I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 27: Plight of the Protoss

Zerg-Verto landed at the bottom of a deep gorge, in which a very large statue had been carved out of one mountainside. It resembled a strange looking warrior with a pickaxe and a shield, but it wasn't Protoss or human be any means.

"Must have been some great weakling, now where are those Protoss?" he said as he scanned around. He didn't feel anything in the area right away, and then noticed that his senses were not getting past the stone. Hmmm, must be some sort of hardened rock blocking my senses, they keep bouncing around, he thought, stopping right away. He spotted what looked like a small cave off to the side. After scanning around a bit more, he determined that it might have been the only entrance to the tower, where he suspected the Protoss to be hiding. He had not seen or sensed any yet, and he did not spot any Arbitor-type ships in the air to supply a cloaking field, something he had been warned about before. Like there are any ships left after that last battle, he smirked a little.

As he slowly walked towards the cave, he kept his eyes and ears focused on his surroundings, scanning for any disruption. Several hundred feet above, he sensed some sort of door hissing open and right away sent a weak ki blast at it without looking. The Zealot that was struck didn't even have time to react. The door shut as the warrior tumbled out and dropped to the ground from easily a hundred feet up. Upon striking the ground with a sickening thud, the warrior struggled to get up. Verto was impressed that he lived through all of that, but then realized that the Zealot's shield had probably absorbed most of his blast and some of the impact.

"So, this is where you are all hiding eh? You should have stayed underground instead of hanging around something so obvious, you might have lived longer!" Verto said, kicking the Zealot's head sharply to the side. This only knocked him out, so he reached down and grabbed the Zealot by the neck. Despite having a small hand against a much larger neck, he had no problem breaking it like a toothpick.

"Better tell your gods that your worthless tactics are almost insulting!" Verto spat before stepping harshly on the armor of the warrior, enough to break it open before moving on. He heard more devices going off on the tower, and turned to see many parts of the wall rotating. When the rocks turned, small cannons took their place, about fifty in all.

"Been busy eh...doesn't matter!" All at once the cannons starting firing large balls of energy at Verto at a high rate of speed. He dodged all of them before phasing out and into the air, sending back even more ki blasts. The mountain became a temporary war zone as greetings were exchanged between cannons and Saiyan. The cannon fire stopped and ceased as a large cloud of dust and dirt poured off the tower. When cleared, the statue no longer resembled any warrior, just a raggy mountain.

"So much for his legacy," Verto chuckled as he approached the cave.

Interlude 27.1: -Artanis and Zeratul-

"Prelate Zeratul, the Terran child has already destroyed our outer defenses and has entered the cave. At his current pace, he will arrive at the door to the maze within five minutes!" Artanis announced. He and Zeratul were currently seated in a small council chamber set up deep in the mountain, observing the video feed and transmissions from the troops stationed in the fortress.

"Zeratul?" he asked again.

"I suspect he will not show mercy to us this time. This may not turn out to be the shining moment in Protoss history, but I can foresee no other result. We must do our best!" Zeratul said in a low voice.

"Pardon Prelate, but I don't believe this is a fight we can win. He out powers us by a great deal! You admitted that yourself, we should escape! I'm sure that even if we had two hundred Archons sitting at the door he would tear through them like a lava flow," Artanis argued.

"And where would we go should we escape? He has better tracking senses than we realize Young Templar, and the Overmind would detect us very quickly out in the open. We were fortunate in our past encounters with the Zerg as we caught them by surprise. However, they now have all of the moves in their court, where we can only run and hide. We must outwit this Saiyan here and now in order to have a chance against the Zerg. He must still go through all of our troops and the maze, where we can at least buy ourselves some time. Perhaps a weakness can be found, though I seriously doubt he will let me use my Feedback technique on him again. Perhaps in the depths of the mountains, his link will be cut from the Overmind and he can be tamed to our side, but it will be difficult!" Zeratul preached.

Artanis just shook his head, "If memory serves, during our last encounter he destroyed much of the Zerg force willingly, and I remember seeing him having some sort of telepathic argument with the Overmind. But I don't think that will matter, he seems more eager to fight than any being I have encountered before."

"You have a point young one, let us hope you are incorrect in that fact!" Zeratul said, rising from his chair.

"What shall I tell our troops?" Artanis asked one last time as they approached the door.

