Hoshito's Odyssey
Part VI
"To Be, Or What?"
By:
Arthur E. King
Arthur's Notes: Well it's finally here... the last installment of the Hoshito's Odyssey story... Don't worry, we will definitely be seeing more of Hoshito in the future, just not for a little while. Now I know that a lot of you people have been demanding more fight scenes, and don't worry, this one's full of 'em. And I promise to at least TRY not to repeat myself too much this time.
First of all, I'm going to thank Lucavex for making me write this story, if it wasn't for him, I probably would never have gotten much past the idea stage...
Oh yes, where would I be without Neko~Chan? Not here, that's for sure... without her constant pragmatic advice, this entire story would have far more repetitive, far less original, and far less interesting... not to mention illegible.
Thanks to all the Z-Fighters for reading, and for reviewing. Thanks to Shaikoten and Marrec for allowing me to use your characters, and Thanks to Vorack, wherever you are, your Namek will probably die in the next story though, but only if I don't hear from you... You have the power to save yourself... use it!
And lastly... Thanks to everyone at FanFiction.net and Dragonball Z World MUD for not kicking me off your servers, deleting my characters, and just making a general nuisance of yourselves. WOOHOO!
As for what happens in the next story... Well all I can say right now, is that it's not going to be anywhere NEAR as dramatic, all-encompassing, and doomy as this one. The stakes are definitely going to be far less... But don't worry, we'll have some old faces, some new ones, and lots of ones in the middle of being disfigured by other peoples fists, feet, and fury.
So congratulations to me for finally getting something done on time, and congratulations you for putting up with my restless ranting, raving, and general insanity. WOOHOO!! Yay!
Oh yeah... And if you're unfamiliar with the title of this chapter, it's taken from a performance of Robin Williams at the met... it's his impression of Silvester Stallone doing Hamlet. Seeing as the entire Universe is on the line, I thought it was an appropriate phrase...
So just sit back, relax, make sure your seats are in fully upright and locked position, and please make sure your seatbelts and tray tables are securely fastened at all times. And oh yeah... buckle up, and enjoy the ride folks...
Oh great... Now my Author's Notes are almost as long as Neko~Chans! No! Stop me now!
End
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"Well. It looks like my brother has met with an unfortunate end. Pity. If only he wasn't insane, it would have been nice to have a family get-together one of these days." Rei's low and breathy voice slid from red-painted lips parted oh-so-expertly in the barest hint of a pouty smile.
"Yes... Well it's really too bad he had to come to such an unfortunate demise, but that's what happens when you reach too far beyond your limits. He should have been satisfied with the power he had, but no, he had to go and try and rule the Universe without us. He got what he deserved." Slow, determined words, spoken in a high raspy voice like nails on a chalk-board.
A voice that seemed to come from a shadowed corner of the Goddess's bedchambers. Rei could only just make out the outline of a short man, she couldn't tell any more than that. Though the twitching tail at his side spoke volumes. "Perhaps I should have killed him when I had the chance. I could have, all those years ago you know. Too bad for him that you still had feelings for him. Oh well."
With a flippant gesture Rei accepted the figure's word, and dismissed them as trivial. She knew all too well what had happened, for it had happened in the Immortal Realm, and all Immortals know everything that transpires there. "Yes, well I got over those quickly. Still, loyalty is a far harder virtue to be relieved of, which was precisely why I didn't kill the poor fool myself. But I guess I'll just have to thank Xev for doing it for me."
The dark man moved through the room as one who had visited here often, sticking to the shadows, knowing precisely where the light would fall. He neared the bed upon which Rei lay, while his face was still hidden from her, as if he could hide anything from her. "However, your brother was right about one thing."
For a fleeting second, Rei almost appeared surprised, then it was gone. "Oh really? And just what pray tell was he right about?" Honeyed sarcasm dripped from her tongue like blood from a oft-used sword.
