I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Diablo 2 or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 25: Desperate Measures
"You two should escape while I hold him off," Olibu stated once we had regrouped a few seconds later.
"No, I'm not letting that thing take another one of us. We leave together!" I said defiantly. Olibu walked straight forward anyway, ignoring me completely. I prepped to take off after him, until Fasha's hand tugged my shoulder back.
"No - kid - he's right, we should get out of here. It's obvious we can't beat this thing, and he's sacrificing himself to allow us a chance to run. We shouldn't be rude and say no," she said.
"Come and get me you freak!" Olibu shouted as he lifted into the air and blasted off into the horizon. Kaa gladly obliged and took off after him, covering a few miles within a few seconds. Babidi stayed behind but seemed transfixed on their positions.
"Let's go while we can. I doubt you want big and ugly to spot us on the way out!" Fasha whispered, powering down to normal and lifting into the air. I gazed into the distance as I rose beside her, sensing Olibu and Kaa stop a few miles away. We hadn't gone far when Olibu's power signal plummeted and Kaa's rose just a bit more.
"Man, we gotta find out how to beat that thing," Fasha said as we cleared a few mountains, already a few miles away.
"Dabura might have been right. I'm starting to wonder if he isn't in fact an immortal of some kind. He said the Kais were able to seal Kaa away, but that no one could ever beat him. We clearly can't beat him using the usual methods, maybe if we knew where Babidi dug him up from," I suggested.
"Again, complicated, since anyone knowing that information is either locked up or incapacitated," Fasha pointed out. I sensed a power surge from Kaa and felt him heading towards us from the distance.
"Hey we should drop to the ground and suppress our power before he catches up!" I suggested, getting a quick nod from Fasha in the process. We landed in a large canyon with a river of blood flowing through, hiding behind a few large boulders. I suppressed my power easily just as Fasha did hers, but then I noticed a slight problem. While I could conceal all of my power with little effort, Fasha couldn't hide her Psi signal. While it wasn't overly large by any means, all Kaa would have to do to sense it was sniff the air. I suddenly sensed him arrive above and hover above the canyon, looking for us.
"Damnit, we can't hide your Psi signal from him - he's going to find us!" I thought to her, despite the fact that she was standing right next to me.
"Can't you use that invisibility trick to hide us?" she asked.
"Yeah I could, except he could probably sense the spike in energy before it takes effect!"
"Damn, looks like we'll have to fight our way out. Just how we like it eh?" she asked with a pride-filled smile that I returned.
I thought it over for a moment, "Okay, if we attack together and knock him into the distance or at least out of it for a few moments, that should be all the time we need to make a run for it. The only problem is, where would we go? Arqua left Hell and I doubt we have time to look for the secret exits before grumpy finds us again," I said, glancing up as Kaa was almost directly above us.
"I know of a place, just follow me once we get going," Fasha said with a slight wink.
"All right then, I'll distract him, you nail him! Then while he's stunned, we blast him! On three!" I said, beginning to power up. Fasha brightened up the canyon with her Super Saiyan 2 power a second later. I sensed Kaa lock on to us instantly, and his ugly face appeared right away.
"Three!" I shouted, soaring upwards. Kaa looked at me with a hungry grin, but stopped his initial movement when I dodged aside and moved past him. Fasha caught him with a straight uppercut not a second later, and the beast was stunned. We dropped back about thirty feet before chanting our attack together.
"Ka me ha me - HAAA!" Our combined blue beam rushed towards Kaa in a heartbeat, who remained floating in mid air. Just as the attack should have nailed him, he suddenly phased out. Damnit! I barely had time to turn before his kick caught my already injured ribs, lighting up my pain receptors once again before I hit the ground. I attempted to get up, only to receive a nasty jab of pain in doing so, and only managed to get to one knee. Above, Fasha and Kaa were duking it out again, only Kaa was attacking this time, and Fasha was having trouble keeping up thanks to burning up so much energy earlier. It only took one slip for the fight to become completely one sided, and Kaa caught it when Fasha over pursued on one of her punches. She was instantly floored by the monster's right hand, and the next fifty or so hits that followed. She hair turned back to dark brown as she fell and so did my heart. I charged Kaa as he followed her, thinking about how I was going to rearrange his face. Keyword - think. A nasty backhand sent me backwards, and I got up with desperation.
