Chapter Seventy: Final Showdown With The Saiyans
Toria and Veal flew in the air over the dying city of Magan, horrified at the damage they were witnessing. The proud, erect skyscrapers looked as if they had been crushed into the ground by gigantic fists. Diamond statues decorated the city, gem sculptures of people in terrified agony, many of them with their mouths still opened to scream. Rubble and debris littered the cities, with dozens of Calmagian bodies, bloodied and broken, lying along the streets. Numerous plant-like creatures were joyous self-destructing everywhere and chasing the survivors desperately trying to flee.
Toria instructed Veal to follow her to the rooftop of a major city bank, and they landed on the roof. Toria knew that she had to do something to stop some of this madness before she and Veal went to aid Tayla and the others. Toria's long hair, the color of baked honey, flowed in the wind like ribbons around her slender body. She was dressed in her white silken caftan and gold sash draped over her right shoulder, and the shiny, satiny fabric of both materials glimmered in the bright sunlight. Clear crystal boots adorned her tiny white feet. Her emerald eyes darkened until they were almost black, as she raised her slim, snowy hands with the long, tapered fingers and nails into the air together, with the thumbs touching each other side by side. She then threw her hands back in opposite directions, closed her eyes, and whispered a few words in Ancient Astorian language (a more obscure dialect of Astorian than Chloe Astorian, the common dialect spoken by the Astorian royalty):
"Evi, uni-munden planti cretinis tat causen harmi
Shai nai raisen anie muri causen fro alarmi.
Neve aganti wou theyen commiten il cru endeavori,
Fro theyen wou sleepen fureve."
Translated in Standard, these words meant:
"Evil, single minded plant creatures that cause harm
Shall not raise any more cause for alarm.
Never again will they commit a cruel endeavor,
For they will now sleep forever."
A silvery mist spread throughout Magan and her outskirts, and within minutes, all of the green Saibamen dropped to the ground, and they all fell asleep. Veal watched on, amazed. "Will they really sleep forever?" she asked Toria, after Toria had finished.
"Yes," Toria responded. "And even more so when our people vanquish them."
Toria then closed her eyes and tried to sense Tayla's ki. The High Priestess's ki sensing was much more advanced than most Astorians because unlike many Astorians, she could tell by reading someone's ki what their emotions were, whether they were happy or sad or angry or afraid. She had been training Tayla on this, and Tayla had just started to master it.
Toria nearly squeaked (something that she had done only twice in her life) when she felt the disturbances in Tayla's ki. She could feel Tayla's mixture of anger and fear in her ki, and then Toria realized that Tayla was in danger, unable to help herself or anyone else. She couldn't divine what danger, but she knew that the girl was in peril.
"Veal," she said urgently, "we must go. And we when arrive at our destination, you must stay near me, and stay out of the fighting."
"I-I don't know," Veal said hesitantly. "I know that I am no warrior, but my father taught me a few fighting techniques to protect myself. I-I could be brave enough, I think."
"I know that you could," Toria told her gently. "But even our most advanced and superior warriors are having difficulty with this battle; I can feel it. It is for your own safety, Veal, for not even I have a chance against the Saiyans and Frieza's forces."
"Can't you just put them to sleep, like you did those ugly plant things?" Veal asked her.
"Not if they have higher ki levels than the plant creatures," Toria told her. "And being a Priestess, I am not allowed to fight physically or shed blood. Now we must hurry, little Meatian, for my family needs our help."
Bendros was nearing Vegeta, who continued to taunt Tayla about his victory over her. Tayla repeatedly called the Saiyan Prince a variety of unladylike names that she normally did not use (all learned from Alora, who would have been embarrassed at how much of her coarse vocabulary her plucky and youngest sister-in-law had picked up from her):
"Bastarden Monken Princen! Filti Rojalen Swien! Prickien! Stenchi Monken Swien! Princen Uv Completi Monkens!" (Bastard Monkey Prince! Filthy Royal Swine! Prick! Smelly Monkey Swine! Prince of All Monkeys!) On Astoria, "monkey" and "swine" were among the worst names imaginable to call anyone.
Bendros heard some of Tayla's blue vocabulary and he would have laughed, if she hadn't been in danger. Even his Aunt Alora (whom Bendros suspected that Tayla learned the words from) would have been shocked, and Alora was not easy to shock. Tayla's prim and proper sisters, Gracina and Gorna, would have fainted dead away, even though they themselves had occasionally used the word, "bastard" or "monkey". Bajal and Lektron would have just laughed, seeing nothing wrong with Tayla knowing a few dirty words. Bendros emitted a chuckle before he could stop himself, as he wondered how Shalila or Dirkan would have reacted.
"Insult me all you like," Vegeta told her casually, although he was secretly bristling at being called a monkey and a bastard. The brat would pay for it later. Vegeta never suspected that a Princess of Chloe knew such foul language; from what he knew of Astorian royals, he had always thought that they were a puritanical bunch. At least that was what his father had told him.
Finally Bendros reached Vegeta, with Journa in hot pursuit. Raditz had stopped chasing his newfound cousin to "take care" of the rest of Tayla's family members, take care of course as in destroying them.
"Let her go!" Bendros ordered Vegeta.
Vegeta waved him away arrogantly and said to his sister, "Journa, get rid of him immediately; I don't have time to play with him."
"With pleasure," Journa told him, not caring much if he was her mate's cousin; Raditz wouldn't miss him that much. Journa threw herself at Bendros, punching him hard in his face. Bendros fell back, but he quickly recovered, kicking Journa in her shins. Journa leapt at her opponent, wrapping one of her arms around his neck and catching him a stranglehold that Bendros struggled to break.
Bendros electrocuted her, and Journa screamed out, having never been electrocuted before in her life. The volts of electricity shot throughout her body, and she was stunned, not sure how to react. Bendros wasted no time in taking advantage, as he hit her hard in her back with both fists, shoving her out of the sky. Journa swiftly near the ground, but she began to recover, as she rose back into the air. When she reached Bendros again, Bendros punched her in her cheek, while she kicked him in his stomach. A melee of punches and kicks between them ensued, with them both fighting evenly. She slammed her fist into Bendros' side hard, making him cry out, but she didn't cripple him enough to prevent him from shoving his fist into her chest, denting her armor. Bendros then hit her again in her stomach, this time, putting a hole in her armor, and then he threw his hands back. Before Journa knew it, Bendros emitted a scarf of pure ki from his hands and swiftly wrapped it around her.
