Author: Nadz
Email: vegitto02 at yahoo dot com
Disclaimer:
The title "DragonTek" is owned by the author.
Any characters owned by the producers of Tekkaman, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, or Rurouni Kenshin are, of course, the property of those respective individuals or companies. Any original characters are strictly owned by the author of this fan fiction.
The story line of the entire DragonTek series is also owned strictly by me.
This story may not be distributed to anybody without the author's permission. However, the author does encourage you to welcome your friends to read DragonTek on FanFiction dot net. Much thanks...
DragonTek (Part IV: The Justice Saga)
Chapter 53 - Rays of Justice
Aki closed her eyes in terror, and Bezel heard the stomach-churning sound of his lance tearing through human bones and flesh…
'What!' Aki thought as she felt herself crash to the ground. Opening her eyes, she gasped at the sight – Balzac was there, crouching over her, and she witnessed the look of excruciating pain on his face.
"Aki…" he managed to gasp. Bezel's lance had burrowed itself deeply into his chest's left side.
'He pushed me out of the way…' realized Aki, stunned. 'He sacrificed himself to save me…'
"Well…" Plague said, pulling out his lance. Balzac's blood gushed out, and the man collapsed.
"Get out of here… Aki… save yourself…" Balzac gasped, struggling for air.
"Balzac…" her lips trembled as she crouched to his side. "Why did you?"
Plague only stood silently and simply observed the scene before him.
"I've been selfish… my whole life…" he said. "This… is repentance… for all my misdeeds…"
Aki began to breathe heavily as she listened to the man lying before her.
"I will soon… be gone from this world…" Balzac continued, and he managed to form a soft smile through the agony he was feeling in his body. "Saving you… was the only thing… I could do… Aki…"
"Balzac… you will be okay…" Aki begged, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"We both know… that I won't…" he choked. "Please accept… my apology for what I've done…"
"Of course… I accept…" she said tearfully. Upon hearing those words, Balzac closed his eyes.
"Balzac…" Aki whispered, but he had already breathed his last. Aki brought her face down and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, praying that he would find solace in death. She lowered him down.
'Such feelings of compassion… such motions of selflessness,' Bezel thought sadly to himself, frozen by what he had just seen. 'I have not seen such things in over a thousand years. Before the Saiya-jin had attacked, life used to have sympathy. Life used to have compassion. Life used to have love. There was love within the family. There was love between friends. Although we were a warring race, we were much like humans – we had feelings and emotions. We had friendships; we had camaraderie. The war with the Saiya-jins had taken all that away from us, the Radam people. It only left us with bitterness and anger. It only left us with hate and a spirit of vengeance. The Saiya-jin had destroyed us physically, and they had crushed us mentally. The light that had occupied our lives turned into a perpetual, empty blackness that drove us mad for revenge. It drove me mad…'
'It has been so long since I had seen such a thing…' Bezel trailed off in his mind, but he soon snapped back to attention and focused his vision on Aki. "You, my young lady, are coming with me."
Aki didn't even utter a sound when Plague reached and grabbed her arm. Dragging her towards him, he put his arm around her waist and flew upwards through the hole from which he had entered.
"Another Tekkaman has left us," Blood said grimly, turning towards Blade. Before Goku realized what she was up to, Alena burst towards Takaya. Blade looked up and stood, trying to defend himself, but he couldn't do it in time. She slammed hard into his chest and shoved him into the side of the cliff nearby.
"With my desire to become Empress, I must punish those who harm my people," Alena said with anger, jumping back several meters. 'By allowing him to kill Spear, I've failed once again… I've failed!'
Blade slowly climbed out of the rubble and collapsed to the ground. He had been exhausted from his battle with Kengo, thus leaving him with almost no energy to defend himself when Alena had attacked. He looked up to see Blood step towards him, but soon the back of somebody's leg blocked his line of sight.
"Get out of the way, Goku!" Alena barked, witnessing him step between Takaya and her.
"I will not allow you to attack the wounded," Goku replied firmly, refusing to budge.
"I have failed, Goku," she replied. "I have failed to protect my people… the Radam people…"
"Alena," came the soft reply.
"It's all because of you!" she said, her voice angry as she pointed at him. "You made me fail!"
"Oh?" the young man raised his eyebrow.
"My feelings for you made me soft. They made me save you… and let Spear die. You're the cause of this, Goku! I'll make up for it… by taking your life… and ridding you from my mind forever!"
"You won't be able to," he narrowed his eyes, hurt by her words.
"Wrong!" she grated, viciously charging at him.
