Chapter Nine
All was quiet in the arena at first with no one uttering a single sound or making any noises. The tension could be felt between the fighters who stood silently on the sands, each knowing what was to come. Bardock stood on one end while the assailant stood on the other. This was a rivalry everyone eagerly awaited and yet no one could understand what was to take place.
The mystery fighter remained in place and stared indifferently at his Saiyan opponent. It wasn't until a few moments had passed that he made his first move. He slowly balled his fist before bringing it down on the floor with frightening power. The ground quaked shaking the entire arena causing many to lose their footing or cling to their seats for dear life; even Bardock had to catch himself at one point as well. Unfortunately by doing this, he had taken his eyes off his opponent and let down his guard. Realizing what he had done, Bardock scolded himself and lifted his eyes to where the assailant had stood- but he was gone! Cursing his luck the Saiyan took a defensive stance out of instinct.
It didn't even take enough time to draw a breath before he heard rustling behind him. He spun just in the nick of time, for there was the assailant who stood in mid-strike. Thankfully Bardock had thrown his arms up and blocked the coming attack; however the enemy was far from slowing down.
"Well that was an impressive trick if I do say so myself." The announcer said in a state of disbelief, "But it's going to take more than a few elaborate tricks to win this fight, folks… Still, it made for an extremely interesting move none the less!"
Bardock parried and blocked a few more moves from his enemies as Elsa watched in wonderment. The spiky-haired man's dark eyes were trained on his enemy as the assailant returned the gesture from under his hood. The longer the sparring went on, the more intense, and inhuman it seemed.
The two fighters seemed to move together in total synchronization and were getting faster as the fight went on, much faster. Bardock threw forward a bone breaking punch which the assailant had easily dodged and grabbed onto his arms.
He attempted to break them both over his right shoulder, but was met with a reverse as Bardock broken free from his grasp.
He quickly lunged after his enemy as the two of them practically flew off the ground. They again collided into battle and threw punches, dodged attacks, and countered one another's moves. Unfortunately, the mysterious fighter gained the upper hand at one point and sent a blow into Bardock's chest. The crowd gasped as the Saiyan skidded back, his feet touching the ground while cutting a small trench into the sand. However, the assailant was far from slowing down; in fact he turned things up a notch.
The royal family watched in total amazement as a ball of pale-blue Ki formed in his hands and grew to a considerable size. Bardock showed no fear or worry. Instead, he silently waited with the defiant stare that only a Saiyan warrior possessed, "Your move."
It was in that moment the attack raced forward.
Elsa covered her eyes expecting it to be the warrior's end and braced for impact. She could have screamed in terror had the Ki not reached its target first. Colliding into Bardock, the sinister energy exploded shaking the entire arena and terrifying its occupants. Mothers embraced their children while the royal guards took cover and prepared to attack on a moment's notice- if they lived to see thru this terror that is.
Time seemed to stretch on for eternity as the entire world became blotted out by blinding-hot light. Thousands of screams rang out but could barely be heard over what was happening. This went on for another few seconds until the light had begun to finally die down. Elsa's vision eventually returned allowing her to survey the damage below.
She half expected that everyone, including herself, would have perished in that hellish inferno. But much to her surprise and astonishment not a single person was harmed from it. Thankfully the entire explosion seemed to have been confined within the sands of the arena itself. Surveying further, her blue eyes locked onto Bardock who stood there unharmed as well! And what's more, he was literally floating in front of her just a few feet away…
His tail wiggled and moved around his waist while his fists clenched tightly. Olaf (who had snuck back onto the balcony) happily jumped up and down shouting, "HEY, BARDOCK!"
The Saiyan looked over his shoulder to berate the snowman and saw something else instead. The blonde woman was there on the balcony, staring right at him. Just like that day in the castle courtyard, time slowed and the world froze into place. The Queen felt something stir deep within her as she stared into those dark, hardened eyes.
He really is the man in gold- and he knows who I am, too…
Bardock turned his focus onto the assailant who slowly levitated in the air coming right at him. Little did he know, the real test was about to begin.
The hooded figure was only a few yards away now.
