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 52: Gohan vs. Aldaris –"Let's do this now" part 1
Gohan stood with a fixated glare at the skies to the north and east of the Xel'Naga temple. He was completely focused on what he knew to be his fight. His blood had been boiling for Aldaris' head for a long time, and it was going to be satisfied one way or another. Goku and Bardock attempted to speak to him several times since they first picked up the shuttle coming, but Gohan's attention was completely on Aldaris. Vegeta didn't bother, telling his Saiyan brethren to give up, Gohan wasn't going to listen to anyone but himself right now. Gohan was listening, and his father and grandfather's words did help to reduce the bloodthirsty rage he was feeling right now. That was about the only thing that kept him on the ground and waiting. The energy signal he sensed only got bigger as it got closer, and he became more focused on defeating it. Vegeta and the others were not inclined to Psionic energy, so they felt nothing, though Tassadar became increasingly worried by the minute.
"Tassadar, I suggest you get everyone into hiding far away from here," Gohan turned and spoke at last.
"Only one shuttlecraft is coming right? Surely you aren't scared of a small platoon of Protoss are you?" Raynor asked, not a true holder of the facts at this point.
"It's for your own good, you'll only get in the way of this fight. One shuttle may not sound that threatening, but if this guy is as strong as I think he is, you'll only be in danger by sticking around," Gohan explained quickly.
"Praetor, remain here and wait for Zeratul, Captain Raynor and I will evacuate our forces and the Terrans to the Norad 3 and head towards sector 834," Tassadar ordered.
"No, travel on foot if you can," Gohan suggested.
"On foot? But it will be a hell of a lot faster on the ship once we get going!" Raynor retorted with a glare.
"He is going to be here in any minute. I doubt you will all be aboard and ready by then, and he is likely to involve some of us or the ship in the fight. Get everyone off that ship and get as far away as you can right now!" Gohan ordered again, getting a better reaction out of it. A loud sound of an engine overhead cut the commotion as a ship flew in quickly, but slowed and circled before landing in the field to the west of the temple, very close to the Norad. Gohan sensed one strong spirit exit the ship and walk their way, the figure hidden by a few spotty trees. Gohan turned and waited with a sharp but focused glare on the figure emerging from the clearing. When he came into view, Gohan took careful note of his lower body, covered in gold plated but very hard looking metal. His upper body had a few new implants as well, as one arm was artificial and a lot of his middle had been replaced. His head was the same, sporting a new head dressing that resembled a crown. Tassadar and Raynor quickly got off of the gawking train and urged the other soldiers to leave the area right away. Artanis stood off to the side with the other Saiyans, occasionally glancing towards the temple.
"We finally meet again boy. I hope you came prepared to die," Aldaris said with a wicked grin. Aldaris quickly removed the cloak that he had been wearing, showing off the rest of his implants that kept him alive and moving.
"I see you lost a few things since I last saw you, but it doesn't matter, you won't be leaving with them!" Gohan said with an aggressive growl.
"Lost several limbs and inner organs, but gained vast knowledge in return, a sacrifice I would gladly make again! Now then, I trust there are no other things you would prefer to say to me before we settle this?" Aldaris asked in a salty voice as he removed his crown, showing long gray hair streaking behind his head.
"Only that you pay for what you've done! Argh!" Gohan yelled as he powered up quickly. Green lightning flashed around him before his hair flew up and turned dull gray-silver, his eyes bright blue. The ground cracked around his feet and became entangled with lightning. Aldaris's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't run in fear as many in the area expected him to do.
"How fitting, this is how I remember you best, and this is how you shall be laid to rest!" Aldaris said with a grin. A bright blue aura shot up around him as he now powered up with his Psi energy, blue lightning striking around him. The winds blew in as he released his inner energy, blowing any spectator nearby either down or into the stretching trees. The Saiyans blocked against this force, barely. Gohan felt it pretty well also, grunting slightly as it forced him back a step. Aldaris finished quickly, a calmer aura of blue around his body. Man, Verto wasn't kidding when he said he was so strong. I'll have to be careful and make him make his own mistakes before I go after him, hopefully he hasn't mastered the use of his powers that well, Gohan thought as Aldaris walked forward. He stopped once he was within thirty feet of Gohan, holding one finger and pointing at him.
