Chapter 20: The Inimitable Fusion
Three Days Later
The surging winds continued to surge violently in every direction, the roar of the winds only bowing in sound to the screams of Kassava. Red energy swirled amidst golden hues of ki, the ground trembling from the sheer force for a few seconds before suddenly dissipating upwards into the sky. Kassava panted heavily, immediately dropping onto the ground on all fours with her head hung, the sweat streaming down the sides of her head.
"It's...too...hard..."
Whis narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression flat. He looked over her a couple of times before turning his head to his left, staring at Genn.
"What do you make of it, Genn?"
Genn blinked, staring back at Whis for a moment in shock. He frantically turned to Trunks, looking for help from him. However, with Trunks mirroring the same clueless expression, Genn turned back to Whis with a somewhat weak tone.
"I..well...you really want my opinion?"
Whis nodded once.
"Yes, your ability to read opponents is far superior than most warriors who adhere to a set of moral guidelines. You may strive for that moral compass they naturally possess, but you can see sets of weaknesses that many others wouldn't even remotely consider."
He nodded back to Kassava, who had shifted into a sitting position as she continued to pant in exhaustion and out of range to hear their conversation.
"So, what do you think? How could we get her past this little limit in her head?"
Genn kept a frown, rubbing his chin.
"Well...she's still doubting herself a little bit. So the problem isn't really the limit, but her belief to move past it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"How did she transform into a Super Saiyan again?"
Whis kept a flat stare.
"She feared for her own life at witnessing Frieza's death."
Genn nodded.
"Ah...that makes sense. She's never really seen someone die up close before. That sort of mental trauma really affects the mind heavily."
Whis' lips rose slightly into a smile.
"To heavily weaken them with pressure?"
Genn cocked his head slightly, furrowing his brow.
"Not exactly. I mean...it can...but sometimes that sort of pressure can be their greatest power."
He turned back to Whis.
"I don't know though...I think putting her in that situation was only necessary for the first time. She knows how it works in the back of her head; we just need someone to push her in a fight. Then she'll...naturally get it, I think."
Whis stood silently for a moment, Genn reaching up and scratching the back of his head in the pause.
"It's your call though...maybe it wasn't that great of an idea."
"Actually, I think it's a perfect strategy."
Genn blinked, turning his head up to stare at Whis. However, the taller angel's attention had turned towards the opposite direction, his voice low as he spoke.
"And right on queue..."
"What the hell is going on out here?! Some of us are trying to sleep, you know!"
Genn and Trunks both peered around Whis' body, staring back at Beerus slowly moving up to the three while rubbing his left eye. Clad only in a small, light turquoise tunic, Beerus yawned for a few seconds before slowly developing an agitated expression.
"Oh...hmph. I see you brought the Patrol here to train."
Whis nodded once.
"That's exactly right, my lord. How was your nap?"
Beerus scoffed.
"Short, like always."
Whis' smile remained.
"Perhaps training pupils is not as easy as you thought it was. Speaking of which, how is your student's progress coming along?"
Beerus froze for a moment at the question, rapidly recollecting himself and lifting his chin slightly to the sky.
"Perfectly well, if you must know. Why...I haven't seen a potential greater than his since Prince Vegeta."
Whis raised an eyebrow.
"What about Goku?"
Beerus blinked.
"Who?"
Whis' eyebrow dropped, his smile disappearing.
"Nevermind. Your pupil, however, still interests me."
His smile returned.
"Has he managed to transform into a Super Saiyan Blue yet?"
Beerus froze once again, his voice raising.
"Of course he can! He just...well..."
Whis' warm expression heavily contrasted Beerus' agitated stare, the two sharing an awkward pause while Genn and Trunks stared with blank, confused expressions. Beerus finally grunted after a long pause, his voice low.
"If this is some sort of trick to dissuade my confidence, Whis, it won't work. I don't care how strong your prodigy is: mine will soon be stronger than him. You won't win this contest."
Whis chuckled lightly in response.
"Of course not, my lord, I would never do such a thing. I do, however, require your assistance."
He nodded towards Kassava, who picked at her right finger less gloved at the wrist while Whis continued.
"I need a strong sparring partner to help push one of Vegetto's proteges over there. To help her achieve a power that currently eludes her."
Beerus grunted again.
"And why should I care?"
Whis stifled a small chuckle.
"Perhaps a sparring match with someone close in power to your student would help his progress as well. You benefit from your fighter becoming stronger, and I gain very little from her improving."
Beerus kept his eyes narrowed, analyzing Whis for a few seconds.
"Are you trying to play me for a fool, Whis? I might become very upset with you if you are."