"Rings of Saturn Scarf!" he cried out. Journa cried out, as the energy-draining scarf began to bleed her ki away from her. Vegeta knew then that he had to intervene, for no Saiyan had ever been able to fight off a Rings of Saturn Scarf draining attack without some help. Wasting no time, he flew away from Tayla while Bendros was floating in air, robbing Journa of her ki with Rings of Saturn Scarf. He swiftly speeded up behind Bendros and hit him hard in the back of his head, and this eradicated the Rings of Saturn Scarf attack. Bendros nearly fell out of the sky, but he didn't. Journa was free once more.
"Thanks!" she shouted at her brother.
"Fine, now finish him off," Vegeta ordered her. "I have other matters to attend to. Don't let him trap you like that again."
But just as Vegeta was returning to Tayla, he was greeted with a sharp blow to his face. He growled when he saw who had attacked him.
"Shalila Chloe! How in the hell did you get free?" he demanded to know of a very angry Superior Gran when he saw that she no longer had the ki-restraining cuffs on her wrists.
Shalila scowled and said, "You stay away from my granddaughter! Deal with me!"
"How did you get free of the ki cuffs?" Vegeta roared, and then he felt his body for something. To his horror, the small control box that controlled the ki levels of the cuff wearers was missing. He looked around frantically, and while he did, Shalila slammed her fist into his jaw, nearly shoving him out of the sky. Vegeta fell down several dozen feet before he stopped-right in front of Dedron, whom too had his cuffs removed.
"Looking for trouble, monkey? You found it-in me!" Dedron shouted, eager for revenge, as he kicked Vegeta hard in his stomach. Vegeta then punched Dedron in his nose hard, causing Dedron's nose to bleed. Dedron crashed his fist into Vegeta's stomach, and the two fighters began to kick and punch each other with their best martial arts moves that they both knew.
While this was going on, Dirkan threw the control box into the air, the same control box that had controlled his ki levels when he had been wearing the ki-restraining collar, and he blew it up with a blink of his eye, using his eye lasers. He was grateful that they had figured out how to free their cuffs with that control box. Surprisingly enough, it had been Petalia who had helped them, for it had been she who had found the control box that Vegeta had dropped during his last battle with Tayla. Petalia had hurried over to Dirkan, and Dirkan had remembered seeing such a box; it was similar to the ones that Queen Frost had invented for the ki-restraining collars. He had been able to figure out how to work it, and within ten minutes, he had pressed the right buttons, the buttons that turned off the cuffs of the others and his collar. Once that was done, Shalila, Dedron, and Rojal had no problems with breaking the awful cuffs off of their wrists with just a rip at each cuff. Rojal and Dirkan were now fighting Raditz, with the fight fairly even between all three of them. At this time, they were using kicks and punches to fight each other.
Meanwhile, Shalila was trying to figure out how to free Tayla from the ki cuffs that Vegeta had used to pin the girl to the cliff. "Hang in there, Tayla," she told her comfortingly.
"Yes, Nama," Tayla whispered. "Thank you and everyone else." Shalila stroked her cheek.
Finally, after a few minutes, Shalila realized that she wasn't going to pull off Tayla's cuffs physically (that little bastard prince did an excellent job of restraining her). She told Tayla firmly, "Tayla, I will get your restraints off of you, but this may hurt for a minute or two."
"That's okay," Tayla assured her. "I don't want to be trapped here anymore."
Shalila backed away from her granddaughter, and levitating in air, she held out her hands out, palms facing upwards towards the sky, as if she were about to receive something from above. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments, and after those moments had passed, five small lavender ki balls, each the size of mothballs floated above Shalila's open hands. Shalila juggled the ki balls for a few moments, and then, like an experienced baseball pitcher, she threw each of the ki balls at Tayla, with each ki packet hitting the cuffs confining her granddaughter. Tayla cried out in pain, as the ki balls quickly burned away the cuffs, for the ki balls were also burning her wrists, ankles, and neck as well. A few moments later, Tayla had scorched wrists, ankles, and a neck, but she was free of the awful restraints that Vegeta had inflicted on her. She and Nama flew to each other and embraced, and Shalila looked sorrowfully at Tayla's burned body parts. She was sorry that she had to cause her granddaughter pain, but it had been the only way that she knew to free her.
Tayla winced at the burns, but she had no time to pay much attention to them. She whispered a thank-you to her grandmother, and both ladies decided that it was time to end this battle with the Saiyans once and for all.
While Shalila had been freeing Tayla, Bendros and Journa were still fighting each other with kicks and punches. Bendros threw Journa into a nearby cliff, with Journa's body crashing into the rocky side; her body created a hole in the cliff that was five feet deep. Journa wasted no time in flying back out of the cliff, as she rose in the air. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits, ready to launch a Four Finger Flash attack.
Before Bendros could reach her, Journa screamed out, "FOUR FINGER FLASH!" Four red ki lasers flew towards Bendros, but Bendros quickly crossed his wrists together in a Mirror Shield position.
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
Journa cried out in horror, as Bendros' Mirror Shield attack deflected her Four Finger Flash attack right back at her. As her own attack flew towards her, Bendros chased it, and with one swipe of his hand, he hit the ki attack further towards her, so that it would crash into Journa and cause her more damage.
The extra effort on Bendros' part was successful, for Journa's own ki attack collided into her own body. Journa screamed, as her Four Finger Flash attack, meant for Bendros, was being used to defeat her. The ki from her own attack engulfed her body, burning her, scorching her, making her body temperature rise almost a hundred degrees hotter than what it should have been. The ki power shoved her out of the sky hard, causing her to crash into the ground hard, creating a gigantic crater the size of half of the city of Magan. When the smoke and dust cleared, Journa was lying facedown in the crater, barely alive and very much unconscious. No more trouble could be expected from her; Bendros had won that battle, and Journa was out of the war.
