The two Saiyans fought at a frantic speed. His aura blazing around him, Raditz threw everything he had into each exchange of blows. Already, his arms were marred with blood from strikes of the Arkosian's blade, and at least a few of them felt pretty deep. His other wounds were acting up as well, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. Actually, he'd already pushed past what he would term ''exhaustion'' and was rapidly approaching ''Staying alive by sheer willpower alone''. And as Raditz would be the first to admit, his willpower wasn't that good. Each clash sent aches racing through his body, each time he hit a wall, he wondered if he would find the strength to rise again. Each blow traded brought him closer and closer to his limit, to that barrier he would never be able to reach.
Yet, each time he fell, he found it within him to rise again. To fight the pain with bitter determination, to trade just one more blow. It was the hardest fight he'd ever participated in, and he would have been dead ten times over by now, if it weren't for Nappa.
Nappa. Even that name brought an amount of awe to him now. He'd always known the big Saiyan was an elite, but now he saw what that truly meant. Through blinding pain, and splitting agony, the giant traded blow after blow with the Arkosian. The deep wound in his chest stained his armour red, and his lost limb made for a constant hole in his guard. The Arkosian wasn't shy of exploiting that either, and Nappa had taken several more deep cuts to that side of his body. Still, he fought. Landed blow after blow, twisting and striking, and driving the foe back with true Saiyan pride. Each time Raditz felt like he couldn't go on, he would listen to the sound of the battle, and his own wounds would not seem so much.
Alone, each one of the Saiyans would have been overwhelmed by now. Nappa's handicap, and Raditz's weakness ensured that fate if they were not careful; but together, they were fighting still. Trading off to give one another a chance to breath, throwing all their power into the brief clashes with the monster before they were relieved by the other. Each trade of blows was a challenge, each new wound a deadly threat. They blitzed and swirled and danced around the Arkosian, giving it no time to target one above the other. Each aware that this was a fight to the death.
The fight was vicious though, both sides giving as good as they got. The Arkosian managed to lay a deep wound into Raditz's scalp, coating his dark hair in matted red. Nappa took a blow to the gut, that would certainly have been fatal were it a few inches lower. Raditz almost lost his arm in the same manner as the giant. The Arkosian took blow after blow until its natural armour started to truly give way, pulpy flesh and purple blood staining the fists of the Saiyans; still they fought on, locked in a duel that would allow only one side survival. There were no words, no were there time for words. There wasn't even any planning. It was a simple, brutal match of speed and wit and instinct. Training took the form of engrained response, to react to an attack before you were even aware that you had noticed it.
It was the kind of match that in his darkest days, Raditz had ascribed to his father, and never to himself. It was the kind of fight he'd never wanted to have, because secretly, he knew he would die. All his training with Bardock had told him this, he was sure of it down to his very soul. Yet, still he fought. Still he threw his might into his attacks, striking again and again. Dodging wounds, and blows by the breadth of a hair, but remaining alive each time. Even the attacks he couldn't avoid, he mitigated. Dodging just so to turn a fatal cut into a deep wound. He knew he was doing a number on his body, he knew that if he lived, he'd need another stint in the healing tanks.
He didn't care right now. All he could focus on was the exhilaration pounding through him, the battle-lust of a Saiyan pushed to his very limit. It screamed through him like nothing he'd ever felt before, and he knew that to release himself to it would be to die. If he got caught up, he'd never dodge in time, he'd slow down just enough to be cut. That was how he was fighting now. The battle within and the battle without.
The Arkosian caught Nappa with a downward kick, propelling the bald giant through the floor with an angry shout. Quick as a flash, it darted down after him, and Raditz followed as well. He didn't know how many times they'd done this, how many floors they've gone down or up, or around. Sometimes, they would emerge in halls full of soldiers, but they were never strong enough to turn the tide of the battle. Few of them even wanted to try. They'd take one look at two Saiyans going all out against such a powerful Arkosian, and decide that they wanted none of that. Raditz would have called them cowards, but he could hardly blame them. After all, he'd feel the same way if he wasn't already up to his neck in it.
