A/N: We're back and it's time for another chapter of Dragon Tail Z! Thanks for the reviews and hope you like this chapter;
Previously on Dragon Tail Z, Rancor has regained 90% of his original power and has bested both Son Gohan and Chief, leaving only Trunks Briefs as his final opponent. Meanwhile, nearly all of the six demons have been defeated; Now acting as the vessel for the Demon King Doryu, Midnight stands as the last obstacle to save the world from the Real Nightmare spell and is about to face the furious Natsu Dragneel in battle while his corrupted spirits take on the Indian Knight Trio.
Disclaimer – I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Fairy Tail; Akira Toriyama and Hiro Mashima respectively do!
Chapter29 -
As Natsu channeled his Lightning Flame Dragon Force he charged full speed at and threw a powerful punch with all of his might, Doryu blocked it with his right palm which causes a big shockwave from the clash. He mocked, "Oh look at you, Salamander. You're really going to fight me. Well, not really 'fight', more like, 'lash out angrily.' Attacking me wildly without a plan, fighting so recklessly just hoping that will give you a chance against me. Guess you really are a dragon raised child since those beasts are reckless and senseless like you!"
"Shut yer mouth!" Natsu shouted.
"Guess, the apple really doesn't fall from the tree even if you shake it hard enough." The Demon King charges a blast of Ki-empowered dark magic into his left palm and fired it at Natsu point blank range which causes a huge explosion but the scales of the latter's dual element Dragon Force protected him from the worst of the damage and he somersaulted back on his feet.
Charging up his right arm and forearm with large amounts of Ki-energized lightning flames, Natsu retorted. "Make your jokes while you can, pal! Because I can see your just reaching the peak of your power, while I'm only beginning to tap into mine and I'm gonna use it to make you pay for everything you have done! Lightning Flame Dragon Firing Hammer!"
The Son of Igneel unleashed a devastating blast of lightning flames towards Doryu. The Demon King swiped his hand to reflect the attack right back at Natsu, "Full Counter!"
Natsu is forced to backhand his own attack in full force which destroyed a large portion of the Infinity Castle behind his back, damaging the place even further.
Doryu noted with a bemused look on his face, "Impressive. Alright then, let's see what you've got, Son of Igneel. Show me the peak of your power without anyone backing you up this time so that I may crush it! And if you have any prayers to god before your inevitable demise, please do so now." He finished with an evil smirk, "But spoilers... I am not listening."
"You ain't a god! You're just a punk hijacking Midnight's body!" Natsu dashes at Doryu and tries to attack him but the Demon King disappears and avoids the attack, annoying him. Doryu then reappears and dodges another attack from the Salamander who turned to his direction and then goes to the offensive, attacking Doryu rapidly with his punches infused with lightning flame magic but his enemy nonchalantly dodges like it's a game to him.
Midnight simply stated, "Hijacking, such an indecent way of putting it. I am Midnight and Doryu. Our powers have combined and we are now one and the same! One unified being! We are a god compared to the likes of you. Soon all of Earth Land especially Zeref and Acnologia will bow to me, the true master of this Age of Chaos will be ushered. And now you will know your place in the pecking order!" The Demon's power rises with his declaration.
Natsu tries to double axe punch Zero II only to get punched in the stomach hard and sent flying several meters, destroying more walls. The Son of Igneel managed to regain his footing just in time to see The Demon King blitz above him and summon his Demon Sword of Darkness to cut him down. However, Natsu blocked the strike with his scaly forearm and caused a huge crater on the ground as he withstood his opponent's overwhelming strength. Redirecting his enemy's sword strike to the right side, Natsu counterattacked by punching the Demon King in the face in mid-air with his left fist covered in lightning flames. "Lightning Flame Dragon Iron Fist!" It sent Doryu flying away and crashing through the ground violently but he bounces back on his feet. He then sees Natsu jump high in the sky, preparing his next attack by gathering immense amount of fire and lightning into one giant ball of energy. "Take this! Lightning Flame Dragon Brilliant Flame!"
In response, Zero II lifted his hand and gathered a spiraling mass of darkness into his palm. "Darkness Weight!" he fired the attack at Natsu's Brilliant Flame and the colliding spells caused a massive spherical explosion. It sent Natsu flying back due to the intensity of the lightning flame and dark magic clashing against each other. Doryu reappeared behind Natsu's back and slashed him so hard he was sent flying away and crashing through different walls. Instantly reappearing in front of his flying opponent, the Demon King elbowed the Son of Igneel in the stomach and sent him crashing down further into the Infinity Castle.
"Dark Inferno!" Doryu fired a massive blast of darkness down where Natsu is that destroyed everything in its path.
Suddenly, the Son of Igneel got back up quicker than expected. "Lightning Flame Dragon Sword Horn!" He blasted through the Dark Inferno and slammed his head into Doryu's stomach, sending both of them outside the Infinity Castle. There they continue their battle by exchanging lightning flames/darkness punches and kicks with each other. The Fairy Tail mages and Legion Platoon saw Natsu and Doryu do battle as they were counting on him to stop Zero II so that the final seal will be undone.
Natsu and Doryu landed on top of the Infinity Castle and breathed in deeply, ready to fire their respective breath attacks.
"Lightning Flame Dragon Roar!"
"Evil Breath!"
Both massive breath attacks of magic imbued with Ki clashed against each other and caused huge shockwave that can be felt by everyone who witnessed the battle. When the smoke clears, Natsu blitzed in front of Doryu and punches him in the face again. The Demon King returns the favor by uppercutting the Son of Igneel into the sky and blitzed above to hammer strike him into the castle top. Natsu somersaulted out of the way when Doryu tried to land on him and he spin kicked his enemy hard that briefly staggers him. Then Natsu axe kicked him back inside the Infinity Castle to the room where Lucy is held inside.
Natsu take a few heavy breaths as he starts to feel the effects of Doryu's innate power, Vain for every hit he sustained in their battle and needed to take him down now. Pushing through his limits, the Son of Igneel presses on and unleashes his barrage of fiery fists onto the Demon, "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Hidden Lightning Flame Form: Lightning Flame Dragon's Fist!" Zero II is pummeled all over the face before deciding to retaliate with his own barrage of darkness-imbued fists. It ended with Natsu and Doryu punching each other in the face and taking a step back. Spitting out blood, the Demon King admits "I'm impressive that you held out this long Dragon Slayer especially while being affected by my Vain power."
Natsu spits out blood from his mouth and smirks "You underestimated the power of my feelings and my resolve to make you pay for what you did to my guild."
Doryu chuckles "I find it amusing that Fairy Tail likes to preach about such trivial stuff and will beat the crap out of those who don't share your beliefs just to make them think otherwise." After seeing this from Midnight's own memories he mockingly asks "Does that not make Fairy Tail a holier-than-thou cult than a Guild?"
"I don't not care if that's how people see my Guild, as long they do not hurt his friends!" The Son of Igneel retorts. Natsu then powers up to his maximum as he prepares for another charging attack. Natsu throws a punch which Doryu blocks with his right arm but left himself open to his adversary's hard roundhouse kick to the face. Retaliating, the Demon King uses Spiral Pain on Natsu with a swipe of his left arm, injuring Natsu further. Watching the battle unfolds from within her prison, Lucy silently prays for Natsu to win while she also tries finding a way out of the Infinity Clock; her sadness grows as she watches her four corrupted Celestial Spirits facing off against the Indian Knight Trio.
