DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super or Dragon Ball Heroes.

Chapter 7: Outmatched, Outclassed, and Out-of-Options.

The Broly character—Brockulle I think?—lunged towards Saiya and I, his white robes billowing behind him like a cape. He was insanely fast, covering the distance in an instant! We didn't even have time to react before he grabbed Saiya's head and slammed her into the ground. His aura flared out around him, huge and violent and without restraint.

I tried swinging at him, but the sheer pressure of his aura was stopping my advance—

"Surprise!" Embryo said from behind me. I felt a pair of arms wrapping around my waist—

One moment I was standing, the next I had been suplexed into the ground up to my elbows. The dirt and stone smothered my vision, my hearing, and would'vestrangled my ability to breath; except I was in the body of someone who could breath in the vacuum of space.

I was more-or-less fine, just impaired.

But even with my vision and hearing blocked, I could still sense the energy and 'see' what they were going to do. Which meant I could 'see' Embryo swing his stinger! Thinking fast—or more accurately panicking and moving on instinct—I swung my own tail at his, blocking the stab and wrapping around the stinger-head in a grapple.

Anger flowed through Embryo's energy, causing smug satisfaction to flow through mine. The more inconvenienced my would-be-killer was, the more 'not dead' I was and spiteful I felt. Embryo reached for my ankle and I bent my foot, closing my three giant and elongated toes around his wrist like a hand.

Pulses of concentrated power flowed through Embryo's body, gathering at where his hand and tail were being held still. Two small explosions detonated, causing no real damage but still forced me to lose my grip on him. In the small window of opportunity, Embryo grabbed my ankle and pulled, plucking me out of the ground like a vegetable.

I didn't even have time to think about him using his stinger before he threw me at the cavern's wall. I guess all that annoyance and anger I could feel in his aura was making him sloppy, or at least causing him to not think as much.

I had no plans in looking that gift horse in the mouth!

Twisting with the momentum, I slammed my feet against the wall and kicked off, summoning my aura and flying right back at him. He swung a fist at me on approach, but I used a small burst of energy to force myself downwards and dodge it. I slammed my own fist deep into his midsection, sinking it in as the wire-like muscles and cartilage of his body gave way to a large hole—

I felt his elbow drive into my back and force me to the ground, ripping my fist out of his body. I didn't understand, he took obviously severe damage from that. It's not the lethality of it I was questioning, I already didn't think I could kill this guy by myself, but the fact he countered instantly. There should've been shock, physical trauma, pain, something that stopped him from immediately responding.

"Impressed?!" Embryo said. "I—am—incredible after all!"

I rolled onto my back, intending to stand when Embryo dropped onto my chest, pinning my wrists down with his hands. His tail dominated my vision as it flew towards me from over his shoulder. My Psychokinesis kicked in on instinct, stopping the glorified murder-straw from stabbing my head.

"Well now." Embryo said, a pulse of annoyance flowing through his energy before it vanished. "You're just full of—"

Training with Saiya culminated into this one moment. If I hadn't given my best in those past 11 days, I would've never figured out how to split my focus with my psychic powers and energy manipulation. I sent energy through my body, culminating in my wrist before detonating!

It hurt, but had the intended effect of throwing his hand off. Gathering more energy in my palm, I slammed my ki blast into the side of Embryo's head, creating a huge cloud of dust from the resulting explosion. My enemy was forced off of me, but I had to keep up the momentum!

Rolling over onto my front, I slammed my hands onto the ground and lifted myself into a handstand. In this new position, I swung my feet into the dust cloud. I felt my feet connect with Embryo's head and gripped it as hard as I could, hopping off the ground with my hands before spinning.

The resounding snap of his neck and crumpling of his body told me all I needed to know. Landing back on my feet, I needed to check on Saiya and—

His tail nearly cut my neck open if I hadn't ducked. Something was wrong about it; the stinger end was different, instead the whole stinger-head was flattened and sharp, like a sword. The crumpled body of Embryo jumped at me, wrapping his arms and legs around me and pinning my arms! His head snapped back into place with a sickening noise and I sensed his tail swinging for my head from behind!

Once more my own tail wrapped around his and held it in place. Infuriated, Embryo pulled his head back and opened his beak-like mouth. An awful smell filled my nose as rows of needle-like teeth suddenly grew inside his mouth! They were covered in the same green liquid substance that Embryo secreted from his regeneration.

I struggled to throw him off of me in my panic, but I just couldn't break his grip! He swung his open mouth forward, sinking his teeth in my neck! In my panic, I felt my Psychokinesis lock his jaw, preventing him from biting down and ripping out my throat.

I needed power, now!

