DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super or Dragon Ball Heroes.
Chapter 9: Power at a Price, the Cost of Survival.
Slowly, so very slowly, consciousness returned to me. My eyes blinked groggily, and drowsy confusion was the first thing I felt while I stared at the interior of Korin's Tower. I was laying on my side on a cot of some soft material, I could tell because my sense of touch was no longer missing. For a second, I just laid there, soaking in the sensations I felt on the cot.
You never know how good using one of your senses is until it goes missing.
Then my memories came flooding back: the battle with Embryo, Brockulle separating me and my partner, Embryo's destruction, and my energy suddenly vanishing.
Saiya, I couldn't feel her energy anymore, I couldn't feel anyone's energy anymore. It was a haunting feeling, losing one of your senses. It wasn't like what happened against Embryo, where I removed my sense of touch, this was as if someone else had done it for me. Something sudden like losing the ability to see isn't as traumatic when you do it yourself.
But, ki sense or no, Saiya still needed me!
I put my hand on the ground, to push myself up and into a standing position, when suddenly all I knew was pain. It wasn't easily explainable, but my entire arm screamed in protest as soon as I put pressure on it. An agonizing pain, one that felt like it was coming from my very bones.
It ripped a scream from my lungs.
"Calm down, you'll be of no use in your current state." I'd always recognize the deep, somewhat scratchy voice of Master Korin.
"Master Korin," I gasped out through the pain, "what happened?"
"You broke your limit." He said. "But it wasn't natural. Normally, a warrior breaking their limit is after they've actually hit their limit first; but what you did was previously seen as impossible.
I managed to keep listening, the pain fading to a dull throbbing.
"You broke your limit long before you actually knew what your limit was. You drew out power you weren't supposed to have and your body wasn't ready for it. As a result, your ki became unstable."
The diminutive cat god walked in front of me, with the black Flying Nimbus right behind him.
"Your body and spirit need to restabilize, and that could take many days—"
"I don't have days Master." I growled, forcing myself to stand through the dull throbbing. "Saiya needs me now!"
Master Korin sighed, and then I felt him tap his cane against my hand. I dropped, instantly, and writhed on the ground in pain.
"Senzu beans can only heal wounds." Master Korin said. "But you ended up fusing the bones in your arm to keep fighting. Unfortunately for you, that means that no amount of Senzu beans will ever heal that arm of yours.
"You could cut it off," Master Korin continued, his voice piercing the haze of pain, "but there's no guarantee that a Senzu bean would restore your arm afterwards."
The pain faded back to a dull throbbing, slightly faster than before. It was barely noticeable, but when every second feels like an eternity of agony, you notice when a few seconds are missing. But still, 8 seconds of oblivion, dropped to only 7 seconds.
I had an idea, one that would only work out of a desire to spite pain itself. But first I needed to make sure of something. Korin's Tower had a large number of clay pots, big and filled with food and water. I expected my Psychokinesis to be harder to use, but I managed to lift the pots with no problem or strain.
My psychic power wasn't connected to my ki. That was good, that meant I could still fight; crippled though I may be. But to deal with this arm… I could block my sense of touch again, but then I wouldn't have my psychic power when I'd need it more than ever!
Gripping my damaged hand into a fist—pain coursing throughout my arm from the action—I fell to my knees and swung downwards, slamming my fist into the floor. 6 seconds, my mind knew it was only 6 seconds, but it felt like I swam through oblivion forever. Then when it was over, I swung again.
5 seconds, 5 millennia of torture and sheer agony. It was getting easier, but my body was shaking in protest. Sweat dripped off of me in growing puddles, tears were flowing unbidden from my eyes, the stress was rumbling through my stomach and I felt like I was about to lose whatever lunch I had.
But I had to soldier on, and my fist connected with the floor again. There was a sudden drop in the amount of pain that coursed through my arm from that punch, more akin to feeling like it was about to explode instead of thousand years of torture.
Still nearly unbearable, but only nearly. Another punch to the floor, and the pain dropped again to simply feeling broken. With a final, spite-fueled punch to the undamaged floor of Korin's Tower, the pain that came back was only a dull throbbing.
"Well." Master Korin said, having stayed silent until now. Whether as a sign of respect or curiousness, I'd never know. "That's one way to do it, I suppose."
I dragged myself off the floor, sweat and tears dripping from me in rivers and pooling on the floor. I was as ready as I could be, my arm wouldn't stop me from helping Saiya, and my psychic power was still at full power.
"Master Korin, where did you hide the Senzu beans?" I asked, opening one of the pots at random and seeing it was full of water.
"I've got them right here." Master Korin said. He was right too, the bag of beans was sitting in his palm on top of some large, folded and yellow cloth.
I took the bag, when I saw that it dragged the cloth with it.
"It's a sash." Master Korin said. "So you don't lose them."
Accepting such a thoughtful gift, I wrapped the yellow sash around my waist, just above my thick tail. The Senzu bean bag was now affixed to my hip, and no amount of shaking or pulling looked to remove it anytime soon. Whatever Master Korin made the cloth and twine out of, it was sturdy stuff!
