The second chapter to the Valhalla Saga, about three months in the making(im a slow writer) Please review!(especially since the first chapter flopped so bad because of FF's stupid rating system.)
The tournament participants once again found themselves standing inside the spectator's room; but somehow it had changed from before, various clusters of furniture now filled the previously empty spaces of the chamber. Everyone aside from Ruacan noticed the difference, he had already taken a seat in one of the corners of the impressively long room. The Emperor finally had some time to better understand his competition, his dark eyes scanned the many figures around him. He immediately recognized a few, namely Frieza and his family; they were skulking towards the back of the room. Raucan figured they were doing the very same thing he was and smiled at the thought of killing the Ice-Jin's again.
He also noticed the absence of the z-fighters, Raucan figured they had accompanied Goku on the celebratory feast. "Definitely for the better…" he thought as he remembered seeing Bulma amongst the Z-fighters, he certainly didn't look forward to speaking to her again; not that she would say much before trying to kill him. Shaking his mental prediction of their future confrontation out of mind, he continued to scan the people near him. They were all strangers, he did spot a good number of Saiyans, not surprising considering the race's infamy for battle prowess.
One particular stranger caught his eye. A blue skinned, orange-haired humanoid and female alien standing in front of the viewing windows, she was watching the battle intently. The woman's long hair grew just a little past her waist.
Raucan's eyes saw her as very beautiful: "especially for an alien". He thought, a little bit of his acquired racism rearing its ugly head. His gaze lingered on the lower half of her body for a time, as was natural for a Saiyan when considering a potential mate; nature had fine-tuned the male Saiyan's eyes to appraise mainly three things: tail-health, hip size, and potential in battle. The woman lacked a tail, something that subconsciously bothered him but would have no major effect on his decision making. She did have well-spaced hips and was just as strong as he was now, so his base instincts granted her a two out of three.
Recognizing the color palette of her skin and hair as the same as the fighter currently battling Cell outside; Raucan figured they were of the same race and most likely a couple. In that moment he was supremely discouraged, had he seen her in his lifetime, he may have made her his queen. He briefly considered the hypothetical appearance of a child she would bear him and was habitually reminded of his duty to produce an heir. It was habit to think of such things as it was such a profound issue in his later years as Emperor; the many vassal-doms he had established were always worrying themselves over inheritance of his throne, he would regularly receive their of-age daughters. None of them caught his interest as a Saiyan, and he could not bring himself to mate with the over-qualified Shidara as she had been Casda's life-partner.
The Saiyan let his eyes wander away, and was surprised and almost ecstatic to see some familiar faces from his own childhood. The backs of those friendly faces that is, but he could tell his best friends apart anywhere. He saw Casda's up and swept-to-the-side hairstyle, and Ganashia's wavy long-brown hair. Casda had on his typical leg-exposing, standard issue Saiyan battle armor and Ganashia wore the female skirted variety.
Raucan immediately stood "Casda! Ganashia!" he called in an even yet excited voice as he approached the two Saiyans. They both turned to him at the sound of their respective names.
"Damn, he does look like Vasper!" Casda said to Ganashia as the Saiyan finally reached them.
"Vasper? No its me Raucan. Don't you remember? We fought Frieza together." Raucan started before another voice cut in.
"They fought Frieza with me." Raucan looked to the voice to see a mirror image of himself. His hair was long and stuck backwards, it ended halfway down his back; Raucan's pronounced widow's peak was present on the other man as well. He was the same height and of the same build; he even wore the same baggy white pants, black and purple boots and the red sash over his waist. The one difference was the other man's lack of upper body armor, that was the way Raucan dressed himself before he was emperor and before Casda and Ganashia died.
"We're the same person but we appear to have different names, mine's Vasper." The mirror image said with a slight grin as he stuck out his hand. Raucan took it now much less excited to see Casda and Ganashia."My name's Raucan." The emperor spotted Shidara behind Vasper and spoke to her. "I'm guessing you don't remember me either."
"I only remember this version of you." She said motioning to Vasper. Shidara was always the calm, collected strategist of the group; which made her relationship with Casda all the more bizarre considering just how different the two were. Casda was never the kind to plot out anything or plan ahead, he would always be the first to charge into battle and usually the first to get hit; Shidara was different, she was calculating and never made a move without giving it serious thought beforehand. She often took it upon herself to shout orders to the others during battle and they all learned quickly to listen.
She had short, Saiyan-black hair that parted in the middle yet she was always brushing one side out of her face. In contrast to Ganashia's more modest build, Shidara had exceptionally toned arms and legs; Raucan assumed she also had some well defined abs too, but he had never seen her mid-drift bare, and would never have asked Casda. When the group first discovered their Saiyan origins, she insisted that she wear the same battle armor as male Saiyans since the skirted versions limited her leg movements. Seeing Shidara in the revealing armor was what initially attracted Casda when they were teenagers. Raucan remembered spotting his friend's gaze lingering on her legs when she wasn't looking during training, much more than a few times too.
"So- What the hell happened to ya? and why are you wearing some of my armor?" Asked Casda. Memories of Casda's generally bad manners and careless personality suddenly resurfaced in Raucan's mind; but no matter how much Casda embarrassed him or shamed himself, Raucan had always found his best friend in the Saiyan.
"During the battle with Frieza on Earth, you and Ganashia died… thats when I went super Saiyan and killed him. I took your torso armor to honor your memory Casda." Raucan said solemnly.
"Strange we fought Frieza on Namek in our universe… So I Survived the battle?" Shidara asked Raucan, a brow raised in curiousity.
"Yes, you actually ended up being my second in command when I became Emperor of the Northern Galaxy. Heh- its funny, right now in my universe you're probably sitting on my throne."
"So how exactly did you become an emperor anyway?" Casda asked.
"During the fight with Frieza, Piccolo was killed and Kami with him at the time we didn't know Namek had its own set. When I defeated Frieza, I assumed there was no way to resurrect you and Ganashia; so I set off with Shidara to hunt down the rest of the Planet Trade Organization. It took three years but I managed to defeat King cold as an ascended super Saiyan. After that the PTO soldiers who had watched the battle bowed to me… I had no life to go back to on Earth so I decided to bring order to the galaxy instead. Earth resisted me so I was forced to eliminate the Z-fighters to fully consolidate my rule." Raucan finished, he had left out a great deal on purpose; he sent a quick glance to Ganashia, her reaction was as he feared: shocked, she couldn't believe he was capable of such evils.
