Garlic's Ultimate Power And The Guardians' Titans
"You will pay for that." Garlic Jr. seethed, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood as his piercing eyes promised death. "That was painful beyond description and I'm going to make sure you and your friends feel every little bit of it before I kill you and take their blood for my formula."
"I see you have the green guy's regenerating power. That means that all the open wounds, broken bones and punctured organs Gohan gave you are fully healed." Ryo stated, dropping into an offensive stance, his right arm held ready to strike.
"But from experience from fighting Piccolo, aches and pains will stick around and so does the loss of energy." Ben added, fiddling with the Omnitrix. "Including what you lose actually regenerating."
"Perhaps, but I'm not the only one to have my energy supply decreased, am I Gohan?" Garlic Jr. Sneered, earning a low growl from Gohan. "I have your sensing ability remember? You don't have half the power you had before. And you know that you haven't been fighting me at my maximum, even with the powers of the Makyo Star and your friends swimming in my veins."
"I've stop you before you seven dwarfs wannabe." Gohan snapped, preparing his body to move. "I'll do it again."
"Just try IT!" Garlic retorted, screaming at the end as his aura flare to life with such intensity that it almost blew them all away, Gohan's aura flaring and creating a shield the only thing that kept the others grounded. Ben and Ryo felt their jaws drop as Garlic's form grew, his muscles bulking up by more than either of his minions' had. Lightning surged throughout his aura as his skin turned a dark shade of aqua and his smooth head developed a shape similar to a helmet.
A dark chuckle left his lips as his form completed its transformation, leaving him ten feet tall and three times as muscular as Gohan. But while that was enough to leave Ben and Ryo nervous, it was what Gohan was sensing that him shaking. The powers Garlic had acquired from his captives came into full affect in this form and the mixture of them plus an enhanced version of what he'd sensed from Garlic Jr. before was enough to give him a serious headache while adrenaline pumped like crazy through his veins. Every different type of power was mixing and enhancing the others. Without that hidden power of his, even he didn't compare with the raw strength and power Garlic Jr. had now, not by a long shot.
"Can you feel it boys? The dread and paralysing fear of meeting your doom?" Garlic growled, cracking his knuckles. "The horror that there's nothing you can do to prevent it?"
"Don't get too cocky. You're not invincible yet." Ben retorted, being the first to recover, and slapped the Omnitrix controls down. "Cannonbolt!"
"He's right. We'll find a weak spot." Ryo nodded with a cocky grin.
"Let's go." Gohan stated firmly, crossing his palms above his head again. "Masenko!" Thrusting his hands down, he released a powerful beam at the same time Ben took off rolling to one side and Ryo jumped into the air to the other.
Smirking darkly at the blast coming his way, Garlic almost casually raised his hands. "Crystal Shield!" Sakuya's best form of defence sprung up instantly, blocking Gohan's attack with ease.
"How about you try a more concentrated attack?" Ryo growled, thoroughly pissed off at the sight of his crush's power as he descended right at the alien thief. "Voltage Blade!"
Garlic scowled deeply as the energy blade made contact with the shield, cutting through it after only a moment of resistance.
"Annoying pest!" He snarled, aiming his hand at Ryo just as he passed through the shield. "Try this. Lightning Ki!" Ryo's eyes widened in sheer disbelief a split second before a blast of mixed lightning and white energy struck him at point blank range, sending him careening towards the edge of the mountain, screaming the whole way.
But as he was smirking at his own accomplishment, Garlic failed to notice the high speed yellow cannon ball coming right at him and his eyes almost bulged right out of his head as he was struck from behind and knocked off his feet.
That didn't stop him from recovering quickly though and a flicker across his senses was all he needed to take control of his momentum and spin around, stopping Gohan's punch with a kick to his side, knocking the gasping Saiyan painfully into the rubble that had once been a castle.
"Now for you!" Garlic snapped as he noticed Ben coming in for another shot in the corner of his eye. His eyes glowed green as he raised his hand and within seconds, live wires burst from the debris around Ben and struck home.
"AAARRGGGHHH!" Ben screamed, losing control and unwrapping his rolling form as he was jerked back. Sneering at his work, Garlic twisted his hands, having the wires wrap around Ben's limbs before what little electricity they held still remained faded away, leaving him twitching and constrained.
"Hehehe, the time of heroes has ended. I shall destroy each and every one of you and bring forth the time of destruction and despair." Garlic cried proudly, raising his hands to the heavens. "And I'll do it using the powers of every hero I crush along the way."
"Oh no you won't!" Ryo growled, leaping right at him at the same time Gohan burst through the rubble, his fist held back to strike the second he reached Garlic.
Garlic blocked Ryo's punch with is arm before sidestepping Gohan's only to be forced to duck under the Saiyan's responding kick and drop his face right into a metal fist uppercut. Growling as he jerked up and stumbled back, he failed to protect himself as Gohan placed his open palm on his stomach and released an energy flash, blowing Garlic Jr. away.
"Grrr, Spirit Strike!" He scowled, releasing four spirit creatures towards them, in his case, snakes bearing the same colours as Sakuya's foxes.
"You think I'm gonna be beat by a few lousy reptiles?" Gohan snarled, making a mental apology to Jake as he prepared to charge the oncoming attack only for Ryo to grab him and leap off in another direction at the last second. "Huh? Ryo, what-"
"You won't be able to stop them." Ryo interrupted as they landed on a large, jagged rock, leaping again just as the green serpent was about to strike, leaving it to blow through the rock and disappear. "They're spirits given the ability to touch the living by being enhanced by the summoner's mystic energy and an elemental power. The red one's fire." He continued, kicking debris at the red one as it went to strike before leaping away again as the last two slithered through the air after them. "The green one was wind, yellow's thunder and blue is water. Energy attacks go right through all of them and you do NOT want to hit them, believe me."
"But they want to hit you." Both Ryo and Gohan stiffened as the dark voice sneered in their ears from behind them before a large palm ploughed into their backs, knocking them painfully right into the remaining snakes at the same time.
"Bwaahh!" Gohan cried as the watery an electrical spirits' power mixed, the enhancement they provided each other in addition to their individually high power levels doing a great deal of damage. Ryo was no better off as the two blew off in different directions toward the ground. If anything he was worse off, the metal on his body acting as another conductor to the thunder snake's power. His form smoking as he created a small crater in the ground, he had a hard enough time dealing with getting back in control of his aching, twitching body and nausea and couldn't find the strength to get back up.
"Well now, that was far easier than I expected." Garlic smirked, creating an energy ball, lightning dancing around its surface. "How anticlimactic after Gohan's little tirade. No matter, time to fry and die Saiyan."
"Come on, come on!" Ben cried desperately, trying to force his burnt, bound hands to the Omnitrix. "Yes!" He cheered as his claw finally managed to tap it, encasing him in a green light. "Diamondhead!" Creating sharp spikes on his crystalline body, he sliced through the constraining wires with ease and jumped to his feet, running as fast as he could towards his stunned friend.
"Lightning Ki!" Garlic cackled as the white, lightning covered beam tore through the air straight at Gohan as the boy tried pulling himself to his feet.
"Oh man!" Ben whined, try to run even faster. There was no way he'd reach Gohan in time and boy in question was still getting over the shock to his system, he'd never be able to react in time to dodge the blast. Growling under his breath, Ben did the only thing he could think of and thrust up his arms. Though the action slowed him down a little, it proved worth it as a giant crystal sprung up from the ground. A second later, it curved itself into the form of a slightly disfigured horse shoe just before the blast struck and redirected the beam safely into the sky, leaving Ben and Gohan sighing in relief.
Garlic however, was thoroughly pissed off. "Loathsome pest! Stop interfering with my revenge." Garlic spat, throwing his fist at Ben. With the distance between them so great, Ben just stood there, smirking cockily at the rage driven alien...until he noticed the fist was right up in his face.
"Wha-BAAH!" Ben cried as the fist smashed into his head, sending him into the ground hard. "What was that?"
"Piccolo's ability to stretch his limbs." Gohan gasped before a laser that was glowing green burst from a pile of rubble and fired, forcing him to head skyward only for Garlic to crash into him with his arm pushing down on Gohan's neck as they crashed into the mountain.
"Let's see your friends save you now." Garlic sneered, raising his free fist as Gohan writhed underneath him, choked, pain-filled gasps exiting his mouth.