"One last thing before you leave, I want you to take Nimbus with you." Master Korin said. The cartoonish, black cloud flew around in a circle when addressed.
"Are you sure Master?" I said, Nimbus flying towards me before beginning to fly around me. It was like a dog; a fluffy, cartoonish looking, cloud dog, that could fly.
It wasn't like a dog, but it was like a dog.
"I've already overstepped my boundaries when Nimbus rescued you and brought you here. It's just a matter of time before someone decides to send due payment for my actions." Despite the finality of his words, Master Korin still leaned carefree on his cane. "I'm supposed to serve as a biased mentor, but truth is I'm rooting for you kid.
"If and when you return, if I'm not here to congratulate you, then this is the end."
"Master..." I felt tears in my eyes. I didn't know him here for long, but Korin was such a fixture in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Those shows were my childhood, and now it was like saying goodbye to a childhood friend for the last time.
"You don't have time to weep for what may be, your partner's in danger!" Master Korin shouted suddenly before pointing off into the horizon, where far away a furious storm raged over a desolate landscape. "Her energy is dropping and she's not in the right state of mind to fish out one of her Senzu beans!
"What're you waiting for?! Get to it!"
"Yes Master!" I said, hopping on top of Nimbus. "Let's go, Flying Nimbus!"
Nimbus shot us out of the tower, and we both flew towards the raging storm. I could only hope that this wouldn't be the last time I'd ever see the diminutive cat god ever again.
The place looked like something out of a nightmare. What used to be a forest of giant, stone mushrooms, was now scores of canyons and ravines with waterfalls of sand. I could even see lava flowing, deep in one of the many craters that dotted the wrecked desert.
Nimbus pressed onward, my inability to sense energy meant we'd be doing this the old-fashioned way; looking around. Unfortunately, the land was surprisingly quiet. The stormclouds rumbled; sand poured into various craters, canyons, and ravines; and thunder occasionally sounded across the ruined landscape. But there was no noise beyond that, no shockwaves from resounding super-punches, no glowing and colored lights from ki attacks, just the sounds of a broken Earth.
Arcos, a voice whispered in one of my ears.
It was all I needed.
Turning to face where the sound came from, I saw her, several miles away. I may not have ki to enhance it, but my new, natural vision was still amazing. She was on the ground, spread across a rock that looked akin to a stone table. He blue leotard had tears in it, and her armor was completely shattered. Her boots were missing, and so was one of her gloves.
She loved that outfit, claiming that none of the clothes she had worn during the last month where anywhere near as comfy—or as durable—as what she woke up in. At least the Capsule Corp. belt looked to be intact.
"Nimbus!" I said, getting its attention. I raised my finger and pointed in Saiya's direction, not 100% sure if Nimbus could 'see' it or not. "Over there!"
My question was answered immediately as Nimbus shot through the sky towards Saiya. I kept vigil while we neared her, having no idea where Embryo's cohort might be. As Nimbus came to a stop, I could tell it was worried, like how a pet owner can just sometimes sense whenever something ails their companion.
"It's gonna be okay buddy." I said, petting the black cloud. Seeing Saiya here, damaged and sprawled across the stone tablet, hurt my heart. But I needed to stay quiet, and I needed to make sure Nimbus stayed calm. "We're gonna get out of this together."
Saiya didn't look good. Blood dripped down the stone she was on, her body covered in cuts and bruises. Her feet looked punctured, like a spike stuck through them at one point. Her gloveless hand was blackened and scorched.
But she was breathing, and if she was breathing it meant I wasn't too late!
I slid off of Nimbus, and made my way to Saiya as quietly as possible. I had spent a majority of my life reading strategy, creating tactics, and playing strategy games. Every part of my mind dedicated to strategies and forward planning screamed that this was a trap, but the logical part of my mind rebelled at that. For all the enemy knew, I had died in my fight with Embryo, since my energy left me around the end.
But if he was overly cautious, then he'd plan for this event anyway, regardless of the fact it wouldn't make logical sense. I know because I would do the same thing.
As I reached out my undamaged hand to grab Saiya's shoulder, there's a moment of fear coursing through me. A moment where I'm afraid everything goes wrong, where my imagination takes over and sends me through thousands of scenarios where what's-his-name attacks from nowhere.
As my hand lands on Saiya's shoulder, I quietly exhale a sigh of relief. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders and under her knees, I ignored the pain in my damaged arm and lifted her in a bridal carry. She was still breathing, just unconscious. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if she died on my watch. Just seeing her as hurt as she was, it hurt my soul.
"Nimbus." I whispered, not trusting the silence of the battleground.
Nimbus silently floated next to us and I laid Saiya down on it. I scanned the horizon, sky, and ground once more before fishing out a Senzu bean. I couldn't remember how many we had off the top of my head, but we should still be around 20ish. Any number higher than zero was a number I could live with.
