Chapter 6: Saiyan Secrets.
Joel

"What do you want?" I barked. Jeran flinched. "I just wanted to check if you're alri..." she began.
"Couldn't have been better," I interrupted with my trademark smirk.
Jeran, Nikita and I were a mile outside the city limits, where we spied on the alien spacecraft. We were on a cliff, overlooking the desert that spread forth for miles.
"I still think we should wait for Jin and Furion," said Nikita, who sat on the edge, with her legs dangling over. Jeran nodded in agreement.
"If the newbie wants to sleep, let him sleep," I chuckled. Nikita immediately went on the offensive.
"Jin wouldn't be in that Rejuv tank if you didn't egg him on!! I wouldn't have had to hurt him..." she shouted, "You're just bitter because he's stronger than you are!"
The fool. She had no idea.
"Feh...whatever," I said, folding my arms. I levitated a few feet into the air to get a better look at the alien ship. It was a large, round, two- tiered vessel with oval view ports aligning its upper atmosphere.
"It's big. The size of it suggests that there are at least ten people on board," I observed, "It also looks like a reconnaissance ship. Not the type that would wanna destroy a planet."
"I see movement!" called Jeran, pointing to the left of the ship, "Over there!" My eyes quickly picked up seven indistinct figures moving around. I grinned.
"Let's get 'em!!" I cried, leaping off the cliff before either Jeran or Nikita could try to dissuade me. I activated my scouter and scanned my prey. Three of them were at 8000 and the rest where in the vicinity of 3000. Four days ago I might have been intimidated but now, thanks to my Saiyan heritage and a little assistance from Jin, I was a whole damn lot stronger. I increased my speed and soon I landed in front of them, my two companions following soon after.
I had chosen to wear my martial arts gi instead of my uniform. The gi was a great deal lighter than the uniform and it was black. I had always been fond of the colour black. It reflected my personality, cruel, ruthless and just plain cool.
The seven aliens didn't even bother to ask questions. They began shooting ki blasts like crazy. I zanzokened away from them and returned a few of my own. My blasts struck their marks and the four weaklings fell. The two girls took over from there. Jeran ran into the three remaining soldiers, dodging ki blasts, and sank her fist into one's abdomen. Nikita appeared directly in front of another, surprising him, and shot a roundhouse kick that broke the guy's jaw on impact. The soldier uttered a stifled cry as the brunette continued her attack with a hook punch, which sent him spinning away from her. She then turned her attention to the last soldier, who was about to attack Jeran from behind.
"Valkyrie Arrow!" she shouted, pulling back an invisible bowstring, letting the red ki arrow fly. The arrow pierced the soldier's armored cuirass and impaled him. Jeran finished up with her opponent with a gracefully performed lotus kick, her long, blonde hair trailing after her.
I stared at them, impressed. They were better than I thought, especially Nikita. I guess all her training with Jeran and her late night training sessions with Jin really paid off. I was about to commend them when a deep voice beat me to it.
"Very good!" the voice boomed, causing the three of us to turn toward its source. Two people stood a few metres behind us. The one who spoke had a very massive frame; he was almost three my size and extremely muscular! He was bald and possessed bushy eyebrows in a very peculiar colour, platinum. He wore a golden armored cuirass, over a black body suit and he had a cape that was tilted so that it covered the entire right side of his body. The other guy was significantly smaller than his bulky comrade, yet his muscles were still very well defined under his black body suit. The larger man was obviously a lot older.
"Well well, Scipio. So this is how your squad ranks up against true fighters...and beautiful ones at that," the older man continued. Scipio shook his head and shrugged.
"My men were foolish," he replied, "They didn't realize that this fighting was useless to them. They don't have a real reason to fight, so it was inevitable that they'd lose."
"Nice speech, but we're here because someone said you were looking for strong fighters," I stated, "Well here we are!" The old man turned to me.
"Did that pathetic excuse for a mayor send you? That was Scipio's idea you know. Although I would have rathered he destroy this planet instead," he asked, evoking a snarl from Jeran, "It didn't have to come down to this. We're all civilized people. The mayor knows what we want."
"Well, the mayor doesn't barter with terrorists, so I guess you're stuck with us," I said, taking a step toward them. The bald guy sighed.
