Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are all the property of Akira Toriyama, Funimation, Toei, and other rich people I can't really name right now. I'm just borrowing them for a while, but I promise I'll return them back as good as new when I'm done. However, I do own the original characters that will be showing up in this story.
Chapter Eleven: Kuririn's Winning Throw
A hush fell over the battlefield at the arrival of the stranger. Like Kaosu, Vegeta and company were gaping at the unknown woman in amazement, although what shocked them was how almost identical she and Kaosu looked. The shape of their face and ears and body structure were the same, and the armored attire she was wearing was the same kind that Kaosu wore but gold, with a symbol affixed to the chest. Also the look of fury they directed at each other. But that was where the likeness ended. Where Kaosu's hair and eyes were dark ruby in color, the newcomer's were both orange. She wore gold crescent earrings, and her skin was as ivory as Juuhachi-gou's. The symbol on her chest was a yellow wheel with four spokes, and within each spoke was a different colored gem- red, blue, green, and yellow. As Kaosu radiated with utter negative ki, an excess of positive ki could be sensed from her. Albeit her actual power couldn't be sensed like Kaosu or Armon, an air of great strength surrounded her, punctuated by the wickedly carved glaive she held.
"Eh! A-another Kaosu!?" Kuririn exclaimed. "What's going on here!?"
The others watched the woman without remark, but they were quite clearly wondering the same thing.
Slowly, Kaosu descended down on a cliff across the one the other woman was standing on, never taking her eyes off the late arrival. Black lightning flashed and crackled around them, like angry dark slashes ripping across the crimson sky.
"What the hell is this…Kosumo!?" Kaosu demanded. She angrily pointed a finger at the other woman. "I destroyed that fortress! In the state you were in, you shouldn't have survived! So, then…why haven't you joined your fellow Uchuushin in death yet!?"
Below, the Warriors listened in differing amazement at what they just heard.
"The God of Cosmos…!?" Piccolo gasped. "Is she really that person!?"
"You should know by now that I won't fall to your cowardly attacks, Kaosu!" Kosumo retorted coldly. She pointed her weapon at her long-time enemy. "I won't let you…!" Kosumo started. But then she swayed, as if becoming light-headed. Then she shook her head and quickly steadied herself, tightening her grip on her weapon.
Kaosu saw this and chuckled disdainfully. "How like you to appear before me with one of your high and mighty speeches, yet you still haven't recovered from your injuries. You know, I'm actually glad you're still alive. Because now I get the chance to kill you and those scumbags down there all at the same time!"
Kosumo's response was thrusting her Cosmic Glaive forward with a battle cry, the curved blade discharging a double spiral energy blast. Eyes narrowed, Kaosu was prepared to defend herself. The blast was in arms-length of her when Armon appeared in front of her and raised his trident horizontally over his and Kaosu's head, bringing up a fiery shield around them that successfully nullified the blast. Noises of shock filled the air when they saw who it was that had blocked Kosumo, which was why no one was more stunned than she was.
"A-Armon!?" Kosumo gasped, instantly recognizing her loyal servant even if he didn't look human anymore.
Armon growled aggressively back at her, dismissing the barrier from around himself and his master.
"H-hey, that's Armon!" Kuririn blurted, taken aback.
"Kaosu's turned him into one of her demons!" Juuhachi-gou explained bleakly.
"It would seem my new pet has finally awakened from his nap," Kaosu said, simpering.
"Your…new pet…!?" Kosumo repeated, horrified.
"Kneel!" the evil goddess commanded. Armon obeyed at once, and she decided to push things further. "Armon, show Kosumo just how loyal you are to me by giving me your kiss of allegiance!" Following those words, Kaosu extended out her near foot and the mutated warrior obediently kissed it. All the while, Kaosu was smugly watching her enemy's reaction. She delighted in the look of rage on Kosumo's face when she promptly kicked him off her. "See? He's all mine now! Armon, prove your loyalty to me even more by killing your former master!"
Immediately, Armon set his sights on Kosumo, grabbed his trident and vanished. When he reappeared a second later, he was in front of Kosumo and bringing down his trident towards her in an arc, which the deity blocked with her own weapon.
