleeding from dozens of small cuts all over his body.
"Have you had enough now?!" Cooler roared. "Or are you still acting tough, pretending I'm not winning?" He charged forwards again, and before Raditz could react started raining down blows onto the saiyan's back and shoulders, using his height to his advantage. After a few seconds of this, Raditz straightened up and took hold of Cooler's wrists in one sudden movement. His eyes blazed. "That's not enough, Cooler! Try harder! Go on, attack me! That's not nearly enough !" Cooler smashed a fist into Raditz's face, twisting and kicking him right through the cliff behind him. Raditz backflipped, landing on his feet, and demolished the cliff with a wave of his hand. "Come on!" He yelled. "FIGHT ME!" They ran at each other, and the battle rejoined.
Chapter 19: Journey's End
The two warriors attacked and defended, fighting back and forth, up and down, striking and blocking with expert precision, neither willing to give up the slightest advantage. Cooler landed another punch to Raditz's stomach, but he immediately countered, punching the side of Cooler's head and snapping one of his armoured spikes off. Cooler lunged, but Raditz jumped into the air, kicking him in the head and knocking him through a building. Cooler jumped back up, growling to himself.
"You're slowing down, Cooler!" Raditz called. "If you start to weaken, I will take the opportunity to kill you!" This was mainly a bluff-they were almost exactly equal in speed and technique, but Cooler's brute strength, massive size and natural spikes and armour, not to mention possessing a fifth limb, gave him something of an advantage.
"You're far too overconfident, you overgrown gorilla!" Perhaps, if the Super Saiyan had been Goku, or someone as light-hearted as him, the reply would have been 'hey, some of my best friends are gorillas, and they'd take offense at that!' As it was, Raditz's reply was simply to dodge an energy beam from Cooler, quickly move around behind him, grab his tail by one hand and hurl him away. Cooler mowed down a forest as he bounced along the ground, managing to right himself about a mile away. He stood up, glancing around for any sign of his enemy. Raditz appeared behind him again, but this time Cooler was expecting him, and his knee strike caught Raditz off-guard, his following tail strike knocking the Super Saiyan into the ground, driving him several feet down into the dirt. There was a snarl from underneath, and Raditz rose from underground, soil cascading off his shoulders. One leg of his trousers was ripped up to the knee, and blood seeped from a large gash where the spike on the end of Cooler's tail had torn into his leg, but he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he just didn't care.
"Why can't I kill this one saiyan?!" Cooler shouted to no-one in particular, before rushing at Raditz, who raised an arm and resisted his charge, skidding back through the dirt against the force of Cooler's impact. They took off again, Cooler chasing Raditz through canyons and valleys, over lakes and mountains. He lost track of Raditz, and as soon as he stopped to try and find him, the saiyan crashed into his back with both feet, throwing a powerful punch that made Cooler's vision swim. However, weakened from his injuries, Raditz overbalanced from his next attack, and Cooler, having just recovered, caught him in a headlock. He tried to force Raditz's neck down towards a sharp shard of rock that jutted out from the ground, and Raditz pushed up and away with all his strength, but he was slowly losing.
I could just flatten the rock with my ki, but that'd divert attention from resisting his headlock and he'd be able to shove me into the ground, getting the advantage again… no, there has to be a better way… He twisted to the side, kicking one of Cooler's feet off the ground to destabilise him. Raditz pushed away with all his might, and Cooler landed flat on his back, and Raditz jumped down on top of him, driving him into the ground with both feet, cracks spreading under the tyrant's body. "Come on, Cooler! You can do better! I demand more than this! What do you call that?!" He jumped away, allowing Cooler to stand up and shake himself off before charging back in. "Fight harder!"
"Shut up! Just stop talking!" Cooler rocketed into Raditz, punching him and snapping his head left, right and then straight backwards. Raditz made an effort not to let himself retreat a step, simply skidding back with the force of the impacts, dragging along the rough ground until his shoes were in tatters and his feet bloody. His head hung as he gasped for breath, feeling battered and broken all over. But I will… not… lose! He raised his head, looking up at Cooler, who was standing over him, breathing raggedly and a little shaky on his feet, but looking confident again.
"Well, you're starting to take longer to recover. Finally had enough? Ready to admit defeat at the hands of a superior being?"
"NO!" Raditz gathered all of his energy, propelling himself at his monstrous foe. "You can beat me into the ground all day-but what I represent can never be destroyed by a creature like you! Whatever you do, it's…" He gripped Cooler by the sides of his head, and rammed his forehead into the frost demon's face. "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" The force of the impact knocked off chips of armour all the way up Cooler's spiked crest, and the diamond-like blue circle in his forehead cracked. Cooler reeled, blood pouring from his face and seeping down from the top of his head, and Raditz skidded to a halt, watching carefully as Cooler staggered around.
Cooler choked. He gasped. He retched. He cried out in shock, and finally, with a horrible grinding noise, he regressed to his fourth form. Spiked, armoured growths vanished, and he shrank to his normal size. The light faded from his eyes, and his muscles lost some of their strength. "What… no! You can't… agh…"
"There." Raditz straightened up, smiling. "I've beaten you. You don't have enough energy to sustain that powered-up form any longer."
"Arrogant! Little! Ape !" Cooler screamed, struggling to stand and swinging a fist, but Raditz caught it. He gave two quick jabs to the stomach that winded Cooler, following up by kicking him into the air, racing ahead of him and punching him to the ground, and then landing on top of him, one foot resting on Cooler's head. "I don't believe you!" Raditz shouted. "You go around beating up those far weaker than you, and laughing at their deaths, but when it comes to a real fight you've got nothing!"
"Nothing?!" Cooler wheezed. "You're half-dead! You call that… nothing?"
"It doesn't matter how injured I am-you're beaten. By a 'lesser being'. And now, you're going to pay for everything you've done." He stepped off of Cooler. "Get up!"
Cooler slowly stood, staring in hatred at Raditz. Suddenly, the saiyan was upon him again, an iron-hard fist landing a solid blow to his face. "That was for killing Frieza-and robbing the saiyans of their rightful revenge!" Cooler clutched a hand to the side of his face, which stung from the force of the punch. Cooler lashed his tail, but it seemed to pass right through Raditz-he'd dodged faster than Cooler's senses could follow. Raditz threw another punch to Cooler's abdomen, doubling him over. "That was for my allies you and your brother killed-and all the innocent Namekians you dragged into this." Cooler propped himself up on a rock, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his voice hoarse.
"All right, I get it!" He rasped. "And so on, ad nauseum. the next one is for your brother, Kakarot, wasn't it?"
"No." Raditz took a deep breath. I think I can remember how to do it… He thrust both hands out in front of him, palms forwards, trying to achieve calm-not easy in his Super Saiyan state. Slowly, he drew his hands back until they rested at his right side. " This is for my brother- Son Goku !" A bright blue ball of energy appeared between his hands, flickering as it grew. "KA… ME… HA… ME…"
Cooler couldn't sense energy, but he knew a deadly attack when he saw it. "Please! Don't…"
"HAAAAH!" Raditz flung his arms forwards, the brilliant blue energy bursting forth as a thundering beam of light. It engulfed Cooler, lighting up the planet for miles around.
Raditz sunk to the ground in the aftermath, finally feeling injured and exhausted. I told you, Cooler. You weren't good enough. He sighed, slipping out of his enhanced Super Saiyan state, his aura receding, his hair and eyes returning to normal, and his bulked-out musculature relaxing. "I'd better get out of here…" he muttered to himself. "There's not much left of this planet…"
" Hey, monkey! " Raditz turned at the sound of the voice. What's this huge energy I'm sensing… it built so fast I could barely follow it! Cooler hovered a mile or so above the planet's surface. He had been trying to escape the blast, so his lower body had been hit hardest, and his legs and tail were crushed. One finger was stretched up to the heavens, and above it was a massive, crackling yellow ball of energy.
"Huh?" Raditz's eyes widened. "How did you build that so quickly?"
"I've practiced this one a lot," Cooler replied, laughing. "When you can survive in space and others cannot, you learn that a quick Supernova attack is often preferable to fighting, and much less effort. Hyah!" He threw it down at the planet, throwing up a massive explosion. The light, the noise drowned out everything.
"What's happening?" Nail wondered aloud as Bulma tried to take off in the ship. The turbulence had increased, and shortly they lost all control.
"The battle must have gotten even more intense!" Bulma yelled over the roaring noise of the impact to the planet. "We're not going to be able to clear the atmosphere!"
"What are we gonna do?" Gohan whined.
"Hold on, kid, I'm trying!" Bulma wrestled with the controls. "But I don't think…" There was a gentle humming noise, and the ship's occupants vanished, leaving the unpiloted vessel alone to crash back into the planet's surface.
The light, the noise died down. Raditz lowered his hand from shielding his eyes, staring at the massive crater in the planet's surface. "So, you were going to destroy the planet, huh?" he called up to Namek's would-be destroyer.
"Damn! I must have lost more power than I thought…" Cooler grumbled. "Still, it's destabilised the core-I give it, er, five…" I think so… I mean, that's just a rough estimate, I wouldn't like to say exactly… "yes, five minutes before planet Namek is no more. Better move quickly."
Raditz focused, finding that anger, that power, again, and powered back up to his Super Saiyan form-it was much easier the second time. "Five minutes, huh? Well, no problem. I'll finish you, then leave. I imagine my… friends… are gone already." Friends. The word sounded good, he realised.
"What? No! Get out of here! Run!"
"Not from you." Raditz shot up towards Cooler. "Never from you!" He hammered Cooler to the ground with a double-fisted swing, following him down as the former ruler hit the rocky terrain below, throwing up a cloud of dust. As Raditz stalked towards his prey, Cooler started frantically firing off small energy bolts. All were dodged or knocked away with the barest minimum of effort. Raditz stood over Cooler's shattered form. "You're dying, you realise," the victorious warrior stated matter-of-factly.
"Saiyan… help… me…" Cooler reached out a twisted hand.
"What…?" Raditz was genuinely surprised. The stone-hearted tyrant… was begging?
"Please… mercy…"
The Super Saiyan's eyes hardened. " How dare you?! " He hauled up by one arm, flying over to the crater from the frost demon's attack on the planet itself. "How dare you act like that, kill my own brother in front of my eyes… and then ask me to show mercy? You sicken me."
Cooler was clutching at straws, trying to think of something, anything to convince Raditz with. "What… what would your brother do?"
Raditz paused for quite a while. "Kakaro… Goku would spare your life. He'd let you live, with the promise that he wouldn't be so lenient if he ever crossed your path again. He'd leave now, giving you enough energy to sustain yourself until you could get medical attention."
Hope filled Cooler's face. "Then you'll…"
Raditz scowled. Lightning struck, illuminating his unforgiving face in sharp black and white. "But I am not my brother." He punched Cooler once more in the stomach for good measure, then dropped him into the crater, where he'd fall until he hit the volatile planet core. Perhaps Cooler could survive without a planet, but withstanding the actual detonation itself was another matter entirely.
Reversing his Super Saiyan transformation again, Raditz lifted off, searching for a ship. The battle was won, at last. Now… the journey home. Home. Another word he hadn't had much use for before. Raditz smiled slightly. This new life with the Earthlings-he could get used to it.
Vegeta ignored his injuries. They weren't important. A Ginyu Force attack pod floated gently through space, projecting an artificial atmosphere as he anchored himself to the outside with his ki, the better to watch Namek tear itself apart. Today… I retreated from battle. From those low-class brothers, and their three-eyed friend. Again. I cannot… I will not fail another time! Next time, they will all die! I was happy enough for Kakarot to be the Super Saiyan, as long as there was one. But now that Frieza and his brother are dealt with-I can't sense their energy anymore, anyway-Kakarot has become an offense to my royal heritage. "It should have been ME!" he bellowed to the uncaring void. I will leave for now… and I will become a Super Saiyan. This is not a question, or a vague goal; it is a fact. I simply will. And then… I will return to Earth. And they will bow before their rightful ruler, right before they die.
Gohan sat up, in the middle of a grassy field on… Earth? It certainly looked like it. And looking around, Tien, Bulma, and Nail were all there too-everyone from the spaceship. But… Gohan rubbed his eyes. "Dende? You're here, too? I thought…"
Dende smiled. "You can thank King Kai. We revived Kami, the Namekian on your planet, while we were on Namek, right?"
Gohan nodded, a grin spreading over his face. "Oh yeah! That means the Earth's Dragon Balls must be working again-and they used them to wish you guys back!"
"Yep." Dende gestured around. "Everyone killed by Frieza and Cooler's armies." Gohan glanced around the field, seeing dozens of resurrected Namekians milling around. Yamcha was showing off his martial arts skills to a small group of the green-skinned aliens, and Zarbon was leaning against a tree away from the rest of the group. Bulma was whistling nonchalantly and sauntering over to the former soldier of Frieza. "That meant Porunga, our dragon, came back as well-and there was still one wish left, so we used it to bring us all here when Cooler destabilised planet Namek!" Dende finished.
"That's great!" Gohan jumped to his feet, frantically looking left and right. "But… where's my dad and my uncle?"
"I… I'm sorry, Gohan." Dende shrugged. "King Kai, can you explain?"
The familiar voice spoke in Gohan's head. "Hey, kid. Well, Raditz didn't want to leave. He wanted to finish the battle against Cooler. His pride, and his anger, they wouldn't let him walk away…"
"But my dad!" Gohan looked like he was on the verge of breaking into tears. "Hasn't he been brought back with the others?"
King Kai sighed, wondering how to tell the kid. "He… didn't want to be revived just yet."
"W… what?"
"He thought it might lessen Raditz's resolve to fight, if he sensed Goku was back from the dead. He said we can revive him later, after the battle is won."
"But is it? Did Raditz win?" Gohan shuffled awkwardly, anxious to hear about what was going on.
"Yes… yes, he did. Cooler is dead. The galaxy's rulers have been struck a fatal blow on Namek." King Kai inhaled deeply. "But I'm not sure if Raditz can escape now. The planet is tearing itself apart-Cooler's attack really damaged it."
"Then we'll wish him back, too!" Gohan nodded. "Yeah, that's it."
"Well, just make sure you don't get used to wishing all your problems away. And anyway, you'll have to wait a while before the Dragon Balls can be used again-we've used up all our wishes for now." King Kai ended the 'call'.
"I… I hope uncle Raditz doesn't die…" Gohan mumbled. "I want to see him soon…"
"Hey, don't worry, Gohan." Dende reassured him. "Thanks to you and your friends, our entire race escaped Frieza and Cooler's attack alive-we're in your debt, and you can use our Dragon Balls to bring your friends back. They recharge quicker than Earth's-one Namekian year is less than an Earth year."
"All right! I'm sure you guys can stay at Capsule Corporation until we can figure out where you're going to live permanently." Gohan, ever one for thinking ahead, was spot-on in this instance.
Raditz was growing frantic. His sense of satisfaction and fulfilment at winning the battle, and at realising that he did have a home to go back to, were fading as he continued his increasingly hopeless search for a working spaceship. They were all either too damaged to work, or being swallowed up by the cracks that were spreading out from the crater as Namek's surface tore itself apart. Spying an attack pod being buffeted by the elements and literally rolling along the ground, Raditz flew down to it, stopping its tumble with one hand and climbing inside. It was a customised model used by the Ginyu Force, and the controls were unfamiliar. "Come on…" Shockwaves rocked the planet, and lava began to flood to the surface, pouring out of the crevices over the landscape. "Come on, damn it, I'm running out of time!" he snapped.
"Oh…" King Kai gulped.
"Uh…" Krillin paused from his training, jogging over to his teacher. "Did something happen?"
"I'm afraid so." King Kai sniffed. "Planet Namek has been destroyed by Cooler's attack. The explosion was delayed, but it finally happened."
"But did everybody make it out all right?" Krillin asked frantically.
The diminutive god sighed. "Most of them. The two sets of Dragon Balls were used to resurrect the dead, according to my plan-you excluded, having already been wished back once-and move everyone to Earth."
"Uh…" Krillin tilted his head to one side. "Well, maybe you could have filled me in while all this was going on-I'd have quite liked to know about it! And anyway, what's this 'most of them'? I don't like the sound of that."
"Raditz… remained on Namek to finish his battle with Cooler. He won, but he wasn't able to escape in time. At least, I don't think so…"
"You don't think so?" Krillin raised an eyebrow. "King Kai, you can see anywhere in the universe with those antenna of yours-why don't you know?"
"Well, all the heat and energy put out by the explosion is interfering with my viewing the surrounding area. And anyway, even if, by some miracle, he managed to take off with seconds to spare…" King Kai shrugged. "He's far too wounded to survive the trip to Earth. It doesn't look good, I'm afraid." He coughed, shook his head to clear out all this pessimistic talk, and brightened up. "But I'm sure he'll be wished back along with you! And anyway, such a great blow has been struck against the forces of tyranny this day-Frieza, Cooler and their most powerful soldiers, all defeated in one battle!"
"And over here we have the main lab-it's mostly my dad's, I've got my own in the west wing…" Bulma was saying, leading Zarbon-now dressed in casual clothes (jeans and pink shirt, the only things lying around that had fit-made more embarrassing by the inscription 'BAD MAN' on the back of the shirt. Well, most people would have considered it embarrassing, especially given the colour, but he didn't seem to mind.)-by one arm on a tour of the Capsule Corporation compound. It was a week later, and everyone had settled down. Chi-Chi had needed a while to accustom herself to the fact that her husband was dead, but would be coming back, that his brother was the legendary most powerful being in the universe, and that her son hadn't done his homework at all while away in space-this last one being a particular sticking point.
The time seemed to pass quickly. They all met often, giving updates on how many Dragon Balls had been found around the world, planning out wishes in detail, or just having picnics and barbecues and enjoying a well-earned time of peace after the war on Earth and Namek. These idyllic days were shared with the hundred or so Namekians-the planet's population had been extremely small, after the disaster of a few years beforehand. Guru, their Grand Elder, had passed on of natural causes very soon after arriving on Earth, leaving their second eldest Moori the guardian of the Namekian people.
An unexpected figure appeared at one of these gatherings. "Uh… is this one of those dreams, or is Piccolo standing on your house, Bulma?" Yamcha asked, pointing.
"No… that's definitely him…" Bulma blinked. "I'd almost forgotten about that guy. I hope he doesn't want any trouble…"
"Don't worry, guys," Tien said. "I could take him. His power's grown a lot since we last saw him, but I think Zarbon could beat him, too."
"Really?" Bulma eyed the green-haired, mildly narcissistic alien visitor, who was hanging upside-down in mid-air with the force of his ki, reading Machiavelli's Il Principe.
"Well, I don't like to boast…" he said with a slight smirk that said he did. "But I should say so. Whoever this turban-sporting person is, he seems to be almost equal in power to Nail…" He was exercising his recently-learnt ability to sense ki, something he'd very quickly refined to a high level of accuracy and could tell you exactly where everyone ranked in comparison to each other.
"That's true. Hey, Piccolo, you must have been doing some intense training!" Tien called. "You've improved!"
Piccolo hopped down to the ground a few metres away. "I was in Hell, Shinhan. Every day was a battle. It toughens you up, as long as you avoid the real heavy hitters."
"So what are you doing here? Not looking for revenge, I hope-I was planning on enjoying a quiet picnic, thanks."
Piccolo grunted. "Just checking in on everyone-I don't want to get behind on what's going on, and Kami's been even more unhelpful than usual. I wasn't planning on spoiling your little party. So what's happening, then?"
"Well…" Tien scratched his head. "Since you died… we went to planet Namek-your home planet, actually-fought a lot of aliens, and ran into some really powerful alien rulers called Frieza and Cooler. We met Vegeta again, but Goku arrived and beat him. Cooler killed Frieza and Goku, and that made Raditz turn into some kind of… Super Saiyan, I think. He killed Cooler, but Namek was destroyed and Raditz was caught in the blast. So we're going to use the Dragon Balls from Namek to find the Namekians a new home planet and bring Goku, Raditz and Krillin back to life. Does that help?"
Piccolo nodded slowly. "I knew most of it, but not everything. Super Saiyan… I wonder what that is?"
"Some kind of golden warrior… the most powerful being in the universe." Nail was standing a few feet away, and seemed unusually tense. He shivered slightly.
"What's your problem?" Piccolo demanded.
"You are an evil Namekian. Such a thing should not exist…" Nail breathed deeply, trying to calm himself-but the being in front of him was an affront to his ideals, simply by existing.
"Have you got a problem with that?" Piccolo cracked his knuckles. "If you don't like me for what I am, I'd be happy to let you work off some of that aggression…" They tensed up, their energy rising.
"Hey! Guys!" Bulma eyed the scouter lying on the grass next to her-scouters had, since their return to Earth, become the standard for all Capsule Corp security workers-noting its urgent beeping as the two warriors powered up. "Keep the power levels down, you'll scare Yamcha!"
"Hey!" Yamcha scowled at her, and she grinned to herself.
"Yeah, he resembles that remark," Tien said, trying to keep his smile from showing.
"That's not funny, you guys!" Yamcha stomped off. Chiaotzu, sitting next to Tien, giggled, the shared merriment completely defusing the situation. But Piccolo gave an ugly look at Nail as he left, flying off to be alone-which was, to be fair, what he did best.
The day soon came to summon Porunga-one Namekian year had passed, and the Dragon Balls were active again. Everything went according to plan-however, while having many advantages over Earth's dragon, Porunga could only restore one life per wish, so they used the first two on Krillin and Goku. The saiyan appeared in the golden glow at Porunga's base, smiling as if this was an everyday occurrence. "Hey, guys! I missed you!" Gohan flung himself into his father's arms, and Chi-Chi soon followed, berating him half-heartedly for coming home late again. Goku held his family, laughing softly.
"Ah, it's okay, guys. I'm here now. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier-I hope you understand."
"That's all right, Goku." Tien patted his old rival on the shoulder. "So, where's Krillin at, then?"
"Oh, he'll be making his way down Snake Way right now," King Kai answered telepathically. "He's improved a lot-at his level, he should take less than an hour to reach you!"
"Awesome! I can't wait to see my old friend again." Goku, for the first time in quite a while, was truly happy.
"MY PATIENCE IS NOT INFINITE!" Porunga rumbled. "WHAT IS YOUR FINAL WISH?"
"Porunga!" The new elder Moori called in Namekian. "Please restore the life of the saiyan named Raditz!"
There was a slight pause. "THIS WISH CANNOT BE GRANTED. THE ONE CALLED RADITZ LIVES."
"He's alive?" Goku grinned. "Raditz, I don't believe you. He's alive! Ask if Porunga can bring him here."
Moori made the request, and the dragon spoke again. "THIS WISH CANNOT BE GRANTED. THE ONE CALLED RADITZ DOES NOT WANT TO RETURN AT THIS TIME."
"Huh?" General puzzlement was the response to this. "I wonder why not?" Goku asked, not expecting an answer, and not receiving one.
"HURRY! WHAT IS YOUR THIRD WISH?"
"Well, we've got nothing left." Goku nodded to Moori. "I guess you can find your people a new home."
"Except me." A voice cut through the crowd, and Nail stepped forwards.
"Nail?" Moori raised an eyebrow. "We will miss you… why do you wish to stay?"
"This planet… intrigues me." Nail indicated the humans standing with the Namekians. "I have fought alongside its warriors, and would be honoured to train among them and refine my skills. Besides… the evil Namekian, Piccolo. I wish to learn more about him. I want to believe that there is hope for him."
"Very well." Moori bowed in admission. "I respect your decision. We have many experienced telepaths-I am sure you can contact us, should you wish to come home."
"I am equally sure, at some point, I will." Nail waved, smiling a little. "But I wish to remain for now. Dende, look after them for me, all right?"
"Okay!" Dende waved back.
"Time to go." Moori looked up at the hovering dragon. "Porunga! Please find us an uninhabited planet, as similar to the original Planet Namek as possible, and let all the Namekians on this planet except for Kami, Nail and Piccolo be transported there!"
"IT SHALL BE DONE." Porunga's eyes glowed for quite some time. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. FAREWELL!" Porunga vanished in a burst of yellow light, and the Dragon Balls rose into the sky. The assembled Nameks began to fade, bidding their final farewells. Gohan wiped a tear from his eye as Dende disappeared with the others. The remaining group-Goku, Gohan, Chi-Chi, Bulma, Zarbon, Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Launch, Bulma, Dr. and Mrs. Brief and Nail-stood for an awkward thirty seconds, before a familiar voice heralded a new arrival.
"Hey, guys! How have things been going while I was gone?"
Goku grinned from ear to ear. "Krillin! Haha! Welcome home!"
Chapter 20: Death to the King
Time is not supposed to be complicated. It's a one-way street, and you live out your life going ever so slightly further along the grand highway of the universe. But then human beings just had to go and invent time travel, and make everything that much more difficult.
For instance, on one fine day in the year 764, time split-in one timeline a dark future awaited, but a single warrior travelled to the past to rewrite history, and try and prevent the nightmare from ever starting.
On the same day as the split, only a few minutes before the warrior's arrival in the past, a dark, spider-like craft silently entered the solar system, gently coasting through the void as its immensely powerful engines powered down. A harsh voice from one of the occupants echoed around the main deck. "How long until we arrive, father?" A mechanical tail thrashed impatiently against the floor, leaving cracks in the metal.
"Calm yourself, Cooler," a much larger figure, reclining in a throne and sipping from a wineglass, replied to the first speaker. "We will enter Earth's orbit in mere moments. Then we can find this Super Saiyan you spoke so much of."
"Are you absolutely certain they are on Earth?" Cooler asked, ignoring the previous answer.
"If you continue this impertinence, I may have to demonstrate why it is I, not you, that really runs this galaxy!" the towering horned figure snapped. "But to answer your question, yes, I am one hundred percent sure. As per your inecessant whining, I have been monitoring the entire empire, and several beings matching your descriptions were located on this planet. They are here, and the sooner we're done with this the better-it's all a giant waste of time, if you ask me…"
"Father! They killed my elite squadron, and mortally wounded me!"
"So?"
It was just Goku's luck. He had to sense the enormous, evil power level right in the middle of his breakfast! He swallowed a mouthful of pancakes, wiping his mouth and jumping to his feet. "Sorry, Chi-Chi, I gotta go!"
"What? Why?" His wife eyed him with suspicion.
"An enormous evil presence just appeared on the planet! I don't like it-I'm gonna go check it out!" He disappeared out the doorway.
"Wait! I'm going too!" Gohan ran up to his room, throwing off his clothes and pulling on his orange gi. Chi-Chi stormed up the stairs after him. "Oh, no you don't, young man! You get right back…" she skidded into the bedroom to find an open window and a quickly-vanishing orange figure soaring off into the sky. "… here… oh, Gohan… why do you have to be so brave? You're just a little kid…"
Goku and Gohan landed in the middle of the eastern wasteland, on a plateau overlooking the ship, which had come to a rest on Earth. Mere moments later, they were joined by Piccolo, Nail, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin and Zarbon, all flying in from different directions.
"So, you guys felt it too, huh?" Goku asked, to a chorus of assent.
"Hey… is it just me, or is that energy signal familiar?" Tien stared down at the ship, squatting like a giant ugly insect on the landscape.
"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Goku frowned. "Of course."
"Huh?" Krillin glanced around at the concerned faces. "What'd I miss?"
"I'm lost, too," Zarbon admitted.
"Of course." Nail nodded, realising. "Not everyone was on Namek, and Zarbon couldn't sense ki back then. Cooler is in that spaceship."
"Cooler?!" Yamcha-who had been dead by the time Cooler had arrived on Namek-put his head in his hands. "That's it. We're dead. We're all dead. Thanks so very much, Raditz, nice job killing him." Goku lightly punched Yamcha on the arm in an attempt to shut him up, accidentally knocking the much weaker fighter to the ground. Goku attempted to raise everyone's spirits. "All right, let's stay calm. I wish we didn't have to fight, but knowing Cooler, I think it's fairly safe to say it's going to happen. There's more of us this time-maybe we have a chance!"
"I think you're avoiding the elephant in the room…" Tien grimaced. "There's a second power in that ship-even higher than Cooler's. Any way you look at it, this isn't good…"
Cooler walked out onto the surface of the Earth, stepping out of his vessel's shadow. "Hmm… I was expecting a dump, but this planet isn't bad." His metallic feet clicked on the rocky ground. Cooler had been heavily modified, robotic parts added to compensate for the grievous injuries suffered on Namek. He was entirely mechanical from the waist down, and had various smaller bionic parts on his upper body.
"Perhaps we should sell it, then, when we're done here?" King Cold, his father, asked. Cold was massive, having to duck to get through the ship's hatch. He somewhat resembled Frieza's second form, with his size, imposing musculature and upwards-curving horns, but he was easily larger than any form of either of his sons, and his purple colouration was a much deeper shade than Frieza's. He wore customised black armour, and a richly-fashioned cape hung from his shoulders.
"No." Cooler was firm. "He dies, and then his planet. I will leave no trace that the saiyan race ever existed!" Soldiers began to file out and examine the surrounding area.
"Very well." King Cold shrugged, tossing his wineglass aside for a hapless flunky to catch before it broke. "Let's just find this 'Super Saiyan', kill him and be done with it, agreed?"
"Apparently, that's the only thing we can agree on," Cooler muttered. "All right, let's-hmm?" He noticed a humanoid figure in the distance, partially obscured by the heat haze, walking slowly towards them. Who is that? All eyes turned to the distant newcomer. Abruptly, the figure flickered, and reappeared much closer, continuing its unhurried approach.
"I don't know this one," Cooler said dismissively. "Must be a local."
"Sir," a bird-like soldier reported, tapping his scouter, "power level's only 10. Orders?"
"Just kill the little primate!" Cold snapped. "We've wasted too much time already, and I can't be bothered to listen to some primitive's babbling." The soldier nodded, raising his arm-mounted blaster and firing off a shot. It arced through the air, but before it hit home, the approaching figure vanished. The wind picked up, and an invisible force seemed to collide with the soldiers one by one, each trooper collapsing to the floor, unconscious but not dead, only the minimum amount of force necessary used to knock each one out. King Cold wrinkled his nose in displeasure. "You know, some of those troops were equal in power to the Ginyu Force. That really wasn't very considerate of you." He was following something with his eyes, and Cooler was doing likewise. "Oh, and you can stop running around like that. Your speed may have been sufficient to let you evade our soldiers' senses, but we can see you just fine and dashing back and forth just makes you look silly."
A blue blur condensed into a human being, standing silently ten metres from the frost demons. "Yes, well done. You can hide your power level and are an accomplished fighter." Cooler spoke up, getting agitated. "But you're starting to annoy me, with your acting superior and giving us the silent treatment-and people who annoy me don't last long in this world!" He extended one hand and fired a thick purple energy beam. This should clear up this mess, and then we can get down to business…
There was a burst of golden light, and the stranger exploded with power, their body enveloped in a bright yellow aura before the beam engulfed them. Cooler's attack faded, revealing empty, barren ground. The intended target stood several metres to the side, having dodged at the last second. The intense heat and emanating power incinerated the unconscious soldiers, and internal explosions rocked the nearby ship as sensors and instruments backfired.
"Ah, so this is the Super Saiyan you spoke of?" King Cold asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No… this isn't him…" Cooler shrank back in fear. Another one?!
"Well, the description seems accurate-golden aura, high power, hair standing up…"
"Father! He crippled me and threw me into the heart of an exploding planet! I'd remember him anywhere, and this is not Raditz!"
"Fine, then!" Cold sighed. "We'll just kill them all, one by one if we have to." He was about to tell his son that he'd be happy to stand back and let Cooler deal with it himself, when a roar of pure rage came from in front of the demons, and the Super Saiyan was upon them.
"Woah! Check it out!" Krillin shielded himself from the shockwaves of power. "Whoever that guy is, he's putting out power like nothing I've ever seen before!"
"And he's a Super Saiyan…?" Tien blinked, then pinched himself. No-not dreaming.
"I wondered what it looks like…" Goku grinned. "Wow, look at him go! He just ripped Cooler into pieces with his bare hands, like it was nothing!"
"Hmm… I'm sure it helped that Cooler didn't transform, but our boy may just have been able to handle him anyway," Tien added. There was another battle cry, and another flash of light.
"I couldn't even follow that one!" Gohan said, open-mouthed in shock.
"Me either!" Goku narrowed his eyes, squinting to see if he could follow it better, both with his five conventional senses and his ki detection. "But it looks like the big guy behind Cooler just got blown away! Man, I don't know who that guy is, but he couldn't have picked a better moment to intervene-we'd have stood no chance ourselves. I wonder who he is… all the saiyans except Raditz, Vegeta and me are supposed to be dead, but that doesn't feel like Raditz or Vegeta…"
"Excuse me." Nail hadn't spoken in a while (as opposed to Piccolo, who hadn't spoken at all). "I may not be an expert in human and saiyan biology, but I believe that 'he' is a 'she'."
"Uh… really?" Goku looked down at the stranger, who-with all enemies obliterated-was powering back down to normal, and back up at Nail. "How can you tell?"
"Namekian hearing is extremely sensitive," Nail explained. "She was shouting-incoherently, I might add-while she killed those two, and it was definitely a female voice."
"Yeah, but-" Yamcha was about to explain why a girl couldn't possibly be such a powerful fighter, then stopped as he realized there wasn't really a reason at all. "Uh, okay."
"Hello up there!" The mystery girl was looking up and waving, calling out to the assembled group. "Can we talk? I don't want to fight you or anything."
Cautiously, the Earth's defenders flew down to the plain where the invading army had stood moments before. "Hi," Goku said, smiling and holding out a hand. "That was amazing! But I have to wonder, how is it that you're a Super Saiyan?"
The girl shook his hand, doing her best to smile, but it was clear she hadn't had much experience. She was in her mid to late teens, quite tall with dark blue hair that hung in loose curls down to her shoulders, and had an air of constantly being on edge about her. She wore a scuffed blue jacket, which interestingly enough bore the Capsule Corporation logo on the left shoulder. Underneath she wore a plain black vest and trousers, all a little worn. Over her back was slung a red fighting staff, which those whose senses were developed enough to watch the battle would have noticed she used to knock out the common soldiers before transforming. "It's… complicated. I'm not sure how much it's safe to tell you, without… well, anyway, it's very difficult. I came here to deliver a warning, but I want to wait until you're all here."
"All here?" Goku looked confused as he considered this, his brain not quite yet reaching the question of, how does she know us? "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that in a few minutes Raditz is going to return to Earth, and if I told you everything now, I'd just end up repeating it. Follow me-I know where he'll arrive." The puzzled group, having pretty much figured out that asking 'how' and 'why' wasn't getting anywhere, simply followed the strange girl through the air. They landed in a patch of rocky ground that looked exactly like the patch of rocky ground they had been standing on in the first place, only minus a spaceship. The girl stood perfectly still, looking expectantly up at the sky. Ten minutes passed. Piccolo was meditating. Yamcha was practicing his Wolf Fang Fist on some unfortunate rocks. Zarbon was pacing. Goku was half-asleep, yawning as he tried to pay attention to Gohan's babbling on about a bird he'd seen that morning. "Be patient," is all the girl would say.
Another ten minutes, and a pinpoint of light appeared in the vast blue sky. It grew into a spherical shape, which crashed into the ground at full speed. It always seemed impressive and dangerous to onlookers, but it was probably just the way the Planet Trade Organisation's transport pods were designed to land. That, or the saiyan inside simply had no idea how to fly the thing. The fighters approached the smoking crater, peering down into it as the pod's hatch cracked open. And just as predicted, Raditz stumbled out, dressed in plain brown, somewhat ragged clothes. He gave a small smile as he saw everyone looking down at him from the rim of the crater, and floated up to meet them. "Well, hello again." He stretched, breathing deeply. "Ahh, feels good to be out of that cramped little pod… well, sorry I took so long getting home. Damn thing's controls made no sense. These new models, I swear, don't make 'em like they used to. So… how come you all knew I was coming?" He was tackle-hugged by Gohan, and silently acknowledged the boy's affections with a pat on the head, grinning to see Goku alive and well.
"Ask her," Krillin replied, "whoever she is. You just missed one hell of a show!"
"Yes, I was wondering about that…" Raditz folded his arms, turning to look at the girl. "I was racing Cooler and his father home…"
"-his father ?!" came an outburst from the side.
"-shush, Yamcha!" Krillin hissed.
"… and I was going to intercept them as soon as they got to Earth," Raditz continued, ignoring the humans' interruption, "when their energy disappeared. And for a short time, another huge power appeared…" He indicated her. "That was you?"
She nodded. "I guess, now you're all here, I should give you an explanation."
"About damn time," Piccolo muttered, receiving a glare from Nail.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you…" she sighed. "I can't really explain. If all goes according to plan, you'll understand in time… but I can deliver the warning I came to give you." She looked much more serious all of a sudden. "In three years' time-I've got the exact time and date written down," she said, handing Gohan a piece of paper with some hasty scrawling on it, "two androids will appear. Terrible, evil beings, even more powerful than a Super Saiyan! They'll destroy everything, hunt down all remnants of humanity for sport. The world will become a living nightmare." She looked at each of them in turn. "I'm telling you this because if you know it's coming, you can train harder, anticipate the threat… I might be able to help you, as well, but I can't promise anything. It's really down to you-you have to change the future for the better!"
"Assuming we believe you," Piccolo asked, "what happens to us? Do these androids kill us, too?"
"Most of you. Look… I've got personal reasons, but… there's some things I'd rather only share with Goku, all right?" This got mixed reactions.
"Better than not telling anyone, I suppose." Raditz flexed his muscles a little. "But before you two take off to go talk in private, tell me… how do you know what's more powerful than a Super Saiyan?" He set his jaw, his expression hardened, and-with a slight burst of ki that sent the fighters closest to him staggering back-made his Super Saiyan transformation for the first time since returning to Earth. This was the first time many of them had seen this 'legendary golden warrior'.
"I guess I forgot, your friends never did have time to fill you in on the details." She furrowed her brow, gritted her teeth, and a second golden aura burst into life. Her hair and eyes shined with intense power.
"Woah… too much!" Yamcha complained, standing even further back, in awe of such powerful, almost mythical beings.
"Well, that I didn't expect." Raditz looked intently at the other Super Saiyan. "So that's what it looks like from the outside… anyway, it would explain how you defeated Cooler and his father so easily-woah!" He flinched to the left on a reflex as the girl threw a sudden punch at his head. A low growl rose from her throat as she continued to launch quick, short-ranged attacks, Raditz stepping from side to side and avoiding each one. It didn't take long for him to get fed up, and he swept her legs out from under her, knocking her onto her back. She breathed out, returning to her normal state, and he did likewise.
"That was uncalled for," he said sternly.
"Sorry." She held up a hand in apology. "I lose mental control when I transform. But I'm impressed-they said you were good, but you're amazing!"
Raditz couldn't help smiling at this. "You flatter me. So, you were testing me? Seems as good a way as any. You're quick, but your technique lacks precision. You should work on that."
She nodded, standing up and turning to Goku. "All right. Now, if you don't mind…"
Goku followed her into the air. "All right. Let's talk."
Chapter 21: Plan to Medicate the Saiyans
"What I'm about to tell you is the history that originally happened. It 'should' have happened, so to speak. Cooler and his father arrived on Earth, but Raditz was able to get here in time to defeat them. Unfortunately, he made a mistake-and I'm sorry to say, Goku, it was kind of your fault. You urged him to spare King Cold's life, and-though I don't know exactly what happened in your conversation-he did. Cold, by this point, was unconscious and all his soldiers were too scared to intervene-Cooler was dead. So Cold and his men were forced to flee, and that was the last we saw of them for quite some time. Three years of peace followed, in which I was born…" The girl's monologue was interrupted as Goku's brain finally made a connection.
"A-hah! You're the child of one of us!" He grinned, pleased with himself. They were standing in the flat wasteland, a couple of miles away from the others. "That explains the Capsule Corp jacket, and how come you're like a saiyan and a human at the same time! So, do I have a daughter, or…"
"No, Raditz is my father." Thestrange girl reached up and flicked the sides of her unruly black bangs behind her ears, revealing just how much she resembled her father with her hair back. She stood in Raditz's familiar pose, confident but always slightly on edge, a stark contrast to Goku's carefree half-slouch.
"Wow, cool! Raditz gets to be a dad! So, uh, who's the mother?" Goku didn't bother asking, so, how are you almost an adult? He reckoned she'd get to that eventually.
"Launch. I believe you know her. If I'm careful not to alter history in too many ways, I'll be born sometime in the next three years. Launch will have a baby girl, and she'll name her Break…" She trailed off, thinking of her mother. She wished she had known her better.
"Launch, huh? With Raditz? Who'd have thought?" Goku laughed out loud. "That's great!" He managed to calm himself down. "Uh, go on."
"All right…" Break continued her story. "We're still not sure what King Cold was doing for three years. Our best theory is that his empire was falling apart at the seams without his sons, and he was rushing around the galaxy trying to keep it together. Maybe he was scared of another defeat. But whatever happened, he returned to get revenge for his humiliation. This time, he was in his third form."
"So, he could transform too?" Goku asked, and Break nodded.
"He never got a chance to today-in either timeline. Fortunately, Raditz made quick work of him-as I did. But when he returned in his third form, Raditz was no match for him-even as a Super Saiyan! And even with help from Earth's most powerful warriors, Cold was untouchable. Plus, based on your previous encounters with Frieza and Cooler on Namek, everyone feared that he had at least one more form left. They were completely outmatched by this terrifying enemy, and it was getting to the point of no hope. So, as a last resort, my brave father used a technique he'd learnt while in space to save us all-Instant Transmission. It let him instantaneously move himself and anyone he touched to anywhere he could see, or sense."
"Hmm, sounds pretty bad." Goku added, his demeanour shifting from its typical light heartedness into concern for the lives of his friends and family-even those from a different version of history. "So, did he move Cold to some distant location in space, then come back to Earth?"
"No." Break's face darkened. Staring at the ground in frustration, the girl ground a small rock into dust with her foot. "That wouldn't have worked. Cold's race can survive in the depths of space, and he would have just come back again. Plus, I don't think my father had enough range to get them outside the solar system. Raditz…" she paused, a sudden rush of emotion making her almost choke on the words. "… he teleported himself, and Cold with him, into the heart of the sun. It was a surprise, apparently-he'd obviously experienced a great deal of change since first coming to earth, but nobody would have ever expected such a selfless deed from him."
"He…" Goku looked over at his brother's distant figure. "He did that? That's… I, uh… huh."
"Naturally, the Dragon Balls were gathered, to bring him back. But of course, that had to be the day when the androids struck!" The girl clenched her fists in anger once again. Even the thought of those two gave her a sense of panic-a feeling of constantly looking over your shoulder, always fearing the end might be moments away.
"Yeah, you mentioned them." Goku hopped up and down with excitement-another enemy more powerful than a Super Saiyan was coming! This he wanted to hear. "Are they tough?"
"They're monsters." She gave her father's signature scowl at the mere mention of the duo terrorising her world. "They struck a random city-for fun, I guess-and destroyed one of the Dragon Balls before they'd all been collected. Before Kami could recreate the ball, it was over. The planet's strongest fighters-Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, Piccolo, Nail, Zarbon-everyone died. Only a few of us escaped. Over the next seventeen years, they've been hunting down and destroying the last remnants of humanity! It's a living nightmare-we have to stop it fromever happening!"
"And, uh, do I die fighting the androids?" Goku gulped. "You didn't mention me…"
"I'm sorry." She shook her head. "You died of a heart virus during the three years of peace. It's unknown now, but in my time we have a cure." She pulled a small vial out of her pocket, and tossed it to Goku. "Here. Take it if you ever catch a seemingly untreatable disease-it'll cause fever, chest pains, and eventually incapacitation. Death follows in a couple of days."
"Wow, thanks!" Goku clutched the vital medicine in his hand. "Hearing how you're gonna die, then being given a chance to avoid it in advance… that's so weird! Heh heh…"
"And that brings me to the last part of my story-it might answer any remaining questions you have. Bulma, a woman I believe you know very well, was one of the survivors. She's like the mother I never had, really, and we're all extremely lucky to have her. As you know, she's a scientific genius, and recently… well, recently in my time, about twenty years from now to you… she finished her latest creation-a vehicle capable of travelling through time. Unfortunately, once again disaster struck at the worst possible moment…"
Age 784…
The building was disguised to look like just another ruin dotting the landscape, but inside, it was a fully working multidisciplinary laboratory, with salvaged equipment from two decades of scavenging. Bulma, assisted by her son Trunks, spent most of her time there, staying awake on determination and enough coffee to supply a small nation. Her work, however, had finally paid off-the time machine, roughly spherical, with a glass cockpit bubble and balanced on the ground on several spindly metal legs, stood just outside the lab, ready to go. It was bright yellow, proudly bearing the Capsule Corporation logo as a memory of old times, and the time and place co-ordinates were already programmed in. It just needed a passenger…
"All right," Gohan said. He was a grown man now, with old scars and a world-weary look on his face, but an air of hope always seemed to shine through. He was still wearing his Turtle School gi to honour his father, whom he hadn't seen since he was a child. With him were Bulma (wearing her pyjamas from three nights before and with the mandatory coffee mug in hand-last night, putting on the finishing touches, had been one of those nights); Trunks, her son, bearing the same pale green skin as his deceased father and a mess of lavender hair (an oddity-surely purple would be a result of red and blue hair, not green and blue, mixing-that had never been adequately explained), standing beside her in casual shirt and jeans; and Break, smiling as she thought of the possibility that they might actually have a chance to put things right. Gohan continued speaking. "Are we all clear on the plan?"
Trunks nodded. "Whoever goes has to take out Cooler and King Cold before Raditz arrives, or at least stop him fromsparing Cold's life-and deliver the medicine to Goku. Then, they'll have to warn the whole group of what's coming-. "
Break picked up where he left off. "-so, with Goku and Raditz still alive, and three years of preparation, they'll stand a much better chance against the androids than we did in our timeline." She almost couldn't believe it-what if they actually could do it? It seemed too good to be true (and in her world, if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was-so naturally, she had her doubts, although she put them down to habitual paranoia). But more than that, she desperately wanted to be the one to go back. The chance to meet her parents, for what was basically the first time (she'd been too young to remember them before) was incredible. Not to mention all the legendary figures Gohan was always telling them about-Goku and Piccolo and Tien and all the others she'd heard of but never seen. "Right. I see you've all done your homework," Gohan replied, smiling a little. If you looked closely, you could still see the optimistic little boy who went to space and back for the sake people he'd barely known. But the happy light in his eyes was dimmed, and sometimes it just seemed like he was tired of living. Then again, the life he led, who wouldn't be?
"That's wonderful." Bulma yawned, trying to take a sip of coffee but missing her mouth. "But I haven't slept in seventy-two hours, so could we just hurry up and save the future already?"
"Ah, calm down, Mom," Trunks said, laughing. "This is important! So, there's only one thing left to decide… who's going?"
Gohan considered this. "On balance, I think the person going back is in the most danger, and has the most difficult job. Since you two are just kids, and no offense, Bulma, you're no fighter, I think I should go."
"No way! I can handle it!" Trunks protested. "Besides, we need you here!"
"Hey," Break cut in, "I'm much more powerful than you, Trunks, I'd be able to take care of myself a lot easier! But yeah, Gohan, you should stay. What if the androids… the, uh… the…" her quivering voice trailed off, interrupted from above by a terrifying shadow.
"Oh, do go on," the cruel voice called out. "What if the androids do what ?" All eyes turned upwards in fear-not now! They were so close!
"Damn!" Gohan mentally cursed himself for holding this talk outside. The time machine itself needed to be outdoors to work, but they should have waited until they had absolutely sorted everything out before wheeling it out. We've left ourselves exposed-Goku or Raditz would never have made a mistake like this! Gohan emptied his mind, achieving mental balance and powering up to Super Saiyan. "Bulma! Get inside!" he shouted, and she scrambled in through the door. There was a passage underground-she'd know the plan. The lab would be empty of people and vital equipment within two minutes. Gohan just hoped he could hold them that long.
The androids descended to the opposite side of the small 'clearing' between the ruined buildings. Seventeen, a black-haired teenage boy wearing a red scarf, stood slightly in front of Eighteen, a blonde girl of similar age in a denim jacket. They were almost exactly equal in height and build, giving a strange overall appearance-opposite yet the same. "Well, Seventeen, look at this merry little gathering… how rude of them to start without us," Eighteen said, in her all-too-familiar mocking tone.
Gohan's mind raced. He was sure he could drag out the fight long enough that Bulma could evacuate the lab and escape. But he'd probably lose his own life in the process. That was bad enough, but Break, Trunks and the time machine were here too! He couldn't think of any way to distract both of the killer machines long enough to get the kids and the machine to safety…
"Break." Trunks' voice cut through the nervous silence. "Get in the time machine. Go. I know Gohan won't leave us to face them-it has to be you!"
"Trunks…" Break stared, shock creeping onto her face. "You'll die if you try and fight them…"
"Don't you think I know that?!" Trunks' eyes began to fill with tears. "These… things… killed my father! I won't run away when I can give you a chance to change all this!" With a start, the saiyans realised that the boy had never actually fought the androids-he'd always held more of a support role, aiding escapes and moving bystanders to safety. He was a fairly competent fighter, but definitely not on the level of a Super Saiyan, and with no real batle experience except training with the others. He'd always wanted to fight, but reluctantly agreed that he'd only be getting himself killed. "Hurry, before they attack!" He yelled, turning to face the androids, who looked like they were growing bored. "Get out of here!" His mind was made up, and Break knew he wasn't going to budge. "All right…" She sniffed a little. "I won't forget you!" she promised, climbing into the time machine. Her voice betrayed her sense of fear, the worry that she might never return-and if she did, everyone she cared about would be dead. "Come on, turn on already…" the initiation sequence began, the machine powering on agonisingly slowly.
"Well, I'm starting to get bored," Seventeen decided. "Let's have a little fun with them, Eighteen."
"Sounds good to me," his female counterpart replied. Gohan and Trunks tensed for battle, putting themselves between the androids and the time machine. Gohan's golden aura rippled as tension built up in his body. Trunks snarled as he powered up to maximum, his canines elongating into fangs and his eyes blazing yellow-another trace of Zarbon's DNA. "All right, come on!" he yelled, his determination to protect Break and assure she made it safely to the past completely overriding his fear of the androids.
"Ah, so you do want to fight." Seventeen narrowed his eyes. "That's good. It's so boring when they give up and try to run away. Chasing humans is only fun for a couple of minutes, then it just gets repetitive…"
"Yaaah!" Gohan charged forwards, surprising his enemies by making the first move, his jump kick taking Eighteen off her feet. He pressed his advantage, his fists flying and landing a stream of furious blows, but realised after several seconds that she could easily have dodged if she wanted to-she just felt like showing off her durability today. "Damn it, what does it take?!" he grumbled, bringing his arm around for another attack. She saw it coming and vaulted over his head, laughing to herself a little as she landed behind Gohan, facing away from him.
Trunks was left facing off against Seventeen. The dark-haired android brushed back his hair, smirking. "This won't take long," he said. "You've made yourselves very annoying, running around ruining our games. I think it was last week you stole a few of our playthings. So we'll have some fun killing you… And then we'll get around to the girl-whatever it is she's trying to do." That set off something inside Trunks, and he leapt at Seventeen, but the android intercepted his attack with one hand, whirling the other around and smashing it into Trunks' side, jarring against his ribs. Trunks staggered off to the side, and Seventeen casually walked over towards him. Trunks whirled, firing a continuous stream of energy bolts from both hands, but they impacted on his implacable foe with no visible effect. Seventeen just grinned, then his image wavered. Within a second, he was inches from Trunks, and then the android thrust his hand forwards and all the pain in the world gathered itself up and dropped into Trunks' stomach. " Aaaaaah! " he shrieked, and Break looked up on hearing the noise, frantically trying to hurry the time machine up. It had initiated its final countdown, and had only a few seconds to go before it was fully ready.
The picture that greeted Break brought tears to her eyes and despair to her mind-Gohan was on the floor trying to get up, but every time he made an effort to stand, Eighteen kicked him back down, tutting and shaking her head. Seventeen had shoved his arm right through Trunks' middle, dark green blood dripping off of his hand, and was chuckling to himself as wordless screams fought their way out of the boy's mouth. Trunks gathered all his willpower and forced himself to speak, staring Seventeen right in the eyes. "I'm… dying now, I know that… you killed my father, and all his friends, and… now me too. But-" he grabbed hold of Seventeen's upper arm and held on with all his might. "-I'm not going alone!" Energy started to crackle up and down his body, and Seventeen's eyes widened. He tried to pull his arm out, but the combined force of his own attack piercing his victim's body and Trunks' death-grip was too much for him to escape in such a short space of time. White light, hissing and spitting, shimmered around the two of them, and all too quickly, they were consumed in a colossal explosion. Tears flowed freely as Break pressed the ignition, and with little more than a quiet hum and a gentle vibration, she was transported twenty years into the past, leaving her adoptive family to fight and die without her.
Age 764…
"… And that's when I got back here," Break finished telling Goku. "I took a few minutes to compose myself, then went to deal with King Cold."
"Huh. And here I thought you had everything under control…" Goku looked genuinely concerned. "I wonder if Gohan will be all right…"
"I don't know." Break shrugged, rubbing her eyes. "Maybe Trunks' sacrifice killed Seventeen. Maybe not. Either way, maybe Gohan escaped, and maybe they killed him. I… I just don't know. I carried out the plan anyway. Do you understand now? I wanted to tell Raditz more, since he's the Super Saiyan and therefore our best hope, but… I haven't been born yet. Who knows what'll happen if he finds out. I might never exist. But I can trust you, right?" She looked at him hopefully, and Goku saw past the mystery visitor from the future, to the frightened child underneath. "You won't tell anybody what I've told you?"
"Sure!" Goku gave a thumbs-up, much to her relief. "I'll tell everybody about the androids, and what to expect, but as for you-I'll just tell them to wait and see. Okay?"
"Thanks so much!" She did her best to smile, but again, it was obvious that happiness had been a rare thing for her growing up. "All right, look. If you all train hard these three years, you'll stand a better chance when the androids do appear. Plus, you'll have Raditz, and who knows-maybe you can become a Super Saiyan as well!"
"Hey, that'd be cool," Goku chuckled. "I wonder what my hair would look like… by the way, how did you become a Super Saiyan? What happened?"
"Uh… nothing, actually. For some reason, I've been able to transform from an early age-but my emotions get even more out of control than a normal Super Saiyan's. I can't think clearly at all. I guess I get that from my mother-it's such a weird coincidence, her turning blonde and getting violent as well. It must have mixed with the Super Saiyan, uh, genes or… um… something. I'm not a scientist, I don't know."
"Oh, okay." Goku wondered what this timeline's version of Break would look like. "Well, anyway, I wanted to ask-is that my Power Pole on your back?"
"Yup." Break drew the unique weapon, idly spinning it around. "Gohan gave it to me. He always thought of it as a sort of symbol. A reminder of you. He said whenever you were around, everything was all right."
"Thank you, Break." Goku looked serious again, the mention of Gohan sobering the mood. "For coming back to change all this. You, Gohan, Trunks… you shouldn't have had to grow up without any parents. Don't worry, we'll make things right." There was something encouraging about his words.
"I believe you, Goku. Good luck, all of you." She looked apprehensive. "Well, I have to go. I don't want to stay here too long, or I might affect the timeline in more ways than I intended, and I have to find out if anybody survived. But once I've checked how things are in my future, I'll return, three years from today, and see if I can help you against the androids."
"That sounds great!" Goku waved in a mock salute. "See you then!" He watched the girl from the future fly off into the wastes, presumably back towards wherever she'd hidden her time machine (or, if it was in a capsule, simply to a remote location to use it). So sad… she's a kid who's had to grow up far too soon…
"Well, are you going to explain what all that was about?" Raditz was practically venting steam in impatience.
"Uh… I can't really tell you all of it. Will you trust me? For her sake, a lot of what she's told me has to remain a secret until later." Goku was clearly uncomfortable with keeping the truth a secret. "Please?"
"Well, damn it, what can you tell us?" his brother asked. Goku explained carefully all about the androids, their appearance and abilities. "As for the girl, she'll return in time to help us fight the androids. By then, I think it'll be safe to tell you the rest."
It must be something extremely important, Tien thought to himself, if even
Goku can resist telling the truth…
"By the way," Goku continued, pointing to Raditz's plain brown, somewhat ragged clothes. "What's with the caveman getup?"
"Well, the pod I got into had a pre-programmed route set for the planet Yardrat, and I had to go there before I could get it to take me to Earth. I stayed there for a while, but their style of clothing was ridiculous, so I made my own." Raditz sighed. "I had… a lot to think about, staying on Yardrat. It struck me as exactly the kind of rich, beautiful planet with weak natives that I'd have conquered while working for Frieza, wiping out the entire population without a second thought. But they didn't know of Frieza or the saiyans, so they offered me nothing but kindness. They… they were all living breathing beings, individuals, each with families, lives, histories, their own little personality quirks…" his voice was wavering. "… the kind of people who offer shelter to a complete stranger, nursing them back to health and letting them stay for weeks in their homes… I even made friends with some of them, would you believe it? But… before… I've killed so many. People just like them. I would have, you know, a year ago. I almost wanted to kill the Yardrats, too, for no reason other than that's just what I do ."
He looked over at Goku, his face a battleground of emotion. "Hey, Raditz…" Goku put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's okay now. You didn't, is the important thing. You've changed."
"That's just it!" the older saiyan snapped. "I don't know where I stand, Goku!" He continued so quickly Goku didn't have time to ask what had happened to 'Kakarot'. "I've changed, but not enough… or maybe too much… I'm not like you-the things I've done, I don't think I ever can be! But I'm not like I used to be-like Vegeta still is! I can't just do what I want with no moral cares! I want to kill, but I can't bring myself to! I'm a saiyan warrior, but I don't know what that means anymore!"
"I'm… sorry…" Goku was wide-eyed, trying to empathise, but he had been blessed with very little moral ambiguity in his life and found Raditz's conflict difficult to imagine. "But I'm not sure I can help. It sounds like you need to sort some things out. Your state of mind right now, it really doesn't sound very healthy."
Raditz took ten seconds to mentally compose his reply. "I'm going," he decided.
"Where?"
"I've been in space for far too long, I've learnt a technique that lets me travel anywhere instantly, and I've finally found the energy signature of the person I've been waiting to see for months." He brushed Goku off, raised two fingers to his forehead and vanished. It wasn't simply speed-there was no energy to follow. His ki simply disappeared, instantly reappearing on the other side of the planet.
Launch, currently in her shy, blue-haired state, was humming to herself as she stood on the beach outside a rebuilt Kame House, idly skimming stones across the ocean. The way the rocks flew across the surface of the water, framed against the sunset, was strangely mesmerising. Her last one bounced six times-the day's record-before being plucked out of the air. Raditz stood on the sand in front of her, holding the stone out. "Is this yours?" he asked, smiling despite his inner turmoil when he saw her. Launch beamed, skipping forwards and hugging him around the waist. "I knew you'd come back! I knew it!" Why had she missed him so much? Truthfully, she didn't know-they hadn't been that close when he'd left for Namek. Maybe she was drawn to that difference, that uniqueness-and you didn't get more different than an alien warrior. Besides, she'd sensed there was more to him than the arrogant exterior he projected. Raditz had similar thoughts-should he be getting too attached to this human? But there was something special about her, in both personas. The blonde one was always questioning, confronting him, practically the only human never to show any fear of him-maybe she reminded him of his own warlike people. And as for the shy one, there was something in her eyes. Trusting, not judging anyone. And right now, he needed that.
"Hey, hey." He threw the stone to the side, and gazed down at her-she only came up to the tall alien's shoulders. He took her hand in both of his. "It's okay. Everything's fine now." The moment was somewhat ruined when neither of them knew what to say next. Raditz started to say something, realised how ridiculous it sounded, and tripped over his own tongue, ending up with a sort of senseless mumble. Launch laughed out loud-in retrospect, it was better than anything he could have said.
Raditz stood on the roof of Kame House, bracing himself against the cold wind. It was midnight, or close enough. "I've decided," he said to nobody at all. He had sat up with Launch all night, just… talking. Talking about everything they could think of, until it didn't matter what they were saying anymore-it was communication, the odd girl out and the runt of the litter finding something they never knew they'd been missing. And now she was asleep, he found himself still needing to talk. What he'd decided, it needed to be said aloud. It made it a promise of sorts. "This planet-with its wonderful, ridiculous, oblivious people-it's worth defending. I've seen where the life I used to live leads. You die, forgotten, on some barren little world in the middle of nowhere. Or you live, and end up just like Frieza and his family." How could he have hated them so much? The saiyans were really just like them. "I won't live that way anymore!" Without trying to, he burst into his Super Saiyan form, lighting up the night for miles around. Accidents were narrowly avoided as distant ships mistook him for a lighthouse.
For the first time in his life, he had something to fight for . Something to lose. "This is my home now, and when these androids show themselves, I'm going to send them straight to hell!"
Chapter 22: It's Never Over
The day after Break's visit to the past, and Cooler and King Cold's defeat, there was a large gathering at the Capsule Corporation facility. It was early morning, and mist curled around the outside of the building as the sun made its first peek over the horizon. Inside stood the assembled inhabitants of Capsule Corp (Bulma, Dr. and Mrs. Brief, Zarbon and Nail), Kame House (Master Roshi, Krillin, Launch and Raditz) and Mount Paozu (Goku, Chi-Chi and Gohan), also joined by Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha and Piccolo. Goku had just finished repeating what Break had told him about the androids. Despite numerous people pressing him for information about Break herself, Goku would say no more-he'd given his word, and that was the end of it.
Raditz (now wearing another replica of the outfit Bulma had made for him, minus the body armour) spoke up. "Well anyway, I've been gone for a while, and to be honest ever since Vegeta and Nappa arrived on Earth we've been in non-stop motion. So I never got the chance to ask… Tien, uh…"
"Krillin," the bald former monk-in-training replied.
"Right, Krillin. What was King Kai's training like? I've seen that it had outstanding results, but what actually happened?"
"Well, we've already told the others this while you were gone," Tien said, "but anyway, it was… strange."
Several months after Tien's death during the battle between Raditz and Piccolo…
Tien staggered on a few more steps, his vision swimming, and collapsed face down. "I'm done! That's it, I'm taking a rest!" he wheezed. "I can't go on any longer. When that ogre said Snake Way was a million miles long, I thought he was exaggerating…" He rolled over onto his back, gasping for breath, and something appeared at the edge of his vision. All three eyes rolled upwards to look at the mysterious object, which turned out to be a very small planet, floating a couple hundred metres above and behind him. Could that be…?
Waiting until he'd caught his breath, Tien stood up slowly, walking a few more steps to discover, just over a small bump in the road, the end of Snake Way. It tapered off into a serpentine tail, and seeing this he looked back up at the tiny planet. "I guess that must be it-King Kai's place!" He lifted off into the air, soaring in a graceful arc up to the planet, and then as soon as he was inside its gravitational field plummeting in an extremely ungraceful flop to the ground.
"Ow…" he rubbed his head, trying to stand and finding it extremely difficult for some reason. "What's with this place? It feels like I weigh a ton!" He gritted his teeth, straining to stand on his feet. "I guess training here must really toughen you up…" He saw a hunched-over figure that appeared to be watering some flowers. That must be King Kai's caretaker or something, he thought to himself. Still, I expected more-this just looks like, well, a house and garden! Oh well, Kami recommended it and I'm not going to doubt him now… he struggled over to the figure, sweating just with the exertion of walking a few steps on this strange planet. "Excuse me? Do you know where King Kai is?" he asked politely.
"Of course." The small blue-skinned man, with long black antennae extending from his forehead and wearing perfectly round sunglasses, straightened up, laying his watering can down. "I'm right here. Can I help you with something?"
"Oh… uh, I mean, yes, please!" Tien bowed. "I come to seek your help, King Kai-a great evil is threatening my home planet, and I need to become powerful enough to defend it!"
"I see, I see…" King Kai rubbed his chin. "Well, I suppose I could help. But first, you'll have to pass a test. An arduous challenge, which will prove your worthiness to train here!"
"I'm ready!" Tien smiled. "I've already died today, nothing can compete with that!"
King Kai nodded. "All right. Your test is… to make me laugh."
"M… make you… laugh?" Tien gulped. "I came here for martial arts training, not comedy…"
"Well, if you're going to be spending a lot of time here, you've got to at least have a sense of humour, or we won't get along at all!" The deity grinned, awaiting Tien's response.
"Um… can I ask you a question first?" Tien shrugged. "Why do I feel so much heavier here?"
"Let me see…" King Kai's antennae wavered a little. "Ah, you come from the planet Earth. Well, the gravity here is ten times that of your home planet. Now, are you going to make me laugh or not?"
Tien began to grow angry. "The fate of my planet's at stake, damn it! I'm here to do serious training, not to monkey around!" As it happened, King Kai's pet monkey Bubbles happened to hop out from behind the house just as he said that, the perfect accidental comic timing causing King Kai to collapse in hysterics, laughing out loud. Tien just stared, dumbfounded.
The present…
"And so, apparently, I passed." Tien grinned. "Luckily, after that King Kai got serious. I had to chase the monkey around, though, to get used to the high gravity, before I actually began the training, but once I was familiar with ten times gravity I pretty much got started on the Kaioken technique right away, and the Spirit Bomb followed."
"I wasn't there for nearly as long as Tien," Krillin said, "although I did find his 'test' much easier. I just dazzled him with my famous celebrity impersonations…"
"He was probably just laughing at how bad you were!" Roshi chipped in. "You do the worst Humphrey Bogart I've ever seen!"
"Quiet, old man, I'm trying to tell the story." Krillin pushed Roshi out of the way. "You try going to the afterlife and back and training with the mystical deity and then maybe we'll start listening to you. So, anyway, I figured if Tien could do it, there's no reason I couldn't, and that kind of thinking really helped me learning the Kaioken. I didn't get around to the Spirit Bomb, though…" he shrugged. "It would have been nice, I guess. Anyway, I'm not sure how well I did compared to you, Tien."
"Well, let's do a little sparring soon," Tien suggested. "I'd like to see how well you can handle the Kaioken."
"All right." Raditz nodded. "Sounds like a… unique experience." He wondered if King Kai's training would be useful to someone on his level.
"Well, if we can get back to the point of this little meeting-" Bulma folded her arms, frowning. "-which is taking place far too early in the morning, if you ask me, let's get to the point! Two deadly androids are going to appear in three years' time, and we need to be ready. Some of you, I think it's safe to assume will be training in preparation to fight them when the time comes. But-" she glanced back and forth. "I'd like to know: Raditz, Nail, Piccolo, what are your plans?"
"I'm living on this planet as of now," Raditz answered. "I'll defend it against any threat. Don't ask more, I don't feel very talkative."
Nail was next to speak. "And I was going to stay here and train anyway. Wherever an evil force appears, I'm honour-bound to fight against it."
Piccolo grunted half-heartedly. "If these androids take over the planet or destroy it, I'll never get my chance. I'll turn them into scrap metal."
"Sounds good!" Bulma smiled. For one reason or another, it seemed all of Earth's warriors were going to assemble to fight the menace. She already knew Zarbon was staying, but the others didn't.
"Ah, Zarbon, what about you?" Yamcha asked. "Are you gonna stay and fight?" Some people had expected him to have an instant dislike for Zarbon, since Bulma had taken a clear liking to the alien over the last few weeks. But actually, the ex-bandit didn't feel any hostility. He and Bulma had broken up over a year ago (or was it two or three? Time passed so quickly). He was over it. Mostly.
"Well, I don't plan on fighting, however…" Zarbon inclined his head. "At first I was going to leave, but then I thought-where to? The former empire of the Planet Trade Organisation is going to be in chaos. It's not going to be particularly nice. Besides, this is such a beautiful world." He gave a knowing glance at Bulma, who grinned a little-evidently, the feeling was mutual. Yamcha rolled his eyes, sighing. She was the one, you gigantic idiot. And you let her go. Why is it that all the nice ones hook up with aliens around here?
"Absolutely not!" came the (not unexpected) resounding answer from Chi-Chi, when Gohan begged to be allowed to fight the androids. Due to his persistence, however, she did agree to let him help Goku train-she also wanted someone to keep Goku company and look after him, as he was set on training himself harder than ever and it certainly wasn't going to be her. It's not that Chi-Chi wasn't a fighter-she easily outclassed 99% of the planet's population, and could probably take on Master Roshi-but even that wasn't enough to keep up with her saiyan family when they got into the rhythm of battle (and as for the other human fighters, well, they'd all had magic otherworldly training and power-unlocking rituals, and she wouldn't stand for that sort of thing in her house).
And so, without any declaration or ceremony, the training began. Raditz would use Instant Transmission to jump over to Mount Paozu every day and train with his brother and nephew, then return to Kame House in the evenings. Raditz and Goku's sparring matches were all intense, close-fought affairs. Raditz never transformed, of course-it would make the whole thing pointless-but in his normal state, he was at first significantly below Goku. However, something about becoming a Super Saiyan seemed to have raised his 'ceiling', even in his base form. Whereas Goku's power had peaked and stopped growing as quickly after a while, Raditz just kept on improving, and it didn't take too long for them to become about equal. Gohan did his best, and also improved a lot, but when the two adults got serious he would always be left behind, and wander off to train on his own. Raditz, for his part, wished that Goku could somehow become a Super Saiyan as well-he desperately wanted another chance to exercise his real power, and if they could train while transformed, they'd be able to make huge advances. However, knowing the kind of emotional trauma it had taken to trigger his own transformation, he resigned himself to the fact that it was unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Of course, the saiyans were not by any means the only ones training. Piccolo and Nail regularly met in the wilderness for vicious, fast-paced practice bouts. Both often left bearing significant injuries, their enmity for each other no secret. Often, though, Piccolo would prefer his own company and train on his own, spending great lengths of time in deep meditation. When this happened, Nail would train with Yamcha and Zarbon at Capsule Corp (Zarbon had been perfectly content to lead a peaceful existence and not train or fight at all, but it is a physical impossibility to win an argument with Bulma Brief, and he soon surrendered to the immovable object). Krillin mostly trained on his own or under Master Roshi's guidance, and when Raditz came home in the evenings he'd sometimes have a match with the human warrior-it wasn't much of an effort for even an already-tired Raditz, but gave Krillin a good workout.
Deep in space…
A smile spread across his face. The avenger's ship would be entering the Earth's solar system soon. They'd have no problem with most of them, but the Super Saiyan could pose a problem. Well, he decided, he'd just have to lure the monkey away. His unwitting pawn would then dispose of the rest of them, while he took care of the real threat. It was just a matter of timing. Well, being the feared ruler of most of the known universe helped too, thought Frieza.
Meanwhile on Earth…
"Raditz!" King Kai's voice woke Raditz from a daze-he'd been staring out at the sea from the doorway of Kame House. Blonde Launch, seeing him standing there, shuffled over and leaned on him. "Raditz, it's early, come back in…"
"Just a second, Launch, King Kai just contacted me…" he propped her up, waiting for the deity to respond.
"Oh, so you are listening. That's new," King Kai grumbled.
"Look, what do you want?" Raditz sighed. "Launch has a point, it's early and going back to bed seems a really nice idea right now…"
King Kai snorted. "How about you two continue your epic romance of the ages sometime when the new planet Namek isn't under attack?"
"Huh?" Raditz started paying attention. "Can't they look after themselves? Who's attacking them?"
"I'm not sure, there's some kind of… thing… attached to the planet… Look, can't you just Instant Transmission yourself over there and help them out?"
"Why should I? It's not my problem. In case you haven't noticed, Earth is going to have its own troubles soon enough." Raditz had just about made up his mind to accept Launch's invitation, but King Kai wouldn't be defeated so easily.
"I'm going to keep annoying you until you agree. I haven't got a great deal to do around here, so I can just stand here bugging you all day…" This wasn't entirely true-he managed to find himself an endless supply of little activities and pastimes from only his tiny planet.
"Damn it, fine! But if I'm not back by this evening, having transformed some would-be conqueror's life into a smoking ruin, I'm going to kick your ass from here to Yardrat and back…" He raised two fingers to his head. New Namek is quite far from here… I'll get King Kai's help locating it, he can make himself useful…
Launch, only half paying attention, wasn't expecting his sudden departure and promptly collapsed, falling asleep there on the floor.
A few minutes later, after a brief stop at King Kai's planet, Raditz appeared on New Namek, standing on a small island dotted with trees (much like the rest of the planet). The first thing he noticed was that all the Namekian power levels he could feel were grouped together at the other side of the planet. Maybe they've been taken prisoner, but… I can't sense any attacker… they must be hiding their energy. I'll have to be careful. He leapt into the air, setting off through the skies of New Namek. The dragon had chosen this planet well-it was almost identical to the original Namek. Which, in Raditz's mind, meant it was incredibly boring and nondescript…
Earth…
Goku jumped out of bed with a start. "Ah, not again!" He pulled his clothes on, racing out into the hallway, where he was met by a bewildered Chi-Chi. "Goku, what are you doing up so early?" she asked, yawning.
"Sorry, Chi-Chi-there's another big evil power heading for Earth! Gotta run. Don't tell Gohan, okay? He'll just try to follow me." He ran out the door, taking off.
Chi-Chi smiled a little. "Well, at least he has some sense… he'd be in serious trouble if he tried to get my Gohan involved in another of those horrid battles… why do people always have to threaten Earth on these nice, sunny days?"
Goku alighted on a mountaintop, near the mysterious approaching power. He noticed Tien already there, waving to the three-eyed warrior, his long-time rival. "So, where is everybody?"
"We're all here." Tien indicated another mountain behind him, upon which stood several fighters. Piccolo was standing on his own peak, set aside from the rest, and Zarbon wasn't there at all (he had sensed the incoming power, grunted, rolled over and gone back to sleep).
"All right. Here it comes-it doesn't feel too big, but be ready-it feels an awful lot like Frieza and his family." Goku watched intently as an insect-like ship became visible, descending through the atmosphere towards a spot a few miles away. Without warning, Piccolo let fly a charged energy blast that tore the ship in two, then blew the halves to pieces.
Well, there goes the element of surprise, Krillin thought, shaking his head in irritation at Piccolo's arrogance. A small humanoid figure became visible through the clearing smoke-the power they had sensed. Piccolo's attack evidently hadn't harmed this one, although there appeared to be no survivors from the ship's crew.
The figure approached, coming to a halt about a hundred yards away from Goku and Tien (who stood in front of the others). They did a double take as they saw the alien more clearly. "You…" Goku stared at the invader in disbelief. "You look like Frieza!"
"Indeed." The creature grinned, the early-morning mist almost enveloping him. He was somewhat shorter than the other frost demons they had encountered, with a deep chestnut red-brown colouring where Frieza had been purple. "I am Kuriza, and you primates killed my father Frieza! I'm here to take my revenge-by the time I'm done here, this planet will be nothing but a scorched, burned-out husk! If that attack was all the power you've got, then this will be even easier than I imagined…"
"A bit overdramatic, isn't he?" Krillin muttered to Yamcha.
New Namek…
Raditz spied a glint of metal as he passed over a large landmass, and landed hurriedly, glancing about. "Who's there?" he called out. I know I saw something… A sudden impact from behind knocked him towards the ground, but he landed on his hands, propelling himself up and backwards. I still didn't sense anything! It's like they don't have any ki at all… He spun to face his unknown attacker, focusing all his senses in preparation for the next attack. "Show yourself!" he demanded.
"Very well." Raditz turned in the direction of the voice, and couldn't believe what he saw. A gleaming silver metallic being, its sleek tail twisting around its legs, stood on a small hill barely a few feet away. "You might not recognise me… after all, I never assumed my true form in your presence, and anyway I've changed somewhat in appearance of late…" He smiled. "You may know me as Frieza. Ruler of the universe."
Chapter 23: Day of the Super Saiyans
"F… Frieza?!" Raditz gaped at the metallic being claiming to be the butcher of the saiyan race. "How can you be alive? Cooler killed you!"
"Hmph!" Frieza snickered. "He made a mistake. He wanted to be dramatic, as usual, and hurled my head into space. After drifting for months in a state of hibernation, I encountered the artificial consciousness known as the Gete Star. It tried to absorb my mind and knowledge, but it was easily dominated by a superior will. It tested the technology of the Gete Star to the limit, as well as my ability to survive even the greatest injury, but I endured… and now I have returned, stronger than ever, to find that the Super Saiyan has taken care of my brother for me." He indicated himself, banging one hand off of his glinting chest with a loud clang. "In this form, I'm far stronger than I've ever been! Now, I can truly claim the title of the most powerful in the universe! So, little monkey, run and fetch me the Super Saiyan. He's your brother, isn't he?"
Raditz realised that, of course, Goku had been easily more powerful of the brothers at the time, and Frieza had died before the legend had truly been fulfilled. Then he's in for a surprise… "You want the Super Saiyan, Frieza?" His aura burned around him, shifting from purple to blue, through white, to bright yellow as a golden streak rippled through his hair. "He's right here!" The ground cracked under his feet as he completed his transformation.
"Raditz, hmm?" Frieza half-smiled. "Now there's a surprise. Ah well, it's all the same to me. One primate's as good as another." He leapt forwards, whipping his tail around, but Raditz jumped over it, grabbing Frieza in a headlock.
"I should thank you, Frieza!" the long-haired saiyan told his foe, the heat from his aura warping Frieza's metal 'skin' slightly. "This way, you'll be killed by a saiyan, not in some family squabble, and our race will have revenge!" Frieza twisted out of his hold, but Raditz dodged the reborn ruler's punch and kicked him to the floor.
Frieza reached down behind him, pushing off of the floor just as Raditz smashed into the ground where he'd been lying. This left Raditz open, and still flipping backwards through the air, Frieza whirled around, bringing both knees down and driving Raditz into the floor. The Super Saiyan brought his arms up, firing a two-handed blast of energy that propelled himself further down into the earth, hiding himself from Frieza. The tyrant flew up, away from the ground, awaiting Raditz's next attack. "Come out where I can see you already!" he yelled impatiently. In answer, energy bolts started flying free of the ground from all around him, launched at him from every direction. Frieza grimaced, dodging one way then the other as the crisscrossing beams arced and streaked past him. "Enough of this!" He thrust a hand down, launching a massive wave of invisible force that destroyed the entire island. Raditz rocketed up out of the smoke cloud, almost uharmed, and slammed his fist right through Frieza's stomach before he could react. Raditz pulled his fist out, kicking Frieza away.
Frieza landed with a heavy thud on a nearby island, lying still for a second. Just as Raditz was halfway through the thought, that was far too easy, a mechanical whirring and clicking came from the body, and before long Frieza stood back up, the hole in his body closing, appearing none the worse for wear. "Do you see now?" Frieza indicated the former wound. "The Gete Star monitors this body, repairing injuries and improving on errors. Letting you injure me was a serious error-meaning I'm now far stronger and faster. How many times will it take before you're outmatched, I wonder?" He grinned, and disappeared.
Raditz spun to try and spot his enemy, hearing the unmistakeable crackle of charging energy above him and looking up to see Frieza hurling a sizeable energy ball his way. There was no time to dodge-acting on a reflex, Raditz was suddenly several metres away. This turn of events confused both of them, until Raditz realised something. "Hah! So it is possible to use Instant Transmission without making the sign… a little draining, though…"
"Instant Transmission?" Frieza raised an eyebrow. "You know it too?"
"Wait, what's this 'too'?"
"All right, skip the introductions," Piccolo grunted, throwing off his weighted cape and turban. "You want revenge, blah blah blah daddy blah blah blah, I'm the future ruler of this world so I'm going to turn you inside out, let's go!" He flew towards Kuriza at full speed, and was promptly sent flying back just as fast by a thin purple energy beam that shot out of one of Kuriza's fingers.
"I guess teamwork is a concept Piccolo hasn't quite mastered yet…" Krillin noted, sighing. Kuriza smiled. "Is that really all?"
"Not nearly!" Piccolo appeared behind Kuriza, hammering him into the nearest mountain with both fists. However, Kuriza copied his appear-behind-your-opponent trick, kicking Piccolo into the air and then smacking him down to the ground with his tail. Piccolo lay unmoving in a crater.
"Well, that was easy enough." Kuriza dusted himself off. "I do hope he wasn't your best."
"As a matter of fact, he wasn't," Tien called to the invader. "Hey, does anybody else want a shot at him before Goku and I clean up?"
"What?" Kuriza's eyes widened. "Are you… toying with me? Letting me fight the small fry for your amusement?"
"Not really." Goku shrugged. "It's just that if we fought you, it'd be over too quickly, so we're letting the others have a turn."
"Fine! I don't care what order I fight you, I'll take my revenge for what you did to my father-one way or another!"
"Um…" Goku looked faintly puzzled. "You… you do know it was Cooler who killed Frieza, right?"
"What did you say?" Kuriza's eyes narrowed. "You're lying! If you're trying to confuse me, it won't work! However you tricked my father, I won't fall for it!"
"You talk too much!" Nail called out, jumping into battle and kicking Kuriza in the face. Kuriza stood perfectly still, unaffected.
"I played with the other Namek, but I'm bored now," he said. "I'm going to finish this lot, and then I'll get to you two-the real fighters…" he indicated Goku and Tien, then returned his attention to Nail, who had drawn his leg back and was now smashing relentless blows into Kuriza's body, to no visible effect. Kuriza reached out with his mind, throwing Nail down to the ground, far below. Krillin and Yamcha rushed him from opposite sides, and Kuriza let loose another beam that caught Krillin's shoulder and sent him flying away through the air. Yamcha continued his charge, hurling a blue energy blast at Kuriza.
" Kamehameha! " he shouted, but Kuriza sidestepped the attack as if it was moving in slow motion, lashing out with his tail and sending Yamcha flying. Krillin rose again, ready to resume the fight. "Well, here goes nothing… Kaioken! " The flame-red Kaioken aura leapt into life around Krillin's body, and he flew in an arc towards Kuriza (who simply hovered in the air, bored), a flat disc of energy forming over one hand. " Kienzan… HAA!" Kuriza's eyes widened as the disc grew close, and he twitched to the side, a shallow gash opening up in his cheek as the razor-sharp attack hissed by him, slicing through one of his armour's shoulder-plates, its speed boosted by the Kaioken.
Kuriza hissed in annoyance. "You're giving me more trouble than I expected… so, prepare to face the greatest power in the universe!" Kuriza's armour exploded off of him. A flare of red light engulfed his body, and when it cleared, he resembled Frieza's final form-only, of course, still shorter and with red highlights to his mostly-white body.
His transformation was much quicker than Frieza's… Goku noted. "Uh… Kuriza, was it? I don't think that's the greatest power in the universe…"
"Huh? What are you saying?" Kuriza eyed Goku with suspicion.
"Well, both Frieza and Cooler had a larger ki than you do now, not to mention King Cold… and when Raditz became the Super Saiyan, he was on their level too…"
"And where is this 'Super Saiyan'?"
"He's… not here right now…" Tien supplied lamely (King Kai had told them that Raditz was on an important mission in space, but had been sketchy on the details).
"Sure. Your lies aren't really that hard to see through, you know…" Kuriza stretched his limbs. "Anyway, time to finish up here. It must have been one of you that murdered him, so if I kill all of you, I'm bound to get the right one!"
"And, let me guess, you'll destroy the planet just to be safe?" Tien asked.
"No, I… I mean, uh, yes! Absolutely! I am the new ruler of the universe-I'll do whatever I like!" He seemed hesitant about this, and wheels began to turn in Goku's mind. I wonder…
"Hey! I'm still here, you know!" Krillin flew up towards the transformed Kuriza. His power's increased a whole lot with that transformation-looks like I need to go all-out! "Kaioken-times three!" The red light intensified, and Krillin's flight sped up dramatically. He lunged at Kuriza, who casually dodged, but the young frost demon wasn't expecting him to follow up, and Krillin's elbow impacted with Kuriza's face. While surprised by the fighter's reflexes, Kuriza didn't seem to be at all bothered by the actual attack, and he simply stared at Krillin, looking mildly irritated. Krillin backed away, powering down. "Uh… why don't you guys handle this one, huh? I think I need to practice the Kaioken a bit more before I get involved in battles on this scale…"
"Ah, so they finally break out the big guns," Kuriza said with a smile, ignoring the fleeing Krillin as Goku and Tien faced off against him.
"Hey Goku, how about giving me the first round?" Tien asked.
"Sure thing-just save some for me!" Goku was grinning. "It's not often I get to fight an opponent on this level, I can hardly wait!"
"Do… do you think this is a game?" Kuriza stuttered in disbelief at their casual attitude. I just beat all their other fighters… can these two be that much stronger than the rest?
Raditz and Frieza flickered in and out of visible sight, battling back and forth between Namek and the 'link' dimension used by Instant Transmission. Raditz would launch an attack on Namek, only for Frieza to jump to the Instant Transmission dimension to dodge, then when Raditz appeared in that dimension, jump back to Namek, only to be hit by an attack from behind since Raditz could choose where he wanted to appear on the planet. It added an entirely new and confusing dimension to the battle. However, Raditz soon became exhausted from using the complex technique so much in such a short space of time. Though he didn't know it, using Instant Transmission was taxing Frieza's systems too, and he was almost running over capacity-their interdimensional battle ended as, simultaneously, they decided to conserve their energy for more traditional fighting. Raditz braced himself as Frieza charged him, blocking two punches with his raised forearms, but Frieza's strength and speed had, as promised, both increased since he'd repaired himself, and his third punch slipped right through Raditz's guard, his fist knocking the wind out of Raditz's stomach. Frieza knocked him away, the Super Saiyan skidding along the grass as Frieza advanced towards him. "Damn it… I've landed plenty of good hits, but it's just not fazing him any more!" He jumped to his feet as Frieza prepared to attack again. I won't give up, though. There's no such thing as an invincible enemy! Frieza raised one hand, ready to continue his onslaught, when a voice interrupted him.
"GALICK GUN!" A thick yellow-white energy beam smashed into Frieza's back, bowling him over. He stumbled back up, glaring at Vegeta-the saiyan prince proudly hovering a short distance away, staring down at Frieza. A bright aura rippled around his form, his golden hair standing on end. Somehow, he'd become a Super Saiyan.
"Vegeta?!" Frieza was taken aback. "When did you get here?"
Vegeta landed between the two combatants. "Well, I couldn't help sensing such a large ki. I decided it was worth investigating-and what do I find but the tyrant himself, back from the dead and fighting the Super Saiyan. Don't get me wrong, though-when I'm done with Frieza, you're next, Kaka… rot…" He'd just turned around, seeing Raditz up close and in detail for the first time. "No. NO! NOT YOU!" He flew into a rage, the wind picking up as he bellowed in anger. "I pushed myself past my limits… conquered dozens of worlds simply as practice… I achieved this legendary form, AND I DID IT ON A LIE?!"
Not Vegeta too! Raditz couldn't believe his eyes. What kind of emotional trauma could possibly drive Vegeta to transform? He expected the prince to go for Frieza first, but instead Vegeta charged directly at Raditz, and the lower-class saiyan was hard-pressed to block his frenzied attacks. "Kakarot was the one! Not you!" Vegeta landed a solid punch to Raditz's jaw, then kicked him to the ground, continuing his vicious beat-down as Raditz cried out in pain. "I had just come to terms with Kakarot being the Super Saiyan. It was obvious he had potential, from the moment I met him. But not you! You never amounted to anything!" Raditz rolled to the side, catching Vegeta's fist and struggling to hold his furious attacker back. "You should have just died on Namek, Raditz! That a joke like you could attain this transformation, the pinnacle of our warrior race-it's an insult to all saiyans! It should have been Kakarot-or better still, me!"
"Will-you-shut-up!" Raditz ducked under his next rage-filled swing, responding with a quick uppercut that staggered Vegeta back. "You're always talking about our great warrior race, and our pride! Well, where did our pride get the saiyans, huh? Dead! And you, clinging to the old ways-you were left behind by my brother and I!" He raised his guard. "Just let go! You don't like the way things happened? It's too late to change it now!" Frieza cut him off, crashing into Raditz with both feet and knocking him into the ocean.
"If I might interrupt this little reunion…" he said with a smirk. "Two Super Saiyans, I see. Well, this should be fun."
"Hah!" Vegeta summoned up all his energy, forming a crater around himself as the land buckled under his power. Veins stood out on his forehead and neck. "Tell me, Frieza, now you're a machine, do you still experience fear?"
"What-" Frieza never got to voice his reply, as Vegeta's knee collided with his face. Vegeta kept up the attack, pushing Frieza slowly back. However, Frieza's superior speed meant that eventually, when Vegeta aimed a fraction too far to the right, Frieza was able to take full advantage of the opening and launch a vicious counterattack. He raised his leg to knock Vegeta out of the way, when Raditz sped out of the water to rejoin the battle.
The three fighters battled back and forth, ducking and twisting between each other as each found his attention divided between two opponents. Raditz and Vegeta blocked each other's attacks, and Frieza kicked them in the stomach, but they turned and punched him simultaneously, overwhelming his defences. Frieza grabbed Raditz and slammed him into the ground face-first, and Vegeta kicked him off-balance, allowing Raditz to jump up, fire a quick energy blast that took Vegeta off his feet, and charge back at Frieza.
"All right Tien, you're up." Goku gave his rival and friend a thumbs-up. "Good luck."
"Right! I'll do my best!" Tien effortlessly flared up his Kaioken aura, building his power until he reached his comfortable maximum-about a ten times increase. "All right, 'Kuriza', let's do this!" Kuriza nodded, and flew at Tien, who jumped up and away. Kuriza swiped at Tien but missed, pursuing the agile warrior. Kuriza soon caught up, and they entered into a rapid exchange of blows. However, Kuriza's defense was sloppy, and Tien soon landed a solid hit that sent Kuriza hurtling away. Tien dodged a rapidly-fired energy beam, and straightened up just in time to see Kuriza charging again, the would-be avenger's fist cracking into his jaw. Kuriza followed up with a spinning tail strike that knocked Tien through a mountain. He recovered, starting to breathe heavily as his injuries began to catch up with him. He's got an advantage in power, but I have skill-not to mention I've still got plenty in reserve! Tien decided it was time to go all-out, and narrowed his eyes as he focused on his rapidly-approaching target. " Kaioken-times twenty! "
"Now Tien gets serious." Goku smiled. "Kuriza's been playing around with us so far-this will be a chance to see his full power." Tien swiped at Kuriza, but his enemy somersaulted over his head, and with one powerful elbow strike, Tien fell away, clutching at his back. Goku frowned. That's not good… I'm not much stronger than Tien using his maximum Kaioken boost… and here I was thinking I might have an easy battle for a change!
Goku and Kuriza hung in the air facing each other. "Hmm… with your hair, you look a little like a saiyan… maybe it was you who killed my father?"
"I'm telling you, it was Cooler!" Goku insisted.
"Enough! I know it was you!" Kuriza prepared himself for battle, but Goku moved quickly, punching Kuriza square in the chest. The force of the blow knocked Kuriza backwards through the air, but he righted himself and spat in disgust. "Hah! Weak."
"Say…" Goku's mind was still making connections. "You're… just a kid, aren't you?"
"What has that got to do with anything?!" Kuriza shrieked. "Don't underestimate me because of my age! I'm the strongest in the universe!"
No, you really aren't… damn it, what's Raditz doing that's so important right now?! "Well, look… I can still sense all my friends' energy. You didn't kill any of them."
"So?" Kuriza's eye twitched. "I'm going to! Just you wait! Then I'll destroy-"
"Right, you'll destroy the planet. Sure." Goku scratched his head. "You're not really all that evil, are you?"
"SHUT UP!" Kuriza kicked Goku to the ground, the saiyan falling almost a mile before crashing into the hard, jagged earth. He pushed himself up, gasping for air, but Kuriza landed on his back with both feet, driving him down again. Goku rolled away, lying on his back and breathing raggedly. What's with this guy? He won't listen to reason while he has the upper hand! He's not accepting a word I say, but I know he can't be as bad as his family! He's just doing this because it's how he was brought up-he can still be saved! If he doesn't kill me first… Goku heaved himself into a sitting position, feeling his body groan in protest. Kuriza appeared suddenly, inches away, kicking Goku back down into the dirt. "How dare you defy my family?"
"Family? You want to know about family?" Goku asked, his voice cracked. "Your uncle Cooler killed your father, just so he could become more powerful! But when I was in trouble… my brother got so angry he transformed into a Super Saiyan! That's how Cooler died-he was killed by a saiyan! One who knew what family really meant!"
"What's with you…" Kuriza looked worried. Why would he keep lying, if he knew he was about to die?
I know it's not your fault, kid, Goku thought. It's just how you were raised-those bastards! You deserve better than them in a family! But you won't listen to me, unless I stop this madness! And to do that, I need… more power! I can't do this as I am! His mind was free from all thoughts of revenge for this attack on his home, or even his usual excitement at fighting a challenging opponent. He had only sadness and pity for this child, who would probably grow up to be just like his father, shaped into a monster by a cold universe. No! I won't let it keep happening! Nobody has to die! If only he'd listen… if only I was stronger! He clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into his flesh until they drew blood. I've beaten so many enemies… I can't fail now, the one time I might be able to save one! He was growing angry. Angry beyond belief. But not with Kuriza-with himself.
The sky rumbled, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground inches from Goku as he lay in the dirt. It's such an injustice! I can see where his path leads, and there's nothing I can do to stop it! And the whole Earth is gonna pay the price! It's not… fair! His fist hammered the ground as he pushed himself up to a crouching position. Kuriza watched, bemused. The thunderstorm continued, and lightning racked the skies. Another bolt struck, right between the two fighters. Why can't I do anything? I can't fail now! "Hrrr… Rrh…" Too many people are relying on me! A wave of heat rushed up from inside of him. Deep inside. He felt… a presence, rushing to the surface, pulling him to his feet with a violent jerk. Something primal. Filled with anger beyond the capability of words to describe. This… cycle of blind hate, it had gone on too long. "It… ends… NOW!" A blaze of golden light erupted around Goku. His hair, lifted by some unseen force, stood up on end, glowing brightly. His eyes shifted their colour from black to sharp, piercing green. His face hardened as he came to understand what had happened to him.
King Kai's attention was finally diverted away from the battle on new Namek. "I don't believe it… Goku transformed?! But he was angry only at himself… he ascended almost out of compassion. Incredible…" Only silence answered him. Oh, right. Krillin left. I sure am lonely…
Goku glared at Kuriza. "You see what you've done?"
"Dyed your hair blonde?" Kuriza asked, still ignorant. "I'm getting bored." He lunged at Goku, landing a flailing punch to the hero's face, but Goku didn't flinch. Kuriza jumped back, hissing and waving his hand-it was like punching a brick wall. Well, like a normal human punching a brick wall-if Kuriza had punched one, it would have disintegrated. But in any case, the frost demon could tell something was different about his opponent. He swivelled, frowning in frustration as he fired an energy beam from each forefinger. Goku just glanced at them, and they were diverted away from him, flying up and away into the atmosphere. "I hope you're happy." Goku twitched, and suddenly stood behind Kuriza, one hand gripping his enemy's tiny neck. Kuriza choked, scrabbling at Goku's hand but unable to shift it. "You've unleashed something terrible, and I don't know if I can stop it!" Goku growled.
"Please…" Kuriza's eyes bulged. He writhed under Goku's unbreakable grip. "Don't… wanna die…"
"Rrgh…" Goku could feel it pounding in his head. It was like a wild animal tearing up his brain. It wanted him to kill. He almost wanted to kill. It knew only battle. There was injustice. There was an enemy. He had to fight it. No! That's not why I transformed! I have to… save him! Kuriza's kind had wiped out the saiyans. There had to be revenge. There had to be justice. Those are not the same thing! Too many people have died already! This one, I can save! The saiyan in him howled for blood. The human in him resisted. No more!
Raditz and Vegeta crashed to the ground, lying next to each other as they pulled themselves out of the dirt once again. "This is hopeless…" Vegeta muttered. "It's ridiculous! How could Raditz become a Super Saiyan? And how could that worm Frieza ever surpass one?" He shook his head. "It's not over yet! I'm the prince of saiyans! I won't stop fighting while there's breath left in my body!"
"How about… on Earth?" Raditz asked, climbing to his feet. "And Namek? You retreated there."
"That was… I… shut up! This is different! I'm not running from Frieza of all people!" Vegeta raised a fist to attack Raditz again.
"Wait!" Raditz held up a hand, warily eyeing Frieza, who was slowly advancing on their right. "Look, it's obvious we're both outmatched here. If we keep this up, Frieza will kill us both."
"Let me guess-you want us to work together? Over your dead body!" Vegeta spat.
"Think about it!" Raditz growled. "Don't throw your life away, Vegeta! Surely, if there's one enemy, one being in the universe saiyans can set aside their differences to fight, it's Frieza!"
"I…" Vegeta's father's face flashed through his mind. He thought of the last time he'd seen their planet. There were so few of them left… "As soon as he's dead, you're going to follow him, do you understand?!"
"Perfectly." The saiyans turned to face their approaching foe. "Let's get this done."
Frieza tensed as he prepared to move in for another attack. I'm enjoying this far more than I should… He rushed in, throwing a high kick at Vegeta, but Raditz intercepted, catching his foot and allowing Vegeta to get an elbow strike past Frieza's guard. Frieza spun away, but Raditz appeared behind him, kicking him in the side, and Vegeta brought his hands around, smashing the dazed Frieza on either side of the head. Frieza jumped away, his head spinning. They've stopped fighting each other! What happened to that foolish pride they're always on about? Raditz started hurling a barrage of energy waves that crashed into Frieza's silvery body, scoring deep rents in his 'skin'. Frieza staggered back, the continuous attack overwhelming his resistance. As he was preparing to dodge out of the way, Vegeta materialised above him, one hand held out downwards, palm facing away from himself.
"Hey, Frieza! Ready to face the full power of a real Super Saiyan?"
I think, on balance, machines do experience fear… Frieza thought to himself.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!" A shimmering white ball of energy shot out of Vegeta's hand, streaking down towards Frieza.
"Too easy!" Frieza dodged to the left, but Raditz followed him, taking advantage of his opponent's preoccupation with Vegeta's attack and shoving him right into its path. Frieza futilely braced for impact as the crackling energy ball smashed into his form, completely obliterating him.
Vegeta and Raditz settled to the ground as the dust cleared. There was no trace of Frieza left at all. "Quite an attack you've got there," Raditz commented.
"Indeed." Vegeta raised his guard, turning to face Raditz. "And you're about to experience it first-hand…"
"All right, have it your way." Raditz smiled. "I won't pretend I'm not going to enjoy this-I love these rare opportunities to exercise my full Super Saiyan power."
A power you don't deserve… "Let's go!" Vegeta charged in, and Raditz blocked his first punch. The long-haired saiyan was just raising his arm for a counter-attack, when a familiar voice cut through the air. "Excuse me!" The Super Saiyans froze, turning slowly to the right. The metallic Frieza stood on a ridge above them, fully intact. "I wouldn't be too hasty."
"What?" Vegeta gaped in surprise. "How the hell did you survive that attack?!"
"Oh, I didn't." Frieza grinned, tilting his head to the side a little. "At least, that body didn't. But the Gete Star made me more than just one body…" As he spoke, gleaming dots of reflected sunlight started to appear over the horizon behind him. Dozens, maybe hundreds of metallic Frieza clones were swarming towards them. "These bodies are my Meta-Friezas. My real form is safe on the Gete Star itself. Given how much effort it took you to defeat just one Meta-Frieza, I'd say an army should prove more than sufficient to crush you… especially since, due to the Gete Star's self-repair system correcting for the error that allowed that body to be destroyed, each of these Meta-Friezas is now even more powerful than the one you just fought…" The Meta-Frieza talking dropped into step with the others as they passed it.
"Well, that does it." Vegeta clenched his fists. "We're going to die here. Two Super Saiyans, and we're still going to be killed by Frieza. It's like the universe has it in for us!"
"Hmm… Vegeta." Raditz rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think we have two options here."
"We have more than one option?" Vegeta asked sceptically. "Is one of them committing suicide?"
Raditz sighed. "Shut up and listen. First, we can charge them, and go out in a blaze of glory."
"Doesn't sound too bad a way to die."
"Second, I've just come up with a rather unlikely plan that has a chance of getting us both out of here alive, the better to kill each other somewhere else with less saiyacidal robots."
"That is not a word!"
"Does it matter?"
Vegeta kicked Raditz in the shin. "Just tell me your damned plan already!"
"All right, all right." The army was taking its time, showing off, but they'd reach the saiyans pretty soon. "Look, Frieza and I both now have a technique called Instant Transmission. It lets us instantly move anywhere, got that?"
"I understand the concept, get on with it!" Vegeta growled. "We don't have much time, or hadn't you noticed?"
"Look, the point is, Frieza was pretty surprised to learn I knew Instant Transmission. If, when they attack, I use it to jump away to somewhere on the other side of this planet, they might try and follow me. Then you use 'normal' speed to head straight for the Gete Star-if I'm right, it's that big metal starfish thing that's clamped onto the planet like a parasite. Keep your power level down, but still try and move as fast as possible."
"How will this help, exactly?" Vegeta frowned. This plan was starting to sound increasingly untenable.
"Look, if we both disappear simultaneously, Frieza will probably assume that we're both using the same technique. If you can mask your energy and slip past him while I lead him on an Instant Transmission wild goose chase around the planet, you can get inside the Gete Star."
Vegeta began to understand. "And that's where he said his true form is-it's got to be his weak spot!"
"Of course, he may have defences inside, so it's not going to be easy… maybe even more of these Meta-Friezas…"
"I can take care of myself, Raditz! Here they come-let's do it!"
"Right." Raditz and Vegeta stood a few feet apart as the army of Meta-Friezas approached. They raised two fingers to their foreheads in unison, Vegeta carefully mimicking Raditz. As the Meta-Friezas descended, the saiyan warriors disappeared. Frieza picked up Raditz's energy signature, obviously heading to the other side of the planet. On a reflex, the Meta-Friezas used Instant Transmission themselves, following Raditz's trail. I can't sense Vegeta at all, here or with Raditz… he must be more skilled at concealing it. Well, better to follow one monkey than stand still and lose them both…
Chapter 24: Ceasefire
Yes, this chapter was late. Sorry. I'm still going to update twice a week, but the 'Wednesday' update will now become a 'Wednesday or Thursday' update, okay? That should make sure I'm not late too much in the future.
EDIT: Okay, due to this chapter being late, that'd have a knock-on effect and make the next chapter late, and so on, so no chapter this Sunday, sorry. Back to two updates a week next week (one on Wednesday/Thursday and one on Sunday).
"So let me get this straight." Bulma glared at Zarbon, who had given up pretending to still be asleep. "Everybody else is out there risking their lives to save the planet for the nth time… and you decided to take a nap ?!"
"Er…" Zarbon retreated a few inches back under the blanket. "That's one way of looking at it, I guess."
"Get your lazy butt out that door!" She dragged him out of bed and kicked him out the front door, throwing a fresh set of clothes after him. "If you don't like saving the world, you're living with the wrong people!" she called, as he pulled the clothes on and took off, grumbling to himself.
" Damn Earth woman, only reason I like her anyway is- what the hell?!" Zarbon clutched at his head like he'd just been smacked with a hammer. "Where did that giant ki come from?" He hesitated between the mysterious, nefarious alien force and the wrath of Bulma Brief. It was, of course, no contest-he flew straight for the battle. " How I let myself get into these bloody messes, I don't know… "
Kuriza gasped for air as he felt the grip around his neck loosen. He slumped to the floor, his chest heaving. "Hah… Huh…" I'm still alive? How does that work? was the first thought to enter his mind. When he rolled over onto his back, he managed to look up at Goku, whose entire body was pulsing with Super Saiyan power.
"Look what you've… pushed me to!" Goku said, his voice strained as his internal struggle continued. "You should know better… than to mess with forces you don't understand!"
Kuriza trembled. "What-what are you?"
"I'm a Super Saiyan, Kuriza. This is what I warned you about. This power killed Cooler-after he killed Frieza! And when King Cold came here for revenge, he was also killed by a Super Saiyan! Now do you understand… what you're dealing with?!"
"You… weren't lying?" Kuriza asked hesitantly. "Cooler… killed my father?"
Goku nodded. "We didn't start this war against your family. But we will end it." He tightened his fists. "No matter what it takes!" His aura flared up around him, flattening the terrain around him. "So, what will it be, son of Frieza? Are you going to go out like the rest of your kind-blindly attacking a superior force out of arrogance, refusing to believe you can ever lose?" There was no reply for a moment, and something seemed… off about Kuriza to Goku. It took him a few seconds to realise what it was, simply because it seemed so out of place.
Kuriza was crying. The frost demons were the terror of the universe, despots of entire galaxies, destroyers of worlds, and here was one breaking down in tears. There was betrayal behind his sadness-his family had fought itself. His father had been killed by one of their own. And now they were no longer the dominant power in the universe-these saiyans had risen to the top. Even his mighty grandfather had fallen. It was all too much to take in.
That decided it for Goku. This wasn't a tyrant, it wasn't an unfeeling monster. It was a frightened, orphaned child, far from home. Kuriza couldn't be more than his race's equivalent of ten years old, perhaps even younger. The human inside beat the saiyan. Compassion won out. The beast's howls faded from his mind.
So it was that when Zarbon arrived, he was greeted with the strangest sight he'd ever seen-a Super Saiyan, normally a violent, raging figure, was crouching on the ground, cradling a juvenile frost demon in his arms, and whispering, "It's okay. Shhh. It's gonna be okay." The alien ex-soldier was struck silent by the moment. This was different. He'd been expecting a battle. Vengeance. This was… reconciliation. Between these two races, was that possible?
Vegeta blasted through another wall. "Yes, it was faint at first, but it's getting stronger… Frieza's true body is on this ship somewhere! He never learnt to control his ki, and a life force is a life force! I'm coming for you, Frieza!" He sprinted down a corridor, unheeding of the alarms he was setting off-he was too close now. Frieza wouldn't stop him.
The door to the inner chamber exploded inwards. It was a roughly spherical, dimly lit grey area, the pattern of electrical circuits on the wall constantly shifting and changing. Wires of varying lengths hung loosely from the ceiling. Vegeta burst inside, the grin on his face fading when he saw what awaited him at the centre of the room. There stood his goal-the disembodied head of Frieza, sustained by dozens of wires, pieces of circuitry and various life-support functions. However, between the saiyan prince and his enemy stood another Meta-Frieza, gleaming in the dim light.
"Come now," the real Frieza said with a mocking smile, "surely you didn't think I'd leave myself unguarded, did you? Hahahahaha!" As if to illustrate his point, two more Meta-Friezas detached themselves from the shadows, one on either side of Vegeta.
"To be honest, I hadn't really planned this far ahead," Vegeta replied. "I was more or less counting on being caught by your pet army long before now…"
"Ah, Vegeta." Frieza sighed. "A Super Saiyan after all these years, but in his heart… a stupid little monkey to the end."
"RAAAH!" Transforming into a Super Saiyan again, Vegeta's reply came in the form of a hurled yellow energy ball. But before it hit his target, the Meta-Frieza standing guard intercepted it, catching the blast and containing the detonation inside its hand.
Vegeta choked. The speed it must have taken to catch that so nonchalantly… not to mention the strength to emerge without so much as scratched paintwork… !
"Oh, my, my." Frieza chuckled. "Am I scaring you?" The Meta-Friezas on either side of the prince raised one hand, shimmering white energy flickering to life. "Well, this has been an amusing little chat, but I for one am getting bored. Good-bye, Vegeta."
There was a quiet, fluid noise, and Raditz materialised in the middle of the room. "Vegeta!" He yelled, grabbing the other saiyan's arm. "I've only got a few seconds' lead on them!" He turned to Frieza. He's been in here talking to Vegeta… "Say, you've got your army on some sort of 'autopilot', haven't you?" With that, the pair vanished. Frieza's eyes widened, as he realised the implications of what Raditz had just said and done-too late.
Raditz and Vegeta appeared about a mile from the Gete Star, a metre or so above the ground, whereupon they bumped down to ground level, throwing up a small dust cloud. "What…" Vegeta began, but then a loud crash rocked the entire planet. The Gete Star shuddered, seeming to deflate a little. Sparks hissed around its edges, and arcs of electricity shot up and down the machine. Vegeta continued: "What the hell was all that about?"
"Heh heh…" Raditz grinned. "It was pretty obvious that we weren't going to outfight Frieza. But his army seemed to get less intelligent as they continued to chase me around the planet with Instant Transmission."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, they started behaving much more systematically. Like machines set to run on autopilot. I figured out it must have been due to Frieza's preoccupation with you-you'd found him and were keeping him busy somehow. So I reckoned they were programmed just to automatically follow me wherever I teleported to, as Frieza couldn't be bothered to directly control them while dealing with you at the same time."
"I see!" Vegeta stood up, gazing at the Gete Star, which was now belching out smoke. "So they all followed you inside the Gete Star, into Frieza's central chamber…"
Raditz nodded. "Which I could find thanks to your energy signature. The army probably arrived about half a second after we left."
"And there were hundreds of those Meta-Friezas…" Vegeta grinned. "There's no way they could all fit inside there! Which means Frieza is-"
Raditz joined in his smile. "Buried under tons of compacted metal-or maybe one of them even materialised inside of him, blowing him apart from the inside. I can't sense his ki at all anymore."
"Well, I must admit that was a pretty clever idea," Vegeta told the other saiyan. "But frankly, that thing is becoming an eyesore. It's best if there's no trace of it left!" He raised one hand in the direction of the Gete Star, forming a ball of shining energy as he focused his power in front of his palm. "BIG BANG-guh…" The prince of all saiyans toppled wordlessly face-first into the dust. Raditz had struck, relatively gently, at the base of his skull. He was tough-it'd only keep him down for a few minutes.
"I'm sorry, Vegeta. I couldn't let you do that-I can sense a lot of Namekians inside. Which would, at least, explain why I haven't seen any since getting here… hey, King Kai!"
"Uh, wha… oh hey, Raditz! Well done!" King Kai's disembodied voice congratulated him.
"Yeah, sure, thanks. Well, this hasn't taken too long, and I got to kill Frieza, so I'll forgive you for dragging me out of bed this morning. But can you explain the situation to the Nameks? I've got to get Vegeta out of here before he does something I'll regret."
"Right you are," King Kai replied. "With the damage you did to the Gete Star, the security systems will be offline-they'll be able to get out on their own. Well, guess I'll tell them what happened now-ciao!"
"Hmph." Raditz hauled Vegeta over his shoulder, hearing the prince's mumbled half-awake daydreams. I am invincible… Super… Kakarot… Frieza… "Rrgh! What did you eat for breakfast, lead weights?" Raditz complained, before using Instant Transmission and heading off again.
Raditz arrived back on Earth, Vegeta safely deposited on an empty planet (nobody to kill), with a habitable atmosphere, left next to food supplies and a serviceable spaceship (the previous owner had had so many, he probably wouldn't have even noticed it was missing). I'd have loved to continue our fight, Vegeta… but this isn't the time! Neither of us were at full strength, we both had realised there were even higher levels of power we could aspire to climb to, and I really need to be alive and well when these androids arrive. If anything happened to Launch, Goku or all friends because I wasn't there, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
He sensed Goku and a few other fighters over to the west, heading over with normal flight-he'd had quite enough of Instant Transmission for one day. As he approached, he noticed one mysterious power that stood out. It was almost like Frieza's family, but had less of their evil taint. He landed in the middle of a rocky plain, seeing Krillin race past him. "Watch out!" the bald warrior was saying. "They're making a move!" They…? Raditz thought, content to watch for the moment. He was shocked to see Kuriza, back in his first form, sprint between Krillin and himself. Some kind of… miniature Frieza? Kuriza put on an extra burst of speed, and Krillin fell short, his lunge missing by about half a metre as Kuriza sped on. Krillin tossed something to Goku, who slid around a corner and jumped at Kuriza. His hand thrust forward… and tapped Kuriza lightly on the shoulder with the baseball. "Gotcha, Kuriza! You're out!" he said, grinning.
"Huh!" Kuriza folded his arms, marching over to the back of the batting queue. "Next time, I'll use my final form-we'll see if you can catch me then!"
"Well, I could if I became a Super Saiyan again…" Goku responded, his smile widening. The pair laughed. Raditz just stared, speechless. "Uh… Goku… Kuriza… baseball… Super Saiyan?"
Goku rubbed his forehead. "Oh, boy… it's a long story."
To be precise, it took most of an hour to tell, and a similar amount of time for Raditz to recount his experiences on new Namek. Goku's older brother met and shook hands with Kuriza, amazed at the possibility of an innocent frost demon. The baseball game (which had, apparently, been Yamcha's idea) resumed after Raditz left for home-Goku's team won by two points. Much fun was had by all. Except Piccolo-he was in the wasteland, practicing his scowl. And then the fighters had to go home and explain they'd spent all day alternately fighting and playing sports with a junior alien warlord. This was not received well by Chi-Chi in particular.
Kuriza, for his part, had to stay on Earth for a while, at least until he could get a ship built, so he took up residence at Capsule Corp. However, even when Bulma and her father had finished preparing him a ship, he fended his departure off with a string of excuses about the weather, previous appointments, and so on. Eventually they dropped the matter altogether, and built him a permanent room-and that was pretty much that.
Nail and Zarbon discussed this one day. "I guess," Zarbon said, "he's realised what we have-Raditz too. There's something about this planet."
Nail, leaning against a wall, nodded in agreement, sipping from his glass of water (Namekians only drank water for sustenance, but it was still festooned with straw, useless little fake umbrella thing, etc.). "I know. It's just amazingly… diverse, I guess. It's got all these different climates and places. Namek is all the same. Although, personally I'll never get tired of grassy islands…"
"Indeed." Zarbon stretched out on his deckchair, resplendent in floral shirt, camo shorts and sandals-he was constantly making efforts to 'let go of himself' and just relax, but Bulma usually put a stop to it and had him back in shape before long. This was one of those glorious periods before she intervened. "Not to mention the people. Aren't humans just fascinating?"
"I know what you mean." Nail finished his water, setting the glass down. "So many flaws and failings, but overall they still manage to shine. And they always come through when it counts most."
"Plus, I can tell you from first-hand experience that the girls are amazing… ah, but you Nameks don't do that, do you?" Nail looked away, embarrassed, and Zarbon laughed out loud.
The training, of course, continued-there were still almost three years to prepare. The fighters all trained even harder now. Goku and Raditz's training picked up now that they could fight as Super Saiyans, though Raditz held an early edge due to more experience with the form. Gohan was in a strange position-his alien DNA meant that sparring with most human fighters would be a futile exercise, and laughably easy for the child, but the adult saiyans were far above him. Luckily, while Piccolo was antisocial as ever, Tien and Nail were able to give him a decent challenge, and the three regularly met up to train together (although, as far as Chi-Chi knew, Gohan was still 'helping Goku'. If she ever decided to go out and watch or join in the training herself, there'd be trouble.)
The fighters who'd been defeated by Kuriza now trained even harder, knowing that by all accounts the androids were going to be even more powerful. The focus was not just on increasing their power now, but also on developing new techniques and ways to outsmart superior foes. And so it continued, for three years, as meanwhile, in a laboratory hidden in the mountains, Dr. Gero set about creating his artificial monsters.
I've had some questions regarding what happened to Meta-Frieza and Vegeta in the 'future' timeline, and I fully intend to answer them. In this version of events, everyone was feeling somewhat less active, enjoying a seemingly-indefinite period of peace, and Raditz, in this state of mind, went back to bed with Launch instead of going to fight Frieza. He resolved to go and check on things later that afternoon, but by then it was too late.
"Heh heh heh…" Frieza's head, hooked up to its life-support systems within the Gete Star, chuckled as he looked upon his captive. Wires were coiled around Vegeta's arms and legs, suspending him halfway up the walls. "Thinking you could fight me all on your own, Vegeta? My whole army? What a fool." Frieza's grin widened. "Well, now you're going to give me that Super Saiyan energy of yours-it'll be an excellent fuel source for the Gete Star. Come now, I don't have all day…" The wires lit up with electric fire as they ripped the power out of Vegeta's body. His head slumped forwards, but a faint murmur escaped his mouth. "What's that?" Frieza asked mockingly. "Last words? A final confession? Begging for your life?"
" You're… wrong, Frieza… " Vegeta said weakly. " I… haven't lost. "
"W-what are you talking about?"
Vegeta's head snapped up as he powered back up to Super Saiyan. "You've taken me right to the heart of your power, you idiot! Hyaaaaaah !" He forced his power outwards, gripping the wires holding him as he pumped energy through them.
"What's this?" Frieza raised an eyebrow as a pair of Meta-Friezas paced back and forth behind him. "Trying to give me more energy than I can handle? Overload my circuits or something like that? Really, I expected more from you. You should know better than that…"
" Yaaaaaaaaahhh !" Vegeta screamed, the light coursing out of his body intensifying into pure white waves of force.
"W-what's this?" Frieza's scanners were going ballistic. "Where is this power coming from? What did you do ?!" The Meta-Friezas twitched and spasmed, collapsing to the floor.
"This is my life energy, Frieza!" Vegeta roared. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"No! Stop! You'll kill yourself!" Frieza tried to retract the wires, but Vegeta gripped them unflinchingly, pouring his entire essence into the Gete Star.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he bellowed, as internal explosions rocked the construct. Whole sections began to break off as Vegeta's destructive energy spread throughout the entire vessel. The surge of power reached the core, and it was all over.
Within seconds, there was nothing left of the Gete Star, Vegeta, or Frieza. New Namek was left warped, marked by a gigantic crater that visibly altered its shape. The saiyans had had their revenge.
When King Cold returned to his empire after his defeat at Raditz's hands, he encountered Kuriza, and with his experience of failure on Earth, discouraged his grandson from making a move on the planet. So, in the timeline unaltered by time travel, Kuriza-after Cold's death-set himself up as the new master of the galaxy, and came to be just as feared a ruler as Frieza had been (and he had more freedom to exercise his rule, as his family was no longer around to counsel and restrain him).
Oh, and in the main DBZ timeline, Frieza was still alive (albeit mechanised) to slap Kuriza around the head and dispel any silly thoughts he might have about attacking Earth and stealing Frieza's shot at revenge.
Chapter 25: Besieging Dr. Gero
And we're back in business. Wednesday/Thursday and Sunday updates from now until whenever. Let the android saga begin!
I seem to have come into a habit of writing androids 19 and 20 with numbers, but Seventeen and Eighteen as words-to signify that they retain some level of humanity. At first I thought this was a habit I'd picked up from Bringer of Death or something (given how my writing style's been influenced by theirs, as noted before), but I looked and nope, they use numbers for all the androids. Still, I'm fairly sure I got it from somebody else. Well… eh. I guess if you know who else does that, tell me.
The years of peace weren't entirely filled with training, of course. Goku and his family would often visit Capsule Corp., and Gohan and Kuriza would find plenty of entertainment playing together-they were, for all their power, only children, and became fast friends. Meanwhile, Bulma would often talk about the new technologies the company was churning out-particularly reverse-engineered tech from Frieza's empire. The futuristic armour and scouters were now standard-issue all over the planet for police, security forces, emergency services, and search-and-rescue teams all over the world. Capsule Corp. had adapted the design slightly to make the technology easy to mass-produce-but they maintained a strict policy to keep it out of the hands of any country's military, and any army that did acquire their tech would soon get a visit from the first superhuman fighter Bulma could badger into helping out.
This time period also brought a couple of new faces into the world-Bulma and Zarbon's son Trunks, and born a few weeks later, Launch and Raditz's daughter Break. The new additions to the 'extended family' were the subject of much 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing, as expected. After his child's birth, Zarbon could be seen sticking much closer to Bulma and Trunks, seeming to become more settled down and content.
Not everyone was happy, of course. Piccolo's thoughts had grown increasingly troubled. This particular day, with one year remaining until the androids' arrival, he was having a crisis of faith. I've pushed myself so far beyond what I thought was possible… I'm hundreds of times stronger than when I last fought Goku… and yet, whenever I feel one of those Super Saiyans off in the distance, I'm reminded just how insignificant it all is. He recalled his inherited memories-his father, the first King Piccolo, fighting the young saiyan, and finally falling. He'd passed on his last hope of victory to his son, Piccolo Jr., his final chance at longed-for world domination… but it wasn't to be. At every turn, Goku and his saiyan family had outpaced him, climbing to ever-higher levels of power and leaving Piccolo in the dust. Not to mention the greater threats that kept appearing, forcing him to work together with the Earth's defenders for mutual survival-he'd even heard the remark 'I'm glad Piccolo's on our side', whispered behind his back. I'm not. Not even close.
"Father!" he yelled to the empty wastes. "You told me you'd give me the power to defeat Goku and claim this world!" The ground shook as his energy flared uncontrollably. "How can I do that, with these Super Saiyans defending it?" He glanced at a mountain, destroying it with merely his glare, almost trying to reassure himself that his power did mean something. But it didn't. Not anymore.
At last, the fateful day came. Break had predicted the androids' arrival at midnight, so they met up in the late evening. Tien and Chiaotzu were the first on the scene-the agreed meeting-point, a plateau overlooking a city-followed by Krillin, Raditz, Launch and Roshi. There was a sense of a special occasion, a once in a lifetime event, so many non-combatants accompanied the fighters. Next were Zarbon, Bulma, Kuriza and Nail, and finally Goku, Gohan and Chi-Chi, who had met up with Yamcha on the way there (it turned out Piccolo had beaten them all by several hours, but wasn't going to be seen with the rest in a hurry and was off on his own as usual). Even Yaijerobe turned up (and promptly handed them a bag of senzu beans from Korin, turned tail and fled). The fighters were all in full battle gear. They waited for several hours, swapping stories and idle chat. Gohan and Kuriza played 'it', until Raditz snapped at them. The androids were due to arrive in forty-five minutes.
Goku motioned to Raditz to step aside to talk to him in private (so, of course, two sets of sensitive Namekian ears strained to hear every word).
"Hey, Raditz." Goku leaned back against a rock, the wind whistling softly through his gently swaying hair. Raditz folded his arms, waiting for his brother to continue. "I think it's safe to tell you now-it's already happened, after all…"
Raditz was confused for a second. "Happened? What are you talking about?"
"The girl who warned us about the androids." Goku smiled a little. "She was from the future-she came back to try and change the past by preparing us."
"I'd considered the possibility. It would explain how she knew so much." Raditz's mind made a connection. "Wait… a Super Saiyan from the future… you don't mean-"
"Her name's Break."
The shock knocked Raditz clean off of his feet. "I-uh-really?" He sheepishly stood up, looking back over at (shy) Launch, who was rocking baby Break back and forth in her arms, singing quietly-it was quite late, after all. "My little girl, huh? Who'd have thought?" He laughed softly. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I would have thought so… any child of mine had better hope they can make it as a warrior, or I'll never let them hear the end of it!"
"Don't be so tough," Goku warned. "I never pushed Gohan very hard, and you can see what a great fighter he's become, and only nine years old. Even younger than I was when I started having adventures…"
"You have your way of doing things, and I have mine." Raditz looked up and away. "Remember, I may have come around to your point of view on some matters, but I haven't gone soft. Don't mistake me for an Earthling. I'll raise my daughter like a true saiyan!"
"Heh… Launch might have something to say about that ."
"I guess there are some battles you can never win…" Raditz strode away, leaving Goku grinning. His brother certainly had a lot to think about. His daughter risking her life (and, if Bulma was to be believed, the very space-time continuum) to spare them her timeline's fate would take a while to wrap his head around. However, he'd have to do it some other time-the androids were now overdue, and some people were getting bored.
"I tell ya, those robots should just come out already so I can deck 'em!" Yamcha was strutting up and down, flexing his muscles.
"Yamcha…" Krillin scratched the area of his face where most people would have a nose. "You do know they're supposed to be more powerful than a Super Saiyan, right? I wouldn't be in such a rush to fight them…"
"Ah, quit worrying!" Yamcha grinned, a sure indication he was about to say something incredibly stupid (and he was). "Think about it-I'm definitely more powerful now than Goku and Raditz were when Vegeta attacked Earth, and they're Super Saiyans now. So I'm kind of stronger than a Super Saiyan too!"
Krillin was completely stunned by the sheer imbecility of this statement. "Yamcha… there is so much wrong with that sentence, I don't even know where to begin."
Nail walked over to the two human fighters. "I don't like all this waiting. The androids could aready have appeared by now, and be down in that city somewhere, beginning their rampage. I wish that girl had known their motives-it might have helped us predict their movements. All we know is that they'll be somewhere around here…"
"You're right, I guess." This was from Tien. "What do you guys say? Let's go down into the city and look for them."
"Teams of three, at least," Zarbon added. "Remember, they're supposed to be very dangerous. Any objections?"
"Sounds good." Goku shrugged. "Better than sitting around all night up here, I guess."
There was a rushing sound as Piccolo took off on his own and arced down towards the city. I'm not working with those clowns again!
Shortly, the fighters had divided themselves up and set about searching the entire city. Tien, Zarbon and Raditz composed one group, and Goku, Krillin, Nail and Yamcha the second. Gohan remained behind under the watchful eyes of Chi-Chi, but resolved to slip away the moment she let her guard down. He was primarily a studious boy and his mother's son, but he definitely had his father in him-and couldn't stand to let his friends fight without him. If he sensed anything happening to them, he'd be off, vengeful mother or not.
They spent fifteen minutes searching without success. The streets were almost empty, this late at night, but night-shift workers, along with the occasional drunk or petty criminal, still wandered the city. Nobody paid them much attention, which-given their somewhat outlandish appearance-was unusual, and not entirely unwelcome. However, even for a city at night, it seemed eerily quiet, as if the world was holding its breath. It was an uneasy feeling, and put them all on edge.
Goku's head whipped around as he felt a ki fluctuation. "It's Piccolo! He just concentrated his power-he must be attacking the androids! Come on!" Goku's group took off, heading for the source of the signal, meeting up with Raditz's group as they flew. As they got closer, they began to see two thick columns of black smoke billowing up from the ground. They headed straight for the centre of the ruined area, landing between the two destroyed buildings.
The scene that awaited them was almost surreal. Piccolo, cape swirling in the explosion's aftershock, stood with one arm extended, steam rising from his open palm, facing off against two strange figures-a long-haired, elderly-looking man and an overweight albino… thing… both wearing brown and orange pseudo-military outfits and black hats (no more detail could be distinguished at this distance). They were hovering a couple of feet in the air, evidently having just moved quite quickly, and as the group of fighters arrived, they settled down to the ground. Between and behind them, there was a smoking, flaming hole in the ground where an apartment block used to be. Piccolo shook his head. "Bah. I missed."
"That was you?" Goku asked, looking over at the ruin.
"Hey, they're the ones who blew up the hospital," Piccolo replied, pointing to the other burning crater behind him with his thumb.
"Monsters… and Piccolo's just as bad!" Goku frowned. "I guess there goes any hope he's reformed…"
"Me? Reform?" Piccolo gave an evil grin. "Keep dreaming!"
"Just stay out of this!" Goku answered, turning to face the pair opposite the demon. "There are bigger threats than you to worry about."
"Hey, Goku." Tien pointed at the mysterious duo. "I can't feel any ki from those guys at all, but they were flying, and fast enough to dodge Piccolo's attack."
"The androids," Raditz muttered.
"Must be."
The androids, of course, couldn't hear this conversation, so had no idea that the planet's warriors had been expecting them. "Greetings!" the old one called out. "I had not expected we would be meeting you so soon. How did you find us so quickly?"
"We just did." Goku brushed the question aside. "How is none of your concern."
"Very well. I suppose, in the end, it's irrelevant." He indicated himself. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am android 20, and this is my companion android 19." The fat one nodded in acknowledgement to 20's statement. "We are the emissaries of our master Doctor Gero, sent to pave the way for his conquest of this planet."
"Right. The usual, then." Goku raised his guard. "Not while I'm still standing! And that goes for the rest of us, too!"
"Heh." 20 took a step forwards. "Actually, I'm glad you tracked us down. We're anxious to prove our superiority over the planet's strongest biologicals…"
"Wait a minute!" Zarbon stepped up next to Goku. "Did you say Dr. Gero?"
"That is correct. You have heard of his genius?"
"Bulma mentioned him a couple of times." Zarbon frowned. "He was the head scientist for the Red Ribbon Army. I believe you clashed with them during your childhood."
"You bet!" Goku grinned. "Ah, that was a carefree time, huh? You know, I think I must have met another android of this doctor's." His expression softened as he remembered an old friend. "Android 8-well, I called him Eighter. Made him sound more human, I guess. Unfortunately, I doubt these guys will share his conscience… although I think I can see the Red Ribbon Army's mark on them…" He returned his mind to the present. "So, you two want to fight us? Well, it's too crowded here-let's fight somewhere else!" Like somewhere away from all these innocent people…
"It makes no difference to us." Android 20 smiled. "Lead the way to wherever you choose as your final resting place…"
The fighters and androids faced off against each other on the edge of the desert. Piccolo had followed them, standing aside from the group as always. Android 20 was the first to speak. "Well. Part of our mission is to destroy Goku-the Earth's champion, and the one who previously defeated the Red Ribbon Army." He beckoned to Goku. "So why don't you fight first? It will be an honour for us to destroy you."
"Heh." Goku settled into a fighting stance. "You might reconsider when you see this- hyaaah! " In a flash of golden light, Goku was transformed. "Well, what do you think?"
"Unexpected. Most impressive." 20 shrugged. "But it is useless against us. We are the ultimate fighting machines."
"Hah!" Raditz laughed out loud. "Enough me this crap! Come on, am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?" He indicated the androids. " This is the terrifying foe we've been dreading for three years? The terror of the future? An old man and a fat guy?" He powered up to Super Saiyan himself. " Haah! "
"Him too?" Android 20 commented, then realised something. "Wait… you say you've known we were coming for three years? How?!"
"That's for us to know…" Goku smirked.
"Enough of this! Nineteen! Destroy those two… golden… things."
Android 19 spoke for the first time. "Affirmative."
"He's going to take on both of us, huh?" Raditz asked.
"I assure you, our design is-" 20 began to say, but he was cut off by Goku.
"Sorry, pal, but we're not fighting on your terms!" The Super Saiyan charged the androids, and Raditz followed close behind.
"Damn it Goku, save some for me!" he yelled, the brothers competing to get into battle first, the thrill of combat filling their minds.
Goku crashed into the androids, punching one in the face with each fist. He whirled, dodging their counterattacks, and Raditz smashed feet first into 20, knocking him into a nearby rock face. 19 swung at Raditz from behind, but Goku caught its fist, throwing it straight up into the air. Raditz vanished and appeared above 19, slamming his elbow into its neck and knocking it right back into the ground next to Goku.
"Yeah! Look at 'em go!" Yamcha was cheering.
"Oh, quiet down." Krillin snorted (an impressive feat, given his aforementioned lack of a nose). "You know you wouldn't stand a chance in there. Let them concentrate."
"Hey, I wouldn't go down that easily!" Yamcha mimed a few punches in the air. "I reckon I'd take at least one of 'em with me."
"Are you kidding? Those 'droids would tear right through you."
Yamcha pouted. "Fine, be pessimistic."
"Or, as I like to call it, realistic."
The androids picked themselves up as the Super Saiyans settled to the ground next to each other. "Hah! Couldn't face a real warrior, then?" Raditz asked.
"But… I don't understand…" 20 was muttering. "My calculations were flawless… I've monitored all of your battles with Piccolo… your struggle against Vegeta… I even created a model to account for the saiyans' exponential power growth! But this-this is insane… !"
"Wait…' my calculations'?" Tien scratched his head. "But wasn't it Dr. Gero who was in charge? Unless… hey, Goku!"
"Yeah, I know!" Goku turned to 20. "Hey, android, uh, 20, wasn't it? Are you Dr. Gero, by any chance?"
"What?! No!" 20 was sweating. "I, uh…"
"Yes, he is!" Zarbon snapped his fingers. "I knew I recognised him somewhere, but I didn't make the link. He was on the cover of one of Bulma's magazines… went missing a few years back. It seems he's made himself into an android… makes sense, I guess."
Dr. Gero (for it was him) realised he didn't care if they knew his identity-the pressing concern were these golden saiyans. What was the secret to their power? Nineteen! He signalled his comrade through their shared communications link. Attack… now! The androids launched a synchronised attack on their alien foes, Goku and Raditz jumping into the air to avoid the pincer movement, the androids bounding up off the ground towards them. Raditz took a step back as they approached. "Here, I'll show you how hopeless it is. Goku can deal with both of you with no trouble!" Ignoring his boast, the androids rocketed past him up towards Goku. The heroic saiyan dodged 19's strike, blocking 20's leg as it swung for him. He ducked under a sweeping punch, barging 19 out of the way with his shoulder. He caught 20's wrist as the android made another swing at him. "Heh. My turn now, okay?" Goku's own fist drove deep into 20's stomach, tiny cracks opening up in the mechanical fighter's metal body. Goku swung his elbow, the impact hurling 20 to the ground, but as he fell Dr. Gero let loose an energy blast. Not having seen the androids fire energy before, Goku only barely dodged it. Distracted by this, he was easy prey as 19 rushed back up from behind him and grabbed him by the neck with one hand.
No reason for me to intervene, Raditz thought. Goku far outclasses these machines-he'll break that amateurish hold, no problem. However, an uncomfortable red light began to emanate from 19's hand. Goku spasmed as the light intensified, now accompanied by an artificial sucking noise. Goku gasped, and his ki began to fall quickly. Raditz rushed forwards to intercept the android-whatever it was doing-but another blast from Gero, charging up from below them, made him twitch to the side, breaking off his attack. Gero hovered between Raditz and the other two. "Heh heh heh…" the mad doctor grinned. "Nineteen is absorbing your brother's energy now… in a few seconds, it will all be over."
"You think so?" Raditz laughed. "Even if you could stall me for just long enough, we did bring more than two fighters… or did you forget?" This coincided with his telepathic signal to the others that he needed their assistance. The response was a familiar one.
"Tri-Beam, HAA!"
"KIENZAN!"
"KAMEHAMEHA!
"HAA!"
"YAAH!"
The multiple energy attacks shot up towards 19, who threw Goku away to the side, accelerating away from the oncoming threat. He dodged and weaved between them, coming to a halt as the light faded, midnight's dark returning.
"MASENKO-HAAA!" The dirty yellow energy wave detonated on 19's back, Piccolo standing below with a smile on his face.
"Didn't miss that time. I suppose I suppose I should thank you for giving me that opening, at least-huh?" 19 hovered, unharmed, in the same spot. It gazed down at Piccolo with mocking eyes.
"Perhaps, Piccolo, a few minutes ago that attack would have been enough to damage me," it said in its unnatural voice, "but with the energy I've absorbed from Goku, my power level has increased substantially."
"Yes, very good, Nineteen." Dr. Gero gestured at Goku-who tried, and failed, to stand, collapsing to the floor and regressing to his normal form, fighting to stay conscious. "As you can see, our energy absorption capabilities are quite advanced. Nineteen-I'm sure this stolen energy will be more than enough for you to finish off Raditz, correct?"
19 smiled. "Calculations indicate an 87% chance of victory."
"Really?" Raditz raised his guard. "Shouldn't be too hard, if I don't let you get ahold of me."
"It's not that simple," Nineteen replied, brandishing it's energy-absorbing hand. "We know all of your moves and techniques. Dr. Gero has studied you all quite thoroughly."
Raditz grinned. "Hah! You say that, but you were surprised when we transformed. You mentioned our battles up until the fight against Vegeta… you stopped studying us then, didn't you?"
"We had acquired enough information about your capabilities."
"Evidently not! You have no idea what a Super Saiyan is!" Raditz burned his aura brightly. "You missed the war against the frost demons-your first and last mistake! You're not familiar with any techniques that we've developed since we went to Namek…" He'd been sceptical about coming up with 'signature' or named techniques at first, but Goku had explained the attack name as a sort of 'trigger' for a specific way of focusing energy, which made the actual process of firing a concentrated attack much easier, and Raditz had eventually gone along with it. Time to put that theory to the test, I guess.
Raditz charged the androids, using Instant Transmission at the last second to put himself behind them. "He moved instantaneously!" Dr. Gero gasped. "I have no record of such an ability…"
"Here's another you haven't heard of!" Raditz held one hand out to the side, forming a deep red sphere of energy. "Blitz Cannon!" He swung his arm forward, the blast arcing around towards the androids before splitting into dozens of smaller energy bullets and peppering the androids with small impacts, forcing them onto the defensive. Before they could recover, Raditz was right in front of them, grabbing hold of 19's shoulders and throwing it away to the ground below. Raditz continued his assault, turning to face Dr. Gero as the android creator tried to launch a counterattack. Raditz easily dodged three rapid kicks, before catching Gero's fist in his hand. His smile widening, Raditz started to crush the android's hand. Gero growled, trying to twist away and escape, but Raditz's grip was unbreakable. Dr. Gero's fist crumpled like paper, oil trickling from gaping cracks in his exterior, strips of metal shearing off and falling away. Wrenching the whole thing free, Raditz tossed it away. "Well, I guess you could try stealing my energy with the other, but if I were you I'd cash in on your warranty and quit while you're ahead. Or at least alive."
"Why don't you saiyans just die already?!" Gero shouted, launching another barrage of punches and kicks-none hit their intended target.
"I'm getting bored," Raditz muttered. "Let's get on with this, shall we?" He backhanded Gero's next attack away, then focused his ki into one fist. He kicked at Gero's side as a distraction, and while the doctor spun to defend against that attack, swung his fist forwards. It collided with Gero's face, oil and shards of metal spraying out as Raditz's fist continued to drive forwards. It compacted what was left of his enemy's face, which was now cratering inwards, starting to crush his still-biological brain. Raditz let out a burst of energy through his hand, which completely obliterated Dr. Gero's mangled head. Traditionally, we should work our way up through the henchmen before taking out the leader, Raditz thought, but I've never really been one for tradition.
The android formerly known as 20 fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Raditz floated to the ground in front of his lifeless body. He grinned at android 19, which was just standing up. "Is this yours?"
19 stared at the scene emotionlessly, taking in the situation. It ran through hundreds of variables in seconds, searching for an escape route. Creator has been compromised. Emergency protocols in effect-activate androids 17 and 18. Distraction required to eliminate extraneous variable of superior foe.
"Hey, guys! How are you doing? Did you win yet?" Bulma's familiar voice rang out through the late-night air.
"Huh?" Raditz turned to see an aircar flying overhead. He could sense many small energy signatures inside-the whole non-combatant group was there. His eyes widened as he singled out Launch and baby Break's among them. No! Not now… Just as he feared, even his momentary hesitation to see who it was had been too long. Android 19 had both hands raised, releasing a fully-charged energy beam, using Goku's stolen power and firing directly at the vehicle.
"Bulma!" Almost instantly, Zarbon was there, putting himself between her and the blast.
Damn it! Raditz's mind raced. He can't take that-all that stolen energy will be too much for him! He'll save Bulma, but he could die himself… looks like there's no choice! He quickly used Instant Transmission to put himself in the beam's path, kicking Zarbon out of the way. "I can't let you do it!" He raised his arms in front of his face as the attack crashed into him.
As soon as the beam was released, 19 had turned and fled. "Don't let it get away!" Tien shouted, and the group of warriors sprang into action, giving chase. "Krillin-help Goku!"
"Right!" Krillin jumped over to Goku, lying drained on the ground. He fed his friend a senzu bean, instantly restoring him to fighting condition.
"Ah… thanks, Krillin. Let's be careful-we don't have many of those."
"Sure. Come on, let's go hunt down that android." Goku and Krillin leapt off in pursuit of android 19, following their allies, and joined by Raditz as soon as he'd recovered from the blast, hastily gulping down a second of the magical beans.
The aircar drifted to the ground, Zarbon waiting impatiently outside the door as it opened and Bulma (the pilot) stepped out, holding their child. "What were you thinking?" he shouted. "I could have died! You could have died! And Trunks…" he sniffed. "I… can't lose you, okay? Please, don't do anything stupid…"
She patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, you be careful too." She frowned. "I mean… if it took Super Saiyans to fight them, they're stronger than you, right?"
"I… don't know." Zarbon shrugged. "I can't feel their ki at all, but Goku and Raditz were all over them when they fought. I really have no idea."
"Hey… maybe I was too harsh on you." Bulma smiled. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to. I mean, I don't want anything to happen to you either…"
"You know, that isn't a bad-hm?" Zarbon's head whipped around.
"What is it?"
"Gohan's out there… he's trying to help, like always. Sorry, Bulma, but I can't let that kid get hurt!" He took off, heading after the others. Bulma shrugged. She could have told him Gohan was gone, if he'd asked. It was the reason they'd come here-he'd run off, and since then Chi-Chi just hadn't shut up about it. She loved her son, but could be a little overbearing sometimes.
19 had gone to ground, using small ki blasts to throw up dust clouds and obscure its fleeing form, dashing from cover to cover. It was programmed with an intricate knowledge of the area surrounding Dr. Gero's laboratory, and silently worked its way up towards the mountain housing the lab.
The android, now under tree cover as it approached the mountain range, calculated a significant probability of at least one enemy fighter discovering it before it reached the lab, and sure enough, the human known as Yamcha shortly appeared directly in its path. Attempts to circumvent confrontation present significant probability of failure. In addition, further energy absorption will benefit when confrontation with saiyans occurs. 19 snuck up as quietly as its hardware allowed, Yamcha only hearing the grinding of battle-worn gears when it was too late. 19's energy-absorbing hands clamped around his neck, sucking the power out of the fighter. He was seconds from unconsciousness, when a high-pitched voice rang out through the forest. "Power Pole extend!" A high-speed object crashed into 19's jaw, and it staggered away, releasing its hold on Yamcha. Gohan retracted the enchanted weapon, holding it defensively in front of himself. "I won't let you hurt him!" he declared.
19 turned and sprinted for the mountain, but Gohan leapt off in hot pursuit, pushing his power to the maximum. Putting on an extra burst of speed, the young warrior appeared in front of 19, kicking it to the ground. He charged it, following up on his attack, but the android somersaulted over him, knocking him away to the right with a swift backhand. Gohan stuck the Power Pole down into the ground, using the friction to slow his flight, and turning around to give chase to 19 again.
Raditz landed in the forest below the mountain, seeing Gohan heaving Yamcha over his shoulder. "What happened?" The saiyan warrior asked.
"Oh, hey Raditz!" Gohan smiled. "I felt all these big powers and came to help, and I found some fat robot attacking Yamcha-so I fought it, but it got away! It went into those mountains over there."
"So, that's where Gero's base is hiding, is it?" Raditz took off for the mountain range.
"Raditz, hold on! What should I-" Gohan received no answer as Raditz headed up towards the nearest peak. I'm not leaving now! he decided, following his uncle.
Not everyone picked up on the short battle, or arrived quickly enough, so by the time Raditz located the rather conspicuous giant metal double doors set into the side of one of the mountains, he was only accompanied by Gohan, a senzu-healed Yamcha (there were only a few of the beans left now), Zarbon and Goku. "So… this is where he's been hiding, all these years…" Goku muttered. Ever the master of subtlety, he walked straight up to the door and knocked loudly on it. No response, of course. He frowned. "I wonder what it's doing in there?"
"Maybe there are some back-up androids inside?" Raditz suggested. "After all, these didn't look like the ones Break told us about… they had different abilities, too…"
"Huh?" Yamcha looked puzzled (which, to be fair, wasn't uncommon for him). "Isn't Break your daughter's-"
"Not the time!" Raditz growled. "I'll tell you about it later. The point is, perhaps the true androids are still to come. Maybe then we'll actually get a decent battle."
"Yeah, I have to admit these two were kind of disappointing," Goku agreed. "Their energy-absorbing ability was a surprise, but once you get past that they're probably not even on the level of Frieza's family."
"Right." Raditz raised his hand, running out of patience and simply blasting the door down. "Let's take a look inside, shall we?"
The five warriors advanced through the smoke thrown up by Raditz's attack, stepping over jagged and molten metal as they entered the cave.
Dr. Gero's lab was sparsely decorated and poorly lit, and various half-finished devices littered the chamber. Android 19, standing in the corner, looked up from a control panel at the fighters. "You are too late," it told them, in its strange, high-pitched buzz. "Android models 17 and 18 have been activated. Therefore, you will perish." As it spoke, two pods embedded into the wall opened with a hiss of steam. Two human-looking figures climbed out, stretching and taking in their freedom.
"Yeah, that's them." Goku smiled, relishing the prospect of a real challenge for his Super Saiyan powers. "Seventeen and Eighteen. Just like she said."
"Seventeen! Eighteen!" 19 ordered, pointing at the approaching group. "Destroy the enemies of Dr. Gero!"
"Oh?" Eighteen smirked. "And where is the good doctor now?"
"Dr. Gero has been terminated by the saiyans," 19 explained. "But you are superior combat models. You have the capability to destroy them. Do so now."
Seventeen leaned against the wall. "Ah, no need to rush. So, you were created after us, is that correct?"
"I am android model 19." The pale-skinned robot was growing increasingly agitated. "Attack now! I order you to attack!"
The other androids ignored him. "Hmm… an energy-absorbing model… wholly cybernetic, too, not human-based like us…" Eighteen looked over at her counterpart. "What do you make of this, Seventeen?"
"It's simple, really." Seventeen gave a menacing grin. "Dr. Gero was scared of us. He couldn't control us. So he created an obedient slave instead-even if that meant having to settle for a weaker model." He looked up at 19. "You shouldn't even exist, 'nineteen'. We're the ultimate combat machines-there was never a need to create any more."
The Earth's defenders were within a few metres of the androids now. Zarbon called out. "Hey! You might want to listen to your friend there."
"Yeah," Yamcha added. "There was a battle going on, and we're not taking a break so you can play 'name that android'!"
"Our 'friend'?" Seventeen snorted. "Did you hear that, Eighteen?"
Eighteen nodded. "Heh. That thing isn't our friend. You were fighting it, right? Let me give you a hand." 19 swivelled as it realised what she meant, but she was already moving, and before 19 could react she drove her foot straight through its torso and out the other side. She pulled her leg out, taking hold of its head in one hand. "That's for trying to order us around," she said, before crushing 19's head with ease.
She kicked the broken machine away, shaking her head. "Damn thing got oil stains on my jeans…"
"Oh, how sad." Raditz chuckled. "My heart goes out to you."
"I don't understand…" Gohan looked from one android to the other. "Are they still our enemies? They just destroyed that other android…"
"That's a good question," Seventeen said. "What do you say, Eighteen? Shall we kill them?"
"It might be fun," the female cyborg replied, straightening her denim jacket. "Plus, no doubt thanks to Gero's programming, I've got this annoyingly strong urge to kill Goku…"
"Yeah, same here." Seventeen stood up straight next to Eighteen. "I guess that settles it."
"All right, then." Goku powered up to Super Saiyan as Raditz did the same, the force of their auras sending loose machinery cascading around the room. "Attitude aside, you're still his revenge machines… doesn't look like we can avoid this. But I'm warning you, this isn't a game-we're going to war here!"
"That's right…" Raditz stood in a combat stance. "And the last war we fought… well, ask Frieza and his lot how that turned out."
"Frieza?" Seventeen asked. "I have no data on a 'Frieza'."
"Oh, you'll see him-when you get to Hell! Give him my regards!"
Chapter 26: Unstoppable
The air warped and reality split open as Break's time machine appeared several feet off of the ground. She jumped out, putting the vehicle back in its capsule, and after pulling her jacket on to shield against the cold air, began flying towards the city. Seeing a population centre like this-full of life, even at night-brought hope to her heart. In her time, there just wasn't anywhere like this left, but here they were all over the planet. It occurred to her that she'd never seen, or felt the presence of, so many people in her entire life. Her thoughts were brought back to reality by the sight of a pair of burning buildings that the emergency services were already swarming over. Her first instinct was to help, but the authorities were doing a good job on their own, and she had no doubt that the battle had already begun, in which case it took priority. There must have been a slight fluctuation as she traversed the timestream-she'd meant to arrive the day before the androids' arrival. Still, the fact that the destruction was this limited meant that, at least, they'd managed to move the fight away from the city-maybe they were even still alive.
Seeing damaged rock formations off in the distance-an easy-to-find sign of a superhuman battle-she headed for the desert, landing in the middle of the crumbling rock. There was a body (Dr. Gero's) a few metres away, and she walked over, crouching down and examining it. It's an android… But this isn't Seventeen or Eighteen… more androids? Have I changed things this much just by coming back in time to warn them? I should have been more subtle! Well, at least they managed to beat this one. They seem to have gone in that direction… but where-ah, I think I can sense them. They all seem to be alive, at least, but they're spread out. That group there must be onto something-they're not moving. She took off again, swallowing nervously. She knew she'd stand no chance against Seventeen or Eighteen. It had been proven time and time again. She had to hope that the others had found a way.
"So. Who gets to fight Goku?" Seventeen asked. "I know you want to kill him as much as me."
Eighteen shrugged. "If you really want to fight him, go ahead. I'll take Raditz. Just remember not to kill Goku too quickly. Let me get a few hits in once he's beaten."
"Heh…" Goku grinned nervously. "Wow, hearing them talk about who gets to kill us… it's so creepy!"
"Yeah, it's easily the second strangest conversation I've ever heard," Raditz replied.
"Second?"
"I worked for Frieza for several years. You… don't want to know."
"If you say so." They turned their attention back to the androids, who were beginning to advance. "Okay," Goku readied himself for battle, "here they come!" Who'd have thought… after Piccolo… the saiyans… Frieza, Cooler… it's the Red Ribbon Army that produces the greatest threat to Earth…
The tension was abruptly broken as Raditz ran out of patience and charged the androids. Eighteen stepped up to intercept him, but his first kick launched her across the room, right through the wall and out the other side of the mountain. Seventeen jumped past Raditz, heading for Goku. The younger Super Saiyan jumped back, avoiding the android's first few punches. They met head-on, and Seventeen fought Goku back into the lab's entrance.
Raditz turned to the other fighters. "You might want to get out of here. This mountain is getting in the way."
"What?" Yamcha gasped, before turning and running, followed by Zarbon and Gohan. Raditz gathered all the power he could, then flung it out in all directions, completely demolishing the mountain and Gero's lab.
Raditz hovered in the wreckage, seeing Eighteen waiting for him in the air. "Hey!" she called down to him. "Are you done flailing around, beating up rocks?"
"Oh, a comedian too." Raditz charged up at her, attacking first, but she caught his fist. He twisted around, elbowing her in the back of the head, and she used the forward momentum from the attack to spin downwards, kicking him in the stomach with both feet. Raditz staggered away through the air, holding his stomach with one hand. "Not… bad."
Goku finally connected a punch to Seventeen's shoulder, but the cyborg didn't flinch, grabbing Goku by the shoulders and headbutting him. Goku grunted in pain, ducking away and raising his guard to fend off the next volley of attacks. He jumped over a low strike, kicking Seventeen away and pursuing his foe. Where did he get so strong? Seventeen wondered. I might have to use full power in a minute… but then it'd be over far too quickly… hmm, decisions, decisions…
"Look at them go," Zarbon said. "They seem to be evenly matched."
"Do you think that they can win?" Gohan asked.
"No," came the reply. "It's like I feared-the androids are just too tough." The three observers looked around to see Break, landing on the ground near them. She was accompanied by Tien, Krillin, and Nail, who she'd met up with along the way-the Super Saiyan energy being given off by the fighters wasn't hard to track down.
"Are you sure?" Tien was doing his best to follow the fight. "They seem to be doing okay."
Break shook her head. "Even if the androids are fighting seriously-which I doubt-they have infinite energy. They can just stay on the defensive until their enemy gets tired. You can't beat them without a significant advantage to overcome that." It was chilling-seeing the monsters that had haunted her life born again.
"Should we help them?" Gohan asked.
Break frowned. "I don't know if we can…"
Eighteen stood up straight and took a direct punch from Raditz without flinching. "I wonder how long you'll last?" she mused. "You must realise sooner or later you're outclassed." She swatted his hand away, and they jumped back a step from each other.
"Say… you don't come with an instruction manual, do you?" Raditz asked with a mocking smile on his face. "Excuse me, is this Tech Support? I'm having problems with my combat android. She appears to be an arrogant bitch." This got him punched halfway through the forest, but he laughed as he picked himself up. Well, I'm starting to make up for all of Frieza's 'monkey' jabs… Unfortunately, though he may have won the war of words, the actual battle was another moment entirely. Eighteen rocketed towards him, a high kick snapping his head back and knocking him to the ground again. "You're… getting stronger, aren't you?" he coughed.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but humouring you by holding back was dragging on a bit…" she shrugged. "I was getting bored."
Goku was experiencing similar problems. Seventeen was now blocking every one of his attacks, and when the android went on the offensive, Goku felt like his defences were being tested to their absolute limits. Before long, a vicious elbow got through, doubling him over, and Seventeen followed up by taking hold of Goku's Super Saiyan hair, swinging him around several times to yelps of pain, and throwing him away into the horizon.
The assembled fighters were unsure of what to do. "I can't take this any more!" Gohan was shaking.
"Please, Gohan! Think!" Nail put a hand on the young half-saiyan's shoulder. "Your father knows what he's doing. He wouldn't want you to get yourself killed. Let's face it, nobody stands a chance better than those two."
"But… we must be able to make some kind of difference!" Krillin argued. "Even if it's just slowing the androids down for a few seconds!"
Seventeen was repeatedly shoving Goku's head down into the sharp, rocky ground, drawing blood from small cuts all over his face. Gohan finally snapped. "I don't care!" he shouted. "I'm coming, Daddy!" He flew full-speed at Seventeen.
"Damn it!" Tien growled. "I guess we've got no choice now! Hyah! " His Kaioken aura burst into life as he followed Gohan. He was followed by Krillin, Yamcha and Nail. Zarbon and Break stood behind, deliberating. "I think we're out of our league here…" Zarbon said. "Come on, there's no point dying like this!"
I'm not letting it happen again! "Do what you want. Hrrr… " Veins stood out on Break's neck as she summoned her inner power. The now-familiar golden light appeared around her as she powered up to Super Saiyan. As always when she transformed, reason slipped away. There was only the coming battle. "YAAAH!" She charged in with no further thought, unslinging the Power Pole on her back and making straight for android Eighteen, who was driving another punch into Raditz's gut. Eighteen jumped, somersaulting over Break's head. Raditz's daughter saw the movement, lashing out with her weapon and catching Eighteen by surprise, knocking her back to the ground. The android stood up, dodging a second swing. Almost gently, she knocked Break into the air, appeared behind her and hit her back down. Break skidded along the ground, ripping up her trousers and cutting gashes into her legs, but she stopped herself, stood up and charged back in, firing a barrage of energy bullets at Eighteen, who just laughed. She flew straight into the path of each one, knocking them out of the way with a simple wave of the hand, then dashed right up to Break and kicked her to the floor. Break fell out of Super Saiyan, fighting for consciousness and losing. I tried… father…
Meanwhile, Gohan and Nail launched themselves at Seventeen from opposite sides. Seventeen let go of Goku, turning and blocking both attacks. He punched to one side with each hand, using his full power straight off the bat and instantly taking the fight out of both of them. He turned back to Goku, but the time bought by the other two had been enough. Raditz used Instant Transmission to jump over to Goku, grabbed hold of his brother and teleported them both away. Seventeen scowled. "Where did they go? What was that?"
"I have no idea…" Eighteen glanced around. "I have no record of this ability. Then again, they're all a lot stronger than records show. Not that it made a difference…" Tien, Krillin and Yamcha were hovering in the air a few metres away. Zarbon was frozen with fear, back near Gero's lab. Piccolo was nowhere to be seen. Everyone else was down. "Hey!" Eighteen called up to the three human fighters. "I don't suppose you know where Goku is?"
"No! And we wouldn't tell you if we knew!" Krillin called down defiantly. "They could be anywhere on the planet by now!"
"Heh. Quite a technique," Seventeen commented. "I guess Raditz has to die too. Can't have him spiriting Goku away every time we catch him." He looked up at the humans. "Well, fine. We're leaving. We'll just search this planet for Goku. If you want to attack us, fine, but you can see how well your friends did." He indicated the beaten saiyans and Namekian on the ground. The humans made no move, and Seventeen smiled. "Smart choice. Well, see you around." The androids took off, heading into the sky in a roughly north-west direction.
Sinking to the ground, the humans breathed out a collective sigh. "Wow, that was close…" Yamcha muttered. They all knew what he meant-Goku and Raditz were actually very close nearby, under an outcrop of rock. They'd had to hope that Break had been right and the androids couldn't sense ki. It had worked, though; and now they had at least a short while to regroup, heal the wounded and plan their next step. Or so they thought.
There was a deep rumble from the ruins of Dr. Gero's laboratory. Piles of rock cascaded down the mountain 'stump'. Something was moving under there. The four fighters still standing stared in horror as a tall humanoid figure pulled itself out of the rubble, jumping down to the ground where they were standing. Zarbon gulped. "That guy just came from the lab… he must be another android!"
"And he doesn't seem to be damaged at all from when Raditz blew the place up," Tien noted. "He must be pretty tough." The figure began to approach, and they saw him (it?) more clearly. The android designated number 16 was massive, sporting green body armour, a red mohawk, and a chin that would make Jay Leno wince. His face was expressionless, which seemed somehow strange-even the completely mechanical 19 had been capable of showing emotion. This one, it seemed, didn't share that trait.
"I don't like the look of this." Krillin tensed up, ready for anything (he hoped). "Get ready, guys."
The towering android's gaze swept over the area, until it came to rest on a location. "Goku located," he said in a deep, but artificial voice. He began to stride, slowly but purposefully, towards Goku and Raditz's hiding place.
Raditz! Tien tried to signal the saiyan telepathically. There's another android headed for you-this one can sense you! Get out of there!
I'm trying! came the reply. But I've lost a lot of energy… I just need a few seconds, a minute or two maybe, then I can get us to safety. But if I try to use Instant Transmission now, I won't go more than a couple of feet!
"All right." Tien's face grew stern. "I'm going to buy Raditz some time. If anybody wants to come with me, feel free. I'm not going to lie, it'll be dangerous, but we don't have to win-just hold it off for a bit." He flew over to the advancing android, putting himself between 16 and the hidden saiyans. "Stop right there!" he called. Within a couple of seconds, he was joined by Krillin and Yamcha. "Heh… thanks, guys."
"Hey, no problem!" Yamcha grinned. "You won't see me running from a fight any time soon!"
"And I'm not abandoning my oldest and best friend," Krillin added. He'd known Goku since they were both young children, and they'd come through too much together for Krillin to run now.
16 stopped, considering his opponents. "Scanners indicate your power levels are insufficient to stop me." He frowned. "Please, do not resist. I have no desire to harm you. I am only programmed to kill Goku. I would prefer to leave you in peace."
"How weird…" Krillin muttered. "I guess Dr. Gero messed up with his personality. But not, unfortunately, with his motivation to kill Goku. Gero had a regular complex about the guy…"
"Well, that's too bad!" Tien raised his guard. "We're not backing down! We'll defend our friend, no matter what!"
"Very well." 16's face hardened further. "Then I am sorry." He continued his slow advance.
"Okay, get ready," Tien told the other two. "I'm sure we can't beat this guy head on, and they know all our usual moves-so let's try and surprise him. Use techniques you've developed recently, or that you don't use often."
Krillin nodded. "Right. After the battle with Kuriza, we all realised that a few new tricks wouldn't do any harm…" He raised both arms into the air. Razor-edged yellow discs of energy sprung, fully-formed, from each. " Double Kienzan !" He flung the discs at 16, who had been programmed to expect the normal form of this attack, but two at once was unexpected.
16 ducked under one disc, throwing himself forwards over the second. The brief period of time before he stood up gave Tien the opening he needed. Here's another one he won't be expecting… "Dodon Burst!" Jumping into the air over the fallen android, Tien extended all ten fingers, firing streams of short yellow rays from each. They crashed into the ground, the attack covering the entire area around 16, hitting him while he was down. Tien and Krillin smiled in satisfaction, but when the dust cleared 16 was picking himself up, completely unharmed. "Man… I wish these androids had ki to sense…" Krillin grumbled. "I don't know when to celebrate…"
16 looked back up at them. "It seems your power has increased. You have acquired new techniques as well. It does not matter. You are not capable of defeating me." He continued his slow walk towards them.
"Man!" Yamcha growled. "He's not even shooting back! I bet he doesn't even think of us as a threat!"
"Well, we're not-not really." Tien shrugged. "But like I said, we don't have to win. Just last long enough."
"All right," Krillin said, pulling his power to the surface, "let's try for a combined blast. Remember, go for the unexpected."
The three warriors focused their power to its maximum, the android now only a few steps away. Krillin brought his hands together at his side, a blue glow appearing, but then changing to red as sparks started to flicker up and down his arms. He hadn't been able to push the Kaioken as high as Tien yet, but by the same logic that a higher boost could be used for a short amount of time, if the boost was applied to just one attack, not his whole body, it could be even greater. He swung his hands forwards. "KAIOHAMEHA!"
Tien knew the android would be programmed to expect all of his usual tricks-but maybe he could overwhelm it with sheer quantity. Gritting his teeth, he separated into four copies. Each one then focused further as all four of his Multi-Form copies sprouted a second set of arms from their shoulders-the Witch Arms technique he'd last used in the tournament when he'd first fought Goku. Each set of arms formed the familiar triangle, and eight Tri-Beams shot forth at 16.
Yamcha flung his arms out in front of him, dozens of tiny versions of his trademark Spirit Ball-each with almost the power of the full version-forming and coalescing into a brightly glowing mass. "Spirit Beam, HAAA!"
The ten beams sped towards 16. His sensors' report alarmed him-the humans shouldn't have been this strong, and the mix of new techniques was confusing. He raised his arms in front of him, catching the attack with the palms of his hands. He grunted as the combined force pushed him back, his feet grinding along the ground and throwing up dust. Current situation untenable… concentrate power to relevant functions only. Disabling unnecessary motion. Maximising forward thrust. 16's movement slowed, and he came to a halt. He gradually began to move back towards his enemies, pushing their attacks back. It didn't take long for the concentrated nature of their attacks to tire the humans out, and their power faded.
"Well… that was a nice try, guys…" Krillin gasped. "We even worried him a little. But this guy's too much. He hasn't even attacked us yet, and I already know I'm beat."
"Damn it…" Tien looked around behind him. "Why are those two still here?" Raditz! We're running out of time!
I must be more injured than I thought… Raditz answered. I'm trying, but it's hard to focus, especially with a long jump like we're going to need to get out of this android's sensor range…
"Fine." Tien turned back to 16, who was now moving with more speed. "Just a little longer, then."
"I will not be stopped," 16 said as he neared them. "Goku will be terminated."
"He's getting too close!" Krillin warned. "We shouldn't try to take him head-on!"
"No choice!" Yamcha told him, summoning up what strength he had left. He hadn't been able to master the Kaioken proper, not having direct teaching from King Kai, but had refused to let Krillin and Tien leave him behind entirely, and after learning as much as he could from them had come up with his own solution. "Wolf Fang Kaioken-YAAAH!" The red aura was flickering and unstable, but it was there. Tien and Krillin powered up to their own highest levels of Kaioken-times twenty and ten respectively-and joined in Yamcha's charge.
16 stepped sideways as the three warriors flew into him, raising his arms in perfectly-timed blocks. Their speed has increased, he noticed. Further errors in Dr. Gero's data. He must not have accounted for an extraneous variable. It is irrelevant. He spent several seconds on the defensive, as the human fighters hammered home attack after attack. Once he had processed their power increase, he was on more familiar territory-he was programmed with an intricate knowledge of their fighting styles. Tien's was direct and smooth, Krillin's was cautious but powerful, and Yamcha's, while somewhat wasteful in energy, was unpredictable and difficult to defend against-at least to anyone without the data 16 possessed. Having acquired all the information he required, and identified exploitable weaknesses and openings in each fighter's technique, 16 chose his moment and struck.
He suddenly spun 180 degrees, driving his elbow into Yamcha's chest. Ribs cracked with the force of the blow, and Yamcha went down, choking and coughing up blood. 16 ducked under a punch from Krillin, taking hold of the short warrior's leg and neatly breaking it at the shin. Krillin howled and fell away to the side, almost blacking out. Tien, realising he was the only one left, raised his hands to his forehead, but 16 identified the Solar Flare technique and countered with short-ranged energy beams from his eyes. The impact threw Tien's head back forcefully, snapping his neck. Tien's body hit the ground heavily, and he lay still. 16 looked down with regret. I had not intended to kill him. Evidently, his power was drained from his earlier efforts, and I overestimated his endurance. The sadness vanished, however, as his primary objective overrode everything. Goku must be terminated. But just as he turned to face the saiyans' location, they dropped off his scanners. 16 looked all around with confusion. They were gone. Out of his sensors' range-which meant they must be miles away. But there had been no energy trail. Dr. Gero's records showed no evidence of such an ability. Another error. What had gone wrong?
Zarbon floated down to the others. He went over to Krillin, dug the bag of senzu beans out of the fighter's pocket, and fed him one. "What happened?" Krillin asked. "And where the hell were you?"
"The android left." Zarbon shrugged. "I guess he's still looking for Goku. And I… I was afraid to die. Is that so terrible? I wanted to help, but I couldn't bring myself to face that thing!" They immediately went to help Yamcha, another bean restoring him, and then the three of them shuffled over to Tien. "He… he can't be…" Yamcha crouched down, staring in disbelief. "Tien! Come on, you always know what to do! You… can't just leave! What about that rematch you promised me? Tien… damn it, we need you, man."
"Hey, it's okay." Krillin patted Yamcha on the shoulder. "The Dragon Balls-"
"We already used them on him!" Yamcha snapped. "It doesn't work twice!"
"Well, there's the Namekian set…"
"… I guess… but that doesn't make it all okay, you know? He just died . I don't care how many Dragon Balls we have, it still means something." Yamcha stood up. "Shoulda been me. Tien's the hero. What have I ever done?" He was on the verge of a breakdown. "When have I ever been useful, huh? WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?!"
"Yamcha…" Krillin decided it was best to just leave him alone, and flew off to give Gohan and Break the last two senzu beans (thanks to his regenerative abilities, Nail was doing a little better, and was starting to stand up on his own). They all gathered around Tien's body. To varying degrees of surprise, after a few minutes it faded, vanishing from existence. "I guess he must have got permission to see King Kai again," Krillin suggested. With nothing else to do, they flew off to Kame House, where Raditz had taken Goku.
When they got there, Raditz had already raided Roshi's fridge to give him an energy boost, teleported back to the city and brought their non-fighting friends to Kame House. Shortly after, the fighters arrived, and told the rest of the story. The room fell quiet as Tien's death was recounted.
Raditz noticed Break, who was standing outside the house, staring off into the ocean. He walked out to her, and they stood silently for a full minute. Eventually, he spoke. "I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I wasn't able to protect you. You had to grow up without a father. The androids destroyed your world. And now… we've failed again. They're running free. They'll find us eventually…"
"Oh… you know, then?" She turned to face her father, who nodded.
"Goku told me just a few hours ago, actually. I mean, you've already been born, so he decided it was safe." He smiled a little. "But you've grown up strong, Break. I'm proud of you."
She sniffed. Unable to contain herself any longer, she ran over and hugged him tightly. "Dad…"
"Er…" Raditz was still learning about this sort of thing. He had no idea how to be a father. "Hey. Look… if this goes as badly as I think it might… if, you know, we lose… and I'll be honest, if we all die… I want you to know I'm glad I got to meet you. You're a hero, do you realise that?" They stepped apart slightly. Behind them, a soft light began to rise over the horizon as dawn broke.
"I guess I take after you, then," she said, grinning.
"No." He shook his head. "I'm not a hero. I don't think I can ever be." He turned away from her. "I've wiped whole worlds clean, every man, woman and child. No, you're a far better person than I'll ever be."
"But you regret it now," she reasoned. "You're fighting for a good cause. Trying to protect this planet, and your family!"
"It doesn't change the fact that billions of people are dead because of me…" he stopped. "Look, this discussion is pointless. I am what I am. We're here, we're in this situation, and debating morality isn't going to help." He looked more closely at her face. "You do take after me a little in appearance, though, even if your hair is straight from your mother… look." He pointed out over the sea, to the teeming cities just visible from the island. "You see that? Millions of people. Good people, most of them, just… being alive. Blessed, wonderful mundanity. They might grumble, but everyone does that. They're free, they're safe, they're happy. I've been all around the galaxy, and I can tell you how rare that is. That is what you've missed, growing up in your timeline. That is what we're fighting for. And I don't want you to miss it this time. That other you-in there-she's going to have a future. I can guess you've spent a lot of your life running, avoiding direct confrontation. Being beaten today probably hasn't helped. But we're not running again. The next time, we're fighting to the end."
"Do you have a plan?" she asked.
He was wondering this himself. "Not a plan, as such… more of an idea. I've encountered it over and over. Frieza's living metal copies… these androids… according to you, King Cold… enemies even more powerful than a Super Saiyan. This isn't the ultimate power. This is not the peak of the mountain. There are higher levels we can climb to."
"You really think so?"
"There must be! If we just accepted our limits, we'd all have died on Namek! There's no reason to stop improving now." He smiled. "Hey. Shall we train?"
"Really?" Break grinned. "Of course!"
"All right then. Let's take this seriously. We've got to unlock greater powers, but we don't have much time-who knows how long the androids will take to find us?"
Seventeen and Eighteen were cruising down a clifftop road in their stolen sports car-they could have flown, but Seventeen insisted on 'having fun'-when a large figure appeared in their path. They swerved to a halt, almost crashing into the concrete highway divider. "Hey, what gives?" Seventeen grumbled, before noticing that the figure was, in fact, android 16. "What's this? One of us?"
"That is correct," 16 replied. "I am the android designated #16. You are models 17 and 18?"
"That's right," Eighteen replied. "What's it to you?"
"You seek to kill Goku. I am programmed with the same objective. Logic dictates that working together will yield a greater chance of success."
"Gero didn't give you much of a sense of humour, did he?" Seventeen asked, shrugging. "But you're probably right. Hop on in."
"Making use of inferior technology is illogical," 16 commented as it sat in the back of the car, "but my calculations predict that the advantage of two allies outweigh the drawbacks of indulging your personality flaws."
"… Right." Seventeen scratched his head. "Whatever you say. Let's hit the road."
Goku looked out the window, seeing Raditz and Break sparring several hundred metres above them. "Well, they're hard at work already. I guess Raditz knows we're going to have to fight them again eventually."
"There's something that's been bugging me, though," Krillin said. "When was the last time you saw Piccolo?"
"Huh…" Goku tilted his head back and forth, trying to remember. "The battle with those first two androids, I guess. Since then… nothing. I wonder what he's up to."
"It's absurd!" Kami was saying. "Ridiculous! Why would I ever want to re-fuse with you?" He was pacing back and forth in front of Piccolo, as they stood atop the Guardian of Earth's Lookout. His servant, the genie Mr. Popo, was cowering inside. "We separated for a reason!"
Piccolo was beginning to run out of patience. "Look, it's simple! We've been in conflict since we were created from the original Namekian who came to Earth, but we could never defeat each other without killing ourselves. If we joined, that struggle would just become an internal one-we'd still exist, in spirit, and we'd both have the power to achieve our aims."
"It is an… interesting suggestion," Kami admitted. "Usually, a fusion between two Namekians requires one to be the base, and they absorb attributes from the other. Are you proposing we both put our entire essence into this fusion?"
"Exactly," Piccolo explained. "That way, we recreate the nameless Namekian who gave us life. According to what Nail has told me, we'll be at least as powerful as one of those Super Saiyans. We have different reasons, but neither of us want these androids to destroy everything!"
"I… do not know. It is a drastic measure."
"Drastic times. You know the saying."
Kami fell silent for a long time. "… I want you to know that ordinarily I would not agree to this. But there is another threat to Earth. More terrible than even the androids. At the moment, perhaps slightly weaker, but with a far greater potential for evil."
"What are you taking about?"
"You'll know-when our knowledge is shared." Kami held out a hand. "Come-let the son of Katas live again."
Chapter 27: Cell
"How's it going?" Goku floated up to Raditz and Break, who were still sparring in the air above Kame House.
"It's hard to tell," Break replied. "We've only been training for a couple of hours."
"Actually, we haven't really started." Raditz shrugged. "I'm trying to improve Break's stance and technique. Your son did his best to teach her in the future, but he never really completed his own teaching before we died. And I'm going to need her to be a true fighter before we even think about reaching past Super Saiyan."
"Say what?" Break asked, rounding on Raditz. "You can't think about me so much! Do what you have to on your own!"
He held up a hand to try and calm her down. "Look, I know you've got potential. We can both surpass Super Saiyan, I know it. Just give it time… you're a quick learner. It won't take long to bring you up to speed." He turned to Goku. "Oh. Your friend died, right?"
"Tien? Yeah," Goku told him, suddenly feeling less optimistic when he remembered hearing the news.
"Are you going to wish him back with the Dragon Balls? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you'd have to use the ones on new Namek."
Goku nodded. "That's right. But we figure we'll wait until the threat is over, then bring everyone who's died back in one go. Otherwise, some emergency wish might come up, but we've already used up our wishes for a whole year and we're doomed."
"I guess so…" Break joined the discussion. "But what if one of the balls is destroyed, like in my timeline? Then you wouldn't get any wishes."
"We'll have to risk it," Goku decided. "It's worth having them in reserve in case something comes up."
"Oh! Goku." Raditz remembered something he'd been thinking about. "I want to ask you something."
"Huh? Okay, I guess…"
"If I die in battle… don't wish me back. All right?" He looked extremely serious as he said this.
"What? Why?"
"Nature has given us this one life, to live to its fullest extent. I don't want to have a free ticket out just because I know the world's greatest scavenger hunters. Look, the Dragon Balls can't be used on natural deaths, correct?"
Goku tilted his head back, trying to remember. "I… think so. Yeah, that's right."
"And let's face it, to people as strong as us, natural disasters and accidents aren't very threatening," Raditz continued. "The only death of mine you could reverse with them is a death in battle! But-that's the only death I'd ever accept!" He faced Goku, looking him in the eyes. "Understand?"
"I think I do." Goku nodded. "If you die an honourable death in battle, you want to be remembered that way-not cheat your opponent of their victory, and go out quietly in your old age. Right?"
"That's exactly it." He folded his arms. "My warrior's pride won't allow anything else! So promise me, Goku! On your word as my brother and as one of the last saiyans-swear you will never revive me with the Dragon Balls!"
Goku gave a thumbs-up, but his face was grim. "All right. I promise. Now I'm gonna go see what everybody's got planned. Good luck ascending!"
Raditz considered this as Goku left. 'Ascending'… hmm…
The light slowly faded, and Mr. Popo looked up. Standing opposite him, on the edge of Kami's lookout, was an almost-familiar figure. He was a Namekian, that much was certain. He stood almost a foot taller than Piccolo (who had already been over seven feet) had, and from his imposing musculature must have weighed nearly twice as much. He wore simple blue clothes, with Piccolo's symbol on the front and Kami's on the back, and had a stern expression on his face. Slowly, he turned to face the bewildered genie. "Do not be afraid, Mr. Popo," he said. His voice was strong but kind.
"Who-who are you?" Mr. Popo asked.
"Me? That's a very good question." The Namekian crossed his arms, furrowing his brow. "I am not Kami, nor am I Piccolo. I have not existed as one being for a very long time. I am the son of Katas. I am the Namek who has long since forgotten his name."
"So… what should I call you?"
"I'm not sure. It might not matter, anyway. You probably won't see much of me in the future." He shrugged.
"I won't? Why?"
The Namek smiled. "I'm not fit to be guardian of Earth. It's Piccolo, you see. His evil taint still resides within me." He said this jovially, as if commenting on the weather. "No, you'll have to find someone else. You know, you wouldn't make a half-bad guardian yourself, if you had a bit more self-confidence."
"I-" before Mr. Popo could speak, the Namek had taken off, his slipstream bowling his former servant over onto the floor.
The Namek flew through the air. Kami discovered a great and terrible evil during the last few days… but it's hard to follow. It masks its trail like a cunning animal… I can feel traces of it, where it's been in the past, but not where it is now. Damn! It's like trying to catch water in your hands! He flew onwards. It couldn't hide forever.
"Wait, what?" Goku asked.
"That's right!" Bulma held up the printout. "Look, it's a Capsule Corp vehicle! But I don't recognise the model at all…"
"And you say they found this in the middle of the jungle? How weird…"
"Yeah, it was covered in moss and stuff like it'd been there for years."
"Hey…" Break (who, along with Raditz, was resting inside Kame House after a few hours' training) leaned over, looking at the picture. "That's my time machine!" Everyone fell silent as she continued to speak. "But it looks so old… it must be from further in the future than I come from. I wonder who used it? Whoever it was, they blasted their way out-see that hole in the canopy, there." She looked up. "We should go check this out."
Raditz stood up. "I'll take you with Instant Transmission. We can't risk leaving a ki trail, one of the androids can sense us. Bulma, you should come with us. You know Capsule Corp technology better than any of us."
"Right." Bulma nodded.
Zarbon walked over. "Then count me in too."
"What am I, a tour bus?" Raditz muttered, as Break, Bulma and Zarbon all placed a hand on his shoulder. Still grumbling, he teleported them all away, leaving everyone else to wait for their return. Chi-Chi was upstairs disciplining Gohan, but the rest were just milling around, waiting for new developments. The world seemed to be in a strange state of limbo at the moment. They didn't really have a direction. Master Roshi sighed. "First the androids… now another time traveller… things are getting complicated."
"I know what you mean." Goku nodded. "I liked it better when it was simple. Androids are coming in three years, train hard, fight, win. Well, we did all that, but then more of them came along, and we lost. Only we didn't. We're still here. And now there's this." He scratched the back of his neck irritably. "I don't like this."
"Yeah, that's definitely my time machine-only not my version. My one's in one of my capsules in my pocket…" Break peered at the aged vehicle. "To see it in this condition… it's just creepy."
Bulma was examining it too. "Well, it's definitely a Capsule model. Looks like something we might come up with in a couple of decades, I guess."
"Yeah, you will." Break smiled. "You never failed to amaze me, you know. There were all these powerful fighters around, but it was still you that saved us nine times out of ten."
Bulma laughed. "Hah! Sounds just like me. Trust you fighters to get into messes you can't handle… still, I hope it doesn't come to that. If you can beat the androids in a straight fight, that'd be great. The prospect of trying to figure out a way to turn them off isn't exactly enticing."
Break shrugged. "Well, the future version of you has been trying for seventeen years. If it was possible, I think you'd have done it."
"Well, I'll still take a look at it if I have to, but let's just focus on this for now."
"Yes, let's." Raditz agreed, standing a few paces away (Zarbon was on guard duty, hovering about a mile overhead). "I'm already getting bored of this little field trip."
"Oh, hush." Bulma waved him into silence. "We're investigating the unknown. Go punch something or whatever."
"Huh!" Raditz scowled at her back as she turned to examine the time machine. "Did you come up with that all by yourself?"
Bulma ignored him. "Hey, Break! Give me a boost!"
"Uh, sure." Break hefted Bulma up until she could get a look into the cockpit of the time machine.
"Hey… what's this?" Bulma reached in and pulled out… something. Jumping down to the ground, she laid the two objects down in front of her. "Take a look. Is this some component of the machine?"
"No. I've never seen them before," Break replied. They were two identical, hollow hemispheres, light purple in colour and covered in small bumps. "Looks more organic than mechanical."
"Yeah, I see what you mean…" Bulma rubbed her chin in thought. "Almost looks like… two halves of an egg or something."
"An egg? Are you sure? What kind of creature would hatch out of that ?"
Raditz spoke up, having wandered over out of curiosity. "Well, whatever it is, it knows how to work a time machine-or at least whoever put it there did. And this creature's been here, in our time, for quite a while now, if the state of the machine's anything to go by."
"But… why would someone put a strange creature like that in a time machine and send it here?" Bulma asked.
"I don't know and I don't care. I'm much more worried about killer robots that are actively searching for us than some mystery time-travelling creature that may or may not actively be a threat." He held out a hand. "Come on, let's go back. We're not going to ascend just standing here."
The small house on Mount Paozu exploded violently. Stalking away from it, android 17 ground his teeth. "They're. Not. Here ." He complained.
Eighteen rolled her eyes. "Of course they're not here, Seventeen. It's far too obvious. They know we're looking for them." She shook her head. "You could have waited to blow the place up, you know. There might have been something worth taking. I could do with a change of clothes, for one thing-mine are still torn up from that last battle."
"Oh, quit whining," Seventeen replied. "If it means that much to you, we'll stop at a shop or something on the way."
"Let's just get going," she said. They returned to their stolen vehicle, where Sixteen was silently waiting for their return. He only spoke once they had started moving again. "I told you the probability of their anticipating our search and moving elsewhere was significant," he stated.
"You too?" Seventeen moaned. "Give me a break…"
I can feel Piccolo's spirit within me… the newly-fused Namek thought. Like a posion eating away at my good intentions. I will have to deal with that-but not like last time. I won't unleash that monster on the world again. Luckily, Piccolo wanted this threat eliminated as much as Kami-so I won't have to worry about that in the immediate future. I should focus on… there. I've found you.
He banked right, arcing down towards a small city called Gingertown. Human energy signatures were disappearing, one after the other. There were only a couple left by the time the Namek landed. This place feels… wrong. Like the town itself is sick. Whatever's killing this people, it's unnatural. The air seemed to hang thick and cloying around him, and he almost turned away at the sight of the inhabitants' remains. Of their bodies there was no sign, but their empty clothes lay scattered all around, like they had been sucked right out of them, or vapourised without touching the clothes. A few guns lay on the ground with them, spent cartridges dotting the road. They had fought back, evidently, but their foe had been beyond the level of mere firearms. If only there were more great fighters in the world… hm? His head turned as one of the last two human energy signals in the town faded. But at that moment, he'd felt the faintest flicker of another power. It had been small, but he knew it was just the tip of the iceberg-an extremely powerful being trying to hide itself. Without a doubt the culprit-he made straight for the town centre, where he'd felt the signal. Whatever it was, it wouldn't escape.
"There you are." The voice startled the creature, which was obscured by shadows as it crouched in the corner. This distraction gave its human victim the moment he needed to try and flee. He leapt up, terrified yelps escaping his mouth, and scrambled away, but something lashed out from the darkness, stabbing into his back. With a sick gurgling sound, the very life was pumped out of him. His skin began to wrinkle and crack, as his insides liquidated and rushed up the appendage. His skin soon followed, and his clothes sank to the ground, an empty husk. The Namek watched all this in horror, and took a wary step back as the creature emerged.
It stood even taller than he did, and was roughly humanoid, though otherwise it appeared to be somewhere between an insect and a lizard. It was coloured various shades of green, speckled with black spots and the occasional splash of orange. There were gemstone-like black circles in the centre of its chest and forehead, eerily reminiscent of Frieza's family. It had two horn-like protrusions extending at angles from its head, insectile wings stretching down its back, and a long, twisting tail ending in a needle-sharp stinger.
"What are you?" the Namek growled. "Why are you doing this?"
"Ah…" the creature hissed. "Picco-no. No, not Piccolo. Not quite." It blinked a couple of times, its eyes narrowing to slits. "Who are you?"
How does it know the name Piccolo? "I am the Namek who first came to Earth-I created Piccolo and Kami, many years ago," he replied. This was a test, to find out how much it knew.
"Ah… I see. They fused, did they?" it rasped. "Unexpected, most unexpected. But nothing to worry about… you are still no threat to me… still, what shall I call you? 'The Namek' doesn't really work, now does it?"
He smiled. "I've been giving that some thought, actually. And I've decided-I shall take the name of my father, the honourable Namekian who spared me from my home planet's catastrophe… you can call me Katas."
The creature opened its beak-like mouth, baring four small fangs in a strange sort of grin. "Heh heh heh… well then, 'Katas', let's get a move on. I know you're here to stop me, but you don't have a clue why I'm here… trust me when I say you have no idea what you're getting into. My name is Cell, and I am the last opponent you will ever face!" It crouched, like a spider tensing itself to pounce.
Katas waited for Cell's attack, dodging to the right as its tail lashed past him, demolishing the building behind him. He struck back, leading with a low kick that Cell jumped over, making a grab for him with both hands. Katas jumped inside its guard, punching Cell in the jaw and sending it staggering back. He followed up with an elbow jab, but swung through Cell's afterimage, his foe appearing behind him, spinning and knocking him through a city block.
Rising from the rubble, Katas scowled at the approaching creature. "You're right-I don't know why you're here. So why don't you tell me?" He raised his guard, waiting for the next attack.
"Very well. Your fused power is impressive, but hardly a match for my own, especially augmented by the people of this town." Cell laughed, a noise not entirely unlike styrofoam-coated fingernails on a chalkboard. "So I suppose you won't live to tell anyone else… I, Cell, am the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero!"
Katas' eyes widened. "What?"
Android 16's eyes flickered, concern briefly registering on his face. "I detect two high powers in combat," he commented.
"What's this?" Eighteen leaned back. "Who's fighting?"
"I do not know," 16 replied. "The energy signatures do not match any in my database, or any of the warriors I fought earlier. However, their power is in the region of yours-if not quite your equal."
"There you go." Seventeen smiled. "They're still no match for us, so it doesn't matter. I'm sure we'll run into them eventually… let's just focus on finding Goku, all right?"
"Which would be a lot faster if you didn't insist on driving the whole way…" Eighteen muttered.
"You see," Cell continued, "even now, hidden in a secondary, underground laboratory, Dr. Gero's super-computer is continuing his work. It is programmed with his intelligence and personality-for all intents and purposes, it is Dr. Gero, but without the limits of a human mind! I was the final product of this computer, the ultimate bio-android. I possess the ability to steal energy from others-something you'd know about if you watched the news. "Town emptied by mystery killer", that sort of thing, I'd imagine."
Katas frowned. "But how were you created in such a short space of time? Gero himself hasn't been dead for long."
"Well… I'm not from your time period," Cell replied. "But I know a little girl called Break, who owns a time machine. Well… I knew her. And now I own a time machine. Or I would if I had much use for it… but why would I? I come from a desolate future, with barely any life on the planet for me to absorb…"
"So you can steal power?" Katas spat. "I'd hardly call you 'the ultimate creation' just because of that. The androids from earlier were stronger than you."
"Ah, but that's not all, my friend. You see, I'm built from the combined DNA of the greatest fighters ever to grace this planet. Even yours. Not only that, I'm programmed with an innate knowledge of all their techniques! Let me demonstrate…" He raised two fingers to his forehead, electric yellow bolts of power arcing off of them, crackling loudly. " Special Beam Cannon !"
"What the-" Katas couldn't believe the amount of power being generated by the attack. "His power really is greater than mine… and he knows Piccolo's technique…" Cell released the attack, and Katas tried to leap out of the way, but Cell was faster than him. In trying to dodge, Katas manage to get most of his body clear of the piercing beam, but it shot right through his left leg, bringing him crashing back down to the ground. Trying to ignore the pain, he rolled to the side as Cell's foot came crashing down where his head had been. He pushed off the ground with his good leg, landing two solid punches that knocked Cell flying. With some effort, he focused his internal energies and regenerated the damaged tissue in his leg, allowing himself to stand again. All right… now where is he? He heard a hiss of a fast-moving object speeding through the air behind him, but before he could turn Cell was upon him, the whip-like tail curling around to Katas' front and stabbing at his chest. Katas ducked, causing Cell to stumble and nearly stab itself in the chest. It righted itself, but in its moment of hesitation Katas struck, another punch putting Cell down.
Cell dragged itself to its feet, a low growl coming from the back of its throat. "You're a tricky one… but your luck has to run out sooner or later. I'll drain your energy, just like all these humans… but how much more power can you offer me than those weaklings, I wonder?"
"Don't plan on finding out, creature!" A voice called, as Cell jumped away to avoid an energy blast. The smoke cleared to reveal Nail, both hands extended in the aftermath of his attack. He smiled. "So, I was right. It felt like a Namekian presence, but due to the distance I wasn't sure, so I came alone. I didn't want to risk everyone running into the androids… still, I have to wonder, who exactly are you?"
"Call me Katas," the larger Namekian replied. "I'm the fusion of Piccolo and Kami."
"Ah, so you rejoined! That explains it." Nail turned to face Cell, who was glaring at him. "Of course, that begs the next obvious question: who-or what -is this?"
"Calls itself Cell. It's another creation of Dr. Gero's-this one designed by his supercomputer in the future. It stole Break's time machine and came back here."
"Of course." Nail began to look wary as Cell advanced. "Nothing's ever simple, is it?"
"Your gallows humour is appreciated…" Cell hissed. "But your time is up!" It leapt at Nail, but Katas intercepted. Nail won't have a chance against this thing… He led with a high kick that crashed into Cell's block, shaking the ground beneath them. Cell countered with a quick swipe of its claws that raked strips of cloth off of Katas' shirt. He jumped away, hurling an energy ball to cover his retreat, but Cell knocked it aside without much difficulty. Nail ran at Cell from the side, trying to get in a sneak attack, but Cell noticed the attack coming without much trouble. It jumped over Nail's swinging fist, grabbed hold of his shoulders and plunged its tail into his back. Nail gasped as it began to pump energy out of his body. As he began to lose strength, he fell to his knees.
Seeing this, Katas acted quickly. His eyes flashed, two thin energy beams scything through Cell's tail, slicing it neatly in half. Cell snarled, spinning to face Katas as Nail dropped to the ground. Katas grinned. "No more stealing energy, Cell."
"You think so?" Cell replied, waving its cauterised tail-stump as if showing off. "Didn't I tell you? I have your DNA, Namekian. And that means-I have your ability to regenerate!" It grunted, and a new tail-end burst, dripping with gore, from the ruins of the old. Cell laughed softly. "How do you like that? Not that I needed it to defeat you…"
Damn! I'm not getting anywhere! Katas tried to think of a next move. Wait for more fighters to arrive? Who knew how long that would take.
"Haa!" Nail, using the last of his energy, was back on his feet and charging Cell again, but the bio-android vanished and reappeared on the other side of the town square. "Here's another technique I've inherited!" it shouted, forming a blue ball of energy between its hands. " Kamehame-HAA !" The beam shot from Cell's outstretched palms, smashing into Nail's unprotected form and launching him away. Katas flew over as he hit the ground, crouching next to his fellow Namek. "How bad is the damage?" he asked quickly.
Nail coughed up blood. "Doesn't look great." He was covered in scratches and burns. "You're not looking 100% yourself."
"I'm fine," Katas insisted, "but listen, there's not much time. Can you regenerate?"
"I've been trying…" Nail told him. "Managed to fix a couple of vital organs. But I used most of my energy throwing up a last-minute shield when that blast hit. Look, I haven't got long. It's drastic, but… there's a way one of us can make it out of this. You can beat that thing, maybe the androids too!"
"You don't mean-"
Nail held one hand up towards Katas. "Take my power."
"You want to fuse with me? You realise this isn't like Kami and Piccolo-we were never originally one being. You'd have to use me as a base, you'd cease to exist."
"I'm… dying anyway. I can't believe how quickly he beat me…" Nail glanced over to the side. "He's coming this way. Taking his time, showing off how he hasn't got anything to worry about, but… look. Together, we'd be far more than the sum of our parts. Trust me, the planet needs a defender with that kind of strength."
"I can't do it!" Katas protested. "There's evil in my heart-Piccolo was a testament to that. I try to do good, but the more power I possess, the greater the temptation to misuse it. Let's… use you as a base. You can take my power."
"No good. I'm too injured. Look at me, I'm a mess." Nail smiled. "Look, the fact that you even considered sacrificing yourself and letting me be the base is proof that, at heart, you're a noble being. You are fit to be this planet's guardian. Just have faith in yourself…" he raised a hand, and Katas took it.
"… All right. I won't forget you, Nail." A blue glow began to envelop the two of them.
"What's this?" Cell stopped his approach, examining the situation. "Oh, I see… Nail is just giving Katas what little ki he has left. Well, it still won't make him my equal." He decided to wait-if they had false hope, their defeat would be all the sweeter-and more energy to be drained was a good thing, of course.
Just as Nail prepared to transform his essence into pure energy and pour it into Katas, the other Namek grinned. "I'm sorry my second stay on this planet was so short… I wish I could've been around longer."
"What?" Nail gasped.
"With this energy, you should be able to heal yourself and still win the fight, no problem."
"What are you talking about?" He's reversing the fusion-giving his life for me! Nail realised. He tried to fight it, but Katas' spirit was stronger, and there wasn't anything Nail could to to stop him.
"You can defeat Cell-and with this act, I can finally rid the world of Piccolo. Good luck…"
"No-" The light grew to blinding intensity, and Cell stepped away involuntarily.
"What are they doing?!" In his timeline, no Nameks had ever fused together-this was entirely new to him.
The light receded, revealing Nail, lying alone on the ground. He could feel Katas' essence-containing both Piccolo and Kami-fading into his subconscious. "You… stubborn bastard! " Gritting his teeth, Nail forced rejuvenating energy throughout his entire body, knitting flesh back together, re-setting bones and smoothing over burns. He stood up slowly, turning to face Cell. Another quick burst of light, and his clothes were remade anew. Kami's symbol was branded onto the back of his jacket. He turned to face Cell, his eyes burning.
"Your power… what did you do? Where did the other one go?" Cell demanded. His response came in the form of a fist to the gut, driving him to his knees. Nail followed up with an uppercut that knocked Cell flat on his back. Cell sprang back up, charging Nail, but the newly-fused Namekian dodged its attacks with little effort, kicking it into the air.
Cell gasped for air, feeling its bruises throbbing as painful reminders of the sudden turnaround. "I won't forget this! I'll return, and you will die! You-the saiyans-the humans-all of you!"
"You're not going anywhere," Nail told it.
"So you say…" Cell raised both hands to its forehead, splaying out its eight fingers. " Solar Flare! " The sudden burst of light burned into Nail's eyes, blinding him. By the time he could see again, Cell was gone, its ki signature hidden. "Aagh!" I should have expected this!
Goku landed in the town, now almost reduced to rubble from the intensity of the battle. "Hey Nail, what's going on? I felt some huge powers-something a bit like Piccolo's, but not as evil, fighting, well… first it felt like it was fighting Piccolo himself… then me -and then Tien. What happened?"
Nail sighed. "Let's get back to the others. I'd rather not tell this twice."
"And we never even got to meet this Katas guy?" Krillin, back at Kame House, lamented. "Ah, that sucks." Plus, we're gonna have to rely on our friends over on new Namek for Dragon Balls now-Kami and Piccolo fusing would have got rid of them, from what Kami told us when we were training for that year under him…
"Well, he is a part of me now," Nail told him. "He was noble, despite his flaws, and we should remember his sacrifice."
"Hmm…" Chi-Chi was next to speak, sitting protectively next to Gohan (who was-grudgingly-doing his homework). "The androids are looking for Goku, right?"
"Seems that way," Master Roshi answered.
"So," she said, "if they're programmed with all this knowledge like you said, they'll know where we live. They'll head to Mount Paozu first, and since we're not there, they'll come to the next most likely place…"
"Here," Raditz finished. "We should move, and soon. Kame House won't be safe anymore."
Launch spoke up. "I know a place. I visited Tien there, after the last World Tournament we went to. He had a secluded home in the mountains."
"Yeah-that's our house," Chiaotzu said. "At least, it has been since Master Shen turned us out…"
"Then we should head there," Yamcha agreed. "We'll be safe for a while. But I guess we do need a plan-we can't run forever."
"Yeah… Hey, Nail." Goku looked over at the amalgamation of all their Namekian allies. "Do you think you could take on the androids with your new power?"
"Well, it's hard to say." Nail thought this over. "I mean, it's not like they have any ki to measure. But, and this isn't a boast, I'm definitely stronger than you Super Saiyans now. I can't promise I'll win-but to protect this world, it's worth a shot."
"All right. Do that if you want. But we'll have to wait for the androids to show themselves-we can't sense them, remember."
Nail smiled. "Simple enough. We've worked out they're coming to Kame House. The rest of you go and hide in the mountains-I'll stay here and wait for them. When you sense me powering up to maximum, you'll know the battle's begun."
"Right." Raditz nodded. "We'll keep trying to figure out a way to surpass Super Saiyan, and we'll join you if we do."
"All right." They stood up and began to head for the door. A smile crossed Goku's face. They had a plan. They had hope. Maybe-just maybe-they could come out of this on top.
Android 16 continued to scan incoming energy signatures on his inbuilt sensor array. "The two powers I was following have stopped fighting," he announced. "I must report that one of them grew significantly during the battle. It now equals your own, Seventeen."
"Equal to me? No way." Seveneen laughed quietly. "That isn't possible. I'm the ultimate fighting android."
"'Ultimate android'?" Eighteen shot back. "I'm right here, you know."
"Oh, you know as well as I do that Dr. Gero suppressed your power in comparison to mine," Seventeen retorted. "I think he was trying to make you less rebellious."
"Didn't go too well, did it?" They chuckled, recalling android 19's continued attempts to give them orders in their creator's name, and its subsequent fate at Eighteen's hands. 16 lapsed into silence, warning delivered.
"Don't worry, 16," Seventeen said, as the coast came into view, "it's probably just a sensor malfunction. There's no-one on this planet that can challenge us. No-one."
Chapter 28: Ascend
Nail was growing uneasy. The androids could arrive at any time, without warning-but he had to stay at Kame House and wait for them, as this would be the best chance he'd get to confront them. Would his new power be enough? He didn't know. Cell was also preying on his mind. The creature was on the move, he could sense that-more towns were being drained of life in a matter of hours. But not only might he miss the androids, by the time Nail would be able to get to the site of Cell's next attack, it would be gone again, masking its energy. What was its true purpose? To absorb everyone? He thought back to the moment he'd been pierced by that terrible stinger. The sensation of your very life force being ripped out of your body. He could only imagine how much more terrifying it would be to die that way. Cell would have to be stopped. But first, the androids.
Break, finished with her training routine for the moment, went over to Goku and Raditz. They'd been sitting opposite each other, in deep meditation on a hilltop, for nearly three days now. Despite the wind and the nearly Arctic temperatures around Tien and Chiaotzu's mountain home, the two saiyans didn't seem to be affected at all-presumably they were slowly burning small amounts of ki to keep themselves warm. "Hey, uh…" she didn't really want to disturb them, but she had to know. "How's it going?" Roused from their semi-conscious state, her father and uncle looked up. "There is a higher level," Raditz told her. "I can feel it, but it's so… distant."
"Right." Goku turned to face his niece from the future. "We're not prepared-physically or mentally-to take on this kind of challenge."
Raditz stood up, stretching and yawning. "What we need is time-but we just don't have that. A couple of weeks, maybe. We can't hide indefinitely… if the androids are anything like the ones in your time, they'll get bored and start random attacks on human settlements soon…"
"They will," Break agreed. "It's in their nature. Dr. Gero created them to be weapons, and that's exactly what they'll be."
"Hmm…" Goku lapsed into silent thought, then something seemed to come to mind and he sprang to his feet. "Time! That's it! It's like you said, Raditz, we need more time!"
"Well, what about it?" Raditz asked irritably.
"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber!"
"The, uh, the what now?"
Goku brightened up. "It's a special room in Kami's lookout, where you can train for a whole year in just a day!"
"That's possible?" Break wondered.
"Yeah!" Goku grinned. "I never considered it before-we've always had plenty of time to prepare, and you can only use it for two days in your life-but it could come in really handy right now."
"Let's not waste any time," Raditz decided. "Goku, Break, grab on." He focused his mind, searching for Kami's servant djinn's energy signature at Kami's lookout, Instant Transmission taking them straight to him.
…"And you're sure you haven't seen any signs of the heart virus?" Break was asking as they approached the door to the chamber, through the otherworldly architecture of Kami's lookout.
"Nope," Goku answered. "I've felt just fine."
"Weird… I guess all this time-travelling really altered history. Keep the medicine around, though-who knows when it could strike."
"Right. Well, the chamber only has enough food for two people to go the full year, so who's going to go in first?"
"Let Break go with me," Raditz suggested. "I know she's got a lot of potential. With a full year, there's no doubt we can unlock this higher level."
Break smiled. "Thanks… dad. I'll try not to disappoint you!"
"Don't worry. You'll do fine."
Goku nodded. "Sure, that sounds good. Go ahead, you two-and good luck." Raditz slowly opened the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and Break followed him in, waving goodbye to Goku. Earth's hero, after wandering aimlessly for a couple of minutes, realised the one thing he hadn't got enough of recently: sleep.
It was almost an hour before a noise awoke Goku from his nap. Two quiet feet touching down on the lookout. Curious, Goku stood up and walked out onto the lookout's exterior. A small figure in orange was striding towards him. "Gohan?"
His son nodded. "I'm here to train with you, dad!"
"Ah…" Goku hesitated. "You want to fight with us, don't you? Chi-Chi would kill me…"
"I'm not a baby anymore!" Gohan protested. "I'm turning ten in a few days, you know!"
"That's still pretty young. I was twelve when I started having adventures-I'm just worried you'll get hurt, son."
Gohan's temper snapped. "STOP PROTECTING ME!"
Goku flinched back. "… Uh?"
"It's always like this," the half-saiyan child growled. "You told me to stay back when the saiyans attacked, and only fight if I had to… everyone said I shouldn't go to Namek… you left me and ran off to fight Kuriza… you left me with mom when the androids came… I've had enough! You're not gonna leave me behind again!" His lip was quivering, and he sniffed to hold back the tears.
Goku stepped forwards, picking up his son and holding him close. "Hey. I'm sorry, Gohan… I just didn't want you getting hurt…"
"Dad…" Gohan looked up at his father hopefully. "Will you take me in the time training place with you? Please?"
"Um…" after that outburst, Goku didn't want to say 'no', but he'd hoped he'd get to train on his own or with Raditz.
"Please, Dad! I wanna become a Super Saiyan like you! I have to be able to protect my friends!"
Goku smiled. Gohan certainly had potential, and his heart was in the right place. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. "You've grown up far too fast, son… sure. As soon as Raditz and Break are done, we'll train together. Okay?"
Gohan beamed. "All right!"
"Woah." Break stared around her-the Hyperbolic Time Chamber consisted of a small building acting as living quarters, surrounded by an endless expanse of white, empty nothingness. "This place feels… weird. Like a waking dream."
"I know what you mean…" Raditz walked out into the emptiness. "Hmm… and out here, the air is thick, the temperature's risen a bit…" Break tried to follow him outside and promptly fell over. "… Oh, and the gravity is ten times Earth's," Raditz added by way of an explanation.
Break grunted, standing up shakily and throwing off her jacket as she felt the effects of the heat. "Thanks for not mentioning that a few seconds ago…"
"Oh, quit your whining. Let's begin."
"Begin?" Break asked. "What are we going to start with-" she was floored by a lightning-fast punch to the face.
"Your reflexes could use some improvement," Raditz commented, rubbing his aching knuckles. "Hard skull, though."
Early the next day…
The androids had ditched the car upon reaching the ocean, and were flying at a leisurely pace towards where their database said Kame House would be. "I still haven't gotten a change of clothes," Eighteen muttered.
"Well, it's not my fault you've got a short temper," Seventeen told her, smirking as he remembered the incident. "You can hardly take the clothes if you blow up the whole building, right?"
"Don't blame it on me!" she snapped. "That guy at the counter deserved it!"
"Deserved being spread over a half-mile blast radius? I doubt it." Seventeen grinned. "Still, it was pretty funny."
16 interrupted them, pointing to an object appearing on the horizon. "We are nearing Kame House. Exercise caution-it is possible that they are prepared for our arrival."
"Sure, sure," Seventeen said, waving 16's concerns off. "It doesn't matter. They're no match for us."
"But the powers I sensed shortly after our battle-"
"I told you, it's just a sensor malfunction. Lighten up-it's impossible that anyone on this planet has the strength to challenge us. Well, we're here. Sixteen?"
16 glanced around. "I only detect one energy signature inside. It is being suppressed, and I cannot determine its full magnitude. It could be any of them."
"I guess they were expecting us." Eighteen shrugged. "Well, we can beat on this one until they tell us where the others are hiding…" she trailed off as the door opened. Nail walked out, taking in the scene. "I can't sense your power, but you make a lot of noise," he said. He was carrying a glass of water, from which he periodically sipped through a straw. "Can I help you?"
Seventeen nodded. "You could say that. Tell us where Goku is."
"And if I don't?"
"I'll leave it to your imagination."
"Hmm." Nail appeared to genuinely consider this. "How about this. I'm not going to tell you anything. You, on the other hand, can leave right now, before I send you to that great big junkyard in the sky."
"Why, you…" Seventeen clenched his fists. "You think you can threaten us ?"
"Calm down, Seventeen!" Eighteen urged, putting a steadying hand on her brother's shoulder. "Getting mad won't help us at all."
Seventeen exhaled slowly. "Right. You're right. Sorry." He looked over at 16. "Hey, 16. He's being uncooperative. You want to loosen his tongue some?"
"No." 16 replied instantly, giving an automated, pre-determined response.
"No?"
"I am programmed only to fight Goku. If this fighter is not actively obstructing me, I will not attack him."
"Whatever you say," Seventeen replied. "You're so dull, 16. You should learn to have some fun once in a while." 16 declined to answer. "Fine." Seventeen looked up. "Hey, Namek guy!"
Nail, having grown bored of the androids' bickering and drifted into a daydream, looked up just in time to notice Seventeen's fist swinging for him. Reacting without thinking, he swung his arm up and caught the android's hand mid-swing. The glass of water formerly held in Nail's hand fell to the ground, shattering and spilling its contents on the sand. "You know," he said, "I wasn't finished with that."
Nail twisted, throwing Seventeen over his shoulder and into the ocean. Seconds later, the android burst back up to the surface, seething with rage. "That's it! I don't care anymore, you're dead!"
Nail gave a half-smile, and with a noise like distant thunder, he powered up to maximum, whipping up a small sandstorm around himself with his ki.
"This is one of the powers I sensed battling earlier!" 16 called out urgently. "Seventeen! Do not attempt to fight him! His power exceeds yours!"
"What did you say?!" Seventeen shouted. "I told you, that's impossible!" He rushed at Nail, who easily sidestepped his blow and kicked him away, knocking the android back at supersonic speeds, leaving a jet-stream of water behind him. Nail took off after his foe, 16 and Eighteen just behind.
I'll try and keep this away from Kame House… Nail decided. It's already been destroyed once, after all. He swooped down underwater, grabbed Seventeen by the back of his shirt and flung him over onto a small, grassy island nearby. Seventeen gasped, pushing off the ground and jumping to his feet. "This can't be happening!" He growled. "I'm the strongest in the universe!"
Nail laughed. "Hahahah! Is that so? Well, maybe the second strongest now."
"You… I'll…" Seventeen shook with anger. " I'll kill you !"
"Is that so?" Nail asked, jumping over and ducking under all of Seventeen's strikes as the dark-haired cyborg charged back into the fray. "You don't seem to be getting very far with that."
"You'll tire out eventually!" Seventeen snarled. "I won't! I'll wear you down and-" he was cut off by a chop to the throat that sent him reeling, choking as pain caused his neck muscles to spasm.
"You're far too overconfident." Nail raised an eyebrow. "Hey, tell me, have you ever fought anyone who could actually challenge you before? I'm guessing not, the way you're reacting."
"I'm coming, Seventeen!" the female android yelled, charging Nail from behind just as Seventeen recovered and kicked at him in front. Nail smacked Seventeen's leg away with his right elbow, knocking Eighteen's arm aside with his left forearm. Moving quickly, he launched a punch to each side, hitting them both in the stomach. They landed next to each other on the island, glaring up at Nail. "That was the same strike you used on Gohan and me a few days ago, Seventeen, by the way. If I'm honest, it's a bit predictable. Easy to guard against-unless you're entirely outclassed, of course."
"SHUT UP!" Eighteen shouted. "We're going to-" Nail waved his hand, and the island the androids were standing on exploded. They jumped up and away in opposite directions, hovering opposite from Nail.
"How did this happen?" Seventeen mumbled in disbelief. "I took him down in one hit three days ago. Hey!" He addressed Nail directly. "Were you hiding your power before?"
Nail shook his head. "I've improved."
"That quickly? You're lying!" He thrust his hands forwards, a volley of flickering energy bullets flying at Nail. A second stream of attacks appeared as Eighteen followed his example.
"You think so?" Nail crossed his arms, folding his body up as the blasts approached. "Then explain- hrrr -this!" He unfolded like a spring released, spreading his arms and legs and flinging out a rolling wall of ki in all directions. "YAAA!" The energy attacks were bounced back like raindrops on a windshield, flying off and dissipating in the air, or detonating in the sea. Eighteen gritted her teeth. "What's it take, huh?"
"More than you've got!" Nail replied, flexing his muscles. "Feel free to give up any time you like. I won't kill you."
"Go to hell!" she shouted back. "I guess you don't know us very well-our freedom means more to us than anything! We're not giving ourselves up to anybody!"
"Yet you're following Dr. Gero's plans…"
"We don't have a choice in that!" Seventeen told him. "It's in our programming. I'm telling you, you can't keep this up forever. We'll win in the end."
Nail sighed. "We'll see."
Seventeen raised his hands to either side of his head, charging up a yellow ball of energy in each. He threw them at Nail, who stood stoically staring into space as they flew at him. Eighteen flew around behind Nail, hoping to take advantage of the momentary distraction defending himself would give. But Nail wouldn't move-he hovered, unmoving, as the attack drew nearer.
"Eighteen-look out!" 16 warned as his sensors alerted him to the danger, but it was too late-she flew straight through Nail's vanishing afterimage, crashing head-first into Seventeen's attacks.
When the smoke cleared, Eighteen was hovering there, arms raised to protect her face, sleeves entirely burned away, scratches running up and down her forearms. "… Ow." Nail stood a few metres away, facing away from the androids, staring off into space.
"Okay, that does it!" Seventeen charged back up at Nail, his fist swinging through empty air. "Wha-" He'd been able to follow Nail's movements so far, even if he hadn't quite been fast enough to react to them. But this time, he'd seen nothing-Nail had been there, and then he was gone.
"Looking for me?" Nail asked, inches away, practically breathing down Seventeen's neck. He held up a small red object-he'd stolen Seventeen's scarf from around the android's shoulders without him even noticing. Nail waved it mockingly. "Oh, and your fashion sense is atrocious, if Bulma's frequent lectures are anything to go by…"
"Yaah!" Seventeen started wildly lashing out at Nail, none of his blows connecting. "Eighteen! A little help here!"
"Right!" Eighteen flew up to join the attack. "He can't dodge us both at once!" She began to furiously rain blows at Nail. "No, I think I can," the Namekian warrior decided, and proceeded to do just that.
"Stand-still!" Seventeen snarled.
"Okay, but you asked for it!" Nail stopped dodging, grabbing Eighteen by one arm and throwing her down into the sea. Seventeen kicked at his head, but he dodged again with the same ease, landing a solid punch to Seventeen's gut, kicking him into the air, appearing above him and elbowing him back down into the ocean.
The android duo slowly rose out of the water, gasping for breath. Nail floated sternly above them. "Have you figured it out yet? You're fighting a losing battle."
"16! You want to lend a hand, huh?" Seventeen shouted up to their unmoving comrade.
16 shook his head. "I told you, I am programmed only to fight Goku. And this warrior will not kill you. He has said as much, and I predict an overwhelming probability that he is telling the truth. My advice is to surrender until an opportunity to locate Goku presents itself."
"Not happening!" Seventeen growled, grinding his teeth.
"Well, what choice do we have?" Eighteen asked. "I'm open to suggestions, but let's not just keep attacking blindly. He's barely broken a sweat."
"You should listen to her," Nail suggested. "You're not getting anywhere. I-huh?" He tensed up, sensing an unnatural, evil ki. Cell! What's he doing here? He turned, to see the bug-like bio-android already approaching. 16 was also staring in that direction, watching Cell's arrival with detached, almost scientific interest.
Finally noticing the new arrival, Seventeen and Eighteen looked behind them seeing Cell flying towards them. "And who's this?" Seventeen wondered.
"I don't know, and frankly I don't care." Eighteen looked up at 16. "He's not anything to worry about… is he?"
16 looked visibly worried. "This is the other power I sensed before. He has grown stronger…"
"I know." Nail clenched his fists. "He's drained energy from thousands of people-fighting him won't be so easy this time…"
Cell cam to a halt to the group's right. "Well, isn't this a nice little gathering."
"Who the hell are you?" Seventeen demanded.
"Shut up!" Nail snapped, then turned to the new foe. "What do you want here, Cell?"
"I never told you my ultimate goal, did I?" Cell asked. "Dr. Gero made me with a very specific aim in mind-to achieve my perfect form."
"Well, I'd say you're far from perfect…" Nail shrugged. "No offence, but the bug-wings are kind of redundant, given that you can fly with your ki… and I can't help noticing, your mouth looks exactly like your-"
"Enough!" Cell snarled. "To attain my perfect form, I must absorb androids 17 and 18 into my being. Kindly remove yourself from my path-destroying you will be a waste of time."
"A bit bold, don't you think?" Nail asked. "Telling me your plan."
"It doesn't matter," Cell hissed. "There's nothing you can do stop it!" It vanished, reappearing in front of Nail, who blocked its first punch. They pushed against each other, struggling to break the lock and gain the upper hand.
"Incredible…" 16 muttered. "Their power levels are both equal to mine…"
Nail ducked to the left as Cell swung past him, and they spun around to face each other. "You've grown strong, Cell," Nail noted. "But it won't make a difference. I can't let you achieve this 'perfect' form. I imagine it would make you much more powerful… and I'm not one of those people who'll just sit around while you power up just for the challenge, so trust me, you're not going any further."
"You underestimate me!" Cell growled.
"Hey!" Seventeen called up to the battling pair. "Don't we get a say in this?"
"No!" Nail and Cell shouted simultaneously, before launching into a high-speed exchange of blows. "But…" Nail decided as he dodged and blocked with expert precision, "you might want to get out of here. If he does beat me somehow, you'll be next, and trust me, you're no match for this guy."
"Run away? Not a chance," Seventeen protested.
"It might be a good idea…" Eighteen said, indicating the battle. "You know they're above our level."
"Think about it…" Seventeen tapped his head. "Those two are about equal, right? So whoever wins is going to be tired-their power will drop massively! If we work together, we can take them out, no problem. And then the only two real threats to us will be gone. You want me to run away from that chance?"
"I… I guess not." Eighteen looked hesitant. "I just hope you're right…"
"Trust me."
Nail finally landed a blow, but Cell's natural chitin armour plating absorbed it, and the creature seized him by the throat, sinking its needle-sharp tail into his arm. There was a scraping, sucking sound as Nail's energy was pumped out of him. But he'd felt it before, and he was prepared for the pain-twisting, he prepared himself for far greater agony and ripped his own arm off at the shoulder. Purple blood sprayed in a wide arc, and he had to bite his lip to stop himself screaming. With a further grunt, he forced energy into his shoulder, regenerating the severed limb. Cell hissed again, throwing away the empty husk of Nail's former arm. "Quite impressive, Nail. But I drained a lot of your power, and that little stunt just cost you even more. Now, I have the upper hand."
"Heh heh… so sure?" Nail grinned. "Ever since you stabbed me the first time we fought, I've been working on a trick that'll come in handy if I ever find myself with a substantial amount of my energy inside my opponent's body."
"Wha-" Cell never got to finish his sentence-Nail detonated his stolen ki at the moment it entered Cell's main body, completely obliterating its midsection. Cell's legs and tail fell away, into the ocean, as its upper body hung in the air, twitching and growling in pain. "Cunning…" With surprisingly little effort, Cell regenerated itself, within seconds becoming whole again. "… But ultimately futile."
"I wouldn't say that," Nail said. "As you said-regenerating takes a lot of energy. And I should think that half of your body is more draining than one arm…"
"Hmph!" Cell braced itself. "Well, victory is determined by intelligence just as much as power. And I have the combined knowledge and brainpower of the entire Brief family, every Namekian ever to visit the Earth, and the greatest fighting tacticians among the planet's defenders…" He dashed at Nail, who raised his arms in preparation to block. Cell made a familiar movement, and recognising the Solar Flare technique, Nail flinched, closing his eyes. "I won't fall for the same trick twice!"
"No, you'll fall for a whole new one this time!" It was merely a feint, and Cell placed both hands on Nail's stomach in the moment the Namek warrior had his eyes closed, charging crackling purple energy around his fingers. " Galick Gun !"
Nail just had time to think, Vegeta's technique- before the blast hurled him away in a blaze of light, boiling the water around him as he landed. Several seconds passed, and nothing surfaced. Cell took a second to enjoy his victory, before focusing on the androids. "Well, now. That went rather well. Who's going to help me achieve perfection first, hmm?"
Break sat down, panting-her training was really taking everything she had. She'd found a limit, unfortunately-an upper plateau, which she hadn't been able to push her power past. She knew the other Super Saiyans had found the same thing when preparing themselves for the androids' attack. Raditz had, after cleaning up her form and technique, begun to meditate, telling her to go and train on her own while he searched for the next level, and to come back when she'd reached the upper limit of Super Saiyan. Now she had, and she wearily trudged over to him. The temperature in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber fluctuated more, the further away from the living quarters you went-right now it was biting cold. At least the gravity hadn't taken long to get used to. She approached her father, who was standing up straight with his eyes closed.
"I've reached it," she said. "The limit. I can't push my power any higher." She took a deep breath. "Have you found the next level yet?"
Raditz was silent for several seconds, and then nodded slowly.
Opening his eyes, he powered up to Super Saiyan. Then, maintaining perfect focus, and entirely without speaking, he pulled on another, greater reserve of power. Golden light flooded the surrounding area, and Break shielded her eyes, peering over her raised hands when it cleared at her transformed father. "Incredible…" she breathed.
Chapter 29: Humanity
Huh. It turns out the third Kai chapter has been done for a couple of weeks, but I kept forgetting about it. Well, it's at the end of this chapter. Enjoy.
The androids Seventeen and Eighteen faced off against Cell, the hissing bio-android calculating the perfect moment to strike. "All right, Eighteen," the male android said quietly, "he's got to be tired after taking on the Namek. If we work together, we can-" Cell disappeared, moving far faster than they could follow as it charged at them. So much for that theory! Eighteen thought, bracing herself for the coming attack.
There was a flash of green, and two fast-moving blurs condensed into solid figures, android 16's fist planted firmly in Cell's face. "I will not permit you to absorb Seventeen and Eighteen," he said calmly. "Come no closer or I will be forced to terminate you."
"Bah. Out of my way, you inferior model!" Cell shrieked. They locked hands, pushing against each other. Two loud cracks sounded in unison-Cell's foot smashed into 16's jaw as 16's kick drove into Cell's gut. Knocked back by the force of their blows, they separated, preparing to renew their attack.
"16's keeping up with this Cell creature?" Seventeen wondered aloud. "But it was moving so fast… could 16 be a more powerful model than us?"
Eighteen nodded. "And he's so obedient to his programming, too… why do you think Dr. Gero needed us?"
"I don't know… let's just be grateful for 16."
16 was knocked back again by an unexpected punch that followed a low feint, skidding to a halt in mid-air in front of Seventeen and Eighteen. "Leave now!" he commanded. "I cannot guarantee that I will prevail against Cell. Our power levels are about equal-it isn't weakened nearly as much as I predicted."
"Hey…" Eighteen smiled. "Thanks for protecting us."
"The Namekian warrior promised not to kill you-I saw no reason to intervene," 16 responded. "But I cannot allow Cell to harm you. Please, leave this place immediately."
"Run away?" Seventeen growled. "I'm not-"
"Yes you are." Eighteen grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. "Come on, Seventeen. We're not helping 16 by hanging around."
Seventeen hesitated. "I… guess you're right. We're out of our league here…"
Eighteen sighed with relief. "Thanks for seeing sense. I was worried you wouldn't be able to get past your pride-"
"Hey, Seventeen!" Cell shouted. "What's this? Running away, letting the big guy fight your battles for you?"
Seventeen's eyes narrowed. "Rrr… you…" He brushed Eighteen off of him. "What did you say?!"
"Some ultimate fighting machine you turned out to be!" Cell taunted, goading Seventeen into charging recklessly at it.
"Seventeen, no!" 16 warned, but it was too late. Seventeen was lashing out madly at Cell, who was laughing and catching every blow. 16 and Eighteen rushed Cell from opposite directions in an attempt to divert its attention, but Cell saw them coming, grabbing hold of Seventeen's neck and pulling him with it as it dodged out of the way, the pair of attacking androids colliding in mid-air. Cell blasted them at close range with a high-powered bolt of energy, then turned its attention back to Seventeen, who was struggling in a futile attempt to escape Cell's grip.
Cell's tail swung around, the needle-like point expanding into a wide funnel. It swooped down over Seventeen's head and shoulders, enveloping him. He was trying frantically to push his way out, but it was no use-he was rapidly being sucked inside. Cell laughed deeply as Seventeen slipped entirely into its tail, vanishing into Cell's body. The tail closed up again, and Cell's entire form seemed to shudder and shake. 16 and Eighteen stared in horror, as did three other observers.
Zarbon, Krillin and Yamcha came to a halt, seeing the androids and Cell. "What just happened?" Krillin asked.
"I'm… not sure…" Zarbon answered. "Cell just… sucked up Android 17 with his tail…" he frowned. "I don't see Nail anywhere."
"You think Cell absorbed him too?" Yamcha wondered, then noticed something. "No, wait… I can feel his energy-it's faint, but he's underwater somewhere."
Zarbon nodded. "I'll get him." He dived down into the water.
"So what does that leave us to do?" Yamcha asked.
"I don't know…" Krillin said. "Hey, wait! Cell's changing…"
Cell's body began to glow with light, which then faded and appeared again, coming on in pulses that slowly increased in brightness and frequency. "Hyaaa!" It shrieked, either from the pain or the effort of its transformation. There was a low rumble, and in sporadic bursts Cell began to grow, its already massive height increasing even further. "Hrrr… Raaah… aaagh!" Its hands grew more human-like, and its toes fused into a boot-like shape. It grew further, becoming monstrously tall, bulking out as well-no longer the spindly, almost frail-looking insect creature. Bio-electricity sparked up and down Cell's body. He was now a more humanoid figure overall, with splashes of orange to his carapace, heavier armoured 'plates' and an almost human face, although he still possessed no nose. His former head orb and spikes had shifted back to become a smooth crown-like configuration resting on top of his head. Finally, his wings had completely gone. "Heh heh heh… that's better." Cell looked around, seeing the terrified gazes he was receiving. "Now, Eighteen, you've seen how pointless it is to resist… let's not go through all of that again. Don't you want to be a part of perfection?"
Eighteen spat. "If that's perfection, count me out." Seventeen… you idiot, you walked right into that one… now what can we do?
16 raised his guard. "I will not let you absorb Eighteen, Cell!"
"Just like you didn't let me absorb Seventeen?"
Ignoring this, 16 leapt at Cell, swinging a fist for his face. Cell caught 16's arm, grinning. "Come now, 16, you must be able to detect my power… it's far greater than yours now."
"That is irrelevant!" 16 replied. "You must not succeed!"
"Oh, really?" Cell had an amusing idea. "Well, how about this? You know if you fight me, you'll almost certainly be destroyed. If that happens, you'll never carry out your mission. Come on-your primary drive. Surely it takes priority, hmm? Go on, 16. Go kill Goku."
"I…" 16 hesitated. "N-No. NO!" He grasped around Cell's shoulders in a tight hold. "You… c-cannot succeed…" I must… protect Eighteen! I've already failed one of my 'family'…
He's overriding his programming! Cell realised. So selfless and strong-willed… No wonder Gero was afraid to use him. He narrowed his eyes. "Well, congratulations. You've got me. Now, before I tear you into pieces, would you care to inform me what, exactly, you plan on doing?"
16 smiled. "Detonating the bomb inside of me."
"W-What?!" Cell struggled. "Get off me, you fool! You can't be suicidal!"
"I can be whatever I choose, Cell. This is the end!" 16 began to vibrate, a slight hum emitting from his body. Cell pushed and pulled, and began to loosen 16's grip slightly, but he knew he only had seconds-not enough time to free himself. Thinking quickly, Cell flung a hand out to the side, accessing his schematics of Dr. Gero's androids and his database of the Earth's fighters' techniques simultaneously. " Kienzan !" he growled, the bright energy disc springing to life inches away from his fingertips. He swung his arm around, the Kienzan attack slicing right through 16. There was a noise of grinding, tearing metal, and 16's legs and most of his torso fell away. They fell into the ocean with a barely-audible splash-but the explosion that followed was deafening.
When the noise, and the sea, had died down, Cell spoke again. "Quite a clever move… unless, of course, your opponent has detailed blueprints in their memory of exactly where your self-destruct device is, all the better to cut it out with…" Slowly, Cell pried 16's fingers off his shoulders, holding the remains of the noble android up by its neck. "And now, to take out the trash."
" gzzt… you won't… kkk… win, Cell…" 16 was making an effort to speak, his voice coming out harsh and grating.
"What's this?"
"Someone… kzzz… will stop you…"
Cell frowned. "Bah! Like who?" He reached up with his other hand, crushing 16's head like tissue paper. "And one more down." He tossed the android's remains into the ocean, looking over at Eighteen. "Well? Didn't he tell you to run?"
Eighteen was frozen with fear, staring wide-eyed at the horror before her. Seventeen… 16… how did this happen so quickly? Just a short while ago, everything was perfect… then… She recovered from her daze just in time to see Cell rushing at her. She flinched, trying to prepare herself for battle, knowing she couldn't win. There was a splash from below, and Zarbon, powering up from concealment in an instant, rocketed up out of the water, landing a solid uppercut to Cell's jaw. "Go!" he shouted. "Now!"
Eighteen turned and flew away as fast as she could. She heard an impact from behind her, and Zarbon flew past her, crashing to the ground on the shore-the battle had slowly moved back towards the coast. There was a flicker in the air, and Cell appeared in front of her, smiling cruelly, his tail curling and twisting.
"Okay, I'm going in!" Krillin decided. "Yamcha, cover me!"
"Right!" Yamcha nodded. "Hurry!"
"You don't have to tell me!" Krillin raced over to Eighteen and Cell, activating the Kaioken up to times ten. Cell's tail was snaking towards the trembling Eighteen. I'm not gonna make it! "Kaioken-times twenty !" His speed doubled instantly, and he pulled Eighteen out of the way, Cell overbalancing from the missed swing, snarling as he turned to face them.
"Get off me!" Eighteen snapped, pushing Krillin away. "I don't need your help!"
"Well, you weren't exactly doing a great job of dodging on your own!" He retorted.
"I-" she paused. "Aren't you afraid?"
"I guess…" he shrugged. "But I've been facing these kinds of threats all my life. I've actually died, twice. I guess I know what I'm getting into…"
"No, I really don't think you do," Cell said, swiping at them as they jumped back away from him. "Get out of the way-and Eighteen, stay right where you are. I'll get to you."
"Not a chance!" Krillin shouted, stepping up to Cell, but the bio-android just backhanded him away, knocking him out with the single blow.
Cell turned back to Eighteen. "And now for the main event-"
" Kamehameha! " Cell lurched sideways as he was hit in the side by the energy beam, quickly recovering and swivelling to face Yamcha, who hovered with his hands outstretched in front of him, a nervous grin on his face. "Yeah, how'd you like that?" he taunted.
"A little annoying, actually," Cell replied. "I wouldn't go as far as to say actually painful, but points for effort."
Oh, man… he isn't even shaken… Yamcha grimaced. I'll have to do better if I want to buy time for her to escape. How can I increase my power? Combining King Kai's technique with my own was a neat idea, but like the normal Wolf Fang Fist, it only works for close-range strikes… if I want to make my Kamehameha more powerful, I'd need the full Kaioken…
Far away, King Kai shook his head. "No, Yamcha! Don't try and pull off a Kaioken! You've never been officially taught! You'll just damage your own body!"
I've got no choice! Yamcha looked up at Cell. "All right. KAIO… KEN! Rrrrgh!" The red aura that appeared was unstable and flickering, blinking on and off and shooting off violent sparks, but it was there. " Ka… Me… Ha… Me… HA! " Yamcha fired the attack again, and Cell raised a hand to catch it. The force of the impact surprised him, pushing him back. Eighteen saw the opportunity and finally fled, soaring back towards the mainland.
"No, you don't-" Cell began, but Yamcha increased the power of his attack even further, forcing Cell to put both hands into him block, and focus on defending himself.
"Even with the Kaioken…" Goku was saying, "Yamcha still couldn't hold off Cell… he's putting his life force into the attack, too!"
"What?" Gohan jumped up and ran over to his father. "We have to go and help him!"
"No, Gohan. We'd just be getting ourselves killed. Yamcha… has to do what he has to do. We can't save him now-and hopefully, he's buying enough time for the remaining android to escape." King Kai had filled them in on current events via telepathic relay.
"But dad!" Gohan protested. "Can't you feel his energy? It's fading already!"
"I know… he hasn't got proper knowledge of the Kaioken, and it's tearing him apart from the inside…"
Gohan sniffed. "He's going to die, isn't he?" Goku was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"YAAAH!" Yamcha continued to pour all of his energy out through his hands.
"How long can you keep this up?!" Cell roared in frustration, knowing his prey was getting further away with every second.
"As long as I have to!"
"You can't keep attacking at this level forever! You're weak. You'll fall."
This just strengthened Yamcha's will further. Yeah, like always. That's what I'm here for, is it? To get beaten up until the real tough guys come and save the day? Not this time! Tien… you wouldn't back down… you could do this… so I can, too! I can-and I will! "You're wrong, Cell!" Waves of force buffeted Cell, driving him further back. "I will! Not! Fail!" Yamcha screamed.
Eighteen flew over the beach, searching for a hiding place. I need something out of the way, somewhere I can really stay concealed… she saw a small figure lying prone on the coast-Krillin. If he lay there in plain sight, Cell would no doubt kill him when he came this way looking for her. No time! Leave him. Why should I help him, anyway? A thought carved its way through her mind, overwhelming everything else. A hurried, snatched conversation. "I don't need your help!" "Aren't you afraid?" "I know what I'm getting into…" Thinking to herself the whole time that she was making a mistake, she flew down and picked up the small warrior. He sighed in his sleep, bringing a small smile to her face, but her expression quickly hardened and she took off again. Clouds began to gather, and the sky darkened.
Goku was shaking with anger, but managed to keep control of himself. "That's enough, Yamcha… stop! You'll kill yourself! That should be plenty of time for-" he stopped talking as he heard a click-the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was opening. Goku and Gohan turned to see Raditz and Break emerge.
"Hey, guys!" Goku waved cheerily. Raditz returned his wave, and Break nodded in acknowledgement. She was a couple of inches taller than the last time he'd seen her, and her hair had grown-it was almost as long as her father's now. Her muscles were more developed now, too-she had previously had the physique of a runner, a survivor-now, she was a fighter. Both of them wore torn and shredded clothes, and after a few too many energy blasts unsuccessfully dodged, Break had completely discarded her Capsule Corp. jacket. Raditz was tying on his red headband as he walked, a sign to those who knew that he was fully prepared for battle. "What's happening?" he asked brusquely.
"Oh! You'd better hurry," Goku told them. "Cell's absorbed one of the androids, and become even more powerful! Yamcha's holding him off, but he could find the other android any time now!"
Raditz's brow furrowed. "Yamcha? We don't have much time, then. Hmm-ah. Found them. Break?"
"Right!" His daughter put a hand on his shoulder as he brought two fingers to his forehead.
"Wait!" Goku asked, excitement edging into his voice. "Tell me one thing. Did you find the next level?"
Raditz grinned, nodded, and then they were gone.
"AAH!" Yamcha could feel himself slipping. Cell was pushing back against his attack. Just a few seconds more! As long as he could. Who knew how long it would take for the android to escape? Just… a few more… a few… He had nothing left. Blackness crept up from the edges of his vision to envelop him.
There was a gentle splash as Yamcha's corpse, completely drained of all its energy, hit the water. The clouds, still gathering, were thick and black overhead. Cell heaved a sigh of relief, waiting several seconds to catch his breath before speaking. "Fool. He threw his life away… hmm? Damn him, he succeeded! She's gone!" He fumed with anger. "I had my shot at perfection, and now I'll have to start over again! Well… at least that tiresome battle's over."
"Wrong, Cell! It hasn't even started!"
"What-" a foot caught Cell across the face, throwing him back. He righted himself, to see Raditz hovering opposite him, Break just behind him. "Raditz? And Break, too… Where have you been hiding?"
"We're not here to answer your questions," Raditz said. "We're here to destroy you, Cell."
"Destroy me? Hah!" Cell laughed. "My power was already greater than you Super Saiyans' in my first, imperfect form-and now I've absorbed android 17, I'm even stronger! What are you going to do?"
"Well, if you're even stronger than a Super Saiyan, we'll just have to go one better," Raditz said nonchalantly.
"One better?" Cell gulped. I don't like the sound of that…
Raditz nodded. "Break? Care to demonstrate?"
"All right." Break stood in a wide, internally-focused stance, breathing deeply. "Are you ready, Cell?" She easily turned Super Saiyan, lighting up the darkened sky as the first raindrops began to fall.
"Ready? Heh heh…" Cell's confidence was beginning to return. What could they do? Cell was the perfect being-the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero's genius! Cell and Break smiled at each other, each assured of their coming victory. "Am I ready?" Cell continued. "My abilities have increased beyond your comprehension-and my perfection is only halfway complete! Clearly you don't understand why you cannot win."
"Maybe the old me couldn't win…" Break said quietly. "I couldn't win anything. Do you know, until I came to the past and destroyed Cooler and Cold, I'd never won a single battle in my life. Who was there to fight? The androids. But you didn't fight the androids. You ran away. Well-I'm done running!" Her aura blazed gold around her, vapourising the rain before it touched her. "Haaah…" The aura continued to grow, exploding outwards and sending gale-force winds crashing into Raditz and Cell-who watched with increasing concern. "Haaa….Raaah… Rrrgh…" she grunted as she reached into her soul and dragged the power to the surface, kicking and screaming. Her aura continued to intensify. Super Saiyan they'd got used to. It wasn't easy, but they could access it just about on command. But this-this was still hard every time. "Nnh… hhhh… RAAAH!" Veins stood out on her forehead and neck. Her Super Saiyan hair began to wave back and forth in the unnatural wind her transformation was generating. Streaks of light shot out of her body. The sea formed itself into a whirlpool beneath her, the water being pushed away by the unearthly force.
"Woah… her energy's still rising…" Goku marvelled. "It's incredible. Maybe they can win!"
"Hey, dad…" Gohan tugged on his arm. "Just in case… let's start training as soon as possible, okay?"
"Oh! Right." Goku nodded. "Let's go, Gohan. Even if they do win, it can't hurt to train for just one 'day', right?" He grinned, following Gohan towards the door.
Break's power continued to grow. Cell's smile slowly faded as he realised the scale of this new threat. Is there really… a level beyond Super Saiyan? "Hng…" she growled as power coursed through her body. "HUAAAH!" Her muscles began to grow, starting with her arms and upper body and flowing down to her legs, until her athletic figure had become almost Amazonian. "Arrr… hnng… rrrr…" Cell gaped in awe as another flash of light heralded her transformation's completion. "HYAAA!"
The huge power level shot through Krillin's mind like a bolt of electricity, and he awoke with a start, sitting up hurriedly. "Wha… where am I?"
"Not far from where you fell," came the reply. Krillin looked up, seeing Eighteen sitting opposite him, poking the small fire she'd made with a stick. They were in a cave near the coast, sheltering from the building storm outside, and the titanic battle developing over the shore. "Ah!" Krillin yelped, then instantly felt embarrassed as he realised she wasn't going to hurt him. "Oh… you saved me?"
She nodded. "You were right in the line of fire."
"Why?"
She sighed, standing up and walking over to look out of the cave. "I don't want to talk about it."
Break exhaled slowly. In addition to her heavily-muscled physique, her power had grown massively. She gritted her teeth as her ki fluctuated-this form was always difficult to keep control of. Not just the effort of maintaining so much power-for her in particular, keeping her emotions in check was even harder than as a regular Super Saiyan.
"Wha… what have you done?!" Cell demanded. "What is this?" He recoiled in terror as a smile spread across Break's face. Her mind raged, and every word was an effort. "I-have-ascended!"
"That's right." Raditz indicated his transformed daughter. "I achieved this form first, then she followed my lead. She's had less time to practice it, so her power isn't quite up to mine… so, just a warning. Should you somehow prevail, another, even stronger warrior awaits you…"
Cell wouldn't have believed it, had he not been standing right in front of it. "How… how did you get so powerful in such a short time? You couldn't have even been a match for Seventeen or Eighteen just a few days ago!"
Break began to give out a low growl. "No… more… talk. Fight me!"
"I-"
"NOW!" Break charged, her fist smashing into Cell's stomach, doubling him over. She followed up with a vicious elbow that staggered Cell back. "Heh. Ultimate… being, huh? Not… so much."
"Grr… you'll pay for-" Cell was cut off by a kick to the back. "Damn it-" Break punched him in the head. "Stop interrupting-" she knocked him away with both feet. "Aaargh!"
Raditz was laughing hysterically. "Hahahah! This is great! No dramatic, vengeful speeches for you, Cell!" Cell made an angry swipe at Raditz, but stopped short as Break grabbed hold of his tail in both hands. Swinging him around her head, she hurled him inland.
Cell skidded along the hard ground, throwing up his own canyon as he went. Finally managing to stand, he looked up just as Break slammed into him from above, hammering a string of short-ranged punches into his midsection.
Raditz came to a rest on a rock a few metres away, watching the battle unfold. Amazing… she has more power than I realised… I might not even get a chance to fight! Ah well, there'll still be plenty of strong fighters to test my new powers on-especially if Goku reaches this level…
Break stopped to wipe sweat from her forehead-practically a mocking gesture-and in the brief moment she left herself open, Cell kicked her away, jumping to his feet. Break straightened up, grinning. "Weak."
"Hrrr…" Cell knew he wouldn't win in a straight fight. Even in only a few seconds, her strength and speed had far surpassed his. He'd have to use his intelligence to his advantage-something which, he knew, she lacked.
Krillin smiled. "You're not really as bad as you're hyped up to be, are you?"
Eighteen looked around, surprised. "What?"
"Well, you seem to just want to have fun. You don't really want to kill anyone except Goku-and even then, that's only because it was programmed into you." He sat back against the cave wall. "Hardly the nightmarish machines of death I'd been expecting."
There was a long pause, and then Eighteen sighed, and sat back down opposite Krillin. "I was human once, actually."
"Huh?"
"Seventeen and I were just ordinary teenagers… Dr. Gero kidnapped us and turned us into what we are. I mean, he made us so powerful, but took away our lives… I don't know if I'm grateful or angry…"
"Oh," Krillin said solemnly. "I'm… sorry."
"Don't be. It's nothing to do with you."
"Hmm. Well, if you were human, do you at least have a name?" he asked. "Besides 'android number 18', that is."
"I must have," she said, "but Gero wiped our memories. I don't know who I was… what kind of person, where I was from… anything about myself, really."
"Oh. Wow. Huh."
"Don't worry," she said with a half-smile, "I don't mind 'Eighteen'. It's distinctive, at least… so how about you?"
"Eh?" This took Krillin by surprise.
"Well, you've heard my story, now you tell me yours." She indicated the cave entrance, the distant thunder and the constant barrage of rain. "While we're weathering the storm-literally, and your friends' battle with Cell-why don't you tell me your story?"
"Why, uh, why do you want to know? Uh." Krillin asked.
"Because I'm bored!" she exclaimed, pacing up and down. "It's better than sitting around, thinking about whether I'll ever see my brother again!"
"Okay… okay…" Krillin closed his eyes, recalling his childhood. "It's kind of a long story…"
Eighteen leaned against the wall. "I've got time."
"All right…" Krillin nodded. "Well, I was raised in the Oorin temple. That's where I got these," he said, indicating the six censer burn marks on his forehead-two vertical rows of three dots. "It was an initiation ritual."
"That must have hurt."
"I guess… I don't really remember it. The other monks used to bully me…"
"Why?"
"'Cause we were supposed to be fighting monks, but I was small and weak… it got so bad I ran away. I decided I'd become a great fighter, and return and beat them all!"
"And did you?"
He grinned. "Actually, yeah! I found the great martial arts teacher Master Roshi-he's taught me everything I know about fighting (barring a few techniques I've come up with myself…). Anyway, it was while I was training under Roshi that I first met a certain boy named Goku…"
"Right." Eighteen mentally checked her files. "You're good friends."
Krillin raised an eyebrow. "How much do you know?"
She shrugged. "Not that much. Gero didn't think it was important we knew every little detail about you-only what was important. Otherwise I wouldn't be asking." She paused. "Go on." She had claimed she only wanted to hear it because she was bored, but she was sounding increasingly interested to Krillin.
"Well, let me see." He tilted his head to the side, dredging up the memories. "Then we went to the World Martial Arts Tournament-my first of three, so far. I was up against one of the Oorin temple monks in the preliminaries-and it turned out Roshi's training paid off! I beat the guy in one hit!"
"Ah, justice."
"Is that why you killed 19?"
She grinned. "You catch on quick… uh, did you win the tournament?"
"Nah." Krillin shrugged. "I've never been the strongest of our fighters. This old guy called Jackie Chun beat me-though I'm convinced to this day he was just Roshi trying to steal our victory. He beat Goku, too."
"Did you ever win a tournament?"
Krillin shook his head. "I always made it through the preliminaries, but never got further than the semi-finals. You've probably got data on our fights after that-'cause by the second tournament we entered, Goku had already destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, so Gero's revenge, and blah blah blah, here we are."
She nodded. "Yes. I know about the rest. Although not your trip to space…"
"Well, I was dead for that part, don't ask me…" he shrugged. "I did get to train with King Kai, though. That was… an experience."
She yawned, then looked back at him. "You've had an amazing life, do you know that?"
"I have? I guess so. I mean, not many people have seen what I have. And I know most of the others…"
"Right." She smiled. "It must feel pretty special."
"Says the superhuman android…"
Cell beckoned Break to attack. "Come at me!" he shouted. "I won't lose this time!"
"Unlikely," Break growled, dashing along the ground towards Cell, her fist swinging through thin air as his afterimage faded.
She got too overconfident… Raditz noted. If she'd been paying attention, she would have noticed that. Cell stood behind Break, his hands forming a triangle. " Tri-Beam !" He yelled, the blast crashing into Break's back at close range, driving her face-first into the ground. There was a short pause, and she pulled herself up. "Hhh… Huh… Hhh…"
Cell grinned. "What's this? Crying?" It didn't take long for her to prove him wrong.
"Hhh… Heh… Heh heh heh… HAH!" she bellowed, wiping the dirt out of her face and brushing her golden hair back. "I hope… that wasn't… your best!"
"Wha-no! Impossible!" Cell hissed. "You can't be that strong!"
"No?" She closed the distance seemingly instantly, smashing Cell into the air with her knee and hammering him back into the ground with both fists. "Not even… trying hard!"
"Why, you… if I had my perfect form right now, you'd be nothing! Powerless before my supreme might!" He trembled with rage. "How can I have come so close to perfection, only to fail now?"
Break appeared in front of Cell again, looking curious. "Say that… again."
"If…" Cell hesitated, trying to turn the situation to his advantage. "If I could just attain my perfect form-my power would be unparalleled in the entire universe! Why couldn't you have come an hour later? Victory would have been mine!"
"How?" she demanded. "Become perfect? How?"
"W-well… I need to absorb android 18…"
"Go."
"Eh?"
"Absorb… android. I'll fight… perfect form. I'm the strongest."
Cell grinned. "We'll see."
"GO!" she shouted, and Cell flew up into the air to search for Eighteen.
Raditz jumped over to Break. "Hold on a second! You're not going to let him-"
"I am."
He scowled. "No. No, we're not doing that. We're stopping him now. Letting him get stronger-it's ridiculous! He's already amazingly powerful!"
"But isn't that… exciting?" Break grinned, panting like a hunting beast. "Want to see… perfect Cell? His most powerful?"
Raditz sighed. "A little. Yes. The prospect of a challenge… it's tantalising. But look, we can't let him do this. It's just too risky." Launch's face flashed up in his mind. "There are too many people who'll die if he wins. We have to finish this now…"
Break shook her head. "Not your choice." Raditz tried to raise his guard, but wasn't fast enough and her backhand knocked him flying away. "Cell!" she shouted. "Hurry up!"
"Yes, all right…" Cell muttered. Where has Eighteen hidden herself? One way to find out, I guess…
"EIGHTEEN!" The cry came, shaking Krillin and Eighteen into readiness. "COME OUT!" Cell bellowed. "YOUR TIME HAS COME! JOIN ME IN PERFECTION!"
"Not a chance," Eighteen muttered, clenching one fist. "I'm not going the same way Seventeen did. Cell can't sense me-he can search all day without finding us in here."
"I hope you're right…" Krillin murmured. I'll try and keep my own power level down as low as possible…
"BEING DIFFICULT, I SEE!" Cell continued. "WELL, YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO COME OUT OF HIDING BEFORE I BLAST EVERYTHING AROUND US TO ATOMS!"
"He wouldn't…" Eighteen whispered.
"He would," Krillin told her. "He's charging up a lot of energy… hey." He smiled. "I'll go and distract Cell. You can get away-if you can get to cover, he'll never find you."
"You'd do that… for me?" she asked. "Risk your life for mine, again? Just this morning we were enemies…"
"Things change pretty quick, huh?" Krillin grinned. "Between you and me, you're all right. I don't think there's any reason for us to fight, if you stay out of trouble."
"THIRTY SECONDS, ANDROID!" came Cell's roar.
"Heh." Eighteen walked over to stand next to Krillin, looking down at him. "You're a nice guy, Krillin." She leaned down slowly, and hesitantly, not entirely sure why, gave him a small kiss on the forehead. "But you don't have to be the hero every time."
"Uh?" Was all Krillin had time to say. Eighteen waved a hand in the air with superhuman speed, and the invisible wave of force knocked the bald fighter out cold. Let me save you this time, she thought.
"TEN SECONDS!"
"All right!" Flying up out of the cave, she approached Cell. "Here I am! Satisfied?"
"Ah, there we go…" Cell gave an evil grin. "Now, why would you come out without so much as a struggle… ah… someone in there, perhaps?" she froze. "Someone you don't want hurt?" Cell taunted. Beads of sweat ran down Eighteen's forehead. Cell could still kill him! I really didn't think this through… "Don't…"
Raditz rose to his feet, transforming to Super Saiyan almost as an afterthought. "You're overconfident! I think I need to teach you a lesson in humility. HYAAAH!" He transformed again, to the higher, ascended state, much faster and more controlled than Break's earlier ascension. "But that can wait. First, Cell-hah!" He took off, making straight for Cell, but Break appeared in his path.
"Be patient… heh heh…" she chuckled. "Not worth fighting… yet."
"Break." Raditz's hands formed into fists. "I'm only going to tell you this once. Get out of my way. I won't hesitate to-" she swung at him, and he caught her fist. "Fine. We'll do it your way." Twisting with the momentum of her attack, he brought his elbow around, smacking it up into her chin and knocking her back. "I know I'm trying to beat you, but that was just embarrassing!" he jumped back and away as she swiped at him again, still dazed from his strike. "Didn't I teach you anything in the Chamber?"
"How about this?" Cell suggested. "A deal. I won't destroy this place-so wherever your friend's hiding, they'll live-but you must surrender yourself to me. Become part of my perfect form." Cell's tail twisted over his head, funnelling out into its full-absorption mode. "What do you say?"
Eighteen was torn. Programming. Obey. Goku's allies are my enemies. Let him die. Save myself. I could make it, with the right distraction… the same scene, all of those humans, one after the other, putting their lives on the line for her, kept replaying in her mind. "Is that why you killed 19?" You know what? Programming can go to hell. "Between you and me, you're all right." Whatever has been done to me, I'm still a human being. I have a heart. And I can occasionally do stupid things for the sake of other people. She looked up, trying to keep her voice level. "Go ahead, Cell. Absorb me. Just don't… don't kill him."
"Him? Well, that narrows it down to about half the planet's population," Cell joked. "Not that I care. Don't worry. I don't plan on killing anyone who isn't in the way. I'm above draining random weaklings now. Well… let's get on with it."
Raditz pressed forwards with a high kick, but Break ducked under it, slamming both fists into his stomach. He gasped in pain, but recovered quickly, spinning and bringing his forearm down on the back of her neck, doubling her over. He prepared to deliver another blow, but looked up and did a double take. "Damn it, Break! It's too late! He's absorbing Eighteen!" He glared at his battle-hungry daughter. "What have you done?"
Chapter 30: Perfect
Fun fact (okay, just a fact): Just to change things up, I was going to have Yamcha and Eighteen have a scene together instead of her and Krillin. But Yamcha was dead at the time, due to me only thinking of Yamcha's sacrifice at the last minute.
Lightning split the sky as rain poured down onto the battlefield. Cell was laughing maniacally as Eighteen disappeared into his absorption-ready tail, while two saiyans looked on-Raditz with horror, Break with anticipation.
A bright green glow erupted from Cell, completely obscuring his form. Jagged, electric bolts of power shot up and down as he began the metamorphosis to his long-awaited perfect form.
"Break!" Raditz growled. "You've put all our lives in danger out of your bloodthirsty need to fight!" Just like I noted in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber… it seems her rage on becoming a Super Saiyan gets worse the higher she ascends… of all the women on this planet, it had to be the one whose DNA would cause this, didn't it?
Break just grinned. "Come on, Cell. Don't… disappoint me."
The light began to flicker, and flashes of Cell's body could be glimpsed inside. Then, the glow expanded suddenly, growing to unbearable intensity until it could be seen from space, the massive levels of energy scrambling satellites' instruments and bringing down communications networks all over the planet.
And with that, it faded. A humanoid figure, shorter than Cell has previously stood, was standing in a crater in the ground. The light finally vanished, revealing Cell's final form.
He was a little shorter than his first form now, still larger than any of the others there. He was, as before, mainly green (though now a lighter shade) with black touches, but the orange was gone, and his features were much more refined, with a human-like face. He had retained the crown-like structure on his head, and his wings had returned. Everything about him was smoother, less monstrous and more artificial. There were small blue streaks down the sides of his otherwise light-grey face. He stood still for several seconds, silent but for the storm, and then smiled. When he spoke, it was with the refinement of an educated being for whom tone and inflection are nothing less than an art form to be mastered along with everything else.
"I… am… perfect."
"Hey!" Break flew down to Cell, loudly announcing her presence and breaking the silence. "This… is perfection?"
Cell slowly turned his head to Break. "That is correct."
"HAH!" She indicated to herself. "Remember… who let you. You know… what I want."
"Break-" Raditz landed behind her.
"No!" She held a hand out. "Mine!"
He shrugged. Fine. She can have it her way. When she's down, I'll step in-I can probably fight better without that maniac in the way.
Break begin to advance towards Cell, who turned to face her. "Fight me," she demanded.
"All right. Have it your way." Cell raised his arms in a peculiar defensive stance, arms fully outstretched, one hand resting on top of the other. "You should be honoured-you will be the first to sample my new power. Care to help me warm up?"
"Not playing… your games, Cell!" She shouted, launching herself at the completed bio-android. So, this is her maximum! Raditz thought. Just as I thought, she's been taking it easy so far… her power may exceed mine!
"Very well." Cell spun ninety degrees right as Break swung past him, angrily twisting and kicking at Cell. He caught her leg in both hands, throwing her away head over heels. "That's quite some power you've got there," Cell told her. "For an inferior life form, that is."
Raditz frowned. Well, there's no doubt he's got Cooler's cells in him…
Break charged back towards Cell, enraged. "Die!" But her fist swung through empty air. She balanced herself, her head sweeping back and forth. Where'd he go? She froze as a slow clap rang out around them. Slowly, she turned to see Cell standing several feet behind her, sarcastically applauding. "Yes, yes. Very well done. Now, I've tested my speed. How about my strength?" He vanished, appearing right in front of Break and landing a straight punch to her stomach before she could even move to defend herself. There was a noise like a mountain being split in two, and Break folded up and dropped to the ground, hissing in pain. "Satisfactory," Cell decided.
Break pulled herself up, gasping for air. "You… rrr… kill you…" she threw an uppercut that crashed into Cell's jaw from below, but he didn't flinch.
"And endurance is satisfactory as well," Cell said. "Thank you very much for helping me assess my perfect form. I'll dispose of you now…"
"How…?" she choked, unable to believe that Cell had taken her attack without making any move to defend himself, yet emerged completely unharmed. Her eyes narrowed. "Don't care… how strong… I'll win!"
"Win?" Cell chuckled. "You poor, deluded thing. This isn't a fight . You've helped me warm up, so I've got no further use for you. Good-bye." Faster than she could follow, he kicked at her head, sending her flying away. A distant dust cloud was thrown up as she landed, and then silence fell again, for the few seconds it took Cell to feel for her energy. "Ah… it seems she's still alive," he noted with disappointment. "I suppose I should have put more power into that attack. Ah, well." He smiled. "What will you do now, Raditz?"
"I'm trying, dad!" Gohan panted, collapsing after another day's unsuccessful attempt to transform into a Super Saiyan. "I can't do it!"
"I know you can, Gohan." Goku sat down next to his son. "You have the power inside you, I'm sure of it. Don't worry, it's not your fault."
"No… it isn't." Gohan sat up, a strange look in his eyes. "It's yours!"
"Huh?"
"You're always keeping me back, trying to protect me! I'm tired of it! You made me stay home when you went to fight Vegeta! Then I could only go to Namek when I had Bulma, Tien and Yamcha to babysit me!"
"Uh, calm down, Gohan…" Goku recoiled from his enraged son. This is a bit sudden… he was calm a minute ago…
"No!" He fumed. "It's why I can't transform! It's why I've never been any use when I do fight! I got beaten up by those saiyans, by Frieza and Cooler-when Kuriza attacked Earth, you let me stay in bed while you almost died! Then you didn't let me fight the androids-I had to stay home while Mom watched me do homework!"
"Hey, you're just a kid…"
"Well, what were you doing when you were a kid? Having adventures! If you want me to be a real fighter, you've got to stop holding me back!"
"Gohan… I'm sorry, I just…"
"No! You don't 'just' anything! I'm not there when you need me, or if I am, I can never help! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" The beast heard the call, and awoke. Golden light burst out of Gohan's body, lifting up his hair and throwing Goku back. He breathed out. It worked…
Raditz was standing behind Cell, shaking with anger. Drops of rain slid down his face, the bleak weather seeming to reflect his thoughts. Break really was even more powerful than me… but Cell just brushed her off without any effort! I guess I've got to get tactical. I died in that future timeline earlier on, and even before that, I didn't have much reason to train for any particular threat… that means he won't know anything I've developed over the last three years. Four, if you count the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
"I know I'm outmatched, Cell… but giving up's never really been my way. That girl was blinded by anger, but she's got a good heart. She's already seen one world devastated by Dr. Gero's creations-I won't let it happen again!" He somersaulted over Cell, spinning and throwing a barrage of red energy bullets from one hand. "Blitz Cannon!" Cell jumped into the air to avoid the attack-he wasn't afraid of being injured, just that the dust it threw up might get his perfect form dirty-but Raditz had predicted he'd dodge like that, and threw a second, more concentrated attack up at him. I was never really one for originality-so thanks for this one, Jeice… "Crusher Ball!" The flickering red sphere arced up towards Cell, but Dr. Gero's ultimate creation simply stuck out one hand, catching it without any real effort. Almost gently, he closed his hand, crushing it between his fingers. "A clever ploy indeed. Futile, of course, but clever." He floated back down to the ground, landing with graceful poise.
"That… didn't just happen, did it?" Raditz asked himself. "He's too much! How am I supposed to beat something like that?!"
"I'm feeling generous today," Cell said. "Achieving my perfect form has put me in a good mood. I'll give you one more chance to attack me before I retaliate-how does that sound?"
"Hyaah!" Raditz ran straight at Cell, throwing a straight punch that Cell caught easily.
"Is that all? You saw me fighting your daughter, you must have known a strike like that wouldn't work." Raditz swung his other hand, and Cell caught that too. "Pitiful…"
"You think so?" Raditz grinned, grabbing Cell by the wrists. "Let me show you something I discovered in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. At first I thought it was an even higher form above Super Saiyan…" He gritted his teeth, lines of energy sparking up and down his body. "Haaah… Hrrr…" His muscles bulged out even more than before, and it seemed to be taking all of his concentration just to keep his power under control. His hair became elongated, sticking out in all directions like a mad, twisting bush. The pupils vanished from his eyes as he continued to grow more heavily-muscled, then reappeared as he finished. "Of course… rrr!… This isn't really a 'form', as such. I've just bulked up my muscles. The Ascended Super Saiyan form is really the limit of how far you can get just by simple 'powering up'. Past that, you just add brute strength at the expense of speed… which is why I made sure I had a hold of you before powering up!" Cell's eyes widened as Raditz squeezed the "perfect being"'s wrists between his massive fists. "Aargh!" Cell yelped, knowing if this kept up his arms would eventually break. He pushed off of the ground, kicking Raditz in the head with both feet, and as the Super Saiyan let go and fell back, Cell backflipped away and landed upright. He twitched to the side as Raditz's fist slammed into the ground next to him, throwing out cracks through the Earth for a mile around.
And now I need speed! Raditz 'relaxed' back into his Ascended Super Saiyan form, kicking up at Cell, who ducked under the attack, elbowing Raditz in the side and bringing him down. Raditz rolled away, trying to ignore the pain.
"Heh heh heh… Well, it seems you do have some fight in you…" Cell said. "Not only do you know how to make yourself stronger, you know when it's a bad idea to have excess muscles slowing you down! Impressive! Of course, it's useless when even your maximum, 'un-weighted' speed is nothing compared to mine… but I thank you for being a small challenge, however briefly. If it's any consolation, when you bulked up, you were stronger than me, at least in terms of physical, 'brute strength' as you put it…"
"But what good does it do if I can't catch you?" Raditz muttered. "And adding strength just makes me even slower! I've lost!"
"You lost before the battle begun, Raditz," Cell said. "Did you ever truly believe you stood a chance against the perfect being? Still… you were surprisingly powerful. How did you accomplish that so quickly?"
"We just did," Raditz spat. "None of your business."
"Very well… could you do it again?"
"What?"
"I'll put it in words of one syllable," Cell joked, "then maybe you'll understand. Could. You. Get. Strong. Er. A. Gain?"
"Yes! But we'd need time! I mean, you're probably going to blow up the planet or something…" he paused. "Say, what is your purpose? Now you've become 'perfect'."
"Well, I'm still going to kill Goku, as Dr. Gero intended," Cell said. "But after that… I'm not sure. I'll decide soon. However, I do know one thing: this world-this universe-belongs to me now."
"Somebody will stop you," Raditz growled.
"Yes, 16 said that too." Cell shrugged. "I really don't know who this 'somebody' is you're all talking about. I suppose it's in the nature of good-hearted people to be optimistic."
"Good-hearted? Me?" Break had said something similar. Raditz began to wonder… had he truly changed? Even Cell considered him a good person… No, that couldn't be right. Cell only thought that because Raditz opposed him. Fighting for good once or twice didn't erase half a lifetime spent fighting for evil.
"Sorry about that, Dad," Gohan said. He was sitting next to his father, powered down to normal, breathing heavily. "I just realised that I wasn't getting anywhere by trying to 'power up'-I had to get angry at something, I had to need to transform."
"So…" Goku looked down at him. "You made yourself angry at me?"
Gohan nodded. "And myself. For not being able to compete in these battles. I didn't really mean that… well, I did, but not to that extent."
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk like an adult already?"
Gohan grinned. "Mom says I'm 'very eloquent'." He giggled, and suddenly seemed a child again.
"Hah!" Goku rubbed his growling stomach. "That reminds me-we should grab lunch soon."
"What? How does that remind you of food?"
"Well, everything does…" They got up and walked back towards the living area. "But you thought of a way to turn Super Saiyan all by yourself? See, I knew you had potential!"
"But back to the point!" Cell announced. "What if I gave you time? Could you get a lot stronger?"
"If you… gave us time?" Raditz considered this. "Well… I guess with a few weeks, we could-"
"Excellent." Cell's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't want to leave my perfect form untested-and you, here on Earth, might be some of the universe's strongest warriors. You have one week. If you don't face me then, I'll destroy this planet. You'll be able to find me-I won't bother concealing my power. Now excuse me."
"Excuse you… where are you going?"
"Well, to my chosen battlefield, of course," Cell replied. "But first, I'm going to steal your Dragon Radar."
"Wait, what-" In an instant, Cell was gone, leaving Raditz to stand in the rain, contemplating his defeat. He spun around, trying to follow Cell's energy signal. He's moving so fast! If he's capable of that kind of speed, he must have been holding a whole lot of power in reserve when he fought me! I could use Instant Transmission to follow him, but what would I do when I caught him? He powered back down to his normal state, walking over to Break's unconscious body. I can feel Nail, Zarbon and Krillin around here, too. I guess I'll need to make several trips to get everybody back-to the lookout, I guess. Still… stealing the Dragon Radar? I don't like the sound of that.
Goku stood silently, reaching within himself for the hidden power he knew was there. Opposite him, Gohan sat cross-legged, meditating-a skill he'd learned from Goku (who had learned it himself while training with Kami) and had taken to doing more and more often in the Chamber-currently trying to maintain the ideal state of 'inner peace' as a Super Saiyan. It was just an idea that had occurred to him one day, and finding it suitably challenging, he'd applied himself to it wholeheartedly.
"Gohan." Goku called, and Gohan looked up. "I've found it!" He shouted with focused effort, transforming first to Super Saiyan, then going a step further to the Ascended form Raditz and Break had discovered. "All right! Take a look at this power! Hmm…" He tilted his head one way, then the other. "I could go even further, but I think I'd just be slowing myself down for the sake of more strength… this is about as far as I can power up without losing speed."
Gohan smiled. "You figured that out just now?"
"I've been thinking about this for a while now. To be honest, I could've transformed hours ago-but I wanted to make sure I had it just right."
"Okay…" Gohan frowned as Goku began excitedly testing his new power, throwing punches, kicks and energy blasts that detonated with satisfying boom 's, laughing with delight the whole time. Gohan looked up, then slowly shook his head. "I don't know, Dad."
Goku stopped. "What do you mean?"
"I mean-you're really powerful, but I'm not sure if that's enough."
"I… still don't follow…"
"Well, it always uses up a lot of energy to transform-and now, you're having to transform twice. That's quite a lot of wasted power…"
"Well, I don't know how we get around that. I mean, without transforming we don't have enough power to fight Cell… to fight… to, uh…" Goku scratched his head. "Gohan… how long have you been a Super Saiyan now?"
"Huh?" Gohan blinked. "I'm a… oh yeah, I am. Uh… a few hours, I guess. I lost track of time meditating…"
"And how long could you stay transformed when you first unlocked Super Saiyan?"
"Not very long. Less than an hour, I think." Gohan looked curious. "What is it, dad?"
"The problem you pointed out? Wasting energy-plus this powering-up limit I'm running into… I think you've just solved it, Gohan."
"Oh!" Gohan stood up, running over to his father. "We need to practice staying as Super Saiyans for as long as possible, right?"
"That's it! We can make it more natural-less effort. We won't waste as much energy when we transform." Goku patted his son on the head. "Well done. It would have taken me a while to figure that out on my own-I'd have just been stuck with Ascended Super Saiyan's limit. At some point, you've got to think beyond just powering up, I guess." He looked down at his heavily-muscled transformed body. "Okay." He powered down to his regular Super Saiyan state. "Let's get started, Gohan. Train as normal-but stay transformed as long as you can. Got it?"
"Right!"
"And he just took off, faster than anything I've ever seen," Raditz was saying. He'd taken Nail, Zarbon and Krillin to (formerly) Kami's lookout, before teleporting back to Kame House and bringing the others as well. Now, assembled on the lookout, they had just finished listening to Raditz's account of the battle with Cell-although Nail and Krillin had told the parts before he arrived.
"So we've failed…" Roshi said gravely. "Cell has achieved his perfect form… you can't beat him, and you can't power up any more either… the situation just keeps getting worse."
"Wait! He's coming this way!" Krillin jumped to his feet, tensing himself. "You don't think he's coming… up here, do you?"
"No… he's stopped." Break frowned. "Right underneath us… what's he doing? He said he'd choose his own battleground… but that'd mean…"
Raditz nodded. "Korin Tower-or at least the surrounding area. I'll go and see what's going on. Stay here and wait for me."
"What if something happens to you?" Launch protested. "Let me or Break go with you!" She'd become very attached to the girl after finding out she was her daughter.
"What are you going to do? If it comes to a fight, we've already lost. I'm hoping to avoid confrontation… he did say he'd give us a week."
Raditz appeared a few metres from Cell with Instant Transmission, causing Cell to open his eyes, looking slightly bored. "I was wondering if one of you would come along to check on me… I do hope you're not looking for a rematch already."
"Don't worry, I'm not stupid."
"I'd disagree."
Raditz ignored this. "Why here?" He indicated the tall, seemingly-impossible architecture of Korin Tower, that stretched up to the sky, towards the lookout.
"I suppose it's fitting." Cell smiled. "So close to home, as it were. This is where Goku became a true fighter… it's where he rose to greatness. And it's where he'll fall. With the rest of you."
"What did you do with the Dragon Radar?"
Cell laughed softly. "Well, stealing it was child's play. With enough speed, the weaklings of this planet won't even notice your passing. And all the fighters had left Capsule Corporation unguarded, conveniently enough. Anyway." He indicated the surrounding area. "After destroying the radar, I stole one of the Dragon Balls. They're inert now, of course, since Kami fused himself with Piccolo and Nail-and since Nail's a warrior-type Namekian, he can't create Dragon Balls. It took me quite a while to find the thing, inactive as it was, but I managed-and why shouldn't I? Bulma found one entirely by accident in her basement-but I brought it here and buried it several miles from here. So, even if you find some way to revitalise the Dragon Balls, it won't do you any good. It takes more than a week to build a Dragon Radar, if my information is correct, and you can't find the ball without it. I don't want some troublesome wish stealing away my victory."
"So, I guess we can't bring Tien or Yamcha back until we defeat you…" Raditz realised.
"Defeat me? Go ahead and try. In a week's time, of course. Go on and train-however it is you increased your strength last time, do it again! I'll be waiting."
Raditz frowned and vanished.
It was the next day by the time the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opened. Goku and Gohan emerged-smiling, orange gi's ripped and torn (Goku had discarded his overshirt, leaving the blue one underneath), and at the moment, Super Saiyans. But they seemed different somehow.
"Hey!" Chiaotzu pointed at the emerging pair. "Gohan's a Super Saiyan!"
"Yes, I expected that… hold on." Raditz peered at the pair. "What's this? Your energy feels… calm. But you're Super Saiyans. What am I missing?" He noted also that their eyes were a gentler shade of blue, and their hair was less rigid and a lighter colour. In addition, the usual glowing golden aura was absent.
"Well-" Gohan began to explain, but Chi-Chi tackle-hugged him to the ground and started fussing over his hair, forcing Goku to take over. "Well," he explained, "you can thank Gohan-he gave me the idea. Transforming uses a lot of energy-and just ascending like you did has a limit."
"Yes, I found that too." Break nodded. "My father didn't quite reach it, but I did. I didn't think it was a problem, though-I felt so powerful, I could have sworn we were invincible. I guess that fuelled my overconfidence. I…" she turned to walk away. "I'm sorry, guys. It's my fault. I let him win."
"Don't talk like that!" Raditz stepped in front of her. "You weren't in control of your emotions. What happened-it's in the past. Let it go, all right?"
"You'd do well follow your own advice," she shot back. "You still won't admit you're a good person now!"
"That's because I'm not," he growled. "A moment of folly causing us to lose a battle is one thing. What I've done is completely different!"
"You know what, never mind." She held up a hand to try and end the argument. "I don't have the energy to keep arguing about this. Goku, continue."
"Okay…" Goku looked from one to the other, shrugging and putting it out of his mind. "So we practiced staying as Super Saiyans as long as possible-making the transformation more efficient. In effect, it sort of raised our power base-so we start out higher. It's sort of hard to explain… but it broke right through that limit you got stuck on."
Raditz snorted. "A higher power base, you say? Well, forgive me for saying this, but your power doesn't feel that high. And it's not like you can suppress your power while transformed… I mean, transforming to increase your power is kind of the opposite of reducing it to hide…"
"Hehe!" Goku grinned. "That's the point, Raditz! Super Saiyan is now just as easy as our normal form now! So yeah… we can suppress it. Want to see some of our real power?"
Break gulped. "I'm not sure if I do…"
Raditz nodded, stern-faced. "Show me."
Goku looked serious for a second. "Raditz. Move every non-fighter off the lookout. This is going to get intense."
"Raditz! We need to talk…" Launch put a hand on his shoulder. He sighed.
"We will. I promise. But I have to see this, okay?"
"I understand. I know how important it is to you…" she said, "… to be up there with the strongest." Raditz teleported the non-combatants away, and shortly returned. Gohan stood back as Goku took a deep breath. In front of him, watching intently, stood Raditz, Break, Nail, Zarbon, Krillin and Kuriza.
"All right!" Goku said, exhaling slowly. "I'll show you about half of my power! Haaaa-AAAAAH!" He screamed, as a golden Super Saiyan aura burst into life around him, power exploding from his body and shooting out from it. Krillin was swept straight off the lookout, as Zarbon clung to the edge by his fingernails. Kuriza hurriedly transformed into his final form, digging his fingers into the floor to keep himself from being thrown away. Raditz and Break both transformed to Super Saiyans almost as a reflex, using their enormous ki to anchor themselves to the lookout. "What?" Raditz hissed. "His power… no way!"
Roshi-standing on the beach of Kame House with the other non-combatants-flinched as if struck, then turned in the direction of the lookout. "Is that really… Goku? I didn't even know that kind of power was possible…"
"HAAAAAH!" Cracks spread out from Goku's feet, spidering throughout the entire lookout's floor. Mr. Popo, the servant genie who attended the place, was currently cowering in a corner inside the main building, believing the lookout to be under attack-nobody remembered to tell him what had gone on until several days later.
"That's… enough!" Raditz shouted through the enormous roar of energy. "You'll destroy everything! Goku!"
Goku stopped screaming, and his power died down. "Okay… how was that?"
"That was incredible…" Break said as she and her father powered down to normal. "That can't be only half your power?!"
"Yup!" Goku walked over to Raditz as the others clambered back up and made their way to them. "What do you think?"
"Even half of your power is greater than my maximum…" Raditz smiled. "Good for you, Goku. You've come a long way, little brother. In fact, you're even stronger than the power Cell put out when he fought us."
Gohan spoke up. "That's a funny way of saying it… you don't think it was his full potential?"
"Not even close." Raditz looked grim. "I'd say what we sensed before was just a fraction of what he's capable of! Still… if that was only half your power, who knows?" As he spoke, the world seemed to begin to shake. "What the-"
"It's Cell!" Zarbon exclaimed.
"Yeah, you're right," Krillin said, nodding. "He's powering up too… he must have felt Goku…"
"He took it as a challenge," Goku said grimly, "and this is his answer…" They continued to observe with their mind's eyes, struck silent with fear as Cell's energy, far below them, continued to climb to unbelievable heights. "No way!" Kuriza cried, as Cell's power passed what they'd previously felt from Goku, and kept on climbing (Gohan had taught Kuriza how to sense energy, when requested). "I don't like this!"
Finally, it built to a crescendo, and abruptly vanished-Cell hid his power even quicker than he'd revealed it.
"That… was insane!" Goku gasped. "That was about as high as me at full power-and we have no way of knowing whether he was still holding anything back or not! His real power could be twice that for all we know!"
"It is troubling…" Raditz nodded. "Come on. We've got a week-let's get back to the others and plan."
"That simple, huh?" Krillin muttered. "I'm telling you-we're doomed…"
"Ever the optimist, huh?"
Chapter 31: Legendary
"Okay. We've got seven days until the end of the world." Goku was speaking to the entire group, assembled outside Kame House. "I'm pretty sure Cell's got us all outmatched. I mean, it's not impossible that we'll win, but I'll be honest, it's looking unlikely."
"We should use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber again," Raditz suggested. "We can improve very quickly in there."
"Well, that's a good idea," Goku replied, "but I don't think Gohan and I can really benefit anymore by torturing ourselves for another year. It's going to provide diminishing returns-I'm pretty sure this is the full power of Super Saiyan."
"All right…" Raditz shrugged. "If you say so. But Break and I should go in for a second day, to see if we can get up to your level. And I imagine the others will want a chance."
"That's right," Krillin said. "I'm up for it!"
Break sat up straighter. "Okay, so that's sorted. And the rest of us, while we're not in the chamber?"
"This may surprise you, but we should just take it easy," Goku told them. "I mean, seven days isn't enough time to worry about training in normal time. Let's just try to relax, and enjoy what time we've got left. And Gohan, we should try and stay as Super Saiyans the whole time-except for when we're asleep, of course-to try and get as used to the form as possible."
"Well, I suppose that's all right," Chi-Chi said, smiling, "it's not like that hair's going to cause a fuss-he isn't going to school for a while anyway." She laughed despite herself. "You know, it's funny-it would take the end of the world for you to finally take a break and spend time with your family!"
"Haha!" Goku grinned. "I guess so. So, have I missed anything?"
"The Dragon Balls," Nail pointed out. "With Kami gone, they're useless. We could get a new guardian from New Namek?"
"No, not yet." Goku shook his head. "Even if they can recreate Earth's set, Cell still has one, and we've got no Dragon Radar."
Bulma raised her hand to draw attention to herself. "I'll work on it, but I think Cell's right-it'll take longer than a week to build. It's really complicated to build from scratch, for such a small device."
"In that case, don't bother. If we lose, it won't matter-and if we win, you'll have all the time in the world."
"All right then…" she leaned back in her chair. "You can't stop me from working completely though, you know. If you can retrieve some parts from those androids that got destroyed, I'll see if I can analyse them and find a way to weaken Cell, or just plain shut him down."
"You could do that?" Goku's face lit up.
"Won't know until I try!"
"I think that's everything." Goku clapped his hands. "So… who's first in the Chamber?"
"Let me," Break said, standing up. "I need to get over my anger when I transform. It's cost us too much already. I'll go in alone this time."
"Not like that, you don't!" Launch strode across the room, standing in front of Break while holding the warrior's younger self in her arms. Her blonde, aggressive personality tended to give her a very strong, if a little domineering, mothering instinct. "Look at you! Before you spend another year training, you need a change of clothes and a haircut, at the very least."
"How about this?" Bulma fished in her pockets, eventually finding a capsule containing the outfit she'd worn to Namek. Retrieving it, she held it up. "Knew I'd forgotten to take it out of my pockets. It's pretty practical-what do you think?"
"That's great, thanks." Break took it and folded it over her arm, to change into when inside the Chamber. "Oh, and don't worry about my hair-it's starting to look like Dad's. I like that."
"Are you sure about this?" Launch asked. "A year on your own?"
"I need to do this, okay?" In an instant, she was gone, soaring away through the sky.
"Raditz…" Launch, having given baby Break to Chi-Chi to babysit, walked over to the saiyan fighter, who was staring idly out to sea.
"Hmm? Oh. Hey, Launch. You wanted to talk?"
She nodded. "In private. I don't mind where."
"All right…" This sounds serious… He took her by the arm, spiriting them away with Instant Transmission. They appeared on a barren plain, with mountains visible in the distance. "This is where I fought Piccolo when I first arrived on this planet," he explained. "Is… something the matter? Are you all right I'm sorry, I'm not very good with all this, uh, sensitive stuff."
"You do just fine," she said, hugging him. "But it's about what you and Break were talking about."
"Oh… You heard?"
"Uh-huh." She took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not the 'nice' me right now, so I'll say it plain: you're wrong about yourself, Raditz. You're a good person." He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "No, I know, I know, don't start about how many people you've killed. Okay, we know. You were a bad person. You were an awful person. But you were never entirely evil, were you?"
"What, you think I had redeeming qualities back then?"
"Compared to Vegeta? Frieza? Yes."
"You've never met them. You don't know what you're talking about-"
"I know enough!" she snapped, rounding on him. "Stop being so self-pitying and move on! You can't change the past! What you've done, that's happened! But this life you've got now-you, personally, have saved the lives of billions of people. Three times now, if you include the Namekians, and I do."
"That's nothing compared to how many I-"
"Shut! Up!" She commanded, and he did. "How about this? You became the Super Saiyan. Not a Super Saiyan. The Super Saiyan. The first for thousands of years. How did you do that? Righteous anger! You were upset that your brother died! You couldn't have achieved all that without a good cause!"
"Vegeta's a Super Saiyan, I wouldn't call that righteous-" Yet again, he didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Do I look… like I give a crap… what Vegeta did?!"
"I… guess not…"
"Listen." She stepped closer, pointing her finger right in his face. "If you were so bad, you wouldn't even care about all those people you killed! The fact that you go on and on about it is proof that you've changed! Sure, you might still have urges to kill now and then, but you resist them, don't you?"
"I… hadn't really thought about it like that…" He was beginning to come around to her point of view, but his hesitation annoyed her.
"Aargh! You're infuriating!" She unslung a pistol from her waistband and emptied it into his face in annoyance. It didn't hurt him, of course, but it was a great stress reliever for her.
For the first time in the conversation, he smiled. "I love it when you do that."
"Shoot you?"
"Yeah. Well, get violent in general. You know, saiyan women were found attractive largely because of a propensity for violence, and fierce independence. Sound familiar?"
She grinned. "That explains a lot. But… the other me?"
"I guess…" he scratched the back of his head. "I guess saiyans aren't perfect. Maybe there's room for gentler feeling. I mean, I live here, right? I don't know… There's something about humans."
She laughed, stepping closer. "C'mere, and I'll show you a thing or two about humans…"
Several minutes later, they lay a few feet apart, panting. The grass was scorched and burned away for a metre or so around them-small fires still burned on the edge of the blackened circle. Launch rolled over to face Raditz. "So, you were saying about violence… physicality…"
He laughed softly. "Sometimes I wonder if you're just a saiyan in a human body…"
"Though I wish…" she trailed off.
"Wish what?"
"Ah, never mind."
"No, what was it?"
"Well… you know, I'm always tackle-hugging you, shooting you, all that, but you have to be so gentle with me…" she pouted. "'Cause I'm just a fragile little human."
"Hey, now don't talk like that!" he propped himself up on one elbow. "I happen to like being gentle occasionally. I spend the rest of my life fighting, I need a break every now and then."
"That's a lie." This was a simple statement, not a question.
He sighed. "Okay, yes. Fighting-action-I never get tired of it. Sometimes I wish you were a little… tougher." He realised the potentially offensive implications of what he'd said. "Well, not like-I mean, in a sense you're tougher than me, as in character, but… you know, physically…" he finished lamely.
She nodded slowly. "It's okay. I wish that too." Then, struck by an idea, she sat up. "Okay. I'm gonna get stronger, then."
"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! We know plenty of tough humans! Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, plus a few others. There's no reason I can't be every bit as strong as those guys."
"You still wouldn't be on an equal footing with me…" He sat up next to her, looking with admiration into her eyes. "It's just biological. I'm from a race of alien warriors."
"Who said anything about equal?" She asked mockingly. "I just want to get a bit closer to where you are! So you could accidentally tap me without taking my head off, for instance."
He weighed this up in his head. "All right… sure. I'll train you if you want, toughen you up. But let's wait until after Cell's beaten… if he's beaten. We might only have a few days left-let's just enjoy them, okay?"
When Break emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Raditz was waiting for her, alone and wearing a fresh combat outfit (the previous one had gone through a years' training, as well as the battle with Cell). He noted with growing interest that she was a Super Saiyan-it looked like her transformation had undergone the same change as Goku and Gohan's, although occasionally there was a small flicker of power and a tiny golden flash from her otherwise-invisible aura, implying that there was still unchecked power within that she was just barely keeping a lid on. Bulma's lent outfit was in tatters, despite the supposedly less harsh nature of training to achieve this 'form', and there were slowly-healing scratches dotting her body, like some kind of animal had clawed her-had she done this to herself? What had she put herself through in there? "Break?" he asked. "Are you…"
She smiled, though it seemed somewhat strained. "I'm fine."
"You have full control?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I said I'm fine! I've… tamed the beast. It wasn't easy. If you're going next, uh, there's a bit of damage to the living area." She walked over to him. "Compared to 'calming down', the rest was easy. Heh… my hair really does look like yours now."
"It looks good," he said. "Now… like you guessed, I'm going in next. I need to get this over with."
"You sure about going in alone? I mean, you asked me the same thing, but…"
"Anything three other saiyans can do, I can. Don't worry. It's figuring out the trick that's the hardest part-and my brother did that for me. I'll manage it." He headed for the door.
"Good luck!" she called after her father.
"Wow," he muttered, shaking his head as he looked around the Chamber, "she wasn't kidding about making a mess of the place! Girl had some serious anger-management issues…" He kicked some rubble out of his way. "Well, no time like the present."
Krillin, talking to Bulma on the phone, groaned. "I'm sorry, please say that again. I must have heard you wrong, because it sounded like you said that Cell is on television." There was a chatter from the other end of the line, and the other occupants of Kame House's main room strained to listen as Krillin answered. "Oh. Oh. And he's giving… an exclusive… interview. To ZTV news. Of course. For a second there, I was expecting the world to actually make sense. How silly of me." He hung up, turning to Master Roshi. "Roshi… turn on the TV."
"But what-"
" Turn on the damn TV !"
"All right, all right…" Roshi hopped over to the television set, switching it on. Bulma had been telling the truth. Cell- the Cell, the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero, the self-prophesised terror of mankind, was giving ZTV news an exclusive interview.
"So, Mr. Cell-"
"Just Cell, thank you," the bio-android corrected. The scene was surreal-the otherworldly Cell was standing in the familiar daily news studio, talking to the familiar daily news anchor. There was a crumbling, smoking Cell-sized hole in the opposite wall.
The interviewer continued speaking. "Er, Cell-you displayed some kind of superhuman strength getting in here. Can you explain that to our audience?"
Cell smiled. "Hmm. Typical of the masses of humanity-to not understand even the most basic form of energy control. You could all do it, if you knew how-though, of course, not nearly to the extent that I can…"
"And you say you're here to challenge the human race?"
"That's right." Cell nodded. "I hereby declare war on humanity! He stood up. "Send your war machines, send your armies, send your greatest fighters, and I will face them all! The time of battle will be in five days. I throw down the gauntlet to your world! Don't disappoint me. If you fail to defeat me, I'll destroy this entire planet. I'm not too attached to it." He vanished, flying away with speed far faster than the human eye could follow, or the cameras could record.
"Well… that was unique…" the anchor said slowly, when he had calmed down. "I've got nothing to add, really. Uh… here's Ann with the weather."
Ann shrugged. "I was kind of excited about this one. Perfect sunny week, tidal wave up North. But, you know what, nobody cares now. An evil bug robot just declared war on humanity. You've got me beat. In fact, if the world is going to end, I quit. Bye." She walked off of the screen, much to the bemusement of the television station, and Roshi turned the TV off.
"This is bad," he said. "Anybody who had a chance against Cell already knew."
"The world's nations are gonna send their armies in," Launch observed, "and they're gonna get slaughtered."
Krillin sighed. "Hopefully they'll at least wait five days…"
Raditz too managed to master the Super Saiyan form completely, or so it seemed. It would be impossible to tell to quite what extent the four saiyans had perfected the form to until the actual battle with Cell, when they could all power up and cut loose. Maintaining it during training was one thing-in battle was quite another. As soon as he left the Chamber, Nail entered. The days began to pass uneventfully, and they noted Nail had emerged significantly stronger-around the level of Cell's second form, perhaps a little more. It was shortly after Zarbon and Krillin had begun their turn inside the mystical room that the next notable event occurred.
The entire group met almost every day now, usually at Capsule Corp. One of these gatherings was underway, when an enormous noise was heard overhead. All heads turned to the sky, to see a large spaceship arcing down towards them. Bulma tapped a button on her scouter, activating its communication function. "Hey, Dad, you in the lab?"
"Of course," Dr. Brief replied, "I'm just helping along that anti-Cell project you're working on."
"Ah, you're the best! But some kind of ship is about to land, didn't it show up on the scanners?"
"No…" Within the building, the scientist peered out of the window. "Well, I'll be damned. Right on our doorstep, without so much as a beep from our sensors. Must be very well shielded-I designed those sensors myself, you know."
They all turned to face the ship as it landed, its impressive propulsion system not even so much as rippling the grass. The hatch slid open, folding down and forming a ramp down which several military-looking types, clad head-to-toe in obscuring body armour, marched. They didn't carry weapons, and with good reason-they had power levels comparable to that of Frieza and Cooler's elite soldiers. The fighters tensed, hoping they were ready for anything.
The soldiers formed two lines on the ramp, and between them descended a man who appeared to be their leader. He was of average height, with untidy black hair and a thick moustache. There was a scar running over one of his eyes, and he wore a heavily-personalised, dark green version of the armour Frieza's soldiers used to wear-so customised it almost looked to Raditz like the ridiculous outfits the inhabitants of Yardrat had worn, accompanied by a white cape slung over one shoulder. His power was slightly higher than the soldiers', but his ki signature was unmistakeable.
"He's a saiyan," Goku muttered. As he said this, they noticed the tail curled belt-style around his waist.
"Greetings," the saiyan said. "It has taken me a long time to find you-does anyone know where I might find… I… where… wha…" his eloquent speech broke down into a halting stutter.
"Uh… hello?" Goku stepped over to him and waved a hand in his face. "Are you okay?" This simple movement raised the ire of the ever-alert soldiers, who instantly moved to surround Goku, each raising a hand and forming a threatening ball of energy around it, all of them pointing at the fighter's head.
"Okay, put 'em down," Raditz warned. "You do not want to start this. Not with him."
The soldiers remained silent and stationary, until the mysterious saiyan came out of his trance. "Uh… at ease, men! Right now!" The soldiers withdrew, resuming their previous positions. "You're blind if you think you'd stand a chance against someone like him, even all together!" He wiped his brow nervously. "I apologise. My name is Paragus. Greetings, my fellow saiyans."
"I didn't think any more of us survived planet Vegeta's explosion," Goku said.
"Indeed-I myself thought I was the only survivor," Paragus told them, "until I heard word that the entire Cold family had fallen-at the hands of a mighty golden warrior, a Super Saiyan. This was truly amazing news, so I followed up any and all leads I could find-my search was a long one, and almost completely fruitless. Finally, I followed King Cold's path to his demise-to a planet called Earth. I expected to find only traces of your passing, but it seems you've elected to stay here."
"It is one of the finest worlds in this galaxy," Raditz answered levelly. "I would not trade it for Frieza's entire empire."
"I see…" Paragus ignored this. "I apologise again for my earlier amazement, but your appearance…" The Super Saiyans were all, of course, transformed. "I was under the impression that there was only one Super Saiyan. Which of you destroyed the Cold family?"
"Er…" Goku scratched his head. "Well, it's kind of complicated. Cooler killed Frieza, then Raditz killed Cooler, then Cooler came back with King Cold, and Break killed both of them, and then Frieza came back, and Raditz killed him, and then Kuriza came along, and I fought him, but I guess I sort of… reformed him." All throughout this explanation, he was pointing at Raditz, Break, Kuriza and himself. He was going to start explaining the whole alternate timeline and the android situation, when Paragus interrupted.
"The spawn of Frieza lives?" he growled, noticing Kuriza. I'll kill it quickly, before it transforms! He prepared to hurl a quick-charging green energy beam. "This is for our race, you monster!"
However, Goku caught his arm before he could launch the attack, holding it in an unbreakable grip with no effort at all. "Let's get something straight," he said in a low, unusually menacing voice. "These people are my friends. No matter what race they are, or what they've done in the past, or who they're related to." He put a tiny bit of energy into his hold, and it felt to Paragus like his arm was being crushed between planets. "If you harm any of them, there will be no escape for you. I will hunt you to the end of the universe. Are we clear?"
Paragus nodded, letting out a small whimper. Goku smiled. "Good." He noticed that the soldiers were again threatening him. Loyal, but stupid, I guess. An invisible wave of force, precisely targeted so as not to touch Goku, Paragus or the ship, knocked each soldier senseless individually, their armoured bodies clattering as they dropped to the ground. Goku looked around in annoyance. "That wasn't necessary! They were no threat!"
Raditz shrugged. "What? They were getting on my nerves!"
A few minutes later, things had calmed down a bit. The soldiers were piled up inside the ship, and Paragus was sitting opposite them, massaging his arm and sipping a glass of juice Mrs. Brief had forced into his hands. "Do any of you know where I would find Prince Vegeta?"
Raditz's nose wrinkled. "Vegeta? Left him on some planet in the middle of nowhere a couple of years ago, after we fought on new Namek. Haven't seen him since." He sighed. "He's probably training to get stronger than us…"
Paragus' face registered a brief moment of shock, but he immediately covered it up "You… fought with the Prince?" He hesitated, but his warrior's instinct compelled him to ask. "Who won?"
"Ah, so you are a true saiyan after all!" Raditz grinned. "It looked like an even match-he was slightly superior in strength, and I had some unique techniques-but Frieza interrupted our battle, and I was forced to knock Vegeta out during the events that followed. That was the last time I saw him."
Paragus nodded. "Well, let me tell you a little bit about my mission. I have discovered a planet I have declared the New Planet Vegeta. It is the perfect place to begin a new saiyan empire! Just picture it!"
"I don't see what's so-" Goku began, but Raditz elbowed him in the ribs, telepathically growling at him, Play along! You're a saiyan! Act like one! "-uh, that sounds great!" He forced a smile.
"Exactly. With Frieza and his forces gone, the former empire in disarray, now is the perfect time for us to seize power! And with the might of the Super Saiyans, none can stand before us!" He paused, with just a touch of dramatic flair. "Well… almost no-one. There is a great and powerful force in the universe. It has already devastated many star systems, and is moving towards my new planet Vegeta."
All four of the other saiyans and half-saiyans leaned a bit closer, eager to hear of this powerful force-even, not entirely consciously, Gohan. "What is it?" Break asked, a smile creeping onto her face.
"The Legendary Super Saiyan, a being of enormous power, and bloodthirsty madness to match," Paragus answered. "Having heard vague stories of his rampage, and seen somewhat shaky (due to being transmitted through half-broken scouters) footage of the Cold family's demise, most believe him to be the very same that wiped them out. Of course, you're all living a relatively peaceful life here-"
"I'd dispute that," Bulma muttered. "We've got troubles here on Earth too, you know."
"-a relatively isolated life, then," Paragus continued with a hint of irritation, but since Goku's warning he had been trying his best to remain civil towards them, "so this monster cannot be any of you."
"Vegeta?" Nail suggested.
"I'm afraid not," Paragus replied. "You see, a very few manage to survive and escape this saiyan's rampages, and an even smaller number catch a glimpse of the beast himself. I have met with some of these, and from their description I can assure you that he is not Vegeta. In fact, I first thought it was he who'd destroyed the frost demons, and was hoping for his aid-but obviously I was wrong."
"I see… let me guess." Raditz stood up. "You said this Legendary Super Saiyan's path is taking him towards your new home planet. You want us to defend it."
"That's about right. Will you?" He gave a pleading look. "Think of the future of our race! This raging monster is a disgrace to our line of proud warriors-we, the true saiyans, must emerge victorious."
"Hmm…" Goku came to a decision. "All right! Let's do it!" The lure of a true challenge was irresistible.
"Wait, what?" Nail looked incredulous. "You can't be serious."
"Sure I can! There's still time to heal after this before the battle with Cell, don't worry. Plus, this'll be a good test of our new power, right?"
"I guess…" Gohan clearly wasn't sure. "But who should go?"
"How about just the fighters we've got here?" Goku indicated the group. "Us four Super Saiyans, and Nail."
"Hey, what about me?" Kuriza asked, pouting.
Goku patted the young frost demon on the shoulder. "Well, no offence, but if this guy really is a Super Saiyan, then he's way out of your league. I mean, you've come a long way, but you're still not even at your father's level."
"Aww, okay…" Kuriza shuffled off.
"All right, then it's decided!" Goku marched up the boarding ramp, followed by Raditz, Break, Gohan and Nail. "Hey, I wonder if there's a fridge around here somewhere…"
"Hey!" Came a familiar voice. Chi-Chi was stomping up to the ship, venting anger. "Hold it right there! You can't just go running off to have a battle in space now -especially not with my baby boy!" Just as she was about to board the ship and drag Gohan out by his ear, the hatch slammed shut and the ship took off with explosive force. "One day, Goku!" she yelled after it. "One day you'll learn that life isn't all about having adventures!"
Roshi shook his head. "No… I don't think he will."
Goku looked over at Raditz. "You flickered for a second there. Did you-"
"Run at full speed into the cockpit and instruct the ship to take off early? Yes, but don't tell your wife."
Goku laughed out loud. "Don't worry! We're going to be in enough trouble as it is…" He looked around, one way and then the other. But I could have sworn I heard… no, never mind. Distracted by Chi-Chi as they were, they'd failed to notice a small white-and-red blur zipping into the ship at the last second.
"The journey will take a few hours, my noble companions," Paragus said, bowing deeply and turning to head up to the ship's bridge. "Please, make yourself welcome, there are adequate facilities."
"All right!" Goku rubbed his hands together, skipping off towards the canteen. "Hey, chef!"
"Eh?" The chef, a light brown creature with eight arms of varying length and thickness, looked with a disinterested eye at the excited saiyan, who licked his lips at the sight of the exquisite array of food on offer.
"I'd like some of that… no, wait, that looks nice… ooh, is that… hmm…" Goku snapped his fingers. "I know! I'll just have one of everything. Or maybe two of everything… yeah, that'll do-for a first course, anyway…"
Raditz shook his head. Some things never change. He walked off to inspect the ship, and Break and Nail trailed after him, leaving Gohan on his own. Sort of. There was a bump behind a wall, and he peered through a wall-mounted grille, only to see Kuriza, curled up in a ball and hiding in the ventilation shaft. "Kuriza? You snuck on?"
"Yeah!" Kuriza grinned. "Soon as I learnt to control energy, I practiced real hard! Nobody can sense me if I don't want 'em to!" He suddenly looked nervous. "You won't tell that I'm here, will you? I don't want to get in trouble…"
Gohan gave a conspiratorial wink. "Don't worry. I won't say a word-I wouldn't do that to my best friend." He hesitated. "I've got to go. If someone sees me talking to the wall, that'll look kinda suspicious. Just… be careful. This guy might be really strong, okay?"
"Okay!" Kuriza crawled away, disappearing into the blackness of the tunnel as he headed off to explore the rest of the ship. Gohan stood up straight and strolled off to join his father-partly to see if he'd left any food at all for the rest of them. He could tell the others weren't afraid, but he was deeply worried-this mysterious, unkown enemy was out there somewhere. Another Super Saiyan. Gohan could almost feel his presence in their future, looming like a shadow over the voyage. He didn't know why, he simply had a terrible feeling of foreboding about the coming battle.
Paragus stood on the bridge, a cunning smile crossing his face. This has been somewhat unexpected. Instead of my intended target, I've encountered a group of renegades… traitors, even. Fighting other saiyans, letting their enemies live, harbouring the son of Frieza, living in harmony with the lower creatures… however, they're all Super Saiyans. That could prove troublesome. No matter. There's no way their power can exceed his. He'll deal with them-and then no-one will stand between me and my ultimate revenge on Vegeta…
Chapter 32: KAKAROT
All was silent as Paragus' ship gently touched down on the surface of New Planet Vegeta. The hatch slid open, settling to the ground as a boarding ramp. Paragus was first out, followed close behind by Goku, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. Raditz and Nail were the next to leave the ship, followed by Break-feeling somewhat uncomfortable in her civilian clothes. A year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber had done for her previous outfit, Bulma's semi-armoured suit she'd worn to Namek, so Break had borrowed the closest fit from Bulma's day-to-day wardrobe-a red halter top and orange shorts with pink shoes and purple socks. Not exactly a fighting outfit, but Raditz's were all custom-made for him, and he was a good amount taller than Break. Of course, Break hadn't actually been planning on doing any fighting for another few days-this had snuck up on them. It wasn't so much of a problem for Goku, Raditz and Nail, who always wore their fighting outfits, and Gohan generally kept his Turtle School gi in a capsule about his person. Break felt a little out of place, but her Super Saiyan appearance gave her some confidence.
Gohan was the last out of the ship, other than the two lines of soldiers who marched after the group, trying not to look at Raditz (who had previously knocked them out with minimal effort). "Please, follow me," said Paragus, pointing to a tall building in the distance. "My palace is that way-" as soon as the words had left his mouth, there were five small explosions of sound as his 'guests' shot off through the air towards it. Grumbling, he took off after them, followed by his soldiers, who flew in perfect formation. This new generation… Paragus thought. So impetuous. Not like me. For all these years I've waited, biding my time… I won't let them ruin everything! He sped up, chasing the five visitors to his planet.
Goku jumped around the palace, skidding through corridors, running up and down stairways, peering out of windows. "Where is he? Hey, Legendary Super Saiyan! Come here so I can fight you!"
"Idiot." Raditz dragged Goku back downstairs to meet up with Paragus. "He said the Legendary Super Saiyan will be here soon. We're going to wait for him."
"Aw, but that's boring!" Goku frowned. "And we have to be back on Earth in time to fight Cell…"
"Don't worry. Now I know where this planet is in relation to Earth, I can return with Instant Transmission any time."
"Oh, okay." Goku turned as Paragus and his troops landed. "Hey, Paragus! So when do you think this Legendary Super Saiyan will arrive?"
"I am not sure." Paragus shrugged. "Based on his previous movements, within the next few days."
"Hmm… why don't we just go and fight him now?"
"By the time we tracked him down and got there, he'd have already moved on," Paragus explained. This didn't quite seem to make sense to Goku, but he shook his head and put it out of his mind.
"Hey, who's that?" Break pointed to a newcomer, who was just emerging from a passage in the palace.
"Oh, that's Broly," Paragus told them, "my son. I'm ashamed to say he's never been much of a warrior." Broly's power certainly wasn't very impressive-something like the saiyans' when they'd attacked Earth (of course, this was quite powerful by some standards, but not the Super Saiyans', and evidently not Paragus' either)-and he had an unimposing appearance. He stood slightly shorter than Goku, and had scruffy black shoulder-length hair (hardly unexpected, for a saiyan) and a dull, lifeless expression on his face. He wore baggy white pants with a red sash, with gold wristbands, armbands, belt, collar and a matching small chestplate, all studded with dark blue jewels.
"Oh, uh… hey! Hello!" Break waved at Broly, who remained unresponsive, acknowledging her comment with a glance before his eyes flitted away again.
"Break!" Raditz hit her jokingly on the head. "Stop staring at the shirtless kid!" He turned to Paragus. "Not much of a talker, is he?"
"No…" Paragus shook his head. "A bit of a waste, really. Neither strong or smart. I honestly don't know what to do with him… hmm?" He looked over at Broly, who was gritting his teeth and staring at Goku, his eyes narrowing.
"Kakarot…" Yes, the hair was different, but this was definitely him, after all these years… Kakarot. " Kakarot… " A faint green aura appeared around Broly, and his power began to rise rapidly. Soon it was almost as high as Paragus', but Broly's father acted quickly. He raised a hand, the strange gauntlet-like device he wore glowing brightly, and the gem on the younger saiyan's forehead began to glow with the same light. Instantly, Broly relaxed, his power dropping and his face becoming calm again. "Broly! That's enough!" Paragus hissed. Broly turned and slowly shuffled away down the corridor, and Paragus lowered his hand. "I apologise." He spoke directly to Goku. "I believe when you were infants on planet Vegeta, you were in the bed next to his… apparently, you cried incessantly, and this… disturbed Broly. Formative experiences tend to magnify in significance with the passing of time, and he bears some resentment towards you. I will discipline him-this won't happen again." He turned and strode off.
"That does sound like me," Goku laughed, "causing trouble even back then… but wow, way to hold a grudge. He must have great memory…"
"Yes, very funny." Raditz motioned to the others to listen. "But in all seriousness, something doesn't add up here. Paragus must know Broly's power is as great as his own, maybe higher-I'm sure what we saw just now wasn't all of it. So why would he pretend Broly's weak? And furthermore, this whole Legendary Super Saiyan thing." He pointed his thumb off towards the direction Paragus had left in. "Surely there's a closer world we can go to, and intercept him sooner? Less people will die that way."
"I guess Paragus doesn't care about that," Break suggested. "He just wants to protect his precious "new saiyan empire". Two whole saiyans. Not really an empire."
"True…" Raditz nodded. "That's another suspicious thing. I mean, how many saiyans are left in the galaxy? Five, and two half-humans. Most of them wouldn't accept his rule, or anyone's for that matter. Though I guess if offered a leading position Vegeta might accept…"
"Well, whatever." Goku stood up straight. "We'll give it a couple of days, okay? I'm sure you're just worrying about nothing. There's five of us-we can handle one Super Saiyan. And even if Paragus is up to something, any one of us could take him, his kid and his whole army without breaking a sweat. So don't worry." He sprinted off. "I'm gonna go explore this place!" Wow, a palace! Cool! I wonder if there's a larder around here…
Paragus sat in his chambers, deep in thought. I had this whole elaborate charade set up for Vegeta… the supposed empire, the fake 'new planet Vegeta'… the comet, set to strike and destroy the planet 24 hours from now… the back-up plan, my ace in the hole… I was certain he was on Earth! Who else could have been emitting that Super Saiyan energy? But now I have to deal with these clowns first… and start my search for Vegeta anew! All of my work… He stood up, opening the door and heading off down the corridor. The plan, the charade can go hang! Vegeta may be an object of my personal vengeance, but at least he's an honourable saiyan warrior! These fools are… they're kind-hearted! Soft! He threw open Broly's door. Enough playing around. Sometimes you have to do things the old-fashioned way. "Broly!"
His son looked up. "Father… I… K-Kakarot…"
Paragus grinned. "Yes, Kakarot. How would you like to kill him?" Broly's face lit up. "I thought so. Just don't forget the others. And be careful-we'll need to keep this planet intact if we're going to escape. Now, go. Show them what it means to be a true saiyan."
Goku ambled along the passage, meeting up with Nail at an intersection. "I've been searching for ages, and there isn't any food around here!" He moaned, dispirited.
"Ages? It's been less than an hour, Goku." Nail shook his head-as a Namekian, from a race which only drank water, the saiyans' immense appetites never failed to amaze him.
"Yeah, well-" A blur of movement catapulted through the wall, carrying Goku of through the opposite wall in a cloud of pulverised masonry.
"Why does everything we do have to end like this?" Nail muttered.
Goku kicked away from his attacker, landing in the forest beneath the palace's plateau on both feet and shaking his head to clear the dizziness. "Uh… Broly?" The mysterious saiyan stood opposite him, shaking with anger. "Kakarot… ! Kill… you!"
"Hey, that's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Goku ducked as Broly swung at him, grabbing Broly by his attacking arm and throwing him into the dirt. His power's increased-it'd be in the millions on the scouter's scale. Just how strong is he? Growling, Broly launched himself back up at Goku, who sidestepped and knocked Broly away with a backhand.
Paragus, watching from above, frowned. He's losing… he tapped a setting on his gauntlet, the light fading a little. I'll let him use a little more power.
Broly breathed deeply, then let out a low growl. He suddenly seemed to grow a little taller as his body filled out, his hair standing up on end and changing to a dark blue colour. A blue-purple aura sprang to life around him. "What the-" Goku quickly raised his arm to block a lightning-fast punch. Is he a Super Saiyan? If so, why's his hair blue and not gold? Well, I should be able to handle it. He's only about as strong as I was when I fought Kuriza… but then again, it's still going up… He continued to block Broly's mad attacks, walking steadily backwards.
Three large ki signatures signalled the arrival of Gohan, Break and Nail. "Hey, Dad!" Gohan called. "You need any help?"
"Nah, I've got this," Goku told him. "His power kept growing, but now it's topped out at around 17 and 18's level. Where's Raditz?"
Break shrugged. "He said he had an idea. I guess he'll be here soon."
"I wouldn't worry," Goku said. "Broly here surprised me, but his speed isn't up to mine. Here, I'm getting tired of this." He aimed low, punching Broly in the stomach, following up with a high kick to his chin. To his surprise, the strange Super Saiyan didn't flinch. "Eh?" Goku somersaulted away, dodging another swipe from Broly. "Careful, guys-his strength and endurance are much greater than his ki or speed would imply…"
Broly stalked towards Goku, grinning. "Die…"
"Not if that's the best you've got!" Goku readied himself for battle. "What's this all about, anyway?"
"Rrr…" Broly stopped all of a sudden. His head turned slightly to look up at the palace, then back to Goku. A smile crept across his face. "Rrr… Grr… RAAAH!" Energy exploded out of him, throwing the fighters back.
"What?!" Goku complained. "You mean that still wasn't his full power? What is he?" Broly's headband, previously glowing with the controlling red light emitted from Paragus' gauntlet, had gone dark for some reason. Without this, there were no limits on Broly. "AAAH!" He screamed as his aura blazed around him, the ground shaking beneath his thunderous tread as he began to advance again. Lightning wracked the sky, and Broly's scream became a laugh. "A-hahahaaa! HAHAHA!"
"What is he doing?" Nail hissed. "He's stronger than me now, that's for sure… of course, Goku hasn't used his full power yet since he came out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Let's hope it's enough…"
Broly's power-limiting metal headband finally shattered, and bright blue and purple light seemed to emanate from inside him. It built to unbearable brightness, until it seemed to much for his body to contain, and Broly appeared to simply blow apart from the inside out, energy bursting out of his body in all directions.
"Wait… Did he just kill himself?" Gohan stared into the light as it began to fade. "No, he's still in there! It's like he just… discarded a shell… this isn't good." The transformation reminded him of Kuriza's, as if it was revealing Broly's true form within.
Broly now stood higher than any of them, his muscles huge, rippling and contorting up and down his body-he was wider from shoulder to shoulder than some of them were tall. His hair was standing up even further on end now, and had a sickly green hue. A violent green-gold aura burned around him. His ki was enormous-easily dwarfing any of theirs.
Though scared, Break was not unappreciative. "Hmm, and I forgot to bring my camera…"
"Break!" Came a voice from above. "What did I tell you?!" Raditz landed next to her. "Sorry I'm late. I decided to beat a few answers out of Paragus when I felt you fighting. Be careful-this whole thing's a trap! Broly's really the Legendary Super Saiyan!"
Goku groaned. "Yeah, I kind of guessed that." He indicated the transformed monster. "I mean, either that or he's been taking steroids like nobody's business… did you find out anything useful?"
"Well, he told me he was using his gauntlet thing to control Broly and keep his power in check…"
"Ah! Then we just have to-"
"… after I destroyed it."
"Ah."
Raditz shrugged as Nail and Break glared at him. "Sorry! It looked important and the bad guy had it! What did you expect me to do?"
"A-hah!" Break pointed triumphantly at Raditz. "So you admit you're not the 'bad guy'!"
"Excuse me." Broly was surprisingly lucid in his Legendary Super Saiyan form, aside from constantly emitting unintelligible growls. "I hate to interrupt, but… heh… no. Actually, I'd love to."
"Well, that's just rude-" Broly's fist slammed into Goku, knocking him away through the air.
"Hey!" Raditz charged Broly from the side, but the giant fighter just grabbed him right out of the air, throwing him back up into the palace. Break ran up from behind, her stomach meeting Broly's elbow in mid-air, flooring her. Nail ran at him, an energy blast detonating harmlessly on Broly's back, serving only to alert the saiyan of the Namek's attack. Broly swung around, kicking Nail's legs out from under him.
"Leave them alone!" Gohan shouted, standing right in front of Broly, his guard raised. Break and Nail jumped to their feet and stood next to him. "All right, attack him together!" Nail instructed them. Broly ran at them, his slow loping gait leaving craters where he stepped. There was a flash of gold, and Goku and Raditz appeared behind him, punching simultaneously and causing Broly to stagger sideways, missing the three others. "Let's show each other how much we've improved, all right?" Raditz said confidently.
"Yeah!" Gohan answered, and the five warriors powered up simultaneously, rocking the planet with their combined power. "Yaaah!" They leapt at Broly from all sides, and he just smiled. "That's right, try everything you can! I want this to be fun!" He dodged around their charge, smashing Raditz to the ground and turning to the others. Nail, displaying a little-used Namekian ability, stretched out one of his arms, extending it to many times its normal length, using it to trip Broly at the ankle, unbalancing him long enough for Goku to fly in under his guard and land a solid two-footed kick to his chest. Broly skidded back, grunting with annoyance, but instantly recovered, standing up straight and charging back at them.
"This way!" Raditz shouted, flying back up towards the palace. The other four followed him, Broly in pursuit. They landed on the rooftops and spires of the gigantic building, dodging back and forth as Broly's attacks smashed huge holes into it.
Paragus, beaten and bloody from Raditz's interrogation, staggered to his feet, painfully managing a run as chunks of rubble began to fall from the ceiling. "That fool… he's destroyed the only thing that can control Broly! There's no helping it now… I'll just have to leave. The comet will hit the planet, as planned… and Broly will die with the rest of them. It's for the best…" he reached the main exit as soldiers and technicians streamed past him. "Yes, I'll still have my revenge on Vegeta… but now I won't have to worry about these idiots. All it'll take is a little planning…"
Raditz caught Broly's punch, the impact driving him down inside the collapsing building. He grunted, freed a hand and punched back, Broly mockingly copying his block with much less effort. "Heh… Cell made the same mistake!" Raditz said, powering up past his natural maximum and bulking himself up further until he was almost as muscular as Broly. "With this extra strength, at close quarters like this, I have the advantage!" He began to push Broly back, but the Legendary Super Saiyan's look of surprise quickly changed to mild amusement. His aura intensifying, Broly pushed back, and Raditz realised with horror that he was still weaker than this terrifying enemy. Even Cell wasn't this strong! Broly shoved Raditz away, tossing a flickering green energy blast after him that exploded on impact, throwing Raditz further back.
Broly jumped back up to the crumbling rooftops, kicking Goku in the side and causing him to crash painfully into a twisted spire, the impact jarring against his ribs. Gohan jumped up from underneath, using the element of surprise and punching Broly square in the face. As they were beginning to expect now, it had no effect, and Broly threw Gohan away into the air, then appeared above him, grabbing him in both hands and soaring back down towards the palace. The ensuing piledriver levelled the entire palace in a clatter of breaking rock. When the dust cleared, Gohan was lying half-buried in the dirt, at the bottom of a vast, deep crater. Broly stood on the edge, grinning as he looked down at his battered young foe.
"That's my son you're beating up!" Goku yelled, landing behind Broly. "Try this-KA… ME… HA… ME…"
"Go ahead," Broly told him. "Let's see it."
"HA!" Goku released the energy beam, the attack completely engulfing Broly. As Goku continued to pour on the power, he noticed an approaching shape within the ki-charged light-Broly was running right through the Kamehameha attack without even bothering to defend himself! Could his power… still be growing? This thought was as far as Goku got before Broly kicked him away again. The Legendary saiyan's attacks were uncoordinated, with no real skill behind them, but his size and strength belied his incredible speed, which rendered Broly's lack of real training irrelevant.
The entire plateau exploded as Raditz flung his power in all directions. "BROLY! Get over here!" He rocketed through the air at their invincible enemy.
"Hey, Raditz-why don't we just cut our losses and leave? Use Instant Transmission and let's go!" Nail suggested.
"Run from a fight?" Raditz snarled. "What do you take me for? This 'Legendary Super Saiyan' has to learn who he's dealing with!" He slammed into Broly, punches and kicks raining down on the giant, but none did any serious damage. Raditz quickly charged his energy inside one hand. "Crusher Ball!" He released it at point-blank range, but Broly flicked his body to the side, avoiding it with ease. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that meant for me?"
"Well, if we can't run, we'll have to fight." Nail set his jaw. "I'm not out of tricks yet… HAH!" With a sudden, unexpectedly fast convulsion, he grew to many times his normal size. This is a little technique I picked up from Piccolo… it was ineffective against a fighter who knows what he's doing-like Goku, who climbed into Piccolo's giant body and beat him from inside-but against someone like Broly, it might just work…
"Woah!" Gohan, crawling out of his crater, looked up in amazement. "Nail's a giant! Way to go!"
Nail body-slammed Broly to the ground, crushing the saiyan under his massive form. "All you respect is power, huh? Well, here's some-" his voice trailed off into a pained squeak. Slowly, he rolled over, revealing the gaping hole in his stomach. Broly, standing where Nail had previously been lying, had one hand raised in the air, smoke rising from the ki blast he'd fired, drenched in purple Namekian blood. "Nice try. Do carry on." As he spoke, Nail's body began to shrink again, the warrior gasping and clutching at his torn and ragged torso as he returned to normal size.
This is insane! Goku thought as the blood-soaked Broly thundered towards him. How are we supposed to beat this guy? The thought that they might try something other than fighting never entered his mind, of course. "Hey, can't you give us a handicap?"
"Sure," Broly answered, smashing Goku's face into his knee, "how about brain damage?"
"That's not really what I-aah!" A second blow sent Goku reeling.
Broly began to laugh hysterically. "HAHAHAAA! Is that really all you worms can do? And you call yourselves saiyans?!"
"Is that what you think?" Break stood facing him. "You're the one who's unfit to call himself a saiyan!"
" What… did you say?"
She stood fearlessly before him as he advanced towards her. "That's right! You're no warrior-you're just a monster!" Raditz had told them all telepathically what Paragus had told him about Broly-how he'd been born with enormous power, using it to survive the exection dealt out by the saiyan king Vegeta, father and namesake of the prince they'd fought. Broly had gone on to save Paragus and himself from the saiyan homeworld's destruction, and Paragus' hatred for Vegeta's line had lived on. "You were born into your power! You've never had to work hard a day in your life… well, we've had to work our whole lives to get where we are, and no freak of nature is going to beat great fighters like Goku and my father!"
"Is that so-" Broly was cut off as Break's elbow crashed into his stomach, winding him. She followed up with an uppercut that staggered him back, and two swift kicks to his face. Roaring with anger, he stood up straight, his body heaving. "Why… you…"
She got him! Raditz was flying back towards the battlefield after his last beating. Could she really be that strong?
It didn't last long, though-unbelievably, it seemed Broly's power still hadn't finished rising. He growled as his ki shot up again, throwing a huge energy bullet her way. Quickly using Instant Transmission, Raditz appeared and shoved Break out of the way, teleporting off before the attack could hit him. He materialised behind Broly, who took his kick without flinching, then simply flared his power up around him, knocking Raditz away again. Break stood up, jumping at Broly. He swung, but only hit her afterimage, and she appeared above him, launching a barrage of golden energy beams. Broly smacked them all out of the way with a look of irritation on his face. "That stung a little, I'll give you that, girl."
Goku caught Raditz in mid-air, stopping his involuntary flight. "Okay, ready to go another round with him?"
"Of course!" Raditz told him. "You won't see me backing down!"
"All right then. Brothers together and all that."
"Count me in!" Nail called, flying up to hover next to them.
"Hey… you're healed?" Goku wondered.
"Of course." Nail nodded. "Don't underestimate my regeneration. Now, are you ready?"
"Let's do this!" Goku powered up, flying back into battle with the other two at his sides. The three fighters crashed into Broly, the impact flattening the ground for miles around.
Paragus stumbled up the stairs cut into the rocky cliff, finally reaching his hidden space-pod. "Finally. Goodbye, Broly, my son. You've outlived your usefulness."
"And here I thought I had a bad father!" said a voice from behind.
"What-" Paragus was sent flying by an impact from Kuriza's tail, knocking him right through his pod, smashing it to pieces. "Aargh!"
"Yeah, take that!" The juvenile frost demon was in his final form, and looking extremely pleased with himself. Then he frowned. "Oh, wait! I destroyed the pod… we probably needed that… no, we've got Instant Transmission and another ship. We're good." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Uh, you still there?"
"Demon!" Paragus hissed, infuriated. "Filth! Spawn of the tyrant!"
"Hey now, there's no need for name-calling," Kuriza pouted. "My dad was like that, you know. Monkey this, inferior being that, it just gets old after a while. You don't want to be like him, do you?"
"Silence!" Paragus threw a green energy blast, but Kuriza kicked it into the air with ease.
"Come on, is that really the best you can do?" Okay, I'm still getting the hang of this… "HAH!" He thrust one hand forwards, launching an invisible wave of force-the 'kiai' technique many of the other fighters used often-that knocked Paragus flat on his back, out cold. "Aw, yeah!" Kuriza danced around with joy. "I'm the best! I did it! I…" he sighed. "Yeah, he wasn't really a challenge. Oh, well. I'll go see how the others are doing! You stay right there, okay?" He took off towards the enormous powers off to the west.
Goku, Raditz and Nail lay beaten and bloody next to Break. "Great idea," she muttered. "Charge him head-on. Because that worked so well all the other times we've tried it. Really, you were playing right into his hands."
"I didn't see you helping!" Nail snapped.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she retorted, "it's just that I appear to be half-dead over here."
"Hey… where's Gohan?" Goku wondered.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him since Broly floored him that one time," Raditz told him.
"That's not really helpful, Raditz. You could pretty much describe this whole fight like that…"
Gohan was curled up into a ball behind a boulder, crying into his lap. His fear had overcome his sense of betraying his friends by backing out. Sobs wracked his body as he heard the others fight and lose. I… I can't do it! I'm sorry, Dad… everybody… he's too much! Please… I'm just a kid, I… can't fight him… don't make me… please…
"Is that all?!" Broly demanded. "Is that all you've got?! I demand more! You insects have disappointed me-and you're going to pay for that! Especially you, Kakarot!"
"You want me, Broly?" Goku staggered to his feet. "Here I am."
"Goku, what're you-" Raditz began.
"Don't worry. I have a plan."
"That's a first…"
"Raditz. Nail. Break. give me your energy," Goku ordered.
"What?"
"Give me your energy! All that you can spare!" He eyed the impatient Broly. "Right now, or he's going to kill us all!"
"All right…" Raditz raised a hand, a stream of vibrant energy flowing into Goku's body. It was joined by two more from Break and Nail. "Don't fail us now, Goku!" Nail warned. "We're giving you everything we've got!" Raditz and Break gasped as their energy fell below the level needed to sustain Super Saiyan, and were forced back into their normal forms.
"I know." He flexed his invigorated muscles. "Okay, Broly. Here I come…" He was battered, beaten half to death, his clothes ripped and his body almost broken-just like all the others. But now he felt supercharged, the power of three Super Saiyans and a twice-fused Namekian inside of him. His wounds felt like nothing.
"It doesn't matter how much power those fools give you, it won't be enough!" Broly boasted.
"Hah! We'll see about that. You'll never really know for sure until I try." With his suddenly-boosted speed, Goku dodged Broly's wild swing, preparing his counter-attack. " Your hour has arrived!"
"What?" Broly stumbled back. "Where is he getting all this energy?" Goku thrust his fist straight forwards into Broly's chest, shattering his golden 'chestplate' (though it was more ornamental than protective). Goku's fist drove up into Broly's body, and he felt a crunch beneath his fingers as he hit bone. "Now the real fight begins!" Goku shouted. Pushing against each other, they struggled for a moment… and then Broly righted himself, took hold of Goku's arm in both giant fists and snapped it in two places. Goku collapsed to the cracked, buckling ground, howling. Broly staggered away, the punch clearly having weakened him. He breathed heavily, glaring at his bruised chest, the first pain he'd felt for a long time. Then he looked down at Goku again, still writhing in pain. "You… Grrr…" Broly's eyes narrowed as his sanity slipped further away. "KAKAROT!"
"STOP HURTING MY DAD!" Broly slowly turned to see Gohan shakily walking towards him. The boy was sniffing back tears, his face trembling-he looked like he was about to explode with rage, or possibly break down and give up. Either way, he was clearly unstable. "I… I won't give up!" I'm the only one who can save Dad, and all the others, now! I have to beat him! I don't know how, but… I have to! He shook with nerves as he adopted his fighting stance. The others tried to lift themselves from the ground, drained and injured as they were, to watch. "Get him, Gohan…" Goku urged.
Gohan tried to steel himself. "Okay… okay… I can do this…"
" Can you, little man ?!" Broly roared, stomping towards the half-saiyan child. The terrifying creature, power barely contained within his gigantic body, laughing with anger and screaming with rage almost simultaneously, was too much. Gohan's courage broke, and with a frightened yelp he turned and ran, leaping into a crevice in the fractured ground and lying low.
Broly snorted. "What a waste… I guess I'm done here. Huh?" He looked up into the sky, alerted by a steadily-growing light in the sky. "Oh, I see. That's the comet Daddy dearest was making such a fuss about. It was going to destroy this planet and kill Vegeta." He bellowed with laughter. "Not if Vegeta could do this !" He launched an enormous emerald energy wave that arced up into the sky, hitting the comet as it drifted through space and obliterating it within seconds. "See where all your careful planning gets you?" Broly said, apparently talking to himself, or possibly an imaginary Paragus. "Now me, I never plan. I live in the moment-and I've never lost! This is the true life of a warrior!"
Kuriza's voice sounded out across the devastated forest. "If you think that's all there is to life, you're kidding yourself!" He hovered, arms folded and tail swishing back and forth, a few metres from Broly. "I should know-I was like that once."
Gohan peered out of his hiding place. Kuriza, no! Don't do it!
"You were like me?" Broly chuckled. "There's nobody like me!"
"Yes there is…" Kuriza settled to the ground and started marching towards Broly. "The whole galaxy is full of people like you! I grew up around them-people who prey on anyone weaker than them! Who don't respect anybody who they can just crush! You're not special, you just got lucky being born in the right place at the right time! There are thousands of people just like you- and I'm sick of it! "
"Well, my deepest apologies." Broly gestured around. "But look at them. Compared to them, you're nothing-what are you going to do to me ?"
"The only thing I know how to do!" Kuriza declared, pointing one finger towards the sky. A crackling red energy ball began to form, growing rapidly in size. "Fight, and keep on fighting until I can't anymore! I don't care how strong you are-I can't let you keep on hurting my friends!" He hurled the Death Ball, a technique Frieza had used to destroy entire planets in seconds, straight at Broly, who tensed himself, braced for impact, and punched it straight out of the air, the attack fading to wisps of red smoke as Broly's fist completely shattered it. Kuriza's eyes widened, but he stood his ground as Broly walked towards him with thundering footfalls.
"Kuriza!" Gohan leapt up, eyes dilating with fear, shouting to his friend. "Run! Don't try to fight him! Y-you'll die! Don't!"
Kuriza just grinned. "Sorry, Gohan. Goku turned my life around… and you're the only friend I've ever had. I owe you guys so much. I'd never be able to live with myself if I gave up now."
"You… you'd rather die?"
"I guess so. I'm trying not to think about it. Here goes nothing!" He charged, knowing defeat awaited him. Vicious blows hammered into his small body, knocking him back and forth. He coughed up blood, his muscles screamed, his head swam, but every time he picked himself up and flew back at Broly. His species' hyper-efficient, survival-oriented biology would keep him alive for a few seconds longer, but no more.
Gohan watched, wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. Fear warred in his mind, fear of death and fear of letting everyone down fighting for dominance. Finally, something inside… snapped. He closed his eyes, biting his lip until it bled. His shaking hands balled themselves into fists.
Run from a fight? What do you take me for?
You've never had to work a day in your life… well, we've had to work our whole lives to get where we are, and no freak of nature is going to beat great fighters like Goku and my father!
Get him, Gohan…
The whole galaxy is full of people like you… and I'm sick of it!
You're the only friend I've ever had.
I'd never be able to live with myself if I gave up now.
"Hh… Hhh… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! "
Gohan was gone. The beast had awakened.
Goku struggled to look up. All had seemed lost. Then-some kind of new power had stabbed into his mind, the ki sense's equivalent of standing too close to a rock concert or staring into a bright light. He saw… something gold and orange slam into Broly, a blur of movement shoot past him and an impact stagger him back a step. "Aah!" The insane saiyan growled. "What was-" Another impact knocked him flat on his face. Gohan was moving too fast for any of them to keep up with, not giving Broly any chance to defend himself. He lurched back up to a standing position, spotting his enemy's movement, heralded by a brilliant golden glow. Broly lashed out in a feral, uncoordinated swing, catching only empty air, and receiving a hard stomach punch in return. Again, Gohan was gone before they could even see him. His attacks began to speed up, smacking Broly back and forth, punctuated by his enraged screams. "NO! MORE! I WON'T LET YOU!" Bones cracked under his furious assault.
Broly fell to his knees, gasping for breath through cracked teeth, wincing through an eye swollen shut. His body was half-crushed, one arm hanging limply by his side and a huge scorch mark down his back. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, and everywhere he bled, he seemed to be leaking pure pale-green energy. The air shimmered, and Gohan appeared in front of the Legendary Super Saiyan. The fighters struggled to look up, but the light emanating from Gohan was too intense to see through. The air had an electric, charged feel to it. Had he made some kind of transformation? Broly stumbled forwards, and another blow launched him up into the air. They could just about see Gohan's outline, cupping his hands at his sides before throwing them forwards in one smooth movement. "YOU HEAR ME, BROLY?! NO MORE! " A massive kamehameha wave erupted from his palms, lighting up the sky and enveloping Broly, blasting him out into space and utterly crushing his body. He howled in frustration, uttering one final growl as he vanished into the void. " Ka… ka… rot…"
The light faded, and Gohan fell to his knees, losing the energy to maintain his Super Saiyan form. With an exhausted smile, he collapsed, happily losing consciousness and sleeping better than he had for weeks.
Several hours had passed. Raditz had dragged himself out of the dirt, collected everyone (including Paragus) and teleported them to New Namek, where their healers had used their magical arts to fully restore everyone (except Paragus) to full fighting condition. They'd then left for Earth, arriving back at Capsule Corp. to find nobody waiting for them-after a while, they'd all gone inside out of boredom. They were a sorry sight; even after being healed, Goku had huge ragged gashes all over his outfit, Raditz had completely lost his shirt while Gohan's hung loosely from one shoulder and one trouser leg was ripped away, and Break was basically down to her underwear (Kuriza didn't require clothes in his final form, due to its natural armour and efficient biology, and Nail could recreate his jacket with the abilities he'd picked up from Katas). It was agreed that the saiyans would spend the rest of the day in their normal states, resuming their Super Saiyan forms the next morning. As for Paragus, when they finally went inside (and received much berating, especially from Chi-Chi, about running off at the drop of a hat, and explained their adventures), Bulma agreed to make him a ship which would take him anywhere in the near galactic vicinity-accompanied by a warning that if he continued to act anything like he had while in control of Broly, destroying planets and species simply for the thrill of victory, he would not live very long.
"Still," Goku said, as he relaxed with his family back in their secluded home on Mount Paozu that evening, "we learnt something important today."
"We did?" Chi-Chi, passing Gohan some cough syrup, raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah. We know what Gohan's capable of when he's pushed. If he can access that kind of power on command, Cell doesn't stand a chance." He grinned. "Compared to Broly, this is going to be easy."
Chapter 33: Eye of the Hurricane
Sorry to tell you all this, but the next chapter won't be out this Sunday, but next Sunday. Yes, I'm going to miss two update days. Apologies, but I've been neglecting a bunch of stuff due to writing this. I will continue after that, though whether once a week or twice a week I'm not sure. Let me make it clear that I have no intention of stopping this anytime in the foreseeable future, so don't be alarmed.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The overexcited announcer proclaimed as a helicopter swooped down from above, twin spotlights focusing on an X-marked spot on the ground as cheering crowds lined the streets. "I present to you…" the announcer continued, his voice carried by dozens of speakers all throughout the city. " Hercule Satan, the martial arts champion of the world !" The cheers intensified as a tall man leapt from the helicopter, executed three perfect somersaults, landed with perfect poise and stood up straight to roars of adulation, holding up two fingers in his signature 'V' salute. "Hello, West City!" Hercule greeted his adoring public. He was large, with a wrestler's figure, sporting a black Mexican-style moustache and stubble on his rectangular chin, topped off with an afro almost the size of his head. He wore a large, gold-lined belt declaring his title as world champion, and had absolutely no ki whatsoever.
"Ugh." Bulma groaned as the night-time TV special continued. The whole procession was actually occurring only a few blocks away, but she found it marginally less obnoxious viewed on a screen. "Is this guy for real?"
Zarbon, entering the room, glanced at the screen. "Regrettably."
"Well, he's silly. Isn't he, Trunks?" Bulma held up her green-skinned, lavender-haired baby to the TV, and he waved a hand, enchanted by the flashing lights and loud voices coming from the strange box. "Yes, he is!" Bulma cooed. "Yes he is!"
Zarbon shook his head. "I sometimes wonder which of the two of you is more grown up."
"Well," Bulma muttered, "at least we're both far more mature than that clown out there!"
"Have no fear, people of Earth!" Hercule declared, talking into his microphone as he strode down the street. "Cell has challenged us-the entire human race-and I intend to meet that challenge! Who else but the world's greatest fighter should take on this alien menace?" Er… His train of thought failed to arrive at the station. Is he an alien? Ah, I don't know. It sounded cool, that's all that matters. "Yes, I, the great Hercule Satan, will defeat Cell, with my own-two-hands!" As he said this, a stack of stone blocks was placed before him by a pair of sycophantic attendants. "Observe my power!" Leaping several feet into the air, he brought his hand down in a swift karate chop, smashing straight through fourteen of the fifteen blocks. On the fifteenth, however, his hand bounced painfully, and he hopped away, hissing in pain and leaving the last block unmarked.
"Um…" the announcer made a quick recovery. " What skill ! Not only does he possess the strength to punch right through solid rock, Hercule has complete mastery of his awesome power-enough finesse to carefully leave the bottom block untouched! Truly, Earth could not hope for a better champion!"
"I can't watch any more of this," Raditz complained, watching the spectacle at Kame House. "I'm going."
"Going where?" Launch (blue-haired) asked.
"I don't know. For a walk. A fly, even."
"I'll come!" Break (wearing a similar outfit to the one she'd worn when they fought Broly, only now in pink, much to her irritation-but as the owner of all these clothes, it was Bulma's choice) offered, jumping up and running off after him.
Roshi shrugged. "Have it your way. I'm finding this hilarious!"
Launch giggled. "I know what you mean. I bet that guy couldn't even take an ordinary bullet!"
Roshi shook his head. "So this is a world martial arts champion… what's the world coming to?"
Raditz glanced over at his daughter as she flew up next to him, soaring over the ocean as the sun began to sink over the horizon. "I don't recall asking you to come."
"I don't recall asking your permission," she shot back, bringing a grin to his face. She's really something…
"We are going to have to do something about that, though," he mused.
"About what?"
"That Hercule person. We can't let him fight Cell, he'll be killed. The same goes for any mundane military force that's sent to stop him."
She frowned. "It's not our problem if people want to be stupid."
"Stupid's one thing. Ignorant's another."
"You know what I mean." She gestured over at a city as they passed Amenbo Island. "Think of the bigger picture. A few deaths is regrettable, sure, but nothing compared to all the people that'll die if the real fighters let themselves get distracted by all these little concerns."
Raditz fell silent for a few seconds. "You really think so, huh?"
"Of course. It's results that matter."
"Yes, I used to think so, too…"
They landed on the edge of the island. "It's time for me to do something I've neglected so far," Raditz decided.
"What's that?" she asked warily.
"I'm going to be your father." He ignored her bemused expression, walking towards a nearby tree. "Come here. I've taught you how to fight, and you've taken to it like a natural-you've learned how to be a saiyan. Now, you're going to learn to be something much more important… human."
"But aren't saiyans better?"
"No!" His voice was harsh for a second, and he seemed on edge, but the moment passed. "No, they're not."
She followed him up into the tree, sitting on a branch next to him. "What's this all about?" she asked.
"All your life you've been dealing with the big figure. You can save this person or that person. You can only help so many. Statistics. Compromises. Death becomes a number. The androids would always kill people. A low number is good." His face grew sad. "But it isn't. The world shouldn't work like that. You should have time to notice the small things."
She sighed, already growing tired of this conversation. "Like what?" And why are we in a tree?
He continued undaunted. "As you know, because I never shut up about it, I've spent most of my life on the extreme end of that spectrum. Deaths were just a number. It didn't matter, I just got the job done. Well… you're nowhere near that. But I see traces of the old me in you, and I'm worried for you. Here." He pointed to a bird's nest. "See those eggs? They're going to hatch pretty soon."
"Yeah, so?"
"You're going to stay here tonight and watch them. Make sure nothing happens to the bird or the eggs-no predators, strong winds knocking them off, nothing. You're going to protect them."
"What?!" She spluttered. "Why?!"
"Because you don't think it matters. I'll come back at sunrise," he told her, floating down to the ground. "If anything's happened, or if you're gone, I'm going to punch you. Repeatedly, if necessary."
"Punch me? What happened to all of that nice stuff just a second ago?"
He smirked. "I'm still me." With that, he was gone, leaving Break alone in the tree. She scowled at the bird, settling into a more comfortable position on the branch. This is ridiculous. I'm going to kill him. She thought about just staying the night at Capsule Corp and coming back a few minutes before dawn. No. If this turns out to be some kind of endurance test, I'm going to pass it. And if it is as pointless as it seems, I'll just hit him.
There were two other things for Raditz to do that night. He'd already eaten at Kame House, but he teleported over to Mount Paozu for a second dinner with his family, as usual. Chi-Chi was upstairs taking Gohan's temperature, and the saiyan brothers wolfed down their food in five seconds flat, so by the time she got back downstairs Raditz was already gone. After that, he teleported over to Capsule Corp. Bulma had finished Paragus' ship (an upgraded duplicate of the ship the brothers had taken to Namek) earlier that day, and Raditz was there to see him off.
