Chapter 6: A Mysterious Energy
It was about a month after they had arrived, and everyone had settled into their new surroundings. Jeremy woke up that morning and started his daily routine, making sure it was not occupied, he started showering and was soon dressed. He went downstairs to the dining area and started to eat breakfast.
Eleanor came down while he was eating and sat next to him, placing her head on her arms on the table. She had been bored recently, since there wasn't much left for her to do. She had mastered the art of reading ki levels and knew a few basic fighting moves, but didn't really like to train, even though her power level would skyrocket almost as quickly as Jeremy's would.
Chris also arrived as Jeremy finished his third bowl of cereal. Eleanor was amusing herself by watching him eat. "You sure have learned how to pack it away, haven't you?" she said.
"Nope! I'm just always hungry!"
Vegeta, Bulma, and Trunks arrived a few minutes after each other. Goku and Goten also stopped by for breakfast. "ChiChi said something about us moving over here since we spend so much time over here now, so she kicked us out and threw our breakfast at us. Could we have some here, 'cause I'm still on McSatan's most wanted list for eat-and-run!"
"Sure," said Bulma. As she watched the others eat, Eleanor realized that she hadn't eaten yet. She walked over to Goku and picked up his carton of milk, pouring some into a glass. As she was pouring the milk, her eyes opened wide and she dropped both the carton and the glass. Everyone stared at her as she stood there, staring past the roof. Goku turned to where she was looking and focused his sixth sense. His eyes also opened wide as he felt the power. It was huge, and infinitely evil.
"What's wrong, Eleanor?" asked Jeremy.
"The… There's a huge chi out there!" she said.
"I feel it, too," said Goku. "It seems to be heading towards Namek-sei! They're after the dragonballs!"
"Come on, everyone!" said Bulma. "We can look through Dad's high-powered satellite telescope."
Everyone followed her into the confusing Science Wing. After a few twists and turns, they entered a room with a huge screen above a rather large control panel. Bulma and the others walked over to the panel, and Bulma picked up a helmet-like device. She handed it to Eleanor. "Put this on," she said.
Eleanor looked at it curiously. "What is it?"
"It's a device that can tap into someone's sixth sense and use it to locate the sources of large chis. I thought it might come in handy in case any aliens decided to set their sights on Earth again." Eleanor put on the device and focused her senses. Everyone looked at the screen as it showed a slowly turning and zooming in image. It stopped at a huge dark mass about to fly behind a star. The light from the star illuminated the mass, revealing a huge, castle-like structure made of a dark stone. It was very big and had many towers. All who saw it had a shadow of fear cross over their hearts.
"Holy shit!" said Jeremy. "What is that?"
"No, more importantly, what is that?" yelled out Bulma. She adjusted the image, zooming in on one section of the immense castle. After the image had refined itself, everyone noticed a rather large stone breaking off of the bottom. It then changed its direction and slowly began moving towards the satellite.
"Wow!" said Goku. "That thing's huge!"
"Just wait a second," said Bulma. The image on the screen blurred out and a new image replaced it. It was a map of everything between the flying space castle and Earth. "Calculating course and speed of the object," she muttered. "Adding in gravity and solar phenomenon, trajectory plotted!" She pressed a button and looked at the screen. A dotted line moved from the rock and started curving towards the nearby star. It swung around the star and was flung towards another, repeating the process. The line came to an empty stretch of space, then turned as it entered the gravitational pull of another star, Sol. The line curved, narrowly missing Jupiter and Mars, but it landed dead center at Earth.
"Oh, no…" she whispered.
"How long is it going to take it to get here, woman?" said Vegeta.
"Well, there are too many variables to tell for certain, but about one month."
"Fine, we'll just have to blow that thing out of the sky!" said Trunks. "We can do it!"
"Yeah!" said Goten.
"But, what about the huge power on its way to Namek-sei?" asked Chris.
"For you, it is huge! But it is nothing compared to my Saiya-jin might!" said Vegeta. "But, we are still going to train. All of us." He looked at Eleanor when he said that last part.
Goku turned to the three young warriors. "We need you to go and contact the rest of the warriors and tell them to start training as hard as they can. They should trust you because you can use chi and have fairly high power levels." It was true, since even Chris had a power above 250. Eleanor's was 1500 and Jeremy, who had been training extremely hard, had a power of almost 3000. The three nodded and ran off towards the exit.