"Death beam!" he shouted as he shot a quick Psi beam aimed for Gohan's chest. Gohan knocked it away, and the next five that came in. Aldaris fired several rounds of small energy balls afterwards, most of them deflected away as Gohan held his position and swung only his arms, watching the Templar carefully. Aldaris frowned slightly, charging up a big ball the size of a truck and throwing it straight at Gohan. The Saiyan caught it and was pushed back quickly by the force of it. Gohan stepped into the ground harder and slowed to a stop, bent backwards a little while he struggled with the energy ball. He slowly released more energy and pushed it backwards slowly, cringing and grunting the entire time. Aldaris frowned at this, he expected a somewhat easy victory by what he was sensing out of Gohan's Psi energy. The combined effort with Gohan's ki had made him concerned, but he wasn't overall that worried as long as he kept the Saiyan away from him. Aldaris threw another Psi beam at Gohan, struggling with his already strong Psi ball. Gohan saw it coming and focused on Aldaris and pulled one hand up to his forehead while he blocked with the other. A bright blue explosion lit up the area as the beam struck the ball, sending any remaining trees in the area into the distance. Aldaris grinned slyly as the energy rippled outward before slowly fading.
"That takes care of that nuisance!" he said in an arrogant tone. A whoosh of air behind him stopped his remark's cocky affect in its tracks. He barely turned his head in reaction before it nearly came off of his neck from Gohan's fist. The force of the Saiyan's punch sent him into the ground and skidding for easily forty feet before he stopped. Aldaris spat the blue blood in his mouth, wiping it off as he slowly got back up.
"How did you do that? You moved so fast I couldn't detect you!" Aldaris demanded.
"Trade secret," Gohan said with a grin.
"Not for long!" Aldaris declared, firing another round of energy blasts at Gohan. Gohan avoided them all with mere turns and jumps, keeping his grin the whole time.
"Argh! Stay still you freakish monkey!" Aldaris roared, shooting more energy at him. Gohan kept moving and watched Aldaris follow him with every twist, phasing out suddenly to break the pattern. When Aldaris lost track of him, he saw his chance. He charged in from behind just as Aldaris looked to his rear, ready to punch his head off again. His hand hit a blue wall of Psi, stinging him a little bit there. Gohan had expected a shield, but this one was protruding three feet away from the Templar, not close to the surface of his skin like all others had been before. Gohan punched and kicked several dozen times, every time hitting the blue shield, trying to wear it down.
"You would have to do that for a very long time to break through," Aldaris remarked as he turned completely around. Gohan growled as he jumped backwards, he hadn't expected this, but wasn't overly worried yet. A sudden rush of Psi caused Gohan to dodge to the right just as a rain of blue lightning came down from the air above him, barely missing.
"Whew," Gohan said as he saw the failed strike leave its mark on the ground. He recognized the technique as the Psi storm. On Earth Kerrigan had used it on him a few times when he and Verto were searching for the Dragonballs. The first time it had worked, but the second time had no affect as he and the younger Saiyan were powered up. He trained with Verto a few times on their way to Auir, learning that energy could be added to this attack and that Aldaris was more than willing to use it with that enhanced affect. Verto had shown him the early but brief warning signs of this attack, showing Gohan that should he sense any sudden surge in Psionic energy around his body or directly above him, he should get the hell out of the way. Well, he wasn't kidding about that, Gohan thought as Aldaris continued to scowl at him. Another rush of energy entered the air and Gohan phased out again, just missing another lightning bolt coming for him. This was repeated several dozen times over until Aldaris realized it was fruitless to keep trying.
Instead of attacking Gohan some more, Aldaris turned the opposite way, looking at the other Saiyans with a gleeful eye.
"I wonder if your friends will be able to withstand the Psi storm, after all, every one of you Saiyans are all very strong," Aldaris said in a low enough tone that only Gohan would hear him. He began pouring energy into the air near the temple, much more than he had been using against Gohan.
"No, don't involve them, I'm your opponent!" Gohan shouted at him.
"And soon they will be once I'm done with you, might as well take care of them now!" Aldaris laughed as he had the attack ready to go. A whoosh of unseen energy struck, but it wasn't against the Saiyans. Aldaris quit laughing when he saw that his artificial arm was now dropping to the ground, almost completely severed from its socket, creating a lot of sparks.