The battle between Rojal, Dirkan and Raditz had taken a turn for the worst-for Raditz, that is. Dirkan continued to fire his eye lasers at Raditz, while Rojal fired small whitish-blue ki lasers at their Saiyan nemesis with his hands. Raditz was now greatly weakened, but he had some strength left, enough to hold his own. The longhaired Saiyan flew away from his opponents and launched a gigantic ki blast, (similar to Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, only it was done with two hands in ninety-degree angles instead of one), which would have crippled both fighters severely; had not Rojal intervened at the last minute, they possibly would have been taken out of the fighting themselves.
Rojal crossed his wrists in Mirror Shield position and cried out, "MIRROR SHIELD!" just as Raditz's ki ball was flying towards him and Dirkan. Rojal raced in front of Raditz's ki ball, and using his Mirror Shield, he deflected it right back onto the already destabilized Raditz. Before Raditz could escape, his own ki attack enveloped him, catching him in a burning ball of light. When the light dissipated, Raditz was severely burned and damaged. He cried out in anger, but before he could retaliate, Dirkan came up behind him and hit him hard in the back of his head with such a sharp blow that it instantly knocked Raditz out and sent him crashing into an already wrecked bakery that was sitting on the outskirts of Magan.
When Raditz fell through the steel roof of the bakery, his large body landed in a giant vat of donut batter that had not mixed properly. It had been a softer landing for him than it had been for his mate, but he was as badly hurt now as she was. Raditz moaned softly, as he slowly came out of his unconscious state. He raised his head, and it was coated with sticky donut batter and flour. There was also chocolate in the batter, and Raditz licked the chocolate donut batter off of his fingers, as he slowly began to pass out again.
"Not bad; Calmags sure make good chocolate," he murmured, as he passed out once and for all in his sweet and sticky new bed. Chocolate saliva dribbled from his mouth, as his head fell against the steel side of the mixing vat.
Dedron was not faring as well in his fighting, as Bendros, Rojal, and Dirkan had been. Vegeta continued to punch and kick his Astorian opponent, even though Dedron was near the point of collapse. Dedron had been holding up well for a while, until Vegeta had launched a Big Bang attack at him, which crippled the bulky Astorian prince so much that his ki was greatly reduced by half. Dedron's attacks were now careless and desperate, with half of his ki attacks missing the Saiyan prince, and his punches and kicks were not as hard or as damaging. Finally Vegeta decided that he was tired of playing with the burly Astorian and decided to finish him off once and for all.
He punched Dedron hard in his face again, this time sending the boy crashing near the ground. Before Dedron could fly up and retaliate against his Saiyan opponent, Vegeta fired a Final Flash attack at him, an attack that would kill the already weakened Dedron once and for all.
Dedron nearly screamed in horror, as Vegeta's Final Flash attack neared him. He raised his arms and wrists in Mirror Shield position, but Dedron had too little ki in him left to successfully deflect the Final Flash attack. Knowing (and grudgingly accepting) that he was about to die, Dedron silently cursed Vegeta just before the Final Flash attack came within range of him.
But Dedron would not die that day...
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
Within seconds, Vegeta's Final Flash attack left Dedron and to Vegeta's astonishment and terror, collided into him, thrusting him into the same cliff where he had captured Tayla. Vegeta's body smashed into the wall of the chalky cliff several hundred feet, leaving a giant hole that was discharging clouds of dust and smoke.
Outside of the cliff, a panting Tayla was struggling to catch her breath after using Mirror Shield on the Saiyan prince. Dedron just stared at her, gawking in amazement. Shalila flew to their side, and she quickly inquired about their health.
Dedron gasped for air, and Tayla asked him, "Are you okay?" She wasn't fond of Dedron, but he was her nephew, after all. Family was family.
Dedron wheezed, and he was caught between gratitude that he was still alive and anger that Tayla had intervened in his battle. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, almost had him too, just was about to eradicate him," he said huffily. "If you hadn't stopped him, I eventually would have myself; I just needed time, yes that's it, just needed time. You just delayed the inevitable, Tayla; Vegeta was just a monkey; anyone could have destroyed him. Another minute or two, and he would have been mine. Believe me, I knew what I was doing; I had everything under control; I would have killed him myself within less than a minute. Not bad, but I didn't really need your help..."
Tayla sighed wearily; she hadn't really expected any show of gratitude from Dedron, but his attempt at salvaging his pride was ridiculous. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything that she might regret later on; she was too tired now to argue with Dedron. Dedron's pride had been wounded more than anything else, and he was trying to restore it. Shalila just patted her on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze and Tayla an exhausted smile. Tayla smiled back weakly at her.
Of course Vegeta wasn't defeated that easily. While Dedron had been boasting that he could have taken care of the arrogant Saiyan prince himself, Vegeta had crawled out of the hole that he had made himself when Tayla had sent him crashing into the cliff. Now he was flying back towards the three Astorians, determined to finish them off once and for all. Immediately he charged at Tayla, and Tayla had to ready herself for him quickly. Within minutes, they were back to kicking and punching each other, with each punch and kick landing harder and harder on each other.
Vegeta kicked Tayla hard in her stomach, but Tayla, within seconds of that kick, slammed her tiny fist hard into Vegeta's nose, and this time it was Vegeta who had the bloody nose. He swiftly wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
The brat made me bleed, I don't believe it, she actually made me bleed, Vegeta thought to himself. He wasn't finished with her yet, however. He quickly seized Tayla before she could escape him, and he managed to grab one small wrist. Tayla struggled in Vegeta's grip, trying to prevent him from grabbing her other wrist. She then decided to electrocute the Saiyan prince once more, and Vegeta screamed aloud when the volts of electricity ran throughout his body. His hair was singed and his clothes and armor were slightly scorched. Had Vegeta been a Human or another weaker creature, he would have already been dead, but he was the strongest of his line, and while he was more damaged than before, he was still in the game. Tayla had freed herself from Vegeta's grasp, and she flew away from him as fast as she could.
"What's the matter?" Vegeta called after her. "Decided to finally run away?"