He stopped twenty feet away and silently stood his ground- or air- waiting for something. He grinned from within the safety of his cloak and said in a low voice, "I've been following you for quite some time now, Bardock… You should consider it an honor…"
"And why's that?" Bardock called back.
"All in good time," The assailant answered, "But for now, allow me to introduce myself," The mystery fighter's gloved hands reached up slowly pulling his hood back. The royal family gasped at his inhuman appearance while Bardock only smirked, "I should've known you weren't human!"
The warrior's skin was a light blue, and while most people possessed colored eyes such as blue, green, or hazel, his were purple. His long, white hair was tied back in a pony-tail and went well past his shoulders. Once he completely removed his cloak, Bardock could see hundreds, if not thousands of markings running down the entire length of his arms. They glowed a strange silver color which was actually energy coursing thru him.
The fighter carelessly discarded the robe and spoke once more, "Allow me to introduce myself…. I am Shade, and you are Bardock from Planet Vegeta, Age 737."
"How could you know that?" Bardock asked perplexed.
It was one thing to know who he was; but to know where he came from and more importantly, when, was a totally different matter. Shade descended down to the ground with his opponent in tow. The two of them landed on the charred sands as the blue fighter said, "Before we continue I suppose I could share a little information with you. If only to be on the same page," Shade thought for a moment choosing his next words carefully, "We've been following you for quite some time now, ever since you killed the one known as Chilled. In fact that's how you caught our attention in the first place."
"I don't understand." Bardock replied.
Shade chuckled and began to weave his yarn of old.
Elsa couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but she still caught a word or two.
"I am part of a very old, yet sacred order known as The Deciders. We make it our business to maintain and in some cases, restore balance, to an otherwise chaotic galaxy. In short…. We kill people."
"So that's it then, you came all this way just to kill me?" Bardock asked with a smile.
It's been a while since he'd had a decent challenge. Shade only shook his head with a grin and said. "Not even close. In fact it's a little more complicated than that I'm afraid."
"I think I can manage." Bardock replied.
The other fighter thought for a moment before putting his arms out in a 'what the heck, why not?' fashion, "I suppose an explanation is in order here, especially considering what's about to happen. Tell me, Bardock… do you believe in a balance of power?"
Bardock had trouble understanding the question but said with a shrug, "I used to not believe in a whole lot of things, but I learned to quit doubting ideas; no matter how crazy they may seem."
"Wise words: The doctor back on Planet Vegeta was right about you: You are very wise indeed."
A wave of confusion overtook the Saiyan making him ask, "How do you know so much about me? We're not even from the same time!"
"It's simple. I have the power to know whatever I want, about whoever I want. I make it my business to do so.
Flashback….
After the years of commitment Shade had put forth serving the Deciders, he had become the master of his craft.
Finding his targets without them finding him, and doing the will of his master was an art form in itself. It was the perfect balance of locating, watching, and if necessary, purging the galaxy of their life: One less threat.
Bardock was no exception to that rule. After he had miraculously defeated Lord Chilled, Shade's master specifically requested him for the job of locating this Saiyan who hailed from the future. A worthy target indeed.
In the spirit of keeping a low profile, he allowed his target to get a head start and depart from Planet Plant. The perfect predator always gave his prey the space necessary to create a false sense of security. This also allowed for him to observe and learn whatever he could about his enemies. There was no point engaging him just yet when there was still so much to learn. It wasn't until that day at the castle courtyard that he had stepped his game up.
Bardock was slipping thru the crowds trying to get a better look at the royal family, namely the Queen, when he made his next move.
Like Bardock, Shade too possessed psychic powers. But unlike the former who could see the future, Shade could see the past, in this case his past.
All he needed was the proper contact and then he could unlock all of his memories, along with his deepest, darkest secrets, and especially his powers. After what had felt like an eternity of waiting, Shade reached out and grabbed Bardock's arm as he seemed too distracted by Elsa's ice display to notice his presence. What came next was a tidal wave of visions:
An entire lifetime spilled into his mind and flashed right before his very eyes in a matter of seconds; and then just like that he was gone. Shade was well out of the courtyard before his target was any the wiser. He had what he came for. Everything was going just as his master had foreseen it.
Present time…..