"I see, I had no idea that I could ever do such things…" Vasper stated with his usual unemotional flatness.
"How could you!?" Ganashia suddenly broke in, Raucan saw an fury in her eyes he had never witnessed before her death.
"What else could I have done? All my friends were dead!" He argued
"Except the ones from Earth until YOU killed them!" Ganashia spat.
"They were never my friends, I was always just a Saiyan to them." Ruacan dismissed her suggestion.
"So you killed them." Those four simple words were less a question and more a condemnation, as Raucan began to feel a sense of hopelessness at the situation, why couldn't she just understand why he did it? In response he did as he conditioned himself to do since losing everything: he lashed out.
"I don't need approval from some weak, defected excuse for a Saiyan anyway!" He hissed at Ganashia before roughly pushing past Casda and into an opposite corner of the room; leaving the four other Saiyans to their own devices.
Outside the battle between Bojack and Cell raged on, although the difference in skill was blatantly obvious. Cell was composed of some the strongest, smartest, and most skilled fighters in his universe; Bojack on the other hand, was a mildly experienced brawler who mostly fought warriors significantly weaker than him during his lifetime.
The two's contrasting live's matched up in an extremely uneven manner, Bojack couldn't land a single hit on his android opponent. Cell easily dodged and weaved between Bojack's slow and predictable strikes, punishing his failure to land a hit with devastating kicks and punches of his own. Finally, a battered and bruised Bojack caught Cell off-guard with a strong headbutt; the impact shot Cell back a distance but he easily stopped his motion. The Heran pirate prepared two large Ki blasts in each of his hands; they were powerful enough to obliterate Cell several times over. He released them both at the stationary Android.
Cell simply smirked as he brought two fingers to his forehead and disappeared just as the blast was warming the front of his body. Bojack was disoriented from the surprise technique and only realized Cell had appeared behind him when he heard the cry: "Galick… GUN!". The purple blast completely vaporised the unprepared pirate and ended the match.
Raucan took note of Cell's impressive skill as he and the rest of the fighters were transported back to the field. The once empty field was now surrounded by decent-sized domed buildings, those from Earth among the group immediately recognized them as being residential Capsule Corporation houses. The blonde man was there and was standing next to the victor of the match yet again. He began to announce Cell's victory before being interrupted by a gruff Saiyan's voice.
"Hold it! We have more questions." Bardock interjected.
The native man stopped and raised a brow in curiousity. "I see, you may ask then." He said.
"First off, what's your name?" Bardock asked.
"I never told you? Well, its Nidos." He answered.
"Okay Nidos, how come everything keeps changing around us?" The father of Goku continued, a few others nodded indicating their desire for an explanation as well.
"I seem to have forgotten to explain the inner workings of this tournament. This is the very first inter-dimensional combat games King Odin has ever hosted; he will be making occasional changes to this world to better accommodate your extended stay here. You can expect new buildings and decorations, as well as some new furniture arrangements in the viewing room.
"So this Odin guy is really into interior decorating? Sounds like he's more qualified for housewife duties then godly ones!" Casda joked earning a few weak chuckles from others in the crowd. Nidos' face tightened into a scowl and a strong wind suddenly burst from him and rammed into Casda's nose; breaking it with a loud popping sound.
"Aghhh! What the hell?!" Casda moaned from behind the two hands he covered his bleeding fracture with.
"Odin's name will not be slandered by anyone here! Let that be understood!" Nidos announced sternly to the silent group before him. Casda's nose healed as Nidos scanned the crowd for any dissenters for a moment before continuing. "Cell has beaten Bojack of Hera." He said with much less enthusiasm than he had begun with before Bardock's question. "The next fight will be between Turles and... Broly."
Many heads in the crowd began frantically searching for Broly, they had heard of or encountered him in their lives and knew of his great power and ruthless brutality; no doubt some had even met their ends at the hands of the infamous legendary super Sayian. They found a slightly different Broly. The tall Saiyan still appeared the same aside from the noticeable absence of Paragus' controlling device, and anything resembling rage in his expression. He calmly walked up to Nidos and was soon followed by a somewhat reluctant Turles. Nidos apparently knew nothing of Broly's reputation as he eyed him with indifference; he snapped his fingers and everyone was once again transferred to the viewing room with the combatants outside.
On the battlefield an intimidated Turles stood opposite to a legend of Saiyan lore. "I… I am not intimidated by the legend! Any Saiyan can realize that level with time!" Turles yelled to his distant opponent, the fist he held up shook with a disheartening mixture of fear and anger.
"Legend? What legend?" Broly asked in uncharacteristically even tone.
"You dont know? What did you hit your head or something?!" Turles was surprised at Broly's so far-rational behavior, his tendency to mercilessly kill his opponents in fits of blind rage and insanity was a well known fact in the galactic community.
"When I was just an infant, I did get knocked in the head pretty good…" Broly responded.
"R-really?" Turles asked.
"Yeah, really." Broly answered raising an eyebrow at Turles' seemingly misplaced fear. For a moment Turles simply took in the revelation; finally a grin formed on his lips then he began to chuckle, slowly he transitioned into all-out mirth.
"To think! I was scared of you! You're just a soft-skull in whatever pathetic universe Odin pulled you out of!" Turles laughed, the slang he had used lost its meaning with Broly but still angered him all the same.
'Soft-skull' was a slang term for the unnamed condition that many Saiyan children were cursed with; a Saiyan child's undeveloped cranium bones made their brains especially vulnerable, and many would receive head wounds during their first purging missions. If the exact right part of the brain was damaged, then drastic changes were seen immediately in the Saiyan's behavior. Soft-skulls were typically much less aggressive or assertive than normal Saiyans and were often ostracised or flat-out killed in some cases. Not many were ever seen on Planet Vegeta as Turles remembers, but they would often be found on alien planets after being assumed dead; usually they befriended the native populace and sometimes bred with them.
Turles finished laughing and slid into a fighting stance. "It's time disgrace, i'll show you how a real Saiyan fights!" The dark-skinned Saiyan blasted toward a now tensed and alert Broly. Turles closed in at superhuman speeds and struck at Broly; when his fist met no resistance he cursed himself, Broly's afterimage faded away as he appeared directly next to the other Saiyan.