"Ok. Thunderclap!" Ryo gasped, bringing his enlarged metal arm down right on the side of Garlic's head, the released yellow energy creating a shockwave that left the alien menace hurtling to the far side of the mountain, his scream echoing throughout the whole area.
Turning back to Gohan, Ryo hissed loudly as he let his arm fall limp, reverting back to its normal size as the brunette feel to his knees.
"Gohan...are you...alright?" He asked between deep breaths as Gohan sat up, coughing and spluttering beside him.
"I'll live. I can say that much." Gohan answered after taking in a few deep breaths and managing to calm down, rubbing his throat tenderly as he turned a worried glance to Ryo. "What about you? You don't look so good."
"That attack's intensified the wounds in my arm, legs, chest and back." Ryo whimpered, hitting the hidden release button for the metal arm shaky fingers and letting it fall to the ground. What he said was quickly backed up by the growing red blotches all over his body. "I hate to say it, but I think I'm out."
"It's amazing you got this far." Ben stated as he reached them, just as Garlic's rising and glowing form caught their attention. "Just leave this to us now."
"Let's move Ben." Gohan stated, jumping to his feet and taking off after the rapidly approaching Garlic Jr. "We can't let the bozo reach Ryo."
With a nod, Ben followed Gohan's lead, raising his arms and releasing an uncountable number of razor sharp crystal shards at Garlic Jr. Snarling, Garlic just let a burst of aura flaring wind blow them away from him as he surged at his targets, meeting Gohan's flying kick in midair with his hand, wrapping it firmly around the boy's ankle and sending him spinning down like a spinning top, crashing into Ben.
Ben was quick to respond and used Gohan's momentum to pull himself on top of Gohan, shielding the Saiyan as Garlic released another energy blast and shooting the larger two spikes on his back like torpedos, forcing Garlic away screaming as he tried to approach only for the crystal spears to cut halfway through his arms.
Grinning at Ben as the crystalline being got up on all fours, Gohan disappeared in a blur, reappearing right in front of Garlic's pained face before delivering a brutal axe kick right to Garlic's chest.
Grunting as he looked up at his foe, he hit the ground hard. Garlic opened his eyes to find a purple and bluish form dropping in on him from the sky before disappearing in a flash of green.
"Humungosaur!" Garlic went wide eyed as what looked like a dinosaur appeared in Diamondhead's place and crashed down with both feet on him, sending tremors through the earth.
"That should end th-BWAAH!" Ben was cut off as raw power exploded at his feet, knocking the behemoth skyward and crashing back down into the ground twenty feet away, a great feet considering Humungosaur's size.
"Grr, what do we have to do to stop you?" Gohan growled as Garlic shot into the air with the speed of a comet, his arms already having regenerated and all the serious damage done from Ben's attack quickly following.
"YOU DON'T! I KILL YOU!" Garlic roared maliciously before his aura exploded forth with an animalistic scream as he flew right at Ben. The rage he'd had before was nothing on what it was now, a fact seen clearly as Garlic's screaming form stopped not an inch away from Ben's chest and released a blast big enough to consume even Ben's giant form. Ben's screams of pain could be heard for miles, scaring away all forms of life as the blast ripped away at his flesh and left a large hole in the mountain where and around he was laying.
"DIE SHAPE SHIFTER!" Garlic screamed, the glint in his eyes turning insane.
"CUT IT OUT!" Garlic Jr. only just managed to cut off his attack and crash his fist into Gohan's incoming foot and flinging him back before following it up with a lightning coated kick of his own. Recovering quickly, Gohan flung his arms up at his side and created an energy shield, blocking Garlic's attack, before making it explode, flinging Garlic Jr. back and wide open as Gohan clasped his and brought them down at his gut. Back flipping through the air, Garlic hooked Gohan's hands with his feet and launched him higher into the air before righting himself and charging another white, electrical ball of energy.
"Whoa!" Gohan cried, pulling himself to an immediate stop ten feet up and turning around only to pale as he saw lightning bolts fly from the ball in Garlic's hand all around him, his senses picking up more high levels of raw power coming from the ball than he could handle. "Come on Gohan, charge fast, faster than ever before." He muttered quickly, cupping his hands at his side. "Ka...me...ha...me..."
"Give my regards to Goku brat!" Garlic Jr. shouted, thrusting his hands up and releasing his most powerful blast yet. Lightning danced around the beam so much that you'd think it was a lightning rod in the middle of the world's worst electrical storm.
"HAAA!" Gohan retorted, thrusting his hands down and releasing his own beam to meet it. A giant neon ball lit up the entire mountain peak as blue power clashed white, lightning flying randomly in all directions around the power build up. Groaning as he bit his lip to the point of drawing blood, Gohan focused every bit of strength he had into his energy wave, trying desperately to hold Garlic Jr.'s back. However, Garlic merely laughed at his efforts and increased the power behind his own blast, leaving the blue energy quickly losing ground.
"Face it Gohan, you can't win." Garlic snarled, watching with psychotic glee as his blast moved closer to the young, desperate Saiyan. "How could you possibly beat me with my home planet nearby and a variety of heroes' powers, including yours, running through my veins? You don't stand the slightest chance."
"Yes I do." Gohan grunted, his eyes staring fiercely into Garlic Jr.'s. "I have something you don't."
"Who are you kidding?" Garlic scowled, suddenly irritated. "All of your powers are in your genes, so I have them all! What could you possibly have that I don't?"
"You mean besides a brain?" Gohan asked smartly, causing the vein on Garlic's head to grow twice as big. Gohan had him so worked up that he never noticed the growing shadow behind him.
"He has friends." Realisation struck Garlic Jr. hard at that. He'd been purposely distracted. His fury at its peak, he whipped his head around, his eyes glowing with yellow energy he intended to destroy Ben with, but he wasn't quick enough to prevent Humungosaur's swinging clasped fists from slamming into his back like a sledgehammer. He did however, still manage to release the eye beams he stole from Piccolo right into Ben's abdomen.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Screaming in synchrony as pain wracked both of their bodies, Ben fell hard to the ground, his side bearing a third degree burn that transferred to his human form as he transformed back after hitting the ground, unconscious and Garlic soared like a slugged baseball straight up towards Gohan's beam, his own having dissipated when Ben's attack broke his concentration. His motion was altered instantly a moment later as the beam crashed into him and he plummeted towards the ground, his banshee screams the only sign that he was alive as his body became hidden within the blue light that went on to blowing up a chunk of the edge of the mountain.
"Man, by the time this fight's over, we'll be lucky if the mountain's still standing." Ryo muttered, staring on in awe as he wrapped his bandanna around one of his deeper gashes on his arm. "I actually won a fight with Gohan? He must have been holding back a lot."
Gasping heavily, Gohan let himself drop to the ground and collapse onto his butt. He knew Garlic Jr. wasn't defeated, not by a long shot, but he had been blown far down the mountain so he had a few moments to catch his breath.
Noticing Ryo stumbling towards an unmoving Ben, he focused just enough to sense that Ben was still alive before sighing in relief and letting all of his attention go back to monitoring Garlic, leaving Ben in Ryo's hands.
We're in so much trouble. Gohan groaned, taking another deep breath. Garlic's lost a lot of power since the beginning of the fight, but he still about as strong as I am at my best and I am far from my best. Next time we go at it, he'll defeat me. What am I gonna do?
His heart almost stopped as he felt Garlic flying right back up the mountain, the wild flares of his power alerting Gohan to his beyond reason mood. Taking a deep breath, Gohan got back onto his feet and was about move into a defensive position suddenly Garlic Jr.'s speed jumped. Before he could even blink, Garlic had not only returned to the top of the mountain, but was already in Gohan's face and using him like a punching bag, his fists moving so fast that even Gohan couldn't see them.
"Stupid kid, hurting me like that, I aughta rip your arms off, you little bastard." Garlic screeched as Gohan released an endless scream, never stopping his punches. Coating his fist in electricity, he put all his force into a vertical swing.
"AAWAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Gohan's body spasmed as he was blown to the other side of the mountain peak at a greater speed than a cannon ball and crashed into one of the last few standing pieces of the old castle, his body breaking halfway through it and getting stuck, slumping brokenly in the Gohan shaped indent. That wasn't enough for Garlic Jr. though and he was in front of Gohan in seconds. From his place beside Ben, Ryo froze in pure terror as he watched a blue fire appear on Garlic's outstretched palm.
