Chapter five - The power of a Sai-jin

The one called Orion turned to face Trunks. "Thought you could use a little help." he said grinning. "I'm a lot stronger than Adam or these Zero's."

Trunks smiled. "So am I." There was a brilliant flash of gold as he transformed into a Super Sai-jin. He turned from Orion to catch a glimpse of Morgan. He gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to face Adam. "Now, I'm going to give you one chance to leave this city for good." he said calmly.

"I'm not afraid of any Human!" Adam shouted jumping in at Trunks at high speeds. As he tore through the air he caused massive shockwaves to ripple through the restaurant flipping over several tables. He cocked back a fist and swung with all his force. Trunks merely raised the index finger of his right hand and stopped Adam's punch dead in it's tracks.

"Sorry." he whispered into the Android's ear. "But I'm not Human, I'm a Sai-jin." Adam started to pull back so he could launch another attack but Trunks's fist slammed into his face sending him crashing out through the doors of the restaurant where he came to a rest in the street. Trunks walked slowly out to the street where Adam was just getting up. "Back where I come from there aren't any more Androids. I destroyed them all seven years ago. I think it's about time I do the same here."

Adam finally managed to get to his feet, a thick black liquid seeping from his nose. "What the hell are you!" he cried.

"I told you, I'm a Sai-jin." He vanished to reappear a second later, his fist buried in Adam's stomach. "Well, actually, I'm a Super Sai-jin." he said in his ear. Adam stumbled back a few steps still glaring at Trunks. The Sai-jin shook his head slowly. "I'll give you one last chance to leave here." he said calmly.

Adam responded by thrusting his right arm forward and blasting all his energy at Trunks. The red and white stream of energy tore over Trunks's body and head for a moment before the Android ran dry. When the attack faded away it revealed Trunks still standing there with only a few tears in his tux. He raised his right arm and pointed his open palm at Adam. The Android's eyes went wide as the golden energy surged forth and engulfed him. A moment later nothing remained of the Android.

With Adam defeated, Trunks turned to look behind him. Several spectators shrunk away from him but Morgan came running out of the building and right into his arms where she broke down leaning against his chest. He held her tight as Orion emerged from the building as well. "You're stronger than I expected." Orion said with a nod. "The others have been destroyed as well. I think it would be best if we left now." he said glancing around.

Trunks wasn't to sure of him yet, and wasn't sure what to do with the still crying Morgan. After a moment of thought he figured Gloria would be able to calm the girl and that he could trust Orion. He nodded, powered down out of Super Sai-jin, and lifted into the air still holding on to Morgan. The girl clung to him tightly as they sped through the air, Orion following behind him.

Duro's Planet

"Yeah! Alright Trunks!" Gohan cheered from where he stood. Vegeta just grinned.

"You know, we should be training." Goku said. "Just incase we need to go help him we should be ready."

Vegeta turned to look at Goku. "You know Kakkarotto, I never did get my re-match while we were still alive and I've yet to find an opponent who I could test the limits of my Super Sai-jin powers on."

Krillin whistled from the side-lines and moved away from the two Sai-jins. "Yo everyone!" he called out to the crowd. "You thought Gohan and Goku's spars were dangerous to be near? I suggest everyone gives these two some room!"

Vegeta smirked as the gathered crowd did as the short man suggested. "So Kakkarotto, what do you say?"

"Sure Vegeta, I want to see just how far you've come." Goku said grinning. "I can't wait."

/That's just like Dad./ Gohan thought ginning. /Always ready for a challenge even if he's not sure how strong his opponent is./

You're right about that. Came Piccolo's voice inside Gohan's head. But I don't think Vegeta's going to be able to handle Goku, not with the power he's gained.

I Don't know about that. Was Gohan's mental reply. You know how Vegeta gets, you saw the way he trained before Dad got back from Namek.

Piccolo grunted. You've got a point, though I'm not sure if I want to see Vegeta stronger than Goku. He grinned over at Gohan and the half Sai-jin returned it. They both knew this would be a very good match indeed.

Suddenly Pikkon stepped up beside Goku. "Mind if I go first?" he asked. "It'll be nice to have a new sparring partner who can keep up."

Vegeta diverted his attention to Pikkon now. Still, he noticed the look on Goku's face. /He seems as excited about this idea as he was with fighting me himself. This guy must be good.../ "It's fine by me, but Goku's next."