Tayla ignored him for the time being, as she rose higher into the air. Vegeta pursued her, just as Tayla was gathering her ki together for a Blitzer attack. She decided to finally put to use what Kami Orchida had taught her about life-force manipulation and using it to bolster ki attacks. What command of life-force manipulation that Tayla had she had used in her earlier fight with Balair. Tayla took a deep breath and began to power up, quietly summoning her life force to help her. She felt her ki increase, as she used her own life force as a backup battery. Her ki increased to twice its normal level. She had to hurry and use it quickly however, for the drawback to life force manipulation was that it couldn't be drawn on forever. The increased surge in ki would not last for long in someone who had been as damaged as badly as she had.
Vegeta was near her, preparing to launch another Final Flash attack. Tayla knew that she would have to act quickly, for keeping up her life force to power her up was already taking its toll on her young body. She crossed her wrists again in an X position and held her hands open-faced towards Vegeta in clamshell positions. She took a deep breath and drew her hands and wrists back and cried out:
"BLITZER!"
And at the same time, Vegeta launched his attack, shouting:
"FINAL FLASH!"
Tayla's Blitzer attack and Vegeta's Final Flash attack collided into each other; it happened the same as before, with the huge explosion of white-blue light that blinded the casters and the others for several minutes. Finally the smoke and the light cleared, and while Vegeta was rubbing his eyes, Tayla flew away from him again, as she gathered her ki and life force once more.
Vegeta was charging up for another Final Flash attack while Tayla stopped and put her hands together in a praying position the same way that she had done when she had been battling Balair. She gathered even more energy, as she pulled her hands back against her chest while they were still in praying position with her elbows sticking outward. Once again, she ripped her hands away from each other until her palms were exposed. She held her hands at a ninety-degree angle that was similar to the position that Vegeta used in his Big Bang attack, threw them back again in that same position, and then she shot two silvery-blue bursts of radiance out of her palms. The sharp whistling sound in the air whirred, as the bolts of bright, blinding light zipped towards Vegeta. One bolt of ki shot towards his upper chest, but the other bolt flew past him.
Vegeta screamed, as the first bolt of ki (which was much more painful and damaging than Tayla's previous attacks because of her life force backing it) slammed into his body and sent volts of electricity much more shocking and stinging than any of the times that Tayla had electrocuted him. Before the Saiyan prince knew it, the ki stream that flew away turned around a few feet behind him and exploded into his back faster than a comet. The first ki blast struck Vegeta's chest at the same time that the second ki blast shot him in behind. The ki shots collided into each other, after shooting through his sternum and spine, and when the ki blasts met each other in Vegeta's body, electric currents stronger than anything that Vegeta had ever experienced ran throughout his body. Vegeta screamed in terror, as he began to fry.
When the attack had dissipated, Tayla wasted no time in firing a Blitzer attack at him; she had to be as merciless as he had been towards her now. Tayla used most of what ki that she had left to build up her Blitzer attack. The Blitzer attack smashed into Vegeta's back and pushed him out of the sky with the strength and impact of a meteorite hitting him. Vegeta yelled in pain and fear, as his body collided with the hard ground, and his landing was much more painful than Journa's or Raditz's had been, for he slammed into-a parked garbage air truck, the side of the truck instead of the garbage. At least at first, he had been in the side of the truck, but Vegeta's body seared through the side of the truck and right into the garbage, causing the whole truck to tip over. The air truck, which had been abandoned by its owner and still left running exploded into flames, smoke and smelly garbage and Vegeta's body was once again thrown into the air. This time, he finally fell through the roof of a glasshouse, smashing dozens of vegetables beneath his body.
Many of Vegeta's bones were broken, but the Saiyan prince was still alive-barely. Vegeta tried to get up again, but this time he couldn't manage the effort. His body had been burned, cut, and scarred. The brat would pay for this! Vegeta hated to admit it, but the scrawny Princess of Chloe had once again defeated him. He would have to face her again another time; even he knew when to admit defeat-for the time being anyway. He'd have his revenge on her yet.
Before he passed out into unconsciousness, he sent a message on his scouter (which amazingly enough was still working) to Journa, Raditz and Nappa. He wasn't sure if any of them were still alive, but he had to find out.
"Journa, Raditz, Nappa, if you three are still breathing, once you manage to get to your feet again, the order is to retreat!" Vegeta hated saying this and admitting defeat, but he knew that if he went on any further, Tayla would kill him the next time that she launched a successful attack at him. Besides, when he recovered from his wounds, he would be stronger than ever, and he would definitely have his revenge on Tayla Chloe. His brute strength at the time had been much greater than hers, but she was faster with her ki attacks than he had been. But one day, one day, he would even up the score with the Astorian princess.
"Don't think that this is over yet, Tayla!" he choked out before passing out. "One day, when you least expect it, I will defeat you! And you will bow to me and admit that I am stronger, more superior! One day, Tayla, one day! I won't forget this! If you think-"
Vegeta's eyes closed, allowing him to slip into a welcoming black void that would shield him from his extreme pain.
Shalila had to catch Tayla's body, as Tayla began to faint. The child must have used up most of what life force that she had in those two final attacks on Vegeta. Tayla landed in her Nama's arms, and Shalila held her close to her bosom. She kissed Tayla's dusty brow.
"Is it over, Nama?" Tayla asked tiredly.
"The battle is, dandelion, but the war isn't," Shalila told her gravely, and a weary Tayla fainted completely this time in her grandmother's arms, fully drained of all of her ki.
A/N: Of course none of the Saiyans are dead, but they have essentially been defeated for now. Tayla and her family still have much trouble on their hands, for there are the Top Elite officers to deal with now, and they are stronger and harder to defeat than the Saiyans were. The war is still far from over yet, and there are diamond statues of people to be brought back to life that Toria and Tayla must attend to. How will the Astorians react when they find out that Top Elite is slowly taking over the Calmagian royal castle? Will Toria and Tayla save those who have been turned into diamond statues in time?
And what about those trapped in the Calmagian castle? Will any of them be able to survive or escape, especially Natala, Hazel, and Caline. Will they be rescued? Too soon to tell yet, and the war could go either way. The bigger battles are coming up ahead, but first there are diamond statues to turn back into people. Find out what happens next in Chapter Seventy-One: Restoration (which should be posted in one to four days from now).
P.S. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about Chestra, and as for Be Careful For What You Wish For, I am in a major writer's block for that one, but I will try to come up for something for that story as soon as I can. 'Til then, see you later, and I hope that those few of you who are reading this story are still enjoying it! R&R!
