Red WEAPON fight

The beast roared in a bloody fury as she ripped her long claws from the ground. Who were these threatening little insects whose bite had so much sting? Glistening crimson plates shifted as the monster positioned itself back into its unusual stance. It had better attacks when it was in direct contact to its mother, especially embedded in her, but Ruby wasn't stupid. After one huge energy blast had torn a gash through her shoulder while she was in her more defenseless mode, enough was enough. She was the pride of the Planet. She could not let her mother down.

Ruby could not hide a smirk that played across her flat, monstrous face. That very energy blast that had torn a hole in her protective scales showed great skill on the part of the flying fighters. It was surprising that any mortal could have learned to throw about spirit energy about like that, but here was stinging proof. It was amazing. It would be a shame for her to have to send such skilled warriors back to her mother's embrace, but if they were going to pick a fight she would have no choice. She was far more valuable to the Planet than they, and if one or the other had to go, then they would die.

There was only one problem. She had orders not to harm the blond man.

Rage boiled within the WEAPON's head, anger that she had to share the Planet's praise with that worm. He had repressed the threat of the Great Betrayer, but what was that in comparison to the thousands of years that Ruby had faithfully served her mother? It would have been nothing for Ruby to do what that human had, after all, had the Planet not created her solely for that purpose? Still, an order was an order and she could not destroy the man.

Sweeping a relaxed blow at him, Ruby hoped the spiky-haired human would remember the lessons she had taught him earlier and flee while he still could. He had seemed sensible enough and after their first encounter had steered clear of her. But the flea only dodged the blood that poured from her wounded shoulder. The fool!!

Ruby whipped her head around to see the other two flying insects circling around her. What were they up to?

That was a simple question to answer.

Turning her attention away from the man with the Planet's protection, Ruby sensed the complex flows of spirit energy that were passing between the two flyers. So they knew telepathy did they? No matter. She had been created to battle the great betrayer who was a master of those mental arts. Interpreting the energy threads was no problem.

They were planning on attacking from both sides with energy blasts, Ruby noted calmly. It was a good plan, but not one that would prove successful. She could feel the intense amount of spirit energy they housed in their bodies. It was an abnormal amount truly, but what was that in comparison with her own? When she had been created, around the time when the Great Betrayer, the Crisis from the Sky as it had been called, first appeared, such levels of energy were common in mortals. The only reason such levels were no longer possible, was that the Planet had spent most of that energy in creating the WEAPONs, creating her and her brethren. It had been a wise decision on the part of her mother, to create such powerful children to protect her. One nagging question plagued Ruby though. Where had her mother gained enough excess energy to create such powerful mortals again? The possibility that Ruby had been left out of such important news made her hate the flies even more.

Energy condensed in waves around the insects in a pattern Ruby hadn't seen for centuries. It folded in on itself several times, compressing far more than was naturally possible. Eventually, the flows would be so massive they would be able to be seen by the naked eye.

Who were these fools??!

Those techniques hadn't been used, or even known to the world, since the Great Betrayer was first sealed away!! There just wasn't enough free spirit energy after the creation of the WEAPONs for such abilities to be stumbled upon by accident, and mortals had simply forgotten their existence. What Ruby was now seeing was impossible!!

Impossible or no, those blasts could kill if she wasn't careful. She had to get the human out of here before he got in the middle of the battle that was quickly approaching. She couldn't let him die. She couldn't let her mother down.

Sparing seconds to glance at the man she needed to protect, Ruby was thankful to note that he carried the legendary white sword called Ultima. It worked like a flashing sign for how much HP he had left and would make Ruby's life a ton easier.

Sweeping a blow at the man that was shorter than one of her arced grey claws, Ruby was frustrated as he leapt out of the way in the final seconds. If she could at least render the man unconscious surely his friends would rush in to remove him from the scene. It was a long shot, but a necessary one. She needed him out of there at all costs. So he was agile was he? No matter, she could step up her own speed quite easily.

Success.

Ruby felt the crushing weight of her claw hit the human with a satisfying crack of bones. Instinctively she readied for the counter attacks that always followed a successful hit, but they never came. All the better for her. She should take advantage of this moment of weakness.

Checking the color of the blade he carried and finding it only a pale blue, Ruby swept another claw at the man. Soon, his sword's blade would become a dark blue, indicating his life was withering away. Before it was too late, she would abandon him and lead the other two fighters elsewhere where she could have a chance to show them was true power was like.