Vegeta turned towards Trunks and Goten. "You go with those brats just in case."
Bulma looked at Goku and Vegeta. "Do you guys think that we stand a chance?"
"It's hard to say," said Goku. "I've seen over the years that Evil has a habit of being in the right place at the right time."
"Oh," said Bulma. "There is one thing I didn't want to tell you around the kids. If that thing hits Earth, there won't be much left. What is left will more than likely be pulled into the sun. There will be no survivors."
Later that day, Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, Jeremy, Chris and Eleanor were all in the Gravity chamber. Goku handed Jeremy, Chris, and Eleanor capsules. "These are weighted clothes, like the ones Jeremy has on, only they're five times heavier; you will always be under 25 times gravity. Halfway through, you'll be given a few pairs that would be about 50 times gravity."
Jeremy and Chris started putting on their weights, but Eleanor looked at all of the guys around her. "What are you waiting for, woman?"
"Well, I can't exactly put all of this on in front of you guys," she said.
"Then go somewhere else, if you want to!" yelled Vegeta. "We have no time to waste over your petty privacy issues!"
Eleanor turned around and left, coming back a few minutes later wearing the weights underneath her clothes. Vegeta set the gravity for 100 and everyone started training. Goku and Vegeta broke into a sparring group, along with Trunks and Goten, and Jeremy and Eleanor, leaving Chris struggling to walk outside of the gravity chamber.
The month was almost over, and Jeremy was looking into a huge dark spot in the middle of a normally star-lit sky. The public had been warned of the giant comet, and several daring government attempts to stop it had failed. There were mass riots going on in almost all of the world's major cities. Almost everyone thought that the world was over.
He, Chris, and Eleanor were all at Goku's house, since they were going to go get the senzu beans, beans with the ability to completely restore a person's injuries, in the morning and needed to be back as quickly as possible. He took one final look at the spot that would become everyone's worst nightmare tomorrow, then turned to go back inside.
"Go Braves go!" yelled out Goku as he watched what might be his last baseball game. Jeremy sat down beside him. The intense training had paid off. Chris now had a power of 900, Eleanor had 10000, and Jeremy had 12000.
ChiChi looked up at Goku and turned off the game. "Goku! It might be our last night alive and you're watching a game! Don't you think there might be something more important than that?" She fluttered her eyelashes provocatively.
"Hmmm… Not any I can think of right off the bat." ChiChi facefaulted.
"GRRRR!" she growled as she stood back up and saw him watching the game again. She then noticed Jeremy. "Oh, why aren't you in bed yet?"
"I'm not sure where it is."
"Well, follow me." ChiChi led Jeremy to Gohan's old bedroom, where Eleanor was currently sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Wait, don't you have someplace else, I could sleep?" he asked.
ChiChi looked at Eleanor. "Oh, I get it. No, there is no place else. Chris is in Goten's room with Goten, and that would only leave this room and my room, and you wouldn't be able to sleep if you tried to in there." Jeremy tried not to think about what she had just meant.
He walked into the room and shut the door, and just stood there for a moment. "Well, aren't you going to come and lie down?" asked Eleanor.
Jeremy smirked. "Are you propositioning me?" he asked.
Eleanor glared at him. "There's always the floor you know."
A big 'Rejected' stamp slammed itself into Jeremy's forehead. "Ouch! That was harsh!"
Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Just get over here. And don't try anything funny."
Jeremy sighed and sat down on the bed's edge. He turned off the lamp beside the bed and got under the covers. He then closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.
Eleanor lay there for a few moments, sensing all of the chis in the house. Chris and Goten's seemed to be lower than normal, probably because they were asleep. When she felt Goku and ChiChi's, her eyes opened wide and a smile formed on her face. She didn't even want to know what those types of fluctuations in the chi levels meant! She then ignored her sixth sense and sighed.
"What's wrong?" asked Jeremy.
"Well, I was just thinking about how this could be our last night together."
Jeremy rolled over to face Eleanor and smirked. "Eleanor, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I don't know… What do you think I'm thinking?" asked Eleanor.
Jeremy whipped the covers away and pulled a Yahtzee board out. "You wanna play Yahtzee! But I don't like Yahtzee, so, I'm sorry, Eleanor, but we can't." He then threw the board on the ground. Eleanor stared at him.