"No! Gohan get out of there." Ryo muttered fearfully under his breath, not daring to speak loudly and alert Garlic to the unconscious and heavily injured boy beside him. "You won't survive."
"I'm going to enjoy watching the ash fly away in the wind." Garlic exclaimed as the flame grew bigger. "Fox Drive!"
"AAAAAARRRGGGGHHH!" Ryo's flew to his ears as Gohan's scream almost made them bleed, his eyes already shut tight as a tear for his new friend fell down his face. Garlic however, thoroughly enjoyed it, waiting excitedly for when the blackened remains would be before his eyes.
Unfortunately for him, he'd have to wait longer than he expected. With the discipline his mother and Piccolo had taught him, Gohan forced himself to ignore the sphere of flames licking his skin and burning away his clothes and gathered all the energy he could before releasing it in the form of his aura and using it to shield him from the flames while simultaneously putting out the flames burning on his being. With the flames dealt with and a little extra concentration, he forced his hand out before him and focused on his power for one last assault.
I hope my first original move is as effective as Dad's and Piccolo's are. He thought as his aura started swirling around him, as if his energy was building up momentum. "Aura Burst!" Just as he managed to force the words from his mouth, his aura, while forever surrounding him, swirled around his outstretched hand and burst forth like a beam, tearing right through the flames and slamming into a stunned Garlic Jr's entire body with the force of his race car hitting a brick wall. There was a booming clap of thunder upon impact and Garlic was blown high into the air, yelling profanities the whole way.
With Garlic otherwise occupied, the mystic flames dissipated just as Gohan's aura faded from existence, revealing the boy, burned, agonised, exhausted and missing his shirt, wrist bands, shoes and left pants leg as he fell limply, facedown to the ground, gasping hoarsely as he made contact, but not moving an inch.
"GOHAN!" Ryo cried, panic stricken as his eyes dashed back and forth between the two Guardians, not sure what to do.
Garlic's still up there and he's stopped moving. He thought, staring up at the dot in the sky as he bit his lip. I'm the only one still able to move, I have to protect them! But I'm so wounded already, what can I do? Looking back down at Gohan and Ben, one thought did come to mind: he couldn't protect them both if they were scattered around the battlefield.
"I have to get them together." He muttered, grabbing Ben by the legs and slowly pulling him towards Gohan. "Sorry Ben, but I can't carry you right now." He said apologetically as Ben's body jerked from hitting a rock, Ryo's own body visibly flinching in pain as his wounds, particularly the ones on his arms, opened wider from the strain as he walked.
"Well now, who would have imagined that." Garlic commented, more intrigued than anything else as he stared down at the trio that had once been a dangerous force. His anger had dissipated. Seeing Gohan in such a state was very satisfying and the attack he'd used to repel Garlic Jr. and his flames was very interesting. "To turn the harmless energy of an aura into a weapon, not even using the wind it can create to at all! Have to give the brat credit, that was simply ingenious and very useful, creating a defensive shield and a powerful blast. I'll have to figure out how he did it and duplicate it. But first," He added, a feral grin growing on his face. "Now is the opportune time to kill him and his friends. But I better do it up close. Don't wanna waste the powers Justiman and Ben Ten may be able to give me by incinerating them."
"Here he comes." Ryo muttered, watching tensely as Garlic dropped to the ground twenty feet away. "Hm, funny." Ryo chuckled wryly as a thought crossed his mind. "This is usually when I make a dramatic entrance and save the day, much to Rika's irritation. Apparently I joined the fight too early."
"You would have been wise not to fight at all." Garlic interrupted, walking slowly towards Ryo, the boy forcing his war torn body to his fists. "Had you not attacked me and hid yourself, you may of never been found. That's the flaw of being a hero. Helping and protecting others will only serve to hurt you in the end. Now, do yourself a favour and get out of the way so I can kill Gohan. Then maybe I'll let you live. Under the affects of the Black Water Mist of course."
"You mean from the cauldron Ben contaminated with sacred water?" Ryo snapped, gritting his teeth as he suppressed his pain, glaring fiercely. "Not a chance. I'm proud to be a hero and I will never let you hurt Gohan, Ben or anyone else. That's the difference between you and me. You fight only for yourself, while I willingly risk my life for others. And for your information, a hero's compassion and desire to protect others are not weaknesses, they're what gives us the power to take people like you down!"
Snorting, Garlic opened his mouth to retort while his arm moved to slice through Ryo, when suddenly the boy's entire body began to glow with his purplish blue energy, his eyes in particular blazing like fire. Screaming as his muscles tensed, Ryo leapt right at Garlic Jr. and planted his fist right in the freak's gut, knocking the air out of him before throwing his other fist up into Garlic's jaw with a leap, throwing him into the air.
Garlic Jr. was so astounded by the sudden attack that he barely managed to recover in time to stop himself from being clotheslined before falling into defence, forced to block punch after punch from all different directions.
There's something different about this one. Garlic mused as he blocked a vertical chop, only for Ryo's other fist to come from under it and crash in his chest, causing Garlic back a step with a grunt. With the wounds he's accumulated and the blood loss, he shouldn't be able to move, yet he's fighting me with nearly as much strength as before! And his body is only getting worse. Garlic noted, watching as one gash on Ryo's right arm showing through a rip in his clothes suddenly grew wider, spewing out even more blood than before as the boy threw another punch, yet the impact on Garlic's arm was almost as forceful as the last. He has the kind of body and stubbornness to withstand even the greatest amount of pain. It's a good thing I don't want any information from him because he'd die long before I could torture it out of him.
Gotta finish this now. Ryo thought, spinning into a backhand fist that landed with a satisfying bang into Garlic's cheek, leaving him dazed as Ryo jumped into the air. He doubted his next attack would take Garlic out, but there was nothing else he could do. With every punch, jump and twist, his muscles screamed more and more, his open wounds grew wider and the edges of his vision started blurring. And with that, he was losing strength in his attacks. Either this attack ends it, or we all die. I sure hope this works.
"Justice Kick!" All of the energy surrounding his body went right to his foot as he aimed it straight at Garlic Jr., dropping from the sky with ever increasing speed.
Refocusing on his opponent, Garlic tensed as stiff as a board as he watched the purplish blue power drop right over him. Back flipping a good few feet away, he only missed Ryo's foot by inches as the brunette crashed into the ground, creating a large dust cloud that blocked him from view. As it cleared, Garlic couldn't help but snort as he found Ryo chest deep in the ground, his arms laying just outside the hole alongside his head.
"Simply amazing. You wielded far more strength than anyone in your condition should ever be capable of." Garlic complimented, gathering a ball of energy as he walked forward. "Clearly your determination and resolve are almost endless, only ceasing when your body can't so much as twitch. It's too bad I have to kill you. Had you not ruined my mist, you would have made an amazing minion."
Struggling just to open one eye and see through the blood running down from his forehead, could do nothing more than stare defiantly up at Garlic Jr. as he stopped before him, raising his hand.
"Good bye kid." With that, Garlic dropped his hand. Sighing in defeat, Ryo closed his eye and just waited for the end to come.
Sorry guys. I wasn't enough.
"No!" Gohan grunted, glaring through a half lidded eye as Garlic moved to end Ryo. He wouldn't allow it, not if he could help it. He'd already led Videl into infection, lost his dad and dragged his battle tired friends after him to this place. He wasn't going to let another friend die no matter how much pain it caused him. With his mind set, he forced his shaking arm up, ignoring the feeling of fire tearing through it as he did, and released the strongest blast of energy his arm could handle, screaming as the pain in his arm multiplied when he did.
Not expecting Gohan to even still be conscious, Garlic was shocked still just before letting go of his attack and turned to the Saiyan just in time for the blast to connect with his right eye. Roaring with pain, Garlic tossed the ki ball into the air as he stumble back, his hand clasped firmly over the injured eye, and didn't notice that it fell back down until the ball struck his shoulder, knocking him off his feet.
"YOU BASTARD!" Garlic screeched, writhing in pain. The eye wasn't destroyed, it was completely intact, but it was seared. Piccolo's regenerating abilities were useless in that case, only able to restore what's been ripped off or open. "THAT WAS MY EYE!"
"R-really?" Gohan muttered hoarsely, yet as cockily as he could, not even looking at Garlic as the pain he was in made even shallow breaths agonising. "T-t-then my ai-aim is off. I was aiming f-f-for your groin. I-if you even have s-something down the-re."
"YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING BASTARD! EVEN AN INCH AWAY FROM DEATH, YOU'RE A THORN IN MY SIDE!" Garlic's scream echoed throughout the entire wasteland as he jumped back onto his feet, glaring venomously at Gohan. Despite his injuries, Gohan did the one thing he knew would tick Garlic off even more than he was now, preventing him from even thinking about Ryo: he smirked.
"B-ut then I a-am good for something. A-aren't I?"
"You...YOU FILTHY MONKEY!" Garlic screeched, seeing red and he sprinted right at Gohan, his fist poised to smash Gohan's head in.
"W-well, this is the...end." Gohan sighed, waiting for the inevitable. "I j-j-just hope a miracle c-comes and...saves the o-others."
"One miracle-"
"Coming up!" Gohan gasped as two white blurs past him, one on either side, before converging between him and Garlic and releasing a flash of light so great that he had to squeeze his eyes shut tight.
Garlic was even worse off. He wasn't even able to process what was going on before wave after wave of white light crashed into him, sending searing pain only comparable to super powered Gohan's blasts through his entire body as he was blown away.
I don't believe this! He screamed in his head while his mouth just screamed. Just as I'm ready to kill him, someone jumps in and interferes AGAIN! And who's left on Earth with this kind of power?
Groaning as the light faded, Gohan forced his eye open to find two blurry figures standing before him, back to back, with an outstretched hand touching the other's and pointing their open palms out at Garlic. He couldn't make out any details of the two other than one was fully clad in white while the other had a mix of white and black, but the power they'd released was more than enough to calm and reassure Gohan. The purity and raw power within that attack was something he'd only seen once before, something that only one with a heart of pure light could ever hope to create.
"Roxas...Namine. Impeccable timing." Gohan managed to struggle out, laughing softly despite the pain it caused him. "But...how are..."
"The Galvins healed me pretty quickly and Paradox dropped me off next to Namine." Roxas answered with a grin before Gohan could finish the question while Namine leaned down at his side.
"You've got yourself in a bad way now haven't you?" She commented, placing her hands over Gohan's chest, making him sigh blissfully as light magic flooded from her hands throughout his body, healing his wounds. "Roxas, this will take a few minutes. He's in a really bad way. Do you think you'll be able to hold off Garlic until then?"
"Not on my own." He responded, shivering as he sensed the darkness of Garlic's rising being, a chill as cold as the nothingness of space running down his spine as he turned to Ryo. "But with a little help, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll take care of the new guy."
Sparing him a quick glance, Namine gave Roxas a quick nod before turning her attention back to Gohan. Gohan had the sudden urge to shrink into himself as she looked right into his eyes, noticing a very disapproving look held within hers.
"Gohan, you should have waited until everyone was ready for this, or at least until you could get fresh fighters like me and Jake to help you." She scolded. Unable to handle the disappointment on her face, Gohan couldn't help looking shamefully at the ground. "I've seen the others and their energy levels are even worse than their physical injuries. You had time to regroup and let them regain their strength; you should have let them take it, not force everyone to come here after you at maybe half strength. You're smarter than that."
"I know." He muttered sadly, kicking himself. He knew he'd messed up, but hearing it come from Namine of all people, seeing the disappointment in her eyes, it suddenly felt like there was a knife poking at his heart. "I couldn't help it, I lost myself. As soon as I heard about my dad..."
Gohan just couldn't continue after that, struggling to hold back a fresh bout of tears. Namine didn't say anything in response, but her eyes did soften at the state Gohan was in. The young telepath felt like kicking herself for forcing his pain back to the forefront, but settled for hesitantly placing one of her hands on his face comfortingly as she continued healing him.
Reaching Ryo, Roxas had to admit that he was impressed. The guy more opened gashes then he had unharmed skin, but he'd still continued to fight and make the crater he still 'stood' in. The guy had more determination than anyone he'd ever met, except maybe Ter-
Huh? Where'd that come from? He froze as the unknown image crossed his mind, depicting a tall young man with brown hair and blue eyes clad in strange black, reddish and gold armour, with what looked like a large Keyblade in hand. Who is this Terra? He frowned, trying and failing to find the answer before the black hole that was Garlic Jr.'s aura crashed into him again as it fluxuated, bringing him back to reality. Shaking his head, he knelt down and placed a hand on Ryo's shoulder, causing the boy stiffen and flinch in the resulting pain.
"Hey, Justiman right? Are you still conscious?" Roxas asked softly.
"Yeah. Ju...st barely." Ryo wheezed, forcing his good eye to look up at the blond.
"Good. Now, I'm gonna pull you out of there and see what I can do about your injuries before Garlic returns." Roxas told him, positioning his hands under Ryo's armpits. "Ready?"
"Just do it." Was Ryo's answer, squeezing his eyes shut and biting his lip. Taking a deep breath, Roxas raised the injured brunette as slowly and carefully as he could, so as not to hurt him anymore than he already was, but almost dropped him when he noticed what the earth had been hiding. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he watched blood dripping off of the boy's body, having already dyed almost all of his spandex red and he clearly had a good few fractured bones along with everything else. It was a wonder how this kid was even alive.
"This is going to take a lot more than I thought." He muttered as he gently laid Ryo down in the recovery position, trying to make it as easy for him to breath as possible. Not wasting a second, he stood up and summoned Oathkeeper to his hand, praying that the magic amplifying nature of the white Keyblade would be a sufficient power boost to his spell to save the young hero as he pointed the tip right at Justiman.
"Curaga!" All Ryo could see was white light, even behind his eyelids as the healing spell burst from the blade. However, that was the only unpleasant about it. Ryo let out a loud sigh as half the pain he was feeling suddenly disappeared, along with the numbness that had been developing in his limbs. Wiping the blood off of his face, he opened his eyes and watched, astounded, as the deep gashes halved in size, a few of them disappearing completely with the smaller ones. His right arm, which was right in front of the end of Oathkeeper, was healed completely, even what he knew was a torn muscle felt as good as new.
"WHOA!" Roxas cried, completely thrown off by the affects of his spell. In addition to everything that Ryo had noticed, Roxas could even see Ryo's skin, which had paled considerably due to the blood loss, regaining some of his colour back. That meant that even his blood cells had sped up their reproduction cycle, generating more blood for his system. "OK, there is no way, even with Oathkeeper and such an advanced healing spell as Curaga, that you could have healed this much with my level of magic! What's going on? The affects are even lingering!"
"Maybe your magic crossed with my enhanced healing?" Ryo suggested, pulling himself gingerly into a sitting position.
"You have enhanced healing?" Roxas asked, getting a nod. "Combined with enhanced tolerance, that would explain how you were still alive, though if I hadn't helped, you'd be dead in minutes." He muttered, rubbing his chin as he frowned in thought. "And yeah, my amplified spell must just amplified your healing ability into overdrive in turn, resulting in my spell having a prolonged affect on you. But I don't know how close to full health it'll bring you. Do you think you have enough strength to fight?"
"Not nearly as well as usual, but I can provide a little back up and covering fire." Ryo nodded, giving Roxas a wink and a thumbs up. "If I get my metal arm back on that is."
"Not a...problem." Roxas said before turning a glare off into the distance. Garlic Jr. had almost returned to their destination, with an aura that strong and full of darkness, Roxas needed no aura spell to know that. Scanning the area quickly, his eyes narrowed as they found the metal arm, there was no way he could get to it and return it to Ryo before Garlic arrived, even if he used a portal and if Ryo was sent there, the portal would attract Garlic's attention to him, something that the brunette definitely couldn't handle right now.
"Stay down." He ordered, pushing a startled Ryo back onto his back before stand protectively in front of him as Garlic Jr. came back into view, screaming bloody murder. "Look unconscious and wait for me to get that toy of yours back to you. We can't let him know you're in the game yet." Realisation crossing his face, Ryo lidded his eyes until they were only open a crack.
"So, the Nobodies have arrived." Garlic snarled as he scanned the area, briefly looking over Roxas' tensed and suddenly infuriated form before his eyes trailed over to Namine, scowling deeply as he noticed what she was doing. "Oh no you don't, girl!" He snapped, gathering another ball of electrified Ki. "No half being is going to ruin my work! Lightning Ki!"
"Don't you DARE call her that!" Roxas roared, flinging his hand out towards Namine. A light portal appeared before her a second later and swallowed Garlic's beam. Roxas' hands switched to direction to Garlic before his foe could even respond, both already being surrounded by light orbs. "Event Horizon!"