Using my Psychokinesis, I did a repeat of what happened at Korin's Tower, massaging her throat muscles and causing her to reflexively swallow the bean. Her cuts and bruises faded, her scorched hand healed to a normal pink, the holes in her feet closed, and she took a deep breath. She was still covered in the tatters of her armor and her own blood, but when she opened her eyes I didn't see any pain.
Then she sat up and slid off of Nimbus, her bare feet muffling the noise of her landing.
"Welcome back—"
I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence before she grabbed my head and dragged me down to her height. The kiss was fierce, passionate, and all things I'd associate with Saiya. As unexpected as it was, I had no complaints.
Then she hugged me, and I had a few complaints.
All of them involving breathing.
"You're alive!" Saiya said, repeating that one phrase like a prayer. It then occurred to me that the last thing she must've felt from my end was pain, before my power suddenly vanished—
Dear God, it hadn't even registered when I woke up that she would think I was dead!
"Saiya. Can't. Breathe!" I choked out while being squeezed. Eventually her hug softened, and I could feel her trembling. I returned the hug without thinking, wanting to comfort her to the best of my abilities.
"I got so angry… I thought I was alone..." Saiya mumbled into my chest. I could barely feel her shivering through the white, bone-like shell that protected my upper body. I didn't need to be a graduated psychiatrist to tell she was crying, even if I couldn't feel the tears on my chest.
"I'm here now." I whispered—
The stormclouds parted as a huge green orb of ki came barreling towards Saiya and I! Moving without thinking, I tightened my grip on Saiya and jumped.
A shout for Nimbus got its attention, the loyal cloud flying under my feet before speeding away. The huge blast detonated not a second later, hitting the ground and expanding in size rapidly. It almost looked like it was chasing Nimbus, it just grew that quickly and aggressively! Eventually, the ball of doom stopped expanding, a bright green sphere that left a mile wide crater when it dissipated.
"Saiya—plan now!"
"His name is Brockulle." Saiya said, tightening her one glove and checking her belt for Senzu beans. "He was wearing some sort of 'booster' device that let him draw out a dormant power." I handed her half-a-dozen more Senzu beans for her belt. "He wouldn't stop bragging about his 'overwhelming power' or his 'infinite limits.'"
Saiya slammed her fists together while staring at the stormclouds. "Every word he said just made me madder and madder. So I broke that steroid sounding crown of his."
She looked at me flabbergasted and threw her hands up in the air. "But then he just gets bigger! And his hair turned green! Oh yeah, and his power rose to stupid height too!"
"How did you manage to keep up?" I asked, scanning the thunderclouds for any follow-up attack.
"Same way I dealt with people in a higher weight bracket than me, I just refused to stay down."
My search of the clouds didn't bear any fruit, and the clouds that had parted from his attack had swirled together already.
"Can you sense where he is?" I asked without looking away from the storm, rain had begun to pour all across the ruined desert.
"No, he's keeping his—hang on a second, why can't you? And why can't I sense you?!"
Nimbus kept flying as I gave an abridged version of my fight with Embryo and what Master Korin had told me. I had forced a transformation of sorts, but after destroying Embryo it backfired and took all my ki with it. I still had my psychic powers, my mind for tactics, the Senzu beans, and Nimbus.
Now I needed to put that mind to use, while I had the opportunity to do so.
Brockulle still hadn't left the clouds, and despite his overconfidence he seemed to be playing it safe. Someone that confident in their 'overwhelming power' would only start playing defensively, if an offensive attack left them badly hurt. He's a cornered animal, which meant he was injured.
The attack he fired had a lot of power put into it, but it was fired from so far away. Which meant Saiya laying there wasn't a trap, as he fired with enough force to hopefully kill on a direct hit. I was about to think on why he hadn't fired earlier when she was unconscious, when it clicked. He probably fired where her energy was, which he couldn't have sensed because she was unconscious.
But I fed Saiya a Senzu bean, restoring her to full energy instantly, which gave Brockulle a target. A target that he didn't follow-up on with a second attack, meaning he put most of it in his first one.
I almost chuckled to myself as the rain poured harder. This was why my friends didn't give me time to plan in any game I played; I've read strategies, psychology, and have very good intuition. I can already tell Brockulle doesn't have a head for strategy, because if he did he'd be hiding in one of the ravines instead of in a thunderstorm.
Recapping what I had figured out from Saiya's info, what I've personally seen, and my own past experiences: Brockulle is an arrogant individual, meaning he'd charge in without a plan; but he's currently being defensive—despite his strength—which means he has to be weakened or injured in someway, something that disrupts his arrogance; he's hiding in the storm itself, not a bad plan, but someone with a head for tactics wouldn't hide behind something as easily swayed as a cloud; and the fact he only fired the one blast at Saiya and I meant he used most of his energy in that one shot.
He's cornered, injured, and desperate. We might have a chance after all!
AN: I didn't know a week had passed by already. Me and my immediately family have contracted COVID-19, and I hope we all make it through together.
That's it, I don't have anything else to really talk about.
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