"Sometimes I wonder if you really only act stupid." Jeremy smiled back at her.
"Remember that day when we went out to see Satan City together?" he asked. "And how everyone showed up and then there was that scene in the park? Well, I just want you to know that hanging out with you was the most fun thing I've done for a long time. And I was just wondering if, like, once we destroy this asteroid, if you'd like to do more things together."
Eleanor smiled at him. "Yes. It was fun, and I'd like to do it again sometime."
"Really?" said Jeremy, his face lighting up.
"Uh huh!"
"Woo-hoo! Does this mean we're… dating?"
Eleanor nodded excitedly.
"YAY! That makes me wanna play Yahtzee! Only if you want to, of course, 'cause I'd really rather not."
Eleanor laughed. "Don't worry, Jeremy, I wouldn't make you play." She then leaned over and hugged him, taking Jeremy by surprise. He fell off of the bed.
"WAH!" Eleanor laughed once again. Jeremy got up and rubbed his head. "Heh."
"Well, we better get to sleep, we got an early morning tomorrow," said Eleanor.
"Okies!" said Jeremy as he jumped back into bed. Eleanor was a little scared of his immense joy at doing this. Jeremy lay down on the bed and was still.
"Err…" said Eleanor as she poked him. He was sound asleep. She looked unhappy. "STUPID JEREMY!"
Jeremy woke up early and sat up in bed. He looked over at the peaceful looking Eleanor and nudged her a little bit. She rolled over and moaned. "Come on," he said. "We need to go soon. I'll go get Chris." He walked down the hall to Goten's room and opened the door. He walked over to Chris, whom Goten had pushed out of bed while he was asleep. "Are you okay?"
"Well, once the headache is gone and the blood starts flowing to my brain, I might be." They both went to the Son's kitchen and found Eleanor already eating. They too started getting ready to eat.
As they all finished their meals, Goku came out and yawned. "Well, I bet you three are ready to go, aren't you? Well, Korin's tower is in that direction, but it's kind of far off, so you had better go now. See ya later."
The three teens walked outside and looked into the sky. They knew that behind that veil of blue was almost certain destruction. They all flared their chi's and shot off into the sky. About thirty minutes later, they saw the tower in the distance. "Yahoo!" Jeremy yelled as they turned their flight upwards. A few minutes after that, they landed on the huge platform in the sky.
"So this is Korin's tower?" said Chris as the walked around. As he said it, a rather husky guy walked out from behind a corner. "So you are the new guys?" he said in a raspy voice.
"Yep!" said Eleanor. "I'm Eleanor, and these two are Jeremy and Chris."
"Yeah, well, I'm the great Yajirobe. Korin's getting the beans for you, so I'll get you some coffee to wake you up for the big fight today!" They all followed Yajirobe down a staircase where he grabbed a bag of beans and poured them in a grinder. A few minutes later, they all had a fresh, steaming cup of coffee.
Jeremy took a sip and grimaced. "Ugh!" he said.
Eleanor nodded in agreement. "This is the worst coffee I've ever had!"
"Well excuse me!" said Yajirobe. "It's not like we get 'em fresh around here."
"Well," said Chris. "There is one good thing about it: it sure makes you perky. I almost feel stronger than I did before!"
"Yeah, well, coffee does that to ya."
A white cat with a cane walked around the corner. "Hey guys!" he said. "I found a couple more beans to add to your batch, so you probably need to go now. That rock is really close." He walked over to the empty 'coffee' bag sitting on the table. "Hey! Where's those senzu?"
Yajirobe gulped. "You mean those weren't coffee beans?" Everyone looked down at the senzu coffee.
"Well, I guess we'll have to bring this along, too," said Chris.
"Since you volunteered to, you can!" said Jeremy. "Well, I hate to drink and run, but we don't have all day. See you guy's around!"
"Here, catch!" said Korin as he threw the three beans he had to Jeremy.
The three teens ran up to the top and blasted off, Jeremy holding the beans, and Chris holding the coffee in a spill-proof mug. They were fully energized by the drink and were able to shoot off at much faster speeds. About 15 minutes later, they arrived at the Son house where Goku and Goten joined them. They continued flying, Jeremy explaining all that had happened at Korin's place. Vegeta, Trunks, and Bulma, who was on a souped-up air car to keep up with their speed, joined them as they passed over Satan City.