Blood spattered on her beautiful, tri-clawed hand as she struck a third blow and watched satisfied as the sword became a deep azure. It was time to take this fight elsewhere, but where to take the fight was a question she hadn't yet considered. She had the advantage here in the golden sands of the desert. The raw, ungodly hot winds acted as an additional power supply, but there had to be another place on her mother that would suffice. Not the skies, that was for sure. She drew her power from the Planet itself, the spirit energy that pulsed within it, so moving farther away from that energy would not be prudent. An idea struck Ruby. Although there were no other deserts on her mother, there was a wasteland not to much farther north. It should suffice.

Before Ruby could do anything though, she had to deal with the energy blasts that were ready to be hurled in her direction by her tiny foes. Sensing the density of the energy flows, Ruby decided on an appropriate counter. But, in order to pull it off, she would need to step up her speed yet again. That was simple enough to do, she didn't gain levels like mortals by experience, she gained them simply by willing them to be. This fight would be a futile one for her insect adversaries.

Digging her talons into the soil beneath her to quicken the process, Ruby took only a fraction of the time to gather spirit energy as the mortals had. Freeing herself from the weaknesses her energy gathering position gave her, she charged and readied one of her favorite little attacks.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

"HA!!"

Timing was crucial, Ruby had only split seconds to work with as the energy blasts rushed toward her from both sides. Unleashing her own attack and then spinning about to do the same behind her, twin Ruby Rays streaked out to counter the incoming energy.

As the bright fluorescent attacks met the dark blue, lightning streaked ones, the sky told the tale of the power levels being used. Darkness descended on the battle as an explosion wracked the land and carved a hole in Ruby's precious desert. Only by luck was the barely standing blond warrior safe from the explosion. Now was the time to move, before that luck wore thin.

Using the power in her great upper limbs, Ruby hurled herself forward without another thought. She needed to put distance between herself and the man her mother wanted protected.

Thankfully, the flying foes followed. It would be their demise.

Following the pass between the mountains that surrounded her desert, Ruby easily leapt over the rocky barricade and the river at its base when the pass finally ended, to find herself in the wasteland she desired. Now she could teach them a lesson they would never forget.

"Piccolo we have to work together!" the smaller one shouted. It was a shame that Ruby did not understand the mortal tongues. She had to rely on her ability to interpret their energy patterns into thoughts to know what they were plotting.

"I know," the green one shouted back. "It would be really helpful if you could go into Super Saijin 2, Gohan!"

Ruby froze. That was one word she did understand.

Saijin.

Was it possible?

Were those traitors coming back?

What was happening?! It had been nearly three thousand years since Ruby had heard that name. When her mother's brother had died, his spirit and children had been welcomed warmly into her mother's arms. But one child had not been satisfied. One child wanted revenge on her father for the years she had served him. Finally freed of his control, the Great Betrayer had earned her name, nearly destroying the Planet. Of course, Cetra had sided with his sister, and Ruby had been born of the need for protection and the extra energy that Cetra had brought to the Planet with him. It had been a terrible struggle for survival, but in the end, the Great Betrayer had been put in her place. Still, there were those within Cetra that believed the crisis had been the fault of Ruby's mother. It was preposterous, but they had believed it so strongly that they had broken away from Cetra and become their own violent energy.

No, Ruby would never forget the name of Saijin.

"I'll try Piccolo," the small one shouted, breaking up Ruby's reminiscing.

There was no doubting it now. Far away from the Planet they had remembered over the ages the ancients arts which were now forgotten here. The past was coming back to threaten her mother once again.

Energy began folding in on Ruby's foe again. This time though, only the one small warrior was building up a supply of energy. She would need to act quickly. If indeed these Saijins remembered the techniques that had died so long ago in the minds of mortals, she could not afford to even let them have a chance at exacting their revenge upon her mother.

"MAKKANKOUSAPPO!" An energy blast massively more powerful than the last one from the same warrior darted towards Ruby before she had a chance to see what was coming.

Pain.

Pain enveloped her as she felt the energy slowly but surely pushing its way through her torso in slow motion.

What a fool she'd been! She should never have let her guard down! Especially when she'd discovered who they were!

The pride of the Planet.

What had that done for her? Now, in the end, she had fallen the same way as her inferior brethren before her had. To mortals.

She was dying. She'd never had a chance to show her true potential, never had the chance to display the awesome powers her mother had bestowed on her.

At least one good thing would come of this. Her mother would be stronger with such a great energy returning to her.

No child. You are still very valuable to me. Your wound is not too great. Do not give up yet, for I am with you. You do not have to die yet; there are still things I need for you to do.

It had been so long since Ruby had heard her mother's voice that it came as a shock. Wound not to great? The thoughts that were flooding her brain took a moment to sink in.

Of course. This wound was only fatal at her current level. If she gained several levels it would be nothing. That was her only chance. Then, if she survived this, she wouldn't let those pesky mortals ever catch her off guard again!

Already she could feel her energy increasing. It wouldn't be long now and sweet victory would be hers.