Chapter 49
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Akira turned and watched the slightly-stooped, clapping figure as it slowly walked down the ramp of the ship and across the barren ground until it was standing right in front of him.
The black robe seemed to shimmer slightly in the sunlight, its length was just enough to hide whatever was under it completely, even the hood hung down and masked the majority of the creature's face. The mouth of whatever it was seemed old and wrinkled, and when it opened, Akira could see two rows of sharp, curved teeth.
"You were dead," the robed figure said in a raspy voice.
"Apparently I got better," the young Saiyan responded evenly, hoping to keep the surprise out of his voice. He was trying to sense the creature's power, but it was as if there wasn't anything standing in front of him.
"You can stop doing that now; I'm far too advanced to be felt with simple parlor tricks...Akira."
The young man's eyes went wide with shock. "H...how do you know my name?" he asked.
"My people were already some of the most advanced telepaths and psychics in the universe when you Saiyans were still swinging in the trees. A primitive mind like yours is practically an open book to me..." the alien paused as if considering something. "There are parts of you that I can't read...curious. Something is different about you," the robed figure was silent for another moment and then chuckled, "No matter, the outcome of this battle was written long ago. This...mystery...won't change anything."
"You sound pretty sure of yourself," Akira said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "but I've never been one to take destiny or fortunetelling very seriously."
"You will, but unfortunately it won't be until you're dead...again."
"I hope you'll excuse me for thinking you're full of shit," Akira said as he began to power up, "It's nothing personal, you just don't look that trustworthy to me." A golden aura erupted around him as he ascended to the second level.
The robed figure laughed, "That's it? I must say, I am rather disappointed. Here I thought you were the one who was going to give me some sort of challenge; even Vegeta is stronger than this."
The young Super Saiyan smiled as he continued to draw out more power, "Not impressed, huh? Just wait, it gets better." Suddenly a golden column of light surrounded him, reaching high into the sky and nearly blinding many of the Z-Fighters and alien warriors. When the light finally faded, Akira's hair hung down past his knees.
Small bolts of electricity crackled around him as he smiled confidently. "I hope this is more to your liking," he said.
"Not much of a power increase is it?" the creature asked, at the edge of his hood Akira could see its mouth pull back in an ugly smile.
"You're about to find out." The young man shot forward so fast that none of the onlookers could follow the movement, he swung, but his enemy was suddenly no longer in front of him. Akira's mouth fell open as he looked around in confusion.
"Well, I can see that you can hide your power even when transformed. A very impressive ability, one that I wouldn't have thought a simple monkey capable of achieving, but it's only worth while if it gives you some sort of advantage. Unfortunately, dodging your pitiful attack was child's play to me," a voice said from behind him.
The Super Saiyan whirled around and found the robed creature standing almost exactly where Akira had been before he attacked. The young man quickly shook off his bewilderment and dropped into his fighting stance again.
A second later he flew forward and fired off several punches and kicks; this time the alien didn't disappear, he did something even more damaging to Akira's confidence: he dodged every attack with ease. To make matters worse, after every blow that failed to find its mark, a pale hand with long, yellow finger nails would lightly slap the Saiyan in the face..
Akira couldn't believe what was happening; he'd never been toyed with like this. After several more attempts, and just as many slaps to the face, he jumped away from the robed alien and stared at the strange being.
Gohan noticed his reaction and said, "It's bad isn't it?"
The Saiyan Prince nodded, "It doesn't look like Akira was even able to touch that thing and I don't think he's just messing around. The boy better have learned some other tricks in Other World, if he didn't, all is lost."
Pan shook her head, "Things aren't that hopeless." 'I hope,' she added silently.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------'This is hopeless,' Akira thought.
"Are you giving up already?" the robed figure taunted. "Truly pathetic. You really don't deserve the honor of dying at my hands," the alien looked at his remaining fighters, "Too bad there doesn't seem to be anyone else around to soil their hands dispatching you. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to take a long bath when we're done." Ammit reached up and unclasped his robe, throwing it away from him.
Akira looked at the creature in horror. Silvery hair flowed from the top of the Dark Lords head, covering all but the tips of his pointy ears. His face was wrinkled and pale, red veins could be seen under the nearly transparent skin; his eyes were sunken and almost completely devoid of color giving him the appearance of being blind, but the young Saiyan was quite certain the alien could see. Ammit's nose was almost nonexistent, only two slits on a slightly raised portion of the alien's face revealed that the creature even had one. With the rest of the face now visible, the mouth filled with sharp teeth looked even more sinister.
The alien was wearing a pair of loose fitting black pants and no shirt. It occurred to Akira that Ammit's body looked very much like that of an old man; but, given how the fight was going so far, appearances were obviously misleading. Skin hung loosely over feeble-looking muscles, and the red veins that slowed through on his face did the same over the rest of him. The only intimidating thing about the alien's body was the dark red tattoo in the middle of his chest; the same symbol that had been seen on the armor and skin of many of his followers.
The sight had Akira at a loss for words.