"Armon! Stop!" Kosumo pleaded.
He didn't, as he kept attacking. Kosumo blocked and parried each strike, never noticing her and Armon moving further away from the main battlefield. Kaosu observed with annoyance.
*As entertaining as this is, it won't take Kosumo too long to subdue him,* Kaosu knew. *With the boy out of the way, I had thought I would have an easier time finishing off the others. But now that that bitch has showed up, and with the injuries I took from those other guys…* Her gaze shifted back down towards Juuhachi-gou, Amara, and the rest of her foes. She reached an abrupt conclusion. *I can no longer afford to hold anything back!*
Without declaration, Kaosu raised her arms, and several bolts of black lightning descended down from the sky to strike both her hands at once. The bolts washed over the goddess, wrapping around her in a cocoon too dark to see through. Her foes looked disturbed by this.
"What is she doing?" Amara asked, struggling against a chill that was trying to fight its way up her spine.
"She's transforming!"Piccolo concluded seriously.
Almost as if those grim words were a trigger, the silhouette within the dark light began to change right in front of them. The form grew in height and size until it towered even over Piccolo, stopping until it was eight foot tall...
Armon continued his attack on Kosumo. It was taking her all she could to block him, and it wasn't just because she was trying to hold back so she wouldn't hurt him. It was also because she still hasn't fully recovered from being attacked by the Great Trinity and Kaosu.
"Get a hold of yourself, Armon!" Kosumo begged. "This isn't who you are!"
He responded by slashing at the air at her with his Trident, leaving behind a trail of black energy coated in red flames that struck out at the Uchuushin. Kosumo speedily blocked it with her Cosmic Glaive, grunting as she was pushed rearward against the side of a crag. As her demonized servant lunged at her again, Kosumo's eyes contracted decisively.
*I-I can't let this drag out! Otherwise…I won't be able to stop Kaosu!*
When Chaos Armon lunged back in, Kosumo let her Glaive drop to the ground, multicolored ki amassing around her rapidly. When he reached her and swung, she ducked and pressed both her hands against his abdomen, releasing the ki through her palms. Enveloped by the sparkling energies, the mutated Armon slowly backed away, staring down at himself in confusion. Confusion quickly turned to pain, and a horrible wail was wrested from Armon's throat as the delayed blast swallowed him whole, obliterating him from the inside out. In a moment, the light faded away, and Armon was left floating in the air, unconscious and completely human again.
He started to fall, but Kosumo hurriedly caught him. Slowly descending on the ground near her weapon, she carefully deposited him there. She dropped to her knees beside him, taking a minute to catch her breath. That blast had reduced her energy and stamina levels even lower than they already were. She had the ability to heal herself, though there had been no time for her to use it. Following Kaosu's attack on her in the Border World, when she woke up and saw what was happening on Omegasei, she hastily rushed over to intercept Kaosu's attack.
Surveying her attendant, she noted the steady rise and fall of his chest, indicating he was breathing just fine. Kosumo smiled in relief. She had already lost too many comrades to Kaosu, so she was glad she was able to arrive in time to save her aide.
FLASH!
All of a sudden, alarm twisted Kosumo's face, and she glanced toward the area where her enemy and those fighters were. She had just felt Kaosu's wicked ki inflating explosively, and comprehended what had happened right away. This was the same power that Kaosu had used to kill the other Uchuushin and all of their soldiers except for Armon eons ago. Only it was twice as strong than before.
"No rest for the weary," she quoted softly to herself. Giving her aide another glimpse, she beamed down at him. "Wish me luck, old friend."
Her face hardening again, Kosumo grabbed her weapon, stood, and flew off.
At long last, Kaosu's conversion came to a close. The light vanished around her in a soft splash, revealing her new form for everyone to see. Her crimson hair had been bleached to white, spiked out in an unruly mane. The red and white of her eyes were replaced by a pupiless deep yellow, her smooth, pale skin was hardened into rough, dark red scales with spikes extending out both her shoulders, and her fingernails and toenails had morphed into black talons.