"Get out of my sight," Raditz told him. "If I ever see you again, the beating you got last time-"
"Yes, I know, it's going to seem like a picnic, et cetera, et cetera…" Paragus stood on the boarding ramp. "I still don't understand you. You're Super Saiyans-the ruthless, unstoppable warriors of legend!" Even in the controlled, mastered state, Raditz's golden hair glowed faintly in the night. "How can you be this… soft and forgiving?"
"Don't confuse merely letting you go with forgiveness," Raditz warned him.
"But nonetheless, you are letting me go. Why? Where is your pride… your lust for battle?" His one working eye narrowed. "What are you?"
"I'm a saiyan, from Earth." Raditz hit a button on a nearby control panel, and the hatch began to slide shut. "Now get the hell off of my planet."
Break groaned, eyeing the bird. "I am so hungry I could eat you. I could honestly eat this tree." She rubbed her forehead, grumbling to herself. "I swear he's psychic. He picks the one night where everything on this whole damn island tries to kill this one bird. If I ever see a hawk again in my life, I am going to murder its entire family." Stunned and unconscious predators lay scattered around the tree. Splashes of dirt and mud dotted her body, and her clothes were soaked. "Not to mention the goddamn rain. But I can't power up and evaporate it, because that might dislodge the nest and smash his oh-so-precious eggs. And I can't go somewhere else to do it, because every two seconds something else tries to eat-huh?" She sat up straight, hearing a peculiar noise, something not unlike crackling paper. "Hey… what do you know…" She leaned over as the first cracks began appearing in one of the eggs. "It really is hatching…" she smiled despite herself as a tiny beak broke through the fragile shell. "Come on, little guy. Almost there. Hey! There you go…" one after the other, the chicks emerged, their mother fussing over them each in turn.
Raditz floated up silently next to Break, who was now totally entranced in the scene. "Having fun?" he asked, breaking the silence. She did a double take, nearly falling off the branch, and hastily sat up straight, folding her arms. "Hmph! There, I watched your damn eggs! See, they're hatched now! Are you satisfied?"
"Still don't think it's important?"
"Of course not! It's just some birds! Who cares about…" she trailed off as Raditz raised one hand, forming a tiny glowing sphere of energy in front of his palm. "Oh well. I guess I've wasted your time. I suppose if they're getting on your nerves that much…"
"No!" Her face a mask of fear, she dived at him, tackling him to the ground and taking the energy blast straight to her chest. "Aagh!" They crashed onto the grass, rolling apart.
"So, nobody cares about them, huh?" he asked. "Wouldn't it have made more sense for you, as a fighter, to save your energy for Cell rather than waste it on stopping me?"
"They were… lives. I just saw a whole bunch of new lives start, right in front of my eyes." She tried to sit up, winded by her father's attack. "And you were about to wipe them all out, just like that. So… fragile…"
He nodded. "I think you understand now."
"So… we're not letting those people fight Cell?"
"Right." They stood up, dusting themselves off.
"You're insane, do you know that?"
He looked genuinely puzzled. "What makes you say that?"
"You attacked me!" She punched him on the arm.
"What, so I start caring about something and suddenly I'm not allowed to be a warrior, is that it?"
This is most curious. Cell stood at the base of Korin Tower, having remained there, motionless, since first arriving. A group of relatively high (though nothing compared to me, of course) power levels arrived on the planet from space, and took Earth's fighters with them. Shortly, the fighters returned. But one of them… his energy feels different somehow. Not necessarily higher, but… deeper? It is perplexing… he gave a mental shrug. It doesn't matter. I'll find out everything I need to know soon enough. The day is fast approaching… this is going to be glorious.
Finally, it was the dawn of the sixth day. Cell's ultimatum ran out in 24 hours. There was no official decision that everyone would meet up at Caspule Corp, they just… did, as if they were drawn to see each other for what might be one last time.
Krillin was practicing furiously, putting the finishing touches on his stance and technique. I might be no match for Cell… but if it comes to it, I'm not going down without a fight! Although… it'll probably be a pretty short fight… he gulped. I hope Gohan comes through for us… I'll just have to trust Goku knows what he's talking about.
Zarbon was finally paying attention to his son, painfully aware that Trunks' life might be cut off before it ever fully begun. For once, the baby was being held by his father, hesitant but generally relaxed in the alien ex-soldier's arms. "You can win, right?" Bulma asked. "I mean, there's so many of you, and just the one of him…"
"I don't know. Honestly." He took her hand in his. "Cell really is unbelievably strong. I think our hopes all rest on Gohan now. Well… let's face it, it's all beyond me. You've got a better chance of stopping Cell than I do!" He smiled. "Speaking of which…"
"It's almost done." She nodded. "I won't have time to test it… we won't know if it works until we try."
"Still going to keep this mysterious 'anti-Cell device' you've been working on with your father a secret?"
"Yup!" She winked. "Don't worry. All will be revealed. I mean, it's not like we're asking you to power up and show us how much you improved in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. We just kinda assume you'll demonstrate when you get to the fighting."
"All right, be that way."
"Thank you, I will."
Break was standing on her own, atop Capsule Corp's highest building. How did it come to this? She wondered, knowing she didn't have an answer. This time travel is all so confusing. In one timeline, the androids kill everyone. The best we can figure, Cell must be from further on in my timeline-he killed me and took my time machine to get back here, to a time when the androids still existed. That means in that future I was able to destroy the androids both here in the past, and in the future. But as I am now, I could easily beat Cell in his first form, the state he apparently killed me in. So in that time I must have found a way to beat the androids without necessarily getting stronger than them… she shook her head. Gah! I'm giving myself a headache! It doesn't matter, anyway. By the looks of things, this 'perfect' Cell is going to kill us all in this timeline, which means we lose in every time! Cell's future stays empty, my future is ruled by the androids, and the past by Cell! Time travel wasn't the answer to all our problems, Bulma. It just multiplied them.
Goku sat on the grass next to Chi-Chi while Gohan and Kuriza chased each other around. "I'm glad you're finally spending time with your family and friends, Goku," Chi-Chi said. "It may have taken the greatest threat to Earth we've ever encountered, but…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean." He kissed her on the cheek. "It sounds so strange coming from me, but there is more to life than just training and fighting…"
"Awww, you big softie!" She laughed as he blushed. "But don't worry. I've got no problem with you fighting… it's what you love."
"It brought us together, too!" Goku realised, as Gohan made a dive at Kuriza, who jumped over his grab. Gohan hit the ground, rolled and jumped to his feet, coughed and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead, then leapt straight back into the chase.
"That's right," Chi-Chi reminisced. "Remember that tournament?" She giggled. "You'd promised to marry me, and you didn't even know who I was."
"I didn't even know what 'marry' meant!" He scratched his head. "I thought it was some kind of food…"
"You would."
"Well, call it a happy accident." He lay back on the grass. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Roshi walked over to Krillin, ducking past Launch (who was currently using Raditz as target practice after he'd made a particularly sarcastic remark). "Hey, Krillin," Roshi said, waving an amicable greeting. "Hey, uh… I know you youngsters have all surpassed me by a long way, but, uh… it seems so serious, I thought maybe-well-maybe I could help, you know?"
Krillin smiled. "You would?"
"Sure. This old dog still knows a few tricks!"
"Look…" Krillin put his hand on his old teacher's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but it really is out of your league. I'm not even sure if I should be going, and no offence, but I'm much more powerful than you are…"
Roshi brushed it off. "Oh, none taken, none taken. You've trained under Korin and Kami and King Kai, and all those people… it's only natural." He sighed.
"Hey, don't worry!" Krillin bowed to the aged master. "You've already done the Earth a great service by training this fine new generation of warriors. Oh, and Yamcha."
Roshi snickered. "Heheh… Just don't say that to his face… all right, I see your point. I'll stay out of the fighting. But speaking of generations, I'm seeing plenty of new faces around here. If, you know, if any of 'em ever look to becoming fighters…"
"I'll know where to point 'em."
"Well, if you don't want to send them to Korin or someone like that, might make a better teacher…" Roshi mumbled.
Krillin pointed down at his orange gi. "Hey-I'm still wearing your colours for a reason! And so's Goku! Don't undervalue yourself, all right?" I'd better get back to training… he thought. "Well, see ya around!" he jogged off.
"Right… see you around…"
Krillin's run took him towards Chiaotzu and Puar (Yamcha's odd, hovering, anthropomorphic feline companion) next, both looking somewhat downcast. "Hey, guys," Krillin called, waving. "How you doing?"
"Not too great." Puar sniffed. "Yamcha… Tien…"
"I know." Krillin crouched next to the pair. "But we're going to go and get the one who did it, all right? Well… Cell didn't actually kill Tien, but… he's the last android-so that counts. I guess."
"It's not revenge I'm worried about," Chiaotzu replied. "I just want my best friend back. He's like a father to me…"
Krillin nodded. "Don't worry. As soon as this is all over and we get back the Dragon Balls, we're going to wish back everyone Cell and the androids killed."
"Should I have trained?" Chiaotzu asked, out of the blue.
"Huh?"
"For the saiyans. Tien told me not to, and I haven't seriously trained since then. So I've never really been in a position to compete." The pale-skinned child looked up at Krillin. "Could I have made a difference, do you think? Would Tien have lived?"
"I don't know…" Krillin sat down next to them. "I just don't know. I mean, you're still alive, there's that… try not to think about what might have been. Here's what is going to happen. We're going to fight Cell. We're going to win. And we're going to undo everything he and his kind have done to us."
The charging, tumbling children crashed past Raditz as he snatched Launch's gun away, holding it over his head to keep it from her reach. He was so captivated by the sight that he didn't notice when she jumped up and grabbed it from his hand. Super Saiyan and frost demon… playing together. "Heh." Maybe there is hope for this universe after all.
Nail approached so quietly Break didn't realise he was behind her on the roof until he spoke. "Something on your mind?"
She nodded. "I'm just thinking… by time travelling back here to try and make things better, I've just made everything worse… now there's all these different doomed timelines, instead of just one. I've failed."
"Don't talk like that." Nail stepped forwards, standing next to her. "In your timeline, how many of these people-the ones you see down there-were dead by now?"
"Uh…" she looked around. "Most of them, I guess."
"There you go, then." Nail smiled. "You've changed things for the better. The Earth got to live in peace a little longer. And we actually stand a chance of winning this time." He hopped off the rooftop, gently floating down towards the others. "How would you like to join us?"
Slowly, her air of depression seemed to lift. "I'd love to."
The planet, thousands of light years from Earth, had been laid bare by the invaders' random, impulsive acts of destruction. Every major city had been ransacked, anything especially valuable-looking stolen before the rest was reduced to rubble in seconds. Almost no native life remained. The attackers, spotting a squadron of inbound transport ships, imagined a relief force from the former frost demon empire had been sent.
"But Lord…" one of the invaders protested, "you said the empire was in chaos-we'd encounter no resistance."
"Calm yourself!" The leader waved the objector's doubt away. "It isn't impossible that some new leader's taken advantage of the power vacuum and re-organised enough to answer the distress signal the natives sent out. Don't worry, though… they won't have anyone who's a match for us."
The four attack pods opened simultaneously, and Vegeta emerged from the lead one. "Finally, we're here…" he flexed his shoulders, feeling the perfect fit of his new, custom-made armour. Flashes of red, reminiscent of his father's colours, mixed with the royal saiyan blue and touches of gold-a symbol of his status as a Super Saiyan. He walked out onto the surface of the planet (he hadn't bothered to learn its name. What did it matter?), followed by five uniformed soldiers. Each bore the saiyan royal crest on their chestplate, a mark of their allegiance to the prince. In his travels through the galaxy, he'd handpicked these three as the most skilled and loyal warriors he could track down-some others had resisted joining him (and consequently their lives had ended abruptly).
Vegeta's eyes flicked left and right as he reached out with his mind. There. East of here… and they were every bit as powerful as he'd hoped. This one might actually be worth his time. His troops were evidently being informed of the same on their scouters. He'd tried to teach his men to sense energy at first, but they never lasted long enough to we worth the effort. Another consequence of this quick turnover was that he never took the trouble to learn his soldiers' names. Why should he? If they couldn't live long enough to stick in his memory, why did he owe them anything? "Vegeta force-move out!" Frieza had jokingly used the name on Namek, and it had grown on him (he'd inherited something of a penchant for naming things from his father).
The group flew in an efficient, defensive formation, landing in the midst of a ruined city-abruptly, the energy they were sensing vanished. "Caution!" Vegeta warned his subordinates. "They know we're here, and they know how to hide. Dumb one-reconaissance west. Pretty one-take point. One with weird powers-guard the rear."
"Yes, sir!" came the chorused response, as his minions spread out to carry out his orders. He relaxed, trying to empty his mind, focusing his ki sense. I sensed them just seconds ago… they can't have gone far. You can't hide from me… there! It's faint, but they can't hide their power completely. One slightly below ground level a few hundred metres in front… two to the left… a big one to the right… and one- Vegeta whirled as a blue streak of movement shot up from behind, the prince's combat reflexes kicking in, his elbow jamming into his attacker's throat and flooring them in one swift movement. "Incompetents!" he snarled at his underlings. "They're all around you. Stay alert!" He looked down at his would-be assailant-a tall, blue-skinned man with bright, floppy orange hair held up with a loose headband. He wore a baggy black and white outfit and carried a long sword at his waist. At the moment, he was rolling away from Vegeta, choking for air from the saiyan's brutal attack.
The being clambered to his feet, taking a deep breath and straightening up. His face hardened. "You got lucky."
"Who are you to challenge the prince of saiyans?" Vegeta demanded.
The man smiled, drawing his sword. "I am but an emissary of my master Bojack-and this world is his! Leave immediately, or we will destroy you!"
"A fine job you're doing so far." Vegeta grinned. "I call it one-nothing, my favour."
One of the prince's henchmen turned to face the attacker, when a fast-moving shape erupted from the rubble opposite him. A second figure, this one female but of the same race, materialised next to the soldier, snapping his neck with a quick movement. Incensed, Vegeta's other two minions flew off in pursuit of her, firing volleys of energy beams which she easily dodged, leading them in wide circles around Vegeta and his opponent. "See how your servants already begin to fall?" the swordsman boasted.
Vegeta laughed out loud. "Oh no, Expendable Big Stupid Guy #3, whatever shall I do without him? You think I need those idiots? Allow me to demonstrate."
"Don't you want to know who you're dealing with? Bojack the conqueror-" Vegeta leapt forwards, closing the distance between them almost instantly and kicking the swordsman in the face, knocking him back through the air. Moving quickly, he appeared behind his enemy in mid-flight, backhanding him casually to the ground. "I don't care who it is I'm fighting!" Vegeta told him, his smile widening. "I don't care about this planet, either! I'm not some liberator trying to put Frieza's empire back together!"
The alien staggered away, raising his sword defensively. "Then why are you here?!"
"I have only one desire-to be the best! The universe's greatest warrior! I cannot tolerate any stronger force! So when I heard of your little trail of destruction… it was too good to resist. A perfect opportunity to prove my superiority."
The swordsman's eyes narrowed. "You think you can just use us as practice ?! You'll die for that!" He dashed at Vegeta, swinging his sword in a wide arc, but he found himself halted halfway through his swing. Vegeta was blocking his sword with the back of one hand, a large gash bleeding a red stream down to his elbow and dripping onto the ruined ground, but no pain registering on his face. Vegeta slowly smiled. "You seem very confident in that weapon. A true fighter doesn't rely on petty tools!" With a sudden shout, the royal saiyan sent out a wave of ki that shattered the sword down to the hilt. "So, I'm going to die for this, am I?"
"Kogu!" The second marauder came to a halt behind her male ally. "Do you need any help over there?"
"I can handle it, Zangya!" he shouted back. "Just watch yourself, they're catching up!"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course they are. I let them." She vanished, there was a blur and several loud impacts, and a second soldier dropped dead at her feet.
"Oh look, there goes the arrogant, effeminate one," Vegeta said in a sarcastic monotone. "One with weird powers, deal with her, all right?"
"Uh… sir!" His final remaining soldier turned back to Zangya, gritting his teeth and resuming the chase.
"You can handle it, you say." Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Not from where I'm standing."
"So you say…" Kogu chuckled. "But you have yet to witness the true power of the Hera-jins!"
"Hera-what now?"
Kogu groaned. "Our species. The race of Hera… you don't care."
"I really don't."
"Fine. Let's just… ngh… get this- over with !" With these words, Kogu underwent a sudden transformation. His muscles bulged out, shredding his shirt, and his power rose dramatically. In addition, his skin became green and his hair red. With his boosted power, he jumped at Vegeta, grabbing the prince around the neck with both hands and slamming him into the ground. "Now you know… never to underestimate your opponent!"
Vegeta gripped Kogu's forearms, one in each hand, pushing with all his strength to relieve some of the pressure on his hand. "You're about to… be eating your own words… you freak…"
"What…?"
"You see…" a mocking tone came into his voice. "You're not dealing with the average saiyan warrior… HAAA!" He felt the welcome surge of power as he transformed into his Super Saiyan state, feeling new energy flood into his muscles, letting him easily lift Kogu's hold as if it was a child he was pushing against. He swung his body around, throwing the Hera-jin away. Kogu skidded to a halt, glowering at him. "You can transform too? What are you?"
"You don't know?" Vegeta dropped his guard, not in the least bit afraid of his opponent anymore. "I'd have thought the stories were a bit more widespread… I am the legend brought to life-the Super Saiyan!"
"The Super…" fear filled the alien's eyes. "No! It can't be… not here…"
"Ah, so you have heard of me." With this, Vegeta disappeared, materialising in front of Kogu just long enough for a final pang of fear to register in his opponent's mind before he brought his hands together, messily crushing Kogu's skull between them.
Vegeta kicked his dead foe (although 'foe' may have been too strong a word for such a disappointing opponent) away, the body rolling heavily and coming to a halt at Zangya's feet as she came to a halt, gazing dispassionately down at him. "That's a shame," she murmured. "A little inconvenient, I suppose." Vegeta's 'Henchman with weird powers' skidded to a halt in front of her, breathing in deeply. "Finally, I've got you!"
"Really? And what are you going to-aagh!" She found herself encased in a flickering red field of electricity as Vegeta's minion's hands waved in the air, subtly manipulating the shocking currents.
The soldier grinned. "That's what overconfidence gets you…" There was a soft hiss, and his entire body jerked to the side, as if pulled by an invisible puppet-master. A third Hera-jin stood behind him, arms held up in front of his face, and as Vegeta watched with intent he saw the daylight reflect off… something. He's created some kind of… strings? They seem to be very durable, in any case… As the trooper struggled to escape the near-invisible trap, Zangya found herself freed. Acting quickly, she closed the distance and ripped the soldier's head off without hesitation.
"So, this is the 'Super Saiyan' we've all heard about," a harsh voice called out. "I imagined you a little… taller."
Vegeta grunted. "Funny." He turned to face the speaker, and saw another pair of aliens approaching. And that accounts for the last two power levels I sensed. The one on the right especially-he'll be a worthy challenge… "But you're hardly one to talk about appearances. The idiot I just killed was blabbering about someone called 'Bojack' who this world apparently belongs to. Which one is he?"
The Hera-jins assembled around the newcomers. All bore the same hued skin and hair, along with upward-slanting pointed ears. They sported baggy civilian clothing and, without exception, the same stupid grin. It said, ' you're no threat to me, but I'll play along until you start to bore me '. Zangya, the group's only female, he'd already encountered. Of the lot, the one who'd trapped his last soldier was the smallest, a purple turban wrapped around his head. There was a large bearded thug with a small jacket and a ridiculous mohawk, and finally the tallest of the group, a bandana partially holding in his wild expanse of hair, bearing a multitude of scars. His power was by far the highest of all of them, and it was him who spoke. "I am Bojack," he replied. "In your position, I wouldn't speak to me that way. I make it four to one, little ape."
Ignoring the jab, Vegeta returned Bojack's arrogant smile. "Then we must see things differently. As I said to your deceased comrade-and discounting those three fools who accompanied me, whose lives I don't care for in the slightest-I make it one-nothing." He indicated Kogu's body. "Your move."
Bojack shrugged. "Very well, little man. Let's make an example. Bido, if you will?"
"Going to take me on one at a time?" Vegeta taunted. "That hasn't worked out so far, now has it?"
Bido, now revealed to be the large, jacketed one, sneered. "Please. Kogu was by far weaker than any of us-with the exception of Bujin here," he nodded towards the turban-wearing one, "but his unique abilities more than make up for it. Really, you just did us a favour by removing a dead weight."
"Very well. I'll fight you one-on-one." Vegeta settled into his familiar stance, one hand down by his side ready to strike at any moment, the other held high in front of his face to guard from a frontal assault. "This won't take long." Hopefully I can get this done quickly, and move on to the main event… this Bojack intrigues me. It's been a while since I've had a proper adversary.
Bido strode forwards with confidence. "Excellent. Let's see what the legend is made of…"
The invader charged, and Vegeta leaned casually to the side, avoiding his first punch and blocking his second. "Tell me," the prince asked sarcastically, "where did you get that haircut? I've always wanted to look completely ridiculous."
"Gaah!" The comment enraged Bido, and his next attack lacked focus, leaving an opening for Vegeta to kick him straight through the only standing building left of the city. Just as Bido was standing back up Vegeta was upon him, throwing a barrage of punches designed to test his enemy's skill-which, as it turned out, was not great. Bido reacted to each in turn, never planning for the next and constantly being caught off-guard by tiny, constant alterations in Vegeta's attack pattern. He kept his blows light, treating this as a warm-up-this one obviously lacked real training.
Vegeta's attacks began to slow down further, teasing Bido with his inaccuracy as the former apartment block crumbled around them, but the Hera-jin was not entirely without fighting sense. Feigning weakness, he stumbled away, then straightened up and landed a hard punch to the back of Vegeta's hand-right where Kogu's sword had slashed it. Hissing, the prince fell back, his vision blurring. In that moment, Bido pressed forwards, another punch flooring the saiyan. Vegeta moved with the momentum of the blow, pushing off the ground, spinning in the air and throwing himself back at his enemy. "I guess you're not a total waste. I'll have to try a little harder!" He slipped through Bido's obvious, telegraphed defenses, driving him back and finishing with a spinning elbow that sent Bido reeling. The Hera-jin began to back away in fear. He's too fast!
"Stay right where you are!" Bojack ordered. "There are no cowards under my command." His eyes narrowed. "If you shame the reputation of the greatest space pirates in the universe, then you're no longer of use to me. Do you understand me?"
Bido gulped, turning back to Vegeta. "Right."
Vegeta smiled. "Let's play a little game, shall we? Three. "
"Uh… three?"
"That's how many hits it'll take to bring you down." Before Bido could respond, the prince shoved his knee into the pirate's neck. "One." Dropping to the ground, he ducked under a clumsy counter-attack, launching an uppercut that snapped Bido's head back and flung him into the air. "Two." Springing forwards, he finished with a haymaker that sent Bido skidding across the ground, coming to a halt at Bojack's feet. "Three."
There was a long silence as each side weighed the other up, calculating eyes searching for weak points, opportunities to attack. Finally, it was broken-the prince stared straight into Bojack's eyes, grinning.
"Next."
Chapter 34: Broken
Goku
Awake. It's the day. Cell. Stay calm. We can do this. We have Gohan. Chi-Chi reassures me, but I can see the fear behind her eyes. She doesn't want Gohan to fight. "I don't either. But don't worry. It won't even be a challenge. He'll wipe the floor with Cell with this new power." I wish I believed that.
Breakfast. Dressed. Second breakfast. Warm-up. Third breakfast. Okay. Ready as I can be. Super Saiyan-no, I'm already transformed. I'm getting nervous. Losing focus. Calm. It's going to be-wait… Gohan, what's-?
Raditz
Couldn't sleep. Cruised over the ocean. Back now. Roshi's up. Good luck, he says. Luck isn't an issue here. Gohan is stronger than Cell, or he isn't. Why am I even going?
No, don't think like that. This is important. Dress. Armour? I stopped wearing it when fighting Cooler-didn't want to wear his symbol-but, you know… I could use every advantage I can get. Three mourning bands. Bardock. Goku. And… what was her name? Why can't I remember? How long has it been since I've been able to remember her name? Put it out of my mind. Focus now. The battle approaches.
Is Break concealing something? I can't help but feel she hasn't quite got the same level of control over Super Saiyan as we have. The occasional flicker, and the rage resurfaces momentarily. Never mind. We can worry about it later. She's up. Oh, she cut her hair back to shoulder-length. Eh. I imagine it could be inconvenient-I guess I'm just used to it.
Break
Raditz was already awake and dressed for battle. Typical. I roll out of bed, climb to my feet. Clothes. Going to need something to fight in… ah. There it is. I remember-Bulma was annoyed at having to make it at the last minute, but she came through. It's a set of saiyan armour. And not just any armour-it's an exact copy of the set one of my grandfather Bardock's comrades wore. Her name was Fasha, I think? Finally-I've been in civilian clothes for too long. I discard them, and put it on.
It feels good. The fabric is an alien make, stretching to perfectly fit any size (I couldn't wear Raditz's-they were tailored exactly to him, and while they can stretch to become larger, they can't get smaller). It's a dark shade of pink, a colour I never liked much, but I think it must have been by association. Here, it looks fine. I tap on the armoured chestplate a couple of times-durable, but not heavy at all.
Now I look the part. I feel like a warrior, possibly for the first time. Just remember what he's taught me. Saiyan, but still human. If that makes sense.
We raid the fridge, prompting cries of protest from the others. Whatever. Time to go. The world isn't going to wait.
Launch.
She stands in the doorway, holding back tears. They share a moment. I try not to look. Then it's my turn. Lingering. I don't want to leave, but I don't want to stay. Goodbye? Maybe. I hope not. Please, come through for us, Gohan.
Nail
I've been meditating for 12 hours. I can feel Cell like a distant pressure on my mind. It's time. They're awake. I stand. Leave the Capsule Corp building silently. Take off. I'm just going to observe, really. Gohan will win. I've been studying his power, and Cell's. It's hidden, but no amount of concealment can defeat the level of searching I've been doing.
Gohan will win. I know this. So why am I still so worried? What could happen?
Krillin
It's time. Oh man, I'm gonna die, I'm too young to die… No, we'll be okay. We've got Gohan. Apparently he took down this Broly guy like it was nothing.
But Cell… ah, who am I kidding, we're all doomed.
Are we?
What am I doing? What difference can I make? Cheering them on? When even the Super Saiyans might not get a shot? Well… I can't just stay home and let them go out and fight. I guess that settles it. My conscience won't let me stay behind. It doesn't matter, anyway-we're all dead if Gohan loses.
Why is Eighteen stuck in my head? She's gone. Forget her. She was probably going to kill me sooner than talk to me, anyway. Forget her… but I can't.
Zarbon
Yes, I could leave.
I could just up and leave this planet to get destroyed. But I won't. Because I know Bulma wouldn't. And I wouldn't abandon her for the entire universe.
You think I'm exaggerating? I could own a fairly large chunk of said universe, if I wanted. There really aren't many people out there who could stand up to me. But I'm here, on Earth. Here at the end of the world.
What? Yes, I said it. The end. We're going to lose. I'm not kidding myself-I experienced Cell's power myself, however briefly, and I know what I'm talking about. But I'm going to be there when it happens. It's a better end than some I can think of.
Bulma
It's not finished!
Well, it is. Sort of. I mean, theoretically it might work. But I haven't had time to perform even the most preliminary tests! Dad says it'll work. He would. I guess we won't know until we try.
Still, Raditz's last-minute armour request for Break gave me an idea. I've got a little gift for him. Eh, I'll give it to him when we get there.
What? Yeah, I'm going. This is everyone's battle. I'm not getting left out. Besides, I might be one of their best chances for winning this thing. Bulma Brief, saviour of the Earth… has a nice ring to it, don'tcha think?
Wave to mom and dad. Anti-Cell device stowed away. Capsule-jetbike. Time to go to work.
Gohan
Oh. It's the day. I should be confident. How can I fail? But I'm terrified. Can I- Woah. Almost tripped getting out of bed. Not a good start. Heh.
Still. That was weird. Not like me to lose my balance like that. Oh well. Probably just still tired. Eh. Getting dressed. An outfit just like dad's. I like that. I know they expect a lot from me. I'll try and deliver. I can't help but feel a little resentment, though… why should a kid be expected to save the whole world by himself?
No, don't think like that. They're only depending on me because they don't have anybody else. And this is going to be easy, right? I mean, Broly-uh… whoa.
Room's spinning. I'm not a Super Saiyan, when did that-
I'm on the floor. How did I get here? And why do I feel…
"Dad!" My voice sounds so distant. Hot. Cold. Colours starting to distort. Can't…
Goku rushed into the room. "Gohan! What's-oh, no!" He saw his son on the floor, bent down to pick him up. Chi-Chi beat him to it, sprinting downstairs carrying the boy. She laid him on the couch, scurrying around fetching wet towels, tablets, medicines. Gohan groaned. Goku felt his forehead-extremely high temperature. It was so sudden! He was fine yesterday… what kind of disease could have done this? Gohan gritted his teeth, his hand desperately clawing at his chest. Goku leaned down. "What is it, son? Does it hurt there?" Slowly, as though only half-awake, Gohan nodded. Wait… his… heart? Could it be…
"Chi-Chi! I know what the problem is!" He snapped his fingers. "It's the heart virus Break warned us about!"
Chi-Chi skidded to a halt, dropping the armful of medicines. "I thought she said you were going to get it… actually, when you didn't, I forgot about the whole thing…" her face lit up. "But she gave you the cure, didn't she?" Without waiting for an answer, she headed upstairs. "Don't worry, I'll get it! Our little boy will be just fine."
"Right…" Goku sat down next to Gohan, who was breathing heavily, his body violently convulsing. The timeline must've altered even more than we thought! What next? "It's okay, son. You're going to be fine. Just hold on, Mom's going to…" His eyes widened. What's this I'm sensing?! No, that's impossible, he wouldn't- There was a crash from upstairs. Goku sprang to his feet and climbed the stairs with superhuman speed. He was too late-Chi-Chi was in her bedroom, looking startled. The room was half-destroyed, one wall ripped out and the cool air blowing gently inside. "Chi-Chi! Don't tell me…"
"C-C-Cell…" her teeth were chattering, her pupils dilated. "He took… he took the…" she gulped. "Goku, he's got Gohan's medicine!"
Goku growled. "Not on my watch!" He leapt into the air, taking off after Cell's receding energy trail as his golden aura burst into life. It took less than a minute for the high-velocity chase to end up with both standing at the base of Korin Tower, Cell having beaten his pursuer by several seconds.
"Ah, Goku," Cell said, nodding to the Super Saiyan. "You're just in time…"
Gohan's tortured, anguished face filled his father's mind. " Give me that medicine, you bastard! "
"Heh." Cell sneered. "You can have it, if you like… it's hidden underground, a few miles from here, along with the Dragon Radar. Of course, you've got no chance of getting time to search for them while I'm still alive-call it insurance. I did take one other item of interest, while you were all gallivanting off into space, but I'm keeping this one closer to hand…" he held up a standard-looking capsule.
"Huh? What's inside?" Goku asked.
"That's for me to know…" Cell closed his hand, concealing it again.
"How did you know where the medicine was, anyway?" Goku demanded. "And why steal it now?"
"Simple!" Cell shrugged. "I knew how you died in my timeline. I reasoned Break would want to prevent it, and there's only one known cure. I sensed Gohan's energy drop in that particular way-the amplified Super Saiyan metabolism actually making it worse. Clearly the virus striking. Then, using the schematics of your house in Dr. Gero's database, I isolated the most likely area for you to store it."
"I get it." Goku nodded. "You felt Gohan's power when he returned from Earth. You know what he's capable of, don't you? You're scared of him."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Cell snapped. "I fear no being."
"Sure."
Raditz and Break arrived at this point, shortly followed by Zarbon and Nail, and finally Krillin. "Ah, the gang's all here," Cell said with a soft laugh.
"What happened to Gohan?" Krillin asked.
Goku sighed. "Heart virus. Cell took the cure." There was a pause as this sunk in. They were on their own. Despair began to take hold.
"Let's not waste time." Goku told them. "I won't lie, I don't like our odds. But I know all of you. You're great fighters, and we won't let each other down. Fight hard. Don't die easy… uh, where's Bulma? And Kuriza, for that matter…"
"I don't know." Zarbon shrugged. "They should be here by now. Maybe they had to stop and do something… or they forgot something… I don't know. We'll have to do this with who we've got."
"In such a rush to get started?" Cell asked. "One moment." He grunted, his power fluctuating wildly, and his tail (hidden under his wings in his perfect form) flared out into the funnel shape. Something shot out from within… and stood up, grinning maliciously.
Raditz's eyes widened. "What the… it's like a miniature Cell!" It was followed by six more, emerging in a staggered line and grinning like idiots. Each stood no more than a couple of feet high, its pale blue coloration contrasting with Cell's green.
"These are my Cell Juniors," Cell explained, indicating the chattering group as his tail retreated back under his wings. "Don't be fooled-each is nearly as powerful as I am myself."
"What's this?" Nail demanded. "Going to have them do your work for you?"
"Nothing of the sort," Cell replied. "But there's so many of you, and just little old me… I'll fight one of you at a time. If the rest try to interfere, my Cell Juniors will step in." The seven Cell Juniors stood in a row in front of Cell, with an opening in the middle of their line. "Now, who will fight me first? Step forwards."
One on one? Goku thought. This day just keeps getting worse. He opened his mouth to volunteer. No particular reason-it was just the kind of thing he did.
"I'll go first." Break stepped forwards.
"Break? Are you sure-"
"HAAAAH!" She responded by almost instantly powering up to her maximum, flooring Zarbon and Krillin.
Goku blinked. Her power… it's like I suspected when we fought Broly, she's as least as strong as me…
"I need to do this," she told them. "This whole mess is partly my fault. And you've all shown so much kindness to me…" she smiled. "I've got to meet my parents. All the great heroes I've heard about. And I've been able to see what the world should be like. Thank you all." With that, she turned and walked up to Cell. "Let's go."
"Very well." Cell raised his arms in his peculiar stance, one hand over the other. "Start when you like."
"Hah!" Standing only a couple of feet away to begin with, she started with a low kick that he jumped over. Again… his speed never fails to amaze me… She leaned to the side, blocking Cell's first punch and launching a jab at his side, which he caught, swinging his knee at her face. She broke away, jumping several metres back and coming to a halt.
"Ah, quite impressive." Cell smiled. "This will be entertaining. The girl from the future… my first challenger. This day is starting out rather splendidly!"
"Does anyone else hear that?" Zarbon asked.
"Yes…" Raditz spat. "There's no mistaking the sound of an ego that large."
Goku put his head in his hands. "It's Mr. Satan, isn't it?"
"Unfortunately."
"The atmosphere here is incredible!" The commentator boomed. "Hercule Satan, Earth's greatest hero, is about to confront the monstrous Cell! How do you feel, champ?"
"How do I feel?" Hercule flashed a grin. " I feel like kicking some ass !"
"Simply astounding! Even in the face of death, his confidence never falters for a second! I… who's that?" Raditz, powered down into his normal state, stood blocking their path. "Hey! Get out of the way! Hercule's on his way to-"
"Yes, yes, defeat Cell and save the world." Raditz frowned. "Go home."
"Uh…"
"You heard me." Raditz pointed away from the battlefield. "Go."
Hercule marched up to the saiyan. "Oh, really? Sorry, mister, I'm here on business. Now get out of my way, or this might have to get ugly."
Raditz sighed. "You're not going to listen, I guess. You're completely in over your head, you know. Cell's far too powerful for you to stop."
"Are you questioning my abilities?!" Enraged, Hercule swung a fist at Raditz, who didn't bother to lift a hand to stop it. The punch connected with his jaw, to no effect.
"'Questioning' would be an exaggeration."
"Wha… what kind of trick is this?" Hercule spun around, delivering a powerful kick to Raditz's stomach, again to no avail. The saiyan just flared a tiny amount of ki, throwing Hercule to the ground. "I see…" Hercule jumped back up. "You're pretty good with all that smoke and mirrors stuff, huh? But your cheap tricks can't fool me!"
Raditz snorted. "Trick? Nothing of the sort. I'm just a real warrior-something you wouldn't know anything about."
"Go on, prove it!" Hercule shouted. "Stop standing there and fight!"
"Fine. But remember, you brought this on yourself." Raditz stepped forwards, closing the distance in the blink of an eye, the lightest tap from one of his knuckles flinging the martial arts champion several metres back. "This can go on as long as you want it to, or you can recognise the truth."
"What… I… it's a-a trick, that's all!" Hercule told the cameraman following the fight. "You don't believe him, surely?"
"Uh…" the commentator looked at the camera, which was relaying the footage live to millions. "No comment. You've seen it with your own eyes, folks-it's up to you to decide. Parlour tricks? Or is this superman for real? Either way-whose side is he on? Is he in league with Cell, or is this Earth's true hero?" Raditz remained motionless. I don't care what he thinks. All that matters is that he isn't going to get himself killed.
Break charged again, but Cell ducked her kick. She spun in the air, swinging her other leg down and knocking him to the ground. Cell shot bursts of ki from both hands, propelling himself into an upwards shoulder-charge that took Break by surprise, winding her. She fell away, righting herself in mid-air and blocking Cell's follow-up punch. He pressed the attack, pushing her slowly back. "Well, this is a surprise!" Cell laughed. "You may well be the strongest of the lot…"
But still, she realised, I get the feeling he's holding back, even now. Just how powerful is he? Only one way to find out, I guess… "Okay!" She started dashing left and right at random, putting on bursts of speed and throwing out afterimages to confuse Cell. He hesitated, his eyes flicking back and forth between them. The real Break appeared behind him, and he noticed at the last second, turning just in time to raise a hand to block. The punch never came-instead, a volley of red-tinged energy bullets from her other hand drove him into the ground. She dived down at him, aiming for his exposed midsection with both feet, but he caught her by the ankles and threw her away into the air.
Stopping her flight, she floated down to Cell, who was standing up with apathetic slowness. "I have to admit, Cell, you're a fighting genius," she told him.
He smiled. "I didn't declare myself 'perfect' for nothing. This is the combined tactical knowledge of all your greatest warriors at work, combined to form the ultimate combat machine!"
"Let's test that, shall we?" They disappeared, loud crashes reverberating around the landscape.
"Uh…" Nail glanced back and forth. "Can… can you keep up with their movements?"
"Of course!" Goku looked faintly puzzled. "Can't you?"
Break… I wish I could help… Nail looked at the assembled Cell Juniors. But I fear any intervention we made would just make things worse. Besides, I think this is how you'd have wanted to do this-alone. You do take after your parents…
The fighters reappeared as a quick energy blast from Break's eyes took Cell by surprise, and his last-minute dodge left him open to an elbow jammed into his shoulder. He fell away, gritting his teeth, and she pursued relentlessly, a double-fisted swing smashing him to the ground. This time, he was on his feet in an instant, becoming slowly more wary of her abilities. "I have to admit, this really is a pleasant surprise." Cell smiled. "But let's be practical. You don't have to do this. You could just leave… if you had this, of course." He held up the mysterious capsule again.
"What's that…?" She dropped to the ground, cautiously edging closer. Cell pressed the switch, throwing the capsule to the ground, the miracle technology opening out and revealing the much larger contents-a multi-legged yellow vehicle. "Hey!" Break gasped. "That's… my time machine? How'd you get it?"
"Simple. Anyone fast enough to notice my passing was in space, so I took the liberty." Cell indicated the machine. "You don't have to remain in the past. Go ahead, leave-you're now easily powerful enough to destroy both the imperfect version of me, and the androids, in your timeline."
"You'd… let me leave?"
"But of course." Cell shrugged. "I'm nothing if not practical-the less fighters who oppose me, the better. We'd both gain something from this."
Her mind, of course, was already made up. "You know I can't abandon these people."
"But what about your family? Your real family, in your time." He studied her reactions carefully as he spoke. "Bulma? Trunks? Gohan?"
Break took a deep breath. "The last time I saw them… Trunks was dead. Android Eighteen was beating Gohan into the ground. Bulma might have got away."
"You see? Why don't you go help them? If I kill you here, there'll be nobody to save them…"
"I can't do that." Break smiled. "I'd be betraying Gohan's trust!"
"What? That doesn't make sense…"
"He'll find a way. There's always a way. I have complete faith in him, he won't let himself lose. And even if they get past him, Bulma will think of something. She always does. Here, though, things are different. You're a much greater threat than the androids ever were…"
Cell scowled. "You're delusional."
"Gohan and Bulma will come through. They'd all want me to stop you. If I run now… I've let everyone down. Here and there. And one more thing…" She waved a hand with a ripple of ki, and the time machine abruptly exploded.
"What?!"
She grinned. "… I can't fight you at my full potential with that kind of distraction there! I won't allow that temptation to exist in my mind-now I can be completely focused on victory. The here and now."
"You… fool!" He hissed.
"Maybe so. But I'd rather be a fool than the kind of person who'd betray all these people." She raised her guard. "Billions, Cell. There are billions of people on this planet. And thanks to my father… I now appreciate how important every single one of them is! And you threatened to wipe them all out… just because you were bored ? There's no way you're going to win!"
"If you say so…" he charged her, alternating high and low strikes to keep her on the move. She stepped back, dodging out of the path of his latest attack, but he just continued the movement of the punch, dropping forwards onto his hand and springing off the ground towards her, kicking with both feet. Crossing her arms in front of her face, she took the attack head-on, sliding back with the force of it. Then she jumped, Cell's charge carrying him further on underneath her, and she slammed him down into the dirt again, leading with her knee. Cell threw his ki outwards in a sickly green flare of light, knocking her off and springing into the air.
"Get back here!" She blurred as she chased after him, their soaring forms colliding in mid-air and trading furious, high-speed blows. She landed a punch to his jaw, he kneed her in the gut. He kicked her in the side, she hit him square in the chest. Neither seemed about to give way.
Hercule was flat on his back, panting. He'd been trying, without success, to get past Raditz, for several minutes. Raditz shrugged. "I'm going back to watch the fight now. Be warned-that was just a tiny fraction of what I'm capable of, and I'm pretty sure Cell's a lot stronger than me."
"Well…" The commentator shrugged, almost lost for words, as Hercule lost consciousness. "You saw it here first, folks!"
Break ducked under an overhead swing, landing a solid kick to Cell's abdomen, doubling him over. She grabbed hold of his crown-like head structure in one hand, shoving him face-first into the dirt, but he took hold of her attacking arm in both hands and levered himself up, forcing her down and kicking off of her. Cell somersaulted away, only to see Break's afterimage fade-and a concentrated energy wave fly at him from behind. Cell spun quickly, grimacing and kicking it away into the air with some effort.
The battle resumed in full, each attack shaking the surrounding hills. Finally, the pair came to a halt a few feet a part. "Heh heh heh…"
"Still laughing?" She brushed some dirt off of her shoulder, rubbing a painful spot where she'd blocked a full-force blow with her forearm. That's going to bruise tomorrow… "I can tell you're holding back, Cell." The saiyan battle-hunger shined in her eyes. "But knowing what I do about you… you're going to save your reserves for the most satisfying moment. So-all I have to do is give you a challenge, and I'll get to see the greatest power in the universe…"
"So ready to die?" Cell sneered. "But you're right… with so many fighters to take care of, I can't reveal everything straight off the bat. So for the moment, indulge me… there's a technique I've been wanting to try." He raised a hand into the air on each side of his head, palms facing the sky. "Actually, I only just thought of it while we've been fighting."
"Do what you want…" Break settled into a more defensive stance, waiting for Cell's next move.
"Oh, I intend to. I think I'll call this one… the SOLAR KIENZAN!" With that, two reddish-purple discs of energy sprung into life above his hands. His eyes narrowed, and the discs began to grow brighter until they were too brilliant to look at.
"Gah!" Break stumbled back, shielding her eyes, and this sudden staggering movement saved her life-the first disc hummed past her to the right, exactly where she'd been standing moments before, cutting through several trees before curving around and shooting back at her from behind. At the same moment, Cell released the second disc, flinging it at her head-on.
"I see…" Goku muttered. "Cell's combining techniques. Krillin's sharpened Kienzan attack… he can direct its movements, like Yamcha's Spirit Ball… and he's imbued it with the same blinding property as Tien's Solar Flare!"
"Break!" Krillin shouted. "Don't look at them! Try to feel their position!"
Break jumped as the discs passed inches beneath her. "Is this a bad time to mention my ki sense has never been the best, exactly?"
"Oh, wonderful…" Krillin shook his head. "Just wonderful."
Break twitched to the side as a ki spike behind her warned her of an incoming disc, the twin attacks directed by Cell's expert control and precision. The second disc flew around from the left, heading straight for her neck. She heard the deadly hum at the last moment, and flung herself out of the way, but the edge of the disc caught her as she moved, shearing off a lock of hair and slashing right through her armoured shoulder-strap, biting into her flesh. It was only a shallow cut, but it stung like crazy-the Kienzan was almost impossibly sharp. "Aagh!" she cried, resisting the urge to grab onto her injured shoulder and stem the bleeding. Such a clean cut wouldn't bleed too much anyway, and she needed to be alert to stay alive-full concentration.
"It's like I feared…" Nail said. "Just one direct hit from those things, and it's all over… and if you so much as look at them, you're blinded and an easy target."
The discs came around again, and she dived towards the ground, flying low, straight at Cell. The discs, gaining on her from behind-as if things weren't unfair enough, they were faster than her too-throwing up huge dust clouds as they carved thin lines into the rock beneath.
"Ah, I see," Cell gloated, "you're trying to make me choose between having to dodge my own attacks, or dissipate them to fight you hand-to-hand. But you underestimate me. I'm not limited by your inferior minds! Maintaining those attacks while fighting you face-to-face is no problem!" He held up his hands in a triangle shape. "Like this-TRI-BEAM, HAAA!" A massive beam of yellow light raced at her, and she pushed off the ground with one hand to quickly change directions, dodging the Tri-Beam. But as she rolled and stood up again, one of the pursuing discs flashed in the corner of her eye, the blinding light forcing her eyes shut. In a panic, she jumped back, hearing the telling hum of a disc just missing her in front, but the clumsy movement made her easy prey for Cell-he appeared behind her, punching her to the ground. As she fell, she caught the edge of a disc again, but this time it was no clean cut-she twisted as she landed, opening up a ragged gash in her leg.
Cell grinned, recalling the discs to hover above his outstretched hands. "If that's the best you can do, I don't think you'll get to see much of my power after all…"
Damn it! She pushed herself off the ground, breathing heavily as she stood. "I'm getting tired of this crap…" she eyed Cell, his shadowy outline just visible underneath the blazing discs. There's got to be a way around this… every technique has a weakness! Come on… I can't lose like this-it's not even a straight fight!
"Well, time to wrap this up. You've got impressive power, but your tactical ability is limited-and that will cost you your life!" He hurled the discs again, already smiling in anticipation of his next opponent. Who will it be? Goku? Raditz?
"Don't count on it!" She smiled. I've got it. She ran straight at the discs, looking down at the light they cast on the ground to pinpoint their position in the air, and making sure to focus her ki sense to get an exact lock on them. Timing would be everything here. She ignored the pain in her shoulder and leg, both of which were bleeding steadily, as she ran. Exactly twenty-five paces away, she jumped into the air, somersaulting and landing right on top of the centre of the razor- edged disc. She crashed feet-first into it, shattering it into tiny fragments, which quickly faded as Cell lost control. Then she dropped to a sitting position as the second flew overhead, placing her hands on the ground behind her as leverage and swinging a two-footed kick upwards, smashing the second disc in as many seconds.
Continuing the movement of the kick, she back-flipped to her feet. Acting on some instinct, she immediately spun and raised a hand, catching Cell's wrist as he appeared behind her in mid-swing. They struggled silently against each other for a moment before she spoke. "You know, you're actually pretty predictable. You've got a taste for the dramatic-so it's only natural that you'd want to get me down as soon as I'd beaten your attack like that. Yaah!" She brought her knee up into his chin, knocking him several steps away. He rubbed his chin, scowling.
"That was quite a clever trick, destroying my attack like that."
"Simple, really." She smiled. "Why would you bother concentrating energy into the centre? You can't, anyway-that much surface area would require way more power than any of us have to make a properly concentrated disc."
"Hmm… I guess I was wrong. You do have some fighting sense. But still, you're injured now-clearly at a disadvantage. Are you going to continue this fight?"
"What kind of a question is that?!" She dived back into the fray. "I'm not finished with you!"
Raditz walked over to the other fighters. "Hey, you didn't miss that, did you?" Goku asked. "I mean, your daughter…"
"Don't worry, I saw it." He beamed. "I admit I had my doubts, but I'm proud of her. She's actually holding her own against that monster…"
"So, where's that Hercule guy?" Krillin asked.
"Lying in a pile of dirt, bruises and shame," Raditz replied.
Cell punched Break in the stomach-her armour absorbed some of the impact, willpower the rest. Willpower, as a matter of fact, was about to be the only thing she was running on-her energy reserves were draining, fast. She swung a spinning kick at him, but it hissed through his afterimage, and he appeared behind her, a targeted kiai to the ankles taking her off her feet. She rolled away, avoiding a stamp aimed at her head, and jumped back to her feet, just in time to raise her guard and stop another punch. She grunted as the impact threw her away, stumbling back to keep her balance.
Cell shifted his stance. "You're not getting tired, are you? Shall we break for lunch? Pun not intended."
"Just stop talking, okay?" She brushed her hair out of her face, feeling her aura evaporating streams of sweat on her forehead, surrounding her with a miniature heat haze. "That Solar Kienzan is now officially your second-most annoying technique, next to running your mouth."
"'Annoying' is a bit of an understatement for my attempts on your life, I'd have thought… but perhaps you're right. Maybe I should let actions speak louder than words, eh?" With that, Cell disappeared from sight.
Not this again! Break frowned as she spotted the occasional glimpse of movement, but it seemed to come from every direction at once, with no discernible pattern. He's even faster now… is this just a demonstration of his real speed? I wouldn't put it past him… "All right, I get it. You're pretty quick. Now are you going to-" Cell suddenly appeared in front of her, inches away, grinning. She lashed out on instinct, but he was already gone again. He materialised again, this time behind her, and she swung an elbow, but again he danced away before she could hit him. "Hey!" she protested. "Stand still!"
"No thanks," came the reply, as he appeared to her right, vanishing again before her attack hit him. This happened three more times before she finally decided to just wait-no point tiring herself out and never getting a hit in. In this precise moment of hesitation, before she had put her guard up, Cell struck, ramming his elbow into the small of her back. She cried out, staggering forwards, only to be met with a kick to the face that knocked her to the ground. Feeling blood rise in her mouth, she pulled herself up, trying to focus. Okay, just focus on defense… He appeared again, and she blocked a punch. Then a kick from the side. Then another punch. This continued for five minutes straight, Cell popping up and attacking, Break successfully defending, and Cell vanishing into his high-speed dash that made him impossible to hit again.
Finally, she began to tire. She was getting dizzy from constantly turning to defend from different angles, and the blood loss from earlier was slowing her reactions. He threw a straight jab at her, and she unthinkingly blocked it, but it was merely a feint-his knee smashed into her side, knocking her away.
She bounced painfully three times before managing to control her fall and right herself. "Ah… huh…" she looked up at Cell, who was now hovering in the air with his arms folded.
"So, just out of curiosity, how much longer is this going to go on?" Cell asked. "You don't look like you've got much left. I mean, are we talking thirty seconds here, five minutes, what?"
"As long as it takes…" she growled, launching herself up at him. The battle rejoined, going back and forth through the air high above its observers.
Raditz glared at the seven hopping, laughing Cell Juniors. "Hey, Goku…"
"Yeah?" His younger brother looked over at him.
"Do you reckon we could take those Cell Juniors? If we all attacked together?"
Goku sighed. "I know you want to help her, Raditz. But it'd just make things worse. Each of those things is about a match for you or me, I reckon. But we're outnumbered, and most of our guys are less powerful than either of us. The only other people who could take on of those little guys on one-on-one are our kids… and one of 'em is lying at home on death's door, and the other is up there fighting the Original Recipe Cell. So… I don't think it would go well." Krillin, standing nearby, stifled a laugh as this comment made him imagine various flavours of Cell. What would Cheese & Onion Cell look like, I wonder?
Break and Cell collided, her kick being blocked by his forearm while she held back his punch with both hands. Cell smiled. She's weakening. Now is the moment to strike… he slipped away to the side, simultaneously driving the edge of his hand into her shoulder and his foot into her thigh, hitting both of her wounds from his Solar Kienzan attack earlier. She dropped to the ground, landing heavily on her hands and knees, gasping as her injuries burned.
"And now, the moment I've all been waiting for!" Cell boasted, throwing both restraint and grammar to the wind. He almost instantly flew over to Korin Tower and placed both hands on it, anchoring himself to the enormously tall building with his ki. Tensing himself in preparation, he ripped the gigantic tower out of the Earth. He leapt up into the air, wielding Korin Tower like a weapon.
Two tiny specks tumbled out of the tower, falling towards the Earth. Goku frowned. "Raditz-"
"I'm on it." Raditz used Instant Transmission to instantaneously travel to the falling figures, snatch them out of the air and return to Goku's side, carrying the tower's two inhabitants, the cat sage Korin and portly samurai Yaijerobe. He dumped them on the ground. "What am I, your courier?"
Goku looked up at Cell, ashen-faced. "This doesn't look good… it's not hard to guess what he's got planned. Come on, Break, if you're going to dodge anything he does, now's the time!"
Cell swung Korin Tower around until the base was pointing straight down at Break, then-flaring his wings out for effect-he flew downwards, throwing Korin Tower at her with all his might.
Break grroaned as she began to move her battered body, feeling every cut and bruise. Something seemed to edge into her awareness. "Uh… where'd Cell go? And what's that sound? Coming from up… there…" the tower grew larger in her field of vision, blocking out the sun, as she finally noticed it. "Well, I'm f-" her voice was drowned out as the huge structure crashed into her. Cell pushed down on it from afar with his ki, driving it into the ground until it was completely ground into rubble.
"And it looks like the battle is really heating up!" The TV reporter shouted into his microphone, over the deafening noise. "I don't know who's fighting Cell-maybe the mystery warrior who knocked out Hercule-but it doesn't look like they've won, at least not yet…" he pointed into the sky at Cell's distant figure. "Cell appears to have taken to the air, and seems to be alive and well! More as it occurs. This is Harrison Kirby, ZTV news. We'll be back in the studio with George, after these messages."
Break struggled to stay awake. I'm not… done… got to keep… fighting… finally, she lost her internal battle, collapsing into unconsciousness.
Cell laughed deeply as he came to rest on the ground near his defeated opponent, among the ruins of Korin Tower. "Well, that was a nice little warm-up. Shall we continue?"
Chapter 35: Survive
Gohan fell back into consciousness for a brief moment. A memory, lurking in his head since the previous night, floated to the surface, and his eyes widened. Have to warn them… Break… she'll… power… "I have to…" The monkey-tailed boy collapsed again as Chi-Chi came running.
Goku walked through the gap in the ranks of the Cell Juniors as Raditz carried Break off the battlefield. This is it. Time to see if all my training paid off… I know I'm not as powerful as Break was, but hopefully that fight left Cell drained-I might just stand a chance.
"Ah, now we get to it," Cell said. "My true purpose…"
"Killing me, right." Goku nodded.
"Indeed. While perhaps lacking in raw power compared to the girl, I'm willing to bet your superior skill and tactical ability will make this fight interesting at the least."
"I'm hoping to be more than 'interesting'…"
"What's this?" Cell sneered. "You don't actually believe you'll win, do you?"
Goku grinned. "No idea. Let's find out."
Vegeta beckoned to the three Hera-jins still standing. "Come on, then. You've done a lot of bragging about your amazing power. I haven't seen any proof yet… in fact…" he smiled. "If you're so mighty, why was it Frieza's clan ruling the galaxy all these years?"
"Simple." Bojack inclined his head. "Bujin, tell him."
Bujin nodded. "Very well. Unlike some people, I take care to study potential threats. And obviously, the frost demons were among those. Now, Frieza's power level in his second form was measured at a million units on those obsolete scouters' scale."
"There had better be a point to all this, or I'm going to remove all of your limbs and beat you to death with them," Vegeta grumbled.
Bujin chuckled. "Have patience. I'm getting there. Anyway, Frieza's full power was measured once-from orbit, using a ship-mounted sensor. It clocked in at a hundred and twenty million." He paused. "His false sense of superiority made him lazy-his intelligence service was extremely sloppy, and getting hold of this information really wasn't very difficult. And now, my point… King Cold's power in his second form was slightly higher than Frieza's maximum-a hundred and forty million. Do the math… I'd estimate King Cold's full strength to have been in excess of ten billion. It's possible the relationship between their forms' power differs from one individual to the next, but with Frieza as our only point of reference, we must assume it to be true."
"So what?" Vegeta snarled. "These numbers don't mean anything to me!"
"Well, they should." Bujin smirked. "You see, I've studied such things extensively-such is my job, as the brains of this particular outfit. I've calibrated my ki sense to fit the scouters' scale, and I can assure you that your own power level is nowhere near that number. Not even lord Bojack is that powerful… although I assure you that one such as you is still no match for him."
"Hmph." Vegeta shrugged. "Fine." I suppose the Earthlings and their pet Super Saiyan must have killed Cold in one of his lower forms… "Not that I care… you talk too much. Don't worry, though-I've decided to kill you quickly."
"Oh, look at me, trembling," Bojack laughed, "somebody save me from the almighty Super Saiyan!" His eyes narrowed. "You have no idea what you're up against, Super Gorilla…"
"And that remark just cost you your quick death."
Goku focused his mind. Okay… we win or lose here. I've got to be at my absolute best. Don't give an inch. "Yaaah!" He charged in, leading with a high right that Cell blocked. He brought his left hand around, simultaneously punching and kicking to try and throw Cell off-but the bio-android just dodged, almost effortlessly. "Come on, Goku, I know you can do better than that!" Cell elbowed him in the ribs. "Show me what you're really made of!" Goku grimaced, spinning and throwing a rapid burst of punches, none of which connected. Damn it, stand still… Cell stepped in close, and Goku saw the opening, throwing Cell over his head by one arm, turning and charging energy between his hands. "KAMEHAMEHA!" Cell was thrown back by the beam, but without time to really charge it, Goku hadn't been able to produce a blast strong enough to seriously injure Cell.
Cell stood back up, turning to face Goku. "Ah, there we go. Fight like that, and I might have to start paying attention." Goku charged back in, launching a high kick that Cell ducked, swinging a fist. Goku spun in the air, pushing himself out of the way with a quick burst of ki. Landing behind Cell, he fired a rapid kiai of invisible force that sent Cell sprawling. Goku tried to follow up, but Cell was already on his feet, and with his usual unmatchable speed he evaded Goku's next attack, punching him to the ground.
Goku sprang back up, bracing himself as Cell charged in again. He sent out a telepathic signal to his wife, all those miles away. Chi-Chi.
Huh? Goku? Is everything okay?
How's Gohan? Goku dodged Cell's first attack, finding himself being forced back.
He's getting worse. He was talking a little at first, but now it's like he's in a coma… he needs that medicine, Goku!
He fired another kiai, but it missed. I know. I'm trying. I'm fighting Cell right now.
She paused. You'll win, right?
I… don't know. I wish I could tell you. Cell landed a punch. He should be weakened from fighting Break, but he's just so fast, and he knows everything I try almost before I do… Another.
Please… don't die.
I'll do my best. And you keep Gohan alive.
All right. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes. Stay safe.
Goku blocked another attack, but it was just a feint, and Cell's foot hit home in his stomach with immense force. Goku staggered away, raising his guard. "Ugh… damn it…" I knew he was powerful, but this is insane! We're not ready for this!
Raditz laid Break down on the ground. "Hey. How are you doing?"
Her eyes opened slowly. "I… what… oh! I lost. I'm sorry… I failed." She sighed.
He shook his head. "No, you did more than any of us could have hoped. Don't talk like that, you did fine."
"Should have… lasted longer…"
"You did fine," he insisted. "I'm proud of you." As the words left his mouth, it occurred to him how strange and alien they would have sounded just a few short years ago. How far they'd all come. "Look, just take it easy. I'll get you a senzu bean… hey! Cat thing!"
"All right, all right," Korin grumbled, "you could show a little respect, you know."
"Just give me one of those damn beans or I will remove your whiskers with a chainsaw."
"Fine! Geez." Korin waved a hand at Yaijerobe. "Hey, give him one of those senzus."
"Yeah, whatever." Yaijerobe held up the bag of healing plants, but before he could hand them over there was a hiss, the air seemed to glow, and the bag burst into flames, burning to ash in seconds. Cell stood opposite them, one smoking finger extended. "I don't think so," he said.
"Wha…" Again, Raditz had caught a glimpse of Cell's true speed, and was awed. I didn't see the attack at all… just a flash of light… he's a monster!
Goku ran at Cell from behind. "Get back here!"
"If you insist." Cell dodged Goku's fist and swung his knee up into the Super Saiyan's face.
"Agh!" Goku fell back, wiping blood from his nose. This isn't working… I'm getting nowhere fast! "How… how are you this much better than me? You say you're made from our fighters' cells, and you've absorbed androids Seventeen and Eighteen… but none of us have ever been this skilled! What are you?!"
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts," Cell declared. "And besides… I'm programmed with an innate knowledge of your fighting styles. I know your moves inside out, Goku. Your Turtle School martial arts are so predictable."
"Heh." Goku smiled.
Cell raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Thanks for the tip." Goku ran at Cell, but at the last second his stance shifted, moving lower and wider. Cell missed a step, caught off-guard, and Goku swung the edge of his hand into the creature's neck. He somersaulted over Cell, turning and blocking the inevitable counterattack with both arms crossed over his face. "Wha…" Cell was staggered back as Goku hit him with a two-handed open-palmed strike to the chest. "This is the Namekian fighting arts!"
"That's right!" Goku told him. "I trained under Kami for three years. And I've sparred plenty of times with Nail." He smashed both hands into Cell's head in that claw-like position unique to the Namekian Demon Style. "So I figured, if you know my style I'll just use another one!"
Cell backed away, knocking Goku's energy blast aside. "A clever trick, but you must have known it wouldn't last long. Now I know what you're up to, I can counter your moves just as effectively as I did before." To illustrate his point, he danced around Goku's face-aimed kick, ramming three punches in rapid succession past the warrior's guard. Goku stumbled away, remaining on the defensive. No problem. I'm not out of tricks yet… Cell leapt in, but Goku's stance changed again, and he stepped around Cell's attack, elbowing him in the back of the head. He didn't let up, bringing his knee around and knocking Cell away. Cell stopped his fall, hovering just above the ground. "Oh, I see. Now you're using Raditz's style."
"Yeah-I picked it up on the way to Namek."
"I see. Well, a valiant effort." Cell saw Goku's next attack coming before the saiyan had even moved, and kicked him away. "But I think you're out of options now. What's left? You can't surprise me anymore. Korin didn't teach you any new styles. King Kai didn't. You've caught me off-guard a couple of times, but it won't happen again."
Goku! Raditz's voice sounded in his younger brother's head
What is it? He asked, fending off Cell's renewed assault. He was alternating between his human, saiyan and Namekian martial arts, but he was still failing to land any hits. He took another kick, feeling blood rise in his mouth.
I've got a plan-we'll have the Cell Juniors to deal with, but if it works it might take care of the big guy.
Goku blocked a strong punch, skidding back with the force of the impact. I'm listening.
Raditz continued. Can you knock Cell away just one more time?
I'm not sure… Goku ducked, just barely avoiding another kick. I'm pretty much out of tricks… well, there is one thing I could try.
Do it. Raditz tensed himself up in preparation. I just need you to get one good hit in on him, and we've got him.
Goku stood up straight as Cell barrelled towards him. "You're wrong, Cell!"
"What's this?"
"There's one teacher you've forgotten about-the most important of all! And here's a little technique he taught me…" He brought his left fist around, colliding with Cell's punch and blocking it head-on. "Rock!" He brought up his right hand, jabbing Cell in the eyes with two extended fingers. "Scissors!" His right hand came down, and he thrust it against Cell's abdomen, throwing out a wave of ki that blasted Cell away into the air. "PAPER!"
Cell was hurled away, spinning end over end. Just as he was about to right himself, Raditz appeared above him with Instant Transmission, punching him back down towards Goku and disorientating him. Goku raised both hands to his forehead, splaying his fingers out. "SOLAR FLARE!" he yelled. Cell, only noticing the attack at the last moment, was blinded by the intense light. Goku jumped out of the way of Cell's flight path, revealing Krillin behind him, red Kaioken x20 aura burning around him. He raised one hand above his head, palm-up. "KIENZAN!" He hurled the energy disc at the stunned Cell, and powered up by the Kaioken, it sliced right through him, taking his head clean off.
Cell's head and body dropped to the floor with a satisfying thud. Goku and Raditz settled to the ground on either side of Krillin, who was staring at their handiwork, wide-eyed. "Did… did that just happen?" He couldn't believe it. Cell… the 'perfect' android… lay headless on the floor, slain by Krillin's own hand. He'd never been the one to actually defeat a really tough enemy-at the most, he got to beat a henchman or two, and sometimes he just got beaten up. Winning- really winning, a major battle-was a new experience. I could get used to it…
"Yeah! It worked!" Goku cheered. "Awesome, guys!"
Raditz nodded. "Don't go celebrating yet. Those Cell Juniors don't look too happy…"
The news crew peered through a gap in the rock face. "Absolutely incredible! It seems this group of warriors has actually defeated Cell, using some kind of magical energy attack! But now that group of miniature Cell-like creatures are taking up the fight! Stay tuned!"
The seven Cell Juniors leapt at the three warriors, who braced themselves for impact. Before the two sides met, though, there was a blur of motion and the Cell Juniors were thrown back. Nail, Zarbon (fully-powered up, with bright golden eyes and elongated fangs, a trait he'd developed when fighting at full power since his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) and Kuriza stood next to them, ready for action. "Count me in for this one," Kuriza said, grinning.
"Kuriza!" Krillin gave a thumbs-up. "When d'you get here?"
"Just now, with Bulma. Sorry we're late-she needed to stop and make some last-minute adjustments to her anti-Cell machine, and she needed me to hold some wires together for her."
Krillin nodded. "Yeah, we may not need that anymore-unless it works on these little guys too…"
"Of course it will!" Bulma called from a 'safe' distance. She was wearing mechanic's clothes, and her arms were covered in grease up to her elbows. She held a metal tube in both hands, covered in switches, dials, buttons and blinking lights. A cable ran out of the back, connecting it to a yellow box on the floor, which was humming and glowing with a soft blue light. "Just get 'em over here!"
"Easier said than done…" Krillin muttered, as the Cell Juniors charged again. One fighter met each one, all jumping away as their battles took them in different directions. With one 'spare', two of them rushed at Krillin (as the one who'd actually done the deed on Cell). He pushed off of the ground, fleeing towards Bulma as he pushed the Kaioken as high as he dared. Just as they were closing in, Break appeared in mid-air, punching a Cell Junior into the ground. "Get the other one!" she growled as it hopped to its feet, unfazed.
Krillin raced off in combat with the remaining Cell Junior, as Break faced off against hers. "Hurry it up, Bulma," she muttered, trying to shake off the dizziness-she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to last in this fight, after her previous battle with Cell. "Okay, come get some." She swung a fist, but the Cell Junior jumped over it, kicking her in the face with both feet and sending her bouncing away over the grass. She rolled and sat up, raising both hands in front of her face. "Try this… BURNING FLASH!" The gigantic beam of golden energy sprung to life in seconds, arcing up at the Cell Junior, who giggled and playfully kicked it away into air, dissipating in the atmosphere. These things are tougher than they look! She realised. It was just gearing up for another round when it found itself encased in a shimmering blue field of light.
"Gotcha!" Bulma shouted triumphantly. "Phase 1-immobilisation-success!"
"Bulma, have you tested this? At all?" Break asked.
"Not as such, no. But it should work. Probably. Maybe." She flipped a switch. "Now, phase 2-capture!" The Cell Junior screamed and tried to escape, to no avail. Bulma scowled at it, its protests wearing her patience thin. "Stop that! I've been awake for over 50 hours straight, most of them working on this damn machine, I am now running purely on adrenaline and caffeine, several of my friends are dead and injured, and I'm trying not to panic at the fact that I'm wearing an unlicensed particle accelerator on my back. I AM IN NO MOOD." With that, she twisted a dial, and the field of light contracted, stretching and compression the Cell Junior's image and drawing it into the tube. Haphazard sparks of electricity shot up and down the cable as its essence was sucked into the box. "And now for part three… total annihilation at the sub-atomic level." She grinned madly, pressing a large red button. The box shuddered, glowing a bright blue. She frowned and kicked it, which seemed to do the trick-it settled down, and a light turned green. "Excellent!" she said. "He's history! Brains over brawn any day."
"That's great, Bulma!" Break agreed. "Quick, get the rest-we're not doing well." This was true-Goku, Raditz and Nail were holding their own, but still on the defensive against the unexpectedly powerful creatures, and Krillin, Zarbon and Kuriza were getting knocked around like toys.
"All right!" Bulma pointed the device, calibrated to track movement at superhuman speed, at Krillin's opponent, pulling a lever on the side. Several lights turned red, and it began to emit a loud, insistent beeping. "Uh…" she glanced down at it. "Oh. Um… slight… technical difficulties… I'll just get to… fixing that…"
"How long will it take?!" Break demanded.
"Oh, up to half an hour or so… hopefully." She shrugged, busying herself with the machine.
"Oh, that is good," said a depressingly familiar voice. Cell, looking good as new, stood in the centre of the battlefield, arms folded and laughing to himself. "Did you miss me?"
The battle paused as everyone stared. "He's… alive?!" Goku hissed. "No way!"
"Oh, but I'm afraid so," said Cell. "You see, it did take me a little time to re-grow most of my body, but Namekian regeneration is such a useful trait. Perhaps if my Cell Juniors hadn't distracted you, you'd have Hmm… I appear to be down to six children… that is a pain. And you, baldy…" he pointed at Krillin. "I just thought I'd like you to know that I'm going to save you for last. You damaged my perfect body… and for that you will pay dearly."
Vegeta shifted from one foot to the other, waiting. "Well, come on then. Who's next?"
"Bido!" Bojack growled. "Get up, you waste of space!"
Bido stood up slowly. "Forgive me, master Bojack… he's just so powerful…"
"Silence. I'll give you a chance. Enough of this playing around. Bujin-Zangya-give him a hand." Bojack's three henchmen grinned as they approached Vegeta. Oh, I see, the prince realised. The short one's going to try that immobilising trick while the other two beat on me. Well, not if I take him out first! He took the initiative, running straight for Bujin, using his superior speed to get past the other two before they could stop him and barrelling into the turban-sporting Hera-jin. Vegeta landed on top, raising one hand to execute Bujin, but before the blow connected, he felt his whole body being jerked backwards. What the…?! Zangya stood behind him, fingers extended towards him. She can do it too!
"Now I've got you," she said, as the almost-invisible energy bonds bit into his flesh. He hissed in pain, struggling to no avail.
"Don't bother," Bojack said. "The more you fight it, the more energy it drains from you."
"Nothing's… unbreakable…" he growled, pushing outwards with all his might-nothing. "You… won't… win…"
"Think so?" Bojack indicated the saiyan. "Bido, would you do the honours?"
"Right you are, lord Bojack." Punches rained down on Vegeta, the blows aimed with cruel precision to inflict the maximum pain. It took over a minute for the prince's head to roll back, his eyes closing as he lost his Super Saiyan form. "There," Bido said, rubbing his knuckles after throwing in a few more hits for good measure. "It's done. He lasted pretty long, though…"
"Yeah, he's a tough one," Bujin agreed.
Bojack nodded to Zangya. "Put him down. I'll dispose of the body." However, as soon as she released Vegeta, he immediately powered back up, throwing out a wave of golden energy in every direction. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Super Saiyan prince raced off into the distance.
The Hera-jins stood up-Bido was trembling. "He was conscious the whole time…"
Bojack nodded. "He feigned weakness to escape. Don't fall for it again."
"But… to take all that punishment without flinching… what kind of a man is he?"
"He's a born survivor. He'll never give up while he's still breathing." Bojack smiled. "Luckily, I'm a born killer, so it all evens out in the end."
Chapter 36: No More Games
The Earth's fighters clustered together on the plain, trying to catch their breath after the intense battle with the Cell Juniors. One of the creatures had been vapourised by Bulma's machine, but the other six stood opposite the heroes in a neat line, forming a wall behind which towered Cell, laughing to himself. "Well, I see no reason to stop my little game now… the show must go on!" he swept an arm around dramatically. "Who's next? Raditz? Or have you still got some fight in you, Goku?"
"I'll finish what I started!" Goku said confidently, stepping in front of the others. "Come on!"
"Hold on a second!" Raditz growled, pushing past Goku. "You've had your turn!"
Cell chuckled. "Dear me… you still honestly believe you have a chance? That trick you pulled won't work twice."
"It doesn't have to." Raditz grinned. "You've just been through two intense battles, then had to regenerate your entire body from just your head. Your power's been severely drained."
"Oh, I see. You think so?" Cell seemed amused, his calm demeanour unsettling them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nail demanded.
Cell settled into a lower stance. "Well, you might have been right… had my full power not been so vastly beyond any of you that it makes no difference!"
His full power! Goku thought. "Let's see it!"
Raditz grinned despite himself. I knew it!
Cell inhaled deeply. "If you insist." There was a noise like a thunderclap, and Cell's ki skyrocketed. "HAAAAAA!" Shockwaves of pure force poured out of his body, hurling Krillin, Zarbon, Kuriza and Bulma away from him, and a sparking golden aura flickered to life around his body. The noise died down, and Cell stood up straight. "Well. How do you like me now?"
"What the hell is this?" Raditz backed away a couple of steps involuntarily. "We can't fight that!"
Nail frowned. "His energy feels like… like he just became a Super Saiyan!"
"Of course." Goku raised his guard. "He's got our DNA, remember?"
"I don't think DNA works like that!" Bulma called from behind them.
"Given the evidence," Cell replied, indicating himself, "I think we must conclude that it does. Now…" he waved his Cell Juniors to stand back. "As you can see, though I have indeed used up a considerable amount of energy during our battle, I'm still leagues above any of you!"
"Raditz! Nail!" Goku jumped at Cell from above. "All together!"
"All right!" Raditz set his jaw, running at the bio-android from the left as Nail approached from the right.
It took Cell exactly six point three seconds to take down Earth's strongest fighters.
Nail fired an energy beam from one hand as he charged, but it hissed through Cell's afterimage as he appeared behind the Namek. Cell returned fire at Nail, but Goku jumped in and shoved it out of its flight path, dodging a second blast from Cell, leaping in and throwing a quick Kamehameha wave at point-blank range. The dust blew away to reveal Cell's hands raised in front of him, having absorbed the attack with ease. He vanished, and a fast-to-the-point-of-invisibility strike floored Goku, before Cell appeared in front of Raditz, who flung himself to the side to avoid Cell's punch. Executing a perfect handspring, Raditz launched himself back at Cell, but was backhanded away. He drove his foot into the ground, stopping his flight, turning to see Cell rushing him.
The fighters crashed together, rapidly exchanging blows. Before long, Cell's attacks started to get through Raditz's defences, and the third took him down. Nail ran in from behind, but he might as well have been moving in slow motion. Cell turned, lazily forming an energy ball between his fingers and detonating it in Nail's stomach, throwing him away through the air.
It was done.
"There," Cell said, dusting his hands off. "Now do you see? Do you understand ? You never stood a chance. I just wanted some fun out of you, that's all. But…" he crouched down next to Goku, who was trying to sit up. "Before you die, I want you to know there was nothing you could do. I want you to despair ."
"We're not… done yet!" Cell looked up on hearing the voice. Break was lurching towards him, wincing with every step as her wounds stung.
He rolled his eyes. "You again. Don't you ever give up? Well, I suppose not. Saiyans never do, after all… bravery to the point of idiocy is in your nature." He stood up, turning to face her. "Thankfully that's a trait I didn't inherit, though I'm grateful for those I did."
"This fight… isn't over." Her speech seemed forced, fragmented-like how she'd used to talk when she'd transformed. But didn't she learn to control the form? Raditz thought, looking up and wiping blood from his face. It' s like she's reached a tipping point… she's reverting back to her old self…
There was a blur of movement, and Break felt an impact knock her to the ground. She closed her mind to the pain, pushing herself back up. She didn't have a plan, didn't know what she was going to do. But I won't… stop. I have to keep going.
Cell was turning away, but saw her walking towards him again. His eye twitched. "You're back already?! When are you going to accept your fate?"
"I think… you know." She took another step. Another. One at a time. Don't think. Just don't stop. There wasn't much hope, of course. Even if she had been at her absolute maximum, it wouldn't have been enough. Cell was too strong, too fast… maybe he really was the ultimate being. But she was the only one still standing. She was the strongest. This was up to her. If only Gohan had been there… against that mysterious power that he'd used to defeat Broly, Cell would have been utterly crushed. But they couldn't rely on that anymore. Besides, it was all her fault-her time machine had brought this monster here, her arrogance had allowed it to achieve its perfect form. It was her responsibility.
"Stubborn little…" Cell flexed his arms, regaining his composure. "I was going to kill Goku first, programming and all that, but such determination must be rewarded! Yes, I think I'm going to start with you." His image flickered, and instantly he stood inches away from her, looking down at the injured, staggering half-saiyan, who flinched away at the sudden movement. "Goku will of course be next, then the rest of these 'fighters', if that isn't too strong a word, and then the rest of the people of this planet you've tried so hard to protect. But I'm going to save those parents of yours until last." Break shook with fear as Cell continued, taking a leisurely step towards her as she shrank back. "And when they die… oh, so slowly and painfully… they'll know. They'll know it all came down to you… that you had one chance to save them, and. You. Failed!" he spat the last few words. "And that is your reward for thinking yourself above me, you insect ."
"NO, CELL!" she screamed, her hair wild with its golden energy. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" Throwing her head back, she began powering up, pushing her body.
Having mastered the Super Saiyan form, any attempt to simply bulk herself up cost her dearly in speed; her body just couldn't contain any more energy without losing agility. But she continued pushing, ignoring the pain, her eyes becoming blank and hollow. It felt like her body was on fire, but there was one driving thought forcing her to carry on. I have… to be… stronger!
Cell began a slow, sarcastic clap. "Yes, very impressive. But you must know that this won't help you. All you're doing is making yourself an easier target to hit. Really, I expected better… all right, I'll be honest, I didn't. This is exactly the kind of amateur mistake I'd expect from you."
Raditz pushed himself up onto one elbow. "I know you're trying to make yourself stronger, Break… but not like this! It doesn't work, I've already tried it! Even when I knew what I was doing, it just delayed the inevitable…"
The pain was almost unbearable now. Her skin felt like it was going to rip; her muscles ready to burst. But she kept going. It was there, somewhere… a burning emerald beacon. It rose up in her, pulsing through her blood, pushing her to breaking point. "I WON'T… LET YOU…"
Goku's eyes widened. "Stop! Break, stop it now! Your body can't contain that much energy! Are you trying to kill yourself?"
It detonated. Her entire body seemed to rip apart, engulfed in the fiery green glow. The roar of energy grew so loud it deafened them, seeming to wrap right back around into silence.
Cell blinked, trying to focus his enhanced senses to see what was going on. What the hell just happened?
The light faded slightly, darkening to a deeper shade of green. A figure became visible at the centre, slowly becoming clearer as the glow dimmed to a bearable level. Cell lunged, hissing, but there was a crunching sound and he was jerked to a halt. As he hung there, unmoving, all was finally revealed.
Break stood at least a foot taller, and more muscular than before, though not quite as much as the usual bulked-up form. Her wounds seemed to be healed, and her eyes were pure, blank white. Her hair seemed stretched-out, almost completely standing up on end, and had the same green hue as her aura. She had one arm outstretched, fist planted in Cell's face. He fell away, grimacing.
"Wha… what did you do?!" he demanded.
"It's… over, Cell," she growled. Another quick movement, her leg swung around, and Cell was knocked up into the air. She appeared above him, bringing her elbow down into his back and sending him flying back down, smashing into the ground and throwing out a huge crater.
Cell crawled out of the crater, unsteadily rising to his feet. "What is happening? How are you doing this? ANSWER ME!" She landed in front of him, smiling slightly. He snarled, focusing all of his ki into one fist and throwing a punch straight at her face. But her hand was already there, catching his wrist and stopping the blow before it connected. "Let go of me!"
"Whatever… you say." She released his hand, and he jumped away, massaging his wrist. "Rrr… Cell Juniors! Deal with this!"
"Uh… guys…" The group of fighters had regrouped as the battle unfolded, and Krillin finally spoke. "Is anyone else sensing this? Because her power… it feels like…"
"Broly." Raditz nodded. "I guess both our kids turned out to have some serious potential, eh, Goku?" Even if Gohan's was greater, he thought with just the slightest hint of bitterness. "I mean, I guess she is just like her mother-always ready to fly into a rage. You know how the transformation's always affected her mind. But still… I can't explain this. Wasn't there only supposed to be one Legendary Super Saiyan every thousand years? Broly was the one, not her."
"Only once in a…?" Nail looked puzzled. "I don't remember that…"
Raditz shrugged. "I heard it while I was interrogating Paragus. I didn't take much notice at the time, but he blubbered something about the Legendary Super Saiyan being a once-a-millenium event."
Goku looked at the fight, then back at his brother. "Yeah, you're right… you did mention Paragus saying something like that… so how is she doing it? This doesn't make sense at all…"
The six Cell Juniors launched themselves at Break from all sides. She didn't move until the last second, jumping up into the air and avoiding their attacks. She landed behind one, putting her arm right through its skull with ease. She swung her arm back as a second leapt at her from behind, fingers scything through its neck like it wasn't even there. She brought her hands together around a third, its chest caving in beneath the incredible force and its ribs and spine shattering. The remaining three jumped back, wary. She whipped around, firing a tiny, pencil-thin energy beam from one finger that penetrated a Cell Junior's eye, killing it instantly, and then she was gone. The final pair looked frantically around, searching for her, but they couldn't keep up with her speed. She appeared behind them, holding up a hand behind each one and incinerating them.
"Hey!" Goku yelled at her. "You didn't have to kill them! They were no match for you, you could have easily just knocked them out!" She ignored him. "Are you listening to me?! They were living, thinking creatures! You could have at least given them a chance!" No response.
Nail was closest to the fight and following it with rapt attention. He had never imagined that Break would have this kind of power… of course, a few days ago he'd never have imagined that anyone would have it, but Broly, Gohan and Cell had shaken up his worldview. This energy is incredible… "It makes sense," he explained to the others. "I think I've got it. Look, Paragus said 'once in a thousand years', but I don't think he knew what he was talking about. It's clearly some kind of dormant or recessive gene, and those don't operate to a schedule. However, if it was an extremely rare gene, it could well be that in all likelihood, only one Legendary Super Saiyan is born every thousand years. I certainly wouldn't count on primitive people like the saiyans used to be keeping exact count of years passing. Let's see… it's in all saiyans, but… buried so deeply, it'd have to be activated by some form of mutation or genetic instability. And Launch, with her literal, physical metamorphosis tied in with her split personality, which by the way is suspiciously similar to Super Saiyan-blonde hair, aggressive personality…" he looked around. "Are you following me?"
Raditz shrugged. "Mostly."
"All right, good." Nail continued. "Add this to the fact that Raditz had already achieved Super Saiyan when Break was conceived, which has never happened before. Cell basically confirmed earlier that Super Saiyan does something to your DNA-which is then passed on. With this combination of uniquely unstable and powerful genes, it must have activated the latent potential that's in every saiyan. I just hope she can control herself better than Broly could…"
"Well, she isn't nearly as massive as he was," Zarbon pointed out. "That implies control."
Nail shook his head. "Only over her power. Her personality is anybody's guess… and after the way she killed the Cell Juniors… well, let's just say that I don't think Broly would have hesitated to kill Paragus if he'd had the chance."
Break looked at the twisted corpses of the Cell Juniors, her mouth twisting into a cruel half-smile. However, the distraction had given Cell enough time to get behind her and charge up an attack. Sensing the ki spike, she turned, just in time to see the bright yellow burst of energy. "TRI-BEAM!" Cell shouted. Break hurriedly swung a hand up, knocking the blast away into the air, but she hadn't had time to fully focus her energy and the beam incinerated her left glove, scorching the skin underneath. She growled, advancing towards Cell, who was beginning to sweat. "Take this… KIENZAN!" She jumped over the disc with casual ease, now that she was expecting an attack. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" Sidestepped. "DODON RAY!" Backhanded away. "KAMEHAMEHA!" Caught between both hands and held back until it flickered out. "D-Damn you!" He hissed, nervously backing away as she approached. "What is this?!"
Break's reply came in the form of a violent pulse of ki, throwing Cell back. He scrambled to keep his footing, and she grinned at his fear.
"I told you… Cell. It's over. Your stolen techniques… won't work anymore."
"SHUT UP!" He shrieked, launching himself at her, feeling his blows swing through the empty air as she moved the minimum distance necessary to dodge each one. Cell shuddered. "I-I am the ultimate… th-the ultimate being!"
" Save it !" She fired another kiai, this one sending him reeling back, his feet digging up skid-marks in the ground.
No… no, I won't be beaten this way… not by her! Cell raised his hand as if to punch again, and she prepared to idly dodge, but he shifted stance quickly, adopting a familiar pose. "SOLAR FLARE!" Break staggered away, her overconfidence and rage having left her open, arms waving in front of her face in a futile effort to ward of the disabling light.
Cell saw his opening and struck, charging up his foot with energy and planting it directly in her midsection. A soft hiss of breath escaped her mouth, and she folded up, dropping to the ground. Cell retracted his leg, standing up straight with a satisfied smirk. "So, you're not invincible."
Break rolled over onto her back, and Cell saw to his surprise that she was smiling. "Good…" she said, climbing to her feet. "You're not so weak… not a total waste of time…"
"Of course I'm not!" Cell snapped. "I am the perfect combination of DNA from the Earth's greatest fighters!"
She snorted. "Right. You're always… talking about that. Perfect. Ultimate." Her eyes narrowed. "It gets old."
"Don't think you've won!" Cell snarled, raising his guard. "I'm going to kill you! It doesn't matter how powerful you are, you're an inferior design! You're flawed-you have weaknesses! I'll kill you, and all your friends!"
"My friends? Like… Yamcha?" she asked, breathing heavily. "Like Tien?" Visions of her dead future flashed in her mind, and her blank, pure white eyes blazed. " LIKE TRUNKS ?!" Cell felt an impact to his chest, cracking his armour plating and making Break's previous blows feel like gentle taps by comparison, hurling him up into the air. "I'm done playing with you!" she yelled, raising both hands in front of her face. "BURNING…"
"No!" Cell howled, crossing his arms in front of his body to try and shield himself. "It can't end this way!"
"… FLASH!" A bright golden energy beam shot forth from her hands, slamming into Cell and carrying him off into the sky. It arced up, shooting off into space, burning, flickering energy stabbing into Cell's body from all around. He felt himself coming apart, the attack ripping into his flesh and tearing it asunder. "N-no… I will not… be defeated… my… my perfection…" Piece by piece, he dissolved, evaporated, and finally he was gone. The beam faded into the dark void.
Break lowered her arms, panting with near-exhaustion. Though she didn't want to show it, beating Cell hadn't been easy. His kick had genuinely hurt, and her defences hadn't been nearly as effortless as she'd let on. She'd had a significant advantage, yes, but only bravado and intimidation had made the two seem so completely outmatched.
Raditz cautiously approached her, smiling hopefully. "Break? Are you…"
"I'm… in control." She shrugged, her huge muscles rippling. "I guess."
"But… how?" he asked incredulously.
Nail frowned irritably. "I just explained it to you-"
"That's not what I mean." Her father looked into her eyes. "Break… how did you do it?"
"I'm not sure…" she looked uncomfortable. "You never… deliberately aim for something specific… finding a new level. You just know… you need something . I had to win… I just had to."
Raditz grinned. "We thought we'd reached the limit of powering up… I guess you broke through it. You can thank your mother for this, you know." Break raised an eyebrow. "I'll explain later… right now, let's just be happy!"
"That's right!" Goku had a grin plastered on his face, spreading almost from ear to ear. "You did it, Break! You saved the world… you stopped Cell!"
" IS THAT A FACT ?!" boomed a harsh, imperious voice.
"No… no…" Goku clenched his fists. "Doesn't that monster ever die?"
"He can't… be alive!" Break growled. "I… blew him to pieces!"
"Get ready!" Raditz warned, glancing up into the sky. I'm getting tired of this regeneration crap! "He's coming, but… tell me I'm not the only one sensing this."
"You're not." Nail nodded. "I'm afraid his power-"
"Is even greater than before, is that right?" Cell said quietly from behind them. They whirled, jumping with fright, seeing the reborn monster perched on a rocky outcrop barely a metre away.
Zarbon choked. "But-but he was in the sky just a moment ago!"
"I didn't even see any movement…" Goku muttered. "He's faster than before, too…"
Cell bowed. His power was indeed much greater now, but that wasn't the only change. Blue sparks of electric energy crackled around his body, filling the air with an acrid, metallic taste. "Now, I suppose you're all just dying for an explanation. Well, don't say I never gave you anything." He cleared his throat, as if giving a lecture. "Namekian regeneration is such a useful little trait, and coupled with the frost demons' ability to survive in space, well… coping with that attack was child's play, really!" He chuckled. "But of course, wouldn't you expect me to be weakened, drained-not stronger than ever? Well, as a matter of fact you saiyans are responsible for this latest development."
"Don't tell me…" Raditz scowled. "You came back stronger after a near-death experience, just like a saiyan!"
Cell nodded. "That's right."
"But you couldn't have! That ability provides diminishing returns at higher power levels. It doesn't give us any benefit at all at our strength!"
"Oh, normally you'd be quite right," Cell said, grinning. "However, the ability would give a greater power boost, would it not, if the user had come back from, say, being reduced to a single cell ."
Krillin frowned. "You regenerated from one cell?!"
"Oh, I did. Even I didn't think I would survive, so perhaps I was exaggerating a little when I called it 'child's play'. Maybe the fact that I thought I would die was the reason the saiyan trait activated… who knows? It's irrelevant. I thought I was perfect as I was before… now I see the truly perfect design is the one that continually improves, always growing stronger. But enough of this gloating. Our battle can now resume." He pointed at Break. "Isn't that right?"
She growled like a cornered animal. "This doesn't… change anything."
"Oh, but it does. Shall I prove it to you?" Cell leapt forwards, laughing, and disappeared. Break stumbled back in alarm, eyes widening, and quickly vanished as well. The fighters ricocheted back and forth around the plains, every strike and block twisting and tearing up the landscape. Break missed a punch, and a mountain miles away shattered. Cell blocked a kick, and a nearby town suffered an unprecedented earthquake. After a full, unrelenting minute of this, they reappeared, landing opposite each other. Break was swaying from side to side, trying her best to remain standing, her aura flickering as if ready to explode. Cell stood confidently, arms folded. "Well, that was interesting. With your power so volatile and unstable, and us both having so recently come into our full potential… I genuinely didn't know who was the stronger. But it appears to be me, does it not?"
"HAAAH!" Break yelled, throwing herself forwards and kicking Cell in the face, but he didn't flinch.
"Incredible…" Krillin muttered. "That attack could've split the planet in half, but he just stood there and took it!"
"I fear…" Raditz said quietly, numbly. "… that even Break's new power can't save us now. Cell really is perfect. He can survive anywhere… he can regenerate any injury… and just get stronger. We can't beat him… nobody can…" he sank to his knees, his fingers digging into what little grass hadn't been burnt to ash around them. "We were fools to even try."
Goku shook his head. "This isn't over yet. Have a little faith."
"Hmph." Raditz grimaced. Faith…
Cell spun, knocking Break's legs out from under her, and aided her fall with a sweeping overhead elbow strike, throwing her to the floor. She stuck both hands out beneath her, stopping her fall and swinging her legs up towards him, but he ducked back, easily avoiding the double-footed kick. She continued the movement, pushing off with her hands and back-flipping to her feet. "Nice try, taking my attack… but I felt it." She grinned. "Your energy dropped… for a moment. It's the same trick I used… you're stronger than me… but not by that much."
Cell snickered. "True, true. You did injure me somewhat. Perhaps you'd have a chance, however small, at full power. But you're not, are you? No, that blast you tried to kill me with took a lot out of you. And so, you will fall." He raised a hand, firing off a quick energy bolt that smashed into her, driving her backwards. "And your planet falls with you."
"No… you won't!" She charged him again, furiously attacking. "YOU CAN'T!"
Cell laughed, precisely-timed blocks and parries turning aside each of her attacks. "It's not your choice anymore," he gloated, ramming a knee into her side, feeling ribs buckle, but not break. Not yet.
The news crew continued to watch. "I'm not… entirely sure what to make of this!" the reporter whispered, as the ordinary humans clung to dear life for their cover as shockwaves from the superhuman battle rolled past them.
"You don't believe all that crap's really happening, do you?" a gruff, boisterous voice asked. Hercule marched up to them, posturing like usual. "I told you, it's all cheap tricks-not real fighting."
The reporter raised an eyebrow. "Cheap tricks like the one that knocked you out?"
Hercule frowned. "Well, of course! It's not called a trick for nothin', you know! But I won't fall for it again-" another wave of force knocked them all to the ground.
"Well, I believe what I see," the reporter said obstinately, "and you can't just explain all this away." An assistant ran up to him, whispering something to him-the results of a hurried investigation. The reporter smiled. "I see. Well, Hercule, how would you respond if I asked you about the world martial arts tournaments before you begin to compete? There are multiple eyewitness accounts, not to mention photographic evidence, to suggest similar supernatural fighting techniques were employed, and not used as grounds for disqualification by the tournament officials…"
Hercule began to look flustered. "Look, Mister, I don't know who you think you are, but…" he puffed out his chest. "I, sir, am the Martial. Arts. Champion. Oftheworld ! And I know real fighting when I see it!" At this point, another shockwave bowled him over, sending him spinning end over end along the ground away from the battle.
The reporter shrugged. "I leave you to draw your own conclusions, viewers."
The broadcast was live, international. Millions were watching. And, though many drank in everything the champion told them, some began to mutter.
"Got himself knocked out, of course he'd call it a trick…"
"I've been to those tournaments, I saw people fly!"
"Get back to the fight!"
"What about King Piccolo and those aliens a few years back?"
"I know what I saw!"
Break collapsed, gasping for air. She was bruised, beaten half to death-or at least it felt like it. Cell stalked towards her, in a relaxed pose. "Well?" he asked. "Don't disappoint me. You're the best the Earth has to offer, at least help me pretend you're worth killing. Come on, stand up! Fight!"
"If you insist." Goku stood firmly between Cell and Break.
"Goku?" Cell sneered. "Out of my way. Your turn will come. But I must destroy this one first. She needs to die…" She almost killed me. I cannot let such a being exist in this world.
"Not while I'm still here." Goku attacked, but five sharp blows sent him sprawling before he could even connect one punch. He sprang back up, tasting blood in his mouth. It mingled with the metallic taste that Cell's electric aura filled the air with, and with a shock Goku realised something. That energy coming from Cell… I know it. The taste in the air. It's like… Gohan? When he beat Broly? Yes… the energy's the same! Cell… is he tapping that same power? And what is that power anyway? He shook his head. It didn't matter. He couldn't feel any such reserve inside himself, and he didn't have Break's potential either. He just knew what he had to do. He had to win. It was what he'd always done. He'd fought, and he or his friends had come out on top. But Cell was invincible, it seemed… what could he do? He had to be stronger… had to be… stronger… that's it.
Several days ago, within the Hyperbolic Time Chamber…
Goku was pacing back and forth. He had it. He was replaying the memory over and over in his head. Yes, that was it.
"Dad?" Gohan asked. Goku looked up, smiling.
"Hey, son. Just thinking about something."
"I thought we were going to be Super Saiyans for as long as possible, Dad." Gohan was himself transformed at the time. "You're, y'know, normal."
"Yeah, I know." Goku settled into a low stance. "That's intentional. Let's see…" he gritted his teeth, summoning up his energy, and- concentrating it, almost like it was folding back in on itself, compressing, doubling its efficiency. "KAIOKEN!" A burning red aura flared to life around Goku's body, enveloping him. "Cool! It worked!" He jumped back and forth, trying a few experimenting punches and kicks in the air. "My speed and power are definitely increased, but…" he relaxed, powering down and letting the aura fade. "It's nothing compared to Super Saiyan. Ah, never mind, I guess." He transformed into a Super Saiyan with little effort, turning to face Gohan.
The half-saiyan looked confused. "I didn't know you knew the Kaioken, dad…"
Goku laughed. "Actually, that was my first try! But I've seen Tien and the others do it, and I'm a quick learner."
"Quick learner?" Gohan shook his head. " Nobody can do the Kaioken without King Kai's training, and you haven't had that."
Goku smiled. "Hey, Master Roshi said it'd take me 50 years to learn the kamehameha, and I did it first try." He felt a little self-conscious. "Uh, not to brag or anything. But it doesn't matter. There's no point using Kaioken… it's not like I can use it on top of Super Saiyan or anything…"
Or can I? Goku honestly didn't know-but he was getting desperate. As he was, he was obviously no match for Cell. It's worth a try, I guess…
"No! No, no, no, a thousand times no!" King Kai's voice stabbed into his mind. "Goku, let's be clear on this. I tell you people not to do a lot of things. You do them anyway, and you're usually right. But trust me on this one. It won't help you. The two types of energy are completely different. They'll clash inside your body, and you'll be burned out of power at best, ripped apart from the inside at worst!" he grew frantic. "Do you understand me?"
Sure, Goku thought. But I'm going to die here anyway. Might as well go for it. Besides, aren't you curious?
"No! No, I'm not! Goku, there has to be another way!"
Well, I don't see one. Here goes… Goku inhaled deeply, collecting his power inside himself. "HYAAAA…" And… focus. " SUPER KAIOKEN!" he bellowed, feeling it burst out of him. His golden aura and hair flashed red, and he shot forwards with boosted speed. A strengthened fist cracked into Cell's face, hurling him away through the air. However, the moment passed, and Goku felt a clash inside him. Instantly, the power vanished, the Kaioken and Super Saiyan energies within his body reacting violently to each other. He collapsed, his power gone, only remaining in his Super Saiyan state at all due to weeks of learning to sustain it with almost no energy consumption.
Cell, having leisurely righted himself, was walking over towards the fallen forms of Break and Goku. "Interesting," he said, rubbing a bruise on his face where Break and Goku's attacks had hit the exact same spot, "but I'm afraid that gamble ended up hurting you a lot more than it did me. Oh well." He shrugged. "It was certainly an inventive move. But you only delayed the inevitable… I'm done here. Your mightiest have fallen, and now all that is left is for me to clean up-wha… what is… what is this ?!" Cell found himself unable to move, encased in a shimmering blue field of light.
"This?" Bulma snapped her goggles down, wiping grease from her face and flicking a switch on her anti-Cell device. "This is science ."
Chapter 37: Innocence Falls
Cell hissed angrily, writhing in frustration as he struggled to escape the shining energy field Bulma's machine projected. "This… cannot be! I am meant to do battle with great warriors… not fall prey to some mechanical trick!"
Bulma winked, wagging a finger. "Now now, fair's fair. Science and technology created you, after all, so it's really just my genius against Dr. Gero's." She sighed as she twisted a dial on her device. "And really, that's no contest, now is it?" I didn't honestly think it'd be fixed this quickly… sometimes, I even impress myself!
Cell twisted, pounding on the barrier, but it held. "C-Curse you! I wasn't ready for this…"
"Uh-huh." Bulma tapped a series of buttons. "Aaaaand… capture." A shudder ran down the cable connecting the tubelike hand-held portion of her machine to the large metal box that was now bolted to the ground for stability. The vibration reached Cell, and the immobilising light grew brighter. Cell's form began to stretch, elongating and compressing as he was sucked inside the tube. It shook violently, and the shaking began to pass back down the cable, into the box. Lights flashed wildly all over the machine, blinking on and off like traffic lights gone mad. Come on… Bulma wrestled with the device, holding it steady. Keep it up… She jammed the palm of her hand down on a lever, wrenching it across to the 'on' position. "And… disintegrate!"
There was a final shake from the box, and then it fell silent. The lights darkened as the entire machine powered down. Bulma grinned nervously. "I… I think it worked!"
"I wouldn't be too sure…" Raditz glanced around warily. "He's been decapitated and blasted into pieces, but he's always come back… don't let your guard down!"
Bulma shrugged. "I don't think so. He can regenerate from one cell, but this wouldn't have even left that much." She lifted up her goggles, propping them on her forehead and shaking off her gloves as she set the device down. "You know what they say, third time's the charm! He's gone for good this time, guys."
"Nope." Bulma froze. She knew. She knew it was Cell standing behind her, having pulled off yet another death-defying escape. In that moment, she felt despair. Cell realised this, and decided it was the perfect emotional note for her life to end on.
Cell raised his hand with superhuman speed, Bulma, a normal human, appearing frozen into place to his eyes, and the other fighters, desperately trying to intercept him, looked like they were moving in slow motion. Even Break seemed sluggish and lethargic, and Cell grinned maliciously, just long enough for them to see it. Then he released a tiny energy beam from his fingertip.
It shot in a perfectly straight line at the back of Bulma's head, drilling a neat hole in her skull, instantly cauterising the wound, leaving no blood at all. It burrowed inside her head, piercing through into her brain. Cell, programmed with an intimate knowledge of human anatomy, expertly directed the beam, boring through her mental pathways, searing and burning out all the vital areas, completely destroying her brain.
With almost no visual damage, Bulma dropped to the ground. It would almost seem redundant now to state that she was dead.
Zarbon, seeing the body of the woman he loved hit the floor, flew into a murderous rage. With a wordless scream, he rocketed at Cell, his eyes blazing gold, but the creature's hand plucked him out of the air, neatly pinching his neck between two fingers. "Now, now," Cell said with a smirk, "don't be hasty. You'll get your turn."
He threw Zarbon away, turning his attention to Break, who was barrelling towards him with thundering footfalls. If Gohan had been like a father to her, Bulma was everyone's mother. Even this younger version of her was a loss that struck deep. "Ah, ready for another round?" Cell leapt off into the air, and he and Break disappeared as their battle rejoined, their violent clashes shaking the landscape once again.
Their reaction, however, their pain, their loss, was nothing to Goku's. He was crouched on the ground, cradling Bulma in his arms. Tears streamed down his face. "Bulma… get up…" he sounded like a child again. She was his oldest friend; aside from his adoptive grandfather, the first human being he'd ever met. "Don't leave me alone… I can't do it, I'm sorry… I'm not strong enough…" The assembled fighters began to despair. Goku never lost hope like this. He was always trying, fighting harder. But he had nothing left. If even Goku had given up, there was truly no hope. He hung his head, shoulders shaking as he wept.
"Huh? A human? Really?"
"Yes, silly! I'm just like you! Take a look!"
"You're kinda like me, but there's something… different…"
"Well, duh, brainiac! I'm a girl!"
"G-girl? You mean female?"
"Hello! Surely you've seen a girl before!"
"I never saw another human before! My dead grampa always told me…'if you ever meet a girl, treat her nice'."
"So what is that monster anyway? How'd you catch it?"
"That 'monster' happens to be my car . People make them."
"So this is a car… woah, wait… are you from 'civilisation'?"
"Well… I guess I hafta let you in on my little secret… they're called 'dragon balls'."
"You're collectin' them?"
"The next closest is… to the west! About 1,200 kilometers! By the way, what's your name?
"I'm Goku. Son Goku! How 'bout you?"
"I'm… Bulma…"
"Isn't that a word for underwear? Hah!"
"SHUT UP! I didn't PICK it!"
"Which capsule is the bike… oh yeah… number 9!"
"Eeee-yaaahh! I knew it! You ARE a witch!"
"Get over it, ape-boy! Everybody in the city's got capsules!"
The memories flashed through his mind, passing in an instant. He just couldn't deal with it. Cell had taken the Dragon Balls, there was no bringing anybody back. And he had the heart medicine too… a world without Bulma or Gohan. It just didn't fit into Goku's mind. It couldn't happen. But it was happening before his eyes. Confronted by a situation he just couldn't cope with, Goku's mind was stretched to breaking point. Then, there was a flickering at the edge of his mind. Gohan's energy was fading.
And staring into Bulma's lifeless eyes, his tears falling on to her face-realising his son, too, was dying-he broke.
"How did you do it?" Break hissed, as Cell blocked her fist. "You were trapped in that machine!"
"Easy. Instant Transmission. It was actually more of a defensive reflex than anything-I wasn't even aware that I was capable of the technique." Cell delivered a sweeping kick, knocking Break to the ground again. "Nice try… but I think you knew how that was going to go." Suddenly, his head jerked back and his body convulsed as a huge wave of power rippled through him. What…? Trembling as he sensed something almost beyond comprehension, Cell turned.
There was a blur of motion, and Bulma's body lay next to Zarbon. Another movement, and Goku stood in front of Cell. His hair was slightly more pointed, angling upwards more, and sparks of blue electricity crackled around his body, arcing up and down through his aura. With a shock, Cell realised it was exactly like his own aura since coming back from near-death, only somehow Goku's seemed far more potent.
Goku's ki was also massive, intimidating even Cell, but the thing that really terrified him was the saiyan's face. It was harsh, seething with anger, but not boiling over like Break. Goku seemed cold, almost calm. His eyes were hard, and yet he was still crying. "Cell." It was one quiet word, but it brought complete silence to the battlefield. Then without warning, Goku flared up his aura, his golden power roaring angrily. " I will make you suffer ."
"What are you?" Cell whispered in fear.
"I am what Goku was afraid he might become," the saiyan replied, tensing up as he prepared to attack. "I'm his saiyan warrior's heart… you can call me Kakarot."
Bojack's head swung left and right, searching for his elusive opponent. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd be victorious; he always was. He'd seen his enemy's power, and impressive though it was, it paled before his own.
There was a sharp crack over to his left, and Bujin's body tumbled out of the window of a nearby ruined building, landing with a wet thump. Bojack growled in irritation-these minions were difficult to replace. "Zangya!" he called.
"Lord." She appeared behind him, answering his call.
"Heed your comrade's example. Don't let your guard down for an instant; this foe will seize any advantage you give him." Zangya nodded at his words, and leapt off to continue the search. Bojack's gaze again swept back and forth as he strolled through the ruins of this once peaceful civilisation. "Come on, Super Saiyan!" he shouted. "Come out and fight us. This skulking does not become you. You are royalty, are you not? Face me!"
"Not while the witch lives!" came the reply. "I won't fall for the same trick twice!" Bojack spun, firing a blast that levelled the remains of a suburb, but Vegeta had already moved on, creeping from shadow to shadow, keeping his energy output as low as possible, an impressive feat while still in the Super Saiyan form. Bojack snorted. I'm getting bored of this. "Zangya! To me!" he shouted. His last remaining servant settled to the ground in front of him.
"My lord?" she asked.
Without warning, Bojack fired a pulsing green energy bolt into her stomach, blasting her away from him, her form disappearing in a violent explosion. "There!" he called out to the ruins. "She's dealt with. Will you face me now?"
In answer, Vegeta leapt up behind him, landing a two-footed kick to the back of his head, bowling him over. "You're wide open!" the prince said triumphantly.
Bojack quickly recovered, raising his guard in time for Vegeta's second assault. The saiyan and the Hera-jin traded rapid blows, Bojack allowing himself to be pushed back by the onslaught, the pirate's expression permanantly one of mild amusement. "You're better than I expected!" he congratulated Vegeta, who answered with a high punch, but Bojack's lightning reflexes saved him as he ducked to the right.
Breaking off from the close-ranged combat, Bojack jumped up and backwards, unleashing a hail of energy bullets. Vegeta found the high-speed projectiles difficult to dodge, dashing back and forth to avoid them one at a time. He skidded to a halt as the last one exploded next to him, and at that moment Bojack appeared behind him, kicking him to the ground. "Hah! Now who's wide open?"
Vegeta allowed himself to roll along the grit and rubble, letting the natural momentum of his movement spin him to face Bojack as he raised one hand. "BIG BANG ATTACK!"
Concern registered on Bojack's face as the off-white energy sphere shot at him, but he dived to the side just in time, avoiding the devastating blast. "Where did that come from all of a sudden?" He frowned. "Your energy control is admirable…"
Vegeta stood up shakily, trying to recover from the power drain of charging such a powerful attack so quickly. "And there's more where that came from… this fight's just getting started."
"Oh, is that so?" Bojack smiled. "From where I'm standing, it was over before it even begun. Let me show you…" Without warning, his ki skyrocketed, and he underwent the same transformation Kogu had, his muscles bulging out as his skin colour became a light green and his hair turned from orange to dark red. His jacket, not designed for such a huge creature, ripped away entirely, and his bandana fluttered free, drifting to the ground next to him. "Ah, that feels much better."
"Hah!" Vegeta's disdain was clear. "You think I'm intimidated by that? I've transformed, too! Come at me with all you've-" Bojack's attack swept him off his feet, the space pirate blurring as he moved, slamming his forearm into Vegeta's chin. The Super Saiyan caught himself, pushing off the ground and landing on his feet, but Bojack was already behind him, one gnarled, meaty hand grabbing around Vegeta's neck. He threw a ki blast straight into Bojack's face in desperation, but it had no effect, and Bojack just swung Vegeta face-first into the ground, letting go and stamping his foot down on the saiyan's back.
"Aaaahhhkk!" Vegeta coughed up blood, feeling the sharp, broken rock digging into his skin as Bojack drove him into the ground. No! I won't lose! He shot out a burst of ki upwards, shoving himself further down and hiding him underground. Bojack stood up, looking warily around. "Where are-" The ground collapsed beneath him, Vegeta jumping into the air and simultaneously kicking Bojack down into the hole he'd created, flying higher as he charged energy between his hands. Bojack was struggling to dig himself out, and Vegeta took the opportunity to fire. "FINAL…" A colossal golden beam shot down from between his hand, crashing into the ground with explosive force. "… FLASH!"
Vegeta hung in the air, breathing heavily as smoke billowed up from the hole. Luckily, Bojack seemed to have taken most of the force of the attack, or the entire planet would have been seriously damaged, perhaps even destroyed. Careless! Vegeta reprimanded himself. If he'd dodged at the last second, we'd both be dead! I've got to focus… I won't throw my life away for some amateur mistake like that. Just as he was about to power down, there was a flicker in the air and Bojack, appearing only lightly singed, appeared in the air in front of him, grabbing Vegeta's head between both hands and ramming his knee into the prince's face. Vegeta fell away, stunned, and failed to stop his fall, landing awkwardly and grunting at the impact. He pulled himself up as Bojack landed a few feet away.
"Is that really all you've got?" Bojack asked, disappointed. "I know I'm strong, but come on, you're just making this easy for me!"
Vegeta glared at his approaching opponent, who was grinning smugly as he contemplated his victory. Well, this is what I wanted, isn't it? Vegeta thought. I searched the universe for a challenging opponent… I can't give up now that I've found one! I'll just rise to the challenge, like I always have! It's how I became a Super Saiyan… that driving desire to be the best! The greatest warrior the universe has ever seen! Whenever I found a limit to my power, I just plowed through it-the muscled form was easy, once Frieza's metal forms showed me a power greater than my own was possible! And this… the mastered state… I discovered it almost by accident, staying transformed for greater and greater periods of time as endurance training… I've surpassed every barrier, risen to the ranks of legend… I can do it again! He raised his guard, reassuring himself. If this pi rate can attain such ridiculous power, so can I!
Vegeta roared, flaring up his aura as Bojack approached. Vegeta swung a fist, but Bojack took the punch with barely a flinch, then swung his own arm around in a lazy arc, twisting the prince's head around. Vegeta had to push with all of his ki to stop his neck snapping completely in two, stumbling back with an angry cry. How… how is this possible? I am the mightiest-the most elite of the greatest warrior race this universe has ever known… I've transcended even the power of a Super Saiyan… and this freak is slapping me around like I'm a joke! He prepared to attack again, when he felt… something.
Like ripples through a pond, something was spreading out through the universe. He felt a kinship with the strange force, and tried to focus on it, receiving a brief flash of a vision. A burning golden figure, a Super Saiyan. No… this warrior was beyond a Super Saiyan. They were something more. Something great and terrible. The vision passed, but he could still feel the presence in his mind. It was too distant to tell for sure, but had it been… Kakarot? Or his child? It had felt something like their energy, but comparing what he'd felt to their power when he'd last met them was like comparing a seed to a hundred-year-old oak. No… "NO!" He roared, straightening up to face Bojack. "You… you will not surpass me… I will not be left behind again!" I will rise… and claim this power… I will be the greatest once again! And I won't let this freak of nature stand in my way! "Prepare yourself, Bojack!" he growled. The space pirate leapt forwards, battering through Vegeta's defences and punching him in the gut.
"Prepare myself?" he laughed. "For what? Who do you think you are?"
Vegeta gritted his teeth, tasting blood but remaining standing, feeling his energy build around him as he drew back his fist. "I am… the prince of all saiyans… you worm… I am DEATH!"
There had been no more speeches, no posturing. One second had passed, and with calm, brutal efficiency, Goku-or Kakarot?-had beaten Cell half to death. He stumbled away, gasping for air, as the transformed saiyan stood calmly. Even in the brief moments that had passed, it was clear Cell was gravely outmatched.
"Uh… Goku?" Raditz ventured. "Kakarot? What-"
"Call me Goku if it's familiar," his brother said quietly. "It makes no difference to me. What matters is what I am… what the Goku you knew could never be. I'm the part of him that lay dormant after he suffered a head injury as a child… a true, ruthless saiyan warrior. And you… " his attention turned back to Cell. "… you, monster, are my prey." He lowered his stance, bringing both hands around to his side. "I'm not going to play with you, Cell. Prepare to die."
"This can't be happening!" Cell howled in frustration. "Every time… every time I rise to a new level of power… I attain my perfect form, I surpass it… and these warriors keep emerging to challenge me! How do these saiyans get so strong so quickly?"
"KA… ME…" A shining blue glow of energy flashed into life between Kakarot's hands. "… HA…"
"WAIT!" The saiyan's eyes widened as he saw Krillin, standing between him and Cell. His eyes were tightly shut, and he was trembling-obviously fearing for his life. But he flung his arms out to either side of his body, standing firm. "Don't do it, Goku!"
"Krillin…" the Super Saiyan hissed. "Get out of my way…"
"I can't!" Krillin wailed. "Those androids-Seventeen and Eighteen-they're still inside him! We might be able to save them… I can't let you kill them! I talked to Eighteen-she's a living, thinking person! You can't kill her! And if she's anything to go by, then Seventeen, too…"
"Not 'her', Krillin," Kakarot said, "'it'. They're machines, just like Cell! Remember what they did to Break's future? I'm not showing any mercy this time! My oldest friend-my son-they're dead because of this thing!"
"I'm telling you, they deserve a chance!" Krillin shouted. "They were human, once-Dr. Gero made them out of normal people! Please, don't kill them!"
"Krillin!" Nail called from the sidelines. "If they were human, they can be resurrected once Cell is gone and we get the Dragon Balls back! Just step aside… you don't want to get in Goku's way right now, trust me."
Krillin nodded. "All right…" Just as he was about to stand aside, Cell raised his hand, two fingers extended. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" He said triumphantly, letting loose a spiralling, piercing beam. Kakarot leapt forwards to intercept, appearing between Krillin and Cell and catching it between his hands. He snarled as the attack detonated, scorching his palms. "Don't even think about it, Cell!" But Cell was already moving, firing a barrage of special beam cannon blasts at Break, Raditz, Nail and Kuriza.
"Just stopping that one looks like it hurt," Cell chuckled. "Can you save them all, I wonder?"
"Damn it!" Kakarot rocketed backwards, chasing the four beams. Break, though still slower than either of the combatants, had enough speed, and enough of a warning to dodge on her own, but that left three, and Cell had a head-start. Kakarot shoved Raditz to the ground, pushing him out of the way, and moved to intercept the attack aimed at Nail, kicking it up into the air. His leg aching from the effort, he kept moving as the final beam inched its way towards Kuriza. I didn't save him just to let him die here, damn it! He only made it just in time, throwing his body between the oncoming beam and his unlikely friend. The Special Beam Cannon crashed into Kakarot's midsection, throwing him away, trailing smoke.
He landed on his hands and knees, coughing. Was that a cracked rib he felt? He couldn't tell. His vision blurred. There hadn't been time to defend himself, but luckily Cell hadn't had time to charge the attack fully, or he'd be dead.
"KIENZAN!"
"Wha-" Kakarot heard Cell's shout and forced himself to move. He turned to see where the attack was coming from, but saw only brilliant light, and staggered away, blinded. It's that Solar Kienzan technique he used on Break! I should have known not to trust anything that comes out of that bastard's mouth! He threw himself to the left, but felt the disc scoring a deep gash on his forearm, one of his wristbands being neatly sliced open and falling away. Blood followed it, and the sharp pain caused Kakarot to fumble his landing and fall to the ground in an untidy heap. He forced himself to sit up, squinting and seeing a bright flash at the corner of his eye. He pushed himself up with his good arm, using a burst of ki to launch himself into the air and hearing the ominous hum as the Solar Kienzan passed just underneath him. Cell, thinking him still blinded, appeared above him to knock him back down towards the disc, but Kakarot reached up and grabbed Cell by the shoulder, swinging him down into the path of his own attack. Cell hurriedly extinguished it, dissipating the Kienzan before it cut him in half. Then, curiously, he smiled. "You think you've got me, don't you? I'm out of tricks, is that it?"
"Something like that." Kakarot reached up to snap Cell's neck, but the 'perfect' android vanished. "Wha-" Instant Transmission! he realised, too late. Cell appeared behind him, and slowed from his injuries, Kakarot couldn't react in time. Cell brought both hands up and neatly broke Kakarot's good arm. Terror and pain overwhelmed him, and Goku was back. The mysterious power remained, but the cruel ruthlesness was gone. He screamed as Cell fired tiny blasts into his knees, detonating them under the skin and shattering bones in his legs.
Goku dropped to the ground, beaten.
Cell remained floating in the air, looking down at Earth's crushed resistance as one admiring a great work of art. "Ah, exquisite. So you see, Goku, it's not always strength that decides the battle-it's intelligence! Not just that, either… you see, you were claiming to be this 'true saiyan warrior', but I don't buy it. You can be angry, yes, but I don't believe you ever had the potential to be a heartless killer, blow to the head or not… you proved that by wasting all that energy saving your friends…"
"Wasted?!" Raditz growled. "You callous… piece of…"
"Ah ah ah," Cell warned. "Watch your temper, Raditz. Your turn will come, but if you want to speed up your demise, just keep talking like that." Raditz fell silent, glowering at Cell. "As I was saying, Goku… it's this compassion, which you so foolishly insist on keeping even in the heat of battle, that makes you weak! And this weakness has doomed your planet! Now… how to finish you off…" He nodded. "Yes, that's it. I believe you and your friends managed to repel this attack once… I think it would be quite fitting if it ended up killing you after all…"
What's he going to do? Goku wondered. He didn't have to wait long to find out.
Cell raised his hands next to his head, a deep purple energy building up around them. "GALICK GUN…"
Goku closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. I've got… nothing left! This might be it…
"… FIRE!" Cell unleashed the roaring, raging energy wave, sending it straight down towards Goku. "This is the end, Goku! For you-and for humanity!"
Chapter 38: Rise
Cell's Galick Gun arced down towards Goku, the roaring purple beam seeming to almost lazily approach the ground, as if it shared Cell's arrogance, his sense that victory was assured. "It's over, Goku!" Cell taunted, leering at his horrified opponents. "Don't try to fight it… it's just natural selection in action. I, as the superior life form, will survive, and you inferior pure biologicals will die."
Goku, completely drained and shattered, shut his eyes, waiting for the end. How could I fail like this? We came so close to winning so many times…
Raditz watched, terrified. I… I have to do something! That's my brother he's going to kill there! We've already lost so many… he trembled, realising that, despite his urge to help out, he wasn't moving. His fear was freezing him to the spot. No… damn it, I won't stand and watch!
What would my father do? The thought came completely out of the blue. Just like that, the trembling stopped. His face hardened. By the time he had actually made up his mind to act, unfortunately, the beam had almost hit its target-there was no time to move Goku or Cell out of the way. Only time for one Instant Transmission jump. Then… I know what I have to do.
Goku thought of Chi-Chi, of course, as he waited to die. He realised this might be his last thought, as his mind cast back to their first meeting, back at the tournament when he'd beaten Piccolo the second time. He hadn't even realised who she was until she told him… yet they'd left the ring engaged. Placing the thought of that happier time firmly in the fore of his mind, Son Goku smiled and waited for death.
He heard a flicker of familiar sound, somehow carrying over the roar of the incoming Galick Gun. Opening his eyes, he saw Raditz, silhouetted in the purple light, grinning like a madman-standing over his brother, shielding him. That moment lasted just long enough to imprint itself on Goku's mind, then the attack hit. There was a titanic explosion, and Raditz's outline was blasted apart. The earth shook, cracks spreading out from the impact zone and spidering away around the plains. The news crew's camera completely overloaded, exploding in a surge of energy.
Goku stared, wide-eyed, as the light faded. There really wasn't much left of his older brother, but he caught a telepathic message, sent directly to him in Raditz's dying moments. Goku… I trust you'll honour your promise not to bring me back, but… you have to defeat Cell. We've come too far to fail. I know you'll remember me as a saiyan warrior, but please, remember me as something more… something better. Human.
Cell frowned. "That fool… I should have put more power into that attack. If I'd really been trying, I'd be capable of wiping out not just this planet, but your entire solar system! Shall we try that again?"
Goku felt the rage-felt Kakarot-surging up through his mind, but realised something. No… I don't need you anymore. I'm angry enough myself. I… hate this creature. I hat e someone… that's new. His face twisted in anger. "You androids… hundreds of innocent people… Tien… Yamcha… Piccolo, Kami, Katas… even your own kind… Bulma, Gohan… now Raditz… when will you be satisfied?!"
"When you, and this planet are no more!" Cell replied with a laugh. "When the universe is my playground!"
"You…" Goku's teeth ground together. He began to collect energy in his right arm-it was deeply slashed, but his only working limb. ' You'… what? There is no word… no word in any language… for this monster. "Y-you're not… gonna get away with this…" Power began to crackle up and down his arm and hand, more power than he'd realised he was capable of even in this higher form. "I just… won't… let you…" He slammed his arm down into the ground, launching a massive Kamehameha wave downwards and catapulting himself up at Cell.
I am the hope of the universe.
Krillin gawked. "Woah, Goku! Don't shoot that at the ground! You'll blow up the Earth!"
Nail shook his head. "No, it's more controlled than Goku's usual kamehameha… a tight, focused beam… it'll make a deep hole, but it isn't large enough to seriously affect the core. We can fix this kind of damage… if we win the battle."
I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace.
Cell grinned. "Yes, have your last little shot at victory. In your condition, what can you really expect to… to…" This energy… what is this? "You still have power?!" he gasped, too late.
I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth.
Cell threw his hands in front of his body to protect himself, but his guard was smashed aside by Goku's massive ki aura, and the Super Saiyan spun in the air, extinguishing his kamehameha and pointing the ki-charged fist of his good arm straight up at Cell. It punched straight through the evil android, Goku's arm penetrating right through Cell's midsection and out the other side, covered in green vital fluids.
Ally to good! Nightmare to you, Cell!
The pair fell limply, almost pathetically to the ground. Goku wrenched his arm free, ripping out chunks of Cell's flesh as he rolled away from his enemy. Cell weakly climbed to his knees, retching blood. He was already weakened, but this was almost too much. Almost. Wincing, he began to will on his regeneration. I need… to end this! It's getting out of hand…
"KAMEHAMEHA!" Goku had managed to prop himself on his broken arm, gritting his teeth at the pain, and now fired another blast from his good hand.
Cell spun as quickly as he could manage, forced to leave the gaping hole in his abdomen unhealed as he caught Goku's attack in both hands, desperately trying to hold it off. "You damn saiyan… don't you ever stop fighting? Do I have to… break every bone in your body?!" Still, his frustration aside, it seemed that they were about equal, neither giving an inch. Goku's energy struggled with Cell's, pushing off each other and both throwing their entire being into the battle. Cell took a step forwards, pushing the blast back. "Impressive… Goku…" he hissed. "But you're just… too injured… three limbs down… give up…"
"Not while I'm… breathing!" Goku growled, but he could tell he was losing. Cell was half-dead, but Goku was almost incapacitated. He threw everything he had into his Kamehameha, but it wasn't enough. Here at the end, he was losing.
"BURNING FLASH!"
Cell's eyes widened as Break's voice called out. "No-" he managed, before a second beam-green tinged with gold, and much more volatile-crashed into him from behind, starting to melt his back. Cell lashed an arm out to the other side, trying to block one beam with each hand. "Hnnngg… no… you won't…" The two attacks pressed in from left and right, overwhelming Cell's defences.
"Goku!" Break shouted. "Finish it now!"
"HYAAAAAH!" They screamed in unison, smashing right through Cell's guard and incinerating first his arms, then working inwards and pulping his body like paper in a shredder. Cell hissed his last few venomous words as he disintegrated. "This… cannot… be… I am… perfect… !" There was no sparing even a single cell this time, no regenerating-energy was blasting in from all sides, crushing and obliterating even the smallest piece of the horrific creature. Finally, the two attacks met in the middle, the energies clashing and cancelling each other out in the most massive blast wave yet. This one dwarfed all other explosions, any clash between the universe's most powerful fighters. The light from Cell's defeat could be seen from solar systems away, lighting up Earth like a beacon, then slowly fading.
Goku collapsed to the ground. Chi-Chi… he managed to lock on to her mind with telepathy. It's done… it's finally done. But I'm sorry, I'm too late… Gohan's…
He's just barely hanging on, Goku… hurry! He's fading fast, he hasn't got long… his wife replied.
Goku gasped, his weariness forgotten. "He's alive?!" he said out loud. His energy must have dropped so low I couldn't sense it at all… "Break! Gohan's alive, but he hasn't got long… we need to get him the medicine… you're the fastest! I've got no strength left, hurry!"
Break struggled to her feet, sighing as fatigue forced her to return to her base form. "Right, but… where's the medicine? Cell buried it somewhere around here… that's pretty vague… how do I find it?!"
Chi-Chi was shaking Gohan by the shoulders, trying to get his attention. "Gohan! Hold on! Just a few more minutes, they're coming!" His eyes rolled up into his head, glazing over. His breathing began to fade. Just as she was about to despair, there was a hiss and a pop. She looked down to see a bottle of liquid had materialised in her hand. In a frenzy, and perhaps more understanding than she realised, she started unthinkingly spooning it into Gohan's mouth. A couple mouthfuls, and he gasped, colour returning to his face. She smiled, overjoyed, and only then did she question what had just happened. "Where did this come from…?" she wondered aloud.
You're welcome! A kindly voice said, directly into her mind. Instead of panicking, she approached the situation logically. She'd experienced telepathy before. "You must be… King Kai?"
That's right! Came the reply. You guys all said you were saving the Dragon Balls on Namek for an emergency, so I figured this qualified… I contacted their elders a few minutes ago. They owe Earth one for saving them from the frost demons, and transporting the medicine to you was easy for Porunga!
"Porunga…" she nodded. "Namek's dragon, right."
Yup! Hold on, I'll just tell the others. Give him small amounts every few hours until he recovers, all right? Oh, and you might want to take a little yourself, plus anyone who's been in contact with him since he fell ill. Can't be too careful. Well, see ya. The cheerful voice cut off as King Kai informed the fighters of this latest turn of events.
Hearing the good news, Goku smiled, letting himself power down to normal. It was a bittersweet victory-many had been lost-but for now, he allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep.
Events began to move quickly after that. With no Instant Transmission user available, the second wish from the Namekian dragon was used to transport the Namek child (now almost a teenager by Earth reckoning) Dende over from Namek. He'd taken a liking to the humans after being personally saved by them on the original planet Namek. With his healing abilities, he quickly restored the fighters to full strength.
Gatherings of the Earth's defenders usually took place at Capsule Corp, but due to the planned restoration of the Dragon Balls and other important decisions about the future, it was decided that the meeting would be at what used to be Kami's lookout, in 24 hours.
"All right. You're sure that you can re-energise the dragon?" Goku asked.
Dende nodded. "Sure. Now you've fixed up the model…" he indicated the miniature stone dragon on the floor in front of them. "It'll be fine. I can even make it grant three wishes like the one on Namek!"
"Oh, cool!" Goku smiled. "But remember that Cell killed a whole lot of people, so we'll need to be able to bring back groups of people with a single wish."
"Right." Dende fell silent for a second, thinking this over. "That'll take up some of its power, but it'll still be able to grant two wishes. And it won't be able to resurrect anybody more than once."
Goku shrugged. "That's fine… since it's technically a different dragon now, it's like we're starting from scratch. We can even revive the people who've been brought back before by the old Shenron."
"It's a good thing you got to Gohan when you did," Dende said quietly, "or he'd be gone for good. No wish can undo a death by natural causes, like disease…" he shook his head, clearing his mind of such thoughts. "Never mind. Let's just get to fixing things."
"You're sure?" Break asked. "You'll have to adopt full responsibility as Guardian of the Earth, like Kami before you. You might not see your home for a long time."
Dende sighed. "… I know. But what would you think of me if I left your planet in this state? For now… just stand back." He mumbled a few words in the Namekian language, and an enormous bolt of lightning struck the model, the gathered Dragon Balls glowing as their old power re-filled them. The sky darkened, and with a thunderous noise Shenron burst forth, emerging and filling the sky over the lookout.
"YOU WHO HAVE SUMMONED ME," Shenron boomed, "SPEAK YOUR WISHES, FOR I SHALL GRANT ANY TWO OF YOUR HEART'S DESIRES."
Krillin grinned. "Ah, it's good to see the big guy again. Hey, guys-let's be careful exactly what we wish for. There's a lot to consider."
"And remember Porunga, on Namek, still has one wish remaining before his power is dissipated," Dende reminded them.
"Huh? It's been a while… you mean he's still waiting on them?" Krillin asked.
Dende frowned. "Yeah… Moori tells me he's pretty impatient, but they asked for a day or two to think, given the kind of losses Earth has suffered, and the dragon agreed to wait this once."
"Okay." Goku stepped ahead of the others. "First thing's first… the actual planet itself's suffered some pretty heavy damage, not least the hole I blew in it, so let's get that out of the way. SHENRON!" He spread his arms wide, speaking loudly and boldly. "Please repair all the damage caused to the Earth during the battles of the past few weeks!"
Shenron's eyes flared a brighter red. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. NOW SPEAK YOUR SECOND WISH, SO THAT I MAY RETURN TO MY REST."
"Okay." Goku looked back at the others. "Pretty simple, right? Resurrect everybody Cell killed? Wait, make that Cell and the androids…"
"Hold on." Nail shook his head. "That might not work for Yamcha, as from a certain point of view he killed himself… and don't forget that Piccolo levelled an apartment block right near the beginning, when 19 and 20 showed up. Not to mention that Seventeen and Eighteen were actually killed by you, Goku…"
"Oh, yeah." Goku tapped his forehead. "Ah! How about this? We ask for Shenron to bring back everyone killed during the battles against the androids and Cell… ah, we should say 'except Cell', I guess. He might count as living. I don't think 16, 19 or 20 will, though."
A voice cut through their minds. You're forgetting one thing, if I might interject.
"Uh?" Goku stared slightly upwards, his habit when talking telepathically to someone far-off. "Raditz?"
Who else? Raditz answered. King Kai's helping me boost my telepathy so I can talk to you from the afterlife. Anyway… remember what you promised. I died an honourable death. A warrior's death. You can't… you can't bring me back so that I can just fade away. A saiyan's life is meant to end with a bang, not a whimper!
"Uh… Launch?" Goku turned, seeing the dark-blue-haired woman already walking out ahead of the group. She was carrying the baby version of Break from this timeline. "Aren't you gonna ask him… to come back?" Goku asked.
Eyes shining, but holding back tears, she shook her head. "… No. Raditz!"
Yes?
"I know this is how you want it, and… I won't argue." She was shaking slightly, and then her whole body shuddered, and she was suddenly in her agressive, blonde personality, somehow having changed without the usual sneeze trigger. Evidently, her mind was under some considerable stress. "I'll… raise our kid… but more than that." She switched back to shy, but her tone of voice didn't change. Her outline seemed to blur. "I told you I'd get stronger… at least, one half of me did, but…" Switch. "But all of me meant it!" She sniffed. "We'll meet again, before the end. I don't know how, but… sometime in this life, I'm gonna see you again." Switch. "And I'll be strong enough… you'll look at me as an equal!"
In Otherworld, millions of miles away, Raditz smiled, touched. Launch… I never saw you as enything less. He looked up. But if you say we'll see each other… then we will. I believe you.
"You bet!" The personality switches became a blur, starting to become indistinguishable from each other. "So go. Go have an adventure… the greatest adventure in the universe. And I'll be waiting."
He laughed softly. You know how I'd say I wanted to be a saiyan, but human? I should have listened to you more. You've got it without even trying.
"Just get going, you… you wonderful idiot. Don't drag this out." She waved a hand to the sky, and baby Break did the same, laughing. "See ya!" There was a snapping sound, a loud crack, and the two blurring images settled together, forming one. Dark blue hair, run through with a streak of blonde, and projecting a new air of confidence.
I will. And with that, he was gone.
Goku took a deep breath. "All right then… Shenron!"
"WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?"
"Please bring back to life all those who were killed during the battles with Cell and the androids, except Cell and… Raditz."
"VERY WELL." Shenron's eyes glowed for longer than before, the specifics of the wish taking several seconds to work through. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. MY TASK IS DONE." The dragon faded, the dragon balls scattered to the far corners of the Earth, and the sky returned to normal. Shortly, they were joined by several more figures on the lookout-Tien, Yamcha, Bulma, Seventeen and Eighteen.
"What happened, guys? I don't remember…" Bulma asked, trailing off.
"Well, uh," Krillin mumbled, "Cell kind of, uh, killed you. And then Goku went completely mad…" he continued to recount the story, various parts requiring re-telling as Tien and Yamcha walked over and asked what had happened since they'd died. Seventeen and Eighteen hung at the edges, listening intently but not joining in with the conversation-they were only there at all because they'd needed to hear the full story.
"So now what?" Nail asked. "We've still got the dragon on Namek hanging around, waiting for somebody to use its last wish, remember?"
Yamcha scratched his head, looking optimistic. "Well, we've done what we need to do, so… we could wish for a giant pile of money?"
"Or a never-ending supply of food?" Goku suggested.
Break coughed. "This might sound a little selfish, but maybe we could use that wish to get me back to my time? Cell destroyed my time machine, after all."
"Don't worry about that." Bulma indicated herself. "Cell said he stole your time machine, right? You're looking at the world's foremost expert in state-of-the-art technology, alien tech, future, tech, you name it!" A thought struck her, and she looked slightly uncertain for a second. "Of course, that came from some third timeline, so that could be a problem, but now that we know there are different timelines, I'm sure we can use your… temporal signature or something, I don't know… and calibrate the machine to return you to your proper timeline. No need to use a wish for that."
"Hold on a second," a voice said. Android Eighteen, her brother Seventeen drifting along just behind, was approaching the group. "You come from the future?"
Break nodded, eyes hard. "A future the pair of you destroyed. Krillin keeps telling us you're different here, that you're human, but where I come from you're heartless killers. You've destroyed most of human civilisation, and killed a lot of people close to me. When I get back there, I'm going to destroy that version of you… it'll be easy, with the power I have now."
Eighteen nodded. "I think I understand, I…" she sighed. "What was it like?"
Break seemed surprised. She cares? "Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, I've been told. There was no warning. The first few weeks were the worst. You had only just been released… I guess you must have killed Dr. Gero, because we never saw any sign of him, but you were just having fun with your power. Even in this timeline we couldn't stop you at first, but in that one, when we were unprepared-with both Goku and Raditz already dead-it was a slaughter. First Earth's defenders." She spoke tonelessly, as if reciting from a book, trying not to bring emotion into it. "You hunted them across the world, picking them off… only Gohan survived, taking Bulma, Trunks and me with him as he escaped. And then there was nothing between you and billions of innocents. It was the apocalypse. The end of the world. Judgement day. Today, there are probably less than a million humans on the planet, and that many only because you can't sense energy and you don't particularly feel like destroying the whole thing. It's not just humans, though. It's a wasteland. You rarely see animals… there's hardly any green left… do you know, I…" her voice started to crack. "I came back to this time, and the first thing that struck me was how beatiful the planet was. I barely recognised it as the same place. The future doesn't even look like Earth anymore. Even those still alive are in constant fear of your next attack. It's not living… it's just waiting for death."
Eighteen was biting her lip, forcing herself to listen. Even Seventeen, normally detached and aloof, seemed horrified. "Could we… really do that?" he whispered.
"Twenty years…" Eighteen muttered. "Almost twenty years of absolute freedom. Wandering the Earth, taking anything we wanted. Yes, we could do it. Remember how proud we were, just a few days ago? When no-one could match us? It wouldn't take much to change us from just arrogant into monsters." She looked up, staring straight into Break's eyes. "I want to go with you."
"What?"
"I want to go to your time. When you've beaten those versions of us… there's going to be a lot of work to do, isn't there? Fixing the world."
Break nodded. "If humanity can continue… there's a lot of damage to undo. And no dragon balls to magic the problem away."
"Well, I want to help. My strength can make a difference. I know it was a different time… it wasn't really us. But I still feel responsible. It could have been us… if it weren't for Break's coming back here, it would have been us."
"Hey, Eighteen…" her brother looked her in the eyes. "You're serious about this? That's a major commitment."
"I'm sure." She gave a slight nod towards Krillin. "I've… done a lot of thinking, lately. I think we were wrong about a lot of things."
"In that case… count me in. You're not going anywhere without me." A nervous grin passed between the siblings. "Plus, when Cell absorbed us, I came to some conclusions about what I think of Gero's plans. Anything we can do to spit in his face, in any timeline, is fine by me."
Break was puzzled. Could these two, the monsters she'd run from her whole life, change so much? What had Krillin said to Eighteen? What she didn't know was that it wasn't really about what the man had said. He had done something else: he'd listened. And understood. "Well… all right. I'm putting a lot of trust in you, but you seem pretty sincere. It's going to be a shock to Bulma, seeing you…" Inside, she was still hesitating. She'd watched so many die because of these two. So why hadn't she outright refused? Maybe… maybe she wanted to believe that they could change. That evil and cruelty wasn't their real nature. Because they were human, once. And if all it took was freedom to turn them into monsters… did that mean all people were like them, deep down? Break had to believe that they were good at heart. That humanity was the race she hoped it could be. And so, she had to give them this chance. Even if she raged inside, every second they were still alive.
"Well…" Krillin smiled slightly. "If you really want to do it, then I might be able to make it an easier job. Hey, Dende! You still got a telepathic link with your family on Namek?"
Dende nodded. "Yes! Have you decided on a final wish for Porunga?"
"I have. Now, relay this wish word for word." He took a deep breath. "I want all the people of Earth in Break's future to forget what androids Seventeen and Eighteen look and sound like. They have to remember them only as vague, shadowy monsters. That way, when this version of Seventeen and Eighteen try and help, they won't be feared and hated."
Dende frowned. "It is difficult. The Namekian language is… I think that should do it. Oh… hmm."
"'Oh' what?" Krillin asked. "I don't like the sound of that."
"The dragon… is not sure. Affecting another timelines… might be beyond his power. But he'll try."
"Right. I mean, I was hoping just affecting people's perceptions would be possible…" Krillin started pacing back and forth nervously. "I guessed affecting that other time physically would be too much, I never thought that we'd be able to actually fix that other world from here, but maybe… just maybe, we can do something subtle like this. Especially if he can, I don't know, lock on to Break's temporal something-or-other, since she's from that universe."
"Well…" Dende replied. "We'll see. For now, we can only wait."
Bulma leaned out of the window, feeling the biting wind whip at her eyes and hair, watching the derelict time machine as it was lifted out of the dense undergrowth that had sprouted around it over the years. "All right, haul it up!" she shouted as the crane pulled. She could have asked one of the superhuman warriors to do the heavy lifting, and it would probably have been a lot quicker and easier, but sometimes it felt good to live in the real world once in a while-even if the 'real world' involved salvaging a time machine.
In short order, her assortment of remote-controlled vehicles had recovered the machine and loaded it into the transport plane, where it was whisked back to Capsule Corp. Work began immediately, despite her parents' protests. "You've only been back from the dead a minute, dear!" Dr. Briefs muttered, shaking his head as Bulma dashed off into the hangar.
"I'm busy! Get off my case!" she called back, skidding to a halt and looking up at the time machine. It was broken, almost a complete wreck. It was calibrated for the wrong future timeline. And it was technology twenty years ahead of her knowledge. Impossible, some might say. She grinned, snapping her goggles down. Well… the impossible takes me a little longer…
"Uh, guys?" Krillin called from the front room. "You might want to see this…" The inhabitants of Kame House traipsed in, to see the martial artist pointing at the TV screen, a 'what-can-I-say' expression on his face. A serious-looking man in military uniform, several medals and decorations adorning his chest, was speaking calmly and solemnly, staring directly into the camera.
"… the combined armed forces of the entire world government, including a full fifteen regiments of the King's Guards-a show of force unparalleled since the incident involving the Demon King Piccolo-arrived to find the field of battle utterly devastated," he was saying. The caption at the bottom of the screen read 'General Ripper, commander-in-chief, King's Guards'. "Previous footage had already proven both Cell and the group fighting him to be on an entirely different level to ordinary humans. With the Earth still intact-and reports are beginning to come in that the death and destruction caused are being undone by some mysterious force-we must arrive at the conclusion that the creature known as Cell has been defeated. We have had a team of scientists investigating the site since we arrived, and from the data we gathered before the damage was somehow repaired, we have estimated that the combatants have power outputs in the megatons, at least. I should stress that these people were unarmed, and extensive footage analysis has revealed no sign of trickery or image manipulation, as claimed by world martial arts champion 'Hercule Satan'." He paused, blinking for the first time, his expression never wavering. "And now, if you are listening out there somewhere, I would like to address these warriors directly. Whoever you are… you have done the people of this planet a great service. The Earth thanks you." He stood to attention and saluted.
"Well, what do you know…" Krillin mumbled. "Some gratitude at last."
The General continued speaking. "And now, a request. If you are watching, I invite you, formally, to Central City. We wish to personally congratulate you for your services, of course, but there is another thing. What I want, and what I know the people want right now, is the truth. It's said that smaller-scale versions of the abilities you possess have been seen at past world martial arts tournaments, and this may be true, but I hope you can understand the difference between that and the kind of awesome power displayed yesterday… I only request that if such power is achievable by all of us, its secrets be made known. At least to the world government… at most, to the public. We are all created equal. That is all." He stepped down from the podium as the news station returned to the studio. Krillin turned the TV off. "Well, guys? What do we do?"
"We tell them." They turned at the voice, seeing Goku in the doorway. "There's no reason to keep secrets, when people's lives could be benefited by knowing what we know."
"Everything, though?" Krillin raised an eyebrow. "The Dragon Balls? Time travel? Saiyans? People might not believe all that…"
Goku laughed. "Well, maybe not everything . But how ki works, at least." He shrugged. "I mean, he asked nicely, right? What's the worst that could happen?"
Chapter 39: Status Quo
Goku stood at the top of Mount Paozu, early the next morning, staring into the mists. I killed Cell. Why is that bothering me?
He was evil. Absolutely irredeemable… he was designed to be the engine of our destruction. I shouldn't feel anything. And it's not remorse, really, but I do feel a certain… sadness. Hate him though I did, he was a great warrior. I can't help feeling I might not ever meet a challenge like again that in this life. It's more than that, though.
He looked up and nodded, realising. That's it. When I was a kid… I didn't have much self-control. Some of my opponents ended up dead. I didn't choose to kill them, it was always circumstances-like kicking General Tao's grenade back at him on instinct, or using the last of my strength to finish King Piccolo… but even given that, I still killed some people. And yet, since I've grown up I've never taken the life of an intelligent being. I even defended Vegeta, and the Cell Juniors. But once more, I've had no choice but to act as God and choose who gets to live or die. I hope that never has to happen again.
He took a deep breath, using a ki-sharpened fingernail to open a small cut in his forearm and letting the blood soak into his right wristband, the red stain covering the blue. He held up the bloody saiyan tradition to the sky. Raditz… I'll never agree with your warrior's pride. But I do understand it. Have fun out there, bro.
Launch was staring out into the ocean from the beaches surrounding Kame House when Break approached. "Hey. You got a minute?"
"This is where I was standing," Launch said quietly, fondly. "And he appeared out of thin air, right… right over there. We hadn't talked much, before he left. We weren't… sure. About us."
"Left? For Namek?" Break walked up to stand next to her mother.
"Yeah. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I don't like sayings, but… in those days apart, I knew. I think that was when he knew, too."
"Hey, you're embarassing me!" Break laughed. "You're my parents… hearing this is kind of weird."
"Ah, I'm sorry." Launch turned, patting her daughter on the arm. "Hey, I'm proud of you, kid. Your father is, too."
Break sighed. "I know… I'm not sure if I earned it, though."
"What do you mean?"
"After all I did… I didn't beat Cell, or the androids. It came down to Goku in the end, to be the strongest. I helped, but others still achieved so much more than I did." Abruptly, Launch punched Break across the face. The half-saiyan didn't flinch, but noticed the fluidity of the motion. She's been practicing.
"Don't you talk like that." Lowering her fist, Launch leaned closer. "Now listen. None of this would be possible without you. You're the catalyst, you changed everything. We've got hope now, and a future-thanks to you. And now you can go back and save your time, too."
Break shrugged. "I guess so. You're right. Yeah, you're right. I just…" she searched for the words. "I don't know. I guess I just imagined myself riding in from the future, the great hero coming to save the day at the last minute. Not to be a messenger and help out every now and then."
"I know what you mean." Launch stepped back and sat down on the sand, indicating the spot next to her, which Break sat in. The older woman continued. "But don't try to be a hero. They always have so much pressure on them to make everything right. Gohan was the hero of your particular story, yes?"
Break shuddered, remembering. But… "Don't be a hero? You're saying I shouldn't help people?"
"By all means," Launch said, "be a good person. Be the best you can be-which, in my experience of you, is pretty damn good. Just don't let yourself become a symbol, or people will start asking the world of you."
Silence fell for a while, Break finally speaking as dawn broke, sweeping away the mists. "So… sorry if this is a difficult question… you're one person now. What's up with that?"
Launch lay back, half closing her eyes. "Honestly? I'm not sure. My gut instinct, though, is that both sides of me were finally starting to meet in the middle. The good me was getting angry an' determined, and the bad me was feeling compassion… and regret."
"Was this how you were born, then? If the two halves are genetic, was the split activated by a childhood trauma?"
"Don't remember. Maybe it was. My early life's pretty vague… Our minds are pretty good at supressing that kind of thing, y'know. Maybe something did happen… and that's why one half of me was so bitter all the time. Maybe…" echoes of memories, shadow images played across her mind, but were gone as soon as they appeared. "… maybe we'll never know."
"… All right, fire it up!" Bulma realised she was speaking to herself. Her second realisation was that she'd been up all night working on the time machine. The third was that she'd already been sleep-deprived for several days before that, working on the anti-Cell device. Ah well. I'll sleep, uh, that thing. Thing. Comes after now. Later. Right. Sleep later. She shook her head to clear her vision, focusing on the machine. "Hmm… should be set to the right timeline, if I know my temporal probabilities. Which is a field of science I invented yesterday, so I should." She powered up the machine, and the targeting mechanism located Break's future timeline, a row of lights down the side of the control panel going green. Well, that works, at least… It had also been modified to carry several people, given the androids' intention to accompany Break. Now, let me just go find our time travelers, and we'll be done with this whole thing.
Porunga was growing irritated. It couldn't be done. This wish, it was impossible. Well. It seemed impossible. But the dragon wasn't entirely, one hundred percent sure, and it was physically incapable of refusing to grant a wish within its power, so it had to eliminate all doubt.
There.
Something sparked on the edge of its world-spanning consciousness. Its omniscient senses whirled, homing in on Earth, detecting some kind of link between this world and the world of the future-the one it had been asked to affect. Porunga worked quickly, seizing on the pathway and pouring its energy through.
"YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED," it grumbled. "FAREWELL, AND DO NOT TRY MY PATIENCE IN THIS MANNER AGAIN!" The Namekian left to watch it glanced up in surprise, scrambling to his feet and running back to the village to inform the others.
Bulma was on the verge of passing out, so completely missed the crackle of red sparks that ran up and down the time machine as Porunga used it as a gateway for its power. Besides, Break, Seventeen and Eighteen were just walking into the hangar at the time, and shortly took to inspecting the machine.
"Hey, nice work!" Break said, tapping on the side with one finger. "Looks good as new!" She turned to face the woman who, in the future, had practically been her mother. "Hey, uh… I guess I won't be seeing you again. Not this version of you, anyway."
"I know…" Bulma sighed. "You sure you can't stay a week or two?"
Break shook her head. "Sorry. I'm afraid all I can think about is going home, finding out who survived… and finally fixing things there."
"You said goodbye to everyone? Launch?"
"Yeah. You're all great people, you know? I'm glad to have finally met everyone you used to talk about."
"You're not so bad yourself. Look after yourself, all right? Thanks for everything."
Break nodded, started to speak, and found herself lost for words. She nodded, smiled, and climbed into the time machine.
"And you two…" Bulma turned to the androids. "Well, I guess I'm glad you came around in the end."
"I'm not going to become like the future version of me," Eighteen said firmly.
"Well, I think you're crazy," Seventeen told her. "We don't owe those people in the future anything. But you're not going without me."
"Hold on a second!"
Everyone turned to see Krillin, slightly out of breath and wearing a backpack, standing in the doorway. "Let me come with you!" he said.
"Krillin?" Break leaned out of the time machine. "Why do you want to…?"
"I…" he glanced around nervously. "I care about you guys. I want to help. Look, there isn't much for me here. I've never had that much of a full life. I mean, all my stuff fits in here…" he held up his bag.
"Hey now, that's a bit sudden!" Bulma put her arm around him. "You've got friends, what are you talking about? Of course you have a good life! I've never known anybody to have more fun than you!" She patted him on the back. "Maybe you're comparing yourself to Yamcha or someone. Don't. Just because he wakes up with a hangover on somebody else's couch every other morning doesn't mean he's doing better than you are."
"I know, but I…" He looked torn.
Bulma groaned inwardly. "I know what you're feeling," she whispered to him. "I know you care for Eighteen, and you want to help her out. But those two really haven't had a life so far. There's nothing for them here, and they're doing something incredibly selfless by going. You'd just be making us all miss you. There are so many people here who couldn't bear to see you go."
"I… I guess so…" He hung his head as the androids got into the time machine.
"Hey, I know it's hard," Bulma said. "But they say, if you love something… let it go."
A large crowd awaited them in Central City, and Goku and Gohan arrived with flair, pure white auras blazing around them as they landed in front of several important officials. "The King makes his apologies, he's taken ill this morning," the prime minister informed them. Goku nodded-he'd met the king before, but couldn't really remember it very well, it having been a long time ago. The prime minister was accompanied by Dr. Briefs, as the world's leading scientist (his work unparalleled in practically every field), and the previously-seen General Ripper. The crowd's reaction to the father and son duo was mixed, but mostly one of apprehension, and anticipiation.
The prime minister shook Goku's hand awkwardly, Dr. Briefs gave a half-hearted wave as he scribbled down an idea for perfecting the experimental flux capacitor he'd just had on a notepad, and the General saluted. Goku smiled and waved to the crowd. "Hi!" Gohan lurked behind him, remaining quiet. News helicopters swarmed around like angry insects. After a couple of minutes, the crowd was motioned to silence, microphones were brought forwards to all on the 'stage', and the conversation began.
"Thank you for responding to my invitation," the General began.
"Oh, sure," Goku replied. "To be honest, I didn't even know it was a big secret. I mean, I've been able to do this stuff for years."
"I see," the prime minister, whose nametag read 'Erics', said. He was a thin, smiling man with messy hair and round yellow sunglasses. "So I by 'this stuff', you mean the superhuman abilities you used in the battle with Cell, among other times?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so."
"Are they, though?" Dr Briefs cut in. "Superhuman. If anybody can learn them, and I have it on good authority that they can, then is 'superhuman' really accurate? Does that make being good at music or sport 'superhuman', then?"
"I, uh… I guess so, hahah!" the prime minister replied with a nervous grin. "But I hope you, uh, know what I mean…"
"If I may get back to the point…" General Ripper turned to Goku. "Sorry about that. Anyway, how, exactly, do your powers work? Where do they come from?"
"Uh… hmm." Goku thought for a minute. "Well-"
"Hey." Gohan spoke for the first time, still looking uncomfortable. While his father had remained in his ever-present orange gi, the eleven-year-old boy had changed into more casual clothes, with a specially-designed belt for hiding his tail. "Dad, why don't I explain this? Not to put it too bluntly, but I've had, y'know…"
"An education?" Goku laughed. "Yeah, go ahead, kid."
"All right." Gohan frowned. "It's like this: There's an energy, a force, that flows throughout the entire universe. We call it ki, or sometimes just 'energy' or 'power'. It's in every living being, which is how we sense people's locations, by feeling for their ki signature. And you can train to increase your ki, and then channel it…" he held out a hand, producing a small white energy ball. "… while we tend to focus on fighting, it's often just handy in life to be able to generate energy. For instance, having a larger ki makes you stronger, faster and tougher, or as we put it generally 'more powerful', plus you can learn useful techniques, like flight." Extinguishing the energy ball, he hovered a couple of feet above the ground, cameras tracking his movement and broadcasting to the world. "You see? It's actually not that hard when you get used to it." He settled to the ground. "Honestly, it wasn't some big secret that all this was possible. People like the Turtle and Crane hermits have been teaching ki use for hundreds of years."
"I… see." Ripper frowned. "And… at a certain level of power, a ki-trained fighter is above the level of conventional weaponry? Guns, tanks?"
"Sir." Gohan looked him straight in the eye. "With all due respect, your entire army could attack me and I'd be capable of disarming them all before a single shot was fired. However, not wishing to boast, I count myself as exceptional, and perhaps most children would not be able to overcome them quite so easily, no matter how much training they had." He smiled a little. "It'd take them a couple of minutes, at least."
"And…" Ripper scratched his head. "What if the army deployed nuclear weapons? Just to extend that hypothetical scenario… not that we would, naturally…"
"Then, hypothetically, it would depend." Gohan shrugged. "King Piccolo had about the equivalent power of a nuclear bomb, I suppose. But we're way past his level at this point. Right now I'd be fully capable of destroying a planet."
"Y-you could destroy Earth?" Ripper gulped. "I, uh…"
"You don't feel safe with us here?" Goku asked. "Listen… you're a trained soldier, with years of experience. You're probably capable of killing most men fairly easily. I don't think that should be a reason for your friends and family to fear walking into a room with you, do you? Don't worry. You've got nothing to fear from us. All we've done is protect this planet."
"Hey, all right…" the prime minister began to pace back and forth. "… nobody's afraid of you. The General's just jumpy-it's his job. But you have the intention of making this power available to everyone?"
"Anyone who wants it." Goku shrugged. "I mean, not everybody has to be a fighter. But sure."
"So who will spread this knowledge?"
"Uh… hmm." Does Master Roshi still teach? Surely he can't deal with thousands of new students. "You know, that's a good point. There aren't enough teachers, and I can't see myself spending every waking minute just teaching all this… hmm."
Gohan grinned. "Got it."
"What?"
"I know what we'll do." He stepped forwards. "You always wanted me to develop my power, right? And mom always said I should study more. Well, how about this? I'll write a book. Everything about ki, how to train it, all about what we do. I'll even include explanations for our battles with Cell and so on. How's that sound?"
"Hey, now that's a good idea!" Goku grinned. "Then people can just get one and not have to run to one of only a few teachers… yeah, that sounds great!"
"All right." Gohan turned to the cameras. "It might take a couple of years, so sorry about that, but I want to make sure it's done well."
"Uh… all right then." the prime minister said, feeling that events had left his control. "I guess we'll have all the answers we need soon, people!" he tried to speak towards the cameras, but they were focused on Gohan.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
Goku turned around, seeing a familiar figure, and groaned. "Oh, not again…"
"NO MORE OF YOUR TRICKS!" Hercule yelled, somersaulting off the top of his car and landing in front of Goku, one finger extended in a challenge. "I, the Martial Arts Champion of the World and the man who defeated Cell, challenge you! Do you think you've got what it takes to face the champ?!"
Goku sighed. "You've got to be kidding me…"
Vegeta fell back from another blow to the head. He'd had his second wind, and more, but it wasn't any good. This opponent was like a wall he just couldn't climb no matter how hard he tried. Why…? Why is this happenning? I am the universe's greatest warrior, am I not? I have risen to the top… thrown off Frieza's oppression, surpassed all my limits… is it not my right to be victorious? Is it not my right to live to claim revenge on the renegades on Earth? I… I am an elite of the highest calibre, and this lowlife scum is picking me apart! This cannot… I will not… another punch sent him tumbling away, rolling over and over on the broken ground. And staring into the dirt, watching his lifeblood seeping into the uncaring earth, hearing his executioner's heavy, approaching tread, a dawning realisation hit him.
It didn't matter.
None of it mattered. He was the prince of all saiyans, the greatest of his kind, a pure-blooded fighter and what's more, a Super Saiyan. So? What did it matter, when some pirate from who-knows-where could just come along and beat him into the ground? What was the point? Suddenly all his boasts, his pride at being from such a privileged warrior breed seemed empty. "I am the prince of all saiyans… I am DEATH!" The words rang hollow in his mind. What did it mean, anyway? His royal blood… It meant that his ancestors had been great warriors. It said nothing of him. All that mattered… all that ever mattered in this life… was strength. The ability to back up your claims. To stand on your own two feet, and defeat your enemies. If you were beaten, if you were weak, it didn't matter who you were. This battle was testament to that. His pride, his standing hadn't saved him. He had always thought that it was his birthright to be the greatest… how blind. Kakarot had surpassed him with apparent ease. Raditz had beaten him to becoming a Super Saiyan. And now this… nobody, this scum… was about to kill him.
He shoved himself off the ground, vision blurring as he faced Bojack. How could I have spent my whole life spouting that garbage about being born superior? That's been proven wrong more than enough. All that matters… the only thing that matters is the here and now. And I will win this battle… and I will kill those traitors on Earth. "Y-You…" he hissed.
"Hmm?" Bojack grinned. More of the same, no doubt. Prince this, saiyan that.
"Get out… of my way…" It's the only thing… that matters. I have… to be… stronger than him. I have to get past him.
Bojack chuckled. "Get out of your way? I thought you wanted to fight me."
Vegeta fell forwards, stopping just in front of Bojack. He gasped, catching himself, trembling as he raised his guard. No, I won't lose here… I can't… die… here! "I said… GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Chapter 40: Judgement
Because I've been having computer troubles, this is going to be kind of a short chapter, so treat this and chapter 41 as a sort of extended two-part chapter… sort of… thing. For the same reason, chapter 2 of Best Served Cold will take a while.
Also, some people have been telling me that canon SSJ Gohan was stronger than Goku at the Cell Games. Yeah, my bad. Okay, so just take that number I gave for BTtL Gohan, then. Not that it matters too much-I'm not going to venture any guesses at actual power levels or anything, and any important information you can probably pick up from the story itself.
Oh! One more thing. The thing in this chapter about Hercule's name was actually something Akira Toriyama (the creator of DB and DBZ) said in an interview, so I didn't just randomly come up with it.
Actually, make that two more things. I really don't like the way this site makes my double dashes single dashes, so sorry if that's a little annoying, but my computer kept deleting files so I started just writing BTtL directly onto the site.
The media had been frantic the last few weeks, and today was no exception. A special arena had been set up at extremely short notice using Hercule's considerable funds, a giant 'ring' made from dozens of perfectly-cut stone slabs, topped off with four huge spikes of the same grey rock, one at each corner of the ring-a feat of high-speed, large-scale engineering made possible by a combination of near-limitless cash and cutting-edge Capsule Corp technology.
News crews swarmed around the site like angry insects, cameras whirring and flashing, microphones waving frantically as they chased down even the most minor functionary who showed themselves outside. The two fighters, or possibly one fighter and one man with a moustache-Goku and Hercule-were safely hidden from the media attention in tents on opposite sides of the ring. Goku sat in his tent, talking with Chi-Chi and Gohan.
"I don't like this whole set-up," Chi-Chi muttered.
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Goku gave his usual carefree smile. "They just need a little proof, that's all."
"Well, you just wipe the smirk off that big jerk's face, all right?" she asked.
Her husband laughed. "Hey, that's not so hard. You could beat him yourself, you know. The fight-if you can even call it that-isn't what's important. What's important is that people see the fight."
"Yeah, that's about it." Gohan stood up. "I'm going for a walk. I need some fresh air…"
"You sure?" Chi-Chi asked. "All those annoying journalists are out there…"
Gohan shrugged. "Don't worry. I can outrun them in my sleep." As he left, Goku and Chi-Chi heard gunshots from outside. They looked up, curious, as Erics-the prime minister they'd met earlier-rolled into the tent, breathing heavily and holstering a smoking revolver. "Oh, hey there!" he said, with a friendly wave. "Just had to fire a few warning shots. I got swarmed by reporters."
"Right…" Goku nodded.
An awkward silence followed, and as he mentally floundered, Chi-Chi tried to make conversation. "So, uh, Mr. Erics, what do you predict… who do you think will win?"
Erics grinned. "Aw, c'mon, don't treat me like an idiot. We both know Hercule doesn't stand a chance. I mean, he's a skilled wrestler, but it's still like Bruce Lee trying to take on Superman…"
Goku blinked. "Sorry, I don't know who that is." That Super-guy sounds tough… bet I could take him, though.
Erics scratched his head. "Wow, you must have been one sheltered kid, huh?"
"You have no idea," Chi-Chi agreed.
Gohan idly whistled to himself as he zipped along at speeds faster than the reporters could follow, eventually finding a spot-up on top of a hill-within view of the ring, but far enough away that no news crews would spot him. However, as he sat down on the other side of the hill, he realised with a start that someone else had beaten him there, probably with the same intention-he must not have been paying attention, as he hadn't noticed their ki signature. "Oh! Uh, I mean, hi."
The girl looked up. She was about his age, with shoulder-length black hair in pigtails and large, staring blue eyes. She wore a long white shirt that came down to her knees, contrasting sharply with the black of her pants and fingerless gloves. Seeing this neat, almost uniform-like appearance, Gohan suddenly felt uncomfortable with his scruffy, asymmetrical hair and loose orange gi. "Hi," she said. "You're his kid, aren't you? The guy my dad's going to fight."
"Your dad… Hercule Satan's your father?" Gohan asked, surprise.
"Yeah. My name's Videl," she said.
"Okay… I'm-"
"Gohan, I know." She looked up into the cloudless mid-day sky. "You were on TV… I have a good memory for names." After a brief pause, she added: "My dad's going to win, you know."
Gohan chuckled. "Sorry, but he isn't. Almost everybody I know could wipe the floor with a hundred of him… uh, no offense. He just hasn't had the chance to learn the proper-"
"Hmph." She frowned. "Say what you like. My dad's the strongest person in the world. He can punch through solid rock."
Wordlessly, Gohan picked up a rock lying on the ground next to him, and gently crushed it between two fingers.
"There you go again. I bet you picked a cracked rock just to trick me," she said firmly.
Gohan shook his head, resisting the urge to repeat the process with a boulder or a mountain. "You'll see." They sat on in silence.
"Hey…" Videl eventually said. "You want to know something?"
Gohan looked up from his internal musings. "Huh? What?"
She leaned in close and whispered, "My dad's name isn't really Hercule. That's just his stage name." She smiled. "He's actually called Mark." She leaned back as Gohan giggled, for once acting like the child he was.
"Hehe… Mark? Really?" Gohan grinned. "I guess that is a bit less impressive than 'Hercule'…"
Raditz and King Kai appeared in the main portion of the afterlife without ceremony-King Kai had provided the location, and Raditz had used Instant Transmission to speed up the transport process. He tapped the halo above his head with a small measure of disbelief, remembering the fateful judgement which had allowed him to keep his body at all and progress here.
(An indefinite period of time after Raditz was killed by Cell, undefinable due to the slowed-down way time passes in King Yemma's room of judgement, a necessary feature to allow him to judge all the souls of the dead within a short time of their demise)
Raditz stood in the large wood-panelled room, first taking in the circumstances of his death, then his location-several ogres in business suits were positioned around the room, and at a gigantic desk (also wood-mahogany, perhaps) in front of him sat a huge specimen, red-skinned and with a bushy, angry-looking beard which juxtaposed the friendly expression on his face. "Ah, here we are," he said, shuffling some papers. "Greetings…" he eyed a sheet of paper. "Raditz, saiyan, North galaxy, died defending his brother… ah yes, I remember you. I am King Yemma, judge of the afterlife" He leaned forwards, steepling his fingers in front of him. "Now, we've given you your body on a temporary basis for this judgement, but please don't try anything unruly as we can just as easily take it away… usually we just judge the incorporeal soul, but I wanted you with full awareness and mental capacity…"
"Why?" Raditz asked, still looking around. I honestly don't know what I expected from the afterlife, but it sure wasn't this .
"Well, you see… I'm not entirely sure what to do with you. I wanted to hear what you have to say for myself."
"What I…" The deceased saiyan paused. "This is… my final judgement…? You're going to decide what happens to me, in the afterlife… for eternity." His voice cracked as he added, quietly, something he'd never have admitted to under normal circumstances. "I… I'm afraid…"
"And well you should be," King Yemma replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he peered at Raditz. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you there's a lot going against you. However, the latter years of your life were spent engaged in… somewhat nobler pursuits than the first part. So you're not damned for certain… go ahead. Make your case."
"I…" he didn't know where to begin. So he just talked, anything that came to mind. "I don't want to go to Hell. Or whatever you call it. I won't lie, I desperately want to go to… that other place. But I'm not sure if I can plead with you, if I can argue that I should be allowed. I don't know if I deserve that. I've only just got over this in life… justifying myself. Everyone around me was always telling me it was fine, that I'd changed. Does that matter? How do you judge these things?" he choked. "How many people have I killed? Innocents?" He looked up at King Yemma. "That's not a rhetorical question. You should know this kind of thing! How many ?"
King Yemma shook his head. "I don't think you want to know. But it is a very large number. I'd say millions, but that'd be a few orders of magnitude off…'cleansing' a planet is a lot of lives, you know."
"Yeah… I know…" he sighed. "I guess I've done good things since then. I've saved people, helped those weaker than me. But only a couple of planets. What I've given the universe is nothing compared to what I've taken away. And even so, does it bring back anybody I've killed? They're still dead because of me!" he realised he was shouting, and tried to calm down. "I… I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't know. I don't know what you should do with me either. And for what it's worth… I'm sorry." He put his head in his hands. "I wish none of it had happened. Maybe everybody'd be better off if I hadn't been born in the first place. I just… I don't know what I can say… I'm so sorry…" he trailed off.
"And… genuine remorse, check…" Yemma started ticking boxes. "Acknowledgement of deeds, both good and evil, check…" Raditz looked up, astonished, as Yemma continued. "Desire to continue to do good, that's a big one, check… and I should also add, complete inability to see the bigger picture." The minor god smiled. "Think about this. Who, despite all odds, was the prophecy-fulfilling Super Saiyan who brought about the end of two-thirds of the galaxy's oppressors in a single day?"
"Wha…?"
"And who was sent to Earth to find his long-lost little brother, bringing its warriors into contact with the wider galaxy and causing the fall of the entire frost demon dynasty, thus preventing countless future centuries of bloody repression and genocide, which would have far outweighed any crimes that this man himself might have committed in his earlier years? A galaxy, I might add, which did not in fact collapse into anarchy and is now in capable, and what's more just, hands-a woman, O-something, can't remember, and her robot lieutenant-and is now enjoying peace and freedom for the first time in hundreds of years! And finally, who saved said younger brother from death at the hands of Dr. Gero's creations not once, but twice-the second time giving his own life in the attempt, allowing the defeat of the monster Cell, who if victorious on Earth would have gone on to wreak havoc on the entire universe, as a far more terrible threat than Frieza's kind ever was? Hmm?"
Raditz gaped. "I… I did do all that, didn't I…"
"Indeed. It seems, in fact, that whatever your society drove you to do at first, in your heart you find it almost impossible not to do good deeds when given the opportunity. And now-" he stamped a red seal of approval on Raditz's file, "-I'm giving you that opportunity."
Raditz smiled awkwardly, forcing himself to hold back tears-he could scarcely believe the implications of this. "Thank you… uh, sir. I'm-"
"Yes, yes, you're very grateful, I know, so is everybody who is allowed to enter the happier part of the afterlife. And as a reward for the manner of your death, you'll be allowed to keep your body, in order to continue your fighting career here in Otherworld. Now, go-and don't use up any more of my time! I've got seven million souls to process in the next three living-world seconds! Goodbye!"
The long-haired fighter nodded-he had been lucky. Had the judge been harsher… he didn't want to think about it. "So," he said, "the judge god said I could continue fighting, or something like that?"
King Kai nodded. "As with all great champions and heroes, you've been allowed to keep your mortal form for that reason. They've had millenia to train-you'll find plenty of warriors here who make even you look like nothing!"
Raditz grinned, striding through the tall grass towards the distant group of figures. "Not for long."
Chapter 41: Into the Future
Bulma, of course, didn't know. Nobody knew. Not even Porunga knew-this had been an entirely new and untested use of its powers. But Bulma had been standing rather close while the dragon had been using its magical powers across time, and there had been some… leakage. Excess radiation, a scientist might call it. A mere flash, a single event, a black, twisted day in their future, so meaningful and terrible it was etched into the timestream itself, the day the entire universe cried out in pain-so strong that even the brief, limited exposure to raw temporal energy she'd experienced had burned it into her subconscious.
Bulma first got a hint that something was amiss when she woke up the next morning, having finally gotten some sleep. She felt… strange. Still tired, as if she'd barely rested at all. She looked down. There was a pen in her left hand. Scrawled on her right palm was a number 7. Then again, further up her arm. One more on her shoulder. She tilted her mirror towards her-three more inky 7's dotted her face. Worried, she let the pen drop, jumping out of bed and flicking on the lights.
Empty, dry pens littered the floor. The walls and ceiling were covered in 7's. "What the hell?" she breathed.
Vegeta stood over the green, bloodied corpse, slowly crushing Bojack's ribs with his foot for good measure. I suppose I should thank whichever of the Earth maggots achieved this power before me, he thought to himself as he vapourised the body with a wave of his hand. Bright blue electric sparks crackled through his aura. Just knowing it existed made it far easier to attain. Perhaps 'easy' is the wrong word… it wasn't easy . Realising the foundations I'd built my world upon… were meaningless… it doesn't matter now. He put it out of his mind, trying not to acknowledge the pain he'd felt, inside and out. I'm sure Kakarot or Raditz or whoever has got a head start. .. I'll have to train, and master this new level. Then I'll return, and once the traitors are dealt with, I shall realise my true destiny… I'll carve out a new saiyan empire, by my own strength! I won't ever have to rely on anyone again.
Powering down, he flew over to his pod, ignoring the empty ones previously used by his squad. He climbed inside, tapping in the co-ordinates of a nearby trade planet. No use destroying this world-I'll leave it like this. Let them find it… and wonder.
Alternate timeline, 17 years in the future…
Break stepped out of the time machine, taking a deep breath and tasting ash and dust on the wind. Even the air is sick here… Seventeen and Eighteen followed, looking around at the devastated landscape. Crumbled remnants of burned-out buildings lay all around. No greenery was visible. The occasional skeleton or scavenging animal dotted the area. This is the place I left… Break thought. But where are Gohan, Bulma and the other androids? I guess they must have moved on-I had to return a day later, to avoid temporal interference, which would create another timeline. I can't see any fresh bodies, at least, so that's promising.
"This… this is wrong…" Eighteen whispered, shaking her head. "How could we have done this?!"
"Is the whole world like this?" Seventeen asked, only slightly more detached.
Break nodded. "Pretty much." Her head whipped around, and her eyes narrowed-a group of human ki signatures was starting to vanish, one by one. "Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Gohan winced as his improvised bandage rubbed on his raw wound. His shoulder was a bleeding stump, his severed left arm abandoned several miles back. In the distraction caused by Trunks' self-destruction, he'd managed to escape death, but 18 had been holding him by the arm and he'd had to literally tear himself free. Since then, he'd been wandering, trying to find some sign of them. He knew it was stupid. He should return to their shelter, not go looking for another fight he couldn't win. But he couldn't let it go. The battle wasn't over. He'd almost certainly die, when the time came, but so be it. He'd failed the task he'd been appointed so many years ago… Launch's final words to him rang accusingly in his mind.
"Our children, Gohan. They're the only hope for the future. Take care of them… here they come! Gohan-go, NOW!"
His face hardened at the memory, and he trudged on, towards the disappearing human energies. He crested the hill, and a frightened woman ran past him, shrieking. Android 17 stalked after her, firing a large-calibre pistol at his fleeing victim. Gohan caught the bullet in mid-flight, popping it in his mouth and grinding it to dust between his teeth. He nodded towards the gun. "A grown man like you, still playing with toys. It's disgraceful."
17 smiled. "Oh, look who it is. You know, I'm actually glad you survived losing your arm. So you can see…" he turned so that the light from a burning ruin illuminated him from behind, revealing his own damaged arm, the human exterior skin and clothing completely melted off to reveal a metallic skeleton beneath. The cyborg flexed his visibly-robot hand, scowling. "That brat did this to me! Look at it… now that is disgraceful."
"Leave these people alone, 17," Gohan growled, turning Super Saiyan. "Your fight is with me now."
17 shrugged. "I was just having a bit of fun. But have it your way, I won't hurt them. My sister, on the other hand…"
There was a flicker of high-speed motion, and 18 appeared in mid-air, grabbing the escaping woman and preparing to snap her neck. Gohan grimaced. They're so fast! "Go ahead and take Gohan out, 17," the second android said, grinning ferally. "I've already taken my pound of flesh from him."
"How generous of you." 17 raised an arm, a bright yellow ball of energy forming easily, drawing on his infinite energy reactor. "Now, Gohan, are you going to try and actually fight in your condition? Or can we make this easier for all of us, and you just let me end it? Or, I guess, you could make a futile attempt to save that poor innocent my sister's got hold of, but you'd leave yourself quite open to attack…"
Gohan trembled. Damn! This would be so much simpler if it was just me and them… I'd just go out fighting. Can I save this person and hold the androids off long enough for them to escape? If I'm resigned to not being able to save them, can I bring myself to let them die to give me an advantage? How did my father do this kind of thing all his life and come out smiling?!
"Time's running out, my friend," 17 said, in a mock-parental tone. "Now, you haven't made a decision, so I'll make one for you. It's been fun, but this is the end-" There was an almighty CRACK, and 17 folded up, wheezing quietly and dropping to the ground. In that instant, his energy ball had been deflected harmlessly into an empty office block, and the woman 18 had been about to kill had vanished, finding herself placed safely out of harm's way, a mile away.
"What the hell?" 18 asked, glancing left and right.
"Hi there," said a voice. 18 gasped, jumping away and raising her guard to see Break, in a fresh suit of her replicated saiyan-style armour, golden hair blowing softly in the wind, completely calm. "Miss me?"
"Break!" Gohan shouted, overjoyed. "You're back! Well," he said grimly, not noticing that she was concealing her power, "I suppose that we can at least die together…"
Break shook her head. "No-one's dying today." Her eyes narrowed. "Except these two."
"What are you talking about? Even with all of us at our best, we've never-"
"HYAAAAAAAH!" Break yelled as she powered up to her maximum Super Saiyan strength. There was the level beyond that she and Broly had used, but that wasn't necessary. The androids weren't worth bothering with it.
Gohan and the androids took a step back, the information Gohan's ki sense gave him filling him with awe. "Is that… really you?" She looks older, he realised. Tougher, even.
Break turned her attention to the androids. "Of course I'd find you trying to murder someone… someone who hasn't done anything to you!" she snarled, barely able to contain her anger. "Not only her… but one of the only still-living friends I have!" I've seen what the world could have been like without you… how far you've dragged us all into the dirt… maybe a true hero would find it in their heart to try and forgive you, but… you two, you made me what I am, and I'm no hero. The air crackled with the heat of her power as she fumed, the rocks at her feet buckling and melting under the immense pressure. Goku asked Cell something…'how many more?' Well, I know the answer to that now. "NOT ONE MORE, YOU ANIMALS!"
"What-" 18 was cut off as a fist, hard and unyielding, smashed into her face, driving her back. She stumbled, clutching her broken nose, screeching in pain. "Ahh! Bitch! My… aaagh!" Without responding, Break thrust her hand into the android's midsection, reaching inside, feeling for some mechanical part that seemed large and important and ripping it out, leaving a gaping, sparking hole in 18's stomach. She fell, lying still, eyes going blank, mouth twitching slightly. As she died, a sudden change of expression swept her face… an immense sadness seemed to come over her… perhaps even regret.
But Break wasn't focused on her. Tossing the piece of 18 away, she turned to 17. "This… this can't be happening…" he stuttered. "There's no way… you killed her! You just stabbed right through her!"
In an instant, Break stood in front of him, smiling coldly as she began to speak in sugar-sweet, mocking tones. "Oh, that's funny. Is that what I did? That's real funny." She grabbed 17 by the shoulders, pressing down with impossibly strong fingers and digging great rents into his skin, making him cry out in pain. "Stabbed right through her, you say? You know, that sounds kind of familiar… Do you," she hissed, almost spitting in his face, "by any chance, remember someone called Trunks?! " Without another word, she sent a gigantic wave of ki out through her hands, shattering 17's body like glass. Broken pieces of metal and flesh rained down in front of her as she powered down.
Gohan, having also reverted to his normal state, staggered over to her. "Break, you… you're incredible! How did you get so powerful? And you were in control, too…"
She grinned. "I'll tell you the whole story later, okay? You just see if you can get a real doctor for that wound, and then we'll go tell Bulma what's happened. What's important now is that it's over." She smiled to herself, realising the truth of the words as she said them. It's finally over… they're gone. We're free now. "I'll join you soon."
"Soon?" he asked. "Where are you going?"
Break sighed. "Oh, this is going to be awkward… there's a couple of people I'd like you to meet."
Main timeline, present day, Otherworld…
Raditz dusted off his hands, frowning at his downed opponent-a large, toga-wearing fighter with a floppy blond mane of hair named Olibu. "Honestly. I've only been here for ten minutes, and already I have to prove I'm not just idly boasting about my power."
"Well," Olibu said as Raditz helped him up, "when one claims to be many times stronger than Frieza, tyrant of the North Galaxy… it's not always easy to believe that, especially since you haven't had thousands of years of training like we have."
"Good point," Raditz replied eagerly. "We've got the whole of infinity to train-there's no limit to the power I can achieve!"
"I wouldn't bet on it… everyone meets their limits eventually."
"Believe what you want. I'm a saiyan-we're all about getting stronger." They both looked around as a tall figure landed on the heavenly world, approaching the training grounds. The stranger had green skin and no visible nose, and wore white and blue robes, topped off by a turban. "Who's that?" asked Raditz. He managed to avoid commenting on the stranger's halo, having finally got used to the fact that everyone but the Kais (there were indeed multiple Kais-another new discovery, though he had yet to meet any other than their own familiar King Kai) had them here.
"That's Pikkon," Olibu replied. "He's the strongest of us all, easily." He read the expression on Raditz's face. "Don't even think about it. He's way above even your level, my friend. He's just returning from a special mission from the Kais-Frieza and his family were stirring up trouble in Hell."
"Not Cell?" Raditz asked. "I know he hasn't been here for long, but it sounds like just the kind of trouble he'd love to get in on."
"No…" the heavenly warrior's expression darkened. "King Yemma was afraid of just such an occurence, and there's nobody in Otherworld who can match Cell, so a special prison was constructed for him in the depths of Hell. The only two people on his level are still living."
Goku and Gohan, right. Raditz weighed this up in his mind, but it didn't add up. "Why not just take away Cell's body? And Frieza and the rest of them, for that matter."
"It's not that simple, or so I'm told," Olibu explained. "You see, King Yemma doesn't quite have the power he likes to advertise. He can separate a person's soul from their Otherworld body, but if the person is an exceptional hero or villain, if they rise above the masses through force of character, their soul and body gravitate together. That's the reason for the whole system."
"I don't understand."
"It's like this… What you might know as heaven is where most people go. Their souls drift away from their bodies, and they lose some of themselves when they die, but as generally decent people on the whole, and as long as any crimes they committed were justified or minor enough to be excusable, they are allowed a pleasant afterlife. The despicable wretches who commit mindless acts of evil, and are not strong of mind enough to retain their bodies, are fed into a negative energy machine, where their essence coalesces into a useful fuel source-for instance, it is this constant stream of energy that fuels Cell's prison." He paused, making sure he had everything the right way around. "The strong of will, it is impossible to keep from their bodies forever. The evil ones are cast down into Hell, and the great and good allowed to ascend to here, the world above even the heavens… I like to call it the true heaven."
Raditz tried to take this all in, but he was sure he'd forget most of it soon. "All right then… well, that's nice. I'm gonna go take a look at this Pikkon guy. Do you think he took down Frieza's family easily?"
Olibu nodded. "I am sure that it barely deserved to be called a battle."
"Excellent!" Raditz cracked his knuckles, walking away towards the distant form of Pikkon. "Who knows, maybe I'll even spar with the guy a bit."
"Don't! Trust me on this." Olibu laid a restraining hand on Raditz's shoulder. "You are powerful, I grant you that. But no more than about twice Frieza's strength at most, judging by the way you beat me, and I can tell you weren't holding any power in reserve."
Raditz grinned. "No, I wasn't holding anything back… in this form, anyway."
"This… form?"
"See ya!" Raditz waved a dismissive hand, heading for Pikkon. Hah! He already thought I was something special, and I haven't even turned Super Saiyan yet! This Pikkon had better be a bit more challenging.
He approached the green-skinned warrior. "Hey there!"
Pikkon looked him up and down. "And you are?"
"Raditz. I'm new here. I was told you beat Frieza and his family?"
"That is correct. What of it?"
"Was it easy?"
"Yes. Again… why do you ask?" Pikkon was beginning to get annoyed by the newcomer's constant questions.
"Awesome!" Raditz grinned. "Because that Olibu guy over there is helpful and all, but he's not much of a sparring partner. Then I heard you were pretty strong, and this is supposed to be a training ground…" he grinned hopefully, but Pikkon turned and walked away.
He did beat Olibu… that counts for something, but… no. I'm getting tired of easy victories-I can already tell this one would be no challenge at all. "Sorry," he said. "I don't spar with weaklings. And especially not newcomers."
"Is that so…?" Raditz took a deep breath. Stay calm… stay calm… stay… ah, the hell with it. "Hey, Pikkon!"
"Wha-"
"BLITZ CANNON!"
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
Goku tightened his belt.
"The fight you've all been waiting for!"
Hercule fluffed up his afro.
"Both declare themselves to be the strongest in the world… one claiming the existence of a supernatural ki force, the other denouncing it as a pack of lies… now together in the ring for your entertainment!"
The fighters entered the ring, standing opposite each other, an intense stare passing between the two.
"Son Goku! Hercule Satan! Are you ready?" They nodded simultaneously, and the announcer backed out of the ring, then said with a dramatic flourish, "then let the match begin!"
Instantly, Hercule leapt forwards, leading with a strong right jab that sailed straight at Goku's face. The saiyan didn't move as the wrestler's fist approached. Hah! Hercule thought. He's way too slow-hasn't even moved yet!
At the last moment, Goku stepped aside, Hercule's fist hissing past his face. To the ki-trained martial artist, the world champion might as well have been standing still. Nothing too fancy, Goku reminded himself. Nothing he can claim as a 'trick'. He took a step backwards, moving just out of range of Hercule's follow-up elbow jab and subsequent volley of kicks. "Nice technique you've got there," he said. "You're quite skilled. But you're way too slow to hit me."
"We'll see about that!" Hercule tensed up, and launched himself forwards, pushing himself off the ground with all his might.
To the audience, Hercule appeared to vanish as he charged. Goku smiled, impressed as he recognised a primitive version of the high-speed movement technique ki-trained fighters used to instantly leap around the battlefield. In fact, he could even detect the tiniest flicker of ki from the moustachioed martial artist-a natural, but still impressive, result of training one's body to the peak of normal human fitness. To Goku's eyes, of course, Hercule still moved painfully slowly. The saiyan swung one fist up, catching Hercule on the jaw and flooring him with ease-appearing to the audience to have punched his opponent out of thin air. All right, that was good. Remember, don't tap him-make it look like a punch. Not that I have to pretend to be weaker than I am or anything; I just have to make it look like I'm actually fighting.
"Hey, not bad." Goku grinned. "You were movin' pretty fast there, champ."
"Hrrr…" Hercule climbed to his feet, rubbing his chin. "Nice shot, punk."
"I try."
"Oh, and the first blow goes to Goku!" the commentator shouted into his microphone. "Hercule seemed to have the advantage, moving faster than the human eye could follow to strike, but it appears Goku's reflexes are even faster!"
Sitting in the front row as the audience around them watched eagerly, Gohan nudged Videl. "See? He isn't even trying."
"Oh, just wait," Videl retorted, folding her arms. "My dad's just warming up."
Hercule nodded. "Hmm… well, I guess you weren't lyin', at least not entirely. Whatever that power you're always on about is, you're a fast one, huh?"
"You could say that," Goku replied with a nonchalant look. Oh, just get on with it already!
"Well, fine. You're pretty quick, I'll give you that. But they don't call me the strongest man in the world for nothin', you know!"
"Oh?"
"That's right!" Hercule shifted into an attack-ready stance. "I bet you one hit from my fists of steel and you'll fold right up!"
"You bet, huh?" Goku considered this. "All right, then. Hit me."
"What?"
"You heard me. I'll prove I've got strength as well as speed, if you like."
"Why you…" Hercule spluttered, gritting his teeth. Thinks he can play with me like that… well, fine. "All right, but remember-you asked for it! Hai-yaaah!" He sprang at Goku again, planting his fist firmly in the alien warrior's chest. Goku stood unflinching, still smiling.
Hercule hopped away, clutching his throbbing hand. "Ow! Owwww! What are you made of?!" T-they checked us before the match, he isn't wearing body armour or anything… could it be? He's… telling the truth? His eyes narrowed. "Nah. I'd have heard about something like this long before now. This fight isn't over, you hear?"
"I hear you," Goku said. This fight was over before it begun…
"Now you pay attention, Go-ku, 'cause I'm gonna show you why one of us has thousands of adoring fans!" He lifted his arms into the air, extending two fingers on each hand in 'V' victory signs. "BECAUSE I. AM. THE. GREATEST!" Half the crowd cheered wildly, the rest sat silently in suspense, waiting for the final verdict.
"Come on, Dad…" Videl said quietly.
This is pointless, Gohan thought.
"Now, you…" Hercule rolled up his sleeve, swinging his arm around in a wide arc and finally tapping his leg. Looking up at Goku, he leapt to the attack again, leading with his foot. "Dynamic Rolling Thunder Dynamite Super Champion Style Mess 'Em Up… Kick-ooofff!"
Goku held Hercule's foot, mid-kick, by the ankle, inches away from his face. Meanwhile, his own foot was buried in the champion's stomach. Hercule fell back as Goku released him, landing in an unconscious heap on the ground for the second time in three days.
"And the winner is Goku! Let's have a big hand for our champion!"
"Videl? Hey, Videl!" Gohan ran left and right, dashing back and forth around the arena grounds as the press swamped the ring, finally finding Hercule's daughter standing on the same hill they'd met up behind earlier, staring up into the sky. "You okay?"
"No."
"Hey, look… it's not his fault. Most people weren't even aware ki existed… we're just trying to get the truth out to people." He stood next to her. "I bet your dad's the strongest non-ki-user on the planet, though."
"Hmph." She shook her head. "I'm gonna learn it, you know. All your techniques and powers… I'm gonna get stronger than any of you."
"Sorry, but I don't think you can," Gohan replied, sighing. It was a weird feeling-normally, he enjoyed his saiyan heritage and the power it gave him, but now he just felt like he had an unfair advantage.
"Oh? And why's that?" Her eyes narrowed.
"I… I can't say."
"Uh…" suddenly she sounded hesitant, pointing at a spot just to the left of his waist. "Does it have anything to do with that?"
"What?" Gohan looked down, doing a double-take as he realised his tail was swishing back and forth in the air behind him-something that often happened when he felt tense or awkward. "Uh… I, uh… nice costume huh? Had you fooled, haha!" Her expression told him she wasn't fooled. "Okay… uh, how do I start…" For some reason, I feel like telling the truth… somehow, I know she'll keep this a secret. "Well… do you mind if I fly us somewhere a bit more remote?"
Gohan and Videl stood on the plains as night fell, amidst the ruins of Korin Tower, several miles from the media circus. "All right," he said. "Sorry, but some of this isn't exactly stealthy…"
She sat down on a chunk of rubble. "Go ahead. I'm listening. What's up with the tail?"
"Well… I'm not exactly human." He scratched his head. "Sorta. I mean, I'm half-human. My dad's a saiyan-they're a very powerful warrior race, and they all have tails like this. And there's one other thing-some saiyans can transform." Golden energy burst out of Gohan's body, lighting up the night. "Now you can see why we needed to come out here."
"Yeah, that'd attract attention," Videl agreed. "I like the hair, but is there a point?"
"Sure. This is called Super Saiyan… and in this form, I get a lot more powerful. Maybe ten, fifty times, I don't know exactly. And here's something we discovered in the last few days…" He powered up to the higher level he and Goku had used, watching as Videl marvelled at the mingling blue sparks and golden aura. " This is twice as strong as Super Saiyan…'Super Saiyan 2', I guess."
Videl nodded. "Right. I guess that answers why a bunch of you were blond in the news footage. That's pretty cool, but… does that mean your dad only beat mine because he's an alien?" The existence of aliens wasn't so much of a shock-Earth had, in fact, been invaded by the saiyans a few years back, and the destruction of a whole city was hard to ignore.
Gohan relaxed, powering down. "Sorry, no. Any ki-trained human fighter could have beaten him. But my dad's the strongest out of us, and the one who beat Cell, so it seemed… right, I guess. Fitting, somehow."
Videl blinked. "You talk like someone much older than you are, you know?"
Gohan laughed nervously, his tail curling behind his back. "Yeah, I guess so! My mom's always making me study…"
"Well, let's get back over there," the long-haired girl said with an awkward smile, "and see if I can salvage some of my dad's dignity before he does something stupid…"
Gohan took her arm, preparing to take off. "If I know him at all, it's going to be too late for that."
Chapter 42: The End of the Beginning
"Curious…" Dr. Brief stroked his magnificent moustache as he examined the readouts from the machine, which was hooked up to Bulma's head via several electrodes. "I'm not detecting any sort of abnormal brain activity. Are you sure it's still happening-it wasn't just a one-off thing?"
"I'm pretty sure." Bulma indicated the plastic side of the machine, now half-covered with number 7-shaped indentations. "I scratched those just now without even realising."
"How strange…" Her father turned the machine off, and she pulled the electrodes off of her head, standing up and following him out of the room.
"I know, right?" she said eagerly-her scientific curiosity outweighed any fear of the unknown. "It's so specific, though-do you think it might be a message?"
Dr. Brief nodded. "It's possible. Given that we can't detect the source, it's entirely possible that it's some kind of message from a higher intelligence, more sophisticated than us. But if so, what's so important about the number seven? Seven what?"
"Exactly!" She frowned, rubbing her head. "It's so vague! Is it a place? A time? A person?" she shrugged. "I've been around a lot of experimental tech recently. Maybe it's damaged my brain somehow, and it doesn't mean anything-I could just be going crazy."
"Well, I wouldn't jump to conclusions like that, I… oh, just a minute, dear…" he noticed a passing scientist, and rushed off in pursuit of him, his brain as always trying to do everything at once. "Simmons! Have you got the test results? We don't want another resonance cascade…"
Bulma sighed. That's my dad for you… he can't stand still for five seconds… She rounded the corner, intent on continuing the investigation on her own, but bumped into a familiar figure. "Oh! Hey, Goku."
"Hi." The powerfully-built, yet friendly, man standing in the corridor waved.
"Didn't see you come in."
"Yeah, I move pretty fast…"
"So… did you want anything?"
"Well, yeah, no, I…" he stopped, thinking. "I… just wanted to see you alive, back at work. To know that the world's back to normal, you know?"
Bulma laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Goku, of course it is! Thanks to you, anyway."
"Hey, it wasn't all me…" he protested. "But do you see what I mean? When you died… I almost lost myself. It was too much. I can't… if we'd lost, you'd have been gone forever… and Tien and Yamcha and everybody…"
"Don't forget yourself," she reminded him. "The earth would be a lot worse off without its hero."
He shook his head. "No, that doesn't matter. You've got to understand, I wouldn't care if I had to die… if you're all safe, that's what matters."
She nodded. "Yeah, I know that. You're a good guy, you know. I guess that bump on the head when you were a kid left you a clean slate, and your grandpa only taught you how to be a good person… you never knew how to be anything else."
"Sure." He leaned against the wall, looking downcast.
"Goku? What's the matter?"
"…" he hesitated.
"Raditz?"
"Yeah."
She sighed. "Oh, boy. I wish I could say I know how you feel, but I don't, of course. Just know… he only did what you'd do. It was you or him, and out of the two, you had the power to stop Cell."
"I know!" He pounded on the side of his head with one hand. "I know. But I can't help thinking about it. Going through it in my mind. There must have been another way. There's always a better way… I should have been able to save everybody."
"You're not a god, Goku."
"No," he said grimly, "I'm not. I've met gods… and surpassed them." He started pacing up and down the corridor. "I don't know, I guess you're right. I can't be everywhere, but… I wish I could. I wish I could save everybody. Do you know, I even feel a little guilty about killing Cell?"
She laughed despite herself. "Yeah, that's you all right. Try not to stay sad like this for too long. It doesn't suit you. And-" she stopped talking as his outline faded and he vanished, leaving at supersonic speeds. Frowning, she looked down, seeing she'd found a pencil somewhere, and the wall was dotted with hastily-scribbled 7's. "Okay, seriously!" she shouted in frustration. "Seven what ?!"
Tien looked up from his meditations. He'd sensed the approaching ki, and eventually heard the footsteps, as the traveller approached his and Chiaotzu's mountain home. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and stood up, as the arrival approached him, cloaked in several layers of clothing against the biting winds. She pulled down her hood, revealing herself as Launch. "Finally," she grumbled. "You couldn't just live somewhere I can drive to like everybody else?"
"Uh… hi, Launch." Tien led her inside, where Chiaotzu was cooking dinner, hovering a few feet above the ground to be level with the cooker, small as he was. "Oh, hey there!" the friendly Jiangshi* called, waving and then turning his attention back to the meal.
Launch slumped down in the nearest chair, throwing off her travelling robes into an untidy heap on the floor. She unslung a bundle of cloth from her back, cradling it in her arms-this timeline's Break, asleep at the moment.
"So, uh… you drop by for a reason?" Tien asked, sitting in the chair opposite her. "I mean, people don't usually take hikes into the mountains just to say hi…"
"Sure," she said. "I need someone to train me."
"Uh…" he blinked. "Well, I don't see why not… any particular reason?"
She nodded. "Yeah. When I next see Raditz, I'm not gonna be so… fragile."
"See him next? You mean in Otherworld?"
She scowled. "No, stupid. Before then."
"Uh, hate to break it to you, but he's dead." He shrugged. "You accepted he won't let us bring him back…"
Launch shook her head. "Sorry I snapped at you, I… don't expect you to understand. But we'll meet again, in this life. I know that for a fact, just like I know the sky's blue and the grass is green. I just… know it. Trust me, will ya?"
He smiled. "Well, if you say so. So… you want me to train you? How strong do you want to get? What are you aiming for?"
"I want to be as strong as he is. Not in Super Saiyan, but his normal form."
"Can't be done. Sorry, maybe a few years ago, but the saiyans we know have just gotten so powerful recently… humans can't catch up with even their base form."
"What about the Kaioken?"
"Even with that… well, maybe I could match Goku's base form for a few seconds, maybe even have a slight advantage, but it'd be so much effort it wouldn't be worth trying to sustain that level. So basically… no, it can't be done."
She snorted. "I'll tell you what can't be done when I've tried it for myself. Now… let's get started."
"Now? Chiaotzu's about to make-"
"Now."
*(Author's note: I am informed that Chiaotzu is based on the Jiangshi of mythology, a creature something like a vampire. Of course, he doesn't exactly match the description, but I'm going to go with it, as he clearly isn't human or he wouldn't look so childlike by the end of the show.)
… And while this measurement of 'power level' is proportional to strength, speed and actual amount of ki, it would be foolish to suggest they all scale linearly…
Gohan sat back at his desk, feeling pleased with himself-he was finally going to contribute something to the world, on his own terms. He'd fought, and saved lives, when he'd been forced to, but he'd never felt like a true warrior-more like a caged beast to be launched at an enemy. This was different. So many people's lives would improve-man would become superman within a generation. Chi-Chi walked in, handing him his lunch. "Here you go," she said. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good." He indicated the screen-his mother had even bought him a computer for the express purpose of writing his book-with its first, half-typed chapter. "I'm starting with a chapter explaining what ki is-and why it's not a great idea to try and measure it like the aliens in Frieza's empire did." He had about half the book planned out in his mind-the second chapter was going to be an explanation of how to actually use ki, and some basic training exercises, and the final few chapters would be a summary of their adventures and battles, particularly the ones that had affected the Earth or the galaxy in a big way.
"Well, I'm sure you know what you're doing. I'm just glad that after I spent all those years telling you to use your head and not just your fists, you finally listened!" she joked, heading out.
"Right…" he turned back to the book in progress, taking a bite out of his sandwich.
… and on the whole, spiritual methods of detecting ki seem to work better than technological, though that is not to say…
And now, as promised, it's time for:
The Break Through the Limit Dead Zone Extremely Short-Lived 'Special'
During the time of peace after Piccolo's defeat and before Raditz's arrival…
Piccolo relaxed as the dust settled around him and the roar of energy faded back into the barren wasteland's usual silence. He could already tell his training was paying off-he was almost twice as powerful now as he'd been two years ago, at the world tournament. Still, the time wasn't right yet… he'd know. He had patience. His father had waited for decades to enact his plan for world domination… he could wait a few more years.
He looked around slowly. Some kind of energy signature approaching… he frowned. More than one. Goku and his friends? No, they wouldn't attack me for no reason… staying on his guard, he waited for them to approach.
There was a hiss of wind as a humanoid figure rushed past him, trying to intimidate the white-clad demon by passing extremely close by at high speed, then pulling away. Piccolo didn't respond as two more did the same, all settling on top of rock columns around him. He snorted. "Are you finished? Who the hell are you supposed to be, and what do you want with me?"
A fourth figure-tall and over-muscled, with dark green skin and an almost reptilian face-hovered in the air in front of Piccolo as the others surrounded him. Slowly, the leader nodded, and the other three leapt forwards, their features now revealed in the midday sun. They were grotesque, demonic-almost gargoyle-like in appearance, dressed in bright, extravagant colours, with equally ridiculous hairstyles. One wielded a pair of short swords, the second had a single two-handed blade and the third simply balled its fists as it charged. Piccolo grinned. Finally. A good workout.
Three blades swung for Piccolo, but simply swished through his discarded cape and turban, cutting them to ribbons. The unarmed creature was slightly quicker, and turned just in time to have both of Piccolo's feet rammed into its chest, flying back into a cliff face and boring into the rock with the force of the kick.
Twisting in the air, Piccolo caught the long sword between his hands, rolling backwards head over heels and throwing the wielder over his head. The demon tumbled through the air at supersonic speeds, crashing into its two-sword-holding ally. It let out a strangled cry, falling away, a short sword embedded in its stomach. The other gargoyle stared in shock as its comrade died, black blood staining the sand before evarporating under the harsh sun. "You…" the still-standing demon whispered, raising its remaining sword. "… you're a monster!"
"I'll ask you one more time." Piccolo's afterimage faded, and he stood inches from the cowering creature. "What do you want?"
Fearful, it glanced towards its motionless master, still watching events unfold. "Well, go on," the muscular leader said in a high, grating voice, "answer him! Don't be rude."
"I-uh-"
"Too slow." Piccolo wrenched the henchman's head from its shoulders, casting it aside with contempt as the body fell to the floor without its ki-supported flight. Feeling a faint energy signal from the one he'd thrown into the cliff, he launched a dispersed yellow energy wave that sent massive explosions rippling out for miles around, incinerating the final minion. Piccolo then turned his attention to the leader. "Now, you tell me. Fun as this has been, I don't appreciate these pathetic attempts on my life."
"Why, you…" the dark green monster ground its fangs, glaring at him with slitted eyes. "Those are not exactly easy to replace, you know." It sighed, recovering its composure. "The reason we've come is simple. My name is Garlic Jr.-" Piccolo snickered. "What?!" it demanded.
"No, carry on." Piccolo tried to avoid grinning. Garlic? Really? His parents must not have been fond of him… hmm… it is a 'Jr.'… perhaps it's his grandparents that were cruel.
"As… I… was… saying… I am the great and mighty lord Garlic Jr., and this planet is soon to be mine!"
"Why?"
"W… What?"
"Why do you want to take over the world?"
Garlic Jr. snorted. Impatient, isn't he? "It was before your time… my father was in competition with the one known as Kami for the role of Guardian of the Earth. Kami was chosen, and when my father tried to claim the Guardian's throne by force, he was imprisoned for all eternity… since then I have been gathering my strength, and now I shall usurp that foolish guardian! The Earth will be plunged into eternal, terrible night… it really would have been much simpler to just give my father the throne, you know."
"And where do I fit in?"
"I was getting there!" Garlic snapped. "It is well-known that you harbour designs for the Earth yourself. I won't have you stealing my prize… consider this a pre-emptive strike."
Piccolo considered this. "You're a fool," he concluded.
"What did you say?!"
Piccolo appeared right in front of Garlic, throwing a quick punch, which the demon caught, holding it back in both hands with some effort. "I said, you're a fool. Or didn't you hear me the first time?" He smiled. "Your plan didn't involve the Dragon Balls, did it?"
"As a matter of fact…" Garlic shoved Piccolo away, stumbling back a couple of steps. "… once you're dealt with, I shall gather them and have the dragon make me immortal… then my victory is assured!" The force of that punch… he shouldn't be this strong! What's happening?!
"Ahahahahaha!" Piccolo burst out laughing. " Excellent plan! You clearly haven't done your homework, you imbecile. My life force is linked with Kami's-if you kill me, he dies too… and the Dragon Balls disappear."
Garlic scowled. "Well… if you're both dead, nobody will be left to stop me!"
"I wouldn't count on it." Piccolo settled into his demon style fighting stance. "I've come to realise this planet is home to many formidable warriors… you wouldn't last long. One guy in particular would take you down, no problem. Of course, that assumes you can beat me… and let's get one thing clear. I'm going to rule this world-and not you, or anybody else, can stand in my way! Hyaaah!" Piccolo and Garlic vanished, reappearing atop a nearby rock spire, rapidly trading blows. Piccolo ducked a high kick, sweeping Garlic's legs out from under him and elbowed him down through the spire, collapsing it on top of the demon.
Piccolo exhaled heavily-he'd already been tired from his training before the fight had begun. That should keep him down for a few- Garlic cannonned into him from below, driving a fist into his face. Piccolo spun away through the air, righting himself in time to block the follow-up kick. He stepped inside Garlic's defences and hammered home another punch, but the demon held its ground. Growling, Piccolo darted to the side as Garlic's arm swung past him again, and launched a spinning back kick that knocked Garlic away.
The heavily-muscled monster took a deep breath. This is ridiculous! My minions alone should have been able to deal with him, easily-yet he's actually proving a challenge for me! He ducked left, avoiding Piccolo's leading attack as he charged, creating an opening which Garlic exploited. He swung both hands around, gripped together in a double-fisted hammer blow that sent Piccolo flying. The smaller villain grunted in irritation as he arced through the air. All right… time to end this little game. I'll use my full power…
"Hah! Now do you see?" Garlic taunted, unaware of his impending doom. "I am invincible-I cannot be defeated by the likes of you! What say you to that?"
Piccolo had, in fact, one particular thing to say to that, as he appeared in a blur of speed behind Garlic. "MASENKO… HAAA!"
And so ends the tale of a would-be conqueror who, had he just arrived a couple of years earlier (or in a different timeline, like canon DBZ), would have provided a decent challenge. As it is, the event was so unremarkable that if Piccolo was asked later if he remembered a Garlic Jr., he'd simply shake his head and remind you that there's no need for seasoning, silly, Namekians don't eat food.
Chapter 43: Rest in Peace
Hercule sat in his sparse gym, downcast. A string of utterly destroyed punching bags lay on the floor, testament to the rage he'd taken out on the room. He sat silently on the edge of the central ring, going through the fight over and over. There really was nothing he could have done differently. His technique was flawless… Goku had just been too fast and strong to overcome. How could this have happened? I worked my whole life to climb to the top-to be the best in the world! And now it's meaningless?! Where's the justice in that? I don't deserve this! He looked up at the sound of footsteps.
"Hey, Dad." Videl waved cautiously as she approached.
"Oh, hi there, Videl…" Hercule sighed. "I… uh…"
She nodded, sensing the direction of his thinking. "I know." She sat down, squeezing his hand. "I feel the same way… kind of. But don't let it get you down, okay? It's not like you."
"But… what's just… it's not fair, Videl… it isn't…"
"Hey, hey." She looked up into her father's eyes, full of concern. "It's not their fault. They just wanted the truth known… they weren't trying to hurt us. I've talked to them, you know-they're ordinary, nice people. Please don't get bitter."
He sniffed. She's right. I have to be better than this, for her. Without her mother here… I'm all she's got. "All right. Do you understand, though? It's hard. I thought I was worth something, but it turns out I'm… weak. Useless."
"Aw, it isn't like that! Think about it!" Videl tapped her head. "99% of the people in the world are in the same boat as us. And of those 99%… who's the most skilled martial artist? Who, in other words, has a head start on catching up to these ki-users?"
"I… I didn't think of that…" he stroked his chin, contemplating. "Yeah… trying to improve is better than giving up, anyway, right?"
"Right! I know you can be number 1 again, Dad!" She beamed, but her thoughts were of a darker tone. It's mostly true… mostly. He has the potential to be one of the strongest humans in the world, but as for the saiyans… none of us will ever catch up to the likes of them. Still, he doesn't need to know that yet. He has to have hope, at least for now.
The roar of energy shook the afterlife training grounds, punctuated by the shouts signifying signature moves.
"Blitz cannon!"
"Hyper tornado!"
"Crusher ball!"
"Thunder flash!"
Seventeen gruelling minutes from the first blow, the dust settled. Pikkon, training weights discarded and wearing his simple martial arts outfit he'd had on underneath the weighted robes, stood shakily, panting, but on his feet. Raditz, great gashes scored into his armour and having lost the energy to maintain Super Saiyan, lay face-down in the dirt, in his own scorched crater.
Pikkon settled into a cross-legged sitting position. "That," he said wearily, "was the best fight I've had in three hundred years."
Raditz pulled his face out of the dirt, spitting out dust and shaking his waist-length hair out. "Wow… you're pretty strong. I have to admit, you didn't look like much at first, but you're really something."
Pikkon nodded. "Your appearance was… deceiving, too. I didn't expect it to be even close. With enough training here, you'll go far."
Raditz slowly sat up, sighing as his bruised limbs ached. "Well. That gives me a goal at least… I'll be looking for a rematch someday, you know."
Pikkon grinned. "I'll look forwards to it."
Raditz looked up, hearing the sound of an approaching ego. King Kai was hopping and skipping over to the pair of tired warriors. "Raditz! Stop getting yourself into fights, that's my job!"
"Uh… what?" As usual, the god's conversation was a step ahead of everyone else's, leaving Raditz baffled.
"Well, I was just over there arguing with the West Kai over there-he was saying Pikkon was stronger than you, but I disagreed. I guess he was right…" The familiar North Kai shrugged, looking forlorn. "At least you didn't last too much longer-we were about to start betting on the outcome!" He wandered off, shaking his head. It's a shame, really… I had this whole thing planned out… a grand tournament, a great spectacle to decide who's the strongest fighter in Otherworld, with all the afterlife watching! And these two settle it in less than half an hour, in some random field! No sense of occasion.
Raditz remained slightly confused as King Kai left. "Um… West Kai? Oh!" he noticed another portly figure approaching Pikkon, a god similar in appearance to King Kai, with purple skin, a single curled antenna and a monocle over his left eye. Well, I guess he did say there were others… the afterlife sure is a weird place…
Future timeline…
Androids Seventeen and Eighteen stood atop a rocky outcrop, looking down at the settlement below-now supplied with the food and shelter they'd need to last through the coming winter in a few months. As it turned out, 'infinite energy reactors' had simply meant that the androids would never fully run out of power-they could still get tired, and indeed they had. Seventeen's scarf was tied around his head to keep the sun off and Eighteen's jacket around her waist, both with their sleeves rolled up and dirt on their hands and faces for perhaps the first time.
Seventeen had grumbled and complained through the whole thing, but Eighteen could tell he wasn't serious-he wasn't going to refuse these people the help they needed.
"Hey…" he said, now that they had a spare minute. "Eighteen."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you want to come here? I mean, really?"
"I told you… to help these people those other versions of us spent all these years terrorising." She shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"
He shook his head. "You know what I mean… what made you decide? It's not the kind of decision most people make on the spur of the moment. Heroes maybe, true altruists, but let's face it, heroes we're not, as much as we try to avoid becoming the villains."
Eighteen paused, considering the question. "Do you remember being inside Cell?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah." Seventeen shivered. "Don't remind me."
"Try and describe the feeling."
"Well… it was like being lost in darkness, I guess…"
"I couldn't find myself…" She began to add to it, and soon they were finishing each other's statements.
"I couldn't find you, or anything familiar…"
"… just darkness. I could feel Cell's mind the whole time…"
"… a twisted, evil thing. He didn't care about anything except his own personal gain, and I realised…"
"… that was us. I was looking at what Dr. Gero intended for me, the goal that I was just a step towards… and it terrified me. We were so close to becoming just like him," she finished.
He nodded morosely. "I know what you mean… so you just wanted to reject Gero's ideas? Spite the old man?"
"Something like that. I decided to be the best I could… give my all to the exact opposite of what he and Cell stood for. But the past didn't need us. This world does."
"Right… we're free here. It's funny… the evil versions of us thought they had absolute freedom, but they still just played the roles set out for them. Come on, now." He turned to face the sun as it sank towards the horizon. "Let's forget what we were made for. Nobody can tell us what to do now." I guess that's all it's ever been about, really. Freedom.
Raditz knew this dream. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last. But the ending… the ending was always different. Which would it be this time? What would he say?
He was in a corridor. It stretched out into infinity, into darkness. He knew, though, that if he kept walking he'd find the end, after a distance beyond distance, a time past time. And sure enough, an infinity passed in an instant. He stood at the end of the passage. A large stone door barred his path, and he heaved it open. Stone wasn't heavy for him in real life, but here it felt like lifting a city.
Through the door lay a large chamber, lit by flickering torchlight-but the source of the light was always out of sight. He never saw any torches or candles. He didn't bother looking for them, he'd had this dream enough. But this time… would this be different? It was the first time he'd slept since arriving in Otherworld. As it turned out, one of the consequences of keeping one's body in the afterlife was that it still required a living body's upkeep, albeit a reduced amount (only one meal a day and one sleep a week, for instance-an Otherworld body was much more energy-efficient).
The dream continued, as it always did. The room was bare but for a set of black stone steps in the centre, leading up to a throne, draped in animal furs, decorated with exotic skulls and shrouded in darkness. Face hidden in the shadows above, he sat on the throne, Raditz's only un-expelled demon of the past.
Bardock.
His father.
And this was where the dream always changed. Sometimes they'd talk, as if Bardock had never died. Sometimes the dream would simply end. Sometimes Bardock would turn away and leave, seeming disappointed. Still other times he'd simply sit there silent and unmoving until Raditz awoke. What would it be tonight?
Somehow… being dead… Raditz felt bolder. As if it put them on equal terms, in a strange way. This time-for the first time-he spoke first. "Father."
Bardock stirred. His face became visible as he leaned forwards. "The errant son returns… from the wayward path." The voice, its quality-it was him. It wasn't distant, or blurred by time and faulty memory, like usual. This was his father speaking to him.
"Are you… really here?" Raditz asked. "Now that I'm in the afterlife… is this really you? Or is it all in my head?"
Bardock shook his head. "Fool. It is both real and in your mind. You are in the realm of the mind now… there is no difference here."
"What happened to your soul? You weren't put into that… machine?"
"No. But nor could I pass into heaven… and neither was I pure enough of mind to count among the heroes or villains of legend. No, my soul was one of the unlucky few who were simply… lost. I am neither here nor there… in a way, I'm not even aware we're having this conversation. You're just percieving that we are."
"Why are you here? What's so important about this dream?" Raditz began to climb the steps.
"Simple…" Bardock shrugged. "I weigh on your mind. You've accepted that you're morally good… but you doubt your worth as a warrior. You know how I died… and you worry that you will never live up to me."
Raditz was shaken slightly by his father's blunt, brief manner. "Why? Why should I fear that?! Didn't I die in just a heroic a manner as you? Why should I fear your disapproval?!"
Bardock smirked. "Don't ask me. I am, after all, only here because you do fear it. Working out why is your task."
"Then what are you here for?"
"To test you." At that, Bardock sprang up, a right hook smashing Raditz across the face. As the long-haired saiyan tumbled back through the air, the world around him shifted. Planets and stars faded into view around them. Father and son hovered in the void of space. "To test me?!" Raditz growled, trying to gather his ki but finding it difficult for some reason. "What the hell is this?"
"Defend yourself!" Bardock ordered, charging again. Raditz blocked the older warrior's kick with his forearm, moving back to put distance between himself and his attacker. "Stop this, father! I don't want to fight you!"
"And that's your problem." Bardock pressed the attack, and his speed seemed to increase as his fists flew with unrelenting force. The fourth punch slipped through Raditz's guard, and he fell away again, grimacing. "What's the matter? I thought you'd outgrown this… or are you the same wimp that brought disgrace to my family on planet Vegeta?"
"No… NO!" Raditz lunged, but his fist stopped just short of Bardock's face. He hesitated, wavering, and in that moment Bardock grabbed his arm and threw him overhead, following with a two-footed kick to the back. "Better! But not good enough! Have years of fighting taught you nothing?"
Raditz forced himself upright. "I… I can't! I can't fight you, father!"
"That's because you know you'll win." Bardock spat. "The speed of that punch… I couldn't have blocked it. You still idolise me. I'm not a man to you, I'm your father… let go. Allow yourself to surpass me. You have surpassed me."
"I can't just… let go of you…" Raditz sniffed, wiping blood trickling from his nose. "Then what do I have left? What can I hold on to?"
"Yourself. Your friends. Your new family. There's no-one in the whole universe I'd rather have by my side than them. And you know… like Launch knows… that you'll meet again. Trust yourself for once, all right? You're not a saiyan warrior anymore… you don't have to be. You don't have to live up to me… I'm not a great role model, trust me on that."
"Heh." Raditz grinned bitterly. "Are you really here? Or is my subconscious just trying to tell me something?"
"I told you," Bardock said. "Both."
"Well… if you believe in me…" his eyes narrowed as his ki built within him, finally bursting out as he transformed, his golden aura shining. "… then I will too!" He smiled as he realised this was the first time he'd been able to become a Super Saiyan in a dream. It felt just as empowering as when he'd first transformed-like he could take on the world.
Bardock smiled and nodded. "There. Now you believe… that you deserve it." He spread his arms, accepting defeat. "Finish it. "Lay me to rest."
"Goodbye, Bardock… greatest fighter of your age." He powered up an energy blast in one hand. "But this is a new age, I guess… if you ever come back somehow, I hope you get a chance to be the good person I know you could have been. So long-HYAAAA!" He flung the beam at his father, the bright yellow blaze enveloping the battle-scarred soldier and obliterating him, purging Raditz's mind, searing through his mental pathways and finally eliminating his self-doubt.
Gohan sat back, exhausted-he'd spent the whole day writing. Sooner or later I'm going to run out of information I just know from memory-I'm going to have to do some research. Admittedly, that's not too hard when you can fly faster than the speed of sound, at least…
He got up and stretched. Well, anyway. That's later. Right now, I smell something good cooking…
Chapter 44: A New Era
Almost a year after the events of chapter 43…
Bulma was sitting at the monitor, working on her new project. The strange habit of doodling 7s had reduced in its intensity, and she now routinely carried scraps of paper to avoid vandalising the walls everywhere she went-really, she'd stopped paying attention. Seven Dragon Balls, perhaps? But that didn't tell her anything.
Ah, well. I don't really care. What interests me now is this project I'm working on. The initial idea came to me when I first came back… being killed by Cell really made me realise how fragile and vulnerable a normal human can be in this world of super-powered aliens and heroes. I got a pretty good description of these Kaioken and Spirit Bomb techniques from some of the guys, and I'm- Something felt different. She almost jumped out of her skin as she glanced down at the piece of paper she'd been using. Halfway down the page, the 7s had become 6s.
Bulma jumped up and sprinted out of the room. "Dad! Quick! Get over here!"
Raditz and Pikkon's battle paused, and they settled to the ground. Their energy pulsed around them, whipping up clouds of dust and carving out cracks in the ground. This was the same place they'd first fought, the same place they always fought, and after so many battles it was completely devastated, reduced from pleasant greenery to a mile or so square of utterly barren wasteland. "Come on, Raditz," Pikkon said wearily, "how many times are we going to do this? You've improved a lot, but even with your maximum Super Saiyan power, you're still about equal with me, and you just can't stand up to my most powerful techniques. Shall we try the Thunder Flash again?"
Raditz grinned ironically, seeming to accept his coming defeat. "Yeah, those tricks of yours are pretty tough to beat. But I know a few myself-" with this, he teleported to directly behind Pikkon with Instant Transmission. Expecting the move, the alien fighter turned and caught Raditz's punch. Growling in frustration, Raditz broke off his attack, and they leapt into the air, exchanging a blur of punches and kicks as they rose into the sky. Raditz mistimed a block and Pikkon's fist crashed into his face, followed by a double-footed impact as he kicked off the saiyan's chest, using the motion to backflip away and quickly charge up his ki, rapidly spinning in a tight circle, faster and faster until he disappeared into a high-speed streak of light, twisting around itself and throwing out gale-force winds. "Hyper Tornado!"
Raditz braced himself as the tornado rushed forwards and enveloped him. Held in the centre by the extreme air pressure, he waited for the inevitable rain of attacks from all sides as Pikkon orbited him faster than his senses could follow. He gave the appearance of weakness, waiting for Pikkon to slow slightly in an attempt to deliver the finishing blow, and then, in that instant-for only the third time-he did it .
He went beyond .
It was like turning on a tap, like going Super Saiyan all over again. He relished the flood of power that exploded from his transformed body. Sparks crackled through his aura, his hair stood up on end, and his eyes narrowed. Now he could see Pikkon. Now the green-hued hero looked laughably slow. Raditz grinned, twitching to the side to avoid a punch and bringing his elbow down onto Pikkon's back, a single blow smashing him into the ground. In an instant, Raditz was down there too, driving Pikkon further into the ground with one foot, then hopping off and crouching next to his battered opponent. As Pikkon looked up, bewildered, Raditz stared back unflinchingly, spirit soaring.
"I… win . "
"What… in all the heavens… did you just do?!" Pikkon asked incredulously.
"I ascended to a true higher level…" Raditz replied. "I believe on Earth, they called it… Super Saiyan 2." I'm just glad I knew this level of power even existed, or like Goku and Gohan, I'd have had to go through some kind of emotional trauma to unlock it. A lot of things combined to enable this, actually… a less energy-draining Otherworld body was a major factor, as was the lack of the subconscious mental block Father represented, and finally… a target always helps immensely-so thanks for that, Pikkon.
"Ridiculous… isn't one transformation enough?"
"Heh. Not to beat you, evidently." Raditz powered down, turned and began to walk off. "Well, be seeing you-it looks like you've got some serious training to do."
"You can't be serious."
"I am serious, mom." Gohan stood resolutely, expression unchanging.
"But… going into space ?! What on Earth for?" Chi-Chi blustered.
"I've got to get this thing done." The boy held up the notepad he'd been scribbling down notes for his book on. "You didn't have any problem with me flying to the other side of the world to do research, did you?"
"Yes, but leaving the planet… that's completely different!" She shook her head. "No way. Why do you even need to do that? What can you learn on some other world that you can't here?"
"Plenty." He opened up his notepad. "See, we have no idea what happened to the whole galactic empire since we took out the frost demon heirarchy. We know next to nothing about saiyan society-something which I'd personally like to learn about-not to mention the various other species we've come into contact with. Besides, my uncle visited one random planet and learned how to teleport himself anywhere, instantly. That ability alone has saved us all more than once. Who knows what secrets are hidden out there?"
"Hmm…" she weighed all this up in her mind.
"And one more thing," he added, gesturing with his pencil. "I mentioned we don't know what's happened to the ex-empire. What if it's fallen into anarchy, or into the hands of another tyrant? In that case, it'd be our fault, and our duty to fix it. Right?"
"Aagh!" She slumped back against the wall. "You're just like your father. Someone, somewhere, might be in trouble, and you have to rush off to save them." Chi-Chi sighed. "Now I see what this is really about… you wouldn't do something this big just for research. There's always a wrong that needs righting, and if there isn't, you'll go find one. It's in your blood. I guess… if you're that determined, it'd be pointless for anyone to try and stop you, right?" He nodded, and she gave a sad smile. "Well… that settles it, then. But you're not going alone. You got that?"
"Mm-hm." Gohan shuffled his feet.
"I SAID, you got that?! "
"Aah! Uh, yes ma'am!"
There was, of course, only one place to go should one wish to mount an expedition into space-Capsule Corporation. Gohan found Bulma and her father poring over a set of readouts.
"No change in brain activity… " the older scientist said.
"I know… weird. Hmm… maybe it's some kind of countdown?" his daughter suggested.
"Perhaps." Dr. Brief replied, nodding. "Or maybe it's keeping count of how many of something there are. One of whatever it is just left or was destroyed or ended… it could go back up later. We really don't know. Still… keep watching, tell me if it changes again… oh, hello there, Gohan."
Gohan waved. "Hey, Bulma, Dr. Brief." He scratched his head. "Your mom not around? It's just you three are usually together…"
"I'm damned if I ever know where that woman is," the doctor told him, shrugging. "I wouldn't worry. She's just never been as interested in science as Bulma and I."
"Anyway, what can we do for you, kid?" Bulma asked.
"Sorry if this is a bit much to ask, but I, uh, I kind of need a spaceship."
"Oh!" Bulma looked thoughtful, walking over to the window. "I think… the ship your dad and uncle went to Namek in is still around here somewhere… maybe we've got it in a capsule or something. Why d'you want to go to space, anyway? Who all's going?"
Ten minutes ago…
"Nah," Goku said. "If Chi-Chi's staying, then so am I. I don't want to abandon you or anything, Gohan, but whenever something comes up I'm always running off. I figure it'd be unfair to leave her completely alone this time, right?"
"Well, I guess…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure plenty of the guys will jump at the chance for an adventure. You'll be in good hands… or the other way round…"
"All right…" Gohan headed out the door, only to be startled by a voice from the left.
"Space, huh? Sounds fun. Mind if I tag along?" Videl asked. She'd dropped by for her weekly ki training lesson with the Son family, and had overheard the whole conversation.
"Oh! Hey, Videl. Didn't sense you at all-you're getting good at hiding your ki."
"You know it." She grinned. "So, how about it?"
"Well, I don't know if-"
"Great! I'll tell my dad I'm going to go train in the wilderness for a bit, 'unlock my hidden potential' or some crap. See ya!" Tensing up her muscles, she took off into the sky, soaring off with her usual combination of grace and efficiency.
The present…
"… So Videl should be here soon," Gohan explained. "I'm not sure if she's entirely ready, but there's really no arguing with her. Who else do you think could come?"
"Hmm…" Bulma chewed her pencil. "…'Fraid I can't go myself, I've got a few projects here I'm really getting into… you'll probably need people who've got space travel experience. I bet Kuriza would be happy to help, you two have always been close, plus he lives right here with us. And you're going to need at least one adult with you…" a malicious grin spread across her face. I know somebody who needs a good road trip to get him off his back. She hammered on a bedroom door. "Hey, Zarbon! Get off your ass, you're going to space!" Ignoring the ensuing stream of vulgarity from the other side of the door, she glanced down as her watch (wirelessly connected to the alarm systems throughout the building) beeped, a blinking red light appearing. "… And it looks like Trunks has bitten through his cot again. I'd better go round up the little terror. See you in five, Gohan!"
Considerably more than five minutes later…
Gohan, Videl, Kuriza (who, thanks to a newly-learned ki aptitude, was now constantly in his true, 'final' form without risk of losing control of his power), and a groggy Zarbon were assembled in the Capsule Corp garden. Bulma stood opposite them, leaning on their ship (the one based on Goku's saiyan pod), still dented and damaged from the trip to Namek. "Well," she said, "it's pretty beat up. It'll take, eh, maybe three days to fix it up. You already know what you're doing, vaguely, so come back in three days to set off, and until then, get ready to set off, and plan out specific destinations-from talks with you guys, and damaged files on board the ship, I've managed to make a pretty accurate map of important locations in the galaxy."
To make a short and completely uninteresting story even shorter…
… They did.
Hercule hissed like an angry cobra. He'd get it this time, he knew he would. "Hhhhh… Grrrrr… kkkk…" Beads of sweat poured down his face. He'd been trying for months, but this time, this was it . His teeth ground together as he forced his internal energy into the palms of his hands, and… "KA…" Out into the air between them. "ME…" His eyes narrowed. Just keeping the energy stable, not slipping and losing it, required his full concentration. "HA…" Still, it was working-he could see the faint blue glow in the corner of his eye. Videl had done well, relaying the lessons she'd learned to him. "ME…" He resisted the urge to take in a deep breath and relax. He wouldn't lose it now. He focused on the archery target in front of him. Now! "HAAAA!"
Launch landed on the ground, wiping blood and sweat from her forehead with her bandana. "Huh… ahuh… hahh…" she inhaled deeply as Tien landed in front of her.
"Well done," he said. "You're improving fast… your flight speed was faster than ever. It's weird… I've never seen any human increase their power as fast as you-If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a saiyan or something."
"Maybe Raditz's mindset rubbed off on me," she joked. "But seriously… I have felt a lot stronger ever since I… fused, even before I started training. It is strange, yeah." She'd changed a lot already-she now had a fighter's athletic build, and her ragged, intense appearance was a far cry from the slick, stylish city girl of not even a year ago. "Anyway… I think I've come further than you realise."
"Oh?" Tien raised an eyebrow, causing a strange effect on his three-eyed visage. "How do you mean?"
"Hhhhhh… Haaaaaah…" a shockwave rippled out from Launch's body as she began to power up. He doesn't even know I can do this one at all yet… "KAIO… KEN!"
What? Tien took a step back. Already?!
"Okay then… we all ready?" Gohan asked, checking the readouts on the command console.
"Yeah!" Kuriza answered with enthusiasm.
"Let's go!" Videl urged.
"Mm-hmm," Zarbon mumbled.
"Good luck, you guys!" Bulma called from outside, standing between Gohan's parents as they waved them off.
"Have fun!" Goku added.
"Stay safe!" Chi-Chi warned.
"Right!" Gohan nodded, waved once more, and pressed the ignition. With a roar from its engines, the ship lifted off, flattening Dr. Brief, who as usual was standing too close to the dangerous machinery (as testified by his frequent visits to the infirmary, always insisting that he was fine, despite all evidence to the contrary).
As they watched the receding glow of its engines, Bulma turned to the human-saiyan couple. "So… why aren't you guys going again?"
Goku shrugged. "I'm staying here with Chi-Chi."
"And you?" Bulma looked at Goku's wife. "You always seemed pretty protective of Gohan… why not go with him?"
"Well, I would… but, you see, I've been pretty busy lately-I've got to look after Goten, for one thing!" She grinned.
"Go… ten…?" Bulma folded her arms, waiting for an explanation. "What's a Goten?"
"Well, our second son, of course!" Chi-Chi shrugged. "He wasn't actually born too long ago…" A couple of months ago, to be precise…
"But… you don't…" Bulma spluttered, incredulous-Chi-Chi bore no sign of the pregnancy, looking just as in shape as ever.
"Well, I guess I work out a lot!" the younger woman replied cheerily. "It just burns the fat right off, you know!"
"Right…" Bulma grimaced inwardly. I forgot… she may be human, but she's still part of that family… they're all crazy… "Well, uh, congratulations! Any idea when I can meet the little guy?"
"Not really… I'm not sure. When he's a little older, I suppose. Speaking of which, we really should be getting back soon… can't leave a baby alone for too long! Luckily Goku can fly us back in a few minutes…"
"You ever thought of learning?" Bulma asked. "Flying, I mean. You're already a martial artist, right? The way I hear it, everyone's gonna be doing it when Gohan's book's done."
"Well, I was thinking about it when that Videl girl started coming to our house for lessons-you know, seriously putting some time into training-but then Goten came along and I started getting bigger and all that went out the window! Maybe sometime soon, though."
Goku offered his hand. "Well, I'll bet he'll be happy to see you, anyway, so let's get home, all right? See you, Bulma!"
"Right…" Bulma waved half-heartedly as the happy couple took off. It's changed… why's it changed? What's different now? 7… 6… is it keeping track of something? Or counting down? Damn it… ah, well. If it is something like that, time is probably of the essence. This project… could be useful. She hurried off to the lab. I'd better get back to work.
Chapter 45: Scum and Villainy
"Say," Dr. Briefs was saying as Bulma fiddled with some wiring, "where'd you come up with the idea for that anti-Cell device, anyway? I thought it was rather ingenious."
"Oh, that thing?" Bulma grimaced as her fingers slipped and a spark jumped up from the mechanism she was working on. "Well, you probably never witnessed it, but old man Roshi, and some others, had a technique called the Evil Containment Wave. Did just what it said on the tin. Captured and imprisoned an evil being in a small container. Only problem is, soon the enemies we faced had so much evil energy it was impossible to keep them contained, so I came up with a technological equivalent… much more durable, and with the added bonus that once inside I could disintegrate the captured being."
"Oh… I see. Well, you certainly managed to keep it small," the older scientist remarked. "I'd have expected the power source to be enormous!"
"Just a reverse-engineered, localised use of the miniaturising technology we use in the capsules," Bulma explained. "The only problem wasn't with the machine, it was with Cell! Instant bloody Transmission. What's a girl supposed to do?"
Gohan was enjoying space travel. He could leave his tail unconcealed, for one thing, and he got to spend a lot of time with Kuriza and Videl, his two best friends. Having only just got up for the day, he slouched over to Zarbon, who was at the helm.
"So what planet are we heading for first?" Although it was nominally Gohan's 'expedition', he deferred to Bulma's maps, and Zarbon and Kuriza's experience, on matters such as these.
"Well, it's no use blundering around in the dark," Zarbon replied. "I'm taking us to the business capital of what used to be Frieza's empire-though who knows what state it's in. We used to call it planet Frieza 17, but I'm sure they've come up with something more imaginative now." He yawned. "It'll be interesting to find out who's risen to fill the power vacuum the frost demons left behind. Maybe even more of their race, although I hope not… well, whoever it is, with you around we've got nothing to worry about, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Gohan nodded. He wasn't always comfortable with his status as, as far as he knew, the second-strongest being in the universe, but his powers were a fact of life, and often very useful.
"Well, we'll be able to get detailed answers once we land and can ask around, face to face, but for now, this ought to suffice…" he tapped a few buttons, bringing up a holographic display, dozens of screens forming a 180 degree semicircle around the Earth convert's head. "We're now in range of galactic news stations… I've asked to have this feature custom-installed," he said, indicating the dizzying array of news channels surrounding him.
"Huh? Why?" Gohan squinted at the multilingual buzz (although there is a certain manner of speech that immediately distinguishes a news anchor, no matter their language or species). "How can you understand all that at once?"
"It's an ability of my race," Zarbon answered, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. "To take in and process… every bit of sensory information that we receive at one time, comprehend it, and store it. Most of the time, you only store about 5% of the sensory information you receive, and most of that is quickly forgotten…" his body fell completely still as certain neural pathways were activated, releasing certain hormones into his bloodstream, dramatically altering the function of his sensory organs. "It can only be used in a state of perfect calm… we call it Deep Sight."
His eyes opened. And he Saw.
The thing he wanted to find out was what, exactly, all the news anchors were saying, simultaneously, to get a complete picture of galactic current events. But when you Saw, you saw everything-no filtering anything out, consciously or unconsciously. He saw, and remembered, every fleck of spittle in every reporter's mouth, every screw in every table, the subtle pattern on one anchor's neck that indicated the onset of a certain virulent disease. He saw the single strand of hair falling in front of his face, saw the way the light silhouetted it in the centre of his left eye's field of vision, took in its exact shade of purple-pink. He saw the dust on the floor, the way it rippled and flowed slightly due to air currents caused by ventilation systems. Peripheral vision, too-he saw Gohan's arm poking into his field of vision, noted and involuntarily recorded every curve of muscle, every fold in the fabric of his shirt. He could see out of the view-port too; and he knew now that there were 358 stars in his field of vision, some barely visible patches of blurred light, some shining pinpoints against the blackness of space.
It wasn't just sight, of course. It was Sight. And that meant all senses. He had, of course, used it primarily for hearing, to be able to separate out, identify, and memorise the streams of conversation of dozens of news anchors simultaneously, while mentally translating them. This he did, as well as noticing the slight crackle indicating a slightly distorted signal, and based on this data he near-instantaneously performed calculations and deduced how far each transmitting station was from his current location. He heard his own breathing, and Gohan's; his heartbeat was close enough that he heard that, too. He heard air currents (again, caused by ventilation), and the creaking of a door on the other side of the ship as Kuriza moved around (Videl's footfalls had a slightly different quality of sound, due to the material of her shoes being more conducive to echoes than Kuriza's bare feet).
It didn't end there. He could feel his clothes resting on his body, the air gently brushing by him, the pressure his own feet exerted on the floor-he was even dimly aware of the pull of the ship's artificial gravity. He could smell the very chemicals within his body that fuelled the Deep Sight, which mingled with his natural scent, and those of human, saiyan and frost demon; and the slight hint of food (perhaps Kuriza was raiding the freezer?). He could taste the remnants of his breakfast, hours ago, almost hidden under the flouride compounds he'd cleaned his mouth out with afterwards.
In short, it was overwhelming, or it would have been without the proper training. All this data, this immense input, had flooded his mind in just the first second, and he planned to continue Seeing for perhaps an hour. This required an intense juggling act on his mind's part; when using Deep Sight, the normal short-term/long-term memory boundary was destroyed, and all data fast-tracked to the long-term store. This could be troublesome later, when trying to extract meaningful information from the vast amount of clutter. So he had to simultaneously continue Seeing and 'manually', consciously jettison all unnecessary information. It was not entirely unlike panning for gold in a tsunami.
Gohan, seeing Zarbon 'zone out' as he concentrated intensely on this task, absorbing the streams of news that was meaningless babble to the half-saiyan, decided to leave his companion to it, and wandered back into the living quarters of the ship.
"Well." Zarbon addressed the occupants of the eating area as he entered. Kuriza was sprawled over the top of the table, Videl was hovering near the ceiling and reading a magazine, and Gohan was wolfing down his third bowl of cereal (none of them ever washed up, of course-sometimes, Zarbon felt like a babysitter). "I've taken a look." Or a Look, you might say… "And here's the state of the galaxy right now:
After the Cold dynasty fell, the empire splintered. Generals, warlords and politicians all tried to cling onto whatever territory they controlled, and for a year or so communication between these quasi-military states was almost nil. Then the secluded system just sort of fell apart… the people were all against isolation, and the leaders couldn't hold them all in check. A fair government of sorts-not elected, but held in check by an elected council of representatives-emerged, and for a while things worked fairly well. Then recently, a terrorist strike at the heart of the government took out every major leading figure at once. What's interesting is the perpetrator-one Prince Vegeta-did not then seize power, but vanished and hasn't been seen since. In his place, a new breed of warlords has emerged. Isolation hasn't come back into force-that's sure to incite another popular uprising. So they've mostly settled into their territories now, with occasional skirmishes moving the border back and forth a system or two."
"So does that affect our destination?" Videl asked.
"Not our first stop, no," Zarbon said. "We still need to dock somewhere, maybe pick up supplies… I'll ask around and see if any of my old contacts are still active. The planet's been renamed, as I suspected-it's now Nemea. The political situation is… interesting, to say the least." He tapped into the memorised data in his mind, 'expanding' the section on the planet's rulership. "It's divided, roughly, into northern and southern hemispheres. The interesting part is this-the north is ruled by a saiyan tyrant… the south by a Namekian one."
"Come again?" Gohan looked Zarbon in the eye. "The phrase 'Namekian tyrant' just doesn't seem right, for one thing… I thought they were a peaceful race. In fact, I didn't think they travelled off-planet at all."
"And a saiyan?" Videl asked. "There are only a few left alive, right? So is it one you've met before?"
"One thing at a time!" Zarbon held up his hands for silence, then continued. "All right. The saiyan… no, it isn't one we've seen. Goku, Raditz, Vegeta and Nappa were all on missions when their planet went up in flames, and and Broly and Paragus escaped thanks to the power of the Legendary Super Saiyan… but it's reasonable that one or two might have been off-planet, but off the record too, for one reason or another." He scratched his head. "As for the Namekian… I don't know. The only selfish or evil one we've ever encountered was Piccolo-from what I gather he made his own attempt at world domination before I met any of you-but he was a special case, I believe… Kami created him as a manifestation of the evil in his heart. That doesn't seem like the kind of thing that happens too often. But by all accounts this Namek is as bad as the saiyan."
"Right…" Gohan shrugged. "Well, we'll find out when we get there. How long?"
"Twenty minutes or so. While you probably won't find any of those exotic fighting techniques you're hoping to run into, this world's populated by a whole mix of races, so you should find plenty of stuff on alien culture for your book."
Gohan brightened up. "Cool! I'll get my stuff together…" he stood up, heading for the door.
Kuriza stirred, rolling off the table but reflexively activating his flight, hovering at table height as he rubbed his eys, slowly waking up. "Hey 'vrybody… so where are we going?"
"Turles, sir… their forces are moving again. They're massing in the Eastern capital," the soldier reported.
Turles, reclining in his custom-made throne, grunted. "I don't care. Just send our own troops to do the same. They'll back off, and the cat-and-mouse game will continue."
"But, sir!" the soldier protested. "If we launch an attack to the West, we could outflank-"
"ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME?!" Turles snarled, involuntarily throwing out a wave of force as his muscles tensed, shaking the walls of the palace. The unfortunate, low-level servant was smashed to a bloody pulp against the floor, every bone in his body shattered.
Turles took a deep breath. I've got to get control… control… it's the fruit! The damn fruit… I can't not eat it, the power is overwhelming. It makes me unstoppable, but… sometimes I feel like it's not my power I'm using. It's so hard to control it, not to destroy everything around me. Still… just a little longer… a little longer. The Tree is almost ready. I've measured that green bastard's power from afar, and I know with just one more fruit, I'll be able to crush him. Finally, I'll have this damn planet to myself. He sighed, glancing at the puddle that was formerly his soldier. "Somebody clean this up!"
"Try it again," Zarbon said, one eyebrow raised. "Only this time, when you open your mouth, try saying something that makes sense."
"Didn't you hear me?!" the soldier growled, gesturing with his laser rifle, as the five others behind him did the same. "We're commandeering your ship for Lord Turles' fleet! It's a tax, you hear? Now stand aside!"
"Hmm… no." Zarbon folded his arms, standing resolutely on the docking ramp. "We just docked here. We're not caving in to a bunch of common thieves. Even government-sponsored common thieves…"
"Why, you… !" The thug grimaced, tapping his scouter. After a few seconds of analysing the threat, it bleeped. The soldier grinned. "Heh heh… power level's only 500. Not your day, is it? Low power level, outnumbered five to one, ship just begging to be stolen… and wearing that stupid pink shirt, to top it all off."
Silence fell.
Zarbon took a deep breath. Calm… calm… keep calm…
Nope.
"What."
"What 'what'?!" The grunt grunted.
"What. Did. You say. About. My shirt."
"Oh, is that it?" He laughed. "You're really pissed off now, aren't you? Well, come on. It looks ridiculous!"
"Stop talking now." Zarbon's fists clenched. "I'm going to have to hurt you if you keep talking…"
"Oh, what? What are you gonna do, Mr. 500-power-level-and-no-fashion-sense-to-boot…" Perhaps, if his internal organs hadn't just been ruptured by Zarbon's foot, the soldier would have found it ironic how a shoe travelling at supersonic speeds had collided with his midsection right as he'd said the word 'boot'. But, of course he didn't, due to aforementioned ruptured internal organs.
Emitting a faintly pathetic squeak, the soldier folded up and dropped to the floor. Zarbon landed, looking around at the other five, wondering who would make the first move.
"What the hell?!" a short, scaly creature to his left shrieked, furiously tapping its scouter. "It's no lie, his power level's only 500! Cali's was twice that-how'd this guy get the drop on him?!"
Zarbon sighed, tilting his head. "Is it such a stretch of the imagination that your scouter doesn't tell the whole story? Honestly, people rely on them too much…"
"Shut up!" the second trooper hissed, raising his customised, souped-up rifle and firing a supercharged shot. "You took Cali by surprise, that's all!"
"Did I?" Zarbon's hand shot up, and he caught the blast in mid-air, not even taking a scratch from the impact.
"What the-" the alien soldier backed off a step, trembling. "I built this weapon myself… shot's as strong as a 3,000 power! Guys… what's going on?!"
"I don't know…" a third soldier muttered. "I'm still getting 500 here. It's so weird." Nods of agreement came from the other three.
"You fools…" Zarbon chuckled. "Battle power can easily change."
"What?"
Without a word, the former servant of Frieza sent a rush of power flowing through his body. It didn't appear to take any considerable effort on his part-he wouldn't need to power up to anywhere near his maximum. Those are old-model scouters… their maximum tolerance is around 24,000, so… I'll just use about that much. With no further ceremony, he did just that, rewarded with five small explosions as the scouters detonated, their tolerance circuits overloading.
As one, the soldiers began to edge away. Zarbon cracked his knuckles, taking a step forwards. "Now, I'm about to show you why the colour of a man's shirt is none of your damn business . Also, the whole daylight robbery thing."
Gohan, Videl and Kuriza descended the round ship's boarding ramp, Gohan waving to Zarbon. "Hey! D'you get a pass or permit or whatever it is we needed?"
Zarbon indicated the pile of bruised, uniformed bodies behind him. "Well, they seem okay with it, so I guess I did."
"Right… who, exactly, are they?"
He tried to think of the most appropriate Earth analogue. "The local Gestapo. We had a disagreement."
"What about?" Videl asked.
"Oh, various things… the definition of a 'tax'… the reliability of outdated technology… the politeness of waving guns in one's face… the colour pink… don't worry about it, I think they've come around. Let's just get going-the northern hemisphere's Western capital is a couple miles from here. There's a mag-lev line there, but we can fly faster."
"All right!" Kuriza licked his lips. "Let's find a marketplace there, I'm starving!"
"Starving?!" Gohan snapped. "You already ate more than the three of us combined! Are you ever full?"
Zarbon massaged his forehead. Good lord, I am babysitting…
Chapter 46: Lion's Den
Gohan gazed around him. On the whole, the city was not entirely unlike some he'd visited on Earth-the only noticeable differences being that the technology was generally of a higher standard, and the blend of species gave the crowds a strange and varied appearance. This in particular was a good thing-Gohan had initially wondered that his orange uniform and Kuriza's disguise (long grey robes and Arcos-pattern face-concealing mask, which made his eyes look like eerie red dots of light under his hood-any relative of Frieza's would be sure to make a scene just by showing their face) would make them stand out, but they weren't the strangest sights on the street, not by a long shot.
"So… is it always this busy?" Videl asked, as a small lizardlike creature pushed its way between her and Gohan.
"Eh… it's a bit quiet, actually," Zarbon replied, ducking under a low-flying jetbike.
"I beg to differ," Gohan muttered.
"You say that…" Zarbon gestured around them. "I don't mean there's less people. Just look… everyone's just trying to get from A to B as quickly as possible. Heads down, shuffling, almost no talking. Last time I was here, there were street vendors on every corner, flashing news screens overhead, shouted conversations halfway down the street. Everyone just seems so… dull. Depressed, even. More so, even, than under Frieza."
"Huh. I would've thought living in Frieza's empire would be pretty depressing."
"You'd think so… and in most places, yes. But he rarely ever came here, or sent any kind of serious garrison to occupy it or defend it. That low military presence is actually why it became such a cultural nexus in the first place. Is this saiyan ruler really that much worse, I wonder?"
"Not worse," Kuriza chipped in. "Just closer, more obvious. What I wonder is if the Namekian ruler on the other side of the planet is as bad as this…"
"Hold up." Zarbon put his arm out to stop them. "Don't get any closer, but something's happening up there." He indicated a spot, a hundred yards or so up the street, where a commotion was occuring. A armoured figure was dragging a pair of civilians down the road, one held by the neck in each hand. "Looks like we're about to see how this saiyan runs his territory first-hand…"
The tall, swaggering humanoid soldier, sporting dark grey armour and a long ponytail of muted green hair, threw the pair of citizens-a couple of blue fish-like individuals-to the ground in front of him. His jewellery clinked as he tossed his hair over his shoulder, smiling down at them. "Now," he said as if talking to a small child, "are you aware of the law? That thing standing between order and chaos?" He was answered by silent, terrified nods. "Then why," he whispered, though the street was so quiet-one collective held breath-that it was impossible not to hear him, "did you feel that you were exempt from it? You know the tax rates, yet you openly, brazenly did business without giving the government its cut… honestly." He shook his head, looking disappointed. "We run half the planet, protect you from harm, organise everything, and this is how you repay us? By cheating us of our hard-earned money?"
"Please!" one of the unfortunate victims squeaked. "We can't afford the tax, it keeps increasing… we'll starve!"
" Then work harder !" the soldier growled, kicking the protester in the ribs to an audible crunch-he had a fairly sizeable ki. "All of you… you're only alive thanks to the good graces of Lord Turles… in his infinite kindness, he has elected to let you live for the time being. You are, each and every one of you, in debt to him: to wit, one life." He placed his foot on his second victim's head, applying the slightest bit of force and receiving a terrified whimper. "If he demands all your money, all your property, you give it up and be happy ! Happy that you're still breathing, that you can earn some more to give to him tomorrow! Understand?!" Another whimper. " I said do you- "
"STOP IT!"
Silence fell. The soldier's head turned. "Who said that?!" he demanded, stepping off his victim and stalking forwards as the crowd parted before him. "Come forwards! Or I'll start blasting this crowd." There was no need for threats-a second parting appeared as Gohan stormed up to him.
"You leave these people alone!"
"Huh…" the soldier sniffed. "What's it to you, kid?"
"Just stop hurting them!" The half-breed's eyes narrowed. "Now leave before I have to do this the hard way."
"Heh. Heheheh…" the man, easily twice Gohan's height, rolled his eyes. "You're threatening me. This is actually… you are actually threatening me… that's good." He grinned. "That's real good, kid. I don't know, maybe you aren't completely crazy, standing up to me… maybe you're some super-strong mutant or warrior species… but you're looking at Lord Turles' right-hand man. The name's Daiz… you may have heard of me. Lone survivor of the Kabocha massacre… trust me. You don't want any of what I got."
Gohan's expression didn't change. "You can't beat me. Don't make me prove it. I don't want to start a fight… just leave."
Daiz seemed to lose interest in Gohan-possibly due to the repetitive nature of his threats. "Hey." He pointed at the pair of cowering fish-people he'd been menacing a minute ago. "You know what their problem is? They can't afford to eat. Too many mouths to feed…" without warning, a red energy beam shot from his pointing finger, vapourising one of the aliens. "See? Problem solved- aaack !"
"YOU-!" Gohan, in the space of a second, had cannoned into Daiz, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him into the wall behind him, cracking the concrete. "They weren't doing anything to you! They were totally defenseless! How could you do that to them?!"
"Ugh… what the… hell…?" Daiz struggled to pull out of Gohan's grip, but his efforts were futile. He threw a kick into the child's stomach, but his foot rebounded painfully with no effect. What's going on?! He reached a hand up and managed to tap his scouter-but, unable to cope with Gohan's massive power level, even the newer, reinforced model exploded. "No way! These things top out in the two hundred thousands! But… th-that's… that means…" He went pale, trying harder to pull away. "You're a monster! How can a kid be so strong?!"
"SHUT UP!" Gohan smacked the babbling soldier across the face with the back of his hand, the sharp blow instantly knocking him out. "I'm so tired of people who break down as soon as they aren't the strongest person around!" Easily carrying Daiz over his shoulder, he walked back out into the centre of the street, dumping the unconscious oppressor on the ground. "Does this happen often?" he asked the assembled crowd. "This violence… this killing?" Nervous silence. "Answer me! Is it normally like this?" Nods, murmured assent. "All right." He left in a burst of super-speed, appearing in a back alley next to Zarbon, Kuriza and Videl.
"Idiot," Zarbon muttered. "You drew too much attention to yourself. We should be keeping a low profile."
"What was I going to do, let them die?!"
"I don't know. Maybe. It might have been better to take these guys on once we have a better idea of the situation. Don't act rashly, it always leads to trouble… you can't save everybody."
"Zarbon." It was Videl speaking. The alien turned, surprised to see the harshness on the girl's face. "Don't talk like that! At that moment, those people were being hurt. Killed. That's a very serious matter… don't abstract it."
"Yeah," Kuriza nodded. "It's simple. You stop bad things from happening."
"Heroes!" Zarbon groaned. "I'm surrounded by altruists and bloody heroes! Why me?"
"Sir!" Amond, Turles' third-in-command, entered the throne room, saluting formally. "Daiz is down."
"Dead?" Turles assumed, barely concerned at the loss of his most trusted subordinate. He had seemed somewhat… detached, recently-an effect that increased every time he ate a fruit from the Tree. He swung between jaded and uncaring, and violent anger. But, whatever the side effects, there was no arguing with the results. True to his original aim, Turles was now undoubtedly more powerful than Frieza (whose full power level of 120 million units was made public knowledge after certain documents were unearthed in the chaos following the fall of the frost demon dynasty*).
( *Author's note: Another piece of data uncovered was an approximation of King Cold's full power. It was between two and three times Frieza's. It was not anything like 10 billion. Bujin is an idiot. )
"Don't know at this point, sir. However, before his scouter overloaded, it was trying to read a power level that it couldn't record-and those models can handle over two hundred thousand units! We've got a serious threat here, sir."
"Mm-hmm." Turles shrugged. "I guess so. Play the footage." He watched impassively as Daiz's scouter's video feed replayed Gohan's furious assault on his huge wall-mounted monitor, right up until Daiz had tried to get an exact fix on his opponent's power level. "Hmph. A saiyan…"
"Are you sure?" Amond asked sceptically. "There are many similar-looking species to saiyans in the universe…" Plus, I thought Turles was the only surviving saiyan…
"Trust me. I know my race when I see them," the renegade saiyan said quietly. I wonder if I could recruit this one… hold on a second. "Rewind." Amond did so, almost reaching the beginning of the footage. "Keep going… keep going… there. Look. Back left, ducking into the alley. Zoom in."
"Sir? Who is it?" Amond asked, perplexed-the muscular brute of Turles' squad, he was not accustomed to thinking too much (that was usually Daiz's role).
"Not sure. But he's familiar…" Turles tapped his forehead. "Run a face-match or something. See if it's somebody on file."
"Uh…" Amond tentatively tried a button on the console, and by luck more than anything else activated the face-match software, running the image by the planet's database.
Twelve seconds later, blinking red letters appeared on-screen as a file from the database opened. FACIAL RECOGNITION CONFIRMED: 95% MATCH.
Turles smiled. "Ah, Zarbon… you didn't die in that Namek debacle, then… the famous Zarbon and some mysterious saiyan, running around on my planet. This just got interesting." Right as the Tree is about to ripen again, no less…
"You're really doing this."
"Yes." Gohan nodded.
"You're actually going to-"
"Zarbon! This 'government' isn't fit to rule. You've seen that already."
"You're ridiculous. We haven't been here an hour-"
"Just follow my lead. Or wait back at the ship. Up to you…"
Zarbon rolled his eyes. "I don't believe this. I've worked for Frieza, I know about irrational decisions, but you're right up there with him!"
"So you're coming?"
"Yes." He sighed. "I can't let you run off alone. The things I do for that infernal woman… more trouble than she's worth."
"You don't really think that," Kuriza said.
"I don't really think that," Zarbon admitted.
"Turles! Lord Turles!" Amond skidded into the throne room. "He's-they're here! The saiyan kid, Zarbon, and a couple others!"
"Already?" Turles shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Shame… it's too early to go out, really."
"It's… almost evening, sir."
"Right." Turles almost didn't seem to hear him. "Well. Get Cacao. And… Rasin… Lakasei, was that their names?"
"Sorry, sir…" Amond stammered, not having realised Turles would forget so easily. "We lost Rasin and Lakasei… remember, sir? The incident on Ikonda?"
"Right, right. In that case… meet them. Get Cacao. I'll be out soon." He stood up, stretching. So much work… it's all so much… work.
Gohan threw Daiz's body on the ground in front of him, smashing open the great stone gates with a wave of his hand. Turles' palace lay beyond-originally constructed in anticipation of a visit from Frieza, back in his day, it was a labrynthian, Gothic construction, towering spires and gargoyles adorning every crevice. Gohan indicated the unconscious soldier. "Is this yours?" he called out.
"Not any more." Twin blasts of energy shot from the right and left, and Gohan jumped to intercept as they sped straight for Daiz's prone form. This time, the half-saiyan was prepared for treachery, and he caught both beams, deflecting them harmlessly. "You can come out now," he said. "I knew you were low, but that was despicable. He's your own comrade!"
"Being defeated like that? He might as well already be dead. You should have killed him when you beat him," said the soldier approaching from Gohan's left. Amond was thick-set, red-skinned, and bore a scar down the left side of his face. His armour was heavily customised, adorned with baggy sashes and flashes of colour.
"I won't murder someone just because they're weaker than me," Gohan insisted.
"Logic error," the soldier to Gohan's right whirred. "Basic strategy indicates a dead enemy cannot recover and counter-attack. Yet you spared him. This was an incorrect action. Perhaps your cogitation system is faulty." Cacao was a large, intimidating construct of gleaming metal, seemingly moulded from great smooth plates of a steel-like substance, with little evidence on the surface of wiring or internal mechanisms.
"Where's Turles?" Gohan asked calmly, but no response came. "So let me guess. We have to go through you first…"
"That's about it," Amond replied, cracking his knuckles.
"Don't bother with that-you go find Turles. I'll take the big guy," Kuriza declared.
"I'll get the robot, then." Zarbon entered a fighting stance. "Go on ahead, Gohan. We've got this."
"Right! Thanks, guys. Uh, Videl…"
She nodded. "I'll watch your back."
"All right." Gohan turned to face the entrace. "Let's go."
Raditz lay in the afterlife's long grass, idly chewing a stalk of it. He liked coming out here sometimes, to be alone-in the middle of this peaceful train of thought, King Kai came hopping up, shattering the silence.
"Hey, Raditz! Raditz! Guess what?"
Raditz sighed, standing up in a leisurely fashion, before stretching and yawning like a disturbed cat. "Whaaaat."
"You've got an audience with the Grand Kai! He says he'll see you! Do you know what this means? He's the greatest fighting master in the afterlife! Finally, somebody who can keep up with you!"
"Huh?" Raditz, rubbing his eyes, began to pay attention. "Oh yeah, I remember. That's good. Well… I can sense five Kai energies around here… I guess that'll be the four Kais like you and the Grand one. He'll be the biggest power, right?"
"Well, yes, but don't just go Instant Transmission off and leave me here-" The northern Kai's words were wasted, however, as Raditz did exactly that.
The Grand Kai was not what you'd expect from the ruler of the gods of all four galaxies. He wore blue jeans and a faded denim jacket, topped off with square-lensed sunglasses that contrasted his extravagant white beard and moustache combination. As Raditz arrived, he was crouched over his boombox, trying to repair it. "Aaagh… this damn thing…"
"Uh…" Raditz looked around what appeared to be the supreme deity's residence, an ornate palace quite at odds with its occupant. "Grand… Kai?"
"Huh?" The Grand Kai looked up, overcoming his surprise at his suddenly-appearing visitor. "Oh yeah, that's me. Who's asking?"
"I'm Raditz," the saiyan replied. "King Kai… uh, I mean, North Kai… told me you'd agreed to train me when you heard I'd beaten Pikkon, and, well, I've kind of run out of challenging sparring partners and teachers, haha!" Casual laughter hadn't always been like him, but the afterlife had lightened him up, giving him a more easy-going view on life (death?).
"Oh, yeah… I remember now." Grand Kai nodded. "Well… all right. This thing," he kicked the faulty boombox for emphasis, "isn't behavin', so I guess there's no time like the present, eh?"
"Sounds good to me."
"All right, son…" Grand Kai and Raditz stood hovering in the air in a huge round chamber, hundreds of miles across, which had been enchanted to hold dozens of miniature star systems, complete with house-sized stars and car-sized planets. "It's been a while since I've done some serious trainin' or fightin', so let's just see what you've got, to start off with." I haven't been paying as much attention as I should've, I think… I wish I at least remembered how strong Pikkon was, so I'd have some kind of expectation of what this one would be like… who knows, maybe he almost measures up to me…
"Okay." Raditz took in a deep breath. "So just power up to maximum?"
"That's about it. Go ahead and transform if you can-I need to see your best."
"Right. Hhhhh… kkkkkhhhh…" his breathing became ragged as his power shot up in huge bursts. "HAAAAAA!" The air burned gold as he turned Super Saiyan. He closed his eyes and reached within, bringing his true power to the surface as he ascended to Super Saiyan 2. "Huh… hah… hhh…" he smiled, his power surging around him. "All right… how's this?"
"Woah… what the…?!" Grand Kai was half a mile away, having been bowled over and sent flying by the force of Raditz's ki. Slowly, he righted himself and floated back over. "You're that strong…? You've gotta be kidding me…"
"What?" Raditz looked faintly disappointed as he powered down. "Don't tell me I'm even more powerful than you…"
"I'm afraid so," Grand Kai replied sheepishly. "Wow… you're really something. Sorry, I don't think there's anything left for me to teach ya!"
"Oh." Raditz seemed downcast for a moment, but then brightened up. "Well, I'll bet Pikkon's training harder than ever to catch up with me… yeah, I'm sure he'll be a more challenging opponent next time." He nodded. "And even if not, I can always try fighting him in a lower form… although that might just be as easy a win for him as it is for me at full power… well, whatever." He flew over towards the exit, waving to Grand Kai. "See you! Thanks anyway!"
An hour or so later…
Grand Kai sat in his chambers. That guy… I've never felt a power like that in my life, and I've been around over 50,000 years… Thoughtfully, he padded over to a large crystal set in one wall, placing one hand on it-a direct line to the world above, the Sacred World of the Kais, where even he was not permitted to set foot. "Hey, up there… anybody home?"
I am here, a soft-toned voice answered. Is there something you wish to bring to my attention, young one?
"Yeah, actually." He paused. "You know Pikkon? West Galaxy, strongest fighter in Otherworld?"
I am aware of this one, yes.
"Somebody beat him."
And this is relevant how? Champions come and go. The afterlife is not static.
"Well… this guy… this saiyan, I believe… he's a lot stronger than Frieza ever was. I'm nothing compared to him. I'm telling you, I've never seen anything as powerful as this, in all my millenia. Plus… he was a hero in his life, I'm told."
How so?
"Reformed genocide, strange as that sounds. Turned his whole life around, saved more people than he ever killed. Went out saving his brother, and his adopted planet."
I see. Why are you telling me this?
"Well… that Z-Sword of yours?"
What of it?
"You told me only a truly heroic individual could wield it? And no-one's yet been strong enough, not even you?"
You're not suggesting this mortal is superior to me, surely.
"I don't know! I've never seen you at full power. Just… take my word for it. This one's different, all right?"
I'll consider it. For now, I must depart. Duty calls.
"You still on that witch-hunt?"
Wizard, actually. But yes. I must find Babidi soon. He must not succeed.
"I understand. Good luck." The connection broke, and Grand Kai ambled back over to his bed, slumping on it lazily. Well, I had been thinkin' recently that I wanted somethin' interesting to happen around here… I guess I got what I asked for. What are we gonna do with you, Raditz?
Chapter 47: Vindication
Gohan and Videl walked slowly through the main hallway, every step echoing off the stone like the crash of an enormous drum, the effect accentuated by the extravagant acoustics of the otherwise-silent building. Gargoyles leered down at them at every corner. Shafts of daylight from five-metre-tall windows pierced the ever-present darkness, and oddly enough for such a recently-constructed building, there were no electric lights to be seen anywhere.
"Can you feel that?" Gohan asked.
"Right." Videl nodded. "That giant ki… must be Turles." The energy signature seemed strange, almost artificial. "You sure you can take this guy, Gohan?"
"I'm pretty sure," Gohan replied. "I don't think he's a Super Saiyan-it doesn't feel like it-but if not, I have no idea how he's so strong."
"Well, we'll find out soon…" Videl trailed off as they approached a huge stone set of double doors, engraved with a mess of tiny, intricate carvings, depicting countless scenes of tailed, horned figures reaping mass destruction.
Gohan raised his hand to push the door open, when without warning it exploded outwards, launching slabs of high-speed debris at the two of them.
Zarbon backflipped away, handspringing off the ground as a missile exploded where he'd been, seconds before. What is this? he wondered, ducking to the right to avoid a jackhammer-like punch that shattered a pillar next to his head. I've never seen any technology produce a machine capable of keeping up with a fighter like me. This is interesting… the robotic creature Cacao lunged again, and Zarbon retreated out of its punching range. However, compartments on its back flipped open as it moved, revealing hidden jets that rocketed it forwards. Unprepared for this sudden burst of speed, Zarbon failed to raise his guard in time and the glistening metal fist cracked into his jaw, sending him reeling back. Recovering his senses, he moved with the force of the blow, spinning away from Cacao and throwing a quick energy bolt as he turned.
Cacao quickly crossed its arms in front of its face, blocking the blast with only mild scorch marks. The brief time it took to do this gave Zarbon the opening to hammer his elbow up into a join between armour plates, knocking it through a wall. Zarbon rubbed the bruise on his chin. "You hit pretty hard," he noted as Cacao emerged, unfazed, from the rubble. "You're probably programmed to just kill everything in your way, right? I mean, there's no point reasoning with you…" he received another missile in response. "I see," he continued, kicking it out of its flight path, sending it careening into the ground several metres away, where it detonated. "I'll take that as a 'no'. That's fine… I was never good at the peaceful option anyway."
Kuriza nonchalantly dodged Amond's red ki blast, landing atop a precipice a few metres above the ground, his form-concealing cloak swaying around him. "Are you done yet?" he asked.
"Stand… huh… huh… still!" Amond gasped, exhausted after having chased the disguised frost demon around for several minutes now. "Damn it!" He furiously hammered the button on his scouter, but it displayed Kuriza's power level as only 2,000, the same as last time. "How are you doing that?! There's no way you could outrun me if you were that weak!"
Kuriza shrugged. "Just a technique I picked up. Now can you stop trying to kill me? I mean, we know you aren't going to succeed, so we could just save both of us some effort and go do something else while Gohan talks to your leader. Because honestly, I'm getting bored."
"You're… what?" Amond spluttered.
"I'm… didn't you hear me or something?" Kuriza scratched his head. "I'm bored. Fighting you is boring. You just sort of flail around at the air where I was a few seconds ago while I dodge very s-l-o-w-l-y…"
"Why, you…" Amond hissed. "DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" He jumped up at Kuriza, swinging an uncoordinated fist. The adolescent powerhouse caught it nonchalantly, yawning.
"See, I don't just have to dodge either. I can mix it up if I like." He blocked a low kick with his shin. "Really? You're still trying that? You must have some kind of memory problem, or I'm not sure why you thought it'd work the three hundredth time you tried…"
"I'll teach you-" Amond was cut off as Kuriza flung his ki outwards, cracking the walls on either side and hurling Amond away from him.
"Well? Are you happy now?" Hmm… what shall I do now? Kuriza wondered. I guess I could just take him down, but I might not get to fight anybody else for a while… I could power up and break his scouter, but we've all seen that routine before, and I don't think that'd really surprise him at this point anyway… what to do…?
"Hey! Just who the hell are you people anyway?" Amond demanded, dusting himself off. "Zarbon… a saiyan… that's a weird combination. Where do you fit in?"
"You think that's weird, huh?" Kuriza chuckled. Say, there's an idea… "You haven't seen anything yet, my friend." Ripping off his mask, he lowered his hood. "Well! If it isn't the handsome devil from your history books!"
"Aaahh… uh… y-you're…" Amond took a step back, trembling. "You're Kuriza! The prince… Frieza's heir… you're dead! They said the Super Saiyan killed you!"
Kuriza smiled. "Quite the opposite, actually… he saved me. Oh, and I wouldn't refer to the 'Super Saiyan' in the singular… there's quite a few running around, now. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret… one of them's on his way to see your boss right now."
"The kid… !"
"Right. He's the first, you know."
"The first?" Amond looked puzzled. "The first what?!"
"The first of the new breed. The galaxy is changing." Kuriza's eyes narrowed. "You saw it after the Cold dynasty, my family's empire, collapsed. They actually set up a democracy. A democracy! In this galaxy! Vegeta set things back, but you can't stop it. People like Gohan will always come. Turles and his kind have just been going through the motions, clinging to the old routines… thinking they can be the next Frieza… but that age is gone now." He took a step forwards, his tail lashing menacingly against the floor, leaving impact craters. "The people have tasted freedom, and they're not going to give it up without a fight."
"They already have." Amond snorted. "Or didn't you see how we run things here?"
"Maybe. But if it wasn't us today, it'd be so meone else tomorrow. A government like this can't last forever. And…" Kuriza tilted his head to the side as a shockwave rocked the palace. "I don't know about you, but that sounds kind of like your regime collapsing."
"But-" Midway through his sentence, Amond was silenced as Kuriza lunged forwards, ramming his knee into the burly soldier's face, dropping him instantly. Kuriza settled to the ground. "Ugh. Why is everybody so fragile ?"
Raditz was bench-pressing a relatively small but surprisingly heavy block of super-dense, stasis-compressed neutron star material King Kai had magically fabricated for him when the pair of strangers appeared. It took him a few minutes to notice them, so focused was he on lifting the monumental weight. Finally, he registered the figures in the corner of his eye. Sighing, he heaved the weight over onto the ground, then powered down as he stood, sweat bucketing down his face and arms.
One of the strangers was short, pink-skinned and bearing the pointed ears and general appearance of a Kai. However, he seemed more humanoid in his proportions than most of them (the Northern Kai, for instance, was somewhat… round). He wore strange, outlandish clothing, a darker blue with red trim that accentuated his skin, replete with poofy shoulders, small yellow earrings, and a hairstyle not entirely unlike a white mohican gone mad. The second, standing slightly behind the first, was taller and bulkier, with more sensible hair, red skin, a face creased with worry (a contrast to the first's self-confident smirk) and a red-orange colour scheme on his outfit, but appeared to be of the same race, or at least similar.
"Raditz?" the shorter of the two asked in a soft, pleasant voice.
"Uh… yes?" Raditz hazarded.
"Greetings," the mysterious visitor responded, his smile widening. "I've been told you're quite the fighter."
"Well, I guess." Raditz shrugged. "Sorry if this is rude, but who, exactly, are you?"
"Do not address the Kaioshin in such a manner!" the larger one burst out, but the smaller one raised a calming hand.
"Calm yourself, Kibito. He did not know who he was addressing." He turned back to Raditz. "As my servant just informed you… in his own way… I am the Kaioshin, the Supreme Kai."
"Supreme Kai…?" Raditz scratched his head. "Is that like the Grand Kai?"
"Not at all. The Kaioshins reside on the Sacred World of the Kais, above even this higher realm. Well, they did once… now there is only me." He shook his head, trying to stay focused. "Even the Grand Kai answers to me."
"Oh. Um… I'm honoured, Kaioshin." Raditz bowed awkwardly. He'd had to grovel for Vegeta and Frieza and the like before, of course; but it'd never been sincere. The only person to ever truly command his respect had been Goku, who had never demanded it.
"You're probably wondering the reason for my visit," Kaioshin continued.
"It had crossed my mind, I'll admit…"
"Well… there exists a weapon. A great and legendary weapon, known as the Z-Sword. It is embedded in a rock on the Sacred World of the Kais, and held there by powerful magics. None now remember how it got there or where it came from, not even I with all my millions of years. But the legend goes that the one who can pull it from its prison will be able to access its powers, becoming a truly mighty warrior."
"Can I guess that this is where I come in?" Raditz asked, indicating himself.
"Indeed." Kaioshin nodded. "Try as they might, no Kaioshin has ever been able to pull it out, myself included."
"Sir… !" Kibito grumbled. "Surely you don't think this mortal could be more powerful than you, the Supreme Kai, the Lord of Lords? It's absurd…"
Kaioshin inclined his head slightly. "Perhaps it is… Raditz. Let me tell you this: the monster, Frieza, who oppressed you for half of your life, the terror of the universe… I could slay him with a single blow. Does that impress you?"
"Eh… it's not bad…" Raditz admitted. "But not really, no. I could do that myself, certainly. I might not even need to transform. If I did it would certainly be overkill, anyway."
"Interesting…" Kaioshin turned to Kibito. "You see? Perhaps there is hope. Now, Raditz, place your hand on Kibito's shoulder, and he will transport us to the Sacred World of the Kais."
With a flicker of movement and no ceremony, they were there. Raditz gazed around-the Sacred World of the Kais was hilly and grassy, flat plains spreading out for miles on end, then dropping off sharply at jagged cliffs, all dotted with the occasional tree or waterfall. Many moons hung in the sky, all forming perfect, picturesque crescents.
"What was that?" he asked. "It didn't feel like Instant Transmission…"
"Instant Transmission?" Kaioshin chuckled. "Child's play. Kibito is gifted with the technique of Instantaneous Movement. It's much more efficient-no range limit, no need to lock on to a ki signature…"
Kibito, for his part, didn't seem too pleased. "I am still not sure of the wisdom of bringing a mortal here, sir… here, to-!"
"I am aware of the gravity of the situation, Kibito!" Kaioshin snapped, betraying his inner tension for the first time. "Tread carefully, Raditz. This world is not known as Sacred for nothing."
"Right." Raditz followed Kaioshin and Kibito as they lifted off, heading for a raised point a couple of miles away. "It sounds like it's a big deal, me being allowed here to try this… you must have a reason."
"Indeed. I would not bring you here lightly." Kaioshin frowned. "You see… I'm on the hunt for a wizard named Babidi. Millions of years ago, his father Bibidi created the most terrible evil ever to blight the universe… Majin Buu." He paused, remembering time beyond mortal reckoning, the scars still fresh in his ageless mind. "One by one, the Kaioshins fell before Buu's fury and its terrible power."
"Kaioshins?" Raditz asked. "As in plural?"
"Yes," Kaioshin answered. "As above, so below. Once, as with the lesser Kais, there were Kaioshins of the North, South, East and West, and a Grand Kaioshin that ruled over all. But none could stand up to Majin Buu. Soon, only I, the East Kaioshin, remained. Bibidi was finding Buu harder and harder to control, its childlike temper making it prone to attacking its 'father'. So when he had no need for Buu, he would seal it in a magical prison until it was time to wreak destruction on some planet that drew Bibidi's ire for whatever reason. It was while Buu was sealed away that I struck-I slew Bibidi in one of the rare moments when his guard was down."
"So… you're still after the son, then…" Raditz mused, as they touched down on the hill. "Did he make another Buu, or bring back the old one, or something?"
"Not yet, thankfully," Kaioshin said. "If Buu had been set loose, you'd know about it. There is no force in this universe that can stand up to Majin Buu. But Babidi is gathering his strength… his forces grow in number, and he moves in the shadows, always a step ahead of me. Soon he will try to revive Majin Buu… he's been planning it for a long time. I fear some of his servants may be truly mighty warriors, as well, which would make a confrontation risky, even if I did track him down."
"And this is what you need me for?"
"Exactly. However small the possibility of you being superior to me, the Grand Kai spoke highly of you, and I am willing to take the chance. If Babidi's minions are too numerous and powerful for me, or if-heavens forbid-he does manage to release Buu, I will need a worthy ally… one who can wield the Z-Sword." He pointed to the left, and Raditz turned.
In the centre of the raised column of stone, a longsword's hilt and a foot or so of the blade jutted out from the ground. Raditz approached it slowly, reverently. "This is it, then? If I can pull it out, I'll get its mythical power?"
Kaioshin nodded. "Although, if you are capable of pulling it out, you must already possess incredible strength. Fear not… there is no pressure. Even I, supreme god of the universe, could not remove it. I am simply pursuing all avenues in an attempt to gain an advantage over Babidi."
"Right. Well, I'll do my best…" When a god asks you to do something, it's not exactly polite to refuse… Raditz took a deep breath, closing his hands around the hilt. It felt odd-slightly warm, as if some inner heat burned deep within it. Just looks like ordinary rock-and I can break rock easy. But Kaioshin did say it was held there by powerful magic, so I'd better be ready for some resistance… okay. Here goes… "Hhhhnnnggg…" His muscles rippled as he began to pull, straining against the embedded blade, but it didn't budge. "Heh… you were right… rrrggg… this thing is stuck pretty good…" He braced himself against the ground, trying to force himself upwards with all his strength. "Aaagh!" He gasped. "It's no good… it's not going anywhere…"
"You see?" Kibito frowned. "I told you this was folly. If even you could not remove the Z-Sword, what hope did a mere mortal have?"
"I suppose so…" Kaioshin agreed, sighing.
"Wait just a minute there!" Raditz growled. "You interrupted me. It's not going anywhere… yet. " His eyes snapped open wide as he powered up to Super Saiyan. "HYAAAA!" Renewing his efforts, he was rewarded with a crunch as his feet formed shallow craters in the rock. The Z-Sword vibrated slighty, and Raditz growled. You're… coming… OUT OF THERE!
"Aah!" Kaioshin staggered back. "What is this power…?!"
"It-it is irrelevant!" Kibito muttered. "Even the Grand Kaioshin of old could not remove this blade… there is no chance of… !"
Raditz ground his teeth together as he strained against the stubbornly immobile sword. Cracks began to spider out from both the Z-Sword and his feet, which were sinking slightly into the rock as he pushed off against the column. "Move… damn… you… !" All right… looks like I need to pull out all the stops! "HAAAAAAAH!" With one final effort, he transformed into his Super Saiyan 2 form, heaving with all his energy against the sword, which finally, painfully slowly, began to move, sliding up out of the rock. Several seconds later, it was finally fully free. With nothing to oppose his pushing force against the ground, Raditz shot up into the air, the shining silver blade clutched between both hands. Panting with exertion, he looked down at Kaioshin and Kibito. "Well… hhuh… hah… how was… that?"
"It's incredible!" the Supreme Kai marveled. "The fabled Z-Sword-the weapon that has resided there since before even I was born! It's finally been freed!"
"It seems I underestimated you, saiyan," Kibito said with a smile. "My sincerest apologies. It seems we have not been following events in the mortal realms as closely as we should… I had no idea a being like you could exist."
"Yeah, I surprise myself too. So, what's this thing supposed to do?" He turned it back and forth in his hand. While he couldn't feel any great mystical power, it was certainly an interesting sensation, holding the weapon. It felt on edge, like a caged animal waiting to strike.
"I am afraid I don't know precisely," Kaioshin admitted. "The legend is very old… but it is said that the one who draws the Z-Sword will attain great power. That's all, really…"
"Well, in any case…" Raditz relaxed to his normal state, and the sword immediately wrenched his arms as the tip crashed to the ground, almost dragging him with it. "Whoa! It's pretty heavy! Wow, I can barely lift it in base!"
"Hmm… maybe that's it…" Kibito mused. "Perhaps the sword is so difficult to wield, merely training with it forces the user to become stronger…"
"Yes, that might be it," Kaioshin agreed. "Of course, perhaps some other magical property will make itself apparent with time. Until then, perhaps you should just train with it-as Kibito said, its weight will make it a challenging exercise."
"I see," said Raditz, hefting the sword with great difficulty. "Kind of like gravity training… right then. I can just about lift it in base form, so… I won't go Super Saiyan, it'd make it too easy." He looked around. "Hey, do you mind if I take this back to Otherworld and train there? I'd feel more comfortable there."
"By all means," Kaioshin said. "Kibito, would you…"
"No need." Raditz touched two fingers to his forehead, locking on to Pikkon's energy signature and vanishing.
"Instant Transmission again…" Kibito muttered. "So inefficient."
Kaioshin stepped forwards, gazing out into the horizon. "With a fighter like that to call upon-one who wields the Z-Sword, no less-when we next encounter Babidi, we will surely know victory!"
"Yes, sir. This time we will wipe out that wizard's cursed line for good."
"Let's just hope he doesn't succeed in releasing Majin Buu… I fear even our new ally, with all his might, would be no match for that creature." He shivered at the memory. That monster… I pray the universe never sees its like again.
Chapter 48: The Price of Power
Dende was the Guardian of Earth.
He still wasn't quite used to that.
He stood on the edge of the Lookout, leaning on his oversized staff, staring out into the skies of the planet, reaching out with his mind and scanning the human world below him. They're all just getting on with their lives… slowly but steadily advancing their race… do they need me? I wonder… should a Namekian be governing human concerns? I can't imagine how we'd react to a human Guardian on Namek…
"Dende?" The young Guardian looked around at the voice, seeing Mr. Popo approaching behind him. The genie's face bore his usual genial, if slightly befuddled, expression. "Is something troubling you?"
You always could read peoples' emotions… Dende nodded slowly. "Yes… it's a lot of things… I wonder if I'm needed… I'm not sure if an alien should have this position… I don't know, really."
"Well, I think I do," his friend said, with a slight sad edge to his voice. "You're homesick."
The future timeline…
Gohan flexed his new arm, feeling the odd sensation of the pistons and gears hooked up to his nervous system. "Huh… weird…"
"'Weird'? Is that all?" Bulma frowned. "Oh no, don't thank me, that would be a little much…"
"Haha, sorry! Thanks so much, Bulma!" Gohan smiled sheepishly. "So, how exactly does this work?"
"Well, it's largely based off of Seventeen and Eighteen, so physically it should be about as strong as them, but you can still augment it with your ki as normal. Unfortunately, I can't seem to replicate Dr. Gero's infinite energy source yet, so if you're ever completely drained it'll stop working-it runs off your internal power. And while it looks pretty robotic now, I'll probably get the hang of human-looking bionics soon, so I'll upgrade it to look more normal later."
Gohan nodded. "Right. That's great. It's weird, huh… one set of androids took my arm, the others made it possible for me to get a new one…" he quickly realised his mistake. "Oh, uh, and you, of course!"
" Right . So, how's your training been going?" Bulma asked, switching topics rather suddenly.
"Oh, good. Really well, actually," Gohan said slowly. "It's weird, being the learner for once, but with Break's help I've been able to fully master Super Saiyan just like she has. But I always get the feeling there's something more she isn't telling me… ah, it's probably nothing. Say, where is she, anyway?"
"Where do you think?" Bulma began packing her tools away. "Out there, helping out however she can. People have organised themselves so quickly… there's always some new building project someone with superhuman strength can be useful for." There had never been any need for secrecy, really-rumours had always flown around about the mysterious golden-haired fighters who sometimes opposed the androids, and after one particularly impressive lightshow had coincided with the androids' disappearance, most people knew how to put two and two together. So now, of course, they were treated as heroes wherever they went. Gohan didn't mind, but he got the feeling Break was uneasy about it for some reason. But she still accepted it, giving aid to the best of her ability as the world slowly put itself back together.
"Yeah, that's like her… I keep telling her to take a break-no pun intended-but she never listens." He stretched, doing some basic warm-up exercises and putting his new arm through the motions to try and get used to it. "Well, I guess I'll go check up on her, see if there's anything I can help with."
"See ya." Bulma waved as Gohan flew out the open window in a burst of energy. Everything's finally going right, huh… those two are heroes, and the only androids are the 'converted' ones from the past… None of them had seen Seventeen and Eighteen for a while. It seemed the pair had been content to blend into the crowd and enjoy the normal, human life Dr. Gero had stolen from them, while secretly continuing to help the rebuilding effort behind the scenes. It's coming up on a year… a year of freedom. Maybe that'll be an occasion to see those two again… but then, maybe not. I'm not sure, given what they almost did-what they easily could have done-that I could stand to be so close to them. Maybe it's for the best that they left…
Main timeline…
Goku and Chi-Chi gazed down at their baby's wide, searching eyes.
"Wow…" Goku mumbled. "I'm still finding it weird that I even have one kid, and now I've got two…"
"Heh." Chi-Chi shook her head. "You'd better get used to it… hopefully it'll be easier this time around, now we've got more experience with this parenting thing…"
"You know, Gohan turned out a lot like you," Goku commented. "Or at least like you wanted him to be. He works hard at his studies, and isn't really interested in fighting. You think Goten'll be more like me?"
"I certainly hope not!" Chi-Chi laughed. "Who's there left to fight?"
"Hah! Good point." Goku grinned. "We've taken care of pretty much Frieza's family's whole empire… we've finished off the last of the Red Ribbon Army's androids… I guess we've got some peace at last. Well… I admit, it's less exciting without any of those enemies around, but at least it's safer for the kids."
"Right." Chi-Chi picked Goten up, holding him close. "They'll get to grow up in a normal, safe world."
"And hey, even if something does come up, Gohan can handle himself in a fight, and I'm sure Goten will catch on, too." Goku patted the baby on the head. "Our kids are gonna be just fine."
Videl took a few hurried steps back as the dust cleared. Gohan's feet had scored tracks in the rock as he was forced backwards, and now he stood still, holding his ground. Both his hands were raised in front of his face, holding back his attacker's fist. The heavily-muscled man stood over a foot taller than Gohan, and was decked out in standard empire armour, coloured a dark grey. A red-lensed scouter perched on his face, a tail curled around his waist, and most strikingly of all, his hair looked almost exactly the same as Goku's. "What the…" Gohan frowned. "You look like my dad!" His arms began to tremble as the attacker slowly increased the force of his attack.
He grinned cruelly. "I see… is that so?" Narrowing his eyes, he sent out a wave of ki that flattened Gohan, driving him into the floor. "Clearly you're ill-informed about your own race. Certain genetic strains are common among us saiyans. Now… can I help you?"
Gohan climbed to his feet. "Sure. You can surrender control of this half of the planet before I have to make you."
"Hah! That's a good one. I guess you've worked out that I'm Turles…"
"It wasn't very hard… there aren't exactly many saiyans running around these days."
"True. But don't get any big ideas… your power is impressive, I'll grant you that. Maybe defeating some of my soldiers made you think you were something special. But-" his arm swung around, a blindingly quick uppercut launching Gohan into the air, through the ceiling and out into the open sky, where he managed to stop himself in mid-air. However, before he could fully recover, Turles appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the neck. "-but! There's a difference between the two of us." He held firm as Gohan struggled in vain to prise apart the iron grip around his neck. "You're subject to the normal limits of your saiyan body, whereas I… I have eaten the fruit of the Tree of Might. I have met those limits, and surpassed them all! Trying to do something 'brave' like challenging my rule would be foolish in the extreme. If you'd be willing to work for me, though, I might not have to kill you just yet…"
"Y… you…" Gohan hissed. "You're not the only one… who's exceeded… those limits…"
"Oh, really? Care to explain? Or you could just die, I suppose. You know, whatever works."
"I…" Gohan's power surged to the surface as he transformed, a golden wave of energy rippling through his body and exploding outwards, forcing Turles away. "… am a SUPER SAIYAN!"
"What?" Turles shielded his eyes from the light, then ripped his scouter off as it malfunctioned. "Don't tell me… the legend?!"
"That's right, Turles." Gohan's eyes hardened. "You can't beat me… give up now, and I won't hurt you."
"Heh." Turles grinned maniacally. "I know what you're thinking… you're a Super Saiyan and I'm not, so there's no way you can lose, right?"
"Something like that."
"Well, think about it this way… I've eaten the fruit of the Tree of Might, and you haven't. I'd say that about makes us even."
"If you say so…" Gohan smirked. "I mean, if you think your diet plan is greater than the legendary transformation of our race, then go ahead. Come at me with your best shot."
"Sounds like a plan!" Turles charged in, throwing a straight kick, but Gohan dodged to the side.
Even now… the gap between us isn't as much as I thought it'd be… what kind of fruit is this? Gohan jumped back as Turles continued his attacks, growing more frenzied and uncontrolled, but strangely faster at the same time-Turles began to tap into his full power as his regard for the safety of his surroundings was drowned out by his desire to kill this unexpected opponent. "I-will-end-you-child!" His punch shattered the highest tower of the palace, sending out shockwaves that flattened trees miles away.
"Well, you haven't laid a hand on me since I transformed, so I'd say that's unlikely." Gohan sent an elbow crashing into Turles' shoulder, knocking him away through the air.
Righting himself, Turles howled in frustration. "This… isn't… happening!" Veins popped out on his forehead as his power surged through him. "You-you're not even a true saiyan! The injustice… the legend fulfilled, the Super Saiyan emerges… and it's this whining brat?! You're fighting for people you don't even know, it's ridiculous!"
"Of course, I don't expect you to understand." Gohan floated up next to Turles, hovering a few metres away. "But that's exactly the point-someone like you could never transform. The warrior with a pure heart, awakened by fury… that's a Super Saiyan. Not a bloodthirsty murderer!" He clenched his fists, ready to end the battle.
"You…" Turles growled in a low voice. "You're no saiyan… you're despicable. You act like you're better than me… with your morals and principles… you don't know anything. There's no such thing as a 'pure heart'. You hear me?" He was ranting now, flecks of foam flying from his mouth, his eyes wild. "You don't know anything, child ! You've never killed… not because it's 'wrong' or some crap like that-because you don't have what it takes! I, on the other hand…" He swung his arm downwards, launching a huge energy wave at the nearby city. "I AM THE GREATEST WARRIOR IN THE UNIVERSE!"
"No! That city-!" Gritting his teeth, Gohan raced after the attack, trying to intercept it. At the last moment, he swung around in front of it, blocking it with both hands. He struggled to push it back, fighting against its accumulated momentum. All those people down there… I won't let them down! "Yaaah!" He forced the beam back into the air, firing his own blast and extinguishing it. He smiled, sighing. That was a little too close…
Suddenly, Turles came rocketing in from the side, crashing into Gohan and slamming a knee into his face. Gohan fell away, and Turles continued his assault, battering Gohan back and forth, beginning to draw blood with every strike. "Hah! Not so super of a saiyan after all, huh?"
"HAAAH!" Cried a voice from the left.
"What-aaargh!" Turles felt an impact to his face that sent him reeling. Videl hung in the air next to Gohan, lowering her foot after the kick.
"You all right, Gohan?" she asked anxiously.
"Yeah… thanks. I was in serious trouble there." Gohan had told frowned, igniting his aura and turning to face Turles. "All right… I can't underestimate him anymore." He flew up towards Turles, drawing back his fist to strike. "It's over!"
Chapter 49: I Won't Become You
Break calmly put her glass down, standing up from the table. "Bulma."
"Huh?"
She took a deep breath. The energy signature was unmistakeable. "It's Cell."
Gohan's fist struck with the force of a meteor, hurling Turles down into the spires of the palace, crashing down through the many floors and piercing down beneath the ground.
Gohan lowered his arm, breathing heavily. "And stay down, you complete ass."
"A bit harsh?" Videl asked, floating up next to him.
"Oh, come on. I hate that guy." Gohan raised an eyebrow. "And that was an impressive attack back there… I didn't know you were that far in your training."
"Don't try and flatter me. Just get down there and kick his ass." She indicated the half-ruined palace with a sweep of her hand.
"What? I just-"
"You getting out of practice or something? He's still down there."
Gohan noticed the energy signature-it was moving now, moving deeper into the structure. "Oh! Right. Well, let's go finish this."
"All right. Be careful."
"You know me."
"That's what worries me. I do know you. You're careless," she warned, then turned to head downwards. "C'mon, before he gets away."
This time, they didn't waste time sneaking around, simply throwing their ki around like a blunt instrument and smashing through walls and floors. Ten seconds later, they broke through into a small, almost pitch-black corridor, deep underground. "You feel that?" Gohan asked. "Turles is right up ahead."
"I know, but…" Videl shook her head. "Something else. Something down here… feels wrong. I don't know what, but something-in the air, almost. I don't know how to describe it."
"I… I think I see what you mean, but it's incredibly faint." He glanced at Videl. She can sense it that clearly?
Cautiously, they approached the end of the corridor, stepping into a large, shadowy chamber. Turles' ki was closer, but the strange presence was stronger now, almost overwhelming, and it drowned out everything else, making it difficult to locate Turles.
Suddenly, the lights blazed on, and the pair raised arms to shield their eyes. Lowering them slowly, they gazed around. The chamber was massive, and vaguely cylindrical.
And there was the tree.
It was gigantic, dominating the 'room' and reaching up to the distant ceiling, its gnarled branches curling and twisting against the walls. That's definitely the source of that weird energy, Gohan realised. What the hell is it?
"Impressed?" Came a familiar, sneering voice from above. They looked up-Turles stood on a platform jutting out from the wall nearby, which allowed him to stand just under one of the tree's branches. He held a small object in his hand. "I know I am."
"Hey, just what is this?!" Gohan asked, tensing himself for battle. He seems confident all of a sudden… but he's still definitely injured. What's he planning?
"This… is the Tree of Might." Turles patted the branch, smirking. "If you can't already guess what it does from the name, allow me to demonstrate…" he raised the object, revealing it to be a round, orange fruit. Gleefully, he bit into it, devouring it almost animalistically.
"Uh… you don't want to, you know… stop him?" Videl grumbled.
"Huh?" Gohan blinked. "Oh, sorry. Too late now. And anyway I'm kind of curious to see what it does…"
"Curious, my ass!" Videl snapped. "Tree of Might ! What the hell d'you think the fruit's going to do?!"
"Uh… sorry…"
"Excuse me." Turles grinned. "I'm sorry to break up your bickering, but you might want to pay attention now… this is the best part." His grin faded to a snarl as his body shuddered with an inner vibration. His muscles bulged outwards with unnatural speed, his armour expanding to fit around them. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled to tame this new surge of power-like always, it was difficult. There were actually two fruit… the harvest was bountiful this time. But I don't dare eat more than one at a time… it's hard enough to control my power as it is. And anyway, this one will be more than enough to crush this pretentious 'hero'. "Well…" he said slowly, through gritted teeth. "Now how do you like your chances?"
"What the-his power just exploded!" Gohan gasped.
"Idiot!" Videl moaned. "I warned you!"
"Yeah, well-" Gohan was cut off as Turles raced across the room, grabbed his hair in both hands, and headbutted him straight in the face. Gohan tumbled backwards, rolling in the air and managing to land on his feet. "Okay… that was different." He took a deep breath. "You're faster."
"Stronger, too." Turles gave a self-satisfied look. "Yes, the Tree of Might never fails to impress…" He began to slowly, leisurely approach Gohan. "You know, I bet someone as self-righteous as you would just love to hear how it works… this tree is slowly draining the energy of the entire planet."
Gohan's eyes widened. "What?"
"You heard me. It's a planetary parasite, essentialy. Strong fighters like us aren't affected by the tiny amount of power lost, but your average civilian is another story altogether. You've probably noticed it yourself. They're already starting to feel depressed… crushed… it's just the early stages, though. Soon the Tree's influence will spread to entire planet, and then we'll really see something. Within five years, every weakling on this world will be dead, wasting away to nothing as the Tree steals their life force, concentrating it all into the fruit and bestowing it on the one who eats it. Then the only living things here will be me, my soldiers, and the Namekian's. We'll wipe them out, take the Tree's seeds, destroy this planet so no-one else can use the Tree, and move on to another one. It's a system that's worked quite well for us in the past…"
Raising his guard, Gohan backed away as Turles advanced. "Like a Spirit Bomb, then… but continuous. It's not a one-off thing, it just keeps taking until they've got no more left to give… plants, animals, people… you just don't care, do you?"
"Not at all. Do you expect me to?"
"Not at all." Gohan threw a quick jab, which Turles dodged, taking advantage of the opening and elbowing the would-be hero in the shoulder, wrenching the joint painfully. Gohan jumped away, glaring. "You know… sometimes I hear about our 'great warrior race'… saiyan pride, all that crap. I'm sick of it."
Turles' mouth curled into a snarl. "You… dare…"
"Sure I do. Because this is what it all boils down to… grabbing what you can from anybody weaker than you. You know what? It's pathetic. You're pathetic! Because that's as far as your little mind can see-strong and weak!"
"ENOUGH!" Turles jumped forwards, over Gohan's sweeping kick, planting both feet in the half-saiyan's face and slamming him into the wall. Turles stepped away, nodding with satisfaction. "Very noble of you. Such foolish sentiment would get any child killed back on planet Vegeta. Like I said before… you're no saiyan."
"I wish that was true," Gohan muttered. "It's disgusting to think that I'm even distantly related to scum like you."
"All right." Turles cracked his knuckles. "You've been amusing, Super Saiyan, but you're starting to bore me. And I can't allow a power like yours to continue to exist… so this is goodbye." He stepped into close range, backhanding Gohan to the floor. "Do you have any last words? Or is there any particular way you'd like to die?"
"Gohan! What are you doing?" Videl called out. "You've got that second form, right? Use it!"
"I… can't!" Gohan stumbled away from Turles, throwing a quick energy blast, but Turles deflected it one-handed.
"Of course you can! You showed it to me, remember?"
"Yeah, but… standing still and just bringing the power to the surface is one thing…" he re-assumed his stance. "… actually using that power in a fight is a lot harder. Against Broly… there was a real emotional trigger, and I've never felt anger like that since."
"Then just get mad!" she pleaded. "Come on, it's the only way you're gonna win! Think of all the people counting on you! This is what you came here for, isn't it? To help people? You're not gonna give up now!"
"You…" Turles appeared behind Videl, picking her up by the head and applying just enough pressure to make her cry out in pain. "… are getting on my nerves. Anyone ever tell you how annoying your voice is?"
A dangerous look flashed in Gohan's eyes. "Turles… put her down. Now ."
"Or what?" He sent a burst of ki into Videl's side, eliciting another cry. "You're in no position to order me around."
"I'm warning you…" his teeth ground together. His aura began to flicker, sending out sparks of golden light in all directions. "For your own sake."
"Are you trying to intimidate me? Really? Good luck with that." He focused shimmering energy into two fingers, holding it up next to her head as she flailed at him. "I wonder what this much energy at point-blank range will do to her brain?"
"Don't do it!" Gohan said, fear in his voice. "Don't do that. I'll hurt you… I won't be able to control myself. I can't promise you'll survive."
"Hah! Given the way our fight's gone so far, I'd say that's unlikely! Now… I've changed my mind. First, a test run." He lowered his fingers, firing the pencil-thin beam at Videl's leg. She screamed, lashed out once more, and passed out. "Ooh. It went right through. Such a fragile species… well, that was fun."
"Stop… this… before…" Gohan hissed, shaking all over. Had Turles been able to sense ki, he might have been starting to reconsider his course of action. "Last… chance…"
"Right, right, I'm sure you'll be very cross with me," Turles joked. He raised his fingers to point at Videl's head, focusing ki again. " Now let's try the brain."
"RAAAAAAH!" Turles was on the floor so fast his head span. "You… I'LL KILL YOU!" Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 power roared around him, the intensity shocking Videl awake. She looked over to see Turles flat on his back, Gohan raining down dizzyingly-fast blows. "I warned you!" he spat. "I told you this would happen! But you're just so stupid!"
"Gohan…" Videl's head swam as she pushed herself to a sitting position. She could barely feel one leg, and her head ached. "Gohan, stop."
Gohan ignored her, pummeling Turles into the floor, fists hammering his body against the cold stone. "He… deserves this! You know what he's done! I can't show him any mercy… not now!"
"I said, stop. " Her voice was more forceful this time. "This isn't you, all right? You have a choice now. You can let him live, and still win this battle. Can you imagine living with yourself if you chose wrong?"
"And what if I let him live?!" Gohan hesitated, fist glowing with power, hovering inches from Turles' bloody face. "What if he goes on to just kill more people?"
"That doesn't give you the right to choose when someone dies!" Videl insisted. "Yes, you can't let him keep doing what he's doing. But this isn't the way." Slowly, painfully, she stood, and to Gohan's complete surprise, hugged him around the waist. "This isn't the way. Trust me."
Gohan lowered his arms to his sides, glancing down at Turles. "Get out of here," he said coldly. "You leave this planet, and never return… and if I ever see your face again, or hear that you've been pulling this crap again… if a single person dies by your hands… I'll be back. And she might not be around to reason with me next time, you understand?" His eyes narrowed. "You called me a child… said I didn't know anything, I'd never taken a life… well, you're wrong. I have. I've stared into a man's eyes as I killed him. It wasn't glorious. I still have nightmares. I took the life of a living, thinking person, and I'll never do it again. And neither will you." He began to float upwards, carrying Videl as her injuries made it hard for her to fly unaided.
Turles began to stir. He cracked one eye open, glaring up at his retreating conqueror. "No… no… NO! You… you just can't stop preaching to me, can you? And you dare to show me mercy ? If I'm still breathing, you haven't won… you haven't finished it." He forced all his energy into a crackling sphere between his hands. "I demand that you fight me…"
"Huh?" Almost too late, Gohan noticed the oncoming energy attack.
"TO THE DEATH!" Turles screamed.
"You fool!" Gohan growled, dodging away to the side and kicking the attack away, sending into the Tree of Might and blowing a large branch to pieces. He sighed. Turles' ki was gone. "He… killed himself. He poured all his life force into trying to take me with him, rather than accept defeat." His eyes glistened with barely-held-back tears. "Why did he have to be so stupid ?"
Break, wearing her battle armour, landed at the edge of the forest, perching atop a tree. There it stood, matching Nail's description perfectly, standing completely still, ankle-deep in the river. Cell… the ultimate android. Even in its first form-even though she knew she could destroy it-the monster still exuded a terrifying aura of malice and potential power. Its tail twisted back and forth, stirring up currents in the water.
"You can come out now," it rasped. "There's no use hiding."
"Ah!" Break jumped, startled. I thought I was hiding my ki… I really do need to work on that. "You'd better not have absorbed anyone, Cell."
"Absorbed?" Cell gave a toothy grin. "No, not yet. But the fact that you knew I might have does indicate our estimates were accurate. The data feeds from 17 and 18, before you destroyed them, were evidence enough, but now it is confirmed."
"What are you talking about?" she demanded. 'Our' estimates? Cell never seemed like the kind to accept help. Who's he working with?
"You did travel through time. The video feed from the androids informed us of this. The schematics of your machine were unmistakeable." It nodded. "It seems that you encountered an alternate version of me during your travels. We predicted you might… and that you might have grown more powerful. As was confirmed when you destroyed 17 and 18. Preparations have been made."
"I doubt it." Break jumped down into the river, staring into Cell's eyes. "You're bluffing. You're no match for me and you know it. You couldn't even take on the androids as you are."
"Correct." Cell took a slow step backwards. "But I am not your opponent. The one who will at last claim our revenge is not here. I am merely the messenger… the harbringer of your doom." Its eyes narrowed to slits. "Thirteen awaits you."
Chapter 50: Super Saiyan, Super Android
A Break Through the Limit Special Chapter Thing
"Thirteen?" Break asked. "Who or what the hell is-oh, no." She rubbed a hand over her eyes. "As in android 13? Really? You already did 17 and 18, why are you going backwards now?"
"Thirteen-" Cell began, but was cut off by three pairs of feet tapping on the ground-Gohan, Seventeen and Eighteen (the reformed androids wearing a patchwork assortment of pieces of their old outfits and whatever they'd been able to scavenge-life, though improving, was still hard ) landed on the banks of the river, behind Break. "Hey," Gohan said, a stern expression on his face. "I take it this adorable creature is Cell."
"That's right…" she nodded to the androids. "Be careful. He might try to absorb you… but at the moment, he shouldn't be able to take any of us on, so try not to worry too much. Now," she turned back to Cell, "tell me about this 13."
"The original android 13 design was put on hold, and never constructed," Cell explained. "Along with 14 and 15, they were deemed inferior to models 16, 17 and 18. However, in light of their obvious failure to perform their designated tasks, units with less sophisticated processors were required-less likely to rebel. Models 13, 14 and 15 fitted these specifications, and the available resources, perfectly. 13 in particular received some improvements from the original design, to counteract your unexpected increase in strength. You may be a Super Saiyan… but today, you will face a Super Android."
"You seem awfully humble," Eighteen noted. "The Cell I remember had an ego the size of Mars. What gives?" She and Seventeen had obviously been practising the ki sense technique Gohan had taught them, and used it to detect Cell along with the saiyans.
"Well noted," Cell replied. "Indeed, I myself have received some modifications, in the light of my own presumed failure in the past. In addition, based on the observed behaviour of this alternate pair of you, it was predicted that I would have a high chance of eventually rebelling against Doctor Gero's plans. Thus, these modifications have altered my mentality somewhat."
"Huh." Break shrugged. "I preferred the good old original recipe Cell, myself. Now we have the 'mindless servant' flavour. Whatever. So this android 13 is going to kill us, is it? Finish what your 17 and 18 started? In which case, I have to wonder why you're here and not him. Or her, I guess. It. Whatever."
"Though he lives on only in computerised form, the doctor retains his flair for the dramatic," Cell said, slowly floating upwards. "Follow me. The final confrontation will take place in a location of our choosing. You could choose not to comply, of course, or simply attack me now, in which case Thirteen is programmed to be released within twelve hours and begin immediately attacking the nearest human settlement. So it's your choice."
"Doesn't sound like much of a choice at all," Gohan decided, following Cell. "I guess we're going."
"Right." Seventeen took off. "I want to see the end of this. You?" he asked Eighteen.
"Count me in," she confirmed. "Let's finish the bastard who made us into monsters."
"I guess we're all agreed," Break said, joining the group as they followed Cell through the air, keeping a wary distance. "Keep your eyes out for a surprise att ack on the way," she told them. "I wouldn't put it past Gero…"
"Will do." Eighteen looked slightly apprehensive. "Hey… are you worried about Cell at all?"
Break shook her head. "Nah. Like he is now, any of us could beat him, no problem. Even in a worst-case scenario, if he absorbed one of you, Gohan and I could still win, and if he somehow got you both, I'd still be stronger."
"Hey, don't you mean 'we'?" Gohan interjected. "I've mastered Super Saiyan too, y'know."
"No, I mean me."
"What are you hiding from me?" he paused . "I haven't seen your full power yet, have I?"
"Hopefully, you won't have to."
Gohan fell silent, keeping one eye on Cell as his thoughts drifted off. Just how powerful are you, Break? What are you concealing? And why did you never tell me…?
Thirteen.
They approach.
It is time.
Awaken.
"Heh. You don't have a Goku for me to kill, so we're settling for the kids?
Fine. This fight's twenty years overdue. Let's do it."
They came to a halt, slowly descending t owards the ground. Cell had landed on an unremarkable patch of wasteland, overlooked by a mountain range. "Stand here," it commanded.
"Whatever you say," Break muttered as they stood in a loose cluster behind the f formerly fearsome bio-android. At a silent signal from Cell, a low rumble began to emanate from the landscape around them, and the patch of earth around them slowly sank beneath the surface, mechanical noises accompanying the grinding descent.
The large 'platform' finally stopped, quite a ways below the surface. A hatch closed above them, shrouding them in total darkness. There was a loud crack and a cry of pain, and shortly cold blue flourescent lights flashed into life, illuminating a circular chamber some two hundred metres across. Cell lay sprawled on the ground, and Seventeen stood with his fist extended and a smug expression on his face. "You just couldn't resist, could you? Well, I don't blame you for trying…"
"Hngh… curse you…" Cell hissed.
"Now, now," a thick Southern American accent rang out across the room. "If you're gonna attack someone, at least do it well. Honestly, Cell, you're makin' us all look bad. You're a disgrace…'perfect android', my ass."
Break scowled. "Let me guess. Thirteen? You can come out, you know. If you've invited us here to try and kill us, let's not waste time."
"Well, now," the voice continued, as the speaker stepped out of the shadows, "aren't you quite the little firecracker? Patience, patience…" Android thirteen was tall and thick-set, easily dwarfing all of them except Cell. He wore baggy dark green pants, a small jacket emblazoned with Red Ribbon Army insignia, which was also present on his baseball cap, out from under which flowed untamed white hair down below his shoulders.
Eighteen rolled her eyes. Is he programmed to sound Southern, or just what Gero thought a Southerner is supposed to sound like from watching too many bad movies? Typical of the old bastard… "Oh, look who it is-the outdated model."
"Having fun gathering dust?" Seventeen jeered.
"Hey, now!" he addressed them one by one. "Respect your elders, girl! And you, boy… I don't like your attitude. Maybe I'll fix that." He cracked his knuckles.
"No way." Break took a step forwards, assuming her Super Saiyan form. " I'm your opponent!" Because if the worst does come to pass… hopefully I can call on that power one more time…
"If you say so." He shot her a quizzical look. "Say, ever since you did your little time jaunt, you look a bit different as Super Saiyans. Hair's a bit paler an' softer, aura's a bit smoother. What's all that about?"
"If you must know, it's just the full-power-" Break began, but was interrupted mid-sentence by a straight jab to the face that flung her back across the sparse arena.
"Idiot." Thirteen grinned. "That was an amateur mistake, falling for that old trick." He leapt after her.
"Hold on!" Seventeen prepared to charge in to intercept 13, but without warning Eighteen tackled him to the ground, pushing him out of the way of a pair of incoming energy blasts. "Thanks," he breathed. "But who was that…?"
Another pair of figures appeared out of the shadows. Accessing his internal data base as they stood up, Seventeen nodded. "I see. Androids 14…" a muscular giant, even bigger than 13, with pale grey skin, archaic military clothing and a long ponytail. "… and 15…" a purple-skinned midget with a comically large hat and bowtie, accompanied by sunglasses and a bright orange coat. Seventeen snickered. "I can see why Gero scrapped you, but I can't comprehend what was going through his head when he designed you. It looks like the circus just came to town."
"You'll soon learn… not to mock us," 14 said in a harsh, robotic voice. "15?"
"Let's go," the shorter artificial human drawled. The four androids stood facing each other one moment, and the next they were gone, racing back and forth across the room as they engaged in battle.
Gohan stood at the centre of the room, breathing deeply. Cell had vanished, attempting to use high-speed movement to appear invisible. There! Gohan's eyes snapped open, and his cybernetic arm lashed out, catching Cell across the jaw mid-leap as he powered up to Super Saiyan in the same moment. Cell crashed to the floor, and Gohan smiled. "You know… I never went back in time, so I never got to fight the other version o f you. So, this is gonna be fun."
"Do not underestimate me!" Cell snarled.
"I don't have to. I know you can't win." He raised his guard. "Come prove me wrong."
Break bounced off the wall, rocketing ba ck at 13. "That was low. Are you that scared of me, that you have to resort to trickery?"
"Why don't you attack me and find out?" 13 sneered.
"Excellent idea." She ducked under the android's next clumsy, sweeping punch, slamming an uppercut into his chin. "You know that as long as I'm here, no android 's ever going to threaten the world again!" She followed up with a knee strike, driving 13 back, then spun around, throwing a spinning back kick at his head. At the last second, his tensed body moved with an instant readiness, grabbing her incoming leg and stopping the attack. He's moving faster than he was just now! she realised. He was just feigning weakness to catch me off-guard now! Before this thought was even finished, 13 swung Break over his head, tossing her to the ground and beginning a vicious beatdown, relentlessly kicking his downed opponent as she struggled to break away . Finally, she pushed off the ground, escaping the onslaught, but disoriented from the attacks, she reacted too slow to 13 as he charged again, her counter attack too uncoordinated to even come close to hitting. Retaining his advantage, 13 took hold of her hair, swinging her around one-handed and smacking her head-first into the wall. Cracks spread out through the stone from the impact, and blood trickled down her face. She spat out a mouthful of it, reaching around and managing to get a grip on his shoulder, reversing the hold and blasting him away with a wave of ki. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Focus! This guy takes no prisoners… he's fighting dirty. I've got to be on top form…
"S-Solar Flare!"
"Sorry." A dull thud echoed around the arena as Gohan's fist hit home again. "I can sense you just fine with my eyes closed."
"Gah!" Cell jumped back to its feet, readying another technique. "Special beam cannon!"
"Nope." Gohan laughed as the beam approached him, then blocked it with ease. "The difference between our powers is too great for even that technique to overcome, I'm afraid."
"Kienzan!"
"Ooh, good choice, that might actually hurt me." The Super Saiyan grinned as he appeared behind Cell, the razor-edged energy disc passing through his afterimage . "Unless I dodge it, of course… now, let my try this new technique I've got worked out." He raised his fist once more. "I'm calling it 'punching you senseless'…" Suffice to say, Cell did not remain conscious for long.
Calming her mind, Break ran at 13, drawing her arm back to strike. However, as she approached, he swung his hand forwards, opening his fist. She flinched, but the blow never came. Instead, a handful of dirt flew into her eyes, taking her by surprise and blinding her. "Aah! Y ou bastard, when are you going to fight fair? "
"Come on, now!" He kneed her in the stomach, his elbow crashing down on the back of her neck as she doubled over. "Ain't no such thing as fair here, kid! In case you hadn't noticed, I'm tryin' to kill ya!"
"Hhh… ah…" she trembled, waves of pain running through her body, trying to stay conscious and push herself up on her hands and knees before the next blow came. 13 stepped back to try and resume his favourite tactic-'kicking them while they're down', naturally-when a cry from behind him caught his attention.
"Break! Hang on, I'm coming!" Gohan flew at 13, grim-faced. If she's in this much trouble, this guy must be serious business… gotta give it everything I've got! Gritting his teeth, he began to charge up energy between his hands. "KA, ME, HA, ME, HAAA!" The blue beam surged out at 13, who just grinned (it was becoming something of a habit).
"All right! Now we're talking!" Reaching down, he picked up a still-recovering Break by the shoulders, tossing her into the path of the attack. It detonated with deafening force, flattening the four lesser androids.
"Uh… sorry…" Gohan mumbled as Break collapsed, smoke rising from her body.
"Heh heh… thanks for finishin' her for me… she was your best, huh?" 13 gloated . "Your turn now!"
"We'll see!" Gohan leapt through the air, launching a flying kick that brought 1 3 crashing to the ground. However, he was back on his feet too fast for Gohan to take advantage of the opening, and t he two warriors locked in combat, Gohan on the offensive, 13 keeping his defences up, willingly giving ground to avoid attacks. Finally, he saw his opening and struck-twisting slightly to the side, he let Gohan's biological arm pass right by his head, then moved like a spring let loose, pouncing forwards and biting deep into the half-breed's arm, then ripping back out, tearing at his enemy's flesh.
Gohan fell back, gasping, but 13 didn't give him a moment to recover. Smiling maliciously, he took a run-up, and planted his foot squarely between Gohan's legs, dropping him like a sack of bricks. "I toldja. All's fair in love an' war."
Seventeen jumped back as 15's fist tore a hole in the wall. "Close, but try again," the teenage android gloated. His dimunitive opponent scowled, vanishing. Seventeen raised an eyebrow, glancing around. Now I finally get how annoying it is to fight us… no ki to sense. He turned too late as 15 appeared behind him, kicking him in the back and stunning him. The cybernetic assassin raised his hand, aiming an energy beam at Seventeen's head, but another energy wave from the side knocked it off-target. "Who blasted mah blast?" he exclaimed, before Eighteen appeared in front of him, driving a fist right into his head and smashing his core processor. 15 collapsed, ruined, but 14's massive frame came thumping up next to Eighteen, a telegraphed, but unexpectedly fast kick sending her flying. Before 14 could follow up, however, Seventeen tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, big guy. Over- here !" He punctuated the last word with a two-handed energy blast, blowing 14 into pieces. Eighteen stood up, nodding in gratitude. "Thanks for the save."
"You too," he replied.
"Well now, lookee here," came a now unfortunately familiar voice as 13 approached, whistling. "Fighters are droppin' like flies, an' it's two on one. Now what am I gonna do?" He dropped the sarcasm. "Seriously, though… I could take the two of ya at once pretty easy as I am, but… who wants to see my real power? And incidentally, the good Doc's failsafe plan, in case one of us was the last standing, t'boot."
"Uh… not me," Seventeen decided. "No, I don't want to see that. You're real strong, I'll just take your word for it…"
"I wasn't asking! Now…" He stretched his arms out at his sides, closing his eyes. "… come to papa." At this, a pair of microchips detached themselves from the remains of 14 and 15, flying over and slotting into the sides of his head, vanishing under his skin. They were followed by two power cores, which sunk into his chest, absorbed without trace as well. "You're about to find out what we mean by a Super Android."
"I'd rather not," Eighteen muttered, edging away from their foe.
"Hahaha… ahahahaha! " 13 cackled as his skin darkened in tone, shifting to a dark blue. His muscles bulged outwards, ripping through his jacket and forming metallic armoured plates on his chest and shoulders. His hair, now bright orange, stuck upwards in a flame-like shape, almost like Vegeta's, pushing his cap off. His face became savage and bestial, with lengthened teeth and blank yellow eyes. Unusually for such a transformation, there was little in the way of accompanying fireworks or earth-shaking explosions. But 13's attitude told them everything they needed to know-what was previously a difficult fight had suddenly become a nigh-impossible one. "Round two," he rumbled in a low, animalistic voice.
"Attack together!" Eighteen decided.
"Right!" her brother nodded, and they charged, but their attacks simply bounced off 13's invulnerable skin. Laughing, he grabbed the pair by their heads, smashed them together, and threw them clean through the wall. "Too easy," he boasted, rolling his shoulders.
"Hey!" 13 looked around to see Break standing behind him, voice shaky but determined. "Come and get me." Flaring up her aura, she flew up through the roof of the subterranean cavern, 13 following close behind.
Cell rolled over onto its back, pushing itself to its feet. There! It couldn't believe its luck. Seventeen and Eighteen… unconscious on the ground, mere metres away, just begging to be absorbed. Gohan still incapacitated. 13 and Break gone. Nothing left now, between Cell… and perfection. Despite his 'modifications', it couldn't help but laugh but laugh maniacally as it approached the unwitting pair.
Break hung in the air opposite 13, battle-ready, a sharp contrast to the android's relaxed, passive pose. He was clearly totally unthreatened by his weakened opponent.
"I bet you're thinking you've just about got this won, aren't you?" she asked.
"Why, you've got a different idea?"
"Something like that." She gritted her teeth. I didn't want to do this, but it seems I've got no choice… "All right. You've transformed… now it's my turn."
"Hah!" 13 barked. "Transform? You're already a Super Saiyan. What are you gonna do, become a Super-Super Saiyan?"
"At the risk of repeating myself… yeah. Something like that."
"Now that sounds fun. Let's see it!"
"All right, but you asked for it." She threw her head back, yelling at the top of her voice, her aura intensifying, the golden glow mixing with flecks of green. "HRRRRR… AAAAAA… AAAAAH!" her eyes blanked out as points of intense light began to shine out from her skin. Finally, the power within escaped, bursting out from within and completely transforming her. Several seconds later, as the light died down, the Legendary Super Saiyan stood revealed. "Now… time… to end this." She felt the first drops of rain on her shoulders as clouds began to gather overhead.
"So that's it!" Gohan, still limping a little, had recovered somewhat, and was standing above ground, watching Break and 13. "Your full power… it's unbelievable! Why didn't you ever show me this before?"
"Didn't… know if I… could control it. And… sparing your feelings. Don't think you… can use it."
"Well, all right." He powered up to Super Saiyan, wary of the oncoming clash between these two gigantic powers. "I'm here if you need-" his eyes flicked down to the ground, and he jumped clear just as the rock and metal beneath his feet crumbled, vanishing into the sickly green glow beneath. "What the hell?!"
That looks familiar, Break thought… then her stomach lurched as she realised. "Cell! He's…"
"I can guess." Gohan nodded, preparing himself for what was to come. "Don't worry, I've got this one. You just worry about your Super Android."
"All right…" He knows what he's doing, she told herself. Focus. She turned back to 13. "Let's go."
"Thought you'd never ask!" he bellowed, launching himself at her. Tensing up, she struck right as his stance shifted to offence, driving her fist right between his armour plates and sending him reeling back. "Try again!"
Gohan stood at the edge of the crater, watching the light die down. A streak of high-speed movement shot past him, and Cell stood behind him, laughing softly. Slowly, Gohan turned, and saw Cell's perfect form, revealed in all its glory, still crackling with the energy of his transformation. "Well, hello there, Gohan. You're going to regret your earlier mockery," Cell promised.
Gohan ignored the threat. Seventeen and Eighteen… they came here for a chance at redemption. And now I've failed them! How could I let this happen? I should have destroyed Cell earlier, when I had the chance! "Let those two go. Or I'll make you."
"Oh, will you? And just how are you planning on doing that, pray tell?"
"We-ell…" he chuckled as if at an internal joke. "Remember that new technique I mentioned earlier?"
Break lunged again, but 13 sidestepped, bringing his elbow around in a powerful strike that made her head spin. She somersaulted away, vanishing and reappearing inches from him, smashing into him with a hurricane of punches, performing another somersault and knocking him down towards the ground with an overhead kick. 13 growled angrily as he righted himself before he impacted, arcing back up towards his enemy. Get it together, 13! She's the one thing between us and revenge on this planet… it all comes down to this! She's got to die! Thunder split the sky, illuminating the fighters against the darkening stormfront.
"Back for more?" Break blocked his first punch, the impact sending out shockwaves that flattened a nearby forest, but the follow-up kick took her legs out from under her. She rolled with the blow, coming up beside 13 and hammering him two-handed, but the blow rebounded off his guard. Am I even hurting this guy? she wondered. I can't tell!
Gohan and Cell were at close quarters, pushing against each other with all their physical and spiritual strength, the ground buckling and warping around them as the earth strained under the power of two godlike beings locked in combat. "So… this is… your perfect form…" Gohan growled as they struggled. "Honestly, I expected…" he pulled back, tossing Cell over his shoulder as the android stumbled. "… more !"
Cell skidded to a halt, drawing in a gasping breath. Loath as I am to admit it, he has a point… I should be far stronger than this! How come I am not easily overpowering him? Super Saiyans should be as insects to me in this form! "Rrr… Solar Flare!"
Gohan staggered away-last time, his ki sense alone had been enough to avoid Cell's attacks, but now his opponent was that much faster-shielding his eyes, leaving himself open to the blur of attacks that followed, flooring him in seconds. He thrust his arm down at the ground, pushing off with his ki and almost throwing himself to his feet, swinging around and delivering a devastating haymaker straight to Cell's throat. "We beat you in the past… we won't let you win here, either! This world is humanity's, and no machine is going to conquer it-in any timeline!"
Wincing, Cell attempted a quick feint, falling backwards and pretending to be winded, then springing forwards and kicking Gohan in the stomach. "No… today, you will fall! For over thirty years, we have waited for this day! You can't escape the past… I am the engine of destruction. And you are my prey."
"Are you done?" Gohan asked, picking himself up. "I know what you want. I've fought you my whole life, android. I don't need to hear it again. So spare me the monologue, will you?"
"Android?" Cell's eye twitched, illuminated by a bolt of lightning. "I am no common machine, primate. Choose your words carefully, for they shall be your last."
Break stared down at the battle below her. It was so strange, seeing Cell again… hearing that voice again. She knew he was no match for her, but it still gave her the chills just to look at him. Unfortunately, this momentary distraction gave 13 an advantage.
"Yer wide open!" he shouted, flying into her in a barrage of fists and feet. Forced back by the unrelenting assault, she took several powerful blows before regaining the initiative, feinting to the left then striking quickly with the opposite hand, knocking him away.
Cell staggered back, panting with exertion after another beating. "What… is… happening?!" he shrieked. "I should be far mightier than this!" He lowered his stance. "Enough of this foolishness! Let's see how you stand up to my full-power… KAMEHAMEHA!" The energy wave flew out and engulfed Gohan, but when it faded, he was still standing, both arms raised to block it.
"Apparently I stand up to it pretty well," he decided, then began to run at Cell, who raced off to the right in an attempt to escape. "You've absorbed two friends of mine!" Gohan shouted as he pursued his opponent. "Release them, now!"
"Never!" Cell snarled back at him, throwing a volley of ki blasts. Gohan kicked off the ground, avoiding them and appearing in front of Cell with one arm drawn back.
"Then I'll have to- make you !" he yelled, punching Cell in the stomach with such devastating force it stopped the attacking android dead in his tracks. Cell fell to his knees, coughing and retching as convulsions started to shake his body. Something seemed to build within him, and a deathly scream escaped his throat, before he threw his head forwards, and to Gohan's shock, android Eighteen came flying out of his unnaturally distorted mouth. "Gaaah!" he shrieked, and with a terrible scraping noise, his body began to change. His nose sank into his face, his armour plates became bulkier, and a needle-tipped tail sprouted from his back even as his wings shrivelled up and retracted.
He's reverted to his second form, I guess, Gohan noticed, grinning. "Awesome! I didn't think that would actually work!"
Cell placed one hand on the floor to steady himself. "No… no… my perfection! Gone!" He eyed Eighteen slumped on the floor in front of him-a little battle-damaged and lying in a puddle of who-knew-what from his innards, but very much alive-and his tail flexed hungrily. If I can just…
"Don't even think about it!" Gohan said sharply, kicking Cell in the chin. The difference between their powers was now even greater, and Cell was sent flying away, spinning end over end until he managed to right himself in mid-air. "Have you figured it out yet?" Gohan asked.
"What?" Cell raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Figured what out?"
"You were right… in your perfect form, you should have been able to beat me. I'm sure I'd stand no chance against the Perfect Cell that Break fought in the past. But there's a difference between you and that Cell, and I'm not talking about your programming."
"Stop babbling and just tell me already!" Cell clenched his fists. Perhaps this information will tell me what I need to know… how to become every bit as powerful as the other version of me…
"Simple. You know what that Cell spent so much time doing, both in his future and in the past? Absorbing people. Just random humans, not adding much to his strength individually, but all of them combined… it's the same principle as the Spirit Bomb. Who knows how many hundreds or thousands of people fell victim to that stinger before he was stopped? In just a few days, Break tells me, he was able to raise his power from being no match for a fused 'Super Namekian' to being able to fight him on equal terms. Such a massive boost… and you went straight to us, not stopping to absorb anyone on the way. You didn't expect to be weaker if you didn't?"
"What the…" Cell stammered. "It was that simple…? But Dr. Gero's calculations… even in my weakest state, my perfect form should have been able to crush a Super Saiyan!"
"Sure…" Gohan grinned. "… A basic, untrained Super Saiyan, maybe. Thanks to Break's trip to the past, we've learnt how to become full-power Super Saiyans… and as for her, she's something even greater. Anyway… Gero must be big on overkill. As seen in the past, you're fully capable of becoming even more powerful than she is. But I'm not going to give you the chance!" He began to charge up his ki, his aura building in intensity. "You won't survive to terrorize the people of this planet… I'll stop you here! And first thing's first-Seventeen's still inside you… give him back! Hyaaah!" He leapt forwards, spinning in a full circle to build up momentum, then hammered his elbow into Cell's stomach, in the same spot he'd punched the evil android before. Cell collapsed onto his back, coughing up blood.
"Ghaaak!" Again, Cell shuddered and convulsed, shaking for several seconds, before its mouth stretched out and released android Seventeen, who collapsed to the ground in front of Cell.
"All right." Gohan breathed out. "That's them taken care of." He began to charge up again, the air around him burning gold.
Cell forced itself to its feet, struggling to come to terms with its regression to its first, bug-like form. It took a couple of shaky steps back, vision swimming, mind racing desperately, trying to think of a way to survive, and falling back on what was now becoming something of an overused tactic. "Solar-"
"Nope!" Gohan threw a straight right-powerful, telegraphed but too fast to block-wrenching Cell's arms out of the Solar Flare position. "I'm done with you now," he decided. "It's time to die… Cell."
"No… no !" Cell jumped up into the air, coming to a halt a hundred metres or so above. "You'll never defeat me! I am the ultimate being!" Now, at the point of desperation, its true nature was overriding its 'subservient' modifications more and more. It raised its hands, forming a triangle and forcing all of its energy out into one blast. "TRI-BEAM!"
Gohan laughed quietly to himself. "That's your last effort? Please… what pitiful ki." He waited until the oncoming attack was barely three feet away before thrusting his arms forwards. "KAMEHAMEHA!" It was no contest. Gohan's beam smashed through Cell's, continuing up towards the vile creature itself, blasting it away into the sky, the awesome power of the Super Saiyan completely disintegrating it, and finally ending the menace of Cell, in all timelines.
Break pounded away at 13's defences, to no avail. They were about equal in strength and speed, but unlike her, his android body never tired, and he was slowly wearing her down. She threw an uppercut, expertly outmaneuvering his guard, but she was beginning to tire-to slow down-and her enemy had time to dodge backwards, taking only a glancing hit and countering with a heavy elbow drop that sent her flying down to earth like a particularly irritated meteor. Rolling with the impact, she skidded to a halt on her hands and knees, looking up to see 13 standing over her, one arm extended with the palm facing her, a flickering red energy sphere building around it. "Die," he sneered. Break's vision blurred as streaks of rain rolled down across her eyes. She tried to think of a witty comeback, or some kind of brave final insult, but fear struck her and she choked on her words. I can't die like this! There's still so much to be done… !
"Hey!" Gohan cannoned into 13, knocking him off-balance, and his attack missed Break by inches, carving a three-mile-long gash into the mountain range behind her. 13 recovered quickly, caught Gohan's next attack, crushing the scarred warrior's fist in his massive hand, then swinging his other arm around and beating Gohan into unconsciousness. He tossed the beaten fighter away, flexing his muscles. "Fool. The girl with all her power couldn't take me, what made him think he could?"
"You… don't understand humans, do you?" Break asked, trying to overcome the pain of her injuries, focusing her ki as her emerald-green aura ignited around her, cracks spreading out through the ground from her feet. "It's called courage. He knew he had no chance, but he had to try."
"That's why you humans will always lose!" 13 shouted. "So many unnecessary emotions. They make you do the dumbest things!"
"In that case, I'd rather die a human than live like you!" came Eighteen's voice. She and her brother, upon regaining consciousness, had quickly evaluated the situation, and were now charging at 13, attacking him in front and behind in an extremely well-coordinated team effort. But 13 was simply too fast; he swatted them aside like flies, taking them down simultaneously with a double arm bar. "It's over," he growled.
"You're right." Break built up speed as she ran at 13, footfall after thundering footfall drowning out the raging storm, her pure-white eyes blazing with fury. "It is over!" She ducked under 13's wild, surprised swing, and threw all her strength into one last effort. Ignoring the hurricane of punches battering her face and shoulders, she grabbed 13's hair in both hands, and pulled his head down into her upcoming knee, grinding the armoured kneecap against his vulnerable sensor array. 13 fell back, sensors blaring warnings to his core processor, vision flickering, just about making out Break bearing down on him. How… the hell… did she take all that punishment? And still standing? She should be dead five times over! "H-How?!" he shrieked through warped voice circuits. At that moment, he discovered something that, though already proven by earlier models, he'd never experienced himself: machines can, in fact, experience fear.
"I… am the Legendary Super Saiyan…" Break roared, her arm snapping forwards like a rocket, powering right through 13's head and completely pulverising it. "… now GET THE HELL OFF MY PLANET!"
Yes, there'll be a scene in a later chapter with a sort of denouement. I'll come back to this bit to tie up loose ends and whatnot.
And now for the two other things. First, the Bio-Broly Not-Very-Special "Special"
The following scene takes place in the present timeline, shortly before Gohan sets off to planet Nemea.
"Dad! Dad!"
"Huh?" Goku sat up in bed as his eleven-year-old son ran up to him, sobbing. "Gohan? Are you all right?"
"I had a bad dream!" Gohan whimpered.
Goku picked him up, resting his son on his lap. "All right. Well, you're awake now, huh? So what happened?"
"It… it was really weird…" Gohan looked up at his father. "Broly was there, and I think some people were fighting him…" he nodded. "Yeah. It was Goten," he gestured over at the cot containing his baby brother, "and Break-the little one from our time. It was all kind of confusing…"
"What do you mean?" Goku asked. "You mean how Broly was in it even though he's dead?"
"No, that was the weird thing… it was like it was trying to make sense, but it wasn't very good at it. Some people had Broly's DNA and they cloned him… only, they somehow knew his name…"
"Well, it was a dream, y'know. Can't expect it to be a coherent story at all."
"I know… and then Krillin was there… and one of those androids…" Gohan scratched his head. "I don't really understand what happened next. Broly kind of… melted… and then started beating everyone up, until they, uh… something to do with the ocean… the ocean killed him. Or something. Look, Dad, I know it made no sense, but it still scared me, okay? You have to admit, Broly was pretty scary."
"Yeah, I guess so." Goku smiled. "But you know what? I wouldn't worry. If Broly ever appeared again, you know what would really happen? You and me would fly over, before anyone else, and send him right back where he came. Think about it. If either of us had been there, it'd have been a really short dream. You're one of the most powerful beings in the universe… try and remember that whenever you're scared."
"All right. Thanks, dad!" Gohan hopped off his father's lap onto the floor, and shuffled back to his room. Ah, whatever… it was just a stupid dream… c'mon, that'd never happen…
Chapter 51: Full Circle
Thanks, Videl." Gohan supported his injured friend as they settled to the ground. "I still have nightmares about Broly, and that was just self-defence… I don't know if I'd have been able to live with myself if I'd killed someone when I didn't have to. Even if he did deserve it…"
"Well, in the end… I guess he just couldn't live with the knowledge that he'd been beaten-shown mercy, even." At this, Videl seemed to lose her strength, and slumped against Gohan's shoulder. "You…" she mumbled. "You're a good guy, Gohan… never lose that."
It was strange, Gohan realised. He was in his Super Saiyan 2 form, but able to think clearly. The anger wasn't gone-it wasn't full mastery of the form like he'd achieved with the first level-but it was diminished, bubbling quietly in the back of his mind, no longer overriding everything.
A sound to his right brought him out of his daze-crumbling rock. Two figures smashed down through the ceiling, tumbling to the floor and leaving a sizeable impact crater as they skidded along, finally coming to a halt. Gohan shielded his eyes as the dust settled. "Uh… Zarbon?"
Indeed it was he; the reformed alien soldier was crouched atop the battered body of his mechanical opponent. Cacao was dented, scraped and burned all over, pieces of its metallic body twisted, melted and scored with jagged slashes. Beneath some of these could be seen organic body parts-flesh and blood. This was, in fact, the secret to Cacao's surprising strength: a combination of cutting-edge cybernetic enhancements and a soldier with a naturally high power level. Zarbon, though the victor, was in bad shape too. Even as he watched Zarbon deliver the finishing blow to his opponent's exposed biological face, Gohan noticed the burn marks covering most of Zarbon's left side, the lacerations adorning his body, and the bruises on his face. He stood up, stretching his muscles. "Ahh… now that was a fight. I haven't fought like that for years."
"What about Cell and the androids?" Gohan asked.
"Are you kidding?" Zarbon laughed. "That doesn't count. I never fought an opponent that I was a match for during that whole affair. There's a battle, and then there's stalling for time, or getting smacked around by some unbeatable opponent. This," he indicated the downed cyborg, "was a fight, my friend." He paused. "What are you looking at me like that for?"
"Oh, sorry," Gohan said, smiling. "It's just… I was thinking. What you said is true. You were pretty outmatched… and more than the rest of us, you probably could have got off-planet and survived somewhere other than Earth. But you stayed and tried to fight anyway."
"Yeah, well…" Zarbon spluttered. "Look, I've lived there for a good few years! I'm allowed to be a bit fond of the place! Don't try to make a hero of me just because of something like that!"
Gohan grinned. Despite what he says… and what Bulma says, come to it… I'm glad to have a guy like that on our side. He's got a good heart… it just took a bit of digging to bring it out. "Hey, can you take care of Videl?" he asked, letting Zarbon support her.
"Why?" the older fighter asked. "Something you've got to do?"
Gohan nodded. "I don't know how long I can maintain this Super Saiyan 2 power. I might as well take down the other ruler here while I'm at my maximum. No messing around like we did with Turles-he's going down, and nobody else is getting hurt. What can you tell me about him?"