"The No-Star-Ball... It exists... Of course, if it gets damaged, there's a rather good chance that we might loose our Immortality..." The thought made Rei's hair stand on end, something the other's raven hair did constantly. "I think perhaps we should try to assure our future, don't you?" The idea now implanted in her head, Rei could do nothing but nod.
"Well then, I guess we shall be off..." The shadowy being turned suddenly, moving to leave, though he stopped when Rei's voice caught him, held him in place.
"You do know of course, that the other Immortals will probably come to the same conclusion. Ever since that day you whisked me off my feet after making that wish of yours, you've always led me around. I think perhaps it's time I begin making my own footsteps." They were the first words uttered in his company that were not of complete submission to his will. It was both an exciting and frightening prospect all at once.
"Perhaps... We'll see, if we live long enough after this day to find out." The short man turned on his heel, and stalked away from Rei's bedchambers, leaving Rei unsatisfied, something no other man did with impunity. "Are you coming dear? Or will I have to drag you by those beautiful golden tresses you spend so much time caring after?"
Her hair in jeopardy, Rei quickly got off the four-poster bed, clad only in a smile. Within the span of time between heartbeats though, her form was hidden beneath the hard exterior of her battle garb, and the smile was all but gone from her face. "Come dear. We have enemies to face. Or would you have a girl do a prince's job for him?"
"Insufferable woman!" The cry was meaningless, utter nonsense, just like the rest of this conversation.
"Yes." Was her simple reply.
With that, Rei vanished from sight, Vegeta only a fraction of a second behind her.
When Shaikoten rose, it was as if the whole Universe stood up and took notice. Then came the hushed silenced that was forced upon us like shackles. Shaikoten's third eye peered through the gloom of the night, gazing at each of us, into us, through us really. That eye commanded a still silence, the calm before the storm.
"He's alive!" Vorack's voice cut through the silence Shaikoten's rise had engendered. His childlike innocence protected him from the blank stare of Shaikoten's empty eyes. His was the look of insanity, the look of oblivion.
Durine approached his brother slowly, cautiously, as one might approach a rabid dog suddenly still. Without making any sudden motions that might startle the beast into attacking once more, Durine made his way to his brother's side. He reached up one hand to his brother's unnaturally still side, reaching for the touch of his siblings fingers.
"No." Xev's voice had lost the Immortal keen to it, but it was still a voice of unanswerable authority. "This is not Shaikoten. Not anymore. Lucavex's attacks upon his mind has left nothing of what was once his mind. There is nothing in there anymore, only the eye, the solid will of the No-Star-Ball to have it's power used."
"How do you know God?" Ramza spat the word as if it tasted foul upon his lips. "You no longer have the senses of an Immortal. How can you know that Shaikoten isn't in there somewhere?" He was standing up for his friend, keeping alive the dim hope that perhaps there might be something worth saving.
Xev's head bowed slightly in acceptance of his new limitations, but he did not back down. "You are right, I no longer possess those faculties. But I still possess the accumulated knowledge of many generations, and I am not blind. That thing in front of you is no more his brother than I am Immortal. We were once, but the names no longer applies to such as we."
Durine however, was having none of it, and his fingers reached up once more, to touch the hand of the only family he knew still survived. The others were just standing by, idly watching, not doing a thing to change, to stop Durine from making this one fatal mistake.
"No Durine." Soft, so soft that it was almost silent. Something more felt than heard. "Xev's right. Your brother's gone." A pinprick would have been louder than my voice, but where a shout would have gone unnoticed, a whisper often suffices. Durine stopped his hand once more, and looked over at me, his eyes pleading with me to be wrong, to rescinded my earlier statement, to do anything that might bring back some hope of his brother's continued existence.
"Give it up Durine. This will bring nothing but pain to us all." Slow, and steady, and soft, my voice had a soothing effect on Durine's sorely overtaxed senses. He couldn't accept the facts, but he couldn't ignore them either. He was caught halfway in-between hope, and truth, and there was no middle-ground between the two.