Super Kaosu grinned down horrendously at all her enemies, displaying a mouth full of wickedly sharp teeth. She then barked out in baleful laughter- it was a very brusque sound that rumbled like thunder over the battleground, grating against everyone's ears. She felt great! Whatever injuries that had been affecting her in her previous state were completely healed now.
"H-how in the world are we going to beat that!?" Kuririn said, unknowingly voicing the thoughts of his fellow warriors.
"You can't!" Kaosu boasted, already charging up tiny spheres of red ki on each tip of her claws. She discharged them in a shower of thin beams, laughing in cold delight as she observed her enemies do their best to dodge, igniting explosions all over the planet wherever they hit.
Zipping around and behind the monstrous goddess like a golden streak, a rested Vegeta dove and struck with a flurry of punches and kicks to the back of Kaosu's head. Though for all of his effort, Vegeta might as well been attacking an unmovable rock. Growling in frustration, he pulled back a bit and launched the same ki blast that aided Gohan in defeating Cell. The prince watched in anger as Kaosu spun at the last second and swiped at it with the claws on her left hand, slicing the blast into nothingness. While Vegeta was too busy gaping, Kaosu drew up in front of him in a nanosecond and slammed her right knee into his chin, and Vegeta went skidding across the landscape. He came to a stop at the end of a long trench.
Kuririn's battle-cry rang through the air as he took on Kaosu next...and was immediately backhanded in the direction he came from.
"How vain!" she sneered. "Struggle all you want but it's all in vain!"
Not believing such a thing, Amara appeared over her, her Energy Blade flashing around her arm.
"KIIIIYAAAH!" Amara screamed, swinging her blade down towards the transformed Kaosu, prepared to cut her right down the middle. However, that never came as Kaosu effortlessly reached out to catch the Saiyajin Princess when she came down by the tip of her sword; Amara jerked forward a bit, as her flight came down to a complete halt. Amara gasped.
"Now I'll send you to Hell with the rest of your monkey kind!" Kaosu said, raising her right claw menacingly.
Her back turned, Kaosu never saw Kosumo returning to the scene until she was given a powerful slash across the back with the Cosmic Glaive. Kaosu let out a scream of pain, true pain. While the Cosmic Glaive was nowhere near as dangerous as the Dragon Sphere, it was still potent enough to effect Kaosu, even in her altered state. As Amara took this chance to pull free and put some distance between her and her enemy, Kaosu whirled on Kosumo in anger.
"There's more where that came from!" Kosumo vowed.
Snarling in rage, Kaosu lunged at the woman. Before she could even reach her, a torrent of blasts hit her squarely in the wound Kosumo created. Once she recovered, Kaosu pivoted around, her eyes glowing brightly with wrath when she noticed Piccolo's hand stretched out towards her.
Not too far away, Vegeta stood back up, still good to fight. His face contorting into a savage snarl, he powered up, pushing his battered body beyond its limit. Where they stood, Amara and Piccolo did the same, and Juuhachi-gou just quietly raised her fists in her wonted fighting stance.
"Enough of this!" Kaosu decided, rising back high into the air, arms crossed. "All of you will die NOW!"
When she thought she was high enough, she snapped her hands forward, unleashing blades of wind at her enemies indiscriminately. Everyone dodged as best as they could, howbeit, one who didn't have such luxury was Gohan. Piccolo noticed this when he saw a few of the blades moving towards Gohan, who could only stare up powerlessly at them.
"GOHAN!" Acting fast, Piccolo zoomed towards his young friend in a burst of energy and shoved him out of the way in time. The blades of wind hit the vacant space they had both occupied just seconds ago and disappeared.
"Thanks, Piccolo-san," Gohan said gratefully. Then he looked guiltily at his friend. "Sorry. I'm completely useless to you all!"
"Idiot, what are you apologizing for?" Piccolo scolded, panting. "This isn't your fault."
"Yeah, but…if Dad was here, he wouldn't have let himself get trapped like this," Gohan said dejectedly.
"Still, maybe we could manage something if the Dragon Sphere hadn't been lost."
Overhearing the two, Kuririn made some quick calculations and made a decision. He didn't notice Kosumo glance his way. Without so much as a word, Kuririn kicked off the ground and hurtled away.