"Then I guess we have no choice. Scipio!" he said. The young warrior took a step toward me as well. He summoned forth his white aura and as it bathed him I activated my scouter, only to have it explode.
"What the!?" I exclaimed, as Jeran and Nikita's scouters followed the fate of my own.
"He's as strong as Master Trump!" cried Jeran. Nikita came forward.
"I can take him," she said, although she didn't sound too convinced of herself. She was afraid, and I didn't blame her. I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. "I'm the only one with a powerlevel almost as high as his," she reasoned. I chuckled.
"That may be so, but you don't have enough fighting experience," I explained, "He'd rip you to shreds. I'll handle this."
I'd read Scipio's powerlevel. It was the last number I had seen on my scouter before it broke, 38,520. He was a hell of a lot stronger than I was, but that was no big problem. As hard as my battle was against Jin I hadn't needed to use my secret weapon. I glanced at my tail, which was, as usual, wrapped around my waist, and grinned. Despite the great difference in power between us, there could only be one possible outcome of this encounter. I would be the victor.
We both sprinted forward, he covered the distance much more quickly than I did, of course, so we ended meeting at more the two-thirds mark. We collided with a humongous 'BANG' sound that shook the ground beneath us. We hurled punches, kicks and small ki blasts at each other, at such a rapid pace that I was certain that neither Jeran nor Nikita could see us. I must admit that I hadn't intended to start at such a fast pace, but I was forced to keep up. Our hyperfighting continued, neither of us letting up a bit. For several seconds, we darted across the desert, each of us exchanging blows, but rarely striking each other. The hyperfighting continued for a few more minutes until I knew I couldn't go on. I zanzokened away from him, perching myself on a large rock off to Scipio's right. He turned to me soon after and fired a small ki blast straight at me. Not a smart move, I thought, readying myself to swat it back at him, when suddenly the blast swerved sharply in midair and blew open the rock I stood upon. The explosion threw me up vertically, while I tried to control myself in the air. Scipio tried to capitalize on my awkward position, rocketing toward me, both fists forward, but I had anticipated such a move.
I immersed myself in ki and scooted away from the rapidly advancing Scipio. As he drew closer I spun around, thrusting my leg out, catching him hard on the side of the head. He hovered in the air for a while, trying to clear his head. I turned back around and soon I was a safe distance away. Maybe he isn't as good as I thought, am I just wasting my time? These thoughts flowed through my mind as he and I faced off once more. This time he was crouched in a fighting stance while I hung my arms lazily off to my sides. Suddenly, he blurred out of view and I lost track of him. Of course the first place I thought he'd reappear was right behind me, so I sent a wild backfist behind me, even though I hadn't felt his ki there.
Once I realized I'd only struck air, I tried desperately to find him. In the few panicky seconds it took for me to locate him, he'd already sprung. He had been off to my left, but was now right behind me, scaring the hell out of me. Without further delay he proceeded to kick me in the spine, roundhouse me in the neck and nail me with a hook to the temple. The first blow paralyzed me for a second, and the last sent me spinning away from him. He zanzokened to my destination and thrust his foot out striking me hard in the abdomen. I felt the air rush out of my lungs and after a second or two, Scipio followed up the attack, flying above me and axe handling me down towards the ground.
I managed to regain control of my body, and halt my swift descent. I landed calmly and stared up high above me at my adversary. I took this time to take a good few deep breaths, unaware that Scipio was in the middle of performing an attack.
"Scipio Blaster!!" he screamed. He opened his mouth, as wide as physically possible, condensed his ki into his chest and fired it from his gaping jaw. The white beam caught me by surprise, and almost struck me. In fact, if it weren't for my Saiyan reflexes, I would have probably been hit. It only singed my body, but completely tore through my gi's upper shirt and the weighted clothing underneath it. Only a tattered half of the shirt remained so I ripped it off and dropped it to the ground.
While I did this though, Scipio wasted no time, zanzokening first to my right, and then a little closer to my left, before finally appearing behind me. I admit, I had been doing so well against him that I almost forgot that Scipio's powerlevel was almost one and a half times my own, so when he blew me away with two rather large ki blasts, zanzokened in front of me again, and dropkicked me back into the air, I wasn't really expecting it.