Garlic could barely look at the orbs as at least two dozen flew his way, their light and the purity of them hitting his eyes and senses causing more than a little pain on their own and opted to throw a large blast of his own, destroying every single one.
Using the resulting smoke as a cover, Roxas leapt into the air, his Keyblades flashing into existence, and dived right at Garlic Jr., the blades glowing white along the way.
"Crisscross!" Spinning the Keyblades, he swung them in a cross just as he landed before Garlic, striking his chest with the Keyblades .
"ARGH!" Garlic screeched stumbling back. Growling, he ignored the pain in his torn flesh, but before he could recover, the light magic burst from the blades and swirled in circles around Roxas, striking Garlic all over and blowing him up and down into the ground with a scream.
"Now's my chance." Roxas muttered, resisting the urge to jump on and hack Garlic apart for his comments and sprinting past him. Reaching the metal arm, he tossed it into the air and slammed the side of Oblivion into it with a spin, sending it sailing straight to Ryo.
Grimacing at how Roxas sent it to him, Ryo jumped onto his feet and caught the arm with ease in his left hand and without stopping its motion, slid it over his right, grinning as he set it in place.
"You little brat! How can half a being be so much trouble?" Garlic Jr. growled, his hand starting to glow a light purple.
"Enough with the half a person crap. I'm ME! Nobody else!" Roxas shouted, dashing right for Garlic in a fit of rage with his Keyblades held out before him, surprising everyone as his form started to glow and leave a white trail as he ran far faster than even an Olympic athlete could dream of. "Shockwave Thrust!"
Moving on instinct, Garlic Jr. leapt into the air, avoiding the attack, but cried out in surprise as the shockwave created by the magic surrounding him crashed into him, knocking him off balance.
Seeing the opening, Ryo leapt into the air after him, spinning his body as he got close, and enhanced the size of his metal arm.
"Thunderclap!" He cried, finishing his spin by slamming his palm into Garlic Junior's back. Garlic's eyes bugged out of their sockets as the energy gathered in the arm exploded outward into him, the shockwave sending him crashing into the ground with a choked gasp.
"It's amazing that he keeps going. How is it that he hasn't run out of energy yet?" Ryo asked as Garlic pulled himself back to his feet, snarling under his breath. "Between Gohan's original attack while being ultra powerful, the blows all three of us made before and what you, Namine and I have done in the last few minutes, he should be running on empty by now."
"That's an easy one." Garlic answered as Roxas returned to Ryo's side, both of them preparing their weapons for battle again. "The combined enhanced tolerance from your friends makes it that only your best attacks hurt me, so there's less to heal from and slow me down. The new kinds of powers I acquired came with a very impressive power boost and thanks to Gohan's DNA, every time Piccolo's regenerating power heals me, my power level increases. Thanks to your actions, I've grown stronger as the fight's gone on. You just haven't noticed because I've expended energy during the fight too." He laughed darkly as Roxas and Ryo scowled, raising his still glowing hands. "And speaking of new powers, let's try another one out. Amethyst Wind!"
"Light!" Roxas shouted, creating a wall of thirteen light beams between him and Ryo and the attacking energy petals, bringing them so close together that they looked like a single wall of light. It protected them fine, provided that they remained with their shoulders pressing against each other, but the petals were coming in full force from beside and above the wall, making it impossible for them to move.
"Can you make a portal beneath us and get us out of here?" Ryo asked, pushing further into Roxas and repositioning them so they were back to back as the petals started moving around the sides of the beams.
"Not without dropping our shield first and then we'd be hit before I could do anything." Roxas sighed, feeling Ryo sag with disappointment behind him.
"Great, so we're stuck until the petals stop. By which point, Garlic will probably have a lightning bolt ready for us."
Looking up as the last of Gohan's injuries went from potentially fatal to just a little painful, Namine gasped fearfully at the sight. Ending her healing magic, she brought her hand to her left wrist where a specially designed holster held one of her crystal daggers and pulled it out before tossing it with precise aim, right into Garlic's shoulder.
"ARGH!" Garlic screamed, clasping his shoulder and pulling out the dagger, ending the petal barrage in the process.
"WHOA!" Gohan cried, completely gobsmacked as he stared up at Namine. "Since when can you do that?" He asked, smiling widely.
"Roxas has been helping me train since we were freed from the Organisation." Namine replied, blushing at the impressed look Gohan was giving her. "I'm nowhere near him, in close range or magical talent, but I've gotten far enough so that I can at least protect myself properly on the battlefield now."
"Well, if you still have the strength after healing Ben, you'll have to show me what you've got." Gohan grinned, unable to keep a warm, fuzzy feeling from growing inside him as she smiled shyly at his words, despite the situation. "But for now, I better keep the jerk busy." Forcing himself to look away from the blond beauty beside him, Gohan took off towards the fight, smiling to himself, both because they actually had a really good chance with the blonds involved if what he was sensing of everyone's energy levels was accurate and because he seemed to actually be getting somewhere with his crush. Hey, he was teenage boy, like he could help it!
Seeing the dagger fly true and hearing the scream, Roxas grinned proudly at Namine's improved aim and strength as he threw up his hands, turning the tower like beams from a shield to a weapon by sending them right at Garlic. The monstrous being had only just pulled the dagger from his shoulder when the beams struck home, sending him hurtling back with a scream once again. Ryo wasn't about to let it end there though for he jumped skyward, aiming his metal arm for Garlic Jr.
"Justice Burst!" The barrage of purplish blue electrical blasts struck home, jerking Garlic's body repeatedly as they hit towards the ground until he crashed into it.
"GRRAAHHH! You lot just won't die!" Garlic screamed his infuriated eyes glowing green as two large, heavily dented lasers burst from the rubble, one aimed at Roxas and the other at Ryo. "How many times do I have to rip you apart before you stay that way."
"As much as I hate to say it, one more time will probably do it." Ryo muttered, glaring angrily as he watched the laser Garlic controlled through his best friend's powers. "It's only righteous anger and adrenaline that's keeping me going now and I don't think I can block or survive that cannon's blast."
"Then it just won't happen again."
"Ha ha!" Roxas cheered at the familiar voice as two gold energy blasts crashed into and destroyed the cannons before they could fire. "Looks like Namine patched you up good as new."
Gohan just grinned brightly back before turning a cocky version of it to a stomping mad Garlic Jr. With his clothes mostly gone, it was clear to see that Gohan didn't have a single scratch or bruise on him and his senses could feel the increase in power since a few minutes ago, thanks to the same genes that had helped him retain power through the battle.
"What does a villain have to do to make you brats STAY DOWN?" Garlic screamed exasperatedly, practically jumping up and down on the spot.
"If you're done acting like a big cry baby who can't find his bottle, let's finish this." Gohan exclaimed before disappearing in a blur before reappearing in front of Garlic with a kick aimed to his head. Garlic managed to block it, but with all of his attention on the one he wanted dead the most, he never noticed the glowing white streak shooting his way until the Keyblades had struck his stomach, knocking him into a large boulder just as another person dropped from the sky.
"Voltage Blade!" The energy blade coming to life over his hand dropped down and slashed Garlic Jr. from his left shoulder to his right hip, leaving him shrieking in pain as the blade cut through him and burned the surrounding cells, making regeneration a much harder feet.
"Get AWAY!" Garlic screamed, lightning flying wildly from his body and forcing the boys to back off. Standing stably on his own feet as the lightning turned the rock behind him into dust, he thrust his hands at them and unleashed Piccolo's limb stretching ability again, grabbing Gohan and Roxas.
"ARGH!" Both the blond and the Saiyan screamed as they were clasped in bruising grips that carried the lightning to their bodies, leaving them jerking wildly, both from the jolts and trying to escape.
"Oh no!" Ryo cried, clenching his fists to hold back the helplessness and panic he was feeling. In Garlic's current state, if Ryo attacked physically, he'd just join the others in getting fried. "And my bursts are electrical in nature, so using them now may only make things worse." He mutter, looking around wildly. "There's got to be some way I-"
"Magical ball!" His eyes widening, Ryo turned his head just in time to see Namine fire a ball of white magic with a weak, light purple outline about twice the size of a basket ball from the combined points of her daggers, her arms thrusting upward as the light magic was released, flying on a direct course to Garlic Jr.
"AARRGGHH!" The lightning dancing over his body failed to protect him as the light ball struck. Ryo found himself completely astounded as Garlic was blown right off his feet, letting go of the other boys and letting them drop to the ground as he writhed and rolled, screaming the whole time.