Everyone saw this.
"Kuririn?" Gohan said.
"Where the hell is he off to?" Piccolo wondered.
Though Juuhachi-gou observed Kuririn without comment, she asked herself the same thing.
"Feh! That coward's running way, that's what he's doing!" Vegeta snarled in cold disgust. This hardly surprised him. He knew the bald Earthling would be absolutely unreliable from the beginning.
"He's deserting us?" Amara asked angrily.
Kaosu chortled. "At least one of you seems to have a brain!"
"That's not true!" Kosumo interjected, sounding very certain. Everyone looked her way. "Your friend will be back, just give him time. Until then, we must hold off Kaosu!"
Meanwhile, Kuririn wasted no time as he returned to the place he roughly believed he lost the Dragon Sphere when Kaosu's army attacked his team after they arrived. He really wanted to smack himself for losing one of their biggest weapons against Kaosu. If it wasn't for him, they might have been able to beat Kaosu by now. He knew that time was of the essence, and that the longer it took for him to search for the Dragon Sphere, the more chances it gave Kaosu to kill off his comrades…and also Vegeta.
He quickly shook that direful thought away. No one was going to die! Everyone was going to make it off this planet alive, and he was going to make sure of it...as soon as he found that Dragon Sphere. When he began the search, he'd been thinking that finding the sphere would be easy enough. After all, how hard would be to find a shiny, gold ball with a dragon running across it?
Many minutes later into the hunt, Kuririn was beginning to find that searching for the Dragon Sphere was actually very hard. He'd been having little to no success so far. His search had led him to a ravine where he had peered in every nook and cranny. Nothing. He'd even look in those places where one would never think to look. But nothing. When several minutes had passed, the frustration that had been bubbling inside Kuririn over the irritatingly elusive Dragon Sphere, coupled together with the sound of battle he could hear in the distant, boiled over and the bald warrior let out a swearword.
"Where in the hell did that damn thing go!?" he groused. "Man, I'm such an idiot!"
Kuririn paused and took a deep breath to compose himself. Working himself up into a fit of pique and berating himself wouldn't help him find the Dragon Sphere. "I've got to keep calm," he told himself over and over again a few times. "I bet if Goku was in my shoes, he would've easily found it by now!"
Kuririn sometimes envied the good luck his best friend seemed to have. Goku had been the one who grew the tallest out of the two of them. Goku had been the one who became the strongest out of the two of them. And Goku had been the first one out of them to marry a cute girl and settle down to have a family. Meanwhile, he had the height of a nearly half-grown child. He was the weakest one among his team that had come along on this trip. And he was also still pathetically single while simultaneously head-over-heels for a woman who more or less belonged to another man- a man he greatly detested. He was starting to get a suspicious feeling that Kaosu and her fellow Kontonshin were somehow responsible for how his life had turned out.
Before he could fall deeper into his self-pity, something glittering caught his eye below. He saw it amidst an upland of longhead grass near the base of the ravine by a river. A slow, victorious grin split Kuririn's face as he started to get a concrete notion as to what the shiny whatever-it-is down there was. Without another moment's waste, Kuririn shot earthward. As he advanced a lot closer toward his target, he saw that it was in fact the Dragon Sphere- though it seemed to be sitting atop a large, black rock. It was right when he had alighted directly beside the Dragon Sphere and a long, black serpentine head craned its neck to glare at the trespasser with golden slit eyes, that Kuririn discovered that the rock the Dragon Sphere had been sitting on was in fact not a rock, but an enormous anaconda.
Kuririn groaned as the gigantic snake rose to its full height, completely dwarfing him. "Ah, man! Why do these things always have to happen to me!?"
The anaconda attacked.
Kaosu was seeing just how persistent the enemies she had acquired in the Lower Realm really were; especially with Kosumo joining them. Of course, that was no surprise. After fighting Kosumo for countless centuries, she knew just exactly how determined her long-time enemy could get. Even after Kaosu had killed the other two Uchuushin, Kosumo refused to surrender, and she managed to fight her off in the end. Still, she didn't expect such a fight from these Lower Realm mortals now that she was transformed and at full power. They were all basically fighting to survive any way they could now. But she wasn't worried; she knew whatever luck that was keeping them alive this far wouldn't hold out forever, and when that luck eventually runs out...