Toria and Veal flew in the air over the dying city of Magan, horrified at the damage they were witnessing. The proud, erect skyscrapers looked as if they had been crushed into the ground by gigantic fists. Diamond statues decorated the city, gem sculptures of people in terrified agony, many of them with their mouths still opened to scream. Rubble and debris littered the cities, with dozens of Calmagian bodies, bloodied and broken, lying along the streets. Numerous plant-like creatures were joyous self-destructing everywhere and chasing the survivors desperately trying to flee.
Toria instructed Veal to follow her to the rooftop of a major city bank, and they landed on the roof. Toria knew that she had to do something to stop some of this madness before she and Veal went to aid Tayla and the others. Toria's long hair, the color of baked honey, flowed in the wind like ribbons around her slender body. She was dressed in her white silken caftan and gold sash draped over her right shoulder, and the shiny, satiny fabric of both materials glimmered in the bright sunlight. Clear crystal boots adorned her tiny white feet. Her emerald eyes darkened until they were almost black, as she raised her slim, snowy hands with the long, tapered fingers and nails into the air together, with the thumbs touching each other side by side. She then threw her hands back in opposite directions, closed her eyes, and whispered a few words in Ancient Astorian language (a more obscure dialect of Astorian than Chloe Astorian, the common dialect spoken by the Astorian royalty):
"Evi, uni-munden planti cretinis tat causen harmi
Shai nai raisen anie muri causen fro alarmi.
Neve aganti wou theyen commiten il cru endeavori,
Fro theyen wou sleepen fureve."
Translated in Standard, these words meant:
"Evil, single minded plant creatures that cause harm
Shall not raise any more cause for alarm.
Never again will they commit a cruel endeavor,
For they will now sleep forever."
A silvery mist spread throughout Magan and her outskirts, and within minutes, all of the green Saibamen dropped to the ground, and they all fell asleep. Veal watched on, amazed. "Will they really sleep forever?" she asked Toria, after Toria had finished.
"Yes," Toria responded. "And even more so when our people vanquish them."
Toria then closed her eyes and tried to sense Tayla's ki. The High Priestess's ki sensing was much more advanced than most Astorians because unlike many Astorians, she could tell by reading someone's ki what their emotions were, whether they were happy or sad or angry or afraid. She had been training Tayla on this, and Tayla had just started to master it.
Toria nearly squeaked (something that she had done only twice in her life) when she felt the disturbances in Tayla's ki. She could feel Tayla's mixture of anger and fear in her ki, and then Toria realized that Tayla was in danger, unable to help herself or anyone else. She couldn't divine what danger, but she knew that the girl was in peril.
"Veal," she said urgently, "we must go. And we when arrive at our destination, you must stay near me, and stay out of the fighting."
"I-I don't know," Veal said hesitantly. "I know that I am no warrior, but my father taught me a few fighting techniques to protect myself. I-I could be brave enough, I think."
"I know that you could," Toria told her gently. "But even our most advanced and superior warriors are having difficulty with this battle; I can feel it. It is for your own safety, Veal, for not even I have a chance against the Saiyans and Frieza's forces."
"Can't you just put them to sleep, like you did those ugly plant things?" Veal asked her.
"Not if they have higher ki levels than the plant creatures," Toria told her. "And being a Priestess, I am not allowed to fight physically or shed blood. Now we must hurry, little Meatian, for my family needs our help."
Bendros was nearing Vegeta, who continued to taunt Tayla about his victory over her. Tayla repeatedly called the Saiyan Prince a variety of unladylike names that she normally did not use (all learned from Alora, who would have been embarrassed at how much of her coarse vocabulary her plucky and youngest sister-in-law had picked up from her):
"Bastarden Monken Princen! Filti Rojalen Swien! Prickien! Stenchi Monken Swien! Princen Uv Completi Monkens!" (Bastard Monkey Prince! Filthy Royal Swine! Prick! Smelly Monkey Swine! Prince of All Monkeys!) On Astoria, "monkey" and "swine" were among the worst names imaginable to call anyone.
Bendros heard some of Tayla's blue vocabulary and he would have laughed, if she hadn't been in danger. Even his Aunt Alora (whom Bendros suspected that Tayla learned the words from) would have been shocked, and Alora was not easy to shock. Tayla's prim and proper sisters, Gracina and Gorna, would have fainted dead away, even though they themselves had occasionally used the word, "bastard" or "monkey". Bajal and Lektron would have just laughed, seeing nothing wrong with Tayla knowing a few dirty words. Bendros emitted a chuckle before he could stop himself, as he wondered how Shalila or Dirkan would have reacted.
"Insult me all you like," Vegeta told her casually, although he was secretly bristling at being called a monkey and a bastard. The brat would pay for it later. Vegeta never suspected that a Princess of Chloe knew such foul language; from what he knew of Astorian royals, he had always thought that they were a puritanical bunch. At least that was what his father had told him.
Finally Bendros reached Vegeta, with Journa in hot pursuit. Raditz had stopped chasing his newfound cousin to "take care" of the rest of Tayla's family members, take care of course as in destroying them.
"Let her go!" Bendros ordered Vegeta.
Vegeta waved him away arrogantly and said to his sister, "Journa, get rid of him immediately; I don't have time to play with him."
"With pleasure," Journa told him, not caring much if he was her mate's cousin; Raditz wouldn't miss him that much. Journa threw herself at Bendros, punching him hard in his face. Bendros fell back, but he quickly recovered, kicking Journa in her shins. Journa leapt at her opponent, wrapping one of her arms around his neck and catching him a stranglehold that Bendros struggled to break.
Bendros electrocuted her, and Journa screamed out, having never been electrocuted before in her life. The volts of electricity shot throughout her body, and she was stunned, not sure how to react. Bendros wasted no time in taking advantage, as he hit her hard in her back with both fists, shoving her out of the sky. Journa swiftly near the ground, but she began to recover, as she rose back into the air. When she reached Bendros again, Bendros punched her in her cheek, while she kicked him in his stomach. A melee of punches and kicks between them ensued, with them both fighting evenly. She slammed her fist into Bendros' side hard, making him cry out, but she didn't cripple him enough to prevent him from shoving his fist into her chest, denting her armor. Bendros then hit her again in her stomach, this time, putting a hole in her armor, and then he threw his hands back. Before Journa knew it, Bendros emitted a scarf of pure ki from his hands and swiftly wrapped it around her.