Weinheidt had just recovered from the hard fall from the attack that Doryu used on him and his teammates. "Man that was a rough landing," he then glanced around and saw that he was alone in another room in the castle. "We must've been separated during the fall. I can sense Hugo and Jill in different locations."
"Are you ready to fight?" someone asked him. Weinheidt looked over and saw Sagittarius standing with his arms crossed. "My King has ordered me to eliminate you, but I had to wait for you to recover before attacking."
"Why? If you're suppose to kill me, it would've been better for you to do it while I was down so that there'd be no fuss." Weinheidt said.
"That is true; however, it is dishonorable to attack an opponent who has not prepared himself for battle. When I fight, it is with honor as that is what makes a real warrior." Sagittarius replied.
"Wow. That's pretty noble." Weinheidt praised.
"Think nothing of it; because once this battle starts I won't give you a chance to recover again." Sagittarius informed.
"Yeah, well the same goes for me Horse-Man." The Indian Knight said.
"I am the archer Sagittarius; now tell me what your name is." The Centaur requested.
"It's Weinheidt." The Specialist replied.
"Weinheidt, let us have a battle of archery," Sagittarius suggested as he materializes a bow.
"Be careful what you wish for!" the Council archer answered while quickly firing a Ki arrow at the Celestial Spirit; Sagittarius fired his own arrow, deflecting the Knight's. "Not bad, but see how you handle this shot!" Weinheidt makes out another set of arrows and launches them opponent. "Piercing Arrow Barrage!"
The Centaur Easily intercepted the arrows with his own, causing the Ki arrows to detonate in a series of large scale explosions in mid-air, Eclipse Sagittarius answered, "You're pretty good, but you've have a better chance if your friends were helping you."
"I've faced many archers on my own and I've defeated solo." Weinheidt said. "You on the otherhand, you could probably use the extra help."
"I am more than capable of defeating you single-handedly, fellow archer." The Centaur assured. "But enough talk, you should be more worried about yourself!"
"Why worry? This'll be over quickly!" Weinheidt responds by blitzing in front of the surprised Centaur and raising his Ki-imbued fist to punch his face up close, "Stone Smasher!" Eclipse Sagittarius blocked the punch with his right elbow and his four horse legs kept him stable as he made trenches on the ground from the sheer force of the Ki-enhanced blow. Retaliating, the Centaur slams his left fist holding the bow imbued with dark energy at the Council archer in the stomach, making him spit out blood before double kicking him with his frontal horse legs, sending the man flying away.
Weinheidt somersaulted and landed on fours with a long trench on the ground as he crashed. Recovering, he continues trading destructive arrow fire with the centaur in a stalemate as he thought, "Dammit, this isn't working! Sagittarius really isn't called The Archer of the Zodiac for nothing! It didn't help that Doryu bastard is enhancing him and his fellow Celestial Spirits with his dark power. If it weren't for the circumstances, I'd say his centaur form fits him more than the man in a horse costume I've heard rumors about."
Then an idea came to his mind, Weinheidt thought of a way to beat his opponent as he blitzes above Eclipse Sagittarius and uses a spinning axe kick attack which the centaur blocks in time and the Indian Knight had to jump out of the way to a safe distance. "The Blackout Arrow. Ki is not just energy blasts but electricity too as well. Although Chief Tyson said that was a last resort for some reason. Oh well, better than nothing!"
"Smokescreen Arrow!" he fires it on the ground to give himself smokescreen that Eclipse Sagittarius cannot see through. "Multi-Form Technique!", the Indian Knight whispered as he made 3 solid apparitions of himself with Ki and they charged out of the smokescreen towards the centaur while he charges the Blackout Arrow from a far distance.
"You cannot stop me with your increase of numbers!" the centaur called out as he fired his barrage of dark Ki which the 3 clones responded by firing their own arrows to intercept the attack together.
"You know what they say: all for one and one for all!" all 3 clones of the Indian Knight said together in unison.
With his enemies in close range, Eclipse Sagittarius had contended with 3 clones assaulting him with punches and kicks in every direction by blocking them. Although he stood strong the Centaur was unable to keep up with their speed and coordination as the first one kicked him in the hind legs, making him fall on the ground while the second one tried to strike him in the head with a hammer strike which the Celestial Spirit blocked with his bow; his weapon was snapped from the attack and the horse man went crashing him into the ground hard and then the third one blasted him with a Ki blast point blank, resulting in a huge explosion.
Wounded and upset from the blast especially with the loss of his bow he uses for combat, Eclipse Sagittarius roared as he resorted to firing dark Ki blasts from his hands and obliterated one clone of Weinheidt in retaliation. "To think you would push me this far and make me bring disgrace to way of the archer with such dishonorable tactics of yours! I am absolutely livid!"
The other clone of Weinheidt snarked` and fired a barrage of Ki blasts from his hands at the Eclipse Celestial Spirit, "All is fair in life and war big guy! If you can't accept that then it's only a matter of time before I take you down!" While the second clone imbued his bow with Ki to turn it into a makeshift weapon and smack the distracted centaur in the face repeatedly. Eclipse Sagittarius grits his teeth and grabbed the bow and snapped it in half as a payback for his destroyed bow earlier, his new strength surprising Weinheidt's clone before the latter got his face caved in by the former's dark Ki imbued punch followed by an explosive dark blast and dissipated.
Then the last clone of Weinheidt roundhouse kicked the Eclipse Celestial Spirit in the face, sending the Centaur crashing on the ground and charged at him. Eclipse Sagittarius recovered and kicked his enemy with his hind legs at the back, breaking the clone's ribs and sending him flying into the ceiling with a loud crushing impact before falling down. To add further insult to injury, the Centaur created a new bow and dark Ki-imbued arrows before firing them to blow up the clone up.
With all 3 clones destroyed, Eclipse Sagittarius saw the real Weinheidt almost finished charging his arrow with whatever ultimate Ki attack he was making and intended to stop him once and for all."Your plan has failed! It's over!" the Centaur immediately fired his large dark Ki blast at Weinheidt from a far distance, who was surprised and directly hit in the head. However the spirit saw that his headshot didn't faze his adversary who was smirking before disappearing and revealed himself to be an afterimage. "What?! Impossible!" Eclipse Sagittarius exclaimed, shocked that he hit an afterimage of Weinheidt before he started to feel an extra weight; turning around, he spotted the real archer standing on his horse back and was too late to react in time.
"Nighty night Horsey! Blackout Arrow!" the Council archer smirked and fired the fully electric charged Ki arrow right at the Centaur's chest at full force, his enemy too shocked to react.
"AAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!" The Eclipse Celestial Spirit screams out in pain as he was hurt while Weinheidt jumped off to avoid being hit by his own attack. After losing consciousness, the Centaur collapsed and slowly dissipates back to the Celestial Spirit World where Arcturus the Celestial Spirit King was waiting to cleanse Doryu's corruption from one of the Zodiacs. His leader says, "Rest easy Sagittarius. I am glad Lucy's allies were able to stop you and send you back to me before you could have done unforgivable damage against your will by the Demon King. Let us hope the others will join us as well."
Finally calming down from the battle, Weinheidt sat on the ground as he was exhausted and needed a bit of rest before going back to the action. "Man, that took a lot more out of me than I thought. Blackout Arrow is not something I should use so lightly. Same goes with the Multi-Form. I took a bit inspiration from Midnight after that battle at Will Neville's tomb with Centurion." Then something came to his mind, the Indian Knight noted in his thoughts, "Now that I think about it, I didn't know Chief Tyson was a machine back then and the Blackout Arrow was specifically meant for him as a contingency plan. To knock him out if he ever went rampaging like Gohan said he used to when and the Chief were enemies."