"No!" He cried, and leapt for Shaikoten's floating body, clasping his arms around what might have been his brother in another lifetime. The physical contact began a sudden, cataclysmic reaction that whole Universes might regret, or be unable to, with no one left to remember them.
None of us were quite sure what happened next or in what order, but several things did happen, even if we don't know the how, or when, or why of it. We all saw Durine fly backwards, hitting the tower wall head-first, and falling unconscious to the floor. We all saw, or thought we saw Shaikoten's first move, the lifting of a single finger of his left hand. We all bore witness to the golden radiance the spewed forth from Shaikoten's Semi-Saiyajinn blood.
What none of us saw, or felt though, was the sudden, inexplicable arrival of a dozen new powers, every one of which too great for mere words to describe. The Immortals had arrived, and were to take part in this final struggle for ultimate supremacy and control of all the Universes in existence.
There was nothing, no action, only reaction. He could not act, could not see, let alone think. He was nothing, nothingness, oblivion. And he was everything. Just at the edge of what might have been termed consciousness, he could sense power, ultimate, unbelievable power. Power enough to create and destroy everything a million times over, and have barely touched the surface of it.
But that was just it... It was just power, pure, meaningless power. It had no direction save that which he gave it, and being unable to think, he could not give it anything. All he was, had been stripped away, layer by layer through Lucavex's ministrations, and the leftovers consigned to oblivion through his final attack.
That he was even alive was a miracle, though not as miraculous as one might think. Only his mind had been damaged, not his body, or at least, his body had not suffered much. But it was uncertain if he was truly "alive" by any definition. Being completely unable to accept input, let alone make a choice as to an action, let alone act upon that choice, he merely stood there, a meek parody of life.
That is, until Durine's touch awoke the most primal urge for self preservation. He knew nothing of what he did, could not feel any remorse for his actions, because he was running on pure reflexive actions, nothing cognizant. Still... Had he known better, he would have done no less... In fact, chances are, were he sane, most likely he would have deleted everything like so many corrupted files on a hard drive.
Thankfully though, he was not sane, was incapable of action, only reaction, which might just give the others a chance... slim though it might be...
"My God... He's harnessed the power... How are we ever going to be able to beat him? How is it possible? How!" I was quickly passing from calm and in control, to panicked, and crazy. I was shaking, my body responding to my terror, and the other's faring little better.
"It's not." Xev was the only one of us who was not half-way insane with fear. "But this is one case where it is necessary to do the impossible. For otherwise, we all are doomed." However, at that very moment, the Immortals, in an effort to preserve their way of life, chose that moment to begin their assault.
Only one of them seemed familiar to me, and as I saw Vegeta rush into the breach followed by a dozen others, many looking like the monsters I had seen attacking Earth over the years, I yelled out to them to stop. Too late... Far too late to be any good, my scream fell on ears deafened by a fear of death unparalleled in the history of history.
First Vegeta, then a woman close behind, then each of the others, one by one, attacked the shining figure of Shaikoten, each with energies that far outweighed my own, and each of their attacks either met no resistance and had no effect, were dispersed before they landed, or reversed upon their user multiplied ten-fold.
It was a slaughter, a massacre, there was no hope for them... Immortal as they were, with near-infinite energies to draw upon, they were powerless before this being. Many opted for the direct approach, firing blasts of energy at this greatest of all opponents, some going for more subtle approaches, and attacking with debilitating physical and mental effects, that were less than useless, for their foe felt nothing.
Of them all, only Vegeta chose to attack with his crushing physical strength. Perpetually in a state of battle-readiness far exceeding that of any other warrior, and always at the utmost height of that power, the reddish-brown fur that covered both his arms, and the uppermost portion of his torso, the only evidence of the transformation.
In a second, Vegeta had already thrown a dozen punches, and easily as many kicks, without any visible effect. How was this possible? Vegeta? Immortal? And yet nothing... This is insane! Thoughts were swirling through my head like a tornado, a great funnel of circulating calculations that were completely impotent, just like me.