They entered this time into a much bigger room. ''Cavernous'' would be the word that sprang to mind. It was giant, and there were rows of silent machines build into the walls, each one looking like a mechanical arm. By the arms, there were a collection of large pads of metal, spreading out from the central corridor that connected it to the rest of the ship.
Some of the pads were full, sphere-like shapes held tightly by the metal limbs. That was enough to confirm for Raditz that this was the landing bay. For a split second, he marvelled at how far they had come. After all, the landing bay was on the very bottom of the ship! They had to have broken through a lot of corridors to get here…
Then, Nappa gave a cry of pain, and Raditz was spurred back to the fight. He gathered power in the palms of his hands, and unleashed a Ki storm to drive the alien away from Nappa. The Arkosian was getting weaker too, at the start of the fight, it could easily have withered that attack. Now, it choose to dodge. Disengaging and hopping out of range. Nappa staggered back, and Raditz saw a wound across his face, marking him from the temple to the top of the nose. Anger flared in him, giving him that extra boost of power. By now, he was desperately reaching for anything he could get. He'd past running on dry a while ago, and now he honestly didn't even know how he was still standing, much less fighting.
He swooped in, striking with speed towards the alien, forcing the Arkosian to fend him off with a storm of exchanged blows. Raditz snarled as he felt skin tear, a deep gash cut into his arm, but he flipped, and landed a kick to the creature's side, drawing a hiss of pain. He came up again, hands full of power ,and fired a blast of Ki which the Arkosian side-stepped. A nearby pot was reduced to molten metal, and the alien stepped in smartly. Two arms struck for his chest, forcing him to dart backwards, just in time to avoid the other two, which had been trying to encircle him.
He was growing tired, reaching his limits. His movements were slowing, and the Arkosian knew it. It stepped forward again, launching a series of scything strikes which he defended against as best he could. Pain ripped through him as half a dozen more wounds were added to his arms. Then, the Arkosian's leg shot out, and he tripped. For a moment, he seemed to float and then he crashed to the ground. A scythe of energy slammed into his gut, drawing a pained scream and igniting his other wounds in agony.
"Good." The Arkosian growled. "Now this time, stay down."
He wondered why it wasn't going to finish him, but that was answered when Nappa surged forward from behind it, trying to strike with surprise. A blast of energy ripped through the space above him, but the alien had flipped into the air, and returned with a series of scythes of its own. Nappa ducked and dodged between them, those he couldn't avoid, he tanked. One of them came at his face, but he punched it. Raditz wasn't even kidding, he just swatted that energy out of the air!
That was an elite at war. That power, that majesty. It was the sort of thing he could never imagine for himself. The elite were a class unto themselves. Raditz should have known he could never compete.
Speaking of which, he realised that his wounds had caught up to him at last. Every attempt at movement ended in agony. He was stuck. He didn't even have the ability to feel regret, or frustration, he'd given all he could. Now, it was down to Nappa.
Come on, General Nappa. Don't let that alien scum pull one over on the Saiyan race.
The Arkosian was continuing to throw bombarding waves of energy; cutting into the floor and the machinery around them. Creating hissing sparks, and leaping flames. Catching the offline pods, and destroying them with metal shrieks and howls. The only thing that it wasn't hitting was Nappa himself. The Saiyan was moving fast enough to keep ahead of them, turning and swerving. He threw a glance Raditz's way, and seemed to realise that the younger Saiyan wouldn't be getting up again.
It was down to him now.
The giant elite squared his shoulders, summoned his willpower, and threw himself into the fight. A burst of speed and a sharp turn, and he was in the Arkosian's face. The two clashed, blade against fist. The Arkosian made a quick cut to the neck, but Nappa had fought it long enough to know its combat style now. He caught the blade in his hands, and closed his fingers, mangling the claws with a jet of purple blood. The creature howled, and tried to strike desperately with the other three limbs. Nappa, with only one arm, was forced to release his hold, dashing backwards to make some space. His single hand filled with light. The blast hurled the Arkosian backwards, wreathed in energy for a moment; but it blocked as best it could, and refused to go down.
