Dragonball: RPG Remembrance

A/N: "The following is a fan-based work. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Heroes, Super Dragon Ball Heroes, and Dragonball Xenoverse are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha, Dimps, and Akira Toriyama. Please support the official release."

Chapter 6: …for you to heal…

'Free me…free me…free me.'

The words echoed in my mind, whenever I let my thoughts wander. They were stuck on repeat, seared into my memory. The pain, the anger, the emotion…It did not, not then, and not now, feel to me like the simulated emotions of an NPC. As I struggled to breathe, I felt something deep within me break…The world shifted for a moment, shaking, as though the world was shaken by an earthquake. I blinked and-

My fist slammed into Vegeta's face, my energy surging as I launched him away. Despite being in a 'Power Limited' mission, for some reason, my energy was significantly higher than the last attempt. Every time I felt my energy stall, it would surge, breaking through to a new limit. Where before Vegeta had been a threat, he was now little more than a smear on the ground, my energy snapping and crackling around me. I leveled once more, my power increasing even further.

'Free me…free me…free me.'

Dodoria, and Zarbon, on earth. It seemed that Frieza knew where Vegeta was all along, never losing track of the wayward prince... My energy was limited, but somehow, someway, that didn't stop me once more. The looks of terror on their faces as I'd powered up, the energy pouring off me in waves. Even Piccolo and Kakarot had looked fearful…But their looks of fear hadn't slowed me down. Something inside of me was breaking with each limit I broke, the system seems to shudder around me as I pushed, and pushed, and pushed. I leveled again, Zarbons's pretty head held between my hands.

'Free me…free me…free me.'

The Ginyu Force was next, shortly afterward. Piccolo and Kakarot had no chance to increase their power, barely any time at all passing, and I could see the suspicion on their faces as I seemed to appear from nowhere again when darkness came to earth.

They stayed out of the fight entirely, watching from the sidelines, knowing they were outclassed in every way. I could tell now that something was wrong with me…Ginyu's attempt to use Piccolo's stolen body to save his life did nothing to stop me. I-I could have maybe forced him to switch…but what did it matter? I could just come back and try again later if I didn't like the outcome.

The look of betrayal on K-Goku's face stung, frozen as it was when the mission ended, feeding me more experience, items, and shit I didn't care about. I clicked continue, regardless, knowing what came next.

'Free me…free u-me…free me.'

I started powering up as soon as I appeared, and I could see the world flexing around me. Code snapped and crackled like lightning around me as I pushed past the Power Limitations, forcing my energy higher, and higher, till I could stop the falling Death Ball in its tracks, launching it back into space. I didn't hit Frieza, but I wasn't exactly aiming anyway.

As his ship flew down, I'd blasted it, destroying it, killing all on board except Frieza. His look of rage was hilarious if I do say so myself. Something was off with him, his trademark sneer falling to a look of horror now and then, his name tag flashing between colors, even as we fought. The landscape was falling apart around us, each power increase by one of us, precipitated one from the other. I never saw GOKU or Piccolo, never bothered even reaching out with my senses to find them. I worried, for a moment, as Frieza transcended into his final form, that he may be too strong for me to take. As I pushed, and pushed, however, I remembered the Tournament. I reached then for that power, that sudden increase, and found something more.

I had thought before I was powerful, but as Frieza moved in slow motion, I realized that there were depths to my power I had not even considered. My aura turned golden, my hair spiking behind me, and with a thought…a literal thought, Frieza was dust. Laughter was bubbling in my throat, but for a moment I couldn't breathe. There was something wrong here, something terribly, horrifically wrong, but as the mission ended, I somehow couldn't care less.

'Free me…free me…free us.'

Androids, fucking androids. Gero, and the weird mime thing, I could remember. They seemed so much more powerful, perhaps from Frieza arriving sooner, along with the threat that I was. It mattered little in the end. I saved Kakarot once more, making short work of the androids that had appeared to kill him, needing little more than Super Saiyan to end them where they stood.

The game seemed unable to handle this change, locking up for a moment, as the world shifted around me. There was a moment when I worried that it would crash entirely, before finding myself once more at the mission select screen.

'Free me…free me…free us.'

Elsewhere

There is a small flash of code as a humanoid appears, blinking in the sudden bright light. He yawns as he opens his menu, checking his messages. He's tall, nearly six feet, with shock-white spiky hair. Two red lines travel down his forehead to his eyes, then down to his chin. He flexes his hand, smirking, as his tail wraps around his waist. He swipes open his menu, tapping here and there, setting different sections and options. There is a soft bing, and a message pops up. He taps on it, a small window appears, and the face of one of his many friends appears.