Jeremy looked down at the chaotic city. Smoke was billowing in many places, and there were people running throughout all of the streets. His mind wandered back to his parents and brother, and he wondered how they were doing.
Jeremy gave the beans to Bulma and flew back to his place. As they kept flying towards the point that would be closest to the juggernaut, the other members of the Z warriors joined them. Piccolo, the Namek-jin, Yamcha, the just-about-average guy, Tienshinhan, the three-eyed mutant, Chao-zu, the weak emperor, Krillin, the short and bald best friend of Goku, and Gohan, Goku's eldest son.
They all landed on a small island in the middle of nowhere. "Alright people," said Goku. "Unless we destroy this giant pebble, we will be destroyed. We all need to power up to our maximum, because I'm going to perform the Spirit Bomb. I want you all to give me everything you can so we can destroy this in one blow." He then took the cup from Chris. "Everyone, drink some of this. It will regain everything that you've already lost in flying here." Everyone drank from the cup, sour expressions galore, and felt reenergized, but it was, thankfully, empty afterwards.
"Let's do it!" said Krillin. Everyone jumped a few feet in the air and floated there. Then, Eleanor's senses overwhelmed her at the amount of power growing around her. She pushed it aside and started powering up herself.
She was soon done, but the others were still going. She watched in amazement as Goku burst into Super Saiya-jin level 3. His eyebrows were gone, but his eyebrow ridges jutted themselves out. His hair grew longer and longer, extending to his ankles.
Eleanor realized that everyone was at their maximum now. Goku stretched out his arms above his head and started concentrating. Eleanor felt her power being sucked away from her, and increased her aura to give more, as she saw others do the same. She couldn't see it, but she felt the energy all around her. She looked up into the sky and saw a huge ball of energy starting to take shape. And it kept growing. The energy then stopped flowing from her. She looked and saw Goku smiling.
"Done!" he said. Everyone then heard a loud rumbling noise. They looked up into the sky. A burning redness filled the sky, almost reaching from horizon to horizon.
"GOKU!" yelled out Krillin.
"IT'S NOW OR NEVER!" yelled out the Namek-jin.
Goku smirked and lowered his arms slowly. He then brought them back up furiously, sending the enormous ki blast into the giant asteroid. Everyone watched as it went at amazing speed, closer and closer. They then flung themselves to the ground and covered their eyes to save them.
The ki blast zoomed closer and closer towards the asteroid. It slammed into the side of the asteroid, burrowing deep within the core of the asteroid. Exploding with enormous force, the sky lit up to the point where the warriors were almost blinded. There was a deafening boom, and then silence.
Everyone stood up from where they were. Goku looked up and ran over to Bulma. "Senzu beans! Hurry!"
"What's the rush?" she said pulling them out.
"Debris!" He ate one and tossed the remaining two to Vegeta and Piccolo. Everyone looked up and saw that the rock was indeed gone, but there were many house-sized or bigger fragments still coming. Everyone prepared to defend themselves from the debris.
It came suddenly and without warning, a pebble the size of a pea, yet so very fast, and that was all it took. Vegeta powered down and collapsed onto the ground, a hole in his chest the size of a pencil. The ground around him went red with blood.
Chris looked at him, horrified, as Bulma let out a scream. The warriors let out their barrage of chi blasts to stop that from happening again, but Chris didn't care anymore. Vegeta… was dead… It… couldn't be!
Chris collapsed on the ground, tears streaming down his face. It was over. For so long he had admired the man, had looked up to him, and had followed his example in every possible way. He had been a source of power for Chris. Vegeta had been strength for Chris, the very essence by which he lived by. Without him, he had no one left to turn to, no strength to gain. He closed his eyes and let the world sweep away.
Laughter surrounded him. He opened his eyes to see that he was no longer on the battlefield. A low chuckle emanated from behind him. He swung around to see the same three figures from his vision. He growled and charged at them, swinging his fist recklessly. Aiming for the middle one's face, he swung hard. The punch passed through thin air and the figure vanished.