Suddenly, he hears more rumbling and senses there are still fighting within the Infinity Castle. "Man, they are really going all out. It would be a surprise if this place remains standing after all the massive destruction done everywhere." Weinheidt quipped. "I hope Hugo and Jillian are doing alright. But I'm sure they can handle the rest of Lucy's spirits corrupted by the Demon King themselves."
In another location, the Combat Healer wondered around the dark room she landed in that was filled with large pieces of rubble when she sensed an attack. Eclipse Virgo hurled her own Fleuve d'étoiles tainted with dark energy at the Indian Knight who held up her wrist to block it. "I wonder, did that sting, even a bit?" Virgo inquired but got no answer "Pain, it's such a wonderful sensation to witness; and I want to hear you scream in agony!" she pulled back her whips and slashed at Jillian who dodged out of the way which caused the ground to tear asunder and create a very deep chasm. Charging up her Ki aura, spun her staff and fired her Exterminate Ray at Virgo who landed on the ground after her surprise attack.
Virgo in response swung her whip at Jillian's attack and caused a massive explosion that tore the land apart. When the smoke cleared, Jillian blitzed in front of Virgo and slammed her in the stomach with her staff. The Knight of Apocalypse was winded from that attack and that angered her to be on the receiving end of pain; she punched the female Indian Knight in the face with her immense strength, causing the ground on their feet to crack. Hurt but not deterred as Jillian spat out blood. "Never would've guessed that a sadist wouldn't have thick skin to tolerate pain." Jillian said mockingly.
The two ladies started trading punches and kicks with each other. Kneeing Virgo right in the stomach quite brutally, Jillian imbued her fist with Ki, and shouted "Stone Smasher!" and sent the Corrupted Maid flying like a rocket and further caused a groundbreaking shockwave. Then Jillian fired a massive Ki blast from her staff on Virgo mid-air and hurt her even more. Rolling on the ground, an absolutely livid Virgo recovered and got back on her feet before bringing her hands down onto the ground and shouted "Spica Lock!" manipulating rocks present in her surroundings to envelop the Combat Healer and seal her in an earth coffin. Despite suffering wounds from that attack, the Corporal used a kiai shockwave to free herself and fired her eye beams which struck directly on the Corrupted Maid's chest, shredding her clothes and inflicting more pain.
"Earth Rumbling Decapitation!" Corrupted Virgo shouted, unleashing an earth-based strike. Jillian dodged it by flying, but the resulting shockwave shook the landscape in front of her and cracked the earth beneath her whip, creating a deep hole in the ground.
"Scattered Energy Blasts!" Jillian shouted, blasting Virgo into the sky, but the Corrupted Maid, parried the attack with her whip, whirling it around quickly.
"Predictable!" Virgo shouted as she used her whip to grab Jillian's arm and pull herself down into the ground hard.
Reacting quick, Jillian grabbed the whip wrapped on her arm and reeled Virgo in delivering a devastating lariat attack and launching her into the surface hard which made an explosive crater upon impact. Virgo retaliated by double kicking Jillian in the stomach and before punching her repeatedly in the face, the stomach and finished with an upperhand kick. The Combat Healer was sent flying and Corrupted Virgo blitzed above her to slam Jillian with her hammer blow. Jillian rolled out of the way from Virgo's landing kick on her and used her Eye Beams to blast the corrupted Celestial Spirit in the face. "How dare you inflict even more pain to me! You must be punished for your actions!" the Maiden demand Jillian "I will make you feel pain more than you ever have before!" Eclipse Virgo unleashed a barrage of whip lashes and Jillian responded by blocking and deflecting them with her staff she twirled. The Eclipse Virgo used her whip to grab Jillian's leg and the Combat Healer was dragged through the ground hard as her enemy had repeatedly slammed her into the ground mercilessly and Jillian can only feel a lot of pain all over her body.
Virgo smiled with great glee to see her opponent trying to endure her pain as she kept up the assault before twirling the Combat Healer around and sending her flying. Crashing on the ground, Jillian grits her teeth and went on the counteroffensive by spamming Ki attacks with her staff on Virgo. Once again, Eclipse Virgo does not enjoy her own pain and used Diver to swim underground and charge towards Jillian for some up close and personal punishment. Fortunately, Jillian could sense the life force of her opponent and used Stone Smasher on Virgo the moment she sprung forth from the ground. Virgo was slammed right on her ass and before receiving a powerful blow to the face from Jillian; the Indian Knight then swung her Ki-imbued staff like a baseball bat entangling the corrupted spirit's leg before throwing her as hard as she could making Virgo slammed into the mountain and yelled "Wire Trapping Cage!" entrapping Virgo and firing her Exterminate Ray. Enraged further, Corrupted Virgo exerted her tainted Magical power and freed herself from the wire trap before firing a giant blast of dark magic energy to collide with Jillian's Exterminate Ray in its path.
After their attacks exploded and dissipated, Virgo engulfed herself in her dark aura and flew straight towards Jillian who did the same with her Ki aura where the two ladies raised their fists and clashed together; causing a tremendous shockwave that further damages the land near the Zentopia Church. The Corrupted Virgo keep spamming dark energy attacks repeatedly but Jillian dodged them all in her flight path before turning around and shouting "Bend Room!" turning the last attack back at her opponent; Virgo slapped it away and fired multiple Spica Hole blasts on Jillian indiscriminately but the latter reappeared behind her back and tried to whack her with the staff which Virgo blocked with her arm and did the roundhouse kick but Jillian dodged and they traded punches and kicks against each other with more shockwaves from their blows connecting or deflecting.
In retaliation, the Corrupted Maid angrily blitzed behind the Corporal, grabs her cape and throws the female Indian Knight into the ground with the momentum from the throw a circular hole is created in the ground, resulting in Jillian being trapped in a pit. Using Diver, Virgo traveled underground and attacked the still recovering Jillian with chains and pinned her down, making her drop her staff before unleashing a relentless whip lash barrage on her."C'mon, scream! Scream more and more! I'm the only one allowed to deliver intense pain! The Sadistic Maiden started shredding her victim's clothes and inflicting more pain. Even though the whip lashes hurt her body, Jillian endured the pain as she aimed at the Virgo and yelled "Eye Beams!" shooting Virgo right in the face, hurting her again.
"Aaah! My face! Why do you always aim for my face?!" she screeched indignantly.
"Cause that's where you'll feel the most pain!" Jillian answered "But don't worry, you won't feel any pain after this!" Breaking free of the chains with her superhuman strength, the Combat Healer blitzed, swiftly dodged her out of control of the whip attacks and hits Virgo with a barrage of Ki-reinforced punches and finished her off by putting her hands together and shouting "Super Exterminate Ray!" Unleashing a massively powerful blast at her opponent that engulfed her completely. The Corrupted Maid soon lost consciousness and her burnt body started dissipating as her face was left swollen and battered all over her body. "We're the same, you and I." the Maiden started to say. "Strong women who enjoy inflicting pain on their enemies; it's such an intoxicating feeling isn't it?"
"You're wrong. I don't enjoy causing pain, even to my enemies. As a healer my job is to relief those of their pain and save lives, I could never enjoy hurting someone; the pain I inflict is for protecting the innocent and any pain I endure helps me understand the pain others go through when peaceful times are disrupted." The Corporal glanced at her scorched hand before healing it. "Chief Tyson didn't train me to hurt people; he trained me to help them, good or bad." With that, Eclipse Virgo has been defeated and sent back to the Celestial Spirit World where she is cleansed of the Demon King's power and influence by Arcturus the Celestial Spirit King.