Pikkon moved out from the Grand Kai's palace and Vegeta followed. The other inhabitants stayed a few yards back of where Goku and the others stood to watch. Pikkon adjusted his weighted clothing as he gauged Vegeta's current power, a skill he'd learned from Goku and his friends. They seemed fairly even at the moment but he could tell Vegeta wasn't at his full power just yet.

Pikkon slid into a fighting stance as Vegeta did the same. There was a flash of purple as Vegeta took to the offensive. There was a crack as Pikkon's arm came up and blocked the blow. They continued to trade blows as they lifted into the air. A moment later they pulled apart and surged in at each other again. Each swung their right fists and each fist was caught by the other's left hand.

Energy danced around them and arced between them as they struggled for control. "You're pretty good." Vegeta said licking his lips. "But I expected better out of someone Goku seems to admire. Though his tastes never were the greatest." Vegeta smirked as he pulled back his head. Suddenly it surged forward and in a flash of gold light he transformed into a Super Sai-jin just as his head smacked into Pikkon's. The long dead warrior went careening backwards several hundred yards before flipping over and landing with a hard thud.

"Straight to the fun eh?" Pikkon said grinning. This put Vegeta back on edge and made him a bit more cautious again. For someone so out classed in power Pikkon didn't seem all that worried. Suddenly the green warrior began to remove his head gear and robes.

"Weights!" Vegeta cried in surprise. "You were putting out that much power and you were wearing weights!" Vegeta glanced over to Goku and saw the glimmer in the Sai-jins eyes. That glimmer told him that his fight was far from over with this dead alien. A moment later the weights, all wrapped up in a nice neat bundle, crashed at Vegeta's feet. The Super Sai-jin bent down to pick them up and struggled slightly in lifting them. It took a few seconds but he picked them up with relative ease after powering up a little further. "Very impressive." Vegeta said holding them a moment longer, then he pitched them to the side. "Alright, round two!"

Two streams of energy, one golden and the other a shimmering blue, surged at each other across Duro's planet. There were several thunderous crashes as the two clashed while passing. And then they were past each other and turning around for another pass. This time they met head on in a massive explosion of energy. Vegeta crashed a hard right hook into Pikkon's face which sent the warrior spinning. Pikkon used the momentum to throw a spinning kick into Vegeta's head which knocked the dead Sai-jin into the ground hard.

Vegeta stood, a little blood running down his lip. He charged in at Pikkon again but was blasted backward by a rush of energy as Pikkon lifted himself out of the ground. Vegeta did back flips through the air for a second before regaining his control. As he did he caught Pikkon going through a series of motions. Then he heard the alien call out. "Thunder Flash Attack!"

"Alright then!" he cried changing position and charging his own attack as the fire like energy surged toward him. Purple energy danced with-in Vegeta's hands as he quickly charged his attack. "Gallic Gun!" he cried releasing the purple energy. The two streams of energy collided head on only a few hundred feet from Vegeta. At first there was a stale mate as neither beam budged. However a shimmering blue aura flared up around Pikkon as he forced his power higher. "What! That's impossible!" Vegeta cried in shock as Pikkon's attack began to over power his own. The beam neared faster and faster and Vegeta dug down into his power. In a flash he transformed to the second level and the Gallic Gun tore through Pikkon's attack. There was an explosion as it slammed into Pikkon and sent him reeling backwards to come crashing down to the planet with a thud. He slid several yards further gouging out a trench in the rocks before finally coming to a rest.

Supreme Kai's Planet

The Kai's were all in shock at the display of power put out by both Pikkon and Vegeta. Both warriors were stronger than all the gathered Grand Kai's. "Pikkon was my strongest warrior for over three hundred years." Duro explained. "And until Goku came along, the strongest mortal period. Now that honor goes to Goku."

Rain shook her head. "They had to have incredible powers at birth..." she whispered.

Duro smiled. "Nope. The Sai-jins had these nifty things called scouters that measured powers. To give you a quick idea the average human power is about five. I'd say I'm around about two hundred million or so. Anyway, Goku only had a power of two when he was born. Vegeta, on the other hand, was at about two thousand."

"You're saying they've come this far along? How long have they been dead?" Ragar asked.

"A little over twenty five years." Duro said with a grin. The other's stared at him in shock.

Gloria's Mansion

Trunks landed softly and silently on the dark front porch of Gloria's mansion and slowly set Morgan down on her feet. He heard Orion touch down behind him. Morgan looked up at him nervous. "W-what just happened back there?" she asked still choking back sobs.

"I'll explain once we're inside okay?" Trunks said gently. She nodded as Trunks turned to look back at Orion. "Are you coming in as well?"