Chris sank to the ground in frustration. He couldn't even defeat a frail human. He closed his eyes, waiting for the vision to dissipate, longing for nothing but relief from the wretched world. He felt rage rising within him, rage at the injustices he had suffered, and indignation at his helplessness. He threw back his head and bellowed through the darkness, no longer caring at who hurt him.
"ANYTHING! ANYTHING FOR THE POWER I NEED! GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO DEFEAT ALL WHO STAND IN MY WAY!"
Silence lingered. He bowed his head, despair washing over him like an unspeakable tide. It was futile. He would always be weak. Whatever the visions had been, they would never come to pass.
He heard something behind him and whirled around to see a man walking towards him. He was dressed in a dark hood and cloak that seemed to crawl with evil. The only physical features Chris could see was a mouth drawn into a smirk, with long red hair protruding downwards from the hood.
"Time is running short," the man said quickly. "I am about to offer you a deal. I will give you all of the power you need if you will do one tiny thing for me. Sell me your soul."
Chris looked at the man angrily. "You know, I may feel like shit, but I'm not stupid! Listen, if you give me the power, I'll do anything but subject myself to eternal damnation!"
The man walked over to Chris and raised his hand to shake Chris'. "Anything? Very well then." He walked straight into Chris and there was a brilliant flash of light, then he was standing before him again. "It is done!" he said.
Jeremy turned as he felt Chris' power level rise. It was going up, way up! All he saw was a huge, billowing cloud of chi and the feeling of despair came at him in waves. Jeremy could here a tortured screaming within that cloud of despair, but then he heard something more important. A cry of pain. And it was very close. "No! Nothing has happened to her!" Jeremy cried out in his head as he turned around. He saw Eleanor sitting on her knees, clutching her abdomen. She turned to look at Jeremy, her eyes wide and misty. Blood seeped out from between her fingers, and she fell over.
Jeremy ran over to her, tears streaming from his eyes. It couldn't be real! He knelt beside her and picked her up, looking into her eyes. "I… love… you…" she muttered, and then went limp. Jeremy stood up, still holding Eleanor's fallen form. He shook his head 'no' as tears started streaming from his eyes. He was surrounded by his aura as he wept and it covered him and Eleanor both. His power level rose.
He stared into Eleanor's face his chi whipping around him like a vortex of pain. All that mattered was her, saving her life! He poured massive amounts of his chi into her, hoping that it would somehow re-ignite the smoldering candle of her existence. He felt himself changing, but he ignored the unbearable pain and kept looking at her. She had to be saved!
Jeremy felt the power out there, and knew what was going to happen if he couldn't stop it, but that didn't matter if Eleanor died here in his arms. He felt his power slowly dropping to where the other was stabilizing, and knew all would be lost if he didn't stop quickly. He just hoped that he had done enough.
Goku wiped the sweat off of his face as he destroyed the last fragment. He turned around to be greeted by the sight of Vegeta's fallen form. He watched as it slowly faded away to the afterlife. The next thing he saw, or rather felt, were two large chi's. He looked over to see two different auras, one a bluish-white, the other a dark red. He could tell whose chi was whose: the bluish-white one was Jeremy's and the dark red one was Chris'. He was amazed at how much their power levels had grown, then he realized that he could no longer feel the girl's chi.
"No, wait! It's still there, barely, but it's there!" His thoughts were interrupted as one of the chis leveled out. It was almost 10 times stronger than what Chris had been before. He turned to the dark red one, and saw the aura slowly fade. Before Goku stood a man. His face looked like Chris', only his eyes were gray, and he had long, dark hair. He was dressed in a black robe of sorts, revealing a long, empty scabbard underneath. He stood tall, looking across the battlefield at the Z warriors, and staring particularly at the bluish-white aura.
Goku felt Jeremy's aura fade when it reached a power level a little higher than the newcomer's. He turned from the newcomer to look at him. Jeremy stood there, holding Eleanor's limp body in his arms and staring into her face. Goku stared at Jeremy; something was different, but he couldn't tell what. His eyes went wide as he realized what it was. A thin black line outlined Jeremy's features, his skin was a different color, and his hair was clumped into segment instead of individual strands. Jeremy had bridged a gap that none had thought possible; he had become an anime human!
Jeremy looked up from Eleanor's face and looked at Goku. Jeremy noticed that he could no longer see very well, and took off his glasses. He could see perfectly without them. He threw them to the ground and motioned for Goku to come over, and he came as quickly as he could.