'Her chi is too high for me to block,' Goku thought desperately. 'Will I be able to defend?'
Before he could react, she smashed into his body. Goku writhed in pain as she back-fisted him in his chest, making him sail behind her. He tried to stop and fire a blast, but she approached speedily. Alena hit the weak bolt head on, dispersing it into nothingness. Goku tried to escape, but she socked him hard in the stomach. He cried out, for she had almost zeroed his power, and she wrapped her arm around his back.
"My love…" she whispered, keeping a strong grip on him. "…Good-bye."
Blood raised Kotukari and turned it vertically downwards towards his back. She brought it down for the fatal thrust, and Goku prepared for the worst. However, it never came – she had suddenly stopped.
"I… can't do it…" she whispered. Seconds later, a strong blast hit her own back. Alena painfully released her grip, allowing Goku to plummet and crash to the earth below. Turning to her side, she noticed Vegita with his arm raised as he struggled to climb out of the crater that had recently entrapped him.
"Vegita!" she yelled, thinking about releasing another energy blast at him. However, she saw her brother only weakly crawl towards Goku's side and collapse. She looked down at the two men in scorn.
"What, brother?" she sneered. "Are you trying to get me back for the time I hit you in the—"
"Vegita didn't hit you with that attack," a voice called out in an insulting tone. "I did."
"You?" Blood gasped as she spun, looking at the boy as he stood outside of the rubble that had buried him. She could see that his gi was torn and that he had several burns. However, she was too far to see the determination and resilience that flared in his eyes as he crouched in a stance and gripped Akoutari.
'What is he?' she whispered, and the golden aura exploded around the boy once again as well as on his sword. Blood gripped Kotukari tightly, and she let another wave of yellow aura envelope her form.
"Kenshin…" Goku whispered, soon noticing Rapier approach Vegita and him.
"He's come back," Miyuki whispered to them. "I knew he would."
"That kid is strong," Vegita sighed weakly as he lay exhausted and hurting on the ground.
"You never die!" Alena growled, lowering herself to the dirt sixty meters away.
"No, I don't," returned Kenshin, turning his body side-ways towards her. "But you will today."
He twisted the upper portion of his body counterclockwise by forty-five degrees and sheathed his sword, keeping his right palm open just over its hilt. He extended his left leg backwards and bent his right leg forwards. Finally, he turned his head towards her, glaring at her with the piercing eyes of a Hitokiri.
Aki remained terrified as Bezel carried her outside of the complex. She looked downwards at the ground twenty meters below, covered with grass and trees. Plague flew and hovered over a grass patch.
"You escaped death from my weapon… So I will leave your demise to another agent – gravity."
With those words, Bezel released his grip on the young woman and watched her free-fall.
"Battou-jutsu," Goku whispered, immediately recognizing the stance. "But no, it's not just that."
"He's going to use it," Miyuki whispered, her voice now nervous. "Sokushi Zanzou."
"Huh?" Vegita asked. "What's that?"
"A technique that allows its user to strike a thousand times with one swing," Miyuki said, briefly describing it as best she could. The two boys' eyes grew wide upon learning of such a deadly technique.
"He's really going to finish her…" Goku whispered, preparing for the worst. Alena too sensed it.
"I cannot kill anymore!" Alena suddenly blurted. Kenshin scowled, cocking his head to the side.
"No, I refuse to kill! I refuse to fight!" Blood started to yell, clutching her head and breaking out of her stance. Kenshin remained steady as she screamed. "I will not kill him! I won't betray our planet!"
"W… What?" Vegita asked as he watched his sister flip out.
"Alena," Goku whispered. "The real Alena is trying to come out. She's trying to break through!"
"You will kill Kenshin… NO, I WON'T!" Blood screamed at herself. "You are Radam … NO! I'm human! I'm Saiya-jin! You must kill all Saiya-jin… I won't kill my family! I won't! Kenshin, help!"
'Is this the real Alena coming through?' the boy wondered. 'Or is she just trying to distract me?'
"I won't kill! Yes you will, Alena… you will always kill… and they'll always die by your hands… they will die… Alena…' Blood shrieked, but she soon fell silent, only to lower her hands and chuckle.
"As always, the Radam side has won again," Blood said, pointing her sword at him. "Come, kid."
The boy glowered again before crouching back into his Battou-jutsu stance, ready to strike.
"Tekkaman Blood, for all the chaos you caused, I will… annihilate you," Kenshin grated, and with explosive chi, he shot himself towards her. Blood growled and charged at him while gripping her sword tightly. Her cousin let out a battle cry, and a thick blue aura pulsed onto his weapon, shrouding its sheath.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu…!" he roared.