Whis kept his same, warm expression.
"Of course not. You are more than welcome to take as long as you need to consider my offer."
Beerus glared up at Whis in response, his eyes soon darting to Kassava for a moment. He then suddenly turned on his heel, cupping his hands around his mouth with his voice loudly resonating enough to shake the trees.
"Gogeta! Get out here!"
Trunks blinked, his eyes wide as he turned to Beerus.
"Wait...did he say..."
Whis turned his head towards Trunks, nodding.
"Yes, he did."
A small portion of the area in front of Beerus rapidly distorted for a second, the fused warrior soon arriving from thin air and landing a few feet in front of Beerus. He lowered his two fingers down from his forehead, briskly knocking his single bang hanging from his widow's peak and cocked an eyebrow, his dual voice flat.
"Are we starting another workout, Lord Beerus?"
Beerus grunted, his eyes turning towards Whis.
"Not exactly. I need you to give Whis here a small demonstration of your power."
Gogeta blinked, tilting his head slightly to peer around Beerus and stare at Whis.
"What do you mean?"
Whis smiled, nodding slightly to the side.
"Why don't I tell you a little bit about it in private? There are a few details I want to go over with you."
Beerus instantly whirled around, his rage mounting clearly in his voice and expression.
"Hey! He's my pupil! I won't let you sabotage this fight before it's even begun Whis!"
Whis stifled a small chuckle in response.
"Don't worry, my lord. I'm merely telling your student about mine, nothing more. How he chooses to handle this information is his own doing."
Beerus narrowed his eyes in response, eyeing Whis suspiciously.
"I want to be present for this conversation."
Whis shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. How do I know you won't use this information to sabotage my pupil?"
Beerus flared up once more.
"You're the one being sneaky and suspicious! If anyone's going to sabotage, it's you Whis!"
Whis mused to himself for a moment, before lightly shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"Oh! Well, I suppose we're at an impasse then!"
The two sat in silence for a moment, the following three Saiyans watching the gods bicker amongst themselves stricken with confusion across their face. Gogeta furrowed his brow slightly, turning his head towards Beerus.
"Am I going to fight someone or not?"
Beerus grunted in response, crossing his arms and quickly turning his back to Whis.
"Not if Whis is going to hide these 'plans' from me."
Whis mused to himself once more, before breaking out into another warm smile.
"In that case, you're going to be fighting the female Saiyan over there, Kassava."
The taller angel pointed towards Kassava, who perked up at the sound of her name and seeing Whis gesture to her. Gogeta raised an eyebrow, staring down Kassava for a moment before turning back to Whis.
"She's a Saiyan?"
Whis nodded curtly, Gogeta soon breaking out into a grin and placing his hands on his hips.
"Wow! A female Super Saiyan at that! That's pretty neat!"
Whis kept his smile.
"Indeed. However, she only has the capacity to match your power using the Kaioken. We need you to push her so that she can have the drive to use a higher multiplier, nothing more."
Whis raised an eyebrow.
"By the way, Lord Beerus never did answer me earlier. Are you capable of using Super Saiyan Blue?"
Gogeta blinked.
"Super Saiyan Blue?"
Whis bowed his head slightly, his smile rising at the sight of Beerus' eyebrow twitching heavily.
"Ah, that answers that question. No matter, I'm sure your mentor has a training program for that form at a later date."
His smile disappeared, his tone falling flat.
"Do you think you can handle that?"
Gogeta narrowed his eyes, a half smirk across his expression as he began to roll his right arm and massaging the same shoulder with his free hand.
"Yeah, I think I can do that."
Kassava pushed herself up off the ground, cocking an eyebrow as Gogeta slowly approached, still rolling his arm and massaging his shoulder. He switched arms midway through his stride, soon coming up a few feet from Kassava and dropping his arms to his sides while Whis landed lightly in between then, his head turning towards Kassava.
"Kassava, this is Beerus' current student: Gogeta."
Gogeta broke out into a smirk.
"Whis tells me you're pretty strong, but you don't look like much."
Kassava narrowed her eyes.
"Tsk, says the one wearing a little safety vest."
Whis narrowed his eyes, turning back to Kassava with a frown.
"Remember our training, Kassava."
Kassava scoffed.
"What? Spending all day, failing to use a certain power up? Or perhaps, shooting little energy snakes from my fingertips because I'm not strong enough to create dragons?"
Whis shook his head once.
"Not that. Remember to focus only on your own capability. Don't let him bait your focus, like he just did now."
Kassava's eyes widened, turning back to face towards Gogeta. The fused warrior stood with a confident smirk, his hands on his hips.