"I've no where else to go." he replied.

Trunks nodded and opened the front door. James was already standing there waiting. "I just heard about what happened on the news, I'm so sorry your date was crashed."

"It's okay." Trunks said leading Morgan in. "We'll just have to reschedule. Where's Gloria?"

"Back with Herman in the lab. They're working on the Serum, seems they've finally gotten the right mixture and they're in the process of producing it now."

Trunks nodded and lead both of his companions through the halls to where the lab was. As the door opened Gloria and Herman turned to look. "Morgan?" Gloria said in shock at seeing the girl.

"We were tracked somehow." Trunks explained. "I dealt with it, with some help from Orion here."

"Hello Gloria. It's been a while." Orion said with a bow.

"Biodroid Five?" She was shocked to see him again. Especially outside of Kahn's base. "So it's true then, Nine has control?"

Trunks glanced back at him. /Biodroid? And she knows him? I'll have to ask about that.../

"He prefers Omega now, but yes. Six and I have also taken on names. I'm Orion now and she's Sheba."

"Where is she?"

"Still at the base I'm afraid. She's not sure yet if she wants to help me or Omega. You know she got the worst treatment after she was created. They kept trying to activate her Adaptation Gene. Never did pull it off with her but they did succeed with Omega. That's probably what's made him like he is."

"You still haven't explained what's going on!" Morgan pleaded.

Trunks sat her down on a chair and then looked over at Orion. "You should hear this as well." He took a deep breath and explained to them both who he was, where he was from, how he had gotten there, and what was going on.

Morgan just stared at him in shock for several minutes. "An... alien?"

"Half." Trunks said with a light nod.

Morgan's mind was having trouble grasping that concept at the moment. She'd only ever heard of one alien race, the Zanamar. But those things were man shaped bugs, they didn't look the least Human. She managed at last, "At my... my party..."

Trunks nodded. "I'd just arrived here, felt some power's fading. When I got there your attackers were gone and you were the... only one still alive."

Orion stepped forward. "I can understand how she feels, but we have bigger problems. Omega's going to come after us, both. Plus he's building something he calls Android Twelve, it's a remote operated Android of some kind that will be stronger than everyone except him. It's got some features that he wont let anyone know about too... I don't like it."

"You know where Khan's base is right?" Trunks asked standing up from where he'd knelt beside Morgan.

"I do."

Trunks smirked. "Good. We hit him first then. Hard. First thing tomorrow."

"I can't let you do that." Gloria said shaking her head. "You said yourself that Omega's stronger than you are. You're not going after him until I've finished this Serum."

"We don't even know if it'll work. Besides, there's a chance I can break through to the next level on my own..."

Gloria shook her head. "It's too risky. Please, just wait a few more days until it's ready. If anything happens you can handle it. Okay?"

Trunks sighed as he glanced at Morgan again. He could see the fear in her eyes, not for her, but for him. It was then he realized that he and her friend were all the girl had left. /Kind of like mom. Chi-Chi and I are all she has.../ "Alright, I'll wait a few days. But no longer than a week. Deal?"

Gloria nodded. "Deal."

Duro's Planet

Goku and Vegeta were now staring each other down, the former having ascended to the second level as well to keep up with Vegeta. Everyone was watching in awe as the two rivals sized each other up. Their power was unbelievable. "So Kakkarotto, you ready to get the death beaten out of you?"

Goku grinned. "You've picked up a sense of humor I see." He tilted his neck slightly and it popped. Suddenly the warriors vanished. Flashes of light lit up the sky as thunderous cracks echoed across the planet. None present were able to watch the colossal battle completely, except for Pikkon. The warrior did his best to give a play-by-play of the raging match which was almost to fast for him to see. The warriors on Duro's planet weren't the only ones unable to view the spectacular fight. The gathered Grand Kai's were also at a loss for the unfolding events. Only the Supreme Kai was able to view the battle with ease.

Vegeta launched a round house at Goku's head which connected with a thunderous crack. Goku spun out of control for a moment before vanishing as a fist passed through the space he'd been in. He re-appeared above Vegeta and brought his fists down atop the other Sai-jin's head sending him careening toward the ground. Inches from impact Vegeta launched back into the air where the two started trading blows again. "This is what I've waited for!" Vegeta cried launching another hard right at Goku's head. "Just you and me, an entire planet to fight on, this is it! This is our battle Kakkarotto!"

"Oh boy..." Krillin said watching the flashes of light in the sky. "I think the spar's over people, Vegeta's pride just kick in!"