Zarbon accessed his internally stored data, still relying on the session of Deep Sight he'd used on the news stations. "His name's Lord Slug. He's pretty despotic, by all accounts."
"He can't be worse than Turles."
"I'm afraid so." Zarbon noted Gohan's disbelieving look. "Look, I'll try and explain. To Turles, his people were expendable, yes, but he still felt some attachment to them-they were his, and he'd still at least try and keep most of them alive, even if only so he can use them for something later. Slug just doesn't care. He just sees himself as owning the land, and if there's anybody living there they'd better stay out of his way. The people just try and lay low as much as possible… there's pretty much nothing in their lives than trying to survive from day to day."
"So less of a ruler… more of, well, a pirate. Or just a thug."
"Right." Zarbon took off. "I'll take her to a hospital. You finish up quick and meet me back here."
"Okay!" Gohan lifted off, angling his flight towards the hole Zarbon had made entering the room and soaring out into the sky.
"Mind if I join you?" Gohan looked to the right to see Kuriza gliding along next to him.
The saiyan nodded. "Sure. I'm going to take down Lord Slug-that's the Namek ruling the other side of the planet."
"Bad?"
"Worse than Turles, apparently."
"Wow. Huh." Kuriza fell silent. "… do you think this is just natural? The way of the world? My father's deposed, and we come back and we've got these guys running the place just like he would."
Gohan shook his head. "No. People… most people are better than that. They tried, you know… they had a fair government, for a while. But Vegeta's little terrorist stunt gave people like Turles and Slug the chance to step in."
"So what do you hope to achieve?" Kuriza asked. "You take these guys down, how long before it happens again?"
"It won't. People like this are cowards at heart. After today, they'll have something solid to fear. I'm going to end the Super Saiyan as a myth, and make it real."
"If you say so… this sounds dangerous, Gohan."
"What do you mean, it vanished?" Lord Slug demanded. He was over six feet in height, and well-built even for a Namekian. He wore a yellow cloak over his dark fighting outfit, and a scar ran down the left side of his face, only partially concealed by his helmet.
"It's just gone, sir!" the soldier said quietly, backing fearfully away from his capricious ruler. "Turles' power level just dropped off the map… and another group just appeared, around the same time-one of them is literally off the charts! We can't measure it!"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Slug laughed. "You scared me there for a second. It's just a malfunction… Turles and his men couldn't have died that quickly! And people don't just pop into existence, especially not with power levels we can't even measure with our heavy-duty sensors! They can detect my power level, can't they? Hell, they wouldn't even short out at old King Cold himself-there's no way anyone could be that-"
Comic-book sound effects, while aesthetically pleasing, are rarely accurate in relation to the noise something actually makes in real life. However, the sound of Gohan and Kuriza breaking through the roof of Slug's armoured bunker and decelerating from supersonic speeds to a dead stop in milliseconds, generating enough heat to partially melt the stone floor beneath their feet, was definitely a BLAMMM!
The soldier, Angila, who'd been reading the sensor reports, was the first to react. "What… the… f-"
"Oh, just shut up!" Gohan punched him clean through the wall and into the next room. He didn't get up.
Slug's eye twitched. "Kill the bastard! Get both of them out of here!" His three remaining soldiers in the room, Zeeun, Wings and Medamatcha, began to move to attack. Kuriza's image flickered, and the soldiers collapsed, giving out gasps of pain and surprise. "You… you…" Slug growled, clenching his fists. "Just who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and tearing things up like this? Don't you know who I am? You are addressing the great Lord Slug, now show some respect or prepare for oblivion!" He paused. "Wait a minute… you, you're…" His eyes widened with the realisation. "… Kuriza… ! The lost prince…" A smile crossed the scheming Namekian's face. "Yes, you'll be very helpful… either as a powerful ally or a valuable trophy. I might even let blondie there escape with his life if you join me. What'll it be?"
"Heh." Kuriza grinned. "You're so used to calling the shots, it doesn't even cross your mind that you're not in control of the situation anymore…"
"What's that supposed to mean? You're not seriously trying to stage some kind of coup here… you're mad if you think you can challenge my power! I'm even stronger than your father was, boy!"
"Well, that makes two of us, then." Kuriza nodded to Gohan. "Three, actually. Gohan? Want to show him?"
"Right." Gohan flared up his ki a little, powering up to over 50% of his maximum. "Yaaah!" The stone walls cracked as shockwaves rolled out from the half-saiyan's body. The power level sensor in the corner of the room crackled, stuttered and finally exploded. Slug staggered back, in awe of Gohan's incredible power.
"What… who are you? Are you… a god?" he whispered.
"Almost. I'm a Super Saiyan."
"No… no… no, it can't be true!" Slug wailed. "I never believed… why me?! Of all the injustice… why me?!"
"Injustice? Injustice ?" Gohan seethed. "You want to talk about injustice, you waste of oxygen?" He grabbed Slug by the neck, flying back up through the roof and throwing the tyrant to the ground on the streets above. "Look around you, Slug. The streets are empty. Why do you think that is?"
"Why should I care?" the Namek snapped. "I don't concern myself with the masses! A higher being like you should understand that!"
"It's because of you!" Gohan trembled, trying to keep himself under control. "They aren't leaving their homes anymore… they're afraid you'll kill them on sight for amusement. With reason, I assume."
Slug snorted. "You've sure got an overdeveloped conscience, haven't you? You think you're some kind of hero? Heh… you had me going there. You're no Super Saiyan! The bloodthirsty warrior of legend… this self-righteous kid? Give me a break! Haaah!" He leapt up from the floor, launching himself at Gohan, but the child's hand shot out, catching his punch mid-swing with minimal effort.
"You know, that'd be slightly more intimidating if I hadn't heard the same from the other guy. Now, answer me one question… did you think you could just get away with this forever? Did you honestly think nobody would care?"
"Why should they? It's not their problem."
"Well, it's about to be yours." Gohan raised one fist to shut Slug up, but Kuriza put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Gohan. Let me handle this one."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. You go check how the others are doing. I'll clean up here… a few years back, my race were the oppressors and his were the heroes… I can't help seeing a bit of poetic justice here. I'll be fine… keep your ki sense sharp, and I'll show you the results of my training."
Gohan nodded, powering down and taking off back towards Turles' half of the planet. Kuriza is kind of strange… sometimes he talks like someone a lot older, then the next moment he's a kid again… must run in the family, I guess…
Kuriza turned back to Slug. "All right, let me make it plain to you what's happening. Your rule is done. You're through, and you're leaving. You don't have a choice in the matter. But I can beat you up first if it makes you feel better."
"Why… you…" Slug leapt at Kuriza, the young prince blocking his first punch. "I'll never surrender!"
"If you say so." He winced as the shockwaves rolled through his body, shaking the ground beneath him. "Let's go." The fighters vanished, racing up into the air as the battle began.
Gohan maintained his course away from the fight, despite his misgivings. Kuriza must know what he's doing… but I can tell he's outmatched against Slug. He must have some kind of plan, or he wouldn't have been so confident. Wait… ah… that's it. He could just about feel it at the edge of his senses, buried within Kuriza's energy signature. Clever… wish you'd told me about it. Ah, well. No need to worry, he's got it won.
Kuriza crashed to the ground, tumbling head over heels and melting a parked hovercar with his high-speed passing as he skidded to a halt.
"Well?" Slug hovered a few feet away, tossing his helmet to the ground, revealing the antennae beneath, and stretching his neck one way, then the next. "Where's all that bravado from a minute ago? I think you said you were going to beat me up. But let me tell you, I wouldn't be here if some random group of self-righteous vigilantes could just barge in and depose me. I am Namek's lost son! No fighter can match me!"
I guess his ego's interfering with his memory… Kuriza noted. He wasn't so confident when Gohan powered up, but then maybe he just assumes that I'm the stronger of the two… "So, tell me," he said, rubbing a bruise on his face, "what happened to the kind, peaceful Namekian race?"
"Kind… peaceful? Is that what they were like on Namek?" The ruler shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I don't remember the place… I was sent to another world in my infancy."
"I see… just like Kami… they must have sent you both out to escape the cataclysm the elders spoke of…"
"From what I've been able to gather, they sent away two children destined to become great warriors-Super Nameks, if you will. Apparently, that power was supposed to have a corrupting influence on me, but I don't believe that. You might see it differently, but that's just a point of view." Slug cracked his knuckles. "Now, I've lost a lot of soldiers today, so I'll give you one last chance to join me before I kill you."
That explains a lot, actually… Kuriza realised, lost in thought. Why the corrupting influence of Piccolo ever existed in Kami-he was a Super Namek, too. And that must also be why they grew in power so much when they fused…
"Hey… don't you ignore me!" Slug growled, thrusting one arm forwards. It stretched out, extending unaturally to close the distance to Kuriza, grabbing the young warrior and pulling him towards Slug.
"Oh! Crap!" Kuriza squeaked as a foot impacted with his face, knocking him flat on his back. "Right. Fighting now. Thinking later." He bounced back to his feet, hopping from right to left. "Okay, then… prepare to be-" Yelping, he jumped away as Slug fired narrow yellow energy beams from his eyes, chasing Kuriza away down the street. Putting on a burst of speed, he reappeared standing on top of a water tower on the roof of the building behind Slug. "Hey! Don't interrupt me when I'm introducing my ultimate technique!"
"Surely that's the perfect time to interrupt you," Slug reasoned.
"Quiet, you! I'm doing something cool over here! Hrrrrrg…" Kuriza's scrawny frame burst out into a bodybuilder's, armour plates sprouting over his head, chest, shoulders, lower legs and forearms. Bony spikes and blades emerged from the armour, glistening in the light of the setting sun, as his eyes took on a red glow. Finally, an armoured facemask slid across his mouth and nose, obscuring his mocking expression. "Well, how do you like me now?"
"Gah… !" Slug choked, recognising the change from the file on Cooler. "The… fifth form… !"
"Right. Pretty cool, don't you think?" Proper ki control made it a lot easier to accomplish, of course… as well as reducing the collateral damage and fireworks that usually accompanies my transformations… though I don't transform very much anymore, anyway. Another benefit of ki awareness is being able to fully control my energy in my natural form, rendering the first three pretty much useless unless I suddenly develop a burning desire to bump my forehead on doorways… I'm doing it again. Fight time now. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Where was I… oh. Right." He looked up to see a gigantic Lord Slug barelling towards him, having taken the opportunity Kuriza's mental tangents provided to transform into his giant form, an ability seemingly shared by all evil Namekians for some reason. Avoiding the temptation to drift off on another tangent about why this might be, Kuriza instead leapt into the air to avoid Slug's massive fist, which instead pulverised half a mile of road. Spinning in mid-air, Kuriza delivered a roundhouse kick to Slug's face that knocked the monstrous tyrant flat on his back. Slug landed in the river, instantly flooding it as he displaced about as much water as a good-sized steam liner.
Kuriza grinned, rolling his shoulders as he tried to get used to his bulked-up form. "I already gave the speech to the other guy, so… I'll just focus on kicking your ass, all right?"
Chapter 52: To Timidly Go
Lord Slug pulled himself shakily to his feet. No… no, I won't lose… to this child! Spotting his target, he swung his head forwards, unleashing a wide energy beam that flattened half the street in front of him. "RAAAAH!"
The dust blew away to reveal a crater several metres deep, stretching back half a mile and carving right through the river. A tiny figure faded into view-Kuriza hovered at the front, arms crossed in front of his face, scorch marks dotting his body. "Huh… huh… huh… not bad," he decided, lowering his arms and smiling behind his mask. "That could've seriously injured me if I wasn't ready. I guess I was wrong to let my guard down around you."
"Damn it!" Slug made a grab for Kuriza, but the young warrior was already moving, easily evading the attempt. Kuriza wheeled around, kicking Slug in the side of the head and knocking him off-balance, then following up with an uppercut to the chin that staggered the giant Namekian away.
"That's… it!" Slug threw his whole body forwards in a somewhat awkward lunging motion that would have caused Kuriza to break out into fits of giggles, if it weren't for the fact that the movement had launched a massive ki-enhanced shockwave that bore down on the frost demon like a tsunami, smashing him into the pavement. Sneering, Slug stomped up to Kuriza, lying somewhat dazed on the ground, and brought his foot down heavily, completely obscuring the smaller fighter from view. "Heheh… you're fast, little man. But I've got you now… in this form, my raw strength is unmatched in all the universe! Ahahahaha… ! Haha… ha… h… w-what the…?" His eyes widened in disbelief. Despite every available gigantic muscle in his body forcing it down, his foot was slowly rising from the ground.
Kuriza was standing up straight, both arms straining against the enormous weight above his head. "You… really need to lose a few pounds… it's like lifting a good-sized country down here!"
"Grrr… stay down, damn you!" Slug stamped down again, but Kuriza pushed back with all his strength, muscles burning.
"Not a chance!" With that, he gave one final effort, heaving Slug up into the air. Throwing out his ki, the tyrant stopped in mid-flight, trembling with exertion. Kuriza slowly rose up to face him. This calls for a cliché… "Hey, 'Lord'… I've only got one thing to say to you."
"… What?" Slug snapped, before deciding on impulse that he didn't care, and making another swipe at Kuriza. His fist swung through an afterimage, and Kuriza appeared behind him, a fully-charged ball of crackling energy hovering above his outstretched fingertip-he'd evidently picked up the trick of rapidly preparing the planet-wrecking Death Ball technique from his uncle.
" You're fired !" Kuriza yelled, hurling the Death Ball straight into Slug's back.
"And you're sure he'll be all right?" Zarbon asked.
Gohan shielded his eyes from the flash of orange light that filled the sky back where Kuriza and Slug were fighting. That spike of ki… it was Kuriza's, not Slug's… "Yeah. I think he'll be fine."
It was broadcast on every channel, every station, every frequency. The message was wordless-almost silent-and therefore understandable in any language. Turles and Slug lay in a heap on the floor, one piled on top of the other, unmoving. The Super Saiyan stood with one foot on their backs, staring at the camera. He gave a brief smile, nodded to the camera, then left.
The rest happened quite slowly, for a change, even the immediate loose ends taking several days to clear up.
The Tree of Might was found shortly, now a smoking ruin. The effects were felt immediately-a planet-wide lightening of the spirit, a sense of optimism in the air, compounded by their unexpected salvation.
Lord Slug was taken to a hospital and (along with his and Turles' surviving henchmen) kept sedated until a sufficiently durable holding cell could be built, so that when the Nemean people were self-sufficient enough to form a government they could officially put him on trial-which would mostly a symbolic gesture, a formal 'casting off' of the old ways he represented.
Turles' former subjects, without the influence of the Tree of Might, quickly set about organising themselves, and within a matter of months the planet became the busy trading port it had once been. Those on Slug's half of the planet took a while longer to come ot of their homes and begin normal life again, but eventually they all moved on. Nemea itself took on an air of mystique, becoming a tourist hotspot-" Visit the Empire Museum! See the throne occupied by Frieza and Turles! Venture underground and see the very spot where Turles died! The Super Saiyan himself once trod the ground you walk on! "
"Everybody ready to leave?" Zarbon asked.
"Yup!" Kuriza's voice was somewhat muffled by the food in his mouth, currently halfway inside the fridge, scrounging for snacks.
"Yes, sir." Videl, leaning against the back wall of the pilot's cabin where Zarbon sat, gave a mock salute. She had a bandage around her leg, but appeared mostly recovered from her ordeal.
"Yeah, we're all good back here!" Gohan called out. He'd been able to walk the streets largely unnoticed in his base form, the disguise completed by a change of clothes that seemed to fit in better with the urban style on the planet. He tossed something back and forth, from one hand to the other on his way to put it in cryo-stasis-a 'souvenir' he'd taken from Nemea, potentially an object of great value.
"All right then… we have liftoff." Zarbon slowly increased power to the thrusters, lifting off gently and adjusting the various settings the ship needed to run smoothly on its own, before flicking over to autopilot. Stretching, he pushed himself out of the seat and ambled over to Gohan's cabin. "Hey. Hey!" He opened the door, seeing Gohan scribbling down notes with one hand, typing something up with the other, and occasionally pausing to sketch something. "Hey, anybody home?!"
"Wha… Oh, hey." Gohan looked up, bleary-eyed. "Sorry, it's just… I learned a lot about alien culture there, not to mention the political history of the last few years. It's going in the book…"
"Isn't it about ki control, though?" Zarbon asked.
"Well, yeah, but…" Gohan sighed. "There's a lot of stuff we know that most people don't… I was happy to let people just be oblivious, ignorance is bliss and stuff, you know…" he shrugged. "But now they want to know. Might as well tell them everything."
"Time travel? Super Saiyans?"
"Okay, not everything . As much as is safe to make public. I don't want our families to be hounded by governments and religious fanatics… if I started writing about legendary alien prophecies, you know… and as for time travel, not only do I not know nearly enough about it to seriously discuss it, if people knew it was possible… if somebody figured it out… can you imagine the damage a selfish person with a time machine could do?" Zarbon looked confused. "Look, you think I'm dangerous? You think Frieza was dangerous? Compared to time travel in the wrong hands, I'm nothing."
"But you're giving the people the ability to turn their bodies into superweapons? You don't consider that dangerous, too?"
Gohan sighed. "Look… this is going to sound really stupid, but… imagine if everyone walked around with their eyes closed all the time, okay? Imagine nobody could see anything. Then I discovered that vision is a thing. I opened my eyes and used them, and suddenly I was so much better at just about everything than anybody else. It'd be selfish not to tell people about it."
"Hah! That's actually a pretty good analogy…" Zarbon turned to leave. "It explains that Hercule person, anyway."
"How d'you mean?"
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
It was several minutes later that Zarbon somewhat sheepishly reappeared in the doorway. "Uh… sorry. That conversation made me forget why I came to see you in the first place. Basically, where do you want to go next? I think we've run out of tyrants for you to depose, so the next planet will probably be a bit less of an adventure…"
"I wouldn't count on that," Gohan muttered. "Life has a way of throwing adventures at you whenever you're least ready for them. Anyway… can I see a map or something? What's around this… uh, this… this bit of space?" he finished lamely.
"Yeah, Bulma uploaded a map of the galaxy to the ship's computer, and I helped her fill it in… here we go." He tapped the console on Gohan's wall, bringing up the map. "What be our heading, Cap'n?" He joked.
Gohan rolled his eyes. He's getting more human every day… "Well, let me see…" he examined the map closely for a few minutes. Planet-wide factories, trading posts, military bases, asteroid spaceports, backwards feudal worlds, crowded metropolises… desert planets, ice planets, jungle worlds… the choice was dizzying. "Hey…" he pointed out a system a few parsecs away. "What about that one? It doesn't say anything about it."
"Hmm? Oh, what's it called…" Zarbon brought up the file. "… Alfheim. We've got no data at all, aside from physical geography. All that's known is it's fairly Earthlike-though be careful with anything flammable, there's high oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Only one expedition's ever been made there…"
"They didn't come back, did they?"
"Good guess. One of them made one last transmission-rambling about 'ghosts'-but after that, nothing. There don't seem to be any significant mineral deposits there, so it's just been left alone since then."
Gohan nodded. "Hmm… interesting…"
Zarbon sighed. "You want to go there, don't you?"
"Would you believe I do?"
"Seriously? Why?"
"You know why. I'm curious!"
"Well, don't be! Whatever killed the explorers is still-"
"Look, if whatever it was was strong enough to pose a threat to me, we'd have been able to feel its power all the way from Earth, all right?" Gohan frowned. "Remember why we're out here! We came to see what the situation was like, right? Fix things if they've gone wrong… we've done that. We took out the two worst despots, and the rest are running scared. Go team."
"What's your point?"
"My point is that the other reason we set out was to explore! 'To boldly go'! You know… discover valuable secrets?"
"And you think you're just going to find that on some random planet?"
"Like finding Dragon Balls on Namek? Or Instant Transmission on Yardrat?"
"… There's no arguing with you, is there?"
"Nope. We're going."
The planet-a deep shade of blue at this distance, somewhat darker than Earth or Namek-floated almost lazily into view on the monitor as they approached.
"So what are we expecting?" Videl asked.
"Ghosts?" Kuriza ventured hopefully.
"Well, there's probably some kind of life form…" Zarbon agreed. "To be seen as 'ghosts' they must be pretty strange…"
Gohan grinned. "I'm counting on it. Take us down."
The atmosphere was, as promised, breathable, though the high oxygen levels did give a slight heady taste to the air. The ground was smooth and worn-down-gale-force winds blew almost constantly. Kuriza pulled his cloak closer around him, shivering at the cold.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be able to survive in space?" Gohan asked, frowning. "This should be no problem for you!"
"I guess I've just got used to Earth…" Kuriza shrugged. "Its temperatures are pretty mild, as planets go."
"But still…'frost demon'… the clue is in the name…"
"That's just a nickname-since the three most publicly-known members of our species were Frieza, Cooler and Cold, you can see where it comes from."
Videl raised one eyebrow. "So what's your species really called, then?"
"I could try telling you, but the word, like much of our native language, is spoken at a frequency your ears couldn't pick up…"
"Can we try and stay on track here?" Zarbon barked. "Well, we're on your mystery planet, Gohan… are you happy?"
"Well, I thought we'd just take a look around, see if we can sense anything. I just picked a random spot, since no artificial structures showed up on the scan…" he paused. "Wait. I sense… a disturbance…"
Videl rolled her eyes. "Look, I know it's a space voyage, but this is hardly the time for jokes!"
"No, seriously. Did you guys…?" He swung his head back and forth, searching. "There! Again! Some kind of weird ki just appeared, then vanished!"
"Yeah, I felt it too…" the others gave nods of agreement. In the minute following, they detected three more of the brief energy signatures.
Gohan's eyes slowly narrowed. "Hold on… they're getting closer." Another. "Yeah, definitely. And they're coming from over… here !" He leapt off to the right, taking great bouncing strides, surprising himself. "Whoa, low gravity… anyway." He skidded to a halt, the others close behind. "Right around here… this is where the last ki appeared…"
"I think we've found our ghosts, guys," Zarbon muttered.
Videl turned in a slow circle. "Yeah, but I don't see any-" there was an impact, a blur of movement, and she fell to the floor.
Gohan spun, but there was no-one there. "Videl!" The remaining three clustered around her as she stood up.
"I see…" Zarbon nodded. "If it's some kind of predator… it makes sense, going for the one with the lowest energy first…" Videl tried not to take the remark personally.
"But why do you think it's a predator?" Gohan asked, eyes scanning the surrounding area.
"Well, like you said… there aren't any artificial structures on this planet. Perhaps these 'ghosts' are just a kind of wild animal with a naturally high power level… and a weird ability to disappear."
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Kuriza grumbled, then blinked, almost tripping over his words. "Hold on a second!"
"What?!"
There was a pause of several seconds, then Kuriza turned to Zarbon. "How the hell are you walking around a planet this cold in a T-shirt?!"
"What kind of question is-" Another impact, and Zarbon was floored.
"Watch it!" Gohan stepped in front of his fallen friend, and this time he saw it, just barely. A receding shape, seeming to fade from existence. No, not fade-it didn't look like teleportation, or anything of that sort. Almost like…
"Hey…" Kuriza glanced around. "Is it Instant Transmission? Is that what they're doing?"
"No…" Gohan shook his head. "And it can't be just speed either… in the moment it struck, this time I got a glimpse… for that moment, its speed was slow enough for me to follow… no, it kind of looked like… it just stepped out of view. It just went in some direction we can't see…" Could it be…?
"Can't go back to the ship…" Zarbon muttered as he rubbed his head. "Too far now, we'd be making ourselves even bigger targets than we are. Have to think of something… why does this stuff always happen as soon as we go somewhere?"
"I guess we just attract trouble…" Videl said, grinning bitterly.
"Okay… we're the only uninjured ones…" Kuriza almost whispered to Gohan. "You're stronger than I am, they'll go for me next…"
"Right." Something flashed in Gohan's mind, a fraction of a second before he saw it-but that fraction of a second was an aeon in fights like these. He turned on the spot, putting himself in front of Kuriza and catching the incoming limb. Now, he truly saw the thing-chitin, spines, staring eyes widened in surprise, mouth hanging slightly open, light brown colouring with deep red highlights. Very much physical, flesh and blood. Not a ghost. But of course, as soon as it recovered from its surprise, it stepped away, its body simply withdrawing, in some indescribable way, from the world they could see. At the same time, a second strode into existence, and something hit Gohan in the back, knocking him to his knees.
Kuriza jumped away, raising his guard. "Don't worry, guys… I got this." He was quickly proven wrong by three of the creatures simultaneously. He managed to keep his balance, spinning away and jumping into the air. The low gravity took him and his next attacker by surprise, causing it to miss him and temporarily expose itself. Kuriza, still hanging in the air above it, charged up energy in one hand. "I've got you!"
"Wait-" Zarbon warned, but it was too late. Kuriza fired, but the creature had already vanished, and the beam smacked into the ground. The explosion seemed to expand far too quickly, building into a gigantic column of flame and engulfing Kuriza, sending him tumbling to the ground, still billowing smoke. "Damn it, I warned you…" Zarbon muttered. "The atmosphere is oxygen-heavy… it's flammable…"
Gohan stood up, breathing heavily. Okay… they're not as fast as me… I have that. And… I'm noticing a pattern. It's a fantastic technique, this disappearing attack, but… I think I've got it figured out. He stood still, eyes closed, slowing his breathing. "Okay… come and get me."
Chapter 53: Prologue to Battle
The one thing the Super Saiyan did that guaranteed peace in the galaxy was quite simple: Judge, jury and executioner he may have been, but a ruler he was not. Sentient beings have an instinctive predilection to rebel against an authority that oppresses them. But they can support a mysterious avenger or an angry god, leaving the government's hands clean of the dirty work the Super Saiyan carried out-which allowed the government to appear benevolent, too. So all in all, the great achievement of the Super Saiyan was becoming a mythical figure and then remaining one; something even Frieza never quite managed.
-from Fall of the Demon, Rise of the Legend by Siuol Tatsel
Gohan stood resolute, feeling the ki of the creatures slip away as they retreated into whatever 'outside space' they were using to hide in. "Sure, this seems like an un-winnable situation, but…" he turned to Zarbon. "They have two weaknesses."
"Two?"
"Sure. The first is that there's a sort of pattern to their attacks. Like they're not fully autonomous. But it's pretty complex, so… I'm going to need you to use Deep Sight to get a fix on it."
"In the middle of a battle?" Zarbon shook his head. "There's no way-"
"Just try. You're not going to be the one fighting them. Try and focus, I'll stay up as long as I can. And the second weakness…" his eyes narrowed as one of the creatures appeared in front of him, arm raised for a downwards slash. He moved in a blur, catching its hand and twisting, breaking the wrist. Screeching, it retreated back into insubstantiality. "… When they do appear, they're not all that fast. Compared to me, anyway. Don't know about you guys."
"Nope, they were pretty quick from here," Videl muttered, to a grunt of assent from Kuriza.
Gohan ducked left, but wasn't quite fast enough to avoid taking a glancing blow. He swung at thin air as it withdrew, then immediately turned, sensing another behind him. His elbow caught it right in its front row of eyes before it could attack, caving in its face and sending it reeling. It fell backwards, disappearing as it went. Interesting… Gohan thought. It seems they even vanish involuntarily. That does support my theory… "Zarbon! Could use some support, now!" An attack struck him from behind, and he turned the fall into a somersault, regaining his balance and catching an incoming kick in both hands. He heaved the creature's leg up, spinning it head over heels and kicking it away.
"All right!" Zarbon's voice was brittle and scratchy. His eyes were glazed, and he shook slightly. "Can't do it for long… fast movement… too much information… overload…"
"Okay…" Gohan breathed slowly. "Try and analyse their pattern. There's definitely a structure…" He edged left and right, trying to keep his eyes on all his friends at once, waiting for the next attack. Without warning, it began again.
Zarbon stared silently, absorbing the sensory input. Dozens of speakers was one thing, but complex movement on this level was taxing his abilities to their limit. Focus… steady. He's right… there's a pattern… I think I see it… he blinked. "Gohan! It's like a computer program! It's just a simple method of choosing their attack formation from a few set patterns, based on what you're doing… behind you, three seconds!" Sure enough, another alien appeared behind Gohan in approximately three seconds, only to be met with his already-swinging fist.
"Left… two, to your right, two seconds!" Zarbon frowned as Gohan, acting on his advice, beat back the next three attackers. "Hold on, they're switching pattern. Hmm, it appears there's only about ten in total."
Gohan swung around in a full circle, watching for his enemies. "Just tell me where the next-
"Above you!"
"Got it!" A heavy swing took the alien down, and this time it stayed there. Gohan settled to the ground, rubbing his bruised knuckles. "These things have pretty tough skin…" he trailed off as the whole group phased into view simultaneously, forming a line a few feet away. He could see that nearly all of them were quite badly injured. "They don't look so good… we really did a number on them, huh?"
"You said it…" Zarbon muttered. "Are they surrendering, or what?"
"Um… I don't think so." Videl was standing up now, gazing into the distance. "We first sensed these guys as a ki signal sort of 'jumping' towards us, right? Well…" she pointed at a mountain range a few miles away. "I'm sensing the same thing again… over that way. Only, more this time."
"How many more?" Gohan asked. "Twenty? Fifty?" He paused, sensing it himself. "Huh. No, a lot more than that. Wow, that is… a lot of them. Guys! Get ready!" Silence fell. They edged closer together, all assuming combat stances.
They arrived.
Hundreds of the creatures, thousands, maybe more. They crowded in a circle around the four explorers, filling the landscape, stretching all the way back to the horizon. Not one was bothering to hide or disappear, unless there were simply even more they couldn't see.
"This…" Kuriza turned in a full circle, gaping at the army assembled around them. "… this could be a lot better."
"Well, don't just stand there!" Gohan shouted, powering up to Super Saiyan. "Come and get me! Either leave us in peace, or prepare for battle!"
"Can you take this many?" Videl asked, shifting uncomfortably.
"That would be a negative. I'm hoping they don't realise that, though…" he whispered back. "If they all attack at once, we're dead."
Silence fell, stretching on for moment after agonising moment. Then, one of the creatures began to move forwards, making a beeline straight for Gohan.
" Giraleth ethónilar !" a lyrical voice called. The attacking creature froze in place. A rustling noise came from the distance-the ranks of the horde were parting like waves before some mythical prophet. A humanoid figure rapidly approached, growing larger in their vision as they approached. Their energy was fairly small, but there was something about them-a foreboding feeling, a sense of hidden danger. Not quite ki power… just a vaguely menacing aura.
She stood taller than any of them, and was basically similar to a human, quite unlike the monstrous creatures that surrounded her. Despite her height, she was thin and waif-like, but moved with a confidence that seemed at odds with this frail appearance. She was dressed like some ancient priestess, adorned with finery, and her face carried a faintly bored expression-as they would later find out, this was the general appearance of her race, and even when joyous, angered or depressed, their expressions never ventured from 'bored' into anything stronger than 'vaguely interested'.
"What… what'd she say?" Videl murmured.
"It means 'stand down'," the woman replied, suddenly in front of them, having briefly vanished. "We developed a language specifically for giving orders to the drones-it avoids unecessary confusion."
I see, Gohan noted. She can disappear, too… "Drones? Do you control them? Why did they attack us?"
She ignored his questions, regarding him with inscrutable eyes. "Hmm… perhaps… perhaps you are sufficient, Golden Warrior."
"Uh… golden… me?" Gohan blinked. "I'm… sufficient? For what?"
"I will explain in Citadel. Come." She turned away, gesturing to them. "I will remember you are flat-thinkers… I will try to remain visible to you."
Flat-thinkers? Shrugging, Gohan powered down and followed.
"We're going?" Zarbon arched an eyebrow sceptically.
"Well, if you want to stand around here and test if ignorance is bliss, be my guest, but I don't put your chances with these 'drones' too high once she's gone…" Gohan replied.
Zarbon gulped. "You know what, actually this Citadel sounds great."
Half a galaxy away…
The darkened chamber stirred for the first time in decades. Machines hummed to life, mechanisms untouched by the years whirring into motion.
+++Report: Galactic News Observation #1523205+++
+++Keyword Identified: Saiyan+++
+++Computation: Cold Dynasty Currently Nonexistent+++
+++Query: "Super" Saiyan?+++
In the darkness, a pair of eyes slowly opened. Something red gleamed in the shadows. "Saiyans…" a husky voice breathed. "It is… time."
Part of the strangeness of Citadel was the way once you entered one part of it, all memories of the rest became hazy and vague-you could never quite picture more than one place at a time. The one thing that did pervade all attempts at recall was a sense of sanctuary, that you were in some untouchable place outside of normal existence. Currently, they sat in a small, sparsely decorated room, in simple wooden chairs. A pair of the monstrous drones guarded the door. T'ensha-for that was her name-stood facing them, leaning on some surface they could not quite see. It was to do with the same mysterious ability that enabled both drones and Speakers (as she identified herself) to vanish, and to move invisibly and intangibly. She explained it thus:
"You are able to travel from your world to ours. Therefore I assume your scientists have at least considered the possibility of more dimensions than the three commonly perceived, correct? Four, counting time, anyway." She paused. "What we do is simply to move through a fifth dimension-a direction not normally comprehensible to beings of this universe, let alone accessible. Hence when I call you flat-thinkers, it is only in the way you would refer to a two-dimensional being, say a living drawing, 'flat'. It has less dimensions than you. You can move in a way it cannot. The object that supports my weight at this moment is too far in the fifth direction for you to see… I am resting on its edge."
"I see…" Gohan said, rubbing his temples. "But…'flat- thinkers '…"
Zarbon nodded. "Indeed. Note emphasis on thought. This implies…"
"… that it's not a genetic ability," Gohan finished. "You've learned to do this."
T'ensha appeared genuinely taken aback by their quick deduction. "I… see that you have quite the analytical mind… both of you. It is true that our ability-Shifting, we call it-is not genetic, however, our brains are well-adapted for higher thought functions, such as picturing five dimensions in ways comprehensible to beings normally confined to our four. I highly doubt other races are capable of duplicating such a feat."
"Well, that's nice," Videl said wearily. "Real nice. What I'd like to know is why your guards shoot first and ask questions later."
"Forgive us," the Alfheim native pleaded. "It is just… only one other group of off-worlders has ever landed on our planet before. We sent a diplomatic envoy to meet them… we did not expect them to respond with such hostility, and many Speakers were lost before sufficient drones could be summoned to overpower them."
"Hence the transmission…" Kuriza nodded. "'Ghosts'… so, these drones. What are they?"
"We created them. They are not sentient, exactly… their intelligence is around that of a plant. They are biological machines, designed to carry out physical tasks our own physiology would not permit us to perform easily. Combat is only one of these." There was a long pause, and she felt the need to fill the silence. "I suppose I should explain why I invited you to our capital." General assent. "Very well. Curiosity, mainly. I was going to let them kill you, hoping to avoid another slaughter of our people… but then you only threatened to fight if you were not left in peace. I was… hopeful you would not be like the others."
"There are good and bad examples of every race," Zarbon said diplomatically.
"Aaaaand…" Kuriza cocked his head to one side. "Could the other seven people listening in please stand where I can see them? Don't try this spying crap with us."
"How did you-"
"I've been watching your eye movements. You keep glancing at points around the room for confirmation. Then, you continue a line of conversation based on some cue they give you."
T'ensha sighed. "Brothers, sisters… the time for secrecy, it seems, is at an end." Seven more of her kin duly materialised. "Please understand, we merely-"
"The last visitors started a massacre." Gohan waved a hand, smiling. "You're well within your rights to be cautious. Don't worry about it. Now… I guess you probably want to know why we're here."
"Correct," an older male Speaker replied. Named Darye, as they later learned, he spoke abruptly, and always seemed rushed, whatever he was doing. Right now, he pushed a pair of elaborately-rimmed glasses up his nose, hopping from one foot to the other as he waited for a reply.
"Simply put, we're on an exploration mission," Gohan said. "Our planet has had limited contact with the wider galaxy, so we set out with multiple goals… determine the galactic political situation… fight injustice, I suppose, though that was kind of an accident… and bring back the wisdom of the stars, if that isn't too poetic a way of putting it."
"Not at all…" he trailed off, mentally composing his reply, sniffed, and continued. "Well, I suppose it's the least we can do to offer our hospitality. I'm sure there's much we can learn from each other."
"That isn't your choice to make," T'ensha pointed out. "The council-"
Darye snorted derisively. "Bah! By the time the council have held their committees, filed their paperwork and debated their minutiae, our visitors will have been and gone! Our love of bureaucracy has made the council, in short-term matters, completely ineffectual! Now, if you don't mind, I'm rather pressed for time. Good day!" He strode off, vanishing into the fifth dimension before he reached the doorway.
T'ensha almost smiled. "Don't mind him. He has many virtues, but patience is not one of them. He is right, though… if the council wanted you to leave, it would take several months to make the decision official. But I'll put in a good word for you, anyway."
"Hey." Kuriza whispered to Gohan. "Can I say 'we come in peace' or do you want to?"
Gohan rolled his eyes. "They already know we come in peace, idiot, you don't need to."
"How about 'take me to your leader'?"
"Didn't I tell you to stop watching so much TV?"
Peaceful days followed. Citadel was like a waking dream-the architecture sloped in and out of perception, all twisting corridors and stairways that defied logic. Speakers, and the occasional drone, faded into view and then disappeared. White, blue and gold formed the dominant colour scheme, giving an ethereal appearance to the whole place.
Both the natives and the travellers learned much. For their part, Gohan and company told of the wider galaxy-something Alfheim's inhabitants had never known much of-and of their own personal history, the trials and battles they'd faced in recent years. They became minor celebrities, in fact, once tales of their initial battle against the advance guard of drones spread, becoming exaggerated as such things are-the nickname 'Golden Warrior' was especially popular.
In return, the Speakers answered all questions about their species, their society and their planet as best they could. Gohan noted several subtle parallels with the state of affairs there with those on Nemea and, indeed, on Earth-these went into a new chapter in his ongoing book, on the tendency of any society, on any world, to fall into certain patterns.
Of particular interest was the Shifting ability. Gohan was determined to understand it, at least intellectually if he physically lacked the ability to observe the fifth dimension naturally. Currently, he was staring intently at a hologram projected between himself and T'ensha, who sat opposite him in a long, open-air room. The hologram projected what appeared to be a cube with another, smaller cube inside it.
"Consider the tesseract," she instructed. "It is to the cube as the cube is to the square."
Gohan nodded. "So what I'm seeing isn't actually the whole shape… it's a 3-D cross-section."
"Correct. When I use the part of my brain that lets us see this higher dimension, I can observe the entire shape… you've studied the equations?"
"Yes… on a mathematical level, at least, I'm starting to grasp the concept. It's just difficult to find a way to relate that to the visual, spatial areas of my brain…"
She paused, studying him. "I must say, you've taken to some rather advanced mathematics extremely quickly… and only a child…"
"I've had one hell of a teacher, trust me." His mind briefly drifted off to countless hours of advanced studies, his mother's way of expressing her determination that he wouldn't follow his father's uneducated path. He blinked, refocusing on the tesseract. Okay… so… how do I try and understand this thing? It isn't impossible. Nothing's impossible. His eyes narrowed. The world that I can see… these three dimensions… it's flat. Picture it as a flat plane, like a piece of paper. This thing… this thing is solid, it's more real than I am.
"Watch as I move it through the fifth dimension," T'ensha said, before tapping a button on the projector. The image flickered, then began to move. The inner cube moved outwards, expanding and folding around the shrinking outer cube, until they completely changed places. "You see?"
And now… it moves through my 'paper' universe… now I'm seeing a completely different part of it… right. And come to think of it… she's part of this higher dimension too, right? I wonder if her ki… he focused on her energy, trying to let his ki sense do what his eyes could not. Dot. Line. Square. Cube. Tesseract. Move up. Greater depth. He gasped. "What's this energy…?"
Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me you can sense my true self…"
Gohan nodded. "It's like… seeing the real world after living among cardboard cutouts for my whole life… wow…"
"That's impossible! Your brain just isn't wired to-to-"
He grinned. "Well… see ya. This is pretty tiring, actually. I'm going to go make sure Kuriza doesn't eat you out of house and home, 'kay?" He stood up and wandered off, leaving T'ensha in a daze. I don't believe it… he combined his factual knowledge and his warrior's instincts to detect something anyone would have said was literally beyond him! Just who, and what, is this child?
Two months later…
Zarbon ducked away as Videl pressed the attack. He jumped over a low kick, striking back but slowing down so she could see him moving and block.
"You're still holding back!" she accused.
"Of course," he said calmly. "You're relatively new to truly advanced martial arts, whereas I've been a soldier of Frieza most of my life, and more recently a spiritually-trained fighter. It wouldn't be fair to go all-out. Don't worry, if I lower my power level like this you still give me a good workout."
She spun, trying an elbow strike but missing again. "One day… I will overtake you! All of you!"
"Gohan, too? His father?"
"Come on, that doesn't count!" She swung at him again, and he raised an arm to defend, but without warning Gohan appeared between them, catching both hands. He didn't materialise completely from invisibility, like the Speakers and drones, and nor did he appear in a blur of motion, like someone using Instant Transmission or simply moving very fast. It seemed more like he assembled, dozens of tiny pieces blinking into existence, the gaps rapidly filling to form a solid image of the young warrior. They stood there for a second in stunned silence, then lowered their fists.
"Gohan…" Videl shrugged. "What was… just… what."
"My sentiments precisely." Zarbon arched an eyebrow.
Gohan laughed out loud. "It worked! Awesome! Well, technically it's not quite Shifting like the natives here do it-I can't actually percieve the fifth dimension-but in effect, it's the same thing. I guess I sort of opened up a passage through the dimension, for a fraction of a second, and 'jumped' through. Like this!" He 'disassembled', then reappeared on the other side of the room. "No ki signature to trace, see?"
"Right…" Zarbon nodded. "Pretty cool. I'm guessing you don't have to 'lock on' to an energy signal to use it, right? So it's better than Instant Transmission?"
"Not exactly. It's true that I don't need to lock on like that, but I can only 'jump' to somewhere I can see, so its range is kinda limited." He sat down, pulling a notepad from his back pocket. "But it's not the most important thing I've learned here anyway. More of a party trick, really. The important thing is what I can conclude about sentient beings in general, having encountered not just wider galactic culture, but two isolated ones as well, here and on Earth. Yet the same social patterns emerge. It's fascinating."
"So, how long are you planning to stay here?"
"Not too much longer. I reckon we'll only need to visit one or two more planets, and only for a day or two each… just to confirm some stuff I noted on Nemea, if it's true of all, or at least most, worlds in the former empire. In terms of new techniques, I wouldn't have much hope for learning too many. I mean, Shifting isn't nearly as useful as Instant Transmission… I think learning anything revolutionary is pretty rare, honestly. While many aliens have a pretty high power level, that's just genetics… if anything, Earth has some of the most spiritually-aware martial artists in the universe, and some of the most diverse techniques."
Videl smiled. "No place like home, eh?"
It's an age-old problem. We've often heard that politicians are the worst sorts of people to put in charge of a nation-anyone who wants that kind of power shouldn't be allowed to have it-but it's interesting to note that this seems to be a universal phenomenon, as I've discovered in my travels. Power attracts the corrupt, whatever species they may be.
-from Groundbreaking Science by Son Gohan
+++Activating Protocol Alpha+++
+++Subject: Saiyans. Action: Terminate+++
+++Hatchiyak Deployed+++
Chapter 54: Plan to Relocate the Saiyans
Dr. Raichi shifted in his chair. "Hatchiyak! Report."
+++Energy Signature Detected, Location: Alfheim. Match Record: Nemea. Proceeding to intercept+++
"Excellent. ETA?"
+++1.75 Standard Days+++
He nodded, closing the transmission. A soft exhalation produced a cloud of steam in the cold air of his central chamber. "I will never forgive the saiyans for what they did to us… even if God does…"
"Two hundred twenty-four…" Gohan was currently doing push-ups in his quarters in Citadel. "Two twenty-five… come on, Videl, why do you always make me do this? I've got to get back to writing…"
"Because if I let you do your own thing, you never train!" she snapped. "You can't just assume that your natural power will always carry you through-you need to keep your skill and stamina up! C'mon, two hundred and fifty, then you're done!"
"Feh… two twenty-six…" he grumbled.
"Gohan!" Darye, the nervous older Speaker, materialised in the doorway. "Come quickly!"
Gohan stood up, looking at the new arrival. "What's the problem?"
"Some kind of large creature has landed a few miles from here! It ignored all attempts to communicate, marching straight towards Citadel… when we used a platoon of drones to block its path, it just trampled over them! It looks like it has hostile intentions, and it's incredibly strong…"
Videl nodded, understanding. "So your government or whatever want Gohan to stop it?"
Darye grimaced. "Not exactly… it's more of a personal request. The Council is still undertaking a Preliminary Meeting to Assess Threat Levels and Vote on the Necessity of an Emergency Committee." He rolled his eyes as he continued. "The Emergency Committee would then elect an Emergency Action Leader, whose job it would be to give orders in the crisis-well, not exactly orders, as each one would be subject to a review, Council discussion, and citywide vote."
"And this would take?" she asked.
"Well, they've never actually had to do it yet-neither of our two violent encounters in recent history have lasted long enough-but I'd guess anywhere from a day to a month. As I've said many times… bureaucracy. So, would you mind…"
Gohan headed for the door. "Don't worry. You're pretty sensible… the Gordian knot solution."
"The what?"
"Earth saying, don't worry."
"Actually, I don't understand it either…" Videl admitted.
"Read a history book sometime. I'm going to fight a thing. See ya."
Despite this closing statement, his three travelling companions accompanied him, partly out of curiosity, partly out of boredom.
It stood easily twice Gohan's height or more, an organic-looking machine sporting red panels and casings on its torso, head and limbs, a more pinkish colour beneath. Green gem-like objects gleamed on its forehead, chest, forearms and knuckles.
+++Scanning+++
+++ID match: Saiyan+++
The machine's gaze swept from Gohan to his companions.
+++Unknown+++
Gohan walked confidently up to it, folding his arms. "What do you want? Why'd you attack those drones, and what's your intention here?" It carried on walking, stopping inches away and staring down at him blankly. "Wonder how strong this thing is-just like the androids, I can't sense any ki…"
At some silent signal, the gems began to glow with an angry, burning emerald light. Gohan gasped, staggering back as if dealt a physical blow, as its power core flared to life. "Woah! I take it back… this ki, it's even greater than…" With speed he couldn't follow, its fist lashed out, catching him on the head and knocking him out instantly. "… Broly…"
Kuriza grimaced. "Did you see that? It's fast!"
"Be on your guard…" Zarbon muttered. "That energy… just appeared out of nowhere…"
Slowly, its head turned. Its gaze locked on them.
+++Secondary Threat Identified+++
+++Neutralise+++
"Mmm, this is delicious!" Goku downed another mouthful of soup. "This tastes like the fish my grandpa used to make when I was a kid!"
"Well, it should!" Chi-Chi grinned, spooning a serving into her bowl. "It is the same fish."
"But it's huge and carnivorous…" he mumbled. "And it only lives in one lake up the mountain. How'd you-"
"Hiked up the mountain and killed it with my own two hands."
Goku beamed. "I love you, you know that?"
"You'd better! The things I do-" a ringing came from the other room. A few seconds later, she returned with the phone. "It's for you-Bulma."
"Eh?" Goku took the phone, holding it awkwardly-he'd never been too comfortable or familiar with technology. "Hey, Bulma! What is it?"
"You'd better come quick." There was a tension behind her words. "You're not gonna like this."
Goku walked into Capsule Corp to see a projector and screen already set up in the living room. "What's all this?"
Bulma pressed a button on a remote. "Received a transmission-broadcast all around the galaxy. Just watch."
The screen flickered to life, immediately showing a disturbing image-a decapitated Namekian head stuck on a pole, which someone more aware of galactic current affairs would identify as Lord Slug. "I trust I have your attention," a raspy voice spoke.
The image zoomed out to show a sinister-looking, blue-grey face. Visible veins snaked up and down the forehead. One red eye, one white, both blank and pupil-less. A bushy mane of hair around the shoulders, but the top of the head was bald, and a large moustache draped down the chin.
"Now… if there are any saiyans watching, I advise you not to disregard this message. It may be… a matter of life or death. Observe." He indicated to his right, and the camera swung around to show three figures standing behind him: Gohan, Paragus, and a third Goku didn't recognise, short and wearing traditional saiyan armour. All had a dark red ring around their eyes, and appeared to be conscious but immobile and passive. "These are the three I have gathered so far," he continued. "However, I have reason to suspect more are still lurking around the galaxy, so if you can hear me, consider this a challenge. The co-ordinates broadcast with this message are my location. If you wish to attempt to rescue these three… if you relish a call to battle… or if you simply desire to finish what you started all those years ago… I am waiting. Any non-saiyan detected approaching will be shot down in orbit. Goodbye." The transmission cut out.
Goku noticed he was trembling slightly. "Bulma… I need a ship."
"Gotcha. I know you guys-I always have a spare lying around. It's actually been pretty easy replicating the one we used to go to Namek-"
"Not now, all right? I'm going. Tell Chi-Chi."
"Are you mad? She'll bite my head off!"
"Goodbye, Bulma." He strode out of the room, forcing himself not to scream in frustration.
"He's WHAT?!"
Bulma winced as the phone shook with Chi-Chi's furious shout. "Uh… he left a few minutes ago. Sorry. You have to admit he has a good reason."
"Well, just tell him he'd better bring our boy home safe, or I'll kick his ass from here to next week, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, sadly."
Nail entered the room just as Bulma put the phone down. "Am I going crazy, or was Goku just here?"
"Yeah, but he's kind of in space now. Long story." Bulma shrugged.
Nail sighed. " Perfect timing. I'd just detected some weird ki spike in the North… I was going to ask him to help me investigate. Are there any other fighters around?"
"Yamcha's here, I think. I'll call Tien and Krillin if you want, though, tell them where you're headed."
"Thanks." He headed back outside. "Hey! Yamcha!"
"What's that? You're going?" Launch asked as Chiaotzu finished relaying the message to her and Tien.
"Yeah." Tien nodded. "I'm sure Nail and Bulma wouldn't ask something like this if it wasn't serious. It could be dangerous, so… I'm going to ask you two to stay here."
Launch frowned. "Yamcha's going."
Silence for several seconds.
Tien sighed. "Yeah, point taken. Chiaotzu, do you mind staying and watching Break? Can't really take her along."
"Okay." Chiaotzu smiled. "I'm not really that keen on fighting anyway. You guys be careful!"
"Sure." Launch handed Break to Chiaotzu, and immediately the baby started protesting loudly. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's not like it's a total stranger." The crying continued. "Ugh, come on! Shh, quiet now, it's okay…"
"Waaa… aaaa… aaaAAAAAHHH!" In a burst of light, Break's hair turned golden and stood up on end. A wave of destructive force rolled out from her body, hurling Chiaotzu across the room, Break landing heavily on the floor but not appearing to be affected.
"Uh…" Tien scratched his head. "Is that supposed to happen? I mean, at such a young age…"
Launch shrugged, picking the struggling baby up and sitting on a nearby chair. "The future Break did warn us it happened early with her… that unstable genetic combination… well, I guess I'm staying here. Go get 'em."
"Right." I should get going… Tien turned and flew out of the doorway into the cold morning air.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Chiaotzu asked Launch. "I mean, even a baby Super Saiyan must be pretty strong…"
"True…" Launch growled as she wrestled with Break, trying to keep her still. "But she doesn't know how to use her strength at all… and besides… KAIOKEN- times two! " A red aura enveloped her, and she felt new strength surge into her muscles, finally letting her hold Break easily. "There! That's better. Now quit your whining and go to sleep already! I swear, next time I'm just going to leave you here and go punch someone!"
Precisely 46.5 hours later…
Goku rushed out as soon as the ship touched down on the barren moon. Little to no life visible around him, but he ignored the scenery, heading straight for the tall chimney-like structure on the horizon. Wonder if he's there? Only one way to find out… It certainly seemed so-he began to sense some ki signatures as he approached, but most of them were strangely hazy, as if something was partially blocking them. He guessed those were inside. Still… seems like there's one out here… and it's familiar. Wait, that couldn't be… could it?
He landed next to the building, standing a few metres behind a depressingly familiar figure.
"Kakarot…" Vegeta turned around, smirking at him. "I see you've finally decided to grace me with your presence. Where's your slightly less moronic brother?"
"He's dead."
"My condolences. I'm sorry someone else beat me to it. I hope I won't be denied the same with you." Vegeta wore a heavily customised suit of battle armour, with the shoulder and leg guards removed-they always seemed to get snapped off in battle anyway, or so he'd reasoned. "That's your brat he's got ahold of, isn't it?"
"What's it to you?" Goku said tersely. "You're just here for the fight, aren't you?"
"Actually, no." Vegeta frowned. "Much as it pains me to say it, there is someone I care about enough to come to their rescue."
What's this? He cares for somebody? Goku shook his head. "Who are you, and what have you done with Vegeta?"
"Very funny, Kakarot. But… I could never bring myself to abandon my brother, Tarble."
"Oh! So that's who the third guy was! Say, he did look a bit like you… how come he survived when Frieza blew up our home planet?"
"You really are ignorant… Tarble was banished to the outer reaches of the galaxy, for his cowardice, low power and unwillingness to fight. In other words, not a true saiyan at all." Vegeta pointed at the screen on the front of the building, which portrayed a video feed of the three captive saiyans. "What I'd like to know is what that worm Paragus is doing here?"
"You know him?" Goku shrugged. "Far as I know, his son Broly saved him… Broly was the Legendary Super Saiyan, which basically means he was born with a naturally huge power. Gohan killed him, though."
"Incorrect." The voice, belonging to the man from the transmission, emanated from the tower.
"What? No!" Goku looked up at the source of the sound. "I saw it happen! There's no way he could have survived!"
"Then you are mistaken," the voice continued. "Because I am detecting the energy signal of the saiyan Broly rapidly approaching his planet. He is in a large cargo freighter." Pause. "Judging by the velocity and approach vector of said vehicle, I do not believe that he knows how to fly it. Projected impact zone: Three kilometres east. Stand by."
At this point, a low humming noise became audible, and the two saiyans looked up, to see a slowly-growing light in the sky. Eventually it formed itself into an elongated oval shape, a common cargo ship model. As predicted, it did not land so much as plummet, meeting the ground edgeways with a satisfyingly thunderous impact, before suddenly exploding and nearly deafening them.
"He's right…" Goku said quietly. "I can sense him from here… Broly survived!"
"Well, who cares!" Vegeta grunted. "What's the big deal with this Broly, anyway? What's a Legendary Super Saiyan? Isn't the Super Saiyan legendary anyway?!"
"Broly was born with the power… it's a sort of hidden genetic 'switch' in saiyan DNA… he didn't have to work for Super Saiyan like we did. And it gives him access to a higher form, which is what we call the Legendary form." They both transformed to the first level of Super Saiyan as they felt, then eventually saw, Broly's approach.
He landed in front of them, smirking slightly. "Well… it's been a long time…" he chuckled.
"How did you survive?" Goku snapped. "Gohan killed you-he blasted you right out into space!"
"Well, he should have tried harder," Broly snorted. "I've always been… a survivor. I floated in space-I don't know how long-only kept alive by my unconscious power, the same power that saved me when Frieza tried to destroy us. Finally, a ship picked me up, recognised I was a saiyan, and their captain decided to drop me here on the way to their destination. They were too kind-hearted for their own good… that's what's left of their ship back there." He paused. "So the Tuffle in there has my father?"
Vegeta nodded. "Right. You're here to save him? From Kakarot's description of you, I wouldn't have thought you cared."
"I don't, but… I'm going to kill the old bastard, and I'll be damned if I let someone else beat me to it."
"Hold on!" Goku interjected. "What's a Tuffle? Guys?"
Vegeta glanced at him, then back at Broly. "Raditz never told you… typical… planet Vegeta, named as I was for my father, used to be known as Plant… that was the name the Tuffles gave it. We saiyans used to be locked in an unending war with them for control of the planet. Our warriors were much more powerful than theirs, but they were cultured, advanced, masters of technology, whereas we still lived in caves… the war raged on throughout the years, with neither side able to gain an advantage. Finally, a full moon-a rare event on our homeworld-caused our entire race to transform into Oozarus, and we wiped them out. After renaming the planet after my father, the king who'd led us to victory, we quickly adapted to the Tuffles' technology… unfortunately, it was not long after that that we were enslaved by Frieza."
"Right…" Goku looked over at the tower. "So this guy's one of these Tuffles? I guess you missed one…"
"We'll see. He looks the part, anyway, as does his technology." Vegeta faced the tower, shouting a challenge up to the heavens. "Well, we're all here! You wanted us-you've got us! Are you going to come out and face us, or are we going to have to drag you out of there? Answer me!"
The giant screen showed their enemy's face again. "You are correct… my name is Dr. Raichi, and I am the last of the Tuffle race. Well… perhaps not even that. I am but a ghost now, the embodiment of my people's hatred for you… anyway." He adjusted something off-screen. "You will have your battle, saiyan. You will face the pinnacle of our technology… deploying Hatchiyak and Baby."
Goku raised an eyebrow. "Baby? Doesn't sound very threatening…"
Raichi chuckled. "Merely a private joke… I once referred to the project as my 'baby'… it seemed to dislike this name, and its discomfort amuses me. So the name stuck. In any case, you three appear to be an overall more powerful group than the saiyans I'd previously captured, hence why I am sending them both. Hatchiyak alone was sufficient for these three."
"All right… here they come!" Goku growled, as he and Vegeta entered fighting stances. Broly just folded his arms, turning Super Saiyan nonchalantly. Hatchiyak strode out of the tower's entrance, gems burning green and emitting a constant pulsing stream of ki, followed by a smaller figure, murderous intent evident in his red-framed eyes.
Goku did a double-take. "Gohan?!"
Chapter 55: None Shall Pass
Gohan and Hatchiyak stalked forwards, silhouetted against the light from within the tower.
"What the hell is this?" Goku asked. "Where's this Baby? What's Gohan doing?"
"I think…" Vegeta muttered. "… the kid is Baby. Look at him-his face. He looks savage."
"I see…"
"You…" Broly rumbled, recognising Gohan. "You're the one…" His body started to shake.
"NO! MORE! I WON'T LET YOU!"
"Grrr… rrrr… I'll…"
"YOU HEAR ME, BROLY?! NO MORE!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Broly screamed, his sanity slipping away as he once again became the Legendary Super Saiyan, muscles filling out, aura taking on its green tone.
"I… see…" Vegeta took a step back. "He is something…"
Goku braced himself, knowing he could hardly rely on the other saiyans to be anything approaching allies-they just happened to have a larger score to settle with Raichi than they did with each other for the time being. It's begun…
Broly roared, charging straight at Gohan, but Hatchiyak stepped in from the side, his punch taking Broly by surprise and launching him away into the dirt.
+++Primary Threat Identified: Highest Power Level Located+++
+++Neutralising+++
Broly flipped himself up and away as Hatchiyak ran at him, swinging another punch, bringing his elbow up into its face. "So, I have to get through you first? Fine!" The two huge warriors flew off to the right, viciously hammering each other with powerful strikes.
Goku and Vegeta kept their attention on Gohan as he approached. "Baby, I presume," Vegeta said, unmoving.
Gohan smirked, turning Super Saiyan as he did so. "Correct. Hatchiyak over there is the pinnacle of our combat technology, in terms of brute force… I, on the other hand, am the ultimate infiltrator. Careful-I might possess you two next. Then it's a simple matter of having you commit suicide, which isn't difficult when I have complete control over your minds and bodies…" He spoke with Gohan's voice, but at a slightly higher pitch, and a sense of arrogance pervaded his speech.
"Still," Goku replied, "I know for one thing that you can't just control us any time you want, or you'd have already done it. There's got to be some kind of trigger."
"Hmph." Gohan's eyes narrowed. "You're mistaken if you think that little deduction will save you. You still don't know what the trigger is -and if I fail, Hatchiyak will not. Not to mention…" he paused, grinning. "No, actually I won't mention it. Don't want to ruin the suspense."
"Let my son go! This is the only warning you get!"
"Is that so?" Gohan raised an arm, firing an energy beam straight at Goku, who vanished, appearing behind Gohan and kicking him in the head. Gohan stumbled forwards, but rolled with the motion, pushing off the ground with one hand and punching Goku in the stomach, knocking him away. Vegeta came flying in from above, and Gohan blocked his overhead kick, jumping away and raising his guard.
"I see…" Goku stepped up next to Vegeta. "That's partly Gohan's fighting style, but part of it must be Baby's-he's a lot more skilled than usual."
"Don't waste my time with useless information!" Vegeta charged in again, ducking Gohan's quick jab and responding with an uppercut that launched Gohan into the air. He raised one hand. "I'll finish this right now-BIG BANG ATT-"
"NO!" Goku rocketed in from behind, tackling Vegeta to the floor before he could fire.
"What the hell are you doing, Kakarot?" Vegeta growled, kicking Goku off him. "This is no time for sentimentality-he's the enemy now!"
"Let's get one thing clear, Vegeta. If you try to kill my son again… you won't live to regret it."
"Oh, is that a threat?" Vegeta laughed. "I should warn you, if you want to take me on as well as this creature… this isn't anything like my full power. If I were to go all-out, taking the both of you down would be like swatting insects."
"Is that so?" Goku smiled. No reason to show him Super Saiyan 2 until I have to… might as well wait and see. "Excuse me if I don't believe you. The power you're using now is already much greater than anything I've seen or heard from you before."
"Then allow me to demonstrate." Vegeta sunk into a lower stance, a faraway look entering his eyes. "Are you ready, clown… to witness a power not seen for thousands of years?!"
"What are you-"
"HYAAAAAH!" Vegeta's ki skyrocketed, the planet shook, and blue sparks surrounded his body. Flares of golden light arced out from his aura, melting the ground where they touched it. "Now do you see? The sleeper has awakened! I am the prince of all saiyans once again!"
Goku braced himself against the waves of force emanating from Vegeta. "You don't say… heh."
"What's so funny?!" Vegeta demanded. "I'm about to destroy your son, what's funny about that?"
"You think you're the only one who can hide his power? That's funny… my turn now. HRRRAAAAAAH!" He reached within, finding his Super Saiyan 2 power and pulling it to the surface. "You're not the only one here with hidden depths."
"What the… no… you can't… !" Vegeta was at a loss. "Why?! Why is it that every time I rise to new heights of power… you're always there! You're one step ahead of me! It's like I'm climbing a mountain… and just when I think I've achieved something by reaching the summit, there you are waiting for me with that damned smile of yours, you and your idiot brother!" His fists trembled with fury. "Make no mistake… when I've dealt with Raichi, you're next! Do you hear me?"
Gohan scowled as he floated down towards them. "Easy though I am to overlook, monkeys, I am still here, and trying to kill you, lest you forget. According to this one's memories, he is also capable of this 'Super Saiyan 2' form. I see it is time to utilise it."
"What?!" Vegeta spluttered. "The child too!"
"Haaaaaa… yaaaaaagh…" Red sparks began to crackle up and down Gohan's aura as his hair stood up on end. He seemed to be having some difficulty transforming, beads of sweat trickling down his face. "… aaaaa AAAAA AAAAHH !" Blue bio-electricity began to appear too, mingling with the red. Whenever they touched, both would vanish with a hiss and a pop. More and more blue sparks began to appear, finally overwhelming and completely eliminating the red. Gohan fell to his knees as if struck, and the red rings vanished from around his eyes. "D… dad?" he looked up, wide-eyed. "Dad! Don't get cut!" he blurted out, pointing to a small cut on his neck. "It enters your body through your bloodstream and takes you over!"
"It's okay, son." Goku helped Gohan up. "I guess something about Super Saiyan 2's aura reacts badly to Baby… is it dead?"
"No…" Gohan indicated the tower. "It has a main body in there. It's still got control of the other two, anyway."
"Right." Goku looked around. "Hey, Vegeta-how's Broly doing over there?"
Vegeta indicated the blur of movement a few metres away. "See for yourself." Metal and muscle collided again and again, one unwilling to surrender or back down, the other mechanically incapable of doing so. The collisions rang out across the plain, until finally Broly's aura dimmed slightly. His movements began to slow, while Hatchiyak's remained as fast and precise as ever. Broly staggered away, panting. "Let me through… damn it! Get out of my way!"
Hatchiyak simply looked passively at the outclassed saiyan, then raised one hand, leaving its other arm hanging by its side. The message was clear: I'll beat you with this one hand.
+++Intimidation Delivered; Awaiting Emotional Response+++
"You… you make fun of me?!" Broly roared. "I AM THE LEGENDARY WARRIOR!" He swung an overhead hammer-fist, but Hatchiyak caught it one-handed, swinging around and sending Broly into an uncontrolled spin. Hatchiyak stepped in, punching Broly square in the face. Broly fell back, landing in the dirt. Hatchiyak crouched down, and ignoring the feral saiyan's ineffective attempts to counter-attack, proceeded to calmly and methodically beat Broly senseless with the same hand. It took over two minutes of relentless punching, but he wasn't in any hurry. Finally, Broly's movements stopped completely. His head slumped back, his aura faded and he shrank visibly as he receded into his base form, unmoving.
+++"Broly" Incapacitated+++
+++Finish? Y/N+++
Deep within the tower, Dr. Raichi tapped the N key on his control panel.
+++Acknowledged. Proceeding to Secondary Targets+++
Dr. Raichi steepled his fingers. "So, this 'Super Saiyan 2' repels my Baby? If that's the case… I may need you yet, Broly…"
"Uh-oh." Goku steeled himself as Hatchiyak lumbered towards them. "Broly's down, guys. Looks like we're next."
"I knew we should have helped Broly!" Vegeta snapped. "We could have taken that thing by surprise!"
"Get between those two? No thanks. It would have done us more harm than good." Goku shot a questioning glance at Vegeta. "Hey, do you mind if I have a crack at this guy first? I want to see what he's made of."
"Go ahead, knock yourself out," Vegeta grunted. "I'm only excited about the prospect of killing Raichi himself; his puppets don't concern me. But I'll be watching, in case you fail and I have to show you how a real saiyan fights…"
"All right, you do that. And Gohan, make sure you keep Super Saiyan 2 up-as long as you stay transformed, Baby can't control you."
Gohan nodded. "I'll try. But I've never maintained it for long before…"
"Just do your best." Goku turned to face Hatchiyak's approaching form. "Now, as for you… show me what you've got."
Hatchiyak stomped up to Goku, lunging at him. Goku jumped back, easily avoiding the swing. The machine punched again, and Goku caught its forearm in both hands, swinging it over his head and smashing it into the ground behind him. "Hah! Nice try, but you're too slow to catch me."
Hatchiyak recovered quickly, spinning around and leading with a low kick, followed by a double-handed swipe. Neither hit their target, Goku darting around the attacks and closing the distance for a flying kick to Hatchiyak's chest, sending it flying into the wall of the tower. He grinned, rubbing his leg where it ached from striking the robot's armour. "Hey, feel free to give up any time you like."
Hatchiyak lumbered out of the shadow of the tower, still expressionless, but now visibly damaged. Silently, it crossed it arms in front of its body, the glow in its gems growing in intensity. Without warning, its ki shot up for an instant, then it released the gathered energy in a massive emerald blast, leaving a cone-shaped crater in the ground in front of it… except for one section, upon which Goku stood, one still-smoking hand held out to block the attack. "Not bad. I've had worse." Seeing Goku unharmed, Hatchiyak reassessed the situation.
+++Report: Energy Supply at 97%. Armour at 85%. Estimate 20-50% disadvantage in current combat+++
+++Conclusion: Current situation untenable+++
+++Activating Alpha Protocol+++
Hatchiyak's image began to shimmer, slowly separating out into two Hatchiyak's, three, four. It kept splitting, dividing, growing in number until a whole horde of copies surrounded Goku.
"Well… this is new." Goku looked from one to the next. "They aren't afterimages-they all have Hatchiyak's ki… but if it's the Multi-Form technique, I've never seen it used on this kind of scale… what's more, his ki doesn't seem to have gone down at all!" He took in a deep breath, preparing to attack. "I can fight one of him, but this is a completely different story… oh well, here goes! Hyaaa!" He leapt, charging the nearest Hatchiyak and punching straight through it-but it dissipated into smoke. "Wha-" Another one came up behind him, kicking him in the back. Goku hissed, turning to face it. "I see-that's the only real one! Now where…" It was already gone, lost amidst a sea of copies. "Damn it! Which one?"
I'm not going to get anywhere just hitting them one at a time… He spread his arms and began firing small ki blasts in all directions, turning as he fired, dissipating dozens of clones. He kept firing until finally, one of the blasts hit something solid. "There!" He rocketed forwards, drawing back his fist, but the real Hatchiyak effortlessly created a swarm of new copies to replace the destroyed ones, and they all rushed him at once, flying straight at his face and blocking his view. "Get out of my way!" he yelled, throwing out a wave of energy around his body and blasting away all the copies at once. However, at that exact moment, the real Hatchiyak flew up behind him, smashing an elbow into his shoulder and knocking him to the ground. "Ugh!" Goku skidded to a halt, standing up straight and scanning the many images of Hatchiyak floating above him. "Well, this is just great. How am I supposed to beat this guy now?"
"Dad!" Gohan called. "Just get his attention for a few more seconds! I've got an idea!"
"Uh…" Goku shrugged. "Sure."
Vegeta snorted. "Oh, I can't wait to see what kind of brilliant strategy the small child here comes up with," he deadpanned.
"Anyone ever tell you to shut your mouth?" Goku shouted over to Vegeta as he charged the mass of Hatchiyaks again.
"Frequently. They don't tend to live long, though."
Goku began a chain of quick, short-range attacks that scattered Hatchiyak clones like leaves, but every few seconds the real one would sneak up on him and land a heavy blow, before vanishing back into the swarm. "Hurry up, Gohan! I can't keep this up forever!"
Gohan nodded. "All right!" All beings with an unusually high power level have a flicker of a fifth-dimensional presence… took me a while to find his. The clones can fool ki sense with some kind of artificial interference, but only one of them has this presence… and I've found it. He leapt into the air, aura blazing gold, and soared into the centre of the group of Hatchiyaks. "I've got you!" He slammed into the real Hatchiyak, pummeling it with a barrage of rapid punches and kicks. It didn't take long for one particularly damaging attack to send Hatchiyak plummeting to the ground, landing with a solid thump. There was a slight whirring noise as its clones disappeared and it stood up, sparks flying from several cracked armour segments.
"Awesome, Gohan!" Goku gave a thumbs-up. "But how did you know which one it was?"
"Kind of a long story… I'll tell you later. It's to do with a new technique I've learned." Gohan turned to face Hatchiyak. "Hold on, it's doing something…"
+++Alpha Protocol Ineffective+++
+++Report: Energy supply at 92%. Armour at 68%+++
+++Odds of victory under current circumstances rapidly approaching 0+++
+++Activating Beta Protocol+++
A low hum began to emanate from Hatchiyak. Its outline started to glow a bright green.
"Uh…" Goku took a few steps back. "Is it just me, or… is it getting bigger?"
"Your powers of observation stagger me," Vegeta muttered as he watched Hatchiyak grow to at least five times its previous size, massively dwarfing all of them. "Now, I suggest we-MOVE!" The three saiyans leapt back as Hatchiyak's gigantic fist crashed into the ground where they'd been standing moments ago.
"KAMEHAMEHA!" Gohan yelled as he fired the two-handed energy wave at Hatchiyak, who simply smacked it aside backhanded. Gohan lowered his hands, gaping. "It didn't have any effect at all! I don't like this… we may be outmatched here."
"Hmph. Speak for yourself." Vegeta floated up to hover next to him. "Look, kid, you may be at the second level of Super Saiyan as well, but don't think that puts you in the same league as me! I've trained hard to power up this form, as, I can see, has your father! You on the other hand, have been slacking off, it seems." He pointed to himself, smiling. "So why don't you just stand back and let a real warrior handle this."
Vegeta sprinted along the ground, Hatchiyak's figure looming ever closer on the horizon as he closed in. A giant hand swung down again, and Vegeta jumped, landing on Hatchiyak's wrist and running along it. "All right, you metal freak! You're about to see what happens when you go up against the prince of saiyans!" Reaching the shoulder, he formed an energy ball in one hand and slammed it right into Hatchiyak's neck, making it stumble sideways. One hand reached up to swat him off its shoulder, but he was already moving, backflipping back down to the ground. He swept his hand sideways, forming a semicircular arc of yellow energy that snaked along the ground, colliding with Hatchiyak's ankles at great speed. Hatchiyak tripped, almost righted itself, then finally toppled over as the energy arc exploded, blasting Hatchiyak off its feet.
Vegeta stood triumphantly over his downed enemy. "Do you understand now? Your size means nothing."
Hatchiyak pushed off the ground with one hand, launching itself at Vegeta, reaching out to grab him with the other hand. Vegeta grinned. "Yes, that's right. Come and get it." He jumped into the air, wrapping his arms around Hatchiyak's outstretched forearm at the wrist, so thick his arms couldn't reach all the way around it. Anchoring himself to it with his ki, he heaved on the monstrous machine, and with a mighty effort lifted it clear off the ground, swinging it around and around. "YAAAAH!" After the fourth spin, he let go, Hatchiyak flying off into a nearby mountain and reducing it to rubble. Vegeta soared up into the air above it, thrusting his hand out downwards.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!" The silvery sphere of energy burst forth from his palm, arcing down and colliding with Hatchiyak full-force before detonating. Goku grunted, shielding himself from the shockwave.
Vegeta lowered himself to the ground, his Super Saiyan 2 aura pulsing gently, sparks crackling like liquid fire. "Such is the fate of all who oppose me."
Goku gaped. "Wow… what an attack! You've really improved, Vegeta!"
Vegeta sighed. "Of course I have, you dolt! The last time you saw me, I wasn't even a match for Frieza's first form! Does stating the obvious run in your family, or is it just your hobby?"
Goku ignored him. "Hey, Gohan…" His head swung back and forth. "Uh, Gohan? Where'd he go?"
"Hold that thought," Vegeta growled. "That thing isn't finished yet."
"What?! But your attack was incredible! Give me a break!" Goku complained.
+++WARNING+++
Hatchiyak slowly rose from the wreckage, a vengeful titan blocking out the sun.
"We're in trouble…" Goku muttered. "It doesn't look happy!"
"Yes, I can see that!" Vegeta snapped.
+++This Unit in Danger of Total Systems Failure+++
"KA…"
"Huh? Where is that coming from?" Vegeta hissed.
"Sounds like Gohan…" Goku replied. But… where?"
+++Report: Power Supply at 48%. Armour at 35%+++
"ME…"
"Wait a minute…" Goku looked upwards. "I think I'm sensing his ki, but it's kind of faint."
"You're right!" Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "No, that can't be right… he's…"
+++Situation Critical. Protocol Beta Ineffective+++
"HA… ME…"
+++Activating-"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" A vibrant blue energy beam erupted out of Hatchiyak's chest, punching a gigantic hole straight through the robot. It froze, standing still for a moment as enough smoke to choke a city billowed out of the hole. Eventually, torturously slowly, it began to fall. It tumbled over backwards with a shriek of metal on stone, and this time it didn't move.
Gohan landed in front of the other two. "Hey, guys. Thanks for distracting it, Vegeta!"
"What… I…" Vegeta took in a deep breath, trying to calm down. "What the hell did you just do?"
"It's that new technique I mentioned," Gohan told them. "It's called Shifting." Concentrating briefly, he Shifted to behind them, causing them to start in surprise, swivelling to face him. "I just used it to teleport inside it while Vegeta was keeping it busy. And before you ask, it's not like Instant Transmission, no. I don't have to lock on to an energy signal, but it's much more short-ranged."
+++R.R. .Report: Power Supply 12%. AAAAArmour^_&^%&*($&$^%&
+++Armour: 3%+++
+++WARNING: SITUATION CRITICAL+++
"So how exactly did that tell you which Hatchiyak was real earlier?" Vegeta asked irritably.
"Uh… it's kind of complicated. Science and, uh, stuff."
"Never mind, then!" He turned away from Gohan. "I don't recall asking for your help."
"I don't recall asking you to invade my home planet."
"Uh, guys…" Goku held a hand up for silence. "Does anybody else hear that?"
+++Activating Gamma Protocol+++
Chapter 56: Fearless
"All right." Goku patted his son on the back. "Good work, guys. So, uh, Gohan… shall we go?" He'd thought he heard something-some kind of clicking, whirring noise-but it seemed gone now.
"What's this?" Vegeta snarled. "Your enemy isn't beaten! You can't leave now!"
"This is a feud between saiyans and Tuffles," Goku said, shrugging. "I don't consider myself a saiyan. It's none of my concern. I was only here to rescue my son."
"You are mistaken." Raichi's voice boomed from the screen on the tower. "None of you will be leaving alive. You have made several fatal mistakes." He paused, turning to some device next to him and examining it. "The first is assuming that you have beaten Hatchiyak."
Goku gulped. "You know… I don't like the sound of that."
"For once, I find myself agreeing with you," Vegeta muttered.
+++Gamma Protocol Activated+++
+++Continue Primary Objective: Terminate Saiyans+++
"Is that…"
"Don't tell me…"
Gohan took a step back. "It's still alive…" The silhouette that approached from the ruins of a once-mighty mountain seemed different somehow. It was back to normal size, for one thing, no longer in its giant form. More detail became clear as it drew closer-it seemed to be completely undamaged, having totally repaired itself. Its 'shoulderpads' jutted out a few feet from its body, and overall its armour had grown bulkier and more imposing, further increasing its impressive size. Each main gem was now ringed by smaller, blue gems.
"Huh." Vegeta grinned, trying not to let his doubts show. "So it put on some more armour and fixed itself. Doesn't matter-we can just kill it again. This thing is out of its league against even one of us. Who wants to-" Hatchiyak's gems fired up, blazing green and bathing them in its glow. Its ki reappeared, growing at an insane rate and finally settling at a level even higher than theirs. "Ah… hhh… uh… wha…"
"That…" Goku breathed, "… is the highest power level I've ever sensed. And I could beat Frieza by looking at him funny."
"Okay…" Gohan tried to calm his mind. Nobody's unbeatable. We haven't even started to fight… we're far from beaten. "KA… ME… HA… ME…" He stared into Hatchiyak's eyes as he charged his attack. The robot responded by raising one hand to block as it advanced. As expected. The idiot.
Without warning, Gohan's image scattered into the wind, reassembling directly behind Hatchiyak. "HAAA!" He released the attack, throwing it directly into the Tuffle machine's back, engulfing it in blue light.
"Now!" Goku shouted, and he and Vegeta leapt forwards to follow up on Gohan's surprise attack. "Hit him hard-gaaahk!" Hatchiyak barrelled towards them out of the glow of the Kamehameha wave, completely unharmed, flinging both arms out and slamming one into each Super Saiyan's neck. It stopped its charge there, launching a spinning back kick that sent Gohan flying. The three fighters hit the ground almost simultaneously.
Gohan lifted himself from the dirt, head pounding. Maintaining Super Saiyan 2 was difficult enough, but doing so while trying to hold back the rage that went hand-in-hand with the untrained version of the form was a monumental effort. He could already feel his control starting to slip-and he certainly wasn't going to revert back to a lower form to avoid it, not with Baby still a threat. "Dad! I'm gonna… lose control… !"
"That's not too bad," Goku replied, feeling blood trickle down his arm as he stood. "At least we're in battle… you have somebody to focus your anger on if you lose it. Still… try and stay calm. You come up with some pretty good plans when you're thinking straight."
"I… I'll try!"
Vegeta braced himself. "This is hardly the time for a father-son talk! Here it comes!" Hatchiyak was running at him, deceptively fast for such a huge machine. Vegeta tensed up, springing into action at the last moment and landing a swift punch to Hatchiyak's face. It didn't seem to notice, bringing both arms down and smacking the prince to the floor. Goku ran in from behind, putting his weight into a shoulder charge that made Hatchiyak stumble forwards. Vegeta, pushing himself upwards, swung both feet up into Hatchiyak's relatively unarmoured stomach, hurling it into the air. Gohan appeared above it, smashing it to the ground two-handed.
"Don't give it time to recover!" Vegeta yelled. The three saiyans formed up above Hatchiyak's prone form, unleashing a continuous stream of energy bullets. After over ten seconds of this onslaught, Hatchiyak finally managed to escape, jumping unsteadily away. Its impact on the rock behind as it landed threw out cracks around it as it attempted to regain its balance.
Leaning over his console, Dr. Raichi had a moment of doubt. Hatchiyak's visibly damaged… even in its Gamma form! I may have severely underestimated these Super Saiyans…
Hatchiyak crossed its arms, the light in the gems on its forearm brightening. It hung there for a few seconds, almost motionless.
"Whatever it's doing-don't let it!" Vegeta ordered. The trio flew full-speed at their enemy, but before they could reach it, it finished charging up, unleashing its blast again. This was the same energy wave it had used on Goku before, but now far more potent, flinging them all back like rag dolls and laying waste to the whole area in front of Hatchiyak.
"Urgh…" Goku heaved a fallen rock off of himself. "Gotta do something about that one… seems like we can just about take it when all three of us work together…" he flared up his aura, facing Hatchiyak's oncoming form. "But it seems to be pretty good at separating us-" he tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough to avoid Hatchiyak's knee, which struck him on the chin, hurling him into the air. He landed next to Gohan and Vegeta, both still recovering.
"Dad-he's charging up again!" Gohan warned. Hatchiyak was indeed in its charge posture, gems burning green.
"Damn it all!" Vegeta took off, trying to fly out of range. Gohan immediately Shifted away, appearing several metres behind Hatchiyak. Goku, however, was still reeling from the last blow, and took the second blast full-force, disappearing in the cloud of smoke it threw up.
"You…" Something seemed to change behind Gohan's eyes. His rational mind finally gave in. "… LEAVE MY DAD ALONE!"
+++Alert: Significant Power Increase Detected+++
Hatchiyak backed away, catching Gohan's fist and throwing him overhead. Gohan spun in the air, turning back and flying back at Hatchiyak. It sidestepped, kicking him out of the air, but he kicked off the ground, blasting Hatchiyak at point-blank range with a two-handed energy bolt. It was undamaged, but momentarily off-balance, and Gohan kept up his attack, unrelenting, coming at it from every angle.
Vegeta, watching this take place, was about to rush Hatchiyak from behind, when something strange caught his attention. He dropped to the ground, next to the clearing smoke cloud where Goku's figure was becoming visible. "Hey, Kakarot. You weren't as unprepared for that attack as you pretended to be, were you?"
Goku, emerging from the smoke, shook his head. "Nope. I blocked it at the last second."
"Thought so. You barely lost any energy at all. But why the pretence? Were you trying to get the brat to use his full power?"
"No, actually. He's still not as powerful as either of us… he's keeping up the pressure on Hatchiyak, but he won't last long." Goku looked over at Gohan and Hatchiyak, still fighting. "Actually, I was trying to get a good look at that blast it has. Its defences drop while it's charging… we can use that. I just need to know exactly how long it takes, and I didn't quite get it last time. But, if you could get its to launch it at you just once while I wasn't in the firing line…"
"Understood. I'll lure it into a shooting match." Vegeta took off again, flying straight at Hatchiyak. "Just don't screw this up, or we're all dead!" As he neared the metal monster, it unflinchingly withstood a kick to the head from Gohan, smacking him away backhanded. Just then, Vegeta cannoned into it from the side, staggering it away. It turned to face him, and he immediately retreated, charging up an energy attack between his hands. Hatchiyak began to do the same, and Goku watched intently, counting the seconds.
One… two… three… four…
Vegeta grinned, feeling the energy sparking between his hands. This should be plenty. Kakarot won't even get his shot-I'll finish it now! He threw his hands forwards. "GALICK GUN!"
… nine… ten… eleven… twelve…
The beam flew straight and true, coming within inches of Hatchiyak, before-
… fifteen… sixteen!
-it opened its arms wide, firing the beam. It carved through Vegeta's Galick Gun as if it wasn't even there, smashing into him and throwing him to the floor.
"Gah!" He hissed, as he felt the intense heat of Hatchiyak's ki scorching his body. "Kakarot… I hope you're happy! Kill this son of a bitch already!"
"All right." Goku took a deep breath as Hatchiyak approached. He beckoned with one finger. "Come get me."
Hatchiyak, stony-faced, crossed its arms and began to charge up.
"Hyaaah!" Goku's aura flared up around him, his body filling with energy. I have to the count of fifteen to attack… his defences are down before he fires.
"Huh?" The strange energy his father was emitting snapped Gohan out of his rage. What's Dad doing? It feels like he's filling his whole body with energy, not just focusing it for an attack… is this some kind of new technique? And this energy… it feels like… the Kaioken? Only not quite. What is he doing? Even our strongest attacks haven't done any kind of serious damage to this thing!
Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Goku's entire body began to shake. Flame-like red arcs of energy swirled in his aura. He grit his teeth, his eyes wild. "Haaaaaa… aaaaaahhh… hrrrr…"
What is this, Kakarot? Vegeta wondered, looking on. You can't control that level of power for fighting! There's no point just summoning up that much energy if you're not going to use an energy attack-and if you're going to do that, start concentrating it already! Damn it, you're going to get us all killed!
"Hyaaaa… !" Ten. Eleven. "Hah!" Goku's eyes narrowed. "Okay!" In a sudden, almost jerky movement, he swung his hands down, a swirling vortex of red and blue energy pulsing into life between them. Twelve. The energy simply flowed out of his body, into the attack, in an instant. "Here's a little technique I've been practicing. TIMES-TEN…" Thirteen.
+++Error: Power Level exceeds this unit's capability to detect it; Sensor overload imminent+++
Fourteen. " KAMEHAMEHA! " Straightening out his arms, Goku launched the blue-and-red beam, which almost instantaneously grew to colossal size, completely swallowing Hatchiyak. Instruments in Dr. Raichi's tower overloaded and exploded. What bodies of water existed on the desolate moon boiled and evaporated in a flash. The shockwaves cracked the foundations of the tower, and as they spread out completely levelled every one of the moon's mountains and cliffs. A passing asteroid was shattered into tiny fragments, utterly obliterated as the gigantic attack spread its destruction out into space like ripples through a pond (coincidentally saving the inhabitants of a nearby world, who would have all been killed by the asteroid had it continued its path unhindered).
There were no damaged, burning fragments of Hatchiyak. There was no clang as a last, cracked portion of its armour hit the ground. The greatest war machine the finest scientific minds of the Tuffle race could produce was simply gone. Obliterated. Atoms scattered to the wind.
Goku sighed as he settled to the ground. Actually… I'm surprised that didn't take more out of me… I guess I did take my time charging it.
"Where did that come from?!" Vegeta accused, landing next to Goku, Gohan not far behind. "For a second there, you were putting out energy that made Hatchiyak look like nothing!"
"Yeah!" Gohan added. "How did you do that?"
Goku leaned over, putting one hand on his son's shoulder. "Well, Gohan, remember Krillin's 'Kaiohameha' trick? Where he just focused the Kaioken into an attack, rather than power his strength and speed and so on, so he could make it even more concentrated and raise its power even more?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, that's what came to mind when I was thinking about that 'Super Kaioken' I tried against Cell. I couldn't sustain it for long enough to be effective. So I took Krillin's approach, and it's much, much easier that way-but I seem to have hit a limit at a Kamehameha times ten. Can't seem to go any higher."
"You do realise I don't know what you're talking about?" Vegeta said irritably. "In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been around when all these things you're talking about happened!"
"Oh, sure. But I was just talking to Gohan." Goku brushed him off. "Honestly, I don't care if you don't understand."
"Why, you… !"
"Your attention, please." Dr. Raichi's voice echoed throughout the now-flat landscape, now with some static interference thanks to the tremendous electromagnetic burst Goku's attack had thrown out. "I will remind you that I am not defeated yet. If I may remind you of the stakes…" The camera swung around, displaying the still-possessed Tarble and Paragus on the screen. "Baby, if you will?"
"Yes?" A harsh voice rasped from off-screen, the words simultaneously being spoken by Paragus and Tarble as well.
"The one-eyed one. Stop his heart," Raichi commanded, and on cue, Paragus collapsed, silently spasming, then falling still after several seconds. The red ring faded from his eye, and a faint sigh escaped Baby, who from the sound of things was standing right next to the camera, only just out of view. "Now." Raichi looked back at the camera. "If any of you try to leave, this one's death-" he indicated Tarble. "-will not be as quick. Perhaps I shall have him try to eat himself. You are to enter the tower, and we will continue our battle inside. Our science will overcome your strength, and I will at last… rest."
The saiyans were totally silent as they entered the tower, passing under the cavernous archway and into the gloom within. Their breath was visible, but the chill of the refrigerated interior was staved off by the heat of their auras.
"I'd just like you to know, Kakarot…" Vegeta whispered, "… in case we die in here… that you are the bane of my existence."
"And you…" Goku replied. "… of all the people I've met, you are the most hard-headed, arrogant moron ever to walk the universe."
Gohan smiled, supressing a laugh at the adults' bickering, before sinking back into his thoughts. We should make this quick… I don't know if I can maintain Super Saiyan 2 much longer. And the longer it goes on, the more likely I'll snap like I did back then against Hatchiyak…
"So what's your deal, anyway?" Goku asked loudly, staring defiantly up at the unlit ceiling. "I thought the saiyans killed your race."
"And I thought Frieza killed yours…" Came the distant reply. "Still, I may as well tell you. Your executioners are not quite combat-ready yet… it will pass the time." Raichi cleared his throat. "It's true that we lost the war, that night of the full moon. But our scientists, even in those last days, were still hard at work, hoping for a miracle with which to drive back the monsters besieging us. Our King had entrusted the bulk of this task to me and my brilliant colleague, Dr. Myuu. He was killed by a saiyan scout party while en route to the capital, and his great work-Baby-was left unfinished. I, meanwhile, was working on Hatchiyak, but had to leave that too incomplete when I realised it was simply not possible to have it combat-ready in time to save us, as the full moon spelled our doom. So I quickly re-activated an earlier experiment-a machine, powered by a substance of my own creation I called Destron Gas, which would create the perfect soldiers-Ghost Warriors."
"Ghost Warriors?" Goku listened, wide-eyed, as he heard the history of his home planet, so long hidden from him. Is he… really the bad guy here? Can I blame him for wanting payback for his whole species? Wouldn't I want Frieza destroyed…?
"Indeed. The machine draws on souls in the afterlife, using their hatred for an enemy-in this case, the saiyans-as an anchor. I sent a rocket with this machine, plus the incomplete Baby and Hatchiyak onboard, away to a safe, uninhabited planet. Then, when a giant, transformed saiyan crushed me underfoot, the machine pulled me back to the land of the living in this form. I am the prototype Ghost Warrior… and… ahh, I see the newer models are now ready. These, you will find, look exactly as they did in life-my somewhat disturbing appearance is due to the outdated process of my resurrection. I have also taken steps to increase the fighting power of these Ghost Warriors by a great deal-you may find them more challenging opponents than you did the first time around."
"I have a feeling we're about to meet some old 'friends'," Vegeta muttered, glancing from right to left. "Come on, show yourself!" They promptly did so.
The Ghost Warriors emerged from the shadows, leering grins plastered on their faces. They spread out in a row, slowly advancing. Frieza. Cooler. Cell. Bojack. Lord Slug.
Goku tried to come up with a taunt, a boast, something-anything to boost his confidence. "I, uh… I got nothing."
"We're going to die, aren't we?" Gohan backed away, trembling.
Vegeta sighed. "It wouldn't surprise me."
Chapter 57: The Hateful Dead
The tension was almost audible in the otherwise-silent chamber as the three Super Saiyans faced off against the five Ghost Warriors. No-one moved.
That one, Frieza thought, examining Goku, he's changed his hair, but it's him… the one who stood up to me on Namek. Oh, and Vegeta too… this is going to be good…
Fully aware that the frost demon was probably thinking along those lines, Goku took a deep breath. Lots of old foes here! Better stay on guard… He focused on Cooler, remembering Namek… a simple hand gesture… oblivion.
Meanwhile, Cooler's narrowed eyes flicked back and forth between his three opponents. Those eyes… ! Super Saiyans. But… not Raditz… and not the one who killed me on Earth, either. Interesting…
Noticing Cooler's discomfort, Vegeta's mouth twitched upwards in a half-smile. Excellent… today, I will claim what was denied to me… the glory of defeating Frieza! And I see that pirate's back for more… fine. I don't mind killing him again.
Directly opposite him, Bojack flexed his biceps. Time to die, Vegeta!
Standing next to the Hera-jin, Slug glared hatefully at Gohan. That child is going to pay for what he did to me!
Unaware of the stream of silent malice being directed his way by the evil Namekian, Gohan gulped. Cell was powerful enough when he was alive… what are we in for now?
Drinking in the atmosphere-the fear, the tension-Cell grinned maliciously. This time, Son Goku, I will not fall so easily! Ah, and I see you've brought some friends… Gohan and I will finally be able to settle our sadly-averted battle… and I've always wanted to see the fabled prince Vegeta in action.
"Well," said Goku, breaking the silence, "if Raichi wanted people who hated the saiyans… he chose pretty well. Looks like we're not leaving here without a fight, so-let's go!"
"Well spoken!" Cell chuckled, vanishing in a burst of super-speed. The other seven fighters quickly followed, collisions echoing through the tower as the battle began.
Frieza made straight for Goku, who only dodged his charge at the last second, retaliating with a downwards elbow that knocked Frieza sprawling to the floor. The frost demon pulled himself up, muscles bulging out as he burst into his 100% mode almost instantaneously. "Come here, monkey!"
"If you say so!" Goku dived down at Frieza, aiming both fists at his enemy's torso. Frieza's hands swiped up, catching Goku's punches. They dug their feet into the floor, pushing against each other two-handed, their ki flaring around them. "Is this really the same guy?!" Goku grunted. If he'd been this strong on Namek, we'd have stood no chance at all! He pulled his hands away, ducking and throwing a low kick that smashed into Frieza's shins, sweeping the tyrant off his feet. No sooner had this happened than Cell came barreling in from behind. Goku jumped back as Cell's fist crashed into the floor, shattering the metal beneath it.
"I've got no doubt you're gonna be the toughest of the lot, Cell…" Goku said, grinning slightly at the prospect of the challenge. "Guess I'll have to go all-out!" He powered up to maximum, the force of his ki hurling Frieza-just coming in from behind for a sneak attack-away.
"Then I suppose I should return the favour!" Cell's aura billowed up around him, peppered with Super Saiyan 2-like sparks. "Ready when you are."
"Yaaah!" Goku flung a golden energy ball overarm, detonating it on the ground at Cell's feet, forcing the bio-android to jump into the air to avoid it. Goku flew up to meet him, landing a solid punch to Cell's stomach. "Come on, Cell! I know you can do better than that!"
Vegeta smiled as he dodged Bojack's furious attacks, his arms folded over his chest, using the slightest of movements to dance just out reach of every swing. "Tch! And here I was hoping for a fight." Vegeta backflipped, bringing both feet up and kicking Bojack in the chin, knocking him flat on his back. Vegeta landed on the opposite side of Bojack, facing away from him and humming absent-mindedly. "Guess I was wrong."
"You were wrong…" Bojack growled, transforming to his bulked-up green form with surprising speed. "… to underestimate me!" He brought one hand forwards, launching a bright green energy wave that engulfed Vegeta, completely obscuring it in its light. Bojack chuckled as he lowered his hand. "Now what was it you just said? 'Here I was hoping for a fight'? I could say the same, fool!"
"Oh, you'll get one," Vegeta whispered, standing inches behind Bojack. As the space pirate whirled to face him, Vegeta slammed his knee up into the massive alien's gut, doubling him over. "Now, this is more like it!"
Gohan shut his eyes, feeling for the elusive ki signature. "Where is he…? He's moving so fast it's hard to keep track…"
"Right here!" Slug roared, leaping at Gohan from behind. Gohan calmly sidestepped, backhanding Slug into the wall, and resumed searching with his ki sense. "I wasn't talking about you. You don't have the skill to hide your energy effectively, no matter how fast you move."
"I, on the other hand!" Cooler yelled, emerging through the ground at Gohan's feet and landing a direct hit to the half-saiyan's face.
"Ah. There you are," Gohan said, barely noticing the blow. He grabbed Cooler's forearm in an iron grip, easily pulling the hand away from his face. "You, on the other hand, are pretty smart. Too bad you can't hurt me." Focusing a small kiai through his eyes, he sent Cooler skidding away from him, digging up deep rents in the floor with his feet and tail.
Cooler drew in quick, ragged breaths. "I see… impressive. But this is hardly my full power!" Again, like the others, his transformation to his armoured fifth form was almost instant. Gohan watched impassively. "So why are you attacking me, anyway?"
"You seemed to have the lowest power. The weakest link in the chain, so to speak… now, let's try it again!" He and Gohan raced off into the air, trading rapid blows.
"Hmm?" Raichi observed the battle through his monitor. "Slug seems to be the weakest of my Ghost Warriors… yet he was definitely more powerful than Frieza and Cooler in life… curious." He tapped a few buttons, running several scans. "Ah, I see. He was not actually killed by a saiyan-that must have interfered with the mechanism. Ah, well… it matters little. My Ghost Warriors cannot be defeated, as these saiyans will soon learn."
Goku and Cell flew circles around each other, firing barrages of small energy blasts that collided with each other, exploding in the air between them.
"Don't count me out!" Frieza yelled, rocketing up at Goku. The Super Saiyan jumped out of the way of Frieza's oncoming fist, kicking him away.
"You're getting on my nerves, Frieza!" Better finish him quickly. "Take-" putting on a burst of speed, he appeared right in front of Frieza, thrusting both hands forwards. "-THIS!" A two-handed explosion of golden energy blasted Frieza from point-blank range, blowing him to pieces. "Hah! One down."
"Your guard is down!" Cell shouted, racing up behind Goku as he was still distracted and punching him away. Goku landed on his feet, putting out one hand to steady himself before standing up straight.
"Nice try, but I'm still here," he said, raising his guard.
"And so am I!" Frieza's voice called from behind. Goku jumped sideways to avoid one of Frieza's trademark purple death beams, then turned to face Frieza, backing away to simultaneously keep an eye on Cell. Frieza's body, he noticed, was in the process of reforming from some dark gaseous substance. "You see this, monkey? We can't be killed-the Destron Gas will just rebuild us! This is a battle you cannot win!"
"Guys!" Goku shouted over to the others. He saw Vegeta standing over Bojack's body, which was rapidly disintegrating back into Destron Gas; and Gohan punching straight through Cooler's chest, then turning as Slug charged him and blasting him one-handed, destroying him too. "Careful!" Goku warned. "If you kill them, they'll just reform!"
"What?" Before Gohan could register this, Cooler and Slug re-appeared behind him, each grabbing one of his arms and together slamming him face-first into the wall.
"Gohan!" Goku tried to rush over to help his son, but found his path blocked by Frieza and Cell.
"Now, wherever do you think you're going?" Cell asked, charging energy in both hands.
"This is really starting to get old…" Goku complained, but before they could resume their battle, Bojack's body came flying in from behind, crashing into Frieza and sending them both tumbling down to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
"Vegeta!" Goku gave a thumbs-up. "Thanks!"
"Whatever." Vegeta saw Gohan struggling to fend off Cooler and Slug at the same time, vanished and appeared between them, wrapping his arm around Cooler's throat. He rocketed down at the floor, letting go at the last second and letting Cooler drive head-first into it. "Understand, I'm not doing you a favour. I have a score to settle with these bastards. Somebody take care of Bojack while I'm at it."
"The green one?" Gohan took advantage of Slug's surprise, swinging his arm back and taking the Ghost Warrior's head off with the flat of his hand. That should give me a few seconds before he comes back… "Sure, I got it." He appeared in front of Bojack, throwing a quick punch that the pirate blocked with some effort.
Goku and Cell's eyes locked. Without a word, they leapt at each other, joining battle once more.
"Well, now." Vegeta grinned, cracking his knuckles. "It seems you're immortal. Which means, while I try and think of a way of making you stay dead, I get to kill the two of you as many times as I like. I bet you still feel pain, right?"
Cooler glowered. "Don't get confident, ape. You're outnumbered-" he choked as Vegeta shoved his head into the ground, simultaneously kicking Frieza in the head and snapping his neck.
"Oh, yes." Vegeta chuckled as Cooler rolled away, coughing, and Frieza dissolved and reformed. "Remember the hell you put me through, Frieza? All those years? And what's more, I was denied my revenge, time after time! But today… I will end you!"
Gohan dodged a kick from Bojack, then caught and deflected a small energy blast. "Hmm… you're pretty good. But you're no Cell."
"You know, I wanted to kill Vegeta… guess I'll get to that." Bojack flashed his jagged teeth. "One monkey's as good as the next, after all!"
Gohan paused. Hold on… where's Slug? He should have come back by now… "That's it!" He blocked Bojack's elbow drop, shoving upwards and throwing the pirate over his shoulder. "Guys! I cut Slug's head off, and he stayed dead!"
"Can't just be decapitation," Vegeta muttered, indicating the frost demon brothers reforming behind him. "I've decapitated both of them, and they're still… eh?" He turned, seeing only Cooler had come back-Frieza was gone. "I see… wait a minute! I've got it! You saw Raichi's video, Kakarot? Slug had been-"
"Decapitated! Raichi had stuck his head on a pole!" Goku realised, twisting to avoid several quick attacks from Cell. He struck back, but Cell blocked, and they hung in the air momentarily before leaping off again, battling back and forth across the chamber.
"And now that I think about it…" Vegeta said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "… that's how you killed your brother originally, wasn't it, Cooler? That's what Frieza said when we fought him on New Namek. Evidently… we have to kill them the same way they originally died-then they can't regenerate!"
"Got it!" Gohan braced himself as Bojack barrelled towards him again. "Vegeta! How did you kill this guy?"
"Crushed his ribs." Vegeta ducked as Cooler's tail swiped at him. "And Cooler?"
Goku took a painful elbow strike to the chest, kicking Cell in the side even as he cried out. The combatants fell away from each other, and Goku took a deep breath, recovering his balance. "Well, Break finished him in the end… ripped him into pieces, I think."
"You think?!" Vegeta hissed. "I'm going to need better than that!" He turned as Cooler appeared above him, swinging his arms down in a two-fisted strike. Vegeta blocked with ease, then grabbed hold of a jutting piece of the frost demon's armour in each hand. "This is going to hurt you. And I'd like you to know that I'll take great pleasure from that." Cooler's only response was a frightened whimper as he desperately tried to flee.
Bojack snarled, firing a volley of green energy waves. Gohan ran straight at him, dodging and weaving through the deadly storm. Reaching Bojack, he jumped, swinging his knees forwards and ramming them right into the Ghost Warrior's chest, the impact punching straight through his skin and shattering his ribs, completely caving in his chest. Bojack fell away, arms flailing and blood gushing from the hole, then collapsed onto his back, dissolving into Destron Gas, and staying that way.
Goku settled to the ground, Cell opposite him. Both were breathing heavily, having continued their relentless battle as the other Ghost Warriors fell around them. Gohan and Vegeta stepped up on either side of Goku, eyeing Cell carefully.
A surge of Destron Gas flowed into Cell, rejuvenating him and healing his injuries. He stood up straighter, his aura burned brighter, and his breathing slowed. "Aaahh… that's better. Do you see now? I am once again the ultimate being… and now, I am indestructible!"
"You're a slave to Raichi," Goku pointed out. "Doesn't sound very much like you."
"For now…" Cell chuckled. "For now. As long as I have my perfect body, my quest to become the undisputed god of this universe continues! Admit it… you missed me, didn't you?"
"Looks like you've been having a wonderful time, these last few years," Vegeta said, clenching his fists. "I don't care who or what this is, so don't bother explaining. Just tell me how you killed it!"
Goku nodded. "Me and one other hit him with beam attacks from both sides."
"Good for you! Now, don't just stand there." Vegeta's aura whipped up around him, lighting up the gloomy chamber and burning away the mist. "Follow my lead!" He rushed Cell, opening with a series of quick punches, then when Cell blocked those, trying a sweeping trip, but the android jumped over it, aiming a high kick at Vegeta's head. The saiyan prince caught Cell's foot in both hands, pushing it away and renewing his attack.
"I see…" Goku smiled, understanding Vegeta's plan. "Gohan, get in position on the other side of Cell!"
"All right!" The two kind-hearted saiyans stood on opposite sides of Vegeta and his enemy as they continued to fight. Goku and Gohan moved and spoke simultaneously as they charged up their attacks. "KAME… HAME…"
We can't fire with Vegeta in the way! Goku thought grimly. Not only because it wouldn't be right-I'm kind of tempted to kill two birds with one stone here-but because he and Cell together could definitely block these attacks. I guess it wouldn't be fair, anyway. No, we need to let Vegeta get out of the way-and that means he has to get one more good hit in…
However, this was beginning to look unlikely. Cell was always as good as new, but the constant fighting was beginning to take its toll on Vegeta. He took a glancing hit to the face, lashing out with his right arm in a counter-punch, but Cell flicked his head to the side, casually avoiding it and landing a flat-handed blow to Vegeta's shoulder. The Super Saiyan growled, vision blurring, bringing his elbow down and his knee up at the same time to try and slip at least one through Cell's defences. However, it was to no avail; Cell's image flickered, and he was behind Vegeta, landing another punch to his back. Vegeta hung in the air, head bowed, silent as he struggled to stay conscious. Cell drew back his fist again. They daren't fire with him so close… I can finish this one off at my leisure! His arm swung forwards, perhaps a little slower than he normally would, given his enemy's lack of resistance. That was all Vegeta, feigning weakness, needed. He sprang into action, accelerating to full speed in under a second and kicking Cell's attacking arm out of the way, before throwing a solid punch into Cell's face, momentarily stunning the monster.
"Now!" Vegeta yelled, putting on a burst of speed as he escaped the blast zone.
"… HA!" Goku and Gohan fired, beams colliding on either side of Cell, stuck between them and with no time to dodge.
No… Cell mentally seethed. NO! Not again! I will not… be beaten… by these inferior biologicals! So close… so close to my goal… how did this happen-twice? Surely I could never be defeated by lesser beings… not in my perfect form! I… am perfect… am I not…?
Goku and Gohan sighed as they felt Cell's ki vanish, letting their attacks dissipate. "Okay…" Goku breathed. "I've had… just about all I can take… today."
"Agreed." Vegeta looked up towards the ceiling. "Raichi! I'm coming to destroy you! I'm going to finish what my father started, do you hear?"
"And rescue your brother, right?" Goku asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmph." Vegeta grunted. "That too, I suppose."
In his anxious state, Raichi had forgotten that his camera was still active, so the following scene was, unbeknownst to him, observed by the three saiyans below him, at ground level.
"Damn it all!" Raichi shrieked, pounding a fist on his control console. "The Ghost Warriors were meant to be my invincible army! The ultimate triumph of Tuffle science over saiyan brute strength! Baby!" he snapped, waving in the general direction of his final creation. Baby's main body was made of a light grey metal that shone in the dark control room, lit by some inner light. It was quite a bit shorter than the average human, and wore dark blue leggings and a gold metal jacket with red piping, along with matching bands on its wrists and ankles. An unusual formation on its head, a swept-forward lump of metal, gave the impression of hair, and its dark, almost rectangular eyes looked uncannily like sunglasses. "Deal with them!" Dr. Raichi ordered it.
"No."
Raichi paused. "I beg your pardon?" His eyes narrowed. "Would you care to rephrase that?"
"Fair enough." Baby shrugged. "No, you dried-out, shrivelled up old corpse."
" Baby !" Raichi roared. "This insubordination will not-"
" Stop calling me that !" Baby snapped.
"Well, what the hell do I call you then, you ungrateful little bucket of bolts?"
"How about…" it considered this. "… Dr. Myuu ."
Raichi froze, eyes widening. "W… what?"
"Yes, that's right." Baby-Dr. Myuu-grinned, drinking in Dr. Raichi's fear. "I've been waiting to see that look on your face for a long, long time, my dear friend. Now, fair warning, for old time's sake… I'm going to kill you."
"Wha… why?!" Raichi spluttered.
"Well, it could be because you neglected to resurrect me as a Ghost Warrior alongside yourself, not knowing, of course, that I'd implanted my consciousness into this machine you call Baby… it could be because you giving me orders all this time is really started to piss me off… but I think, in this case, it's actually going to have to be due to your sheer incompetence, with the might of our most powerful war machines at your command, in exterminating a mere three saiyans." Myuu glanced around. "Now… I don't know the exact circumstances of your death, but that's hardly necessary, when the Destron Gas machine is right over there." He raised one arm, forming a shimmering purple energy ball and aiming it at the machine across the room.
"N-No!" Raichi pleaded. "Please, Myuu… we're the last! Surely you wouldn't… you wouldn't kill your own kin…"
Having vented his frustration, Myuu's tone softened. He spoke calmly, almost apologetically. "You're already dead, Raichi. This isn't even you. All that's left is your hatred… that's what fuels the Destron Gas machine, remember? Only hate. You're just a shell of the man I knew. You probably don't remember, but you were a good man, once."
"Myuu! Don't… !"
"Goodbye, old friend." He fired, obliterating the machine. Howling with rage, Raichi dissolved into Destron Gas, which rapidly dissipated into the air. Myuu sighed. "And yet… it is not over. We are still at war. I will end it."
"Well, that was… interesting," Goku muttered, as Myuu vanished from the screen.
"So what?" Vegeta grumbled. "We've traded one Tuffle for another. Big deal."
"I don't know…" Gohan said. "This one doesn't seem so bad."
"In case you hadn't noticed, he still wants to kill us!" Vegeta snapped.
"Can't say I blame him," Goku pointed out. "I mean, saiyans did kill his whole species, he's looking for revenge. Sound familiar to you?"
"Can it, clown! I'm not here to debate morality with you!"
"Good," came a voice from the doorway. "Neither am I." They turned, fearful at the huge power level they were sensing, to see Broly standing there, seemingly unaffected by his earlier injuries.
"Dr. Myuu, right?" Goku said grimly.
"Indeed." Myuu-Broly nodded. He powered up, first to Super Saiyan, then to the Legendary form, the waves of power spreading out from his body cracking the doorway and bringing it down around him, but any rubble that fell towards him was disintegrated long before it reached his body. His Super Saiyan hair was white, rather than its usual gold or green, and red lines ran down his forehead to each eye, and a third from his mouth down his chin.
"What's with the new look?" Goku asked, as the three saiyans settled into fighting stances.
"I'm using Broly as a permanant host, seeing as I cannot take over the three of you," Myuu explained, taking a heavy step towards them. "You may think you have the measure of me… but only now am I displaying my true power. You will find me, I think, significantly more challenging to defeat than the Broly you know."
"Yeah, I guessed that." Goku set his jaw, mentally preparing himself. So, it all comes down to this… I only hope we're ready…
Chapter 58: Ancestral Rivalry
"Well, then," Dr. Myuu said through Broly's mouth, spreading his arms wide, "show me the power of your warrior race."
"Oh, I intend to." Vegeta kept his aura burning bright, sliding one foot back as he shifted to a half-crouch, like a sprinter on the starting line.
"Gohan! You ready for one more opponent?" Goku grinned at the prospect of taking on Broly again.
"I… I think so." Gohan steeled himself. I'm so tired from all this fighting… we're almost done! I have to keep going! They're both so calm… I won't be the only one to back down!
As one, the saiyans charged into battle.
Anyone outside-not that there was anyone outside-would have seen Broly enter the tower, then noticed everything go mysteriously quiet for a few minutes. Then, without warning, they'd have been bowled over by the enormous shockwave that rolled out from inside, shattering the foundations and collapsing the entire structure. At this point, had this imaginary person had any sense, they'd have run for their lives, thus not remaining around to observe that, even as the building crumbled around the four combatants, they continued their battle unheeding of the destruction surrounding them. They flew through dust clouds, punched straight through falling chunks of rock to reach their enemy, and flared up their auras to melt any broken machinery or twisted metal columns that came too close.
Dr. Myuu was finding it difficult to adjust to Broly's large body-on top of which, the three Super Saiyans were extremely hard to keep track of. They whirled around him like golden flies, landing stinging blows from every angle. Not that it was easy for them, either-every few seconds, the saiyan-Tuffle hybrid would catch one of them and send them flying with a mere flick of his wrist. His ki lit up the air around him, illuminating the faces of his opponents as they buzzed around him. The power flowing through this body… it's exhilerating! If this is what saiyans feel like all the time… no wonder they love to fight…
Goku flew up from behind, grabbing Myuu's head in both hands and pulling it backwards, dragging him off-balance and obscuring his view of the other two. Vegeta soared in from in front, kicking into Myuu's stomach with both feet and winding him. As he staggered away, Gohan appeared above him, landing a solid two-fisted blow to his head. Growling with frustration, the scientist-turned-warrior fell onto his back, limbs flailing. Seething, he jerked upright, glaring at the three fighters arrayed in front of him. "Rrr…"
"Heh. Is that all you can do?" Vegeta shook his head. "I guess it's for the best. I don't know how much longer I can maintain Super Saiyan 2. Another few minutes should be all we need to finish you. Hyaa!" Rapidly powering up again, he vanished, appearing behind Myuu. The Tuffle spun, crossing his arms and blocking Vegeta's kick, but Goku and Gohan sprung into action behind him. They dived forwards, grabbing one huge leg each and pulling him over. Vegeta circled round above, arcing down towards Myuu, both fists extended.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" The parasite screamed, throwing out all of his ki in one burst, flattening the wreckage of Raichi's tower and blasting the saiyans away from him. Surprised at his own power, he looked down at his hands, crackling with energy. Did I… do that? Those three overcame Hatchiyak… and I just tossed them aside like ragdolls. This fighting body, augmented with our greatest technology… just how powerful have I become?
Goku rolled over onto his back, groaning. "Oh, that's gonna leave a mark tomorrow."
"If we survive today, that is," Vegeta grumbled, picking himself up and wiping a streak of blood off his face. "Where did that come from? He hasn't displayed power anything like that until now!"
"I think…" Gohan hopped over the broken ground towards his father. "… he's just getting used to Broly's body. And whatever he did when he made Broly his 'permanant host'… it's increased his power a lot more than we expected. That explosion just now…" He broke off at the sound of approaching footsteps, looking around and raising his guard.
"This battle is over," Myuu growled. "Face retribution, monsters!"
"Monsters? Wha-aahk!" Goku took a knee to the face, managing to keep his footing and dodge the next blow.
"You heard me." Myuu shrugged off several quick punches from Gohan, punching him down to the ground and several metres into it. "All you saiyans know how to do is destroy! We had a thriving, enlightened society… and you tore it all down! Now look what you've brought us to!" He stepped left, avoiding an energy blast Vegeta threw, then kicked the prince away into the air with casual ease. "The four of us… the last of our kind… still fighting this same damn war! Beings out of legend, all of us… barely recognisable as saiyans and Tuffles…" he paused as the Super Saiyans dragged themselves up, slowly circling him. "It won't end until either you all die, or I do."
"Look…" Gohan raised his hands, attempting to reason with the scientist. "I wasn't even born when this happened! Neither me or my dad was involved! I was raised on Earth, as one of them. We've never fought for our own gains, or selfish destruction. I understand your hate, but we're not the ones who destroyed your people. Please… let's end this senseless violence."
Vegeta almost burst with anger. "What is this nonsense?! Did you get hit in the head once too many times, child, or are you always this stupid? This-" he indicated the Myuu-possessed Broly. "-is our enemy. The enemy of our forefathers. I can't believe you would even consider a truce, you-you coward!" He wasn't finished, but before he could continue, he felt Goku's hand on his shoulder.
"You're the only coward here, Vegeta."
Vegeta's eye twitched. "Explain yourself, Kakarot. Right now, as far as I'm concerned, everyone here's life is forfeit. Don't you feel it? Your lust for battle? How can you back down?"
"Of course I want to fight. But, even more than that… I want my son to live. You know that if this fight goes on, we'll most likely all die. You'd pretend you can win-you'd feed you own ego, refuse to accept a peaceful alternative-even if it means losing your brother? Are you that selfish?"
"Don't lecture me, clown! You're right about one thing-you weren't raised as one of us! You could never understand! You low-class scum… I'm different from you. I'll become as strong as I need to be!"
"You know…" Myuu interjected, flexing his arms. "I doubt you'd be making such offers, 'Earthling', if our position was reversed. Admit it… you just want me to spare your bloodthirsty skin, right?"
"That's not true!" Gohan insisted. "My dad would never-"
"Could you?!" Myuu shouted. "Could you face down the race that destroyed your own… knowing you could have your revenge, knowing it would be easy… could you let them live?"
"Not only could I… I have." Goku thought back to his meeting with Kuriza. "A relative of Frieza-that's the being who almost wiped out the saiyans-is now one of my closest friends. I have no argument with you, Doctor. Let's end this-"
"You know… at first I was angry, knowing you sheltered the spawn of Frieza," Vegeta said, cutting him off. "But when I think about it, it's just the kind of crap I'd expect from you… you really are insane." He pointed at Myuu. "There will be no peace between us!"
"Of course not," Myuu said quietly. "Perhaps, if I was the man I once was, I could have walked away. Two of you are, after all, innocent of this crime. But I am too far down this road to turn back. I will kill you. All of you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Vegeta fired up his ki, raising his fists. "Understand this… I don't care what you've become… I was born to fight! You're no match for me… I AM THE PRINCE OF SAIYANS!"
"What are you-" Myuu was abruptly sent flying as Vegeta catapulted himself forwards, landing a lightning-fast haymaker. He chased after Myuu, flying up next to him and spinning around for an elbow strike. Myuu dropped to the floor, pushing against it and kicking up into Vegeta's back, knocking him out of his flight path and to the floor next to the parasite. Myuu slammed his enormous hand down on top of Vegeta, trapping him against the ground. "That… hurt. It hurt ! Where did you get such strength?"
In answer, Vegeta threw out a wave of ki directly upwards, pushing himself down and drilling into the ground, disappearing from sight. "Where…?" Myuu wondered, looking around.
"Hit him, Gohan!"
"Hraaah!"
Two golden energy beams lanced towards Myuu as the Earth-raised saiyans rejoined the fight. Myuu dodged Gohan's, but the move put him right in front of Goku's. He brought one hand up, catching it and compressing it into a shimmering energy ball. "Impressive. But if you were trying to distract me from Vegeta, you won't-"
"Take this!" Vegeta burst up out of the ground, scattering rocks in all directions. Making a 'gun' shape with the thumb and index finger of one hand, he pointed it at Myuu, who realised with a start that he was still holding Goku's potentially-unstable energy blast. Vegeta grinned. "Bang." A small energy bullet shot out from his fingertip, hitting the energy still in Myuu's hand and detonating it, the explosion engulfing his form. Vegeta wasted no time, rushing towards the expanding smoke cloud. "Tell me, Doctor… have you ever fought someone truly relentless? Someone who will fight to their last breath… when no effort, no sacrifice is beyond them? If you want to stand up to me…" He swung a fist right at the centre of Myuu's ki signature. "… you'd better throw away everything!"
"You know…" as he became visible, it became apparent that Myuu was simply standing in a passive stance, slightly singed, Vegeta's fist having glanced harmlessly off his chest. "… I can't tell if I'm simply finally accessing my full power, or your attacks really are getting weaker. I suppose it matters little." He swung his arm down with deceptive speed, backhanding Vegeta away. "Now, you tell me…" His outline faded, and he appeared in front of Goku, stamping his left foot down on the warrior and smashing him into the ground. "… how far can willpower take you?" Gohan charged him, drawing back his arm, and Myuu simply launched himself backwards, smashing into Gohan and crushing him against a pile of rubble. "How far can you go, when your mind is willing but your body is falling apart around you? Stubborness… sheer determination… will only get you so far, with nothing left to support it." Suddenly, he stumbled backwards, realising Gohan wasn't there anymore.
The young Super Saiyan Shifted into view directly in front of Myuu, fists and feet already flying. Myuu squinted, enduring the blows as one would the beating of a strong wind, then reached up and punched Gohan squarely in the gut, the speed giving him no time to dodge. Gasping for air, Gohan sank to the ground and collapsed, his hair changing back from gold to black as he fell still. "I'll be back to finish you… once I've taken care of the other two-ah, speak of the devil."
"Devil?" Goku said, as he and Vegeta landed opposite Myuu. "That's a bit harsh."
"You must know by now that I've always hated you saiyans… squatting in your caves and despoiling everything we created."
"Just as I hated your people, cowering behind your machines," Vegeta said wearily. "Now… let me finish what my father started!"
"Vegeta, we can't just keep charging in blindly!" Goku warned. "We're getting pulverised here! We need a strategy-"
"Save it, Kakarot! I'm through listening to you!" Vegeta leapt once more at his foe, roaring a battle-cry.
"Vegeta, no! Damn it!" Seeing there was nothing else for it, Goku charged after the prince to try and help.
Twenty-seven seconds later…
The two saiyans crashed to the ground next to each other, taking heaving breaths and coughing up blood. "Told you… that wasn't gonna work…" Goku hissed.
"Hold it… do you feel… different?" Vegeta rubbed his head, struggling to keep his eyes open. "Something… missing?"
"Wait, yeah." Goku blinked. "Ah! Your Super Saiyan 2 aura's gone!"
Vegeta groaned. "Yours too. We've lost too much power-we can only sustain the first level of Super Saiyan at this point, and even that won't last very long."
"Damn it! Now what's to stop Baby… uh, Myuu… from controlling us, too?"
"Actually, that's one thing you won't have to worry about." They looked up to see Myuu floating down towards them. "Having taken a 'main' host in Broly, I can't simultaneously possess anyone else. Which means, incidentally, that I don't know whether… Tarble, was it?… survived the tower collapsing. Probably… you saiyans do have strong constitutions. I suppose I'll have to blast the whole area when I'm done to be sure. Or maybe I'll just destroy this whole thing… it is only an uninhabited moon. No-one else here to harm."
"It's becoming increasingly clear…" Vegeta forced his legs to straighten, standing up to the Tuffle creation with some effort. "… that I'm going to die here. But one thing I'll never do… is give up. I'm not going down without a fight, you understand?"
"Oh, I understand you very well, Vegeta," Myuu said, almost casually. "You're really quite a simple person, when you get down to it. You stopped surprising me quite a while ago."
"Well… I'll just have to try harder then, won't I?" Vegeta pushed his ki as high as he could, forcing it all down into his hands, which started to shine with golden power. "No matter how much you beat me down… one thing will never break… my pride ! If I am to die, it won't be with you triumphant over my corpse! I'll choose the manner of my death, not you!" He brought his hands up and together in front of him, palms held out towards Myuu.
The Tuffle laughed. "What are you going to do? With that little energy left?"
"It's enough," Vegeta growled, as the gathered energy grew more intense. "Enough for one final attack… one… grrr… rrr…" He released it, launching the massive two-handed energy wave.
"FINAL FLASH!"
The golden light almost enveloped Myuu completely, but he managed to raise his hands to block in time, holding back the attack. "Hrrg… impressive, Vegeta… but not enough! Even at full power, your strongest attack wouldn't have been enough to kill me!"
"Kakarot! Don't just stand there…" Vegeta said through gritted teeth. "… help me, damn it!"
Goku was momentarily stunned. Vegeta… is asking for help? My help? "A… All right!" He stepped up next to Vegeta. "KAMEHAMEHA…" His energy flared blue, then red, as he fired the powered-up beam. "… TIMES TEN!"
"Aaagh!" Myuu had to move one hand over to block both beams at once. "Is this… your best? Truly, I'm surprised… that you have such power left… but it's futile!"
"Damn it all, Kakarot, is that all you can do?!" Vegeta yelled over the roar of flowing power. "Ten times your power, and you can't even overwhelm his defences with my help?"
"Sorry… I'm trying my hardest…" Goku grunted. "… But without Super Saiyan 2, my power's cut in half… not to mention all this fighting's left me really drained on top of that…" He closed his eyes, pushing his energy out with all of his might, but to no avail. "It's… almost enough… but not quite. If we only had… a little more power…"
Vegeta took a deep breath. Kakarot… I'd never admit this to you, but for all your failings… I respect you as a warrior. As great a fighter as me… perhaps greater. And on top of that… you have something to live for. Your family, your friends, your home… whereas I've got nothing to lose. And that's why I won't ask you to do what I'm about to. I've always lived only for myself, fought only for myself… I'm the only one who should have to die for my own goals.
"You know…" Goku said, his voice strained, oblivious to Vegeta's thoughts. "… usually, around this time, some kind of miracle happens… like, maybe Gohan will hit him from behind. Or Tarble. Or maybe some of my friends followed me…"
"There will be… no miracle…" Vegeta gritted his teeth. "… it's down to us. Just let me… do what I must… farewell."
"What? Vegeta, no! Don't-"
"HYAAAAAH!" Vegeta's Final Flash attack, already beginning to dim, suddenly flared up, burning with the light of a star as he began to pump his very life force into the blast.
"Vegeta, you'll die!" Goku shouted, though he knew they'd all die otherwise.
"What…" Myuu gasped. "… What is this power?!"
"RAAAAH!" Feeling his enemy's defences weakening, Vegeta poured everything he had into it, desperately pushing himself past the limits of his endurance.
"No, I… aaargh! Gyaaah!" Myuu screamed as Broly's body began to warp and melt under the immense heat and pressure. "NO! I cannot be denied… my revenge!"
"I'm not going to hell alone, Myuu! AAAAGH!"
He's done it! He's broken Myuu's guard! Goku thought. Just one final push! "K… Kamehameha… times…" he felt his energy flicker, almost completely running dry. "T… Times eleven…" More! I need to finish what Vegeta started! "… TWELVE!"
That word, and the accompanying explosion of power, was the last thing Goku remembered before blacking out.
"Oooh… my head…" Goku sat up slowly, feeling the all-too-familiar sensation of a body pushed past its tolerance for pain. Okay… stand up. Find out who's alive… c'mon, body, I'm not asking you to fight anymore… just to stand up. Left leg… works. Right, too. That's a start. He lurched to his feet. Left arm ' s good… ooh. Right arm isn't feeling so good. Careful not to move that one too much. Not Super Saiyan anymore, not that that's a surprise. He saw Gohan a few metres in front of him, chest slowly rising and falling. Still alive. Good. Chi-Chi'd kill me if… huh?
"K… kuh! Gaahk!"
"Vegeta!" Goku staggered over to the other saiyan's drained body, vision spinning with the rapid movement. He crouched down next to Vegeta. "Hey. How you doing?"
"A… ahhk… K… Kakarot!" Vegeta's shaking hand reached up and clutched Goku by the front of his ripped shirt. "How… long?"
Goku knew what he meant. "Minutes, maybe. You've almost lost all your energy, and what you do have is fading fast. I'm… sorry… if I was stronger, you wouldn't have had to…"
"L… Listen! Just shut up and listen… for a minute, clown!" A rasping cough racked his body. "You… are the last. The last full-blood saiyan. I know… you weren't r-raised as one of us… but you've always known. In your heart… you're a warrior. A true Super Saiyan."
Goku was genuinely shocked by this display of emotion. "Vegeta…"
"When you… remember… don't hate me, or think me a fool… for putting my pride above all… even… the life of my brother…"
I wish I could tell him not to speak… that he's just killing himself faster… but it's too late for him now. Goku listened intently. These are his last moments, and I'm not going to tell him how to spend them.
Vegeta seemed to regain some strength for a moment, his eyes lit by an inner fire. "… my pride… may seem inconsequential… to one as selfless as you… but you live your life in slavery… watch your race dwindle to nothing, extermination your reward for your faithful service… then tell me… what's meaningless!" A trickle of blood ran down his chin from the corner of his mouth, staining the ground beneath him. "I am… what I am… because Frieza made me so. Perhaps it simply wasn't in me… to be a good man… but I never got the chance to find out, I… I…" his eyes glazed over, and he seemed to be fading, but his iron will kept him going. He wasn't finished. His grip on Goku's shirt tightened, as did his mental grip on his last precious seconds.
"I understand," Goku said solemnly, nodding. "I know how hard it must be for you to say things like this…"
"Just… promise me this, Kakarot…" Vegeta continued, his whole body beginning to tremble. "Wherever your life takes you… remember… who you are! Carry forth t-the honour of the saiyans! You must have known… from the first time you transformed… if you lose that damned sentimentality of yours… !" He drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "… You might just be… the… greatest of us… that's what it takes to win! Ruthless… that's how we beat… the Tuffles today…"
Goku waited patiently, respectfully. "Yeah. We got them."
"N-Never… never…" With a final surge of energy, his hand released Goku and slammed into the ground, fingers digging into the rock. "… never forget… !"
Chapter 59: Break the Cycle
Goku sighed, crouching over Vegeta's still body. He's gone. "I'm sorry about all this, Vegeta. I wish I'd been stronger… you wouldn't have had to die… I hope you'd understand, but I can't risk bringing you back to life with the Dragon Balls. You've caused too much pain." As he reached forward and closed the fallen prince's eyes, Vegeta's final words played over and over in his mind. You had your own code of honour… and I understand it… respect it, even… but I can never follow it. It just isn't in me to become like you. Whether that's a strength or a weakness, it's just who I am. Still… I won't forget you, or what you used your last breaths to tell me. You were ruthless, yes… but you had the heart and soul of a true saiyan.
When his internal monologue was done, he spoke, seemingly to the air. "To answer the questions I know you must have… yes, I know you're there. No, I didn't tell Vegeta. I figured he deserved to think he'd won. And no, unless you give me a reason, Dr. Myuu, I'm not going to finish you… yet."
Dr. Myuu, now back in his original 'Baby' body, having evidently abandoned Broly's, climbed out from behind a boulder. "You're good… I though I was concealing my energy…"
Goku smiled. "Not very well. You might want to work on that. Hmm… looks like you aren't immune to the injury suffered by your hosts. You look pretty beat up."
"My main host, yes." Myuu shrugged. "When I'm just remotely controlling a group, I feel their pain, but don't actually suffer the injury. With full possession… it's different."
"And I'm guessing 'bailing out' of Broly's body at the last second used up a lot of energy, too, right?"
Myuu nodded with resignation. "I know what you're getting at. If we were to fight, you'd win, even as damaged as you are-with ease-unless I possessed you. Fortunately for you, being half-dead like I am interferes with my abilities a little."
"Then we know where we stand. Way I see it, there's been enough blood shed today." Goku extended a hand. "Let's talk."
Myuu stared at the symbol of peace like it was some kind of mysterious foreign object. "… What?"
"… I see." Goku, Gohan and Myuu sat in a small circle. Goku had just finished telling a brief version of his life story. "It's incredible… that even a born-and-raised saiyan like your brother could become so noble. I'm not sure if I can believe that he sacrificed himself for a planet of innocents…"
"It's all true," Goku insisted. "Your continued existence is proof enough of that."
"Hmph."
"Look… are you going to continue your vendetta?" the weary fighter asked. "I mean, there aren't any evil saiyans left in the universe."
Myuu took a long time to respond. "I… truly don't know. I think I would quite like to move on, perhaps re-dedicate my life to creation, not destruction. But I am not sure if I can ever let go… of so much hate. When I look at the two of you, so many emotions are warring within me… ! I just don't know what to think."
"And while we're asking questions," Goku mused, "is Broly really dead this time? We thought we'd seen the last of him before, but he came back from that…"
Myuu nodded. "He's gone. I didn't abandon his body until after his passing… I felt the pain. Trust me when I say the universe is rid of that beast, and better for it."
"I don't disagree with you there. He only lived to cause pain."
"Hey," Gohan interjected, "what about my friends? They were with me when Hatchiyak took me out-are they here? Or…" He didn't dare say it.
"They're alive," Myuu assured him. "They're sedated in a chamber beneath where the tower stood. It was underground, so our battle shouldn't have damaged it too much… those three, at least, I have no doubt are blameless."
"And Vegeta's brother should be around there too," Gohan reminded them. "It sounded like he wasn't a bad guy, really… we should try and help him, too."
Myuu shrugged. "If you must."
"Hold it." The younger saiyan put up one hand. "Do you hear that?"
"That's right, viewers!" The bird-like creature spoke excitedly into its headset, speeding towards the moon aboard the small news ship. "Initial scans have revealed several extremely high energy sources on the surface. Some of them seem to match almost exactly that of the Super Saiyan when he appeared on planet Nemea recently! However, as of a few minutes ago these signals have all vanished. We're going in for a closer look… you saw it here first, folks."
The roughly oblong ship touched down ungracefully, landing jets sputtering as they struggled to support its weight. The news crew cautiously descended the ramp, brandishing recording devices and instruments of all kinds. "Well… seems to be deserted so far… I'll start exploring. Wish me luck-gah!" he squawked, as Goku, in his Super Saiyan form (he knew it'd be recognised), appeared in front of him, Vegeta's body in the surviving saiyan's arms. Slowly, Goku laid the body at the reporter's feet, stood up, and vanished as suddenly as he'd appeared, all without a word.
"T-The Super Saiyan…" the reporter swallowed nervously. "What speed…" Abruptly, he remembered his audience, turning to the camera behind him. "Well, you all saw it! Whatever events have transpired here, he looked like he'd just come out of the fight of his life! And it seems our mysterious protector has come out on top! D'aanth! Scouter?"
The brown-skinned alien to the left of the cameraman shook her head. "Busted. Thing's got a two-fifty mil tolerance, too. Guess he really is that powerful…"
Nodding, the reporter turned his attention to Vegeta. He knelt by the body, examining the face. "Say! Isn't that… Vegeta…?"
"The saiyan prince?" The cameraman asked, zooming in on the fallen warrior.
"Yeah, that's the one. Took out the First Republic." The reporter looked up at the camera, facing the audience. "Was Vegeta the Super Saiyan's opponent today? Or did the two saiyans join forces against some third party? We may never know the answer. But… whether he fought for good or evil on this, his last day… Prince Vegeta will not be soon forgotten. Somebody take that…" He indicated the body. "… and put it on ice. He's getting a proper burial. This is Eld-Tur III, Interstel News, signing off." The camera was duly switched off.
"Come on, man," the scouter operator protested. "We're leaving already? Don't you want to examine the battle site?"
The reporter shrugged. "We're hardly the only news crew who's going to come here. Let the vultures take their pickings… we got an exclusive with the Super Saiyan, and the galaxy's most wanted man. Er, corpse."
"I'd hardly call that an 'exclusive'."
"It'll do."
The saiyans and the Tuffle watched the barren moon recede as Goku's ship drifted slowly away from their unnamed battleground. In the back, still unconscious, lay Zarbon, Kuriza, Videl and Tarble.
"So, where d'you want us to take you?" Gohan asked. "Did you ever think of what you'd do after all this was over?"
"No…" Myuu sighed. "Not really. Raichi had a one-track mind, and I suppose his drive was infectious. This was everything. I felt like I was living on borrowed time already… somehow I didn't expect there to be anything afterwards. Is it even over?" He put a hand up to the porthole by his head, his fingers inches from the void, separated by a thin plastic sheet. "There are still three of you alive. But I don't have the power to kill you… does that mean I've failed? But… you're not like the others. Was it just circumstance that created the barbaric saiyans I hated so much? If I was in the position of strength here, knowing what I know now, could I bring myself to kill you? I just…" he shut his eyes, resting his head on the wall. "… so many questions. I'm empty, I'm lost."
"If it makes you feel better, we think of ourselves as humans first," Goku said, puzzling over the controls (mainly out of curiosity-there was an autopilot setting for an automatic return to Earth). "I wish I could say I would never have done what the others did, but I really don't know what kind of person I would've been before I hit my head…"
"If only things hadn't turned out this way…" Myuu whispered. "We shouldn't have always been at odds… imagine what our races could have done together. All those deaths… billions of lives… and for what? The only reward for the victors was slavery to Frieza… before he did the same to them. I just… don't know what to do…" He looked up, a strange look in his eyes.
"Are… you all right…?" Gohan asked slowly, carefully.
"Oh, it's just… I just discovered. This body can't cry."
"Hey… anybody home? Hello?" The ship sat parked on the Lookout, as Goku's voice echoed round the cavernous interiors. "Huh… Dende and Mr. Popo aren't here." He frowned as he walked back over to Gohan and Myuu. "There's nobody around… it's faint, but I sense several energy sources to the north. I'm gonna check it out. Gohan, go down to Korin's and meet me there with some senzu. Myuu… can you stay and watch the ship, please? If anyone comes along, explain where we are. I know you need to decide where you're going with your life right now, but I think something just came up."
Myuu nodded, re-entering the ship. "I understand."
"You really think this is serious, Dad?" Gohan asked fearfully, voice almost cracking. "I really don't want another fight now…"
"I know, son. Let's hope everything's all right. But if somebody needs help…" Goku smiled. "Just get those beans, okay?" He resumed his serious expression, summoning his dwindling energy reserves to turn Super Saiyan before flying off north, Gohan's hair whipping wildly about in the shockwave left behind him.
I really didn't need this right now… I hope nobody's been hurt! Goku thought grimly as he neared the frozen north of the world, leaving a golden streak of light behind him. He flew low, passing closely over a countryside town and startling the locals.
"That's no bird!"
"A plane?"
"Cruise missile, perhaps?"
Now that I'm getting closer, he realised, yeah… that's definitely Nail's energy. Tien's too, and some smaller ones… but they're all really low. Something must have taken the fight out of them. I can't sense any kind of enemy… did they win? Were they fighting each other? Maybe I just can't sense them, like with the androids…? Gotta hurry! He poured on the speed, arriving shortly and touching down in what had presumably once been a mountain range. Now, it was a collapsed hillside of snow, apparently post-avalanche.
Even as he watched, Tien's distinctive head poked out from under the snow, spluttering and spitting out a mouthful of frozen water. "Uh… Goku?"
"What happened here?" Goku asked, relaxing to his normal form-Tien evidently wasn't feeling threatened, so whatever it was had been dealt with.
"Oh, wow, my head…" the three-eyed martial artist groaned, pulling himself out of the snow. With one hand, he pulled Krillin out with him, and Yamcha with the other. Both were breathing heavily, eyes half-closed, scratched and bruised all over. "Wish you'd got here sooner… that was not easy."
"What wasn't?" Goku helped the three fighters up. "And who else is here?"
"Quite a lot of people, actually," Tien said wearily. "C'mon, let's go pick them up, and I'll tell you what happened." They began to trudge through the snow, soon spying the tip of a brown shoe rising above the snow. Together, they heaved Nail up. "To sum up…" Tien continued. "We had to fight an evil scientist and his robots… and he also kept trying to brainwash us and control our minds to make us fight each other. Actually, I think there were two scientists-they'd both kind of died and been brought back to life, but each in a different way."
"You're kidding…" Goku stopped dead in his tracks, trying and failing to think of a single word in that whole description that didn't match exactly what had happened to him. "You too? That's… eerily specific."
Chapter 60: Earth's Defence
Now, it's true that the techniques in this book will give you the means to unlock your potential, but be aware: There is always someone stronger. I guarantee, if you are a member of the human race, there is someone whose power dwarfs yours by a factor of millions. Don't entertain any illusions about becoming the greatest fighter in the universe. Now, this isn't to say you can't become great-with true mastery of martial arts, you can become a being that would be considered godlike scant years ago-but don't treat life as a competition. It's not about competing. It's about bettering yourself.
- from Groundbreaking Science, by Son Gohan
"So, I arrived just over there," Tien recounted, "between those mountains. Krillin got there about the same time as me… we could already sense Nail and Yamcha inside, along with the strange ki we'd all sensed before…"
"Inside?" Goku asked.
"Well, it's gone now… but there was a fortress here, half-buried in the ice."
Not long ago…
Tien and Krillin stood side-by-side looking up at the imposing fortress. It was made of black, highly reflective metal, and covered in ominous spikes and ridges. "I, uh… don't like the look of that," Krillin said anxiously. "Man, I wish we had a Super Saiyan or something to throw at it…"
"Come on," Tien argued, "we don't need Goku or anybody! We've been practicing martial arts our whole lives. We've both been trained by King Kai, the Lord of Worlds. We're the two strongest humans on the planet. There's nothing in there we can't handle, okay?"
"All right…" Krillin nodded, and they began to stride up to the cavernous archway, melting the snow around them with their auras. The entrance immediately became a tunnel which seemed to stretch on endlessly into the darkness. "Hey…" Krillin cocked his head to one side. "You hear-" He stopped talking and started moving. Four short, black creatures burst out from the snow, instantly surrounding the two fighters and leaping at them, red eyes gleaming in the gloom. Tien leaned back, dodging two swipes and preparing to counterattack. Krillin was already in the air, grabbing the first creature by the neck and slamming it head-first into the second. Tien swung an open-handed chop, severing the right hands of the two monsters attacking him as they attacked again, then punched twice in rapid succession, sending them both flying back into the wall.
"Heh… not bad." Krillin grinned, relaxing. "We make a pretty good team, huh?"
"Yeah," Tien agreed, checking that all four of their attackers were incapacitated. "Not at all like when we were rivals… remember those days?"
"Yeah, when you were a total ass and broke Yamcha's leg when he was already down? Sure, I remember."
"Don't remind me…" the reformed warrior grumbled.
"Hey…" Krillin crouched over one of the fallen creatures, examining it closely. "Funny. These things look kind of like the Saibamen the saiyans used when they attacked Earth." He shrugged. "These things are a lot more powerful, though, whatever they are. I guess our training over the years really has paid off."
"Tell me about it," Tien said as they walked on. "It's just that, in recent years, all we ever seem to fight are overwhelmingly powerful monsters. Let's hope this enemy is in our league, because it looks like we're on our own here."
"That's just it," Krillin muttered, melted ice slushing around his feet. "I'm really not sure if we can handle it… we've got so used to helping from the sidelines…"
"Come on, Krillin. Have a little more faith in yourself than that."
"I'm trying, believe me."
The tunnel finally opened out into a wide, ice-coated chamber, totally empty. The floor was also ice, with deep water beneath. "Just what is this place?" Krillin wondered.
"I don't know…" Tien looked around, searching for an exit. "… But I'm starting to like it less and less." Something caught his eye. "Look out!" They jumped away, Tien left and Krillin right, as the ice beneath them began to crack. As they skidded to a halt, it burst out from underneath-a fat, lumpy yellow being wearing only a dark red jacket. Its misshapen maw opened in a fang-toothed leer. "Heeeeehhh…"
The martial artist duo were preparing to attack this new enemy, when a whirring noise emanated from the ceiling-a large hatch opened up, from which hundreds of hovering mechanical drones poured, electricity crackling up and down shimmering metal blades that protruded from all sides of the robots.
"I've got the big guy!" Tien shouted above the buzz of the descending machines. "Cover me!"
"Gotcha!" Krillin leapt into the air, flying over to the opposite corner of the room and drawing the drones away from Tien. "You know, I'm starting to think somebody doesn't want us here…"
Tien faced down the strange creature as it lumbered towards him, hooked claws wavering in anticipation. "Oh, you want some of this?" The three-eyed warrior yelled, challenging the beast to attack. It did so, right on cue, and as it closed the distance he raised his hands in a triangle formation. "TRI-BEAM!" The yellow bolt of energy lanced out from between his hands, slamming into the creature's belly and making a huge dent-but no sooner had it done so, than the thing just grinned at him, flexed its rolls of fat, and its doughy body sprang back into shape. More than that, it reflected Tien's blast right back at him, crashing into his body full-force.
Meanwhile, Krillin swooped and dived around the room, dodging between swarms of drones with artful precision. "I'm starting to get tired of this… let's try a more direct solution, shall we?" He came to a halt in mid-air, throwing a two-handed energy wave into the centre of the room. "And… go!" With a quick hand motion, he split it into hundreds of smaller blasts, arcing every which way, homing in on each individual drone and smashing it to dust. When it was done, he looked down to the creature Tien was fighting, which was standing in front of a rapidly-expanding smoke cloud.
"Eh-heh. Heeeghhh…" The beast hissed, stomping towards the centre of the cloud.
Oh, man, that's not good, Krillin thought. Wait a minute… Tien's power hasn't dropped at all… did he really have time to block? No, wait… now it's increasing!
"KAIO-KEN!" The smoke blew away, scattered by the wave of force that rolled out from Tien's body as a red aura enveloped him. "Hey, ugly," he said, raising his fists, "ever heard of the Four Witches technique? Haven't used this one in a while…" With a grunt, he forced his ki into physical form, manifesting as a second pair of arms sprouting from his shoulders, above the first. "So, you can withstand a lot of punishment… how much, I wonder? Haaaiii!" Putting on a burst of speed, he rocketed into the bewildered creature, his four fists flying furiously. Punch after red-tinged punch rained down on the blob-like monster, supported by the occasional flat-handed deflection whenever it made a clumsy swipe with its claws. The seconds dragged by, with no relief for Tien's opponent, until finally the pummeling was too much-its eyes rolled up in its head, its short limbs gave one last flail, and it flopped backwards, falling right through the ice and sinking into the depths below.
"It seems these two warriors are more powerful than you anticipated. They have bested Misokatsun."
"Oh? Indeed."
"In fact, it is quite likely one or both of them is superior to the scar-faced one. I warned you not to use the control chamber's second charge so hastily on him. There's no way it'll recharge in time to use it on these two."
"Don't worry, old friend. We have the demon himself. None of the others matter."
"I suppose you're right. As for these two… send the other Bio-Warriors."
"I shall. Where one failed, two might well triumph."
Aside from the one that led back to the entrance, there was only one corridor out of the water room, so Tien and Krillin sprinted down it. Shortly, it opened out into a pitch-black room.
"Hey, what gives?" Tien yelled into the darkness.
"Yeah, what's with all this empty-room crap?" Krillin agreed. "Just who are you-where are you-and what have you done with our friends?"
"You are not welcome here," a scratchy voice hissed from overhead. Blindingly bright lights flashed on, revealing them to be standing in a large, sandy room-in fact, it appeared to be a stadium of some kind. "Now, meet the rest of my Bio-Warriors!" the voice continued. On cue, two figures appeared silhouetted in the blazing lights. Krillin and Tien readied themselves as the Bio-Warriors-one bulky muscular, one tall, lean and slender-charged. "Ebifurya! Kishime!" The voice screeched. "Destroy them!"
"Sounds simple enough!" Krillin grinned. "This time, I've got the big guy!"
"If you say so," Tien said, stepping up to intercept the thin one. The entire fight was made disconcerting due to the dizzying brightness-all four fighters only ever appeared as black outlines against the dazzling glow that surrounded them.
Krillin cupped his hands by his side as the large Bio-Warrior faced off against him. "KAMEHAME… HA!" He launched his signature energy wave straight at the imposing creature, which didn't even attempt to dodge, but instead made an almost identical motion to the Kamehameha wave technique, throwing out a storm of icy ki. " Toketsu-ken! " It hissed. Krillin had just enough time to think, Hey, this one speaks- before the frosty blast overwhelmed his Kamehameha, hurling him backwards. Shaking his head to clear the dizziness, he tried to stand, only to find one leg encased in a block of ice and stuck to the floor. "Oh, that's not good…" Not ordinary ice, either! I can't break it!
On the other side of the room, Tien was on the defensive as the skinny Bio-Warrior swung both arms frantically at him-having, moments before, sprouted what seemed to be biological cables from each arm, wrapping them around its forearms, igniting them with menacing arcs of electricity and beginning to swing them at its stubborn human opponent. Tien dodged back, left then right, trying to analyse the creature's attack pattern. Finally, he saw an opening, stepping in with a vicious right that caught it across the jaw, stunning it. Then, he threaded his fingers together in a two-handed upward swing, launching the Bio-Warrior into the air. "Time for another classic-VOLLEYBALL FIST!" He flew up above his flying enemy, preparing to hit it back down to the ground two-handed. "SPIKE-" Without warning, it vanished-no ki signature, nothing-and appeared behind him just as suddenly. Instant Transmission! he realised, finding himself with no time to dodge as it slashed down his back with an electrified arm, sending waves of pain coursing through his body. "Aaaagh!"
The bulky Bio-Warrior slowly approached its trapped enemy. Krillin grimaced. Gotta break out! "KAIOKEN-HAAA!" In a blaze of crimson light, the ice shattered and he flipped backwards to his feet. Keeping the Kaioken aura burning steadily, he rushed in, throwing an upwards elbow strike that struck the Bio-Warrior just below the neck, driving the breath from its lungs. As it staggered about, he dashed around behind it, sending it crashing to the ground with a back kick.
"Grr…" It dug its nails into the ice, screeching to a halt and standing up. Quickly, it fired its Kamehameha-like ice attack again, a desperate look on its face. " Toketsu-ken! "
"Sorry, not gonna work twice!" Krillin raised one hand, rapidly forming a spinning energy disc and launching it right into the ice beam's path. "KIENZAN!" The razor-edged attack scythed through the beam, neatly bisecting it so that the halves were diverted off to either side of Krillin. Meanwhile, the Kienzan continued on its path towards the Bio-Warrior, who just ducked in time, a deep gash opening up on its chest from the glancing hit. It bellowed in pain, but before it could recover, Krillin was right in front of it, drawing his fist back. "Yaaa!" One Kaioken-powered punch brought the creature down for good.
Tien bit his lip, drawing blood, focusing on the tiny point of pain in an attempt to block out the sensation of the larger agony of his opponent's electrocution attack. Spinning, he flung it off his back, disentangling himself and resuming his combat-ready stance. "I bet this bright light's meant to disorientate us, huh? This is nothing." He flicked his body left to avoid another arcing swing from the grinning monster. Seeing his opportunity, he jumped over its next strike, closing the distance and bringing its face right up to his. "How about the full brightness of the sun? SOLAR FLARE!" At his command, the blinding attack shone forth, outshining the dazzling ambience of the room and sending the shrieking creature leaping away. Howling in pain, the Bio-Warrior jumped back, then vanished again. Trying to sneak up on me with Instant Transmission… well, too bad. He raised one hand up to his shoulder, nonchalantly pointing one finger backwards. "DODON-" The oblivious Bio-Warrior materialised, electrified appendages raised… "-RAY!"… Only to be hit full-force in the face by a thin yellow beam, bowling it over and knocking it out cold. "Sorry," Tien said as he lowered his hand, "but you did make it pretty easy for me. In that panicked state, you weren't likely to be thinking too clearly. Where else would you appear but directly behind me?" He looked over to Krillin, noting the smaller warrior had also been victorious, and the two exchanged a thumbs-up. "Not bad so far, huh, Krillin?"
"Sure. A pretty good workout," Krillin agreed, grinning. "I hope we find out who's in charge of this mess, though; I'm kinda getting bored of beating on sideshow freaks and remote-control planes." Again, only one exit to the room; again, they left promptly, without ceremony, both anxious to know what had become of their friends.
"Dr. Wheelo!" The raspy-voiced, elderly scientist squawked. "They've beaten our Bio-Warriors! Damn those weak excuses for guard-dogs! They'll be here any second now!"
"Calm yourself, Kochin, you fool," a deep voice rumbled from the shadows. "We still hold the upper hand. The strongest being on this planet is ours to command." The hidden speaker paused. "Ah, here they are now. Calm yourself, and eliminate them. This is the critical point, I need not remind you. I will not tolerate setbacks. Eliminate them quickly!"
"But of course." Dr. Kochin turned to see Tien and Krillin entering the darkened laboratory. Their eyes locked on him, and he smiled, his inner fears concealed by the need to maintain composure. "Ah, I see you've made it past our security… welcome, simpletons. WELCOME… TO DIE!"
There was a long pause.
Krillin opened his mouth.
Krillin closed his mouth.
Finally, he managed to say: "… What?"
"Er…" Kochin stammered. "… Sorry. That, uh, that sounded better in my head."
Tien raised an eyebrow, a motion that had an interesting effect on his third eye. "Your head must be a scary place."
"Enough of this!" Kochin struck the floor with his ornate, dragon-headed cane. "Remove them!"
"Who are you talking-" Tien began, then his eyes widened. He stepped forwards in a flash, intercepting Yamcha, who was leaping at them out of the dark. The two hung there for a second, then separated, Yamcha dropping into a mobile, offensive stance. Tien noticed he was wearing his Turtle School gi. So… he came out here looking for trouble… what happened to him? "Hey, Yamcha. Not to point out the obvious, but you're kind of attacking the wrong guy here."
"Raaah!" Yamcha lunged, swinging a high kick at Tien, who somersaulted over it, propelling himself backwards with his ki and landing some distance away. "All right, if it's a fight you want… whatever kind of mind-control they've put on you, I'll beat it out of you!"
"You may find that a difficult proposition," Kochin chuckled. "He already has a deep-seated desire to defeat you. Amplifying that was not difficult… you'll find his tenacity truly extraordinary."
"All right, then. It's me you want?" Tien raised his guard. "Let's do it!" He and Yamcha sped off around the room, periodically clashing and shaking the cavernous chamber with the shockwaves generated by the opening moves of their battle. With each strike, both fighters used a little more power, slowly building towards their maximum.
Krillin looked warily over at Dr. Kochin. "I wouldn't be so calm if I were you. What if I said: Let him go, or I'll start blowing limbs off." He raised a hand, energy flickering between his fingers.
"Then I'd say: Attempting to do so would merely play right into our hands! You are no match for our magnificent plan!" Kochin cackled.
"Let me guess. You've got some convoluted psychological method of getting me to stand in the right spot so you can do some kind of mind control thing on me?"
"Ah, good guess. But unfortunately, our mind control device is still recharging… and anyway, that plan is far inferior to any plan that involves a cane laser !" His arm snapped up with far too much speed for a normal human, let alone one his age, flipping open the top and pressing a small button. And indeed, a high-powered laser burst from the cane, lancing straight towards Krillin, who gathered energy in one foot and swung it upwards, kicking the laser bolt straight up into the air, deflecting it away from him. He lowered his leg, wincing with the jarring pain. "Okay, you're having way too much fun here. Just who the hell are you people?!"
"I can't blame you for not recognising me… you're hardly the kind of intellectual whose social circles me and my glorious comrade once graced…" Kochin preened. "My name is Dr. Kochin. But of infinitely more importance is my comrade Dr. Wheelo… he is the future ruler of this world!" His eyes misted over as he spoke. "Yes, the world used to mock us. Human beings never understood our genius! Not even the tragic avalanche all those years ago could stop us. Though his body was destroyed, Dr. Wheelo's magnificent mind lives on! Such is his genius that even with only his notes, I was able to construct a machine which saved his brain from the frostbite that consumed his body-that sustains him to this day!"
"Wonderful. You're taking orders from a brain in a jar," Krillin said drily. He dodged right on instinct as Tien and Yamcha appeared next to him, arms locked, pushing against each other. At this close distance, Krillin was able to see the physical changes Yamcha had undergone-the whites of his eyes were an unhealthy red, and a vein-like plastic circlet adorned his head. The two fighters' auras sprung to life, their power building, burning first white, then red as they simultaneously tapped into the Kaioken technique. Just when the light and heat had reached unbearable intensity, Tien's shone even brighter for a brief moment, and Yamcha was hurled back. Pressing his advantage, Tien darted off in pursuit of his opponent.
Krillin turned back to Dr. Kochin. "So, how exactly are you planning to rule the world? I mean, it's not like everyone'll just roll over and let you waltz into the Royal Palace."
"Oh, but they will," Kochin enthused, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "Did you hear about the recent disaster in Nickytown?"
"Yeah…" Krillin nodded. "A sudden heatwave. The surrounding forests burned down-all the crops burned up-people were dying of heatstroke… well, it's practically a desert now." He thought for a second. "Ah, hell, that was you, wasn't it?"
"Indeed it was!" Kochin cackled. "And that was merely a taste of our power! Our ultimate work is nearly complete-a device with the power to wipe all life from this planet! With it, we can hold the world to ransom… live as kings!"
"Good for you." Not natural deaths, then, Krillin decided. Note to self: When we're done here, gather the Dragon Balls.
"Oh, it is, it is," Kochin continued. "You see, we have the brainpower… we have our weapon… all we need now is a body! A mortal shell to house the fabulous mind of Dr. Wheelo! And we've managed to find one that fits the bill just about perfectly…"
"Enough of this," Dr. Wheelo's computerised voice rumbled from above them. "Kill them, and prepare my mind for transfer."
"As you command." Kochin grinned, extending one hand. "Well, it's been fun. I do so love to gloat. But now we must part ways." With a dramatic sweep of his arm, he drew back his sleeve. A loud whirring noise emanated from within him, and his arm suddenly underwent a metamorphosis-fingers became gun-barrels, an ammo-belt burst from his wrist, gears and pistons emerged from beneath his skin. In under a second, his hand had become a chaingun. "Now, stand still!" Kochin opened fire, tearing up the floor beneath Krillin, who hastily dodged. What the hell is that thing? he wondered, used to being able to easily avoid bullets, but finding himself only barely faster than the unique projectilesd Kochin was firing at him. "Wha-hey-stop-damn it, enough already!" He hopped back and forth, feeling the slipstreams of the shots as they whistled by, inches from him.
Tien and Yamcha's battle paused as they landed on opposite sides of the room, each surveying his opponent. Simultaneously, they charged.
"Wolf Fang-"
"Volleyball-"
"-Fist!" They chorused, clashing together in an explosion of energy and leaping off again.
Krillin backflipped away, taking cover behind a bulkhead jutting out of the wall. Okay, okay, think… He smiled. Got it. "Multi-form-go!" Twin clones of the martial artist dived out from behind his cover, making straight for Kochin.
"Hah! I know this technique-it won't work! It cuts your power and speed in half!" Kochin yelled above the din his weapon was making, firing on the lead clone. However, as the bullets tore through his image, the copy of Krillin vanished, and the remaining one rapidly put on speed, reaching Kochin in the blink of an eye. One hand sliced downwards, severing the gun-arm in a spray of flailing wires and sparks; the other swung sideways, catching the scientist on the side of the head and sending him sprawling to the floor, out cold.
"Impressive," Dr. Wheelo noted. "Using super-speed to create the illusion of two of you… then when he attacked, revealing that copy to merely be an afterimage, and that you still had your full power… you almost fooled my sensors, too."
"'Almost'?" Krillin frowned. "Why didn't you warn him, then?"
"He was beginning to bore me. I knew he would fail… which is why I have already sent for the one who will kill you."
"Uh… I don't like the sound of this…"
Wheelo chuckled. "Indeed, I can hardly blame you. You have exceeded my expectations, getting this far… but you will all fall before the demon… Piccolo."
Chapter 61: Demon Reborn
"… Piccolo…?" Krillin scratched his head. "Uh… isn't Piccolo dead…?"
"If that's so," Wheelo boomed, "then please explain… this. Piccolo-kill him."
"Raaagh!" A voice yelled. Krillin wheeled, feeling the rush of air that heralded an impact and raising both hands to block. "FIVE-TIMES KAIOKEN!" He caught two swinging fists, twisted and ducked under his attacker's reach, then planted a swift kick to their stomach that drove them skidding back across the floor. Panting slightly, he powered down, finally taking the time to study the attacker. "Nail?" A slow smile crept across his face. "Heh. You scared me for a minute there. That there isn't Piccolo-his name's Nail."
Dr. Wheelo paused, processor-augmented brain whirring away. "Pardon me if I find it difficult to trust you. How many people are there walking around with green skin, pointed ears and antennae?"
"You'd be surprised…" Krillin said. Then a worrying thought struck him. "Hold on… you had to amplify Yamcha's will to beat Tien, right? You can't make someone do something totally against their nature. But as far as I know, Nail doesn't have a shred of evil in him. What…" A sudden chill came over the small fighter. Something about Nail… his eyes. It wasn't the red colour that was undoubtedly caused by the vein-patterned mind-control device adorning his head; it was something deeper, more subtle. Krillin wouldn't have noticed it at all, had he not once seen the exact same look from another. "… Piccolo," he breathed. "He really is in there, isn't he? You bastards just brought him to the surface." He clenched his fists, turning to face Wheelo's life-support tank, embedded high up in the wall. "You don't know what you're dealing with here! Trust me, you don't want to let this guy loose-nobody's safe!" And if he has all of Nail's power…
Wheelo laughed cruelly. "Fool. Do the words 'mind control' mean nothing to you? Once I have seized upon a desire-total war on humanity in this case-the subject is mine to command. I assure you I am quite safe from him. You, on the other hand… Piccolo. Attack." It seems not even he knows who this strange creature is… I suppose it matters not. Whoever he once was, he will shortly be merely a shell… the perfect fighting body to house the perfect mind.
Tien crashed to the ground, sliding on his back and colliding with the wall. Damn it all! I had an opening, but… the only way to effectively exploit it was with a lethal strike, and I hesitated! He pretended to be stunned by the impact as Yamcha followed up, sprinting towards him. I won't fail this time! Yamcha's sweeping hand sliced into the floor, carving into the metal, but Tien sprang up, kicking Yamcha's other hand out of the way before he could block. "I'll end this right now-YAAAH!" With a full-bodied shout, he thrust both hands forwards, propelling an invisible wave of ki at Yamcha's head. The shockwave hit dead on-target, causing the long-haired bandit to keel over backwards, tumbling head over heels for some distance before coming to a rest.
"Ow…" Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his head. "What… Tien?" The mind-control device on his head, cracked by Tien's kiai, began to fall apart, pieces of plastic and twisted wires scattering down to the floor beneath him. "Did all that just happen?"
"Yeah." Tien nodded.
"Wow, sorry, man."
"Hey, it's okay." Tien waved it away. "Not your fault. He took you by surprise, right?"
"Yeah. Hey, I did pretty good though, huh? Never thought I'd last that long against you?"
"Well, normally you probably wouldn't be trying to actually kill me, so that may have been something of an advantage." Tien indicated Krillin, facing off against Piccolo. "Come on, we don't have time to talk."
"Right, Krillin'll need all the help he can get for this one!" Yamcha agreed, leaping to his feet.
The three human warriors stood side-by-side, facing the demonic Namekian.
"So… this is Piccolo now, huh?" Yamcha asked.
"Yeah," Krillin said, watching their opponent warily. "Just like old times, huh?" The half-hearted attempt at humour didn't recieve a laugh-all were wondering if they stood a chance.
"We just have to destroy the headband," Tien reminded them. "That should change him back to normal."
"Piece of cake, huh?" Krillin grumbled.
It began slowly. Wary, shuffling movements, then cautious steps. The humans circled to try and surround Piccolo, who paced like a caged animal, twitching as his eyes snapped to one fighter, then the next. The footwork continued, the warriors' circles of movement expanding until they were crossing the room back and forth, watching each other the whole time. In each combatant's head, the oncoming fight played itself out-potential lines of attack, techniques used and countered, tactics considered-until finally, someone attacked.
Yamcha, of course, but the others soon followed. The distance closed until they stood at arm's length. The battle had still not begun in earnest. A feint. A tap. A brush. A narrow, deliberate miss. Testing the enemy's defences. Piccolo's wild movements and still-increasing speed were an effective counter for the humans' advantage in numbers. He seemed to face every direction at once, never leaving an opening. Eventually, Krillin decided he would just make an opening, going for an all-out attack. "All right, enough of this! Haaa-ooowff!" Sweeping his arm out, Piccolo struck first, knocking Krillin to the ground. At once, Tien and Yamcha counter-attacked from behind, and Piccolo spun in time to catch both punches, but while Yamcha had put all his concentration into that one attack, Tien was thinking further ahead-at the same time, his knee swung up, catching Piccolo on the chin. He flinched, but didn't retreat, kicking at Tien in retaliation. The three-eyed man grunted in pain, grasping his shoulder where he'd been struck and jumping away. Yamcha took the opportunity to try another attack, but recieved an elbow to the face.
Piccolo straightened up as his three enemies stood, rubbing his aching jaw. "Well, it seems I underestimated you. I might have to use a little more power." His ki shot up abruptly, smacking into their spiritual senses like a brick wall.
This was unexpected… Dr. Wheelo noted. He's capable of coherent thought. Usually, the subject goes into a berserker rage when presented with an enemy… it doesn't matter. As long as he eliminates these pests before the mind transfer is ready…
"Okay." Tien gritted his teeth, throwing off his cloak. There was an audible thump as the weighted training garment hit the floor, leaving cracks where it fell. "His power's gone up a significant amount… and I can tell it still isn't his maximum. At our current power levels, we don't stand a chance."
"Right." Yamcha cracked his knuckles. "Time to kick it up a notch! I've been training hard-I can handle the Kaioken properly now, up to a five-times power-up. So don't worry about me."
"Sounds good to me!" Krillin grinned, and the three warriors initiated the Kaio-Ken-"World King's Fist"- simultaneously, rapidly powering up to five times their base level.
"Hmm." Piccolo nodded. "Impressive…" He beckoned with one finger. "Let's go."
The fighters attacked, and instantly the air was filled with the blur of high-speed movement. Piccolo danced between the humans' strikes with ease, still only using less than half of his full power. "You call this an attack? Let me show you real strength!" He swung both arms out, smashing Krillin and Yamcha out of the air, then somersaulting backwards over Tien as he threw a punch, kicking him in the back and flooring him with brutal force. "Is that really all you've got?" The demon king growled. "This won't do. I need a real enemy!"
"You've got one right here!" Tien shouted, standing his ground. Krillin jumped over to stand next to him. As one, they powered up to even higher levels-"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!" They leapt forwards, and before Piccolo could even raise a hand to defend himself smashed two fists into his abdomen. Having knocked him off-balance, they aimed for the device on his head, but at the last second he regained enough initiative to jump back out of range, stumbling a bit as he landed.
From that low x5 level straight to their maximum… Piccolo realised. "It seems you aren't playing around. Very well… if you want to play it serious, then I'll just have to grace you with my full power." Previously, his ki had been like a mist surrounding him, a frosty bite in their minds. Now, though, it blazed like a fire, a mad drummer pounding in their heads. "This…" Krillin gasped. "This is…"
Piccolo laughed, a grating, guttural sound. "Impressed? You should be. Nail's power already surpassed that of an unmastered Super Saiyan, perhaps even rivalling the bulky Ascended form… how long has it been since you last saw him fight? A year? He's had plenty of time to improve." His grin spread from ear to ear. "Not to mention… he never really knew the full potential of the Super Namek! I kept a not-insignificant portion of our full power locked away inside him along with me… it sustained me, allowed me to survive within him, and grew along with my malice for my soft-hearted host! Now, our combined might is mine to command!"
"All right, enough talk!" Tien declared. "We can't keep up this kind of power for long, so-Krillin!"
"Now?"
"Now." Tien and Krillin blurred forwards, two blazing red figures crashing into Piccolo, who slowly backed away as he blocked the incoming barrage of attacks with some effort.
"Not bad… you have more potential than I'd given you credit for! Even a basic Super Saiyan wouldn't last long against an onslaught like this. However… my power is somewhat-" He dropped back onto his hands, thrusting both legs up and kicking his attackers each square in the face. "-greater!"
They turned the fall into a controlled landing, immediately charging back into the fight, trying to catch Piccolo off-balance. He hopped up to his feet, swaying around Tien's flying kick and swinging the flat of his hand around at Krillin's neck. However, it merely met an afterimage, and Krillin appeared behind him, fist aimed at Piccolo's head. Grunting with the effort, the Namekian spun, bringing one hand up to catch the punch before it hit him-but this sudden, strenuous move to defend his back left his front open, and Tien exploited the opportunity, hammering the demon with a vicious chain of attacks.
Piccolo fell back, snarling. Damn it! One on one, this'd be easier, but both together are too much… and it's damn hard to separate them! He resumed his defensive stance, watching the pair of fighters approach, waited as they raised their arms, focusing ki into their fists, then without warning sprang into motion, zipping across the room in a sudden burst of speed. The human warriors swung at empty air, each wasting a large amount of energy on their powerful attacks. Stumbling, they fell to their knees, breathing heavily as their Kaioken auras faded.
"Interesting." Piccolo nodded. "A good plan, potentially. You assumed I'd stand my ground, try and counterattack, underestimate your speed and take those hits-too bad for you I noticed your extremely focused energy at the last second. I knew the augmented strength and speed of those attacks would be too much for me to handle, so I figured I'd let you waste your energy without having to take the hit myself. I guess it paid off…" he grinned toothily. "The Kaioken is an extraordinary technique, but it's no good in a war of attrition… you'll lose all your strength too quickly. And on that note… DIE!" Piccolo roared, leaping at the tired fighters and building energy in both hands.
The counterattack, when it came, was the result of careful planning and silent movement.
He knew he'd only get one shot. He knew the element of surprise was his one advantage. And he knew a five-times increase wasn't enough.
"WOLF FANG KAIOKEN! HAIIII!" Yamcha burst out from beneath the ground, slamming into Piccolo from underneath, elbow-first, and following up with a close-range volley of attacks. A two-handed kiai sent Piccolo flying-though the demon managed to shield his head, and the mind-control device-and Yamcha didn't stop to appreciate his handiwork, immediately firing his strongest ki blast. "KAMEHAMEHA!" The beam smashed Piccolo straight through the wall, shockwaves rippling out behind it, cracking the ice outside for over a mile back.
Somewhat spent as well, the scarred warrior helped his companions up. "You guys okay?"
"Never better," Krillin joked. "That was a great move there-he never saw it coming!"
"Thanks…" Yamcha said darkly. "But I don't think it finished him. I can sense him coming back this way…"
"All right. Let's just break the thing on his head, and be done with it," Tien said firmly.
"Right." Krillin raised his fists. "Let's do this!" Together, the three ran towards the opening in the wall, just as Piccolo charged back through it, boiling with anger.
"I'll never be defeated by a bunch of humans!" He spat, throwing a brutal, uncontrolled punch that cracked into Yamcha's face, hurling him limply away. "I won't allow it!" He caught Tien's fist, twisting the man's arm painfully, at the same time letting fly an energy blast with his other hand, blowing Krillin across the room. "Pathetic. You can't even maintain a decent power level for more than a few seconds."
"Enough with this cliché villain crap!" Tien swung his free hand up, Kaioken aura flaring brightly, but Piccolo's head flicked sideways. A thin cut opened up on the Namekian's cheek as Tien's fist brushed past him, then he reached up and caught Tien by the wrist. Pulling the martial artist towards him to add momentum, he unhurriedly kneed him in the stomach, then let go, watching Tien fall to the floor next to his comrades.
What an interesting effect the control device has had on this one… Dr. Wheelo observed. Hopefully, he should still be subservient to my commands, once his desire to kill these three has been fulfilled. As soon as he's done, I'll initiate the transfer…
"Well…" Piccolo raised one hand, building energy between his fingers. "… enough fun for now."
This might be it! Krillin winced, preparing to try and dodge. If we could've just been a little faster…
Piccolo leered at the dismayed faces of his enemies. "If you plan on making your peace with your gods, now's the time!" The ki blast he was preparing grew as his power intensified. "Now, I… what's…?" His eyes widened as a previously-hidden energy source burst to life, shooting across the room behind him. "Another one, eh?" Before he could make an attempt to face this new presence, they fired an energy beam in his direction. He smirked- such an insignificant power! -and casually blocked it with his forearm. "Is that all you can do? Whoever you are, you're even weaker than-"
"You're wide open!" Piccolo swung around again to see Tien bearing down on him. The demon lashed out, catching his attacker in the chest, but Tien fought through the pain, grabbing Piccolo's attacking arm between both hands, swinging the demon over his head and slamming him into the floor. "AAAAH!"
"Graah… !" Piccolo felt blood rising in his mouth, the ground buckling beneath him. Krillin appeared in a blur of speed, directly above him, a triumphant grin on his face. Time seemed to slow down. Realising he was all but beaten, Piccolo's stomach lurched. It was too late to stop it. "Oh, shi-"
"HYAAA!" Thrusting both hands downwards, Krillin launched a powerful kiai that drove Piccolo further into the ground, the 'recoil' blasting Krillin up into the air, where-almost completely out of energy-he failed to stop himself arcing ungracefully across the room and painfully bouncing to a halt. "Oww… huh… huh… hey, nice work, guys!"
"Right." Tien stood up. "But… who was it that distracted Piccolo…? Not Yamcha…" This being due to Yamcha currently lying in a heap on the floor, not having yet recovered from the direct hit to the face he'd taken. "So who…"
"Ah, just little old me." Launch stepped out from the shadows, giving a thumbs-up.
Tien's face lit up. "Hey, you got here after all! So Break…"
"The little terror finally went to sleep. So what's the story?"
"Eh…" Tien shrugged, a little vague on the details. "Well, uh… evil scientist… mind control… sort of thing."
"Oh, okay." Launch pointed over at the downed Namekian, who was slowly stirring. "So, I heard some of what you were saying before… zat Nail, Piccolo, what?"
"I'm not quite sure…" Krillin admitted. "Let's hope he's back to normal, but be on guard just in case…"
"Urgh…" Nail stood up, last remnants of the mind-control device falling from his head, friendly light back in his eyes. "Wha happ'n?"
Dende stood on the edge of the Lookout, talking with his assistant. "You still feel homesick sometimes?" Mr. Popo asked.
Dende shrugged. "It comes and goes. Sometimes I think I'd like to see Namek again. Sometimes I think I'd just get bored, after having seen all I have." The genie remained silent, sensing his young master had something more to say. "But… it's more than that. I wonder, do they need me? Am I really that important?"
"What do you mean? You're the Guardian of Earth."
"Yes, but… Earth has so many incredible defenders now. I've been observing the battle in the North. Even without the Super Saiyans, they're handling themselves fine. I haven't really contributed at all…"
"But you created the current set of Dragon Balls," Mr. Popo reminded him. "Those have seen quite a lot of use recently."
"Oh, yes, wonderful." Dende sighed. "What a wonderful job I do of existing . My point is I'm not actually doing anything! It could be any Dragon Clan Namek, maybe one with more experience than me!"
"Much as I hate to interrupt you…" the odd-looking man inclined his head slightly to one side. "You said you were observing the battle in the North?"
"Yes, what of it?"
"I can't explain it, but I have… a terrible feeling. I fear all is not well."
"No, it seems they've just about got it won, actually," Dende said, smiling. "Dr. Wheelo's run out of servants to throw at them." Something flashed into his mind, a realisation almost tangibly sharp. "Wait… I sense something… under the surface… Mr. Popo! We have to go there, now!"
"What…"
"I need to warn them-they're not out of danger yet!" Dende's grip on his staff tightened with white-knuckled intensity. "But my telepathy hasn't developed to the point where I can talk to them from this far away yet… is there any way we can get there, fast?"
The genie nodded. "There is one way…"
"Yeah! Nail's back to normal!" Krillin yelled happily.
The restored Namekian rubbed his forehead. "I don't remember much… I came in here, then some kind of weird red light and… nothing after that. What happened, guys?"
"It's… kinda hard to explain…" Krillin began to tell him. "You were kind of Piccolo for a bit…"
"Uh?" This left Nail even more confused.
"Let me summarise," Launch said, patting Nail on the shoulder as she echoed Tien's words. "Evil scientist. Mind control. 'Kay?"
"Ah, I see." Nail looked up towards the far wall. "I remember… he's over there, huh? Hey, Wheelo! The game's up! You're done."
"If you think so, you are gravely mistaken…" the half-dead scientist's voice replied. "Hmm. It appears my reserves are not entirely exhausted. Units 12, 21, 34! Provide a momentary distraction." On cue, three of the black Saibaman-looking creatures sprung out from a quickly-opening hatch in the floor, aiming themselves directly at Nail, who stood at the front of the group.
Expression unchanging, he simply powered up, the force and heat of his expanding aura ripping the creatures apart. "What kind of distraction do you call that?"
"One that works…" Dr. Wheelo's voice took on an even greater air of smugness, if that was possible. "The activation process has begun now… you cannot stop it." Even as he spoke, the wall around his life-support tank began to crack and split, arcs of electricity running up and down the room. "As I said… I only needed a momentary diversion, and those three provided it."
"What's he doing?" Krillin wondered.
"Whatever it is…" Nail muttered. "I'm starting to feel an enormous power… ah!" He grimaced as the full weight of the new ki source hit him. "Everybody, get out of here! Now! He's charging up for something!"
"Wha…" Yamcha, still lying on the floor, finally summoned the strength to sit up. "Hey, what's going…" He saw the room collapsing around him, heard Nail's warning, and looked up just in time to see the massive energy wave rolling towards them. "Oh, come on!" he complained, before it engulfed him and everyone else, spreading out in all directions and swallowing up the whole fortress, completely destroying it. Ice flash-melted for miles around, creating a miniature ocean right in the middle of the glacier.
Nail was the first to pull himself out of the water, heaving Yamcha's beaten body up onto the ice before clambering out himself. Tien followed, giving Launch a boost as she climbed with him. The four fighters lay panting on the ice for a few seconds, before the sensation of the new energy signature getting closer forced them to stand and face it.
It was, naturally, a giant robot, rising slowly-leisurely, even-out of the ocean. There was little else it could have been. It was black, with blue ribbed elements and fish-like spines in places, and roughly bipedal. Despite its curved design, it was far from 'sleek' or 'graceful'. What was strange about it, though, was the fact that it had a detectable ki, unlike any other mechanical being they'd encountered before. The 'head' portion contained a transparent section, through which Dr. Wheelo's brain was visible.
"This is bad…" Krillin groaned. "Maybe we'd have been better able to withstand that attack if we hadn't just used up all our energy beating the crap out of each other, but right now I don't know if we can put up much of a fight…"
Just as he finished speaking, Dende and Mr. Popo materialised out of thin air, stood atop a hovering carpet. Dende's face fell, seeing Wheelo's robot body. "Damn it! I'm too late!"
"Time to die!" Wheelo boomed, raising a gigantic, claw-like limb.
Chapter 62: Only Human
"Time to die!" Dr. Wheelo's huge mechanical claw, pointed straight at the group of heroes, began to hum with power.
"Get ready!" Tien yelled, raising his hands. Can't guarantee everyone will dodge that… gotta deflect it! "TRI-BEAM!" His ki beam shot forwards, colliding in mid-air with Dr. Wheelo's high-power laser. He felt the immense pressure crush down on his body as his attack was almost instantly forced back by the stronger force.
"DOUBLE KAMEHAMEHA!" Thinking quickly, Krillin and Yamcha had formed their hands into a large circle and combined their ki to produce a single, stronger beam. It joined Tien's Tri-Beam, crashing head-on into Wheelo's attack and combining their force.
"It's not enough!" Yamcha realised. "We have to use the Kaioken!"
"No good…" Tien said grimly. "At this point, we wouldn't be able to sustain it for longer than a few seconds… or raise our powers high enough to completely stop that attack in that short period of time…"
Just as the oncoming attack was beginning to gain momentum, their ki blasts starting to roll off it like waves off a ship's bow, Launch leapt up from beneath them, darting towards Wheelo's robot exoskeleton while he was distracted. Firing up her Kaioken aura, she pointed a finger at him, yellow ki gathering around it. "Dodon Ray-HYAAAH!"
The Dodon Ray struck Wheelo a glancing blow on his transparent brain capsule, throwing him off-balance. His beam lurched upwards, lancing away harmlessly into the air, and Tien, Krillin and Yamcha's combined power hit him full-force, blasting him away before he could raise his defences.
Tien fell backwards into a sitting position. "Whoa… thanks again, Launch… but be careful from now on, I don't think he'll overlook you again." He realised Nail hadn't taken part in the attack. "Nail? You okay?"
"In a manner of speaking." The warrior Namekian was standing protectively in front of Dende and Mr. Popo. "I didn't have enough energy left to help you, so I decided to shield them in case you failed… thankfully, it didn't come to that." He turned to Dende. "Why did you come here?"
"To warn you…" Dende pointed to Dr. Wheelo's receding form. "I observed you fighting… you thought you'd won… I tried to warn you Dr. Wheelo himself was a serious threat. But it looks like I was too late." A thought struck him. "Hey, quickly! Everyone come here; I'll heal you!" he shouted. "Hurry, before he recovers!"
"Right! We're in no condition to fight him like this!" Tien ran over to Dende, the others following close behind, and the Earth's Guardian worked his restorative magic on each of them in turn. "Thanks, Dende! I don't know what we'd have done if you hadn't shown up…"
"We'd better go…" Mr. Popo said, nudging his young charge. "He appears to be returning. We can't risk you and the Dragon Balls being destroyed in the line of fire."
"Right." Dende stepped onto the genie's enchanted carpet. "Good luck, you guys!" The two flickered out of sight, magically returning to the Lookout in an instant.
"Okay…" Yamcha looked over towards the approaching robot scientist. "You guys ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Launch replied. "Let's do it!"
Dr. Wheelo powered his way through the frigid air towards the ragged group that composed his enemies. How did things get so out of control? Everything's been destroyed because of these interlopers! He saw them now, five tiny dots soaring towards him. He increased power to his leg thrusters, making straight for them. The Earth's fighters scattered to avoid his charge. "Damn you all!" He growled. "Everything was going perfectly… and you had to interfere! You've ruined everything!"
"Well, excuse me for saving the world," Krillin grumbled, wheeling around to attack. A Kienzan flew out from his outstretched hand, slicing through one of the spiked ridges on Wheelo's back as he banked left to avoid it.
"Interesting turn of phrase… but you haven't won yet." Wheelo swung an arm around, smashing Krillin into an icy peak, but just as he was doing so, Nail shoulder-barged him from behind, knocking him forwards. Tien and Launch rose up from beneath him as he swerved around, both crashing into him feet-first and bowling him over.
The gigantic robot collapsed back into the water below, floundering around with all four limbs flailing. For all the power of his mechanical body, Dr. Wheelo was no fighter, and his skill disadvantage was starting to become painfully clear to him. Still, he thought, at least their attacks aren't having much effect. It's hard to stop them hitting me, but my armour's too tough for it to make much of a difference… I'll wear them down eventually.
He rose from the water. "Are we done playing? Have you realised yet how futile your efforts are? You haven't even made a dent."
Krillin jumped back up to join the others in the air. "Oh, we're done playing, all right. Let's just go all-out straight off and get this done, guys."
"Sounds good to me!" Nail quickly powered up to maximum as the humans each raised their Kaioken to its current highest level. "HYAAA!" He fired a two-handed energy wave straight at Wheelo as the rest of the fighters swerved around to attack the mad scientist's flanks.
Such a huge power increase in such a short time… Wheelo observed. Activating reserve power supply. His aura grew even larger, drowning out their tiny-seeming ki with its immensity. "I didn't want to use this body's full power-it's still untested-but you're forcing my hand, it seems." He smacked Nail's blast out of the way, swivelling to face the other four. They twisted and soared towards him, leaving trails of burning air in their wake.
Wheelo's swiping claws knocked Launch out of the air. Yamcha, changing tactics and coming in from behind, was struck full-force by the robot's snake-like tail. Krillin overshot his target slightly and was sent flying as Wheelo barged into him. Tien, however, made it through the doctor's myriad counterattacks, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks that scratched and dented Wheelo's armoured carapace. "There's more where that came from-Tri-Beam! HAAA!" The close-range blast was devastatingly effective, blasting Wheelo half a mile back, carving a huge chasm into the frozen ground. Tien didn't relent for a second, firing a whole volley of energy-draining Tri-Beams. "HAAA! RAAAH! YAAA!" As each one hammered home, he felt his strength leaving him. Too fast-I'm losing power too fast! I can't keep up an intense attack like the Tri-Beam with this level of Kaioken power! He gritted his teeth, trying to block out the pain. No, I have to keep going! He's down but not out! "AAAH!" The energy beams became a repetitive thud, each sending up a corona of steam as the ice melted and the underlying sea boiled. Over a minute later, he finally lowered his shaking arms, fighting to keep his eyes open, to sink slowly to the ground and not just fall uncontrollably. "That's all… I've got," he gasped, taking in heaving breaths. "I hope… you enjoyed that… bastard…" Why's there always have to be someone with a god complex? Especially now, with our strongest fighters off-planet… ! Hopefully, though, that did the… He felt the enormous ki approaching again, barely diminished. "No… no, it's impossible!"
And yet, Wheelo floated through the air towards them, a flickering energy barrier encircling his hulking frame. It blinked a couple of times, then dissipated. Can't leave the shield on for too long… he reminded himself. It drains too much power. Then again… they don't know that. He hadn't activated it instantly, though, and wasn't exactly unharmed. Scorch marks covered his body. Cracks were visible in a couple of places, and sparks hissed from exposed wires. However, nothing major was damaged, and his power was as overwhelming as ever.
"D… Damn it…" Tien pounded his fist into the ground. "I put all my energy into that attack… and for nothing!" He looked up, hearing Nail's feet tap against the ground as he landed next to the exhausted fighter.
"Hey, you!" The Namek called. "Doctor Willow!"
"It's… Wheelo…" the robotic menace grumbled.
"I don't care!" Nail growled. "You clearly have the upper hand in this battle… why do you want to move to one of our bodies if we can't beat your robot there?"
"Fool… you think I enjoy inhabiting this ugly metal shell?! I want to walk, feel, breathe as a human being! Then my dominion over the planet will be truly fulfilling!"
"Wait… you want to be human… and yet you want to take over my body?" Nail scratched his head. "You blind or something?"
"Do not mock me," Wheelo snarled. "You're close enough. And your power is unchallenged by all save myself… you'll make the perfect host."
"That's pretty funny, actually…" Tien chuckled. "He actually thinks he's going to win. Hey! Even if you beat us, Goku'll be back soon! And let me tell you, you or I'd be nothing compared to him! You won't stand a chance!"
"Small consolation to you if you're dead," Wheelo retorted, not really believing that there was such a person.
Better not tell him about the Dragon Balls… Tien decided, merely smiling confidently. "Well, I wouldn't be too sure."
"Still." Nail shifted to a combat stance. "All things considered, I'd prefer not to die. Any ideas?"
"Nothing coming, but if you need any help, we're here." Launch landed behind them, Krillin and Yamcha by her side.
"I've got one idea…" Tien stood up shakily. "A Spirit Bomb."
"What?" Krillin frowned, sceptical. "That was only barely enough to beat Vegeta the first time we fought him! What, exactly, is it gonna do to somebody stronger than Cooler?!"
"This one's gonna be different," Tien promised. "Trust me. But it'll take time…"
"All right." Nail nodded. "I'll be the first line of defence… I'll keep him busy as long as I can. You guys stay around Tien. If I go down, hold him off. Got it?" Nods of assent. "Good. This had better work, Tien!"
"Trust me." Tien raised his hands to the sky as Nail took off, closing all three eyes and trying to calm himself. Only when you are at peace with yourself can you form a Spirit Bomb… King Kai's words echoed back to him. Purity of heart is paramount! Any taint, and the energy will reject you. Clearing his mind, he began to gather energy into the attack; first what little energy he had left, then working outwards, scouring the entire planet, taking a tiny amount of energy from every human, plant and animal-and not just living things. Even the ocean, the rocks and the wind had a basic but vast supply of spiritual energy.
Planet Earth, please… share your energy with me!
Nail made the first strike, a glancing blow that staggered Wheelo back, but the scientist struck back with deadly force, his elbow driving the breath from Nail's lungs. Wheelo made another lunge, but Nail flew over his head, aiming a spinning kick at a vulnerable joint. He hit dead-on, completely severing Wheelo's whip-cord tail, but even before it splashed down into the ocean Wheelo was spinning around, kicking Nail away. The warrior Namek's head span, but he fought to stay in the air. This is no good… I can't keep taking these hits or I won't even last a minute against this guy! He began to whirl around Wheelo like a one-man swarm of bugs, trying to keep him off-balance with hit-and-run strikes.
All right… Tien smiled, satisfied. I've drawn energy from the planet Earth… but like Krillin said, this just won't cut it anymore… I just hope this works. Stretching his arms out, he expanded his mind's eye, visualising other worlds-planets near Earth, stars in solar systems adjacent to Earth's. The stars! So much energy in them… it's incredible! And yet normally, we can't sense it at all! But I've got to be careful not to take too much from anything. Just a tiny proportion from each… every living thing, every planet, every star… He grinned, feeling the rush of energy. Yes! That's it! Give me the power to beat this guy!
"Gah!" Wheelo made the latest in a series of unsuccessful swings. "Enough of this! I can see you're trying to stall me… whatever those four are up to, I'll put an end to it!"
"No!" Nail shouted, eyes widening as Wheelo raised both arms, energy building around each. He began to fire a barrage of energy beams, smashing through the ground and into the ocean floor, carving a line towards the human fighters below. Nail raced to intercept, just managing to reach a blast aimed at the glacier his friends stood on in time. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, pushing all his ki to the front to form an impromptu shield. The impact was vicious, but he withstood it-then realised there was one final beam, already shooting past him, aimed straight at the group. He appeared alongside it with a desperate burst of super-speed, swinging his leg around and hoping to deflect the attack with a kick. No time to re-concentrate my ki… just have to hope I'm tough enough! "Ahh!" The beam detonated, going no further. However, when he looked down, his stomach lurched-his leg was gone. Completely destroyed! My body might be going into shock… I don't even feel ay pain yet!
Dr. Wheelo hovered towards him. "Impressive. You saved your friends… but lost a limb. How unfortunate. I guess you won't be able to fight anymore."
"Don't count on it!" Hissing with pain, Nail regenerated his leg, the new limb bursting messily out of the stump of the old. Regenerating, unfortunately, always hurt even more than losing the body part in the first place, and in this case both pains hit him at once as his brain finally registered the injury.
"Interesting… but it seems like that took a lot out of you. You can't have much fight left."
Nail scowled. "We'll… see."
"Hey, uh, Tien…" Yamcha asked. "You were glowing with power at first, but it's stopped… where'd it go? Where's the Spirit…" he glanced up. "… the, uh, the… the…" he looked up again, blinking. "… Spirit Bomb…"
"Wow!" Krillin gaped, noticing the ball of twinkling blue energy floating high above their heads. "That thing must be 50 metres across! Nothing could survive that!" He looked anxiously over at Wheelo. "Hey, it doesn't look like Nail can last much longer… Tien! Throw it!"
"No!" Tien grunted. "It's… not enough! I need more time!"
"Yeah, well-woah!" Krillin spun around as a heavy impact heralded Nail's half-conscious body hurtling ungracefully towards them. Krillin jumped to intercept, caught Nail, and laid him on the ground next to Tien. "All right, looks like it's up to us… Yamcha, with me. Launch, you be our last line of defence. If you see Yamcha or me make an opening, though, take it."
"Got it." Launch grinned. "Kick his ass!"
"Oh, because that's likely," Yamcha moaned, following Krillin through the air towards Wheelo. "KAIOKEN, HAAA!" They shouted in unison. Yamcha went straight for the transparent brain-covering, firing a ki blast from each hand as a distraction, then drawing back his fist in preparation to try cracking the weak point. "Wolf Fang-"
"Wolf Fang nothing!" Wheelo spat, surrounding his body with pulsing red energy before activating his thrusters and powering forwards into Yamcha, knocking him aside as easily as swatting an insect.
"Okay, here goes…" Krillin twisted under Wheelo's defences, planting a two-handed punch in his abdomen and throwing his energy out around him to send the doctor reeling away. "Gotcha!" Now, while he's off-guard! He focused all his boosted power into his hands, then released it in one blast. "KAIOHAMEHAAAA!" The light outshone everything for a brief moment, then vision flooded back, revealing-
"He dodged it?!" Krillin moaned. I guess that's the weakness of only powering up the technique… if my body doesn't have the same boost, I lose speed! He must have taken advantage of that…
"Enough of you…" Wheelo lunged, grabbing Krillin around the waist in one huge claw. "I've had enough of all of you!" Arcs of electricity surged down his arm, passing into Krillin and wracking his body. After a few seconds of the punishing attack, he tossed the small fighter away, floating down to the ground and facing Tien. Launch was nowhere to be seen.
The three-eyed warrior stood resolutely, hands raised. I've gathered all I can from the surrounding planets and stars… but it still isn't enough! His power's enormous…
"What are you doing?" Wheelo wondered aloud. "Raising your arms like that… what are you hoping to achieve, I wonder?" He paused his implacable advance. "Something stupid, no doubt. Whatever it is, you don't have much time… I'm not a patient man. Or are you surrendering?"
Tien stared down the gigantic robot, trying to stay calm. Nail… Krillin… Yamcha… Launch… whatever energy you have left, give it to me now! Lend me your power!
"Just how long are you going to stand there?!" Wheelo demanded. "Are you frozen to the spot or something?"
"Heh heh heh… just wait." Tien smiled. "You'll see…"
"I have no time for this foolishness!" Wheelo roared, raising an arm and charging up energy. "Once you're dead, there'll be nothing to stop me transferring to the green one's body… I know he's still alive."
Crap! Tien winced. Can't dodge it without losing control of the Spirit Bomb-and if that happened, it could destroy the whole planet! "Do your worst!"
"If you insist." Wheelo fired, and Tien shut his eyes, bracing himself. But before it hit home, Launch darted out from behind cover, throwing herself in the path of the attack. With a monumental effort she managed to block it, but the impact sent her sprawling, most of her energy spent. "Heh…" Wheelo chuckled. "I knew she'd be around somewhere… I reckoned that was the most effective way of drawing her out. Now you've got nobody left to help you…" he paused. "You still haven't moved! What kind of strategy do you call this?"
"Why… so impatient…" Tien chided, feeling a sudden flow of energy from his friends. Nail, Krillin, Yamcha, Launch-all were just awake enough to pour their last reserves of energy into the Spirit Bomb. Just a few more seconds! Please, give me that! "Don't you like surprises?"
"Don't play games with me!" Wheelo whipped his arm around at high speed, sending a shockwave through the air that hurled Tien away like a rag-doll. He bounced painfully, rolled and managed to land upright, leaving skid-marks on the ice. Slowly, he stood again, raising his arms.
Wheelo shuddered with anger. "Stop… STOP DOING THAT! I WILL NO TOLERATE…"
Tien's eyes snapped open wide. Now. "You want me to stop? Want to know what I'm doing?"
"What…?"
"YOU'RE DONE!" Tien shouted, swinging both arms down and letting the Spirit Bomb fly down towards Wheelo's robotic body.
"What are you talking about, waving your arms around like…" Wheelo paused, noticing that the area around him was getting considerably brighter. Slowly, he looked up. "That's… that's not the sun…" He realised with a jolt of surprise the speed with which it was hurtling at him. "D-Damn it!" He quickly immersed his body in red energy, releasing it all up at the Spirit Bomb. There was a brief struggle between the two opposing energies, but the Spirit Bomb finally overwhelmed Wheelo's counterattack, colliding with his arm and detonating.
Tien threw himself to the ground, shutting his eyes against the brilliant flare of light. Earth's energy… more from the surrounding planets… and ours, too! This has to work!
Slowly, the light faded. The smoke began to clear. Those still able to stand-only Tien and Krillin-slowly approached, warily reaching out with their ki senses. Suddenly, Tien took a step backwards, fear clouding his face. "No… it can't be!" And yet, though it was less than half what it had been before, Dr. Wheelo's ki was still very much there.
"Oh, come on!" Krillin moaned. "We've thrown everything we've got at this guy… what gives?!"
Wheelo now stood fully revealed. His raised blocking arm had been completely destroyed, loose wires hanging from the empty shoulder socket. Cracks ran up and down his body. But, damaged as he was, he was in a much better state than his enemies.
"What I want to know…" Tien said wearily, "… is how some random scientist out of nowhere can build a robot that's more powerful than we are." He noticed a small figure, energy masked, rising slowly up behind Wheelo and stealthily gliding towards him, and decided to keep the doctor talking for a while.
"I keep my eyes and ears open," Wheelo said as he approached. "I've observed many things, and your battles were among them… they haven't exactly been easy to miss. I've salvaged technology from battle sites, scanned your abilities and figured out the source of your elusive 'ki' powers… it's all thanks to you, in fact. My bio-warriors that you encountered earlier were previous attempts to create a being that could defeat you… it seems, with this robot body, I have finally succeeded!"
Dr. Gero called, he wants his shtick back, Tien thought glumly to himself. Still… that does explain the Saibaman-looking things… and the guy with Instant Transmission… "Well… I wouldn't say that." For one thing… the Spirit Bomb made an opening in his armour… that shoulder's now a massive weak point. Cracks cobwebbed out from the stump.
"Oh, really?" Wheelo gloated. "Well, even that last attack failed to finish me… though I am surprised that it managed to overpower my Planet Geyser weapon… I was going to save that to just wipe out the planet if all else failed, but I was forced to use it just to survive. In any case, though… you've failed. And I've won. And with that…" he raised a foot, aiming to crush Tien. "… goodbye."
"Uh, I think someone wants to have a word with you," Tien said.
"W… What? Word?" Wheelo paused, totally confused. "What are you…"
"KIENZAN!" Krillin, just now hovering silently inches away from Wheelo, let loose the very last dregs of his energy into forming one final attack, throwing it directly into the weak point on Wheelo's shoulder. It carved into the mass of wires, slicing deep into the robotic body and causing the cracked segments to explode outwards. Uncontrolled electricity hissed and spat up and down Wheelo's body, his limbs twitching and jerking. Krillin wasn't done, though. "Heh… Guess who picked up a trick from Cell?" He swung his arms upwards, remotely directing the disc, sending it up towards the brain compartment. The robot's inside, nowhere near as well-protected as the outside, was no defence; the Kienzan flew up and up, inevitably slicing through into the section that housed Wheelo's disembodied brain.
"N-No! You can't do this to me! NOOOO! N-" At this point, his screams of protest stopped, as Kienzan and brain met. The result was extremely messy, and it was fair to say the Kienzan won.
All his strength gone, Krillin sank to the ground, falling onto his back. "We… won…"
"Yeah…" Tien sat down next to him, exhausted. "Who needs Super Saiyans, eh?" They sat for a minute or two in silence, enjoying the peaceful quiet. Then, however, a loud creaking noise emanated from Wheelo's robot's legs… and it began to fall.
"Say… is it just me," Krillin said slowly, "or is he falling towards that mountain there?"
"Yeah…" Tien agreed, nodding. "And would it be fair to say that the impact is going to-" THUDD. "-to disturb that quite unstable-looking mountainside of snow?"
"It would, it would." Krillin sighed. "Let me guess. You're not in any state to fly either, huh?"
Abruptly, and just as the avalanche began to roll towards them, Dende and Mr. Popo appeared again. "Hey, you did it!" Dende cheered, oblivious. "You won! I'm so glad!"
Ignoring him, Tien answered Krillin's question. "No… no, I am not."
Krillin sighed again, closing his eyes and resigning himself to a cold and wet few minutes in the near future, as the wall of snow crashed into them. "Wonderful."
Chapter 63: Life Goes On
"… So, that's how we got here," Tien explained, lifting Launch out of the drift by her shoulders.
"Makes sense." Goku recovered Dende and Mr. Popo by the backs of their shirts, placing them on the ground next to him. "Hey, I'm glad you're all right. You guys did really well… this is a victory to be proud of."
"Thanks!" Tien smiled. "That means a lot, coming from you."
"All right… let's get everyone to the Lookout. When Dende wakes up, he can heal everybody… then there's somebody you all need to meet."
Things began to move quickly. As soon as Dende was conscious, he healed the group in the north, who then proceeded back to the Lookout. Gohan, Videl, Zarbon and Kuriza were quickly healed too (Tarble was somewhat shell-shocked at the moment, and hadn't come back to his senses yet), and shortly Dr. Myuu emerged.
"Er… hello…" he said deferentially, bowing slightly.
"Hey, lighten up a little." Krillin smiled, shaking his head. "No need for that. Goku says you're a good guy, and that's enough for me."
"I'm a…" Myuu looked questioningly at Goku, who nodded. "Thank you. Though I'm not sure if you're correct. If you don't mind… can I ask you," he indicated the humans, "as natives of this planet… are these Super Saiyans anything like the bloodthirsty saiyans that slaughtered my people?"
Yamcha shook his head emphatically. "No way! I'd trust Goku with my life! Known him since he was a kid. Same goes for his brother, but, uh…" his speech became quieter. "… he isn't with us anymore…"
"In fact," Krillin added, "if you're talking about natives of the planet, you should count Goku and Gohan here with us! Nurture over nature-they're as human as any of us!"
Videl grinned. "I couldn't even tell Gohan was an alien at first…"
Myuu was startled. Such devotion… this friendship runs deep… At last, he raised his head. "I see… looking in your eyes, I believe you speak the truth. But… in the back of my mind, there is still a voice… screaming for revenge."
"Killing them won't be avenging your people. These two are nothing like the ones you hate so much. They saved my planet, too," Dende said, approaching the group. "That was when the Super Saiyan first reappeared."
"A Namekian…" Myuu realised. They're known throughout the universe… a wise, peaceful race, truly admirable. If one of them-even a child-vouches for these saiyans… that decides it. Difficult as it is… He clenched his fists, trying to drown out the inner cry for vengeance. "I… apologise for the pain I have caused you. You are truly fortunate to have found such a planet to inhabit… and its natives are fortunate to have protectors like you." He turned sharply away. "However… it still discomforts me to look at you. Your existence feels wrong. I wish it were not so." He shut his eyes, trying to calm himself. "I cannot stay here. Not so close to you."
Goku shrugged. "You need to leave the planet? I'm sure you can use that ship… though Bulma might get annoyed about having to keep building these things, heh…"
"No, not that far away. Where would I go? My homeworld- our homeworld-is dust now, Frieza saw to that. And this is a beautiful planet… besides, from what I've seen of humans so far, what they've shaped you into… it's uplifting." Myuu turned to Dende. "May I live in this place? It is your home, I gather, whereas the rest live down on the surface."
"That's right," Dende confirmed. "I'm sure Mr. Popo wouldn't mind being able to finally exercise those cooking skills he's always talking about… Nameks only require water, you see."
"I'm afraid he'll have to wait," Myuu replied. "I require no such sustenance. However, I will be happy to assist you in your duties as Guardian in any way I can. Think of it as paying my rent." He cracked a tiny smile at his own joke.
"Don't worry, you're always welcome here."
"Cool!" Goku looked slightly shifty all of a sudden. "Look, uh… Dende? Chi-Chi would bite my head off if she knew Gohan got beaten up in a fight again. Thanks for healing us up, but… Kami could always materialise small items. If you have the same ability, could you fix up our clothes? We can just say his ship broke down and we had to go pick him up, or something…"
Dende suppressed a laugh. "All right… I think I can manage that. Mr. Popo's been teaching me a lot about what I can do, thanks to his time working with Kami." He raised one hand, magical energy glowing softly around it. "So, it shouldn't be too hard… hold still a second."
"… So, apparently Bulma says the, uh…" Goku paused, chewing thoughtfully as his brain fumbled for the word, not noticing that he'd chewed straight through his fork (it was an achievement for Chi-Chi that he was even using cutlery at all).
Gohan didn't know either, but made a wild guess. "… the, uh, the flux capacitor… in… in the forty-watt range…"
"Right, that." Goku nodded. Nice save. "Yeah, it broke. Old model. She forgot to replace it before he left."
"Tch… I knew she shouldn't have let him leave in such a rush…" Chi-Chi shook her head. "At least the trip went well…" an eyebrow raised sceptically. "… didn't it…?"
"Oh, yeah," Gohan said enthusiastically, now telling the truth. "I learnt plenty about aliens… how the old empire's turned out since we went to Namek… a cool new technique… lots to put down in my book."
"But is all that really relevant to teaching people ki control?" Goku wondered.
"Well… it's sorta two halves. One is that, yeah, but the other is a complete account of our adventures. Well… mostly complete."
"Yes, you said," his mother remembered. "No mentioning the Dragon Balls, or saiyans, or the other aliens living with us."
"Right."
"Not the Dragon Balls?" Goku asked, through a rapidly-disappearing mouthful of noodles. "But then how are we gonna explain how we fixed everything that Cell did?"
"I… guess we can't explain everything." Gohan shrugged. "People will be unhappy if they don't know the whole truth, but we can't risk something like that being public knowledge. There's a lot of people out there who we really don't want getting their every wish granted. We just have to do our best… make as much of the truth known as possible for now. Maybe someday the world will be ready for the rest…"
The next day…
Goku idly wandered the halls of Capsule Corp., slowly honing in on the small ki source he'd been looking for. His face brightened up when he rounded the corner, finally finding her. "Hey, Bulma!" He tossed her the capsule containing the spaceship. "Just came to give this back-thanks."
"Oh! Goku." His old friend smiled wearily, catching the miniaturised ship. "Yamcha said you were back. How'd it go?"
"Fine, fine…" He paused. "Well… no. Not really. Vegeta's dead."
Bulma shrugged. "Good riddance."
"Well… I shouldn't feel bad. I know I shouldn't… but I do." He sighed, trying to explain. "Deep down, he was an honourable warrior, and I respected that. He was driven to do terrible things by the way his life turned out, and I can't help but feel sorry for all that wasted potential. What he could have been."
"What do you mean? There was good in him?"
"Sure. In a way. I mean, if I'd never come to Earth, I'd have been just like him. So, I guess… there's that kind of potential in everybody. We all could have been somebody else, had things been different."
"What, if he'd been sent here instead of you? Had the same experiences?" she asked. "That's a weird thought. But I think, at a basic level, there's a bit of what makes you you… you can't completely change it. We're lucky we got you, Goku."
"Still… I can't help wonder. Could he have been different? Happier? Had a family, something to fight for…"
"You're fantasising. You always want a happy ending for everybody. We don't live in a fairytale, Goku."
"I know, I know." He turned to leave. "Thanks, Bulma. I just needed to get that off my chest. The universe feels… emptier, somehow, now."
"I know why." Goku stopped at Bulma's voice. "It's obvious… there are less and less pure saiyans left. You're a dying race."
"Yeah… yeah, that's right," Goku said quietly, realising. "Nappa died soon after we met him. Raditz is gone. Turles, Paragus, Broly and Vegeta all died within a few days of each other. Now there's just me and Tarble."
"Vegeta's brother? How is he, anyway?"
The previous day…
Dr. Myuu had descended to the inner depths of the Lookout. Dende had fixed up everyone's appearance. Everyone was about to depart-then Tarble descended the steps of the ship. His hair was ruffled, his armour dirtied, his scouter cracked, but thanks to being healed earlier he was himself completely intact. "H… Hello…" he said nervously, waving a greeting. "I heard you talking… is my brother here? Where's Vegeta…?"
"I'm sorry, he… didn't make it," Goku said gravely.
"Oh." Tarble didn't seem upset.
"You're not-" Gohan began.
"Well, I guess… I'm a little sad." The small saiyan shrugged. "It's not that I don't care, but I was sent away at such a young age that I never really knew my family. Apparently I was too weak and didn't have any fighting spirit. I guess it's true that I've never liked fighting. Say…" he peered at Goku and Gohan. "… You're saiyans too, aren't you?"
"Sort of," Dende answered. "They're not like the ones you knew at all, though. We kind of just got through explaining this…"
"The Tuffle. Yes, I heard." Tarble smiled, his tail twitching happily. "I'm glad that not all of us have to be bloodthirsty killers. It means I haven't failed any kind of test, just for not liking fighting."
"You really don't fight at all?" Goku asked.
"Nope," Tarble said happily, treating it as an achievement. "Haven't thrown a punch in my life."
"I see…" He leaned back, whispering to Gohan. " Okay, that is odd, for a saiyan… "
" You've met me, haven't you? " Gohan whispered back.
"Well… in any case, do you have a home anywhere that you'd like to be returned to?" Nail said, trying to steer the conversation back on course.
"Not really… I was just drifting from planet to planet, when the Tuffles found me," Tarble replied. "But I am sad that that one still disliked us, even after all that. Hate is such a terrible thing."
He really is the real deal, Nail decided. Pacifist… optimist… a rare specimen indeed. "Well, some things are ingrained deep. Myuu's going to have to deal with his problems on his own."
"Nope… I don't think so." Tarble grinned.
"What?"
"See ya! He said he was going to the innermost chamber, right?" Tarble promptly broke into a run, heading for the Lookout's entrance.
"What the…" Krillin scratched his head. "He only just got here. What does he think he's doing?"
"What do you think you're doing?" Dr. Myuu had heard the footsteps as Tarble entered the dimly-lit chamber. He saw the saiyan sit opposite him. "I still resent your kind. I cannot guarantee your safety here. I came to be alone for a reason."
Tarble nodded. "I know. You've spent your life with hate on your mind. Hate is a terrible thing."
Myuu's brow wrinkled. "Again… just what, exactly, are you doing?"
"Changing your mind."
A year later…
Goku landed in the familiar surroundings of Capsule Corp. Gohan was already here, giving Videl a tour of the place. But that wasn't what he was here for. As a year ago, Bulma had called. And now as then, she'd sounded worried. Again, she'd been vague about the details, but he wasn't about to leave his oldest friend in the lurch.
"What is it?" he asked, finding her sunbathing in the garden. "Uh… Bulma?" You said you'd be in your lab…"
"Oh!" Bulma's eyes blinked open, and she yawned, sitting up slowly. "Right… right, sorry. Sorry. I've been distracted lately."
"So, what did you want?"
"Right! Right." She rubbed her eyes, standing up and stretching, finally becoming fully awake. "Okay, I'll make it quick. Right after the whole Cell thing… not long after I died and came back… I started drawing 7s everywhere. On myself, the walls, whatever. If I didn't have a pen, I'd scratch it into things. Completely subconscious, uncontrollable." She paused, making sure the fighter, sometimes slow to catch up, was following. "A few months later… it became 6s. Today… exactly a year after that…" she showed Goku the inside of her forearm-covered in pencil-marks: 5s.
"… five. It's counting down, Goku. Counting years."
"But you said the first one wasn't a whole year," he pointed out.
"Right, but I reckon that's because it didn't start on exactly seven years. It started partway through a year, and now it's counting how many years are left, until…"
"What?"
"I don't know. But it worries me."
Goku nodded. "I didn't know you were psychic, for one thing…"
"Exactly. Is it a premonition? Am I just going crazy? Is it some outside force sending me a message?" She bent down, reaching inside a bag by her feet and pulling out some printouts. "So dad and I ran some tests. Brain activity normal, but eventually we found it-some kind of electromagnetic radiation. Very faint, we could only just detect it."
"Uh…" Goku was a little lost at this point. "Radiation? Like… nuclear bombs?"
"Not quite. Now bear with me. We'd been running some trials recently, trying to develop a time machine like I apparently did in Break's future. Still getting absolutely nowhere with that one, but some samples are giving off radiation similar to the kind that we're finding in my brain."
Goku remained silent. "Um, keep going. You've lost me, but you might find me again in a minute."
"Right. So. The radiation our pathetic attempts at time travel were giving off was similar, but not identical. Only half the pattern, actually. So I ran a search on the database, and guess what fitted the other half perfectly?"
"No, go ahead, tell me."
Bulma sighed. "It was a rhetorical question."
Goku shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know any rhetorical answers."
She paused, grinding her teeth. "Just… never mind." She tried to remember where she'd left off. "The other half of the radiation 'pattern' matched perfectly with the EM signal given of by the Dragon Balls."
"The Dragon Balls give off…?"
"'Course. It's how the Dragon Radar works."
"So… a mix between time travel and the Dragon Balls?" Goku wondered. "When have we ever… ah! The wish to Porunga! The androids! We wished for the people in the future to forget about the androids, so Seventeen and Eighteen could have a normal life!"
"Exactly." Bulma pointed at herself with her thumb. "And it just so happens yours truly was spending an awful lot of time around the time machine-the one link between this timeline and that-right around the time you made that wish."
"Cool!" Goku smiled for a few seconds, before his train of thought finally arrived at the station. "Oh, uh… so why'd you call me here? I'm no scientist, you know."
"Yes, I know that very well, mountain man." She tapped him on the head. "I'm getting to you. Sometime around Namek, you started to be able to read minds, didn't you?"
"Yeah…"
"Why? Did you ever find out? When exactly?"
Goku squinted, thinking back. "Er, it was right when Raditz and I were training in high gravity on the way to Namek. Right around the time we arrived. But everything got real complicated, real fast, and we never had time to stop and question it. Looking back… I think it was the first step." He nodded. "We'd surpassed our normal limitations… we were starting to become Super Saiyans."
"I see. Can Gohan do it?"
"No, but he's still a kid. I'm sure it'll come. Or maybe not. He is only half-saiyan… and he really should train more, I have to say."
"Okay, anyway." Bulma now tapped her own head. "Back to the point. I need you to read my mind-take a look in there, see what's gotten into me. Whatever this thing is, this countdown, I want to know."
"All right… if you say so. I mean, if you want me looking through your thoughts… it might take me a while to find it. I don't really know what I'm looking for."
"Goku, I trust you not to screw up my head, just read my damn mind already!" Bulma snapped.
"All right, just asking…" Taking a deep breath, he put his hand on the blue-haired woman's forehead, reaching out with his mind and sinking into hers. Both instantly relaxed, feeling somewhat detached from their bodies.
Gohan and Videl came out of a nearby doorway, chatting loudly. "You really think my hair's getting too long?"
"Hey, I said long er, not too long." Videl laughed. "I kinda like the scruffy look. I mean, you've seen my hair, right? I'd be a hypocrite if I said yours was too long. Or do you think mine would look better short?"
"Well, uh…" Gohan personally thought that longer hair could get in the way in a fight, but now that she'd said all that, he didn't really want to voice the opinion-and besides, his uncle had been living proof that it didn't necessarily affect one's performance in battle. "No, it's… it's fine. I like it how it is." They approached, seeing the strange scene before them. "And the gardens out here are… uh…" Gohan blinked. "Dad? Bulma? You okay?" Neither of the adults moved or responded.
Videl stared. "They're completely out of it… weird."
Tentatively, Goku explored Bulma's mind. Okay… get my bearings… I usually only read surface thoughts. This-looking for the subconscious-is going to be a new experience.
"Hey, what was that?!" Bulma's voice boomed from all around him as she thought the words. "You do know what you're doing, don't you?"
Oh, uh, right… in her mind… she can hear me too. Uh, don't worry, Bulma, I'm not going to mess with anything… not that I'd know how to anyway. I'm just gonna look around, see if I can find whatever it is… he let himself sink deeper, into her memories and recurring thoughts. Hmm… okay, no, that's family… aww, Trunks was so cute!
"Still is!" Bulma insisted. "He's still my baby, you know!"
Right, right… now… family, right… hmm, lots about Zarbon… egh, didn't want to know that…
"Well, what do you expect?" she protested. "I'm sure if you looked at Chi-Chi's mind, you'd find similar about you!"
Uh… similar, maybe, but… I don't think her mind works quite like… hey. He noticed a 'cluster' of bundled-up thoughts, near the large section associated with Zarbon. Almost repressed, in fact. What's this? He mentally 'peered' inside, wondering if it might be what he was searching for, then quickly recoiled. Was that Vegeta? Really, Bulma?
"Hey, you don't see me prying in your brain and giving a running commentary! Now keep looking, and when you're done, not a word to anybody!"
"Hmm…" Gohan studied Goku and Bulma, both still unmoving. "They're not unconscious or asleep, or they wouldn't be standing up…"
"And they're both breathing," Videl noted.
"Yeah… oh!" Gohan snapped his fingers. "Dad's reading her mind! I don't know why, but that's definitely what it looks like. He's taking his time about it, though."
"He can do that?"
"He can do that."
"Is it safe to wake them up?" Videl asked. "You know, just to ask what he's doing it for?"
"Yeah, sure," Gohan replied. "I mean, it's not like a deep mind-probe thing. He only ever reads surface thoughts and recent memories."
Sorry this is taking so long… Goku 'thought aloud'. The mind isn't exactly structured in a logical way. Everything's connected. But I'm getting there. I'm through to your subconscious. Basic survival drives, reflexes, instincts… hmm.
"'Hmm'?" Bulma inquired. "As in, 'hmm', you might have found it?"
Yeah, actually. Goku reached out for what could best be described as a foreign object, squatting at the base of her mind. That shouldn't be there… doesn't look like a thought at all, actually… got to be it.
"Well, go get it! Find out what it is." Excitement edged into her voice-strange as the situation was, she had a scientist's drive to discover, and this was completely new and unknown territory.
Gohan reached out to tap Goku on the arm. "I'll ask him. Hey, Dad. Watcha doin'?" Stopping up short before they touched, he felt a sudden chill down his spine, as if he was doing something wrong. Nah… just paranoia. It's fine. He reached forwards again.
I… got it! Goku mentally grasped the object, scanning it with his telepathic powers. Huh? I'm seeing something… For a brief moment, he glimpsed something-something pink -then it was gone, and he felt himself suddenly wrenched back out of Bulma's mind, the connection abruptly broken.
Contact. Gohan's finger touched his father's arm. A jolt of static electricity made him jump back, but it was too late. Images burst into his mind, like floodgates opening. He covered his head in his hands, gritting his teeth and trying to block them out, but they kept coming. Incoherent. Flashes of colour. Snatches of speech.
"… level beyond Super…"
"This fight's been a long time coming…"
"They're all going to die!"
"Gohan! No!"
"BUU!"
Slowly, Gohan opened his eyes. "What…" his vision swam into focus. Goku, Bulma and Videl stood over him. "What happened?"
"You were babbling. Just incoherent nonsense. Screaming, almost," Bulma explained. "You went Super Saiyan for a moment, then fell unconscious."
"Are… you okay?" Videl asked, her voice full of concern.
"I'm fine." Gohan stood up, feeling vitality return to him. "I'm fine," he repeated, almost to himself. He took off, igniting his aura and rocketing back towards home.
"Gohan! Wait…" Goku called, but it was too late. "He interfered somehow…" he said, to which Bulma nodded.
"Look…" Bulma frowned. "That kid is anything but 'fine'. You two should go to him."
"Are you all right, though?" Goku asked. "I kinda got wrenched out of your mind suddenly… didn't have time to break contact properly."
"I'm great, actually. I feel like… like a weight I didn't even know was there just got lifted. Somehow, I don't think I'm gonna be writing these numbers anymore." She smiled. "But don't worry, I've got today's date written into my calendar. If something does happen in five years, I'll be ready. Now go… take care of your son. And," she turned to Videl, "your bo…" She paused, awkwardly. Were they too young for that? "… your best friend," she finished, attempting a quick recovery. "He needs you more than I do."
However, Gohan had brushed off all attempts at further questioning with 'I said I'm fine, all right?' He ate dinner hurriedly, without speaking, and went to bed immediately afterwards. Sleep was no respite, though. More images flashed through his mind, just like before. Death and destruction, mainly. Yet when he awoke, he could remember almost nothing of them. No specifics, anyway. Just an unshakeable haunting feeling, like he'd just witnessed a tragedy.
Sweating profusely, he stumbled into the bathroom to get a drink of water before trying to go back to sleep, turned on the light… and immediately did a double-take. Drawn in thick pen-the familiar writing of the pen he kept by his bed in case he had a flash of inspiration for his book during the night, in fact-was a stylised letter 'M', right in the centre of his forehead. He frantically washed it off, and went back to bed even more uneasy than when he'd woken up.
Around the same time that year…
A loud thump on Kame House's door awoke Krillin, who slept closest to it. He blearily glanced at the clock-just past midnight. Who the hell…? This had better be important. He stumbled into some pants, practically sleepwalked over to the door and swung it open, and was promptly shocked into complete wakefulness by android Eighteen rushing in and collapsing on the couch. He blinked a couple of times. Pinched himself-not dreaming. "Uh… Eighteen?" Of course, he knew that there had been an evil version of the cyborg he'd come to know in this timeline, but there was no malice in her eyes-this had to be the good one. Like him, she was dressed like she'd just got out of bed. "Didn't you and Seventeen go with Break? You know, to the future?"
"We, uh…" Eighteen made a few attempts to speak, finally just nodding and falling silent. She took several deep breaths, shut her eyes, and eventually found the words. "Seventeen's dead. And maybe everyone else… or… they will be dead… in that future they're…" she paused, time travel as always making tenses rather confusing. "… you know what I mean?"
"Yeah." Krillin pulled up a stool, sitting opposite her and switching on a nearby lamp for light. "Okay… tell me what happened."
"Well… we hadn't really been in contact with Break and the others for a long time. We'd gone our own way… found a place for ourselves. I'll leave out the details… it was a good while after we'd got there. Maybe two years? Hard to keep track. There'd been some close scares before-Dr. Gero's lab kept building androids, one in particular called 13 who gave us all a real beating-but we'd always come out on top. Then, uh… one day, we'd only just woken up, we were about to go out hunting, and bam -there was a flash of light, and Seventeen's head was… gone." She bit her lip, forcing tears back. "No last words or anything. Couple of seconds later-I was still in shock-Break tore through the wall. Super Saiyan. Wild-eyed. Looked pretty worried. She threw me the time machine capsule and told me to get back to this timeline, as soon as possible." She sat back, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"Oh… so, uh… why d'you think you, specifically?" Krillin wondered. "And why would whoever it was target you two?"
"Well…" Eighteen pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper she'd tucked into her waistband. "Once I was back in this time, I noticed this on the dashboard. I guess she wrote it on the way." Hastily scrawled on the paper, dotted abbreviations, was a message reading:
New kind of android. V. strong. Too strong. Can't protect you. It might fuse with you, get stronger? Would make sense. (Cell, 13, etc.) Think they got one f. you. Sorry. Have to destroy body; they might need you alive/dead, don't no. Destroy time mach. NO PAST/FUTURE LINK.
"I see…" Krillin put the message down. "How would she know it's a new android if she was immediately going your way? Wouldn't she only know if she'd gone to fight it? And if it was that strong, how would she have survived fighting it?"
"Look, I don't know," Eighteen said. "I don't have any answers for you. But when someone like that tells you they can't protect you… I'm scared, Krillin."
"You destroyed the time machine?"
"Yeah. I guess she was worried they'd somehow trace it through time… I don't know how that'd work, or if it's even possible, but it was the last one."
"Actually… I don't think that's it," Krillin suggested.
"Huh?"
"I think she told you to destroy it so you'd never try and come back." He sat down next to her, looking sincere. "Look, she knows you're a good person at heart. You might one day worry about her-all of them. Try to find out if they survived. And while they might stand a better chance without you two around to potentially make these new androids stronger… I'm pretty sure Break knows she isn't going to win. She wouldn't want you coming back, only to get killed yourself."
"But…" Eighteen clenched her hands into fists, scowling. "… Break… Gohan, Bulma… millions of people! She can't just resign herself to the fact that they're all going to die! How could someone be so cold… to make a decision like that?!"
"I know it's harsh," Krillin agreed. "But you know it makes sense. Sometimes… if there's a forest fire, and you can't put it out… you have to cut down, or even burn, some of the trees at the edge of the burning part… to stop it spreading to the rest of the forest."
"That's not the same thing as a whole planet full of life!"
He sighed. "Yeah… I guess not. Maybe you're right. I don't know if there is a right answer. She did what she thought was right, and that's all we can ask." He paused, twiddling his thumbs. "Uh… do you want anything? Like, a drink or something? Are you hungry, or-"
"Just… stay here," she said, putting a hand on his arm to stop him leaving. Even in the brief time she'd known him, she remembered, it was easily the little man's most endearing quality-you could always talk to him. There wasn't an ounce of hostility or bad temper in his body. "Just don't go."
Chapter 64: World War Z
"I just can't understand it," Tien said, scratching his head. Launch stood opposite him-the two had just finished sparring. "The rate you're improving at-it isn't just incredible, it should be impossible."
Launch shrugged. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but… it's just weird. It shouldn't be possible for somebody to increase their ki this much with two years' training." He frowned. "Sorry, but this is something that's been on my mind a lot recently." He sat down on the rocky ground, patting the earth in front of him. "Could you sit here, please? I need to know."
She sat facing him, puzzled. "What are you going to do?"
"Just meditating," he replied, his voice unnaturally flat. His two normal eyes were closed, but the third on his forehead remained open. He took in slow, deep breaths, easily slipping into a meditative trance. "Relax…" he instructed her. "Don't power up, exactly… just let your energy be there, flowing through you." She nodded, attempting this, and he felt out around him with his mind. Launch's ki washed over him in waves. Yes, there is something strange about it… I can't quite put my finger on it, though…
Launch gulped. She'd known the martial artist a while, but the way his third eye glared at her as he sat in silence was eerie in the extreme. She shut her eyes, focusing on keeping the flow of her energy steady.
There… Tien nodded. "I've got it," he said quietly. "Your energy… it feels like two people's… sort of. They're connected, feeding off each other…"
Launch sat back, stretching, though Tien didn't move. "So you think when I was two people for a long time…?" she left the question unfinished.
"I think you were right when you said you were probably originally one person," Tien replied. "Being split, having that fluke in your DNA activated by whatever trauma it was that usually causes multiple personalities… for you, the split was much deeper. I think your soul was split in two."
Launch smiled. "You think souls exist?"
"Of course they do. I've seen them." His eyes opened. "I've been dead, remember?"
"Oh, uh, right."
"Anyway," he continued, "I'd guess that being split for so many years forced both fragments to exist on their own… eventually, they healed. Each grew into a full soul, and one inhabited your body at a time."
She shuffled slightly closer, intrigued. "So when I rejoined…"
"Most of the elements of ki are tied to the soul-you don't see rocks throwing beam attacks," he said. "And within you, two full souls fused into… something. Something, I think… greater than the sum of its parts. You're certainly not just twice as strong as I'd expect. It's much greater than that."
"You've said before that you feel like you're getting closer and closer to human limits," she remembered, "and as you get stronger, you improve slower. Do you think I'll have the same limits or not?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "You, my friend, are something new."
"I see…" Krillin and Eighteen had met in the morning with the other inhabitants of Kame House-Master Roshi and Oolong-and with some difficulty (eventually involving calling Goku to send a telepathic signal up to the Lookout), Dende had been summoned as resident expert on the Dragon Balls. He was currently speaking. "… sounds like you've had a rough time of it, Eighteen. So, what is it you wanted?"
"The thing is, with the time machine destroyed there's no way to get back to the future to help," Eighteen explained. "Maybe if Break couldn't beat this new android, Goku or somebody here could!" She sniffed. "I… I was under a lot of stress when I got back here. I'm sure if I was thinking clearly, I wouldn't have destroyed the time machine… I'm sorry…"
"I've spoken to Bulma recently," Krillin added, "and she says we're still nowhere close to developing our own time travel. So we're stuck without any link to the future."
"Hmm…" Dende rubbed his chin. He'd seemed more mature recently; and though he had grown considerably taller, it wasn't just physical. Ever since the Dr. Wheelo incident, when his timely intervention had given the others the strength they needed to win, he'd been much more sure of himself-or perhaps it was the way that as soon as he'd started thinking that the Earth was fine without him, another catastrophe had arisen, reminding him that danger was never far away, and anyone might be called upon to make a crucial difference. "… so I'm guessing you want to know if the Dragon Balls, or any other kind of magical help I can provide, can help?"
"That's about the long and short of it," Roshi agreed.
"Too much of the long, not enough of the short, if you ask me," Oolong chipped in. "What kind of time do you call this? I've barely gotten ten hours' sleep."
"Hush now," Roshi tutted, lightly shoving the sarcastic pig away. "If sleeping means that much to you, go back to bed."
"And miss everything that's going on? No, sir!"
"Well, that's very noble of you. I'm sure we all want to help this poor girl out…" he slyly raised a hand over towards Eighteen's back, then tried to slide it lower. "… provide comfort in a difficult…" she casually punched him to the floor, shaking her head.
"Ahem…" Dende tried to set the conversation back on course. "Anyway… I'm afraid I don't think I can help you there. I've studied this a lot, actually, and I think the only reason Porunga was able to make a wish affecting another timeline at all was because we had a time machine with us to act as a link… there may even have been some adverse side effects in any case, it's extremely unlikely that it worked perfectly…"
"So you're saying the Dragon Balls can't help us get to the other timeline?" Krillin asked.
"I'm afraid so," Dende said morosely. "I'm sorry."
"And there's no other kind of Namekian magic that can…"
"I assure you, Krillin, if we could travel through time you'd know about it by now. It simply isn't possible by any means we have. Um, Eighteen, I guess you'll have to stay in this time… there aren't really any other options."
"I understand," the android replied, softly.
"I can search the planet for a good place for you to live, if you like," the young Namekian offered.
"No thank you," she said, taking a step closer to Krillin. "I'm happy here, for now. Maybe soon I'll start thinking about my future, but I'm still trying to get over everything that's happened. I don't really think I can make any long-term decisions and… it's quiet here. Peaceful." She gazed around the small island, her field of vision finally settling on the small fighter beside her. "I think it's about the best place for me right now."
Time passed. Too quickly for some.
Gohan's nightmares-visions-came and went. He knew it would make sense to talk to somebody about them, but somehow he couldn't. And he could never make out anything coherent, nothing more than a vague sense of danger. The 'signs' came and went. One day, he woke up to find tiny 'M's drawn on the foreheads of every person on every poster on his walls. He threw them all away, told his mother he wanted to redecorate his room. Another time, he'd awakened to find that a book he'd had since he was a small child-'my little book of monsters'-was lying open his floor. Every monster within had been coloured pink, and their eyes had been filled in with pen, becoming solid, haunting black slits. That went in the trash too, though in that case he'd been meaning to get rid of it for ages.
The 'signal', it seemed, had passed from Bulma to him, and his spiritually-aware mind was certainly more receptive to it than hers had been. Which was not necessarily a good thing.
Bulma, for her part, was busy as ever. She did have a 'main' project going. She'd had it going for years now. And, of course, she told herself, she would finish it. Eventually… once she'd taken another look at the time machine drive prototype (if that wasn't too strong a word-she had no idea if they'd ever manage time travel), helped her father with his genetically modified miniature dinosaurs, re-worked the blueprints for the new model capsules, supposed to be able to hold ever larger objects in the same tiny container (they were currently working, without much success, on an entire block of flats)… and so on. Actually, it was very rare these days that she ever thought about that project she'd started a year ago. Wait, wasn't it two years? Or more?
One day, she looked up and realised it was six years. She knew this for a fact because she'd circled, every year on her calendars, the day that would have signalled the numbers (which she didn't write anymore, since the incident with Goku's mind-reading) dropping lower.
Today 2 would have changed to 1. She didn't have time to worry about this, however, before her mother walked in. "Bulma, honey, you really need to see this."
"Not now, Mom, I'm kind of-"
"Just-just quickly go look at the TV, dear, will you?"
Bulma sighed. "All right, all right, but if it's another cute baby animal on a wildlife…" she trailed off.
A worried-looking reporter was looking into the camera. "… with terror in the streets! I repeat, these reports are coming in from all over the world! It seems this invasion has struck everywhere at once! The military's response is expected soon, but it appears these attackers-thousands of them-are using the same 'ki' powers as Cell! If anyone who can help is listening… the people who saved Earth before… we need you now! I-" There was a bright flash behind him, then the camera feed cut out in a burst of static. The TV cut back to the news studio.
"Mr. Firecracker!" the presenter shouted, alarmed. "Jimmy! Is he… I'm sorry!" he rushed out of his seat, fleeing the studio. "I've got to go home to my family!" The camera wobbled and tilted, then the channel went dead.
Bulma grabbed her mother by the shoulders. "Nail! Yamcha! Zarbon! Kuriza! Where are they?"
"Well, Nail's already gone-he said he 'felt' something-and he took Kuriza with him. The other two are asleep."
"Well, wake them up and get their asses out there!" Bulma ran out of the room, down the corridor. Trunks, her seven-year-old son, peeked his head out of the door. "Mom? Is everything all right? What's-"
"Shh." She crouched down, hugging him close. "Yes, it's fine. Your Dad'll be out for a while. It's fine." What the hell is going on here?
Earlier that day…
"Look, are you sure I shouldn't hide my tail?" Gohan was asking Videl as they approached the school gates. "I mean, I've done it before, it's no big deal." Time had changed the young pair-not just in height and physical appearance, but in bearing too. Gohan had always seemed awkward and unsure of himself as a child-at eighteen, he had a newfound confidence, though there was always the sense of something withdrawn, lurking beneath the surface. Videl had lost her sense of separation from the other fighters, the feeling of being from a different world; it had been replaced by an easy comradeship.
"Look, it's fine," she was saying. "Over the last few decades, the world's woken up to the fact that there's a lot of weirdness going on and we're just going to have to accept it. Not even counting the aliens, your friends include a pig, a cat and a guy with three eyes. Our king is a dog. And I'm pretty sure one boy in our class is a werewolf. A little thing like a tail isn't going to bother anybody." She shrugged. "People might mention it, but no more than they'd notice a new hairstyle."
"All right, if you say so…"
"Besides, I like it." She ruffled his untidy hair. "It's part of what makes you, y'know, you. It wouldn't be fair to hide that, eh?"
"I guess…" Gohan wiped his forehead. "Of all the things I've faced in my life… I don't think any of them have frightened me nearly as much as high school…"
"You'll be fine," she reassured him, laughing. "You may have been home-schooled, but it's not like you never experienced any social activity before. You'll get used to it."
"I hope so…"
Gohan shyly made his way from the door to the teacher's desk.
"Now, class, I'd like you all to meet our new student, Go…" she glanced back at the register, noticed the somewhat archaic family name. "… Son Gohan. Please make him feel welcome."
"Uh… hi, everybody, I…" A sudden ki spike registered on his senses, as if he'd just been hit with a sledgehammer. He looked up at Videl, sitting in the middle of the classroom-she looked tense and on edge. She saw him looking, nodded slightly. She'd sensed it too. "… I, uh…" he stammered. "… I forgot something, sorry! I'll be right back." He rushed out of the classroom. Videl appeared next to him in the corridor, having left in a burst of super-speed while everyone's attention was on Gohan.
"What's going on? I'm sensing hundreds of power levels!" she hissed.
"I don't know!" he said as they left the building, lifting off. "But a group of them are headed straight for us! Hold on…" He took out a capsule containing his orange fighting uniform, surrounding himself in a solid energy wall. Inside, he opened the capsule, changed at super-speed, put his school uniform back in the capsule, pocketed it, then lowered the capsule. All this happened so fast as to be a quick flash of light to Videl. "… Right. Shall we?"
"Shall we what?" she asked, folding her arms. He didn't have an answer. They hovered silently over the city for a minute or two, following the approaching ki signals as they came closer.
"Hey, guys!" called a voice.
Gohan turned, smiling. "Dad! Good to see you."
"Hey, Goku." Videl waved.
The spiky-haired saiyan laughed, descending through the air to meet them. "I'm glad you're both all right. I felt all these weird powers appear all of a sudden and figured I'd come see if you were okay." They turned their eyes up to the sky, watching the incoming wave of flying figures.
"Just who are they?" Videl wondered.
Gohan scowled. "I don't know, but there sure are a lot of them."
Goku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Some of them… their ki feels familiar, almost like… no, it couldn't be."
"What?"
"Never mind."
Videl pointed away from the city. "I'm sensing another group-only a few, but each pretty strong-heading towards South City, but none of our people are there to intercept."
"Got it." Goku faced south, lighting up his aura. "Can you guys handle it here? I'll cover it."
"Yeah, we're okay." Gohan watched his father go, then turned back to the approaching group. "They've almost reached the city. Ready?"
"I don't know…" Videl gulped, squeezing his hand. "There are some pretty big power levels in there…"
"Just stay behind me, and don't take on anybody you can't handle. Now, let's go!" They quickly flew down to a nearby office block, landing on the roof. The first few attackers got close enough to see. "Hold on… Dad was right!" His eyes widened in disbelief. "Am I dreaming, or is that…"
Five figures landed opposite them, striking flamboyant poses. Out of the many enemies Gohan had encountered throughout his fighting career, these ones had a way of sticking in the memory.
"Sound off, men!"
"Recoome!"
"Guldo!"
"Jeice!"
"Burter!"
"Captain Ginyu! And together we are…"
"… THE ALL-CONQUERING GINYU FORCE!" They chorused.
Videl rubbed her eyes. "Are they for real?"
Gohan sighed. "Afraid so."
"Right, men!" Captain Ginyu ordered. "Spread out! Time to claim this planet in the name of Lord Frieza!"
"Yeah, about that." Gohan stepped forwards. "You probably don't remember me-I look completely different, for one thing-but I fought you on Namek. How the hell did you get here?"
"Nice choice of words-Hell's open, mate! Water's fine!" Jeice laughed. "It's a bloody free-for-all!"
"In which case, we've got more to worry about than these idiots." Before the Ginyu Force could react to the insult, he threw his arms out to both sides. "HYAAA!" His kiai spread out in front of him and to his sides, blasting the Ginyu Force clean off of the building, but leaving Videl, behind him, untouched. "If all our past enemies are going to show up, many of them will be too much for you," he said to Videl. "I don't think it's safe here."
"It's not safe anywhere, Gohan," she pointed out. "All Hell's broken loose."
"Right…" he spotted a squadron of fighter planes swooping towards the city from the east. Tanks rolled in underneath. "Hey… is that the Red Ribbon Army?" He noticed the 'RR' insignia on one of the planes. "So it is. My dad stopped them when he was a kid. You want to go take care of them?"
"Okay." She took off, heading east. "I think I can handle a few guns."
Which leaves me free to go all-out without having to protect her… Gohan thought, as the main swarm of flying underworld-escapees closed in on the city. "Well, here goes!"
Goku made it to South City just in time-an energy beam from the first attacker sliced the top twenty stories off an office building. He flew up to intercept, catching it, slowing its descent and setting it down on the street. "You know…" he said, his usual carefree nature leaving him. "… I was going to try talking to you. But I don't tolerate attacking innocent people-so if you've come looking for a fight, I'm right here."
Three figures, one tall, one short, and one massive, landed behind him.
"Tch!" Came a familiar voice. "Leave it to a saiyan to spoil my fun."
"Wait…" Goku turned to face them. "Frieza?!" The long-dead frost demon stood in front of him, flanked by his brother and father.
"Calm down, Frieza, we're not here to play around," Cooler said, shaking his head.
"I've had about enough of you!" Frieza snapped.
"Children!" Cold warned. "Quiet. We're ignoring our friend here, it's very rude."
"All right, what do you want here?" Goku demanded, then stopped. "Wait, no. I don't care." He sped forwards, elbowing Cooler in the face and kicking Frieza in the stomach. Both collapsed instantly, gasping with shock.
"I see…" Cold nodded. "You have quite an impressive power. Are you one of these 'Super Saiyans'?"
Goku grinned. "I guess you could say that."
"Well, I dare say I'd be no match for you… in this, my second, form, anyway. Do you know, not once in my life have I ever had the opportunity to use my full power? Many tried to guess at its magnitude. They were all wrong."
"Okay," Goku said. "Let's see it."
General Ripper lowered his binoculars. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself… Commander!"
"Yessir?" Ripper's fellow officer sidled up to him, climbing up onto the General's command tank.
"Take a look." He handed her the binoculars. "Now, is that or is that not the Dictator?"
Commander Coriander blinked a couple of times, rubbed her eyes, looked back into the binoculars. "Er… flag, yes… moustache, yes… army, several thousand strong, with equipment over fifty years old… I'd say it is."
Ripper pounded his tank with his fist. "In that case, our objective is clear! War Directive no. 27: The complete obliteration of the Dictator and all his fighting forces!"
"But, sir… that was decades ago… shouldn't we wait for orders?"
"Decades ago?" Ripper snorted. "So? If that lot are over there, our mission is not complete and the war is not over!" He spoke into his radio. "All right, troops, we are now at war! Or… still at war… anyway. Enemy equipment is fifty years out of date; we will not be at war for long! Royal Army-fire at will!"
It was, indeed, a short battle. The Dictator's army was woefully outmatched by the modern military, and was utterly decimated by artillery bombardment and massed tank charges before most of its weapons were even in range. Battle became rout became annihilation.
However, there seemed to be some disruption at the end of the Royal Army's battle-line. A small figure was leaping from squadron to squadron, hurling tanks into the air, smashing gun mounts, and firing energy beams that wiped out whole squads at a time. Small arms fire had no effect, and larger ordnance was dodged effortlessly. "What the hell is that thing?" Coriander muttered.
"Looks like one of those ki monsters!" Ripper decided. "Retreat! Full retreat!"
The creature skidded to a halt in front of him, chittering and hissing. It was only a couple of feet tall, with green scaly skin, and a brain-like pattern on its head. Tiny claws clacked together on the end of its stubby limbs. It raised its arm, building energy-
-and was promptly interrupted by six feet of afro, ego and mano a mano . "Yeah!" Hercule shouted, dancing around the confused Saibaman. "How'd you like my Dynamic Mess 'Em Up Punch? New-and-improved!" He somersaulted away, striking a movie-kung-fu pose. "All right, you want some? Leave those soldiers alone and try taking on a real fighter!"
"…" The Saibaman just stared.
"Strong, silent type, huh?" Hercule bellowed. "Well, you're gonna pay for what you've done! Prepare for my ultimate technique!" Really gotta thank Videl for all this someday… He swept his hands around dramatically. "Ka, me, ha, me… HA!" A bright blue energy beam burst forth from his palms, lancing straight at the Saibaman… which swung a hand around, deflecting the beam effortlessly.
Hercule gaped. "W… What just…"
Grinning, the Saibaman leaned forwards, its head splitting open and launching a stream of acid. Hercule was only saved by Nail appearing between them, quickly throwing up a ki shield and letting the acid deflect harmlessly off of it. He fired a small energy beam from two fingers, disintegrating the Saibaman without giving it a chance to self-destruct. "Hey, don't feel too bad, champ," he said, smiling at Hercule. "That thing was far more powerful than, say, King Piccolo." Without another word, the warrior Namek took off, heading for the closest evil ki signal.
"But if…" Hercule tried to make sense of things. "… then how in the world did that guy kill it so easy? And just who was that, anyway?"
Videl was having a harder time than she'd imagined. True, she could at this point dodge incoming gunfire pretty handily, but the Red Ribbon Army was fairly large, and trying to keep up with all their lines of attack, by land and air, and stop any of them getting into the city to wreak havoc-that wasn't easy. She kicked through the glass cockpit of a plane, pulling the eject lever and sending the pilot flying, then flew down, blasting the treads off a tank. A muscular, blond officer leapt at her, but she deflected him with a quick punch to the face. Hey, was that General Blue? Goku mentioned him… A few soldiers were almost at the city outskirts, and she raced off to intercept. "Had to happen today, didn't it?"
Goku lowered his hands from in front of his face, at the same time relaxing the ki shield he'd been using the protect the surrounding city from the waves of ki rolling out of King Cold's body. The frost demon tyrant now stood fully revealed in his fourth form, blank-white skin dotted with gleaming dark purple diamond-like 'highlights'. "Well, primate?" Cold said gleefully. Over three metres tall, he towered above his saiyan opponent. "What do you think of my final form-my true power?"
"Impressive, Goku said, nodding. "In fact-" Cold's fist crashed into his chest, launching him back through a nearby house, collapsing it on top of him.
"Heh. As I thought," Cold said, grinning. "Can't handle a real opponent." Barely had the words left his mouth, when something stirred in the rubble.
"Hey," Goku said, levitating the wreckage off of him and carrying the two occupants of the house from the ruin, one under each arm, "I was complimenting you. That was pretty low." He set the shell-shocked couple down, turning back to Cold. "My turn now."
This is surreal, Gohan thought. All these old enemies… He'd already taken out several dozen of Frieza's soldiers, some demonic-looking creatures he hadn't been able to identify, some of Turles' henchmen, a few Saibamen, and even a couple of the mutant Namekian spawn that the original King Piccolo had created.
Finally, there seemed to be just one left-unmoving, waiting for him high above the city. Quite a high power level, too. Warily, Gohan rose up above the lowest level of clouds, spotting a familiar figure. I thought I recognised the energy. "Turles. I knew you'd show up sooner or later, but all the way up here?" He smirked. "I guess scum always rises to the top."
"Funny," Turles sneered. "You've grown up, little boy, but I know it's you. You're going to pay for what you did to me!"
"Why don't you make me," Gohan turned Super Saiyan, charging in and punching straight at the centre of Turles' face, but the evil saiyan caught it, a strange change beginning to come over his ki. An eerily familiar light flashed into his eyes. "You may have beaten me before… but I'd like to see you try… NOW!" On that word, a golden aura burst to life around him.
Gohan gasped, the wave of power throwing him back. "How… what…"
"Surprised?" Turles asked, grinning. "Don't be. All those fruit from the Tree of Might… especially that last one, before you killed me. Even I was surprised when it gave me the power to beat your Super Saiyan form. Turns out, thanks to the fruit… I was already in the early stages of transforming myself!" He raised his fists. "So, now we're both Super Saiyans… only I've eaten of the Tree of Might's fruit. So I'd say the advantage is mine."
"Not quite." Gohan grinned right back at Turles. "You may have unnaturally boosted your power-by a huge amount-but you're still only in the first, unrefined stage of Super Saiyan. I've trained this form, mastered it. I'm a lot stronger than when I first transformed."
They both powered up, whipping up the clouds around them into a storm. Their auras expanded to several hundred feet in diameter, clashing together between them and throwing out uncontrolled sparks of energy "All right," Turles said. "You've got me interested." He cracked his knuckles. "Let's see who's stronger."
The afterlife…
Pikkon approached the top of the mountain, where the one he sought was meditating. "Hello?" he said hesitantly.
"I'm here," came a voice in the mists.
"There's a-"
"I know," came the reply. "I've seen the problem… a rift between Hell and Earth…"
"It's not just Earth," Pikkon told him. "It's every planet, everywhere. Earth's only under attack by the villains that have a grudge against it. People like Bojack are rampaging through the stars as we speak."
"Can't have that. What can we do about it?"
Pikkon smiled grimly. "We're in luck there. The Kais have isolated the source of the breach-it's down in Hell. They want us to go check it out, see if there's anybody causing this that needs taking care of."
"Excellent. Let's go." A figure stirred in the mist.
"You don't think we should gather some more fighters first?" Pikkon asked. "Olibu or someone?"
"No, I'm sure we can handle it."
"We're confident today, aren't we?"
Raditz emerged, replacing the Z-Sword into the scabbard on his back. "Why not? I haven't had a good fight in years."
Chapter 65: From the Ashes
Future timeline, shortly after the end of the Super Android 13 special…
Break sat up, sighing. "It's over…" She shook her head, still feeling the ringing in her ears.
"Sort of." Gohan strode towards her through the demolished battlefield. "We're near Dr. Gero's laboratory, right? Well, let's go blow the place. Can't have it making any more Super Androids… just that one was enough of a pain to deal with. What if it learns to mass-produce?"
Break shivered. "You're right… let's go. Speaking of androids…" Seventeen and Eighteen were nowhere to be seen.
"They left," Gohan told her. "Said it was a creepy feeling, being so close to the lab… and they just hoped we'd destroy it quickly."
"Then let's do that." Break motioned towards the broken ground where the battle had risen from underneath. "C'mon." They flew briskly towards the hole and descended inside. Once underground, Break formed an energy ball in one hand for light. "Here." A tunnel led out of one end of the collapsed chamber. They hopped over to the debris to reach it, walking for several minutes before reaching the end-where the tunnel promptly opened out into nothing at all.
"W… What?" Break gasped. "There's nothing here!" Nothing but dirt and rock confronted them.
"Hey, look…" Gohan heaved some boulders out of the way, pointing to the floor. "Tracks. It seems Gero's supercomputer anticipated this… the entire lab is mobile. It's long-gone."
"Damn it!" Break growled. "It could be anywhere by now! And it's collapsed its tunnel behind it… we'd never find it."
"What can we do?" Gohan asked-despite being the older and more experienced fighter, he found himself more and more deferring to Break's leadership these days. It wasn't just that she was the strongest-ever since she'd returned from the past, she'd been confident, decisive… almost a different person. Perhaps being the main defender of the Earth-having so much riding on you alone-had that effect on you. Whatever it was, Gohan again found himself awaiting her decision.
"We get stronger," she said firmly. "When the next android it cooks up appears, we kick its ass halfway across the planet, and we blow the lab. If it repeats Cell's mistake and takes us to the lab straight off, we do that first… if not, we make it take us there-or have Bulma take it apart looking for a tracking device once we've pulled its head off its shoulders."
Gohan nodded. "Good plan."
Days became weeks, and weeks became months. Training intensified. Bulma offered Gohan a more human-looking cybernetic arm, but he refused, saying he wanted a reminder of the old, dark days. Finally, a breakthrough-after vivid descriptions from Break of the exact details of the battles in the past with Cell and Broly, after much meditation, hard training, and his continued insistence that she fought him in her Legendary form to provide an obstacle to overcome-Gohan ascended.
It was not dramatic, or flashy. They were sparring out in the wasteland, with Break's Legendary power giving her a distinct advantage, and Gohan was knocked to the ground, not for the first time that day. Calmly, he stood up. Something was different in his eyes. He breathed in deeply, as if about to shout, then instead spoke quietly. "There." A flash of light, and he transformed. Blue lightning. Hair standing on end. Hard look in his eyes. "Let's see…" One punch sent Break's bulked-up form flying. He looked down at his hand, surprised. "So… this is what it feels like… to go truly beyond a Super Saiyan." Suddenly losing energy, he fell to his knees, powering down as Break walked back over to him. "I did it… unbelievable…"
"Yeah!" Break grinned. "No android's gonna stand up to that…"
And because in some things, a person will generally think the same way, no matter which version of them you take, the next words out of Gohan's mouth were, "Let's see… I think: 'Super Saiyan 2'?"
"Sounds good to me."
As it turned out, this new burst of power registered on instruments far, far away, on distant stars. Curiosity was aroused. Unmanned probes were launched. Energy was measured-the energy of a sparring match between a Legendary Super Saiyan and a Super Saiyan 2. Results were read. Jaws dropped. Reports were filed. And some, sitting at the top of the heap, grew uneasy.
And so they arrived. The would-be conquerors. Eager to eliminate competition and prove themselves #1 in the universe. First the saiyan Turles, then the Namekian Slug, and finally Bojack and his gang. None returned. None could defeat Earth's warriors, and all were too stubborn to let themselves be taken alive. Gohan and Break, for their part, relished the occasional workout.
Meanwhile, Bulma had kept herself busy. In order to speed up the hunt for the laboratory-and hopefully make a pre-emptive strike rather than simply reacting to the next attack-she'd been working on a scouter-like device that could detect the kind of energy given off by Dr. Gero's androids' power sources, but so far without success. Whenever they asked, she'd shrug and say, "Sorry, it's not picking up anything at all," or "It's only giving one reading-and it's reading a higher energy output than any machine could physically have, so… yeah, still broken."
Things seemed to settle down after that. No more hopeful tyrants made attempts on the Earth, no sign of any new androids emerged. With Gohan's help, Break unlocked Super Saiyan 2, describing it and the Legendary form as two branching paths leading off of basic Super Saiyan-hard as she tried, the twin reservoirs of power within her remained stubbornly separate; she could find no way to use all of her power at once.
Exactly two years after after Break's return from the past, the three of them were all sitting down for their annual celebration commemorating the defeat of the androids and another year of freedom-already a worldwide tradition-when Bulma frowned, an alarm ringing on her phone. "Huh?" She flipped it open. "Oh… satellite dish's picking up something. Large object, approaching Earth. Not a ship…"
Gohan nodded. "Now that you mention it… I do sense an approaching ki…"
Break stood up. "Yeah, it's huge. But… dormant, somehow… not quite suppressed or hidden, exactly… I don't know how to describe it."
"I know what you mean." Gohan headed for the door. "C'mon, let's go check it out." Break followed, pulling on her Capsule Corp jacket over her armour and taking off as soon as she reached the door.
"Think this is another invader?" Gohan asked.
"I don't know…" Break replied, frowning. "This energy… it's familiar, somehow…" Her eyes widened. "No way… how the hell did he get here? And on his own!"
"Who?" Gohan asked urgently. "Who is it?"
"Broly," she said grimly. Gohan grimaced-he'd heard his cousin's account of the nigh-invincible saiyan's rampage.
"But… we should be fine, right? I mean, we're both stronger than he is now, yeah? You said a Super Saiyan 2 beat him easily, so two of them should have no problem… right?"
"Let's hope so. I don't sense his father with him… not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, Paragus would probably just order him to kill us, but at the same time, he's kind of psychopathic anyway…"
They landed on a hilltop a few hundred yards from the crash site, now seeing the object for what it was-a large chunk of ice, having somehow survived re-entry largely un-melted, presumably something to do with the metal protrusions sticking out from the ice at all angles, antennae whirling, lights blinking. A cloud of steam rose into the air and water began to fill the impact crater as the ice finally started to melt. At the same time, a round metallic object detached itself from the whole apparatus and zipped swiftly through the air towards them. It halted just in front of them, beeping for a couple of seconds before projecting a hologram of a familiar figure-Paragus.
"Greetings," the recording said as the half-saiyans watched intently. "If you are watching this, then my probe has been successful in tracking down saiyan life signs, somewhere in the galaxy. Perhaps it took years, or even decades, to reach you. I may even be dead by now. You will find near you an ice 'capsule' which should even now be thawing out. It contains my son, Broly. He has grown too powerful, and too restless… I cannot control him anymore. Therefore, I leave him to you, wherever you're hiding. Have fun with him." His face twisted into a snarl. "Broly is the mightiest being in the universe! Prepare to meet your end, traitors! This is the price you pay for stabbing me in the back-" his image vanished as Break vapourised the projector drone with a wave of her hand.
"Excellent," she said. "We're dealing with Broly completely unrestrained here. This can only end well."
"Hold on… it's opening," Gohan warned. As one, they turned Super Saiyan, anxiously watching the ice as it cracked and split. Finally, it shattered, shards scattering in all directions.
"Haaagh!" Broly, wild-eyed and dripping wet, dropped weakly to the ground in the rapidly-filling crater. He lurched to his feet. "Gaah!" He shook his head, spraying water from side to side, and clambered up the dirt incline, muddying his hands and flopping over onto his back on the other side, sliding down the grassy slope. At the bottom, he stood again, seeming to regain some strength, and gazed up at the sky. "FATHER!" He screamed. "Why did you abandon me?!" He almost stumbled, but remained standing proudly upright, taking in heaving breaths. "I have served you all my life… what have I done to deserve this? All I wanted… was a little freedom… WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME HERE?!" Receiving no answer from the heavens, he fell onto his hands and knees, going quiet again.
The half-saiyans observed the whole episode curiously. "Huh…" Break mused. "That doesn't seem like him at all… then again, the only time he wasn't under his father's control, he was in his Legendary state… maybe we just never got to see more than the mindless killer?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's still that," Gohan decided. "He's just confused right now. What should we do?"
"You stay here."
"What?" Gohan started to protest. "You can't-"
"I'm going to talk to him," Break insisted, powering down. "I have to. I've never had the chance to talk to someone who… understands."
"You mean, being a Legendary Super Saiyan?"
"Yeah. Even Super Saiyan 2… mentally, it just doesn't come close. Every second I'm in the Legendary form, I'm one step away from going completely berserk. He's the only person in the universe who knows what it's like, and I'm going to talk to him."
Gohan rubbed his forehead, shaking his head. "This is insane…"
"Yeah, it is. Hold my jacket, will you?"
"Hey."
Broly looked up, seeing someone standing over him. A girl not too far off his age. Wearing armour that seemed a little familiar. "Who are you?" he grunted.
"A saiyan, like you."
"No, you're not," he snorted. "No tail. Blue hair. Don't joke around with me." In saying this, he conveniently overlooked his own lack of a tail.
"Well, look who thinks he knows everything." Break smirked. "But I'm more like you than you realise." She turned Super Saiyan. "Look familiar?"
Shaking his ragged hair out of his eyes, Broly stood up unsteadily. "A… Super Saiyan…?" He transformed as well, with slightly more effort. The transformation filled his body with new vigour, and he straightened up. "Like this?" He pointed a finger at her. "Just who are you? I'm supposed to be special. Nobody else can do this…"
"Well…" Break shrugged. "Guess you're wrong. Any saiyan can, with enough effort."
"Is that so?" Broly ground his teeth together. This girl was starting to get on his nerves. As if anyone in the universe was his equal. Fine… maybe, then, I'll show her what made Father so afraid of me… "Well, can they do- this ?!" Yelling, his body expanded around him, swelling into the monstrous Legendary form, waves of green energy rolling out from him.
"No, not usually," Break admitted. "But boy, are you unlucky. You're talking to the one other person who was born, let's say… a little different."
"Shut up already!" Broly threw a punch, but to his surprise, Break caught it. He looked up, seeing her muscles expanding, her hair standing up on end, her aura becoming bright green, her eyes change to blank white.
"Told you… I'm more like you than you think."
"Wha… that's impossible!" Broly protested.
"And yet." Break let go of his hand, and the two Legendary Super Saiyans glared at each other-while Broly's unrestrained use of the form and lack of training led to him being much larger than Break (who even now wasn't much bulkier than in her regular form), their ki was unmistakeably identical.
"This energy… you can't be…" Broly held his head in his hands, shaking it from side to side. "No, NO! I am the strongest in the universe! I AM THE LEGENDARY-"
"Mm-hm. Legendary Super Saiyan. Invincible warrior. I know, I know."
"Do not take me lightly…" he growled, clenching his hands into fists. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Go ahead and try! I haven't had a workout today, anyway!" Break raised her guard as Broly charged wildly at her.
Sitting on the hilltop, observing events, Gohan sighed. "This isn't going to be pretty… neither of us get to really cut loose very often, and she's not very good at dealing with pent-up aggression. I'd hate to be in Broly's shoes right now…"
Half an hour later…
A missed swing. An arm grabbed. Leverage on the ground. Flipped overhead. Gasping, Broly crashed to the ground, forming the latest in a series of craters made by his many floorings over the course of the fight. Finally, it was too much; energy reserves exhausted, he returned to his normal form, grimacing as he felt his incredible power leave him.
Once more, Break stood over the fallen saiyan, arms folded. She relaxed into her regular Super Saiyan state. "There, you see? You're not the strongest, not by a long way. That wasn't even my full power," she added, knowing full well that the fight would have been even easier had she gone Super Saiyan 2.
"How… how did…?" He breathed.
"Simple. Same power source… one of us has trained, the other hasn't. Amazing what some martial arts'll do for you." She sat down next to him. "Still, though… that was pretty fun. Haven't had a fight like that for a while… you're a tough one, y'know." She grinned. "Plus, it was cool seeing that look in your eyes. The one I knew must be in mine. You, and you alone, alone know what it's like… the roar in your head, the fire behind your eyes…"
Broly was silent for a long time. "I… always thought I was unique. But… that's exactly it. That's how it feels…" He paused, sitting up slightly. "I've never had to work that hard, fighting someone… or really work at all. It's always been so easy… and I enjoyed it. Having power over others, even if I knew, in the back of my mind, I was really under someone else's power… still. Being the greatest, I've always loved it. But… this was different. For the first time, I… I was excited to fight. It wasn't just a thought, a flick of the wrist. I was putting everything I had into it… it was exhilerating." He was rambling, talking as much to himself as to her.
Break nodded, smiling. "Good. You're a saiyan… you're supposed to love fighting. What you've done all your life wasn't fighting, it was pest control. I'm the only real opponent you've ever had. I saw something, though… you were surprised at what you could do. For the first time, you discovered just how powerful you really are, and it startled you."
"But… it wasn't enough… !" Broly growled. "I won't just accept this! I'll beat you next time!"
"Sure you will." A sly expression crept onto her face. "But you'll need somewhere to stay while you recover. And, y'know, you aren't gonna find much to eat out here."
Broly understood the implication. "… Fine." I've never fought anyone I couldn't beat… even if this one is different… she'll be no exception! Yes, finally I feel it-the fabled saiyan battle-hunger! I will never be defeated!
Since Korin Tower, home of the magical healing senzus, was long destroyed, and no Namekians remained alive, healing had to be done the old-fashioned way; though saiyans did heal quite fast anyway. Broly, as expected, wolfed down any food put in front of him, and spent the rest of his time exercising. It wasn't quite training-not in the martial arts sense. He just threw physical challenges in front of himself to try and accelerate the recovery process. Sometimes, it backfired, he fell off a mountain or emerged spluttering from the bottom of a waterfall, and his recovery was actually set back a little; but there was no discouraging him.
Finally, he seemed fully healed. The morning immediately after his recovery, he walked over to Break's bedroom and kicked her awake. "Get up!" He growled. "Today's the day you're going to die!"
"Are you… smiling?" Break asked, rubbing her eyes. She climbed out of bed, changing quickly. "You really are looking forward to this."
"Of course… I can't wait to avenge my defeat. I've thought of nothing else since I came here!"
"Mm-hmm. I doubt that."
"Huh. Like I care what you think."
A few minutes later, each having changed from casual clothes to their fighting outfits, they squared off, assuming the Legendary form in an almost leisurely fashion. Back home, Gohan was awoken by the incredible surge of energy. "What the… ! Oh… they're fighting again. Eh." Sighing, he turned over and went back to sleep, completely unconcerned for his long-time ally's safety. I saw last time. Broly can't touch her.
"All right… show me." Broly lunged, and Break parried with her forearm, countering with a swift punch to the larger saiyan's stomach. He lurched away, throwing a pulsing energy ball, which she dodged. Nodding, as if this was perfectly fine, he tried attacking from a few different angles, always without success. Finally, he stopped, powering down.
"Huh?" Break relaxed to her normal form as well. "That's it?"
Broly closed his eyes. "For now. I just wanted to see… exactly how great the difference was. It's obvious I can't beat you right now. Our powers are equal, but your skill is worlds above mine."
"So… you're giving up?" she asked hesitantly.
"Of course not!" he snapped. "But I've only ever fought as a brawler. A monster… you're a martial artist. There's no comparison." Unexpectedly, he bent down on one knee. "Teach me! I want to learn to truly fight!"
Break folded her arms. "Let me get this straight. You want me to teach you… so you'll have a better shot at killing me?"
"Uh…" Broly fell silent. When you put it like that… "There is… a tradition, is there not? You find someone stronger than you… you learn from them! Every student wishes to surpass their master…"
"You can stop throwing out random words," Break sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'll train you, all right? But don't blame me if a new way of fighting causes a new way of thinking, too."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing more, only what I said." She smiled, raising her ki slightly. "Since you're all healed up… shall we get started?"
Naturally, being somewhat lacking in patience, every time Broly made a significant step forwards in his technique, he would try fighting Break again-but as she kept reminding him, she'd been doing this her whole life, and the result was largely the same. His attacks slowly changed from uncontrolled swings to measured strikes, his movements became more precise, but the skill difference between them was frustrating. He felt like a child fighting an adult. Or like he was fighting a psychic-whatever he did, she'd read his moves like a book. She'd always be three steps ahead, positioning her body in exactly the right spot to avoid his blow and counter, with maximum force for minimum effort. But he was gradually improving. Occasionally now, he'd land a hit, and it would cause her real damage-in terms of pure physical strength, they were equal.
"You know…" she said one day, observing him practicing defensive technique out in the forest, "… when you think about it, you don't really want to kill me."
Broly paused. "I'm not sure how you got to that conclusion… seeing as I've spent the last six months training to do just that." It turned out that, with a little practice, the feral saiyan could be quite eloquent.
She lay back, folding her arms behind her head. "Well, just think. If you kill me, and let's say for argument's sake Gohan too, what happens then? You wander around breaking things, like before, only with more freedom and less direction?" She shrugged. "Won't that seem a bit… dull, compared to when you had someone to challenge you? You'd never really experience a fight like this again."
He stood still for quite some time. "I… don't know what I'd do," he finally said, in a quiet voice. "I've always been quite glad you showed up as soon as I unfroze. I was… aimless, in those few minutes. I finally had my freedom, but no idea what to do with it." His mouth attempted to twitch upwards into a smile, with limited success. "I'm fortunate, really… that the only saiyans alive happened to be like you."
She nodded, deep in thought. "Well… tell me one thing. If I were to die-say I got sick, or whatever, because I honestly don't see you managing to kill me even if you did want to-what would you do, specifically, in regards to the Earth? If for some reason Gohan wasn't around either?"
"If you're thinking I'd destroy it just for kicks, you're wrong," Broly assured her. "I was actually about to say that I would… half-jokingly. But something stopped me."
"Something?"
"Well… I've been here a while. It's pleasant enough. And laying waste to it would feel… wrong, somehow. Like I was destroying all the memories here. All the ways I've improved."
"You have, you have. Physically and mentally."
The peaceful days continued. About a month later, Break was unexpectedly approached by her visitor while watching the construction sites in West City-she loved seeing the recovery progress, day by day.
"What… have you done to me?" Broly demanded.
Break shrugged. "Uh… taught you martial arts? Let you sleep in our house, eat our food? Is this a trick question?"
"Was this your plan all along?" He pressed. "I'm… different. I was planning our next fight… what I'd do differently… and it stopped. It stopped as soon as I'd won." The words tumbled out, almost a stream of consciousness. "I really… really don't want to kill you. There'd be no pleasure in it any more."
"I see… but you want to keep getting stronger?"
"Yes. Overtaking you is still my goal."
She nodded. "Is that all?"
"No, I… I think… I want to improve, because I know I can. And I know it'd be a shame to have that potential and leave it untapped."
She smiled. "You know… I think you're getting there. To the truth…"
"Truth?"
"It's not about overcoming this enemy, that enemy… I used to think like that. Getting stronger than 17 and 18 was always my only goal, and despite being so fixated on it, I never could… my family in the past showed me a better way. It's about bettering yourself… if you can improve, why shouldn't you?"
"… You did plan this." He sighed. "Why? You've destroyed plenty of other enemies, people just like me… or like I was." It was, honestly, hard to tell. He couldn't pinpoint one point in time where he'd changed; it was a gradual shift from one state to the next, not a sudden switch. "Why…" he searched for the right word. "… why save me?"
"When I met you… the other you… in the past…" she studied his face, searching for traces of the former cruel, arrogant sneer. "I'll be honest, as things went on I started to hate you. But afterwards, I kept thinking back to the first few minutes. Before you transformed… because I'm not sure if that was really you. It's easy to just let yourself become the Legendary Super Saiyan completely, isn't it? To let the beast in, hand over the reins." Coming from anyone else, it would have seemed patronising, but this was the one other person who'd felt the exact same thing.
"It took a long time for me to realise there was another way to do it," Broly admitted.
"But, while it seemed like there was a lot of repressed anger… a massive ego, a sense of deserving to be treated better than everyone else… I decided that was nurture, not nature. Not your nature. So when you turned up here… I got curious. I wanted to find out who you really were." She grinned. "I think you're finding that out, too."
"Well-" he began, but was interrupted as Break span him around by the shoulders to face her.
"Hey," she said, an idea suddenly occurring to her. "Here's something I bet you've never heard from your dad, or anybody else for that matter. A compliment. Broly. You're a nice person, or at least you could be. You're interesting, you're more than just a killing machine and-surprisingly-you're pretty smart."
"Um… what…" he began, and didn't finish.
"Look, you had a pretty crappy upbringing and I'm trying to help your self-esteem, so sue me if subtlety isn't my strong point!" She got a confused look in reply. "Right. I guess being liked as a person is a new one for you. Well, I like a lot of people. When I'm not punching things, I'm real friendly. I'm sure plenty of other people will like you too. Hey, go find out."
"Slow down!" He managed, bewildered.
"Yeah! Why don't you go meet some people? Go to one of those rebuilding sites, offer to help out… they're used to the occasional super-strong person passing by. Here's another new experience for you: do something constructive." She pushed him into motion, sending him shuffling awkwardly towards a construction site, then leaned on a nearby wall, wiping nervous sweat from her forehead. Wow, almost went a completely different direction with the whole "I like you" bit… c'mon, girl, don't be ridiculous. Relationship? He probably doesn't even know the word.
You are already teaching him plenty… a tiny voice objected at the back of her mind.
Well you know what I bloody well mean!
Even if he is a nice person and interesting and-
Oh hush, you. Shaking her head firmly and resolutely ignoring the tiny voice, she stomped back down the street towards Capsule Corp.
Chapter 66: Reborn
"… and it appears that these mysterious warriors have appeared at every major attack location, and are engaging the invaders," the news anchor was saying. "So far, these engagements are all ongoing, but we'll be broadcasting all news live, so don't turn of your televisions, folks. And now, a word from our sponsors…"
The people of Central City cowered in their houses as the storm intensified, blowing away anything out on the street that wasn't nailed down. Some kind of repeated crashing noise was coming from high above them, like rapid-fire thunder-impact after impact as Gohan and Turles rebounded off of each other, then charged back in again. They'd appear for brief moments at the heart of the storm, fists and feet swinging, then vanish again and race off through the air. There was a staccato burst of impacts, and Gohan appeared, plummeting down to the ground. He landed in the town's main square, throwing out a huge crater and shattering the concrete around him, completely obliterating the decorative fountain.
He struggled to his feet, wiping away a trickle of blood that dripped from his nose. "Urggh…"
"Having fun?" Turles floated down to the ground on the opposite side of the square. "I guess you were all talk after all." His golden, spiked-up hair blew gently back and forth in the raging wind.
Gohan scowled. He's a mockery to the whole idea of a Super Saiyan… a warrior of light… a beacon of hope… he just cheated his way up. No effort involved.
Turles laughed. "What, no clever comeback? Or maybe you're wondering if that's really all the power you can muster? I remember you got a lot stronger when I made you mad before. But it's not something you can just use on command, is it?"
"No…" Gohan growled. "It isn't. I've always been unable to access my full power without getting angry. Simply fighting isn't enough. But…" His fist pounded into the ground, sending a shockwave rippling out through the city. Cars flipped into the air, street signs were flattened to the ground, windows shattered. The sound and fury of the storm halted, settling into an eerie, enforced stillness for a few brief moments. Gohan looked up at Turles, his eyes hard. "… you're giving me a lot of reasons to be angry." Faces flashed through his mind. Videl, Goku, Chi-Chi, Goten. "I know what you're like… and I can imagine what'll happen if I don't stop you." He felt a familiar anger, and a familiar power, rise to the surface. "You think… you're something special… huh?" His voice became lower, almost a snarl. "I… haven't even begun… to fight!" Finally, it reached the surface, and his Super Saiyan 2 aura blazed to life around him. His hair stood up on end; lightning arced around his body. "Do you remember this?" His eyes burned with quiet fury.
"I certainly do," Turles replied. "I've been waiting for this…"
Fortuneteller Baba's palace was a place sometimes visited by the living who sought spiritual advice; and sometimes by the dead who needed to settle their affairs in the living world. At the moment, though, the rift between Earth and the afterlife had been torn open, and Hell's escapees streamed out through it.
One such person alighted on the ground outside the palace. "Back here again…" he muttered, tapping the device over his eyes. "Now, let's see… hey! Somebody's left their scouter on… up above me somewhere…" he grinned, taking off and soaring up into the sky. "Long time no see, Tarble!"
Goku and King Cold circled each other, each trying to get the full measure of each other's strength. "Mind if we take this out of the city?" Goku asked. "I'll be able to focus on fighting you, and if anybody else shows up I'd like to intercept them once I'm done with you, before they can get to the city…"
"Once you're done with me? You've got some nerve," Cold replied. "Very well, if it makes you happy. I've no wish to annihilate this planet's population in any case, not when they could make such excellent subjects." The monkey's right to fear for these people… He was still unable to completely control his fourth form's power, and was prone to causing collateral damage when going all-out.
"We'll see about that," the saiyan laughed as they flew north, landing on a couple of adjacent cars fleeing the city. "Well? Are you ready?"
"Abundantly so." With that, Cold attacked, throwing a high kick. Goku just barely dodged, hopping down onto the car's hood just as it reached the back end of a traffic jam.
"What in tarnation?!" the driver yelled as the two figures danced back and forth on his vehicle. Goku backflipped away, leaping from vehicle to vehicle, and Cold followed, launching quick strikes that Goku continued to dodge. Finally, Cold feinted low, catching Goku off-guard and following up with an elbow strike. Goku saw it too late to dodge, and threw up both arms to block it. The attack rebounded off his defences, sending him skidding backwards, his feet tearing up the roof of an eighteen-wheeler.
"Pretty good," he said. "I've got a good look at your speed, and now your strength, too. I honestly don't know if I can beat you as I am now…"
"I've got time," Cold replied. "Let's find out." He drew a fist back, seemingly telegraphing a punch. Something instantly seemed off to Goku. From what I've seen so far, he isn't the kind to get sloppy. He's trying to draw my attention, but from what… ah, I see. Frieza's energy-now at 100% of his power, evidently having powered up while back in the city-was fast approaching behind Earth's defender, and tipped him off to Cold's bluff. The saiyan swivelled on the spot, deflecting Frieza's ki beam with a spinning kick. "Nice try, but you forgot I could sense your energy!"
However, a second blast came seemingly from nowhere, smashing head-on into Goku's chest. "As a matter of fact, we didn't!" Cooler, in his fifth form snarled, and the attack, while substantially less than his own power level, took him by surprise, winding him. Before he could recover, Cold materialised above him, swinging his leg down and kicking Goku down to the road below. He bounced once, feeling the torn-up tarmac dig into his skin, then skidded onto his feet with the second bounce, coming to a halt amidst the panicked traffic jam. Voices washed past his ears over the steady hum of car engines.
"Hey, what's the hold up?"
"Who's that guy?"
"Those things are flyin'!"
"Wasn't he on the news?"
King Cold nodded to his sons. "Now, boys, you know the weakness of such tragically noble creatures, do you not?"
"Naturally, Father," Frieza said, smirking. "It's those pathetic lower life-forms they waste all their energy protecting."
"I like the way you're thinking!" Cooler growled, grinning bestially behind his facemask.
The three frost demons each raised a hand, combining their power into a large energy ball-certainly large enough to engulf the huge line of traffic, if not the entire continent.
"Fire!" Cold ordered, and they did so. Goku frowned.
Guess dodging's out of the question, with all these people around me. He flew up into the air, throwing both hands out above him and crashing head-on into the blast, the impact knocking him straight back down to the ground in front of the traffic before detonating.
The family resemblance in the Cold dynasty was clear as they watched the resulting explosion; that the three of them had the same self-satisfied confidence was unmistakeable. These children of mine are quite something, the eldest realised. Once we've established dominance over this planet, I might have to turn my attention to attaining Frieza's bulky state, or Cooler's fifth form. Luckily, my power is naturally so much greater than theirs that, for now, I need not worry about them challenging-eh?!
The smoke had cleared. A shimmering blue wall of energy was revealed. Goku was sweating buckets, he'd been driven down onto one knee, and his feet had gouged great rents into the road, but the barrier had held and the people behind him were protected. "I… told you…" he gasped, lowering the shield and standing up. "I will not tolerate you endangering these people's lives!" I may have to transform here… but let's give it some time. I don't detect any more attackers in this area yet, anyway…
Frieza chuckled. "Oh, you won't tolerate it, will you? Well, my apologies if what you want isn't high on my list of priorities right now, ape!"
Goku sighed. "Your insults are as repetitive as they are mindless. When you try and hurt someone with words, it's a sure sign you've run out of other ways to attack them."
"What are you-" Frieza began, before a blur of orange light rushed past him. Goku collided with Cold, the two throwing lightning-fast attacks back and forth at each other, neither getting a decisive hit in.
"Don't just float there like a pair of balloons!" Cold demanded. "Attack already, damn you!"
"R… Right!" Cooler gulped. The speed they're moving… He and Frieza nodded to each other, then charged in.
Suddenly, Goku found himself under attack from three fronts. Two of them were a long way below his own power, true, but they served as adequate distractions from Cold, forcing him to lay off on his attacks and go on the defensive. By focusing on defence, he found his superior martial arts skill allowed him to fend off Cold's attacks while still avoiding the minor threats Frieza and Cooler presented.
He gradually directed the battle away from the road, keeping up his retreat and parrying a particularly determined series of blows from the younger pair while jumping over Cold's tail swipe. All right… I'm not going to use up all my strength here. "Time to kick things up a notch!" he declared. "HYAAA!" He summoned up his inner strength, transforming to his Super Saiyan state.
"W-Wha… !" Cold took a step back under the enormous pressure of Goku's ki, as his sons were literally blown away by its magnitude. Surely I was only killed by a Super Saiyan before because I never got the chance to transform… and yet… this one seems different, somehow.
"You wanted a Super Saiyan-you got one!" Goku vanished, appearing inches away from Cold, arm poised mid-swing for a devastating stomach punch. Even before he made the attack, the difference in their levels was obvious. To Cold, Goku's movement was instantaneous; to Goku, Cold was barely moving at all. However, the Super Saiyan stopped his punch at the last second, hearing a voice cry out.
"Goku! Wait!"
Goku complied, stopping his fist half an inch from Cold's stomach. The shockwave was still immensely powerful, the sheer air pressure of the attack launching an unintentional kiai that knocked Cold flat on his back. "Oops, uh… sorry…" he turned to face the newcomer. "… Kuriza."
"Don't worry about it." The juvenile frost demon looked around disdainfully as his grandfather picked himself up. His gaze swept over his uncle, then settled on his father. "Well… it's been a long time, everyone. How have you been?"
Raditz and Pikkon swooped down, making a controlled descent into Hell, tracking the source of the universal disruption.
"Strange…" Raditz muttered. "I've never felt a ki quite like this…" He looked quite different to when Pikkon had last seen him. The most immediately striking change was his hair-cut to just past shoulder-length, and kept that way thanks to magical assistance from Supreme Kai (normally, saiyan hair never changes in shape or length, quickly growing back to normal if cut). Pikkon had questioned this, and Raditz had brushed it off, saying 'oh, that? It gets in the way when-you know what, never mind.' His outfit had changed, too. He wore a simple dark blue shirt, the kind Goku and the others had worn under their orange uniforms for a while now, this provided by King Kai. His pants vaguely resembled Pikkon's, loose and white; they were topped with a sash-like belt, upon which was emblazoned three symbols-the Turtle School's, King Kai's, and the saiyan royal crest, to pay homage to his saiyan, human and Otherworld comrades. Finally, his red arm, leg and head bands were gone. Being dead himself, he no longer felt the need to pay tribute to the fallen of the past. Pikkon couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed a great weight off the saiyan's mind.
Pikkon, for his part, hadn't changed a bit, but to be fair to him he'd been in the afterlife for several hundred years, and the white-robed look was evidently one he'd settled on and stuck with after a while.
King Kai's voice chimed in telepathically. "Hello? Raditz, Pikkon? You might want to hurry. Or do I have to remind you that the entire structure of the universe is collapsing?!"
"All right, calm down, we're here," Raditz said evenly. Forget appearance, Pikkon realised, this was the real change in the man-the deep sense of tranquility. He was totally at ease, and calm seemed to radiate from his body.
"And come to that, couldn't you just teleport there?" the North Kai demanded.
"Don't worry, we've got time. I wanted to admire the scenery…" he gazed around at Hell. "… the lakes of blood, mountains carved with demonic faces, random clusters of spikes… the, er, the giant jellybeans…" he paused. "Did I just say that?"
"I think you did." Pikkon stared at what appeared, indeed, to be a giant floating jellybean. "Odd. Not what I picture when I think of Hell."
"Exactly! Those aren't meant to be there!" King Kai shouted, making them wince. "And King Yemma's palace has been encased in one of them! If he isn't freed, he can't start sorting out all the loosed souls and restore everything to normal-and come to it, even if we do that, whatever caused this could just do it all over again! So you two go stop it, right now!"
"He's going to give himself a stroke someday, I swear," Raditz said. "I mean, it's not like it's the end of the world… all right, technically it's worse than… well. Figure of speech." He shrugged. "Let's just get it over with."
"I believe we don't have a choice." Pikkon powered up, throwing off his training weights. "Whatever it is, it's heading this way, fast!" This energy… I've never felt anything like it! It's like a storm of chaos, spreading out over this entire area…
"Good." Raditz cracked his knuckles, flashing effortlessly into Super Saiyan 2.
Shortly, it came lumbering over a hill; not at all what they were expecting. To be precise, an enormous, fat yellow creature, with a vacant smile and four round openings on its torso. As soon as it spotted them, it let out a childish laugh, firing a stream of hundreds of yellow energy bullets from the 'vents'.
"Whoa!" The two fighters leapt out of the way, dodging and weaving through the air, as the rapid-fire volley demolished the landscape where they'd just been standing. "Whatever it is, it isn't intelligent…" Pikkon decided. "More like a child or an animal lashing out at whatever it sees. Is this really what's causing all this damage to reality?"
"I don't see anyone else, do you?" Raditz replied.
"Janemba! Janemba!" It giggled, clapping its hands together. "Janemba!"
"Well." The saiyan shrugged. "We know its name."
"I couldn't care less," Pikkon grumbled. "Just kill it."
"Right you are." The two fired quick energy blasts, bowling the Janemba creature over and sending it skidding back through a mountain, crushing the edifice under its massive bulk. However, it quickly leapt back to its feet, unharmed. "Huh," Raditz said. "Tough one, eh?"
"Seems that way," Pikkon concurred. "Slow, though. We can use that."
However, just as he said this it thrust its right arm into the air, and its forearm vanished into a round portal that appeared in mid-air. Simultaneously, it stretched its left arm out, Namekian-style, directly towards them. They prepared to block, when another swirling portal opened right above them, Janemba's right fist flying straight down at their heads. Pikkon took a punch from the overhead right arm, crashing down into the ground below, and Raditz was grabbed and held between the left's massive fingers. "Rrrgh…" he struggled, but couldn't break free. "Strong, aren't you? Well!" His eyes narrowed, and he disappeared from its grasp, Instant Transmission carrying him up to its face, where he threw a kick that snapped its head to the side, taking it down again.
A punch, a kick, an elbow, a knee, a headbutt-Gohan and Turles struck each other vicious, merciless blows, back and forth, both forgoing defence for an all-out attack. Gohan jumped back, panting, then paused. What was that…? It came from the rift where all these people are escaping Hell, but… it felt like a fifth-dimensional presence. Like someone was Shifting. Only, not a whole person. How could someone only Shift part of themselves? He didn't let it distract him, though; he dodged Turles' next strike, then locked arms with the unrepentant saiyan. They pushed against each other, the air warping and crackling under the immense force of their ki.
"Yes, you may have beaten me with that power before," Turles said, a hungry glint in his eyes, "but I'm far stronger now! I'll crush you!
"Is that so?" Gohan growled. "You might have noticed that I'm not a little kid anymore!" He took a slow step forwards, beginning to push Turles back. " I've grown a little stronger myself! " he shouted, throwing Turles away and hurling an energy bolt after him.
"Nice shot," Pikkon said, clambering up off the ground as Raditz landed next to him. Amazing… such force in that one kick… his Super Saiyan 2 form was unbelievably strong already, but he's improved an incredible amount in these last few years.
"Thanks." Raditz frowned. "But it won't stay down. Our attacks aren't really hurting it, just ticking it off. If that."
Sure enough, the creature was back on its feet, bobbing up and down with glee. "Janemba! Janemba! Janemba!"
"Right." Pikkon nodded. "We need to try our strongest attacks, even if that means taking a minute to charge up."
"Sounds like a plan," Raditz replied. "I'll take the lead. As soon as you see an opening, hit it hard."
"Got it."
Raditz flew up to a few hundred yards away from Janemba, waving nonchalantly. "Hey! Fun-size!" It stared at him, blinking. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. Come get it." Janemba grinned from ear to ear, bouncing eagerly at the Super Saiyan. He fired another quick energy beam to distract it and give him time to charge up, but the creature had its own plans. "Ja-Ja-Ja-Janembaaaaa!" It held up both hands, palms-up, and astonishingly, twin identical, life-sized copies of Raditz appeared, one in each hand, bathed in a pink glow. They each launched their own, pink energy blasts, smashing Raditz's out of the way and hitting him head-on before he got any further than "Wha…?"
Pikkon saw his chance, taking position behind it, but it flipped over backwards, cartwheeling towards him and kicking him to the ground. Even as he stood, coughing through a cloud of dust, it was facing him, scooping up a double handful of rocks. Now what's it playing at?
It beamed wordlessly, filling the rocks with waves of swirling, chaotic power. Each one, in a brilliant flare of light, was transformed into a miniature copy of Janemba. Giggling, the original threw its arms forwards, sending the swarm hurtling towards Pikkon. He braced himself as they scattered, then flew at him from all directions. He lashed out with all four limbs, sending them flying away, but they'd just bounce back for more. He knew he couldn't keep it up forever, so he suddenly broke off his frenzied defence, beginning to spin in increasingly rapid circles. Finally, when his attackers were inches away, he initiated the technique.
"Hyper Tornado!" He vanished, becoming one with the hypersonic, swirling currents he'd created. In a matter of seconds, the high-speed attack had incapacitated all the tiny Janemba's, each one fading from existence with a mewling cry.
However, just as he stopped, foes defeated, to catch his breath, the real Janemba loomed over him, foot raised to stamp him out. "D-Damn it!"
Just then, a voice called out from behind Janemba. "KA… ME… HA… ME…"
"JANEMBA!" It spun and leapt forwards, swinging its flabby arms at Raditz, one from each side in an attempt to swat him like an insect. However, he used Instant Transmission again, appearing behind and slightly above it. "… HA!" The energy beam punched right through Janemba's back and out through its stomach. It swayed slightly on its feet, then looked down at the gaping hole in its abdomen, puzzled. "J… Janemba?"
"Thunder Flash!" Pikkon yelled, throwing both hands forwards and discharging the massive build-up of electricity he'd quickly accumulated. Janemba was taken by surprise, and the attack coursed through its body, finally dissipating and leaving it a charred, smoking wreck that slowly toppled, splashing into a nearby ocean of blood and lying still.
"Well, that wasn't too hard," Raditz said, dusting off his hands and preparing to power down to his normal form.
Pikkon floated up next to him. "Right. Now that that's dealt with, we can free King Yemma, restore everything, and maybe find out just what that thing was and where it came from. Although… I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do with the rest of it. It does take up a lot of space."
"Sell it by the pound? Seriously, though, let's…" Raditz trailed off, his eyes widening. Janemba's ki was still there. More than that-it was rising, at an alarming rate. Its corpse began to glow a brilliant green. "Pikkon." Raditz said, suddenly serious for the first time. "Go."
"What…?"
"I said get out of here !" The saiyan flared up his aura, the air around him burning gold and blue. "This is beyond you!"
"Y… Yes. Right." Pikkon flew back up towards the mouth of Hell. "I'll go see if I can free Yemma."
"You do that." Raditz stared down at Janemba's shining corpse. Now… I get to see your true face, Janemba. And maybe… if you're lucky… you might get to see mine.
"Hey Goku," Kuriza said, feigning cheerfulness. "Can you sense those two power levels heading our way from the north?"
"Hmm?" Goku, still a Super Saiyan, nodded. "Yeah. You want me to go head them off?"
"Yeah." Kuriza's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry about me. I've got things under control here."
"Right! I trust you!" Besides, Goku thought as he headed up into the air, leaving a burning golden trail behind him, he never got to see any of his family since coming here. I think it's important he gets some closure… though knowing that family, who knows what kind of closure that'll be.
He headed straight for the two ki signals, flying straight up into the rain-swept sky. There you are! "Hi there!" he said cheerily, as he approached the smaller of the two.
"Wha…" Lord Slug just had enough time to gape in surprise before a chop to the neck sent him plummeting to the ground, miles below.
"And now, for contestant number two…" Goku glanced left and right. "Hey, they're moving quickly… in fact… right on top of me! And wow, I couldn't forget that ki…"
"KAKAROT!" A gigantic hand swiped at Goku from within the clouds.
"… Broly-awwlp!" Goku was unable to dodge, and the Legendary Super Saiyan gripped him by the leg, swinging his arm around and positioning Goku beneath him, before sending them both hurtling towards the ground in a high-speed piledriver. The impact was tremendous, and sent Goku drilling hundreds of feet into the ground. Broly stood over the crater, smiling.
"Haaaa-YAAAHHH!" A golden column of light burst out of the ground, shortly followed by Super Saiyan 2 Goku. His fist cracked into Broly's face with enough force to level a mountain range a hundred times over. "All right, Broly, you want a rematch?"
Broly skidded back, shaking his head to clear his vision. "Kakarot… I'll kill you this time!"
"Just try it!"
Nappa walked cautiously forwards towards the centre of the Lookout. "Hey, Tarble, where ya got to? Come out, come out, wherever-"
"I'm right here," came Tarble's voice. Nappa turned, seeing the smaller saiyan approaching, Dr. Myuu a couple of steps behind him.
"Aww, and you've got a little friend," Nappa chuckled. "That's cute."
Tarble smiled innocently. "I'm glad you're here, Nappa. There are so few saiyans left-I'm happy for you."
"Happy for me?" The bald brute snorted. "You don't resent me?" He'd always used to pick on Tarble, before he'd been exiled, whenever Vegeta wasn't around-as many saiyans did, always finding the peaceful 'wimp' a source of amusement-but Tarble had been too shy to tell Vegeta. Besides, the older prince would probably have just told him to fight his own battles.
"Of course not!" Tarble replied. "You just had a lot of pent-up aggression is all. I'm sure being a soldier helped you relieve a lot of that."
"Get a load of this." Nappa shook his head. "Got a psychologist over here."
"It would be wise to stop mocking him." Myuu's voice cut through the air like a knife.
"Hey, mind your own, freak," Nappa growled. He tapped his scouter-the thing's power level barely registered. Not a threat.
"Myuu, please." Tarble put a hand on the Tuffle's shoulder. "No threats here. I'm trying to help my old acquaintance readjust to the land of the living."
"Are you? That's nice." Nappa clenched his right hand into a fist. "You know… I always hated you, Tarble. If Vegeta wasn't around I'd have done this a long time ago…" Energy started to crackle between his fingers.
Tarble's eyes widened. "W-What are you doing?"
Nappa drew his fist back. "You're a mockery to our warrior race! So say goodbye, short stuff!"
"Nappa, don't! This is insane! I'm not your enemy!"
"I'll decide who my enemies are!" Nappa swung at Tarble, but Myuu stepped in and caught the attack effortlessly.
"I believe I warned you, saiyan." The doctor's grip tightened, and bones creaked in Nappa's hand.
"Aagh… aah… what… but…" Nappa let out a growl of pain. Doesn't make any sense! The scouter said… Just at this moment, his scouter beeped urgently as Myuu released some of his power. The noise rose in pitch and frequency, until finally the scouter exploded. Nappa flinched, staring at Myuu. "Who… what… are you?!"
"I was, like you, dead…" Myuu said, shoving Nappa away with a gentle flick of his arm. "… without purpose, mindlessly pursuing old grudges. I have been reborn."
Nappa rubbed his aching hand. "Feh… you're crazy. I guess it makes sense Tarble would like you-he's crazy too… peaceful saiyan, what kind of crap is that…"
Myuu's eyes narrowed. "Every time you open your mouth, you confirm my first impression: you are everything that I hate about your race." He began to advance slowly, his voice growing harsh. "Arrogant, boisterous, violent, callous, intellectually vacant…" his hands twitched. "Do you know, I could rip you limb from limb right now. It's what yours did to plenty of mine. You're already dead. Surely it wouldn't be…"
"That's enough, Myuu!" Tarble shouted. "I won't allow you to kill him!"
"Won't allow it? What could you do to stop me? Why do you even care, when I'm acting in your defence?"
"Because you're done," Tarble insisted, putting a hand on Myuu's shoulder. "No more of the cycle of revenge. You can't start down that road again. I'm not saying there's never a reason to kill anybody… but this is about you, all right?"
Myuu's whole body trembled. "You… I…" He glared at Nappa. This is the butcher of my people. Have I changed? Have I moved on? His arm swung up. "DAMN IT!" He let out a kiai, enough to knock Nappa out cold but leave him alive. "There, are you happy?"
"Yes." Tarble smiled, bowing slightly. "Thank you."
"Did you really care that much for the existence of someone already condemned to Hell?"
"Well, I don't know what happens if you die a second time while already in Hell… or, escaped from it… or whatever." They began to walk back into the Lookout. "But like I said, it was more for your sake than his. I need you to understand that revenge killings are essentially pointless. He was no threat to you, and it wouldn't have gained anything."
Myuu still seemed concerned. "He could be a problem when he wakes up."
"Unlikely. By the time he's conscious, this will all have blown over."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"I don't know it. But there's a lot of amazing people out there, protecting the Earth. They'll take care of it. Have a little faith, will you?"
"It's a shame…" Goku said, dodging Broly's furious swipes. "I always felt kind of sorry for you, Broly. You never got to be your own person."
"STAND STILL!" Broly roared, continuing to miss his light-footed opponent.
"Still… I guess it's too late for you now," Goku decided. "You're too far gone-just a monster." He flipped over another punch, turning the jumping motion into a double-footed kick to the Legendary saiyan's stomach.
"Monster? Me?" Broly cackled, barely feeling the pain. "No… I am a devil!"
"Whatever you say." Goku spun around a leg sweep, ramming his elbow into Broly's neck. Broly stumbled but stayed on his feet. "Damn, you just don't give up!" Goku complained.
Janemba's bloated corpse was gone. The glow had died. In its place hung a man-sized figure; red skin with purple armour plates; a long, twisting tail; swept-back horns protruding from its forehead. Slowly, raising its eyes and locking its gaze on Raditz, it breathed out, a noise like crunching glass.
"So… this is your real power, Janemba." Raditz dropped down out of the air to face it, touching down gracefully on the tip of a spike jutting out of the ground. "The weight of this ki… it's enormous. This thing is, without a doubt, the strongest enemy I've ever had to face."
He slid one foot back along the spike, clenching his fists and furrowing his brow as he prepared to summon up his energy. "Quite an impressive transformation.
"My turn."
Chapter 67: Despair
Bulma was getting frustrated with this thing. The artificial energy detector, for finding the supposed androids, simply refused to work. Finally, exasparated, she'd left a full system scan running overnight, examining every component and connection in excruciating detail. On paper, it should be working already. Whatever the fault was, she'd know in the morning.
When the morning came, however, it brought no comfort. The results of the scan were displayed clearly:
No errors found
Device in complete working order
"Can't be right…" she mumbled sleepily. She pulled the small device out of the complex apparatus, holding the small screen up to her face. But… that much energy being generated, and on such a small scale… what could- Another development brought a gasp, shocking her fully awake.
"Guys!" Gohan, Break, Broly, all were quickly awoken. Bulma waved the device frantically. "It wasn't broken. It was working. I don't know how it managed it, but that computer in Gero's lab has made a more powerful human-portable-sized generator than should be physically possible."
"So why'd you wake us up all of a sudden?" Break asked, rubbing her eyes. "Not going anywhere, is it? Let's just go blow it up after lunch, 'fore it finishes building whatever it's cooking up…"
"Too late," Bulma said. "About a minute after I focused in-got a fix on the exact location-it started moving directly towards us. Slowly at first, but it's accelerating."
"Right after… that can't be a coincidence." Gohan tied his belt on, securing his gi. "It detected your scan. It knows you know."
Broly was lost. "What? What's going on? Lab?"
Break ignored him. "But if something's headed this way, this new android must already be ready. Why hasn't it been sent after us yet?"
"Don't know," Bulma replied, "but… look, based on the salvage I got from android 13, that was about a 6 on this device's power scale. This thing is a 12."
"So, twice as strong as android 13?" Gohan shrugged. "We can handle that. I think. Probably."
"No, it's not a linear scale, it's more than twice… look, I'm really not sure if you can win this one."
"Time's a-wasting," Break decided, cutting her off. "Gohan, take the scanner thing, head it off, see what we're up against. If it's too tough, don't try taking it on alone."
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Both of Gero's master projects-Cell and android 13-have been based on absorbing other androids. I'm getting Seventeen and Eighteen out of here, just in case."
"Out of here? What d'you mean, here? Where can they go?"
"You don't understand." She held up the time machine capsule, having taken it from her bedside drawer. "Right the hell out of here. Then we'll meet up and see about this android."
Broly had just about grasped the situation by now. An enemy to fight wasn't too difficult a concept for this early in the morning. "What should I do?"
"Stay here," Break ordered. "It knows where we are, and I don't want it slipping in here past us to find this place, and Bulma, undefended."
Broly scowled at being left behind, but understood. "Fine. But if you're in trouble, I'm not letting you die alone."
"Guess I can't stop you." She looked around the room, breathing in the pre-battle tension. "Right. Let's go."
Two golden trails of energy streaked off into the dawn.
The following few minutes happened as Eighteen had recounted to Krillin. An energy beam lanced past her, straight on course for the androids' home. Accompanied by a steady stream of curses, Break popped the time machine out of its capsule, scrawled a note and put it in the machine, then replaced it inside the capsule, before flying on. It slowed her down a little, but not as much as verbally explaining it all would have. Gohan's energy stopped moving, then rose sharply to maximum, and no more beams came her way.
She burst into the house, finding Seventeen dead and Eighteen in shock. She tossed the surviving sibling the capsule, shouted a quick warning, and rocketed straight back towards Gohan. His energy was fluctuating-evidently he was already fighting. It was disconcerting, though, not being able to compare his power with his enemy's. Hold on… I'm coming!
The sight that greeted Break, arriving over the ocean to see the fight already in full swing, was unexpected to say the least.
"You…" she breathed. For Gohan was fighting not one, but two androids.
17 and 18.
Sort of.
"What's the big deal, huh?" she demanded. The look in their eyes… these are nothing like the other pair, from the past. These are the monsters that ravaged the Earth, reborn. "Didn't I kill you?"
The androids drew back, keeping wary eyes on Gohan, who kept his guard up. "You killed the older, weaker versions," 17 confirmed. "As you've no doubt noticed, we are… upgraded." It was true. They were both taller and more muscular than their predecessors. Their hair was longer. Their outfits were almost exaggerated versions of the original versions, with gold highlights, gloves, and large boots. Red Ribbon Army logos were imprinted into their large golden belt-buckles.
"Careful." Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 aura framed him against the rising sun. "I was keeping up with them until now, but I got the feeling they were just playing around."
"That's right," 18 said. "Now you're both here, we can really get down to business."
"That business being good old-fashioned revenge." 17 cracked his knuckles.
"They took out Seventeen… the good one," Break told her older cousin.
"That so." Gohan frowned. "Let me guess, you can detect artificial energy."
"That's right," 18 said. "And now, you can't."
"What's this?" Break asked.
Gohan shrugged. "The scanner-it got destroyed in the battle, sorry. I'm sure it wasn't an accident on their behalf. Which means we can't let them out of our sight…"
"I see." Break threw her jacket off, letting it fall into the ocean below. She grunted as she powered up to Super Saiyan 2. "Why 17 and 18 all over again, though? That design already failed."
"The computer eventually reached the same conclusion as the living Dr. Gero," 18 replied. "Infinite energy models like us make for the most efficient fighting machines. The technology just didn't exist to make our bodies strong enough last time. In addition, we are now fully mechanical-no biological human weakness. The brain, while a marvel of engineering, has so many flaws. Living flesh, too."
17 picked up where she left off. "Rather than simply making a new android from scratch, our designs were based on the previous 17 and 18. We've had as much as can be salvaged of their memories programmed into us, as well… giving us all the more reason to want you dead."
Break smiled. "Do you remember me killing you, then?"
"I do," 18 told her, hands twitching slightly. "There wasn't enough of 17 left to record the end of his life. But I assure you, what you did to us was a mercy compared to how you're going to die."
"It was a mercy," Break said. "Compared to how long I could have dragged it out… now, you've made it clear you're here to kill us. Are we going to fight while we're still young?"
"If you insist." 18 vanished, rushing at Break far faster than she could follow and landing a wild swing of a punch to the half-saiyan's abdomen. With a yell as much of surprise as of pain, Break rocketed back, tumbling through the air several hundred metres before righting herself and managing to float still in the air, trying to catch her breath. I can't believe it… the force in just that one hit! Not to mention the speed… I didn't see anything!
"Yaaah!" Gohan charged 18 from the side, but she didn't bother to move or defend herself. His fist cracked against her jaw, snapping her head back. Just as he was starting to grin, however, she casually tilted her head forwards again, the movement pushing his hand back. She brushed a stray hair out of her face, then wiped a small trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. "Is that all? How boring. 17! I fought this one last time. You can have him."
"Fine by me." 17 materialised behind Gohan, who swung around, lashing out with his elbow. 17 simply wasn't there, appearing on the opposite side of his opponent. "If you're so eager to get started, allow me." He gave a hollow smile, forming energy balls in both hands.
Break stood fully upright as 18 floated down towards her. "So… what do you think?" The cruel android asked. "You made a real mess of 13… maybe it was premature to go throwing around words like 'Super Android'." She indicated herself. "But you're stronger than ever, and after one hit you look like you're about ready to throw in the towel. Maybe we deserve that kind of title, eh?"
"Look, if I had a towel, the only thing I'd be doing is choking you with it," Break growled. "I'm only just getting started! RAAAAAH!" Her aura burned brighter as she brought all her power to the surface, channeling it down her right arm and feeling the familiar buzz of energy passing through her hand into the air. "Hrrr…" She forced herself to keep control of the enormous amount of power she was building.
"Yes, I think so… Super 18. Super 17." The android nodded. "Has a certain ring to it."
"You'll regret… ignoring me." She flung her arm out to the side, pure white arcs of energy slowly deepening almost to green, then coalescing into a concentrated sphere. Normally, I'd start out with some more hand-to-hand, and save the best for last. But even in just a few seconds, it's become obvious we're outclassed here. Time to use my new finisher straight off the bat! "HYAAAA… !" She drew her arm back.
18 folded her arms. "Go ahead. Throw your little firecracker. But I still can't decide…'Super android 18', or just 'super 18'? Which one sounds-"
"FINAL SHINE ATTACK!" She threw the attack forwards with all her might. Taking a gamble here… they can detect their fellow androids, I just hope that they can't sense living energy too…
As it turned out, they couldn't. Oblivious to the danger, 18 simply smiled at the incoming blast until it was too late-it struck her full-force, completely obscuring her in a gigantic blast wave.
Break watched with some satisfaction as her enemy emerged, coughing and spluttering, from the smoke. Her smile soon vanished as she realised how minimal the damage was-barely more than superficial burns. "Not good… I put everything I had into that… I don't think it weakened her at all, and she wasn't even defending!"
18 clenched her fists, glaring at Break. "You…" It may not have caused any lasting damage, but the burns stung unbelievably. She'd never have imagined that anything these two could do would be actually capable of hurting her. Not in this body. Her eyes narrowed. "You had to be difficult, didn't you? And you ruined my shirt, too!"
"It was black to begin with-" Break started to retort, before a knee smashed into her face, bloodying her nose.
Gohan fled through the skies as 17 launched continuous, unrelenting salvos of energy bolts. He knew the android was still toying with him-it was the only reason he hadn't been hit yet. All of a sudden, 17 appeared inches away from him, one leg raised high into the air. He swung it down-again, almost casually, his speed making a mockery of Gohan's efforts to dodge. 17's foot struck him right in the middle of his forehead, and the Super Saiyan plummeted down into the water below. Smirking, 17 followed, forming a small bubble of ki around him. No sense getting these new clothes wet.
Wow, it's dark down here, Gohan thought as he drifted through the water. He really hit me a long way. The light of his aura illuminated the vast, gloomy depths, a tiny beacon in the dark. Can't imagine how cold it would be for a normal person… And down came 17, a predator hungering for the release of the hunt. Well, I won't make it easy for him. He prepared to rush the android from behind, but the next second his enemy was gone. Where-
The question was soon answered by the cold, metallic hand around his neck. Gohan struggled, pulling at the immovable grip, but even two-handed he couldn't loosen the hold. Verbal communication wouldn't work underwater, but 17's actions, and the murderous look in his eyes, spoke louder than words: I don't need to breathe. How long can you last?
Now, 18 wasn't playing around. Her blood was up, her fury was aroused. Her attacks came fast and hard, from every direction; brutal, direct strikes. Still, no martial arts skill to speak of was used-it simply wasn't necessary. After only a few seconds, Break felt like she'd taken the beating of a lifetime. And yet, it went on, for nearly a full minute. Dodging, blocking, any defence was useless. Which didn't stop her trying, desperately searching for an opening or a mistake. Doubtless they existed, and not infrequently-but when your opponent appeared as less a humanoid figure and more a blur of fists and feet, how were you supposed to tell? Come to think of it, though, the impacts didn't feel much like punches. In a rare, brief pause, Break noticed the android's arms were folded in front of her as she attacked. "So, you noticed," she sneered, seeing the saiyan's eyes widening as she came around for another kick. "You're so slow I don't even have to use my hands!" Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, 18 seemed to grow bored and relented. Break, no longer held in the air by the transferred momentum of 18's attacks, fell again, landing in the shallows and feeling sand at her back. The realisation that she'd temporarily lost the strength to fly, and had only been held aloft by the beating she'd received, hammered home how badly things had gone-and so quickly.
"Uggh…" I haven't lost anything important, that's good, but… bleeding just about everywhere, though… can't see or hear clearly… probably minus a couple of teeth, too. She sat up, gasping for air and digging her hands into the wet ground as waves broke around her. She fought to stay in Super Saiyan 2-if she couldn't maintain her full power, one casual hit from the monstrous android was likely to kill her outright.
"Having fun?" The water parted, flying off in every direction as 18 touched down in front of her. "Such a shame… after how easily you handled our previous bodies, I really expected you to last longer than that."
17 tightened his grip, forcing the air out of Gohan's lungs. Hurry up and die, now. I want to be done in time to see 18 finish your friend.
Gohan tried to clear his head, even as he felt his grip on consciousness waver. I'm not finished yet! He wordlessly formed a Kamehameha at his side, bringing it up and throwing the beam in 17's face. The android released him, jumping away to the left to dodge. Not that he believed it'd hurt, but it'd probably mess up his hair.
17 frowned. Idiot. I'm still fast enough to stop him getting up to the surface. All he's bought himself is a few seconds.
Now! Gohan brought his hands around, directing the beam and pulling it back around towards 17. Again, the androids' inability to sense living ki gave the saiyans an advantage-the Kamehameha, arcing back around, smacked against the back of 17's head, throwing him off-balance. Only got one shot! Gohan rushed in, swinging his mechanical arm up towards 17's chin.
It's a fact that the human body is capable of exerting much more force than it usually does. The reason it doesn't usually exhibit this 'extra' strength is because it would severely damage the muscle tissue, however sometimes the mental block can be overcome by training (supposedly) or in times of extreme duress (such as in stories of mothers lifting cars off of their children). The same goes for some, though not all, machines-over-performance is sometimes possible, but generally inadvisable as it will damage the machine. Finally, this fact is also probably true for ki-using fighters-you can put more energy than your 'limit' into one physical attack, but the force of it is going to hurt you too.
With this in mind, Gohan sent a mental impulse that shut off the safety limit to his mechanical arm, focused all his energy into the fist, and punched 17 across the face with all his strength.
The resulting impact was enough to completely shatter Gohan's robotic arm. It sent out seismic waves strong enough to generate a titanic wave in all directions. And it was enough that even the mighty Super Android was hurled back, limbs flailing, as if he'd just been slapped by an angry god.
18 paid the tsunami no heed, throwing it back into the sea with a slight shake of her head. "You've had long enough to recover," she declared. "Let's continue."
Crap! Break jumped up, backing away. Can't take much more of that!
However, just as 18 moved in to continue her vicious attack, she was forced to backflip away as an emerald beam of light shot past where she'd been standing. "What now?!" she grumbled.
Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan, hung in the air above them. He landed ungracefully, glaring at 18, then turned to Break. "Sensed… your power dropping. Couldn't stay behind."
"Right…" Break wiped her forehead. "Look, I'm glad you… it's very brave, you coming to the rescue and all. But no offense, if I'm getting my ass handed to me, what do you think you're going to do?"
"Didn't… think about that part," he admitted. "Details. Not important."
"Brilliant." She shook her head. "Well, points for effort, I guess-"
"You don't look so tough," Broly sneered at 18. He jumped forwards, grabbing her by both shoulders, a move she didn't bother to avoid. "Let's see if you break…"
"Didn't he see the state I'm in?" Break muttered. "Am I really this stupid when I use this form? I mean, come on now."
18 yawned, not moving her arms from their folded position as Broly struggled ineffectively to crush her between his hands. "If you're done…" Moving blindingly fast, she swung her body forwards, smashing her forehead into the giant warrior's. He fell back, hissing with pain.
Just then, Gohan burst out of the water, shoulder-stump trailing metal fragments, and landed next to Break. "Good news is, they can be hurt."
"And the bad news?" Break asked. Of course there would be bad news.
"The bad news is we're all going to die, of course, but you've probably figured that one out on your own."
17 slowly rose from the water, practically boiling over with rage. There was a visible dent in his cheek from Gohan's punch, and trails of leaking coolant trickled down his face, drenching his shoulder. Sparks crackled up and down the side of his head. "You… will… suffer!" he roared.
Chapter 68: Duel of the Fates
It had been fairly recently that he'd discovered it.
The next level.
He'd hit a limit again, had found no further way to improve-the full power of Super Saiyan 2. He'd taken to meditating for increased lengths of time, trying to discover if this was really all the power that was within him-what had brought him to the mountains Pikkon eventually found him on. One day, he'd gone deeper within his subconscious than ever before.
It was so dark, down there, in the depths of his own soul. He'd drifted, lost in self-reflection, for an uncountable time. He was lost within himself, and it seemed like he'd never awaken.
Then, a light.
He realised he was still 'falling', still descending deeper into his spirit. In the blackness, he'd had no reference point, but now there was a light. A tiny point of golden light, far below him. Expanding as he neared it.
The heat was incredible. He was near, now, and this close it was a vast wall of blinding yellow, stretching out on either side, away into infinity.
Slowly, he reached a hand down. The tip of his finger brushed the light.
He woke with a start, eyes snapping open, yelling with surprise as fire flooded his veins, as light flared around his body. That was the first time it happened. He'd very occasionally tried it again, to try and accustom himself to the change.
Now, facing Janemba, he was about to put it to the test for the first time.
"What you're seeing now," Raditz said, his hair blowing in the unnatural wind of his aura, "is the second level of my race's transformation… we call it Super Saiyan 2."
"…" Janemba's eyes narrowed. It still seemed to be incapable of speech, but in this form it was at least intelligent enough to tell that something significant was about to happen.
Goku leapt back to avoid another of Broly's attacks. Something suddenly flashed in the back of his mind. "What? This energy, it's coming from the breach…" His eyes widened. "Raditz? Wow, feels like he's gone Super Saiyan 2! That's awesome, but…" he realised as he continued to dodge Broly's swipes, "… he's still powering up… don't tell me he's found some way to surpass this form! Is that even possible?"
"No way…" Gohan muttered as Turles struggled to pick himself up-the half-saiyan had felt the same energy. "He can't be about to…"
"Now this," said Raditz, lowering his stance…
"It can't be!" Nail gasped.
…"is the next level… this… is to go beyond ! HRAAAA-" The blue electric sparks surrounding his body flared up, dancing around him and laying waste to the rock he was standing on. "-AAAAAAAHHH… !" Veins stood out on his forehead and neck. Sweat beads formed on his forehead, running down his face. His golden aura became a solid sphere of light, radiating out from his body. "… HAAAAA… !"
Goku finally landed a solid hit to Broly's neck, dropping the monstrous saiyan for good. Then, it hit him. This ki feels… solid! Even from this distance, the weight of it is unbelievable! He staggered back from the onslaught, clutching his head.
"AAAAAAGGGHHH!" Raditz's scream continued. The effort was almost unbearable. This power couldn't just be turned on at the flick of a mental switch. He had to drag it to the surface, kicking and screaming, every step towards it a monumental challenge.
"No!" King Kai shouted, antennae twitching. "Don't do this now, Raditz! Reality is unstable as it is-you're still not used to this! If you can't control it… !" He trembled at the thought.
The ground began to crumble, falling away beneath Raditz's feet and leaving him floating in the air. "… YAAAAAAHHH… !" Even the stoic Janemba raised an eyebrow in surprise as Raditz's power continued to rise. "… AAAAA AAAAAGHH… !" His voice began to crack. The air was drawn into a swirling vortex of wind centred around him, practically forming a hurricane around his body. The ground was shaking, not just around them, but all throughout Hell.
Nail collapsed to the ground, feeling like his mind had just been hit with a sledgehammer. "What… power! And it's still going up! What is he doing?!"
Pikkon had tried breaking down the barrier, but it seemed King Yemma's palace was stuck fast inside its strange prison, and it was beyond his abilities to free it. Of course, that wasn't what he'd been doing for the last couple of minutes. He'd mostly been gawking. "What… but… Just how strong does he have to be before he's satisfied, huh?!" Air rushed past him, pulled into the growing whirlwind, miles away.
Deep in the mountains, Tien, Chiaotzu and Launch were staring into empty space, sensing-but hardly believing-the massive power output they were sensing.
"It's… too much!" Tien groaned, covering his head with his hands. Chiaotzu was lying on the floor, eyes screwed shut. Launch stood alone, beaming. I knew you'd save us. You can't help it… you're just drawn to this kind of trouble.
Break ambled into the room-seven years old, now. Currently wearing pyjamas, and gazing up into the air with the unrestrained wonder of a child. "That's… my dad… !"
Launch wondered at this. How would she know? She barely knew him…
"That's my dad," the girl repeated in a whisper.
He'd taken a quick breath, but it was impossible to stop the scream escaping. It felt like his whole body was on fire. "-HAAAAA… !" His determination never wavered. Don't stop now!
Earthquakes wracked the landscape. The sky itself seemed to shake. The strange jellybean-looking things created by Janemba's chaotic energy cracked and split. The light around Raditz grew even brighter, the sparks even more frantic. He felt the physical changes begin. First, the wrenching pull at the back of his head as his hair began to extend, growing out down his back. "… RRRRAAAAAHHH!"
Bursts of light began to randomly shoot off the Super Saiyan's body. Janemba's grin became a frown as it found itself forced backwards by the relentless outpouring of force.
"I'm telling you, Raditz!" King Kai shouted with all his telepathic force. " Don't do it !"
The sparks around Raditz's body grew into great leaping arcs of electricity, shooting out several metres away, coiling around him like angry serpents. "… AAAAA!" Another breath. Onwards. Lakes of blood were dotted around Hell-these began to boil and evaporate.
High above, on the Sacred World of the Kais, Kaioshin blinked. He turned to Kibito. "What… is that?!"
"… YEEEAAAAGHH! AAAAAHH!" Raditz lifted his head up, yelling at the sky. The light around him was almost white now.
Pikkon shielded his face with his arms. "Damn it, Raditz, are you trying to kill us all? If you keep this up, you're going to destroy everything!"
"… And we're getting reports of earthquakes around the breach," the news anchor said, "that being the source of the mysterious attackers. It's possibly a side effect of whatever strange event has caused this invasion."
Raditz's head bent back down under what felt like an enormous weight of ki. His hair grew again, stretching further down his back. I'm not going to make it! Damn it, I knew this was risky! He forced himself to focus, withdrawing into his mind's eye. He recalled the darkness. The point of light. He made himself the point.
I've got it! Don't… stop! He managed to raise his head again. "HAAAAH… AAAAHHH… !" At last, he entered the final stages, feeling his limits shatter. He began to truly ascend. The space within his mind was vast, infinite, but he didn't lose his way back to the surface. The light, the power compelled him, pushed him back into the real world.
And there it was, as always when he did this.
A momentary mental image.
The roaring Oozaru, the primitive saiyan monster, far behind him now. But echoes of it survived here, in this.
"… GRRR… HHHGGHH… KKK… GRR… AAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" The light was thrown outwards, blocking out the sun, as he flung out his arms and legs, screaming in triumph.
It was done.
The light faded.
"Grrr…" Janemba lowered its hand, which had been shielding its eyes from the brightness, glaring at its transformed enemy.
There was still gold, as ever. But it wasn't just an ethereal aura now. Every inch of Raditz seemed to emanate it-his body itself was glowing. His hair extended down his back, just as long as it had been before he'd cut it. His widow's peak had become a single dangling lock of yellow over his face. His eyebrows were gone, replaced with a jutting, animalistic forehead. His skin had taken on an unnatural, almost oily sheen, like he was made of something other than flesh and blood.
The blue electricity didn't recede, remaining as massive arcs coiling and twisting around him. And his face… something savage lurked behind his eyes.
"What the?!" Pikkon breathed.
"I don't believe it…" Goku said, smiling.
Launch and Break grinned.
King Kai breathed out. "We're alive… for now…"
Kaioshin stared down at the mortal realms, almost unbelieving. "In all my millenia… I've only ever felt this kind of power once before…"
Kibito floated up next to him. "You mean Majin Buu?"
Kaioshin nodded. "Yes… this man… he may be the equal of that monster! Our prayers have been answered, Kibito!"
The servant scratched his head. "Who… who would you pray to…?"
"Oh." Kaioshin shrugged. "Poor choice of words, I suppose." Well… there is the Sleeping One, but… surely that's just a legend. I've watched this universe, practically run it, for thousands of years. There's nothing higher than the Kaioshin-if there was, I'd know about it. Surely.
"Sorry that took so long," Raditz said, finally breathing normally. "But I haven't been able to practice this one much." He flexed his arm, fixing his gaze on Janemba. "I call this one Super Saiyan Three."
Janemba hissed, lashing its tail. This new development was distressing. Its enemy had changed somehow, and it didn't like that. The golden man seemed more threatening now, but Janemba couldn't quite figure out what exactly it was about him. Never mind. It was having too much fun to worry about something like that, and there was so much left to destroy.
"Well… that's over," Pikkon said, relaxing. "At least I know the fight's in good hands." Though I can scarcely believe it. In this smaller, stronger form, Janemba would have made a mockery of us-the afterlife's greatest warriors-as we were. But now, Raditz is handling it on his own! What power… "Now, about this barrier." He tried another full-power blast, but it held. "Damn it, not even a scratch! Gah, I hate this wall!" He moaned. Crack. Pikkon looked around at the noise, wondering. There it was. A single, solitary crack in the barrier. What did I… oh, you've got to be kidding me. That's its weakness? He shook his head. I guess I've got to do what I've got to do. "I, uh… hate this wall…" he repeated, mumbling. A tiny chip opened up, nothing compared to the first crack he'd made in the wall. Looks like I have to say it with conviction… "If this is somebody's idea of a joke… hmph. All right." He glared at the barrier. "You piece of crap!" Crack. "What the hell kind of weakness is that, huh? Insults?" Crack. "Insults, eh? I'm insulted that I have to deal with this!" Crack.
"I can't hold this form for long," Raditz said, "so let's get on with it."
"Hrrr…" The air seemed to warp as Janemba rushed forwards, intent on destroying this person who seemed so intent on ruining its fun. It opened with a high spinning kick, and Raditz ducked back, hair flying out behind him as he dodged Janemba's attack. He pushed off the ground with one hand, a deceptively gentle-looking motion that propelled him up with incredible force. His feet swung at the creature's head, but it caught him by both ankles, stopping the blow. He continued the movement, swinging himself up and releasing a close-range two-handed blast at its head, forcing it to let go and jump out of the way. He followed up, pressing the advantage and ramming home an elbow strike to its neck. It growled in irritation, swinging its tail at him. He nimbly jumped onto the swiping limb, bouncing off of it and kicking Janemba in the stomach, driving it back again.
Janemba snarled, trying a jump kick. Raditz dodged around it, firing another quick energy blast from one hand. Janemba hurriedly raised its hands to intercept the attack, forming a small portal in front of its face, which swallowed up the blast.
Turles spat blood, feeling his newly-gained Super Saiyan powers leaving him. He defeated me… that quickly? "This isn't the end, do you hear-" A kick to the head silenced him.
Gohan frowned. "You didn't deserve that kind of power. I hope-" He cocked his head sideways, sensing something strange. "What's…" Shifting again. But… again, it's strange. They opened a pathway, but didn't go through at all. They let something else through! I didn't think that was possible…
Raditz relaxed, calming his mind. It's going to emerge somewhere near me… probably… behind- At the realisation, he leapt into the air, feeling his own blast pass right under him, the heat singing his shoes. He landed several feet away to avoid the explosion, turning his attention back to Janemba. "You've got some weird abilities, my friend. It's no wonder you're doing all this to reality. I have to wonder if you're even conscious of it, though…"
Janemba was not happy at its continued failure to eliminate this annoyance. "GRRRAAAAHH!" It charged Raditz, swiping with one clawed hand, but he somersaulted over its head, landing behind it and punching it in the small of the back. As it stumbled, he charged up energy in one hand, splitting it into dozens of fragments as he threw it. "Blitz Cannon!"
Janemba hissed, sent tumbling to the ground by the attack. Raditz leapt into the air, then swooped back down, one fist extended, to drive it down further into the rock.
Janemba, however, wasn't there by the time he arrived. Its image faded, scattering into a thousand tiny blocks of colour, which then scattered and disappeared.
Ah, now that's Shifting as I know it, Gohan thought. But all these other techniques are interesting… who's doing all this? They must be a master! And they're near where Raditz was putting out that massive power… friend or foe, I wonder?
Janemba soon Shifted back into reality behind Raditz, a pulsing green energy ball in one hand. However, it swung at thin air, as Raditz vanished with a tiny whistling noise. He, in turn, appeared directly behind Janemba, smiling. "Instant Transmission. You like it? You're not the only one who can get around, you know."
Janemba growled, Shifting away several hundred metres, but Raditz appeared directly in front of it via Instant Transmission the very next second, maintaining his cocky smile. This process repeated for a while, a peculiar game of cat-and-mouse, with Janemba unable to find somewhere Raditz couldn't follow, and so couldn't get a more advantageous position to launch an attack from. Finally, it stopped trying to run. As predicted, he appeared inches away, expecting it to flee again. However, instead it leaned forwards, opening its mouth and firing a green mouth-blast with a mighty bellow. "RRRAAAAGH!"
Raditz skidded back across Hell's dusty ground, wincing with pain as he felt the stinging burn of the unexpectedly sudden energy attack. When it had ended, he sighed, opening his eyes and seeing Janemba Shift into view, closing the distance. "So. You finally landed a good hit on me, eh?"
"Heh heh…" Janemba bent down and picked a small object up from the ground-Raditz recognised it as one of the small clubs the ogres who guarded Hell sometimes carried. In Janemba's hand, it instantly sprouted into an ornate red-bladed longsword.
"Oh, a swordsman? Aren't you just full of surprises." Raditz unslung the Z-Sword from his back, effortlessly raising the tremendous weight one-handed and pointing the tip at Janemba. "So far I've matched you trick for trick. Stronger transformation… teleporting around… let's see what happens when we cross swords."
"Eh-heh…" Janemba made a sideways swing, which Raditz parried with some effort. The impact of Janemba's sword sent out a shockwave that shook his arm, but he held firm. Jumping back, he broke off, dodging out of the way of Janemba's second swing. However, a razor-sharp slice of energised air rushed past him, grazing his shoulder, created by Janemba's attack. Right… it can make shockwaves just by swinging its sword around… I'll have to learn how to do that someday.
It chased after him, trying to stay on the offensive. He counterattacked, and they sped around the wide plains, swords clashing in a high-speed blur. Finally, he knocked it off-balance, sending it staggering away sword arm first. He followed up with a concentrated, explosive energy blast, but Janemba simply strode unharmed out of the flames. I'm starting to realise, he thought to himself, just how tough this thing is. On one hand, I'm consistently besting it in terms of speed and hand-to-hand skill… but I don't think I'm doing any permanant damage, whereas it's chipping away at my stamina-I can't maintain Super Saiyan 3 for more than a couple of minutes. It's extremely resilient… maybe I can cut it open if I can get one good hit in with the Z-Sword, though… !
He dug his feet into the ground, watching Janemba's approach, then launched himself full-force. Both swung their swords. There was a metallic clang. Both skidded to a halt, facing away from each other, waiting.
All of a sudden, the Z-Sword fell in half, cut cleanly in two. Raditz stared at the remaining half in his hand. "Wh… wha…" I thought this thing was pretty much unbreakable! Nothing I've cut with it has ever put so much as a scratch on it! He turned, hearing Janemba run at him, and hurled the hilt and half-blade at it. However, its abdomen Shifted out of existence for a brief moment, allowing the sword to pass harmlessly through it, before reforming. "Well, here goes!" Raditz darted to the side as another sword-wave sliced by him, then leapt in, aiming a punch at Janemba's face. However, down came the red sword again, before he could connect. He threw both hands up in a desperate defence, clapping them on each side of the blade and halting it, inches from his face.
The two struggled for a minute, pushing back and forth, the sword trembling in their grip. Eventually, it simply crumbled, colours fading to grey, collapsing into dust. "Heh." Raditz grinned. "I guess your power doesn't last forever-and neither will you. Every force has a reaction." He clenched his fists, power surging around him. "Your own negative energy will be your undoing! Hyaaa!" He ducked under a swing from Janemba, bringing up his fist towards its chin. However, something suddenly lurched in his stomach. His head began to pound.
"No, not now!" He moaned as he collapsed, returning to his normal form. "That's the weakness of Super Saiyan 3… it uses up so much energy it's impossible to sustain it for long…" He backed away slowly, noting that Janemba was still eyeing him with curiosity, wondering what this change meant. "… but how am I supposed to beat this monster without it?"
Janemba had just about got the situation figured out. It laughed out loud at its good fortune, grabbing hold of Raditz's hair. He tried to throw another punch, but with a jolt of movement its arm began to elongate, stretching out to the horizon and carrying him with it. Janemba flicked its shoulder, sending a ripple down its elongated arm, the movement reaching its whip-like conclusion at the exact moment it let go of him, letting him fly back, barely conscious, into a cooling blood pond.
This isn't good… Pikkon hovered, uncertain. He's lost almost all of his power. I should go help him, but… He glanced back at King Yemma's palace, still encased in its strange prison. The barrier was significantly cracked, but it would probably take ten minutes or so of sustained shouting and cursing to break through it. "Can't leave it here… I have to free Yemma, so he can start to restore order… but Janemba has to be stopped, and Raditz can't do it alone anymore…" He gritted his teeth. "What do I-"
"I believe I can be of assistance," said an imperious voice. A strange-looking creature floated down towards Pikkon, hovering next to him.
"What manner of being are you?" Pikkon asked. Whoever he is, he's hiding a lot of power. How much, I wonder…? I've never seen him before, but he seems… familiar, somehow…
"That matters little. The object is the salvation of the universe, correct? The prevention of the destruction of all reality?"
"That's what it looks like. The creature that's causing it, Janemba, has to be taken out before we can restore order, but every second that goes by before we free King Yemma plunges the universe further into chaos…"
"Very well. I've observed your efforts… this barrier's weakness is insults, it seems. How curious…" The newcomer flew over to the wall. "Stand clear."
Pikkon chuckled. "I wouldn't bother. It took me several minutes just to get it this damaged, it's hardly-"
The creature leaned over towards the wall, cupping both hands around his mouth, and began to whisper. It lasted twenty seconds, and Pikkon heard nothing, strain his ears though he might. Finally, the creature straightened up, stepped back, and nodded. "There. Now we can get on with our real business."
The barrier shattered into a million pieces.
"Wha… what did you say?" Pikkon gasped. "There's an insult that devastating?"
"But of course," he replied. "It wasn't hard for a mind like mine, to find… the perfect solution."
Chapter 69: Like Father
Break winced, fighting off the pain. Crap! This isn't looking good…
It wasn't. Broly was hitting 18 with everything he had, and she wasn't flinching. Meanwhile, 17 charged over at Gohan, barrelling him to the floor and laying a beatdown on the one-armed fighter. Now, the android's wrath was aroused. He finally showed some martial skill, quick, merciless strikes hitting Gohan in what seemed like every vital area simultaneously. His victim cried out, regressing to his normal form and being booted away effortlessly. Above, 18 spun sideways, ramming her shoulder into Broly's chest. He gasped for air, found none, and fell to his knees. With a disdainful sweep of her leg, 18 sent him flying as well, the hulking saiyan losing consciousness as he bounced along the coastline.
"Two down," 18 laughed, blowing another stray hair out of her face.
"Saving me for last?" Break asked.
"You did kill us," 18 reminded her.
"And revenge…" 17 hissed, still seething with rage at his injury, "… is best savoured. We promised you that you'd die slowly…" He vanished, suddenly appearing behind her and grabbing hold of both forearms, then pulling back on them, sticking his foot into the small of her back so her arms were wrenched painfully backwards. Break screamed internally, but didn't give them the satisfaction.
18 frowned. "You just going to do that until she tears in half, or can I get in on this revenge thing?"
"Be my guest." 17 gave another jarring tug. "You don't have to wait in line."
"You're… really doing this?" Break coughed. "The… nonchalant, casual thing? Still?"
"What are you…" 17 muttered.
"It's really… depressing, actually," she continued. "You think you're… so impressive. Just get on with it… and kill me without the comedy routine."
"She's really doing this." 18 rolled her eyes. "Trying to psyche us out or something?" She didn't seem to notice 17's lip trembling. Smiling, she fired a rapid energy blast from her eyes that tore into Break's body.
"Gghhh… please kill me already?" she asked. "I did as much… for you."
18 prepared to fire another. "This passive-aggressive defiance is cute, but-"
"SHUT UP ALREADY!" 17 yelled, clamping down with his grip on Break's arms. "DON'T MOCK ME!"
"Quiet… down," Break mumbled through bloody lips, strangely calm. "You're shouting in my ear."
"I SAID SHUT THE-"
"17!" 18 snapped. "Cool it! We're in control here!"
"No. No, no, no." 17's eye twitched. "Killed me. She killed me, turned me to dust. Look what he did to my face. My face. Dust. My face." Open wires protruding from the hole in his face spat erratic sparks. "And now. Now she's making fun of us. Don't…" he let go with one hand, swinging Break around and slamming her into the ground before completely letting go and allowing her to skid away. "… don't. Make fun of."
18 put a hand on his shoulder. "17. Stop. You're rambling."
"I…" his eyes seemed to clear up. "Sorry… I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me." His hand crept up, touching the smashed part of his face. "Sorry…"
Break stood up. Somehow. Gohan… Broly… I'm the only one left. And only because the androids are taking their time with me… damn it, what good is all this power if the world just goes back to the way it was… with these two using it as their personal playground! She thumped herself in the head, trying to clear her vision, then tore off the parts of her uniform that were hanging by a thread, tying the torn strips around other parts to hold the whole outfit together. Mainly a mindless task to help focus her thoughts.
If only I was stronger… A common lament, given her early life. But this was different. I do have more power. I have these two separate reserves of energy. Combined, they'd total something vastly greater than what I can achieve right now.
But I can't. They're just incompatible. I've tried accessing the Legendary power while in Super Saiyan 2, and vice versa. Nothing happens. Can't even begin to combine them. Is there another way? The androids were slowly approaching. How else can I beat these two?
A transformation, a sudden jump in power… always responded to a need, not a desire. You can't just will it into existence.
Break darted left, raising her hands to her head. She didn't know if she could pull the technique off correctly, but she'd seen it in action a few times and it was worth a shot. "Solar-" She never got the chance to find out.
"Hmph." 18 fired another eye beam, knocking Earth's last defender on her back again. "I'm going to love it when this is all over," she sighed. "Once we've killed you, I don't think Gero, or his computer, cares what we do. We can go back to having everything for ourselves…"
"Just kill her already," 17 growled. "Or let me."
"I'm just playing around a little first. Don't worry, 17, there won't be any more surprises. Tell you what-you go get fixed up, back at the lab, and by the time you get back, this one will either be a red stain on the ground, or I'll have had my fun and you can finish her, and the other two, off."
"Sounds good…" Still rubbing his damaged face, 17 took off, soaring away over the ocean.
Plus, 18 thought, he needs to calm down. If he lets himself get that angry, he could make more mistakes. She turned to Break. "Are you all right? Or do you need to take a break? Pun intended."
"Screw you. Go die in a hole or something." Break was unsteadily on her feet again, breathing heavily and trying to watch her enemy through blurring vision.
A need, not a desire… But I do need to beat them! The whole world is resting on this! Just like I promised. Not one more person. I won't let us go back to that darkness.
Okay. It's clear that if it carries on like this, I'll lose. I have to access all my power at once. It has to be possible! She relaxed, powering down to the first level of Super Saiyan. Back to basics, then. As they say… take it from the top.
18 raised one eyebrow. "What are you doing? Giving up? Or just trying to confuse me?" Her eyes gleamed with energy. "Whatever. I don't care."
Break achieved something of a meditatory state, reaching within her mind.
It was clear as day, as always. Two separate wells of power, one 'green' (while of course she didn't actually see it, her mind created the visual element as a representation of what she was sensing), violent and raging; the other 'blue', calm and fluid, but with a deadly 'edge' to it.
On a surface level, she was dimly aware of energy beams tearing into her body. But it barely registered, as she contemplated the two branching paths facing her.
Maybe I've been going about this the wrong way.
I've always tried transforming to one… then the other alongside it.
In the mental image, 'left' took her into the green light, 'right' into the blue.
Left. Right.
She went straight forwards.
And immediately regretted it. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. At the same time, it was like walking through a solid wall. The lights, the stores of power she was seeking, were gone, swallowed into the black void. Was 18 still attacking her? If so, this pain was completely blocking out any sensation that penetrated into her trance-like state.
But… there was something. Something just beyond her reach.
A point of light, in the darkness.
18 paced in a slow circle around Break. "What are you doing now…?" she wondered. "Still standing, still transformed… but completely unresponsive. Eyes closed, not moving… what, are you just waiting for death?" She raised her leg again. "In any case, I think I'm done. I'll just smash your skull and be done with-"
A twitch of movement. Break's arms, formerly hanging limply at her sides, trembled slightly. Hands clenched into fists. Her eyes snapped open, and there was a wildness behind them.
A storm of emerald light and blue lightning sprung up around her body, swirling back and forth. "Hhhhh…" A breath slowly escaped. The green and blue clashed where it met, annihilating and throwing off shards of gold. "… Hhhhrrrr…" Finally, it condensed into a practically solid layer of shining gold over her body.
"… the hell…?" 18 blinked, dumbfounded. Whatever it is, I don't like the look of it. She prepared to fire another eye beam, this time with enough power to pierce right through the Super Saiyan, when she was bowled over by a sudden wave of force that burst out from Break's body in every direction. Finally unfolding her arms, 18 dug one hand into the ground, shielding her already-shut eyes with the other as the light grew to unbearable intensity. "What… now…?!"