Then, within the centre of that cone, the swirling vortex of abysmal dismay, came one idea, crystal in it's clarity, and so simple that it would have been overlooked. The only actions he took were reactions. Certainly the powers he had obtained were more than sufficient to cause all of us to cease existence with a thought, and yet he did not use it save in his own defense.
"Stop!" No words had been spoken for so long, they were as a foreign thing, meeting no resistance, but being so incredibly out of place that they seemed meaningless. No one listened.
Instead, the fight merely increased in intensity, Immortal fighting Infinite, with the clear winner being Infinite. Nothing the Immortals did had any effect, It was like any energy they threw at him was just sucked up like so much water to a sponge. When Vegeta hit Shaikoten, it was Vegeta that bled, not Shaikoten. Yet still they pressed on.
How am I supposed to stop the Universe's destruction? I'm no where near as powerful as them, and they have no effect whatsoever. They are doing everything they can, and it was like they weren't even there... That was when the answer hit me. They're NOT there! At least, not to Shaikoten. It's the same reason why Lucavex mustn't have been able to use it himself!
It was too obvious now... The powers of the Immortals was sourced in the strength of the Dragonballs, who's power comes from the No-Star-Ball. All the energy came from the same place, so to Shaikoten the Immortals really didn't exist... Only someone who's power was not sourced in the Dragonballs themselves, could defeat him.
But that was too easy... Then Durine wouldn't have been able to illicit any response from Shaikoten at all... No there must be more to it.. But what?
The fight raged on, with attacks easily able to destroy planets being launched from every available staging point. The flashes of light in front of me kept disappearing as if they no longer existed. Vegeta was still attempting to pummel Shaikoten into oblivion, without visible effect. In fact, the only ones who seemed to be effected by the Immortal's attack were the God's themselves... They were weary, tired, slowly losing the will to fight.
No action, only reaction. Someone who's power did not stem from the Dragonballs.. But then why did Shaikoten react to Durine? The answer eluded me, tauntingly close, familiar, on the tip of my tongue, but unable to just show itself. Then in a rush, it came to me, the fight faded from my vision, and I saw only darkness.
Into that darkness came a voice, strained from age, but still deep as an ocean, strong as a mountain, implacable, immovable, and impossibly large. With that deep sonorous booming came the words that I had shied from so long ago, words that hit me to the core.
"In time there shall come, one who knows not why." Innocence.
"He shall possess a body not born, a form such as a great warrior might have." Power.
"He shall carry within him a lonely heart, as of a husband bereaved." Love.
"And he shall have the tortured soul, as of one destined to do great things." Need.
The words of the prophecy rang through my mind, blazing light in the darkness of my soul. It was not Morn's voice that said them, that much I knew. It would only be many years later upon reflection of the events that understanding would don upon me, that it was an echo of the voice of Shenlong, the original Prophet, that I was hearing.
It was me. I'm the only one who could do anything, and my decision was going to make the choice for the Universe. Deep down, I had always known it, even since before hearing the Prophecy, I knew that there was some greater destiny here. I had tried to deny it, tried to run away from it, but here it was staring me in the face and I had to make a choice.
But what was the right choice? If I acted, and did the wrong thing, then the Universe would cease to exist. If I did nothing, then Shaikoten might stay this way for all eternity, or he might do nothing. Down either road there were perils unlike any other, and this road was one only I alone could traverse.
My vision returned slowly, as if I had all the time in the world, as if nothing else could possibly matter, and perhaps that was true. As the darkness receded, the flashes of brilliant multi-coloured light resumed. Ramza held back, protecting Durine who merely lay still, Vorack stood huddled against Xev who stood impassively, doing nothing.
Deliberately, I took one step towards Shaikoten, one foot placed slightly closer to him than the other. So great was the weight of my decision that, that one motion took nearly all my resolve. Yet somehow, I took another, and another, taking small, innocent steps, ever nearer. I walked right through the attacks of the Immortals, Shaikoten's presence protecting me.