Gohan nodded. Vegeta had never gotten his rematch in the living world and it looked like he was after it now. These two were liable to cause some damage to the Grand Kai's planet before they were finished. /Unless dad takes it up to the next level... but knowing him, he wont./

"You've gotten a lot stronger Vegeta." Goku said blocking a kick and launching his own.

"More than you know!" cried Vegeta firing a volley of KI blasts as he pulled away from Goku. Vegeta's body shimmered a moment before two Vegeta's suddenly launched at Goku, one to the right and the other to the left. Goku looked around at the two trying to figure out which was real, or if both were. He threw a punch at the left Vegeta which passed right through him. Quickly he turned to block the other but it vanished as well and Vegeta's foot slammed into the back of Goku's head knocking the Sai-jin into the ground.

Goku quickly flipped back up onto his feet cupping his hands at his side. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Meeeeeeeeeee!" Vegeta floated up to a higher point and spread his arms apart as he began to gather energy into his own attack. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Meeeeeeeeeeeeee! HAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku thrust his arms upward firing the brilliant blue energy wave.

Vegeta thrust his arms out and down. "Final Flash!" The two attacks met mid-way and instantly hit a stand-off over the trembling planet. Both Sai-jins pushed their powers to the max but the beams refused to budge a moment longer. And then the Kamehameha began to push back against Vegeta's Final Flash. "Oh no you don't Kakkarotto!" Vegeta cried down. "I'm not losing to you again! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" His aura flashed and flared brilliantly completely engulfing him. The entire planet began to shake violently now as Vegeta's power began to push higher and higher. The Final Flash grew larger in size and began to push back against Goku's Kamehameha.

There was one last scream from Vegeta as the energy around him exploded outward ripping a crater into the ground a hundred yards below him. The Final Flash tore forward shredding through the Kamehameha like it was only paper. Goku's eyes widened in shock and he braced himself for the coming hit. The golden stream of energy slammed into the planet with a thunderous crack and massive explosion which knocked everyone off their feet.

Through the dust and debris Gohan could see Vegeta floating high in the air. Long golden hair flowing down his back and a smug grin on his face. /No way! Vegeta's ascended to the third level too!/ As he began pulling himself to his feet the dust cloud around his father began to swirl around like a tornado. Golden light began to seep through the dust as Goku's screams began to carry across the planet. Vegeta looked on with a frown as a sudden explosion of golden light shattered the dust from around Goku who looked up at Vegeta, hairless eyebrows furrowed and long golden hair hanging behind him.

The two Sai-jins stared each other down a moment longer before vanishing from the sight of everyone, including the Supreme Kai. The spectators watched on as one thunderous crash rang out after another and flashes of brilliant gold dotted the sky. Each crushing blow sent shockwaves toward the planet shaking it and throwing debris everywhere. "No!" Vegeta cried blocking another blow from Goku. "I wont lose!" he roared. His aura flared for an instant and he charged in at Goku again. A hard right hook slammed across the other Sai-jins face.

Vegeta went to swing again but a sudden knee to the stomach doubled him over. Vegeta grunted and backhanded Goku away a good distance before floating backwards and up higher. "Damn you Kakkarotto! You're still stronger than me! That dosen't matter, I'll win this fight anyway, even if I have to take out this entire planet to do IT!!" He thrust his right arm out and down at where Goku floated. Golden energy charged into his palm quickly and a ball began to form.

"Vegeta! What are you doing!" Goku cried up to him as he felt the attack building.

"Winning!" he cried. "Big Bang Attack!" The golden orb of energy surged at Goku who held up his hands to block it. He caught the attack and struggled to hold it off as he built energy in his hands to push the attack away. "No you don't Kakkarotto! Not this time, this time I win!" He raised his hands up over his head and charged another, smaller, orb of energy. In a flash he fired the beam of golden light at the Big Bang attack pushing it down harder on Goku and driving the Sai-jin down into Duro's planet.

Supreme Kai's Planet

"This is... impossible!" Rain said in shock as she watched the power struggle on Duro's planet. "Their powers are..."

"It's mind boggling. I know." Kibeto said watching as well. "This Vegeta, he seems pretty hot headed."

Duro nodded. "Indeed. He's a very prideful man. He was the last official Sai-jin Prince and was always told while growing up that he held the greatest potential of his people. Goku surpassed him years ago and since then... he's been set on reclaiming his title as the strongest Sai-jin. His pride demands it." Duro sighed. "But at this rate, they'll destroy my entire planet..."