"You get away from her!" I warned. Kaa chuckled slightly, giving me a grin that tortured my insides as he picked her up by the throat. His claw extended and he prepared to finish her off. My thoughts ground to a halt and I only had one thing on my mind, I had to stop him by any means necessary. I took whatever was left of my ki energy and got it ready for what was likely going to be a suicide run. I was running on fumes as it was, but I guessed that I could handle about half of my full power in normal form for a few more seconds, and that was all I needed.
"Hey, freakshow! You'll have to go through me first!" I challenged as Kaa barely turned his head. To my surprise, he dropped her and stalked my way, his claw swinging like a tail wagging in anticipation.
"Yeah, right. I'd sooner destroy myself before letting you do that! Bring it on!" I declared, prepping myself for my attack and hoping that it didn't backfire. He uttered something that sounded like the combination of a laugh and a growl, before charging towards me. I bent my knees slightly as I released my remaining energy, and then got ready for what would be an extremely painful power surge. I don't have enough power to knock him away, guess its time to do something stupid.
"Kaio-ken Times three!" The aura was mostly red with blue streaks, but it wasn't as red as the blood that I felt gushing around my busted ribs a half second later. I met Kaa in midair and punched him as hard as I could across the cheek. He was stunned again and I didn't waste a moment in forming a blast designed to send him into the distance, forcing all of my ki into it.
"Final Flash!" The golden beam swallowed Kaa and rushed into the distance, exploding a half minute later and blinding anyone nearby to its awesome light. I dropped to the ground, huffing and puffing, my ki energy was almost completely gone. I landed badly and felt my knee pop before it gave out completely, but I ignored it. I felt Kaa underneath some rubble where the explosion had been, and his power signal was recovering slowly. Well, he felt that one! More pain erupted from my rib area, and spread all around my stomach before intensifying. I clutched it and groaned a bit on the ground, feeling that I may have damaged myself more than I thought. It kind of reminded me of what my Super Kaio-ken blast did to me right before I had died before, but not quite that severe. My hands suddenly felt numb, as did my feet and legs. I glanced at them in-between pain spurts and saw that I could see through them for a moment. What the hell did I just do? I soon felt this way all over as another wave of pain rushed through me, this time all over, and I cried out. Fasha knelt beside me with a look of concern. My eyes became salty from all of the pain coursing through me, and I gazed up at her bloody and bruised face, getting back a look that bordered on terrified. I attempted to use my Psi energy to dull the pain like I would any other time with ki, and it increased in magnitude even more. The scream that followed probably made her deaf for the moment, but I stopped channeling Psi and the pain returned to its already unbearable state. I felt faint and my body started to shut down, ignoring the searing feeling I was getting.
"Come on, let's get you some help!" she said, sliding her arms underneath my neck and knees. I gazed at her saddened face as everything faded to blackness.
Interlude 25.1 –Escape-
Fasha flew slowly over the desolate lands of hell, going in the opposite direction from King Yemma's place, but away from Kaa and Babidi. Verto's body continued its brief intervals of fading in and out, as did his low energy, almost like he was dieing. It never ceased in emitting an erratic but weak aura. She was concerned about this latest development and hoped that she could find help in her destination, but didn't feel overly good about it. She sensed Kaa's power signal emerge again, the blast had knocked him silly long enough for them to get away. She was so concentrated on Kaa's energy, that she nearly ran into the figure that appeared in her path. She glanced up and stopped in time, tightening her grip on the boy in her arms.
"Now what are a pair of strong Saiyans like yourselves doing down here?" the figure asked.
"Please, let me pass - he needs help!" Fasha said with caution in her voice.