"How did that small blast have that much of an effect on him?" Ryo gawked, not believing his eyes.
"Because he's so full of darkness." Namine answered, Ryo turning his head as she ran up to him. "His soul is an endless mass of darkness, devoid of light. So, my power, being pure light, is his greatest weakness."
"Can you take him down?" Ryo asked just before the ground where Garlic had been exploded. Reacting quickly, Namine shoved Ryo out of Garlic's line of fire as the man in question screamed, charging one hand with lightning Ki and the other with mystic, blue flames. Not willing to let either power be released, Namine threw both of her daggers as she charged towards him.
"GAHH!" Garlic screeched as the daggers struck home in each of his arms, ending his attacks. However, he refused to stop and as he glared hatefully at Namine, he unleashed another power he'd stolen Piccolo, shooting thin, yellow beams from his eyes.
Unfortunately for him, Namine had read his thoughts and leapt safely out of harm's way with the grace of a ballerina before moving in on the shocked Garlic Jr. again, her palms glowing with light magic.
"Light Palm!" She cried, jumping up and throwing her palm into Garlic's cheek as hard as she could. The light magic pulsed from her hand as she made contact, blowing Garlic back again with another scream, for a moment his whole body glowing with white light. However, he refused to go down again. With a snarl, he placed one hand on the ground, ending his fall, and lashed out with a brutal kick right into Namine's stomach. Winded as the pain exploded through her gut, the wide eyed Namine could only give out a choked gasp as she was flew back as if she'd been fired from a catapult.
"Namine!" Gohan cried, his aura bursting to life and the earth crumbling at his feet as he pushed off as hard as he could, just making it behind Namine in time to catch her before she collided with jagged rocks. "Are you ok?" He asked, concern and panic evident in both his voice and his gentle hands surrounding her stomach.
"Y-yeah, I think so." Namine gasped, flinching slightly as her stomach disagreed with her deep breathing. "Nobodies have pretty tough bodies, remember?" She added with a small smile.
"Yeah." Gohan nodded with a grin, a light blush covering his cheeks. Now that the immediate worry was calmed, he had taken notice of their position, particularly the bare skin of her upper back and shoulders pressing against his chest. "Well then, um, we should probably help the others." He stuttered. Looking back at him amusedly, Namine was about to respond when a giant green flash caught both of their attention and left both of them openly gaping at what they saw.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to hit a lady?" The pissed off voice registering in his head, Garlic's scowling face turned just in time to see Ben encased in a flash of green light before gaping as the flash grew to the size of a skyscraper. As the light disappeared, a giant was left in its place. His body white and red, with what looked like a dorsal fin on his head and the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, he was easily the biggest thing anyone present had ever seen. "Way Big!"
"Unreal!" Roxas muttered as Ryo helped him up, neither able to take their amazed, dinner plate sized, blue eyes off of Ben's new form. "I never knew he was capable of turning into something like that."
"I never even thought that there were living creatures that big." Ryo exclaimed, a look of wonder and awe crossing his face. "Even a brachiosaurus doesn't come close to this guy!"
"I don't believe this!" Garlic cried, looking absolutely terrified as he stared at the furious face about two hundred feet above him. "A To'kustar! Impossible! They're so rare! And they're known as gentle giants, despite their incredible strength! How the hell did I obtain the incredibly horrific luck to come across what looks to be the most violent one in the galaxy?"
"By coming to EARTH!" Ben shouted, smashing his fist down right on top of Garlic Jr.
"Garlic's history." Gohan muttered, staring slack jawed as Way Big's fists slammed into Garlic Jr. again and again, forcing him deeper into the mountain.
"Better hope this mountain isn't actually a dormant volcano or at this rate we'll be history too." Namine responded softly, the only difference between her and Gohan being that her mouth was shut.
Having repeatedly punched Garlic a good six feet into the mountain, Ben stood up straight and took a 'small' step back, puffing slightly from the exertion. With one last glare, he crossed his wrists, creating an L shape.
"Let's see how you handle cosmic power." He snarled, right as a blue, cosmic ray burst from his hands, right into the hole. Roxas and Ryo fell onto their back and stomach respectively as the ray struck home, widening the hole Garlic occupied and sending tremors comparable to a level 5 earthquake throughout the area, Gohan flying himself and Namine into the air to avoid it. Yet, despite the explosive sound of the ray hitting the ground and the crumbling earth, Garlic's anguished scream still managed to be heard all around the mountain top.
"Amazing. I've never seen power this strong." Gohan muttered as he floated over the scene.
"Suddenly, I feel very obsolete." Roxas commented dryly, getting a nod from an awestruck Ryo.
As the attack finally died, Garlic Junior could barely breathe. His body was a mangled mess and it was taking all the energy he had left to regenerate it before he died. His breathing was so difficult that he had yet to exhale, forever sucking in tiny amounts of air. His form was going to have lots of scars after that one, that was for sure, but that wasn't what bothered Garlic the most. No, as his body healed and the pain receded, what bothered him was what he sensed. Way Big's power level alone was far beyond his now and the blinding light that had to be the Keybearer had plenty of his strength left, even after the lightning assault. The other light had weakened significantly since arriving, no doubt to her healing the others, but even her power was extremely dangerous to him now, it doing far more damage to him then the variation in their power levels suggested due the nature of magic, especially light magic.
Not to mention that Gohan and Justiman are still up for a fight too. He added, feeling their powers, both now surpassing his strength. Well that does it then! I won't keep any of them around, dead or alive. I won't get their powers, but so be it, they have to be stopped and there's only one way I can stop them now. As he finished regenerating, he forced his tired body to raise his hand, charging as much energy into his next attack as he could spare to distract those he knew were waiting for him at the top of the hole. "Spirit Strike!"
Above the ground, the teens were staring back and forth from Way Big to the impressive hole, every one of them utterly speechless.
"And I thought Gohan was a mile beyond every other Guardian." Ryo commented, the first to find his voice. "But the big guy looks like he's at least as powerful as Gohan was when we found him turning Garlic into mush."
"No kidding." Gohan muttered, landing next to Roxas and reluctantly letting go of Namine before moving towards the hole. "Absolutely amazing. Even my dad couldn't produce that strong a power. Not without Vegeta." He added, giving Ben a smile. "So why haven't we seen this form before? He could have helped a lot."
"This form does come with weaknesses Gohan." Ben said, his voice booming around the area. "Its low speed large body make it very hard to avoid attacks. Though few attacks can hurt me, if one does make me fall, I could crush everyone I know. That risk is there just by walking around too."
"So you keep it for last resort." Namine nodded in understanding, getting one back from Ben.
"Now that the ultra transformation mystery has been solved, can we focus on the matter at hand?" Roxas snapped, snarling as his glowing eyes focused down the hole, catching the others off guard. None of them had even noticed him casting the spell. "That bone chilling black hole of an aura is still strong and focused, meaning-"
Before he could finish, four spirit snakes burst up through the hole and target the boys.
"Aah! Ryo cried, back flipping to avoid the red one's assault, only for it to follow him, its fangs poised to strike.
"Magical Ball!" The purple outlined light ball crashed right into the snake's head and exploded, the resulting flash taking the whole snake with it.
"Whoa!" Ryo gasped, both relieved and amazed that that actually worked. "I guess even mystical power is outdone by magic. Thanks for the save Namine." He added, turning a thankful smile as she lowered collected daggers, grinning back with a wink.
"HA!" Roxas shouted, slashing an x with his glowing Keyblades through the blue snake, dispelling it instantly as Gohan shot by, chasing after the green snake while the yellow one chased him.
Like Ben had said, Way Big was slow and a large target, easy prey for the fast and flexible snake spirit, and he could lock his cosmic ray on the thing. Gohan however, was fast and perfectly capable of out manoeuvring around the two. Getting them both in his line of fire, Gohan raised an open palm at each, his aura flaring and swirling around him.
"Aura Burst!" The raw power of his aura exploded into swirling beams, quickly striking each snake. Though made visible by Gohan's Ki mixing into it, auras in general were a mix of psychic and spiritual energy, making his attack perfectly capable of dispelling the snake spirits.
Just as the last of the snakes dispersed, Garlic flew straight up from the hole like a rocket, sighing loudly as the glow of the Makyo Star covered his being, refuelling his reserves once again. Getting more power the higher he got, he kept flying until he was just above Way Big's head before stopping and turning to the heroes, smiling darkly at them as they prepared to fight once again.