Still helplessly trapped, Gohan watched the other Warriors fight Kaosu in a mix of anger, concern, and even some envy. It was a relief to him that they were all holding out okay, but they were far from defeating Kaosu. He knew he was the only one who could defeat her! He had to get free somehow and help them. And where did Kuririn go to?
In the interval, Kaosu's jaw dropped and she spat streams of incinerating flames at her foes. The Warriors, Juuhachi-gou, Amara, and Kosumo evaded her, and in the nick of time, too, as the flames melted the earth wherever it touched.
"How long do you gnats think you can keep dodging me before I squash you?" Kaosu derided.
"Long enough for this!" Kosumo countered, a blue light filling both her eyes and the silhouette of her Cosmic Glaive.
Kaosu's eyes widened as the familiar power of her rival's Telekinesis compressed around her body like an unseen hand. Kosumo brought her Glaive down powerfully, and the God of Chaos plummeted accordingly into the earth in front of the rock structured like the planet's namesake symbol. Guiding the transformed Kaosu back onto her feet, the Uchuushin shoved her back against the rock and kept her pinned there.
"Now is your chance!" Kosumo told the mortal warriors, though was straining to do so. "I can't hold her for too long!"
Realizing she was right, Piccolo cupped his hands together, white flames blazing to life around him and he gathered ki in his hands. "GEKIRETSU KODAN!"
"COSMIC INFLATION ATTACK!" Amara shouted.
"ENERGY WAVE!" Juuhachi-gou screamed.
"FINAL FLASH!" Vegeta bellowed.
The four attacks hit Kaosu at the same time, detonating around the evil goddess thunderously. The blast rose up and expanded, a great yellow-white fireball that engulfed the center of the battlefield. A huge cloud of smoke and dust rose into the air.
Everyone found them a place on the ground to land. Both Vegeta and Amara regressed back to their normal forms, too depleted of energy to maintain their transformed states. Piccolo was breathing noticeably hard as well, and Kosumo didn't look any better. The five had put their all into that last combined effort against Kaosu, and all except for Juuhachi-gou were greatly fatigued.
"Did we...get her?" Amara questioned hopefully.
Nobody answered her.
In the next moment, everyone tensed when they heard familiar laughing from within the cloud. Soon, the smoke and dust vanished completely, revealing Kaosu standing exactly where they last saw her, still alive and undamaged.
"Shit!" Piccolo swore.
"That was everything I had!" Vegeta admitted, dismayed.
"Me…too…" Kosumo said breathlessly, leaning against her polearm in utter exhaustion.
Amara and Juuhachi-gou both gawped in identical consternation.
Kaosu's mouth curled into that signature wicked grin.
"I give you all praise for lasting so long, but it's all over!" the goddess declared arrogantly. Bringing her hand to her stomach to rub it, Kaosu licked her lips ravenously. "This battle has really stirred up my appetite for the first time in ages. And since there's nothing else around...I guess I'll eat you then!"
Her assertion brought terror to the faces of her enemies.
"DON'T!" Gohan screamed incapably.
"Don't worry, boy, you'll join them shortly!" Kaosu mocked.
Putting her words into action, Kaosu opened her mouth. No, not just opened it- she stretched her mouth to dimensions none of her enemies had ever thought possible. They found themselves staring into what resembled a black hole, brimming on the top and bottom rows were sharp swordlike teeth. Her enemies became petrified, their eyes fixed irresistibly on what was supposed to be the cause for all their untimely demise.
*I-it is over!* Amara found herself agreeing with what Kaosu had just said, her eyes wide with dread that was uncharacteristic of a Saiyajin Elite. *We've all given her everything we've got, and yet she's still standing. I don't know why I'm so surprised, she is a god for crying out loud! How could I have ever think that this fight would go any other way!? We really are done for!*
That seemed to be the general feeling among the other fighters and Kosumo. None of them still couldn't move when Kaosu began to advance on them.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
Stopping, Kaosu turned at once, her maw still stretched out to gigantic proportions; her enemies looked in that direction as well. They all found Kuririn floating nearby, looking both very satisfied and very confident about something.