"Do not worry, I would rather defeat the boy when he is at his best. I've rarely seen anyone in such a poor condition, but he should recover. I am merely curious about why you are here. What kind of creature was able to do that to him?"
"A very unique one, we were all unable to kill the monster that caused this to happen. Now please step aside, I need to go!" Fasha said, moving to his left.
He held out an arm and stopped her momentarily, "I suggest you change direction and proceed that way for a few miles before turning back. It will throw them off your trail just incase they get by me!" he suggested, pointing to his left. Fasha nodded and blasted through the air, going as fast as she possibly could. The tall figure watched her vanish into the distance before heading straight for the enemy they had faced. Once she had flown a few miles further, Fasha powered back up to Super Saiyan and blazed through the skies to her true destination, going as fast as she could now go. She sensed no one trailing them and sighed with slight relief while maintaining an intense scan of the crumpled boy in her arms. Verto had moaned and groaned in pain a lot, often in tune with a brief blink out where he almost vanished completely. Throughout their flight though he narrowly survived, and she felt his energy start to stabilize a bit. Once it calmed down, his erratic aura faded, and he truly fell asleep. Fasha wasn't very relieved despite this, but she did feel better about their chances once his body stayed solid for longer periods of time. A couple of hours passed by pretty quickly as Fasha zoomed over the desolate lands, seeing virtually nothing but rock and the occasional blood pool. She sensed what was quite a battle going on behind her, but never stopped to admire it. Her energy started to fade as she gasped for breath, but she trekked on until she found her salvation a few minutes later. Several armored figures approached her in the air, some offering medical treatment as she landed, to which she refused until Verto's condition was addressed first. Large gates swung shut behind her, and she smiled a bit at this place that she could call Home.
Interlude 25.2 –Kaa vs. Friezell
"I wonder where that girl and the brat ran off to, they couldn't have gone far, not in their state. Kaa, I want you to tear this place apart until you find them!" Babidi ordered. Kaa was collecting himself at the bottom of a blown out mountain range, a fellow victim of the blast. Neither of them was prepared for the tall pink and purple skinned figure that landed a few moments later, but Babidi was the only one who was surprised.
"You? What do you hope to achieve by playing hero and challenging my monster? You'll just be another victim!" Babidi pointed out, though he looked a bit nervous.
"Let's get one thing straight you pathetic little waste of space! Your precious beast is challenging my authority over this realm, and you will both learn what it is like to wage war on me!" Friezell declared. Babidi continued ranting while Friezell sized up Kaa, trying to figure him out. Obviously there's more to this monster than just his power. I honestly can't see how the boy could have fallen against this pitiful cretin, which means I must be cautious since I do not know the extent of its abilities. That claw is covered with dried blood, so this beast likely favors it as its primary weapon. I was able to sense its power rise shortly after another one of those tournament fighters went down, so perhaps it also serves as a way to take another's energy. Now if only the blasted wizard would shut up, Friezell thought as he glanced at Babidi for a brief moment. Kaa allowed himself to grin momentarily as he prepped to take on another potential victim, while Babidi finally settled down into a straight smirk, ready for another round of violence to ensue.
"So then, shall we get this show on the road, Kaa has an appointment with that brat and the girl and I would hate for him to miss it," Babidi chuckled.
"You assume you're going to get by me easily, a fatal mistake that you will regret as soon as I'm finished tearing your newest monster to shreds!" Friezell fired back.
"You will pay for your insolence! Kaa, remove him from my sight!" Babidi ordered. Friezell dropped into his stance just as Kaa charged, and already one thing was clear: Only one of them was going to leave in one piece.