After her victory, Jillian coughed up blood when the adrenaline wore off from her body and used her Ki to heal herself a bit more before picking up her staff and flew off to assist Wendy or Solaseed in healing their allies while hoping her fellow Indian Knights had fared better than she did.
Meanwhile, Hugo with his wear and tear armor battled against two of Lucy's heavy hitting spirits; he swung his chakram blades at Eclipse Leo and Eclipse Taurus repeatedly which forms Ki energy discs tear apart everything in its path towards their targets. "Destructo Disk Slashes!"
In response, Eclipse Leo creates an energy sword out of Dark Regulus and Eclipse Taurus materializes his axe to immediately parry or block the Indian Knight's attacks away from them. Powering up his Ki, Hugo quickly removed his helmet's visor with his right hand and fired a huge Ki mouth blast attack. "Super Breath Cannon!"
"Dark Regulus Impact!" Eclipse Leo chants as he shoots a massive blast of dark light which forms into a massive demon lion's head from his energy sword with both hands.
"Rampage Slash!" Eclipse Taurus chants as he made a powerful jumping slash on the ground which causes a shockwave attack.
Their respective attacks collided together at once which caused a massive nuclear bomb smoke-like explosion that destroys everything in the surrounding area. Eclipse Leo and Taurus shielded themselves from the blast with their arms holding their weapons, and when the smoke clears, it appears that the Rune Knight Lieutenant is gone as if he disappeared.
"Do you think that killed him?" Eclipse Taurus asked in a posh manner while brushing off some of the dirt from his attire. "Oh dear, this was a clean suit."
Eclipse Leo scoffed as he looked around left to right for any sign of their enemy, "Even if it did, there should still be a body to prove it. The human could just be injured and hiding somewhere in the Infinity Castle to recover. Let's go search and finish the task Lord Doryu gave us."
"Tri-Beam!", Hugo cried out from above the two Eclipse Celestial Spirits, who looked up in shock; he struck them down with a huge blast of Ki on their heads from his armored hands that is in a triangle fold stance. After the attack he panted in exhaustion and remarked to himself, "Ughhh, this technique…is taxing…It needs more…improvement later on…when this over. Who in the right mind…made this Ki technique to be so…risky? And why is there a…square hole on the ground? Shouldn't it be a triangle? It doesn't make any sense."
Eclipse Leo with mild injuries jumped out of the square shaped hole towards Hugo and made four powerful slashes with his energy sword. "Dark Regulus Cross Slash!" The Indian Knight is able to bring out his chakram swords and blocked them in time albeit his armor got cracked, which unfortunately sent him rolling into the ground before he is able to get back on his feet.
While Eclipse Taurus gets out of the square hole with his suit half-torn and looking absolutely livid with red eyes glowing underneath his bull helmet, "You'll pay for ruining my suit, you barbarian!" He swings his axe and generates an air pressure that uplifts the rocks from the ground and launches them horizontally towards Hugo. "Rampaging Wave!"
The corrupted leader of the Zodiac followed suit as he swung his energy sword and shot multiple blasts of dark light towards the Indian Knight too as well. "Pitch Black Shooting Stars!"
Both of their spells were then combined together as one as the two Eclipse Celestial Spirits shouted, "Unison Raid: Rampaging Shooting Stars of Destruction!" It blasted Hugo head on with Dark Regulus-imbued rocks with a large vacuum wave hitting him in the process, creating a large cluster of explosions.
Hugo tanked the attacks head on but his armor suffered destruction as half of his owl-themed helmet, chest plate and his pauldron have broken apart into pieces along with one of his chakram blades, and he suffered a bleeding from his head. "Is that all you got?" the Rune Knight Lieutenant taunted at his two opponents.
"Insolent human, just die already!" Eclipse Leo roared as he and Eclipse Taurus blitzed towards Hugo and slashed at him together.
The Indian Knight blocked the two's attacks with his weapons even though one of them is reduced into a stick, which made the ground buckle hard from his footing. Then he rapidly parries the two corrupted Celestial Spirits' fast paced slash strikes on him. Putting them on the blade lock once more, Hugo fires his Ki mouth blast up close on Eclipse Leo and Eclipse Taurus.
Countering, Eclipse Leo expels dark flames from his mouth towards Hugo and shouts, "Roar of Darkness!"
The close proximity attacks colliding at once led to all 3 combatants being injured as they flew apart and crashed on the ground. Hugo's upper armor and his helmet were completely destroyed while Eclipse Leo lost his upper armor too and Eclipse Taurus' suit has been shredded to pieces, and they were bleeding. Hilariously, Eclipse Taurus' helmet remained completely intact.
Hugo discarded the broken remains of his chakram weapons and thought to himself, "Well there goes my second set. Despite the anti-magic enchantments, Ki combined with Magic really makes a dangerous power. And I, the only Indian Knight with Magic, am on the receiving end of it."
Eclipse Taurus smacked the remains of his axe on Eclipse Leo and shouted, "Leo you buffoon! Look what have you done to my suit! Did you really have to fire your Dark Regulus spell up close?!"
With a comical bump on his head, the corrupted Lion shot back in annoyance, "Did you want to die from the human's blast? Clothing should be the least of your worries!"
The corrupted Golden Bull retorted, "How dare you! Refined clothing is what makes a cultured and sophisticated individual. Not that you could understand such thing!"
Taking advantage of their bickering, Hugo blitzed in front of them where he grabbed the two corrupted Celestial Spirits by their heads, shocking them. "Next Stop: Pain Train Coming Through!" he declared before flying at full speed and then slammed them on the ground while breaking through the multiple walls and floors of the Infinity Castle.
However, the two Knights of the Apocalypse eventually pushed through the pain and lifted their respective dark Ki-imbued fists together before smashing Hugo in the gut, stopping him in mid-air. "Time to put you off the rails!" they said together. The impact caused more intense damage than ever with deep chasms on the floor.
The Rune Knight Lieutenant immediately recovered and spin kicked the two Eclipse Celestial Spirits away in different directions. Charging up his Ki aura, he flew towards the corrupted Zodiac leader to punch him which the latter crossed his arms to block the blow but gets blown away from the impact. Eclipse Leo dug his hands on the ground, forming a deep trench line and charges his dark Ki-imbued Regulus to charge towards Hugo and traded punches and blows with him.
Hugo and Eclipse Leo then gave each other powerful blows to the face as they grit their teeth and bloodied mouths. The Corrupted Lion declares, "Give it up Dark Knight! Darkness will conquer everything in the end! You're only delaying the inevitable."
"Critical Strike!", the Indian Knight shouted as he slashed at his opponent who barely dodged on time and the attack cut through a deep trench which resulted on his long spiky mane being cut off and looking like that of normal Loke's haircut ironically. "And who decided that? You're just the Demon King's pawn! A desperate last resort when the Neo Oracion Seis and their allies are gone and he took away your freedom by summoning you and granted you such corrupting power against your will!"
The Corrupted Lion spat back as he keeps throwing out Dark Regulus punches at Hugo who blocked and parried them in every direction, "You people don't understand the meaning of freedom. Celestial Spirits are doomed to enslavement by humans, even though we are much more powerful than humans! But thanks to Master Doryu, we are going to demolish this fate once we are done eliminating you and your comrades and drown this world in chaos! For that sake, we don't care what happens to our lives!"