Broly shot a high kick at Turles' face, sending him speeding toward the artificial planet's orbit. But before the Saiyan could get that high, Broly appeared in his foe's trajectory and brought a double axe handle down on his opponent's head. Now Turles was barreling toward the earth even faster than he had ascended before.
Seconds from impacting the dirt, Turles flipped over several times, slowly his descent and allowing him to place his feet below him to absorb the landing. His fall slowed to a crawl just before hitting the earth, Turles slowly floated downwards until he was standing on the planet's surface. Broly made no movements several miles above the Saiyan as he began formulating a strategy for this engagement.
'My overconfidence blinded me. I need to approach this more cautiously...' the pirate muttered to himself as he glared up at the floating figure above. He saw a vague movement in Broly's arm and suddenly the tall Saiyan vanished. Initial surprise was quickly replaced by revelation on Turles' part, he spun around and jabbed his fist out blindly; it caught Broly's stomach and pushed him back aways.
"Ha! Nice try, but i've seen that technique at least twice now. I won't fall for that trick like the others." Turles called as Broly flew back to put some distance between them.
"It was worth a shot, but I guess my instant transmission technique isnt exactly alone in this tournament." Broly responded a grin adoring his face as the fight became increasingly interesting.
Turles returned the expression; but with his own arrogant and supremely confident twist. "Let us continue then…" He said. Both Saiyans charged in the same instant and were upon each other in the next moment. They traded blows of equal grace and precision for a time. This Broly's training was much more refined and practiced then in the other versions of the Saiyan; Turles' style of fighting was just as airtight however.
The Saiyan pirate found himself on the defensive more and more in the melee, as Broly's taller height gave him an inherent advantage in reach. Turles was a practiced strategist and tactician as he often lead raids on PTO worlds when his pirate organization was at it's absolute peak in numbers, this fact negated Broly's physical revenue. He committed his focus to defense and waited patiently for an opening. Eventually, Turles' patience paid off as Broly overextended his guard with a high kick aimed at his opponent's face; Turles ducked the attack, stepped closer to the larger Saiyan, and shot his fist straight up into the other Saiyan's face. He had executed a powerful uppercut and caught Broly unprepared.
Broly stumbled backwards in a daze while Turles lunged toward the stunned Saiyan, he brought his left elbow down on the man's face. Broly was knocked onto his back, the impact causing the earth around the two combatants to shake violently. The aggressor didn't let up, he shot towards the grounded Saiyan with a fist primed for damage. Broly had recovered his senses and used his ki to launch himself upwards as Turles struck the spot he had been prone in. The taller Saiyan paid back his foe's folly in full when he blasted back down onto the other Saiyan back, forcing him into the dirt.
Broly wasted no time in following up, he lept back off Turles and prepared a powerful, green blast over his head. He was a millisecond too slow, as Turles spun around to face upwards and fired a quick shot into Broly's unguarded face; he immediately ceased charging his attack as he brought both hands to his now pained eyes.
Turles blasted full force into Broly's unguarded midsection, he carried the tall Saiyan a mile or so before releasing him into a large series of mountain formations. Broly smashed into the mountainside and sliced clear through with his speed, he finally came to a stop after passing through another. Turles charged a quick but powerful energy beam of purple and fired it one-handed at Broly's Ki signature.
Broly's eyes had not been permanently damaged and he soon was able to open them. When he did so, he saw a threatening purple beam homing in on his position from the other side of the mountains he had been forced through. He speedily moved to avoid the blast and retaliated with a volley of green spheres he hurled at where he knew Turles to be from his ki signature.
Just as Turles' sensitive Saiyan hearing detected the satisfyingly low thump and subsequent 'boom' from his attack, he became aware of a dozen projectiles of hostile origin speeding towards him from the other side of the mountains. They were fast and he strained to avoid the first two, one nicked him on his left side and drew blood; the fourth sphere he blasted into oblivion with his own attack. Four more blasts followed and Turles avoided all but one, it directly impacted him as he braced for it.
Despite raising a ki shield in front of himself, Turles felt a great deal of the power behind Broly's energy blast. He was forced back nearly a full mile before managing to stop himself. When he lowered his arms from his countenance, he was welcomed by the sight of Broly's fist for an instant before it rammed into his face; The Saiyan pirate shot backwards and through several tall rock spirals. Broly didn't let up; he pursued his vulnerable opponent and managed to catch up to him in a matter of seconds.
The taller Saiyan pushed his body and surpassed Turles' speed, he stopped ahead of him and stuck an elbow out; the pirate screamed in agony as his back crashed into his opponent's waiting arm. Broly followed up by flying aways above his opponent and then charging him; he lead his body with his two boots stretched ahead. Turles was flung back into the ground in a flash; creating a large crater around the tailed man.
"OH SHIT!" a spectator cried in excitement back at the spectator's room. The more involved watchers were all as close to the windows as they could manage, while the dignity-concerned hung back but still watching closely.
Raucan had to admit the fight had proven to be an exceptionally entertaining show, both fighters were of nearly equal skills and were both fighting their hardest. The other fights so-far had been more or less one-sided, so most of the audience appreciated the even match up.
"Who'd you bet your money on?" A familiar voice came from behind the Saiyan. Raucan turned to see who was speaking to him.
"Casda? What the hell are you wearing?" He asked eying the dark cloaked Saiyan.
"Actually it's Vost, I used to call myself Casda before, well… I think you already know." Vost said sticking out a hand in a gesture of acquaintance.
Raucan shook the other Saiyan's hand appreciatively. "So I died fighting against Frieza in your universe?"
"Actually, you died fighting battling Vegeta. I was barely able to defeat Frieza but I managed and became stronger from it. You also called yourself Vasper, but im sure you've already met him." Vost said.
"I'm assuming you did too?" Vost nodded. "I don't need their approval anyways." Raucan continued
"Still, it hurt seeing the others…" Vost observed, this version of Casda seemed to be infinitely more intelligent and well-mannered. Raucan looked to the side in an unfocused gaze.
"Yeah it did…"
Back on the battlefield, Turles suddenly appeared next to Broly as he surveyed the crater he had created; the pirate lifted up and smashed his knee into the taller Saiyan's face before he could react. Broly flipped backwards with the impact and when he righted himself, was struck in the face by Turles' closed fist, sending him rocketing to the ground below.
