--- --- ---
Surpassed again.
Vegeta had finally arrived at the battle. That wimp, Gremeth, had been able to knock him out from behind like a wuss, but not Vegeta was back, and was taking no prisoners. He transformed into Super Saiya-jin 3 as quickly as possible and faced all five of them. Remeth, Gremeth, Bremeth, Blemeth, and Yemeth floated in the air, their usual cackle echoing throughout the night. Lightning struck the ground and illuminated their dull bodies.
Remeth floated forward, leaving a trail of confidence behind him. The sky was pitch black, and all that could be seen were the five colors. The Muk-jin colors that were imbedded in Vegeta's mind. But he would defeat them this time. They stood no chance.
Vegeta's rain soaked fist punched at Remeth, but he was gone. Vegeta looked around for some answers but all he heard were cackles from the other four Muk-jin. Vegeta screamed and fired two blasts at Gremeth and Blemeth, but they both vanished as well. He flew straight at where they had been and looked around.
He looked up and caught the side of yellow and brown. Vegeta threw a kick at Yemeth's head, but Yemeth disappeared. He threw a spiraling yellow disc at Bremeth, and he was the last to depart. The sky was empty.
But then Vegeta saw a glow in the sky similar to his. It was golden all right, but no sort of Super Saiya-jin. It was a beast, an invincible monster bestowed upon with powers beyond belief. It screamed in rage as he sent Remeth down with a swipe of his mighty arm. The red Muk-jin hit the ground with a sickening thud; clear lifeblood spilled out of his body like a broken glass of water. Around him, the scene was the same. Four other aliens, all in a pool of their own innards.
Vegeta let out a yell that rivaled the heavens. And the clouds opened, letting the rain beat down on his body, soaking him in the chilling liquid that flowed forth from the dark abyss. A clap of thunder erupted from the sky and rebounded off of every object on Earth, all of them contributing to the explosion of sound.
This adversary had defeated him, surpassed him, and eliminated the threat. The first thought that came to Vegeta's mind was the one being who always had been one step ahead of him…
--- --- ---
Non-existent.
Chibi Trunks stood there and watched the massacre. All five Muk-jins, the definitions of his nightmares. There was nothing in particular about them that scared Trunks. They were just five colored creatures. They were perfectly humanoid; they didn't have insect-like arms or slimy skin.
But there was something about the Muk-jins that seemed to strike fear into every chamber of his heart. He didn't know what is was yet, but it seemed that each one of them had an eminence about them that just plain frightened you, and there was no easy way to explain it.
Goten lay on the ground as each alien jumped on top of him, all five of them alternating turns on driving both feet into his stomach. Goten screamed out in pain at each time they hit him, but couldn't even scream for he was choking on his own blood. Trunks powered up to Super Saiya-jin 2 and tried to attack Remeth, who was about to come down at Goten. But he went right through him. He stopped in mid-air, turned, and tried a spinning heel kick at Blemeth's head. And he went right through. They all laughed as they took turns firing multicolored painful energy blasts into Goten's defeated body. There was no remorse in their hearts, and Trunks knew that.
He tried all he could to stop them, but Trunks had no effect on the Muk-jins. Every time he went through their bodies, they pumped more energy into Goten. Trunks could feel him fading fast.
His greatest fears were imagined when all five of them formed a pentagon in the air. Trunks floated in front of Goten, willing to do anything to protect his lifelong friend. He wouldn't let these aliens, these monsters from outer space kill his friend. He was only 13 years old, and it wasn't his time to go yet.
Trunks put both hands out in front of him as a large black blast formed in the middle of their five star formation and began to grow to an incredible size. All five of them struggled to contain it, and then released it, aiming straight for Goten. Trunks screamed and with all he had he exploded into Super Saiya-jin 3 and thrust his hands forwards to stop the bomb. But the black energy ignored Trunks, and headed straight for his best friend.
--- --- ---
Don't belong.
He lay dead on the ground, his father that never was looked at him in shock, his eyes wider than ever before, but the dull black pupil never changing. From behind them a creature stood laughing, as he always was, a laugh that always had haunted Mirai Trunks. His body was covered with dark green spots, and wherever they weren't was a lighter shade of green. Two thick purple lines fenced in his face, and in the middle it was a pale white. But his face was surprisingly human, for a creature created from the cells of many warriors past. The death beam of the former tyrant, Freeza, had penetrated the weak Saiya-jin armor Vegeta had insisted Trunks wear. He fell to the ground, dead on impact.
Now here he was again. Back in the future, where his fate had once been sealed, but now was reopened to him. But once again, he was useless in this world; unable to comprehend their new powers, how Buu had changed them all into warriors he couldn't compete with. He was now below them, his greatest accomplishment being the mastery of Super Saiya-jin 2. He had become irrelevant, in a world where he didn't belong.
--- --- ---
A new responsibility.
From the two fingers held to his chest, a faint white electric spark began to sizzle. Piccolo felt a jolt of pain course through his body, realizing that the energy he was trying to control was a bit much for him.
He had fired a Makansappo before, but he had never put as much power into one. And for good reason. The long haired fiend standing in front of him was no joke. He looked exactly like a human, with what seemed like a large green eyeglass over his left eye and a slender long tail twitching around behind him. His own brother was squeezing the tail against his body. Yes, Goku (or Kakarotto, as Radditz had called him) was holding on to his brother for dear life, waiting with anticipation for the moment that Piccolo would release his deadly Makansappo and send them both into the Afterlife. Sweat poured down his forehead. He wished he didn't have to wait so long, it seemed that the Namek-jin had been charging the relatively small beam for days.
Piccolo continued to grunt as the Makansappo began to take form in his hand. Seconds later, it was finished. He fired.
Piccolo would never forget the way Goku's Gi had begun to push outwards from behind, then burst with the power from his beam. From that day forward, Piccolo and Goku had been allies in a war against evil. But Piccolo had never played a major part again. Yes, he had done well to delay Freeza's second form, and put a hold on Android 17. But Piccolo never really had a great responsibility in helping the Z-Senshi after the fall of Freeza.
But now, now the dragon balls' power was vested in him. He kept the seven orange globes alive, glinting in the light, so they could make their wishes. His role had been chosen.
--- --- ---
Fearful of the anger.
All of his friends lay on the ground. They were not dead, just unconscious, and could easily recover. But only if the enemy was destroyed. The dark being floated in the air, pointing at Gohan.
There was no devious laugh, a trait all previous villains had shown. No energy was felt from it, and no emotion. It showed no fear nor anger, joy or sadness. The creature was nothing at all, a shadow of itself.
But Gohan knew what it was. It was not one but five. Five, a number that would lurk in the depths of Gohan's mind, sneaking through his subconscious. And it scared Gohan. He wanted to know what this shadow was, what it was made up of, and why it was here. But everything was unclear to Gohan. No questions could be answered, and none could be asked. It was a time of nothingness.
Gohan was the last warrior left. The only way to defeat this "shadow" was to unleash the depths of his anger, more than he ever had before. But could the creature cause Gohan's power source to come alive. Or would it just push him deeper and deeper into the depression, the thought that he could never unleash his true potential, and never reveal his true self? Would he ever be able to?
--- --- ---
Vegeta, Chibi Trunks, Mirai Trunks, Piccolo, and Gohan regained consciousness, escaping their dreams. They glared up at the sky, eyes locked on the full moon.