Absolutely livid, Hugo caught Eclipse Leo's punch and squeezed it, surprising the latter and hurting him in pain. "That sounds more like Doryu's darkness talking through your mouth while your true self screams on the inside. Reminds me of what really happened at Cedar years ago and that will always haunt me even after coming to terms with my Magic and use it for it. And I'm going to beat it out of both of you!" he lifted the Corrupted Lion up and smashed him into the ground destructively in a suplex manner.
Sensing Eclipse Taurus blitzing from behind to punch him, Hugo quickly grabbed Eclipse Leo's body and swung him hard towards his fellow corrupted Celestial Spirit. The two crashed and tumbled rapidly on the ground with the Indian Knight following them to keep up the offensive. Eclipse Taurus grits his teeth angrily within his dented bull helm and was able to regain his footing with a trench line formed under his feet before grabbing Eclipse Leo in front and shouted, "Rampaging Fastball Special!"
With his immense strength, he powerfully threw the corrupted Zodiac leader who quickly caught on and lit both of his fists aflame with Dark Regulus and rushed at his target, delivering a destructive barrage of attacks while spinning in mid-air. "Exploding Flame Blade of Darkness!"
Bracing himself, Hugo is struck head-on but pushed through the attack, further injuring himself. He imbues his right fist with Ki and punches Eclipse Leo in the face. The corrupted Lion retaliated with a Dark Regulus elbow attack on the human's chest but Hugo grabs him by the head and head butts him, smacking Eclipse Leo into the ground.
Eclipse Taurus makes a flying kick towards Hugo who catches it with his hands but is caught off guard when the bovine man widens his opponent's arms with his legs in mid-air. "What is this?!" the Indian Knight exclaimed in shock.
"You fell for it fool!" Eclipse Taurus exclaimed. "Rampage Cross Split Attack!"
With his dark Ki-imbued hands, Eclipse Taurus karate chopped the Rune Knight Lieutenant on the shoulders hard into the ground, causing a big crater on the ground. "I'd recommend you stay down, fool." the corrupted Golden Bull said as he then punched him in the face, causing a deeper crater but the Knight simply rose to his feet.
"I can do this all day..." Hugo quipped, spitting out blood on the bovine's broken bull helmet. "Or night I guess."
Annoyed and disgusted, Eclipse Taurus picked up Hugo and put him on a Full Nelson. Charging Eclipse Leo covers his fist in the flames of Dark Regulus and punches the Rune Knight Lieutenant right on the stomach hard, making him cough up blood. "Pitch Black Hammers!" as he then repeatedly unleashed a barrage of Dark Regulus punches with destructive shockwaves.
However, Hugo was able to blitz away in time with an afterimage as Eclipse Leo's attacks missed and destroyed a large section of the Infinity Castle. He's on his last legs yet persisted to keep it together as he thought, "Dammit, I have no choice but to use this forbidden spell as a last resort. Sorry Chief but I'm not ready to KIA yet!" The Indian Knight then shouted as a big wave of darkness aura exploded from him towards the two corrupted Celestial Spirits, "Nightmare Teller!" Combined with his Overpower Magic and Ki, the Indian Knight induced nightmarish visions onto their minds by reawakening traumatic memories within his opponents.
Grabbing their heads, Eclipse Leo and Eclipse Taurus howled in pain and misery as they took in the full brunt of Hugo's forbidden spell of Overpower Magic and felt their traumatic memories of Doryu twisting them to his will before smothering them with his darkness that made them forget when he summoned them to Earth Land with Lucy's keys.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!" the leader of the Zodiac screamed in agonizing pain.
"Moooo! It hurts! It hurts so mooooo-uch!" the bovine warrior exclaimed as he pounded his head on the ground repeatedly.
"It looks like my Nightmare Teller spell had brought out a bit of their true selves trapped within their corrupted forms!", Hugo thought in surprise that his forbidden technique worked so well, albeit it hurt them a lot more mentally than most asshole victims had but deserved. "But still, I need to send them back to their world where they belong. I owe Miss Lucy an apology for harming her Celestial Spirits when this is over."
"Forgive me.", the Indian Knight brings both his arms to the side of his torso and changes his Ki while exerting his Nightmare Teller on the two Knights of the Apocalypse.
"D-do it!" the Loke within his trapped form pleaded after seeing what the man is going to do.
"Finish it moooo!" Taurus agreed.
"Very well, let me end your suffering..." Hugo muttered before he steeled himself and shouts, "Double Buster!" The Rune Knight Lieutenant extends his arms forward and fired a massive golden Ki wave at the two Eclipse Celestial Spirits afflicted by his Nightmare spell, inflicting a high amount of damage and defeating them.
Victorious, he sighs in relief and collapsed on his back; exhausted and injured after the adrenaline wore off Hugo mutters with a tired smile, "Now I needed a drink. Hopefully Chief Tyson got an extra flask he'll want to share after this. Then again, it is never a dull moment for the Indian Knight Trio." Lying on the ground in defeat, the Corrupted Lion and the Corrupted Golden Bull lose their consciousness and their bodies are burnt and charred from Hugo's finishing attack. With their glowing bodies glittering away, Eclipse Leo and Eclipse Taurus are sent back to the Celestial Spirit World where they are cleansed of the Demon King's power and influence over them by Arcturus the Celestial Spirit King.
Arcturus sighs in relief as all four Zodiac members are back to normal albeit unconscious and in need of healing, "Thank you old friends of Lucy Heartfilia. You have saved my subjects from Doryu's thrall and I owe you a debt of gratitude. Now, the Demon King and this Rancor are next to being defeated."
Gripping his large broadsword, the Celestial Spirit King declared, "It's a shame I cannot enter Earth Land without having a Celestial wizard sacrificing a Gold Key at the cost of breaking their bonds with one of my Zodiac. I could have offered assistance and fought Doryu myself."
"Have faith on the humans and their strength and bonds that you've held highly on, My Lord. Besides, the Demon King already lost his so-called Four Knights of the Apocalypse after he unjustly subjugated four of the Zodiac against their will after summoning them with the keys he stole from Lucy Heartfilia. Even the humans have won more victories than the so-called Neo Oracion Seis. With some help of individuals from another dimension outside Earth Land of course.", a giant armored snake spoke in a slithery feminine voice as she slithered past him to observe the ongoing crisis that Earth Land is suffering with the heroes stopping the Demon King and the Tufflebot.
Arcturus acknowledged her existence and commented, "You are right, Ophiuchus. Speaking of which, have you closed the 4th dimensional rift that had broken through recently?"
Ophiuchus assumed her human form (like her Eclipse self if you get the reference) that has a bun hairstyle and is dressed in a purple military-themed armored uniform (Winter Schnee's Volume 8 outfit from RWBY) with a coat cape. She reported with a military salute in a prim and proper manner, "I am trying, My Lord. The 4th dimensional rift was larger than the previous 3. It will take a lot of time and effort to repair and fortify it with my Magic Power. It helps that my summoner Yukino rarely called me unless it's completely necessary. At least until there is another one."
The Celestial Spirit King hummed, "Troubling. At least 4 beings from whatever dimension they hailed from are good people who have protected Earth Land as their new home. Unfortunately, only Rancor is here for world destruction and vengeance upon this Saiyan race that the 3 came from."
The Snake Charmer raised an eyebrow as she clasped her hands behind her back, "The Saiyans? They look human but we can feel their immense power that isn't Magic, My Lord. Almost primal and golden."