"Rrrr… rrrRRAAAAGHHH!" Break's growl became a roar. The burning pain was still there-she forced the fire outwards, lashing out in every direction with this new light she'd discovered.
The azure lighting returned with a vengeance, a storm of electric bolts dancing back and forth in front of her eyes, coiling and twisting up and down her limbs. "Hrrrr… aaagghhh… rrrhhh…" Something was happening to her-she didn't know what-but she had to keep going. What she did know was that turning back now would be fatal.
The blaze of gold grew outwards, yet inwards at the same time-the light began to infuse itself in her very skin, filling it with new life and vigour. She felt a torrent of energy flowing through her muscles. This-this was like being born again. "Rrrghh… hrrrg…"
Then, a wrenching sensation; a sharp tug at the back of her head. Something brushed her back… hair? My hair isn't that long… No time to think, though. The transformative sensation was building. She almost couldn't contain the power bursting into every cell. Muscles swelled, veins bulged. "YAAAAAAAAHHH!" With a final yell, she let the energy all explode outwards.
A massive dome of energy formed, completely obscuring her. 18 lost her grip on the ground, and was sent tumbling away through the air. She snatched one look as she flew-nothing but burning light as far as she could see, except for one silhouette down at the epicentre; one figure, framed against the awesome storm of energy.
With a gasp, 18 hit the ground, rolling immediately and trying to calm herself. Is it over…? She dared to look up. The light had faded from most of the surrounding landscape, but it was still there. A warping sphere about a metre across, and Break hovering in the centre.
Lighting raged around the transformed saiyan. Gold hissed and spat, splitting the ground where it approached. Break opened her eyes, feeling the immense pain finally recede, and was immediately stunned into silence by the damage she'd caused.
The entire landscape, for over a mile around, was in ruins. The ground was cracked and split open, giant slabs of upturned rock littering the area. She'd actually formed a crater over ten metres deep beneath her feet, and the seawater-formerly pushed back by the shockwaves-was already rushing in to fill it. The sky was suddenly clear, all clouds near her having been boiled away. Did I do all that… without even realising?
She moved her arm up a little. A sudden surge of power followed, and a surge of power rippled out, digging a trench in the ground directly in front of her. Startled, she froze, calmed herself and moved it again, this time controlling the force. Wow… I accidentally did that with such a simple movement! This time, she managed it. Her hair normally fell down over her face; now, it seemed pulled down and backwards, and there were only two small strands hanging in front of her eyes. Speaking of which, her eyes felt strange. On closer inspection, it turned out her eyebrows had gone. Odd. She felt down and back-more hair, stretching all the way down to her knees.
She turned her gaze to 18. The android was looking up at her in confusion. "You see something you like?" Break joked. Her voice sounded different, too-husky, almost rasping. Perhaps another side-effect, perhaps a result of all the screaming.
"So you grew some hair. Do I look like I care?" 18 leapt up into the air, hovering directly in front of Break. "I said I was done playing around." She drew back her fist-and blacked out for a second.
When she recovered, 18 found she was falling. She quickly righted herself, touching down in a spray of sand. Her head was spinning, and her stomach ached. Did she… hit me? No, I'd have seen it coming. She couldn't be that fast. What just… Break appeared inches away, glaring. The ground shook as the Super Saiyan's feet touched it, despite the deceptively gentle movement. "You know, I'm getting pretty tired of you two," she growled, then grabbed one of 18's arms, twisting it behind her back. "You know, I could tear this off. Wouldn't be hard. Where's the lab?"
"Wha-"
"Where is the lab? The one you were built in! You sent 17 back there! Tell me where it is, or get ready to start losing limbs."
"O-Okay!" 18 yelped, as Break slowly increased the pressure. "It's north-west of here! Stop!" Break let go, smiling.
"All right," she said. "Lead the way."
What happened?! 18 wondered, bewildered. She changed so much in such a short time… brushed me off like I was nothing! Her eyes narrowed. But… once we get to the lab… maybe 17 and I can take her together. Yes, that's it. She's just blindly let me have my chance at winning! I guess none of them ever was very smart.
Break, meanwhile, was worried. Not for her friends-she'd sensed Gohan stirring as she left-but about her own ability to win. I can't let 18 know, but… this enormous power is unstable. I can already feel it almost slipping away from me… I don't have much time before I return to normal.
Just… what is this, anyway? What would I call it? Somehow it feels… different to other Super Saiyan forms. On a higher plane entirely. My first thought was to just combine names and call it 'Legendary Super Saiyan 2' or something, but… no. No, the more that I think about it… it was more like the Legendary power provided an initial 'spark'-set it going-but this is an extension of Super Saiyan 2. It has that feeling. And there is the lightning…
Still, though, it's vastly different to level two. It barely feels like my own body anymore-like I'm made of some other substance entirely. Energy is just packed into every inch of skin, muscle and bone. This is truly something new…
Above and beyond a Super Saiyan 2. This name might be a bit obvious, but…
Guess I've become a Super Saiyan Three.
18 landed in a nearby forest as the sun finally rose fully into the sky, approaching a certain clearing. Detecting her proximity, the ground rumbled and split open, revealing the laboratory building beneath.
A small hatch opened in the top, and 17 rose out of it. "Hey, sis, what's-" His eyes widened upon seeing Break. 18 nodded slightly. 17 tensed up, waiting.
A couple of seconds of silence later, 18 whipped around, letting fly a two-handed energy blast that exploded in Break's face at point-blank range. The android then kicked off the ground, leaping away as 17 flew up to throw a punch at the centre of the blast. However, he jerked to a halt as Break's hand reached out of the expanding smoke cloud, intercepting his attack and taking hold of his wrist. The rest of Break's body followed, her other hand coming around and smashing into his newly-repaired face, opening up his wound again. "That's better," she said threateningly, letting go of his wrist and allowing the momentum of her punch to send him flying back through the air.
He managed to stop himself, throwing out his arms to either side. "You… bitch! My face… !"
"Hey, don't complain." Break smirked. "Scars are sexy, remember? The ladies will love you. Well…" she raised one hand. "The ones that aren't hell-bent on killing you, anyway."
18 appeared in a blur of speed behind Break, feinting high with one hand while bringing her leg around for a low kick. Break simply vanished from sight. "Patience. You'll get your turn," she said cheerfully.
The transformed fighter reappeared behind 17. "Now, where was I?" She grabbed a handful of his long hair, tugging down and hurling him into the lab's roof, his descent tearing through the reinforced metal like paper. Break quickly charged up energy in one hand. "First time we fought you, we didn't bother finding the lab. Second time some androids came around, it was gone by the time we got there. Third time's the charm, eh?"
17 heaved a fallen steel girder off himself. "What are-"
"FINAL SHINE ATTACK!" Break released the energy ball, sending it straight down at 17 and the scientist's lair that spawned him. The explosion was small, almost businesslike, but it did the job-nothing but blackened, twisted shards of remained of the building or its occupant. "Well…" Break said to herself, "… that was somehow anticlimactic. Don't know what I was expecting, exactly, but…"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Oh, you're still here." Break folded her arms across her chest as she recieved 18's charge, dodging back and forth and easily avoiding all the android's swipes. "Come on," she taunted, a mocking echo of 18's own words earlier, "at least make me use my hands!" Another sudden shock of pain, and 18 almost hit her. Break had to bend over backwards to avoid it, her head almost upside-down. She continued the backwards-spinning motion, both legs coming up and kicking 18 away. Huh, Break thought as she hung upside-down, hair dangling down a couple of feet beneath her. I guess I really am running out of time. She spun around, righting herself as 18 attacked again, continuing to effortlessly dodge. Hey, she really does have some martial arts skill. Too bad I can see every attack she makes coming, but points for effort. "Shall I attack now?" She began a whirlwhind of kicks, knee strikes, shoulder barges and headbutts. "Come on now, this is just pathetic. You can't lay a finger on me."
"Raaagh!" 18 howled, still in disbelief at 17's death, making a final two-handed swing. Break darted away, materialising directly above the android.
"Couldn't have said it better myself!" With that, Break swung her arm down, flat-handed, moving so fast it appeared to pass straight through 18. With that, Break seemed satisfied, putting her hands on her hips and waiting for something.
The self-proclaimed 'Super Android' blinked. What just…?
A strange line appeared down the centre of her field of vision.
The two halves, separated by the line, seemed to begin to slide in opposite directions. The world looked like it was tearing itself in half.
18's final thought was, That's weird. Why is-
Break nodded in satisfaction as 18's entire body split vertically in two, each half dropping to the ground with a rewarding metallic thump. The failed avenger twitched a couple of times, then the light faded from her eyes, and she fell still.
Sighing, Break finally loosed her desperate grip on the 'Super Saiyan 3' power, letting herself return to normal. "Finally." The word escaped her lips as a whisper, then it's full significance hit her. It's over. All of it. The nightmare is over. "FINALLY!" she yelled in jubilation, rubbing her head in disbelief. "I've… I've done it, at last…" she raised her arms to the sky. "It's over now. You hear me, world? You're free now. We're… we're all…" She was rambling, she knew. She probably sounded insane. But this shadow, this horror had hung over her entire life, and now it was lifted. She smiled through her aches and bruises, letting the sunlight wash over her.
"Nothing's… over !" snarled a voice.
Break froze. Her heart sank. She recognised the voice. Of course she knew it. It had hunted her through her nightmares-both the sleeping kind, and the constant waking nightmare that had been the first 17 years of her life. No. No, you're dead, I killed you, I killed you twice. Trembling, she turned her head.
One of 17's arms was missing. One leg was sheared off at the knee. Most of the skin on his front had been burnt off, exposing bare metal and wires. His face was a metal skull, twin fires blazing in his eyes, the thin veneer of humanity ripped away to reveal the deadly machinery beneath. "You… haven't… won!" He'd clearly lost a lot of power, but was still without a doubt a lot stronger than her base form.
She shook her hed wordlessly. No. No, no, no. Can't… I can't do it! She knew she didn't have the energy to transform at all, let alone try and achieve Super Saiyan 3 again. How could I fail… this close to the end…? It just isn't right!
Despairing, she didn't resist as she felt a cold hand close around her head. "Finally giving up?" 17 hissed as he began to push inwards, trying to crush her skull. "Now be a good girl and die already."
I'm sorry, everyone… I tried… Lights and shadows played across her vision. She felt consciousness start to fade. … I…
The pressure was relieved. The crushing stopped. Wha…?
"Kkkhh… guh… ahhkk…" The strange noises seemed to be issuing from 17's mouth. Break struggled to open her eyes, finally seeing the android hanging frozen in the air, wide-eyed, gazing down at his chest-through which a human arm was protruding, hand clenched into a fist.
"You bastards took the rest of my family from me," Gohan said coldly. "But this one, you won't have. Not while there's breath in my body." Gritting his teeth, he pulled his arm out, levering 17's fingers off of Break's head and helping her to the ground, even as 17 collapsed in a heap behind them. Gohan powered down to his base form, trying to help her sit up, but she brushed him off.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Thank you. I was kind of freaking out when he came back."
"Yeah…" Gohan looked around, seeing 18's bisected body, the damage already done to 17 before he'd arrived, and the smoking ruin where the lab used to be. "You really did a number on this place, huh? I… felt your power… it was enormous. What did you do, exactly?"
"I'll tell you about it later," she said. "Broly? Is he…"
"Back home with Bulma. We were waiting for you to come back, then your energy started fluctuating. Felt kind of unstable. I thought you might need a hand." He stood up. "I guess I should destroy those two. Kind of give it a sense of finality, you know?"
"Hmm…" Break drummed her fingers on the ground. "Maybe we should bring them back to Bulma, now they're dead. She might like to take a look at them. I mean, they kicked the crap out of Super Saiyan 2, that's some serious tech there."
"Right. Tell you what, though, we'll come back for them later. Let's just go home for now."
"Good idea." Break shakily stood up, looking down at herself. "I think I need… let's see… a shower, several stitches, an outfit that isn't falling apart, as much food as is humanly possible, and then to sleep for about a week."
"You know," Gohan laughed, realising he was in almost as bad shape as her in all those respects, "that sounds really good right now."
Hey, Mom, Dad… are you up there, somewhere? Watching us?
We did it. After all these years, we've won.
I hope we made you proud.
Chapter 70: The Name of the Beast
Somehow forgot completely to give credit where it's due for help I received in writing chapter 66. Wow, that was stupid of me. Thanks very much to Ryu no Ohi, aka Roketto, for proofreading and editing the scene with King Cold in that chapter!
We will jump back in time a bit and get back to tidying up the loose ends on Earth after this, but I didn't want to let the main battle lose momentum, so… next chapter.
The newcomer nodded. "Excellent. Yemma will work things out by himself, and begin to repair the damage." He cocked his head to the side, frowning. "Raditz's power has dropped almost to nothing… he requires our assistance, or he will be destroyed within, I estimate, thirty seconds. Place your hand on my shoulder."
Pikkon did so, hesitantly. "You still haven't told me who you are."
"Unimportant," the creature insisted. "Now, we're running out of time, so hold on. Instant Transmission is quite a jolt when you experience it for the first time."
Raditz gasped for air, pulling himself up out of the pond. He looked up to see Janemba Shifting into view a couple of feet away. "Can we take a break or something? Come on, time out!" He grinned nervously as it strode towards him. "Five minutes?"
"Heeeehhh…" Janemba raised one hand, energy building around it. Before it could fire, however, there was a familiar, almost mechanical noise, and a storm of flames blazed to life and surrounded Janemba.
"Burning Shoot!" At Pikkon's words, the inferno channeled itself at Janemba, completely obscuring its form. The celestial fighter touched down, supported Raditz with one arm, and flew him to (relative) safety atop a nearby hill.
Behind them, Janemba's form appeared silhouetted in the flames, completely unharmed.
"Special beam cannon!" A voice shouted, a spiralling beam of energy crashing into the back of Janemba's head and knocking it flat.
Raditz stared open-mouthed as his rescuer landed in front of them. "… Cell?!"
"Surprised?" Cell grinned. "With the afterlife's check-in station out of commission, the wards keeping me imprisoned were destroyed. I am free to pursue perfection anew."
"Wait." Pikkon eyed Cell with suspicion. " This is Cell? You seem to know an awful lot about the situation for someone supposedly locked up for the last few years…"
"As you pointed out, I have been locked up," Cell replied. "Not a great deal to do, so… I reached out with my mind, developed my senses far beyond what they'd been before. I've had my eyes on all the realms of Otherworld for quite some time."
"Well, why the hell would you help us?" Pikkon asked.
"Not that we don't appreciate it," Raditz pointed out.
Cell shrugged. "The total destruction of the universe is hardly to my benefit. While I've been incarcerated and unable to improve, Raditz has far outstripped my own power, and even he has been defeated one-on-one by this Janemba creature. The situation decrees a temporary alliance."
"Speaking of which, here it comes." Pikkon raised his guard. "Damn… looks like our attacks didn't even leave a mark…"
Raditz nodded. "Get used to that. I was faster than it, but nothing I did caused any lasting damage."
Cell tensed up, gathering his energy. "We're not going to win a straight fight… we need time to plan." Using Instant Transmission, he appeared with one hand on Janemba's arm, vanishing again. When he re-materialised next to them, he was alone, and staggering backwards from a bruise on his head.
"Where did you take it?" Raditz asked.
"Other side of Hell," Cell explained. "Didn't expect it to be so fast… it hit me before I escaped. I don't think it knows where it is, so we should have a couple of minutes to come up with something."
"Like what?"
"Raditz!" Another hissing noise, and Kaioshin appeared, Kibito at his side as ever. "I-gah!" The pair jumped back, noticing the malevolent bio-android near them. "Cell! Where did you-"
"Don't waste your time," Raditz sighed. "He's helping, for the moment."
"I'm also the most powerful fighter you have, as of right now, so no back-talk, all right?" Cell smiled, full of self-confidence.
Kaioshin scowled. "A situation I intend to rectify. Kibito?"
Kibito nodded, quickly pointing both palms at Raditz and channeling his healing magics. A warm glow passed from him to the saiyan, and Raditz felt his energy restored in an instant. "Oh… whoa." He blinked, looking down at his body. "Just like the senzus… that's quite a talent."
"Indeed." Supreme Kai's expression lightened. "Now you're healed, you should be able to take care of the creature, yes?"
"I don't know…" Raditz scratched his head. "Janemba's pretty tough. You saw what state it left me in last time, and I didn't even leave so much as a scratch on it. I'm pretty sure I could hit it with a head-on Kamehameha and all it'd do is tire me out even faster. I appreciate your help, but you might just have been prolonging the inevitable."
"What…?! Even with your new transformation?"
"I'm afraid so. I've got nothing that could kill it outright, anyway."
Kaioshin paused. "How about making a hole? Could you create an opening in its armour somehow? If you could do that, its unstable negative energy will no longer be contained. I'll be able to exploit this, and use a sealing spell to separate it from its power."
"You sound like you know about this Janemba thing. What is it? Where did it come from?"
"The problem began with the negative energy machine, you see. I've been investigating, and it seems that it malfunctioned somehow-all the accumulated negative energy from countless evil souls was released. It latched on to the nearest life form; a young ogre working maintenance nearby… transforming him into that creature… Janemba, did you say? A being of purest evil." Strange… I could have sworn that I've heard the name 'Janemba' before… but where? Never mind. Focus. "Back to the point-can you break through its armour?"
Raditz considered this. "Well… there is one thing I could try, I guess…"
"What is it?" Pikkon asked urgently. "Tell me there's some kind of secret technique you've been perfecting these last few years!"
"As a matter of fact, there is." Raditz looked serious for once. "But, I haven't mastered it yet. And it's pretty energy-intensive. I'm gonna need some time to gather enough power, so everybody stand back." Better use it with Super Saiyan 3-no point going anything less than all-out here. Still… I've never tried this in combination with level three before. Hope I can control it…
"Er…" said an aged voice. "Is-Is this a bad time…?" The being that stood behind them looked for all the world like an elderly version of the Supreme Kai. A small grey moustache perched on his upper lip.
"Wha…" came the general response.
"It's just that I've spent millions of years trapped in that sword…" the man shrugged, indicating the broken Z-Sword lying on the ground beside him. "I'd like to thank you for letting me out." He paused. "Hmm, that's one large evil ki way over there…"
"Who… are you?" Kaioshin managed.
"Why, I'm you!" he answered. "Fifteen generations older, though."
"F-Fifteen…"
"There's a second Supreme Kai?" Pikkon wondered.
"Oh, yes. You're probably wondering how I'm still alive…" He paused. Everyone was silent, eagerly waiting for him to continue. "… Um… well, I'll tell you later, anyway. I think that enemy of yours is about to come back, and I don't really want to be around when it does. I assume you have a plan to deal with it?"
"Of sorts," Raditz admitted. The Z-Sword was meant to provide ultimate power, Kaioshin said… how, exactly, do you construe that from "there's a millenia-old Kai inside it"?!
"Excellent. Now, if you would?" The old Kai stepped up to Kibito. "You know Instant Movement, don't you? Single to the Sacred World of the Kais, if you'd be so kind."
Kibito gulped, complying. How did he know…? They vanished, and Kibito shortly reappeared on his own. For that matter, what makes him so sure the creature is about to return?
Janemba growled, confused. Where had the bug-man taken it? It wanted to finish the long-haired one. He'd hurt it. It couldn't let that go.
Then, a familiar feeling. Like a spike being driven into its mind. The ground shook. And, off in the distance, countless miles away… a light.
Raditz had managed to successfully become a Super Saiyan 3 once more. It's not anger, this form, he reminded himself as he completed the exhausting transformation. It's focus. Perfect calm. Raging and violent on the outside… serene within. He set his jaw, summoning up all his energy to begin to prepare his attack. Golden streams of power flowed through his body, illuminating his surroundings. The question now, is… whether I can call forth this much energy, and still remain in Super Saiyan 3… failure to do either could at best weaken the attack… at worst, it could severely damage my own body… With a start, he noticed something. "Guys…?"
The others had seen it. "Damn it!" Cell growled, glaring at Janemba as it reformed near them. "It's learned long-distance teleportation… !"
"Well done, Cell. Excellent plan," Pikkon snorted. "You bought us, oh, a whole minute, and made the monster more dangerous. You're a real credit to the team."
"Silence!" Cell ordered. "I'm the only reason you still exist. Think on that."
Kaioshin grew pale as Janemba reached the top of the hill. "In any case, the four of us will have to hold it off until Raditz has gathered enough power."
"With all respect, my lord, you should stay back!" Pikkon warned. "You'll only be getting yourself killed…" Never thought I'd be saying this… "Ready, Cell?"
"Of course not," Cell said jovially. "We're going to get slaughtered. And yet… I can feel the battle-hunger within me… my saiyan cells cry out for blood!" With that, he charged, Pikkon not far behind. Janemba grinned, spreading its arms wide as they approached.
Pikkon opened with a quick jab, and Janemba twisted out of the way, spinning to face Cell and wrapping its tail around Pikkon's neck. Cell feinted right, then kicked at its head, but again Janemba dodged, slapping Cell to the floor backhanded. While it did this, it brought its tail around, dragging Pikkon in front of it and letting go, letting him fly after Cell.
The two managed to come to a halt in mid-air, breathing heavily. "It's toying with us," Cell said calmly. "That's actually a good thing, though…"
"Right," Pikkon agreed. "That should mean we'll last longer."
Though his energy boiled the air around him, Raditz tried to remain calm inside. The key to this technique… well, it's unusual. Most of the time, it's about gathering power within you, then letting it flow to a point outside-but it still feels like it's part of you; an extension of yourself. This is different… almost like I'm crafting an external weapon. Certainly not what I'm used to. But he was getting there. He could feel it beginning to form.
"Cell might not survive this," Kibito said quietly. "Unlike Pikkon, I'm not sure if he's aware of what happens if you're 'killed' while already dead and existing as a spirit body. If he 'dies', he'll be completely erased from existence… gone forever."
"We can only hope," Raditz muttered, cracking a weary smile.
Pikkon charged first, aiming a high kick, but Janemba Shifted out of his path, appearing behind him. Cell flew in from the left to take advantage of what appeared to be an opening, and Janemba Shifted again. Cell frowned, vanishing with Instant Transmission. They reappeared simultaneously, Janemba's elbow smashing into Cell's stomach-Janemba's movements were completely unpredictable, and Cell couldn't foresee its line of attack, whereas Janemba had observed Cell's previous uses of Instant Transmission and knew what to expect. He coughed, winded, and Pikkon tried to cover for him with a quick energy barrage. Janemba simply waved a hand, Shifting the attacks through a portal to directly above Raditz. He emerged unharmed, though singed. Pikkon sighed, relieved. Luckily, Raditz is a lot stronger than me as well… those weren't enough to hurt him.
Cell saw Janemba's back turned, and raised his hand above his head, digging deeper into his store of fighting techniques. "Kienzan!" The vibrating energy disc leapt forth, cutting through the air as it arced towards Janemba. It heard the attack coming, but ignored it, letting the Kienzan shatter on its seemingly-impenetrable hide.
Damn it all! Cell fumed. I've been imprisoned too long! I've let everyone overtake me by so much… even a concentrated attack like the Kienzan didn't break through its accursed armour!
Janemba had weighed up its two opponents, and decided which one was the most fun. The other, it didn't have the patience for. Vanishing into a streak of high-speed motion, it rocketed past Pikkon, kicking him hard across the face. He skidded away, then lay groaning on the floor, all the fight knocked out of him.
Cell trembled slightly. Defeated so easily… and he wasn't far below my own power. I just have to hope Raditz can destroy the creature before it gets bored with me. Then, it'll be gone and the fool will be weakened-that will be my chance!
Janemba floated up to Cell, who steadied his nerves. Just keep it distracted. That's all. "Solar Flare!" The technique's blinding flash was devastatingly effective against Janemba, who had never encountered it before. Cell followed up with a series of calculated, skillful physical attacks, making use of every striking surface on his body and targeting Janemba's least-armoured points while it was blinded. It flailed around, knocked back and forth by the onslaught, but its overwhelming speed and strength meant that it inevitably landed a lucky hit eventually, and that single hit sent Cell staggering away. Blinking and hissing furiously, it slowly recovered its vision, seeing Cell in a defensive stance, awaiting its attack.
It obliged, rushing in and punching him in the throat. Cell choked, collapsed-and disappeared. At this moment, three other Cells, having previously hidden their power, tackled Janemba from behind, pulling it to the floor and raining down blows on it. "You probably haven't encountered the Multi-Form either, eh?" one of the copies laughed.
However, quickly tiring of this, Janemba threw out an explosive wave of energy that both carved out a crater beneath it, and threw the Cell clones away. Fearful of remaining vulnerable with his divided power, Cell hurriedly rejoined into one being, waiting for Janemba's next move.
This was an interesting one, Janemba decided. Making more of itself like that. Well, two could play at that game. It flicked its wrist, using its ki to pull one of the strange enormous jelly-bean-looking objects dotting the sky towards it. Using one finger, it shot out a thin energy beam that carved out a vaguely humanoid silhouette, then with another simple gesture sent the rest of the material flying away. It walked up to the outline, nodding in satisfaction at its handiwork, and then breathed on it.
With a flash of purple light, the cut-out was transfigured into a perfect copy of Cell, which stood resolutely between Janemba and the real Cell.
"Grr… are you mocking me?" Cell growled-only for the copy to say the exact same words simultaneously, in a high-pitched, childish tone, making his words sound petulant and ridiculous. Cell's eye twitched. "I will destroy you, pale copy!" Again, it imitated and parodied him. He took a step forwards-so did it. Dodged left, right-it mimicked him perfectly. It was like looking into a mirror. And that means it isn't going to let me past it…
Smiling and leaving them to it, Janemba turned its attention to Raditz. He was gathering together rather a lot of power. Something about it unsettled Janemba. It began to approach him, at a leisurely pace. The saiyan's expression grew frantic, and he tried to focus his energy at a faster pace.
Cell was standing millimetres from his copy, staring at it stoically. It flatly returned the expression. Suddenly, he threw a punch-so did it, and their fists collided in mid-air. Snarling in frustration, he attacked furiously, darting left and right, striking high and low, but each time their attacking limbs collided, neither landing a solid hit. Abruptly, they somersaulted away, landing about twenty feet from each other. "I will not be made light of!" Cell insisted.
" I will not be made light of! " It squeaked, much to his irritation.
Time to find out if it's really an exact copy… "KA… ME…" They intoned in unison, one high voice and one low. "HA… ME…"
Janemba was enjoying the panic evident in Raditz's face as it drew nearer. It was only ten paces away, now.
I just needed a few more seconds! Raditz thought desperately. I'm not going to get the chance to complete my attack at this rate… and if I'm forced to stop now, the energy will all go to waste-so fighting it again won't be fun.
Cell frowned. Why am I doing this? Putting all my energy in one wasteful attack, in what is bound to be a futile struggle with this infernal clone… An internal desire to prove I am unique? Conviction that no copy could possibly match me, perhaps? Futile, if noble, thought processes. But the fact remains… I can't get past it to Janemba, since it mimics my every action.
His eyes widened as a thought struck him. My every action.
Janemba was close now. Raditz could count the ridges in its armour. Perhaps it would kill him-what else, after all, would make for a better final opponent than the literal embodiment of the universe's collective evil? It certainly looked like a mythical devil. Even with his godlike new form it had bested him. Maybe it was simply invincible…
It was inches away. Malice gleamed in its eyes. It flexed its clawed hands. Behind him, Kaioshin-the closest thing the universe seemed to have to a god-and his servant cringed back, struggling to even stand upright under the weight of its power, simply from standing so close to the monster. Such a shame, though… I never got to test out this technique. It only needed a second or two more…
No sooner had this thought passed through his mind, than Cell phased into existence with Instant Transmission, directly to Janemba's right.
Simultaneously, Cell's clone appeared to its left. Both flung their hands forwards into the Kamehameha position, Janemba between them. "HAAAAAA!" The creature had just enough time to realise it had been outplayed, its own creation turned against it by a clever use of the rules it had itself created, before twin ki beams, blue and purple, engulfed it from either side.
Raditz grinned-this gave him those precious final seconds. "All right, I've got it! HYAAAAAAH!" He forced more of his energy out of his body, letting it swirl in a vortex around him.
Cell lowered his hands, falling to his knees, then dropping to the floor. "Damn you… you made me use up… all my power. I'm spent…" His copy also collapsed, vanishing as Janemba stopped expending energy to maintain its existence. It was angered by the attack, but as ever, undamaged. However, Raditz's rapidly-rising power gave it pause for concern. It leapt back, shielding its eyes from the intense light.
"Everyone else is down…" Raditz muttered. "… can't have more than thirty seconds left in Super Saiyan 3, with all the energy I've put into this. This has to work. Because if I don't…" He kicked off the ground, launching himself at Janemba. "… who will?"
"Graaah!" Janemba flung out its aura, an animalistic intimidation and self-reassurance tactic. Raditz, however, ploughed right through the energy field, drawing back his right arm. "DRAGON…" Something seemed to explode next to his arm, igniting the volatile energy he'd filled the air around him with.
The flames whirled around him, coalescing into a ragged spiral. "… FIST!" With that, the flames were enveloped in golden light-and something else emerged.
Kaioshin looked on, wide-eyed. "I-Is that…?"
"How did he…" Kibito mumbled.
High above, on the Sacred World of the Kais, the Old Kai was sent stumbling around, clutching his head. "What in the name of me?!"
The confusion was justified. For the fiery energy had been transformed into an enormous golden dragon, flares of light running up and down its body, its head flying along parallel to Raditz's fist. It collided open-mouthed with Janemba as Raditz flew past, the dragon biting down, huge fangs piercing straight through Janemba's armour plates. With a final bellow of effort as he fell to the ground, in the instant before he lost his Super Saiyan 3 form, Raditz detonated the energy stored in the dragon, letting it explode in a violent storm of light and heat.
Janemba finally managed to think coherently enough to Shift away, but in addition from the huge, gaping bite wounds, it was now charred and burned all over its body. It howled in pain, beginning to limp towards Raditz's prone form-it was in bad shape, but none of its enemies were in a fit state to oppose it anymore. At least, it thought so.
"Now!" The hiss of Instantaneous Movement. Janemba frowned, slowly beginning to turn. Kibito, having provided transportation, took a step back as the Supreme Kai raised his hands, summoning forth his magical prowess. "Darkness that has overtaken thee, little one, begone!"
Janemba hissed, stumbling away. Thick black smoke began to rise from the open wounds left by Raditz's attack, the creature's very essence escaping it. The draining negative energy flocked towards Kaioshin. Snapping his fingers, he materialised a small glass container inscribed with runic symbols. "Demon within and monster without, away!" He shuddered, pulling with all his mental might. "There is no place for you… in this world, Janemba!" At his determined incantation, Janemba began to evaporate, rapidly shrinking as its outer form vapourised and rushed into the magically-sealed container in Kaioshin's hand. As the last of the smoke was entrapped and he slammed the lid on, he could have sworn he heard a mocking whisper in his ear.
There is no place in this world for Janemba? You say these things without even knowing the meaning of the name.
He shivered. What was that…? He put it out of his mind. Later. There were more immediate concerns. "Kibito, would you see to the wounded?"
"I shall." Kibito nodded, and walked off.
Kaioshin, meanwhile, stepped over to the small figure who stood where Janemba had been. A young ogre worker, wearing baggy clothes and large headphones. "Uh… I, uh… sorry, man, I… I don't know what happened," he stuttered. "Are you, like, important? Am I gonna get fired? Uh…" He wheeled around and fled as fast as his legs could carry him.
Kaioshin blinked. "Huh."
"No, he won't be punished, sir," King Yemma was saying, alternating between frantically shuffling through and stamping the massive backlog of soul-judgement paperwork, and talking to Kaioshin. "It was just a clumsy accident. However, we will be reviewing the kind of system that lets a simple clumsy accident unleash Hell upon the world of the living! You!" he shouted to his personal assistant. "I want whoever designed that Negative Energy Machine in front of my desk, you got that?!"
"When?" the assistant asked.
"Yesterday!" Yemma snapped, before turning back to Kaioshin. "Is there anything else, sir?"
The deity nodded. "You've let Cell roam Hell like the other evil souls?"
"Yes," Yemma replied. "It would seem odd to make a special exception for him, seeing as there are so many other powerful villains in Hell now. We simply don't collect enough negative energy-even if the machine hadn't been broken for the time being-to keep them all specially imprisoned. However, we hope that with Raditz having reached such levels of power, not to mention some of his living comrades, we can return to the previous balance-there's no threat of Hell's occupants running riot when there are heroic warriors capable of easily defeating them readily available."
"That does seem to be the case," Kaioshin agreed. "That will be all, Yemma. Carry on."
Raditz breathed in the heavenly air, sweet and refreshing after the cloying heat of Hell. Seems like everything's working again… the villains in the living realm are being drawn back into Hell. Still… today proves that I'm not invincible, even as a Super Saiyan 3. There's still room for improvement. He took off, soaring up into the clouds. First thing is working on that damned energy drain. That's going to get me killed someday… he paused, eyeing the halo floating above his head. Well. Figure of speech.
Chapter 71: Bad Blood
During Raditz's battle with Janemba…
"Ah, Kuriza." Frieza smiled maliciously. "The prodigal son returns."
"Interesting choice of words," Kuriza replied, sounding amused. "I suppose you could call me a prodigy."
"Don't play games with me."
"You seemed awfully friendly with that saiyan," King Cold pointed out. "Don't tell me you're working with them. You didn't even seem to be in charge… did you take a blow to the head?"
Kuriza laughed internally, thinking of Goku. Funny he should say that. "I assure you, grandfather, I am very much myself. Better than ever, in fact. It's been refreshing, being free from your influence."
Cooler landed behind him. "And subject to a whole new set of influences. Have they subjugated you?"
"There is something missing in your eyes…" Frieza noticed. "There's no killing instinct. I had it, by your age. We'll have to do something about that ."
"You can try," Kuriza said, speaking more directly. "But I have no interest in your ideals. Or lack thereof."
Frieza's nose wrinkled slightly in irritation. "Have you really gone soft on us, son? Believing such lies… You should know, there's no such thing as truly honourable ideals. When you start to believe in artificial concepts… what would your mother say?"
"Frankly, I don't care," Kuriza replied, turning and walking up to his father, stopping inches away and fixing the taller frost demon with a glare. "She's better off without you, I'm sure. As is the universe."
Frieza had to resist the urge to flinch, despite his height advantage. Why? he wondered. Kuriza's never been intimidating… but now, there seems to be something about him… I can't quite place it. He made an effort to conceal his unease, keeping an arrogant smile on his lips.
"Oh, I see," Cooler cut in. "Shall we give you two some time alone? It looks like your expert parenting hasn't done much for the kid."
"What would you know of it?" Frieza growled. "Need I bring up your pathetic attempts to acquire-"
"You wouldn't-!" Cooler hissed, baring his teeth, his tail involuntarily lashing behind him.
"Boys!" Cold shouted. "Calm down!" Silence fell, and he breathed out slowly. "There. Now, Kuriza. Let's be reasonable. Violence within a family is a terrible business…"
"Who said anything about violence?" Kuriza glanced over his shoulder at Cold, tail sweeping slowly back and forth along the ground.
"I did," Cold admitted, smiling disarmingly. "But let's all do our best to avoid it. Come with us, leave this worthless planet. There are, after all, millions like it. The fragments of our empire are still out there, doubtless-we can reforge it. You can rule at my side, like my sons, and when you come of age… ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself…" He paused as he saw the defiance in Kuriza's eyes. "Or," he continued, eyes darkening, "you can be a fool and cling to the losing side. To be blunt… this family can produce another heir easily enough."
"What, you plan on murdering me if I don't side with you? Your own blood?" Kuriza asked.
Cooler frowned. "Of course. If you're not of use to us, you could be an inconvenience later on-better to nip a potential threat in the bud, eh? Hmph, didn't Frieza teach you anything?" He shot a sidelong look of contempt at his younger brother.
Perhaps not kill him outright, for now, Frieza thought. He is my only child… hopefully he'll grow out of this rebellious phase.
"Nothing worth remembering," Kuriza responded to his uncle's jab. He flexed his arms, rolling his head from side to side. "I'm still stuck on the part where you think you can kill me. I haven't been idle while you've been dead, and there are some pretty amazing fighters to learn from on this planet."
"I'm sorry, are you suggesting one of us should fight you ?" Cold laughed.
"No." Kuriza grinned. "All of you. Come at me."
Frieza's eye twitched. "Insolent little-I am your father, boy! Don't talk to me like that!" He swung his arm around to slap Kuriza's face backhanded, and was shocked to find the child gripping his hand before he could make contact.
"You always hit so hard…" Kuriza said quietly, head down, sadness in his eyes.
Frieza struggled wordlessly, trying to pull himself free, but to no avail. Kuriza's grasp slowly tightened, crushing Frieza's fingers. The older frost demon supressed a yelp, firing a pair of ki blasts from his eyes. They glanced off an invisible barrier around Kuriza's body, as the younger fighter raised his head slowly. "I'm not too small to hit back anymore." His tone was now ice-cold.
Fuelled by the pain of years of quiet suffering, Kuriza raised his hand and punched his father across the jaw.
Frieza staggered away, shocked. The force of the blow had been incredible. He threw out another energy wave behind him to steady himself. "You…" Such strength! Hatred surged within him-but tempered, slightly, by pride. How dare he! And yet… what amazing power… my son.
"Oh, excellent. The little rat's been improving." Cooler unfolded his arms. He gestured mockingly at Kuriza. "Come on, kid. Let's show your dad what a real fight looks like!" In response, Kuriza vanished. Cooler gaped. How could I not follow his movements…?!
"Behind you," Cold said wearily, rolling his eyes. "Do pay attention, Cooler. You're both embarassing me. And at full power, against that runt, no less…"
"I-I'll show you!" Cooler swung around, delivering a straight punch to Kuriza's stomach. Kuriza simply focused his energy in the point being struck, taking the blow without flinching. He looked down, impassively, to where Cooler's fist was shaking painfully from the impact. "Have I really improved that much…?" He backed up slightly, lining up a high, swinging kick.
Seeing it coming, Cooler raised his arms to block-but not fast enough. Kuriza's foot sailed over his defences, catching Cooler in the chin. There was a horrendous snapping noise, and Cooler tumbled limply to the ground by the road, lying still. He lay with his head twisted at an unnatural angle.
Kuriza went slightly green, eyes wide with shock. "Did… did I kill him?"
"I believe so, yes," Cold said coolly. "Though I couldn't say whether we currently count as dead or alive or something else entirely, so the terminology-oh, hold on." He took a closer look, noticing Cooler's head starting to twitch. "Ah, yes, the resilience of a spiritual body. Quite astounding. It appears you've merely broken his neck. He'll recover in a few weeks, though he'll be in unbearable pain until then. Well done, Kuriza… I didn't think you had it in you."
"I… didn't mean to…" His uncle's body shifted back to his natural form, agony plain on his face.
"I think you did, deep down. All that repressed anger… if you stay here with these Earthlings, you'll never have an outlet for it. The only way to control that urge-or, perhaps, to satisfy it-is to embrace your true self, Kuriza."
Visions of that life-that potential future-flashed up in Kuriza's mind's eye. The Bloody Prince. Be a good little executioner. Known and feared by all. It sickened him. "Shut up! I'm not like you!" He rushed down at Cold, only to recieve a swift punch to the head that sent him flying.
"You have surprising power for one so young, but don't presume yourself my better," the tyrant sneered. "I'm in a whole different realm of power than my sons, I'll have you know." He jumped over at Kuriza, trying to hit him while he was down, but his smaller opponent rolled over, throwing his legs up and catching Cold in the chest, throwing him up and away. Kuriza flipped up to his feet as Cold stopped his involuntary flight, and the two faced each other, trying to get a measure of the other's strength. "Frieza, stay out of this," Cold ordered.
"Is it not my duty to discipline my own son?!" Frieza shouted. He wouldn't have cared much about Cooler's death either-if anything, it would have meant less people to share territory with.
"A duty in which you have indisputably failed! Now stand down, before I have to discipline you !" He turned back to Kuriza, seeing the reformed villain already speeding towards him. He caught both Kuriza's punches; blocked two knee strikes with his own legs. They butted heads, tails lashing at each other. An instant later, they broke away, becoming a blur of moves and counter-moves. Frieza's head spun as he tried to follow their movements.
"I'm afraid you are like me." Cold continued their debate as if they were calmly talking by the fireside, not locked in mortal combat. "By which I mean practical, though you try to hide it. You've started thinking of the world in terms of 'good' and 'evil', haven't you?"
"Something wrong with that?" Kuriza took a glancing blow to the shoulder-he was slowly losing ground. Besides just about matching him in power, Cold was a masterful hand-to-hand combatant.
"It's far too simplistic. Nobody can improve their lot without making somebody else's worse. Deep down, everybody would do all the things we've done if they had the chance-we're just the strongest, the smartest, and the luckiest. We succeeded, and to do that we've done things you'd label 'evil'." He deflected an uppercut, feinting with his tail and landing a hit from his forearm.
Kuriza was increasingly struggling to keep up with the relentless pace of Cold's attacks. "You're wrong… I know too many people who'd never commit murder out of paranoia… let alone genocide… I was keeping my cool before, you know. I despise you, and what you were making me into."
"And I hate what you've become. Excellent, we know where we stand. Communication is, they say, the foundation of a healthy relationship." Wearing a taunting grin, Cold struck downwards with his elbow, and Kuriza ducked back. Before he could raise his guard again, Cold landed a solid kick to his abdomen, launching him away. He twisted in the air, landing on his feet. "Whatever you feel, you must see that this is futile. You can have Cooler's territory, if you like; he won't be needing them anymore. You'll come around eventually."
"Sorry, ruling a few planets doesn't interest me."
"No? Shame. I suppose you'll have to go then." Cold raised a finger, gathering his energy. "So sorry for your loss, Frieza, the boy had such potential… all wasted now, of course."
"Wasted?" Kuriza smiled, shifting into a low stance. "I'd rather 'waste' my life protecting these people than be remembered by history if it means becoming like you again." Energy began to build around him, silently, invisibly. "I'm done playing around!" he announced, quickly and efficiently making his transformation into the large, menacing fifth form. No grandstanding or standing on ceremony. Panicking, Cold released his finger beam, but Kuriza knocked it aside with only slight effort. "Well, you old bastard? What do you think? If I was almost at your level normally… what's my fifth form going to be like?"
"How?!" Cold whispered.
"Ki control. It's that simple. You're barely able to control your power in the fourth form, whereas I have complete mastery over my own energy. Achieving this transformation was…" he grinned behind his armoured facemask. "… child's play. Excuse the expression."
"Why, you little…" Cold clenched his fists. "I will not stand for this insubordination, you piece of-"
Kuriza darted forwards, ramming home a blindingly fast knee strike to Cold's stomach. "Tch. Language, grandfather." They seemed frozen there for a second, faces inches apart, glaring sideways at each other. "Losing your cool already? Maybe you know it's hopeless."
Snarling wordlessly, Cold swung his arm around, and Kuriza leaned slightly to the side to divert the blow away from his face, instead letting it glance harmlessly off his armour-plated shoulder. His eyes narrowed, and he began taking slow steps forwards, forcing Cold-who was barely taller than him now-to retreat away from him. Kuriza's voice became serious again. "That's enough… you scum of the universe…" he focused ki between his hands. "… killing innocent people… good people… then laughing about it."
"You really are one of them now…" Cold realised. "You are lost."
"No. I know exactly where I am." Almost gently, Kuriza pushed the crackling ki ball forwards, then detonated it, sending Cold flying away. The old monster landed in an ungraceful heap, charred from the blast, and didn't get up. Kuriza turned to Frieza, who seemed to be frozen to the spot. "No sneak attacks while I was giving my speech? Not that they'd have worked, but that wouldn't have stopped you trying. You really don't want to kill me… no matter how little you think of me…" He returned to his natural form, walking over to his father. "Well, the feeling is mutual. There'd be no point in fighting you, anyway."
"How could you turn your back on your family-your birthright-like this? I raised you-"
Kuriza landed a stunning backhanded slap to Frieza's face. " That's how you raised me," he snapped. He turned his back, lifting off into the air. "I've got nothing else to say to you. Go sulk somewhere. You'll be back in Hell soon enough."
Frieza was left staring silently into the sky as his son became a rapidly-vanishing speck on the horizon. Hurting. Angry. And… a little… regretful.
Some time later…
Kaioshin, Kibito and Raditz stood facing the Elder Kai on the Sacred Kai planet.
"Oh, there's not much to tell, really," the old guardian said, shrugging. "Millions of years ago, during my time, the universe faced a great threat. A powerful enemy cast a spell to seal me inside the Z-Sword. I don't know what happened after that… how they were defeated, or anything between then and my release. Did you actually try to use it in battle?!"
Raditz nodded sheepishly. "Yeah… well, it did make a useful weapon… and its weight was helpful for training."
The Old Kai rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Though at least you managed to break it, unlike my descendant here…" he turned to the current Kaioshin. "Speaking of which, I'm disappointed that fifteen generations of my peers couldn't figure out to break the sword!"
Raditz burst out laughing. "They couldn't even pull the thing out of its stone, let alone break it!"
Kaioshin sighed. "I'm afraid that's true… it was this man here who finally removed the sword from its resting place."
Old Kai shook his head in disbelief. "What is the world coming to… a mortal having to do the Supreme Kai's job!" He began to walk off, muttering to himself. "Now, I'm going to go take a stroll, have a look around the universe…"
"Do you need transport?" Kibito asked.
"What? No," he replied, exasparated. "Your Kaioshin hasn't even got the hang of omniscient vision yet? Tch! This younger generation, I swear… how did you think I knew fifteen generations had passed? I had a quick glance at the positions of the stars and galaxies compared to my time," he said, without waiting for a response.
Once he'd wandered off, Kaioshin, somewhat flustered, approached Raditz. "I'd been meaning to ask you… that new technique of yours. Why a dragon?"
Raditz paused. "Hmm… well, it did take a lot of inspiration from Earth's Eternal Dragon."
"Earth's what?"
"Look, I won't go into the details. To you, it's just one planet of millions. But this dragon… I've only seen it a couple of times, yet… it left an impression. Every time, I got the feeling of something ancient, deserving of respect… something almost beyond my understanding."
Ancient and deserving of respect? Kaioshin fumed. I'm standing right here!
"I've never quite experienced the same feeling of awe as when Shenron appeared." He lightened up, the seriousness leaving him. "Plus, I don't know, it felt right somehow. Maybe dragons just look fearsome, huh?" he joked.
"I didn't think this was a laughing matter," Kaioshin said, but Raditz had already lost interest and was walking off. And just what is a Shenron, anyway?
"Marron!" Krillin called, peering into the kitchen. "Marron? Where'd you get to? That kid… come on, where is there to get lost on this little island?"
"Here you go." Krillin turned on hearing the voice, seeing Eighteen walking down the stairs towards him, a small girl held in her arms-their daughter of two years, Marron. "She was under your bed…"
"Well, aren't you a little explorer?" Krillin laughed, letting Eighteen hand Marron over to him. "Heh heh…"
"Seriously, though," Eighteen said, "you need to keep better track of her. After-eh?" An electric rushing noise from outside interrupted her. "What was that?"
"I don't know…" Krillin felt uneasy. He and Eighteen glanced at each other-both were about to say to the other 'you wait here with Marron, I'll check it out'. Seeing the look in the other's eyes, neither bothered. As a compromise, Eighteen went first, Krillin just behind, holding Marron close. "You see it?"
"There." Eighteen cautiously approached the large metallic object. "Wait. This is…"
"A time machine!" Krillin finished, running up to it. "Just like the one you got here in!" He paused. Nobody appeared to be inside. "Do you know what this means?"
Eighteen nodded. "It means they won. They beat those androids in the future, they're still alive… and they sent this so I can go back." She saw a worried look cross Krillin's face. "Well, I didn't say I would. Give me a minute." She opened the cockpit-as it had appeared, there was no occupant. I guess they built this one with a remote control feature.
"Why do you think they waited this long to send it, though?" Krillin wondered. "You've spent so long not knowing if they were even alive…"
"I don't know," Eighteen hopped up into the machine.
"Maybe… they wanted you to experience life back here for a while. If they'd sent it back to immediately after you got here, you'd have gone without hesitation, right?"
"Yes. I think so, yes." Eighteen picked something up from the seat-a piece of paper, headed with 'for 18'. So they didn't know I was here… they just hoped whoever found it knew where I was… Her eyes grew wider as she read. "You know, I think you're right."
"What does it say?" he asked eagerly.
"'You'd be lonely'. That's all."
"Without Seventeen, they mean?"
"I guess so. You think they knew I'd… find someone…?" her voice cracked slightly.
"More likely than in their time. Sounded like you didn't get much social contact, the way you were living." He sighed. "Look, I know why you went in the first place. You wanted to put right some wrongs you almost did. You felt like you owed it to those people. Remember I nearly went with you?"
She smiled sadly. "Yeah… but you had so many friends to miss you, and… there was nothing for us here."
He jumped up into the machine with her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "That's not true anymore, is it?"
"No…" she stroked Marron's head fondly. "Hmm."
"What?"
"It's double-sided…" she turned the paper over. "It says 'present for you & Bulma. Capsule 12.' She pulled open the glovebox, seeing a jumble of ordinary, everyday capsules, and fished out number 12. "I wonder what it could be…" She pressed the button, then tossed it onto the ground. In a puff of smoke, it revealed its contents-a CD in a plastic case.
"Huh." Krillin hopped down onto the sand, and picked it up. "Must be something real interesting on here… but something for both you and Bulma…?"
"I don't know. We don't exactly have too many interests in common." She shrugged. "Let's just put the machine in a capsule for now and take this to Bulma, I guess."
"You're not going back?"
"I don't think so… well, I mean, I guess I could for just a little, to say goodbye… I'll decide later, okay? Let's just go find out what's on this disc."
Bulma chewed her lip as she tapped away at the computer, scanning the disc. "All right… it's encrypted, but using standard Capsule Corp techniques… I guess to stop the average person getting to whatever's on here, but to make it easy for me."
"So, how long?" Eighteen asked.
"Eh… now." Bulma snapped her fingers in satisfaction, finishing the decryption process. "Let's see what we've got here." She fell into silent concentration, reading through the file, occasionally bringing up screenshots of blueprints-some body parts, some mechanical components, once a whole humanoid figure. Finally, she sat back, frowning.
"What is it?" Krillin ventured, growing impatient.
"Hey, Eighteen." Bulma looked back over her shoulder at the android. "Ever heard of a 'Super Android'?"
"What…?" Eighteen was stunned. "Did you say…" Images of 13 ran through her mind.
"Want to be one?"
Chapter 72: Daybreak
Bulma woke up with a start. It's tomorrow. She knew, of course-she'd been counting the days. Tomorrow was when the seven years would run out. Well… I've had enough time to prepare, at least. Despite constantly getting sidetracked, a couple of weeks ago she'd finally finished the project she'd started after Cell. She put it on as she got dressed. It wasn't today, no, but… she was nervous.
Eighteen's 'upgrades' were just about finished too-the process sped up greatly by the annotations her future self had provided. She'll be at the tournament, I can tell her then.
Ah, the tournament. That was the thing. Will something happen there today? Something to trigger… whatever it is will happen tomorrow, that my subconscious was counting down to? Better be careful.
She tried to put the anxious thoughts out of her mind. Today was a big day for Trunks. All right, Bulma. Just put on a smile. Don't let this kind of thinking spoil the day. She made herself walk confidently towards Zarbon's door, in order to shake him out of bed. Nail was already gone-it had been arranged yesterday that he'd go and make sure Launch and company remembered which day it was, and actually turned up. As for Goku et al., she knew Chi-Chi wouldn't let them forget.
The familiar sound of fist meeting face reverberated throughout Otherworld, shortly followed by Pikkon crashing to the ground, rolling and standing up quickly. He put his hands on his knees, breathing hard. "Damn! I can't believe you beat me in just your first Super Saiyan form! How do you keep improving like this?!"
Raditz floated gently to the ground, powering down. "When I unlocked Super Saiyan 3, it was like discovering a whole new realm of power. Room for improvement in every form."
"Tch! You'll never be satisfied. What are you aiming for, anyway? Got any galaxies you need to blow up?"
The saiyan grinned. "Haha! I don't think even I'm up to something like that, friend. Hold on…"
"Yeah, someone's coming, I know. Kaioshin, feels like."
The Supreme Kai could hear their conversation, including the dismissive way he was being addressed, but chose to ignore it. Why is it that every time I'm around these two, I feel like my position counts for nothing? "Raditz-I have need of you."
"You do?" So what's new?
Kaioshin frowned. "Might I remind you that I am telepathic?"
"Er… right."
"In any case, I have good news-we've tracked down Babidi. He's been moving with a shielding spell that even my ancestor's power could not previously penetrate, but he's had to drop it now he's finished his long journey. He's been gathering energy with which to revive Majin Buu, and he's returned to the planet on which Buu is imprisoned."
"Which is…"
Kaioshin blinked. "Earth. Did I not tell you?"
Raditz returned his blank stare. "… No. You did not."
"Oh. Well, either way, we must stop him from reviving Buu. The fate of the universe hangs in the balance."
Raditz pointed to the halo above his head. "Uh, dead. Sorry, can't help you unless you drag him up here."
"Are you not aware that the pure-hearted dead are allowed one day in the living world to settle their affairs, if they are able to find a suitable intermediary? One such medium does exist on Earth… a fortune-teller by the name of Baba."
A memory surfaced. "You mean… when Goku talked about seeing his dead grandfather again at Baba's palace, that was the truth?" He laughed, pleasantly surprised. "Heh heh! And here I thought he was just confusing it with a dream or something! He was a kid when it happened, after all. Oh, that's great! A whole day, huh? If I finish your wizard off quick, I can see everybody one more time before coming back here!" He turned to Pikkon. "Hey, did you ever-"
Pikkon shook his head. "My planet has no such person, to deal with the business of the dead. In any case, I had full closure. Any further contact with my friends and relatives would have merely prolonged the tragedy of my passing… and anyway, that was centuries ago." He smiled. "They're all in Heaven now. You should go."
"Y'think?"
"Yes… you always sound a little sad when you talk about them." He shook his head, annoyed with himself. "Oh! And the whole universe being in danger. That, too."
"Right, will do." Raditz turned to Kaioshin. "Let me stop by somewhere to pick up some back-up, and we'll go kick that wizard's ass, all right?"
Kaioshin nodded. "Excellent. Today will be a glorious day… I can feel it in the air. Kibito-take us to Earth."
Gohan was woken by the dawn. Light streamed in the window, bathing the room in a reddish glow. Unexpectedly, pain stabbed at his head as he sat up. He staggered down the hallway to the bathroom, flicking on the light and looking into the mirror. He suppressed a gasp. An 'M'-no, the M, the same design-was scratched into his forehead. There was dried blood beneath his fingernails. Frantically, he washed himself off; luckily, the cut was extremely shallow, and was practically invisible once he'd cleaned the red stain away.
Keep it together, Gohan. What could go wrong, huh? Besides, if something does come up, I've got my new ace in the hole. I haven't exactly been devoting myself to the martial arts like Dad, but… I haven't been idle.
"All right, you all ready?" Launch regarded her daughter-dressed in a simple dark gi, smiling up proudly at her mother.
"Yuh-huh!" Break grinned happily. "C'mon, let's go now, let's go now!"
"Just a minute, okay?"
"I wouldn't worry about it." Nail emerged from the back rooms, having grabbed a drink of water. "I'm all set."
Launch turned back to Break. "In that case-"
A hiss of air, gently pushed outwards as the space it had formerly occupied was suddenly filled by a humanoid body.
The tac of a foot touching the floor.
An intake of breath.
Launch spun, certain of what she'd see. She practically tackled Raditz, throwing them into an embrace and cutting off whatever clever quip he'd spent the last half an hour working on. They remained there, just feeling and smelling and breathing in each other, until the silence was broken by a tiny voice.
"Are you…"
Launch stepped away to the side, letting Raditz crouch down in front of their child, an expression of absolute wonder on his face.
"Are you my…"
He gave a boyish grin, ruffling her hair. "Hey, you grew up!" Leaning closer, he whispered, "C'mon, if I was anybody else your mom would have killed me for sneaking up like that!"
Tien burst into the room, Chiaotzu just behind, as the reunited family continued to celebrate. He stared, wide-eyed. "Raditz…?! Then I really did sense…"
Nail nodded. "Yeah, it's him." Something's up. If he just wanted to see them one more time, he wouldn't have waited so long. Unless he didn't know he could, of course… but I sense something troubled within his mind. All, it appears, is not well.
"Hey, check out the halo." Launch drummed her fingers on the ring floating above her dead partner's head. "Do they hand those out in Heaven, or what?"
"Don't touch that!" Raditz laughed. "Wow, I was wrong."
"About what?"
"I thought I knew how much I missed you." He fought to hold back tears.
"Hey." Launch leaned down towards Break. "You've got a tournament to be getting to, haven't you?"
"Oh! Is Daddy coming?" Break hopped back and forth, her superhuman strength letting her literally bounce off the walls with excitement.
"Uh… can you take her, Nail? We need a little time to talk, alone…" she smiled down at the young girl. "We won't be long, but you've got to get going now."
"Promise?" Break asked.
"Promise."
Raditz held up a hand. "Ah, actually it might be better if you stuck around… Launch, Nail, Tien…"
"Don't worry, I'll take her." Chiaotzu walked over to the door. "C'mon, I know the way. We'll meet up with Bulma, she can help you sign up."
"Right! See ya!" Break vanished into the sky, following her tiny guide.
"Okay, good," Raditz said when they'd gone. "I didn't want them getting mixed up in this. Listen, there's a-"
"Can this wait ten minutes?" Launch asked.
"Uh, I guess-" Immediately upon hearing the words, she swung a vicious uppercut that launched Raditz clean through the wall and into the mountain behind, then sped off after him.
Raditz clambered out of the rocky crater, sensing her approach. Not enough to really hurt me, but still… when did she get so strong? "Hey, I'm impressed," he said as she landed opposite him on the mountain road. "I didn't think it was possible for a human to improve that much so fast." His eyes narrowed. "I think I know what this is about…"
Launch pounded her fists together, grinning savagely. "You bet! I promised you when we met again, I'd be stronger. I'm gonna prove it."
"If you want to fight, I'm all for it, but you don't have to prove anything."
"Yeah, I do." A fiery Kaioken aura blazed to life around her. "That attack didn't even scratch you-I'm not satisfied yet."
"Are you sure you aren't a saiyan?"
"Hyaaah!" She attacked again, even faster than before, but this time he was ready. He deflected the momentum of her first kick to the side, then jumped twenty feet into the air to avoid the second. She pursued him upwards, and he sidestepped around a punch, sending her crashing back to the ground with a kiai -but it took some effort. She rolled, instantly springing to her feet.
"Hey, you were right. You're not the fragile human you were when I left." He paused, realising what he'd said could be taken badly. "Uh, not that I loved you any less for it-it's just great to see how far you've come!"
She smiled. "Still not fast enough to catch you, though?"
"No, but you're making me work for it with the Kaioken-it's impressive."
"That so?" She breathed in deeply. "Then let's see how you like me going all-out."
"Oh?" He watched, curiosity piqued, as she discarded her bandana, letting her hair hang loosely down her back. She dug her feet into the ground with a downwards burst of ki, then crossed her arms in front of her face, energy building around her.
"Hrrr… ggghh… kkk…" The red aura appeared again, brighter, more intense. "Gyaaaah… !" She seemed to become completely drenched in sweat in an instant, and steam began to rise from her body. Multicoloured flashes of light played up and down her shaking form as the fiery blaze continued to expand. Finally, she raised her head, a look of deadly concentration on her face. "SPIRIT KAIOKEN!" With a noise like a barrage of artillery, the red glow seemed to burst free of the confines of her body. It raced out in every direction, covering the landscape.
Remember the balance… two sides of me. Working in harmony. Calm, peaceful… and violent, chaotic. With one, reducing the strain of the technique, letting me push it to higher levels without tiring… with the other, adding that sudden burst of power and speed in the exact instant I need it-making my level seem even higher than it is.
Raditz almost choked in surprise. Horizon to horizon, everything was tinted in the same crimson. The sun's light, just beginning to shine over the mountaintops, was red on red. And Launch… at the centre of the inferno, she was a figure of living flame, shining almost white. The ground around her melted away, streams of lava rolling off into the snowy mountainside and cooling instantly. "Tien's never seen this." She kicked off the air, propelling herself easily towards him and flooring him with a double-handed swing. He moved with the attack, sliding backwards through the evaporating snow. It gleamed, reflecting the red light into his eyes as she landed in front of him. He threw a quick jab, a feint, but she saw through it, stepping back to avoid the real threat of his rising knee.
He followed up, throwing a ki blast that she ducked under, aiming a high kick. He dodged, noticing her fist already swinging at him again. He caught the punch, trying to push her away, but she matched his strength. His hand began to heat up from contact with her fiery skin, and he had to break away, only for her to take advantage of his momentary imbalance and trip him. He let himself fall backwards, landing a kick straight to her face with the same motion.
Nail was dumbfounded. "They've just been reunited after seven years… and they start fighting?!" Red-tinted daylight streamed in through the broken wall as dawn broke.
"That's just like them!" Tien was almost bent double with laughter. "It's good to see some things don't change." He calmed down, folding his arms and standing up straight. "They'll get to the more normal stuff in a minute, I'm sure." Crazy… I never suspected Launch was this strong… !
Several minutes later…
Launch's elbow smashed into Raditz's ribs, and he cried out as he fell, the breath knocked out of him. For her part, she felt drained all of a sudden, stumbling and falling next to him, the flames her body was wreathed in dying out and the unnatural glow that covered the landscape receding.
"Heh…" Launch sat up, taking great heaving breaths and trying to recover. "… I thought you were a little stronger than that."
"You matched me…" He stared up at her, eyes full of wonder again.
"Only in your normal form." She shrugged.
"Still. You completely overcame normal human limits… I'm happy for you."
They sat in silence for a while. "I missed you," she said, finally.
"Missed you too."
"But you couldn't face coming back, only to fade over the years…" she sighed. "Similar as we are, humans and saiyans aren't the same at all."
"No. And for understanding that, I'll never stop thanking you." They shared a glance, then went back to gazing at the sky. "You think I'd have been a good father?"
"No."
"Hahaha!" He grinned. "I think you're right."
"Why'd you come back, anyway? You're still dead, I can see…" She tapped his halo. "… so it's temporary. What's the deal?"
He stood up. "Well, first I only just found out I could come back. So I might have come anyway-but as it is, there's something I have to do."
"Not alone, I hope." She stood as well, stretching-while both were winded from their fight, they'd recover soon enough, and weren't really injured.
"No, I was going to ask for your help. Tien and Nail, too. See, there's a wizard named Babidi…"
"Hey!" They looked up to see Tien floating down towards them, suppressing a smile. "Somebody's going to have to fix that wall, you know."
"Gohan, Gohan! It's today, c'mon, let's go!"
"Aw, give it a rest, Goten, it isn't for a couple of hours… do I even have to enter?"
"You bet you do," Chi-Chi tutted, descending the stairs. "We need as many chances as we can get at that prize money. It's not easy with two kids, especially now you're in high school."
"All right, but let's give it a-"
"What are we waiting for?" Goku's voice came from outside. Gohan leaned out of the door, seeing his father silhouetted against the rising sun. "You've got something better to do?"
Chapter 73: One More Time
"All right, have you both let off some steam?" Tien addressed Launch and Raditz, equal parts stern and joking.
"Think so." Launch nodded to Raditz. "You were saying?"
"Okay. Sure I'm not going to get interrupted this time?" Nobody responded, so Raditz drew in a deep breath, preparing for the third time to tell them about the impending threat.
"All right, everybody got everything they need?" Chi-Chi asked.
"Yup!" Gohan nodded. "Don't worry, Mom, I know what those two are like."
Goku looked back at them. "Okay, guys. Chi-Chi, Goten, remember what I've taught you… it isn't too hard, once you get the hang of it." With that, the four of them took to the skies.
Bulma laughed out loud-not that Krillin's joke had been very funny (or, indeed, funny at all), but it was a joy just to see all those familiar faces. "Man, it sure is good seeing everybody again."
"You said it!" Goku and family touched down. "Heya Bulma, Krillin!"
"Goku!" Krillin warmly greeted his best friend. "Hey, there's a mini-you back there!"
"Yeah, haha!" Gohan nudged his younger brother forwards. "Say hello to everybody, Goten!"
"Uh, hi!" Goten, bedecked in an outfit reminiscent of his father's and with matching hair and smile to boot, waved awkwardly. "Uh… oh, hey, Trunks!"
Bulma's son ran up from behind her. "Why don't you to go play, all right?" she suggested. As the pair raced off, she turned to Chi-Chi. "So you did get the hang of flying!"
"Yup." Chi-Chi nodded. "Gohan was one thing, but when I saw Goten pick it up I decided to get back in the game." She flexed her right arm as she spoke, giving Bulma the chills. What does she mean, back in the game? She already trains every day, doesn't she?
"Well, uh…" Feeling slightly awkward, Bulma shoved Krillin and Eighteen forwards. "… well, Krillin was just telling me about him and Eighteen!"
"Oh yes, I remember, she came back." Chi-Chi smiled at Marron, currently sleeping in her father's arms. "I'm very happy for you two."
"Why?" Goku scratched his head, oblivious. "You guys start a babysitting service, or…?"
Krillin sighed. "Goku, this is our daughter, Marron."
"Wha-" Goku practically collapsed. "What?! Can she even-I mean, well-she's an andr-" Everyone began staring daggers at him. "Uh…" he hastily backtracked. "That is to say…"
"Hahaha!" Bulma broke the tension. "Same old Goku!"
"Don't worry about it." Eighteen smiled tersely. "But for your information, I was a human who was then converted into an android. Let's just say… everything works."
Krillin grinned. "And how… !"
"I heard that!"
"Aw, c'mon, it was a joke! A joke!" Krillin protested as Gohan dragged him and Goku away, having noticed that Bulma was trying to speak privately to Eighteen.
"You sure you made the right choice? Not even going back to say goodbye?" Bulma asked. "I mean, it was a nice gesture, sending the time machine back empty, but don't you think…"
"It would have been to painful," Eighteen said quietly. "That world has too many painful memories for me. Every second I stayed there, out of that misplaced sense of obligation, was a reminder of how far we could have fallen." She took in a deep breath, calming herself. "Besides, I sent them a message back."
"Oh? What'd you write?"
"You know what they say." Eighteen removed a copy of the picture from her pocket, something she often carried. It depicted her with Krillin and Marron, all beaming, standing on a sunny beach with Roshi goofing off in the background. "A picture's worth a thousand words."
Bulma patted the cyborg on the shoulder, understanding. "Sister, that one's a whole novel." She straightened up, smile vanishing. "Listen… I've finished those upgrades. If you want to…?"
"Sure, after the tournament." Eighteen began to walk back towards her family. "We're both okay with it, by the way; we've talked. I don't mind some physical changes if it lets me better protect my family."
"There are plenty of other fighters around, you know. Whether you choose that life or not, it's up to you."
Eighteen shook her head sadly. "No, it isn't. I have this incredible power… I know by now that new enemies can appear at any time. It'd be selfish to throw away the chance to save those I care about because… well, you know the problems, you told them to me."
Bulma frowned as she left. Still… you'd go that far? Even if it might mean losing your own humanity, something you fought so hard to find? She tried to put it out of her mind. All right, enough of this. Today's supposed to be a happy day…
"Gotcha!"
"You didn't!"
"I did!" Goten sang happily. "Did, did! You're it!"
"I hate this game," Trunks moped.
"Just 'cause you're slower-"
"You always want to play tag-"
"But I like running-"
"Let's-"
"Huh." They looked up, following the sound of another child's voice-sounding somewhat disappointed. " This is what I'm up against?" Break hovered above them, arms folded.
"Who are you?" Trunks asked, wide-eyed, as she descended to the ground.
The happy, laughing child Break had been for her parents was gone. This was the competition she was talking to. And she had a low opinion of children who spent their time on silly games-so unproductive. "I'm the one who's going to beat you." She snorted as she walked off haughtily to go rejoin Chiaotzu, who had hopefully finished sorting out her registration. Their power really isn't much… "See you in the ring, small fry."
Goten and Trunks couldn't restrain giggles as she left. "You hear the way she talked?" Trunks managed.
"I know! It's just like on TV!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament! Please, take your seats; I know you're all anticipating the main event, but all in good time. We're starting things with the junior division! Last time-the first time we'd ever had separate age groups-the junior tournament was won by Videl, Mr. Satan's daughter." The announcer adjusted his ever-present sunglasses, watching the crowd settle into the stands. "She's old enough to participate in the main competition this time, but I assure you the quality of our young fighters will be outstanding as always!"
Goku ambled around behind the ring, in the competitors' section. "Now… which way to the kitchen…?"
"Son Goku?" A gravelly voice rang out from behind him, and four black-suited men, built like brick walls crossbred with gorillas, filed into the room, surrounding him.
"Can I help you guys?" he asked innocently. "You don't look like martial artists. The stands are that way." Ki-normal human. No threat, or really good at hiding it…
"We understand your son is releasing a book today with the potential to turn everyone on the planet into a walking WMD," the largest growled.
"A what…?" Goku blinked.
"We're going to have to take that book in the interests of national security. You're gonna go get it and hand it over to us."
"Hmm… I don't think I like you." Goku shrugged. "Sorry, can't help you. But ask Gohan-he wrote it, after all."
"Don't play dumb with us." Four gun-barrels gleamed. "Close range, four on one, don't try none a' your Hong Kong shit, y'hear?" Evidently, they'd failed to grasp some fairly basic concepts from the whole Cell episode.
"C'mon, we're all adults here!" Goku snatched the gun from the man in front of him, crushing it easily in his hand. "Why don't you put the toys away?" He frowned slightly as a hail of bullets from the other three crumpled on his invulnerable skin, finally hearing the click of three empty chambers. His eyes narrowed. "You know, I'm not as stupid as I look. I know your game, and I'm not letting you hoard all the power for yourself." His arm blurred, and though he barely tapped the disarmed agent, the hulking man was sent flying clean through the rock wall behind him and onto the street outside. "Now go. I don't want to see any of you ever again."
Hastily, they complied, and Goku's cheerful demeanour returned as he wandered into the warm-up area. Gohan, Eighteen, Krillin and Videl were standing in one corner, and he approached them, waving energetically. "Heya, guys!"
"What took you?" Krillin asked.
"Don't worry about it. Anybody we should be worrying about?"
"Well, at our level you wouldn't think so, would you?" Krillin nodded to a pair of fighters across the room from them. "But those two… some weird ki coming from them, don't you think?"
"Yeah…" Goku mumbled, contemplating the ones Krillin had indicated. They were strangely pale, and completely bald, with bulged-out veins from head to toe. They wore black wrestling-style outfits, and a large, sickly aura emanated from them. One was merely toned and muscular, the other practically a giant. And finally, each had a stylised black 'M' emblazoned upon his forehead.
This last detail was why Gohan was sweating buckets.
"Quite a spectacular series of fights, wouldn't you agree, folks? Young Goten, son of a former Budokai Tenkaichi champion, has made it through to the final match, where he'll face the winner of this second semi-final." The announcer indicated the ring with a sweeping gesture. "In this bout, Trunks faces off against Break-both of these competitors have made short work of every opponent they've faced so far, demonstrating the kind of strength that makes me wonder if someone's shown these titanic tykes a sneak peek at this highly-anticipated tell-all book, also to be released today! Break, Trunks, please enter the ring."
Trunks hopped up onto the stage, seeing Break waiting for him, arms folded. She repressed a yawn. "Let's get this over with. Then I can get on to the interesting fight."
"You think?" Trunks grinned, eyes flashing gold. "Who says you'll even get to the finals?"
"Please. I'll beat you in one minute."
"Fighters, ready…" the announcer intoned. He raised one hand, bringing his index finger down in a sweeping motion. "… and begin!"
Break immediately ran at Trunks, beginning the match with a leaping kick. He blocked it, but the force sent him skidding back to the edge of the ring. She's strong- She was already in front of him. He threw a punch, which she dodged, countering and knocking him clear into the air.
"And Trunks is about to go out of bounds, it seems-wait!" The announcer blinked. Yes, this was going to be one of those tournaments. Trunks had halted his flight, and was soaring back towards the ring-having not touched the ground, he didn't count as out of bounds. He charged at Break, swinging for her head, but she ducked back, resting her hands on the floor and kicking up and back with both feet, catching Trunks in the stomach. He dropped into the centre of the ring, rolled uncontrollably for a second, then hastily scrambled back to his feet. Okay… let's try something else.
Break turned to face him. "Is that all you've got?"
"You ever stop boasting?" Trunks raised one hand, building yellow-orange energy around it. Break shifted her stance, preparing to receive the blast.
He fired, and she braced herself, placing one hand behind the other and blocking the incoming beam head-on. With a grunt of effort, she neutralised it, realising too late that while she'd been focusing on this, Trunks had appeared behind her, arm swinging.
The punch took her in the back of the head, causing her to fall forwards. She sprang up, straight into a kick to the chin, which flipped her onto her back. Trunks tried to follow up again, leaping towards her, but she launched a powerful two-handed kiai, knocking him upwards, then vanished, phasing into view above him. She swung an elbow down, taking him out of the air and flooring him again.
"What a battle, ladies and gentlemen! It seems Break has the advantage for now, but will it be decisive, or can Trunks recover the match?" The announcer yelled as the two young fighters paused, taking stock of each other.
Didn't expect him to be this good… Break mused. She slowly descended back to the ring.
Damn, Trunks grimaced. I can barely keep up… all right, I'll give it everything I've got! He charged up energy in both hands, grunting. Sparks of power played up and down his arms. "Are you ready for-"
Break was gone. Trunks barely had time to register this, as she immediately reappeared in front of him, ramming home a punch to his stomach. The force was enough to bring him to his knees, coughing painfully as the energy he'd been building dissipated harmlessly.
"Idiot." Break scowled. "You made me use full-strength. Sorry, but if I couldn't deflect that, people might have been really hurt." Trunks' hand clawed at her leg. "Look, you did well, but I win, okay? Give it up!"
"I… won't… lose… !" Trunks hissed, trying to drag himself up.
"Stop already!" Break, growing frustrated, kicked him away, launching him out of the ring. With no energy left to fly with, he fell to the ground, groaning.
"And, uh… we have a winner!" The announcer declared, as assistants rushed to ensure Trunks wasn't seriously hurt. "Break will continue to the final, where she'll face Goten!"
"I lost, Mom… I'm sorry."
Bulma smiled warmly down at Trunks. "Hey, no worries. You won a lot more."
"You did great." Zarbon sat next to his son. "You can't win every time. Sometimes the other person is just better, and there's nothing you can do. But there's one thing that is your choice."
"Huh?" Trunks looked up, wondering.
The Earth-loving alien ruffled his hair. "You never have to give up. That's your choice. You can always choose to try again, and do better next time."
Trunks beamed. "I will!"
"Don't worry about Break," Chiaotzu told the adult division fighters. "She does the tough act, but she's a good kid."
"Yeah, I knew she wouldn't hurt Trunks badly," Gohan said. "Hey, isn't that Hercule over there?"
Goku looked to where his son was pointing. "Huh. Yeah, it is." The former champion was warming up, shadow-boxing up and down the room. "He's stubborn, isn't he? Hey, Chiaotzu."
"Yeah?"
"Use your telekinesis when we draw our numbers-make sure none of us have to fight each other until the finals, okay?" He paused. "In fact, make it anybody with ki."
"Right." That'll make a full finals bracket, Chiaotzu realised. Eight fighters with some ki here-Goku, Gohan, Eighteen, Krillin, Videl, Hercule, and… those two. He gulped instinctively at the sight of the two pale-skinned, 'M'-marked brutes.
Trunks put his hand on Goten's shoulder, giving his half-saiyan friend pause in his walk towards the ring for the final. "Hey, Goten. Be careful… this girl you're fighting, she's real strong."
Goten shrugged. "Yeah, I know. She's my cousin."
"Wha-you're related?!" Trunks groaned. "No wonder… how come you never tell me these things?!"
"You never ask."
Trunks fumed. "How am I supposed to ask if I don't know-"
"Well, I'd better go now-can't be late!" Goten waved, running off towards the ring.
"You-hey, just a minute! Remember, you're not allowed to…"
"I'll try." Goten reached the ring, climbing up onto the raised stone platform. "But, y'know, if she's beating me…"
Trunks shook his head as Goten approached the announcer. "Why do I put up with this guy…?"
"I like the new look, by the way," Launch said as they flew along.
"Hmm? Oh, thanks." Raditz had finished explaining the situation, and now they were heading to meet up with Supreme Kai, there to proceed on to Babidi's location. "You look great, too."
"Hey, is that him?" Nail asked. Indeed, Kaioshin and Kibito stood on a plateau below them. They landed near the pair.
"Raditz… were you delayed?" Kaioshin asked.
"Nothing serious."
"You brought allies…"
"I'd trust any of them with my life, don't worry. And they're amazing fighters, too."
"You don't want to see everybody else first?" Tien asked.
Raditz shook his head. "Plenty of time after we kill this wizard. It won't take 24 hours. I promised Break I'd be there, didn't I?"
"At this rate, we'll miss her fights," Launch noted.
"Well, I'll be there at some point." He sighed. "Just relax, we've got time. All right, Kaioshin, where is he?"
"In there." The universal guardian leaned around the rock he'd been taking cover behind, showing them a small metal building a few hundred yards away. "That's just the tip of the iceberg-the majority of Babidi's spaceship is beneath the ground."
"Can we just destroy it from here?" Launch raised a hand, charging up energy.
"No!" Kibito hissed. "We do not know the exact properties of Majin Buu's cocoon… damaging it could awaken the creature!"
"Right," Kaioshin agreed. "We've got to go inside, and take out Babidi and his henchmen from within."
"Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for our junior finalists, Goten and Break! They've fought their way through the competition, now let's see what happens when these two pint-sized powerhouses meet in the ring! Ready… start!"
The picture didn't get any better as they approached. A nearby village was devoid of life, corpses strewn across the ground. The ground around the ship was scorched and barren, like it had been dug up recently. Just as they neared the entrance, the door slid open upwards.
"Somebody's coming!" Raditz hissed, quickly assuming a fighting stance.
The being that emerged was tall and broad-shouldered, with bright red skin. He had large pointed ears, and small horns on his forehead. His eyes were yellow slits, and a goatee adorned his chin. He wore loose blue clothes, over which a white scalloped cape was draped, hanging down almost to his feet. A black 'M' symbol stood out on his forehead.
"D-Dabura!" Kaioshin whispered. "What's he doing here?"
"Don't tell me even the King of the demons has been enslaved by Babidi…?" Kibito muttered.
"So I'm guessing he's bad news," Launch said.
"Of course… he's the ruler of the demon world, a dark reflection of ours. Raditz might be the mightiest in this universe, but Dabura is the strongest being in his world…"
"Like I said. Bad news."
"Master," Dabura said, his voice deep and menacing. "We have guests."
"Kill the weak ones," a high-pitched, scratchy voice replied from the shadows. "We have no time for them. The stronger ones may enter the ship-their energy will help us in reviving Buu."
"As you wish." Dabura straightened up, then vanished.
"He's heading straight for us!" Nail warned.
There was a flash of golden light, then an explosion of energy. When the dust settled, the events of the past few seconds were revealed: Dabura stood inches from them. Raditz was directly opposite him, having instantly turned Super Saiyan, and was holding Dabura about the wrist. He'd diverted the demon's arm to the side, preventing the blast Dabura had fired from that hand from hitting any of the others; instead, it had carved out a mile-long furrow into the earth. "Don't even think about it," Raditz warned.
"Tchah!" Dabura ripped his hand free of Raditz's grasp, snarling. He made as if to charge again, then swung his head around-and spat at them. Raditz instinctively flinched, dodging the projectile, and it flew past him, catching Tien on the cheek.
"Wha…?" Tien recoiled. "That's disgusting! Why would you… gah!" A grey sheen began to spread from the spot he'd been hit. "Aaaah!"
"Tien, what…?" Nail gasped. "He's turning to stone!"
It only took a few seconds for the transmutation to complete-Tien's body was completely converted into a stone statue.
"You'll pay for-hey!" Raditz growled, glancing back and forth. "He's gone… damn it, he went back inside while we were distracted!" Sighing, he powered down. "What's with that guy? Does he want to fight or not?"
"He wants to draw us into the spaceship for some reason," Kaioshin replied.
"Those turned to stone by Dabura's spit can only be returned to normal if Dabura is killed," Kibito explained.
Raditz cracked his knuckles, anger spreading across his face. "That so? Sounds like we've got some murdering to do."
"Wait, think!" Kaioshin pleaded. "This is exactly what Babidi wants! He's drawing you in!"
"Then I guess it's Babidi's lucky day." Launch strode forwards. "C'mon, guys." Raditz followed close behind.
Nail slowly turned to go. "I know we're probably walking into a trap… but I can't leave Tien like this. Do what you will."
The Supreme Kai's eye twitched. "Those… fools…"
Chapter 74: Tenkaichi Budokai
A gentle murmur swept across the crowd as Goten and Break faced off.
"… where did they come from…"
"… juniors were mostly boring last time, but this…"
"… ten zeni on the girl!"
"Weird hair on the boy, huh?" "Looks familiar, actually…"
Break raised one arm in front of her, the other stretched out behind. "Are you gonna attack me, or what?"
"Thought I'd let you go first," Goten replied, smiling and standing passively, scarcely looking like he was in the biggest fight of his life.
"Whatever you say." Break kicked off the ground, dashing towards Goten, who grinned as he sprang into motion.
"Psyche!" He swung his arms forwards. "Kamekameha!"
Standing in the competitors' block, Goku groaned. "No, we've gone over this! He still can't say it right… !"
Break skidded to a halt, startled, and dropped to the floor. The beam sailed over her head, then suddenly banked in mid-air and shot off in a completely different direction, proceeding to bounce off in another every few seconds. It carved a groove in the ground, narrowly missed taking the announcer's head off, then finally hit the wall in front of the spectators, detonating.
"G… Goten… !" Gohan hissed. "That idiot…"
Goten lowered his arms, perplexed. "Huh… still need to work on that."
"Your guard's down!" Break darted forwards, kicking Goten in the head and staggering him back. He recovered, blocking her other leg as it swung at him, grabbing her by the ankle and swinging her to the floor. She bounced off the ring, propelling herself up into the air, and he followed.
Trunks watched in awe. "They're moving so fast…"
The two fighters worked their way up, steadily higher, rapidly exchanging indecisive blows. He landed a punch across her face, breaking past her guard, and she kicked him in the side as she flinched back, spinning him around. Taking advantage, she quickly recovered and elbowed him in the back. He flipped forwards in the air, coming back around to face her upside-down and renewing his assault from the strange position. The odd tactic worked, and Break was forced onto the defensive, finding herself hard-pressed to hold off his rapid series of attacks. She was slowly pushed down, towards the ground outside the ring. Inches from a ring-out, she whipped one arm out, pulling him up by the ankle until his face was level with hers, then headbutted him, following up with a kick to his body that knocked him back into the centre of the ring.
Goten grumbled as he stood, hearing her approach. "Trunks was right… you got pretty good since I saw you last."
"And you're not as sloppy as usual, Goten." Break raised a clenched hand towards him. "Ready? Or are you hungry, like always?"
"Let's go!" Goten rushed her, throwing a few quick jabs which she easily blocked. She counterattacked, but overbalanced, and he ducked under her swing. He grabbed both legs, pulling them out from under her and beginning to swing her in a circle around him. "And one… two…"
"Stop it… !"
"… Three!" On the third full rotation, Goten let go, sending Break sailing off into the air. The audience, as one, held their breaths… then exhaled as she pushed off the air, flying back at Goten and swinging for his head. He ducked again, and she flew past him, landing behind him. He straightened up, just as she swung around, firing off a two-handed energy blast, completely engulfing him.
She stepped back, wiping her forehead, then froze before a smile could creep onto her face. "Hey… that light…" A golden glow was coming from within the smoke cloud. "Oh, he didn't…"
Goten flung his arms out, an omnidirectional ki wave blowing the smoke away and revealing his Super Saiyan transformation. "Heh heh…"
Break groaned. "Idiot."
Gohan punched the wall, knocking a hole through it. "Goten… ! I thought we were clear on this, no Super Saiyans at the tournament!"
Videl nodded. "Because it's the one thing you can't teach anyone, right? Nobody's going to be surprised that we can fly or whatever anymore, but you didn't want anybody to know about your… y'know, heritage…"
"That's exactly it. I mean, after the whole Gold Fighter business…"
"Yeesh." Videl patted Gohan on the shoulder. "Don't remind me."
Some time ago…
Gohan walked down the busy high street on his way to school, having abandoned flying at the edge of the city. So on my first day at school, Hell is loosed on the Earth. Hopefully the second will…
"Help! Somebody help me!"
"Quiet, you! Nobody move!"
Gohan rolled his eyes. Oh, come on! Hmm… my name isn't really mentioned very often around the whole Cell thing, and I've grown up since I was on TV… I doubt anybody would recognise me. Might be nice to keep that anonymity, so-oo…
He hurriedly transformed into a Super Saiyan, after making sure nobody was watching. This should make sure I don't get recognised. I also don't think Super Saiyans have ever been caught on camera…
"All right, we got it all!" One thief called to the leader. "Let's get outta here before the pigs show!"
"You heard him, boys, let's… uh?" The lead gangster stopped in his tracks-a strange youth with spiky blond hair had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, blocking his path. Gohan had made sure to hide his tail with his schoolbag-socially acceptable it may have been, but it was pretty distinctive.
"You'd better put all that money back," he said quietly, so only the lead crook could hear him. "The person who runs this shop probably won't be able to feed their family without it."
"So what? It ain't my problem!" The man raised his gun. "Move yer ass, 'fore I-whuh?!" This particularly interesting noise was caused by Gohan crushing his gun-barrel in one hand.
Still almost in a whisper, Gohan said, "Some people, I just don't understand."
"I got him!" A second thief leapt up next to Gohan, opening fire, but the Super Saiyan idly reached out with his other hand and caught each bullet in mid-flight, before crushing them into powder and letting them fall to the ground. On second thoughts, maybe going the 'silent avenger' route would look cooler… He punched the leader to the ground, jumping over to the second man and kicking him in the stomach, taking him down too. The remaining thieves piled into their car with all the money they could lay their hands on, but Gohan appeared in front of the vehicle, reaching in and pulling the engine out. Setting it down beside him, he calmly turned the car upside-down and turned to leave as the police began to swarm the scene. He brushed aside anybody trying to ask him questions, looking for a place to change back, when he spotted Videl round the corner.
She saw Gohan, opened her mouth to say hello, saw his panicked expression, and rethought her choice of words. "Uh… who are you supposed to be?" she asked, feigning confusion for the bystanders around them. "I just heard this was happening on the police radio band… I don't need your help fighting crime, okay?"
Gohan shrugged, maintaining his silent front, and flew off. Thanks, Videl. She's a smart one… instantly realising what was going on like that…
Of course I figured it out, she thought as he left. Why would he need to transform against some random guys with guns? Honestly, he looked so worried, like I was going to give the whole game away. Credit me with some intelligence.
Videl checked in on Gohan later that day, after school. She found him at his house, posing in front of a full-length mirror in a ridiculous green outfit. "What. I… what… are you doing." She finally managed.
"Huh? Oh, well… I thought I might need a better disguise if I plan to keep stopping crime like that." Gohan nodded, waving the antennae on his space-biker helmet, and leapt into another Ginyu-Force-reminiscent pose, bright red cape flowing out behind him. "So I asked Bulma for a superhero costume, and she designed this for me! Look." He pressed a button on his watch, and in a puff of smoke, he was back in his normal outfit. "Quick-change! Neat, huh?" He pressed it again, switching back to the superhero clothes.
Videl sighed. Oh boy. "What are you gonna call yourself, then?"
"Hmm… I hadn't thought of that. Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "The, uh, the… the Sa… the Great Saiya… Saiyaman! The Great Saiyaman!" He grinned proudly.
Videl walked up to him, rapping her knuckles on his helmet. "Let me break it to you gently… the name is stupid. The outfit is stupid. The poses are stupid."
Gohan took his helmet off, his face falling. "Aw, you think so?"
"Yeah." She shrugged. "Sorry, but if not me today, it'd be somebody else tomorrow."
"Meh." He switched back to his school outfit.
"They're calling you the Gold Fighter, by the way," she remembered. "After today."
"Oh…" Gohan scratched his head. "That makes sense, I guess. You know… come to think of it, that's a pretty good name…"
"Better than 'the Great Saiyaman'…" she agreed, smiling archly. "A couple of people saw your Orange Star High School badge, though… better be careful in future."
"Hence the costume."
"Get a new one. I'm sure you can get that watch set to another outfit."
And so, the Gold Fighter continued to pursue his crimefighting career, in a less laughable, Videl-approved costume-more streamlined, and mostly black with gold highlights. Sunglasses and gloves completed the disguise, leaving his distinctive, titular hair showing.
And now, Goten had just transformed in front of an audience of hundreds, if not thousands.
Gohan and Videl were, understandably, not happy.
"Hey, no fair," Break complained. "Well, guess I can't help it now…" Grunting slightly, she went Super Saiyan herself.
"Okay, let's fight for real now!" Goten readied himself for another charge, but this time Break took the offensive, and the two of them vanished from normal human eyesight as they battled around the ring.
"Is… Is everybody else seeing this?" The announcer wondered, then regained his composure. "Uh, whatever just happened, the fight is now even more intense than before! I can't see them fighting, but I can hear those impacts-in fact, I can practically feel them!" Indeed, the entire stadium was shaking as the two fighters' fists and feet collided at ultra-high speed, with enough force to level cities.
They reappeared high above the ring, hitting each other simultaneously. Break tried to follow up, and Goten ducked back, kicking her higher up into the air. Gritting his teeth in a moment of intense concentration, he fired an energy blast up after her, keeping his other hand out to the side to steady himself in the air.
Break, still dazed from his attack, spotted the attack coming. Can't… dodge it… I have to… ! She mentally reached deep into her spirit, closing in on the thing that lurked within-
Break! Don't!
The voice was immediately familiar. D… Daddy?
Hey, I promised, didn't I? Break, listen… don't use that power. You're not ready yet.
But… I have to win!
And you can. But you'll have to learn how to control that monster within-if you use it now, you'll be regretting it for a long time. You will win this fight, and without using any higher level.
How do you know?
Because your opponent, much like his father, is an idiot. Oh… and lighten up, would ya?
At that point, the mental communication was severed as Goten's blast hit home. The world momentarily went black, then as she managed to open her eyes, began to spin alarmingly. A second or so later, she hit the ground with a sudden lurch.
Goten rubbed his nose, landing opposite her. "How'd you like that?" No response. "Uh… Break? You okay?" She groaned, reached out with a shaking hand. Then it fell still, and she turned back to normal.
The announcer scuttled up to them. "And Break is down! One! Two! Three!"
Goten crouched by her. "Break? Hey, say something! I didn't mean to hurt you for real!"
"Four! Five!"
Goten's voice shook. "C'mon, please move!"
"If you say so!" Break snapped back into Super Saiyan in an instant, grabbing hold of Goten's outstretched arm and heaving him over her head.
"N… Never mind, then." The announcer leaned in for a closer look as Break smashed Goten into the ground, cracking the ring's surface. "It seems that was just a ruse, and she's back on the attack!"
Break drove Goten further into the ground, breaking right through the ring into the ground below, then let go. He coughed dirt, trying to stand, then panicked as she hurled an energy ball down at him. "Wah!" He vanished, putting on a burst of speed, then appeared in mid-air. "Missed me!" he taunted.
Unfortunately for him, Break had planned on him escaping in this way, and promptly flew in from behind him, kicking him in the back and propelling him away towards the stands. He tumbled through the air, frantically trying to recover, and members of the audience scrambled to get out of his flight path. With a great effort, Goten finally managed to stop his flight, just inches from touching the stands and a ring-out. "Phew…" At this moment, Break appeared above him, placing both hands on his head and shoving him down until he was practically sitting in the seat below. "Aw, c'mon!"
Goku sighed. "Ahh… he lost…"
"Well, there's always next time," Gohan said cheerfully.
Krillin whistled. "Those two really are something. I'm glad I don't have to fight either of 'em!"
"Nope, all we've got to worry about is the grown-up version," Videl chuckled.
"Don't remind me," Krillin groaned.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Break-the World Tournament junior champion!" The announcer, having ducked aside to check his moustache, was back and leading Goten and Break off the stage. "We'll be back shortly, with the main competition. All awards for both divisions will be given out at the end."
The preliminary lots were drawn to determine fight order, and Chiaotzu ensured with his psychic abilities that none of the eight ki-trained fighters would face each other until the finals. As such, the preliminaries were fairly simple-the eight breezed through their matches against 'normal' martial artists, including those two or three times their own size and weight. Hercule, of course, did his hamming-it-up shtick, dragging out fights a little before finishing an opponent with a showy-and completely unnecessary-'finishing move' (often consisting of nothing more than a fancy name for a simple punch or kick). The two 'M'-marked brutes (whose names were given as Spopovich-the larger one-and Yamu) fought with ruthless efficiency, choking enemies or crushing them to the floor until they surrendered or passed out, or simply hurling them out of the ring.
"I'm pleased to tell you all that the preliminaries are over," the announcer said, "and we will now draw lots for the quarter-final matches! Contestant Yamu, please come forward and take a number." The eight finalists each drew their numbers-and this time, the selection truly was random-and the four matches were decided as follows:
Match 1: Goku vs Videl
Match 2: Spopovich vs Hercule
Match 3: Krillin vs Gohan
Match 4: Eighteen vs Yamu
"Great." Videl fastened her fingerless gloves on. "Just wonderful. I get to fight your dad. The guy who defeated Cell."
Gohan shrugged. "Sorry, Videl. Nothing I can do…"
"I guess I'd have had to fight him, or somebody insanely strong, eventually… well. Might as well give it a try."
"Hey, uh…" Gohan tried not to blush. "… um… Videl…"
"What?" She tuned back, curious, a little hopeful maybe.
"I, uh… good luck," he finished lamely, then chanced a kiss on her cheek. He braced for an assault, physical or verbal. On cue, she thumped him on the head.
"You dumbass! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to do that?!"
"I… you… what?" He laughed. "You could've done it yourself, you know."
"Are you kidding? The shock would have killed you." She returned the kiss. "Now quit distracting me, I have to go get beaten up by an invincible alien."
"And let the first match… begin!"
Goku walked slowly towards Videl, stretching. "So… you want me to get it over with, or shall we make it look like a close fi-gyah!" He yelled as Videl rushed him. He backed away, blocking each attack calmly and methodically. She kept up her fast-paced assault. "Uh, Videl… how long are you gonna keep this-" She broke away, backflipping to the other side of the ring, breathing hard.
"Damn… you didn't even break a sweat…"
"You do move pretty fast for a human with only a few years' training." Goku gave a thumbs-up. "It's impressive!"
"Hmm…" Videl considered something for a few seconds. "Can you do me a favour? Show me your full power. In this form, at least."
"All right." Goku raised his arms slightly, spreading his feet out and furrowing his brow. "Haaaah…" White energy began to blaze around him, lighting up the ring. Gales of wind blew out in every direction, flattening the trees that surrounded the stadium.
"Everyone hold on to something!" The announcer shouted, taking cover. The audience hung grimly to their seats, eyes fixed on Goku's growing power.
Eventually, he stopped, and the destructive waves subsided. Dazzling light shone from every inch of him. "You happy now?"
Videl lowered her arms, opened her eyes wide. "That's… a lot…"
"What, you thought Gohan was the strongest in the world or something?"
"I was never quite sure, but if you're like this in base, and you can transform just like him… that about settles it."
"Well." Goku raised one arm. "Shall I finish this?"
"Go ahead and try!" Videl crossed her arms in front of her face. Goku swung his arm forwards, unleashing a kiai that blasted Videl straight back into the wall protecting the audience, breaking it down.
"Out of bounds!" the announcer declared, seeing Videl sprawled amidst the wreckage of the wall. She shook her head, slowly clambering to her feet. "In an incredible turn of events, contestant and former champion Goku knocked our former junior champion, Videl, out of the ring with a simple gesture! I've seen a lot of crazy moves in my time, but this is a new one!"
As Videl left, he continued talking, motioning Goku to stay in the ring and climbing up to stand next to him. "Could contestant Hercule please take the stage? Mr. Hercule Satan?" Hearing the call, Hercule jogged up and jumped onto the ring opposite Goku and the announcer. "Thank you, sir. Now… Goku, you've just fought; Hercule, you're about to. You're both former world champions. Can I get your opinions on the competition this year?"
"Well-" Goku began.
"You most certainly can!" Hercule butted in. "Well, some of them are pretty impressive, I'll give you that. But I wouldn't expect a change of champion-I've been undergoing the kind of training that would make any normal man sweat blood and throw up their own small intestine!" He pointed aggressively at Goku. "And as for you and your hair-gel, I look forward to showing you just what the new and improved Hercule Satan can do, when we meet in the ring!"
Goku pushed the pointing finger away. "Looking forward to it. I'd better go-you're up, champ."
"But-wait!" The announcer followed Goku, microphone thrust out in front of him. "Your opinion on the-"
"Yeah, they're pretty decent. I know a couple of 'em myself, they're great fighters. Oh, and Hercule's here, too." With that remark, he left the ring to an even split of cheers and boos.
"Now, I'm sure you all remember Hercule as the winner of the previous tournament. Up against him this round is Spopovich, who he defeated last time-but from the looks of it, Spopovich has gone through some big changes since then!"
Hercule frowned, circling his leering opponent. He sure has… for one thing, what happened to all that hair?
Spopovich cracked his knuckles, keeping his eyes fixed on Hercule. His lips cracked in a hollow smile.
Raditz and Launch descended into the spaceship, touching down on the circular-patterned floor not far below. Nail, Kaioshin and Kibito soon followed. The room was oblong, just big enough not to be claustrophobic, and decorated mostly in light colours with the occasional black panel.
"Well… this is homely," Launch murmured.
"So what happens now?" Raditz asked nobody in particular, walking towards the centre of the chamber. "I can just blast through the floor if-"
"That will not be necessary." They turned at the grating, nasal voice, seeing a grey-skinned humanoid creature with an elongated head stretching back a couple of feet from his face. He wore a black combat suit with white armour-plating. As expected, the 'M' brand was present on his forehead. "My name is Pui Pui, and I will be your opponent-and that means not a single one of you will leave this room alive."
"Opponent?" Nail asked.
"Indeed. There are three stages in this ship which you must pass through to reach my master Babidi. This is stage one."
Raditz tilted his head slightly. "What's the purpose of this whole set-up?"
"Every bit of energy lost or used by any of you while fighting us… it'll all go towards reviving Majin Buu!"
"I see." He looked back over his shoulder. "Hey, guys-let me fight him."
"Knock yourself out," Nail said, shrugging. "I couldn't care less."
"Hold it." Launch put a hand on Raditz's shoulder as he took the first step towards Pui Pui. "There are three stages, right? Odds are they're saving the best 'till last."
Raditz considered this. "Good point. That Dabura guy, for instance…"
"Right." She stepped in front of him. "I'm still up for a good fight, so I might as well take on somebody I might actually stand a chance against…"
"All right, go for it."
"What's this?" Pui Pui frowned. "Just one of you? You'd better take me seriously-no single one of you fools has any chance to defeat me alone!"
"He has a point," Kaioshin warned. "Babidi recruits the deadliest warriors from around the universe… and once they're enslaved by his magic, they grow even more powerful! Don't take him lightly."
"Give me a break." Launch turned to Pui Pui, raising one fist. "You don't seem like the type to be easily intimidated by tough words… so I'll just let my fists do the talking."
"Just try-you won't even lay a finger on me, and every blow of mine will feed your energy to Buu!"
"Believe what you want."
Far below, in the bowels of the ship, two stoic figures observed all this.
"Master Babidi, if you had let me be the fighter for the first stage, this would have been over quickly. The one that deflected my attack… he at least, if perhaps not the others, has the strength to defeat Pui Pui with ease."
"I simply wanted to test their strength, Dabura. It'll give you a chance to study your energy. And I don't care what happens to Pui Pui… next to you, he's nothing. And once I have Buu as well… I'll be unstoppable!" The wizard paused. "Still. I'm worried about this transforming fighter. As you said, he deflected your blast. Will he be a problem?"
Dabura chuckled. "Of course not. I have yet to use anywhere near my full power."
"Hercule… Spopovich… begin!"
Pui Pui stamped the ground. "Come at me!"
Chapter 75: Best-Laid Plans and All That
"Spopovich… is that really you?" Hercule asked as the hulking fighter flexed his fingers, arms spread wide. The world champion edged forwards warily. "What's with the new look?"
"Eh… eheheh… hrrrg…" Spopovich breathed.
"Not goin' to dignify me with a response, eh?" Hercule grinned. "Well, anytime you feel like speakin' up, feel free ta surrender." With that, Hercule made a dash at his opponent. Spopovich lunged, but he wasn't fast enough and Hercule neatly jumped over his swinging arm, spinning in the air and landing a two-footed kick to Spopovich's face, downing him. "Hah! You got faster since last time, but you wouldn't believe the kind of training I've been doing!"
"Spopovich is down already!" the announcer cheered. "This is starting to look like their last match! I don't think he's going to be getting up any time-oh." He trailed off as Spopovich climbed mechanically to his feet, glaring with barely-restrained fury at Hercule. He rushed, and Hercule swayed out of the path of his attack, jumping and delivering a chop to the back of Spopovich's neck. The mountain of a man toppled again, Hercule landing neatly behind him-though his breathing was now visibly heavier, and he took longer to recover his stance than last time.
The announcer risked a comment. "Is this the true final blow? Has Hercule truly vanquished Spopovich for a second time?" Spopovich stirred again. "Er… it appears not…"
"Gaaaagh!" Spopovich gurgled, charging Hercule again. The champion grimaced, leaping wearily to attack.
The strange scene replayed itself three more times-Hercule easily outmaneuvered Spopovich, taking him down again and again, but his unique opponent was completely unfazed, easily picking himself up and continuing the fight. As Hercule continued to tire, he was forced more onto the defensive, just barely blocking several surprisingly rapid blows. What's with him? Don't tell me he's got ki powers too! But how…?
Spopovich's fist swung by Hercule's head, so close he felt the breeze of the moving limb, accompanied by an unnatural heat. Too close… I've gotta finish this now!
"Interesting…" Goku observed, leaning on the wall as he watched the fight. "The big guy has really strong ki for a human… of course, your dad does too…"
Videl stood next to him. "I don't get it. Where did these two ki fighters we didn't know anything about come from?"
"Don't know," Goku admitted. "Maybe Crane Hermit trained 'em? Haven't seen him in a while… or maybe Tao?"
"Whatever it is… I'm getting a bad feeling. I'm worried about him… I just hope he hurries up and wins soon!"
"All right, you!" Hercule somersaulted towards Spopovich. "This is gonna take you clean out of the ring!" He launched a spinning kick at his enemy, who unexpectedly neglected to dodge. Hercule had planned for the impact of his attack on Spopovich's guard to launch the enemy fighter out of bounds, but in this case it landed right on the man's neck. Spopovich toppled like a felled tree, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. Hercule landed a short distance away, going pale. Aw, crap! Still don't know my own strength! I broke the poor guy's neck… what am I gonna… huh…?
Spopovich was standing up again.
Slowly, as the crowd watched in horror, he reached up, taking hold of his head and snapping it back into position. He stretched his neck left then right, then straightened up and began approaching Hercule.
The smaller fighter resisted the urge to back away, trying to keep his attack up in the face of his monstrous foe. He jabbed at Spopovich's face, but his fatigue was starting to truly take its toll, and he was too slow-Spopovich dodged and responded with a flying knee to the face. Hercule skidded to the edge of the ring on his back, breath knocked out of him, nose probably broken. What… the… I was knocking him around a minute ago!
He rolled out of the way of Spopovich's next attack, springing up and ramming home a barrage of quick strikes to the seemingly-indestructible warrior's exposed flank. Spopovich barely seemed to notice, and after initially being staggered back, recovered in short order and punched Hercule in the stomach, grinning viciously. He didn't speak; he didn't need to. Hercule saw the glee in his eyes-this was simple revenge.
So… this is about last time. Figures. Fighting past the pain, Hercule jumped away, bounding acrobatically into the air and flying above the ring.
"Wha… Hercule is flying! It looks like what he said a minute ago wasn't an idle boast-what kind of training could he possibly have been doing?" the announcer shouted.
"Ha!" Herculed jeered. "Can't get me up here, idio-" He was cut off as Spopovich appeared above him, kicking him back down to earth. He bounced twice before pushing himself up to a sitting position, to avoid being counted out. He winced, trying to open his eyes and seeing through a trickle of blood. "Uuugh… ghh…" He heard footsteps approaching.
"Something's not right!" Videl insisted, hands clenched into fists. "I can feel it… !"
"Well, the object is to beat the other person up…" Gohan pointed out.
Goku shook his head. "No, Videl's right. That guy's fighting to kill."
"You sure?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah… I hope your dad will have the sense to throw in the towel sooner or later, if he can't pull a win out of the bag somehow."
Hercule Satan. You humiliated me.
You laughed at me.
Now, you will die for it.
Another blow crashed into Hercule's body, but he stayed on his feet. He struck back, but Spopovich didn't feel it. He stepped in, wrapping the fingers of one gigantic hand around Hercule's neck. The formerly-boastful fighter groaned, trying to mount some sort of defence.
"That monster's going to kill him!" Videl growled. "I'm already out of the tournament, Dad's lost-disqualification doesn't matter. I'm helping him!" She took a step towards the ring, but Gohan jumped in front of her.
"Hold on! We don't know the extent of this guy's power. Let me-"
"I can handle myself against a human, Gohan!"
Gohan grimaced. True… and yet, that M… I get the chills just looking at it… Before one or both of them could intervene to rescue Hercule, a sharp voice cut through the air.
"Spopovich!" The brute's smaller ally, Yamu, stood behind Gohan and Videl, arms folded, glaring at his comrade.
"Hrrr…"
"Release him. He is not sufficient for what we are seeking."
Reluctantly, Spopovich nodded.
Soon.
He let Hercule fall to the floor. Free to breathe again, Hercule rolled over onto his back, spluttering. "Okay… okay! I ain't stupid, I know when I'm beat. Damn it!" His fist pounded the already-battered ring, making another small crater. "I… I… give up." His voice cracked slightly.
"Oh… !" Videl put one hand to her mouth, eyes widening with shock.
"What is it, Videl?" Gohan turned back towards her.
"I've just realised… he's never said that before." Videl gulped. "This is the first time… that he's ever had to surrender to anyone."
Launch made the first move, feinting with an attack to the right, then revealing that to be merely an afterimage and coming around from the left. Pui Pui, unfazed by the deception, blocked her opening knifehand strike, dodging the next few attacks and striking back with a barrage of punches. Launch struggled to defend, and a couple got through, knocking her away.
"Don't you think you should help her?" Kaioshin asked Raditz. "She's already at a disadvantage."
Raditz grinned. "Don't kid yourself. She's just warming up."
Pui Pui followed up, leaping after her and swinging both fists down to smash her into the floor. Before he could make contact, though, she sprung into motion. "Kaioken!" In a blur of red light, she was gone, coming around from behind him and landing a flying kick to his head. He skidded away, just managing to keep his balance. He looked up, and with a start saw her already sprinting towards him, trailing flares of energy. "What? This power… where did it come fro oooofff !" This as Launch reached him, her elbow cracking bones in his face.
Slowly, Videl helped her father limp back into the competitors' area.
"Take it easy, champ," Goku said, without sarcasm, patting Hercule's shoulder. "You fought well. Something's just not right about that guy."
"All right…" Videl let Hercule sink into a chair, sitting next to him. "Are… are you okay, Dad?"
"I… don't know…" he sniffed. The pain didn't seem to be bothering him at all-only his pride. "I… Videl, I had to…"
"I know. It's okay. You lasted a lot longer than anybody could've expected."
He nodded, holding back tears. "I just can't believe… I've lost before, but I've always hung on 'till I couldn't fight no more…"
"Hey." Goku stood in front of them, smiling. He held out his hand. "Part of being a great fighter is knowing when fighting would be pointless. Right?"
Hercule hesitated, then shook Goku's hand with all the strength he could muster. "Right you are!" His bravado seemed to achieve a kind of second wind. "Plus, if you count the preliminaries… I won a lot more'n I lost today, huh?"
Videl beamed. "You said it."
"Damn it, we missed the preliminaries! Now it's too late!" Trunks moaned.
"Sorry, sorry!" Goten laughed. He held up an empty packet of doughnuts. "But I found this great-"
Trunks knocked it out of his hand. "Why are you always eating?!" He yelled, exasperated. In his other hand, Trunks clutched part of the concealing outfit of the would-be world tournament fighter Mighty Mask. The unconscious body of the real Mighty Mask was lying face-down in the corridor behind him; the plan had been to use the age-old trick of concealing costume enabling one child to stand on a second's shoulders to impersonate an adult; and thus enter the adult division of the tournament. However, the plan had run into a slight hitch.
"But they were really good doughnuts!" Goten retorted.
"Yeah, well…" Trunks had to concede that his friend had a point. "Well… you could have saved me some…"
"Hey. What's going on here?" The duo turned, alarmed, as Break approached.
Crap, gotta think of a cover story… "Uh… nothing! We were just-" Trunks began.
"We knocked out that guy, and we were gonna steal his clothes and fight in the adult tournament by pretending to be him, but then I found doughnuts and we were too late," Goten explained matter-of-factly, in that rushed, slightly-too-loud way of speaking a child has when trying to get through a long story.
"You were…" Break saw the costume, saw Mighty Mask's feet around the corner, saw Goten grinning and Trunks staring in disbelief at his friend's naiveté. "That's so cool…" she whispered.
"What?" Trunks blinked.
"Uh… that's stupid! Why would you bother? Your parents would just beat you in the finals!"
"Because we get to fight more?" Goten said, as if this was obvious.
"Well… yeah, but… you're so childish!"
"I'm eight years old," Trunks, wise beyond his years, pointed out.
"Pah!" Break swung on her heel and departed.
"… Just remember, Spopovich, the spiky-haired one… the one that beat the girl. That was the kind of power we've been searching for. You'll be fighting him in the semi-finals… try and hold him so I can drain his energy. And watch these next two matches-some of these four fighters may display more power than they have up until now. Got it?"
"Damn it!" Babidi hissed, watching Launch smack Pui Pui around via his crystal ball. "She's putting out plenty of energy, but Pui Pui isn't landing any hits anymore! We've only got a tiny amount for Buu! This won't do…"
"Master, what planet does Pui Pui hail from?" Dabura asked, an idea occuring to him. "Perhaps there, he'll have the home field advantage."
"Yes, I see," Babidi said thoughtfully. "His home was, let's see… Zoon, I believe. Yes, that was it." The dimunitive wizard began waving his hands, manipulating the fabric of reality with ancient words of power.
The group in Stage One paused to look around as the environment shifted, becoming rocky, open terrain and dark skies. The ground had a reddish tinge, up to the point where the centre of the Stage One room-the hatch leading down to Stage Two in the centre of the floor-was inexplicably placed, in the same place in relation to the group as it had been inside the ship. It was evidently night-time, as twin crescent moons were visible in the sky.
"What the…" Launch paused, giving Pui Pui a moment to catch his breath, but didn't lower her Kaioken.
"I see," Kaioshin said quietly.
Kibito nodded. "Babidi used his magic to transport us to a new location, in order to give his fighter an advantage… but what?"
Pui Pui knelt, picking up a small rock. "This, Earth-person, is my home planet, Zoon. Which means it's all over for you."
Launch frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Notice the difference?" Pui Pui let the rock fall to the ground-despite its size, it left a deep crater. "It's the gravity. Ten times that of Earth's! Hehehe…"
"Oh, so that's what that feeling is," Launch said. "Well, whatever. Come on!" She leapt at him, but stumbled, overshooting and allowing him to land a precisely-timed energy blast to the back of her neck, bringing her down.
"What?" Raditz exclaimed. "Surely she's much stronger than I was even when I learned to handle a hundred times Earth's gravity!"
"That may be," Nail said gravely, "but she's never experienced higher gravity, has she?"
"Er… no…"
"While it's true that at a certain point, one can be so strong they can handle the increased weight… and she's definitely past that point… there's still a strange effect, a disjoint between the brain's instruction and the body's reaction, when you move that little bit slower, and fall that little bit harder. You see?"
"Right…" Raditz clenched his fists. "Still… she can recover. I'm sure there's no need to step in yet…"
"… Seven… eight… nine… ten! Contestant Gohan is the winner!"
"I know it was never gonna be much of a contest," Krillin complained as he walked away from the ring at Gohan's side, "but didja have to just stand on me for ten seconds? Damn, even with Kaioken I couldn't budge you…"
"Well, I know you're a clever fighter," Gohan said, shrugging. "I figured if I gave you a chance to run around and plan, even for a couple of seconds, you'd use your Solar Flare or your Kienzan or something, and force a ring-out."
"Heh heh…" Krillin grinned. "It seems my power is known and feared throughout the world!"
"What are you blabbering on about now, honey?" Eighteen asked as she walked past him, on the way to her match.
"Oh, nothing much, I'm just out of my mind is all," he replied with a smirk.
"Some things never change, then."
Gohan coughed politely. "So, uh… speaking of change… you grew your hair out?"
"Oh, yeah!" Krillin laughed, running a hand through his thick black crown of hair. "I know the bald look was kind of my signature, but Eighteen asked me one day if it was natural or if I shaved. I said I shaved, she wondered what I'd look like with hair… I got wondering too… I just got used to it, I guess."
Gohan nodded. "It looks good. More mature."
"Hey! You callin' me old, kid?"
"Never."
Eighteen shifted into a combat stance, facing Yamu across the ring. "So. You're friends with the walking meatball?"
"Funny." Yamu raised one hand, palm facing towards her. "You're not sore about the fool Spopovich beat up, are you? Well, the poor man did hand Spopovich quite the beating last tournament… it's understandable that there might be some pent-up anger." His face twisted into a fierce yell, and he let fly a full-strength energy blast.
Eighteen sighed, slapping it away into the sky. "Fascinating. Shall I try?" She began to form an energy ball in front of her hand.
"What… but… no energy?" Yamu frowned, casting an aside glance at the small ki reader on the device Spopovich, standing by the sidelines, held, currently reading zero-he was unaware that he was facing an android with an artificial energy source.
"Heh heh…" Krillin nodded to Goku. "That's Eighteen. Always on top of things…"
Videl grinned savagely. "I hope she kicks the crap out of that guy."
"See, this is how it's done." Eighteen fired, sending her beam right into Yamu's chest. He fell to his knees, hissing with pain. She slowly approached him, leaning down towards him, speaking in a childish, mocking voice. "Aww, did I pierce oo's widdle ribcage? I'm evuh so sowwy."
As she neared, Yamu tensed up, then sprang into action, grabbing Eighteen around the neck with one hand, twisting her arm behind her back with the other. "You fool-you've already forgotten that we don't feel like you do!" The reader must have been broken, that's all! There was a lot of power in that blast… "Spopovich-now! Her energy!"
At that, Spopovich barreled out into the ring, leaping at Eighteen. A strange white stone-like device, spherical with a needle-like protrusion, was held javelin-like in one hand.
"Er… illegal interference!" The announcer declared. "Yamu, Spopovich, cease this at once or you will both be disqualified!"
Eighteen smiled. "Did you really think I'd let you grab me like that? Or that my friends wouldn't stop that moron?" She twisted out of the hold, hurling Yamu into the air. "All we were doing was drawing you out-so it's our energy you want, eh?" She kicked the incoming Spopovich into the stadium wall, shattering it. "Well, here-have some!" With that, she fired a barrage of energy beams Yamu's way.
Bulma sat rooted to the spot in fear. The great pale-skinned brute had just smashed down the wall, inches from her face. Now, his eyes opened, staring directly into hers. She could see the wheels turning inside his head, but couldn't bring herself to run. Those eyes… like inky black voids. Deceptively quickly, a high-speed glacier, he stood, resting his fingers lightly over her head. With a start, she realised the seats around her had already emptied as people fled for their lives.
Yamu staggered back under the onslaught. "W… Wait!"
Eighteen paused, ready to deliver another punch. The ring was devastated, the stands in chaos. "What?!" she snapped.
"You might want to… stop attacking me… unless you want an innocent death on your conscience!"
Slowly, Eighteen turned, seeing the giant and his hostage. "Bulma!"
"Ah, someone you know. Even better." Yamu took a deep breath, trying to recover his stamina. "Now, you're all going to let us walk out of here. No-one is to intercept us, or do anything to…"
Hearing his words, knowing Eighteen wouldn't risk it, Bulma shut her eyes, fighting the fear. No, you're stronger than this. Focus. This is it. This is why you've prepared. Just need to activate it… hope he doesn't notice…
Trying to keep her hands from shaking, she began to fiddle with the settings on her watch (though the 'watch' part was, in fact, merely a disguise). Spopovich paid no notice-what was the human with no ki going to do? Breathing steadily now, she primed the device. Okay… okay… calm. This will work. The simulation worked… most of the time. I mean, only three percent of the scenarios resulted in explosive removal of the arm.
That's… decent odds.
Oh God, what am I saying? Three percent chance that I lose a limb . I should have done practical tests… so little time… she felt the grip on her head tighten. They were about to take off, make their escape. Now or never. And I want to live. She bit her lip. Trunks… ! She flipped the switch.
The feeling was instantaneous. How to describe it? A rush of… energy, of life, flowing through her, escaping her, filling the air around her. The ground cracked beneath her feet. Spopovich's hold felt like a child's. Oh, wow. Is…
Is this what it feels like to be Goku?
Focus!
This isn't the explosive-evisceration three percent. But… it didn't go perfectly. The world was moving in slow-motion; she had plenty of time to think. A strange sensation was travelling up her spine. In about two seconds, it would become pain as her normal human body failed to cope with the sudden surge of energy she'd forced into it, and ripped itself apart.
No such thing as a free lunch, then.
Still, two seconds was a long time right now. She was no fighter, of course, and didn't have time to just flail around trying to learn. So instead she swung her head and shoulders forwards, effortlessly slipping free of Spopovich's grasp. Confusion began to spread across his face, with-to her-geological slowness. She took a step back, feeling the solid rock underfoot give way like sand.
One second left.
Here's hoping the simulations were right-this doesn't mix well with an existing ki source. Taking a deep breath as Spopovich started to turn towards her-a surreal slow-motion dance, face now mostly contorted with anger-she placed both hands on his back, and shoved. Not as hard as she could, but certainly more than he could resist. The ease with which the giant began to tumble away was frightening.
How long now? She'd lost track. The almost-pain had reached her head. Her vision was blurring. Well… here goes… there's supposed to be about half a second's residual charge, so even after I take it off I should have time to… She slipped the wrist-mounted device off, took a step towards Spopovich, still glacially hurtling away from her, and fastened the thing onto one of his fingers (the smallest of which was as wide as her wrist).
Then, it ended.
Just as suddenly as her hyperreality had came, it left, and suddenly her body felt heavy. Movement wasn't effortless. The ground was too hard. Everyone was moving too fast.
Once Bulma was free, Eighteen could have intervened, being the closest, and much faster than Spopovich. But seeing Bulma move with such speed, and send Spopovich flying like that, had rooted the android, dumbstruck, to the spot. "What…?"
"What just-" Yamu began, but Eighteen silenced him with a kiai that drove his crumpled form into the ground.
Spopovich, growling, lifted his head, then suddenly stopped. He began to twitch, his ki aura beginning to change in a wave, spreading outwards from the small machine now attached to him, energy changing from white to a dirty grey. His body jerked, then spasmed, and he screamed in pain.
Bulma stamped over to him as he continued to flail around, beginning to foam at the mouth, and retrieved her device, slipping it into her pocket before heading over to the other competitors.
Eighteen had nothing to say but, "What…?"
Bulma leant against the wall as the fighters carted off Yamu and Spopovich for holding and eventual questioning. The normally-peaceful scientist closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead.
Okay
okay
I'm fine
Oh God
feel terrible She hissed, trying not to throw up. Pains lanced through her body. She sank down to a kneeling position against the wall.
How
how do they do this? I
could hear his breath, if he'd flexed his fingers I'd be
gone, so fragile
"Are you all right?" Zarbon sat next to her.
"Uh?" She nodded, forcing a smile. "I… I'll be okay." She took a deep breath. "You all probably want to know what happened…"
"That'd be nice, yeah."
"So, essentially, it's based on the principles of the Spirit Bomb-gathering energy from around the world-and the Kaioken's focusing energy within the body."
Goku nodded. "So that's why you've been asking about those techniques lately…"
"Yeah. It's been continuously absorbing tiny amounts of energy from its surroundings for the last few years. Since it's a constant drain, it doesn't take nearly as much at a time as the Spirit Bomb, so you'd still never notice the effect. As such, even years of absorbing only gave it a tiny charge-it was meant as a last-ditch sort of thing. It's got about a minute's charge left, not that anybody'd be able to use it that long."
"Right, it only worked briefly. Will you be able to make an improved model?" Gohan asked.
"Well… the laws of physics being what they are… I'd have to say no," she admitted. "I don't think I'll ever be able to build something that's essentially artificial superpowers… a human body can't cope with the strain, whereas someone who's already ki-capable experiences similar trauma as two energies clash within them."
"Kind of like why I can't fully use Kaioken when I'm in Super Saiyan?" Goku suggested.
"Exactly like that, actually." I think I need to sleep for a week now. Still… it worked, right? After Cell… I didn't want to go through that again, that was the purpose of this project. A+. She looked over at the corner of the room. "Hey… they're waking up."
Yamu opened his eyes, immediately surprised that he was still alive. Then he looked up, to see Eighteen, Videl and Zarbon standing over him, glaring. "Uh…"
Eighteen cracked her knuckles. "We have a few questions for you."
"… but we need more energy to revive Buu! So we were sent here to drain power from this world's greatest fighters."
Videl sighed. "Apparently you didn't realise the slight hitch in your plan. The thing about attacking 'this world's greatest fighters' is that they are the world's greatest fighters ."
Zarbon tossed the energy-draining device from one hand to the other. "Interesting. I would say this is all Hercule's fault for being a braggart and humiliating the gorilla here, but if it wasn't him, this Babidi would just have enslaved someone else." This drew a growl from Spopovich.
"Quiet, you," Eighteen snapped.
"What are you gonna do to him?" Yamu chuckled. "I mean, I'm tough, yes, but as you proved just now, even I have a breaking point. Spopovich, though… he doesn't feel pain at all."
"No, but I don't think he can regenerate," Eighteen reminded him. "I can always start removing things that aren't easy to grow back." Spopovich paled, and fell silent.
The information was quickly relayed to the others, some of whom were currently maintaining a ki barrier around the room to fend off the press, the announcer, hordes of martial arts fans, the police and other assorted interlopers.
Krillin folded his arms, pacing. "Hmm. Wizards and monsters… it had to be today, didn't it?"
"We just need a couple of our best to go in and take this wizard out quickly," Eighteen decided. There was a slight pause.
"… Oh!" Goku smiled, placing a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "You mean us!"
"Yeah. You two-" she indicated Babidi's servants, "-take them back to your boss. I'm not asking."
"Uh… right!" Yamu took off, Spopovich following, with Goku and Gohan close behind.
"I guess those two will get the job done," Krillin said.
Eighteen grinned. "More importantly, if we can get the tournament back on track quickly, I won't have to fight either of them! That prize money's mine!"
"You mean ours, dear."
"Yes, yes, all right."
Chapter 76: Into Darkness
Launch did her best to recover, pushing off the ground and propelling herself away from Pui Pui even as he tried to follow up. She spun, kicking at his head, but again the difference between how fast she felt like she should be moving and how fast she actually moved was disconcerting. Taking advantage of her disorientation, Pui Pui dodged again, throwing himself forwards and crashing down on her with a vicious elbow drop.
"Yes… yes, that's it!" Babidi said gleefully. "Now we're starting to see some energy! Keep it up, Pui Pui!"
Kaioshin looked agitated. "She's in trouble!"
Raditz shook his head firmly. "This guy's nothing."
Launch gritted her teeth, trying to focus her vision-which, in addition to being blurred by the pain of Pui Pui's attacks, was being played hell with by the gravity. She wrapped both hands around Pui Pui's arm, pulling him down towards her and smashing her knee upwards into his face. She jumped up after him as he fell back, fist burning a red trail through the air as she swung at him. He noticed it in time, catching her hand and stopping the attack. They pushed against each other for a moment, each digging their feet into the ground and using their free hand for a rapid exchange of low, close-range strikes and parries. Thinking quickly, Launch swung her head in, aiming for Pui Pui' face. He broke away, rising slightly into the air and reaching his arm around for a headlock. She couldn't quite escape in time, so threw all her weight behind the charge, bowling him over. He rolled back with the motion, kicking her into the air and preparing an energy ball between his hands as she flew uncontrollably away.
Nothing for it, then. Didn't want to have to use this twice in the same day, but… "SPIRIT KAIOKEN!" Instantly, she came to a halt, bathing the whole landscape in her red glow, her body barely visible beneath its flaming aura. Pui Pui's blast, when he fired, simply shattered several feet away, unable to counteract the massive waves of energy flowing from her. "Ten times gravity, you say? I don't feel a thing!" But, I do need to finish this quickly.
She rocketed down towards him, appearing directly in front of him, then when-uncomprehending-he lashed out, she phased out of view again, reappearing behind him and propelling her right hand towards the centre of his back. Her fingers were held straight out, in a blade formation, and the spearhead of this arrow-shape, armed with a payload of explosive ki, jammed between two vertebrae, emitting a sickening crack .
"AAAAIIEEE!" Pui Pui shrieked, legs folding out from under him. He flopped to the ground, almost pathetically.
Launch lowered her arm, letting her amplified power fade. "In theory, that should have broken your spine. I've never actually done it to someone before, but judging by the way your legs aren't working, I'd say it did the job."
"Wow." Raditz blinked. "Efficient."
Incredible. Kaioshin almost couldn't believe his eyes. To think that such strength exists on this planet…
Launch rolled her head from side to side. "Guess I should finish you now…" she closed her eyes for a second. "… but… nah, it wouldn't sit right with me. Who knows what you were like before Babidi enslaved you."
"He must have been a pretty bad guy already," Raditz pointed out. "Babidi has to seize on existing evil in somebody's heart, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just don't really want to kill him. What's the point after I've won? All it'd do is leave a bad taste in my mouth… c'mon, let's head to the next stage." She began to walk towards the hole in the floor.
"Y… You… h-haven't won, damn you… !" Pui Pui spat, raising his head jerkily. Energy began to form around both hands. "I'll… I'll k-kill you, upstart-"
At this point, he ceased to be. A sudden explosion of energy blew Pui Pui to dust. Launch looked around, seeing Nail with one smoking hand raised. "Unfortunately for him, I have no such scruples."
"You're not going to call me naive or an idiot now, are you?" she asked, smirking.
"No, no. For all you knew, he wasn't a threat." Nail walked over to join her, and followed by the others, they descended to Stage Two.
Babidi pounded his fists on the crystal ball. "No, no, no! Where did she get all that power from so quickly?!"
"It looks like we'll have to step up our game for Stage Two," Dabura decided. "Who should we send out?" He paused, clearing his throat. "Shall I-"
"No need; we'll save the best for last. Hehe…" Babidi suddenly gave a sly grin. "I know. Let's let Yakon cut loose on them…"
"An excellent choice, master," Dabura replied, motioning to a nearby soldier, dressed in similar garb to Pui Pui. "Release Yakon."
The trooper paled. "A-Are you sure-"
"Are you questioning me?"
Shaking his head nervously, the soldier ran off to the edge of the shadowy room. The noise of a crank being turned carried over to Babidi and Dabura, then the soldier's voice whispering, "Easy, easy. Uh… you need to-" At that point, it was replaced with incoherent screams and the sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh.
"Sounds like Yakon's been working up an appetite," chuckled the bulbous-eyed mastermind.
"Hey, what's the deal?" Raditz asked no-one in particular. "This room looks exactly like the last one!"
"Some people go in for that sort of thing," Launch muttered. "Bet Babidi organises his sock drawer, too."
The door on the wall slid open. At first, nothing appeared. Then, came a heavy footfall. A second. A bestial roar.
Finally, the creature called Yakon squeezed its way through the doorway. It was massive, several feet taller than any of them and wide with it. It was green-skinned, with great taloned arms and legs, huge spikes jutting out from its back and its wrists, and a triangular head with large piercing eyes, sunk completely into its shoulders. The 'M' mark was in the middle of its chest, just beneath its chin.
"I'm getting a weird feeling," Launch grumbled, "like I'm in a Godzilla sequel. And not one of the good ones."
Unexpectedly, the creature spoke. "Hmm… hello, lunch."
"Launch, actually, but close."
Ignoring her, it swung its head from side to side, clacking its curved talons together. "Who do I eat first, hmm?"
"I'll go," Nail said, marching up to the monster and squaring off against it. "As we guessed, they're increasing the level of their fighters as they go along. You should go last-whoever they throw at us, you'll be best equipped to take them on."
"Right." Raditz gave a thumbs-up. "Smart thinking-good luck."
"Hold on…" Kaioshin's eyes narrowed. "This creature is familiar."
Launch looked over at him. "You've met?"
"Yes…" Kibito agreed. "Do you remember, lord? Yakon is its name." He shivered. "One of the most feared monsters in all the universe… it's on a completely different level to the last fighter."
"It's unlikely your friend will be able to win alone," Kaioshin said to Raditz. "You should help him! There's no rule saying you can't fight twice."
Raditz looked confused. "But this is Nail's fight. It wouldn't be fair to him to get in the way."
"What are you…"
"He's a warrior. Can't go breaking his concentration." Raditz smiled. "Just have a little faith in these people, will you?"
Indeed, Nail's brow was furrowed in rapid thought as he assessed his opponent, looking for weak points, identifying possible routes of attack, trying to measure its power level. Drool fell from its mouth, forming enormous puddles-lakes, practically-on the floor below. Finally, it struck, swinging for Nail. He stepped in, moving in a blur and avoiding its massive spike-tip as it slashed towards him, instead letting the flat of the spike strike him and skidding away across the room, churning up the ground as he stopped his movement.
"He didn't even try to block it?" Launch frowned.
"Heh." Raditz smiled. "I see."
Nail continued with this strange tactic for a few seconds, letting Yakon land hits on him and taking minor blunt impacts, but always moving just enough to avoid being slashed or stabbed by its natural weapons.
Finally, after one particularly forceful blow nearly knocked him off his feet, he straightened up, raising his guard.
"Finally fighting?" Yakon asked, licking its lips.
"Come up here and see!" Grinning mischievously, Nail took off, heading for the high ceiling of the room's centre. Yakon followed, or tried to-as soon as it left the ground, it spasmed in pain, crashing back down. Nail pointed all ten fingers downwards, focusing his energy in his fingertips. "HYAAAAH!" Ten bright yellow energy waves smashed into Yakon's body, engulfing it in flames.
Nail landed side-on to his downed enemy, panting visibly.
"What did he do?" Launch asked.
Raditz explained. "You saw him sort-of dodge the spikes?"
"Yeah."
"Notice he was always moving in towards Yakon when he did. That flash of movement? Not just dodging-he was striking back at high speed, several times for every 'dodge'. Every blow he took, he was paying back five times over."
"But it didn't affect Yakon until now?"
Nail took over the explanation, since Raditz didn't know either. "Thing's got incredibly hard skin, so I was looking for his pressure points. It took a while, since I'm not familiar with his anatomy. When I found them, I knew it from the reaction I felt in my fists, so I made him perform a big physical action-leaping into the air. That's when he found his muscles weren't working like they were supposed to."
"GRAAAH!"
"Hold on. I'll get back to you." Nail turned back towards Yakon's slowly rising form. "You like that, huh?"
"You… think you've won?" Yakon gave out a low growl, shuffling towards Nail.
"Hmph. Seems that didn't hurt him as much as I'd hoped." Nail set his jaw, adopting his traditional fighting stance. "All right. Come at me."
Babidi stroked his chin. "This won't do. The fighting's heating up… shockwaves in the ship could wake Majin Buu before he's ready."
"That would be disastrous," Dabura confirmed. "Where do you wish to send them for this fight, then?"
"How about Yakon's favourite?" Babidi suggested. "The planet of darkness… I forget its name. Yes, that'll do just fine." He recalled the ancient words of power once more, muttering over his crystal ball.
The 'planet of darkness', suffice to say, lived up to its name.
"Where did he send us this time?!" Launch growled.
"I can't see a thing!" Raditz hissed. "And I bet this Yakon doesn't share that problem…"
To top that off… he's hiding his ki… Nail realised. Sneaky bastard.
Yakon was, in fact, hanging off the overhead cave ceiling-for they were deep underground, not that it was any brighter on the surface. Like a giant, grotesque bat, it clung easily to the rock, shuffling along silently and approaching its 'prey', careful not to let any drops of saliva drip down to them and alert them of its presence. It then withdrew its reflective wrist-spikes, and let the ambience of the cave obscure the source of its voice. "Welcome. You'll have already noticed where we are… you can't see me, but I see you just fine-the red one just raised his arm." True enough, Kibito was holding his hands out in front of him in order to avoid bumping into anything.
"This is Yakon's home," Kaioshin said gravely. "I'm not sure if any of us will be walking out of this one alive…"
Raditz sighed. "Why are you always so damn pessimistic?!"
"Oh, you want to know?" Kaioshin snapped. "Shall I start at the A's and work down the list?!"
And if he didn't already know our exact position, he certainly does now, Kibito thought, exasperated.
Nail took a deep breath.
He straightened up slightly.
With no warning, he whirled, planting a spinning kick into the approaching Yakon's face and bringing it down hard. Slowly, he lowered his leg. "Nice try. But Nameks hear pretty well."
"Nice… try… yourself…" Yakon grunted, climbing to its feet. "… but your attacks still aren't hurting me."
"Yeah… that hide of yours is just about impenetrable." Nail grimaced. If I need help, I won't be afraid to call for it… but I'm not finished just yet.
"Hmm… y'know, I guess we could have some light in here." Raditz gritted his teeth, pulling in his arms and making his Super Saiyan transformation for the first time in a while. The wave of golden light flowed over the rocky contours of the cave like water breaking on the shore. Nail and Yakon were sharply illuminated.
"Ah," Kaioshin said, confidence returning to his voice, "I was wondering when the Super Saiyan would show himself."
"Hmm?" Babidi frowned. "What's this? He's the one who diverted your blast outside, yes?"
"That's correct." Dabura nodded. "And just like before, he's changed his appearance. That's a lot of light he's emitting…"
"I wonder…" Babidi called for his energy-scanner, and a soldier brought it. Holding the spike-patterned device in both hands, the wizard indicated Raditz's image in the crystal ball. The readout shocked him. "Th-Three thousand kili?! For a native of this planet…?"
Dabura gave a noncommital grunt. "And it only takes 300 or so to destroy a planet, if I recall correctly. Perhaps the device is broken?"
"Quite possibly." Babidi switched it off, handing it back to the waiting soldier for storage. "If not, though, we should be glad that it is not him fighting Yakon-the poor thing only has 800 kili…"
"Fear not. Even an opponent with 3,000 kili is no match for me, and if I fight in stage three…"
"Quite right. They will not pass you at least, Dabura."
Yakon, for some reason, was grinning toothily. "Ah…" it rumbled. "Dinner is served."
"What are you talking abou-" Nail began, then was drowned out as Yakon opened its mouth wide, beginning to suck the very light out of the air. The suction narrowed its focus to Raditz and his shining aura, and the Super Saiyan felt a strange wrenching sensation. Seconds later, the cave was pitch black again-only now, it seemed even darker than before, since they'd just become used to the light. Raditz patted his hair, puzzled. "I'm… back to normal?"
"Ah! How could I forget?" Kaioshin spluttered. "Yakon eats light! So your light energy must be a rare treat for him…"
"Raditz, be careful-don't go Super Saiyan again. He'll only eat your energy," Kibito warned.
"Right." Raditz nodded. "Nail won't have to worry about that, at least."
"Actually…" Nail answered from a few metres off in the darkness. "… well, you'll see."
"Yakon, you fool!" Babidi fumed. "If you suck up all that energy for yourself, it's wasted! It won't go to Buu! Just inflict some real damage already! Beat them to a pulp! Impale them! Eat them, for all I care! Just do something useful!"
"I may not have that Super Saiyan taste you seem to like so much, but how's this for a main course?" Nail asked, beginning to power up. This time, he ensured that when he brought his energy to the surface, he focused it into light form. Bright white flickers of power began to fill the space around him, expanding into the rest of the cave.
"What are you doing?" Kaioshin yelled in a panic. "This is exactly what he wants!"
"Yeah. I know." Nail pumped his remaining energy into the air, letting it arc and swirl around him.
"Mmmm…" Yakon licked its lips, then began to suck at the air again. As before, all the ki-generated light immediately swerved into its maw, vanishing without a trace, but for the slight glow beneath Yakon's skin as it metabolised the light, converting it into chemical energy in its unique digestive system.
"Heh." Nail dropped to one knee, exhausted, his energy flickering out. "There you go. That's about all I've got."
Yakon towered over him. "Not a good plan."
"No?" Nail's eyes narrowed. "What if I told you that I know a very specific technique, which I taught myself some years ago? This is only the second time it's ever come in useful-after Cell, I didn't think it'd ever have another use, but I guess I was wrong." He glared up at Yakon. "I can fully control my energy after it's left my body-even if it's inside someone else!"
"What…?" Yakon hissed.
"What?" Kaioshin mumbled, echoing the beast- Is he telling the truth? Such a strange ability!
"And I'm willing to bet your insides aren't as well-protected as that skin of yours! HAAAAAIII!" He thrust his hands forwards, and there was a tremendous bang from within Yakon. It lurched backwards, body twisting and contorting, then finally collapsed to the ground. Smoke poured from its nostrils and ears. It didn't move.
"Is it… dead?" Kibito asked hesitantly.
"'Course it is," Raditz replied cheerily. "Nice one, Nail. Come on, let's get moving!"
Launch rolled her eyes. Of course, as soon as it's his turn next, he can't stand still…
Kibito approached Nail, helping the Namekian warrior to his feet. "Take it easy. You fought well. I will heal you."
"Thanks," Nail said, sighing as he felt the magical rejuvenation flow through his body, augmented by his own natural regenerative abilities. The group made their way towards the hole in the floor, descending to Stage Three.
"No… !" Babidi hissed.
Dabura growled, clenching his fists. "Yakon!"
"They are resourceful, to have come this far without losing any fighters, or even giving a substantial amount of energy to Majin Buu." Babidi gave Dabura a sidelong glance. "You can take care of them?"
"Have no fear. They will not defeat me," Dabura assured his agitated overlord.
The third room was, as expected, identical to the first two. However, at first, no enemy appeared.
"Okay." Raditz begn to take on a more serious manner as the minutes stretched on. "If my opponent ever does show up… think it'll be Dabura?"
"Quite possibly," Kaioshin replied. "I certainly can't think of anyone else they could send out who would be more challenging than Yakon was."
"Well, I just wish they'd hurry. I suppose we could just go down anyway…"
Kibito shook his head. "No, we'd have to blast our way through-so far it's always been locked until the enemy is defeated. And we've been over the fact that we don't want to wake Majin Buu by accident by damaging the ship."
"All right, all right… but they'd better be here soon. I've only got 24 hours, after all."
The Elder Kai sat at his own crystal ball, watching events unfold in disbelief. "How has no-one ever heard of this planet? These fighters are making the Supreme Kai himself into a bystander! Hell, I can almost believe that they can take on Dabura and Buu!" He gulped. "Almost…"
"All right, when are you going to send your guy already?!" Raditz shouted. "Let's get a move on, huh?" At this, someone did appear, seemingly fading into view out of thin air.
Four someones, actually. Goku, Gohan, Yamu and Spopovich.
"Wha…" the newly-arrived saiyans whirled around in confusion. "Raditz?!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Uh, yeah." Raditz shrugged. "I'm apparently allowed to come back for a day. Do you know about Babidi and Buu and everything, or do I need to explain that?"
Goku ran up to his brother, clapping him on the back. "No, we know the whole story. I just… wow! Launch must be happy."
"I'm standing right here," she reminded him.
"Uh, yeah! Haha! Good for you!" he laughed. She shook her head at his bumbling speech. "So, uh, who's this?" The younger saiyan sibling asked.
"This is the Supreme Kai, and his servant Kibito," Raditz explained, indicating the pair behind him. "He tasked me with taking down Babidi. What about those guys? They're with Babidi, right?"
"Yeah," Gohan said, glancing towards Yamu and Spopovich, who were edging towards the door. "They tried to drain our energy at the World Tournament, but it didn't work out for them, so we had them lead us here. I'm guessing they thought they were leading us into a trap, but we had every intention of fighting Babidi, so it's fine."
Launch shot a look at the two human slaves of the wizard, then looked back to Goku and Gohan. "We've already done a bit of that ourselves. There are three stages, apparently, and we have to beat the fighter at each one to progress. Thing is, any damage we take goes as energy to reviving Buu."
Kaioshin smiled warmly. "I take it you are friends?" Nods of assent. "Then you are most welcome to join us. Your allies have fought bravely already." He made an effort to remember names. "Launch and Nail have already defeated their opponents-however, we expect the enemy for this third stage to be on a much higher level than the first two."
Isn't that exactly what he said about Yakon? Raditz wondered.
"Sounds interesting." Goku grinned, battle-hunger gleaming in his eyes. "What I'd like to know is how we got here. One minute we were just outside the ship, the next we were down here…"
"That is quite simple," said a voice from behind them. They turned, seeing the door opening. Dabura, the king of the demon world, emerged, cape billowing out behind him. "My master wished to gather you all together in one place, in order to keep an eye on you."
"Dabura!" Kaioshin whispered. "It is as I feared…"
"My lord," Yamu intoned, as he and Spopovich bowed low.
Dabura eyed them for a second, then made up his mind. "Master Babidi has no need for failures." His left hand swept around in an arc, and two bright flashes of light shone for a second. Then, Yamu and Spopovich's bodies began to slump to the ground. Their heads rolled away bloodlessly, severed from their shoulders. Dabura had fired two razor-sharp energy waves in the blink of an eye, disposing of the servants who had failed to bring back any precious energy for Buu.
"Hey, you bastard!" Gohan yelled. "What are you going killing your own people for?"
"They were no longer of use," Dabura explained. "Merely a distraction. I cannot tolerate weakness in my underlings. Now, I advise you to all attack me together. Otherwise it won't even be a contest."
"I don't know about that," Goku said. "That wouldn't really be fair…"
"All right, you." Raditz reached up, hand going to the sword-hilt at his shoulder. "I'll be your opponent."
"Now hold on a minute!" Goku argued. "I just got here, I wanna fight!"
"Yeah, and what about me?" Gohan protested.
Kaioshin stepped between them. "You should listen to him! I'm serious, you can't beat someone like this one-on-one!" he insisted.
They ignored him, rounding on each other. "Fine, fine," Raditz grunted. "We'll decide the old-fashioned way." The three saiyans nodded, each holding out one hand.
"Rock-paper-scissors!" They cried in unison-a draw. Three papers. "Rock-paper-scissors!" One of each sign, another draw.
"Those headstrong fools… !" Old Kai muttered to himself, pounding the ground with one fist. "That battle-lust of theirs is going to get them killed, going up against a creature like Dabura!"
"Rock-paper-scissors!" Finally, a result. Two scissors, one rock.
"Gotcha!" Gohan crowed. "Looks like I'm up." He turned towards Dabura.
"Are you serious?" Dabura wondered. "I'll crush you, Earthling."
"Only half."
"What?"
"Never mind. Hey, Babidi!" Gohan called up into the air. "You teleported us in here… can we get a change of scenery now? Somewhere more open, maybe? There isn't much room to fight in here…"
"Impudent child!" Dabura's eye twitched.
He has a point, Babidi said, speaking telepathically to Dabura. Besides, the ship must remain intact.
Very well, Dabura answered promptly. But a planet similar to this one-I require no additional advantages.
If you say so…
The now-familiar feeling of Babidi's magical transportation accompanied the shift in scenery, and they found themselves in a jagged, rocky landscape beneath red skies.
"Yeah… this looks good." Gohan raised one hand in front of his face, sliding one foot backwards and locking his eyes on Dabura. "Hhhrrrr… rrrrAAAAAGH!" He burst into his Super Saiyan form.
"This again…" Dabura noted. He considered Goku, observing his similarity to the other two. Can he make this transformation as well? All three of them together could prove challenging… "Come at me."
"All right!" Gohan struck the first blow, punching straight through Dabura's guard and hitting his head. Dabura rolled with it, coming to rest on a nearby rock face.
"Interesting. I didn't expect your race to be this strong." He pulled in a deep breath. "Killing you will be most enjoyable."
Chapter 77: Mark of the Demon
Dabura's counterattack was as swift as it was unexpected. He leaned back, then swung his head and shoulders forwards, mouth open wide.
"Careful!" Launch called. "If he spits on you, you'll turn to stone!"
However, this was not what Dabura was planning. A great gout of flame flared out from between his lips, scorching a huge area in front of him. Gohan only just avoided the attack, leaping high into the air.
"… or not," Launch continued. "Huh. Guy's got a lot of tricks."
Gohan, however, had played right into Dabura's hands. As he soared upwards, he found Dabura waiting in his path. He tried to readjust to this new angle his foe was coming from, but his swinging arm passed through an afterimage. Dabura appeared to his left, body stretched out horizontally, slamming feet-first into Gohan and sending him flying into a nearby cliff.
Dabura floated, almost still, for a couple of seconds, watching for any sign of his enemy. "Hm… not much after all."
"Aw, man!" Goku groaned. "He's down already? I hope he's all right… still, at least I get another shot at fighting."
Then, something stopped him-the ground began to shake-a column of yellow light burst directly upwards from the centre of the crumbling cliff, blasting a hole through it-"YAAAAAAH!" Letting out all his ki at once in a violent explosion, Gohan ground the rock around him to dust, throwing his arms out above his head and emitting a determined yell.
As fragments of rock rained down around him and his aura receded to normal, he lifted his head towards Dabura. "Don't celebrate yet."
"No, that'll come shortly," Dabura replied, then stretched out one arm. Without warning, and with commendable skill at quick energy-gathering, he let fly a crackling ball of dark energy, black and red like a dying fire.
It drove into the ground, detonating upon contact, and forcing the less powerful of the bystanders to shield their faces from the shockwave. The backblast blew Dabura's cloak up around his shoulders, whipping back and forth-but due to subtle ki 'pushes' he sent out, never flapping un-seemingly over his face.
He was just about to crack a fanged smile when Gohan, unharmed, Shifted into view behind him, pieces slotting together like a jigsaw puzzle assembling itself. "KAME…"
Dabura whirled, raising his guard and simultaneously launching a gobbet of his deadly saliva Gohan's way. Remembering Launch's warning, Gohan flinched and it hit his belt. Frantically he tore it from his body, hurling it away even as it turned rapidly to brittle stone, smashing to pieces on the ground. "Gah!" Gohan exclaimed. "That was close…"
"Hmm." Raditz frowned. "He keeps barely avoiding these deadly attacks… I'm starting to think you should've pushed him a little harder in his training, Goku. I mean, Dabura's just playing around here."
Goku shook his head. "Gohan has been working on some things. Like Shifting faster to dodge attacks on instinct, for instance… you just saw that one. But that's just one of the tricks he's figured out."
Nail gave a concerned glance at Goku. "Tricks? What d'you mean by that?"
"Wait an' see."
Babidi pounded his head with his tiny fists. "Dabura, you colossal idiot! If you turn him to stone, we won't get any energy! I know it's new to you, but try and think, moron!" Dabura, telepathically hearing this rant, resolved to continue to fight Gohan in a way that would cause him to expend as much energy as possible.
A smile slowly spread over Gohan's face. "Guess now is as good a time as any…"
Dabura didn't have time to ask what he meant. Gohan thrust his arm out to the right, but it blurred and disappeared in mid-air, appearing below Dabura and catching him around the ankle. Swinging his arm, Gohan threw Dabura directly towards himself, withdrawing his arm through its 'portal' and drawing it back in time to land a hard right to the demon king's face, spinning him around.
Babidi's right-hand man growled, feeling teeth chip in his mouth. He came to a halt, reversing his spin to face Gohan. "Interesting technique you've got there."
"Thanks!" Gohan smiled innocently, rubbing his nose. Whoever it was that Raditz was fighting with, or against, a year ago, they were a master of the Shifting technique-I took a couple pages out of their playbook. I much prefer experimenting to normal, repetitive martial arts training anyway… though I suppose repetition is kind of the point. He shook his head, returning to matters at hand.
Just in time, too-Dabura was holding up one hand open-palmed, and in a flash of light a huge-bladed, slightly curved, cross-hilted sword appeared in it. He closed his fingers, levelling the weapon at Gohan. "Well, you're not the only one with a few aces up their sleeve, as you've no doubt observed."
"Hey, I didn't go waving an axe at you!" Gohan said, grinning nervously. "Kinda unfair, isn't it?"
"There is no 'fair' in battle! It is an artificial concept and has no place between true warriors!" Dabura snarled. "Arm yourself if you can, but I doubt you'll have the time. Hyaaa!" He kicked off the air, speeding at Gohan, who hurriedly Shifted. Dabura had expected this, however, and his alert eyes and ears picked up on the half-saiyan's movements, angling towards him. Halfway through Dabura's swing, however, a metallic clang echoed throughout the landscape.
Gohan and Dabura landed opposite each other, puzzled-and behind Dabura landed Raditz. The demon turned in some confusion, seeing the Otherwordly fighter once again in his Super Saiyan form. This time, however, his sword was drawn, now held loosely in one hand with the tip resting on the dusty ground. The hilt and blade were of the purest black colouration, seeming to suck in all light, and all carved out of one solid block of the strange black material.
"True, 'fair' is an artificial concept," he said quietly. "But aren't those all that separate us from animals? Without artificial things like 'fairness', 'equality' and 'loyalty', where would we be?"
Dabura started angrily towards Raditz, but found that as soon as he took a step, another clang heralded a good three-quarters of his weapon's blade falling to the ground, sliced cleanly from the hilt in the same motion Raditz had used to parry and protect Gohan, and only detached now by Dabura's further movement, so fine was the cut.
Raditz faced side-on to Dabura, holding his midnight-black sword up in front of his face. "Katchin. Hardest and strongest metal in the universe, I'm told. Gotta thank Supreme Kai for making this after the Z-Sword broke…"
"I assume, with all your talk of fairness, you have no intent of further interfering with my fight with the boy?" Dabura said curtly.
Raditz sheathed his sword, the strange weapon sliding into its scabbard in complete silence. "Of course not. Until Gohan asks to tag out, this is his fight. But, if you want a sword-fight…" he jabbed a thumb up at himself. "I'm your opponent!"
He powered down, walking back over to the others.
Goku seemed surprised. "I wouldn't really call using a sword unfair, when we can all throw energy attacks and the like…"
Raditz shrugged. "Well, as we said… Gohan's fighting sense is, ah…"
"Pitiful," Nail supplied. "Especially when you consider his immense power for his age. It's a waste, really."
"Yeah, pretty much," Raditz agreed. "He'd have a lot of difficulty if the fight carried over to close quarters, as Dabura would have a big reach advantage, and one hit to the right spot could be fatal… honestly, the main reason was that I didn't think he could handle it."
Goku poked Raditz playfully in the chest. "That, and you were hoping he'd take you up on a swordfight, right?"
"Eh, that too, I guess."
Nail snorted. "Figures."
Launch walked closer to the fight as it resumed in earnest, Gohan and Dabura moving into a rapid blur of close-range strikes and blocks. "I just hope that Gohan can keep his anger under control. So far it's been pretty even, but if he starts losing… well, you guys know better'n me how he gets."
"Right, we'd better watch that," Raditz agreed. "Though, you did that once, Goku… with Cell, remember? Just snapped."
"I'm honestly surprised you've never done it," Goku admitted. "I mean, not to be rude, but what with your background…"
"I like to think I've moved past that, thanks," Raditz growled. "Don't remind me of that time before, all right?"
Locked in combat though he was, Dabura's pointed ears pricked up at these last few sentences. Nail's assessment had been correct; Dabura was still toying with Gohan, holding back a good deal of his power, and the-to him-slow speed of the fight made it easier to listen in.
"Yeah, come to think of it…" Goku laughed, indicating the group with a sweeping hand. "If you count when Launch's good and bad sides were separate, and that time Nail regressed back to Piccolo… we've all got some issues, haha!"
"How did we get on to this topic of conversation, anyway?" Nail said tersely, anxious to get off of it. "The point is, there could be trouble if Gohan loses control."
Dabura repressed a sly smile. Perfect. Now, if I can just get a few uninterrupted moments, I'll be able to return us to the ship, slip away from this one, and consult with master Babidi at greater length than these snatches of mid-fight telepathy allow. He tried a leg sweep to trip Gohan and gain his few moments, but the Super Saiyan intercepted with a kick of his own, sending a jarring pain shooting up Dabura's leg. "Hah!" Gohan shouted, punctuating the counterattack.
Growling bestially, Dabura raised one hand, again forming his blazing coal-fire of an energy ball and firing it off at point-blank range. However, instead of exploding, it vanished into thin air. Gohan was standing unharmed opposite him, hands held up with fingers splayed in front of his face, a warping, shimmering section of the air the only remnant of the 'portal' that he had Shifted the attack down. An instant later, the energy attack reappeared, ramming into its firer from behind.
Then it exploded.
Dabura coughed, his vision swimming, finding himself on his hands and knees with his cape completely scorched off. "What… no…"
Gohan wasn't idle. He may have been showing amateurish tendencies, but he wasn't stupid enough to rest on his laurels when such an opportunity to take the initiative presented itself. He barrelled straight into Dabura, kicking him hard in the head and throwing him up and backwards. Gohan pressed the attack, jumping after him and punching him back down to the ground. Dabura thrust his feet out beneath him to regain his balance, throwing out twin craters as he struggled for traction amongst the fractured rocks. He tried to counterattack, swiping flat-handed at his stubborn opponent, but he was still too dazed for full accuracy. Gohan ducked under it without breaking stride, charging shoulder-first into Dabura.
Yelling in frustration, Dabura kicked out at Gohan as he flew backwards yet again, but Gohan caught his leg and swung him overhead, throwing him to the ground.
Now, Gohan was forced to stop his relentless assault, almost as exhausted as his victim. "Still… huh… taking me lightly?" Is this really what all this fear was about? I spent years terrified of those visions. This guy's no problem.
Dabura climbed to his feet. A single pulsing vein betrayed his inner fury, but he managed to retain his external composure. "You are indeed an interesting fighter. Perhaps I should take this a little more seriously, as you suggest." With the intention of doing just that, he sped forwards, vanishing from Gohan's sight.
Too fast-! Gohan noticed himself collapsing backwards before he'd even registered the pain.
Nearby, Goku grimaced. "Now he's fighting for real… I'm not sure if Gohan can handle it…"
Drops of nervous sweat dotted Nail's expansive forehead. "His speed has increased as much as his power. But I saw no visible change… he's a fighter fully in control of his energy."
Gohan saw the ground rushing up to meet him, rolled with the impact, and stood up, only to find Dabura gone. An impact from behind informed him of his enemy's location, followed immediately by another. He tried to Shift away, but a blow to the head dazed him, preventing his escape. He leapt away, finally catching sight of Dabura and hurling an energy sphere. Dabura, ire aroused, powered through the blast with little damage, smashing Gohan to the ground again. Then, he paused. There. The opening I needed. Master Babidi-return us, please.
Their surroundings warped suddenly back to the ship.
"H… Hey…" Gohan, having lost his Super Saiyan energy, was still conscious. He pushed his head up, shaking his head to clear a trickle of blood from his eyes. "Don't… run… I'm not done…"
Kibito stared with eyes full of admiration. "Such tenacity in one so young… he truly doesn't know when he's beaten…"
Raditz nodded, glancing at Goku. "He may not always act like a hero, but at heart he's his father's son."
"You…" Gohan steadied himself, raising a fist in Dabura's direction. "Get over here… I'm not finished with you!"
"You think I'm running?" Dabura glided over to the door. "Far from it. But I have identified a fighter much more suited to fighting you in this stage than I. Feel free to select a new combatant of your own, or heal this one, since you seem to place so much value on fairness… farewell." Not that they will fare well, of course. With another quick use of magical materialisation, he recreated his cape just in time to dramatically sweep out of the room.
"Odd," Kaioshin commented. "What could he mean by that?"
"Doesn't matter," Raditz replied. "We'd have to fight all of Babidi's servants eventually to get to him, so where and in what order we fight them really doesn't matter to me."
"I suppose that's true." He lapsed back into silence, and other than Kibito healing Gohan's injuries, they all settled into an uneasy wait for their new enemy.
"Trust me, master. I heard it from their own mouths." Dabura's face was lit as from a fire within as he spoke. "Each and every one of them has evil in their hearts, or once did."
"I see…" Babidi cackled with childishly. "Oh, good work, Dabura! With this many, we're guaranteed success with at least one or two! Yes, we won't even have to lift a finger-they'll kill each other for us!"
Dabura coughed. "How much energy did my fight generate for Buu?"
"Well, you made the kid expend a good deal of energy, and did some real injury towards the end. He has incredible power for a world like this… we have nearly half the energy we need! Of course, you showed by the end of the fight that you were superior to him, but on the whole I'm beginning to doubt your claim that you could defeat them all simultaneously…"
"They do possess startling fortitude," Dabura admitted. "I haven't truly exerted myself in battle for quite some time."
"Well, in any case, this will thin their numbers-if it doesn't eliminate them entirely!" Babidi turned to his crystal ball, raising his hands once more. "I can't believe our luck-you have outdone yourself!" His long, thin fingers played rapidly on the surface of the sphere, and the entire thing began to glow with alarming brightness. "HhhheeeeEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Dabura turned his head away, screwing his eyes shut, but Babidi stared deep into the pulsing well of power, power that would soon be his to command.
As one, Raditz, Goku, Gohan, Nail and Launch began to hiss, then groan in pain, clutching their hands to their heads. They staggered off in random directions, doubling over and nearly falling.
The sight would have been almost comical had the Supreme Kai not immediately known the reason. "No! Not all of them, surely!"
Kibito paled. "My lord, what can we do?"
Kaioshin shook his head slowly. "This attack is from within… only they can choose to resist or give in. Everyone, you must fight it! Don't let Babidi in!"
"Grrrh… aaaghhh…" Raditz stumbled past him.
"Resist!" Kaioshin urged. "You, all of you, you're not like those pitiful creatures in his servitude-he has no claim on you! Resist, I beg of you!" However, the more he talked, the more he got the feeling that his words fell on deaf ears. Their battles, as he had said, were now being fought within. Once he had his foot in the door, Babidi could turn your mind on itself. He didn't need to know your past or the reason for the taint in your soul-he could simply use your own knowledge against you.
Raditz
Get out of my head, you bastard!
Ah, so many.
What are you-
So many dead. You think your recent penance erases the pain you've caused?
I've been over this, thanks. The judge of the dead pretty much gave me the Get Out of Hell Free card. Now piss off.
Don't kid yourself. I know all about you. You're far from innocent-you're not like them. They know nothing of the life you lived.
For which I'm glad. I'm never going back.
There is blood on your hands, don't deny it. Why do you think the saiyans were feared throughout the universe?
I don't-I'm not… that's the past-
Can you imagine them? In the afterlife? A chorus of outraged voices. Fear, anger, hatred, confusion. So many futures cut short.
Get out of my head-
For them, the day you 'cleansed' their planet was the end of everything. The walking, one-man apocalypse. You… probably don't even remember it. Why should you? Only one mission, out of how many?
You are a murderer. You are a murderer on a massive scale-you are a monster, and you fool only yourself when you stand tall and walk with the rest of them, preaching your morals. Come back to the dark. Rejoin the rest of the monsters.
I'm no monster, I'm-
Oh? What are you? Go on, finish. Just what are you, really, Raditz the butcher?
…
I think you know. You know all about me, after all.
I'm a saiyan who turned his back on his people.
The legendary warrior, with a pure heart awakened by rage.
I AM… THE SUPER SAIYAN!
"GYAAAH!" Raditz flung his head back, feeling the spell break. "And stay out…" He exhaled slowly, realising he'd powered up to Super Saiyan. The others were in similar states of unrest. "Guys?" The chorus of yells and growls was unnerving. "Don't listen to it! It knows you inside-out!"
Relief broke over Kaioshin's face like sunrise. "Raditz! You're…"
"Still me."
"Then at least one managed to escape. Do you think your friends…"
"They'll pull through." His brow furrowed. "They have to."
Goku
Son Goku. That's your Earth name. The saiyans gave you another.
I'm a human first, sorry.
A touching sentiment. Do you not remember giving in to that side of yourself? Tapping a reserve of power you didn't know you had?
That wasn't me.
You even used 'Kakarot'. You know it's your true nature.
True nature can go jump off a cliff. This is where I was raised.
Only happenstance-random chance caused you to become who you are! But for an accident you would have been just like the rest.
Then I've got to thank fate someday. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Your true-
Look.
What?
You're in my head, take a good look. Can you see anything- anything- that would make you think I'd even remotely consider going back to that?
…
Such simple-minded innocence…
… you really are pure…
Get out.
Gohan
What are you doing to me?
Ah, your demons are well-known to all. Your infamous temper. Rage, even.
What's that got to do with anything?
It always comes hand-in-hand with such power! Think… if you gave in to it fully, you could become so much more…
And so much less. What's the point of having power if all you're going to do is destroy?
Your father, your uncle-they look down on you. They've far surpassed you. Show them. Your true potential-you're so much greater than they think.
Earning their respect? I don't care about that.
I find that hard to believe. Saiyans-
I don't care about saiyans either! I'm human first. What I care about is everybody coming out okay-which is not what'd happen if I flipped out and started marching to Babidi's tune just for a little extra power.
You will regret this, someday.
Yeah, I bet. Now leave me alone.
Launch
A fractured soul.
It was. I fixed it.
Oh, you poor thing. Is that what you think?
Does it matter?
What you did was patch it together. Why bother, when your dark side is so much stronger? All the 'nice' you ever did was slow you down. Take orders. Stay home and do the laundry. The 'bad' you had so many adventures…
Let's get this straight. The past is done. I'm one person, and I'm happy with who I am. Which is neither of those two.
You once thought that your 'bad' side was created as a reaction to some trauma. Has it never occured to you that it could be the other way around? Violence comes so naturally to you. It's in your heart.
Look, you.
I think you're confusing 'aggressive' with 'evil'.
Don't be foolish, just because you think you've tamed your darker urges-put them to use. You crave confrontation, aggression. The love of your life is an alien warrior. You spent half of your life as an outlaw and, more recently, devoted much time to breaking mountains with your bare hands.
Whether you admit it or not, there is darkness in your soul-
HAHAHAHAHAAA!
Wh-wha-
Eheh… heh… BWAHAHAAA… !
Haha!
Ha…
Ha.
Uh, yeah.
No.
The recovered fighters leaned on each other for support, sweating oceans. "Huh… hah…" Despite this, Raditz and Launch managed to reach each other and collapse into an embrace.
"Don't ever leave," she whispered.
"I'm sorry… I won't make promises I can't keep." He sniffed. "But I can give you one night."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Just… I need a second… I was wrong, you know." He remained there, head down, arms around her. "I missed… I… don't want to leave you again…"
"Should've thought of that seven years ago," she chided.
"I'm sorry."
She didn't have an answer to that.
Goku nodded to Gohan. "I'm proud of you," he breathed.
"Hey, it was no big deal. There really wasn't anything for them to get ahold of."
"Yeah, me either, I guess. Uh… Nail? You okay…?"
"Grr… rrrghh…" Nail was still half-bent over, hands clawing at the air, aura burning around him.
Kaioshin shrunk back as he noticed. "Wh-Why hasn't he fought it off yet?"
Nail
You think yourself so noble… yet you let evil, pure evil, into you…
No. I fused with the one calling himself Katas. 'Piccolo', the name given to his darker side, was only a small part of him-and since I was the main fusee, that evil vanished with our merging.
You say that, and yet look what happened when your mind was interfered with. Who should appear but Piccolo?
Exceptional circumstances. I don't usually get mind-controlled by arctic robot scientists.
You cannot hide from me. You, Nail, are not the one I wish to talk to.
Awaken, demon.
I… I… won't…
… what's happening-?
I can't-
How-
Piccolo
… many thanks.
You are aware of the offer?
Of course.
Do you desire this power? I would say you must give in to your dark side, but, ah…
… but with me, it's the only side, right?
Or words to that effect. What do you say?
When do we start?
A final explosion of energy, and then it calmed. The Namekian slowly straightened up, facing away from the group.
"N… Nail?" Launch asked uneasily.
Goku frowned. His ki is so… different… what just happened?
Kaioshin flinched away, realising roughly what had transpired. "Oh… oh, no!"
Gohan grimaced-his head was burning, and he was getting the flashes of vision again-incoherent snatches of light and sound. If there was any doubt… not that there was… it's beginning!
The Namek waved his hand, light playing around his fingers, and a white cape and turban materialised on his head and shoulders.
He turned in a leisurely fashion, a grin and a scowl warring on his face. A fresh 'M' mark on his forehead seemed to draw in all light around it, perching over his eyes like a malevolent insect.
Goku drew in a shallow breath. Even if the other clues hadn't been there, he could never forget that leering face, that stern, murderous expression, those deadly eyes.
"Piccolo…"
Chapter 78: Return of the King
"What tipped you off?" The malevolent Namekian jeered. His clothing was fully transfigured now, Nail's jacket replaced by the hauntingly familiar dark purple.
Raditz smirked. "What have we got to worry about? Piccolo had maybe a bit of power in reserve, but he's still somewhere close to Nail's level. We can handle him."
"It's not quite so simple…" Kaioshin said gravely, again the bearer of bad news. "Babidi's spell… it draws on the evil in a being's heart, seizes on it, and then amplifies their power in proportion to that evil…"
"You mean…" Goku asked anxiously, "… the more evil somebody is, the more powerful they get?"
"Yes… that is why petty thugs like the two humans he recruited only improved to a low level, whereas under Babidi's spell Dabura became far more than what he was before."
"Well, that isn't good," Gohan muttered. Goku nodded, glancing warily at Piccolo, who seemed content to watch them fret for the moment.
"What?" Kibito interjected. "What's the problem?"
"Piccolo was originally part of another Namek, hundreds of years ago," Gohan began, "but he sensed that there was darkness in his soul-"
"So he split in two," Launch took over, feeling that Gohan's explanation would be too long-winded to put up with. "He separated out the evil in him, and that part became Piccolo. And now he's got all the power of both halves, plus a third Namek, and now this…"
Kaioshin seemed to understand. "Oh, my… you mean… this Piccolo is a being formed out of pure darkness-comprised entirely of evil?"
"That's about it," Goku confirmed.
"This… is terrible… !" Kibito hissed. "A creature like that, under the influence of Babidi's magic-he could become unimaginably powerful! I know of no more terrible being other than Buu itself!"
Piccolo interrupted, striding towards them. "Yes, I've been wanting to test that." He raised one arm, clawed finger pointing at Goku. " You . I still owe you."
Goku stepped in front of the others. "I beat you three times, and you still want more?"
"This time will be different."
"I bet." Goku grunted, almost snapping into Super Saiyan. "Can't say I don't expect this from you… shall we?"
Piccolo made fists at his sides, keeping a level gaze on his long-time nemesis. "We'll see how long you can keep up that calm attitude."
A noise from behind interrupted Piccolo. The door slid open, and Dabura re-emerged. "As we thought, there's one of them you have a grudge with."
"You might say that…" Piccolo growled.
"We will have to work on your attitude later," Dabura sniffed. "But often the new ones need time to… break in. You crush your enemy, and I will attend to the rest. There are a lot of them, after all…"
"Do as you will," Piccolo said evenly.
There was a brief explosion of light and sound, followed by the now-familiar rush of magical teleportation and the party found themselves in the ruins of a small town.
"I see…" Kaioshin said slowly. "We're still near the ship. This is the area Babidi's troops destroyed before we arrived…" He turned his head away at the sight of a group of corpses, a dark look falling over his face.
Raditz moved slightly towards Dabura. "I think I know the real reason you came back…"
An amused expression played over Dabura's features. "You think so?"
"Yeah. You want to fight me, right? Not just hold us off in general. I keep getting in your way."
"That is true." The technically-dead saiyan laughed as Dabura summoned his sword again. "Oh, be patient! I'm not done."
"You will be," Dabura warned, raising his weapon.
"I think Gohan should finish his fight," Raditz continued, ignoring him. "What do you guys say?"
Gohan indicated himself. "Me?! You saw what happened last time!"
"I have to agree," Dabura said irritably. "This is no child's game. If he continues to fight, he will die."
"No…" Raditz cast a curious look Gohan's way. "Not if he uses his full power." He approached Gohan, turning his back on the demon. "Gohan-you discovered Super Saiyan 2 first. Show him."
"Uh… I really can't…" Gohan said quietly. "Sorry… I mean, I could maybe access it for a few seconds, but… fighting is another matter."
Hey. Gohan almost froze at the voice in his head-his father's. He glanced in Goku's direction, saw the slight smile, knew it for telepathy and not merely his imagination. Gohan… he's right. You can beat Dabura. Gohan didn't feel the need to reply yet-Goku had heard his earlier protests. I know it's hard. But… there's anger inside you, there's always been. Sleeping beneath the surface. So many enemies have found out, to their cost, that when you unlock that power-there's nothing that can stop you.
I don't want to-
It's not a sin to fight for good, son.
But I still don't know how! I can't just get angry on cue!
At that, his head began to burn again. Voices started to pour in. He knew them for what they were-dying screams. Last breaths. Not now! It's happening now, I don't need to see any more- He recognised a voice.
Videl. Another-Goten. More.
His mind went blank, rational thought vanishing for an eternal instant. One solitary notion cut its way through the void.
Is this the future?
Or just a future?
Dabura was unaware of all this. What he saw was Gohan double over, involuntarily going Super Saiyan. Then, on the verge of collapse, he seemd to recover his mental strength. His knees bent slightly. One fist pounded into the ground. His head rose slowly. A rumbling noise, like an approaching storm, rolled past Dabura's ears as if from a great distance. Something… changed… about the boy he was facing. Boy? No. More a man now. Odd. Why did I think that? What's different?
Raditz drew in a sharp breath. There it is.
"You wanted… full power?" Gohan slurred between clenched teeth. Super Saiyan 2 transformation completed, he attacked.
"Are you done?" Piccolo asked mockingly, having detected Goku's telepathic conversation with his son.
Goku nodded. "Yeah, thanks. All right, if we're gonna do this-" He raised his arms beside him, letting out a yelp of effort. "HYAAAAH!" An electric tang entered the feel of the air around him as his second-level, blue-gold aura ignited. "-I'll go all out from the start." Plus, if I can win quickly, Buu will get less of my energy.
"Seems you haven't been idle, Goku." Piccolo rolled his head from side to side, flexing his fingers. "You're a lot stronger than Cell was-easily powerful enough to destroy this entire solar system. Well… I relish the challenge. This fight's been a long time coming."
"Then get ready!" Lowering his head, Goku rushed Piccolo, feet pounding the road as his hypersonic charge built up momentum. He threw a straight jab at Piccolo's temple, aiming for a quick knock-out blow. However, Piccolo's hand shot up, blocking Goku's strike with his right arm and letting the shockwave of the impact blast the front off a building behind him. "You look surprised. You thought it'd be easy?"
Goku frowned, stepping back and raising his guard. "Damn… this is gonna take longer than I hoped…"
"I told you that you would suffer for letting me live," Piccolo said in a low voice. He shifted forwards slightly, then there came a blur of movement and Goku saw the heel flying at his face slightly too late. He jerked back, but it glanced off his chin, and he rolled with the blow, backflipping to the other side of the street.
Goku grabbed hold of a lamp-post to slow himself, and it came out of the ground in his hand. He swung it at Piccolo as the demonic fighter approached, but Piccolo ducked under the makeshift weapon. Goku discarded it, preparing an energy blast between his hands-but before he could fire, Piccolo vanished from his sight, phasing into view above and to the left of him.
Yelping in surprise, Goku was grabbed by Piccolo's extended arm and reeled in, straight into the path of the Namekian's fist. He twisted, trying to clear his head, and managed to strike a return blow, a knee strike to Piccolo's stomach. Piccolo leapt back, landing on a low rooftop, and Goku remained hanging in the air.
"There… I finally managed to land a hit." Goku's breathing was already heavy. Kaioshin was right… his power's been increased in proportion to his evil-pure evil… this is gonna take everything I've got.
Dabura had decided to finish the boy immediately, and had made an attempt to decapitate him. However, he found his sword wrestled from his hand and hurled away. Gohan's strength was simply unbelievable-Dabura could never have imagined such an increase. Dabura lashed out with his fists, now trying to smash his opponent's bones with brute force, but he found his every blow deflected. Gohan moved on to the attack, and Dabura had to push himself to the limits of his reaction time to avoid taking a crippling blow. And he got the feeling that Gohan still wasn't going all-out yet.
Watching the fight, Launch nodded approval. "There's his old strength back, and then some." Gohan was only throwing the occasional attack, an attempt to keep Dabura moving slowly backwards. For his part, Dabura couldn't land a single hit, finding each of his attacks swinging through thin air or glancing off iron-hard forearms.
"I… don't believe it…" Kibito barely said. "I must be dreaming. A mortal-and one so young-is overpowering the king of the demons!"
"Get used to it," Raditz said eagerly. "He hasn't just got stronger. His battle sense is back too… he's fighting like a martial artist, not a showman." So this is what your son can do if you push him too far, Goku.
Goku had lost track of Piccolo again. A flicker of movement registered, almost subconsciously. The saiyan spun, launching a barrage of ki blasts, chasing Piccolo's half-seen form. Piccolo continued to dodge, and Goku filled the air with lancing, arcing energy beams. Piccolo threaded between them, flying up to his opponent and driving home a backfist. Goku caught his second attack, however.
"Babidi…" he said, something dangerous creeping into his voice, "… shouldn't have brought us here. You know what effect all these dead innocents will have on me…"
Piccolo grunted dismissively. "You've never met any of them. What do they matter?"
"All life is precious-you never could understand that. But don't think your life is safe because of that-you've caused too much pain!" Goku shoved Piccolo away, drawing back his fist. "After all these years, you're going to answer for your crimes, Piccolo!" He dodged Piccolo's wild pre-emptive strike, punching the Namekian hard across the face, but received a jarring kick in return that dislodged him from his foothold, sending him crashing down through the multiple stories of the house they had stood on.
A beeping noise from the device at his side broke Babidi's reverie, so absorbed was he in the fights taking place. The source of the noise was the energy meter he'd used earlier to measure Raditz's power, now repurposed to indicate the amount of energy stored in Majin Buu's cocoon.
"Wha…" the wizard stared at the meter in disbelief. "It's… full already?! But the kid is handling Dabura now. Could it be… the other fight?" He focused with new eyes on the battle between Goku and Piccolo. "Such power… I would never have thought there'd have been this much on this whole planet, let alone generated by just a couple of fighters! Well, in any case… can't revive Buu in here. We need some more space…" His hands once more raised above his head, mystical energies swirling between his fingers.
Goku pulled himself up even as the house crumbled to dust around him. Blazing a trail of light through the debris, Piccolo barreled at him. Goku took the shoulder-charge head-on, then spun sideways, letting Piccolo fly past him and tripping him as he went. Piccolo rebounded off the ground one-handed, landing on his feet and turning to face his long-time nemesis.
Goku… how long we've hounded one another… I first became aware of your presence through a sickly wrenching in my gut… my servants, picked off one by one. As an unknown third party, you left your mark. Then, the first time I laid eyes on you, you surpassed my expectations for what a human could accomplish… I left you for dead, and still you hunted me… against all odds, you killed me…
Me? What am I saying? My father. You killed my father. That was when I was born.
Then… not only did you defeat me-you played fair, refused help, you chose to forgo advantages-finally, you showed me mercy ! Twice! The second time even more insulting as I was defeated in a battle that should have been mine by rights… and would have been, had he not shown up. He shot an ugly look Raditz's way.
Goku, too, was feeling introspective. Piccolo… I didn't know your name for a while-I rushed off in a rage-but I despised you. That was the first time I'd fought for revenge; to deliberately kill, even. The monster that took Krillin's life. There was a strange release to it, at first, a sense that I'd accomplished something permanant. But that 'demon' was just a pawn of yours. And I soon realised that Krillin was still gone, and no amount of killing would change that.
Oh, I got to you, of course. How many of my friends had died by your hands, or your orders, before I stopped you?
When you reincarnated, I hoped you'd changed. You never seemed as bad as your first 'self'. You even grudgingly helped us to defend the Earth.
But as time went on, I grew increasingly aware that nothing had changed at all. You were just waiting for the right moment to strike.
And what better moment than when we all thought you were gone for good?
Another thought struck Goku, cutting off his musings. "Hey, you aren't still wearing weighted clothing, are you?" he asked warily, dreading the thought that Piccolo was about to hurl off his cape and increase his speed even further. Goku got the feeling he was fighting an uphill battle as it is.
"No, I didn't bother when I created these," Piccolo replied with disinterest. "There'd have been no point, anyway-a few tons, at this level of strength, wouldn't provide any challenge in training anymore."
Well, that's a relief at least. Goku assumed his fighting stance again.
Piccolo, battle-hunger lighting up his eyes, formed an energy sphere, preparing for battle. "Come at me."
Even as their combat resumed with just as much intensity as before, a strange sight materialised at the edge of the town. Babidi, standing next to an extremely large sphere, pink, bisected by a join down the middle, and covered in organic-looking veins.
Goku missed again, feeling concrete shatter around his fist, but Piccolo's return blow struck home, and was immediately followed by two more. Goku retreated, dodging back to avoid the next few attacks. I can't keep up! Everything I hit him with, he's giving it back several times over! Gotta try for a x10, and hope I don't miss.
He began to concentrate energy through his body, building it up even as he continued to defend himself. Finally, when it had reached its maximum, he gave a shout, his power jumping up in an instant and causing Piccolo to stop short, curious.
Goku waited until the last moment to begin moving his hands into the attack pose, giving Piccolo as little warning as he could. "Times-ten…"
Piccolo's eyes snapped open wide, and he began to turn, frantic to avoid the attack.
"… KAME… HAME…" Goku intoned, as Piccolo continued to flee. Then, just as it seemed Piccolo was going to be able to dodge, he turned a hundred and eighty degrees and let the attack fly in the opposite direction. "… HA!"
"Wha…" Piccolo was momentarily frozen, then, recognising the tactic, attempted to duck out of the way as Goku let the force of the blast propel him with a massive burst of speed at Piccolo in a full-bodied tackle. He wasn't quite fast enough, however, and Goku's leg struck him on the shoulder as he passed.
Staggering forwards, Piccolo looked up just in time to see the red-blue beam curving back around towards him-he'd completely forgotten that Goku could control the direction of his signature attack. He opened his mouth for a scream of frustration, but the ki blast engulfed him before he could make a noise.
Goku hung in the air, lowering his arms and finally breathing again. Seeing the blackened, twitching body of his enemy, he risked a half-smile and let himself entertain the notion of victory. That one took a lot out of me… still, I'd never have expected to beat Piccolo of all people that quickl-
His thoughts stopped halfway through the sentence, obliterated by a feeling not quite pain. Pain was trying to encompass the feeling, and doubtless would in a few minutes-if he was still alive-but for now, it couldn't quite suffice. So it was more of a distant feeling, a purely factual knowledge that he was in complete agony, than the feeling itself.
Losing the battle for consciousness, and his transformed state, Goku's head slumped forwards. In his fading vision, he saw a sight that took him a second to figure out, it looked so out of place.
After all, what was Piccolo's hand doing protruding from his abdomen like that, and covered in his blood?
The last sound that he heard before the blackness rushed up to envelop him were words that he didn't have time to try and understand:
"How kind it was of Tien to teach Nail his multi-form technique."
Piccolo slid his hand out, and then there was pain.
Gohan felt a wave of nausea at the sight. His rage had been slipping, in danger of receding back into his subconscious, but no longer.
The fight began to degenerate into a melee. Kaioshin noticed Babidi beginning to closely examine the large object beside him-Majin Buu's cocoon. Kaioshin made a beeline for the wizard, Kibito following on his heels, but Dabura broke away from Gohan and raced to intercept.
Gohan siezed the chance to charge Piccolo. "You… what do you think you're doing to my dad?!" He roared, but Piccolo contemptuously avoided his attack, punting him away. As the saiyan hybrid skidded back along the ground, Dabura noticed the opportunity, and knocking Kaioshin and Kibito flat with a double-handed kiai, he once again summoned his sword, leaping at Gohan and descending towards him, aiming to skewer him.
Raditz flew in from beside the demon, turning Super Saiyan 2 effortlessly mid-flight and kicking Dabura through a row of houses. He drew his own sword and rushed off after his new opponent. "You wanted to fight me? Then let's go!"
Gohan stood, glaring at Piccolo, but he couldn't ignore his father's critical condition. "Kibito!" he shouted. "Help him!"
Kibito turned to Kaioshin, who shook his head. "Buu could be released at any moment! We must hurry-"
"Help him or I'll make you, damn it!" Gohan snarled, firing a ki blast from his eyes at the god's feet and detonating it just short of him. Fearfully, Kibito ran to Goku's side, but Piccolo intercepted, standing between them.
"Now, don't go undoing all the hard work that I just did," he jeered.
Babidi paled as Kaioshin approached him, Launch running up to support him. "Piccolo! I need a few moments more of preparation to release Buu! Help me!"
"What? No," Piccolo said offhandedly, casting an idle glance to Goku's bleeding, unmoving body.
"W… What are you saying?" Babidi hissed. "I order you to protect me! You allowed me to possess you-you cannot resist my commands!"
"I'm changing the deal," Piccolo muttered. "I'm not moving until this man is beyond help-and his brother is next…"
"D-Don't give me that!" Babidi clenched his fists, sending Piccolo a magical compulsion to obey. "Your personal vendetta is meaningless to me!" All others on the battlefield were entranced by this strange drama. Babidi's hands glowed slightly, and Piccolo grunted in pain, bending as if under some immense weight. He put one hand on the floor to steady himself. His mind, it seemed, was gone, being overpowered by a machine, a mechanism for serving the wizard like Dabura and the rest had become.
He felt himself slipping-but something remained. A solid bastion within his mind, untouched by the ravages of Babidi's spell. He forced words to form, gving shape to his resistance.
"You… you think you can give me orders?
You don't know who I am, or where I've come from.
You can't command me… I command… I rule… I am the Demon King Piccolo!" His words rang with conviction. "I was born to lead, not to serve! Least of all to some snivelling magician!" He made himself stand, his power burning around him. "I BOW TO NO-ONE!"
This last effort broke Babidi's hold, the wizard even feeling a slight physical shock-feedback from his overloaded spell. "What… happened?" He resisted my orders… that's never happened before! What mighty willpower!
Another, more physical battle was in progress, high above the town.
Raditz didn't give an inch, laying into Dabura with startling aggression. His strikes were as fast as they were unpredictable. At least this time, Dabura was ready to fight another sword-wielder, and his weapon wasn't instantly destroyed by the katchin blade. The clanging of their swords meeting rose to such a high frequency that it blended into a monotonous drone, a continuous shriek of metal warring against metal.
Finally, Dabura slowed slightly, made an error. Raditz parried, countering instantly. Dabura moved to block, but found he'd reacted to a mere feint, and Raditz's attack instantaneously changed direction. His sword danced through the air, piercing Dabura's sword arm just above the elbow. The demon cried out, jerking away and pulling himself off the blade, but found he'd dropped his own weapon in the process. He was about to summon another when Raditz vanished, teleporting above him using Instant Transmission and bringing the hilt of his sword down on Dabura's head. Dabura dropped, stunned, to the pavement below, throwing out a vast cobweb of cracks beneath him.
Raditz landed gracefully behind him, silently sheathing his sword. "One down." His calm demeanour, however, was only skin-deep. Now that he's out the way… my priorities are clear.
Majin Buu can wait.
Piccolo stood resolutely between Kibito and the dying saiyan. "Don't worry. In a few seconds, there won't be anything to worry about…" A noise like the rushing of air, barely noticeable but to his sensitive Namekian ears, alerted Piccolo. He turned, seeing Raditz standing with Goku's body in his arms. The older brother's face was still calm, but deep hatred burned in his eyes.
"I'll be back for you," he promised, then vanished with Instant Transmission.
Piccolo was about to scream in frustration, when an exuberant cackle from Babidi interrupted him. "Yes!" The wizard screamed. "Yes! It's complete, it's finally ready! Majin Buu shall live again! I've started the process now, you cannot stop it!"
The anger contorting Piccolo's features washed away, instantly replaced with a cunning smile.
Babidi was about to continue his celebrations, when a hand about his neck cut off his breathing and hoisted him into the air.
"Can't cast spells if you can't speak, eh?" Piccolo said slyly. "Now, you're going to do exactly as I say. Majin Buu is a magically-created creature, is it not?" Babidi nodded. "A creature of pure evil, even?" Another nod. "Interesting." He paused, letting Babidi splutter in vain for breath. "Right. I'm going to release you, and you're going to cast the spell you used on me… on Majin Buu." He saw the confused look in the wizard's eyes. "No doubt you think it's impossible, it won't work. Well, I'm just curious like that."
"It was because of what I said…" Kaioshin realised.
"Yes, that's right." Piccolo flashed a fanged grin the deity's way. "You said you know of no being more evil than me-other than Buu. And the spell empowers someone based on the evil in their heart…"
Kibito looked grave. "But-there is no way of knowing what effect it will have on a being like Buu, already born out of similar magics itself." Piccolo, however, has nothing to lose if it fails.
Piccolo set Babidi down. "If you do anything else-raise a hand towards me, anything but what I have instructed-I will kill you faster than you can speak a syllable. Now, do it."
"Gohan, stop him!" Kaioshin pleaded. Kibito is right, the consequences are completely unknown. Buu could be destroyed… or become a thousand times more terrible! He scarcely had to ask-Gohan was already headed for Piccolo while the demon's attention was temporarily diverted.
Piccolo absent-mindedly flicked his hand out, launching a kiai at Gohan. But he had underestimated the young warrior-instead of being blasted away, Gohan crashed straight through the wave of force, barely breaking stride, and collided with Piccolo. The two went down in a tangle of limbs, and emerged with Gohan grappling with Piccolo from behind, struggling to keep him immobile.
Babidi considered his options. Now, he can't kill me so easily…
But doubtless he will overcome this child, and if I do not do as he commands he will become aggressive. He's proven his prowess already. And I can't just try and kill Piccolo now while he's occupied, or these three will be free to kill me before Buu is released.
I suppose… I have no choice.
Gritting his teeth and screwing his eyes shut, he cast the spell.
Raditz, raising two fingers to his forehead to return, having delivered Goku to Dende for healing, gave a cry of shock. "Too late! Buu's coming out!"
Goku, a ragged hole in his gi but his flesh repaired, ran up behind him. "Wait up a sec!" He placed his hand on his older brother's shoulder. "Okay, go!"
"Don't have to tell me."
Piccolo had managed to throw Gohan off, and the Super Saiyan was preparing to attack again when Buu's cocoon began to emit great gouts steam. "I'll destroy it!" Gohan decided, throwing a two-handed energy bolt at the sphere. However, at that instant it cracked in half, and the blast passed between the two parts, exploding harmlessly a mile or two behind.
From within the cocoon an enormous cloud of pink smoke rolled forth, slowly dissipating in wisps and clumps. Within it… slowly emerging from the smoke…
Nothing.
The cocoon was empty.
Babidi stared, wide-eyed, mouth opening and closing a few times silently. He sank to his knees, feeling the weight of all his fruitless years of searching bear down on him. All this time… for nothing? All my life I have spent in pursuit of this one goal…
He got no farther than that-Piccolo blasted him to atoms with a pair of explosive eye beams. He then turned his attention back to the others. "Finally. That runt was really starting to grate on my nerves."
A small noise, a shimmer of displaced air, and Raditz and Goku had returned. "You just never stop, do you?" Goku asked. "What was the point of all that?"
"I don't really know," Piccolo admitted. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time. Shame. I would have liked to see Buu, especially the effects of that spell on him." I guess I'll just have to kill them all myself. No great loss.
There was a long pause, after which Raditz raised his head towards the sky, and said slowly, "You might not be disappointed."
"What are you-" Piccolo stopped, turning his eyes up to whatever Raditz was looking at. Quickly, the others did the same.
The cloud of pink smoke that had been released from Buu's cocoon was still there, hanging high over there
Far from dissipating, in fact, it was coalescing . Drawing together. Solidifying.
Something was emerging.
Chapter 79: Majin Buu
The thing in the smoke was becoming clearer. Not in the smoke, Raditz corrected himself, it was the smoke, and it was forming into a solid shape. Humanoid?… Yes, it seems so.
And abruptly, there it was.
Humanoid, yes-but round and pudgy at that. Bright, garish pink. Its tubby, dumbly smiling face was topped with a short, curving… tentacle? Antenna? It was clad in a black, gold-trimmed jacket that was far too small for its expansive torso, short baggy pants from which protruded stick-like legs in black leggings. The outfit was completed with childish mittens, boots and knotted cape.
All in all, it appeared that the great and terrible Majin Buu was anything but. The only indication of its affiliation with Babidi was the 'M' insignia on its belt buckle.
Kaioshin, however, seemed petrified. He choked on his words, staring in horror at the ridiculous creature, which for the moment made no move.
"Is this really what you were so afraid of?" Raditz snorted. "C'mon, look at it!"
"Yes… this is the monster that threatened the entire universe…" Kaioshin confirmed, voice shaking. "And now that Babidi is dead, there is no way of re-sealing it… it's exactly as I remember it."
Exactly? So the spell had no effect? Scarcely had this thought passed through Raditz's mind when he tensed up, detecting high-speed movement. Dabura, having recovered his senses, appeared in front of Buu. "Heh. Is this all?" He peered at the dumbly-smiling creature. "What a waste of time and effort. Though perhaps you will be some aid in occupying some of the many enemies that now beset us…"
At this, Buu finally showed a reaction. It grinned widely, and put one foot forward in a comically exaggerated fashion, taking almost clumsy steps towards Dabura. It gestured in a display of animalistic aggression as it slowly approached him.
Dabura laughed out loud. "Oh, you want to fight me? Seems it's not just your body's power that has degenerated in the millenia you were stored away-you've lost your mind, too. What do you think you're doing?"
Buu merely glowered at him, waving its stubby arms wildly. Steam began to pour out into the air from previously-unnoticed pores on its head, shoulders and upper arms. Dabura raised his guard in a leisurely fashion, intending to humour the clearly-insane creature. Inches away from the demon, Buu suddenly lowered its head, expression flashing into a malevolent grin.
Goku gasped, feeling a flicker at the edge of his mind. "What… this ki…?!"
Buu's balled fist shot up, hitting Dabura in the chin. The apparently casual movement had been struck with speed and force that could only be described as unbelievable, and Dabura was hurled away, trailing blood and collapsing in a heap.
Buu giggled, hopping from one foot to the other in a victory dance. "Buu! Buu! Buu!"
Piccolo walked up to the creature, which was facing away from him. "Seems you're not completely worthless, after all. Listen." He pointed to himself. "Your boss is dead-I'm in charge now. So you're going to do what I say, if you want to live."
"Heeheehee…" Ignoring him, Buu chuckled to itself, apparently crouched over something and examining it.
Piccolo tried to peer over its shoulder. "What are you…"
"BLEAH!" Spinning on the spot, Buu startled Piccolo, yelling and waving its tongue at him.
After letting out an involuntary shout in surprise, Piccolo flashed his fangs at the playful being. "Don't pull that crap on me, you. I told you-I'm in charge here!" In order to establish his dominance over Buu, he swung his fist full-force into its face. Majin Buu made no move to block or dodge, letting the punch knock its head to the side. Then, with disrespectful nonchalance, it raised its own hand, grasping Piccolo about the wrist and wrenching his hand away from its face. Piccolo, angered, pushed back, but couldn't overpower Buu. Snarling in frustration, he ripped free of its grasp, rubbing his aching hand as he stepped away. "Damn you…" he muttered. Buu simply laughed.
"Hey." Raditz was striding towards Piccolo and Buu, totally calm. "The Supreme Kai tasked me with stopping Buu from being released-and failing that, destroying it before it does any damage. We've just seen that it's certainly capable of that." He stopped a few metres away, standing about halfway between Piccolo and Buu, and his allies. "So I hope nobody will mind if I take this one from here."
Kibito couldn't restrain his outburst. "On your own?! Suicide-"
Kaioshin put a hand on Kibito's shoulder. "I may have expressed such sentiments with the previous fights, but this warrior is on a whole different level-his enemy, too." He gazed sternly at Raditz's retreating back. "Anyone else intervening… would just be getting in the way."
Raditz heard this, and allowed himself to be pleased by it. "Hey, Buu!" he called to the vacuous pink creature. "You like to fight, huh?"
Buu nodded happily. "Buu like fight! But Buu get hungry if Buu fight too long. Buu like food even more than fight!"
Remind you of any species? Raditz mused. "Well, I'm sure you can have plenty of food- if you can beat me."
"Ooh!" Buu clapped its hands together, cackling. "Hair-man want to fight Buu?"
"Hair-man, huh?" Raditz smirked. "You just wait…"
Piccolo shrugged, standing well back. "Knock yourself out. I welcome the chance to see what Buu can do-and you too, come to think of it."
"You can tell that wasn't my full power against Dabura?"
"I'd have been blind if I couldn't."
Buu waved its fists in the vague direction of a combat stance. "Fight now! Fight Buu now!"
Raditz turned back to Buu, nodded. "All right, but I'll have to become a Super Saiyan first."
Buu looked puzzled-which, to be fair, was only a step away from its usual 'vacant'. "Super… Saiyajin?"
"Close enough." Raditz began to summon up his internal spiritual power. "What you see here is my base form. Now, I like to think I'm pretty powerful, but after what you did to Dabura, I hold no illusions about being able to fight you like this. So, next we have… Super Saiyan, and… hrrg… Super Saiyan 2!" He transformed up to the second Super Saiyan form as he talked.
"Ooh…" Buu said. Raditz half-expected it to follow with 'pretty lights' or somesuch.
"But there's something unsettling about your ki… or maybe it's the dramatic occasion…" Raditz thought aloud. "Either way, today I just feel like pulling out all the stops."
What?! Piccolo thought. What could be stronger than the ascended form? W-What's he going to do, double-ascend? It's got to be a bluff!
Raditz let out a scream of exertion, nigh-agony, escaping from between clenched teeth as burning golden streams of light enveloped his body. His hands, clenched into fists, were flung out to his sides, and the world seemed to shake around him. " This…"
"No, no, quite impossible," the senior seismologist, devouring a bagel, assured the intern beside him. "An earthquake does not appear that suddenly, nor reach that magnitude instantly!"
"Nevertheless," she protested. "Look! The readings!"
The seismologist was about to scoff and say that the instruments must be wrong, when the entire room began to shake, hurling the delicate instruments to the floor and smashing them. The pair dived for cover. "My word!" he exclaimed. "But the distance the epicentre is from here… if it were a quake, we wouldn't have felt a thing. What on Earth could generate such force…?"
Brian pushed himself up on the picnic blanket with his elbows. "See, there it is-I told you the sunrise is beautiful from here."
Sasha looked to where he was pointing-indeed, a bright light was visible breaking over the horizon. Unexpectedly, it grew to blinding intensity, rising to a great column of shining gold. "That… isn't the sun!"
"What the hell?!"
General Ripper frowned, receiving a reort through his earpiece. He stood up from the conference table, heading over to the corner of the room. "Excuse me, gentlemen. -What do you mean, gone offline? Military satellites don't just 'go offline'! Do you know how much we invested in…" he paused. "What? 'Electrical interference'? In space? Don't be ridiculous! If something generated that much energy-!" His voice trailed off. He had a very good idea of what was capable of generating that much energy-of, in fact, generally flaunting the laws of reality as he understood them. Something that terrified him, though he didn't like to admit it. He was not a religious man-he did not pray. But, with all his being, he hoped.
"… is Super Saiyan Three."
Launch raised her head out of the cover she'd found. Wow… and I thought I'd achieved something. This is like… she stared at her transformed partner. … like his physical body can't contain his ki. The physical change is just the tip of the iceberg-from an energy-sensing perspective, it's like being an insect standing at the feet of a titan. Beyond the physical shell, when one truly saw the saiyan's life force, he became a terrifying being of purest light-perhaps something more than mortal.
"Ooh, yeah! You cool!" Majin Buu cheered.
Raditz, head still ringing, turned his vision towards Buu. "I guess you can't sense ki… you should be proud of yourself. Nobody since Janemba has ever pushed me this far."
"Buu kill you! Buu have fun!" The creature declared. It shuffled a foot forwards slightly.
In the time it took to half-complete that one step, Raditz was upon it, and his first punch launched it flying through the air. He touched down with one foot, watching Buu sail away. It cartwheeled in the air, wheeling around and coming to a halt. Half-crouching in a parody of a runner's starting position, it rocketed back towards Raditz-ungracefully, but with surprising speed.
"Hmph." That didn't damage it as much as I'd hoped… He intercepted its charge with a kick to the stomach, halting it in its tracks and doubling it over. His foot seemed to sink slightly into its doughy… skin? Was that even skin, anyway? He pushed the thought aside, meeting Buu's snapped-forwards head with a sharp right uppercut, before drawing back his left hand and landing another punch to Buu's head, launching a kiai simultaneously at the same spot. Buu was thrown back with even greater force, carving a destructive trail through the town as it skidded along the ground.
Raditz dusted off his hands-touching Buu brought with it a strange, unnatural feeling that he had no wish to repeat. "This shouldn't take too long. Buu is pretty strong, and maybe back when he was around before, he was the strongest being in the universe-but we've grown beyond him."
Kaioshin and Kibito could scarcely believe what they were seeing-Kaioshin especially, having previously had to bear witness to his fellow Supreme Kais being slaughtered by Bibidi's monster. "Raditz is picking Buu apart!" he said in a hushed whisper, almost afraid to say it aloud as if that would cause it to become untrue.
Kibito looked slightly dubious. "True… for the moment. But Buu doesn't seem to have suffered more than a few scrapes even from that last attack-its durability is remarkable."
Raditz, hearing this, smiled. Still, I did leave a mark-compared to Janemba, this is going to be easy.
Buu was on its feet again, and once more billowed steam. "Buu no like you!" It fumed. "Buu kill-" It was stopped mid-sentence by a spear-head piercing through its head from behind. There was no blood or gore, it was just there, as if slotted into an existing hole.
Dabura stood behind Buu, chest heaving with exhaustion, face covered in blood. One arm was extended-it was clear it had been he who'd thrown the spear, and seemingly killed Majin Buu.
"Eh?" Piccolo frowned, disappointed. "Is that all it took?"
Raditz lowered his arms, face falling. "Ah, man… I was enjoying that."
Kaioshin shook his head. "No, you fool! Don't let your guard down!"
Before anyone could make a move, however, Buu turned around.
Dabura did a double-take, jumping away in shock, then watching, horrified as it reached up and removed the spear from its head. It threw it aside, frowning a little as the hole in its head closed up, like liquid rushing in to fill a vacuum.
Dabura edged away warily. "D… Damn it…"
"Buu hungry!" Majin Buu declared, stomping towards Dabura. "Should Buu make you cookie?"
Dabura was almost frozen in confusion at this nonsensical statement. "What."
"Or chocolate…?" Buu tapped its head for a few seconds, then seemed to come to a decision. "Buu want cookie!" With that, its antenna snapped forwards, pointing directly at Dabura, and began to glow with a soft pink light. It grew into a jagged beam, arcing through the air and striking Dabura, illuminating his twitching body in its sickly colour.
And just as Buu had instructed, the king of the demons was transfigured into a giant Dabura-shaped cookie. Almost all were stunned into silence. Buu trotted over to the cookie and picked it up, happily licking its lips.
Piccolo managed to recover his sense. I was counting on Dabura to even out the numerical disadvantage… this isn't good. "Majin Buu! Put that cookie down!" he ordered.
"Naaah!" Buu spat, waving its tongue at Piccolo.
"Put that cookie down now !" He roared, knowing full well how strange that would sound out of context. In reply, Buu shoved the entire thing into its mouth, swallowing the enormous food in one gulp.
"Excuse me." Raditz appeared between Piccolo and Buu, arms folded. "I hate to interrupt your snack, but we were fighting."
"Buu not hungry no more," Buu supplied helpfully. "Buu fight now!" It raised its fists, waving them like a child pretending to be a boxer.
Tien gasped, falling to his knees. "I'm… back to normal… what happened?" He felt a sharp shock in his mind. "There's a lot of power levels off in that direction… and they're all gigantic!" He stood up, indecisive for a brief moment, then made up his mind. I doubt I could make much of a difference in a fight like that… I'd better head for the World Tournament and let everyone know what's happening.
Buu drew its arm back, amateurishly telegraphing its punch, but Raditz knew not to underestimate it. When it did strike, he knew, it would be much faster than its appearance suggested.
However, Buu never attacked. Its face suddenly contorted in pain, and it bent double, hissing. Steam gushed from the pores on its head and arms, completely obscuring it from view. "Nyaaaa!" came its anguished voice.
From within the cloud of steam, the 'M' mark burned like a beacon, now a fiery red colour.
Raditz took a step back. "What's this…?"
Piccolo nodded, noting the M. "Maybe that spell is finally starting to take effect…"
"But surely in a creature like Majin Buu, there's no dormant evil to bring out!" Kibito objected.
Kaioshin was rooted to the spot, eyes wide. "No… oh, no… not again! He's changing… back to normal… !"
"Normal?" Launch, who had been standing near the pair, looked from Kaioshin to Buu and back. "What's that mean, normal?"
Kaioshin struggled to keep his voice calm as he spoke, addressing the various assembled fighters. "The Majin Buu you saw was not his original form… when Bibidi first created him, Buu had the stature of a child-but was even more powerful than he is now. One by one, the Kaioshins tried to fight him, but all perished. Our greatest warrior, the South Kaioshin, was on the verge of defeating Buu, when it absorbed him, taking on his muscular appearance and his great strength. Finally, to stop Buu, the Grand Kaioshin let himself be absorbed, allowing Buu to receive his almost childish personality, and-I know not how-severely weakening it in the process. This created the playful, almost innocent Buu you fought so far."
"I see…" Goku said. "So if that spell draws out hidden evil, it's gonna turn Buu back to his original self?"
"What else could this be?" Before he could say any more, a massive ki spike stabbed through all their minds.
Majin Buu slowly emerged from the steam cloud, giving everyone a feeling of déja vu .
It was tall now, dwarfing even Piccolo, and heavily muscled. Its eyes were pitch-black and sunken in, with eerie, hollow red rings for pupils. It was still obviously the same being-the pink 'skin', the steam-pores, the antenna-but in a completely new aspect. It wore only long, baggy white pants, black armbands trimmed with gold, and matching boots. Its expression, at first blank, slowly shifted to a malevolent leer.
"Oh…" Raditz tried to make sense of the situation. "This is the muscular one, right? After Buu absorbed the South Kaioshin?"
Kaioshin shook his head. "I'm afraid not. That Buu was still a child's height, and its muscles were truly massive-unnaturally so. I… have never seen this before. I'm of no help to you here. But if it's anything like the original Buu, all it wants is to destroy-with no sense or reason! At least the fat one could be pacified, or sealed away when Babidi was still alive."
"You…" The new Majin Buu's voice was like an amplified whisper-if a knife could talk, this would be what it sounded like. It pointed one stubby finger at Raditz. "You're… strongest here."
Piccolo, though he inwardly knew this was true, couldn't help scowling at this snub.
Raditz seemed surprised. "So… this Buu can sense ki, huh? Well, as for you… there's still something weird about you, and I can't quite guage the full extent of your power. But you're definitely stronger than the other one."
"I'll… kill you." It was a statement of fact, devoid of aggression.
"You're welcome to try." Raditz dashed at Buu, drawing his sword and striking in one swift motion. Buu, however, caught the blade one-handed.
Raditz grinned. "Gotcha." A shockwave blasted out from his sword's blade, slashing Buu diagonally from shoulder to hip and slicing it clean in two. "A little trick I picked up from Janemba." With that, he punched with his free hand, sending Buu's top half flying away. It pushed out its ki behind it, stopping itself-and Raditz realised with a start that in the brief instant before it had been hit, Buu had pulled his sword away and cast it to the ground. He growled, turning to run for it, but then to his surprise, Buu's lower half began to move of its own accord, attacking him furiously. Again, there was no blood on the wound, only a flat expanse of pink. Raditz leapt back, blocking the relentless barrage of kicks.
Finally, he found a small opening, dodging away and diving for his sword. He grabbed it, rolled, and came up in time to see Buu's fist making straight for his face.
The CRACK of the blow-which through sheer physical force, completely obliterated the town, Babidi's ship and the surrounding countryside, reducing everything to rubble-almost deafened the observers. When they looked again, Buu had simply settled back onto its lower half, rejoining effortlessly, and Raditz was gone.
"Where is he?" Launch asked, anxious.
"A long way away…" Piccolo said, furiously. "Somehow Buu knew just how hard to hit him, and at what angle, to let gravity stop Raditz from escaping Earth's atmosphere…"
"What are you talking about?"
"Your boyfriend just landed," Piccolo grunted, "on the other side of the planet."
Two-thirds of the Earth is covered in water. So it's not surprising that Raditz landed in the ocean. He only blacked out for a moment-short enough that he remained in Super Saiyan 3-then propelled himself back up out of the sea, spluttering and trying to focus his dazed vision. What strength!
A gleam of light appeared on the horizon. What?! No, he couldn't be here already… nobody's that fast!
The gleam grew into a blaze, then a blur of movement shot past him. Fearfully, Raditz turned his head, seeing Buu behind him, facing away. "You just… ran halfway around the world…?"
"So?" Buu turned to face him. "Other Buu say… kill you, have fun." It pounded its fists together. "What Buu say, Buu do!"
Raditz groaned. His conversation hasn't improved, at least… how do I beat this thing? He tensed up, preparing to attack, but Buu was already gone. Its foot hit his back with a jarring crunch, flipping him over. He recovered, wheeling around and rushing Buu. It raised one arm to block, and he grabbed hold of the limb two-handed, snapping it fully backwards. However, it instantly bent back into place, repairing itself.
In response, Buu ducked around him, snatching a handful of his knee-length hair and throwing him away by it. Raditz winced-the pain in his forehead was jarring as it was unexpected. Crap… gone with shorter hair for a few years-kinda forgot about that!
"You're boring," Buu declared. "Kill you now ." It rushed at him, swinging a full-force punch, but swiped through an afterimage.
"Will you?" Raditz said from behind it. "You'll have to catch me first." Roaring, Buu swung around, throwing a ki blast, but it passed through a second afterimage, then it fell for a third, lashing out as it heard movement from behind it. "STOP HIDING!" Buu yelled.
"Oh, I'm right here." Raditz's voice came from inches away. Buu's eyes opened wide as it felt a sudden build-up of energy. "KAMEHAMEHA!" Raditz shouted, the concentrated energy beam blowing right through Buu's midsection, ripping its torso to shreds. Its head and limbs floated separately for a second.
"Hah!" Raditz grinned. Of course, he might still regenerate… better disintegrate the pieces before he- A blunt impact to the back of the head-Buu's disembodied leg kicking him-interrupted his thoughts, launching him down towards the sea. The water did nothing to slow his hypersonic speed, and he plowed straight into the seabed, burrowing deep underground.
"Not good…" Goku muttered. "Raditz's power is dropping fast, and Buu's just keeps rising!"
"Hey…" Launch looked down at the ground. "Is it just me, or is he-"
Raditz, battered and bloody, burst out of the ground in front of them, soaring into the sky, then plummeting back to Earth like a falling star. He finally managed to get some control over his flight, landing shakily. "I'm… back?" He hit me all the way through the planet… Janemba was nothing compared to this! Damn it, how come every time I use Super Saiyan 3, somebody even stronger comes along and I get my ass kicked?!
He grimaced as Buu, fully healed, rose out of the hole he'd been flung through, that same mocking grin still plastered on its face. "I'm not beaten yet!" he shouted, diving back towards Buu. It kicked him in the side, spinning him around, and he used the momentum to add speed to his return punch, snapping its head a full hundred and eighty degrees around. Slowly, its neck twisted back to its normal position. His arm shook as he tried to keep his guard up. His vision was still blurred, and he felt his power slipping from him. Still leering, Buu easily took hold of his leg, descending rapidly and smashing him brutally into the ground. That, finally, was too much-Raditz lost consciousness, gold fading to black, lying still.
"Is he…" Kaioshin asked fearfully.
Buu crouched down, sniffing Raditz's unmoving body. "Dead," it said gravely, with a hint of satisfaction. An instant later, it was knocked sideways as Piccolo crashed into it with a flying kick. He dropped to the ground in front of it, grim-faced. "I've tried taking a look into your thoughts… nothing but chaos there, and death. I doubt you'd take orders from me."
"Hehhhh…" Buu stood up straight, rolling its head from side to side.
"Thought so. This is my planet, you hear? I can't rule it if you destroy everything!" He lunged, but Buu caught his arm, bringing its elbow down on his head and putting him down in an instant.
"Kamehameha…" Buu whirled, spotting Goku just behind it, swinging a ball of energy towards it. Hurriedly, it raised a hand to block. "… times ten!" Buu realised the power of the attack almost too late, twitching to the side. The beam roared past it, leaving it minus one arm. It growled, kicking Goku into the air, leaning back and then releasing an incandescent ki beam from its mouth-piercing right through Goku's body for the second time that day. The force of the beam carried him with it, bleeding horribly, and the saiyan was hurled over the horizon and out of sight.
"Dad!" Gohan rushed Buu, who had scarcely regrown its arm before Gohan was upon it. It dodged a few quick strikes, before smacking him aside and making straight for Kaioshin. Launch tried to intercept, but a kiai took her down, and a second floored Kaioshin. Kibito stood among the carnage, trembling. Buu approached him slowly.
Most Shin-jin-the heavenly race he belonged to-while long-lived, don't live for nearly as long as those special few who become the Kaioshin. As such, Kibito, despite his aged appearance, was actually much younger than his charge. He had never seen Majin Buu until now; he had scarcely believed that any creature created by a mortal could possibly match the Kaioshin. But now, feeling himself almost swallowed up by those red-on-black eyes, having seen the ease with which the universe's greatest warriors had fallen before the thing, he understood.
Majin Buu was no mere monster or demon. It was chaos and death incarnate. It would not stop, or tire, or die. It could not be defeated-it was the end of all things, the insane, laughing death scream of the universe.
Buu raised one hand, preparing to kill him, as casually as if it was swatting a fly. Kibito simply awaited death-why try to run? Where could it not follow him? Energy crackled between Buu's fingers, then after a single second which seemed to drag on for hours, it fired.
At that instant, Kibito felt himself roughly shoved aside. He turned, and saw the moment, suspended in time as if photographed. Buu's energy bullet was halfway to its target-which was now Kaioshin. The older Shin-jin had tackled Kibito, pushing him out of the way, and was now, in this frozen moment, hanging in mid-air, Buu's attack inches away.
Despairing, Kibito shut his eyes.
Greetings, young one. What is your name?
"K-Kibito, my lord."
I hear you are to be my retainer.
"Yes, sir."
Very good. I see a strong mind within you. We will need that… for I alone must do the work of all five, down the long millenia until the next generation is born.
It will not be easy, but history will remember us as torchbearers. Can you accept this responsibility, Kibito?
Is your hair graying?
"Only a little, lord."
You must envy me.
"It is true… that you don't appear to have aged a day since we met."
It's hard, you know. Getting to know someone… and then having to carry on without them. Over, and over, and over.
I had you marked out, you know. I saw you with the other children, learning the healing arts.
"You did?… er… sir."
Yes. And then I saw one, a long-haired, red-skinned child. Such dedication in those eyes. The teacher told me he'd been awake for twenty-three cycles, and wouldn't leave until he'd done it perfectly.
It seems such a short while ago…
"I… am flattered, my lord."
It's hard not to think of you all as children, sometimes… I must try to remember that by mortal standards, all of us are possessed of extraordinary longevity.
"I hope that my age will not impair my ability to serve, sir. If you wish, I can search for a suitable replacement-"
Nonsense, Kibito. I won't hear of it.
You know what I'm like. How could I ever get anything done without you?
After an agonising few seconds in which his body, racked with destructive energy, had convulsed like a mad puppet, Kaioshin's lifeless form collapsed.
Kibito reached out a futile hand. "No, you can't… it was my job to protect you !" He clenched his fists, glaring with impotent fury at Buu, who simply laughed.
"Bastard, get back here!" Came Gohan's voice from behind. He charged in, punching Buu across the face and staggering it away. The demonic creature growled. "So… many of you!" It took to the skies, hovering high above its scattered enemies. It raised its hands, forming a massive energy sphere and hurling it down at them. "Die!"
"Yaaaaah!" Gohan's threats became an inarticulate scream as he collided with the attack, desperately trying to shove it back. It was too powerful, and he sunk back to the ground, barely holding it above his head. It felt like an entire planet was crushing down on him. "Gaaaah!"
Seemingly satisfied, Buu left them to die, heading off to find something else to destroy.
Chapter 80: Nightmare Begins
I'm sure, if you're reading this, you'll remember Majin Buu. Perhaps I should clarify, though, in case this book is ever read by a future generation, when time has somehow forgotten this monster.
Majin Buu was, undoubtedly, the single greatest catastrophe to ever befall the planet Earth. Its mindless drive to destroy, its cruel nature, its sheer power and nigh-indestructibility… hopefully you haven't skipped ahead in this book, and you've already read about King Piccolo and Cell. They have nothing on Buu.
And I had the misfortune of fighting it.
-from Groundbreaking Science by Son Gohan, Second Edition, Historical Notes section.
"Ggaaahhh…" Gohan felt himself sinking into the ground as the enormous energy sphere bore implacably down on him. His hands burned from contact with it. "Aaaaah… can't…" His famous strength-from-anger was useless now. Majin Buu was impossibly strong.
One thing I could try… but I'd need a couple seconds to recover, and I can't do that while pushing this back… ! His thoughts, so close to the surface, did not go unheard.
"Well, why didn't you say so?!" A harsh voice from beside him growled. Instantly, the pressure crushing down on Gohan was relieved. He turned, seeing Piccolo standing tall, both hands raised to fend off the deadly energy ball. In that instant, Gohan thought of running - trying to see how fast he could get everyone away and let Piccolo take the hit. But there was easily enough power there to destroy the planet - that wasn't an option. Piccolo almost slipped, the attack inching closer to the ground. "Get on with it!"
"R-Right!" Gohan powered down to the first level of Super Saiyan. Have to think clearly. He put his hands out in front of him, moving them in a slow circle. The air began to ripple around him. Focus. The ripples spread, flowing out to encompass the entire lower hemisphere of Buu's attack. Focus! Jolts of pain stabbed through his head - he'd never attempted this on such a large scale before, and his mind was being taxed to its limit. Blood streamed from his nose and rose in his mouth.
I… got this! The ripples coalesced into a spiralling, translucent vortex, hanging in the air, and Piccolo found himself cut off from the sphere. He stepped away, and with nothing more to hold it back, it surged down, vanishing into the portal.
Several dozen metres away, a second portal appeared, facing upwards, and the giant energy sphere muscled its way past the walls of reality to emerge, before flying off into the upper atmosphere. Well past escape velocity, it continued a good ways into space before detonating and lighting up skies throughout the solar system.
Gohan staggered around a few haphazard steps, ears ringing. A voice penetrated through the blur of white noise.
"… did you do?"
He stared dumbly at Piccolo for a second. "Uh. I Shifted the attack - turned it around so it was heading away from us. Um."
"Interesting," Piccolo said, before laying the dazed Gohan out with one punch. He looked over to where Majin Buu had wandered off - he could still feel its ki, moving relatively slowly away from them. Now what am I supposed to do?
"Oh, dear." Piccolo turned at the voice, taking a minute to identify the strange sight - a little old woman in black, beady eyes peering out from under a large pointed hat, sat atop a floating crystal ball.
"What are you doing here, fortune-teller?" he asked dismissively.
Baba drifted right by him, coming to a halt above Raditz. "Just here to pick this up," she muttered. "The idiot went and used that new transformation of his for too long - he's drained away all his life-energy. And he was supposed to have a whole day…"
"Wait… you mean, Buu didn't kill him?"
"Well, he is dead," she said off-handedly. "But then, he's been dead for seven years. It is possible to destroy an Otherworld body - and nobody knows where you go if that happens - but they're very durable. He'll be fine. However, he can't stay in the living world any longer." Her eyes flashed slightly, and Raditz's body was lifted into the air with telekinetic force, halo bumping on the ground as he rose. I'm just lucky they don't get heavier as they get stronger… "Well, goodbye." She departed, carrying Raditz ignominiously behind her.
"Tch. Good riddance." Piccolo surveyed the sorry scene around him. Kibito was already gone. I can't beat Buu alone… and I can't have it destroying everything… guess I've got no choice but to make these clowns help me. The Lookout should be the safest place for now.
It took quite some time, and quite some convincing, to get the group from the tournament up to the Lookout. The tournament itself hadn't contained any more interesting battles, and Eighteen had taken the prize money with little effort. She, along with Bulma and Trunks, were in fact not present at the Lookout, but had promised to get there as soon as possible.
Piccolo examined what help he had. The main assets are the three half-saiyan kids. I'll have to count on them… "All right, I know none of you want to work with me. Frankly, the thought disgusts me as well. But if the alternative is that we all die, that's just the way it is. Goku is dead. The Supreme Kai, too. Raditz has used up all his time on Earth. Place your hopes in me… or not at all."
Krillin gulped nervously. "Well… I don't like it, but… like you say, we've got no choice. Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah." Piccolo indicated the entrance to the Lookout's interior. "Gohan." He stared blankly at the two younger saiyan kids, no names coming to mind. "Ahhm… Gohan's brother… and… girl… you're all coming with me into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. You two are going to get to Super Saiyan 2, and you - " he indicated Gohan. " - are going to train like you mean it for once."
"Now hold on a minute!" Chi-Chi snapped. "If you think I'm just letting my children spend a whole year alone with a monster like you, you've got another think coming, mister - "
"Don't question me, human!" Piccolo balled his fists. "I wasn't asking!"
"And don't you threaten my mother," Gohan growled, aura beginning to glow.
"If you think you can take me, go ahead." Piccolo stared into Gohan's eyes, unflinching, and finally the saiyan backed down.
"I will get stronger than you."
"That's the spirit." Piccolo grinned, showing his fangs.
"Hold on a second," Krillin interjected. "Doesn't the Time Chamber only have enough food for two people at a time?"
"It's true… I require only water, but there are three of them… Mr. Popo." He looked behind him, seeing the cowering genie hiding behind a pillar from the creature that had once been his friend.
"Y-Yes?"
"Halfway through the day, you will prepare extra food and restock the Chamber."
"Several months' supply of food, prepared in only twelve hours?" Popo spluttered.
"Yes. Good to see you understand - better get cooking."
"Tch! You're heartless," Chi-Chi grumbled, stomping off to help Popo with his monumental task, followed by her father - a knack for cooking ran in their family, though it seemed to have skipped the half-saiyans' generation.
"All right. Let's not waste any time - Buu will only be content with random destruction for so long. Get in there." Followed by Gohan, Break and Goten, Piccolo marched up to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, flung the door open and swept inside.
As the other three filed in behind him, those left outside grew grim-faced. "I do have to wonder…" Roshi said sourly, "… just what those four can do against Buu, even all together. I mean, even a Super Saiyan Three was no match for him."
Videl put a hand to her head. "I just hope that creature doesn't do too much damage before they can stop it. I can't believe we're giving it free rein on the Earth for twenty-four hours…" Hercule, beside her, nodded wordlessly. He had no intention of trying to fight Buu, but his pride wouldn't allow him to say so.
"In any case…" Yamcha flung off his suit jacket and opened his shirt, revealing the martial arts uniform beneath. "… if Buu gets bored and comes after us - or tries to destroy the planet - it's down to whoever we've got left to stall him for as long as we can manage." He hesitated. "Did I just say that? Oh God, we're all gonna die…"
"This'll be three times, for me," Krillin muttered. "What a weird life… er, lives?"
Kibito, now back on the Kais' sacred planet, had just finished recounting his tale to the Elder Kaioshin, who gave an exasperated sigh. "What a bunch of idiots! This'd be funny if it the consequences weren't so severe…"
"I deeply apologise, my lord. If I had - "
"Don't go blaming yourself - there's nothing you could have done. I know you felt your master's death quite deeply, but we can't let emotions cloud our thinking. Majin Buu has struck the first blow; it's time to plan our counter-attack."
"Y-Yes." Calming himself, Kibito bowed. "What do you propose?"
"First let me examine the situation for myself." Old Kai materialised a crystal ball in one hand, setting it down on the grass in front of him. "Hmm…" The view rapidly flicked from location to location. Buu hovering over a city - a small, tense group at the Lookout - a couple of bodies - finally, he stopped, tapping the ball in deep thought. "Yes… just as you described… oh, and about Buu's change. My descendant said the fat Majin Buu was composed of the original, pure evil Buu, and the innocent spirit imposed upon it by this generation's Grand Kaioshin; however, the good was dominant. I'd have to guess that whatever magic was cast on it brought the evil half to the fore, repressing its good side… and, it seems, giving it the combined power of both. Or something like that… its actual level of ki is very difficult to determine for some reason. Hold on…" He paused, narrowing his eyes and peering closer. "Kibito, you'd better get on back to Earth. There's a matter that requires your attention."
Goku blacked out for a second, almost falling. He recovered quickly, putting his free hand out beneath him and catching himself before he hit the ground. Despite his other hand clamped firmly around the wound on his shoulder, and a significant portion of his shirt currently being employed as a bandage, an alarming amount of blood spattered the rock beneath him. He shook his head, stood. I'm not done yet! I can still sense Buu… that way. He winced as he began to walk again, pain shooting down from his shoulder into his spine. Damn… he shot clean through me… at least, unlike Piccolo, he missed all my vital organs.
A flicker of noise - Instant Movement - alerted Goku to Kibito's arrival. "Uh… hey!" He struggled for the name. "Supreme Kai's helper guy?"
"That is I. Now, Son Goku - " Kibito held out his hand, his expression grave, " - come with me if you want to live."
There were three hundred thousand people living in the city that morning.
For instance, a young man by the unusual name of Jiminy - scarfing down bacon, trying not to stare at the waitress, realising his new shirt didn't quite fit. Blissfully unaware until he saw the pink glow fill the sky. And he'd only just discovered this wonderful restaurant, was his last thought.
Antonio, three blocks away, actually saw Majin Buu beforehand. The sight - of the distant humanoid figure hovering above the city - made him practically drop his guitar. He rubbed his eyes, maybe he just wasn't sleeping enough. He nudged another student-"Yeah, I see it. What is - "
Five seconds later.
Buu watched the flames dance in the remnants of the ruined metropolis. Gleefully, it noticed a house on the outskirts still standing, making for it and landing just outside.
The door swung open, and a woman carrying a baby rushed out. She stumbled to a halt upon seeing Buu. "Y… Oh God." She froze, trembling. "You did all this… what are you?"
Buu's antenna twitched. "Hungry…" it breathed. The antenna rose, pointing at the pair of humans. "This time… want candy…" The tip began to glow pink. Buu licked its lips. Its victim screwed her eyes shut, hugging her baby to her chest.
The beam shot out as before, but halfway to its target, it was stopped short by an explosion of energy.
"That's enough."
Buu, perplexed, turned to the left, seeing a three-eyed, robed man standing amidst the ruins, his hands raised in a triangular formation. "Who are you?" The creature hissed.
Tien Shinhan ignored it, talking directly to its intended victim. "Get out of here, now! I can buy you maybe a minute - find somewhere to hide!" Silently, the woman ran to her waiting aircar, scrambling in and blasting off. Buu took a step in the direction of the fleeing vehicle, but was stopped short as it sensed a rising battle-power. Tien moved with slow, measured strides, coming to a halt in front of Buu. "Not a chance - until you can get through me."
"You're pissing me off…" Buu said irritably. "Not… smart."
Tien threw off the outer layer of his robes, forming his hands into the Tri-Beam position again. "We'll see."
Goku, again healed, stood by Kibito and Elder Kai, shifting from one foot to the other restlessly. "Thanks for your help, but I need to get back at Buu! I know I can find a way to beat him this time!"
The old guardian shook his head. "No, not yet. We need some kind of plan - a head-on attack at your level of power is just suicide."
"Goku! You're alive!" The three turned at the voice. A pair of figures, newly arrived with Instant Transmission, stood behind them: Raditz, looking the worse for wear but at least conscious; and the younger Kaioshin, smiling weakly. Both had haloes hovering over their heads. Raditz broke away from his passenger, running over to his little brother and clapping him on the back. "When I woke up, I couldn't even sense your ki…" Tears welled in his squeezed-shut eyes.
"I was surprised that I didn't die myself, to be honest…" Goku chuckled. "It's great to see you both again!" I know Kaioshin's supposed to be a god and all… but I could have sworn he was looking up to Raditz just then. Almost like Raditz was his big brother. I guess he has that effect on people - he's really changed these last few years.
Relief flooded over Kibito. Well… he can no longer visit the living world… but I have not completely lost my most trusted friend. He gave silent thanks to the universe.
"I have to wonder, though," Raditz said, "if this Kai planet is part of Otherworld, and spirits like us can come here… where are the past Kaioshins? Like the ones Majin Buu killed?"
"Well, the ones who were absorbed wouldn't have become spirits, since they never died in the traditional sense…" Elder Kai explained. "As for the ones Buu simply killed, I can only assume he also destroyed their spiritual bodies when he came here."
"What about all the previous generations, then?" Goku pointed out.
"Well… Kaioshin are not born in the sense you would know it. There is a great tree in the heart of Otherworld, from which magical fruit grow. These develop into our race, the Shin-jin. A very few of these fruit are golden in appearance, and from these the Kaioshin are born. As such… when a Shin-jin dies, their spirit body remains in Otherworld for about a thousand years - which is a long time to you mortals, but trust me, not to us - before their energy and consciousness is absorbed back into the tree that birthed them, renewing the cycle. So my descendant's got a while left, though not as much time as he might otherwise have had."
"I see…" Raditz shook his head. "But anyway. What are we going to do about Buu? Goku's the only one of us here who can fight him now…"
"And we all saw how well that went," Old Kai mumbled. "Well, your friends seem to have come to the same conclusion - a few of them are training in another dimension right now."
"Another…?" Goku snapped his fingers. "Oh! The Hyperbolic Time Chamber! Well, you can only use it twice in your lifetime, but I guess Gohan's only been in once. It's a shame there's a limit to supplies too, otherwise I'd love to go and join 'em…"
"That wouldn't be an issue," Elder Kai replied. "They're preparing extra food to re-stock their supply in twelve hours. But stay put!" He snapped as Goku turned towards Raditz. "Tell me something, Goku. You saiyans with your transformations… do you think you can get much stronger in your current form?"
"Super Saiyan 2? Not much, no…" Goku sighed. "And whatever small improvements I could make, Buu's already beaten a Super Saiyan 3…"
The god raised an eyebrow. "Could you unlock that form, then? If you had a year in that room?"
"I… don't think so, no. I mean, I'm sure Raditz's Otherworld training and spirit body helped a lot…" He glanced over at his brother, who nodded to confirm this. "Right. Even aside from the spirit body, if I trained here I'd only have a day, not a year, and I definitely couldn't ascend in just one day."
"So - there's not much point in you rushing off to join your friends' training, is there?"
"No… there isn't," Goku admitted. He clenched his fists, a rush of ki flattening the grass around him. "Damn it! There's just no way to get strong enough in the time I've got!"
"Now…" Elder Kai said slowly. "… I never said that ."
"What…?" Goku's surprise was echoed by all, and a general silence fell, which the old god stepped up to fill.
"You fools didn't think the legend of the Z-Sword was entirely baseless, did you? 'The blade can grant its user unimaginable power', or something like that… well, that's me. I'm not a fighter myself, but I possess the ability to awaken the hidden power in anyone - to take them beyond their normal limits, in fact. It's my gift. Why did you think there was an enemy who feared me enough to seal me in that sword, eh?"
"R… Really?!" Kaioshin was as shocked as the rest. "Why did you never mention this?"
"You never asked." Old Kai held up a finger before the others could protest. "Hold on a minute! Don't get mad - think about it, and first let me tell you that the ritual takes a while. Five hours' preparation, and twenty hours for the actual thing. When Raditz first released me, I couldn't just stop the fight with Janemba for a day to power him up, now could I? And ever since then, you've seemed fairly convinced that he was more than capable of handling Buu. So why would I need to use my ability? But now…"
"Well… if it'll take more than a whole day, we'd better start right away." Goku stood apart from the others. "Since my brother can't go back to Earth anymore, I guess I'm up. Okay, go ahead."
"Mmm…" Old Kai scratched his head. "I don't know if I want to… it's a very rare privilege, you know. And not one usually bestowed upon a mortal - besides, you don't look like you have too much sleeping power; almost all of it's already drawn out."
"Aw, c'mon!" Goku pleaded. "Uh…" He thought of the only old man he was regularly acquainted with - Master Roshi - and hoped this one would share his vices. Dirty old men will be dirty old men, right? "Uh… I know this guy, Roshi… he has some great magazines you might like… if you know what I - "
"No, no, won't work," Old Kai insisted. "With my omniscient vision - or just this crystal ball if I get tired - I can watch girls sunbathing all around the universe!"
"Uh…" Goku racked his brains, stumped. Maybe if… no, Chi-Chi would kill me. Then Bulma…?
"How about you just give him the damn power-up?!" Raditz shouted in a sudden outburst. "Or maybe you want to go fight Buu!"
"Gah!" Old Kai flinched back at Raditz's glowering wrath. "All right, all right! Tch, you people are so impatient. But remember, Goku, as I said, you're not the type with lots of sleeping power; most of what you've got came through effort. Even after this ritual… you still probably won't be able to beat Majin Buu."
"I understand." Goku nodded, squaring his shoulders. "But if it'll give me a better chance than right now, we've gotta try it."
"Very well-stand still."
Goku gulped. I wonder what intense trials I'll have to undergo? What strange, mystic techniques is he going to -
"POWERRRRR - " Old Kai screeched, thrusting his hands in Goku's direction. "AWAKEEEEENNN!" With that, he began to prance in a circle around the bewildered saiyan, hopping up and down, waving his arms, puffing and panting, and intermittently spouting gibberish phrases. The whole spectacle was undignified in the extreme.
"Um…" Goku said cautiously. "Are you sure you're - "
"Quiet!" Elder Kai squawked. "This is important! Just try and stay still for five hours - then we'll be able to begin for real!"
"Awww…" Goku straightened up, staring wearily into space. This is gonna be a long day…
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Bulma asked, adjusting some settings on the large device - a tube, about twice human size, bedecked with protruding wiring.
Eighteen nodded wordlessly, lying on the flat table by one end of the machine. "If they're right about this Buu thing, there's really no time to waste."
"All right, but… well, you're only part human as it is. This'll replace even more of that with artificial parts… you…" The scientist drummed her fingers on the table behind her. "… you and Krillin won't be able to have any more kids. For one thing."
"We've been over this. Do it, before I change my mind." What would be the point of having another child, if I can't even protect the life of the first? Logic she knew she'd come to disagree with, soon enough; which was why this had to be done quickly.
"Right. It's the setting up of the process that took me a long time-the actual conversion should only take a few hours. It's basically like an assembly line in miniature. Theoretically, you won't feel any pain from this - well, I hope - but… try not to look, okay? It might look unpleasant partway through. Like, horror-movie unpleasant. You're literally having parts of your body reconstructed from - "
"Start the machine, Bulma."
Chapter 81: Coming of Age
"Let's get down to business." Piccolo faced the three saiyan hybrids, face fixed into his permanent scowl, his furrowed brows slightly curling the ends of the M on his head. "You're hardly warriors. You two…" he glared down at Break and Goten. "… just kids born into power. And even you," he rounded on Gohan, "when was the last time you did any serious training?"
"Don't start this," Gohan grumbled.
"Yeah, how were we supposed to know Buu would come along?" Goten whined.
Piccolo tried to rein in his anger. "Buu is hardly the first being to try something like this! You should always be ready. Now…" he swept his gaze across them. "We have twelve months. I will personally train each one of you, one at a time, for a period of two months. For this first month, and for one month after each of those three periods, I'll train alone. Those not being currently trained by me may do as they wish, but I advise you focus on getting stronger if you want to live through this. For the last part of the year after that, we'll all train together."
"Who said you get to make the rules?!" Break suddenly shouted, wishing she was taller as Piccolo glowered down at her.
"If any of you can take me one-on-one, we'll discuss who's qualified to be in charge. Until then, you will do exactly as I say!" He turned his back, striding out into the empty expanse of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "See you in a month."
"I thought he was a bad guy," Break said to herself, almost oblivious that the others could hear her. "Why's he on our side?"
"He doesn't want everything destroyed any more than we do," Gohan explained. "He'd have nothing to conquer. Plus, he can't beat Buu alone and he knows it. We're Earth's strongest fighters right now, so I guess he's hoping to bring Buu down by strength of numbers. Well… we should get started, I guess."
"I'm hungry!" Goten moaned, clutching his stomach, which conveniently growled at that exact moment. "Can we eat first?"
"Yeah, let's eat!" Break cheered.
"Hmm…" Gohan walked over towards the entrance, blocking the way to the kitchen. "How 'bout this. You two can eat as soon as you get past me. 'Kay?"
"All right!" Break grinned gleefully, but Goten wasn't pleased.
"Aw, man," he sighed. "How'm I supposed to beat you? It's not fair, you're older!"
"Yeah, but there's two of you." Gohan spread his arms, challenging them to attack. "C'mon, I'm not going to let you starve. I just want to see what you guys can do."
"O-kay then!" Goten and Break simultaneously flashed into Super Saiyan, charging at Gohan.
Piccolo was already half a mile away, and settling down to meditate. His superhuman hearing picked up on the distant sounds of battle, and he nodded slightly. There we go.
"Fire! Fire everything!"
If Majin Buu heard the distant voice, or even noticed the heavy-duty artillery impacting his skin, he gave no notice. There was another large city up ahead-another really fun one, one he could take his time with.
The rain of missiles finally started to itch. Snarling in irritation, Buu flicked his hand out, casually obliterating the armoured division, before moving on.
"I'm sorry, sir." General Ripper saluted half-heartedly, approaching the morose Prime Minister. "19th Armoured has been destroyed. It looks like… well, you know."
The politician lifted his head out of his hands. "All this death… do you know, a third of the world's population is dead thanks to this creature. A third . It hasn't even been one day… where are those mysterious fighters of ours? Can't they defeat it like they did Cell?"
"That's just it, sir. I think they tried." Ripper sat down, sighing. "They were sighted leaving the World Martial Arts Tournament in a hurry, and shortly afterwards, we picked some of their kind of energy spikes. Not too far from there is where this thing was first sighted. I think they fought… and it won."
"Dear God… what do we do?"
"I… don't know, sir. We're going to wait until it's in an isolated area and try nuclear weapons, but… well, I have my doubts. And… I'm sorry about the King, sir. Don't feel guilty just because you weren't in the capital at the time."
The Prime Minister tried to put on a brave face, failed. "Just… keep me updated, General. Dismissed."
Roshi took stock of their assembled 'forces': besides himself, there Launch, Krillin, Yamcha, Zarbon, Videl, Kuriza, Hercule and Chiaotzu; Chi-Chi, Ox-King and Mr. Popo were also present, though still at work on their monumental task (the genie's magic sped the process up tremendously, but could only get them so far). All in all, hardly the greatest warriors the Earth had to offer, but they'd have to do if Buu showed up early.
Still, the old master's spirits lifted slightly when Dende reappeared from within the Lookout with another ally; Dr. Myuu. He had 'grown up', it seemed-his body was taller and adult-proportioned, with more dark tones, and when he spoke, his voice was deeper and less comical. "I hear it's the end of the world."
"Like that's new," Zarbon said, trying to make light of the situation, but his pained expression spoke volumes. Bulma, Eighteen and Trunks still weren't back.
"Hey, wasn't there somebody else living here?" Krillin asked, trying to see if there was anybody behind Dende and Myuu. "Where's Tarble?"
"Gone," Myuu said evenly.
"What?! Without even saying goodbye?" Launch frowned. "What's his deal?"
"It… would have been too painful for him." Myuu quickly realised they weren't satisfied, and wouldn't be with anything less than a full explanation. "His… attack on my hatred of saiyans was a passive-aggressive one. He didn't do anything; just lived with Dende and Popo and myself, and acted like a normal, decent person. It clashed so completely with my view of his race, for such an extended period of time… the prejudice couldn't hold up. So I suppose that he succeeded in his aim was part of the reason that he left.
"But I caused the catalyst. I could tell he was troubled, and one day confronted him on it. It turned out he had someone back on the planet he'd made his home… still waiting for him. What's more, she had a son by him. A mate and child! And he didn't mention it to any of us!" The Tuffle put a hand to his head. "He's a strange one… it's almost like family is meaningless to him. Everyone is his family; and I needed help, in his eyes, more than those two. But I was able to convince him that he'd succeeded, and they needed him home as soon as possible.
"That's when he finally showed some emotion… when he was about to leave. Dende contacted the Namekians, and they used Porunga to transport him home. But in those few moments beforehand, he had a complete breakdown. Told me to say goodbye to you all for him, however briefly he'd known you; he couldn't face it. I'm sure they're all happier now…"
"So weird…" Yamcha muttered. Then he lightened up, or at least attempted to. "But hey, I guess he can do what he wants. After all, now Vegeta's dead, he is technically," and here he did a surprisingly accurate Vegeta interpretation, " the PRINCE of all saiyans !" A ripple of laughter followed; though had Goku been there, it's doubtful that he would have enjoyed it. To all the rest of them, Vegeta was simply another enemy.
"King, actually." Myuu's words stopped the laughter, and all eyes turned to him. "What? I, like you, brought up the, er, vacated position his brother had held one day. He jokingly accepted it, then went further and reminded me that his father was dead too-technically, if Tarble wanted to claim the royal throne, he had the most direct claim. He seemed to become more serious about it later, though… said it might be a name people would remember. I wouldn't be surprised if 'the king of all saiyans' makes a move into galactic politics sometime soon. That one's got a sharp mind for that kind of thing; he often spent dull moments deconstructing past systems of government."
"Heh. Who woulda believed it…" Launch chuckled, then suddenly stopped. "Wait. Wait a sec! You reminded me-the Dragon Balls! Why don't we just use 'em, Earth's or Namek's, whichever?" Her face lit up. "We could resurrect everybody Buu's killed, or move 'em all off-planet, or something like that! I mean, I know we can't just kill him with them or anything, they won't work on somebody more powerful than their creator, but still."
Nods and smiles were beginning to spread at the idea, but Roshi shook his head. "No… I'm sorry to say that might be a bad idea."
"Uh, what's a Dragon Ball?" Hercule asked, bewildered, but was ignored.
"Huh?" Krillin looked around at Roshi, confused. "Why d'you say that? Surely it's worth a shot!"
"Hello?" Hercule said, agitated. "What are Dragon Balls?!"
"No, I don't think it is. Anything we do to reverse the damage Majin Buu is doing, it could just do it all over again. And if we move everyone to, say, Namek-Buu will just find a new planet to terrorise! It may even destroy the whole Earth if it gets bored!" He sighed, leaning on his staff. "I'm sorry to say that our only hope is to try and defeat Buu the old-fashioned way. Then we can focus on undoing the damage."
"C'mon, someone answer me!" Hercule pleaded. "What are they? Er, you don't mean… some poor dragon…?"
"Well, thanks for reminding me anyway, Myuu," Launch said.
"I hate to keep correcting people, but…" the robotic scientist began.
"But what?"
"But… I have had a lot of time to think. Dr. Myuu is… was… a twisted, lost man. Heading the way of Raichi, if not quite so far down that path." He straightened up. "I'm not sure if I want to be associated with that cycle of revenge… luckily, something came to mind. I'd once been given another name… brings to mind a beginning rather than a continuation. A new start, as it were." Innocence, even. A smile crossed his lips, almost too brief to see. "'Baby' will do."
"All right… Baby." Krillin nodded. "We'll be glad to have you on our side if it comes down to us to stall Majin Buu."
Chiaotzu sat aside from this conversation-hearing, but not responding. Tien's ki… it flared up for a minute, a while ago… but now it's completely gone. But he can't be… not again, he wouldn't let something like that happen to h im… !
Gohan lay on the floor, panting. Behind him, Goten and Break lay in a similar sprawled position, remnants of a hastily-scarfed meal littering the tiles around them. "Oh man…" Goten breathed. "You can fight us without transforming?!" Secretly, though, he was ecstatic that they'd managed to get past the older hybrid.
"Well… you've only been Super Saiyan a year or so, Goten." Gohan stretched and stood up. "But Break… that wasn't your full power, was it?"
His cousin hopped to her feet. "Nah. You wanna see it?"
"Yeah…" Gohan dropped into a fighting stance. "I think I've got enough energy to go another round."
Goten shuffled back against the wall. "Uh… full power? Break, what're you gonna do?"
Break slowly circled Gohan until she stood opposite the Chamber's door from him. "Only if you're sure," she said, transforming again. "I won't be able to control myself… I don't wanna hurt you."
Gohan nodded, turning Super Saiyan in a small burst of power. "Do it. I can handle it."
"All right then…" Break's face suddenly became empty, as if she was letting her mind take a step back and vacate her body-and something else rushed in to fill the empty space.
The change was less like a deliberate transformation, and more like a complete and total loss of control. It began with chattering teeth, her mouth moving and twisting in half-formed words, seeming to attempt screams and growls but never complete them. Then, the shaking spread to her entire body, and a chill flowed out through the air around her. Gohan shivered, feeling the temperature's bite on his bare arms despite the normally pleasant environment near the centre of the Chamber.
That was when the physical change began. Her body swelled, rapidly increasing in size; simultaneously, her hair and aura took on an unhealthy green hue. Her image appeared blurry, and Gohan realised it was a heat-haze-yet the air around him only grew colder. All the heat around us is being drawn to her… !
At last, the great rage within her overcome her mind, and she howled with wild abandon, a savage, primitive noise. Gohan saw the twisted snarl, the blank eyes. Oh no. Then, she was moving, already upon him and striking claw-like with her nails, drawing blood in a diagonal tear down his chest. Like she said, she isn't in control! he realised. She's just attacking the first thing she sees, and I need to stop her… plus, with this kind of power, she can take it. He countered quickly, stepping back out of close quarters to put his size advantage to use, then punching her across the face.
Scarcely after her head snapped back, she twisted back towards him, throwing herself forwards and sinking her teeth deep into his arm.
"Oww!" Gohan hissed, prying Break off him and kicking her away into the air. Thick globules of his blood stained the floor beneath him.
"Wh-What'd she do?!" Goten exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in shock.
"Just like the future Break…" Gohan said, scowling. "… she transformed into the Legendary Super Saiyan form. Of course, she's still a kid so it's not as powerful as her other self-I think I can handle her-but it's still impressive. So young, too… I guess it's because she had proper training and a higher level of competition… the future Break only had one basic-level Super Saiyan to compare with, and as a teacher he didn't really know what he was doing…" That is… I didn't know what I was doing. Don't know what I will be doing? Didn't know what I will… don't have known what I will have done…? Argh, time travel. The confusion almost distracted him from Break, charging back down at him-almost. He sidestepped, sending his elbow after the back of her head and knocking her flat. The jarring impact seemed to snap her out of it, and her aura died down, the transformation reversing. "That… was impressive," he admitted. "I didn't think you were capable of anything like that."
"Heh…" she stood, rubbing her aching head. "Y'think I'll be able to train it in here?"
"Sure."
"Awesome! I never could use it before…" she shuffled her feet. "Mom said it was too dangerous. I only could do it since almost year ago…"
Gohan saw her excitement, Goten's envy. "You're both going to improve a lot." He found himself already adapting to the mentor role. "We'll need everything we've got if we're going to fight Buu in a year. So work hard!"
"Right!"
A month passed in this way-the kids found it easier to use the forced power-up of the Ascended form to increase their strength than to fully master Super Saiyan at first, and as they progressed, Gohan soon found himself having to transform to fight either of them, though that made it easy. Occasionally, Break would go Legendary Super Saiyan for a one-on-one match with Gohan, and as she progressed he found it harder and harder to come out on top-luckily, she was getting better control over it, and while she still grew enraged on transforming, she could now deactivate it at will. In addition, Gohan was getting stronger too. He never used the second level, but simply having it unlocked had opened up a whole new realm of power in the first Super Saiyan stage, and even his base form, that he had neglected to try and achieve until now.
The month passed too quickly. Piccolo returned, ordered Gohan out into the deep white emptiness, the central Hyperbolic Time Chamber building barely visible. He'd left the kids to train with each other, warning Break not to use the Legendary form on Goten.
"So… you're going to toughen me up?" Gohan guessed.
"If you can survive these two months… yes. You'll be tougher for sure." Piccolo immediately winded Gohan with a low punch, then swept his legs out and threw him away. "First rule! Never let your guard down!"
Gohan choked, scrabbling to his feet and going Super Saiyan. "Bullshit! There's training, and then there's-"
Piccolo phased into view directly in front of him, lifting him up one-handed by the throat. "And then there's reality! You can go Super Saiyan 2 under extreme duress-and you will, at least once a day, until you can use it at will. I won't use my full power, but it'll be enough that if you can't transform, you'll die."
Gohan threw a ki blast at point-blank range, making Piccolo drop him and scrambling away. He raised his guard, edging back cautiously. "If we defeat Buu, watch your back."
"I don't expect you to like me, boy." Piccolo began to gather his energy. "But maybe you can become a man."
Two months later (Hyperbolic Time Chamber time)/Four hours later (real world time):
Goten looked up from his lunch. "Hey, you sense that?"
Break lifted her head from the bed, tilted it slightly. "… yeah." A thump came from outside, and they scurried out to see. Piccolo was already gone, and Gohan was pulling himself up from a lying-down position. His hair was growing longer (as was Break's), and slowly-healing cuts and bruises dotted his body. His gi was ripped up, most of the shirt missing, revealing more injuries. He looked at the pair approaching with relief, like a great weight had just been lifted.
"Well… he did it, I'll give him that," Gohan said, sounding slightly shell-shocked. "I can go Super Saiyan 2 at will now…"
"So, he's on our side?" Goten said excitedly.
Gohan grimaced, trying to repress the memories. "Not even remotely."
By this time, the kids had reached the limit of forced, bulked-up powering up in their three months' independent training, and in the following month Gohan had them working on mastering Super Saiyan the way the older generation had while preparing to fight Cell. Surprisingly, Goten took to this quicker than Break, finding it easier to clear his mind and achieve total calm, even while transformed-Break was much more comfortable with simply forcing more power into her body, and struggled not to tip the balance into the over-bulky level, in which strength was increased at the cost of speed and stamina, rendering it useless. Gohan knew Piccolo was going to attempt to unlock their latent Super Saiyan 2 potential, so showed the form to them several times, trying to make them get a feel for it.
At the end of the month, Piccolo returned, and as Break nervously shuffled over to him, Gohan and the Demon King studied each other carefully, trying to determine the extent to which the other had increased his power.
"She's family," Gohan warned. "If you harm her…"
Piccolo laughed. "Oh, save me from the wrath of the great and mighty Super Saiyan. As ever…" He turned his back contemptuously, dragging Break off with him. "… if you surpass me, we'll talk about who's in charge here."
"Is he really that much stronger than you, big bro?" Goten was barely covering his anger with light-heartedness.
"Yeah…" Gohan nodded, grim-faced. "At least, he won't kill any of us. We're too useful to him right now…"
The loneliness was the hardest. Not just that it was the four of them for a year-though that was certainly depressing at times-but also the knowledge that their fathers were dead. Raditz, it was certain, was not coming back. The time limit for Dragon-Ball-resurrection had been passed years ago. Goku, though… the uncertainty was horrifying. What was Buu doing out there? With twenty-four hours to roam the Earth, what would it do? Would Goku be waiting for them? Would anyone? Or would they find only Buu, laughing over the corpses of everyone they knew? What if Buu came to the Lookout? The door could crumble at any second, destroyed by accident in Buu's ravages, and leave them trapped for eternity. The vast, empty expanse of the Chamber seemed to reflect their internal emptiness. Nothing was certain.
Days started to run together. Only Piccolo could still remember without constantly glancing back at the enormous clock above the entrance, or the gigantic sand-timers flanking it. The real world faded into distant memory.
Goku yawned. It had been just over five hours, and Old Kai had finished the preliminary dancing-and-chanting stage, beginning on the twenty-hour-long power unlocking process for real. "Can't I just stretch my legs for a second?" he asked.
"No!" Old Kai said firmly, turning a page of his comic and idly waving one hand in Goku's direction (apparently this constituted the ritual). "You must remain perfectly still; and awake, too!"
"Aww, man…"
Raditz, leaning against a tree off to the side, found endless entertainment in his brother's discomfort. Any small thing to take his mind off the distant energy of Earth's people, slowly diminishing.
Chapter 82: Turning Point
Eighteen sat up, opened her eyes.
"… all right?" Bulma was speaking. Eighteen shook her head, as if to clear her vision, but it hadn't been blurry. In fact, it was, it seemed, too perfect; everything picked out in detailed high-definition, a flood of visual information. Not overwhelming, though-evidently there was some kind of filter in her optic nerve.
Eighteen put a hand on the table to lift herself off, and immediately recoiled as if stung. She stared at it-it certainly looked normal. But… "I didn't feel anything." She raised her other hand to her face, touched it gently-nothing. "Well… there's information… I'm getting a purely factual sense of what I'm touching, what the texture and temperature is like, but I can't actually feel it." She fell silent as this sank in.
"I, uh… we did talk about this." Bulma shrugged. "I'm sorry. This tech is years in advance of me-I couldn't pick it apart and apply only certain bits to you. It's amazing that the future me was even able to adapt a from-scratch blueprint into an 'upgrade' for an existing person."
"No, it's okay," Eighteen replied hurriedly, looking away. She hopped off the table, surprising herself again. She was taller now, and Bulma barely came up to her shoulders. "Huh."
Bulma brought a change of clothes to fit Eighteen's new stature, though since 'very large' sizes were often designed for the horizontally large, these were simply largish, and… almost fit. The shirt didn't quite stretch down to her waist, and large rips at the shoulders and knees lengthened the sleeves to fit easier. Once she was changed, Eighteen asked, "any other changes I should know about?"
"Well, you won't actually need to breathe," Bulma replied as they made their way to the building's exit. "You still have that function, but you'll only need air for speech, not survival. Also, no heartbeat; that's all mechanical now." For some reason that hit hard. Eighteen felt suddenly cold all over, hard, artificial. She repressed a wave of regret. This was necessary.
The power-unlocking ritual was well on its way now, and Goku was beginning to understand the true meaning of boredom. Old Kai seemed to be asleep, but was apparently awake enough to snap at Goku every time he went to shift or stretch slightly. Raditz's muffled laughter had long since died; he was now crouched with his gaze locked on the crystal ball, watching the state of things on Earth, face pale and sweat-drenched, teeth grinding together, hands clenching and unclenching with impotent fury.
Goten crashed to the floor yet again, already hearing Piccolo's approaching footsteps. "Get up!" the demonic alien ordered. They'd been 'sparring' for six hours straight, and Goten was hovering on the edge of consciousness; though at least his training so far had ensured he'd been able to constantly maintain his Super Saiyan state. Still, he was exhausted, aching all over, and was desperately missing real company. "Raaah!" The young saiyan rolled over onto his back, throwing out a hand and launching a yellow energy bolt. "I hate you!" he half-shouted, half-sobbed.
"Good!" Piccolo grinned savagely, catching the blast and crushing it into a puff of smoke. "Let that fuel your power! You want to hit me back, don't you? Come on!"
"Grrr…" Goten stood, drawing back a fist, but was immediately driven to his knees by a volley of quick blows. His breath caught in his throat. A bruise on the side of his head had squeezed one eye shut, and vision out of the other was hazy.
"Is that it?" Piccolo snarled. "The girl was a lot stronger than you. Hell, she achieved Super Saiyan 2 just by training and powering up… you've been at a figurative wall for about a week. Your power's stopped increasing-you won't be able to get any stronger without transforming."
Was that it? Goten wondered. Just normal training-it was that easy? Damn… she's always leaving me behind… is she just a better fighter than me? He pounded a fist into the ground, but the smooth, empty whiteness remained undamaged. The intense gravity normally didn't affect him, but weakened as he was he felt it crushing down on his shoulders and back; the heat was about as high as it had ever been. His skin screamed at his brain, registering that it was practically on fire, but his brain had become used to the sensation by now. Still, the situation was deeply unpleasant, and Piccolo was doing his best, as ever, to make it worse.
"Don't you give up now!" He gave Goten a kick, almost gently to test the kid's reflexes, but Goten didn't dodge or respond, just stumbled back wearily at the impact. Piccolo frowned. "You'd better not think you can pull this crap on me. If you're not useful any more… if I don't think you'll be able to fight… I will kill you rather than waste my time on you."
"THEN GO AHEAD!" Goten suddenly burst out, his aura instantly fired up and raging around him, wild-eyed, flecks of foam and blood flying from his mouth. "I don't care anymore! Not about Buu, or fighting, or saving everybody, or your stupid training! I'm not a hero! I can't take this! I don't care! Just kill me or whatever if it makes you happy, I've had enough!" His aura exploded, it seemed, filling the air around him and Piccolo with blinding golden flares. "No more! I DON'T CARE!"
There was a collective glance upwards as Eighteen, carrying Bulma, landed on the Lookout, Trunks touching down just behind them.
"E-Eighteen!" Krillin, holding Marron, approached cautiously. "You… got pretty big, huh?" There was no ill-will in his voice, though; he'd never really been insecure about his height.
"Don't worry, I'm still me." Eighteen reached out to stroke their wide-eyed daughter's hair, had to will herself not to flinch away at the bland mental chatter of information, devoid of any real sensation. She'd decided not to tell him she couldn't feel anymore; he'd only agonise over it.
"So, how strong d'you get?" Kuriza piped up. "Can you beat Buu?"
"I don't think so," Bulma said sadly. "From what I've been able to ascertain from the schematics, she should be somewhere between a Super Saiyan 2 and 3."
"Well, that makes her the strongest here at any rate…" Roshi looked hopefully up at the android. "You'll be the first line of defence if it comes to the worst."
Majin Buu strode through a burning, corpse-littered street, lips moving silently as if mulling something over. Suddenly, he halted, raised his head to the heavens and bellowed, "I'M BORED!"
One pink, blobby hand was raised to the heavens, and a pink glow began to rise from the earth, up Buu's body, and focusing around the outstretched hand. With a grunt, Buu let fly the blast, which rose up, meteor-like, into the sky, then began to split up and shoot off in different directions-dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions, still they fired, arcing off towards the horizon in all directions, covering the sky in crisscrossing beams.
"Hu?"
Raditz and Kaioshin leaned in towards the crystal ball, wide-eyed, panicking. "What's he doing?"
One moment, the Earth had a population in the billions.
The next… it didn't.
"What just…" Raditz sat back, pale-faced.
"He killed…" Kaioshin murmured, disbelieving, "… nearly every human…"
"What'd you say?" Goku called over from his spot by Elder Kaioshin.
"Buu just… eliminated the entire population of Earth. The only people still alive are the ones on the Lookout, they put up some kind of shield…"
"W-What?!"
"Not now!" Raditz warned. "Stay where you are! Stay still for the rest of the ritual!"
Casting a dark look at his brother, Goku turned back to the gently-dozing Old Kai. This had better be working…
Kuriza lowered his hands, floating back down to the tiled floor of the Lookout. "Phew…" Thinking fast, he'd been the first one to throw up an energy barrier; thanks to the split-up nature of Buu's attack, each shot had only a tiny fraction of its full power, and Kuriza had been able to block the group of beams aimed at them.
"Th-Thanks…" Yamcha said fearfully. "But all those people down there… just gone !"
Bulma seemed empty, shattered. "Mom… Dad…"
"Oh… oh, no…" Roshi tilted his head back slightly. "It seems we may be joining them soon…"
"What do you-ah!" Krillin whirled to face the approaching ki, noticing what Roshi had sensed. "He's coming!"
Shit… Eighteen hurriedly surveyed their surroundings. If we're all grouped together like this, he can just kill us all at once… "Everyone spread out! Make Buu fight us one at a time!"
"But-" Zarbon began.
"Yes, I know! We're going to die! Somebody get to the Chamber! Wait as long as possible-give them as much time to train as we can-then get them out here! I'll stall Buu so you can get to positions! Go!" With that, she turned and flew off towards the rapidly-growing speck on the horizon.
Majin Buu slowed his flight, coming to a leisurely halt as the tall android flew up to face him. She hung in the air, filling out her large frame and glowering at him.
"Want… to die?" Buu said slowly. "Fine. Start with you. No difference…"
The sheer magnitude of Buu's deeds hit her at that moment. Seven billion people… "GO TO HELL!" She screamed, launching an energy blast at him. He warped his elastic body out of the way, then charged at her. She swung a kick at him, but he blocked with one arm and punched back with the other, sending her flying uncontrollably back towards the Lookout. She flipped upright, coming to a halt inches off the floor, then looking up-Buu was gone. He appeared behind her, kicking her through a pillar, grinning with unrestrained glee.
"KIENZAN!" Krillin's signature energy attack came slicing through a wall, and Buu didn't bother to dodge, letting the disc carve through him before resealing the gash. Krillin barreled through the wall after it, Kaioken pushed to the limit, but Buu casually stepped out the way of his swing. The creature's antenna swung up. "Chocolate," he said simply.
Eighteen recovered her senses and looked up just in time to see the man she loved being eaten.
"Don't worry," Buu growled, patting his stomach, "you'll be together… in here." The transformation beam shot out again, but Eighteen dodged it, much to Buu's surprise, dashing up to him and throwing a high kick he had to backflip away from.
As he landed, he extended his arm, launching a long-range punch. Eighteen caught it by the wrist, surprising Buu again, reeling him in and attacking. Her offensive lasted nearly ten seconds, driving Buu almost to the edge of the Lookout, before he found an opening and struck back with his left, stunning her. He then brought his right arm around, fist pumping like a jackhammer with bone-cracking force. The fourth, or possibly fifth, blow snapped her neck.
Buu strode away from the body, irritated-it shouldn't have taken that long to kill two humans.
Another attacker, crashing through another wall- "Wolf Fang-"
"Wolf fang nothing!" Buu hissed, still in a bad mood. "Chocolate!" He snapped, and Yamcha too was eaten.
Buu rounded a corner, seeing his way blocked by a blue-haired woman. "W-Wow… got to me already?" She said shakily.
Buu sniffed, shook his head. "You're weak… not like those others…"
"But smarter than all of 'em combined!" With that, Bulma activated the machine she'd used on Cell. The cage of light burst forth, enveloping the bemused Buu. "Hah! No Instant Transmission to get you out!"
"Grr…" Buu struggled as the machine drew him closer to it, threatening to suck him in and disintegrate him. "Won't… hold… me!" He flung his arms out, ripping straight through the energy field and tearing it to pieces. He clambered to his feet, glaring at Bulma, before smashing the machine with one balled fist.
"Er… neat." This thing really is on a completely different level to Cell… ! She gulped, steeled herself, and activated her new power-amplifier. Again, the slow-motion sensation, the rush of power. Seeing Buu's pink, rubbery mass towering over her, she decided it would be difficult to miss, and swung a punch at its stomach. Too bored to dodge, Buu let the attack bounce harmlessly off him. Bulma stepped back, rubbing her fist, jolted back to the real world as the amplifier's charge ran out, exhausted by two uses in such rapid succession. "… huh."
Buu's mouth spread wide in an evil grin. "Chocolate."
Roshi slunk along the wall, shadowing the sound of Buu's heavy tread on the other side. He heard Buu stop, knew the demonic being had found the strange circular container he'd placed on the ground and was examining it, and nodded to himself. Now!
He leapt around the corner, throwing out both hands. "MAFUUBA!"
Buu blinked. "… what…?" But at that moment, a great wind whipped up from nowhere, and the container on the ground began to vibrate. The wind focused into a great hurricane centered on Buu, Roshi and the container, and began to drag Buu towards it. Grunting, Buu found traction on the floor and forced itself away from the unearthly wind, firing off a small energy blast and smashing the container to pieces. Roshi yelped, falling to his knees, as though he himself had been struck.
For the Mafuuba, the Evil Containment Wave, is a powerful technique, capable of sealing away an evil being-but only at the cost of the user's life. Buu, however, was simply too powerful, it seemed, to be affected by such a technique.
Roshi felt himself fading, when an idea slipped into his mind. Of course… it's still there… since that silly fool Ox-King wanted to experience the ascent to Kami's Lookout the 'traditional way', and wouldn't let one of the flyers carry him… yes. And Buu… is standing right over it.
With a tremendous effort, the old Turtle Hermit raised his head, and with his dying breath called out, "POWER POLE-EXTEND!", before finally collapsing.
Buu was only confused momentarily-a second later, a magically-growing red staff smashed up through the floor, impaling Buu right in the small of his back and emerging out of the top of his head. Temporarily transfixed, Buu was an easy target, and Trunks, Kuriza, Videl and Hercule took advantage of the fact, rushing Buu from all sides. Snarling, Buu ripped itself free of the magical weapon, gouging out a great tear down its back which rapidly filled in and smoothed over, then flung out its energy in an omnidirectional wave, reducing the four vastly weaker fighters to ash.
"That's enough." Buu idly looked left, spying Zarbon approaching, an unreadable expression on his face. "You don't know how much I wished I could have gone before my family… let them live on a little longer… but it was agreed that I'd need to wait until nearly the end before engaging you."
"Hmmm…" Buu just stared for a while, then shrugged, walked up to Zarbon and swung one arm up, attempting to swat him aside. Strangely, the alien warrior dodged the attack. Buu's eyes narrowed. He attacked again, and again the green man dodged. "Rrrr…"
"Just an ability of my race," Zarbon explained, unsmiling. "I've been studying every aspect of your movements and fighting style since you got here. You can't imagine how hard it's been to remain as calm as I have to be for it to work, watching you murder the people I love the most… but you're not getting past me."
"Eh." Buu tried a kick, but Zarbon seemed to know where it'd be before even Buu did, and avoided it again. He made no move to attack back, though; he knew that in all other things his power level was still vastly inferior to Buu's, and all he could hope to achieve was this stalling action.
Buu took a step back, thinking, and soon reached a decision. "Fine." Its voice sounded slightly different all of a sudden, and its stance subtly shifted.
Zarbon paled. "Wait. This is…"
Buu grinned.
Baby, hovering an inch from the ceiling, tensed himself as Buu walked under him. He dropped silently to the floor, creeping up behind the monster, raised one hand, and formed and fired a hail of razor-sharp energy bolts as quickly as he could. They ripped through Buu's 'flesh', opening up numerous small cuts.
Buu turned to face him, interest piqued. While this one wasn't as strong as some of the others he'd killed today, he certainly wasn't weak like most of them. Buu started to regenerate, but before it was fully healed Baby sprung, body stretching and elongating into a stream of silver liquid, which flowed into the openings created by his energy attack, vanishing inside Buu's body.
Buu stood stock-still for a second, wondering what had just happened. Then, finishing the regeneration process, he straightened up. "Ah… useless."
Baby found himself in a dark, cavernous tunnel-like area with pink, fleshy, veined walls. "What the…"
"You're trying… to control me?" Came Buu's mocking voice. "You go inside people… I absorb them into me…"
"I see…" Baby said, realising. "We're opposites. I guess your absorption and my parasitic control must have cancelled out… but what weird magic your body's made of!" He patted the wall. "It seems I was shrunk down."
"And you'll never leave," Buu replied, startlingly close. Baby spun, jumping back-and seeing a perfect replica of Buu, standing inside his own body in front of the Tuffle. "In here… out there… I'll kill you."
"Heh…" Baby smiled, and had he been a biological creature nervous beads of sweat would have appeared on his brow at this point. "We'll see."
Majin Buu, confident that the parasite was taken care of, reached out with his mind-there was only one more high power level left on the Lookout, right at the bottom. But… much closer, he sensed a group of weaker powers, all clustered together-Chi-Chi, the Ox-King, Chiaotzu, Dende and Mr. Popo, hiding from the battle. Buu licked his lips, red-on-black eyes lighting up.
Never too much chocolate.
Standing by the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Launch gasped. No way… he's going after them first! "Damn it… he was meant to sense my energy and come here… !" She turned to the door. All right, we've held out enough! If they're not strong enough to win now, they never will be! She took a step towards the door-and Buu crashed down through the ceiling, landing directly between her and it. Launch skidded to a halt, bringing her arms up to guard her face as Buu looked up at her.
Raditz tore his gaze away from the crystal ball. "I can't watch this!" His energy flickered around him. "I have to help her!"
"Don't be foolish!" Kaioshin hissed. "You're dead, you can't return to the living world!"
"Just watch me try!" He flashed into Super Saiyan 3, bowling Kaioshin and Kibito over with the massive release of power. "I've sat here… and watched Buu work his way through everyone I know… but not this one!"
"For one thing, Buu's much stronger than you!" Goku reminded him.
"You'll do more harm than good!" Kibito protested. "The fabric of time and space will-"
"You don't get it, do you?" Raditz raised two fingers to his forehead, homing in on Buu's energy signal. "Of course you don't. Right now, compared to her, reality can go jump off a cliff." His face darkened. "I have to draw the line somewhere." With that, and the hiss of Instant Transmission, he was gone.
"Wha…?" Old Kai woke from his nap, head swinging left and right. "Oh, dear… he's gone and done it now…"
Launch braced herself.
"What? This door?" Buu jeered. "Wonder what's in there?" He raised a hand, forming an energy ball. "I'll blast it out."
If he destroys the entrance, they'll be trapped in there! She cleared her mind of doubts and fears. There was no option but to attack. "Rrrr… SPIRIT KAIOKEN!" Tongues of red flame danced up and down the walls, the fiery vortex centred around her. Power fully released, she attacked, ramming home a punch to Buu's stomach. However, her fist simply sunk in slightly; Buu didn't flinch. He grunted, swatting her away. She smashed into the wall, bringing it down around her as she fell to the ground in a heap. "Ugh…" How can a creature like this even exist…?
"You survived that…" Buu said contemplatively. "You are strong. But… this?" He drew back his hand, preparing to swing down and crush her-
-a strange noise in the air-
-CRACK!-
-"RAAAAGH!"-
-a heel planted itself firmly in Buu's chin on its way upwards, sending Buu sprawling back down the corridor. Raditz landed, lowering his leg and raising his guard. "That's. Enough."
"Y-You…" Launch pushed the wreckage off herself, sitting up against the wall. "… came back?" She saw the halo, still over his head.
"Yeah… I wasn't supposed to," Raditz admitted. "I really don't know what will happen now. But I'm not leaving again."
"The moron!" Old Kai yelled as the ground on the sacred Kai planet began to tremble. "What does that ass think he's doing? The balance of nature can't support him in the living world anymore!" He, Goku, Kibito and Kaioshin were stumbling back and forth as the shaking intensified. The sky darkened, great shafts of red light lancing down from the heavens to the earth, like wounds in the very sky itself.
"And the amount of energy he's putting out in that form…" Kaioshin realised. "… everything's falling apart! It's starting up here, but it'll spread to the mortal realm before long!"
King Kai held on tight to a tree as a whirlwhind whipped up around him. "Damn it, Raditz, I know things were looking bad- but the complete and utter annihilation of EVERYTHING is a little worse! Forethought isn't your strong suit, is it?!"
"Well…" Suddenly growing calm, the Elder Kaioshin sat back on the grass, folding his legs and closing his eyes. "I suppose there's only one thing to do. He won't come back, so…"
"Ancestor?" Kaioshin said; then, with growing worry in his voice, "Ancestor! What are you doing?!"
Old Kai ignored him, drawing in a deep breath, serene amidst the chaos. "And so passes the Supreme Kai…" he mumbled, almost a whisper. "… fifteen generations too late."
The Lookout…
The storm died down. Calm returned. The universe, against all odds, was still there. Launch looked up again-Raditz's halo was gone. "Hey…" she said weakly.
"Yeah… I feel it." He reached up, feeling the empty space where it had been previously, to confirm it. "I don't know how, but… looks like I'm back in business." Whatever you did, guys… I owe you. "Now-YOU!"
Buu climbed to his feet with exaggerated slowness. "You… with the hair. I beat you up before…"
"Before, it was just another fight. Some evil creature that might destroy everything-what's new about that? But now…" Raditz let his power boil around him. "you've pushed me too far."
"Enough talk-I'll kill you!" Buu roared, launching himself at Raditz.
"Just like you killed everyone else?" Raditz tensed up, waiting for Buu to near him, then lashed out. His fist drove deep into Buu's stomach, and he screeched to a halt, choking. Buu staggered back, clutching at his slowly-filling-out stomach, strings of saliva hanging from his silently-screaming mouth. He'd vaguely felt the other attacks he'd taken today, but this one hurt . "But… you…"
"I told you." Raditz raised his fist in front of him. "This is completely different to last time. I've got hundreds more where that came from!"
Relief flooded Launch's face. "I can't believe you're so happy about coming back for good… what about the reason you stayed dead in the first place?"
"My warrior's pride?" Raditz let out a loud bark of laughter. "Screw that! I have a family."
"Grrr…" Buu had recovered, and Raditz took a step towards it-but Buu was faster. He lashed out, fist aiming straight for Raditz's head, but the saiyan caught it two-handed. Buu followed up, pushing his whole body forwards with the motion of the attack, and shoved Raditz back into the wall. They struggled against each other, Buu slowly forcing Raditz back, driving cracks into the wall. Buu drew back its other arm, swinging at Raditz again, but Raditz brought his legs up, jumping over the punch and letting it smash the wall behind him to dust. He continued the jumping motion, swinging both legs up and pushing off Buu's over-extended arm, letting his knees collide with Buu's face. Buu staggered away, and Raditz turned to Launch. "I can't keep this up forever!" he yelled. "Get inside!"
"R-Right!" Struggling to her feet, she raced off towards the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Buu turned to give chase, but Raditz blocked the way, drawing his sword from his back and plunging it into the ground between them. "I won't let you past this point. If it kills me."
"Rrrrgh…" Buu ground its teeth, furious.
"You see the difference, then," Raditz said. "But then… you've still got something up your sleeve, haven't you?" He smiled.
An unreadable expression crossed Buu's face. "You… know?"
Chapter 83: Edge of Hope
"Fine." Majin Buu shrugged, and it suddenly seemed that a great weight had been lifted from him; a tremendous effort he no longer had to sustain. He instantaneously 'snapped' into another appearance: his face grew more human-like, with a fully-formed nose and smaller mouth; he became leaner, with less blobby flesh and more muscle tone; and finally, a third eye opened in the centre of his forehead. "How did you know?"
"I've been watching you remotely for a while," Raditz answered. "You revealed that you'd absorbed Tien when you fought Zarbon. He'd been able to predict the movements of the savage, unintelligent you; but then you used Tien's martial arts skills, and he wasn't prepared for it."
"I see…" Buu flexed his taut-muscled arm self-admiringly. "It's true that I didn't absorb Tien for his power, like the South Kaioshin of old… but for his fighting skill, and his knowledge of all of you. Feigning ignorance… was equal parts amusing and infuriating. But whatever second wind you may have received from your adopted human emotions won't help you when I'm fighting with all the skill of a real martial artist-as opposed to the simple flailing around I was doing before." He pointed his index finger towards Raditz, beckoning a challenge. "As the former Buu declared… I will kill you. And enjoy it."
"Lovely." I don't have to win… just survive for a few seconds. Raditz heard the Chamber door click shut behind him, returned his focus to Buu. "Come on, then."
Launch had come in at a bad time-the four fighters in the Chamber were halfway through their last day of training. They hadn't had an easy time of it-their outfits were all the worse for wear (not including Piccolo's, as his small talent for magic let him renew his damaged clothing), and Gohan and Break's hair hung messily down past their shoulders.
She'd had to wait an agonising hour for them to stop, rest and recuperate to full strength, comforted slightly by the knowledge that only ten seconds would pass outside for the whole hour inside. Finally, they were ready. Piccolo, strangely, seemed to be deferring to Gohan, though she didn't bother questioning it-time enough later, if they survived.
"All right," the oldest half-saiyan decided. "I'll take point. Break, cover me. Piccolo, flank him. Goten, hang back and wait for an opening. And, uh…" He turned to Launch. "Raditz might be in serious trouble out there, if what you've told us is true. If so, you should get him to safety."
"A sound plan," Piccolo said grudgingly. "Let's do it."
They took positions, Launch joining up with Goten behind, and the saiyans powered up to Super Saiyan 2 simultaneously. With that, Gohan kicked open the door and raced through, the others following. What they saw was not a heartening sight; Buu was lifting Raditz off the ground by his shirt, one-handed, and the saiyan had reverted to base form. One arm, clearly broken, hung by his side, and an ugly gash ran down the side of his head. Seeing five new enemies approach, Buu tossed Raditz aside, a broken toy no longer of use. Launch put on a burst of Kaioken-powered speed, picking Raditz up and crashing through the wall opposite, soaring away out into the open sky.
"Now-go!" Gohan ordered, rushing Buu head-on, the others taking up positions behind me. Buu looked up at them with interest as Gohan fired off a full-power blast at close range, but it did nothing more than knock Buu back a couple of steps. Buu then lurched back forwards, one hand swinging around faster than Gohan could comprehend, taking him down. He controlled his fall, rolling and quickly standing again.
"Resilient-eh?" Buu barely noticed Break's incoming energy beam in time to dodge, the attack instead boring a hole straight through the Lookout. "Ah! Not good enough!" At least he could actually hit me!
"Oh?" Break smiled savagely, a flicker of green energy mingling with her aura. Just like before… gotta combine both powers-no matter how much it hurts! "Then how 'bout… THIS!"
Something stopped Launch, a mile or so from the Lookout. Slowly, she turned to look back at it. From that distance, it looked like it had been lit on fire, enveloped in a deep yellow glow. Shafts of golden light escaped from every hole and opening. Wait, don't tell me… she came to a sudden, shocking realisation. This feels just like when Raditz… !
Break's form was completely obscured by a pulsing, solid-seeming mass of energy, ripples of similarly-hued power expanding to fill the entire area and blasting gale-force winds in all directions. She had been screaming, at the beginning, but her voice-box had given out before long; still, her power continued to rise.
Gradually, her figure became visible through the glare. Great chains of lightning danced around her, blasting gaping craters in the walls where they struck. Though silent, her face was twisted into an expression of intense pain; the wind grew more intense, becoming now more like waves of pure force.
The whole world seemed to fade away, a pale unreality before this tiny but blinding beacon. Colours, sizes of objects, perspective and proportion warped around her. She threw her head back, silent scream continuing, and her power shot up again. Her aura and the lightning merged, becoming a shifting, hissing field of jagged golden energy bolts.
Finally-it was done.
Buu had observed the whole procedure unblinkingly while everyone else had averted their eyes. Tien knew nothing about this, so Buu only had his own experiences to go on with reference to Break's changed appearance. "You did the same thing… as Raditz?"
"My dad? Yeah." Break locked her gaze on Buu. "It isn't your lucky day-two Super Saiyan 3's in a row." She leapt at him, throwing a punch Buu blocked. He hit back, but she ducked under it, swinging her whole body backwards and kicking at his head. He dodged sideways, clasping both hands over his head and punting her down through the floor.
"In case you've forgotten," he called after her, "I beat your dad twice! A Super Saiyan 3 is nothing to me!"
"On their own, maybe," came Piccolo's voice as the Namekian approached Buu cautiously. "But you're outnumbered, too." He quickly removed his cape and turban, throwing them in Buu's face as a distraction, then rushed around from the side to take Buu by surprise; Buu saw through the ruse, however, and vanished from sight. Piccolo felt a grip on his forearm, then cried out in anger as Buu swung him overhead and threw him through the wall into the corridor beyond.
Buu grinned, satisfied with the course of things so far, then a jarring sensation of building ki warned him of Gohan and Goten coming at him from behind, both charging energy attacks. Smiling, he leapt off into the twisting maze of the Lookout, fleeing towards the open top of the floating building.
Kaioshin and Kibito stood mournfully over Old Kai's body, Goku still sitting nearby. "Such a shame," Kaioshin managed, a restrained, austere sentence that belied the depths of sorrow within.
"It was… for the best," Kibito forced himself to say. "Others lived because of his actions, and Raditz gave Buu as good a fight as anyone has yet."
"We won't forget him," Goku said solemnly.
At this point, Old Kai sprung back up, a halo floating over his head, shaking a gnarled fist. "Of course you won't forget me! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Oh!" Goku almost managed not to laugh. "Right, I forgot!"
Kaioshin went red, having momentarily forgotten his own demise and continued existence on the sacred Kai planet. "I apologise for my foolishness, ancestor. I only wish I could have offered my life in your stead."
"Nonsense." Old Kai settled down in front of Goku, aimed one hand's palm directly at the saiyan, and ostensibly continued the ritual. "You're still young; I only had a few thousand years left in me anyway. Not that I'm entirely sure you're sufficiently skilled to even attempt a technique like life-force transferral. Besides, the way you spent your own life was noble enough in itself. Now, if you'll leave me alone, I've got to unlock this young man's hidden power so that it'll take Buu a few seconds longer to kill him."
"R-Right!" Kaioshin slunk back over to a nearby tree and lay under it, Kibito standing vigilantly beside him as ever.
Piccolo, creeping down a corridor, heard a noise from behind him-Buu, standing on the ceiling and laughing. Piccolo whirled, firing a machine-gun volley of energy beams, but Buu was already gone.
Buu dashed away down the corridor, stifling another laugh, but ran almost immediately into Gohan and Goten coming the other way. With Piccolo behind and the brothers in front, he chose the path of least resistance and forged straight ahead, punching both at once as he passed. They recovered fast, however, and Gohan Shifted in front of him, blocking his path and charging a Kamehameha. Buu just barely threw himself out of the way, aiming to escape past Goten, who he guessed was the weakest. However, Goten's mocking, tongue-waving image faded, revealing Piccolo's hyper-extended arm behind it, which flew at Buu, hitting him dead in the centre of his face. Buu fell back, rolling upright and gasping. An afterimage…? I was careless! I shouldn't have fallen for that kind of trick from someone so much slower than me! Damn… they're weak, but their teamwork is impressive.
Break hovered outside the Lookout, rubbing her chin. "Damn it, he keeps moving! And the inside of this place is so confusing… I know." She raised both arms into the air, gathering her substantial power around them. "I'll blast him out of there-he has to come out eventually!" With that, she began peppering the Lookout with piercing ki beams, blasting even more holes into the once-beautiful structure.
As the beams began to rain down around them, Buu smiled. A perfect distraction. In the moment of hesitation it caused, he put his superior speed to good use, running up to Gohan and kicking him up through the ceiling, then stretching both arms out backwards Namekian-style, Goten and Piccolo each taking a fist to the face. Buu then turned to the source of the indiscriminate energy attacks and blasted off towards it, flying out through a hole Break had made and aiming straight for her. She noticed just in time to block his first punch, but the second sent her spinning away through the air. Laughing heartily, Buu flew back up to the top of the Lookout, landing on the 'roof'. "Well, come on then, all of you! I'm being extremely generous here; I could have finished one of you off just then!"
One by one, his four opponents rose to face him, touching down on the cracked stone in front of him. "Ah, good, we're all here," Buu chuckled. "I was beginning to worry you'd realised you can't win. Which is true, by the way; you don't have a hope of killing me." He spread his arms invitingly, mocking them. "But, by all means, do try. It's so much more entertaining that way."
"Don't pull anything like that again, Break," Gohan warned. "We were in the line of fire too, y'know…"
"Ah, don't worry," she assured him, "I know what I'm doing."
Piccolo grunted. Too overconfident by far.
"And Buu-" Break continued with an over-dramatic sweep of her arm, "-I'm not done with you!" Before anyone could stop her, she charged up at Buu alone. She catapulted at him, but built up too much acceleration and he easily dodged, letting her fly past him, trailing curses entirely inappropriate for a child her age. She wheeled in mid-air, raising her guard just in time to block Buu's sweeping arm. He threw a knee strike up at her, catching her in the stomach, but she pressed forwards, her head smacking him in the face. He flung himself away, shaking his head to clear his vision.
"Hah!" Break taunted. "Am I too much for you?" She charged up a two-handed energy beam, firing while Buu was still disorientated.
At the last second, Buu's hand snapped up, stopping the yellow beam in its tracks. "Do you really think you can compete with me, child? I am older than humanity, than the saiyans. I was alive when the Nameks were still crawling things that skulked in caves." He began to form his own blast in front of his hand, using it to push back Break's. "I have fought the gods themselves!" His blast quickly grew in size, and when he launched it, shaping it into a beam, it effortlessly smashed through Break's, colliding with her and sending her into a tailspin back towards the Lookout. "I can survive being carved into pieces! I can survive the vacuum of space! What do you think you can do to me?"
"She can provide a good distraction while I get into place, for one thing!" This from Piccolo, who barreled into Buu, grabbing him by both legs and tackling him to the ground. Buu growled, agitated, his antenna extending and lashing out, whipping Piccolo across the face. The Namek's grip loosened, and Buu vanished. Piccolo sprang to his feet, keeping his guard up, but when Buu appeared in front of him he couldn't react fast enough, and Buu's shoulder-barge sent him flying.
"KAME-HAME-" Buu turned, seeing Gohan's fully-charged attack. Buu raised his hands to block, then Gohan smiled and Shifted away. Predicting Gohan's most likely destination, Buu did a hundred-and-eighty degree turn, crossing his arms over his face to block Gohan attempting to come around behind him-but he didn't expect a double-bluff. Gohan materialised right where he'd been standing before, and now with Buu's back to him-"HAAA!"
Gohan continued to pour power into the blast, seeing only a blaze of blue light in front of him. Slowly, he felt resistance increasing- is it working? Am I burning through him?- but his hopes were dispelled by an impossible sight. Buu was striding up to him, marching through the Kamehameha as if it were nothing more than a heavy wind. When Buu was inches away, Gohan let the attack die down, lowering his hands and staring in shock. Buu's entire surface, front and back, was scorched and half-melted, but the damage now repaired itself in short order before his eyes. "Clever," Buu said, nodding slightly. "Just what I'd expect from you, Gohan." Having said this, his arm whirled around, an almost gentle-looking haymaker sending the Super Saiyan sprawling. "So… is this the extent of your power? Really, you're all so disappointing- gaaahk! " This because one of the many arrow-shaped energy bolts suddenly piercing through his body had shot right through the back of his throat, disrupting his speech faculties somewhat.
Goten kept up the barrage, punching large holes throughout Buu's body, the surprised demon only able to desperately stagger around, then after a few seconds the young fighter clenched his fist-and the tiny, hyper-concentrated energy balls embedded in the tip of each 'arrow', which had remained lurking in Buu's body after the carrier had dissipated, all exploded at once. Massive chunks of Buu's body were blasted out in all directions, charred or reduced to liquid sludge, leaving only a quivering skeleton-shape, terrified eyes staring out of the top.
"You heal pretty good… but how about from that?" Goten said, grinning
"'Ssss uh mhhtter of fact…" New matter burst into existence, springing out to fill the gaping holes, burnt black fading back to vibrant pink. In a grotesque reverse explosion, Majin Buu was whole once more, his speech becoming slowly more intelligible as his throat and mouth regenerated. "… I can. But I thank you, for helping me to test the limits of my capabilities. You had me genuinely worried for a second." Goten made no attempt to conceal his disappointment, watching on with a look of despair as Buu began to pulse with a deep red light, a shimmering energy field appearing around him.
"Huh?" Break, who'd been coming around for another attack, lurched to a halt. "What's he-"
"Move!" Piccolo barked. "He's about to-"
"I'll show you Hell!" Buu declared, then released the colossal wave of power in an attempt to blast the Lookout apart. He was entirely successful.
Huge chunks of stone, slices of pillars and enormous clouds of dust rained down towards the Earth, taking the precariously-balanced Korin Tower beneath with it, the long-time seat of the godlike Guardians brought down to Earth in ruin by the works of a devil.
Gohan managed to open his eyes, but the world wouldn't stay still and stop shaking. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop either. Sitting up was not as hard as he expected, but a loud rustling broke through the ringing as piles of rubble shifted, thrown off by even the most casual application of his superhuman strength.
As he fell slowly into full consciousness, he gradually became aware of a rhythmic crashing noise, the footfalls of a sprinting giant. His ki sense was the last to return, and with that to help, he was able to pinpoint the source of the noise-high in the air above him, Piccolo and Break were still furiously attacking Buu, relentlessly hammering down blows on the monster's guard, which stubbornly held. A fusion of Tien's refined martial arts skill, the product of decades of dedicated training, and Majin Buu's monstrous natural power, gave him an unbelievably quick, fluid and adaptable defence-and when he moved onto the attack, each strike was carefully calculated for maximum effect, almost impossible to follow, and devastating when it landed.
Despite all this, Piccolo and Break managed to keep up the fight against Buu for several nigh-breathless minutes, spurred on by strength borne of fury and desperation. Their intense training had made each of the four intimately familiar with the others' fighting styles, and they used this knowledge to blend their attacks seamlessly, working with and around each other to keep up the pressure on Buu-to whom it was more like fighting one opponent with four arms, four legs, who thought up strategies twice as fast. They kept the fighting to close range, deliberately leaving no room or time for energy attacks.
However, the outcome was inevitable. As valiantly as they battled, as long as they dragged out the moments of resistance, they began to tire. Break first, losing out to the immense energy drain of Super Saiyan 3 and falling to the ground, far below. Piccolo could not hope to match Buu on his own and was quickly driven back by the creature's vastly superior speed and strength.
"All right…" Piccolo considered his options. Continuing a close-range fight alone is suicide. Going giant would just make me a bigger target. I could use the Special Beam Cannon… but that'd be far too much energy expended for a relatively small hole which would barely take any of his energy to heal.
Well, I've been wanting to give this one a try… He let surges of energy flow into both hands until they shone like miniature suns, holding them out to either side. Buu watched patiently, until Piccolo swung his arms forwards, releasing a rapid-fire burst of energy bullets.
Buu snorted, dodging the first few effortlessly. "What, is that your grand plan?" However, the blasts kept coming and eventually he grew bored of dodging, so settled back in place and began to bat the attacks aside as they came at him. "Yes, yes, a very entertaining lightshow…"
Let's see if he's still laughing when I'm done… ! Piccolo, grim-faced, continued to fire rapid bursts of the ki balls in Buu's direction, and Buu, for his part, continued to knock them out of their collision course with him. Buu failed to notice, however, that the deflected blasts were not dissipating in the air; they hung there, still perfectly formed, in a quickly-growing cloud around him, one that he was in effect creating himself.
Finally, the small light sources dotting the air around him caught Buu's attention, and seeing this-knowing Buu wouldn't fall for it any more-Piccolo stopped firing. "So you finally noticed."
"What… did you do?!" Buu hissed, panic edging into his voice.
Piccolo directed the spheres inwards, gleefully proclaiming, "Now learn the fate that awaits all who oppose the Demon King!"
"N-" Buu didn't get any further in his futile plea, as scores of densely-packed balls of ki collided with him at once, releasing their stored energy in a single cataclysmic explosion. Piccolo shielded his eyes as a colossal fireball billowed out from the spot Buu had occupied, the mere proximity to the soul-searing heat scorching the rubble-strewn ground beneath black, the displaced air transformed into an omnidirectional blast wave that would have proved deadly to any lesser being.
Piccolo didn't even allow himself a satisfied smile; too often he'd underestimated an enemy, believing them defeated, only to have them come back from the brink and deal him a crushing blow.
"Cease fire and surrender, Piccolo! Or face the consequences."
"I'm coming at you with everything I've got! It's time for your terror to end!"
"Nice shot-you almost got me there! Let me show you how it's done!"
"You… can't win!"
Given all this, Piccolo was not entirely surprised when, as the smoke cleared, what was revealed was not a horribly-mangled or dead Buu, but instead a fading afterimage. Now, I'm not angry, the one-time ruler decided, but I am disappointed.
Buu appeared directly ahead of Piccolo, and in instinctive response the Demon King flung both arms up, firing off a full-powered energy wave, but Buu was, as ever, faster, and swung his own hands up, catching the blast and crushing it between his fingers, leaving nothing but the quickly-expanding dust cloud Piccolo's attack had flung up. "A fine display of dust, if such were your intention…" Buu's hand shot out, clamping onto Piccolo's head. "Do you know, I've just had an idea. My regeneration's really been put through its paces today, I think you'll agree. Why don't we give yours a few tests, eh?"
"Gohan, he's-!"
"Don't look, Goten." Gohan pulled his younger brother back down into the shade of the rock they were taking cover behind. Even if he probably deserves it… "All right. I guess it's come to this… like I feared, Buu's too much for us."
"What are we gonna do?" Goten's eyes began to water.
"Well… there's something I could try. But I'd have to get back home to go and get it." He paused, wishing with all his being that he didn't have to say this. A kid this young, he doesn't deserve this. "I'll… be back as soon as I can, but if Buu follows me I'll never make it. Goten, I'm-I'm gonna have to ask you to do something very brave, okay?"
Bored, Buu let Piccolo fall to Earth. "Well, that was entertaining for a while. His regenerative capabilities are impressive, but not a patch on mine, of course. I bet he wouldn't even survive a simple decapitation… hmm?" His ki sense alerted him to Gohan rapidly leaving the area. "Running out on me, Gohan? Wherever to, I wonder? There's no-one left to run to. A noble effort at concealing your energy, but you'll have to do better to slip past me!" He began to chase after the rapidly-retreating ki signature, but halted to avoid an energy beam scorching the air just in front of him. He looked over to the left, to the source of the blast.
Goten hung in the air, back in Super Saiyan 2, arms held slightly outwards, determination battling fear on his face. "You stay right where you are!"
"Oh?" Buu turned to face his new opponent, drifting closer with deceptive speed, folding his arms and looking down at Goten with an expression of mirth. "And I suppose you're going to make me?"
Chapter 84: Stand
Finding himself confronted with Goten, of all people, Majin Buu had to pause a moment, marvelling at the tenacity of this world's warriors. So many have fallen before me, and they still fight on… even when hopelessly outmatched…
Buu's eye twitched as the three-eyed man stood resolute. "Who do you… think you are?" Tien remained silent, waiting stoically for Buu to make a move. "Fine!" Buu cried, whipping its arm around and lashing out with a horizontally-slicing energy wave.
Tien jumped, feeling the searing heat pass just beneath him, and didn't waste time in returning fire. "Tri-Beam!" His signature technique leapt forth, crashing into Buu. Hah! he thought. Dead-on target!
"You're good…" a blow from behind knocked Tien flat on his face, and he blacked out. Buu flexed its fingers. "I… felt that…" A chill swept down the back of Buu's neck-if even one of their weaker fighters could do this… ! The realisation began to dawn on Buu that it didn't know a thing about its enemies, their strengths or weaknesses, their incredible transformations and unusual techniques…
… and right here was the solution to all that.
Buu scratched his head idly. "So… how, exactly, are you planning on stopping me?"
Goten grinned nervously. "Well, uh… I thought I'd start with this !" Sudden force came into his words, and he swung his arms forwards, a pulse of ki rushing down them. A shimmering hoop of energy, several metres across, coalesced around Buu, who hung where he was, perplexed. "And what is this…?"
The ring contracted with a twitch from Goten's fingers, wrapping around Buu and crushing inwards. "Hrrg… !" Buu grunted as the attack pressed in with surprising force, threatening to wrench his arms out of his sockets.
After a few seconds of this struggle, Buu sighed, rolling his eyes. Fine. I suppose I'll have to use some strength even for this little one… With frightening ease, Buu thrust his arms out, ripping through the attack. "Interesting. I'll have to credit you with a little intelligence, after all…"
Goten gulped. So much for that one…
Gohan blasted along at full speed. Hold on, Goten… I'm sorry to have to put you in this situation, but if we carried on as we were, we'd be dead for sure! He was making good progress, when something caught his attention. A ki signal? I thought Buu killed everybody… better check it out. But quickly-can't leave Goten on his own for any longer than I have to… With misgivings, he slowed his flight and began to descend.
Buu sped towards Goten, lacking the patience to put up with any more of the saiyan's attacks. He whipped one arm around, grabbing the front of Goten's shirt and pulling him into close range, throwing a knee strike into Goten's stomach to keep him off-balance.
Goten growled, gripping the wrist at his throat one-handed and staring up into Buu's eyes. It was not empty defiance-twin energy beams lanced out of Goten's eyes, piercing right into Buu's and out the back of his head. The gambit-to get past Buu's superior strength with a combination of surprise, hitting a weak point, and a focused attack-had paid off. With Buu now reeling with pain, Goten concentrated yet more power into a blade-like shape enveloping one hand. Swinging it downwards, he sawed right through Buu's wrist, freeing himself. Before Buu could recover, Goten sped away, getting back to a safe distance and readying himself for his enemy's counterattack.
Buu used his remaining hand to snatch the detached one out of the air, reattaching it to his bloodless wrist-stump. His eyes regrew with an unpleasant sucking sound, and he frowned. "A clever ploy… had I been a normal opponent, you would have won this battle there and then…" I see… he wasn't able to attain the strength the others could, so he focused on developing unusual techniques…
"I'm just getting started!" Goten swung his head and shoulders back, drawing in an exaggerated breath.
Buu raised an eyebrow. His ki is rising fast… whatever it is, I shouldn't give him the chance to- "Gyaah!" Buu explained as he was suddenly grappled from behind. Eighteen hung grimly on, struggling to keep Buu still. "Couldn't… sense me… coming, huh?"
"You…?!" Buu gasped. "I killed you!"
"Did you?" Eighteen grinned despite herself. "Your knowledge of… me is outdated! A broken… neck's no problem!" There was still a bruise on her neck, but she'd twisted her head back around to face front and let the mechanical vertebrae reattach themselves. "Goten!" she barked. "Hit him with everything you've got!"
"Right!" Buu will take the brunt of it-she should be fine. In theory. Goten swung his head back up, exhaling-and something strange emerged with his breath.
It was the archetypal image of a ghost-a white, floating thing, humanoid from the torso up, lower half trailing off into a hovering 'tail'. Its face and hair was a perfect simulacrum of Goten's, and it grinned maliciously. It stuck its tongue out at Buu. "Nyaa!" it squealed, in a high-pitched imitation of Goten's voice.
As Buu and Eighteen stared blankly, Goten pointed straight at Buu. "The Kamikaze Ghost Attack, I call it. Not bad, huh?" His face grew serious, and the ghost prepared to charge. "This attack will be the end of you, Buu. You shouldn't have killed my mom and dad!"
"… when Buu came crashing in, I thought it was the end!" Dende-the ki Gohan had sensed-was saying. "But Chi-Chi and Chiaotzu were there, and they bought us a couple of seconds. In that time, Mr. Popo was able to throw me off the Lookout."
Gohan's face lit up. "And if you're still alive, the Dragon Balls… ! There's still hope for everyone Buu's killed!" He remembered himself and his brother, taking off. "Sorry, Dende, I've gotta hurry! You've got a little ki-use it! Find somewhere to hide! You, of all people, have to survive!" Then he was gone.
Gohan landed outside his mountain home, Shifting through the wall to get in. He raced into his room, rummaged in his cupboard for a minute, and found the item he was looking for-a cryo-stasis container he'd taken from Nemea, all those years ago. Quietly, like a sleeping predator, it had sat half-forgotten in his room for all this time. He cracked it open, feeling a wave of cold air wash over him as steam billowed out from the small case.
He reached in, shivering, and from the blue-lit interior drew out its occupant-a round, red, rough-textured fruit. So innocuous-looking… he held the thing up in his hand, contemplating it. When Turles ate the fruit from the Tree of Might, it gave him great power, but made him mentally unstable. Is it worth the risk…? The enormity of all they had lost pressed down on him suddenly. What am I thinking? Of course it is.
Well, here goes… the last fruit. He took a deep breath, raised it to his mouth, and sank his teeth in.
The ghost flew as if shot from a cannon, hitting Buu head-on and exploding. Eighteen dived out of the way, riding the blast wave to the ground. Goten knew the attack wasn't enough to kill Buu on its own, and charged at Buu, building up his energy as he approached. The smoke cleared to show a giant hole blown in Buu's chest, the creature gasping and coughing as he tried to concentrate enough to regenerate. Goten didn't intend to give him the time. "Ka, me… k- ha, me… "
Buu grimaced. "Rrr…" An idea struck him, with just a moment to spare. "SOLAR FLARE!" Tien's ever-useful technique blinded the unprepared Goten, and Buu's arm shot out, knocking Goten away. Buu quickly regenerated the horrendous damage he'd suffered, then rushed down after Goten. They landed at about the same time, Goten's body sandwiched between the ground and Buu's knee. "Hah!" Buu called out in delight as Goten collapsed, hair fading to black. Buu's senses alerted him just in time to dodge an energy beam from Eighteen. He spun, timing his kick just right to catch her in the head as she approached, firing off Tien's Dodon Ray after her to make sure she stayed down.
"Hmm…" Buu considered the situation. Of Piccolo, Break, Eighteen and Goten, none of them were actually dead. "I must be losing my touch… well, I suppose I can finish them all at my leisure now-huh?"
Slowly, his head turned towards the distant mountains. "What is this… power…?"
… power! Gohan realised. So much… he felt it coursing through him, fire in his veins. He raised his arms, almost involuntarily going Super Saiyan-there was just too much power to contain in his base form. The burst of energy wrecked the house, but he barely noticed. "Hhh… rrrgghhh…" Still… too much! Super Saiyan wasn't enough. He growled, pulling himself up into Super Saiyan 2 and filling the air with dancing lightning bolts. They crossed and flowed through his vision, growing quickly more intense as the power boiled up inside of him.
There's still… too much… to contain! "Hhhh…" Wait… why am I trying to keep it in…? "HAAAAAAAH-!" With a primal yell, he stopped trying, and let it out in a storm of gold and blue.
The sky darkened, and Buu tensed up. "So they were covering for Gohan… but what did he do?!" Jagged yellow forks of lightning split the sky, illuminating Buu's grim visage against the unnatural gloom.
A writhing mass of electricity erupted over the mountains, golden bolts rushing out like a tidal wave, wreaking havoc where they touched the ground, reaching Buu and washing over him. And he could have sworn that he heard… a voice? At this distance?
"AAAAAAAAAHHH… !" A figure, distant but distinct, bathed in glorious light, was rising over the mountains. "-AAAAA AAAAA- " The wave of energy continued to expand, and the mountains crumbled-slowly at first, then far faster, tumbling down, the ancient kings of the earth overthrown by this godlike being rising above them. "- AAAAA AAAAAH -!" The electricity swirled back towards him, focusing into a twisting vortex rising from the ground up towards Gohan's incandescent form.
Then, without warning, Gohan Shifted into view a few metres from Buu. "Gah!" Buu flinched back, gazing in confusion at his enemy's changed appearance. "You've… transformed! Like the others!"
"Yeah," Gohan agreed. "I was surprised myself, but you're right. I've become a Super Saiyan Three…" Normally, when a transformation completed, the associated pyrotechnics fade away. Not so here. Perhaps because of the uncontrollable nature of the Tree of Might's energy-for whatever reason, the storm continued to rage around them.
"F-Fool… !" Buu forced a smile, clenching one fist in front of his face. "I've proven more than once that your third level is no match for me!"
"That so." Gohan settled into a combat-ready stance. "Be that as it may, you've been fighting non-stop for a long time now. Your energy can recover, just like your body, but it takes time. You're nowhere near your peak right now!"
"Let's test that!" Buu snarled. They flew at each other, each readying an opening blow. Buu's hand swung wide as Gohan angled away slightly, but Gohan's punch got through, smashing into Buu's face with the force of a supernova. Buu's head snapped back, coughing up blood. "My mother!" Gohan spat, not giving Buu time to hit back and kicking him in the stomach, his foot making an imprint in the rubbery material. "My father!" He brought both hands down on the back of Buu's head, the thundering blow sending Buu hurtling to the ground below, throwing up a shower of rock. "Not to mention everyone on Earth! This is the turning point, Buu-I won't lose to you!"
Buu blearily raised his head, trying to clear his vision. He heard footsteps behind him. "Get up," Gohan's voice demanded. Buu scrambled to his feet, desperately trying to regenerate the damage he'd taken. "You're gonna pay for all the people you've hurt."
Buu straightened up, assuming one of Tien's stances. "Feh… I didn't think I'd have to use this much effort one you. Well… now, the real fight begins."
With little to no warning, Buu was upon him, madly attacking. Gohan retreated, blocking as fast as he could, but every blow was barely deflected enough. A grabbing hand pulled Gohan's leg out from under him and he fell backwards. Buu took advantage of his disorientation. "D'you know, I think I'm getting hungry!" he decided, firing the transmogrification beam from his antenna. Gohan flipped away into the air, dodging it, but as he righted himself Buu shoulder-barged into him, then punched him away through the air again. Buu fired off a ki blast after Gohan, but before it struck him Gohan Shifted away to just behind Buu. He flung his ki out, staggering Buu, then landed a heavy kick to the side of Buu's head. Buu reeled, furious, and Gohan closed in to press his advantage. He swung through an afterimage, however, the real Buu being slightly to the left. Buu struck at Gohan's undefended flank, driving an elbow home, then a kick, then a dozen more blows in rapid succession. Gohan was flung left and right as Buu's fists and feet battered his body, until finally Buu's overconfidence gave him an opening.
Buu felt a sudden grip on his right wrist, then his left, and then a rush of air as Gohan swung him around in a full circle. "Wh-whaa-!" Buu gasped, then Gohan let go, flinging Buu up high into the atmosphere. Snarling, Buu wrenched his flight to a halt. "Damn… you… !" The storm created by Gohan's transformation still roared around him, as if the planet itself was screaming its defiance at its would-be conqueror. "I. Have. Had. ENOUGH!" Buu yelled. "You all fight so hard to defend this planet… you won't have to worry about that for long! Ahahahahaaa!" He realised he was raving-laughing maniacally, even. So stereotypically villainous… but then, why shouldn't I be? I'm about to destroy this entire world for no other reason than the fact that it's getting on my nerves, after all. "I wonder, can you survive in the vacuum of space?" Tien's memories tell me… not for long enough. He began to gather his energy, pouring his titanic reserves of ki into his arms, letting it flow up into his hands and coalesce into physical form. He raised his hands, turning down to face the planet and putting his fingers into a triangular position. So many useful techniques-I definitely made the right choice when I absorbed this one.
Far below, Gohan grimaced. So much ki… ! I can't deflect that! Can't Shift it away either; the Tri-Beam creates an instantaneous explosion, not something I can hold back like his attack before…
Wait. I don't have to. An idea had struck him. A completely mad idea, one that would cause a terrible amount of damage. But… Dende and the Dragon Balls might survive. And that's the most important thing.
He flared up his aura and took off, calling on all of his speed to carry him a full quarter of the way around the world in minutes-seconds-he was there. No time to waste! He lowered his hands to his right side. "KA… ME…"
Buu frowned. "What does he think he's playing at…? The Tri-Beam far outclasses the Kamehameha in destructive power, he knows that! And what's he going to do, so far away?"
Gohan kept on building his power, but didn't ignite it into light form, keeping it all as pure force. "HA…" Suddenly, he swung around in the air, turning to face Earth. "ME… !"
Raditz, far away, managed to stand. "Buu… he's going to destroy everything! I can't let him… !"
Launch nodded. "Right, but what can we-"
Guys! It was Gohan's voice, speaking directly into their minds.
Gohan? Raditz was puzzled. When did you learn telepathy?
Piccolo taught me in the Chamber. He was a lot more co-operative when Break surpassed him… uh… not important right now! You can feel Buu's power?
Yeah! Launch replied. You want us to help you deflect it?
Gohan's voice was grim. Not sure if we can! Look, I've got a plan, but I need Raditz back at Super Saiyan 3!
Sorry, I'm in seriously bad shape…
I got it. Launch reached both hands up and placed them on her lover's shoulders. "Here." Raditz felt a curious rushing sensation as Launch swiftly transferred as much of her ki as possible to him.
"Thanks!" Raditz made a defiant fist with his good arm. "I'm not at 100%, but that'll definitely let me transform!" Okay, Gohan; what's the plan?
We've only got a couple seconds until he fires! So do exactly as I say, no questions!
A few seconds later, Gohan had outlined his plan, and though he looked worried, Raditz agreed. "All right…" He raised two fingers to his forehead, and was gone.
Grinning madly to himself, Buu fired, releasing the colossal build-up of energy straight down at the Earth. "Whatever you're doing, it won't work! TRI-BEAM-HAAAA!"
Gohan swung his hands forwards. Now! "HHHHAAAA!" What was released was not an energy beam, as such; Gohan had no wish to destroy the Earth. It was a pure, expansive wave of un-ignited force.
Not an energy beam, but the most massive kiai ever unleashed in the history of the universe.
Not to destroy the Earth at all. Gohan was moving the Earth.
Buu watched, first with surprise, then curiosity, then as he saw what was happening, with utter dumbfounded incredulity. As his Tri-Beam neared it, the Earth simply leapt sideways! The Tri-Beam passed it by harmlessly, and Buu's eyes tracked the retreating planet with disbelief as it continued to move away from him. "What… I… he… what ?!" he spluttered.
"This had better work!" Super Saiyan 3 Raditz, standing on the opposite side of the world to where Gohan had been, pushed off into the air, readying (one-handed) his own fully-charged kiai -Kamehameha; its energy carefully matched with Gohan's. "Rrrrrr rrrr RRRAAAAHHHH!" He thrust the attack at the Earth, sending it hurtling back into its proper orbit.
Gohan breathed out as the Earth flew back towards him and he re-entered its atmosphere. He flew down and landed, pausing to take a breather. I can't believe… that worked! He stood up, taking off again and soaring back towards Buu. Can't stop no w, or he'll recover his energy and I'll be no match for him.
Raditz appeared in front of Launch with Instant Transmission, collapsing and losing his transformation. "Hey…" he said weakly.
Launch had only just about recovered from the earthshaking events of the last few seconds, but managed to speak. "What did you just do?!"
"Gohan moved the planet," he mumbled. "I moved it back. Gonna just lie down for a week, 'kay?"
Buu faced Gohan again, confidence returned. "An unexpected ploy."
"You're not going to try that again soon," Gohan said, grinning. "Not with the amount of energy it used up."
"I don't need it!" Buu shouted. "Killing you will be easy!"
Gohan said nothing, waiting for Buu to attack. He didn't have to wait long-Buu launched himself at Gohan once more, and they collided in an explosion of energy, flinging them both away. Gohan wheeled around to attack again, but had to hastily dodge as Buu fired a volley of energy beams his way. He dodged through the rapid-fire attack, now feeling seriously drained from the gruelling battle. In truth, I'm surprised I've even lasted this long… Super Saiyan 3 drains a lot of power, and I've got no experience with it, yet I'm still in the fight. The Tree of Might really is something! He Shifted closer to Buu, punching straight for the demon's face. Buu raised an arm to block, but unexpectedly found himself punched from behind, Gohan's arm Shifting around to take him by surprise. Buu hissed, throwing a close-range energy ball, and Gohan opened another portal, Shifting it into his own hand and shoving it back into Buu's face, where it detonated. Buu screeched in pain, but at the same time kicked out, an unbelievably strong blow crashing into Gohan's stomach.
The half-saiyan grimaced, trying to stay upright. His strength's returning! Time to break out my two new techniques, I guess. Now or never, anyway. He closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. Buu paused in pursuing Gohan, confused. "What are you trying now…?"
Gohan intoned flatly, "Dimension Step."
Buu raised an eyebrow. Eh?
Gohan Shifted out of sight. "That's all?" Buu laughed. "You've used this technique already-ah!" He saw Gohan appear, slightly further away, and struck out, but the Super Saiyan was gone. "Where-" Again, Gohan appeared; Buu struck, again too late.
It began happening faster, Gohan appearing and disappearing, sometimes seeming to be in two or three places at once, but never quite there; almost two-dimensional. He didn't assemble out of tiny fragments like Shifting usually enabled him to, nor did he simply appear as with Instant Transmission-instead, he seemed to be refracted, as if he was an image shined out of a prism. He faded and blinked constantly in and out of existence, moving randomly through the air around Buu.
"Where are you?!" Buu howled.
"I'm here, and not here," came Gohan's voice, a distant, echoing sound. "Shifting is using the fifth dimension to move, then coming back here. With this technique, I'm constantly phasing through-I'm never fully here or there." A fist struck Buu, but there was nothing to hit back at. Another. A third.
Buu fled, or tried to, but Gohan was faster, hammering more strikes into Buu's body, not allowing a moment's respite. He kept the barrage coming hard and fast, hoping to make sure Buu ran out of energy before he did.
Then-Gohan wasn't quite sure what happened. Buu's third eye, the main physical sign of his absorption of Tien, snapped open wide, glowing slightly. Buu's arm whipped out, and Gohan was wrenched back into reality. Before he could readjust, Buu's elbow cracked against his skull, smacking him down into the dirt.
Gohan spat earth and blood, hearing Buu's harsh, grating laugh.
"Hah!" Buu gloated. "Your friend Tien has more talent than he realises. This eye of his isn't just for show-and it let me see exactly when you were mostly in this world. Child's play, once I'd thought of it. Hahahah!"
Gohan struggled to his feet. I can't have long left in this form… "I… won't… lose… !"
"Saying it doesn't make it so," Buu taunted.
"I don't want… this world of emptiness!" Gohan spat through bloodied lips, trying to boost his own confidence. "You might have the upper hand now… but people like you… can never win."
"Oh? Is that a fact? HAH!" Buu flung his arms up to the heavens. "You haven't realised it yet? I'm invincible, you fool! I can't be killed!" And his harsh laughter rolled on.
Only enough energy left for this one attack… better make it count! "Rrrg… that laugh of yours…" Gohan prepared his final technique, one Goten had already employed-he formed a sword-like sheath of energy around his wrist and hand, holding it out to the side. "I'LL PUT AN END TO IT!"
"Heh." Buu drew back his fist as Gohan charged. They attacked in unison, Gohan's energy sword slicing at Buu as Buu's ki-loaded fist shot at Gohan's ribs. They collided, attacks tearing into each other with a great rush of wind and a final explosion of power.
In the quiet that followed, the two fighters stood facing each other, suspended half an inch off the ground. The familiar low crackle of energy permeated the air. A slow exhalation of breath. Blood dripped to the ground, staining the cracked rock and sizzling in the heat.
Chapter 85: Aware of Emptiness
"Son Goku", Japanese translation of "Sun Wukong", the Monkey King and hero of the Chinese folktale 'Journey to the West'.
Also "Son Goku", "the child aware of emptiness".
"Th… that idiot!" The Supreme Kai was shaking fearfully. "He's got to realise moving the whole planet like that will have serious consequences!"
"Well…" Kibito said doubtfully, "everyone still alive on Earth has some level of ki… perhaps he was counting on that to let them all survive." Scientifically, it's a bit of a stretch that the consequences weren't worse… I'm surprised the planet's crust and mantle aren't seriously deformed, for one thing.
"Haha!" Goku grinned. "That sounds more like the kind of stupid thing my brother and I would come up with! Gohan's really grown up!" He turned back to Old Kai, still dozing, hand still outstretched in his direction. "I just wish I could go help… I wonder how long now?"
"Hmm? Eh?" Old Kai yawned, raising his head slowly. "Oh, I'm done. I guess I must have been done for a while now-sorry, I fell asleep…"
"W… What?!"
Buu staggered back, a vertical slice carved diagonally down from shoulder to hip. Damn it all… I'm lower on energy than ever before! This boy… ! A shiver of true fear seethed in his mind at the damage inflicted to him by Gohan's tenacious fight. Finally, energy depleted, Buu fell, collapsing onto his front and lying there twitching.
Gohan, twin streams of blood dripping to the ground from his mouth, felt his Super Saiyan energy leave him. Guess… even the Tree of Might's energy isn't infinite… He tried to take a step forwards, felt tortured muscles protest in his abdomen, and realised the sheer force of Buu's last attack. He couldn't manage another step, falling to the ground next to Buu. He felt like he'd been put through a meat grinder; unable to raise a hand to finish Buu off. And unlike him… I won't recover! "I'm… sorry, Videl…" he whispered, more blood pooling on the rock around his head. "… did my best…"
"Oh yes, I'm done," Old Kai said happily, nodding. "Your potential's fully unlocked. I wouldn't worry about the delay, it's more dramatic this way."
"Come to think of it…" Goku stood, stretching his aching legs, cramped from sitting still for a full day. "I do feel… different." He felt his ki flowing through him, and it was so gentle and natural it took him a second to realise that he'd gotten stronger-he was more powerful than ever, without even needing to turn Super Saiyan. "Hey… my transformations… I won't need them now, will I?"
"Very astute. No, all your power is available as you are; and a good deal more than you had before. All that flashy transformation business is unnecessary, really."
"Awesome!" Goku gave the old guardian a thumbs-up, then turned to Kibito. "I'll be needing to get back to Earth, then."
"Yes…" Kibito hesitated. "Only… you have powered up, but not by that much. You're certainly not as strong as a Super Saiyan 3, and even that form is far outclassed by this new Majin Buu. Are you sure-"
"Don't worry about it." Something about Goku's smile convinced Kibito that the saiyan knew what he was doing. "I can beat him. Trust me."
"If you're certain." Kibito let Goku place a hand on his shoulder, then vanished with Instant Movement. They materialised on Earth, in the middle of a grassy field-Kibito had put himself out of the line of fire, deciding to let Goku handle the fighting. "I hope you can live up to our hopes. The universe is crying out for a saviour."
"Hey, I'm just the right guy in the right place, is all," replied Goku, laughing. "Oh! Before you go… well, I've been wearing the old turtle hermit's outfit for years. And no disrespect for him, but it's been so long since I trained under him… can you magic up a change of clothes for me?" For some reason… all of a sudden, a feeling's gone, one that I never even knew I had. For all these years, on some level, I've still been thinking of myself as Roshi's pupil. Now, after this ritual… I feel like my own person.
"Certainly. What did you have in mind?"
"Just reach out with your thoughts; I'll show you. You've got telepathy, and my own mental powers aren't too shabby. But, uh…" He sensed Buu's energy rising; slowly at first, but accelerating. "… better hurry."
Buu rose to his feet, internally seething with fury. I don't believe it! I am superior to these mortals-none of them even comes close to my strength-and yet more than once they've brought me so close to death!
Well. He straightened his back, breathing slowly as his regeneration finished its work, restoring him to his former glory. Finally with time to rest, he felt his energy recovering as well. All it took was a few moments, and he was back at full power. "Hmph! Had I been in this state when I fought Gohan, he would have posed no threat at all! So pitiful that I let myself get dragged down to that level… I must be more careful in future." In any case, now I'm back at 100%, I should finish them all off immediately-
Who… is that?
A corona of blue-white light heralded the new arrival, but his flight and landing were silent. Buu stared for a second, then recovered his composure. "Ah. Son Goku. Tien's full of respect for you…" Goku cracked a smile, approaching Buu at a leisurely pace. "Not that it's deserved-I'm sure you recall the ease with which I defeated you the last time we met." Silence. Say something, damn you! After letting a few more agonising seconds drag themselves out, Goku responded.
"I've powered up a little since then," he replied evenly, coming to a halt in front of Buu. He was clad in a loose-fitting light blue gi, held together with a white belt and orange bands at the wrists and ankles. It was completely clean of insignia, with no symbols of allegiance of any kind. His old Power Pole, retrieved from the ruins of the Lookout, was slung over one shoulder with a simple rope.
"Yes, exactly as you say- a little . I can feel your ki, and you're still not even at the level of a Super Saiyan 3-and even they are nothing to me at full power. I'd much like to know how, exactly, you plan to kill me!"
"Kill you?" Goku cocked an eyebrow at this. "Nah, I'm just here to fight you."
Break sat up groggily, feeling surprised at how uninjured she was-she must have run out of steam from using the third form too quickly to get seriously hurt by Buu's attacks, and was actually feeling quite refreshed upon waking up. This self-assessment was soon forgotten when she saw the scene in front of her. Oh man, everyone's down… ! But… Goku? I thought he was dead… what's he doing? He can't beat Buu with that kind of power…
"You can feel it, can't you?" Piccolo was standing behind her, trying not to let on that he was about at the end of his endurance-Buu's savage beating had taxed his regeneration to its limit (and his was nowhere near as miraculous as Majin Buu's), and he hadn't even expended the energy it'd take to restore his outfit. "Goku's severely outmatched…" He's not even as strong as I am now… though if he'd been at this level during our fight, it wouldn't have been so simple. "When Buu starts to attack Goku, we hit him from behind. Got it? Numbers, at least, are still on our side."
"Right," Break said grimly, gulping at the thought of going up against Majin Buu again. She didn't transform yet-better to wait for the last moment, to retain the element of surprise and conserve energy besides.
"But…" Goku warned. "I won't let you continue this path of destruction. Normally, I don't like taking life, even my enemies. However, you… you started life as a mindless beast, only caring about destruction. And for some reason, no matter how smart you've got, you still just want the same thing. I guess you find it fun. Well, no more." His eyes narrowed, an undeniable certainty coming into his voice. "You've killed my friends, my family, and countless innocents besides! For all of them… it ends here, Buu!"
"Heheh…" Buu rolled his head back, beginning to laugh his terrible laugh. "Ahahahaaa! Your power might be nothing to speak of, but as a comedian, you're peerless! I could-"
" Kaioken," Goku whispered.
"What did you-"
"TIMES THREE!"
The noise that followed would be impossible to do justice to using simple onomatopoeic sound effects. It was not quite a VOOM; a simple VRAAAM doesn't suffice either; but these are about the closest approximations.
It was an express train the size of a galaxy roaring past. It was the engine-roar of the devil's own motorbike. It was the thunder of a million cannons firing in unison. It passed beyond normal perceptions of mere sound, the titanic vibrations felt in every violently-shaking cell in one's body.
This nonverbal battle-cry was accompanied by a blaze of red light, and a flicker of movement from Goku's arm. Not even a flicker, at that; the aftermath of movement, the impression that there had been movement, tremendously fast and forceful, but you had just missed it, and the arm was back in its original place at the saiyan's side.
Buu stood stunned for a moment, stumbling back slightly as the shockwave washed over him. Then he felt it; a rumble, a terrible lurching pain, and a large circular section of his chest simply vanished, atomised by the crushing force of what was undoubtedly the hardest punch ever thrown by mortal being.
Buu blinked. "W-Wh-"
Another flare of red, and Goku's leg swiped out, taking Buu's feet out from under him. As he floundered in the air, Buu swung angrily at Goku, but his target was long gone well before his attack arrived. An uppercut to the chin hurled Buu into the air, landing him in a sprawled heap on the ground.
The stab in his mind, the shock of such a huge power level, jolted Gohan awake. He tried to lift his head, making the supreme effort to stay conscious. "D… Dad…?"
Goku relaxed his aura again, rolling his shoulders. "I'd say that's a pretty good warm-up. You?"
Buu choked on his words. "How…?" This was the first time in his unnatural life that he'd ever been surpassed by an opponent like this, that he'd ever come up against a fighter so clearly superior to him; and at the height of his power, too.
Piccolo and Break, still hiding nearby, were equally stunned. "What changed him so much?" Piccolo wondered aloud. "How's he doing this? Buu took on all of us together, and tore right through us!"
"And Goku just floored him like it was nothing…" Break whispered in agreement. And it's not just a physical change… his spirit is so… calm.
Meanwhile, Goku stood waiting for Buu to get up. "Go on, take your time," he said good-naturedly. "I'm in no rush."
"Y… You!" Buu growled, getting shakily to his feet. His wounds were healing, but slower than before. "What did you do?! Answer me!"
"If you really want to know, I guess." Goku shrugged. "I could never use the Kaioken technique effectively while transformed. It became pretty much impossible at Super Saiyan 2. But… well, I'll spare you the details, but all my Super Saiyan power, and then some, is now unlocked in my normal state. The energy's a lot calmer and easier to control than ever before. It's still a lot to magnify like this, so I can't push it up by a factor of ten or twenty like Tien and the others could, but a threefold Kaioken is all I need to beat you." He paused. "Which raises the question… why don't you use the Kaioken? You have absorbed Tien, after all. It'd be an interesting challenge for me, actually." Goku gave it a few seconds, but Buu didn't respond or attack. "So. You can't. Let me guess-your magically-granted energy, like Super Saiyan power, is incompatible with the Kaioken? That, or your base power is just so large you can't multiply it. I'd guess some combination of both." The normally-simple fighter's imagination and highly-specialised intelligence became fiercely engaged when it came to combat.
"You talk too much…" Buu mumbled.
"You know what?" Goku said, grinning. "You're right. Times three !" His power shot up again, and he thundered forwards, an opening punch catapulting Buu away through the air. Buu shrieked in frustration, pulling himself to a halt, then flinching as Goku appeared behind him, right leg swinging. Again, the attacking limb melted into a blur of movement before returning to its original position. This time, the sound wasn't quite so apocalyptic, but now three holes in rapid succession blasted themselves into Buu's midsection, each sending out a cylindrical shockwave straight behind him, carving tunnels through the ground as the aftermath of Goku's blows passed over the Earth.
"Hey, impressive!" Goku taunted. "In the time it took for me to kick through you three times, you managed to almost turn your head to face me! Didn't think you were that fast."
"Don't you mock me!" Buu yelled, then flinched as Goku readied himself to attack again, before Buu's wounds from the previous assault had even healed. However, both were thrown off-balance by a sudden deep rumble, seeming to come from directly underneath them. Ferocious winds sprung up, uprooting trees and scattering them across the land.
"Wh-What's…?" Worry crept into Goku's voice.
"Oh… oh, I see. That's just precious." Buu spoke with malicious joy. "Your son must have known he couldn't move the entire planet without any serious consequences. I'd say he stirred up the magma in the mantle-but now the disturbance has finally reached the surface, we're starting to feel the effects. Saving this world may just have turned it into a barren wasteland-a dead shell of a planet!"
"That may be so, but… you've got bigger problems right now." Powering up again, Goku snatched Buu's antenna and dragged his head downwards, flattening the creature's face on his knee before using a kiai to throw him away again. "HRAAA!"
Rock formations began to crumble as the disruption in the Earth's crust grew. The winds picked up to gale force, carrying along whole boulders and storms of smaller rocks. Goku idly deflected one such boulder as it bounced up at him. Buu is an interesting opponent, he thought, observing Buu's face 'pop' back out into its original position after being squashed flat by his knee strike. I mean, what's he even made of? Chewing gum? Anyway. "I'm about done, Buu. There's no point dragging this fight out any longer… you're not even making me try hard. I'm going to end you now."
"You… impetuous… !" Buu seethed, steam gushing from the pores on his head and shoulders. "I am immortal! The likes of you can never-!"
"HAAAAH!" Goku, flowing around a counterattack like water, landed a crushing punch to Buu's stomach, but scarcely had Buu staggered away from the force of the hit, when another four impacts made themselves known one after the other, each successively thrusting Buu further away from Goku, feet scrabbling desperately for purchase on the rock beneath. Don't tell me… in that instant, he landed five blows at once?! And I didn't even see him use the Kaioken… he's switching it on and off for just as long as it takes him to hit me, to minimise energy loss… he could keep this up all day. "D… Damn you!" He gasped. "You won't win! GHAAA!" This particularly interesting noise was the result of Buu launching a mouth beam, which Goku faced head-on, grasping the oncoming attack between both hands and wrestling it to the side before releasing the redirected blast.
However, this took time, and as he was doing this Buu sprung, launching himself at Goku in an attempt to get the saiyan on the defensive. Goku sighed, activating the Kaioken and casually dodging a whirlwind of attacks from Buu, finally catching Buu's swinging arm and bringing it to a dead halt. Goku jumped, placing both feet on Buu's chest and wrapping his arms around Buu's wrist, then pulled. Buu's arm tore clean off, trailing pink chunks, and Goku held it up contemplatively in front of him. "Y'know, that was kinda anticlimactic. I mean, you gonna react or anything? I just tore your arm -"
"HAH!" Buu shouted triumphantly, flicking his antenna forwards and firing his transformation beam. Goku thought fast, raising Buu's detached arm to block. The beam struck the pink, rubbery arm, 'shattering' it into a cloud of tiny candies.
"'Hah!' yourself," Goku chuckled, rubbing his nose.
"Grrr…" Buu grumbled, regrowing his arm with some effort. Above them, the sky was churning itself up into a mass of small storm-clouds, rapidly forming and dissipating. The shaking of the ground was growing more regular.
Growing serious once more, Goku placed his hands in the Kamehameha position. It's over… this attack will finish it.
Buu realised the danger, thought quickly, and formed a plan. He smashed his fist into the ground, sending out a massive shockwave and shattering the terrain around him. Through the sudden storm of flying debris, Goku lost sight of Buu. He's masked his energy, too! Damn it! He flew up out of the cloud, searching the surrounding area.
Buu, crouched behind a nearby overhang, smiled. Perfect. He's completely lost me. Now… he focused his eyes on Piccolo and Break, tensed up, and shot at them. To achieve maximum speed, he had to go to full power, which meant it'd only be a couple of seconds before Goku intercepted him; but it also meant Piccolo and Break saw him coming, which was exactly what he wanted.
"Defend yourself!" Piccolo shouted, raising his guard. Break nodded, an explosion of light and sound heralding her Super Saiyan 3 transformation. Buu easily bypassed their strikes, grabbing each of them around the neck. Just at that moment, Goku came rocketing in from above, colliding feet-first with Buu and knocking him deep underground (which only served to exacerbate the now-constant rumbling from below). "Nice try!" Goku called, landing gracefully.
"G… Goku!" Came a choked voice from behind him-Goku turned to see Break and Piccolo still being grappled by Buu's now-disembodied hands.
"What the heck-" As he watched, the hands melted into an expanse of pink Buu-stuff, rapidly expanding and completely enveloping them. Damn it! Can't attack it without hitting them too! Then again, maybe Piccolo- It was too late. The nightmarish sight of the twin shifting pink masses lurched into the air, then arced over Goku's head and shot downwards, meeting Buu on his way up. The blobby, rapidly-changing morass quickly spread to encompass Buu's entire body, a truly horrific process. "Ahahahaha!" He yelled, triumphant.
"No!" Goku hissed. He's absorbing them… just like Tien… and they're both a lot stronger than he was! This can't be good…
Eventually, the bubbling, writhing mass settled down, solidifying, hardening, shrinking into a solid shape. Goku had to work not to hold his breath.
"Ahhhhhhh…" The hiss of air across Buu's tongue, the mere breath, sounded malicious, venomous. Finally, his new form was revealed. Majin Buu was now even taller, and his head-antenna had grown substantially, now stretching down to the back of his knees; the third eye was also gone. Most notably, his top half was no longer naked, but now sported a billowing white cape with jutting shoulderpads, an exact clone of Piccolo's. A blue-in-gold Super Saiyan-like aura burned around him. His haunting eyes, still black voids fixed with thin, hollow red circles, seemed to pierce into Goku's soul. "Well, Son Goku? What do you think? You should feel honoured!" he laughed. "You are present to witness the birth of the ultimate being! Tien Shinhan's intelligence… Break's power… and a generous helping of both from Piccolo. Not to mention my own talents. You will have the privilege of being the first victim of the new Majin Buu."
"Rrrr…" Goku trembled, his anger directed at himself as much as at Buu. "You… monster…" I've failed them… I came here to stop this, but he's just taken two more! But… I can't let that distract me. I can still win. He took one deep breath, clearing his mind and calming his body. "All right, then." The friendly, eager light reappeared in his eyes. "Guess it's time I started fighting seriously."
Chapter 86: I Am Become Death
"Fight seriously?" Buu snorted. "Is that supposed to intimidate me? Look, I know you haven't been going all-out, but whatever reserves you have can't possibly make up the amount of power I've just absorbed."
"Won't know until I try, will I?"
"Rrr… cocky bastard…" Buu growled. You, Goku… you will suffer especially. Never before have I been so comprehensively outfought! And by a simple creature such as he… unthinkable!
Overhead, the clouds were separating into two layers; an unusually low scattering of small, highly mobile storm-clouds, and an upper layer, condensing into a solid black mass, blotting out most of the sun's light and letting through only an unearthly red glow. All over the planet, the seas were being whipped up into a fury, and entire island chains vanished between the swirling waters.
Raditz was sitting slumped against a rock, which Launch was sprawled on top of. Her head, upside-down, peeked down into the top of his field of vision as she leaned over him. "Man, I'm beat," she moaned. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you so much energy…"
"Mmm." Raditz experimentally tried to move his injured arm, and his nervous system told him in no uncertain terms that this was not a good idea. "You'll live."
"More surprisingly, so will you." She dropped down next to him, flipping the right way up and sitting down. "I still can't believe what you did."
"Well, I wasn't really thinking, heh!" He paused, smiled. "But I don't regret it. When this is all over-"
" If it's ever over," she pointed out.
" When," he repeated firmly. "My brother can handle Buu. When it's over, I can't wait to see our little girl again…"
Launch smiled contentedly for a second, then something clicked and she said, "Hold on, what's this 'our'? I raised the little terror for eight years, what did you do?"
"You know exactly what I did," he chuckled, "you were very close by at the time."
"My point exactly! You shouldn't make a kid and run off on them. It's a little thing called commitment." He didn't reply, but she knew what he was thinking: the sheer amount of things about human society growing up a saiyan had left him unprepared for. Saiyan children were immediately taken from their parents, had their power measured, and assigned a planet to conquer. The parents barely thought about them. At some subconscious level, that detachment had remained, and thoughts of his daughter had barely entered his head when he'd chosen to stay dead. "Still," she said tactfully-not to mention honestly-"you came back. You pretty much left Paradise behind for us."
"No." He looked at her, deadly serious. "No, I didn't leave Paradise… I came back for it."
Buu bent his legs, preparing to leap. "I will break you, saiyan." Then, just as he was about to spring, something lurched inside of him, bringing him to a jarring halt. "What the-" His body shuddered from head to foot, as if unconsciously protesting. "What's happening?!"
Pretty simple, a gruff voice said to both Goku and Buu telepathically. You screwed up.
"Piccolo!" Goku laughed. "That is you, isn't it?"
How ever did you guess. Now… Buu! You're pretty smart by now; go on, tell me what I'm doing.
"I… overlooked something!" Buu fumed, twitching and spasming as his ki warred against itself. "Nail's technique… of retaining control of his energy, even when inside an enemy!"
Exactly. And that's my energy you've now absorbed all throughout your body! So… care to guess what happens now?
"You can't be about to… to set it off…?!" Buu practically whimpered.
"A suicide attack…" Goku realised. Would Piccolo really do something so selfless?
Buu echoed his thoughts. "Y-You'd never do such a thing! You only ever fought me to further your own ends-your desire for conquest! If you die, you'll never have that chance! You don't think they'd resurrect you, do you?"
Of course not. But I'm no fool, I know the extent of your power now. There was a pause. You are right. I'm faced with two alternatives… let you destroy everything, or drag you to Hell with me. Either way, I lose.
But…
I've lived on this world-had designs on it, I guess-for a long time now. I've never even been to my 'home planet'. Call me sentimental, but… the thought of losing it entirely, and living on forever within you, sounds even worse than just finishing us now.
"Y-You can't be serious!"
I'm always serious, Buu. You know that. You know me. You absorbed me.
"Don't do it!" Buu wailed, beginning to glow with steady pulses of red light.
Besides… if you're not stopped here, you're unlikely to overlook Namek. And any race that can produce the great Demon King must have some merit.
Goku!
Goku gave a thumbs-up. "Never thought I'd say this… thanks, Piccolo."
Whatever. I would say I look forward to our rematch in the next world… but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I know we won't be going to the same place.
Goku nodded sombrely.
Buu desperately tried to wrest control of his ki, but it was too late. Piccolo's mental speech grew into a shriek of white noise, then cut out entirely.
Goku dived for cover, and then everything went white.
Majin Buu
Pain. Separated. Scattered. Broken.
Alive.
Grow. Fix. Heal. Together. Brain. Think.
Think.
I. Am. Am, I. I am. Buu. Majin Buu. I am Majin Buu, and I am now whole in mind. My body is still broken. Scattered. A thousand thousand pieces. I cannot currently be measured for height or width, though perhaps 'blast radius' would work.
Surprisingly, I am not dead.
After that, the rest is easy.
When Buu's fragmented scraps pulled themselves together, Goku was already up and facing him.
"Damn…" he said, nervous sweat showing itself on his face. "I should've vapourised the pieces while I still had the chance. I never thought his regeneration would let him recover from being blown completely to pieces…"
"rrrrlllghkmmmMe… either," Buu managed as his mouth reformed. "I had no idea what I was truly capable of coming back from until today, and for that, I thank you all. You've been wonderful sparring partners. But now, even you-the best your planet could throw at me-will fall." He looked just as he had before, minus Piccolo's cape.