"Don't do it, Kenshin!" Goku yelled, but the boy had already launched the attack.
'This is it,' Miyuki whispered to herself.
'Otosan… Okaasan… Obaasan… all the innocent lives…' the words singed through Kenshin's mind. 'You took away their dreams, Alena. You took away their future, and you shattered the lives of their families. Seeing the body of my grandmother was heart-rending; I couldn't imagine who would commit such a heinous act. Then came your killing of my father, but at least he died honorably in battle. But then came the worst act of all — brutally murdering my mother in front of my little sister. You crushed our family, Alena, and you crushed your own. Your life is a curse to us, and it's a poison that I will purge...'
"KENSHIN!" Blood roared, raising her sword high and pointing it diagonally downwards.
"… Sokushi…" he growled.
'Alena knows that Kenshin's strike is going to come horizontally, so the only way for her to strike him cleanly is from above,' Goku held his breath. 'He'll strike horizontally, and she'll do it vertically. The winner will then be… the person who makes contact first. The other won't even get to finish their attack.'
"DIE!" Blood yelled.
"… Zanzou!" Kenshin roared, and the two came within reach. Blood began to jab downwards but gasped upon realizing she was too slow. Instantly, the boy dodged to his right, spun two hundred degrees clockwise, unsheathed his sword with lighting speed, and swung violently at her exposed abdomen with all he had. The blade, covered with thick blue aura, slammed into her unguarded midsection. Alena shrieked from the impact, and Kotukari clattered to the ground. He landed next to her while keeping the blade, with his right hand gripping it, in contact with her body. A solitary blue line streaked across the area of contact.
"No…" Goku whispered with intense trepidation. 'Alena… no…'
Stunned, Blood watched helplessly as the blue line multiplied into thousands within a second and spread over her entire body. They disappeared into her armor, and soon a massive explosion ensued from her person. Kenshin remained in position as Blood got knocked upwards into the air, the light from the detonation covering them both. Piece by piece, her armor violently popped from her body and vaporized, exposing her naked skin beneath. The explosion doubled, and its noise drowned out her cries of agony.
"What?" Plague asked incredulously as he saw Aki land softly on the ground. 'How is that possible? Yes, of course, she can manipulate chi. She used it to break her fall. Never mind, then—'
"Argh!" he yelped as he felt a blow to his shoulder. Turning irately, he saw Shinjo panting on the ground with his arm raised. Bezel glared, and Shinjo merely gave him a rude gesture he didn't understand.
"I told you, stupid ass," Shinjo smirked. "We ain't dead yet."
"ALENA!" Goku yelled, holding his head with his hands as he found the strength to stand up. He couldn't see what was happening to her, for she was at the epicenter of the blinding explosion. The Saiya-jin had heard her shrill screams of anguish, but the noise from the greater explosion that followed drowned out her cries. The young man collapsed to the ground, for the girl he had loved so much was now gone.
As the light from the explosion faded, smoke and dust billowed from the dirt, blocking their sight. Seconds later, it cleared away in order for them to see Kenshin, still standing frozen in the same stance he had used when striking her. He was crouched forward, facing the same direction his target had been facing at the time of impact. His right arm was extended, and the blue aura faded from his sword. Vegita gasped.
"Goku, look at his weapon," the Saiya-jin started, pointing. "Its sharp edge is…"
"… Facing us," said Goku, his eyes growing and his face brightening. "That means, he hit her…"
"… With its dull edge!" deduced Vegita, smashing his fist into his palm.
"I don't understand," Rapier said, dumbfounded. She de-transformed, and Goku began to explain.
"The outer edge of a katana is used for striking, so that edge is razor sharp. But the inner edge is dull so that a warrior can place his hand on it for better maneuverability. From what you told us, the blue lines that are created are just as sharp as the edge that hits the target. So if he hit her with its dull edge…"
"… Could she be alive?" Vegita whispered, slowly rising to his feet. Kenshin broke his stance and stood upright, lowering his sword. Raising his eyes, he saw Miyuki and his cousins warily approach.
"Kenshin," Goku said, placing his hand on his shoulder. "You… You showed mercy."
"But why?" Miyuki asked. "After all she did to your…"
"Just before I struck her," Kenshin mumbled, "I remembered Shura and what I'd done to her. Even before I started the attack, Alena's human side tried to break through. With those two reasons, in combination with what I had done to Kajitani-san, I couldn't bring myself to use the technique to kill."
The boy returned a serious expression and continued, "Check her to see if she's breathing."