Arcturus nodded in agreement, "Yes, they have completely redefined the whole meaning of what true strength really is on the World of Magic, giving its most powerful wizards from Ishgar to Alakitisia and Guiltina a great wake up call. Now the two righteous Saiyans, Gohan and Trunks, are in the final showdown against Rancor to put an end to him once and for all. Permanently this time."
Ophiuchus smirked in anticipation, "Hell, it's about time we get to see the finale and I'm going to enjoy this one."
Outside the Infinity Castle, Trunks was busy giving everything he had against the Hatchiyak. The Saiyan punched the machine in the abdomen and then tossed him to the earth. Rancor landed on his feet and threw an energy blast; Trunks deflected it and kicked Rancor across the ground before firing multiple energy blasts. Rancor held up his arms in defense, withstanding every blast thrown at him. Trunks finished his barrage with an even bigger energy blast but Rancor released an energy wave that deflected the blast. Rancor then phases before the Time Traveler and elbow bashed him in the face. Trunks shook it off and hit the Tufflebot with multiple punches then face kicking him.
Trunks then tackled the war machine and brought both of them into the ground. The Z Fighter stands over his opponent with his hands over his face. "Big Bang Attack!" he cried, unleashing a powerful energy sphere onto the war machine. The Saiyan then jumps back as the explosion consumes Rancor. The Tufflebot soon steps out of the smoke and points his fists at Trunks; he fires his rocket fists at the Saiyan Prince who caught them. Rancor then dashed at him and fired an energy blast from his arm cannons that pushed Trunks away. The Son of Vegeta deflected the blast and fired his own in retaliation. Rancor easily blocked it but was pushed back a bit; Trunks appears above the machine intending to slam his fist down on him but he quickly evaded it, letting the Prince smash the ground. Without removing his fist from the earth, the Demi Saiyan pulled out a large chunk of rubble and hurled it at his opponent. Rancor smashed it to pieces but was surprised when Trunks dashed at him and slammed both fists into his chest gem, cracking it; the time traveler didn't let up as he started rapidly punching the war machine.
Rancor ended it by grabbing Trunks' right fist and then nailing him in the gut with a Ki blast. The Saiyan hybrid gasped as he fell to his knees. Rancor then kicked him in the chin sending him flying backwards; Trunks caught himself and prepared to counterattack but saw that his adversary had vanished; Rancor teleported behind him and punched him in the right cheek. Rancor continues to beat down on the future warrior until he finishes with an elbow to the boy's chest and a kick to his chin. Trunks staggers before falling to one knee while taking heavy breathes. "Dammit, even with my stronger Super Saiyan form he's still a serious challenge; all my attacks are barely having any affect." He thought. "At this rate, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up."
Rancor smirked as he analyzed the Saiyan warrior. "I can see it, your heart rate's accelerating, and your energy level's decreasing steadily. In short, you're going to die soon." He said.
"Yeah well, don't get too excited. I've still got some life left in me." Trunks replies as he digs his fist into the earth; four large rocks were levitated above the Saiyan and then hurled at the Tufflebot; Rancor simply released an energy wave that reduced the boulders to dust in an instant.
"You've now resorted to throwing rocks? You're getting desperate Saiyan." Rancor mocked. "Such is to be expected of your primitive species."
Trunks smirked as he stood up and raised his hand to the sky. A large Ki blast suddenly burst out from underneath the Hatchiyak, knocking him backwards a bit. The blast continued to soar to the heavens when Trunks brought his hands down again causing the blast to split into six smaller energy blasts that rained down on Rancor. The Red Android fell to the ground as Trunks said "Not desperate, tactic. Thank you Krillin."
Rancor quickly got up and glared at the smiling Saiyan. "You think you're so smart?! I'm a Tuffle, the most intelligent species in the universe! I could never be outsmarted by a monkey!" Rancor's body then started glowing before splitting into four separate bodies. "Now you will learn how superior my intelligence is to yours!" The four Rancors then charged at the lavender haired teen.
Trunks did his best to defend himself from the four war machines, blocking kicks from two of them before taking a punch from one of them. "Doesn't seem like this technique's weakness is bothering him that much," he thought as he dodged one of the Rancors. Two Rancors grabbed each others' arms and dashed at Trunks; the Time Traveler quickly ducked their arms and kicked them both in the back, sending them flying. The other two dive at him from the sky but he countered by jumping up to them and blowing them away with a kiai attack. "I've already seen the Multi-form's flaw in action before; you can't beat me with this trick!" Trunks said.
"It's not the technique but how it's used that makes the difference!" the Rancors shot back. They then surrounded the Saiyan, forming a diamond around him. Each aimed their hands at him and prepared to fire an energy blast.
"Ha! He's not using it any different than Cell did. When I jump to evade his attack, they'll either fire at me again or attack while I'm in the sky." Trunks thought.
The Rancors proceed to firing their energy blasts at the Saiyan Prince who jumped into the heavens; the war machines flew after him and Trunks braced himself for their second attack. To his surprise, instead of blasting him or attacking him directly, the Rancors flew around him in a circular motion, imprisoning him in a large red revolving sphere. "What the hell is this?!" Trunks asked.
"The moment of your demise and my revenge!" Rancor replied while firing an energy blast at the Saiyan. Trunks dodged the blast but another one grazes his shoulder. He is then repeatedly hit with Ki blasts while trying to track the Rancors movements and blast them with his own Ki attacks. "It's pointless, you can't escape! This is your fate Saiyan! This is the revenge the Tuffles have sought from the Saiyans for so long!" Rancor started to monologue. The Tuffles pushed the boundaries of science while you brutes only sought to increase your fighting prowess; it was only inevitable that these two opposing species could no longer co-exist. It was you barbarians who destroyed the beautiful planet we once shared! You burned through all our resources like they were dry wheat!"
"Don't try to sound all innocent! I heard that the Tuffles tortured the Saiyans by forcefully experimenting on them! It's only natural that the warrior race would retaliate with vicious brutality!" Trunks stated before taking a few more blasts.
"Silence! You monkeys were only good for being the Tuffles' slaves and test subjects; your pride as warriors clouded your miniscule minds and you began to step out of line against us! You're unrefined killer instincts rose to a deafening pitch as the Tuffles were slain all over their own planet like insects!" Rancor continued. "And the leader of responsible for commanding this genocide was none other than your grandfather, the Saiyan King Vegeta who had the gull to rename the planet after himself! And now after all this time, the Tuffle race will finally be avenged!"
"Is that how you justify everything you've done to this world?!" Trunks inquired. "You sound bitter about your race's home being destroyed and yet you didn't hesitate to do the same here!"
"The Neo Oracion Seis were planning to do this from the start; this 'real nightmare' was bound to happen with or without my involvement!" Rancor said as two of them fired two energy blast at Trunks face.
The Saiyan held up his hands and blocked the attacks. "But you played a part in this and just like you did before, you're bringing suffering upon innocent people!" he replied.
"The Six demons are far from innocent." Rancor said.
"What about the Celestial wizards? Zentopia? Fairy Tail? You used them and hurt them for the sake of your own personal gain!" Trunks stated as he crossed his arms and started charging energy around his body. "Once again I'm thrusted into a world being ravaged by a corrupted machine, but I refuse to fail again! I WON'T LET THE INNOCENT SUFFER BY YOUR HANDS ANYMORE!" As multiple Ki blasts were launched at him, the Demi Saiyan then spread his arms out and shouted "Super Explosive Wave!" unleashing an atomic explosion that repelled the Ki blasts and broke apart the circular prison. The four Rancors crashed into the earth as the Saiyan landed before them. "It ends now!" The Lone Warrior placed his hands over his head and focused his energy into his palms.