One by one though, they ended their attacks, either too weary, or too surprised to continue. Last was Vegeta, knuckles bloodied, red running down his arm and dripping with disturbing regularity onto the growing pool of wetness at his feet. In time though, even he made way for me, and as he did, the only sounds that could be hear were labored breathing, and the steady drip-drip of rapidly thickening blood.
At last, I was there, confronting Shaikoten, in complete peace, reverted now to a state of total innocence. Whatever decision I might make, it no longer mattered, this destiny was mine, and mine alone, and I had no choice in the matter.
Only then did I begin to release the fullness of my energies, the golden radiance spewing forth, outshining for a moment, the many disastrous blasts the Immortals had thrown. It was in no way the equal to any of them, but it would have to be enough. It took but a moment more, but I released the hidden power within me, allowing it to bellow it's greatness in their assembled faces, transcending the Super-Saiyajinn to something more.
My clothes billowed around me in the winds created by my transformation, my skin still maintaining the shining luminescence of golden-white light. I wasn't sure why I did it, or even if it would make any difference, but that didn't matter anymore. The Prophecy said I had power, and this was my power.
Without any further adieu, I reached up, touching my hand not to Shaikoten, but to the No-Star-Ball itself. At the last moment I froze for an instant, unsure if this was the correct action, but then, resigned to my decision, I pushed myself forward, and my fingers came into contact with the perfectly smooth, featureless orange orb, within which lay all the power of the Universe.
The shock of it was too much, far too much for anyone to survive, but somehow I did. The now-familiar blank black landscape of my inner mind resumed, but this time with a difference. Shaikoten was in here with me. In here we were no longer touching, physical presence was meaningless anyways.
Then I learned to true meaning of the word Power, and why it was in the Prophecy. It was not my power, but the power of the Universe. It was too much for one person to handle, so much power that it erased everything else, it gave Shaikoten no room in which to exist. That was why there was nothing left of him, at least, that was what we thought. But what would certainly overwhelm one, might be able to exist between two, at least, for a time.
But he did exist still, just not in the same way we thought. His spirit remained nearby, floating close to where it once had physical form, but unable to enter again, though the body was alive. The body and mind had been separated, with too much power in the middle, too great a span to cross.
They say that love is a bridge, and so it was now. Not love for Shaikoten, but love for everything. I couldn't let the memory of Sarah fade from existence as if she had never been. So great a betrayal would that be that the memory of the love we shared could act as a bridge, to span the chasm of power that lay between Shaikoten and his body.
And then the last part of the Prophecy came. Need. Not my need, not mine at all. Nor was it Shaikoten's need either. No one being could lay claim to this need. It belonged to all of us, our own need to exist, to continue, to go on. It was the Power's need to be used, it was Shaikoten's spirit's need for it's flesh, it was every need all of us had at once.
Still, I had made the bridge, but it was not my choice to allow him to cross. I could see the fear in Shaikoten's face, as he gazed at the chasm, infinitely deep that lay between us. I could do nothing but have faith that he would make the right decision. In the end it really did come down to faith.
"Perhaps Faith will be enough, at the end." Morn's voice this time, so accepting, such trust .
"Faith is never enough." My own words came back to haunt me.
I could see that they haunted Shaikoten too, as he hesitated to take that first, fateful step. He could not put his faith in me, could not put his faith in himself, for he had no faith to give.
I despaired, the Universe was lost, the power would destroy everything as if it had never been. At first I cried out, mourning the loss that would never be remembered. Then I ended my scream, my voice hoarse, ragged. Instead, I mourned quietly, tears falling unbidden from my eyes.
"I wish I could say I would miss you Sarah. I wish that I might remember you. I wish so many things, but most of all, I wish that I was strong enough to have done this thing. It was not enough. I was not enough." Murmured, mumbled words, but they carried.
The bridge I had built to span the great power had begun to crumble, disintegrating into nothingness, it was almost gone. Only then did the stubborn Demi-Saiyajinn move onto it, trusting it to hold him. A wave of relief passed through me as I saw him begin to finally try. I held, somehow, I held.
