Gohan awoke in his bed, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Every part of his body ached with pain, his head throbbing and limbs shaking uncontrollably. The battle with Broly had done more damage mentally than physically. Even Dende's great abilities could not heal the wounds of the mind. The face of the bloodthirsty tyrant was always there, even though he was gone.
Yes, gone. That one belief was all that could soothe him. But uncertainty still pecked at the back of his skull. Was this legendary super saiyan truly destroyed? If the brute survived the explosion of an entire planet could he survive a collision with the sun? Gohan was fearful and aware of that possibility, though he chose to deny the thought Broly could be so powerful.
He swung his legs over the mattress, planting his feet on the ground and running his hands through his spiked hair. He sighed, standing up and allowing the moonlight which poured in through his open window to fall over his body.
For many moments he just stood there, looking up into the night sky and basking in the moonlight. The stars twinkled above him, clear out here in the county so far from civilization. There were no lights to pollute the air, to block out the sight out of the stars. There was only darkness, and it alone bestowed upon his family this gift of a pure night sky.
Suddenly his head was racked with a jolt of pain, gasping and digging his fingernails into his skull while enduring it. An image flashed in the darkness of his mind, the face of the nightmare he seemed unable to conquer appearing before him, Broly's insane crackle echoing in his ears while his lips twisted in a grin. Gohan's legs quivered, sweat dripping off his chin while horror spread through his body.
"N-no!" Gohan could not deny how afraid he was. His only desire was to simply forget the battle, to forget his memories of Broly and move on! Every since he was a child he was haunted by the villain, and now, with the brute's return, childhood fears resurfaced with double the intensity! Gohan's greatest concern was that saiyan had yet to have been put to rest. This only worried him more.
Finally pushing away the image, he grinded his teeth with anger. Why, even in death, would this beast not leave him alone? Why was it he that was cursed to see the tyrant's ominous smirk every time he closed his eyes!
"Broly," Gohan spoke through gritted teeth, curling his fingers and thrusting his fist through the wall beside him. Chips of wood tumbled down from the hole, falling onto the floor on which he stood. "Why can't I forget!"
He failed to acknowledge his younger brother, Goten, standing sleepy-eyed in the doorway.
"Gohan?" Goten slowly approached his older sibling, yawning while stretching out his arms stiff from slumber. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, hey Goten," Gohan responded with slight surprise. He was reluctant to tell his brother what was upsetting him and ultimately chose not too. "I'm fine. What are you doing up this late?"
"I couldn't sleep. I keep on having nightmares about what happened." The young, half-saiyan boy glanced down to the floor, sitting himself on the edge of the bed.
You too, Goten? The teenager wanted comfort his younger sibling by explaining that he was having nightmares too, that it was alright, that it wasn't real. Yet something kept him from doing so, whether pride or something else, he could not figure out what.
"Listen, what happened yesterday is in the past. I can understand that you might be afraid, but don't let it get to you bro, alright?" Gohan asked with a smile, using his left hand to remove drops of sweat from his forehead.
For a moment the young, innocent boy just sat in silence before finally responding. "Mmm'k. I'm sorry, it's just that I thought you was going to die! And if that had happened, it would have just be me and mom and I wouldn't have a father or a brother!" Goten was forced to bite his lip to prevent himself from bursting into tears. The thought of losing Gohan was more frightening than anything to the young boy's mind, he could not bare losing his brother. Life without his older brother was something unimaginable.
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here, I promise." Gohan took his brother into his arms, lifting him up and holding him closely against him. Despite being so little, Goten responded with an embrace stronger than his own.
"Thanks Gohan."
"Your welcome Goten."
Far off…..Near the ocean of South City.
The moon began to fall behind the mountains, streaks of silver light invading areas once shrouded in darkness as it's position changed gradually. A beam of light spread across the night sky. A red, fiery streak that sped down as gravity took it's toll, rapidly falling faster and faster with every moment that went on. It grew brighter as the unknown object continued to plummet towards the ocean's surface.
Residents in the populated city, now awakening for work or other things, rose just in time to see the object paint the ocean's surface in fire. Many became concerned, fearful that the resulting impact would trigger a tsunami to annihilate their peaceful city, while others where simply fascinated by the very sight of it. Indeed, it was something to see, to watch this thing engulfed in fire descend upon their planet. So amazing. Something never to forget, to always look back upon and smile, being able to boast about being a witness to it's collision.