"I usually make it a point to learn all I can about my targets. I take my line of work very seriously," He looked around at the countless stares peering down at him which included Elsa's soft blue eyes and continued, "Truth be told you weren't even my original target. I was in the process of taking someone else out when you showed up and changed that for me. In fact you were the one who eliminated my target for me."
The wheels in Bardock's head turned allowing him to know instantly who he was referring to, "You're talking about Chilled."
"Indeed I am. To be honest you done me a favor- In fact, I now have two targets for the price of one. If anything, I should be thanking you!"
"Who's the other one?" Bardock asked confused.
An evil smile formed on Shade's lips as his eyes directed Bardock to the nearby balcony.
"The Queen? What do you and your master have against her?"
"Do you really think we just cruise around killing others for the sheer joy of it? Oh no, no, no… Sadly, very few can understand or appreciate this fact; but our universe along with most others, is kept intact by a delicate balance of life and death. Without this balance, life as we know would be very different; and that's just a delicate way to put it-"
"I'm not following," Bardock cut in, "How do we fit into all of this?"
"Isn't it obvious? It's your power, Bardock. You defied a tyrant and practically defeated an entire army in order to save your own race. The odds were stacked against you, but that didn't stop you at all. You took them all on and survived the very hand of death!" Shade said all of this with a hint of passion, as if he admired him,
"-You've accomplished so much in your own time but that's just the beginning. You became a Super Saiyan and defeated the ancestor of your supposed-to-be killer…. You, Bardock, are only at the beginning of your potential and have shown no signs of slowing down!"
"What about the Queen?" Bardock asked.
"You're quite the eager one, aren't you?" Shade asked, "But all in good time. For now- let's dance!" It was on that note the battle continued.
Shade formed two balls of energy, one in each hand, and released them both. The blackish-red Ki shot in opposite directions suddenly taking up life of their own. They zipped around the arena much to everyone's astonishment encircling both fighters. Around this time, a company of guards attempted to close in on the two of them but were driven back by a sudden explosion. The sinister light had ignited into a wall of darkened flame that raged twenty foot high. The fire licked the air and its heat was even felt up in the balcony. Olaf had to take a few steps from the action on account of the rising temperature. His personal flurry could only do so much when faced with an epic battle of combustible energy. Though on his way out he heard something interesting-
"Why is it that the person you're rooting for always end up being crazy dangerous with power?" Anna asked almost sounding disappointed. Realizing what she had said, she looked back to Elsa and quickly apologized, "No offense, sis." The queen only shook her head too deep in thought to really care. "I was kinda hoping that guy would've won, he seems pretty cool. Kinda quiet, like you… and pretty cute-"
"-Anna!"
"I meant for you, that's all!" The younger sister said cutting her off, "It's okay to say that he is, Elsa… I mean he did show up for you- I think." Elsa's face blushed at her obnoxious sister's remark and looked back to the fight. Little did either of them know, Olaf had heard every word and his imagination went wild. He couldn't wait to tell Bardock.
Back on the sand, Shade lowered his hands slowly bringing them in for a fighting stance, "I had a feeling the earthlings would try to interfere with our bout," he motioned to the fiery wall and finished, "My little trick should keep them out of our hair thankfully. No need for any unnecessary deaths."
"I agree. So maybe you should beat it while the getting's still good for you." Bardock retorted. Shade shot back with, "Not a chance." and the battle resumed.
The fight reflected off of Elsa's eyes as they followed Bardock's tenacious attack. He launched several lightning-fast punches at Shade's face who blocked them all with one arm. The Ki energy blasted around them creating the illusion of a hellish battlefield and it was only the beginning. All of the spectators, who were watching the fight with great fascination before, now either shrank away in horror or fled for their lives. The guards tried to extinguish the flames (or at least keep them at bay) in order to reach the fighters. It was no use, though, Shade's power kept its hold.
Seeing the chaos ensue, Councilor Ben looked over to Gustave who looked terrified and said with much disdain, "You wanted this, Gustave, and now you have it. I hope your power-plays were worth it… now, the Kingdom's paying for it."