"I was just testing you, to see what kind of person you are. If it's that easy to provoke a little bit of anger out of you, then this fight won't last long."
He nodded slightly to Whis.
"Come to trust in your master, as I have come to trust in mine."
Kassava narrowed her eyes in response, moving her arms up and shifting her legs into a defensive stance. Whis floated back slightly with a smile, watching Gogeta tense up.
"Remember Kassava: focus only on your own capability. Don't let the outside distractions sway that focus off your own ability to fight."
Gogeta's golden aura rapidly shot up from underneath his shoes, engulfing the warrior as he instantly transformed into a Super Saiyan. Kassava gasped lightly, caught off guard by the transformation as Whis tapped his scepter lightly on the ground.
"Fight!"
Unknown World, Present Timeline
The bright shine of the familiar white light faded away, as if consumed whole by the darkness in seconds after its initial appearance. The light retreated from around the form of Vegetto's body, the fused warrior's narrow eyes immediately scanning the wreckage of the world before him. His arms at his sides, he slowly strode forward and pressed his earpiece.
"I don't sense anything here. Tonba's signal hasn't been working properly since that last transmission."
He instantly came to a halt, the sound of small rock pebbles cascading down the side of the ruined building next time him catching his attention. Standing in the middle of the street, Vegetto lowered his arm.
"You can come out now. I can sense your energy."
Vegetto's eyes moved to the left, the sound of two hands lightly clapping together prompting his attention as the figure strode out into the street. He casually leaned forward, a smirk across his matching face and moved to stand a few feet in front of Vegetto before dropping his arms to his sides.
"Well done. I wanted to see if your senses were strong enough to detect even the smallest movement, and you did not disappoint."
Vegetto Black's arms swung outward, an eyebrow raising as he gestured to the ruined skyline behind him.
"What do you think of the place, hmm? I made it just for you."
Vegetto scoffed.
"We have your friend at the Time Nest, and your dream ends here. You can either give up and face your death with some humility..."
His smirk rose.
"Or I start breaking limbs. It's your call."
Vegetto Black chuckled darkly in response, his own smirk rising.
"You misunderstand. I only kill these mortals and your Patrollers because they seek me out at your command. Their deaths no longer satisfy me, nor this so called...Zero Mortal Plan my other half continues to berate upon me."
Vegetto's smirk disappeared, watching Vegetto Black shake his head from side to side once, his sinister eyes never once leaving the fused warrior.
"No...you mean so much more to me now than you can possibly imagine."
He glanced down, balling up his right hand into a fist. Dark, pink energy momentarily surged around his forearm.
"I tried to fight it at first, believing my duty as a god was to prevent the sins of mortals from infecting my focus and polluting the divinity of my cause. But as I felt the rush of battle, the power surging through my veins, I could feel the memories of your mind slowly consuming me..."
Vegetto Black inhaled deeply through his nose, his dark, dual voice ringing out with an oddly warm sensation in his speech.
"Frieza...Cell...Majin Buu...and especially the rivalry of Vegeta and Kakarot. The surging validation of victory, the humiliating sting of defeat...all of these facets of combat imbued a sense of purpose in my soul that I have always yearned for. I thought at first that, perhaps, the justice of cleansing the foolish mortals of this universe would bring me peace, but now I finally understand you and your kind."
Vegetto Black slowly turned back to face fully towards Vegetto, who crossed his arms with a silent stare while the doppellganger spoke.
"You fight not because you follow some baseless, barbaric sense of pleasure. It is the power, the building of that strength, that defines your purpose. You strive to be the best warrior that you can possibly be, every day an opportunity to rise above your limits that restrict you. I see now that Gowasu was right all along: mortals grow and evolve, just as the gods have done since the beginning of time. This body, these memories...they've opened my eyes to the truth."
Vegetto Black gestured to Vegetto with his right arm stretched out.
"You have shown me a better world, one without the failed philosophy of a misguided god. I am no longer Zamasu. Call me..."
His smirk rose.
"Vegetto Black."
Vegetto paused for a moment, staring down his doppelganger before slowly rising his lips into a smirk, stifling a mocking chuckle.
"So that's it, Zamasu? You steal my body and my memories, and suddenly, you think you know me?"
He scoffed once more.
"First you want to destroy all the mortals, and now you want to become one? What a joke."
Vegetto Black chuckled in response, his smile genuine.
"Mmmmm, that's what I love about you. Even now, you treat my revelation as an attack, and you attempt to counter by mocking my pride. Every move a calculated step, every idea and belief all working towards defeating me in battle. Not a single punch is thrown and yet here we both are, swinging away at one another through words."