"Rings of Saturn Scarf!" he cried out. Journa cried out, as the energy-draining scarf began to bleed her ki away from her. Vegeta knew then that he had to intervene, for no Saiyan had ever been able to fight off a Rings of Saturn Scarf draining attack without some help. Wasting no time, he flew away from Tayla while Bendros was floating in air, robbing Journa of her ki with Rings of Saturn Scarf. He swiftly speeded up behind Bendros and hit him hard in the back of his head, and this eradicated the Rings of Saturn Scarf attack. Bendros nearly fell out of the sky, but he didn't. Journa was free once more.
"Thanks!" she shouted at her brother.
"Fine, now finish him off," Vegeta ordered her. "I have other matters to attend to. Don't let him trap you like that again."
But just as Vegeta was returning to Tayla, he was greeted with a sharp blow to his face. He growled when he saw who had attacked him.
"Shalila Chloe! How in the hell did you get free?" he demanded to know of a very angry Superior Gran when he saw that she no longer had the ki-restraining cuffs on her wrists.
Shalila scowled and said, "You stay away from my granddaughter! Deal with me!"
"How did you get free of the ki cuffs?" Vegeta roared, and then he felt his body for something. To his horror, the small control box that controlled the ki levels of the cuff wearers was missing. He looked around frantically, and while he did, Shalila slammed her fist into his jaw, nearly shoving him out of the sky. Vegeta fell down several dozen feet before he stopped-right in front of Dedron, whom too had his cuffs removed.
"Looking for trouble, monkey? You found it-in me!" Dedron shouted, eager for revenge, as he kicked Vegeta hard in his stomach. Vegeta then punched Dedron in his nose hard, causing Dedron's nose to bleed. Dedron crashed his fist into Vegeta's stomach, and the two fighters began to kick and punch each other with their best martial arts moves that they both knew.
While this was going on, Dirkan threw the control box into the air, the same control box that had controlled his ki levels when he had been wearing the ki-restraining collar, and he blew it up with a blink of his eye, using his eye lasers. He was grateful that they had figured out how to free their cuffs with that control box. Surprisingly enough, it had been Petalia who had helped them, for it had been she who had found the control box that Vegeta had dropped during his last battle with Tayla. Petalia had hurried over to Dirkan, and Dirkan had remembered seeing such a box; it was similar to the ones that Queen Frost had invented for the ki-restraining collars. He had been able to figure out how to work it, and within ten minutes, he had pressed the right buttons, the buttons that turned off the cuffs of the others and his collar. Once that was done, Shalila, Dedron, and Rojal had no problems with breaking the awful cuffs off of their wrists with just a rip at each cuff. Rojal and Dirkan were now fighting Raditz, with the fight fairly even between all three of them. At this time, they were using kicks and punches to fight each other.
Meanwhile, Shalila was trying to figure out how to free Tayla from the ki cuffs that Vegeta had used to pin the girl to the cliff. "Hang in there, Tayla," she told her comfortingly.
"Yes, Nama," Tayla whispered. "Thank you and everyone else." Shalila stroked her cheek.
Finally, after a few minutes, Shalila realized that she wasn't going to pull off Tayla's cuffs physically (that little bastard prince did an excellent job of restraining her). She told Tayla firmly, "Tayla, I will get your restraints off of you, but this may hurt for a minute or two."
"That's okay," Tayla assured her. "I don't want to be trapped here anymore."
Shalila backed away from her granddaughter, and levitating in air, she held out her hands out, palms facing upwards towards the sky, as if she were about to receive something from above. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments, and after those moments had passed, five small lavender ki balls, each the size of mothballs floated above Shalila's open hands. Shalila juggled the ki balls for a few moments, and then, like an experienced baseball pitcher, she threw each of the ki balls at Tayla, with each ki packet hitting the cuffs confining her granddaughter. Tayla cried out in pain, as the ki balls quickly burned away the cuffs, for the ki balls were also burning her wrists, ankles, and neck as well. A few moments later, Tayla had scorched wrists, ankles, and a neck, but she was free of the awful restraints that Vegeta had inflicted on her. She and Nama flew to each other and embraced, and Shalila looked sorrowfully at Tayla's burned body parts. She was sorry that she had to cause her granddaughter pain, but it had been the only way that she knew to free her.
Tayla winced at the burns, but she had no time to pay much attention to them. She whispered a thank-you to her grandmother, and both ladies decided that it was time to end this battle with the Saiyans once and for all.
While Shalila had been freeing Tayla, Bendros and Journa were still fighting each other with kicks and punches. Bendros threw Journa into a nearby cliff, with Journa's body crashing into the rocky side; her body created a hole in the cliff that was five feet deep. Journa wasted no time in flying back out of the cliff, as she rose in the air. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits, ready to launch a Four Finger Flash attack.
Before Bendros could reach her, Journa screamed out, "FOUR FINGER FLASH!" Four red ki lasers flew towards Bendros, but Bendros quickly crossed his wrists together in a Mirror Shield position.
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
Journa cried out in horror, as Bendros' Mirror Shield attack deflected her Four Finger Flash attack right back at her. As her own attack flew towards her, Bendros chased it, and with one swipe of his hand, he hit the ki attack further towards her, so that it would crash into Journa and cause her more damage.
The extra effort on Bendros' part was successful, for Journa's own ki attack collided into her own body. Journa screamed, as her Four Finger Flash attack, meant for Bendros, was being used to defeat her. The ki from her own attack engulfed her body, burning her, scorching her, making her body temperature rise almost a hundred degrees hotter than what it should have been. The ki power shoved her out of the sky hard, causing her to crash into the ground hard, creating a gigantic crater the size of half of the city of Magan. When the smoke and dust cleared, Journa was lying facedown in the crater, barely alive and very much unconscious. No more trouble could be expected from her; Bendros had won that battle, and Journa was out of the war.