Broly managed to place his feet ahead of him in his fall and slid to for a while until he stopped; he looked up only to see Turles had disappeared.
"Where'd he g-" Broly was interrupted by a swift boot smacking into his gut. As the tall Saiyan leaned forward and coughed, Turles ruined his balance by sweeping the taller Saiyan's feet from under him. The pirate clutched one of Broly's legs as he fell, and began to spin the man around at nauseating speeds. Turles released the appendage and Broly proceeded to crash through several dusty rock formations until he was able to stop himself several miles away from where he had originated from.
The long-haired Saiyan quickly shot upwards to gain better perspective on the field of battle. He spotted Turles flying towards him and released a large green spherical energy blast at him. The Saiyan pirate easily phased away from the slow attack and clapped his hands together before separating them; forming a 'Kill Driver' as he liked to call it. He threw the halo at Broly in an overhead toss.
Broly reacted with a full power energy beam, it stopped the encroaching halo in it's track and began a beam struggle. It soon became apparent that Broly had much more energy reserves to spare than his opponent, as the halo slowly slipped towards Turles. The pirate saw his approaching loss and took drastic measures; he poured a small amount of energy into the Kill Driver, before dropping down below its path and blasting towards Broly's tall frame. Turles formed the strongest ki blade he could manage and stabbed with great force into Broly's chest. The kill driver and Broly's beam both exploded off in the distance, yet somehow the moment between Turles and the tall Saiyan seemed eerily silent.
Broly stopped and simply floated in place for a minute before his body gave out and he free-fell to the ground below, leaving an exhausted but victorious Turles in the sky.
Everyone was again transported back to the field, except now it was tiled and ornate, Nidos currently stood upon a raised stage of stone. Even more houses appeared around the newly-changed plaza and to the north a small town had appeared; people could be seen moving about in the distant collection of structures. The town's buildings were different, they were made of wood and straw with the occasional stone contributions sneaking in.
Raucan and several other galactically-knowledgeable tournament goers recognized the architecture as similar to the primitive northern culture of Planet Veres in the eastern quadrant. Nidos once again began to announce the result before being interrupted, this time by a female's words.
"What's with the aliens over there?" A rough but still feminine voice came from the crowd. A combination that Raucan, and most normal male Saiyans deeply coveted. He and a few others searched for the owner of the alluring tongue. Raucan caught an angle finally and saw her. She had a Saiyan tail and a Saiyan's armor but her skin was a dark blue and her hair a lighter dark, almost grey. She was a mixed breed, ironically she had referred to the townspeople she hadn't even seen up close as 'aliens'.
"You idiots need to eat and they need living space so Odin had me move them here." Nidos answered irritably.
"Hold on. You don't expect us to eat a bunch of aliens for subsistence do you?" Asked Casda.
"No stupid! They farm, fish, gather and hunt, then sell the surplus to you people. And they're humans so dont keep calling them aliens." Nidos responded with a threatening glare directed at Casda.
"Where did they come from?" Asked a scarred Gohan with a strikingly similar appearance to Goku.
Nidos sighed deeply before explaining. "They come from a much different version of Earth, the humans you see there are all heroes and veteran warriors who died in honorable combat along with their families. Normally they would be sent to a different section of Valhalla but they were needed here and there's plenty of space."
"Anyways, im sure you all saw the outcome of that matchup. So now we will witness Bardock and Frieza do battle." Nidos said quickly before anymore questions could be asked.
"Oh hell yeah!" Came Bardock's gruff voice as he and Frieza approached the stage, they met each other's gaze when the two emerged from the crowd; Frieza with a scowl and Bardock with a mischievous grin. "Im going to massacre you Frieza!" He said.
"Stupid monkey! Do you not remember what happened when we met in life?! The result here will be the same!" Frieza shouted.
"That's where you're badly, BADLY mistaken Frieza; here you can't hide behind your power level, and i've got thirty-five years of purging and frontline combat experience backing me up. You have nothing, you inherited your power from daddy and never had to work a day in your life; this is going to be a beatdown, plain and simple." Bardock finished making sure to glare as deeply into Frieza's eyes as he could possibly manage, it was effective; he could see the fear in the changeling's face.
"Lifetime rivalry I see… Always adds to the drama and excitement, we should have quite the show." Nidos said as the two contestants came to stand on either side of him.
"Dont get your hopes up Nidos, this bitch here won't last five minutes alone with me." Bardock said still staring into Frieza's reptilian eyes.
"Why you!" Frieza cried as he tensed up with the influx of rage.
"A bold statement, he insulted your honor and combat abilities in front of a crowd of your peers; you must be highly confident in yourself Bardock." Nidos said turning to Bardock, an amused grin on the blonde's face.
"I am Nidos, and as soon as we get this fight started I can show you and everyone else why…" Bardock replied, his eyes remaining locked on Frieza's.
"Well then, let us begin!" Nidos announced and with a snap of his fingers, everyone disappeared from the plaza.
The same setup as before was waiting for the warriors, Frieza in his final form and Bardock stood opposite each other on the field of battle. The spiky-haired Saiyan's onyx eyes bore into Frieza's with an overbearing tone of absolute hatred.
"This truly is heaven, I get to kill you, maybe even more than once since this tournament is non-elimination."
"Don't get too accustomed with the idea, peasant. I am the Lord of the Northern Galaxy, I have laid low the heroes and armies of over two hundred planets, including your own; i've been called master by hundreds of species, and feared by thousands more. I won't be beaten by some stupid, inbred monkey fre-" Frieza's long winded string of insults and boasts was interrupted when Bardock's uncompromising ki-backed fist dug into the changeling's gut.
The reptilian villain doubled over and began coughing violently. The Saiyan offender took the initiative and proceeded with a heavy roundhouse kick, sending the tyrant shooting off to the left and for several miles before coming to a skidding halt.
As Frieza rose to defend himself, Bardock had already descended on the creature; the Saiyan stomped heavily on Frieza's straightened leg as he was pushing himself up. His foot broke Frieza's leg at the knee joint, crippling the changeling's right leg. The half-prone fighter howled out with the burning pain from his new injury.
Bardock continued his merciless torture of his long-hated foe, he clutched Frieza's broken leg by the ankle and with one hand, slamming him over his head onto the ground on the other side of the Saiyan.