"It is time to end this battle once and for all." He shouted cockily, his smile turning crueller as his aura surrounded him again, looking more like a solid yellow outline this time, and his eyes turned a blank white before raising his arms at his sides. "For now all of you will know the damnation of the DEAD ZONE!"
"AAHHH!" Gohan screamed, his eyes wide and panic stricken as he watched the black door appear behind Garlic in the sky, an enormous, evil looking red and yellow vortex exploding from it and covering the entire mountain top, sucking everything into its source.
"WAAHHH! Put me down!" Roxas shouted, clinging desperately to a large rock as his body was sucked into the air, his legs flailing in the air towards the portal.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Namine and Ryo screamed simultaneously, both being pulled roughly from the ground and flying towards certain doom. Throwing his giant hand out Ben grabbed them as firmly as he dared and forced his entire body to the ground, curling up to make himself as compacted as possible just above Roxas, blocking most of the suction from him.
"This is not good." Ben grunted, placing Ryo and Namine next to Roxas so as to better grip the ground as he felt himself forcibly jerked upward. "Even I'm having trouble staying grounded! Who would have thought Garlic Jr. would have that much power?"
"He doesn't." Gohan grunted as he forced to the ground by Ben's entrenched foot. Releasing an echoing scream, he released an enormous amount of power from his being, more than he thought he had. He didn't think about it though, he was working solely on instinct. The only thing crossing his mind was his friends and what would happen to them if he failed and with that thought in mind, he managed to release enough power to create a shield big enough to cover even Way Big's curled up form, though it was clearly thin and relied a great deal on Ben blocking most of the Vortex's suction. "His power opens the door and shields him from the vortex. On the other side is an entire demonic world, craving souls to torture." Gohan continued as he struggled his way under Way Big, being very careful not to lower his contribution to their protection.
"Gohan, should I change back?" Ben asked, looking down at the struggling boy as the shield flickered slightly. "You would have less area to cover and would probably protect us better than I can."
"No." Gohan muttered, closing his eyes tight in an attempt to keep his shield firm. "I can't shrink it without hurting you until you changed back and the time it takes for you to transform is all the intensifying suction would need to send us all to our doom."
"Then what can we do?" Roxas asked, running a hand through his hair. "Namine and I can't create a portal, the demonic magic of that one would mix with it and cause unknown problems."
"Not that we could make one big enough for Ben anyway." Namine added sadly.
"What about blowing Garlic Jr. into the vortex?" Ryo asked. "Get rid of the source and all that."
"That's what I did last time, but he's so much stronger now." Gohan responded, his frown deepening as his strength waned. "He feeds on the energy of the vortex and the Makyo Star's right above him! On top of that, the only way to attack is for me to lower the shield and risk us all."
"Not to add to the issue, but the Omnitrix is likely to run out of power at any time now." Ben added apologetically.
"Great, just great." Ryo exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly. "Can we just skip to the part where the miracle shows up now?"
"I thought you'd never ask." A disembodied voice called happily within their heads, causing everyone to gasp.
"Who was that?" Ryo asked, looking left to right.
"There's no one else in the area, other than Garlic." Namine said confusedly, recognising the 'voice' as telepathy at work, but unable to find the source.
"That voice is really familiar." Roxas muttered, frowning at Gohan. "Wasn't it-"
"Daddy?" Gohan cried, hope and disbelief shining in his opening eyes. "Dad, it's you. Where are you?"
"In Otherworld Gohan." Goku said softly, Gohan's shoulders sagging in response. "Here there is a man named King Kai who watches over our Galaxy. He can speak telepathically with anyone, alive or dead, and is helping me contact you."
"So you really are gone." Gohan muttered, not managing to hold back a sob. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up, expecting to see Roxas or Ryo in front of him, only to gasp as he stared into the chest of a transparent Goku.
"Gohan, I'll always be here for you when you need me. Even I know that the people we love never truly leave us." Goku told him, his eyes shining with love and pride as he they met the tearful ones of Gohan.
"But I still need you. I don't know how to live without you." Gohan cried, his body shaking as the tears fell.
"No you don't son. I've watched you grow over the years. You've changed so much from that scared, helpless little boy you once were. You're a strong, courageous and gentle young man. Gohan, you've become everything I ever was and more." Goku said warmly, meaning every word. "Just promise me that you will never lose those qualities Gohan and I'll be able to move on in peace."
"I promise." Gohan muttered, never taking his eyes away from his father's face. He knew with all his being that he was likely to never see him again until his own death.
"That's my boy." Goku smiled. "But while we're talking about promises, I do need one more favour from you. Now that I'm dead, I won't be able to keep my promise to your mother and Grandfather. Please, complete it for me, my young prince?"
"That?" Gohan asked, confusing the others. They didn't even understand why Goku called him a prince. "Of course I will Dad. They're my people. I don't want them suffering any longer than they'll have to."
"Sorry to butt in." Ben interrupted, looking down nervously. "But I can feel the portal's suction increasing, so it would be great if we could get to that miracle now."
"Oh, right." Goku replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Gohan, you have to use both of Garlic's aces against him. You have to use power from the Makyo Star too."
"What? How do I do that?" Gohan asked, visibly perplexed.
"Just look at it Gohan. Stare at it." Goku responded before turning very serious. "But while you're doing it, keep two things in mind. One, attack Garlic Jr. and two when he's gone, destroy the Star."
"Huh? Destroy the Star?" Ryo asked incredulously, dropping his jaw. "But that thing's a whole PLANET! I don't care how powerful Gohan is, he is not powerful enough to destroy a planet."
"Actually, it's only the size of a large asteroid." Goku replied with his usual wide smile. "And it's in the Earth's outer atmosphere. He'll need help, but all your powers combined should penetrate the core and then the planet will do the rest. But everyone will have to be very careful until the Star's destroyed once this starts, otherwise Gohan may kill you." Goku added, turning serious again. "It'll be up to you to keep the others safe big guy, starting from when the force field goes down."
"Right." Ben nodded, deciding to just go with it. Seeing the confusion on his face, Goku gave him an amused grin before turning lovingly back to Gohan.
"Just keep those two thoughts in your head son. And this one too. I love you. Tell your Mom and Goten that I love them too." With that, Goku's being faded from existence, leaving Gohan staring sadly into space.
"I love you too Daddy." He muttered. Wiping away his tears, his face turned determined as he stepped outside of the cover Way Big provided and looked straight up at Garlic Jr. and the Makyo Star beyond him.
"Finally come to accept your fate?" Garlic sneered, cackling as Gohan only turned angrier.
"No. I've come to stop you, once and for all." Gohan snapped back, tensing himself for whatever power his father said would come as he stared at the Makyo Star. "We're past the part where it's possible to end this without someone's end, so my compassion is satisfied. So with no other way of ending this, I'll make sure that you can never hurt anyone ever ag..."
His voice cut off, as did his shield, much to the shock of everyone present, as his mouth went slack and his body went stiff as a board as his eyes went blank.
"What's this?" Garlic asked, confused and slightly nervous. "He's just standing there. And despite have no protection, he isn't getting sucked into the Dead Zone. What's going on?"
Gohan's tail slipped out from within his sash and dropped down as Gohan's started convulsing, scaring the others as they watched on.
"His mind is completely blank." Namine muttered, right before flinching as what felt like the mind of a violent bear suddenly appeared in Gohan's head. "Now he's rabid."
"That would explain that look on his face." Roxas commented, watching nervously. "Those new huge canines fit well with it too."
Ryo, Namine, Ben and Roxas watched on in wide eyed shock as, just as Roxas mentioned, Gohan's teeth grew and sharpened while his eyes turned plain white and his face scrunched up in rage. A second later, his nose and mouth grew outward, forming a snout similar to a wolf's, and the convulsions increased, responding to his muscles rapidly bulking up.
"What is happening to him?" Ben asked, scared for his friend.
"Warning, Saiyan transformation." All of the teens, minus Gohan whipped their heads to Ben's chest as the Omnitrix answered Ben's question. "Natural alteration of DNA occurring. Danger, the giant ape is very dangerous to everyone it meets."