Looking at the newcomer, Jeremy said to Goku, "Eleanor is still alive. Give her to Bulma and have her take her back to a rejuvenation tank or something. She can be saved, so we must save her. I will fight this newcomer, you and the other senshi get out of here."
Goku nodded and took Eleanor from Jeremy. Jeremy remained staring into the newcomer's cold eyes. Goku put Eleanor into the back of the car and told Bulma what to do. She nodded and drove off. The man looked in her direction and blurred out of sight. Jeremy, too, blurred, but was too late. The exhausted warriors stood between the newcomer and the air car, but they were no longer a match for him. He struck them each, wasting no time, and put enough force into the punches to kill. The warriors fell, on the ground: Tienshinhan, Yamcha, Krillin, Chao-zu, Piccolo, Goten, Trunks, Gohan, and Goku. Jeremy looked down at the ground at the fallen warriors. Their bodies soon disappeared to the afterlife.
Jeremy looked up at the newcomer and pointed at where the fallen warriors had lain. "These were all your friends!" he yelled at the one that looked like Chris. "How could you be so cruel! You are not the Chris I knew, for he would never do that!" The man offered no response. He simply got into a fighting pose. "So you want it that way, huh? Fine! This is for Eleanor!"
Chris looked around himself, then at the man who was staring off into nothingness. "Why am I not back in my body?"
The man glared at Chris, then quickly backhanded him. "Leave me alone! I have a battle to win!" He then looked off into the nothingness again.
Chris' eyes opened as he realized what had happened. His body had tremendous amounts of power now, but he was no longer in control of it. Chris clenched his fists and charged at the man, striking him in the face. The man glared at Chris again and picked him up by the throat!
"LEAVE ME ALONE! IT'S MY BODY NOW!" The man threw him to the ground and shot fire from his hands. It wrapped itself around Chris' body, creating a binding field and restricting his movements to practically nothing.
Jeremy lunged at the man, barely missing him with an uppercut to the jaw. The man floated backwards and counter-attacked with a fury of fists. Jeremy either dodged or blocked them. "This isn't Chris' fighting style!" he thought as they continued to fight. He dodged another quick jab. Suddenly, the man became distracted about something and let down his guard.
"Now's my chance!" thought Jeremy as he lunged at the man, striking him in the ribs with a fury of attacks. The man was startled, but after a moment backhanded Jeremy in the jaw. Jeremy slowed himself down and wiped his busted lip.
"Damn! He's very strong! I wish I hadn't had to put so much energy into Eleanor! I don't think I can handle him, but I have no choice but to try!" Jeremy lunged at the man yet again, and they resumed the hand-to-hand combat.
Suddenly, for no obvious reason, the man's body flew backwards and skidded to a halt. Jeremy looked at the man quizzically and noticed that his nose was bleeding. "But I never hit his nose!" he thought as he prepared to send a flying kick at the man. "There something else going on here!"
Jeremy sent himself hurtling towards the man, his leg stretched out. He made contact, striking the man on the right side of his jaw. The man flew back a few more feet and skidded to a halt, ignoring the stream of blood running from his jaw. He then viciously attacked Jeremy again. Jeremy barely had time to defend.
Chris struggled against the fire that surrounded him, but found it was hopeless. He knew that his friends were in dreadful danger, if they were not already dead, but he could do nothing about it. The feeling of despair washed over him again.
Suddenly, something emerged out of himself; a man was coming out of him, but not the one who had tricked him out of his body. The man turned around and Chris was surprised to see himself. The man looked extremely like Chris, only his eyes were gray, and his hair was shoulder length. He was also wearing a dark robe of some sort with a scabbard underneath it.
"You...You are the picture from the book!"
The other merely nodded. "That book was a protrusion of your own latent memories, brought about partly by your own vision and partly by my summoning...you've gone without me too long, boy. It's time you embrace your true self."
Chris only stared. It was making sense...he was and had always been the man in front of him, his current body being a mere shell for his far more formidable spirit. He smiled. Yes... this was his true power, the power his captor had wrenched from him, shaping his body into its original form, and claiming it for himself. That could not be allowed.