Goku said nothing, raising his guard and preparing to re-engage Buu. Buu, however, noticed-a slight slowness in his movements-a sharpness of breath-tiny trembles in his limbs-things he'd tried to hide. I see… Buu laughed inwardly. That threefold Kaioken wore you out more than you let on. No doubt trying to intimidate me by exaggerating the difference in our powers.
Now he reached out with his mind, using the instincts and mental prowess Tien's mind had given him, trying to feel for Goku's intentions and determine his next move. His state of mind will give away the moment he intends to attack… and I will have the initiative.
However, there was no such warning when the attack came. Goku's mind remained at peace, still as a windless ocean. He became a blur of light, red-sheathed fist flying and catching Buu unawares. However, Buu only took one faltering step back before straightening up, nearly unmarked by the attack. "Is that it? After all that earlier?" He grinned as he raised his own hands to attack. "Perhaps you were counting on me having lost Piccolo's power. Unfortunately for you, in the instant he detonated his energy, I countered with the very same technique of Nail's, capturing and absorbing every portion of power in the fragments of my body even as they scattered. Now, Piccolo's energy is permanantly a part of me-I may not have his mind any longer, but his strength is all I will need."
Within Buu, Baby warily stood up, lowering his energy shield. Damn it, Piccolo! I'd almost worked my way up to Buu's head! Now I'm all the way back down in one of his legs… this could take a while. A footstep echoed in the fleshy corridor behind him, and he ran on.
Having satisfied his need to gloat, Buu advanced, throwing quick jabs, testing Goku, pushing him slowly back. Goku responded equally warily, dodging away in quick Kaioken bursts. Buu, quickly growing tired of this, tried a punch at full strength, flooring Goku instantly, blood trailing from the saiyan's nose and mouth. Goku shouted wordlessly in frustration, controlling his fall and bouncing away with a handspring, but Buu was upon him. Goku fired up to Kaioken, raising his arms to block, but Buu was faster, a kick slipping easily past the defence. Buu spun with the motion, following up with an overhead punch down at his falling opponent.
Goku, having remained motionless for a second, again surprised Buu, moving like a spring released. Whip-cord muscles tensed and a roar of building energy filled the air. "KAMEHAMEHA TIMES TEN!" The mighty blast, however, struck only an afterimage, Buu touching down on a small peak behind him. Goku fell forwards, straightened up, swung around to face Buu. His arms stung, shaking from the effort, and he felt drained to the core. I don't think… I can manage that again… have to try something else. He instead reactivated his comfortable x3 boost, building up for a second energy wave. "Kkk… KA… ME…"
"Tchah! Again?" Buu snorted. "And weaker this time… very well, if you insist on continuing…" Buu leapt at Goku.
"HA…"
"Enough!" Buu's fist struck Goku's stomach, and Buu didn't withdraw his arm, pushing forwards and driving the saiyan further into the ground. "What say you now?" he cackled.
"… ME… !" Despite his arms having been smashed out of the attack's familiar position, Goku's power continued to increase.
Buu blinked. What the-
Goku's legs swung up, feet positioned right in front of Buu's face. "-HYAAAAA!" His blue ki blast emerged from the soles of his feet, hurling Buu backwards and bringing him to the ground.
Buu jumped to his feet, trying desperately to heal his hideously-burned face, but Goku was already dashing at him again, throwing his Power Pole into the air in front of him. He jumped, kicking off one end and propelling himself at Buu. He tackled the monster bodily, but his momentum didn't last and Buu backhanded him away into the air. "Power Pole extend!" Goku commanded as he sailed away, and it did; the magical staff, having fallen slightly so as now to be almost horizontal, grew rapidly, piercing right through Buu's stomach and out his back. Goku caught the other end, tugging on it and flipping Buu to the ground again, before retracting the weapon and diving at Buu with it held two-handed.
Buu rolled away from Goku's diving strike, throwing a back kick up at his infuriating enemy and driving him away, giving himself space. Buu stood quickly, focusing on regeneration for a moment. "Enough of your games. I'll end you now…"
Goku raised his weapon in response. A warrior's salute, a challenge: Just try .
Buu flung out his aura, building up his energy. "Prepare yourself! It-ghhaak! Wh… what… now?!" His golden, sparking Super Saiyan glow faded and vanished abruptly, and his power level dropped considerably. "You can't be serious!"
"Right on schedule!" Goku exclaimed, grinning mischievously. "I knew Break's Super Saiyan 3 power wouldn't last forever!"
"You… were playing for time?"
"Yup!"
"Don't be foolish," Buu said, eyes narrowed menacingly. "I'm still far stronger than you, even with only Piccolo's power added to mine.
"Oh, you're stronger'n me, yeah." Goku rolled his shoulders, clicked his neck, then fixed his gaze back on Buu. "But not that much stronger. KAIOKEN… TIMES…"
Buu's face froze. Oh, hell.
"… FOOOUUUR!" Goku's red aura leapt back to life, larger and more intense than ever. The rapidly-darkening skies lit up with the unearthly light.
The next thing Buu knew, he was flying back, his head now adorned by something better described as a dent than a face.
The next thing he knew, he was knocked upwards. A blinking red light was growing larger at the end of his vision.
The next, he was knocked back down.
And the next thing Majin Buu knew, for quite some time after that, was pain.
"Such speed… and intensity… !" Kibito marvelled.
Kaioshin agreed wholeheartedly. "Amazing! I never suspected… that anyone could do this to Buu!"
Old Kai sat for a second, eyes closed, mulling it over. Then, slowly he looked up, and shook his head, instantly silencing the other two Shin-jin. "Sorry," he said. "It's not going to be enough."
Buu reeled from yet another impossibly-strong blow. He'd lost count. His opponent was an unstoppable force of nature, it seemed, and defeat was growing near.
Then, he felt it. A momentary faltering, a slight flicker-mistake. Weakness. Buu didn't wait or think; he struck, catching Goku with all the combined momentum of both of their attacks. They tumbled to the ground together, grappling, clawing at each other and letting loose intense short-ranged energy bursts. Buu's antenna found a hold, tossing Goku off.
Buu scrambled away, putting some distance between himself and this impossible fighter. "You…" he stared at Goku's defiant figure, almost unable to believe what he'd been put through because of this one simple martial artist. "I… will not… stand for this… !"
"What's… the matter?" Goku panted. "You that childish? Can't accept someone who can actually stand up to you for once?"
Something strange seemed to be happening to Buu. "Hrr… rrrgghh… don't mock me! I AM MAJIN BUU!"
"Oh, good point!" Goku blinked. "I forgot to introduce myself!" He waved a cheery hand. "Heya! I'm Goku!"
"You… won't…" Buu said in a loud, strangled voice. "… You won't… get away with this… humiliation!" His eyes began to glow an eerie red, and small electrical discharges crackled around his body.
"Just as I thought," Old Kai said miserably. "Things are taking a turn for the worse."
"Th-Then there is no hope…" Kaioshin sat back, stunned. "No-one can defeat Majin Buu now, not even Goku…"
"Hmm… well." The old Kaioshin sat back and shrugged. "We aren't really supposed to share these kinds of secrets with mortals, but I think Buu is a serious enough threat that we can bend some of the rules."
"What do you mean?" Kibito asked carefully, not yet allowing himself to hope.
"Well, there are still quite a few powerful warriors alive around the Earth…" Old Kai reached up and took off his spherical earrings. "… if they fused with the Potara, I'm sure they'd have the power to beat Buu."
"What are you talking about?" Kaioshin asked, staring blankly. "Fuse…?"
Old Kai sighed. "Oh, dear. You really don't know anything, do you, young one?"
Chapter 87: Buu's Fury
"I… w-won't…" Buu shrieked. "… stand for this… ! Rrrggghhh… ! Eeeeyyaaahhh… !"
"Whoa…" Goku said quietly. "What a big baby. All because I'm stronger than him…"
The violent green electric storm building around Buu in a cage-like shape suddenly burst asunder, scattering into the surrounding air and hanging there, hissing and popping menacingly. His eyes blazed red like twin furnaces. "Gyyaaaahhh… !"
A biting wave of force flooded out from Buu in every direction, hurling Goku away. Buu began to thrash around madly, totally losing control. Spitttle flew from his mouth, and his fingernails dug into his palms until a thick purple blood-like substance dripped from them.
"Uh…" Goku had to make an effort to stand; the planet's instability, combined with Buu's antics, was buffeting him in every direction. "What's going on…?" He was, at least, glad for a break in the fighting, in order to recover some energy-something he was dangerously low on.
Explosions broke out at random spots around them, smashing up the already-pulverised ground. Green lightning flickered. Buu's unearthly scream of frustration continued.
"Listen closely, because I'm only explaining this once," Old Kai said, tapping the earrings he, and the other two Shin-jin wore. "These are Potara earrings. If one person wears one on their right ear, and another person wears the other on their left ear, the two fuse and join bodies, creating a being that far surpasses the sum of its parts!"
"Oh!" Kaioshin exclaimed. "I wish I'd known about this a long time ago… ! But in any case, that's great! That might be our shot at defeating Buu!"
"Just maybe," Old Kai agreed. "It's how I got like this, you know…" He paused to make sure they were listening. "I was young and handsome once… then an old witch went and stole one of my earrings. She didn't know what it was for, and put it on… and since then I've looked like this!" He shrugged. "It did do wonders for my magical skills, though… since then I've been able to perform my power-unlocking ritual." He unclipped his earrings, nodding to the pair of listeners. "Why don't you two give it a try?"
"A-All right…" Kaioshin took off his right earring, handing it to Kibito, who removed both of his.
"Like this…?" The servant hesitantly put Kaioshin's Potara on his right ear. As soon as he did so, a great irresistible force began to pull the two of them together. "Aah!" Kibito gasped. They slammed together and were transmuted into a burst of green light.
When it faded, a new being stood before Old Kai. This Shin-jin wore Kibito's outfit, but in physical appearance was very similar to Kaioshin; the only noticeable difference being his long silver hair, which flowed straight down his back in the manner of Kibito's. He was also notably alive, bearing no halo above his head. "Wow…" he murmured, inspecting himself.
"Hmm… interesting," Old Kai said speculatively. "I suppose you're called Kibito Kai or somesuch…"
The new Shin-jin shook his head. "No, my name's Kibitoshin. Thought I'm not sure how I know that with such certainty… but never mind that." He flexed his arms. "I have such power now! I can fight now! Maybe Goku and I together can-"
"I know it's what you're best at, but don't be foolish!" Old Kai warned. "You're still no match for Buu! He'd chew you up and spit you out. Now… take my Potara, and go give them to somebody. There must be a couple of fighters on that planet worth fusing together-and with warriors like that, the resulting fusion won't need any help polishing off Buu."
"Of course…" Kibitoshin agreed. "If fusion does so much for me, think what it'll do for fighters like them… !" He paused. "Say, how long does this last?"
"Weren't you paying attention? It's permanent."
"Wait, what?!"
Raditz and Launch, utterly drained, had actually fallen asleep despite the chaos shaking the Earth, but were jolted into wakefulness by a hand on each of their shoulders, and a rush of energy. "W-Wha…?" Launch sprung to her feet. "I'm back to 100%!"
"Yeah, me too," Raditz said slowly, turning around. "Thanks… uh… who are you?"
"Kibitoshin-I'm the fusion of the Supreme Kai and Kibito." He held out Old Kai's Potara earrings, offering a brief explanation.
"Fantastic!" Raditz breathed. "Sounds kind of like the Fusion Dance the Metamorans used… I met a couple of 'em in the afterlife, but I just didn't have the patience to learn their silly dances… and besides, there wasn't anyone similar enough for me to fuse with. Though I did like their dress sense."
"Similarity won't be a problem," Kibitoshin promised. "The Potara can fuse any two beings… as long as they have ears, I guess…"
"All right, thanks." Raditz took the Potara, closing his hand protectively around them. "I guess I should fuse with the strongest person possible… so that'd be Goku… I'd better get going. He'll be too tired to fight soon enough."
"I don't know…" Launch said. "I can imagine the arguments Chi-Chi and I'd have if you and Goku became one person…"
Raditz grinned. "Oh, don't worry; we can just defuse afterwards, right?"
"Uh… ah…" Kibitoshin's face flushed. "I may have forgotten to mention… it's sort of… permanent."
"Wait, what?"
With a roar, Buu flung the green bolts outwards. They seemed to strike the very sky itself, tearing open great green rents in the heavens, which pulsed with the same sickly hue.
"Unbelievable… !" Goku could barely stand up under the barrage of force he was being subjected to.
"What the hell is this?!" Old Kai spluttered. "Buu's tearing at the walls of the universe itself! The fabric of reality's still damaged after Janemba's attack and Raditz's stunt earlier-this could be catastrophic!"
Indeed, it was. The already-weakened state of the universe was further shaken by Buu's tantrum; bolts of energy were fired directly into the heart of the timestream; and his terrible scream of rage was sent spiralling back up the river of time with them, passing unnoticed until it came to a slight crease-a wrinkle in time, almost. A point when the magic of the Namekian wishing-dragons had interacted with the flow of time in an unpredictable way.
This impression, this horrific sample of the terror that was Majin Buu, struck the exposed slice of the past right as Bulma placed her hand on Cell's stolen time machine. An impression that, in the highly-ordered mind of a scientist, might be gleaned as numerical data-a measure of time, perhaps… whereas in the mind of a spiritually-awakened fighter, more emotive, personal information could come through. Images, voices.
The rest, as they say (though it is doubtful anyone knows who 'they' are), is history.
The effects of this were felt in the present. Gohan was shaken awake by a stabbing, burning sensation in his forehead. "What…" This is… like the visions! I'm getting the same feeling… Though he felt sick and weary to his bones, he stood. What's happening over there?
Goku shielded his eyes, looking up at Buu. "Man, as soon as he calms down, he's gonna start kicking my ass… I'm just about beat. Then again… if he keeps this up, he could finish what Gohan started-"
Raditz was always one for dramatic entrances. Instant Transmission had its benefits.
This was not the first, not even the first against Majin Buu, but it was undoubtedly the most spectacular.
"DRAGON FIST!"
The gigantic golden dragon, wreathed in flames, emerged from the Super Saiyan 3's fist, roaring a primal battle-cry and crashing into Buu. It tore right through his corona of light, shattering and instantly ending his warping, distorting effect on reality, clamping its teeth around his head and shoulders and soaring down into the ground, creating an explosion the size of a small city.
Raditz lowered his arm, flying down and landing next to Goku, breathing heavily but exhilarated, aura still shining-he'd managed to increase the efficiency of the technique since Janemba, if not the power.
"How was that, then?" He asked triumphantly.
Goku frowned. "Cool, but… how'd you learn my technique?"
" Your technique?!" Raditz asked, taken aback. "I invented it mys-wait. If we both know it, that means…"
"… those dreams…" Goku murmured.
"… they were…"
"I WILL END YOU!" Buu roared, fully regenerated.
"Save that for later!" Raditz said quickly. "If you knew it, why not use it already?"
"Well, the dragon's bite is a really powerful piercing attack, but it'd just punch a couple of holes he could heal, and the actual explosion wouldn't be powerful enough to bring down Buu… honestly, if I could just nail him with a x10 Kamehameha it'd be much better."
"Right." Raditz raised his arm, gripping his bicep with the other hand. "How about two dragons?"
"That might just do it! You get behind him."
"Gotcha!" Raditz teleported away again. We may not even have to fuse!
Goku drew back his arm. "All right, Buu, come and get it!" He didn't start building his energy yet-he knew in this powered-up state he could release as much as he needed in an instant. I never could put in the required energy 'trigger' for this technique before… I just wasn't strong enough. But now… The muscles in his arm bunched and rippled as he waited for Buu to get close enough.
Buu certainly obliged in that regard. Reason had flown from his mind. He didn't care that one of his targets had vanished; as long as he had something to crush. He charged up blazing red energy spheres in both hands. "YOU… WILL… SUFFER!"
Goku's smile suddenly vanished, serious face returning. "You've single-handedly slaughtered almost everyone I cared about. YOU DON'T THINK I'VE ALREADY SUFFERED, YOU BASTARD?!" His arm shot forwards, energy bursting to life. "RYU-KEN!"
Strangely enough, the dragon that roared forth looked exactly like Raditz's-and strangely enough, it had exactly the same amount of power as Raditz's.
Buu panicked, flinging his charged-up attacks, but they were smashed aside. This time, he wasn't caught by surprise, though, and he took the dragon's charge head-on. It shoved him backwards, shuddering left and right slightly as Buu resisted its onslaught with all his might.
Raditz watched Buu approach. I'm still at over half power… I should be able to maintain Super Saiyan 3 even after this for a minute or two… okay. Now! "DRAGON FIST!" At the exact moment Buu's back was open to attack-nothing happened.
Raditz stared at his arm for a second, bewildered. What? Why isn't it working?
Buu, meanwhile, had wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck and wrestled it to the ground. It swerved around, its snapping jaws shearing a leg off and shredding the severed limb, but Buu shoved it away two-handed and survived the resulting explosion with only minor burns.
Raditz cursed silently. For whatever reason… it didn't work. Guess there's nothing for it! "Goku, catch! Put it on your left ear!" He threw one Potara earring down to Goku, who caught it. "We'll fuse, and have the power to beat Buu! Unfortunately, it's permanent, but…"
"I understand." Goku fastened the earring to his left ear. "We do what we have to. This is a gift from the Kaioshins, isn't it?"
"Yeah, they-guhh!" Buu, having regenerated, crashed into Raditz from the side, driving his knee into the Super Saiyan's chest and catapulting him into the rumbling ground. The second Potara hung momentarily on the point of falling, but Buu snatched it out of the air. "What's this?" Goku's wearing one all of a sudden… whatever these are, they must be some kind of weapon they're planning to use against me. "Well, no matter," Buu said, grinning. "Your power level hasn't risen at all yet, so I'm guessing they're only of use in conjunction with each other. Once I crush this one, you'll be back to where you started-somewhat ironically, at your end." I should thank them for this little comeback, really… I was lost in my rage. Dangerously close to reverting… to him coming out to play… His fingers began to tighten around the earring-
-and then he couldn't feel them.
Gohan, Super Saiyan 3 hair streaming out behind him, energy-beam-sword in hand, appeared mid-motion, post-slash, in front of Buu. Buu's severed hand tumbled uselessly away, and Gohan swiped the Potara from its twitching grip before Buu could regain control of the appendage. To stop Buu taking him out as quickly as he had done Raditz, Gohan made a series of rapid Shifting jumps to the ground. He held up the Potara, extinguishing his beam-sword and hurriedly attaching the earring to his right ear. "Like this, right, dad?" He asked. "I heard most of what you were saying-we'll fuse into one being, right?"
"Yeah, that's it!" Goku agreed, feeling a tugging force pulling father and son towards each other as the Potara reacted.
Buu, having recovered from his surprise, was racing down towards them. "So that was their plan! Well, it matters little… their power, however high-is mine !" He transmuted his body into an amorphous, flowing state, aiming to absorb the pair even as they fused.
"Gohan! No!" Raditz hissed, pushing himself up out of the dirt. "It's permanent, you fool!"
Gohan, now less than a foot from Goku, blinked. "Wait, what?"
At that moment, they met in a splash of green light. The next moment, Buu was upon them, and they were gone.
Chapter 88: Monster Within
Raditz stared up at the bizarre scene. Majin Buu had just absorbed Goku and Gohan at the exact moment that they'd fused with the magical Potara earrings. Yet Buu didn't appear to have changed at all, and was equally confused, blinking as he glanced down at himself and found no new appearance or surge of power. What happened? Raditz wondered, and the exact same thought was burning in Buu's ancient, malevolent mind.
Raditz, however, would have felt a lot more confident had the action not drowned out a single word. A very important word, a word spoken in a voice both familiar and alien to him, a voice like Goku and his son speaking in unison.
That word was, "Barrier!"
Inside Buu…
Within one of the many pink, fleshy corridors, shrunken down to fit inside Buu's body, and surrounded by an energy barrier to prevent absorption, stood a saiyan.
He wore an eclectic mix of orange and blue, and his hair stuck out in all directions, some arching upwards overhead, some hanging down his neck. His face and body were an adult's, but his eyes twinkled with the energy of youth. The Potara dangled like Christmas baubles from his ears. A furry tail twisted around behind him.
"Well," he said contemplatively, in his double voice. "I suppose… that makes me, hmm… Goku… han? Wait… Gokhan! Yeah, that's it!" He took a deep breath, trying to adapt to his new body. "Okay, just don't think of Chi-Chi… that'd be confusing… anyway." He tilted his head sideways. "Positives: Buu doesn't know where I am, who I am, or even what I am. I've got Goku's fighting smarts and Gohan's book smarts. And…" an aura fired up around him. "… I'm up to here… IN POWER!" The cascading waves of energy flashed yellow, interspersed with jagged red bolts. "Super Kaioken!" Goku may have had trouble combining the two, but for me, nothing's impossible.
He raised one hand towards the 'ceiling'. "Full-sized, I'd be the most powerful being in the universe by far. Even at this size, I'm betting I can still make a dent. HYAAAA!" An expanding wave of energy exploded from his hand, tearing through the ceiling and ripping through Buu's insides like nothing.
Raditz was just then wondering if he should try and distract Buu, or run away, or at least do something . Buu had just made up his mind that whatever was going on with this strange mess of absorption, he should probably eliminate Raditz before he could make himself a further nuisance. They were both brought to a mental screeching halt as Buu's chest exploded outwards.
"Hah!" Raditz was the first to realise. "Looks like you've bitten off more than you can chew this time, Buu! Now you've got a fusion running around inside of you… just a little too late to absorb them."
"Ghaaahk…" Buu focused on regenerating his body, his energy recovering much slower. They fused successfully… and resisted my absorption! The kind of damage he could do running loose in there… !
Gokhan lowered his arm, powering down. "All right… now what? I'm still too small to destroy him completely, so I guess I could blast another hole and leave… that should hopefully return me to full size. But then again, Break and Tien are still in here. I guess I should rescue them before I go… first thing, though." He wiped his forehead, panting. "Keeping up this barrier is pretty draining, and he's not trying to absorb me any more." Cautiously, he lowered the barrier. Initially nothing happened, but the anticipation didn't last long-almost immediately, Gokhan was struck with a tearing pain down the centre of his head, spreading down throughout his body, as if he was being pulled in two-
A flash of green light followed, and when the slowly-pulsing dark of Buu's insides returned, two people stood in place of the previous one.
Goku and Gohan, each wearing one Potara earring, stared at each other.
"Hey, I'm me again!" Goku said, somewhat redundantly.
Gohan curiously fingered the earring. "Yet we're still wearing these… what happened?"
"I guess… something about Buu's insides counteracts the enchantment on the earrings. I s'pose he is enchanted himself. Weird…" He shrugged. "You think we should try raising another barrier and fusing again?"
"Not yet," Gohan answered quickly. "I think if we can find some way of defeating or weakening Buu from in here, that'd be better-we could beat him without having to be stuck as one being forever."
"Good point…" Goku took off his Potara. "In which case, we shouldn't have 'em on unless we're set on fusing, just in case different parts of Buu's body work differently or something. And let's try and find our friends and get 'em out before we leave. Anyway, let's get moving," he decided, and yet didn't, pausing and turning back to Gohan. "Uh, any idea where we're heading?"
"The brain?" Gohan suggested. "Or whatever's inside his head. That seems like a good place to start."
Goku nodded. "Right, makes sense. Don't know exactly where we are, so… just head uphill, I guess…"
It didn't take long for Buu to find them. Maybe five minutes of trudging through 'corridors' had passed, when they first encountered Buu's internal defense mechanism.
Both saiyans started in surprise as a humanoid figure appeared at the end of the corridor, moving in an eerily familiar gait. It stepped out of the shadows, leering-an exact copy of Majin Buu, as he'd been before absorbing anyone, recreated in miniature within his own body in perfect detail. "Hehhhhh… found you."
"What the… !" Gohan took a step back, watching the copy warily. Is this like human immune cells-Buu's body reacting to fight off outside invaders? Or is he doing this consciously? He prepared to power up as the thing stalked closer.
"Wait." Goku held out a hand. "Relative to us at this size, its ki is like Buu's before he started absorbing people. You couldn't quite handle him then-let me."
Gohan nodded thankfully. "All right, Dad." Truth be told, even the thought of having to go up against any form of Buu again was giving him the chills. He was a little ashamed of this; he wished his resolve wouldn't sometimes falter like this. His father's, he knew, never did.
"You'll never leave here…" 'Buu' hissed, then sprung.
Goku shrugged. "Eh. THREE-FOLD!" He shouted at the last moment, intercepting Buu's charge with a backhanded swipe that sent Buu careening off into the wall. Its body warped slightly, then began to regenerate. Goku swung a hand in its direction, firing off a kiai that blasted it apart. "HYAAA!" This time, it didn't heal, damaged pieces melting away into the fleshy walls and floor.
"I see…" Gohan noted. "These copies can't stay together if you do enough damage."
It wasn't long before they were attacked again-Buu was tracking their movements now. This time, three Buu's descended upon them at once in a tall, cylindrical chamber. "Gohan, stand back!" Goku warned.
"Dad, you need to save your energy!" Gohan countered. "When we get out of here, we still might have to deal with him; you're our best shot." He powered up to Super Saiyan 3, sending a shudder all the way up Majin Buu's spine, and blocked the nearest mini-Buu. "At least let me take this one!"
"… All right." Goku leapt into the air as the other two fired energy beams at the spot he'd just been standing. Burning aura flashing into life, he dived back at them.
Gohan found himself fighting defensively, icicles of fear digging into his mind every time he saw those hollow eyes, every time he went to attack. The previous battle with the real Buu kept weighing on his mind-the overwhelming hopelessness, the desperation, the ultimate futility Finally, the 'Buu' made a mistake too large to ignore, creating an opening he'd have to have been blind to miss. Gohan's eyes narrowed, right fist clenching and glowing with power. I'm… not… afraid of you! This Buu was fast, frighteningly so, but unskilled, and Gohan's punch sent it sprawling to the floor before it could co-ordinate a defence.
Gohan let adrenaline carry him forward, unrelenting. He shot a beam-sword from one hand, stabbing through Buu's neck and dragging it to its feet, before pinning it against the wall. He slammed his other hand flat into its stomach, forcing a wave of ki through it. "KAMEHAMEHA!" The explosion disintegrated Buu's midsection and blew its legs through the wall, and Gohan finished by slicing its head from its shoulders before extinguishing the sword. As he'd hoped, this was enough, and the rest of the monstrosity dissolved into a congealing puddle on the floor.
A crash from above him signalled Goku's fairly decisive victory over his two opponents, but the older saiyan was now running dangerously low on power. Goku dropped unsteadily to the ground, doubling over and taking in deep gasps of air.
Gohan powered down, trying to conserve his own energy-and right at this moment, with the two of them at their most unprepared, another Buu formed itself out of the ground behind him, snarling and raising its arms to strike.
Before either saiyan could react, though, a gaping hole blew itself through the Buu-copy's chest, followed by more and still more, until it was completely blasted to pieces. Behind it, raised hand still smoking from repeated ki blasts, stood-strangely enough-another inner Buu.
Gohan tensed-then immediately relaxed. This Buu's eyes were encircled by familiar red rings.
"Baby!" Goku realised, laughing joyously. "You're controlling that thing!"
"I am," Baby spoke with Buu's voice. He inclined its head, listening, feeling. "More are coming. Follow this body, quickly." Explaining to each other in rushed, snatched sentences the circumstances which had brought them, alive, inside of Majin Buu to each other, they rushed down a twisting, lightless maze of corridors. Occasionally, the tramp of footsteps would echo ahead or behind, and Baby-Buu would scramble off down a side passage, beckoning for them to follow.
"How do you know where you're going?" Gohan asked at one point, breathless.
"I'm just sensing my way back to the others," Baby's host explained.
"Others-" Gohan trailed off as they reached a larger chamber, which he soon realised was in fact just several tunnels with the walls knocked in, creating a larger area. The organic 'walls' had, after being torn down, been assembled in a ring around the position, and were currently being used as cover by a group of twenty or more Baby-possessed Buu's, which crouched behind them. Every few seconds, movement would be seen down a distant corridor, and the three or four closest to it would jump up and open fire, driving the potential attacker away.
The Buu that had guided the saiyans there now dragged a collapsed wall-section into place behind them and took up position guarding the spot where they'd come in. In the centre of the whole operation stood Baby himself, directing operations mentally, sometimes accompanied by a nod of the head or a frown.
"Hey." Gohan waved to the mechanical Tuffle scientist, then felt slightly silly, as they'd already met just now. "Uh, you aren't using one of them as a main body?"
Baby shook his head. "No… they're not fully-complex life forms; more constructs created by Buu. This simple control is all I can manage. Still, on the bright side they're easier to fight; their regeneration is easy to overload, they can't absorb people, and they haven't been physically or mentally 'upgraded' when Buu himself absorbed people. Except the fat Buu and the ancient Kaioshins, I guess, but they must have been one being so long that they're metabolised, or something…" he realised he was going off on a tangent, and stopped sheepishly.
Goku attempted to steer the conversation back in a useful direction. "We're trying to find some way to damage or weaken Buu before we go back outside and fight him. Any ideas?"
"I was actually trying to get up to the brain myself-I'm pretty sure the people he's absorbed are up there. If we removed them, that might weaken him. Unfortunately, I can only control so many people at the same time if I have to do all their thinking for them, like these idiots, so I'm pretty much constantly outnumbered. Eventually I got pinned down here, but superior skill and defensive positions meant I could drive them off; they've been more cautious since then." He pointed down a corridor to their left. "However, now you're here we might have a shot at this. If we break out in that direction, my guys can cover for you so you can get to the absorbees."
"And maybe we'll find something else to mess with while we're there," Gohan pointed out. "Sounds like a plan."
"The sooner the better," Baby said anxiously, "they're massing their forces. I think they're going to try another charge, and there's way too many to hold this time."
"How can Buu even create so many mini-me's in here anyway?" Goku wondered.
Gohan turned Super Saiyan, trying to make it as quick as possible to reach full power if he got jumped again. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's something to do with the Multi-Form technique. Buu knows it now, and while they're tough relative to us, at this size each one can't use up much energy to make."
"Let's go !" Baby urged, and they began to move uphill. A screen of possessed Buu's moved in front and behind, and the saiyans took up flanking positions to protect Baby. No sooner had they abandoned their position, than a great roar, a multitude of voices crying out for blood, echoed down the tunnel behind them. A tide of pink bodies appeared around the bend in hot pursuit, and the invading group broke into a sprint.
Gohan turned, still running, and after hurriedly going Super Saiyan 2 fired a machine-gun volley of energy beams at the 'ceiling', bringing a large section down into the passageway. It wasn't long before their pursuers smashed through the obstruction, but it took enough time to widen the gap. Pink beams began to scream through the air at them, blowing searing holes in the tunnel walls and frying the ground at their feet. They returned fire, the saiyans' long years of training and Baby's pre-programmed skill providing them with far superior marskmanship to the horde of un-enhanced Buu's, who, liked their originator pre-absorbtions, had power but lacked the skill to use it to its full potential. The group's combined fire scythed through the entire front rank of the onrushing pink tide, blasting dozens apart, many beyond their ability to regenerate. Even those who lived on were trampled underfoot by those behind and set back in their pursuit by precious minutes.
Finally, just as the faint ki signatures of their absorbed friends were becoming clear in their minds up ahead, the corridor in that direction seemed to open out into a brighter chamber. The pursuing group had fallen far behind. Their goal was less than a hundred metres away.
Which was when the opening, directly ahead of them, was flooded with quite literally hundreds of Buu copies.
"This is just getting ridiculous!" Goku moaned.
"We have to go straight through!" Baby said grimly. "And quickly, or the ones behind us will catch up and this'll go from hard to impossible!"
Straight through this ? Gohan gawked, fear rising in his stomach again. An army of this thing-when I can barely even handle one?
"Gohan!" Goku was looking back sternly at him. "Come on, now or never!" Doubt had never even entered into his mind, of course. This was simply a fight. This was what he did. What he was.
Gohan took a deep breath. "A-All right. Hhhhhh… GAAAAAAAH!" He let his Super Saiyan 3 power well up to the surface, illuminating the dim corridor, golden light gleaming off countless pairs of hollow eyes. Hair swirled out behind him, his skin glowing with barely-contained energy. He gritted his teeth, and charged after his father and their unlikely allies into the sea of snarling horrors.
I'm… I'm not afraid of you!
Chapter 89: Monster Without
It wasn't quite as hard as he'd thought.
Each Majin Buu was a good deal stronger and faster than Gohan, even in Super Saiyan 3, true. But they lacked skill, just as the real Buu had before he'd absorbed anyone. This always let him get some decent hits in, and here was where his other advantage came in: Majin Buu's toughness and resistance to damage had always been lower than his actual power level would indicate. Even fighting an equal, he would frequently sustain wounds that would be fatal to any other fighter, only surviving thanks to his monstrous regeneration. These internal copies, though, had extremely limited regeneration capabilities, which could be overloaded by one or two killing blows-and they retained Buu's relatively low resilience.
Gohan dived out of the way of a magically-elongating arm snatching at him, rebounding off the wall and leaping over the front three ranks of the Buu's, tackling one from the middle of the group to the ground. I can't afford to get stuck here fighting all of these… I have to get through! Behind him, he could hear rhythmic thumps and crashes as his father fought through the small army, Goku's unprecedented power letting him dispose of each foe in a single blow, now he was in full swing. Not that it was just his power that carried the pure-hearted saiyan through the onrushing hordes with such ease-his battle-instinct was flawless, letting him react instinctively to every twitch of movement from his enemies, timing his attacks perfectly and hurling them back in ever-greater numbers.
Baby's 'squad' of possessed Buu's was also making good progress. They'd suffered a few casualties, but Baby's skill and co-ordination made each of them a match for several of the enemy. The Tuffle controller himself took care to stay a couple of steps behind the action, using his minions as shields to protect himself from incoming attacks.
Gohan threw a punch at the Buu he'd tackled, but it jerked its head to the side, avoiding the attack, and threw him off. He fired a one-handed blast as he fell away, missing with this too. The Buu scrambled to its feet, swinging a haymaker that he only just ducked. Having diverted its attention to its front, Gohan then exerted mental control on his still-flying energy beam, swinging it around and pulling it back towards his opponent. It smashed into the Buu from behind, tunnelling into the flesh of its back before exploding, blasting the creature into pieces. It didn't recover, and Gohan didn't stop to admire his handiwork, reaching out with his mind and mapping out the five-dimensional layout of the area ahead. As several Buu's in front of him began to advance, he Shifted past them, his image disassembling into a multitude of coloured particles which shortly vanished as he passed out of phase with the four-dimensional world, then reappeared and formed themselves back into Gohan's humanoid shape at the end of the corridor.
Now he stood at the entrance of another large chamber, this one more brightly-lit than any part of the interior Buu's body he'd encountered so far. Arranged in a row by one wall were a pair of roughly spherical pods, made out of the same veined fleshy material that the rest of Buu's insides seemed to be, attached via thick cords to the ceiling and floor.
Before he could investigate further, Gohan heard the growls of a pair of inner Buu's approaching from behind him. In a flash of high-speed movement, Goku appeared between them and his son, arms raised protectively. "Go on," he said in a commanding tone. "I won't let any of them through."
"R… Right!" Gohan nodded his thanks, then quickly approached the strange objects. As he drew closer, it became obvious what he was seeing-from each pod protruded a head; one was Break's, the other Tien's. "I've found them!" he called back to the others. A third cord dangled from the ceiling, snapped off at the end, and a smooth hole occupied the spot on the floor directly below it. I guess this was Piccolo… Gohan realised. Buu must have jettisoned that cocoon to another part of his body right before the explosion so Break and Tien didn't get killed by such close proximity to the centre of the blast… smart.
"So… seems fairly obvious." He fired a series of small blasts, severing the cords suspending Tien and Break's pods, then caught them before they hit the floor. "I got them!"
Outside…
Buu, who had up until now been absorbed in directing the battle inside his own body, suddenly shrieked with frustration, arching his back and hissing like a cat.
"Uh…?" Raditz watched in confusion. What's happening in there?
Buu's features began to melt, muscles losing some of their tone, his entire body shrinking a little, face becoming less human and reverting to its previous, more monstrous appearance. A third eye snapped open wide on his forehead for a moment, then was gone just as quickly.
"What…" Buu gurgled. "… they… done… to me?!"
Inside Buu…
The entire chamber shook violently, everyone grimly hanging on as the lurching settled down. Abruptly, all the Buu copies-Baby's included-froze in place. They shivered slightly, twitched, and melted into the floor.
"All right!" Goku walked over to Gohan, taking Tien's pod from him. "I guess you were right about the Multi-Form. Now he doesn't know it, there should only be one or two of those guys roaming around."
"So, I guess we should try and leave now we've got our friends?" Gohan asked. "Though Buu still has Piccolo's power, and none of us are at 100%… we're probably still going to have to fuse to beat him." He sighed. "Ah, man, it's going to be tough to explain to everybody…"
"Yeah… about that…" Goku grinned sheepishly, holding up the chain that had once been attached to the main part of a Potara earring; now a smoking ruin was all that was left. "I wasn't paying attention, and one of them kind of shot it… eheh… heh… heh."
Gohan gawked. "You what?!"
"Hey, don't blame me, I was just dodging! It was that or my head…"
"How are we supposed to beat Buu now, Dad? With Piccolo's energy, even you can't-"
"Gentlemen?" Baby's voice cut across the 'room'. "Look at this."
Goku turned. "What've you found?" Baby was on the other side of the area, pointing to what appeared to be another absorption pod. From the centre protruded an extraordinary sight-the head of the fat, goofy Majin Buu. "What the…"
"How'd he get in here?" Gohan wondered.
Baby shrugged. "I guess when Babidi's spell brought the evil-more evil, anyway-half of Buu to the surface, this is where the other half went. Say…" He brightened up. "Even the fat Buu was pretty powerful, right? If we remove him too, this Buu-" he pointed to the ceiling. "-should lose quite a lot of power."
"Sounds like a plan." Gohan gave the thumbs-up. "Do it."
"Don't!" a harsh, guttural voice called-Buu. A single Buu copy stood in the entrance to the chamber. "You can't… do that!"
"No, I'm pretty sure we can." Baby raised his hand, preparing to fire and remove the fat Buu.
"Don't!" Buu repeated, desperation creeping into its voice. "If he goes, I… I won't be me !" It held out a pleading hand. "I'll be him again!"
"What you'll be is weaker," Gohan said decisively. "Baby!"
"Right." Baby fired, energy beams slicing through the connections that held the fat Buu's cocoon in place. It tumbled, unsupported, to the floor, and rolled away ungracefully.
"N-No… !" Buu fell to its knees, eyes twitching uncontrollably. "I… don't want… to go back… !" It stopped talking, choked, and fell onto its face.
The chamber began to shake again. "Let's get out of here!" Goku decided. "Whatever this is, I don't like it."
"No arguments here," Gohan concurred. "Should we just leave the less-evil Buu in here?"
"He tried to kill us too, remember," Baby reminded him. "This one was just better at it. Come on." The three fighters fired in unison, blowing open a large hole in the ceiling (well, a large hole relative to them; in reality, it was tiny). As chunks of pink 'flesh' rained down around them, they flew up and out before it could close up and heal.
And just like that, without any drama or ceremony, they were back outside and at full size. Buu was emitting an ear-piercing scream, and they fled before their ears gave out, setting Tien and Break down in a clearing in a nearby forest. "Baby…" Goku hesitated. "Well, you can't possess Buu, and his power is a bit out of your league, in any form…"
"I understand." Baby smiled. "Don't worry, I don't mind missing a fight. As long as I know somebody's taking care of it… I'll get these two out of those pods, and watch them until they wake up."
"All right, thanks." Goku turned back to Gohan. "We should probably go tell your uncle what's going on-maybe the three of us can gang up on Buu, or something."
"There's no need to tell me," came Raditz's voice from behind. "It all looks pretty clear. You removed those two, and Buu's pitching a fit."
"Not quite that simple," Gohan replied. "We removed the fat Buu, too… that's what really got him worried."
"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Raditz said, "… his ki's been all over the place for the last couple of minutes. Just losing Break and Tien would barely affect his energy at all, now Break's powered down-just his intelligence and techniques." He paused. "Hold on. Didn't you fuse?"
"Uh, yeah…" Goku grinned his 'I'm-innocent' grin again. "Turns out Buu's insides mess with the earrings' magic, so we separated… and then mine got broken, so we can't re-fuse, eheh!"
"Ugh… somehow, I'm not surprised," the older sibling groaned. "Well, it's done now. Come on, let's not leave our friend unattended." The other two saiyans grabbed hold, and one Instant Transmission trip took them to directly opposite Buu, who had landed on a hilltop and was continuing his agonised shout.
"Gyaaaah!" His whole body bunched up, growing suddenly shorter and hunching over. Enormous muscles sprung up on his top half, swelling his torso and arms to grotesque proportions.
Raditz nodded. "Like Kaioshin said… after he absorbed the old South Kaioshin, the original Buu took on his muscular appearance… I guess what we're seeing is Buu before the good-bad split."
"Hold on…" Goku muttered. "He's still changing!"
Indeed, Buu was still as obnoxiously loud as ever, and continuing to undergo physical changes. Heralded by a high-pitched whine, clouds of steam billowed out from his head and shoulder pores, filling the air with a gigantic white cloud.
"Get ready-!" Gohan warned. They powered up in readiness, Goku to his base maximum, the others to Super Saiyan 2.
That wait, the near-silence as they awaited Buu to reveal his new form, stretched out to eternity. Gohan's own aura, even at rest, sounded to him like a thunderstorm in those quiet moments; every breath was a gale. If Buu's figure hadn't slowly become visible through the clearing steam after a couple of minutes, he attested later, he would've gone insane there and then.
Buu had indeed changed once again. Still short, now it was thin enough to match. Its features had softened-in fact, it looked for all the world like a child. A child version of Majin Buu, anyway. Its eyes were glazed over, and it stared blankly down at its feet, arms hanging limply at its sides.
"So… this is his original form?" Raditz deduced. "I guess the fat Buu was really what was holding everything together. Anyway, he should be much weaker than any version of the tall one."
"Unless he still has Piccolo's power absorbed," Goku countered. "And the big Kaioshin in him didn't just vanish from existence. Honestly, there's no way of telling how powerful he is."
"There's one way," Raditz said, making fists. "Let's attack before he takes the initiative, and just be done with it already. This has already gone on too long."
Ironically, though, speaking these words took up all the time they had; almost as soon as he'd finished, Buu raised one hand towards the sky. It began to form an energy sphere, which grew larger with alarming speed. Buu hadn't even had to power up at all, the energy was just there . It was soon easily sufficient to destroy the planet-the sun-the whole star system-but it kept growing, growing beyond belief.
"Wh-What the hell…?" Raditz growled. "Where'd this come from?" He's far more powerful than me… that can't be right!
"Get ready!" Gohan shouted. "We can block it if we work together-"
"Fool! He's not aiming for us!"
"What do you-"
Buu released the colossal attack, throwing it straight down at the Earth itself. The onrushing wave of power it threw out ahead of it smashed up the ground before it even got close, and the whole area was bathed in its unearthly pink glow.
There was no time for doubt or second-guesses. Two of the fighters there had been doing this for years, knew each other's skills and abilities like their own, and true to form responded instantly. " Times three !" Goku's aura blazed. "Raditz!" A hand gripped his shoulder, an Instant Transmission hop took them directly into the path of the incoming blast.
Super Saiyan 3 power burst out of Raditz's body once again, a combined field of red and gold energy building around the brothers, crackling as the edges of it touched the wake of Buu's attack. Their reply would have to be timed perfectly-and the thought hit them at the same time. It was barely conscious, relying on instinct and intuition forged out of a lifetime of battle.
Now!
"KAMEHAMEHA TIMES TEN!"
"DRAGON FIST!"
That clash of insanely powerful energies, the direct opposition of one fighter's will and power against another's, should have gone on for much longer, to suit its climactic nature. Sadly, this was not the case, and the brothers' combined attack hurled Buu's directly back in its own path in a matter of seconds. The seemingly-inexorable energy sphere, it turned out, was no match for their combined might.
There was an explosion, because there always is, with this sort of thing. Luckily it was directed out into space-otherwise it would have cracked the planet in half. As it was, the backblast alone was enough to fling the two powering-down saiyans to the ground, thrown for all their strength like ants in a hurricane. Of Buu, there was no sign.
Gohan landed behind them as they stood wearily. "Guys, that was incredible! I barely had time to react…"
Goku gave a tired smile. "Heh… no time to celebrate now, though…"
"Yeah." Raditz nodded. "Buu's still out there. But by now pieces of him are spread from here to Saturn, so we've got a little time. Ideas?"
"I'm pretty sure I could take him at full strength," Goku said. "But not like I am now."
"Well, if we've got a couple minutes, I could go get Dende," Gohan suggested. "I passed by him earlier-he's still alive."
"Let me." Raditz tapped his forehead. "I'll go ahead and get everyone still alive." He vanished, returning shortly with Dende, Launch, Eighteen and Goten in tow, the latter two unconscious-that is, until Dende applied his restorative magics to them. Eighteen still wasn't at 100%; the young Namek could heal her biological human body, but restoring her mechanical components would take full technical repairs.
"I'm afraid I'm getting tired…" Dende confided. "I've only got energy left for one more." Consensus was reached instantly-Goku was their best shot at taking Buu down. Another Instant Transmission trip brought Baby and the now-awakened Tien and Break.
"So…" Launch swung her legs idly, sitting in the lower branches of a tree. "Do we just wait for Buu to show up and jump him?"
Goku scratched his head. "I guess, but I don't like it. I mean, this one's even more crazy than the others. I don't think there's anything on his mind but mindless destruction. He didn't even care about us-I guess he just felt like blowing up Earth. We can't fight something like that without too much collateral damage."
"In that case…" Gohan spoke up. "Come to think of it, there is a place where we can fight with no damage to anything… why don't we try and lure Buu into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
"But the Lookout was destroyed," Break reminded him.
"Mostly. To get into the Chamber, we just need the door… why don't we go check if it's survived? Raditz, can you take dad and me there?"
"Sure, sure. A free ride, that's all I am to you people…" the shaggy-haired man grumbled, teleporting the other two over to the ruins of the Lookout. A quick search revealed disheartening news-the door had survived, but was burned almost black, and one corner was completely missing. Opening it, they felt a rush of the Chamber's hot, stifling air, but nothing on the other side-just a solid wall. "So…" Gohan said quietly, rubbing his chin. "The connection's still there, sort of… it's just damaged. Hmm." A thought struck him. "Raditz, come help me with this."
"With what? You know how to fix it?"
"Maybe. Look, if we were in the Chamber right now, standing behind the door like this, we'd be behind the building. Equally, there are two spaces just in front of the door-one inside the Chamber, one in the Lookout. You follow?"
"No, but go on, I'll get there."
Gohan tapped the door. "I'm thinking… as a different dimension, the Chamber occupies the same three or four-dimensional space that we do, just slightly removed in a direction we can't normally move in or even comprehend."
The beginnings of realisation dawned in the older fighter's eyes. "This is starting to sound a lot like that technique of yours…"
"Shifting, yeah. I can see, and move, in those directions. If the damage has knocked the Chamber out of alignment, maybe I can Shift it back."
"So what do you need me for?"
"Your Instant Transmission technique. You can pick out an energy signature from across the universe, and travel there in no time at all. I need you to do the mental legwork, basically." He pointed towards his uncle. "I never got the hang of telepathy, so you'd better read my mind."
"Right. No problem." Raditz placed one hand on the damaged door, and the other on Gohan's head, connecting their minds to each other, and to the broken dimensional portal.
Space expanded . A whole new dimension of movement he'd never even been aware of, like he was a stick figure who'd stood up off the paper. He'd felt like he was simply standing on Earth, amidst what had seemed like solid objects, but they were all flat, merely 3D. Around him swam an infinite void, an unending stretch of blank whiteness.
And yet there, off in the distance, was an indistinct shape. Like he said. I can find anything. Focus. Focus! It swam into view, a memorable domed building flanked by a pair of giant hourglasses.
Yes, it had been knocked out of line. But moving it back? He could move himself anywhere with Instant Transmission, transverse distances instantly, but not such a distant object, floating beyond his mere four-dimensional body's reach.
But I can, said Gohan's voice. I can Shift other objects, remember? I just can't do it at this kind of distance. Combining my ability to move anything and see into the fifth dimension…
… with my unlimited range, and my ability to find the damn thing in the first place… Together, their minds reached out, grabbed hold of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and dragged it towards them. Physical strength was irrelevant here-mental fortitude carried them through, unwavering, pulling on an entire miniature dimension with every fibre of their combined willpower.
The backlash when it 'clicked' into place with the door was a sufficient shock to 'snap' them back to their reality, falling in an ungainly heap on the floor before jumping to their feet and finding something to lean on.
"Goku! It's done!" Raditz pulled open the door, showing the familiar Chamber within.
"Awesome!" Goku said, then froze up. "Uh… good timing, though…'cause if I'm not mistaken, he's coming back." He took a deep breath. "All right. I'll do my best… but if I can't beat him, I'll just destroy the door completely, and he'll kill me and be trapped in there. You guys wait a day or so, then wish for me to be resurrected in this dimension."
"You don't want anyone to go in with you?" Gohan asked. "The more of us there are, the better our chances of winning."
"No, I can't ask you to do that. If there's someone else in there with me, neither of us'll be able to bring ourselves to blow the door and trap the other in. Plus…" he grinned. "… I know it sounds crazy, but I really want the chance to take this Buu on. No absorptions, no fusion and in an empty dimension where I can fight with no holds barred."
"I understand." Raditz nodded. "You just lure him into the Chamber, and do what you do best."
"Eat?" Goku asked, playing dumb. This drew a nervous chuckle-Buu's approaching ki heralded his arrival in a couple of minutes.
"One thing," Gohan said. "Normally, the Chamber's kinda weird-looking in the fourth dimension-that's time. It's sort of bunched up. Not any more though; we had to move it a lot closer to this dimension than usual to get it to link to the door despite the damage. So there's no more year-in-a-day thing. Time here is time there."
"Right, thanks. Well… he's getting close now. Wish me luck." Goku took a couple of steps back, standing in the doorway and throwing his shoulders out, ki building around him.
"Dad… don't die," Gohan said, stepping aside.
"Don't worry about it, kid. I don't plan to."
"Hey-" Raditz began.
Goku waved dismissively, smirking. "Yeah, I know. 'Don't die', I get it."
"No… you know this isn't about 'live' or 'die'." Raditz clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Win!"
"Do my best. Now get out of here!"
"But he won't be here for another minute at least-"
"NOW!" At his words, Raditz flinched away, a moment before Buu flickered into view directly opposite Goku.
Instant Transmission! Gohan felt himself almost freezing up with fear again, Buu's enormous aura a tangible pressure in the air. He learned it just by watching it a couple of times!
Goku took another half-step back. "Hey, Buu. You're not dumb." He pointed a thumb at himself. "You know I'm the strongest here. You want to blow up this place for kicks? You'll have to get past me."
"Eheh…" The new childlike Buu grinned savagely, then without warning charged Goku bull-like, slamming into him and tackling him through the door. Raditz sprang forwards and slammed it behind them. He leaned heavily on the door, panting. His face shone with sweat. He felt that power too… Gohan noticed. I didn't even think my uncle could feel fear…
Goku twisted free of Buu's grasp in mid-flight, kicking the nightmarish creature's face and breaking away from it. They both hit the ground on their feet, skidding away in opposite directions.
Buu fixed him with that same vacant stare, somehow even more eerie than the unreined malice in the other one's eyes. It swayed slightly from side to side, teeth clicking against each other.
"Don't talk much in this form, do you?" Man, all this fighting… my shirt's ruined. Goku tore free the last scraps, running his other hand through his gravity-defying hair. "I wasn't even using the Kaioken just now, but I know you weren't using anything close to your full power. So let's both go all out now, huh?" Finally. Just me and the enemy. I'm at full strength. No innocents to hurt. Nobody absorbed to worry about. His hands were shaking, but not with fear. A wild grin stole its way onto his face.
This is what I live for.
Chapter 90: Hope of the Universe
This new Buu seemed less threatening, at first, but it quickly became apparent to Goku that it was terrifying enough in its own right. It alternated between sullen silence, raging childlike tantrums, and eerie fits of laughter. It moved in a jerky, twitchy manner which belied its speed, and furthermore gave it the appearance of a shambling, half-dead thing that was only partly aware of its surroundings; though aware it certainly was-aware enough to fight with all the ferocity of a cornered snake.
Goku made the first move in one of its quieter moments, aiming a punch at its face. However, just before he made contact, a stream of information stabbed its way into his mind, momentarily disorientating him-
alien Buu fear hate defend Super Dabura Babidi fusion defuse Saiyan Two Three Four? Majin Majin Buu M defeat Buu fear
-when his vision returned, he'd wavered slightly, and Buu was grinning. It snapped into motion, and each of their fists collided with the other's face at once. Buu's head and torso rocked backwards, but its legs stayed rooted to the spot. Goku, meanwhile, was flung back, world spinning, until he came crashing to the blank white 'ground'. He clambered back up, rubbing where a bruise would soon form on his cheek. He's much stronger than he should've been… I guess he did retain the energy he absorbed from Piccolo. He looked up, seeing that Buu was gone, and heard the hiss of high-speed movement. Damn… guess I'll have to use more power, even if it reduces my endurance… ! "… TIMES THREE!" The Kaioken fired up, and his boosted reaction speed and senses let him see Buu incoming, above and to the left, face contorted in a twisted snarl.
Moving quickly to react, muscle memory firing fibres down his arm faster than his conscious mind could assess the situation, Goku caught Buu's incoming fist, stepping back and pulling Buu over his head, pitching it away and subsequently drawing his hands back to the ever-reliable energy-gathering pose. "Times-Ten…" Buu began to flail in the air, and Goku knew his window of opportunity to hit with this attack was shrinking. Too late to change my mind-I've already gathered too much energy! "… KAMEHAMEHA!" The beam roared forward, blasting straight through one of the giant hourglasses flanking the Time Chamber's entrance. Goku took a couple of staggering steps back, lowering his steaming hands and inhaling. A tap on the ground in front of him brought dismay to his heart-Buu, the left half of its body completely blown away, crumpled to the ground. However, with a pop, it regenerated fully and stood, stretching. Goku threw a kiai, flinging it away before it could take the initiative.
Again, Buu recovered extremely quickly, the dent in its skin filling out and yawning as it stretched its neck. A string of drool hung from its mouth. What's up with this? Goku wondered. This regeneration is even crazier than Buu's other forms-he's not even losing any energy when he heals! Buu sprung at him, and he span around the attack, turning the movement into a back-kick, but Buu's claw-like nails raked across his back as it was hurled into the air again, kicking and screaming.
Goku charged into the air after it, elbowing it in the stomach, then bringing both fists down on its head and smashing it back to the floor. He descended, facing the growling beast as it rose again. Again… no matter how much damage I do, I'm getting nowhere-
technique Shift Transmission travel Instant Kai Movement Buu? Buu Majin Buu defeat how how how how regenerate impossible defeat overcome blast too powerful?
-again, a strange stream of consciousness, of thoughts not his own. But he thought he recognised the voice. … Gohan? Why am I hearing Gohan's jumbled thoughts? Before he could puzzle this out, though, Buu was running at him.
"Gaaaaaa!" Buu shrieked, arms held out to the side, sprinting like a manic child. Goku frowned. If I don't boost it, I can charge quicker… "KAMEHAMEHAAA!" He hurriedly fired the two-handed blast, intercepting Buu's charge. Though less powerful, the beam still knocked Buu back a considerable distance, leaving its front side scorched black for a few seconds. Shaking its head as the burns faded, Buu's frown faded into a grin. Tapping its head once, it lowered its hands to one side, then brought them forwards, launching a lance-like pink beam.
Is that- Goku managed, before Buu's Kamehameha hit him head-on. He crossed his arms over his face, pushed forcefully back by the attack, feet scrabbling for purpose on the smooth 'ground'. "That's… ENOUGH!" He yelled, throwing his arms out and scattering the beam, 'shards' of energy raining down around him. He copied my technique just by observing it… this thing just gets more dangerous the longer it fights!
Since his thoughts were already on Buu's borrowed techniques, when Buu vanished completely, he instantly settled on Instant Transmission. Only… he's never been here before, and his ki's become so faint… to move that distance from the nearest ki signal in unknown territory… it can't just be Instant Transmission. Could it be the Kais' version? They can just teleport anywhere… though I suppose they, and he, can't cross dimensions, at least.
Then something even stranger happened. Part of Buu's ki began to move closer, while most of it stayed distant. What could this mean? What's he doing now? The answer became clear a few short moments-Buu's hand, on the end of its grotesquely-elongated arm, appeared in Goku's peripheral vision, speeding towards him. Crazy! He must be stretching for miles! Quickly forming a plan, he vaulted onto the wrist, powering up to a Kaioken times two and racing down Buu's writhing arm. Keeping his balance was a struggle, but keeping his momentum up was a huge help.
Eventually, Buu's small, pink and white body became visible. Goku's eyes narrowed with determination, and he sped up, leaping the last few dozen metres and jump-kicking Buu across the face. It spat purplish blood, retaliating with a rising knee to his jaw that shook his vision, but he powered up to a three-times boost and brought his fists together with its head between, crushing it between his hands. "Hyaaaah!" As it was Buu, its head shortly sprang back to normal, but it was staggered and confused. It turned, fixing its gaze on the Time Chamber's entrance-the only landmark of any kind in the whole vast, infinite emptiness. As its arm finally retracted to normal length, Goku grabbed ahold of its shoulder. Don't want to lose your bearings, I see. You're not totally stupid, then. But you're not getting away from me!
The world dissolved into a crazy spiral of colours, as it sometimes did when he'd hitched a ride with someone's teleportation before (other times it was an empty black expanse). He'd never been in transit with an enemy before, though-still in the Instant Movement dimension, Goku hammered Buu with a series of close-range elbow smashes, keeping his grip on the creature with his other hand. As they reappeared in the material world, near the entrance again, he swayed backwards and swung a punch, but Buu ducked inside it, its head dodging away from Goku's hand and carrying on to strike him in the chest. They landed opposite each other again, coming to a halt and glaring across the empty landscape.
"Huh… huh… this is gonna drag on too long…" Goku's breathing was already too fast for his liking. "All right… let's do this."
"Eeeeeehehehe…" Buu giggled, shoulders shaking. Then it flung its head back and began to beat on its chest in the manner of an aggressive gorilla. "Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo!" Every hit drew a puff of steam out of his 'vents', until he was surrounded in a cloud of the stuff.
"What's that, a challenge?" Goku asked aloud. "Or just showing off? Well…" His muscles bunched up, and a rippled passed down his mighty frame as ki welled to the surface. A red aura sprung to life, and a focused intensity snapped into his eyes. "Threefold Kaioken!" Buu barely had time to lower its head to face him before he tore into it.
The survivors of Earth were gathered around the Hyperbolic Time Chamber door, waiting in anxious, pained silence.
"It's been too long… !" Raditz hissed.
"Time's not compressed there anymore," Eighteen reminded him. "It's only been a few minutes."
"Yeah, you guys can make a fight last a long time sometimes," Dende joked. "Don't worry about it." He looked idly up into the sky. "I wish we could do something, though. What if Goku comes back to ask for help? Or Buu beats him and gets out before he can destroy the door?" No-one replied at first.
"I'm not sure what to tell you…" Gohan said. "Dad's plan is about the best we've got."
"Is that so?" A smug voice in their heads asked. "What if you had three wishes from Namek on speed-dial?"
Tien was the first to reply. "King Kai! You talked to the Namekians?"
"Sure, they were happy to help. You guys did sort of save their race from extinction-you get a few favours for that." The Kai waited for someone to respond. "What? C'mon, guys, any ideas?"
"Hmm… well, there is… no, that wouldn't…" Tien sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind."
"What?" Goten demanded, tugging on Tien's arm. "What was it?"
Tien shrugged. "Well, if you must know… I was going to try a Spirit Bomb, see if the dragon could restore Earth and its people so I could use their energy… but the Namekian dragon can't restore more than one person's life with one wish… it wouldn't work."
"Well, I'm still here," Dende pointed out. "You could just use Porunga to wish Earth's Dragon Balls to this location, and then use them for the resurrection. Although… all the people we've brought back before wouldn't be able to come back again, only Porunga can resurrect someone more than once…"
"Oh, quit worrying, will ya?" King Kai laughed, smugness increasing yet further. "The Namekians know you guys and the insane situations you get into by now! After last time, they powered up Porunga-he can bring back groups now too!" Frankly, Shenron must be feeling kind of inadequate now…
"Excellent!" Tien beamed. "All right, tell the Nameks we have two wishes. Fix all the damage done to the Earth-"
"About time, too," Gohan muttered. "I swear if the ground keeps shaking, I'm going to go insane…"
"And whose fault is that, huh?" Raditz quipped.
"-and with the second, bring everyone who's died during Babidi and Buu's rampages back to life. Uh, except Babidi and Buu (on the off-chance he's already dead) and their lot, obviously."
"All right, I'll tell 'em. You'll see the results soon. See ya, guys!" The 'connection' cut out, leaving the group more anxious than ever before as they waited for the restoration of Earth.
The battle with Cell had been the ultimate test of skill; a bioengineered creation designed to be superior to them, with a hyper-advanced mind-the perfect warrior. Majin Buu, though, was the ultimate elemental clash of power, one being's might directly opposed to the other, hundreds upon hundreds of thundering blows, each with the might to shake worlds apart, blurring together into one continuous struggle between these two, warrior and monster, their powers far too massive for their physical bodies to contain, spilling out for miles around in dizzying coronas of cosmic energy.
At Kaioken x3, Goku had the upper hand, but not by much, and it took everything he had to maintain his offensive. He hammered uncountable thousands of punches into Buu's indestructible body, until his hands went numb. He kicked until his legs seized up. Exhausted but keeping his power burning, he grabbed Buu and brought the battle to close quarters, ramming his knees and elbows into Buu until blood ran down his aching limbs, and in tight moments ended up keeping Buu off-balance with headbutts so often that his vision blurred and his ears rang, more streams of blood seeping down his face and matting his hair.
Body all but spent, he fell away, unleashing a barrage of kiai's that crushed Buu down into a misshapen blob, but it simply sprang back to normal size, mildly irked but no worse off. Goku fired off a huge volley of energy beams, cutting Buu to ribbons and blasting every piece to shreds. The specks of dust that remained organised themselves into a Buu-like shape, and then filled in the gaps in a matter of seconds. This Buu, as he suspected, possessed even more potent powers of regeneration than the others-it never lost any energy reforming, and was constantly at 100%. Goku's minor advantage was simply not enough to wear Buu down to the point where it could be destroyed faster than it could heal the damage he was doing to it.
Finally, the great offensive ground to a halt. Every cell in Goku's body groaned, and he looked with increasing weariness over at Buu, who was spinning in idle circles and giggling, completely fine. "Damn… what do I do now?" Goku took a slow step back, closing his eyes for a minute. He emptied his mind, and waited for a decision to make itself known. His subconscious whirred over the situation, decades of battle experience analysing possible routes of attack. Finally, he arrived at a conclusion:
I can't beat him.
He opened his eyes, sighing. Buu was lazily approaching. Guess I have to blow the door-
No solution solve Buu problem defeat kill living? destroy remove energy energy heal regenerate counter? stop? different form higher form energy pure
-He shook his head. Not now! Majin Buu was only a few steps away. It craned its neck up towards him, pointed one stubby finger, and-for the first and last time-spoke.
"Me Buu," it gargled. "Kill you!"
Goku gulped. "Yeah… probably…"
Chapter 91: Here at the End
"Hello? You guys there?" King Kai's voice chimed in mentally. "Hey, just thought I'd let you know that the Namekians have made the wishes-Earth and its people are back."
"Huh?" Goten glanced around. "But the Lookout's still all broken…"
"Yeah, about that. I made a little change to your wish-not to restore the Time Chamber, or even the Lookout, since that'd move the Chamber."
"What's wrong with it?" Gohan asked.
"Well, you did kind of mess with it when you improvised a fix for the door. Repairing it 'as it was' could give you less time to form that Spirit Bomb you're planning, and I don't even want to move it at this point-who knows how unstable it could be!"
"Good point. And Tien, speaking of…"
"I hear you." Tien closed his eyes, letting the familiar sensation of a gathering Spirit Bomb flow through his body, drawing energy from the people and animals of the Earth, from the grass, the trees, the rocks, the air and the oceans, then extending his reach as he'd done once before and pulling on the energy of the other planets in the solar system, and finally from the Sun-a huge energy source, as always.
He smiled at the speed with which he'd gathered all this energy, a large shimmering energy sphere already hanging over his head, glowing a faint blue. All right… looks like my meditation's paid off. I was worried that not being able to regularly practice it would be a problem, but I guess the little experience I've had using it in battle is enough.
"Still…" he said, as the others observed the Spirit Bomb grow steadily larger with a kind of awe, "… Goku better have done something to weaken Buu if it gets out here, or this isn't going to be enough to kill it."
"True," Raditz agreed. "This kind of power wouldn't really suffice to finish Buu on its own. But it's your best shot… maybe if we all shot Buu at once, and then you hit it with that thing…"
"Maybe." Tien fell silent for a second, then decided something. "Hey… guys, can you all try and put as much energy as you can into this? Keep enough for a shot at Buu if it comes to it, I guess, but it'll be much more effective if we can all combine our powers."
"Right." Launch was the first to raise a hand towards the thing, and let a stream of energy pass into it-far more than the tiny amount the Spirit Bomb normally took from every unwitting living creature. The others, reaching a quick assent, followed suit, and Tien felt rather than saw the sphere grow suddenly, now lighting up the whole valley with its glare.
"Excellent!" he enthused. "But, still… I have to wonder if it'll stop Buu… he's more powerful than any of us here."
"But surely all our powers added together are greater than his," Gohan argued.
"It isn't quite that simple," Tien informed him. "Of your total power, only about a third of it is 'Genki'-life force. That's what you give to the Spirit Bomb. And you can't even give all of it, or close to, or you'd die. So we'd need a lot more people to voluntarily…" he trailed off, eyes slowly widening. Well… why not?
"Er… King Kai…"
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" the northern Kai asked smugly.
"Uh… I give up." Tien didn't quite understand, and knew of the demigod's tendency to tell bad jokes no matter the situation. "What's the punchline?"
"I… what?… you… no… how did you even…" King Kai stumbled, flustered, over his words. "I wasn't joking, I… you know what, never mind. What were you going to say?"
"Uh… right." Tien recovered from his confusion shortly. "I've got a plan."
People of Earth!
Said people of Earth took a collective pause as a voice spoke in their minds, all over the world at once.
I'm sure you remember being killed earlier today, and then mysteriously reappearing, unharmed. I assure you, it was not a dream, or an illusion. Ask your neighbour-it happened to everyone. King Kai was broadcasting Tien's speech to the entire population.
You were killed by a monster named Majin Buu. We-the group who fought Cell, among other threats-have managed to undo the damage it's caused, but we're still fighting it.
I'm a friend of Son Goku and Son Gohan, Tien told them, opting to leave his own name out in case anyone still associated it with his vicious past under the Crane Hermit's teachings. I'm gathering an attack that may destroy Majin Buu for good, but I need your help-all of you. You can give energy to this Spirit Bomb simply by raising your arms to the sky-please, help us stop everyone from being killed for good this time!
Some people responded quickly, of course. Their entire circle of friends and family. Some older friends and acquaintances, too-almost-forgotten faces the world over.
Android 8, Suno. Upa, Bora. Baba and her fighters. Nam. Giran. The tiny bursts of energy, combining to a larger whole, trickled in from all around the globe.
"It's not enough… !" Tien said grimly. "Only a few people are helping…"
"Hey, if a voice in my head started asking me for stuff, I'd be a little hesitant," Launch pointed out.
"Aaagh… what do I say? How can I make them trust me?" He groaned. Everyone… you have to help us! This is your own lives we're talking about! Please… ! The speech King Kai relayed back to him was not promising.
"Who is this guy?"
"Don't listen, it's a trick!"
"Should we do it…?"
"How do we know he isn't lying, huh?"
Tien ground his teeth together. "What's it take, huh? Is it a little much to ask you people to give something back for once?" He glanced around at the nervous group around him. "Anybody got any ideas, go ahead and talk to 'em."
And they tried. The small band tried everything they could to convince the people of the world to share their energy. They pleaded, encouraged, shouted, begged, negotiated for minute after agonising minute. Some people were convinced-another trickle of energy had slowly accumulated over time as quite a substantial amount of people gave their energy to the Spirit Bomb, and it swelled in size again. But it was still less than a tenth of the Earth's population, and even when the Namekians telepathically chimed in to lend their own energy, only about a hundred of that race were even still living, and they could only do so much.
Finally, they were out of ideas, mentally exhausted. Everyone ambled around in a sort of daze, knowing it wasn't enough. Tien kept the attack going, but the futility of the venture, and his own failure, was gnawing at him. What now? How am I supposed to stop Buu with this? How-
Please. A child's voice, slightly quavering, almost breaking. My dad's fighting that thing. A repressed sob, hastily turned into a sniff. Tien turned-"Goten…"
He's all alone with Buu… Goten continued. No-one could have faked the sincerity, the desperation, in his words. Please don't let my daddy die!
There was a long, dreadful silence.
And then.
And then.
Tien's eyes (all three) snapped open wide. What's this… power?! So much energy… flooding into the Spirit Bomb! The energy sphere grew massively in size, obscuring the sun with its own glow. This is the entire Earth combined with one will… Seven billion people, none of them perfect, but all in that one glorious instant united in the determination not to let that one child cry. I… can't believe it! I've never felt so much power in my life! Not even from Buu!
"Thank you!" He called out loud. "Thank you, everyone!" Now… if the worst should happen and Buu gets out, I can nail him with this and finish it-
A thunderclap, the toll of a bell, the crash of metal on metal, to them the most dreadful sound in the world because of what it heralded.
The Time Chamber door had been destroyed.
Goku lowered his hand, smoke rising from the burning remnants of the main building-gone, and with it the entrance.
"It's time to face facts. I can't beat you, Buu… you're too much for me." Slowly, he raised his fists. "So now we're both trapped in here, forever-at least in your case. I don't think I'll be living that long. But… I just can't bear to stand around and let you kill me. Even if it's impossible, something in me just won't let me die without at least trying to win!" A mad grin stole its way onto his face. "So, c'mon! Do your worst."
"Gyyyrrrr… rrrrgghhhkkk…" Buu gnashed its teeth, trembling from head to toe. It wasn't completely stupid, and it knew what Goku had done, and the implications. Its playground, the universe, robbed from it, and replaced with this boring emptiness, with nothing to do but exact revenge on the man who'd trapped it there. "GYAAAAAAHHH!"
"Yeah, I bet I'm not your favourite person right now. Well, I'm right here! Come on already!"
And Buu did. It stretched out an arm, the limb snaking out at frightening speed and clamping around Goku's neck. He choked as Buu reeled him in, managing to swing a leg up, fortify it with ki, and slice right through Buu's elbow with a kick, freeing himself. However, he'd barely pried the disembodied hand off him when Buu's other arm swung around, utilising its body-manipulation powers to grow the wrist and hand to massive size, the gigantic fist smashing Goku to the ground. Goku rolled away, standing unsteadily as Buu regenerated and returned to normal size. "Keh!" it spat, advancing again. "Grrrrhhh…" It punched again, but Goku caught it before it could grow its fist.
"That won't work twice!" he shouted, throwing a punch of his own at Buu's head. Buu's mouth snapped open, and it belched out a large pink energy wave. Goku had to act fast, or the energy of it could take his head off-his fist, however, was still positioned in the path of the blast. "RYU-KEN!" Pulling on ever-deeper reserves, he sent Buu flying away with the summoned golden dragon, the resulting explosion taking even Buu a couple of seconds to recover from. Alas, it still hadn't lost any energy. "Damn it!" Goku brought his hands down and to the side. "No time to waste… gotta keep up the offensive. KAME…"
Buu was having none of it. It rolled up its body into a ball, hovering in mid-air. The comical sight quickly became apparent for what it was when it shot straight at Goku: A deadly high-speed projectile. "HAMEeeeaaagh!" Goku yelped as the Buu-ball hit him in the face, hurling him into the air. Half a second into his flight, now horizontal in mid-air, his brain was still whirring. Blood poured from somewhere on his face. One of his eyes didn't seem to be working; he could see nothing on the far left, and his depth perception was messed up. I've still got all this energy built up… can't let it go to waste! He forced it down his body, from his hands to his feet. You might have learned the Kamehameha, Buu, but I bet you don't know this one… "-HAAA!"
The Kamehameha wave, launched from his feet, took Buu by surprise, knocked Buu out of the air, a startled frown on its face. Goku and Buu hit the ground at the same time, and shortly stood facing each other again. Then, Buu vanished. Instant Movement again! Goku decided. "I told you…" he said in a low voice, then spun and punched behind him, catching the materialising Buu in the stomach. "The same tactic won't work twice against me!" Buu howled and almost lost its footing, but then its hand shot out and grabbed Goku's forearm. He tugged, but couldn't break away-then a wave of some kind of electricity ran out from Buu's body, through its grip on his arm and into Goku. "Aaaaagh!" Get away! Goku jumped, planting both feet on Buu's face before it could send another electric shock and twisted out of its grip, somersaulting away.
Unfortunately, he landed with his back to it, and a crackle of energy signalled that Buu was preparing its next attack. It surrounded its body with energy and flew at him, again using its own body as a projectile. Coming in too fast… only option is-! "Damn it! KAIOKEN!" Equal parts energy and pain flooded his body, and he turned in time to intercept Buu, leading with his fist and hitting Buu head-on. Flattened by the impact, Buu abruptly exploded into rubbery pink chunks.
Each piece, though, animated by Buu's malevolent will, formed itself into a complete miniature Buu, and then each one launched a pulsing energy blast. Goku was still trying to recover from over-exerting himself, and was hit by the barrage.
The world blurred and faded, black creeping into the edges of his vision. Sound was fuzzy, and his overburdened nervous system was trying to communicate pain in a lot of different places. Something was falling slowly through the air in front of him, twisting and splashing in strange patterns.
Is that… my blood? There's… so much of it…
Buu's head-tentacle shot out, elongating and wrapping around Goku's ankle. Buu swung its head around, whirling its barely-resisting enemy through the hot, stifling air.
Goku was prepared for death, at this point. He knew it wouldn't be long now. I've got… nothing left. At least… everyone's safe while he's stuck in here…
But one thought, rising from the back of his mind, wouldn't leave him alone. One persistent, nagging thought.
What were you thinking about, Gohan? You were on the verge of something…
Something… some… His head spun. … defeat… Buu… how…
An agonising impact as Buu released him, his head smacking painfully into the ground.
"… thanks." Buu paused. That had been meant as the killing blow-to crack Goku's skull. But the strange man was standing up, a river of blood pouring down his face-and laughing. "Heh heh… thanks, Buu. I wasn't thinking too clearly… you just knocked my thoughts into place." He flung his arms out, powering up as best as he could. "Are you ready, Buu?"
Buu had to pause-curiosity made it hold off on killing him now. What could he possibly do? It had to know.
Right, Gohan. Different form of energy… a higher form of energy. It'd stop him regenerating, right? Like the Spirit Bomb-but I can't do that-or… or like…
The Solar Flare? Wait… solar… sun. Sun. Star. We have easily enough power to destroy one-we can generate more energy than a supernova.
So… making one should be possible, right? 'Higher form of energy'?
He brought his hands together in front of his chest. C'mon, Goku, I know you don't pay attention to Gohan's science homework, but you must've overheard something . You're not dumb; you're uneducated. But this is energy-this is fighting. You can figure this out.
Stars. Made of… of… gas… hot gas? Something else… pressure! Right. Gas is all 'round me. Heat, pressure… I c'n do those.
He began by forming a huge spherical shell of ki over his head, trapping the air inside, and then contracting it. As it shrunk, the gas inside was compressed to ever-smaller areas, pressure building up to the level where, in his weakened state, he had to struggle to keep the barrier strong enough to contain the compressed air, now bursting to get out. Then, he began to pump heat into it, summoning up the last depths of his energy reserves to heat up the space inside the sphere.
With one final burst of energy, he poured in a stream of fiery ki from his hands, and there- there!- the creation, the miniature sun, sprung to life in front of him. The warm glow momentarily mesmerised him. Of course, a 'sun' of this small size would not be stable, especially given that with the addition of his ki, it had at least as much energy as a full-sized one. As soon as he dropped the shield, it'd explode-which was the plan, of course.
"Okay, Buu… thanks for waiting."
"Heeehhh…" Buu yawned, blinking blearily at him. Goku was stunned. He was asleep?!… don't worry about it. If this doesn't kill him, I really am done. Thanks, Gohan…
"Okay… here goes." He kicked off, leaping at Buu, right arm held back with the artificial star held between his fingers, ready to swing it around as soon as he was in range. Buu didn't move.
Now! He swung-his hand, with the orb, shot at Buu's head-and Buu swayed casually to the side, dodging effortlessly. No, damn it-
Buu brought both arms up, grinning murderously. One hand grabbed Goku's right forearm, the other the upper arm just near the shoulder. Then… it pulled.
Goku wasn't quite aware of what happened next; he was too busy screaming. It might have been a second or a minute before he managed to open his working eye and take in the situation. The world was moving in slow motion, or seemed to be as his brain struggled to process the overwhelming input it was getting. Far too much blood was flying out away from him. His last hope, the barely-contained star, was drifting away from him. The ground was rushing up to meet him. Buu stood in front of him, laughing hysterically, Goku's severed right arm held two-handed above its head like a trophy.
That's… it, then… it was a crazy plan anyway… The black at the edges crept in, and the world slowly began to go dark again. Damn it… I just couldn't beat Majin Buu in the end… after all this time…
A wave of dread swept over Chi-Chi. Like something had just entered her mind and stolen the light out of the world. Her breath caught in her throat-and then, she knew. "Go… ku?"
Goku fell into darkness, and the darkness rushed up to meet him. On one hand, he wished he could've won in the end-but on the other, he accepted it. He'd done all he could.
A voice. Mumbling? No, far-off.
King Yemma…? Am I dead already?
No. Not him, but it sounded familiar. And finally, he caught the words.
"Is… that… all ?"
Wh… wha…?
"What did I tell you? You have the potential to be the greatest of us! You always did! Look at how powerful you've grown! And yet you can't even beat this little freak of nature!"
Ve-Vegeta?
"Kakarot! Don't you dare give in now! If I see you in the afterlife before Buu's dead, I swear I'll kill you all over again!"
Heh heh… encouraging. But… sorry, I've given everything I have… Buu's just too tough for me. I hate saying it, but that's just the way it is.
"Nonsense. You know-and I know-this battle isn't about survival; it's about victory. The mightiest warrior of the saiyan race cannot-will not-lose to this monster! Even if it kills you!"
Yeah… Raditz said the same… are you really… talking to me? Or am I just hallucinating… blood loss an' stuff…
"Does it matter? Remember what I told you, Kakarot. Ruthless. Unstoppable. You have the potential. Don't ever stop fighting! As your prince, I command you to win! "
I… can only… try…
"'Trying' is another word for 'failing'. Now." The voice paused for a long time, then: "GET UP!"
The violence of the words shook Goku awake. Barely any time had passed. He was still falling. Buu had discarded his missing arm. His attack was still drifting away. There was still blood everywhere.
"Even… if it… kills me… !" He spat. He spun in midair, every movement a monumental effort that sent spikes of pain through his broken body. I need to sleep for, like, a week, but. Not. Yet. He fought through the pain, righting himself and bringing his remaining, left arm around and snatching the miniature star out of the air. "RAAAAAAAH!"
"Eh?" Buu was genuinely shocked-it had thought for sure this time that he was dead. Caught off-guard, it swung a close-range punch. Goku gritted his teeth, fighting momentary blackouts. Faster… stronger! Kaioken… times… something… much power as I have left! "HYAAAAA!" Wreathed in magical flames, he spun around the incoming punch, and brought his own arm down. "It's your turn, Buu!" With a final effort, he rammed the sphere into Buu's open, screaming mouth and down its throat, then withdrew his arm and kicked off its chest to propel himself away.
Nova Burst-GO!
The universe is a strange place, full of natural wonders. Stars being born, and dying in cataclysmic supernovae, are two such wonders.
But a star being born and going supernova at the same time? Somewhat less common.
Goku wasn't awake to see it, though. When he finally awoke, there was no sign of Majin Buu at all. He was superficially burned, but the majority of the cataclysmic, cosmic explosion must have been contained inside Buu's body, destroying it from inside-out.
He managed to sit, then to stand. What now? All that he could see, in the endless emptiness of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, was his severed arm and the demolished remains of the entrance. Picking up the former, he trudged over to the latter. Complex thought was now getting beyond him. Blood loss was starting to seriously affect his mental processes. He staggered, fell, stood again.
Then, mind and body almost failing, he made a decision. He took a deep breath. One thought overrode all.
"I WANNA GO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
"Damn it, what good is this thing if I can't do anything with it?!" Tien shouted, almost hysterical. "I can't just give all the energy back! It's going to blow up something !"
"Hmm…" Raditz stood up. "What if Kibitoshin could teleport you to some uninhabited planet, and you could throw it at their moon or something? Would the Spirit Bomb go with you?"
"I don't know! I wasn't really thinking about what'd happen if I couldn't-"
Unexpectedly (needless to say), a warping, crackling hole in reality blasted its way open where the Time Chamber door had once stood. Through it, generating the massive amount of power that had busted down the weakened barrier between dimensions, came a voice:
"-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!"
"Wha-"
"Look! Something's-"
"Is that-"
Goku stepped out into the real world, the portal closing behind him. "Hey. 'm gonna go 'n' sleep now, kay?" With that, he collapsed.
"Dad!" Gohan rushed forwards, holding up his unconscious father. "Dende, quick-"
"Right!" Dende hurried over, placing his hands on Goku and using his recovered healing energies to restore Goku, even placing the severed arm on the shoulder stump and re-attaching it.
Goku stood, stretching. "Hey, everybody! Sorry for worrying you all, hah!" Laughter and the rush of victory followed, of course. They got maybe eleven seconds of it before the feeling hit them.
A terrible sensation, and a familiar one. A ki they had hoped they'd never have to feel again.
"D… Do you feel it?" Break whispered.
"Buu!" Gohan growled. "He's still alive! But how-and where is he? It feels like he's close…"
Come on! Goku mentally groaned. I blew up a sun in his face, and he's not dead?! What the hell! Wait… it's coming from… "Right here! But I don't see him…"
"Ah!" Goten pointed, trembling. "Dad, on your back-look-" All eyes turned to Goku. True enough, a pulsing pink mass had attached itself to Goku's back-the tiniest remnant of Buu, possibly only a single molecule had survived-and was slowly growing.
"Gyaah! Get it off!" Goku spun, clawing at it, but it was still growing. If he envelops me fully… he'll absorb me, and then! He didn't even want to think about it. "Somebody shoot him!"
"I can't without hitting you!" Raditz hissed. "Pull it off first!"
"Can't-reach-it's moving too fast…" Something caught his eye. This light… it's not the sun! He looked up. A Spirit Bomb?! Wow, that thing's enormous! Hey, nice going, Tien!
… all right, then. He took off, flying straight for the Spirit Bomb above Tien's head.
"Wait!" Gohan shouted after him. "Don't kill yourself just to-"
"Don't worry," Tien called down to him. "The Spirit Bomb only affects those with evil in their hearts-it won't hurt Goku."
"Oh, it does?" Goku laughed. "Neat! I don't have to die too, then."
He didn't know?! Tien was stunned. And he still…
"All right…" Goku was pushing back with his ki, trying to keep Buu from moving or spreading around him. The light of the Spirit Bomb was blinding, its size enveloping his entire field of vision. "… Buu. You were really a great opponent. The toughest I've ever faced. I hope… I hope maybe you can come back some day-as a better person, I guess. I'd love to fight you again." The ultimate energy attack burned in front of him, the collective hope and generosity of two entire races. "Well… see ya round!" Spreading his arms out to the sides, Goku stepped into the light.
"Get down!" Tien shouted, releasing his hold on the Spirit Bomb as it reacted violently to Buu's evil presence and diving to the floor. "Everybody take cover!"
"This is it… !" Raditz almost laughed, unable to contain his excitement.
"So bright…" Launch murmured.
It took over a minute for the blast to clear, the mighty attack eventually scattering and lighting up the entire western hemisphere of the planet with the universe's greatest fireworks display.
Now, Majin Buu, as was known to all present, had a truly astounding capacity to regenerate. In fact, even if it was reduced to atoms, those atoms could then reform into its unharmed body (even Cell required at least a complete organic cell). Science cannot explain this, which is why Buu's abilities fall firmly into the category of magic.
So it was lucky indeed that the Spirit Bomb, when it kills someone, destroys them on a subatomic level-especially a being as pure evil as Majin Buu. It screamed its dying rage, unheard, to the heavens as it was torn apart, rent asunder and reduced to nothing at all, no trace left of the greatest threat the universe had ever known.
Majin Buu was dead.
Chapter 92: Heir to the Throne
When the light and noise had died down, the Spirit Bomb was gone, and Goku lay face down in the dirt at the end of a half-mile furrow of earth. Spluttering and shaking his head, he stood up, only to be immediately floored again by a group tackle-hug of epic proportions.
Of the rejoicing that followed not much needs to be said; such pure relief is difficult to put into words, and hopefully you can imagine the joy that was shared by all when they knew that the terrible evil they had faced was finally gone from the world. It is probably important to mention that only two of Porunga's wishes had been used, and the third restored Korin Tower and the Guardian's Lookout to their proper places-the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was difficult, however. It was restored, and the door recreated, but moving an entire dimension was beyond the power of the Namekian elders, and therefore beyond the powers of the dragon as well. The Chamber was now permanently running on normal, unaltered time.
And there followed many meetings-friends and family reunited, separated only a day for some, a lonely year for others. The reunion was not entirely a happy one, either. In addition to the loss of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as a valuable resource, Nail was still gone. Even the Dragon Balls could not bring him back separate from Piccolo, and there was much mourning for the fallen warrior. It was a sullen Raditz who had to deliver the news to Nail's Namekian kin. Kibitoshin was also prone to bouts of depression in the days that followed, wondering-since Kaioshin was the dominant fusee-if Kibito was gone, or simply part of him, and whether it might have been better had he not come to be at all.
Eighteen, too, had to work at keeping up a smile. But she chose to endure in silence, for the sake of the happiness she saw every day on the faces of her husband and daughter. Involving them in her inner melancholy regarding her humanity (or lack thereof) seemed pointless-best to act as if nothing had changed.
Royal Intelligence HQ, 28 hours after the defeat of Majin Buu
The office door slammed open, and a seething General Ripper swept in, stomping up to the desk of Intelligence Chief Reynolds and slamming both hands on her desk, the impact spilling several precariously-balanced energy drinks.
"Can I help you?" she monotoned.
"As a matter of fact," he growled, "you can tell my what one of your goon squads was doing at the World Martial Arts Tournament, trying to intimidate a walking weapon of mass destruction with semiautomatics!"
"We learn from our mistakes, General," she replied evenly. "We thought, on balance, if we took him by surprise he would be unable to employ his superhuman abilities. We were wrong-next time we will know."
"There will be no 'next time'! This is not an enemy here… oh, for-" He slumped into a nearby chair. "Did you even read the file on this guy? Age-what, twelve? Whatever-almost single-handedly takes down the most powerful terrorist organisation on the planet. Just strolls into the Red Ribbon Army base, headbutts a few missiles, and tears the place apart. Not long after, kills the Demon King Piccolo-the one who took over the world a while back, if you remember."
"All right, I get it-"
"Almost a decade later, plays a pivotal role in fending off an alien invasion before the authorities are even on the scene. A few years back, he kills Cell . And now this Majin Buu thing." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "And your grand plan for taking down this man was four guys with guns."
She was sitting back in her chair, arms folded, waiting for his rant to end. "I acknowledged it was a mistake, General. Are you finished?"
He stood up, turning to go. "I'm not going to debate the morality with you. You're a spy, it's your job to be paranoid. But-" He glowered back at her from the doorway. "-if you ever approve an operation as monumentally stupid as that again, I will personally fire you."
"You don't have the authority to-"
"From a howitzer!" The door slammed.
Reynolds sighed. In future, then… investigate technological countermeasures. At least until superhuman fighting techniques are publicly available… then incorporate into standard field-agent training course. Alternatively, just don't bother because these people seem perfectly happy to save the world time and again without even a word to us…
To make a long story almost as long, things went back to normal, more or less. They had gained much and lost much, but the world carried on turning and their normal lives took precedent. Amidst all the panic following Majin Buu's attack, the world news frenzy, one or two religious cults forming, and a sudden boom in the counselling business, it took a little while for the world to notice that Groundbreaking Science had finally been published, appended with two notes at the beginning.
1. Sorry this took so long, everyone. A lot of the raw material was written when I was just a kid, and it needed rewriting. I'm still probably not a professional-standard writer… but I'm one of the only people who knows this stuff, so I guess you're stuck with me for the moment.
2. Seeing as it's only just happened at the time of writing, no mention of Majin Buu's attack is in this book*. I mean, I could've added a section about it, but then this would've taken even longer to write… !
(*P.S. Hi, newspaper publishers. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Stop sending journalists to bug me about Buu and the story around that. Especially when I'm at school. I'll get my thoughts in order and write you a letter or something, but right now I don't really want to think about it, okay?)
It was an instant bestseller, naturally, but Gohan in his own words, didn't "have any idea what I'd do with that much money!" Thus, he declined any royalties, which was a popular decision as it allowed the book to be sold at an overall lower price, spreading the life-changing knowledge to as many people as possible. (Chi-Chi insisted that he accept an advance, though, because how do you think we're supposed to pay for your degree course, young man?)
A distant planet…
Tarble stood by the launch-pad in the early morning, shivering in the bitter cold and watching the saiyan attack pod blast off and disappear into the sky. "Hmm… we'll all miss him, for all his faults. But I suppose it's safer for everyone this way. Even he couldn't protect us on his own…"
His wife Gure, a small, pale, round-headed alien, came running up to him from their house, holding a glowing PDA. "I've calculated it… he should reach Earth in about three months."
"Thanks," Tarble said. "They'll notice him soon, and follow him."
She saw the worry on his face. "Hey, don't worry. If these other saiyans are as strong as you say they are…"
"Yeah… I suppose so… I hope so."
Three months later…
"Mom!" Break yelled, clutching at her head. "Where did all that money come from-wait, stupid question. Where did you steal that from?!"
"Huh?" Launch looked up from her video game with a vacant expression. Slowly, her head turned to the large heap of bags of money that occupied one corner of the living room (they'd finally set up their own capsule house near Orange Star City, not far from Mount Paozu and Goku and Chi-Chi's home). "… huh. Yeah, that. Sorry, old habits die hard. I don't really remember where it was this time."
"You don't-!" she spluttered. "Is this why you were home late yesterday?!"
"Oh yeah!" Launch grinned over her shoulder, continuing to mash the buttons furiously, vapourising waves of digital spaceships. "I took a nap when I thought I'd found a good hiding-place, but I woke up in jail, so I guess not. Still, it was just some metal bars and rock walls and stuff, so it wasn't that big of a deal."
Raditz, having overheard the conversation, strolled in munching on some kind of large portion of smouldering meat on the bone. "Hmm? Another one already? Hahaha, how much d'you get this time?"
"Only a few thousand," Launch said, shrugging. "Don't wanna put anybody outta business."
Break glowered at her father's nonchalance to the theft, then a thought hit her. " This time -are you still thieving full-time?"
"You didn't know?" Launch asked, raising an eyebrow. "You need to pay attention, kid."
"Where'd you think our money came from after you guys moved out from Tien's place?" Raditz laughed.
Break slapped a hand into her forehead. They're crazy. They're both crazy. How am I related to these people?
"Now c'mon!" Raditz said, leaning down towards his daughter. "Let's have a sparring match! Let's see who's the strongest Super Saiyan 3, huh?"
"Hey! What, am I not here?" Launch snapped, swivelling back around and cursing as her lack of concentration on the game lost her a life.
Raditz gave an innocent grin. "Well, y'know, I can't fight a human in Super Saiyan… wouldn't be fair!"
"Then fight me in your normal form! It'd still be a workout!"
"Awww, come on!" he complained. "I haven't gone all-out for ages-it's been months since Buu!"
Who's the adult here…? Break wondered. On the other hand… "Hey, Dad."
"Hmm?"
She raised a fist towards him. "You're both crazy. But… I'm a saiyan too. Can't say I don't want to really hit something once in a while. Let's go!"
"That's my girl," he beamed.
"YOUR girl?!" Launch shot.
"Er… right." Raditz straightened up, standing military-style and speaking as if reading from a rehearsed script. "That's your mother's girl, who I have recently decided to finally care about and will endeavour to be a much better father to in the future, in particular not up and leaving for several years." Launch gave a satisfied nod, and Raditz's stance slumped, a relieved sigh escaping his mouth.
"… anyway…" Break said slowly, deciding not to even pay attention to this. "Can we fight now?"
"Hell yes!" With that, they vanished, a distant chain of crashes and explosions signalling their progress up and away from the house. Launch, within a minute or two, was so deeply 'in the zone' that when the phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin, snapped the controller in two, spun and blasted the phone to pieces, then spent the next ten seconds rummaging around the house at super-speed searching for the second phone connected to that number, grumbling to herself.
Finally, she found it. "Hello?"
"Hey, Launch. Bulma here."
"Oh, hi!"
"Just thought you might like to know-Capsule Corp sensors're picking up some incoming object-small, but there's a life sign on it. Gonna land pretty near your city in about half an hour."
"Aright…" Launch began to head for the door. "Right, I'll grab my folks, and Goku's, I guess, and we'll head on over and check it out. Thanks for the heads-up. See ya." She frowned. Hmm… don't feel any ki yet, so it's a good ways away yet… which means, if it's only half an hour off, it must be going pretty fast. Anyway.
Just outside Orange Star City…
Gohan and Videl reached the shade of a tall tree, and Videl stopped by it. Gohan turned. "You tired?"
She smiled. "No. It's just…" She broke off, biting her lip.
"What?" he asked. "Hey, you've barely said anything since we met up today. Is something wrong? What's up?"
"I, uh… well, not wrong…" She grew more nervous, tapping her feet together. "It's, uh… hmm."
"C'mon, what's the matter?" he laughed, running a hand through his hair and leaning back against the tree. "If it's supposed to be a secret, I can keep it, don't worry!" His tail wagged (there was really no better word for it) with enthusiasm.
She smiled at his optimism. "Well, it's… uh…" She took a deep breath, standing up straighter. "Gohan, I-"
She was cut off by a rush of howling air and the sight of an incoming saiyan attack pod, making straight for them. Frowning, she turned and swung a leg up to intercept, punting the ship away. An angry shriek carried over to them from within, and the pod tumbled away over the field, leaving a trail of fire and high-pitched curses until it finally ground to a halt.
Gohan and Videl approached warily. "We good?" Videl asked nervously.
"Yeah." Gohan nodded, but his voice was uneasy as well. "Yeah. Sure. Somebody's in there, and they're strong… but I'm pretty sure I'm stronger."
"They don't feel evil, either. But I might have pissed them off."
"Right." They stopped a few feet away as steam jets heralded the door opening. A scraping, scrabbling sound came from within. A small, humanoid figure scrambled out and dropped to the floor, shaking his head.
"Hold on…" Gohan said, taking a step back and blinking. "You… you look exactly like…"
"So I'm told," the child replied, shaking himself off. "In fact, I got more from my uncle than just looks." He pointed a thumb up at his face. "You may call me Vegeta. Prince of all saiyans!"
Chapter 93: Passing the Torch
Sacred world of the Kais…
"Hmm… yes, a very interesting trail of psychic residue…" Old Kai was muttering to himself, stroking his chin.
"What are you talking about?" Kibitoshin asked, approaching him from behind.
"Well, it's just… I noticed a rather interesting chain of events, only I saw it in reverse…" He looked over at his successor. "I noticed some strange thoughts lurking around in that Goku's head… they dissipated pretty quickly, but I saw they were a psychic projection, likely unintentional, from his son-leftover from when they were fused." He paused, and it looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"You said it was a trail…?" The younger Shin-jin prompted.
"Right, yes." Old Kai nodded. "So a quick scan of the son's mind reveals the trace signature of another mind-a friend of theirs. The imprint's first-hand on her, and it has a trans-temporal edge to it."
"What do you mean?"
"Whatever sparked the whole thing was sent through the timestream at some point. Not for any particular reason, I imagine-this sort of thing is usually accidental. Honestly, I don't have the energy to pursue it any further, and the whole thing seems to have resolved itself anyway. They're fine." With that, he shuffled off to the shade of a tree.
"Huh." Kibitoshin gazed up at the sky. "Earth is one strange place…"
Near the outskirts of Orange Star City…
"Vegeta…?" Gohan blinked. "Oh! Are you Tarble's kid?" The saiyan child nodded. "Hey, that's cool!"
"You're, uh…" Videl inquired. "… not hurt, are you? Sorry about kicking your pod like that…"
"I'm fine," Vegeta ( Vegeta Junior? Gohan wondered.) insisted, shaking dust off his body. "You…" he squinted up at them, then pointed at Gohan. "You're a saiyan. Which one are you?"
Gohan was somewhat startled by his abrupt manner. "Uh, my name's Gohan." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you-"
"The first half-breed, then." Vegeta nodded.
"Hey, so… you're a half-saiyan, too?" Videl asked. "Your mother's species must look pretty similar to humans and saiyans…"
Vegeta shook his head. "Don't ask me how it works. Saiyan genetics are… strange. I end up looking completely saiyan… my sister, who's only just been born, looks just like our mother's race."
Gohan laughed slightly. "Yeah, I got kind of a mix, but humans and saiyans look pretty much the same anyway, heh…"
"Enough of this chatter. Take me to Son Goku."
"Why?" Videl asked sharply, displeased with his impatience.
"Because not far behind me are two vicious alien soldiers, hell-bent on my destruction, and they won't care about destroying your world and everyone on it to get to me." He glared up at her, though only about half her height. "Now take me to this Goku person-"
"No need." Videl pointed up to a group of rapidly-growing specks in the sky. "Looks like he's on his way."
True enough, within two minutes the incoming group had landed; Launch had fetched Raditz and Break, and with them they'd brought Goku with Chi-Chi and Goten.
"Oh, wonderful," Vegeta grumbled. "The whole merry band." He hid his pleasant surprise at the amount of surviving saiyans. Introductions took a few minutes, but the talk eventually turned back to the briefly-mentioned alien soldiers.
"What's up with them, then?" Goku asked. "And what's it got to do with me?"
"All right, then." Vegeta Jr., as many of them were now thinking of him, nodded. "Their names are Abo and Kado-they're brothers, and two former soldiers of Frieza, but they've been growing in strength since his fall, and are now even more powerful than he was." He scratched his head. "My power is… unprecedented for my planet, and we live in the same region as those two. They began to feel threatened by me… eventually, things came to a head. I fought them, lost, and escaped home-but they weren't far behind, so my father told me to go to Earth." He looked around at them. "Now that I'm here, I'm wondering if it was worth it… but now you know."
"Sounds cool!" Goku was grinning stupidly. "Ah man, I've wanted a real fight for a while!"
"I don't think you're taking this seriously," Vegeta said flatly, sighing. "I've been told you're Super Saiyans, some of you. Fine. But I've risen beyond even that level to defeat these two, and I still failed."
"Beyond, huh?" Goku smiled. "Whatcha mean by that?"
The self-proclaimed prince shrugged. "I was frustrated by how little time I was able to train while transformed… I ended up enduring it longer and longer, until it got to the point where being a Super Saiyan was as easy as my normal state. I don't have time to explain it."
Goku was about to open his mouth to inform the younger saiyan that he knew exactly what he was talking about, but was interrupted by twin explosions almost at the horizon, heralding the arrival of another pair of saiyan-style attack pods.
"Damn!" Vegeta's heir's face contorted with tension. "They're here already?!" Sure enough, two power levels of currently a little above Frieza's level began to move towards them from the new crash site.
They didn't have to wait long-a pair of beings wearing the Cold dynasty's style of armour soon appeared in the sky, landing in a swirl of dust opposite them.
"There you are, kid," said one, a portly, round-faced blue creature.
"You've caused us a lot of trouble," the other, red-coloured but otherwise similar to the first, growled. Each wore a scouter over one ear, and a short horn jutted out of the centre of the top of each bald head.
"Rrrgh…" Vegeta stood up straighter, raising his power to the surface. Damn it all… I never thought they'd be this close behind me! "Stay back, unless you want to get killed!" he ordered the others, keeping his eyes on Abo and Kado as they advanced towards him.
"Haha, don't worry about it!" Goku laughed. "Hey, Goten, why don't you go help him? There's two of 'em, after all, and you should be able to handle one."
"Hey!" Raditz rounded on his brother. "What about Break, huh?"
Goku raised his hands to ward off an imaginary blow, grinning nervously. "Well, y'know, it'd be a bit unfair on those two if she fought… Goten should have a good fight in base form if they're only around Frieza's level, right?"
"Hmph." Raditz folded his arms and turned away, silently conceding the point.
"Hah!" Abo-or was it Kado?-laughed heartily. "You send your children to the slaughter? How cowardly."
"Heh." Chi-Chi's mouth twitched upwards into a smile. "Believe what you want-our Goten's going to turn you inside out!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Vegeta 'Jr.' snapped at Goten. "Are you insane?! They'll kill you as soon as look at-"
"Enough of this!" Kado, or possibly Abo, yelled, he and his brother charging simultaneously. Vegeta jumped out of the way, avoiding a punch that shattered the ground beneath him. Goten, meanwhile, swayed right to dodge the attack headed for him by the least possible amount, throwing a return blow at even higher speed. Whichever one of the alien duo it was that was attacking him, he was smashed to the ground. Vegeta, meanwhile, put on a surge of speed, appearing above his attacker and hammering him to the ground two-handed, landing him next to his brother.
"Huh." Goten rubbed his nose. "They don't seem all that strong. What made you so scared of 'em?"
"I suppose they underestimated us…" Vegeta muttered. "They're not using their full power yet. They're still just playing around."
"Keh…" Abo and Kado were standing up, dusting themselves down. "You've made an interesting friend, Vegeta…" the blue alien said, clicking his neck.
"Oh yeah." Goten turned to his ally. "Is the red one Abo or Kado, by the way?"
"The hell should I know?" Vegeta replied sulkily.
"Mind your language around my little boy, young man!" Chi-Chi shouted.
"Ignore us at your peril," the alien brothers said in unison. As one, they stood stock-still, their power beginning to fluctuate oddly. Their outline shimmered, and then they split-from two into four, and then six, tubby invaders.
"Ah!" Gohan peered at them, surprised. "Is that a kind of Multi-Form?"
"Not as we know it," Raditz answered. "Their power hasn't split-each one's as strong as the original. I'd say it's more likely to be some racial-specific trait, like our transformations."
"Right…"
The fight had begun again, and this time the saiyans' attackers weren't to be brushed off quite so easily. Both kids were quickly driven back, taking significantly more hits than they were giving out. A determined drive by their six assailants finally sent Goten flying back into a nearby tree. Vegeta shook his head. "See? And they're still playing around… this isn't close to their full power." Snarling, he threw out his arms, transforming into a Super Saiyan. "Fine! If they won't get serious, then I will!"
"Hah!" One of the six aliens, now hovering in a circle around him, cackled. "You think that'll let you take all six of us?"
"How 'bout if I handle three of 'em for ya?" Came Goten's voice. The steady shh-shh-shh of a Super Saiyan aura echoed from him as well as he approached.
So father was right, but… Vegeta went pale, eyes wide. … this can't be, his power… it's higher than mine?! "You… you're incredible!"
"Haha, y'think?" Goten grinned happily. "Wait'll you see my full power!"
"Full…?" Vegeta gawked.
" Hyaaaaaaaaa! " The ground cracked beneath Goten's feet, his hair standing up on end, his ki at least doubling.
"Wha-" Abo and Kado stared at him as his power continued to grow. One of them looked at his scouter in disbelief. "Power… class 4! It's still rising! 3… 2…"
"No!" Another shouted angrily. "It's not true! Not even this kid Vegeta's that strong!"
"… class 1!" The first shrieked. "And it's still-!" With a shriek of tortured circuitry, six scouters exploded in unison. Goten smiled savagely. "All right. Now try me."
I see! Vegeta was still lost in thought, caught between admiration and envy. I shouldn't have gone by appearances… this Goten must be their strongest warrior!
Goten charged into the squadron of opponents, becoming a whirlwhind of pain, moving from one to the other in a blur of punches, kicks and childish enthusiasm.
Before long, it was over; the six Abos and Kados had landed in a heap, and slowly faded back to two, who picked themselves up out of the dirt, trembling with fury.
"Damn it… !" One of them, who was quite possibly Abo, growled.
"We came here to kill Vegeta, not fight his merry band of playmates!" The other, who may well have been Kado, hissed.
Goten was still laughing. "Haha, sorry! I shoulda left some for you, huh? I guess I got carried away…" The aliens were still conferring, however.
"I guess we have no choice."
"I guess not."
"Huh?" Goten scratched his head, watching the duo shuffle closer together. "What're they-"
"Goten!" Vegeta yelled, suddenly tense again. "Attack now! They're going to-"
"MERGE!" The two voices cried out in sync; it was too late. A column of blue and red light shot straight up into the sky, twisting its way high into the atmosphere, the base completely obscuring Abo and Kado. The red and blue rapidly swirled together, mixing into a bright purple, and shortly after, the pillar collapsed in on itself, billowing away as dense clouds of colourful smoke.
The fused being that stood before them was not quite what they'd expected. Whereas Abo and Kado had been diminutive, only just taller than the children they were fighting, this new creature towered above them all-and it was almost as wide as it was tall. Its deep purple skin was dotted with lumpy, almost spiky protrusions, and its bulging, reptilian jowls combined with this to give it a truly repulsive appearance. It still wore the saiyan-style armour, and the longer head-spike was eerily reminiscent of Majin Buu's antenna.
"All right…" Goten said quietly, gulping. "This is different."
"Their power went up a lot…" Videl noted.
"Yeah." Goku nodded. "It's more than just the originals' powers added together… the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
"Just like when we fused, Dad," Gohan noted.
"Hmm, yeah… hey. Raditz." Goku tapped his older sibling on the shoulder. "Can we talk alone for a minute?"
"Huh? Sure." With that, they took off, heading half a mile or so out into the wilderness, out of earshot of the others.
Launch frowned. "Wonder what that's about?"
"Probably just comparing fighting techniques or something," Chi-Chi said, shrugging. "They haven't seen each other since Majin Buu, y'know."
"Our name is Aka," the monstrous purple being rumbled. "We will break you."
"You'll have to catch - ohmanhecaughtmeaaaaaah-!" Goten's confidence turned to panic as Aka's swiping hand snatched him up, hurling him into the air. As he tumbled back down to earth, Aka took a step back and punted him into the air.
Vegeta charged from behind it, swinging a punch, but it vanished, moving deceptively fast and appearing above him. Chuckling, it hurled itself down at the young prince, crushing him into the ground with its corpulent belly.
Aka took its time standing up and taking its bearings. Vegeta was coughing and trying to stop his vision blurring, still lying in the crater behind it, and Goten was attempting to stand up, but couldn't stop his head spinning and kept dipping back to Super Saiyan level one and up to two again, struggling to maintain full power.
They're not going to win this, Break decided. "My turn, then." She took a deep breath, preparing to transform. However, Goten stuck an arm out, signalling her to stay back.
"Don't… worry. I… got it." With a determined growl, he forced himself back up to Super Saiyan 2. "I'm not… done yet!" He formed an energy blade around his outstretched arm. "Aka, get over here!"
"As you wish." Aka ran, or more accurately waddled at supersonic speeds, towards Goten. Goten leapt, swinging his blade, but Aka's body jerked to the side and the attack merely sliced off a shoulder-guard. Aka swung its head, knocking Goten away again. "Is that all?"
Vegeta, looking on, was shaking again. "Damn… it's just what I was afraid of! Nobody can stop these two at full power!"
"Hmm… how to finish you off?" Aka wondered, tapping its head. It clicked its fingers. "I know! My ultimate technique-the Wahaha no Ha!" It leaned down towards Goten. "It has three forms. Let's see how many you and Vegeta can survive, huh?"
"Their power increased by quite a bit," Goku noted. "They might be too much for Goten and Vegeta."
"Break and Gohan can handle them," Raditz assured him.
"Right, so… what did you want to talk about?"
"Well… we haven't seen each other since Buu, so I kind of forgot, but…" Raditz grew serious. "The Dragon Fist, Goku. Somehow, we both learned the same technique-more like discovered . We had the same dream, I think."
"A field," Goku recalled. "Strange grass and trees… kind of like Namek. But flat land-not the small islands and lakes I remember."
"Dark skies," Raditz continued, nodding. "No clouds… only a very few stars. Namek didn't have night at all…"
"Then, the golden dragon. Other than the colour, he looked almost exactly like Shenron…"
"He spoke for a long time, but I don't remember what he said. I just remember feeling wiser afterwards, like I'd learned something important… and after I had this dream a few nights running…"
"… I just woke up knowing the move." Goku concurred. "Though in my case, I didn't have enough power to 'trigger' it until I got the boost from the old Kaioshin. Hey… come to think of it, the last dream was different, wasn't it?"
"It was?"
"Yeah, I remembered something the dragon said for once," Goku said.
"Not me… what did it say?"
"Let's see…" Goku rubbed his chin. "It was…'The Shadow falls. The First rises. The Eternal behind.'" He laughed. "No idea what it means!"
"Well, that sounds lovely and ominous…" Raditz grumbled. "Egh… I was hoping to get some answers talking to you, but this just raises more questions!"
Far, far away…
A pair of narrow eyes flicked open beneath immaculately-coiffured hair. A metallic staff tapped quietly on the cold stone floor. The Shadow… the First… the Eternal!
As I feared. The cycle has begun once more.
Only one has survived this before, but… that 'solution' may just as easily destroy us all. No, the Fallen is wrong. There must be another way!
I will not watch the end of everything again. Here, I shall make my stand.
Chapter 94: The Gathering Storm
Sacred Kai planet, once again…
Kibitoshin had been about to leave Old Kai alone, but then a passing thought struck him. "Hey… ancestor…"
"What is it this time?" Old Kai asked grumpily.
"Well, it's just… you must know a lot of the universe's secrets. You've got your omniscient vision…"
"Well, of course!" The scrawny Shin-jin's chest puffed out with pride. "I doubt you could find anyone in the whole universe with more knowledge at their fingertips than me!"
"Right… in that case, there's something that's been bothering me." The Kaioshin flushed slightly-it sounded so trivial. "I was wandering Otherworld a few centuries back, near the Shin-jin training grounds where I met Kibito… and I found a cave. I almost walked right past it, but a ray of sunlight struck it at the right angle, and I saw that there was writing carved into the wall.
"I created a light and examined it-it was in our own holy runic script."
"To be expected, if it was on one of our worlds," Old Kai reasoned. "Go on-what did it say?" He could have checked himself with his omniscient vision, assuming the cave was still intact, but he felt it was better to be courteous.
"I don't remember exactly," Kaioshin mumbled. "It didn't seem that important until much later-and by then I was busy hunting Bibidi, and then I forgot entirely until recently." He wracked his brain. "It was a mad-looking scribble… it kept going on about 'The Sleeping One'. It said 'we are not gods. The Sleeping One is the true god.' And lots more along those lines."
"Huh. 'True gods', huh?" Old Kai nodded sagely. "Well, it's true we're not omnipotent. We're born, we age, we can be killed, and there are several beings who vastly outstrip us in power…" He paused, considering this. "But it could always be referring to the Hakaishin. I don't think there's any greater being than that-in power, in stature, or anything really."
"Hakaishin?" Kibitoshin quickly decoded the meaning of the name. "God of Destruction?"
"Why, yes," Old Kai said, nodding. "Lord Bills is his name. Me's sake, you don't know about Bills?!"
"Uh… no…" The younger guardian smiled nervously. "As I've told you, my education was cut off… when Buu…"
"Hmm, surprising that you haven't seen him." Old Kai frowned. "He is up and about every few hundred years, 'Sleeping' must simply refer to what he does for those few hundred years in between every period of activity." He stood up, stretching his creaking limbs and running a hand over his tiny moustache. "Then again, the universe is a big place, and his ki isn't the kind most of us can sense. So maybe it's not so surprising."
"Wait… Bills, you say? I did once encounter a cat-like creature by that name. I was investigating a lead on Bibidi, and I crossed paths with him on a barren world-he had an attendant with him."
"Yes, that would be Whis." Old Kai nodded. "The two are inseparable. Mainly because someone has to correct Lord Bills' atrocious memory."
"The planet exploded shortly after I left… I assumed a meteor impact destroyed it, and those two were killed in the explosion."
"Not at all," Old Kai said, smirking. "Bills was simply doing his job-destroying planets. He is our opposite, as we provide impetus for new planets to grow, and life to develop on those planets." This was, in fact, the reason for the abundance of humanoid intelligent life in the universe-the Kaioshin modelled many species partly after themselves (this was also the cause of the unusual popularity of pointed ears and varied skin colours in intelligent species).
"Oh… ! He is as powerful as us, then?"
"Far greater. He could have destroyed Majin Buu with no effort. His power, in fact, cannot be measured as ordinary ki at all…"
"R… Really…?!"
"But don't go thinking you should've got his help against Buu. Lord Bills is not evil, but he is by no means on our side. The best way of dealing with him… is to stay out of his way…"
Aka drew back its head, puffing up its cheeks. With an awkward-looking lurch forwards, it belched out a fiery green bolt of energy. "Wahaha no Ha!"
Goten threw his arms up, catching the blast and backpedalling to keep on his feet as it pushed him back with surprising force. His aura met the verdant flames surrounding the attack and was swallowed up, golden shafts of light vanishing into the strangely dark glow of the attack, which seemed to be sucking in more light than it was giving out.
"Hrrr… rrrRRREEAAAH!" Somewhere, he found the strength to shove the Wahaha no Ha up into the air, sweat streaming from his body. "Huh… hhh… ahuh…" He grinned. "No problem."
What a fighter… ! Vegeta Jr. was rooted to the spot, staring at his tenacious ally.
"Interesting." Aka smiled. "But how about the second form?" It formed another green sphere between its hands, bringing it up in front of its mouth.
"Attack!" Vegeta shouted, jumping at Aka, one fist drawn back. "Before he has time to-"
"Too late!" Aka roared. "Super Wahaha no Ha!" An explosive burst of breath blew the ball outwards, into a hail of yellow arcs. They spread out into the surrounding air.
Raditz eyed the expanding storm of ki beams nervously. "That… could be a problem."
"Are you kidding?" Goku answered. "You know who's back there, right? You said it yourself a second ago." As he spoke, a nearly-solid energy dome appeared behind them, containing the spreading blasts.
Gohan and Break, both Super Saiyan 2, each stood with one hand touching the base of their barrier. In the next few seconds, the glimmering hemisphere faded.
Vegeta was stunned once again. They're both even stronger than Goten! How could a world like this exist?
No need to go all-out, I suppose, Gohan decided, refraining from transforming again; Break was having similar thoughts. "Goten, Break-together!"
"Right!" The Super Saiyan 2 trio launched themselves at Aka, each planting a fist in his stomach and blasting him away with the aftershock of the earth-shattering impact.
The rotund monster didn't just fly away; it bounced, before flopping ungracefully to a halt and swaying to its feet. "Little insects… I'll… kill you all! My ultimate technique… !" It opened its mouth wide, a red light shining from within, emanating the same oddly dark glow the previous attacks had. "FLAMING WAHAHA NO HAAAA!"
An energy sphere that size shouldn't have been able to fit out of Aka's mouth; but somehow it did, rolling inexorably towards them. Its shadow-light advanced ahead of it, seeping over the landscape like a poison, tinting everything and everyone its hellish glow.
"Get ready!" Gohan growled. Guess I'll have to go all-out after all! His body tensed up, preparing for the immense strain of his ultimate transformation.
Nobody else seemed to be making a move, which was why Gohan was taken completely by surprise when Raditz appeared in front of them, Super Saiyan 3 hair blowing wildly in the storm of power building around the Kamehameha wave fully-charged in his hands. "HRAAAAAAGH!" He launched the wave with wild abandon, kicking off the ground and letting the recoil knock him into the air, the backblast flattening a row of trees.
Th… That's it, then, Vegeta thought. I'm dreaming. This guy… there's no way.
Raditz dropped to the ground as the light faded to reveal a ten-mile long impact crater in the wasteland heading away from Orange Star City; and no sign of Aka. He wiped his forehead, breathing deeply as he powered down.
"Uh, Dad…" Break frowned. "I think you just killed a guy."
"Sorry. But, y'know, repressed aggression against Frieza's army. Plus, those two really weren't the kind to change-if we'd let them leave they'd just go find somebody else to terrorise."
"That's still not…" Gohan objected.
"Don't care." Raditz waved his objections away. "C'mon, Launch, Break-show's over. Getting to lunchtime."
"Sure is," Launch agreed. "Your turn to make it today."
The odd family took off, parents bickering. "It was my turn yesterday!"
"Yeah, only because you slept through the entire day before, and I had to do all three meals!" Their voices quickly receded into the distance.
Gohan sighed. "What is that guy's deal? Sometimes, he's just like dad… and then again, he's completely different…"
Goku flew over, landing with his family and their visitor. "Sooo… Vegeta… I guess you probably wanna go home now you're safe?"
"You're joking, right?!" The saiyan child's eyes were shining with glee. "There's so many incredible fighters here!" He grinned fiercely. "It's clear to me that this is where the action is-there's nobody to train with at all back home! Oh man, I can't wait!"
Without even a thought of homesickness… Goku mused. He's saiyan through and through… you'd hardly believe he's Tarble's. I guess some things skip generations. "Well, you'd need a place to stay…"
"Wherever Goten lives," Vegeta enthused. "He's my first goal to overtake!"
"Now hold on!" Chi-Chi interrupted. "It's not that easy taking in another child-we'd have to extend the house, it means more food, more clothes…"
"Aw, c'mon, Mom, please !" Goten begged, hugging her leg. "It'd be so much fun! Gohan barely plays with me anymore… it'd be like having a brother who's actually my age!"
She took in a deep breath, then nodded extremely slowly. One accusing finger pointed in Vegeta's direction. "Cause any trouble and you're out, young man! Understand?"
The young prince saluted before his conscious brain kicked in, pride momentarily forgotten in the face of the unconquerable wrath before him. "Y-Yes, ma'am!" What have I signed up for…? He wondered, sweating profusely.
Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another…
A shuffling, bent figure, cloaked and hooded in extravagant purple and gold, made its way down the twisting passage, supported by a gnarled wooden walking-stick. Warping, twisting runes lined the walls, seething as if to escape their two-dimensional prison, warping the architecture into shapes unheard of by mortal geometry.
After a few minutes of this slow progress, it reached its destination. A mottled beak clacked together from beneath the hood, and from it came a voice withered and wearied by time beyond counting and knowledge beyond imagining.
"One does not simply walk through the Sixth Universe unnoticed," it said slowly, beady eyes gazing up at the caged monstrosity before it. "Identify yourself, creature."
The imprisoned being stopped pacing, fixing the robed questioner with a pointed stare, replied in tones of crushed gravel and breaking rock.
"Prometheus Shenron."
Chapter 95: Hero of Ages
The Son family and guest ate well that night; one topic of interest did come up during the meal, amongst the small talk and idle chatter. Vegeta Jr. was still lamenting his failure to defeat Abo and Kado, and mentioned something curious.
"O'course," he said through a mouthful of rice, "y'know I could've beat 'em if I'd had a fusion partner…"
"Huh?" Goku looked up, pausing after inhaling a plate of chicken. "Whassat? Y'mean like the Potara earrings?"
"Sorry, don't know what those are," the prince replied. "It was while I was fleeing those two… I made a pit stop on a planet called Metamor to pick up fuel. Naturally, I spent the waiting time training, and after being observed ended up sparring with the locals. They were much weaker than me-until they used their fusion technique."
"Oh, a technique?" Gohan, who had also experienced the Potara fusion, was equally curious.
"Yeah, they did a funny-looking dance and, for about half an hour, they merged into an incredible warrior! Naturally, I applied myself to learning it, since I'd been told there were other saiyans, possibly my age, on Earth. That was important-the fusees must be physically similar, and equalise their power levels, for it to work."
"So why didn't you use it when you got here?" Chi-Chi asked, snatching the last dumpling from her husband with lightning speed.
"They were too close behind me," he explained. "Both participants must get the dance exactly right-there wasn't time to teach someone to do it perfectly. Plus, uh…" He reddened slightly. "It looks kinda stupid. Ever since I learned it, I've never been sure if I actually wanna use it."
Goten eyed the young warrior across the table. Hmm… he's about the same size as me…
The doorbell rang, cutting off their conversation. Goku tilted his head slightly, feeling the ki outside. "I think… Videl. I guess it's probably for you, then, Gohan."
"Right." Gohan stood up, smiling apologetically, and headed over to the door, pulling on his jacket against the evening cold as he opened it. "Hey, Videl… what's up?"
"Uh…" She still seemed extremely hesitant. "Hey, Gohan… it's about earlier… before all that craziness interrupted us."
"Right, I remember…" He grew serious. "What was it you wanted to tell me, Videl?"
"Well… I, uh… hmm." She wavered, then took a deep breath and pulled something out of her pocket-a positive pregnancy test.
Gohan fainted.
Nine months later…
Gohan, in full superhero flow, landed just past the police line with a majestic swoop. "What's the problem, officers?"
"Ah, Gold Fighter!" One of the officers smiled, approaching him. Considering what was already public knowledge, it probably wasn't entirely necessary for Gohan to hide his crime-fighting identity, but all things considered, nobody was going to hold fighting Majin Buu against him, whereas if gangsters or the like started ambushing him at home, it could get annoying-and if they tried to strike at him through his non-superpowered schoolfriends, worse than annoying. "It looked like just a normal robbery, but it looks like this person has ki power, and lots of it! She's still holed up in there," he indicated the office building the police had surrounded, "but we sure as hell aren't gonna be able to stop her leavin' when she wants to." He then turned and pointed back at a group of officers in custom uniform being tended to by medical teams. "We tried sendin' in our own ki-capable unit, but they got destroyed…"
"Sounds serious." Gohan readied his energy. The effect of Groundbreaking Science was indeed getting more noticeable as time went on-several of the police around him had some trained level of ki, and a few of the most powerful had forgone carrying guns (at a certain level, such weapons became useless). Capsule Corp had announced its plans to manufacture scouters for non-fighters, but naturally Bulma had gotten hold of the project and soon became so wrapped up in a million tiny modifications and improvements that nothing had been heard from it in months. Hercule Satan's gym, after a brief closure, had reopened and was achieving genuinely impressive results with its trainees. Meanwhile, Kame House had been briefly bombarded with hopefuls looking for training from the great Turtle Hermit, but a few Kamehameha 'warning shots' had driven them off.
Confident that whoever it was wouldn't be a problem for him, Gohan picked his way through the shattered lobby. "Hey. Whoever you are, you need to work on hiding your energy. I can tell you're close."
"Yeah, you're good." Gohan jumped-the voice was familiar. A rustling accompanied her approaching footsteps "Sorry 'bout the mess, by the way-I didn't want to break all that, but I had a disagreement with those boys outside."
"Launch…?" Gohan blinked as the thief-his aunt-in-law, in fact, now he thought about it-stepped into the light. "I thought you'd stopped stealing since you became one person."
"Heh. Well, it's sort of a midway point." She held up a modestly-sized bag of paper money. "I only take from those can afford it, and only as much as we need-I'm the breadwinner in our house, after all."
"Egh…" Gohan leaned against the wall, face falling. "I know that, but I can't just let you get away with a serious crime…"
"Aw, c'mon!" She laughed. "Whatever we spend it on can't be worse than, I don't know, stocks or whatever this company needs. They're rollin' in it, anyway." She stepped up and patted his shoulder. "Everyone's gotta eat."
Gohan closed his eyes for a minute, twitching nervously. She did have a point… He shook his head. No. Even if it was originally just to hide my identity, this outfit… this name… means something now. I can't go making exceptions-I can't allow this kind of thing. "Sorry, Launch. I can't let you go. Look… if I fight you in Super Saiyan, you know I'll probably win. And even if you're that much more skilled or whatever, I can transform again."
"Eh…" she considered this. "Yeah. You're probably right. But whatever prison cell I get put in, I can break out and go back to thievin'; you know that, right?" She smiled. "So I guess maybe we can try an' fight, an' you win, I guess, then I go quietly until you leave, and then I walk right through the wall an' outta there."
"I guess… all right. I don't see that there's anything else I can do about it. But just don't make any trouble while I'm around at least-"
"SOLAR FLARE!"
When Gohan's vision returned, Launch was long gone. He cursed, flying up out of the building and scanning the area; nothing. He momentarily considered paying a visit to her house to try and bring her to justice, but imagining Raditz's reaction dissuaded him with a nervous shiver. The saiyan warrior unhesitatingly dispatching of Aka flashed through his mind. I guess some things I just can't do anything about… I'll just chase her off whenever I catch her in the act… beyond that, it's out of my hands.
"Excuse me!"
Huh? Gohan followed the sound of the voice to the ground, landing by a short, bright red individual in robes and a tall hat. "Can I help you… sir?" He chanced.
"Yes, I hope so," the stranger replied, nodding vigorously. "You certainly seem like an unusually powerful individual… yes, perhaps you can help me."
"Well, what's the problem?" Gohan asked.
"This may surprise you," the little man said, "but I'm not from your world."
"Actually, I'm kind of used to that by now," Gohan laughed.
"I see… in any case. My name is Hoi, and I am on a mission of great importance." He held out a small, ornate wooden box. "This box is enchanted-I have found no way of opening it. Within is trapped a great hero of my people, a warrior named Tapion. He was imprisoned there by an evil wizard of great power…"
"I see… but why have you come here?"
"I was told that this planet had something called Dragons Balls, with the ability to grant wishes to the worthy-I had hoped my quest would be deemed such. I had first looked for a planet Namek, but there was no such world where I had been told, so I came here."
"Makes sense." Gohan took the offered box, inspecting it. "Yeah, Namek… sorta moved. It's complicated. But before we go summoning the dragon, why don't I give it a try?"
"Feel free. I do not think it is likely that mere strength can break this spell, but I will take any chance I can get. By all means."
"All right…" Gohan pulled gently at first, in case Hoi had drastically underestimated him, but what appeared to me mere wood and metal didn't bend in the slightest. Guess he was right… Frowning, he put his real strength into it. Still nothing! I guess I could try transforming, but if there wasn't any give at all in Super Saiyan… He sighed, giving the box back. "Seems like we might need the dragon after all, yeah. I guess for that… we'd need the Dragon Radar, and ideally Raditz's Instant Transmission to speed things up." He'd much prefer to put off meeting Raditz for as long as possible, but his home was much closer than Bulma's in West City (which lay on the other side of the planet), and logic soon won out.
Raditz laughed. "Hah! You give up too easily, kid! Look, we don't need the Dragon Balls. I'll show you." He headed outside with Gohan and Hoi, then threw the box high into the air. He transformed to Super Saiyan 3 in the time it took Gohan to blink, then drew his fist back. "Hrrr… Dragon Fist!"
Gohan, with a start, dived away from Raditz, dragging Hoi with him. "Get away!" A roar came from behind him, and a sound like the world's largest tree being felled.
They stood and turned, seeing an expanding circle of drifting smoke and dust; and within it, beside a now powered-down Raditz, stood what was presumably Tapion. He was a tall, brown-robed humanoid, a sword slung over his back and a gold circlet sitting on his mohawked head. He blinked, confusion evident on his face. "Wh-Wha…"
Hoi grinned, a strange light in his eyes. "Hello, Tapion."
"So this is Tapion?" Gohan asked, extending a friendly hand. "Hey there! So is this Hoi guy a friend of yours?"
"Oh, no," Hoi chuckled. "Just a fan."
"N-No…" Tapion was horrified for some reason, pointing a shaking finger at Hoi. " You! What did you tell these people?"
"The truth," said Hoi. "Enough of it, anyway."
"You fools!" Tapion snapped at Gohan and Raditz. "I must be resealed in the box! Your entire world is in danger otherwise!"
"Er… that box, you mean…?" Raditz asked, pointing to the charred splinters at Tapion's feet.
The hero choked. "You destroyed it!" He marvelled for a moment at the tremendous power it would've taken to break through the magical wards sealing the box, but then Hoi took a step closer and Tapion sprang back as if stung, clutching his head. "Gaaah! Don't come any closer… !"
"Ah, you feel it, do you?" Hoi leered. "You feel Hirudegarn calling?"
"Yes, I… I do…" Tapion whispered, eyes widening. "Which means… Minotia… !"
"Oh yes, we had such fun together." Hoi's dark eyes glinted in the evening light.
"Bastard!" Tapion's sword flashed as he lunged, but he halted abruptly before he was halfway to Hoi, staggering away again. Can't get too close to him! If Hirudegarn… I have to leave this place! He turned and ran, sprinting off towards the city. Cackling, Hoi set off in pursuit of him.
"So…" Gohan said slowly. "What was all that about?"
"Beats me," Raditz agreed. "I guess we should go after them?"
"Right. You go after Tapion, I'll-" A text message beep interrupted him, and he fished in his pocket for his phone, staring dumbfounded at the screen for a few seconds. "And… uh… I'll be at the hospital."
"Hospital? What-"
"Seeya!" With no more explanation than that, he was gone. Raditz shook his head. Whatever. I guess I'll just do it all myself… probably end up saving the world again, it's looking like that kind of day… gods forbid that anyone should actually help me…
Tapion crouched in a run-down warehouse, staring into the edge of his sword. Minotia… I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. I hope you didn't die alone. And now, I can't even avenge you.
But I can still do the right thing-if I cut Hirudegarn's power in half, maybe it can be stopped by someone else; perhaps the one who destroyed the box has the power to do it.
In any case… He stood and raised the sword, gritting his teeth and screwing his eyes shut. … to whoever completes what I have begun… I pass the torch to you. May you succeed where I have failed. The blade swung down towards his stomach-
-And was blasted from his hand by a beam of light inches from the point of impact, clattering to the floor.
Raditz stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the setting sun. "A little hasty, don't you think?"
"You shouldn't have done that," Tapion said, frowning. "While I'm still alive, everything around me is in danger."
"So you've said. Would you mind being a little more specific?" He folded his arms. "I won't let you do anything rash like killing yourself until I know the whole story."
Tapion sighed. "Fine. Hopefully you'll understand my actions soon enough." He leaned against the wall, and began his tale.
Chi-Chi slammed the phone down, leaping down the stairs and dragging Goku out the door in a blur of speed.
"Hey, whoa, what's going on?" Goku asked, bewildered, as they took off towards Orange Star City.
"It's Videl-she's giving birth! They say it'll be within the next hour or two!"
"Wha…?" Goku shook himself free, beginning to fly of his own accord. "Wow, really? They couldn't have given us some warning?"
"You can't predict things like this."
"Yeah, but… it's almost lunchtime…"
"Goku!"
"I am from a planet named Konats, located in the south galaxy. There was a cult there, a group of dark sorcerers known as the Kashvars. With their magic, they gave life to a monstrous statue of their creation, and set their beast to the task of bringing down our civilisation in revenge for some centuries-old slight. The monster, Hirudegarn, destroyed everything in its path, until it was confronted by a powerful wizard, and his two allies-myself and my brother Minotia."
Tapion held up an intricately-carved ocarina. "This instrument is enchanted-it was able to stun Hirudegarn when my brother and I played two in tandem, long enough for the wizard to cut it in half; however, even that was not enough to slay the beast. So the upper half was sealed within me, the lower half in Minotia. We were then fired off into opposite ends of the universe, sealed in enchanted boxes, gladly giving the rest of our lives so that our world could live on. Thousands of years, I think, have gone by… Hoi must have extended his lifespan through some evil spell."
"Is he one of these Kashvars?" Raditz asked.
"Yes-the last, in fact." Tapion frowned. "He was the only one to escape our people's retribution. It would seem that he found Minotia first, and killed him-and now Hirudegarn's lower half is sealed inside of him. He must have killed Minotia with some ritual spell or another, as if either of us dies normally, our half of Hirudegarn dies with us."
Raditz nodded. "So that's why you wanted to kill yourself."
"Indeed. But Hoi doesn't even need that, with me-all he needs to do is to stay in close proximity to me long enough for the halves of Hirudegarn to be drawn to each other; they will be drawn to each other, and the creature will be freed-and as a Kashvar, only Hoi will be able to control it."
"Do you think we should've at least left a note for Goten?" Goku asked. "In case he gets back and finds us gone."
Chi-Chi shrugged. "He always stays out late playing with Vegeta. They won't be home for hours."
"Yeah, I s'pose-gah!" Goku came to a sudden halt in the air.
"Huh?" Chi-Chi stopped next to him. "What is it?"
"This enormous evil power… where's it coming from?" Goku clenched his fists, eyes flicking back and forth. "There!" He turned, to see a black cloud of smoke billowing up from street level, almost to the height of the surrounding buildings, forming into… a giant pair of legs? Weird. "Chi-Chi, just fly ahead to the hospital. I'm sure Gohan's already there-tell him not to worry, please. I'll join you in a minute."
"Sure… uh, have fun…" She turned, flying away and leaving Goku confronting the strange being standing in the middle of the highway. He cautiously approached it, noting the traffic already wheeling frantically about its clawed feet to avoid it, and the long twisting tail that stretched out into the air behind it, covered like the rest in a sort of black insect-like carapace.
"Hey there!" the saiyan called, waving. The legs ignored him, instead taking a step forwards, its foot coming inexorably down towards a line of cars. Goku frowned and his outline blurred, then the next second he was hovering beneath the descending foot, raising his arms above his head and catching it. "Rrrrgh…" It's strong! "Kaioken times two!" No use; he was still slowly being pushed back. "Three?" Power roared around him, but now they were deadlocked. "Damn it… TIMES FOUR!" With this extra boost, he gave a mighty heave and hurled the half-monster high into the air, chasing after it and kicking it out over the uninhabited plains, where it fell, cracking the earth beneath it.
His unusual opponent was still alive, however, and leapt to its feet, stamping back towards the city. "Hey, cut it out!" he shouted down to it. "Don't you know how many people are living there?!" Again, it paid him no heed. I guess it has no ears, after all… well, I do have to stop it, whatever it is. "Ka… me… HA… ME…" A four-times boost was enough to overwhelm it, so a little bit more should completely destroy it… "-HA, FIVEFOLD !"
The already-travelling blue energy beam was hit from behind by a stream of red, suddenly accelerating like a bullet struck by the hammer. It struck the enormous legs and tail dead-on, blasting them back into smoke form.
Goku powered down, slowing his breathing. Well, I guess that's over… but why do I get the feeling that I was being tested just now?
Far below, Hoi watched from the shadows of a dilapidated office building, spreading his arms as the shadows that had previously formed Hirudegarn's lower half rolled back into his body. That was informative… had I not had it sealed like I do, it would certainly have been killed. I shall require all of Hirudegarn's power here, then. I suppose once it is complete, this planet is as good as any to start my conquest-and if its warriors are this powerful, they will provide a perfect warm-up for Hirudegarn.
"… not to mention, if Hirudegarn is killed while still linked to someone, it just returns to them-the only way to permanently kill it is for both Hoi and I to die, or to defeat it while it's complete."
"Hmm…" Raditz considered all that Tapion had told him. "Well, first thing's first-don't kill yourself. That's kinda dumb, throwing your life away like that."
"But the threat a fully-formed Hirudegarn poses-"
"Eh. We've killed plenty of monsters here." Raditz smacked his fists together. "New plan: I go grab Hoi and bring you two together. Hirudegarn's halves pop out and combine, and I'll get its attention. Hoi's all yours."
"W-What?!" Tapion gazed at Raditz's glee, dumbfounded. "What do you intend to do about Hirudegarn? It has the destructive force to lay waste to countless worlds-what are you going to do?"
Raditz's battle-hungry grin widened. "Kill it, of course."
Chapter 96: If I Don't…
"Kill it? Kill Hirudegarn?" Tapion asked, incredulous. "How can you be sure that's even possible?"
"Look." Raditz's face grew serious, knowing that mere bravado would not convince this man-not everyone shared the saiyans' thrill for combat. "I meant it like I said it-the challenge really does excite me. But… more importantly than that… you've already sacrificed so much, lost so much."
"I haven't given everything yet," Tapion said firmly. "I still have my life, and the chance to stop-"
"Tapion!" Raditz put a hand on the warrior's shoulder. "That's enough. You've done more than anyone has the right to ask… I'll take it from here."
"You…" Hope sprang into Tapion's eyes for the first time.
"Trust me. Please."
"It's a girl!" The doctor exclaimed.
Videl, her body weakened from exertion but her mind in perfect condition, smirked at him. "We've known that for a while, you moron. You did scans and everything."
"I know, but… I just like saying that…"
Gohan, utterly astonished, gazed at the baby in Videl's arms. "Oh, man… aren't I a bit young to be a father?"
"Well, you're about as old as Chi-Chi and I were when we got married, and you were born pretty soon after," Goku reminded him.
Chi-Chi smiled slyly. "And you turned out just fine, despite the best efforts of your little kung-fu club to distract you…"
"Well, have you thought of a name, guys?" Goku asked, hastily changing subject.
Gohan nodded eagerly. "Yeah, we've talked a lot about it. I think it really fits."
Videl cradled the crying child. "Say hello to everyone, Pan."
Hoi jumped back with a strangled shriek as a shaggy-haired man materialised out of thin air in front of him. "Gaaah! Where did you come from?!" The sun was just touching the horizon, and the red evening light was still bright enough to shine down the back alley he was ensconced in.
"Hi," Raditz said, unnaturally cheery. "There aren't many alien energy signatures around, and the rest of them are friends or family. You weren't exactly hard to find." He crouched down to the tiny wizard's head height. "I've been speaking to Tapion, and I think I have an idea you'll like…"
Hoi snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, I remember you… you're the one who released him for me! What's this about an idea?"
Raditz smiled. "Well, Tapion wants to be free of Hirudegarn-even if he won't admit it, it's eating him up inside-and you want to complete it so you can rule the universe, or possibly destroy it, I personally don't care which but it's usually one of those." He swung a thumb up at himself. "I, meanwhile, want a good workout. So how about you and your friend meet up, combine the monster, and see if it can get past me. Whaddya say?"
"Hmm… intriguing." Hoi stroked his chin. "So Tapion's told you everything, I see. I almost can't believe he'd go along with a plan like this-he must have such faith in you. Touching. We'll see how long it lasts."
"It's a deal, then? One condition-away from the city."
Hoi shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. We'll get to it in time. I don't particularly care about this planet in the grand scheme of things, anyway."
"All right, then!" Raditz stood up. "Let me just get one thing, and then I'll take you to the place."
A minute or so later, Raditz and Hoi stood on the flat plains several miles from Orange Star City; Tapion was about a hundred metres away, waiting. Raditz's katchin sword was now hanging from one shoulder, and he waved a signal to Tapion, who began to approach, shooting an impenetrable stare Hoi's way.
The wizard also stamped forwards, the two ancient enemies nearing one another through the tall grass, time stretching out in the deathly silence, seconds passing achingly slowly. A writhing shadow sprung up in the air around Hoi, and a moment later an identical one appeared over Tapion. He had only been exhausted earlier from trying to fight it, and as he was allowing the beast within to awaken, he wasn't physically affected at all this time.
"It is time," Hoi said slowly. The shadows rose above them and mingled in the air, growing rapidly.
Tapion stopped a few paces away, putting one hand on his sword's hilt, shadow-form completely separated from his body now. "Come, sorcerer. You have polluted the air with your foul breath for far too long."
"Heh heh…" Hoi merely glanced up at Hirudegarn's coalescing form. The two shadows had merged, and solid shapes were becoming visible through the obscuring darkness. The two chitin-scaled legs stretched down, sinking slightly into the earth. The tail snaked out as before, and above, a bulbous torso topped with a fanged skull-like head loomed, an enormous arm splaying out on either side of its body.
Tapion paused. It looks… different to when I fought it on Konats… more armoured. But why? What's changed…?
Raditz drew his own sword, powering up to Super Saiyan 3 and pointing the blade straight up at Hirudegarn. "So I'm guessing you're one of these lives-to-destroy, can't-be-reasoned-with types. Pleased to meet you."
In answer, the beast took a crashing step forwards, swiping at him with a clawed hand. He jumped, avoiding the strike by a hair. It's fast! Especially for such a large creature…
Otherworld…
"Watching these battles never ceases to amaze me," King Kai muttered to himself, pacing his tiny planet. "Super Saiyan 3 was honestly not really suited to the living world, but they've accepted that difficulty and taken every step to make it routine enough to be useful in battle… good thing, too." He chuckled. "Earth seems to be a hotspot for this sort of trouble." Ah, I'm sure they can handle it. I mean, it's not like it's Bills or anything.
Raditz continued to dodge Hirudegarn's increasingly frustrated attacks. Tapion, meanwhile, advanced on Hoi below.
Damn… Hoi thought nervously. I'd hoped Hirudegarn would take care of him before he could get any ideas, but that friend of his is pretty fast…
Tapion raised his sword two-handed, sliding one foot backwards and fixing Hoi with a glare. "I'm going to destroy you now, Hoi. Your end is long overdue."
"Hah! Like you can defeat me with a pointy bit of metal." Hoi snapped his fingers, and a bubble of dark energy sprung up around him. "I've done plenty of research into defensive wards while you've been asleep, and I won't be destroyed the way the rest of the Kashvars were."
"We shall see!" Tapion leapt, slashing diagonally down. There followed an explosion of power and a shriek of metal, and he came to a halt several metres behind Hoi, arms shaking.
"Heh." Hoi grinned, barrier crackling. "Without the powers your long-haired friend possesses, I'm afraid you've no chance of penetrating-"
"This is the enchanted sword that once bisected your monster," Tapion said quietly, beginning to sheathe it. The guard clicked against the scabbard, and in that instant the wizard's shield shattered, a diagonal line of red opening up down his front, vital fluids fountaining out. "Goodbye, Hoi."
"I-Impossible…" Hoi gasped, eyes rolling back. "I've… come so far… it-it cannot… end like…" with a final twitch, he slumped down onto the ground.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Tapion called up to Raditz, "This sword cut Hirudegarn before! Do you want-"
"Don't worry about it." Raditz drew up his black blade next to his head. "This thing's made of the hardest metal in the universe-it's bound to be just as good." All right, Hirudegarn's fast, but clumsy. In the instant after it attacks- He darted right, avoiding a tail strike that ploughed a deep furrow into the ground, then jumped back at the curling tail, swinging his sword down. However, it glanced off Hirudegarn's natural armour, sending sparks flying and causing pains to shoot up his arms. "Owww!" His confusion left him momentarily undefended, and Hirudegarn caught him with a backhanded swipe, hurling him off into the sky.
"W-What?!" Tapion looked on, dumbfounded. "But he's so strong-how come it didn't even leave a mark on Hirudegarn?"
"YAAAAH!" Raditz came rocketing back, slamming bodily into the centre of Hirudegarn's chest like an irate meteor and staggering the creature back a step. "So! You're not invincible!" he proclaimed, but it immediately opened its mouth and blasted him away again with a wide energy beam, flattening the land in its path-at least until Raditz pockmarked it with craters as he bounced away, punctuating each impact with a strangled obscenity.
Seemingly satisfied with this, Hirudegarn turned and blasted another mouth wave straight at Orange Star City. Tapion could only watch in horror. It's as I feared! And it seems to be even more dangerous than before… I feel so useless!
Orange Star City, Southern Hospital…
"So we figure-uh?" Gohan looked up, feeling a powerful approaching ki. What's…?
"Gohan!" Videl shouted. "Incoming, six o'clock!"
Resisting the chance to make a terrible joke about how it was already past six, Gohan nodded, Shifting through the wall and spotting the onrushing beam. At full power, he might've been able to fully deflect it, but he didn't have time to get quite that far, and when it struck him he was launched right back into the hospital, crashing into the room and sprawling next to his family. "Ggggh… aaagh…"
"Gohan!" His parents rushed over to him in unison, but Chi-Chi pushed her husband away. "I'll look after him. As for you?" She poked Goku in the chest. " Something out there hurt my baby. Kill it. "
"Uh, yes ma'am!" Goku scrambled up, taking off and exiting using the hole Gohan had made.
Raditz was back on the offensive, but Hirudegarn just took whatever damage he could dish out completely unflinchingly. He'd managed to avoid taking any more hits, but even his own attacks, it seemed, were taking more out of him than his opponent, and he was losing energy fast. Not to mention he'd had to stop using his sword; it was completely ineffective, even more so than his fists. "Damn it, this'd be easier if Break was here!"
"Will I do?" Raditz didn't even wait to look after hearing the voice, immediately using Instant Transmission to move next to Goku's familiar ki signal, avoiding another of Hirudegarn's swipes in the process.
"Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose," he quipped.
"So what we got today?" Goku asked. "It's already taken Gohan down."
Raditz scratched his head, trying to summarise. "Uh… ancient monster thing. Wizards. That guy down there's on our side. Can't cut the damn thing for some reason. Read the book sometime."
"Like sometime we're not fighting it?"
"Right. Speaking of, it's seen us-MOVE!" They split up, flying off in opposite directions to avoid another mouth blast.
Goku prepared himself, bringing his considerable power to the surface. "All right, I've beaten half of this thing; the rest shouldn't be too much harder. KAIOKEN TIMES THREE!" Wreathed in fiery red, he sped down at Hirudegarn. His first punch knocked it flat on its back; the second threw it back across the plain, feet carving river-sized troughs through the rock; a third launching it high into the air. "TENFOLD… KAME… HAME…"
"Hhhhraaaaaghhh!" Hirudegarn, furious, bellowed out another energy beam from its screaming maw.
"… HYAAAAH!" Goku brought his hands up, letting his powerful technique loose and watching it smash through Hirudegarn's, detonating on the beast in a flash of red light.
When vision returned, Goku saw that, surprisingly, Hirudegarn was still standing-however, one arm was raised to shield its face, and had been disintegrated from the elbow down. Goku lowered his hands, breathing hard from the intense attack. That was twice as strong as the attack that completely destroyed it before, and it only went through one arm… not to mention it was fast enough to get an arm up to block… looks like combining made it a lot stronger!
Tapion was awestruck. He damaged Hirudegarn so much-with his own strength! What kind of people are they?!
Goku had thought Hirudegarn, injured like this, might've given him a moment's respite-but its tail lashed up at him, and he couldn't quite dodge in time, the attack catching him on the shoulder and knocking him to the ground. He stuck a hand down into the earth, bringing his skid to a halt and standing unsteadily. This… isn't gonna work… I'll run out of energy to do the Kaioken before it runs out of limbs… all right then.
Grinning suddenly, he drew an arm back, waiting for Hirudegarn to pounce. As soon as it did, he ran forwards, throwing his arm out in a wide arc, an exaggerated show-punch at the air-and an instant later, golden energy filled the space around him, coiling into a solid shape. "RYU-KEN!" He yelled, launching the shining dragon straight up at Hirudegarn. Mid-jump, the monster couldn't avoid it, and the dragon's jaws closed about its head, the solid energy defocusing and exploding a second later. Hirudegarn swayed, headless-but oddly enough, not bleeding-and collapsed onto its back, the impact shaking the ground.
Goku took a step back, panting. "Whoo… huff… huff… hey, it worked, cool! Say, why didn't you do that, Raditz?"
Raditz, powering down to normal, landed next to his brother, pulling an irritated face. "Because, genius, by the time I realised I might have to, I was too low on energy to 'trigger' it-I kept having to use all my power on oh, I don't know, not dying."
"Th-That's it?!" Tapion came running up to them. "You two are… amazing! You defeated Hirudegarn, just like that! I didn't think such people could exist… !"
"Actually… hold the phone." Raditz's face darkened. "Feel that ki, Goku?"
"Oh yeah." Goku turned back to the now-twitching corpse. "It's still alive… somehow."
The shadowy mass that had formed Hirudegarn enveloped it, shrouding its body in darkness once more.
"Blowing its head off didn't kill it…" Raditz growled. "What's it take, huh?"
Hirudegarn stood, shaking off the enshrouding mists like a wet dog. It had changed drastically-dull brown and black replaced by golden chitin with red armour plates, spines running down its back and tail, and atop sat an even more vicious-looking fanged maw. A pair of insectoid wings flicked out behind it, and if they weren't mistaken, it had grown larger as well.
It changed again, Tapion noted. What's the meaning of it? Does it just come back stronger every time you try and kill it?!
"All right…" Goku flared up his aura again, his brother ascending to Super Saiyan 3 beside him. "Let's do it. I'll rush it and you get around-" He got no further before Hirudegarn flung its mouth wide open, a curtain of flame emerging and scorching the landscape, blasting the saiyans back.
"Damn it… !" Raditz skidded to a halt, clearing his mind. One Instant Transmission jump took him to just above and behind Hirudegarn, and a two-handed swing bowed its head forwards. However, when he followed up with a quick energy beam, it seemed to have no effect at all. "But… makes no sense… just punching it did some damage just now-"
"Hghkkkkrrr… !" Letting out an unearthly shriek, Hirudegarn snatched Raditz out of the air with surprising speed, throwing him to the floor and raising one foot to stamp down on him. However-
"TIMES TEN!" Goku's voice cried out, and a crimson energy lance speared into Hirudegarn's descending leg-but to no avail, other than to make the monster pause and turn its attention to Goku instead.
"N… No…" he hissed, falling to his knees. "Gave it everything… it can't be… that strong… !" His strength failed, and he slumped forwards.
He's down! Raditz noticed, jumping back to face off with Hirudegarn. Not good… just me between it and the city… no, the planet! Maybe another Dragon Fist could put it down again, but… I don't have the energy… I've barely got enough to stay transformed!
Hirudegarn raised a balled fist to crush him, but abruptly stopped moving before it could strike. It began to dissolve back into smoke form, coiling into a stream of dense fog before spiralling down towards Tapion, who seemed to be playing some form of instrument. A gentle blue glow surrounded him, and the smoke struck it, vanishing into Tapion. He sighed as it finished, and lowered the ocarina. "This is the same enchanted tool we used before," he explained. "However, I cannot contain the entire creature for long-even half was almost more than I could bear."
"Wait, you're not going to-!"
Tapion raised his sword, blade facing downwards. "You fought a valiant battle, but in the end it wasn't quite enough. There is only one way to end this." He smiled weakly. "I am sorry I brought this nightmare down on your planet… and I am glad to have known you, even if only for a short time." Fully intent on ending his own life there and then, and not knowing the true depth of his new friend's stubbornness, he certainly didn't expect Raditz to snatch the sword away and shove him back.
"I told you, I won't allow that!" The saiyan snarled, then stood up straighter. "Look, I promise you-we'll take care of it. Just have a little faith!"
"I… I want to, but… you're no match for it, I've seen that."
"Don't worry about me! How many times do I have to tell you?!"
"I…" Tapion slumped, defeated. "… hope you know what you're doing. Hrrr… you may… return… Hirudegarn!" For the last time… I pray…
The smoke burst forth again, darkening the sky and reforming the great beast, golden hide crackling as it became solid once more. It roared its freedom to the sky, looming larger than any building in the city it was barely held away from.
Raditz took a deep breath. You've been through so much, Tapion… I won't let you down now! My best shot is probably a Dragon Fist… But he didn't have the energy. Screw 'have'! I NEED it! "RRRRRRGGGHH… HAAAAA…" He blazed like a sun, power welling up from deep within. More… need… more!
"W-Woah…" Goku looked on in disbelief, struggling to lift his head. "I thought Raditz was just about done, but… his power's increasing!"
"GYAAAAAH!" Raditz stuck one arm out towards Hirudegarn, bracing it with the other. "DRAGON… FIST!" The noise was like a cannonade of the gods; the recoil sent him sliding back through the dirt, struggling to maintain his transformed state.
The explosion of energy before him was enormous-but after a brief moment of triumph, Hirudegarn strode through the flames, unharmed.
Why?! Raditz cried out internally, as Hirudegarn's blows began to rain down on him. Why aren't my attacks working? While unhurt, it was furious at the hindrace the saiyans had caused, and this was evident in the rising savagery of its blows. The Dragon Fist is an attack for killing enemies who're stronger than I am… and as for Goku's tenfold Kamehameha… I can feel Hirudegarn's ki, it's not that much stronger than us! He lost his Super Saiyan form under the onslaught. So why… why?!
At last, he fell and didn't get up, lying twitching on the edge of consciousness. I… don't have anything left…
Tapion watched, horrified. "And after such a powerful attack! He can't win, after all…" He glanced at his sword, lying only a short distance away. "Should I, again…?"
"Hold it right there, you overblown Godzilla rip-off!" A child's voice called.
"Hey, you promised I could say it, no fair!" A second wailed.
"Shh, Goten, we're trying to make a cool entrance, remember?"
"Oh, right!" Twin points of light burst into life as Vegeta Jr. and Goten powered up to Super Saiyan. They pointed, in unison, up at Hirudegarn-evidently whatever they were about to say was rehearsed.
"Prepare your-gyaah!" Vegeta jumped back to avoid an energy wave from the irked Hirudegarn's mouth. "Hey, no fair, we haven't attacked you yet! How do you even know we're your enemy?!"
"Well, we are," Goten pointed out.
"That's not the point!" The more serious half-breed fumed. "You know what, if that's how it is, then we'll skip the intro!"
"Okay, but you gotta remember to do three steps this time!"
"Yeah, well you just make sure you keep your fingers extended!"
"Are you mad?!" Tapion called out to them. "Whatever you're about to do, do it! Don't just argue all day!"
"Uh, right!" Goten agreed, not having time to pause and ask who this swordsman was, or what he had to do with the monster that had beaten Goten's father so easily.
Hirudegarn's tail flicked out towards them. Have to stall it! Tapion decided, quickly raising the magical ocarina to his lips and directing its power towards Hirudegarn, stunning it. I should be able to briefly hold it without actually having to seal it inside of me… hurry, you two!
"All right, let's do it!" Vegeta ordered. Goten nodded, and they stood a couple of paces away. "FUUUUU…" they chanted, shuffling exactly three steps towards each other and bringing their arms overhead in a one hundred and eighty degree arc, pointing towards each other in unison.
Tapion blinked a couple of times. No, I'm not dreaming. What are they doing?
"… SION!" As they said this, they sharply lifted one knee, quickly pointing it and both arms away from each other.
I hope it's not as mad as it-what?! Tapion's eyes widened as the ocarina began to tremble, then vibrate-then finally, it shattered. Oh… no… Hirudegarn's grown too strong! I can't contain it any more! Then the only hope, is…
The boys reversed their previous movement, planting their feet almost touching next to each other and swinging their hands back around, all four index fingers extending and just touching. A wave of white light enveloped the two, completely obscuring them from view. "HAAAAAAAAA!"
What? Tapion shielded his eyes. What did they do? Even Hirudegarn hesitated momentarily. The light gradually vanished, and they became visible.
No, not they-him. One person.
Goku stared open-mouthed. What's this… power?!
Chapter 97:… He Will
The result of the fusion was… different. He was about the same height as the kids, and his Super Saiyan hair took more after Vegeta's than Goten's, though the large bang hanging over his forehead certainly didn't; however, he was wearing an entirely new outfit to either of them. A dark sleeveless half-jacket, edged with puffy yellow trimmings at the neck and shoulders, accompanied by loose white pants.
When he spoke, just like Gokhan before him, it sounded as if his fusees were speaking in unison. "All right! It actually worked this time!" His face soon relaxed into a cocky smile-then he vanished under Hirudegarn's foot as it descended, smashing the ground beneath.
Careless! Tapion scowled.
Hirudegarn lifted its foot, grunting in mild surprise as it found nothing underneath; the fused warrior had vanished.
"You really have no sense of occasion," came the double-voice from high above. "I just did something flashy like that, and you go and interrupt me again !" Hirudegarn swung its head up, growling up at the fusion, who hung cross-armed in the air above it, frowning.
Goku smiled. "Now that's some speed! I almost couldn't keep up…"
"Grrrkh…" Hirudegarn snarled, a pair of energy bolts darting out from its eyes and striking its new foe head-on, driving him back through the air. "Kkhhh…" he grunted, finally halting his midair skid and throwing his arms out in an explosion of energy, miniature lightning bolts filling the air around him as Hirudegarn's attack was cancelled out. "Like that, huh? Both halves a'me can go Super Saiyan 2 now, so doing it fused was easy!" Hirudegarn merely roared in response. "Yeah, you're angry, 'cause your attacks aren't working. That's because you're still treating me like all the other people you've fought! Trust me-I'm one of a kind!" Momentary seriousness crept in under his grin. "I am Gogeta-the one who will destroy you!"
He raised his hands over his head, forming a brilliantly-shining sphere of energy. Vegeta had Goten's dad teach him all the attacks he saw Vegeta do… combine 'em with Goten's… "BIG BANG… KAMEHAMEHA!"
The blast, spinning in a manner that made its movements appeared ponderous, was in actuality launched down at Hirudegarn with incredible speed, far faster than the monster could react.
However, Gogeta couldn't even begin to celebrate before its terrible head reared up out of the blast, shrieking its defiance. Nothing! He realised, shocked. Leg muscles and tendons the size of office blocks tensed, then loosed themselves as the beast sprung, hurling its bulk up at Gogeta. "Gyaah!" he cried, lashing out instinctively with one foot and catching it on the chin, sending it sprawling to the ground again, face down. "Huh…?" How'd a simple kick do that… when my power focused into a blast like that failed…?
So he really is far stronger than Hirudegarn… Goku realised. Still, there has to be some trick to killing it! Hmm… being cut up worked last time, but Raditz's sword did nothing, even being made of the universe's hardest metal. Maybe… "Tapion!" He shouted, struggling to his feet. "Gimme your sword a sec! Let's see if whatever magic's in that thing is still good!"
"R-Right!" Tapion tossed the sword over, Goku catching it one-handed and holding it aloft. All right then… not really used to fighting with a sword, but how hard can it be?
Only a few metres away, Gogeta was darting back and forth, avoiding a string of frenzied strikes with an air of nonchalance, nevertheless curious to see Hirudegarn's full power.
Goku kicked off the ground, raising Tapion's sword over his head and nearing Hirudegarn's back. He spotted a gap between two armour plates and waited until it reared up to its full height for another few futile swings, then he struck, pouring on a burst of Kaioken energy and driving the enchanted sword into the weak spot. However, it glanced off without even leaving a mark, spinning out of his hands and clattering to the ground.
Damn, this too? Goku retreated before Hirudegarn could lash out at him, but its attention was still focused on Gogeta.
Tapion had been observing all this, however, and something in his mind finally clicked. "Wait… I've got it!"
"Huh?" Goku turned back towards him. "You know how to beat this thing?"
"Yes, I think so… twice it's been almost killed, and twice it's revived itself with a completely different appearance. It was cut in half first-and here on Earth, it couldn't be cut! Then you defeated it with an explosion of energy-and now it's immune to energy attacks!"
"Of course!" Goku replied, nodding. "It evolves to resist whatever got it last time… I guess that's why punching it still works. But how do we kill it without just making it stronger?"
"Well… according to the wizard who defeated it on Konats, the Kashvars animated its original statue form using a magic 'core'. We thought that doing enough normal damage to Hirudegarn would overload its core, but evidently one has to destroy it directly-it was too well-shielded for us to break, anyway." But for someone as strong as that boy… He cupped both hands around his mouth. "Gogeta! Only physical attacks will work on it now! But don't kill it, or it'll come back stronger!"
Gogeta spun a nimble loop around Hirudegarn's flailing arm, smiling lopsidedly. "Then what am I supposed to do? Ask it nicely to leave?"
"It has an enchanted core in the centre of the top half of its body! You have to destroy that to put it down for good!"
"Right, makes sense." Gogeta grinned. "Attack its weak point for massive damage." He somersaulted down towards Hirudegarn, landing gently on its wrist. "Can't have too much longer than twenty minutes of fusion left, so I'd better wrap this up. Right then!" He began to run, laughing as he easily kept his balance despite the monster's best attempts to shake him off. Reaching its elbow, he leapt, throwing a sharp uppercut packed with enough explosive force to throw Hirudegarn into a full backflip as it tumbled away through the air.
Gogeta painted a golden arc in the air as he flew back for a run-up, then sped back around towards Hirudegarn, both fists held out in front of his head, using his entire body as a missile. Sure, this'll work. It's too dumb to fail.
When he impacted, he punched through Hirudegarn's armour plating like a laser-guided dart through tissue paper. A spurt of something halfway between blood and smoke, and he vanished from sight.
Hirudegarn howled, thrashing around and stamping the ground, shaking the entire continent in its pain and fury. It flung its head back, roaring up to the sky. Finally, it shuddered, took a single step backwards, and… froze. Its shriek dwindled out, its movements subsided from swings to twitches to total stillness. Goku and Tapion cautiously approached, hope and fear rising in equal measure in their hearts.
"Is that…" Goku began, curious. "Yeah, it… huh."
Tapion put a cautious hand to Hirudegarn's now cold, grey leg. "It's… stone. It turned back into stone… which means…"
A strangely distant, echoing rumble came from above. A section of Hirudegarn's chest began to vibrate, then crack, then finally it exploded outwards in a burst of energy. Gogeta hopped down from the breach, holding the shattered remains of a black metallic orb in his hands. "So I guess this is it." It was enveloped in a dark glow which slowly faded as they watched, and was carved with jagged, eerily pulsing runes.
"Yes… that must be Hirudegarn's core!" Tapion's face lit up. "You… You really did it! You've killed Hirudegarn!"
"Was there ever any doubt?" Gogeta asked smugly. He rapped his knuckles against Hirudegarn's petrified ankle. "This thing was never a challenge-" He froze as the impact caused cracks to spider all the way up Hirudegarn's leg. They deepened, until the whole leg split apart, unbalancing the monstrous statue and toppling it to the ground, shattering it with an unearthly shriek of scraping stone. "Uh… oops."
"Damn," came Raditz's voice, the injured fighter on his feet and staggering towards them. "That would've made one hell of a trophy."
"Good riddance," Tapion said, smiling warmly. "I can't thank you all enough. Finally this shadow has been lifted… I can truly experience life again." Relief, even serenity passed over his features.
"Yeah, but can we experience some food first?" Goku asked, suddenly clutching at his stomach.
"Wasn't it lunchtime less than an hour ago?" Raditz asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Aw c'mon Raditz, you know us saiyans are big eaters," Goku said, grinning. "Let's go, I'm starving!"
Raditz sighed, shaking his head. "Even for a saiyan, you're not natural…"
There followed much eating, some assorted healing and defusing, and numerous other things that need not be detailed here, such as explaining to partners (in one case, explaining what took you so long while my poor baby was in this kind of condition; in the other case, explaining why you hogged all the fun I haven't had a decent fight in weeks do you know how bored I get, huh?!).
Tapion wanted to return home to Konats to see what state it was in after all these years, so it was decided that Raditz would teleport him there, with guidance from Zarbon, who'd memorised many space charts over the years using his Deep Sight.
The next morning, the three of them stood atop a tall dome-shaped building in West City; it was easier to go to Zarbon than to attempt to overcome his interminable laziness (which conveniently seemed to vanish whenever it came to staying perfectly in shape, much to the infuriation and appreciation, respectively, of most human males and females in his vicinity).
"Are you sure you want to go back?" He asked Tapion, jacket gently flapping in the mid-morning breeze. "After all this time, it could be completely alien to you-and seeing your home like that might be something of a shock."
Tapion nodded. "I thank you for your concern. But right now, everywhere is alien to me… at least I have somewhere to start. If I choose to move on from Konats, I'm sure I'll be able to procure a ship somehow." He turned to Raditz, unslinging his sheathed sword and holding it out. "Before I go… take this, please. I sincerely hope I will have no more use for it, and I wish I had a better way of thanking you."
Raditz pushed it back towards him. "It wasn't me who killed Hirudegarn. You don't owe me anything." He chuckled slightly. "And don't worry about the kids-if you gave it to them, they'd spend more time arguing over it than actually using it."
"You're all… too kind… I'm a total stranger, and yet…"
"Don't worry about it." Raditz put a hand on Tapion's shoulder, raising the other to his head to perform Instant Transmission, simultaneously scanning Zarbon's mind for directions. "I've received far more kindness than I deserved in my time… I know a guy, see, who always helps anyone he can, no matter what the situation. I used to think he was pretty dumb… and I guess he is. But, y'know… I realise now that he's the right kind of dumb. So… I've been trying to follow his example is all. Shall we go?"
"All right-wait, no!" Tapion held up a hand. "Last night, over dinner, I heard mention of 'Dragon Balls'. Am I correct in thinking that they can grant any single wish?"
Raditz lowered his arms. "Well… not any, but most, yeah."
"Would it… be possible to restore the life of my brother, Minotia? Hoi killed him on some distant planet… he died alone. It wasn't what he deserved."
"I suppose," Zarbon answered, "but he was most likely killed more than a year ago, correct? Earth's Dragon Balls can only restore someone who died within the past year."
"That's a problem, then…" Raditz agreed. "I suppose you could try Namek's, but…"
"But what?"
"Well, the Namekians aren't always too happy about people using them for personal issues. They tend to make it difficult, so only the worthy can use them." He shrugged. "Though we did kind of save their species from total annihilation a couple of times, not to brag of course, so we generally get special exceptions-we could ask them to bring back your brother for us."
"There's no need. Are they a just people?"
Zarbon nodded. "Infuriatingly so."
"Then there's no problem. Minotia's death was a complete injustice. You said the Namekians only grant worthy wishes-then I'll prove the worth of mine." He tightened his grip on his sword. "It's time I took responsibility for something. I'll bring my brother back myself."
"Well said!" Raditz grinned fiercely. "To Namek, then?"
Tapion nodded, fire in his eyes. "To Namek."
Later that day…
Launch and Raditz lay under the shade of a copse a few miles from their house; Break was at home, trying in vain to beat her mother's high scores on one game after another.
"You know…" Raditz said idly. "Something about a life-or-death fight like yesterday brings things into my mind. Important stuff I'd forgotten somehow."
Launch reached over, ruffling his hair. "Maybe all those blows to the head knock your ideas loose."
"Heh. But seriously. It made me recall. You had two personalities at one point, right? I mean… you said it might've been because of some stressful event activating a genetic thing. Do you not remember what happened? Did you repress it?"
"I… don't remember."
"So there's a blank in your memory? Wow, I can't believe I haven't asked this when we've been living together over a year."
She smiled. "Don't worry, I haven't brought it up either. But it's… sort of a blank, I guess?" She frowned. "See, I don't remember the first eighteen years of my life."
"… what? Really?"
"Really."
"You're sure I haven't asked you this?"
"I'm sure." She paused. "The earliest memory I have… I was hiking along a desert road. I flagged down a bus after, I don't know how long. The journey went on for hours-it was dark by the time we reached civilization. I remember looking in my backpack, finding a gun and some stolen food-couldn't remember the specifics of how I'd got it."
"Huh."
"I guess that must've been right after I first became the 'bad' me. The fact that it was so surprising, for one thing… I guess maybe it means the 'good' me is the original one."
"Who knows?" Raditz reasoned. "Maybe you were like you are now."
"I don't know, maybe." She sat up, facing him. "I just always got a more natural feeling in that 'form'. I think it was me. The 'bad' one was probably a broken mind's reaction to… whatever the hell happened to me. Could have something to do with the obsession with thievery and guns, I guess… I mean, it always used to be more specific than simple aggression…"
They fell silent for a minute, watching the shadows flow over the ground as the clouds blew by overhead. Eventually, Raditz spoke up. "To be honest… I don't care which version of you came first, or is 'real'. They're all real, they're all thinking people. More importantly, they're all you."
She laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like you, all right."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Chapter 98: Running for the Future
Namekians, among all races of the universe, were blessed with a unique capacity to find satisfaction in monotony; they lived a simple life, but were perfectly content to do so. Planting and growing various vegetation (though not for food-Namekians only required water, and grew plants merely for aesthetic purposes), training the mind and the body, memorising the traditions of their people for preservation for the new generation-meanwhile, said new generation was running, and occasionally flying, in wild circles, enjoying their years of play before their adult lives' work began. Such were most days in their lives, and they were perfectly content.
However, they were not averse to the new and different (unless it involved unnecessary violence, like Frieza's arrival), so when Tapion strode into one such village, he was treated with nothing more irritating than pleasant curiosity. Casting a glance around, he observed the pastoral tranquillity of the quiet aliens' day-to-day lives, but not the object of his search. "Excuse me. Could anyone tell me where I might find a Dragon Ball?"
A gentle murmur sprung up, and the curiosity of the villagers was heightened.
"It seems," said a withered, weary voice, cutting through the low babble, "that the Dragon Balls are the only thing that aliens ever come to our world for. However, I suppose that there is not a great deal else that we can offer to those with such incredible technology, is there?" A wrinkled old Namekian in a blue cloak, supported by a walking-stick and flanked by two large bodyguards, hobbled his way out of the largest hut in the village.
"I apologise-" Tapion began.
"No, no," the elder said cheerfully, waving away Tapion's apology. "It's quite all right. I sense no evil in you. Merely… a great sadness… and a longing."
"Yes." Tapion bowed his head. "My intention in seeking the Dragon Balls… my brother, Minotia, has been killed-a poor reward for his great sacrifice in defending our planet, especially for one so young. I wish to undo the injustice, and restore him to life."
"Very well-I do hate to see young lives cut off, still so full of promise." The old Namek stepped forwards, looking Tapion up and down. "Yes, your wish is a worthy one, and I believe you speak the truth. However, you will have to prove your resolve-customarily, seekers of the Dragon Balls must pass tests of wits and strength to obtain their goal."
"Then let us waste no time," Tapion replied, bowing slightly. "I am ready to begin."
The elder sat, his bodyguards retreating a few steps to give them space, and Tapion sat opposite him. "Now," the elder intoned slowly, "your first test is a simple one. Answer me this and you will attain our Three-Star Dragon Ball.
Three lanterns light the way,
Evermore on high they stay,
Until the greatest rears its head-
Then, all lanterns, swiftly dead."
"Hmm… now that's an interesting riddle…" Tapion unconsciously fiddled with the gold circlet on his head. "… but I think I've got it. It's the Foreigner Test."
"I beg your pardon?" His confused questioner asked politely.
"If someone had just come barging onto this planet, without bothering to pay attention to anything but their goal, they probably wouldn't be able to answer." He made a rather grand, sweeping gesture at the sky. "I, however, have noticed your three suns. It's never night on Namek-it's daytime 'evermore'. And," he added, "before my ride here left, I asked him a little about your dragon, Porunga-and one interesting thing I learned is that the sky goes dark when it's summoned. Hence, 'the greatest' achievement of your race is the only thing that ever blocks the light on this planet. Well?" He sat back, raising an eyebrow. "How's that?"
The elder smiled warmly. "You have wisdom beyond your years, stranger."
"Yeah…" Tapion grinned awkwardly. "I doubt that. I mean, I have a lot of years."
Almost a year later…
Break dashed downstairs and snatched up the ringing phone. "Hello?"
"Hi there!" Answered a somewhat familiar voice.
"… Kuriza?" Break leaned against the wall. "What's up?"
"Your parents around?"
"Yeah, but I'd leave 'em alone, they're fighting again," Break explained.
Kuriza's voice became apologetic. "Oh… is this a bad time? I'm sorry…"
Break laughed. "Nah, I didn't mean, like, arguing. I mean actual fighting. They get bored." She held the phone out towards the stairs, where crashes and energetic shouts could be heard echoing down from the first floor. "I can take a message."
"Sure," Kuriza said. "See, Bulma's got a birthday coming up, and she wanted an excuse for a sort of reunion, so I've been given the job of inviting everyone-it's over here in six days." He paused as a crash came from his end of the line as well. "And that would be her, um, organising. For want of a better word."
"Cool! How old's she gonna be?"
"Ah… better not to ask, you know?"
Hakaishin Temple, across the universe…
Whis idly patted his immaculate hair; yes, everything was in order. Well, time to make sure he wakes up, I suppose… He took his time ascending the rocky path that spiralled up the gigantic tower, metal staff clicking on the floor.
Eventually, he reached the summit, entering Lord Bills' sleeping chamber. An inverted stone pyramid floated in the centre of the cavernous room, surrounded by giant hovering sand-timers. Whis glanced at the sand remaining in one of them-it would only be a few seconds more, now. His timing had been perfect.
On cue, the alarm bomb detonated, blasting the slumbering God of Destruction.
"Hmmm…? Immma…" came a voice from atop the platform. "J'sss five mrr yearsss." Another bomb went off, drowning out the voice.
Whis sighed. "I know you can ignore the alarm bombs if you choose," he said loudly, "so how about I sing you a waking-up song?" He took in a deep breath.
"I'm fine!" Came the strangled cry. "I'm awake! I'm awake, all right?!" A purple, feline head peered down over the edge of his sleeping platform. "Don't. Sing."
"Heh." Whis smiled as Bills flopped and slid his way to the floor. "That always works."
The God of Destruction, a cat-like humanoid currently wearing a ragged nightgown, sprang to his feet. "The last time you tried to sing," he growled, turning and strutting out of the room, "it caused an extinction event."
The duo now sat at a long table, Bills eating noisily while Whis picked at some sushi. The dining room was surrounded on all sides by an aquarium stocked with exotic fish gathered from all across the universe. "So why did you want me to wake you up after only thirty-nine years, Lord Bills?" Whis asked.
"Mmm. Yes, that was hardly a nap," Bills concurred. "Hmm… it was something… maybe to do with the saiyans? I think I might have to swing by and destroy planet Vegeta later today."
"Actually, that planet has already been destroyed-by Frieza," Whis informed the Hakaishin politely. "You remember him?"
"Ah, not surprising-I think I need to do something about that Frieza sometime soon."
Whis coughed. "A… Actually, Lord Bills, Frieza's clan has been defeated-by a few saiyans."
"Oh?" Bills leaned back in his chair, frowning. "I didn't think a race like the saiyans had the strength to defeat Frieza…"
Whis raised his staff, a cloud of small green crystals flowing out and forming a rough rectangle, then projecting a viewing screen between them. Some kind of magically-recreated video footage began to play-Raditz, golden aura ablaze, dragging Cooler through the dirt, then hurling him through a lake.
"Hmm…" Bills peered narrow-eyed at the screen. "I thought saiyans had black hair…?"
"It seems they can become Super Saiyans now," Whis informed him, turning off the display.
"Wait…" Bills blinked a couple of times. "Super Saiyan… Super Saiyan… Super… Saiyan…" A thought hit him like a ton of bricks, not that the God of Destruction would have particularly felt the impact of a ton of bricks, and he leapt to his feet like a scalded… well, you know. "Super Saiyan-GOD!"
"Super Saiyan… God?" Whis asked, intrigued.
"Yes… I had a dream that a mighty warrior, the Super Saiyan God, would appear!" Bills proclaimed. "The challenge is enticing."
"A dream, you say…?"
"Shut up! It was a prophetic dream!"
Whis sighed. "Your prophetic dreams in the past have had very low accuracy, in general… there was the time you made a 'prophecy' of an entire galaxy of-"
Bills dismissed his concerns. "This one's different, and I'll prove it. Follow me."
Shortly, outside…
Bills, now resplendent in his elaborate official outfit-something reminiscent of a combination of Egyptian and Asian styles-now stood outside, on the bank of an expansive lake with Whis at his side, as ever. "Now where is that fish…?"
A few moments later, an upturned glass bowl, ornately decorate and half-full of water, with a small fish leaning out, floated over from the lake, hovering in front of the god and his attendant.
"The Oracle Fish?" Whis asked.
"G-Good day, Lord Bills," the fish piped up. "How are-"
"Yes, yes, all right." Bills jabbed a finger in the Oracle Fish's direction. "Now, thirty-nine years ago, you told me that in thirty-nine years a strong opponent would appear, didn't you?"
"Er… I did?" There was an awkward pause. Finally, the fish shrugged. "Well… let's just say I did."
Bills groaned. "Whatever. Come on, Whis."
Whis followed the departing god, humming to himself. "That wasn't very helpful."
"The Oracle Fish's prophecy, and my dream-it all points to a challenging opponent, the Super Saiyan God, appearing now!"
"Really, none of the evidence is very convincing."
"It's enough for me," Bills said firmly. "Where are the saiyans now?"
"Well…" Whis tilted his head slightly. "One of them, with a half-breed child, is living on a world called Tech-Tech… charming little place, but he's never defeated anybody… the rest-the ones that can become Super Saiyans-are on a planet called Earth."
"Then I guess we'll head there first," Bills decided.
Whis shrugged. "I've got nothing going on today. It'll take us less than an hour to fly to Earth, so I'll only have time to watch a couple anime episodes…"
"My heart weeps for you," Bills muttered drily. "Let's go already."
"Oh my G… er…" King Kai hesitated, the labyrinthine nature of the pantheon of gods and demigods giving him pause. "… whatever. This is no joking matter-and that's coming from me! The God of Destruction has awakened, and…" He trailed off. "… who am I talking to?"
Well, I'm here, Kibitoshin's voice answered in his mind. My ancestor has just informed me of the news.
"Oh yes, it's a terrible business," King Kai agreed. "In fact, I-gah!"
What is it?
"If I'm not mistaken, he's heading for… I'll call you back!"
Capsule Corporation, Earth…
"… and so there's gonna be some kinda competition thing later," Trunks mumbled, shuffling his feet. "It sounds pretty boring." He was leaning against the wall of an outlying building, the sounds of the party drifting over from the centre of the complex.
"Yeah, but the prizes are pretty cool," Break countered. "I mean, you're pretty rich so most of them can't be too special, but a wish on the Dragon Balls is a pretty awesome first prize."
"Eh." Trunks shrugged. "If I could think of a good wish I'd already have gathered them myself. We do have a radar."
"You can't think of anything you really want?"
"Well, uh…" Trunks scratched his nose. "Nothing Mom's okay with, or that we can't just buy."
"Hey!" Came a call from above, and Kuriza descended from the sky above. "Food's all ready, if you're hungry."
"Sure!" Break answered, running off with Trunks just behind her.
It's… weird, living here, Kuriza thought as he watched them go. Gohan was like a twin brother when I first met him… but he's grown up with a kid of his own now, and in human terms I've only just entered my teens. How many generations of these guys will I be kid brother for, I wonder…?
Eighteen morosely poked a fork around her plate. Things were improving, slowly. Bulma had been making small modifications to her design every now and then, trying to restore things that the 'super android' 'upgrade' had lost her. Her sense of taste, which had previously been slightly dulled, had been one of the things returned to her, and she was at least able to enjoy food properly again. Krillin didn't know about these small changes; but then, that was chiefly because he didn't know about the problems in the first place.
Still, she was at least glad that when the initial process had been performed, Bulma had set up a factory-line-like machine to carry it out automatically; she'd hate to think what it would have done to Bulma to have to actually cut open and operate on her friend. Even now Eighteen winced at the thought of it; cold mechanical instruments cutting into her flesh, slicing her open, removing pieces of her and replacing them with hard, unfamiliar machinery, built to destroy life… she shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts away. She'd had enough dreams about this; she didn't need to spend all her waking time agonising over it too. Besides, she couldn't ruin the cheerful atmosphere of Bulma's party.
On the next table over, the tone was much lighter. "… so now you see where I got the whole Great Saiyaman thing from?" Gohan was asking.
"Yeah, it makes a lot more sense now," Videl said, passing the infant Pan to him to hold. "What with all the poses and the helmet and stuff."
"I'm amazed I could still find any Kamen Rider DVDs anywhere to show you, to be honest," Gohan laughed.
"Hey, you can find anything on the Internet." She smiled, squeezing his hand. "I mean, it's not really my kind of thing, but I can see how it must've left a big influence on you when you were growing up."
Launch walked over, several swiped bottles of wine under her arm. "So Gohan, I hear you've been putting in some training for a change."
"Yeah," Gohan answered, nodding happily. "I wasn't satisfied with getting beaten so easily last year-I'm not gonna get taken out like that next time."
"If you say so." Launch grinned. "Speaking of which. Raditz has been looking for you, hasn't he?"
Gohan's face fell. "Yeah… he keeps wanting to spar with me 'now I'm training and not totally useless'… I Shifted through a wall and hid my power level, and now he thinks I've run away so I doubled back here-"
In a hiss of rushing air, Raditz teleported straight onto Gohan and Videl's table, scattering food. "Gohan! There you are! C'mon, let's fight!"
"Leave me alone, you psychopath!" Gohan yelled, passing Pan back to Videl and tearing off across the green with Raditz in hot pursuit.
"Huh. Speak of the devil," Launch said, catching a falling glass Raditz had sent flying out of the air and draining it. "You look good too, Videl."
"Yeah, thanks." Videl unconsciously stroked her daughter's head. "I've been working hard too, to get myself back into shape after this little thing happened." Pan giggled as she was held up. "Once she's a bit older and she doesn't have to be watched all the time, I'll get back to serious training."
Tien stood under the shade of a nearby tree, two eyes closed, the third staring off into space. I almost didn't come to this, he mused, but Launch wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed. I guess I'm glad-
Tien!
K… King Kai? He stood up straight, eyes snapping open. What is it? And it had better be important, he added privately, I was just starting to relax.
Great danger is headed your way! Everyone's in danger!
' Great danger' is hardly new at this point. Could you maybe be a little more specific? Tien winced. And also stop shouting, please?
Look, King Kai mentally snapped, I don't have much time! In just a few seconds, a terrible force is going to reach your planet! A being known as-
"Lord Bills. God of Destruction," a voice behind him growled.
"That's some interesting long-range telepathy," said a higher, softer voice. "You must be an unusual mortal, to be in such casual contact with the Kai of the North Galaxy."
Odd… I don't sense any ki at all… Tien turned, slowly, to face the pair that had somehow snuck up on him. "Sorry, but this is a private party."
Bills stepped forwards to face Tien, arms folded behind his back. His eyes narrowed.
Without warning, an immense, invisible pressure slammed down on Tien's shoulders, instantly forcing him to his knees. It was like being crushed under a million planets; his bones creaked; his vision blurred; rivers of sweat poured down from his body, darkening the ground. When it passed as soon as it had begun, he was left drained, all resistance crushed out of him, still gasping on his hands and knees. Bills hadn't moved a muscle.
"No," he said calmly, strolling past Tien with Whis in tow, "it isn't."
Chapter 99: God and God
"… I still think it was a shame that little Vegeta Jr. didn't turn up," Bulma was saying, putting her glass down.
"Well, you know what he's like," Chi-Chi said crossly. "I don't think he even lives with us anymore-he only spends about one night a week in our house. That boy's just the antisocial type-I can see why he was named other, well, the other one."
"Yeah, he's hardly ever around," Goku agreed. "But he's still good friends with Goten and they meet up a lot in the mountains, so I'm fine with him being independent like that."
"I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that if he was a normal child," Bulma laughed.
"Of course!" He agreed hastily. "But he's about the most dangerous thing roaming those mountains, so there's no need to worry."
"Heh, I bet-" Bulma paused as a pair of unfamiliar figures came into view across the green. "Um, friends of yours?"
"Never seen them before," Chi-Chi said, her husband nodding in agreement.
Bills approached them, but Whis didn't make it over-he ended up taking off after an enticing-looking table of sweetmeats. Bills ignored his sidetracked attendant, clearing his throat. "Are you one of the saiyans who defeated Frieza and his family?" he asked.
"Uh… that's me," Goku answered warily. Absolutely no ki at all that I can sense… but what's this strange aura of menace…? "Who's asking?"
"That's what I'd like to know," came Raditz's voice from behind. He was glaring at Bills, one hand locked around Whis' neck.
"Raditz!" Bulma snapped. "Let him go! You've just met these people!"
"Not exactly," Raditz growled, something dangerous in his eyes-something none of them had seen for a long while.
Whis swallowed the mouthful he was eating, gently placing a hand on Raditz's. "I'm afraid I must ask you to stop that," he said calmly.
"And what if I don't?"
"I-" Whis didn't get any further. Bills' head turned to face them, and a glow of energy came from behind his eyes. A wall of force smacked into Raditz, tossing him back into the air, through a small row of decorative trees and into the lake behind.
"Thank you, Lord Bills," Whis said, smiling and standing up straight. "That should give him a minute to cool off."
However, with the signature hiss of Instant Transmission, Raditz appeared in front of Bills, skidding to a halt, dripping wet. "Huh… huh… you…"
"If you want to ask me something, there are better ways than threat," Bills chided. "Either you don't know who I am, or you have a deathwish, mortal."
"No, I don't know your name," Raditz answered, shaking off like a dog coming in from the rain. "But I want to know what you were doing on Planet Vegeta all those years ago."
"Planet Vegeta…?" Launch asked, walking over towards the commotion. "You've seen this guy before?"
"I didn't-but Prince Vegeta did. For a long time, it was just him, Nappa and myself. The prince was never our comrade-you saw how quick he was to abandon us-but he did become more talkative after a while. And he told me about a time, back before our homeworld's destruction… he stumbled across the dining hall one day. And there, sitting in the King's throne, eating our finest food, and resting on the King like a footstool…" He stared Bills down. "There you were. The memory stuck, and with the detail he described you in, I can't mistake you."
Bills snorted, "That's all? Yes, I visited that planet just a few decades ago. Just visiting, you understand. I wasn't working."
"Lord Bills is the God of Destruction," Whis explained, stepping forwards. "It's his duty to destroy planets at the rate the Kaioshin create them, to maintain balance in the universe."
"Wait, don't tell me…" Chi-Chi grimaced. "You're not here to destroy Earth, are you? Because that's been tried."
"I'm not here on business either, no," Bills replied. "I'm looking for something called the Super Saiyan God."
Goku frowned. "Hmm… I know Super Saiyan, but 'God'?" Bills cast questioning glances around, but the general consensus was reached: nobody knew what he was talking about. "Hrgh… maybe I've come too soon?"
"Don't worry," Whis advised, "perhaps if you wait around for a little while, the Super Saiyan God will appear? And in the meantime, I've found this delicious dessert called 'pudding' they have on this planet…"
Bills did indeed find pudding to be delicious, and many other Earth delicacies besides; and eventually calmed down enough to at least leave them alone for the rest of the party, after being repeatedly assured that there weren't going to be any other saiyans turning up who might have a clue about what he was looking for.
Soon all gathered for Bulma's bingo competition, which is apparently some people's idea of fun-however, it was plenty of people's idea of winning fabulously extravagant prizes from the world's richest family, including vehicles, miniature buildings, lifetime supplies of everything under the sun, and the grand prize-a wish on the Dragon Balls.
Bills gave a slight start at this. "Dragon Balls…? Sounds familiar."
"They must be those wishing spheres from Namek," Whis reminded him. "You remember the Namekians?"
"No."
"Of course you don't. Say, have you tried the takoyaki?"
"Is that like a taco?"
"Not even remotely."
The grand prize in question was, in fact, about to be unveiled. Bulma gave a grand sweep with her microphone, indicating a curtained-off section of the stage. "And now, may I present to you the main event, although I'm sure you all came along not for this, but because you're such good friends and want to celebrate my birthday-"
"How old are you, anyway?" Krillin called out.
Once the wreckage had been swept away, Bulma had put the submachine gun away and Krillin had come out from under the table, she continued. "… the main event, as I was saying-the Dragon Balls! The winner gets to make a wish on the Eternal Dragon!"
Goku leaned over to Chi-Chi. "Say, doesn't Shenron grant two wishes now?" he whispered.
"She's probably saving one for herself," Chi-Chi said snidely. "I reckon she wants to be young again."
"I don't know, she's barely aged a day since Trunks was born," Goku observed, earning him a glare that, if looks could kill, would have atomised Frieza. "Er, that is to say, and neither have you! Since uh. Around. That time."
Goku. The Earth-raised saiyan heard his brother's voice in his mind, cutting off his audible speech as he stopped to listen.
What's up, Raditz?
No need to tell you to be careful, I know, but… you can't feel that god's ki, right?
Right-but when he gets close, I get this weird feeling of… threat, I guess.
Exactly. But… when I had that assistant guy in a headlock… I got the same feeling from him. Maybe even more so. If Bills hadn't acted first, I got the feeling he was about to do something himself.
Goku paused. You think he's…?
I don't know. Just keep an eye on them-both of them.
"The curtain, please!" Bulma announced, oblivious to these conversations. At her words, the curtain was drawn back by some unseen assistant, revealing… well, it was supposed to reveal the seven Dragon Balls, neatly stacked on a red velvet cushion.
What they got was three children, looking remarkably like Emperor Pilaf, Mai and Shu, a trio of ne'er-do-wells Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar had come up against what seemed like an aeon ago now.
"Gah!" The uncannily Pilaf-looking child squawked. Perhaps if Bulma had been entirely sober she would have recognised them, and then again perhaps not-it had been a long time ago, and the three had been adults then. "They've found us! This wouldn't have taken so long if we'd taken the plane!"
"I told you," Mai shot back as they each scrambled for a Dragon Ball, "I'm too short to fly right now! And this wouldn't have happened at all if you'd been more specific! 'Eternal dragon, please make us young again!', huh?"
"Well, you were the one who were so shocked you said 'no' without thinking when the dragon asked us if we wanted a second wish," Shu pointed out. They suddenly froze, remembering their stunned audience.
"Uh… ah…" Pilaf's mind whirled. "Scatter!" he yelled, and the three tiny villains made a break for it.
Suffice to say, it did not go well. Pilaf, Dragon Ball held aloft, leapt off the stage, but was dragged out of the air as Bulma dive-tackled him to the ground, spurred into action by tipsy overconfidence. "And we'll be having those Dragon Balls back now, hmm?"
Shu skidded to a halt as Raditz appeared in front of him, grinning like a madman. The canine ninja growled, drawing his downsized sword from his back, but when Raditz responded by drawing his longsword, driving it into the ground in the narrow gap between them, Shu immediately fainted.
Mai, meanwhile, vaulted over a table, yelping as Break catapulted out of the air towards her. The 'young' minion drew a pistol and snapped off several shots, but hit nothing but air until Break landed opposite her, a kiai smashing the gun to pieces.
Break grinned, backing up and then charging, drawing back one fist.
"Hold it!" Launch called anxiously. "Don't hit a normal kid with that much strength!"
"Gah!" Break gave a start. "Sorry, I got carried away!" She tried to slow her acceleration, but had too much momentum going and had to leap out of a collision course with Mai, flying straight into the face of the God of Destruction, who along with his attendant had been watching proceedings up until now with mild amusement.
Now, as he picked up Break by the neck and held her out away from himself like someone's dirty laundry, a low growl rose from the depths of his throat. "That was annoying. And… you spilled my dessert."
"Oh, dear…" Whis put a hand over his face. "It's happened again. Just like with North Kai's planet all those years ago. I still think it wasn't worth blowing it to pieces…"
"I don't like losing, okay?!" Bills snapped. "And… I don't like having my meals ruined…"
"Let… go of me, you damn…" Break hissed, tugging at Bills' hand. "Grr… rrrRRAAAAH!" Her snarl grew into a shout as she transformed into a Super Saiyan 3, the blast wave sending the guests' tables and chairs, not to mention some of the weaker guests themselves, flying.
"Hey…" Goku noted. "She can transform a lot easier now."
"Yeah." Raditz nodded happily. "She's been working hard."
Break, emitting a noise like a cornered tiger, began to swing a rapid-fire hurricane of punches. Her arms were slightly too short to hit Bills' abdomen, but at this close range the shockwaves were just as strong without even having to consciously form a kiai . However, Bills merely stood there, absorbing the damage without flinching. When she was done, panting with her arms hanging limply at her sides, he sighed. "Is that all a Super Saiyan can do? Disappointing."
Raditz, who hadn't been interfering on account of Bills not making any offensive move yet, tensed up as Bills' grip tightened. "Egghhh…" Break clamped her teeth together, containing a pained scream.
"Get your hands off my daughter!" Raditz and Launch shouted in more-or-less unison.
"RAAAAAAH!"
"Spirit-KAIOKEN!"
A blazing double aura of red and Super Saiyan 3 gold sprung up around the couple, waves of power demolishing the stage behind them as they charged at Bills.
"This planet's starting to annoy me…" Bills grumbled. "I think I'll destroy it." He swung the arm holding Break away from them, facing them with his left side as he received their rushing attack. Raditz swung his sword down at the god's head, and Bills grabbed his wrist, stopping the blow, then spun again, jump-kicking Launch in the stomach. As she slid away and more fighters rushed in, he landed, ran a couple of steps dragging the pair of saiyans behind him, and hurled them into what remained of the stage, before turning to face the rest of his attackers.
"Kaioken, TIMES FOUR!" Barely had the cry escaped Goku's mouth when Bills slid a neat punch into his stomach and a second into the side of his face, sending him staggering away, the mighty warrior collapsing over an upturned table.
What followed was a succession of fighters almost as lengthy as those who had faced Majin Buu on the Lookout; however, at least for now, there were no fatalities. Each was dealt with using the minimum of effort; a flick of a finger, the tap of a few pressure points, a tiny kiai . Even Eighteen required only a simple kick to take down, and Goten was about to face the same fate when an energy blast from behind startled the Hakaishin. He turned to see Gohan, now at the third Super Saiyan level himself, guard raised.
"And what, exactly, was that supposed to accomplish?" Bills asked flatly.
"I don't know… it might give them enough time to fuse," Gohan suggested.
"Fuse…?"
"FUUU-SION-" Goten and the newly-arrived Vegeta Jr. were performing their dance.
Bills frowned. Where did the second boy come from? Perhaps he sensed his friends' energy dropping. "Futile." He crouched, preparing to stop them. "I can easily-"
"Can you?" Gohan shoulder-charged Bills, who dodged around it, flipping Gohan over and flooring him with his own momentum. However, the attack had stalled Bills for long enough-
"HAAAA!" With that, Gogeta was formed once again, and set about pulling off the most undignified pose he could think of (or, in the mind of a nine-year-old, the coolest pose).
"What a strange technique…" Whis observed.
"I don't care," Bills yawned. "His power's still tiny."
"T-Tiny?!" Gogeta screeched. "I'll show you-" He did not, however, show anyone anything, as Bills phased into view behind him before he could so much as flinch.
"Like I said," Bills continued quietly, "tiny. You couldn't even follow that, could you?"
"You-!" Gogeta whirled, throwing a punch and powering up to Super Saiyan 2 all at once, but to no avail-Bills dodged lazily, bringing both hands around and clapping them over the fusion's ears. After a sonic boom and a rush of air, Gogeta fell to the ground, yowling.
"Hmm. You burst his eardrums," Whis noted. "That was a little harsh-he may be deaf now."
"What does it matter?" Bills grunted. "I'm going to blow up the planet anyway."
"Not while I'm on it!" Gohan shouted up from below, taking off and arcing up towards the pair.
"Excuse me," Bills said politely, stopping Whis. "It seems I haven't quite finished them all yet." He caught Gohan's swinging hand and dived back towards the ground, slamming Gohan into the paving ahead of him and throwing a kick into his ribs for good measure.
"Y… You… !" Bills looked around, wondering who else could still be standing, and was surprised to see Videl struggling towards him, ugly bruises forming on her shoulder and shin from her earlier defeat. "Stop it… !"
"Stop what?" Bills asked, absent-mindedly kicking the downed Super Saiyan again.
"Don't you… how dare you do that…" her face contorted with rage. "… to my Gohan !"
"What…?" Bills' expression was blank as she fired off a two-handed energy beam at him. "Don't go saying heroic things like that-" He slapped it away, emerging unscathed. "-unless you can actually do something. These ridiculous humans…"
Nonchalantly, he launched a kiai with a flick of his wrist, blasting her through a tree. She lay twitching amidst the splintered wood. "G… Go…"
"All right," Bills growled, "are you finally all ready to lay down and die?!"
"Hey."
"Hmm?" Bills, with a weary sigh, went to look towards the sound of the voice, but got no further than, "who is it this -" before Gohan's fist smashed across his face with a force that would put a neutron bomb to shame. Videl… !
Yelling incoherently, the enraged saiyan dragged Bills' face down onto his rising knee, before grabbing him two-handed by the arm and tossing him away overhead. The god's mind was whirling, as was his field of vision. What-is-happening?!
"Oh dear," Whis muttered, "he seems to have got unreasonably strong from somewhere. This may take a while longer to wrap up… in which case…" He gave a sanguine smile. "I may as well try some of this 'wasabi' I've heard tell of on this planet…"
Over behind him, Videl managed to raise her head, the sounds of battle drifting down to her. Go… han… take my energy… beat him!
Take mine too! Goku thought, opening the floodgates and pouring his enormous reserves out towards his son. Somehow… he's fighting at a level beyond anything we've achieved before… do it, son!
Streams of energy extended from Chi-Chi and Gogeta as well. Get him… Gohan!
"YAAAAAH!" This was the old rage, the thing that had always lurked in the back of his mind as a child, the sanity-consuming fire that sent him over the edge and gave him power. This, Gohan would've thought if he was thinking at all, was perhaps the truest side of him; the ferocity of a saiyan and the emotionality of a human was a potent combination. His limbs were a blur, even to him; he hammered Bills unrelentingly, body aching from the strain of keeping up such a high-level chain of attacks for so long.
Bills wasn't taking any real damage from being knocked around like this, but he realised he'd have to power up a not-insignificant amount to defeat this boy. The sudden boost from his anger… and the energy from his comrades… the level he's at now is… well, not divine, but certainly beyond any mortal. He boosted his power slightly, catching both of Gohan's fists and struggling to push against the furious warrior. Is this… demigod ki?! They remained hanging in the air for quite some time, straining at each other's grip and temporarily turning their battle into a pure contest of strength, one which seemed even so far.
Finally, Bills shoved Gohan away, tapping a clawed finger into the centre of Gohan's chest. "I haven't hit any pressure points this life-threatening on your friends, but you're being difficult," he scolded. A ripple ran up Gohan's body from the point, and he doubled over, retching blood. "And as for this one… you probably won't recover for months, if at all." Bills gave a sharp tap to the back of Gohan's neck, eliciting a strangled cry and the saiyan's back abruptly straightening up, the wrenching movement tugging painfully on his bones. Bills smiled- that should do -but just as he was lowering his arm, another punch planted itself squarely in his face, and he fell away, gasping. Where is his strength coming from?!
Gohan pursued his reeling enemy, roaring now, filled with power the likes of which he'd never dreamed of, and brought his arm around for another blow.
"DAMN YOU!" Bills spat, a deep purple aura suddenly flaring up around his body as he brought his elbow down on Gohan's head, his offensive power now dramatically increased. Gohan rocketed down to earth, golden glow flickering out instantly as he was buried in his own collapsing impact crater from the single hit.
Bills breathed out, relaxing his aura. "That was 10% of my maximum power. You should be proud… I can't believe any saiyan could achieve that much. Now, though you fought well…" He held out a hand towards the Earth, preparing to form a blast that would wipe the planet from existence. "I never go back on my word. And… I'm just doing my job. Goodbye, planet Earth."
"DRAGON FIST!"
"Dragon-?!" Bills turned too late, and Raditz's strongest attack hit him head-on. He flung both hands out, skidding wildly back through the air as he struggled to stop the onrushing golden dragon. Demigod ki again! How do they do it?
With a yell, he wrestled it away, flinging it high into the air where it detonated. "Impressive…" he said, dusting himself down. "But you still couldn't make me go above 10%."
Unless he's bluffing… Raditz realised, even the Dragon Fist isn't even a tenth as powerful as him! "Wait!" He called out, powering down. "Hold up a second. We can't beat you like this, okay? That's clear."
"Admitting defeat already?" Bills asked, looking disappointed. "I only hit you once."
"Surrendering? Of course not." Raditz smiled. "But if it'll make you leave us alone, we'll show you your damn Super Saiyan God."
"I don't think you know anything about God," Bills said, but with a hint of curiosity. "You're just buying time."
" I don't, no," Raditz replied. "But I know some people who might, so gimme a minute." He descended to the ground, everyone picking themselves up around him. He calmed himself, reaching out with his mind and finding the familiar mental signal. King Kai? Can you hear me?
Huh? Oh, hey there, Raditz. Yes, I've been watching the whole thing, and to be frank I'm surprised you're all still alive.
Yeah, me too, Raditz agreed. But I need to know about Super Saiyan God. Got a clue?
I'm afraid not. Give me a second. There was a lengthy pause, during which Bills grew increasingly impatient. All right, I'm back. King Kai sighed. I've asked around, but none of the other Kais know anything-or the Kaioshin, for that matter.
Well, thanks anyway. Raditz frowned. I guess there's only one thing to do, then. "Hey, guys!" He said loudly. "Somebody help me pick up those Dragon Balls; we're summoning Shenron."
And so, to shorten an unnecessarily long portion of the story, they did.
"WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME?" Shenron boomed, luckily able to be summoned less than a year after Pilaf's crew's mess-up, since they'd only made one wish. "SPEAK YOUR WISHES AND THEY SHALL BE GRANTED."
"Uh, this guy wants to know about Super Saiyan God," Goku, still bruised and shaky, said, pointing a thumb over at Bills. "So… yeah, could you please-"
"Careful with the wording!" Raditz warned him. "Er… Shenron, please tell us everything you know about Super Saiyan God."
"VERY WELL." Shenron began the story, in its loud, ponderous way. In a somewhat less irritating manner to see typed, it went something like this:
Many years ago (of course), on Planet Vegeta, homeworld of the saiyans, there was a war amongst the race, between the pure-hearted and the evil. Rapidly losing ground, the noble saiyans performed a ritual passed down from generation to generation for millennia uncounted; five pure-hearted saiyans joined their power and passed it into one warrior, who became the Super Saiyan God; this hero began to turn the tide, but unfortunately their time in the mythical form ran out, and they were killed. The vastly-outnumbered good saiyans were wiped out shortly, and planet Vegeta fell once again into the hands of the evil ones.
"So…" Goku considered. "All we have to do is combine the power of five pure-hearted saiyans to make this Super Saiyan God?" He shrugged. "Okay then."
"Will you get on with it?!" Bills grumbled. "I've been waiting almost forty years for this!"
"Right, right," Goku laughed. "All right, thanks, Shenron!"
"YOU HAVE NO WISH?" The dragon asked.
"Nope! Not this time, but thanks all the same!"
Shenron seemed sceptical. "NO-ONE HAS BEEN KILLED AND NEEDS RESURRECTION? YOU ARE CERTAIN?" The Eternal Dragon knew its most frequent customers well, it seemed.
"Well, uh… not yet." Goku laughed. "See ya!" With no further ado, Shenron vanished into a beam of light, the Dragon Balls scattering across the Earth-in a sort of miffed way, if a set of inanimate objects could communicate that kind of emotion.
Raditz stepped forwards. "Well, let's not waste any time. Bills looks like he's about to burst."
"Right…" Goku frowned. "Do half-saiyans count?"
"They'd better. Lessee, you, me… Break, Gohan, Goten… uh, Vegeta Jr., and… Pan…"
"Well, Gogeta's still gonna be fused for twenty minutes or so," Gohan reminded him. "But we've still got five. I guess Pan doesn't have to join in."
Videl, holding the child in question, came up to them. "Yeah, she does… you heard Shenron, right? Five saiyans put their power into a sixth ." Which means we just have to hope they all count as 'pure hearted'…
"Oh, right." Goku nodded. "Okay then! I guess you might want to hold her up…" In short order, the six saiyans, plus Videl, were assembled in a loose ring on the grass, all injured but doing their best to stay steady. "Thanks for waiting, Bil-er, that is, Lord Bills, O Mightiest of the Mighty, Except Possibly the Person We're About to Create," Raditz said to the god ambling up to them, anxiously tapping his foot and trailed as always by Whis. "Shall we begin?" Those with telepathy were currently relaying all speech directly into the still-deafened Gogeta's mind.
One by one they turned Super Saiyan, letting their energy flow from one to the next, forming a cohesive whole, a shining mass of power as they rose into the air. Even Goku transformed.
"Hey, you can still go Super Saiyan, dad?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah," Goku nodded. "There's just no point usually-it doesn't increase my power anymore, so it'd just waste energy. But right now it felt… right, I guess." Indeed, once he'd transformed, his energy mixed with the others much more naturally, flowing like a stream around and through them. "But forget about me-check out little Pan there."
The baby girl was oblivious, smiling happily at all the pretty lights around her-but though she certainly wasn't a Super Saiyan, around her body shone a faint golden glow, and the energy that emanated from her mingled with the rest just as easily as if she was.
"Weird…" Videl whispered, looking down at her daughter. "She's not gone Super Saiyan, but her energy is kind of like yours, almost as if she had transformed…"
"All right," Raditz said, moving the discussion on. "This is a big one, but… who gets to be the main?"
"Right-we need to turn one of us into the Super Saiyan God," Goku agreed. "Pan's too young-Gogeta will split in ten minutes, and who knows how that'll affect God, so he's out."
"How about you, dad?" Gohan suggested. "Aside from Gogeta, you're already the strongest one here…"
"Let me!" Break enthused. "I can't let him beat me that easy-I need another shot!"
Gogeta shrugged as best he could while holding hands with Raditz and Videl. "Raditz, what d'you think?"
"I…" Raditz swallowed, taking a deep breath. "I… am not in the right state of mind to choose. This power I can feel the edge of, it's… magnificent. Intoxicating. I'm getting drunk on it. I want it, I can practically feel it calling me… I can't think rationally. Goku!"
"Huh?"
"In a weird way, I think you've always been the wisest of us. C'mon, little brother. You choose."
Goku bit his lip. He knew he'd have to choose fairly soon. Should I…? I really do want to fight Bills again. Then again, I did get to beat Buu, and Aka wasn't really much compensation for Raditz… maybe I should let him…
And then it hit him. "All right." It was so obvious. Why hadn't the guy just asked for it already? "Guys… I think we all know the answer.
"Who, when we were all down for the count, stood back up-who started beating the crap out of the guy who was handling me and Gogeta like it was nothing?
"And why should we be surprised? We've always known he had a well-no, an ocean of hidden power inside him, and today we saw exactly what he can do when you push him too hard.
"It's you, son." He smiled over at Gohan. "It's gotta be you."
"Dad… I…" Tears welled in Gohan's eyes. "Thank you so much… I just don't know if-I mean, I'm not, y'know, like you… I don't have that instinct…"
"I think you do. You're my son, and…" He grinned. "Well, if you could make him sweat even before this thing… you'll be fine. Nobody's gonna steal your thunder this time, Gohan-I'm afraid it's all on you."
"Heh. You do have a way of showing up and saving the day…"
"Not this time. You're our hero now-Earth's hero. Everybody okay with this?" Universal assent. "Then-NOW!" The enormous storm of ki swirling around them now focused, streaming into Gohan and filling his body with ki-no, more than ki, more like what he'd felt when he was beating on Bills before-no, more than that, something new, different-incredible. Like crawling on your hands and knees your whole life, and suddenly learning that you could fly.
The others were standing on the ground now, watching him descend. The transformative feeling here was not like the other Super Saiyan forms-it didn't have the same desperate effort, like struggling to climb a perilous mountain with some precious prize at the top. This was like relaxing, falling into a pool of clear water, suddenly fitting into where you now realised you'd belonged all along.
Gohan was glowing with power, but it didn't flicker like an angry furnace; it shimmered, red tendrils of mist spreading a soft glow out from his body; indeed, the light red was emanating from him, lighting up every part of him, everything around him. He seemed overall more mellowed and less pronounced; slightly thinner, rounder-eyed, hair less spiky. And no ki at all could be sensed from him.
"Ah… that's more like it," Bills said, nodding.
"You wanted a god, you got one," Gohan replied slowly, raising his head and looking over at the Hakaishin. "You'd better not regret it when you lose."
Bills smirked. "That won't be a problem."
Chapter 100: Hero
They faced each other across the wrecked green; the ancient God of Destruction, and the newly-awakened Super Saiyan God.
Gohan simply stood there for a second, revelling in the feeling of his new form. Unimaginable power welled around him, with no strain at all required to bring it to the surface. This all taken in, he turned his attention to Bills, raising a fist and taking a step forwards.
"Hold on a second." Bills raised a cautious hand. He clearly hasn't figured it out yet… his mindset isn't quite like a normal warrior's. If he goes all-out here… His mind scrambled for an excuse to relocate. "I want to test your speed. You people are familiar with the Northern Kai, I believe-we will begin our fight at his home."
"Wha…?" Goku blinked. "You can just fly all that way?"
"Of course," Bills replied. "It's actually not far from here-I won't even need Whis' staff's long-distance flight capabilities." With no more than that, he took off, leaving a fiery slipstream behind him as he cleared the atmosphere in seconds, still accelerating.
"Uh, Gohan? You gonna head after him?" Raditz prompted. "It will avoid collateral damage to West City…"
"Sure…" Gohan's eyes narrowed. "Just searching for King Kai's energy. Heh… you always said that only a Yardrat could teach Instant Transmission-you never could think of how to go about it." He grinned. "But when we combined our abilities to move the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, it was like experiencing it for myself. The rest was just replication and study, and that's my specialty." He raised his index and middle finger to his forehead, and was gone.
"Did… you know about this?" Raditz looked back at Gohan's family.
"Uh, no," Chi-Chi admitted. "But then, he only lives with us half the time now anyway-he probably did most of his practicing at Videl's."
"Huh… who'd have thought." Raditz folded his arms sulkily. " I didn't learn Shifting from that, for one thing."
"That's because you're not an academic," Chi-Chi countered. "Like he said, replication and study-see? All that schooling is coming in useful in saving the world too-and I don't remember the last time martial arts helped anyone out at school!"
Videl shrugged. "I don't know… after I convinced him it was okay to show a little of his strength, people stopped picking on him pretty fast."
"It was a rhetorical question!"
"It wasn't a question."
"I… you… aagh, whatever." Chi-Chi threw her hands up in verbal defeat.
Otherworld…
Bills landed on King Kai's small planet to find the Super Saiyan God already waiting for him. "I'm certain you didn't pass me…"
"Instant Transmission. You might've heard of it," Gohan replied curtly. "It also let me get the Kai and his monkey out of harm's way a second ago, so I'm free to go all-out now-and to find out what 'all-out' means in this form."
"I guarantee it'll be a surprise," Bills agreed, tail waving impatiently.
Gohan mockingly mimicked the God of Destruction's movements with his own tail. "Sure. Now, if you're just going to float there… I guess I'll come to you."
"Go ahead…" Bills raised one hand in a high guard, keeping the other tucked back by his chest.
Tensing for a second, Gohan shot forward like a spring released. The distance between them was swallowed up quicker than he believed possible, and when his fist struck Bills' block-
Well, a lot of things happened at once.
First of all, back up for a minute, to before the impact. As Gohan got closer the world started to warp before his eyes-in fact, before he was even up to his opponent, it had gone completely mad; he could see nothing but a jumbled swirl of flashing colours. His new and improved ki sense, however, took over seamlessly, and he knew exactly where Bills was, reading the energy radiation like a radar image.
Then the air in front of him turned solid. He was used to this-going at supersonic speeds, after all (which they'd been doing for decades), produces a sonic boom from the air not being able to get out of your way fast enough and being smacked aside-but now it felt like the air was not just slow, but completely frozen. It didn't hurt him or slow him down, especially not as a god, but it was disconcerting.
There was a sucking sensation behind him as he left a vacuum in his wake, and so sped up were his perceptions that he had enough time before making contact with Bills to notice the empty void he'd left behind, the air not even begun to move to fill in the gap. In case it hadn't quite sunk in yet, it was now clear that Gohan was moving pretty damn fast.
The air in front of him wasn't done acting strangely yet, though. As he pushed through it, it heated up, and he felt a multitude of small tingles as tiny bursts of energy were fired off in front of him from the area where the air touched the edge of his flame-red aura. This wave of self-igniting air raced on slightly ahead of him as he neared his target. The whole area around him, in fact, was now on fire, an almost liquid flame sprung up as if from nowhere. Had he been a lesser being, the backblast of this process would have slowed him down, but Gohan barely felt a thing.
The wave of preceding energy washed over Bills like a wave breaking over a fortress, and then Gohan's fist met Bills' forearm. The preceding fireworks were nothing-as soon as contact was made, what was quite literally a nuclear blast exploded outwards from them, engulfing and chewing up miles of Snake Way, the great road burning and falling in disintegrating fragments, scorching the grass off King Kai's planet and reducing his house to rubble.
As the roar of the blast died down-though the flames still raged around them-Bills lowered his arm, stepping back and hovering confidently in front of Gohan. "Well? Are you satisfied?"
Gohan stared at his trembling hand, mystified. "What… did I do…?"
Bills' eyes narrowed. "You just felt what it's like… to exceed the velocity of light. God."
"What?!"
"This is what it means to be a god," Bills continued. "A more experienced fighter would've known they'd unleash something -they'd have known to do as I do, and direct the full force of the blast towards the opponent with careful application of ki. I wouldn't have had to explain this to one of the others, like your father. But I wanted you to find out for yourself… which is why I suggested this remote battleground." Gohan still stared uncomprehendingly. "When you move at anything like the speed of light, the particles in the aura that shields you fuse with the air-and as you humans know, nuclear fusion is a dangerous force. A wave of… plasma, I think it is… spreads out and devours everything in its path." He paused. "In addition, the faster you go, the heavier you become. At that speed, for an instant, you possessed infinite mass. Had I been anyone else, I would've been smashed to atoms."
"I… !" Gohan looked around at the devastation. If I'd done this on Earth… ! Thanks, Dad. He realised something. So, that's why my vision went strange just then! I was outracing the light that was letting me see-instead, just running straight into a random jumble of photons. Guess I'll have to rely on my other senses… What Bills had seen was interesting too-just as a sonic boom follows supersonic travel, faster-than-light movement is followed by a 'superluminal flash' as the light emitted by Gohan followed hot on his heels (and indeed, while moving at that speed he was truly invisible)."Hold on. If my mass was infinity… doesn't that mean it would take infinite energy to move myself…? I can feel my own power level-and it's enormous, but not infinite."
"Divine ki doesn't follow the rules of energy as you know it," Bills muttered. "I don't understand it myself. Try not to think about it." In actual fact, even this was a simplification; if you moved at exactly lightspeed, you'd gain infinite mass-Gohan had been going faster . However, different-sized infinities is another subject that should really be filed under 'don't think about it'.
"Anyway… the solution is directing the blast, you say? I can do that."
"I hope so." Bills clicked his neck. "That first blow lacked the stopping power I was hoping for. Maybe if you focus all that destructive force on me, I'll break a sweat."
"Don't try and play tough with me anymore." Gohan clenched his fists, preparing to attack again. "I can sense your power now… and I'm not intimidated."
"Then I guess I'll have to try harder !" Bills suddenly yelled, kicking off the air and rushing Gohan. He blocked a punch cross-armed, lurching forwards and headbutting Bills in the centre of the face. Bills grunted but didn't flinch, grabbing Gohan's head between both hands and throwing him down at King Kai's planet. Despite being dense enough to create a gravity ten times that of Earth's while being small enough to circumnavigate in minutes, Gohan ploughed through it, shattering the entire 'world' and only coming to a halt half a mile or so behind it.
Hmm. I'm starting to get used to this… even detecting divine ki. And I'm not quite using my full power-better change that, no need for a warm-up. This is serious. He didn't have to power up, scream, wave his arms around-his aura simply expanded a bit, and there, just like that, was his full power. That's more like it.
Bills was charging down at him, and he dodged the first tail-swipe, elbowing the Hakaishin in the face and following up with a spinning kick that flung Bills away, landing him on the jagged, broken-off end of Snake Way. He picked himself up, shaking the dizziness out of his head. "Ah, you're a serious one… powering up that much from the start… I hadn't been using more than half my power, you'll have to excuse me." His own purple aura expanded slightly. "All right, now we can continue."
"Oh, I have your permission, do I? I'm so glad." Sighing, Gohan flew back up at Bills, throwing an energy blast from each hand. Bills jumped, letting them pass underneath him, and Gohan flew into him fist-first. He spun with the blow, using the momentum to propel a hammer-fist into Gohan's side, then grabbed him by the forearm and tossed him upwards into the golden clouds that surrounded the heavenly road.
Gohan, immersed in the clouds, lost all sense of direction; so in the end, he simply picked a random direction and set off that way, finally emerging in front of a large, mostly green planet with dots of blue. He sensed a familiar ki coming from the surface, in fact.
Below…
Kibitoshin paced anxiously. "I don't feel Gohan's ki anymore… has he been killed? Or just injured to the point where I can't sense him from this distance?"
"No, no…" Old Kai answered. "He's just transcended your ability to sense him."
"What are-"
A blur of red and purple hit the ground like a meteor-Gohan and Bills were trading blows far too fast to follow, appearing to each have hundreds of arms and legs as the light reflected off them only occasionally, capturing small snapshots of their fight-and even those were breathtakingly fast.
"Hey, kiddo!" Old Kai yelled, scrambling towards his descendant. "Get us out of here before this place becomes a warzone!"
"R-Right!" With a concerned look at Gohan's blurred form, Kibitoshin teleported them away.
Bills blocked an uppercut, tripping Gohan and staggering him away with a couple of quick jabs. Gohan jumped back to avoid any further follow-ups, pausing to recover his breath. "You're skilled… and you might be slightly stronger than me, too."
"Don't tell me you're giving up," Bills pouted. "You must've faced a superior foe before. At times reality… or god, if you like…" he grinned at this, "… hands you down these trials."
"I know…" Gohan grinned. "It's annoying, heh… I guess I'll have to step it up a bit. Your advantage is only for pure physical combat." He threw a straight punch directly to the right, Shifting it through a portal towards the back of Bills' head. The Hakaishin tried to duck, receiving a glancing hit, the brief stunning effect allowing Gohan to plant a kick in his stomach, knocking him back. Gohan made an Instant Transmission jump to directly above him, a double-fisted hammer smashing him into the ground. Gohan charged down at him, and Bills rolled away, Gohan's fist striking the ground directly and blasting a three-metre-wide crater right through the planet. "Damn it!" he growled, as Bills ran back in at him.
"Interesting techniques!" Bills complimented the Super Saiyan God, blocking and countering, giving Gohan a bloody nose. He blocked a kick with his knee, landing another elbow hit. Trying to recover, Gohan formed a cluster of energy blasts in one hand, throwing them into the air and scattering them around the pair of them. Focusing, he opened up several portals and Shifted the blasts back towards Bills, firing energy bullets at him from all directions.
Bills grinned as he dodged through the rapid-fire attack towards Gohan. "Nice one! But-you had to focus on too many at once-the attack pattern's too predictable!" He sent Gohan flying away with a running jump-kick.
Gohan, after accidentally turning a backwards somersault in the air, managed to skid to a halt, forming an energy-sword around his arm. I should be able to extend the range when I swing and hit him from over here… He swung, the sword lancing out for miles, but Bills sidestepped and it merely carved through layers of rock. Strangely, he then stood still for a while, looking smug. Gohan was just trying to work out what he was so happy about, when with a deep rumble, the pieces of ground they were on began to grind apart. Showers of molten lava sprung up through the crack between them.
"Oh dear," Bills said cheerily, "you really should be more careful with other people's planets. I think you cut it clean in two."
"I…" Gohan grimaced as fully half of the planet fell away, slowly drifting off from his half and trailing oceans of molten rock, Bills remaining hovering where he'd been. "All right, come on!" Gohan charged in, but Bills caught his fist, punching him high into the air and catapulting him into one of the several moons that had until just now orbited the Sacred Kai Planet.
Gohan felt rock crushing in all around him, felt cuts opening up all over his body. Even with all my techniques, he's still handling me like it's nothing… was I really the right choice?
I've never been like you, dad… you were always so self-motivated… for me, it was only the sight of you still fighting that drove me on.
I know I had a busy childhood, but a lot of it I don't remember anymore. One thing stands out, though. I vividly remember… your receding back, as you ran ahead to the fight. No fears or reservations.
Unless I was just mad with rage or something, though, that's never been me.
Outside, Bills was getting bored, and began to form an energy ball to blow up the moon and force Gohan out into the open.
"You're our hero now-Earth's hero."
You were the hero, dad… never me. Maybe you should've become God. I could never be like that… could I?
Bills' attack crashed into the small moon, blasting it into atoms. The God of Destruction smiled. That ought to make him-uh? He heard the telltale hiss of Instant Transmission, the crackled of energy. "KA… ME-" Bills whipped around, a pair of flat-handed chops smacking Gohan's hands apart. "That technique takes too long-it's useless at this range!" He drove another punch home, the impact throwing Gohan back. "Think, will you? At least make this fun!" His next punch, however, was caught at the wrist.
"You think… this is fun? You threaten my family and friends, my world-and expect me to play your games?"
"Go… han… beat him!"
"Do it, son!"
"Get him… Gohan!"
"I still don't know if I was the right choice." Gohan's grip tightened, making Bills wince in pain. The felinoid tried to tug it away, but found he couldn't. "But I do know that I believe in my father-and he thinks it has to be me. You want a challenge?"
He'd been containing the force of his attacks up until now and directing them entirely at his opponent, as instructed-but the force of this rising haymaker was too great for him to contain. Reality stretched around it, and another nuclear blast accompanied Bills tumbling uncontrollably back through the sky. Gohan pursued him, grabbing ahold of his shoulder and putting Instant Transmission to good use, locking onto his father's energy and taking them both back to Earth. They materialised a few feet off the ground, the battered party guests looking up in shock at the pair of gods who suddenly appeared, still fighting with focused intensity, just above their heads, superluminal flashes punctuating each move.
All right, that showed me how hard I can hit… I can control it next time. "Now I'm not in danger of killing everyone in the backblast…" Gohan hissed, dodging a sweeping kick. "… I'd like to be able to see what I'm fighting for."
Bills snorted. "Foolish. You saw what happened to everywhere else we've fought. Do you want the same thing to happen to Earth? You'll be doing my job for me!"
"It won't happen here," Gohan said firmly. "I didn't want to use this technique-I haven't had the chance to test it in battle yet. But I still haven't done much damage to you, so here goes."
He breathed in deeply, concentrating. "If you'd seen me fight Majin Buu, you'd know about my Dimension Step-it's the ultimate expression of the Shifting technique I've been using on you. This is an improved version-I've actually been trying to think of a name for a while now, but now I think I've got it."
"Are you done?" Bills idly flicked his ear. "I don't care what your technique is, just use it already."
"If you insist." Gohan took one step forwards, spreading what seemed to be ripples through the air, almost as if he was walking on water. Quietly, he said, "God Step."
"God…?" Bills raised one eyebrow.
Gohan's outline blurred, and immediately after he disappeared.
"God Step-" An arm materialised, punching Bills in the back of the head before vanishing. "-is a combination-" A knee caught him in the side. "-of Shifting and-" An energy beam knocked him to the ground. "-Instant Transmission."
Gohan fully reappeared, raising his guard as Bills stood. "Using my Dimension Step ability to phase in and out of the fifth dimension, and my normal Shifting ability to open portals-then applying them both to the Instant Transmission dimension."
"Hmm. You're actually able to stay in the pocket dimension for extended period-that is impressive," Bills admitted.
Raditz, hearing this, groaned. "You mean the kid only got Instant Transmission a year or two ago, and he's already better at it than me? Man, maybe I should've gone to school after all…"
"Did saiyans even have schools?" Break asked him.
"Er… we had the training grounds, I guess… used to spar a lot there…" his face fell. "I, uh… didn't win very often."
"You were a late bloomer," Launch reassured him. "I mean, you went from relatively weak to your race's messianic figure in, what, a year?"
Raditz's reply was drowned out by Bills shredding the ground as he tumbled wildly past them. He stood unsteadily, and was immediately knocked a couple of steps sideways as Gohan appeared, swinging a high, powerful kick before retreating back into the Instant Transmission dimension again.
"All… right…" Bills growled, failing to block another attack, which scratched out a graze on his shoulder, "I've had… ENOUGH OF THIS!" This last part was punctuated by a wordless scream.
A tunnel of twisting ki flew out from his wide-open mouth, spiralling into a focused point and seemingly shattering the air itself in front of him, revealing through the jagged hole that opened up a very startled Gohan.
"Wha… how did…" Gohan mumbled.
"Found you!" Bills dived through the gap into the multicoloured maelstrom, beginning another determined offensive even as the breach closed behind him. Gohan fell back, trying to put some distance between them. "How did you do that?!" he spluttered.
"Well…" Bills shrugged. "You might know it's possible to break through dimensional walls with enough power…"
"Well, yeah," Gohan replied, warily. "Dad got out of the Time Chamber like that… but that was getting out of a pocket dimension. How did you… for want of a better word, find this Instant Transmission dimension?"
"Simplicity itself. You kept jumping in and out in such close proximity to me… I began to recognise the 'trace' and sense your energy, even across dimensions. I can't locate this dimension anytime I want like you can, but now I can follow you in if you teleport here right in front of me. All right," he concluded, cracking his knuckles, "enough talk!" He began to launch a rapid-fire volley of ki blasts, detonating where Gohan floated and leaving large smoke trails in the air (if, indeed, it was air).
"Heh…" Bills smiled, arms still extended, as the smoke drifted away, waiting to see what kind of damage he'd inflicted.
"I suppose you thought I couldn't Shift in this universe," came a voice from behind Bills, startling him. "But apparently the same laws of physics apply here, including access to the fifth dimension. Oh, and also?" Bills turned, noticing the build-up of divine ki and raising a cross-armed guard, almost too late. "KAMEHAMEHA!"
"Gyaaaah!" Bills was sent sailing away as the energy beam smacked into him, spinning and tumbling uncontrollably. Gohan appeared above him, swooping down for a flying kick, but Bills twisted out of the way, grabbing his leg and wrenching it. Hissing in pain, Gohan brought his other leg around, driving a knee into Bills' face with a gratifying crunch, then wrapped an arm around the god's neck, taking off at faster-than-light speed through the vast expanse of swirling colours with Bills in tow, as if executing an aerial piledriver.
"What's… the point… of this?" Bills choked, tugging on Gohan's arm and trying to break free. "There's nothing… to land on here… !"
"No, but nobody said we had to stay here," Gohan replied, smiling and raising his free hand to touch his forehead.
Earth…
"So…" Kuriza glanced around awkwardly at the assembled group. "They're gone again. Should we-"
"Noooooo-!" Came Bills' strangled cry as the two gods materialised in the air, several dozen metres away, hurtling towards the ground. They hit the ground with Bills underneath and just carried on going, burrowing down out of sight.
A few seconds later, a low rumbling became audible. It grew louder and more distinct, until it was not a single flat noise, but a staccato rhythm of thousands of simply insanely fast punches, kicks and blocks. Gohan and Bills rose out of their crater, still fighting, tendrils of red and purple energy arcing out and throwing up a gale-force air current when one of them missed or dodged.
This deadlock was eventually broken when Bills finally landed a kick, winding Gohan, then a two-handed swing knocked the Super Saiyan God down to Earth. Bills hung in the air, trying to catch his breath, as Gohan lay on the floor, groaning.
Whis came strolling up to Gohan's friends and family, smiling sweetly. "Please resist the urge to go help him. Lord Bills wouldn't take kindly to that at all. Anyway… I'm sure he'll find time for all of you." They all bristled at this, but knew all too well that getting in Bills' way at their current level would be foolish.
Gohan managed to half-sit up, hearing movement above and knowing Bills was now standing right in front of him. I feel like… I've got nothing left…
I wrote about this in Groundbreaking Science… Ki is composed of… Genki-vitality, the body's energy-Yuuki, courage, determination, willpower-and Shoki, clarity of thought, focus. My body's drained… amazed I can even remember this stuff after all these blows to the head… guess I'm running on Yuuki now.
Bills raised a fist. "You fought well, but you don't have the experience with this kind of power to match me." He swung, but then Gohan was gone, putting on a burst of speed and leaping up off the ground at Bills, right arm swinging around.
Willpower. Fix it in my mind-if I can still move, I won't stop.
Something changed, however-the feeling of ethereal lightness, the red glow, the unfathomable power vanished, and Bills hastily caught Gohan's punch, holding it back without much effort. "Hey. You lost your god form." Still, his ki… it's definitely divine, even now. He must've absorbed that 'world' of power into his body…
"You think I care?" Gohan turned Super Saiyan, a burst of strength allowing him to shove Bills' block back, following up with a jumping spin kick. Bills ducked under it, however, throwing an uppercut that made Gohan's field of vision spin. Bills pressed his advantage, hammering Gohan with a succession of quick attacks. Hundreds of hits impacted his body from all directions. And yet… his power's… rising…?
"Fall, damn you!" Bills screamed, a heavy finisher sending Gohan skidding back into a wall, which crumbled behind him.
Gohan said nothing, but his energy continued to grow, slowly raising his head and forming fists.
Yuuki… give me power!
Bills shrunk back as Gohan's eyes opened. "Are you immortal?! Fall!"
"You… first! " He became a streak of light, rocketing into Bills and battering his defences with ever-faster hits.
Yes… Bills thought. His power hasn't dropped much at all from when he was the Super Saiyan God. What exactly… is he?!
Chapter 101: Deus Ex Simia
"RAAAAAH!"
That, and a series of noises comparable to thunderclaps on steroids, or some other suitably hyperbolic simile, were all that could be heard for quite a while as Gohan continued to hammer on Bills' defences.
He attacked again, and Bills jumped away, landing beside the saiyan. "Ahh… huh…" The God of Destruction wheezed. "You… have done well. You've almost become as strong again as you were when you were in your God form. But!" Gohan spun, wordlessly throwing an uppercut, but Bills caught his forearm, skidding back slightly from the Super Saiyan's seemingly-inexhaustible strength. Bills slowly began to force Gohan's arm back, continuing; "Even at your best, you never made me use more than 70 percent of my power." He threw Gohan back, lowering his hand. "And you're on borrowed time now. Soon, even 70% will be overkill for dealing with you."
"Hhh… uh… grrhh…" Gohan took in a heaving breath, fixing Bills with a glare. "You asking me… to give up?"
Bills nodded slowly. "I am. Be reasonable. After all that I have said, do you have any reason to believe that you can still win?"
"No… heh, not really." Gohan laughed softly, wincing at the pain that it sent shooting through his abdomen. "Hell, you've pretty much got me beat if that was only 70%. So yeah… I want to give up. I really do."
"You…" Bills frowned. "You're really…?" What happened to that determination?
"Of course I'm not!" Gohan snapped. "Lemme finish." He rapped his knuckles on the side of his head, trying to clear his blurring vision. "Y'see… I want to stop fighting now. I've never been a big fan of it, to be honest. I'm hurting pretty bad… you're tired too, but not nearly as much as me… and all in all I think you're right. I really want to just give up now." He held up a finger. "But-I can't!"
"You what?" Bills scratched his head, expression blank. "What kind of logic is that?"
"See… there's all these people around here… they're all watching, and hoping with everything they've got that I'll beat you." Even as he said this, his friends and family were timidly approaching, frightened of the power on display, but curious at the pause in the battle. "Even more than I don't want to fight… I don't want to let them down. Videl… Goten… Mom, Dad… in this world or the next," he finished, the hum of his Super Saiyan aura growing to a crescendo, "I'm not gonna see them cry."
"Noble." Bills darted in, ducking under an unco-ordinated swipe and landing two successive jabs to Gohan's face, knocking him back again. "But all the good intentions in the world won't change the fact that you're outclassed, and hopelessly so."
"Gohan-!" Videl's teeth clenched at the sight of her partner being struck again, barely holding herself back despite the odds. "D-Don't be so focused on winning you forget about surviving, okay?!" she called out with sudden force. "You're not gonna let Pan grow up without you, are you? Stop letting him hit you!"
Bills lunged again, but swung through nothing but air, feeling a grip on his shoulder. "Survive?" Gohan mumbled. "Don't think I can manage that anymore-I'll be happy… if Pan gets to grow up at all, at this point…" He threw Bills up and over his head, the Hakaishin flying backwards through a Capsule Corp building and into the road behind. Cars swerved and honked at the sudden arrival, frantic to get out of the way-Bills, naturally, ignored them, staring up at the ruined building until Gohan appeared hovering above the wreckage. Bills launched himself back up at Gohan, who retreated into the centre of the compound to receive Bills' charge. He swayed out of the way, forming an energy sword and slicing at his opponent. Bills bared his teeth with a bestial growl, raising an arm and focusing his own ki into a circular shield, letting Gohan's attack clash against it, throwing off sparks of deadly energy.
He formed such a strong defence… so quickly! Gohan dissipated his sword, kicking off Bills' shield and backflipping away, then launching a two-handed kiai back down at his enemy. Bills had already dropped his own construct and immediately returned fire with a kiai of his own. The two shockwaves of force collided, blasting both fighters away instantly. They flipped to their feet, drawing back ki-charged fists and charging, passing each other with a final superluminal flash, accompanied by an explosive wave of power that threatened to shake the city apart.
The two fighters stood opposite each other for a second, arms extended. Bills winced as a deep cut opened on his upper arm, standing up straighter. "You fought well, Saiyan God," he murmured, as Gohan collapsed behind him, golden aura vanishing.
"Gohan!" Goku yelled.
Chi-Chi froze. "No…"
"And now, as promised," Bills said without the slightest pause, "I'll destroy Earth."
Everyone shrank back, fearful of the glowing hand Bills raised. "D-Damn you… !" Tien growled.
Damn it… why won't my body move?
I'm not done yet!
Even if it kills me… I will be a hero like them… !
Doesn't mean… not feeling fear-it means overcoming it! It doesn't mean you never fall…
It means you stand back up!
Bills' eyes narrowed, his slowly-coalescing energy ball growing brighter-and then it was gone, and there was a terrible fiery heat on his back-
Gohan, the power of the Super Saiyan God burning around him, had grappled the god from behind, locking both arms around Bills'. "I won't let you take this world from me!" His energy began to climb in intensity, and it was clear to the shocked onlookers that he was preparing for a suicide attack.
"You-!" Bills choked. "How did you regain your god form?!" When he got no reply, he tried a different tack. "You'd really sacrifice your life to stop me destroying this world?"
"Like I said… it's not something I want to do, but… no matter how much my body's hurting, or my mind is screaming that it wants to survive… if, because of how I feel, I let down seven billion people… that'd just be selfish of me."
He's serious! Bills realised, panicking.
"This is the end, Bills-" Gohan began, but then, faster than even the gods could follow, Whis was there, arm blurred in movement like a striking snake, seemingly barely brushing by Gohan's neck; and then, God power fading again, Gohan fell, releasing Bills and landing sprawled at the duo's feet.
"D-Damn… !" Gohan spat, struggling to sit up. "The other one… !"
"I am sorry," Whis said, bowing, "but I could not let you kill both yourself and Lord Bills-it would be a great shame to lose either of you. Have no fear, however-Bills will not be destroying the Earth."
"Right," Bills agreed. "Watch." He charged up energy in his hand again, firing a ki blast directly at the ground-but the crater it created was barely a metre across. "Even fighting at only 70%… I used up all my stamina against you," Bills admitted to Gohan.
"Indeed, you've destroyed a very small Earth," Whis giggled. "But that's not what I meant." He grinned at Bills. "It's been a while now since you had the intention of destroying this planet."
"Hmph…" Bills turned away, arms folded, tail twitching. "D-Don't get the wrong idea… I'm not going to start acting friendly all of a sudden, all right?"
"Still…" Gohan said as his family rushed over, helping him to his feet, "Whis… that attack-hell, you might be almost as strong as Bills…"
"Actually," Bills murmured, clearly still embarrassed, "Whis is not just my assistant. He is also my martial arts teacher…"
"Oh!" Goku looked from one to the other. "So the real strongest in the universe is…"
"And this universe, of which I am the Hakaishin, is only one of twelve," Bills continued. "In other universes there may be still stronger fighters…"
Goku's eyes were shining. "Oh, wow… wonder if I'll ever get to see 'em someday…"
"Who knows." Whis answered lightly. "We should be going, however. Lord Bills has fought his Super Saiyan God, and your world is safe… I'm sorry for ruining your party."
Bulma, now quite unsteady on her feet after having taken to downing a glass for her nerves every time it looked like Gohan was losing, waved a finger in the pair of otherworldly visitors' general direction, slurring, "Yeah, yoou g't outt'here 'lready! 'Smy birthday… y'know?"
"… right," Eighteen sighed, gently sitting her friend down and turning back to Whis. "She does have a point. It's going to take a while to fix all this… you'd better go before she sobers up, actually, or she'll have you two doing all the repair work yourselves…"
"… right." With a cheery wave from Whis and a begrudging nod from Bills, they took off and vanished into the sky in a matter of moments (though it was discovered later that before leaving they'd made off with the entire party's supply of sushi, not to mention most of the wasabi).
There was a moment of relaxing, a collective exhalation of long-held breath, but it was only a moment-immediately afterwards, the pair of Kaioshins appeared in their midst with Kibitoshin's Instant Movement. Old Kai leapt straight at Gohan, shaking him violently by the shoulders.
"What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Planet?!" He shrieked, before breaking away and hopping about, clutching at his head. "You ungrateful people… is this the thanks I get for all the help I've given you?!"
"Er…" Gohan nervously pointed to the halo above Old Kai's head. "Don't you only have 24 hours in the living world? I mean… are you going to use it up yelling at me?"
"Gah!" The guardian exclaimed, running back to his younger counterpart. "Let's get out of here! Back to Otherworld, post haste!"
Kibitoshin sighed, mumbling before teleporting away, "and no congratulations to him for fighting off an actual god, no, that'd be a little too much…"
As things finally began to settle down, Dende, who'd been taking a stroll and conversing with Bulma's parents and had subsequently missed almost the entire battle, was drawn into a rather awkward discussion.
"… and I'm telling you," he said defensively, backing away a step, "if it could be healed, it would've just now!"
"Well why couldn't it?" Goten demanded, pointing at Vegeta Jr. "Ever since we defused we've each been deaf in one ear!"
"I don't know!" Dende protested. "If I had to guess… I'd say that it's because my healing magic 'restores' you to your natural, uninjured state. When you defused, you transformed from one person into two completely different people-that must've been, well, set as your default state."
"Huh?" Vegeta's brow wrinkled. "You mean if we get hurt as Gogeta it's permanent? That sucks."
"Not entirely," Dende said timidly. "From what I understand, you can still heal naturally, given enough time, so any bruises or cuts will fade eventually, like normal. But Bills's hands must've been moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light when he hit you-he created a vacuum inside your ears and caused a lot of damage, permanent damage even for someone as strong as you." He shrugged. "You're kind of lucky, actually, that you're not both completely deaf after defusing-a lot of how fusion works is still a complete mystery."
"Hmm…" Vegeta paced anxiously. "What about a senzu bean? We could try a couple of those…"
"Nah," Goten replied, shaking his head. "My brother was studying those once, and I remember what he said-they speed up your body's natural healing. So that's why they can't regrow limbs and stuff like Dende can…"
"Egh, whatever!" Vegeta flung up his arms in defeat. "Damn it, this sucks!"
"Yeah, you said."
"If I see that Bills guy again…"
Other than the collective wrath of everyone with a long enough memory to trace the origins of the whole debacle descending on Break for ticking off the God of Destruction, and Zarbon and Roshi shortly joining Bulma in the artificially-induced state of mind where walking steadily and forming coherent sentences are a distant memory, nothing much else needs to be said about the remnants of the party. The battle of the gods had been the main event, and things felt sort of concluded after it was over. And since no more needs to be said about it, no more shall be said about it.
Hakaishin temple…
Bills lay back on the grass, exhausted. "That was fun… you know, those guys might one day become really fearsome opponents…"
"Hmm…" Whis agreed, staring off absent-mindedly into the distance. I briefly thought about asking that boy to become the next Hakaishin after Bills… but then, I don't think he's suited for it-to be honest, I can't imagine any of that group accepting an offer like that.
Bills yawned. "Mmm, I'm tired… how long should I rest for this time, I wonder?"
"Whatever suits you," Whis mumbled. Bills gave a curious glance upwards-his attendant was usually very particular about what the optimum amount of sleep was for his charge, but today he seemed distracted by something. Bills, however, didn't particularly care; Whis acted strange sometimes, he'd return to his normal bubbly self soon. Surely.
It is fortunate indeed that the nature of narrative storytelling allows us to go into detail with only the most interesting parts of someone's life, and conversely employ the time-honoured timeskip when nothing much happens for a considerable length of time, or at least nothing worth mentioning.
And this was indeed the case for an entire eight years. The only aliens that showed up on Earth during this time were lost and asking for directions (and speaking of alien visitors, Vegeta Jr. finally started calling home, but showed no sign of wanting to leave Earth, since nobody back home would've been able to give him a good fight-such is often the way with saiyans). Nobody tried to take over or destroy the world, or the universe for that matter. Bills slept, years ticking by like minutes for him. The Supreme Kai's education from his ancestor got underway, and he began to grow into his role as guardian of the universe for the first time.
The new generation was maturing on Earth, too. Goku in particular was enamoured of the idea that the kids should train hard in preparation for the day when their parents wouldn't be around to protect the world anymore, and this idea (which had already borne fruit in the half-saiyan children) took hold in both Pan and Marron (the latter almost lived a normal, peaceful life, but Eighteen seemed determined to prove the strength and potential an un-augmented human could attain, with enough effort).
Further Budokai Tenkaichi ('Strongest Under the Heavens') world martial arts tournaments were held; the 26th was won by Gogeta, after a number of stalling actions and what could be called 'hijinks' in order to give him enough time to fuse again before each match. After a close-fought match, however, he was defeated by Goku in the final of the 27th tournament.
A copy of Groundbreaking Science could be found in almost every home, though the dedication and effort required was too much for many; ki use occupied the same social space as going to the gym, weightlifting, martial arts and so on had always held-it made you much more physically capable, but many people get by on their mental capability alone in this modern age, and so only those looking to get in shape or expecting a fight would bother (putting serious effort into working out without adding some ki-training to the mix, as rather a pointless exercise, became almost unheard of, though). Of course, there was some difference-more people put the effort in now because, c'mon, laser beams.
The existence of aliens and magic was already common knowledge, but the specific issues of the saiyans and the Dragon Balls remained secrets; the time still did not seem to be right, and perhaps it never would be. The Dragon Balls finally went unused for a good while, though, much to Old Kai's relief-he'd always been hesitant about overusing them, or indeed using them at all.
The world tournaments, however, were undoubtedly the highlights, and not just because they provided an excuse for grand reunions. The 28th, for instance, would be remembered for a long while. By the competitors, certainly, and the international audience besides (the tournament attracted considerably more media attention in this age of superpowered martial arts), but it would be absolutely unforgettable for one particular competitor, a singular boy named Uub.
Chapter 102: Monster Reborn
"You're joking."
"You know I'm terrible at jokes."
"It's April the 1st or something."
"It's May."
"Wait, you know the date-I mean, hmm… how much did Bulma pay you?"
"I'm serious!"
"Come on, Goku!" Raditz rounded on his brother. "You expect me to believe there's a human we've never heard of or seen before who's just going to randomly turn up at this tournament-and he's as strong as us?! You don't think that sounds a little suspicious?" Goku just gazed off into the sky and started whistling. "Aaagh! You're impossible!"
"I just wish this queue would hurry up and get moving," Pan grumbled. Now nine, she was currently wearing a copy of the orange gi that had, over the years, gone from being the symbol of the Turtle Hermit's teachings, to the trademark of Goku's family. She was also extremely bored, as nine-year-olds are wont to be, and pacing in ever-faster circles around her grandfather and his brother, kicking up clouds of dust. Another item of note was the tail snaking back from her waist, twitching impatiently; the ever-unpredictable combination of human and saiyan DNA had shown itself again in that her tail hadn't actually grown for a few years after her birth. While a surprise, as Earth was still lacking a moon it was hardly a problem.
"What's the holdup, anyway?" Goku wondered, trying to peer over an extremely large wrestler that stood directly in front of them.
"It's the Wonder Twins over there," Raditz sighed. "Listen."
Indeed, as Goku focused his hearing he picked out the raised voices of Vegeta Jr. and Goten, and the defensive, placating tones of a quite frightened organiser.
"… and I'm telling you, Gogeta can't come here right now, we're signing him up for him!"
"I'm afraid all contestants must sign up in person…"
"He'll be here! Look, just have one of us go instead if he isn't!" Goten pounded the table, managing to restrain himself from breaking it. "Aargh, why do we have to go through this every time?! We've won this damn thing once, is the concept of fusion that hard to explain?" He and his fellow fusee made a strange contrast; messy, floppy hair (though no longer exactly like Goku's) versus vertical, unbending spike; T-shirt and jeans versus faux-military wear with touches of saiyan royal garb; a default facial expression somewhere between confusion and exasperation versus an aura of grumpiness.
"Yes, this 'fusion' you keep mentioning…" The organiser hazarded. "Could you perhaps demonstrate it to me? If that really produces your fighter, he could then sign up himself…"
"Hell no!" Vegeta growled. "It only lasts half an hour, and I'm not using up half of our fight time just to satisfy some pen-pushing flunky!" And so it went.
Raditz clutched his head in his hands, eye twitching. "Goku. Hold me back, I think I'm going to murder them."
Quite some time later…
"All right, everyone," the announcer-the same World Tournament announcer as always, at that-declared, gesturing wildly with his microphone, "the preliminaries have concluded! And please welcome our eight finalists with a big hand-that's Pan, Raditz, Nareg, Uub, Son Goku, Wild Tiger, Marron, and… Captain Chicken…? Captain Chicken, everybody. I could not make this up."
"Hey Grandpa," Pan asked Goku as they lined up in front of the ring to draw their match-ups. "What happened to Break and Gogeta?"
"Break had the misfortune of coming up against her old man in the preliminaries," Raditz answered with a grin. "In case you were wondering, yes, we both went Super Saiyan 3."
"Oh, so that's what that repair crew was about," Marron commented, leaning in to hear their conversation-Eighteen and Krillin's daughter definitely took more after her mother than her father in appearance, apart from a slight wide-eyed, round-faced touch that hinted at Krillin's influence.
"Yeah, with that much force behind each of our punches I managed to force a ring out pretty quickly," Raditz finished, folding his arms and exuding smugness.
"And as for Gogeta," Goku continued with a snicker, "he defused right before a match, so he couldn't show up in time and got disqualified-the preliminaries are held pretty close together." He paused, his smile growing warmer and less joking. "I'm actually kind of relieved… his power's grown enormously since last time, and I don't think I could beat him anymore. Those kids have really grown up… I'm proud."
Launch, trailing smoke and looking rather dejected, made her way to a seat with Videl and Gohan on one side and Bulma's family on the other (including her and Zarbon's daughter, whose name, Bra, would have been the mockery of the playground if it were not for her terrifying and overprotective parents), lifting Oolong out of the seat and tossing him in an unsuspecting man's lap behind them.
"What happened to you?" Bulma asked, coughing and waving the smoke away.
Launch sighed. "Gogeta happened. I entered without telling the guys, and wanted to surprise 'em in the finals… guess not…"
"Ah," Trunks replied, nodding in solidarity, "that sucks."
Launch raised an eyebrow. "Say, you didn't enter? I mean, I know your dad's a lazy sod, but-"
Zarbon put a hand on his son's shoulder. "-and Trunks here follows in my magnificent example, of course!"
"Right," Trunks agreed, giving an abashed grin. "I haven't really done any fighting for years now… mom's been letting me help run the company, though, so I've been pretty busy."
Launch hummed, shooting him a sidelong glance. "You sure you didn't even have the slightest interest? Break entered, after all…"
"W-What does that have to do with anything?!" Trunks burst out, gesticulating frantically. "We're friends, that's all! Just what are you implying?"
"Oh, nothing… I mean, you're both 18 now, you shouldn't need me to imply anything for you…"
"Will you stop?!" Trunks yelled, face a pastiche of green, red and blue. Before he could continue, however, Break approached, in a similar charred state to her mother, before falling into a seat, not noticing that Gohan was currently occupying it.
"Er…" Gohan asked, tactfully trying to shove her off, with no success. "What happened?"
"Dad happened," she grumbled. "I almost had him, but his stupid Instant Transmission…"
"I see… well, there's always next time…" Videl said, patting Break's shoulder.
"Right!" Break stuck a clenched fist into the air. "Like in an hour or two-as soon as he leaves the building, I'll jump him! He'll be weakened from all the fighting!"
"Not… really what I meant…"
"Vengeance will be mine!"
Raditz dusted off his hands, stepping out of the ring. "That 'Nareg' actually had a pretty high power level… humans really are coming a long way…" He hadn't changed much since the great battles of the past decade, other than becoming more casual in his appearance, adopting an entirely human dress sense, barring a couple of touches (one of his old gauntlets, for instance); this in contrast to his brother, who aside from changing to a darker shade of blue, accompanied by yellow pants, looked just about the same as always (it helped that saiyans aged considerably slower than humans). "You ready, Pan?" Raditz asked.
The quarter-saiyan girl grinned. "Yup!" She half-skipped, half-floated up to the ring, bowing to her opponent, the impressively-built, ridiculously-costumed Captain Chicken. Yes, Captain Chicken. Apparently he was completely serious.
The battle was short, but far from dull. The preposterous man strutted around for a bit, declaring his intention to rise to greatness and fight evil and so forth, and after a minute or so Pan waved a hand across his face, snapping him out of it.
"Ah!" He yelped, jumping back slightly. "My apologies! I do get carried away… now!" She may be young, but I must not underestimate her… she did make it through the preliminaries… He held both hands out facing her, beginning to hum tunelessly. "Hoooooo… Super… Ultimate… Destructive…"
"Uh…" Pan scratched her head, standing still. "Are you done…?"
"… Chicken…"
"Seriously, any day now?"
"… WAVE!" He finished, triumphantly firing a decent-sized energy beam. "Hah!" He bellowed, watching it seemingly hit his opponent dead-on; however, a moment later her afterimage faded and vanished. Floating behind him, Pan tapped the self-proclaimed superhero's shoulders.
"So…" she asked. "… was that it?"
"I-" he began, but before he could finish she gave a gentle shove that slammed him back into the arena wall, earning him a ring-out and nearly a concussion.
Marron's match with the slightly ( slightly ) less outlandishly named Wild Tiger was equally short-lived, and equally memorable. Once the blonde teenage girl had finished chasing her opponent (who looked like he was born of an illicit coupling between Genghis Khan and a brick wall) around the ring and finally delivered the knockout blow, the final match of the first round could get underway.
"So… none of our opponents have been up to much…" Raditz observed as Goku walked past him, stretching. "… that means this kid is the one? This superhuman of yours?"
"Yeah…" Goku nodded, tightening his belt. "Check out his name… try spelling it backwards."
"What? Why?!" Raditz exploded, but reluctantly glanced at the list of competitors. "Let's see, what was his-Uub… Buu?! You can't be serious…"
"Sure I am!" Goku grinned. "When we killed Majin Buu, I made a half-serious request that I'd see him again someday as a good person… well, somebody-Kaioshin, King Yemma, who knows-saw me helping save the universe and threw me a bone, so here he is; Buu reincarnated in human form."
"Unbelievable…" Raditz muttered. "I just wish I'd known about this before you…"
"Why, so you could beat me to fixing the match order?"
"Well, I-wait, you did what ?!" Raditz burst out, but Goku was already gone, heading for the ring. Come to think of it, it was a little suspicious that he's facing Uub in the first round like this… I suppose telekinesis isn't exactly a rare feat for us, but I didn't know he had the kind of precision to fix drawing lots like that…
Uub gulped, the intimidating sight of the cheering crowds giving him pause-even the preliminaries, with dozens of other fighters shoving by, hadn't prepared him for the sheer mass of humanity on display here. Before today, he'd never seen more than a hundred or so people in one place before. It's fine… just ignore the crowd, Uub. You did fine in the preliminaries… this'll be exactly the same.
Right. I can do this. I have to. He took slow, deep breaths as he climbed into the ring, glancing nervously at his opponent, a wild-haired, blue-and-yellow-garbed man, currently doing warm-up stretches and acting like the thousands-strong audience wasn't even there. Come on, I can win… everyone's counting on me getting this prize money!
Goku watched Uub approaching, pretending not to notice his presence and weighing him up-supposedly he was from a tropical island only just south of where the tournament was being held, and it seemed from his outfit that they weren't very well-off. His hair curved up and forwards in floppy spikes from the back of his skull, hanging over his forehead-almost like Buu's antenna in reverse, which couldn't have been a coincidence. His power's impressive-I've felt it from far off recently-but he's hiding it now, intentionally or not.
The announcer cleared his throat, having finished introducing the contestants to the audience. "Son Goku… Uub… ready, and-begin!"
"All right…" Goku took a step forwards, but grimaced as Uub immediately flinched back, trembling. Huh… stage fright, I guess… that's no good. He can't fight properly like this. Maybe if I rile him up… Unfortunately, this being Goku, subtle emotional manipulation was not exactly his specialty. "H… Hey, you!"
"Uh?" Uub blinked, warily raising his guard.
"Yeah! You gonna fight me already? Or gonna go home and cry to mommy? Um. Who's fat."
"What…?"
"Your, uh… mother… fat, and, uh…" He frowned. Man, Frieza made this insults thing seem easy… "… and your father smells of… elderberries-"
Oh for the love of-Goku! Raditz's telepathic voice cut Goku off. Listen, ass-clown!
See, you can do it! Goku observed. Why is it that everyone else finds this so easy…?
Shut up! Look, just hit him. If you want to draw out his true power, put him in danger.
Uh… sure, but that might be a little dangerous…
Oh, he'll be fine. He's the reborn Majin Buu, he's not going to be easy to kill.
If you say so…
"Excuse me?" Uub asked timidly. "Are you all right, sir? Do you need a minute?"
"Ah!" Goku grinned. "Sorry about all that earlier. I was trying to make you mad, so I could see your full power. But I think-" In a blur of motion, he was in front of Uub, kicking at the young fighter's head. "-I've got a better way!"
"Gahh!" Uub felt an impact on his forearms and skidded back almost to the edge of the ring, then paused-he hadn't realised he'd moved his arms up to block. I've never moved that fast before…
"There you go! More of that, and you'll be fine!" Goku settled to the ground, grinning. "You'll probably never have fought like this, but you'll find you've got a lot more in you than you realise…"
Goku dashed in and punched at Uub, who dodged, catching the second punch and throwing one of his own. Goku jumped back, feeling it graze his nose; his smile grew wider. "Yeah, that's it!"
"You were right…" Uub mumbled. "I'm the strongest in my village by far, but you're really something else… I can't believe I'm fighting you like this… how did you know all this, anyway? Who are you?"
"Tell you later," Goku said excitedly, raising his guard. "C'mon, don't you wanna fight me? To see what you can really do?"
Uub instinctively wanted to say 'no'; he'd never been interested in fighting for its own sake. But something stopped him, the words catching in his throat. A hungry grin spread across his face. "… yeah." He kicked off the ground, leading with a few jabs and pursuing Goku as the larger contestant slowly retreated.
Goku countered with a downwards elbow, but Uub soon recovered and was back on the offensive. "Hey, you're even better than I thought you'd be!" Goku commented, ducking back to avoid a high spin kick.
"I did get training from my uncle…" Uub grunted, continuing his assault. "… and he used to get lessons from someone who'd read some book on this stuff!"
"Oh, Gohan's book?" Goku asked. "Cool, you must already know some of the basics!" He broke away again, rising slightly into the air. "I guess I can cut loose a little more."
"Yeah, I've heard some people like you can fly…" Uub said, nodding. "I never got that one myself, but I can do- this !" He thrust an open hand upwards, sending a ripple of force through the air and knocking Goku back down into the ring.
"Oh…" Goku stood up, rubbing his head. "A kiai, huh? That ki control was pretty good!"
He's not even scratched… ! Uub realised. Still, I'm keeping up with him. Though it still kinda seems like he's playing around… "Sorry… I can't let you win. I've gotta get this prize money-I need to buy food for everyone back home!"
"If you say so…" Goku nodded. "Then do your best! But if you're going to attack from a distance…" He brought his hands together in front of him. "Ka… Me…"
Raditz gave a start, before quickly relaxing. Good… he's not putting anything like full power into this… you worried me for a second there, Goku.
"… Ha… Me…"
"Whoa!" Uub took a step back as Goku's building energy ball exuded waves of power, growing brighter by the second. "That's some crazy energy!"
"… HA!" Goku yelled, letting the energy beam fly. Uub jumped, avoiding the attack by a hair, but Goku had been expecting this-extinguishing the Kamehameha before it could hit the stands behind, he leapt up at Uub, a two-fisted hammer launching him down at the ground. However, he seemed to skid to a halt in mid-air just before touching the grass, floating there calmly.
Goku gaped. "Hey… you're flying?!"
"Well, yeah…" Uub laughed nervously. "I mean… you made it look so easy… so I just sort of jumped and didn't fall."
"Whoa…" Goku blinked. He learned it just by seeing it once… just like Buu…
"All right!" Uub charged back up at Goku, renewing his attack. Goku retreated down into the ring, throwing a few attacks of his own. The thunderous noise of their continuing battle drowned out the announcer's hyperbolic commentary, and over in the stands, brought a warm smile to Chi-Chi's face.
"Heh… he hasn't been this happy for a long time…"
Hakaishin temple…
Whis, as he was wont to do, paced the long, dark halls of the temple. It is unusually insightful of Lord Bills to realise that the Super Saiyan God was not the type to want a rematch anytime soon… he chose to have a full-length sleep this time, and will probably not wake again for several decades.
I am thankful, though; it gives me time to think. The signs have indeed been aligning… the Eternal cannot be far away now. However, it lives in time nigh-uncountable, that makes even the days of the Hakaishin seem fleeting. 'Soon' might be a scant few years; it might be centuries.
Why do I get the feeling that those saiyans are going to get mixed up in this business?
Chapter 103: Tomorrow's Heroes
I have come to the conclusion, after a combination of deep meditation and intense study, that the Super Saiyan chain of transformations has the potential for this 'demigod ki' (as Shenron has told me the state between mortal and divine is known), but in addition to the typical requirement of an emotional trigger, one must also have trained to an extremely high level-possibly not even a recently-transformed Super Saiyan 2, without some mastery of the form, would be capable of accomplishing this feat.
This 'demigod' level seems to have become my 'default' power level since my brief time in the Super Saiyan God form. Repeated tests reveal that I can now break lightspeed only in straight-line acceleration, whereas in melee combat I can but approach it-which is still more than the others, of course. I assume that in a time of need, my full divine ki, and perhaps even the actual God form, will likely reassert itself, as it did in those final desperate moments fighting against Bills, but what I have is more than enough for now.
To tell the truth, I pray the situation is never again grave enough to require the Super Saiyan God's power…
-Private journal of Son Gohan
Goku deflected a strike aimed at his head, using his other hand to knock Uub's guard away and bringing a knee up into his opponent's chin, sending him tumbling away. He's good! And he's learning quickly as we fight… He quickly charged a ki blast, throwing it after Uub, who righted himself and knocked it away before launching a stream of them back. Goku tensed up as they approached, letting out a kiai -infused yell and shattering the barrage of energy attacks.
"That's some intense fighting," Bulma commented.
"I suppose…" Launch replied, "but Goku's barely trying. Still, it's impressive for a kid that young."
"Eh… it's kinda boring," Trunks sighed, to a nod of agreement from Bra. "It just all looks the same after a while."
"Feh." Break sniffed. "Can't appreciate beauty in motion. Philistines."
"Ooh, bad move," Launch whispered to Trunks. "That had to hurt your chances, kiddo."
"Chances-!" Trunks hissed back. "What is your problem, lady?! I'm not interested in your daughter!"
In a flash, Launch had a hand around his throat, glaring into his eyes. "Leaving aside your laughable cover-up attempt, what's that supposed to mean, eh? You saying my little girl isn't good enough for you?!"
Trunks gulped, seeing his life flash before his eyes. "Er… that is to say…"
Meanwhile, Uub was staring at his hand, blinking slowly. "What did I just…?"
"Hah! Energy blasts, too!" Goku laughed. "You really do catch on quick!"
"Y-Yeah… I've never fought like this before… I really don't understand it…"
"Want me to teach you how?"
"W-What?"
"Forget this tournament, okay? You've got a lot more potential than you realise-I can train you, if you like."
"Sorry… I really have to win," Uub explained. "Everyone back home needs money for food…"
"Don't worry about it!" Goku waved as if to brush this intangible fear away. "I'm friends with one of the world's richest families-I'm sure I can get them to help! C'mon, don't you wanna get even stronger?"
"I…" Uub's eyes gleamed, and he gave a mock salute. "Yeah! Sure!"
"Um… you two…" The announcer asked. "Any chance we could finish the fight? Maybe have your chat afterwards?"
"Just a minute," Goku assured him, then looked back up at Uub. "All right then! Say, what if I come and live with you, so I can train-"
"Hold it!"
Goku paused. "Uh?"
"Are you stupid or something?" asked a familiar double voice-Gogeta, standing atop the main tournament building, arms folded and glaring up at Goku. Evidently, his between-fusion time had passed.
"The kids have a point!" Raditz shouted up. "You can't just take off!"
"Hey now," Goku said hastily, waving his hands defensively, "I'd come and visit from time to time-"
"Listen!" Gogeta snapped. "H-How'm I s'posed to have my rematch with you if you just up and leave, huh?! You have to stay and train with me-a-and then we'll fight again at the next tournament, okay? I promise I'll kick your ass next time!" He sniffed, trying to maintain his composure. "You can't go!"
"Guys…" Goku groaned. "I can't just ignore this chance… Uub might be a great successor-he might even save the Earth someday, but I need to-"
Chi-Chi's voice joined the chorus of disagreement. I'm glad those guys stalled him for a while… if he'd gotten some momentum going, I don't think I'd have been able to stop him… "Goku! You're not going anywhere, d'you hear? Do you want Goten and me to spend who knows how long without you?!"
"Aww… Chi-Chi, I can't say no to you, but you gotta understand…"
"… but," she continued with a wry grin, "if you want to do what normal martial arts masters do, and arrange training times with your young friend here, then that's your business!"
Goku smiled broadly. "Yes, ma'am!"
"So…" The announcer was trying to follow all this, and failing. "Is the match continuing, or not?"
"Yes!" Uub announced stridently. "If you're going to be my teacher, then you've already paid me a great kindness, Mr. Goku… I don't think I can take your friends' money, as well!" He pointed straight at Goku, determination rising behind his eyes. "I'm going to win, and earn that money for myself!"
What a dilemma… Raditz thought. Goku can't wait to fight this guy, I can tell… but if he goes all-out, he'll win easy, and that money… even if one of us wins and gives it to Uub, he won't take it well…
"Yeah. I think you will." Goku nodded. "I forfeit."
The announcer raised his microphone. "Oh! Contestant Son Goku, after a heated debate with his family and friends, has thrown in the towel!"
Goku floated to the ground, the bewildered Uub following shortly. "Of course, you'll still have to win two fights, but-"
Raditz clapped his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "You know that won't happen if I even transform once."
"Well-"
"Which is why I forfeit too!" Raditz grinned broadly, looking very similar to his brother for an instant. "And so do the girls… don't you?"
"Aww…" Pan kicked at the dirt, tail twitching. "I wanna fight!"
"I know you do. Me too. But Uub and his village need the prize money a lot more than we do… you understand? This will help a lot of people who really need it right now."
Uub was stunned. "You… you guys…" Tears welled at the corners of his eyes. "Th-Thank you so much!"
"I, uh…" The announcer paused for a moment, scanning the area. "So… ladies and gentlemen, it seems… in an unprecedented turn of events… four of our five remaining competitors have chosen to forfeit! Which leaves, I suppose, young Uub as the world martial arts champion! It may be an unorthodox victory, but he's still come a long way and fought many hard battles to get here, so-a big hand for our winner, please! Let's hear it!"
"I'm getting better at flying, dad, really!" Marron protested.
"Yes, darling, but we live a long way away," Krillin reminded her, then turned to his wife. "So… you want to carry her or shall I?"
"You two go on ahead," Eighteen said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be a few minutes, okay?" Once they'd taken off, she strolled over into a nearby bar, spied Launch at a table in the corner, and sat down opposite her. "So… what was it you wanted to ask about?"
"Does Krillin know?" Launch asked bluntly.
"Know what?"
"You know what I mean. Since your 'upgrade'. Nothing feels the same, does it? It's eating at your mind…"
Eighteen paused. "How did you-"
"Got Bulma drunk. She told me all about it." Launch slid a drink over towards Eighteen. "Figured I'd do the same with you, find out how you're dealing with it."
Eighteen shrugged, took a swig. "Thanks, but my threat-detection system classes it as a toxin, so no luck." She leaned back in her chair. "… yeah, he knows."
"You told him, or he found out?"
"Ten years is a long time," Eighteen explained. "Hell, two years is a long time. Not long after all that god crap… I broke down, blurted it all out." She smiled sadly. "'Course, even by then Bulma was working on fixes, gods bless her." The matter of personal religious belief had become rather confused after meeting actual physical gods. "So I had some feeling back. You know what he did? He didn't get upset, or ask why I hadn't told him, or say I shouldn't have gone through with it in the first place. He just… asked where I could feel, and…" She downed the rest of the drink, knowing full well the minimal effect it would have on her enhanced immune system. "Y'know, people ask me, 'why Krillin?' Not in a mean way. Just curious. Because, you know, there are guys out there…"
"Who come up to your shoulders at least, and, uh, have noses?" Launch guessed. "Don't mind me, just what came to mind. I know he's lovely an' all."
"… I guess that's about it, yeah. And to be honest, I never used to know why him. I mean, you said it, he's lovely. He's a nice guy. But there's never really been one thing I could put my finger on-'till that moment. Because there's nice, and then there's him."
"And I used to think he was the lucky one," Launch grinned, the contents of her glass having vanished in an instant.
"Oh, he's lucky. More'n we guessed." Eighteen gave a sly look. "If you didn't know me, how old would you say I was?"
"Uh… huh." Launch blinked. "Wow… like, twenties. I hadn't even noticed, I've known you so long."
"Right. I mean, we don't know exactly when Gero got his hands on Seventeen and me, but I must be thirties, forty, something like that." She tapped on the table. "Bulma says it works out to about a quarter normal speed."
Launch laughed. "Funny, that. You ever think I'm looking pretty good for my age too?"
"Oh, a modest one," Eighteen joked. "But yeah, I guess. What, did having a saiyan kid growing in you for nine months, I dunno, leak some DNA or something-"
"Nah, nothing like that." Launch waved to the bartender, who nodded.
"Yeah, another two of the same," Eighteen requested.
"Right, and one for her too," Launch added. Eighteen rolled her eyes. "As I was saying," Launch continued, "I must've told you my whole two-souls-merged dealie at some point?"
"Yeah. One of Bulma's parties."
"She does love those." Launch stretched, yawning. "Thing is… it boosted my power a lot, but it turns out it went deeper than that. I hadn't realised what the whole physical change between personalities actually meant ."
"Right, your hair…"
"Yeah. It was like two bodies, sharing one space." She attempted to illustrate this with some finger-waving, not an easy task while holding two full glasses and endeavouring to transform them into empty glasses. "Two separate lifespans, now merged into one. So I'm aging pretty slowly, too. Hell, I might even keep up with Raditz at this rate."
"Hah…" Eighteen scratched her head. "Yeah, between us and the saiyans, we're gonna be around for a while, huh?"
"Not to mention Kuriza. He's still barely in his teens, and he's been around for ages."
"Where was he today, anyway? He usually loves hanging out with the other kids."
Launch stifled a bellow of laughter. "Yeah… turns out he's been in hiding most of the day; he's part of Break's plan to ambush her dad when-" The building rumbled in response to a distant explosion. "Yeah, that'd be them."
Raditz slumped onto the couch, back home. Crashes echoed in from outside; Break and Kuriza were still 'playing', and their energy seemed endless. Launch was still out, not that he minded; restlessness was in her nature. After the kids' ambush, he was just about ready to sleep for the rest of the day-
"Raditz."
"Mm… bleagh…" Reluctantly, the saiyan rolled over, facing upwards and seeing a familiar metallic face staring down at him. "Baby? What are you doing on my ceiling?"
"I was actually on the couch, but then you almost collapsed on me," the Tuffle cyborg replied, jumping down. "I thought you'd notice, but you must be pretty beaten up."
"Nah, just tired. My kid can really give me a workout… I'm gonna have to start training harder…" He sighed. "New question: What were you doing on my couch?"
"Most of the other powerful fighters around are preoccupied. I just figured I'd deliver a friendly warning to someone, at least."
"Warning?" Raditz sat up. "What's up?"
"Well… it's no big deal. I mean, it's the same old story; in two years an evil presence will arrive, threaten earth, and so on and so forth."
"So, what… we should train to prepare for it? What is it?"
"I wouldn't worry." Baby waved a dismissive hand. "It's really not much of a threat at your current level. Honestly, I'll probably end up killing it myself; I just thought I'd let you know as insurance, I guess. So… if you sense a battle like that in a couple years, and it's not going my way, help would be appreciated. But odds are you'll never hear anything about it again, so I won't bother you with the details." He turned and headed out the door.
"Er… Baby!" Raditz called after the scientist. "How do you know this? Isn't this the kind of thing Dende, or someone, would hear about first?"
"He'll probably detect it sooner to its arrival. I know because when people tell me about the battles they've fought in the past… I pay attention. Close attention." With this unhelpful comment, he was gone.
"Uh…" Raditz stared blankly out the open doorway. "I don't get that guy at all sometimes…"
Chapter 104: The Devil You Know
Baby's eyes widened slightly as the tap of Dende's staff approached, passing by his room. "… indeed, Mr. Popo, I have been sensing traces of a dark and terrible presence for some time now, and it has finally come to a head a ways east from here-"
"That's the bastard!" Baby declared, leaping up and sprinting off past the pair, leaving them stumbling in his slipstream before hitting the edge of the Lookout and blasting off.
"What's his problem?" Mr. Popo wondered aloud.
"I know what you mean." Dende nodded. "It sometimes seems like he only acts like an adult scientist half the time; the other half he spends acting like a teenager trying to be cool…"
An eerily familiar sight, to some; a green, insect-like yet vaguely humanoid monster scrambling its way up a rocky pass, vaulting up a waterfall, and spying a city on the horizon. A toothsome grin spread across its face. Yes, my first prey… the first of many.
"So you come here often?" A voice drifted down from above. The creature's slitted eyes flicked upwards, following Baby in his gentle arc to the ground, one final flare of his aura before he extinguished it blowing the beast back a step.
"Who are you?" it hissed. "How did you find me? I was hiding my energy…"
"Not well enough," Baby replied smoothly. "I get a lot of time to myself. I've made a few self-modifications, like improved scanners… even better than a human fighter's ki sense now."
It bristled. "You talk as if you know me… impossible, of course. I have no data on you in my memory banks."
Baby tutted, waving a finger. "Oh, you'd be surprised at what I know… Cell." He looked slightly disappointed. "You know, I wish these were actual sunglasses so I could take 'em off dramatically when I said that, but they're my actual eyes, man." Heh… did I really just talk like that? This place is really starting to get to me…
"Enough of your prattle, metal man," Cell growled, sweeping a dismissive arm. "I'll crush you now, and get on with my true aims!"
"Wow, that's a real aggression problem you've got," Baby chided. "You haven't known me two minutes and already with the death threats. Anyway… unfortunately for you, I pounced before you had the chance to absorb anybody. And by the fact you don't know who I am… for some reason, your computer designer's stopped gathering data, hasn't it? Which means, you won't be any stronger-certainly even a relatively unremarkable Super Saiyan could beat you. Which means-so can I!" He clenched a fist, igniting his aura again. "This planet's had quite enough of your crap already-I'm gonna nip this little warpath right in the bud."
"Eheh heh heh…" Cell, unexpectedly, was grinning. Its tail flicked back and forth anxiously, claws flexing. "You boasted about your impressive detection ability, is that correct? Well… whoever you are… check again. Hhhhaaa," it breathed, glaring at Baby.
"I… you…" he took a step back. "… there is something, lurking within you-what did you do?!" He's not using this power yet, but it's definitely there… this shouldn't be happening… !
"Hehhh…" Cell advanced a step, Baby retreating one simultaneously. "Shall I tell you? No… I think not. I'd rather dispose of you and be on my way. But I am curious… how did you know where to find me?"
"Well, a friend of mine took care of the general 'where', and my scanners narrowed it down from that," Baby said nervously, grinding his teeth. Keep it talking… something will present itself… "It was the 'when' that I'm proud of. The future version of you, apparently, mentioned another laboratory, but everyone was too caught up in fighting you to remember that little detail. I reasoned it must exist in this timeline, and pieced together the dates after very thoroughly questioning a few people… I couldn't get an exact date, but I've been on high alert for a week now." He grimaced. "Damn it, I thought I could handle you! But you've got some kind of secret… what's up your sleeve! C'mon, you wouldn't let me die in suspense, would you?"
"As a matter of fact, I have no problem with it at all," Cell replied coldly. "Now-eh?!" Its head jerked up and to the left. "What's with this group of high energy signals… all headed directly this way?!" It scowled back at Baby. "Is this you calling in the cavalry?"
The Tuffle laughed out loud. "No, just a happy coincidence that they were close enough to sense your ki; you got pretty worked up just now, and weren't suppressing it anymore. Trust me, 'the cavalry' is much tougher than what's headed our way, but… I think these guys will be enough. I'll leave you to them while I follow your fading ki trail back to your lab and destroy it."
"You'll try."
"Think, will you?" Baby grinned. "If you used whatever 'that' hidden power is, you'd beat me, but it'd take you long enough that I'd be able to do some real damage, since in your current state you're no match for me-you probably need a minute to get to your max. If I was alone it'd be worth it since you'd recover eventually, but with the situation as it is… if you want to survive, let alone win, you'd be much better off focusing on them, You don't have much time, so… see ya."
"Rrr… damn you…" Cell wavered, in the end not moving as Baby leapt off, retracing its footsteps back towards the lab. I have no need for that place anymore, in any case… all this means is one less enemy to fight. It was too late now to hide its energy again; Cell was almost certain that this new group had seen him already. It would have to take its chances-and hope that their current detectable level of energy, which seemed much more manageable than Baby's, wasn't too much less than their full power. If I play this carefully, I may just come out alive, and with these fools' energy absorbed at that. "You can come down now, children," it intoned, remaining standing with its back to them as they landed a few feet away.
"Okay, there's definitely no animal like that anywhere I know," a girl's voice said. "Will you finally admit that we're lost?"
"We're not lost!" a second insisted. "This is a shortcut! I know exactly where we're going!"
"Stop acting like you know everything," a boy's cut in, "it's really getting old."
"Hey, I'm fifteen now; respect your elders! I'm practically an adult!"
The first voice laughed. "Yeah, since two days ago. Speaking of which, this whole trip is a really dumb 'present'-"
"Excuse me." Cell turned slowly, scanning the small group. "I believe you're forgetting someone. I don't take kindly to that."
There were three of them; a blonde teenage girl in casual wear (evidently the second voice), and a pair of younger kids-a girl in an uncomfortably familiar orange outfit (the first, Cell surmised), and a boy, darker-skinned than the other two, wearing a similarly-cut blue gi (the third). All three were possessed of battle power far higher than the human average.
Cell frowned, pointing a finger at the girl in orange. "Now… I don't recognise any of you from my databanks, but you bear a striking resemblance to Son Gohan, not to mention a similar dress sense. Relation?"
She nodded warily. "Daughter, yeah."
The eldest of the trio stepped forwards. "So, uh… who- what are you?"
Cell shook its head. "There'd be no point in telling you. You won't live long enough to care."
"He's called Cell," Gohan's child said smugly, flustering it slightly. "I get told bedtime stories about you." Her grin widened slightly. "How my grandfather killed you, for one."
Baby alighted atop a tree, a column of smoke rising from the ruins of Dr. Gero's underground laboratory behind him. "Well, the fight hasn't started yet. I guess I've still got time to help-"
"Don't," Raditz said from inches behind him.
"Gaaah!" Baby, arms flailing, almost fell out of the tree, just catching himself and hovering amidst the forest canopy. "Don't do that!"
"Hey, least I didn't use your couch while you were out," the jovial saiyan replied with a smile, giving Baby a hand back up above the treeline.
"I don't have a couch. Now why'd you stop me?"
"Because… well…" Raditz sighed, scratching the side of his head. "Look, us-all of us-we're not going to be around for ever. I mean, of course we aren't. Goku knows it too-you've probably heard how eager he was to take on Uub as his student. A lot of that was wanting a challenging opponent someday down the line, but… Goku's had the same thought as me. Sometime sooner or later it's gonna come down to the kids to protect the Earth."
Baby glanced over in the direction of the group of four power levels. "So you're giving them this fight as a 'practice run'?"
"Yeah. Cell's in his first form, and he hasn't absorbed anyone yet. They can handle that. It's real fights, not training, that they lack."
Baby paced in the air, grim-faced. "I know what you mean, but… I sensed something within Cell, when I almost fought him. There's some kind of greater power buried within him…"
Raditz shrugged. "If their lives are in danger, we'll intervene." He saw Baby's expression. "That much power, huh? Okay, I'll intervene."
"So… who wants to die first?" Cell crackled. "Or will you all rush to your doom at once?"
"Hold on," Uub said quickly, waving frantically. "Uh, why do you want to kill us anyway? If you don't mind me asking."
"Short version, because he's evil," Pan grunted. "Long version, he wants to absorb your energy, which he does with that stinger on his tail, so yeah… don't let it hit you. Also, because he's evil."
"Thanks for the advice." Marron stepped forwards, cracking her knuckles. "Let me go first. Not to be defeatist or anything, but you guys are both way stronger'n me… if you go first, I'll never get a shot."
"Sounds good," Pan replied. "But we'll help if you're in real trouble, 'kay?"
"Whatever." In addition to her casual wear, Marron was also sporting wristbands and anklets, which she now took off, each making a loud thump and leaving a small crater when it hit the floor.
Cell chuckled. "Training weights… how quaint."
Marron ignored this, rolling her shoulders. "Come at me anytime."
"Very well, if you're so eager to die… I'll show you what happens when you send a mere human to fight the ultimate android creation!" It kicked off the ground, rocketing forwards with an aggressive shriek. Marron took a half-step backwards, sliding her other foot in a semicircle and swaying out of the path of Cell's incoming fist, bringing her left hand up in a quick jab as Cell's own came back around for a return strike. She caught its fist as it simultaneously grabbed her wrist, both attacks coming to a halt. Cell didn't let up, however, bringing its tail around for a low stab at her. She quickly swung the targeted leg around its strike, sweeping the limb down and pinning the tail to the ground. Cell hissed in frustration-then its eyes widened as, a second too late, it noticed the building energy sphere in Marron's hand, which it had neatly positioned in front of its own face after stopping her punch.
She released the blast, and Cell half-jumped, half-fell away from the resulting explosion, hacking and blinking through the smoke. "A human… keeping up with my movements like that… impossible!"
"Yeah, about that." Marron strode through the clearing smoke cloud, hands in pockets, raising an eyebrow. "You were gonna show me what happens when I fight the ultimate android? Nothing so far."
"You… will pay…" It promised, shaking furiously.
"Now that is weird…" Raditz mused, watching the battle from above. "I mean, much as I love to see our team kicking ass, normally I'd be inclined to agree with Cell-a human fighting him like that shouldn't really be possible. I kinda expected one of the other two to fight him."
"Normally, you'd be right," Baby replied. "However, as you mentioned, this Cell is far weaker than the one you fought. Even in his first battle with Nail and company, Cell's first form was probably weaker than just about any Super Saiyan. This Cell is like that one, minus countless of thousands of humans it absorbed in its own timeline before travelling to the past, not to mention the massive amount of wildlife and humans it took before it was finally engaged. I daresay Frieza could destroy this Cell with barely any effort, and not at anything like his full power."
"I don't really think Marron's as strong as Frieza…" Raditz pointed out.
Baby nodded. "No, but then, she's not destroying Cell with barely any effort, and she is going all-out. Still, even most humans would not be able to accomplish this kind of feat… it probably helped that she lives in an age where the average power of the human race is rapidly rising, and started her training much earlier than most. Add the extraordinary power of the friends and family that constantly surround her, and… well, you can see the result."
"Heh heh, yeah…" Raditz grinned. "You know, if they've all been working as hard as this, there's not much to worry about."
Cell leapt again, leading with its tail, and Marron jumped back, letting it carve a trench into the grass in front of her. That thing's bad news… even if it didn't suck up energy, getting hit somewhere vital would be the end of me. Cell spun sideways through the air towards her, pulling its tail back and at the same time bringing its extended leg down at her head. She blocked it with crossed forearms, bracing herself against the ground and shoving upwards, catapulting Cell back. It backflipped to the ground, raising its head just in time to see her thrusting a hand forward, palm out. Cell's eyes narrowed as it spotted the kiai racing towards it. It ducked, flattening itself insect-like on all fours and letting the cylinder of force pass over it, flattening several trees behind it.
Marron lowered her hand, taking a few deep breaths. Strong… fast… clever… this thing's a handful.
Cell rose, shaking the dirt off its limbs. "If you're expecting a compliment on your power, you can forget it. But I will give you this…" It drew its hand back, manipulating its energy into a disc a few inches away from its fingertips. "KIENZAN!" It shrieked, flinging the concentrated attack at its infuriating opponent. Go on, dodge… I'm braced to leap, and this time you won't have time to evade my tail!
"Marron, move!" Pan called anxiously.
"Don't worry!" Marron said with a crazed smile, holding out one arm. "I got this!"
"Is she crazy?" Baby hissed. "This technique-"
"She knows what she's doing," Raditz insisted. "She must."
"Er… right…"
Dodge already, you fool! Cell yelled silently.
"Come get it!" Marron shouted, keeping her hand-now emitting a strange energy of its own-steady and letting the Kienzan strike it directly. She grimaced, forced back a couple of steps, but dug her heels into the cracking rock and eventually stood firm, somehow having caught the Kienzan razor-edge-on.
"Impossible!" Cell howled. "Your power is practically equal to mine! There's no way you-"
"You're like a stuck record," Marron said, almost yawning as she cut his frenzied speech off. "This is impossible, that's impossible. My father created this technique." She swung her arm around, redirecting the Kienzan into the ground, where it carved its way down for several hundred metres before dissipating, then held her hand open for inspection. "Take a look."
"… I see…" Uub said slowly, nodding. "That's clever." A small circle-sector of razor-sharp energy ran across Marron's palm, humming quietly.
Cell's eye twitched. "… so, a miniature portion of a Kienzan, with the same power as the real thing… you really are Krillin's daughter."
Marron extinguished the tiny attack, letting her arm drop to her side. "Anything else you wanna try?"
"Oh, just a couple of things," Cell answered with a gleeful expression. Abruptly, it stopped moving, and a second later it faded, having distracted them all with a momentary afterimage.
Marron raised her guard, glancing around. "Damn! Where-"
"Behind you, Marron!" Pan yelled. Indeed, Cell stood a few feet behind the young fighter, two fingers held up in front of his face, crackling with accumulated power.
"He built that up fast…" Raditz noted. "A lot faster than Piccolo ever did."
"I would expect nothing less from Cell," Baby said morosely. "He is crafty, and extremely skilled… perhaps even in this state, without revealing his true power, he would have been able to beat me."
Marron went pale as Cell swung its arm forwards, legs feeling like they were made of lead as she scrambled to dodge. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" It roared triumphantly, and she saw the deadly, focused beam spiral towards her, far too fast, inches away from piercing her stomach-
Something slammed into her shoulder, moving so fast as to be invisible to her, and she was hurled away into a nearby tree, smashing it to sawdust. "Oww…" She raised her head, rubbing her bruised shoulder, and seeing Cell lower its fingers, smoke rising from where its attack had blazed a trail through the forest. "What…?"
"Sorry about the rough landing." Uub touched down next to her. "I didn't have time to do anything more than kick you out of the way… mind if I tag in?"
"Yeah, go ahead…" she nodded. Probably a good idea. If just one of Cell's big attacks hits me, it'll kill me… don't actually know how strong Uub is, but hopefully more'n I am.
Uub jumped back over to Cell, skidding to a halt barely a metre in front of the artificial monster. "I'm your opponent now."
"If you wish." Cell weighed up this new opponent, eyes narrowing. "The order makes no difference to me." The first one was the oldest of them… either her or the quarter-saiyan must be the strongest here… It brought its hands down to its side, concentrating energy between them. "I'll skip the warm-up this time. KA… ME…"
Uub stood stock-still, frowning at Cell. "This technique, huh? It won't work, you know."
"We'll find out, heh heh… HA… ME…" Cell grinned. "Thanks for waiting. HAAAA!" It swung its arms up, launching the familiar energy wave.
Uub waited until it was almost close enough to singe the front hairs off his 'crest', before bringing both of his own arms forwards, energy surging in an instant. "KAMEHAMEHA!"
Uub's Kamehameha ploughed straight through Cell's scattering its ki to the wind and smashing into the creature head-on. Cell howled in anger as it was tossed around the burning vortex of power like a glider in a hurricane.
When the lightshow had settled down, Uub lowered his steaming hands and walked casually over to Cell's sprawled form. "Sorry, but a crude copy like that can never beat the original."
"Ergh… rrrgh…" Cell struggled to its feet, backing fearfully away. "Gohan's daughter… Krillin's… whose child are you, then?!"
"Just the greatest mom and dad in the world. Nobody you know. But I know what you're getting at-I was trained by Goku."
"Of course you were," Cell sighed. It was just one attack… it proves nothing! I can still defeat him.
However, no sooner than it had thought this, Uub vanished from its sight. It felt a tap on the back of its neck. "You're dead," said Uub's voice, before he appeared again a few feet in front of it.
"D-Dead? What does that mean?!" Cell demanded.
Uub shrugged. "Well, it means if I wasn't feeling so nice then I could've taken your head-you couldn't even react to that, could you? I just felt I'd show you it's not worth bothering to try and fight me."
Cell bared its fangs, flexing its claws. "Don't toy with me!" Uub was gone again, however.
"Oops, dead again," came the taunt, as it felt a tap in the centre of its chest, but didn't even catch a flash of movement; then, "and again," as the third 'strike' came directly on top of its head.
Uub landed with his back to Cell, arms folded. "So yeah, you basically are dead. I just haven't gone and done it yet."
"Aheh heh heh heh heh… HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Unexpectedly, Cell was almost bent double with laughter.
Uub turned, annoyed. "Hey, what's the joke? You gone crazy or something?"
Cell gave an exaggerate bow. "Heh heh heh… I assure you I am in full possession of all my faculties. I'm just staggered by your astounding skill at leaping to conclusions."
Marron frowned. "What, you know something we don't?"
"As a matter of fact I do," Cell answered curtly. "You probably aren't aware that I was originally designed from a composite of the gathered cells of this planet's greatest fighters-up to and including the attack on Earth by the Cold dynasty. At that point, it was reasoned that I had sufficient DNA to one day become the ultimate fighting machine.
"However, but a few short years after I had gone 'dormant' awaiting my completion within Dr. Gero's laboratory, who should appear but a version of myself from the future! Signals were received from automated circuits within androids 17 and 18 that they had been absorbed, and a new wave of probes were sent out, revealing that indeed, the one responsible was another Cell. So it was that I received one final DNA sample… his. Or rather, my own."
"Well, what the hell does that mean?" Marron demanded. "It hasn't helped you beat us!"
"Only because I have so far kept up the façade that I am identical to the pathetically weak version of myself that first crawled out of that same laboratory in the other timeline. One effect of this DNA self-infusion was that I no longer needed to begin in my larval stage; I could skip straight to this humanoid form upon completion! And the other effect…" Cell's body began to glow with an internal light, sickly pale green. "… that you shall see once I discard this shell of a disguise!"
Raditz was wide-eyed, staring. "What?"
"It's happening… !" Baby growled. "This is what I sensed…"
"Hrrraaaaaahk!" Letting out a strangled cry, Cell's skin began to crack, shafts of intense light bursting out through the cobwebbing rips. After only a few seconds, its entire body split completely open, fragments of shredded skin raining on the surroundings like a grotesque parody of a burst balloon. Now standing in the space Cell had previously occupied was, unfortunately, still Cell. However, it was a slightly smaller, much brighter-hued and overall cleaner and more humanoid Cell. His ki felt vast, limitless in its depth, and darker and fouler than anything the three children facing him had sensed in their lives.
"And, though this should be painfully obvious at this point…" The rasp was gone from his voice; it was deeper and more civilised-yet somehow even more intimidating than the previous bestial hiss. "… my future counterpart, when I received DNA from him, was in his perfect form. His very molecular structure was altered from the ground up, and preserving that state on a cellular level was simple enough for the nanomachines sent to gather genetic information. Of course, he was far too busy fighting your parents and grandparents to notice at the time."
He stretched his limbs, a tranquil expression crossing his face. "You cannot imagine how this feels… to have perfection dropped into my lap from the moment I was born… added to the joy of relishing the terror in your eyes. Yes, that's right, you can't hide it. I know what you know-that this is the end for all of you, and shortly, for your world."
Uub straightened up, bringing his arms up at his sides and focusing his gaze on Cell. "Is that what you think?"
"It's what I know, foolish human boy," Cell snorted. "Now enough with these peons!" He looked over towards Pan. "I will fight the saiyan girl now! Clearly she is the only one among you who can give me a real-"
"HHHHHAAAAAA!"
"-what the hell."
Pan ran over to brace Marron from being bowled over by the massive waves of power rolling out from Uub's body, a fiery tempest of energy building over the boy's head. Pan herself was having difficulty not sliding back a little. I… had no idea Uub was so powerful! I thought I was the strongest one here by a long way, but… now I'm not so sure…
Cell was unbent in the storm of power, but his face still showed signs of concern. "Who are you, anyway? The other one was bad enough, but you're no human, of that I'm certain!"
"Heh." Uub lowered his head from the sky. "You ever collect data on a 'Majin Buu'? Apparently I'm him, reborn."
"As a matter of fact, my creator did not," Cell replied nonchalantly, swinging an arm diagonally downwards and slicing through Uub's explosive aura, cutting himself a path of calm air between the two of them. "Frieza's family were the mightiest aliens in the known universe, and I have DNA from them… during the battle with the future version of me, the Super Saiyans achieved the absolute pinnacle of their transformation's power, and still only defeated me through sheer luck… and obviously, my perfect form does what it says on the tin. It is unsurpassable. No further data was gathered after my own, as there was no point. All the supercomputer's power and attention was redirected into incorporating these last-minute changes to my design."
"So you don't know anything that happened since then. Excellent." In an instant, Uub was directly in front of Cell, the bio-android already moving to parry his opening punch. The shockwave from their limbs' impact would have blown Marron away had she not dived behind Pan at the last second. Uub grinned. "But let me tell you, I wasn't just born powerful…" His leg snapped up, driving his knee into Cell's stomach and catapulting the bio-android away through the forest. "… I've had one hell of a teacher."
Fallen trees cascaded off Cell as he stood, brushing dust off his shoulders. "To think," he muttered, looking down at the mark on his abdomen, "that one so young could damage my perfect body." His calm broke down for an instant, face contorting with fury. " Unforgivable ."
Uub dropped into one of his master's favoured defensive stances, waiting for Cell's counterattack. "Ready when you are." Cell was on him faster than he could react to, however, picking him up by the neck and dragging him up straight into a headbutt.
"Wrong! You will never be ready for me, boy!" Cell spat, tossing Uub away. Uub skidded to a stop in mid-air, forehead throbbing, blood trickling down into his eye. He wiped it away, charging back at Cell. Goku fought this monster a long time ago… if I'm gonna get as strong as he is, I can't lose to it!
"There we go!" Cell enthused, blocking Uub's rapid volley of strikes. "Your attacks are getting faster!" One uppercut got through, snapping Cell's head backwards. Slowly, though, it tilted forwards again, Cell grinning as a small trail of blood ran down from the side of his mouth. "Now that's more like it… but I know you can do better !" He swung a return blow, knocking Uub to the ground and swooping down after him.
Uub flung both hands out in front of him, breaking his fall and accelerating back upwards, vanishing from Cell's sight as the monster's fist struck the ground, pulverising the rock beneath. Uub reappeared to his right, in the midst of a flying kick, but Cell leaned back out of the way, catching his leg and swinging him in a half-circle before letting go. Uub touched down, stumbling to a halt and raising his guard, chest heaving. What's with this guy? One minute he's angry I hit him, the next he wants me to try my hardest…
"Now," Cell said, a gleam in his eye, "shall we try this again?" He drew both hands back, concentrating his ki. "What was it you called my Kamehameha? A crude copy that can never overcome the original?"
"Something like that," Uub grunted, tensing up.
"Let's test that again, now I'm fighting for real." Cell began his low, growling attack incantation. "KA… ME… HA…"
Uub took a deep breath, trembling slightly but saying nothing.
"Come now, you aren't going to pull the same wait-until-the-last-moment-to-counter trick as last time, surely?" Cell asked. "Because that sort of showmanship only works when you have a tremendous advantage over your opponent-and trust me, you no longer possess such."
"Don't worry about me," Uub answered quietly. "You'll see whether or not I can counter it soon enough."
"Feh! It's your funeral! Not that I care…" Cell began to bring his hands forwards, preparing to release the huge accumulation of energy. "… ME… HA-"
Uub didn't wait this time. As soon as Cell had fully committed to the attack and let the beam fly, the boy was sprinting as fast as his blurring legs could carry him, tearing up the ground and leaving a burning trail in his wake. He jumped, vaulting straight over both the onrushing Kamehameha and Cell himself, landing behind both and swivelling immediately to face the android, drawing both fists back. "Gotcha."
Too late, Cell realised that the attack he'd just launched had left him wide open where defence against melee attacks were concerned. I thought for sure he'd try to defeat my Kamehameha wave with his own… he tricked me! Me !
"Hyaa!" Having secured his opportunity, Uub attacked like never before, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks that, as they neared their target, outsped even his own ability to see their movement. An elbow doubled Cell over, a jump kick threw him back, and a final two-handed kiai knocked him flat on his back.
Uub stood over his downed foe, shaking from the exertion of his assault. "And stay down if you don't want any more of that," he panted.
"Rrg… ugh…" Cell heaved himself up, standing shakily. "Stay… down? Foolish child. This is a fight to the death! Neither of us can simply afford to let the other walk away!"
"Yeah, well… sucks to be you, then," Uub said, raising his fists. "Because I've beaten your full power, and I'll do it again, and again until you give up or stop breathing."
"Oh, terrifying." Cell grinned savagely. "Yes, there's the look in your eye. The noble hero, protecting his friends, his planet. Familiar territory to me. But, my dear boy…" His eyes narrowed. "Wherever did you get the idea that this is my full power?"
"Wh… Wha…?" Uub took an involuntary step back. "No-No way…"
"Y'know…" Raditz muttered, "… just seeing his face again is giving me chills. He was so terrifying back then… took on all of us at once, at one point. We barely made it-hell, I for one didn't make it."
"Um, is it just me, or…" Baby said warily, "is his power rising?"
"I mean, I spent seven years dead because of-wait, what."
"Y-You… GRRRAAAHH…" Cell growled, his energy continuing to grow rapidly. "… you wouldn't know, of course… but the future me… RRGH… acquired a level beyond even the initial power of my perfect form… a level that allowed me to battle with even the mightiest of Super Saiyans…"
While that may not be true, with all the power-ups they've gotten since Cell… Uub realised, I was barely able to keep up with him as he was. This isn't gonna be fun…
"-HYAAAA!" Cell let out a final bellow, golden aura climbing to new heights, arcs of blue lightning surrounding him. "This is true perfection. Consider yourself honoured indeed, for you have the privilege of witnessing it before you die."
"Yeah, I feel special. Marron, stay behind Pan," he warned, "this is gonna be rough…"
"You want me to take over?" Pan asked.
"Nah, I'm not done yet," Uub replied, shaking his head. I really don't know how strong she is, but I can't imagine she'll do much better than me…'sides, she can take over if this goes like I think it will. "All right, Cell-let's go!" He ran at his unmoving enemy, gritting his teeth.
Cell laughed. "'Let's go'? You, child, will be going straight to the afterlife, as will the other two. I will then go on my way. To face-" He was cut off by a swift punch to the face, which he made no move to defend against. Uub continued attacking, hammering up and down Cell's body with another chain of quick strikes. After a full thirty seconds or so, he backed down, feeling the ache in his hands and feet from striking a so-armoured opponent so many times in a row. Cell remained unharmed, not having moved or even flinched at all during the onslaught. "-like I was saying, to face real fighters." He brought his right arm up sharply, and Uub was flat on his back, head spinning, before he even acknowledged the motion.
Uub coughed, twitching as he tried to summon the strength to stand. "Getting up already?" Cell taunted. "Here, I'll help you." A deceptively gentle-looking kick tossed Uub up to head height, whereupon Cell rammed home another full-force punch to Uub's stomach, launching the young fighter away again.
"And now for the finisher!" Cell hissed gleefully, running alongside Uub's free-flying form, raising his arm to bring an elbow down straight into the boy's neck. However, he came to an abrupt halt as Uub vanished before he could strike the final blow. "Where…?"
"Be right with you." Pan was standing a few feet away, holding the almost-unconscious Uub in her arms. She walked slowly over to Marron, setting the boy down next to her. "Hey… take care of him 'till I'm done, 'kay?"
"Hey, she moves fast," Baby said. "Uh… Raditz?"
"Huh? Sorry." Raditz stepped back to where Baby was crouching, having been two steps into a running leap at Cell and about half a second from transforming and revealing his presence. "Guess I don't need to step in just yet…"
"Uh… will you be okay?" Marron asked.
"Sure. Fine," Pan said shakily, turning back towards Cell. "Thanks for waiting."
"There does often seem to be an inordinate around of standing around in this kind of battle," Cell noted. I shouldn't have let my advantage make me careless; had I been paying attention I would easily have been able to follow her interception. "Well, as I said earlier… the order is irrelevant to me." He raised his arms in his peculiar, trademark fighting stance, one over the other, fingers extended upwards. "You'll excuse me if I use my full power from the start this time. You three have outstayed your welcome here."
"God, do you ever shut up?" she moaned, leaping at him. He sidestepped, his arm blurred and the world spun upside-down, leaving Pan scrambling for her sense of balance, trying to distinguish up from down before the next blow came.
Marron, a few seconds later, had to jump aside as Pan came flying by, eventually throwing out both legs and finding traction in the ground, building from a backwards slide through a dead stop straight back into a charge.
"Back for more?" Cell snarled, swinging a lazy punch. "Surely it must be obvious by now that you're no match for me."
"Huhh…" Pan took a staggering step back towards him, trying to attack but immediately finding another fist colliding with her face. She growled, forcing herself to stay standing. A casually-tossed energy sphere appeared inches from her stomach, and she disappeared from Cell's view with a strangled cry.
"Ah, finally." Cell dusted off his hands, turning away. "How she even lasted that long is, quite frankly, a mystery to me-"
"G-Get… back here… !" Choked a voice. Cell turned, taken aback, to see a bloodied hand rising out of the crater his attack had made, Pan dragging herself up out of the hole and forcing herself towards Cell again. "I'm just… gettin' started… you!"
Imposs- He stopped himself. Well… improbable, at any rate. "Die already, will you!" Cell bellowed, balling his fists and pumping more power out of his body as Pan made another futile attack.
"Pan, let's get out of here!" Marron called as the cycle repeated itself a few more times, Pan never quite managing to get a hit in before Cell knocked her away again, her movements slowly growing more unsteady. "C'mon, we can find help-"
"No," Pan muttered. "This's my fight… got it?"
"Oh, excellent," Cell laughed. "Truly an heir to the saiyan race-your warrior's blood runs strong within you! Come, then-the brightest flames are the greatest joy to extinguish!"
"Just try it, you… !" Pan ran back in, jumping feet-first for Cell's face. He smiled, vanishing and phasing into view behind her. His hand swiped down and grabbed hold of her tail, stopping her in her tracks. She froze, shivering slightly. "Gghhh… rrghh…"
"Oh, how unfortunate, your tail is still a weak spot," Cell chuckled. "Now that makes this fight even less interesting. I think I'll take your head now, since the three of you seem to have run through the enjoyment you can provide me. Farewell-"
An energy beam struck Cell's back, stumbling him forwards a step. "HHAAAAA!" came the combined yell from Marron and Uub. Cell frowned, dropping Pan and kicking her away before turning to the others. "This tag-team business is getting old…"
"What's getting old…" Uub grunted, slowly advancing, "… is your… obnoxious voice. I'm gonna… shut you up for good."
"And there it is, the speech," Cell responded, laughing uproariously. "And how do you plan to go about this? You can't expect to do any better than she did… perhaps you could self-destruct to increase the power of your attack or something, but I hardly expect such resolve from a child, and anyway it wouldn't keep me down for long-or didn't you know I can regenerate?"
"Do now. So, I just have to… blow you apart completely," Uub said. "And I can raise my power. I've always been a fast learner-for some reason, if I watch a technique closely I can pick it up. I've been told this one's trickier than most, but it looks like it's the only way." He gathered his energy around him, his body's outline blurring as he vibrated slightly. "I… will…"
"No, Uub… !" Raditz stared down at the developing battle. "This isn't a normal technique… it'll tear you apart if you can't control it properly!" His hand rose unconsciously to his shoulder, reaching for the hilt of his sword.
Cell took an involuntary step back, a sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Wh… what are you doing?"
"Goku doesn't know I can do this… even so, he told me it's dangerous even to try. But I've got no choice now…" Uub's aura grew in intensity, flickers of red appearing at the edge. Come on, body… hold together… don't care if this puts me down for a month, just give me long enough to beat him! "Hrrr… kkkh… K-KAIO… KEN!"
Cell winced at Uub's rising power. "No!"
"Grrh…" Uub was surrounded by a storm of flaming red ki, a strained grin crossing his face. "… now! It's over-!" He shot at Cell, swinging his right arm around and readying an energy sphere-but stopped short, less than a step away, aura blinking out, charged attack dissipating into smoke. A wave of pain swept through his body, drawing a scream, and he collapsed to his knees.
Cell resumed breathing, unable to believe his luck. "Nice attempt, but it seems you just couldn't follow through with it, kid. I probably don't even need to finish you off-there's bound to be some internal damage-but it'll be a lot more satisfying this way." He brought his hand down-only to have it stopped halfway to its target, Pan's fingers closing about his fist. "Grr… I can never finish one of you off without another getting in the way…"
"I've had… enough of you… !" Pan growled.
"That's it." Raditz sprang to his feet. "They can't handle him. I'm going in-"
"Wait," Baby whispered. "I sense… something…" Like before, buried deep within…
Raditz's grip tightened on his sword. "You'd better be right…"
Cell applied more force, shoving Pan back a step, her feet searching for traction on the shattered ground. "No more tag-ins! This time, I'm going to kill at least one of you!"
"Didn't I tell you… to shut up?!" Cell had to force himself not to shrink back at these words. For somehow-somehow this child, not even a Super Saiyan, was resisting his full strength, matching the pressure he was exerting with her own hand. Her energy had somehow risen sharply since the last time they'd fought, and he hadn't noticed-or perhaps it had been growing the entire time. Yes… I see it now. Her power's been steadily increasing every second she's been fighting me; that's how she's stood up to so many attacks. Which means, soon… !
He sent a violent wave of energy down his arm and up hers, a painful shock running down through her body, but she held on, breathing through clenched teeth. "Are you… scared yet, girl?" he gloated with false bravado.
"Scared?" No, he realised as she answered, this wasn't an expression of fear, or desperate determination. "You just tried to kill two of my friends… how do you think I feel? " No sooner had she said this, than her visage began to take on a new, terrifying aspect.
"No." No no no no no. Perhaps it was the extraordinary strength she'd already been exhibiting, or perhaps it was some 'ancestral fear' inherited from the cells of the Cold dynasty, but even though he knew on a logical level that this wasn't a Super Saiyan, the sight of the furious blank eyes and the blazing golden aura erupting into existence still chilled him to the core. In fact, come to it… what is it she just did? It almost looked like a colour-swapped version of the Kaioken technique, even seeming to give her skin a similar gold colouration as the aura bathed her and her surroundings in its light.
He was dragged out of this train of thought as she jumped, pulling his arm downwards and smashing her knee into the elbow joint, fracturing it. He yelped, stumbling away, and her fist impacted his face, knocking him clean through a hill. Some sort of burning yellow energy residue continued to burn the side of his face for several seconds after she'd hit him before fading away. "Wh-what brought this on?" he mumbled, repositioning his arm and letting his regenerative powers do their work on it. "She's gone berserk…"
Indeed, Pan was already speeding towards him, slamming into his chest with both fists extended ahead of her and driving all the air out of his lungs, before breaking away with a backflip, using the motion to snap a rising foot into his chin, downing him again. "Yeah, now you've got it," she said in a strained voice, nodding at 'berserk'. "But to tell the truth… I'm also getting kinda excited!"
Cell gasped for breath, backing away from the blazing apparition hovering over him. "D-Damn it… what are you…" What brought this on? A Super Saiyan transformation would require much more of an emotional trigger than this… but then, this isn't Super Saiyan; only something resembling it somewhat. Perhaps she's simply never fought at this level before, or never had to fight for her life-and it took that to bring out the power she always had… "Impudent human… acting so calm while facing me… I am the ultimate fighting machine, do you hear?!" He flung out one hand in a wide sweeping arc, filling the entire area in front of him with an energy blast.
"Only mostly human," came the reply as Pan barrelled through the blast wave unharmed, gripping one of Cell's shoulders in each hand. "You can heal yourself, right?"
"Wha-"
"Then there's too much life around here to finish this," she decided, kicking off the ground and accelerating straight upwards. Cell struggled, throwing punches straight into her undefended face and body, but she only twitched back slightly at each one. "Let go, damn you!" he shrieked.
"Sorry. It's been fun, but I'm really getting tired of you." She let go, quickly ducking around and grapping him around the waist from behind. "Not about to blow myself up, if that's what you're thinking… just… point-blank's the only way to be sure."
"No, this cannot… AAARGH!" Cell howled in frustration as he sensed Pan's energy building for a final blast. He hammered her ribs with several vicious elbow strikes, but even as she winced, coughing blood, she held on. Won't be fast enough! He realised. Have to get away! His mind, the product of the finest work of a mad genius combined with the tactical skills of the galaxy's greatest warriors, sprung into action, devising a possible solution in mere moments. "I will never die, do you hear?!" One hand reached back, holding the palm flat in front of Pan's face. "SOLAR FLARE CANNON!" He bellowed, firing the blinding technique out of his hand, inches away from her eyes.
She bit her tongue hard, holding in a scream as her vision was replaced with an unbearable burning pain, violent aura building into a golden sphere surrounding the two of them. "Y-You've… got… nothing ! YAAAAA-"
This cannot be happening! I… can never… I will never- "NOOOOO-"
"-AAAAA-"
Raditz shielded his eyes from the enormous explosion of power that filled the evening sky, sparks raining down like meteors on the surrounding countryside. "Damn, that's a lot of energy… where'd she get it all?"
Baby coughed. "Er… I think now you are needed."
"Huh?" Raditz saw, amidst the dying flames in the sky, a tiny figure falling uncontrollably. "Right."
Marron looked up to see the saiyan warrior approaching with Pan in his arms; he placed her on the floor next to the unconscious Uub. "Will she be all right?" Marron asked anxiously.
Raditz nodded. "She's been better, but there's no damage to vital areas. Her eyes will need to readjust, but they should recover in a day or two. But Uub…" He turned his attention to the raggedly-breathing boy. "… even he shouldn't have tried the Kaioken without any training. There could be a lot of internal damage, we'll need a senzu or…" He frowned. "Odd. His genki -body energy, basically-is almost back to normal. It's like he's not injured at all."
Marron shrugged. "Yeah, I already checked; his heartbeat and breathing are both still there, and there doesn't seem to be anything broken. I mean, like you said, he's been better, but…"
"Huh. Weird. Anyway… don't tell 'em I was here, okay?" Giving a friendly wave, Raditz stood and headed back into the trees. "You guys did great today; it'll be a more heroic story without a safety net."
"Right."
"See ya." Heading out of her view, he passed Baby, leaning against a withered tree.
"I told you I sensed something," the cyborg reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah," Raditz muttered. "I still have no clue what Pan did, but that's something for her to learn about on her own."
"Right." Baby stood away from the tree, approaching the saiyan. "So, you satisfied?"
"Yup!" Raditz enthused. "These kids are really something. I mean, our dumbass god's sake, they just killed Cell . I've got a feeling, even after we're gone… the Earth is in good hands."
Even Further Beyond
Prologue
"… so they should be back before long," Raditz finished.
Goku, leaning against his house's doorframe, nodded. "I mean, obviously you went to help when it looked like they were in trouble, but you must have some serious emotional control to stay calm up until then, watching them getting the crap kicked out of them." He scratched his head. "You had a violent childhood, I guess…"
"My earliest memory is a warzone. Around the time you were born. Vegeta was eating someone he'd killed." Raditz shrugged. "Just a little violent, yeah."
"Right… any idea what Pan did at the end there?"
"Not a clue."
From the private journals of Son Gohan:
Pan is an interesting case. I think this is at least partly due to her genetics; not only is she the first quarter-saiyan we've encountered, she's also the child of two extremely powerful members of their respective races; at her time of conception, Videl was one of the strongest humans around, and I had already achieved Super Saiyan 3. I still don't understand how high ki levels retroactively influence one's genes, but apparently they do.
Whatever the cause, a few subsequent training sessions with her have at least let me gauge the effects with some precision. She is unable, for whatever reason, to access the 'standard' Super Saiyan forms. However, the same power resides within her, merely without the normal… structure. She has the potential to raise her power as high as any Super Saiyan, but it is entirely dependent on her willpower at the time-I don't think I can put her under enough stress to bring out the kind of power it took to kill Cell in normal training, at least not without risking serious injury, and as her father I can't allow myself to do that.
Anyway… her 'base' power always returns to its previous level when her 'transformation' wears off, though of course she can continue to train and increase it as normal. But as to how far her hidden strength can take her, I can only speculate. It did take her to low Super Saiyan 2 levels fighting Cell, which in itself is astounding. Will it 'max out' at the limits of a Super Saiyan 2? The third form is so otherworldly, separate from the others; I don't think it can be achieved by normal means. Does her well of power extend to that? What about the 'demigod' potential residing within a normal Super Saiyan? When she's older and more experienced, will she be able to reach that level?
Only time will tell, I suppose. As for myself, I continue to train; if another enemy like Bills shows up, I can't be unprepared.
Otherworld check-in station…
"Next… next… er-" King Yemma looked up, blinking. "Haven't I seen you before?"
"Undoubtedly," Cell grumbled, glancing disdainfully around the judge of the dead's office. "But that was a different me… don't worry, no resurrection shenanigans."
"Good." The giant ogre breathed a sigh of relief. "Those Dragon Balls always make so much paperwork for me. Do you know, those hooligans have resurrected an entire planet's population, not once but twice ?!"
"They screwed up that badly?" Cell laughed.
An attendant coughed. "Er, sir, the line's backing up."
"Oh, right, yes, of course," Yemma stammered. "Anyway!" He slammed his stamp down on Cell's file. "Off to Hell with you already."
Trailing a stream of obscenities, Cell allowed himself to be marched off.
"All right." Yemma coughed loudly. "Next! And be quick about it!"
Hell…
Cell, mooching gloomily past a lake of blood, looked up with some curiosity to see himself approaching, the other him looking curiously at his surroundings. I figured he'd show up sooner or later, though the fact that he reached his perfect form as well is impressive… "You too, huh?" he asked.
"Oh, shut up," the new arrival muttered sulkily.
Break sauntered into her dorm room, whistling as she shut the door behind her.
The phone rang; Launch. "So how'd it go with Trunks?"
"It didn't, mom," Break sighed. "Don't ask, all right? I've got to study for once."
"Screw that. If you got in to university, you've done the hard part," Launch countered. "Go on, tell me about it. Was it that bad?"
"Not really. I mean, sure, I figured, it might be a cliché, but after a few failed relationships, hey, there's the childhood friend all grown up. But…"
"But what?"
"Most people don't talk to their mothers about this kind of thing."
"Most people's mothers aren't me. C'mon."
"Fine. It wasn't a terrible date or anything, but… he's just too distracted with all the secret projects and business deals and whatever other crap they've got going on, he really wasn't there." She 'hopped' into the air, hovering cross-legged at head height and flicking on the TV with a telekinetic nudge. "I mean, he barely looked at me all evening. So yeah, that's not happening again."
"Shame. He was such a good friend to you growing up."
"He still is a good friend. But that's it."
"Ooh, friendzoned."
Break frowned. "You know, the more that I think about it, it is weird to be talking about this with you. I'm going to hang up now. Also because wrestling is on."
Launch's sly grin was practically audible. "Right, I'll just let you get on with watching two sweaty, half-naked guys grapple with each other."
"Someday I swear I will fly over there and kick your ass, grandma!" Break yelled as Launch hung up, giggling. "Ugh. Parents."
Officer Blake sauntered into Anderson's office, dumping a pile of papers on her desk and saluting half-heartedly. "Sergeant."
"Oh, hell," Anderson muttered, rustling through the stack, "is this all today?" A nod. "Of course it is. Sum it up for me."
"Well, the big one's an assault case; the Gold Star gang out in full force."
"Right, we've had a warrant out on them for a while. Most of 'em mid class B power, right?"
"Yeah, a real handful." Blake nodded. "Anyway, it was another highway robbery. Target, Lance Fitzgerald, 78, former Wushu instructor. They-"
"Don't tell me, I know how this goes," she interrupted. "Seven thieves versus one retired old master? I'll cancel the warrant." She began to scrawl signatures and check boxes. "Just tell me what state he left them in."
"Well, they're going to need to stay in hospital for a few days before they can appear in court-" Blake was again cut off, but this time by Marron crashing through the wall and levelling the desk between the two police officers with the impact of her fall.
Anderson sighed, putting down her pen on what now amounted to empty space, letting it fall to the ground. "Thank you for destroying a good hour's worth of paperwork, but I do hope you're going to pay for that wall."
"And I hope not," Marron answered, shaking herself down as she stood up. "After all, I was the one punched through it. The one you want to arrest is the one who did the punching." Not that it hurt… I should've dodged it, to be honest. Really should pay attention more. She took a step back as a large man in camo-pattern jeans barrelled in after her, sticking her leg out and tripping him before throwing a chop into the back of his neck as he fell, putting him down, as they say, for the count. "Which is that guy, by the way." She fished around in his pocket, producing a small object the police did not, of course, recognise as a Dragon Ball-the Three-Star, to be precise. "Ah! Damn, had to go through a lot of trouble for this thing."
"Miss, what's that?" Blake asked pointedly.
Marron waved this away. "Oh, just something he, uh, took from me." She neglected to mention the other twelve aggressors back in the bar across the street, figuring what the police didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. "Got it back now, all good, be seeing you!"
"We'll need to ask you a few questions-" Anderson began, but the victor of the strange battle vanished midway through her sentence. "Egh. We should get the Pursuit team after her or something."
"Don't bother," Blake said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I'm on the team. Ki approaching low class A."
"And?"
"Couldn't see a thing." He shrugged. "Way too fast. No point chasing someone like that."
"Wonderful." She frowned, massaging her forehead. "All right, I'll need a damage report form, somebody to remove the suspect from the floor, a repair crew for the wall, and a desk. Like, say, yours."
"I didn't steal it!" Marron protested. "I took it as my rightful prize after emerging victorious in a traditional bar brawl."
"If it involves one or more roundhouse kicks, it isn't a 'brawl'," Pan retorted, smirking. She held up the Six-Star ball. "Anyway… got this in an antiques shop, twenty-five zeni, much less interesting."
They were stood atop the Guardian's Lookout, along with Kuriza, who'd supposedly had to wrestle an indeterminate number of crocodiles to find the Two-Star ball in a swamp. He tossed it into the air absent-mindedly. "I guess we just have to wait for Uub to get back with his, then we can go out for the other three-"
"Don't bother!" Uub called down from above, descending onto the Lookout with the remaining four Dragon Balls cradled in his arms. "Sorry… never had to hunt for these things before, and I got carried away…" He landed between his three friends. "So… shall we start?"
"Sure, let's go!" Marron, holding her Dragon Ball out behind her, ran at Uub with her other arm raised to block. Pan and Kuriza did the same, charging him from all directions. Smiling, he threw his collection into the air, then spun himself into a whirlwind of motion as the others reached him. A second or so later, he appeared a few feet away from them, all seven spheres floating in front of him.
"Damn it," Pan growled. "When'd you get that good?"
"If you can't be bothered to fight me for a couple of years straight, you lose track of my progress," he answered smugly. "So anyway, I guess I win?"
"Seems that way." Kuriza shrugged. "All yours, then. Any idea what you're gonna wish for?"
"Still not entirely sure…" Uub slowly ran a hand through his hair. "Why don't I take just the first one, and we can make a second as a group? Anything you guys want?"
"That's the problem with almost-unlimited choice…" Marron sighed. "What do we ask for?"
Various possibilities were thrown out, and shot down just as quickly, over the next couple of minutes.
"Eternal life?"
"No, eternal youth !"
"Infinite power!"
"The dragon couldn't kill an enemy stronger than Dende; I don't think it can grant power more than his, either."
"Telepathy!"
"You want to know what everyone secretly thinks of you? That'll ruin some friendships."
"More wishes!"
"That won't work, it can't generate more wishing power than it has."
"Resurrect Elvis!"
"He died too long ago. Plus, who'd believe it was him?"
"World peace!"
"How would that even work? Mind control so nobody declares war anymore? Sounds kinda sinister."
Uub snapped his fingers. "I've got it. I'm gonna ask now; you guys keep thinking about the second, I guess." He let the Dragon Balls drop, holding out a hand over them. "Uh… eternal dragon… um, come out and stuff. Hopefully soon." He paused. "Nothing's happening… did that-"
A crack of thunder heralded the sky rapidly darkening, and an orange glow began to emanate from within the treasured artefacts.
"So, what are you gonna wish for?" Pan asked over the roar of otherworldly energy as a bright dragon-shaped silhouette burst skywards out of the Dragon Balls.
"Majin Buu's memories," Uub said firmly. "I only know half the story… if I really was him in a former life, I want to know what it was like."
"Won't that be a bit much to have suddenly jammed into your brain? He caused a lot of death, and you'll remember it as if you did it…"
"Sorry, I just… need to know." He turned back to the forming dragon, shielding his eyes against the radiance. By now, it was starting to give way to the majestic creature itself.
"Um… hey… is it supposed to look like that…?" Marron asked warily.
"No," Kuriza replied, blinking a couple of times. "No, it is not." This dragon was dark blue and winged, overall more in the style of a Western dragon than an Eastern one. Coils of cloying smoke surrounded it, slowly spreading out to engulf the entire surface of the look out. "Uh…" Kuriza cleared his throat, calling up to the razor-toothed apparition. "Is it Shenron's day off or something? Who are you?"
"Name's Kokuen," the dragon replied offhandedly, speaking in a mocking voice. "So you're the tossers who've been making all these wishes the past few decades? Well done, you've only gone and killed everybody."
"Wait, what? Hold on, aren't you gonna grant any wishes or something?" Pan demanded. "I mean, that's how it works…"
"Screw that."
"Come on, since when do Eternal Dragons refuse to grant wishes?"
"Bite me," Kokuen spat. "Anyway, you might wanna look down at your Dragon Balls. Well, I say that, they've never been yours from the start-they're ours, not that you could've known."
They glanced down at his words, and were presented with an alarming sight-the balls were beginning to crack, and further streams of black smoke were billowing out into the open air.
"Bloody hell, they really are full up, an' it only took a few trillion years," Kokuen muttered. "The hell kinda wishes you been making?" He stared off to the side blankly, as if reading from something only he could see. "Wait, how many resurrections? At the same time? Oh wow. Fantastic. You poor sods."
A scuffle of feet heralded Dende and Mr. Popo arriving outside. "What happened?" Dende yelled. "What did you do?"
"I don't know!" Uub shouted defensively. "We just summoned the dragon, but got this guy instead!"
"Well, my time's about up," Kokuen sighed. "I would explain what's going on, but you're all about to die so it'd be kind of pointless. Plus, the confuzzlement on your faces is hilarious ."
"That's not a real-"
"Bye now, kiddies! Have fun being torn limb from limb!" With that, the strange dragon itself dissolved into more smoke, which gathered itself into a vortex centred over the spot where the Dragon Balls had previously lain.
Barely two seconds later, the smoke was sucked inwards, the cloud shrinking rapidly into a single point and folding in on itself until the air was once again clear.
Standing where the Dragon Balls had been positioned was a group of seven… individuals, perhaps. People was not quite adequate, possibly. A few of them had slightly reptilian features or an odd aura, and all of them were attired oddly. Seven in all, they were standing in the same formation the Dragon Balls had been placed in.
Slowly, the lead stranger took a step forwards, shaking her head. "Aaahhh… Adjusting to a material body always gives me a headache," she muttered. "Or maybe it's the sensation of being crushed into an object the size of a small rock and instantly exploding out of it…"
Hakaishin temple…
Whis, halfway through his daily round of the temple's grounds, froze mid-step. An expression of purest anguish crossed his face. "No," he whispered. Not so soon… not again! He swung around, swinging a punch that atomised both the wall and an orbiting moon that happened to be directly behind it. "No more!" he hissed.
Chapter 1: The Ultimate Foe
Aratana teki! Kami no you na ankoku ryu!
The seven strangers spread out, strolling casually across the Lookout. The leader (evident by the way the others waited for her signal to disperse) approached the startled group who'd summoned the dragon, most of whom edged nervously behind Pan and Uub.
"You," she said, jabbing a sharpened, claw-like fingernail at Pan. "Native. Thanks for summoning the dragon so often."
"Uh… sure, I mean… I, um…" Pan held out her hands in a placating gesture. "Can you please explain what's going on here? I'm totally lost."
"As am I," Dende chipped in. "I've never heard of Dragon Balls doing anything like this before…"
"Fine," the woman replied in a bored voice, "I'll indulge you. We've got time, after all." She stood easily seven feet tall, with a wiry frame and slightly hunched gait. A green, almost floor-length jacket was draped over her shoulders, and one's gaze was constantly being drawn to her hair, which was comprised of a pair of large brown locks hanging over her ears, and a swept-back swathe of blonde in the centre that formed itself into arcing spikes. The initial impression was that she was human, but a second glance revealed that this was unlikely: Her eyes were blank red orbs, her teeth were jagged fangs, and her fingers in fact ended not in claw-like nails, but actual claws. "I'll give you the short version," she barked. "Magic has to be powered somehow. Dragon Balls use positive energy to grant wishes, but have to create an equal amount of negative energy. Enough builds up, pretty quickly with huge wishes like yours, and it creates a 'breach' in the walls of your universe, allowing us to get through. 'Us' being the Shadow Dragons, of which I'm the strongest. Alpha Shenron, pleased to meet you though of course, not for long."
"Not for long?" Pan asked, taking a slow step backwards.
"Oh, of course. Don't worry, we won't kill you unless you attack first. But once a powerful Shadow Dragon like me gets into a universe, I start generating negative energy of my own. Eventually, the breach gets wide enough for the Eternal to stick a hand in. The Eternal, by the way, being the greatest being in the entire cosmos, and the one that created us."
"And the Eternal will kill us all?"
"Not just you-this whole universe. And when I say 'kill'…'eat' is more accurate." She grinned toothily. "That's what our master does, see. And we are its heralds."
Pan knew this wasn't too important, given what she'd just heard, but it was annoying her. "Have to say, you don't look much like dragons…"
"Yeah, that'd be all the inhabitants of this planet making wishes on these things. Warped our image towards theirs-normally, we look a lot more like the Shenron you know. Honestly, I was expecting Namek, but this is okay. Nameks don't warp your image, for one thing…"
"Huh? Why?" She frowned. "And why the hell do the Dragon Balls do that anyway? The Namekians don't know anything about this!"
"Sorry, bored now," Alpha replied, turning away and marching off. "Have fun with your last day or two, however long it takes before I can get the breach wide enough." The other Shadow Dragons ceased their idle inspection of the Lookout and fell into formation behind Alpha, following her to the edge.
Pan clenched her fists. "So the only way to stop it is to kill you?"
"That'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Alpha called back over her shoulder.
"Then get ready!" Aura springing to life around her, Pan leapt at the departing group, charging an energy blast in each hand.
"Kronos," Alpha muttered. "Attend to it." One of the other 'dragons' nodded, appearing directly in front of Pan the next moment. He was clothed all in black, with a mop of hair hanging over pale, glowing eyes. The air warped and folded around him, and tendrils of shadow curled around his feet, until one could scarcely tell where his legs ended and the ground began. Before Pan could release either charged attack, Kronos reached up and tapped her on the head with his forefinger.
She froze, energy vanishing, then flung herself to the floor, screaming and writhing. "I've just inflicted upon you the pain of every hurt you've ever suffered, physical or mental, during your life," he said in flat tones.
"Bastard!" Kuriza hissed, ascending into his fifth form and leaping at Kronos with a flying kick. The Shadow Dragon sighed, outline flickering slightly. Kuriza was hurled violently to the floor, cracking the stone beneath. "And if you must know," Kronos muttered as he turned and walked back to the others, "I created a Paradox Zone in the instant of your attack, allowing several versions of me from different points in the following second to travel to that moment and strike you simultaneously. I trust you will require no further demonstrations." Indeed, no-one else was eager to attack.
"Well, anyway, it seems the natives don't like to roll over," Alpha decided. "I guess we'll go with the tower, let them come to us. That's always a good way to kill time. Hephaestus?"
"It shall be done," rasped another Shadow Dragon; this one armoured in black and red, a flame pattern emblazoned on his chestplate. With that, the seven strange beings took off in unison, vanishing almost instantly from sight.
Dende rushed over to the downed pair of fighters, applying his healing magic as quickly as possible. "Did you feel their powers?" he asked. "Absolutely enormous…"
"Even more worrying, the lead one, Alpha," Marron said as she helped them up, "I couldn't feel her ki at all, and I don't see why she'd hide it when the rest aren't. Which means…"
Kuriza scowled, returning to his natural form. "Which means, more than likely, she's got divine ki… this is serious."
Dende gave a sudden yelp, then did the trademark looking-slightly-upwards stance of one who's just been telepathically contacted. "What? Yours too? Did anything come out?! Good… yes, I said 'too'-look, it's a long story, I'll get back to you!" He looked down. "That was Moori. The Namekian Dragon Balls have just shattered… no Shadow Dragons came out, but it's a pretty safe bet it's linked to this. And, just like me… he can't feel that power anymore. It's like the ability to create Dragon Balls has gone from this world. You know what that means, right?"
Pan nodded. "If the Dragon Balls are gone for good, which might just be the case… no more second chances. Anybody dies-they're gone for good."
Hakaishin temple…
"Bills! Wake up! Now!"
Bills yawned. "Mmh? 'S Lord Bills t'you…"
The God of Destruction found himself abruptly hauled out of bed. "Not today, it isn't," Whis snapped.
Bills woke up instantly, springing to his feet. "This is bad, then. I can't remember the last time I saw you serious…"
"A grave threat has emerged which could potentially spell the end of your entire universe," Whis said brusquely. "Can I make myself any more clear than that?"
"No, I gotcha," Bills grumbled, cleaning out his ear. "So we gotta go beat somebody up?"
"Trust me, old friend… if you could handle this enemy, I would not be worried, and if I could handle it alone, I would not have disturbed you."
"Somebody you can't beat? You gotta be kidding!" Bills protested as he followed Whis out of his sleeping-chamber.
Whis shrugged. "It is entirely possible, though not at all certain, that the two of us could overcome the Shadow Dragons that have appeared at the moment. However, attacking them will be like kicking a hornet's nest; and the two of us cannot handle the whole swarm, believe me."
"Wait… aww, we're not going to…"
"We are indeed," Whis answered, clicking his heels as they arrived at a seemingly-empty doorway. "You, as one of the twelve Hakaishin, can call a Council. With the combined might of the Gods of Destruction behind me, I may be able to save this universe."
Bills closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "… all right. But I can't guarantee that they'll agree to help."
"All I ask is that you try."
South City…
"Red Oni to Blue Oni. I'm at 450 metres and closing," the crouching figure whispered, observing the rotation of the security camera overhead and judging when the time would be right to slip through-the human guard was no problem, but the camera was pirated Capsule Corporation tech, and might spot a glimpse of his movement.
"Blue to Red, copy that," a voice replied over the radio. "I'm ready for extraction if you screw up again."
"Can it," 'Red Oni' muttered. "Only one of us screwed up the last job, and it wasn't me."
"Will you focus?" 'Blue' hissed.
"Fine!" The black-garbed operative stole a glance around the corner. Think I've got the camera's pattern… 3… 2… 1…
"Hey, kid!" A distressingly familiar voice called from behind him, shattering the silence. 'Red Oni' practically jumped to the ceiling, spinning to see a smiling, moderately spiky-haired man in a business suit waving to him. "G-Gohan?!" the infiltrator spluttered. "Do you realise what you've-"
" Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" The guard came sprinting around the corner, 'Red' immediately dropping him with a spinning kick to the head. "Gohan, you moron!"
"Uh, Goten, what're you doing sneaking into a place like-"
"Let's go! Talk later!" Goten growled through his balaclava.
"Blue Oni to Red Oni," the voice chimed in. "You're blown. I'll cover, you haul ass-don't worry, I'll go easy on 'em." This was followed by a series of deafening explosions from outside.
"Alert! Priority 1 alert! This facility is under attack!"
"Uh, Goten, what's-" Gohan began, but Goten strode up and grabbed him by the wrist before he finished speaking.
"I said, talk later! Teleport us out of here already!"
They materialised outside, directly behind the source of the commotion: Vegeta Jr., AKA 'Blue Oni', was hurling fireballs at the compound and causing the occasional explosion, all the while dodging a cannonade of energy beams the guards were firing in return. "Well, guess who screwed it up again?" he shouted back over his shoulder.
Goten rolled his eyes. "I was doing fine, then my brother showed up, actually." He jerked a thumb at Gohan, waving politely from behind him. "Seems like he's got something important to say."
Vegeta shrugged. "All right. One thing, though-Gohan's face probably got caught on camera." He frowned, flexing his fingers and giving off a strange emanation of ki. "There. Just fired a low-power shockwave through the whole place; works kinda but not quite like an EMP burst. Fried all their cameras."
"When'd you learn to do something like that?!" Gohan spluttered.
"Not long after starting this job. Aright, let's go." Vegeta batted away an incoming ki beam, flying off after the others and easily outpacing their pursuers in short order.
Once they were safely ensconced in a nearby cave, Gohan looked the pair of them up and down. "So what are you two doing sneaking into a private research lab out in South City?"
"Government hired us," Goten explained. "It's pretty much how we make a living. With our speed and ki control, not to mention the kind of teamwork only occasionally sharing a mind can give you, we make pretty good spies-and we picked up the rest pretty quickly." The pair of secret agents removed their balaclavas, causing Gohan to all but collapse in shock.
"Gah! Your face! And your hair!" It took them a second to realise he was talking about: Goten had a scraggly almost-beard, and Vegeta's hair was slicked back, hanging down over his shoulders, and not spiked at all. "What happened to you guys?!"
"Oh, this…" In quite an alarming fashion, Goten fired an energy blast at his own face, pulling his barrier back to only just cover his skin, neatly singing off the unwanted facial hair (and temporarily obscuring the entire bottom half of his head in an explosion). "Yeah, been working a while now and I keep forgetting…"
"And this is just hair gel," Vegeta added. "Can't really fit my normal hair under a hood. I mean, I could cut a hole for it or something, but a feature that distinctive kind of defeats the purpose of being stealthy." He narrowed his eyes, sending a wave of power up through his hair and giving it the 'jolt' required to shake off the gel and stand back up in his usual flame-point. "Aahhh, better."
"Anyhoo." Goten turned back to his older brother. "What's up? Somebody wants to kill us all, I guess? That or Bulma's throwing a party."
Gohan nodded. "The former. I don't know exactly myself; it'll be explained when I've gathered everyone. Now please, come with me."
East City…
The commentator leaned forwards, shouting through his moustache. "After a devastating roundhouse, Dog is somehow back on his feet, and back on the offensive! I don't know how much of this Break can endure!" The glaring stage lights beat down on the small, hot fighting ring, the yells of the small crowd only overshadowed by the rhythmic crash of knuckle on forearm.
Break let 'Mad Dog' Brody's punches rain down, allowing a couple to slip through her guard and hit her shoulders and head. She barely felt the impacts, but played up her reaction, grunting and falling back until she was backed into the corner of the ring. Too many easy victories would get boring-she had to play the crowd, give them something to remember. If she was honest, her job was more entertainer than fighter a lot of the time. Okay, about now should do it. She opened her guard, drawing a fist back slowly as if to attack, and the large, extensively-tattooed boxer lunged, landing a heavy blow to her stomach. She let the impact carry her back into the ropes, slumping against the edge, and Brody stood back, grinning stupidly.
"Hey…" Break slurred, climbing to her feet and patting her unmarked stomach. "… that it?"
"Wuh-" her opponent began, but got no further. Break's fist probably touched his face at some point, but he couldn't tell; all he knew was that he was now halfway through a wall with a cracked jaw, which is not a pleasant place to be.
Break exhaled, wiping a sheet of sweat from her forehead-more from the hot, cramped room than any kind of exertion due to fighting-then clapped her hands together, nodding to the queue by the ring. "Next."