"Giant ape?" All four cried, turning back to Gohan just as he let loose a roar. Sure enough, Gohan's form continued to further resemble an ape as brown fur grew all over his body. A second later, his body started growing at incredible speed, quick surpassing two stories and still growing, the remains of his clothes ripping to pieces and flying into the portal. His ears grew long at the sides of his head, his eyes turned pure red and by the time he stopped growing he was seventy five feet tall and was the perfect image of a demonic ape.
"Unbelievable!" Ben gasped, right before a loud, primal roar escaped Gohan's giant lips, forcing everyone, Garlic included, to put their amazement on hold and cover their aching ears. "Who ever thought Gohan had this in him?"
"Ponder that later." Namine yelled, thoroughly terrified. "Gohan's mind isn't in there. This creature's only conscious thoughts are of fighting and destruction."
Before any of them could even register what she said, Gohan screamed again and brought his fists right down on Way Big's back.
"ARGH!" Way Big wailed, his body dropping from the impact and barely stopping his decent before his weight would crush those now lying on the ground screaming beneath him. Gohan however, seemed unsatisfied and irritated that it had such a small effect and went to attack again.
"No way!" Ben growled, throwing out his arm to block Gohan's, expecting to overpower him. However, all his action did was change the target and he released an agonised scream again as Gohan's fist slammed his arm into the ground at an odd angle. "ARGH! Damn it, he's stronger than me."
"HAHA! Isn't this just perfect." Garlic Jr. laughed, not even caring that Gohan was still completely unaffected by the Dead Zone's vortex. "Instead of saving his friends, Gohan will be responsible for their end. Then I'll wait until he returns to his humanoid form and suffers through his guilt before destroying him. Hahahaha!"
"Namine, you have to get him focused!" Roxas cried, grunting painfully as another of Gohan's fists crashed into Ben and forcing the giant to press the three teens below him into the ground. "Otherwise we're gonna die long before we reach that portal."
"But he's just a primitive beast right now." Namine exclaimed, her voice trembling with fear. "I don't have nearly as much influence over such a nonhuman mind. I can't even stop a lion from eating a gazelle."
"But Gohan is still in there somewhere." Ryo joined in. "You don't have to have the power to rein in his whole mind, just make him focus on his true foe and the Star."
"Ok, I'll try." Closing her eyes and frowning deeply in concentration, Namine put everything she had into connecting with Gohan's mind. Getting in, she was bombarded with the beast's bloodlust and rage and cried out, grabbing her head as she desperately fought not to be consumed by it.
"Namine, you can do this." Roxas said firmly, clasping her hand. "We all believe in you Namine, now believe in yourself. You have the power and the talent. Give him what he needs."
The second Roxas' hand touched hers, the ape's raging mind receded from hers, as if a wall had been put up and was holding it at bay. Calming down and feeling emboldened by the turn of events, she sent a quiet thank you to Roxas and focused harder, delving deeper into the core of Gohan's mind.
"Gohan? Listen to me." She projected as loudly as she could, stopping the great ape in its tracks as he went to throw an enormous boulder at Way Big. Seeing his reaction and the confusion in his mind, she pressed on. "Gohan, attack Garlic Jr. He's your enemy." She 'said', sending an image of Garlic into his mind. "Attack him Gohan!"
Frowning and grumbling, Gohan stared at Way Big for a few seconds before deciding that he wasn't the target and turned his head around the area. He stared at Namine, Roxas and Ryo below Way Big in turn for a few seconds each, but again decided that they weren't who he was after.
"Why did you stop, hurry up and kill the cosmic being and watch the others be sucked away." Garlic growled, getting frustrated with the sudden end to the action just as it was getting good. However, his voice made it to Gohan's giant ears and he paled considerably as it brought the ape's attention to him. "Oh, no."
Having found his prey, Gohan screamed and threw the boulder at Garlic as hard as he could. Seeing the boulder the size of a two story building flying right at him with the speed of a cannon ball, Garlic freaked. Screaming like a banshee, he let loose an optical blast and broke the rock into tiny pieces that either bounced off of his shield or headed straight into the Dead Zone. However, Gohan was only enraged by the failure of the stone and roared right up at Garlic. However, this time everyone watching was frozen in place by shock, amazement and fear as an huge, purple beam exploded from Gohan's mouth.
'What? IMPOSSIBLE!" Garlic screamed, trembling as he watched the blast coming for him. There was nothing he could do, the blast held a great deal more power than even Way Big's, making it far too powerful to block, and even if he could move without getting sucked into the Dead Zone himself, it was too big and moving too fast to avoid it. "CRYSTAL SHIELD!" He screamed, creating a second shield around him in a desperate attempt to survive.
It didn't do much good though, for the second the beam struck, it destroyed the crystal shield and neutralised Garlic's aura like shield, blow him viciously back and into his own portal.
"NNNOOOOOO!" Though a slowly regenerating, mutilated mess, Garlic was still able to scream loud enough to hurt everyone's ears as he disappeared into the black door, flipping into the infinite darkness. It only left their ears as Gohan gave a roar of victory, overlapping Garlic Jr. as the black portal glowed red and disappeared from existence.
"Now, tell him to destroy the Makyo Star before he goes on a rampage again." Ryo called as Ben stood back up, drawing the attention of the ferocious beast.
"Gohan!" Namine mentally shouted, stopping him just short of back fisting Ben's leg. "Blast the Planet in the sky. Destroy it!"
"Ben, quickly get me and Namine onto your head." Roxas yelled hastily. "Just do it!" He snapped as Ben looked down at him confusedly. Shrugging, the giant just did as he was told and picked them up.
"Aim for it...wait, wait." Namine 'said' as Ben dropped them on his head. "Now!" She yelled, both mentally and orally as her outstretched hand touched the side of Roxas'.
"LIGHT!"
"ROOAARRR!"
Simultaneously, Ben's cosmic ray, Roxas and Namine's beam of light waves and Gohan's purple mouth beam burst forth into the sky. Coming into contact halfway to the Star, the attacks fused into one overly giant beam of swirling blue, white and purple energy. The sky lit up like the fourth of July as the beam hit the planet completely decimating it as it breach the core and caused the entire rock to implode.
"This is absolutely amazing." Ryo muttered, unable to take his eyes of the lingering flashes of red, white, blue and purple sparkling in the sky. "I would have never thought that four people could ever produce this kind of power. In their current conditions, I don't think there's a single force on Earth that could ever come close to comparing to them."
"WOOHOO! WE DID IT!" Roxas cheered, jumping up and down in his excitement as Ben returned him and Namine to the ground.
"But what about..." Namine started, but her voice faded out as she looked at Gohan. The great ape froze, slack jawed as the lights finally faded from the sky and he immediately started shrinking. His eyes turned white as the fur receded and his feet reshaped into those of a human. His snout shrunk back into his face and his teeth returned to normal just as he returned to his normal sized. His black pupils and irises returned to his drowsy eyes just as the specks of fur and all remaining traces of the ape form faded back into Gohan's tailed, humanoid form before they closed and he fell back, exhausted and naked, but otherwise fine.
"Oh, um." Namine gasped, blushing darkly as his lack of clothing finally registered in her mind and turning away with her hand over her closed eyes. "Please don't tell Gohan I was staring."
"Why, see something you liked?" Ryo asked jokingly as he sagged to the ground, only making Namine whine as her blush somehow managed to intensify as Ben changed back to normal and flopped himself, snoring before he even hit the ground. Resting his head on his arms, he quickly followed Ben into the world of dreams with a smile on his face.
Chuckling lightly, Roxas took pity on Namine and covered Gohan's lower half with his short sleeved jacket before gently picking him up and bringing him over to the others.
"Namine, can you open a portal? My hands are full." He asked, keeping his back to Namine to ensure she didn't accidently see anything she shouldn't again.
"Um, yeah, s-sure." She stuttered, raising a hand and creating a white portal next to Ben. Placing her hands around his shoulders, she dragged him through as carefully as she could, wishing she was actually strong enough to lift him. Roxas walked through a moment later only to come back empty handed and pick up Ryo.
"Who would have thought that the Z Fighters had such epic situations." He commented, staring around at the debris. "One guy caused all of this chaos. And something tells me the real battles we're going to face have only just begun." Shaking his head and wondering why he let himself fall into such an ominous mood, he walked back through the portal and back to Capsule Corp.
"You are correct my young friend." Paradox said as he walked out from a pile of debris. "The real battles are yet to come. But today starts a chain of events. So you should be ready when the time comes. With a little prodding here and there of course." Grinning softly to himself, Paradox took a few steps back and disappeared, back from whence he came.