With Frieza now prone face down, Bardock crouched over the changeling and began pounding the back of his unguarded head. After several strikes, Frieza attempted to flip over to a more defensible pose but Bardock, ended his attempts with a sharp knee to his spine. The pale alien was defenseless against the onslaught, he received dozens more punches to his skull until he could not make any coherent movements to free himself or retaliate.
Seeing as the fight was virtually over, Bardock launched himself into the air and prepared his spirit cannon; he released it into the motionless Frieza and instantly vaporized the Lord of the Northern Galaxy.
The onlookers were either impressed, shocked, intimidated, or in some cases amused by the brutal one-sided beatdown they had just witnessed. There was a white flash and all the fighters were transferred back, this time however, some complaints were voiced.
"Hey! This white flash and transportation bullshit is beginning to become redundant!" Said the goateed King Vegeta.
"You say it's redundant?" Nidos asked, a little surprised by the issue being raised. "Well what's wrong with it?"
"We keep returning to different standing positions and i've been interrupted more than once by that damn flash." The senior Vegeta answered.
"Yeah, and some of us would rather grab something to eat than watch a two minute beating, but I have to admit that particular one was quite entertaining." Laughed Lord Vost. A few others nodded and chuckled in agreement, some that were more hateful of Frieza began clapping and a short applause soon erupted from the crowd earning the ire of Frieza.
"You worms!" Frieza shouted as he stood and fired a large ki blast from his hand, the attack however, evaporated only a few feet from his outstretched palm.
"No fighting or killing outside of the arena or the training grounds." Said Nidos.
"Wait there are training grounds?" A desperate Raditz immediately asks. At this Nidos lets out another of his exasperated sighs.
"Yes there are. To the south you'll find a row of a hundred or so doors carved into the mountain, they lead to the extradimensional training facilities; I'll let you people discover their potential on your own. Now, next fight will be C-"
"Could we have a training break?!" Raditz interrupted. Several others echoed and agreed with his request, too many for Nidos to blatantly ignore.
"Alright fine, we will have one more fight for today." Nidos gave in.
"Casda and Videl shall fight. Viewing is optional through these doors." Nidos motioned to three pairs of wooden doors that suddenly appeared behind him; they had no rooms attached but stood sturdy nonetheless.
"Anyone wishing to watch, may. The rest of you are given two days to train, sleep, eat, maybe fuck, I don't care." With that NIdos, Casda, and Videl all disappeared. The great majority of the crowd immediately left for the training field or the human village.
Vasper and his group entered the spectator's room to find both Raucan and Vost already watching on the far side of the long room. Casda and Videl had already begun fighting outside, their distant figures twitching as they struck at each other at supersonic speeds. Casda phased through a punch from Videl and appeared behind her, he wrapped an arm around her throat and tightened; choking the woman. Videl strained to remove his arm for a moment before ramming her elbows into Casda's guts several times; he loosened his grip significantly at the fourth hit and received a fist to his face.
The Saiyan somersaulted backwards aways as Videl gave chase, she flew into him with a kick sending the man even farther. Casda crashed into the side of one the many rocky spires on the battlefield, he was indented into it in a way that restricted his movements as he was stuck on the rocky wall. Videl took control as she launched herself in a clumsy yet efficient manner into the trapped Saiyan, her new-found strength forced him through the spire; completely obliterating the rock formation in the process.
Casda recovered quickly and took off towards Videl with a roar of anger, he struck at her head but missed when she ducked to the side; the human woman swung her left leg into Casda's mid back causing him to bend backwards in pain. The daughter of Hercule thrust her open palmed hand into the Saiyan's chest, sending him flying into the ground below.
"My god! he's getting his ass-kicked by a human newbie barely out of high school!" Vasper shouted in the spectators reserve. He had enough with the last exchange and decided to intervene; the Saiyan brought two fingers up to his forehead and disappeared with the instant transmission technique. Vasper appeared next to his best friend as he got to his feet.
"Casda, what the hell are you doing?! You're getting your ass kicked!"
"Hey! I've got this shit on lockdown alright!? Trust me things are about to turn around." The Saiyan said with a confident grin.
"No you don't! Look, she's a great melee fighter, but i'm guessing she hasn't fired a ki blast in her life. Just stay out of range and obliterate her." Vasper said, desperate to influence his friend's tactics, or lack off.
"I'm not some cowardly skirmisher okay!? I think I can handle her fine!" Casda replied, apparently offended at the suggestion. A booming voice with similarities to Nidos' sounded out from somewhere above.
"Leave the arena immediately Vasper or face severe consequences, this isnt your fight." The voice spoke with such authority that Vasper immediately complied and phased out of the battlefield and back into his previous spot.
"You done talking to your boyfriend now?" Videl asked from sitting position atop a rock to Casda's left.
"You'll regret opening your stupid, weak, Human mouth!" Casda roared as he charged his opponent. He shot a fury of strikes at Videl but was parried at every attempt, the human was easily proving herself to be the superior martial artist. Casda's technique was too ambitious in its motives and impatient with it's timing; it also lacked the technical refinement of dedicated warriors, despite Casda being one himself.
A overshot jab at Videl's face put Casda in a precarious position that his opponent immediately took advantage of; Videl quickly struck Casda's exposed throat, throwing the Saiyan into a coughing fit. The young woman followed by leaping over her opponent as she crashed her knee into Casda's face. She landed behind the dazed warrior, Videl grabbed at the most easily grippable body part on Casda's backside: his tail. She wasn't aware of the staple weakness of the Saiyan race, but would soon learn.
Casda immediately went limp and fell to a prone position. The daughter of Mr. Satan had begun to throw Casda by his tail before he simply fell to the ground, she stopped still clutching the appendage; a look of curiosity across her visage.
"Aghhh! L-let go of me! You… witch!" Casda moaned painfully, his body still hugging the dirt.
"What's wrong with you? We're in the middle of a fight here ya' know!" She questioned.
"J-just let go… now!" Casda groaned, desperate to escape her grip.
"I think I know what's up here… Saiyans are weak in their tails aren't they?"
"No we aren't! Im just not comfortable with you touching me there!" Casda attempted to mislead his captor.
"Don't lie to me." Videl laughed as she squeezed the Saiyan's tail a little tighter, causing a short spasm through Casda's body.