Nappa frowned, but the Arkosian went on the attack next. One of its three remaining functional arms filled with power, and a scything blast tore through the hanger door into the interior of the ship. Nappa dodged to the right, and pinged a rapid blast past its defences, scarring a deep wound into its shoulder. The Arkosian launched itself forwards, and Nappa met its attack.
They fought. By now, they were both used to the other. Used to attack and counter-attack, and feigned weakness and real weakness. It was as though they knew each other, so great was their focus on the mixing of their combat styles. As though they had been friends for years so well did each know the other's movements. It only made things more bitter, only made things all the fiercer. The Arkosian had risen to the challenge of fighting a Saiyan, and Nappa was hard-pressed to do anything but admit that he was impressed. He'd never thought that he would be pushed this far, to lose an arm… No one had managed that.
But then, the Arkosian's words were troubling him, and he wondered if he wasn't the fool for having failed to understand. After all, if the situation was reversed, and it was Planet Vegeta on the line, could he really say that he would fight with anything less than the pure stubborn rage that the Arkosian was displaying? If there was still a chance to save his world, no matter how slight, he knew he'd throw everything he had into it, be ready and willing to die in the attempt. Even for a far-flung hope.
He was seeing himself mirrored in the alien warrior. Something that seemed almost a blasphemy to the elite Saiyan. After all, aliens were creatures to be conquered and enslaved, to see good traits in one was dangerously un-Saiyan. Yet, through the brutal battle they had thus far shared, Nappa was starting to do just that. The alien was fighting as a Saiyan would have fought, on the eve of the destruction of Planet Vegeta. It was fighting for the life and pride of its entire race. None of it would have meant anything if the creature was weak, or pathetic. But it was strong. Strong enough to give him a run for his money. Strong enough to make him regard it as powerful.
Strong enough to be compared to a Saiyan.
Ultimately, Nappa didn't doubt that he was doing the right thing. His loyalty to the Prince went far beyond anything he could ever feel to a pathetic and insignificant alien species. However, this was the first time he'd felt such joy in fighting anything but a fellow Saiyan, and it was tinged with bitterness as he reflected on what the end result of his victory would mean.
After all, when Frieza won, Arkos was surely doomed. If Arkos was doomed, then this warrior's battle was in vain. Nappa would never be able to fight such a determined and driven foe again. The loss was biting.
It was at this point, distracted by his own thoughts, Nappa was unable to parry a single blow, which cut into his chest, driving itself deep. Deeper even than the first attack. Nappa felt surprisingly little pain. Then, a cold weakness which spread from the wound across his entire body. He gazed in shock and surprise at the face of the creature.
Then, he tumbled to the ground. This time, he wouldn't be getting up.
Shit, shit, shit. Nappa's down again, and this time he's hurt worse than before. Damn it, man, do you really need me to hold your hand that much? How come both times I'm unable to help, you go and take the hit?
Raditz was vaguely aware that if Nappa was aware of the thoughts he was currently having, the elite would probably kill him dead on the spot. At that particular moment, however, he couldn't find it in him to care. The dull calmness of his wounded state had been broken by panic and terror at seeing Nappa's fall. The Arkosian was in him up to the elbow, and he was damn sure that wasn't a good sign for future survival! When Nappa went limb, and clattered to the ground, that was probably an even worse sign, wasn't it?
Raditz tried to move. He tried to rise up and fight on, he really did. But he'd hit his limit. The same limit that Nappa had warned him about before. The very extent of what he could do, beyond which he could not go. No matter how much he raged at his failing form. No matter the curses he flung at himself. No matter the fury at seeing a man he had come to respect fallen in such a way.
The best he could do was shakily point a hand. Consideration of firing a Ki blast was curtailed when he realised it would only end in his own death as well. Desperately, he searched his mind. Reaching for anything that might allow him to salvage the situation, but he already knew that there was nothing. He was too weak to stand, he couldn't fight. Nappa might be dead already, but if he wasn't, he'd be in another minute, so if Raditz wanted to do anything ,it had to be now.