Friezell ducked Kaa's initial charge, dodging the claw by a few hair lengths and phasing out. Kaa turned, confused right away that his prey had vanished already. Kaa was blown down by a hard kick from behind, skidding across the wasteland as Friezell landed again, stopping to study his enemy more thoroughly. Kaa was up within a few seconds, shaking off the effects from the kick and stalking forward once again. Friezell grounded Kaa's next charge with an easy dodge and knife hand to the back of the head. Kaa dropped to the ground in an instant, and remained there for the moment, seemingly out of it. Friezell allowed his eyes to narrow, as he sensed no dip in the monster's energy, not one fluctuation. I see, this thing may or may not have the ability to keep up with me right now, but he is physically able to take some of the abuse, we'll just have to see how far his endurance goes. Friezell charged up his two fingers with a sizable blast, and Kaa made no real effort to stop him.
"Let's see how you handle a real attack! Death Beam Cannon!" he shouted. The Pink spiral beam knifed through the air and struck Kaa in the chest, leaving a decent explosion behind. The dust cleared rapidly, and Friezell noticed that his attack barely left anything behind other than a small bruise and a little smoke. Once again his energy signal didn't budge, and Friezell was slightly perplexed. He knew this thing wasn't hiding any power, he couldn't have without taking some form of damage. Kaa didn't wait for Friezell to charge up another one, and attacked him instead. Friezell lifted an eyebrow in question, and dodged aside easily, giving the monster a hard knife hand to the back of the neck. Kaa dropped to the ground, stunned for a moment before getting back up and attacking again. Friezell dodged the beast's attacks easily once again, and didn't return any punches while he scanned his opponent all over. It only took a few minutes before Friezell noticed the demon's fighting style.
It's strange, this demon has no real attack strategy at all, no pattern to follow. It appears that his only real weapon is the instinct to fight. Though it is difficult to guess what it will do next because of that, the boy couldn't have possibly lost to a creature that relies on brute force, he would have known to stay away and blast him. But since my own attack did nothing either...hmmm… Friezell thought as he dodged more punches and kicks than he bothered to count. Kaa cocked a slight grin and continued his effort, despite not hitting Friezell once. Suddenly out of the blue, he punched forward with his right fist and extended his claw. Friezell saw it coming and jumped upwards, narrowly missing it as Kaa surged forward with his own momentum.
Friezell smirked slightly as he had read that action perfectly, "You don't actually think I'm stupid enough to let you hit me with that do you?" Kaa didn't answer as he flew towards Friezell with the claw extended. Friezell stopped for a second to let the monster reach him, and then slid out of the way just as he spun, allowing him to trip Kaa with his leg. Off balance, Kaa was hammered from behind by the fused villain, getting grounded by several dozen consecutive blows, each much harder than the last. Once effectively planted in the dirt, Friezell backed off, noting that his blows didn't leave behind much of any blemishes or bruises, though it was hard to tell with the demon's dark skin. He scanned his energy again, noting no drop in power whatsoever. What is this thing, immortal?
"Kaa! Quit playing around and take him down!" Babidi ordered as his monster picked himself up again. Despite the inability to damage this thing, it cannot keep up with me either, it's a stalemate. I must proceed cautiously and pick good opportunities to attack with full force, Friezell thought as he lowered into a defensive stance.
Kaa charged again and sliced towards Friezell, who dodged easily while Kaa got his claw stuck in the rocky lands for a moment. Friezell declined to hit him full force and sent a few weak ki blasts at him instead. Kaa phased out almost as they were released, attempting to floor Friezell from behind, to no avail as he blocked him easily. Kaa frowned at this as Friezell had watched him all along.
"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Friezell asked, reading Kaa's body language. Kaa didn't answer and charged again, missing badly with his claw and paying for it when a kick to the head sent him into the dirt. Again, Friezell declined on taking the chance for a big attack and settled for a few smaller ki blasts. Kaa was already moving once the blasts left his enemy's hand. I see, he doesn't move until he senses me launch energy blasts. He's trying to get me to waste a large blast so I will lose power and be potentially vulnerable to his attacks. A very poor choice of tactics, Friezell thought with a slight grin.
Kaa was intent on getting Friezell to blast him, and missed completely on his next few attacks purposefully until Friezell decided to attack back. Kaa dropped his defenses almost immediately and let Friezell punch and kick the crap out of him until he was sent to the ground in a heap. Well I won't disappoint him now, let's see what he thinks about this one.