The battle between Rojal, Dirkan and Raditz had taken a turn for the worst-for Raditz, that is. Dirkan continued to fire his eye lasers at Raditz, while Rojal fired small whitish-blue ki lasers at their Saiyan nemesis with his hands. Raditz was now greatly weakened, but he had some strength left, enough to hold his own. The longhaired Saiyan flew away from his opponents and launched a gigantic ki blast, (similar to Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, only it was done with two hands in ninety-degree angles instead of one), which would have crippled both fighters severely; had not Rojal intervened at the last minute, they possibly would have been taken out of the fighting themselves.
Rojal crossed his wrists in Mirror Shield position and cried out, "MIRROR SHIELD!" just as Raditz's ki ball was flying towards him and Dirkan. Rojal raced in front of Raditz's ki ball, and using his Mirror Shield, he deflected it right back onto the already destabilized Raditz. Before Raditz could escape, his own ki attack enveloped him, catching him in a burning ball of light. When the light dissipated, Raditz was severely burned and damaged. He cried out in anger, but before he could retaliate, Dirkan came up behind him and hit him hard in the back of his head with such a sharp blow that it instantly knocked Raditz out and sent him crashing into an already wrecked bakery that was sitting on the outskirts of Magan.
When Raditz fell through the steel roof of the bakery, his large body landed in a giant vat of donut batter that had not mixed properly. It had been a softer landing for him than it had been for his mate, but he was as badly hurt now as she was. Raditz moaned softly, as he slowly came out of his unconscious state. He raised his head, and it was coated with sticky donut batter and flour. There was also chocolate in the batter, and Raditz licked the chocolate donut batter off of his fingers, as he slowly began to pass out again.
"Not bad; Calmags sure make good chocolate," he murmured, as he passed out once and for all in his sweet and sticky new bed. Chocolate saliva dribbled from his mouth, as his head fell against the steel side of the mixing vat.
Dedron was not faring as well in his fighting, as Bendros, Rojal, and Dirkan had been. Vegeta continued to punch and kick his Astorian opponent, even though Dedron was near the point of collapse. Dedron had been holding up well for a while, until Vegeta had launched a Big Bang attack at him, which crippled the bulky Astorian prince so much that his ki was greatly reduced by half. Dedron's attacks were now careless and desperate, with half of his ki attacks missing the Saiyan prince, and his punches and kicks were not as hard or as damaging. Finally Vegeta decided that he was tired of playing with the burly Astorian and decided to finish him off once and for all.
He punched Dedron hard in his face again, this time sending the boy crashing near the ground. Before Dedron could fly up and retaliate against his Saiyan opponent, Vegeta fired a Final Flash attack at him, an attack that would kill the already weakened Dedron once and for all.
Dedron nearly screamed in horror, as Vegeta's Final Flash attack neared him. He raised his arms and wrists in Mirror Shield position, but Dedron had too little ki in him left to successfully deflect the Final Flash attack. Knowing (and grudgingly accepting) that he was about to die, Dedron silently cursed Vegeta just before the Final Flash attack came within range of him.
But Dedron would not die that day...
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
Within seconds, Vegeta's Final Flash attack left Dedron and to Vegeta's astonishment and terror, collided into him, thrusting him into the same cliff where he had captured Tayla. Vegeta's body smashed into the wall of the chalky cliff several hundred feet, leaving a giant hole that was discharging clouds of dust and smoke.
Outside of the cliff, a panting Tayla was struggling to catch her breath after using Mirror Shield on the Saiyan prince. Dedron just stared at her, gawking in amazement. Shalila flew to their side, and she quickly inquired about their health.
Dedron gasped for air, and Tayla asked him, "Are you okay?" She wasn't fond of Dedron, but he was her nephew, after all. Family was family.
Dedron wheezed, and he was caught between gratitude that he was still alive and anger that Tayla had intervened in his battle. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, almost had him too, just was about to eradicate him," he said huffily. "If you hadn't stopped him, I eventually would have myself; I just needed time, yes that's it, just needed time. You just delayed the inevitable, Tayla; Vegeta was just a monkey; anyone could have destroyed him. Another minute or two, and he would have been mine. Believe me, I knew what I was doing; I had everything under control; I would have killed him myself within less than a minute. Not bad, but I didn't really need your help..."
Tayla sighed wearily; she hadn't really expected any show of gratitude from Dedron, but his attempt at salvaging his pride was ridiculous. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything that she might regret later on; she was too tired now to argue with Dedron. Dedron's pride had been wounded more than anything else, and he was trying to restore it. Shalila just patted her on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze and Tayla an exhausted smile. Tayla smiled back weakly at her.
Of course Vegeta wasn't defeated that easily. While Dedron had been boasting that he could have taken care of the arrogant Saiyan prince himself, Vegeta had crawled out of the hole that he had made himself when Tayla had sent him crashing into the cliff. Now he was flying back towards the three Astorians, determined to finish them off once and for all. Immediately he charged at Tayla, and Tayla had to ready herself for him quickly. Within minutes, they were back to kicking and punching each other, with each punch and kick landing harder and harder on each other.
Vegeta kicked Tayla hard in her stomach, but Tayla, within seconds of that kick, slammed her tiny fist hard into Vegeta's nose, and this time it was Vegeta who had the bloody nose. He swiftly wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
The brat made me bleed, I don't believe it, she actually made me bleed, Vegeta thought to himself. He wasn't finished with her yet, however. He quickly seized Tayla before she could escape him, and he managed to grab one small wrist. Tayla struggled in Vegeta's grip, trying to prevent him from grabbing her other wrist. She then decided to electrocute the Saiyan prince once more, and Vegeta screamed aloud when the volts of electricity ran throughout his body. His hair was singed and his clothes and armor were slightly scorched. Had Vegeta been a Human or another weaker creature, he would have already been dead, but he was the strongest of his line, and while he was more damaged than before, he was still in the game. Tayla had freed herself from Vegeta's grasp, and she flew away from him as fast as she could.
"What's the matter?" Vegeta called after her. "Decided to finally run away?"
Tayla ignored him for the time being, as she rose higher into the air. Vegeta pursued her, just as Tayla was gathering her ki together for a Blitzer attack. She decided to finally put to use what Kami Orchida had taught her about life-force manipulation and using it to bolster ki attacks. What command of life-force manipulation that Tayla had she had used in her earlier fight with Balair. Tayla took a deep breath and began to power up, quietly summoning her life force to help her. She felt her ki increase, as she used her own life force as a backup battery. Her ki increased to twice its normal level. She had to hurry and use it quickly however, for the drawback to life force manipulation was that it couldn't be drawn on forever. The increased surge in ki would not last for long in someone who had been as damaged as badly as she had.