Twenty-one fighters later…
A knock came on her trailer door, and she swung it open, tearing into a cooked steak she had in one hand as she talked. "Gohan? Watcha doin' here?"
Gohan smiled politely, having decided to be a little more normal in his sudden appearances after lat time. "Well, I think there's some serious trouble afoot."
"'Afoot'? Who even says-never mind." She inhaled the rest of the impromptu meal. "Somebody wants to blow up the planet, right?"
"Try the universe."
Break whistled. "That's new. I mean… we've had 'all the planets in the universe' tried, but just the whole damn thing… hmm. All right, I just got off, might as well."
"Uh… you might want to change first." Gohan scratched his head. "I mean, your parents are gonna be in there, and it'd be kind of awkward meeting them in your underwear…"
"Underwear?" she scoffed. "Listen, this is a professional fighter's outfit, and I'm wearing about twice as much as any of the guys, believe me." She paused. "But yeah, you've probably got a point…" She vanished from the doorway into the recesses of her trailer. "Be with you in a sec."
"So… how'd you end up here, anyway?" Gohan asked, raising his voice slightly over the rustling. "I mean, you were going to university, right?"
"So do you just suck at keeping track of your friends and family, or what?"
"Apparently," he laughed. "I mean, I've been meeting Goten pretty regularly, but I only just found out he's been doing spy stuff."
"Wait, spy stuff?"
"Can you answer my question, please?"
She sighed. "Ah, fine. Yes, I was studying nanobiology. Got my bachelor's, actually."
"… and?!"
"And it's just a hobby. I always felt better with fighting as my actual job."
Gohan gave a puzzled look. "I think you've got those two the wrong way round…"
"Ah, what do you know." She emerged, jumping down and kicking the trailer door shut as she went. "This better?"
Gohan coughed. "Er… not really. I mean, surely that only just qualifies as a shirt…"
"Screw you. Let's go."
West City hospital…
Gohan's head peered cautiously around the door. "Er… Baby? Is this a bad time?"
"Gohan…" the cyborg sighed, "I'm performing knee surgery. How could this not be a bad time?" He raised his hand. "Nurse, check that anaesthetic level."
Gohan fell silent for a second, then came to a conclusion, stepping fully into the room and neatly dodging the pair of medical staff that tried to usher him out. "More to the point, why are you performing knee surgery?"
Baby made a tiny incision, hands totally steady. "Because I find it amusing. It really wasn't very hard to pick up; human medicine is shockingly primitive. Really, you'd find this kind of stuff in any first aid kit back on Plant-or Vegeta, should I say?" he goaded.
Gohan frowned. "Not in the mood, Baby, nor do I associate myself with that barbaric race."
"I was joking."
"Unfortunately, I'm not-the universe might be in danger, so I'm rounding up everyone I can track down."
"The entire universe? Seriously?" Baby calmly put his surgical instruments down, throwing off his gloves, mask and apron. "Somebody take over!"
"But the patient-" A nurse protested.
"-won't know the difference as long as somebody gets the damn bookend out of his leg before he wakes up!" Baby retorted. "All right, lead the way."
"Don't you have to train for years to be a doctor?" Gohan asked. "Even if you're smart enough to learn everything in weeks?
"Well, I wouldn't call myself qualified, exactly," Baby replied, smirking. "But once I'd figured everything out, I just walked in and started operating on people. First they realised they couldn't stop me, then they realised I was actually quite good at it and stopped bothering to try."
Eventually…
"… and then the Shadow Dragons just upped and left," Marron finished recounting. Gohan had finished gathering up everyone he could think of who might be useful, and the whole group now stood in an empty meeting-room in Capsule Corp.
"Yeah, well, their ki was pretty hard to miss, up 'till they went into hiding just now," Raditz said from the corner of the room. "I think it's pretty obvious what we've gotta do."
"Punch things?" Break guessed.
Goku laughed. "No mystery whose child she is… but yeah. That's about it."
"Are we ready, though?" Goten wondered. "I mean, you said one of 'em probably has divine power… and the rest have pretty insane ki anyway… can we beat them?"
"I'm not sure…" Raditz admitted. "Hmm. Might have something that'd help. Pan-wanna get stronger?"
"Huh? Um… sure…?" Pan raised an eyebrow, unsettled by the suddenness of this.
"Well, I mean, you don't have to…" he mumbled. "I mean, we've got Gohan, and it wouldn't be pleasant. I'd be surprised if there was anybody crazy enough, besides me, to try and put themselves through it." He realised he was sounding extremely suspect. "Well, I… okay, I was thinking of ways to get stronger on short notice. And so I thought, well, we used to turn into Oozaru; now we turn into Super Saiyans. Who's to say we can't do both at the same time? So I asked Bulma for a machine that generated Blutz waves, tried to get my tail to grow back."
"And?" Gohan prompted.
Raditz shook his head. "Nothing. I guess you really can only regrow it as a child…"
"But I still have one, so you're offering me a shot," Pan finished.
"Hey, I've got a tail too," Gohan pointed out. "Don't I count?"
Raditz smiled. "Sure. It's just, you're already the strongest one here; I was offering Pan the chance first, but you can try it if you like. And to tell the truth, I don't want more people doing this than have to; neither of you ever learned to control the Oozaru, and when you add the Super Saiyan rage to that…" He shrugged.
"Hmm… you have a point." Gohan scratched his head. "Well, like you said, I'm pretty strong already. I don't want to risk not being able to fight at all because I lose control trying your idea… I'd better see how I match up to that leader of theirs first."
"Good thinking."
Gohan turned to his daughter. "Pan? You're pretty much an adult now, so I won't tell you what to do… going to try it?"
Pan remained silent for a second, swaying slightly, then shook her head. "Like my dad said, if it doesn't work you'll have to knock me out or something, and I'll be even less help than I am now. I want to see what I can do against them anyway, then if we're completely outmatched I'll give it a go."
"Sounds good." Raditz nodded. "Then unless there's anything else, we don't know exactly how long it'll take them to let their boss-thing in to eat us all, so-let's move out."
Launch jumped to her feet. "There is one thing. Who's going? I'm gonna be blunt, we need our absolute best fighters for this one, and that doesn't include me. We can't afford anybody else hanging around slowing them down."
"Fair enough," Vegeta continued, pointing to various fighters as he named them. "How about Goten and I… Break, Raditz, Goku, Gohan… Pan, Uub and Eighteen. I hope no-one will object because they don't want to fight, or fear for their life. If we don't do everything we can, we may as well lie down and wait for the end."
Eighteen stood, turning for the door. "Well said. No objections here-let's go."
The nine chosen warriors landed atop a plateau overlooking a dusty plain (they did seem to encounter a lot of those). "This is about where I last felt their ki before it disappeared," Pan whispered; despite the lack of any response from the Shadow Dragons so far, the tension in the air was practically sickening.
Goku's experience was evident here; by contrast, he was clearly in his element. "Well, I think it's a pretty safe bet they're still here. I mean, that thing's pretty hard to miss."
' That thing' was a massive cylindrical tower, made of some kind of smooth black rock. It was divided into seven sections, bottom to top, upon which were carved, in enormous kanji, the symbols for 'earth', 'hell', 'forge', 'fire', 'ice', 'time', and 'one'.
Raditz folded his arms, scanning the symbols. "Huh. Well, that's nice and ominous. It'd be kind of weird at this point if they weren't in there."
Alpha, seated on top of the tower, hopped over to the edge and peered down at the Earth's defenders. "Yep, this ki… it can't be a coincidence we were summoned here. These guys, short of the Hakaishin himself, must be the strongest this universe has got." She placed a finger on her right temple, closing her eyes. "Gaia, you hear me?"
Perfectly clearly.
"Okay. You were on scouting duty-anything I should know about these guys, or should I just let you handle them?"
Their power and abilities, taken by themselves, do not seem to indicate a threat to one such as you. However, it is not their strength at any given time that should concern you; it is their ability to improve. They can increase their power at a phenomenal rate, and overcome the most overwhelming of foes. Particularly the full-blooded saiyans-it would be extremely unwise to engage them directly, based on past events.
"Thanks for the heads-up. Guess I'll just show 'em the door. I'll see what I can do with both charges, then you think you can handle the rest?"
Of course.
"Right then." The invading group was now fast approaching the tower, so Alpha leapt, landing with a mighty impact directly between them and the arched doorway. "Greetings, and hello again to a couple of you." She stood up. "Here's the deal; you have to kill me to stop the negative energy build-up; the longer I'm alive, the closer we get to the Eternal eating your universe. Bad news is, I'm going to be hiding at the top of this tower, and don't even try skipping to the top, because we know our enchantments and it'd take you months to break them, which is time you don't have."
Goten grunted. "All right, we get it, it's simple enough; we climb the tower, beat up your friends along the way, then get to you. But your henchmen could've told us that-so what're you doing here? Just practicing your evil gloating? Or you wanna twirl your moustache at us?"
"Cute." She raised her right arm above her head. "Actually, I'm just here to make things more interesting. See, I have an ability I call my Void Banisher; pretty multi-purpose. I store one charge in each arm, takes a few days to recharge."
"Your point?" Raditz growled, tensing up slightly as her arm began to vibrate, as if being viewed from multiple angles at once.
Alpha grinned. "Have patience. This is the fun part." Clenching her fist, she swung her arm back down towards the ground, smashing it into the rock beneath. "Right… BANISHER!" Contrary to what they expected, it only created a small crater, but evidently the effects went beyond the physical. As soon as she spoke the words, the world shuddered, colour and proportion skewing off into wild psychedelia for a moment.
Things quickly returned to normal, though, leaving Uub to ask the inevitable question: "What the hell was that?"
"That, children, was one of my two charges," Alpha replied smugly. "In this case, I chose to use as little finesse as possible, and basically just punched your universe right in its timeline. So now not only is space tearing, but time too."
"Let me guess, that makes it even easier for your Eternal to get in," Pan said grimly.
"Yup!" Alpha laughed. "You can't have more than an hour or two now, so… have fun with that."
Gohan took a step in front of the group. "Not if I can help it. I followed the trace your attack left… I can sense the wound you made, though I have to strain my ki sense and five-dimensional perceptions to their limits. And if I can find it, I can close it."
"You sure, dad?" Pan asked, turning and looking up at him. "That sounds kinda dangerous."
Gohan smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. If I can even get there, that is… I don't even know where 'there' is, or if it's even a 'place' as we know the term." He frowned, raising two fingers to his forehead. It'll be like both Shifting and Instant Transmission at once… a little like my God Step technique, but at a much larger distance and with an even greater degree of integration… "Do what you can, guys-and stay alive. I'll be as quick as I can." Turning Super Saiyan as a precaution against whatever he might encounter upon arrival, he vanished.
Alpha managed to keep a straight face for nearly five seconds, before erupting into roaring laughter. "Oh, perfect! That look of determination!" She calmed down, wiping away a tear of mirth. "The fool. That's an impressive teleportation ability, but he's just transported himself straight through the rift-and outside the universe. And trust me, no mortal can survive there."
"What?!" Pan choked. "You're saying he…"
"If he's still alive, he won't be for long," Alpha chuckled. "Your laws of physics don't apply out there. Your body simply won't hold together."
"Damn you… !" Goku yelled, leaping over his allies' heads at Alpha, Raditz a microsecond behind him. Alpha spun, dodging between the two veteran warriors' charges as their auras ignited, one red, one gold. A fist drew back on one side, a sword flashed out of its scabbard on the other. She skidded back, sliding out of the path of their attacks before raising her left hand, and her voice deepened for a moment as she spoke. "Left Banisher."
The saiyans' images flickered for a moment, and then they were gone. No explosions, screams of rage or anguish, no fireworks or flashy burst of light. There was simply empty air where Goku and Raditz had once stood. Alpha lowered her arm. "See, like I said-last time I used no finesse at all, and hit your entire plane of existence at once. This time, I focused it all on the two of them, and was able to achieve forcible, unwilling remote teleportation, a feat beyond even most other Eternal Dragons." She turned away. "Still, on the bright side, for you at least, I've now exhausted both of my Void Banisher charges."
"W-Where did you send them?" Break demanded.
"Outside the universe, of course," Alpha replied calmly. "I hope I don't need to repeat myself about what will happen to them."
"Y… You…"
"Well, I've had my fun. And either because of their power, or their ability to raise it in desperate circumstances, those three were the only ones among you that worried me. The rest of you, have fun with my guards." She turned back towards the entrance and flitted away, her speed carrying her out of sight before any of them could even begin to react.
"D… Dad…" Break reached out shakily, clutching at empty air.
Goten sank to his knees, fingernails digging bloody gashes into his palms. "Damn it… !"
"Stay strong," Eighteen commanded. "We've taken a heavy loss, but it'll be worse if you all come to pieces now. Come on. We didn't see them die. You know these people; if there's a way to survive, they've probably already found it."
"R… Right…" Uub said slowly, unconvinced.
"You guys go on ahead," Pan mumbled, straightening up and grabbing her forearm to stop its trembling. "I'm gonna go back and try Raditz's combined-form idea. If we're going to fight these guys, I'll need to be as strong as I possibly can."
Eighteen nodded. "Be quick."
"Not running out on us, are you?" Vegeta muttered, only to have Uub immediately round on him, lifting him one-handed into the air by his collar.
"She wouldn't do that!" he hissed. "If that's what you think, you don't know her… !"
"It's all right," Pan told Uub, turning away. "I understand what he's thinking-I know I sound a bit of a wreck. But I'll be back, okay? We don't have time to keep talking about this-go!" With that, she took off, propelling herself back towards West City. I should've done this in the first place… that speed… I had no idea how outclassed we are.
"You heard the lady," Break said firmly, striding towards the archway that lead into the tower. "Let's get started before we lose anybody else." The others fell in behind her, and as one they braved the cavernous, twelve-metre maw of an entrance.
The interior was not nearly as forbidding as they had imagined-in fact, it was so pleasant as to be positively bizarre. The black stone was almost completely covered in a blanket of flowers, flowing away a great distance in all directions. The plantlife continued up the walls, creepers hanging from the high ceiling, and the air smelled fresh and pleasant, giving the disconcerting feeling of having just come outside, rather than in.
"I can sense a presence now," Uub muttered, "somewhere nearby… but I can't feel any ki at all from outside anymore."
Break nodded. "This tower must shield ki sensing. That's why we couldn't sense any of the dragons from the outside."
"How'd they set all this up so quickly?" Goten wondered, kicking a cloud of petals into the air and watching them drift away on the breeze.
"Enjoying yourselves?" A voice spoke, seemingly from everywhere at once. Slowly, a figure reared up above the carpet of vegetation, rising to its full height and sighing. "This is Eden Palace, and I am its warden-Gaia Shenron." Gaia was shrouded in a cloak of blue and green, lit oddly from within in a blue and green patchwork pattern that formed, upon closer inspection, the exact shape of the world's continents and oceans. "Well, then," she said, in an off-puttingly calm voice, "who shall be the first to die?"
Alpha, back in her throne atop the tower, smiled. Yes, the remaining fighters won't pose a problem now I've disposed of those three. Gaia will be easily sufficient for all of them.
Somewhere. Somewhen. Somehow.
Goku opened his eyes, groggily standing and reaching out a hand to support himself on a nearby metal pillar, sheared off a metre or so above the ground. Whatever it had supported before had been completely incinerated, and the ground beneath his feet was blackened with scorch marks. In fact, as he looked around, he came to realise that the whole area resembled a warzone; ruined buildings, craters, fires still raging here and there.
He also soon came to realise that he was about four feet tall, possessed of a tail, and if he had to guess, something like twelve years old. This seemed wrong somehow, but he wasn't entirely sure why, since most of his memory was a complete blank. Come to it, he had no idea where he was or how he'd got there.
He took a step forwards, feeling something tap against his waist. He looked down; a rounded metal device was attached to his belt. He blinked, the sight of it giving him a strange feeling. His mouth unconsciously formed around half-remembered words. "… radar. Gotta find… Dragon Balls."
"There you are, Kakarot!" A voice growled from behind him. He turned, dropping instinctively into a defensive stance, and his eyes widened upon seeing the armoured figure stomping towards him over the burnt ground. "You failed in your mission, you low-class dog! You were supposed to kill the inhabitants of Earth!" A pair of gloved fists clenched. "I cannot tolerate failure in my soldiers."
Another unfamiliar word rose from the depths of his mind. "… Vegeta…"
Chapter 2: The End Begins
Mezame, Gokuu! Shi no Setogiwa ni!
"Gaia Shenron…" Eighteen said to herself, pacing around their unmoving foe. "That would explain all the greenery."
"How observant," Gaia replied evenly. Her voice seemed slightly off, as if echoed by many voices speaking in unison, almost musical.
Goten's voice cut across the calm. "Can we cut the crap? These Shadow Dragons just killed my brother and my father!" He pointed a finger at Gaia. "Get ready for an ass-kicking, lady!"
Vegeta took a step in front of his friend. "Easy. Let's not charge in without knowing anything about our enemy. We don't know they're dead-"
"We don't know they're alive, either!" Goten shoved Vegeta aside. "Besides, in a couple of hours we're all gonna be dead-so what the hell are we standing around for?" He transformed up to Super Saiyan 2, raising his fists. "Don't try to stop me."
"They took my father too," Break added, assuming the same form. "So no arguments here." Vegeta's blue-gold aura burst to life next to them as well, completing the trio.
"So be it. Let's see how this dragon handles three Super Saiyans." Cracking his knuckles, he took off moments after the other two, rocketing straight at Gaia. Three limbs struck out at once, but swung only through an empty cloak of elaborate blue and green.
Gaia, now bereft of the cloak and revealed as a reptilian humanoid of patchy black and white colouring, reappeared a few feet above them. She swung an arm downwards, launching a wave of force that hurled the three of them back. They regained their balance, skidding to a halt in the tall grass several metres apart, Gaia settling to the ground between them.
"Let's go-" Uub began, but Eighteen held him back.
"Wait," she commanded. "Could you keep up with her movements just now?"
"I'll be honest… no," Uub admitted. "Her ki is enormous… none of us are even close."
Eighteen nodded, releasing him. "Then there's no point charging in trigger-happy. But if we let those three work off their anger on her by doing the trigger-happy bit for us, she'll focus on them… we can catch her off-guard. If there's as much of a gap between our powers is as it seems from that first exchange, a surprise attack may be our only shot at victory."
"Damn…" Uub muttered. Just have to hope that she's not an indication of the rest. Maybe they put their best-or second-best, if Alpha really is the strongest-out to guard the door.
Break was the first to lunge back in, Gaia catching her fist and stopping her attack effortlessly. The other two demi-saiyans were quick to follow up, firing simultaneous energy blasts, which Gaia leapt into the air to avoid, arcing towards the wall and dragging Break after her. She brought her arm up, slamming Break face-first into the wall before letting her drop, then disappearing again into a blur of speed. Accompanied by a pair of dull thuds, she materialised behind Goten and Vegeta, and a second later they dropped to their knees, coughing blood.
Eighteen, deferring to Uub's faster reflexes, glanced over to him; he shook his head. Still no openings… she's incredibly skilled.
Break climbed to her feet, almost falling but managing to remain stable. "Tch… that stung. Hey… couldn't help noticing when you were pulling me along… what happened to the eye?" One of Gaia's eyes was indeed clearly damaged from some old injury, milky white with the faintest hints of a faded scar around the socket. "Cut yourself on all these sharp flowers?"
"Humour is a poor way to express denial, or to deal with loss," Gaia responded. "You cannot distract your mind from the issue. Your father is dead."
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Break exploded, speeding at Gaia, who dodged a jump kick nonchalantly, sliding away through the field.
Gaia shrugged. "But since you asked, it was this universe's God of Destruction who took this eye from me." She raised a hand to block Goten's punch, aimed at her from behind, catching it without bothering to look around.
"Bills?" Goten asked even as he pulled back, circling warily. "Wait, you've been in this universe before?"
"I have," Gaia replied. "I am the Shadow Dragons' scout; whereas it takes a huge negative energy build-up, such as some of you witnessed earlier, to create a breach wide enough for the seven of us, when alone I can enter with only the ambient negative energy that exists in every universe." She smiled. "And that is because… I am the weakest of the Shadow Dragons."
"Wh-What?!" Vegeta, poised to attack, stopped in his tracks. She's handling three of us like nothing… and she's the weakest?
"Yes, now the full futility of your fight dawns on you," Gaia continued. "I can see it, you know, in your eyes. You're realising that it would take a miracle to defeat me-and even if you get your miracle, there are six more of us, all stronger even than I. In fact, the tower is set up in order of power; the opponents become more powerful the higher you climb."
"So I guess that's why Alpha was sitting on top," Uub muttered. "Now?"
"Almost," Eighteen hissed. "She's getting more careless. Feeling less threatened by us. That's the only reason she's even been talking and not fighting for this long… ah, never mind." For before she'd even finished her sentence, the Super Saiyans had attacked again.
Gaia was slowly walking back, hands moving in a blur, blocking the three attackers' barrage of strikes in a seemingly-impenetrable wall of defence. Nearing the wall, she ducked away, coming back around and launching a counterattack, beginning with a low kick that took Vegeta off his feet. As he scrambled for balance, she struck him to the ground with her elbow, then caught Goten and Break by their necks as they lunged in to help. The Shadow Dragon kicked Vegeta back into the air and away across the room, throwing his allies after him and landing them all in a heap in the centre of the field.
"Rrrgh…" Goten growled. "Damn it…"
Gaia lifted herself into the air, one hand splayed out to the side and rapidly building up energy. "I'll end it with this!" she declared. "No matter how many mortal warriors you send, you'll never compare to a single one of us!"
There was no verbal signal; it was obvious this was the moment Eighteen and Uub were looking for. Uub brought his hands down to his side, focusing his ki between them. "Ka… Me…"
Eighteen, meanwhile, had sprinted under Gaia until the dragon was between herself and Uub, then leapt straight up at her. Gaia might have noticed her coming but for two important factors: first, thanks to her damaged eye the cyborg was right in her blind spot, and second, Eighteen had no detectable ki at all. The first notice Gaia had was a pair of steely fists crashing into her face, sending her tumbling back towards the ground, energy ball extinguishing as she lost focus. What just-
"Ha… Me… " Gaia glanced around, startled, to see, again too late, Uub swinging his hands forwards and releasing a massive energy wave. "… HAAAAA!"
"What-" She shrieked before being engulfed in the blast, voice drowned out by the titanic explosion of noise.
The Council of the Hakaishin existed in the First Universe of the twelve, which was probably meant to symbolise the centralisation of power or something nebulous like that, but Bills always thought it was there because Cadmus was too lazy to go to anybody else's universe-to be fair, one did sometimes get travel-sick using the portals-and no-one was really qualified to argue with him. Well, no-one but the Dreamer, but getting so much as a full coherent sentence out of her was always an uphill struggle.
Acting out of this kind of laziness or self-interest was not uncommon among the twelve gods, which was one of the reasons they all held a great dislike for these meetings. The other being that arguments inevitably broke out, and sometimes arguments lead to fights, and they all remembered that fight; the one that left a universe devastated and its Hakaishin driven to insanity with grief.
"Egh… they're not gonna be happy I dragged 'em all out here…" Bills grumbled. "Hell, I'm not gonna be happy to see most of them either…"
Whis shrugged. "Needs must. You, and they, will have to get over yourselves and work together for once."
"Yeah…" Bills nodded. "But, man… convincing the whole Hakaishin council to organise a combined assault on one universe, when they can barely be bothered to meet up in the first place… that's gonna take some smooth talking." He scratched his head. "I mean, something like this has only ever been organised once, when… well, you know." He hopped down from the raised platform containing the portal, taking a proper look up at the palace for the first time since their arrival.
It was a truly magnificent building, swooping and curving up towards the sky in an array of spires and towers, pristine and graceful. Bills had never liked it. He didn't really approve of curves in architecture. Straight lines, pyramids, cuboids, and geometrically standard things of that ilk had always been more to his taste. Whis usually said he was too narrow-minded. He usually ignored this.
"Hey," Bills said as they traversed the gargantuan causeway leading into the main structure, "give me a refresher on everybody, will you?"
"You don't remember them? They're your kinsmen, Lord Bills." The 'Lord' was back; they were in public, after all, and as far as anyone else knew, Whis was but an attendant.
Bills snorted. "My kinsmen who I haven't seen for several thousand years. Nobody's perfect."
Whis smiled. "All right, but I only have the full datafile; I won't be able to pick and choose the parts you can't remember."
"I'll skim-read it. Just show me the damn thing before we get in there and I have to admit I don't remember who anybody is."
Beyond the borders of possibility…
"Vegeta?" Goku repeated. "I remember you. You… you're an adult-so why am I-"
"Shut up!" Vegeta snarled, fist snaking out and shattering the ground, Goku only jumping back at the last moment and avoiding a quick death.
He jumped back at the prince. "All right, I don't know what's going on, but if it's a fight you want-" However, he was smacked out of the air with ease.
Vegeta spat. "Is that all, Kakarot? The Earthlings have made you so weak. You're a failure, like the rest of your low-class family!"
Goku growled, pushing himself to his feet. Wish I could remember my family right now… or anything… "What's all this about, anyway? You're not making sense! You just show up and start insulting me, then try to kill me!"
Vegeta darted in, striking like a snake and plucking Goku off the ground, lifting him into the air by his neck. The young fighter coughed as Vegeta's grip tightened. "Wrong, Kakarot. This is all wrong. You're not using your ki! What's wrong with you?!"
"L… Let go…" Goku hissed. "Gotta find… Dragon Balls. Outta my way…" He tugged on Vegeta's hand, trying to pry himself loose.
"Feh. Still nothing," Vegeta continued. "All that effort will do nothing for you with mere physical strength; what good is all that power in your body if you don't use it? Do I have to spell everything out for you, clown?!"
Goku was beginning to black out. Power… in my body? More than physical strength…
"You're not using your ki!"
Another memory surfaced.
Slowly, painfully, Goku grinned. "… right. Y'mean…" His foot shot upwards, infused with an otherworldly energy, catching Vegeta's grappling arm at the elbow and wrenching it away. "… like this?" Freed, he twisted in the air to land on his feet, spinning to face his momentarily-stunned attacker and throwing as hard a punch as he could manage, forcing all his newfound spiritual energy into the attack.
"Gaaah!" Vegeta was hurled away, feet tearing up the ground as he skidded back into a boulder, cracking it and stumbling a couple of steps away. He looked up, smiling. "Yes, that's it. Now killing you might actually be worth-eh?" Something seemed to catch his attention; he glanced away, narrowing his eyes. "Hmm… seems somebody's going to save me the trouble. Come to think of it… if you can beat all of them, and your level keeps improving at this rate, you might actually be a legitimate challenge by the time we meet again."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Goku yelled. "I remember a Vegeta now-he didn't pull mysterious crap like this! Who are you, really?"
The prince didn't reply, turning away. "I'll be seeing you, Kakarot." He took off, speeding away through the air faster than Goku's eyes could follow.
What was up with him? Goku wondered. "Eh… whatever." He had more important questions right now. Questions such as, why am I a kid? Why am I in a warzone? And why can't I remember anything except these flashes I keep triggering? He unslung the radar device from his belt. This's about the only thing I've got right now. I don't know what happens when I gather 'em all, but I get the sense it's something good. One wasn't far from here, so he set off, running at a steady pace over the ruins of what he might once have recognised as a very Earthlike civilisation.
It didn't take long to hone in on the signal; within a couple of minutes he was standing practically on top of it, if the flashing blip on the radar was to be believed. A rummage around revealed something glinting beneath a pile of rubble; he tossed it aside, unearthing the object he instinctively recognised as a Dragon Ball.
Barely a second after he picked it up, a strange pressure in his mind alerted him- someone's coming! Someone strong… He ducked into cover through a ruined doorway, pressing his back to the wall.
"K… Kakarot… Kaka… rot…" a gravely voice was saying. "Where… I'll… kill…" A hugely-muscled, shirtless saiyan was trudging his way down the road, stepping oblivious through still-burning patches of ground and emerging unharmed. His eyes seemed clouded, vague, indicating that his mind was completely unfocused.
Goku took a deep breath, then stepped back out into the street. "Vegeta called me that, too. If you wanna fight me, I won't hide!" he shouted. "But first, tell me why!"
The man froze, turning slowly on the spot. His eyes fixed on Goku, the haziness vanishing, replaced by pure rage. A wall of ki erupted out of his body, throwing Goku to the ground as a massive green aura blazed to life around-Broly. That's his name.
"KAKAROOOOT!" Broly roared, leaving craters beneath his feet as his massively bulked-up form advanced on the building Goku had fallen back into. Goku tried to escape, but a giant hand crashed in through the wall, picking him up and slamming him into the ground, what was left of the building tumbling down around them as Broly's aggressive movements pummelled its damaged foundations. Goku felt blood rising in his mouth, his vision blurring. "Why… does everyone… wanna kill me today…?" Acting on instinct again, he formed an energy sphere in his hand, throwing it directly up into Broly's face, but the juggernaut barely noticed, grimacing slightly at the impact.
"RRRRYAAAAGH!" Yelling incoherently, he threw Goku high into the air. The young saiyan managed to regain his balance right about at the top of his arc, holding both fists out and rocketing straight back down at his monstrous opponent. Inches from impact, Broly grinned and casually sidestepped, backhanding Goku away across the street. Goku bounced, skidded, rolled, and came to a halt covered in dirt and scrapes. "… ugh…" He pushed himself up on trembling hands, gasping for breath and hearing heavy footfalls growing louder. Damn it… don't even know why this is happening… this whole thing is crazy… if only I was stronger… !
Broly was standing over him now, swinging a lazy kick Goku barely dodged, damaged muscles screaming. He didn't let himself rest, kicking off and darting behind Broly, bouncing and coming up behind the titan, ramming home a spinning kick directly to the back of his neck. Broly lurched forwards a step, but no more; his elbow shot up and backwards, catching Goku in the stomach before he could react, grounding him again. This time he did blacked out, even if only for a second, shaking it off and coughing in the settling dust cloud that had formed upon his latest impact with the road. If only I was… stronger… !
"That's a pretty crazy technique you used back there, Tien! So you're, what, even stronger than yourself now?"
"Well, that's kind of a weird way of putting it, Goku…"
The now-familiar rush of a lost memory unearthed flashed through Goku's mind. His eyes snapped open wide. "Stronger'n… yourself…" Shakily, he sat up, seeing Broly looking curiously over at him.
"You're not dead…" Broly muttered, seemingly having worked through some of his insane rage and gaining greater coherence as time went on. "It shouldn't have taken me this long… !"
Goku forced himself up on one knee, then planted one foot on the ground, then made the final push through to fully-standing. Blood ran down his face. His chest heaved with every breath. "C'mere," he growled.
"If you keep standing up, I'm just going to kill you quicker!" Broly hissed, thundering forwards, charging an energy blast in each hand.
"Yeah, whatever." Goku wiped one particularly quick-flowing stream of blood from his mouth and nose, then clenched his fists. "I'm never gonna stay down 'till I'm dead, y'hear?"
"My point exactly!" Broly laughed. "After all these years, traitor, I'm finally going to kill you!"
Goku's ki began to rise alarmingly quickly, his body vibrating with a sudden surge of power. "Sorry. You don't have what it takes. Hhhhhh… hkkkk…" An aura of his own sprung up around him, blowing a gale in all directions, outstripping even the force exuded by Broly's. "… kkkk… K-KAIO… KEN!"
"What-" It was like running into an immovable wall; Broly found he couldn't move even a single step further forwards. Goku, at the centre of the crimson storm, leaned forwards slightly, then vanished.
The next thing Broly knew, something struck his abdomen with more force than he could comprehend-beneath the single, explosive punch, the Legendary Super Saiyan's defensive aura shattered, his skin tore, his blood boiled and evaporated, and the base of his spine liquefied. He remained still for a few seconds as both fighters' auras melted away, then he pitched forwards, vomiting blood and collapsing in a lifeless heap.
Goku took a step back, lowering his steaming fist, feeling worse than ever. "… man… whatever that was… it nearly killed me…" Stay awake, Goku. Have to get those Dragon Balls. Stay awake. Stay… He made it three steps before falling unconscious next to his defeated foe, the city falling silent but for the flicker of dying fires.
Council of the Hakaishin…
"I hope you have a damn good reason for all this, Priest," the Pilot grumbled, settling into her chair. Bills nodded, doing his best to remember Whis' file.
The Pilot. God of the Tenth Universe. In love with the concept of speed. She drives from one end of the Tenth Universe to the other in progressively larger, faster and more outrageous magically-powered vehicles, and when called on to destroy a world as part of her duty she simply rams straight through it in her latest contraption.
Whis had even included Bills himself in the file, under "The Priest"-named for his peculiar dress sense; true names had power in the hands of another divine being, so each Hakaishin went by a pseudonym among their kin, which each had to come up with themselves. Some were imaginative enough to come up with something impressive, others not so much, which lead to some rather unthreatening titles. Who, Bills sometimes wondered, would cower before a god who went by 'The Fisherman?'
Anyway, Whis had filed Bills supposedly for completeness, but Bills suspected it was more just to annoy him. He rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the Pilot. "Trust me, I know how annoying it is to be dragged out here at all. This is serious."
"If you say so."
"Go easy on him, Pilot," the god seated next to Bills said lazily-the Hunter.
The Hunter. God of the Fourth Universe. This one's an old friend of yours, Lord Bills; I hardly need to jog your memory here, I hope. So much for completeness.
The Hunter-his rough outfit of animal furs a sharp contrast to the Pilot's large goggles, bomber jacket and grease-stained flight suit-was currently making an inordinate effort to appear relaxed, to the point where he was so sprawled he was practically upside-down in his chair. "Don't worry about old Priest here… he's hardly ever serious, but when he is, he means it."
"If you say so," the Pilot repeated, sighing. "Just how long is he going to keep us waiting?" Indeed, one space, a larger and more ornate seat than the rest, was conspicuously empty, as several of the Hakaishin were beginning to mumble.
After a few more minutes of idle bickering and empty small talk, the Knight, the armoured god of the Third Universe, stood, clearing his throat. "I have received word," he declared, tapping his head and indicating a telepathic message. "The Red King will now join us."
Cadmus, 'the Red King' (he long ago revealed his true name as a display of his supreme confidence in his own power), was something vaguely approaching the leader of the Hakaishin; an actual ruler would not have been able to manage such individualistic and ill-tempered subjects. He had risen to this position of leadership partially through being joint in the running for strongest of the gods, but also because the others grudgingly had to admit that he was good at it. Management, counsel, wisdom; he excelled in these fields far beyond any of them.
When he strolled in through the arched doorway, he appeared as a great lion carrying a burning, miniature sun in his mouth, padding over to the still-standing Knight. Cadmus was a peculiar creature, and required a particular ritual to appear in his true form for an extended period of time. For this, he relied on his lieutenant, Mercury the Knight-the only other Hakaishin with a known true name among the others, the revelation of which was the requirement for his assuming the position of second in command; a sign of trust and assurance of loyalty. After another unseen signal, Mercury began the ritual-and in a move that would have shocked any who had not witnessed this process before, plunged his sword down into the lion's back, piercing through it and out of its body beneath.
Taking a step back, the Knight bowed, letting the rest of the ritual take place: The lion swallowed the sun in a quick gulp, even as its body began to turn into a formless mass of green liquid, starting from the point the sword had impaled and spreading outwards. Soon the creature had fully melted, and before long the sword too vanished into the seething puddle of primordial matter. A second or so later, a crowned head broke the surface, a humanoid figure slowly rising from the pool, the liquid swirling around him and vanishing, transfigured into the biomass that formed his body; a regally-robed man with a stern expression; the true form of the Red King.
Bills yawned. "Ah man, that takes forever…"
"Impressive-and kind of weird-the first time, a little repetitive since then," the Fisherman concurred.
The Fisherman. God of the Fifth Universe. Seriously, that's the name he chose. At least it seems accurate. That's pretty much all he does. Comes here much more often than the rest of you, often hangs around with the Dreamer. Extremely lazy. I have to wonder if he ever actually does his job…
Bills chuckled. "All you do is sit by a lake all day. I would've thought repetitive would be fine with you."
The Fisherman shrugged, but said nothing; the Red King had taken his seat, and was about to speak.
Eden Palace…
"Do you know why that attack failed to kill me?" Gaia Shenron asked. She waved the smoke trails away from herself, emerging completely unharmed. "It was an impressive attempt, I'll grant you. A perfect plan-to catch me off-guard, knock me off-balance, then hit me with your best shot at close range. But, of course, doomed to fail from the start."
"Damn it…" Eighteen growled. Her arms ached from the blow she'd struck; she got the sense her punch had hurt her more than it had hurt Gaia.
"Okay… I'll bite," Uub added, lowering his arms from the Kamehameha position, beads of sweat forming on his forehead-he'd put a lot of energy into that blast. "Why didn't it work?"
Gaia nodded. "Are you aware of the concept of mortal, demigod and divine ki?"
Goten blinked. "Huh… yeah… those are all the same words Gohan used… but Bills didn't tell him all of those… how come you know Gohan's word for it?"
"The one who created your universe took a few shortcuts," Gaia answered. "Certain concepts like that are subconsciously associated with those names in your brain, even before you're aware of them."
"How do you know all this?" Break demanded. Wait… she said Bills gave her that scar… "Hold on, don't tell me Bills created the universe? He's the God of Destruction, not creation!"
"That he is," Gaia replied. "The creator was not Bills. But back to my original point… you are, all of you, possessed of varying levels of mortal ki. We Shadow Dragons, on the other hand, have demigod ki-aside from Alpha Shenron, who is on the full divine level. And the level I've been fighting at up until now isn't even close to my full power. Do you understand now?"
"Hmm… quite a challenge," Eighteen conceded. "But there's something you should know… aside from me, none of these fighters have used their full power yet."
"Interesting." Gaia scanned the room. "Care to demonstrate?"
"Hell yes!" Goten stepped up. "Vegeta! Ready?"
"Of course." Vegeta positioned himself next to his ally. "Let's start straight in Super Saiyan 2, huh?"
"Right! Fuuu-"
"-sion-"
"-HA!"
The dance was performed perfectly-Gogeta, electric sparks flying through the air surrounding him, was formed in front of Gaia, the fused warrior looking serious for once. "And now, Shadow Dragon, here's the ass-kicking Goten promised you!" Wasting no time, he leapt, sliding a punch around Gaia's attempted block and snapping her head to the side before sidestepping her counter-punch, but she got her arm up in time to block his return strike.
He's matching me! She realised, parrying a few rapid kicks Gogeta threw as he broke off, jumping away. He actually already possesses some level of demigod ki! Did he awaken the Super Saiyans' hidden potential for it through an emotional crisis, like the other half-breed shortly before his ascension to godhood? No… it's their fusion technique that gives them their enormous strength. That's the most common way of achieving demigod ki, after all… simply pushing mortal ki past its limits and into that higher realm…
"Wow, Gogeta…" Break said, whistling. "That's some awesome power you've got there. You've really grown up."
"We don't have any time to waste," Gogeta replied sternly. "You guys go on through… I'll deal with this one and catch up."
"Quite the bold statement," Gaia taunted. "But my duty is to guard this level, and I won't just let-" Gogeta's hand shot up, and a constricting ring of ki formed around her, immobilising her.
"I can't keep this thing up forever!" he warned. "Go, now!"
"Right!" Uub gave a thumbs-up to Gogeta, before turning and running for the opposite end of the room alongside Eighteen and Break.
"You'd better win!" Eighteen warned as they passed through the small door.
Alone with his opponent, Gogeta grinned lopsidedly. "That won't be a problem."
Gaia merely narrowed her eyes-then was gone, leaving Gogeta's energy ring surrounding nothing but air. Gaia appeared a few metres behind Gogeta, fist raised. He dived forwards, avoiding the punch, and rolled to his feet, delivering a back kick as he spun to face her. She ducked backwards under it, throwing a close-range energy blast, which he deflected away into the ceiling.
"Huh… huh…" he breathed, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Pretty good."
"You too," Gaia replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to kill you."
"You're going to try."
Gaia said nothing, merely raised her hand. There was no energy build-up; with frightening speed, a pure-white energy bolt emerged, rocketing forwards. Gogeta twitched to the side, watching it pass millimetres from his face, then continue on past him, detonating against the seemingly-indestructible wall behind and throwing out a blast wave that almost knocked him flat. That was fast! He paused, suddenly recognising the unique energy signature and staring at Gaia with new respect. "Was that… a Spirit Bomb…?"
Chapter 3: Impure
Gojita tai Gaia-saisho no Taiketsu!
Beyond…
Paragus stood atop the tilted remnants of a tower, gazing out over a ruined landscape. He tapped his scouter, frowning. Broly's power level has disappeared completely! But so has the traitor's… one still remains. This could still get out of hand. Best to remain alert.
"Hey," a young voice said from behind him. He turned to see a small, long-haired saiyan warrior floating a few metres away.
"Raditz… can I help you?" Paragus asked, smiling unnervingly.
Raditz nodded. "Where's my brother?" No reply. "Surprised? I almost didn't remember. But Kakar… Goku is out there somewhere, isn't he?" His expression hardened. "I sensed him, and then I didn't… I think he's in trouble. Tell me where he is."
"Dead, I should imagine," Paragus said offhandedly. "And you will shortly join him… aiding and abetting, I believe the expression goes."
"Yeah, why do you want to kill us any-" Raditz got no further before Paragus took advantage of his momentary distraction, hand flying out and firing a focused green energy beam, the other joining it soon after as he followed up, launching a full-on volley that filled his entire front arc of vision with hissing beams and explosive detonations.
"Huh… huh…" he panted, flexing his fingers after the exertion. "Frontline combat may not be my forte anymore, but I cannot deny the thrill of battle."
"Same here. I'm gonna enjoy this." At the words, Paragus spun a half-circle, growling in frustration, swinging a punch straight into Raditz's face. The younger saiyan's scouter smashed, but he didn't flinch, Paragus' fist coming out of the impact worse than Raditz's cheek. "Don't you know it's rude not to answer a question?" Raditz soared upwards, angling himself towards Paragus and swooping back down.
"You can't defy us, you renegade!" Paragus shrieked. "You'll be slaughtered!"
"Not by you!" Raditz declared, coming down leg-first and kicking Paragus straight down through the crumbling tower, bringing the entire thing down on top of him and burying the old warrior beneath the rubble. "Right…" Raditz took a deep breath, taking stock of the situation as he hung in the air. "First, find Goku. Second, try and get my memory back, figure out what's going on around here." Heh… funny. I just remembered how to use a scouter. And that guy just broke it. Whatever, I remembered natural ki sensing a few minutes ago, so it doesn't matter. "Ah!" Speaking of which-Goku! There he is-he's alive, just barely! "Hold on… !" He gathered up his power, speeding off through the air towards his little brother's faint life signal.
Eden Palace…
Gaia closed her hand. "Yes, my technique does work on a similar principle to the Spirit Bomb you know. I can draw on the energy of any planet in the universe, concentrating it into a single attack."
"That so?" Gogeta grinned lopsidedly. "Then I've got nothing to worry about! The strongest Spirit Bomb I've ever seen was barely enough to kill Majin Buu, and I'm a lot stronger than he ever was!"
"If you say so."
Gogeta's reply was non-verbal; he sprinted back at Gaia, throwing a high jab. She dodged left, countering with an elbow swung at his ribs. He blocked, but the movement left his abdomen undefended, and her other arm shot out, tapping his stomach and releasing another Spirit Bomb-like blast at close range.
The impact hurled him into the air, knocking him flat on his back. He raised his head, hissing. "The… hell?"
"Perhaps I neglected to mention…" Gaia replied sweetly, "I am not limited to one planet per blast. As you may have observed, my attacks are far superior to any Spirit Bomb you may have encountered. In addition… I do not have to obtain permission to take more than a small amount of energy-I can take as much as I like from them, unwillingly, unwittingly even."
"W… What? Damn…" Gogeta growled, pulling himself up.
"Yes, a truly magnificent concept. Of course, I have always found more delight in the works of creation than destruction… the Tree of Might, for instance, that was a project of mine… not to mention the dragon-callers-this universe's breed call themselves Namekians."
Gogeta froze, taking this in. "… what are you saying…?"
Gaia frowned. "I told you I was our scout, simpleton. I planted the first Tree of Might, to increase the average energy level of this universe's fighters-the Eternal subsists on your collective energy, you see."
"I think I can guess the other…" Gogeta replied. "That's why the Dragon Balls work that way… you made it instinctive for the Namekians to create them, and they build up the negative energy you need… I always thought it was kinda weird how plant-like they were. Do they know?"
Gaia laughed. "No, of course not. As you said, it was merely their instinct to create Dragon Balls, just as I designed them. But enough of that… how would you like some more of these?" She formed another pair of 'Spirit Bombs', one hovering above each hand.
Damn… and since it's not her energy, it doesn't tire her out at all… hell, the universe is a big place, she's not gonna run out of planets either… He gritted his teeth. Nothing for it, I guess… "Hyaaa!" He ran back in, jumping over one as it skimmed the ground beneath him, but midway through his arc he took a direct hit to the face from the other, flying back into the wall and sliding painfully to the floor. "… ow."
Gaia grinned, advancing and firing up another pair. "It may not have occurred to your one-track mind, but some fighters would be wondering why these attacks are hurting them, right about now. After all, the Spirit Bomb doesn't harm 'the good guys', right?"
"Evidently not…" Gogeta muttered, spitting blood.
"Well, it's simple. You're far from 'pure of heart', which is the real immunity." Gaia chuckled darkly. "You're arrogant, impulsive, short-tempered, slightly selfish, and right now you're motivated to fight me more by vengeful anger than any selfless heroism."
"So I'm kind of an asshole, I know that." Gogeta stood, supporting himself on the wall. "Isn't everybody sometimes?"
"In fact, in case you now try and change your mindset thanks to that warning, let's see if we can keep you running on anger." Gaia nodded towards her twin gently-humming energy spheres. "As I said, I can pull just about as much energy as I like, though I can't drain all of it-it doesn't directly kill anyone. Most of them are just passed out."
"Directly… hold up." Gogeta pushed off the wall, standing up straight. "You're telling me you knock out the population of several planets to make one of those things?" His eyes narrowed. "What about people driving? Pilots making dangerous landings? Doctors doing heart surgery? People, I don't know, climbing tall stuff?"
Gaia shrugged. "To use an expression from your planet's vernacular… sucks to be them."
Gogeta's face froze. "And you've made six of 'em so far…" He was trembling slightly. "That's a lot of people you've killed… they can't come back now." He was running again, leaving a burning trail in his wake as he powered forwards.
That's it! Rush in blindly, amplify your impure emotions! Gaia flung her pair of attacks at him, both striking him head-on and eliciting a scream of pain, silhouetting his outline in the midst of a pure white, noiseless explosion. She took a step back, taking a brief pause for breath, but in that small moment Gogeta burst through the wall of brilliant energy, rage in his eyes, throwing all his strength into an uppercut that catapulted Gaia into the high ceiling. "Hyaaaa!"
He skidded to a halt, fist held high, eyes closed, as she landed in a heap behind him, the light from her attacks fading. "Well done," he said slowly. "You made me mad again. But I think it backfired."
"Ugh…" Gaia picked herself up, wiping blood from her face. "Don't lecture me, child, I've heard it before. You're going to 'kick my ass', right?"
"Don't be stupid." In an instant, he was there, hammering on her defences with newfound speed. " I'm gonna kill you !" She retreated, blocking as best she could under the onslaught. His power and speed… increasing fast! Perhaps affecting his emotions like this was a bad idea… She let out a panicked cry as a rising kick got under her guard, striking her chin and sending her hurtling away in a series of involuntary backflips. She managed to regain her balance just before impact with the ground, breaking her fall and letting out a ragged breath. "Impressive… Super Saiyan. But!" She put on a burst of speed, materialising behind him. "I have analysed your reactions to minor environmental stimuli, and come to conclusion-you cannot hear! I can assume you were lip-reading before…" And since he cannot see me now, and I have hidden my energy for this attack, he has no way of guessing where I'm coming from!
She leapt at him from behind, flattened hand scything towards his neck. However, he turned on the spot, planting a foot in her face and deflecting her charge. "Gah!" she hissed. "But… I definitely…"
"Yeah, well noticed," Gogeta said condescendingly, shaking his head. "But seems you missed a trick. Training my body to pick up on vibrations in the air, which after all is what sound is… well, it's as hard as it sounds, but when you can jump into space, 'impossible' kind of starts to lose its meaning. Anyway, that better not be all you got." He smacked a fist into his open hand. "I'm just getting started."
"As am I." Gaia rolled her shoulders, eyes flashing. "I must say, you surprise me. What I was using against you before your fusion was the tiniest fraction of my power… now, you've managed to get me up to about 50 percent. That's a rare feat."
"F-Fifty?!" Gogeta exclaimed. "Only that?"
"Well, it now seems even that isn't adequate. So I'll skip the time-honoured slow power-up by degrees and show you my full power right now. It's the least you deserve for your tenacity."
Gogeta grimaced. "Oh, don't strain yourself on my account. Go ahead, stay at 50, I don't mind."
Capsule Corporation…
Bulma did another circuit of the room, stopping at the end to look down at her left hand, then glaring at it until it stopped shaking. It's okay. They'll be fine. We're not gonna lose anybody.
"Uh… you okay?" Bulma looked over her shoulder, seeing Pan in the doorway.
"Hey. Don't tell me it's already over."
Pan shook her head. "They're fighting right now. But I… need to get stronger, and fast."
"Raditz's moon thingy," Bulma replied, understanding. "You sure? That's a bit drastic…"
"I really don't have much choice. Raditz is gone… Goku and Gohan too."
Bulma froze. "Gone? You don't… gone ?"
"Not dead!" Pan blurted out, seeing the panic rising. "I don't think so, anyway. I mean, they've been thrown out of the universe, but… well, you know, it's them, right?"
"R-Right…" Bulma nodded, sniffing. "So. Um. The machine."
"Yeah, that'd be good."
A few minutes of rummaging in various drawers produced the correct capsule, and Pan took it hurriedly, jogging outside and popping it open, producing a table-sized, box-shaped apparatus on stubby legs, with something quite like a spotlight mounted on the top.
"Ehm, is this safe?" Pan asked, pointing nervously as the machine hummed and sputtered to life.
"Oh, perfectly," Bulma answered, strolling out after her. "I mean, Raditz exposed himself to it five times, and it only exploded once. Don't worry, I think I fixed that bug." Her finger hovered over a small black switch. "Last chance; are you sure about this? You'll have to focus your mind entirely on who you are. Fix it in your mind's eye, don't let go of you . Memories, emotions, the whole deal. And then you'll have to tap into that kinda-Super-Saiyan power of yours."
Pan smiled weakly. "Well, uh… sure, that can't be too hard… I… hmm. I… yeah. Turn it on." She breathed in deeply, tail coiling nervously around her right leg, shivering slightly. Here's something else I used to get told bedtime stories about… I'm about to become a monster. Agh, Raditz was a good few years older than I am now when he first came to Earth, and he still couldn't control it… no, c'mon, I can't think like that!
Cell wasn't a threat to the whole planet, not with people like my dad around. This time, it's for real. And I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure we don't lose anyone this time.
"Well, here goes," Bulma whispered, flicking the switch.
Other than the spotlight flickering on and bathing her in an ethereal glow, there wasn't any kind of noticeable effect at first. Certainly, she didn't feel any different.
Then.
Then .
It came in waves, to start with, a tiny vibration washing over her. Her body shuddered every couple of seconds. Objects around her grew slightly smaller with each wave. A red tinge descended over the world. She felt an ache, a tugging in her jaw, and a prickling sensation spread over her skin.
Bulma, soon flanked by her family as they rushed outside to see the source of the disturbance, took a few steps back as any recognisable semblance of Pan vanished, a nightmarish beast emerging, low growl growing louder as it became ever larger.
Bulma positioned herself next to the machine as the Oozaru, now at its full building-dwarfing size, took in its surroundings, making sure she was ready to switch off the 'moonlight' if Pan couldn't control it in time. "C'mon… keep your head, Pan…"
Pain
Light
Light too bright wrong too much
Kill anger crush destroy kill
- no.
These… instincts… are overpowering. Designed to override any rational thought… because this is what a saiyan does when they want to exterminate everything.
But I have something… stronger than instinct.
You, Beast, you have no 'why'. Just 'do'.
And right now you'd better believe I have something to fight for.
The Oozaru fell to one knee, bracing itself on the ground with its left tree-trunk arm while clutching its head in its right. It breathed heavily, eyes screwed shut. When it opened them, something had changed in the savage face.
"… Pan?" Trunks asked hesitantly.
The growl rolled out again. "Grrrhhhlll… innnnnn… connnntrrolllll."
Zarbon made out the words, smiling with relief. "Looks like she managed it… what willpower!" She really has grown up… she's starting to remind me of her grandfather when I first met him.
"Yeah… what happened to the others must really have driven her…" Bulma concurred. "That girl has an iron core." Of course, now comes the hardest part. "Whenever you're ready!" she called up to the Oozaru.
A slow nod, then a narrowing of the eyes. Muscles the size of sixteen-wheelers bunched and rippled beneath the creature's fur. Its fangs ground together, its tail lashing back and forth, accidentally uprooting trees as it passed. Its feet dug into the ground, ki rising still further.
It threw its head back and let out a full-on roar, a wave of golden energy sweeping up from the ground and engulfing it, blazing around its gigantic frame.
No
Too much
Kill
NO
Kill
"She's losing it!" Bra warned.
"The machine!" Zarbon shouted.
Bulma hesitated. "Are… you sure? We might not have given her enough time-" The yellow-furred thing that had been Pan opened its mouth, a glow building within, signifying a readying energy blast that would irrevocably wipe out thousands of people. "Never mind," Bulma grunted, hastily shutting off the machine.
The beast froze, shivering slightly as its supply of moonlight was abruptly cut off. The body-warping transformation instantly began to reverse, the shift back to human form even quicker than the previous change. Zarbon became a blur of movement, reappearing with a bedsheet in hand in under a second and draping it over Pan's now-naked body as she hit the ground, quicker even than everyone else was in averting their eyes.
She sat up a few seconds later, pulling the sheet up around herself and sighing. "Damn… I couldn't… it was too much when I combined 'em…" That mind… that hatred… it's so old, so vast, runs so deep I can barely even comprehend it…
"Hey, you did great," Bulma assured her. "I mean, even controlling Oozaru at all on the first try is something to be proud of, from what I've heard. You want to try again?"
Pan shook her head. "No point. Wouldn't go any different. It's too strong… I'd need years of practice."
"And the Time Chamber hasn't worked properly since Buu…" Bulma muttered.
"It's okay. Just get me some new clothes… I'll fight with whatever power I have." She looked up towards the darkening sky. "In all the fights I've been in, I don't think I've ever hit my limit. Maybe I can surprise myself."
Eden Palace…
Gaia's entire body structure shifted as her energy began to climb. First, the patchy black and white colouration mixed into a uniform grey, and the claws on her hands and feet became more pronounced. Her hair twisted together into a row of spines that ran down her back onto the newly-grown tail. A pair of scaled wings burst outwards from her back, and most disturbingly of all, two more pairs of arms melted out from her shoulders, making six in total.
Gogeta took a step back, a nervous gulp escaping involuntarily. "Uh…" She wasn't bluffing about her power… it really has doubled! Not good…
All six hands spread out, a shimmering 'Spirit Bomb' forming above each one.
"Oh, come on," Gogeta moaned.
"Well, now," Gaia said, a thousand voices in chorus, "shall we continue?"
Chapter 4: Limit Break
Yokishinai tsuyosa! Uisu takatai ni sanka!
Council of the Hakaishin…
"These Shadow Dragons," Bills was saying, "represent a being called the Eternal. I know very little of it, but it plans to-hard to believe as this is-consume the Seventh Universe in its entirety. It will then move on to the rest if it, and its heralds, are not stopped." He paused, allowing this to sink in. "This is the point, I believe, where you all jump up and start shouting 'impossible!' and suchlike."
Cadmus, the Red King, shifted on his throne. His opening speech, before he had invited Bills to present his case, had been long-winded, verbose, and as usual his natural charisma had made them actually pay attention to what was objectively rather a dull speech. "Hardly. We appreciate, Priest, that you would not have called a council on a trifle. My only concern is that you may have exaggerated or misinterpreted the scale of the threat of these dragons of which you speak."
"This himself concurs," the Warrior added, in its strange mode of speaking. The Warrior, god of the Second Universe, was perhaps the most skilled fighter in existence, if not quite the most powerful. It was a marble-black being, with no discernible facial features, dressed in a contrasting white gi. "Of known beings, Hakaishin exist above. Requirement for combined power? Unlikely."
The Scholar, knowledge-seeking god of the Eleventh Universe, nodded. "Indeed," she said. "I have never, in all my analyses, encountered mention of a being even equal in power to one of us. And now you say we must all go? With no implication upon your honesty or your character, Seven, I must view this with suspicion."
"Not necessarily all," Bills countered, frowning. "But several, yes. I realise that it is a tall order."
"Perhaps if we knew more about the situation," the Knight offered. "We should conduct a full inquiry-"
"What we should do," Cadmus said sternly, "is wait for the Sorcerer to arrive. He is not usually late like this. And in addition to keeping him informed as a sign of respect, I value his counsel in grave matters such as this."
" Potentially grave," the Pilot mumbled.
"Will you stop?" The Hunter snapped.
Cadmus shot a glare at the pair of them, instantly quieting them. "That will be enough. Discussion and debate will continue, but for informative purposes only. No definitive action will be taken without the whole council present."
Whis, leaning against the doorway, watched the debate continue with growing weariness. This will not resolve fast enough. Bills is failing to impress on them the urgency of the situation-the Eternal could be summoned in a matter of hours. Not that they would listen in any case… and even assuming the Sorcerer arrives in any decent kind of time, which is looking increasingly unlikely.
He sighed, a terrible pained expression, as one who has carried a heavy weight for time immeasurable, passing over his face, and walked slowly out of the room.
Perhaps this was fated. It is my responsibility, and I cannot allow my friend to suffer for it.
Alone, then; alone, as before. If it is within my power, I shall end this at last. Whispering a few words into his staff, he left it propped up on a pillar, glowing gently, and made for the portal.
Three steps to the left of reality…
"… ku! Goku! You in there?"
Goku's eyes rolled open lazily, and he found himself looking up into the face of another saiyan warrior. This one called him by his real name, though, and didn't seem to be trying to kill him. He blinked, and then raised a shaky hand. "… Raditz?"
"Yeah. It's coming back, huh?"
"In pieces." Goku let his brother help him to his feet. "Where are we? Who are we?"
"Hoping you'd tell me. The second's sorta coming together, at least, but…" Raditz shrugged. "Got no clue on the first. You, uh… kind of made a mess of that guy."
"Huh?" Goku looked down over at Broly's unmoving body. "… oh. I, uh, did a bad thing…"
"Don't worry yourself. Not yet. This isn't over. Whatever 'this' is. What are we doing here?"
Goku held up the Dragon Ball he'd found. "Gotta get these. I'm pretty sure."
Raditz nodded, fishing a second out of his pocket. "Like this one? It was lying right by me when I woke up…"
"Awesome! Only five left, then… closest one's this way-"
"Goku!" Raditz tensed up. "You feel that?"
"Feel? I… oh, like… yeah, I sense 'em now. Two of them, headed for us."
Raditz sighed. "More saiyans that want to kill us, more than likely."
"Seems that way. Is there even anybody else around?"
The older saiyan shook his head. "Not that I've seen… I'm kind of getting the feeling this isn't gonna end 'till we've taken 'em all down. However many there are. Now, play dead."
Goku frowned. "What?"
"You heard me." Raditz hurriedly shoved his brother to the ground. "Don't get up! You're in no state to fight anyway. This way, if I lose, they'll leave you alone."
"No, I can-" Goku tried to sit up, winced as something twinged, accepted the older child's judgement and lay back, eyes closed.
Raditz stood his ground, facing away from the approaching power levels, fists clenched at his sides, waiting until the pair of saiyans landed behind him in a billowing wave of dust. "And how can I help you fine gentlemen?"
"Hmph. Paragus assured me he and his monster spawn could deal with the traitors," one of the new arrivals grumbled.
"Goes to show what happens when you rely on lowlife like them, your highness," the other offered.
The first- King Vegeta, Raditz thought, eventually recognising the voice-nodded. "Quite so, Nappa. But it seems they didn't fail entirely-the child prodigy is dead; only the weakling brother remains. Speaking of which…" The king glanced down at Raditz as he would a speck of dust on his shoe. "You have a choice. You may kill yourself, or I shall have Nappa do it for you."
"I…" Raditz growled, voice trembling. "I-I'm…" Even speaking to his former ruler in such a manner had a mental block attached to it, instinct screaming at him to be subservient-but a stronger drive was overpowering them. A reaction to an old fear. "I'm not weak."
"If you say so!" Nappa laughed. "Have you made your choice?"
Raditz appeared directly in front of Nappa, fist swinging. "You tell me!"
Nappa sneered, jumping back and delivering a kick to the young saiyan's stomach in the same instant, knocking Raditz to the ground and skidding to a halt himself. A second later, though, Nappa took a staggering step backwards, blood pouring from his nose. "Graah!" he grunted, shaking his head. Wh-when'd he hit me…? Don't tell me that punch connected faster than I could follow… !
His eyes opened wide as he heard movement behind him, turning to see Raditz flying at him foot-first, but his attacker was jerked to a halt as King Vegeta's hand closed around his ankle, dragging him away and straight into the path of Nappa's descending elbow. Raditz cried out as he was released, hitting the floor again. Both of his enemies fired blasts at him in an attempt to finish him while he was down, and he kicked off the ground, blown back by the shockwave as he barely avoided them; however, Nappa was behind him again, grabbing hold of his neck and waist, then smashing Raditz's small body down onto his hugely-muscled knee, wrenching his back.
Nappa stepped back, letting Raditz fall once more, groaning and not rising this time. "Heh. Thanks for the help."
"Tch. Couldn't even finish one low-class on your own…" the king chided. He dusted off his hands, as if trying to forget that they had touched a commoner. "You may perform the execution, Nappa. I have no more time for this trash."
"Tough."
The saiyan ruler turned at the voice, seeing the other saiyan child on his feet. "Kakarot… alive?"
"Broly screwed up, like you said," Goku panted, wobbling slightly and rubbing his eyes. Damn, not good… too soon after the last fight, I can hardly walk… "Now… step away from my brother."
Eighteen reached the top of the long spiral staircase that had lead up from Eden Palace, flinging open the door before her and stepping through, Uub and Break close behind. They came to an abrupt halt, however, upon seeing what lay on the other side.
"Well… this is pleasant," Break observed.
"I would've gone with 'hell on Earth', but I guess 'pleasant' works too," Eighteen replied.
What lay before them was a scorched wasteland of blackened rock, crawling with streams of sluggishly-flowing lava. Geysers of fire erupted from the ground at random intervals. The sky was black with ash, the light of a red alien sun barely visible through it. A shower of meteors burning up in the atmosphere was just visible on the horizon.
"This is huge…" Uub whispered. "Are we even inside the tower anymore?"
"Good question." Eighteen surveyed the landscape. "There must be a way onwards somewhere."
"Indeed, an exit exists!" A deep voice boomed from above. The figure landed in front of them before they had time to look up-dressed in a cape and tunic, with messy hair and an expressionless steel mask obscuring his face. "And you will learn of its location, should you defeat the Shadow Dragons that inhabit this level-Inferno Gauntlet!"
Break edged sideways as the group spread out. "Wait, 'Shadow Dragons'? There's more than one here?"
The Shadow Dragon nodded. "Quite so. But they do not concern you-for you will meet your end at the hands of Hades Shenron!"
Eden Palace…
Gogeta gave a start as Gaia vanished from his sight. Where- His first guess would have behind 'behind me', and he would have been right, but he wasn't fast enough; the six spheres of Genki in her hands hit him all at once, drawing a pained hiss and driving him to his knees. He spun, lashing out with a backhand, but hit nothing. He jumped to his feet, spotting her touching down by the wall and running for her, but she continued her retreat around the spacious greenery, never letting him get into melee range.
"Fine!" he grunted, pulling his ki to the surface. "Guess I'll attack at range too, then!" He dug his heels into the ground, bringing his hands up in a smooth movement from his side to out in front, unleashing a ki wave of his own. "FINAL KAMEHAMEHA!"
Gaia came to a halt, flexing her six arms and forming a cross-armed shield in front of her face, taking the beam attack head-on, letting it burn out on her forearms. "Grrrh… not bad. But!" She leapt back at him, swinging a punch while simultaneously deflecting his desperate counterattacks. It took him in the face, throwing him back into the wall, and she followed up with a continuous barrage of 'Spirit Bombs'. "How do you like this, saiyan?" she laughed. "This will finish it! You can't survive this many direct hits!"
"Kyaaaah!" Gogeta's body spasmed as he was hammered by the onslaught of energy spheres. Once all resistance had gone completely out of him, Gaia lowered her six steaming hands, smiling as he slumped lifelessly to the floor, body blackened with ash.
"Tch." She grinned, turning away. "It was always foolish of a mortal to challenge us…"
"You wanna say that again?"
Gaia halted. Slowly, she looked back over her shoulder-Gogeta's aura hadn't vanished; in fact, his energy was rapidly restoring itself to its previous level. He stood easily, shaking himself like a dog, ash cascading off his body and revealing him to be almost completely uninjured.
"W… What…?" Gaia stood still for a moment, staring at him, dumbfounded. I'm sure those were all direct hits…
"You knew all along that there was a way I could beat you, right, Gaia?" Gogeta grinned. "Hypothetically, at least."
"Are you referring to a higher Super Saiyan level?" Gaia shrugged, a complicated movement with more than two arms involved. "Your half-hour fusion time is fast running out. If you had a stronger form, you would have assumed it long ago. Hypothetically, though… I assume you mean 'Super Saiyan 3'?"
"Maybe." Gogeta's ki was continuing to rise. "But then, transforming to the third level requires a massive amount of energy expended to initiate it. Especially for someone with my existing high level, I couldn't easily magnify my power like that. Believe me, I've tried a lot during my training. But… you made a mistake."
His power's risen past his previous maximum! Gaia realised. Where's this new strength coming from?
Gogeta's fists, trembling with power, raised slowly from his sides. "Maybe I'm arrogant, cocky, full of myself… but not when the lives of everyone I care about are on the line. My ego can go jump off a cliff right now. And as for angering me… there's a form of purity in rage, don't you think? And trust me, right now I'm pretty pissed off with you, and I'm not thinking of anything else. Attacks that don't hurt the 'pure of heart'… lesson one, don't use 'em on the 'good guys'."
"Im… possible…" Gaia whispered. "You repelled my attacks, while feigning your dropping power?!"
"Repelled? Give me some credit," Gogeta growled, aura growing further still. "Where do you think I got all this energy from? I absorbed them." He clapped his hands together in front of him, closing his eyes. "People of the universe… I thank you for your sacrifice. I promise you, it was not in vain. I'm going to kill the one who did this to you."
"Bastard!" Gaia snapped, drawing a trio of hands back. "You can't stop me from-"
"GYAAAAAAH-!" A vortex of supercharged air swept out from Gogeta's body. Jagged bolts of light erupted from his skin, his hair flowing out in the unnatural gale. "-AAAAHHH-" He began to be lit by an internal glow, his entire body blazing incandescent yellow. Streams of fire poured out along the ground, carving barren tracks through the thick foliage and leaping up low-hanging creepers, bringing whole sections of burning greenery crashing down from the ceiling around them, the air between the two fighters warping and cracking under the strain of Gogeta's sharply-climbing ki. "-HAAAAAA!"
"H… He is… pure of heart, after all," Gaia said softly, as one who has experienced a great revelation. "… pure anger… I have never seen such a thing… what a warrior."
Gogeta lowered his head, closing his aching jaw and breathing heavily. There was pain elsewhere; the back of his head, as if something had been pulled down and stretched out of his scalp, which in fact it had. His forehead's unfamiliar shape hurt, too. "See? Like I told you… Super Saiyan 3… needs a lot of energy. Thanks for giving it to me, but… you've killed too many already. I'm not gonna let you form that attack again." Plus… energy's burning at an insane rate, and this form's gotta cut down on fusion time… I'll finish this with one attack.
Gaia nodded. "That technique would be useless against you, anyway; it has been all along. But I shall still fight." They charged, making straight for each other over the scorched meadow, limbs drawing back to strike. Gogeta's enraged face seemed to grow in Gaia's field of vision as they neared each other, strained features almost becoming purely Goten for a moment. "For my father-my brother-and all those others out there you've taken!"
Several impacts sounded at once as they made contact, striking surfaces colliding with targets in rapid succession. Gaia's arms shivered; all six had collided with various points on Gogeta's body, to little effect, and all now dropped limply to her side, fingers broken. One of Gogeta's arms was held back away from Gaia, the other was extended, fist in contact with her forehead. As he held it there, a trickle of blood rolled down from the point of impact, spreading down over her face. Her good eye rolled back into her head, and she keeled over, collapsing in a sprawled heap.
Gogeta fell to his knees, feeling his new power rapidly leaving him. Suppose it was never mine, anyway… "Th-Thank you… everyone… I'm sorry I was too weak… you shouldn't have had to die… !" With a final gasp, he defused, Goten and Vegeta slumping to the ground opposite each other, panting for breath.
"It's… done…" Vegeta Jr. breathed.
Goten nodded wearily. "Yeah… hope everybody's… all right…"
Outside…
Whis strolled up to the Shadow Dragons' imposing tower, craning his neck to peer up towards the top. "Well, this is a nice set-up they've got here. I suppose the least I can do is step in and say hello."
On top of the tower, Alpha stirred in her seat, noticing a familiar presence. "No, that can't be… not now, with the Eternal so close… he should be moving on, starting over, doing his job." She stood up, pacing carefully over to the edge of the tower. "What the hell is the Creator doing here ?"
Chapter 5: Notice of Resignation
Hadesu! Muteki no ryū!
Whis slowly rose from the ground, gaining speed and floating level with the top of the tower, before landing gracefully on the roof.
Alpha Shenron was standing a few feet away, arms folded, scowling at him. "You could have at least made it look like dispelling those barriers was an effort for you. They're supposed to stop anyone getting up here without passing through the whole tower."
Whis smiled sweetly. "Please. The counterspell was simple beyond belief. You should try harder with these things."
"It's not like I was expecting you," she grumbled. "What are you doing here, anyway?" She grew serious, turning to face him fully. "The Kaioshin create worlds. The Hakaishin destroy them. Equally, just as you create these universes, the Eternal consumes them. The balance is maintained." She took a step towards him. "You should not be here so close to the end. It's been too long since you've done your job."
"Maybe I've hung around in one universe too long," Whis offered. "Maybe I've gotten… attached to this one." His smile faded. "Besides… this 'balance' you speak of… what's so great about it? If the Eternal was stopped from destroying universes, I wouldn't have to create them. And that way, countless living beings wouldn't have to perish."
Alpha snorted. "You're a fool. It doesn't matter whether you care about them or not-it is for this reason that the Hakaishin are stronger than the Kaioshin-that the Eternal is stronger than you! The destroyer dare not harm the creator, or it will have nothing left to destroy-and the creator doesn't have the power to overcome the destroyer! This is a cycle you can't break!"
Whis sighed. "Well, true, the Eternal is a far greater being than I am… but I don't have to kill it, do I? Just you."
"You really intend to fight me? Over this ?" She got no response, so threw off her jacket, dropping into a ready stance. "You've lost your mind. Very well-I'll beat you to within an inch of your life, and maybe then you'll realise you have no choice in your duties." Her eyes blazed red. "Come at me, Wistarion!"
The flamboyantly-dressed deity's eyes flicked left and right. This is indeed what was prophesied back then… the build-up of negative energy, 'the Shadow'… Alpha Shenron, 'the First'… and, of course, 'the Eternal'. Well, enough of that now. He whipped off the outer layer of his elaborate outfit, revealing a sleek red undersuit. A quick shake of his head took the rigidity out of his hair, bringing it flowing down over his shoulders. He kicked off the clownish black extensions to his shoes, leaving on the more sensibly-sized white beneath. Finally, the odd blue halo-like ring hovering around his neck blinked out of existence. All in all, he looked a completely changed being. "Wistarion… aah, it has been some time since I have been called by that name."
"Your little Hakaishin friend doesn't know?"
"All he knows is that I am something greater than him. Now… prepare yourself." Whis-or Wistarion-raised one arm to head-height, keeping the other hand clenched into a fist at his side. "Do not make the mistake of assuming that I am out of practice."
Inferno Gauntlet…
"Let's not waste any time talking," Break said, rapidly cycling upwards through her transformations to Super Saiyan 3. "And full power, this time."
"Gotcha." Uub powered up as well, his ki rising steadily until it matched Break's.
"Hey, you're at my level now?" Break grinned. "Nice work, kid."
"Kid? I'm twenty, thanks." His eyes narrowed. "And sorry, but I gotta overtake you now. KAIOKEN!"
Eighteen took a step backwards, shielding her face from the twin explosions of energy in front of her. Will this… be enough?
Hades Shenron didn't move, his expression behind the mask impossible to guess. "Well, come on then."
"All right!" Break made the first move, but she was barely half a step into her attack when Hades was among them, cloak swirling into her face as he dashed past her, throwing a punch into the side of Uub's face and launching him away into the air.
He went for the strongest first, of course… Eighteen brought an energy blast up while Hades' arm was still extended, hoping to catch him off-guard; his speed increased again, however, and he ducked backwards, flipping away to also avoid Break's attempt to kick his legs out from under him. He landed behind Break, grabbing her head as she was straightening up and throwing her upwards, before hurling her back with a casual, one-handed kiai . Eighteen fired again, this time at the ground at Hades' feet, throwing up a cloud of dust and rubble, then punched where she'd last seen him-but he was already behind her, flicking an energy bullet into the small of her back and sending her sprawling.
"Tch!" He grunted. "You fools with mortal power… coming at me with something pitiful like that…"
Uub blurred into view behind him, swinging both hands down, and Hades thrust an elbow backwards, driving the wind out of Uub before his own attack could connect. Stepping away from his coughing, shaking opponent, Hades sighed. "Really… this won't even entertain me for very long."
"Damn it…" Break stood, already sweating profusely in the unnatural heat. "He might really be even stronger than Gaia, like she said…"
"Heh. She does like to exaggerate," Hades chuckled. "While the strength of the Shadow Dragons generally increases as you climb the tower, personally I'd say my power is roughly equal to Gaia's. But, trust me… power isn't everything. She, or indeed you, couldn't defeat me no matter how strong you were. Not if you had a thousand years."
"Hey, what'd I say?" Break growled, charging up a two-handed energy blast over her head. "We don't have time to waste talking to you!" Yelling with the effort, she fired, the backblast carving out a mile-long trench in the blackened rock behind her.
Hades' voice continued to speak, now from directly behind her head. "Is that so," he whispered. "Well, if you say so." His hand drew back to strike again.
In the vicinity of the square root of -1'th dimension…
"Hmph," King Vegeta snarled, "Broly didn't kill either of them."
"Him and his father always were unreliable…" Nappa agreed.
Goku took another unsteady step. "Look, I'm a bit tired to run at you or anything, so why'nt you come to me, 'kay?"
"Nappa, dispose of this trash already," the king grumbled, turning away. "I have sullied my noble hands enough with his pathetic brother."
"It'll be over real quick, don't worry." Nappa cracked his knuckles, grinning sadistically. He lumbered towards Goku, swinging a fist down at the cracked ground. Goku was already moving, however, springing up to head height and landing a kick to Nappa's chin. The giant saiyan staggered back, growling, and quickly recovered, a hammer fist knocking Goku to his knees. Nappa struck again in quick succession, and Goku caught it two-handed, straining to hold the blow back. Argh… after Broly… barely got anything left… for this guy! If I was at full strength… He saw Nappa's other arm rising slowly. And it's taking both my hands just to hold back one… gotta do something, now!
"D-Didn't wanna use this again… Kaioken… !" Fire coursed through his tired limbs, and he threw Nappa's hand back with ease, performing another jump-kick and flooring the massive soldier, rendering him unconscious with a single strike. However, the red light almost immediately burned out, and he collapsed onto his face, holding in a scream.
King Vegeta turned, seeing both of them downed and rolling his eyes. "Oh, for-! Such an incompetent. I'll actually have to finish him off myself." He strolled over, forming a deep purple energy sphere and aiming it at Goku's head. "Goodbye, renegade."
It was at this point that a vicious blow took him in the stomach, doubling him over. This brought his head down into reach of the second, which snapped him back upright, giving him something of a concussion and sending him stumbling away, blood trailing from his mouth. Another impact took out his feet from under him, and then something hit his head again and everything went black.
Raditz stood over him, rubbing his bruised knuckles. "Don't fight so well when it's one-on-one, huh? Who did you say was weak again?"
Several miles away…
Bardock looked over to his prince, seated in midair. "Your scouter pick up the same thing as mine?"
"Indeed," Vegeta concurred, smiling unpleasantly. "Now all that's left is your squad, and myself. Which means, by the way, that killing them is now your job. I hope your feelings for your family won't interfere."
"Don't be ridiculous," Bardock said calmly, face turned away from Vegeta again so the prince wouldn't see the insincere look in his eyes as he said it. "Though I was under the impression that you wanted to fight them yourself. Or at least Kakarot."
"Well, look at it this way," Vegeta replied. "Either he'll become strong enough to interest me, and he'll kill you, and then I'll kill him. Or he won't, and you'll kill him, and I couldn't care less."
"Comforting thought," Bardock said, laughing softly. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'll do my best not to die."
"Of course you will." Vegeta waved an idle hand. "Well, be on your way. We mustn't let them get bored."
The battle between Wistarion, creator of the universe, and Alpha Shenron, chief herald of the Eternal, began on top of the Shadow Dragons' tower.
It did not stay there for long.
It was no ordinary battle; they were truly gods, after all. They circled the planet, appearing for brief moments in the sky all around the globe. When they clashed, those below saw merely sudden storms of lightning, heard thunderclaps that were audible for thousands of miles. Earthquakes were reported in several regions.
Fire filled the sky over one city. A strange pressure afflicted the inhabitants of another, causing them to bleed from the eyes and ears. A third almost froze as heat was sucked away from it, formed into a great burning lance that blazed out into the heavens. Lightspeed was a distant memory; they were breaking it with every movement, visible only as a series of uncoordinated flashes of random colour even to each other as the light rays hitting their bodies were smashed aside by their impossibly-fast attacks and manoeuvres.
Still the fighters rose higher, rapidly escaping the Earth's atmosphere and continuing their battle in the cold void of outer space. They were still in the planet's gravitational field, however, and after tens of thousands of attacks, when Alpha finally landed a solid hit, it was back towards Earth that Wistarion fell.
Propelled by her attack, he fell in a corona of flames, desperate to regain his balance, an enraged falling star. He stopped himself barely a mile from the Earth's surface, using his energy as a shield to cancel out a blast wave which would have caused unthinkable damage. He turned his head towards the heavens, seeing her following him, wreathed in a blaze of power, a malicious bolt of lightning on a collision course with him, or if he dodged, the Earth. So he braced himself to meet her charge, and an immeasurably-short instant of time later, the unstoppable force crashed head-on into the immovable object. They grappled with each other, each straining with the force to unmake countless worlds to get some advantage over the other.
"You're tiring too quickly," Alpha hissed. "When was the last time you fought a real battle? We make war as a way of life! You can't match my experience!"
"Experience? I am far older than you can comprehend, dragon."
"I thought age came with wisdom. You have strayed from your duty!"
"My duty is to these people now! And what will you do? Kill me?" Wistarion grinned. "Then who will make universes for your master to devour? The Eternal will starve without me!"
"There's a lot I can do to you…" Alpha growled, pulling her hands away and charging up energy blasts in both hands. "… short of killing you!" I can handle this one, hopefully. As for those in the tower… even if they defeated Gaia, I have no fear of them progressing any further. Of all of us Shadow Dragons, I consider only two to be truly invincible.
Hades is one of those two.
"Damn it…" Pan made another dive, snatching a pair of children out of the path of the onrushing waters. She set them down on higher ground, pausing to catch her breath. I was trying to get back to the tower… but something's causing all these natural disasters all over the place! I guess it's my grandfather's influence, but even though I know the whole universe it at stake, I can't just leave these people with all these earthquakes and floods going on… I guess I'm too much of a short-term thinker.
But still… what's happening up there? She turned at the sound of another collapsing building. "Give me a break…" Gritting her teeth, she ran off towards it.
Inferno Gauntlet…
Another explosion brought Hades Shenron's three opponents down once more. Uub rolled over onto his back, pushing himself off the ground, panting. Been pushing… Kaioken to the limit… still, nothing!
Hades looked on in surprise. "Why do you still get up? Have you learned nothing? Your power and speed can't do a thing to me!"
"Gonna… die anyway…" Break muttered, swaying to her feet. "…'F we keep fighting… a miracle or something might happen… better chance than sitting back and waiting for the end…"
"Huh. I'll never understand you lower beings." He sighed. "Perhaps I should show you the true futility of your efforts." Folding his arms, he approached them slowly. "You may all hit me, simultaneously, with your strongest attack. I'll even lower my power to its minimum, so your pathetic strength might actually damage me. What say you to that?"
"Well…" Eighteen answered, rising slowly. "If you're giving us this chance, I bet you've got some weird ability that'll let you survive… but it's a better shot than we've got so far, so what the hell."
"Excellent. Show me what your little power can do." Hades stood perfectly still, ki dropping almost to zero as promised.
"Go for it!" Uub yelled, burning his Kaioken to its maximum and bringing a full-power Kamehameha to bear. Next to him, Break and Eighteen also let fly their own charged-up beams. The three met in the air, mixing into a single, larger attack inches from Hades before violently colliding with him. He was instantly thrown back by the impact, body wracked and twisted with overwhelming force. When he hit the burned ground, he was half-disintegrated, large chunks of him blown completely away by their combined power.
Eighteen lowered her hands, blinking. "Okay… or not. Guess he was just dumb."
"Yeah, that would barely have scratched him if he hadn't lowered his power like that," Uub agreed.
However, their celebrations were, of course, premature. Almost immediately, wisps of black smoke erupted from the ground around Hades' unmoving body, enveloping him completely. A few short seconds later, he rose through the dark cloud, fully-reformed, power back to its previous, ridiculously high level. "There. You see? Futile. Even if I stand there and let you hit me, even if I lower my power completely, you can't defeat me."
"Meh," Break said.
"'Meh'?" Hades spluttered. "'Meh'? I just recovered from that, and all you have to say is ' meh '?!"
"Well, we've fought enemies that can regenerate before, is all," Break explained, smiling at him. "And Buu did it much quicker than you."
"Hah! Regeneration? Regeneration is nothing ." Hades indicated himself. "Death… the underworld… these are my domain. I cannot die . All I require is one evil soul from Hell to resurrect myself, even if my body is completely destroyed, no matter if not a single atom remains! That soul is then bound within my body, fuelling my continued existence." He laughed. "I don't actually have that many within me… it's not an ability I need to use very often, since most enemies I face are like you. Worthless."
Eighteen frowned. "Just felt like showing off today, eh?"
"This tower is an idea we only use occasionally, and when we do… it's not often that someone even manages to reach me. So I felt you deserved to at least know the full hopelessness of your battle."
"And Hell isn't exactly short on evil souls… not that we can really tag you when you're actually trying…" Break mumbled. "Great."
"How perceptive. But I think I'm almost done here." He raised one hand to the sky, the darkened red sky with its drunk-looking sun tracing its irregular circle about the horizon. Ripples of power expanded from his open hand, hurling his opponents away once again.
Hades lowered his hand, snorting. "Hah! Is that all this universe is capable of producing? I expected better."
"Aagh…" Uub sat up, wincing. "He's too much… there's no way… we can fight something like this…"
"Hey, now," a friendly voice said behind his ear. "I thought you were Goku's star pupil. I didn't think he taught his students to give up."
Uub looked back, mentally grinding to a halt as he saw the new arrival standing in the doorway. "Uh… Master… Roshi?"
The old martial arts teacher gave a cheery wave. "How's it going, everybody?"
Chapter 6: The Sins of the Father
Zenryoku Pawaa wo moyase! Taihen ippatsu shika shouri no Chansu!
"Well, I can understand if you're surprised," Roshi said jovially, stepping out of the doorway into the hellish landscape. "After all, it's been a while since I've been on the front lines."
"What are you planning to do, though?" Uub asked. "I mean, he's picking us apart. And no offence, but…"
Roshi nodded. "Oh, I know my power is pretty much zip compared to you guys'. Good thing I'm not planning on just hitting him, then, heh."
Eighteen approached, keeping a wary eye on Hades Shenron, who seemed content for the moment to watch events unfold. "The Mafuuba, right? The Evil Containment Wave?" Roshi fell silent, face unmoving.
"You can't!" Break protested. "You'll kill yourself-for good this time! Besides, he's way too powerful to be trapped by-"
"I am aware of the facts." Roshi sighed. "Trust me, I wouldn't turn up out of the blue just to use the Mafuuba on some opponent I knew nothing about, other than they're too strong for it to work." He began to circle the Shadow Dragon, keeping his gaze fixed on it. "But you're not an ordinary fighter, are you, 'dragon'?"
Hades turned around, directly between Roshi and the door now that the old master finally stopped pacing. "Ah, so you know of my power also? Good, then I need not demonstrate that I cannot be destroyed." He folded his arms. "Not that you could injure me no matter how much I lowered my ki with that pathetic strength of yours."
Uub frowned. Wait… Roshi's got him facing away… is this his plan or something? Distract it so we can attack from behind? Well… it's worth a shot, I guess… He clenched his fists, preparing to initiate the Kaioken. This might be my only shot… no choice but to push it higher… hope the strain isn't too much.
"HYAAA-!" Kicking off the ground, Uub launched himself at Hades, leaving a burning trail in his wake as he brought his leg down towards the Shadow Dragon's head. However, it jerked to a halt scant millimetres from its target, stopped dead by an invisible wall of force that then exploded outwards, catapulting Uub backwards.
Fool, Roshi thought. If that was all it would take to beat him, I wouldn't need to be here.
"That was very rude, mortal," Hades muttered. "I shall kill you first. Now, elder… do go on. How did you know of my powers?"
Roshi smiled. "My sister, the fortuneteller Baba, is the guide between the living world and the world of the dead. As soon as you manifested in this universe, she was able to detect the imbalance between the two realms caused by your very existence. She came straight to me and helped me identify your energy signature… looks like I got here just in time. I knew you couldn't be killed normally." He frowned. "What is your name?"
"Hades Shenron. You sound like you have a plan-do go on." Hades's laugh came tinny and hollow from behind the mask. "I do so love mortals and their plans ."
"Heh… I'll be brief. Don't want to bore you. The Mafuuba, or Evil Containment Wave, is a technique for sealing an evil being within a container-" He threw a capsule to the floor, opening it to reveal a decent-sized metal canister. "-such as this one. But if the being I'm trying to seal is strong enough-and you are, by a mile-they can easily resist it. Not to mention that sealing a being with this technique costs the user their own life."
"Continue, please," Hades chuckled. "But do try to get to the point. You wouldn't come all the way here just to tell me about a technique which, by your own admission, won't work on me."
"No, I would not." Roshi tapped the container with his foot. "But then, this is no ordinary container." He grinned. "My sister is, as I've said, responsible for the boundary between life and death, and her magical abilities are highly in-tune with it." He squared his shoulders, eyes narrowing. "What I'm going to seal isn't you, Hades-it's your link to Hell! Your ability to reform yourself will be lost!"
Hades froze. "What?!"
"My sister enchanted this container," Roshi explained. "It took a great deal of effort, but she poured all of her magical power into making it a channel that would redirect the Mafuuba to your link with Hell rather than your physical body. Unfortunately… doing this now will cost both her and myself our lives…"
"No!" Break called. "There's no coming back anymore! We can find another-"
"You've just been trying 'another way'," Roshi said firmly. "But I cannot win your battle for you. Hades will be killable, but still far stronger than you. Good luck. Hades Shenron!" He declared. "Prepare yoursel-"
There was a blur of movement, and a wet sliding sound. Roshi's voice stopped mid-sentence as his body was jerked upwards like a rag doll, Hades' arm thrust through his stomach. Streams of blood dripped down the Shadow Dragon's upraised arm, droplets splashing against the emotionless mask. "Like I said… I do love mortals and their little plans."
"ROSHI!" Break yelled, lunging but being instantly floored by another nonchalant blast.
"Honestly," Hades murmured, idly crushing the metal container beneath his clawed foot. "What made you think you could pull a technique like that off against an enemy so much faster than you? Really, this kind of lack of foresight is unbecoming of you. Age is supposed to bring wisdom, after all."
"Heh…" Roshi chuckled weakly. "Heh… heh…"
Hades paused. "What's funny?"
Roshi's form wavered, then in a small puff of smoke was replaced by that of a small humanoid pig in army fatigues. "… they all thought I was… a coward… funny thing…" Oolong choked, "…'till recently… so did I…" He slumped forwards, eyes closed, still impaled on the dragon's arm.
"What is this…?" Hades wondered aloud. "Was this thing imitating the old man all along? For what-"
"CHOU MAFUUBA!"
A wall of searing, pure-white light descended on Hades from behind, crashing into him, a typhoon of furious raw energy, burning every point on his body, the roar of power filling his ears and drowning out his own bellow of impotent fury as he was carried off into the far distance, still enveloped in the ferocious glow.
Master Roshi stood in the doorway, hands palm-down over a second metal canister. Sweat poured down his face. " This was the container enchanted by my sister. It is merely a channel… break it if you like, Hades, your power is gone now. Even the souls already in you… have been released." He gasped, falling to one knee.
Break rushed over to him, supporting the drained old man. "Stay with us! Stay with us."
"I'm… sorry…" he breathed. "Your task is still… difficult, but now… not… impossible." His eyes began to glaze over. "Heh… this is… the third time I've gone out this way… I guess… no more… safety net. You know, the hardest thing was… getting Oolong to… talk convincingly like me." I thought I'd be dead by now… oh, sister… you took so much of the strain to give me these minutes you knew I'd need to say my goodbyes. Thank you.
"Hold on!" Uub pleaded, rushing over with Eighteen close behind.
"I'm sorry I… had to involve him, but… little time… so little to work with… listen! Hades is… strong, but you are… the successors of… our hope. Your parents… your teachers… you can overcome anything… with the same spirit they always did." He shuddered. "I leave… the rest… to you."
"Don't…" Break trailed off. Don't leave us? What kind of stupid statement is that? It's not like he can help it. It's our fault… we couldn't handle it…
Uub stood up, silently turning to face the horizon, where he could feel Hades' ki recovering. "That took away his regeneration ability, but we still can't damage him at our current level," he said softly.
"We have to… !" Break growled. "We can't let all this be for nothing!"
"I know." Uub took a deep breath. "Roshi and Oolong… gave everything to give us one chance. I'm not about to waste it… let me handle this guy. I need to go at him… not holding anything back."
"You were holding back your power before?!" Eighteen asked with a start.
"No. I don't actually know if I can raise my power high enough, but… I was afraid the strain might be too much. It wasn't my body holding back, but my mind." Uub grew calm again, forcing himself to relax. "But I have to live up to their example… I'm not afraid to give it my all this time. Even if it kills me."
Break stood, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him back. "No, we can't lose anybody else! Not now!"
"There's no choice!" Uub insisted, pulling away. "If we lose, everyone dies. Now… Goku doesn't know I can do this… hell, I don't know if I can do this… I wasn't desperate enough at first, and then he showed us he was immortal, so trying it would have been pointless until now."
Eighteen took a wary step back. "What are you going to try?"
Suddenly, Uub tensed up. "He's coming back-"
Hades threw out a massive crater as he landed, clothes scorched and in disarray, aura blazing around him. "You've taken… my immortality!" he shrieked. "Unforgivable… UNFORGIVABLE! Well, it won't matter to you! You'll never be able to scratch me-especially not at my full power!" His outfit burst asunder as he suddenly put on another foot in height, mask melding with his face to form a leering, demonic liquid metal visage, bat-wings erupting from his back and unfolding. Shadows curled and twisted about his feet, light from the unnatural sun above glinting off razor-hooked claws.
"'Full power'…" Uub spat. "Stupid concept. I've been fighting at beyond my full power ever since I started using the Kaioken. Saying 'full power' is like admitting to your limits. And if Goku's taught me anything- never let your limits define you! HAAAAAA-"
"Huh?!" Break flinched away from the blistering red corona enveloping Uub's trembling form. This power… ! His scream continued to rise as his aura grew in intensity.
"-RRRRRGH…" Uub's eyes gleamed, focused totally on Hades, ignoring the critical stress his body was undergoing-blood dripped from his mouth, tiny cuts opened up on his straining muscles, scorch marks appeared where his own power burned its way into his skin. The entire landscape shook under the force of it, geysers of lava erupting around the group as Uub's still-building power warped the very earth beneath him.
"Do what you want!" Hades yelled, features twisting in rage. "There's no comparison between us!" He lunged, throwing a punch. Uub's hand shot up, catching it and just barely holding it back. Hades' eyes widened. Is this… it can't be… even for just a moment… this boy can't have achieved demigod ki?!
"Y-You're right," Uub hissed, holding in a mouthful of blood. Something inside was failing. "There's… no comparison… at all! HHHHHRRRR… SPIRIT…"
"No way!" Eighteen gasped.
"… KAIOKEN !" Uub smashed Hades' attack aside, becoming the centre of a column of living flame and barrelling into the Shadow Dragon, sending them both arcing through the sky, Hades' wings flailing in vain, before crashing back down to the ground. Uub thrust both hands into Hades' face and, screaming in pain and fury, poured wave after wave of energy into the roaring dragon, rending the metal from his face and obliterating the flesh beneath.
Uub fell back limply, flame extinguished, feeling organs rupture and muscles tear. "Roshi… Oolong… Baba. What you did-it wasn't for nothing."
"Uub!" Break was crouching over him, feeling for a pulse.
He weakly pushed her away. "You… gotta go. Don't have much time."
"But you-"
"I'll live." He smiled painfully. "Something like this… happened when I tried the Kaioken on Cell. Turns out I got more than just power from Buu…"
Break nodded, understanding. "Regeneration?"
"Sort of. I can't regrow limbs like he could or anything, I'm still killable, but internal damage like this… these little cuts… half an hour, an hour or two maybe, I'll be fine. Energy doesn't magically come back, though… I'll still be too tired to fight."
"I understand." She stood, turning to Eighteen. "Let's keep moving. He's right, we need to hurry."
The middle of Nowhere…
Raditz now held the Dragon Radar, marching along at a good pace and flicking his eyes from the device to the ruined landscape to make sure they were keeping to their course.
Goku, walking behind him, was humming a merry tune while juggling four Dragon Balls. "Man, we're getting close now," he said happily. "These last couple were easy…"
"Yeah," Raditz agreed. "Almost got to the fifth, it should be right up here… hey, are those glowing?"
Goku nodded enthusiastically, balancing them in a wobbling pile on one finger. "Yup! They like each other's company, I think. Y'think maybe they were lonely before?"
"Man, were you born this simple or-" Raditz fell silent suddenly, scanning the horizon. "There's… somebody strong around here. But I'm not sure… I can't get a fix on their energy for some reason."
Goku had already stowed away the Dragon Balls. "They're moving too fast," he deduced instantly. "Never stopping or going in a straight line for too long… pretty clever, and they must be tough to do it for this long without getting tired."
"Goku!" Raditz decided, edging backwards. "Let's get to the Dragon Ball now and get out of-"
"What, this?" A playful voice called from behind them. They swivelled, to see another armoured saiyan sitting atop a metal fence, holding up a Dragon Ball. "I just glanced at your detector thing as I ran by just now, led me right to it," she explained. "I guess these are important for something, right?"
So they don't know about the Dragon Balls… Raditz realised. Well, that's one advantage. "Who are you, anyway?"
"What a poor memory you've got," she smirked. "My name's Fasha-and your father sent me, thought you might like to know."
"You're part of his squad?" Raditz asked. "Come on, you at least have to help us! What's even going on around here?"
"Trust me, I am helping you. Now…" She stood up, yawning. "Try to keep up, kiddies. This is lesson one." With that, she took off in a burst of sound and fury, speeding off into the distance.
Raditz gasped involuntarily. So fast! I could barely even see-
"Sorry! Try and catch up!" Came Goku's voice as the younger sibling raced past Raditz, dumping the Dragon Balls at his feet and speeding away after Fasha. A few experimental leaps later, and based on his observations of the day so far, Goku managed to get the hang of sustained flight and soon found himself gaining ground.
He's fast… She observed, pulling a wide circle and landing in the middle of a dusty plain, waiting for Goku to hit the ground ungracefully opposite her.
"Gimme that Dragon Ball!" he demanded. "Sorry, but I can't mess around right now!"
"Heh…" She grinned. "This isn't messing around. At your current level, you'll never match Vegeta. If you can beat us, though…"
"Fine! If I gotta take you down too…" The young saiyan rushed in, leaping to the attack, but though her feet remained planted on the ground and her arms remained folded, something swiped out and smashed him across the face-her tail, he realised, as he rolled with the momentum, rising and stepping back in.
She casually dodged his punches, however, avoiding each attack with the tiniest of movements. "Really? That's all?"
Goku took a step back, frowning. "Something… doesn't add up…" He couldn't quite remember why, but something to do with the seemingly-relatively-small power difference between her and Broly just didn't seem right.
"You're right," she replied, "it doesn't. This place, this time, they aren't normal. But that's not important right now!" Her arm whipped out in an arc, an energy beam to the chest staggering him back and bringing him to his knees.
"H-Hey…" he coughed. "If you're s'posed to be making me stronger… how's killing me gonna help?"
"Because your true power shows itself in moments of desperation!" she answered, raining more painful blows down on his back and shoulders. "You're gonna have to learn that your physical condition means nothing if you can summon up enough ki!"
"Gah-!" he hissed, feeling himself about to collapse. "F-Fine, damn it…" Her next blow missed its mark, smashing a crater into the ground beneath, and Goku's foot planted itself in her face, throwing her back. She caught herself against the ground one-handed, springing to her feet and shaking her head to clear the dizziness. " That 's more like it," she said, grinning. That's the kind of power he needs…
He turned to face her, panting. "Yeah… I reckon a couple more like that'll take you down."
"Maybe." Without warning, her arm moved in a blur, and something flew out past Goku-the Dragon Ball, he realised as it passed him. He spun, diving for it, and in that instant an energy blast took him in the back, taking him down.
"Next lesson," Fasha growled. " Think . If you'd attacked me instead, you might've won, then you could've gone to collect the ball at your leisure." Seconds after these words left her mouth, her scouter registered a new power level approaching, and moments later Raditz landed in front of his younger brother, checking that Goku was merely unconscious before picking up the Dragon Ball. He stuffed it inside the same bag as the other four, then put them, along with the radar, by his sibling. "All right. You said you're 'helping us', right?"
"I'm making you stronger, yeah," Fasha replied. "I'm giving the two of you a crash course, let's say."
Raditz glanced back down at Goku, who was twitching slightly. "Oh, sure. He looks fantastic."
"He'll learn from this fight, and do better in his next. Besides, you know saiyans get stronger by coming back from the brink of death…" She launched herself at him, forcing him back with a relentless chain of physical attacks, one slipping through his defences every few seconds. He swung a counterattack, but she was seemingly-instantly a couple of feet to the right, yawning.
"Damn… so… if I fail this lesson of yours… what?" he spat.
"You die, obviously," she said, shrugging. "There'd be no point sparing you, since if you were that weak, Vegeta'd kill you anyway." She advanced, her fist coming down again and staggering him away. Huh… even knowing that, his strength hasn't improved. Maybe he really doesn't have the potential…
Raditz took another couple of stumbling steps backwards, still propelled by the momentum of the blow. "And… Goku?"
"Well, if you fail I suppose I'll kill him too," Fasha decided. "At least I'll make it quick." She was interrupted by an urgent beeping-her scouter registering a sudden increase. She began to back away, suddenly wary. Too late! She realised.
"Well, why didn't you say so?! " As she jumped, attempting to get out of range, a fist slammed upwards into her stomach, followed by an explosion of energy that hurled her up and away in a wide arc, eventually crashing back to the ground several miles away. "Ghhh… ahk…" she coughed, smiling slightly as blood pooled on the ground below her. There… you go… that's… what you needed.
Shortly…
Raditz held up his hand triumphantly, the results of a minute's rummaging in the dirt-the sixth Dragon Ball-gleaming out from between his fingers. "Heheh, only one left."
"Awesome!" Goku grinned. "Man, I'm really gettin' hungry…"
"Yeah, me too… well, anyway, last one's not too far from here… uh…" Raditz paused, tapping the radar. "It's, uh, getting closer. Pretty fast." I guess one of them has it…
Sure enough, a flying figure soon came into view, stopping a hundred or so metres overhead. Nodding to each other, the brothers flew up to meet them-and stopped in shock as soon as they saw their face.
"Yeah, I figured you'd at least remember me," Bardock said, grinning.
A long silence followed, finally broken by Goku slowly raising a hand to point at their father, frowning and declaring. "You… you're… yeah! You look just like me! That's kinda funny…"
Raditz kicked him. "That's our father, idiot!"
"Oww! Don't blame me, I never met him!" Goku whined.
Raditz blinked. "You didn't… no, now you mention it, I remember that…" he turned back to Bardock. "Dad, I…"
Bardock smiled warmly, holding up the final Dragon Ball. "I can tell you've both grown a lot today. Fasha did her job well, and I'm proud of all of you." His face fell. "But I'm afraid I have the same task as her-you're still not quite at the level you need to be."
Raditz held up his hands. "Eh? Don't tell me you're gonna fight us too, Dad?"
Bardock nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so… but it's essential you get stronger, and quickly!"
"A-All right." Goku sniffed, raising his fists. "I know what you're trying to do for us… and I'll do my best. Thank you."
Raditz smiled in assent. "Right… thank you."
"Then we'll fight for this." Bardock tossed the Dragon Ball high into the air. "Do me proud, my sons-now show me what y-" His eyes widened and a low gurgle escaped his mouth as a vivid purple energy beam pierced through his chest from behind, shattering his armour. "Aa… y-you… y…" Spasming, he lost the power to fly and plummeted to the ground.
Vegeta, shaking the smoke from his hand, floated up to them, smirking from ear to ear. Holding his hand up, he caught the Dragon Ball Bardock had thrown on its return journey. "I had a feeling he was trying to help you behind my back, you know… ah, well. I shall forever treasure the looks on your faces just now."
"Vegeta-you-!" Goku wailed, charging the prince. Vegeta merely chuckled, clenching his fists and grunting slightly as a new form of energy welled within him-then burst to the surface in a blaze of yellow. Goku paid this no heed, colliding with Vegeta with furious strength, hammering him with blows from all sides, with every limb, at every angle. A few seconds of this exhausted him and he drifted to a halt, panting; his opponent was unfazed, not harmed in the slightest. "You should pay attention, child. Attacks on that level are nothing to a Super Saiyan." A single elbow strike dropped Goku, sending him falling after his father. Raditz swept in, catching him two-handed and laying him gently down on the ground.
Vegeta touched down behind him, rolling his shoulders and 'flexing' his aura. "So you two are a disappointment, after all. Really, I can hardly believe my subordinates were defeated by the pair of you."
"And yet, you've made a mistake," Raditz said calmly, facing Vegeta with his eyes closed. "And it'll be your last."
"Oh?" Vegeta smirked down at the saiyan child. "And what might that be?"
"If you'd been paying attention you'd know…" A new aspect burst to life within Raditz's ki. "… it's dangerous… to jog my memory! " A surge of golden light filled his body, escaping from every pore and transforming him into a second Super Saiyan. "But you went ahead and reminded me this form existed."
A bolt of hurled ki to the chest slid Raditz back. Vegeta laughed, advancing. "You think you can defeat my experience with that newly-awakened power? It doesn't matter what you do, you'll never be adequate, Raditz!" He threw a direct punch at Raditz's head, aiming to take it off completely, but the other Super Saiyan twisted to the side at the last instant, receiving only a slice up the side of his face. In the same movement, he brought his leg up in a high kick at Vegeta, who span around it, bringing his knee up into Raditz's face and throwing him back through a building. "Heh. Still just low-class trash."
Raditz growled, hauling himself up and pushing chunks of rubble away. "'M not… weak…" Vegeta ran at him, and this time Raditz caught his leg, pushing him back and feinting with an uppercut. "I'm not! " Vegeta went to block it, realising his mistake too late and receiving an elbow to the face, nose breaking with a sickening-or satisfying, to Raditz-crunch. "Gyaaah!" he hissed. "I'll kill-" Raditz's offensive continued, and Vegeta was forced to back away, all his efforts focused on staving off the ceaseless attacks, the whole process accompanied by various unprintable threats and insults from the harried prince.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?!" Raditz snarled. "A good fight? Well, are you happy?"
"Bastarrrrrghk-!" Vegeta doubled over at another thunderous blow, swaying backwards a few steps.
Raditz held up one hand, holding the seventh Dragon Ball aloft. "Thank you for your co-operation."
"What…" Vegeta spluttered. "I had-When did you take-" A burst of ki took him off his feet, and he lay still, groaning.
Raditz sighed, letting the raging, burning power leave him, placing the Dragon Ball with the others. Goku was sitting up, rubbing his head. "Hey… you turned… Super Saiyan?" The words, again, simply sprang to mind.
"Yeah, but I couldn't hold on to it. C'mon, let's do it. Uh… whatever it is we're supposed to do."
Goku stood, clapping his hands together in front of him, closing his eyes and clearing his mind. This… is something else we knew once. Remember…
Remember…
His eyes snapped open, his arms raised to the sky. "Eternal dragon, rise to fulfil our wish! I call you out, Shenron!"
A column of light burst forth, spiralling out into the sky and beginning to form the shape of a great serpentine beast.
"Not… so fast… !" Came a harsh voice. Vegeta, on his feet again, still transformed, voice hoarse, hunched over, but ki still terrifyingly large. "I will not… accept this….! I am a warrior… of the highest class! These lowlifes… are nothing… and they will not… defeat… !" His fists clenched, unimaginable power building around them with the sole purpose of ripping the brothers apart. "My warrior's pride demands victory, and I will have-"
Abruptly, thick arms gripped the vengeful prince from behind. "You'll have nothing, but what you deserve!" Bardock hissed, ignoring the blood pouring from his grievous wound.
Vegeta's eyes widened in shock. " You… ! "
Bardock glanced over at his sons. "You two… you haven't just grown stronger than I am. You're far better men than I ever was, and I'm… so proud of you."
"Father!" Raditz called weakly. "Don't leave me… not again… !"
Bardock closed his eyes. "Go, my sons. Live ." With that, he took off, blasting off into the upper atmosphere with the prince in tow.
"You can't hold me!" Vegeta snapped. "Once I've gathered my strength… your little power will be nothing to a Super Saiyan!"
"Is that so." Bardock gritted his teeth, flashes of gold licking around the edges of his aura, streaking through his hair.
"Wh-what?!" Vegeta yelped. "You're… on the verge of transforming?" But… Bardock doesn't consider himself pure of means by any means… unless-! "B-Bardock, you don't mean to-"
"If the only way to defeat you… is to become pure…" Bardock hissed. "The only way for me to do that… is to wipe my slate… to finally pay for my sins!"
He's going to transform in the instant of his own self-destruction! Vegeta realised, desperately struggling to escape as they climbed rapidly higher. The kind of energy that twin event will release… I'll be killed for sure! "Why… would… you do this?" He shrieked. " Why?!"
"For… their tomorrow, Vegeta," Bardock replied, energy building to new heights. "You wouldn't understand." He took a deep breath, gathering all his power, physical and mental, and preparing himself. "FOR TOMORROW!"
"D… Dad…" Raditz grasped at the empty air, staring up at the gigantic explosion of golden power that filled the sky above them.
Shenron, now fully formed, glared down at the pair of them. "SPEAK YOUR WISH, YOU WHO HAVE SUMMONED ME."
Goku stood in front of it, totally focused on the task at hand. "Wish, huh…" He took a deep breath. This wasn't exactly remembering, like everything else they'd re-learned today. This was more of an instinct. Too many things were slightly wrong, didn't add up. It wasn't a dream, it was far too real and coherent for that, but it wasn't right . It was real, but it wasn't his reality. He nodded, his decision made, and lifted his head towards the dragon.
"I want to wake up."
Raditz opened his eyes. It remained dark, however. He sighed. "Goku, get off me."
"Whahuh?" His brother yawned, rolling off of where he'd landed on the older saiyan in a heap on the dark stone floor.
Raditz stood, dusting himself off. Well, we seem to be adults again… no tail… and my memories are back…
"Where are we?" Goku asked, rising as well. "I mean, we're not… wherever that last place was, but we don't seem to be back home yet…"
"How can you tell?"
"Look at the sky." Goku leant on the bottom ledge of a window-like opening in the wall. "Don't get that shade of red on Earth…"
Footsteps sounded on the floor behind them; they turned to see a large, otherworldly being descending the stairs that appeared to be only exit to the small room they were currently in. Goku gave a start. "Hey… that's an Alfheim drone! Gohan described 'em to me, pretty detailed, from his travels… this thing matches everything he said!"
A small hole slid open on its face, and noises emerged that arranged themselves into words in their ears. "Greetings, travellers. I imagine you have a lot questions."
"Also they didn't talk," Goku added. "He mentioned that. So this is new."
Raditz elbowed him aside, facing the creature. "So what he's trying to say is, yes, a lot of questions. Answers would be good."
"I will explain on the way," it spoke in its strange manner. "But we must go now-my master is expecting you."
"At least tell us where we are…"
It paused. "You will not have heard of it… this world is called Svartalfheim. It is located," it added, "in the Thirteenth Universe."
Chapter 7: Awakening
Kajiba no Meishou! Kowaranai Tate!
Fasha wiped a trail of blood off of her face, staring off towards the horizon where the pyrotechnics were just beginning to die down. Those kids really did it… they got out. And Bardock, heh… you always liked to have the last word.
Well… She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply as the world faded around her. This place has served its purpose. Back, now… back to sleep.
"Next, next already," King Yemma snarled, stamping another load of paperwork. What's with the sudden rush from all over the universe? "And, uh… that's a… large file," he said, gulping as a huge leaflet smacked down onto his desk. "Long, eventful life?"
"You could say that," a familiar voice replied.
Yemma looked up in surprise. "B-Baba?!" He leaned forwards. "You're not guiding anyone this time? You really…"
"Yes, my turn has finally come," she said wearily. "Do you know what's happening?"
"Only that I'm suddenly swamped," he said, shrugging his expansive shoulders.
"I'm not entirely sure myself," she muttered. "But it's something… bigger than all of us. Almost beyond our comprehension…"
Svartalfheim, the Thirteenth Universe…
"Okay, so first question," Goku asked the drone as he followed it down the twisting, winding mountain path, "we just came out of some weird kinda-real world where-"
"My master observed this," it answered curtly, cutting him off. "A full recount will not be necessary."
"So do you know what it was?" Raditz called, slouching along slightly behind the two of them with his hands in his pockets.
"It is a form of trial you underwent while passing through the void between universes," the drone replied. "I shall explain in full: You were forcefully ejected from your home universe into the void, which is composed of what is known as 'voidstuff', a material that holds the potential to create universes, if directed appropriately. Most beings, if thrust into the void, would be immediately overcome by its power and destroyed in an instant.
"You two, however, are both strong in body and in mind; your extraordinary spirits caused a reaction in the voidstuff and temporarily molded it to your will. Of course, you do not have the power to create entire universes, so a form of small-scale pocket dimension was formed, as a protective shield around you against the nothingness that surrounded you."
Goku frowned. "So why was it… you know, like it was?"
"You were already unconscious and moments from death when you created the space-no conscious thought or direction was given, and inspiration was instead drawn from your deep past; my master detected you at this point, and steered you towards a goal-oriented situation. Normally, only gods can cross universes, but if a mortal succeeds in creating what you did, by completing some sort of goal within that world they can propel themselves back towards a reality-the nearest reality, anyway, which in your case was this one."
"That's… a little complicated…" Goku muttered, scratching his head.
"It does make some sense, though," Raditz supplied, catching up. "If it was formed from our memories… I probably supplied all the saiyans, all of 'em older than us, often stronger at first. I mean, that sounds like a lot of bad memories of my childhood… and early adulthood too, with Nappa and Vegeta…"
Goku nodded. "Yeah, and the Dragon Ball hunt was probably me; that's pretty deeply ingrained. Not to mention constantly growing stronger and overcoming those stronger enemies… I'm guessing the location was a mix-it was like Earth, where I grew up…"
"… and I grew up on battlefields, so it was all ruined," Raditz finished. "Still… we met people who'd been dead for years. Most of 'em died again. Did they really…?"
"I cannot say whether it was 'real' or not," the drone told them. "I do not know, and neither does my master."
"Yeah, well, while we're asking questions, let's talk about you and this 'master'," Raditz decided, a sweeping arm movement indicating the red-lit, mountainous landscape. "Who exactly are they? And 'Thirteenth Universe'? I thought there were twelve."
The drone shook its head. "There are many more than that, or the Eternal would starve. The twelve you know are merely close enough together that their gods can meet and communicate-like the planets in a solar system. The master deduced this when the Eternal attacked this universe."
Goku came to a halt. "Wait-you mean, what's happening back home, that happened here once? You're still here, right? So you won?"
"We… did not lose," the drone answered. Emotion was difficult to read in its face or voice, but sadness was definitely present in that sentence. "When the Eternal came, the master-the Hakaishin of this universe-fought long and hard, but could not prevent its arrival. The group of Shadow Dragons it sent before it were slain, but not before they could accumulate enough negative energy to allow the Eternal's coming. My master knew then that even if he gathered the combined might of all thirteen Gods of Destruction, he could not have prevailed."
"Well, don't keep me in suspense, what happened?!" Raditz snapped as the drone paused. "What'd he do?"
"A terrible, evil thing. The only thing he could do." It raised its head to the heavens. "He had learned something important from one of the Shadow Dragons, you see-that the Eternal feeds off the combined lifeforce of every being in a universe when it consumes one, which is how it sustained itself. So he… denied it this food source. A 'scorched earth' tactic…"
Raditz couldn't help but tremble slightly. "He… he killed…"
The drone nodded. "Most of them. He wiped out almost all life in his own universe, to save those few that he left; the only alternative was that they would all die. He hated himself for it-he still does-but there was no other way."
"That's… horrible… how could he…?" Goku trailed off.
They carried on walking in silence for a while, finally rounding the corner and coming in view of an enormous, perfectly flat plateau that stretched out for miles in every direction. The drone stepped onto it, gesturing them to follow. "So…" Raditz chanced. "How come we haven't heard of this Thirteenth Universe, then?"
"It is forbidden," the drone explained. "My master's tactic worked, and the Eternal gave up its attempt-to consume this universe would require more energy than it would gain from the remaining lifeforms. Some other, further-off universe caught its eye, and it drifted off through the void. Meanwhile, though, the Hakaishin had observed my master's solution, but knew not the cause, so declared him mad and sealed off this universe from the rest, trapping him here." It turned to stare pointedly at Raditz with its 'eyes', rows of blinking red orbs. "The seal blocks a divine being such as him from passing through, but he can send portions of his power to sieze on certain… opportunities, creating a mindless avatar of himself that wreaks destruction, unintentionally doing his work for him. In this way, he hoped to enact his 'solution' on the other twelve universes before the Eternal's inevitable return, to spare them complete destruction."
"Seems that didn't work so well," Raditz shot back.
"No thanks to you," it replied. To respond to his dumbfounded stare, it explained: "You have met and fought with one of these avatars; defeated it, even, and possibly doomed your universe in the process."
"Wait… you don't mean…"
Something materialised-Shifted, Gohan would have recognised-into physical form behind them, feet tapping against the smooth ground. "Indeed; while my official title has been changed to 'the Fallen' amongst the other gods, you may know me better by my true name." It chuckled. "That is, Janemba."
Inferno Gauntlet…
Break and Eighteen had been lucky; after only a few minutes' traversing the boiling wasteland, they had located the door. To be fair, once you were in its general vicinity, it wasn't hard to miss-a glowing pure-white rectangle hanging in empty air contrasted quite sharply against the dull blacks, reds and greys of the landscape.
"Good thing we're almost through…" Eighteen muttered, having long thrown off her jacket. "… this heat is ridiculous."
Break was similarly shedding an outer layer as she responded. "Aren't you an android? Don't you have, I don't know, a thing?" The back-and-forth banter was forced; they'd just had to watch friends die before them, and needed any kind of idle communication to stop themselves from thinking about it.
"What kind of thing?"
"Like, a temperature thing."
"No, I don't have a-" Something sparked in the air between them-a tiny energy bolt, Break realised, so fast she could only see a brief flash of light-and a small impact appeared on Eighteen's forehead; her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell to the ground, out cold.
"Ah. I couldn't sense her energy, so I wanted to see if she was worth worrying about. Evidently not." The speaker, Break realised, was now standing a few feet behind her-she leapt away, turning to face him.
This Shadow Dragon-at least in his humanoid form, she'd learned by now that their true appearance only showed itself at full power-was armoured from head to toe, dark plate decorated with vivid flame patterns. A helmet obscured his face, casting a shadow over all but a pair of glaring yellow eyes. "Your group actually managed to kill Hades… remarkable. But I don't think you're the one that did it. Not with your power."
"Shut up," she growled, powering back up to Super Saiyan 3. "I've got nothing to say to you people." She sped at him, feigning a high swing before ducking low and aiming a swipe at his knee; however, some kind of strange object sprung out of the ground, her fist smashing against it and rebounding painfully, leaving the projection of reflective, dark material unmarked.
She jumped back, knuckles bleeding from the impact. "The hell was that?"
The Shadow Dragon folded his arms. "That was a substance known as Katchin. It is the hardest material in the universe. And I, Hephaestus Shenron, can create and manipulate it as I choose."
"Didn't ask, but thanks," Break grunted.
"It's what the whole tower is made of-I constructed it in seconds," he continued. "You may have noticed back in Eden Palace, energy blasts and the like left the walls unharmed. Katchin is a remarkable substance. It can be broken, of course." He raised one clawed finger, using a mental impulse to increase the height of the Katchin spur he'd blocked Break's attack with until it was level with his shoulders, then lightly tapped it, shattering the entire shape. "But not with strength alone-without the proper technique, only a true god can destroy it. Fortunately for me, my skill and technique are unparalleled; I even dabble in dimensional manipulation, allowing me to create outdoor landscapes like this within much smaller exteriors, such as the tower."
"Man, do you love the sound of your own voice…" Break sighed. "Are you gonna fight me or what?"
"Of course not," Hephaestus retorted. "With your insignificant power, I do not consider you an 'opponent'." He refolded his arms.
"Bastard!" She leapt into the air, coming down towards him foot-first, but more Katchin burst up from the ground, intercepting her; this time, she expected it, flinching at the last instant and managing to half-twist out of the way, only receiving a graze down the side of her leg as she somersaulted away, skidding to rest on the ground and springing back at him.
"I'll consider you an opponent," Hephaestus droned, as she circled rapidly, his mobile shield doing the same to keep up, "when you can move me from this spot. You'll probably just tire yourself out and collapse, and then all I have to do is wait for the Eternal to arrive."
This isn't working… Break realised as another punch was painfully deflected. Gotta fight smarter. She came around for another attack, but just as Hephaestus' shield was raised again, she swung both arms down, using a two-handed blast to fling herself over his head and come down behind him. Not taking the extra time it would take to turn, she used the same motion it took to stand to throw a back kick, but felt the same jarring impact as she struck his barrier. She rolled away, clutching her leg and hissing with pain.
"That was a good plan," Hephaestus admitted. "It would have worked, if it weren't for the insurmountable difference in our reaction times. No matter what you try, you're too slow." He still stood in the same nonchalant position, awaiting her next attempt, columns of Katchin rising and falling around him, preparing to block her next attack.
Damn… I just can't get past it… She straightened up, frowning. But… he said he didn't break it with just strength… there's gotta be a way. Hmm… guess I gotta find out how… this is gonna hurt.
She stood up, facing him directly. "Right… so your shield is as fast as you?"
"Certainly. It will always block you in time."
"Good to know!" She charged in, forcing as much ki as possible into one fist, aura flaring outwards and leaving twin burning jets of gold in her wake as she rocketed at the Shadow Dragon, swinging a punch-directly into a rapidly-forming wall of Katchin. Her energy wave flared, lighting up the surface, before rebounding off of it, sending her sliding backwards, arm shaking from the impact, blood trailing from multiple scrapes on her hand. "Heh."
"This is hardly a laughing matter," Hephaestus snorted. "You charged my defences head-on, and suffered the consequences."
Break drew her arm back again. And not that I'd tell you this… but I also send that energy wave right into the Katchin block, then felt the feedback as it bounced back and hit me-like echolocation, where bats or whatever bounce sound of something to learn its shape. She smiled. Based on the way the energy came back, I've figured out your shield's structure-and it's got pretty evenly-spaced weak points. They're just so small that a normal attack won't normally hit them with any more than a tiny fraction of its full strength.
But… if I get the pattern right, and hit just the weak points with everything… it might work. She began to form energy spheres in both hands, keeping her eyes fixed on her target. "You wanna know something?"
Hephaestus sighed. "What?"
"I'm a quick leaner." She fired, splitting each sphere into dozens of narrow, hyper-focused emerald beams, filling the air around Hephaestus with a matrix of crisscrossing lines of light. His head flicked back and forth as his shields raced to react. "What's this supposed to accomplish? They're simply glancing off, as always!"
"Are they?" She clenched her fists, sending a signal to each tiny, concentrated energy projectile that was now buried deep within the Katchin barriers, having burrowed in through the minute structural weaknesses. On cue, the attacks all detonated at once, blasting great ruptures through all Hephaestus' barriers and thoroughly cracking them all.
Now, while he's still surprised- Break flung her hands forwards, following up with an explosive kiai that shattered the cracked barriers, sending chunks of the crumbling material flying in all directions, accompanied by all-obscuring clouds of dust around the Shadow Dragon.
Hephaestus, already shocked by this development, gave another start. Her ki… vanished?! He suppressed a yelp of surprise as Break's arms gripped him around the waist, her Super Saiyan 3 power resurfacing in an instant. "Something I've been practicing-transforming quicker! Hrrraaa-" She flung herself up and backwards, dragging Hephaestus off his chosen spot on the ground and bringing them both crashing into the dirt a few feet away with her on top, before pushing away, driving a punch down into his shadowed face to propel herself upwards. She arced in the air, backflipping and landing smoothly in front of her prone enemy.
"Well?" She drew herself up, letting her aura flow around her and raising one fist. "I moved you from your spot. Even got a hit in."
Hephaestus picked himself up slowly, shaking his head slightly and rubbing his jaw. "Yes, most impressive," he rumbled. "Very well-as you wish, I shall consider you my opponent. You have won yourself the honour of a warrior's death!" He stalked towards her, eyes burning beneath his helmet.
Before she could react, he raised one finger; it flashed, and something bit into her shoulder, staggering her back a step. Feeling a trickle of blood run down her arm from the wound, she jumped, narrowly avoiding a second burst that shattered the ground beneath her; she angled herself down towards him, swinging a kick at a join between his armour plates, but his hand shot up to intercept, his extended finger reaching out and blocking her leg unflinchingly. She kept up her momentum, spinning away as his hand slashed out after her, a diagonal slice down her back tearing through fabric and grazing skin. Lucky-not quite a direct hit…
She landed, turning back to face him and firing a full-force ki blast as tall as she was; his eyes narrowed, and he sent another burst of ki through his same index finger, easily overwhelming Break's attack and smacking her full-force in the stomach, doubling her over and driving the air from her lungs. She put out a hand to steady herself, gasping in ragged breaths. He did… all that… with that one finger!
"You shouldn't be surprised," Hephaestus gloated. "I'm sure by now you don't need me to tell you the difference between mortal and demigod ki…" he frowned. "Although, to be honest I didn't expect you to survive my attacks for even this long. Not with the power I sensed from you when you first entered my tower… but I think I understand. You've come the furthest of your group, and fought against three Shadow Dragons whose power far outstrips your own. All of these battles at this extremely high level must be making you stronger…"
Not that I should get my hopes up, Break thought grimly. Not when I'm doing this badly and he's still just playing around… still. Getting stronger, that's the thing… Gogeta and Uub were pretty spectacular. Theoretically, I can too-there's supposed to be the potential for this whole 'demigod' crap within the Super Saiyan form…
But, hell, it's not just getting mad. I mean, I can do that . It's a different kind of emotional trigger… there's a kind of purity in that sort of anger. Like someone becoming a Super Saiyan for the first time, all over again. She circled Hephaestus slowly, keeping both eyes on him. But I never went through that… I was born with the potential. While that helped me get real strong at an early age, it means I've never experienced the kind of depth of feeling this kind of power-up would take.
She resumed her stance, narrowing her eyes. But I guess it doesn't matter. Too many people have given everything already… whether winning seems possible or not, I can't do anything but keep going! Summoning up her power, she charged back in towards the Shadow Dragon, seeing him raising his finger to block. Not this crap again! Growling, she followed through with her uppercut, smashing his hand out of the way. Snakelike, his other arm whipped around, catching her wrist and stopping her punch inches from his face.
"You made me use my whole hand…" She really is getting stronger… if this continues, she might become a challenging opponent if I keep playing around like this. Enough, then. "But since I've got hold of your arm…" He raised one foot, planting it in the small of her back and shoving away, twisting her arm in the opposite direction.
Break clenched her teeth, trying to wrest herself free. Damn… it's gonna break-
The pressure was suddenly relieved, and Break dropped to the floor, rolling to her feet and rubbing her aching arm. The day's exertion was suddenly catching up with her, so she powered down from her transformed state. She looked up to see Hephaestus now facing someone new- "Pan?"
"Got back as soon as I could," Pan answered grimly. "Too late… for some."
Break noticed that Pan was wearing a new set of clothes (best described as a high-tech workout outfit), but decided not to ask at the moment. What was important, though, was- "So did it work?"
"Nah." Pan shook her head. "You seem pretty beat-up; let me take this guy."
"Can you?"
"Don't know."
Hephaestus gave a weary shrug. "You can't. I'll just state it as plainly as that. In fact, I doubt you'll even touch me. I'd prefer not to fight you, so please go find something else to do."
Break realised something. "Pan, careful! He can make Katchin shields-you gotta fire ki into their structural weaknesses and blow 'em up from inside!"
"Thanks. Got it." Of course, the main upshot of that is that he probably won't even bother to use the shields… Pan thought. "All right… let's do this." She flung her arms out to the side, letting out a sudden yell and slowly drawing them back in, as if pulling a great weight. Steam began to rise from her arms, back and shoulders, eventually solidifying into a flaming golden aura, illuminating her as if from within.
There it is… Break recognised Pan's unique 'transformation' from occasional sparring matches.
Pan, eyes blank-white, red-tinted hair flowing wildly in the unnatural, warped gravity her power was creating, made the first move-she launched a volley of energy beams, arms pumping backwards and forwards as she continued the barrage for several seconds. Hephaestus merely lowered his head slightly, focusing his ki, and the blasts were deflected before they reached him, veering off and crashing to the floor, throwing up great clouds of dust. Pan, however, had been expecting this, and used this as cover, suppressing her power and dashing in close before powering back up into her pseudo-Super-Saiyan state, readying herself for a close-range assault.
However, she was stopped short by Hephaestus' eyes glaring through the dust cloud at her, twin yellow spotlights fixed on her position. "Your friend tried this trick already!" he snapped. "I won't fall for it this time!" He clenched his fists, a ripple of power spreading out through their surroundings and blowing the dust away in an instant. "Well, now? What do you think of my full power?" He noticed, with some satisfaction, Pan backing away, intimidated. "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Hephaestus Shenron, and I am the architect of this tower."
Now sitting a good distance from the battle, Break puzzled over this. There was no appearance change this time… and he's about as strong as Gaia and Hades, but they're supposed to get stronger as we progress… is this really his full power? Can't be.
He's… insanely strong… Pan drew herself up. "Doesn't matter-I gotta get past you!" Burning her aura brighter, she stepped forwards for a quick strike-and was struck by a dizzying impact to the side of her face, spinning her around a half-turn and sending her stumbling away several steps. Never saw him move… just a blur… !
"Hmm, you're tougher than I gave you credit for," Hephaestus conceded. "I was hoping that would take your head off and get this mess over with. Still, you're far too slow to respond." He twitched again, and another invisible blow crashed into Pan's side, sliding her back straight through a large boulder.
"Gah… !" She struggled to regain her balance, but an instant later his hand was at her throat.
"Really, I find all this fighting quite dull," Hephaestus said flatly, tightening his grip.
Pan choked, clawing at his hand, unable to break the hold. Her vision swam, slowly fading towards blackness. Stay conscious… stay…
… too much… sorry, everybody… tried… sorry, mom… dad…
Hephaestus nodded slowly, dumping her on the floor and lowering his arm.
… only… dad isn't around anymore to be sorry to… is this how I repay everything he's done?
Hephaestus turned away, striding back towards his previous spot guarding the door. "I would find it distasteful to finish two already-beaten opponents. Go and do what you will with your universe's final hours."
"W-Wait… !" Pan gasped, climbing up on to one knee, then pushing herself into a stand, straightening up with an explosive burst of power, light flaring out in all directions.
What's this? Hephaestus froze, wary. The other one's power was increasing gradually, but this one… she should be nearing death, but she hasn't shown any power like this before! He turned to face her fully. "Fine, you seek a warrior's death? Then come at me!"
"Try it!" Pan leapt at him, and he raised an arm in a leisurely fashion to strike first as before; but this time, she was faster, and her punch struck first. He barely got his other hand up in time to block, and was still hurled back several metres by the impact, feet throwing out trails of sparks as he ground to a halt, arm trembling. "This strength…" To produce an attack that I, a Shadow Dragon, could feel… it's almost painful, in fact… !
"You've realised, haven't you?" Pan said, smiling. "My dad used to talk about the potential for demigod ki hidden in the Super Saiyans… I'm on the verge of awakening to it." Helps that my power is pretty much geared towards rapidly increasing… not relying on set stages and sub-forms like other Super Saiyans.
"It doesn't matter! 'Almost' demigod ki is no match for the real thing!" Hephaestus shouted, hand snapping out and blasting Pan back with a powerful kiai . "I'll kill you before you can fulfil it!"
Coming to a halt, Pan raised her head, blood dripping from her mouth. "Sure you can do it?"
"Wha-how did you survive?!" He growled. "I put all my power into that!"
"Yeah…" She raised her fists, standing back up. "But I saw it this time."
"W-What?!"
"It's not just a flash of light anymore… I can see your movements-and even though it was too fast to dodge, I had time to brace myself and harden my own ki in the area it struck." She flung her aura outwards again, the roar of power building to new heights. "Now… Again !"
Hephaestus gulped. It… it just keeps growing! But she's still no match for me-I have time to finish this! "This will be the last, Super Saiyan!"
"Like hell it will!" Pan retorted as he rushed her, swaying sideways and throwing a high kick. Much to his surprise, she blocked it, bracing her forearm with her other hand and forcing herself to hold the attack back. "Gah… gotcha!"
"You think so?" He sent a burst of ki down his leg, detonating it on her guard and flooring her. Lowering his leg, he stared in disbelief as she almost immediately clambered up once more, glaring up at him with those haunting, empty eyes. To block my attack… to even survive this many hits… impossible for a mortal!
"I'm getting closer, Hephaestus!" Pan said quickly, approaching confidently. "Closer to your speed!"
"You'll never match me, you little…"
"AGAIN!" she bellowed, leaping at him and swinging a ki-loaded punch. Snarling in surprise at her speed, he responded in kind, and their blows collided, tossing them both away in a cataclysmic explosion of energy.
Break shielded herself from the massive backblast, coughing. She damaged him-finally! Am I dreaming, or… are their powers equal now?
Hephaestus sprang to his feet, straightening his helmet. Our attacks rebounded off each other! I can't believe… "It seems…" he said, fixing Pan with a pointed stare. "… you really did awaken to your demigod ki potential. What's more, you even raised it to my level… how? What happened within you to unlock this…?"
"Because…" She faltered, bravado wavering. "B-Because… !" I… didn't want to admit this to myself… much less say it out loud… but we've heard nothing from him, and with everything else that's happened we have to assume the worst.
The air warped and rippled around Pan, and she was gone from Hephaestus' sight. "Wha-where-" A blur of gold reappeared, blocking out his vision, and a rising impact to his chest flung him high into the air. "… because YOU BASTARDS KILLED MY FATHER!"
Chapter 8: Transform and Roll Out
Kami ga Fukki! Oyako yo, Yami wo Uchinuke!
Where…
… am I… I'm…
… alive? Huh.
Slowly, Gohan opened his eyes. It didn't help; there was no light, no space for light to exist in. No air for sound and smell to travel in, either. He was 'seeing' only through his ki sense.
Then this must be… he realised. Outside the universe-it worked! I followed Alpha's rupture in the timestream… I was gonna fix it… damn, how long was I out?
I feel different… oh! My ki returned to a fully divine level! Must have been a defence mechanism… now I think about it, mortals probably can't survive out here…
Well, anyway. He did a sweep of his surroundings. The border of the universe was close, but it felt wrong somehow. He propelled himself in the direction of this 'wrongness', figuring it to be the disruption Alpha Shenron had caused. Yeah, this feels like the energy signature her attack gave out, it must be the breach she made. Better see if I can close it… it'll make it much easier for the Eternal to get in…
He placed both hands on the centerpoint of the tear, tapping into his Shifting powers to try and bring the disparate edges of spacetime together and seal the breach. He experienced strong resistance, though, straining even his divine strength to move it even the slightest distance.
Agh… He felt a slight ripple in the protective aura surrounding him as the feedback washed over him. She put a lot of power into this… can't overcome it! He turned Super Saiyan, pulling all the harder, but remained deadlocked. This doesn't bode well… as much power's in this, it's only residual… her full power must be a lot higher… !
But… it's not about 'I can' or 'I can't'… it's 'I will'! Shaking with combined mental and physical exertion, he gave one final pull-and found himself at the point of failing, the point of breaking until-
Something familiar burned to life inside of him, rushing to the surface and filling him with new strength. A beacon of energy filled the void around him, and the newly reawakened Super Saiyan God fell back, 'looking' on with satisfaction at his work. The breach was sealed; the Eternal held at bay for a little longer, though it'd still arrive eventually if Alpha remained alive.
He paused to recover his energy, exhilarated with his success. Guess I need to get back to- Now that he wasn't focused on his task, something else was beginning to catch his attention. What is that…?
He'd almost mistaken the energy for another universe, like the dozen or so he could vaguely sense around him, but on close examination it was different. He focused his ki sense on it-
-and wished he hadn't.
He saw it.
'Big' couldn't describe it, no human classification of size was adequate for something as incomprehensible as this; 'evil' could not hope to match up to the monstrous, unstoppable waves of aggression that exuded from it, sheer ill-will that could crush stars; 'hunger' couldn't scratch the surface of the vast, unthinkable depths of voracious desire that burned in those eyes those eyes those eyes those eyes
and it saw him
it saw him
Rational thoughts gone, Gohan scrambled to get away, Instant Transmission, Shifting, to get away from the terrible presence; but not home, not the universe he'd come from, for that was where it was approaching, looming over the Seventh Universe like a hunter crouching over speared game, so he latched on to the next-closest place he could find, any place, and fled to it, crossing dimensions with the speed only absolute fear could bring.
He sat up, shivering all over, finally starting to collect his thoughts after who knew how long. Standing slowly, he took in his surroundings; a light-coloured stone path flanked by sunny fields on either side. One end of the path snaked off into the horizon; another lead up to an enormous palace. "Hey…" Am I imagining things, or… no, it is him… Bills is in there! And there's a bunch more people around as strong as he is! What is this place?
The semi-repressed memories of the moments before suddenly intruded back into his mind, reminding him of the terror that had brought him here. Was that… thing… the Eternal?! I can't even… fit the idea of it into my mind…
Just what the hell are we up against here…?
Inferno Gauntlet…
Hephaestus Shenron found himself tumbling out of control, desperately trying to regain his bearings after being struck by an attack beyond his ability to detect or defend against. Her power… isn't equal to mine anymore… she's surpassed me already?! I should have killed her when I had the chance… Well, he knew that wasn't true-he had tried his hardest, but she'd taken everything he had and stood up to it long enough to overtake his power.
He never got the chance to get his balance back-something of hers, probably an elbow, took him in the stomach mid-flight, bringing him back to earth with a mighty impact. "Graah… !"
He half-sat up while still skidding over a lava stream, letting fly a barrage of eye-beams that peppered the entire area Pan hovered over-but they hit nothing but rock, and in the same instant he was struck again, from behind this time, flipping him over and landing him flat on his face. H-How could she move that fast?!
He jumped up, summoning up all his strength. "Will you stand still and face me?!" He managed to remain composed as she blinked into view directly in front of him.
"All right," she replied. "You want a hand-to-hand battle… fine. Though you do probably have more of an advantage here than if I keep doing hit-and-run attacks… well, I'll humour you."
"Don't talk down to me, you… !" Hephaestus closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This was no way to fight. Calm! He looked back up at Pan, whose aura burned as bright as ever. "Begin," he hissed, and she nodded, sliding her back leg into a fighting stance.
He struck first, making an explosive lunge and leading with a high kick, pumping as much ki as he could into each movement to increase its speed and force; she advanced simultaneously, kicking one foot against the ground to propel herself, spinning around his attack and striking his flank-exposed from his all-out attack-with the back of her fist, cracking his armour again and dragging him back with her arm's movement.
He flipped away, weathering the hard hit by spinning forward out of her reach. From his now upside-down position, he aimed a ki blast for her head. She barely got her leg out in time to kick his hand out of the way, causing his beam to miss by inches, its blast wave uncomfortably hot on the side of her face.
The impact of her kick on his arm spun his whole body sideways, righting him again, and he wasted no time in resuming his attack-he feinted with his right arm, and she almost fell for it, just barely noticing his rising left knee fast enough to change her blocking arm's course and shove his leg back down; this distracted her long enough for him to throw a punch with his left hand, but he underestimated her reaction time; her own free hand shot up, intercepting his fist with her own and jarring the bones in his hand with her greater strength.
In this tiny moment when both of Pan's arms were fully committed to a movement, Hephaestus took advantage of the situation and seized both wrists, leaping over her head to twist her arms into a full hold. Wasting no time, she swung backwards for a headbutt, but he tilted his own head forwards and let her bruise herself on his helmet. I've got to break at least one arm before she- Something wrapped itself around his left forearm and tugged it away. Her tail! I overlooked it! Her free arm shot back in a knife-hand, and he let go, backing away and only sustaining a shallow cut to the shoulder, slicing straight through his pauldron. His attention was diverted by this, though, and he failed to notice her foot scything out as well, tripping him and sending him stumbling backwards, defences down.
Taking this chance, Pan laid into him with both arms, rapid-fire punches driving him down into the dust and completely shattering much of his armour. A final kick rolled him over several times, bringing him to rest on his back, on the verge of blacking out.
Gasping for breath, he turned his head to look over at his formidable foe. Very impressive… yes, she's more powerful than I am now, but… that's not what won her this exchange just now. It was skill… she outplayed me at every turn. What a fighter…
"Save us both some time and give up," Pan said as she relaxed. "There's no joy in finishing you now."
"S-Sorry…" Hephaestus pulled himself up, swaying into an upright position and placing himself between her and the door. "It is… my duty… to guard this level. You would not consider surrendering after the loss of your father and the others… but I am in the same situation." His eyes narrowed. "Gaia and Hades were my comrades, and they too have fallen this day… it would shame their memory to let you pass."
"Then I guess that's it." Pan tensed up, then jumped at Hephaestus, arm drawn back to deliver the final blow. "As long as you live, you can't let me through… and as long as I live, I can't stop… so there's only one way this can end!" Hephaestus began to move for a counterattack, but was too slow; Pan's was set to impact first, aimed at his throat to finish him quickly.
However, something burst up through the floor, a flood of dark liquid that quickly solidified into a winged humanoid lizard, dull grey all over as if made out of some ethereal clay. It lunged upwards, intercepting Pan's attack and knocking it to the side; she jumped back, cautious of this new arrival.
"Damn it, Hephaestus…" it growled. "Don't you die on us too."
The armoured Shadow Dragon breathed a sigh of relief. "Prometheus! I thought you'd never get here." He turned to Pan. "Allow me to introduce Prometheus Shenron. He is not one of the seven Shadow Dragons originally sent to this universe. But he and I are old friends, and I sent out a mental distress signal to him as soon as you began to exceed my power."
"Like Gaia, I am a scout that enters universes before the main force to prepare them for our arrival. Traversing dimensions is child's play to me, usually… it was breaking through the sealing spell the Sixth Universe's Hakaishin placed on me that took me so long," Prometheus explained in his totally flat, expressionless voice.
"So, what, you're gonna take over?" Pan guessed. "Or you're double-teaming me?"
"In a way…" Hephaestus stepped up next to Prometheus. "You may be aware that the stronger a Shadow Dragon is, the higher in the tower they are placed. However, I have been fighting you with everything I have, and I haven't put out any more power than the previous two dragons…"
"I'm not here to play games," Pan grumbled. "Whoever's gonna fight me, come at me."
Hephaestus inclined his head. "I assure you, the answer is simple-our true power only shows itself when we work as one! Prometheus?"
"Ready!" Prometheus' body began to melt back into its liquid state, flowing onto Hephaestus' outstretched right arm. What remained of his armour also dissolved and was subsumed into the shifting mass. When it settled, his arm was sheathed in gleaming silver, etched all over in a pattern not unlike a circuit board gone mad. Most noticeably, projecting from his wrist over the top of his hand was something alarmingly like a gun barrel.
Pan kept her guard up, circling slowly and trying to gauge his power level-it had certainly increased drastically after merging with Prometheus. This was also the first time she'd seen the face beneath the helmet, since that had gone too- with that attitude, I never figured him for a pretty-boy. And where was he keeping all that hair?
"The stakes haven't changed," Hephaestus declared. "Neither of us can back down… so let's continue."
Wordlessly, Pan attacked, ducking right to try and catch him off-guard, but he matched her movement, kicking low; she brought her shin up to block it, their limbs colliding with equal force and coming to a halt. He swung his left arm, and she dodged back out of the way, firing a quick ki blast as she moved, which he sidestepped. Our speed and strength… are equal now! She realised. And I think I've raised my power about as high as it's gonna go…
She stepped back in towards him, punching for his face, but he blocked with his metallic right arm, injuring her forearm with the force of his defence. "Agh… !" What is that thing made of?!
He brought the arm around before she could follow up, a pale light appearing within the barrel, rapidly growing-Pan threw herself down and left the instant before a great tongue of flame leapt out of the weapon, accompanied by an immense burst of energy. Seeing that he'd missed, Hephaestus lowered his weapon as Pan stood, sweating from the heat generated by his blast. "That is our Forge Cannon," he told her. "Beware, Super Saiyan."
"Y… Yeah…"
Hakaishin Council…
"This is getting nowhere!" Bills yelled, pacing around the circular chamber. "How long have we been talking in circles?" And I have no idea where Whis has slipped off to…
"At least let me go with him," the Hunter pleaded. "And whoever else volunteers. It can be of our own volition."
The Red King, Cadmus, bowed his head. "While I do not doubt that this Eternal represents a serious threat, I do not believe that there is any being capable of devouring an entire universe in such a short timespan. We can afford to wait for the Sorcerer; his counsel may prove invaluable."
The Warrior shifted in its seat, beginning its odd manner of speech again. "One here finds tempted," it admitted. "Shadow Dragons… challenging foes? Possibility-distinct. Eagerness some felt."
"Whether you want to fight them is irrelevant," the Scholar countered, one hand flicking up a hovering datascreen and tapping out several commands in response to a beep from her electronic visor. "We know barely anything about them. Rushing in unawares out of a desire for 'honour' or 'glory' is what lesser beings do. We should know better."
The Pilot shrugged. "I could scout it out, you know…"
"Silence!" Mercury the Knight stood abruptly. "The Red King has made his decision and we will abide by it! Or do any of you doubt his wisdom?"
The Dreamer's rainbow-wheel eyes flicked open, her mouth moving unnaturally quickly. She always unnerved Bills-she never seemed entirely real and material; her eyes seemed to emit light instead of absorbing it, it was difficult to tell where her hair ended and her toga began, and she very rarely touched the floor. "This is the tale of the blind and the far-seeing," she said loudly, looking from Cadmus to Bills and back. "But which is which I cannot say… what a story this day will make…" She smirked. "If I survive to tell it."
Cadmus frowned. "You cannot seriously tell me you fear that-" He froze. "Someone has entered the citadel. Someone… yes, with divine ki."
"The Sorcerer?" the Hunter asked, then shook his head. "No, I sense it now too-it's not him."
They all waited in tense silence as the new arrival made its way towards the council chamber. Finally, a figure appeared in the doorway-a messy-haired man completely aglow with a gentle red light.
"Uh… hi," Gohan said nervously, giving an awkward wave. "Gonna be honest, I don't know where I am right now, but your power is all pretty intense-Bills?!"
Bills blinked, then snapped his fingers in recognition. "Ah! The Super Saiyan God! Yes, I remember you… how did you get here?"
"Uh… probably a stupid question, but do you know about the Shadow Dragons?"
One rushed but comprehensive explanation later and Gohan had recounted events on Earth up until his jump outside the universe, and his subsequent experiences up to this point, followed by Bills giving brief introductions.
"Hmm… a corroborating, independent source…" the Scholar said evenly. "This does strengthen the Priest's argument somewhat."
The Red King nodded. "Indeed, and I cannot deny that he has the power to do what he claims… this is a difficult decision…"
"It is not !" A strident voice declared, and a second later a flash of light illuminated the materialisation of a bird-like individual, cloaked and hooded in ornate gold and purple, clutching a gnarled wooden walking-stick in one hand.
Bills rolled his eyes, sighing. The Sorcerer always did like to make grand entrances, and happened to have a spell that changed the location of his portal to anywhere throughout the Council complex, rather than fixed entry points like the others, allowing him to pull off ridiculous stunts like this.
Shoving Bills out of the centre of the room, the Sorcerer leaned on his staff, fixing the Red King with a beady stare. "Don't bother explaining everything to me, by the way, I read your minds on the way here, I know everything and believe me, the Priest and his little friend are telling the truth-every word."
Bills felt slightly nervous at this mental intrusion, but knew that the Sorcerer's mind-reading spell had limits-it only examined recent memories and relevant matters prominent in their minds, so could not learn closely guarded secrets like the gods' true names or Whis' true nature.
"As for my lateness, I've just been scrying for a being called Prometheus Shenron-I caught it 'scouting' my Sixth Universe a couple decades back, and have been keeping it locked up since, to see if any of its kind would arrive to look for it… just now, it escaped, and I finally located it after quite some searching-it's in the Seventh Universe."
"There's an eighth Shadow Dragon there now?" Gohan asked with a start. "This just keeps getting worse… !"
"I will say it plainly, Cadmus," the Sorcerer continued. "We must act now, and decisively, or the Seventh Universe will be destroyed-and it will not be the last."
Cadmus took this in, his coldly logical mind processing all available information and quickly reaching a conclusion. "Very well. We shall assemble a strike team and attack the Shadow Dragons head-on! I will head this force-volunteers, step forth now."
"I'll go, obviously," Bills said cockily. "It's my universe to look after, isn't it?"
"Me too," Gohan declared. "It's my home, after all."
The Knight stepped up to his ruler. "Where you go, I go, my lord."
"As said in previous," the Warrior muttered, standing, "intrigued. Shadow Dragons… this volunteers also."
The Hunter gave a lopsided grin. "Ah, hell, Priest; can't let you steal all the glory, eh?" He jumped up, slapping Bills on the shoulder. "Count me in."
"I'm not missing this," the Pilot concurred.
Finally, the Sorcerer straightened up, the hunch vanishing and the age falling away from its once-mottled features, walking-stick transformed into an ornate metallic staff, carved with arcane sigils from end to end. "I have witnessed the threat these Shadow Dragons pose, albeit second-hand. I will go."
No further volunteers came forth; the Silent remained, well, silent and unmoving in his seat, the top half of his face shrouded by his pitch-black hood; the Pilgrim was far too peace-loving to want to participate in a violent action like this (apparently his methods as God of Destruction were… odd); the Dreamer merely laughed and hummed a haunting tune; the Scholar had no desire for front-line combat, but was more than happy to take notes afterwards; and the Fisherman was, well, the Fisherman. Bills still wasn't sure what had possessed him to choose that name…
With the strike team assembled, the Red King lead them at a brisk pace straight for the portal to the Seventh Universe. "None of us have been in that universe for some time," he reminded them. "We have no idea what awaits us… steel yourselves for anything. Have no fear, for we are the multiverse's finest-and show no mercy, for we shall receive none. Move out!"
I'm sure whatever Whis went to do is of the utmost importance… Bills thought to himself as he approached the portal, tossing his attendant's staff from one hand to the other. But why would he leave this? He never goes anywhere without it…
What have you gotten yourself into, old friend?
The sky above the Shadow Dragons' tower was still constantly lit with tongues of ethereal flame and the air reverberated with constant explosions of sound as Wistarion and Alpha Shenron clashed once again.
Rings of green lightning crashed against Wistarion's chest in rhythm with Alpha's fist; he spun away, his return kick splitting the sky as he twisted out of her reach, simultaneously knocking her back through the air, the Shadow Dragon arcing away through the atmosphere in a jet of flame. She didn't bother to fight against the momentum-accelerating past lightspeed again, she sped onwards, rocketing around the entirety of the planet to come at Wistarion from behind.
He turned just in time, catching her charge-her body wreathed in deadly energy-two-handed and stopping her dead. Her hands reached out through the shield and grappled with his, locking against each other and pushing against one another for an advantage.
"Why… this universe, Wistarion?" Alpha hissed. "You've allowed the cycle to continue so, so many times… why fight it now? What's different?"
"I allowed it… but I never liked it," Wistarion grunted back, miniature supernovas going off between them as their auras wrested for control of the surrounding space. "Always, always I vowed to myself, one day I would find the strength to resist… to stop the slaughter, to put to rest the souls of all those trillions I've failed. And this time, that feeling came to a head." He grinned wearily. "Because this one is different, yes… not hugely different, but enough."
"They're just mortal insects and little gods," she snapped. "They're nothing to you and I!"
Ignoring her, he continued. "The inhabitants of this universe are… extraordinary. They have the ability to raise their power enormously in stunningly short periods of time-progressing in barely a few years from mortal to demigod or even fully divine ki. One of them even became a rival for their Hakaishin. And as for him… whether he knows it or not, I think Bills exemplifies his universe.
"He's headstrong and acts on his emotions, but ultimately has a good heart. He's a strange one sometimes, but that uniqueness is a wonderful thing. I see all the best qualities of this universe's people reflected in him."
"Feh," Alpha spat. "Your analogy breaks down at the whole power-raising thing. He can't have the potential to grow too far… at the end of the day, he's only a god."
Wistarion's smile was unwavering, though boldness now shone in his eyes. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But that applies to him, too… he isn't aware of it yet, but Bills has the potential to become a truly fearsome warrior. He just hasn't faced the right challenge yet-one that will elevate him beyond his limits, just like the mortals of this realm have done so many times."
"You make it sound like he's your secret weapon… where is he, then?"
"I'd rather not involve him… if I kill you now, it ends here!" Wistarion abruptly stopped pushing, pulling Alpha in towards him, leaping up and aiming both feet at her incoming face-she vanished, however, phasing into view behind him, elbow coming down and striking the top of his head. Snarling, he flung his ki outwards in a destructive burst, causing her to retreat again.
"And can you kill me?" she taunted. "I'm going to be honest… I've always hated the way you acted superior around us… I've waited a long time for this. I'm going to enjoy beating you into the dirt-but you should be fine with that; you'll finally be down on the level of those mortals you care so much for…"
"Heh…'those mortals' are getting closer, you know. Even if you beat me, they'll show you why I care for them."
Inferno Gauntlet…
The two fighters clashed again, Pan flipping away and shaking her aching hand. Damn, that metal arm is tough. And he keeps blocking with it… gotta avoid that.
Hephaestus didn't let up, pursuing her and striking quickly; she blocked his right arm on instinct as it sped towards her face, hissing as her own arm rebounded painfully off it again, but succeeded in redirecting his attack; she exploited the opening, jumping and landing a kick to the side of his head, staggering him back. He didn't let her press the advantage, though, grabbing her by the ankle with his left and pulling her in to land a solid blow to her body with his steely right.
Gasping for air, Pan threw out an uncontrolled arc of energy, forcing him back and leaping away, catching herself and landing upright a few feet away, shoulders rising and falling quickly as she struggled to recover from a direct hit from Hephaestus' fearsome weapon.
Abruptly, though, he appeared behind her, arm raised, glow rising in the Forge Cannon's barrel as it charged up for another shot. Gritting her teeth and bracing for the impact, she spun, kicking the cannon-arm away with all her strength and causing the shot to go just slightly wide; the collision sent needles of pain shooting up her leg, and the backblast and heat from the fiery blast's near-miss floored her.
"Rrgh…" He's raised his level to about equal to mine, but… that thing's giving him an advantage… I'm taking a lot more damage than he is… well, here's a stupid idea I've been working on. Seems like the best time for it.
She stood, squaring her shoulders and facing Hephaestus again. He nodded. "Yes, I didn't think that was all you had… this could take a while."
Pan remained where she was, forming an energy sphere between her hands and gradually increasing its size. "Maybe."
He frowned. "What are you trying to do?"
"Nothing special…" She punted the attack at him, forming it into an arrow-straight yellow beam. He frowned, preparing to block it-but the shaft of light simply washed harmlessly over him with no physical force at all. "What…?"
The energy attacks we use are composed of heat, light and force… I just separated the three components… and fired them separately. Pan did not, of course, tell him this, for obvious reasons. All Hephaestus knew was that some second object had been fired at him while he'd been distracted by the light, and now the ground was immensely hot-even more so than usual for Inferno Gauntlet. Unable to bear the pain leaping up through his feet, he jumped high into the air.
Pan, however, was already there, waiting for him. Eyes widened in surprise, Hephaestus hurriedly raised his Forge Cannon. That's it, Pan thought. That's what I needed… him to try and fire that thing when I'm expecting it-on my terms, in other words… because for an instant, when he goes to fire, the barrel opens a path directly to the inside of that metal arm.
Sure enough, the glow appeared once more from deep within the weapon, and in that instant, Pan struck, now throwing the final, third component of her energy attack-the force. In other words, a kiai. It collided with the still-forming blast of flame that was building inside the cannon, sending it back where it had come from and strengthening it with Pan's own power. The external, visible effect of all of this was that Hephaestus shrieked and writhed uncontrollably, the surface of his arm rippling and tearing-until finally, the entire limb burst asunder in a fiery explosion, hurling jets of flame and boiling shards of liquid metal in all directions. Hephaestus sank to the ground, gasping and trembling all over, and Pan followed, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.
"Your ki hasn't gone down much… so I guess you're still merged with Prometheus or whatever," she said calmly. "In which case… knowing you, this isn't gonna stop you fighting, is it?"
"We've… rrgh… been over… this… !" Hephaestus growled, forcing himself to his feet and raising his head, "Neither of us… is going… to give up. You know… how it has to end!"
"Yeah… I guess." Pan burned her aura brighter, settling into a battle-ready stance. "Let's end it."
The two fighters charged towards one another, each drawing an energy-enhanced arm back to strike. "I will never…" they said, almost in unison.
Pan brought her fist around. "… stop !"
Hephaestus swung his own punch. "… let you pass !"
Chapter 9: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth
Akuma wa Tokiidate! Janemba no Sadame
Hakaishin temple, Seventh Universe…
The strike team arrived through the dimensional portal with no ceremony at all-the eight gods made their way straight for the exit. As they neared it, Bills drew Gohan off to the side, muttering to the others that he'd catch up. Now in private, he turned and glared at Gohan. "All right, I can't expect you to have known this already, but you said my true name back there- don't do that. I don't think they noticed with all the other stuff going on, and I didn't want to draw attention to it back then, so we got lucky."
"Uh…" Gohan frowned. "What's the problem with it?"
"Between gods, names are power. We all have informal titles for each other… to them, I'm 'the Priest', all right? Remember that."
"Okay…" Gohan nodded, but Bills was already walking off. "Why 'Priest', though?" he asked as he hurried along after the feline deity. "Isn't that kind of ironic?"
"Since when do I have to explain myself to you? Now hurry up, let's go save the universe or whatever."
They emerged out onto the exterior of the temple, preparing to take flight. Gohan was staring at his index and middle fingers, frowning. Long-distance Instant Transmission isn't working… I can't clearly sense any presences beyond this star system… there's some kind of interference. That's never happened before…
The Sorcerer tapped him on the shoulder, his partial telepathic powers allowing him to read this surface thought. "Encountering difficulties, I see… I tried a teleport spell myself as soon as we arrived, but to no avail. I'd theorise that the increasing proximity of the Eternal to this universe is causing its energy to permeate the entirety of your space. Definitely a hindrance to any long-range travel ability…"
"No matter," Cadmus countered. "It should take us under an hour via conventional flight. Stay in formation, and follow the Priest's lead; he should know the way."
"Well, this thing does anyway…" Bills raised Whis' staff, which sent him a mental impulse informing him of Earth's relative location to him. "All right… stay close." He took off, the other seven gods following hot on his heels, soon clearing the atmosphere and disappearing off into deep space, making a direct beeline for Earth.
Otherworld…
Elder Kaioshin sat back from his observation of the universe, having now seen the battle within the tower, the battle over it, and the arriving gods. He sighed. "I see…"
"What is it, ancestor?" Kibitoshin asked anxiously. "Have you determined the source of all these disturbances? There's… there's a prophecy or something, right? There's some kind of precedent for this? Sometime in your long life, you've encountered something like this…?"
Old Kai gave a shrug. "Nope. I have absolutely no idea what's going on. We may all be about to die. Or not. Not a clue."
"… oh…"
Inferno Gauntlet…
Hephaestus Shenron opened his eyes. "Wh…" He was lying on the ground, in front of the door onwards. Prometheus lay a few feet away, still unconscious. Hephaestus' right arm was now intact, but the damage that had been done to it before was shared out, burns and scars dotting his arm and Prometheus' whole body. "Why am I…"
"Alive? I'm not sure," Pan said, standing over him, powered down. "You were close, by the way, in that last clash." She indicated a shallow cut on the side of her head. "Didn't miss by much. Anyway… I just didn't feel like finishing you."
"But… the same courtesy I would have given you… a true warrior's death…" he rasped.
She shrugged. "That's your code. You play by your rules, I'll play by mine. I won, so…"
"You're not… angry?"
"Not with you, personally. You aren't the one who killed my friends and family. I know you've helped cause a lot of destruction, but hell… you were just doing what you were made for. Nobody ever asked you if you wanted to, right?" He was silent. "All right, then," she said, taking in a deep breath. "I got places to be, dragons to punch. Be seeing you-"
"Pan!" a voice called out from behind. She turned to see Vegeta Jr. and Goten jogging up towards her. Goten noticed the conscious Hephaestus. "Uh, is he-"
"He's not our problem," Pan assured them. He's brave, sure… but he knows he's been defeated. "Let's go."
"Not yet," Hephaestus whispered. "Don't try to go through the door. He'll kill you. If you stay, he'll come down… he'll give you a chance to fight."
"He…?"
"The final Shadow Dragon in this area… Helios Shenron." Hephaestus sighed. "You managed to raise your power to Prometheus' and my level, perhaps even higher… and your allies must be similarly impressive, if they overcame Gaia and Hades. But trust me-Helios is a world apart from us. Beware."
"I will…" Pan trailed off, looking up towards the sky. "Hold on… I think he's coming."
"Yeah, check out that power," Vegeta whistled. "That guy wasn't kidding… we're in trouble."
Pan frowned. "Where is he, though? The only change I can see is that the sun's stopped going in those weird little circles. Actually… it's getting bigger, too…"
"Heh… heh heh…" Hephaestus smiled weakly. "That's not the sun."
The burning trail of light focused itself into a single, narrow point and slammed into the ground in an explosion of sound and fury that would make a nuclear blast seem pathetic by comparison.
Slowly rising from his crouch at the bottom of the flaming crater, smoke rising from his body, ki hanging like a painful shroud over the entire landscape, stood the master of Inferno Gauntlet. "Greetings, intruders. My name is Helios Shenron. I'm going to kill you, so make it interesting for me."
The Thirteenth Universe…
The saiyan brothers turned to face Janemba as it materialised. "Is… is it all true?" Goku asked warily. "You…"
"I… did, yes," Janemba muttered, turning away. "Don't misunderstand me. I didn't enjoy it, and I eternally regret it. But because of the sacrifice I was prepared to make, some life survives in this universe. Had I not, there would be none."
"That can't be the only way to-"
"It was too late!" Janemba snapped. "Do not judge me. You haven't yet experienced that kind of desperation… but you might, yet. Pray that you never come as close to annihilation as I did."
"But…" Goku stomped up to Janemba, glaring straight up into its face. "… you didn't even try to fight the Eternal when it came along?!"
"You don't know what it is… you can't fight something like that. Trust me."
"Goku. Calm down." Raditz pulled his brother back. "He made his choice. Right or wrong, we can't change it. All we can do now is do everything in our power to stop the same happening to our universe." He looked up at Janemba. "You defeated the Shadow Dragons sent here, didn't you? So are they significantly weaker than a Hakaishin?"
"The ones I killed were, yes." Janemba frowned. "But I am almost certain that the Eternal will have improved their strength because of it, to prevent that from happening again."
Raditz nodded. "Yeah… we did reckon one of them, Alpha Shenron, had divine ki… maybe part of her job is to fight off any gods that try and take 'em out. Hey, one more thing… you send avatars of yourself into other universes to try and reduce the total life energy there…"
"What of it?"
"How often do you succeed?"
Janemba shrugged. "Opportunities have not come up often. I haven't even had time to 'visit' every universe yet, and none more than once. In the Fourth Universe, I was destroyed by its god, the Hunter-he's quite proud of that, though he's secretly ashamed that I managed to kill over a tenth of the life there. A waste, now, and a terrible shame-if I can't take out enough, those I did kill die in vain. In the Fifth Universe, the Fisherman's laziness towards his job allowed extremely powerful mortal warriors to arise, and they defeated me. You destroyed me in the Seventh. In the Tenth, a group of mortals managed to cut off my energy supply, dissipating my energy supply. In the Eleventh, my energy ran out after killing half of that universe's life-forms… the Scholar didn't care; she just watched it happen.
"The Eighth… my one success, other than here. There are few enough living beings there now that the Eternal will never even notice it. The Jester… did not take it well. They call him the Silent now."
"You bastard!" Goku shoved past Raditz, punching Janemba across the face. Janemba took it unflinchingly, sighing. "You're just as bad as they are, if this is your only solution!"
Janemba took a step back, watching Goku shake his aching hand. "I never claimed to be better than anyone. Perhaps I must become despicable to stop the Shadow Dragons; I do not fear sinking to their level. If it means ensuring that at least some life survives, then I am willing to become far worse than they are."
"Hold on…" Raditz indicated the drone standing motionless at the edge of the plateau they had met on. "Those things. Apparently there's a planet called Alfheim in our universe, where some of them live-though they're not as smart as yours, from what I gather. Plus there's that whole Shifting thing you do; the Alfheim natives have got that going, even taught it to a relative of mine."
"Yes… Alfheim is one of a series of early-warning systems I set up…" Janemba explained. "There are multiple planets named that, one per universe that I have managed to establish this in. I cannot leave this universe, but I can send messages. Not to the Hakaishin, they wouldn't listen to me, but to the mortals in a given universe most suitable for five-dimensional thinking. I give them the secrets of Shifting, and teach them how to grow the drones… in return, they become my scouts. The Eternal's coming makes a huge five-dimensional impression… I didn't know what to think the first time I felt it, but I have them all watching for it now. They reported to me shortly before you arrived… you certainly have less than 24 hours to stop the Shadow Dragons."
"Then let's not waste time," Raditz said flatly. "Do you know of any way we can get back?"
Janemba considered this for a minute, then nodded slowly. "It will not be without risk, but… it is possible." It held up a cautioning finger. "Normally, you would not be able to pass through the seal the Hakaishin used on me, but the negative energy bleed running through the Seventh Universe will make it more susceptible to interdimensional travel. Not yet to the extent that a divine being such as myself could pass, but a pair of mortals, even exceptionally powerful ones such as yourselves, should be able to slip through."
"So what's the risky part?" Goku asked, somewhat calmed down.
"You will have to create a dimensional 'capsule' to survive the void, as you did on the way here," Janemba explained. "Since you will now be expecting it, the journey will not be as arduous as last time, but your success is by no means guaranteed. The scenario will be any variant on 'something trying to kill you'-expect anything."
"All right. But how do we get there?"
"I will take care of that." Janemba smiled, for the first time. "The dimensional manipulation abilities of the natives of Alfheim, and even that of my mindless avatars… they are pale imitations of the true art I have developed. However, I must sacrifice form and beauty for practicality here-to get you two through the seal, I shall essentially fire the pair of you towards the Seventh Universe at such high velocity that the seal cannot register your presence until it is too late. So I suppose I'll end up calling this technique 'Dimension Gun' or somesuch."
Raditz folded his arms. "I'm ready anytime. Thank you for helping us."
"Regardless of what you think of me, I am committed to fighting the Eternal, and it is not too late for you to defeat the Shadow Dragons, and avoid being faced with the choice I was. If there is nothing else to discuss…" No response. "Very well." It raised its arms, placing one palm-out in front of each saiyan. "Good luck. I wish I had more advice than that." His eyes narrowed, and the world dissolved around the brothers, melting away into a vortex of shifting colours and incomprehensible shapes.
He did what he had to, Raditz thought.
He's a coward, Goku thought.
They lost consciousness moments after that.
Above the Shadow Dragons' tower…
Wistarion swung and missed, hissing in frustration as Alpha's return blow grazed his neck, the creator god flinching out of the way just in time to avoid serious injury. I'm losing ground… He blocked another vicious punch, the impact bruising his arm and flinging him several miles upwards before he managed to stop himself. We were even at the start of the fight… but while I've made sure to keep my skills sharp all these years, I haven't been in any real battles. I've lost stamina, and I'm tiring a lot quicker than she is.
"Having trouble keeping up, Wistarion?" Alpha gloated as she flew up to get level with him.
"What you do to me… doesn't matter… you lose either way." Wistarion grinned, a small trail of blood running down over his chin. "If I kill you, it's over. If you kill me, you'll give the others all the motivation they need. The god of this universe, or its mortals, will rise to stop you. Either way… you've lost."
"I told you, didn't I?" Alpha jeered. "I'm not going to kill you. Just beat you into submission, until you get on with your job."
Wistarion gave a steely glare. "If you don't kill me, I'll never stop fighting. It's the only way for you to survive."
"We'll see." Alpha retreated as Wistarion lashed out with an arc of blazing energy, shielding herself from the blast-wave with both arms. "Hmph! Is that all? What do you call that?"
"A distraction," Wistarion replied from behind her, before an elbow jammed into the small of her back. Alpha snarled, swiping as she turned to face him, and he blocked the wild swing, landing a kick directly into her face. She pulled on the extended limb, though, reeling him in and slashing him across the chest with her other clawed hand, throwing a spray of blood out into the upper atmosphere. "Gah-!" He fell back, gritting his teeth against the pain of this new wound.
"Come on," Alpha grinned, cracking her knuckles. "I'm just getting warmed up."
Inferno Gauntlet…
Helios Shenron stood at least nine feet tall, and was possessed of neither physical wings nor a conventional aura, but a hybrid between the two-twin jets of fire erupted from his shoulders, tracing out a wing-shape behind him, flexing slowly as if made of flesh and blood. His face was almost completely obscured by a radiant glow from behind, making it painful to look him in the eyes. Other than that, he appeared mostly human, with a light grey, surprisingly casual outfit held together in places by strips of black cloth (all of which somehow survived the immense heat radiating from his body).
"Gonna kill us, he says…" Pan muttered, smiling. "Yeah, that's been tried."
"Fair warning, I won't hold anything back," Helios said quietly, climbing out of the crater he'd made. "Equally, I expect nothing but your best. Do whatever you must to achieve maximum power-now!"
That's Helios… Hephaestus observed. He lives for the fight. I tried to defeat them before they grew too powerful to handle, but he wants them as strong as they can get. In addition… he probably won't stop until they're all dead. Mercy, in his mind, is a dishonour to the one spared.
"All right… hrrr… rrrRRAAAAGH!" Pan powered back up into her quasi-Super Saiyan state. "You guys… you ready to fuse again?"
"Yeah," Vegeta answered, nodding. "Bit tired, but we're fine, right?"
"Sure. Let's do it." Goten stepped up next to his friend and they rapidly executed the fusion dance, letting out the cries of "Fu-Sion-Ha!" in staccato bursts. Gogeta, now standing in place of the pair of hybrids, quickly transformed up to Super Saiyan 2.
"Interesting…" Helios' face was slowly overcome by an excited grin. "Two fighters with power on the level of us Shadow Dragons. I can see how you got this far… yes, this is perfect. Finally, an enemy worth my time. Come at me, both of you!"
"You asked for it…" Pan charged first, Gogeta close behind, strengthening their auras to resist the Shadow Dragon's heat. Pan's fist struck his face as Gogeta landed a kick to his stomach; they broke away, following up with a combined barrage of energy waves. There was no explosion, however; Helios raised his hand, opening it and drawing the multitude of beams into his palm, closing his hand effortlessly around the attacks, the light dying instantly. They realised at this point that he hadn't so much as flinched from their initial physical blows.
"Yes… very good… I'm impressed." Helios touched his face where Pan had punched him, smiling again. "I've been aching for a decent fight for so long…" A mark finally began to form from her attack. "At last, someone whose attacks I can feel. You two will be worth killing, as I thought." He raised his hand, smile widening. "It's my turn… just so you're aware, this next attack… contains the same heat as the heart of a star."
"Good to know…" Gogeta tensed up as Helios' enormous ki concentrated itself in the palm of his hand.
"I've tested your offence… now for your defence! Haaaaiii-" Helios let the enormous burst of flame loose, flicking it right at the last second as he saw the pair of them dodge in that direction. It impacted the ground right where he'd last seen them running, evaporating rock and lava alike and tunnelling down through solid stone for miles.
As the dust cloud settled, Helios chuckled-then began to clap slowly, turning a hundred and eighty degrees to face Pan and Gogeta, now standing behind him, both shaky and out of breath. "Afterimages… well done. You escaped in the other direction as soon as I diverted my aim. You're good…" His eyes lit up. "No, you're magnificent!" He began to pace towards them, wings of flame burning ever brighter.
"Damn…" Pan growled. "If just the fourth dragon is this tough, our chances don't look great…"
Gogeta sighed. "Yeah, I know… I kinda figured once we got this demigod ki thing figured, we'd be all right… nope."
"It's not as impossible as it may seem, actually," Helios said confidently, walking between them. "Our position in the tower is based on the strength we were created with." He crossed his arms. "But I train vigorously, unlike some of my brethren. My power has improved a great deal since then… to the extent that I have become stronger than the next two Shadow Dragons, Glacius and Kronos."
"Huh…" Pan smiled. "So if we beat you, then there's nothing to worry about until Alpha…"
"Perhaps. But, then, that's irrelevant, since you'll die here." Helios flared up his ki to his maximum again. "Let's continue… but I just want you to know this has been very entertaining so far. It's going to be a pleasure, killing you."
Chapter 10: Soldier Dream
Helios ga taosenai! Pan no zetsubou!
Raditz opened his eyes. It didn't get any brighter. He lifted his head. Now there was some light. He seemed to be lying face-down on wet grass, and as his eyes adjusted to the dawn light, he saw a sparse treeline in the middle distance. One thing to note… I'm an adult this time, and my memories are all there. Maybe… the fact that I knew what was going to happen this time… and went in intending to make this mind-world-thing? Or… something… ah, I don't know. He got to his feet, shaking off dog-like. It didn't work; he had evidently been lying there for a while and was soaked through. Well, I'll just evaporate it off with ki… He took in a deep breath, summoning up his aura.
Nothing happened.
Ah, crap.
That was when he first sensed them. Interesting… ki's almost completely gone, but I can still sense it… I guess that's just one of my normal senses. Good to know.
Anyway… feels like… a couple dozen of 'em. Human, almost certainly. Power above average, but within the normal non-ki-capable range… warriors of some kind.
He made a dash for the trees, crouching behind a particularly thick-trunked specimen, and waited for them to come into view. It took less than three minutes; he'd estimated their numbers correctly, and the group appeared to be made up of soldiers in dark green camouflage pattern. Well, that fits the terrain. Evidently, my subconscious knows what it's doing. Each was armed with an Earth-make assault rifle. What, no Planet Trade blasters? I've been living with humans too long.
He shifted to move to better cover for observation, and heard a sharp noise as his foot snapped a twig. Oh, come on, that's so cliché…
He dived into a line of concealing bushes, gunfire rattling behind him and tearing up the ground where he'd just stood. Shouts from his pursuers carried downwind to him. "Cross the boundary between universes unshielded, they said," he grumbled. "It'll be fine, they said."
"Where'd he go?" the squad commander whispered, taking point and rooting through the bushes their quarry had vanished into. "He isn't here anymore, but I didn't hear anything…"
"Nobody can move that quietly, can they?" a second soldier mumbled.
"Well, he is supposed to be good," the leader replied, circling the small clearing warily.
Nothing stirred in the forest. "… how good, exactly?" she asked.
A shadow descended bat-like from the forest canopy above, landing in the midst of the squad. "You tell me," Raditz growled, springing to his feet.
The next few seconds were a blurred whirlwhind of violence. Two soldiers had limbs dislocated or broken before they were even aware of their enemy. Another raised her rifle, only for the squad leader to push it away; firing at such close range was more than likely to hit one's own allies. As this happened, a third swung his gun club-like, but it was snatched from his hands and smashed back into his face, uneven metal tearing cartilage and cracking bone. He dropped, emitting a wet gurgle.
Raditz let go of the weapon-it had too much momentum in the other direction anyway-and stepped backwards, driving both elbows back and taking out the squad leader and the one next to him, doing this as fast as possible, as the other five members of the squad were now finally reacting. They discarded their rifles, drawing large combat knives or rushing him barehanded. He received a couple of punches and a graze from a blade before getting back into the rhythm of things, and the combat mellowed out into a monotony of crunches and pained yells as his opponents dropped one by one. As the last fell with her own knife in her back, the saiyan leaned back against a tree, panting. "And that… is game…" Ki or no, I've been a soldier on the galaxy's most brutal battlefields… and more recently, I've spent quite a few years training with the very best. Still… not used to normal materials being that hard. He winced as an ache shot up his arm from where he'd missed a target's face and punched their helmet directly.
"Now…" he glanced down at the scattered firearms on the ground. Saiyans didn't usually cover much weapons training, but standard Planet Trade drill included their blasters… can't ever discount for being depowered like this, or finding a weapon so powerful it's better than your own attacks. A few minutes should familiarise me with the differences… besides, I've seen enough action movies to know vaguely how Earth guns work. Well… which way to point them, anyway.
The General shook his head. "Squad 1 shouldn't have gone down so easy…"
A trooper ran up to him, ducking into the command tent. "Sir! Lost contact with squad 2… heard gunfire, evidently he's got hold of squad 1's equipment."
The General blinked. "But squad 2 were over to the East, and since squad 1 was taken out it's only been…" He glanced down at the map beside him. "Damn, he moves fast. It's just us and him now…" Fifteen of us, though, and we have defensible, high ground. He shouldn't be able to… As if to debate this point, a chatter of gunfire immediately broke out to his left. He upended his map-table, diving behind it and drawing his large-calibre revolver.
The gunshots outside grew sparser, and then came to a halt altogether. "Now!" a voice called. "He's out! Move in before he reloads; get-wait, where'd he-" This was followed by a series of cracks, snaps and crunches, and the guards fell silent. "… and set…" a second, unfamiliar voice growled.
Shortly after, the entrance rustled-the General leapt up, fired off a round in the vague direction of the open hatch, and retreated back behind his cover.
"It was a simple mistake, you know," Raditz called in from outside, clutching his bleeding shoulder from the near-miss. "Assuming your perimeter was secure, that if I attacked any point I wouldn't have time to break through before you all got together and ganged up on me. But you underestimated my rate of fire… I'm a big guy, I can shoot one of your little human weapons from each hand, no problem. And I've got plenty of experience with rapid-fire targeting." The wind's distorting my voice, but if I make a move, that'll be a more traceable sound, and he'll shoot me through the tent wall… nearest gun's at least six feet away… what've I got to work with…
"You should've died straight away…" the General muttered, slotting a shell into his empty chamber. "You're out of your element…"
"No, I'm in a warzone; believe me, this is precisely my element." Raditz frowned. All that was in reach was various random objects the General had knocked off his table in upending it. Pen, paper, stationery, and… oh, hello. Now that's one dangerous desk ornament…
The General had decided to try another few shots-he had enough ammunition to miss a few times and not run low-when something metallic rolled across the canvas floor, coming to a halt inches from his leg. It was, he realised with a jolt of panic, the hand grenade he kept for just such an emergency. Attached to it with duct tape was a small square of paper on which an overly-cutesy smiley-face was drawn. "Oh, seriously-"
Raditz lifted his head, crawling out of the ditch he'd dived into to seek shelter from the explosion. "… and match." He looked up towards the sky. "All right… hey, me or the universe or the void or whatever! Finished him. Fatality. I win. I can go home now, right?" Just over ten seconds of awkward silence later, he began to feel weightless, the world fading to a blank white. Aaaand there we go.
Inferno Gauntlet…
Pan and Gogeta retreated warily as Helios Shenron flexed his arms, light-obscured face turning slowly towards them. "Any ideas?" Gogeta asked. "I've still got over twenty minutes of fusion time left…"
"One, maybe," Pan muttered. "I can give you an opening, maybe… but you'll still probably take a hit in return."
"Then I'll use it to grab him, and you can deliver the finisher." He grinned. "Try not to miss and kill me."
"Right… ready?"
"I'd better be." Gogeta shifted slightly. "Do it!"
Pan nodded, circling rapidly, weaving in closer to Helios, who raised his guard. Pan dashed in, receiving a sharp blow to the midsection and falling flat on her back. As she skidded away, she disguised a quick downwards slashing movement as an attempt to slow herself-in reality, she had ripped a chunk of volcanic rock out of the ground and crushed it into dust between her fingers.
Gogeta remained poised, alert. Not yet… he'd still take me down before I even got close…
Helios rushed in to continue his attack, and Pan backflipped to her feet, throwing a straight punch with her left. It all comes down to how he defends… whether he blocks or dodges… Helios chuckled, easily bringing up his arm in time to stop her blow dead. Yes! He blocked! She grinned, releasing the handful of dust from a range of a couple inches directly into his face, propelling it with a burst of ki to turn it into a hail of razor-sharp projectiles, aiming to blind and disorient him.
"Graaah!" Helios lashed out, his arm catching Pan with a glancing blow to her arm as she retreated. Gogeta ran in simultaneously, not giving Helios time to adjust, and grappled the Shadow Dragon's arm and neck-grabbing from behind would have been more secure, but the intense heat of Helios' 'wings' made this impossible. "Pan-!" Gogeta called.
"I hear you!" Pan was already recovering from the force of Helios' wild swing and skidded to a halt, rapidly focusing her ki into a single tiny point in her fingertips. My strongest normal blow didn't bother him… gotta concentrate my power… !
She swung, aiming directly for the joint in Helios' shoulder, arm snaking around Gogeta and swinging straight on course for its target-
He was gone.
Pan stumbled to a halt, mind reeling. Helios now stood a few feet behind her, arms folded, apparently unharmed. Hold on… where's- Gogeta hit the ground behind her, groaned, and fell still, first losing Super Saiyan, then defusing. Pan trembled at this display, feeling her will to fight slipping away. No… no way! We pulled it off perfectly… caught him totally off-guard… is he just that much stronger?!
Helios turned to face her. "I know what you're thinking, and yes. I am. But in addition… including ki detection, I have six senses. You disabled but one of them, and then attempted to immobilise me with that kind of strength… don't kid yourself. You were a pair of insects making war on the sun." He unfolded his arms. "And now you are one."
Break, looking on, sat with clenched fists, nervous sweat joining that caused by the heat. They were both so fast… but to him, they must look like they're standing still! I wish I could help… damn it… I've gotta get to that level! Somehow…
Helios walked closer to Pan, who seemed frozen to the spot. "Lost the desire to fight? That's no excuse, nor is fear, however appropriate." He made a simple gesture, and a burst of fiery energy hurled Pan to the ground once more. "You entered into this battle full of determination. If you could just back out whenever you liked, there would be no risk-no sanctity to it." She lay there, staring up at him. "Well… it was more entertaining when you fought back, but I suppose it makes no difference, given the difference between us." He brought his foot down heavily, driving her unresisting body further into the crumbling rock. "I think I'll finish you now-eh?" A sudden ki spike warned him, and he jumped back in time to avoid a blast hurled directly up into the air.
"Sanctity?" Pan spat, back on her feet and facing Helios. "Entertainment? What kind of crap is that? You think I'm here to play your games? I'm not doing this because I want to!"
"Your spirit returned…" Helios smiled. "That's more like it. You don't like my outlook on battle?"
"Don't trivialise a fight to the death, you bastard!" she yelled, swinging for his head.
He caught it, nails digging into her hand, drawing blood. "Trivialise? You mistake me… I glorify battle. I worship it! This is my reason to exist!" He swung her overhead, throwing her away behind him and hearing with some satisfaction the multiple thumps and crashes as she bounced and rolled to a stop. "That's why I'm superior to you-all of you. You're limited by needing a reason to fight. Fighting is my reason! There's nothing more to it! That's why I'm always pushing myself so hard, and why my power is unparalleled short of the gods themselves!"
Pan wiped away a stream of blood that had trickled down into her eyes, backing away again. "Heh…'all of us'… I think I'm actually related to a couple of guys like you…"
Close by, Break was standing now, taking slow, measured breaths and keeping her energy simmering gently. It's no use… I just can't summon up the emotional depth… I can't break through into demigod ki the 'normal' way Gohan and Pan did… but then… like them, I'm not really a 'normal' Super Saiyan either…
Wait! She stifled a gasp. It's become instinct now… but when I first went Super Saiyan 3, all those years ago… yeah, I combined Super Saiyan 2 and the Legendary form to achieve it, but… it wasn't quite that simple. Legendary Super Saiyan… was just used as a 'spark' or 'trigger'…
… what happens if I fully combine them? Is that even… possible?
Helios paused. "Huh… her ki's acting strangely…"
Pan's eyes widened. "Break, what are you doing?"
"Trying to help…" Break muttered.
"You know those two types of energy are incompatible!" Pan protested. "Do you have any idea what you'll do to yourself?!"
Break remained firm. "If there's even a chance it'll make me stronger… it'll mean you won't have to keep suffering this alone…"
"I'm telling you, don't!" Pan straightened up, burning up her aura. "I'll suffer alone all I want, thanks… and I promise, I will defeat this guy… before I see a friend go through what you're about to try."
Break paused, letting her energy relax. She's reacting pretty strongly… she doesn't know what it's like, surely… unless…
Two incompatible energy sources… when she tried and failed to mix Super Saiyan and Oozaru! She realised. But… she's so desperate to protect me from going through something similar. Shit… was it that bad?!
"You'll defeat me?" Helios repeated back to Pan. "Well, I can't fault your optimism, and this is more fun than when you were giving up."
"I know what I said." Pan clenched her fists, powering up as high as she could manage. "Come at me!"
"All right…" Helios attacked, sending a spray of flame her way. To his surprise, it hissed through empty air, and Pan appeared to his right, thundering towards him. She dodged it?! He blocked her leaping kick, but when he went to slap her away again, she ducked under it, rising under his guard to get a two-handed hold on his head, bringing it firmly down into her knee before letting go, allowing the momentum of her rising leg to fling him back, barely landing on his feet.
Pan came to a halt, shoulders and chest heaving, smiling slightly. "Told you… huh?"
"I didn't think… you could reach such strength…" Helios gasped, before recovering his composure. "I applaud you. But I get the feeling that was a momentary thing. I don't think you have the power to sustain fighting at anything remotely near my level for more than a couple of seconds."
"Try me-gaaah!" Pan cried out as a lightning-fast blow staggered her back.
Helios lowered his arm. "I intend to."
"Damn it…" Pan aimed a leaping kick at him, but he blocked smoothly, flipping her over behind him and using her own momentum to dump her on the ground.
"I must commend you," Helios said calmly, turning. "I didn't think you'd still be alive after so long… of course, I'll soon fix that."
The air folded and stretched outside the Shadow Dragons' tower, the universe grudgingly admitting two new entrants. "Whoa…" Raditz stumbled slightly, adjusting to having ki again. "Hey…" he asked his brother. "You all right? Go through much?"
"Barely worth mentioning, actually," Goku laughed. "It was basically a bunch of old enemies rushing me at once… most of 'em went down in one or two hits."
"We can't have much time left… let's get in there."
"Right." Goku took the lead, sprinting up to the tower's entrance. I don't feel any energy at all from in there… there was supposed to be some kind of magic seal stopping us from skipping levels; it's probably to do with that.
They passed easily through Eden Palace, finding the level empty but for Gaia's lifeless body. "Well, that's one down, at least," Raditz observed. "Promising."
Inferno Gauntlet…
Helios drew back to prepare the final strike. "I've had enough fun now… you were interesting, mortal."
"Screw you," Pan spat.
"Farewell!" Arm wreathed in fire, Helios tensed up to spring-and flinched away before making contact, just as-
"… times ten !" A boosted Kamehameha wave shot past Helios' face, the surprised dragon dodging it by inches. He wheeled, turning on Goku. "Who-?"
"Dragon FIST!" Came a call from behind.
Helios spun around again, facing the onrushing golden dragon that emerged from Raditz's outstretched arm. "What?!" He drove a punch home between its eyes, destroying it, but the shockwave took him off his feet. As he regained his balance in the air, lightly scorched, he glared down at Raditz. Curious… the attack was on our demigod level… but he himself is not… "Feh. More insects."
Pan smirked. "Yeah, but these ones sting."
Chapter 11: Apotheosis
Shinseishi
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but don't oversell us, Pan…" Raditz said warily, pacing over to join her and his brother while keeping an eye on Helios. "Right now, you're a lot stronger than either of us."
"I wish I could do something…" Goku agreed. "I saw Roshi and Oolong and the way here… I want to fight! But this guy…"
"Not just those two," Break said grimly. "Baba, too…"
Pan turned anxiously to her grandfather. "Did you see dad anywhere? When you were… y'know… outside?"
"No," Goku replied. "But he just went a different way to us, right? I'm sure he's fine. We made it back, after all…" He gave an earnest smile, embracing her briefly. "You've done so well to get this far. It must have been hard for you… I'm very proud of you." He sighed. "I wish I could tell you it was all gonna be okay now… that we'd handle it for you, and you didn't have to get hurt anymore…"
"No, I get it…" Pan nodded. "Like you said, I'm the best we've got right now."
"And yet… that isn't enough," Raditz said flatly. "Not to be rude, but his power's a lot higher than yours, and from the looks of you, you've been feeling it."
"I know…" She shook her head. "I tried what you did. After you left. Combining the two forms…" she looked up at him. "I couldn't… I'm sorry. If I hadn't been too weak to do it, I might've been able to beat this guy! But now… you're putting all this trust in me, but I don't know what I can do… ! I've been running on false bravado for too long, and if I keep going he's gonna kill me!"
"Then you know what you have to do, right?" Raditz's voice grew stern. "Try again. I can sense that combined power deep within you… you tapped into it once…"
"Unsuccessfully!" Pan pointed out. "But… yeah, since I tried that, it's stayed… sleeping, I guess, inside me. I could probably try again with just that internal reserve… wouldn't need a moon. But-" She paused, looking sad. "I can't. I don't think I can succeed, and even more than that, I don't want to go through that again!"
Break nodded to herself. So she was speaking from experience when she stopped me from trying something similar… poor kid…
Goku put a hand on Raditz's shoulder. "Come on, we shouldn't make her-"
Raditz brushed it away. "You know it's all we've got! Regardless of how unpleasant she finds it, no matter if she's your grandkid, if she can't defeat this guy, everyone dies!" His eyes narrowed. "I won't let that happen because you got sentimental."
"You… I…" Goku gave a pained look, and sighed. "If there had been any other way…"
"Don't worry, guys, I understand." Pan took a step forwards, calling over to Helios. "It's the only reason you haven't attacked us yet, anyway, right?"
The Shadow Dragon nodded slowly. "I was intrigued when it was suggested you could get stronger still. I gather you've decided to try?" Her determined stare was answer enough. "Then do whatever you have to. But don't make me wait too long."
"We're the ones on a time limit, so don't worry about that." She inhaled slowly, trying to calm herself. It didn't work. We've lost too many people, and he's too much of an ass, for me to stay calm. Well… I'll need to trigger it first… gonna be harder without a moon, even if I've internalised the feeling… I'll need my ki at its very peak, just for an instant-like the time I hurt Helios. One more time… just for a moment… let me go beyond my limits! She let out a sudden growl, a forceful wave of ki digging a crater around her as her muscles rippled and her body shone with new energy.
There! Now… time to wake up the beast.
Hello again.
Helios frowned as Pan fell to one knee, clawing at her forehead, tail lashing around in a frenzy. This is… different. It certainly seems painful… no wonder she was so reluctant to do it before.
Raditz frowned, perplexed. Shouldn't she be… growing by about now?
Pan stuck out a hand below to balance herself on the ground, holding in a howl of pain. Last time… went Oozaru, then Super Saiyan… other way around this time… so I should become the golden monkey straight off, I guess…
… won't lose this time! Won't lose… control… I'm stronger than you… beast! She felt it-the change was about to begin. But since it wasn't mixed in with the moonlight this time, and therefore unclouded by primal instincts, she felt it purely as it was-a flood of energy. Of course! Matter has to come from somewhere… so Oozaru is an increase in energy, just like Super Saiyan; it just turns all that energy into matter, which is why you get bigger and stronger, but not faster or anything.
Mentally, she grabbed ahold of that flood of energy, dragging it to a halt before it could do its preprogrammed job of converting itself into fur and body mass, gasping and falling flat on her back with the enormous strain of holding such a huge well of power to a standstill. Now… let's bypass the whole mass thing… and just give me power!
The internal struggle was externalised, as some invisible force lifted Pan off the ground, columns of golden light seemingly emerging from nowhere and twisting inwards into a vortex of energy with her at the centre, her body enveloped in the blinding glow.
"This power… I can't… !" Hephaestus staggered away, unable to resist the massive weight of ki surrounding the transforming hybrid.
Goku shielded his eyes. "Too bright… it's like being hit by a Solar Flare!"
Break had to drag her father away. "Come on, idiot!"
"It's… incredible…" he whispered.
"Don't stand so close!" she insisted.
Helios was trembling with anticipation. Yes… yes! This is magnificent… finding all these unique fighters together in one place… today is a day I shall not soon forget.
The light remained just as bright, but receded in volume, the glow retreating until it settled around Pan's body, continuing to obscure her features and making her appear as some kind of reverse silhouette. Gradually, this dimmed too, leaving Pan standing amidst a circle of churned-up, yet solid rock-it had melted, then somehow rapidly frozen again, during the transformation.
Pan resumed breathing normally, opening her eyes. I tried to pull all the energy into me, adding it to my existing ki… but it wasn't 100% efficient. Some still 'stuck' as matter… so I guess there were some physical changes after all.
The others looked on, observing these changes-Pan stood a little taller and appeared slightly more muscular. More notably, dark red fur (the exact shade her hair had been in her pseudo-Super Saiyan state before, surely not a coincidence) stretched from below her wrists to up past her shoulders; her tail was now the same colour, and significantly longer. Interestingly, her eyes and hair were now changed into the blue and gold visage of the standard Super Saiyan form, a look she'd never appeared in before. There was one other change, which Break quickly pointed out.
"Uh, Pan," she said slowly, still taking in the transformation. "I'm happy you succeeded, but, uh, you might wanna cover up. Your top…" Pan noticed that, indeed, where the fur had appeared, it had burned right through the covering fabric, and had completely destroyed her shoulder-straps, making her extremely glad that only family and inhuman creatures from beyond the universe were around to see.
With a slight frown and a one-fingered gesture, she telekinetically pulled the damaged garment up off the floor. I'm glad Bulma thinks of just about everything making this stuff. As if she wasn't an expert in enough things already. If the straps get damaged, you just unfold this bit, clip that to there, and voila, strapless. Having re-dressed, she turned her attention to more important matters. "All right… I went through all that crap to become this… it better be enough."
"I, too, am anxious," Helios concurred, unfolding his arms and dropping into a wary half-crouch. I mustn't succumb to arrogance. She was formidable enough before… this should be interesting.
Pan relaxed her aura, studying Helios unblinkingly for a few seconds, and then smiled. "I win."
"What's that supposed to-" Helios got no further, collapsing like a discarded doll, vomiting blood.
"Did I stutter?" Pan snapped. "I. Win."
"A… Amazing…" Helios coughed, staying close to the ground as he tensed up to spring. He vanished from the onlookers' sight, reappearing directly in front of Pan and yelling as he forced his ki into his right fist, smashing it into Pan's face. He then gave a screech, leaping back and staring down at his broken fingers in disbelief.
Pan, completely unharmed, yawned. "Well, now you've given it your best, if it makes you feel any better." She began to walk casually past Helios, heading for the door.
"We're not done !" Helios roared, pumping up his energy. "I still stand! I still breathe! I will never surrender!"
She shrugged. "But you already know the result. Might as well not bother fighting."
"How… dare… you… !" Helios marched up to her, positioning himself between her and the door. "On my honour, you will not pass through this door while I live." His voice was cold steel.
"You're a fool," she said gently, sadly.
"I would sooner die a fool than live on a coward!" Helios declared, raising his left arm and concentrating his ki. "Whatever new power this is… we'll have to see… whether it can stand up to the heat of a star!"
Pan rolled her eyes. "It can, if it's only your power behind the attack."
Helios swung his arm around in a wide arc, forming and launching not one as expected, but three fiery spheres. "And your friends?"
Pan yelped in surprise as the first slammed headlong into her aura, exploding and obscuring her from view. The second was aimed for Goku and Raditz, who stood adjacent to each other, and the third flew for Break, slightly to their left.
Goku rapidly powered up, performing a peculiar mixing action with both hands and forming an attack he hadn't used for quite some time. Heat of a star? No problem. "Nova Burst!"
Before even seeing that Goku had taken steps to save them, Raditz reacted on instinct, taking an Instant Transmission jump to directly in front of Break, who had been caught off-guard and had yet to react. It was almost upon him, though he managed to turn Super Saiyan before it hit. Damn… and we only just got back! What a stupid way to die… I'm not even gonna be a decent meat shield-it's gonna go right through me and kill Break too… !
My daughter-!
Helios relaxed, beginning to feel his injuries, and watching the triple explosions with some relief. Finally… taken care of. They were certainly foes to remember, though-
"I told you." Pan, still standing in the same spot, flung her aura outwards to clear away the obscuring smoke and flames. "I can survive anything you can throw at me."
A pair of feet tapped the ground behind her as Goku touched down. Good thing I remembered that technique… it's been ages. His solar attack had still been weaker than Helios', but he'd slowed it down enough to allow himself to dodge.
Helios groaned. Did I at least kill the other two?!
Break, arms raised to shield herself, opened her eyes to find herself unharmed. What…? The smoke cleared, revealing her father facing her, still in Super Saiyan but swaying slightly, smoke rising from his back, a pained expression on his face. The power in that attack… he shouldn't have survived it, unless…? No way… but his ki did just shoot through the roof…
Sometimes I forget this, but I have awesome parents.
Raditz cracked a smile. "Heh. What a way to unlock this 'demigod ki'…" He tore off the burned remnants of his shirt, giving Break a thumbs-up. "Hell if I'm gonna let anything kill you while I'm here." He spun, facing Pan and Helios. "And now I've awakened to this… care to help me warm up?" He dashed at Helios, drawing his sword and making a downwards slash in one smooth motion. Helios jumped sideways, Raditz continuing the attacking motion and sticking his sword into the ground, pushing off and letting go to propel himself into a jumping kick. Helios blocked with his good arm, gritting his teeth at the impact. I wasn't expecting such strength from him… ! That moment of desperation really did bring out his potential…
Raditz's arm swung down, and Helios dodged back, throwing a kiai that knocked the wind out of the Super Saiyan. "Your power increased a lot, certainly, but you should leave this to the girl. You're only about as strong as she was before she made this latest transformation…" Still, it is impressive in such a short space of time; he'd be able to give Hephaestus and Prometheus an even battle.
Once he'd recovered, Raditz grinned. "Yeah, you're probably right… even after all the fighting you've done, I don't stand a chance at beating you. But it's pretty exhilarating, suddenly getting this strong-I had to try it out."
"If you've had your fun, I'm going to finish it," Pan said firmly. In the blink of an eye she was behind Helios, gripping his left arm in both hands and snapping it in a single forceful motion. Helios hissed, spinning to face her. My right arm's still intact, minus a couple of finger bones… a direct punch to the face didn't faze her, though… He swung a knifehand at her eyes, but she ducked under it, backflipping away and landing some distance from him.
"I'm not… beaten yet… !" he insisted.
"You've been beaten ever since I transformed," she countered. "The next blow will be the last. I'll use my full strength for the first time."
"Then I'll show you my best, as well… while I can't yet fight at faster-than-light speeds like the gods can, in a straight line I can build up to speed you can't even comprehend." He braced himself, preparing to charge. "Almost 90 percent of lightspeed! Even you can't match that!" He took off, fist clenched to strike, soaring straight for her, 'wings' burning trails of flame through the air.
"Ninety percent?" Pan's eyes flicked open, and she disappeared, materialising crouched on the ground behind Helios followed by a trail of jumbled, smashed-aside light rays. "I'll raise you a hundred."
Half a second later, Helios gasped, feeling an immense tearing sensation flood throughout his chest. He flopped to the ground, spasming, before falling unconscious. Pan stood, rubbing her elbow. "I shattered a couple of your ribs and probably tore some other stuff. You'll live."
Hephaestus approached cautiously. "He did want you to kill him if he lost…"
Pan shrugged. "I don't like him enough to do what he wants. And I don't hate him enough to kill him, either. Unfortunately for him, I only dislike him enough to let him live, since I know it'll piss him off." She gave Hephaestus a stern look. "We're going through. For real this time. You're not going to stop us, I assume?"
"No… even if I wasn't injured, you're quite beyond my power now…" Hephaestus almost smiled. "I'm going to stay and tend to Prometheus and Helios."
"Similarly, you should stay and round up all our friends, maybe take 'em back to the first level," Raditz suggested to Break.
"What?!"
Goku stepped between them. "Easy, Break, I was about to say the same thing. But somebody needs to, and there's no easy way to say this, but…"
"Yeah, I know, the three of you are all a lot stronger'n I am, whatever…" Break turned away, sighing. "Eh, fine. But no promises I won't come after you when I'm sure they're all okay."
"Come on, people!" Pan shouted from over by the hovering doorway. "We're running out of time. Get moving, or I'm going without you."
"Coming, coming…" Goku ran after Pan.
Hephaestus gazed around at the devastated landscape. We have been utterly defeated… I never thought I'd see Inferno Gauntlet conquered by a handful of mortals. Just who are these people?
Alpha Shenron circled Wistarion, tracking his wary movements with a hunter's eye. "Come, Wistarion… let's end it."
"Very well." Wistarion summoned up his energy, preparing for the final clash. "No matter what you do… one of us will die here. And then… you lose."
Chapter 12: Who Wants to Live Forever
Zenmetsu! Souzousha tai Hakaisha
Wistarion and Alpha Shenron's attacks met again in a storm of fire and thunder. He fell back, red smearing across his vision from a cut over his eye, and threw a barrage of energy in Alpha's direction, but she dodged faster than he could follow, reappearing moments from him-he turned just in time to block her scything strike, grappling with her and trying to force her back.
Grinning fiercely, she lurched forwards, a headbutt breaking his nose and a follow-up knee strike as he flinched with pain breaking his guard. Her hand snaked out, catching him by the neck before he could fall and holding him up before her. "Surrender," she ordered.
"Heh." His body began to heat up, vibrating slightly and lit by an inner glow. "You still don't understand, no matter how many times I tell you that I'll die first…" He let his power fly in all directions, breaking Alpha's hold and throwing a punch that she narrowly dodged, responding with one of her own and landing a solid hit to his face.
"Every being has a survival instinct, Wistarion!" she snapped. "You've spent so long running… you're no exception."
"You should study these mortals closer," Wistarion muttered, wiping blood away as it streamed down his face. "You should know that in many species, when a mother or father is cornered, it will sacrifice everything for the sake of its children." He feinted a lunge to the right, but she didn't fall for it, catching his leg as it swung around for his true attack.
"How is that relevant?!" she demanded, shoving a ball of sparking ki into his chest and blasting him away.
Shakily righting himself, Wistarion stabilised his flight, painfully raising his guard again. "I created every universe you've destroyed. The blood on your hands belongs to my children, every one of them. Now that I've decided to fight…" His fading ki suddenly resurged, rocking the planet around him. "… no force in this world or the next can stop me while I still breathe!"
"Stop spouting that crap!" Alpha lunged in, Wistarion blocking a downwards strike with some effort and shoving her away, launching another energy wave volley to drive her back. She flew in rapid, evasive circles, swooping back around and striking him hard in the back elbow-first, feeling something tear beneath the skin.
Gasping at the impact, Wistarion turned to throw a counter-punch, but Alpha swung away to the side, catching his fist one-handed and shuddering slightly as she struggled to bring it up to a halt. "Hrr… you're… still losing power," she reminded him. "You clearly can't keep this up."
"And you, it seems, can't shut up," he snapped, feeling bones splinter in his hand as she crushed inwards. She swung her arm out, flinging him away and sending a pair of eye-beams lancing after him. He brought his arm up to block, but due to the injuries already sustained to the limb his ki flowed sluggishly up it and her beams bored straight through it, leaving twin instantly-cauterising, steaming holes in his forearm and striking him in the chest, doing less damage now but still leaving burning tracks on his skin.
Wistarion wavered, almost falling, searching for any power he had left. He swiped at Alpha, who contemptuously rose out of his path, coming back down and snapping a downwards-arcing kick into the top of his head, sending him all the way down to the earth's surface in a stream of thunder, his impact crater in the desert below visible to her even from the upper atmosphere.
She followed him, unhurriedly descending to the dry ground and approaching him. Throwing in a lazy stamp down onto his chest for good measure, and feeling something crack, she stepped back, smiling down at him. "There. I think that's enough… get out of this universe, Wistarion. Go about your duties."
"A… Again…" he said through bloody lips, stirring. "… you fail… to grasp… my resolve." His eyes hardened. "My one… duty, now… is to the people… I have failed… for so long."
"And the Hakaishin? Your proclaimed friend?" Alpha snorted. "He is no 'better' than the Eternal; he, and all the rest, do the same on a smaller scale."
"Then perhaps…" Wistarion said softly, "… this ordeal will teach them… the terror of the victim… the artificiality of this cycle you hold so dear. I hope that they will learn to break it… as I have. They are good people… or, I know that they can be." With no warning, he sprang, releasing in an instant the strength he'd been building as they talked and leaping up to Alpha, locking his arms around her shoulders. "And I will show them the way!"
"Wistarion-!" she gasped. "You don't mean to…"
His body hummed with building power. "I will fight you to my last breath, as promised. If we both die, then so be it; my goals will be doubly achieved."
She grasped his upper arms, trying to break his hold as she began to feel the heat of his rising energy. "You're mad! All for the sake of these insects… !"
"I have tried to explain, but you will never understand; the time for talk is done." Wistarion closed his eyes. "Let my actions speak for me."
"N-No… !" Alpha shrieked, sensing fully now the fearsome ki that was accumulating as Wistarion prepared to self-destruct. "Not like this… so close…" She flared up her own power, eyes wild. " I won't let you! " She thrust her hand out, the blow colliding with Wistarion's now-immense aura and clashing in a storm of energy. Gritting her teeth, she pushed onwards, breaking through the barrier with an immense effort and placing her hand against his chest.
"None may oppose us. Not even you." With that, she fired, a wide energy beam puncturing straight through Wistarion's chest and erupting out of his back, tearing flesh and bone to shreds and arcing off into the sky after passing through.
In shock, barely able to process the sensation, Wistarion stumbled two steps away and collapsed in the sand, blood gushing out from the fatal wound and staining the desert around where he lay. He gave a ragged gasp, face turning towards the sky, eyes blank. "I… warned…" He got no further, shuddering and falling limp.
So the creator bleeds and dies just like anyone. Alpha's expression was initially a triumphant sneer, but it quickly turned to abject horror. No… no, no… this was his plan! If he couldn't kill me, he wanted me to kill him ! Leaving aside his crap about the mortals defeating me… there may be many universes, but they are not infinite! The Eternal… the Eternal will…
Furious, she kicked Wistarion's body, flinging it away over the dunes. "You bastard! What do you gain from this? Now, we're going to run out of universes! Every living thing-all will be consumed! There'll be nothing left-and then the Eternal will starve-we'll die, too! There'll be nothing !"
Deep space…
The Sorcerer called the attention of the rest of the strike team. "Something has come to my attention. I have been studying the negative energy build-up in this universe-up to this point, it has been irregular… but it's 'smoothed out' now, and accelerated significantly."
"Which means?" the Hunter asked, impatiently.
"We know the energy is being generated by the lead Shadow Dragon," the Sorcerer explained. "My guess is that until recently, the fluctuations in its negative energy output were due to it being engaged in battle. It appears to be at rest, now, and is generating energy much faster…"
"There are formidable warriors on that planet," Bills confirmed. "Likely it was them."
Gohan grimaced. "I hope nothing happened to them…"
The Sorcerer nodded. "In any case, it is imperative that someone engage the dragon in combat again, and soon-by my estimation, we will not reach Earth in time to stop the Eternal's coming if the negative energy build-up continues at this rate."
C'mon, guys… Gohan thought. I'm bringing the cavalry, but you've gotta hold on until I get there… you have to keep her fighting! It's all down to you now…
The third level of the Shadow Dragons' tower was a dimly-lit pathway of jagged rock leading its twisting, winding way up and away to a distant square of light-the doorway out-which formed the only light source. In sharp contrast to Inferno Gauntlet's heat, the cold here was biting, especially to Pan and Raditz, after the damage to their outfits. Ice crystals formed on the ground, snaking along the rocky path that seemed to hang suspended in nothingness; they were surrounded all around by empty darkness, stretching out seemingly endlessly.
"Well, this is different…" Raditz observed.
Goku came to a halt, looking concerned. "Guys… before we go on… there's something I wanna say." He looked down at his feet, unsure of how to phrase this. "I know we've lost people today… people we care about. For good. But if we carry on all depressed like this, I'll go insane."
"You want us to be happy? Now ?" Pan asked, incredulous.
"… yeah. Actually, yes." Goku looked her in the eye. "Being sad when they die is one thing, so's remembering them later, but staying down like this-when we're still carrying on their fight-is like giving up." His eyes shone with conviction. "They wouldn't want us to be depressed, y'know? We gotta give it everything we got in these battles, and hell, if we do it with smiles on our faces, I bet those dragons will just hate it, right?"
"I see what you mean." Pan smiled warmly. "Honour their memory… by living like they'd want us to. Even now."
"You're crazy!" Raditz laughed. "Like always. You never stop fighting… even against all the pain we've gone through."
"Are we agreed, then?" Goku asked. "We're gonna get through this and come out smiling-no matter what happens. And we are gonna win. Got it?"
"Whatever you say, granddad," Pan replied.
"Delightful." A pair of clawed feet clacked against the hard ground, signifying the arrival of a Shadow Dragon. "Crushing your happiness once more will bring great joy to me." This one was outfitted in sculpted metallic garments of pure white, inlaid with flawless pale blue gems. Several pairs of gold bands adorned his arms and legs, and some kind of opaque-looking wraparound visor obscured his eyes, sunken into his thin face beneath vertical white spikes of hair. "The name's Glacius Shenron; who do I get to kill first?" He flashed a fanged grin. "I hope you'll save the girl for last. Male screams just aren't-as-satisfying! Don't hit the spot, y'know?"
"Oh, screw you and your introductory monologue already," Raditz grumbled, unslinging his sword and tossing the scabbard aside. "I got this guy."
"Remember how you did against Helios," Goku warned. "Even with your new power."
"Yeah, but this one isn't as tough as Helios, apparently," Raditz replied, grinning.
Glacius chuckled. "Is that what he told you?" He raised his arms at his sides, releasing his ki in a storm of neon energy. Crackling, twisting shards of ice formed out of the water vapour in the air, assembling behind him and forming the outline of a pair of ghostly wings.
"Yeah." Turning Super Saiyan, Raditz's grin widened as he measured his opponent's ki. "And he was right."
Glacius' lip curled into a snarl. "You-!" He jumped, lashing out and aiming to take Raditz's head off, but the saiyan got his sword up in time to block, skidding back with the impact as Glacius continued to advance. Eventually, Raditz ground to a halt, feet digging into the precarious ground, and with a yell of effort, he threw the dragon back. "Okay, popsicle. Let's dance."
The two vanished in an explosive shockwave, reappearing in full-speed motion high overhead, Raditz landing a kick to Glacius' stomach and receiving a punch to the chest in return. They broke away, landing a few metres apart. "Not bad…" Glacius admitted, straightening up with slight difficulty. "I can see how your group has made it this far. My ki is slightly superior to yours, but you have commendable skill and fighting sense, allowing you to keep up with me."
"Didn't figure you for the kind to give compliments," Raditz said, raising his weapon.
Glacius sneered. "I'm not. Allow me to finish: But your raw speed is still slightly inferior to mine. You missed something."
Before Raditz could ask, his body shuddered as sheets of ice rapidly leapt up around his leg, solidifying and freezing it in place. But… that's where I hit him, not where he hit me… so it wasn't his attack? What didn't I see?! As his mind raced, Glacius rushed him again, Raditz exploding his ki outwards, shattering the ice and freeing himself, bringing his sword up and slicing at Glacius' face. Glacius halted, parrying the blade with some difficulty, and Raditz took the opportunity, ducking inside the off-guard Shadow Dragon's defences and slamming a punch into the side of his face. Glacius yelped in shock, crashing to the ground on his back.
However, Raditz's attacking limb, again, was immediately encased in a sheath of ice; he frowned, focusing his energy and breaking free, but as before, it cost him a lot of energy. I saw something this time! I don't know what, but… in the instant I hit him, there was a flash of light… outlining him, I think… he's right-I can keep up with him, but my eyes aren't quite fast enough to see… whatever this is.
What was worse, as Glacius climbed to his feet, it seemed that Raditz's attacks hadn't done any real damage to him for some reason. Before Raditz could formulate a plan-perhaps one of his more powerful techniques-Glacius was upon him again. The dragon landed a pair of jabs, breaking open Raditz's guard, and then a final leaping kick, flooring the saiyan and sending him sliding back over the rough gravel to his allies. Glacius grinned malevolently. "Next, please."
"I'll do it." Pan cracked her knuckles, stepping forwards. "That okay with you guys?"
"Sure, go ahead," Goku replied casually. "Just as long as I get at least one."
"Be… ugh… my guest," Raditz groaned from below.
"Another volunteer so soon?" Glacius asked gleefully. "My, this day is wondrous indeed. I warn you, though, girl," he continued as she strode up to him, "I won't just kill you. First-"
Emitting a sound like a deflating balloon, Glacius collapsed onto his back. Pan unclenched her fist, lowering it. "Let's leave the rest to the imagination," she said. "Nobody cares, anyway."
Glacius dragged himself up and backwards, retreating and waiting for his power to kick in. Any second now… just a moment longer…
"Waiting for my arm to freeze? Don't bother." Pan grinned, waving her arm and demonstrating it to be fully intact. "It's pretty fast, but I saw it. In the instant you're struck, an ice barrier-presumably magical, since normal ice wouldn't stop the weakest saiyan-flashes into existence, so not only do you take no damage, it freezes the opponent's attacking body part." She frowned slightly. "Of course, once I saw it I had to draw back to avoid it-meant I pulled my punch. Never actually touched you…"
"Wha-?!" Glacius gave a start. That… was just the shockwave thrown out by her fist? If she struck me for real… I'd never survive, even if my shield raised itself in time!
He scrambled backwards up the path, crouching low and grovelling. "S-Stop! Enough! I can tell, just by that… you're a lot stronger than I am. I can't stop you… go."
"Right, because I trust you completely," Pan sighed, rolling her eyes.
"What could I do, with the difference in our speeds?" Glacius pointed out. "You could kill me as soon as I tried. No thank you; unlike some, I have a survival instinct."
"I suppose that makes sense, but I am watching you… uh?" She'd gone to walk past him, but found something wrong. "Can't… move…?!" She found, to her dismay, tendrils of ice latched onto her legs and anchoring her to the ground, twisting up her spine now and growing to envelop more of her body.
"A few seconds to focus was all I needed," Glacius explained. "That, and you to stand still. Now pay the price of arrogance!" He raised his hand high into the air in a dramatic, sweeping gesture, and the rate of growth rapidly increased, encasing Pan in a solid, gleaming crystal moments later.
"Pan!" Goku ran up to the prison of ice, hammering it with his hardest punch, but to no avail. Raditz, meanwhile, was propping himself up by digging his sword into the rock beneath him, trying to regain his balance. "S'allright, Goku… I got… thisssss sssss " Trailing off, he collapsed, snoring gently.
Melting that ice earlier must've drained most of his power… plus the beating he took… Goku turned his attention back to Pan and Glacius. Maybe I can do the same and get Pan out… she can maybe take him on…
"Don't bother," Glacius crowed, guessing Goku's thoughts. "Don't underestimate my power. There's only one being, short of a god, capable of generating enough heat and power to melt the ice formed by my strongest technique-Helios Shenron! Speaking of which, you killed that fool, didn't you?"
"Nope, he's still alive," Goku replied, racking his brain for the solution to this situation.
"Of course!" Glacius moaned. "Of course you didn't! Aagh, I hate that battle-crazed…" He shook his head. "He's always going on about improving himself, overcoming his limits. Ridiculous! I inhabit Heaven's Bridge, this higher level-proof that I was created a class above of him, no?"
"Actually… he is stronger than you," Goku pointed out.
"Kuh! What do I care what you think? I'm about to kill you, and then the other two." Glacius stretched, lazily beginning to approach Goku.
Goku closed his eyes. There's only one way to free Pan, then… gotta raise my ki… past its limits… and generate an attack like Helios'!
First off… it doesn't usually make me stronger anymore-the power's already in my base form-but we know the potential's in the Super Saiyan forms… so! For the first time in quite a few years, Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan, raising his ki to its natural maximum. And now… have to go… further!
He focused inward, simultaneously forming his Nova Burst attack and preparing to melt Glacius' ice. Where… is it? This potential we're supposed to have… I can't feel anything like it! Doubt gripped him. How am I supposed to do this?
He was tempted to return to base and use the Kaioken, but resisted. That won't be enough… the demigod potential isn't in Kaioken, it's somewhere within Super Saiyan… but… He stared down at the gently-glowing orb in his hand. But… this power… isn't nearly enough!
No, I'm overthinking this. This has to come from basic emotion-like when I first transformed. I'd better not forget-Pan's life's riding on this attack; hell, Raditz's too. My granddaughter, and my brother… I can't let them die when there's even the slightest chance to save them.
That's it! He enlarged the Nova Burst, feeding more ki into it. To produce the desperation I need… I'll stake my own life on this, too! He drew his arm back, concentrating his power still further.
"Are you deaf?" Glacius asked, sounding more than a little bored. "It can't. Be. Done. Focus on your own life; hers is forfeit already."
If I can't generate enough power… the blast will reflect back on me, and kill me. He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and leaping straight up, arcing back down towards his target. Pan… I'm coming through this with you, or I don't want to live through it!
Glacius jumped back, shielding his eyes as the fury of a star was unleashed upon his creation. There was a great noise as of shattering glass, and he felt his control being wrenched away from his victim. What… but… how?!
He took a couple of uneasy steps forwards, approaching the cooling crater with caution. "Are you insane?!"
"Yeah." Goku staggered through the clearing smoke, breathing hard, right arm pierced by large, horribly sharp ice shards in three places. Not as strong as Helios' attack, but… close! "I'm crazy…" He grunted, pulling a shard out and letting it clatter to the ground, blood flowing freely from the wound. "… a fool…" The second joined it, smashing as it landed. "… and just plain stupid." He dug the final spike out of his flesh, heaving a sigh and straightening up his hunched shoulders. "I don't ever want anybody to die… and I always try and smile through everything that happens. So yeah, that's pretty dumb. Makes me think I can do anything, even if it's pretty much suicide." He looked up, flashing a grin at Glacius and flexing his suddenly-enormous ki. "But I'll still try and live up to that stupid dream-world of mine. Always."
"Your voice… pisses me off." Glacius rushed in, swinging for Goku's head, but the Super Saiyan caught the attack in mid-flight, pulling Glacius in and driving a knee up into his chin, throwing him clean off the edge of the pathway and into the void, where he hurriedly caught himself mid-fall.
Goku was already turning away and walking over to pick up Pan, who stirred and looked groggily up at him. "… cold…"
"Give it a minute. Your ki should be coming back-it'll warm you up." He walked her over to Raditz, setting her down beside him. "Easy, now. I got this one." He stood, sensing Glacius behind him. "Ready for more?"
"You observed my barrier, and timed your attack to counter it…" Glacius noted. "I suppose I'll stop using it, and save on power, then."
"Smart move…" Goku wasted no time, immediately making the first move and making to attack Glacius head-on; Glacius saw through the feint, however, and just as Goku's afterimage faded, turned a one-eighty to block Goku coming up from behind, backing away as Goku pressed his attack, a rapid string of blows driving the dragon further back. Glacius broke away, putting on a burst of speed and dashing around to outflank Goku, who slid away just in time to avoid a downwards-slashing swipe that carved its way through the path at their feet.
However, this last-second dodge put Goku on the back foot, and he was caught off-balance as Glacius reared up in front of him, drawing back to strike. He's got too much momentum… won't be able to stop him with anything less than… He intercepted Glacius' charge, placing both hands on the Shadow Dragon's stomach. "-Kamehame haaaaa! "
Glacius was knocked away instantly, finding his feet and bringing himself to a halt. "Heh. If that's the strongest blast you can produce… my condolences. You're weaker than I thought."
Goku dusted off his hands. "Save it. I've already won."
"What's that?" Glacius grinned lopsidedly. "Blood loss getting to you? I'm still standing, genius!"
"I'll give you this chance to surrender." Goku stood firm, staring Glacius down for a few seconds before turning away, heading over towards Pan and Raditz. "If you keep fighting, you're going to die. So stop, for your own sake."
"You-!" Glacius hissed, frothing with rage. How dare he ignore me! But… what if he isn't bluffing?
It doesn't matter! I have to kill him! If I do it fast enough, even if he has done something, it won't have time to take effect! And after expending all that energy, he can't have enough left to still be as fast as me!
He flattened his hand, focusing his ki into the tips of his fingers and forming a gleaming, icy blade. I… I cannot be defeated by these… lower-order beings! "Die!" he shrieked, launching himself at Goku's exposed back.
Goku's eyes snapped open wide. You idiot! You made it you or me! His arm whipped out to the side, and a faint glow of energy arced out, reaching Glacius' body and… igniting something. "Times ten," Goku said softly-and a roar of power emerged from within Glacius, bursting to the surface and rupturing his body from multiple directions at once, crushing him under immense heat and pressure. N-No… not this way! Anything but… a mortal… ! With a final cataclysmic explosion, Glacius Shenron was no more.
Goku lowered his arm, bending down to help his family up.
"What was that?" Raditz asked wearily.
"Delay Kamehameha. New technique I've come up with." They stood, facing up the dark, narrow pathway. "I can hit somebody with the force of a normal Kamehameha, 'implanting' the rest of the boosted x10 shot and triggering it later. Well… that's just one use of it, anyway."
"Impressive," Pan said, nodding. "Thanks for taking care of that guy."
"You feeling up to fighting now?"
"Sure, yeah. Being frozen didn't take up any energy. But as if I wasn't cold enough already…" She shivered audibly, pressing on in a hurry.
Alpha Shenron sat back on her throne, feet resting on Wistarion's corpse. She frowned as she made a mental sweep of the tower. They made it to Kronos? Really? And there are still three of them?!
Calm, calm. Now I'm not fighting anyone myself, I can focus on generating negative energy. This will be over soon. Besides… of the Shadow Dragons under my command, I only considered two to be 'invincible'.
One of those, Hades, proved me wrong earlier.
How about you, Kronos?
The telepathic reply was instantaneous. Alpha… you have known me longer than any of the others. Your other subordinates have come and gone, but we crawled out of the Pit together, all those years ago. In all that time, have you ever known me to lose a battle?
No, she admitted.
Have you ever known me to leave an enemy alive?
No.
Have you ever known me to face anyone who was capable of striking me even once?
… no.
Then calm yourself. None shall pass me alive. This I swear to you, old friend.
Chapter 13: Time and Time Again
Toki no Meijin! Saichimeiteki na Ankoku no Ryuu?
Heaven's Bridge…
This level, at least, didn't take as long to traverse as the previous one had. It only took them a couple of minutes to near the exit, even allowing for a little time to recover energy from the battle with Glacius.
As they drew level with the doorway, there was no Shadow Dragon in front of it.
And then, quite simply, there was.
He had not moved there with mere speed-there was no trail of ki (and his ki was hard to miss), no blur or hiss of Instant Transmission or a similar technique, no glow of a magic spell or piece-by-piece assembly of Shifting. He was just… there .
The dragon sighed. "I do so hate pausing time like that. It's just too easy; there are mortals with that capability in this universe, the product of mere genetic mutation. I am loath to place myself down on their level." Black-clad, his pale eyes shone with an eerie light beneath his unkempt hair; distance and space seemed wrong somehow in his vicinity, and shadows writhed around him, obscuring where his legs met the ground. In a similar fashion to the previous two Shadow Dragons, his wings were not physical, instead formed of the same shadows as they flowed upwards and spread throughout the air behind him. "I suppose I should introduce myself… my name is Kronos Shenron."
"Yeah, I know." Pan stepped forwards. "Remember me?"
"Oh… from the place we were summoned at…" Kronos nodded. "Yes, yes… how you've grown since then, and in such a short amount of time. You're stronger than I am, I freely admit."
"But you still think you can win."
"Not exactly. 'Think' implies uncertainty." Kronos shrugged. "There is none here. I will kill all of you. Or if I don't, you will wish I had."
"Careful, guys, on the Lookout he-"
Kronos put a hand up. "Don't bother telling them the abilities I displayed back then." He smiled slightly. "I try not to use the same method of attack more than once during the same engagement. Suffice to say, I can bend and manipulate time to my whim. Please bear in mind that any attacks I use on you will merely be my tricks and toys-you cannot fathom what I could accomplish if I truly exerted myself." His eyes flashed for a moment. "Travel far back enough in time, nudge a few particles around in precisely the right manner, and entire galaxies cease to exist in the present."
I'm stronger than last time… faster… Pan braced herself. He won't do what he did before, anyway… at least, I hope he won't-I don't think I could bear it again. And hell, if last time it sent me all the pain I'd ever felt, if he did it twice would it count the first time and make the second twice as strong…? Ah, hell, doesn't matter… he's not gonna use the same technique twice. Well… only one absolute… we gotta keep moving.
She leaped, aiming herself directly at Kronos, hoping she could endure whatever he came up with this time. Kronos' arm twitched upwards, and he snapped his fingers. Abruptly, things got rather strange and, indeed, very confusing.
From Pan's perspective, a duplicate of her appeared out of thin air, hurtling towards her and crashing into her, knocking her away from Kronos; then, the world flashed for a second and she was now flying away from Kronos again, before crashing head-on into a duplicate of herself flying towards him, who promptly vanished.
From Goku and Raditz's perspective, a second Pan appeared out of thin air, collided with the first, and then the first vanished, leaving the second sprawled on the floor, completely confounded.
"Wait… what?" Goku stared, trying to make sense of things. "So… is that the real Pan?"
"They both were, or rather are," Kronos replied calmly. "I created a stable time loop. She travels back in time a few seconds, just in time to collide with herself, before that second's version of herself gets sent back to do the same, leaving one of her in the present. Don't worry, they're both the same person, just at different points in the timeline. A simple trick, to discourage physical assault."
"He's right…" Raditz admitted. "If that's the kind of stuff he can do when he's playing around… not to mention what he did on the Lookout… we can't get close to him!"
"I still don't really understand what he did…" Goku complained.
Raditz chuckled. "I guess after all these years, you're still a simpleton."
"Oh, so you understand it? Cool! So, what'd he do?"
"Well, uh… you see… I… it's… complicated."
Goku rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. You have no idea either. I'm not clueless, you know."
"If you're quite finished?" Kronos inquired. "I was rather hoping I could get to murdering you soon. Babysitting you three is already growing tiresome."
"You want to keep trying, Pan?" Goku asked. "Or should we rush him together?"
"Don't bother," Kronos interrupted. "Having demonstrated my defence capabilities, it is now my turn to attack." He folded his arms. "You, girl, are the only one of your group with the potential to harm me. So, I shall remove you."
"… fun." Pan stood, raising her guard warily.
"Let's see… how to do it… ah." Kronos nodded to himself. "Yes, that'll work. I'll just send you forwards in time-billions of years forwards. There won't be any life left on this planet, to be certain… not that you'd be able to return anyway-"
"Ka… Me… Ha…" Pan didn't wait for him to finish speaking. If I can just get the first strike in… !
"Begone!" Kronos' eyes widened, glowing with an otherworldly light, and tendrils of shadowy energy burst from the ground at Pan's feet, snaking up towards her.
Before they could make contact, however, Raditz barged her aside, the animated shadows striking him instead, one brushing Pan's leg as it passed. Both of them, however, vanished into a momentary vortex that hummed with dark, unfathomable power before disappearing too.
"Tch!" Kronos shook his head despairingly. "The idiot actually saved her. She was barely affected-she'll be back in a mere few minutes, and I'll have to think of an entirely new way to kill her!"
"And… Raditz…?" Goku chanced.
"He took the full force of my attack head-on," Kronos explained nonchalantly. "So he's now in the far future in her place."
Why, though? Goku wondered. I had been just about to make the same move-she's my granddaughter, after all… why was he so determined to get there first? Probably nothing special… just looking out for his family. He turned his attention back to Kronos, grinning. "Well, no need to worry." They've already tried to get rid of us like that today… he came back before-he'll find a way now.
"What are you… what's there to smile about?!" Kronos demanded. "You're alone and about to die!"
"Am I?" Goku brought his hands up, startling Kronos by charging his blast much faster than Pan had. "KAMEHAMEHA!"
I see… Lower overall power than her, but greater skill and energy control. Kronos gave an idle wave of his hand, and the incoming beam rapidly dwindled away to nothing. "Useless, of course."
"Okay… how?" Goku had to ask, though fully aware that he might not understand when told.
"If you really must know…" Kronos would never admit to himself that he loved explaining himself like this. "I greatly accelerated the flow of time your beam attack experienced. Essentially, hours, rather than moments, passed for the energy composing it-and in that extended time, it dissipated. I suppose I could have done the same to you, and aged you to death, but I'll stick to my rule and avoid repeating myself."
Goku lowered his hands from the firing position. On the upside, it means if he does something scary I don't have to worry about it again. Downside, I have no way of predicting what he'll do next. "You are a tough one… might just be the hardest foe I've ever faced…" he admitted.
"And there it is again!" Kronos wagged a finger, as if debating an intellectual point. "You're still excited! At first I found your endless optimism infuriating, seeing as I'm used to the opposite reaction… but now I'm simply fascinated, and more than a little puzzled." He strolled in Goku's direction, still talking. "If I was in your situation, had lived your life, I would be unutterably depressed-and not just at the current state of things."
"What's so wrong with my life?"
"Your whole universe!" Kronos exclaimed. "For most of recorded history, the majority of it was ruled by a family of unchallenged, despotic tyrants! Their only foes, a race almost as cruel and barbaric as their own-the Super Saiyan began as a figure of primal fear, not the warrior of hope you made in your image. And even though you intervened, it wasn't before countless planets were conquered, wiped clean of life, and sold off to fuel the empire. And what of the few true innocents out there? The Namekians-almost eradicated by cataclysm. The Tuffles-wiped out, the few survivors warped into twisted, empty things.
"The planet you call home was home to one of the finest minds in the cosmos, and it bent its mighty intellect to nothing more than petty revenge and wanton destruction! Your universe's supposed guardians, the Kaioshin, did not deign to liberate it from the grip of all these warring monsters-and when they did for once take action on something, they were easily destroyed by a creature of purest evil!
"And who, at the end of it all, is the strongest, the absolute authority in your universe? A childish, egotistical, self-styled god who thinks nothing more of destroying entire worlds than you do of swatting flies. That is the cold truth of your existence, that in the grand cosmic order of things, you do not matter . Individual mortals are barely worth noticing. War, death, tragedy-these are the only constants of your universe."
"You're leaving out some key players-us. Things have seemed a bit brighter around here in recent years, eh?" Goku crossed his arms, staring back in defiance.
"But not by design!" Kronos snapped, pacing back and forth. "To be sent to this planet, to injure your head in precisely that way, to be found precisely by the right kind of parent, to initiate your brother's change of heart-each of these things alone is ridiculously unlikely! You, and your little ray of hope, are the brief, transient product of a freakish run of luck and nothing more; they are not representative of the natural order. Besides," he continued, a gleam in his eyes, "your success was only possible because of the Dragon Balls-you would all be long dead without them. And yet even that was another cruel lie, mere means to an end for a foe greater than any you've faced before, just another group waiting to tear down everything you care about." He was panting slightly now, having delivered this little rant. "How… can you still… be so damned cheerful ?!"
Goku gave this some thought, before shrugging. "Eh. Like I told the other guy, guess I'm just stupid that way." He smiled, burning his aura brighter. "No matter how much dumb luck it took to produce us, we are here and we're doing the best we can, Dragon Balls or no. So, are we gonna do this or what?"
"Very well… if you're so eager to die…" Kronos began to glow with ethereal light. " This technique will take some actual effort from me, due to the precision required, so you can be proud of that at least."
"I can't wait."
Earth, the far future…
The first thought that passed through Raditz's mind was, Well, it's pretty barren, but it's still here… does that mean the Eternal fails? No, if Kronos knew that he wouldn't have bothered fighting us… I guess, like the other Break's timeline, it's just one possible future… either if we defeat them, or if the Eternal had never come at all… something like that… This all passed through his head rather quickly, soon making room for the second thought.
The second thought was, Hold on. I can't breathe. The absence of a breathable atmosphere was the first hint as to just how far into the future he was. Had he been more of a scientist, or in less of a hurry, he might have wondered why the planet was still around at all, but he was decidedly not one of those and very much in the other, so instead focused on finding somewhere else to be, now .
A frantic scan of nearby space, and familiar locations throughout the cosmos, revealed one notable thing to latch on to- Namek! And… Namekians? After so long? How'd they survive when humans didn't? It was possible, of course, that humans or their descendants still lived, just no longer on Earth, but again, hurry. Whatever. I'll ask when I get there. Right now… He used Instant Transmission, making a jump directly to the source of Namekian energy.
It was, indeed, Namek, and what's more, he could breathe (always a plus). However, now that he had arrived, the Namekian ki he had sensed was gone. What's going on here…?
A few minutes of quiet puzzling later, he decided to make a visual survey of the planet, flying high into the atmosphere and pulling laps around it; this search eventually yielded a distant point of light, which he flew down to investigate.
He landed, with some confusion, facing a sight at once highly familiar and completely alien.
This is… like that dream! The one both Goku and I had… Indeed, now he paid closer attention, Namek was somewhat altered-he stood on a large, flat landmass, not the usual network of small islands and lakes. In addition, the sky was dark-he'd assumed it had been night at first, but now realised that Namek wasn't supposed to have nights. There were no clouds, either, and only a very few stars dotted the nearly-empty blackness.
And, of course, it was hard to ignore the shining golden dragon coiled up in front of him.
"… you…" Raditz whispered. "You're the one…" he stared down at his hand. "The Dragon Fist… it's been summoning you… you gave it to us, in that dream. What's all this been about…?"
A great rumbling passed down the dragon's great body as it began to stir. Its head shifted, in a leisurely fashion, to face him. Its eyes flicked open, fixing him with a calculating stare. "My name," it eventually spoke, in measured, perfectly-enunciated tones, "is Gamma Shenron."
Deep space…
Bills glanced down at Whis' staff; it was emitting a persistent beep all of a sudden. Frowning, he held it up in front of his face-apparently noticing that he was now paying attention, it began to hum with a pale light. He called the other gods' attention, and just in time-from the orb at the staff's head, a flickering holographic image of Whis himself was being projected.
"Hello, er… Priest… if you're seeing this message…" He paused, as if uncertain as to whether to continue speaking at all or not. Making his mind up, he faced forwards, looking stern. "… then it means I have failed."
Chapter 14: First Among Equals
Why is there no subtitle this week? Kronos Shenron stole it, that's why. Which is a shame, because it was an awesome one. And it's definitely not because I've had no Internet connection for most of the week, so haven't been able to correspond with Ryu no Ohi about it. Nope. (I mean, obviously not, she's psychic so that wouldn't be a problem.)
"In all likelihood, I will not be dead," Whis' hologram conjectured, shrugging. "I believe that the Shadow Dragons wish that I continue to exist, and carry out my 'duty'. But you are no doubt confused, and I imagine have been for some time. Here it is, then; the truth.
"I hope you will take my word for it, in any case-most of you know me only as the Priest's assistant, but Cadmus is aware, at least, that I am something greater than any of you, and the Priest knows a little more, if nothing close to the full truth." He frowned. "Anyway… I will get straight to the point.
"You are aware of thirteen universes, but in fact there are more than you could know. Your thirteen exist in close proximity to each other, quite like a solar system, allowing easy travel between them, and share some similarities-each has a Hakaishin and several Kaioshin, for instance. You are indeed fortunate that there are so many universes, or else the Eternal would have turned its attention to you much sooner.
"Within each of your thirteen universes, there is a cycle of creation and destruction, Kaioshin and Hakaishin. This cycle is repeated on a grander scale; I am the one responsible for the creation of universes. The Eternal is their destroyer. In both cases, the destroyer is far more powerful than the creator, to prevent the creator rebelling, and the destroyer dare not attack the creator, for fear of having nothing left to destroy.
"The Eternal has made an attempt on your system once before, aeons ago, and was only thwarted by an action that I have yet to decide whether it was the bravest thing I have ever known anyone to do, or the most cowardly…"
Namek, the far future…
"Gamma Shenron…" Raditz repeated, almost entranced by the dragon. "So… any chance you could tell me what's going on?"
"In what context do you mean that?" he asked, fixing him with as close to a quizzical look as a dragon could. "Explain the Dragon Fist that has puzzled you for so long, and how I am connected to you? Or explain your current situation?"
"… both?" Raditz hazarded.
"The first, I will do." Gamma sighed. "But the second is not my field of expertise. I will let the other explain that."
"Other…?"
"I will help you find him in due time. Now: The Dragon Fist."
"Right… it started with a dream."
Gamma nodded slowly, uncoiling somewhat as he talked. "The future is not set-this is merely one possible future. Kronos Shenron's power is great indeed… he was able to create an entire possible timeline, one in which this universe was untouched by creators or destroyers after its birth, eventually causing it to fall into a gradual decline into darkness-you may have noted the low frequency of stars in the sky, for one thing. The universe… is dying, if slowly."
"Namek's looking pretty good, minus the people," Raditz pointed out.
"They continued to advance their magical abilities to greater heights throughout the millennia; they used the power of the Dragon Balls to counteract the few problems they encountered, and without the need to adapt to their environment, their evolution never progressed. Due to some of these protective wishes, their planet-and its inhabitants-survived even after its suns flickered out and died.
"But die they did, finally. After millions upon millions of years, they began to dwindle out of… well, boredom and depression. Less eggs were produced every year, and some looked with growing sadness at the fading of the universe and took their own lives. No dragon could prevent such a fate, not even the other and myself, the final two Eternal Dragons, and the greatest the Namekian race ever produced. Eventually, there was but one Namekian left. We told him of the cataclysm of old that had also left one survivor, and how that survivor had repopulated the planet. We suggested he do the same.
"He only said, 'Why?'.
"And then he wished to die."
"And you granted that wish?!" Raditz barked.
"It is what we are for." Gamma lifted his head. "And now to the part that concerns you. Many years passed. I did not count them. Eventually the other developed his powers to the point where he could perceive and affect the timestream, and we became aware of our own semi-real existence as a created offshoot of your timeline. We also saw the terrible danger your universe was in. While he held the connection open, I was able to make contact with you."
Raditz raised an eyebrow. "If you were trying to stop the Eternal, you came a couple decades early… I had the dream while in Otherworld…"
"We knew the timing would not be accurate; better to be early than late." Gamma paused. "I sought to give you a weapon against the Shadow Dragons, hence your technique for defeating enemies far stronger than yourself. However… apparently 'son of Bardock, a warrior who has surpassed Super Saiyan, lived on Earth for most of life, has been dead' wasn't specific enough, and I accidentally contacted both of you, binding myself to both your souls."
"So all this time, we've been summoning you… !" Raditz smiled as revelations began to hit him one after the other. "So that's why it stayed at the same level, even when we improved… and why we couldn't both use it at the same time."
"It is a shame my power was split in this way, though… the Dragon Fist you have been employing is nothing compared to my full power. I am a combat dragon, you see, the strongest Namekians have ever created, just as my partner, Omega Shenron, is their greatest wishing-dragon, possessed of immense magical power."
"Uh-huh." Raditz held up a hand to interrupt. "Speaking of which, how is it you two are still kicking around after your creators died?"
"I told you that we are far superior to the dragons in your time. Those crude, early creations are to us as a candle is to a star."
"All right, whatever… and you say Omega's the guy to go to for the rest of the story?"
"Indeed. I am no intellectual… he understands it all better than I."
Raditz turned away, beginning to walk off. "Well, good for you. One question, though… any way back to my time?"
"No. None at all."
"Hah!" The saiyan grinned. "Clearly lying. Otherwise why bother telling me all that? Let me guess, there's this one way but it's really dangerous and stuff ."
"I… you… speak to Omega."
"All right, be unhelpful then."
Heaven's Bridge…
"You have infuriated me from the moment you entered my sight," Kronos Shenron declared. "Finally eradicating you will be a great relief."
"Come try it…" Goku responded, keeping his guard up. Crap… the stuff this guy can do, even when he's just playing around… what am I gonna do?
Kronos spread his arms out, the space around him growing darker, jagged lines cutting through the air and fracturing it, as if Kronos was being reflected in a broken mirror. "Now, if you approach me, you will die. But approach you must, if you want to get through the door-and lest you forget, you are working with a time limit."
Above, on the top of the tower, Alpha Shenron breathed a sigh of relief. Those mortals were beginning to worry me… we lost a lot of people today. But I never should have doubted, not with Kronos around. Already, only one enemy remains… and if he's using this technique, this one should die most unpleasantly…
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me," Goku muttered. "Well… I guess I am coming to you." He fired up his aura, burning his Super Saiyan power to the maximum. Whatever happens… He reminded himself. Gotta… keep moving forward.
"This technique," Kronos warned him, "attacks your own personal timeline. The flaws and inconsistencies in your personality throughout your life will cause you to be pulled in different directions… you will be torn apart by it. The only being who could survive this would be one still untouched by the world's cruelty, an innocent baby or somesuch… and idealistic you may be, but you're not that."
"I guess we'll just have to find out!" Goku tensed himself up. "Like you want, I'm comin' to you! I'll use my strongest attack… so one way or the other, this ends here!" He rushed at Kronos, preparing himself for anything, and upon reaching the edge of Kronos' fractured area, he leapt.
The sensation was immediate-a great tugging force, in countless directions all at once, tearing away at him. He felt small cuts begin to open as his body failed to completely resist the pull. Just… keep on… going…
What's happening? Kronos wondered, realising with some alarm that Goku was now nearing him, and still alive. He should have been dead instantly… what's gone wrong?! I won't accept some cop-out fairytale answer like "he's too pure"… no being, mortal or divine, is flawless!
Goku drew his fist back. "This is it… !" Light erupted around his hand, accompanied by a deep roar.
No, I see it now… Kronos realised. He isn't flawless, that much is clear from the minor injury he has sustained. He changed as he grew like anyone, but… there was always a certain untouched simplicity at his core… and while normally that wouldn't be enough to save him… right now… !
"RYU-KEN!"
His universe is in danger, he's the last standing when his friends have all been defeated, and he's staked his life on one attack… right now, that core of his is encompassing his entire being… there's nothing in his entire being at this moment other than the will to fight!
The golden dragon produced by Goku's attack rammed head-on into Kronos, enormous teeth biting down into his shoulder and midsection, continuing its acceleration and propelling him out into empty air. He was screaming, but wasn't aware of this; he could barely perceive anything at this point. Is this… what pain feels like…?
I… salute you, mortals… every one of you… for living with such a burden… The energy composing the Ryu-Ken lost integrity and exploded violently, tearing Kronos to shreds and throwing Goku backwards off his feet.
Goku pushed himself up, chest heaving. Man… I don't think I've ever faced anyone more dangerous… he probably had a hundred ways to kill me instantly. The only thing that saved me… was that he got unlucky in choosing which one to use. If I hadn't already met our god, I'd swear somebody up there was looking out for me…
Looking wistful, he addressed the deceased Shadow Dragon. "I guess I get why you were so down about our universe… and I didn't really have a response at the time… but like I said, we are here, and we have made things better, natural or not. The Dragon Balls have always been a force for good before now… and all that evil stuff you were talking about, we've beaten it. Just like we'll beat this. Things'll always look bleak if you only look for the dark in everything." He faced the door. Who knows how much time's left… no time to wait for Pan, Raditz or the others. They'll be back when they're back. I gotta do what I can on my own until they get here.
He took a nervous step through the doorway, his surroundings fading to somewhere outdoors-the top of the tower. The Katchin surface was cold beneath his feet, not helped by the howling wind. Hey, where's that lead dragon, anyway? She should be right-
A clawed hand grabbed him by the neck, and he was lifted off his feet faster than he could follow, before immediately being slammed into the floor, vision blurring from the jarring impact.
Alpha's haunting red eyes glared down at his. "What does it take ?!" she spat.
Goku swung a punch up at her, but before it connected she'd hurled him away to the edge of the tower, straightening up and adjusting her jacket. "Does the afterlife just hate you and refuse you entry, or what?"
"Wish that was the case…" Goku muttered, getting to his feet and assuming a fighting stance. "Man, you sound mad… you want me to apologise for winning so much, or what?"
"You're right, I do…" Alpha paused, taking a deep breath and smiling. "I apologise. Genuinely. I let myself get carried away. I don't resent you at all." She chuckled. "I mean, I'll still kill you since you insist on fighting, but please rest assured I feel nothing but respect for any of you."
Goku frowned. "Okay, you're confusing me already. Usually it takes my enemies a few minutes to manage that."
"I'll elaborate, but do you mind if we get on with this as I do so? I've always been a multitasker." Without waiting for a reply, she flinched forwards, and the next instant was standing before him, a lazy punch hurling him into the air. "My philosophy is simple."
Goku managed to halt himself, flying back down towards the tower and aiming a ki blast at her feet to distract her, before darting around behind her, rebounding off the ground and throwing a spinning kick. His leg hit nothing but air, however, and a sharp impact to the stomach floored him again.
"I believe that we were all created for a purpose," Alpha explained. "There are, of course, the creators and destroyers of worlds, or of universes. Simple enough. Then myself and the other Shadow Dragons-we are the Eternal's creatures, and our purpose is to enact its supreme will. As, you'll notice," she added as she sidestepped an energy beam, "I am doing now. You, on the other hand…" She lunged forwards, throwing a kick that launched him clean off the tower. "You mortals are an interesting case.
"You exist for no other purpose than to continue to exist; to procreate, to increase your numbers and your quality of life. Thus, understand that I do not hate you-I find you inspiring! You are carrying out this purpose magnificently! Fighting so long, and so hard, merely for the right to fight again in the future. It's heartwarming, really."
Goku groaned as the pain from this latest blow slowly receded. What to do… well, this worked last time… "RYU-KEN!" He summoned the attack again, charging with it back towards Alpha, who swung her leg up and kicked the Ryu-Ken up and away from her-but the impact sent her stumbling back a couple of steps. Goku wasted no time, following up with his other magnified attack. "Times-Ten-KAMEHAMEHA!"
The dual-coloured beam emerged from his outstretched hands and flew arrow-straight at Alpha, who, not expecting another powerful attack in such rapid succession, had to use both hands to catch it and force it to a halt, grinning and sweating slightly. "You've grown a lot stronger since you first arrived at this tower… but I hope you can see that there's still a vast difference between our powers."
Goku nodded. "That's 'cause you've got divine ki, right?"
"Well done!" Alpha confirmed.
"Hardly seems fair…"
"On the contrary, I earned every bit of my power." She strolled towards him. "You saiyans, from what I've seen, have a notable ability to improve rapidly and increase your power. As it happens, so do we. A Shenron-type Shadow Dragon needs no elaborate ritual or special birthright to achieve divine ki; however, it is very rare for one to emerge with the talent and dedication to do so. I, needless to say, am one of those."
Goku shrugged. "Still not great for my chances."
"And that brings us to the other, even simpler, part of my philosophy." She pointed straight at him. "Shit happens. Deal with it."
"So basically, 'life's not fair'… yeah, heard that one before…" Goku darted in for a quick jab. "Your friend Kronos was pretty big on that stuff…"
Alpha didn't bother to defend, taking the punch and a follow-up without reacting. She began to advance, continuing to take his blows unflinchingly, completely unharmed. "He's right, you know. This world is cruel. You know how I rose to such power?"
"Hrg… enlighten… huh… me… nng…" Goku continued his rapid stream of attacks, still to no avail, even though Alpha was allowing him to land every one.
"There is a place called the Pit. Some of us believe it is in a lifeless universe the Eternal has no other use for; others, that it exists within the Eternal itself. I do not care." She looked slightly upwards, remembering. "We Shadow Dragons are periodically spawned by the thousands and dumped into it. It is millions of miles from top to bottom. The few who emerge into the light become full-fledged heralds for the Eternal. That is where I met Kronos…"
The Pit, many years ago…
Kronos clambered over an outcrop of rocky ground, wiping his mouth after his bloody meal-Shadow Dragons did not get hungry often, but eventually they did, and down here there was no source of food but each other. Yet another reason to endlessly fight amongst themselves. The eternal thunderstorm rumbled in the unseen sky far above him, the only indication this far down that the outside world existed at all.
Cresting the hill, he was greeted with a sight that would have perhaps still surprised him a few years ago. A small girl in a torn, bloodstained green cloak sat huddled atop a mound of dead Shadow Dragons. Her eyes, twin crimson orbs, illuminated the surrounding darkness. Kronos continued his approach, fearlessly walking straight up to her and crouched down to her level. "You are incredibly strong, especially for your age… but you're not very good at hiding your power. There are bigger fish in the sea, and if they catch wind of you, they'll flock to devour you."
She gave him an unfeeling glance. "I am hiding my power," she answered in a monotone voice.
I… I don't think she's lying… Kronos realised. Which means… even this… is but a fraction of her true strength? This young?! Even for this hell we live in… what horrors must she have lived through…? He quickly decided this one was worth his attention. "Well, little one, my name is Kronos. And you?"
"Had a name," she replied, still expressionless. "Forgot. On purpose. Didn't like it."
"I see…" Kronos smiled slightly. "Well, you can't go without a name, now, can you? I have to call you something. What is it you want?"
"To be stronger," she said, now with feeling. "The strongest. This world is cruel, and the weak die." She looked into his eyes. "Don't wanna die."
"The strongest, eh?" Kronos nodded. "Then, how about… Alpha? There's a name to match your ambition."
She shrugged. "Don't care what you call me." She paused. "You're gonna follow me around?"
"You're perceptive, I see…"
"You'll probably die. That happens around me."
"I might."
She stood up, now only just level with his crouching head height, even on higher ground as she was. "What do you want?"
"To leave this place. To find out who put us here, and why." He noticed her puzzled frown. "That's never occurred to you, has it? Leaving. There's a problem, of course… there are gangs nearer the surface… armies, even… they prefer ruling this dismal place to the uncertainty above, and don't want anyone leaving." Alpha's face had lit up, and Kronos nodded. "Yes, it does sound like a challenge, does it not?"
"Are they strong?"
"Very."
"We'll need to get better, then."
"Undoubtedly." Kronos stood, standing back slightly. "But I have had more than my fill of this place. I've been near the surface on scouting trips a couple of times… you know, there's light up there sometimes. Light just pouring down from the sky… would you like to see that?"
Wide-eyed, Alpha nodded.
Deep space, the present…
"… and he has made such attempts to reduce the life energy throughout the thirteen universes to this day," Wistarion was saying, now finishing the story of Janemba, the Fallen One.
"… horrible…" the Hunter said quietly.
"To think," Cadmus muttered, "after all these years we thought him merely mad… I cannot believe there was so much we did not know for so long…"
"And now, on to the final part-what you must do." Wistarion's hologram stood up straighter. "You must break the cycle. Destroy Alpha Shenron-your combined power should be sufficient to defeat even her-before she gathers enough negative energy to summon the Eternal. If the Eternal is able to approach the Seventh Universe and begin devouring it, it will be lost; a being like that cannot be defeated by force, but its minions can. If you are victorious, you must ensure that Dragon Balls are never used again, in any universe-no matter the cause! There is no way of knowing how much build-up there has already been; even one wish could tip the balance and open the path for the Eternal's return."
At this point, he sighed, seeming to grow uncertain again, a pleading look entering his eyes. "Lastly, I hope you will understand that this is merely a larger-scale version of the cycle that you and the Kaioshin also perform. Continuous creation and destruction may maintain 'balance', but think of the fear, the shock you feel at the realisation that all that you know is under threat, and know that you inflict the same on your own victims. There is nothing sacred about the 'balance'. Break the Eternal's cycle, for sure… but I dare now to hope that you might also learn to break your own." He glanced off to the side, and vanished, the message ending.
Each immersed in their own thoughts, the gods flew on in silence for a while after this, broken only by the Sorcerer informing them that someone was now fighting Alpha, and that with this interference to her negative energy generation, they might make it in time after all.
Bills in particular had much to think on. Now that I think about it… Whis always acted very supportive, but since letting him go undercover as my assistant I've been sleeping more and destroying very few planets, most of them uninhabited… all along, he never wanted me to… but he knew I wouldn't change how I lived on his words alone…
It almost feels like… I never truly knew him at all…
Namek, the far future…
Raditz made his way on foot this time, mainly for a change of pace-Gamma had pointed him in Omega's general direction. However, Omega was not the next Eternal Dragon he encountered. Lying draped across his path, with a posture of what could only be described as utter laziness, was an entirely less impressive dragon.
"Bluh…" His eyes gradually rolled open, focusing on the approaching saiyan. "Oh, s'you. 'llo."
Raditz looked the dark-hued, winged dragon up and down. "You're Kokuen… they mentioned you. Briefly."
"'Course, 'course…" Kokuen muttered. "That's all I ever am, a footnote… you're off to see Omega, right?"
"Yeah. Gamma was helpful up to a point, then he clammed up." Raditz skirted around Kokuen, continuing his journey. "How'd you get here, anyway?"
"I can go wherever I like, pretty much," Kokuen replied, flipping upright and following the wandering saiyan, evidently having nothing better to do. "See, I'm… well, there's three kinds of dragon, see. Porunga-types are the most powerful to start with, but they're all very similar, not much variation between 'em; and that power makes 'em harder to summon. Most of us are Shenron-type… they have the most adaptability, and a decent bit of power, but not so much that it takes too much negative energy to summon 'em." He did a half-spin, facing Raditz again. "And then there's me-I'm one of a kind. Weak as all hell, as a result of which using me as a scout, and to fully prep the Dragon Balls for the others' arrival, doesn't waste any of their precious negative energy. There could theoretically have been a whole range of 'Kokuen-type' Shadow Dragons, but the Eternal only needs one a'me."
"I guess we're lucky the others weren't Porungas, then…" Raditz mused. "And the Nameks in this future ended up making Shenron-types, too?"
"Yeah, that adaptability again. Made it easier to experiment. So, you got these two. But yeah… after we started on this universe, I found this little dead-end of a timeline comin' off it, and came to hang out with 'em. But they're pretty dull."
Raditz paused. "You're going to need a new occupation. This cycle is going to end."
"You don't seriously think you can do that."
"Sure I do; my family's insane, and they've made me an optimist against my better judgement. Now leave me alone, will you?"
"Fine, fine." Kokuen snorted, turning away. "Nothing to do in this bloody timeline, anyway…" He slunk off, soon disappearing from view.
Eh. Whatever. Raditz continued on his way, soon spotting another 'beacon' of light on the horizon and correcting his course to head for it. Let's just hope Omega Shenron is more helpful… I know Gamma wouldn't have bothered telling me all that if there wasn't a way of getting back… man, I'm starting to get tired of possible futures and mini-universes and all these damn places I'm getting sent to…
Shadow Dragons' tower…
Goku fell back, exhausted from his prolonged, futile assault. "Feel like I'm fighting a wall. A wall made of fists," he muttered.
"I aim to excel in all things," Alpha replied. "Now, I think it's been your turn for quite long enough. Begone from my sight, saiyan." She clenched her fist, and a massive kiai broke like a tsunami over Goku; he blacked out instantly, hurled off the tower and sent flying at hypersonic speeds, eventually descending to earth in a trail of blazing light, a distant shooting star.
"If you were all your universe could muster up…" Alpha said sternly, turning away and heading back towards her throne-like seat. "… it didn't deserve to survive."
Chapter 15: Unity
"… ku! Goku!"
"Uh…? Wha…" Goku sat up, head ringing, vision swimming into focus.
Baby crouched next to him, breathing a relieved sigh. "Ah, you're awake. That was quick. What happened to you?"
"Alpha Shenron." Goku rubbed one particularly persistent bruise. "Only one Shadow Dragon left, but I don't know how we're gonna beat her… what're you doing here?"
"I was monitoring the energy around the Shadow Dragons' tower, and discovered something I thought the rest of you should know… but yours was the only ki I sensed still fighting. Then you got blasted down here…"
"Yeah. What was it you found out?"
Baby gave a hesitant look. "We might have more time than we thought. Or less. Basically, Alpha produces negative energy to open a breach for the Eternal, if you remember?"
"Sure, yeah."
"Well, we did some scans at various points in time, and it turns out she produces less when she's fighting-the stronger the opponent, the more effort it takes to fight them, the less energy produced."
"So basically it's even more important to keep at it than we thought…" Goku had a sudden moment of clarity. "If you know it depends on how strong the opponent is, you must've had someone to compare me with, right?"
Baby nodded. "Not a clue who, but from the apocalyptic scale of their battle, and the fact that almost no negative energy was produced during it, they must have been incredibly powerful."
"I wonder who…" Goku shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I guess I gotta get back up there…" He rose uneasily to his feet. "Prob'ly just get killed in a couple of seconds, though…"
"Is it really that desperate a situation?"
"Well… she's definitely got divine ki… but the only opponent like that I have to compare her with is Bills… and I couldn't say who's stronger." He shrugged. "Their powers are both so vastly beyond my comprehension… I really have no idea how they measure up."
"And… I guess we're all going to die anyway… there might be nothing else for it," Baby mumbled.
"What is it? You have a plan?"
"Maybe. It would increase your power significantly, but… well, when I describe it to you you'll understand why I never suggested this before."
Goku turned to face Baby, looking down at the self-made cyborg. "Go on…"
"I have, over the course of the last few years, modified my programming and my capabilities," the former Dr. Myuu began. "I no longer desire control over mindless slaves. I have, however, begun to feel… out of place. Wherever I go, I am extraneous, in the way. I wish to be a part of something… and as much as I morally oppose it now, I acknowledge that the only time I have ever felt that sense of belonging was when I fully possessed someone."
"Er, I know this is very important to you and all, but we're on a schedule and all, so… couldja get to the point, please?"
Baby rolled his eyes. "I'm getting there. I altered my programming so that I no longer have the ability to forcefully control minds-instead, I can now fully merge with someone… well, it was planned to be permanent, but in this case I can make it temporary."
"Let me guess… that's your idea."
"Indeed. It would be similar, physically, to the full possession I used on Broly during our battle, but very different mentally. It would be primarily your body to control, but I would be able to aid and assist you, add my concentration, skills and intellect to yours. In addition, as with Broly, this would provide you with a substantial power increase."
Goku considered all this. I don't doubt that he's telling the truth, for one thing… "You seemed pretty hesitant earlier, even though it isn't permanent…"
"It could be seen as intrusive, to have someone inside your head in such a manner… I know that many people would turn down a suggestion such as this outright." Baby turned away. "It is a desperate measure, and I understand if you refuse. It almost certainly will not be enough to surpass such a foe as this dragon, in any case…"
"No, I'll do it," Goku said with sudden force. "If there's any remote chance at victory, and we don't take it, we're letting everyone down." He brightened up. "Well, no time to waste, huh?"
Baby nodded. "Quite. Normally, this kind of operation would require more deliberation and mental preparation, but…"
"Let's go," Goku agreed, cutting him off.
"Very well." Baby frowned for a moment, and his body began to liquefy, flowing like a quicksilver ribbon into a wide arc and further dissolving into a silvery mist, surrounding Goku before being absorbed into his skin and vanishing inside of him.
Huh… Goku blinked. I don't feel any… whoa!
Spacious in here, Baby joked.
Goku groaned. Ha ha.
All right, I'm going to run a diagnostic… transform, if you would.
Goku nodded, turning Super Saiyan; it felt somewhat different, though. A quick check of his reflection in a nearby pool of water (formed as the impact crater he'd made had cooled) revealed that his transformed state had taken on a new appearance-his hair, rather than yellow, was silver, and small red lines extended up from his eyebrows to his hairline, with a third running down from his mouth to his chin. Kinda weird, but whatever. I don't think any of this is there in my normal form, so he must've added some kind of plug-in to my Super Saiyan transformation.
I'm now managing your power output to increase its efficiency, Baby informed him. This is taking into account Super Saiyan, Kaioken, everything-you won't have to worry about specifically using the latter to magnify your attacks. I'm squeezing the maximum possible amount of power out of your capabilities, while also micro-managing your ki flow down to the subatomic level; your attacks will be both stronger and less energy-consuming now. This is on top of the power boost you already received due to the fusion.
"Awesome…" Goku felt his new power rise to the surface. "Hey, if I'm sensing right, I'm about as strong as Pan was… that's pretty impressive."
I believe it is time to rejoin the fight.
"Think you're right." Blasting the crater beneath him even deeper into the ground, Goku took off, angling himself straight for the Shadow Dragons' tower.
The energy signature around the tower seems different to before, Baby noted.
"I see…" Goku considered this. "Come to it, we're pretty close now and nothing's stopping us-I guess what you're detecting is that she lowered that barrier that was keeping us from just skipping to the top."
She's sensed your approach, and is challenging you to face her directly.
"Right." Goku completed his steady ascent, touching down on the edge of the tower-Alpha stood waiting for him a couple of metres away.
"You're alive," she said, sounding uninterested. "I didn't expect that. You've even managed to improve your power substantially… but again, it's a drop in the ocean compared to the gulf between you and I."
"Let's find out," Goku retorted as he leapt to the attack-false bravado, of course, as he knew full well that she was right. The integration of the saiyan's tactical mind and the Tuffle's calculating genius was already showing, however-when Goku's fist swung up, Alpha went to brush it aside casually, but the moment it made contact with her forearm, a burst of energy knocked her arm back out of its guarding position. She was so taken aback by this that Goku had a moment to land another punch, this one to her upper body, a second explosion driving her back a couple of steps.
Heh, nice work, Baby, Goku mentally congratulated his new partner. Only a few minutes and you've already come up with a new technique… what you were saying about energy efficiency really paid off-I never thought I'd be able to strike every blow with the force of a full Kamehameha.
I aim to please… Baby responded.
"Tch…" Alpha shook her head at her ruined shirt, adjusting her jacket to compensate-the attacks hadn't caused her any real injury. "Well, I suppose there are two solutions. I could put more effort into blocking, or just dodge. And since I'm trying to save on energy…" She leaned to the side, avoiding his next punch and stepping back out of reach of a follow-up spin kick. "A surprise attack only works once, you know." She made a quick swipe, grabbing his head in one hand and slamming him into the ground face-first. "Hence why it's called a surprise."
Not having a clever comeback, Goku instead mumbled something unintelligible while tensing his body up, before springing back up at Alpha, resuming his attacks, which seemed to come faster and more frequently than before.
"I see…" Alpha commented, dodging and weaving. "You're allowing yourself to throw more attacks by saving on energy and only loading a blast into some of them. Unfortunately for you, I've observed this technique for long enough, and there is a faint energy signature on the energised punches-I can tell which is which! I only have to dodge about half of them." She retreated slowly, blocking and dodging his attacks according to whether they were charged with energy or not. Odd… I thought he'd stop trying this once I'd seen through it… She rolled her eyes. "Cut it out!" A lightning-quick uppercut hurled Goku away again.
He skidded to a halt on the edge of the tower, catching his breath. "Yeah… that was probably enough."
"Enough for what? You didn't land a single hit on me!" Alpha snapped, before an energy signature-even fainter than before-drifted into the edge of her awareness. "You didn't-" The Delay Kamehamehas planted on her with every blocked, seemingly non-charged hit detonated simultaneously, knocking her flat on her back. Combining the new charged-punch technique- Kamehameken, maybe? Goku wondered-with his Delay Kamehameha had been another on-the-spot stroke of genius of Baby's.
Goku wasted no time in following up, jumping at Alpha with a descending heel kick aimed at the back of her head. She rolled, however, throwing herself away across the floor in a desperate last-second dodge. As she slid, Goku sent a volley of energy beams to pursue her, alternating his firing between hands to allow greater charge time with no loss of rate of fire.
Damn, he doesn't let up! Alpha caught sight of the incoming barrage, flipping to her feet and kicking off the tower, vanishing from Goku's sight; the next thing he knew, an impact from behind had sent him spinning through the air, and his beams were arcing off into the empty sky, already dissipating. Man, he thought groggily, when I catch her off-guard, it's easy to forget how fast she normally is…
Alpha settled to the ground, rolling her shoulders. "Lesson learned, then. Even though it requires more movement than blocking, I shall dodge every one of your attacks."
Uh… any more ideas? Goku asked Baby.
One… but there'd only be a point if we had an attack actually capable of harming her to follow up may be a problem, then…
Namek, the far future…
Raditz stared up at Omega Shenron. "Wow… you're bigger than any Eternal Dragon I've seen so far, for one thing…" Other than this, and its colouration-red with piercing, all-blue eyes-Omega looked very similar to the original Shenron, and Gamma. "So… Gamma said you might be more-"
"I know. I know what you desire to learn, and what has transpired. I have seen your mind, saiyan," Omega rumbled.
"Well, that's… I guess you are supposed to have a lot of magic power, so that makes sense…" Raditz shrugged. "So, we've been summoning Gamma's power, only not all of it. Any way we can use all of it? Or at least my brother can, since he's probably fighting right now? Er… then? Gah. Time travel hurts to think about."
"Your presence here has caused our timelines to flow simultaneously," Omega informed him. "The amount of time that passes here is the same as the amount that passes in your home timeline." It paused. "Currently, your brother is fighting Alpha Shenron. He is holding her off, but will not last long."
"Oh! Then, uh, like I said, is there any way he can use Gamma's full power? That'd be helpful, I imagine."
"Indeed there is. Gamma's full power was not available to the two of you because, as he told you, when he performed what we call the Dragon Soul ritual, his projection split between the two of you. Now that you are physically here before me, I can purge that part of him from you and allow him to fully join with the other."
So I'll never be able to use the Dragon Fist again… ah, whatever, Goku needs it more than I do right now. "Do it!" Raditz urged. "Quickly!"
Omega's eyes flashed for a moment, and Raditz felt something leave him he'd never quite realised he had. "It has been done. Gamma is now gone from this timeline, completely merged with your brother. Interesting… it almost feels like… I'm granting wishes again. Those were better days…"
"It definitely worked?" Omega nodded in reply, and Raditz sighed with relief. "I have to wonder, though… why didn't Gamma tell me you could do this? He must care at least a little, or he wouldn't have tried helping us in the first place…"
"Gamma Shenron has a twisted sense of humour," Omega said with a slight hint of embarrassment beneath the regal tones. "He knew your curiosity at not knowing the complete truth would lead you to me just as soon as telling you directly."
"So he was screwing with me," Raditz muttered. "Good to know."
Shadow Dragons' tower…
Goku racked his brain for a solution. Gotta be something… gotta be… even the Ryu-Ken barely fazed her before…
Indeed… I'm not sure we're capable of seriously harming her, even with that attack, Baby agreed.
A third voice unexpectedly chimed in. Try it again. You will find a significant improvement from the last time.
Who are-
I do not have the time or inclination to tell you everything. Luckily, as the Dragon Soul ritual is now complete, I have no need to. Prepare for information dump.
Information-oh. Goku's question came to a halt as the knowledge of the origin of his technique, and of the possible future world, seamlessly entered his brain.
Getting kind of crowded in here, Baby muttered. Glad I'm not here forever.
Anyway… Goku focused the others' attention back on the battle at hand. Baby, your plan for landing a hit better work-and Gamma, I hope you're as powerful as you say. He inhaled, looking up at Alpha. Let's do it! He took a step back to gain run-up distance, and charged at Alpha, who was still unaware that anything had changed.
"Ah, he finally moves," she joked. "I was starting to wonder if you'd had a stroke."
Goku lunged, throwing another energy-charged punch at her face, and she dodged neatly. "I'm not stupid enough to fall for-" At this point, the energy detonated-but it wasn't destructive. The attack Baby had layered onto Goku's physical blow was not a Kamehameha, but a Solar Flare.
Alpha stumbled away, blinded, and Goku prepared to summon Gamma Shenron. This time was, indeed, different. "RYU…" A deep yellow flame burst to life around his right forearm, and as he took another bounding step towards Alpha, drawing his fist back to strike, rays of burning light pierced the clouds above him to focus on him, the fire and the incoming light merging to form the roaring golden dragon. "… KEN!"
Alpha grunted, eyes still screwed shut and stinging, as she heard him call the attack name, recognising it from before. "Egh… at least his attack is just another one of his little insect stings. Even if it hits… wha…" She panicked as her ki sense informed her, too late, of her miscalculation, crossing her arms to block at the last second. It's different this time… fully-divine ki…? How?! She had no more time to think, the incarnation of Gamma Shenron snatching her up in its jaws and carrying her off into the sky, biting down on her with immeasurable force. She pushed back, struggling to keep from being crushed, yelling in surprised anger.
Goku lowered his arm, smiling to himself. Hey… didn't even use up any of my energy this time, he realised.
No, but it did use mine, Gamma informed him. It will be some time before I can take physical form again, and hence before you can use this technique again.
All right, thanks for the heads-up… let's just hope once was enough to put her down.
However, mere seconds after the distant explosion that signified the technique's completion, a not-quite-as-distant-thunderclap followed it-the sound of someone breaking the sound barrier with contemptuous ease-and a wave of forcefully-propelled air washed past him, the slipstream of the figure that now touched down with a thump behind him. A hand gripped each of his arms, pulling them backwards almost to breaking point.
"You know, that dragon thing might actually be stronger than me," Alpha said testily. "But as you've so ably proved throughout our fight, a single attack from someone stronger than you isn't necessarily lethal."
Goku glanced back over his shoulder. Yeah, she looks a mess, but she's only really hurt a little… well, at least I finally did some damage. Anyway, gotta get out of this before she breaks something. He jumped up and backwards, kicking out at her face. She let go, ducking under his kick, reaching up and pulling him to the ground, before aiming a fist at his head. Evidently she was out of witty remarks, as all she said was, "Die!" as it raced down towards him with bone-shattering force.
"… Me…" a familiar voice intoned.
Alpha froze, eyes flicking over to the side. Who-?
"… HAAAAA!" Alpha had to leap away from Goku to dodge the blast, backflipping as she crested the arc of her jump and landing smoothly.
Goku sat up, eyes widening in relief. "Pan!"
His newly-reappeared granddaughter nodded, running over and helping him up. "You okay?"
"Been better, been worse." He shrugged. "I remember… Kronos said since Raditz took most of his attack, you only got sent a few minutes forwards…"
"Right, that must've been it. Everything flashed for a second, and then you guys were all gone; I still had my attack half-charged, so I ran up here with it, and you saw the rest. But hey," she added, "you look weird; and you're as strong as I am now… what'd you do?"
"Tell you later. We gotta keep fighting Alpha… if she's putting effort into stuff, it stalls the Eternal coming."
Alpha eyed the pair up. Brilliant. Now there are two… of equal power… then again, their combined power is still inconsequential to me, and I think-I hope -that I have finally exhausted his bag of tricks. I may be able to dispose of them both without too much difficulty. She chuckled. This is weird… I'm really starting to get tired of these people, but at the same time I'm highly entertained by them… and it's fascinating the lengths they go to.
"Are you ready?" Goku asked.
"Yeah." Pan focused her power, preparing to attack.
Alpha flexed her arms. "I know I am."
The three warriors ran at each other, meeting in the centre of the roof in an explosive clash of energy.
Inferno Gauntlet…
Hephaestus Shenron looked up to see a small group approaching the doorway he stood guard of-Goten, Vegeta Jr., Uub, Break and Eighteen. They neared him and the door, the silence growing more awkward as time went on.
He allowed Uub to pass without comment, then stuck out his good arm to block Goten and Vegeta's passage. "The merged warrior you formed earlier. Can you create him again?"
"Yeah," Goten replied. "We didn't get our full half-hour of fusion last time, which makes recharging easier."
Hephaestus nodded, and lowered his arm, letting them pass through. He raised it again, however, when Break and Eighteen approached. "Neither of you has demonstrated the potential even for demigod ki."
"So?" Break asked loudly.
"I have been defeated, and I will not fight against your side any more," Hephaestus said solemnly. "However… you are her friends. With only mortal ki, Alpha Shenron will kill you in an instant." He paused. "I owe her a debt. I am repaying it now."
Eighteen put a hand on Break's shoulder. "I'd better go, then… for one thing, somebody needs to tell people what's going on. For another, unlike me, you've got a chance of powering up like that, right?"
"I guess so… I mean, in theory…" Break answered hesitantly. She turned back to Hephaestus. "So if I can achieve that level while fighting you, you'll let me through?"
"I am not on your side-I will not help you," he said firmly. "I will merely prevent you from passing at your current level. If while doing so you happen to become strong enough, then so be it."
"Man, you take a long time to say 'yes'," Break complained. She pounded her fists together. "Let's do it."
Another clash, and the three fighters landed opposite each other; a second later, Goku and Pan swayed and fell to their knees, as Alpha stood up straight.
The saiyans rushed in again as soon as they'd caught their breath, Pan opening up with a pair of energy beams; Alpha strengthened her aura to her front, deflecting them away, her head flicking around as Goku appeared beside her, swinging a knee strike. She jumped over it, turning away and shielding her eyes as another burst of solar energy was emitted, but recovering fast enough to catch Pan's flying kick and throw her back where she'd come from.
"Ryu-Ken!" Alpha leapt away as Goku's most powerful technique thundered by, avoiding it this time. He cursed, turning to track her too slowly and being hit with a jarring blow to the head. Pan was already behind Alpha as she struck, firing a full-strength Kamehameha, but Alpha spun to intercept it, launching her own energy wave one-handed and overwhelming it, the resulting shockwave throwing Pan to the floor next to her grandfather.
"Man…" Goku groaned, rubbing his aching head. "We've been at this for a while… and getting nowhere fast…"
"Well…" Pan was first up, drawing on her remaining energy reserves. "I guess let's just keep stupidly throwing ourselves at the problem until one of us thinks of an actual plan."
"Sounds good…"
Chapter 16: Cancelling the Apocalypse
Seifukusha no Konjou! Shin no Densetsu no Supaa Saiyajin!
Goku and Pan rose sharply through the air, nearing Alpha Shenron, who darted backwards out of reach of their swipes, before moving back in and hammering them both back down towards the tower. She hung in the air, waiting for the satisfying collision as they hit the Katchin surface, but it never came.
Two pairs of feet tapped onto the hard surface in a controlled landing, signalling the arrival of Uub and Gogeta, catching the others before they hit the ground and setting them down.
"Hey… thanks, guys," Goku said shakily. "Though… I don't know how much more of this I can take…"
"Even surviving this long is lucky…" Pan agreed. "It's probably because she's trying to conserve energy."
"Exactly." Without warning, Alpha appeared in their midst. "And now there are four of you, killing you without exerting myself might take some time. But then, I'm not the one who's short on time here."
"Damn it-!" Gogeta reacted instinctively to the new foe, lashing out with an uppercut.
Alpha's head twitched to the side, moving the minimum distance necessary to avoid the punch, eyes hardening. "Bad move."
Inferno Gauntlet…
Break sank to the ground, gasping for breath. Can't… get past him…
"It won't work this way," Prometheus Shenron informed her. He was somewhat recovered now, sitting on the sidelines and watching the 'fight', as Hephaestus repeatedly deflected Break's assaults with businesslike efficiency.
Break shot Prometheus a vicious glare, and he flinched back despite himself. Ay… when she looks like that, she reminds me of Helios… He shrugged. "Sorry, but it's true. What you're doing is like headbutting a wall over and over. If the wall's harder than your head, there's no point continuing to see which will break first."
"Shut up," she growled, rising unsteadily, Super Saiyan 3 aura flickering. "I never found a wall I couldn't break." She ran at Hephaestus again, and he flexed his good arm, a kiai throwing her right back where she'd come from. She rolled to a stop next to Prometheus, reverting to base form as exhaustion overtook her. "… damn…"
"Look…" Prometheus said hesitantly. "You've got determination, but it's not backed up by much. Fighting spirit alone won't cut it. There's no real emotion fuelling your resolve…"
Break, about to snap at him again, paused. He's right. I've had to work to develop my inborn power, sure, but it was work alone… sometimes blind rage… a lot of the others have had something deeper along the way. "… fine. You got a point. But I… don't know how…"
Prometheus shrugged. "Take it back to its most basic. Why do you fight at all?"
"It's fun."
"And today? That's not the most important reason today, is it? I know there's more to you than that."
She hesitated, thrown mentally off-guard. More than that… to me? "Thought you weren't gonna help us."
"Hephaestus said that, not me."
Break gave Prometheus a thumbs-up, standing and facing Hephaestus.
"You're going to continue?" The Shadow Dragon asked.
"Sure. But not 'cause I want to." She closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing and letting the weariness cascade away from her tired body. It's time to grow up… and stop being selfish. There is more in me than that. I'm not here to enjoy myself. I'm here because they need me.
To an outside observer, the fight atop the tower would have appeared as a confusing mass of clashing energy and flying fists. However, the combatants themselves had a much clearer view of things, and the four warriors were not holding their own well against Alpha. She moved from one to the other, quick attacks throwing them off-balance, disrupting attempts at forming larger attacks or group tactics. At least, she thought she was. Baby, employing his host's telepathic abilities, was hard at work.
The latest plan was quickly sprung into action-Uub and Gogeta broke away, creating distance between themselves and Alpha while Goku and Pan stayed engaged.
Got to… remember that feeling… Gogeta's body began to shake, the blood spotting his skin evaporating, sparking aura writhing up into a frenzy. What it felt like… that higher level… He'd been aware of it for a while now, like a distant light far above him. But since the fight with Gaia Shenron, it had been just a little closer. … and… reawaken! "GYAAAAAAH!" Now, two souls united for a single purpose, he reached up and seized it.
Whoa! Uub took an involuntary step away as waves of raw power poured of from Gogeta. He went Super Saiyan 3 again… on his own this time! Guess I'd better get ready, too… our part's coming up soon. Can't believe I'm using this a second time today… I'm really gonna feel it tomorrow… "Spirit KAIOKEN!" he roared, powering up alongside his comrade and gritting his teeth against the exhaustion it brought on.
Alpha, of course, noticed all this. Their powers increased dramatically… I should deal with them. These two are still in my way, however… She swung at both Goku and Pan at once, but instead of rolling with the punches to lessen the impacts, as she expected, they each rushed into the attacking limb, grabbing hold of it. "Now!" Pan shouted.
"Gotcha!" Uub replied, rushing in and leaping at Alpha with a flying kick. She grunted in frustration, shaking Goku off her left arm and blocking Uub just in time, the combined disorientation along with Pan still holding onto her left knocking her off-balance. Pan shifted her grip, shoving Alpha bodily away, leaving her open to attack, just as Gogeta came around overhead, hurling an arrow-straight energy bolt down at the Shadow Dragon. She cursed as she recovered her wits, flinging herself out of its path and over towards the doorway, outracing the explosion. They've got me on the defensive, but they still didn't land a solid hit-I should have enough time to counteratt-
Something struck her hard across the face, causing her to fall flat on her back, more out of surprise than injury.
Break, Super Saiyan power burning higher than ever before, stood in the doorway, shaking her fist and wincing. "Damn, woman, what are you made of?"
Uub smiled, relieved. She made it past him… so she achieved demigod ki, too! I still don't know how much of a chance we have, but there just might be enough of us now…
Helios' eyes blinked open, and he eased himself up into a sitting position, looking suspiciously around. "… I lost," he concluded. "And yet… I live. I was… spared ."
"Indeed. Our opponents are unusual," Hephaestus chimed in from behind him.
Helios snorted. "It's insulting. I was born to fight true warriors…"
"I think anyone who can defeat you is, by definition, a 'true warrior'," Prometheus pointed out, leaning against a boulder.
Helios ignored them both. "How can she be… so strong of body… yet so weak of spirit?"
"Weak?" Hephaestus said, sounding serious now. "I would not call it a weakness." He walked over and sat down next to Helios, being careful with his damaged arm as he did so. "I would say that, quite to the contrary… to leave your enemy alive on the strength of your principles, knowing full well they could return to stab you in the back… that takes great courage."
"…" Helios had no response to this.
Alpha was standing now, glaring around at her five opponents. "You people… are starting to try my patience… I don't think you quite appreciate how outmatched you are. I'll demonstrate…" And in doing so, waste some of the time you so desperately need… "You're aware that this tower is made of Katchin, and of the material's incredible durability. Allow me to show you something…" She raised her fist, surrounding it with immense pulses of deadly energy. "This is my power!"
"W… Whoa…" Uub grunted, staggering away under the pressure.
I'm kinda glad right now… Break thought grimly. … that we can't sense her energy…
When Alpha struck the tower, the impact reverberated up and down the entire structure several times before the destructive effects began to take hold. At this point, her energy was in full flow, and when the tower began to fall to pieces, it did so all at once. With a great roar of metal grinding on metal, and of rushing air as gravity took hold, the Shadow Dragons' tower fell.
Alpha landed gracefully in the wreckage, scattered for miles around, huge chunks of gleaming black masonry each the size of ordinary buildings. That should take them some time to… eh?
Now I'm not fighting them for a minute… time to focus, and… what's this energy? It's enormous… and coming from… She whipped around, facing right and gawking at the sight.
Tien hung in the air a ways off, arms raised over his head, a large Spirit Bomb already forming. He'd taken up position next to the tower a few minutes ago to get a clear shot. Seeing her staring up at him, his face froze in shock. She noticed… no, it's not ready yet!
Drawing ki from the surrounding star systems… Alpha realised. Clever. But easily dealt with-
"Forgetting someone?" A pair of ki blasts signalled Goku and Uub's arrival, and Alpha leapt away to avoid them, skidding along a jagged piece of the ruins.
"You again…" Alpha muttered.
Behind a column of fallen rock, Helios Shenron also touched down, carrying Hephaestus and Prometheus under his arms, dumping them on the ground in short order.
"Thanks for getting us out of there…" Prometheus mumbled.
"Think nothing of it," Helios replied curtly, meaning it literally. "Now… I must join Alpha. My honour will not allow me to stop fighting while I still live."
"And ours won't let us rejoin the fight once we've been fairly beaten," Hephaestus informed him, laying back. "But, you know, good luck."
"Feh. Do what you want." Without another word, Helios took off, his flight-path turning back towards the ground as he noticed Pan and Gogeta making their way through the rubble. Yelling a battle cry, he dived straight for them.
Hearing his rather loud approach, they were on guard as he neared them. "Let me handle this guy," Pan insisted. "I've done it before."
"Right, in other words…" Gogeta cracked his knuckles. "You've had your turn. I got this one." He grinned sheepishly. "Uh, but feel free to back me up if I'm losing, heheh…"
Slowly, Pan nodded. "Careful… he's in a whole different world of power to Gaia."
"I noticed." Gogeta raised his head towards Helios as Pan left, bracing himself to receive the fiery Shadow Dragon's charge. The impact was tremendous, and Gogeta was launched backwards as if fired from a cannon, both arms fully extended and pushing against Helios' momentum.
Slowly, but surely, Helios' movement came to a halt. He growled with irritation, taking a step back-and Gogeta ducked forwards inside his guard in the same instant, hammering an uppercut into Helios' jaw and hurling him away in a clean arc. Gogeta frowned, throwing an intense ki blast after the dragon and enveloping the area in which he'd landed in an enormous fireball.
"Huh?" Pan blinked. "Did I miss something? Helios wasn't that weakened…" No, wait… he's not weak-it's Gogeta who got stronger! Come to think of it… She gave a start, realising the fused warrior was currently in the first stage of Super Saiyan. The boys have been doing a lot of fighting today, fused and separately… between all these intense fights, and maybe having it made easier by his existing demigod ki… he tapped into that potential within Super Saiyan somewhere along the way, without even realising it? She smiled. And combine that with the power fusion already gave him… he may just be our best right now. "You're quite the fighter, Gogeta…"
He shrugged. "And after what it took to beat Gaia… I don't really get what happened. But I do feel different…"
"I'll explain later. Let's rejoin the others."
"Oh! You're awake!"
"Yeah, 'course, I hurt too much to be asleep… wait… who…?" Break opened her eyes fully, seeing clearly now the distinctive face looking down at her. "Trunks…?"
Her… friend? Yeah, friend, I guess… helped her up, before standing back and shrugging. "I, uh… well, it'd been a while and you guys were still in there… I figured, world might be about to end, might as well tell you something I've wanted to say for years, but… ah, it's not even all that important… I feel kinda stupid now, coming all this way to… egh."
Break raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"Heh, it probably sounds like I'm about to declare my undying love or something-it's not that, don't worry." He sighed, looking away. "Look… d'you remember that one date? I acted like a complete idiot, all but ignored you?"
"Sure. Didn't think you realised what you were like… thought you were just distracted with your work."
Trunks paused. "Uh, see… it was intentional."
"Huh?"
"I… got into the restaurant, and within about two minutes, I knew you and me wasn't gonna work. So I kinda sabotaged it."
She frowned at him. "Wasn't gonna work, you say?"
"Yeah… look, I… I was playing it up, but I am distractible, sometimes unemotional, I lack empathy and at times, am kind of boring. You're, apologies in advance, impulsive, emotional, and thrill-seeking-hell, you got a degree and then went into pro-fighting anyway. We could barely have less in common."
"You didn't see it working out… and figured we'd both be happier with other people, huh?" She laughed briefly. "In hindsight, that's kinda funny." He couldn't bring himself to just tell me back then… heh.
"So… yeah, that was all. I wanted you to be happy, and… if we're all gonna die today, I wanted you to know that."
Break nodded. "We won't. You've just solidified some stuff I was thinking about earlier… you'd better go. Over the years, people have done a lot for me… for my happiness, to help make me stronger, or even to save my life. Even today, I haven't been a whole heap of use. But it's my turn now."
"I…" Trunks sniffed. "Don't die."
"No promises." Turning Super Saiyan, she blasted off, showering him with dust and coming to a halt a mile or so above the battlefield. Alpha was being kept from reaching Tien, now engaged by Goku, Pan, Gogeta and Uub all at once, but was fighting more cautiously now, knocking them around without receiving any real hits in return.
Break focused on her internal ki supply. Earlier, against Hephaestus… I almost tried combining my two ways of transcending Super Saiyan… but now in this powered-up state, I've got far greater power than either. I don't sense any more of this potential from levels two and three, though… can I use the Legendary form now? Would it give me any boost at all, or just backfire? It may be that what I had before was simply its limit…
No… I can't believe that. It's a nigh-mythical power even rarer than the Super Saiyan… if it's so easily surpassed by any saiyan who achieves one of the higher forms, what's the point? There's got to be more to it than that… I have to trust that there's more! I will become the Legendary Super Saiyan again… and transcend even this power!
… wow, that last part sounded dumb. Glad I didn't say it out loud.
"Enough of this!" Alpha bellowed. I must reach that human! She stuck out her arms to both sides, letting a dome of energy fly out in all directions, forcing her enemies back and stunning them all. She spun to face Tien, balling her fists. Currently, his attack would not present a problem… but I have no way of knowing how long he can continue to gather energy at this rate. I should eliminate him before-eh?
High above them, someone was screaming unbearably loudly, and emitting huge amounts of highly-volatile ki.
"I think it's Break…" Goku muttered, sitting up. "But is she powering up? Sounds more like she's in pain…"
The whole landscape was bathed in a violent green light, the enormous slabs of broken Katchin levitating off the ground.
Break felt as though she was being torn in half-not to mention the unbearable heat. Mind and body were both on the verge of breaking.
But… won't stop! I believe… that there is something there, waiting for me… and anyway… have to try… for all of them!
In her mind, she died a dozen times over in that burning, screaming instant. She almost lost herself, almost went insane.
But then she was through the barrier.
And then it felt pretty good.
A mere few seconds later, Goku watched his ally's slow descent to the ground with considerable surprise. "She… transformed… stacked Legendary Super Saiyan on top of her demigod ki…" He frowned. "What exactly is it? Looks kind of like a cross between Legendary, and… Super Saiyan God…" Break had still grown larger, but it was less of an unhealthy-looking bulk-up and more of a proportional increase in stature, echoing Super Saiyan God's smoothness; the hair was similar in shape to her base form, though glowing a soft, gentle green.
"Now that you mention it," Pan added, standing up next to him, "I can't feel her ki… does that mean…?" I guess the whole is more than the sum of its parts…
Alpha stood firm as Break landed opposite her, the ground catching fire around the Super Saiyan and burning with an eerie green flame. She's doing something strange with her ki… Before Alpha could act, she realised that the chunks of rubble that had been lifted off the ground were beginning to crash back down around them-one in particular was headed straight for her. She casually took a step back out of its way, but it unexpectedly adjusted course to aim for her. The girl… was letting the other pieces fall, to disguise the one she was controlling telekinetically… a good plan, but it failed.
She raised her hand to catch the incoming metallic boulder-but a few feet from her, it was sliced cleanly in half, revealing Break directly behind it, having used it for cover to get in close. She landed directly in front of Alpha, using the momentum to kick her legs out from under her-Alpha fell in Break's direction, and the ascended saiyan swung an elbow down, smacking Alpha to the ground.
Alpha rose with a growl, springing away and raising her guard. Doesn't make sense… her power still seems significantly lower than mine, but that speed and force… oh. Oh, I see what you're doing. That's clever. But it won't last long. Still… even if she is weaker than me, it's almost inconceivable she managed to become so powerful. "What are you, then… a god?"
"Me, a god?" Break laughed, her blank eyes narrowing. "No… to you, at least… I'm a devil."
"Go ahead…" Alpha muttered, breaking out in a slight sweat. "Keep trying to sound cool…"
Chapter 17: Big Damn Heroes
Chikyuu no Mukou e Susume! Uchuu no Sonbou Kimeru Takatai!
Alpha Shenron cracked her knuckles, settling into a fighting stance and letting her ki build up around her, subtly at first, before bursting into full life with an explosive roar. "Well done… finally, an opponent I can fight a little more seriously." Even if the exertion does slow down the Eternal's coming… I can't pretend I'm not going to enjoy this.
"Right… about how much of your power have you been using so far?" Break asked, sliding one foot backwards and bringing her arms up to guard herself.
"I haven't got a head for numbers, so I can't tell you the percentage or anything, but… not much. Now, though… I'll honour you with everything I've got. The power that overcame the creator himself."
"The creator?" Break got no answer-Alpha was already attacking. She opened with a straight left, hammering on Break's defences with star-crushing force-but Break was ready, an odd aura wreathing her hands as she caught the punch one-handed, being driven back several steps by the impact, but eventually holding firm, pushing back against Alpha.
"She blocked it!" Pan gasped, somewhat redundantly. "Then her power really is… !"
Break raised her own free hand, building up another unusual concentration of ki before striking. Alpha caught it by the wrist just in time, struggling against the blow and stopping it an inch or so from reaching her. The fighters lunged simultaneously, their heads swinging in and smashing into each other, the shockwave blasting chunks of Katchin rubble off towards the horizon.
"Heh…" Gogeta braced himself against the aftershock of the clash. "Even though we can't sense their power… just by the force of those impacts…"
Goku, meanwhile, had flown off towards Tien, coming to a halt and hovering a short distance away. "How much time are you gonna need for that Spirit Bomb?"
"A while," Tien replied. "It's gonna have to be a lot stronger than the one that killed Buu."
"Yeah, but… given what it took to form that one… is it even possible to top it?"
Tien closed his eyes. "That's my problem. You just focus on recovering your energy. If Break falls, you'll be the ones fighting that Shadow Dragon."
Goku laughed nervously. "R… Right…"
Ending the temporary lock, Break ducked inside Alpha's guard, sending a rising punch up into her chin. Alpha snarled, skidding back but refusing to give ground, leaning back in with a downwards elbow strike that bent Break over double. The Super Saiyan halted her fall, taking advantage of her now-lower position to grab Alpha around the waist and kick off the ground, carrying Alpha with her and smashing them both through a large Katchin chunk.
They hit the ground together, rolling apart amidst a shower of razor-sharp falling debris. Coughing, Alpha pushed herself half-up, swaying over and punching Break back to the ground as she tried to stand. Break rolled with the blow, kicking Alpha away and giving herself a moment to stand up, but a moment was all it was.
Alpha was upon her again instantly, bringing to bear a sparking energy sphere she held between both hands. Break hurriedly formed her own, swinging it heavily into Alpha's, their hands meeting and detonating the twin blasts between them.
Uub scrabbled for purchase as the resulting explosion enveloped both fighters, the blinding light completely obscuring them from view. "This is crazy… ! I can barely stay standing… even from this far away!"
The light died down, and Break and Alpha were revealed, now standing several metres apart, staring each other down, smoke rising from their arms.
A second later, Break gave a panicked look, swaying and nearly falling, clutching at her stomach. "Ugh… !"
"Right… you didn't see that attack, did you?" Alpha grinned.
She must have hit me again, right as we broke away… Break realised. The instant after our attacks went off… I didn't see anything…
Alpha nodded. "Well, that's to be expected. You're slowing down, aren't you?"
Break froze. She knows?!
"Yes, I noticed something was off straight away… it was like I was sensing two power levels at once from you," Alpha explained. "One was your real strength-maybe half mine. Then, the power you were fighting me with, which almost matched my own… though it did take me a minute to work out how you'd managed it." She squinted, sharpening her senses, and a new aspect to Break swam into view-a pair of shimmering streams of energy rose through the air, one on either side of her, originating in emerald spheres of ki she grasped in each hand.
" When you transformed, an enormous amount of energy was let out by the change-wasted, really," Alpha continued. "Transformations are often like that. But you seized that emitted ki, and held on as tightly as possible to it. Meaning, for a few minutes, you had a lot more power to work with than even this form should have given you. But you're starting to burn through it now… huh?" Her final puzzled exclamation was due to Break, revealed now to be a mere afterimage, fading from sight. Where did she-
"Running low, am I?" Break said from behind her. Alpha felt herself lifted, then tossed high into the air, Break now appearing above her, kicking her back down to Earth. She flipped upright, breaking her fall and bouncing a couple of times before coming to a halt, bracing herself in time to receive Break's next charge. This time, she managed to stop Break's attack, dodging a lunge before taking hold of her arm and flipping her overhead, slamming her into the ground.
"And what you just tried," Alpha laughed, "was doomed to failure from the start. You knew you were running out of extra power, so you burned it even quicker to become even stronger than me for a couple of seconds. But that kind of time wasn't nearly enough to win." She took a step back to gain a short run-up before ungracefully kicking Break's prone body away. "And now you're down to where you should've been from the start-like I said, about half of my power. Which is still extremely impressive, don't get me wrong."
"Grrh…" Break raised her head, glaring up at Alpha. It wasn't enough… !
"Hey, don't be hard on yourself, it's not like you accomplished nothing." Alpha shrugged. "You bought your universe another few minutes, and you trashed my jacket, so… what is it they say on this world? 'Kudos'?"
"… fine." Break stood, working the ache from one of her shoulders. "Guys… I gotta ask for your help. I can't do it alone anymore."
Goku, Uub, Pan and Gogeta landed beside her, forming a ragged battle-line. "And you don't have to," Pan answered firmly. "Do you still think you can win, if all five of us come at you at once?"
"Hmm… perhaps… perhaps not. Depending on what tricks you all have left to pull… if I was the betting sort, I'd still lay odds on myself, but it could go either way."
Another, deeper voice cut across their conversation. "And if she wasn't alone either?" Helios Shenron strode out from behind a piece of wreckage, standing beside Alpha. "I am ready to serve."
"As always," Alpha replied jovially. "Yes, I'd say the odds are now on our side… if all three of us fight."
Gogeta frowned. "Three?"
"My lady, Hephaestus refuses to fight them any more," Helios informed Alpha. "His 'honour code' is… strange."
Alpha waved this away. "I know Hephaestus well enough, thank you; I had guessed as much. I wasn't talking about him." She snapped her fingers. "You can come out now." At this, a dark shroud began to solidify in the space next to her, sucking in all light around it.
Oh… no… Pan shrank back. Not him… !
Goku similarly recoiled. This ki… that's impossible!
Kronos Shenron stepped out of the shadows, carrying something large over one shoulder, impassive gaze sweeping over Earth's defenders. "Seems they kept growing while I was away." His eyes fixed on Goku. "In case you were wondering… on the moment of my demise, I transferred my consciousness to a potential timeline in which events had occurred slightly differently, and I survived. Of course, it was a hasty job, and the divergence was so immediate, meaning it was far from a true universe and quickly fell apart-so I escaped back to the real universe, homing in on the time Alpha needed me again." Still… I am not unaffected. The sensation of pain-the first I had ever felt-is still fresh in my mind. I am not sure if it will ever leave. That saiyan is quite remarkable…
"Actually, I didn't ask…" Goku muttered. Well, this does explain one thing… I'd been wondering about how fast Alpha got over Kronos' 'death', since they'd known each other for so long…
"Oh, come on!" Pan groaned. "This is completely ridiculous! What are you, invincible?" Something did seem off, though-a tiny gleam of reflected light revealed a couple of beads of sweat on Kronos' forehead. They'd never seen him show any signs of exertion until now.
He bowed slightly. "While Alpha likes to refer to me as such, there are in fact multiple ways to kill me… unfortunately for you, fighting is simply not one of them." He tossed the thing he'd been carrying to the ground-Wistarion's body. "I also retrieved this, as you asked," he added to Alpha.
"Hey, that's… Whis?!" Goku realised. "What happened here?"
"I mentioned the creator earlier," Alpha explained, nodding to Break. "The Kaioshin create worlds, and the Hakaishin destroy them… Wistarion here, or Whis as you knew him, created universes, and the Eternal destroyed them. But he and I had a disagreement." She sighed. "I didn't want to kill him. Even after he was already beaten, he forced me to…"
The three most dangerous Shadow Dragons… Break sized up their opponents. All fighting together… I can hardly think how this could get any worse. Her words were, of course, to be unfortunately prophetic.
Helios looked like he had been holding a distressing thought in for a while now, and finally burst out, "My lady!" Dropping to one knee, he declared, "I apologise for my weakness! I have allowed too many of them to surpass me… at their present level, there is only one of their group I could defeat!"
Uub rolled his eyes. Yeah, I guess that's me…
Alpha smiled down at Helios. "You are incredibly strong, Helios, and don't tell yourself otherwise. You are still young; I am sure you will continue to grow as fast as you have."
"But I… feel so useless… !" Helios said mournfully. "The situation… is intolerable… !" He closed his eyes, resting one fist on the ground. "I beg of you… I want to be stronger!"
At these final words, Alpha flinched. Kronos knew what effect they would have had on her; he recognised the look on Helios' face well-Alpha had worn it many times when she was a child.
Alpha took Helios by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. "… there is one way. But it will not be a magical power-boost; it will all be on you."
Gogeta scratched his head. "Uh… shouldn't we be, y'know, fighting them?"
"One of them is twice as strong as Break, and another can kill most of us in a hundred different ways," Pan countered. "If you've got any ideas, please share."
Helios, meanwhile, had accepted whole-heartedly. "I am prepared to do what I must."
"Then train hard, Helios. And return when, like I did some time ago, you reach the point where you find that normal training simply benefits you no longer. Kronos?"
"It shall be done." Kronos slowly placed his hand on Helios' chest. Helios' image flickered, before collapsing in on itself and vanishing. Kronos lowered his arm, nodding. "Now… whether he returns is up to him." He exhaled slowly, face shining with perspiration.
Helios opened his eyes-he hung in a featureless black void. No atmosphere, only faint, distant gravitational fields. Far-off lights began to become visible to him after a few seconds, once his eyes adjusted.
There was essentially nothing here but him. He had the vague sense that he could return, if he wanted to-but no, he had an important job to do. This place, its emptiness, might drive him insane… yet it was also perfect. No distractions.
He steeled himself, faced the void unafraid, and begun.
"Where did you send him?" Break asked uneasily.
"A few billion years back, when this area of space was empty," Kronos informed her. "As Alpha said, it's a risky procedure-most people would go insane from the isolation, or choose to return early…"
"But then, Helios is not 'most people'," Alpha took over. "He possesses an extraordinary drive. Who knows how many years he will work for before he decides he has hit the peak of what ordinary training can do for him… Kronos, whenever he does finish, would you bring him to this point in time?"
"Certainly." Kronos made a complicated series of gestures-and this time, he swayed slightly on his feet, head bowed a little.
Again… it's wearing him out… Goku realised. I guess he's been using his powers a lot today… and for some pretty major stuff… he said the attacks he used were just him playing around, but maybe he was being serious the whole time… and hiding the effort it took.
However, he had succeeded in anchoring Helios' eventual return to this point in time, and sure enough, amidst a whirling vortex of shadows, Helios reappeared, collapsing to the ground on his hands and knees, gasping in shocked reaction to the light, the air, the noise. And… what's this? Gravity… it's been so long… since I've felt… He stood, eyes focusing, clenching his fists. "I am ready," he said, voice growing stronger as he remembered the process of audible speech.
"You've been alone for a long time," Alpha cautioned him. "Are you mentally stable?"
"I am fully combat-capable and ready to serve," Helios snapped back at her. "Do you feel my power?"
Alpha nodded. "Yes… it's not too far off mine…"
That strong…?! How many years did he spend training? Pan wondered. I don't think they age, so it probably doesn't seem like nearly as long to them, but still… what must it have taken, to stay sane…
"If there are no more requests, I'd like the two of you to kill them and be done with it," Alpha said briskly. "I'll focus on generating negative energy."
"As you command!" Helios replied fervently, stalking towards the assembled heroes. "Kronos, with me!"
"Watch your tone around me," Kronos growled, but fell into step beside Helios.
"Okay, guys…" Break glanced left and right at her allies. "I don't see how we're gonna do this. Any ideas?" No answer came. Goku narrowed his eyes, keeping his guard up-evidently intending to go down swinging, come what may. Pan and Uub were trembling a little, but stood firm. Gogeta shrugged and gave a desperate grin. Break sighed. Maybe I can take at least one of them down… if I can get 'em in a hold, a kamikaze sort of attack could-
"I have one or two," said a new voice, and it took her a couple of seconds to recognise it-but when she did, her face lit up with hope. It… it is him… he survived, and came back for us… !
Gohan, radiating the gentle red light of the Super Saiyan God form, landed behind them, and not alone: Next to him now stood their universe's own Hakaishin, his aura of quiet menace now directed at the Shadow Dragons. Behind them, the Sorcerer, his staff buzzing with arcane energies; the Pilot, the air around her blurring as her constituent atoms actively denied the state of being at rest; the Hunter, already notching his bow; and the Warrior, fingers twitching in anticipation of the coming battle. Finally, at their head, Cadmus and Mercury, gleaming in their finery, eyes fixed on Alpha Shenron.
"As you can see," Gohan said irreverently, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "I brought the cavalry." His face softened as Pan came running up to him, and he accepted her embrace with warmth.
"Dad! I thought… y'know, that I might never…"
"Hey, don't worry about it." Gohan smiled. "And you've grown a lot since I saw you last. I'm happy for you. Hey… dad!" He called out in turn, waving to Goku, who jogged up to them. "Speaking of growing, your power too…"
"Yeah. Listen, I don't wanna distract you, but you deserve to know… we lost people…"
"Don't tell me," Gohan said, with some force, holding his hand up. "The time to mourn is later. It's not something I can afford to think about right now." Plus, you're here, Pan and Goten are here, and I don't think Videl or mom would have come in the first place… my family, at least, is okay.
Meanwhile, Alpha was casting her eyes over each god in turn, calculating. "This wasn't supposed to happen…" she complained out loud. "If I'd been able to generate negative energy uninterrupted, I'd have been done already… even after the fight with the creator. This gang of mortals delayed me enough…"
"You hear that, guys?" Gohan added. "All this-it wasn't in vain. We wouldn't have been here in time… you, all of you, saved the universe." He saluted.
"The 'creator', you say?" The Red King frowned. "You are referring to the being formerly known to us as 'Whis'? What transpired between you?"
"Ask him yourself," Alpha said dismissively, indicating Wistarion's corpse, drawing attention to it for the first time.
Bills went wide-eyed with shock, stomach lurching at the wretched sight. No, that can't… ! He couldn't… he's… not… He felt a rising sickness within him. This can't be happening. His head slowly raised, glaring with hatred at Alpha.
However, before he could take more than a step towards her, Cadmus' hand grasped his shoulder with irresistible strength. "Hold," the Red King ordered. "I understand your feelings. But she is not a foe any one of us can defeat alone. Our advantage lies in our numbers."
"Have to disagree with you there!" Alpha called out jovially. "See, I've just been giving the Eternal an update on all that's going on, and we've reached a decision. With all these gods gathered here like this, we figured a victory here, and taking out the lot of you, would ensure that we could roll through all your universes with ease. So, it's worth stepping up our game."
"What?" the Hunter asked. "What's that mean?"
Alpha laughed. "Well, y'see… you've only been dealing with one squad up until now. As I've achieved divine ki, I've been made a squad leader… but there are others like me. Though, fair warning, I am the strongest of the lot. Anyway, the point-I'm now preparing to summon the other squad leaders."
Uub gulped. A bunch more… just like her…
"But the Dragon Balls are gone," Pan countered. "You're gonna have to use some of the negative energy you've built up-that's gotta be a setback."
"True, but given what we'll accomplish by destroying the Hakaishin, it's more than worth it. Plus, I'm building up enough to open a breach for the Eternal -it doesn't make a huge dent in it to open one for a few beings around my own level."
She raised both arms and gave a violent yell; streams of power rose from her outstretched fingers into the sky, coming back down as six shafts of lightning, outshining the sun for a moment as they carved six craters into the earth.
From within each smoking crater clambered a Shadow Dragon; steam still rose from their bodies, obscuring their features, but they were all unmistakeably on the divine level. Six pairs of glaring eyes pierced the veil of shadow, sweeping the gods and mortal heroes with disdain.
This must be what Whis was talking about… Bills realised, memories clicking into place. He said attacking the first seven Shadow Dragons would be like 'kicking a hornet's nest', and that the two of us wouldn't be able to take on 'the whole swarm'… he knew there were more.
Break groaned. "Are we done with the backup already? We go to fight you, then hey, Helios and Kronos pop up. Then Helios gets stronger. Then the gods arrive. Then these assholes arrive. Are we all done ? Can we just get down to it now?!"
"An excellent idea," Helios agreed.
Alpha stepped in front of her comrades. "If we're going all in against this many opponents, I won't watch my subordinates get killed from the sidelines-who'll take me on?"
"I-" Bills began, but Cadmus stopped him again.
"Your emotions would cloud your reason. It would prevent you from fighting at peak efficiency. I am not concerned with your vendettas or feelings, only with our ultimate victory. Of course, I know that I could not defeat her single-handedly either. Mercury! Will you fight with me?"
The Knight bowed. "My lord, you know the answer. But I fear that this many battles between so many beings of our level would completely destroy this planet, which is home to the warriors who fought so hard to give us this opportunity."
"If it worries you so much, we'll do it like this," Alpha said, cutting him off. "Shadow Dragons-disperse! Each of you, pick a planet in this solar system, park there and wait. They can decide which of them wants to fight which of us, and divide up accordingly."
First the tower, now this… they do like their games… "And if we all attack one of you as a group?" Gohan asked.
"Then we'll all head to that planet as well, and it'll become a group brawl," Alpha responded. "Which is fine by us. We're giving you the choice of a free-for-all or a series of 'fair' matches. Now-Oranos Shenron! Remain on this planet. Do not engage unless attacked. Merely restrain that attack." She indicated Tien's still-growing Spirit Bomb.
Oranos Shenron, a bright, dynamic figure best described as a thunderbolt in humanoid form, nodded. "Consider it done."
"All right, the rest of you, get moving!" Alpha took off, soon followed by her cohorts, and in a few short seconds they'd vanished into the upper atmosphere.
Gohan watched them go. "Man, if this were most enemies, them leaving Earth would be all we'd want… but this time, we gotta take the fight to them. Choose a planet, I guess."
"Only one of them does not possess divine ki," the Sorcerer said with some interest. "Yet he was considered to be equal with the others, it seemed. This intrigues me. He is on the fifth planet; I shall go there."
"Alpha is on the fourth," Cadmus determined, to which the Knight nodded.
"The first," the warrior said flatly, for reasons unknown.
"Hmm… random number, uhh… sixth, I guess," the Hunter said, shrugging.
The rest of the decisions were made equally quickly, and with no real rhyme or reason: Gohan would take the second planet (Venus), the Pilot, the seventh (Uranus), and Bills, the eighth (Neptune).
"Of course, that leaves one Shadow Dragon unengaged," the Sorcerer pointed out. "It's out beyond the eighth planet…"
The Knight stepped up, addressing Cadmus. "If you wish it, my lord, I could-"
"Don't bother." Break approached the gods, hands casually behind her head. "You'll need more than one to take on Alpha. Let me handle that last guy." She grinned. "You know how powerful I am. Trust me, 'kay?"
Quickly recalculating, Cadmus nodded. "Very well. Let us waste no more time." In unison, the nine divine warriors blasted off into the heavens, blazing a trail of light as they went.
I'm not sure if I feel comfortable leaving that one Shadow Dragon back on Earth… Gohan thought to himself. But all Alpha told him to do was 'restrict' Tien's attack… we should be able to deal with him when we get back after these fights. No point in provoking him yet-less enemies actively fighting us at once can only be a good thing. If I sense him attacking, though, I'll teleport straight back…
Earth…
Oranos Shenron's eyes flashed green for a moment, and though he stood several hundred metres away, Tien felt a great pressure resisting his formation of the Spirit Bomb. Wh-What?! Can't… put any more ki into it… it's taking all my strength… just to keep what I've already got together…
Goku, noticing this, glanced back over at Oranos. He's a problem, but he's not actually attacking us yet… plus, if what Alpha said was true, he's nearly as strong as she is. I'm not sure what we could do to him… they're already on high alert, so I don't think he'd stand still and let me nail him with a Ryu-Ken. I guess… for now, there's nothing more I can do… that's not a nice feeling.
Pluto…
"You know, I don't think this is classified as a planet anymore," Break said wearily, landing opposite her opponent-a heavily-scaled, fanged creature with muscles packed denser than should be physically possible. It had no wings, but instead possessed twin rows of large, vicious spines running down its back.
It ignored her wisecrack. "I am Zeta Porunga," it grunted, mangling the pronounciation of every word it spoke.
A Porunga… that's new. Break indicated herself. "If we're doing introductions, I-"
"There is no need," Zeta said brusquely. Its eyes flicked up and down, examining her. It blinked once. "You are… primate. Hybrid species. Female. Age twenty-nine cycles of local solar body. Power, divine; class four. No more information is required."
Break chuckled. "Whatever you say, big guy." She cracked her knuckles. "Let's do it."
The fight, when it shortly began, was actually fairly boring. Both fighters went for all-out offence at the expense of finesse, so very few hits were successfully blocked or dodged; they both focused on hammering in as many of their own blows as possible, and hoping their enemy's stamina gave out before their own.
The pain and exertion was only physical, and superficial at that, and as the punches rained down on both sides, Break began to tune it out, fighting almost on autopilot, starting to notice her surroundings more. The cold didn't seem to bother her now, with her new power, nor the lack of oxygen; extremely lucky, this far out from the sun. The surface of the dwarf planet was entirely ice (well, not actually 'ice' as in solid water, but frozen liquid of some kind-she had difficulty remembering high school science while repeated punches were rattling her head like this), making it hard for their feet to find purchase, and they soon found themselves rising slightly into the air to avoid this. It was also extremely dim, the sun a distant flicker of light filtering out to them from a vast distant.
This is how I fight a lot of the time, Break thought as the monotonous punching contest continued. And now here's somebody doing the exact same thing, and we're deadlocked. I've had enough of this. And… Pluto's largest moon (over half the size of the dwarf planet itself), Charon, was rising overhead. … I have an idea, come to it.
When Zeta lurched in to strike again, Break disengaged, leaping away and clearing the strongest part of the dwarf planet's gravitational field in little to no time, causing him to stumble forward into an ungainly fall. She accelerated, circling back around Charon and coming to a halt on the other side of it.
Zeta took the opportunity to catch his breath-he was almost as tired from the ordeal of combat as she was. She is planning something…
"Hyaaaaah!" Came Break's distant yell, and Charon began to seemingly increase in size. No, not size… proximity… she's moving-
Break gave the immense sphere of rock and ice a final heave, launching the moon directly down into its planet's surface. Even as they neared each other, their clashing gravitational fields began to tear each other apart-and the final collision was cataclysmic, backed up by Break's enormous strength, completely pulverising the two astral bodies into a massive cloud of meteor-sized fragments.
Zeta floated amidst the wreckage, dazed, the wind knocked out of him. She's insane! He had no time to recover his bearings, however-Break was on the move, using the floating rubble as cover, darting around and firing ki beams at him from all directions. He forced his strained muscles into rapid movement, pushing himself left and right, ducking and dodging to avoid the sudden volley-however, equally suddenly, it stopped.
What's she doing now…? Zeta wondered. If I could just find her…
"So," Break called out from behind him, "you're probably wanting me to just stand still and fight you face to face." Zeta whirled, growling as he set his sights on her through the three-dimensional field of rocky obstructions. "But then," Break continued, "that's what I usually do in an even fight. I only tend to get tactical when I'm completely outclassed. Just now, though, I figured-why not save myself some pain and use my head in a fair match-up, too?"
"Is revealing your location part of this brilliant strategy?" Zeta asked flatly, summoning up his ki and preparing to charge.
"No, just keeping you focused on me so you wouldn't realise all those shots missed you on purpose-" She raised one hand, glowing with power. "-or sense the ki I fired into those rocks around you, using the fake shots as cover."
What?! Zeta scrambled to get away from what was now effectively a minefield, but not fast enough; Break detonated every piece of debris, with their stored points of ki, simultaneously, blasting Zeta with shockwaves of jarring, disorienting force from every direction at once.
Zeta tumbled through space uncontrollably, limbs flailing for purchase but finding nothing. In his panicked state, he never saw Break appearing in front of him, right arm drawn back to strike; the first he knew of it was a horrific wrenching pain as her fist slammed into his stomach, accompanied by another explosion of blinding power.
Break touched down on a passing fragment of Pluto (or perhaps Charon; it was impossible to say at this point), lowering her arm, letting the ki surrounding it die down and observing her opponent's unconscious body, slowly drifting away. She exhaled slowly, then smiled unpleasantly. "One down."
Chapter 18: Battle of Gods
Bakushinchi! Hakaisha tai Hakaisha!
Neptune…
Bills hovered over the solar system's eighth planet, sensing his opponent's ki clearly. This planet… mostly gas… solid core. His head tilted slightly to the side. Extremely cold at the surface, extremely hot at the core.
Whis-
He shook his head. Don't let it distract you! There's nothing more you can do… except make sure it doesn't go on. Trying unsuccessfully to calm his nerves, he descended towards the blue planet, allowing its gravity to take hold and assist his movement.
The bluish atmosphere hung around him, freezing, cloying. He accelerated again, covering a distance of several hundred miles in a mere few seconds before coming to a halt, nearing the Shadow Dragon's presence. "If you're trying to hide, you're doing a bad job of concealing your ki; and if you're not, I have to wonder why you're dodging around like that."
A figure began to appear through the obscuring mist. "Or perhaps I was messing with your head." It was a wispy being, possessed of a multitude of twisting, sinewy limbs; spines rose from its shoulders, flanking its slit-eyed face.
"If your goal was to piss me off, it's a bit late for that," Bills growled. He wasted no time with pre-fight banter, lunging for the Shadow Dragon. It failed to block-his hit knocked it back instantly and its counterattack was brushed aside without much effort. He brought his knee up, bloodying its face, before snarling and punching it directly in the throat. He finished the combination by stepping back and planting his foot in the creature's chest, kicking it away into the mist.
It twisted in the air, regaining its balance and fleeing directly downwards, making a sudden descent towards the planet's core. Bills grunted, following.
Neptune's core was a sharp contrast from the surface. Solid, for one thing, and the pressure and heat were both intensely magnified this far down. The Shadow Dragon stopped its flight, glancing around. Wait… Where did he-
Bills appeared behind it, grappling its uppermost two arms. "Your technique is lacking, and your power isn't much to mine either." He grinned, but there was no humour or happiness there. "Are you sure you're up to battling the Hakaishin?"
It hissed furiously, scrabbling back with its other clawed arms, but dealing only minor scratches before relenting. "Fine… I suppose I'll take you seriously. Physical combat is unimportant to Sigma Porunga, in any case…"
Bills snorted. What kind of arrogance does it take to introduce yourself in the third person like that… "Well, that's too bad, because that's what we seem to be engaged in." However, an instant later, he was forced to let go as sudden spikes of pain drove their way into his head, causing him to fall away instantly, clutching at his skull. "Wha… agh…"
"As I was saying, my power lies not in the physical realm," Sigma Porunga said smugly, "but over the mind. And your mind, Hakaishin, is a weak one. You're a spoiled child, really. So much pride and arrogance… it seems you've recently discovered sincerity, but too little, too late."
"Y-You… won't…" Bills collapsed, teeth grinding together, limbs twitching, blood running from his nose and ears, head pounding.
Sigma applied a final jab of mental force, giving a malevolent grin before rising and making for the surface. Seems it was you, despite your boasts, who wasn't up to battling the Shadow Dragons…
Uranus…
The Pilot hadn't had trouble tracking down her opponent in the upper atmosphere of the ice giant-he hadn't bothered to hide, either from sight or ki detection. The small, black-and-white-clad individual, humanoid but for the miniature scaled wings that extended in a swept-back formation from his head and limbs, had introduced himself in a disarmingly polite manner as Hermes Shenron.
"Mind if I start?" the Pilot asked, flashing an arrogant grin and hopping from one foot to the other. "I don't want to make a standoff of this-I get impatient, see."
Hermes nodded. "By all means, attack me as you like. And the best of luck to you."
"Heh." The Pilot did as promised, bringing the fight directly to him and pressing hard on his defences. She made heavy use of her trademark hit-and-run attacks-as soon as a hit was blocked, she changed course, pushing off his defending limb and circling around to attack from an entirely different angle, from directly above or below, with any striking surface on her body, from an upside-down or any other position; all in all, a difficult combat style to defend against.
And yet, try as she might, she couldn't seem to land any hits, even though Hermes Shenron's own technique was extremely simple, devoid of tactical nuance or subtlety. Doesn't make sense… and I'm faster than him, I know I am! But somehow, he was always exactly where he needed to be to parry each blow in turn.
Hermes also hadn't attacked at all up until this point, so when he finally did, it came as something of a surprise-the Pilot hissed in irritation, darting back and receiving a minor graze to her arm from the shockwave left by his swinging fist.
He lunged again, throwing a punch with his left, which she deflected with her open hand, followed by a straight kick that she somersaulted over his head to avoid, coming around behind him and throwing a spinning kick of her own-but again, it didn't quite connect as fast as it should have, giving him time to turn and catch it in both hands, pulling on her ankle and sending her tumbling away with a deceptively gentle movement.
"Okay… what gives?" she growled. "Something's not right… I should be cleaning you off the floor by now."
Hermes smiled sweetly. "You only had to ask. The problem, you see, is that you don't pay proper attention to your surroundings."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, we're currently in this planet's orbit, or would be if we weren't keeping ourselves still by almost subconsciously resisting its… rotational gravity? Is that the term? But in any case you're used to planets that rotate in line with their orbit around their star, and you automatically adjust for the tiny effect that has on all your movements."
"Get to the point…"
" This planet rotates the other way-its equator runs from top to bottom, as it were. Thus, you're compensating for minor forces that aren't affecting you here, and not compensating for those that are. It's throwing all of your moves off slightly." He bowed. "Most people probably wouldn't be able to take advantage of something as minor as that. I, however, pay close attention to such things, and my opponent."
Okay… still got greater speed in everything but close quarters… there's a plan in there somewhere… "Good to know!" Moving as quickly as she could, she brought her hand up and blasted Hermes head-on with a massive cone of energy, sacrificing concentrated power for greater area of effect. While he was blinded and thrown off-guard by this, she rushed in and tackled him out of the air, wrapping her arms around his waist and swinging fully around once before letting go with him facing downwards, sending him careening away towards the planet's frozen, rocky core.
Her grin reappeared, and she lowered her darkened goggles over her eyes, fastening on her leather gloves. And here-we-go! Building up her ki into a seething mass around herself, she cannoned off, down towards the core and her still-reeling opponent.
Hundreds of miles down, Hermes Shenron shook off the dizziness, assessing his injuries-minor, so far. However, something was approaching- too fast-no time to dodge-she's carving straight through the planet-got to build up my own defensive aura-
When the two gods collided, the impact resonated throughout the entire world that had thus far served as their battleground-
-but no longer. The violent clash between their colliding, destructive energies sent out a colossal blast wave, smashing the entire planet Uranus apart, leaving nothing but drifting clouds of dust.
Hermes fell back, spitting blood. "Not even asteroid-sized chunks left… you're good at this."
The Pilot nodded. "Destroying a planet is the simplest thing for us… now, can you keep up with my speed in a fair fight?" She renewed her attack, intermittently vanishing and half-reappearing as her faster-than-light blows rained down on Hermes Shenron, this time unimpeded by any gravitational interference. She broke his guard quickly, with workmanlike efficiency, then proceeded to beat on him almost unresisted, finishing her assault by dragging his head down with one hand into a rising punch by the other, bloodying his nose and sending him spinning away through the empty void.
She blew on her knuckles, confidence returning. "I'd say that about settles that."
"You are indeed…" Hermes gasped, "… a fearsome opponent. So this is your true power… then I'd say it's only fair that I show you mine."
The Pilot felt a shiver of excitement. "This should be fun."
"My power," Hermes said with a touch of dramatic flair, "is over space."
The Pilot blinked. "Um… you mean, like… the big place we're floating in?"
"No," Hermes groaned, shaking his head, "as in direction-distance-the three spatial dimensions. For instance!" He made a jab with his right arm, and though the pair were some distance apart, for a moment he seemed to be right in front of her, though he hadn't moved an inch; and the punch hit home, unprepared as she was, driving her back a step and drawing a grunt of pain. "Momentarily compressing the distance between us."
"Bastard…" The Pilot lunged, but despite being well within reach when her arm swung down towards his small frame, the next moment he was several metres away, causing her to hit nothing at all.
"Or, indeed, increasing that distance," Hermes continued calmly. "Do you see your predicament now?"
Frowning, the Pilot attempted a surprise attack this time, dashing left and right to try and throw off his aim. He smiled peacefully, however, inclining his head slightly and employing his unique ability once again. Try as she might, as fast as she raced towards him, she was being moved back an equal amount, never making any progress.
Fine-I don't need to get close to him to attack anyway. She formed an energy sphere in one hand, tossing it at the irritating Shadow Dragon.
"Do you think I would be so proud of my power if it could be defeated so easily?" Hermes called out. "I did mention that space includes direction, did I not?" Sure enough, halfway to its target, the blast changed course, shooting straight back at the Pilot and detonating on her hurriedly-raised guard, singing her forearms and shoulders.
Hermes was quick to follow up on this with another hit-and-run attack, again bringing them closer in order to strike before separating them once more. The Pilot fell back, breathing hard and uneasy on her feet. But… there is a way. I can still win this!
Hermes, seeing that she was-uncharacteristically, he should have noticed-passively awaiting his next attack, struck again, reducing the distance between them-but as he attacked, she lashed out like a striking serpent, seizing his leg before it made contact with her. "Gotcha!" she said triumphantly.
"What the-" He gasped. She interrupted me in the one instant I was close enough…
"Did you already forget I'm faster than you? Once I'd gotten over the surprise of seeing you pop up like that, the 'small' amount of time you needed to attack was plenty for me to react. And now I've got a hold, you're not going-" She rammed her forehead painfully into his face, cracking two of his teeth. "-anywhere!"
"Very… well…" Hermes hissed. "I haven't quite used the full destructive extent of my ability's potential yet-but it seems you've earned it!" He brought one hand up, chanting something under his breath, and a spray of green light leapt forth from his palm, bathing the Hakaishin in its glow.
She instantly froze as her body reacted painfully, feeling as if she was being torn in all directions, pulled and compressed by immense cosmic forces, divine resilience stretched almost to its breaking point. "A… Aghk… y… you…"
"The space I'm distorting now is the space within your body. I don't quite have the power to completely tear you apart from the inside, but this will be enough to end our fight."
The Pilot continued to twist and writhe under the pressure, until finally being released at the moment she lost consciousness. Just at that moment, she breathed, "… I'm… glad…"
Hermes lowered his hand and gave a respectful nod, understanding. I get the sense she's the kind who doesn't mind losing so much… but she would have hated it if she'd lost to anything less than my full power. Hakaishin, rest assured-long after all your universes are turned to fuel for my master's continued existence, I will remember this match.
Mercury…
A series of rapid, rhythmic crashes echoed across the small, searing-hot planet's surface as Helios Shenron and the Warrior engaged in high-speed, unrelenting combat. Moves were made and countered with expert timing, attacks and defences executed flawlessly with no margin for error, no wasted energy, every minute movement optimised for speed and power.
"You are phenomenal!" the Warrior exclaimed, and any who knew it would have noticed that its speech was unusually lucid and straightforward-it was a far more animated being in the heat of battle. "I have called myself the most skilled fighter among the gods, but you might be on another level entirely!"
"As the most skilled among the Shadow Dragons, I could settle for nothing less," Helios replied proudly. This power… it's exhilarating to have finally found an outlet for it! My training paid off, far more than I ever could have hoped… to be fighting off an opponent on this level… !
Indeed, as the fight progressed, Helios did seem to possess a significant advantage. With every few moves, the Warrior would lose some ground, taking a step backwards or sliding away after parrying a particularly forceful attack. Every few attacks it would miss severely, leaving itself open for a counterblow that drove the wind out of it. Every few blocks, it would mis-time its defence and suffer a glancing hit as it strove too late to dodge.
"You don't seem intimidated," Helios commented as he drove home another opportunistic attack, spotting a tiny opening in the god of destruction's guard.
"On-gah!-the contrary!" the Warrior exclaimed, pressing the attack and scoring a direct hit, but receiving two for its trouble. "In all my life, I've never faced such a challenge! I've fought opponents of your level before, but only as sparring partners… the fact that this is a death-match is… exhilarating."
"A fighter after my own heart," Helios laughed. "You relish the challenge, then?"
"Indeed!" The Warrior fell back again, coming the worse out of another engagement. "But I think I may have the solution to this particular challenge. Come at me again."
"Interesting!" Helios rushed in, attacking again-but this time, the Warrior seemed to slip from his grasp, flowing like water around his movements, anticipating each action and dodging in time to make an attack of its own, a hard right hook that sent Helios back where he'd come from.
The Warrior straightened up, not breaking its fighting stance. "Our abilities are actually nearly equal. However, you'd developed a certain few combinations of attacks that you'd practiced in sequence over and over, uncountable times, until you had a few entire chains of attacks memorised practically on a physical level."
"So you noticed…" Helios said, nodding in grudging admittance of his opponent's intelligence.
"Thus, when you performed these chains, you didn't have to think at all, and moved much faster than normal, rendering it difficult for me to combat you-until I saw through your technique," the Warrior concluded. "Now, I know each one of your combinations. They won't work on me anymore-you'll have to fight normally. The playing field is even again."
Helios laughed out loud. "Truly impressive! However… in truth, those chains were merely the prelude." His stance shifted to a more offence-focused position. "This is the combination I've practiced the most, and incidentally the longest by far-it contains enough moves to last twenty-four hours! You'd never be able to learn them all before I defeat you!"
The Warrior flinched back, analysing Helios' voice patterns and concluding: He's… not bluffing! "Just how long did you practice this for…"
"Prepare yourself!" Helios shouted, throwing himself across the burning ground at his enemy. As he neared the Hakaishin, a harsh glow of energy appeared around his limbs, his ki intensifying for an all-out assault. " Enten no Fungeki! "
These attacks came even faster than before, tearing through the Warrior's defences with consummate ease; simple physical strikes hammered it back again and again, more merciless hits than it could count. It attempted a recovery, rising into the air and coming back down with an overhead hammer-fist, but Helios ducked under it, changing mental tracks to a part of his practiced combination that incorporated such a defence and smoothly flowing into a jump kick, knocking the Warrior away again and bringing it to its hands and knees.
Helios landed gracefully, catching his breath. "Of course, you've now had time to observe and analyse the attacks of my first movement, so next I'll use the second."
"I admit it… you are my superior when you employ that technique," the Warrior said, standing-and something seemed different. Its pitch-black, utterly featureless… surface? It certainly wasn't skin… seemed not quite as dark, somehow; reflecting a little more light than it had before. "For now, anyway."
"And what do you mean by that?" Helios inquired.
"For the first time in millennia…" the Warrior continued. "… my battle-spirit has been truly awakened." It was visibly changing colour now, to a deep, muted red. "And you are now privy to something previously known only to my predecessor and master… that when this occurs, my body responds-and begins to emit more energy. This is reflected in my colouration, which begins to move up the electromagnetic spectrum… from my normal, black-seeming infrared level… it has now advanced into visible light." Now a bright, vivid red, it pointed a finger at Helios. "Once I transcend that, and reach ultraviolet, I will be at maximum energy output. Then, you will lose."
"We shall see," Helios responded, smiling as he attacked again. " Enten no Fungeki- Second Movement!" He landed a right cross directly to where the Warrior's face would have been, had it had one, but his second attack was blocked by the now-orange god. He continued the movement, however, shoving the defending arm back and spinning around to put himself in position for a back kick that launched the Warrior into the air.
The Hakaishin arrested its uncontrolled movement, however, flipping upright and floating carefully to the ground. Its lightening continued, now at a bright yellow.
"You look ridiculous," Helios joked.
"That matters little, if victory is mine," it replied calmly, beginning to darken again as a green tint entered its colouration. Helios wasn't finished, however; he appeared behind it, kicking its legs out from under it and hurling it away with a follow-up kiai, pursuing it and 'juggling' it into the air with a sliding kick, finally reappearing above it and rebounding it back to the ground with a double-fisted strike.
Now fully blue, however, the Warrior was standing again, rising from the huge crater its fall had formed. "Tch!" Helios spat. And it wasn't lying… it is getting stronger… I admit I am intrigued to see its full power…
No! I have failed once this day-I will not do so again! I must end this before it reaches maximum strength! "This is the end!" he cried out, bringing all his power to the fore, burning wings roaring out behind him as he let loose an intensely-packed energy blast in his foe's direction. Of course, a blast this size would level the entire planet as well, but that mattered little to him.
Helios was forced to shield his eyes from the brightness of his own blast, rocked back through the air by its force. When he lowered his hands, though, and squinted down to see what ruination he had wrought-it turned out that, largely, he hadn't.
But… ! He realised with something of a shock. But if the planet's still there… that means!
"I warned you," the Warrior said in a low voice, from behind him-now reflecting the entire visible spectrum, appearing as a shining being of pure, colourless light.
"I have been noted as stubborn…" Helios growled, whirling and moving straight into a close-range attack. " Enten no Fungeki, Third Movement!" he declared, entering into an instinctual barrage of attacks; but just as they rained down on the Warrior, they were deflected away as easily as raindrops on steel. Impossibly tough, everywhere at once, its whirling arms were unbreakable barriers obstructing his every attempt to attack; he was moving faster than his own thinking-time would allow, but this creature was yet faster.
Finally, he leapt back, hurriedly forming one of his legendary solar attacks. "Don't… think you've won… !" he panted, feeling weariness begin to overtake him. "This is… everything I've got… !"
Silent, impassive, the Warrior advanced with measured, menacing strides, gradually drawing nearer. Snarling, a cornered animal, Helios threw his sun-blast, the flames engulfing the entire landscape for as far as he could see, melting the ground beneath them and boiling the resulting liquid.
However, sure enough, the Warrior barrelled out of the inferno, planting its left fist into Helios' face in a final, vicious strike, taking him down in a single hit. He lay still, groaning weakly.
The Warrior took a staggering step back, the light leaving its steaming body, returning to its normal appearance. "Perhaps…" it muttered, falling into a sitting position and remaining there, exhausted. "… at the end, I underestimated you after all… Helios Shenron."
Chapter 19: Time Wounds All Heels
Tsuwamono no Gakai! Tairyokuien Chikara!
Saturn…
The Hunter kicked off a house-sized orb of rock, one of the millions forming the gas giant's massive rings, spotting a moment of irregular movement and hurriedly notching an arrow. He loosed it, aiming just ahead of his elusive opponent's movement to compensate for their speed, but it missed its mark, leaving a trail of crackling energy as it flew off into the void.
The reply came quickly, a bolt of green power that carved through rock like air, making straight for him. Coming in fast- His arm flinched up to block, but even with his defences hardened with ki, the projectile hurt immensely-yet no physical damage seemed to have been caused. "Aaaghk-!" The Hunter bit down on his cry, floating downwards into cover.
"Interesting attack, isn't it?" A voice called out. "You must be strong indeed, to endure one. You see, I, Artemis Shenron, can manipulate and induce any sensation I wish with my attacks. The most basic, but often the most effective, is of course pain."
Right… The Hunter tried to get a fix on the Shadow Dragon's voice without giving away his own position. Just inflicting pain won't damage my body, but it might overload my brain and make me black out… clever, but… found you!
He leapt out of hiding, bringing his bow to bear again, but Artemis Shenron-in appearance, reminiscent of an Amazon warrior of legend-was already facing him, one arm outstretched. On-guard… and faster than I expected! Twin emerald bolts flew from her fingertips, and he dived backwards, the attacks grazing his shoulders and delivering reduced, but still unpleasant, shocks. She followed up with another blast, this one blue and requiring her entire hand to fire, and already reeling from the last round, he was struck directly in the chest.
There was no pain, but sight and sound seemed to suddenly fade away, a great weight of tiredness overcoming him, his grasp on his weapon slipping, his head slumping forwards-
A hiss of movement alerted him to Artemis phasing into view behind him, muscles bunched beneath her skin, one arm raised to deliver a knifehand blow to the back of his neck and finish him. Growling and shaking off the drowsiness, he spun and swung his bow in an upwards arc, knocking her strike off-course. Now at close range, they briefly exchanged blows before breaking off and resuming their long-distance duel.
Artemis' attacks came more frequently now, whole volleys composed of multiple types of blast. Wish I knew which was the most dangerous… the Hunter thought morosely as he backflipped through the storm of multicoloured light. Green's pain, blue's fatigue… the rest are a mystery.
An unnoticed yellow bolt struck his side, and he froze, fear suddenly rising in his mind. Must be… what yellows do… fight it! Trembling, he forced himself to stand firm, to not immediately lose heart and flee in a panic-if he did that, he'd be an easy target, for one thing.
However, the hesitation allowed Artemis to close the distance again, placing her hands on either side of his head and holding tightly, emitting a burst of green light and letting waves of pain flow directly into him.
"Aaaaarh!" The Hunter's body convulsed for an instant-but slowly, he raised his arms, gripping Artemis' wrists and pulling her hands away. "Huh… ah… huf…" He tried to get back to normal breathing.
"Your will is very strong…" She admitted.
"Lady, you have no idea," he muttered, not knowing if he believed this or not. Damn… I bet Priest… is kicking all kinds of ass over there… I won't be beaten by my first opponent!
"However, I don't think you have the strength to run anymore…"
"S'fine. I'm done running." The Hunter raised his bow once more, drawing another shining arrow back.