"Do what they can to avert him! It is unwise to directly block his path, for even the Kalah would not be able to help them!"

-

"Knock Knock, Zeratul!" Zerg-Verto said as he gently rapped on the large door he approached. The hallway in the cave was lit up surprisingly well, but his senses were sharp enough for it not to matter. The door made no sign of opening right away, but slowly creaked open after a minute or so.

"How inviting!" Verto exclaimed as he stepped inside. A dark blue floor lay tiled on the ground, much smoother than the rough terrain just out the door. The walls were the same as the floor in color, and extended all the way up to the ceiling. Ahead there were three different openings in the walls, which turned into turning points and extended into other parts of the cave.

"So it's a maze huh? Interesting challenge you present me Zeratul, but we're going to play this by my terms!" Verto said, turning back to the door. Opening it a little further, he extended a palm and let loose a flurry of small ki blasts into the previous hallway. All of which hit the ceiling and poured large chunks of the mountain onto the floor, making the passage temporarily impassible.

"You can hide all you want. I'll play your little game of hide and seek, but we're not leaving until you and your kind are destroyed. Now let's get started!" Verto said loudly enough to hear the echoes. He proceeded towards the hallway on the left. He turned the first corner only to be met with a Zealot warrior charging him at point blank range. The Zealot's much larger size proved to be a disadvantage as Verto easily ducked under his Psi blades and punched towards his stomach area. His shield flashed and rejected the punch, but Verto then phased out and reappeared behind the warrior in the air. He sent a strong knife hand to the warrior's neck. This broke bones instantly and dropped the Zealot into a dead heap.

"Such an obvious weakness should be outlawed. You would think their technology would give them shields there too," Verto chuckled as he landed and proceeded down the hall, turning right into another warrior. This one was a bright blue mass of energy, one that he had rarely seen, but he knew what it was. It was an Archon, a powerful Protoss warrior that could generate Psi waves much like he could. This one charged ahead and released such a wave. It flew like a small Kamehameha, but missed and hit the walls. Verto punched at it, but his punch wouldn't break through the large energy field the Archon had around itself. Verto flipped over and quickly formed his Psi sword. He was behind the Archon before it could turn around, and then stabbed into his large and potent energy field. Verto heard a gasp from the warrior as he slowly drained his energy away. The sword then shined brighter with all of the energy in it, and the field vanished, leaving the Archon without any energy and without any protection. Verto grinned as he then released all of the energy of the sword right back at the Archon. The bottom half of the Templar body dropped to the ground as the blast burned the top half into nothing.

It's truly sad when those are supposedly their best fighters. They have potential to be great, what a bunch of weak-minded fools, afraid to use their real power. Oh well, I guess I wouldn't want to have to deal with too many like Aldaris either, Verto thought as he continued through this part of the maze.

-

Verto frowned a bit in frustration, he had walked all of the left end and all of the right end of the maze and had only circled his own tracks several times. He knew that because there were often dead Protoss lining them. He guessed he had probably killed eighty of them, maybe more. Mostly with his bare hands, he hadn't wanted to waste any energy if it wasn't needed. They were mostly comprised of Zealots and Dragoon guards, and were dispatched rather easily. There were a few more Archons, but he blew them down in a similar way, and using the sword did not require much if any energy. Now he was back at the entrance to the maze, starring a dagger down the middle hallway, which simply dared him to enter. He levitated a few feet off the ground and proceeded. This time there wasn't a Zealot or any other Protoss waiting around the corners, in which he was more than prepared for. He rounded the corners with no interruptions of any kind, and traveled the area in less than half the time. When he ended up back at the entrance three times, he had tired of this routine. The entire time he was sure they were all watching him from somewhere, but where he did not know.

"Come out Zeratul, otherwise I will bring the whole mountain down!" he said loudly, but not quite as a shout.

"You will have to find me first child, if you really want to prove your worth as a warrior!" the grimly old voice of the Dark Templar came from the maze. At first he jolted towards his left but then stopped when he heard the echoes of the old relic himself. He is misleading me on purpose, that sound was meant to come from anywhere in the maze, but where? Verto scanned around with his senses. He was still picking up on many Protoss agents of various types, but the cave walls and ceiling interfered with it quite a bit, at times giving the illusion of a warrior somewhere when in fact there was not.