His words hit the greedy man like a sack of bricks. This wasn't how everything was supposed to have gone. This was supposed to have been a glorious day for Arendelle- a glorious day for which he was due the credit. His thoughts were cut short when Bardock blocked a Ki attack causing it to collide onto the arena floor exploding a few yards away. The mysterious fighter watched the orange ball of fire indifferently and then looked back to Bardock,
"I must admit, I was hoping for a decent challenge from a warrior of your caliber," The warmth of the past attack had already died leaving a cold breeze in its wake, "But you've been holding back on me- I can't help but feel offended." His smile showed otherwise but it was enough to ruffle Bardock's feathers, "Oh trust me, you don't want any of this!"
"I assure you, I do."
Shade had a feeling Bardock was going to hold back, but all was well. Even if he had to break every bone in his body he'd have his challenge. To set things in motion, he emitted a blue light which consumed him instantly. His eyes glowed for a brief second before dying back down and his silhouette remained visible within the light. Much to everyone's shock, including Bardock's, he split and multiplied into three beings- three Shade's.
"How is that even possible?!" Ben exclaimed.
"Witchcraft…." Gustave replied fearfully.
"No," Nicolas replied unconsciously, "Otherworldly…."
All three of Shade's forms laughed in unison while the one in the center, the real Shade, held his arms out, "One way or another, Bardock, we are going to make this a fight for the ages. Lord Chilled is but mere child's play compared to the power welling up within me."
Then without saying another word, they attacked. Elsa and the rest of her family watched on in shock. "How this even possible?!" Kristoff explained. No one answered but even if someone did, Elsa would have never known. Her large blue eyes watched with trepidation as Bardock tried to hold off the now replicated Shade.
He managed to block two sets of attacks coming from the original Shade and one of his replicas, as the other came up behind him and threw a punch his way. However his fist only punched thru empty air. The two replicas looked puzzle to Shade who only spun to deflect a counter attack from Bardock. The two of them sparred until the others joined in as well drastically tilting the odds against him. The alien trio instantly had the offensive while the Saiyan fought a defensive battle. This guy isn't playing, Bardock thought to himself, I can't keep this up forever….
He was right. He had seen similar techniques throughout his lifetime of fighting. Many fighters could clone themselves in order to have the upper hand in a fight, but there was always a catch: Normally in a case like this, Shade's power would be divided between himself and the other two copies he had made of himself. But Bardock sensed no distribution of power- in other words, his power never decreased. All three of them were at the same level and all three of them were focusing that power on him.
A sudden punch caught Bardock when he was open sending him skidding across the ground. The force of the blow cut a trench approximately two foot deep and he painfully collided into the wall of the arena. He stood shaking the stars from his eyes and was about to defend himself when a voice caught his attention-
"Psst! Bardock!" The Saiyan looked behind him, and down, and immediately saw something far worse than either Shade or his two counterparts, Olaf.
"Yo, Bardock! Guess what I just heard?!" Bardock rolled his eyes and shifted his focus onto the coming barrage when the snowman took a wrecking ball to it-
"It's important- Hey, Bardock, listen, it's important. Bardock you're not looking: Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock, Bardock…." He said it another ten times before the Saiyan finally looked around and screamed,
"WHAAAT?!"
"Elsa thinks you're cute!"
"Wait-what?-"
WHAM!
One of Shade's subordinates came in with a roundhouse kick that Bardock just barely avoided. The clone's foot went straight through the arena's wall further demolishing it while the other two Shades descended down on the attack. Seeing this, Bardock looked back to Olaf nonchalantly and said, "Let's talk about this later."
"Okay!"
The three Shades took the offensive again surrounding him like a pack of hungry wolves. One came at him with a flip-kick while the other went low to sweep him off his feet, the third (the original) stood back with his arms folded waiting to strike like a deadly snake. Bardock blocked the first attack but the second one knocked him off balance. That was when the third rejoined the fray with a Ki blast standing firm as if he were a one man firing squad executing his target. Seeing the ball of light racing toward him, Bardock somersaulted thru the air regaining his balance and dodged the attack as it raced by totally obliterating an empty section of seating.
BOOM!
Bardock was already surrounded by the time he had landed and gotten to his feet. He was met with a fist to the face and a kick to the abdomen sending him across the arena floor. The three Shades followed in pursuit intent of stomping him into the ground. However, just when they were about to descend he vanished.
"What the….where did he go?" one asked.