He stood up, not surprised that the shield quickly dissipated as he passed through it. Though the possessor had taken his outer power, the real strength belonged within him. Now it was time to merge with his inner id. He laid his hands on the man's shoulders, staring intently into his gray eyes. What he saw there was the peace he had always sought, release from the pain of the world. When he did this, he would become the master of that pain, the Lord of Despair. He brought the man's body closer to his own, and felt their flesh began to bond. He felt himself being absorbed, and his consciousness moved into the other's mind. Memories of his body's possessor came flooding into him and he began to lose his own identity. From now on he would no longer be known as Chris. He was now Vorados.
Jeremy reeled from yet another strike to his face. He knew that he was losing this battle, but he was Earth's only hope. An idea struck him.
"Hmmm… he's pretty good at close combat, but what about chi attacks? Only one way to find out!" Jeremy sent a flying kick towards the man, hitting him in the gut. He then used the man's body as a springboard and bounded backwards about 100 feet.
Jeremy landed on his feet as the man was recovering. The man rushed towards Jeremy, but Jeremy formed a chi blast in each hand, then sent a barrage of them flying at him. The man's eyes widened as they struck him. Jeremy let loose a barrage of blasts towards him, pounding the man into the ground.
Jeremy smirked as the dust cleared. He had done it!
Suddenly, he felt a tremendous force beside him. He turned to see the man there, smirking. He then pulled back his fists and struck out at Jeremy.
Vorados turned his eyes upon his possessor.
"He is Malek," he said to himself. "The devil, you could say, and… my adversary."
He ran up to Malek's spirit, hardly surprised that his approach was not noticed. He channeled a tremendous force into his fist and let loose his fury on him, punching him through the heart. His fist went straight through the chest and Malek's eyes opened wide. He fell to the ground, and disappeared, leaving only the blood on Vorados' arm to prove that he was ever there.
"Now," said the Lord of Despair. "It is time to take back my body."
Jeremy reeled from the punch that he had just received. Things were not boding well, and he was on the edge of collapse. Jeremy looked back up at the man, and decided on one final attack before he could do no more.
Jeremy channeled his chi around his fist, causing it to look as if were on fire. With a mighty scream, he charged at the man. The man prepared to defend himself, but was suddenly distracted yet again by something. At that moment, Jeremy slammed his fist through the man's chest, ripping a hole through it. The man's eyes widened, then looked at Jeremy with a sense of old familiarity. The man then fell to the ground.
Jeremy collapsed beside the fallen form, almost completely exhausted. He looked at the fallen form and knew that he was probably making a mistake, but he couldn't allow this man to die. He grabbed a hold of the body and put his fingers to his forehead, hoping he had enough energy to use the Instant Transmission technique. He concentrated on the Capsule Corp. building and blinked out of existence.
Bulma sped quickly over the barren landscape as she rushed Eleanor back to Capsule Corp. The effects of the asteroid were apparent. The landscape was covered in craters, and smoke was rising from the cities. She looked on in horror ant the large crater in the center of Satan City's most populated district. In the distance, she saw the Capsule Corp building, and was relieved to see it still intact.
Bulma arrived at Capsule Corp. and hurriedly carried Eleanor into the Science wing. She checked for a pulse. "Good!" Bulma thought. "She's still alive!" She then carried her over to a darkened room and turned on the lights. Inside of the room were four rejuvenation tanks, the idea of which was a souvenir from her previous visit to Namek-sei. Freezer had several of these tanks, which could quickly repair someone, but Bulma had just completed the prototype.
Bulma opened up one and placed Eleanor inside, attaching all of the sensors and air-hoses. She then closed the top and watched it fill up with the regeneration liquid. She then sat down in front of it. She remembered the look on Vegeta's face as he lay on the ground. Bulma wept.
At that moment, two figures appeared in front of her, both collapsing to the ground. She ran to them both, seeing who they were. She could tell that Jeremy was okay, just exhausted with lots of cuts and bruises, but she put him inside one of the tanks just to be sure.
Bulma looked at the other figure and shook her head when she saw the hole in his chest. "No way he's still alive," she thought, but her attention was drawn to some movement. She peered into the hole and saw that, against all odds, the heart was still there and was beating. Not wasting any time, she placed him in one of the tanks and turned it on.
"… They'll all finish tomorrow.…" With that, she walked out of the room and turned off the lights.