He's certainly not making this easy, he and some of his kind have been moving around me the entire time without my knowledge. Probably when I was engaged with their brethren, making my attention sloppy. Maybe they are cloaked also, that would give me some trouble detecting them. Perhaps I need an outside view of this. With that thought, Verto closed his eyes and concentrated on the area with his Psi. He cocked a grin at this new ability of his, mostly thanks to his better half being such a quick learner and Kerrigan being such a great teacher. His body appeared in front of him and he willed his view to slowly turn. The halls seemed quiet enough, until he caught sight of a trace of Psi in the center. He quickly followed it with his mind, catching up to a vanishing Dark Templar staring him right in the face. He turned just in time to see another Protoss, this time a Zealot, turning the corner and getting out of easy range.

So they're confusing me into chasing the ones I see directly, but how are they all moving around like that, even if I am distracted? His answer came a few minutes later when he followed another Zealot to a dead end. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he tapped on the wall, and it opened. The Zealot proceeded inside and closed the door behind him so that it looked and felt like a simple wall again. Parlor tricks, but clever. Verto returned his senses back to himself and proceeded down the center again, turning the route that the Zealot had just taken and stopping at the dead end. He scanned the wall, looking for the imperfect designs that he should have noticed before had he been looking for them. He found the door very quickly and smashed it open, surprising the hell out of several Protoss right inside of it. After dispatching them, he proceeded into the much darker hallway inside the wall, which looked more like a fallout bunker the further he got into it. He passed by windows of maze rooms he had been in, giving him that slight chill of when someone is watching you and you can't sense them. He came up to one of them and noticed several Protoss in the maze, glancing around in disbelief. There was one Dark Templar with them, but it was with two regular Templars and five Zealots. As he watched he picked up their words easily.

"Where did the child go?" a Templar asked.

"Is there a chance he discovered our secret passages and now travels them as well?" the other asked.

"No, no chance! Our scouts say he was at the temple entrance or engaged with our kin when they enter or exit the passages. We would have known if he had seen them!" a Zealot argued.

"But where is he now, surely he doesn't have some sort of cloaking device does he?"

"I do not know, but we must find where he vanished to before he reaches Zeratul!" All of the eight Protoss then lined up and came straight to him, unknowingly marching to their deaths. Verto lifted a single finger and grinned.

-

"The boy is still in the maze! We have lost contact with our remaining warriors there, request reinforcements right away! We must buy as much time as possible for Prelate Zeratul!" Verto heard on the small intercom in the dark hallway. Then he sensed many Protoss coming down, but not close enough to see yet. Time to play by their rules and be the silent hunter! He glanced upward to see a series of long pipes, which had a small enough opening for his tiny body to slip through. Once on the pipes, he crawled silently through the remaining Protoss posts without notice, passing many warriors by without a peep. He also suppressed all of his energy as low as possible, so the Templar did not detect him as he had noticed they had that ability. Most of them were panicked about not knowing where he was, giving them the same uneasy feeling that he could strike at them at any moment. A very fitting feeling for them, I should do this more often!

He continued down the piping until he came to a stop where the wall came up in front of him. End of the road, too bad. That felt like at least a mile or two, these Protoss have far too much time on their hands to be making new hiding places! Scanning the floor beneath him, he waited until he was sure no one would see him. Jumping down, he spotted a small doorway that led into another large blue tiled room. Upon entering, the door shut behind him right away, becoming one with the wall again. Well at least someone was expecting me! Turning to scan the room, he saw that it was a large arena like room, at least a hundred feet across in either direction, and it appeared to be bowl shaped. Once he got a good shape of the room's layout, someone hit the lights and blackened the room into darkness. He stepped towards the middle, still not sensing much of anything.

Pitch black to cripple my sight, perhaps they could use their cloak as well, that would hamper things, Verto thought as he then closed his eyes to his own darkness. Channeling his Psi again, he used his spiritual vision to get a better look at the room. He saw his form as a small blue aura of energy without his body, much like he would when using any senses to find energy. He then noticed small traces of gray auras barely visible to the best of sight in a circle around him. Eight in all, and closing slowly on him. He quickly opened his eyes and frowned slightly, time to add some light to this room! With a sharp battle cry, he powered up very quickly and hit Super Mystic form, adding a bright silvery white light to the whole room. The sudden power up pushed his enemies back and caused their cloaks to disengage, revealing their forms. They were all Dark Templar, and ahead of him was the leader himself, Zeratul.