Maybe minutes, maybe seconds, maybe forever. No one knows how long that endless moment lasted, but in time, Shaikoten passed from the beam, that shining gray example of love, and passed through to safety on my own side. Too weary for words I knelt down in the black nothingness, and wept openly, smiling my own secret smile of unsurpassed relief.
I looked up finally, and saw the face of Shaikoten, the half-breed Saiyajinn who had for one brief moment been in control of the greatest power in the Universe. He was not whole, he might never be whole, but in time perhaps even that could heal, and time was the one thing we might now have.
Nothing. Since I touched the No-Star-Ball no time had elapsed, there was no time between that moment, and the one in which I found myself, grasping the No-Star-Ball in my hand, falling away from him an a fantastic rate. It was Ramza who caught me, flying through the air. Bringing me back slowly to the tallest tower of Lucavex's former palace.
I slid motionless to the ground, my eyes glazed over too surprised that I was still alive to do much more than that. The deep orange orb slid from mindless fingers, and across the ground, forgotten.
"How? What? Why?" Vorack had too many questions to voice at once, but it was Xev that answered them all.
"Don't ask. Just accept that this is real, and move from this day hence with that knowledge." Xev had a calming influence over all of us.
The Gods who remained fell down near to us. Of the dozen Immortal beings who had begun this contest, only half of them remained, the others had been destroyed by their own reflected energies. None of them even tried to get the No-Star-Ball, keeping their distance from it, and from the rest of us.
"What now?" Durine was finally awake, having been healed not long ago by the little Namekian warrior. Again he seemed to act as our collective voice, setting out thoughts to sound in as few words as possible.
"I think everyone here will agree that it is my job to answer that." My voice was hollow strained, but steady, far more steady than I had thought it could be under the circumstances. The others looked to me for advice, for help, to answer their questions.
"I think we should probably all go right back to our normal lives, and just ignore this, don't forget it, just don't let it rule us." There was general nodding, and agreement, they knew it was sound advice, perhaps more so than they knew.
"But what about that?" Ramza was pointing at the tiny orange marble sitting quietly some distance away, all too near Shaikoten's still form.
"Get rid of it. Shenlong tried to get rid of it by throwing it into a star. We know that didn't work, and none of us are anywhere near powerful enough to destroy it. There's only one place I know of that might do that, and even if it wasn't destroyed, it will be safe, safer than anywhere else I can think of."
The others held on my every word as I explained my idea, and after a few gasps of surprise, and several grim frowns, along with a nod or two of agreement, they eventually were all persuaded that my solution was the only reasonable one...
"Well I had best be off. I hate long goodbye's." I waved goodbye to the others, each one of them more brother than friend.
"You're sure you wanna go right now? Won't you stay for a little while longer?" Durine's offer of hospitality was generous, too generous really, but one I couldn't accept.
"Nah... I really should be leaving. Maybe I'll see you guys again someday, but there are a lot of things that I still have to settle, and I can't do it here. But... Thanks." I left the rest unsaid, that one word saying enough.
Ramza moved quickly, grasping my forearm in a clasp of friendship and comradery. "You will be sorely missed." Nothing more was needed.
Xev waved from behind them both, having decided to stay with them, the only people he had ever known as friends. He wasn't sure just how much help he could be, but with thousands of years of experience, he was a welcome addition to their little band, which had shrunk rather markedly through this one battle.
There were no more words, and I had already said goodbye to the little Namek child, who had decided to stay behind with Ramza. The two of them had forged a friendship that was far deeper than anything that the rest of us had. I was a little sad that he wouldn't be seeing me off, but I figured that would be for the best, as I didn't think I had the heart to say goodbye to him.
Without further adieu, I got up the ramp to my newly restored spacecraft, and closed the hatch. I waited for the signal that the bay doors had opened, and set the ship to launch. There was a deep rumbling roar, more felt than heard, and then i could feel the crushing weight as we blasted off.