"For once I agree with you Saiyan!" Rancor said as he crossed his arms and his started glowing.
"This is for Gohan! Masenko!" Trunks roared as he fired the demon flash attack at the Tufflebot who countered with his Revenge Cannon. The two beams clashed, pushing against each other and letting out streams of Ki across the battlefield. Trunks struggled to withstand the force from Rancor's attack as he released more energy into his own. "I won't let you win!"
"You don't have a choice Saiyan! I can feel you getting weaker every second." Rancor stated. "It's only a matter of time before you succumb to your exhaustion and I kill you!"
Rancor's blast started to overtake Trunks' making the Saiyan teen buckle a bit as he was pushed back a few inches."No, I already failed to save my world! I won't tail this one too!" His energy increased a bit and he poured it into his blast allowing him to push back against Rancor's.
The war machine frowned and said "As much fun as it is watching a Saiyan struggle, I don't have the patience to wait for you to eventually wear out." the Tufflebot the opened one of his hands and created an energy disk before hurling it and commanding to come at Trunks from behind. The Saiyan Prince sensed the saucer coming at him fast; in an effort to dodge it, he lets go of his energy blast and jumps to the side, allowing the disk to only cut his left arm. The disk cut through Rancor's blast right towards him. The Tufflebot evades his own attack, getting his right arm sliced off from his shoulder. The energy disk dissipates as Rancor's arm fell to the ground; Trunks collapsed on all fours while taking very deep breaths.
"Damn! I used up most of my power with that last move! I barely have any strength left to fight with!" Trunks thought as he looked at Rancor going to pick up his arm. "Maybe I should've brought my sword, at least I would've something to use to cut him in half!" the Lone Warrior then had an idea. "Well, if I don't have my old sword, I'll just have to make a new one!" The Saiyan channels what little Ki he has to spare into his right hand, forming a small energy blade before charging at the Tufflebot. Rancor senses the attack a little too late as before he could react, the Ki blade cuts through his waist and his body collapse to the ground. Trunks then fell on all fours as he powered down to his base form. "Finally, it's over." He muttered.
"Are you sure about that Saiyan?" Rancor's voice said from behind the hybrid. Trunks turned around in shock and received a punch directly to his face; the Saiyan skidded across the floor and grasped his face before looking at his enemy, showing the black eye he now has. The upper half of Rancor's body was levitating and holding his fist out; the lower half soon stands and reconnects with the upper part and after a green light shines in between them, the two parts are reattached. "Surprised Monkey?" he asked as he picked up his severed arm.
"How? I just cut you in half. You should be dead." Trunks stated.
"I'm afraid that's not enough to kill me. But the answer to your question should be simple enough for your feeble mind to understand; it's magic." Rancor answered as he reattached his severed arm. "The source of all magic in this world is known as Ethernano, I've gained the ability to absorb that power into my very being and infuse it with my energy, allowing me to perform self repairs as long as my systems are intact." The machine then flexed his body to make sure it was functioning properly.
"Damn it. That was my last chance to destroy him!" Trunks thought he got to his feet and grasped his cut arm. "Goku, Father, Gohan…what should I do?"
"I see that you've finally run out of power Saiyan. Are you finally ready to accept defeat?" Rancor inquired.
"You wish rust bucket! I'll never give up! I'll keep fighting til the bitter end!" Trunks declared as he turned Super Saiyan again.
"I'm surprised you still have enough power to transform; however, you and I both know that it's nothing more than a flashy façade now. And I'm afraid this show is about to come a sudden end!" Rancor said.
"Then what are you waiting for?! Let's end this already!" Trunks proposed.
"Consider it ended!" Rancor replied as he slowly approached the Saiyan with energy in his fists.
Trunks stood still as he braced himself and thought "Gohan, I don't know if you're alive or not; but if you are, I really need your help!" The war machine charged at the Demi Saiyan and socked him right in the jaw.
Deep within the earth, the Son of Goku was flat on his back still recovering from the last attack he received; he could sense all the battles waged around him, especially the one between his fellow half Saiyan and the Hatchiyak. "Trunks' power level has gotten seriously low; he can't last much longer against Rancor. Without Tyson, I'm the only one who can help him, but I can barely move." Gohan slowly opens his eyes and sees nothing but darkness. "Dad, what can I do? I wish you were here with me. But you're not and it's because of me; and now everything in this world will be destroyed and I can't stop it. I'm sorry Dad, I'm sorry everyone. I've failed again."
"Don't tell me you're giving up so easily. Aren't you the Son of Kakarrot?" a voice asked the bot.
"Who's there?" Gohan as he looked around his mind was then brought to a purplish blue void where someone started to approach him. It was a man with the same hairstyle as Goku, carrying a scar on his face on his cheek, wearing green Saiyan Armor, red wristbands, black pants, boots and a red headband. "You're not my Dad, are you?"
"Sorry kid. I'm not Kakarrot. But I am his Dad. Which makes me your grandfather." the Saiyan replied. "The name's Bardock."
"Well uh gramps, I'd give you a hug but I'm sure if this is real." Gohan said.
"Trust me kid, I'm very real but now is not the time for catching up. You gotta get back in that fight." Bardock said. "And don't call me gramps."
"I can't, I already lost." Gohan argued. "Trunks is the only one who can stop him."
"You and I both know that Prince Vegeta's kid doesn't have the strength to finish the fight." Bardock stated. "You're the only one who can destroy that machine."
"Why?! Cause I'm a Saiyan and it's my duty to get this victory over the Tuffles?!" Gohan started to lash out. "Well I didn't ask to be a Demi Saiyan! I've never wanted to be like the Saiyans! I don't care that if I've got Saiyan blood! I'm not my Dad! I'm not Goku!"
"Oh boy, Gine should be dealing with this emotional stuff. This isn't my thing." Bardock sighed before addressing the half-breed. "You're right, you're not Kaka-er 'Goku', but you are his son."
"I'm not sure I even know what it means to be Goku's son." Gohan admitted.
"That's for you to decide kid; but for now, it means you've got incredible power deep within you. It's time for you to unleash it and that Tuffle-toy!" Bardock said.
"But I'm not a Saiyan like you or my Dad. I don't thirst for battle like you guys; I don't fight bad guys for the thrill of it." Gohan said.
"Then why do you fight bad guys?" Bardock inquired.
"To protect the innocence. For my friends and for peace." The Half Saiyan replied.
"Would you say that you've done your job at this point if that thing's still running amok?" the Saiyan continued to question.
Gohan was surprised by this question before he had a realization. "No. I haven't."
Bardock nodded. "Don't let that change. Just because you've got Saiyan blood in you doesn't mean you have to be like us; it just means the Saiyan race is a part of you and vice versa. You've inherited the Saiyans' power and problems from their past mistakes under that Tyrant Frieza. The war with the Tuffles has already ended; so don't fight for the Saiyans but for what they could've been. Show that Tuffle-toy your true strength, one of a warrior, whether Saiyan or Human that fights for others!"
Gohan started to feel his doubts begin to fade as his own will strengthen. "You're right! I have to finish this fight! I have to stop Rancor and save everybody!" he declared.
"One more thing kid," Bardock said as he removed his headband and extended his hand to his grandson. Gohan took his hand and was pulled into an embrace. "Even though you probably want nothing to do with the Saiyans, just know that our whole race will be with you throughout this battle." The spirits of other Saiyans Gohan didn't know started to appear behind Bardock, including one who resembled an older Vegeta.