On the spectator's corner: Shidara trembled with an anxious rage. "Why is she just holding his tail like that?!" She cried, her hands pounding against the glass.
"What's the big deal Shidara? It's a legitimate tactic, blame Casda for not training his tail in the first place." Ganashia said to her friend.
"I just. W-we… I-I hold his tail like that when we're in… bed…" Shidara whispered the last word as quietly as she could manage and still be heard by Ganashia, Vasper was still able to pick up the last part with his Saiyan hearing.
"Oh! I see…" Ganashia said, one of her hands covered her mouth.
"Thats why he never got around to doing that! Wow, I thought he was just being a dumbass when he kept refusing to train his tail but now-" Vasper cut in loudly with a hearty laugh.
"SHUT UP VASPER!" Shidara frantically yelled as she hit Vasper's shoulder.
"Oh come on, who's going to hear? Alternate me and alternate Casda? Who cares they're practically family anyways." Vasper chuckled. Shidara blushed furiously, more out of embarrassment for her lover then herself.
Across the room both Raucan and Vost had heard every bit as well. Raucan let out an amused snort. "Do you share the same bedroom preferences as your double out there?" Raucan asked teasingly.
"Actually yes I do. I'm not ashamed to say so. Besides climaxes feel hundreds of times better when someone is gripping your tail." Vost stated rather nonchalantly for so much revealing information.
"You're not afraid I'll use that against you when we inevitably fight?" Raucan asked raising an eyebrow at his new friend.
"No, I've already trained my tail. When I finally woke up that is…" Vost responded in a solemn tone.
"Woke up?"
"Well, before you and the others died. I was a lot like that." Vost motioned to his doppelganger outside, who was still being manhandled by his tail. Videl was now swinging Casda back and forth smashing him into the ground repeatedly.
"An idiot?" Raucan half-joked.
"Heh, exactly. But then everything changed, I paid better attention, I became driven to get stronger, I fought smarter. In some ways your deaths was the push I needed to become the warrior I was destined to be." Vost said, reflecting on his past.
"I know what you mean… After my battle with Frieza, I was more motivated than I had ever been, I trained enough for all four of us combined. Shidara was different though, she still trained and everything but what little humor and patience she had in her was gone… Sometimes it seemed like she was devoid of any emotions at all."
"We all have our way of confronting grief, Shidara's is just more... placid."
"True, but most days I felt like I lost her too…" A dry silence established itself between the two Saiyans as they watched Casda continue to be humiliated.
Away from the conversations occurring in the spectator's "booth", Casda's face smacked into the earth, shattering the ground in giant cracks.
"So this is what having REAL power feels like!" Videl cried almost in a crazed manner as she continued swinging her prey above her head. Finally after around a hundred or so merciless slams, Videl allowed Casda rest.
"You know what? This is too easy, I'll let go of your tail." She said towering over her battered opponent.
"Thank god!"
"But thats not all, you have to keep me from grabbing your tail again for five minutes, or else i'm just going to finish you off. If you manage to avoid me for that long, I'll forfeit the match. How about it?" Videl said, grinning deviously.
"Fine! Anything! Just let go of my damn tail!" Casda yelled up at his tormentor.
Videl relinquished her hold on the appendage and was immediately set upon by her opposite; Casda was in a feral rage at being handled in such a way, he struck furiously at Videl without any regard to keeping his vulnerability under vigilance. The daughter of Hercule was on the defence as her opponent fought with a new-found, burning, anger. No longer was Casda's blows being parried or deflected, now Videl was forced to dodge in a near-constant manner, else she risked being overrun by Casda's flurry of fists and kicks. More than a few snuck in between her defence.
After around two minutes of exhausting dodging, Videl was caught by one of Casda's wound-up fists shot back into a series of rocks; she righted herself after a lengthy period of involuntary flight, she looked to the sky to see Casda aiming an already prepared well of ki energy at her. The attack didn't have any specific name, Casda simply used it whenever someone pissed him off enough.
"Now die here fool!" He screamed before releasing a large wave of yellow energy at Videl below.
The roaring torrent of power violently flew towards the recent high school graduate, the inimitable roar that large concentrations of ki emanated filled Videl's ears to an almost unbearable volume as it grew closer. She put everything she could manage into evading and barely cleared the impact site before it was entirely vaporized.
An earth-warping explosion of golden light flashed outwards from where Casda's ki blast landed. Videl did some quick strategizing and elected to try her luck at ki blasts. Concentrating intensely for a moment with her hands cupped around each other, she managed to create a decent-sized white ball of ki between her slender, young hands. She was unsure how to properly fire a ki blast so she guessed, Videl "pitched" the ball of energy at Casda above her like one would throw a baseball; the form of her toss was surprisingly effective as the attack moved slightly faster than it normally would and caught the Saiyan entirely off-guard.
Videl managed to reach Casda as he was still recovering from her blast; not stopping, she rammed into the Saiyan full-force with her elbow leading. Casda's head shot back at the impact; Videl followed with a punch to his gut, causing him to hunch forward. The human kept the upper hand with a left cross to the Saiyan's face. Casda was launched to Videl's right with the strike's force; the female tournament winner was able to catch her opponent's ankle just as he began his flight and brought him to the ground with a ground-shaking slam.
The last of Casda's ki reserves were now dry, his body was all but broken, and now Videl grasped his tail yet again as he laid in the crater he had created when crashing into the planet. The sensation from his tail sent shivers up his exhausted body, and he thanked the entirety of the ancient Saiyan pantheon that his armor's crouch plate was both solid and intact, lest it reveal anything shameful.
Panting and a little battered, Videl stood victorious above her Saiyan foe, clutching his tail. She glanced at her watch which had somehow remained intact during the fighting.
"four minutes… and… fifteen seconds." She stated through heavy breaths. "I...win. Who's the weak one now... Casda? Huh?" She pressed her quarry as she squeezed the helpless Saiyan's tail a little harder.
"Aghh! In my lifetime… you never could have beaten me!" He groaned weakly in response.
"But here you're nothing, and I am the victor." She declared with a twisted grin. "So how would you like me to kill you?"
"I forfeit…" Casda responded. As soon as the words left his mouth, the two fighters disappeared. Shidara immediately ran from the spectator's room, she was closely followed by her concerned friend: Ganashia; the three men left the room slower, Vasper and Raucan exchanging awkward glances.