The sound of a sudden voice shouting, "Hey!" caused them all to turn.
Sure enough Bardock had reappeared a few yards away staring them all down. Shade himself was still reeling when the Saiyan formed Ki attacks in both of his hands and threw them forward with all his might. They flew forward closing the distance but Shade had other plans.. He quickly ascended into the air along with one of his copies. The other one wasn't so lucky.
The clone was consumed in bright light immediately followed by a violent explosion. The arena quaked and the guards who were protecting the royal family flew back from the sheer force of it all. No harm was done to any human being, of course, but it was still too close for comfort. Kristoff shielded Anna and the baby, while Elsa formed an ice barrier around them. The blizzard-shield protected them from harm but left them blind to the battle below. Little Aiden was happily hopping up and down on Anna's lap enjoying every minute of the fight. It was as if he were playing a fun game of peek-a-boo.
The light from the attack had finally begun to die down slowly exposing the decimated landscape. Shade and his other counterpart were still levitating above inspecting the damage under their feet. They each looked down in a state of disbelief at the sight of it all. The sands of the arena which only moments before was beach-white, was now completely charred. Of course, there were some patches that had been completely glassed altogether. Shade's other clone, the one that got hit, was standing on a patch of purple glass. His body was completely scorched and steady lines of smoke waved slowly from his smoldering body. He looked down at himself with wide eyes of unbelief, and then to his counterparts…..
He made a wheezing sound (which was supposed to be a snort of derision) and then with one last gasp, fell over dead. The other two gracefully descended and touched down behind the corpse.
How did he do that, he mentally asked, he wasn't supposed to be this powerful in his base form… How is this possible?
Shade shook away the shock and regained his composure. Taking it all in, he allowed the cogs in his head to turn and rethink his approach. Perhaps it's time to change things up again,
"Not bad. But I know you're still holding back."
"At the rate you're going, you wouldn't last a minute against me at full power," Bardock shot back meaning it as an insult. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect on Shade who smirked bearing his teeth, "You don't think I went thru all of this time and trouble just to have a half-hearted fight, do you? I came here for a Saiyan and I'm going to get one-"
Summoning the same blue light from earlier, the fighter split and multiplied into other forms like before; except this time there were twenty Shade's in all!
They all stepped forward forming a large circle around Bardock who watched in mild disbelief, "Isn't this a little on the unfair side?"
"Not at all," Shade replied as he joined Bardock inside the circle, "I'm more than willing to do what I must to get results-" He outstretched his arms while the others silently watched, "-But for now, my… associates, are just going to watch and enjoy the fight."
Shade's power could be felt rising rapidly. So much so that Bardock himself was beginning to feel nervous by this point. Not performance anxiety nervous, either. But rather feeling as if he had bitten off more than what he could chew. Still, every warrior felt fear but only a true fighter denied his feelings to win the fight; or die trying. A somewhat morbid and yet comforting thought went through his head-
If I beat this guy great. But if I lose… at least I'll see Gine again.
A smirk of his own crossed his face and they began without saying another word.
Hello, hello dear friends! I'm baaaack!
I'm sorry for taking sooo long to update this epic tale, but there's been a lot going on in my life right now- good things of course, but I've been on an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. For one thing, me and my wife are expecting!
*Fireworks explode in the background*
Our first baby so things have been bat-crap crazy in my life right now. But I'm back (again) and I've also been working diligently on my other stories, too. Also, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is kinda a blame as well ; ) It's such an awesome game! I highly recommend it if you're into DBZ…
Anyway, the heat has been turned up this chapter hasn't it? And there's more to come! Normally this is where I do shoutouts and respond to reviews by you, the readers. And I most certainly do plan on doing as such. But in light of how long I've been away, I have quite a few reviewers to answer. So here's the plan:
I'm going to update again in the next few days in which I'll answer those reviews. It sounds crazy I know, but I was really eager to get this chapter out there…. So to those of you who posted reviews fear not, I'm going to post something just to answer you all. And even though it won't be an official chapter, one shouldn't be too far behind. I will get to you. I was totally amazed that people were still following, favoriting, and reviewing after all this time. I always say this but I mean it-
I've got the best readers on this entire site!
So until next time, my friends, on Made of Scars!