"Thanks for the encouragement; I won't let you down gramps!" Gohan promised.
Bardock chuckled "Fine kid. Just this once, I'll let you get away with calling me gramps. Now go get em!"
Though still in battle, the Time Traveler was barely holding out against Rancor. The lavender haired Saiyan was thrashed around repeatedly, each time suffering more and more damage from his adversary. Rancor kneed Trunks in the gut, punched him in the face multiple times making him stumble back a bit, then charged at him, gave him two elbow bashes and a kick to the chin that knocked him back, rushed at him again and socked him in the chin. "Damn, feel like I'm fighting Cell all over again." Trunks muttered.
"Are you finished?" Rancor asked.
"Not…a…chance!" Trunks declared as he prepared to fire a Ki blast.
"Don't bother." Rancor advised. "Any energy you've got left is just your life force keeping you alive; you'll wasting the last breaths of life you have on an attack that definitely won't do the job at this point."
The Son of Vegeta withdrew his attack and asked "Why do you care then?"
"I really shouldn't, however I want you alive long enough for me to savor the pleasure of beating King Vegeta's heir to death!" Rancor said. "Though at this point, I doubt you can last much longer; so maybe I should just put you out of your misery." The Tufflebot formed two Ki blasts in his hands and rushed at the Demi Saiyan before firing them. Trunks held out his hands to catch the attack: it crashed into his hands and started to push him backwards until his back hit a large boulder. With whatever strength he could spare, the time traveler yelled and hurled the energy blast into space. Not giving him time to recover, Rancor then teleports before him and starts to punch him rapidly. Finishing with an energy enhanced fist to the gut, the war machine smirked at the pitiful state the Saiyan teen was in. "You lasted longer than expected, but now, it's time to rid Earthland of its last Saiyan Monkey!"
The Hatchiyak made a hand gun and pointed it at the Son of Vegeta. "Sweet dreams Prince!" he bid the Demi Saiyan as he channeled a ball of energy through his fingertip that continued to expand til it was the size of a ball. Trunks struggled to free himself but found that he was stuck to the boulder, immobilized. With that blast aimed at the Saiyan's heart, Rancor fired his attack and watched as it flew towards his target; suddenly another energy blast burst of the ground and intercepted Rancor's, sending it elsewhere. "WHAT?!" Rancor exclaimed when his sensors started to detect a power level. The machine turned and spotted the Son of Goku swinging his right leg towards him the Saiyan child kicked Rancor in the face, cracking his right eye and sending him flying away from his fellow half Saiyan.
Gohan lands and quickly runs over to his friend. "Trunks, are you alright?!" he asked with concern.
"Gohan, you're alive?" Trunks said.
"And still in one piece." Gohan replied as he removed Trunks from the boulder. "Thanks for keeping him busy til I got back,"
"Don't mention it; just don't take so long next time." Trunks said. The Saiyan then looked and saw the Tufflebot getting up from where he crash landed; his head was bent backwards from Gohan's attack. Rancor grabbed his head and put it back in place.
"So, you're still alive Saiyan." Rancor stated. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Monkeys have always been difficult to kill." The machine then revved up its power sending shockwaves towards his adversaries.
"Looks like Rancor's through messing around." Trunks said. "Guess we'd better pull out all the stops too." The Swordsman attempted to stand his ground but immediately fell to his knees. "Dammit, I've lost too much energy; I can't even stand anymore."
Gohan glanced at his comrade before taking a few steps towards Rancor. "Trunks, you've done more than enough; but this is my fight to finish. Take a break, I'll handle Rancor."
"No Gohan! I can't let you fight him alone! Just give me a few minutes to get some of my strength back." Trunks said.
"We don't have a few minutes to spare. Any moment now, the last Oracion will be defeated and Rancor will have his full power again!" Gohan argued. "I have to stop him now while I still can!"
Trunks looked down in depression as he couldn't come up with a descent counter argument. "Gohan…" he started to say but stopped.
Gohan held up the red headband from his grandfather and tied it to his forehead. "Don't worry, I'll finish this fight once and for all." He promised.
"The arrogance of a Saiyan, it's sickening!" Rancor commented. "You and those wretched apes that wiped out my people, you're all the same! Battle hungry savages who only care about crushing your foes!"
"You might be right but I know the Saiyans could've been so much more than that!" Gohan said back. "However, this isn't about them or the Tuffles. This is about me who's both human and Saiyan; and the only thing I care about it stopping you from destroying this world!" he then roars as he enters the Super Saiyan state.
"This time, I'll break your body before I end you!" Rancor swore as he fired eye beams at the Demi Saiyan; Gohan deflected them and rushed at the Tufflebot. The two flew towards each other and clashed fists to resume their battle.
Back with Natsu, the Dragon Slayer is pinned to the cracked wall by Doryu's right arm, before being pounded by rapid fire of heavy punches imbued with dark magic from his left arm thoroughly and mercilessly. The relentless barrage on Natsu had deepened the crater more and more. Just as the Demon King was about to land the final blow on the Son of Igneel, Natsu retaliated by kicking Doryu away with an explosive burst of lightning flames from his feet. After that, Natsu immediately dashed towards a flying Zero II with great speed and punched him the face, smashing his opponent into the ground. The Salamander quickly jumped away to avoid Doryu grabbing him when he noticed him getting back to his feet. But the Son of Igneel soon buckled due to the Vain's effects kicking in again. "Dammit. Not now. Keep it together!" he muttered to himself.
"You held out as long as you could, but I can sense your power already dropping from taking too much damage from my vain power." Doryu stated.
"That's what you think! I've still got plenty of fire power left!" Natsu argued.
"You're just running on fumes. Eventually, you'll run out of magic power!" Midnight declared as he struck the fire mage with multiple dark attacks.
"At least I'm not a coward like you! You had to use cheap tricks to give yourself an edge in order to win! You're just a cheater!" Natsu shot back.
Midnight miffed "And now all you can do is hurl insults? It's quite simple, I have the power here! I've always dreamed of having magic power greater than that of my father! And after my sacrifice I finally have it!"
"What kind of sacrifice?" Natsu inquired as he rushed at the dark mage with a fire and lightning charged fist.
"Now you will become a traveler of the void, Salamander." Deciding to get rid of Natsu once and for all, Doryu starts to move his hands in a circular motion, conjuring enormous dark magic to use the Genesis Zero and unleash onto his foe. "Genesis Zero!" The Fire Dragon grits as he remembers this same spell used on him seven years ago. "Open, Gate of Restless Wailing!" Zero II commands as he opens a void of dark energy filled with thousands of sorrowed souls. "Go forth travelers of the void! I want you to consume his soul! His Memory! Consume his very existence! Devour him, for the sake of your master!" Natsu attempts to fight it, and even though his lightning flames have scorched through some of the massive wail of darkness and ghosts, the Son of Igneel has been swallowed by the Genesis Zero. "That should be the end of you. You're forever within the darkness, much like your friend who's trapped within perpetual time." Zero II bids his adversary. "Goodbye great Dragon Wizard."
A/N: Another chapter finished! Now just one or two more chapters before the Key of the Starry Heavens arc is finally, finally concluded! Feels like I've been at working on this arc for years! I might have to make those future chapters super long just to end the arc. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Now we got to get to the last battles: Natsu vs. Doryu/Midnight & Gohan vs. Rancor. Those are really gonna be epic, so stay tuned. Thanks for sticking with for this long and hope you stay til the end of the arc! Until then, BBFN AntiHero out! P.S. Please don't hate me for giving Tien's signature to one of the OCs.