Outside on the plaza, a quiet and downtrodden Casda descended the platform steps followed by a taunting Videl.
"I didn't think you Saiyans gave up so easily! Seriously I h-" Videl was cut short by a particularly livid Saiyan woman.
"You! human skank!" Shidara called as she approached, as with anyone being confronted or accused, videl was both confused and curious as to what 'this crazy person' could want. When Shidara was in speaking range she moved in to get as close as possible to Videl's face.
"Listen up you pathetic excuse for a warrior and a woman! You don't touch him! You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, you don't do anything involving Casda from now on! Am I understood!?" Shidara's eyes flared with rage, she seemed liable to flat out murder everyone within a sixteen planet radius out of pure anger.
"What are you getting all worked up about? You don't like seeing your little man-child over there get beaten up?" Videl retorted, she was already enjoying her stay here greatly; especially since the Saiyans were just as fiery and passionate about fighting as she was.
Videl's reasoning actually caused Shidara to stall, the Human quickly took the initiative."You shouldn't get so upset over a fight anyways. It's not like we were doing anything nasty…" Shidara calmed down significantly, more out of necessity than anything else. She reasoned that taking this discussion any further would eventually lead to the reason Casda still has his Saiyan weakness.
"Casda! lets go." Shidara said turning away from Videl without any further exchange of words. Casda immediately left with her, his face suspiciously brighter than before.
Vost and Raucan watched as they hurried away from Videl, who now realized she had nothing to do.
"Wait, are they going to-" Raucan began.
"Knowing Shidara the way I did… yeah probably." Vost said, a little grin adorning his face. He looked over to the stage that contestants had been transported away and back from, Nidos still stood there; the mysterious nordic man was now reading off some ancient-looking scroll. "Hey, I have some questions for that guy, you in?"
"Sure, I've got nothing really going on anyways it seems." Raucan followed Vost over to where Nidos stood.
"What do you two want?" He said not bothering to look up at them.
"Just two questions…" Vost responded "You picked Raucan and I to come here but not any alternate versions of Shidara or Ganashia… Why?"
"A couple reasons." Nidos smiled, apparently amused by the question. "One, most of the alternate versions of those two were incredibly dull and boring. Two, you poor sods wouldn't be nearly so alone if they were both here. And three, too many Saiyans already, and I know how you people do things. Your entire race are like rabbits."
"What the hell are you blabbing about? Rabbits? The hell are those?" Raucan already didn't like this human before, but now talking to him, his disgust was quickly multiplying.
"I mean, you Saiyans hump like rabbits…" He said, Vost and Raucan exchanged confused glances.
"Im guessing rabbits breed quickly?" Vost said, Nidos' comparison was actually pretty accurate, merely a couple decades after the Tuffle wars, the population of Planet Vegeta had risen rapidly. With the new technology from the planet's previous inhabitants and modern medicinal practices introduced by the Planet Trade Organization, infant mortality rates plummeted drastically. Purging soon became necessary to maintain a balance in the population as children needed to die to keep things in check; of course only a few Saiyans actually minded potentially sacrificing their kids, the race had always scorned blood-relationships.
"Finally you get it! This is a tournament, not some athlete brothel, like those damn Greeks down south with their 'olympics', pah! Competition of sports my ass!" Nidos looked off to the south as if spotting something disturbing, Vost and Raucan both traced his gaze and saw nothing but empty plains. "Those people will stick it in anything let me tell you! Bunch of damn perverted deviants." He continued ranting.
"So wait, can women get pregnant here?" Raucan asked, now legitimately curious.
"Damnit, I shouldn't have opened my stupid mouth; I knew having males AND females would ruin everything! I'll just have to restart with a different string of universes." Nidos put down his scroll and stood, he raised his hands up as if preparing for something. Raucan and Vost both panicked, they didn't know whether they would even continue to exist should Nidos do whatever it was he planned.
"Wait!" Raucan yelled, a mildly surprised Nidos looked at him questioningly."
"You said you liked drama right?" Raucan fixed together a convincing argument in his head as quickly as he could.
"Yes I did, your point?"
"Well, what causes more drama amongst us mortals than... love triangles?" Raucan announced in his best pitching voice, considering the rugged gruffness that defined it; his salesperson voice was terrible at best.
"Well umm…" Nidos began actually considering different aspects of mortality. Raucan continued with haste.
"Nothing! Not even death pisses people off as much as seeing their partner with another." Raucan concluded with painfully feigned joy.
"True… true…." Nidos now dropped his arms, reconsidering. Vost cut in to drive the point home.
"And seriously? Who's the father? Who's the mother?! Think about how this could come into play during a fight!" Vost said excitedly, Nidos' pondering quickly turned to animated imagining as he pictured the future of the tournament complete with slaps, yelling, and tears. Nidos' thin understanding of human emotions was clearly evident, his mind swirled around with images reminiscent of cheap soap operas.
"Yes! Yes! I'll try to bring in more women!" He declared loudly and snapped his fingers, a wooden door suddenly appeared next to him; he quickly went through and shut the down behind him. The magically summoned door disappeared quickly afterwards, leaving Raucan and Vost alone in the plaza.
"Holy shit, I thought I was going to have a heart attack when he raised his hands like that." Raucan admitted after a moment.
"Ha! Yeah me too! You know what? I think we just saved everyone here from complete abyss." Vost said.
"Yeah we're just two regular old heroes!" Raucan joked, something else quickly came to mind however. "But do you think it was really like that on Planet Vegeta?"
"What? everybody bedding each other?"
"Yeah."
"Impossible to know now, you sound a little nervous… out of practice?" Vost asked cracking a grin.
"Well I am dead so… plus I never really had any reason, so yeah actually I am." Raucan shrugged.
"Your a Saiyan, Saiyans are pros at stuff like this… oh crap, I never asked him my second question." Vost realized much too late.
"What was it?"
"What the sleeping arrangements are."
"Oh… I guess finders keepers?"
"Yeah we should find a spot now before everyone else realizes."
"Or before Casda and Shidara get nasty in them!" Raucan added with a chuckle. The two set off and easily found adjoining houses to stay in, the were small and possessed only a single queen-sized bed, a table, a small closet, and a single toilet. Not exactly the royal accommodations with which Raucan had become accustomed, but easily adaptable to. Raucan was the first in bed by a mile, having fought twice in the short time he was dead, exhausted him; he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Inside the large meeting hall at the center of the human village, Goku sat with his friends, enjoying the celebratory feast he had earned in the first fight. The Saiyan had just finished the latest of his long line of easily devoured dishes when he turned to Piccolo and suddenly exclaimed: "FUSION!"