"Ka me ha me…" Friezell chanted, noting that Kaa had not moved yet. Suddenly, he fired eye lasers at the monster, who flipped upwards and soared into the air to get away. Perfect. Friezell phased out right away and reappeared directly behind Kaa just as he stopped his ascent. The beam brightened as he filled it with power at the last second.
"HAAA!!!" The beam crashed into Kaa and carried him a good ways into the distance before giving off a deafening explosion. He felt Kaa's power signal finally take a drop, as he had no doubt gone through more than one mountain before the bang. Babidi looked furious, but didn't say anything towards it while Kaa gathered himself and returned. Friezell kept his confidence contained as he saw that Kaa had taken more than a little damage this time, though his power level did not drop as far as he had hoped. Kaa looked quite unhappy though that his plan had backfired and looked intent on making Friezell pay for it. He dropped into a similar stance to the Kamehameha and charged a beam of his own, loading it up before firing at Friezell, who dodged it easily. When he didn't feel the explosion, who glanced back to see the beam bending around back towards him. The old homing attack trick. Well, this will feel a little odd now that I'm in Goku's shoes.
Friezell launched into the air and watched as the beam gave chase, noting that Kaa's arms were following a similar movement as he changed directions multiple times. He began to circle Kaa in anticipation of closing in on him and having his own beam blow up in his face. Kaa never faltered from allowing his beam to keep following, and therefore never had a chance to move out of the way once Friezell dove towards him from above. The resulting explosion left Kaa buried at the bottom of his own crater, slightly stunned about what happened. Friezell noticed more of a power drop this time, directly proportional to the amount of energy that Kaa had used with his blast and the amount he had expelled while controlling its movement. So this creature doesn't like using blasts very often, it's obvious his concentration skills are mediocre at best. Kaa had finally stood up by now, taking a slight breather while Friezell remained still, trying to read his opponent's next move. He maneuvered himself into a familiar position and fired another homing blast.
"Again?" Friezell blurted out. Kaa grinned slightly as Friezell took to the air and flew around him again. The pattern of run and chase continued again as Friezell was trying to figure out what the monster's true intentions were. He sensed a sudden spike of energy in the air and picked up on movement nearby besides himself and the beam. The movement suddenly shifted towards his path and reappeared in the form of a green skinned fighter in robes.
"Pikkon?" Friezell asked in slight surprise. Pikkon ignored him and attempted to kick him, to which Friezell blocked easily. The distraction gave Kaa all the time in the world to give his beam a speed boost. Friezell barely had time to glance back before the beam struck him dead on, liberating an arm and part of his head. He regenerated it as the smoke was clearing and eyed Pikkon carefully.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked. Pikkon didn't answer, but dropped into a fighting stance, favoring his right side a little. Friezell then noticed the large wound in his blood soaked robe, not to mention a very low power level, and he tried to figure out why Pikkon would come to fight in such condition. That's when he noticed the eyes, a dull gray and nearly lifeless. He took one glance at Babidi, who held a narrow grin.
"I take it you're responsible for this as well?" Friezell asked, eyeing both of his opponents.
"No that was Kaa's doing, enjoying his talents are we?" Babidi cackled.
"Such cowardice, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," he said, shaking his head slightly.
"It doesn't matter how the job is done, no one will question it when my rule over this dimension is absolute!" Babidi roared back.
"Perhaps, but don't count on it!" Friezell declared defiantly as he sunk into a defensive stance again.
Power levels
Verto (weakened): 150,000,000 (drops fast); Kaio-kenx3: 450,000,000
Fasha: 370,000,000
Kaa: 430,000,000
Friezell: 550,000,000
Next time on DBV: I think it's obvious to say that the Kaa-Friezell battle continues, but the question is who wins? And while that is going on, where exactly is Fasha taking Verto for help? The answer may surprise you, then again it may not. But even so, what is happening to Verto, and can he pull through intact?