Focusing all of my energy into my muscles and body, I called forth my power-stressed form. The sudden increase of my muscle mass forced him off of me, by my Psychokinesis kept his head locked at a sideways angle. With a solid uppercut to the side of Embryo's face he was sent flying upwards into the air.

I flew after him, grabbing his tail while he was disoriented. I started spinning in a circle, and with a yell I threw Embryo to the ground where he cratered the rocks on impact. I couldn't let up. All of my gathered energy, even the amount I was using to stay in the air, gathered in my palms. I started falling as my hands were engulfed in giant spheres of white ki.

As my reserves drained to the last drop, I slammed my hands together and fired a huge sphere of energy at the crater Embryo was in. Bright white light engulfed the entire cavern as the crater exploded. With the loss of energy fueling them, my power-stressed muscles reverted to normal.

Satisfied that he was, if not dead, at least out of commission. Hopefully long enough for me to help Saiya—

Sudden power flew out of the crater and slammed into my side. My arm was in the way, and that was the only reason I didn't die from the attack. But… every bone in my arm shattered from the strike, and what little aura I had restored in that short amount of time was gone. The sheer force of the hit sent me flying to the ground.

The pain was unbearable. I couldn't focus, I couldn't breathe, and I had no idea how I was going to survive this, let alone win!

"You know, it's disappointing, and a little sad." Embryo said, dropping to the ground in front of me and crossing his arms. "You have no idea how outclassed you are, do you? Well, I'll tell you, as a reward for lasting this long before your final moments."

He held up one finger. "The Namekian DNA and evolutionary traits of Frieza's race: these things grant me the ability to modify my body as I see fit. I found my wings to be vestigial, and decidedly removed them."

"In addition," He continued, holding up a second finger. "I too have psychic power. I can easily tell you have it, but I focus inward and dull my ability to feel pain. Aside from your first attack today, I haven't even felt this fight."

A manic grin spread across his face, his rows of needle-like teeth shining in the light. "My inability to feel pain, in addition to my invincible and speedy regeneration, have allowed me to maintain my Kaioken indefinitely! You never stood a chance."

Then he held up a third finger. "And lastly, this isn't even my full power." Embryo's stance widened, his hands gripped tightly into fists as he started shaking. "Let me show you," he said through gritted teeth, his power rising to impossible levels. "my full strength!"

Embryo let out a tremendous yell, the dark red fading from his aura and skin. His Kaioken had faded, but the sheer power coming out of him just kept rising!

I needed to move, get away, run! I needed to get out of there and—

And abandon Saiya…

That one thought cut through the haze of pain, clarity flooding in and filling the gaps. Time seemed to freeze as I processed that one line of thought. If I died here, if I ran away, if I didn't kill Embryo here and now.

Saiya dies.

Saiya, just the thought of her name drew my broken state to her aura. It was radically different from the fun-loving, happy-go-lucky energy I normally felt from her. This was violent, barely repressed rage; a constant flux of anger and despair cycling around each other and feeding itself. Every second that passed was a second her anger was growing.

Something was shifting in her energy, something inside that was forcing its way out. Something ancient, something primal. It was the source of her rage, but also a source of power.

In this frozen moment of time, Saiya's power changed. I saw her, my partner and friend over the past month, standing inside of a raging fire.

She was naked in the flames, the blazing inferno wrapping around her like armor, protecting her modesty and giving her an image akin to a fierce goddess of war. Her eyes were a pure red; a pair of rubies that reflected no sense of self, only hatred. The inferno shifted, any flames that didn't adorn Saiya warped and fused together, before around her like an aura. The aura of solid fire took the shape of the Great Ape, a flaming effigy of primal fury wrapped around Saiya like an avatar.

This was the source of her rage, the Great Ape inside of her screaming out in defiance. The two of them roared in synchronization, her voice and the Great Ape's layered on top of each-other in a scream of sheer power.

And just as quickly as it arrived, the vision burned away, and time slowly resumed. My partner's power had skyrocketed since the battle's start and I knew I couldn't let her down. This moment of clarity wouldn't last forever, the pain would come back long before I could do anything.

This was dire straits: I was down an arm, my ki reserves were currently empty, my partner was fighting for her life, I miscalculated how many Senzu beans we'd need, and Embryo had been toying with me the whole time.

Wait a second—Embryo said he was dulling his sense of pain with his psychic power. Was it possible I could do the same? If the answer was no then this was going to be a short battle, but there was nothing else to do except try!

I was watching a frame-by-frame as time crawled to a continue. What felt like minutes were only micro-seconds as Embryo's white aura started flashing a golden hue. The clock was running out as I started focusing; focusing on the concept of pain, my ability to feel it, and my body's sense of feeling.