After a while, I unbuckled my belt, and looked out one of the small Plasti-Glass windows. The tiny bluish orb that slowly shrunk in the distance was already receding from me. All my friends, and so many memories were home there, I nearly changed my mind, and turned the ship around. But I held my course, turned on the gravitron-device and continued my training.
So long. And thanks. For everything.
"So how is your brother doing?" Ramza's words were a little out of place, after Hoshito's ship had only just blasted off, but they were words designed to take Durine back to the present.
"He's okay. He just need rest is all. He's still in the recovery chamber. I don't know how Hoshito brought him back, but I'm glad he's back. Maybe now he will show some compassion for others." Durine's eyes were filled with hope.
"Fat chance." Ramza had just shattered that hope. Durine's pained expression told Ramza how much those words hurt. Then Ramza cracked a smile, and they both laughed, belatedly realizing he was just joking.
It took the two of them quite some time to recover their composure, but as they walked back to their duties, it was hand in hand, as friends.
"Think we shoulda told him?"
"Nah... It's more fun this way."
The darkness of space. Comforting, familiar, necessary. Just how Hoshito knew this was here, he would never know, but now was not a time to question. If this was not done, then there would likely be others who would covet this power, and retrieve it for some dire purpose. That was a chance he was unwilling to take.
Even so, in the end, the thought that made him follow through with their plan, was the single driving desire that if he couldn't have this power, than no one else would have it either. In the end though, it really didn't matter why he did this, only that he did.
So the tiny orange sphere was lost once more, though this time, not in light, but in darkness. A great, overwhelming darkness so complete that nothing could escape it's grasp. Not even light. The orange orb began it's slow and steady spiral down to the core of the black hole, quickly lost in the black darkness of distance.
With a motion of disgust at such a waste, Vegeta turned his back upon the retreating marble, and disappeared, returning to Rei's bedchambers, to relieve the accumulated stress of centuries.
If he had stayed, perhaps it wouldn't have happened, but in any case, he wasn't around to witness the true end to the No-Star-Ball. As it spiraled down, nearing what they assumed would be it's end, the dragon was reborn. Like a Phoenix from the ashes it rose, though this time, it was the ashes of a star.
For many thousands of years, the Eternal Dragon had lain in wait, deep within the fiery centre of a star. Waiting for the time when it could return. Newly reborn, the Dragon leapt into space, smiling at the recent events. It was the first time anyone had been able to resist the allure of Ultimate Power. This Hoshito person would bare watching...
Then there was a minute flash of light, light that was drunk up like so much cheap wine by the quantum singularity, so that no one, not even if they were watching, would ever know what had happened. When the light dissipated, the Dragon was gone.
"Vorack. You should have said something earlier. I wouldn't have shoved the gravity up so high." The little kid was bet and determined that he wasn't getting on this ship unless he was a stowaway.
"I know. But I didn't want you to know I was here for a quite a while longer. I wanted to make sure that you couldn't go back and leave me alone." His words were familiar by now, it was beginning to be a habit.
"But, I thought you were going to stay with Ramza and Durine. Help them with their mission." I was confused, perplexed, but accepting of his presence.
"I know. But then I got to thinking. I mean, sure, Ramza's nice, but you're the one I came with, I started this journey with you, and I think I should finish it with you too." Brave words from one so small.
I didn't really know what to say to that, so I said nothing, I just reached down, gave him a noogie, and laughed. I set the gravity back up to ten G's again, and got back to training the little tyke.
It was going to be a long trip...
A pile of rock, debris, nothing important. One tiny pebbles stumbles down the heaping pile of rubble, starting a small avalanche. Then all is quiet again, calm, quiescent. A deep rumbling sound can be felt more than heard, a pounding increasing in pressure. Then the rocks explode outwards in a blaze of pure white light.
From the centre of that explosion waltzes a large mutated being, evil to the core, and free now from the constraints of his masters will. Lucavex was dead, and now, Marrec had the freedom to live his own life, the freedom to do whatever he wanted.
And what he wanted now, was to kill.
The End!