Disclaimer: Don't own the stories I use here, sorry.
Energy flowed across time and space to join into Cryos' ever growing spirit bomb, but as fast as the bomb was growing, the odds of getting a chance of using it were growing smaller.
Cryos was helpless while he collected the energy, and his defenders were falling one after the other. No one was still conscious to help him except Kentra, and even with her strange, focused, newfound power, she still stood little chance against The One.
Even as Cryos watched, The One was beginning to overcome her powerful beam that had him pinned against the wall. With a mighty shove, he pushed it back at her.
Cryos raised his hand at the wayward beam and pulled it towards him. It wasn't easy, it was moving fast and had a lot of power behind it. But Cryos managed to redirect it from Kentra and pull it into his spirit bomb. Nearly draining his own power reserves in the process.
The One glared at him. "You will pay for that." He promised.
But at that moment Kentra rushed at him. The One moved to grab her but she spun quickly around his huge body and grabbed his elbows, holding him still. At the same time the floor exploded and Pahrac, completely forgotten in all the commotion, burst out and wrapped himself around The One's legs. "NOW CRYOS!" He yelled. "USE THE BOMB!"
"No!" Cryos shouted back, "It's not ready! I need more time!"
"There is no more time!" Kentra told him. "It's now or never!"
Cryos just clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, trying to blink the tears away.
"Aww, now isn't this just darling," said The One, "Cryos is going to sacrifice his beloved on the hope that he can complete his spirit bomb. Well it would be cruel of me to let you have these false hopes."
The One started to grow and within seconds was far too large to be held back. His giant hands grabbed Kentra and Pahrac, and he swung the mutated alien around to his face. "Perhaps you are the different Kelbrid, I sense Cryos's energy in you so you might even be immortal, but I know a place where you will not bother me for a while at least." The One opened his huge mouth and swallowed Pahrac whole!
Then he grabbed Washu and absorbed her without even stopping to gloat. The wormhole that Cryos had been drawing power from flickered and vanished.
The One held Kentra out and laughed. "Say goodbye you two. You don't even get to hope that you'll see each other in the next world since neither of you will be going there. Any last words?"
Kentra looked at Cryos with tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Cryos. But it's ok, I'm not afraid anymore. Because I know that you'll never stop fighting. You're the strongest person in the Multiverse, I know you can beat this joker!" Her skin started to ripple and flicker, both from the tears in Cryos' eyes and The One's absorption process. "Give him hell!" Were her last words, then she vanished.
It was at that moment that something is Cryos snapped. With a scream of rage the floodgates burst releasing a mighty tide of power that he didn't even know he had and filled the entire room with a blinding glow. Blades erupted as he used all his Ice-Jin powers, but it wasn't enough. His body erupted with power as he went first into Super-Sayian, then Super-Sayian two, something he had only achieved once and only for a brief time and then finally he ascended to level three.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as he launched himself at the One with the force of an exploding star.
The One tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough and took a crushing blow to the chin. Cryos rebounded off the wall and came back around for another but The One blocked him this time.
Their arms locked together as they each tried to push the other back, but it was useless, neither could budge the other so much as an atom's width.
"Well, Cryos…" The One gasped between breaths as the sweat ran down his face. "It looks like you got what you wanted: a fair fight."
"I don't want that anymore," Cryos muttered as he shoved himself back and ricocheted off the wall again, bouncing up to the top of the gigantic spirit bomb. He held out his hand and a tiny ball of green light appeared.
The One's eyes flew wide open. "You wouldn't dare! You're likely to destroy this entire system if you tried that while you're a Super-Sayian. With your power like it is, you could even split the bounds of space-time and collapse this universe. I doubt even you could survive that!"
"Do you think I care anymore? You've taken away every reason I have to live. Better for everyone in this Universe to die than let you loose in the rest of the Multiverse."
Cryos flung the tiny ball of greenish white energy down into the spirit bomb and the entire bomb started glowing the same green color. The exact color of the full moon on earth.
Almost instantly Cryos could feel the changes begin. Muscles piled on top of each other as his body swelled and grew. His teeth grew long and stuck out of his mouth before his jaw grew out to fit them. Dozens of blades shot from his skin all over his shoulders, back and head. His jaw kept growing until it didn't even appear ape-like anymore. His body took on a reptilian appearance, he looked like a gigantic biped crocodile.
Cryos leapt down to the ground as the transformation finished and he roared out loud at The One.
The One had spent his time growing as well, but he wasn't as large as Cryos, and he knew he was in serious trouble. Cryos had done something completely new, he had used both Sayian transformations at once. He was a super monster.