*So, that little, bald shrimp has returned,* she mused unconcernedly. *No matter. Being the weakest on his team, he couldn't possibly make any difference!*
"What is he doing?" Piccolo inquired, frowning. "He's not really thinking of taking Kaosu on by himself, is he?"
"He's a fool if he tries! He'll get killed!" Vegeta said. His voice lacked actual concern for the other man, yet it also lacked the malice he normally spoke to Kuririn with.
Although Amara and Juuhachi-gou watched on without words, similar thoughts were running through their heads.
"Kuririn-san..." Gohan murmured. What was he up-wait, what's that? Squinting his eyes a bit, the ensnared half-Saiyajin saw a glimpse of something shiny Kuririn was holding behind his back. Surprise twisted his face as realization hit. *That must be it! Kuririn must've found the Dragon Sphere! But what is he planning to do with it?*
Kosumo also noticed the Dragon Sphere in Kuririn's hand. She frowned. *I certainly hope he knows what you're doing.*
Inwardly, Kuririn was hoping for the same thing. After he had finally gotten the Dragon Sphere away from that anaconda (with a large assist from a Kienzan), he raced back over to the battlefield as fast as he could. Nonetheless, he had swiftly pulled up short when he saw Kaosu survive a group attack from the others and then stretch her mouth out to eat them as if they were a full-course dinner. But amid the dreadful fear that he'd arrived on the scene too late, an idea had come to him. He didn't know what he was planning to do would really work, though he also knew he had to do something fast, otherwise, his team and that Uchuushin woman were done for.
"Eat on this, why don't you!" Kuririn shouted. With a quick, silent prayer of hoping that what he was about to do would work, he pitched the Dragon Sphere.
Even Kaosu with her 'God Eyes' couldn't make out that sparkly streak that rushed through the air toward her at breakneck speed. At first, she assumed it might be a ki blast, which amused her to no end. As if he had the power to harm her! She had decided that as soon as she deflected the blast, she would kill him first. Howbeit, when it got in closer range, Kaosu recongized with rapidly-growing horror that it wasn't a ki blast Kuririn had thrown at her, but her second mortal enemy- the Dragon Sphere. Unfortunately for her, though, by the time she had figured that out, the bronze, draconic orb completely bridged the gap between them...and flew straight into her mouth and down her throat!
"I did it!" Kuririn cheered.
So surprised by this, Kaosu's mouth instantly returned back to normal size. She clutched at her throat with both hands in a desperate attempt to remove the accursed orb. The ancient, powerful magic of the Sphere was already devastating to her when it attacked her from the outside, but that pain was nothing compared to feeling the Sphere's wrath from the inside. She let out a strangled wail of pain as she felt the powers of the orb burning at the inside of her throat like acid- the horrid feeling spreading throughout all of her body, searing viciously at her entire viscera. In truth, her body was even beginning to slowly rot. She'd never felt such an intense feeling of agony. It wasn't right! She was a god! The strongest of the Gods of Chaos! Why was this happening?
The others watched it all in astonished silence. Then Kosumo shook herself out of her daze and turned to Gohan.
"Now! Break free now!" she yelled urgently to him. "You should be able to do it!"
Understanding at once, Gohan's expression turned into concentration as he tried to summon up his power and rage again. This time, his hair spiked gold and gold fire detonated from the confines of his body, easily burning away the magical bonds. Everyone but Kaosu and Kuririn had to shield their eyes momentarily from the radiance of Gohan's power. When they could finally see again, they peered back up in identical shock.
Gohan hovered high up in the air, once again a Beyond Super Saiyajin as he stared down mercilessly at Kaosu, his aura crepitating with lightning. In spite of her condition, the goddess was still able to gawp up at the young warrior in a mix of terror and awe. This was it! This was that power she had sensed from him!
"So, this is Beyond Super Saiyajin..." Juuhachi-gou whispered in astoundment. This was the strength that freed her from Cell and ultimately defeated him.