Finally, the object hit. For many moments everything was still, the spot where it submerged beneath the sea's now raging waters glowing brightly as the fires refused to die down. Few inhabitants covered their eyes, many turning away while other's screamed. Some, although not many, just stared in awe, like morons. Then the glow faded, and another, far greater light followed, rising from the ocean's depths. The surface lit up, causing all who gazed upon It to look away, as though having gazed into the sun for far too long, and then it happened.
A period of silence fell for miles the moment the explosion occurred, everything that made a sound becoming quiet and motionless, all except for the eruption of energy that in an instant covered South City and incinerated everything in it's path, whirring like a machine as it did so. No one had the opportunity to react before they died, going on as their apartments, business, and houses went with them. A cloud of dust rose over the land and sea for miles, and when it cleared, the haze dissipating, nothing was left alive.
The sea, once filled with water, once actually a sea, was nothing more than a desolated plain that went beyond what the eyes of a human. South City was just the same, although it was impossible to tell if it was there, for now everything was gone. A mound of death, where once millions of souls settled.
But aside the magnitude of the blast that erased so much from existence, one thing remained untouched by the explosion. For where the blazing object hit, where it supposedly landed at the bottom of the ocean, Broly stood covered in stone. The legendary super saiyan was like a statue, cased in stone for some unknown reason! But even though the bloodthirsty tyrant was motionless in his state, even a mortal could easily detect how deadly he remained. For upon his face, cold and hard, he bore the same ominous smirk which could send shivers down even the bravest of warriors, his rock body crackling with bolts of energy as the rising sun shined light upon a land of complete destruction.
Broly was not aware nor conscious at the moment to realize his current state. For within his mind he dreamt of passed conflicts, from the beginning to the day of his birth, the day of his humiliation. The sight of his tears as he wailed like a weakling boiled his blood, chips of stone falling from his hard body on the outside while the brute remained trapped within.
The vision moved on. Flashbacks of his days with his cowardly father played in the darkness, remembering how much pleasure he received from obliterating every organism on planet after planet, content only for a moment with the massacre he was responsible for until the need to cause more pain returned, and again he was determined to satisfy the urge.
This spilling of blood was an addiction. An addiction Goku, Kakarot, was responsible for! For humiliating him! For bringing his eyes to tear! But he was not entirely the cause. Oh certainly not. This craving for destruction was something he was born with, and it would never go away. The very mention of his arch-rival's name only made it stronger. Broly would not stop, not rest, until everything on this planet, in this galaxy, in the universe, was gone.
The scenery shifted, bringing him back to when he was put against Kakarot and his group for the first time. What rage he felt confronting his rival again! The humiliation he experienced on the date of his birth returned as though he had been brought to tears all over again! Recalling this only helped infuriate him further, and piece by piece stone fell from his body, revealing patches of bare skin.
Kakarot. Broly thought of his foe within the safety of his mind, visualizing for a moment what it would be like to crush him. Yes, to break his bones ever so slowly, to rip him apart limb by limb as he screamed in complete, unbearable agony! Such pleasure it would bring him! But this enjoyable thought was not to last, for it was interrupted by another memory, the instant Goku's power grew beyond his own! The day his foe surpassed him, even if it was strength only temporary, Broly was still beaten. Not destroyed, but defeated…and forced to spend 7 years recovering, frozen in ice.
No more was needed. In a burst of uncontrollable rage that swept throughout his body, the stone that encased him cracked and shattered, Broly unleashing his power and creating an aura that spiraled up beyond the clouds. The ground shook around him as he rose into the sky, bolts of energy crackling around his body while others hit the ground, instantly incinerating large parts of the desolate soil.
"Kakarot," Broly spoke quietly to himself as his eyes began to flash a red and white color, muscles bulging and returning to their natural size while he continued to allow his rage to further tap into the power within him. He smirked, quickly tossed his head back, and began to laugh insanely while the ground beneath him continued to rise and fall, cracking and splitting apart. The bloodthirsty brute knew revenge would be his, that nothing would or could stop him, not this time, not ever again.
"Kakarot!" His thunderous yell stirred a series of echoes that mixed in with the roar of his flaring energy and anything beyond his location did not hear his call. It went unheard.
Author's Note: Hey! Thanks Jonochi. I really appreciate your review. And yes, Broly is awesome. I made this fic because I am tired of how weak Broly seemed in "Second Coming." I mean, in the movie where he first appeared, even 4 super saiyans and one namekian could not hurt him. Now, despite being more powerful than before due to the fact that when a saiyan fights he becomes stronger, Gohan is able to easily to knock him off balance or even overpower him a few times! I'm typing this fic to restore Broly's image as the most feared and powerful being in the universe. So keep on reviewing man! Thanks a lot!
Anthonis