"I have actually been wondering… you've only fired one arrow during this entire battle…"
The Hunter nodded. "I didn't think you were so fast before… I never take a shot unless I'm certain it'll hit."
"So you're certain now? What's different?" Artemis spread her hands, fierce eyes glinting. "You're almost done, and I've barely broken a sweat."
"A hunter… studies his prey's movements." The Hakaishin narrowed his eyes, letting everything else in his field of vision fall away unnoticed, save for his target. "When I fire, you'll die."
"Interesting theory…" Artemis' lower arms blazed with spectral light. "We're both ready to fire… in this situation… the one to strike first will be the victor!"
"What, a standoff?" The Hunter smiled slightly. "That's not how I see it."
"Well… I'm getting tired of you anyway," Artemis said testily, raising her arms, building up her power still more before letting fly her largest barrage yet, the kickback knocking her back slightly. Hah! He still hasn't fired! His reactions must be too slowed by this point… this battle is mine!
The Hunter's eyes flashed, seeing that in her jubilation, Artemis was, for the tiniest moment, distracted-this was the moment. Now! He loosed his arrow, and a moment later Artemis' full power struck him, enveloping his body in a million warring sensations at once-pain, fatigue, fear, anger, depression, treachery and more all threatened to tear his psyche apart.
Another moment later, as Artemis still stood grinning at her battered opponent, horror registered on her face as she saw the tiny point of light emerge from her storm of power. It was too late to stop it; the point grew into a burning lance of power, and the arrow, containing a god's full ki compressed into a single point, pierced her chest and struck directly through her heart, emerging from her back in a shower of blood. Im… possible… to see an opportunity so small… and seize it so quickly…
The pair of them hung motionless for a couple of minutes, drifting through Saturn's upper orbit, before the Hunter finally stirred, fully awakening a few seconds later and breathing a relieved sigh. "And that is why," he said wearily, to no-one in particular, "when you want to fight someone, you don't waste time screwing with their mind. You just hit them really damn hard." He shakily made his way over to a large rock, collapsing against it and closing his eyes, mentally exhausted.
Jupiter…
Kronos Shenron and the Sorcerer floated unaffected above the largest storm in the solar system-a gigantic area of turbulent weather on Jupiter's surface easily visible from space-so large, in fact, the Earth could comfortably fit inside it twice. Such an awe-inspiring display of the fury of nature, however, did not concern the two beings high above it in the slightest.
"I see your mind, Kronos Shenron," the one intoned.
"And I see your past, Sorcerer," the other replied.
The god of destruction nodded his wizened, beaked head. "So, there is no point in either of us being secretive about our abilities. Then let us begin."
"Very well!" Kronos grinned. "I've always wanted to kill a god." His calculating mind sprung into action. Can't simply travel back and kill a younger, less powerful version of him… that younger version comes from another universe, and not one I can access…
"I've decided," he said, finally. "This attack failed to kill an opponent earlier, so I'm anxious to redeem it-before, I created a field around myself that would shred anyone who approached me with the contradictions in their character throughout their life." He flexed his fingers, and the air began to warp and contract around the Sorcerer. "This time, however, I'll centre it around you-since I know one like you doesn't have to approach me to attack."
"True enough. However!" The Sorcerer raised his staff and gave a bellow of exertion, and the shifting, unnatural force was suddenly drawn up towards it, vanishing inside the staff and leaving the Hakaishin unharmed. "I think you still don't quite fathom what it means to battle 'one like me'."
Kronos growled. "Impressive…"
"Not that I need any such tricks to defeat you," the Sorcerer said offhandedly. "I'm vastly stronger than you are. I could simply punch you once and kill you, as distasteful as it would be." Of course, we both know you could easily recover from such a death, but it would at least inconvenience you, and amuse me. He gave a start, as if to move forwards, and Kronos hurriedly paused time, freezing everything but himself in place.
This done, he approached the Sorcerer, pacing slowly around his immobile opponent. At last, time to think without having my mind read… I don't have the luxury, of course, of simply resorting to physical violence. If I hit him, I'd just break my hand, frail as he looks. Perhaps another of the tricks I used earlier today…
Unexpectedly, however, the strange tint that accompanied time being paused began to fade, finally vanishing altogether, time flowing normally again. The Sorcerer's head turned, beady eyes staring him down. "I'm sorry, did you think you had all the planning time you wanted?"
"Wh-wha…" Kronos gasped, springing back out of reach. "That's-"
"Impossible? Come now. As soon as I saw you start to pause time, I cast a counterspell. It was a rush job, though, so you had time to do a little thinking before it took effect, it seems… come up with any brilliant plans?" He paused, scanning Kronos' mind again. "No… no, you didn't. Though you did have time to ruminate on how you've used all your strongest attacks already today, and you've begun to break your rule on reusing them in one battle…"
"You… !" Kronos seethed with frustration. "You mock me now, but can you mock the sum total of all the pain you've experienced in your life?" Seeming to multiply, Kronos leapt at the Sorcerer, dozens of copies of the Shadow Dragon charging his opponent all at once.
The Sorcerer sighed. "Summoning multiple versions of yourself from different points in a second, since this technique requires you to physically touch me… of course, all I have to do is kill the one furthest back in time…" He flung his arm out, firing an arc of lightning that engulfed one of the copies, roasting it from within and leaving it drifting and lifeless. As soon as this happened, the others vanished. "… and the rest cease to exist."
A single Kronos appeared before him, hunched over and gasping for breath. "Yes, surviving using the body of a possible alternate timeline-like the other time you 'died' today- and fixing your personal timestream to deal with the paradox I inflicted on it by erasing so many copies of you at once… that must have taken a lot out of you," the Sorcerer noted, leaning on his staff. His mind scan had also ascertained that Kronos liked to explain himself, so he'd made a point of consistently beating the time-warper to doing so, to annoy him more than anything else.
"Damn… you…" Kronos panted. Pain… again… and on the same day, no less… I can scarcely believe this universe… ! His eyes narrowed, and he flared up his power once more. "BEGONE!" He shrieked, assaulting the Hakaishin with all of his temporal power; a moment later, the Sorcerer's image spiralled away into nothingness.
"Hah… enjoy your stay a few billion years in the past…" Kronos gave a mean laugh, sweating buckets. Finally… ! But he was without doubt… my most fearsome opponent…
"Is that true? You flatter me."
Kronos whirled, gawking, composure totally lost.
"You-but- HOW?! " He squawked.
The Sorcerer made a small bow. "I know what you're thinking, as always-'can he travel through time, too?' As it happens, no." He twirled his staff, shifting it to a one-handed grip. "If I'd let that affect me, I'd be stuck in the past like anyone else. But you were fooled by a simple afterimage. I have mentioned my power is vastly superior to yours, have I not?"
Kronos just stared, for once in his long life lost for words.
"Of course, it helped that a god's ki can't be sensed by non-divine beings," the robed creature added. "You can usually tell that your attack's worked when your enemy's ki vanishes… that didn't help you here, since you couldn't sense me to begin with. But now, I think I've had enough of this farce." He chuckled at Kronos' expression. "Yes, this has been a new experience for you-usually, your battles are about this one-sided, but in the other direction."
"You've had enough, you say?" Kronos hissed. "You know killing me isn't simple…"
"Of course. Which is why it's not your body I'm going to attack."
Kronos snorted. "My mind, then? Same result, I'm afraid. I'll still escape."
"Actually, not that either. This is my greatest technique…" A pale blue flame sprung to life around the Sorcerer's free hand. "I call it my Soulfire."
Kronos shrank back from the heat, already feeling it despite the distance between them. Then… what he's planning to attack is… is… !
"Correct." The Sorcerer released the Soulfire, letting it leap across the emptiness between him and Kronos, latching on and sinking beneath his skin. Kronos opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but the noise never came-he fell still, hanging in the empty blackness surrounding them as the flames slowly burnt through to the surface, enveloping his hollow-eyed body and completely incinerating it, ashes withering away into nothingness.
The Sorcerer closed his eyes, leaning heavily on his staff from the great exertion the technique had required. No, he did not escape this time. Such tricks can save your body, dragon, but your soul is a different matter. You will never reach whatever your race's afterlife might be… if you even have one. More likely the Eternal re-absorbs your souls on your death-in which case, I have at least denied it the scrap of nourishment you would have provided it.
Venus…
Gohan squinted through the translucent atmosphere, already feeling light-headed.
Delta Shenron, his opponent-a being made of some unstable substance resembling solid light, held together by several long metallic spikes, one per limb and a larger one in place of its spine, each apparently floating in the light-substance-approached him mechanically. "You are affected by the environment here? It is not unexpected. This is the hottest place in your solar system. The atmosphere, toxic, not to mention acidic. The pressure, many times that of your home planet. All in all, an inhospitable battlefield, even for a god."
Breathing slowly, Gohan beckoned to the Shadow Dragon. "Let's get on with it."
"If you insist." Delta raised an arm (if that's what the ethereal limb, in fact, was), flexing it slightly, and Gohan felt a shudder pass down his entire body.
"H… Hey, what's this…" Gohan muttered, finding himself seemingly paralysed. "How'd you…"
"I am now in control of your energy," Delta replied. "And I am holding it in place to prevent you from moving, or indeed from using your energy." It walked directly up to him, raising its other 'arm' and sharpening its form until it resembled a single blade. "Making killing you simplicity itself." It struck, lashing out in a snakelike motion, aiming directly for Gohan's throat.
However, the moulded limb vanished at the elbow, appearing behind Delta and impaling the dragon through the stomach, creating a large rupture in its semi-liquid body.
Gohan smiled. "Hard luck for you. Shifting doesn't require me to move or use my energy."
Delta made an irritated clicking noise, withdrawing its arm through the portal and taking a step back, the hole in its abdomen sealing itself and leaving no visible damage. "… it also seems you are my superior in speed and detection ability, so continuing physical attacks and hoping to catch you by surprise seems unlikely to succeed."
"So, you've got a new plan, I take it?"
"To be more accurate, I've decided to get serious."
Gohan frowned. Completely immobilising me wasn't 'serious'? What's next…
Delta began to resonate with a strange energy, sparks of light jumping from one spike to the other within its body. "Specifically, now I have control of your body's energy, I'm going to detonate it. Destroying you from within."
"You think so?" Gohan replied, grinning a little. "Try it."
Does he expect me to believe he can counter this? Delta inclined its head. "You're bluffing."
"Let's see." A second later, Gohan vanished entirely.
Delta took a shocked step backwards. I've lost control of his energy!
Gohan's hand tore through the ethereal surface of its arm, taking hold of the spike suspending the limb and ripping it free, causing the entire arm to disintegrate. "Like I thought, you have to track and lock on to my energy to control it. So if I disappear into a pocket dimension using Instant Transmission… or hell, if I disrupt your power by removing one of these loci…" He crushed the spike between his fingers. "You're done."
Delta shrieked, the sound of distant thunder and tearing metal, swinging its remaining arm around and pushing away on Gohan's energy, now unable to utilise enough finesse to control it fully, only managing to fling him back slightly.
Gohan dug his feet in, bringing himself to a halt and responding with a one-handed kiai, flooring Delta with ease. "Give up. This fight is over." He turned away, preparing to take off. "I don't want anything more to do with you."
The Shadow Dragon picked itself up off the ground, hissing at his back. "This isn't… the end… !"
"Don't make me hurt you any more," Gohan warned, pausing.
"You haven't won yet!" Delta declared, holding its arm up to the heavens, and fixed onto a huge source of energy, ready to hand: the sun. With this, I'll be more than powerful enough to-
A steely grasp fastened around its central spike, positioned where the spine would be in a normal being. Delta froze, pain shooting through every inch of its body.
"I was willing to let you live," Gohan growled, "but what you were about to do would endanger the life of every being on Earth. I won't allow that." He closed his fingers, snapping Delta's 'spine' entirely in two. The sparking, fizzing light of its insubstantial body instantly died, the remaining spikes clattering to the ground.
Gohan lowered his hands to his sides, closing his eyes. There. It's done. I hope everyone else did all right…
Chapter 20: Shallow Grave
The Eternal ate the Japanese subtitle (or I've been super-busy with my first week of university and forgot to message Ryu no Ohi… take your pick)
Earth…
"I can't take it!" Pan yelled, breaking several minutes of silence. "The enemy's right in front of us… !"
Goku nodded, understanding. "I know how you feel…" He glanced over at Oranos Shenron, who seemed to still be focusing entirely on Tien and the Spirit Bomb. His cloak blew out wildly behind him in the building wind, but he never moved, not even blinking. "Heh… what do you say, kid? Shall we go for it?"
Pan nodded. "I'm ready." Honestly, I would've suggested we do that Super Saiyan God ritual again, but there's only four saiyans around right now…
"Of course, it'll just be the two of us…" he reminded her. "Tien's using all of his concentration just to keep that Spirit Bomb together. Goten and Vegeta Jr. won't be able to fuse for a while…"
"Hey…" Uub panted, waving over to them. "Don't… forget me. I'm ready… when you guys are."
Goku smiled. "I'm happy you were able to use the Spirit Kaioken, Uub, but I don't think you're up to using it again today. You'll need more practice to use it regularly. Don't strain yourself."
Uub bowed his head. "A… All right…"
"If you can distract him," Goku whispered to Pan, "I'll try the same tricks I used to hold off Alpha… then maybe I can land a Ryu-Ken. If he isn't as strong as Alpha, one hit from it might be enough to take him down…"
"Right." With no further exchange than that, Pan darted off, circling around to the other side of Oranos before skidding to a halt as she rapidly changed direction. "Ka… me… ha… me…"
Oranos' misty eyes flicked over towards her, and he turned to face her, though a small part of his attention was still focused on Tien.
Now's my chance! Goku decided, rushing in while Oranos' back was turned and loading his fist with a Solar Flare.
"HAAA!" Pan fired just as Goku lunged, but Oranos swung around in a full circle, sweeping his arm around in a wide arc. Pan's Kamehameha was stopped in its tracks, burning its way out on some invisible barrier, and simultaneously Goku was flung backwards by an equally undetectable force, managing to stay standing and sliding back over the broken ground.
Like an enormous kiai… Baby noted from within Goku's mind. Or highly-advanced telekinesis…
Which means he won't let us get close, Goku agreed. But he doesn't know about the Solar Flare, so the normal, ranged version should still work. Then… you think you can take this guy, Gamma?
Certainly, the Eternal Dragon replied. A direct hit, and I will be able to strike a fatal blow.
Okay. Goku looked back over at Oranos, re-assuming an offensive stance. "Hey! We're not done!"
Oranos faced him, but with a dismissive expression that implied that far from not being done, they had never begun.
"Solar Flare!" Goku shouted, suddenly raising his hands to the technique's signature position. As a searing burst of light filled the air, he drew back his right arm, wasting no time and leading straight into his next attack-"RYU-KEN!"
With an explosive roar and a rush of destructive power, Gamma Shenron was momentarily summoned to the material plane once more, obliterating the Katchin wreckage in its path.
Goku landed, his leap taking him forward into the crater he'd just created. I don't see any sign of the Shadow Dragon… he realised as the Solar Flare's after-effects died down. I guess… I got him? Damn, I wish I could sense divine ki…
"Behind you!" Pan warned, pointing urgently.
The older saiyan spun, jumping back in shock as he saw a completely-unharmed Oranos Shenron standing impassively before him.
"How…?" Goku hissed. "The Solar Flare should've stunned him… but he definitely kept enough of his wits to dodge the Ryu-Ken; he wouldn't still be standing if it'd hit him…"
I believe I know, Baby interjected. The Solar Flare is a technique that emits light, which is why one simply cannot avoid it-light moves at, well, the speed of light. But are divine beings not capable of exceeding even that speed…?
Right! Goku growled in frustration. He dodged the light rays I was emitting… so he wasn't stunned, and was able to avoid the Ryu-Ken too… why didn't Alpha do that earlier?
She was holding back the majority of her power, the cyborg reminded him. In addition, you used it at much closer range, giving her far less time to dodge.
But this one is going all out… and his powers don't let us get close… His fists clenched tighter, trembling. I can't… beat this guy!
Mars…
The Red King discarded his cloak, letting it settle to the dusty ground as he cracked his knuckles. "Let us begin."
Beside him, the Knight silently drew his sword, closing the visor of his helmet and locking his gaze on Alpha Shenron.
Glaring back at them, she threw off her jacket. The Knight rushed in first, and she caught his blade between her hands, kicking him away before turning to catch Cadmus' opening strike, the force of which knocked her back a few paces. "You shouldn't be here," she growled.
"You presume to tell the Red King what he should and should not do?!" The Knight yelled, pushing himself back to his feet and levelling his sword at her. "Impudent-!"
"Calm yourself, Mercury," the Red King said sharply. "I am curious to know why she thinks this."
Alpha jumped, aiming a kick at Cadmus' head, which he blocked, but he failed to avoid her other leg swinging down from above, knocking him to the ground. He rolled away as she landed hard where he'd just been standing, pulverising a huge area of the ground beneath her.
"Simple," she responded gruffly. "Everything in this life has a purpose. Mine is to facilitate the Eternal's coming, the mortals' is to struggle for their continued survival, but yours -yours is not to oppose us." She raised her hand to lunge at him, but the Knight intercepted, grabbing her wrist; she swung around, flinging him away and throwing an energy blast after him that cracked his arm-guard and sent a shoulder-plate spinning away over the dusty red surface of the planet.
"We are meant to simply stand by and accept our fate?" Cadmus asked with disdain, charging energy in both hands.
"You should welcome us! We are your vindication!" Alpha declared, trying to pre-empt him by firing her own volley before he could begin. However, since he now had an excess of power concentrated into his hands, the Hakaishin responded by easily parrying each of the disparate beams with it, deflecting them all away to sear mile-long scorch marks into the Martian landscape, bringing his arms to a halt with a hiss of steam. "Do go on," he said coldly. "Explain how killing us all is a good thing."
"Your purpose is to maintain the balance by destroying planets," Alpha said wearily, as if talking to an impetuous child. "The fact that such a cycle repeats itself on a universal scale should be welcome! We justify your existence! We are your fellow agents of destruction…"
The Red King charged, missing with a right hook as Alpha jumped up and away. "Yes, you are. And your coming has put us in the position of our victims-given us a new perspective on this cycle of yours. You are like looking into a mirror…" His eyes narrowed. "And I do not like what I see."
"Well-spoken, my liege!" The Knight yelled, coming up behind Alpha and bringing his sword down. She turned quickly, raising her forearm to block, but came away with a shallow gash despite having raised her defensive aura.
That thing's dangerous! Some kind of enchantment… Her arm snapped back up elbow-first, shattering the Knight's helm and hurling him away through a distant mountain, bringing it down on top of him.
During this time, however, Cadmus had got in close again, and unleashing his full strength, the ruler of the Gods of Destruction landed two deafeningly-loud blows, one with each fist, the impacts resonating throughout the valley they stood in, growing even further until they shook the planet to its core.
The Red King stepped back, keeping his guard up, as his ally floated to the ground next to him. "I had worried that you might be hesitant to accept this, given your propensity for traditionalism, but it seems I was wrong."
The Knight smiled, rubbing his shaven head where Alpha had struck him. "I follow where you go, lord. Your will is mine." He knew from millennia of experience that his king could always be expected to judge a situation without emotional bias and divine the correct course-thus, it did not surprise him at all that Cadmus had changed his mind about their cycle so quickly upon Wistarion and the Shadow Dragons' revelations. He had simply received new information, made a calculation and acted on it without hesitation. It was this capacity for certainty of action that had made him unquestionably the only real candidate for leadership of the Hakaishin.
Alpha wiped away a trail of blood running from her mouth. "I didn't expect you two would be this good." Her eyes suddenly snapped wide open, and her outline blurred; the next moment, leaving a superluminal flash in her former position, she was upon them, seizing each Hakaishin by the neck and slamming them several metres into the ground.
They put on a burst of energy themselves, escaping from her grasp with a hiss of speed and appearing above her, but they were outdone-she in turn materialised between them, elbowing each in the stomach before dragging the Red King to the ground and kicking him away again. "But still, your presence here is really pissing me off…"
Cadmus stood, facing her straight-backed. "Perhaps all we needed was a push… an example… seeing Wistarion break the cycle, we knew it wasn't holy by any means… or necessary."
Alpha's eye twitched. This… isn't… right!
"My lord! We are losing ground…" The Knight had descended on the opposite side of Alpha. "Shall I…?"
"Do it," Cadmus said firmly.
"Very well." Mumbling a few words under his breath, Mercury held out his free hand, a faint vapour flowing out from his mouth as he spoke the incantation and solidifying, forming a second sword; whereas the first was flawless and mirror-polished, this second one was made of some darker metal, inset with gemstones and inscribed with twisting runes. Smiling, he now brandished both weapons.
Alpha frowned, calculating. Will he get stronger? I've heard of swordsmen whose power level varied with the weapon they used…
"This is Strength," the Knight said calmly, holding the first sword up, before turning to the second and continuing, "and this is Wisdom."
"Kinda simple," Alpha commented. "Thousands of years old, and you couldn't think of anything cool in all that time?"
He ignored this, bracing himself-and immediately hurled Wisdom end over end at her. Startled by the unexpected move, Alpha ducked under the thrown weapon, glancing around just in time to see the Red King snatch it out of the air, before hefting it two-handed with practiced ease. They expected me to dodge… the tin can didn't summon it for himself at all… !
As soon as he had caught the sword, the Red King began to rush at Alpha, the Knight running in from the other side as well. Frowning, she waited until the last second before leaping out of their paths, hoping to cause a collision.
However, once again, she was not the true target. Startlingly, the Red King had brought Wisdom up and stabbed the Knight directly through the stomach. "Strength without wisdom is directionless!" he declared.
Simultaneously, the Knight impaled Cadmus with the other sword. "Wisdom without strength is powerless!" he shouted.
Alpha froze, dumbfounded. What is this? Wait… their power… !
Each Hakaishin withdrew the sword from his own body-leaving no visible wound-so that Cadmus now held Strength and Mercury now held Wisdom, before holding them out in parallel towards Alpha, focusing all their ki into a single point between the adjacent blades.
They're not just combining their power into one blast, Alpha realised. Their ki is becoming greater than the sum of its parts… like a fusion technique, but applied to their energy and not their bodies… interesting.
Of course, I'm dead if that hits me…
Right as she thought this, they fired, and Alpha dived to the side as the column of unbelievable power roared its way past her; she could not rest easy, however. As soon as it passed her, it began to turn and change course, circling back around to come at her again. She dodged again, and again the beam angled itself to pursue her. More worryingly, its speed seemed to be increasing. I can't evade it forever… She ducked another pass, rolling away and keeping her eyes on the deadly blast. And I certainly can't block it.
Well… nothing else for it. "This seems to be your greatest technique…" she said to the pair of Hakaishin, who still stood with sword-arms outstretched, directing their attack. "… so I suppose it's time to unveil mine."
The beam was heading her way once more as she continued, holding her arms out to the sides and closing her eyes, dark energies beginning to swirl around her. "It isn't uncommon for me to use one or more of my two Void Banisher charges during a mission. But there is a greater power sealed within me. I've never had to use it, but now we have rebel gods and creators, mortal enemies with divine ki, and every squad leader engaged in battle-I'd say the situation is getting out of hand." The wisps of shadow whipped themselves up into a storm of frenzied dark bolts, swarming together in front of her and forming into a shifting, seething portal. "This is my third and final charge-the Void Summoner!"
The Hakaishin's attack rushed head-on into it, and Alpha gave a final grunt of effort as the portal leapt forwards to meet it, the two accumulations of strange ki meeting and-curiously enough, there was no explosion. They met, and seemingly cancelled out in a strangely anticlimactic swirl of dying light.
Alpha staggered back, breathing hard and staring at the Hakaishin opposite-the swords had now merged back into one, held by the Knight. "I'll give you credit… I've never seen an attack of such magnitude. You equalled the power of my Void Summoner…"
The Knight's face contorted, fingers white-knuckled around his sword. "It had… no effect…"
"Not true," Cadmus pointed out. "We've drawn out her own strongest attack… and unlike her, after a short time our technique can be used again."
Alpha grinned. "Thanks for the tip. I'll endeavour to make sure that doesn't happen, then…" She flinched, voice trailing off. "What is…"
Kronos is… gone?
That's not possible.
And I… what? Why do I…?
The Red King frowned. "Something seems to be troubling her," he mumbled to his ally. "We should take this opportunity to attack… honour is a fine thing, but this opponent is too fearsome to hesitate…"
"Right!" The Knight ran in first, making a direct stab. Alpha leaned sideways, but was still seemingly dazed, and didn't move quite far enough, sustaining a jagged cut on her shoulder. Her face seemed curiously blank, and she remained unmoving.
Puzzled, but unwilling to waste this chance, the Knight brought his other arm up, this time hitting home with an uppercut and launching her clean into the air. She did not resist the arc of motion, coming back down to Mars' surface several miles away and falling still, staring up at the sky.
"Why…?" she said quietly. Kronos is gone… somehow, someone has killed him, and yet…
I feel… "Nothing."
Cadmus was above her now, gathering all his power into his left fist, honing it into a focused point, before striking downwards at his curiously-immobile foe-
Alpha's arm snapped up, catching the Red King's wrist inches before his blow struck her face, the shockwave still warping and splitting the rock beneath her.
" Why?! " she hissed.
Such anger… ! Cadmus felt bones crack in his arm as Alpha stood, continuing to tighten her grip. Her ki had dropped to nothing a second ago… but now… not only is it back to full strength, it's taken on a new quality. I've never felt such a violent, wrathful power!
And yet… I sense that this wrath is directed not at me, but… herself?!
Then the world went fuzzy, and he went numb all of a sudden. He slowly looked down, seeing with some alarm Alpha's fist planted in his stomach. "Oh," he said quietly, blood dripping from his mouth, before he folded up, collapsing towards the Shadow Dragon.
Silently, she tossed him aside, scanning for the Knight-she didn't have to search long, as he came charging up behind her, sword drawn back, shining with his accumulated power.
He swung, and Alpha's whole body seemed to slide sideways without any individual part moving, taking her out of the path of his strike with casual ease; the blast, though thin, was of tremendous force, and carved its way through the ground and away past the horizon, the landscape continuing to rumble even after it was out of sight.
Alpha nodded. "I think you almost carved the planet in two. Happy now?"
"I-" the Knight was silenced by an elbow directly to the face, dropping him; Alpha proceeded to stamp down on his writhing frame, each kick driving him deeper into the ground, until he finally lost consciousness.
Victorious, Alpha turned her head towards the heavens. The other fights have all finished… some of the Hakaishin have been defeated, but none have been killed yet… I'd better finish off these two, then…
Venus…
Gohan floated up out of the planet's atmosphere, wiping his forehead. Man, every second on that planet was unpleasant… glad I'm-eh?
His head whipped around as the Sorcerer appeared behind him, with Break in tow.
"Hey, guys… are we really the only ones?" he asked.
"The only ones with strength left to fight, yes," the Sorcerer answered. "The question now is where to go from here… we have four enemies remaining, that I can sense…"
"I have a suggestion," Gohan put forwards. "One of those enemies… Oranos Shenron… won't be expecting an attack. We'll have the advantage."
"And that's the only reason you picked that?" the Sorcerer asked, smiling.
"Well…" Gohan returned it.
Break grinned. "Don't worry, we understand." She smacked a fist into her palm. "Let's retake Earth."
Chapter 21: Wake the Fire
Kibou wo Kakeochi! Aratamete Sakaneji wo Kuushimatta!
Earth…
Sighing, Oranos Shenron walked slowly away from the fighters grouped near him, looking up towards the sky. Silent as always, he waited patiently until the three power levels he'd been sensing came into view; Gohan, Break and the Sorcerer descended from the sky, skimming to a halt over the rough ground. Rain was beginning to patter down around them, though not a droplet ever came within three feet of Oranos.
"Dad!" Pan exclaimed. "You won your fight?"
Gohan nodded. "Yeah. Stay back, guys…"
"You sure?" Goku asked. "I mean, I think you got this-there's only one Shadow Dragon here…"
"No." Break shook her head. "You can't sense them, but there are more on the way… three of them…"
And of course, less than a minute after she said this, Alpha Shenron, Sigma Porunga and Hermes Shenron arrived in similarly pyrotechnic fashion, grouping near Oranos. "You people move fast…" Alpha said, an odd tension to her voice. "I didn't even have time to finish the other two off-not that it matters, as this universe will soon be gone entirely. So, this is where you've chosen for your final battleground?"
"Seems that way," Gohan replied, mind racing. We're outnumbered… I wonder if the Sorcerer could take two of them… I wish I knew his capabilities…
Alpha looked around at her comrades. "Sigma, Hermes, you need to rest. I will take the Hakaishin that killed Kronos. Oranos, you may choose which of the remaining two to fight…"
"Milady, do you not need to rest also?" Hermes asked.
"This one will not require much effort," Alpha assured him.
This doesn't make sense… Gohan realised as Oranos faced off against him. They've left Break unengaged… what are they playing at? Well… I guess she can worry about that. I've gotta deal with this guy.
Break had reached a similar conclusion. "I have no idea what you people are thinking, but-" She'd begun to step towards the recuperating pair, but something unseen struck her across the face, staggering her back a step. Who…?
"It must be Oranos!" Pan called. "He has insane telekinesis!"
"No… it wasn't him…" Rubbing her cheek, Break glanced over at Gohan and Oranos, still squaring off, each beginning to power up. "I can feel his ki, and he didn't do anything… neither did the others…"
"…'Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'," Gohan quoted, eyes still fixed on his opponent. "Sorcerer, do any of these dragons have the power to attack without leaving an energy signature?"
"No… and I can guess where you're going with this," the Sorcerer informed him. "I looked harder… there is another mind somewhere… disparate, scattered… shadowed. But I have seen it."
"I get it." Break grimaced. "They did send someone to fight me… there's been another Shadow Dragon-a stealth specialist-here the whole time…" A second blow struck home, this one to her side. Invisible… no sound… no ki signature… our magic guy can't properly read its mind… this one's good.
Gohan, meanwhile, was stalemated with Oranos; he was pushing towards the Shadow Dragon with all his strength, and Oranos was pushing back with his mental force, holding Gohan at bay.
Beginning to be pushed back now, the Super Saiyan vanished, using Instant Transmission and attempting to attack Oranos from behind-but as soon as he appeared, he was flung away by the same wall of force. It's in all directions?!
Oranos took a step forwards, unfolding his arms and crushing down on Gohan with even greater power. Gonna… black out… too strong… "Gah!" Gohan managed to clear his head enough to Shift, but not himself-he reversed the flow of Oranos' force, turning it back on itself. The equal waves met and cancelled out, grinding together, neither gaining any ground.
However, as soon as he saw that his current attack was no longer working, Oranos vanished, appearing behind Gohan and punting him away with a simple kick, before landing neatly, standing to attention.
Gohan jumped to his feet, facing away from Oranos. He drew his hands down to his side, concentrating his power. "Ka… Me… Ha… Me…"
Oranos tensed, waiting for the saiyan to turn; but it never happened.
Gentle red aura flaring violently for an instant, Gohan fired directly ahead of him-away from Oranos. " HAAA! " Oranos frowned, confused, but a Shifted portal opened directly behind him, Gohan's beam emerging and hitting him full-force between the shoulders, sending him sprawling onto his face.
Gotta hurry… he'll recover quick! Gohan leaped over towards his downed opponent, aiming a jump kick down at him, but Oranos rolled out of the way, generating a massive telekinetic pull that smashed Gohan into the ground, disoriented from the sudden movement.
The Sorcerer was approaching Alpha, beady eyes narrowed. "You're angry…"
"Furious," Alpha confirmed.
"But not at me. Interesting… I would have thought there'd be something of a revenge motive going there, what with your shared history with Kronos…"
Alpha spat. "Reading minds is second nature to you, isn't it? Can you even stop anymore?"
"No, you're angry at yourself-because you weren't upset at all when he died."
"I think you're mistaken. We climbed out of the Pit together-for years, all we had was each other. Despite what some may think, I am not that callous."
The Sorcerer leered. "But he was."
"Don't you dare !" Alpha lunged, throwing a hard right. The Sorcerer rolled his eyes, waving a hand and erecting a humming barrier-which her fist proceeded to shatter, not even slowing down, hitting the Sorcerer's head side-on and hurling him away. She lowered her arm. "What the hell are you trying to say?!"
"My… shield…" the Sorcerer wheezed, a puddle of blood forming around his beak as he scrabbled to get up. "You cast… a counterspell on your physical attack?"
Alpha shrugged. "I'm only a novice, and I only ever studied negation techniques to use against other spells. But then, that's all I need… your type of magic can produce miracles-but that's not the only way it functions like that of a wishing-type dragon."
"As opposed to combat-types like you, yes…" he muttered, backing away.
"Basic wishing-dragons cannot affect a being who exceeds their creator's power, and by extent their own. Yours is somewhat more forgiving… but the substantial power gap between us makes dispelling your tricks simplicity itself, even for one as inexperienced in magic as I."
"And this ?!" The Hakaishin lashed out with his staff, channelling his arcane might through it and producing a storm of pale blue flames. "This is the Soulfire that destroyed Kronos!"
"Yes, that would indeed be deadly to me, if I allowed it to hit me," Alpha's voice answered from behind him. "Now, please continue dishonouring my fallen comrade."
The Sorcerer jumped back, eyes dilating, breathing hard and fast. He managed to calm himself, raising his staff again. "Kronos… never cared about you… he only used you as a tool for survival. Your strength helped him escape the Pit…"
"And what the hell do you know about it?!" Alpha roared, closing the distance again and ripping his staff from his fingers, striking him so hard with it that the enchanted wood turned to sawdust.
He fell back again, letting fly bolts of sorcerous power, which she deflected. "I know… because you know," he gasped. "Deep within you… you've always known. His eyes were always so cold… his voice, flat… he didn't care if you lived or died, as long as he got what he wanted."
"That isn't-" She raged, grabbing him by his neck and shaking him violently. "That's not… he…"
"Deny it, then!" he spat, trying in vain to pull her grip away. "Can you? I know you're the type… who has to be true to themselves… and their beliefs. You can't say it! You don't have the conviction!"
"Shut… up… !" Alpha trembled, fingers slowly tightening around his throat. "I'll kill you…"
"I have… no illusions… about that…" he choked. "But not… YET!" He formed an odd gesture with one hand, eyes glowing momentarily, and ghostly tendrils of force wrapped themselves around Alpha's forearms, wrenching them away from the Sorcerer and allowing him to escape. Snarling, she tore through them without much effort, glaring over at him. "I've had enough of this."
"The feeling is mutual…"
Tien was focusing on gathering energy as fast as he could manage-now that Oranos Shenron was fighting an opponent on his level, he could no longer maintain his hold on the Spirit Bomb, and Tien was free to build up its power once more.
I've almost got all the energy I can from the surrounding stars and planets… like the one I used on Dr. Wheelo… but that won't be nearly enough to injure opponents on this level… as soon as I've hit that level's maximum… it'll be time, King Kai.
I hear you, the North Galaxy's guardian responded telepathically. So you want to do another request for additional energy like against Majin Buu? All the Earth's people barely had enough to finish that creature, and these Shadow Dragons are far more powerful…
I know. Tien grinned. We're gonna have to step it up a little this time.
Break grunted as another three blows from her unseen opponent hit home in rapid succession. "Damn it!" I just can't get a fix on this thing… all right, then. Try this! "HrrrrAAAAH!" She drew in her power for a moment, before launching it out in a dome around herself, right around when she figured it would be coming in for another attack.
She'd guessed correctly; visible in the explosion of emerald power was the dark outline of a serpentine figure, limbs contorted as it was flung away through the air. "Gotcha!" she growled, leaping after it and swinging for it, but it must have recovered quickly, as she only managed to graze its slick scales, gasping in pain as a return strike from its claws opened a large cut on her arm. She spun, lashing out, but it was back on the offensive now, coming from behind this time and sinking three-inch fangs into her shoulder.
Break had never actually screamed before in her life-not in the traditional sense, though she had done plenty of shouting, including the particular powering-up yell often referred to as a 'scream'. Never the panicked, distressed, 'girly' sort of scream. But the Shadow Dragon's teeth scraped bone, and carried some foul magic that made them burn and freeze all at once, and this scream was as high-pitched and awful to hear as any helpless damsel's.
Her fighter's instincts took over almost immediately, fortunately, and somewhere she registered that she now once again knew where her enemy was. The elbow of her good arm snapped backwards, digging into the thing's ribs, and it screeched, opening its mouth for an instant-in which she spun away, trailing worrying amounts of blood and reminding herself not to use that arm. She stepped back in, determined not to lose it again, leaning her whole body backwards to deliver a rising kick that knocked it off-balance again, before drawing her arm back, concentrating energy to deliver a killing blow.
Before she could fire, though, something struck her from behind, before wrapping itself around her neck and jerking her off to the side, causing her shot to fly wide. Its tail… reached all the way behind me? How big is this bastard…
She choked, trying to pull its tail away, but repeated body shots from in front thwarted this. Her good arm fell limply to her side, eyes rolling back into her head.
Gohan, meanwhile, was not faring any better. Oranos had gained the initiative and was now maintaining a tight grip on his head with one hand, and using the other to repeatedly pummel him at close range, beating him relentlessly until resistance ceased.
The Sorcerer, on the defensive himself, saw all this with some dismay. "Damn it all…"
Alpha flickered into view behind him, glaring down at him. "I am not stupid. You have been hammering at my psyche-at my repressed memories and intuitions-long enough. You've succeeded. I admit it, you're right." She unfolded her arms, a leisurely movement, arcs of power crackling and popping between her fingers. "Kronos never cared for me. I am justified in feeling no connection to him. Well done. You've managed to make me truly angry." With no warning, she struck, blindingly fast, and before the Sorcerer registered the movement he was on the ground, clutching a broken leg. "Congratulations. If you were trying to demoralise me, though, hard luck."
Pan looked on in horror. They're… all gonna die… ! "Grandpa, we have to-"
"It wouldn't be any different from last time…" Goku said calmly, "but normally I wouldn't care about that. I'd have already tried… if there wasn't help on the way already."
"Help?" Pan blinked, focusing her senses. "I don't sense anybody new."
"You can't… you can't sense divine ki," Goku replied.
"And you can?!" Pan rounded on him. "Since when? You sure as hell don't have it, I can sense you !"
"I don't know…" he whispered. "But I can feel their power now… all of them… and it's glorious." He grinned. "Don't worry. They're here."
Alpha loomed over the Sorcerer's prone form, nodding to her two cohorts. "Finish them."
"Milady, I sense-" Hermes burst out from behind the battleground, too late.
As Alpha's hand arced down, an explosion of ki went off directly in her face, causing her to spring back, snarling. Gohan and Break were also released as further shots peppered the battlefield, driving the Shadow Dragons back. Oranos tried to rejoin with Alpha, Hermes and Sigma, but was cut off by an unexpected figure-the God of Destruction known as the Dreamer. "This is the tale of hope's rekindling," she said lyrically.
A few metres away, the Scholar stood, facing what seemed to be nothing-obviously blocking the stealth dragon's path. The Silent and the Pilgrim now stood before Alpha, Hermes and Sigma, and were shortly joined by the Fisherman, who came in last, telekinetically towing with him the unconscious bodies of Cadmus, Mercury, the Warrior, the Hunter, the Pilot, and Bills.
Alpha chuckled. "What's this, now? The cavalry needs cavalry? Please. You're the B-team. You Hakaishin already sent your greatest warriors, and we still defeated you. This rabble stands no chance."
"We shall see," the Pilgrim said cheerily, leaning on his walking-stick.
"Hermes! Sigma! Take those two," Alpha commanded, indicating him and the Silent, and the two Shadow Dragons behind her leapt off to confront the pair of Hakaishin, leaving her facing only the Fisherman.
"H-How… d'you get here?" He turned at the voice to see Bills pushing himself up, wiping trails of blood from his face and shaking his head.
"Scholar couldn't resist tracking you guys, so we all saw everything that happened," the Fisherman explained, helping his compatriot up. "Soon as Silent heard the truth about Janemba, well… these guys are responsible for all the crap Silent went through because a'him." He shrugged. "And I guess the rest of us decided that 'fate of all universes' slightly outweighs 'I don't like fighting'. We didn't actually leave long after you guys did…"
"Right… how's Silent holding up?" Bills mumbled, stumbling a little.
"More to the point, how about you ?"
"…'m fine," the Hakaishin slurred, bleary-eyed. "Got hit… by a mental attack. Body's fine… I'll be good to go… just a minute."
Alpha stepped towards them, clenching her fists. "Unfortunately for you, a minute is something you don't have." However, an energy blast struck her from behind moments after the words left her mouth, drawing a hiss of irritation as steam rose from her back.
"He does if I have anything to say about it," Gohan growled, marching towards her, energy flaring around him and cracking the ground beneath his feet, ignoring the bruises now dotting his body.
"I'll have to go through you to get to him, is that it?" she mocked.
His eyes narrowed. "Seems that way, doesn't it?"
The Scholar ducked back, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the invisible Shadow Dragon, visor blinking as she glanced hurriedly from one holographic display to the other, tapping and adjusting them constantly. She dodged another attack. Another.
"Don't be confused. There's no such thing as perfect stealth." Her bodysuit, a miraculous fusion of magic and technology, hummed with a strange glow, sensors clicking and flashing. "Do you honestly think you-or anything, for that matter-can hide from my sight?"
She somersaulted over the creature as it lunged at her, landing gracefully behind it and continuing to work at her screens. "Taking out your stealth, your power is woefully beneath that of any Hakaishin, but I would hardly deign to lower myself to actual physical violence." She smiled unpleasantly. "My movements in avoiding your attacks, however, have managed to pinpoint your location… at least, for one eagle-eyed enough to pick up on such small clues as I have left."
The unnamed Shadow Dragon finally spoke, a low, husky, rasping sound. "What are you talking-" It got no further before a blazing arrow speared it through the neck, dropping it instantly in a fountain of black blood. Quite a ways away, the Hunter half-sat up, giving a groggy thumbs-up after lowering his bow. The Scholar gave a curt nod in response (even that was more recognition than one could usually hope for from her).
Sigma Porunga circled the Silent, who shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, breathing oddly beneath his cloak and hood. "Yes, you're as powerful as the other one I fought, maybe more-far beyond me physically!" the Shadow Dragon croaked. "But your mind… that is my domain, and none can best me there!"
The Silent cocked his head sideways, taking a sudden step forwards, startling Sigma. "F-Fine!" Sigma continued. "You don't want to waste time talking? Then just lie down and die!" He flung his many scrawny arms forwards, lashing out with his full mental power, latching onto the Hakaishin's mind and searching for the weaknesses, the flaws, the cracks in the god's prideful armour; the last one had been easy, surely this one couldn't be-
-couldn't-
-be-
"Aaaaaargh!" Sigma howled in utter agony, reeling back and collapsing to the ground, clutching at his head. "Wh… what… what a… mind…" Such pain… rage… grief… and all bottled up inside… but in that instant… he unleashed it directly on me… ! I've… never encountered a being like this! "Wh-what… are you?"
The Silent simply walked over, stamping on Sigma's throat and twisting his foot with a brutal snap, breaking the Shadow Dragon's neck instantly.
Alpha watched these disturbingly-brief combats with no little sense of disbelief. "Th-This… can't be…"
"Get used to it!" Gohan leapt at her from overhead, and she blocked a rapid volley of kicks, swatting him away. He dug a hand into the ground, bringing himself to a halt and swinging his body back towards her, letting loose a matrix of overlapping energy beams ahead of him. Alpha hardened her aura, causing the blasts to glance away without touching her, before stepping in and delivering a swift uppercut, halting his flight instantly and knocking him away again.
"I'm gonna be honest with you," she said, breathing hard now from the constant battling she'd been doing all day, "this has not been my day. Hakaishin rebelling against the natural order… my comrades being killed around me… Wistarion making me kill him, dooming the Eternal to eventual starvation when it runs out of universes… and the revelation that the sole being I could internally call 'friend' never cared for me from the start… so I am extremely glad that these fools keep lining up for me to beat on." She dodged another lunge, bringing her knee up into his exposed midsection and hammering him back down to the ground with both hands. "It's very cathartic."
Gohan forced himself up again, aura flaring wildly around him. "You come here… trying to destroy our universe… take the Dragon Balls, kill our friends… and you're having a bad day?!" he seethed. "I don't want to hear that from you!"
Growling, Alpha struck out at him again, but this time he reacted in time, swinging his own punch; their fists met halfway between them, colliding with earthshaking force and blasting apart the entire mountain range that ringed where the tower had stood and sending the Katchin rubble flying, the combined result of which was that the battlefield was now almost completely flat. The combatants all paused, glancing over in shock at the origin of the enormous collision.
Gohan fell back a step, wincing as his hand throbbed. "Owww… !"
Alpha stared down at her steaming forearm. Did he just match…? No, I'm just tiring-that wasn't my full strength. Still… his power does seem to be growing… this universe has some strange warriors…
"Try my full power this time!" she declared, raising her ki back to its normal level with some effort. She raised her arm, forming a full-power blast and aiming it at the Super Saiyan God, who responded with a cocky grin, leaping over at her and throwing his own point-blank-range blast directly into hers, causing a miniature beam-clash between their almost-touching hands, shafts of energy shooting off to the side and scoring deep burn-marks into the ground, or scything clouds in two.
"What is… this…?" Alpha hissed, pumping as much ki as she could into her attack, trying to remain standing steady.
"Anyone who's fought me knows… about my reserves, activated by necessity…" Gohan replied, beginning to waver a little. "I've trained for almost two decades since I fought Bills… and upon reawakening my Super Saiyan God powers… I was stronger than ever…" He was sliding back now, bringing his other hand up to bear and digging his feet in for purchase. "But I hadn't found an opponent who vastly exceeded this power… who could really test me… until now!" Like Broly, Dabura and even Bills did before… "You're… awakening my potential-!" Just as he finished speaking, Alpha's energy finally overwhelmed his, blasting him onto his back.
She took a stumbling step back, panting heavily. I still significantly exceed him… but… too close!
"I get the feeling your growth has hit its limit for now…" she said, walking back towards him as he groaned, trying to sit up. "… but it's still safer to kill you now…"
"I wouldn't take another step if I were you," came a warning. Alpha sighed, looking over her shoulder, and found that the Fisherman was now confronting her, apparently intending to fight.
"Are you seriously going to challenge me ?"
The portly Hakaishin lifted up his straw hat with a thumb, revealing a malevolent grin. "Yup. Little old me. And look how confident I am. One might even think I can back it up. What a twist, eh?"
"The Pilgrim," said the Hakaishin with a jovial smile. "Terribly sorry, as you don't seem too bad a sort, but I'm going to have to kill you now."
"Hermes Shenron," the Shadow Dragon responded, giving a slight bow. "Likewise. May the best man win?"
"I concur. And let's skip the warm-up, if you don't mind."
"Very well!" Hermes vanished, and a moment later the Pilgrim did the same, his hat floating to the ground as he vanished from under it, dodging Hermes' first punch by a small fraction. They sped off, racing away into the upper atmosphere and momentarily reappearing every few seconds, locked in combat.
Below them, the Dreamer floated up to Oranos Shenron, a distant look on her face. "I am so sorry," she said, eyes flickering with an eerie light. "Your tale is about to end."
He sneered, sweeping his arm around in a wide arc and letting fly a hemispherical wave of energy, but it swept harmlessly away over the battlefield, the Dreamer now appearing behind him and placing her hand on the back of his neck, her palm beginning to heat up. Before it could build to dangerous levels, Oranos flung out backwards with his telekinesis, driving her away, leaving her hand clutching at nothing.
"That's an interesting power…" the Dreamer whispered, running a finger down the wall of invisible force that now prevented her from approaching Oranos.
"Now you cannot approach me," he said sternly, speaking for the first time, in a voice like steel grinding against steel.
"In this realm, perhaps," she answered lyrically, giving a haunting smile. "But in a dream, such physical limitations are rarely an issue." Her outline wavering oddly, she stepped easily through his barrier, letting it wash over her and experiencing no resistance. "There, you see? Simple."
"Wh-What…?" Oranos' eyes dilated in shock as he took an uneasy step backwards.
Once again, she sped around behind him, her willowy frame swaying to a halt. "I call it a contest of will. All I must do is disbelieve your power's ability to affect me." She touched the tip of a finger to the small of his back. "Here ends the tale of the master of blunt force. He could not see beyond."
Oranos opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, she sent a pulse of concentrated ki through her finger and into his body. It detonated inside, pulping his organs and shattering his ribs. Shafts of light emerged from his eyes and mouth as he collapsed, perishing silently.
"I am sorry," the Dreamer said in a low voice, bowing to the corpse. "I truly am."
Hermes spat blood as the Pilgrim's walking-stick smashed into his face, followed by another sharp blow, this to the ribs. He fell back, bringing his guard up and focusing on defence. Normally, I could handle him physically… but fighting the Pilot sapped my strength… I haven't the energy left to overcome him through traditional means…
The Pilgrim swung again, but found himself suddenly several metres away. He lowered his improvised weapon, frowning. "Well, that's irritating. You were keeping that in reserve?"
Hermes nodded. "I prefer to at least try and fight through physical means… but yes, my true power lies in control over the three spatial dimensions."
"Good for you." The Pilgrim gave a start as the distance between them reduced just long enough for Hermes to strike him, before immediately increasing again, allowing Hermes to dodge his frantic counterattack. "… not so good for me," he groaned, rubbing a bruised spot on his stomach.
"My previous opponent was stronger-and especially faster-than you," Hermes boasted. "She still couldn't overcome this technique. You, therefore, have no chance."
"You're also weaker than you were when you fought her," the Pilgrim countered.
"My spatial power is unaffected. I can attack as I please, and your blows will never reach me. I can keep you at arm's length all day if I so wish."
"Is that so?" The Pilgrim threw off his travelling-cloak, discarding his walking-stick, aura heating up around him.
I sense… something different… Hermes frowned, puzzled. His ki isn't increasing, but it's… changed, somehow.
"I am the Pilgrim," the Hakaishin intoned, youthful features growing more angular, voice lowering. "I have walked my universe from one end to the other. I have stood at the heart of a star, I have seen the birth and death of worlds. I have held a black hole between my hands and watched it swallow the light trying to reach my eyes. I have been to the edge of my universe, and stared into the void beyond until I understood its magnitude. And you dare to tell me where I can and cannot go?" Despite his unimpressive stature, he seemed an entirely new being, and for some reason he couldn't place, Hermes found himself terrified, rooted to the spot, jaw hanging open in stunned silence.
"I have walked among my people, in their countless trillions, and I have heard their stories, and I have remembered them all." A wispy glow emerged from his body, flowing over to Hermes and wreathing him in its coils. "Let me share them with you."
Hermes felt a chill run down his spine as the strange mist enveloped him, and then- Too many too many too many so many can't think no alone alone leave me alone
The Pilgrim picked up his walking-stick, patting the dust off of the top half, and glanced over at Hermes, still writhing on the ground clutching at his head. "When you recover your wits, I hope you'll have learned your lesson. Stay down, if you know what's good for you."
Alpha chuckled. "Go on then, little man. What are you going to-" She paused. "That's… a strange aura you're emitting… what the hell are you doing…?"
The Fisherman's grin widened. He took a slow step backwards, raising his arms into a fighting stance-and then immediately dropping it again, giving a mocking bow. "It's a technique for emitting a strange aura as a bluff. Completely harmless, but it sure feels like I'm about to do something dangerous, right?"
"Are you mocking me?!" Alpha growled.
"Not at all!" he laughed. "I'm just distracting you to buy time for him to recover."
"Eh-?!" Alpha gave an irritated grunt as Bills rocketed at her, stepping back and backhanding him to the ground. She rocked forwards on her feet slightly, inhaling deeply and wiping away a curtain of sweat. "I hope that wasn't your last hope… did you think he could challenge me?"
C'mon… Gohan looked on, teeth clenched. Get up! What I said about my potential… it's gotta go double for you! You've never had an opponent outclass you so much in a life-or-death battle… there's never been a call like this for your true power to awaken! If you're really the god of our universe… if you're anything like us… you've gotta have more than this… ! And besides… strong emotions always brought out my best… I doubt you've ever been upset more than once or twice in your long life. But now…
Alpha did a slight double-take as Bills slowly raised himself to his feet, a low growl rising in his throat. "I'm finally fighting you… you took the…" He closed his eyes for a moment, trembling. "T-The only friend I've ever had in this world… and you think you can take me down that easy?!"
She shrugged. "I had hoped so. I'm reaching the end of my tether, physically…" She glanced away, clearly not paying much heed to his rage.
"Damn you…" Bills' teeth ground together, and one foot slid back, digging into the ground. The next moment, Alpha felt a tremendous impact to her stomach, and a wall of blurred purple motion filled her vision in the instant before she was sent skidding wildly back, coughing up blood. "… TAKE ME SERIOUSLY ALREADY!"
"What… the…" she gasped.
"Super Saiyan God!" Bills snapped. "Get off your ass and help me, already!"
"Right, I hear you…" Gohan staggered up next to Bills, their auras growing in intensity. Alpha shielded her eyes. The mortal-turned-god… he was almost beaten, but he's growing back towards full strength… it's as if… the Seventh Hakaishin is leading by example…
"After you," Gohan said, to which Bills nodded, charging with the Super Saiyan God half a step behind.
Alpha braced herself, but as she drew back slightly to defend herself, something twinged in her side, and she let out a hiss of pain, flinching slightly and creating an opening in her defences-
-an opening which the two divine fighters crashed directly into, each planting a foot on the joint where one of her shoulders joined her body, the combined impact lifting her off her feet. They spun forwards in the air, bringing their arms down, a fist smashing into each side of her face.
Vision blurring, impacts stinging, she rolled uncontrollably away, finally coming to a halt and looking up to see one blaze of red, silent and controlled, and one of violet, yelling at deafening volumes, both inbound at high velocity.
Their power hasn't exceeded mine… and I don't think it's going to… but with them working together, combined with my fatigue… this is bad… She flung herself forwards, diving beneath their charge and avoiding the first hits. Can't let them take the initiative again! She pushed off the ground, swinging a kick up at each of them, but they phased out of view, appearing behind her. She dodged back as they struck out, avoiding their physical blows but failing to notice that Gohan's contained a ki blast-she jerked her body sideways, feeling the heat of the beam on her face as it passed by millimetres from her.
This momentary paused was all it took; Bills appeared slightly above her, spinning around and throwing an elbow into her neck, downing her again. Gohan lunged downwards at her, and she rolled out of the way, letting him powder the ground beside her, but his other arm came down, catching her in the ribs. She lashed out desperately, snatching his wrist and pulling him in for a counter-strike, but not before Bills slid in under Gohan's now-flying body and kicked her away, forcing her to let go. As she tumbled to a halt, they joined their power for a final blast, propelling her even further away.
She landed amidst the other victorious Hakaishin, body trailing blood and smoke, groaning as she slowly opened her eyes. She froze, seeing that her allies had been similarly defeated. And we only needed a couple more minutes… this can't be happening!
"We'd better finish her, before she generates enough negative energy," the Scholar suggested. "At full power, she'd be a threat for even several of us, but injured as she is, two or three-"
"Out of my way!" Bills shouted, marching up to the group. "Gohan, you too. After all the hits she's taken, I can handle this myself."
"I, uh…" Gohan hesitated. She's still a serious threat… but right now, I don't want to argue with him…
"Get up," Bills hissed. Alpha stumbled to her feet, smiling through bloodied lips.
"Don't get… cocky all of a sudden… you'll never be… a match for me !" She lunged, right arm snaking out and catching him across the face. He staggered a single step back, before turning his head back down towards her.
"Is that all you've got left?" He responded with the exact same motion, his own punch spinning her in a full circle. "Come on! Is that the strength that killed Whis?"
"Grrh…" She tried to regain her balance, lining up for another attack. "Don't talk like you knew Wistarion-"
"You're right!" Bills ducked under her attempt at a strike, his forehead rising up and striking her in the chin, forming another bruise and almost taking her off her feet again. She managed to stay standing, swaying heavily.
"You're right," he repeated. "I didn't know this 'Wistarion' person. He never showed me that side of himself. So the person I'm kicking the crap out of you for is my friend, Whis!" He rammed an energy sphere into her guard, detonating it and drawing a pained growl. I'm too weakened from all this fighting… but even so, he wasn't nearly this strong earlier today… Wistarion… was telling the truth about his potential?
"Hyaaa!" Bills pressed his attack, a spin kick entering her field of view almost too late, but she got a hand up to defend herself in time, striking back in the same instant-he blocked, disengaging and dropping to the ground, letting her follow up with a downwards-swinging elbow, parrying that as well.
"This is insane… how could I be brought so low by a mere god…?" She pushed against him, trying unsuccessfully to break his guard.
"Why'd you think I never broke through this limit before?" he retorted. "I used to be like you… but since I met people like them… since I finally learned what Whis wanted to tell me all along, but knew I'd never listen…"
"Will you shut up and fight?!" Alpha took a small jump back to get space for a fully-swung punch. Bills smashed it aside, responding with one of his own, maintaining contact with her as his momentum dragged her into the ground with his downwards-arcing limb.
"… if you live only to destroy, you'll never defeat me!" He yelled tearfully as Alpha sank into the crumbling ground, limbs flying out limply, his fist still planted in her abdomen. I'm sorry, Whis… it took me so long… to understand.
"He defeated Alpha… on his own…" Gohan marvelled. And I never thought I'd hear him say something like that…
"This battle," the God of Destruction declared shakily, "is over."
Nearby, all but forgotten about, Hermes Shenron's eyes slowly opened. The hammering in his mind was dying down. He heard Bills' words, a wave of fear gripping him-but then, determination. Not if I have anything to say about it, it isn't.
Chapter 22: Look On My Works, Ye Mighty, And Despair
Kachimake da? Igai na Kyuusaisha ga Awarawaretekimasu!
"I suppose it's pointless…" Alpha wheezed, cracking one eye open, feeling a sharp stab of pain from a cracked tooth as she spoke. "… to tell you I'll never surrender. You have to kill me… to stop the Eternal, anyway." She sighed, and it suddenly seemed as if a great weight had been lifted from her. Then the cycle… truly is ending here. I can stop at last… "So don't waste words on me. I don't deserve your condemnation, and I don't require your sympathy. Just do it, and do it cleanly."
Bills, standing over her sprawled form, nodded, raising his hand and clenching it once more into a fist, his aura sparking and spluttering as he forced it into life once more, the effort of raising his power to such a level beginning to show. Despite what she'd said, however, he did have a few words for her. "Tell Whis I sent you."
He brought his arm down, energy-wreathed hand spearing for her neck. She smiled slightly, closing her eyes. At last… peace.
Slightly over halfway to making lethal contact, however, Bills' finishing blow was interrupted by a great and terrible noise, akin to the howling of a wounded beast, magnified a thousandfold. A sudden rush of fear gripped his heart, and he froze, unable to finish his attack. What… is…?
The others all felt something similar, if lessened in severity from Bills, who seemed to be standing at the epicentre. Only Gohan recognised it, though. Oh… no… this feeling…
This is… !
A bolt of green flame roared down from the heavens, splitting the air before it and racing for the ground. Bills recovered his wits just in time to jump out of the way as it hit, engulfing Alpha's body completely and settling into a simmering mass around where she'd lain.
What the hell's happening…? This sensation… Goku looked on from a distance. I have a feeling… things are about to get worse. He turned to Pan, Uub, Vegeta Jr. and Goten. "You guys… had better leave now."
"What?!" Pan protested. "And you're staying?"
"I can't leave you behind!" Goten concurred.
"Don't argue!" Goku snapped, urgency rising in his voice. "Tien, I don't know what you're planning to make your Spirit Bomb effective against foes like this, but you can't leave now you're forming it… I'll stay to guard you." He addressed the others again. "I'm the best choice. If I can catch a divine being off-guard, my Ryu-Ken can hurt them. You guys are just gonna put yourselves in danger… please, go. I can't lose anybody else."
Uub nodded. "Come on, guys… he's right." He looked his teacher in the eye. "Stay alive yourself, okay?"
"Do my best."
Alpha Shenron walked out from the flames, their light flaring up and attaching itself to her body, the substance supplementing her ruined outfit by forming into hard-light armour plating, new vitality flowing through her formerly-battered features. Not yet… I'm not done yet, it seems. But… what is more surprising… is the lengths my benefactor has decided to go to… "The Eternal… has created in me a direct link to its own power. But to do such a thing…" She swept her gaze around at her group of enemies. Goku stood guarding Tien; Bills faced her directly, with the Silent, the Dreamer, the Scholar and the Pilgrim just behind him; the Fisherman was helping Gohan up; and the Hunter was still only just sitting up, half-conscious. "… the amount of energy expended to make that link…" Her face grew grim. "If the Eternal does not consume this universe, it will starve. It has become all or nothing."
I cannot understand why, though… surely it would make more sense for it to withdraw for now, with me and the others defeated. It has more Shadow Dragons in the Pit… there are other universes… yet it risks all on this battle… She did not say any of this, of course.
"It's… it's not divine ki anymore…" the Scholar muttered, frantically tapping her visor as it failed to process the energy readings Alpha was now emitting.
"I can't sense her power…" the Pilgrim agreed. "It doesn't feel like a ki signature at all… just… a presence… like nothing I've ever encountered, in all my years…"
Gohan scowled. "I've felt it before. This is definitely the Eternal's power." I didn't want to believe it, but the Eternal-and by extension, now Alpha too-must have some kind of power that even exceeds divine ki.
"I've got no fancy words for you," Bills said, addressing the Hakaishin behind him. "I don't know if we can win. I'm going to try. Follow me if you want." He ran at Alpha, drawing both hands back and preparing to feint with his left to create an opening, but before he had time to do even that, something blurred along his line of sight that might have been her arm, or her leg, or even a slash of pure energy, and he went down howling, rolling away with smoke trailing from his face, hands clutched over it.
The Dreamer jumped in front of him, shielding him from Alpha, who grunted, flicking a rapidly-growing energy beam at her. The Dreamer steadied herself, eyes flashing. All I have to do… is disbelieve its ability to harm me… For the first few moments, it seemed to work; the now-huge blast parted as it reached her, flowing around and away from both her and Bills, passing harmlessly beside them.
Alpha saw this with some irritation, raising an eyebrow and putting more conviction into her attack.
The Dreamer gasped, falling to one knee and feeling the pressure on her increase. "Wh-What strong will… !" She dug her fingers into the ground, breaking out into a sweat. "I can't… overcome it… she's reasserting her reality… !"
Bills, now looking up, one hand still clamped over his eye, had time to utter, "Ah, crap," upon hearing this, before the blast broke through the Dreamer's defences, hurling them both away.
All right, King Kai, we're gonna have to hurry. Tien contacted his long-time benefactor once more. I once asked you what the limit of your telepathy was… and you said there wasn't one. You could communicate with everyone in the universe if you wanted to, including translation.
Yes, but what… oh, King Kai replied. You mean…?
Yeah. Tien grinned nervously. Let me talk to them. All of them. I can't gather ki from that far away in the normal way, but if they send it voluntarily…
Um… there are probably a lot of people with heart conditions out there… I mean, if a voice in their head starts-
I'll be polite! Now focus! Fate of the universe, remember?
Right, right…
People of the universe! What you're hearing is not a dream or a hallucination. Please listen-there's not much time…
New Namek…
"It would seem, my brethren," the elder Moori said as he stood, "that we are called upon once more to do our part."
Alfheim…
T'ensha looked up from her work. "Darye, do you… hear that…?"
"Yes, and it's quite irritating," her fellow Speaker growled.
She held up a hand, quieting him. "He says he is a friend of Son Gohan… the Golden Warrior that once visited our world…"
"That machine-monster dragged him off… he survived, evidently." He paused. "Am I hearing this right? These servants of the Eternal that even Lord Janemba fears… this man says he can defeat them?"
"Let us hope he can…"
Darye grunted. "I don't trust it. Asking for our energy? And if it's a trick of the Eternal's?"
"Do it," a new voice rumbled. "Do as he says, all of you. Spread the word. Give the order to the drones to send their energy, too."
T'ensha sprang out of her chair at the demonic visage that had appeared in the centre of the room. "L-Lord Janemba! You… your true body… this isn't an avatar…"
"Correct. With the Eternal so close, this universe has become very easy to reach-its boundaries have been weakened by the breach they are opening for it. Even with the seal on the Thirteenth Universe, I was able to send two mortals back earlier. Things are closer to the end now, and even one such as I can cross it… I must go." It turned its head towards the roof and begun to Shift. "I thank you all for your service."
Outpost 239-C…
"Bro! Bro, did you hear the voice?" Minotia burst through the door, skidding into the officer's quarters.
"I did…" Tapion said softly, rising from his chair. "And… he says he's a friend of Raditz and the others…" He smiled. "Tell everyone to do as he says. I owe them a debt I can never repay."
"I wouldn't worry about sending an order, Captain," another member of the Defence Corps said cheerily as she approached, hot drink in hand. "King Tarble's already put out word through the whole Republic." It sounded strange to say 'King' and 'Republic' in the same sentence, but the title was more decorative than anything, representing the young ruler's royal saiyan heritage more than his actual status as a political figure. The soldier raised her free hand, palm upwards, focusing her ki. "Shall we?"
Tapion nodded. "Of course."
Earth…
"Get on the news! Emergency broadcast!" General Ripper bellowed, his voice carrying over the Security Council's babbling. "Everyone is to do as the voice says! Contact the more isolated cities, too-I want this thing global!"
"I concur," Prime Minister Erics was trying to say, but his shy voice was lost amidst the chaos.
Intelligence Chief Reynolds cut across Ripper's monologue. "With all due respect, General, I don't think we should so blindly trust-"
"With all due respect, Chief, these people have saved our collective asses more times than I can count, so you can shut the hell up!"
"-and while after my latest unbelievable training regimen I'm sure I could take 'em all down in ten seconds flat even at my age, I believe in letting other people having a shot from now and then," Hercule was blathering, "so whyn't you all show some compassion for your fellow man and lend 'em some energy?"
"Yes, sir!" his multitude of students chorused, raising their hands in unison and channelling their impressive ki towards the Spirit Bomb.
Another explosion rang out in the crowded football stadium as Launch fired a ki beam into the ground between the terrified teams. "This is the last time I'm gonna tell you people!" she yelled, silencing the screaming audience. "Hands up! Weird voice in your head! Energy! Give! Now!"
Yes… it's working! Tien looked up at the quickly-growing energy sphere above him. It's immense… far greater than it's ever been… but it's not complete yet! It'll take a while for all that energy to arrive from all over the universe…
I hope we have that long…
It certainly didn't seem like they did. The Silent and the Scholar had just been sent flying with a casual wave of Alpha's hand, and the Pilgrim was currently warily facing off against her. "All right…" he said slowly, shifting his hat slightly. "I clearly can't compete with you physically… but the mental realm might be different…"
"I just dealt with another mental attack," Alpha replied offhandedly, armour oddly silent as she shrugged. "But try, if you like."
"All right, I-" The Pilgrim began, before a solid punch to the stomach silenced him, dropping him instantly.
Alpha smiled. "I'll admit it, I lied to get you off-guard. I observed your battle with Hermes, and I don't want to be on the receiving end of that. I might still be able to defeat you, but I'd rather not find out, and I'd have on hell of a headache at the very least."
She cast her gaze around. "Now, who's left…"
"Just me!" the Fisherman exclaimed, jumping up and down, waving his hands energetically.
"You won't intimidate me again," she warned. "I know you're no threat."
"Well, when it comes down to it…" He sighed. "I still have the power of a god. And though I don't like it, I can still fight in the old-fashioned way…" He discarded the fishing-rod he'd been twirling, preparing a ki blast in each hand. "There is a lot at stake here, after all."
"Please." Alpha laughed. "An attack like that would be practically nothing to me normally-what are you going to do to me now ?"
"Line up the perfect shot," he answered, firing his blast directly downwards to propel himself into the air, revealing the Hunter, formerly hidden behind him, arrow notched and fully-charged. He grinned, eyes gleaming, before firing. Alpha sighed, snatching the blazing projectile in mid-flight and incinerating it. "Clever, but futile."
"Damn…" the Fisherman muttered, still hanging in the air. His eyes widened as Alpha appeared directly behind him, slapping him across the back of the head and sending him back to earth.
She landed in front of the Hunter, straightening up. "And you've done quite enough interfering, I think," she said, easily pulling his bow from his grasp and snapping it in two, tossing it aside. "That's a preview of your spine in a few seconds, by the way," she continued in a casual, conversational voice.
I'm in no condition to even try and fight her physically… The Hunter lowered his head, trembling all over. "If anyone asks… tell them I died well."
"Trust me, you all did." She changed her mind about her method of execution, deciding to grant him a quick death via energy blast-but when she fired, it was swallowed up into a suddenly-forming portal, emerging behind her and striking her in the back.
She growled, turning to see Gohan on his feet and shuffling towards her. "It never ends…"
The Pilgrim grasped his walking-stick, using it to push himself up. Can't… stop now! Too… close to… "Aaagh!" A strange force gripped his body, pulling in multiple directions and threatening to tear him apart from within. "Wh-What… is…"
"I hate to attack from behind like this," Hermes Shenron said wearily, standing a few feet behind with one hand held out towards him. "And this kind of death doesn't suit you. But you're physically weaker than the Hakaishin I fought earlier, and injured besides, so I do have the power to kill you this way. And as distasteful as it all is, I have no choice. I cannot let you live to use an ability like yours on Lady Alpha."
"I… understand…" The Pilgrim choked, spasming as the pressure increased. He coughed up a worrying amount of blood. "… I also hate to… stab a man… in the back… which is why I'm grateful…"
Hermes raised an eyebrow. "Grateful for wh-" A sword burst messily out of his chest, spraying blood over the Pilgrim, before being withdrawn with just as little finesse. The Shadow Dragon collapsed lifelessly, Janemba the Fallen standing over him.
"Grateful I have someone to do it for me," the Pilgrim gasped, falling as well and lying there, panting. "Still… he wasn't too bad a sort. You had the drop on him, you could have defeated him without killing him."
"You already made that mistake," Janemba replied. "It almost got you killed." In the instant before I attacked, the Shadow Dragon actually noticed my approach, and tried to distance me with his power… but control over the three spatial dimensions is useless against one who can move in the fifth.
"Anyway… thanks for the help, Fallen… been a while. What did we used to call you, anyway?"
"Don't remember," Janemba grunted. "Hold on." It braced itself as the Silent appeared before it, gripping it by the throat.
"You… !" the Silent rasped through vocal cords unused for centuries, his eyes blazing beneath his hood. " You! "
"You want to kill me, and you're completely justified," Janemba said calmly, not moving. "But you know how powerful our foe is. And you know they are the root cause for what I did." Its eyes remained impassive. "I will pay for my crimes, and by your hand, I'm sure. But after we win here."
"Yes. You will." He turned away, falling silent again and charging back at Alpha. She swung at Gohan, who Shifted slightly to the side, punching her square in the face, but only succeeding in breaking his hand. He fell back, hissing, and she caught him with a forearm, bowling him over. He didn't get up, reverting back to his base form.
She turned just in time to receive the Silent's attack, flipping him upside-down with a kiai before driving him into the ground with a two-fisted strike.
"Hands off, lady," Janemba called out. "That guy's gonna kill me, so don't you go killing him first."
"You're a strange one…" Alpha muttered, observing it descend towards her. "A new arrival, too. Where did you crawl out of?"
"Do you care?"
"Not particularly." She fired a beam up at it, and it Shifted down adjacent to her. Just like the divine saiyan! She reacted quickly, bringing her arm back down for an elbow strike, but it Shifted again, reassembling on the other side of her and bringing its sword around towards her stomach. She let it glance off her, however, before snapping her fingers, shattering the blade.
"Well… damn…" it muttered. "That could've gone better."
"Trust me, it's about to get much better." She kicked it away lazily, stretching her arms one after the other. "I'm finally going to be able to finish what I started! But who first…" She spun on one heel, biting her lip as she mulled over her various recovering opponents. "Ah!" Choosing randomly, she pointed over at the Silent. "We have a winner."
Gritting his teeth, the Silent stood, knowing she would be upon him soon, with murderous intent this time. He raised his hands over his head, forming a sphere of ki, and launched a full-force blast at Alpha. She let it wash over her, a wave breaking over the shore, before forming her own attack, mockingly using the same motion. "Pathetic. Let me show you how it's done."
She fired, far too fast for the worn-out Hakaishin to dodge, and he raised his arms in front of his face, bracing himself for the end. However, something struck him in the side, hurling him out of its path-Janemba, now midway through a jump-kick, had knocked the Silent out of harm's way, but placed itself directly into the path of Alpha's attack.
Didn't have time to think… should've opened a portal instead, reflected it back… too late now. I guess… maybe it's better this way. It sighed. So much for my triumphant return. Well… after all that I've done… I stand by my decisions. I have no regrets.
The Silent watched, wide-eyed, as Alpha's blast engulfed Janemba, burning through its natural armour plating and blasting it apart completely, leaving nothing but a few charred fragments.
"Hmm… terribly sorry," Alpha said, lowering her hand. "He said you wanted to kill him, right? Well, if there is an afterlife for gods, maybe you can settle it there when I send you to meet him!"
The Silent roared wordlessly, reaching Alpha in an instant, taking hold of her forearm two-handed. "Eh?" she grunted, casually swinging a punch down into his stomach. "Get off!"
He gasped, blood dripping from his mouth, but his grip tightened, cuts opening on his fingers as he dug them into her unbending armour. His body began to heat up, aura crackling as it grew rapidly more violent.
"That's-" The Hunter stared, horrified. "He isn't going to… !"
Revenge was all he's lived for… for all these thousands of years, the Pilgrim realised. And she's taken it from him… he truly doesn't care anymore. No hesitation at all. Still too weak to stand, he stretched a hand out towards his embattled comrade. "Don't do it!" he pleaded, voice wavering. "Please-"
"No-you won't-!" Alpha brought both arms to bear as the light from within enveloped the Silent's body. Smiling slightly as his tortured existence finally ceased, he vanished in a cataclysmic eruption of power, the explosion directing itself straight upwards and pulling Alpha with it, battering her from all sides as she soared off, yelling in anger, into the sky.
"N-No…" The Pilgrim hung his head. "Two of us gone already… and so quickly…" And much as I hate to admit it…
Even that attack didn't stop her…
This was true; barely had the thought passed through his mind, than Alpha landed ungracefully not ten feet away, groaning. Her armour was noticeably cracked in a couple of places. Her mind raced. What… was that?! I underestimated the amount of power a self-destructing Hakaishin would produce… for a second… the energy being generated was something more than divine ki-more akin to this higher form of power I wield now… Her eyes snapped open wide as the Pilgrim, now lying in such close proximity, kicked off the ground and launched himself at her, gathering his mental might.
He's trying to hit me with that mental attack… She kicked up at him, flipping upright and carrying him with the motion of her leg, ending up standing on top of the disoriented god, driving him into the ground as she landed. "An admirable effort, but if you were hoping your friend's suicide attack slowed me down, I'll have to disappoint you."
She hopped back off of him, and before she had time to get her bearings again, the world seemed to fade away, a boundless dark void surrounding her. Forming from the all-encroaching shadows, the Dreamer appeared, monumental in size, filling Alpha's field of view. "What kind of illusion is this?" she shouted up at the now-enormous Hakaishin.
"Illusion? Give me more credit than that," the Dreamer replied, every word shaking Alpha to the core. "You are in my world now. You overcame my defences before, but now I am on the offensive."
Alpha frowned. A pocket dimension?! The only other being I know capable of doing such a thing… was Kronos… this one might just be the most dangerous Hakaishin…
"You think yourself so mighty… it is said that 'a frog living in a well knows nothing of the ocean'," the Dreamer boomed. "Let me show you true power."
There was no visible attack; pain simply erupted in every square inch of her body, and she lost all sense of space and distance, tumbling through the void, the Dreamer's towering visage seeming to be in every direction at once. Alpha felt her mind come under assault, too; her nagging questioning of the Eternal's wisdom, her sense of betrayal at the revelation of Kronos' true nature, her desire to find peace at last-all these gnawed at her drive to fight, sapping her will. She got the sense that as soon as she gave into this, the physical attack would correspond, and she would be consumed utterly by this terrible dream-world.
"Why fight it?" the Dreamer rumbled. "You secretly want to be stopped, after all. You're tired of all this."
"Maybe… a small part of me…" Alpha snarled, hands clamped around her head, "but even that part… would only accept it if, despite my best efforts… I was beaten fairly… giving up isn't in my nature! And…" She began to harden her aura, forcing back the force crushing in on her from all sides, bolstering her resolution. "I serve a being far greater than you… for all your power, you are nothing compared to the Eternal… and right now, I have a direct conduit to its power!"
The Dreamer crossed her arms. "I am aware. It does seem to be keeping your mind and body intact. But how will you strike back at me? I am everywhere and nowhere in here. I am this realm."
"I'm glad you asked…" Alpha wove her hands in front of her in a complex pattern. "Because, you see, just resisting your attacks… gave me enough time to prepare a counterspell-something I'm fairly skilled with, as another of your comrades found out to his detriment earlier…"
"Agh!" The Dreamer flinched, her outline wavering, flashes of light encroaching at the edges of her shadowy realm. "You… can't… !"
"And now I've weakened the boundaries of your dimension… well, at our level, breaking dimensional walls is simplicity itself, no?" Alpha raised a fist towards the sky, letting out a determined yell and expanding her ki in all directions, warping, cracking, and then shattering the Dreamer's void. The real world returned, Alpha landing on her feet and the Dreamer dropping to the ground face-down in front of her.
Alpha straightened up, putting on a strained smile and gazing around at her multitude of downed and beaten opponents. "Now… this has been a very long day, but do you know… I think I'm finally done."
Just as she said this, a furious cacophony erupted behind her, and she spun in time to witness the huge golden dragon bearing down on her. Frowning, she braced her right arm with her left, firing a pulse of energy that tore through the Ryu-Ken attack, dissipating Gamma Shenron's brief incarnation. "Tch. That's not a threat to me anymore, as impressive as it used to be." She fired a second blast, giving Goku no time to dodge and striking him directly in the head, bringing him down with a gut-wrenching snap and rolling him away head over heels, trailing blood as he went.
Hmm… I think he's dead. And after only one blow… I suppose I can't help it-my power is two whole worlds from his mere demigod ki now. Indeed, as the seconds stretched on, no movement came from the body.
She sighed. Still, he has been tenacious. I have to respect-
What?!
The Super Saiyan-who had never lost his transformed state-was sitting up. As he did so, the scattered sparks of glowing energy left over from the thwarted Ryu-Ken began to gather around him, flowing into his body in great golden streams, seemingly rejuvenating him as he stood. "I'm not done yet… !"
"What's happening…?" Alpha wondered aloud. "The ki coming from his body is… divine?! And there's so much of it…"
"HYAAAAH!" Goku flung his aura out, power building to new heights. The silver in his hair began to be overcome with gold, until finally his appearance had reverted completely to normal, Baby emerging from an arm wound with a pained shriek. He landed in a heap next to his saiyan ally. "I'm… sorry, Goku… too much power… I couldn't stay so close to it."
"It's okay," Goku replied calmly. "I can't thank you enough for all your help today. But I can manage now…"
Gohan, lying half-conscious nearby like the other gods, made a sudden mental connection. I… I understand! When I first became the Super Saiyan God… I was able to absorb that 'world' of power into my body… so when I turned back to normal, my power didn't go down that much.
And Dad's been using the Ryu-Ken attack so many times… generating a divine power from within his own body! It didn't come into effect until he'd done it several times, since he wasn't in quite as close proximity as I was with my Super Saiyan God powers… but now, similar to what I experienced, his own body's power isn't too far off the power of his Ryu-Ken!
Goku knew all this, if a little less factually and more intuitively. He'd begun to experience the first effects of the naturalisation process earlier, finding himself able to sense divine ki, but now it was finally complete. "So this is divine ki… gotta say, it feels pretty good."
"And an impressive level of it, at that." Alpha shrugged. "But you're still not a match for me. My power now surpasses even the divine level."
"Well, don't expect me to give up," he replied with a nervous grin, raising his guard and drawing one leg back.
"Oh, I knew you wouldn't," she replied. "I think I've got to know you pretty well today, and I have no doubt you'll carry on fighting until your last breath. So I'll do my best and kill you myself in the brief time we have left before the Eternal consumes you all." She returned his grin. "It would be a bit anticlimactic if we never got to settle things, wouldn't it?"
"Right…" She's gonna kill me inside a minute, I'm sure… and yet… I just can't get over how exhilarating this new power is!
Strange as it is, I live for moments like this.
"This is the end!" She declared, rushing him, forming a fist with her right arm, bunching the muscles in the limb and causing the armour over it to ripple slightly as her aura flashed into visibility. She was five steps from him, and he'd never react in time, she was four steps away, three-
A massive red dragon slammed down onto her from above, its jaws swallowing her in an instant before detonating, Goku leaping back just in time to avoid the blast wave. That was… like my Ryu-Ken? The dragon looked different, though… and the only other one capable of doing the technique… is…
Alpha stood, shaking her head to clear the dizziness, waving away the rising smoke and revealing herself to be unharmed. "Who… the hell…"
As the last of the smoke blew away, another figure was revealed slightly behind her. A tall, muscular warrior, with a sheathed sword slung over his back and hair down past his waist, strolled past her, ignoring her completely.
"Hey, Goku!" Raditz called cheerily, waving to his brother. "How you been?"
"Well… almost died a couple of times," Goku admitted. "But I got some awesome power-ups… looks like you got a replacement dragon after letting Gamma merge with me, huh?" I'd also like to know how he got back… and what's up with his hair? He cut it ages ago, but it's back to its old length now…
"Yeah, I…" Raditz paused as Alpha stepped up behind him, looming over him by over a foot. "Hold on a sec."
"You bastard…" She growled, cracking her knuckled loudly. "You think you can just ignore me?"
He cocked a smile, turning slowly as he activated his Super Saiyan transformation. "Excuse me, lady, but I haven't seen my brother in a while… I'm trying to get caught up…"
Alpha flinched back slightly. Divine ki coming from him, too?! How do they do it?
But no matter… She steeled herself. Even divine power is no threat to me now.
Raditz drew back his fist. "So give us a damn minute, willya?!" He threw his punch, a straight uppercut, and she idly moved to block, but as his limb moved, something sparked around it, close to his skin-like a multitude of tiny bursts of energy, linking together and forming a spiralling series of rings; as he did this, his arm accelerated, swinging upwards at breakneck speed and planting his fist right in her chin, hurling her up and away through the air, shearing a chunk off of her chestplate as it passed.
She spluttered, uncomprehending, as she flew, and all that was running through her head, over and over, was, What?!
Goku, looking on wide-eyed, echoed her thoughts. "What?!"
Raditz glanced back at him, shrugging as if this was all no big deal, and he didn't understand the question. "What?"
Chapter 23: Crescendo
Saigo no Senshi-tachi! Tamashii tai Tamashii!
Namek, shortly in the past of the distant future… if that makes any semblance of sense…
"So there is a way to get back?" Raditz asked eagerly.
Omega Shenron grunted. "Yes… yes, there is." Its eyes shifted a little.
"What?"
"Gamma did not tell you… he does not think you can win. He believes the Eternal is too close, the Shadow Dragons are too powerful."
"And yet he went back himself," Raditz noted. "I think he's braver than he admits."
Omega nodded. "He is a being of contradictions. I suppose it comes from being the ultimate combat dragon, created in a time when there is no-one left to fight… but he hopes that in this dead-end timeline, you can survive at least a little longer than if you returned to fight…"
"Well, if there's a way, I'm going back. I'm not leaving my family to die back home. So tell me-how do I do it?"
"A being as powerful as Gamma left a 'trail' when he traversed the temporal barrier," Omega explained. "You know it is possible to break down dimensional walls with enough power… this will require even more, certainly beyond what either of us are capable of. I… suppose I could permanently convert my magical, 'wishing' power into combat power, but that would scarcely be over two-thirds of what we need."
"Then how about you do that Dragon Soul ritual on me?" Raditz suggested. "We could combine our power then."
"Adding only your power would barely scratch the surface of the third or so that remained…"
"My current power, yeah." The saiyan grinned. "But with all these insanely-strong gods around, not to mention the Eternal, and me without my Dragon Fist… I've been thinking about how to fight 'em." He sent a brief telepathic message-in this case, a visual cue explained his idea much quicker than a verbal one.
Omega flinched slightly. "That is… foolhardy in the extreme! In any case… save something as drastic as that for the actual battle. I do have another idea… we may be able to raise our combined power high enough naturally… but it will come down to you. You'll have to learn fast."
Earth, now…
"So yeah…" Raditz shrugged. "He magic'ed himself into a combat dragon, we did the ritual thing, and I did the Dragon Fist a bunch of times until I'd absorbed that divine 'world' of power into my body, just like you did… then, well, you've knocked down a dimensional wall before, you know how it goes."
Goku scratched the side of his face. "I guess that all makes sense… oh! But your hair? It's long again, like before Cell killed you."
Before the older saiyan could answer, Alpha-who had evidently been concealing her presence up until now-burst up through the ground, both arms lashing out and striking the brothers across the chest. "If you think you can take me out with one blow, you're mistaken!"
Raditz managed to stop his rolling, flipping to his feet. She's become so strong… we've both increased our power immensely today, and she tossed us away so easily… I guess I'll have to do that again…
Careful! Omega warned mentally. You'll only have a couple more shots! Especially don't use the same limb!
You don't have to worry about that… Raditz's right arm, the one he'd hit Alpha with, was still trembling, bleeding in several places. "Sure, I can't beat you with one attack," he called out to her. "So why don't I try another?"
I should be wary, after his first hit… Alpha reasoned. But it doesn't make any sense… I'm definitely sensing strong divine ki from him, and nothing more! At this point… with only a couple of minutes left… it would be unsatisfactory to leave this battle unfinished… to hell with it! "Do your worst!" She shouted, flaring up her aura and rushing him head-on.
"If it's all the same to you, I thought I'd try my best…" He leaned back, drawing his leg up-and as she neared him, just like with his first attack, sparks flew from his skin, joining together and solidifying, before looping around the limb and propelling his kick at incredible velocity into her stomach-she rocked backwards, feet leaving skid-marks in the ground as she lurched away, panting.
"Again…" she growled, staggering further away, clutching at the cracked armour, blood seeping through from behind it.
Raditz himself wasn't doing so great; he wavered on his feet, the leg he'd used shaking and bleeding from multiple points. Goku dropped down next to him, supporting him. "You okay?"
"Yeah… just… burned up some of the atoms in my attacking limbs to increase its power."
"What?"
"It's the idea I first had to increase my power in the future, but Omega shot it down. Look, self-destruct attacks are so powerful because they release the energy stored in your body, but just blowing yourself up is inefficient. If you could consciously set off every bit of the energy in a relatively small number of atoms, you'd eat away just small parts of your body, and generate the same power…"
Goku's eyes widened with understanding. "So that's it! You were sacrificing pieces of your muscles… that's not a good long-term strategy…"
Alpha put a hand out to support herself, trying to steady her breathing. Damn him, but that would explain it… when that Hakaishin self-destructed earlier, he managed to surpass divine ki and injure me… and if this saiyan's blows just now carried the same force as a normal self-destruction…
"Right…" Raditz agreed. "I don't think I can do it anymore…" His face was already shining with sweat, and he indicated this. "It takes a lot of concentration not to set off a chain reaction, and if I mess up I really will blow up…" He remembered Goku's earlier question. "Oh, and I asked Omega to fix the hair before he turned his power into combat energy, since I don't need Super Saiyan 3 anymore. It was a pretty simple wish."
The younger brother pointed over his brother's shoulder. "Uh, can we focus? She's recovering."
"Right, right… okay." He looked around. "Hey, is she…"
Alpha was taking slow, measured strides directly away from them.
She's warming up for the final clash… Raditz realised. She knows we're at the end of our tether, and she's about reaching hers…
Sharing his thoughts, Goku nodded, stepping up next to him. This is… the end. One way or the other.
She turned, looking over her shoulder at the pair of them, lighting up her aura one final time, more shards of her armour falling away.
They kept their gaze locked on her, readying themselves to burst into action the instant they needed to.
She tore away the tattered remnants of her gloves, before backing away, still facing them, jaw set, eyes hard.
Goku approached her first, Raditz following after a moment, the brothers exchanging a nervous smile. Any ideas? Goku asked.
We only got one shot… gotta attack together…
Right. Goku paused in his walk. Should we do it, or use the dragons?
I… Raditz stopped as well, slightly ahead of him. I don't know. They were most useful when they were vastly stronger than us, but we're nearly on their level now…
It would be possible to combine all four of our powers now we're so close, Omega interjected, and Goku gathered from Gamma's indignant silence that he hadn't known about this. We would have to synchronise our energy perfectly… like fusion… and it will require time to prepare… luckily, our foe is giving us just that.
But time is something we don't have much of, Gamma reminded them. So this really will be our only shot.
Let's do it, Goku decided. He looked back up at Raditz, right hand slowly clenching into a fist, aura gathering around it.
They resumed their walk towards Alpha, as she continued to back up, eyes fixed on their movements. The world surrounding them seemed to fade away; they stared each other down, heedless of the scattered bodies of the other combatants, of the storm that grew more violent with each passing second. Each saw only the other two, and the empty space between them.
Alpha came to a halt, standing up straight, and a moment later the brothers stopped, Goku taking an extra step and arriving next to Raditz. There was a momentary lull, a collective pause for breath, before the silent tension began to mount again. They looked to each other for reassurance, then defiantly back to her; her impassive stare swept over one, then the other, each in turn holding her unblinking, red-eyed gaze.
Alpha's head finally stopped its motion, her hands still hanging loosely at her sides. Goku took a deep breath. Raditz's fingers twitched. A fiery aura sprung to life around the pair of them, building to match hers in size and ferocity. Goku blinked, trying to clear the droplet of sweat that had just fallen into his eye.
Raditz's own eyes dilated as his hands formed fists, reacting to the shower of sparks that had sprung up in the air between them as their battle-auras continued to grow, meeting violently in the air between them. Alpha gave a cruel smile. Goku's knees and elbows bent slightly, tensing himself to spring. Raditz was starting to struggle to meet Alpha's eyes, the twin red orbs boring through his; he forced himself not to look away, unconsciously licking his lips and shifting on his feet.
Goku's breathing began to speed up, the clashing auras growing more intense, setting off explosions around the three of them and ringing their imaginary arena with columns of black smoke. The wind, rain and thunder continued to build, whipping their hair around in a frenzy.
His breath catching in his throat, Raditz's fists began to glow as he concentrated his aura, preparing himself. Alpha still hadn't moved. Goku leaned forwards a little, sliding his left foot back. Raditz's right arm drew back, positioning itself to strike. Alpha's eyes seemed to grow larger in their minds, engulfing all in their field of view until there was nothing but the harsh red glare. She still stood at ease, as if mocking their tension and alertness.
The storm cut out abruptly. In an instant, the rain and wind cut out. In the same instant, they broke the standoff, all three moving fluidly into action in that single moment.
As Alpha charged at them, the brothers leapt to meet her approach, each putting a hand out palm-downwards beneath them, calling their respective dragons.
All four of our powers are synchronised perfectly! Omega confirmed.
Then do it! Gamma urged.
Goku's mouth opened slightly, words erupting from the depths of his throat. "CHOU-"
Raditz followed suit after only a moment's hesitation. "-NIBAI-"
"- RYU -"
"- KEN !"
What the…? Alpha shrunk back as both Gamma and Omega Shenron were summoned forth; but instead of 'firing them' from a stationary position, like usual, the Super Saiyans grabbed ahold of their respective dragon's mane and hopped up onto the back of its neck, all while the four of them closed in on her. By the time she'd recovered from her surprise, they were upon her, explosive bursts of energy emerging from the saiyans' hands and the dragons' mouths, and she could only throw out her own opposing wave of ki to try and push them back.
I won't be defeated… by something like this… ! She skidded back slightly, the force bearing down on her enough to unmake a thousand stars. Mere divine ki shouldn't be able to stand up to me like this… by combining their power into one point… they achieved a level like mine again!
Gohan, helping Bills up nearby, looked on in wonder. "This could be it… !"
"Do it!" Bills urged.
These mortals… The Red King realised, raising his head. We came to defend their universe, but we underestimated the lengths they would go to fight for it themselves… I can't believe how far they've grown…
The Dreamer was already on her feet (or at least upright; she always hovered at least a couple of inches off the ground), observing with an expression of extreme apprehension. The final chapter of this tale draws near… and there is nothing we can do to help now… we could not even approach a power of such magnitude. Perhaps if I were fresh and uninjured, I could deny such a physical truth by my own power, but not as I am now. And even if I did so, and approached them… what then? That power is to us… as we are to most mortals.
"Uh…" Gohan glanced back at Bills, face growing paler. "Do you see that?"
Bills nodded, wincing slightly at the movement-Alpha's attack on him earlier had left a jagged scar running over his eye. "She's turning it around…"
Indeed, Alpha had stopped her backwards motion and was gaining ground, inch by inch. The five titans had no time or energy for words, boasts, taunts, or anything but pushing relentlessly forwards, unleashing far more power than the terrestrial realm was ever meant to withstand. A few miles from Central City, the desert caught fire, and burned against all logic and reason for thirty days and thirty nights. Ice from the north and south poles broke off from the ground and began to float almost a mile up. All the glass in South City reverted to sand. Screams of pain rose from the earth itself as rivers boiled at one end and froze at the other.
This isn't… good! Goku growled in frustration as they continued to be pushed back. We're losing…
Raditz concurred. Don't know what else we can do… can't break away-if we relieve the pressure, even for a second, she'll overwhelm us… but we've hit our limit, and it isn't quite enough! The immense power Alpha was wielding began to get through their defences, heat and pressure rising.
The younger brother 'spoke' up again. Hey… if this is the end… it's been nice knowing you. Can't think of anyone I'd rather die fighting with.
The older smiled sadly. Yeah. Thanks… for everything.
"I've… got… you!" Alpha hissed, veins throbbing on her forehead and neck with the monumental effort of opposing four beings of such strength.
"Actually," a voice called out from above them, " I've got you -right in my sights." Tien hovered over them, forming his hands into the Tri-Beam position and aiming them down at Alpha. "And with them bearing down on you like that, you're in no position to dodge."
"Tch! What can you do… with your power?" she sneered.
"Oh, pretty much nothing." He smiled. "But then, I'm not planning on using my power." Streams of energy from the enormous Spirit Bomb over his head began to flow down towards him, wreathing his hands in a brilliant glow. "I thought I'd try everybody else's instead. And I do mean just about everybody." If I throw the whole thing, it'll hit everyone down there, not just her… not to mention the planet… so I guess I'll have to just draw on its power for my own attack, to reduce its area of effect.
"Tien!" Gohan shouted up to him. "Don't take so much power into your body-you won't be able to handle it!"
"You're right," he replied grimly. "I'm sure it'll mess me up pretty bad. But if that's the case… imagine what it'll do to the person on the receiving end. Hey-Alpha Shenron!" He drew on more of the Spirit Bomb's power, feeding greater and greater amounts of it into the space between his hands. "Here's a gift for you-from the universe you wanted to destroy! TAKE THIS!" He fired, the kickback instantly blasting him backwards, arms broken, trailing smoke-but he'd produced his attack, and now it lanced down to Earth, the Spirit Bomb's monstrous raw power focused through the Tri-Beam's magnifying lens, striking Alpha directly in the side, punching a hole in her armour and producing a spray of blood.
She stumbled sideways, stunned for a moment. "Aaagh… !"
Raditz's eyes widened. "NOW!" The dragons' mouths gaped open, producing a combined blast that struck the unprepared Alpha head-on, launching her backwards into the air, roaring with surprise and anger. The summoned dragons dissolved, leaving only the blinding wall of light, through which appeared a pair of figures; each Super Saiyan swung an arm forwards, hands touching together and producing a final ray of destructive power. They were still yelling, out of a mixture of anger, exertion and pure exhilaration, but their voices were drowned out by the roar of power their attack produced. It grew as it approached until it filled Alpha's field of vision-and then total brightness was replaced with total dark as she blacked out.
It must have only been moments later when she woke, for they were now trudging towards her-she lay face-up on the ground, armour destroyed, link to the Eternal's power gone, all her previous injuries returning in full force. Not even a god… a pair of mortals… how did this happen?!
They stopped a couple of paces from her as she sat up painfully. "I don't like it, but we gotta finish you now," Goku said wearily, trying to keep his power up as it flickered a little.
She was about to reply bitterly, then something caught her attention, and her despair turned to mirth in an instant. She slumped backwards, lying down again and laughing out loud. "You needn't bother. Not anymore."
"Huh?"
"You've defeated me, I grant you… it's frankly astonishing… but you were too late. Only a few seconds… but too late nonetheless."
"What the hell does that mean?!" Raditz growled.
"There is enough… negative energy now. Whether you kill me or not, it makes no difference." She closed her eyes. "The Eternal is coming."
Chapter 24: Fire and Thunder
Ore ga Yaranakya Dare ga Yaru?
Goku paled. "The Eternal…" He whispered.
"… is coming…" Raditz finished solemnly.
The Dreamer sank to the ground, seeming to lose the will to hover. "We've lost…"
The Scholar tapped frantically at her instruments, giving a small yelp as the floating screens shattered, warning lights flaring all over her neon-adorned outfit. "These energy readings… the power it donated to Alpha was just a drop in the ocean!" She put a hand to her head, wincing. "I can feel it myself now…"
"Yeah…" Gohan frowned as tendrils of pain wormed through his mind. "I imagine everyone with even a semblance of ki sense can feel it now… throughout the entire universe…" And its five-dimensional presence… is monstrous, too… it's distorting the dimensions themselves… if I tried to Shift now, I'd be torn apart…
"Agh…" Break was experiencing a similar sensation. "You don't have to tell me… hey, is that…"
A bolt of light spiralling down towards them coalesced into Kuriza, spinning on one foot as he came to a halt. "Bulma and the others got news, from cities on the other side of the planet…"
"Huh?" Break raised herself off of the ground, taking care not to move her wounded arm. "What's happening over there?"
"The stars… a bunch of stars are vanishing. The far-off ones, anyway."
"What?!" The Hunter limped up to them. "Are you serious? Is the Eternal… eating them?"
"No… I do not believe so." The Red King approached, eyes closed, reaching out with his senses, wheels obviously turning in his highly-efficient mind. "From the size and shape of the… presence… I believe that it is making a breach into our universe… from the particular shape, I would guess its hand… it's blocking our view of the far-off stars-"
"Hold on, that doesn't make sense…" Gohan interjected. "Light from distant stars takes thousands of years, if not more, to reach us-how could it blocking the path become visible so quickly?"
"My best guess-it's showing off," the Scholar replied tersely. She tore her visor off right as it overloaded, pale eyes blinking in the unfamiliar natural light. "But it seems that the only stars still visible are the ones in our galaxy, which means… that's what its hand is closing around."
"It's that big?" Raditz placed his head in his hands. "How do you fight something like that?"
"I don't know, but I estimate about…" the Scholar tapped at a few buttons on her armband. "Three minutes until it begins to crush our galaxy. It seems to be grabbing hold of something in real-space to get a better vantage point…"
"I… have one idea…" Cadmus said, falteringly. "It is a slim chance, but better than nothing." His eyes hardened, and he turned to the battered Hakaishin, addressing them all. "Up! Stand up, all of you! You have all suffered greatly today, but for your own lives-for this universe and for all others-for everything that you have fought for today, stand now!"
"No need… to yell…" the Pilot grumbled, shaking her head to clear it and hauling the Warrior up with her. The others rose, forming a ragged circle, some using their ki to support themselves to compensate for their injuries.
"What is your plan, my lord?" the Knight asked.
"This is a technique I conceptualised long ago…" the Red King walked into the centre of the circle, casting his gaze around each of them in turn. "I never told any of you, because it seemed foolish that any enemy would ever so greatly exceed our power, and require such a desperate measure. But it seems I was correct… all of you, form an energy conduit between yourselves… let your power flow between you all until it joins as one, in a continuing, accelerating loop. Do it now!"
"Are we seriously all holding hands now?" the Hunter sighed as the gods, indeed, joined hands, completing the circle around Cadmus. "What, are we gonna defeat the Eternal with the power of friendship or some crap?"
"Hunter!" the Pilgrim snapped, and if looks could kill, right then the normally-pleasant Hakaishin could have slain armies. "Shut up."
"Now, include me in the conduit! Channel your new combined power directly into me!" The Red King raised his arms to the sky, fingers pointed directly upwards. "I will then fire it at the Eternal's approaching hand!"
"One minute," the Scholar warned.
"Now!" Cadmus urged. The combined power of the Gods of Destruction became visible as a shimmering ring flowing from one to the next, throwing off violent sparks as it travelled. A moment later, it rushed inwards, swirling around Cadmus as if released from a burst dam. He grunted, forming it into a towering, radiant column around and above him. The waves of force it generated staggered back all of the onlookers, sending Kuriza tumbling away uncontrollably.
The grand coalescence of energy rose into the sky, filling the horizon as it rapidly grew in magnitude upon leaving the Earth's atmosphere. The great encroaching mass now beginning to near the North Galaxy was abruptly halted as a burst of power emerging from one of the spiral's arms speared into it, a corona of light washing over the gigantic clawed fingers and slowing it to a shuddering stop.
"It's… working… !" Cadmus confirmed, to shouts of jubilation from the other Hakaishin, voice strained as he continued to channel their combined might towards the heavens. "At least… partially! It's advancing, but much slower… we have a few more minutes, at least."
"No, we don't…" Gohan interrupted, approaching them again. "An object of that mass will have a massive gravitational field. If it gets any closer, it'll tear our galaxy apart just by its proximity. We can't give any more ground."
"But hey, you designed this technique for thirteen gods, right?" Break added. "You've got eleven, all of them just about exhausted. It's hardly gonna be at full power."
"So try fourteen," Goku finished, putting his hands on the younger fighters' shoulders. "We're all divine warriors now, too."
"Where's my dad?" Break whispered over her shoulder to him.
"Don't know. I didn't see him go. But he wouldn't leave unless it was important."
Cadmus barely hesitated, nodding hastily. "Very well! Quickly! Make space for them!" As the divine-powered saiyans joined the circle, he felt new power flow into him, redoubling his efforts. I'll further increase our combined strength by firing in short bursts instead of a continued stream… "Raaah-!" The storm of ki leapt skyward once more.
Alpha, lying off to the side, lifted her head, gazing in confusion at the incandescent group, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Wh… Why?" she croaked. Why do they fight so long… so hard? What reason do they have to defy the natural order? Their purpose… has nothing to do with any of this… !
They must know they cannot win… the Eternal cannot be stopped…
What's the point?
"Why?!" she repeated, audibly this time.
The Dreamer turned towards her. "Wrong question," she said gently, as they collectively charged up for another shot.
The Pilgrim nodded in agreement. "Why not ?"
General Ripper and Chief Reynolds stood side by side, facing the window, gazing out at the unnaturally-black sky, tuning out the commotion behind them as the politicians continued to argue in circles.
"Well… we did what we could…" Ripper sighed. "Gave them all the energy we could muster…"
"They're still fighting," Reynolds noted. She lit up a cigarette. Neither said, This is probably the end, or anything like that. They both knew. "General… for what it's worth… I'm sorry. I, and my organisation, have done some things we're not proud of over the years…"
"You're just doing your job, I suppose," he replied quietly.
"How did things get this screwed up? We still don't really know what's going on…"
"All we can do now is hope they come through for us."
She chuckled. "Hope, you say? Cute."
He shook his head. "You're always so damned cynical… just what is your problem?"
"My problem? You picked a fine time to finally ask…" She shrugged. "My family didn't want anything to do with me-not enough money. Being hired to do the agency's dirty work was the only thing that kept me from starving in some alley. As I clawed my way up the ladder, I had nobody to help me… my subordinates resented an ex-assassin telling them what to do; my former superiors resented being outranked by a woman. Hoping never got me anywhere. Everything was my own doing."
The General leaned against the wall. "And now there's nothing any of us can do. You hate it, right?"
"You have no idea."
Light years away, the Eternal's colossal hand flinched as a second blast struck it, this time forcing it back across the vast expanse of space. It flexed slightly, the sensation of actual resistance unfamiliar to the enormous cosmic entity. It forced its way back towards the North galaxy, but another beam emerged, shoving it away once more.
Raditz hung in the air a few miles from the battlefield, observing all this. They're actually doing it… pushing back the Eternal… it's a temporary measure at best, but still… it's impressive.
You aren't going to join them? Omega asked. Along with your brother, you're the most powerful defender this planet has right now…
It'd only prolong the inevitable a little bit more. I've been trying to think of a more proactive solution, and I think I've got one. It's much more my style than working with a large team, or this hand-holding stuff, too…
Omega paused. You're not going to…
Raditz nodded. By burning body mass I was able to transcend divine ki and send Alpha flying, even when she was powered up by the Eternal.
But she only had a fraction of the Eternal's power!
"And I only burnt a fraction of my body!" Raditz burst out, now trying to keep his breathing controlled as the implications of what he was suggesting began to catch up with him. "Do you know how many atoms are in a human, or saiyan, body?"
If you do that… convert your entire physical mass into energy… you'll have to maintain constant focus to keep such an energy-body together. If you slip up, you'll detonate, destroying everything around you… and besides, as soon as you burn through all that energy-which will happen very fast in that state-you'll die anyway.
"Not necessarily. I can convert myself back to matter afterwards, assuming I win…"
Which will require even more finesse and control than going from mass to energy would take! And only if you still have enough power to form a complete body! And need I remind you that you barely were able to control the small-scale version you did earlier? What makes you think you can-
"Fine! I probably can't reverse it!" He lowered his head. "Most likely… I'll die."
And for good, remember. The wishing-dragons in your time are gone, and I converted my own magical power into combat power…
"Better than everybody dying. The important thing is, however briefly, I'll have the power to take on that thing."
Possibly. You will certainly be far stronger than Alpha ever was… but the true depths of the Eternal's power are impossible to guess at. I suppose… there's no arguing with you… are you going to begin?
"In a minute. Funny… last time I was kinda happy to go out like a warrior… I didn't have any regrets, or take time to think about the people I was leaving behind.
"I know better than that now…"
Launch was staring towards the distant battle, blinking through the rain atop an office building, when the familiar sound of Instant Transmission met her ears from behind.
"Hey." She began to wave to Raditz, but he moved immediately into a hug, looking down and away when they separated. "You okay?"
"I… uh…" He sighed. "I have to… go. I'll try my best to live through it, but… I can't promise… I just… I don't know what's going to happen."
"You're going after their leader?"
"Yeah."
"You have a plan?"
"Sort of."
She nodded, then abruptly took a step back and punched him in the gut, pulling him up towards her. "Then no excuses. If you die, I will bust into the afterlife and kick your ass. We're not done, so…" She wavered, suppressing a wave of fear. "Come back, okay?"
"I…" He tried to sound confident. "I will."
She smiled slightly. "It's been bugging me… you and Break have got so strong, left me behind… I haven't been able to help out much in these fights for a while now. I guess you saiyans are just better at some stuff…" She looked back up at him, leaning in. "But I think I know a couple things that humans leave you in the dust at."
A wise man once said, 'Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure'.
I would now humbly contend to add a sixth.
"Graaah!" Cadmus fired again, sinking to his knees under the weight of repeatedly channelling so much power. "I don't know…" he gasped. "… how many more times… I can do this."
"Let me take over!" the Knight offered.
"You couldn't handle it!"
"Don't worry about it!" Raditz's voice called out to them from above. "As usual, I got this."
"H-Hey!" Break shouted up to him. "What are you gonna do?"
His smile wavered, but he managed to keep it up. "Save the universe is all. Now watch closely, kiddies, and don't try this at home." He gave a salute to the group, before briefly addressing her personally. "You did great, kid." With that, he powered up to Super Saiyan and shot off into the sky, vanishing from sight in under a second.
"Did you hear that…" Goku said slowly, "… in his voice?"
"Yeah." Break nodded. "He's… terrified."
Raditz had left the North Galaxy behind, darting off to one side to skirt around the Eternal's hand, the light-years flying by in seconds. He didn't have time to marvel at the speed divine ki afforded him, however; that sort of power was nothing to a being like this.
It took him a good few minutes to arrive at the breach the Eternal's hand and wrist had made, and in that time several more bursts of power had emerged from the North Galaxy, continuing to hold the creature's advance at bay. Finally, though, he faced it; a rippling, warping tear in the fabric of reality, through which the colossal limb was protruding through into the universe. Beyond the breach lay the formless void… and the Eternal.
It's time. He took a deep breath.
Are you sure you want to do this? Omega asked warily. Convert every atom in your body into energy-and try to hold that together in the same shape, keep your consciousness controlling it? You'll essentially be self-destructing-giving out even more power than a normal self-destruction, even-and trying to regain control of the emitted energy in the same moment.
Sure, it sounds pretty difficult, but… Raditz paused. Well, yeah, all right, it is. But I have a grand tradition of doing stupid things, and I'm not about to stop now. Besides, they can't hold out much longer. This is our only shot.
And if you die?
Then I die. But I won't. Launch would kill me. Hey… any way you can lessen some of the pain, maybe?
Sorry.
Damn. Raditz raised his head, calling up his power. Well… what do you say at a time like this?
Say? Omega sounded perplexed.
Well, whether it's a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner, or just my not-so-famous last words… you gotta say something.
He took another deep breath, in, out, trying to stop himself from trembling. He drew his sword, laying the blade flat against his face, fixing his mind on the Eternal. "I have no words. My voice is in my sword: thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out," he whispered.
Omega hesitated. Was that…?
Surprised?
It's just… I didn't think of you as the type to read… well, at all.
Full of surprises, ain't I? Now, if you'll excuse me… He began to ignite the latent energy locked in every atom of his body, his skin starting to hum and crackle with heat. He couldn't resist, at the last moment, adding something a little less serious. "Here I come to save the da-"
The Eternal was beginning to know a new emotion: Frustration. It kept trying to establish a handhold, and crush the group that had been resisting its coming besides, but something was pushing it back. It didn't know of any force in such a universe that should be able to do that. It was really quite irritating.
But whatever it was, it was finally getting weaker. Each successive push from within that galaxy carried less force, and the Eternal's hand was getting closer and closer to closing around its target.
Then…
Then-what was that?!
A tiny point of light burst through the breach, coming towards it-almost as if attacking it!
That wasn't supposed to happen.
But here the tiny thing was, arcing up towards its great fanged maw, leaving a trail of dazzlingly-bright light in its wake, illuminating the infinite void-and… screaming?
The Eternal was puzzled. It had absolutely no idea what this thing could be-but it was extremely close now, an ethereal figure of burning golden light, trails of fire rising from its head and shoulders-
Another new sensation… fear.
Come on… just one last time… burn higher than ever, my power!
Hold together, my body and soul… everyone down there-I'm all they've got left!
One more time… I will surpass… divine ki!
"My lord!" the Knight exclaimed, darting forward to catch Cadmus as he finally collapsed.
"I am… sorry… I can give no more…" he croaked. "This is… the end…"
Gohan was staring up at the sky, eyes wide. "Actually… its hand is… retreating." He raised two fingers to his forehead. "I'll go check it out…" The breach is still there, but it's closing for some reason… the Eternal's power won't be hard to lock onto to use Instant Transmission…
A moment later, he appeared on the edge of space, facing the breach. The Eternal's hand is gone? It's fully back outside, in the void… and… Through the breach, he caught glimpses of… something.
Flashes of light, arcs of power, explosions that shook him from across dimensions, all came from the other side in rapid succession, never letting up. It's… a battle?! The powers involved are so vast… it's beyond my comprehension. I'm not even sure if I'd describe it as a 'fight'… it's a clash between vast, elemental forces. I'm nothing compared to that…
Raditz… is that you?
Something rumbled on the other side. This shockwave was the biggest yet. It's heading this way… it'll collapse the breach at the very least… and if I'm caught in a blast like that-! Hurriedly, he prepared to teleport back.
Earth…
When Gohan reappeared, dropping to the ground and rolling a couple times with his carried-over momentum, he was expecting everyone to look to him for news. But all faces were turned upwards. He lifted his own head, and gasped-the explosion was visible from the Earth's surface, from across the universe, even through the atmosphere, even in daytime. It filled the sky, illuminating every world in the cosmos, a pyrotechnics display that proclaimed victory in every language.
"The presence I've felt on the edge of my mind," Gohan muttered, "ever since it got close… it's gone. Completely."
"He did it," Break whispered. "That crazy son of a bitch. He did it."
That's not… it can't… Alpha gaped, horrified. He can't… no… I… I don't…
"I don't sense him, though," Goku added. "Come on… be alive….don't leave us like this."
"Whether he reappears or not… we all owe him a great debt," Cadmus said, shakily standing and saluting the sky. "That man has done the impossible… defied the natural order… and brought peace to all universes."
"Sire?"
"Mm?"
"It would seem… er… Tenebrion has been destroyed."
A dark, towering figure, to whom the second voice belonged, shifted on his throne. "Was it-"
"No, majesty. She remains out of reach… the one who defeated Tenebrion was, well… a biological . Right as it was about to finish off a universe."
The ruler rose, pacing down the steps towards an open courtyard. "Fascinating. I've never heard of a biological with that kind of power… still, don't trouble yourself with it, Lucius. That creature was pitiful, really."
At the centre of the courtyard stood a stone table, carved out of the ground itself, and atop it rested a chessboard. The white pieces were a complete set but for one-the queen was missing. The pawns were advanced halfway up the board in a ragged line. Opposite them stood one solitary black piece; a queen.
Lucius, a thin, lightly-armoured individual, bowed. "Apparently they called it 'the Eternal', sire."
"The 'Eternal'… that thing?" The second speaker stopped at the side of the board, reaching over and removing a single white pawn, tossing it away over his shoulder. "That's adorable."
Even Further Beyond
End of Act 1
Chapter 25: Into Infinity
Raditz opened his eyes, and immediately regretted it. The sensation drilling its way into his head was akin to a fusion of a hangover and a Tyrannosaur.
He was fire and it was ice and he was light and it was shadow and he burned it and it froze him and he blinded it and it stung him and it screamed and it burned and burned and burned
He winced as the memories flooded back, flashes of that terrible struggle. He tried not to think about it. "So I guess… I'm alive." He pressed both hands to his forehead. "Kinda wish I wasn't, at this point."
Yes, your will to live is quite something, Omega commented. You did remarkably well at putting yourself back together… though I helped once you'd passed out.
"Right…" He seemed to be lying face-up in a grassy field. A gentle breeze blew over him, and as his eyes adjusted he saw a cloudless, moonlit night sky above him. The wind picked up a bit, and shivering, he was reminded that he'd lost his shirt in the fight with Helios earlier. Gonna have to do something about that… "Any idea where we are?"
None. We aren't back in our universe, from what I can tell, and this clearly isn't the void.
He stood, somewhat unsteadily. "Still… we won."
You won. It wasn't my power at all…
"Yeah…" He gave a massive, childish grin. "I won. I beat the Eternal."
"Tenebrion," said a harsh, clipped voice from behind him. Raditz turned, seeing a tall, thin man addressing him through gritted teeth. "Its name was Tenebrion."
"And you are…"
"Lucius," the stranger replied. "And to answer your earlier question, you are here because my master, Lord Entropy, brought you here. You will now have an audience with him."
Raditz held out a hand. "Listen, I'm gonna need a minute…"
"That was not a request. Lord Entropy never asks. He commands."
"I swear, if I was feeling better I'd kick your ass right here and now…"
Lucius smiled unpleasantly. "I highly doubt it. None of the denizens of the palace are as weak as Tenebrion was, and in any case, the power you used to kill it was only temporary. Now." He gestured off towards the horizon to the right. "Follow me."
Earth…
Goku slumped to the ground, panting. "Kuriza said he'd get Dende… so they'll be over in a few minutes… heal everybody…"
"The nightmare's finally over…" Bills breathed, looking off into the distance. Whis… I'm sorry- His internal monologue was interrupted by a fist to the gut, and he doubled over, choking.
Alpha stood shakily over him, a wild-eyed look of desperation on her face, streams of blood running down her body. "Over, is it?" She cast her gaze around the group. "Thanks for expending all your energy on that attack…"
"Look, that's enough!" Gohan protested, standing in front of her, arms outstretched. "The Eternal's gone! You won't gain anything by fighting anymore-it's pointless!"
"Shut up!" she yelled, voice cracking as she backhanded him away, kicking the Pilgrim to the ground as he turned towards her. "I… I won't… this isn't… you haven't won!" she cried, almost maniacally, aura flickering and sparking wildly.
Unexpectedly, a pair of arms embraced her from behind. "It's okay," the Dreamer said, in a voice that could have calmed a riot, adopting a nigh-angelic expression. "You've lost a lot, and you're angry, but… I know you've wanted peace for a long time now. Well, I'm telling you… that's enough. You can stop fighting now. It's okay," she repeated.
For quite a while, no-one moved or spoke. Then, wordlessly, Alpha turned and rested her head on the Dreamer's shoulder, weeping openly, to the stunned shock of all present.
The three other surviving Shadow Dragons sat nearby, having started to awaken a minute or two ago, and borne witness to recent events. "I genuinely do not believe my eyes," Hephaestus said.
"Well… she always has been a mess of issues," Prometheus pointed out. "But I do agree that I expected a more violent eventual meltdown than this."
"I'll take the three on the left…" Helios muttered groggily. "Prometheus can create a distraction, and Hephaestus-"
"Oh, enough already," Hephaestus snapped. "Respect your enemy enough to know when you're beaten."
Lord Entropy's palace was a massive, multi-level affair, set into a mountain, parts of it constructed of metal, parts of stone, or wood, or even carved out of precious gems-whatever the architect seemed to have felt like at the time.
The only living being they encountered during the journey, they met just as they reached the open-air top floor-a pale, hunched man crouching on the battlements, each foot resting on a crenellation, overlooking the pleasant land below with what appeared to be disdain-though it was hard to tell what his expression was, due to the enormous bird's skull he was wearing as a helmet. This, accompanied by the cloak of black feathers hanging from his shoulders and the metal cane he twirled idly from his fingers, combined to give a grim, yet somehow comical, appearance.
Upon spotting Raditz and Lucius approaching, he hopped back onto the pathway, leaning on his cane and giving a mocking bow. "Ooh, what a treat you've brought me, Lucius! I've never seen a bio like this one… I wonder how it screams…"
Lucius glared at him. "Step aside, Mortis. His majesty wants an audience with him."
Mortis shuffled out of their way, glancing back over his shoulder as they passed and hissing menacingly, "Don't ever take that tone with me again, Lucius… you know I hate it when lowlifes like you get cocky. If you weren't here on his majesty's orders…"
"But I am," Lucius said coolly. "And you know how he disapproves of infighting."
"Tch." Mortis sauntered off, twirling his cane. "Next time, Lucius."
Earth…
Time passed; Kuriza returned with Dende, who set to work healing everyone present-even the Shadow Dragons, once he had ascertained they seemed to have no intention of continuing to fight. There had been some protest at this, but the kind-hearted guardian had been unable to stomach leaving them in so injured a state.
Alpha now sat alone atop a high cliff, having flown a couple of miles from everyone else, facing the sheer drop in silence as the wind picked up again. A tap of footsteps signified Hephaestus' arrival.
"Lost," he said simply.
She looked around, frowning. He shrugged. "That's how you feel, isn't it? Same here…"
"I've spent a long, long life in pursuit of an ideal," Alpha began. "That there was a sacred, immutable balance of creation and destruction; everyone had their place in it. All anyone had to do was to fulfil their predestined purpose. That ideal was my rock… my guiding light. Far more than the actual physical Eternal ever was."
"And it's been torn away from you." Hephaestus nodded. "Shown to be false. Wistarion broke the cycle… paving the way for the Hakaishin to do the same."
"And a few mortals…" she continued, "the beings I'd always overlooked as nameless fuel for the machine… they bested me, and the Eternal itself. They surpassed not just their own limits, but my entire worldview."
"You're rather eloquent for one who's only just come out of a complete breakdown," Hephaestus commented.
"When I'm stressed, I talk. Some people find it easier not to face their problems if they keep it to themselves… I just put it out there, try and stop it building up…" She sighed, leaning back to look up at him. "I'm doing it again. I… Hephaestus, I don't know what to think anymore."
"Sorry, me either. To tell the truth I'm feeling rather lost myself," he admitted. "I've got no advice, I'm afraid."
"You're a good listener, though. Thanks for that, at least." She paused. "Some of them gained power so quickly when threatened… no pre-ordained purpose or guidelines, only their own willpower. And against such odds… I can't imagine that kind of courage."
"And yet, you might have to find some of that courage yourself soon enough… you'll have to decide what to do with your life now the Eternal's gone."
"Only me? What about you?" Alpha raised an eyebrow.
Hephaestus coughed, looking off to the side. He seemed almost embarrassed. "I… have a debt to repay." With that, he took off, leaving her alone again.
Before long, Raditz and Lucius arrived at the highest, and most inset into the mountain, level of the palace. A large pair of double doors swung open, possibly caused by a mental impulse from Lucius or someone on the other side, possibly on their own accord due to some enchantment.
Inside was a huge chamber, carved out of the rock of the mountain itself, dominated by an enormous dining-table, well over a hundred metres long, spanning the entire length of the cavern. Softly-glowing balls of light hung in the air, spaced out at regular intervals, filling the room with an even glow.
Sitting in a tall-backed chair at the far end was an indistinct figure-all that could be made out at this distance was that they were impressively-built and dressed in predominantly dark colours.
"When a universe is born," he began, deep voice echoing throughout the massive hall, "millions upon millions of particles are scattered throughout the rapidly-expanding space. But confusing as this appears, they are governed by laws; rules that dictate where they will go and when. It is possible, with enough knowledge of these laws, to predict their paths and follow them as they swirl throughout the new cosmos, forming stars, planets, nebulae… it is beautiful."
He stood, slowly approaching, swept-back, jet-black hair becoming visible, along with his clothing acting as a contrasting frame for his china-white, strong-jawed face. "Like an unimaginably vast piece of clockwork, it ticks around, in harmony, a few simple laws, and a little push, creating a system so wonderfully complex and… beautiful," he repeated.
Raditz yawned, turning to Lucius. "So is this that leader of yours? Lord whatsit?" The deadly glare he received indicated it was.
Ignoring this aside, Lord Entropy continued, stepping slowly closer, eyes blazing despite his otherwise calm manner. "But now take this perfection and add life . Biological life," he said, rolling the words on his tongue as if their very mention tasted foul. "It is irrational. It is unpredictable. It does as it pleases. You cannot predict it, plan for it, or apply logic to it. And it has two favourite past-times: Consuming and multiplying." He stopped, directly in front of Raditz, glaring down at him. "Everything around it is destroyed eventually; it decays, it eats, it burns, it slaughters, it steals and it eradicates-and then it moves on, and it grows and expands… plants drain the earth, animals devour each other, and sapients like you destroy whatever takes their fancy… the plague is, unfortunately, incurable. Any afflicted universes must be purged."
Raditz raised an eyebrow. "I was kind of wondering what the hell the Eternal's boss could be like, but you've made your position pretty clear. Which begs the question, why haven't you told your boy here," here he indicated Lucius, "to tear my head off? Or at least to try…"
"Come, take a seat," Entropy replied tersely. "I have an offer for you. But before you hear it, there are things you must understand."
"Um… sure, but one thing…" Raditz followed him to the end of the table, slouching into a chair. "Got a change of clothes I could borrow?"
Entropy rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers and repairing Raditz's outfit completely. "Satisfied?"
Raditz nodded, leaning forwards and doing his best to look interested. "Go on."
Alpha's ears pricked up as a second individual broke her solitude. "I killed some of your compatriots, you know," she said, in a small, sad voice.
"An odd way to begin a conversation, to be sure," the Dreamer replied, walking over and sitting next to her.
"I'm trying to understand you," Alpha explained. "You don't hate me, for all I've done."
"You were raised in a brutal environment… taught that you existed for a single purpose… your life was dominated by that being. It used all of you as its tools… I don't blame you entirely. I cannot help but sympathise…"
"Sympathise?" Alpha snorted. "What would a Hakaishin know of such a life? You do as you please, all but unchallenged…"
"I was not always a god," the Dreamer interrupted, silencing Alpha momentarily. "They know me as the Dreamer; distant, somewhat odd, but on the whole kind and gentle until aroused to anger. Once I had another name… did things I would rather forget, in the service of another. When I was given the chance to become this, I seized it without hesitation."
"To escape from reality?" Alpha asked. "Into a dream…"
"Precisely… and so I am what I am now."
"That's no way to live."
"No, I wouldn't recommend it. But I do want to help you." The Dreamer leaned forwards, looking sincere.
" Help me? How, exactly? What makes you think I need your help?"
"I know you're feeling lost right now… confused." The Dreamer extended her hand. "I wanted you to know that at least one person cares. I've been where you are. I know you'll find your way, whatever that might be."
Hesitating for a few seconds, Alpha finally took the hand, the tiniest hint of a smile creeping onto her face-a sincere smile for once, the Dreamer noted. Not forced, unpleasant or mean-spirited; simply a rare expression of genuine warmth. She got the sense that she was starting to repair Alpha's shattered trust, and decided to build on that.
"Asrai," she almost whispered, forcing herself to break the taboo of centuries. She saw Alpha's puzzled expression at the unfamiliar word. "It's my true name… the one I went by, when I was like you."
Alpha blinked, realising the significance of this. "Why are you…?"
"Because I think you have the potential to be so much more than what you've been allowed to be." The Dreamer's eyes gleamed. "Am I wrong?"
"The multiverse," Lord Entropy explained, "is governed by the interaction of Chaos and Order. I am the current embodiment of Order, and in this incarnation I call myself Lord Entropy. The current incarnation of Chaos is Lady Samsara, and the both of us have existed since long before any universe you know of came into existence… and back then we loved each other, more truly and deeply and any lesser being such as you could ever dream of."
"I was under the impression the whole balance deal was to do with creation and destruction…" Raditz said, cutting him off.
"A fallacy, likely fabricated by Tenebrion-the being you called the Eternal-in order to justify its actions to its subordinates and victims. No, the true balance is between chaos and order, and in the beginning the two of us lived in that balance. We created universes together, so many of them… I marvelled at the grand structure of the cosmos, the beautiful perfection that I explained to you earlier; she took joy in the microscopic chaos at the subatomic level of everything, the trillions upon trillions of unpredictable, ungovernable quantum interactions that hold a laughing mirror up to the order they form a part of.
"But then… life. Biological life. I trust I don't need to explain my disdain for it again." Entropy wrinkled his nose. "I do not remember if it was a deliberate experiment on her part, or a simple accident… but it began, and it spread, and she took to it with a passion, creating it again and again. I could not stand it. We argued. We fought; figuratively and literally. But we were deadlocked-we could have fought for years, and neither given an inch. We might have done just that, actually… my memory of that distant time is unclear.
"So, pretending to retreat, I wove a great spell, sealing her in a single universe, preventing her from interfering with my work."
"Your work?" Raditz asked, raising an eyebrow, though he already suspected the answer.
"The complete eradication of all biological life from my perfect multiverse," Entropy said coldly, enunciating every syllable with emphasis. "But it is a vast place, and I feared what might happen if she one day broke my spell. So I expended fully half of my power, and created an army for myself-no individual one as mighty as she is, or I was, but she would have no hope against their combined might. And this is where you come in."
"Tenebrion was one of yours," Raditz said quickly, "and it and a bunch of others were exterminating us, universe by universe. Only nobody ever killed one before. So I think I'm still alive mainly 'cause you're curious."
"Not quite. Tenebrion was merely a footsoldier; I have seven more of those, including Lucius here."
Raditz glanced over his shoulder at Lucius. "You're a lot smaller than the other guy," he quipped, drawing an irritated snarl.
Entropy leaned forwards on the table. "There is a reason… the power Samsara and I wield, a power which I passed on to my servants, is the ultimate expression of the energy field you call 'ki'. In the perfected form which we possess, it is known as an Infinity Core. Tenebrion was my first attempt at creating another being with an Infinity Core, and I could not contain such power except by making it so enormous. On my second and subsequent attempts, I managed to concentrate the same power into a size more like you or I." He smiled. "Meaning that even for a footsoldier, Tenebrion was exceptionally weak-compared to someone like Lucius, its power was diffuse, spread out over a much larger area."
"Talking to you is a real blow to the ego…" Raditz complained. "Just when I was feeling pretty pumped after beating that thing."
"Well, you did achieve a level of power equal to, if not greater than, it," Entropy commented. "That implies you generated an Infinity Core of your own, albeit temporarily. Now, to my point. I have an offer for you."
"One thing first." Raditz's eyes flashed. "You're Tenebrion's boss, and you set him on us. So you'll excuse me if I-" He leapt to his feet, right hand going for his sword, his left beginning to charge an energy sphere.
" Sit down," Entropy commanded. The lights flickered. The air rippled. Dust flaked from the ceiling. Lucius winced. And, entirely against his will, Raditz sat back into his chair, extinguishing his ki, arm dropping from his sword-hilt.
"What did you…" he mumbled, shocked.
"I am the supreme being," Entropy said simply. "There is no authority above me. Is it not reasonable that I should have power over lesser creatures? Of course, those with an Infinity Core are immune to my commands." He smiled. "You generated one before. You can do it again, can't you?"
Raditz's face froze. He thought back to the last time-the tearing, burning sensation of ripping yourself apart and putting yourself back together. He tried to bring himself to do it again. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. He glanced down; his hands were trembling.
"No. You can't, or rather you won't, as I thought." Entropy smiled. What he did not say was, You're a coward, as I thought. Raditz could read that part on his face. "Because you know that the only reason you survived was dumb luck. You tasted death, and you have no desire to rush back into its embrace. Only natural." He did not say, How disappointing. Again, he didn't need to. He steepled his fingers. "Not that it matters-I have nothing to fear, even if attacked by a being with only one Infinity Core. Fear not, however. I won't keep you here indefinitely against your will-I only require you to hear and consider my offer."
"Go on, then," Raditz grunted, trying to regain his composure, having lost the upper hand in the conversation.
"Tenebrion's death has left an… opening, shall we say. It would please me to once again have an eighth footsoldier scouring the universes-my more powerful warriors I keep in reserve. You have proved that you have potential… perhaps something useful could be made of you." Entropy spread his hands. "I know you see me as an enemy. But if I understand your species correctly, what you desire above all else is power." He leaned in closer. "I can give you power beyond your comprehension. You saw how even Tenebrion was on the verge of crushing an entire galaxy with one hand."
Raditz was silent for a while, and appeared to be giving this serious thought. Then he threw his head back and laughed uproariously for almost a full minute, his voice filling the otherwise-silent hall. He lowered his head, staring Entropy in the eyes. "You're dumber than you look. Do you know why I see you as an enemy?" His voice dropped from jovial to menacing. "Because on your orders, somebody tried to murder my daughter. And my brother. So yeah, I can't fight you yet. But if you want to live, you'll kill me now, because otherwise I will get stronger, and I will be back for you."
"I have no intention of doing so." Entropy shrugged. "I take that as a no, then… very well. I am many things, but unfair is not one of them. Go and talk to Samsara-there is a road to the east leading to a dimensional gate. It leads to her universe; once I had built my army, she cast her own seal, stopping any from entering her universe but those she permits. You should qualify… you are one of her creatures, after all." He stood, turning away. "You may then choose whether, since you are clearly not with me, you wish to side with her against me, or remove yourself from this conflict entirely and return home. If the former, then I will consider you an enemy combatant. Then, I will destroy you. But not yet."
"Well." Raditz gave a mocking bow. "Good day to you, sir !" He swivelled on his heel, marching out of the chamber with an exaggerated salute.
Entropy beckoned Lucius over to him once the saiyan was out of earshot. "Lucius?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"With his disrespect, he has lost even the right to a quick, pleasant death. Follow him until he has almost reached the dimensional gate, so that he thinks he is safe, and then kill him. I want him to taste despair before the light leaves his eyes. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly, my lord."
"Then go." Entropy paused. "And bring me his head. The next time some ingrate comes barging in here with ideas above their station, I want it hanging on the wall as an example."
Chapter 26: First Blood
Raditz had taken his time meandering out of the palace and down the stone-lined path to the dimensional gate, mostly due to a disdain for being told what to do. He did want to meet this Samsara person, though-he got the sense he still didn't have the full picture by a long shot.
Mortis was back in the same spot he'd been in before, humming a painfully off-key tune to himself. Raditz ignored him and tried to walk past him, but the odd man hopped off his perch and stood directly in the saiyan's path. "It's been a long time," he murmured, "since I've killed something."
"Good for you." Raditz made to shove him aside. Just visible inside the skull-mask, Mortis' eyes narrowed, and waves of force began to crush in on Raditz from all sides, immobilising him.
"Don't take me lightly, you…" Mortis hissed.
"Hey, asshole…" Raditz growled, transforming and raising his power to its maximum. "Cut it out !" He flexed and expanded his aura, freeing himself and filling the corridor with a golden blaze.
Mortis cocked his head to one side. "Oh, you broke my hold. Interesting." I guess he's one of those 'gods' I've heard about… stronger-than-average bios…
"I'll do more than that! You want a fight, huh?" Raditz stepped in close, bringing his left arm up and swinging for Mortis' head-Mortis vanished, his mocking chuckle echoing from behind Raditz the next instant. Snarling, Raditz lashed out with a back kick, but felt a hand on his foot, catching it and shoving it upwards, flipping him fully head over heels. He managed to land on his feet, but the instant he looked up Mortis' hand was at his throat, crackling with energy. He froze, every muscle in his body tensed.
Mortis laughed again, lowering his hand and turning away. "Get out of here. You're boring me. Besides, you know I've been ordered not to kill you."
"Tch…" Raditz powered down, stomping off. That guy really pisses me off…
Something he noticed as he made his way outside; the 'grass' on the plains surrounding the palace wasn't living grass at all. It was some kind of plastic-like substance formed into the shape of grass, and a sort of dirty grey colour. So, what… Entropy can't put up with living plants, but he likes how grass looks ? I swear, he's crazy…
He was three paces from the softly-humming rectangle of multicoloured light at the end of the eastwards path-evidently the gateway-when the air pressure began to shift suddenly. His eyes snapped open wide, and he prepared to leap away, but wasn't fast enough-the entire area around him exploded, hurling him back away from the gate and landing him on his back, smoke trailing from his body. Grumbling, he raised his head, seeing a familiar figure materialise between him and his destination. "Lucius…"
His attacker bowed. "Well met, oh traveller."
"Outta my way!" Raditz leapt to his feet, turning Super Saiyan and sliding his sword out of its scabbard. Lucius snapped his fingers, and an invisible impulse tore the weapon from his hands. "What happened to your orders?" Raditz asked, shifting warily on his feet.
"They've been changed. Did you really think you could get away with your life after defying the supreme being?"
"I…" Raditz rubbed the back of his head. "Look, it's been kind of a long day and I'm all out of clever comebacks. So… yeah. Take this, or whatever." He jumped into the air, firing off a huge two-handed blast that tore up the ground beneath it as it raced for Lucius, who caught it in his open palm, weathering the resulting explosion unharmed. He blurred and disappeared, and Raditz felt an impact from behind, flooring him again.
He coughed, trying to clear his vision and heave himself up. Just that one hit… did so much damage… He almost blacked out, shaking his head. These people are just… insanely strong…
Listen to me! A strident voice-not Omega Shenron-cut across his mind. If you want to survive, do everything I say!
Wha…? Who are -
You generated an Infinity Core before, and you can do so again.
I tried earlier, and I can't-
Not like that! Converting your body to energy again would be foolish in the extreme! Your chances of survival would be… 15 to 20 percent. You were extremely lucky last time.
Well… kind of glad I didn't know that when I first tried it… but then how-
The same way you attained divine ki! You have experienced that level before-remember that feeling! Absorb it into your body! Preferably you would have several hours or days to do this. As it is, you have… until Lucius kills you. Good luck. The voice fell silent.
All right… He raised his arms, taking a staggering step sideways. Remember that feeling… that world of power… He winced, trying to recall the fight with the Eternal. It was all so indistinct…
screaming burning fire light infinity
Yes, that was it. It was becoming clearer-but not fast enough. Lucius came barrelling towards him, a cocky smile playing across his lips. Calling on all his strength, Raditz swung a full-force uppercut into the stick-like man's chin, the resultant shockwave blasting out a huge crater around the pair of them. Lucius frowned. "Hm. That's all?" His elbow came down faster than Raditz's eyes could follow, bringing him to his knees, gasping at another burst of pain.
Remember… remember!
A lazy kick dropped him onto his back, limbs splayed out around him. That feeling… that power…
"Well… I suppose this was all I could expect. You're just a lucky fool, out of his depth… I am one of Lord Entropy's chosen warriors. That is the unbridgeable gap between us." Lucius drew his arm back-and froze as a low growl rose from Raditz's throat, his aura suddenly burning to massive heights, driving Lucius back a step with its magnitude. "What is… this…?"
Raditz levitated off of the ground, rotating slowly forwards until upright. Coils of power arced around his limbs, jumping from one slowly-flexing finger to the other. His eyes shone, lamplike, emitting twin shafts of blinding light. When he settled to the ground, it cracked beneath him, shuddering with every step. The air between them hung heavy with accumulated power. "Get over here. I'm getting tired of your attitude…"
"Insolence!" Lucius spat, lashing out with a rapid jab, but Raditz was gone, somersaulting over his head, landing behind him and planting an elbow into the small of his back. He spasmed, hissing and spinning to face Raditz, leading with a backfist that spun the saiyan in a full circle, blood trailing from his face where he was struck. He injured me! This biological injured me! I don't believe this… he generated an Infinity Core in his own body?!
Man… he's still stronger than me… Raditz regained his balance, fixing his sights on the gateway. I should just focus on getting past him. Beating him might be impossible right now…
"Now you absolutely cannot be allowed to live," Lucius said sternly, forming an energy sphere between his hands, propelling it at Raditz.
It's coming in fast- With no time to dodge, Raditz caught the blast, growling as it shoved him backwards over the ground, feet skidding for purchase. Too strong… !
"Heh." Lucius dusted off his hands. "Having trouble? I guess you're still only a novice at fighting at this level."
Raditz was forced back another step, beginning to feel the heat on his hands as the attack started to overwhelm his defences. Funny, the times you think of things. I just realised… it's pretty incredible, from where I started… having come all this way. Started out as just one of Frieza's soldiers… a joke of one, really. Here I am now… I've surpassed the gods themselves…
So, am I gonna let it end here? He glanced down at the ball of energy he was holding off. Hell no! I'm gonna see… just how far I can go! His eyes narrowed. "Raaaah!" Heaving on it with his entire body, he gave the blast a mighty shove, rebounding it directly back at Lucius, who gave a start, trying to bring his guard up in time. "That's not-" It struck him, snapping his head back and drawing a yelp of pain.
Raditz relaxed, lowering his arms and exhaling, but a moment later panic filled him as the enormous power he'd felt in the past minute or so left him as quickly as it had come. Damn! I couldn't hold on to it…
Lucius had evidently also noticed this, and was now approaching with a smug grin. "Couldn't maintain a Core, eh?" He lazily swung his arm out, and Raditz darted to the side, receiving a graze to his shoulder and opening up another trickle of blood. He struck back, but Lucius caught his arm, flipping him overhead and landing him in the dirt. Raditz spat, rolling away and panting for breath. He looked down at himself, then back up to Lucius. "Hey… I've landed a couple hits now, and… you don't bleed, do you?"
"No, none of us do," Lucius answered happily, folding his arms. "Such functions are deemed an unnecessary weakness. Our bodies and minds have been created without the weaknesses which make biological life so worthless. We do not suffer from the emotional flaws that limit you, either."
"So Entropy wanted soldiers… but couldn't accept a full living thing, so he half-assed it."
"He improved on it!"
"What would you know about it? You know what makes us strong? Those exact 'flaws'-we know we're putting our lives on the line every time we fight! Because we bleed, and we cry, and we get scared. So we fight harder!" Gritting his teeth, he dug his hand into his injury, opening it up further and letting blood spill over his fingers. He held out his red-stained hand. " This is the real 'unbridgeable gap' between us!" He felt something surging back to the surface, that overwhelming well of energy coming to the fore again. " Hraaaaaa-"
The Core again! Lucius shielded his eyes from the building light. "Y-You cannot match my power! I am a superior being!"
"Are you?" Raditz rushed in, slamming a fist into Lucius' chest and launching him backwards, carving out a hundred-metre-wide trench as he went. He lowered his hand, aura roaring. That didn't kill him… all it wounded was his pride. I still can't beat him like this… He made for the gateway, looking back at the rising column of smoke for a moment as he stepped through it. "I'll get stronger… and we'll finish this."
Lucius sat at the end of the trench, fuming, the ground burning around him from his sudden deceleration. "This… isn't… over… !"
Lord Entropy sighed. This is most vexing. But I do not blame Lucius. The biological's actions far exceeded logical parameters. This is why I despise them so…
He put a finger to the side of his head, reaching out through the telepathic network he shared with his army. Lucius; were you capable of winning had the battle continued?
Certainly, majesty, Lucius replied.
I concur. Therefore, this assignment remains yours . However, if we have learned anything today, it is to expect the unexpected. As a precaution, take Ignis with you.
Lucius took a moment to reply, and Entropy sensed frustration in the pause. Yes, majesty.
The portal to Samsara's dimension is one-directional; if he leaves, he will have to travel normally. Entropy had made sure to trap her in a relatively isolated universe on the edge of the multiverse, with only one adjacent universe within travelling distance. It was to this universe that Lucius and Ignis were ordered, to wait there until they detected Raditz arriving.
Having given this order, Entropy descended the steps to the courtyard, approaching the chessboard. He took two white pawns from their position halfway up the board, and placed them a space away from the black queen (the one representing Lucius had not previously been moved back to the white edge of the board, as his visit to the palace had been intended to be exceedingly brief). Then, thinking for a moment, he held out a hand palm-upwards, conjuring a black pawn and setting it down next to the queen. Your move… Samsara.
Earth…
A series of thunderclaps echoed down the river as Pan shadow-boxed, the aftershock of each movement throwing up a spray of water over the bank. I can't believe how far they left me behind… There was residual frustration behind every blow, the definite sense that this was not good enough.
During a momentary pause, a cough alerted her to Hephaestus Shenron's arrival. She turned, nodding to him and realising she was still in her Super-Saiyan-Oozaru form; it didn't seem to drain any energy at all, so she'd completely forgotten. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable now the battle was over, she quickly regressed back to her base form. "Hey there…"
"I wanted to thank you," he said in a businesslike voice.
"For not killing you? You still on that? It's past." She waved a dismissive hand. "It's okay."
"I am grateful, though," he insisted. "Life-or-death struggles had been the norm for all of us. To remain alive, but through defeat be lifted of the obligation to fight… was oddly liberating."
"Uh…" Pan shrugged. "Good for you?"
"Nevertheless, I would not be alive now but for your mercy-therefore, as you have granted it to me, I owe you my life."
"That's kinda weird… what would I do with it, anyway?" Pan chuckled at Hephaestus' dumbfounded look. "It's a joke. I know what you mean. Look… maybe don't take things so seriously, okay?" She walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I appreciate the gesture, and I'll call on you if I ever need your help, if that'll make you happy. But I'm not the one who's just had their whole way of life pulled from under them. You need to think about yourself, not me."
Hephaestus sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"If it helps, I don't think you're a bad guy, Hephaestus. Not your fault how you were born."
"Well…" Raditz looked around at his new surroundings, powering down to normal as the Infinity Core faded again. "This looks pleasant enough." He was standing on a raised plateau protruding from a vast jungle, the foliage stretching out all the way to the horizon. There was no portal here; evidently, a one-way trip. It's just hit me that this Samsara lady could be anywhere in this universe… I'm probably not even on the right planet…
Aren't you glad you can fly interstellar distances now? Omega replied.
Sure. I… uh… hold on a minute. Raditz swivelled on his heel, eyes flicking left and right. Hadn't been paying attention before, but… divine ki signatures! This planet is covered in 'em!
Indeed… so there are gods in this universe too?
Yeah, I guess- "Uh?" A shadow had fallen over him. He slowly raised his head, an enormous beast coming into view above him, something akin to a two-hundred-metre tiger. "I must be imagining things… is that thing…"
One of the divine powers, yes.
"Nyaa!" Raditz darted back as the thing lunged down at him, jaws snapping closed a hair's breadth from his flailing legs. Taking a deep breath, he regained his balance and leapt up at the thing, delivering an uppercut to the underside of its neck, but it only rose a short distance into the air, hissing and coughing, before crashing back to the ground, rearing back and swiping at him with its front legs. He reacted quickly, grabbing the incoming claws and holding them at arm's length. I don't believe it… this thing really does have divine power… damn, it's strong!
"Yaaaaa-aarh!" Heaving his entire body backwards, he lifted the enormous beast off of the ground, hurling it backwards over his head, its massive form sailing off through the air-but the reaction force from its struggles caused his feet to sink directly into the ground, and the entire plateau he'd been standing on collapsed under him, landing him on the bank of a muddy river. "I don't think I like this universe…" he muttered, and barely a second after the words had left his mouth, as if to reaffirm this, a great serpentine head reared up out of the water, eyes flashing, snapping at him with curved, three-foot fangs.
He leapt away, delivering a powerful ki blast between its eyes. It shook its head, but was only stunned for a moment. It came at him again, stretching towards him on a long, twisting neck. He dropped to the ground as it lunged again, sliding under it and kicking upwards, knocking it back towards the water. Having created an opening, he took off, flying a mile or two straight upwards before coming to rest, panting. "How the hell… can animals… be that powerful?!"
"Interesting universe, isn't it?" Raditz spun at the voice; floating just behind him was a bright-eyed, dark-skinned woman, an easy smile playing about her lips. Bright red hair cascaded down around her shoulders, partially obscuring elaborate, bejewelled clothes. "Thanks for putting out so much energy. Made finding you really easy."
"Hey, you're the voice from earlier!" Raditz realised. He paused. "Lady… Samsara…?"
She merely smiled. Then a second later, she seemed to grow bored with the conversation. "C'mon, let's head back to my planet. Say, how fast are you?"
Raditz shrugged. "Pretty fast, I guess. I mean, I can break lightspeed no problem as of earlier today."
"Not too bad… hey, you catch up with me before we get there, I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"If I catch…?" Raditz blinked. "I don't really have time to play kids' games with you."
"Then stay here and get eaten." She laughed, a pleasant, musical sound. "C'mon!" She turned and sped off into the stratosphere.
"Damn it, fine!" Transforming, Raditz pursued, but they'd barely escaped the planet's gravitational field before he found himself being left far behind. Well, her energy's pretty overwhelming… shouldn't be too hard to lock on to… He grinned. Gonna mess around with me? Try some Instant Transmission!
A moment later, he teleported to significantly ahead of her location, making sure to not let up his forwards momentum so he'd emerge still moving-and yet, when he appeared she was still ahead of him. "The hell?" Must've done something wrong… Gritting his teeth, he tried again-once more, she was a few light years ahead. "Damn it!" However, a couple of seconds after this second attempt, she slowed and came to a halt-evidently she'd found her planet. Grumbling, he teleported one more time, appearing on some kind of savannah.
He turned to her. "Guess I failed your test, huh…"
"What?" She giggled. "Hey, I was just messing with you! Don't worry about it! I'll tell you everything you wanna know. And first off, yes, Samsara would be me, and I am she. Forget the 'Lady' part, that's for strangers only, and I've seen much stranger than you, my little friend."
Raditz hesitated momentarily at her odd mannerisms, before continuing. "Well… first off, I have to know… how'd you stay ahead of me? Instant Transmission is… well, instant! You can't be faster than that!"
"I'm not," Samsara agreed. "But when you appear, you're in a completely new set of surroundings. The speed with which you process those surroundings is at your mental reaction time-and compared to me, that's slow enough that despite you appearing well ahead of me, by the time you process where you are now, I've already overtaken you."
"Huh… wow… so… Samsara, huh… embodiment of chaos…" Raditz whistled. "I guess I should be impressed. How many Cores do you have?"
"Now, now!" Samsara said in a mock-stern voice, tapping her nose with a wink, "it's not polite to ask a lady such things."
"I… but you said you'd tell… urgh." Raditz took a deep breath. "You're messing with me again."
"I am, but that's a boring topic, so let's talk about something else. Like my poor Wistarion…" Her face fell. "Such a brave little thing… but I couldn't tell him about me, or anything-I didn't want Entropy to know I have my own agent lurking around, and the only way to ensure that was to make sure even the agent himself didn't know."
"Wistarion… was one of yours?" Raditz nodded. "We all thought the Eternal-uh, Tenebrion-was the greatest power around, and he never corrected us… so I guess he really didn't know. Say, where is he?"
"Wistarion… he was a creation of mine, yes. He is… I suppose you could say he is one with me now. Just as Tenebrion is one with Entropy, now you've killed it. I finally found a small opening in Entropy's sealing spell, and was able to create Wistarion and send him off to do his work. He was an experiment; for one thing, he didn't permanently reduce my power like Entropy's army did, being much weaker. I may create stronger beings in the future if I can increase the opening…"
"Wait, go back. Tenebrion is one with Entropy? So if I kill off his army, it'll make him stronger?"
"No, only its consciousness, its… soul, I suppose. Its physical power, you destroyed completely."
"Ah, okay, I…" Raditz paused, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, go back again. How did you know I already knew about the spell and all that?"
Samsara patted him on the head, talking as if to a child for a moment. "Silly. Entropy and I were the most perfect couple you could imagine, for more time than you could count. I know him better than he knows himself. I know exactly what he would and wouldn't tell you."
"Right… oh, speaking of that. He said you two are 'this incarnation of Order and Chaos'. So there have been others?"
"Yes, it's a continuous cycle of reincarnation… I cannot say how many there have been, though, or if there even was a 'beginning' as you would understand it. Even our memory fades over time, and I can scarcely remember even my previous self."
"What happened to you, though? How can beings like you die? You surely don't age," he reasoned.
She nodded. "We don't, indeed… it's possible our older incarnations fought like we did, but didn't pursue alternate paths and annihilated each other. Or that we chose to end that cycle, growing bored of our incarnations and desiring new personalities and situations-it's different each time, you know. Sometimes we're born as lovers, like this time, sometimes as brother and sister, sometimes merely friends; I remember that much."
"You still haven't mentioned the one you do remember. Are you avoiding the issue?" Raditz asked, curious now.
Her eyes flashed. "What? No. Yes. I…" She looked away. "We were killed."
"By…?"
"I… don't know. It wasn't a being like us… more like you."
"I thought biological life was something you created in this incarnation?"
She chuckled. "Oh, Entropy would like you to think that. But actually, over the eons, life just keeps on popping up. It seems to be an inevitable consequence of universal systems becoming more complex. He just doesn't like this kind of complexity-he can't categorise it, so he can't understand it. So he likes to pretend it's an aberration… I think he's just about managed to get himself fooled."
"Still… someone killed both of you… and you don't know who? What happened to them?"
"They vanished. I have no idea…" Her expression completely changed once more. "Hey, enough about me. You're pretty cool… it only took a little mental prodding from me to get you to produce your own Infinity Core."
"Heheh…" Raditz grinned. "Thanks… I'm still not strong enough, though. I can't even beat that Lucius guy, and he's just a lackey."
"That's because you're not using it properly." Samsara leaned in uncomfortably close, closing one eye and staring quizzically at him. "I could give you a bit of training, y'know. Show you how to master your new power. But I gotta know… what would you do, if I did?"
"I'd… probably go back out there and fight," Raditz admitted. "I got a few scores to settle. But this is probably one of those 'promise not to do anything stupid' training deals, isn't it?"
"Nah," she said offhandedly, surprising him a little. "Hell, that sounds awesome. I'd love to go out and kick some ass myself, but I'm stuck here… still. Even better than fighting is winning, and on your own I wouldn't bet much on your chances. Are there more like you back where you're from?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "Some of them have way more potential than I do, come to it."
"Excellent." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I feel a new beginning coming on. Entropy's got his army…" She rubbed her hands together gleefully. "I think I might've just found mine." She looked over at him. "Well, assuming you guys don't mind getting dragged into my war. I won't ask anyone to fight against their will."
"I think we'd do it anyway," Raditz replied. "Tenebrion tried to eat our entire universe on Entropy's orders. I'm set on taking him down already, and I know plenty of people who'd think the same way if they knew."
"Then I guess I'll tell them." Her eyes sparkled. "The past few million years have been boring as hell… but it looks like things are finally about to get interesting again."
Earth…
The remaining defenders of the planet, and their assorted friends and family, were sat around a large, circular table under a pavilion on the Capsule Corp. complex. Most of the surviving Hakaishin were in attendance, and the ki signatures of Alpha and Hephaestus Shenron could be felt lurking around the general area. Notable absentees were the Warrior, the Fisherman, and Helios Shenron.
Gohan stood, glass raised. "To victory, and the salvation of life in all universes. To new allies, and unbelievable bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. To fallen comrades. And to the safe return of others." A murmur of assent came from around the table, and all drank in unison.
Uh… hi… Raditz's voice resounded in all of their mind. I'm, uh, not dead. That's cool, eh?
It is entirely possible that the world record for most drinks simultaneously spat out in surprise was set at that instant.
"Man… that's a lot to take in," Bulma muttered, Samsara having explained the situation with occasional interjections from Raditz to keep her on track.
"Feh…" the Pilot growled. "The whole creation-destruction cycle was a lie… now I definitely want to kick this guy's ass…"
"I don't believe in fighting for revenge," Goku said, "but… this guy's soldiers are wiping out other universes too. We can't let it go on. I'm in."
"How would we even get to you, though?" Break asked. "The breach closed, right?"
That it did, Samsara replied. But those with Infinity Cores can travel between universes unharmed without any kind of portal-it's how we've got around all this time. So if you generate one, you'll be able to join us. Handy, because that's also the only way you'll even have a chance against enemies like this!
Raditz tapped Samsara on the shoulder. "Wait, you guys don't need a portal? So why was there one here from Entropy's place?"
She glanced back at him. "Ease of access. I didn't always have a counterspell stopping them getting in here. They still have to travel physically, and I'm a long way from his palace out here, so the portal's quicker. Now quiet, I'm addressing the masses."
The Pilgrim nodded. "Sure… but how do we do that, exactly? Generate this 'Infinity Core'?"
That, Samsara replied gleefully, is where this gets really fun.
Chapter 27: Level Grinding
Well, first off, Samsara informed the group, the easiest way to generating an Infinity Core in your own body is to have experienced a power on-or close to-that level before. I imagine that probably happened a couple of times, in a battle like yours?
"Sure," the Hunter said, nodding. "Goku and his brother when they finished Alpha, and then all of us when we were holding off Tenebrion." And the Silent's sacrifice, but… no point bringing that up, I suppose…
Right. The less help you had achieving that above-divine level, the easier it will be to do it for yourself. So the shaggy-haired idiot here with me, who did it on his own, will have the easiest time of it, and his brother, who was helped by three beings, not quite so much. Even harder for you gods with thirteen helpers, but you can still do it, you'll just need a bit more time.
Hmm.
"'Hmm'?" Goten raised an eyebrow. "'Hmm' what? I don't like the sound of 'hmm'."
And nor should you. I feel Entropy's mind reaching out across the multiverse. He's searching for your universe.
"He doesn't already know where it is?" Launch asked.
No… he wasn't exactly paying attention to where Tenebrion was-he certainly didn't expect anything to interrupt it. There are many, many universes, and he only has the vague sense of what area of the multiverse you're in.
"How long do we have until he finds it?"
Not long… hopefully at least a few days.
"And he probably wants to finish what Tenebrion started… make sure nobody else like Raditz emerges… damn, now we've got no choice but to fight," Trunks grumbled. He paused. "Well, uh, you guys do. Don't think I'd be much help, eheh."
Which means, as for getting ready to fight in time, Goku's your best bet, Samsara continued. But even with him, it's not certain… there might not be enough time…
The Sorcerer shifted slightly in his seat. "Well… perhaps he isn't quite our 'best bet'…"
What do you mean?
"Well… I don't think we can expect any help from her, but… there is one who achieved that intermediary state of power with the help of only one being. Theoretically, she'd be the fastest at this sort of training."
"Now just who, I wonder, could he be talking about?" As these words reached them, Alpha Shenron appeared in the doorway, strolling inside and casting a gaze around the room. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but… you're asking for my help, yes?"
"Not as such," the Sorcerer mumbled. "Merely pointing out that you'd be best-suited for the task. But like I said, I don't expect you to be particularly motivated to do it."
"Yeah, Entropy's, like, your boss' boss, right?" Marron pointed out. "If anything, we should watch out 'case you start working for him."
Alpha shot her a withering glare. "Let me make the situation clear to you. Not only is everything I have founded my life upon flawed and breakable-it is also an outright lie . The balance I strived so hard for a mere invention of a cosmic control freak who would no doubt destroy me and my comrades-we're just as biological as you are-as soon as we are no longer of use to him. The being I believed to be the supreme power in the universe is not only a mere pawn, it is a tool of selfish destruction, and not the agent of any kind of sacred cycle." Her eyes blazed. "I would sooner die than spend one moment more in that madman's service. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly," Cadmus said, meeting her eyes unblinkingly. "So, your intentions?"
"You're fortunate; your goals coincide with mine," she replied, shrugging. "But don't mistake me. I'm not 'on your side' all of a sudden."
"The enemy of my enemy…" the Knight pointed out.
"Tch!" Alpha swung around, leaving the tent and flying off.
Cadmus leaned forwards. "She did bring up a salient point, it must be said. The cycle of creation and destruction is not sacred. Wistarion merely put it into place in our universes because he thought it was." He glanced at his fellow Hakaishin. "We all know the mantra. 'Before creation, there must be destruction.' I think it may be time… to put that aside."
"You did say words to that effect before," the Pilgrim agreed. "As did Priest-"
"Bills," the Seventh Universe's Hakaishin muttered.
"…"
"You people calling me by my title in the presence of all these mortals who call me my real name… it was getting annoying." He waved it aside. "Look, just continue."
"Very well." Cadmus folded his arms. "It is time to reconsider our role. We have seen this day the good we can do as protectors. Perhaps an accord to end the cycle can be reached with the Kaioshin. What say you?"
I say, save this for later! Samsara's voice snapped, startling him. Politics can wait-Entropy's still searching for you, remember? You've been fighting all day, so get some rest-then get to wherever you want to train. Lessons start noon tomorrow. Be there, or be annihilated by an army of cosmic entities.
At midday the following day (on Samsara's planet-different worlds had different timezones, and it was three in the afternoon on Earth, for instance), the trainees had all dispersed to their desired training grounds, fully-rested and awaiting Samsara to make contact again.
She reached out with her mind. "All right, let's take a roll-call," she began. "This will be difficult; probably painful. Don't even bother answering if you're not prepared. The rest of you-sound off, name and location." Let's see what I've got to work with.
Cadmus, Mercury. First Universe.
The Warrior, Helios Shenron. Second Universe. These two, it had turned out, had not been present the previous day due to already being back in the Second Universe-they were already training hard to surpass each other before even learning of Samsara and Entropy's existence. It was unclear as to whether Helios intended to help, or merely to get stronger.
Son Goku, Pan, Hephaestus Shenron, Prometheus Shenron, Break, Bills, Son Gohan, the Hunter, Uub, Son Goten, Vegeta Jr. Seventh Universe. "I guess that's the one where the battle took place…" Samsara noted. "Damn, there are an acre of you."
The Pilot, Tenth Universe.
Alpha Shenron, the Dreamer. Twelfth Universe.
"Radi-" Samsara slapped Raditz mid-sentence, shutting him up.
"Not you!" she muttered. "I can see you just fine. Besides, you wouldn't even know what to call this universe."
"Hmm, good point." Raditz paused, before smiling. "Say, since you bring it up, what's this universe called?"
"I don't know, I never named it. But it is a fascinating one… its mere wildlife is on par with the gods of other universes. Evolution ran rampant in an arms race between competing species here, making it a bestial realm where the strong eat the weak, and producing the incredibly powerful creatures you saw. But as a result of that, intelligent life never took hold here…"
"You mean you're alone?"
She was silent for a moment, before putting on a grin. "Well… not anymore, heheh!" She did a full-circle turn on one heel. "Although, that does remind me. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions?"
"Are you always a girl?" Raditz asked immediately. "I mean, y'know… each incarnation and all. And is Entropy always a guy?"
"Stupid question."
"Well, it could have unfortunate implications if the incarnation of chaos was always female, and order was always male, couldn't it?"
"Fine, if you must know, no. We can be either. Last time it was the other way around. I'm pretty sure sometimes we can both be the same, though like I said, I don't remember anything past last time, and barely even that. Now, any non-stupid questions?"
Well… came Gohan's voice. I know it's just the name of this incarnation, but isn't it weird that the embodiment of order is called Entropy? Isn't that a chaotic phenomenon, scientifically speaking?
"Another stupid question, but sure. It is indeed chaotic, from your civilisation's current understanding of it. But we're far beyond you in that respect, and besides, we have an entirely different perspective. The way he sees it, entropy, the process of a system continually going from more to less complex, reduces the total possibility space and therefore makes things more predictable, at least for a being like him; plus, the most complex phenomenon in existence, life, is the most chaotic of all. So in defiance of your science's current understanding of the term, he views entropy as a means of bringing things from chaotic to orderly."
Um… okay… I suppose…
I have a question, Goku piped up. What did any of those words mean?
"Most stupid question yet," Samsara growled. "Question time is over. Training starts now."
She walked over to Raditz. "Give me a few minutes, everyone else, I'm gonna deal with this guy quickly, then it'll be your turn-it's a slightly different, slightly easier, approach with him since he's generated an Infinity Core on his own before, and you lot haven't."
"Easier?" Raditz brightened up.
"Slightly. All right, generate that Core again."
Raditz frowned. "Eh? I can't do it on command, y'know. It took me almost dying to-"
"Good point." Samsara formed an energy sphere above one outstretched finger. "Generate the Core, or this'll kill you."
"H-Hey!"
"Oh, fine, you big baby." She sighed, and the ball reduced slightly in intensity. "It'll only mortally wound you now. Happy?"
"I, uh-"
"Good luck!" She flicked it at him, and he froze, watching it streak towards him. She made it just slightly too fast to dodge as I am… with the Core it'd be no problem at all…
He closed his eyes, beginning to feel the heat of the attack on his face. Remember… remember that feeling!
"Yaaah!" Feeling that now-familiar immense reserve of power well up inside him once more, transforming in the same instant, he dived to the side, the energy bolt flying past him and drilling a hole through a plateau behind him.
He stood, grinning. "Got it!"
"Good." Samsara nodded. "It seems you've linked it to that Super Saiyan thing, too; that probably makes accessing it easier. But at this rate, you'll still lose it again in a minute, so… for now, just focus on retaining that power. Do nothing else." She held up a finger. "Just stand there and stay powered up for as long as you can."
"So, uh… how long we talking? To, uh, pass, I guess?" He grimaced as he internally grasped resolutely on the Infinity Core, keeping it firmly within him and deepening its link with Super Saiyan.
"Don't worry, only a few hours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other students to teach."
"Only a few-?!" he spluttered, but she was already walking off to address them. Grumbling mightily, he shifted into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes, focusing his mind.
"All right, I mentioned before that having experienced a level close to an Infinity Core before is extremely helpful, but it's not the only factor, and it's not impossible without having done so-just even more difficult. It's a mix of that previous experience, your current power level, your potential to grow, the presence of powerful training partners, and one hell of a lot of hard work and effort. Perhaps most importantly, though, is knowing such a level exists."
How does that work? Bills asked.
"Well… picture someone standing on a cliff in heavy fog. The other side is actually only a few feet away, and there's an enormous hoard of treasure sitting on it. Logically, jumping over is a pretty obvious choice. But unless you tell them the other side's so close, they'd never even think of jumping."
I guess that… sort of makes sense…
"I don't care if you understand it. Just that you do it already."
Finally, enduring much berating and impatience from Samsara, Raditz managed to acclimatise himself to the heightened level, completing its link to his Super Saiyan transformation so he generated the Infinity Core every time he transformed. "You said I still hadn't mastered it, though… that's why Lucius was still stronger than me."
"Right." Samsara approached him, arms folded behind her back. "Remember how Tenebrion was weaker because its power was dispersed throughout its body? You're doing something similar, only externally."
He frowned. "Eh?"
"I'll demonstrate. Hit me with your strongest punch. You know I'll be fine, so go all-out."
"Uh, sure…" No idea what this is gonna 'demonstrate', but she seems to know what she's doing so far… He transformed, pumping ki into his left arm and delivering a full-force blow, feeling it stop a couple inches from Samsara's face, the shockwave spiralling out behind her and blasting straight through the atmosphere into space, his aura streaming out behind him and ripping up the ground around them.
He lowered his hand, smiling. "Well, you got it. So…"
Samsara lowered her invisible guard, turning to face away from him. "Just as I expected. Now I'll show you mine." She raised her fist. "Don't worry, I won't hit you."
"Your… full power…?" Raditz grinned nervously. "Maybe I should stand back…"
"Stay there," she said, sliding her feet apart and drawing her arm back, raising her other into a guard position, slowly exhaling. She swung, and Raditz winced, tensing up-but somehow, nothing. At least, there was no outward destruction, no explosion, nothing but a faint stirring of the wind around her. And yet… I can still sense the power behind that blow… if that had hit me, I'd be a red stain on the ground… "How'd you do that?"
"All that destruction you like to cause while fighting-it's a waste of energy. Like the heat a lightbulb gives off. The energy it takes to destroy a planet, a star, or whatever-think of that kind of power, concentrated into a single point the size of your fist or foot. Much more powerful, yet less outwardly destructive. That's why you couldn't match Lucius before. Your Infinity Core has the potential to generate exactly as much power as his, but too much of it was going to unnecessary things."
"I… see…" Raditz nodded. "Makes sense, I guess."
"So-make that your mantra from now on. Every scrap of energy that you can save from something else, goes towards making you stronger and faster." She paced up and down in front of him, elaborate outfit gleaming in the midday sun. "Only destroy something if it's in your way. Use energy attacks only when attacking from range gives you an advantage. Fly when jumping won't work in the situation. Anything that uses energy…"
"Uh…" He raised a hand sheepishly. "Doesn't going Super Saiyan use up energy?"
"At your level, not much, it seems-you've done a lot of training to perfect the form. Besides, you need it to generate your Core, so there's really no getting around that. Now, get to work; I'm gonna mentor the others for a bit. Some of them are making good progress."
"So…" Gohan pushed off the ground, somersaulting over Bills' lunge and landing back-to-back with Break, Bills and the Hunter speeding in to surround them. "I have to wonder… when you guys, uh, pass on, what happens? Are there just a bunch of old Hakaishin kicking around the afterlife?"
The pair of gods fired beams in towards them, and the saiyan hybrids formed a combined shield, contesting the attack's power and holding it back. "Not exactly," the Hunter answered. "The afterlife can't really handle that kind of power, so a large part of their divine strength is sealed within their soul. They tend to just pass themselves off as normal beings, since they've spent so long apart from everyone; kind of a pleasant change."
The clashing energies finally detonated, and the four fighters emerged from the dust cloud, locked in a high-speed melee. "To anticipate your next question: I guess in theory," Bills added, "if you were ever to restore one to life, their full power would also return."
"Yeah, speaking of which…" Break jumped over a couple more attacks, kicking off the Hakaishin pair's backs and rolling to a halt. "Time out." The other three nodded wearily, sinking to the ground next to her-they'd been at it for some time today. She searched for the familiar telepathic signal, concentrating her mental energies skywards. Elder Moori?
I hear you, the Namekian leader replied after a moment.
How's it going with the Dragon Balls?
Not good, I'm afraid. We've tried the usual process to make a set from scratch, but… nothing. Their ultimate source really was Tenebrion, it seems.
Sure, but it made itself that source somehow, right? That means there's a way?
Hypothetically. Moori's voice grew uncertain. We really have no idea how it did it. For all we know, there may have been a very specific ritual or spell involved. The process could well have taken a thousand years. There are a lot of things we're still only beginning to understand. I'll keep you updated as we learn more.
Thanks.
"Any luck?" Gohan asked. She shook her head. "Ah… maybe we really have just been cheating death for too long," he mused, resting his head on his drawn-up knees. "Our safety-net was pretty fragile in the end…"
Samsara jerked upright, hopping over to the balcony of her chamber, located at the top of an enormous, twisted tower that stood almost alone in the middle of the vast plains. Her eyes narrowed. Damn it… already? We're not ready…
She vaulted over the balcony, rapidly growing impatient with the speed gravity was taking her to the bottom and accelerating her fall, skipping inside the ground floor, lifting Raditz's bed off the floor and dumping him on the irregular tiles. "Up and at 'em, trooper."
"Screw you. Sun's not even up yet-" Right as he said this, the first rays of sunlight burst over the horizon, flooding in the doorway and shining directly in his tired eyes as he raised his head. "Ow, ow, ow, irony, irony!" he yowled, rolling across the floor with his hands over his face.
"When you're quite finished embarrassing yourself?"
"Whaaaat?"
She sighed. "Entropy's found your universe."
Raditz instantly jumped to his feet, snapping to attention. "Ah. Time's up, then. How do we stop him attacking?"
"Go on the offensive. He'll want to stop any attack on his own forces before making a move himself. By changing the front lines to his own territory, you'll move your universe down his priority list."
"All right… guess that's exactly what I'll do, then." He walked alongside her out the door. "I'll head out straight away."
"None of the others are ready yet," Samsara warned, "though some are very close. And Lucius isn't alone this time-there are two of them, waiting for you to emerge, in the only universe you can reach from here. So be careful."
"I was kinda hoping you'd say 'it's too dangerous' or something… it'd make me feel braver…"
"Hey, you know me by now. I know how it is; universes to save, and all that." She shook his hand firmly. "If you're gonna draw his attention before he sends anyone to your home, you'd better get going."
"Right."
She turned away, sending out a mental signal to the others. Hurry, all of you… we're gonna need more than just him for this.
The process of travelling from one universe to another was a little like Instant Transmission, only the sensation was stretched out over thirty seconds or so. Aaaand I just realised I left my sword in Entropy's universe. Wonderful. He emerged, of course, in space, but it was far from empty. Huge metal warships hung all around him, surrounded by swarms of hundreds upon hundreds of smaller fighters. A storm of beams and projectiles filled the space between them, tearing through energy shields and ripping apart hulls in a series of titanic explosions.
Raditz did his best to ignore this. Not my problem. Not my fight. Don't even know who the good guy is, or even if there is one. I'm here to prevent the total destruction of all life in the multiverse, so sorry, but priorities.
Now, where… ah. Locating the two energy signals in an adjacent galaxy, he teleported directly to their location. He emerged on another battlefield, this one ground-based, with warriors leaping all around, ki beams filling the sky. Some of them even have demigod ki… I have to wonder what those ships were doing using weapons like that, when there are fighters like this around. One of these guys would crush a whole fleet of those things.
Then again, I did come quite a ways. It's possible the people in this galaxy have never even heard of those people from back where I was before. One took a pot-shot at him; he dodged with such casual ease the blast appeared to pass directly through him. With a snap of his wrist, he sent the soldier skidding wildly away. "Man, is this universe just nothing but battlefields?"
"You're actually not wrong. This entire universe if filled with eternally-warring armies. It's quite amusing to watch."
He tensed up at the voice. "Hey, Lucius. Didn't hear you come in. You're pretty good at concealing your power. How's your friend?" He turned, surveying the pair. Lucius was now sporting a jet-black suit; his ally was a shorter, stockier, visored man, shoulders rising and falling as if angry or out of breath, dressed in a dark red bodysuit. Elaborate patterns of lighter crimson faded in and out of visibility with every breath, glowing softly.
"Ignis will not interfere," Lucius said coolly. "I require no help to deal with you."
"Or at least you'd hate to admit that you do." Raditz grinned. "I'm not the same as I was last time."
"No. You're still far beneath me…" Lucius stepped forwards, removing his hands from his pockets and flexing his fingers. "It is unforgivable that I allowed you to escape once. Today, I will wipe away the shame of my failure."
"Whatever you say, big guy." Raditz took a step back, cracking his knuckles and transforming.
"Lucius, let me-" Ignis began.
"Ignis! Do not interfere!" Lucius fumed.
"I… want his blood! I haven't seen action for so long, I must-I must-"
"Do not defy me!" Lucius thundered, and Ignis retreated a step. Lucius turned away, facing Raditz again. "If you must find some entertainment for yourself, clear the area for us."
"… fine," Ignis grunted eventually. "But you owe me." He rose up into the air, stretching out both arms. A moment later, the plain blossomed with a multitude of explosions, shredding the warring armies and filling the air with their screams.
Raditz flinched, head swinging around. "Hey, you didn't have to-"
"Don't turn your back on your opponent!" came Lucius' voice, rapidly approaching. Raditz's eyes snapped open wide and he dived off to the side, something grazing his side at unbelievable speed, throwing off his landing and leaving him scrambling for balance. "Rrgh…"
"Surprised?" Lucius straightened up, smiling malevolently. "If you really have improved, I'll fight for real this time."
He's not kidding… he's even faster than last time… Raditz leapt backwards as another blow scythed under him, catching his leg before he could get away and bringing him back to earth. He rolled away, sliding to a halt and clenching a fist, streams of power swirling down his arm and coiling around it. His arm now pulsing with a harsh light, he kicked off the ground, leaving an indentation where he sprung, nearing Lucius and smashing him across the face, landing a solid hit.
Lucius swayed backwards, rocked by the titanic impact, but suddenly seemed to recover his balance, pulling Raditz after him and swinging them both around, pushing his momentum off onto Raditz so that the saiyan was the only one of the pair to go down, Lucius merely taking a step back and straightening his tie. "Heh. It almost seemed like you had grown some, but as soon as you got riled up you forgot everything. You're no stronger than before…"
Raditz scowled. He's right… I'm not using my head. Just throwing power around won't work-I have to focus it! I'm still doing the lightshows, the collateral damage… it's all a waste.
He's starting to pull it together… Lucius realised. Can't let that happen. He rushed in again, and Raditz swiped at the blur of motion as it sped past him, but hit nothing. A second later, as Lucius touched down behind him, Raditz felt dozens of delayed impacts from their brief clash, clutching at his aching stomach. Focus! He reminded himself.
Before he recovers… I can end this without getting drawn into a protracted battle. Lucius momentarily accelerated, appearing directly behind Raditz and putting a hand against his neck. "Goodbye," he said, some relief in his voice.
Something scraped against his hand, and the next instant Raditz's forearm smacked against his, knocking his attacking limb out of position; Raditz continued his spinning motion, leaping into the air and bringing the back of his leg down into Lucius' head, driving him into the ground-with such velocity that he vanished entirely from view.
Raditz nodded to Ignis. "S'cuse me, sir," he said, teleporting to the opposite face of the planet-appearing over the ocean-and waiting a moment for Lucius to come bursting up from the surface, still flying from the force of his kick.
Lucius rubbed his face, glaring at Raditz. That was… perfectly controlled! The only destruction was caused by the force he applied to me… there was no outward shockwave at all! "Damn you…"
The pair dropped to a nearby island, each hoping to increase their ki output by saving on flying. Lucius glowered, evidently beginning to lose his cool after the recent upheaval. "Can dish it out, but can't take it?" Raditz taunted, rushing in and slipping a punch in under Lucius' guard, then drawing the same arm back across in the other direction for a backfist. He jumped, gaining momentum, Lucius blocking his left leg, but failing to catch the right as it immediately followed up, Raditz landing in the sand and digging his left foot in, driving his right further into Lucius' chest and launching him back. "Come on. Is that really all you've got?"
"This… will not last… biological!" Lucius wheezed, standing fully and raising his fists. "You pathetic creatures creep and crawl in the dark, swarming and multiplying…" His body began to glow, as if a star burned within him. "… and the dark things cannot stand the light! "
Whatever his speech is, I don't really care to listen to it. Raditz ran back in, aiming a punch for Lucius, just as the light reached a new intensity, totally blocking out his vision. Like a Solar Flare, but more thorough-to stop me from just dodging the light-rays… I can still sense him in front of me, but I can't tell what he's doing, so if he attacks, I won't be able to defend… I can either break off and escape, or let him have his hit so I can give one myself…
Ah, what the hell. I think I just figured out my winning tactic, anyway. He continued his planned path, feeling his fist hit home just as Lucius' elbow sliced its way upwards into his chin. Both of them were driven back a step, locking their knees and facing off again.
Raditz grinned, noticing his opponent sagging slightly, wavering on his feet. "Tired already? Man, you don't get a workout like this often, do you? Me, this is what I live for."
Lucius stumbled, gasping for breath. "You're… insane."
"No. Just better than you."
Chapter 28: Why
Raditz began to approach Lucius, eyes narrowed, a predatory expression on his face. "See, blow for blow we're about even now; we've both got one Core, and we've both just about fully mastered its power. But like I said, you can match me in terms of offence, but you can't take a hit like I can."
"How the hell… do you train… something like that?"
"Experience, mostly. I've been plenty of peoples' punching-bag over the years."
"Enough of this…" Lucius growled, gathering his strength and leaping at Raditz. "I will never be defeated… by the likes of you-"
"And yet!" Raditz jumped up to meet him, Lucius' fist crashing down into Raditz's abdomen as Raditz's foot snaked up into Lucius' chest. They tumbled to the ground, rolling away from each other, coming to rest half in the water. A few seconds later, Raditz stood, rubbing his head and looking down-Lucius wasn't moving. "Like I said. Can't take a hit."
"No, but you don't look so good yourself."
Raditz sighed, turning to the speaker. "You were… Ignis?"
"S'me." Ignis' body began to smoulder, the pulsing pattern on his outfit lighting up. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you… I can hit someone like you for real."
Not great… Raditz shifted stance, wincing as spikes of pain shot up his left side. I'm really not at 100% after that… Ignis is about the same level as Lucius, I probably can't beat him like this…
Indeed, when Ignis immediately attacked Raditz couldn't quite follow his movements, only seeing the light displacement where he'd been the previous moment. Something struck him in the face, and the world spun, before a lower impact took him off his feet. He landed unsteadily, looking up just in time to see Ignis' leg coming around again. He lunged for it, grabbing it two-handed before it could hit him and heaving Ignis overhead with it.
Ignis gave a furious cry, heaving his whole body in the opposite direction to the one Raditz was pulling him, dragging the saiyan after him and driving him into the ground, Ignis' foot coming down hard on top of him.
He used Instant Transmission to get away, creating distance between them. "Is that as far as your resolve can take you?" Ignis sneered. "Lucius taxed you more than you let on…"
"Eh, I was just pushing his buttons, to throw him off his game," Raditz admitted. "See, he's got an ego the size of Tenebrion. You, though… short attention span, short fuse. I can use that."
"Not likely. You're quickly losing strength… how long can you keep fighting?"
He's right. Raditz backed up warily. At this rate, I'll be dead pretty soon…
Ignis bent his knees, preparing to spring-and froze as a spectral swirl opened up between the prospective opponents, widening into a tear in reality, through which emerged a tall figure-Alpha Shenron, a cocky smile playing about her lips, arms folded, aura blazing. She'd acquired a small jacket and jeans from somewhere, and her hair was cut down to neck-length.
"What, did fighting so many saiyans make you afraid of long hair?" Raditz mumbled, in lieu of saying what was really on his mind-'thanks so much for rescuing me, seriously thought I was gonna die there', 'I still can't believe you're helping us', that sort of thing.
"I would find you in a universe of nothing but war," Alpha said nonchalantly, ignoring the comment.
"Speaking of universes, where'd you appear from? I mean, Infinity Core users can just fly from one to another, but they can't be sure where they'll appear, and you had that whole portal thing going…"
"My Void Banisher technique," Alpha explained. "The thing I used on you and your brother when I first encountered you… I just used it on myself. Now sit back and recover your energy-leave this one to me."
"Uh…" Raditz frowned. But if she had to use that technique to get here… and I still don't sense her powering up to my level… He balked. "Wait a minute, have you even achieved-"
"I said get back !" she barked over her shoulder at him. "I'll be fine."
"Heh… that so?" Ignis stalked towards her, steam beginning to rise from the lines of light running along his body. "With just divine ki?" He folded his arms, coming to a halt a couple of feet away and glaring up at her. "What, exactly, do you plan to do?"
Alpha nonchalantly raised one hand from rest at her side, grinning. "Void Banisher," she almost whispered.
"Wha-what the-" Ignis growled as tendrils of darkness swarmed around him, finding himself being sucked into another portal; within seconds he was gone, swallowed entirely.
Alpha lowered her hand, spinning on her heels and giving a mockingly-stiff bow to Raditz. "Oh ye of little faith."
Raditz shrugged. "You know that he'll be back, right? I mean, you sent him, what, outside this universe? He can fly back here."
"Oh, I know." Alpha hopped up onto a raised piece of ground, scanning the sky as Ignis' power level became detectable again-he'd re-entered the universe. "I just thought it'd be funny to make him mad."
"So, do I take over now? You've only got two charges of that thing, and you've used them both now."
"Will you cut it out ?" She shuffled back a little as Ignis landed, his entire body aflame. "I've got this."
"Whatever you say…" Raditz, hands behind his head, slouched off, muttering to himself, something about how if she wanted to get herself killed, that was her business, and so on.
"Do you think this is a game?!" Ignis rumbled, eye twitching. "That accomplished nothing!"
"I disagree." Alpha raised an eyebrow. "So, what, you're a fire guy? That's cool. I know one of those. Helios Shenron, reaches temperatures as hot as a star. Can you do that?"
"A star?" Ignis shook his head. "Don't compare me to such an amateur. My abilities are far beyond that-"
"Void Summoner!" Alpha flicked both hands out, forming the smaller, more destructive portal her ultimate technique produced. It shot forwards, the ethereal object passing straight through Ignis and dissipating, drawing a pained yelp from him as his body warped and twisted, pulled by otherworldly forces. "Monologues," Alpha said. "I indulge in them myself, so I should know-they tend to distract you."
Ignis bent over, gasping for air for a few seconds, before managing to recover, gritting his teeth and standing up straight, steam rising from the corner of his mouth, where one would expect to see blood in a normal being. Raw voidstuff… harnessed into destructive energy. "You little bitch…"
"Hey, I resent that!" Alpha smirked. "I'm not little."
"I'll tear you apart!" Ignis howled.
This one's got a hell of a temper on him… Alpha sighed, her expression growing serious. "Well, damn. Was hoping between those two I could knock you out or something. But I guess I gotta do it the hard way."
Across the island, Raditz lifted his head. "Eh?" Her power's increasing?
Alpha felt the still-unfamiliar source of power rising to the surface from within, closing her eyes. Still pretty hard every time…
"I… I just can't do it! It's been days, and nothing…"
"Alpha… you have an incredibly strong will. I know this is within your abilities-but you've let some of that fire die down. You've lost everything you believed in…"
"I have something. I'm gonna kill the bastard who set up the lie my life has been, if it's the last thing I do. That's enough, isn't it?"
"…"
"Isn't it?"
"Yes…"
"But?"
"But revenge is so often a self-destructive path… if that is all that drives you, it's likely that even if you succeed, it will be the last thing you do… you'll have nothing left."
"Exactly. What am I here for once that's done? I've got no purpose anymore."
"Are you really still that blind? Haven't you learned anything from all of this?"
Her eyes snapped open, framing a vicious grin as her aura burned with the focused intensity of an Infinity Core. "So, how do you like me now?"
Ignis took a step back, frowning. "Another one… !" He paused. "An Order Core, though… not a Chaos-type like your friend's… are you one of Tenebrion's creations?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Then come to your senses!" he snarled. "You trace a direct lineage back to Lord Entropy himself! You were created to further his supreme will! Join us, and fulfil your true purpose-" He got no further, as something collided with his face, throwing him back into the ocean, Alpha skidding to a halt on the island's shore, glowering at her spluttering opponent.
"Don't even start with that crap," she growled.
"All of us who fought you… everything we did was in defiance in of the 'purpose' we were designed for… there was no grand plan, no destiny."
"Let me make this clear-I'm here because I choose to be!" She jabbed a thumb up at herself. "The person I am has nothing to do with what I was created as, and you have no power over me!"
"We've all been living on just fine like that. I know you can, too. So please… believe in something better than revenge.
"And Alpha… I… promise me you won't die."
Ignis struggled back out of the water, floating back to dry land, steaming all over as his flames reignited. "Why are you… telling me this?"
"One, I like to monologue, as I've said. Two… I know Entropy's listening. What, did you think I was talking to you ?"
Ignis bellowed, leaping up towards Alpha, sweeping her feet from under her and slamming her into the ground with an overhead elbow. She gripped one edge of the resulting crater with each hand to keep from falling too far, bringing both knees up to halt his continued charge. Snarling, he scrambled forwards, hands going straight for her eyes, dagger-like. Acting quickly before he could inflict such a devastating injury, she flipped backwards, retracting her knees and smashing her feet into his chest, launching him skywards.
Jumping upright, she swayed a little, almost falling, and in the moment she looked away, Ignis shot down at full-speed to strike at her from behind.
"Nice try!" Raditz came soaring in from the side, ready to intercept-until Alpha snapped upright, twisting in mid-air to catch his attack and throw him to the ground, the distraction allowing Ignis to land his own blow and send Alpha crashing down next to Raditz. "What the hell?!" the saiyan spluttered.
"It was a ruse, you idiot-I had him!" she grumbled.
"I still would've helped if you'd let me!"
"Are you deaf? What did I tell you earlier?"
"All right, all right…" Raditz threw his hands up, powering down and stomping off. "You've got this, whatever. Be stubborn, I don't care."
She jumped to her feet, dusting herself down. "Continue," she said to Ignis, who immediately did so, leaping at her with a volley of close-range attacks, each one leaving a burning trail in its path.
"You stood there and took the hit… are you trying to give me the advantage?" he laughed.
"The advantage?" She swayed right and left, avoiding every strike. "You can have it. I could take you in my sleep." She jumped, kicking off the back of his head and landing behind him as he stumbled forwards. "Your movements are predictable, your technique is pathetic and there's no conviction to anything you do."
Yelling incoherently, he swung around, lashing wildly at her with great arcs of flame. She weaved in close, grasping his head in both hands and swinging her forehead down into his face, feeling something break-probably his nose or jaw. "And just so you know," she whispered before breaking away, "as for the comrade of mine you called an 'amateur'… he is a hundred times the warrior you are." She took a step back, then leaned in to deliver a punch straight into his chest, fist vanishing inside and bursting messily out of his back, shattering his ribs and severing his spine as it went. She stared him in his wildly-dilating eyes. "I know you 'become one' with Entropy when you die. So… tell him I'm coming for him."
Ignis let out a hollow sigh, collapsing onto his front and laying still. Alpha flexed her left arm, the limb steaming from where she'd punched through Ignis and endured the intense heat within him. Thank you, Asrai…
"Damn…" Raditz grinned, approaching. "That was awesome. Guess I didn't need to worry."
Alpha ignored this. "How are your energy levels?"
He thought for a moment. "Uh, better, I guess… thanks for letting me rest. Not full-strength yet, but I'm getting there."
"Good. We need to keep up the pressure on Entropy, to stop him from mounting an attack himself."
"True, but the only benefit of that is to the people who live in our universes…" He grinned. "Didn't think you cared."
She scowled. "I don't-" she began, before stopping herself. "All right, fine. I've always tried to be honest, and… yes, I think I do. I don't know how, after so many others I've destroyed… but I find myself caring about whether people I don't even know live or die. It's… a little disconcerting."
"Don't worry about it," Raditz said, chuckling a little. "I've been where you are. You'll be better for it." He looked over towards the horizon, with its twin setting suns, and back, extending his hand. "You know what? You're all right, Alpha."
"Feh." She turned away to hide a smile, crossing her arms. "I never said I liked any of you personally ."
"Whatever you say. So… you're the only one who's succeeded so far?"
"I can't speak for your friends, but it seems that way."
"Well, I hope they hurry-hmm." A worried expression crossed his face.
"What is it?"
"Where'd Lucius go?"
"The guy you beat before I got here?"
"Yeah."
They began to search, hovering a ways up and scanning the entire island-no sign of Lucius. "He never regained consciousness," Raditz muttered, "or I'd have felt his energy fluctuate for at least a moment before he could suppress it…"
"Must've been someone else," Alpha suggested.
"Indeed," an off-tune voice giggled from behind them. "And now I've completed my first task of taking Lucius home, I'm back-to clean up his mess."
It was at that moment that they lost consciousness.
Lucius awoke to find himself sprawled in front of Lord Entropy's throne. "Ugh…" He picked himself up, stumbling as his injuries throbbed. "That one… I will make him suffer for this!"
Entropy glowered at him. "You will not. That is no longer your mission. You have demonstrated quite ably that you are unable to defeat him. There are now two of them. Ignis is dead. I had you returned here, in order that someone more capable could take over."
"Who?" Lucius asked, catching himself at the last moment and turning it from a demand into a question.
Entropy ignored him. "Last time the enemy's abilities exceeded all expectations, and there was no shame in your failure. This time, you knew what you were up against. His ally hadn't even arrived yet. There were two of you." Something flew into his hand from across the room-a white pawn; looking at it, Lucius instinctively knew it was his. "I do not tolerate incompetence, Lucius." He pressed down on the top of the pawn with a finger, and Lucius felt a great crushing pain in his skull, groaning loudly and clawing at his head.
"You must… give me another chance, majesty…" Lucius gasped. "I must have veng-"
Entropy advanced another step, squeezing the piece in his fist and drawing a pained scream from Lucius. "You will remain here until I say otherwise." He did not, strictly speaking, need to do anything but say this-his creations were magically compelled to obey his commands, and physically could not contravene them. He stared down at the pawn in his hand. If only I could do this with my enemies' pieces… all this tiresome, time-consuming nonsense could be circumvented. I'm going to kill them all anyway… why do they have to make it difficult for me? It's very inconsiderate.
"Huh…" Lucius rasped, lifting his head from the floor. "Huh… wh… who… did you send?" he repeated.
Entropy broke into a cruel smile.
Prequel 1: The Pit, Part 1
Hephaestus collapsed into the shelter of a small outcrop, panting. "They were… remarkably persistent…"
"Yeah…" Prometheus staggered in after him, chewing on something unidentifiable, his mode of speech a marked contrast to his well-spoken companion's. "No kidding. D'you see me take out the big red one?"
"No, I was too busy engaging the other five you ignored." Hephaestus smiled archly. "You'd be a fine warrior if you weren't such a glory-hound." They fell silent for a minute, and Hephaestus took to manipulating the ground beneath him, forming tiny spires and columns, smiling a little at the results of his efforts.
"Still working on that?" Prometheus asked.
"Of course."
"It's already fully combat-ready, what more do you want?"
"Something different," Hephaestus sighed.
Prometheus scratched his nose. "Eh?"
"Well, of course I can use it to destroy. That's all we ever do down here. Maybe I want to create something, too."
"You're strange."
"If that's strange, I'd hate to be normal." Silence fell again.
After a while, Prometheus sniffed. "Hey… you smell burning?"
"No…"
"I do."
Hephaestus paused. "Your senses were always sharper than mine… we should investigate." They both crawled out of their bolt-hole, hopping up onto the darkened plain above.
Prometheus gaped, stopping in his tracks. "What the hell happened here?"
Hephaestus gazed around, shaking his head. "A battle, I suppose…" The place was littered with Shadow Dragon corpses, some bludgeoned, some stabbed, many burned. "They've all been left alone after they were killed… whoever did this wasn't even hungry. Why, then?"
"Could ask this guy," Prometheus said, propping up a half-charred, shuddering casualty. "Heard him breathing."
Hephaestus nodded, approaching. Again… I never would have noticed it… I forget how competent he is, sometimes. He crouched down in front of the wounded man. "What happened?" he asked, calmly.
The Shadow Dragon's eyes flicked open, greeted with the impassive visage Hephaestus' helmet presented the world with. He licked his cracked lips, preparing to speak. "He… he cannot be stopped…"
"Who? Is this who attacked you?"
"… cannot be stopped… a tide… a tide of fire, a tide of light…" The Shadow Dragon's eyes dilated wildly, and he gripped Hephaestus' shoulders, almost chanting now. "Light, out of the darkness. And in the light we will all be judged."
"Out of the darkness…" Hephaestus muttered. "Someone's going to try and break out?"
"That won't end well," Prometheus added. "The Wardens have been recruiting like crazy recently. Way too many of 'em to get through to the top."
"No… no, never too many!" the Shadow Dragon insisted, almost hysterical now. "Cannot… be stopped! I understand now. Helios brings the light and the fire. And in its purity we are judged." He indicated his dead comrades. "But we were not pure. And we burned for it." He gave a gasp, falling still.
Prometheus set him down. "Helios… never heard of him."
"I have, once… some kind of warlord from out west…" Hephaestus supplied. "But this… this is crazy."
"I dunno." Prometheus gestured around at the devastation. "From the positions of the bodies, it looks like it was an absolute slaughter. Like, I'm not even sure if this Helios' side lost anybody. And the way that guy was talking about him…"
Hephaestus nodded, guessing what his friend was thinking. "If anybody can make the climb… it might well be him."
Chapter 29: Escalation
The sight that greeted Raditz and Alpha upon awakening was not a pleasant one; scorched earth, thousands of charred bodies, ruined cities and devastated forests as far as they could see. They appeared to be floating a few dozen metres off the ground, smoke from the slowly-dying flames below drifting up towards them, some kind of invisible force holding them in place. "I know this is supposed to intimidate me or make me angry or whatever," Raditz mumbled, "but this just reminds me of my childhood, honestly."
"You and me both," Alpha concurred.
"Y'know, I've been hit with this immobilisation technique before," he added, "though it was much weaker back then. I guess you were just playing around last time… right, Mortis?"
The skull-adorned figure emerged through the smoke, bowing. "How do you like it?" he asked. "It took me several tries before I could get the effect just right. I had to raze every city in this star system… I was getting worried you'd wake up before I got one that looked perfect."
"Okay, now I'm getting angry," Raditz growled.
"Speak for yourself," Alpha said coolly.
"Hmm, but who to kill first, and how?" Mortis wondered.
"Him," Alpha said instantly.
"Her," Raditz said at the exact same moment. The two glared at each other.
"Weeeeell…" Mortis rocked on his heels, idly snapping his fingers. "Can't take too long, Entropy wants this thing over with, and I was chosen because unlike some people, I get things done . Shame, really," he giggled. "If I had longer, I could figure out a way to get you to kill each other… that'd be fun…"
"Look, if this is how you get off I don't judge," Raditz joked, "but I got places to be, universes to save. So, if you'll excuse me!" His eyes narrowed, and he teleported away, appearing down behind Mortis, stretching his limbs. "Ahh… man, do I have a cramp…" He looked up at Alpha. "You know, you could've escaped too, if you hadn't wasted your Void Banisher charges showing off…"
"The irony is not lost on me," she sighed.
Mortis shook his head sadly. "Keh… it's no fun if you escape… then I've got to deal with you running around fighting back, and I can't come up with something creatiiiiiive-!"
Raditz stood dumbfounded for a moment. "You are an odd one…"
"Well, anyway," Mortis continued, lowering his voice, "I've still got one for that, even if I can't have you, so that makes you- expendable !" Shrieking the last word, he began to move forwards, before vanishing from Raditz's sight. A second later, he settled to the ground cross-legged behind Raditz, yawning loudly, as a bloody slice appeared on each of the saiyan's limbs.
Raditz managed to keep his balance, turning to Mortis' new position. "What the hell…" he muttered.
Mortis looked back over his shoulder, chuckling. "What, were you expecting another footsoldier like those others?" He threw back his head completely, letting out off-tune barks of laughter. "Lord Entropy isn't stupid. He's not taking any chances… which is why he sent someone three times as powerful as Lucius or Ignis."
Samsara was running in little circles, hands running frantically through her hair. "No, no, this is too soon, too soon! Entropy's sent a Vanguard already! I didn't anticipate this…"
Vanguard? Came Gohan's voice. What's-
"To put it simply, bad news," Samsara muttered, trying to steady her voice. "Entropy's elite. They're… actually not far off his own level of power."
"So hurry up, already! At the moment, he's just toying with them… he could grow serious and decide to complete his mission at any moment…"
"Three Infinity Cores?" This must be why Samsara wanted us to all fight at once… Raditz realised.
"There's still fight in your eyes…" Mortis mused, unfolding his spindly frame and standing, tattered cape flying out behind him. "You're thinking this is just like before-you'll keep on powering up until you can defeat me, too." His eyes, behind the mask, narrowed to slits. "Oh, you have a lot to learn, little boy."
"So educate me!" Raditz shouted, making a flying leap at Mortis, slashing downwards with one arm; Mortis sidestepped, then blocked the follow-up high kick, sneaking in a lazy uppercut through the momentary hole in Raditz's defences and knocking him away again.
"You know," Alpha shouted down to him, "not to interfere with your masterful strategy or anything, but it occurs to me that you'd have an easier time if you had an ally! You can teleport others, can you not?"
"Oh wow," Raditz gushed with mock-enthusiasm, "I never thought of that!" He scowled. "Think, willya? If I make a move to help you, I'll have to stop focusing on him, and he'll be all over me."
"He's already all over you," she pointed out.
He shook a fist up at her. "Enough with the backseat fighting already! I can-" He was silenced by a kiai that shoved him through a hillside, spluttering and swearing with impressive creativity.
Mortis tutted. "Eyes on the prize, little one." He hopped down from his perch atop a boulder and crouched next to the pile of rubble from which Raditz was gradually emerging. "You see, you generated an Infinity Core because you're one of a very select few races with a phenomenal ability to increase their own power. But that kind of potential-that source-will only ever give you one Core. Just the one. I was created with three because that is the way my lord Entropy willed it."
"You're saying… I have an absolute upper limit?" Raditz shook the dust from his hair. "It's been years since I believed that… I'm not gonna start now."
"Well, not exactly." Mortis shrugged. "As you've learned by now, some fighters have mastered their Core to a greater or lesser extent, so have more or less power; and then there are differences in, say, physical endurance and reaction time. And you can always increase your combat skill. But," he concluded, building up irregular sparks of energy around an outstretched finger, "no matter what incremental gains you make, you'll never overcome a gap this massive. Nobody's going to stop you from flying higher and higher… but if you get too close to the sun, you'll get burnt."
He might have let his guard down… it's worth a shot… "Ay aaah !" Raditz slammed a hand down into the earth, propelling himself upwards and bringing his left up towards Mortis' head. Before he could make contact, however, Mortis released his accumulated energy, letting it course through Raditz's body and carry him away, landing him in a half-wrecked building a few hundred metres back, drawing a pained groan.
"Wonderful, wonderful!" Mortis squealed, clapping his hands with delight. "I know what I said earlier, but I'd forgotten how much fun it is when they try so hard! Desperation…" he drawled. "… is delicious."
"So," Alpha called, "just putting it out there, but if you let me down I'd fight pretty damn hard…"
"Heheh, nice try, little lady," Mortis simpered, "but I like some variety in my life. Don't worry, I'm having some wonderful ideas about just what to do with the both of you. But your greedy friend here insisted on going first, so if you'll excuse me-"
When he looked back around, Raditz was less than two feet from him, face a mask of total, intense concentration, every muscle straining to the edge of its ability, small trails of light emerging at odd points from his body as he did his best to keep his surging power under full control.
He's timed this perfectly! Mortis realised. Calculated every movement out in advance… while there are other factors, like I said, he knows I'm roughly three times his speed… he knew exactly how much of a headstart he needed!
Raditz's attack was twofold; his leg swung upwards in a wide arc, throwing up a spray of dust and rocks that blinded Mortis, and in that moment, he continued the movement, for a single instant channelling all his ki down his still-swinging leg and releasing an explosive burst the instant it struck Mortis' stomach.
While Mortis reeled, hacking and wheezing, Raditz made two Instant Transmission jumps; one up to Alpha, and the second, once he'd touched her forearm, back to the ground, releasing her from Mortis' hold.
"Finally," she muttered.
He grinned. "You're welcome."
"Given how you were doing so far, you should be thanking me -at least once we take him down."
"An… interesting… idea!" Mortis straightened up, clearing away the haze with a sweep of his arm. "Good hit, by the way. Shame, though… now I have to fight both of you… that's a bit of a pain." He sighed. "Well, no helping it now." Not that I'd tell you this, but my immobilisation technique is actually incredibly easy to avoid if you're prepared for it… so it's no use trying it again.
Earth…
"Damn…" Uub fell onto his back, gasping. "Still don't feel like I'm making any progress…"
"Hey, don't worry about it." Goku crouched over him, grinning. "Nobody said this'd be easy."
Uub looked up at another nearby trainee. "Hey, Hephase-Hestepha-Stepha-He-uh…"
"Yes?" Hephaestus answered, inwardly groaning.
"You seen Pan at all today?"
"Come to it… no." Hephaestus frowned. "And time is of the essence… I wonder."
"Hey. You okay?"
Pan raised her head from between her knees, seeing a tracksuit-sporting man with a long ponytail and faded scars crossing his face. He had a drink in each hand, and held one out to her.
She accepted it mechanically. "You're…" It was sometimes hard to remember all her grandfather's friends; there were always so many people at their gatherings. "… Yamcha?"
"S'me." The retired martial artist sat casually next to her, resting his arms on his knee. "I, uh… sensed you all alone out in the middle of nowhere… when, you know, you and the other heavyweights have been training together all week. And your power was kinda… wavering, I guess? I was wondering if something had upset you."
"Heh. And your first thought was to fly all the way out here and check… yeah, you're definitely one of 'the gang'. Wish I could be like you…"
Yamcha laughed. "Hey, did you see me fighting the Shadow Dragons? You're pretty awesome, kid."
"I guess… I just, uh…" Pan sat back, facing him for the first time. "That's kind of it. Not sure if I can deal with… this. Because being so powerful… I'm kind of obliged to help when something comes along."
He nodded, letting her talk.
"And I… with the Shadow Dragons, I was almost on autopilot," she continued. "Like… I didn't let myself stop and think about it. But now… we're all training to fight someone even stronger, right? And I keep thinking back, and…" She held up a furiously-trembling hand, giving a sad smile. "I don't think I can do it again. I mean… I got the crap kicked out of me. I've never felt worse in my life. People died -good people I'm sorry I never got the chance to get to know better."
Yamcha was silent for a few more seconds. "Yeah. That stuff happens. I know that pretty well." He shrugged. "I was never exactly the hero… probably lost more'n I won. Hell, I died." He turned his gaze to the sky. "But, y'know… I'd do it all again, no question. When I'm in the zone, when it feels like there's nothing in the world but me and the other guy… I've never felt more alive."
"I… don't think I can…" Pan said quietly, trying to stop her shaking.
"You'll find it in yourself somewhere." He stood, stretching. "And I think… next time it won't be autopilot. It'll be all you."
Alpha cocked her head to one side. "I'm not sensing any life forms on this planet, or the other three in this solar system… you weren't exaggerating about your 'preparations'." She produced a tiny energy sphere, letting it hover above her right index finger. "I do not approve of needless death." She flicked it skywards, letting it find its way to another of the emptied planets and wiping it from existence in a flare of distant light.
"What is that, sentimentality?" Mortis snickered. "It doesn't become you, dear."
Alpha ignored him, snapping her fingers; shortly, one of that solar system's twin stars flickered and was snuffed out. "You see how easy that was." She locked her gaze on him as gravity shifted around them, earthquakes wracking the planet. "The kind of power we have… is not to be abused because you find the deaths of others amusing!"
" I'll give the lectures around here!" Mortis declared, rushing them. They both managed to get a guard up, catching his hand and digging their feet in to try and stop his charge. He pushed harder, shoving them backwards and striking quickly while they were off-balance, toppling the pair over. "And don't think you can win together, either. I could defeat half a dozen fighters like you, no problem…"
"Hey, you were handing all of us our asses at once a week ago," Raditz muttered. "That all you can do?"
"Shut up!" Alpha hissed. "I didn't see you doing much better."
"Yeah, well, I've got an excellent excuse that I'll think of in a minute." He sat up, rubbing his head. "Seriously, though, any ideas?"
"Aside from 'do better'?" Alpha grinned. "Fresh out." She let loose a machine-gun volley of energy, but by the time the beams were halfway to their target, he was gone.
"Aww, too bad." Mortis appeared between them and whipped his arms out, striking them both in the centre of the forehead. They fell back, eyes rolling back into their heads (though with Alpha it was hard to tell), jaws hanging open slack.
He stood up, rubbing his hands and spinning in circles. "Eheheheheeeeeh… no more backtalk. Hmm, if they'll stay down, maybe I can take my time with-"
"Hey…" Raditz's voice came from behind, the saiyan struggling to his feet and transforming. "You call that… a hit?" Blood streamed down his face from where he'd been struck. "C'mere."
"You're only making it worse for yourself," Mortis said, shaking his head sadly. He swept around behind Raditz, grabbing ahold of his neck and pulling his head downwards into Mortis' own leg, producing a second stream of blood from his nose.
Raditz backed away, trying to recover his senses. "Not… that easy!" he yelled desperately, lunging, but Mortis leaned out of the way, delivering a precision strike beneath Raditz's ribs as he passed and landing him flat on the scorched ground again. "That should do it… eh?"
Shakily, Raditz was rising to his knees and back to standing. "Uh… huh… ah…"
"How the hell are you still breathing?" Mortis snapped, flailing his arms and stamping the ground. "This isn't fun anymore!"
"I actually…" Raditz gasped, raising his head. "… don't know either…" I don't know how I got up from his last attack either… Alpha's still down, and she should be maybe a little stronger than me… and by the way, good job, Alpha, your help made a big freakin' difference… "Somehow, my power seems greater…"
"I told you, you can't generate another Core! It isn't in your physiological capabilities!" Mortis pointed a trembling finger.
And indeed, he didn't, Omega Shenron said, allowing both of them to hear it. It wasn't your power that was rising, Raditz-it was mine.
"Uh… how?" Raditz asked, if anything more surprised than Mortis.
You raised your power by being in close proximity to mine, and absorbing that higher level-it seems I'm starting to do the same with yours, in turn. I haven't generated an Infinity Core yet, but I can feel that it isn't far off. Omega's voice grew strident. Raditz! Flare your power as high as it can go! Burn as brightly as you can, and let me share some of that light!
"Right!" A low rumbling began to run up and down Raditz's body; he still contained his power like he'd been taught, but the golden glow grew richer, more intense, the air around him heavier and more highly-charged. Yeah, Omega's definitely getting close. Feels like an Order Core, like Alpha and all Entropy's soldiers have… I guess he is still made from Tenebrion's Dragon Balls. "Ready?"
Mortis tutted. "Still found a way to power up… but how long do you think it will take for you to do that? And can I kill you faster?"
"Let's find out!" Raditz jumped, swinging his whole body around to drive home a downwards punch; Mortis caught it, pulling Raditz in and letting their heads collide, then stepping back and letting Raditz bounce away before flipping upright. "Please…" he panted. "… stop hitting me in the head."
"Heh. I'll make the jokes, thank-" Mortis trailed off as a large crack appeared in his skull-mask, pieces of it crumbling away. "What…" Did his head hit harder than I thought? He's growing already…
"That enough for you, Omega?" Raditz asked through gritted teeth, preparing to attack again.
One… more… time! Omega clearly sounded strained-the power output coming from him, and feeding into Raditz via the Dragon Soul, was far greater than it had ever been. Almost… !
"All right." Raditz's right hand gripped his left forearm, watching Mortis' swaying movements. He kicked himself forwards, forming an energy sphere around that hand and swinging it up towards Mortis, who batted it away contemptuously-revealing Raditz's still-clenched fist behind it, the energy attack having merely been a diversion. Mortis caught the punch inches from him, holding it at bay with shaking fingers.
"Not… enough… little boy!" he spat.
Got it! Omega declared, jubilant.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Raditz barked. "Dial it up!" Omega's yell merged with the roar of Raditz's aura, and his arm jumped forwards, crashing into Mortis and snapping him back several paces.
Oh, I'll make him bleed for that one… When Mortis looked up, though, Raditz was… different. The Super Saiyan blue had expanded to fill his eyes completely, and was radiating outwards from them, as if trying to escape. His hair seemed no longer constrained by gravity, drifting as if pulled by a gentle, ethereal wind that touched nothing else. Finally, his aura was now a deep, almost-maroon red.
"So…" he said, barely above a whisper. "This is the true potential of the Dragon Soul ritual… I can feel Omega's Core alongside mine…" He grinned. "Think I'll call this… Eternal Saiyan."
Oh wonderful, you gave it a name, Omega muttered.
"Stay sharp," Raditz warned. "He's kind of pissed."
"Call yourself what you like." Mortis advanced, limbs twitching, a shuffle in his step. "I can now see the height of your combined power. Two Cores… are still useless against three!" He rushed in, flinging himself heedlessly at Raditz and lashing out with the back of his hand. Raditz got his arm up in time, holding it back with a grunt.
"Don't try and… use numbers… to define us…" He managed to stop Mortis' movement, and the two of them struggled equally for a moment, before Raditz pushed away, sending Mortis into an uncontrolled spin. "That's been tried before!"
He's still… growing stronger?! Mortis' mind whirled frantically, the world spinning before his eyes.
End it now! Omega urged.
"The hell d'you think I'm doing?" Raditz dived forwards, touching a hand to the ground and swivelling on it, positioning himself to push off and fly foot-first at Mortis, who threw up an energy barrier in desperation. Raditz smashed through it, planting his foot into Mortis' neck and channelling the full force of his ki into his opponent's body. Mortis' neck warped and twisted for a moment, before bursting asunder, his body collapsing and his head clattering to the ground a few metres down the street.
"Well that's… no fun… at all," he croaked with his dying breath.
"And stay down, you creepy bastard." Raditz sat back, reverting to base form with a gasp. "Damn, that last attack hurt… he almost had us there…"
It would seem, Omega theorised, that the combination of an Order Core and a Chaos Core produces a whole more powerful than the sum of its parts.
"Yeah…" Raditz took deep gulps of air, fanning himself. "But we were still only about even with him in that new form. If he'd gone all-out from the start, or knew he'd be fighting an equal battle, we'd both be dead…" He looked over towards Alpha. "Wonder how long 'till she wakes up."
At this, Alpha sat bolt-upright, looking him in the eye and deadpanning, "'She' has been awake for a couple of minutes now. 'She' was feigning continued unconsciousness in order to formulate a plan, but it seems your tried-and-true method of 'hit it harder' has prevailed once again."
"I can never tell if you're mocking me."
"Just assume I always am."
A vein throbbed above Lord Entropy's eye. He surveyed the centre of his chessboard; two black pawns, facing a white knight. With a reluctant slowness, he removed his knight and shattered it with a slight mental impulse. Then after a moment, he pointed a glowing finger at one of the black pawns; it grew and shifted, becoming a knight itself. He paced around the board, observing the situation, stroking his chin.
Finally, he came to a conclusion. I am not some cliché storybook villain. I will not continue to attack piecemeal and let my enemies chip away at my forces until I have nothing left to protect me. I will strike now, while they are weakened from their battles, and with overwhelming force.
Praelia. Victoria. Take two footsoldiers each and rendezvous in our enemies' universe, he commanded. Attack swiftly. Destroy them. It is that simple.
Yes, majesty, two voices chorused, one grim and determined, one eager, almost jubilant.
Entropy swung back around to the board, sweeping up both bishops and four of his remaining six pawns, slamming them down around the two enemy pieces with relish, completely encircling them. Enough of this foolishness.
Prequel 2: The Pit, part 2
"The Wardens," Helios said, voice booming across the plateau and reaching the ears of his attentive army, "are not a unified force. They are a coalition of hundreds of gangs, all of whom want to reach the top-but not as much as they want to stop anyone else from doing so. They're constantly at each other's throats, so if one group moves to escape, the others will tear them apart. The only thing they can agree on is to also stop everyone else from passing. I believe… that they are secretly afraid of what they might find, if they ventured up there." He paused for emphasis. "They are cowards. They are undisciplined. We are neither of those things. We will strike at the weakest point of their blockade, and we will drive through to the surface." He looked directly up, a vague glimmer of light just visible from their position.
"And just how do we know where their 'weakest point' is?" asked a Shadow Dragon near the back.
Helios nodded. "Excellent question…"
"Hades."
"Hades, yes. We were fortunate enough to arrive in the aftermath of an unsuccessful attack on the Wardens-and the only survivor of the attacking forces has joined with us. Step forwards, Glacius."
Glacius Shenron emerged from within the ranks, grinning a little, but stumbling for a step as he neared Helios, clutching at a jagged wound on his side. "Yes, I… barely escaped alive myself. There are so many of them-and their leader, the one they call the Deceiver… we never even saw him, but the way they outmanoeuvred us at every turn… he must be a master strategist."
"Then we shall give him no time for strategy," Helios declared. "Lead us, Glacius-you know their battle-line, so lead us to where it is weakest." As Glacius took shakily to the air, Helios turned to his soldiers once more. "Onwards, comrades, and into the light!"
The army took flight, blazing a trail upwards, auras uniting into a great sphere of power. They shot upwards, passing through winding passageways and enormous dark caverns, finally reaching an area bathed in something entirely new and alien-a warm, gentle light. "There," Glacius whispered, indicating a thick cloud of floating shapes above them. "This point is lightly defended. With your forces, you can probably break through."
"Dial it down, everyone," Helios cautioned. "Get as close as possible before being detected." A couple of minutes later, as they drew closer and closer to the Wardens above, he froze. "Halt!" he hissed, before turning to Glacius. "You almost had me."
"Eh?" Glacius gave an innocent grin. "What tipped you off?"
"You've been holding up pretty well for one so 'wounded', Glacius the Deceiver." Helios folded his arms, glaring into Glacius' eyes. "That isn't your blood, is it?"
Glacius shrugged. "Well, you got me. But too late, I'm afraid; I've already got you ." He snapped his fingers, and swarms of Wardens emerged from the shadows at all sides, the battle-line above them tripling in number before swooping down to join the attack.
"Ambush!" Helios bellowed. "Defensive positions!"
The situation soon turned chaotic; Helios' force managed to make some headway, landing on a huge slope of rock that eventually lead directly up to the surface, but couldn't advance any further up it; their ragged defensive line soon collapsed, and the battle dissolved into a sprawling vista of individual combats.
Helios' warriors fell like leaves around him under the enemy's numbers-he saw Hades go down only a few feet away, some sort of energy spear through his throat-but he could do nothing to help them, as he was locked in combat with Glacius. The two were letting fly with everything they had, frost meeting fire between them as their attacks met, blasting steam off in every direction.
"Heh… is that all you can do… Helios Shenron?" Glacius took a step forwards, flexing his arms and overpowering Helios' flames, extinguishing them and driving Helios himself to his knees, breathing raggedly. Forming a thin blade of ice around his index finger, Glacius advanced, raising his arm to end Helios' life. "Nice try, by the way. But we Wardens have a reputation to uphold. Nobody gets through." A moment later, the ground rose up around him, tendrils of rock wrapping around his ankles and tossing him away. A pair of unfamiliar Shadow Dragons landed on either side of Helios, both mid-punch, sending a pair of now-unconscious Wardens skidding away.
That fire attack… and his power… "Are you Helios?" asked Hephaestus.
"I am, but who-"
"Explain later, but we figured you had a good shot, so we'd tag along," Prometheus butted in.
"I did…" Helios said sullenly. "But the Wardens' leader lead us into an ambush. I appreciate your assistance, but I doubt any of us will make it through this alive."
"Me too!" Came Glacius' voice, as he stomped back towards them, nose bloodied, a twenty-strong squad now in tow. "In fact, I very much hope you don't! I-" He stopped abruptly, a worried expression creeping onto his face. "What is… that…"
Helios was also visibly shocked. "This… this power is… !"
Lower down the slope, two figures were slowly ascending, walking up with a casual stride; a small girl in a tattered green cloak, and a tall man wreathed in shadows. Neither seemed particularly interested in the slaughter raging around them, even as the last few of Helios' soldiers were wiped out.
However, they soon became its focus; first a few opportunistic Wardens taking shots at them, and then once those fell, a full assault from the entire army. It was futile. The girl moved faster than any eyes could follow, never requiring more than a single strike to tear through an enemy, quickly becoming a hurricane of relentless violence. And it soon became apparent that any who approached the man suffered strange fates-rupturing and exploding from within, collapsing with terrible, tortured screams, or simply vanishing from existence altogether.
Within a matter of minutes, the entire army was dead or fleeing. Glacius was still watching all this with horror. Seeing this, Helios turned to his new allies. "Can you two handle his henchmen?"
"Sure," Prometheus replied, giving the thumbs-up.
"On my signal, then… now!" Helios yelled, springing into action, rocketing into the distracted Glacius, grappling with him and carrying the pair of them upwards.
"Wha-get off!" Glacius shrieked, tearing at Helios' grip. Is he growing stronger? His power's beginning to approach mine… The two of them flew ever higher, ever faster, finally bursting out blinking into the light, leaving the Pit below them. Glacius kicked out at Helios, separating them and sending them both spiralling into a crash-landing on the dusty plain right at the edge of the Pit.
They jumped to their feet, flaring up their power and facing off again. "Ready for another round?" Glacius asked, grinning.
"Always," Helios replied, edging forwards.
"That's enough!" a voice from behind them snapped. A little ways off stood an unusually-patterned Shadow Dragon. "Cease. You have both emerged from the Pit; you both pass." She observed their puzzled expressions. "My name is Gaia; all will be explained in time. For now, know that your lives in the Pit were a test-a team of the greatest of Shadow Dragons is being formed."
Something about all this seemed to resonate in their minds; accepting it seemed natural somehow, like this was what they'd been made for. "All right, but when did you get past us?"
Gaia shrugged. "About a week ago. You're not very observant."
That… or you're the perfect spy… Helios mused. "So what, we just wait for more now?"
"The others are coming. Ah, here we go." She indicated Alpha and Kronos, who meandered up over the lip, wandering towards them. A few seconds later came Hephaestus and Prometheus, dusting off their hands and chuckling. "And… one more…" Hades followed shortly, rubbing his neck and looking introspective.
"Hades?" Helios frowned. "I saw him die…"
"Yes… very unusual, that one," Gaia observed. "Quite formidable. Well, now… I think we're all here. I'm told it has been a while since anyone's made it out… the Eternal will be pleased."
Chapter 30: The Art of War
"Hey…" Alpha said, pacing up and down the street. "You ever get the feeling someone, somewhere is laughing at you?"
Lying face-up further down the road, crude bandages covering his wounds, Raditz raised his head. "Um, most of the time. Why d'you ask?"
"Because six of Entropy's soldiers just entered this universe. Two about your level, four about mine."
"Aw, great." Raditz groaned. "It never freaking ends."
"Got any more miracles up your sleeves? Or… in your hair, I guess?"
"Nope."
No ideas here, Omega concurred.
"So…" Alpha shrugged. "Better part of valour?"
"Eh?" Raditz frowned.
She rolled her eyes. "It means 'run away', you illiterate-"
He knows what it means! Omega interrupted. He's winding you up. Can we leave now? They'll arrive in less than five minutes.
"Fine. Move it," Alpha commanded, preparing to take off.
Weakly, Raditz raised a hand. "Er… problem."
" What ."
"I am… pretty much burned out entirely after Lucius and Mortis. I have, like, no energy."
"All right, you're tired, let's go -"
"Like… no energy." He gave an innocent grin. "I cannot fly right now. In fact, I cannot stand up. You're, uh… gonna have to…" He mumbled something.
Alpha glared daggers down at him. "I'm doing my best to pretend you didn't just ask me to carry you."
I'm afraid he's telling the truth this time, Omega said.
I could leave him here, I suppose… She hesitated, but only for a moment. Damn it! She leaned down, hoisting him over one shoulder and setting off skyward. "I don't know why I put up with you."
"My dazzling smile," Raditz mumbled. "The ladies can't resist it."
"Shut up!"
"My charms rejected!" he joked. "What is it? Childhood trauma? Vow of chastity? Eyes for another?"
"I'll leave you floating in space, I swear I will."
Six beings emerged into the universe of war, two of them standing at the head of the rest; these two were garbed in matching samurai-style armour, one blue, one red.
"All right," said the one in red, one hand dropping to the sword at her waist, "let's go kill us some-" She froze. "No."
The other sighed. "'Fraid so… they just left this universe. Figures." She raised an eyebrow. "Victoria, keep your head. We should start thinking about-"
"Kiss my ass, Praelia!" Victoria snapped, drawing her sword in an instant and holding it to her companion's neck.
Praelia's eyes narrowed. "Careful."
Flinching as if struck, Victoria sheathed the weapon with shaking hands, turning away, her face a mask of terror for a moment, before changing back to the fury of a second before. Roaring in frustration, she flung her aura out indiscriminately, powering up to her fullest extent without paying any heed to conserving energy. For thousands of light-years around, entire planets shattered in an instant, whole solar systems were flung away through the void, colliding with other stars as they went and setting off chain reactions and creating an enormous interstellar fireball that soon engulfed the entire spiral arm of the galaxy she stood in, the resulting devastation the largest single explosion that universe had seen since its Big Bang.
Floating at the centre of the maelstrom, Victoria breathed out. "Better."
Praelia glanced sidelong at her partner. It's not even that she has a temper, specifically… she just never does anything by halves. And now we're finally getting some action… she'll take some watching. "I'll take Crystallos and Impetia," she suggested. "You take Nereid and Terra. We'll each search a-"
Fire still in her eyes, Victoria shook her head. "They haven't got far. After taking on two soldiers and a Vanguard, they're going to be hurting. There aren't many universes they could make it to… and when they vanished, they weren't close enough to Samsara's universe to have gone there. So." She turned back to the other five. "We will not split up. We will not be picked off. We will find them, within the hour. We will not let honour hold us back; we will all attack at once. And that will be the end of it. Am I clear?" She braced herself for an interruption-Praelia tended to give the orders, and made sure everyone knew it-but none came; evidently Victoria's comrade, for once, agreed with her.
"Sir!" the four soldiers chorused, bowing slightly.
"Damn right."
"He's fully committed now," Samsara muttered. "Most of his remaining forces are in the field… anybody ready yet?"
Two of us… been done for a bit… Came Goku's voice. Jus' waiting for Dende… to get here…'fore we go. Still tired from… training.
"I don't really want to send you in piecemeal, with Entropy's attack force so strong," Samsara said, pacing, "but hell with it, Raditz and Alpha's position is pretty weak anyway… go back 'em up."
S'my brother… I wasn't gonna wait for your say-so.
The universe Alpha and Raditz emerged in was also teeming with life, but none of it had a notably high ki signature. There didn't seem to be any kind of space travel going on either-no life forms outside of their own planets that Alpha could detect. One of the boring universes. Eh, I don't care. I just need somewhere to hide-
"Don't," Raditz said, stirring.
"Eh?"
"Don't go down onto any planets. Stay in deep space."
"Why?"
"You saw what Mortis did. There's six of 'em this time. Can't let 'em keep killing so many people."
"We'll be right out in the open!" Alpha protested.
"They'll find us eventually."
"Wouldn't it be better if you could rest first?" He didn't answer, but from his face she could tell he wasn't budging on this. "Fine. Your funeral." She flew to a more central location, away from any clusters of life and activity, and set him down-given the lack of gravity, he just hung there, groaning occasionally.
Just as the silence was beginning to get awkward, they were alerted to the presence of three new ki signatures, rapidly approaching their location. "Scouting party, I guess," Alpha said, backing up. "Can you fight at all?"
Raditz chuckled, forming a tiny, sputtering ball of ki in the palm of his hand, which almost instantly flickered out. "Sorry."
"Wonderful. I can only hope that one of them will go to finish you off first, so I don't have to fight them all at once."
"You're all heart." However, he soon relaxed. "Don't worry-these aren't enemies."
Sure enough, the figures that appeared before them after a couple of minutes were those of Goku, Bills and the Dreamer, who had apparently not bothered to tell Samsara she was going and simply met up with the others.
"You guys did it?" Raditz managed a thumbs-up. "Awesome!"
"Well, it makes sense you'd be next," Alpha said offhandedly. "Next to Raditz and myself, the one with the least help surpassing divine ki was you, Son Goku…" She looked over at Bills. "And I found out about your potential for growth the hard way…" After a moment, her gaze shifted to the other Hakaishin. "You, though?"
The Dreamer nodded. "I heard about the forces Entropy was bringing to bear on you, and was… concerned."
"Don't be," Alpha said automatically, but internally gave the statement some thought. For… me? No-one's ever… Unfortunately, the thought could get no further; her head snapped up, her mind switching over to combat strategy-six more powerful beings had just arrived.
"Seriously good timing, guys," Raditz observed. "I mean, a couple minutes later and…"
"I doubt it's a coincidence," Alpha said, shaking her head. "Likely they followed us to your location."
"They scramble after our shadow," the Dreamer confirmed.
"We can do this, right?" Goku asked.
"Of course!" Bills declared. "They only outnumber us six to five!" Raditz gave a small moan. "Er, that is, they only outnumber us six to four!"
Goku grew serious. "I'll take the Vanguards. You guys handle the soldiers." Nobody protested to this.
"Still, there's three of us left and four soldiers," Alpha pointed out. "I've done plenty of fighting today already, so one of you two has to fight two of 'em."
Bills swung around to the Dreamer. "I'll rock-paper-scissors you for it!"
"As you desire, so it shall be," she muttered.
"Eh?"
"She means if you want to fight two so badly, then go ahead," Alpha growled. "But-" She didn't get any further, as a storm of energy blasts filled the space around them-evidently, unlike Entropy's previous minions, these ones didn't feel like wasting time grandstanding.
"Do it!" Goku commanded, the four of them lighting up their Infinity Cores. Already in Super Saiyan, Goku then frowned, throwing his arms in the air and letting out a sudden yell, his body flashing pure white for a moment, and when he became visible again, his appearance had altered. His aura's golden colour had permeated through to his skin; his eyes were blank-white; and two strands of hair had elongated to about Raditz's length, flowing away down his back.
Eternal Saiyan?! Raditz realised.
Yes, I told Gamma as soon as we achieved it…
His looks different to mine, though.
Well, yes; Gamma looks different to me, and that's whose aspect you're taking on.
… we are?!
Omega sighed. Where did you think the red in your version came from?
"Man… that doesn't get any easier…" Goku sighed. "All right, guys-break!" The four warriors flew into action, meeting Entropy's approaching soldiers head-on, the entire group of ten vanishing into a flickering cloud of rushing movement.
Raditz squinted. Can't follow 'em at all… I'm really out of it. Come on, guys…
Goku found himself immediately on the defensive, the two armoured Vanguards pressing in at him with rapid, unpredictable strikes from their katana. He broke off, circling around and coming up at them from below, but they separated, spinning back towards him and bringing their swords together on a collision course with his neck. He threw his arms up, the blades rebounding off an energy barrier, but as he did this he failed to notice the blue one's knee snaking up and into his stomach, launching him away, grimacing at the blow.
Praelia lowered her leg, smirking. "I was the only one to notice that opening? Come on now, Victoria, are you even trying?"
Victoria grunted. "Give me time to warm up, willya?"
"I make no promises. If I kill him, I kill him." They rushed in again, and Goku was immediately hard-pressed just to avoid any lethal hits; he couldn't see any opportunities to strike back at all. This technique… I've never seen anything like it! A katana took a nick out of his arm. Not even Helios or the Warrior are this good! Three more physical blows took him in the shoulder-he barely saw one.
Raditz, catching glimpses of this, was equally concerned. Their power's about the same as Mortis', but… in terms of skill, they're insane! They're in a whole different world to him…
Bills landed a hard punch to the first of his opponents, who didn't seem to attempt a defence, merely falling back a step. She wasn't trying to act cool or anything, it seemed-she had clearly been injured by it. "Um… I think you're supposed to dodge when I do that," he pointed out, a little confused.
"Can't really be bothered," she sighed.
The other floated up behind him, chewing on something unidentifiable. "That's just her," she slurred. "Takes her ages to get through a universe, too… ey, Terra! Shape up."
Terra straightened up, slowly raising her arms. "All right, all right." She paused. "… Nereid, what have you got this time?"
Nereid popped the object out of her mouth, holding it on display. It hummed and fizzled slightly. "Neutron star. Managed to get it down this small 'n keep it stable for the first time." She tossed it back in and resumed chewing. "'Zat weird?"
"Little bit," Terra confirmed.
Bills took a glance around at his two opponents, who were now finally readying themselves to fight for real. They made an odd pair-flame-haired Nereid, in what could best be described as a military uniform designed by a five-year-old, and willowy Terra, looking something like a medieval princess who had just got out of bed.
He took a half-step backwards, kicking out at Nereid, but Terra pulled him away, causing him to miss; Nereid ducked in, landing an uppercut and setting up for Terra to smash an elbow into his back. He hissed furiously, spinning away and turning back to face them, peppering the area with a rapid-fire energy volley. Nereid leapt in front, shielding her face and grunting as she took several dozen minor hits, her cover allowing Terra to focus her energy for a moment and speed out of Bills' zone of fire, appearing to his right.
He ceased fire, turning and catching both her arms as she struck at him, flipping over backwards and letting her fly off into the emptiness, getting his bearings just as Nereid materialised inches from him. His eyes widened in intense concentration, one fist shooting up with all the speed and force he could muster. She smiled, winked, and spat the compressed neutron star at him. It struck him across the face, and he blinked once in surprise-by which time his two opponents were gone, and all he had time to do was think, Oh, crap-
A 'normal' supernova is powerful enough. One might argue that a neutron star, if it were to somehow explode, would contain less energy since it is the collapsed result of a previous supernova itself. This would be more than made up for if said neutron star was also expanding at ridiculous speed because some force that had kept it at an abnormally-small size had just been released. And if said object had been infused, throughout every atom, with the ki of a being as powerful as Nereid, well…
Raditz opened his eyes. Still not dead. That's becoming a bad habit. How'd I escape an explosion like- "Oh." He was being held in Goku's arms, his younger brother having snatched him from the blast radius as he himself fled. Goku's face held a pained expression, though; Praelia and Victoria stood behind him, swords in direct contact with his back, blades biting in, blood droplets floating away through space. A thin energy barrier, thrown up at the last second, had attempted to shield him, and while it had reduced the impact somewhat, it was cracked with ease, shards of it falling away until the whole thing dissolved. Releasing his brother, Goku turned as the duo withdrew their weapons, holding them at the ready again.
"Can you still fight?" Raditz asked weakly.
Goku grimaced, flinching a little as he moved. "Let's see."
Having relocated to avoid Nereid's attack, Alpha and the Dreamer now found themselves facing the final two members of the attacking force.
"The Priest has fallen," the Dreamer murmured. "And then there were three."
"Dead?" Alpha asked, her eyes not leaving her opponent, who never seemed to stop fidgeting-twirling his fedora, adjusting his belt, picking his teeth-he never seemed to do the same thing twice, either.
"His tale continues," the Dreamer confirmed, "but it is… dwindling. It is up to us to turn the page."
The soldier facing her, sporting more piercings than an archery target, turned to her companion and drawled, "C'n I have 'em both? Been ages."
The other shook his head. "That sort of attitude is what got our compatriots killed, Impetia. Just carry out your orders."
"Eh. 'Fyou say so." Impetia turned back to the Dreamer, rolling her shoulders and stepping forwards.
The other, meanwhile, wasted no time and opened with a two-handed blast of cold air, quickly solidifying into an icy capsule around Alpha-who contemptuously expanded her aura, shattering it. "Great. I get stuck with the Glacius rip-off."
"My name is Crystallos!" he shouted, suddenly angry. "Whoever you're talking about couldn't hope to be more than a pale shadow of me!" Blue veins began to spread across his skin as more shards of ice materialised, swirling around him in multiplying rings.
Alpha gave this some thought. "Ya know, I'll defend Helios' honour, but Glacius… you're probably right."
He attacked, each blow accompanied by a rush of freezing ki; she circled around him, methodically deflecting his attacks, face unchanging. She smacked his wrist aside as he made another attempt, causing him to over-step, stumbling past her; she rammed her forearm into the back of his neck, swinging herself around and letting him fly away with their combined momentum, spitting and cursing.
She flew at him, and he just about recovered in time to fire off a few shots; she banked right, arcing around his fire and coming in to deliver a kick up into his side, before darting back and coming to a halt.
Crystallos shakily righted himself, wincing as one of his teeth cracked and fell away. What the…? I don't recall her landing a blow to my face… was there another attack I didn't see?
"You're even easier than Ignis," Alpha taunted. "So if you don't mind, there are a few idiots who need my help, so I'm gonna finish this up quick."
"Heh… heheh… see, this is the best part…" Crystallos gave a bruised smile. "You think you're winning."
Alpha knew better than to scoff at this, immediately growing serious. "What did you do?" The answer soon presented itself-thin streams of ice were crawling up her body, spreading in a cobweb-pattern, climbing rapidly and thickening as they went.
"You're not the only one who can slip in an unseen attack here and there," Crystallos boasted. "Not bad, eh?"
Still got a few seconds before it overtakes me… Alpha came to a quick decision. If I kill him, hopefully they'll disperse. She leapt unhesitatingly for him, leading with her left arm and flattening her hand out, striking for his head.
He seemed to do some mental calculations, then nodded, putting his hands in his pockets and remaining where he was. As she neared him, the ice continued to spread, pulling her backwards under the influence of his power, resisting her movement more and more; finally, as it reached her head and neck, she found herself stopped altogether, fingers halted about a millimetre from his eye.
"And game," he said smugly.
A second later, her currently-retracted claws slid out, puncturing his eye and, as she made a great effort to lunge forwards once more, straight on through to his brain. "And… match," she grunted, feeling the ice cascade off her as he floated lifelessly away, his face a painting of shock.
Impetia glanced wildly around. "Where the hell…?" There seemed to be no coherent sense of gravity or direction, merely an infinite, twisting maze of walls, stairs and archways, scrawled all over with unreadable sigils, sprawling out in dimensions she couldn't normally comprehend but was somehow able to observe here.
This is my realm. Bringing you here was easy. Your mind is weak.
"Come out!" Impetia yelled, voice hoarse. She tried to light up her aura, but barely produced a spark.
Yes, I have seen your tricks, lightning-bug. You think you are mighty? You and your thunder? I will give you thunder.
The noise that followed was indescribable; it existed on levels far beyond mere sound. Impetia screamed, doubling over and feeling a burning pain in her ears. She put a hand up, and it came away wet. "This is… blood…?"
I chose to give you the sensation. Entropy thinks he has given you an advantage…
"You can do that in here? That's so unfair… where are you, anyway?"
A section of the maze folded back, and from within rose a towering, shadowy figure, eyes blazing out from the darkness, her voice a million voices. "I only have as much power as you give me," said Asrai the Dreamer, each word washing over Impetia with nearly enough force to knock her off her feet. "I have broken wills far stronger than yours-with you, there is so much to work with."
Impetia sneered, though there was no conviction to it. "Shove it up your ass! You don't know me!"
"I know you perfectly. I hear the choir that follows you-the souls of your victims; such a loud chorus. I'll let you hear them too. I really think it might break you." She was suddenly normal size, holding up one finger. "But I am not, as you say, unfair. So as you are beset by yours… so shall I be, by mine."
And then on they came, the army of ghouls, the thronging, neverending multitudes of howling, tortured spirits, grasping and wailing; a sea of the dead beset each of them. But where Impetia kicked and flailed and was dragged back and forth, pulled slowly down and down, Asrai shut her eyes and spread her arms, humming gently, and the spirits cascaded off of her, sliding away harmlessly.
"How… are you… doing that…?" Impetia called desperately.
"I am letting go," the Dreamer replied. "Can you?"
"I… don't know… how!"
"Then let me help you." As the ghouls shrieked and clawed at Impetia, the Dreamer drifted down to her, stretching out a hand. "This is the 'life' that you live. This is its true face. You cannot escape it on your own; you were created for it, and you have become it. Do you want to be free of all this?"
"I…"
"Let me help you. Shall I set you free?"
Screwing her eyes shut, Impetia clasped her shaking hand to the Dreamer's. "Yes!"
Alpha glanced over at Asrai, who had now reappeared in the material universe-along with her opponent, who stood frozen to the spot, eyes glazed over. Asrai passed her hand over Impetia's face. "Then sleep," she said quietly, turning away and leaving her drifting silently.
Alpha raised an eyebrow. "Is she…?"
"More at peace than any of us will ever be, in life or death," the Dreamer answered.
Goku leapt back, taking another glancing hit and flipping upright, finding an opening to throw a few rapid punches at Praelia; she blocked most of them, but one snuck through, snapping her back a few steps.
Victoria approached him, grinning hungrily and shifting her sword to a one-handed grip. "You people picked a remote battleground… I think to protect this universe's inhabitants, right?" She laughed a little, stretching out her free arm and pointing off at a distant galaxy. She spent a second or so powering up, before firing off at it, the kickback rocking her entire body cannon-like; Goku instantly moved to intercept, but her blade flashed into motion, and he had to jump back to avoid being cut in two, her beam vanishing off into the distance, out of his reach. A few more seconds, and in a single, cataclysmic blast, every single star, planet and life-form in that galaxy was obliterated, scattered into cosmic dust.
"Congratulations," Praelia muttered. "You've outdone your record from ten minutes ago…"
"I aim to please." Victoria turned back to Goku. "You see? You can't protect them. I'd be surprised if you could protect yourself for much longer."
Goku was shaking. "So many… why? What was the point of that?!"
"Because I know your type, and I wanna see how pissed off I can get you." Victoria dodged another couple of lightning-quick punches. "Turns out: Pretty damn." She caught his incoming leg, pushing him away. "But hey, notice anything? You're not getting any stronger from it! Bet you're not used to that, eh? Has somebody finally hit their limit, hmm?"
"Shut up already!" Goku attacked again, but had to dart off to the side, barely avoiding a casual sword-swing. He didn't let up, leaping and coming down for an overhead punch. Victoria blocked this too-and then fell back as the blow delivered the equivalent of a Kamehameha wave on contact, the burst of energy leaving her with a steaming hole in her gauntlet.
"I think it's time I stepped back in…" Praelia cautioned.
"Just a minute." Victoria threw off the ruined piece of armour. "One more thing I wanna do. I think I figured out how to finish this…"
There was a flash of steel in front of Goku, and he dodged-Victoria's thrown sword flying past his head. Before he'd realised his mistake, she was behind him, grabbing ahold and flying off with him in tow. He tried to pull away, but there wasn't time-they were headed directly for the centre of the nearest spiral galaxy. The solid mass of yellow at the centre, as it appeared from afar, slowly began to resolve into a thick cloud of massive old stars, red giants and the like. And at the very centre… nothing. Somehow conspicuous in its lack of light, that central region.
It's a black hole! Gamma warned him, sounding terrified. Don't let her-
Giving a final heave, she released him, following up with a ki blast that propelled him ever faster towards the emptiness. Something began to drag on him, and he continued to accelerate, the universe stretching and warping around him as he approached the black hole.
The unbearable force tore at him, stronger than ever, and then-light was suddenly stripped from his eyes, the visible universe vanishing. Not even… light can escape… Gamma's voice sounded distant, faded to Goku's reeling mind. Which means we've passed… the event horizon…
I c'n go… faster'n light… Goku willed himself to move, but the pressure was like nothing he'd ever felt. Come on… ! It was useless; he fell further through the nothingness, the force increasing more and more. Damn it…
Goku! Below you!
Eh? He felt out with his mind-there did seem to be something below him. In fact, it appeared to be the concentration of all the black hole's immense force.
It's the singularity… Gamma realised. An infinitely-dense, infinitely-massive point… the essence of a collapsed star.
So it's… the source… gotta…
Uh… Goku… what are you planning?
He'd almost blacked out. Only thing I know how.
Victoria turned away, smirking. "Good luck with that one…"
Praelia floated down next to her. "Having fun?"
"Oh, immensely. Two of them are still standing… shall we?"
"If we must…" She paused. "Say, do you hear…?"
Victoria froze, a single vein throbbing on her forehead. "… no."
"KA…" One might question how sound could carry from within a black hole to a distance well beyond its event horizon.
"ME…" One would, however, be foolish to question this, as sound does not carry in space anyhow, and gods and the like seemed to be able to overcome this limitation with no problem.
"HA…"
Even Praelia had to raise an eyebrow at this point. "Victoria, dear, there is now light escaping from that black hole. That doesn't happen, as a rule."
"ME…"
Then… the force he's expelling that energy with… Victoria gulped.
"… HHHHAAAAAA!"
The black hole… inverted, suddenly belching out a corona of stellar material, light and heat and noise and matter, swirling away in twisting streams like a microcosm of the galaxy it sat at the centre of. In the midst of this came Goku, looking somewhat the worse for wear, rising up towards the pair of Vanguards.
"The hell did you just do?!" Victoria snapped.
"Dunno exactly…" Goku panted. "But I'm told… I accidentally did something… really clever."
"A quantum bounce," Praelia said coolly.
"What?!" Victoria rounded on her. "Whassat?"
"Black holes, when formed, are on the verge of accumulating enough energy to flip around into 'white holes'-objects that emit things instead of sucking them in. But because of the time dilation a black hole causes, it takes ages for this change-over-this 'quantum bounce'-to occur."
"And he just gave it a whole crapton of energy," Victoria mumbled, "and kick-started the process."
"I did?" Goku shrugged. "Whatever works, I guess…"
"That's it," Victoria growled. "You're mine this-"
"Enough! You'll just screw up again somehow," Praelia said firmly. Victoria grumbled, but knew better than to argue.
Goku raised his guard as Praelia faced him, sheathing her sword and dropping into a ready stance. He struggled to stay powered up, to keep his eyes open. Looks like… classic sword style… iai-jutsu. Draw-and-strike, single motion.
"I have a gift…" Praelia tightened her grip on her katana's hilt. "I can see all your past battles, just by looking at you… and such glorious battles they are. And the injuries you've suffered… I like to help people relive them."
Gotta find… an opening… He grimaced. There has to be… some way to…
He blinked.
When his eyes opened, she was gone. He heard the click of her sword re-entering its scabbard from behind him. Accompanied by a fountain of blood, his severed right arm floated down across his field of vision, before a moment later being vaporised by a small ki blast.
"You lost that once before," Praelia said, turning back to him as he writhed, biting his lip bloody to keep from screaming, "so I thought I'd make it stick this time. So." She flicked her hair back out of her eyes, brushing it back up under her helmet. "What shall I take next?"
Chapter 31: Bittersweet
Victoria observed Goku's attempts to keep too much blood from escaping the spot where his right arm had been about five seconds ago. "I think he's about done. You going to finish him, or can I?"
Praelia held up a finger for quiet. "One minute, dear. Something just came up." She took a half-hearted step to the side, moving out of Bills' path as he shot past her, swinging and missing. "Oh, and I see you've had some wonderful battles in your life, too-particularly recently. That one over there would have taken your eye," she added, noting the scar and indicating Alpha, who along with Asrai was being engaged by the two remaining soldiers, "had she aimed a little lower."
Bills didn't give any kind of a response, rattling off a few shots in the Vanguards' direction. Praelia sighed, dodging around the sparking trails and coming up in front of him, firing a single bolt of her own. Bills let out an involuntary scream, steam and blood emerging from his now-ruined eye.
"There we-" Praelia paused, glancing over at her remaining soldiers, who were now on the defensive. "Oh, for-you two, withdraw! I'll handle this! Victoria, cover my back."
"Hey, you just took out two of them!" Victoria whined. "Give me a turn already!"
Praelia shook her head. "The rest of you have done nothing but make mistakes today. Until you learn something about competence and discipline, I will take care of things."
"I can do better! If you'd just-"
" Do as I say! "
"… yes'm."
Without comment, Praelia turned back to Alpha and the Dreamer, now unengaged and warily approaching, Terra and Nereid having retreated. "You may have noticed that I don't like to drag things out. So, don't expect a particularly heroic death." She sighed as Alpha appeared beside her, claws aimed at her sword-arm. She flicked her arm out, a quick pre-emptive counter-blow throwing Alpha off-balance and doubling her over, breathless.
By the time Praelia looked back around, though, the Dreamer was in front of her, leading with a ki-charged palm. Praelia took a step backwards, drawing back into her readied stance and delivering her relentlessly-honed draw-and-strike-however, the weapon seemed to merely pass through the Dreamer as if through smoke, causing no damage. "What…?" In her moment of confusion, she froze, and the Hakaishin managed to dart in and grab the blade between both hands.
I don't know what she just did, but in a contest of strength, she's got no chance! Praelia tugged on the hilt, and it seemed to work-but a second glance revealed that she had pulled away the hilt and nothing else. The blade was still in the Dreamer's hands, and now, as she concentrated, it melted away into a fine mist.
Praelia gave a disgusted look, casting away what remained of her sword. "I see now. I feel your tendrils in my mind, little schemer." She smiled. "And… your power relies on my mind as much as yours, doesn't it? Which means, whether I can overcome it, and hit you, depends on…" She moved, the Dreamer failing to keep up, only registering the sudden impact that brought her from rest to an unearthly velocity in half a second. "… my resolve to do so!"
The Dreamer brought herself to a halt, wincing as the pain in her stomach spread. Willpower… second-strongest I've faced! Situation… unfortunate.
"Don't think I need my weapon to kill you," Praelia warned, raising her hand and preparing to fire. She observed the rapid calculations implicit in the Dreamer's eyes, the charging beam growing larger and larger. "What? Going to dodge? Don't think I can't hit you, wherever you run. Block? Of course not. Use your power? If you want to go up against my resolve again, you're welcome to try."
Might be my only chance… Asrai raised her head, straightening up and drawing one arm back, using it to brace the other.
"Option number 3?" Praelia shrugged. "Very well." She released the blast, and right at that instant the Dreamer sprung into motion, throwing herself out of the way. Praelia briefly registered surprise-briefly. Trying to make me think she was going to use her power to phase through it or something… then dodging at the last second when I wasn't expecting it? Clever, but… not fast enough. She twitched her wrist to the left, redirecting the beam and setting it back on course for the Dreamer.
Caught flat-footed, Asrai stared into the oncoming wave of deadly energy, knowing full-well there was no way she'd survive something of its magnitude. So. No more tales to tell.
Something moved-Alpha Shenron's dark outline, silhouetted against the nearly-white beam, arms outstretched protectively.
Alpha, don't do this-
You… saved my life, right? I mean… not just that I was gonna lose that fight if I continued… but from myself, too. Everything I was fighting for… was killing me. So… consider us even.
You… idiot! Do you think I saved you so you could go and get killed so quickly? Don't throw away such a gift.
Heh… too late now, isn't it?
Never.
For the second time, Alpha was startled by the Dreamer's arms closing around her. As Praelia's attack rushed onwards to meet them, its roar couldn't quite drown out two softly-spoken words.
"Dragon Soul."
Gohan considered what he'd just been told. "She used the ritual with Alpha?"
That's what I just said, yes, Samsara replied. She asked me to teach it to her a few days ago, expecting something like this would come up. Finally, an intelligent thought from one of them, at least…
"But, I dunno… she's not, like, a Super Saiyan or anything…"
What, you think that it was designed with your species in mind? I highly doubt that the being-Namekian or dragon as they may have been-who created it even knew of your existence.
"But if that's the case, why does its full power function as an extension of Super Saiyan when we do it, if it's just a constant thing for anyone else?"
Because your race is biologically geared towards transformations. That's the easiest way for you to power up-it's also why the Infinity Core you guys can generate is only activated in Super Saiyan. Now, quiet a minute, I'm trying to watch, and depending on how the ritual goes they may even not all die.
"Wait… how it goes? I thought it just, uh… worked."
In theory, yes. But while I know the Dreamer learned the technique correctly, just now she had to do it in a fraction of a second, with no preparation time, and with a rather surprised subject. Who, if I guessed correctly from my brief interactions with her, may not be too pleased to have someone else sharing her thoughts.
What's-Asrai?!
I'm sorry… I had to combine our powers, I…
Saved me again, I guess. I should thank you, I just… didn't want you to see my mind.
Trust me, whatever darkness is in you, I know you are not to blame-hold on, what's…?
Alpha did not respond for a while-or at least, what seemed like a while in that frozen instant they were conversing mentally in. It was not… darkness, exactly… that I wanted to keep private. Her 'voice' was strained, perhaps a little sad.
I… just had no idea it was… mutual.
I hope you don't take-wait… mutual?! You don't… also feel…?
I told you that you fascinated me, did I not?
Well, I never thought… that you meant… Alpha paused. We will talk later, she said firmly. There are others who need us now.
… don't die.
Do my best.
Funny… Raditz thought as he saw the new figure emerging from the blast wave mostly unharmed. I was expecting Dreamer with a bit of Alpha… this looks like the other way round.
Seems that way, Omega agreed. They're able to change around whose body is used as the base-or separate at any time, come to it.
Wait… the ritual isn't permanent?
Not necessarily.
Then what the hell have you been doing in my head all week?!
Well, I can't do those things! Neither can Gamma. You're my only link to this timeline… if we separated, I'd be drawn back to my own timeline-which doesn't exist anymore.
Oh… uh, fair enough.
Alpha's eyes flicked open, now changed from her normal red to the Dreamer's strange rainbow-wheel of colours. She took stock of her new power, looking over at Praelia. "That better not be all you've got."
"Far from it…" One of them managed to fend me off for a few seconds with only one Infinity Core… and if they're like the other who mixed a Chaos and an Order Core, they'll be on my level now… best not to risk it, I suppose. "Victoria! With me."
"Finally!" the other Vanguard enthused.
Praelia considered her two soldiers for a moment. "You two… stay back. I'm not sure if you could have defeated these two even before they joined."
Can we take two of them? Alpha wondered. One of them might be a little stronger than us… and they're both phenomenally skilled.
Their mental strength is also formidable, Asrai added. I doubt I can affect them much… bringing them into a full dream-world is certainly out of the question.
So, in other words… unlikely that we can beat them at all. Alpha readied herself, taking stock of the exact positions of her allies and enemies. All right. As soon as the Vanguards made a move, she abandoned all restraint and let loose the largest, most destructive energy wave she could muster, Entropy's soldiers tumbling away through the massive cloud of explosive force and blinding light.
It took nearly thirty seconds for the attack to die down, Praelia righting herself relative to her allies (as there is, of course, no true 'up' or 'down' in space). She grew dismayed as she surveyed the situation-their enemies were gone, and their detectable power had vanished. At least the size of that blast meant she had to diffuse its power… none of us are really injured…
Victoria seemed to be about to explode. "I… was about to… finally… have my fight…" She gave a small, crazed laugh. "They're gonna pay…"
Nereid approached, remaining at a respectful distance. "Orders?"
"They can't have left this universe," Praelia said. "Not so quickly. So they're still here… they're just suppressing their power. But they'll have to activate their Cores to leave. So… we wait. And as soon as they make their presence known, we go for the kill."
"Why don't we just destroy every galaxy in this place until we find which one they're hiding in?" Victoria suggested.
"There are billions of galaxies in a typical universe. It'd take you far too long."
"Well, it couldn't hurt, might get lucky…"
"I don't want you drained of energy when we have to fight them again. My decision, as always, is final." She frowned. Just before they concealed their power… I thought I sensed something greater from her… or at least something strange about her energy…
"Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Samsara demanded.
We were defeated, but we managed to escape, Alpha finally responded. Goku's down an arm, Bills an eye, and Dreamer's Dragon Soul with me went fine, though we separated again for the moment.
"Where are you now?"
Found an inhabited world with decent technology, took our wounded to a hospital. We didn't have to pay… the inhabitants of this planet have never seen ki before, they thought we were gods or something…
"You kind of are."
Yes, but… not just because we can fly and stuff! Anyone can do that, once they learn the trick… anyway. Anyone else close to being ready to come and join us?
"Not really, I'm afraid… it's frustrating a lot of them."
Well, I suppose they've got time. It'll be a while before we're all recovered. At least Entropy's troops can't find us while we keep our power levels suppressed, but equally… as long as we do that, we can't leave this universe.
Samsara fell silent for a minute, planning. "All right… there are only a few more who I think have even a chance at completing their training in the foreseeable future. Once they're all done, I'll send them as a group, then depending on the situation with you and Entropy's soldiers, we'll work out a plan of action from there."
Sounds good. Let me know if anything changes.
"Likewise."
Feeling the mental connection break, Alpha turned away from the window and walked back down the hospital ward, looking from one wounded ally to the next. It should be me lying there, suffering like that… they're all doing this for noble reasons, like always. I'm just in this to take Entropy's head.
I guess there really is no justice, or meaning, or purpose, in this life… except what we create ourselves. Which is what these people have been doing all along…
She heard Asrai enter the room behind her. "I'm… sure you know what I want to ask you about…"
Alpha shook her head, not turning around. "I'm sorry. Maybe if we both live through all this. But right now, I can't afford any kind of… distraction."
"And what about…" Asrai took a step forwards, speaking in a very small voice. "… motivation?"
Chapter 32: Do Not Pass Go
Break dropped her stance, powering down and relaxing. She flicked a finger out, and a water bottle flew into her hand from the ground. "That ki over there… that's Pan, right?"
Uub nodded. "Yeah… I haven't seen her for a while, but she's still at it."
"Hold on… it's increasing," Hephaestus said-the others still flinched a little when he approached; it hadn't been long since they had been in direct opposition.
"Yeah, looks like she's turning it up…" Break trailed off. "Hey, that's… divine? No way…"
Hephaestus looked equally surprised. "I'm not aware of anything special she did… I didn't think saiyans were capable of achieving such a level only through training."
"As far as I'm aware, we're not," Gohan agreed, joining the trio.
"Even a Shenron-type dragon wouldn't be able to do it in just the couple of months we've had," Hephaestus mused. "So what, exactly… is she?"
Gohan shrugged. "We've been wondering that ourselves…"
"Shouldn't we be more worried about Entropy?" Uub asked. "He knows where we are now."
"Nah, his main priority is Raditz's group," Gohan answered. "He won't risk splitting his forces even further, especially with the losses he's taken." He frowned. "Samsara told us this a while ago, you know…"
"Sorry, I…" Uub shook his head. "I just feel… distracted, lately. Can't seem to focus."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'll get over it. Probably nothing."
"How you feeling?"
Raditz looked around, hearing Alpha's voice and smiling half-heartedly. "Didn't know you cared."
"Who said I-" Alpha closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and removing the edge from her voice. "I'm doing my best, okay? This is not my area of expertise. But I'm trying. Spare me your talkback for just this once, will you?"
"… I'm better, yeah." He stood up from the park bench, stretching as if to demonstrate. "Can't tell you how long it's been since I've had to heal the old-fashioned way. But I'm walking fine, and my flying's getting there. Gonna start back training soon, just to make sure I haven't lost my touch."
"All right. I, uh… should go." She turned to take off, pausing for a moment. "Thanks. Back then…"
"You too." Raditz gave a small mock-salute. "We both saved each other plenty of times, don't worry about it. But hey… when this is all done… rematch?"
"You're on." She grinned. "You'll regret it, though." A short flight took her to the roof of the hospital, where a tall (though not exactly her own impressive height), slender figure awaited her.
It was still somewhat strange to see Asrai looking so casual in shorts and a hooded sweatshirt-but then, the combined effect of her unusual hair and eyes, and the fact that she still never stopped floating a small distance off the ground still gave her a unique, otherworldly appearance.
"They're all improving," she said as soon as Alpha landed.
"Yeah, I know…" Alpha seemed distracted.
"You're getting restless, aren't you? We've been here a while…"
"I'll deal with it." She seemed to think about something, almost didn't say the next part, but changed her mind. "Thanks for not bringing up… y'know."
"I understand," Asrai said cheerily. "Your mind's like a weapon… you target one thing at a time, with total focus. Actually, it's one of the things I li-" She stopped herself. "I'm sorry…"
Alpha didn't respond to this. "Think we can do this? I mean, what we're up against…"
"No idea. Logic was never my department. But I hope… and I have faith."
"Wish I could do that."
"It's not easy. But… I think you'll surprise yourself, someday."
Uub wandered down a series of alleyways, trying to clear his head. It was getting dark, and some fool might have tried to mug him at some point; he couldn't really remember. The frustration he'd been feeling for weeks now had finally boiled over. They're all just… so far out of reach… are we ever gonna fight together again, Pan?
"Having trouble?" He turned to see Prometheus Shenron behind him.
"What do you want?" Uub muttered.
"Same as you; to make a difference. But that doesn't seem too likely right now, does it?"
Uub turned away. "I hear you guys are even quicker learners than saiyans."
"I'm still frustrated. Improving way too slowly."
"Are you just here to whine at me?"
"I was hoping for some solidarity, but I guess you're not in the mood. How far have you come, anyway?"
Uub stopped walking, fists clenching slowly. "You really want to see?"
"Uh… hold on a minute…"
Prometheus landed a few miles outside the city, skimming a few times as he passed over a lake before finally coming to a halt on the edge of a small forest, rubbing his cheek. "… ow."
Uub landed in front of him, red aura lighting up the night. "I'm not having a good day," he said tersely. "Not feeling particularly patient."
"So… demigod level with just your normal Kaioken?" Prometheus jumped to his feet. "You should be happy."
"It's not enough."
"Just curious, though… how's your full power?"
"Goodbye." Uub almost powered down, but the grey, winged creature blurred into action, appearing half a step away, poised to strike. Uub's eyes flashed. "Spirit-Kaioken!" For a moment, the world turned red, and then Prometheus was on the ground again, brought down by the mere force Uub had generated powering up.
" There we-" Prometheus was cut off by a hand at his throat, humming with energy. Uub was glaring down at him, not with anger, but with some kind of more general malice-as if the entire world offended him. Most disconcertingly of all, his eyes had changed; pure black, each with a hollow red ring in place of an iris. He wasn't even powered up, but the energy emanating from him was greater than even his Spirit Kaioken of a moment ago.
Prometheus froze, terrified, certain he was going to die; but ten agonising seconds later, it passed. Uub's appearance and power returned to normal, and he jumped away, gasping for breath.
"What… was that?!" Prometheus asked, barely managing to get his voice above a whisper.
"I… don't know…" Uub stared down at his hands. "For a second, I just wanted to kill you… more than anything else. For no real reason… just because you were there . And that power… I can't feel it at all anymore." He put his head in his hands, . What's happening to me…?
Gohan found a suitably secluded spot and leaned back against a boulder, closing his eyes. "Samsara?"
Whozzat?
"Son Gohan, Seventh Universe."
Right, right.
"Just wanted to ask a couple things."
Can I ask how everyone's doing first?
"Yeah, sure. Pan and Break seem the closest right now… Hephaestus is making decent progress, but he's a ways behind them at the moment. I'm afraid Goten gave up… Vegeta went to convince him to come back, but I haven't seen either of them since, so I guess the opposite happened. And Uub and Prometheus are having real problems. The Hunter too." He paused, tilting his head a little and hearing furious screaming mixed with a series of explosions. "He's… not taking it well."
And you?
"I… really don't know. I'm not really that talented a warrior, to be honest with you. I'm not sure if this is something I can do… I'd need a lot longer than this to power up any significant amount."
If you say so.
"How about everyone in other universes?"
Helios and the Warrior are close, I think. I've really never seen anyone like them… that rivalry of theirs is an incredible driving force. Everyone else… not so good. Cadmus is pretty calm about it. Can't say as much for Mercury or the Pilot, they're pretty pissed. So… what did you want to ask about?
"The whole Infinity Cores deal. Could you just… clarify it, I guess?"
Um, okay. So, there's Chaos Cores and Order Cores, right? And apparently mixing one of each gives a total power equivalent to three of the same type… kind of a yin-yang deal, or whatever.
I've covered how to generate them in principle… but basically, the three groups that you'd know of with enough potential for it are saiyans, Hakaishin and Shenron-type Eternal Dragons. First two of those are Chaos, the dragons are Order. Well, and there's Entropy's guys, but they were created with their Order Cores and any training they did was to refine them.
"You do know one of us-Uub-isn't any of those things, right?" Gohan interjected. "You didn't want to mention this to him?"
I gathered there was something special about him, so I figured, what the hell.
"Well, there is, but… I dunno. I don't think he can do it. Of course, I can't be certain… haven't seen him for a couple days, now I think about it… hmm."
Anyway… there are varying degrees of strength between people with the same number, of course. F'r instance, even before he got boosted up to the equivalent of three, your uncle was a huge amount more powerful than Tenebrion, and they both had just the one. That answer your question?
"Just about. So, another thing… what does Entropy have left, exactly? Can you give me a full run-down of what we're up against?"
Course. So, all told, his army originally consisted of eight soldiers with one Core each; four Vanguards with three; and two Envoys, with five. Five soldiers and one Vanguard are down; two Vanguards and two soldiers are in the field, searching for our guys; and the Envoys, plus one soldier and one Vanguard, are still at home with Entropy.
"And how strong is Entropy?"
Four Cores, half as many as me.
Gohan frowned. So she's got eight… "Hey, last time I asked how powerful you were, you wouldn't tell me… what changed?"
What am I the embodiment of?
"Right, stupid question… hold on. Entropy's weaker than his Envoys?"
Sure. He's not the kind that likes to do work for himself when there's somebody else to do it for him, fighting included.
"So those two are what we really need to worry about… although he's still stronger than anybody we've got right now…"
Exactly. Don't discount him… he's a clever bastard, I know that first-hand. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still a lot more dangerous than any of them.
"Although that does lead me to wonder how we're going to beat enemies like this." He fell silent for a minute or two, thinking. "There's a technique a couple of us know… the Metamorean Fusion Dance."
Sounds interesting… how's it work?
"Well, they, uh… do this particular dance, and, uh…" He shrugged. "They fuse. Form a single being composed of equal parts of each of them. They do have to be similar, though, and it only lasts half an hour."
Samsara seemed to give this some thought. And the fusion is-temporarily-completely its own being?
"Yeah. Sometimes they even specify when they're first formed. 'I'm not this guy or that guy'." At least, Gogeta does…
Then I seriously don't recommend it as a tactic to use against Entropy.
"Why not?"
Because if two beings with Infinity Cores fused like that, their Cores would essentially be smashed together. Dangerous chain reaction. You wouldn't survive, and neither would anybody anywhere near you.
"So… obvious question: why does Dragon Soul work fine?"
Because it leaves the two as distinct, separate beings. They don't form one mind-one merely inhabits the body of the other. A link is temporarily formed between their souls, but a full fusion would just mix them completely and form one soul…
"Right…" I guess that rules out the Potara, too. Damn. "And how about… what Raditz did? Converting your body to energy? What if somebody with a Core did that?"
So you know how that was extremely difficult because of the amount of energy involved? And he was 'only' at divine level?
"Ah. Out of curiosity…"
I would not lay odds on much life in the universe you were in surviving.
"… oh."
Look, it's not like I don't want you to power up or something. Tell me if you think of anything else you want to run by me.
"Sure." Gohan dragged a hand over his face. How the hell are we gonna do this?
"You okay?"
Gohan looked up with surprise. "Kuriza?" He shrugged. "Nah. I'm not great."
"S'matter?" Kuriza sat opposite him, rocking back and forth.
"Ah, the usual. We're all probably gonna die. Trying to think of a way out. What'd you come to talk about?"
"I… we haven't talked much for a long time, right? My species grows up a lot slower than yours. I'm barely an adult, as of just recently. You're, what…"
"I'm thirty-eight years old," Gohan groaned, as if he'd only just realised. "I'm middle-aged. It's a little depressing…" He trailed off. "So, uh… what about it?"
"I don't really fit in anymore. My friends here are grown up, and the new generation of kids…" Kuriza poked a finger idly at the dirt. "I dunno. Around you, I feel my relative age. Around them, I feel my actual age-which is a good way older than you." He sighed, leaning his head back. "I think it's time to leave this planet."
Gohan almost choked. "Kuriza…"
"You're still my best friend. S'why I wanted to come and tell you first." He brightened up a little. "I wanna see my home planet. How they're getting on now they're free of granddad, and the rest…" He seemed to struggle a little to get the next sentence out. "… and… maybe… somewhere out there… I'll find my mother."
"Your mother's alive?" Gohan leaned forwards. "You never mentioned her…"
"I don't know. I mean, I hope so. I want to see her again… more than anything I've ever wanted, I think."
"Why haven't you gone before?"
"Because… I love this planet." Kuriza was tearing up a little. "There are so many kind, wonderful people here… and it's a beautiful place, it really is. But I guess I have been hiding, a little. Things were simpler if I just ignored the wider galaxy. I'm not the son of Frieza here-I'm just your friend." He stood up. "Well, uh… I'm not leaving just yet. I don't have a ship, for one thing. But, with how busy you are… might not get a chance to see you again."
Gohan faced him, and they stood in silence for a moment, nodding as if in silent reassurance, before both broke down at once and they fell into a sobbing hug.
"Gonna miss you," Kuriza managed.
"Yeah. You know it doesn't matter that I grew up, right? You're still the best friend I'll ever have."
"Heh, we sound so stupid."
"Probably look pretty dumb too."
"Don't you forget me."
"Never."
"Okay!" Pan powered down, slowing her breathing. "That enough?"
In a burst of light, Hephaestus emerged, fading into physical form as he ended the Dragon Soul connection, landing a few feet upriver. "Let's find out." While in there, I experienced her divine power… absorbed it… let's give it a try. "Hrrrr…" He clenched both fists, spreading his stance and building up his aura, the land shaking around them as he reached deeper into his soul. "… rrrr… kkkkhhhh… GYAAAAH!" For half a second, his ki changed completely in quality, snapping into something higher, and then it was gone.
"Good!" Pan nodded, running up to support him as he stumbled around. "You had it."
"Yeah… yeah, I did…" he mumbled.
"Think you can get it sustainable by tomorrow?"
"I can try."
She grinned. "Good. 'Cause then we take this training to the next level."
A series of odd clicks and whirrs signalled Gohan's arrival via Shifting jump. He waved. "Hey, guys. How you doing?"
"Better than you," Pan taunted.
"I have no doubt. But I was just thinking… let's say a fair few of us succeed, and go join them. Entropy's still got a lot of troops, and if we threaten his force in the field enough, he can consolidate, make us face his whole army at once. Not sure if we can handle that."
"I guess…"
"And whatever happens, running into a pitched battle with the enemy's entire force is a good way to get most of us killed. Best to avoid that." He smiled. "So to that end… I have a plan."
The Sorcerer says he'll need a little time to prepare… and you? Samsara asked.
The Pilot grinned, snapping her goggles down over her eyes and forming a blowtorch-like flame around her index finger, examining the half-finished construction before her. "It'll be ready, trust me. Fighting's kinda fun and all, but I was getting nowhere with that training… this is what I live for."
Chapter 33: For Those About To Rock
"I'm boooored !" Victoria whined, and not for the first time.
Praelia groaned. I'm going to kill her one of these days… "Just get used to it. We have our orders. Follow Terra's example."
Victoria glanced over at the messily made-up soldier behind them, Terra drifting in lazy circles as she watched. "This is literally the only situation in which you'd ever say that."
"Still."
"It's been six months ! How long are we going to wait?"
"If it comes to it… they age. We don't."
"Some of them are gods…"
"Then they age very slowly. We have our orders," she repeated.
"Feh."
Raditz backflipped away, coming to a halt among the trees. "Somehow I thought you'd be less effective with one arm…"
Goku chuckled, advancing. "I spent my recuperation time thinking up some new tricks. Plus, we haven't sparred since before the Shadow Dragons showed up, and I picked up some things just during all that."
"Yeah, sure." The saiyan brothers clashed again, forearms colliding, Goku being pushed back a couple steps. Raditz pressed his advantage, bringing up his other fist, loaded with energy-Goku spun his whole body down and backwards, spinning in the air to avoid Raditz's strike and kicking upwards into Raditz's chin.
"Heh." Raditz fell away, rubbing his face. I slightly outmatch him in terms of power… but as a martial artist, he's my better.
Hey, guys! They both paused at the telepathic voice.
Goku waved, somewhat pointlessly. "Gohan? Great to hear from you! So is Samsara relaying-"
Nope. This is all me.
"Wait, so you mean…"
I'm here, in this universe. Along with a few others.
"I didn't sense anything," Raditz noted.
Yeah, we didn't use Infinity Core universal travel. Entropy's troops would've sensed us too. Actually, I haven't even been able to produce a Core.
"So how…?"
It's better if you see for yourself. Raditz, if I raise my power to high mortal level, will you be able to use Instant Transmission to get to my location? Entropy's soldiers are used to that level being so far beneath them, so they won't even notice anything less than divine.
Raditz nodded. "Yeah, that's how we've been sparring undetected. Anyway, if we're moving out, I should grab the others. Everyone's recovered fine, by the way-at least, as much as they're going to."
All right, whenever you're ready.
Raditz, Goku, Alpha, Asrai and Bills all appeared in the middle of a small metal chamber. Gohan stood directly in front of them, flanked by the Pilot and the Sorcerer. "Welcome aboard," he said warmly.
"This is…" Raditz looked around, blinking. "… a ship?"
The Pilot laughed. "Not just 'a ship', my uneducated friend." She tapped the wall. "This here is my magnum opus-the single largest vehicle ever constructed, and the only artificial vessel capable of inter-universal travel."
"We can already travel between universes," Bills muttered. "What's the point of all this?"
"When I realised I wasn't going to be able to be a heavy hitter on this one," Gohan explained, "I got to thinking instead. We have more assets than just our combat ability. You've heard the old phrase 'divide and conquer'? Entropy's done the divide part for us."
Alpha grinned, making the mental connection. "But we had to capitalise on it. If we just left this universe the normal way, we'd have to light up our Cores, and the task-force would sense it and follow us. This ship has no ki signature… we can leave, and Entropy won't even know we're attacking…"
"… until we're right on his doorstep," Gohan finished, nodding. "Another thing I found out from Samsara? If Entropy dies, so does his army ."
"Which means if we get in there quick enough, we can fight through half his remaining army, take him out, and never have to deal with these Vanguards at all."
"Thought you weren't a fan of killing your enemies," Raditz said, with a pointed look at Gohan.
"Well…" Gohan shrugged. "I used to be a lot more vehement about it, I guess. I'm older now, and I know not everything's black and white. I still don't like it, but I've realised that sometimes you don't have a choice. What Entropy's doing has to stop."
"So…" Goku spoke up. "How's this thing work, anyway? I mean… a ship that can travel between universes… and you said it was pretty big?"
"Yeah, this is just a side-room. We'll… show you." Gohan tapped a button on the wall behind him, and an automatic door slid open, which he ushered them through, the Pilot jumping to the head of the group.
"This," she said with more than a little glee, pushing the eternally-messy hair back out of her eyes, "is the engine room."
No-one said anything for a while.
The room, if you could call it that, was vast, enormous in a way such words failed to come close to describing. The floor stretched away into the horizon, vanishing out of their sight, but the chamber clearly went on much further. The wall behind them was equally unimaginable, seeming to curve slightly (really this was just an optical illusion caused by its unfathomable height) as it climbed further up and up, the ceiling and the other three walls not even visible from where they stood.
The 'room' was lined with two rows of… well, that was what took them the longest amount of time to process. Contained in shimmering blue energy fields, and mounted in enormous claw-like pedestals protruding from the floor, were stars. Actual, full-sized stars, filling the room as far as they could see, and presumably far, far beyond that.
"Cool, huh?" the Pilot asked, breaking the silence. "I needed a power source, and… well. It just occurred to me. Don't worry, those containment fields stop their radiation and gravity and heat and stuff from affecting us."
"You made this… so quickly…" Alpha mumbled.
"Everyone needs a hobby," the Pilot replied, grin growing wider. "Fun fact, this chamber's so big it even takes light a few minutes to cross it. I'm planning on holding races here."
"Maybe some other time," Gohan said, shaking his head. "Anyway, this ship on its own wouldn't quite make it to Entropy's universe."
"Not entirely true," the Pilot countered. "It can travel, all right, but it needs a guidance system. I'm still working on that, so I figured I'd just get Gohan and all his teleport-y skills to act as a living guidance system for me."
"Something I can do just fine… except that my maximum range isn't long enough."
"Which is why I'm here," the Sorcerer said, speaking for the first time. "I can temporarily enhance his mental pathways, increasing his range and letting him lock onto a universe. He inputs the data into the ship's computer, and off we go."
"I just can't wait to surprise-attack Entropy," Raditz added. "Please tell me someone has a camera so I can get a picture of his face when we appear."
"Heheh…" Gohan turned and headed for the door. "Come on, let's get to the upper decks. Us three aren't all there is."
When the whole group of eight entered the common-room, it was to an exceedingly warm welcome. Pan, Break, Hephaestus Shenron, and somewhat surprisingly, Bulma and Trunks were sat around a table absorbed in a card game-however, they leapt up when they saw the new arrivals, rushing over to them. Hephaestus nodded respectfully to Alpha, who ignored this, clapping him on the back and bellowing a greeting.
Break gripped her father's shoulders, resting her head on his chest. "You're an idiot, you know."
"I know," he said, looking about the happiest he'd ever been.
"Don't go rushing ahead without us, okay? You won't keep getting lucky. You're not immortal…"
He closed his eyes for a moment. "Sorry. Genuinely. I'm sorry I worried you. But we're all gonna fight together now, right?"
"Hell yeah."
They broke away, and he took a step back. "So, uh… what, is that just a normal professional wrestling outfit?"
"Um… yeah. Gohan is always on about it."
He frowned. "I… can kinda see why…"
"Not you too!"
Pan, meanwhile, was staring with a hurt expression at Goku's injury. "I… can't believe you lost an arm…"
"Yeah," Gohan said, "I never got a chance to say it just now, but… I'm sorry we couldn't do anything."
Goku smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm still here, aren't I? This is nothing. Um… s'cuse me a sec." He took a step past them, facing Bulma. "Gotta say, I'm surprised to see you and Trunks here."
"Well, Pilot needs some help keeping this thing running from time to time," she replied. "And Trunks is learning pretty quick. Unlike Bra," she added, "who can't even lift herself out of bed half the time, let alone lift a wrench… I left her with her father, they can annoy the hell out of each other."
"Heh." Goku rubbed his nose. "Sounds good."
"Of course, that's not the only reason." She scurried back over to the table, hoisting a backpack off of it. "We've got you guys… well, some presents, I guess. First is from me… hey, Bills!"
"Eh?" Their Hakaishin turned, seeing Bulma holding up a small mechanical device. "Is that…?"
"Cybernetic eye," she confirmed. "Figured you could use it. And, uh, Goku, still working on an arm. See, too exerting much force would break it, and… well, as strong as you are, a single punch at full speed would be 'too much force'. So I'll keep trying."
"I got you a couple of things, too," Pan added, stepping up. "First off…" she produced a familiar orange gi, tossing it to Goku. "If you're gonna go into a battle like this one, better look your best." She then nodded to Gohan, and the two of them threw off their outer clothing, revealing identical Kame-style uniforms beneath.
Goku held the garment for a moment, considering it. "Back in orange, huh… been a while. Sure, why not." In a blur of super-speed, he was wearing it, tearing the empty right sleeve off of his blue undershirt and discarding his previous outfit.
"And for Raditz…" Pan gestured to Hephaestus. "Courtesy of our very own forge-master."
Nodding, Hephaestus produced a Katchin longsword, handing it to Raditz. "With compliments to your Supreme Kai, who taught me the design. I did make some internal structural modifications at the molecular level… it'll be lighter and stronger than before."
Raditz tested its weight in his hand, slowly casting his gaze over the blade before tossing it into the scabbard on his back-it fit perfectly. "Thanks, guys. Means a lot."
"And finally… well, I could've done this before, but I figured I'd save it until we were doing this whole bit. Hephaestus, uh… Trunks and I got together, and… well, here ya go." She and Trunks dug around under the table for a bit, finally retrieving several pieces of armour-an exact replica of the Shadow Dragon's original suit when they'd first encountered him on Earth. "Thanks for everything, man."
Hephaestus stood stunned for a moment, before making a quick gesture, the armour floating up to him and locking into place, ending with the helmet sliding down and obscuring his face. "As you say… we should look our best."
"I guess all this means we're not wasting any time," Alpha said.
"Yup." Gohan addressed the Pilot and the Sorcerer. "You guys ready to head up to the bridge?"
"Just give the order," the Sorcerer confirmed.
"My ship, I'll give the order!" the Pilot snapped.
"Then by all means."
"Um… uh… yeah. The order. I'm… giving it. Let's, uh… go. And stuff."
"Inspiring."
As the great vessel lumbered into life, Raditz and Break sat alone in the room she'd claimed as her quarters. "You, uh… wanted to talk about something?" she asked warily.
"Yeah, I…" He stopped. "Not really sure how to say this. As a fighter, I couldn't be more proud of you. But I think you have the potential to be more than that."
"I… what?"
"Well, you know… you did so well in university and all. I just think… look, I'm gonna be honest. Neither of your parents are very smart. And when I think about what you could do… I think you owe it to yourself to put all your gifts to use. Not just half of them."
"Dad, I…" She kept alternating between seeming to be on the verge of laughing and of crying. "I've been submitting papers on nanobiology under a false name. For a few years."
"Oh." He paused. "Oh," he said again. "Hey, that's great! So… why the big secret?"
"Why do you think?!" she erupted. "This is the first time you've ever said you liked that I was smart! All this time, I was worried… I dunno, you'd think it was a waste of time, or that I should be training instead or something!"
"Sorry…" he mumbled. "I never meant to… you know whatever you wanted to do with your life, it's cool with me."
"Never got that impression, have to say."
"Well… maybe I was less open-minded when I was younger…"
"I… I'm sorry, I guess, you never tried to suppress me. It was just… I dunno. I just thought…" She fell silent for a moment, before suddenly continuing. "I mean, shit, dad, you're an alien and you used to conquer planets for a living. I didn't even know you until I was eight, and then you came back from the dead. What the hell am I supposed to think about you?"
Raditz hung his head. "And here I was hoping my kid wouldn't be as messed up as me…"
"I guess you couldn't help it." She lit up a cigarette, staring out the shielded window into the featureless void.
"When did that start?"
"Don't really remember."
He snatched it away, dropping it and stamping it out. "You quit today."
"The hell I do-"
"Let me be your father. This once." There was a rare clarity in his eyes. "Okay?"
She stared him down for a few seconds, before grunting and tossing him the rest of the packet, which he incinerated. "Man, you left it late to learn some parenting. I'm nearly thirty."
"Better'n never."
"You're a dumbass, and I want you to know that."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
The Dreamer paused, turning away from the door she was about to enter, peering into the darkened alcove beside her. She spotted movement, and frowned. "I didn't think you were on this ship…"
"I'm not like them," the figure muttered, retreating into the shadows. "I failed. I just want to see how this ends."
"So come join us."
He turned away. "I can't face him yet. Not until I catch up…"
"Suit yourself."
"Um… guys?" Pan poked her head around the door to the bridge. "What's the matter?" Over the past half an hour, everyone on board had wandered up here, and currently there was something of a commotion around one particular console.
"They found out about the sound system," the Pilot groaned.
"There's a sound system?"
"Yeah, sure. Speakers can pop up out of the ship, make announcements at whoever's in your way." She shrugged. "I like to have fun when I design stuff."
"And, let me guess… they're arguing over what song to have playing when we kick down Entropy's door."
"Yyyyup."
Currently, Gohan and Break were struggling over the machine. "I don't expect you to understand," Gohan growled, "but it's gotta be the Macross theme song! If this ship isn't a 'Super Dimension Fortress', I don't know what is!"
"Forget it!" Break countered. "You can't have a badass entry without AC/DC!"
"We… could be here a while…" the Pilot sighed.
At that moment, though, a door off to the side hissed open, and Helios Shenron and the Warrior stumbled in, collapsing.
"I didn't even know they were on-board," Goku said, laughing a little.
"Yeah, those two aren't around much," Gohan explained. "They train pretty much non-stop."
"You know… I'm starting to feel a little more confident about all this. Although… still no idea how we're gonna beat some of these guys when we still haven't figured out a way past a Vanguard's level."
Gohan smirked. "Maybe you haven't."
Earth…
Deep within the mountain, behind the waterfall, in total darkness but for the gentle glow of his own power, he sat, heedless of the world around him, cross-legged on the cold, wet rock. Two eyes firmly closed, a third open and glowing an eerie green.
Where are you…
I sensed it, back there, just for a moment.
I can find it again.
"Is it possible that Gokaiger is the greatest thing ever?" Trunks wondered aloud.
"Damn straight," said Break, nodding. "Shinkenger was pretty good too, though."
Trunks snorted. "Get outta here."
"You didn't like-?" Break began, before being cut off by the ship's intercom, over which the Pilot was now speaking.
"Everybody. Bridge. Now. Arrival in five minutes."
Entropy sat in his throne, massaging his temples. Three warriors knelt before him, heads downturned. Wearily, he stood. "Raptor…" he said, the green-suited Vanguard with the slicked-back hair raising his head with a slight smile. "… Anima…" The half-ethereal soldier next in line did the same. "… Lucius…" Lucius remained still, eyes closed. "… I need to know that I can rely on the three of you. I have come to expect the unexpected from our foes… and should something happen to the current taskforce…"
"We will not fail!" Lucius declared.
"Ah yes, because you have such a flawless record," Raptor muttered.
Lucius jumped to his feet, eyes flashing. "You dare to-!"
"Enough!" Entropy snapped, and Lucius instantly shrank back, lowering his head. "Now… if we are assailed here, then our strategy should-" Entropy paused, frowning, the building beginning to shake around them. "What is that… noise…?"
Chapter 34: Grand Delusion
Six minutes ago…
"What do you mean?" Goku raised an eyebrow. "You've found a way to become even stronger than a Vanguard?"
"I didn't discover it myself, but yeah, there's a way," said Gohan.
Now…
"Man the outer walls!" Entropy thundered, standing and taking a flying leap over towards his chessboard. "Defend this place with your lives!"
Six minutes ago…
"See, when you do the Dragon Soul ritual at full strength, you've each got one Core, and how much does it add?"
"Uh, one more. Total three."
"Or so we thought."
"Huh?"
Gohan grinned. "It's variable-and what it depends on is the strength of the bond between the two people using the ritual."
Now…
Entropy snatched up both rooks from the board, crushing them in his hands. A small burst of light emerged from each, and expanded into humanoid form in front of him, settling into two beings built like the offspring of a brick wall and a tank. "Incipiens… Terminus… your time has finally come."
The pair of Envoys laughed in unison, a deep, satisfied sound, signalling the anticipation of the fast-approaching moment when they would be able to release the hyper-violent urges they'd been storing up for unfathomable aeons.
Five minutes ago…
"Another thing, it's not numerical; it doesn't necessarily correspond to an exact number of Cores. It's just a linear increase depending on the connection between the two of you."
Goku nodded. "So are there people with stronger connections than me and Gamma?"
Not that that's hard, Gamma added drily.
"Hephaestus has had some weird kind of loyalty to Pan since she spared his life, and she's doing her best to try and rehabilitate him… we're pretty sure when merged, they're stronger than a Vanguard. Alpha and the Dreamer seem to have hit it off pretty well, too… can't quite get a read on those two. But anyway, they might be able to do it too."
Now…
"We are under attack," Entropy explained. "Our enemies are a group of biologicals who have risen above their station. They must be stamped back down. Understood?"
"Kill?" Incipiens, covered in wild, branching spikes and horns, mouth bristling with unruly fangs, each of its too-numerous fingers ending in a serrated claw, growled.
"Or capture?" Terminus, smooth-surfaced, composed of some dark, glass-like substance, glowing from a flickering inner light, monotoned.
"Kill," Entropy confirmed.
They clicked their heels together, saluted, and as one, turned and marched out of the throne room after the others.
Five minutes ago…
"Isn't there some kind of increase for fierce rivals?" Goku asked. "That's how it was with the Potara."
"Sadly no, that doesn't cut it," Gohan explained. "Shame, or Helios and the Warrior would be just about invincible."
Three minutes ago…
"… and I'm telling you-" Break was shouting.
"Everybody shut up! Bigger things to worry about than the damn sound system!" The Pilot snapped. "How would you even play it? Do you even have any music on you?"
"… oh yeah."
One minute ago…
The fabric of space exploded inwards around the edge of Entropy's universe, and the stellar-body-dwarfing ship emerged, propelled at many times the speed of light through the nigh-empty sphere of existence.
"Aren't there any stars around here?" the Pilot wondered.
"Yeah, space here is… completely black…" Gohan concurred. "I guess Entropy made this one specially."
"Wait," the Sorcerer said, pointing. "There is something… I'd say it's a planet, but it's too big…" Gohan resisted the urge to shout 'that's no moon!'.
The Pilot adjusted a dial on her goggles. "Yeah, this ship is tiny next to it, and we've got a couple dozen suns in the engine room. See, even that building's bigger than us." She indicated the only visible structure on the surface of the 'planet'-Entropy's palace. "All right… time to give that bastard the biggest shock he's ever had. Battleship ALDF-1, commence docking procedures."
"ALDF?" Gohan asked.
"Allied Life Defence Force. That being us. I just came up with it."
"… right… we're gonna have to talk about the name later. That aside, I doubt you ever thought there'd be a place big enough to house this thing. What exactly is a 'docking procedure' for a ship like this?"
The Pilot simply laughed, and slammed down the acceleration lever.
Now…
I… still don't sense their ki… but the noise is getting louder… how are they travelling- Entropy happened to glance out a window, spotted the huge oncoming object. -oh.
When several disorienting seconds of shaking had finished, he peered back out the window-the ship was now sitting partly in his courtyard, its bow embedded in the lower floors of his palace.
Far, far below, a section on the ship's deck slid open, and a large, circular platform emerged, carrying a line of warriors; from left to right, Bills, Hephaestus, Pan, Goku, Raditz, Break, Alpha, Asrai, the Warrior, and Helios.
Entropy's warriors gathered on the battlements above, their powers looming over the 'planet' like an oppressive wall in their minds. Raditz took a step forwards, planting his feet slightly apart and raising one fist. "Ready, guys?" General assent. "All right, then. HYAAA!" He kicked things off himself, turning Super Saiyan and then going up to Eternal Saiyan; Goku, moving up to his side, did the same a second later.
Break stepped up a moment later, assuming her own Super Saiyan form, before Pan joined them, struggling for a moment to reach her combined Super Saiyan-Oozaru state-the power boost was relatively insignificant at this level, but her power was far more stable in that form than in her regular, pseudo-Super Saiyan form, making it easier to hold onto an Infinity Core. She reached backwards without looking around, and Hephaestus clasped her hand in his, vanishing into a stream of light that disappeared up her arm. She shuddered, straightening up and reaching her own version of Eternal Saiyan, her hair lengthening further, her aura darkening, and the blue and white colours in her eyes trading places.
Alpha and Asrai formed an Alpha-based combined form again, and Helios and the Warrior's seemed unstable, flickering back and forth between one and the other's features, both fighting each other for dominance of the shared body. Bills was last to advance, lighting up his own Infinity Core and cracking his knuckles. "Yeah…" he said, surveying their enemies. "We can handle this."
"Let's finish this quick," Alpha cautioned them. "We don't know how long it will take for those other Vanguards to get here, and this fight will be difficult enough as it is. So, if no-one minds…" She took off, heading straight for the central tower, and was almost immediately sent flying off to the right by a dark blur-Terminus, who now appeared behind her as she skidded to a halt. Her eyes widened as she felt the breeze of its approaching fist, and threw herself to the side, pushing off the floor and swinging a back kick up at it. It took the direct hit to the chest, rocking back slightly but otherwise remaining unaffected as the great wall behind it shattered from the aftermath of the blow. "Hnh."
Alpha drew back, frowning. Must be an Envoy… ready?
Let's go, Asrai confirmed, and they flared up their collective power, lunging with Alpha's right fist-Terminus caught it, slowly tightening its grip.
"Your power… it's greater than a Vanguard's," it said, the words not seeming to come from any particular point on its body. "How did you do that?"
"Ah…" Alpha grit her teeth as it began to twist sideways, exerting more pressure on her hand and arm, driving her to her knees.
"Take 'em out!" Raditz shouted, taking to the air and accelerating down towards the pair. A blur of green appeared in his peripheral vision, and he drew his sword just in time to parry a kick from the slick, formally-dressed Raptor. The fourth Vanguard… "Outta my way."
"Outta my universe," Raptor retorted, bringing a knifehand strike up towards Raditz-only to have it stopped halfway to its target, Goku's hand closing around his wrist.
"Go," the younger brother ordered. "I've got this guy."
"And forget about me!" Alpha called up. "If you want to help us, get in there and murder the hell out of Entropy!"
"Right…" Raditz nodded to them both. "Thanks, guys!"
"C'mon!" Pan called, the rest of the invading force taking off after their comrades. A waif-like soldier-Anima-and Incipiens, the second Envoy, soon appeared in their path, blocking them from reaching their allies.
"Bills, Break…" Pan indicated herself and the Warrior-Helios-thing. "We'll take the Envoy, okay?"
"If you insist," Bills replied, grinning. Lucky escape there…
Break pointed over to Anima. "Hope you don't mind two-on-one, 'cause we're not here to mess around."
Anima shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. I'm not a fan of wasting time, anyway…" She gave a glance over at Goku, who was exchanging opening shots with Raptor, and sighed. "But, man… I didn't even get to fight the hot one?"
Bills raised an eyebrow. "I think we're fighting an idiot…"
Raditz busted through the palace's inner wall, landing in a wide corridor. Actually had to use a decent amount of strength to break that… what's it made of?! He shook his head. Focus! Entropy isn't hiding his power at all… he's not far from the place I talked to him before…
"Don't you take another step!" a voice called out from behind-Lucius, Raditz saw.
He grinned. "And you're gonna stop me?"
"I will erase my shame…" Lucius growled, raising white-knuckled fists, shafts of light emanating from him, flowing down the corridor towards Raditz. "You will not best me again!" He charged, but his movements were slow and predictable to Raditz's eyes.
"Sorry." The saiyan stepped around Lucius' attack, smashing the hilt of his sword into the soldier's head and launching him out through the hole he'd made in the wall. "I'm nothing like I was before… but you're still exactly the same. Now…" He turned back inwards, heading straight for Entropy's power.
The great double doors burst asunder, toppling and smashing into fragments. Entropy's eyes opened lazily, head slowly rising. He blinked a couple of times. "My servants… incompetents, the lot of them."
"Get down here!" Raditz pointed his sword up at the powerful figure slumped on his throne. "I'm gonna show you how much I've changed since last time."
"Get down?" Entropy snorted, closing his eyes again. "Don't waste your efforts fighting me. Stab yourself ." These last words were felt, rather than heard, but this time the command merely washed over Raditz, not affecting him. Entropy gave a weary sigh. "I suppose you have changed. It was worth a try."
"This all ends here," Raditz growled, grip tightening on his weapon. "I'm so fed up of you people and your cycles."
"'You people'?" Entropy's voice grew hard. "You dare to compare me with mere gods?"
"I dunno. You all look the same from down here." Raditz took off, arcing up and towards Entropy, flying straight past him and swinging as he went, a great two-handed sweep that carved the throne in half, Raditz lowering his sword as he landed, grinning. He didn't even move! "How's that?"
Entropy still sat in place, on what remained of his throne, shaking his head as if talking to a stubborn child-he didn't appear to be injured at all. "You're thinking I didn't move or react, yes? Now, considering my uninjured state, and what that might say about the difference between our powers, ask yourself… is that really more likely than you simply not being able to follow my movements?"
"What did you-" Raditz's voice trailed off into a whimper as one of the fingers on his right hand broke; then another, a third, a fourth, fifth. His sword clattered to the floor, then shattered. More bones broke-wrist, forearm, upper arm, shoulder-blade, this last one almost powdered. He gasped, falling back. He did all that… in the instant I struck?!
Entropy raised one finger, pointing it back over his shoulder and forming an energy beam about half a foot in diameter. Without looking, he released it with a flick, far faster than Raditz could dodge. "Disappear… insect." The blast punched straight through where his chest and abdomen met, melting flesh and rupturing what were probably some fairly important internal organs.
Clutching at the wound but unable to contain the blood-flow, Raditz fell forwards onto his face, shuddering, feeling oddly cold. "… damn it…"
"Okay…" Bills said, eyeing their opponent. "I'll make a feint to the right, then you-" He was cut off as Lucius' flying form, still falling from the force of the blow Raditz had dealt him, crashed into the Hakaishin, sending them both tumbling away in a tangle of curses and ki blasts.
"Um… I guess you take that one," Break said, turning back to Anima. "Our powers are on a similar level…"
"Yeah, this could take a while," Anima agreed.
"Well… maybe." A rush of green entered Break's aura and hair, her body filling out and a huge burst of ki externalising itself. She reached out with both hands and grasped ahold of it, pulling it in close. Hey, this still works… I'll burn through this extra ki quickly, but while it lasts… She propelled herself forwards, opening with a strong left into Anima's face, drawing a surprised shriek.
Her power just…?! Anima reeled, a second blow from Break hitting home. It's not a second Core… just a huge supply of… excess energy! How-?
Break pressed the attack, hammering Anima back and forth, doing her best to make the most of her temporary boost. Running low… better just burn all the rest on this last attack! She drew back her fist and lunged, smashing straight through Anima's body and dissipating it into what looked like mist. "Huh…" Having run out of extra energy, she returned to regular Super Saiyan. "That was… suspiciously easy."
"Wasn't it?" Anima asked; sure enough, standing unscathed behind Break. "That wasn't my real body, see." She made a sweeping gesture, more mist coalescing into a copy of herself, then dismissed the thing with another wave. "You didn't notice when I made the switch, did you? Poor thing."
"The copies can speak and act independently… and they must have some of your durability…" Break reasoned. "After all, you're not hurt so the copy took most of my hits, but it didn't break until the end. But then, they don't have your attack power, I guess… or you'd just make a bunch and swarm me with them."
"Ooh, wonderful!" Anima nodded, clapping excitedly. "But there's one more thing you should know about them… I can make them remotely." She gave a cheery wave, beginning to dissolve.
Break's eyes widened. That wasn't the real one either?! Then where- The question was answered as deceptively-powerful arms locked around hers from behind, tugging backwards.
"Gotcha."
Not good… Break couldn't pull free; Anima's position gave her too much leverage. Something's gonna break in a few seconds… need some kind of… ah. Haven't done this in a while… She gave a short yell, and a wave of golden light swept across the ship's deck, a metre or two of spiky hair flowing down and filling Anima's field of vision, throwing her mind into momentary disarray.
"What the hell?!" He grip loosened for just an instant, and in that instant, Break ripped her arms free, spun in a tight circle and landed a devastating punch to Anima's stomach.
"Heh…" Break powered back down to Super Saiyan. "That's something we call Super Saiyan 3… I don't really use it anymore, since it drains a lot of energy, and the power boost is insignificant at this level. But I suppose it has its uses." She rubbed her knuckles. "You had your full strength, so I know I got the real one this time…"
"That… huh… you did…" Anima hissed. When she finally straightened up, though, she was smiling. "But the same trick won't work twice. And besides… you have a pretty glaring weak spot."
"Eh?" Break blinked. "Whassat?"
"Oh, patience. You'll see."
Goku flipped over a wild swing from Raptor, spinning to face him again and warding off the next few blows with expert precision. "You know, you're not very good at this," he said, frowning.
"Shut up!" Raptor growled.
Goku landed a kick, then another with the return motion of the same leg. "No, seriously. I can give you some pointers if you want…"
"Take me seriously, will you!" Raptor lunged, running straight into an energy sphere Goku had prepared, the detonation covering him in soot and dust.
"I really wish I could…" Goku swung another punch-but this time, the Vanguard dodged. He got faster?!
"Finally," Raptor breathed.
"Been holding back?"
"Nah…" Raptor leaned forwards slightly, smiling. "I just finally stole enough of your power to even up the odds."
"You what?!"
"Still doing it now, by the way," Raptor added. "Just by proximity. So, y'know. Better beat me fast, before I take it all."
Pan and Helios fell back again, Incipiens advancing, unfazed by their attacks. "Is that really it? Two on one? One of you as strong as a Vanguard, one even stronger?" It folded its arms. "I'm disappointed in you biologicals."
"You think so?" Pan stepped forwards, but Helios, changing a bit more into the Warrior, put a hand on her shoulder.
"Go. We'll defeat this thing."
"What? The difference between your power-"
Snapping back into Helios, he moved in front of her. "Go help Raditz. It's insulted our pride as warriors. For that, it's going to die."
"If you're sure…"
"Get out of here!" He yelled, launching a tempest of flame that engulfed him and the Envoy, giving Pan an opening to break away.
I guess there's no reasoning with him… and he is right, Entropy's the important thing here… She nodded before flying up towards the palace. Hold on! Stay alive, everyone!
Raditz had levered himself up against a wall, and was working his way to standing upright, his breathing growing more laboured.
"You're just embarrassing yourself," Entropy said, sounding more bored than ever. "Your fight is over. Stop working so hard… it's exhausting just to look at you."
"Agh…" Raditz leaned his head back, feeling at his gaping wound. "You bastard, you've killed me."
"I've had more biologicals killed than I can count. What was just one going to do to me ?" He paused. "Actually, that's not true. I do keep count. Currently, it's… roughly eight times ten to the power of thirty-one, I believe."
"I don't speak maths."
"Eight with thirty-one zeroes after it."
"That many?"
"I believe so, yes."
"You must get up very early in the morning."
Entropy snorted. "Your attempt at gallows humour is noted. Actually, you said something untrue as well, you might be interested to hear. I didn't kill you."
Raditz looked down at the hole in his midsection, which was still bleeding profusely, with some incredulity. "The hell you didn't!"
"Not really, no. You see… you've been dead for quite a few months now."
"Bwuh?"
"You did something very risky when you first achieved an Infinity Core. Converted your entire body into energy in order to fight Tenebrion. 100% controlled self-destruction."
"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome."
"Perhaps not quite so much as you think." Entropy looked over at Raditz with a sly smile. "Did Samsara tell you what the chances of surviving something so idiotic were?"
"15 to… 20 percent…'fyou must know."
Entropy threw back his head, giving a harsh, barking laugh. "Really? She said that?" He calmed himself. "Try 3 or 4."
"Haha, man, am I lucky." Raditz saw Entropy's expression. "I wasn't lucky, was I."
"You know what happens when you do something with a low chance of success? You don't just succeed anyway because you really, really need to. By definition, you will probably fail." He grinned. "You killed Tenebrion, but then you'd burnt too much energy and couldn't focus enough to reform your physical body. You died ."
"I'm in a lot of pain for a dead guy, I have to say."
"Well, that's when Samsara made her move. Your spirit was drifting in the void, unable to pass on to any kind of afterlife; so she infused you with some of her energy, re-creating your body and restoring you to life. Did it never seem odd to you how quickly you grew in power after that? Always one step ahead of your friends?
"Samsara's energy," Raditz groaned. "And 'sides… spirit body… powers up quicker than a normal one. Learned that a while back.
Entropy nodded. "What she did was a temporary measure, though… it wouldn't have lasted more than a year or so."
"I doubt I'm gonna last five minutes," Raditz muttered. "So all this feels kind of redundant."
"I'm just trying to make a point. You take every risk, seize every opportunity, as if you live some kind of charmed life. But you are very capable of failure, and you're not immortal. That's no way to live."
"Yeah… I guess…" Raditz pushed himself away from the wall, taking a couple of unsteady steps forwards. "But… it's the only way I know. So… once more… time to do something stupid."
"Ugh." Entropy rolled his eyes. "Do what you want. You're the perfect example of why I can't stand your kind."
Hey… Omega…
Yeah?
Been good knowing ya. Thanks for all the help. He raised his unbroken left arm, forming the hand into fist and pointing it in Entropy's direction.
"I'm really getting tired of you," Entropy sighed. "Please, just bleed out already. Save us both some time."
"God, you're an asshole." Raditz's face screwed up in concentration, his power flaring up to its maximum for one final effort. "DRAGON…"
Entropy flinched at the sight. What is that?!
"… FIST!" A great red dragon coalesced, thundering across the enormous throne room, tearing up everything in its wake and bearing down on Entropy, who raised one hand, catching it and holding it back with contemptuous ease.
"That's your final attack? You almost worried me for a-" Entropy stopped, hissing with frustration as Raditz himself appeared, emerging from Omega Shenron's open mouth, infusing a fist with all the energy he could muster and ramming it into Entropy's stomach.
His motion continued, less controlled now, and he landed on one knee behind the now-demolished throne as Entropy overcame the Dragon Fist, dissipating it. He grimaced, knees bending slightly. "Not… a bad hit… but did you think I would let you get away after that without striking back?"
"Ah, crap." A second or so after Raditz said this… he wasn't entirely sure what he was now missing, or where he'd been hit in return during the moment he'd attacked Entropy, or how many times, but there was a lot of blood, and scarcely anywhere on his body that wasn't unbearably painful. He gave a desperate cry, toppling backwards and trying to breathe.
Pan entered the room just in time to see him fall; her face passed through shock, disbelief and anguish, all the way through to hate, inside of a second.
Entropy saw her expression, giving a dumbfounded look. "What? Over him? Oh, grow up. There's plenty more like him. I should know, I've killed most of them."
Pan didn't move. " You… "
Chapter 35: End of Serendipity
Pan crouched over Raditz, his eyes flicking half-open. "Hold on, damn it!" she barked. "You're stronger than this!"
"No… don't think I am," he croaked. "D'zit look as bad as it feels?"
She hesitated. "… kinda, yeah."
"Ah… hell. I didn't want this." He looked wistfully up past her. "Still got stuff to do, y'know?"
"You never slow down."
"Not…'till now. Hey…" A quivering hand reached up and took her wrist. "Tell Break… Launch… Goku… tell 'em, uh… to pretend like I wasn't light-headed from blood loss, and to imagine I said somethin'… really emotional and moving. Yeah?"
Pan managed a smile. "Yeah. I'll tell them. Soon as I beat this guy for you."
"You do that," he wheezed. "Promise?"
"Y-Yeah." Pan nodded, ignoring Entropy's derisive snort of laughter from the other side of the room.
"One more… favour." Strength returned to his face for a moment. "Don't be… like this stupid old man… and die with so many regrets." He shuddered, eyes going distant.
"Don't go… !"
"Hey… I bet Entropy didn't set up an afterlife in this universe. Wonder what'll happen t'me."
"You go and find out for me."
He lay back, his grip loosening and his hand falling away. "One more… adventure."
At 5:36 PM, November 19th, year 794 Earth reckoning, a heart beat its last. That heart belonged to Raditz, first son of Bardock and Gine, age 64.
Brain death occurred at 5:42 PM.
He is succeeded by his lover (never married), his daughter and his brother.
The task of avenging him, however, fell to his great-niece.
Pan was silent for a long time. Hephaestus… do something for me?
Of course.
As long as this fight lasts… until it's all over, don't say a word to me. I can't fight him without our combined power, but in some way, I want to do this alone. Understand?
I do.
"Entropy." Pan closed Raditz's eyes, standing and turning towards the broken throne. "You're not on some holy mission. You're just a control freak who can't stand anybody else messing with his stuff. Order and Chaos are supposed to balance-what you're doing is gonna destroy everything."
"Everything?" Entropy retorted. "I will remain. I will always remain. I can rebuild my perfect multiverse once this corrupted one is gone."
"It's all ending here," she continued, approaching him. "I'm gonna make you feel every life you've taken."
"Mmm. Fascinating."
"Will you listen to yourself?!" she snapped, speeding up and swinging a punch down at him, the impact sending out a rapidly-expanding dome of energy that completely engulfed the throne, ascending and blasting a hole out through the ceiling.
Standing in the crater she'd formed, Pan heard Entropy's feet tap the ground behind her. "That's quite some power you've got there. Roughly equal to four Infinity Cores, even…"
She spun, launching herself at him; he turned away, and as she approached she felt a barrage of impacts strike her from all sides, disorientating her and tossing her to the floor.
Entropy shrugged. "I did say 'roughly'. And besides, the four Cores I possess have been trained to their fullest potential. Far more effective than your novice attempt at producing such a level of power."
Pan smashed a fist into the ground, propelling herself back up at him. He closed his eyes, bands of energy forming around her wrists and dragging her away. She dug her heels into the ground, tearing it up as she fought to decelerate, finally ripping free and shattering the restraints.
"You people are all so much effort to deal with!" He groaned, putting a hand up to his forehead. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"This from the guy who sent an enormous monster to devour our universe."
"Yes, but it was nothing personal!" He protested, seeming genuinely offended. "I didn't even know you existed!"
"And every time I think I can't hate you anymore, you gotta go prove me wrong!" she snarled, accelerating towards him and phasing into view at close range. He batted away an opening punch, a fairly casual return strike with his palm winding her; she recovered, just in time to receive a more serious blow to the head. He followed up with a kiai, advancing a step to match pace with her as she fell back one.
She moved in to attack again, and he spun around it, pulling on her extended arm and sending her into an uncontrolled spin.
"Ah… huh… huh…" Pan regained her balance, keeping her guard up and maintaining her distance now. I can keep up with his movements-just barely-but I can't predict them!
"What, you didn't think I'd be a capable fighter?" Entropy frowned. "Do I look that brutish? Your friends must have noted the incredible combat skill possessed by Praelia and Victoria… who do they think taught them?"
Raditz is dead. Everyone's risking their lives out there. I could be next; I'm hugely outclassed by this guy.
And yet… for some reason, I'm starting to get excited…
"Hmm?" Entropy gave her a quizzical look. "I took you for the heroic type. But I'm starting to see bloodlust in your eyes…"
"That's my saiyan blood waking up," she said. "It's calling out to me… it knows what to do."
"Gotta beat you quick, you say?" Goku asked.
"Yeah… won't take me long to steal enough of your power to take the advantage," Raptor replied with a grin.
Goku shrugged. "Well, okay." He blurred out of sight, and Raptor ducked just in time to avoid a swipe from behind.
Maybe I shouldn't have told him… I got cocky… He hurriedly brought his arm up, blocking the next attack; Goku immediately flung himself off to the right, kicking as he went and forcing Raptor to parry with his other arm. Goku next appeared several metres away, charging up ki between his fingers. "Ka-me-ha-me-"
I should have stolen enough power now… I can take this! Raptor crossed his arms in front of his face, solidifying his energy aura.
It was unfortunate for him that he was unaware of the Delay Kamehameha, or that Goku was capable of delivering it on contact; for right as he fired this new attack, he set off the delayed blasts he'd planted in each of Raptor's forearms, driving them apart and forcefully lowering his guard, causing the full Kamehameha that was now being fired to hit the Vanguard head-on.
The next thing Raptor saw, struggling to stay conscious, was Goku speeding towards him; and then, not requiring any more real strategy at this point, the saiyan resorted to the simple expedient of punching his weakened foe repeatedly in the same spot, until he stopped moving.
He stepped back, scratching his head. "I feel kinda bad about how easy that was… but he did say quickly…"
Bills and Lucius remained deadlocked, each countering the other's attacks, landing minor hits but failing to gain a significant advantage.
Bills made a lunge for Lucius' neck, and Lucius ducked under it, grinning as he saw the opening in Bills' defences; he rose, driving an uppercut into Bills' chest and following through, spinning a kick into the side of the Hakaishin's head and knocking him back. Bills swung a return blow, but he was off-balance, and Lucius caught it, shoving back on it and driving Bills down through the deck and into the ship, landing them in a wide corridor. Bills rolled away, shielding his eyes as Lucius flung out his aura, smashing up the corridor and blasting the surrounding rooms into twisted piles of scrap.
"And now… !" Lucius brought up one hand, pulsing with accumulated energy, and took aim.
A bolt of light came speeding in from the side, taking him across the shoulder and snapping him into motion like a rubber band suddenly released; he was flung out the side of the ship, an enchanted arrow infused with an incredible concentration of ki embedded in his shoulder, trailing incoherent yelling.
Back in the ship, Bills stood, cautiously peering around the corner; the Hunter stood on the other side, lowering his bow and placing it on his back.
"You're here?" Bills asked.
The Hunter gave a grunt of acknowledgement. He turned to leave, then stopped. "Turned out you're a lot more talented than me, I guess… I was just here to see the show." He sighed. "I didn't want to face you until I was your equal again."
"Hey, that was a pretty impressive attack…"
"Yeah, with the concentration of all my power into a single point. My normal level's still a long way off yours…"
"You'll get there."
"Hope so. So, uh… Alpha looks like she's in trouble."
"Should I care?"
"Dreamer's with her."
Bills shrugged. "I'll tell you when my loyalty to someone I've spoken to maybe three times in the last millennium starts to outweigh my hate for my best friend's murderer."
"Dude. Cold."
"Don't start with me. I'm not in the mood."
Entropy brought his arm down, and an immense crushing force began to press down on Pan's back and shoulders. His lip curled into a sneer. "Bow before the supreme being, vermin," he said, increasing the pressure. "Bow, and then I shall remove your head."
Gotta… Pan fought to stay standing, spotting Entropy forming an energy blade in her peripheral vision. She half-rolled with the downwards force, flinging herself away to the side as his attack bisected the wall behind her. Having escaped his mental hold, she stuck out a leg, breaking her momentum and skidding to a halt amidst a spray of sparks, springing back up to Entropy. She threw a few rapid attacks, and Entropy swayed slightly, retaliating with another kiai . It carried her a few feet before she broke out of it, somersaulting away to land on the side of a pillar. He blocked all my hits… but I didn't see it…
She fired a few ki blasts in his direction, and he smiled, vanishing; she felt a rush of air from behind her, and dived forwards, just as his casual swing disintegrated the pillar she'd been crouched on, sending deep cracks into the floor and ceiling. I'm almost keeping up… but that's nothing to be proud of. I'm throwing everything I've got at him, and he's barely trying.
Just as she finished this thought, he materialised in front of her, jamming a finger into her stomach and launching her back through the air. She dug a hand into the floor to stop her flight, her fingers carving out deep trenches as she arrested her momentum. Even as she stood, she saw a shadow cast itself over her; Entropy, cloak flowing out around him, hovered near the ceiling above her, releasing a two-handed blast that drove her into the floor and out of sight.
Rubbing the soot from his pale, thick-set features, Entropy settled to the ground, rolling his eyes. "Oh, for… you can come out already, I know you're not dead. Go on, keep attacking me. Or at least trying to. I give you points for effort, if nothing else." Silence. No movement. "Ugh. Fine." He spun in a circle, peppering the floor around him with small beams, drilling a multitude of holes into the rock and working his way around.
Just before they reached her, Pan burst up out of the ground, energy shimmering in her grasp. "Ka… me… "
I suppose I should probably stop that… Entropy dashed in, reaching for the forming energy ball. Pan swung it towards him, and he gripped the other side, the two of them struggling over the growing attack for a few seconds. He finally managed to pull it over his shoulder and hurl it away-what he hadn't anticipated was that Pan, still not letting go, went with it. "Hame…"
"Don't you even-!" Entropy fired another volley, Pan sprinting around the now thoroughly-wrecked throne room to avoid them, keeping her eyes on him, her energy still building. She ran in, beginning to bring it forwards to fire.
"Hah!" Entropy brought up his hand in her direction, ready to block-and a moment later, she disappeared. Where?!
"HAAAAA!"
Behind me-!
When the dust finally cleared, the entire upper half of the tower had been destroyed, and Pan and Entropy now stood on a flat plateau several levels down from where the throne room had been. Entropy was initially rather smug, having emerged unscathed apart from his now-tattered cloak, which he discarded. "Good try. Could've been better."
"Maybe." Pan grinned as Entropy suddenly clutched at his stomach, gasping. "You were so focused on blocking my main attack you didn't see that one-same spot Raditz hit you. That's gotta slow you down some."
Entropy straightened up, spitting, "We shall see." This came a moment before Pan's foot crashed into his face, rocking him backwards; in the same instant, with her body fully-extended to attack, he sent an uppercut into her back, hurling her away into the sky. He growled, rubbing his cheek. Maybe she was right… my blow still hit with more power, but hers shouldn't have landed at all…
She came soaring back down towards him, shattering the rest of the great tower with the impact of her landing, their support tumbling away to the distant ground beneath them; they remained floating where they'd been standing, continuing the fight. Having dodged this initial charge, Entropy made a jab at her face, and she pulled back, his fist just grazing her nose as she moved out of range. She brought both arms up, gripping his extended wrist and pulling him in, bringing his face down into her elbow. Again, it didn't seem to faze him too much, but at least she was finally scoring some hits.
Angered by the difficulty he was having, Entropy lashed out, pursuing Pan up through the air, each of his blows carrying a thunderous aftershock of power, Pan avoiding every one by a hair's breadth, beginning to run out of breath from the effort, while his attacks came as fast and savagely as ever. She dodged again, getting behind him and raining down several punches to his back, pausing as her arms began to ache. His head turned slowly to look back over his shoulder, and he gave a fierce grin. "What? Is that your full strength?"
He spun, swinging and missing again, Pan twisting away from another pair of unbelievably-strong attacks. She shoved a ball of ki into his face, the detonation serving only to further enrage him, his return blast sending her spiralling up into the upper atmosphere. He shook his head, trying to calm himself. At the start of this fight, she couldn't even touch me… did her hit on top of Raditz's weaken me that much? No… no, it couldn't have. It may be that the opposite is true… the longer we fight, the more powerful she grows… additionally, her technique seems to have improved. Consciously or not, she's been studying my moves… learning from them… adapting to them.
He floated up level with her, reaching the edge of space; she flew higher, and he followed, reaching a vast distance from his 'planet' in a matter of seconds, hanging opposite each other in the blackness. "All right…" Pan cracked her knuckles. "Let's do this one more time."
"It appears I gravely underestimated you…" I must kill her quickly-before her power approaches mine…
Alpha fell back, another attack repulsed by the seemingly-unstoppable Envoy. What is this thing? She unleashed an enormous blast, levelling the land for light years back, but Terminus climbed nonchalantly out of the crater, hoisting her over its head and smashing her down into its rising knee. She fell away, groaning, trying to clear her vision as its stomping footsteps grew louder. Sensing it draw back to deliver the killing blow, she sprung up at it, holding out both hands. "Void Summoner!" The space between them warped, pulling at Terminus' body-but then it gripped the affected zone by the edges, surrounding it with its own ki, pushing it back towards Alpha. That's never happened before… "Void… Banisher… !" She used this second attack to dispel the first before it hit her.
Not hesitating for a moment, Terminus pressed its attack, its fist coming far too fast to dodge. "-Banisher!" Alpha dropped down the portal she'd opened below her, reappearing behind it and kicking it in the head; it staggered forwards a step, then stood back up, mechanically turning back towards her. Damn it! Hey, you want to change around? Make your body the base, you try your thing?
I doubt that would help… Asrai admitted. As far as I can tell, this thing has no mind for me to affect.
Then how's it move and talk and all that?
I don't know. Ask Entropy. Look… I know how we can improve our chances.
Do we have time?
That depends on whether I can convince you to do it.
The Warrior collapsed backwards, sprawling over a fountain and finally losing consciousness, Helios emerging and falling separately.
"Feh…" Incipiens stomped through the field of flame surrounding their battleground over towards them, preparing to finish them. "What happened to all that talk?" It took in its surroundings. "All you did was set everything except me on fire… a lot of flailing, accomplishing nothing."
"Not quite… nothing."
Incipiens paused at the words, somewhat alarmed-for they seemed to be coming from behind it, the same direction that all the fire around it was suddenly being sucked in. Upon turning, it saw Goku, single arm held aloft, palm up, all of Helios' scattered flames drawing into a tightly-packed sphere just above.
"What are you…?"
"Well, I had this attack I called 'Nova Burst'." Goku finally finished concentrating the borrowed power, bolstering it with his own. "But that name's kind of outdated at this level, right? Well… my son once told me that just occasionally, when a star dies… you get an explosion that puts even a supernova to shame. So, for one time only…" My power alone couldn't scratch it… neither could theirs… let's see how combining them goes. "You're gonna see my- Hypernova BURST! "
Incipiens balked at the tsunami of light and heat that swept over it, roaring in pain as it was dragged away by the enormous force.
"All right, we're out of range of your precious house," Pan said, giving an eager grin. "You can go all-out now."
"Hmh." Entropy smiled. That bloodlust is absorbing her completely… she seems to have forgotten she was fighting for revenge… "Now that would be something, wouldn't it? Very well. Let's see how long you can keep this up."
Chapter 36: False Hope
Genkai wo koete! Ginga no hate made!
Goku's fingers stung from the heat of his own attack; he lowered his arm, eyes half-closing, heavy with exhaustion. There y'go. That's one Envoy-
"Not… bad."
W… What?!
Incipiens strode, a little uneasily, from the dying flames, eyes gleaming. A couple of its wildly-twisting spines and horns had broken or melted off, but its main body was fully-intact. "Well?" It began to focus its ki, its aura flickering and sparking uncontrollably. "Are you starting to realise the depths of my power?"
"Damn, what are you made of?" C'mon, think fast… I won't last ten seconds against this thing in a straight fight… This thought was quickly proven right as Incipiens grabbed him by the ankle and began to swing him wildly around, arcs of its unreined power randomly discharging down its arm and jolting painfully through his body even as he was smashed through a multitude of walls and statues. This kind of collision shouldn't hurt… what is up with this place?!
It held him up in front of its face, grinning its jagged grin, blurring in and out of focus in front of his tired eyes. How'd it… damage me so much… so quickly…? These Envoys are crazy…
"You say I've got a weakness?" Break asked. "I think I'd know."
Anima took a step back. "Oh, I think you know. Come at me."
"As you command, oh mighty one," Break muttered, rolling her eyes and attacking, opening with a high kick and spinning around to follow up with her other leg. Anima took the first hit straight to the jaw, but as she fell back, threw a hand out downwards and used Break's leg as a springboard as it came around for the second attack, flipping forwards and getting into close range, staggering Break away with a backhanded strike.
"You're watching me more closely this time," Anima noted.
Break smiled, swaying a little on her feet. "Can't let you switch out with another copy, can I?"
"Oh, it's certainly a smart tactic. Well… enough playing around." Anima lunged, both arms held out in front of her. Break had plenty of time to react, clasping each of Anima's hands in one of hers and stopping the charge.
"Really? This is you being serious now? Doesn't seem much different to me."
"We shall see." Anima's face grew more intense, and she began pumping waves of ki through her arms, attempting to unleash point-blank energy attacks at Break.
Break got over her surprise quickly, responding in kind, sparks of multicoloured light flying out around them as their attacks clashed in the tiny space between their locked hands. "Rrgh…"
"Your weakness, as I'm sure you know…" Anima said gleefully, "is that those handy tricks you were using to outfight me earlier are severely energy-intensive. They've eaten away at your stamina; hell, you could definitely break this stalemate if you could use that extra power again. But I don't think you even have enough juice to do it one more time…"
"Damn it…" So that's why she charged me like this, made this specific attack… Break realised. She turned this fight into a contest of attrition… and it's not a contest I can win.
Anima saw her expression. Yes, she's fully realised what I'm doing… only to be expected, but she knows she'll be completely out in just a few more seconds… I can't have her trying anything desperate… let me think… ah! "You know, it's a shame I had to kill you," she said off-handedly. "You're actually pretty cute."
"Wait, what?"
"Nah, just messing with ya. Still pining for your one-armed buddy." In Break's moment of confusion, Anima pulled backwards and threw a vicious knee strike into her midsection. "Made for a good distraction, though, didn't it?"
"That is…" Break gasped, collapsing and losing her Super Saiyan glow. "… so cheap…"
"Hey, whatever works," Anima laughed. "Now, to finish-" She got no further; a thin yellow energy beam punched its way out between her eyes, leaving a neatly-drilled circle through her head.
"Not on my watch." As Anima toppled forwards, breathing her last, Bills kept his arm raised, formed into a gun-like hand-sign, smoke rising from his index finger. "The Seventh Universe, and all its inhabitants, are under my protection."
You said you know how we can defeat this thing? Alpha repeated.
Yes… Asrai paused. They said the strength of our connection increases our power, yes?
Yes… oh.
I know you're holding off from acknowledging what you feel because you're trying to focus. But in this situation… we're stronger together… so this'll only work if you don't hold anything back. Externally, they were still fighting, continuing to fare poorly against Terminus' overwhelming power, but they barely noticed that now. I know that's not how you're wired. You build up all these layers and fronts around the real you. But, please-I can't see you die here.
It's… not only that… Alpha responded slowly. I think I just didn't feel like I deserved… anything, really. Least of all the kindness you've shown me.
I'm not as perfect as you think I am. I've made plenty of mistakes. Trust me when I say we deserve each other. So… Alpha… let me in.
Terminus advanced, throwing another casual punch down towards its battered opponent. This one, however, was caught-and held back. "Wha…" It applied more force, but Alpha didn't budge. "Let… go, you… !"
With deliberate slowness, she stood, forcing it back as she rose. "So… I hear Entropy removed all emotion from you guys."
"He removed… your weakness from us!" Terminus replied, a strangled growl as it finally ripped its hand free from her grasp. Each of them took a slight step to the side, their arms blurring towards each other, attacks meeting in the middle and blasting out an enormous dome of power around them; Bills and the Hunter, still watching from a distance, were forced to take cover as the shockwave washed over them, collapsing the entire courtyard around the fighters and rocking the nearby ship. The dome finally collapsed, resulting in a brief pulse of even greater force-the entire gargantuan ship flipping completely over and tumbling away across the surface of the 'planet'.
The light died down, and Alpha still stood facing Terminus, their steaming fists touching between them. She almost smiled. "Let me show you the strength of that weakness."
"All right… you want everything I've got?" Entropy asked, dropping into a lower stance, fists clenched at his sides. Energy began to flow out in great streams from his body, filling the empty space around him, their heat reaching Pan after a few seconds. She responded in kind, flaring up her aura to its highest intensity and reaching within for every scrap of power she could muster.
Gohan tapped frantically at the monitors. "What the hell…"
"What's the matter?" the Pilot asked.
"I don't know… there's some kind of… gravity well? Out in deep space…" His eyes widened. "Wait… Pan and Entropy are fighting up there! Hold on, it's getting stronger-" His voice cut off as the instruments displayed their latest readings. "That's insane. It's picking up… two new solar systems?"
"Didn't think there was anything but this one super-planet in this universe."
Bulma came over, looking contemplative. "Well… theoretically, when this universe was created, all the component 'stuff' that normally makes up planets and stars and all that should still have been scattered around. Entropy just somehow took steps to stop it from coming together."
"And now the weight of their powers, freed from the gravity of the 'planet', or whatever magic holds it together," Gohan added, standing up, "is pulling that stuff together around them? Two new solar systems…" He glanced up out the window. "Heh… they even look like stars from here…"
"To do it so quickly, though," she continued, "that's some crazy strong gravity they're generating. Normally it takes millennia for planets to form…"
Pan and Entropy hung at the centre of their self-generated scientific impossibility; each of them the centre of an entire system of planets, pulled together out of loose molten rock and superheated gas, orbiting at ridiculous speeds; every few seconds, one of her planets would collide with one of his, showering the surrounding area with debris, before the wreckage would reform under the immense gravitational pressure of their ki. "Are you satisfied now?" Entropy asked.
Pan nodded. "Heh… thanks for the breather. Let me cool my head… remember why I'm fighting you."
"It's not because you want to?"
"I'm doing my best to suppress that. To remember… that I need to. I've got people to avenge, and people to protect." Hephaestus… I'm sorry.
Eh?
I was so dumb just then, trying to pretend you weren't here… I got so caught up in my anger, I forgot how much you probably want payback on this guy too.
He set up a lie around my whole existence… sent me on a mission that got friends of mine killed… and another friend was so devoted to that mission, finding out the truth almost broke her. I'd say so, yes.
Then… let's do it together this time. She fixed Entropy with a hard stare, facing her open palms towards him and slowly bringing her hands down to her side, shafts of light beginning to burst out from between them. "We both want to end this. So let's make this the finale."
Entropy chuckled. "That technique again? We've established pretty clearly it's useless against me." He lazily began to gather energy of his own above one outstretched hand.
"… they all thought I was… a coward… funny thing…'till recently… so did I…"
"KA…"
" I leave… the rest… to you."
"… ME…"
"… if you live only to destroy, you'll never defeat me!"
"… HA…"
" I… Hephaestus, I don't know what to think anymore."
"… ME…"
" One more… adventure."
From his upside-down position, Goku rammed a punch into Incipiens' stomach, but only hurt himself, whereupon the Envoy hurled him away again, stomping over towards him, taking heavy, hungry breaths.
"No use…" he muttered. "This thing is… too much…"
It fired a two-fingered burst of energy, which he noticed too slow to dodge-but the blast was intercepted by the Warrior, who appeared in front of him, arms outstretched, full spectrum of colours radiating throughout its surface. "Fool!" it hissed. "Your attack earlier… weakened it! It's just hiding it well!" At this, the beam finally overcame its resistance, sending it skidding away.
Incipiens advanced another step, but was blocked by Helios, who shifted immediately into one of his memorised combinations, changing tracks to different points in the sequence constantly to throw it off, sending great gouts of flame out in all directions as he spun. "Get up!" he urged. "You can-ugh-" He just barely avoided a return strike, his own attacks all being reflected as Incipiens got over its surprise. "… you can finish it!" A second swing from the Envoy brushed him aside, his ethereal wings flickering and trailing smoke.
Incipiens turned to its final opponent-or at least, it thought it did, but by the time it looked, Goku's afterimage was already fading. His feet clicked on the stone behind it. "Gotcha." It was still unbelievably fast for its bulk, however, and managed to turn and see his arm descending, swaying out of the way of his downwards strike. In doing so, though, it hadn't had much time to think, and left itself overextended, exposing a spot on its side particularly injured from the Hypernova Burst. Goku swung his body around, bringing his right side to bear. Incipiens paused, frowning-he wasn't positioning to kick, but he didn't have an arm on that side. So what-
Spiralling coils of energy erupted out of his shoulder, reaching out and forming themselves into a pseudo-arm, ending in a long, arrow-straight blade. The improvised limb hit Incipiens' injury dead-centre, punching straight into its body. The many spines and antlers tore at Goku's skin as he got so close, but he continued his lunge, slicing deep into the thing's skeletal structure, finally twisting outwards and nearly cutting Incipiens clean in two as his energy-arm emerged from its back. He kept moving, coming to a halt a few steps away, right as the Envoy fell on its face, giving a hollow sigh before exploding from within.
Exploded? Goku shielded his face, wincing at the blast. Makes sense , that thing's power was always unstable… I guess Entropy was still learning how to create a being that powerful when he made this one.
He didn't get time to rest, though-a series of explosions chased Bills over towards him, Helios and the Warrior pulling themselves up to join them. "Who's attacking you now?" Goku asked.
Bills pointed upwards. "Some old friends of ours finally got here." Hanging in the sky above them were Praelia, Victoria, Terra and Nereid.
Alpha's now deadlocked with that other Envoy… I dunno, something changed, but they seem even now. Haven't seen Raditz for a while. Pan's taking on Entropy out in space… "All right, four of them, four of us. We can handle this." Well… three of us, really, if we want to achieve full power.
"I don't know…" Bills rubbed around his cybernetic eye. "We couldn't handle them at our best. None of us are at 100% after all that fighting…" He turned to Helios and the Warrior. "You guys conscious enough to form up?" The Warrior nodded silently, holding out one arm.
"Let's do it." Helios dissolved into a cloud of flames, surrounding the Warrior's body and merging them once more.
As the others broke away, charging into battle around him, Goku closed his eyes, waiting to feel the vibrations in the air-then leapt as a sword sliced past where he'd just been standing, landing behind Praelia.
"Greetings!" she said, turning to face him. "Shall we finish what we started half a year ago?" She lunged, and he deflected her weapon away, bringing an elbow up into her face.
"You can try. I've been replaying our battle in my head-studying your moves."
"Unfortunately for you…" she spun with the fall, twisting the lower half of her body upwards to kick him in the side. "There's plenty I haven't shown you yet!"
"The… gravitational anomaly is growing…" Gohan muttered, tapping furiously at the controls. "I don't understand it… Gaaaah! " He pitched backwards, clutching at his head as he suffered the fifth-dimensional and ki-sense equivalent of a blinding light or deafening noise.
"-HAAAAAAAAA!"
"Is that all, child?"
"That was your daughter firing," the Pilot mumbled. "Entropy countered. I've never seen a beam-clash of this scale…"
"What was that about the gravitational anomaly?" Bulma asked. "Weren't there two?"
Gohan staggered back over to the console next to her. "Yes… they appear… to have merged… and with this increased power output…"
"The effect is exponentially greater than before. The planets they formed have broken down… they've drawn a lot more matter in, too… an enormous nebula is forming around them, and it's heating up fast."
"But then, if this continues…"
"Yeah."
"Holy crap."
"That's… Pan and Entropy?" Goku whispered, the numerous battles having paused for a moment at the titanic collision of power high above them. "This is crazy…" The sky is… burning…
"Where are you looking?" Praelia's voice alerted him, too late, to her attack. The sword carved its way through the air towards his head-and then vanished into a rapidly-opening portal, reappearing behind her, the Vanguard only just barely avoiding being hit by her own strike. She withdrew her blade, jumping back and scanning the area with narrowed eyes. "Who dares…?"
"That would be me." A series of small cubes twisted into being, rapidly warping and assembling themselves into the form of Son Gohan. "You looked like you were having trouble, dad."
Victoria paused from her relentless attack on Helios, rushing over towards Gohan and raising her sword to bisect him from behind, far too fast for him to react to. However, her attack was halted when her weapon became suddenly charged with some strange mystical energy, travelling up through the metal and delivering a painful jolt to her arms. She hissed, springing away. "What sorcery is this?!"
The Sorcerer floated down to join them, both hands resting on a newly-forged staff. "A fitting choice of words."
Bills disengaged from his opponents, forming up with the others. "You guys…"
Finally, the Pilot appeared among them as well. "Hell, we're doing some pretty crazy stuff today. Might as well die together."
"Grrh…" Pan fired everything she had directly forwards, feeling Hephaestus' strength reinforcing hers more than ever now. And yet, Entropy's beam was matching hers, even though he was still fairly relaxed, not having to work nearly as hard as they were. His ki was calm, quiet even, yet it loomed like an insurmountable wall before her.
And then, slowly but terribly surely, it began to push towards her. He's… turning it up… I can't stop his full power!
I can't… lose here… Entropy's reinforcements arrived, and everyone's too tired to fight them! She stole a 'glance' with her ki sense in the direction of the 'planet'; her friends were definitely on the defensive, rapidly losing ground before the new wave of enemies. I can't lose anybody else… or let Raditz die for nothing! But if I beat Entropy here… the rest of his soldiers will die too! This Kamehameha… will decide everything. But… I can't do it!
Pan… Hephaestus spoke up. Is this truly all the power we have?
What do you mean?
It's just… I sense… I don't know, something… within you. It's hard to say, but… I'm also thinking of the speed you ascended to this level-it shouldn't have been possible. I've always wondered what, exactly, you possess that marks you out like this.
… I… I'm not sure myself… it's not something I've tried… but there might be something… I'm just… afraid.
Afraid?
All this power keeps playing to my saiyan side… all that hate and violence… I don't like that part of me, and I don't want to make it any stronger. And besides… if I'm right, and I can generate more power… what if it's too much for you to handle, in such close proximity? It could injure you.
Pan… as someone many, many years your senior, listen to me. Compared to what's at stake if we lose… our lives mean practically nothing . Our mental well-being, even less. Now. Cast your doubts aside, and show the world who you really are.
… thank you.
Entropy gave a low chuckle. His beam had nearly completely overwhelmed Pan's now; it was a mere few feet from her, small streams of it breaking through her last hemisphere of ki and striking her, causing more bruises and burns. "Never did I think a group of biologicals would cause me such trouble… but here we are at the end, and my might is still unchallenged! I almost want to keep you alive for a few more minutes, so you can see your friends die first-but I learn from my mistakes." He gave a final push, pouring on all the power he could muster up. " No more chances! "
"E… Entropy…" Pan hissed. "I've been asked… what, exactly I am… why, even among people as incredible as this, my growth was so fast. I've suspected the answer… for a while…"
"What are you talking about?" Has she gone mad from fear? He paused, frowning. Something's wrong… I can't place it, but… oh. Oh.
His attack wasn't advancing anymore; half an inch from Pan's fingertips, it had come to a dead halt. How…?!
"I am… the nexus," she continued, some quality in her aura changing. "The next step… in our evolution. I'm descended from, and trained by, the greatest warriors in my universe."
"Meaningless… babble…" Entropy grunted, trying in vain to resume his forwards push.
"What are the three races I've encountered that are a threat to you? Saiyans… Shenron-type dragons… and Hakaishin. And what makes a saiyan more dangerous? Cross-breeding them with a human. What I'm about to show you… is my true nature. The power of a god… the potential of a Shadow Dragon… the intensity of a saiyan… the conviction of a human… they're all combined into me!"
"N-No… you biologicals… are limited to a single Core!"
"Is that… the truth?" Pan closed her eyes-and let what was within flow to the surface. " Let's see who's limited !"
Gohan's analysis had not been entirely accurate. It was not merely one nebula that had been forming around them; it had been multiplying, a thousandfold, with each new burst of power Pan and Entropy had been outputting.
And now, as the total energy level continued to rise, the nebulae burst into life, the immense pressure vastly accelerating a process that normally would take years, and countless newborn stars flickered on in the space around them, beginning to circle slowly, clustering together into enormous strands, gradually settling into a spiral shape. As a new galaxy swirled to life around them, Pan's energy began to overtake Entropy's, sending waves of pain shooting up his arms. She's really generating… another Core! This power is on the level of an Envoy's… !