While I was gallantly soaring through the air, he fired off two large beams in my direction. They struck me at full force, propelling me further into the air. Scipio zanzokened behind me yet again and savagely kicked me in my back. I was thrown forward, but not too far because he quickly appeared in front of me and crescent kicked me in the shoulder, plummeting me towards the desert sand at ungodly speeds. A cloud of sand filled the air when I crashed into the ground. Pain shot through my body, burning all other senses and rendering me motionless for a good few minutes. I heard Scipio's boots make contact with the ground and it was only then that I willed myself to move. I shakily rose from my sandy bed and stared coldly at my seemingly untouched opponent, my vision blurred red from battle rage and the blood that leaked from my injuries.
"Good, this has been entertaining!" came Scipio; running a hand through his short, black hair. I gazed around and now noticed that we were further away from the city and the alien's spacecraft couldn't be seen. I spotted Jeran a little ways off in the air, but I couldn't find Nikita anywhere. Scipio's elder companion landed beside him.
"Indeed it has been, Scipio!" he commended, "but you know what could make it even better?" Scipio shook his head. "It's a proven fact that a warrior fights at his full potential only when someone he cares about is in danger." With that, the old guy zanzokened behind Jeran, grabbed her arms tightly and shoved his knee into her back. She screamed in pain, trying desperately to free herself from his grip but couldn't. "You there!" the old timer shouted to me, "The longer you take to fight the more I'll hurt her!" He slammed his knee into her back twice more, causing her to scream some more. The screaming eventually trailed off into quiet sobbing.
These fools! Anyone could see that she meant absolutely nothing to me. Yet why was I angered by her screams? Why did they move me? It was probably because I hated her screaming as much as her cooking. Scipio looked at me, then at his bald companion.
"It's your move kid," he said. The old man hit Jeran once more and it was then I took action. Slowly I spread my legs and cupped my hands. This attack had never failed me yet.
"Kamehame..." I started, gathering energy from all living things in my immediate surroundings, even my opponents. "HA!!" I screamed, aiming the beam at the old warrior. He smirked and held Jeran out in front of him so that she would take the attack, just as I expected. I zanzokened directly above him and did a bicycle kick which smashed into his bald head. Moving quickly, I reoriented myself and shot a kick at his face, nudging the tip of my boot into his left eye. The old timer let out a howl, releasing Jeran from his grip to clutch his face in pain as blood spewed out of his eye. Using what I knew to be my last bit of energy, I caught Jeran just before she hit the ground. It was then my Kamehameha wave struck its target. There was a huge explosion, stirring up another cloud of sand and smoke. I landed as softly as possible, with Jeran in my arms, and sank to my knees in exhaustion. I lay her on the sand and wiped the sweat and blood from my face.
It took Jeran a while to realize that she was safe and when she did, she threw her arms around my neck crying uncontrollably. A strange feeling swept over me, one that I was certain I had never felt before. Her body felt...I don't know...good against my own. I found myself embracing her as well and, as I held her, a rejuvenated feeling slowly came over me. The pains that overwhelmed me calmed down significantly, and I felt that indeed I had some energy remaining.
"Joel, you...you saved me, thank you," whispered Jeran, "I guess you really aren't a heartless monster." I let go of her, afraid of this new feeling.
"I am, Jeran, be very assured of that fact, and don't get me wrong," I said hurriedly, mimicking Jin's dry tone, "I only did it because your squeaky screams annoyed me." She smiled and stroked my cheek.
"Thanks anyway, Joel," she said. I felt the blood rush up to my face and quickly turned away from her. I heard the sound of footsteps and, sure enough, the old guy and Scipio headed our way at a leisurely pace. Apart from his now useless left eye, 'baldy' appeared unfazed by my Kamehameha.
"What did I tell you, Scipio my lad? If he had hit you with that beam you would have been in the next dimension right now!" he boomed with a broad grin on his bloody face, "Singed my eyebrows with that one, he did!" Scipio's face was a mask of annoyance and he glared at me severely.
"Lord Obsidian," he said, "I'm going to crush him like the little bug he is!" I rose to my feet and, for the first time in the fight, I assumed my fighting stance.
"Be careful Joel," shouted Jeran. I nodded; not daring to look back at her for fear that Scipio would strike. I ran forward, so fast that my feet barely touched the ground, and started a barrage of punches and kicks which Scipio didn't even bother blocking. He dodged them all without much effort and soon matched my pace with attacks of his own. Soon the speed of our hyperfighting reached subsonic levels and sand began to cyclone around us forming a huge twister. I was surprised that I still had this much power left. The tornado propelled us upward, as we continued to fight, until we were within reach of Nedan's stratosphere.