"Impressive delay, but that is all it was, a delay. Are you ready to settle this now, Protoss?" Verto asked, crouching down into a stance.

"Why is it you listen to that cursed creature when you have so much potential to follow other paths? You should be cut off from that thing now, so your will is your own here!" Zeratul began.

Verto looked perplexed at that statement, but didn't drop his guard, "Look I told you before, I don't really like the arrangement, but at the moment it beats what I had before. After you and the other Protoss are destroyed he is to set me free, then I will deal with him accordingly. Until then, know your place!" Verto growled, keeping his anger in check and watching all of the warriors in the room.

"Perhaps you are the one who does not know his place, do you honestly think the Overmind would set a weapon like you free with full risk of his destruction? No one with a fraction of intelligence would. Who is the fool now?" Zeratul asked as the Saiyan stumbled to answer that question.

"Well, uh, it doesn't matter! I can kill him whether he is trying to control my actions or not. Now shut up and fight me, I want as much enjoyment out of this as possible!"

Zeratul sighed slightly, giving way to his own stance with his sword drawn. "So be it!"

-

The Dark Templar directly behind Verto charged first, only to get a swift kick to his jaw followed by an elbow to the neck. The warrior fell into a crumpled heap, nearly dead. The rest of them save Zeratul charged next, all sword swiping to hit the Saiyan. None connected and a few dozen phase-outs followed by blows to the head had dropped them all to the ground.

"Don't worry, they aren't dead yet. I barely touched them and I'll save them the final memory of their great leader bowing at my feet!" Verto grinned.

"You really are an evil child. You should know that good will strike you down!" Zeratul shouted as he charged. Only thirty feet away, Verto raised his hand and charged a medium sized energy ball, firing quickly. When it left his hand, he noticed that it came out as green mixed energy, a fact that he had forgotten. Oops, didn't mean to end it so soon, oh well. Zeratul dodged aside and kept coming. Oh good, he can avoid the easy ones, let's see where this goes! Verto fired three more and watched as the Dark Templar leader dodged two of them and parried another to the side with his sword. Verto charged a straight ki ball this time but let it spin in his hand and watched Zeratul come to a screeching halt not twelve feet away.

"I can't say I've ever encountered a being like you Zeratul. Your powers are strange to me, and I know I haven't seen them all yet. However I would like to see how much you can take. I seriously doubt you could guard against the full power of a Saiyan like me, but you have eluded me so far, maybe by my own arrogance. We shall see!" Verto said, powering up the energy ball and getting ready to fire.

"If only you could see the potential you have boy, maybe then you could see that you are wrong!" Zeratul spat slightly, raising his green sword.

"I understand this body's potential just fine, and I promise you that someday soon, it will not be rivaled in any part of the universe, or frankly beyond that!" Verto grinned back.

"I wasn't talking about your power boy, it is a kind heart that I see. One that protects others from evils like yourself, the one true power in the universe is purity. All others are mediocre at best!" Zeratul cocked his own slight grin, but not much of one.

It was Zerg-Verto's turn to frown, "I'll show you old timer, I'll show you what true power I possess!" With that said he ignited another energy ball in his other hand, this one made strictly of Psi. He grunted slightly, he never expected that his energy would be more difficult to separate in this higher form. Then he pulled both hands back, bringing the two together. The two clashed at each other with a bit of lightning, before merging together and swirling into a bright green color that shimmered with power.

Zeratul took a few steps back, "What are you doing, you can't combine the two energies like that. That kind of destructive power can't be contained or controlled! You will destroy the planet and yourself along with it!"

Verto cocked a smirk, a bit amazed that Zeratul had just now sensed the energy fusion, "I guess it's up to the good of the universe to stop me then isn't it, up to the challenge old man?" Zeratul sweated nervously and stood still, pulling one hand up with a small white blast forming in front of it. Verto stopped charging once he saw it, recognizing it from his previous battle. After allowing it to form, Zeratul let it float in front of him, waiting for Verto to make the first move. Verto fired his green beam and let it rocket towards Zeratul.