Standing a little away from Vegeta, Amara was gaping up at Gohan as well. Just when that half-Saiyajin boy couldn't amaze her anymore, this happened, though maybe she should have expected this from the child of Kakarott. So, this was what a true Beyond Super Saiyajin looked like. Glancing sidelong at her brother, she wasn't surprised when she saw the mixed expression of anger and yearning on his face. In reality, she understood completely how her brother must be feeling at that moment. Realizing he was being watched, Vegeta's eyes shifted to his sister's way.
Gohan said nothing. He voiced no declaration that he would defeat Kaosu right there and now. He decided to let his actions do all of that, as he took a familiar pose, gathering power. "KA...ME...HA...ME..."
"No...!" Kaosu gasped, taking a half-step back.
"HAAAAAA!" Thrusting his cupped hands forward, Gohan released the beam, a massive wave of blue-white ki that blazed through the air and encompassed Kaosu unforgivingly.
Kosumo and the group of mortals all threw their arms out to shield themselves, as the concussion of Gohan's assault rolled over them. As if mourning over the lost of the goddess, the planet itself shook to its very foundation for several long moments. Outside Planet Omegasei, Kaosu's Chaos Star vanished as well, taking away the radiation encompassing the planet, turning the sky back to black. Gradually, everything became still and quiet, with the tremors leaving nothing more than a few deep crevices in its wake.
Minutes later after everything that had just happened, no one had spoken a word. They all stood or floated in a daze, not quite seeming to have grasp the fact that they'd done out what they'd set out to do. Kaosu had been beaten.
Landing, Gohan powered down and blew a huge sigh of relief.
Then Amara broke the stunned silence. "He actually did it!" she said, looking at Gohan.
"Way to Gohan!" Kuririn flew over to the preteen to congratulate him. He proudly clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks to you, we made it out another battle alive!"
"Actually, it was thanks to you, Kuririn!" Gohan corrected.
"Eh?"
"Gohan's right," Piccolo broke in. "If you hadn't brought the Dragon Sphere back in time, we would have been done for."
He and the others then looked around and stared up at Kuririn, who blushed under their scrutiny. Something akin to faint wonder could be seen in Amara's eyes as she gazed at the bald, nose-less human as if she'd never seen him before...it was a look that could be reflected in Juuhachi-gou's eyes, as she watched at Kuririn as well.
"Um...it was nothing really," he said shyly, a hand on the back of his head. "Gohan was the one who did all the work!"
Standing at a distant from the others, Vegeta observed Gohan and Kuririn debate back and forth who was it that really made a difference in beating Kaosu dispassionately. Well, even little wimps like him could be useful every once and a while. As his hard gaze swept over the othersi, his eyes fell on Juuhachi-gou. His possessive nature suffered a twinge of jealousy and anger when he saw that faint look of marvel she had on her visage as she watched Kuririn, and then he averted his gaze away, savagely stomping that envious feeling down. He saw right now that he was also going to have to do something about Juuhachi-gou. Now that the ordeal with Kaosu was over with, reality was starting to kick back in for him. After that night they shared together, his genitive Saiyajin nature was already starting to think that she belonged to him and any other man she looked at would die a very messy death. Yes, he was really going to have to take care of this very irritating problem, but how exactly?
Kosumo surveyed the group with a hint of a smile on her face. No- actually, it was Gohan and Kuririn in particular she regarded. In the following juncture, something caught her eye on the ground nearby. It was the Dragon Sphere! Walking towards it, Kosumo started to bend down to pick it up. Someone beat her to it. Looking up, Kosumo's eyes dilated in surprise when she found a very welcomed face smiling back at her.
"Armon! You're awake!" she said with relief. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, thanks to you, Kosumo-sama," Armon answered, bowing respectfully. The joy on his face became replaced by guilt. "I apologize for attacking you. No matter how hard I tried…I couldn't stop myself-"
"You have nothing to apologize for," Kosumo assured him, smiling up at him gently. "All of that was Kaosu's doing, but it's over now. I've finally avenged our fallen comrades."
Armon nodded. Together, the two turned toward the group nearby. "Thanks to them."
"Yes," Kosumo agreed.