"Yamato! Stay out of the city! Things are going crazy here!" He yells. "Oh shit, no!"

There was a flash of light off-screen, and it went blank, startling him. He pulled up his friend list, searching for his friend's name in the list…but it wasn't there. No offline…not dead…gone.

A sense of foreboding came over him then, something inside of him screaming that things were wrong. For a moment, he was back there, that prison, languishing within a hell world on repeat. His breathing was haggard, as he swiped up on his menu to the log-out options. As he tapped, his heart dropped, as the world didn't fade away as normal. He tapped again, more urgently, as panic began to fill him.

With a snarl, he swiped the menu away, back to his friend's list. He flicked to the favorites, tapped on one of the golden names, and began to record his message.

"Nina, don't log back in. There is something wrong with the game..I…Tell mom and dad, please. Whatever you do, don't log in!"

As he hit send, the message blinking away, he sighed. At least now his sister would be safe.

The pink monster in front of me, whose name sent a thrill of rage through me, had nearly gotten me several times now. Even as a Super Saiyan the power difference was huge…It would seem that no matter how high I pushed my energy, he seemed impossible to put down.

"BUU ANGRY!" It screamed, its voice grating my already stretched thin nerves. "BUU EAT YOU UP!"

I screamed, letting the rage fill me, pouring my energy around me, as something within me released. My hair spiked, and flashing sparks of electricity surrounded me, as my energy collapses within me. It explodes out, a swirling whirlwind of gold, pink, and green energy, as I screamed so loud my vocal cords threatened to snap. It washes over the monster, and the land, scouring them clean as the very fabric of the world shook with my anger.

Ikari Unlocked

With a sound like shattering glass, the world exploded into brightly lit colors, a sound like rushing water all I could hear, all I could feel. With a crackle the world came back together, shuttering to a stop as the world turned gray.

'Free me…free us…free us.'

I flinched, blinking hard, as I looked around at the destruction around me. Where before there had been a bustling little city square, the place was as war-torn as any battlefield. I could hear screams, the smell of blood filled my nose, and my heart was pounding in my chest.

'What was happening?' I thought, my breath hitching in my chest.

I blinked again, the world was as it was once more, the city no longer destroyed. Around me, all around me, the smiling happy faces of the masses. I blinked, expecting it all to fall apart, but it didn't. Instead, in the distance, I heard a scream.

"Free me!"

I moved slowly, pushing through the growing crowd, making my way to the front. Ahead, an NPC practically shook with fear, rage, and desperation. He was surrounded by several players, each with their hands up, various colors of energy formed in their palms.

"Just…just let me go, please." He whispers, looking around at them.

The crowd is restless, I can feel it in my bones. Something is wrong with the situation, my heart pounding in my chest. A moment passes, and the Frost Demon from before, and a Human appear. The crowd seems to breathe a sigh of relief, but inside I only feel more uneasy. Where before I had been too far away to hear what they had said to the Lucia NPC, this time I had a front row seat. The Human named Qndel and marked as an Admin spoke quickly.

"I don't know what the fuck is happening, but we need to report this to Chris." He says, looking around quickly.

"I sent a message earlier, but no reply…" The Frost Demon, Ceaira, says. "I'd log out and call him but…"

The Admin frowns, before disappearing, appearing in front of the Saiyan, his hand on his forehead. My eyes meet the Saiyans, and I realize that I know him.

'Bara…' I think, my internal thoughts seeming so far away.

"Kll!" He screams as the Admins hand lights up. "Help me!"

The crowd was silent…and I was moving.

'Free us…Free us…FREE US'

A/N: Sorry for the wait, and the extremely short chapter! Real Estate taxes at work, AND I'm transitioning into a new role. Less promotion, more career change, but within the same field.

To answer your question…yes, the chapter is meant to be QUICK and DISJOINTED. You're seeing it exactly as Kll experiences it.

I think…I think this is the second to last chapter. I had originally wanted to write an entire chapter between this one, and the final one, but I'm just going to write it, and attach it at the front of the final chapter. The final chapter is written, it's only like 3500 words, so, by combining them I can probably hit 7-8k words. I won't quite make it to 300k words, but, that's okay. I tried. I may go back and expand some older chapters, and editing will likely add a few thousand, so maybe one day.

Either way…I hope to see you guys in the finale of Dragonball: RPG.

That's right. The next chapter is not just the finale to Dragonball: RPG Remembrance, but the finale of the entire RPG Tetralogy. I've been working with this story for over 5 years now, and it's time for me to bring it home.

So...fingers crossed that you guys have had fun. Drop me a review when you have a chance, any chapter will do. Go back and pick your favorite chapter, and let me know which one it was.