"Don't worry about it too much." Shin said watching. "If it goes that far I'll step in. They are both dead and in Otherworld so my powers have jurisdiction."

Grova shook her head in awe. "These mortals are amazing. How is this even possible? How could a mortal ever get this powerful, especially in such a short time?"

"The Sai-jins are a unique race." Shin replied. "They were born a warrior race and as the centuries passed they continued to grow stronger. However, their power is not entirely natural. Another race lived on the Sai-jin planet at the time, the Tuffles. They experimented on the Sai-jins. You see, the Tuffles weren't powerful warriors, in fact, they were weaker than the Humans. They wanted to learn the secret of the Sai-jins powers to defend themselves.

"In the process, however, they modified the Sai-jins DNA with experimental formulas to try and see if they were safe for Tuffles to use. They were trying to make themselves strong like the Sai-jins. Doing these tests lead to unexpected results. The Sai-jins DNA mutated further than expected. It was then that the first 'Super Sai-jin' came into existence inside one of the Tuffles moon based labs. That Sai-jin was still very primitive and was unable to control his power thus he destroyed the entire moon leaving only the one.

"After a couple more years the Tuffles believed they had the perfect formula and implemented it. This mutated the Sai-jins into what they are today. They're bodies are designed to constantly adapt and change to meet any challenge. The Tuffles had planed to use them as super soldiers after abandoning the plan to mutate themselves. Unfortunately for them the Sai-jins aren't so easily enslaved. A number of tyrants have learned that the hard way."

Shin watched as Vegeta's Big Bang Attack bulged to incredible size. "I think that's quite enough of that." he said softly closing his eyes.

Duro's Planet

/He's a lot stronger than I expected./ Goku thought still trying to hold back Vegeta's attack. He'd been able to lift himself off the planet for a moment but had since been driven back down again. /I can't let Vegeta's attack go off here, it'll destroy the Grand Kai's entire planet.../ Suddenly he felt all his power fading away. /What the... what's happening! This isn't good, not now!/

The others watched in awe as Vegeta's attack suddenly began to vanish, much to the angry Sai-jins frustration. "What the hell!" he cried. Suddenly he couldn't keep himself in the air any longer and dropped to the ground. Both Sai-jins were panting heavily as their auras flickered and then faded as they reverted back to normal. "What happened to my energy? I... hadn't... used up... that much."

"I happened." came a soft and gentle reply. "I couldn't very well let you destroy Duro's planet, now could I?"

"What! Who are you?" Vegeta cried turning to look at the source of the voice.

A short purplish man with a Mohawk bowed lightly. "Hello, Prince Vegeta. My name is Shin. I am the Supreme Kai." Everyone stared at him in silence for a moment. Suddenly, Vegeta stood and lunged at him but he froze in mid air. "You have no reason to be upset..."

"I had him!" Vegeta cried. "I finally had him and you..."

"Ended the fight. Yes, I know that. I also know that you had already won. Despite his best efforts, and the fact that he is indeed stronger than you, Goku had no way of stopping your attack."

Vegeta looked over to Goku who was grinning and who simply shrugged. "I was getting kind of worried there..."

Vegeta was suddenly able to move again and he touched down to the ground once more. He seemed content enough with that. The battle may not have finished but according to both the Supreme Kai and Kakkarotto he would have won anyway. That was enough for him, for now.

Khan's Base

Omega threw the computer monitor across the room into the distant wall where it shattered and exploded. The Biodroid was not a happy person, the tracking signals of the Zeros and of Adam had blanked out a moment ago. "Eve!" he cried turning around.

"Yes sir?"

"I want Android 12 finished as quickly as possible, tell the workers they aren't to take another break until it's done! And I want you to find this David and bring him to me!" Eve nodded and quickly went about her business. Omega turned and looked over the base not really taking in the sights but thinking about the problems he was having. "I will gain control of this world and this galaxy, and I will kill anyone who gets in my way." he said darkly.

Next Chapter

Trunks learns of Gloria's connection to Orion and the half Sai-jin tells Morgan about his world and life. Eve causes some havoc in her search for David while Sheba begins to wonder who she should follow, Orion or Omega. And, at last, the Serum has been completed.

Trunks: So things are starting to come together at last... but I've been wondering on how safe this Serum is...

Me: Don't worry about it, I've got it covered.

Trunks: Good, now you just need to update faster.

Me: Summons Chi-Chi and Bulma with Frying pans Fast enough?