I had considered myself lucky to even be standing at this point, that when I actually got a breakthrough I couldn't believe it. I lodged my left knee into his abdomen, causing him to bend forward in pain, and grabbed his head with both hands and formally introduced his face to my right knee. Blood spurted out of his broken nose as he flew backward uncontrollably. I zanzokened ahead of him and drove a ki charged fist into the back of his head. I appeared to his right and punched him again. I darted all over, slamming my fists into Scipio's freefalling body. I should have known my luck would run out. Scipio reoriented himself in midair, caught one of my fists and crashed his foot into my jaw. The blow stupefied me. When I made impact with the ground this time, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get up.
"This is it, insect!" cried Scipio, as he slowly hovered down to earth, "I've had fun playing with you." When he landed, he crouched down low. "Scipio..." he started, standing up straight and stretching his limbs outward, "BOMBER!!!" A white ball of ki surrounded the warrior's body and it quickly expanded, destroying everything in its path and heading straight at me!!
Excruciating pain! Burning flesh! These were the last things I felt before I passed out.
"Joel..." cried an indistinct voice, "please...wake up, you stupid Saiyan, wake up!!!" I felt a droplet of water hit my face and I slowly opened my eyes.
"Oh...it's just Jeran..." I whispered, closing my eyes again. The blonde gave a startled cry and started shaking me.
"Joel? Joel! Oh my God! You're alright!" she exclaimed. I opened my eyes and viewed Jeran's tear stained face.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked sitting up. What I saw greatly surprised me. The desert had been completely converted into a wasteland! How could I have survived such destruction!? I glanced at Jeran and gasped when I saw that one of her arms was severely burnt!
"You...saved me!?" I asked, still staring at her arm. She brushed a hair away from her eyes and nodded.
"Seems like it," she replied with a tearful smile. Why would she want to save me? I was the guy she was always ignoring, cursing or trying to decapitate! I shook away the question, afraid of what the answer might be.
"Thanks..." I said softly, ripping a piece of cloth from the remainder of my gi. I created a makeshift poultice and carefully wrapped it around her burnt arm. She looked as surprised as I was feeling inwardly.
"Jo-Joel...?" she gasped, "Th-thank you."
"Where'd they go?" I asked, trying to change to subject. She pointed in the direction of the alien spaceship. "Jeran, I need you to go and get Jin," I ordered, "but don't come back with him." She was about to protest when I placed a finger on her lips. "Go on...I want you to get into a Rejuv tank and stay there. I won't let you get hurt because of me again." We stared at each other for a while before she nodded. She aided me in getting up.
"Wh-what're you going to do, Joel?" she asked. I shook my head and gently pushed her away.
"Never mind that. Go on!!" I shouted. She glanced at me for a second and then left.
I knew that it would probably have to come down to this. I would have to use my secret weapon. I went airborne and, dodging the tornado that Scipio and I had created earlier, flew off toward Scipio's ship. It didn't take long for me to find them and I landed heavily behind them.
"Giving up so soon Scipio?" I asked tauntingly. Both Scipio and Obsidian whirled around in surprise.
"Impossible!! No one has ever survived that attack!" cried Scipio, angrily. I shrugged and unwrapped my tail from around my waist.
"Guess I just don't feel like becoming a statistic today, but here's the thing...you just did," I said, powering up a bright ball of ki behind my back, "You're going to be the second person to ever force me to use my secret weapon!" With that, I hurled the ball of ki high into the air and almost instantly, without even looking up at it, I felt the rage, the fear, the instinctive hatred of all things living. When I did look at the bright ball of ki in the sky I found myself beginning to levitate and my blue aura encompassed me, sparks of electricity surrounding it. I felt my muscles begin to bulge and I let out an animalistic roar. I began to sprout fangs and my face extended very slowly to form a snout.
I saw the fear in Scipio's eyes as he slowly started to shrink before me and it drove my transformation. My muscles burst through the remnants of my gi and fur began to cover my body. Then I lost myself to the Oozaru within. The bloodlust became insatiable...

CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL
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SOUNTRACK: HEADSTRONG by Trapt