"Ah, man! The ship!" Kuririn exclaimed. Having defeated Kaosu, he and the other Warriors were more than ready to leave Omegasei. Unluckily, due to being distracted with their battle against the now deceased goddess, it was when they had turned in the direction they had last saw the ship and saw the gaping crater filled with wreckage that looked like pieces of said ship that they recalled Kaosu destroying it earlier.
"How are we going to get home now?" Gohan pondered, scratching his head in an unconscious imitation of his late father.
Overhearing them, Kosumo and Armon exchanged smiles, knowing their jobs in the Lower Realm wasn't finished just yet.
To Be Continued
Author's Note: I know I'm pretty late in doing this, but here's a bit of background information on the new characters that show up in this arc.
Kaosu- The main villain, or rather main villainess in this arc, formerly known as Larentia. Her new name is the Japanese translation of the word "Chaos" and you can pronounce the name as 'Kow-su'. Kaosu's main title is Kontonshin for "God of Chaos or Chaos God". Since I didn't want to title Kaosu "Kaosushin" since the first part of it has her name in it. So I'm using another Japanese word for "chaos"- "konton" , which means "chaos" and with particles mean "to be chaotic". Kaosu is originally inspired by my favorite "Big Bad" from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer show- the Hell Goddess, Glorificus, commonly known as Glory. Like Glory, Kaosu's fellow gods turned against her out of the fear she would try to control their entire realm because she had become too corrupt and outstripped them in power, and after losing a long war and was banished to the dimension where the main characters of the show live in.
Appearance: Kaosu's new look is based off Chaos Galaxia from the Sailor Moon anime- the form Sailor Galaxia takes when Chaos took over her body in her fight with Princess Serenity. Except for the wings and headdress.
Kosumo- She is formerly known as Lucia. Her new name is the Japanese translation of the word "Cosmos". The name is pronounced "Ka-sumo". Her title as "Guardian of Cosmos" has been changed to Uchuushin for "God of Cosmos or Cosmos God". The Japanese word "uchuu" means "universe" and another word "cosmos" as well. When I first recreated Lucia into Kosumo, I thought of her as wielding a weapon similar to Sailor Saturn's Silence Glaive, which is why I named Kosumo's the "Cosmic Glaive".
Appearance: Kosumo's new look is based off Regular Sailor Galaxia from the Sailor Moon anime. Except for the headdress.
To keep the "Cosmos vs. Chaos" name theme going, Kosumo's and Kaosu's servants have been appropriately named.
Armon- He is formerly Zocho, the character who helps out Amara and the twins against Kaosu the first time. His new name is derived from the word 'harmony', which he helps keep in balance in the Universe being Kosumo's attendant and all. I originally named this character Zocho after the Guardian King of the South in Jap. Mythology, Zocho-ten, which again is only because I liked the name at the time. He carries a trident just like the Zocho from mythology did, only the prongs on Armon's trident is eternally lit in fire.
Chaos Soldiers/Demons of the Chaos Realm- All of Kaosu's minions are Demons of the Chaos Realm, who are all identified as wearing the 'Symbol of Chaos' on their chest. Kaosu refers to her demonic army as her Chaos Soldiers, which is the last remains of the vast army she once controlled when she was living in the Chaos Realm. With the exception of Konran, Anaki, and Fuwa, all of her soldiers resemble batlike humanoids dressed in bronze armor.
Konran, Anaki, and Fuwa are named after words synonymous with chaos. Konran comes from the Japanese translation of 'turmoil', Anaki (name is pronounced 'A-naki') comes from the Japanese translation of 'anarchy', and Fuwa comes from the Japanese translation of 'discord'. Together, the three are known as the 'Great Trinity', like the Great Trinity Gods of Hindu.
If I'm wrong with these translations, someone please let me know.
Oh, I just discovered something funny. I had Juuhachi-gou and Amara first battle Kaosu on Planet Alphasei and battle her again on Planet Omegasei, since 'alpha' means the beginning and 'omega' means the ending. I just recently found out that a Planet Alphasei already actually existed in the anime.
Anyway, this will be the last changes I make to any of these characters in this arc. No, really!
As always, thanks for reading!