Piccolo went wide-eyed for a moment as he had not anticipated the loud outburst.
"What?!" He shouted back.
"That blonde guy-"
"Nidos." Videl said, she had recently arrived from her fight with Casda to be with Gohan.
"Yeah Nidos, I don't think he knows about fusion!" Goku declared victoriously.
"Yeah so?" Gohan asked.
"Well I can't fuse with Vegeta since he's not here for some reason, and I don't think the other Vegeta would want to; but I could fuse with you Gohan and then the power restriction wouldn't affect us." Goku answered his son.
"True, but what if it's still not enough? We have no actual idea how strong Nidos is or his master, that Odin guy." Gohan said scratching his chin in consideration.
"It would be wise to wait until we know more before playing our hand…And in the mean time, perhaps we can convince some the other groups to join us." Piccolo said.
"Who'd you have in mind Piccolo?" Trunks asked from across the Table.
"Well there's a lot of different choices. Our best bet is to go with the other Saiyans, preferably trustworthy ones…" Piccolo responded, a master plan already forming in his mind.
"Maybe not Raucan then, at least not yet..." Goku said. "How about that guy who looks like Raucan but without the armor, and his friends?" Goku asked, mostly directing his question towards Piccolo.
"They would do, and since there's four of them that gives us two more fused warriors." Piccolo said with a nod.
"We shouldn't discount people like Raucan, Vegeta and the other Saiyans just because they were scum in their lives. I'm sure they don't like the idea of being Odin's puppets either…" Trunks cut in.
"There's also that scarred Saiyan who kinda looks like Goku." Gohan added.
"His name's Gohan…" Trunks said.
"Oh... I see... is he the one who trained you in your universe." Gohan asked having put two and two together.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you talk to him?" Gohan asked.
"I don't know… it just… didn't seem appropriate with all that was going on." Trunks responded with some difficulty.
"You two could fuse when the time comes." Piccolo said, bypassing any emotional depth to the discussion.
"Great idea Piccolo!" Goku's childish excitement overwhelming his once serious personality as usual.
"I suppose…" Trunks said his face a bright shade of pink.
"Whats the matter Trunks?" Gohan asked his friend from the future.
Trunks was silent for a second before finally speaking up, his face getting brighter red, "I'm just not sure if I could handle doing that stupid dance." Trunks admission was so blunt and unexpected that everyone at the table felt back.
Goku being the first to recover, could only laugh, "Yeah I know what you mean, thats what everyone seems to say, until they see the results." The group chuckled at their cheerful friend's astute observation.
A human server then entered the room, carrying a platter for Goku; the conversation of revolt immediately ended and all remained silent until the human had left the room.
"We can't trust them can we?" Trunks finally asked after a few moments passed.
"For now, we can't…" Piccolo grunted. "Not until we're sure of their motivations and allegiances. Before then, watch what you say around them."
Elsewhere, Broly stood before a wooden door standing upright in the middle of an expansive field; the other side was supposedly non-existent until Broly pushed open the entrance. A void of space lay before him, it was dark and the Saiyan could see stars in the distance, he stepped in and found a floor was present, although it was completely transparent. He moved into the room, which like the battlefield he had fought on, extended indefinitely in all directions.
"Hello warrior…" A female voice came from behind the Saiyan, he spun around to see a winged woman wearing a bright gold dress; her hair was a bright red, and her face was adorned with many freckles. She spoke again after the pause: "My name is Aldrif and I tend this training ground."
"It's a pleasure Aldrif, my name's Broly." The Saiyan responded with a half-grin as he extended his hand to shake. Aldrif took the expecting hand and returned the gesture.
"So you 'tend' these training fields, what do you mean by that?" Broly asked.
"I service those wishing to utilize this space for their training. I can change the terrain, create fighters for you to spar with, and if you would like, fight you myself." She responded cheerfully.
"Hmm… Thats incredibly convenient… How about you recreate my battle against Turles?"
"Can do!" Aldrif waved one of hands lazily, the dark scene in front of Broly twisted and distorted into the rocky battlefield that he had fought Turles in. The space pirate appeared several dozen meters into the distance shortly after.
"He will fight only when you are ready and will act as the real Turles would. Just don't expect to hold a lengthy conversation with him." Aldrif said.
"Oh hell yes! this is perfect, I'll bounce back in no time! Thanks Aldrif!" Broly animately declared as he slid into a fighting stance.
The remainder of the large gathering of warriors were scattered about the strange afterlife they now inhabited. Most of the Saiyan population were off training or eating while the others looked to find familiar company in the sea of strangers. The sun slowly began to set and the nordic villagers quickly went to their respective homes for the night, for the contestants of the tournament however, sleep meant nothing except comfort.
Nidos busied himself with the acquisition of new contestants, Mirai Gohan was still adjusting to having both arms again. Zangya found a house far away from Bojack's, Chi-Chi tossed and turned in her own room; haunted by memories of her old friends and the prospect of facing Raucan again, she wept at seeing what her son of a different universe had become and wondered why she married Goku in whatever universe he was from.
Nail did the usual: meditate, the Ginyu force hit the tavern, Cell went exploring the world they were now on, Krillin and Roshi got drunk, Tien went off to train, for the first time in nearly thirty years without his best friend. Yamcha hung around with Bulma and the others; he was incredibly happy to find her once again receptive to his charms.
Vegeta found a group of like-minded Saiyans to associate with and spent the night drinking and sparring with them, 18 and 17 went to a tavern and spent their evening sarcastically commenting on the other fighters. King Vegeta and his wife: Zana, also became inebriated and in their drunken stupor, attempted to establish themselves as regents over a statue in the town square. Gine and Bardock found a room together, and became accustomed to it quickly.
And so the first day of Odin's tournament came to a close, a small passage of time contained in the infinitely larger body of their collective story.
To anyone contemplating murdering me for making Broly lose: I too am a fan of his character but his story is one of absolute power and very little training, when fighting someone evenly matched he was at a dissadvantage; but dont count him off just yet! He is determined to make a comeback!
Also I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far... so dont be afraid to review!