Vegeta was near her, preparing to launch another Final Flash attack. Tayla knew that she would have to act quickly, for keeping up her life force to power her up was already taking its toll on her young body. She crossed her wrists again in an X position and held her hands open-faced towards Vegeta in clamshell positions. She took a deep breath and drew her hands and wrists back and cried out:
"BLITZER!"
And at the same time, Vegeta launched his attack, shouting:
"FINAL FLASH!"
Tayla's Blitzer attack and Vegeta's Final Flash attack collided into each other; it happened the same as before, with the huge explosion of white-blue light that blinded the casters and the others for several minutes. Finally the smoke and the light cleared, and while Vegeta was rubbing his eyes, Tayla flew away from him again, as she gathered her ki and life force once more.
Vegeta was charging up for another Final Flash attack while Tayla stopped and put her hands together in a praying position the same way that she had done when she had been battling Balair. She gathered even more energy, as she pulled her hands back against her chest while they were still in praying position with her elbows sticking outward. Once again, she ripped her hands away from each other until her palms were exposed. She held her hands at a ninety-degree angle that was similar to the position that Vegeta used in his Big Bang attack, threw them back again in that same position, and then she shot two silvery-blue bursts of radiance out of her palms. The sharp whistling sound in the air whirred, as the bolts of bright, blinding light zipped towards Vegeta. One bolt of ki shot towards his upper chest, but the other bolt flew past him.
Vegeta screamed, as the first bolt of ki (which was much more painful and damaging than Tayla's previous attacks because of her life force backing it) slammed into his body and sent volts of electricity much more shocking and stinging than any of the times that Tayla had electrocuted him. Before the Saiyan prince knew it, the ki stream that flew away turned around a few feet behind him and exploded into his back faster than a comet. The first ki blast struck Vegeta's chest at the same time that the second ki blast shot him in behind. The ki shots collided into each other, after shooting through his sternum and spine, and when the ki blasts met each other in Vegeta's body, electric currents stronger than anything that Vegeta had ever experienced ran throughout his body. Vegeta screamed in terror, as he began to fry.
When the attack had dissipated, Tayla wasted no time in firing a Blitzer attack at him; she had to be as merciless as he had been towards her now. Tayla used most of what ki that she had left to build up her Blitzer attack. The Blitzer attack smashed into Vegeta's back and pushed him out of the sky with the strength and impact of a meteorite hitting him. Vegeta yelled in pain and fear, as his body collided with the hard ground, and his landing was much more painful than Journa's or Raditz's had been, for he slammed into-a parked garbage air truck, the side of the truck instead of the garbage. At least at first, he had been in the side of the truck, but Vegeta's body seared through the side of the truck and right into the garbage, causing the whole truck to tip over. The air truck, which had been abandoned by its owner and still left running exploded into flames, smoke and smelly garbage and Vegeta's body was once again thrown into the air. This time, he finally fell through the roof of a glasshouse, smashing dozens of vegetables beneath his body.
Many of Vegeta's bones were broken, but the Saiyan prince was still alive-barely. Vegeta tried to get up again, but this time he couldn't manage the effort. His body had been burned, cut, and scarred. The brat would pay for this! Vegeta hated to admit it, but the scrawny Princess of Chloe had once again defeated him. He would have to face her again another time; even he knew when to admit defeat-for the time being anyway. He'd have his revenge on her yet.
Before he passed out into unconsciousness, he sent a message on his scouter (which amazingly enough was still working) to Journa, Raditz and Nappa. He wasn't sure if any of them were still alive, but he had to find out.
"Journa, Raditz, Nappa, if you three are still breathing, once you manage to get to your feet again, the order is to retreat!" Vegeta hated saying this and admitting defeat, but he knew that if he went on any further, Tayla would kill him the next time that she launched a successful attack at him. Besides, when he recovered from his wounds, he would be stronger than ever, and he would definitely have his revenge on Tayla Chloe. His brute strength at the time had been much greater than hers, but she was faster with her ki attacks than he had been. But one day, one day, he would even up the score with the Astorian princess.
"Don't think that this is over yet, Tayla!" he choked out before passing out. "One day, when you least expect it, I will defeat you! And you will bow to me and admit that I am stronger, more superior! One day, Tayla, one day! I won't forget this! If you think-"
Vegeta's eyes closed, allowing him to slip into a welcoming black void that would shield him from his extreme pain.
Shalila had to catch Tayla's body, as Tayla began to faint. The child must have used up most of what life force that she had in those two final attacks on Vegeta. Tayla landed in her Nama's arms, and Shalila held her close to her bosom. She kissed Tayla's dusty brow.
"Is it over, Nama?" Tayla asked tiredly.
"The battle is, dandelion, but the war isn't," Shalila told her gravely, and a weary Tayla fainted completely this time in her grandmother's arms, fully drained of all of her ki.
A/N: Of course none of the Saiyans are dead, but they have essentially been defeated for now. Tayla and her family still have much trouble on their hands, for there are the Top Elite officers to deal with now, and they are stronger and harder to defeat than the Saiyans were. The war is still far from over yet, and there are diamond statues of people to be brought back to life that Toria and Tayla must attend to. How will the Astorians react when they find out that Top Elite is slowly taking over the Calmagian royal castle? Will Toria and Tayla save those who have been turned into diamond statues in time?
And what about those trapped in the Calmagian castle? Will any of them be able to survive or escape, especially Natala, Hazel, and Caline. Will they be rescued? Too soon to tell yet, and the war could go either way. The bigger battles are coming up ahead, but first there are diamond statues to turn back into people. Find out what happens next in Chapter Seventy-One: Restoration (which should be posted in one to four days from now).
P.S. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about Chestra, and as for Be Careful For What You Wish For, I am in a major writer's block for that one, but I will try to come up for something for that story as soon as I can. 'Til then, see you later, and I hope that those few of you who are reading this story are still enjoying it! R&R!