Coils of fire encircled Pan, her own power stabbing inwards at her, burning away the fur generated by her previous transformation. Just a little more… just a few minutes more… keep it together…
Hephaestus had been giving words of encouragement, but was reduced to grunts of pain now, her rapidly-increasing ki eating away at him as he feared. I can… handle it! He managed. Just… win! His voice trailed off again.
I… I… Pan found the thoughts coming slower. Can't, I'm… losing myself… The battle-hunger loomed large in her mind, tasting blood and resurging with a vengeance. Not enough… training. Raditz…'fyou were still here… I can't do this alone.
Yes, you can.
Raditz…?
Entropy balked as his energy wave was smashed aside. No… no! The Kamehameha tore into him, twisting and scorching his body. "Everything I've worked for… you may have despised it, but… I was building something to last! How long will you be remembered?!"
"I won't last forever, no," she responded, locking her stance and continuing her relentless attack. "I'm not going to try. But right now-in this time, this place-I'm alive. And you… were you ever?"
"Y… You must… at least… understand me…" he gasped, his body beginning to disintegrate. "No matter how much you hate me… you have to… to understand… I only wanted…"
"Sorry… no." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't understand you at all."
End it. Kill him now.
She paused. Wait… that was my voice- And then it overwhelmed her, and the red veil descended, and she let loose one final cannonade of power as the saiyan rose again, laughing maniacally as her blast ripped through Entropy, destroying his body with one last agonised scream.
Alpha landed a solid hit to Terminus' torso, receiving one in exchange as the motion left her momentarily unguarded. Damn it… we could go at it like this for days without a victor emerging… but I don't have that kind of time! Indeed, not far below, the others were beginning to take more hits from their attackers, the soldiers making feints and hemming them in as the Vanguards continued the true offensive; their swords had already scored several deep cuts on each of their opponents.
And then, something passed through the air, almost too subtle to detect. Terminus froze, shivering slightly; Alpha frowned, giving its reflective surface a tap. It toppled backwards, crumbling into dust as it fell. "What…?"
The other servants of Entropy had frozen too-Praelia was giving a quiet sigh. "Perhaps we shall finish this… in another life, Son Goku…"
Victoria sank to her knees, eyes rolling back in her head. "Damn it… all…"
Terra almost seemed happy to finally get some rest; Nereid had the opposite reaction, her head shaking slowly, a look of abject terror playing across her face. "No… not like this… not like-" Coming to a choking halt, she collapsed.
"I guess… she won? Seeing that, I feel kinda bad…" Goku staggered back as the corona of light from above blazed even brighter, every star in Pan's newborn galaxy going nova at once, lighting her passage from the heavens back down to earth; she alighted in the middle of the torn-up battlefield, gazing around and surveying the death and destruction she'd wrought. And she threw her head back and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
Samsara leaned against the outer wall of her tower, shaking from head to toe. That look in her eyes… that laugh… it's just like… that man! "I… no! I don't… want to remember! I don't… want…" She sank to the ground, gripping her head in her hands. As much as she resisted, though, the memories of her past life came flooding back. I remember my death… and I remember him. "She's becoming like him…"
If he's alive, he'll come for her.
' God help us', they sometimes say.
I wish I could.
This time, it was Lucius' turn to be surprised that he was still alive. And where am I…? I sense a multitude of biologicals… more to the point, how am I still anywhere? My Lord Entropy was slain… He felt something stir within his mind-an implanted message.
Lucius… I am dying. By the time you awaken and hear this, I will have passed. Hear me. I grant you the last of my fading power and life-force; with it, I have transported you to this universe, and allowed you to outlive me by perhaps a day. You are in our enemies' home universe, and it will take them some time to get back-I located it not long ago, which is why they went on the offensive. They have ruined my great work… in return, I want you to show them true despair. I want them to return home to the ruin of their former lives. Their home, friends, family… burn it all, Lucius.
Lucius opened his eyes. "It shall be done, my lord. I swear it."
Chapter 37: Some Assembly Required
"… Pan?" Gohan approached her cautiously, wearing a worried expression. "What happened…?"
"You see me?" she yelled, sweeping her arms around at the rubble and bodies. "Do you see me now? This is what you've created!"
He recoiled. "That's not… this isn't you…"
"Isn't it?" She flashed him a hideous grin. "You've felt it. I know you have. This beast that I am, it's my heritage-your gift to me."
Goku stepped forwards, a greater concern momentarily overriding his unease at this situation. "Where's my brother? Still in there?"
"He's-" Pan froze, her smile freezing. "He…" Slowly, her face fell, all the joy and all the rage draining out of her, leaving her cold and empty. "Entropy… ki-killed…" She put a hand to her mouth, feeling a wave of nausea. "And I was laughing… I didn't-I'm… sorry…"
Goku didn't say anything; in fact, he didn't move or make a sound for over an hour after that.
Lucius narrowed his eyes, raising one gleaming finger and aiming it in the direction of the distant planet. "Earth… burn." A glimmering streak of light painted a circle around his target, forming a scope of sorts; he closed one eye, concentrated his power into his fingertip, and fired.
"Heh." Long-distance elimination… my specialty. He turned away, folding his arms. For rebelling against the supreme being, and undoing all his works, you shall suffer a thousandfold what you have…
The planet Earth, he noticed, was still there.
…
Really?
He pinched his nose, sighing. They absolutely must be difficult…
A few short minutes later, Lucius touched down on the planet's surface, looking moodily about the snowy vista he'd alighted in. Whoever was capable of deflecting my attack can't have missed my approach. Come and get me.
He was rewarded with two approaching figures within a minute; not being acquainted with them, he could not identify Gogeta and Eighteen, nor did he note Uub's conspicuous absence.
"This must be the guy Samsara mentioned…" Gogeta mumbled.
Eighteen nodded. "Let's not give him the chance to try anything."
Lucius surveyed the pair. "Was it one of you…?" he wondered aloud. They rushed him, and without moving, he sent out a lazy pulse of energy, hurling them back and taking the wind out of them instantly. "No… I don't think so. Just typical biological trash… no need to rush, you'll die with your planet soon enough."
"What the hell…" Gogeta gasped, reverting to base form, "… was that?" How can someone like this exist?
Footsteps crunched over the tundra behind him. His vision swimming in and out of focus, he tried to turn and look, but was on the verge of blacking out, and saw only the slowly-advancing boots.
Lucius blinked, raising a hand to his eyes-the newcomer had picked their angle of approach carefully to align with the glaring arctic sun, and Lucius could only see a darkened outline, silhouetted against the all-encompassing brightness. "More trash?" Lucius asked, mostly to himself, though for some reason his voice sounded less confident. He swung an arm up, flicking out a pulsing energy blast; it pierced only an empty cloak, however, the new arrival now touching down a ways behind Lucius, setting down Gogeta and Eighteen at a safe distance. How did you do that?!
Now he was finally visible to all, not that Lucius knew who he was. Gogeta half-smiled. "Hey… Tien? Thanks for the lift."
"You guys take a minute," the veteran martial artist said kindly. "I'll tag in."
"Don't do it!" Eighteen urged. "Fighting somebody like that… for people like us, and no offence, even more so for you… it's impossible."
Tien stood, his back to Lucius. "Nothing's impossible."
"You're opposing forces beyond your comprehension, little man," Lucius growled as Tien slowly approached him.
"Are you gonna fight me, or just try and bore me to death?" Tien asked, his three-eyed, unyielding stare uncomfortable at such a close distance.
"'Fight' you?" Lucius laughed. "An insect does not 'fight' the titan that steps on it. But I shall humour you, if you like." He was in a peculiar state; his body was somewhat injured, but thanks to Entropy's gift, he was brimming with energy. He reckoned he'd be able to augment his physical attributes well enough to achieve full strength, in any case. He drew back his right arm, gathering his pale green aura around the striking surfaces of the limb. "You can die finally comprehending true power." His arm lashed out-and came to a jarring halt halfway to its target.
Tien had brought his own arm up, fingers closing around Lucius' fist. "Is this what counts for 'true power' these days?" Eyes narrowing, he tightened his grip slightly, sending waves of pain through Lucius' hand.
"Ggh… !" Lucius, uncomprehending, pulled frantically, but could barely move Tien.
"The whole 'insect' thing… I think you've got the wrong analogy." Tien's free hand twitched, and the next thing Lucius knew, a thunderous impact struck his face, lifting him off his feet and giving him enough momentum to bury him beneath a nearby mountain, the aftershocks bringing the whole thing down around him.
Standing half-bent over with his fist still extended, Tien straightened up, with a wave of his hand directing the resulting avalanche away from himself and his injured allies, waiting until Lucius burst up out of the snow cover, seething.
"You can't do this!" he snarled down at Tien. "You're-what even are you? Nothing! Not even one of the higher biological races!"
"That may be," Tien agreed, "but I also happen to have, for a few moments, held damn near the entire combined power of this universe within me… a power that rivalled the Eternal's. Didn't need to be anything special to 'learn' that realm of power, with that kind of jump-start-all it took was finesse, dedication and hard work. Something which you don't look like you know much about."
"Y-You lie!"
Tien spread his arms, a corona of light emerging from his third eye and enveloping his body, wrapping him in a gentle yet powerful aura. "Do I?"
"N-No… this power is… is… !" Lucius charged down at Tien, leaving a blazing trail of light in his wake. "I refuse to acknowledge you as my equal!"
"Well, let's see…" Tien took a step back, preparing to receive and counter the incoming attack. "You lack discipline…" He dodged around Lucius' lunge. "… resolve…" His hand snapped up, palm-first, into Lucius' chin. "… proper technique…" He caught a kick, flipping the soldier over. "… clarity of mind…" He came down hard, driving an elbow into Lucius' stomach before he could get up. "… and awareness!" As he said this, he picked Lucius up and swung him overhead, slamming him down into the ground and delivering a parting kick to the back of his head, flipping away immediately afterwards. "So… correct. We are not equals."
"You… bastard… don't you dare look down on me… !" Lucius dragged himself up to his feet, facing his attacker.
Tien lifted slightly off the ground, making a triangle formation with both hands. "Come at me."
Samsara had been assaulted by more repressed memories, preventing her from monitoring Lucius' attack on Earth, and was surprised to find it still there when she regained her senses. She homed in on the planet, using faint ki traces to isolate Lucius' landing spot. There appeared to be only one living energy source in the area.
What… happened? Samsara asked, hesitant.
Tien heaved a double-handful of dirt into the hole he'd dug, and had evidently been at it for a while-two more filled it completely. "Eh?"
Entropy sent a soldier here, a man named Lucius… a last, hateful stab at his enemies' home…
"Oh, him." Tien hammered a wooden spike into the ground, marking the grave out amidst the bleak landscape before standing, retrieving his cloak and wrapping it around his shoulders, and striding off into the blizzard. "He died."
"Hey." Gohan approached Break, stopping at the edge of the shielded deck, the massive ship seeming tiny in comparison to the endless void surrounding them. "How you doing?"
"It's gonna be hard, telling mom…"
"I'm sorry."
She turned her head away, sniffing. "I'll live. How's Pan?"
"Completely out of it. I'm… I'm scared for her."
"The way she was acting back there… something like that used to happen to both of us, right?"
"Yeah. Not quite the same. We were just berserk… she knew what she was doing. Reminded me of a 'proper', old-fashioned saiyan."
Break nodded. "With that much power… not a nice thought."
He frowned. "I'm more worried about the fact that it happened to my daughter ."
"Right. Right. Sorry. I'm… a little out of it."
"You're allowed. I can't imagine what you're going through."
"I think you can," she said. "You went through the same thing. For a minute… when she changed… you lost her. Right?"
"Yeah. At that moment, I felt like dying." He sighed, leaning against the rail and rubbing the back of his neck. "Break… did we win today?"
"I guess so."
"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it."
"I just didn't realise you guys could have relationships or whatever," Trunks was saying.
The Dreamer floated down the corridor, keeping pace with his strides. "As you are now, so once were we." She clenched a fist. "This may change…" She placed her other hand over her heart. "… but this does not."
"I… guess that makes sense…"
"From what I have gathered," she said, dropping into a more colloquial tone, "the Pilot and the Hunter both regularly take mortal lovers. And…" Here she lowered her voice. "… don't tell anyone, but I've always wondered about Cadmus and Mercury. It's very rare to see one without the other…"
"Heheh." Trunks walked on, but as she rounded the corner, the Dreamer was halted by an arm stuck out in her path.
"If you make her unhappy," Helios said calmly, wisps of smoke rising from his shoulders and back, "I will kill you."
Asrai gave him an unreadable look, eyes glittering. "Noted."
Time passed.
It always does.
Launch stood over a small headstone, about a mile from their house, watching the sunrise. "Y'know, this hangover is your fault," she muttered, before crouching down in front of the thing. "We had a sort of wake for you. Just me, our kid and your brother. Break still hasn't woken up…" She smiled. "You… you turned out all right in the end, I think. Heh… it would take the biggest bastard in the cosmos to put you down for good. Just don't come back this time-saying goodbye once almost killed me. Twice, even worse. I couldn't take a third."
She laid an unopened bottle next to the grave before standing up. "Saved some for you." She almost left, hesitated. "They said you died in someplace without an afterlife like we've got. Nobody's got a clue what's gonna happen to your soul." She sniffed, wiping at her glistening face, almost embarrassed to look at the gravestone. "You always had to be different, huh?"
Raditz blinked, feeling the glare of sunlight on his back and pushing himself off the ground. I'm really making a bad habit of waking up in mysterious places… even when dying, now… "Where…?"
"I'm not sure," said a deep, familiar voice from behind him-Omega Shenron. He nodded, and the dragon returned the gesture. "This is someplace… malleable. New."
Raditz grinned, putting a hand up to shield his eyes. "That look like a horizon to you?"
"Remarkably."
His grin widened. "Always wanted to catch one of those. C'mon."
There was a great gathering outside what used to be Raditz and Launch's house the next day. The Sorcerer had finished his preparations to teleport those departing up to the Pilot's great ship, currently floating out in deep space, not far from the North Galaxy. Given the scale of their victory, and the possibility of never meeting again, a goodbye turned into an extended goodbye, and that turned into something of a party.
Chi-Chi had not let go of her husband throughout just about the entire event; the feeling was somewhat mutual. "I just can't believe something like that happened to you…"
"Hey." Goku leaned in. "I'm still here. That's the important thing."
"Look, I know the healing magic we know of can't fix your arm if it's gone completely, but… you know, there's probably some alien race out there that knows how-"
"Don't worry about it," he replied softly. "After the people we've lost… I think I'd feel guilty, coming back unscathed."
"How can you be so dumb, then turn around and say the exact right thing when it counts?" she asked.
"I dunno. Am I that dumb?"
"Wouldn't want you any other way. And hey… you don't have to be stoic about all this, if you don't want to. I'm here for you, you know that?"
"I… yeah… thank you."
The Dreamer observed their loving embrace with a smile, looking back over at Alpha. "Hey… kiss me?"
Alpha gave an odd look, shuffling her feet. "Ah…"
"Eh?" Asrai raised an eyebrow. "What's different from earlier?"
"Uh… people are… watching," Alpha mumbled, almost inaudible.
"You have the strangest inhibitions."
"Hold on, I'm the strange one here?"
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the other surviving Shadow Dragons. "Alpha…" Hephaestus stood at the centre of the small group. "I just wanted to ask everyone… what now?" He'd been in pretty bad shape when he'd arrived back on Earth, but healing had since been dispensed among all and sundry.
"I've decided…" Alpha said, with some force, "I'm going to go looking for the Pit. We never went back once we'd made it out… Tenebrion sent us on our separate missions. No more are going to be created, but there will still be plenty of our kin down there. I'm going to free them."
"I think we can all agree it's a pretty terrible place," Prometheus agreed, nodding. "Be best if we could find a better life for them than eating each other down there. And any that get out on their own are gonna be pretty lost and confused…"
"Right." Alpha took a slow breath, before looking first to Asrai, then to Helios. "I don't suppose there's any force I can muster that will stop the two of you accompanying me."
"Guilty as charged," Asrai said, grinning.
Helios bowed. "I would follow you to the end of existence, milady."
Alpha couldn't help a slight smile. "Well, that's us, I suppose. And you two?"
Hephaestus' face fell. "I owe that girl my life… and yet, when it came to it-when she most needed help, I could do nothing."
"Come to it, where is Pan?" Alpha asked, scanning the people around them.
Hephaestus shook his head. "She wandered off as soon as we got back to Earth… no-one's seen her since."
"So you're going to go look for her, I suppose?"
"That's the idea. She's in a very low place right now, but she's refusing to let anyone help her…"
"Mind if I come with?" Prometheus asked.
Hephaestus nodded. "I'd welcome the company. You know we're always a team."
"I dunno, you did run off and fight with another partner for a while there…"
"Come on, you know that was necessity."
Prometheus chuckled. "Calm down, I'm joking. I get it. She saved the multiverse-after that, she deserves a little help."
"Everyone?"A familiar voice said-but for once, audibly, and not in their minds.
"Samsara?" Break looked up. "Kinda weird seeing you in person."
"Yes… with the last vestiges of Entropy's power, that he gave to Lucius, destroyed, his seal was broken, and I was finally able to leave… ah, war's over, I should stop talking so seriously. It's become a bad habit these last couple months." She floated down to the ground, all eyes turning to her. "There's someone I want you all to meet."Indeed, they noticed this immediately-she was holding a sleeping baby, beaming down at it.
The Sorcerer made the logical jump first. "Is that-"
"The reincarnation of Order. Its pure essence, torn free of the hate and pettiness Entropy built up over the years, is now in the body of this boy." She looked up at them. "Don't worry. I'll raise this one right."
Even Further Beyond
End of Act 2
Even Further Beyond Prequel: The Pilot
She hated her life.
She hated everyone in it. The pit-boys that snarled and sneered at her like they did to everyone, just for being there-and she knew their derision would change to hunger in a few years, when they would grow up, and so would she, and they'd start to see her a different way. That would be even worse. She hated the old ones who did nothing but sit around all day, spewing their verbal bile on the younger generation out of jealously for their able bodies, seeming to forget that the price of those bodies was endless, crushing work. She hated the foreman and his whip. She hated the inspector and her silver tongue. Sometimes she thought she hated herself for being born in such a place; she certainly hated her parents (wherever they were) for causing it.
The sky must be different, she'd always thought. They were the people of the ground-they built machines that flew (sometimes beyond the sky, to a place called 'space' she'd heard about, but could never wrap her head around the idea), but could never leave the ground themselves. The ships and planes were always immediately taken away by very large men and women in very shiny, impressive uniforms. She didn't know them well enough to be sure, but she had a strong suspicion she hated them too.
Yes, the sky must be different. No curfews, no recycled food, no whispers about something called a 'war' (another thing she hadn't yet mentally grasped) happening very far away, that might someday arrive without warning and kill them all. And no-one around, if you didn't want them.
The core of an idea was forming in her mind; an idea that would take root and consume her over the coming months. She'd start paying more attention, she decided, to the designs, the blueprints they received-and she'd make one of her own. Sneak away small parts, whatever scraps she could take unnoticed. Make a hidden space to work on her design; a small craft, built to fit one growing but still underfed girl.
One day, she told herself, she'd make that ship, and she'd fly away from that terrible place. She'd go visit the stars, and find a different life for herself. Do what she wanted, go where she wanted, and build what she wanted.
And she'd never look back.
And in all the thousands of years that followed, through battles and conquests and the destruction of worlds and struggle and heartbreak and apotheosis, Romana the Pilot never did.
The Pilgrim
"Welcome, traveller," said the chubby being, seated at the base of the majestic mountaintop shrine.
The young man approaching it collapsed into the offered spot around its campfire. "Thank you," he gasped.
"Easy, now. Take a minute." When the traveller had caught his breath, the being continued. "What is your name, young one?"
"Geki," he answered, warming his hands at the fire.
"And what do you seek, Geki?"
"I seek… enlightenment. I was told that this path would lead me to it."
"Many years ago, I imagine. An adult would have built up too many inhibitions and too much 'common sense' to begin such a journey. Have you the qualifications for enlightenment, in your opinion?"
"Honoured One, I have not." Geki bowed his head. "I am easily distracted, led astray by my emotions, and unable to clear my mind-I suppose I am a collector of stories, come to it."
"Is this why it has taken you so many years to come this far?"
"It is."
The little thing snorted. "Really! Because I have had an entirely different perspective, I must say. Let me see… there was the flooded town-not only did you risk your life to save as many as you could, you stayed until you'd made sure the rebuilding had given everyone a home. That took you some time."
"Well, anyone would have-"
Its eyes twinkled. "They wouldn't, and you know it. And what of Lord Hongo's province? Passing through it, did you not note the tyranny of the regime? And when offered safe passage, did you not turn it down in favour of staying and fighting? A fight in which, I might add, after over two years of struggle and hardship, you won resoundingly?"
The traveller grinned. "Perhaps I am the subject of some stories myself. You have the gift of knowledge, sir…"
"That has been said." The small being was silent for a long time. "You have been seeking enlightenment."
"All my life."
"Did you ever suspect that the journey, not the destination, may be the important part?"
"I had wondered."
"And what has your journey taught you?"
"To live for others, not myself. That there is value in every life. And…"
"And the truth that you are only just beginning to suspect."
Geki nodded, suddenly feeling apprehensive. "I am a creator. My trade is in stories. If I can, I create happiness, or a home, or a better life for those I meet. But… something that has become clear to me. Be… Before…"
"Say it." It leaned forwards. "You are on the verge of what you seek. But you must acknowledge this."
Geki hesitated. This felt like a betrayal of everything he was. But then… the truth had no obligation to conform to your worldview, he supposed. A shadow seemed to cast itself over his eyes as he said, "Before creation, there must be destruction."
The thing was silent for a while, drinking in his thoughts, feeling the growing clarity and finally standing. "You are ready."
Chapter 38: Shoot the Messenger
"They worry about you, you know."
Pan looked up, blinking in the morning light, sitting up in her makeshift bed to better see the person standing at the mouth of the alleyway. "How'd you know where…?" she rasped.
Goten came and sat down next to her, resting his hands on his knees. "I know how to find people. Part of the job."
"You didn't tell them, though."
He shrugged. "Figured you had a reason for disappearing. Came to ask about it."
"Had to get away." Her eyes seemed hazy, distant. "People. Space to think."
"Right…" He nodded. "You know, if you come back, we can find somebody to help you. Therapists exist."
She chuckled. "You're not my mother."
"No, I'm your uncle. And your mother does miss you."
"Can't… not yet…" She grimaced, raising a hand to her head and giving a hiss of pain. "No… it's-it's coming again." She stood, a little uneasily, backing away.
"Hey, calm down. What's the matter?" He tried to approach, but she shoved him back.
"Don't! I had to… get away…" she mumbled. "When there's someone strong around… it gets louder… it wants to-"
fight
kill
NO
"… away!" she repeated, tearing easily through the chain-link fence behind her and staggering away towards the other end of the alley, arms flailing towards the light of the exit.
Goten cupped his hands to his mouth. "You can't just keep running away!" he called. "It won't solve anything!"
"Not running…" he heard, the wind carrying the words back to him. "Looking… for someone." She turned the corner and was gone.
He blinked, more than a little thrown off by the whole conversation. "… what?"
"So how smart is smart, exactly?" Launch shouted down from upstairs.
Rummaging through the fridge, Break rolled her eyes. This is why I don't visit more often… she does not shut up… "I dunno. Decently."
"Smart as Gohan?"
"Nah."
"As Bulma?"
Break laughed. " Hell no!" She found what she'd been looking for-the last can of beer in the house-and stood up.
In a flash of super-speed, Launch appeared in the room, snatching the can away and opening it. "I was saving that one, thanks."
Break ignored this, taking a frozen chicken drumstick instead and immediately tearing into it. "I applied for a job at Capsule Corp. once, y'know. The one time I was wondering if I had my career and my hobby the wrong way around."
"And?"
"Got turned down pretty much first thing," she snorted. "You need at least a doctorate to get in the door, and I don't have the patience for one of those."
"Must've been awkward for Bulma, tellin' you no." Launch drained the can, incinerating it and slumping onto the couch.
Break nodded. "Oh yeah. What was it she said? Oh, right!" She chuckled, impersonating their old friend's voice, and not very well, it must be said. "It was, 'Break… you're a brilliant warrior, but an average scientist.' You believe that?"
"I believe it. That's you about summed up."
"Oh, screw the both of you." Break devoured the rest of her impromptu meal, before turning for the door.
"Where you going?" Launch asked.
"Gonna go drag Trunks and Bra out the house. Maybe Marron too. We'll go fly somewhere or something."
"Didn't think you knew Marron too well."
Break shrugged. "Well, you thought wrong. Plus, Trunks keeps almost asking her out and then getting scared, and I don't think she's realised yet. It's hilarious."
We can stay here for a while… Samsara strolled along between the two rows of giant statues that lined the grassy plain, the baby Order carried in her arms. This is a peaceful universe. This place will do you good. This planet has been abandoned for some time, but there's plenty of life on nearby worlds-I'll take you to one of them in just a minute. This stuff is just beautiful… She floated up to examine a particularly-intricate part of one of the statues. Never seen work like this… but I guess I'm not much of an artist. She idly traced a finger through the carved-out patterns.
Whoever fired at her had somehow hid their power until the exact moment of their attack. They'd caught her completely unawares. They were attacking from behind. And their beam was fired from practically point-blank range.
With all this taken into account, they still had absolutely no chance of hitting her.
She finally slowed down several light-seconds out, finding her path blocked by a wiry figure; a dark green, red-eyed, half-crouching creature, two swept-back horns curling away behind its head.
"Who the hell are you?" Samsara demanded.
"Hayato," he said, in a deep but surprisingly human voice.
"That's not helpful," she growled.
"And nor is it my full name. But you don't need to know any more." He lunged at her, and she darted right, dodging his attack without much effort.
"You're good… maybe as powerful as Entropy… but-" She shifted Order into one hand, a downwards slash with the other smacking her attacker's guard away, before kicking him hard in the chest. He lurched back-and then, a second later, so did she. The force was far too great to have been Hayato's attack, too. Almost felt like… I hit myself?! But I definitely got him…
In her confusion, her reactions were slowed, and Hayato closed the distance, landing a solid punch to her face before she could break away, raising her free hand defensively. "What was that?!"
"Exactly what it felt like," the strange being informed her. "Any damage you deal to me, is dealt equally to you."
"Feh…" I'm twice as strong as him, so I should be able to take him out, she reasoned. As long as I stay alert enough to avoid his attacks, and don't take any more damage than I have to… "What's up with your power, anyway? It doesn't feel like an Infinity Core…"
"You have sharp senses," he admitted, nodding. "But mine aren't that bad, either. I know I can't beat you… well, not alone, at least. Hattori!"
At his signal, a spiral of blue light signalled the arrival of another stranger, this one more humanoid and dressed in simple, ragged clothes, a wide-brimmed hat obscuring his face. A moment later, a third poked his head out from behind the newly-arrived Hattori; a smiling child draped in an overly-large cloak.
Hattori looked down, frowning. "He didn't call for you, Hasekura. Get out of here." The boy merely stuck his tongue out in response. Hattori rolled his eyes. "There's no arguing with you…"
"What do you people want?" Samsara asked, glancing nervously down at the baby she held. They're all roughly the same level… but fighting three at once, while protecting him… and given Hayato, who knows what strange abilities these other two have… this is getting out of control.
Hayato glanced back at the other two, shrugging. "Um… to kill you. Was that not clear?"
"You know what I mean," she groaned. "Fine, be unhelpful. But you should also know that even if you succeed, I'll be reincarnated in some form."
Hattori nodded. "We're counting on it." He fired a volley of energy beams in her direction-she blurred out of sight, swinging around behind him and planting a fist into his back. He lurched forwards, his entire midsection seeming to liquefy and spill forwards-before flowing back into position and reforming, as though nothing had happened. He grinned back over his shoulder at her. "Allow me to be the first to formally introduce myself." He tugged his shirt upwards slightly, revealing a gold-buckled belt with an imprinted, stylised 'M', then jerked a thumb up at himself. " Mizu no Majin: Hattori! "
Samsara frowned. Mizu, 'water'… so his body can take on the properties of water when struck, rendering physical force useless against him… She backed away, looking over to Hayato. "So your power must be linked to something similar?"
"Attacking the mountainside is futile," he replied, tapping his own, identical belt. "You'll just cause an avalanche, and your own undoing… well, that meaning is lost a little on beings of such power, but it's some nice symbolism." He gave a slight bow. " Tsuchi no Majin: Hayato! "
That still leaves-
" Hi no Majin: Hasekura !" squeaked an excited voice, Samsara's thoughts interrupted by the tiny speeding blur rushing directly towards her. She dodged, raising her guard as her third opponent rounded on her.
"Got that out of your system?" Despite the situation, she couldn't help chuckle at the boy's exuberance. "Good." Keeping her eyes on the other two, she fired an energy wave in his direction, putting enough power behind it to give it speed that far surpassed his. However, it stopped just short of him, swirling around him and being rapidly absorbed into his flame-red aura. Of course… like a flame that devours everything around it…
Glowing brighter, he gave a massive grin and charged her again, much faster this time. "Thanks for the energy!" he said happily, swinging a rapid chain of attacks her way. She grunted with the effort of fighting him off-with his suddenly-increased power, holding him back with one hand was proving to be quite challenging. As they fought, she noticed in the moments that his cloak flapped out to the side that he had the same belt as the others, only still in full-size, so he had to wear it over one shoulder, bandolier-style.
He finally landed an upwards kick to the side of her face, but right as he did so, his strength faltered, the power he'd absorbed running out and his level returning to normal, and she smacked him aside, falling back again, finding herself sweat-drenched and short of breath. "What…?" I shouldn't be this damaged from just that one hit…
Hasekura clapped eagerly. "Didn't notice? Fire burns everything it touches, yeah? Just by being close to me for too long…"
Hattori stepped up, ruffling his comrade's hair. "He's a real genius with that aura of his."
Samsara circled, wary, holding Order closer and marvelling that he had managed to sleep through all of this. "Earth, water, fire… you guys know the element thing has been done, right? Entropy's soldiers. Hell, one of Entropy's soldiers made a fire guy of his own."
"We are aware," Hayato said. "Our creator saw them, and liked the idea. And, well, he thought he could do better-he's very competitive that way."
"Right…" She continued to weigh up her options. I should have the speed to take them on individually… but which one first? I can't hurt Hattori, so he's out. I can't fight Hasekura at range, which means whoever I take on out of him or Hayato, I'm going to take some damage even if they don't land any hits on me. And there's really nowhere safe to leave the baby… "Heheh…"
Hattori frowned. "What's funny?"
"Well… you're just all very interesting, and I'd love to take one of you on and find a way to beat you, would be a good way to kill some time. But I think all three of you… might be a bit beyond my capabilities." She glanced down at Order. There has to be a way to save him at least…
"And four?" rumbled a deep voice from behind her.
She sighed. "I should've realised. The one who first attacked me down on that planet… it wasn't any of these three. And you are…?"
The huge, bulky creature leaned forwards, segmented carapace shifting, its lengthy, barbed tail twisting out behind it. " Kin no Majin… Ozotto. "
"You wanna show off your shtick?" she asked, brushing her hair back into place. "Everyone else has already gone. Makes it your turn, I guess."
"No, actually I'm good." Ozotto waved this away. "I think the others can handle you." As he said this, his three compatriots moved in to attack.
Samsara, ever the contrarian, lunged for Ozotto, but Hayato dived between them, taking her blow, the impact hitting her as well a moment later. I should take him out first, I suppose… As she fell backwards, she fired a tightly-focused beam from her free hand back in his direction, tensing up and preparing for the pain-but it never came, as now Hasekua was in front, laughing gleefully as he absorbed her blast before speeding in, staying defensive and not aiming to hit her, just remaining close enough that his damaging aura continued to chip away at her.
Something moved behind her, and she lashed out-only for her hand to scythe ineffectively through Hattori's impervious body. In that moment, the other two rushed in, striking her simultaneously and sending her back down towards the planet. She halted herself just outside of the atmosphere, blood trickling down over her eye. Her enemies didn't let up-they fired in unison, the three beams linking and speeding down towards her. Once again, she was off-guard, but this time her reflexes were slowed from the taxing battle, and she barely had time to turn and raise her arm to block, with no chance to even try to dodge.
It seared against her defences, infused with Hasekura's aura and draining her power even further. She was twice as strong as any of them-but that was at full power, and there were three of them. It didn't take long at all for their attack to overwhelm her guard and sending her hurtling to the ground below, leaving a huge crater as she impacted, coming to a halt crouched protectively around Order to shield him from the terrible forces they'd been subjected to. She tried to sit, but collapsed onto her back as her four attackers landed in file before her.
"What… is this all about?" she asked again, weakly.
"You really don't need to know," Ozotto said, stepping forwards. "Although I suppose there is one thing I'll tell you, if only to see the look on your face." His grin widened. "Void sends his regards."
Samsara began to be surprised, but quickly stopped herself. I really should've known. Who else would it have been?
"Well… time to complete the first step." Ozotto raised a hand-then stopped as something sparked in his mind. I'm sensing… what? What is this?! "Who…"
"Heheh… they're here." Samsara pushed herself up on one elbow. "I've met the most interesting people recently. Friends, I guess-a first for me. I called them back when I first admitted I'd probably lose… did you think I meant nothing by that?"
"And you call them to your aid against Void?" Ozotto shook his head. "Had they remained oblivious, they would have been spared. Even the previous Order and Chaos…"
"Whatever. The impossible is their specialty."
"That I'd like to-" Ozotto stopped, tilting his head slightly. "Ah. I'm being told steps are being taken. Your friends may have to return home before they can even start to help you."
"The hell are you talking about?"
"The fifth Majin has been activated."
Pan stumbled up the mountain path, reaching the plateau at the top and casting away her heavy coat as she practically fell through the door. This close to such a high source of power (and come to it, she still didn't know why he'd suddenly powered up after hiding for so long, but it had led her straight to him), the beast within was louder than ever. But she didn't turn away-this was what she'd been hunting for, for all this time. In the corner of the small hut, a well-built figure crouched with his head in his hands.
"Uub…" she panted, climbing to her feet.
He looked up, and his eyes were black-on-red, a faint grinding noise beginning as his teeth started to lengthen into fangs. "H-Help…" he croaked.
She froze. I don't know what I expected… but it wasn't this.
Chapter 39: Super-Effective
After an initial exchange of warning shots, the two sides had reconvened in orbit, leaving the injured Samsara to guard her charge. "So… is the gang all here?" Ozotto asked, facing away from the new arrivals-Tien, Goku, Bills, Break and Helios (already merged with the Warrior)-leaving his arms folded. He received no response. "You can leave now and keep your lives, you know. We have no ill-will towards you."
Goku flinched a little; normally, such words would have no effect on his will to fight, but after the conversation he'd had before leaving Earth, this hit close to home.
"Please, think about this one. You came back so injured last time… and Raditz… what if this time…"
" She needs our help, Chi-Chi. And after everything she's done for us…"
" I know! But you've always talked about letting the next generation take over. They're all grown now… maybe last time was a sign that this is the time?"
"… you're probably right. And I wish it could be that way-much as I love to fight, I've had a good run, and I hate to worry you. But with Pan and Uub… well… I just can't afford to retire yet. Once we know what's up with them, okay?"
"He has a point," Hattori added. "Don't throw your life away just on her say."
"Shut it!" Break burst out. "You attack a friend of mine, this is what you get. And without her we'd all be dead right now."
"Fine, whatever. If it makes you happy we'll fight you." He sighed. "But we really don't want to if we can avoid it…"
Bills smiled unpleasantly. "Too bad."
"Ooh, ooh! Hattori!" Hasekura leapt up onto his comrade's shoulders, bouncing from one to the other. "Let me! Let me!"
"Yeah, all right, go on." Hattori scratched at his stubble, turning away and floating back to his comrades.
The young warrior's round face seemed to glow from within as he gazed around with barely-restrained excitement at his opponents. "Hokay! Just remember, guys, don't go easy on me 'cause I'm little!"
"You just played a large part in taking down one of the two highest deities in the multiverse," Helios deadpanned. "There's no danger of that."
"Funny, though…" Hasekura added, leaning forwards. "I thought there were more of you."
"Things got complicated," Break grunted. If they're confident in sending just him to fight all of us, we can't take him lightly…
She and Bills phased out of view, appearing behind Hasekura and swinging punches down towards him. He nonchalantly raised his arms, blocking both attacks without any trouble. As they struggled in vain to push him back, he glanced back at them. "Hey, your power… it's like Master Void's, right? What's it called… Infinity Cores! Yeah, that's it." He grinned. "Ours is a little different."
"H-Hey…" Bills mumbled, swaying suddenly, feeling a wave of fatigue come over him. "What's…" He and Break fell back, suddenly gasping with exertion. "What did you…?"
Tien narrowed his eyes, focusing his renowned senses. "Ah… guys! His aura! Don't get close… it has a damaging effect."
"Oops!" Hasekura giggled. "You caught me." A moment later, he was blocked from their sight by a huge wall of flame; Helios floated down in front of it, trailing wisps of fire from both hands.
"That's fine," he said, folding his arms. "Attacking from a distance is no problem." He looked back over his shoulder. "Come out. I know you're not dead, but I caught you off-guard. You're not that much stronger than me-you have to be hurting from that."
"Do I?" The flames were sucked inwards, Hasekura reappearing, unaffected, Helio's attack vanishing beneath his skin. "Thanks for the energy! Here… have it- back! " He flung his arms out, letting out a huge burst of power in all directions, hurling his five opponents back. "You like that? Attack at close-range, you won't last long enough to hurt me… at long range, you're just giving me power." He rubbed his nose. "And I'll save you some time-the answer isn't 'give him too much power so he explodes' or whatever. I don't have an upper limit. Also, exploding a kid? Nasty."
Hayato inclined his head. "All right, I was worried about him going it alone-these aren't your average fighters-but I guess the kid can handle himself."
"See?" Hattori nodded, smiling. "Told ya."
"Heheh… heheheh…"
"Huh?" Hasekura turned, seeing Goku recovered and facing him. "What's so funny?"
"It's just…" Goku smiled despite himself. "This is so cool! I love challenging opponents like you!" He beckoned. "Let's go!"
Hasekura frowned, puzzled. Combat junkie… bit like the master, I guess. "All right, whatever you say, big guy." He ran in, lunging-his attack was fast, but telegraphed, and Goku swayed backwards, throwing a kick as he backflipped; Hasekura grunted, not having expected this counter, but his speed advantage let him escape with a light graze to the chin. He landed a solid punch to Goku's side, blocking a return blow from the saiyan's elbow.
Goku finished his backwards somersault, looking up to see Hasekura descending towards him, head-first. All right, kid, you asked for it… He leaned back, before throwing his own forehead forwards, colliding with Hasekura's.
The tiny fighter sprang away, running in comical circles with his hands pressed to his bruised head, legs flailing. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" He hissed. "I thought I was stronger'n you!" he wailed.
"Heh." Goku straightened up, blinking through the patch of blood trickling down from his forehead. "I have a very hard head."
"Feh." Hasekura took up a fighting stance again. "You're almost as strong as me, and we weren't up close for long, but you gotta be hurting some from my aura."
"Yeah, sure." Goku nodded. "But I think you came out worse, of the two of us."
"Watcha talking about? You only landed that one hit on me!"
Goku's eyes narrowed. "True. But all total, I made contact with three attacks-even the one that grazed you and the one you blocked still touched."
"Yeah, so?"
"Oh…" Goku shrugged as he released all three Delay Kamehameha at once, launching Hasekura back through space, yelling incoherently in surprise. "… no reason."
Hasekura growled, righting himself. Clever, this one… he figured out a way to get energy attacks past my aura…
"Come on." Goku scratched his head. "I thought you were going to take us all on at once."
"Okay… I've had enough a'you." Hasekura shot back into hand-to-hand combat, feinting to the right before landing an unceasing barrage of blows to Goku's chest, not giving the saiyan any time to react, finally uppercutting him away. He prepared to pursue-but someone else interposed themselves between him and his prey; Tien.
"Mind if I take over, Goku?" he asked.
"Yeah…" came Goku's shaky voice. "Knock yourself out… I'm just gonna make sure my ribs are all still here… damn, that kid hits hard."
"You? On your own?" Hasekura laughed. "What are you gonna do?"
Tien gave a cocky smile. "Well, mistake number one… I'm not alone." This last part seemed to come from behind-Hasekura turned, seeing another Tien, and another, and another-the entire space around him was filled with copies of the man.
"What the hell…?" He gazed around, wide-eyed, blinking.
Each of Tien's bodies sprouted an extra two arms from their shoulders. "I've been working on my Multi-Form technique." Each pair of main arms formed into the Tri-Beam position, while the upper arms all extended their index fingers, charging a Dodon Ray.
"Wh-What are you planning?!" Hasekura shouted, suddenly nervous.
"I've been studying how you fight. Your aura's your main weapon, but you use it too much-I've analysed its composition. You can't be overwhelmed by too much power… but too many attacks to track and counter… that could be problematic for you." At that, he fired, a cannonade of energy raining down on Hasekura from all sides.
A moment later, he emerged from the explosive cloud, fleeing the barrage. Bills flew up to intercept him, but was knocked aside in short order. "Outta my face!" He finally came to a halt as the fusillade died down, Tien returning to one body, having exhausted his energy reserves. "Y'know, even if all those had hit me, I probably wouldn't be hurting that much. You had to divide your power a lot to make all those copies…"
"Oh, sure, it wasn't gonna finish you." Tien nodded. "But chasing you around like that did tire you out some more, right?"
"So?" Hasekura's question was quickly answered as Break came swooping in from behind him. Even off-guard, he had just enough time to dodge thanks to his speed advantage-until a wave of emerald energy swept over Break's body, doubling her ki and letting her reach him in time, hoisting him up by the waist. "Hey! What-agh! Geddoff!" he whined.
"What's she doing, getting that close?" Hattori wondered.
Hayato shrugged. "They know what will happen… there must be some sort of plan. This could be dangerous…"
"See, I'm…" Break grunted, struggling to hold on to the much stronger fighter. "… also pretty experienced at manipulating my aura… and this combined transformation gives me a lot of it to work with." Streams of green ki mingled with Hasekura's red, swirling around it and seeming to cancel it out.
"What the hell?" Hasekura yowled, arms windmilling as he spun madly, trying to break free.
"And… done!" Break pushed away, jumping back. "Neutralised it. Now we can take you on up-close."
"I can still fight, idiot," he grumbled, darting up to her and throwing a knee strike that drove all the fight out of her. "And I only need a few minutes to build it up again."
"And if you don't get that time?" Helios floated up behind him. Tien tired him out and let Break grab him… Break neutralised his aura… it's all up to us now.
I still can't believe you managed to get control of the merge, the Warrior huffed.
Helios 'chuckled' mentally. Then train harder next time.
"All right, come at me," Hasekura said, stretching. "I'm four for five so far-you're all that's left."
"Just the way I like it," Helios replied, lowering himself into an offensive stance.
"What's happening, Uub?" Pan ran up to him, shaking him by the shoulders-he'd fallen silent. A moment later, his eyes flicked upwards, focusing on her. His vacant expression slowly turned into vicious glee.
"Heeeeeehhhh…" he breathed, his power continuing to rise. The ground around them began to shake under the pressure.
Pan gasped. At this rate, the earth… She lunged forwards, seizing him around the shoulders and propelling them both directly upwards, leaving the solar system in seconds. She continued to apply as much speed as possible, golden light bursting to life around her as she lit up both of her Infinity Cores, busting straight through the interdimensional wall at the end of the universe and instantly decelerating, leaving them both hanging in the void between universes. "There… nothing for you to destroy out here. Now please, tell me what's-" She was silenced by a sudden impact to the face, leaving her reeling, nose bloodied. "… ghk… !"
"Hhhhhh…" Uub flexed his limbs, stretching in abnormal directions, as if made of something more flexible than normal biological matter. His hollow eyes narrowed, and he pointed at Pan, his ki flaring higher than ever. "… kill… you… !"
Chapter 40: Eyes Open
Pan retreated cautiously as Uub's pointing finger retracted, his hand twitching and releasing a ki blast-it thundered past Pan's shoulder far faster than she could react, leaving her wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. He's… as powerful as Entropy! Even with both my Cores, I can't measure up on my own…
Uub-or possibly Buu, but she refused to think of him as that-beckoned, dancing back and forth, gnashing his elongated teeth, a dry laugh escaping from between them.
All right… She braced herself. I've still gotta try… maybe I can pull a miracle out of the bag, or maybe I can snap him out of it somehow… She sprang at him, feinting with her left arm and then bringing her right up towards his face. Yawning, he caught her punch, eyes flicking over to her trembling arm. "That's… all?" Frowning, she sent a pulse of energy down the limb and into his, scoring deep, but oddly bloodless, gashes in his skin. He shrugged slightly, the injuries healing in moments, and pulled her into his rising foot, the impact causing the world to spin before her eyes. She felt nausea rising, and thought she might have blacked out for a second-when she regained her wits, he was holding her up by the collar, from which she was hanging limply.
"D-Don't…" she croaked, seeing him gather energy around his free hand.
His grin widened.
Just one of them, and he's taken down everyone else already… Helios eyed his enemy carefully. I can see how a group of these guys could overwhelm Samsara. Though we still don't know why…
Anyway, the Warrior chipped in, he's tired now, and if we don't give him time to rebuild his aura… the playing field is more even.
Right. He threw caution to the wind, attacking directly and shortly being repelled, Hasekura shoving him away into a wild spin. Flipping upright, he immediately ducked back as Hasekura pressed the attack, having gained the initiative. Helios blocked a couple of attacks, their speed increasing as Hasekura got more into the swing of things, the third hissing past Helios' cheek and the fourth striking him solidly across the jaw.
He forced himself to maintain focus even as he reeled backwards, intercepting and deflecting a kick from above, before striking back from his horizontal position, grabbing hold of Hasekura and pulling him around until they were level, then lunging and driving home a downwards kick. He pursued his opponent, Hasekura springing back at him; their energy-wreathed limbs flashed as they passed each other, each landing a hit in the brief exchange, coming to a halt facing away from each other.
Helios growled in pain, clutching at his stomach, blood dripping from his mouth-but remained upright, breathing heavily. A moment later, Hasekura let out a strangled cry, pitching backwards and losing consciousness. Helios lowered his hands, lessening the intensity of his flames.
Hattori approached, picking up his now-snoring comrade and returning to the other two. "He got overconfident-relying too much on his power advantage," Ozotto rumbled.
"And with that little of an advantage, there's no way an amateur like that could defeat me," Helios finished.
Ozotto frowned. "Yes… as a martial artist, you're masterful, that much is clear…"
Hayato stepped forwards. "Let me clean up."
"On your own?" Hattori asked.
Hayato's odd, unblinking eyes flicked towards his lanky friend. "I'm no amateur, and only one of them is in a fit state to fight anymore-and he's about to hit his limit. Don't worry about it."
"Well, when you put it like that…" Hattori seemed about to agree, then abruptly tossed Hasekura into Hayato's arms and sped off towards Helios. "I think I'll do it!"
"You bastard!" Hayato called after him, but to no avail. He shook his head. "He's always like this…"
"All right…" Hattori stopped in front of Helios, gesturing eagerly. "C'mon, come at me."
Helios frowned. "I don't know what your power is, but I'm probably walking right into your trap by attacking… still, that's the best way to find out." He struck, causing a ripple in Hattori's malleable body, but it soon straightened back out. Something fast registered in his field of vision-he brought his hand up in time to block Hattori's return blow, but as he did so several other impacts struck him, knocking him back.
Hattori grinned. "I'm curious… how many attacks did you see?"
Helios rubbed at a bruise on his shoulder. "… three…"
"Heh. You are getting tired… you missed fifteen."
"So…" Helios puffed himself up, flaring up his ethereal wings and blinking the sweat out of his eyes.
"Yup." Hattori tipped his hat. "I'm invulnerable to physical harm! So you should really stand aside-"
"Neat," Helios deadpanned, setting Hattori's head on fire.
"Gyaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaah! " Hattori pitched back and forth, clawing at his head, before finally putting himself out with a self-directed kiai . "Ahhh… owwww… man, that was uncalled for."
Helios raised an eyebrow. "Says the would-be assassin."
"He's got you there," Hayato chuckled.
"Don't you start!" Hattori snapped back at his snickering friend. "We're trying to save everyone and you know it!"
"Oh? Sorry, I just assumed that you had some kind of nefarious plan," Helios said. "This is interesting."
"It's the truth," Hattori explained. "We're on a mission of vital importance for the people of the multiverse. It's not my place to explain the details, but… now you know, will you please let us-" He was cut off by a harsh, barking laugh from his opponent. "What's…?"
Helios' eyes narrowed. "I guess I'm not the only one making assumptions. Let me make this clear… I'm not like the others you fought. I'm here for only one reason-to find challenging foes like you, and overcome them!" He pointed directly at Hattori. "I couldn't care less what you want. And I don't care what powers you have, either! God or devil, immortal or all-powerful, I'll take you down!"
Pan weakly cracked her eyes open, noticing that the beating had stopped. She hung in the void now, alone and without any reference point among the empty eternity. She was only dimly aware of her body; the repetitiveness of Uub's attacks had dulled the pain after a while, or possibly that was her brain's defence mechanism against overload.
Right as she was about to drift back into unconsciousness, she felt another hand in hers. A moment later, it melted away and new strength filled her as Hephaestus initiated the Dragon Soul ritual. I'm sorry I took so long to get here, he said. I kept looking through the surrounding universes… it was only by chance that eventually I noticed you two during the half-second I was passing through the void.
It's okay. Thanks for coming. She raised her head, igniting her aura and reaching out with her mind; Uub was still in the void, and had come to a halt upon sensing her rejuvenated power. With your Core, both of mine, and… I dunno, the power of friendship or whatever we're gonna end up calling the Dragon Soul boost… we can take him.
And what, exactly, does that entail? Hephaestus asked. I assume you don't want to kill him, but is it even possible to return him to normal?
Sorry… Pan gave a nervous grin as Uub swooped into view. I don't have any answers. "I haven't given up on you!" she called over to the approaching fighter. "You're incredibly strong, Uub, and I want to believe you can beat this. Please… prove me right…"
He scowled, lashing out at her, but she blocked, twisting her forearm around and gripping him by the wrist. "Sorry, but it's not gonna be like last time," she said, her voice firm.
Helios spun under an opening shot, flicking through his mental repertoire for the right counter as Hattori came down towards him with a heavy, two-handed blow. He swung his own pre-emptive punch upwards, coating his fist in intense flames now he knew such attacks could hurt his otherwise-invulnerable opponent. "When you draw back like that, you leave your torso undefended!"
"True," Hattori said, now behind him. "But equally, when you move so slowly, you leave just about everywhere undefended." Something cracked into Helios' back, staggering him forwards, his aura flickering. Hattori pressed forwards, rising and kicking downwards, but had to flinch back as a burst of heat raced past his face. "Close!"
"Rrr…" Helios heaved himself upwards, and pursued Hattori as he arced away through space with a carefree laugh. "Get back here!" Helios filled the blackness with crossing streams of fire, but none of them hit home. Hattori came to a sudden halt, whipping off his coat and holding it out, bullfighter-style. Ire growing moment by moment, Helios charged, leading with another flaming haymaker, but Hattori was gone, Helios passing straight through the now-freefloating cloth and straight down onto the nearby watery planet Hattori had positioned himself in front of.
Carried by his momentum, Helios plunged down through the world's atmosphere, through its all-encompassing seas, down into its incredibly-dense solid core, his fist striking the rock; an instant later, the planet was gone, its oceans evaporated, its core shattered, replaced with an inferno thousands of miles across as he vented his anger.
Hattori gave a slow clap. "Y'know, I don't think anyone was living there, but I'm not sure if you'd care if there were."
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Helios rose from the storm, chest rising and falling rapidly. He held out one arm, hand open to block, keeping the other close to his body, fist at the ready. "C'mon."
"Oh, I already have." Hattori grinned. "Your fatigue threw your senses off, combined with your little temper tantrum there…"
"Eh?" Helios felt a pulse of ki from behind him, turning to see a ball of focused energy hovering just behind his head. He did a double-take, and was about to dodge when it detonated, hurling him directly forwards into Hattori's outstretched arm. He gave a strangled gasp of pain, his power fading.
Hattori took a step back, dusting off his hands. "Had enough?"
Helios struggled to keep his eyes open. "You've got… nothing…"
"That's enough, Helios!" a voice barked from behind them. Arrayed behind the combatants now hovered Cadmus (the speaker), Mercury and the Hunter.
The fighters who Hasekura had beaten were recovering a little; Bills, now conscious, surveyed this new group with some surprise. They travelled to this universe… no ship… does that mean…? "You guys…"
The Hunter nodded. "You think we stopped training?"
"Sorry we're late," said the Knight. "Nobody told us what was going on."
"Huh." Hattori scratched behind his ear. "You know, I'd've thought the cavalry would arrive about a minute from now-you know, right as we were about to go and kill Samsara. Like, it'd be all dramatic and I'd raise my hand to finish her, and then somebody shouts 'wait!'" He paused, tapping his chin. "Ever notice how, like in movies or whatever, when the good guy shouts 'wait!' and appears, the bad guy stops what they're doing to run or fight, even if it would take them like half a second to finish? I mean, of course we're the good guys here, but you know what I mean. Not that you're the bad guys. You're just… um… stupid, I guess."
The Red King stared through this entire speech unblinkingly. "Are you finished?"
Hattori shrugged. "Well, not really, but you'd better attack me or whatever, or I'll never shut up. On that note, please don't attack me? We can kill Samsara, go home, save everyone, none of you have to get beaten up."
"Just because you'll fight us doesn't mean you win by default." The Hunter notched an arrow, drawing his bowstring back.
Hattori cocked his head to the side. "Try it, jungle man."
Growling, the Hunter fired, and Hattori stood still as the gleaming arrow passed straight through his body, leaving nothing but a rapidly-calming ripple. "And that was me lowering my power to show off. If I hadn't, it'd have just bounced off. Or I could dodge…"
The Hunter burst into motion, phasing back into view to Hattori's left, readying another arrow, scanning his foe's body for weak points. Hattori seemed to blink to the left, arm snapping out and delivering a backhanded strike to the Hunter's face, leaving him groaning and clutching at his bleeding mouth and nose. "Ho hum," Hattori sighed.
"Man, Void said they'd be stubborn, but this is ridiculous," Hayato muttered.
"It is nearly over now," Ozotto reminded him.
"I'm not so sure… do you remember when Void showed us their two best? You know, the ones whose power surpassed ours?"
"I don't have a good memory for faces."
Hayato shook his head. "Neither of them are here yet. They'll probably be here soon… it'll only be over once we've taken them out."
"If you say so."
Hattori stood still, yawning, as Cadmus and Mercury rushed over, each gripping one of his arms. "Hey now, boys, isn't this a bit forward for a first date?" he joked.
Cadmus nodded to Mercury, and they each charged up a ball of energy in their free hand, shoving the two spheres together to create a larger, more intense attack.
Hattori looked mildly interested. "Ooh, that'll hurt." They shoved him forwards, straight into the blast, and the detonation blew him apart completely; however, a few seconds later, the remnants reformed, Hattori rubbing his neck. "Just kidding, of course it didn't hurt. No amount of force does."
"Just like Majin Buu…" Break noted.
"Ah, not quite!" Hattori smiled. "No copycats among us Majin. See, you can eventually overwhelm Buu's regeneration with a big enough attack. I'm just invulnerable; no limit. On the other hand, I'm only immune to direct physical force, so your buddy Helios could affect me with his fire." Cadmus and Mercury flew up behind him, and he ducked back, elbowing them both in the stomach simultaneously and knocking the fight out of them.
He straightened up, turning in a complete circle and waving his arms. "Anybody else? I know there's a lot of you people! If anybody else is gonna come riding to the rescue, do it now! We're on a schedule here, people!" No-one answered or appeared. "Excellent! Now let's get to assassinating!" As he turned back towards Samsara's location, a ki beam punched through his chest from behind. As the hole closed up, he sighed, pinching his nose. "Pointless…"
"But hilarious," said Alpha Shenron, standing alongside the Dreamer.
"That's one of the two I mentioned… sort of," Hayato said, nodding to the newest arrivals. "When those two merge, they gain incredible power."
"Then the other must be fighting Buu," Ozotto reasoned. "It would explain why neither of them has appeared yet."
"So it is nearly over," Hayato said with some relief. "Buu can handle himself, and Hattori should be fine with this one."
Meanwhile, unseen by all, the Knight's hand lowered towards his waist, a few whispered words leaving his mouth, something clipped to his belt beginning to glow.
Pan ducked back as Uub swung at her, launching a retaliatory energy wave; it tore a chunk out of his shoulder, and she paled. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Before she finished her sentence, though, the injury had healed. "-right." Uub never healed quite that fast… definitely Buu's power.
You didn't mean to do so much damage, though, Hephaestus noted. Having trouble controlling your own power?
No, actually… despite everything that's been going on with me recently… I feel weirdly calm. She sounded a little confused. It's just… I didn't expect to put out that much force… I guess it's been a while. Spotting an incoming blur, she jinked to the right, letting Uub slide past her and grabbing him again. "Come on, Uub! Give me something! You can beat this!"
"Ghhhk… keeeehhhh…" He thrashed in her grip, gnashing his teeth, but a few words seemed to escape amidst the frenzy. "Youhhhhave… no… idea… !"
She tightened her hold, biting her lip as he found an angle to strike back at her with his elbow. "You're… wrong! I know… exactly what you're going through!" She let out a gasp as he struck again, forcing her to release him.
He hung there, staring her down with a multitude of emotions warring across his face. "Yyyyyou…" he managed, his eyes flickering back to normal for a moment, before snapping back to Buu's as he attacked again.
She offered no defence, taking the hit and staring into his eyes. "Tell me if this sounds familiar… there's a voice in my head… whispering to me. It tells me to kill and destroy… I try not to listen to it, but sometimes, at night, I come dangerously close to listening."
"Kyaah!" Uub clawed at his head, his nails leaving bloody, rapidly-healing gashes, lurching towards her with another punch, that she took without resistance again. His head rose shakily, revealing constantly-flickering eyes, a grinding sound coming from his mouth as his fangs lengthened and retracted over and over. "Cccccan't… toomuch-!"
"And sometimes…" she continued, "I wonder if it's the real me. If this part of me that resists it is just a mask. Recently it's gotten stronger… I almost did some things…"
"… that I'd never be able to forgive myself for," Uub finished in a hoarse whisper. "There'd be no going back." Then he pitched back again, howling, sparks of ki flying out from his body.
"Stay with me!" she called, reaching out to him. "Like I said… we're the same. But listen… this whole time, trying to help you… I haven't heard the whispers. It just seems so… insignificant now. That's the secret," she said, her voice growing stronger. "When you're living for someone else, your own problems aren't as important."
"Who… can I…"
"Samsara sent a message. Right now, Break and my grandfather-your teacher-are fighting. Against an enemy that can overcome Samsara… they're going to need my help. And yours, Uub. Pull it together-we all need you."
"Nnnkkkhhh… I…" He straightened up, giving a yell. "GET OUT!" His eyes burned with an inner light for a moment, his body giving a final shudder-and then, a few wisps of pink smoke leaving him, his appearance settled back to normal. "Ah… hah… huh… huh…"
"You okay?" Pan asked, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Better than okay." He grinned, holding up a fist; sweat glistened on his face, but he looked happier than he had in a long while. "They just gave me all of that power to play with. And more than that… when a Majin is 'activated', all the information needed to get them up to speed is transmitted to their brain. Buu was… defective, I guess… and couldn't make sense of it. But now he's gone… I know who they are. I know who I am." He angled himself towards the nearest dimensional wall. "C'mon, I'll explain on the way. Like you said, they need our help."
Chapter 41: Identity
"Sorry we're late," Alpha said, not sounding particularly sorry. "Our search took us… far from here. So… who are these people?"
Break shrugged. "Not a clue. They're being pretty unhelpful in that regard… but they're crazy strong, and they're after Samsara." She indicated Hattori, who was yawning and fanning himself with his oversized hat. "This one we're fighting now is immune to physical force…"
All eyes turned to the Dreamer, upon making the obvious connection.
She shrugged. "As you like." She advanced, walking on nothingness, taking Alpha's hand and merging with the now-familiar Dragon Soul as she went, the Dreamer emerging as the main body.
A ways back, Goku, head still ringing from his fight, turned to Helios. "Weren't you with those two, looking for the Pit? How'd you get here before them?"
Helios shrugged. "They took a break somewhere. I used the time to head back to your little system of universes…" He gave a puzzled look, his body rippling slightly as the Warrior emerged, separating from him.
"… purpose being re-match with this one," the Hakaishin concluded, the glow in its body dying down.
"Oh…" Goku nodded. "So, who won?"
"… was close," was all the Warrior would say, drawing an amused chuckle from Helios.
Hattori and his new opponent were about to engage, when the fabric of reality split, then buckled inwards, Pan and Uub emerging.
"And there's the other dangerous one," Hayato informed Ozotto. "But that man she's with…"
Ozotto concurred. "I don't know him… but that power-it's like ours… us four are here, and that isn't Buu, so who-"
"Um…" Hayato took a half-step backwards. "Look closer. I think it is."
Ozotto did a double-take. "What the-?!" He waved a finger in Uub's direction. "Hey! You! Don't tell me you're-"
Uub laughed, giving a low bow. " Moku no Majin-Buu!" He raised his head, grinning. "… is what you're expecting, right? Sorry… but things are different now. I'm not your good little soldier anymore."
Disobeying orders… that's not like him! Ozotto scowled. And he's changed his appearance too… besides, Buu was defective… he hardly spoke, and certainly not that clearly. But no, it's him… what changed him like this?
"Since I'm sure everybody's wondering," Uub said, strolling over towards their leering opponents, hands in his pockets, "these four, and me, are the creations of a total asshole, goes by Void. Not his real name, of course! He wasn't born with a cool name, so he made one up for himself." He chuckled. "Adorable, really."
"Show some respect, will you!" Ozotto bellowed. "You're talking about your creator!"
Uub snorted. "Oh yeah. I'm real happy he screwed up creating me, so throughout history all sorts of morons could set me to laying waste to the universe, killing millions. Yeah, great job there, great guy."
"That was a mistake…" Ozotto hissed. "There was an error in your creation-his intention was never to-"
"Anyway!" Uub cut him off with a dismissive wave of one hand. "Void can be pretty childish, and when he saw Entropy making an army, he thought he could do better. So he copied him-the elements thing, for one. Though it turns out he could do better, given how awesome we all turned out, and he found a way of doing it without reducing his own power, either. But I digress!"
"You most certainly do," Hayato muttered, rolling his eyes.
Uub clapped his hands together. "What I don't know is what these guys are doing here now-no-one tells the 'defective' one anything, of course-but I can take a guess. See, Void is the guy who killed the previous Order and Chaos; dunno why, I didn't exist at the time…"
Pan watched him with some curiosity. He does seem different… more confident, more outspoken… and he's referring to both Buu and Uub as 'me'. He didn't eliminate Buu… he subsumed it and made it a part of himself… and now he's accepted that side of himself, he seems more… complete. He hadn't changed physically, but he seemed to be standing a little straighter, projecting his voice more. In fact… wow, somehow I didn't even notice before, but he's… She shook her head, chasing away a slight blush. Not now! Literally the worst time! Focus! Fighting! Yes. Okay.
"… but point is," Uub continued, "Void is not a fan of Chaos and Order. So no surprise he wants Samsara dead. Which still leaves several questions, of course."
The Red King nodded. "For instance, why he waited until now to make his move, if he's capable of defeating both of them at once and was aware of them before Entropy created his army… and why he'd bother at all, now he knows they'll simply reincarnate."
"Well, have fun wondering, because you're not getting anything out of us," Hattori said flatly. "But the way I see it, we've now got three real opponents…" He glanced back at his comrades. "You guys wanna help?"
"Sure." Hayato flexed his clawed fingers, a couple of natural armour plates shifting around his body. "Is this your apology for earlier?"
Hattori smirked. "I never apologise."
"I believe my partner has been pre-ordained," Asrai said, indicating Hattori; facing no disagreement, she flew at him, ducking under his defensive strike, reaching up and grabbing his wrist, catching his other fist as it flew at him, then smiling innocently. "May I have this dance, sir?"
"Milady, I shall do my best," he replied, putting on a mock-cultured accent.
"Any preference?" Pan asked Uub of their two remaining enemies.
He nodded. "I'll take the big guy. The other one's called Hayato… you'll suffer any damage you do to him equally, so careful."
"Wonderful," she grumbled, but he was already speeding off towards Ozotto.
Ozotto, meanwhile, braced himself as Uub crashed into him, shoulder-first, blasting out enormous shockwaves behind him, but Ozotto held firm, shuddering slightly from the impact. He glared down at Uub. "You'll die for this, traitor."
Uub looked up at him. "Y'know… I always hated you."
Hattori sighed, arms folded, as Asrai hammered him with ineffectual blows. "You know full well that won't work…"
"Oh, of course." She drew back, panting. "But Alpha had some pent-up aggression she needed to work off. We've been on a search of late, and it's proving difficult… it's very important to her."
"Alpha…?" Hattori's confusion only lasted a moment. "Oh, yes. The other one… that combining technique makes you quite the force to be reckoned with… you're actually stronger than me."
"But you're not worried."
He shrugged. "Why would I be? I can just let you wear yourself out using attacks that don't work on me while I think of a plan."
"Heh. Of course, you don't realise who you're up against yet…"
"Enlighten me."
"I'd rather just demonstrate." She extended her arms towards him, squinting a little. His invulnerability seemed to become visible to her eyes; a thousand tiny spheres of some strange form of energy, interwoven through his body. Focus… focus… separate the concept of his body from that of his power… isolate the latter… and disbelieve. Snapping out of her trance, she smiled. "No resistance. You were created with that ability-you take it for granted. Remarkably weak-willed."
"Uh… wha…?" Hattori blinked. "Did you… do something?" He took on a worried expression. "What did you do to-" In reply, Asrai sped forwards and punched him hard in the stomach. He bent over her arm, a scream catching in his throat as he choked. He brought trembling fingers up to his mouth, and they came away bloody. "Wh… what…?"
Declining to explain, the Dreamer smacked him away, tilting her head a little and speaking to a voice heard only by her. "Hmm? Well, yes, now I've begun it the hard part's over, I can maintain it even if we switch… all right, if you want." She closed her eyes, letting out a short breath, and her image flickered, being replaced with Alpha's a second later.
Hattori was just beginning to recover. "What the hell did you do to me?!" he yelled, fear in his voice.
Alpha looked over at him. "Now, that pent-up aggression she was talking about… she definitely helped, since it was a combined body so I was in there to some extent, but…" She gave a vicious grin, pulling on her gloves and cracking her knuckles. "… this way is so much more satisfying."
Ozotto's power lies in his durability, Uub remembered, tapping into Buu's past once again. We're at the same level of strength… but he's able to withstand much stronger attacks than that. This did seem to be the case-as they traded blows, they seemed to be at an impasse; Uub's attacks all glanced off of Ozotto's impossibly-tough hide, meanwhile he regenerated every bit of damage Ozotto was causing.
However, a few minutes in, he found himself faltering, his breath coming harder. "That's… not right… the original Buu never got tired from fighting or regenerating…" He noticed he'd missed a finger, grunting as he reformed it.
"Heh heh…" Ozotto shook his head. "Are you sure you have all your memories back, Buu? There's more to it than that…"
He gasped as the second half sprang to mind. "… except when fighting another Majin!"
" There we go," Ozotto said with some satisfaction. "Regenerating from my attacks will tire you out. Whereas you can't hurt me… I bet you don't remember how to do magic, either. That used to be a specialty of yours."
Uub growled, taking a step back as Ozotto took one towards him. I've gotta come up with something strong enough to overpower his defences… ! "All right…" He brought his hands together at his side. Don't say 'Kamehameha'… that'll tip him off on when you're gonna fire, and you can't afford anything less than a direct hit here.
Ozotto folded his arms. "That's an impressive amount of ki you're building up there… you'd better not miss, or some poor galaxy behind me will pay the price."
"Feh…" Uub swung his arms forwards, but kept the attack held in, watching as Ozotto darted left, Uub adjusting his aim and then firing.
Ozotto was startled by this forethought, and was caught off-guard, the massive energy wave hitting him head-on. Clever bastard-
Uub felt a surge of triumph-and then immediately had his hopes dashed; Ozotto's ki hadn't been reduced at all. "Hey!" he called. "I'm not gonna wait for the smoke to clear and then act surprised that you're okay, if that's what you're hoping for! Just get out here and get on with it!"
"If you insist." Ozotto marched out of the cloud, wisps of smoke trailing from his shoulders and limbs. "Any other cunning plans?"
"I'm working on it…" Uub mumbled. He froze as a series of tremendous explosions rang out from behind him.
Ozotto turned his gaze towards the source of the noise, a distant pair of huge energy signatures some light years away. "That's Hayato fighting your friend…" As he spoke, Pan and Hayato passed through a distant cluster of stars, collapsing them one by one and creating a fiery corona of stellar mass around their battle.
Uub frowned. Pan's no mass-murderer… at least, if she's still in control… and Hayato's the moral type, so I guess they found an uninhabited sector to cut loose in. So that's the power that took down Entropy… she's pretty awesome…
Planet-sized arcs of flame roared around them as Pan and Hayato clashed again, his blow grazing her side as she scored a direct hit; they broke away again, hovering opposite each other amidst the inferno.
Hayato clutched at his bruised arm. "Are you… negating my power somehow…?"
Pan gave a blank look. "Eh?"
"You should be… suffering the effects of every hit you land on-"
"Oh, that. Yeah, sure, it's working just fine," she said, nodding. "Pretty annoying, have to say."
He stared. She's taking that much damage?! And even knowing it'll affect her too… she's still hitting me with everything she has? That's insane…
"C'mon!" She drove a kick into his stomach, wincing as the same impact hit her in the same spot, Hayato simultaneously striking back, his punch spinning her head to the left. She grinned, blood running down her face. "You call that a punch?" She responded with one of her own, spinning him a full circle, then, yelling with the exertion, forced herself forwards, pulling his head down and ramming her knee up into it. As he fell away, clutching his head and screaming, she did the same, feeling his injuries on top of hers.
"I… don't understand… how you can keep going!" Hayato said, breathing raggedly. "You're only a little stronger than me… and for every hit you deal, you're taking two in return!"
"Heh. This power isn't all there is to me, you know," she replied. "I was pretty inexperienced not long ago… but I had to toughen up fast. Compared to the Shadow Dragons… and Entropy… this is nothing ."
He saw the fire in her eyes, saw her tense up for another attack. "I-I surrender!" he stammered, waving his hands in front of him. "To tell the truth," he laughed, "I've just about hit my limit. But, uh, you're kind of insane."
"Um, thanks?"
He shook his head. "No, like… literally insane. Every time you hit me-hell, every time I hit you -you just laughed. I'm kinda scared if we keep going you're gonna tear my head off or something…"
"I…" Pan grew quiet. I didn't notice… I thought I was in control…
I'm afraid he's right, Hephaestus said. You were getting pretty into it… not that I want to stop you having fun, but given what tends to happen when you get excited mid-battle…
Exactly. How could I not notice?! This guy doesn't even seem that bad-what if I'd killed him?
Then we would have a problem.
Ozotto looked around with some alarm as the other two pairs of fighters reappeared; Alpha, dragging a battered and groaning Hattori, and Pan, leading a cowed Hayato. "They both lost?!" I underestimated these people… I thought they must've had some kind of fluke to beat Entropy's forces, but…
"Better give it up," Alpha said, dumping Hattori. "You can't beat all three of us at once."
"Well, I suppose it makes sense-the defective can't do the job himself," Ozotto grumbled, backing away slowly.
Uub's eyes flashed. "Say that again."
"I said," Ozotto repeated, leaning down and getting uncomfortably close, steam hissing out from between his fangs, "you can't do it alone, defective model."
Uub stuck out a hand back towards his would-be helpers. "Guys… stay back. This one…" He ignited his aura, flashes of deep purple appearing laced through it. "… is mine."
Is this what Ozotto wanted? Tien wondered, observing and nursing his injuries. To improve his chances? No… he's not smart enough to play Uub like that… he's just petty by nature, and happened to push Uub's buttons.
"So… care to try anything else?" Ozotto asked. "I'll give you one more free shot before I finish you." One more effort will be all he can manage, anyway… he's used up most of his energy.
Uub squared his shoulders, giving a crazed grin. "There is one thing, but it could kill me faster than you… hell with it, I've got no other ideas… let's go!" He began to build up his aura again. "C'mon!"
"Well, if you insist." Ozotto took a step forwards-and then came to a halt, confused. But… this power is…?!
"Hrrrrh…" Uub's aura began to shift from purple to red, his voice growing increasingly strained, sweat multiplying on his face.
"Wait… that's the-" Goku realised, reaching out a cautioning hand. "Uub, don't do it! Magnifying that level of power-"
"Don't worry…" Uub replied, aura continuing to grow. "The damage it's doing to my body… I'm healing just as fast!" But even so… it's really stretching my regeneration to the limit… come on, hold together! His eyes blazed. "Ozotto! Come at me already!" He spread his arms as the huge Majin charged him. "KAIO-"
Ozotto swung, but his fist scythed through empty space.
"-Ken." Uub, now behind him, delivered a sharp chop to Ozotto's neck; his armoured skin buckled and cracked, and he let out a gasp, flinging spittle out in front of him, before slumping forwards, eyes rolling back in his head. Uub gave a small sigh, powering down, his shoulders sagging.
Goku looked on in wonder. His power, for a moment… it was as high as Samsara's! My student… he's really surpassed me… this must be how Roshi felt, heheh. He looked from Uub to Pan. She's so strong too… I think I was right about the next generation. I guess this really will be the last time for me…
"Of course," said a new voice, seemingly out of nowhere, "Ozotto's just lucky you went easy on him. You could've absorbed him if you'd wanted to. Right?"
Uub swung around, eyes scanning the area around him. "Who's there?"
"Here."
Uub jumped back, the speaker now appearing behind him-a smallish, unassuming man with scruffy, uncombed hair and a light dusting of stubble, wearing what appeared to be a bathrobe. He held a hot drink in one hand, somehow keeping it from instantly losing all its heat to the cold vacuum.
Pan looked him up and down. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"Hmm?" He took a sip of his drink, his hair falling away from his eyes as he did so, and somehow a glimpse of them was enough to send a jolt of something between a mental sensation and physical pain through all of them. He was starry-eyed, literally-within each pupil, miniature suns drifted and shone. "Oh, right, right," he said, his quiet words carried by something more than sound, cutting through the silence. "I'm, uh, I'm Void. You might have heard of me. All right, I've been watching all this, I know you've heard of me. And, uh, I know I don't really have any fans around here, but…" He shrugged. "Look, I just woke up and I don't feel up to fighting. Can we talk?"
Chapter 42: Old Habits Die Hard
"So you're the one behind all this crap?" Pan asked of the new arrival.
Void nodded, taking another drink. "Mm-hmm."
"Then this is pretty simple. Guys?" She looked left to Uub, then right to Alpha, receiving a nod from each one. In unison, they started forwards-
"Please don't," he said softly. At this, they came to a shuddering halt, now rooted to the spot, staring wide-eyed at him.
Wh-What the…? Pan couldn't identify what it was; but there was some unidentifiable, overpowering presence to the man, an almost audible air of menace. It crept invisibly around them, permeating every pore. Can't move… or even speak… what is he?
"Violence really brings out the worst in me," Void continued, shaking his head slightly. "It's not pretty." He shot a glance at Pan. "Sounds familiar, right? We're more alike than you think. I guess you're sort of… me, a couple steps earlier-ah, not yet, not yet, business first."
A blaze of light rose from the planet below-Samsara rose to join the group, struggling to stay conscious, Order under one arm.
"Ah, Chaos!" There was more force to Void's words now, and to the surrounding fighters, every word was a jackhammer to the ears. "You're called Samsara this time around, aren't you? Also, you're a woman this time. That's gonna take some getting used to…" He shrugged. "Well, not really, considering I'm gonna kill you in a minute. I'm impressed you're up again, to be honest-my boys really did a number on you… let me guess, sensing me got you pissed off enough to give you your second wind?"
Not deigning to reply, Samsara narrowed her eyes, trying to focus her blurring vision, raising one hand and forming a ki sphere around it.
What control she has… Tien marvelled. If I simply generated that much power, let alone fired it, none of the surrounding planets would remain intact… she's taken the destructive force to lay waste to galaxies, and kept it focused in that tiny space… I'm glad that's not pointed at me. Still… His eyes flicked to the right. I wish I could help her against Void somehow… but I can't make my body move! He doesn't look much, but under it all… His third eye flashed for a moment. His true self is terrifying…
Just as Samsara further increased the intensity of her readied blast, Hayato lurched on from the side, positioning himself between Samsara and Void. "I won't… let you… !" he panted, stretching his arms out and staring Samsara down.
She didn't react, preparing to fire.
"Hayato!" Void barked, finally showing some emotion. "Stand down! Don't throw your life away!"
"But sir-!" Hayato turned back towards Void. "You gave me that life… we all owe you everything-I won't stand by while you're in danger-"
Void nodded. "I understand. But as tired as she is, you're no match for her on your own. I admire your spirit, but you won't accomplish anything. I, on the other hand, am in no danger."
"I-I-" Hayato wavered, trembling. He froze with a slight gasp as a blade materialised at his throat-Mercury the Knight was now standing behind him, his face a ruthless mask. Hayato paled. "Someone of your level… can move freely in Master Void's presence?"
As he spoke, he noticed the odd aura wreathing Mercury's sword; it flowed down the Knight's arm, surrounding his body and giving it a strange buoyancy and lightness, evidently enabling him to resist whatever Void was doing. "This sword is my finest creation; the fulfilment of a lifetime of my craft," he said, almost reverently. "I made it to commemorate our victories over Tenebrion and Entropy-its name is Justice." Evidently he hadn't improved his creativity since Strength and Wisdom. "Trust me when I say this is the deadliest weapon you will ever encounter. I know how much stronger than me you are, but it will cut you just fine. It would cut your friend Hattori. I have little doubt it would cut Void himself, if I had any hope of getting close to him. Do you understand me?"
Nodding slowly, Hayato allowed himself to be led at sword-point out of the line of fire. Putting himself in harm's way for his creator was one thing, and he would actually have been able to try and fight Samsara; not so in this situation. "An interesting method of saving my life," he muttered.
"I admire your loyalty," Mercury said, sheathing the gently-humming blade. "I myself have someone I would lay my life down for, without question… but part of loyalty is faith." He put a hand on Hayato's shoulder. "When my lord tells me he is in control, I believe him."
Hayato sighed. "You're right… thank you."
Mercury smiled. "Now, with that said… I am still your master's enemy." Abruptly, he spun, drawing his sword again and throwing it with the same motion. " Samsara! "
Samsara scarcely had time to turn towards it before Void had interposed himself between it and her, raising his hand to intercept. However, as it sailed through space, it passed by Uub-who sprung into motion, snatching the sword by the hilt, turning to bring it to bear on Void.
For the first time, Void looked worried. "You weren't frozen either?!"
Uub grinned. "The other Majin were unaffected… why would I be?" As he raised Justice, he couldn't help admiring for a moment the intricate craftsmanship-the Knight had definitely given this one his all. Letting the distant sunlight catch on the blade, he made for Void, who shrugged.
"All right, sure, let's fight or whatever…" He blurred to the right, apparently without moving a muscle, avoiding the path of Uub's strike-until Uub gave a growl, activating the Kaioken and redirecting his swing down towards Void, who let out a grunt of surprise. There was a tremendous roar of power-and when the pair were visible again, Void's free hand was clamped around Justice's blade, holding it back with little effort. He was frowning, though, several beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Mental workout that thing gave me," he muttered. "Dunno how he made a sword like that, but it struck from the fifth dimension simultaneously to try an' bypass my defences… in the moment of impact, kept phasing in and out of existence to throw me off… I figured out an effective defence, but…" A small trickle of blood ran down his wrist from his palm. "… a little too slow."
Uub kept his aura burning, trying to push inwards without success. Still… I've got him occupied… Samsara-!
Samsara had reached the same conclusion, and sped forwards, lashing out at Void from behind. His eyes widened at the last moment, and he rocked backwards, smashing his head upwards into her chin, sending her tumbling back with a cry of alarm. Before she'd even come to a halt, she brought up the ki blast she'd been charging this whole time, loosing it at his back. He swung Uub off to the left, hurling him away, before spinning in a rapid circle, striking Samsara's blast with the back of his fist, detonating it. A moment later, he waved away the smoke, coughing. "Agh, I hate doing that," he grumbled. "My hair always smells like smoke for, like, three days…" He glanced down at his hand. "Ai, singed my knuckles, and I think my drink exploded. Guess I'm still not that much stronger than you… I used to train a lot, y'know, but I kinda lost motivation when there wasn't anyone to surpass anymore."
Hattori coughed politely.
Void straightened up. "Right! Right, yes. I'm here to kill you and all. Sorry, I'll explain everything to your next incarnation."
"Sorry for… copying Hayato…" Uub was standing in front of Samsara, arms outstretched. "… but you're not getting past me."
Void pinched his nose, floating up to Uub. "You know I can."
"You'll have to kill me."
"I refer you to my previous statement."
Uub closed his eyes. "I've had a lot of lives… the one you intended for me… the 'defective', the mindless beast… the misguided child… the calculating monster… as a human… and now, as the complete me… however many lives I have left, you can try to take them. But not a single one of my friends'."
Void stared silently at him for over three minutes, his face unreadable. Finally, he gave a single nod. "Fair enough."
"… what?"
He shrugged. "I don't want to kill you, Buu-sorry, Uub. I really don't. And I can see you're serious about this. So, that's fine-we'll leave."
"You… will?"
"We will?" Hattori echoed.
"Sure!" Void laughed. "Don't worry, I'll just think up some other plan for assassinating Samsara. One that won't involve any of you fine people." He smiled. "I'm proud of you, kid. You've grown up into something much greater than what I made you. I'm glad…" He turned back to Hattori and Hayato. "All right! Off we go! Somebody carry Ozotto and Hasekura, all right?"
With no more ceremony than that, the attackers, in their moment of victory, began to leave. Just before they were beyond audible distance, though, Void turned back towards his battered opponents. "Oh… one more thing." His voice suddenly grew cold, the friendly, affable tone vanishing. "I lied, a little. I already have a plan. Something else I have-damn good telekinesis." He held up the sleeping baby Order. "Samsara. You care about him, I know. So rest up, heal up, and come pay me a visit. We'll do lunch. I'll murder you. If you don't come within, say, 24 hours, I'll… well, sure, he'll reincarnate if he dies. But there are plenty of ways of hurting a person without killing them. Kids' bones heal fast, too, so he wouldn't even be crippled for life-no permanent loss for me. You understand?"
"You bastard," she said wearily, the colour leaving her face, not even looking shocked-just incredibly tired. "You'd torture a child just to-"
"To save the multiverse!" he snapped. "Uub was right-I am kind of an asshole. But I'm the hero. The hero, something you people don't seem to have grasped. And by the way, Samsara, come alone and make it easier on all of us. I really don't want to kill your friends here, they're all just so promising, but… you know I will if you make me. All right, I think that's everything. Later!" He vanished in a burst of ki, his followers already long gone.
Pan gasped, finally able to breathe normally now Void's overwhelming presence was gone, everyone around her undergoing a similar reaction, the various Dragon Soul users separating for a breather-something about Void's aura had strained their connection. "Hey… Mercury," she said. "Why didn't… you use that sword earlier?"
"Well, I was beaten so quickly…" he mumbled. "In any case, I planned on waiting until I could ensure I wouldn't miss, given the speed advantage they all held over me…"
"That's my line," the Hunter said, approaching and massaging life back into his joints. "Who is Void, anyway? Where'd he come from? Don't tell me there are more gods we've never heard of…"
"No, nothing like that," Uub answered, shaking his head. "He's mortal, or at least he was… he must have found some way to live this long… even divine beings don't have the lifespan he's had, given that he was around before Samsara." He shrugged. "I don't know exactly where he came from."
"He said he was like me," Pan muttered. "I told Entropy… I was the next step in our evolution; the nexus of human, saiyan, Hakaishin and Shadow Dragon power… maybe Void is something like that, for whatever race he belongs to."
"Didn't know you knew all those big words," Break said, ruffling Pan's hair.
"Cut it!" Pan laughed, batting Break's hand away; not that she minded the state of her hair too much, it wasn't exactly in the habit of behaving. "Anyway, says the Incredible Hulk."
"Unlike you, I got over my rage thing. But I do the bulking-up, so… between us we make the Hulk, I guess."
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Bills looked from one to the other, totally lost.
Break waved a hand in his face. "None of your concern, Nick Fury."
"… eh?"
After a few minutes of regrouping and proverbial wound-licking (literal in Bills' case), Samsara finally spoke. "I think… I should go," she said, quiet and calm for once. "We're no match for Void, and I genuinely think he has no designs for any of you… you can all go on with your lives." She held out her hand. "Farewell, brave warriors. I thank you for all that you have done for me."
Alpha took a firm grip of the offered hand. "Let me be the first to say… hell no ."
"What…?"
"I have lost a lot of friends recently." She managed to stop her voice from trembling. "Most recently… one… that I never realised how blessed I was to have until he was gone." She smiled lopsidedly. "I'll be damned if I let that happen again. And whether you like it or not, I consider you a friend."
Helios laid his hand on top of hers. "Milady, if you go, I go." The Dreamer followed suit, with a wordless smile.
Alpha nodded to them both. Speaking of people I'm blessed to have…
Pan was next, grim-faced. "I have to talk to him again… find out what he meant."
"I have a score to settle too," said Uub.
The Warrior spoke up, in its odd out-of-battle way. "Defeat-so utter-intolerable, simply, conclusion. Require: Closure."
Bills shrugged, volunteering himself as well. "This is turning into quite the party."
The Hunter quickly followed. "And you're not doing something this interesting without me!"
It continued like this; Cadmus, Mercury, Tien, Break, Goku and Hephaestus all put their hands in on top of Samsara's. She gazed around at them all, marvelling at the unbroken determination. "You all…"
"Looks like you can't get rid of us," Break said as they stepped back from the collective gesture.
"Still… from what I remember…" Uub mused, rubbing his chin, "we probably don't stand a chance of getting into Void's chambers as we are. His house is tough to get through-his servants too…"
"Are they that powerful?" Samsara asked.
"Not powerful exactly…" He frowned. "It's kind of fuzzy… I haven't been there since right back when he created me, and I was, well, Buu, so my perspective was kind of warped… but it's not really a test of strength. I mean, we'll need power to beat Void and the other four Majin, but… getting past his other servants is more of a mental challenge. You can't do it with brute force."
"In other words, this current group isn't great," Goku chuckled. "My smarts extend to, well… fighting and not much else."
"Anyway, you heard him earlier," Cadmus said, steering the conversation back on course. "We have 24 hours to be there. We're likely going to be bringing some non-combatants to meet these 'challenges', so we'll need the Pilot's ship. We need to find out how long it'll take to reach Void's universe, and we can allot the rest of the time to rounding up a potential team."
Samsara raised a hand to the side of her head. "Then if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have a call to make."
6 hours to departure…
Pan stood on a cliff-face, overlooking the sea, lowering her aura and letting the wind bite into her face. Abruptly, she let out an anguished roar, dropping to her knees and digging her fingers into the ground.
Yamcha told me he felt like he came alive when fighting, but… I've gone too far that way.
Since Entropy… that fight I shouldn't have let myself enjoy… I haven't felt alive at all. Everything else was so empty…
And, today… I woke that fire again. Her lips involuntarily curled into a smile. I finally felt alive, helping Uub, but I was still in control-then I took it too far. I almost killed a good man.
And then… Void. I wanted to fight him. More than anything I've ever wanted. But… She ground her teeth together, screwing her eyes shut. I couldn't do anything! I was completely…
Next time, she promised herself. Next time will be different.
Kuriza looked up from his desk, frowning. No ki, but I thought I heard… He smiled, turning to the pair of guards by the door. "You're relieved; take the day off. Don't mind the person coming in-he's an old friend." They nodded and strolled off, chatting; the atmosphere was far more relaxed than the old Planet Trade Organisation's way of doing things. The newly-appointed king (something of a courtesy title in the same manner as 'King' Tarble's) turned back to his work, but spoke as soon as his visitor entered the room. "Were you planning on surprising me with your whole undetectable-ki thing?" he said jovially.
Gohan laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Kinda, yeah…"
Kuriza shook his head. "I remember what Instant Transmission sounds like. So, we had that whole tearful goodbye thing… what's up?"
Gohan went and leaned on the opposite wall, observing his long-time friend. Is he… taller? "Well… you know the whole thing with the Shadow Dragons?"
"It kept on escalating, yeah."
"That it did, but we've reached the end of the rabbit-hole. There's one more thing we have to do, so… I guess I'm getting the band back together, so to speak."
"What do you want me to do, exactly?"
"Well, we'll be on a ship the size of a small galaxy, travelling to one of the furthest universes from here in existence, to enter the dwelling of the most powerful being that has ever lived, where we'll have to overcome a myriad of tests of strength, wit and skill to reach him, whereupon defeating him may be the only way to stop him raising another being like Entropy and, I dunno, gaining dominance over the multiverse or something, he didn't explain his endgame to us. Interested?"
Kuriza's eyes shone. "Little bit."
Chapter 43: Reunion Tour
"Your coffee, sir."
"Thank you." Void took the drink-a replacement for the one he'd lost fighting Samsara-and turned to his four Majin henchmen, who stood assembled before him in the lush expanses of his study. "All right, she should be here in under an hour now."
Ozotto nodded. "Orders?"
Void shrugged. "Honestly? Take the day off. My assassination plan involving you guys… didn't go as planned. And you've all been injured… I don't want anything more to happen to you. Just, I dunno, take a holiday. I can handle Samsara, without any of you getting hurt."
"But-" Hayato began.
"Please don't," Void sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "Arguing gives me a headache. Just… trust me, all right? It'll be fine."
Hayato remembered the Knight's words, slowly nodding. "Yes… you're right. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Just get going, all of you. Come back tomorrow and we'll discuss the next step." He began to drink as they filed out, a weight seeming to lift from him. Thanks, guys. I should be fine, but… in case something goes wrong… if something happens to me… I want you all to live long, happy lives. Even if this whole plan doesn't come together, I think I'd settle for that.
The Pilot made a few adjustments to their course as they entered Void's universe-finding him from there wasn't a problem, with that kind of power level. "I'm kind of surprised he's on an ordinary planet… after Entropy and all." She flicked on the intercom. "All right everyone, assemble in the hangar. I know a few of you are teleporters… they can take us down to the planet's surface. Time's a-wastin'!"
The gathering in the hangar bay was something of a grand reunion. Goku stood in one corner, laughing about something with his fellow Turtle School students, Tien hanging back slightly and listening in; Gohan and Videl were leading Kuriza over to the assorted Capsule Corp residents to catch up; Samsara, the surviving Hakaishin and Shadow Dragons were all in attendance; Goten was attempting to tell a joke, to the bemusement of Vegeta Jr., Break, Marron, Pan and Uub; and towards the back of the room, Chi-Chi, Launch and Eighteen looked over proceedings with knowing smiles.
"So!" the Pilot called out, strolling into the room. "We all ready?"
"I can take us down, if you want," Gohan offered. "Of course, everybody would have to be touching to be carried by my Instant Transmission…"
"Allow me to present a slightly less awkward alternative," said the Sorcerer. He snapped his fingers, and a glowing blue line traced its way around the room in a great curve. "Everyone, stand within the circle; I'll teleport us all at once." He held up a cautioning finger. "Fair warning, though, my magic doesn't affect unwilling targets if they're a significant amount more powerful than I. And I know a lot of you are, so positive mindsets, everyone!" This earned him a few grumbles and rolled eyes, which was precisely his intention, but everyone shuffled into the circle in short order.
A wall of blue fire filled their vision, and then with a slight lurching sensation they found themselves standing in a lush garden, a path to their right leading up to an enormous mansion. A startled cough came from behind them-a slight girl dressed in white was staring at them with suspicion, before managing to get ahold of herself. She straightened up and closed her eyes. "Master Void, your guests are here… yes, of course you know. Forgive me. Shall I show them in?" After another pause, she nodded and approached the group. "I apologise," she said meekly, "this is most irregular. I'm the daily girl, you see, and this isn't normally my… well, anyway. Please follow me." She set off down the path, leading the cautious arrivals towards the house.
"Are we just gonna play along?" Launch asked, slouching as she walked.
"Might as well," Trunks replied, shrugging.
"Eh, I got a better idea. Let's get Void to come to us." She snapped her fingers, forming an energy sphere, and hurled it overarm at the building. It seemed to flicker as it approached, finally warping out of existence a few inches from the roof. "… huh."
"Needless to say, the residence is impervious to physical force," their guide said, shaking her head sadly. "However, this is most improper. Impoliteness of this calibre will not be tolerated." Her eyes flashed, and with a thunderous crash, a battle-aura sprung to life around her.
What th-? Yamcha, who was standing closest, had to jump back as the pressure of her ki increased. From the impression she was giving before, I didn't even think she was a fighter… but this power…
The girl sprung directly at Launch, evidently not choosing to extend the blame to anyone else in the party. Launch smiled, swaying sideways, hands in her pockets, but her attacker's speed increased at the last second, and Launch received a shallow graze to the side of her face. "Fine then…" she growled, swinging an arm up-the girl caught her fist, repeating the motion as Launch brought her other arm to bear as well. They stood deadlocked, respective powers clashing for dominance. "Don't anyone… even think about helping," Launch grunted.
"Eh, she'll be fine," Break said, striding off towards the house and leaving Launch to her battle. "Mom gets into three fights before breakfast each morning. Most commonly with me. C'mon."
The door swung open as they approached, a sharply-dressed man inside tipping his tall hat to them. "Do excuse the order of things," he said smoothly, ushering them inside, where they stood in a huge hallway-easily large enough to accommodate them all. "I'm merely the coachman… normally the butler would be here, but… ah, well. It's been a bit of a mess today. May I take your coats?" This got him Alpha's jacket tossed at his face; he swiped it out of the air, hanging it on the wall. "Very good. Now, I know what your business is here. Let me explain how you can accomplish what you've come for."
"If it's anything short of 'punch anyone and everything until we get to Void and Order', I'm somewhat less than interested," Alpha said, mock-yawning.
The coachman stifled a laugh. "You may find that a trifle difficult. Do you know why the house is invulnerable to external attack? It's an extension of the same energy field that mainly concerns the interior. To wit-ki, of any sort, does not function in here. Yours, or ours." He paused, letting that sink in and watching a couple of them discover that this was, indeed, true. "You will find that in this house, your strength and speed are no longer superhuman, among other abilities you will have lost. But don't panic! You're not trapped in here. The door is not locked. However, the only way to Void is through the house… and if you want to get through, you're going to have to play by our rules."
Samsara nodded. "Elaborate."
"It will be all of you against us-the servants and staff of this house. You will progress through, meeting the challenges each of sets. This will function elimination-style-anyone who loses, your side or ours, is 'out'; in your case, they cannot participate in further challenges, and in ours, they must let everyone pass. Master Void chose this method of resolving our conflict over some kind of tooth-and-nail brawl-as you know, he detests unnecessary deaths, especially of promising individuals such as yourselves. If any of you make it to the top floor, Void will meet you; up there, the field is no longer active and your ki, and his, will function perfectly. You can use all the power you like."
Break smiled. "And if we prefer the 'tooth-and-nail brawl' idea?"
"I would not take such chances if I were you. We have a hostage, as you well know."
"And if I don't give a damn about the hostage?" the Warrior spat, before freezing as it felt the Pilgrim's hand on its shoulder.
"It is in your best interests to care," he hissed.
It nodded slowly, feeling a terror it couldn't quite place. "Retracted."
"So, I assume you'll be first?" Samsara asked.
The coachman bowed slightly. "That is correct. My challenge is somewhat… athletic, I suppose. I require four opponents."
"We got this!" Goten announced, striding forwards, followed by the shrugging Vegeta Jr.
Marron stepped up next to them, dragging Trunks with her and ignoring his protests. "There you go-four. What's the challenge?"
The coachman flicked his wrist and a trio of long, straight knives appeared between his fingers. "I have a large, but not unlimited, amount of these about my person. I will throw them, and the four of you will attempt to catch them. Every caught knife, I lose. Every missed knife returns to me. If any of you are cut-either failing to avoid my throw, or in attempting to catch one-you are out. When I run out of knives-when you catch them all-I am out. My aim is impeccable, and as agreed I will not kill you, but if you are averse to pain, step down now."
"Hey…" Goten stroked his chin. "Even without ki, fusing should still boost our physical attributes…"
Vegeta Jr. nodded, turning to their challenger. "What's the ruling on that?"
"Fusion, eh? Quite the rare ability…" The coachman smiled. "The resulting fusion would count as a new challenger; since the challenge has already begun, the only way for them to take your place is if you both forfeited-you would be instantly declared out. The fusion, however, could continue to take on challenges normally."
Goten frowned. "And given the half-hour cooldown time… probably best if we save it for a future challenge, if we've both already been eliminated. Let's get as far as we can without it."
"Right," his longtime friend agreed.
"If you're ready, then…" The coachman sank back on his heels, raising both gloved hands and revealing about a dozen knives in each. "Let us begin."
His four challengers tensed up. Without our ki… Marron thought, we're not exactly useless. We've been training our bodies all our lives… we'll still be the equivalent of the best 'normal' martial artists. And some of us have powers not linked to ki, even.
The coachman's arm blurred, and Trunks went down screaming, a knife buried up to its hilt in his knee. "My apologies," the man said, tipping his hat again as the youth was carried off. "I couldn't help but notice the sloppiness of his stance. It was clear he wasn't the equal of you three… I decided to dispose of him before truly beginning."
Goten blinked. … fast!
"Begin!" said their opponent once more, and his arms swung out in a wide arc and releasing all the blades he held at once. The three remaining challengers twisted, jumping off to one side or the other, landing a little unsteadily. When the movement had died down, all three were unharmed, and Marron saw with some surprise that the other two had both caught a knife in each hand.
Vegeta Jr. tossed his pair to the floor. "What's the matter? Don't let up. I'm just getting into the rhythm of this."
"Hmph." The coachman snapped his fingers, and as promised, the knives that had missed did indeed return to him, pulled by some invisible force and hanging in the air around him, as he simultaneously drew out a fresh batch in each hand.
Some kind of telekinesis, Goten realised. And not ki-based, of course… this is the real deal… psychic. "Between you and the lady outside… the staff here aren't ordinary, are they?" he asked.
The man grinned. "We have each been individually selected by Master Void to serve, from all the universes he has visited. And he has an eye for quality." With that said, he hurled the next barrage-his hands held just as many as before, but now it was reinforced by the recovered knives they'd failed to catch.
Marron ducked and dodged frantically; the coachman continued to produce more handfuls of knives, adding them into the mix, recovering those they missed, and continuing. So that first wave… was just a warm-up! At this rate, it's just going to keep getting more intense as time goes on! I've got to do something towards our victory… She focused on one as it was just leaving his hand. I think I've learned their speed and arc by now… She jumped over a trio of blades aimed at her legs, flipping forwards and pushing off the ground with one hand, reaching the other towards her target and snatching it neatly out of the air by the flat of the blade. Yes! She knew that her friends were still outperforming her, catching several of each wave, but she reckoned she'd improve now she was in the swing of things.
However, her elation betrayed her; she took a fraction of a second too long to right herself, and a knife flashed by her shoulder with a sharp tearing noise. The other two looked around, nervous at the prospect of it coming down to just the pair of them.
Their opponent smiled, easing up his assault for a moment. "Two down."
Taking advantage of his relaxation, Marron sprang up, catching another pair and hurling them away. "Not quite!" She turned slightly, letting her bisected sleeve fall open around her shoulder, revealing that the blade had passed through the cloth but left her untouched, albeit by millimetres. "Keep trying, though."
He gave an irritated scowl. "Rest assured, I shall." He renewed his barrage, but his opponents were now fully adjusted to his speed and patterns, and began catching them with alarming regularity. Soon, he found himself with none floating around him, and on his last handfuls. There are too many of them for me to only take down one… I've got to make these last few count! His mind raced for a moment, before settling on a plan. He threw all but two of this last batch of knives at Vegeta Jr., letting the saiyan work himself almost to his limit catching them all, before hurling one more, this time focusing all his telekinetic might on it and propelling it at far greater speed than the others; this, plus the distraction his volley had provided, made a hit a sure thing, and Vegeta collapsed against the wall, gripping his leg where blood flowed from a shallow gash.
Goten glanced in his direction-then immediately cried out in pain as the coachman took advantage of this lapse in attention, the final knife embedding itself into his upper arm.
As the pair of them limped back to the group, Marron stepped forwards. "Looks like you're out."
"Almost." The coachman removed his hat, withdrawing one more blade-a vicious, needle-thin weapon. With all my mental force focused on this one object… plus how light it is… there's no way she'll be able to react in time. Grinning, he flicked it out, pushing on it with all his psychic strength.
There was a blur of movement, and then Marron had one hand held out, palm towards him, the blade impaled through it. She winced, but remained fully upright.
"Well," the coachman said, replacing his hat, "it seems I win. Next four, stand forwards-"
"Is that what you think?" Grunting, Marron tugged the knife out of her hand and threw it back at him, where it embedded itself in the wall next to his head. "The moment it left your hand, you were 'out of knives'. So you were already out, and the contest was already over… I can't lose after the contest ends, can I?"
"You…" His face contorted, emotion registering for the first time.
"You're out. So move it. Go on, shoo."
"You can't do this to me… !" A low growl rose in his throat, and the walls began to shake as his mental power rolled outwards, smacking Marron to the floor. " I won't accept this- " His voice died in his throat as Videl's hand delivered a sharp blow to the back of his neck. He collapsed onto his face, gurgling. Where did… she come from? I didn't see…
"So," she said, kicking his limp body out of the way, "are they just gonna cheat? Should we cheat back?"
"I don't think they will, actually," Prometheus Shenron answered. "I don't know if anyone else felt it, but… there was a subtle change in the air pressure right before that guy went down. I get the feeling Void's watching his guys pretty closely, and was about to take steps to stop him."
"He should be glad I got to him first, then," Videl muttered.
"Ugh…" The coachman rubbed his neck, sitting up. "My apologies… I let my emotions get the better of me. You are indeed correct-you have bested me." He reached into his pocket, and produced a small key. "There are four more of these on this floor. All five are required to open that door." He pointed down towards the end of the hall. "Behind it are the stairs leading up to the first floor."
"That door must be quite something," Gohan said, mostly to himself. "Can't seem to Shift past it… Sorcerer?"
The wizened Hakaishin shrugged. "It's blocked to my teleportation as well. But don't lose hope-our abilities will doubtless come in useful when it's our turn to take one of these challenges."
"Anyway, let's get moving." Samsara took the key, pocketing it. "Four to go."
Chapter 44: Hearts and Minds
Break surveyed the four side doors. "All right, which way first?"
"More to the point," Prometheus said, "we could just skip this part. I mean, we've got two teleporters, last I counted…"
Gohan shook his head. "We're already agreeing to play by the rules here-them too, and we've all got reason to. Same principle. Anyway…" He spun on his heels, picking a door at random and striding through; the rest of the group followed, passing into a room lined on all four walls with crates and boxes-evidently some kind of storage area. More noticeably, as soon as they entered, the temperature dropped sharply.
At the centre of the room a space had been cleared out; a small table had been placed in this space, and by it sat a scrawny, scaly blue creature, smiling pleasantly at them. As they watched, he snapped his fingers and a chessboard materialised atop the table. "It's not exactly Entropy's, I'll give you that," he said cheerily, "but then I'm not sure if he really played. I reckon he just thought it looked impressive… well, then. Do I have a challenger?"
Cadmus stepped forwards, taking a seat opposite their adversary. "May I have your name?"
"I'm just the Thinker," the vaguely amphibious-looking individual replied. "I know you, though, O Red King. Black or white?"
The Hakaishin leader gave the board a flick, spinning it rapidly in place, then a couple seconds later gave a tap, bringing it to a halt, the black pieces now on his side. "It seems the odds are on your side."
The Thinker smirked. "However did you manage that without the pieces flying all over the place?"
"A ruler, much like a magician, never reveals his secrets. Make your move."
The Thinker nodded, and they began; the room fell almost silent for several minutes. "I came here to fight," Helios grumbled.
" We came here to save the life of a friend, and an innocent child besides," Hephaestus countered.
Helios grabbed his collar, hissing, "don't take that attitude with me, you-" His voice died in his throat upon seeing Alpha's expression, and he sprang back, edging over to the other side of the room.
A few seconds later, Cadmus stood up. "I'm afraid I'm beaten. Mate in three."
"I must say, you were playing very strangely in the second half of the game," the Thinker said, "and after doing so well up until then. What happened?"
"At that point, I knew I'd lost," he replied. "The second half was an experiment in odd, unpredictable plans, to test my hypothesis."
"Which is?"
"That you were reading my mind. And you confirmed it beyond doubt." He turned away, striding back to the others. "If anyone thinks they can beat a mind-reader, step up right away."
"I could block my mind from his power," the Sorcerer mused, "but it would require constant concentration. It would cut down on my actual playing ability significantly… aside from the telepathy, were you able to gauge his skill?"
Cadmus nodded. "He's about as good as I am."
The Sorcerer frowned. "No good. I couldn't even beat that on equal terms, much less with my attention divided. And especially in this damned cold…"
"Oh, quit your whining and stand back." Bulma shouldered past them, striding up to the table and sitting down. "I gotta do something while the computer loads, and I like to think I'm not bad. But more important in this case… is the psychology of the thing." She turned the board around to give herself the white pieces. "If you don't mind."
The Thinker shrugged. "By all means."
"All right…" She fell into intense concentration, her tongue sticking out slightly, several turns passing without any further dialogue before the Thinker gave her a quizzical look.
"You know I can read your thoughts," he said.
"Mm-hmm."
"So why continue with this plan? I know what you're trying to do. I've all but stopped it already."
She grinned. "Well, see, this is the point where this little manoeuvre has a few branching paths-different lines of attack."
"But I'll know which one you choose and what it leads to."
"Not if I don't." She closed her eyes for a moment, stopped thinking, and just made a snap decision, barely even conscious of which way she'd moved the piece-only that it was one of the previously-mentioned options, so still a viable strategy.
"… oh." He frowned, caught off-balance for the next several turns as she let instinct and heat-of-the-moment decisions guide her, putting him on the defensive and continuing to press the advantage. He gave a growl of frustration. "How are you still doing this… even after I shifted all of my attention to the actual game? No need to read your plans if you're not making them-but I'm still losing…"
"Oh, I know you did that," Bulma said happily. "Which is why I switched back to proper plans as soon as you did. Very easy to dress them up as random when you're already so on edge…"
"Clever," he muttered. "Very clever. You almost had me… but an act like that must be taxing. You can miss little things… obvious things…" He slid his queen forwards, taking a bishop near the back. "Mate in… ooh, two."
Bulma smacked a fist into the table, standing and stomping back to the group. "Gah! So close!"
"I suppose I should probably try…" the Sorcerer muttered.
"I have some experience with the game," Kuriza offered, "though I don't know how I'd counter his powers."
Gohan shrugged. "I could give it a go, I guess…"
A large frame slammed down into the tiny wooden chair, barely being accommodated by it. Everyone gave a blank stare as Helios Shenron reset the pieces and span the board to give himself black, folding his arms and glaring at the Thinker, his deep-set eyes like distant embers in the night. "Come at me."
"I didn't know Helios played… well, any game, really…" Hephaestus said, scratching his head. "What the hell's got into him?"
Pan nodded. "He doesn't seem the type, no. This'll be… interesting."
As his first turn came, Helios slowly sat forwards, unfolding his arms and surveying the board… then quickly turned his head back to the group. "How do the bishops move again?"
Alpha chuckled despite herself, and the groans from the rest of their allies. " That's more like him."
Once the rules had been fully explained to him, Helios turned back to the Thinker, and the game began in earnest. The Thinker seemed to have a huge early advantage, but something seemed odd.
"The Thinker's slowing down…" Cadmus noted. "He's winning, but… looking at the two of them, Helios doesn't seem fazed at all. The Thinker looks like he's under a lot of pressure."
"Yeah… weird," Pan agreed. "I wonder what-" She trailed off, something catching her eye. The ice on the walls is… melting?
Helios shook his head at the Thinker's latest move. "Very simple mistake. Even I can spot that one." He took a rook, tossing it away over his shoulder. "Don't worry, you won't need it again. There won't be any more challengers."
The Thinker braced himself with an arm against the table, breathing heavily, sweat pouring in rivers down his face. "What… are you… doing to me?!"
"This." Helios gave a grunt, and a faint aura of flame sprang to life around him; he sat back again, folding his arms and legs and smiling unpleasantly. "My heat powers aren't tied entirely to my ki, you know. Anyway… I made a guess. I guessed right."
"You… know…?"
"Indeed. That hugely-advanced brain of yours…" He tapped the side of his head. "Like a super-computer, it needs a proper coolant to function properly. You probably come from a very cold planet; this room is a recreation of your home environment. We're approaching normal room temperature now… I reckon you're now even worse at this game than I am." This seemed to be true; the game swung overwhelmingly in his favour, the Thinker unable to counter even Helios' highly-simplistic tactics. Very soon, he had his opponent's last few pieces surrounded. "Aaaand, uh… is this checkmate? I forget. I'm threatening the king. Is that right? Do I take him too?"
"No, no, you win," Alpha laughed.
Helios snorted. "That's anticlimactic. What kind of a war do you call that? And besides, why is the king so important? The queen's the most powerful piece-shouldn't you win by defeating her?"
"I think this game isn't for you."
"There was never any doubt of that."
"Please…" the Thinker gasped. "… enough! You win… I concede… stop this!"
"Very well." Helios shrugged, deactivating his aura and letting the room settle back to a frigid temperature before taking the offered key, rising and rejoining the group. "I heard you all earlier. Have a little faith."
"There's method to your madness?" Alpha asked.
"And there's madness in your method," he retorted.
"And what method would that be?"
He arched an eyebrow, smiling slightly. "Liaison with the enemy."
"Enemy? That war is long over."
"And yet I fought a Hakaishin just the other day…"
"Ladies, please!" Uub took them both by the shoulder, pushing them towards the door. "No-one cares!"
The next door they tried lead them into a largely-white room, which appeared to be a kitchen-or rather, the concept and general feel of a kitchen, stretched out into twisting passageways that wound far out of sight.
"I guess this is the challenge," Bulma observed. "It's a maze…"
"Correct!" A trapdoor slid open in the ceiling, and a burly, red-faced woman in white dropped to the floor. "I mean, I'm officially the cook, but I'm pretty sure I was hired for my maze-making skills. So, simple enough… the key is at the other end. Make it through, bring it back here." She shrugged. "That's about all there is to it. There are traps, though I've been asked to make them non-lethal. I managed to reach a compromise… while most of them will just catch you in a pit or something, where you'll be shortly be delivered back to the start-you'll be out, of course-some of them use lethal danger as a deterrent. You'll see them coming, unless you're blind, but you'll be able to avoid them."
"Let me go first," the Knight said, stepping towards the entrance. He nodded back to Cadmus. "I'll win this in your place, milord."
"A group might be a better idea, for something like this…" the Sorcerer suggested. "The more of us there are, the better-equipped we are to deal with any challenges we're presented with."
"Then how about just the lot of us?" the Pilot suggested. "Just every Hakaishin remaining." This was met with general assent, and soon Mercury, Bills, the Pilot, the Hunter, the Sorcerer, the Pilgrim, the Warrior, the Scholar, the Dreamer and the Fisherman were assembled at the front, and strode off into the maze in ragged formation.
At this point, the cook jumped back into the hatch with surprising agility, vanishing out of sight-and failing to notice a slight blur of movement and a metallic scraping sound behind her.
The passages wound on, and the Hakaishin pressed forwards, beginning to get a feel for the structure of the maze. "You know," the Hunter said, "I kind of expected this to be harde-"
The floor clicked.
Reflexes kicking in, the Warrior instantly leapt as the section of floor beneath their feet gave way, opening the way to a pit beneath. It landed and rolled to its feet, turning back to see who else had escaped the trap. The Pilot had just reacted in time, clinging onto the edge of the pit; the Scholar stood balanced precariously atop a hovering info-drone she'd had following her, wobbling slightly before taking an ungainly leap to the other side; and the Sorcerer and the Dreamer had, in their own ways, relinquished gravity's hold on themselves, and now floated over to join the others.
"If you can still fly," the Pilot muttered, pulling herself up and rolling over onto her back, panting, "or float around or whatever… maybe go get the others outta the pit?"
"Too late, I'm afraid," the Sorcerer replied. "Like our challenger told us, they're being shunted back to the start-out."
"So, just the five of us left…" The Scholar frowned behind her visor. "Not an auspicious start. For some reason my sensors didn't pick up on the mechanism activating…" She snapped her fingers, bringing up an array of holographic screens in front of her. "This is all well-shielded. I'll keep working on it, though."
"Onwards," the Warrior said simply, turning and continuing down the corridor, the Pilot, the Scholar, the Dreamer and the Sorcerer in tow. Before long, though, they found themselves lost within an endless loop of turns, dead ends and curving passageways.
The cook hummed to herself as she tapped the wall of buttons in her control room, eyes flicking rapidly between CCTV feeds. With each press of a button, she shifted the course of a corridor, sending the Hakaishin deeper into the recesses of the maze.
"Gonna have to ask you to stop that," said a voice from across the room.
Practically jumping out of her skin, she glared back over her shoulder-Kuriza stood in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Well," he said innocently, rubbing his nose, "I thought I'd try solving the maze myself… guess I got lost, eheh…"
"Funny. Get out of here, before you get hurt."
"Mmm… nah." Kuriza began to advance, to which the cook responded by tapping a red-outlined button; vents slid open in the floor, belching out a wall of flame that reached up to the ceiling, blocking Kuriza's path.
All right, with him out of the way…
Something tugged on the back of her collar, dragging her away from the control panel-Kuriza now stood next to her in his armoured fifth form, shielded from the elements by its added protection, smoke rising from his soot-blackened skin. "Good attempt, but my species can survive anywhere." As he spoke, his barbed tail lashed out behind him, swiping across the control panel and smashing it in a shower of sparks. "… yeah, okay. Think I'm done here." As the flames died away, he returned to normal, turning and strolling out of the room. "You can't manipulate the maze anymore…"
"Feh…" She glared after him. Well, anyway… the traps still between them and the key should be enough.
"Here." Checking the results of her scan one more time, the Scholar tapped the wall. "The way onwards is through there."
"Hmm." The Sorcerer stepped up. "Stand back…" He raised his arms, bolts of arcane lightning arcing between them, before clasping his staff two-handed and striking the wall heavily; the energy leapt out from it, and the wall exploded inwards. The Sorcerer staggered back and leant against the opposite wall behind them, breathing quickly. "Ah… apologies. I'm used to using my ki as a source for my magic… I'm not used to this. Between this and the flight spell, I've hit my limit… you'd better go on."
The cook's voice spoke through some form of intercom. " Giving up in this matter will constitute a forfeit. "
The Sorcerer nodded. "Better than slowing you down. I wouldn't recover in time to be of any use to you, anyway… get going."
Thanking him, the other four continued through into the new corridor they'd opened. It appeared to be a straight line, leading into a large chamber, at the far end of which something distant glinted. "That may be what we're looking for," the Pilot mused. "C'mon." However, no sooner than they'd taken a couple steps, a grinding sound came from all sides-and the walls began to slide inwards around them.
The intercom buzzed again. " I'd advise you to turn back. You won't be able to make it to the end of the corridor in time. As promised, anything potentially lethal is perfectly avoidable, and you're informed of its lethality… "
"Damn!" The Warrior threw itself at the left wall, but failed to stop its progress. "Pilot! Fastest! Go!" it snapped.
"You two as well!" the Dreamer declared, standing in the centre of the corridor, her arms outstretched. "I will do what I can."
"But-"
" Now! " She closed her eyes as the other three ran on, the Warrior just behind the Pilot, the Scholar lagging behind significantly. Taking a deep breath, the Dreamer focused on the ever-growing grinding sound. Even diminished, I am not wholly bound by the laws of nature. There is an incredible amount of force pushing this stone towards me… but this force… this law… She waited until the enclosing walls brushed the tips of her fingers before her eyes snapped open and she pushed with all her mental might. … I deny you!
The Pilot, the Warrior and the Scholar cleared the end of the passageway as it ground to a halt, held to a standstill by the Dreamer's efforts, stone scraping stone as it continued to try and push inwards, her body wracked with the backlash of the effort. "Quickly!" the Pilot warned. "She won't last long like this!"
They now stood in a circular chamber, on a narrow ledge encircling the outside wall of the room. In the centre was a small platform, upon which rested the glinting object they'd spied before-the second key. Below them swirled a tempestuous pool of water, and it seemed fairly obvious that contact with it would mean disqualification.
"All right…" The Scholar began calculating, her visor blinking rapidly. "Taking into account the distance, your relative muscle power, current fatigue levels- gah !" She was cut short as the wall behind them protruded, shoving them forwards and toppling the trio off the ledge towards the water below. She quickly tapped a button at her wrist, causing her bodysuit to grow an extra transparent layer to protect its delicate electronics (and her delicate sensibilities besides).
The Pilot and the Warrior, meanwhile, had more practical concerns in mind. The Warrior focused all its strength for a moment, managing to rapidly shift up through the spectrum, glowing brilliant white for a moment-it had, in fact, generated a minute amount of ki with the unique properties of its body; with this, it shoved downwards, propelling itself upwards. Coming down towards it, the Pilot planted a foot on its back, kicking off and using its momentum to leap up at the key and snatch it, before using the platform as a springboard and launching herself back to where they'd come from, via an entirely-unnecessary backwards somersault. Sorry, guys, she thought as the Warrior and the Scholar were sucked away by the current. But we got it, that's the important thing. See you on the other side… but right now…
She dashed back down the corridor, the walls beginning to advance again; the Dreamer was faltering, sweating rivers, almost falling to her knees as her will struggled against the reality trying to impose itself to keep the walls apart. The Pilot reached her, shoving her through the collapsed wall behind and back into the previous corridor, hearing the stone slam together behind them. The Pilot sat up, key still clutched in one hand. "Hey… you gonna be all right?"
"D… De-" The Dreamer coughed, flecks of blood appearing on her chin. "Define…'all right'."
"Oh crap, are you-"
"I will live." She tried to sit up, but collapsed again, and the Pilot saw that some kind of network of tiny cuts had traced itself up and down her body, and were beginning to bleed. "I may not be… at peak efficiency… for some time."
The Pilot nodded. "All right… let's get outta here. This hasn't been our day, but we got the damn thing."
The disqualified Hakaishin, and the contented Kuriza, had all been returned to the starting area-the part that actually somewhat resembled a kitchen-and now all eyes turned towards the entrance as the Pilot, carrying the Dreamer two-handed, stumbled out, setting her injured comrade down. The Pilot held up the key, grinning widely and ignoring the stream of grumbled curses coming from the intercom.
Alpha rushed over and knelt down, emotions warring across her face as she took in the extent of Asrai's injury. "You… I should've been there-"
"Hey…" the Dreamer said weakly. "No… problem. I'll get over this… you just… focus on winning yourself, 'kay?"
"I just…" Alpha trailed off, clasping Asrai's hand for a moment before standing, her shoulders rising and falling once.
Hephaestus walked over to her. "Do you…"
"Void's a dead man." She said this simply, factually, before striding off out of the room.
Even Further Beyond Prequel: The Fisherman
Javan sat by the lake, whistling softly to himself, hands resting gently on his fishing-pole, alert for the slightest movement. He reached up and tapped his conical straw hat, setting it straight on his head.
At this point, his idyllic peace was disturbed by a mighty impact from behind him, as something slammed into the ground at great velocity and rolled to a halt next to him-a humanoid lizard of some kind, body flickering with some strange energy. "Y… you…" he croaked.
Javan blinked, his trance breaking. "Me? Yes, I suppose I am."
"… what?"
"What?"
The creature stood shakily. "Look… there isn't much time. My power is… being drained… but if I transfer it to you, they'll lose their target!"
Javan scratched his head. "Um… I'm not sure if-"
The thing moved at blinding speed, grasping his hand and sending a surge of energy into him, filling his body with a strange, lightweight sensation. "Please… I know you're not a fighter, I can see that, but with this power… you have to defeat them… or the entire universe-" A ray of spiralling light burst through his head from behind, dropping him dead instantly.
Javan took a cautious step away, watching as a towering, horned being descended from the sky, bestial face lighting up in a savage grin. "Finally! The fool let his guard down…" It glanced at him. "Who are you…? Eh, whatever. Probably a friend of his…" It snapped its fingers. "Dispose of him."
Two black-suited figures appeared beside it, a man and a woman, stern-faced and gripping bladed staves. They nodded and leapt at Javan-but to him, they seemed to be moving in slow motion, almost at a standstill.
Curious, he walked up to their (to his sped-up perception) barely-moving, mid-air bodies, and turned each of them ninety degrees with gentle nudges, before sighing and letting the flow of time return to normal, watching them fly off in opposite directions and hit the ground hard, groaning.
"Wh-Wha…?" Their leader snarled, stamping a foot and cracking the ground. "I'll ask you again… who are you?"
"Hmm? Just a fisherman, is all. Speaking of which, I'm going to have to ask you to leave; I haven't caught anything all that interesting yet."
"Impudent… !" The demonic creature calmed itself. "I see. He gave you his power, didn't he? You're the new Hakaishin…"
"Am I? That's nice."
"Well, it won't save you. I was absorbing his power for hours before he got here…" It hunkered down, preparing to charge. "Now the power of a god belongs to me too!" It launched itself along the plain at Javan, smashing bodily into him and hurling him to the ground. "Hah!"
"Um… sorry. I think you've got the wrong impression." Javan picked himself up, completely unharmed, straightening his hat.
He… wasn't hurt at all?! The creature paled, taking a step back.
"To tell the truth," Javan laughed, "I've never been in a fight before. I just sort of didn't know what to do. Um." He began to take a step, then the next moment was behind his enemy, swinging a casual slap that toppled the beast with ease. "Like that?"
"Rgh… !" It rolled to its feet, panting. "What power… fine! I'll just drain yours!" It flexed its clawed right hand, sending out streamers of light towards Javan-which then diverted their course before they reached him, straying off and hitting nothing of interest. "What the hell…"
Javan, who was hard to focus on for some reason, almost blending into the scenery, grinned. "Funny little trick I've learned. How to completely conceal my presence… the fish, and any land animals that might tip them off by their absence, don't even know I'm there. Your attack couldn't find a target…"
"Damn you!" it hissed, forming a great sphere of energy between its hands and leaping at him again, swinging the attack down at his head.
Javan stuck his arm up, catching the ki ball and pulling it out of the monster's hands. "Uh, please don't do that. Hmm. I guess I don't want this… you can have it back." He tossed it back his enemy's way-where it detonated, leaving nothing but an ash stain on the ground. "… oops," Javan said, looking embarrassed. He glanced at the two unconscious henchmen. "Eh… they'll be fine."
So… I'm a god now? Neat. Shrugging, he went back to the lakeside, picked up his fishing pole and sat back down. Doesn't really affect the important things in life. He gave a contented sigh as he relaxed against a tree, breathing in the warm summer air and pushing his hat back to feel the sun on his face.
Chapter 45: In which our heroes encounter a ninja; we are reminded that Launch exists; Void engages in telepathic chicanery; and grievous damage is inflicted upon a table
The fourth room appeared to be some kind of (unreasonably-spacious) living-room-'appeared' because barely a second after they had all entered, the door slammed shut and the room was plunged into darkness.
"You're all participating in this challenge," said a voice, though they couldn't quite place the direction it was coming from. "If I grab you, my power will kick in and you'll be teleported back into the hallway-out, of course. Find and catch me first, and you win… simple."
The room fell quiet, but for the occasional mutter and shuffle as people spread out and searched the area around them. A minute later, there came a sharp cry, then an angered roar and finally a hiss of disappointment-each followed by a muffled pop, evidently the sound of their teleportation.
"Well now," their challenger said, "this is just insultingly easy. Let's see how you're doing, shall we?" The lights flicked on.
"Quick! Who's missing?" Gohan asked.
"Lessee…" Prometheus gave a couple quick glances. "Marron… Helios… the Pilot… hey, that's everyone who won-"
The darkness descended again, their challenger giving a giggle. "Oops! Did I just avenge the three defeats we've suffered already? Do you know, I think I might've!"
Another crash rocked the landscape, and Launch flipped away from her opponent, reaching a hand up to wipe sweat off her face-it came away bloody. Damn… didn't notice that one… The angered girl shot at her, and Launch cartwheeled left, kicking the servant to the ground as she passed, righting herself and raising her guard.
The girl jumped to her feet, spinning to face Launch and throwing a telegraphed but unexpectedly quick punch-Launch swung her own arm into its path, their fists meeting in a burst of light; after a moment, her enemy's aura overwhelmed hers and sent her flying, a volley of follow-up energy blasts raking her body. She landed on one knee, gasping for air.
The girl floated down in front of her, arms folded. "Surrender."
"What are you… talking about?" Launch raised her head, grinning. "That was… just the warm-up, right?"
"False bravado will avail you noth-"
" Kaioken! "
"Okay…" Gohan's voice cut through the hush. "You thought you could throw us off-balance, I guess. And it worked for a while… because of the lack of ki, it didn't even occur to me to do this before… but it still functions ." He gave a slight grunt, and a gentle golden glow illuminated the darkness as he turned Super Saiyan. "Guys?"
One by one, the other Super Saiyans in the room transformed, and soon it was as bright as day-no sign of their opponent, though. "Hiding, I imagine…"
"Not in the way you think," Samsara said, a sly look crossing her face. "When you create life you start learning all the signs, and she's still right here with us… there!" She whirled around, pointing over to the corner of the room. "One of them has been caught and replaced…" Standing where she indicated were Trunks, Uub and the Fisherman. "A flawless illusion…" Which one is she…? "C'mon, hiding is cowardly. Except when I do it. Then it's cunning and strategic. Uh…" She noticed everyone staring at her. "… rambling, yes. Sorry. One of you!" She renewed her pointing, jabbing her finger with almost frenzied energy.
"Well, it isn't me-!" all three said almost in unison, stumbling over each other's sentences before dissolving into a nigh-inaudible cloud of simultaneous squabble.
"Okay, okay, enough! I'm messing with you." Samsara almost bent double laughing. "I already know who it is… this is actually pretty simple. Whoever you're disguised as, you've caught them and teleported them out… there'd be no point catching someone who's already out, so you can't be Trunks, and you can't be the Fisherman." She advanced towards Uub. "Gotcha. The real Uub's out in the corridor now, right?"
He snarled, his features shifting and warping until an altogether different figure emerged-small, wiry and clad in stereotypical ninja gear. She leapt over their heads, rebounding off a wall and making for Samsara. "Well played, but you'll never catch-" The air blurred as Gohan Shifted into her path. She instinctively unsheathed the katana from her back, swinging it at him, but he stood still, hands in his pockets, watching her bring the weapon to a halt inches from his face.
"C'mon now. Given the whole point of this 'deal', threatening me with lethal force isn't very believable." He reached an arm out, and she darted back, but ended up walking right into his other hand, emerging through a portal behind her and grabbing her arm. He smiled, looking much younger for a moment. "I think I win."
Back in the corridor, reunited with those teleported out, Samsara swung the four keys around her finger, whistling. "One to go," she said, catching them.
"Hey…" She turned at the voice, seeing Gohan behind her, waving a greeting.
"Uh, thanks for the help."
He cocked his head to the side. "Feeling better?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been pretty torn up about Order-understandably. But recently, especially in that room just now, you seemed more like… well, you. That's not a bad thing, I'm just wondering what changed."
She took a moment to answer. "I was thinking, a minute ago… see, I've never had to be a parent before, except in lives too distant to remember," she explained. "So I decided-I don't want to be the kind of mother who constantly frets and fusses. I'm not just gonna tell him 'it'll be all right', or whatever-I'll make it all right, and be an example for him. And I want him to grow up to be the kind of guy that can keep moving forwards and keep smiling no matter what, so ." She walked off, leaving Gohan to stare down the corridor after her, concern edging onto his face.
"And Uub was eliminated…" Cadmus was saying behind him, frowning. "I can't predict how Void will react. I was under the impression he wanted to see his creation again…"
" I sure as hell want to settle things with him," Uub added, his face clouded.
Pan put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Once we get the kid back, to hell with Void's rules. I've got business with him too."
"Get in line," Alpha muttered.
The final room on the ground floor was a spacious dining room, with one long central table, covered in plates-but no food. Discarded wrappers and the occasional bone littered the place. A burly man in combat fatigues sat at the other end of the room, his feet up on the table, tearing a chunk out of a roast chicken with his teeth. "Welcome!" he bellowed, through a full mouth, leaning forwards. "Call me the Colonel. I was asked to come up with a challenge for you… I was trying to think of something exciting, something unique… but, uh…" He shrugged, tossing the rest of the chicken away and gulping down his mouthful. "I'm stupid. So instead…" With a sweep of his tree-trunk arm, he cleared a section of the table in front of him, plates and cutlery clattering to the floor, then settled his elbow onto the table, flexing his hand.
Samsara frowned, thrown mentally off-balance. "You want us to arm-wrestle you? That simple?" Got to be a catch…
"That simple," the Colonel said, flashing a crooked-toothed grin.
Samsara shrugged, turning back to the group. "Well, you know… my strength was pretty much entirely ki-based… anyone?"
"Step aside." Zarbon had given the impression of being barely awake throughout the entire rest of the ordeal, but now shouldered his way through the group and sank into a chair opposite the Colonel. "I don't really train any more, but I do work out like you wouldn't believe." He rolled back his sleeve. "You see this? This is perfect muscle tone right here. This is the product of blood, sweat and tears." He gripped the Colonel's hand, smiling. "Ready?"
"You can start."
"Heh… cocky bastard…" Zarbon's eyes flashed gold, and he began to push-and then the next instant, his hand was pressed to the table, feeling almost flattened, the wood juddering beneath it. "… ow."
"One down!" The Colonel withdrew his arm. "Next, please."
As the defeated challenger slunk back past her, Samsara glared at the Colonel. So that's the 'catch'… there's no trick… he's just a monster of a man. Her mind wandering, she turned back to her vanquished ally, remembering Trunks' similarly-quick disqualification. Must run in the family…
Alpha stepped forwards. "All right, let me try." She sat down, flexing her arm and grasping hands with the Colonel.
"I take back what I said about perfect tone," Zarbon muttered as Alpha's biceps bunched and rippled, "and bow to the master."
This time, there was actually a contest-but still, slowly but surely, the Colonel forced his opponent's arm downwards, his grin widening.
He's still winning… Uub noted with concern. And Alpha's, like, seven feet tall! This guy's crazy strong…
"So… neither contestant may move their elbow away from the table… correct?" Alpha grunted.
"What… about it?!" the Colonel snarled.
Alpha's free hand snapped up. " Void Banisher! " Their outlines rippled, and then they materialised halfway across the room, now standing, right arms still locked together. "Oh look." She smirked. "I didn't move away, but here we are."
Pan nodded. Clever!
Now free to move around, Alpha threw her whole body weight forwards, unbalancing the Colonel before swinging a leg out to trip him. He staggered back and fell across the table, but managed to keep his hand clear to avoid a loss, pulling backwards and dragging her with him; he swung a punch up into her stomach as she brought an elbow down into his face, and they rolled across the table, still grappling, before finally falling off the end-but right as they left the edge, the Colonel swung his arm backwards, twisting at the last second and causing Alpha's hand to clip the edge of the table.
They separated and rolled up into a crouch, panting. Alpha made fists, hissing, her teeth lengthening into fangs for a moment, claws flicking out of her fingers, eyes blazing red, clearly preparing to spring at him. " Damn you- "
"Calm down!" Break hauled Alpha to her feet, shoving her backwards. "You did well. Don't let your emotions screw things up… you're smarter than that."
Alpha laughed bitterly. "Smart? Me?"
"I know Void's struck pretty deep," Break whispered fiercely, "but this isn't the way to get back at him! You'll get your chance, I promise!" And… She thought of Uub and Samsara. You're not the only one hurting.
Alpha was a long time in answering. "… you better win."
Break nodded silently, turning and walking over to the table, sitting and watching as the Colonel did the same. "You're welcome."
"Eh?"
"I just saved your life."
"I think I already proved I can take her," he chuckled.
Break shook her head. "In raw physical strength, sure. But did you see those claws? And besides, she hasn't used her Void Summoner yet… trust me, she'd tear you apart."
"Whatever." The Colonel put his arm on the table. "Important thing is, I won. Let's go."
"Sure." Break locked her hand against his, staring him down. He nodded slightly, and she began to push. Again, his lead was immediate, but he didn't quite force her all the way down-she made a stand, a few inches from the table, growling with exertion as she forced back up an inch or two.
"Heheh…" His grip tightened, becoming painful. "You're the type that improves under pressure, I guess… still… not enough." He pushed harder, somehow.
"Rrgh…" Break instinctively turned Super Saiyan.
The Colonel laughed. "Yes, very useful… for increasing ki, that is. Not so helpful here."
Damn it… Break's train of thought slowed to a halt as something hit her. Wait. What if…
All right. This time… don't mix it with anything. Just, straight from the source… "Then how 'bout… GYAAAAAH!"
This one hurt every time. Her golden glow was overwhelmed by a sickly green, and her hair extended slightly, adopting the same colouration. All colour left her eyes, leaving them blank, piercing white orbs. Finally, her outer form seemed to burst asunder as an enormous musculature swelled up, easily doubling her mass.
She gave a single heave, smashing his hand straight down through the table and carrying it all the way through to the floor, cracking the stone. He fell away, the table collapsing in splinters around him, clutching at his broken arm and holding in a scream of pain. Break stood back, breathing heavily.
The… Legendary Super Saiyan… Pan gulped, taking a step back. Never seen her use it in its pure form like this… what a presence… ! "… Break? You… okay?"
"A… huh… huh… huh… geh…" Break shook her head, seeming to take an effort to power down to normal. "Yeah, I'm…" She slumped against the wall. "Fantastic, thanks for asking." She rubbed her forehead, groaning. "Ahhh hell, I'm gonna feel that one tomorrow. Somebody get the friggin' key."
Snatching it from their groaning challenger, Samsara held the final key up along with the others. "One floor down, one to go! I make this look easy."
The Pilot coughed. " We make it look easy, you mean."
Samsara waved a dismissive hand. "Sure, that too."
The Thinker placed a hand on his head, contacting Void. Cause for alarm?
No, they're being whittled down just fine… it'll all work itself out. Things generally do.
They're all quite simple creatures really… well, except for Samsara, but that's to be expected.
Void laughed. Can't figure her out?
Regardless of the severity of the situation, it puzzles me that the incarnation of Chaos is following our rules…
So what you're saying is, you expected her to cheat. Is not the essence of chaos unpredictability?
… touché.
Still trying to outwit me? Void asked jovially. I've had a lot of time to practice. I could argue the fins off a skyshark…
I… don't know what that is, sir, the Thinker admitted.
O-Of course not. Void seemed to mentally 'stammer'. No-one does… not any more.
The massive double-doors gave a loud click every time a key was inserted-as soon as all five were in place, before any had even been turned, the doors melted away, vanishing into the walls in total silence.
"Well, uh… that was odd," Goten said, blinking.
"Right!" Prometheus Shenron sprung up the steps first. "Onwards and upwards!"
"Hold on a minute…" The Pilgrim was tracing his fingers through a pattern on the wall by the stairs. It spiralled upwards, expanding out into a huge tapestry-like painting, covering the right wall for several metres. The Pilgrim moved swiftly up and down it, mumbling to himself, eyes flicking around rapidly.
"What is it?" the Sorcerer asked.
"I believe… Void's life story. Certainly looks like him… appears to be autobiographical. Hold on, this looks significant…" The Pilgrim peered at another few sections, finally standing back, blinking. "… oh."
Chapter 46: Battle Fever
"I have the general impression of the story from the images," the Pilgrim mumbled. "But I'm not sure about the text. If anyone can translate-"
"Already done," said the Scholar, smiling and tracing a rectangle in the air; a holographic screen sprung to life where she'd indicated, and she gave it a gentle shove, sliding it through the air towards the Pilgrim, who caught it; holding it out as an overlay to the text provided instant translation.
Nodding in thanks, he continued to study the illustrations. "A lot of these early parts are standard heroic fare… Void, fighting great beasts, challenging masters and learning their skills, stopping crime… although there's a sort of prefix symbol attached to his name here. It implies potential; so it reads something like 'the one who will be Void'."
Uub put a hand up to his chin. "One of his servants said it wasn't his real name, yeah." He frowned, drawing his fingers across his scalp. "I wish I could remember more clearly…"
"The scale grows larger," the Pilgrim continued, looking upwards. "Now he's fulfilling prophecies… dethroning dictators… defeating ancient monsters of legend… ah, here's something interesting. He learns of the existence of five hidden temples, in which the purest forms of martial arts are taught… they had been waging a secret war amongst themselves for centuries, out of sight of society.
"Void goes to them in a fury. He tells them that if they had not been so self-centred, so focused on their internal squabbles, they could have stopped all those tyrants, those monsters, themselves, with ease. They could have been a powerful force for good, but they wasted their talents, he says. They say, 'the balance must be maintained.' 'To hell with your balance', he says, but does nothing-yet. They are too powerful.
"So he takes the trials to become a student of one of the temples. Then he steals away and takes the trials of a second temple; and so on, until he is a student of all five. Then he reveals to them all what he has done. There is uproar-there is, of course, a prophecy. As there usually is. The legend says that beyond the five elements represented by the temples, there lies a sixth."
"Let me guess the names of the temples…" Uub said, looking over towards the paintings. " Moku… Tsuchi… Mizu… Hi… Kin. "
Pan recognised the words. "So, the five Majin…"
"The sixth element… that which remains when all else perishes… Void. That was when he took the name," the Pilgrim said, moving up the steps as he went from picture to picture. "There was a great battle. Void had trained long and hard on his own as he travelled from temple to temple, and when the sun set, he was the only one left standing. He pacified the temples and forced them out into the open. He became his planet's protector, from threats both terrestrial and alien, and was even offered rulership-though he refused, caring nothing for the burden of command.
"As time went on, Void's power grew beyond anything his people had ever known. Soon, he became restless, his world seeming too small. He began a pilgrimage through the stars to find himself-or that's what it says. I'd theorise he was really just looking for others like himself."
"How strong was he, by our reckoning?" Helios asked.
"Impossible to say. The story is told more poetically than factually. There's the indication of time passing… years. A lot is skimmed over-more things Void doesn't want people knowing, I'd guess. He met many strange beings, fought many battles. The next thing it's specific about is him passing through dimensions… on his own power, at that… more travelling, more skimmed over. The next thing is… his encounter with Order and Chaos." He was now halfway up the steps, the group shuffling along behind him. "They strike up a friendship-they share a certain godlike perspective, and they bond over it. He grows further with their teachings, watches them create new worlds and new life… more time passes… then…" He tapped a particular illustration. "Order and Chaos visit mortals… demand their servitude. The mortals refuse, and are destroyed. Void is shocked. He asks how they can create something so beautiful and then tear it down so carelessly.
"Once more, he is told, 'the balance must be maintained'. Once more, he answers, 'To hell with your balance'. And then…" The Pilgrim stopped, indicating the next few metres of the wall-entirely covered with painted flames. After that, the story resumed, nearing its climax. "Order and Chaos are dead… Void survives-barely. He realises he is now the supreme being in the multiverse-he doesn't yet know they can reincarnate. But he is uneasy. How can he, still mortal for all his power and his prolonged life, govern all of creation? He is the most powerful being in existence, but it is not enough. He must become immortal, he decides.
"So he travels once more, seeking out the wisest sorcerers and scientists from every universe, until he is able to create that which so many have sought after-an elixir of immortality. He becomes ageless. Feeling secure, he decides to finally return home. Another journey, this one as long as all the others combined.
"But his lifespan was already abnormal, and he is now immortal, and time slips past without his notice. When he returns, his homeworld is empty. All that he knew is naught but dust on a barren planet, dead for millennia. He screams, but there is no-one to hear him. He rages, but there is no-one to blame." The Pilgrim looked up. "Even though he took the name Void much earlier, only here does it stop using that prefix symbol, 'the one who will be'… only here does it truly acknowledge that as his name. For now he is indeed the final element… that which remains when all else perishes… Void.
"The last part says this… he is the most powerful being in existence. He is immortal. Still it is not enough. He cannot afford to let something like this happen again. So he must become omniscient, he decides. Another journey-another chain of scientists and magicians-another long, gruelling process, but he has no time limit, and he succeeds. A union of the greatest psychic minds ever assembled grants him what he desires… he can see everything, hear everything. And then…" He trailed off.
"And then… what?" Pan prompted.
"I'd like to know that myself." He shrugged. "That's where it ends."
"What the hell?!" She folded her arms. "That's just unsatisfying."
"The rest is no doubt more sensitive to him, and more relevant to our current situation. Perhaps when we reach Void we shall ask him."
"Yeah, let's. C'mon."
Ascending the stairs, they found themselves in an enormous wooden hall. Sitting cross-legged in the centre, a man and a woman, both bald and sporting a plain white gi, raised their heads towards the approaching group in unison.
"I am Rona," said she.
"And I am Rano," said he.
"This is the penultimate challenge," said she.
"As many can enter as wish to, simultaneously," said he.
"There will be two rounds."
"In the first round, each challenger will face a traditional kumite -a hundred opponents."
"In the second round, all who have passed the first may attack us simultaneously."
"There are no keys on this floor. If you defeat us both, you may pass on to the final staircase."
"The butler will await you with the final challenge."
"How many wish to enter?"
Goku immediately stepped forwards, but before he could accept the challenge, he felt two sets of hands grasp his shoulders-Gohan and Chi-Chi.
"Dad, you promised," Gohan reminded him. "C'mon… after how badly you got hurt last time… don't want to worry mom, do you?"
"Tell you what-we'll take this one," Chi-Chi said, making a fist and smiling. "While the playing field is evened like this… let Gohan and me do this one for you, all right?"
"Ah…" Goku sighed, seeming very tired all of a sudden. "It's finally happened, huh? Heheh… go get 'em, guys."
"Can I get in on this?" Videl asked playfully, running up to join Gohan, Pan giving a laugh and following.
"Speaking of even playing field…" Yamcha turned to Krillin and Tien. "Shall we?"
Break stretched as she stepped forwards. "No way I'm missing something like this!"
"Hey, uh… Samsara?" Eighteen said, looking around. "I think that just leaves us. Feeling adventurous?" Behind her, Hephaestus bristled at being forgotten, until his fellows in the still-not-out group, Kuriza and Prometheus, reminded him that they hadn't been intending to enter anyway- someone had to stay in reserve, just in case.
Samsara nodded. "I'm in." She turned to Rona and Rano. "Hey, we've got ten challengers all total. But I dunno where you're gonna get a hundred opponents for even one of us to do a kumite, let alone a thousand if you were gonna do us all at once-"
The pair raised their hands towards the ceiling, chanting, a gentle glow emerging from their mouths and eyes. Figures began to coalesce out of the air, filling the room, a thousand simacrula of martial artists, all adopting identical stances.
Goku blinked, rubbing his eyes. "Anyone else get the sense this room… got bigger, but, like, you didn't see it happen?"
"Yeah…" Uub muttered. "I think I know what you mean."
"Something is odd about those two…" the Sorcerer cautioned.
Prometheus rolled his eyes. "Deduction of the freakin' century. Must've really given your brain a workout to figure that one out."
Yamcha slowly paced back towards the corner, his eyes scanning the hundred-strong swarm of opponents advancing towards him in lockstep. "No idea where you guys are from, but on my planet a kumite 's done one at a time…" He darted back as the nearest lashed out, catching the swinging arm and hurling them overhead and into the wall; upon impact, they let out a high-pitched shriek and dissolved into a fading cloud of smoke. Three more rushed him, and he swung around, his eyes narrowing. " Wolf Fang Fist. " His hands moved in a blur, and they hit the floor, dissipating in the same manner as the first.
"Some kind of construct…" he noted. "Not real people, so…" He held out his hand towards the other end of the room, and Puar, correctly interpreting the signal, hurled his old sword through the air his way. Yamcha snatched it one-handed, bringing it around in a downwards arc with the same motion and slicing straight through his next attacker, encountering little resistance. "Yeah, still got it."
"Hey Yamcha! I'm on seven already!" Krillin called out from a short ways away, vaulting over one enemy and kicking another with each foot as he went.
"Liar!" Yamcha shouted back, blocking a kick and turning the move into a swift thrust, impaling the creature. "But, uh… six!"
Neither of them wanted to interrupt Tien by asking him such a question; anyway, they were reminded of his progress every few seconds as one of his opponents went flying into the wall or the ceiling, sometimes making a hole through the wood and hanging there for a moment before dissolving.
Videl, meanwhile, was almost impossible to make out, the snarling, yowling centre of a whirlwhind of unceasing violence. Sometimes a construct would come crawling out, try to escape the melee, but inevitably it would be dragged back in, the relentless impacts never slowing.
Chi-Chi's enemies had long since ceased to be a coherent formation, and occasionally one of the others would spot her sprinting past in pursuit of a fleeing opponent, or sitting on one's back and twisting its arm with a vicious grin.
Gohan was a blur, Shifting in and out of view multiple times a second, vanishing and reappearing behind his enemies to strike them, going for one then letting his limb emerge from a portal to strike a completely different target.
Pan was all over the place-sliding under enemies, slipping between them, leaping over them, always placing herself at the centre of as many as possible before lashing out with arms, legs and tail, bringing waves of foes crashing down around her.
Many of the other battles came to a momentary halt as a stampede of constructs came hurtling across the room, seemingly terrified-and behind them came Break, one stunned enemy in each hand. She hurled one into the group, scattering them, then grasped the other's leg two-handed and used them as a makeshift club, setting about their comrades with somewhat disturbing glee.
Eighteen had spent a few seconds discovering that she still possessed a superhuman level of strength thanks to her cybernetic body, and since then had been strolling back and forth, delivering great sweeps with her arms that bloodlessly took heads and limbs off, vapourising the strange creatures. She looked somewhat disinterested throughout the whole thing, though that was really her default expression for any situation. She spotted her husband across the room, waving and indicating an approaching enemy-he nodded, and she easily tossed the thing his way; he jumped backwards, avoiding a couple of incoming attacks in the process, rebounding off the wall and landing a solid jump-kick to the construct, dissipating it. "Good aim!" he called, giving a thumbs-up.
"Heh." She turned away, smiling slightly.
Samsara, finally, was deep in concentration, her eyes shut, her fingers weaving back and forth in a complex pattern. Her enemies had formed a ring around her, and were slowly moving in, remaining cautious given who they were facing. As they reached about two feet from her, she sprung into action, swinging in a full circle and emitting small beams of light from her fingertips, each of which latched onto the forehead of an approaching enemy. With a blink, the beams vanished, and the whole group she'd hit began to stumble around, flailing as if suddenly blind and dazed, finally collapsing in a confused mass of limbs. Samsara hopped clear of the tangled mess, dusting herself down. "Just one application of the power of Chaos… reconnected your senses out of order. You started seeing smells, tasting sounds, that kind of thing. Must be very confusing."
"So, I hate to be that guy," Tien said, strolling over towards her, smacking an errant construct out of the way, "but an ability like that seems like it might've helped when Void and the Majin were kicking the crap out of you…?"
"Oh, absolutely. But I was taken by surprise at first… by the time I was able to focus, I was too injured to use such a complex ability." She glanced over at the remaining enemies advancing on her. "Now, let's keep things interesting, ideas, ideas… ah!" With another few seconds' preparation, she swung one arm up and around in a sweeping motion, finally smacking it into the floor-at this, gravity ceased to affect the constructs, and they drifted upwards slightly, looking mildly puzzled. Barely pausing, Samsara yanked her arm backwards, and gravity reasserted its hold over them-at a ninety-degree angle, causing them all to 'fall' past her and into the wall behind.
Rona and Rano looked around at the state of the room with some dismay, noting that the first round was drawing to a close, and not in their favour. Yamcha was sitting in the corner, whistling and balancing his sword on one finger; Tien was similarly unoccupied, adjusting his cloak; Krillin and Eighteen were helping each other finish off their last few respective opponents, as were Gohan, Pan and Chi-Chi (who was happily explaining to her son and granddaughter some more efficient ways of breaking bones); Samsara was spinning in idle circles; and Break was growing bored, down to her last two opponents and trying to see how many times she could smash their heads together before they dissipated. Videl's storm of violence was finally dying down, revealing her now alone at the centre of the settling dust cloud, covered in dirt and scratches, beaming like someone much younger.
"This is… unexpected," Rona admitted.
"One thousand warriors…" Rano muttered. "And not a one of them has been eliminated in return."
"Most formidable," Rona agreed. "Very well. I suppose we shall have to fight together after all." They stood in unison, their challengers lining up in front of them. "If you have no objections, we will begin immediately."
"By all means." Samsara took a step backwards. "If you'd all be little dears and cover me for a minute, I can mess with them…"
"Got it," Eighteen said, stepping in front of her. "All right, everybody, do your respective things."
The room's guardians were already moving, however. Rano shot forwards, nearing Eighteen in an instant-then his body faded into a sphere of light, and he passed straight through her, delivering a half-corporeal impact that landed her on her back. He reappeared in physical form in front of Samsara, crouching slightly and rising for an uppercut that hurled her back mid-chant through the air. "We've observed your abilities, and identified you as the most dangerous. You won't get an opportunity to use your powers."
"… ow…" Samsara rubbed her head, sitting up. "Stop being so damn competent, you're making the rest of us look bad."
Krillin was the first to reach Rano and strike at him, the taller fighter blocking it, but his arm provided a springboard and Krillin flipped over his head, landing behind him and kicking him in the back, stumbling him forwards. "Fire!" Rano called, dissolving into energy form once more.
Rona nodded, extending both arms forwards and giving a yell; a series of small explosions burst up from the floor around her group of opponents, scattering them.
Gohan materialised in the trademark patchwork assembly of a Shifting jump behind her, landing his first punch, but she blocked the second, shoving him away and spinning him around, just as Rano reformed next to them, leaping in. Trying to clear his head, Gohan made an Instant Transmission jump to behind Rano, putting him on a collision course with his partner. Thinking quickly, Rona caught his foot, shoving it into a high arc so that he spun vertically, his leg descending into Gohan's head and delivering the knockout blow.
Tien, across the room, assessed the situation. Krillin was right at the centre of those explosions… he's down, so are Samsara and Gohan… seven of us left, and they're still doing pretty good… He was interrupted as Rona gave a flick of her wrist, and a long, glowing cable emerged, snaring his forearm and, with a tug, dragging him forwards across the room. He was freed by Break leaping over and snapping the taut cable with a scything arm. However, Rano materialised flying through the air towards her, kicking her into the wall, sprinting after her. She growled, catching both his arms and bracing herself against the wall, bringing both feet up and shoving him away; as she followed up, though, he swayed out of the way, his hand descending onto a pressure point on her back, dropping her.
He jumped back, allowing Rona to aim again, her arms sweeping out and creating another wave of detonations, further knocking their remaining opponents around. Through the wall of smoke, however, two less-dazed figures somersaulted, landing and rushing the pair-Chi-Chi and Yamcha. They fought their respective opponents back a few steps, but were rapidly outfought, falling after less than a minute. They had, however, bought enough time for their allies-Tien, Videl, Pan and Eighteen-to recover and regroup from the barrage. As such, when Rona fired again, this time they were already on the move, staying one step ahead of the chain of explosions.
"Assistance, if you would?" Rona said sweetly.
"Certainly," Rano answered. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and twin beams of light emerged, striking the ground at Pan's feet and hurling her to the ground, open for Rona's next blast-until Eighteen dived in the way, taking the brunt of the impact.
Pan dragged her back a few steps. "Hey, are you…?"
"Been better… ugh… I'll live." Eighteen tapped her head. "Cyborg and all, I'm pretty tough even in here. I figured, hey, you pulled off something crazy with Entropy, so maybe here… I dunno. But I trust you."
Something about those last words struck deep; Pan nodded, standing and bracing herself. About… fifteen steps from them. Okay. Crazy? I can do that. She sprung, running like one possessed directly for the pair.
"Heh." Rona spun to face her, firing off another volley-Pan ran on heedless, feeling the wind and heat getting closer each time, letting the world fade away behind her target. Ten steps. Seven. Six. The next blast was too close-it took her off her feet, but she stuck out her hands, growling, and vaulted back upright. Three steps. Two. She jumped again, realised her kick was on a probably-lethal impact course with Rona's neck, twisted slightly to the right and struck her shoulder, carrying on her forwards motion and grabbing ahold of Rona's head as she passed by, spinning them both downwards and slamming Rona's face into the floor. Pan skidded to a halt sitting upright, grinning wildly, and was promptly taken out by a blow to the back of the head.
Rano stood away from his unconscious ally and enemy, sighing. "Well, just me now. But you're down to two out of ten…" He looked over at Tien and Videl. "Good luck to you both."
"Pan took out the big guns," Videl said, keeping her guard up. "We can take this guy."
"Let's hope so…" Tien took a few slow steps forwards. "Can you keep his attention for a while?" He passed a hand over his face, and his third eye began to glow. "That ability of his… I can try and learn its pattern."
"Got it." Videl stood between Rano and Tien, immediately having to defend herself as the former charged her; she was hard-pressed, finding all her attacks deflected and most of his hitting home. She dug her heels in, refusing to give ground, letting him land another hit to take hold of his arm and flip him over into the ground-however, he dematerialised before he hit the ground, Videl losing her balance and falling. He reappeared standing over her, fist flying down at her face. She rolled away, rising and spinning to face him, but he was already back in energy form, flying straight through her and sending a jolt of pain throughout her body. He reformed in front of her, stretching idly as her shoulders sagged. "In all honesty I'm surprised you're still on your feet."
"Damn it…" she muttered. "Is that enough already?!"
"As it happens…" Tien stepped up, folding his arms and staring into Rano's eyes.
"Very well." Rano dissolved, reforming in the air above Tien's head, but when he swiped out in his descent, he came away with only Tien's cloak, the man himself now standing to his right, driving a hard right into his side.
"Sorry… I've been observing your technique. I can predict your movements now…" Tien jumped back, avoiding the next attack, ducking back in for three quick strikes. He slid around to the other side of his stunned opponent, ending up next to Videl; they nodded to each other, each throwing a high kick at the same time, both striking Rano squarely in the face and finally toppling him.
"Hold it!" Rona was on her feet, taking unsteady steps towards them, raising one hand-and then choked as Samsara caught her around the neck.
"Hello again!" she cried, a maniacal grin on her face as she leaned back, then smashed her forehead into Rona's. "Oh okay that was a dumb idea but it looked cool I guess," she babbled as they both sank to the ground, staying there.
Videl stared, blinking slowly. "So… I guess… we win?"
Tien shrugged. "Seems that way."
With those injured gathered up and being taken care of, the remaining challengers-Goku, Tien, Videl, Kuriza, Hephaestus and Prometheus-headed for the second staircase, and (they had been told) the final challenge.
Before they reached the stairs, though, a thin man, black-suited and hook-nosed, descended, politely raising a hand for them to halt. "Greetings. I am the master Void's butler. I confess I did not expect any of you to make it so far-and six…"
There's gotta be something more to this… Kuriza reasoned. Void wants to kill Samsara. He wants to see Uub again, too… but they're both out now, so by his own rules they won't be let up to see him. What's his game? Out loud, however, he said, "So what's the challenge?"
"I require only one challenger," said the butler. "Furthermore, they may determine a fair contest. I care not what it is-I assure you that I excel in all fields. In exchange, I shall set the terms."
"Ooh! Ooh!" Goku leapt to the front of the group. "My turn."
Hephaestus sighed. "Why not, I suppose…"
"So, what contest do you prop-" the butler began.
" Roshambo! " Goku said immediately, cutting him off. "Wait, no, how do you say… ah! Rock-paper-scissors!"
Hephaestus flinched. "He can't be serious."
"Evidently you don't know him very well," Tien sighed.
"As you wish." The butler held up a finger. "The terms, then-every loss results in the disqualification of one of your comrades. You may decide which amongst yourselves. You must win three times to advance. Shall we begin?"
"Let's go!" Goku enthused.
The butler's face remained impassive, but behind it his mind was racing. I have a theory… he doesn't seem like a 'professional' player… no, a born warrior, this one. Had he chosen trial by combat, I might have been slightly outmatched. He probably reacts to situations in this game as he would in battle, without realising it… I'll let him have the first two to confirm my theory. Then I'll begin winning.
First, he'll go on the offensive. Indeed, Goku started with rock, and the butler played scissors. Having overwhelmed me once, he'll press his attack. True enough, rock again, and a second win.
Yes, it's as I thought… I can see it in his eyes. Well, now to crush him. He's the kind who fights smart… he'll be cautious of me making a comeback. He'll still press the attack, but less straightforward, more technical-scissors, then. As he predicted, Goku switched to scissors, and the butler countered with rock, taking his first win.
"Damn!" Goku sighed. "And it was going so well… sorry, guys…"
Videl waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it-you're not perfect. Anyway, I'm pretty beat up already, I'll go out."
"Thanks." Goku nodded, turning back to the butler. "C'mon."
He's taken a 'hit'-he'll try to stop my advance with a 'block', the butler predicted, and indeed, Goku picked paper, losing to the butler's scissors.
"Damn iiiiiiit!" Goku spun in small circles, clawing at his head.
Tien chuckled. "Don't worry, I took a beating in that last fight too. I'll go next."
"All right…" Goku took a deep breath before turning back around. "Let's do it!"
"If you insist," the butler replied evenly. He knows he's running out of time… he's still on the defensive, but he'll try and go 'all-in'-a direct attack, in other words, rock. This in mind, the butler chose paper-and blinked as Goku chose scissors. "… eh."
"Took me a while, but I caught onto you," Goku laughed. "Bet you think I just instinctively treat it like a fight… really, it just helps me choose. Once I knew you knew, the situation was reversed… I knew exactly what you'd pick."
"Well… congratulations. The rest of you may pass. Or rather…" The butler tilted his head to one side, squinting. "… yes, sir. I shall tell them, sir." He opened his eyes. "Master Void says the four of you can exchange your 'place' with any four from your group."
"Then what the hell was the point of all that?!" Hephaestus exploded.
"I believe it amused him. The master gets bored very easily. Besides, it has still whittled you down to a smaller group, whoever that group is composed of ."
"Okay, okay…" Goku tapped his chin. "Let's go back to the others and talk this over."
There was, as it turned out, not much talking to be done. Their four strongest fighters (ki included, and the top floor would allow ki to be used, as they'd been told at the entrance) were Samsara, Uub, Pan and Alpha, and it would have been difficult to dissuade any of them from going even if there had been someone stronger, given their respective personal grudges with Void.
As Alpha merged with the Dreamer behind her, Pan turned to Hephaestus. "Ready?"
"One moment…" he said, turning to Prometheus. "You think…?"
Prometheus nodded. "We thought of something we could try." His body liquefied, transmuting into silvery metal and flowing onto Hephaestus, creating the combined form they hadn't used since the battles in the Shadow Dragons' tower. "Ah…" said the newly-reinforced Hephaestus, shifting in his armour. "You can only do the Dragon Soul with one other being. But right now, Prometheus and I already are one, so perhaps…"
"Worth a shot!" Pan clasped his hand and focused, watching him melt away into light, his spirit linking with hers as the ritual activated with practiced ease. And… that's that, I guess. No way to tell if I'm powered-up until our ki comes back, which should happen upstairs.
The small door swung open into what appeared to be a massive, multi-level library, its architecture almost painful to look at as it casually defied all standard laws of geometry. As they entered, a rush of power swept through them as their ki returned. Pan gasped. This power is… ! I must be nearly as strong as Samsara!
Did we just cheat the ancient mystical ritual into giving us more power? Prometheus asked.
I do believe we did, replied Hephaestus.
Pan grinned. Awesome.
A cough echoed down from above them. Void, floating near the ceiling, replaced a book before flying down to join them. "Ah, hello. Look, gonna be blunt, I am going to kill all of you. But, you know, it's for a good cause, so maybe you could avoid being difficult about it-ah hell, that's not gonna happen. Not with you people." He sighed. "Well then, can't be helped. Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and some days what a man's gotta do is beat a god to death with his bare hands for the third time."
(The following is sorta canon. You won't hear it mentioned in the main story, but it could've happened. Also, it takes place shortly after the Buu Saga.)
Break Through the Limit Side-Story: Double or Nothing
Part 1
Yes.
This is the place.
Such power… yet the purity of a child.
This is the one we need.
Break awoke, yawning, to the sound of distant music-tranquil, yet somehow off in some way she couldn't place. She clambered out of bed, trudging across the room and throwing open the window; the music grew slightly louder. Having such strength at such a young age makes it rather difficult for one to fear much at all, so, her curiosity growing, she hopped out of the window, not quite flying, but slowing her fall into a silent drift to the ground-her parents certainly wouldn't want her sneaking off at this hour (at least, not without taking them along for the ride). Parents. Plural. Her father was alive. That was still new.
She wandered towards the source of the noise, reaching the edge of the forest, trying and failing to pin down what kind of music it was. She had a momentary lapse of consciousness, and tried to stop for a moment-but found she couldn't. Against her will, she kept walking, coming to a clearing, at the centre of which stood a large gate, giving off an eerie red light. Inhuman chittering came from all around her, and she began to catch glimpses of thin, glaring eyes peering out at her from the treeline, vanishing as soon as they appeared.
Difficult indeed to make one like her feel fear, but as she discovered at that moment, not impossible.
Still out of her mind's control, her body approached the gate, her hand reaching out and grasping the handle.
Then…
Then she was elsewhere.
Someone was shoving her forwards, and the shock was enough to snap her out of her chance. She spun and hit as hard as she could, and didn't quite see what happened to them, but they weren't shoving her anymore. She took a moment to recover her senses and take a look around-she was on some kind of raised platform overlooking a sprawling city that nestled inside an enormous rocky crag. Everything was tinted an uncomfortable red. Demonic creatures pressed in around her, clawing and snarling. She took to the air, yelling and throwing a ki blast back down at them. What's… where…?
Something hissed behind her-she turned to see four slightly more humanoid beings floating a few feet away, glaring over at her. "If you'll just come with us…" one said softly.
"N-No way!" Break stuttered, trying to flee, but they moved in, surrounding her. She lashed out, catching one in the stomach and another in the neck before they reacted, the five of them descending into a confusing brawl; finally, Break leapt clear of the mass, projecting a great kiai down at them through her voice and scattering them all.
"Ah, you'll have to excuse my subordinates," said a rough voice as a fifth, larger than the others and with great, swept-back horns, materialised before her. "They can be so terribly incompetent… but they are correct. Our masters will not be kept waiting. Don't make me use force."
"Too late…" Break rushed this new demon, but he deflected her with a casual wave of his hand.
"Come on, now. I'm not like those others you walked through," he said, sounding bored.
"Feh." Break rubbed her face where she'd been struck. She gave a grunt, turning Super Saiyan and racing around behind him, felling him with one chop to the back of his neck. How do I get out of here…
"Milady, the Maikai have failed their retrieval mission. The girl is in our world, but she has bested them…"
"Oh? Well, I knew she was powerful, but I had hoped the five of them together… oh, never mind. Send out the Maikaioshin… and tell the Dai-Maikaioshin to come here at once."
"At once, milady," Mira said, bowing and taking his leave.
Settling back into her throne, set into the wall of a great arena carved out of the mountain's rock, Towa crossed her legs, closed her eyes and gave a contented smile. This throne does feel good, doesn't it, dear brother Dabura? Shame you weren't able to hold onto it… honestly, letting a shrivelled-up insect like that wizard control you… ah well. At least your death gave us insight onto a most fascinating planet…
A few minutes later, a small golden blur, trailing blue sparks, crashed into the ground of the arena, throwing up a cloud of sand-four demonic warriors piled on top of it, struggling to hold Break down. Mira reappeared, the Dai-Maikaioshin close behind-at Mira's signal, he rushed in to deliver the knockout blow to Break.
At that moment, though, the other four-the Maikaioshin-were hurled off of her, landing in the empty stands and lying still. Break stood in a small crater, panting as her Super Saiyan 3 transformation completed itself. She saw one more barrelling towards her, and smacked him aside with one simple motion. She looked up-there were two demons remaining that she could see, both humanoid, tall and blue-skinned, clad in red. A slender, narrow-eyed woman sat on a throne, spinning a staff in her fingers, and a heavy-set man stood beneath it, glaring daggers.
"Okay," Break panted. "You got me here… what do you people want?!"
"You don't need to know," the woman-Towa-said, signalling with her staff. "Mira?"
The man nodded, striding up to Break. She jumped to get up to his head height, swinging a punch, but he caught it without breaking stride, shoving away and forcing her back down, striking her across the face and then immediately hitting the other side with the return strike.
"Gaaah!" Break scrambled away, building up energy between her hands. "Okay… whoever the hell you are… c'mon!" She fired, and Mira snapped his fingers, an energy field springing up around him, Break's blast washing harmlessly off of it.
"It is futile," he said. "We would not have selected you if you were too much for me to handle. Now cease." His hand came down again, and the world faded to black.
Towa lead the way into the portal chamber, motioning to Mira to place the unconscious Break into the holding-chamber of the machine that dominated most of the room. As soon as she was inside, great arcs of green and red electricity emerged from conductors spaced around the machine, piercing her body and lifting it slightly into the air.
"Yes… perfect," Towa sighed. "If this is successful, no more using underlings for every little thing… we'll be able to visit the upper realm ourselves."
"Will her body survive?" Mira asked.
"Unlikely," said Towa. "Well, it should last long enough to open the portal. But after that, we don't need her."
The purpose of the machine was to use the victim's ki as a propellant and their soul as a messenger-to fling out a signal towards the upper realms, to establish a stronger connection and create a portal strong enough to allow Mira and Towa to pass through.
It was just possible, though vanishingly unlikely, that someone, somewhere throughout time and space, might 'hear' this signal, and interpret it as what is was-a cry for help.
For that to happen, they'd have to be intensely attuned to the frequency of the victim's soul.
Say, for instance, if they were all but the same person…
Future timeline…
Break awoke with a start, hands pressed to her head. "What the hell…?!"
Chapter 47: Sufficiently Advanced
Void, they noticed, had smartened up considerably; what he was wearing now was shaped like an elaborate martial arts uniform-but made of some kind of living, moving crystal, gleaming as it reflected the light from the stars in his eyes. Formal fighting outfit on his homeworld, Samsara guessed, correctly.
"Well…" he said, cracking his knuckles. "Where to begin? All at once, or does anyone want to try and be a badass?"
"I'm somewhat outclassed here…" Alpha began to take slow steps forwards, crossing the room and stopping directly in front of Void, looking impassively down at him. "I mean, in a full, extended fight I know there's no way I'd beat you. And I doubt you've even shown your full capabilities yet… but."
"Ooh, there's a 'but'." Void nodded. "Colour me intrigued. But?"
"But before I call it a day, I'm going to land two good hits on you." Emotion began to creep onto her face, her body unconsciously tensing up. "One's for generally being the kind of guy who says he's saving everyone while he goes around kidnapping and murdering people… the kind of person I used to work for. The other's for hurting the woman I love, and you'll be able to tell the difference because your grandkids are gonna feel that one." Evidently, given the situation, her past shyness was far from her mind.
"Mmh. Aright, go ahead," Void sighed. "Flail away, but at your level you can't lay a hand on me." He folded his arms and slouched back slightly.
She didn't reply, drawing her right fist back, gripping her forearm in her left hand, eyes slowly narrowing.
"Should we… uh, help?" Pan asked.
Samsara shook her head. "She'd be furious."
"But I don't see what she can do…" Uub said. "I mean, he's crazy strong, even by our standards." He can probably just dodge whatever attack she brings out…
"That is not the look of someone without a plan," Samsara replied. "This is something she needs… and I believe she's smart enough to find a way."
Void tapped his chin, inviting Alpha to try and hit him. "In your own time." He let his immobilising aura flow out, surrounding her. The others are strong enough I can't stop them with this, but this one hasn't grown since last time.
"Heh." Alpha almost grinned, fangs gleaming for a moment. "F'you insist." She gave a small gasp of desperate exertion, blood trickling from her nose, and Void felt his control wrenched away.
It's not… !
Not this time. Abruptly her left hand began to glow-then shafts of light erupted backwards down her right arm, blasting out behind her elbow like a jetstream from a rocket. " Void Summoner! " she barked, forming the crackling sphere of immense, otherworldly force directly behind her arm before releasing it. The resulting jolt thrust her arm forwards at speeds she could never normally hope to achieve, directly into Void's face.
There was a deafening roar, and then Void was gone, there was a large hole in the wall, and his ki was rapidly leaving the planet's upper atmosphere.
Alpha gave a low chuckle, the arm she'd used to punch hanging broken at her side. "That's one." She raised her left, splaying out her fingers as a portal hissed open around them. " Void Banisher! " The portal engulfed her and disappeared along with her.
"No pun intended, I assume," Samsara deadpanned.
What the hell was that?! Void mentally flailed, lashing out with his ki and trying to anchor himself, feeling his body leave the planet's atmosphere-only for a second impact to strike him hard in the back as Alpha popped back into the material world above him, rocketing down towards him with a savage roar and striking him with both feet. He gave a roar of frustration, plummeting back down towards the surface.
Void dragged himself out of his crater, several seconds of pain and confusion later, looking warily at his three remaining assembled foes. "Oww. That was… a thing, I guess. Hope she feels better. We gonna start for real now?"
Samsara nodded. Unfortunately, it only caught him by surprise… his energy hasn't dropped at all… "Can you two cover me? I'm gonna mess with him, but I need a bit to prepare."
"You got it," Uub said.
"Just work fast." Pan crouched slightly, the pair taking off simultaneously.
Alpha and Asrai, now separated, lay some way away, the latter having just dragged the former out of a second crater. "Hey…" Asrai began.
Alpha's eyes opened slowly, her voice small but confident. "Sorry I suck at… I guess being nice in general. You know, social stuff. So I got you… y'know, that. Arm's broken from hitting him… uh, yeah, both legs too. That work for an apology?"
"Alpha, Alpha, wonderful Alpha," Asrai laughed. "Never change."
"I can't take this!" Ozotto snarled, his features twisting unnaturally. "Just sitting here… I should be getting back at that Buu bastard!"
"We have our orders," Hayato said evenly, hopping over from an adjacent asteroid.
"I dunno, man…" Hattori sighed, sat crouched a few metres back. "It's like… sure, it's the boss and all. But those guys are kinda… different, right? And there's a lot of 'em. I mean… y'know. I'm sure he'll handle 'em. He's got it all under control, sure. But I feel like we should help. Moral obligation and all."
"Have faith in him." Hayato's voice grew firmer.
"I… guess…"
"And I know."
Pan was the faster of the two and reached Void first, not exactly surprised as he easily dodged her first strike, swinging a lazy counterattack. To his amusement, she twisted in time to take the blow to her shoulder rather than her face, throwing another punch as she moved back in-this one passing close enough that he felt the breeze on his face as he dodged. "Hmm, you're good," he noted, hopping back and rubbing his chin. "What style is that?"
She grinned. "It's Entropy's. He didn't realise, but he was teaching it to me as we fought." She jumped, letting Uub pass under her and race up to Void. "Apparently my grandfather can just learn stuff like that too. First time I've ever done it."
"Ah, interesting." Void continued to retreat, studying Uub's attacks as he avoided them. "Her grandfather, yes, this Goku… you're his student now, aren't you?" he asked his reborn creation. "He's taught you well. I'm happy for you."
"Like I need your approval!" Uub shouted, turning for another attack, but being winded by a sharp blow to the stomach, then another to the back as he bent over gasping.
"You can get stronger now, can't you?" Void asked, landing in front of him. "That's something else you've learned. Come on, show me."
Uub grunted as his bruises faded, his regeneration kicking in. "Since you asked so nicely. KAIOKEN!" Reinforced, he leapt back into battle, Pan joining him. Both of them at once were almost able to keep up with Void, though he slipped in an attack every few seconds. Getting lucky and ducking a particularly forceful one, Uub grabbed Void's arm as he was overextended, swinging him overhead-Void kept his balance, stopping himself and wrenching free, throwing a kiai that snapped Uub out of his powered-up state and sent him hurtling to the ground. Void followed up with a two-fingered beam, but halfway to its target it was intercepted by a series of gleaming black walls.
It smashed through the katchin barriers one after the other, but the cumulative effect slowed it enough that Pan could leap in and grab it two-handed, her feet digging deep into the ground, hurling it up into the sky with a great effort, where it detonated, blinding them all momentarily. Pan stood there for a moment, arms trembling from the force it had taken to reflect the attack, and everything fell quiet for a moment. Void almost drifted off, and had to remind himself to knock her to the ground next to Uub.
Those barriers… what was that? He wondered, strolling away from the pair. He paused as he noticed her left arm-it faded back to normal as he watched, but just then, and presumably during that last exchange, it had looked like someone else's altogether; namely, Hephaestus Shenron's. Oh yeah, it's his power… the creation and manipulation of katchin. They partially shifted the merger's ratio, making it more the dragons and less Pan for a moment. Heh… this, her skill, their combined power… honestly, I was worried it was too early for her to fight me, but this is actually kind of exciting… !
Man, haven't felt that in a while.
He looked around at Samsara. "So I know neither of 'em are anywhere near done fighting, but they'll need a few seconds. Meantime, I think they bought you enough time, right?"
"What tipped you off?" Samsara stood at the centre of a roiling, seething mass of… symbols . Yin-yang, the masculine and feminine emblems, the zodiac signs, and many more that hadn't been seen for millennia filled the air around her. She spread her arms, letting the stream writhe and flow around her.
"Well… damn. You're better at this than the last Chaos…" Void muttered. "I might have to fight seriously, even with just one of you."
"We can only hope." Samsara brought her hands together in front of her, the strange mass surging forwards. "Here's some raw chaos… let's see how you handle it."
"Or, y'know, not." Void sped off, vanishing out of view, reappearing directly behind her and driving his fist into her back, knocking her forwards onto her face. "Gonna be one of those days where I smack people around a lot, I guess… eh?" He held up the hand he'd struck with-it was surrounded by the cloud of sigils, which rapidly spread to his entire body. "Oh." They sunk in, disappearing beneath his skin, and he staggered back a few steps, gripping his head between his hands, odd lights escaping his eyes and mouth, the air around him twisting into strange shapes. "Rrgh…"
Samsara stood slowly, rubbing her back. "Gah… how you holding up? Not fantastic, I imagine. I've scrambled your body's inputs-the impulse that you think will make you, say, take a step forwards, will now, I dunno, cough or something. And so on. Good luck doing anything at all, really."
Upon hearing this, Void came to a complete halt, eyes closed, silent. In that case… best to take not physical action… don't risk screwing myself over, he replied telepathically.
"Sound reasoning, if there wasn't someone trying to kill you." Samsara stretched out two fingers, aiming for the centre of his forehead and firing-the beam, however, glanced off a shimmering wall of energy that sprung up around him.
Well, I do have rather a lot of ki, he said, unbearably smug. Make no mistake. You can take away my ability to fight physically, it won't extend your lifespan much. Speaking of which… I'm the longest-lived being in the multiverse. I've been studying the fighting arts for most of that time period. Let me show you some of what I've learned. A heavy wooden door seemed to form out of the air around him, closing around his body and hiding him from view. It then split into three, each door settling to the ground with a heavy thud .
"Still playing games," Samsara grumbled, approaching them. Pan and Uub, now somewhat recovered, came over to join her. "Careful…" She motioned for them to hang back and crept up to the door on the left, then sprung forwards and flung it open-and was immediately floored by an energy wave that sprung out from within it. "Gonna be like that, huh?"
"Maybe let's try another one…" Uub suggested.
"Hell no! I'm not losing to this thing!" Samsara leapt to her feet, opening the door. This time, when the blast emerged, she countered with her own, slowly advancing inside.
"Uh… sure… you do that…" Uub turned back to Pan. "Well, I'll go… right, I guess?"
"Sure." Pan gave a thumbs-up. "Stay safe." She headed inside the middle door, apparently without trouble. Uub went through the door on the right after a moment.
Hey, so, how've you been holding up these last few millenia? Void's thoughts reached him after only a few seconds progressing down the dark corridor. Come on, don't make your old man feel unappreciated.
"Please shut up."
Fine, fine, back to business… want to see a magic trick?
"No." However, just as he said this, something flashed in the darkness and raced past him with a jarring impact-then his body slid in half down the middle, hissing with trailing energy. Uub rolled his eyes and focused on regenerating, the halves coming back together with a wet noise. "Four out of ten. Sawing someone in half, very old trick."
If you think my material's stale, you should've gone through the left door.
Samsara gave a final yell, breaking through the last of the opposing energy and stumbling a few steps down the corridor. "Hah! You got nothing!"
Mm-hmm. Yes. Sure. Truly I am vanquished. You overcame that test and now you get to go straight to facing me with no difficulty whatsoever.
Samsara cocked an eyebrow, hands on hips. "I sense some sarcasm."
What? Hahah no, noooo. Void paused for a moment. But yeah, uh, this is where you get off.
"The hell does-" Then everything was light and heat and fire.
Pan's corridor shortly opened out into a dimly-lit chamber; at the centre stood a tall cabinet with several drawers, rising from floor to ceiling. They all swung open at once, revealing the motionless Void inside, then closed for a moment, opening again to show his body parts all mixed up. Another stage magician's trick, she thought, folding her arms. "Yes, you're very clever." As the drawers closed again, she walked up and kicked straight through one-it was empty. She stepped back, blasting the entire cabinet to atoms, leaving Void standing there unharmed and looking normal again. "There you are."
You shouldn't have come here. In here, my mental powers are magnified… even in a straight fight, you've got no chance.
"We'll see, I guess." She took a step forwards, swinging a punch at his head-her hand shuddered to a halt, his telekinetic grip forcing it back and smashing it into her own face.
Hey. He did the same with her other hand. Stop hitting yourself.
"What are you, five?" She flung out her aura, beating back his mental force. "Not happening."
Ah, shut up, I gotta amuse myself somehow.
"Yeah, you just get on outta here and go 'amuse yourself'," she said flatly.
Ooh! Void made a hissing 'noise'. Check out the mouth on this one! So, all right, what now… aha! Pan suddenly felt an odd, vaguely warm sensation from behind, lethargy sweeping through her limbs, causing her to sink to her knees-Void's telekinesis was gripping her tail. This is a weak point, isn't it?
"Wh-What gave you… that impre…" She dug her fingers into the floor, fighting to stay up.
Ah yes, the mighty warrior race and their easily-grabbable off-switch, he sighed. Of course, some of them trained to overcome that weakness. You never got round to it, I guess… ah, no, I remember, the techniques died with them, and you never got the chance. Shame.
"One thing… you overlooked…"
What? I don't overlook things. Omniscient, remember?
"Well… you're not… are you? All- seeing, sure… but only… when you're paying attention…'n' anyway, not th' same… as all- knowing ."
Ugh, fine. What did I-
"Three-quarters human!" she yelled, forcing herself to her feet and breaking his hold again, lunging forwards and punching his immobile form back into the wall.
… I suppose there is that, yes. Hmm. That hurt a little.
She returned to normal breathing, tail flicking out behind her, straightening the belt on her gi. "I should hope so."
But, you know… that tail is a weakness. If you can't train to get around that, why not cut it off?
She gave a shocked look. "Because it's one of my limbs, you psychopath!"
Still, it could-
"If I may be blunt, you could get kicked in the balls in a fight. You gonna cut those off?"
… point taken.
"All right, had enough of this place…" Pan clenched her fists, expanding her aura. "Pocket dimension, right? No trouble!" She gave another yell, and the walls shattered, dissolving away and leaving them outside again; Uub stood a few feet away. "Uh… where's-"
Samsara? Well, I left her in the heart of a supergiant star a couple galaxies over, but she moves pretty fast, so even accounting for the time dilation in my pocket dimension, she should be-
A point of light appeared in the sky; a moment later, Samsara stood among them, steam billowing up from her body, the shockwave of her arrival dying down. "Yes, she should. Come on now, a star? Did you think that would hurt me?"
No, but it did get you out of the way for a minute, and was great for annoying you. Plus I was kind of hoping it would burn your clothes off or something, but only partial luck on that front.
Samsara snorted. "How noble. Truly, intentions befitting the self-touted saviour."
Perks of the job, girl. But anyway… let's continue. Spheres of ki began to form around him, launching at his trio of opponents after a moment.
Relatively weak, but numerous… Samsara launched herself through the storm, weaving her way towards Void. "Pan, Uub! Deflect those away from the planet!"
"Got it!" Pan darted out, kicking a downwards-arcing blast up into the air, Uub stopping another with considerably more effort.
Samsara made her way through the volley, closing in on Void. As she made a grab for him, something almost transparent interposed itself between them, shocking her hand and bringing her to a halt. "Whu…?" It then extended into an infinitely-long, infinitely-thin line, passing through her with a terrible lurching sensation, followed by several more miniscule spheres, producing similarly-painful effects. "Rrh-!" She retreated, holding up her arms to guard herself. "Don't tell me you're…"
What? Just more little pocket-dimensions. Nothing you haven't encountered before. Though I have to admit you've pushed me pretty far to make me resort to using 'em as projectile weapons.
"And you're hitting someone with them?!" Uub exclaimed.
Oh, come on. They're not even full-sized universes. She's a big girl, she can take it.
Just as the next was about to hit her, Samsara phased out of view, speeding around behind Void and punching-only for him to catch her fist, turning and grinning at her. "You dispelled my…?"
"Oh, no, it's still in effect," Void said, taking a step forwards and shoving her away. "But all the time we've been fighting and I've been throwing all these tricks at you guys… well, you know." He tapped his head. "I see all, when I feel like it, as you know. I was taking a look around the multiverse, reading up on brain structure. Then I had a look at my own brain, saw exactly how you'd scrambled it, and figured out what did what. So, my left leg is now controlled by the impulses that I normally use to control my tongue, all that sort of thing, all very mixed up, as you intended. But I've got the hang of it." He ducked as Pan and Uub rushed in from either side, stepping back and sweeping them aside, then instantly twisting away as Samsara lunged for him. "Oops."
She saw him preparing to counterattack and pulled back, backflipping away, but he appeared in front of her, cutting her off. "All right," he said. "You gave me a shot of pure chaos. So, let me return the favour-you can experience my thing." His hand shot out, gripping her head, a small vibration passing down his fingers. She started to say something, then stopped, falling silent. He released her, and she stood stock-still for a few moments, eyes blank, before snapping out of the trance, gasping and falling to her hands and knees, sweat pouring down her face. "Uh… huh… ah…"
"Nothing special," he said, approaching. "Just the void, y'know. Too much for you?" He took a short run-up, swinging a kick into her chin and sending her sprawling back across the ground. "Yeah, I think you're done. Broke your concentration… my brain's back to normal, good to know. Anyway, finally time to get all this over with-oh come on!" This last exclamation came as Uub tackled him from behind, Kaioken at full power. Void struggled in his grip, prying his hands apart and kicking him away, before taking off and proceeding to play cat-and-mouse through the air for the next minute or so, until finally Uub's Kaioken wore off.
"There we are." Void sped forwards, taking hold of Uub's neck with one hand and ramming punches into his abdomen with the other until the boy's head slumped forwards. "Sorry about this. You'll be okay… but you were in my way, and you know, I'm kind of busy-" He flinched as Uub sprung back into motion, twin beams from his eyes scoring a thin graze up Void's cheek as he barely dodged. "… well played." He tossed Uub to the ground, landing on him hard with both feet. "Stay down this time… I don't want to have to hurt you anymore."
"Heh…" Uub grinned weakly, and Void noticed with some alarm that his creation's arm was stretched out in the same manner as Buu's-at the other end, Pan was gripping the hand, and at this moment she kicked off the ground and launched herself at Void, Uub tugging and reeling her in to increase her speed-she hit Void in the back, throwing him forwards. He stuck out his hands, performing a quick handspring to right himself and spinning to face her, guard up.
"One more to go; fine by me," he said, beginning to give an oddly familiar smile.
Somewhat to her surprise, Pan found herself returning it. "Heheheh…"
"You're excited?"
"I'm the only one left… you're much stronger than I am… pretty tough situation. But I'm starting to learn… I live for moments like this."
"Yes… yes, I can see it…" Void nodded. "You've finally dropped your mask."
"What?"
"Come on. You've put up a good act, but this whole time, everything's been kind of… empty for you, right? You felt so alive fighting Entropy, and nothing has compared since." He spread his arms. "I know the feeling. It's the curse of our kind… we need to experience that thrill. I might be your last hope for another high."
Pan frowned. "Our kind…?"
"Ah, I'm getting sidetracked." He sighed. "You'll understand when you're older, dearie."
There's still a lot I don't understand… as much as he rambles, it's hard to get a straight answer from this guy… Pan lowered her stance, extending one arm forwards and one backwards. "Let's go."
Void ran a hand over his face. There's fire in those eyes, real fire… oh yes, this I haven't seen in a long time… He tossed his head back and laughed, uncontrolled and cruel, the same way Pan had laughed when she'd killed Entropy, his hands twitching at his sides. Oh, you are wonderful, you are! "Yes… yes, let's."
Double or Nothing: Part 2
Future timeline…
Break wandered out of the house, careful not to disturb those still asleep, and immediately came to a halt-not ten yards from the door, a faintly-glowing gate had materialised. The odd feeling she was getting definitely originated from here, and she had a strange compulsion to approach it.
"Ah!" Mira clapped his hands together as the portal faded into existence. "Success!"
"No…" Towa frowned, scratching the floor with her staff. "It's not quite right… I think it's the wrong timeline…"
"Are you certain?"
Towa shook her head. "If I'm right, though, we'll need to make the corrections quickly, before the girl dies on us…" She snapped her fingers, and the somewhat battered Makaioshin assembled. She motioned them forwards. "Scout through there. Identify the timeline and time period."
They saluted, marching through the portal; Towa and Mira waited a few seconds. They waited a few more seconds. There was a slight shudder from the other side. They waited one and a half more seconds, and then four Maikaioshin, one after the other, came flying back through the portal, unconscious.
Break stepped through, Super Saiyan 2 aura crackling, dragging the groaning Dai-Maikaioshin behind her, dumping him in front of Mira. "I literally just fell out of bed and stumbled outside. I am in no mood for your demon crap." She sighed. "I don't even care what's going on. I'm just gonna beat the hell out of all of you and go back to sleep." She vanished, speeding off, and Mira did likewise; there was a crash from high above, and Mira landed neatly in front of Towa, Break hitting the ground face-up behind him.
"Okay… okay…" She stood, flexing her shoulders and rubbing dirt off her face. "Plan remains…" She assumed Super Saiyan 3, the entire stadium around them cracking and buckling inwards. "… unchanged." Oh man, way too early in the morning to be using level 3. I am gonna have the worst headache later.
Towa chuckled. "Fool. The other one did that too, and she was still no match for my Mira. Deal with this, would you?"
'Other one'…?
"Certainly." Mira bowed, turning back to Break. "All who oppose the Demon Realm shall perish!"
Break grinned. "Oh wow, you said that un-ironically. You're an actual cartoon villain. I'm not gonna feel bad at all about this." They clashed again, their first strikes rebounding off each other and driving out huge cracks in the rock around them. His second strike broke her guard, and he began driving in a series of heavy punches, taking a step forwards and driving her back with each one. She finally found a moment to recover, catching his next blow and throwing him overhead-he stopped in mid-air, showering her with a volley of energy, driving her to her knees. He raced down, tensing up to deliver the finishing blow, but she moved just in time, reappearing in the grand archway on the other side of the arena. "On second thoughts, screw this! Bye!"
She rushed off down the corridor, heading for the true reason she'd abandoned the fight. I thought I sensed… that can't be right, but it's just like…
The younger, present-timeline Break took a while to reorient herself and realise that the pain was gone. She blearily opened her eyes, feeling wind on her face-she appeared to be moving at quite a high speed.
She slowly looked up-someone was carrying her in both arms. Between the speed, the low lighting of the maze of corridors and the golden sheen that covered them, she couldn't make them out clearly. "Who… are…"
"Shh. I'm your guardian angel. Everything's gonna be okay."
Break nodded wearily, believing this absolutely.
They emerged into the harsh red light, speeding on for a couple of minutes, before coming to a halt. "This is where you entered…" the angel muttered. "I can still see some residual… hmm. Don't quite have the power to break down dimensional walls… but…" She nudged Break to wakefulness. "Hey. I know you're out of it, but I need your help right now, okay?"
"Mm… kay…" Break mumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"I'm gonna get you back home, but I need a bit more energy. Can you give me some?"
Break held up one hand towards the blinding light, letting her energy flow through the air to her protector, tapping deep into the reserves she used to transform. "… enough?"
"Yeah. Thanks, kid. Right!" The angel shifted to hold Break under one arm, pointing the other straight out and giving a yell; the air warped in a straight line leading from her fingertips to an already-shifting point a few metres away, which cracked and split open, forming a ragged tear in reality-through it, the woods by Break's house were just about visible.
Just then, a rush of air came from behind as Mira and Towa sped up to them. "Found you!" Towa said gleefully, motioning Mira forwards.
"Crap, already?" The angel turned and shoved Break through the portal, just as it began to waver and fade. Break's last vision of the other world, as she fell back into the woods, was a clear view of the 'angel'- me?! But, like… grown up?
The hole closed up, leaving her alone in the woods, staring straight ahead. "What the hell just happened?!"
The future Break turned back to her enemies. Starting to run low on power to keep up Super Saiyan 3… especially after opening that portal… definitely don't have the strength to open another… "Ready for round two?"
Towa chuckled. "You should have fled through your own gate…"
Break shook her head. "And let you follow? Important thing was getting her to safety. Now… c'mon, puppet-man, let's dance."
Towa motioned with her staff. "Mira!"
Mira stepped between them. "As you command. Kill or capture?"
"Hmm… I don't know yet," Towa said, sickeningly sweet. "Just go with 'pain' while I decide."
Chapter 48: Signifying Nothing
Pan hit the ground hard, leaving a trail of flames through the grass as she skidded away. Void shook his head, seeming dissatisfied as he advanced towards her. "No, no, no," he muttered. "Not enough."
"… that all?" Pan mumbled, rising and wiping blood from her face with a defiant hiss.
"Oh no, no no no," Void said, words starting to run together. "Not at all. We're just getting started. Let's see if I can make something of you."
Pan shot forwards, but was instantly reflected, his implacable advance continuing.
"Still… not… enough…" he breathed.
The door to Void's mansion burst open, the unconscious bodies of most of the staff unceremoniously being tossed on the ground outside, the Warrior striding out, dusting off its hands. The coachman ran up behind the group as they exited, shouting at the top of his lungs, but folded up as Helios Shenron put a fist in his gut and dumped him in the corridor.
"They had to be difficult," Cadmus, having directed operations, said with a sigh, moving to the front of the group.
"Ah, feels good to have ki back," Videl murmured, eyes closed for a moment. She rapidly grew serious. "Void's kicking their asses over there… Pan's the only one still up, and she's not doing well."
"I guess we should-" Tien stopped mid-sentence. "… we're about to have some trouble of our own, feels like."
Right on cue, a few seconds later four figures impacted the ground in front of them-Void's Majin, in a ragged circle. "Looks like they're about to help their friend…" Hasekura, riding on the shoulders of Hayato's exoskeleton, noted.
"What, were you guys thinking of pitching in with Void?" the Pilot asked, scratching her head. "He looks like he's doing fine."
"And yet with so many enemies arrayed against him…" Hayato said, shaking his head. "I did my best to have more faith, but I still worry."
"So we're basically here to beat you all senseless," Ozotto rumbled. "Hopefully it'll make him feel better."
"No need to destroy this whole place with a battle royale," Gohan said, stepping forwards. He indicated Hattori and Hasekura. "You two… follow me. I'll take you on."
" You will? Both of us?" Hattori gave a shrug, tugging at the brim of his hat. "Look, man, the only people you guys have who can even take us one-on-one are getting the crap kicked out of them by the boss right now."
"Nevertheless." Gohan waved his hand, opening a portal to his left. "If I frighten you that much, feel free to decline my challenge."
"Hey!" Hasekura squawked, incensed, leaping up and rushing through the portal, followed by Gohan and a scowling Hattori.
Ozotto folded his arms. "So anybody else gonna volunteer, or should I just wade in and start swinging?"
The Knight pushed his way out of the group, walking right up to Hayato. "Looks like you didn't take my words to heart… I'm gonna have to beat some sense into you."
"If that's your course, I shall accompany," the Red King said evenly, standing just behind his lieutenant.
"Punching a little above your weight, aren't you?" Ozotto chuckled. "Very well. You can have your heart-to-heart… but if there are two of you, you can't object to me coming along."
"Do what you want." Mercury nodded once before taking off, the other three following close behind.
"These match-ups seem like a phenomenally bad idea," the Scholar noted.
Helios laughed. "No reasoning with them. We'll save them when they inevitably find themselves grossly outmatched."
Goku stared off towards where he now felt a trio of energy signatures, one much smaller than the other two. Gohan… what are you thinking? You've got something planned… right?
Pan gave another pained scream, Void driving her back again, slamming her into a cliff-face with one hand about her neck. She gripped his forearm two-handed, nails digging into his flesh. "Still… not… good enough!" he snarled.
"While we're here…" she said, forcing him back slightly, cracks spreading through the rock behind her. "Mind finally telling me what the endgame is? What's the point of all this?"
"Ah, maybe, maybe… but not yet," he replied, flashing a predator's grin. "I'm still just getting warmed up… if you shape up a bit more, give this old combat junkie the rush he needs, maybe, maybe. You'll have to earn it."
"Kindly go die, you creepy bastard," she muttered, her grip wavering.
"Ah, and back to the insults." Void sent a pulse of ki down his arm, hurling her back and bringing the whole plateau that the cliff had formed one edge of down around her. "Well! No rest for the wicked… just tell me soon as you're good to keep going!" he called into the collapsing pile of rock.
This world hadn't been hard to locate; they'd noticed it on the way in. It was an ice planet in the outer reaches of Void's star system. Gohan faced his two opponents, arms folded, inhaling and exhaling deeply once. "Shall we begin?"
"Careful…" Hattori cautioned, leaning down to tap Hasekura's shoulder. "This kinda confidence…'less he's an insane bluffer, he's got something up his sleeve, right?"
"Oh, absolutely." Gohan smiled unpleasantly. "Dozens of horrible tricks with which to murder the both of you. Shall we get started?" He waved his hands frantically as they tensed up to attack. "Kidding, kidding! Actually, I wanted to ask the two of you… do you really intend to fight? Just because your friend does?"
"I don't really care," Hasekura said, idly standing on his hands, only half-paying attention. "I've done plenty fighting today. Don't think I wanna get hit anymore."
"Fair enough…" Hattori nodded to the younger Majin. "Feel free to sit this one out, but… eh, what the hell, I'm in. Hayato's kind of… intense, but he means well. I'll back him up on this."
"Okay then… only one of you." Gohan looked relieved. "In that case, I will actually take you on. It'd have looked pretty uncool, stopping to get help now, hahah…"
"So you do have some tricks?"
Gohan rubbed his nose, looking innocent. "Maybe one or two."
Three solar systems Galactic North…
The Knight's initial charge had been easily rebuffed and he currently lay a ways back, coughing from the impact to his chest. Cadmus, meanwhile, stood facing Hayato, flaring up his aura-Ozotto was idly strolling around at the other side of the clearing.
Hayato stormed forwards, easily brushing off Cadmus' attacks and driving home several heavy blows. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "There are others who could fight in your place… you don't have anything like the power to compete with us!"
"Heh…" Cadmus sagged for a moment, standing up straight on shaking legs. "My aim… isn't to defeat you. Like you said… several of my comrades would fare far better. I'm trying to help someone…"
"What?" Hayato took a half-step back; a metallic scraping noise came from behind them as the Knight picked himself up, flares of energy rising from his body. This power is… greater than before…
"Because… I have faith in him," Cadmus breathed. "That's what you're missing. Trust… is a two-way thing. I think he forgets too, sometimes… when he told you to believe in your leader, he failed to account for Void's lack of belief in you ."
"Th-That's not true!" Hayato protested.
"Yes, clearly he believes you very capable. Which is why he sent you all away." This got the Red King punched halfway through the forest, bringing a cascade of trees down around him.
"Hey… don't you…" came the Knight's laboured voice, approaching from behind. "… don't you touch him… !"
"Stay down, will you!" Hayato shouted, rounding on the Knight.
Mercury sprang forwards, grabbing Hayato by his shoulders. "If you're going to kill someone… kill me!" he hissed, his intensity making the Majin start; the pair of them skidded back towards the downed Cadmus. Mentally jarred for a moment, Hayato only just barely caught Mercury's punch, shoving the Hakaishin back and blasting him to the ground again.
"Please… stay down now!" He stepped away, moving between his two opponents.
"Not an option." The Knight released the catches on his battered armour, releasing himself from it with a hiss of steam. "I won't stop fighting, if my lord won't… and I know he won't…"
"Because," Cadmus continued, rising as well, "I can tell he's close now… I can see your potential, Mercury… and, like I told our enemy… I do have faith."
This is taking too long… I'm gonna have to start increasing the power of my attacks… "I can't guarantee your survival any longer!" He took a few steps towards Cadmus, swinging a heavy punch-only to find Mercury intercepting it, throwing himself in its path, grunting as blood spilled from his mouth. How did he…?!
"His power was already growing somewhat," Cadmus said, reaching forwards and steadying the Knight, helping him stay up. "But now he's at this stage… I've started sending my energy to augment his. One person with our combined power will fare much better than either of us on our own."
"Still not a match for me," Hayato pointed out. "And that kind of elevated power level isn't sustainable…"
"No?" Mercury gave a low chuckle, forcing himself to stop shaking. "Let's see." He jumped at Hayato, twisting his body to the right at the last second to avoid the pre-emptive beam that flashed past him, grabbing the Majin about the neck and bringing them both down to earth; he kept his hold, bringing his knee up and smashing it into Hayato's face, grunting as the creature's power dealt the same impact to him in return. I can take this! Pain doesn't matter… I don't matter… but if I let that belief down…
Hayato sprung up, throwing out his aura and forcing Mercury back with a sweep of both arms. His power's stopped growing, but it feels… stable? It's so much greater than it was before… how is that possible?
Cadmus breathed out, moving up and standing next to his fellow Hakaishin; he'd stopped donating energy, and his power was back to normal, but Mercury's remained at its boosted level. "Synergy, my friend," the Red King said proudly. "We've known for a while the potential of the energy of two Cores merging-of course, without merging Chaos and Order energy, we're not going to end up with a 'whole is greater than the sum of its parts' thing, but… stability? That can be done, with a strong enough connection."
"Especially if the two energies in question have been honed by years of teamwork," Mercury finished. "… thank you, my lord. Even before this… you revealed far more power in me than I realised I possessed."
Cadmus nodded. "Let's show him what he lacks." They charged in unison, Cadmus ducking at the last second and placing both hands under Mercury's foot, shoving him upwards and allowing him to dodge Hayato's swinging fist; Mercury somersaulted over his head, turning in mid-air and planting a kick to the base of Hayato's neck, the two of them falling simultaneously. Hayato rose first, quickly taking back the advantage, jumping back and forth between them, landing rapid blows then switching opponents when they counterattacked.
After a minute, though, one of his strikes only glanced Mercury, the bloodied god spotting an opening. Come on… move! There's still fight in me! His muscles burned with protest. I can take this. I've trained under the Warrior. That mantra of his… fix it in my mind, drive out all doubt. Focus on it!
No fear. No pain. The four familiar words echoing in his mind, his muscles snapped to attention, his second wind hitting him-he caught Hayato's wrist with a roar of effort, bringing him to a halt long enough for Cadmus to recover and take hold of his other arm. They drove elbows and knees into his stomach a few times before tossing him back, Cadmus falling forwards into a crouch with a gasp from the exertion, allowing Mercury to use his back and shoulders as a makeshift ramp to kick off-the Knight surged up and forwards, still shouting almost without realising, intercepting Hayato just as the man stood. The Knight put all his strength and momentum behind his lead foot, slamming a flying kick into the Majin's chest. The rebound hurled him back and they both rolled away, trailing blood.
After a moment, the Knight rose once more, fierce blue eyes gleaming through the blood and dirt covering him. He addressed the groaning, half-conscious Hayato. "If there's nothing to back it up… nothing worth fighting for… you could be a hundred times stronger than me, it'd make no difference. Come back and fight me again… when you've found a reason."
Then a great heat seared his back and he was being hauled through the air, Ozotto's laugh echoing throughout the forest. "Don't know how you did that, with your power," he said jovially, shaking the Knight and causing him to black out momentarily before hoisting the limp-limbed Hakaishin level with him, floating high above the battleground. "Well, he had his chance; time for me to clean up. Frankly I should take out Hayato too, given the opportunity… be doing Void a favour."
"He wasn't… fighting to kill…" the Knight murmured through bleeding lips.
"Your point being?" Ozotto gave a hearty laugh, his grip tightening, Mercury's ribs straining to stay together under the enormous Majin's grasp.
"… neither… was I…" Mercury continued, managing a small smile, painful though it was. "…'cause he was, is… a good man… but you. I've seen enough of you…" His hands twitched at his sides, trying to force some feeling back into his arms. Just took down an opponent twice my strength… should be resting now… but not… not yet! I can die, but not Cadmus-!
Come on, Mercury, you bastard. You're tougher than this. His fingers brushed the hilt of his sword. He knew it was possible-Ozotto was inattentive, and wouldn't be expecting this. But he'd have to be fast. He'd have to be faster than he'd ever been, and flawless in his technique, as beaten as he was. But it was possible . That was all he needed.
Then, just as he was about to make his move, a wave of fresh tiredness rolled over him. His eyelids fluttered, his jaw slacked, the world began to waver and fade away.
Not yet… not yet! There's… one beast yet to be slain… n…
No f-fea…
"Would you get to the point?" Ozotto rolled his eyes. "Do you think you can beat me just because you're 'fighting to kill'? You don't have any fight left in you, and that aside, my skin's impenet-" He trailed off into a wordless scream as Mercury's deadly sword flashed out of its scabbard, separating his hand from his forearm with no resistance; the next moment, as he reeled, the blade Justice was planted directly into his heart.
His support wrenched away, Mercury fell with his foe, the pair of them freefalling for over a minute before crash-landing and bouncing apart, the sword still buried up to its hilt in the great beast's armoured chest. "… no pain," Mercury gasped, before falling unconscious.
Pan hit the ground hard once more, crying out in pain even as she forced herself back up and into the fight. Void dodged back as she swung at him, putting some distance between them.
"If you're trying to learn my style the way you did Entropy's, by the way," he said, smirking, "don't bother. I've studied under plenty of fighting schools in my time… I'm switching it up every couple minutes."
"Yeah, I thought I noticed something weird." She returned the expression, then winced as a new cut opened on her arm.
Void shrugged. "Heh, sorry. You overextended yourself on that attack… I saw an opportunity to get another hit in without you noticing, and couldn't resist. Those are the most fun."
"Thought you said I was good?" She gave the back of her forearm a hurried lick, stemming the initial flow of blood.
"Nobody's flawless. But…" He sighed, sounding disappointed. "But this still isn't quite going the way I'd hoped. I'm gonna have to start turning up the heat… time to find out if you're ready to fight me after all, or if it really is too early." He brought his hands together in front of him, shards of ki coalescing around them. "So… you might die. Or, you might become something… greater."
"Something like you?" Pan asked, tensing up to dodge, waiting for him to release the blast.
"Kind of." His face curled momentarily into a snarl, and energy coursed down his arms, bursting forth in an uncontrolled mass and rushing towards her, insanely fast.
No way I'm dodging that- Pan just had time to cross her arms in front of her face, bending her knees and expelling as much ki as she could to shield herself from the wave of power that broke over her, rushing past with a savage roar, crushing in from all sides. C-Can't… ! She felt it begin to overwhelm her, pain wracking her body from the strain of barely holding it off.
Pan! Hephaestus cried.
Hold on! Prometheus urged.
I'm… sorry… I can't- Her control slipped, her guard broke, and the wall of force slammed into her, carving a deep canyon through the planet as it carried her back with it, leaving her at the end of a steaming, hundred-mile trench, a weak groan escaping her lips.
And then Void was there again, not giving her a moment to recover, an energy-blade formed around his fingertips, lunging at her heart. This is it. I've pushed her to her limit… this is the moment that will make or break her.
I mean, if it doesn't work out I guess I'll just kill Samsara, finish up the plan and be lonely forever. That's cool too.
His hand lanced down on its arrow-straight course-and stopped with a brittle crunching sound. Someone new had interposed themselves between him and Pan.
A winged, humanoid lizard, body formed out of some grey clay-like substance, stood over her, Void's hand plunged through his chest. Void raised an eyebrow, withdrawing his arm. Make or break… or, option C. Interesting.
Prometheus Shenron, having ended his part of the union in the instant Void approached to shield the other two, fell to his knees, his mouth opening and closing, no sound emerging. His eyes rapidly dilated, his hands scrabbled for purchase on the still-smoking ground, and he fell forwards, his body giving a final shudder before falling still. A few moments later, he dissolved into a pool of dark smoke, blowing away on the wind.
Pan stared in silence, eyes wide. Hephaestus' enraged screams filled her mind, pushing her thoughts aside.
It… should have been me… he finally said.
"Don't say that!" she snapped, out loud.
What?! Don't try and tell me it should've been you-
" It shouldn't have been anyone! " she yelled, rising and turning back to Void. Streams of light arose from her, swirling and mixing in the air above, forming into a storm.
What's this now? Void ducked away as she attacked, but it was far closer than he'd anticipated. His hand snapped up to catch her next blow, and the impact shoved him back a couple feet. "Now that's interesting… notice anything?" He grinned. "You lost a dragon, but… your power's back up to where it was. You only dropped for a moment."
"You bastard, I lost a friend," she growled, raising her fists again.
" Don't even start! " he roared, his anger rising out of nowhere. "What you've lost? Are you serious?!" Streamers of his ki rolled out around him, atomising everything they made contact with, their proximity forcing her back. "What you have lost is nothing! You have no idea -" His face froze, and slowly relaxed. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to-it's… it's hard. I… there were so many of…" He took a deep breath. "It was a beautiful planet. You'd have like it," he added softly.
Pan had stopped in her tracks, no idea how to respond to this miniature breakdown.
Void clapped his hands together. "So putting that little episode behind us… you're close now. You are so close . I know you hate me for it, but what happened was about the best outcome for both of us. I've worked out what I need to do now, see." He began to move forwards, and in an instant he was directly in front of her. He placed his hand on her forehead, then lurched back, grunting and tugging on his wrist as if it was attached to some great weight.
The sensation was like a sustained, continuous impact to the head-Pan let out a scream, staggering away as something emerged in Void's hand; he released it, let it fall.
Hephaestus Shenron fell gasping to the ground, forcefully ripped out of the Dragon Soul union, shuddering as Void's oppressive aura pinned him in place.
Pan lay face-down a ways further off, twitching every few seconds, her ki highly unstable, rising and falling all over the place.
Void approached with a swagger, drumming his fingers on his hips. "So when you lost the first dragon-my condolences, by the way-your power quickly recovered to what it had been even with him. Weird, huh? Well, I figured it out. Here's where you earned some answers. Not all of 'em, but some."
He crouched down in front of her, resting his chin in his hands. "See, what you and I are… we're the culmination. Of everything that is mighty in our respective universes. You told Entropy exactly that about yourself, right? How all those powerful races, all those strands led up to you. I'm the same way, I guess. More aware of it, much more time to refine it, but same basic deal, at least for my universe's equivalent. You saw my story on the walls-all five elements and all, plus the sixth, my namesake.
"So that's what you are, and you sort of already knew it, but you didn't know it was… an actual thing, a classification, something it was possible for someone else to be. But as a result, some traits are… amplified, right? The battle-lust, for one. That's common. I'm pretty calm on the outside right now, but that's just practice-oh, it's strong in me, it's eating at me, it's just waiting for you to respond in kind. But that's not the only trait you've inherited, right? Saiyans, saiyans… what is it about 'em, huh? 'Greatest warriors in the universe' they called themselves… well, they weren't really, not at first. Barely a blip on the radar. But then they sort of… fulfilled their own prophecy. Lived up to their claims. Because, you know, whatever happens, they keep getting stronger . That's their thing . It's what they do . First they had the 'zenkai'-you know, beat the crap out of 'em, they heal, they're stronger than ever. But that stopped after a while-you all outgrew that when you learned another way to get stronger. Transforming! Very cool, transforming, wish I could do it. Really common in your universe especially, dunno what that's about.
"But now you've sort of outgrown that too, haven't you? We've come full circle. So you know what I figure? I figure you're waking up to the true ability that 'zenkai' was but a shadow of-a child's imitation. I kill a dragon, I make you weaker, you pop back to full power. That was the warm-up, I think. Second dragon's gone now; dragged you down again . This time do it for real. Show me the true ability… get stronger ."
He stood, taking a few steps back and spreading his arms. "Come on!" he bellowed. "Don't let me down! I need this! I need you to give me a good fight-it has been so! Long! Come on! "
Giving an unintelligible grumble, Pan reached up with both arms, placing her hands on the ground and pushing herself up out of the dirt, a low rumble of power beginning to emanate from her, rapidly spreading until the entire planet trembled. Slowly, she raised her head, and he saw.
In her eyes was the blackness of space and the brilliance of stars-just like his own eyes.
This time, he didn't laugh. He didn't say anything. A jackal's grin slowly spread its way across his face, and his eyes narrowed, predatory and cruel.
Double or Nothing: Part 3
"You cannot escape!" Mira shouted after Break, sending volleys of energy at her from both hands. "You know I far outclass you!"
She continued her flight back towards the stadium, dodging back and forth as his shots carved through the buildings around her. "You think so?" She came to an abrupt halt, turning and letting his momentum carry him into her, shoving a kick into his stomach before knocking him to the ground below two-handed. "Maybe I was just getting warmed up earlier! C'mon, I've got like ten years on that other me!" She turned away, continuing her flight.
Mira growled, heaving rubble off himself and taking off after her. "Then why do you run?"
She swooped down into the stadium, landing next to the gate she'd arrived through and staggering a little, her transformation wearing off and reverting her to base form. "Um… that would be why. Seeya!" She stepped through the portal, arriving back in her own world before putting her remaining strength into a kiai that brought the gate tumbling down in pieces. 'm probably just gonna… pretend this was a dream or somethin'. She made her way over to the nearest tree and collapsed against it, falling asleep.
Towa floated gracefully to the ground, tapping her fingers against her staff. "I assume the news is not good?"
Mira stood fuming in front of the destroyed gateway, quickly turning and bowing when his creator arrived. "My deepest apologies, mistress! I have failed you…"
"Oh, cheer up," the slender Demon Queen replied with a laugh. "All is not lost… not yet." She motioned around at their surroundings. "That transformation of theirs… it's very wasteful. It throws energy out into their surroundings at an astounding rate. And we're still quite closely linked with her time and place… we still can't make our permanent portal, but would you say there's enough residual energy from those two for us to make one round trip? Even if our greater endeavour has been a failure, I still just won't feel right until we kill at least one of that girl…"
Mira's eyes gleamed. "You are, as ever, a genius, my queen."
She nodded. "That I am!" She gave a wide sweep of her staff, drawing in a thousand golden sparks left drifting around the city from the battles fought over the last hour or so. "Now…" She held up her staff, glowing with the accumulated power. "Hold on tight, dearest, this method of transport isn't the smoothest…"
Future timeline…
The demon and her artificial warrior appeared amidst a golden flash a scant few minutes after Break had reappeared-she was still sleeping, a few feet away. With a wave of her staff, Towa conjured up coils of focused ki that snatched up Break.
"There are two more powerful warriors in that building," Mira cautioned. "I believe they may have unconsciously sensed us… they're waking up. Should I dispose of them?"
"Go ahead," Towa replied, giving a dismissive wave. "Their power isn't anything like hers… they're of no interest to me."
"As you wish." Mira raised one hand, firing a wide-reaching blast that obliterated the house, before stepping close to his queen and standing still as she used the rest of her collected power to transport the three of them back to the Demon Realm.
Bulma and Gohan awoke at the light and noise, somewhat surprised to find themselves unharmed-Broly stood over them in his Legendary form, shielding them with his massive frame, breathing heavily as steam rose from his bare back. He fell back into a sitting position, exhaling and returning to base form.
"You okay?" Bulma asked, receiving a breathless nod from him. She stood, gazing around at the devastation. "What happened here?"
"Someone…" he replied, "… two people. They got Break, I think."
"Some people took Break?" Gohan sighed, shaking his head. "Those poor bastards."
Demon Realm…
Between the explosion and the bumpy nature of Towa's improvised interdimensional teleportation, Break was awake by the time they re-entered the Demon Realm, and was currently straining against Towa's energy bands and swearing bloody murder.
Towa slammed her staff into the ground, tightening the hold and drawing a pained hiss. "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" she snapped.
"Lady, I am gonna punch you so hard you have no idea," Break muttered, trailing off and resuming her stream of obscenities under her breath.
"Now, the main purpose of this little reunion was simply to kill you," Towa explained. "I do find myself rather starting to hate you. But then I had the most wonderful thought! Why settle for just killing you once?" She began to stroll down the corridor leading inside, Mira following dutifully, Break being dragged through the air behind them. "I mean, of course, the machine works best with a child's mind and soul-less clutter. So it may kill you outright before you're able to find anything. But it'd be an extraordinarily painful death, so I'm fine with that.
"On the other hand, it was just imprinted with the mind and soul of someone almost identical to you, so you might be in luck. Ideally, you'll do the reverse of what happened before-reach out, find the version of you from that other timeline, and bring her here so we can kill you both. Which won't be a problem-you've used up all your strength, and Mira can handle her with ease. And in the process you'll be creating our permanent portal! So everyone wins. Well. Not really. I win. But really, that's what's important."
"Kindly go die in a hole," Break sighed, rolling her eyes.
Towa giggled. "Still so defiant… it's going to be fun breaking you."
Break raised an eyebrow. "… was that, like… a joke? Like, a pun?"
"… what?"
"You know, like… my name?"
Towa gave a blank look. "I don't know your name, nor do I have any desire to learn it." She shook her head. "Enough of this foolishness! Mira, start the machine!"
Break found the pain the machine inflicted more annoying than anything. It made it hard to think.
Can't bring that eight-year-old me back here… not happening! All the same, I do like not dying. Hmm.
They're using me to search out her timeline, so let's have as best a look as I can. Whoa… kinda blurred, but she becomes really awesome about twenty years down the line. Maybe if I get that version…
Rrgh… being… pulled back to the eight-year-old one… can't reach where I'm aiming for… okay, just get as close as I can… !
And this time, no screwing around with gates or flying this way and that around the city… just… c'mere!
Main timeline, a few months before the arrival of the Shadow Dragons…
"… eight… nine… ten!" the referee called, ringing in the end of the round.
Break stood back, leaving her defeated opponent gasping on the mat, raising a victory-sign and grinning to the baying crowds. She opened her mouth to deliver some one-liner she'd written the night before-
-and was gone.
When she appeared in the large, dimly-lit chamber, Towa and Mira were almost as surprised as she was.
"Is… that her?" Towa asked, frowning.
Mira shrugged. "I believe so… grown up, though." If she's anything like the other now… this could be trouble.
Towa groaned, running a hand over her face. "Why can't anything ever go as planned?!"
Chapter 49: I Have a Cunning Plan
"If you want to be satisfied, come at me at full strength from the start," Gohan warned. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"So you say." Hattori shrugged. "Well, let's see." He threw a quick energy blast, but it passed straight through his target. "… um… how."
Gohan folded his arms. "Dimension Step… a technique for rapidly phasing through the fifth dimension."
"But still, to initiate the technique in time… your reaction time would have to be at least a significant fraction of mine…"
"And you don't sense anything like that kind of power from me." Gohan nodded. "Well, you're not wrong. I've always relied on this vast potential I've had, but… honestly, I'm just not that talented a fighter. And that's become more important than ever, breaking down this particular wall. It'd take me a good few more years to fully surpass divine ki, if I even could at all… but… what I lack as a warrior, I make up for as a scientist. I've been studying the fourth dimension recently-my, shall we say, expanded senses, can pick up on it pretty well."
"The fourth dimension?" Hattori scratched his head. "Time, right?"
"That's the one. So, when you exceed lightspeed, by all conventional laws of physics you should go back in time-but you don't, because…" He shrugged. "Well, because divine ki is weird, and I haven't even started studying that yet. But whatever it does to avoid that sends out a ripple throughout the fourth dimension; my best guess, it's a sort of counterbalance to prevent unwanted movement through that dimension. So y'know, through time."
Hasekura, currently balancing on his head, had had a completely blank look on his face for some time now. "… you understand any of that?"
"Not really, but I think I get the point," Hattori replied. "You can sense those ripples, and since they slightly precede my actual actions…"
Gohan nodded. "I can't tell what you're about to do exactly, but I know when you're about to break lightspeed, so I can time my Dimension Step accordingly." He gave a nervous laugh. "Although, the delay isn't much, so I'm glad you're not any faster or I wouldn't have time, hahah."
"All right, all very clever. But you'll leave a trail doing that, and busting down dimensional walls…" Hattori rushed in and swung a direct strike Gohan's way-it passed through his rippling image again, but this time Hattori immediately followed up with a burst of quickly-stored power, shattering the dimensional barrier and attacking again. "… is no problem!" However, his target vanished, appearing behind him with a polite cough. "What did…"
"On the other hand… there's another technique I haven't used in a while. S'called God Step. Same principle, really, but applied to the Instant Transmission dimension. Combining it with Dimension Step, though, that's a new trick." Gohan gave an innocent grin. "Lets me hop from one to the other pretty fluidly, and stay a step ahead of you."
"I wanna say I'm mad," Hattori chuckled, "but really I'm just impressed. Still, surviving is one thing, but it ain't winning."
"Very true! I'll get on that, shall I?"
"You're ready now," Void said, shivering. "But let's put something to the test. Like I said, I'm in control for the moment… you, though? Here's the challenge." He approached Pan with total calm, kneeling down and placing his hands on the ground. "Kill me."
Still in the process of standing up, she froze, utterly confused. "… what?"
"I've lowered my power for a minute… it'd be easy," he said. "You could end my life-and this whole struggle-right now."
"Why…"
"I… everything I've done… I'm not sure." He gave a small laugh. "I'm not sure . I have this idea, this picture of a better world, but as powerful as I am I'm not perfect. Am I wrong? I've got all these good people, wonderful people, coming after me for kidnapping and murder and all these things I've done-and I am sorry, I am so sorry for everything I've done to you-and all 'for the greater good', and I'm too scared to even tell you what that 'greater good' is !" His fingers dug into the dirt, his voice growing slightly hysterical. "Was it worth it?! I want a better world for everyone, and this fight is just some incidental fun, right? Or is it the other way around but I'm too selfish to admit it to myself?! I don't know! " Something glistened in the corner of his eye. "I'm… the hero… aren't I? I used to be… it used to be so simple…"
Slowly, he raised his head. "So… I'm leaving this one up to fate. Or at least, something out of my control. You keep your head, you weigh up your options, you might decide it's best to kill me. Then I'm done . No more responsibility, no more of this self-doubt, no more fighting back this beast inside…" He closed his eyes, waiting a full minute in silence before opening them and standing, all traces of his hysteria gone, the bloodlust rising once more. "So. You can't do it. Let's not pretend, because we both know the reason. So own it. Say it ."
Pan nodded. "I can't bear it… just seeing you die without a chance to fight back… never knowing who was stronger… and…"
He grinned. "And losing the chance for what might be the best fight you're ever gonna get." He gave a deep sigh, raising his fists. "So. Die's cast. We get our fight. I carry out my plan. I build my better world. I be the hero, best I can."
"Show me," she said, eyes narrowing, building up the new power she could feel seething inside of her, and expelling it.
Samsara sat up, groaning. I'm not dead, so… Void is still fighting, but… who-oh. The power now emanating from Pan and Void as they built up their respective auras rolled over her, unmistakeable. Her energy's so similar to his… not just in size, but quality… what happened? How did he accelerate her growth this much? A slight shift in the shape of Void's aura, followed by an identical shift in Pan's, alerted her- They're about to attack… and they're not making any effort to focus or contain it! If they clash with this much power on full blast… !
Void rushed forwards, Pan matching his movements, their smiles widening, their power bunching and flowing about their arms, the distance between them shrinking in an instant.
Samsara came running up from the side, one hand extended. "Don't-"
Their fists met, sparked, gave out a momentary roar-and then they were both gone.
Samsara skidded to a halt, finding herself alone. "… what."
Gohan flexed for a moment, before turning back to Hattori and snapping his fingers; a portal opened up and swallowed the Majin, closing around him. Gohan rocked back and forth on his heels for a few seconds, humming to himself, until Hattori burst back into the material plane, stumbling a bit.
"Tryin' to dump me into that dimension to trap me?" he panted. "I told you, breaking through is no trouble."
"Oh, true. A bit tiring, though, isn't it?" Gohan grinned, giving a small wave and shunting Hattori off again, bowing slightly as the Majin returned a second time.
"So what… the plan's just to wear me out by doing it over and over?"
Gohan nodded. "Basically. I mean, it's about the only thing I can do… even if I was anything like as strong as you, which I'm not, physical force doesn't affect you. But you don't have unlimited stamina."
"That's… kind of scarily clever."
"I try."
It was hard not to notice the two enormous power levels vanishing at once; less than a minute after it happened, Samsara was joined by the rest of the group that had journeyed to Void's planet, the non-flyers and the wounded being carried.
"What the hell happened?" Goten demanded. "Pan's…"
"Did they annihilate each other?" Helios suggested.
Samsara considered this. "… no, I don't think so. If the power they'd built up had been released like that, this planet would be gone… depending on how much energy was cancelled out and how much got through, a hell of a lot more than just this planet, too. But what else could have…?"
"I have them!" the Scholar exclaimed. She brought up one of her hovering screens, eyes narrowing behind her visor. "They're… in another universe! Very close to this one!"
"Let me see the co-ordinates…" Samsara studied the display. "Right, so if we're here… and they're… okay. That direction." She lifted off the ground. "I'm going to investigate. If Uub recovers, send him after me." She accelerated out into space, leaving the planet behind in a matter of seconds.
An explosion came from behind the group, and the first servant they'd encountered came crashing to the ground next to them, giving a final wheeze before passing out. Launch skidded to a halt behind her, panting. "Finally! So, uh… what'd I miss?"
Okay… this way… prepare for transit through the void into- "Gah!" Samsara came to an abrupt halt at the outer edge of Void's universe, finding herself unable to enter the one Pan and Void now occupied. It's… closed to me? How?
Wait… I recognise this feeling! The universe they're in now… it has a strange quality to it… I remember this, from back when Entropy and I built together. It's… the energy of creation…
"It's odd, though…" the Scholar was muttering, back on Void's planet, tapping at the buttons on her armband. "From readings I took as we travelled here-for mapping purposes-I mean, I could be wrong, but…"
"But what?" Bulma asked.
"But… the universe Pan and Void are in now, it… didn't exist until just now."
"Are you saying…?"
Pan and Void floated opposite each other as the fires of creation roared about them; the new universe was still full of vast clouds of coalescing particles, and the space around them wasn't black, for the most part-it was opaque and bright red in colour, except where it crossed their auras and their divine ability to override inconvenient natural laws asserted itself.
Pan stared down at her fist, strange energies still crackling and fizzing around it. "What…" she asked, star-filled eyes blinking once, "… happened?"
"Something I've never encountered before," Void said with a grin. "Basically, when we clashed we generated an explosion reality couldn't even handle-really overclocked the laws of physics."
"I'm pretty sure my smart friends would tell you that makes no sense."
"Nevertheless. Your people aren't very advanced, but they do actually have a name for that explosion. It's rather unimaginative, but I believe you call it a Big Bang."
"Then… this place is…"
He nodded. "A universe we just created. Still expanding. Fascinating… I'd love to study it after I kill you, so hopefully we won't tear it up too much. Plus, what a memento to have around." He paused, scratching his head. "Seriously, though, that's impressive. I have to reward that. So… want to know my Master Plan?"
"I want to kick you in the teeth repeatedly for the next hour or two," she replied, her voice flat. "But we can do that first if it makes you happy."
"I guess I should run it by somebody at least. Probably a bit late to go back on it now, but what the hell. Basically… I want a better world. For everyone."
"Failing to connect the dots between that and what you're doing, but go on."
He laughed. "Well, it's not exactly straightforward, I'll give you that! I mean, I've always been pretty ambitious, as you know. But the basic idea's clear enough." His expression and voice became deadly serious. "There are gods. Leaving aside the little universal ones, you have the incarnations of Order and Chaos. They can go anywhere, create and destroy as they please, be continually reborn… but let's be frank, they're pretty sucky gods. When's the last time they answered anyone's prayers?"
"You mean they didn't answer your prayers," she said. "For one thing, you'd already killed them at the time…"
"When I found my planet empty, my people gone? Yes… that was when the thought first occurred to me. But the solution… I didn't think of that until I saw Entropy and Samsara running around, very much alive… different people, yet the same essence, as the ones I'd killed." He smiled. "They reincarnate when they die. And it hit me, right then! Making them into the kind of gods people needed… easiest to do from a blank slate, right? So, all I had to do was kill 'em both again, but this time track down the newborn reincarnations and raise them myself!"
"You waited a long time…" she pointed out.
"Oh, I wanted to do it right away. But by the time I noticed them they'd already had their falling-out-I was asleep for a long time, felt pretty depressed as you can imagine-I couldn't get to Samsara because of that damn seal. To break the seal you have to kill Entropy, but…" He gave an exaggerated shrug. "To be honest, I had no way to guarantee that I'd be able to take Entropy and his whole army at once, especially at the level I was at back then. I mean, you guys basically couldn't-if it hadn't been for them all dying after you took out Entropy, they'd have won that battle with those reinforcements they got near the end. Pretty epic battle, by the way, that one-I was watching.
"But anyway! I thought, I'd create some minions of my own. So, yeah, the Majin… themed 'em around the five elements from my homeworld. Also because I thought the element thing Entropy did was cool and I got jealous. But mainly the first thing. I spread them around and was letting them develop on their own… then Buu got screwed up, became defective. Then he, uh, died. So I was wondering what to do about that, when bam, he gets resurrected as Uub, better than ever. So I thought I'd give him a couple decades to mature before activating him and setting off to take on Entropy and co. And then you guys threw my plans off again -you're good at that.
"You did the inconceivable-stopped one of Entropy's universe-eaters. Then when he tried to crush you, you kept hitting back. Then you-" Now he pointed at Pan. "-and this time I mean specifically you -killed him. A mortal killed Entropy. And I thought, someone's copying me. But also, hey, an opportunity. Order was about to be reborn, leaving just Samsara to take out."
"But we got in the way," Pan finished. "Again."
"You did! But anyway, looking forwards, I'm gonna beat you, kill Samsara, grab the new baby Chaos along with the Order kid, and raise 'em the way I want. Then, with those two and my Majin… start answering prayers. Doing good. Improving everyone's lives, throughout the multiverse. People will start to believe… I'll have them use us like a sort of divine supreme court to settle things. There will be justice in this hateful existence."
"And you'll always make the right call? Resolve every issue fairly?"
"You got a better candidate who can listen to every complaint at once, let me know."
"And you expect everyone to just believe you? And if they do, follow you? You must not know people very well."
"Yes, that's…" He sighed. "That's the big one. People have got to believe in us. Accept us as their protectors. But we don't really have any one thing we're protecting them from, aside from the general suckiness of life."
"You're going to make up an enemy," she said instantly.
After a long pause, he answered. "… yes. I am. And of course, it will have to be…" He choked on the next part, tears running down his face. "… convincing."
"What the hell are you gonna do?!" she demanded, approaching and grabbing him by the collar.
"We'll… stage attacks in each universe. Huge-scale destruction-have to convince the inhabitants the enemy is beyond anything they've encountered. Then we show up publicly, 'defeat' the threat, and make it clear we're here to help and here to stay. They'll accept that." He closed his eyes. "It has to be done. A one-off sacrifice… then eternal happiness."
She broke away, staring incredulously at him. "I don't believe you."
"I know it's-"
"Shut up! Just shut up for one second, will you! Just… you…" She took a deep breath. "You're going to commit mass murder, lie to everyone, then govern their lives and set yourself up as the supreme authority in the multiverse… just deciding for yourself who lives and who dies… and you call that justice?" Her aura began to expand, hissing and sparking; she shot forwards, right arm lashing out.
Void barely reacted when it hit, giving a slight grunt and rocking back a little. "That's all?" He rubbed his head. "Since you've powered up like this…" He gestured to his star-filled eyes, then hers. "… I thought I'd finally use my full power. I actually used it when we clashed and created this universe, so I thought you were equal to me now. I guess that was just a fluke… you are stronger than before, but my full power is…" There was no flash or blur of movement that she could see-she didn't even feel the impact until she was flying away through space, head ringing. "… yeah, you're still not up to it. Hell, even the level you're at now won't last after this fight… it's more a heat-of-the-moment thing, brought out at the height of this intense battle. Think of it as a preview of your future potential-if you survive today, you'll be able to eventually become permanently this strong with enough training."
She finally managed to stop gasping and take a proper breath. "So you were holding back the whole time until now…"
"Heh, yup. What can I say, I like a challenge. But yeah… we've both shown our true strength, and…" He vanished, appearing behind her and placing the flat of his energy-wreathed hand against her neck. "The difference between us is pretty clear now."
She jumped away, eyes wide with shock, watching as he lowered his hand. He could've killed me right there…
"Not yet," he said. "That'd be a pretty short climax to what's been quite an enjoyable fight… I want to give you every opportunity to surprise me, not that I can think of anything you could try." He looked over at her. "I mean, any ideas? Cunning strategies?"
She gritted her teeth, sending another rush of ki through her limbs. "Second verse… same as the first." She flew in a rapid circle, angling a kick at him from behind, not even coming close as he dodged; she spun to face his new location, firing a massive two-handed energy beam; he caught it, crushing it to nothing between his fingers before retaliating with a kiai that hurled her away like a rag-doll.
"Stubborn, bordering on stupid… girl after my own heart," he muttered.
She flipped upright, sweat dotting her face, blood running down her face. "Heh… could be worse… you were full-on psycho for a while back there. You seem to have gotten over it."
"Ah. About that." Something gleamed in his eye. "I'm just about running out of willpower to resist it, and I've said everything I wanna say, so I'm gonna stop trying, let it overtake me again. I suggest you do the same; I know it's still eating at you, and I'd hate for you to lose without giving it your all. So." A shudder passed through his body, and the predator was back. "Let's dance."
Double or Nothing: Part 4
Staring around the strange chamber she'd landed in, Break got a strange feeling of familiarity. This place… and those two… I've seen them, somewhere…
And wait, in that machine, is that-me?! She took a closer look. Yeah, though… a few years younger'n I am… looks a lot more battle-hardened, though… and she never grew her hair out like I did, mine's starting to look like dad's…
Towa had gotten over her surprise fairly quickly. "Yes, I see… you're the same as the child, some years on. Our revenge can still be had… Mira, if you would?"
Mira started forwards-then hesitated, seeing a dangerous look in his target's eyes and a wild grin on her face. "Milady-" Before he finished his sentence, the entire palace was engulfed in an enormous blast.
Break landed on a plateau outside the city, carrying her slowly-stirring double. Now she had a closer look, something clicked into place in her mind; a distant childhood memory. "… angel…?" But… that wasn't a dream?!
"Heh." The younger girl opened her eyes, letting her rescuer put her down before standing. "Been a long time for you, I guess. For me, a few minutes." She gave a slight hiss, wincing. "Damn, that machine stings…"
"You saved me when I was here before…" Break frowned, puzzled. "But then who are… oh! You're from that other timeline, aren't you? The version of me who travelled back in time to fight the androids!"
"Got it in one. Look, I'll explain everything when we're in the clear, but those two are pretty tough, and they'll be here any-" She found herself dragged into a low cave opening by her now-older counterpart as Mira and Towa landed on the edge of the plateau, scanning the area for them.
"Two on two, let's hit 'em together," the older hybrid whispered.
"I dunno… not sure if I have another transformation left in me, and fighting Mira was pretty touch-and-go even at level 3…"
"The hell kinda talk is that? I don't give up that easily, and you're… you're, like, badass post-apocalyptic-future me!"
"Giving up? I don't remember giving up!"
"Then show me!"
"Think I will!" They were both grinning by now-this was exactly the kind of challenge that brought out the best in her, Break knew, so had used the same tactic on the other, to great effect.
Mira and Towa froze as they heard something, turning to face the source of the noise; slowly-rising voices carried over to them.
"On my mark!"
"Screw you, on my mark!"
"Whatever! Just go already!"
The cave burst apart, a pair of Super Saiyan 3's emerging, their auras clashing and straining to overtake each other, both seeming to grow stronger from the competition.
Mira charged them, jerking to a halt halfway as a pair of blows crashed into him before his was even halfway ready. He growled, rushing the older Break, who rocked back slightly, blocking his strike on her forearm before ducking down, unbalancing his legs and heaving him over her shoulder.
"I'm sure you can tell, I'm not the same as before…" she said, dusting off her hands, "but I think she's got some more recently unfinished business with you."
Mira looked up from the ground, seeing the future Break standing over him, cracking her knuckles. He sprang, snarling, and she shot forwards to meet his advance. There was a wide spray of energy and the ground cracked beneath them as they came to a halt facing away from each other. After a moment, Mira fell to his knees, blood gushing from a large slash on his chest. His eyes rolled back in their sockets, his strength leaving him. "M-My lady…" he gasped, falling forwards. "I have… failed…"
"Heh… finally…" She powered down, giving a contented smile as tiredness washed over her.
Towa, meanwhile, was edging away, but found her retreat cut off by the present-timeline Break-Towa jumped back in surprise, launching a massive energy wave from her staff. Break gave a yell, negating the attack without touching it. "Yeah, nice try there… you're done, lady." She blurred forwards, snatching away Towa's staff and breaking it over one knee, before jumping into the air and turning a full circle on her way to deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of Towa's head, dropping her.
Returning to base form, she walked over and sat next to her shorter-haired counterpart. "Job well done?"
"Seems like. Yours is gonna wake up, though."
"Yeah, on account of I didn't kill her. The big guy's dead?"
"That a problem?"
"Not what I'd have done, but badass post-apocalypse me, like I said, so I'm not gonna ride you about it."
"I mean, that and I didn't have the leisure of choosing to spare him; it was actually a lot closer than it looked." The future Break held up her arm, showing rapidly-forming bruises where Mira had struck in their final exchange. "I didn't know how much power I had left in me, so I just gave it everything I had."
"Makes sense, I guess. So, uh… how do we go home?"
"Funny thing. Between the two of us, every access point from this dimension to our home timelines has been destroyed."
"You know? That actually is kinda funny, heheh…"
A few seconds later, as they were still laughing at the situation, a suddenly-appearing series of ethereal, swirling gears materialised into a young man, a few metres from them. "Towa!" he cried. "Every time you make an incursion into the upper worlds, I get closer to tracking you, and I've finally-" He stopped, finally taking stock of the situation, noting the defeated demons and the doppelganger girls, now staring blankly at him.
He seems… almost familiar, but not quite, they were both thinking.
He had bowl-cut, lavender hair, a longsword was slung over his back, and he wore a long, dark coat; his ki was distinctly part-saiyan. "Um, hello. I guess I should thank the two of you… uh, I'm with the Time Patrol. My name is Trunks."
Chapter 50: Mind over Matter
A sharp blow hit Pan from behind, sending her straight forwards into an energy wave Void had released before moving to strike her; as she reeled from this, he struck again, this time from above, further disorienting her.
He got ahead of her again, letting her fall directly onto his rising fist and giving a guttural laugh as she tumbled away. "I'm impressed! I didn't think you'd survive this long…"
She caught herself grinning as she swung upright, clamping down on it. This isn't the time! Prometheus… She hesitated, caught between joy and sadness, and in that moment Void darted in and struck again, the impact stinging her face.
"Heh… couldn't follow that one either, right?" he laughed. "I guess it's pretty clear now that I'm in control of this fight. I might finish you soon… I kinda wanna know what your heroic last words will be."
Pan ignored him. This can't be all I've got! It wasn't a fluke… I did equal him for just a moment back there! When we caused that Big Bang, my power was… I need that again! I guess my power's always been unstable… but whether that's failing to meet its limits, or exceeding them… whichever it is, just give me that highest level again! She felt the bloodlust creeping in again, digging her fingers into her palms. Not now… not now!
Void watched her seem to struggle with something internal, shrugging. Not my business. He rushed in again, drawing back one fist. I'll do some serious damage this time. He was so focused on his aim that he failed to register an almost-imperceptible change that swept over her, a slight shudder in her body language.
His hand snaked out-and she caught him by the wrist, eyes blazing, lips drawn tightly in intense focus. He began to hiss as she twisted his arm away, her grip crushing slowly inwards-finally, she gave a shove, spinning him in a half-circle and ramming her knee up into his face as it turned towards her. A wave of force rolled down her leg, energy bursting out into his face and blasting him away.
He fell back, coughing and waving away the smoke that engulfed him. "On one hand… ow. On the other, where the hell did that come from. On the third hand let's just pretend is a thing…" He shot back at her, renewing his assault. " That's more like it! "
The momentary spark was gone, however; his blows hammered down to little resistance, easily bypassing her defences. She forced herself to think. I… what did I do? For a second I felt… different, but… how? It was like I was just acting on instinct… what mindset was I in? He's beating me when I give in to the battle-hunger, he's beating me when I resist it… what was different?!
However, when Void fired a one-fingered beam, aiming to pierce her shoulder, something different did come over her again. The world slowed down, and she found herself able to barely dodge, feeling the heat wash over her as it passed. This is it! This feeling, again… She blinked forwards, suddenly at close quarters again, her fists flying with renewed fury, crashing through his guard and driving punches into him one after the other.
It was impossible. It was unthinkable. It was happening. Void-the immortal, the all-seeing, the hero, the sixth element, the slayer of gods, the culmination-was being overwhelmed, and at full power no less. No longer was he playing around, devising cunning stratagems and receiving scrapes and grazes-he was giving his all, and yet there was nothing he could do as the barrage of blows rained down on him, each hitting home with the force of a billion exploding suns.
Eventually, though, he spotted an opening, surging forwards and lashing out, catching her across the face. She rocked back with the blow, ripples of force rolling away for miles through space behind her, and continued the backwards-turning motion, bringing both legs up, knees bent for a fraction of an instant before striking with a noise like a thunderclap, hurling him off into the distance.
At this, she felt it-whatever it was-slip away again, the unbelievable power fading. That's… all I got… that better have been enough… please… let that be-
And he was back. He was definitely the worse for wear, but he wasn't anywhere near done yet. "Okay… that wasn't luck. It wasn't a fluke. That's… the true potential I brought out in you, isn't it?" He pointed a shaking finger. "You can call it up…" I need to be careful now…
He thinks I can do it at will! Pan realised. That it's been deliberate… but I still have no idea what I did to trigger it… that's why he hasn't attacked straight away. Heh… even if I did know how to reach that power, I don't think I have the energy to do it again… She found the situation bitterly amusing, chuckling to herself. "C'mon!" she called out to Void, not sure how serious she was, her voice cracking as she spoke. "You wanted to fight me! Let's go!"
This might work… He weaved his fingers in a complex pattern, summoning up a group of tiny, translucent spheres, each of them fading in and out of visibility in turn. He flicked his hands out, launching the objects at Pan.
More pocket dimensions… like the ones he hit Samsara with! She heaved herself to the left, avoiding them, but at Void's direction they circled back around towards her with even greater speed. Damn, can barely keep moving… oh! Inspiration striking her, she swung one arm upwards in a wide, sweeping arc. A swathe of white light trailed behind, swallowing up the dimensional projectiles and fading a moment later.
Void blinked. "What'd you just do?"
"Another technique I've observed a lot." She shook the last misty remnants of the light from her fingers. "Hephaestus' thing… sculpting, manipulating, all that."
Void scratched his head. "Maybe this is a stupid question, but… that wasn't Katchin…"
Pan nodded. "He doesn't actually have to use Katchin. But he was born with the power to create it, and he can manipulate any 'uniform' natural substance. So since it's the toughest metal in existence, he always uses it. I'm not him, so I can't create my own material, just use what's around me." She indicated their surroundings. "Lucky for me, we're surrounded by the raw energy of a newborn universe."
"Okay…" He gave a shrug. "Okay then. Nothing else for it, then. Tried everything else." He raised one hand into the air, index finger pointing straight up. Sorry, guys. This is gonna hurt.
"I just…" Videl's grip on her jacket tightened. "You trained with her a lot, right? Will she be okay?"
Uub smiled. "No question. Void is the one we should worry about." He took a few steps away, tucking his thumbs into his belt. Wish I could say that and mean it. And… even if she does win… what will she have to become to do it? Will there be any of Pan left in there?
"… are you all right?"
"Hmm? Yeah. Yeah, I'm-" His words trailed off into a strangled gasp and he fell to his knees, a dark violet light swirling and flashing around him. "No… you bastard…" he growled. "… you can't have it… I won't let you… !"
Hayato, still unconscious, gave a shudder and a groan, while nearby, Ozotto's corpse twitched; both were enveloped in the same light as Uub.
Hattori came crashing back into the material plane for what must have been the thirtieth time, looking more exhausted than ever; Gohan prepared to send him back, but the Majin frantically waved his hands in surrender. "Stop! Stop!" he called, laughing nervously.
Gohan exhaled. "Finally had enough?"
"Haha, yeah, you got me." Hattori sank to the ground, panting. "You're really something…" He froze for a moment, before pitching over, convulsing. Nearby, the same thing was happening to Hasekura, the same strange energy engulfing both of them.
Gohan looked frantically from one to the other. What's happening to them?! What do I do…?
"Ah…" Void waited as five differently-coloured spheres of brilliantly-glowing energy coalesced above his finger, each in turn flowing down into it, sinking under his skin, passing down his arm and into his body. "All six elements… that's a good feeling."
Pan shrank back slightly. Oh sure, because he needed to be even stronger.
"What just happened?" Break demanded.
Goku crouched over his fallen pupil, checking his breathing and heartbeat. "I think he had his Majin power stolen… but shouldn't that just make him human again?"
"Since being 'activated'," the Scholar said, stepping up and giving Uub a quick scan, "his body seems to have undergone a physical change on the cellular level… I don't think he can survive without that power anymore."
"And lemme guess, Void absorbed it or something…"
"That would be the most sensible conclusion."
"Damn!" Goku punched the ground. And Pan's still facing him…
Samsara walked a few paces from the group, facing away. "I hate to say it, but there's very little we can do for her now… I hate that it went this way. It was me he was after…"
Tien approached, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself. This wasn't just your problem."
"Huh?"
"I got a brief glimpse into that universe they're in…" he said, indicating his third eye, a faint glow surrounding it. "Their power obscured things when they started fighting again, but I saw Void tell her his plan." He opened his mind to her for a moment, letting her view the memory.
"I… see." That poor man… he wants to save everyone, so desperately… even if he's run out of things to save them from. "Even so, I still feel responsible." She took a deep breath. "What I can do… is make sure that people know… and remember."
"What do you mean?" Goten asked, hearing now she was speaking to the whole group.
"Well…" She scratched her nose. "You ever seen someone get worn out by using telepathy?"
He shook his head. "I mean, it's never been too tiring. Even with King Kai talking to the population of our universe, or you speaking to us from across dimensions…"
"This time might be different."
"Why, who you talking to?"
"Everyone."
I speak now to the inhabitants of all of creation. You do not know me, nor do you know of the things I am about to tell you. But if all else fails, you must know.
There is a man who was once like you, but he has since lost his way. He wishes to remake your worlds in his image; he wants every facet of your lives devoted to him. And there is one woman-someone I have come to respect and worry for in equal measure-who still stands against him. She is alone, and far beyond our reach, facing the most powerful being that has ever existed.
If you have any gods, pray to them.
It was mostly a gesture, an act of goodwill-and in the long run, an attempt to stop people being taken in so easily by Void's planned deception. Samsara didn't think it would have any immediate gain, that anyone who heard would be in a position to do anything.
Quite fortunately, she was wrong.
Don't worry, guys… I'll finish this and give your power back in time… I won't let you die, I promise. "Sorry…" Void said as the spheres were fully subsumed into his body. "Like I said, I don't have any cool transformations… I really envy you guys. But I think you'll notice- the difference! " At these last forceful words, his eyes snapped open wide, and though there was no physical change, suddenly he was terrifying to look upon, yet impossible to look away from. He seemed far greater than any physical form could possibly portray.
And his energy was everywhere, it was unending, surrounding and crushing in on them, an infinite storm of inevitability.
"I guess this is 'the unstoppable force'," Void said, focusing the unbearable pressure around one of his hands and letting it play between his fingers. "Sorry, but you don't look very 'immovable object' to me. I don't think you're gonna win this one."
" Ka-Me-Ha- "
"Oh, but by all means do try. That way is much more fun."
"- Me-HA! " This time Pan swung her whole body behind the attack, her upper body rocking back and her legs locking straight as she thrust both arms forwards, a shiver running down through her tail from the backblast.
It availed her nothing, though; the focused energy beam stopped inches from Void, whirled away by his ever-expanding aura, engulfed and dashed into nothing. "Oh, shame. Nice try, though. Here's mine."
He flicked his hand out, pointing to her; the bulk of the maelstrom turned on her, smashing into her from all sides, an invisible fist with a thousand fingers, inexorably tightening its grip.
"I suppose this is where I should offer to let you surrender," Void mused, directing the deadly force with twitches of his fingers as if controlling a marionette, "but that would be anticlimactic, I feel.
"So." At a slightly more forceful movement, the general inwards pressure on Pan began to form itself into focused spikes, twisting their way into her arms, legs, shoulders and sides, rivers of blood flowing down her body.
"No screams of pain?" Void cracked a smile. "I'm kinda disappointed. Not that I'm that sadistic, you just kinda expect it at this point." He scratched his head. "Come to it, you've gone pretty quiet…" He noted the screwed-shut eyes, the grinding teeth, the bunched muscles. And that answers both questions. "You're very brave," he said quietly. "And I want you to know that I respect you immensely."
With that, he closed his hand, his augmented power responding to the motion by tightening its unseen grip on her head and neck, pulling off to the side and twisting, straining the bones in her neck.
"This ends our time together," Void concluded. "Thank you for everything."
Then he froze. That… isn't possible.
No-one should be able to enter this universe… whose energy is that?! "Who's there?!" he shouted, his own overwhelming power temporarily obscuring his omnipresence.
"Oh, think a bit, you silly little man," a cheerful voice replied. "Who else but the one-of-a-kind nigh-on-powerless dragon who, in exchange, can go bloody well anywhere he pleases?"
" You !" Void exclaimed, then paused. "Wait, no, scratch that, I don't know you. Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
Pan's eyes opened a crack, the dark-scaled dragon swimming into view. "… Kokuen…?"
"S'me," he answered. "Hoo, right mess you're in, huh? One'a your friends sent out a distress call of sorts. Reckon I can maybe help." He made a move forwards, his body dissolving into black smoke and enshrouding Void.
"What is this…?" Void choked, a sick feeling forming at the pit of his stomach. "I… aaagh-!"
"See…" came Kokuen's voice, sounding distant and tinny in this insubstantial form. "… I've been pretty busy lately. Doing some investigating… found out why I was different from the others. The Eternal, Tenebrion, whatever, wasn't very good at creating life-creating all those Order-aligned dragons caused an equal and opposite reaction, a bunch of Chaos energy it couldn't really work with."
"So it just… dumped it all into you, unprocessed?" Void snarled, trying to shake Kokuen off without success. "What a waste…"
"Heh… right, never turned it into combat power. Kinda ironic, I coulda been the strongest Shadow Dragon. But anyway… what I have got is a hell of a lot of pure chaos. Enough to destabilise your hold on this borrowed power, p'raps?"
"Not without… expelling it all at once-you'd die! There's no way you'd do something like-"
But he did.
Void let out a pained roar as he was inundated with raw chaos for the second time that day. The power he'd stolen from the Majin was ripped away from him, hurled back where it had come from.
The immense pressure on Pan was released and she fell forwards, gasping. "Kokuen… why…?"
Less' face it, I was accessory to a lot of crap that shouldn't have happened… and yeah, we were forced into it and lied to and all, but I still don't wanna be remembered as that guy.
Plus, my brothers and sister are all getting in on this… hate to let 'em come so far for nothing, right? Say hi to 'em for me, by the way.
"I'll never forget this," she promised.
Hey… no worries. 'Course, I can take this from him, but actually beating him… that's still down to you.
"Don't think I can… I'm a mess. Feel like every little thing's broken…"
You're more than the sum of your parts, y'know.
"Wait… more than… that's-" Her eyes opened fully. "Kokuen, you…" There was no reply. "K…" She looked off to the side, suppressing another outburst.
Void lowered his hands from his head, his breathing heavy and laboured. "Well… that was dramatic." He gave a weary grin. "All right… my boys have got their power back. It's down to just your best against mine. Whaddaya say? Let's put everything we got into this next go-around?"
"Actually…" She forced herself back into a fighting stance, wincing as her wounds stung with the movement. "… that sounds good. Since I just figured out what I did to access my full power before."
He did a double-take upon hearing this. "Wait… you didn't know until know?" Damn, and here I was worried she was about to bust it out again the whole time…
"Right… just instinct or something. But Kokuen gave me the idea-even if he didn't realise it." Pan nodded to Void. "Your battle-hunger. Does it make you stronger?"
"Uh… I guess? I do seem to be at my best when I'm in the zone, though that just might be me being more willing to cut loose."
"Because I was thinking about this earlier. I knew something had changed when I tapped that power, but I couldn't figure out what kind of mindset I was in. You were kicking my ass when I was in control, you were still kicking it when I was letting it take over."
He frowned. "So what's your solution?"
"My mistake, and yours too, is thinking it's completely binary like that, all or nothing. I can't deny it completely, or repress it-it is a part of me," she explained. "But that's all it is-a part. It's not me… and I'm greater than the sum of my parts." She gave a genuine smile. "That's my solution. Don't drag it to the surface, or force it down. Just let it be. It is what it is… and I am what I am. A human is so much more than one feeling." Just let me have enough strength left… just for one more time… even if this level is temporary… everyone is counting on me, I need this! The stars in her eyes shone brighter, her fists clenching tighter, her aura bursting back to life with new intensity.
She's not lying… this power is… "All right, then." Void steeled himself. "Never backed down from a challenge… not gonna start now. Come on!" He gathered his own power, slowly concentrating it more and more.
Pan leapt to the attack, the reality-bending force in her right arm bearing down on him. He released his built-up ki, a two-handed beam thundering towards her; she tried to dodge, but with the momentum she'd built up, she only made it halfway, the blast catching her right side and spinning it back. However, by this time she was already close enough that this simply brought her other side around towards him, and she forced her accumulated ki back up one arm and down the other, her left fist hitting him square in the chest.
The explosion on contact was cataclysmic, but Void, still being driven back by the mighty blow, lurched forwards with a pained growl, gripping her forearm in both hands and trying to pull her away.
After struggling back and forth like this for a while, Pan kicked away, releasing all the ki she'd been channelling into him in one focused burst, streams of it ricocheting off his body and shooting off into all corners of the universe. "GRAAAAAAAH!"
Finally, Void's defences broke; with a howl of frustration he took the full force of her attack-and at that moment, the ricochet built to its maximum intensity, and something else broke too.
The space around them seemed to shatter and fall away-it had been empty before, but there had been scattered particles, three or four dimensions, laws of physics (even if they tended to ignore them); this was true emptiness.
The Scholar gave a yelp as all of her screens overloaded and shattered at once. "I… do not understand…"
Uub and Samsara, recovering from their recent ordeals, gave each other a wordless glance upon feeling the tremor in reality.
Videl wrung her hands, staring into the sky. "Pan…"
Double or Nothing: Part 5
"I've been hunting Towa and Mira…" Trunks explained, still looking a little shell-shocked. "You two did this…?"
"Yeah, sure," the younger Break answered, indicating Towa. "I can wake one of 'em up if you want a turn."
"N-No, that's okay!" he said with a nervous laugh.
"Although, you could still help us… however you got here, you can get back, right? We're kinda stuck here."
"Uh… sure. I'll just tell the Kaioshin of Time to transport three back." He paused, noting that Towa was still breathing. "Uh, four."
The older Break looked up at him. "Kaioshin of Time?"
"Haha, wow, your timeline's pretty weird!" The Kaioshin of Time, an extremely-petite elfin woman in full formal Kaioshin gear (albeit with a highly ill-fitting full-sized jacket), giggled, studying a scroll depicting said timeline. "I mean… Raditz? Really? He was s'posed to die way earlier…"
"Hang on, 'supposed to'?" the present-timeline Break shot back, giving a pointed glare.
"Uh, that is," Trunks said, sidling between them, "in the 'main' timeline he did… that's all…"
It was the next morning, as far as one could measure the passage of time between multiple parallel timelines. Upon arrival in Tokitoki City, the girls had received first aid, a change of clothes, a rest, and now a large meal while their host made innocently insensitive comments about their timelines and Trunks acted as mediator.
The conversation on Raditz continued. "How d'you manage without him, though?"
Trunks shrugged. "Well, we had my father around… Vegeta, that is. I gather that's not how it turned out for you."
"Yeah, have you seen our version of you?" Break asked with a laugh, not noticing how her future counterpart flinched at the mention.
Trunks nodded. "Yes… I gather Vegeta didn't turn out so well in your version of history. Anyway… thanks once again for your assistance. Those two were really causing us trouble. I guess we'll fire up the transport soon and get you both back home."
"Mmh, in'few hours," she said through a mouthful of food. "This place's pretty cool, might wanna look around for a bit first."
"Sure, sure. Uh… s'cuse me, I forgot to do something earlier…" He leapt up as if at some invisible signal, scurrying off.
She blinked. "What was that about…?"
"Ah, he does that sometimes," the Kaioshin of Time called from the other end of the table. "Don't worry about him. He's very serious about his job."
"Someone has to be."
"Oi."
Trunks hurried off through the city, ducking behind a squat, round building and checking that no-one was around. Then he knelt down, his eyes flashing a deep purple for a moment. "Master… I have assessed the situation. Mira is dead, and Towa is now imprisoned here."
" Execute her at once. "
"It shall be done."
" And those two women? Half-saiyans like yourself, yes? "
"Yes. They are very similar to me."
" Then they are of no consequence. My enemies all gathered in one place… now is the time. Prepare for my arrival. "
Man, these lower levels are like a maze… The future-timeline Break wandered through the winding corridors beneath the surface of Tokitoki, following Trunks' energy signal as best as she could. I was just gonna ask him about the shops and how they're all so damn expensive, but now I'm kinda curious about what's down here.
After several minutes of searching, she emerged into a wider corridor, lined with energy barriers leading into small cubicles, inside of which a mix of unpleasant-looking individuals of all the universe's races sulked and paced. Holding cells for prisoners, I guess… She only recognised one, but that one gave her a chill just to look at-Cell, in his perfect form, standing silent and motionless with his back to the barrier. Must be from some timeline where he beat us all or something, I guess… how'd he end up here?
Trunks stood by the last cell in the row, and as Break watched he deactivated the barrier, entering. She jogged up to it, coming to a halt just in time to see him standing over the still-unconscious Towa, unslinging his sword from his back before plunging it down into her heart.
Break gave a short gasp, and Trunks froze for a moment, before slowly turning to face her, his expression blank. Calmly, he removed his blade from the corpse, sheathing it. "You shouldn't wander down here. You could get lost," he said, his voice totally flat.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded.
He offered no explanation, walking slowly past her. She grabbed his upper arm, stopping him. "Do you want something?" he asked quietly.
"I want an explanation! You're not leaving here until-"
"Do you intend to fight me?" he cut in.
She sighed. "… I guess not."
"Then your demands are empty, and I am, in fact, leaving here without telling you a thing." He pulled free and walked away, putting his hands in his pockets. "Besides, you killed Mira, no?"
"Killing an enemy in the heat of battle is not the same as executing a prisoner!" she shouted after him.
"So you say." He turned the corner, leaving her sight.
The Kaioshin of Time kicked back in her chair, downing a drink with a scowl as she spotted Trunks enter the dining hall. "There you are! Where'd you get to? We're about ready to send those two home…"
"Don't worry about it." Trunks' voice sounded oddly strained as he approached. "I'll take care of everything." The next second, his sword was in his hands, slicing down at her.
However, she caught the blade without looking up, holding it steady one-handed, taking another drink before speaking. "I don't know what this is about… but that wasn't smart. A Kaioshin is capable of defeating Frieza in a single blow." She gave a sweet smile. "How many did it take you again?" She ripped the weapon out of his grasp, tossing it high into the air before standing and sending him flying with a four-fingered gesture.
"Heh…" He climbed to his feet, tossing his jacket away and giving a brief smirk, turning Super Saiyan. He blurred out of sight, feet tapping the ground behind her before she had time to register he'd moved, catching his sword as it descended from her throw and holding it at her throat. "That was a long time ago. I've gone up against Cell, you know."
"Okay, give me one good reason not to kick you in the mouth 'till teeth are a distant memory," came Break's voice from across the hall. "Wait, scratch that. I'll do the kicking first, then you can give me the reason."
"I don't know what's happened to him!" the Kaioshin called out. "He's always been one of the most reliable people I know…"
"Heh… the Trunks you knew was certainly that," her aggressor chuckled. "But since a chance encounter a while back, I'm afraid I just haven't been myself. Lord Demigra sends his regards."
"D-Demigra?!"
Break nodded. "Yeah, I figured something was up… I mean, I just saw him execute Towa, thought that might've just been him being overzealous, but… yeah, nope. You know this Demigra guy?"
"A… A Demon God, who tried to usurp the Kaioshin many years ago…" their benefactor recounted. "I managed to seal him in the crack of time-a place outside of normal time and space. But he's recently been able to project images, manipulate people, even if he can't yet leave himself. I just didn't think even Trunks… and why kill Towa?"
"Lord Demigra has many enemies," Trunks explained. "Towa and Mira have interfered with his plans as often as the Time Patrol… besides, if he is to reclaim dominion over his old territory in the Demon Realm along with the rest of time and space, it would be inconvenient to have another would-be ruler to contend with. Are we done with the talking now?" His grip on his sword tightened.
Break's body tensed up, flecks of golden light playing up around her.
"Ah-ah-ah," Trunks teased, tapping his sword against the Kaioshin of Time's skin. "If you transform, you might startle me. My hand could slip."
"No need for that, boy," said a harsh, yet cultured voice from above. "Not yet, anyway. I'd like her alive long enough to witness my victory."
"M-Master!" Trunks stepped away from his hostage, going down on one knee.
Demon God Demigra-a pale-skinned, mean-faced, ornately-dressed being carrying a heavy staff-floated to the ground; with a twitch of his head he disintegrated the room they stood in, leaving them in the larger, grassy area known as the Time Nest. He gave the place a perusal, his expression unreadable.
Kaioshin of Time backed away slowly. "You're… here? Physically? But-"
Demigra lazily turned to face her. "But you sealed me, yes. And I have, for some time, had complete control over the person you've charged with checking said seal. I trust you can fill in the blanks." He began to walk past them all, towards the exit. "If you'll all excuse me, I have all of time to conquer. My schedule's suddenly been filled up, and I don't have time for any of you." As he reached the shimmering gateway into the main part of Tokitoki City, however, he found Break blocking his path. "Apparently you didn't hear me very well."
"You take one more step-" she began, then stopped, the next word catching in her mouth as her eyes snapped open wide. What had happened was too fast to be visible, but she sank to the ground, groaning gently, Demigra continuing his leisurely walk unhindered.
"I'm sorry, I take one step and what? I don't think I got that." As he stepped through the gateway, he turned back for a moment. "But don't think I'll leave you all with nothing to do. Trunks? Kill this girl for me, will you? Or maybe she'll kill you… I don't particularly care. That should keep you busy." He idly tapped his staff on the ground. "As for you, my dear Kaioshin of Time, feel free to stay and see which of your friends murders the other; or, follow through here and watch me lay waste to your city. Up to you." With that, he was gone.
Trunks stood, hefting his sword again. "Sounds good to me. I guess we're the same… the future warrior, going back to stop the android threat… except one of us has been serving on the Time Patrol, in constant battle!" He threw himself forwards, aiming himself for the still-downed Break.
"No, don't-" the Kaioshin of Time cried, far too late to stop it.
At the last moment, Break forced new energy into her body, driving out the lethargy, leaping up, transforming and intercepting Trunks in a single motion, driving an almost-casual punch into the side of his face and sending him skidding away across the grass, turning involuntary somersaults as he fought to slow himself down.
She cracked her knuckles, planting both feet on the ground. "And one of us apparently never got past the first level of Super Saiyan. Step up the training a bit, man." She shook her head as he leapt back to the attack, appearing behind her and bringing his weapon around in a wide arc.
She swung around, her hand lashing out and scything through the sword, snapping the blade clean in two. As he flinched at this, she took hold of his head with both hands. "If you're really like me… this kinda mind-control crap is nothing! You're stronger than this!" She began smashing her own forehead down into his, punctuating each sentence with another swing. "So get! A freakin'! Grip!" At this last blow, she released him and he fell onto his back, lying dazed in the grass, Super Saiyan aura fizzling out.
She stood back, rubbing her head. "Egh… when he wakes up he'll be back to normal."
"How do you know…?" asked the Kaioshin.
"Because that's the kind of depressingly-simple combination of blunt force and appeal-to-ego that always works on me." Break gave a thumbs-up, powering up to Super Saiyan 3. "I'm going after Demigra. You do what you want… come with, wait 'till Trunks wakes up, whatever."
"He'll kill you!"
"Heh, thanks, Mom. He'll try." She turned away and shot off through the gateway.
Demigra strolled down the main boulevard of Tokitoki City, every few seconds taking potshots at the fleeing crowds-a minute or so ago he'd had to fend off a swarm of attacking Time Patrollers, but none of them had presented any trouble and he'd now long since disposed of anyone who possessed the will to fight. Careful not to damage anything important, of course… the set-up here will be vital to expanding my reach across the timestream. He hummed to himself, firing off a few more deadly rays from his staff, a few more of the city's inhabitants burning up instantly.
His ears perked up for a moment, and he raised his left hand, catching Break's incoming fist; the impact rocked him slightly. "Hmm, that was much better than before… your transformations are quite something." He flung out his arm, tossing her back.
She flipped upright, coming to a halt and standing opposite him, fiery aura roaring. "Leave those people out of this… they're not in your way."
"Heroics?" Demigra's mouth twitched upwards slightly. "I didn't take you as the type."
"This isn't heroics," Break replied. "It's common sense. But I guess vanquishing a Demon God would be pretty heroic, so let me get right down to that."
He took on an expression of fierce concentration, tracking her movements as she streaked towards him, blocking several more strikes with quick, simple movements. "Futile…" He held his free hand palm-out, letting out a quick burst of energy, repulsing her attack, before continuing to fire, each shot driving her further into the ground as he advanced slowly, inexorably.
His advance came to a momentary halt as something struck him in the back of the head-a flying kick from the older Break, already at full power, hair even longer than a standard third-level's whipped around into a frenzy by her own ki. She continued her forwards motion past him, turning a neat half-circle as she landed by her counterpart.
Demigra gave no reaction to the attack for a moment, before taking a stumbling step forwards, grimacing.
"The hell have you been?" his first opponent muttered, jumping out of her newly-formed hole in the street and standing next to her rescuer, stretching.
"Getting help, since you asked," the new arrival replied. "Demigra's screwed a lot of the power lines up, but there was energy to transport two people in. I didn't really know how to work the machines, so I had to use two timezones they've recently done work in-one in my timeline, and one from the 'main' one, the one this Trunks went back to save."
"And your help is…?"
"In transit."
"Wonderful. Hey, you've had longer in this form than I have… if you're actually a lot stronger than me you can stop holding back to spare my feelings or whatever."
The present Break gave a short laugh. "Sorry, but I actually think you're a bit stronger. 'Sides, you know we're not that considerate."
"This just gets better and better. Okay, hit him together, when I say."
"Well I am you, and I say-now!"
"Wait, dumbass!" Somehow they managed to form up and charge back in at Demigra at roughly the same time; he shifted his staff to a two-handed grip, blocking both their swinging arms; they quickly twisted around the guard, grabbing ahold of the staff and continuing to push forwards, driving him back a step. He frowned, intensifying his energy and stopping their advance; they dug their heels into the ground, giving a combined yell and toppling him backwards, the younger ducking in and pulling his legs upwards to bring him fully down onto his back while the older flung herself down on top of him elbow-first, his composure finally breaking as he took a serious blow for the first time.
He gave a furious roar, leaping to his feet and throwing them both off, the city shaking under his power, downing his reeling enemies with a series of targeted beams from his staff.
"Hey…" the older Break asked, putting a hand out to keep from falling completely. "… you think… we pissed him off, maybe?"
"Oh, you're hilarious, you are," her counterpart grumbled, fighting to stay transformed.
Demigra took a step towards them, the ground twisting and bubbling where he walked-
And then a new pair of figures stood in front of him.
"And that…" present-Break said, giving a weary nod to the arrivals, "would be my help."
"Your time's Goku and Raditz?" the other asked.
"No, I told you; one person from my timeline, one from… the 'main' one."
"Oh… there is something… a little different about this Goku, I guess."
"It worked out… I wanted people strong enough to help, but the transport couldn't handle too much base power, as damaged as it was. So I made sure to get people like us… who get most of their power from transforming."
The brothers, meanwhile, gave sidelong glances at each other while keeping an eye on Demigra. "I don't think you're the Goku I know… different timelines, eh?"
"Heh… it was even simpler for me to work out," Goku answered. "In my world, Raditz died the day I met him…"
"Ah, man, that's pretty cold…"
"Don't worry, I can tell you're not like him. Not just a lot stronger… there's less malice in your energy…"
Raditz grinned. "Less? Not none?"
"Well, not as much as Vegeta's, but yeah, a little."
"I can live with that."
Demigra placed a hand on his forehead, closing his eyes. "This is becoming tiresome… I'm sorry, I don't know you. Do you intend to oppose me too?"
"Well, I dunno what's going on here exactly," Goku said, "but it's not hard to work out you caused all this destruction. And I guess fighting you could be pretty fun, too."
" Now you're speaking my language!" Raditz enthused as they simultaneously powered up to Super Saiyan 3, breaking in opposite directions and dodging Demigra's weapon as it arced down at them, punching a large crater in the street where they'd been standing.
"Admit it, youd'a stopped him even if it was no fun at all," Goku laughed as they skidded around behind Demigra, preparing to run back in.
Raditz gave a defeated shrug. "It's bad for my image to admit that kind of thing."
They attacked again, Demigra spinning to face them; despite being stronger than either of them individually, he found the ensuing melee a constant uphill struggle. Whenever he swung for one, the other would dart in and block it; if he dodged one brother's attack, he'd inevitably be moving straight into the path of the other's. They fought in tandem as if they'd been working together their entire lives, their teamwork already flawless. He found himself driven back, winded, injuries slowly accumulating.
"Damn it all!" he snarled, jumping back. "If you like to fight so much, fight each other!" He flung out one hand, reaching out for their minds; however, an opposing magical force unspun his curse, forcing him to give up his mind-control attempt. "Who dares…?"
"I'm not stupid, y'know," said the Kaioshin of Time, hopping down from atop a half-wrecked building. "I had a chance to analyse your spell from the remnants in Trunks' mind while he recovered…" The young Time Patrolman stood behind her, still extremely groggy. "I won't allow you to control any more of us!" she declared.
"Finish it!" Goku urged, drawing both hands back.
Raditz grinned, already performing the same motion. "Way ahead of ya."
" Ka… "
" Me… "
" Ha… "
Demigra raised his staff, his ki crackling up and down it. "If you think I'll just stand here and let you-" At this point, the other pair of Super Saiyans, having caught their breath, took advantage of his focus on their seniors, appearing directly in front of him, future-Break throwing an uppercut into his jaw to throw him off-balance, while present-Break wrenched his staff from his hands, bringing it down onto her knee and snapping it clean in two.
" Me… "
Demigra whirled, catching both of his attackers with a wild swing and knocking them away again; however, they'd bought enough time, and the brothers fired in unison, bellowing the final syllable and unleashing the power to unmake the sun ten times over, their combined beam striking Demigra directly in the chest.
There were several seconds of light and heat and noise, and when things returned to normal, there was considerably less of the city than there had been before.
"Uh…" Goku gave a nervous laugh. "Good thing everyone already got out…"
Kaioshin of Time rubbed her eyes, still dazed from the enormous explosion. "Yeah, it's… it's okay… we didn't need most of those buildings anyway…"
"Good to know!" A pile of rubble exploded outwards and Demigra stumbled out of it, almost collapsing, weary and ragged but very much alive.
"Give it up already," Raditz called out. "You don't have it in you to take another hit like that."
"You… insolent mortal scum…" Demigra's teeth ground together. "You think you've won ? Just like that? Did you think defeating a Demon God would be so trivial?"
Present-Break raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to-ah hell, you transform don't you."
Demigra's muscles began to bulge and ripple beneath his scorched robes, his teeth lengthening. "My dear girl," he rumbled, "whatever gave you that impression?"
Chapter 51: Hero of Another Story
Aozora no Yume
"Man…" Void's voice was worn, beaten. "… we only just made that universe. You broke it already… that's pretty rude." Back in the void… fitting enough place for the climax, I guess…
Pan sounded equally weary. "Are you done yet, or do I need to hit you again?"
"Me, I'm… fine!" he gasped, lurching forwards. "That attack… was nothing… ugh!" He bent over double, vomiting blood.
"It's over," she said, her words growing firm. "You aren't having your way."
He moved back, slowly standing up straight. "Heh… I thought I'd be mad. But, you know… that was the most fun I've ever had. I have to thank you. But still…" He frowned, doubt passing over his mind. "No, no, that can't be right. The hero wins… the hero always wins… and saves everyone. Right? And that's me! Everything I've ever done, was for… so… so why…" Something glistened at the corner of his eye. "… why are you stronger? Why can't I beat you? " He was unravelling, practically pleading now.
"Look… you're not-"
"No, I get it," he said suddenly, holding his right hand out, palm-up. "I get it. I've been so stupid… you're here, fighting for your friends, digging into your reserves, crossing dimensions to get to me… whereas I'm the man with a plan, the old guard, the supreme pragmatist." A manic, desperate grin spread across his face. " You're the hero… and I'm the villain ! Right?! Fallen heroes make the best villains, don't they?"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" she snapped.
The emptiness around them seemed to somehow intensify above Void's open hand, forming a small zone of utter desolation. "You're aware of my travels. I learned a lot during that time… I've shown you most of the really useful stuff already. But there is one technique I created myself. I only did it out of a sort of morbid curiosity-I wanted to see if it was possible. It sort of scared me that it was."
"What, it's a big blast?" Pan shrugged. "Hardly new."
He flexed his fingers slightly. "That doesn't really do it justice. If I set this off… everything goes. Everybody… and every thing… in every universe… everywhere. Understand?"
"That's… not-"
"Not possible? Consider where you were two years ago. Now look at us. I don't want to hear what is and isn't possible."
"I… just… please. Don't do it."
"I swore I'd never use this," he said. "Because it would be wrong, of course. And the hero has to do the right thing. But the villain, desperate, beaten, resorting to a mutual-destruction super-weapon…" He gave a hollow laugh. "That sounds right! That's what's supposed to happen!" The coalescing attack intensified. "So come on! Maybe you can kill me before I set it off! Let's find out!"
She started for him, and his grin widened-then vanished as, instead of attacking, she gently placed both her hands on his, looking unwaveringly into his eyes. "Void. Stop this."
"What are you…?"
"There's no mandate from on high that decides what you are. You don't have to categorise people like that," she said softly. "I told you, a person is so much more than any one part of them. Your way of thinking doesn't allow for that. You're not the hero-you never were. And neither am I.
"We're just… people, doing the best we can."
He froze, on the verge of releasing his attack and ending all of existence, a wild, terrified expression playing across his features.
"But… you were their hero," she continued. "Your planet's people. You saved them so many times, helped them through so much… I bet even in those millennia after you were gone, you were a legend to them." Her words gained force. " And this is not something that man would do ."
His breath caught in his throat, hot tears streaming down his face.
Slowly, carefully, she pushed his fingers back, closing his hand; he didn't resist. The concentrated nothingness above it dissipated, fading away harmlessly. The void fell silent again, and they began to feel the true vastness of the empty space around the two of them. There was a certain sense of shared experience, now; an understanding. They had been to the very brink and back together.
He took a deep breath, taking a step away from her. "And…" he managed. "And what now?"
"We go on living," she said. "You have people who care about you, waiting… good people. As for me… you told me this power I have right now is only temporary-a 'preview' of my future potential. I'm fine with that… I don't want to outpace all my friends so quickly."
"It'll happen," he mumbled. "It's in our nature. I'll be the only one who can challenge you again, sooner or later… you'll come back. Or I'll go looking for you. Either way-"
"You're wrong. Again." She smiled. "You asked earlier why you couldn't beat me… why I was stronger. You've been thinking about this all wrong… all this 'culmination' stuff. As if people like you and me are the be-all and end-all." A quiet laugh punctuated this. "You can't say that just because my universe has produced me, there'll never be another like me. My friends, my family… they're incredible people. When one of us races ahead, the rest catch up. Besides… as time goes on, each generation advances, standing on the shoulders of everyone who came before. My grandfather is one of the greatest warriors I've ever known… my father had a huge amount of power right from the moment of his birth… and you've gone on enough about what I am.
"So I'm sure when the next generation comes along-whether it's my kids or one of my friends'… they'll be something new too. They could become something far beyond you and me," she concluded with a contented sigh.
Void shrank back. "Wh-What are you saying? I've been… limiting myself by thinking I was all there was… refusing to admit there could be something greater, so I could never reach for that thing myself?"
She shrugged. "Something like that. But, you know… doesn't this apply to this whole fight? What you're trying to do… might seem, on an ultra-pragmatic level, to make sense. But having you hold the multiverse's hand every step of the way… they'll get lazy. Their growth will stagnate. I haven't lived all that long yet, but I've already seen so many people come so far… so trust me. You have to believe in people's potential to grow-not just individuals, but entire races."
He stood in silence, his head bowed, seemingly in deep contemplation.
"Now… are we done?" she asked. "Come on, let's get back. I'm sure Hayato'll be happy to see you're-"
"I'd love to," he said. "Honestly, I would. But, y'know… I did kill some people you liked, and I probably didn't have to. I don't know how you'd hold up, with me still out there. So let me make it easier for you."
She gave a panicked look. "H-Hey, slow down! What are you gonna do?!"
"And besides… I really couldn't be satisfied with any fight after this one. This was about as good a climax to my life as I could ask for."
"Don't-"
He lunged at her, energy sparking wildly from his body, roaring. She reacted on instinct, one arm lashing out-and plunging straight into his chest and out his back, his blood evaporating from the force of the attack. "There… tied up… some loose ends for you," he managed, slumping forwards.
"I… wasn't going to…" she said, her eyes returning to normal, the stars fading from them. "I hate you, you know."
"Heh. Like I said earlier…" he whispered, "… thank you for everything." He fell silent, life finally leaving him.
Enough time had passed that the Majin and their opponents had returned to Void's planet, and all waited in silence for a few minutes as the two vast powers beyond their reach rose and fell, one finally vanishing. A ripple of tension passed over the group at this.
The remaining power, now greatly decreased, re-entered their universe, (relatively) slowly approaching. Pan became visible above them, floating down to face them, Void's lifeless body held in her arms.
She walked over to the Majin, placed him at their feet, and bowed to them. Hayato wordlessly punched her across the face. She accepted it, bowed again and turned to walk away.
She made it four steps before collapsing, still losing an alarming amount of blood.
She opened her eyes to a slowly-turning ceiling fan. "Wh…?"
"Ah! You're up." Gohan sprang up from a chair by her hospital bed, vanishing for a moment before reappearing with Videl, Goten, Goku, Chi-Chi and Hercule. There was much crowding, cheering, hugging, and talking very quickly. Finally, they gave her some space.
"How long was I out?" she asked, when she had a moment.
"Almost a day," her mother replied.
"Oh, good… I was worried it was a lot more…" She sat up, hissing as pain jabbed into her body at multiple points.
"Easy," her father cautioned. "Something about whatever Void did… nothing we've got could heal it instantly… Dende, a senzu, even Kibitoshin…"
"Apparently that only applies for magic, though," Goten added, giving a reassuring smile. "Doctor says you'll recover with time."
Pan nodded at this, shifting the bedcovers and examining the bandages covering her wounds. The ones they couldn't magically heal… they're all from when he absorbed the Majin's elements… that was some insane power he had going there.
Speaking of which… She gently probed at her own ki, feeling its ebb and flow. "Heh… he was right."
"What?"
"That power was only temporary… that time, anyway." She sounded strangely happy. "But I think I did improve some from the whole experience… compared to before I fought him, anyway."
Goku grinned. "I'll be happy to help you test that."
"You're sure you don't want to stay?" Uub asked. "We could set up places for all of you pretty easily."
"Nah," Hattori replied, waving this away, adjusting his hat with his other hand. "Wouldn't feel right, you know?"
"We'll come visit, though, right?" Hasekura asked excitedly, hopping up and down.
"Sure…" Hayato sounded distant. "I'm sure we will."
Uub crouched by the smallest Majin. "Sounds great!" He returned the offered high-five. "See you later… little brother."
Alpha was sorting through bags, deciding what to take. "You're definitely staying, then?"
Hephaestus nodded. "I like it here. I do wish you well on your search… I'm sorry if you were expecting me to-"
"No, I'm happy for you," she said quickly. "Mostly I guess I want all of us to know what we're doing. Now it's up to us, there's a risk of… feeling lost, I guess."
"You were there," he noted. "You were pretty quick to dedicate yourself to taking down Entropy. Not that I'm saying you were lying about your reason, but… I think it was a mix of that and just needing something to do."
"That was never a problem for me," Helios, standing in the corner of the room, chimed in.
Alpha smirked. "Yes, the phrase 'one-track mind' could have been invented for you."
He looked over at her. "Although… do you ever regret not getting to defeat Entropy? I think you were strong enough, by the time we assaulted his fortress…"
"Not anymore. He's gone, we're free… I'm happy with that."
The door opened and the Dreamer leaned in. She shot a glance at Hephaestus, giving an unreadable expression, a slight chill sweeping across him.
And that's the other reason I'm not going looking for the Pit with them… she scares me sometimes…
"Hey, take this outside, wouldja?" Alpha called, tossing a fully-packed bag over to the Hakaishin, who caught it, nodding and leaving again.
Hephaestus shook his head. And then with Alpha, all the creepiness just melts away. I guess whatever works…
He approached Alpha. "I do hope you find it, though. All our kin down there, killing each other for no reason… and, if any more do get out, there's nothing waiting for them right now. They'll be scared, confused… more lost than we ever were." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Lead them."
She turned her red-eyed gaze on him. "Count on it."
As she left the building, having sent her two travelling companions on ahead, a stuck-out arm blocked her path. "I didn't think you'd want to be anywhere near me if you didn't have to be," she said calmly.
Bills stepped out of the shadows, arms folded behind his back. "Maybe I've come for revenge," he answered with a slight smile. "Who would win… if we fought now?"
She put her hands in her pockets. "I'd say I have a slight power advantage, but as a martial artist you're my better. So… hard to say. Do you intend to find out?"
"I've been taught better than that." He paused, considering his words carefully. "I have every reason to hate you, I suppose. But… when you did what you did… you were playing out the same lie I used to. The ones truly responsible have all been destroyed." He held out one hand.
She shook it, noting the warmth in his remaining biological eye. "You got your smile back… I was starting to wonder if you'd lost it for good."
"You beat me to it," he replied. "Though I daresay you lost yours for much longer. In any case… consider the hatchet buried. To be perfectly honest I still don't like you, and that's unlikely to change. But, well… as well as everything I've said, you did lay your life on the line for one of my comrades. So, liking you is one thing, but I do trust you."
"I'll take that," she laughed.
He gave a curt nod. "Now, if you'll excuse me. There are still some Earth foods I've been wanting to try…"
There was something of a gathering, the next day; not quite a party, but verging on one. The assembled crowd almost filled the largest room they'd been able to find, and a gentle stream of music floated across from one end.
In the opposite corner, Samsara flitted up and down a table, sampling various Earth foods with enthusiasm.
"So… what comes next for you?" Came Cadmus' voice from behind her.
"The Majin know where Void had Order hidden away," she replied, turning to face him, a plate of fresh fruit vanishing into her mouth faster than he could follow. "I'm gonna meet up with them and retrieve him, and then…" She smiled broadly. "I don't know! Ah man, saying that feels good. I can finally stop plotting and planning…"
"That sounds like a fine way to live, if you can."
"Yeah, I understand you've got responsibilities. But then, they pay themselves back… loyalty, companionship, and… well, and all that."
He leaned on the table slightly. "Yes, I suppose."
Pan came striding in through the door, augmenting her steps with ki, breezing past them and making her way directly up to Uub. Drawing in a deep breath, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey… uh. Can I, um, ask you a question?"
He looked up, smiling a little. "Oh, Pan! So sorry I wasn't there when you woke up! I was waiting in the hospital with your family, but then I got a call-had to go pick up my girlfriend from somewhere. I thought you'd be out for a couple more hours, haha… um…" He paused. "Sorry, yeah, what did you want to ask?"
Her expression froze for a moment, before returning to normal. "Oh, just, uh… like, if you wanted a rematch when I'm fully-recovered is all. I dunno, it just struck me to ask all of a sudden, eheh."
"Uh… yeah, sure."
"Cool! Cool. Great." She shuffled away, giving a little wave and leaving Uub nearly alone. "Great."
Marron leaned out from behind the pillar Uub was leaning against. "You don't have a girlfriend."
He sighed. "I do not."
"So…?"
"I think she's rushing into this. After everything that's happened recently… we all need a bit of time to think, calm down a bit I guess."
"So when that bit of time has passed…" Marron walked around to his front. "What, you're just going to tell her, 'sorry, yeah, I lied to you back then'?"
"Pretty much."
"Oh, that's gonna go down well."
"If she means it, she'll forgive me. Eventually. I hope."
Pan, now wandering the edge of the room, was met by Hephaestus, wearing something resembling a military dress uniform. "I see you've been shot down."
She chuckled. "Am I that obvious?"
"I believe it runs in your family," he joked. "But in any case, since you've been so tragically left alone for the night…" He held out one hand, nodding back towards the source of the music as its tempo increased. "May I have this dance, my lady?"
"You…" She shrugged, taking his offered hand. "Just the one."
"Of course."
Uub watched all this with an amused expression. "Anything could happen, right?"
"You haven't been this happy in a long time," Marron noted.
"Yeah, it's weird, but… I feel like I've been born again," he said. "I don't know what it is, exactly, but… now, more than ever, I'm looking forward to whatever comes next."
Break came ambling over, tossing each of them a drink and raising hers. "Fine words, buddy. To a new beginning, then?"
They returned the gesture, nodding in agreement.
"The beginning."
THE
END
Double or Nothing: Conclusion
When Demigra's muscles finished rearranging themselves, he was about twice as large, his features lizardlike, his upper body disproportionately large-in fact, he looked vaguely reminiscent of Porunga.
He cast his gaze around at his assembled enemies. "… two dismissible. Four worth concerning myself with."
Kaioshin of Time started forwards. "What's that supposed to-"
Goku appeared in front of her, waving her and Trunks back. "Get away!" he yelled. "It's not safe-"
"Correct!" Demigra stood over him, raising a massive fist. Raditz came chasing after him, grabbing around the poised arm and trying to hold it back. Demigra snorted, swinging back and throwing Raditz off, following up with a few rapid punches jackhammer-style, driving him down into the ground. "Three."
Future-Break sped right up under him, releasing an energy sphere up at him-he moved deceptively fast, catching it two-handed and pushing down, grabbing her hands in his and weathering the crushed attack's detonation on his palms. She pulled down on him, taking advantage of the position to flip her lower body up and drive a kick up into his chin. He grinned, shrugging it off and emitting an explosive energy wave from his body, flinging her away. "Two."
Present-Break gathered up the two injured, hurriedly dragging them away from Demigra. "Hey Dad… thanks for helping and all."
"Oh, no problem," Raditz muttered, rubbing his head.
"I know the situation's a little weird…"
"Eh, after the thing with the tiger I've come to expect anything from you."
"I told you that wasn't my fault!" She turned to her counterpart. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine," the younger hybrid replied. "Damn, he's strong… weird, though… can't even feel his power."
"Great… must be divine…"
"Seems that way," Raditz agreed.
The still-uninjured Break stood, stepping in front of them. "Well… here we go…" She shot back at Demigra, who caught up her and Goku at the same time, leaping forwards and smashing them through a nearby house. He kicked Break away, pointing down at Goku. "One."
Goku leapt up at him, but was floored by a beam from Demigra's outstretched finger.
"And that's that." The transformed Demon God stomped away from his downed opponents, raising both arms and rising into the air, forming a great shell of red light around himself, easily a hundred metres across. "There… that should keep all these insects out of my way. I only need a few minutes to extend my reach across the timestream from here…"
There seemed to be something a little off, though; a slight dragging sensation on his leg. He glanced down-future-Break was hanging from it, having slipped inside his shield. He shook her off, rolling his eyes. "You really are determined to die… such stupidity is actually almost impressive."
She flew back up to him, forcing herself back to full power. " C'mon! "
"How's she doing?" Trunks asked, still not completely recovered.
"Not well," Raditz said grimly, an occasional twitch crossing his otherwise-calm face. "Though, if his power really is divine… none of us would do any better."
Goku approached. "Damn… I gave it everything, but I can't scratch that barrier… can't even reach inside it with Instant Transmission." He kicked at the rubble in frustration. "I don't know who that girl is, but I can't stand leaving her fighting that monster alone… !"
"She's my daughter," Raditz replied. "Well, sort of. That's my daughter standing over there… the one fighting Demigra is from another timeline."
"Ah, we had a Trunks like that. Hey… maybe we should send her our energy?" Goku offered.
Raditz shook his head. "Against an enemy like this… simply increasing the size of your ki is useless."
Present-Break stopped at this. An idea seemed to be just beyond her reach, playing at the edges of her mind.
"… must be divine…"
"… maybe we should send her our energy?"
She froze, the idea clicking into place. "Oh. Ohhhhhhhhh ." She hurriedly spun, counting saiyans. Me, dad… other-me… Goku… Trunks… "Damn it, only five!" she yelled, throwing her hands up into the air.
"Something wrong?" Trunks asked.
"Ah, I just had a pretty good idea, but it wouldn't…" she trailed off. Wait. What if…
No. Oh no, no, no, that's incredibly stupid and dangerous, there's no way that will work.
…
Won't know until I try. Egh, logic vs. instinct, logic vs. instinct…
Instinct won out.
You know, I think I might just be an idiot. She turned away, heading off to the side of the road.
"Another good idea?" Trunks called after her.
"Since you asked, this one's terrible," she replied, disappearing below ground through the hatchway she'd followed him through before.
Cell didn't give any sign that he noticed his cell's barrier being lowered. As soon as it was down, though, he threw himself forwards with all the force he could muster-and was immediately floored by Break in Super Saiyan 2. She pinned him to the ground beneath one foot, leaning down towards his face and speaking almost under her breath.
"What you don't sense is the divine power of the Demon God Demigra. My friends are fighting him; if they lose, you're next. You can see how strong I am-I'm no match for him, none of us are. So you're going to help us. You will do exactly as I say or I will kill you, and I know you can regenerate so I will do it properly."
He nodded slowly.
She smiled. "Good boy. Now, I have two very important questions, so answer to the best of your ability. One: Do you, in your perfect form, still have the ability to emit the ki of any of your components? You know, Frieza's, a Namekian's… a saiyan's?"
Another nod.
" Very good! Now, this one's for the grand prize, so be honest. Leaving aside morality, or what others think of you, any of that… do you, Cell, consider yourself to be 'pure of heart'? Not necessarily 'pure good', just 'pure'. If, for instance, you were a full-blooded saiyan with your current mindset, would achieving Super Saiyan be possible for you?"
This one gave him pause. After about fifteen seconds, he nodded.
Her smile widened. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are in business."
"You think you can compete with me at your level?" Demigra scoffed, blasting Break back with a flick of his fingers.
"Power… isn't everything," she said through laboured breaths.
He tilted his head to the side. "No, but it's about all you have." He caught her incoming punch, twisting her arm backwards in an attempt to break it; she flowed with the movement, thwarting him. He chuckled, throwing her back again. "I take that back. You have some skill, too." He smacked away her next charge. "But it's not enough."
"I'm not… going down… that easy…" she growled, lunging back at him.
"Is that so?!" He began dodging her rapid-fire attacks, throwing in a vicious blow and rocking her back at the end of every sentence. "Is that for you to decide? What can you do? How far can willpower take you? Mere determination? Nowhere, if your body is falling apart around you!" This final sentence accompanied a two-handed hammer strike, slamming her into the opposite energy-wall with enough force to send ripples throughout the barrier.
"That's too bad…" Break sighed, sliding uncontrollably down to the bottom of the sphere. "Man, this sucks. See… even if I've got no chance… even if I do die… no matter what happens…" She almost cried out in pain simply from the effort of standing as her injuries bit into her with every movement. "… I'll still fight you."
He paused, perplexed, staring down at her. "… why? I don't understand."
"Because…" She gave a small laugh. "That's who I am, I guess." She smacked her fists together, planting her feet at shoulder-width apart and pulling on every last drop of meagre remaining ki she could muster up. " Come get some! "
"Utterly fearless, even in the face of death…" he mumbled. "If nothing else, I respect you for that. Very well!" He angled himself at her and launched himself downwards. I can see in her eyes… she has no plan. Merely the intent either to win, or to die gloriously.
That's the kind of mortal… I hate the most.
His bulky arm crashed down-and came to a halt, shaking from the impact, resting against her now-upraised forearm. "What… the…"
Facing resistance, she managed to shove him back, lowering her arm-the new energy surrounding her focused inwards, filling her body and infusing it with new life. And on top of that, a new sensation she'd never felt before.
"What is…" Demigra saw the leaner body, the gently-glowing red hair and matching eyes, sensed the changed quality of her ki. "… no. NO! You can't be…"
"… be what?" Break prompted. "Go ahead, finish. I really don't know what just happened, it'd be pretty helpful if you did." She looked back. They… gave me their power, I guess… why did I transform? And into what? There were fading streams coming from her older counterpart, Goku, Raditz, Trunks, and… Cell?! Worry about that later. Right now… She turned her attention back to Demigra. "You got any idea?"
"The… The Super Saiyan God…" he breathed.
"I guess this is that 'divine' ki they mentioned," she said, nodding, clenching and unclenching her fists experimentally. "My power's like yours now, then?" She vanished, appearing behind him as several impacts rocked his body.
"Guh… !" He turned as she rushed back at him, but managed to raise his arm in time to block the next attack. He spun, kicking her away, reappearing above her and stunning her with a two-handed blast. "Heh… is that all the power you've gained?"
"Nah, not even close…" She rose, unaffected by his attacks. "But you finally went all-out. Which means, this shield is strong enough to contain full-on divine power. So I don't have to worry about hitting you for real."
"What are you babbling-"
And then she was in front of him, her aura a roaring flame, her arm arcing around and driving hard into his stomach, twisting and rising towards his head, the same punch changing course and striking him on the chin too.
The resulting clash of power would have engulfed at least the entire city, had Demigra's sphere not been in place; as it was, even that shuddered, cracked, and finally shattered, the Demon God's charred body hitting the ground ungracefully, a few seconds before Break touched down, emerging from the expanding smoke-cloud.
"Uh… what just happened?" she asked, staring down at herself.
"I was gonna ask the same question," Goku said. "What'd we do?"
Oh, right… he hasn't become the Super Saiyan God in his time yet, Kaioshin of Time realised. "Uh, you'll find out soon! Hey, you must all be hungry after all that! C'mon, I'll have Trunks throw a meal together!"
Trunks stared down at her. "You're not… mad? After everything I did…"
"I'm furious," she said flatly. "At Demigra. Who is the only person to blame. And is now dead."
He sniffed. "Th-Thank you… thank you!"
"So, about that meal…?"
"R-Right!"
Future-Break had her new powers explained to her by her counterpart, well out of earshot of Goku; shortly afterwards, her Super Saiyan God form wore off, whereupon Cell, midway through a discussion about a possible early release due to his help, ruined his chances by immediately attempting to escape, only to discover that Break had retained most of her divine power even in her base form; he was summarily thrown back into his prison cell.
Kaioshin of Time gave a cheery wave as Goku departed for his timeline; Raditz and his time's version of Break were preparing to leave for theirs.
The deity paused for a moment-she'd seen their future, the hardships they'd face going forwards. The Shadow Dragons. The Eternal. Entropy. "Ah… Raditz…"
"Yeah?" He paused on the threshold, his daughter already having returned.
"I just…" She gulped slightly. "Thank you for… for everything you've done, and… for everything you're going to do."
He nodded, grinning a little. "Hey, no worries. Lemme tell ya, I enjoyed every minute."
Then he was gone.
The now-divine future-Break was the last one left with Trunks and the Kaioshin. "You wanted to ask me something?"
"Yes… I've seen your future, you see," Kaioshin of Time explained. "There's only one major challenge left in your timeline… after that, I'd like to offer you a job."
"With the Time Patrol?" Break asked.
Trunks nodded. "I think you'd be invaluable."
"Like I said, there's something in your own universe you have to do first," Kaioshin of Time added. "That'll give you time to think. We'll get back to you a year from today."
"Right…" Break idly scratched the back of her head. "I think I already know my answer, though." She nodded to Trunks. "I look forwards to working with you."
She turned away and headed for the entrance back to her own timeline. One more challenge… wonder what that meant.
"Lord Bills… I am detecting another divine power from across the universe…"
"Hmm? That must've been what woke me up… sounds interesting."
"It is only approximately half your strength… do be careful not to destroy it immediately. Whoever it is clearly has the potential to grow a lot…"
"You think they might actually be a challenge someday?"
"Certainly."
"Then there's no harm in paying a visit." Yes… today could be very interesting indeed.
"This story began with a chance encounter, long ago… and now we come at last to the present. From now on, you'll have to see into their world with your own eyes… but maybe that will be even more fun!"
-Akira Toriyama, 1995 (the year of my birth…)
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Seeya round!
(P.S. You all missed something.)
Break Through the Limit: And Another Thing…
Epilogue: The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer sat in his study, the small lopsided room perched haphazardly at the top of a storm-swept tower. A quill danced in his clawed fingers, his beady eyes scanning the page for errors even as he continued to write. It was part of a treatise he was co-authoring with the Scholar, and Son Gohan of Earth. They had no particular plans to publish it, or any idea of the 'point' behind it-they simply had to get certain thoughts onto paper.
That utterly unique individual who called himself Void… seemed to draw power from his namesake, the void itself, the infinite emptiness between universes. This seems a contradiction in terms; the void is, by definition, nothing -even moreso than interstellar space. How could it be a source of power? There will need to be a thorough examination of its properties-and perhaps further investigation into Void's life-story, though many of the finer details are undoubtedly now lost to history. No-one alive now, not even the gods, were around in the days of his youth.
Still… if the void could prove so powerful an asset… was he truly the only one ever to discover it? And more to the point… if we compare it to an ocean, Void was like a mortal learning to swim-dipping in, paddling the shallow depths, but never making it his own; always limited by his foreign nature.
If there was a being, or beings, adapted to it… they would be to Void as a shark is to a diver.
The candle flickered, and he froze.
He had, for a moment, sensed something-or rather, a lack of something. It was almost impossible to describe-there had definitely been zero ki there. But it was… a noticeable absence of ki. He had been intensely aware of the lack of life in that spot.
Nothing moved; there was nothing there, he was sure. Mostly.
He turned back to his writing, adding a note to his co-authors at the end.
I apologise if this passage seems out of place. My mind has wandered in strange directions of late. I feel that it is trying to expand, as if in reaction to all that we have learned.
Or perhaps my time is drawing near, and I am desperately searching for all the answers I can while I am still able. I cannot have more than a few centuries left in me.
I hope I do not come off as too fearful. But the thoughts that have occurred to me, the thoughts I have transcribed in the above passage… yes. I have felt great fear.
The candle flickered again, and went out.
Epilogue… To a Side-Story… Whatever: Future Timeline
I've grown to like the name 'Beerus' more recently, mainly because it seems they're taking the alcohol puns and rolling with them (Champa), but I'll still use Bills here for consistency. And also because it's still not wrong (as I've explained before in my rant about how translating the Japanese works).
Break burst out of the water, dragging herself to shore and collapsing, gasping for air.
A tall, feline-looking being floated down in front of her. "Had enough yet?"
"If I had the energy to keep fighting… I'd be doing it," she laughed, rolling over onto her back. "You win."
"Remember, Lord Bills, you promised not to destroy this planet if she had divine power," Whis trilled from behind the Hakaishin.
Bills hmph 'ed. "Well… I never go back on my promises." He sat down in front of her, licking the back of his hand and cleaning his head where she'd struck him during their fight.
"And the food was fantastic," Whis pointed out.
"Very well!" Bills declared, with a dramatic sweep of his arm. "I'll spare this world and its inhabitants."
"You know," Whis mused, stepping around his charge and addressing Break, "with proper training, you could become a challenging sparring partner for Lord Bills someday…"
She grinned. "Y'think so?"
He nodded. "It's possible. To that end… what would you say to becoming my second student?"
"I'd love to," she said, "when I can, anyway. I accepted a job with the Time Patrol a while back…"
"Not an issue. We're not exactly short on time. Whenever you have a few days free, I'll swing by and pick you up."
"You got it."
"Oi, oi, oi." Bills waved from behind Whis. "Don't I get a say in this?"
"What's the problem?" Whis asked, giving a sly look. "Afraid she'll surpass you?"
"Tch, don't be ridiculous."
"Then it's settled!"
"You're impossible…" Bills muttered.
Prequel: The Pit (by Temnascentric)
The Pit.
Thousands upon millions of miles of cavern-riddled hell.
Pain and suffering were everyday occurrences; cannibalism a way of life; loyalties shifting; losses of comrades mere annoyances, hope a treacherous ally, despair a faithful enemy.
They woke up knowing nothing of what might await them outside the Pit. They didn't even know that there was an "outside," let alone other universes. There were but few things they knew when they were "born," or created, whatever it was. They knew how to talk. To read, to fly, to use their powers. To fight.
Fear of death was also instilled in them. They knew that there would be nothing else for them once they died.
It was kill or be killed.
She woke up, slowly, languidly, her mind fuzzy but on alert. Her eyes opened slowly, then snapped open as she realized that there was something headed for her face at high speed. Panicked, she rolled away, and quickly got up on her feet. Claws skittered across the rocky surface she had been laying on, throwing up a shower of sparks, momentarily blinding her.
"Ah now, dinner, no need ta be so difficult," a voice said. "It'll be quick, yes it will." Then silence for a few seconds. The only warning she had that whoever had attacked her was behind her was the nigh-inaudible tac of claws landing on the ground. Instinctively, she ducked, avoiding an arm-sweep that would have taken her head off, then crouched and lashed out hard with her left leg, stepping out a bit on her right to balance. Her right foot crunched against something as she did so, but she paid it no mind at the moment. A soft impact and the sound of her opponent collapsing like a house of cards informed her that he wouldn't be bothering her anymore.
Said opponent groaned, rolling over. "Nor will I be havin' any kids, lass." He groaned again.
She froze, unsure how to respond to him. "You-" she coughed, making the first words since her creation. "You can read my mind?"
He nodded, pushing himself onto his knees, then his feet. With the glow of light still lingering in her eyes, she couldn't see him very clearly, so all she could see was him getting up. She tensed up again, prepared to fight again to defend her just-begun life. Realizing his error, he spoke aloud. "Aye, lass, I can read your mind. Ye don't need t'worry; I'm not goin' t'attack ye again. Di'nt mean t'go after such a new arrival."
Somehow, she instinctively knew he was telling the truth. Then suspicion came as she considered that he might also be able to influence her thoughts. "Nay, lass, if I were able t'do that, I would have made ye kill yeself, then I woulda et ye. M' glad I di'nt hurt ye. Be careful, though, lass, there aren't many as honourable as meself in this hellish place." He turned and got ready to take off.
She coughed again, calling out to him. "Wait! Where am I? Who are you?"
He chuckled humourlessly, darkly. "Ye will find out soon enough where you are, and ye won't like it. As fer who I am… I have a feelin' we'll meet again, lass." With another dark chuckle and a wince of pain from his damaged nether regions, he took off, disappearing quickly from her still-blinded eyes into the shadows all around.
She stared vainly after him anyway, but could not make out his retreating form.
Some time later, she woke up again, this time of her own accord. Blinking, she realized that it was a bit lighter than it had been before. She pulled herself upright into a sitting position and looked around. Now that she could see better, she saw what was all around, what she had stepped on earlier.
Bones.
There were bones everywhere she looked, bleached white for the most part, but many covered in bits of meat, some rotted, others fresh, splashes of blood everywhere. The pile of bones was so thick, the bottom layer had broken down into dirt, and a few scraggly trees clung to life in the thick darkness. As she watched, another shower of bones came down from above, some with such force that they vaporized upon impact. Then came a huge pile of them, and, worst of all, a head. It rolled towards her and came to rest at her feet, its eyes still open in shock, mouth seemingly gasping for air.
She screamed. She screamed and screamed and kept on screaming until she couldn't anymore. Once she couldn't scream, she cried, curling up into a ball.
The head spoke. "Cut that racket out, young lady. I'll be fine. There's still life in this old dragon yet."
She screamed again, hoarsely, but still loud. The head winced. "New arrival, eh? Oh, well… suppose it's to be expected." Its eyebrows knit together in concentration and power flared out from it, the bones around it flying off into the darkness-then the head flashed twice, brilliantly, then-
-and then-
When she finally regained her sight, she looked over at the place where the head laid. Or, rather, had lain. In its place there was now a tall, handsome figure. His eyes were white, rimmed with gold, and his clothes were… maddening. The more she looked at them, the less she could discern their style. His hair was a deep purple, nearly black, and his hands were clawed, though even those were beautiful. Catching her gawping stare, he smiled, revealing pearly white teeth and fangs. "Ah, miss, now don't stare at my clothes too long. They're meant to induce madness."
She shook her head to dispel the trance that had come over her from staring at his clothes and took a closer look at him. His face was slightly wrinkled, which, somehow, she knew was rare in a Shadow Dragon. He smiled again, as if reading her mind. "Ah, you've noticed that I have wrinkles. Yes, my dear, I am old. Thirteen millennia, to be exact, though how I know that I'd like to know." He chuckled humourlessly. "So, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I'm Somnus, and you are?" To punctuate his statement, he flashed another gorgeous smile, trying to put her at ease.
However, its effect was the exact opposite of what he intended. She tightened her grip on her legs and hugged them closer to her, her red eyes watching him warily. "I'm… Aleia," she said guardedly.
"Hm… Well, it's a start. Suppose we get out of this area for now? I have some rather nasty characters after me, and they no doubt know that I survived, so it might be best if we moved-" A loud crash a scant hundred meters away cut his words off. A series of smaller impacts sounded near it, and he grimaced. Reaching out to his side, his arm blurred and began glowing like his head had before. Retracting it, he pulled a four-foot sword, more like an enormous meat cleaver really, seemingly out of thin air. Yelling and a dreadful amount of cursing wafted over to Aleia and Somnus, and he grimaced again.
"Go, Aleia. Run; these ones will not hesitate to kill anyone with me. They have no morals. Go, child; you have a long life yet."
Her red eyes turned on him, blinking once. "No."
Somnus blinked himself in consternation. "Go, girl! Don't throw your life away! Even drained like this, I'm more than a match for these. But you… you're so new, they'll easily take you down! So go!"
"Go? But we haven't even been introduced!" A hearty, infectious chuckle wafted from behind Aleia. "We haven't even begun the party! Ah, Somnus, you old worm, age is getting to you, isn't it? Making you forget things. To think I would live to see the day!"
Somnus's white eyes widened slightly, but that was the only sign of panic he showed. "Leave her out of this, Thanatos. She has nothing to do with our quarrel," he said.
Aleia turned to face the one Somnus had called Thanatos, but saw nothing. The voice chuckled again, richly, deeply. It was the sort of pleasant voice that you could listen to all day. "Are you looking for me, child? Very well, I suppose it's only fair." A shadow behind the dead trunk of a tree seemed to twist and collapse in on itself, and a figure appeared at the centre of where the shadow had been. From the right, six more figures came into view from behind a pile of bones, all of varying size.
Thanatos began walking towards Somnus and Aleia, slowly, unhurriedly. The other shadows began coming closer as well, gaining more definition as they approached. When they finally settled into sight, Aleia frowned in confusion; they all looked like the leader, Thanatos. He was a stark contrast to Somnus; where Somnus had kindly eyes and a good smile, Thanatos' were filled with anger and hate, tinged with insanity. Aleia nearly lost her own sanity looking at those hateful orbs.
"Aleia, was it? It's so nice to meet you. I, as you now know, am Thanatos. Now, if you'll be so kind as to move out of my way, I have some unfinished business with Somnus here." He smiled to try to appear kindly, but his teeth were black and filed to ugly tips. Blood appeared to stain his mouth.
"No."
Thanatos tried to walk around Aleia, but she instantly appeared in front of him. "Move, girl," he growled, much less controlled than before. She responded by hitting him in the groin. Apparently that was a weak spot common to all male Shadow Dragons, and he folded up, wheezing like a hyena. However, he still had the use of his mouth, and he bellowed an attack order.
In unison, the other dragons leaped at Aleia. With an uppercut, she sent the first flying off into the darkness, where he atomized a tree, then disappeared in a puff of smoke himself, so great was the impact. The second was cut in half by a powerful clothesline. Three and four went down within milliseconds of each other, Aleia using one as a club to hit the other, sending both flying into a wall, one briefly embedded into it, snapping his neck, before the second pulverized his corpse, exploding into a wet mess. Five tripped over six's dead body (Aleia had snapped his neck too fast for them to see) and had his spine snapped as she stepped on him to get to Thanatos.
All of this happened within ten seconds.
Aleia stopped in front of Thanatos and kicked him, making him roll over onto his back. "Get up," she said. Groaning, he did, then pulled himself upright, swaying as his groin injury made itself angrily known.
"How long have you been here, girl?" he asked in awe.
She shrugged. "Two hours, give or take."
He shook his head and fell into a fighting stance. "Impossible. No one is that powerful right off the bat. Somnus must have helped you." He looked over at Somnus, which quickly dispelled any such suspicion. Somnus's jaw was slack and his golden, pupil-less eyes were wide as could be. The sword dropped out of his hand with a heavy clang.
Aleia smiled, somewhat unnervingly. "Wanna test your theory? I'm getting real impatient since you interrupted Somnus, who was about to explain what the hell's going on, and I'd just love a good punching bag to take it out on." Thanatos glared at her, then dropped his stance, though he kept his black eyes on her. A master of body language, Somnus recognized his right hand twitching as a sign of impending ki release. But apparently Aleia noticed it too, for her own hand was twitching.
"A little wyrm like you, defeating a master like me and my clones? Impossible." Fangs glistened. "That's what I do. Any who die by my hand are resurrected as my clones. And soon you will join them!" he roared, swinging his hand up to fire a screaming black beam of power at Aleia. She rolled her eyes and relaxed her hand. The beam parted around her, doing nothing more than whipping her hair around, the redirected fragments missing Somnus by mere inches.
Thanatos laughed madly, pouring more power into the attack.
And then his world spun around. He couldn't feel his body or his ki anymore.
He fell, the beam cutting out as he hit the ground. Aleia stood over him, arms crossed. "That was starting to get annoying."
He gasped for air. "How-how did you-"
Again the red eyes rolled. "So that's a 'master'? Only that?" She walked off into the darkness.
Somnus followed her a few seconds later, glancing back at Thanatos's prone form. "What-how-who are you?" he spluttered. "That little display… What was that? How did you do that? A new arrival shouldn't be that powerful! It was only surprise and numbers that let him injure me, but… even my full power, compared to what you just did… !"
She blinked, her sanguine eyes twinkling like stars. "I thought they were pursuing you. I took care of them."
"And well you did, but how? And you screamed at seeing my head, yet no less than two minutes later you're annihilating one of the most powerful dragons in the Pit!"
She sat down, crossing her legs as she did so. "So that's what this place is? Thanks… before you came along, the first thing that happened to me was an attack. How's that for an earliest memory? This place…" She shook her head. "That dragon told me that few others would be as soft on new arrivals as he was. Looks like you're one of those. Thanatos… the opposite, I guess. No telling what he does to new arrivals." She shuddered.
Somnus sat down beside her. "So you're saying you wanted to prevent others from falling prey to him?"
She nodded. "As for why I'm so powerful, no idea. All I know is my name and how to protect myself." She hesitated, realising something now she had a moment to collect her thoughts. "I don't even like my name."
He sighed. "My girl, it seems I have a lot to teach you about how things go down here. Starting with hiding your power. Thanatos was strong but short-sighted-he never learned to hide his power, nor how to sense others'. Can you feel other power levels?"
She nodded. "It feels like a dull pressure in my head. Yours is really high, and rising by the second."
Somnus smiled. "I'm raising it slowly, my girl." Abruptly, his power level plummeted, though outwardly there was no change. "This is me hiding my power level. It's like pushing it down. Imagine forcing your body's energy lower. This is what you need to be able to do. Otherwise, you will attract the attention of all sorts of unsavoury characters. Down here, to walk around with your power level unhidden is an open challenge."
She nodded. "Thank you, Somnus." She got up and started walking away. Her power level fluctuated, then dropped sharply.
"Aleia, wait. There is still much that you need to learn. Stay with me for now, so I can teach you."
She turned to face him. "What's in it for you?"
He chuckled. "The chance to see a new arrival escape this place. I'm old, Aleia. In all my years, I have heard of precious few who have supposedly made it out of this hellish place. I want to see it myself. Give an old dragon that much, will you?" He reached his hand down. "Do you want to make it out of here?"
One could theorise that Somnus' age is an inconsistency with how long the other dragons were implied to have lived without ever showing signs of age (if they even age at all other than becoming more draconic), but I prefer to think that either A. Somnus is an unusual case, B. their aging works differently in the Pit, or C. this is an interpretation by an author other than me and the 'rules' can be bent slightly to fit that interpretation, especially since saying 'thirteen millennia' just sounded better and was less unwieldy than rattling off some mind-bogglingly huge number.
Epilogue: Alpha Shenron
"What was it like?"
Alpha snapped out of her daze, glancing down-Asrai had snuck up (as was her way) and now lay with her head in Alpha's lap, looking up at her. "The Pit, I mean. All you've ever told me is what happened there, factually. What did it feel like?"
Alpha glanced over at the campfire-plenty of fuel for the next few hours. Helios wouldn't be back for a while; he was currently triple-checking all the nearby worlds they were already certain didn't contain the object of their search.
"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine," the Dreamer added. "Sorry if-"
"It's okay," Alpha said, continuing to stare into the fire. "C'mon, usually you can read me better than that."
"I'm tired."
"Hmh." Alpha took a minute to form her answer. "The Pit was… fear… hunger… shame… just enough hope to keep you going…" She spoke almost in monotone, twitching a little every few words. "… and… the smell of death. So horrific, so constant in hindsight, but you didn't notice it until it was gone."
"It did that to so many of you… for so long…" Asrai muttered.
"And we made it our god." Alpha gave a bitter laugh. "An entire species raised on a prisoner mentality…"
"We'll have to go inside, when we track it down… it might be a shock."
Alpha took the offered hand, closing her eyes. "It might be hard, yeah. But I should be fine, with the two of you around."
"What, Helios has the same hold on you as I do?" Asrai teased.
Alpha grinned. "Y'know, I think he sometimes wanted to ask."
"Ah, that throws new light on the death threats."
"He threatened-ah, of course he did. Well, you're here, so I guess you ignored them."
"No, actually, the threats were if I made you unhappy."
"Ugh, that's embarrassing. I was worth that?"
"I'll tell you after he kills me." Asrai sat up. "He just wants to help you, no matter what it is… in his own way."
"And he does," Alpha replied, serious all of a sudden. "More than he knows. I guess… he makes me want to become the kind of leader he's always thought I was."
Epilogue: Launch
The police station wall exploded outwards, Launch strolling out with a yawn. She hadn't, however, expected Gohan, in superhero garb, to be waiting outside.
She sighed. "You can't watch me 24/7, you-"
"Are you okay?"
She paused. "… huh?"
He held up a newspaper report on her latest escapade. "You barely took enough for a couple meals. Were you just running on autopilot?"
She shrugged, walking past him.
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Seriously… how are you holding up?"
"M'fine." She shoved it off.
"If you need to talk-"
"Shove it, Gohan."
He stared after her as she slouched off. "Just… concerned, okay?" he muttered.
She looked back at him. "Ah, I'm sorry, man. Thanks for caring." She half-smiled. "I've got Break, I'll be okay." She almost took off, turning back again at the last second. "Aren't you getting too old to play superhero?"
"Ah, that's where everybody gets it wrong." He grinned. "I was never playing."
Break Through the Limit: After-Party
Epilogue: Time Patrol
Break reappeared in Toki Toki City, emerging from the timestream in a burst of ethereal gears and tossing the scroll corresponding to the timeline she'd visited to the Time Kaioshin, yawning.
"Man, another walkover… been pretty quiet since Demigra," she said. "I mean… not that I'm complaining."
The Kaioshin coughed.
Break sighed. "Okay, yeah, I'm complaining. I'm bored. But I know I shouldn't be. Easily-preventable threats are a good thing. I know I'm not here just to have fun."
"But you'd prefer it."
"Sure, but where am I gonna get a challenge at this point? Outside the guys training me back home, of course." She indicated herself, throwing out her shoulders in mock-bravado. "Kind of an actual god now."
"You're in luck." The Time Kaioshin gestured towards the door. "Trunks, wouldja bring in our friend?"
On cue, Trunks walked in, another figure following behind him.
Break tensed up for a moment upon seeing their general outline, but relaxed when she recognised who it actually was. "Hey, you're Frieza's kid, right? From the timeline I changed!"
Kuriza nodded. "Yup!" He extended a hand, which she shook. "Good to see you again."
"Yeah, same… what are you doing here, though?"
"Well, now the main governing body in that universe isn't, you know, terrible, we thought we should make contact," Trunks explained. "Covertly, anyway. Just to make things easier if we need to operate there."
"He mentioned you, and your boredom problem," Kuriza added.
"But I only just told-" Break trailed off, turning to the Time Kaioshin. "Am I that easy to read?"
The deity gave a cheeky grin. "Oh, you are."
"Anyway, I think I might be able to help you out," Kuriza continued. "Follow me, we're gonna need some space."
They made their way out onto the green expanse that comprised most of the Time Nest.
"So, just how pow-" Kuriza began, before being cut off by a mechanical jingle.
Break gave an apologetic look. "Just a sec." She dug out her phone, answering it. "Hello? Oh… look, I'm kinda-wait, who taught you to use a phone anyway? What? Look, it's really not that interesting. No, those people all went back to-look, you'd just-ugh, okay, yes you can come next time. Just transform when you ask them, nobody's gonna argue with you when your biceps are twelve feet wide. Okay, yeah… look, I really have to-not if you keep-yes I do miss you, but less so when you keep on like this! Okay. Okay. Yeah. Goodbye. " She hung up and tossed it away with enough force to embed it in the opposite wall.
Kuriza raised an eyebrow. "A job where you travel a lot… a needy boyfriend… trouble balancing the two. How strangely mundane, considering I'm talking to a time-travelling hybrid super-warrior with literal divine power."
"He's not my b-" She began, then stopped herself. "Okay yeah. But you were saying?"
"Right, right. Once again: Just how powerful are you?"
"D'you have a god called Bills in your universe?" He nodded, so she indicated herself with a sweeping gesture, continuing. "He had to use over half his power to beat me."
"Oh, not bad," Kuriza mused. "I think I have just the sparring partner for you."
"You do?"
"Yeah, gimme a second." He widened his stance slightly, his arms rising from his sides, his brow furrowing.
Then he let out a mighty yell, at least an octave deeper than his normal voice, and a tempestuous aura erupted around him, swirling in tighter and tighter and growing more opaque until it cloaked his entire body.
His ki had been rising the whole time, but now it truly skyrocketed. The obscuring cloud of energy seemed to blow away in an instant, like a curtain whipped back; Kuriza stood revealed, his power unbelievably massive, his skin shining gold.
"Don't tell me you're a Super Saiyan now," Break joked. "I know it's getting more common, but this is ridiculous."
"I know you're not serious, but you're not far off," he replied. "I had to create a new form to contain all this power, and the appearance was up to me… I guess I got jealous of you guys, figured I'd be all shiny too."
"How'd you do it?"
"I visited my home planet," he said, his eyes flicking off to the side. "It's not pleasant… I'm still trying to work on a plan to clean it up. But I'd heard there were a lot of texts my grandfather had suppressed. One of them was an advanced training method specific to our race-revolutionary, really. I guess he didn't want anyone using it, or it would level the playing field, make our family of powerful mutants less special; we might have to actually work to be in charge."
"So you did the training, and discovered… what, exactly?" Break asked.
"Something new." He looked back up at her, then tensed up for a moment, vanishing.
He appeared behind her, and she burst into Super Saiyan at the last instant, turning just in time to block a backhanded swing, the impact sliding her back a few feet.
He lowered his arm. "A level of 'normal' ki so overwhelmingly massive it rivals divine power."
"That shouldn't be possible…" she muttered.
"Shall we find out?"
She cracked her knuckles. "Nothin' I want more."
Prequel: The Pit, part 2 (by Temnascentric)
Bones crunched underfoot as Aleia walked behind Somnus. In the distance, a relatively large dot of light wavered in the inky darkness, growing larger as they approached it.
Two weeks had passed since Aleia's first day in existence. During that time, she had been scoffed at and then attacked by no less than twenty other dragons. None had come out of the fight in good condition. Two had died, and a third went mad at the sight of his comrades being taken out so viciously, and of her walking towards him, her fiery red eyes blazing with the rush of combat, the very image of fear made flesh, like a living avatar of death.
Despite this and the fact that word had indeed reached upper ears of her power, she was still attacked. Many seemed to have a feud of some sort with her guide/mentor, Somnus, though none came even close to approaching his skill or power. Each fared badly, whether they attacked her or him. His sword was a blur; often, an enemy would not even realize they were missing bits when he struck.
It came as a bit of a surprise when Somnus informed her that there were no real homes in the Pit, though she sort of understood why. Dangers in the form of malicious dragons made a "home" a target. To stay in any one place for any sort of extended period of time invited trouble, likely death, for most any Shadow Dragon. The only ones that defied these rules were those dumb, wily, or powerful enough to do so. Though Somnus, with his regenerative capabilities and strength, was one of those, his habits born of his millennia alive near-on forced him to wander.
Currently, Somnus was taking Aleia to a well-known "safe" (as safe as one could get in the Pit) place, a bar of sorts. After so long in such a horrible place, it was only natural for such a thing to exist. Owned by a pathetically weak, yet incredibly combat skilled dragon (his power level never really rose no matter how he trained, although his hand to hand, blade to blade, or really any such skill was unmatched by nearly any in the Pit, and his speed was leagues beyond most), it had become a roaring emporium of intoxication.
It also stank something horrible. Aleia gasped as ammonia stabbed at her eyes. The smell of waste matter wormed its way to her olfactory ducts, her eyes widening in sheer disgust and horror even as she struggled to close them against the blades of ammonia digging into her retinas. Doubling over, she staggered away from the awful smell. Finding fresh(er) air, she collapsed onto her knees.
Somnus ran over to her, concern evident in his eyes. "Are you alright, Aleia?" She coughed in response.
"The smell…" she croaked out. "Wha- *cough* What is that?"
Somnus's brow crinkled in confusion. "What smell? I… oh." It had been such a long time since his first visit to the place, Somnus had forgotten what it had been like. "I apologize for not warning you about that, my dear. It has been a long while since I was last able to smell it myself. Here, this should help." He conjured a damp rag and handed it to her.
"Thank you," she croaked, and pressed it against her nose. To her great relief, it blocked out the worst of the smell, and she found it was, thankfully, lightly scented, further reducing the stench.
Her eyes were still left unprotected, though, and she had to blink quite rapidly against the sting of ammonia.
"Somnus, you're still alive, eh? Thanatos was making quite a stir about how he was going to kill you. Took a few of my best patrons for that stupid cloning ability of his, too." A wizened-looking old dragon was standing on the other side of the makeshift bar, rubbing a just as makeshift glass with an old rag. Aleia was mesmerized by his hands; they moved in a near-blur, almost too fast for even her eyes to perceive. Her attention did not go unnoticed, and the dragon chuckled as he realized she could keep up with him. "Ah, young lady, I sense great power in you. Best you keep it down, lest that bunch over there get to thinking you're a tasty morsel." He waved in the general direction of the rather rough-looking people in the corner (rough even for Shadow Dragons; scars dotted the landscapes of their scaly skin, and their eyes were sunken), nursing tankards nearly the size of the stools they were sitting on.
Aleia blinked. "I am suppressing it."
It was the tender's turn to be surprised, but he soon got over his shock and laughed heartily. "Somnus, that dream of yours may just come true after all, you crazy bastard. What'll it be? This one's on the house." He swiftly turned and began pulling out from under the counter huge bottles of Shadow Dragon liquor.
Somnus returned his mirthful outburst, selecting a bottle that looked as though it had been there since the dawn of time. "Old friend, you have no idea." The tender nodded and began putting the other bottles below the counter again.
A smooth voice came from behind Somnus. "Excuse me, but we hear that this one is getting a free drink. We'll have what he's having, too. For the same price, if you don't mind." A scaly hand tapped its claws upon the counter. Aleia turned. Surprisingly enough, it belonged to what seemed to be the ringleader of the aforementioned group.
"Ah, Bertlong, get lost. You ain't getting nothing free, and you know it," grumbled the tender. He turned around and began pouring out Somnus's drink into a large tankard.
The one apparently called Bertlong produced two spines, throwing them at the tender.
SWISH. SWISH.
SQUISH. SQUISH.
He chuckled. "That'll teach you to mess… with… me….ouch…" he mumbled. He staggered backwards, clutching at two spines now embedded in his lower stomach. The bartender was still pouring the drink. The only sign that he had moved at all was the fact that there was an arc of destruction in the path of what would be a swing of his arms.
"I told you, Bertlong. Now get lost. You aren't welcome here anymore; that was your last strike. You and your lot, out, now." He turned around and passed Somnus his drink. Bertlong blinked and gulped in indignation, but he motioned to his group and staggered out, followed by the gang.
"Sorry you had to witness that, little lady. He'll be fine, he has a healer with him. Now, what can I get you?" asked the bartender.
Aleia blinked (this was fast becoming her signature move, other than "completely annihilate my enemies.") "What do you suggest?" she asked quietly. Somnus let out a bark of laughter; with this Dragon, you never asked him what he suggested; it was always some sort of knock-you-flat-on-your-ass drink, as he knew well from experience. "Well young lady… let's try this, shall we?" He pulled out a smaller bottle than he had before and shook it lightly. "Mild flavor, somewhat nutty. Aged for about… 200 years, so relatively young… High alcohol content, but a pleasant buzz in the morn." Pouring it into a cup, which he handed to Aleia, he slid a shot glass under it, getting a bit himself as well, then corked it, placing it back under the counter. He began slowly drinking the beverage, smiling mischievously behind the cup's bubbled glass.
Aleia sipped the liquid in the cup, gingerly at first, then, to the surprise of all present, knocked it back in a single gulp. She wiped her lips with an arm and then noticed everyone in the bar gawping at her. "What?" she asked. When the only sound that answered her was of a lighter-weight dragon falling pass-out drunk out of his stool, she shrugged and turned back to the tender, who was currently attempting to hack out the cup his drink had been in. With a sick THUUCHHKKK, he managed to knock it out, sending it flying across the room, where it embedded itself in the wall. With a whistling gasp, he pulled in great draughts of air, coughing repeatedly and sneezing twice.
Aleia looked at him. "Are you alright?" she asked. He held up a clawed hand and nodded, ruining the gesture by coughing violently twice more.
"Girl, you'll be regretting that move in about two minutes," he wheezed. "That was a full cup of my strongest. Knocked even old Som here flat on his arse a few weeks ago when he tried it again."
Aleia turned towards the mentioned party, who nodded. "I couldn't walk in a straight line for a week," he said.
And that was when the makeshift wall to the east blew in.
Aleia rolled her eyes. Judging from the feel of the power she felt, Bertlong was back, and with a few angry buddies. Leaving her cup, she stalked angrily to meet him.
A few seconds later, loud screams of pain, fear, and sentiments in the general vicinity of "HEEEELP" began trickling back from that direction.
The bartender pulled a slab of granite off his head as Somnus did likewise, then grumbled. "Bertie's back, and it looks like he brought company. Stay here, girl- " only now did he realize that Aleia was gone. Then he noticed that none of his customers - whom he had assumed were producing the screams - were missing, save Aleia. He reached out to sense the battle with his power sensing abilities and gasped. "Somnus, I knew she was strong, but I never guessed at anything like this. How long has she been in this wretched place to be so powerful?"
Somnus shook his head to clear the dust out of his hair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
His sentence was punctuated by Bertlong and two of his uglier companions flying into the bar, smashing heavily into the far wall (made of the wall of the Pit itself, so it didn't shatter at the impact). A red streak of light turned into the angry form of Aleia, floating in midair in front of the three downed Dragons. All three opened their eyes and immediately shrieked in fear, their teeth chattering violently.
"Go. Leave and you will live. Don't leave… you'll find out what happens after this life firsthand." She pointed to the exit, her red eyes blazing a fiery crimson.
They fled so fast they left afterimages.
A loud thumping outside the bar signaled the arrival of what was apparently the backup to the backup. Aleia rolled her eyes yet again and shot back out.
"Well hello, my pretty little lady. So you're the one everyone has been making the fuss about…." Ugly number three was significantly larger than his predecessors, and a fair bit stronger. His face was obscured by a crude metal mask, and he wielded a large battle axe, with a short sword strapped to his waist. His clothes were similar to a gladiator's, though they showed some sign of once having been like Somnus's.
"I'm not anyone's pretty little lady, much less yours," Aleia huffed as she set herself down on the ground. Behind her, Somnus and the bartender were watching with marked interest. Beyond them, the patrons that weren't pass-out drunk were either also watching or taking the opportunity to snag some of the bar's more expensive drinks via the five-clawed discount.
"Oh, you're a snarky one, aren't you? That's nice; I like my women to fight a bit." He laughed behind the mask, a sound that was quickly replaced by a metallic clang and a shout of pain. "What the hell - Who did that?!" he shouted, casting his eyes about as he struggled to pull of the now-severely-dented mask off. Finally successful, he noticed that Aleia wasn't in the exact same spot as she had been five seconds previously. "Hmph. So you're speedy, I'll give you that. Let's see how durable you are!" Swinging his axe, he charged at Aleia.
"I apologize for the mess, old friend. At least you won't have any more problems with that bunch, though. And the big one will give you business for a while, on the plus side," said Somnus as he munched on a bit of arm.
Aleia had tried to be gentle, but Big and Ugly wouldn't quit. Eventually, it resulted in him becoming so exhausted, he simply collapsed from a heart attack. Aleia was more than mildly disgusted to learn that the only source of food in the Pit was other Dragons, but she quashed it and was now dining on B&U (Big and Ugly; that was how it appeared on the menu) thigh battered in the same beverage she was now drinking large quantities of.
"It's not a problem. However, that girl… She is fast, strong, can eat like nothing I've ever seen before, and can take a drink better than any of us. Just what is she, Somnus?"
Somnus turned to look at the young Shadow Dragon, who had finished her food and drink and was currently engaged in a combination chain-drinking and simultaneous arm-wrestling competition, which was a rather one-sided affair (in her favor). He then turned back to the bartender. "At best? Maybe the one who can lead us all out of here. At worst?… I dare not think. Let us hope she stays as she is; a good person."
Behind him, a loud crunch and cry of pain signalled Aleia's victory over her final opponent.
One question that came up is where they would get alcohol from, which Temnascentric and I briefly discussed. Possibilities include distilled squeezings of the few scraggly plants that cling to life growing on the decomposing dead at the bottom, of which there are a few; or a Shadow Dragon with the ability to conjure stuff, or to add different chemical properties to water, or something.
Epilogue: Helios Shenron
Helios was currently being introduced to a new concept; the awkward silence. Alpha was off searching now, leaving him with Asrai. They had soon realised that without Alpha's presence they had very little in common.
Helios was not a level-headed man, especially not in these tumultuous times. There was only so long he could stare into the fire before the silence started getting to him.
"So!" he said, clapping his hands together; Asrai looked up, the kaleidoscope patterns in her eyes dilating in surprise. "Er…" he continued, suddenly feeling bad for startling her but pressing on nonetheless. "That was quite a fight against those Majin, was it not? I had them on the ropes by myself for a while!"
"Such strange creatures," she mused. "Cast adrift by fate. No thread to trace. Yet such marvellous tales. One cut short. Three together. One apart-perhaps greater than all."
"… yes…?" he said hesitantly, having no idea what she meant.
What he didn't know was that she was feeling as awkward as he was; her obscure and incomprehensible manner of speech had always been a defence mechanism against those she was unfamiliar with. When she'd recently begun having regular contact with the other Hakaishin, and then some of the Shadow Dragons and Earth's inhabitants, she'd started warming up to them a little and letting herself talk more freely. But Helios' aggressive, single-minded nature was still so alien to her that she found herself slipping back into her old habits.
"Um… I hope you don't mind my coming," he hazarded. "I do want to help. This mission means a lot to me too."
The Dreamer looked blank for a second, once again having no idea what to say. "The flame burns hotter in the dark of night. The way is lit." The words tumbled out in place of a more coherent reply. They did have significance, though-while a defence mechanism, it was never meaningless babble.
They lapsed back into silence, both unsure of what to say.
"Good… talk…" Helios mumbled, shuffling away. "Hell with it, I tried."
"She being weird again?" came Alpha's voice as she touched down on the dusty plain near them, going from outer space to ground level in a fraction of a second.
"I can't understand a word," he said, shrugging.
"It's 'cause she's not used to you," Alpha explained in a patronising voice, patting his shoulder. "Be friendlier. More approachable."
"This from you ?" he snorted.
Asrai looked up, frowning. "Being weird? I'm not weird, am I?"
Alpha chuckled, sitting by the fire. "Honey, they don't come much weirder."
Helios turned towards them. "She's 'honey' now?"
"Only when she's annoyed with me," Asrai answered with a smile.
"Okay, I can't keep calm any longer!" Alpha said all of a sudden, jumping back up almost as soon as she'd settled down. "I was gonna spring this on you guys later, but I cannot do it." Her eyes gleamed. " I found it ."
"It's a pocket dimension…" Helios whispered.
Alpha nodded, leading the way through the intergalactic blackness towards it. The Pit's entrance protruded into this universe, an enormous rocky plateau bisected by the chasm that led down into the main part; but below that it just vanished, swallowed off into a miniature parallel dimension that held the interior.
They landed by the Pit's edge, the featureless plain stretching off and forming a horizon behind them, the yawning chasm below just about neverending.
"What do we do, exactly?" Alpha wondered. "There's an entire species down there, we can't just bring 'em out one at a time… can't just break it open since it is its own side-dimension…"
"Breaking it would be possible, if we brought it fully into this universe first," Asrai reasoned.
"Can we do that?"
"It would be an extraordinarily difficult feat of spatial manipulation. Perhaps if I worked in unison with the Sorcerer and Earth's Son Gohan… we might be able to make it work."
"We know where it is now," Alpha said. "I hate to leave now, but let's go and bring them here." She cast a glance over at Helios; he'd be having similar thoughts to her. Memories would come flooding back… memories they'd rather have left repressed. But far more than this, she was immensely glad to finally be here. This was the dawn of a new age for their people.
As they spoke, unbeknownst to them or any of the Shadow Dragons that lived and fought and died in the countless miles below them, at the very bottom of the Pit, beneath light-years of bedrock, something stirred. Something ancient beyond all telling, something made of shadows and falsehoods and nothingness .
Somewhere on its slowly-shifting form, a faint light pulsed to life.
[Stand by]
[Significant life signs detected]
[Unit 2 initiating]
[Broadcast]
[All units: Significant life signs detected. Infinity Core present in multiple biological beings. Energy class 1. Total 3]
[Dialogue indicates existence of more]
[Designation: Anathema]
[All units: Initiate]
Epilogue: Piccolo
The former Demon King wandered Hell's desolate landscape, kicking at small lizards that crossed his path and throwing the odd blast at the horizon whenever he spotted movement. He despised the other inhabitants. They reminded him of his own failure.
He took another step-and paused. There was a vibration under his foot, a slight ripple in the ground.
He frowned, crouching and placing his hand on the epicentre. What is that? Something deep under Hell's surface? What would that even be…?
[Broadcast received, Unit 2]
[Unit 1 initiating]