He stood upright, clearing his throat audibly.
"Then...allow me to retort: those memories aren't even you own!"
Vegetto Black erupted into a loud, obnoxious fit of laughter while Vegetto rolled his eyes, his arms still crossed.
"Ooooh, scathing."
Vegetto Black kept his smirk.
"Come now, you know I'm only trying to help you. You should be thanking me: you've become so much weaker than what you could be, you know."
Vegetto raised an eyebrow, staring down Vegetto Black who continued, his smirk rising into a devilish grin.
"This whole heroic charade of yours, this so called, 'Legendary Patroller of Time'? The hero who saved all of existence? It's all a front to mask what truly matters to you."
Vegetto's eyes narrowed in response, his dual voice flat.
"You know nothing about me."
Vegetto Black raised his right eyebrow.
"Oh? Then let's go down the list, starting with the here and now."
His eyes narrowed, locking with Vegetto's pupils.
"Tell me, did you even feel a twinge of sadness when you learned about how many of your fellow Patrollers I slaughtered?"
Vegetto remained silent, Vegetto Black beginning to pace to his side.
"I thought not. What about your favorite commander, the leader of your elite squadrons? I think...Tonba was it?"
Vegetto Black stopped in place, rubbing his temple with a dark chuckle.
"You should've seen his face, the hope that slowly died as his life ebbed away while staring into the eyes of the man he thought he could trust."
He perked his head up, the two standing in silence for a few seconds before Vegetto Black's smirk rose slightly at the sight of Vegetto's eyebrow twitching slightly.
"Ah, the anger is clear. Normally, one would think you cared about your friend's death..."
Vegetto Black moved one step closer, his dual voice darkening.
"But you and I know better, don't we? Just like with Genn...when you learned who he really was. You didn't care about Tonba's humiliating death, nor Genn being a serial rapist and ruining the lives of other mortals, as if some heroic moral code of yours was being challenged."
Vegetto Black shook his head.
"No...you only care about your pride. You held Genn in such high esteem, and when you learned the truth behind who he really was...you wanted to slaughter him for the embarrassment. The Patrol should have heralded you as a hero for wanting to destroy a rapist...but instead, your timing showed...a different motivation. One that only I can see."
He stepped back, crossing his arms behind his back.
"Tonba...his death means nothing to you at all. The only reason why it enrages you so...is because you know I'm right about you."
Vegetto's narrowed glare remained locked on Vegetto Black, staring with a heavy frown for a moment in response. However, Vegetto's lips suddenly rose into a confident smirk, Vegetto Black's confusion clear in his expression.
"Not bad."
Vegetto Black narrowed his eyes, taking a step back instinctively at the sight of Vegetto's questioning stare, his right pointer finger extended to the sky.
"But if killing my Patrollers does not satisfy you, why do it?"
Vegetto Black paused, the dark smirk soon returning.
"Because their deaths force the desperation of the gods. And after waiting so long, now, here you stand at their command. Fighting battles for them while they reject you as one of their own."
Vegetto kept his smirk.
"You can try and swing your beliefs at me all you want, but I don't care about becoming a god. A shame...and here I thought that perhaps, you might actually be able to understand who I am."
Vegetto Black shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Perhaps...but even if I may not fully comprehend your priorities...I do still know that gnawing hunger deep inside the pit of your stomach. Even now, you blood boils over in search of a worthy fighter to challenge you. A warrior, destined to grow with you and be capable of pushing you beyond your current limits. Not just in strength, but to satisfy your own mental sanity. Even now, I can feel it slowly driving me mad."
Vegetto Black gestured between himself and Vegetto.
"It is the connection we share. Above all else, god or mortal, I am the only one who truly understands you now. Fate has brought us together, and now finally, we can grow with one another."
Vegetto's eyes widened slightly, watching the dark pink aura rapidly shoot up from underneath Vegetto Black's white boots. The volatile, negative energy engulfed his body in its ominous glow, the pink bundles of his hair billowing in the wind created from the surging power of his Super Saiyan Rose transformation.
"We can achieve true beauty. Come...fight with me Vegetto! Let us see who truly is the stronger warrior!"
Vegetto's smirk slowly rose, his hand slowly lifting to his earpiece at the sound of the Supreme Kai of Time's frantic voice.
::No! Vegetto, wait! You can't fight him on your own-::
The sound of the earpiece cracking inside of the fused warrior's white glove was quickly deafened from the roar of his own volatile aura shooting up, rapidly powering up to his Super Saiyan Blue form.
"Let's do this."