Focus…

I started to lose the ability to feel the ground under me.

Focus.

The pain I knew my body was in—which started flowing in as a tidal wave while the micro-seconds ticked by—slowed to a dull throbbing.

Focus!

My arm was the last thing sending me signals of pain. Every bone in it was broken, and the horrible and traumatic experience faded to nothing.

It worked, I had just used my Psychokinesis to strangle my sense of feeling. I had no idea how long I could maintain it, but I could now move—maybe even fight!

Time flowed back to normal as Embryo's slit-like pupils shifted from black to emerald in color. His aura exploded outwards, tripling in size and further destroying the land around him. As quickly as it grew, the massive golden aura shrank to only covering Embryo's dark blue body. Great anger flowed through his energy, but a blanket of restraint seemed to smother it from rising to the surface.

He far eclipsed me in power, but I had no other choice but to fight!

"This is where you die, punching bag!" Embryo said, shattering the ground he stood on as he flew towards me—

"Wait a second!" I yelled, raising one finger. Miraculously, it worked, and Embryo stopped halfway to me.

"Now what?!" He snarled, annoyance flowing through his power until it was reeled under the blanketing restraint.

"At your own omission, you said I've been your greatest opponent." I was banking everything on a single gamble, something to buy enough time to restore my reserves.

"And?" Embryo crossed his arms again, floating in place amongst the wrecked cavern floor.

"Won't you feel cheated, if you only got to test your full power against your greatest opponent… when they're at their weakest?"

Conflicting emotions screamed through his energy. He was rising up to the bait, and I could only hope his pride caused him to bite down on it!

"Very well." Success! "Power-up then, I will crush you at your best and then make you part of me!"

Closing my eyes, I let my aura flow out of me as my ki reserves filled. Images danced across my vision, images of what I was fighting for. It was a game, designed for entertainment from bored deities, but everyone I had met felt real to me. Master Korin, Uub, Saiya, even the random Earthlings we met from time-to-time.

Dying here was to fail everyone's expectations of me, but I needed more power!

Then I felt it.

A deep well of power inside me, locked away. A large, white chain dominated my vision, wrapping around a font of power and keeping it sealed. There was a huge crack in it, deepening with every thought of what was on the line. Gathering my power inside myself, I focused all of my energy on that cracked chain, the crack deepening further.

And then, suddenly and violently, it snapped.

Pure power flew out of me, lightning danced around my body and aura, and I could feel the bones in my arm shifting. The energy output was forcing it back into position, fusing the broken bones back into place and making the arm functional again. I couldn't contain it all, it was too much power for my body to handle!

I knew what it was, instinctively and without doubt. Uub said I would reach a new level of power from breaking my limit, but this was insane!

Something told me it wouldn't last forever, every second now was a second I stole from death itself. If this form dropped—this, 'Limit Breaker'—I was dead. My arm was the only thing restored from this state, and I didn't want to think about how painful it must've been! But that meant that while I was much stronger for now, I was still injured.

That just means I had to go all out!

"Here I come, Embryo!" Kicking off the ground, I flew straight at him, the battle beginning anew!

AN: Writing a regenerater losing is really haaaaard! This chapter alone went through 3 different outlines, and in the end it didn't even follow any of them!

I don't have much of an excuse for why this one took so long, I got caught up in hanging out with my friends and working with my family that time just sort of got away from me.

Oh, and Dragon Ball FighterZ kept calling me back. I've got a couple of ideas in mind for DBFZ styled stories. One of them focuses on the idea of DBFZ taking place after the tournament between Universe 7 and 6, but before Goku Black saga. This one is going to be OC-focused, revolving around the spirit all the Z-Fighters had been linked to in a sense having their moves imprinted onto himself.

Meaning he could instinctively throw a Destructo Disk, or fire a Kamehameha, but these moves are still at the OC's power level. They'd essentially just be like Uub, but instead of Goku's student is the student of all the Z-Fighters.

The other story idea in mind is around Future Trunks (DBZ) awakening Androids 13, 14, 15, 16, and 21, essentially forming his own Z-Fighters for dealing with movie villains like Lord Slug, Broly (DBZ? DBS? … Both?), Turles (Great Ape? Super Saiyan?), Cooler (Meta? Golden? … Both?), Bojack (Maybe even have Zangya get saved, Zangya/Trunks? 21/Trunks? … 21/Trunks/Zangya?).

Oooh, Future Trunks (DBZ) Super Saiyan 4! Future Trunks (DBZ) SS4 with the Z-Sword!

Anyway, those are the ideas I've thought off. Now I need to figure out how to write the next chapter… oh boy!

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