"Like what you see?" Ammit asked with a chuckle. "Well, you try spending ten thousand years in the dark prison between dimensions, neither alive nor dead, and see how you look when you get out," he smiled. "But that's a story for another time; right now you have more pressing concerns than ancient history." In an instant he was standing right in front of Akira, the young man's eyes widened in surprise as a claw like hand raked across his chest a split second before he was sent flying by a huge ki blast.
Akira gingerly pulled himself to his feet and looked down; blood was running down his chest from the five gashes he'd received at the hands of the Dark Lord, the finger nails had sliced through his armor as if it wasn't even there. He glared at Ammit as his foe calmly walked towards him, "Alright, now you've really pissed me off." His golden aura burned around him like a flame around him and then he called out, "Super Kaio Ken!" The golden flame swirled with bright red light and erupted into an inferno.
For a moment Ammit almost looked startled at the unexpected development, but he didn't walking towards the young Saiyan. Akira smirked and then appeared in front of the Dark Lord, this time Ammit was definitely surprised as the young Saiyan's fist slammed into his jaw, followed by a powerful kick to the alien's chest, which sent the warlord flying through the air and smashing into the side of his ship.
The powerful Saiyan crossed his arms and watched with satisfaction as the alien slumped to the ground. Then the Dark Lord slowly stood up and smiled, the ancient body was definitely not as frail as it appeared.
"Very good," Ammit said with a nod, "You are much more powerful than you let on. Perhaps you will offer something of a challenge."
The two super powers stared at each for a long moment and then, as if feeling some unheard signal, they both charged at the same time. Each landed a vicious blow to the other's face, knocking each other back and then both disappeared as they took the battle to the sky at unfathomable speeds.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Z-Fighters stared at the sky in amazement; no one could see either of the warriors except for the brief moments that they slowed down to throw a punch or kick. It was almost like watching a slid show, just one tiny clip of the fight at a time, but from what they could see; Akira seemed to have the upper hand.
"Wow Pan, you're boyfriends gotten way stronger in these last few months," Krillin said with a bit of awe in his voice.
The female Saiyan glared at him, but didn't respond.
Gohan nodded in agreement with what the former monk had said, "Yes, his power increase is remarkable and he's still able to mask his energy, even while using the Kaio Ken." While he was talking, Akira delivered a particularly painful looking kick to Ammit's face, sending the mighty warlord tumbling end over end. Gohan smiled, victory seemed assured.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As Ammit righted himself, he smiled confidently at his young opponent. "It's time for you to get a glimpse of what you are truly dealing with," he called out. "Now, feel the power of Ammit!" An enormous sphere of dark energy surrounded him and began rapidly expanding outward.
Akira, who had been charging forward to deal out some more damage, put his hands forward as the outskirts of the sphere reached him, his skin burned as he pushed back against it; in no time the pain became excruciating. When he was no longer able to keep up the effort, the Super Saiyan gave one final push and then flew away from the expanding energy. A few seconds later, the dark sphere reached its limits and began seeping back into Ammit's body.
Akira looked down at his hands and found that they were covered in burns and dry blood; he closed them into fists, wincing as his skin cracked and began to bleed. He bared his teeth in anger and charged at the Dark Lord.
He reared back and threw a vicious punch at the evil alien's face, but to his surprise, his hand passed right through as the after image faded away. While his brain was still registering what had happened a fist smashed into his stomach, doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him.
The young Saiyan gasped as he tried to pull air back into his deflated lungs, but before he could even recover, he took a powerful kick to the face, flipping him in the air. Ammit then grabbed him by his long hair, whipped him around in circles, and then hurling him to the ground.
The hardened earth seemed to shatter as Akira crashed into it. After a moment of lying still, he groaned and opened his eyes, then closed them quickly; it felt like the world was spinning around him. He shook his head and opened his eyes again, trying to get them to focus. He had only managed to get to his knees when he looked up and found that Ammit was already standing in front of him.
"Have a nice nap, sleepy head," the alien asked pleasantly.
Akira noticed that his enemy didn't even seem to be breathing heavily. 'He took me apart in four moves!' the young Saiyan thought to himself, 'How am I supposed to beat something this powerful?'
"You're not," Ammit said with a knowing smile, and then, noticing Akira's face darken in anger added, "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to keep your fears to yourself? I don't mean to eavesdrop, it's just so hard to ignore when you think so loudly." The young Saiyan jumped to his feet and swung his fist with all of his strength.
Ammit caught it easily.
"You know, it's kind of sad seeing you like this after such a short fight. You seemed almost strong for a moment; but as soon as I powered up, the fight became boring again," the Dark Lord let go of Akira's fist as his other hand shot out and grabbed the young Saiyan by the neck, lifting him off the ground and choking him. "You never had a chance Akira; and I'm not even at full power yet."
Akira was clutching the powerful arm of Ammit, trying desperately to free himself from the alien's grip. The red aura surrounding the Saiyan began to fade as his struggles grew weaker and weaker. His eyes drooped and his gasps for air slowed.
"Now, young warrior, I think it's time for you to accept what fate has written."
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A/N: I was worried that the last few chapters of this story would be hard to write, or that I would run out of ideas, but this stuff is coming out pretty easily now. Hopefully it will continue with the rest. Anyway, let me know what you think about Ammit, it took me long enough to get to him, so I hope he's a decent final villain.