"FEEDBACK!" Green beam clashed with white ball and struggled to overtake each other. At first Verto's beam pushed it back towards Zeratul, but then stopped a few feet away from him. The feedback ball slowly enlarged as it absorbed the energy from the beam, and then advanced quickly towards the owner of the blast. Zeratul pushed it faster with his energy, only to see it go right through an intangible image of Verto and strike the far wall, dissipating.

"You didn't actually think I would fall for that again did you?" he heard directly behind him. One kick to the stomach area flashed a blue shield and gave Zeratul time to jump back. Verto charged in with many punches and kicks aimed at Zeratul's head. The crafty old man dodged quickly and parried some away with his energy sword, causing the young Saiyan to retract his attacks. Verto jumped back and landed across the bowl shaped dark room. Zeratul pulled his sword up to a slant across his body, in a defensive stance.

"Try this one Zeratul!" Verto dared, pulling both palms up.

"Do your worst boy!" Zeratul was then treated to a lot of quick and small mixed energy blasts being fired like a machine gun. The old Templar dodged side-to-side and deflected even more with his sword, letting them fly into the now smoking walls.

"For one who talks about power, you sure haven't shown me much about it. Perhaps you still don't understand the energies you wield, they aren't everything. Much like the fish in the seas, there is always one bigger and better!" Zeratul declared as Verto stopped his ki storm.

The young Saiyan simply grinned again, "If you want something that will end the battle faster, you shall have it!" That said, Verto called up two more green balls of mixed energy and pulled them back behind him.

"The way your feedback move struggled against my last one, I doubt that it can handle what I am about to do!" Verto smirked as he charged it. Zeratul pulled his sword up to a ready position with a determined look on his grim face.

"Fine then old fool. Super Galic Gun!" To say Zeratul's eyes lit up would be an understatement, but they did as the large beam quickly got to him. He pulled his sword to a vertical to block against it and was pushed back upon impact. Zeratul grunted under the force that he was blocking against, and started to struggle to keep his footing as his shield started to flash violently around him.

"Prelate Zeratul, no!" a fallen Dark Templar shouted from across the room. The rest of them had begun to regain their senses, but stayed down primarily as they watched their leader fight against the overwhelming energy beam. Zeratul eyed most of them and managed to get his other hand to turn his wrist sword counterclockwise, putting immense pressure on his failing arms. His green sword glowed brighter and pushed sideways against the beam, causing it to turn the other way. Zeratul let loose a mighty war cry and fell back as he pushed forward and upward, watching the giant green beam turn and head that way, crashing into the blue walls and plowing right through it. Rock and rubble fell as the cave shook from the impact. The dust rushed in as did light once the beam went through the mountain, showing the brighter daylight clouds outside. Verto kept a frown at first, but managed to grin as Zeratul struggled to get up and catch his breath.

"I must admit, you are impressive for a Protoss, worthy of fighting a Saiyan. I will take true pleasure in finishing you and your brethren off!" Verto grinned as he pulled back for another round. Suddenly Verto's gaze shifted to the new hole in the ceiling as he sensed something. The surprised look on his face would have been funny if the Dark Templar weren't losing the battle.

"Finally, a real fight!" he whispered as he powered down to his normal form. Zeratul and the others looked up in questioning gasps as Verto lifted off the ground and flew out of the cave. Once outside, Verto changed direction again and blasted off, leaving some more dust and rubble to fall into the cave.

"I don't understand Prelate Zeratul, why would he leave? Victory was in his grasp?" one Templar said, struggling to get on his feet as the far doors opened up. Artanis and other Zealots ran in to check on Zeratul and the others.

"Prelate Zeratul, our scanners have detected a Protoss carrier landing in sector one-one-eight! It's identification belongs to that of the former Executor. It's part of Tassadar's fleet!" Many gasps from the regular Protoss troops and small murmurs began.

"Perhaps our help has arrived, I feel that the young Saiyan considers them more of a threat then us. Our time has been delayed again my brothers! Begin to repair the outer defenses as well as this breach, the Zerg may come any time now!" Zeratul ordered while looking up into the clouded skies.

A/N: Ya'll know its on now, the only question that remains is who is going to fight Verto first and if they will win or not. Who's going to take Verto down, or will all six of them fall to the young Saiyan?