But what? What could he do? He was too weak! Too tired! Too exhausted! If he wanted to have any chance at all, he'd have to be ten times as strong as he was now!
Ten times…
Shit. Was it really so bad that he was considering that?
Did he have the power? Just barely. Did he have the room? Not in the ship, but the landing bay was at the very bottom of it. If he took them out in the right direction, they'd be in space. Was he really considering this? It seemed the height of insanity. He knew that even if he pulled it off, he'd only strain his body all the harder. He might just kill himself pulling it off.
But if he didn't, he'd die for sure. And Nappa would die too, and after what the giant Saiyan had done, and what he had suffered, that seemed just too much. The thought steeled him, and Raditz reached for what little dregs of his power remained. He'd have to do this properly. He only had once chance. One last chance to turn this around.
I can't believe I'm about to do this. I can't believe that I'm going to do something so stupid. Something so reckless, so ill-thought out… Actually, that sounds exactly like me…
No more time to think. No more time to ponder. Raditz lined up the shot, and poured the last of his Ki through his body, into his finger, and discharged it in a single radiant burst. The Arkosian flinched away, but the attack wasn't aimed at it. Instead, it came to a dead stop hovering near the roof of the hanger.
He felt it then. The radiant light of a full moon, discharged by the false moon orb. Something deep and primal welling up in his body. Agony seared through him, worse now that his body was in the grip of the transformation. But the pain helped. It actually helped to spur on the monster within; the beast now racing to the surface with joyful howls and savage roars.
The Oozaru…
Body writhing with fresh muscles, Raditz forced himself to his feet. His heart was pounding, and he was growing. Bigger. Taller, wider.
Have to focus… can't let the monster overwhelm me… have to think…
It was hard. The pain made keeping his mind difficult, it enraged the beast Made it want to rampage, made it want to kill. He was still growing, in mere moments, he'd be too tall for the landing bay. He didn't intend to still be in it by then.
With a roar that was neither entirely human, nor totally animal, Raditz barrelled towards the Arkosian. The alien insect sent a dozen deep-cutting crescents of power at him, but he swatted them aside like they were nothing. New power was filling his body, nursing his wounds, making him strong again. Ten times as strong as he had been before.
His tackle caught the Arkosian square on, but he didn't stop. Carrying the struggling body, he struck the far wall of the ship, and smashed through it. Deep space opened up, winking around them and beginning to pull at them both. Raditz pitched them into it, catching as much air as he could in his aura as they tumbled. He lost the Arkosian in the confusion of those first few seconds. Transitioning to space was confusing enough, never mind the final stages of the transformation. As he finally attained his true, massive height. As dark hair sprouted across his body, as his face deformed, and grew a snout, massive teeth and a long mane of hair trailing across his back.
Oozaru. The Great Ape. True form of the Saiyan race. The secret to their power. An animalstic transformation which afford them ten times the strength of their base form. He'd really pulled out all the stops for this one.
The light of the false moon still shone from the broken doors of the hanger; only slightly marred by the shimmering automatic shield which had cut into existence mere seconds after the breach. Raditz felt the anger building inside him; always hard to control as an Oozaru, this time it was worse. The beast knew it had been hurt; knew that it had been wounded gravely.
It wanted repayment. Revenge. Blood for blood.
A sentiment to which Raditz was in full agreement.
He pointed the monster at the alien, the Arkosian had now caught itself, and was flying enclosed in its own power. If Raditz had had the strength of will, if he'd had the energy, if he hadn't just fought such a gruelling battle, he could have controlled the beast. Mastered it, and rode it. As it was, he didn't have the power to do that. Instead, he singled out the Arkosian, and barked one clear thought to his primal self.
Prey.
Then, he felt himself starting to fade. The last thing he heard as his logical half was the roar of the primal fury of the Saiyan race.
The Oozaru unleashed.