The One started backing away, but Cryos leapt on him with an animal roar. "CRYOS SMASH!" he screamed as his massive weight drove them both through the floor.
Cryos flew back up out of the hole and focused his rage down at The One. Volley after volley of energy pummeled The One, but Cryos still wasn't satisfied.
He dove back into the hole and grabbed The One, smashing him over his knee before hurling him into the wall.
The One lay battered and beaten, struggling to breathe, but Cryos looked around for something else to hit him with. He saw only one thing: the spirit bomb.
He grabbed the massive bomb with both hands and flung it at The One.
The One raised his hands in an attempt to stop the massive bomb, but it was useless. The all-consuming flame of pure power absorbed him and exploded in a blast so powerful that even the mindless Kelbrid battling outside stopped and looked up at the massive mushroom cloud rising into the dark sky. Then they went back to killing each other.
As the dust settled, Cryos roared and thrashed, looking for something else to vent his rage. But without the simulated moonlight, his transformation was wearing off and the rage was burning itself out.
He suddenly felt something touch his back, he almost wasn't sure if he was really feeling it until it started to move.
He grabbed at the thing clawing at his back and looked at the crab-like creature. He wasn't sure what he was looking at at first, not until it leapt from his hand and latched onto his face.
Cryos pulled at it madly but it was no use. He realized that he'd been tricked too late and The One's mind suck had already begun.
He didn't have long to regret his loss however, as within moments it was all over and Cryos' empty, but still living, body fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The creature that had done this to him crawled to the ground and began to mutate. Eventually it turned back into The One.
The One laughed. "Cryos traded his mind for power, but as he had already shown me, sometimes brain can beat shear brawn. Now to check on the rest of my guests…"
He went over to one of the few walls not reduced to rubble and pressed a hidden switch, opening the wall up to revel monitors showing every part of his fortress and it's surroundings.
The battle between the Kelbrid hives was winding down. Not because of any clear winner, but just because there weren't many of them left.
As for Vegeita, he still fought on against the robots, but he'd been backed into a corner guarding the Animorphs. The humans were still trying to fight, but only managed to battle for a few moments before being wounded and forced to demorph again.
"How fitting," Commented The One. "Vegeita always wanted to be the strongest Sayian in the Universe, now he is the last." He watched for another minute. "Enough of this, I have better things to do." He touched a control and suddenly a series of doors along the walls surrounding Vegeita opened and released more robots. Far more than there were even to start with. "That should take care of things. Now, for my base…" He looked around. "No, this will never do. I need somewhere secure where I can rebuild and launch my campaign into other Universes. Ah, of course!" He punched a few keys and a picture of a planet appeared. "Geologically stable but on a crooked orbit that will cause it to tumble into its sun with an easy push should I find something too powerful to contain. It's perfect…"
And with that he blasted off through a gaping hole in what used to be the domed roof.
All was still for a few seconds, then something moved by the far wall. It was Zon, or what was left of him anyway. The green mush mooved and squirmed forming itself into a foot tall mass that quickly hardened and split apart, disgorging a foot tall, but very alive, Zon.
Zon gave himself a quick once over before he dashed over to the still-opened wall that showed Vegeita battling the robots. He tapped a few buttons and when nothing happened he sliced deep into the control panel with his blades. Then, with a startling suddenness, the tiny but deadly machines dropped to the ground and stopped moving.
Vegeita looked around and at the robot in his hands. He ripped its head off then walked over to the elevator. Instead of riding the elevator he just ripped the car out and jumped. In only seconds he reached the bottom and was slightly disappointed to find the door already blown off.
Vegeita grabbed the tiny Zon around the neck and lifted him clear off the ground. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure," Zon admitted. "I was, dispatched early on in the fight and only recently regained awareness. It would appear that everyone else was either killed or absorbed by The One."
"And what of my grandchildren? Vegeita demanded. "Were they absorbed like the rest?"
"No, it seems that they were immune to that particular trick. Instead The One sucked out their minds, or perhaps their very souls, and left them as empty husks."
Vegeita growled and clenched his fists. "He will pay for that. I will make him suffer."
"Are you sure it is wise to go after him?" Asked Zon.
"Would you rather he escaped into another Universe where we would never catch him? And besides," Vegeita dropped Zon and sneered down at him. "Who's gonna stop me? You think you can do it small fry?"
"I suppose that all I can do is wish you good luck and Godspeed."
"I neither want nor need your sniveling condolences." Vegeita turned away from Zon and lowered his head. "But I thank you anyway…"
Zon pretended not to notice and Vegeita launched himself off after The One.