As the last of the dust and smoke cleared away, the entire group – Kenshin, Goku, Vegita, Miyuki, Saki, and Takaya, in human form, grouped around Alena's naked form. Takaya immediately removed his red outer jacket and gave it to Miyuki, who covered Alena's exposed upper body. Everybody else turned around while Saki raced to the Blue Earth and returned with an extra pair of pants, which she used to cover the unconscious girl's lower regions. When she was ready, they all turned around and knelt by her side.
"Sister…" Vegita whispered, gently touching her forehead. Alena's eyes slowly fluttered.
'All of them… they're all here for me… The pain in my head… it's gone. What happened? I'm in full control now. The voice isn't there anymore... There's Goku, smiling at me. He's so happy, that baka.'
"Alena, I'm here for you," Goku said gently, bringing his face within a foot from hers.
"I'm back, Goku," she smiled, weakly raising her hand up to touch his cheek. "Alena is back."
Her smile soon faded and became a look of guilt as she noticed Kenshin frowning at her.
"Kenshin…" she whispered weakly. "I won't ever be able to tell you how sorry I am…"
The boy didn't reply. Rather, he lowered his eyes to the ground beneath him.
"You carried out justice, Kenshin," Miyuki consoled him. "Tekkaman Blood is finally dead."
Suddenly, Saki screamed, staring at the ground between Vegita and her. Crawling around was a tiny pink critter, smaller than an apple, as it clicked its claws while scrambling in circles. Alena scowled.
"What is that thing?" Saki said in a high-pitched voice.
"A Tekkaman is controlled by a mind parasite implanted within its body," Alena said, her voice showing strong resentment. "That one was inside mine… and escaped when it thought I was going to die."
Vegita immediately raised his fist and brought it down upon the critter, smashing it to bits. Using a small amount of energy, he vaporized the last of its remnants, cursing it for what it had done to his sister.
"It's dead," he stated the obvious. "You won't be under their control ever again."
"Blade," she said, looking at Takaya's face. In her hand, she generated her ruby crystal. "Please take this, just as you did with Kengo's. It harbors a good portion of my power. Merge it with your own, and you'll be strong enough to fight Saber as an equal. Please take it away. I never want to see it again."
"Thank you," he whispered, taking her crystal. In his hand, its color gradually changed from red to an emerald green. He then walked over to Pegas, who knelt upon command. Takaya brought Kengo's crystal in contact with Blade's crystal, which was embedded on Pegas' chest. The two crystals fused into one complete item, and Takaya held it in his palm. His original emerald crystal disappeared from Pegas' chest, meaning he could now transform without the robot's aid. Takaya then fused this new crystal with Alena's. A golden glow covered them as they merged, forming a final, new Tek-crystal that was emerald.
"Goku, Alena, Goku good, Alena good," a voice chirped, and everybody whirled their heads to look at its source. The little white robot scampered towards them and jumped up and down next to Alena, still lying weakly on the ground. Goku reached over to the little robot and brought it towards him.
"Giru, how did you activate yourself?" he asked the little guy.
"Whole time… me awake… Me know… when to keep mouth shut," it chirped.
"I guess now is another time you should do the same—" Vegita started.
"Dragonballs," Giru interrupted him. "I know where they are."
"What the heck are Dragonballs?" Kenshin asked, not having the faintest clue.
"Dragonballs!" Alena blurted, and everyone turned towards her. "Of course! I'd collected them all for Bezel. We have to get them now from him! I had almost forgotten."
"All seven are in one spot," Goku said, observing the Dragon Radar within Giru. "They're located east from here and far away. If they're all still together, then that means Bezel hasn't made his wishes yet."
"Let's get out of here now," Saki said, worried. "Where's Mieko?"
They all turned to look where Kengo's body lay, for that was where she had fallen unconscious. However, there was no sign of her anywhere. She had disappeared.
"Forget her," Goku said. "If Bezel makes a crazy wish with those, it's over."
They called to Noal, who lowered the craft next to them. Takaya put Kengo's body in a bag and carried him inside, and a weakened Goku carried Alena as well. When all finished boarding, Noal piloted the Blue Earth towards the destination that Giru displayed on its embedded Dragonball Radar.
Author Notes: Yep, so it finally happens: Alena is back on the good side now... permanently, and it was Kenshin who did it, not Goku. The final stage just had to happen between Alena and Kenshin - it seemed right because she had tormented him the most. I hope it was an exciting scene and satisfying.
KyLewin: Wow, thanks man! That was one of the best compliments an author could receive. I totally appreciate it!
And to the rest of you, thanks for all the feedback! It's very helpful :)