"Attacking bystanders to gain an advantage, what a dishonorable Templar you have become!" a dark and grim voice said. Zeratul appeared just a few feet from Aldaris' surprised form.
"You cut off my arm, do you realize how long it takes to install that correctly?!" Aldaris said in surprise, holding the loose wires.
"Prepare to lose the other one you evil creature, you are no Protoss and do not deserve mercy!" Zeratul declared, swinging his green sword straight at Aldaris.
A blue Psi shield blocked it not a foot from Aldaris' face, "Apparently your vaunted power is even more overrated that I thought, fallen one! Now join your ancestors!" Aldaris shouted, blowing him far back from him with a powerful wave of invisible energy. Zeratul fell backwards in surprise and pain, landing and skidding all the way to right in front of the other Saiyans and Artanis.
"Prelate Zeratul, are you harmed?" Artanis asked, dropping to one knee next to the old Dark Templar.
"All of you are about to be harmed!" Aldaris declared, charging up blue lightning around his hands. Gohan attacked from behind swiftly, but only pinged off Aldaris' shield with his energy blasts, trying to cut through and stop him.
"Nothing you can do now boy!" he said, charging a strong surge of Psi storm lightning and firing it with his hands directly at the group, more notably Zeratul. Artanis suddenly jumped up and stood several feet in front of Zeratul, his arms spread wide. The lightning attack struck Artanis directly, surging all around and through his being before lifting him off the ground and doing the same.
"Stop this!" Gohan shouted when he felt Artanis' energy drop dangerously low. After about ten seconds of this, Aldaris stopped the attack, seeing Artanis drop lifelessly to the ground. Gohan noticed that the low ki signal within Artanis had dropped to nothing, but his Psi signal had grown exponentially before vanishing completely. Oh my god, I had no idea that technique could do that! No wonder anyone without a large amount of Psi can go down because of it. So this is why Verto was so cautious about using it, and why his evil half was able to beat dad so easy. Aldaris destroyed his spirit, which would kill the victim instantly once its gone. I can't let him do this to anyone else!
"No matter, that weakling didn't deserve to be called a Templar!" he shrugged as he prepared another lightning blast. His attention diverted as he saw Gohan teleport in right in front of Zeratul and the other Saiyans.
"I've had enough, you have caused too much pain to me and our family! Now you're killing your own kind, and I'm going to stop you!" Gohan shouted at him as he dropped back for a Son trademark attack.
"You haven't had enough, not until you lie face down!" Aldaris declared with a smirk as both he and Gohan charged up their auras in preparation.
"Ka, me, ha, me…" Gohan chanted, green energy flickering and sparkling between his hands. Aldaris was recharging his lightning blast into a violent blue Psi beam, ready to send it at Gohan at any moment.
"Now feel the wrath of a god!" Aldaris shouted, firing the blue beam and watching it tear up the ground in its path to destruction. Gohan lowered just a bit to settle himself, his blue eyes shimmering and glowing brightly. He considered using Instant Transmission to really trip Aldaris up and finish him off, but his family and friends would still get hit by the beam, never mind the temple with Verto still in it even if they dodged.
"Not this time, HAAAA!" he yelled loudly as he fired his answer. The green beam rushed out from his hands and struck against the incoming blue one, clashing violently as the ground split beneath it. Both fighters poured energy into their attacks, making the collision ball even larger. Gohan pushed with all of his might and energy, sending the struggle into a direct stalemate, and then gaining ground on his enemy. Aldaris was surprised by this to say the least, and sent almost every ounce of energy he had outwards, barely nudging the collision ball in the other direction. He panted as his energy ran thin, seeing his blue beam getting swallowed by Gohan's superior green Kamehameha. Desperate, he shut off his beam and concentrated for a moment. Gohan felt Aldaris giving out and sent an extra surge down the beam to finish the job. The beam struck its target and exploded with a bright flash before steering itself into space. The light and smoke cleared to show Aldaris smoking and lying in a small crater as Gohan and the others walked up to see him motionless. Gohan narrowed his eyes, knowing that if Aldaris was out of power, his blast should have obliterated him. He rescanned the area, picking up a large but much lower signal to his right. He spotted Aldaris breathing very hard and on one knee, far enough from the blast point to not be affected. He turned back to the body he saw, seeing it fade away from existence.
"A phantom?" Bardock asked.
"Argh, what a coward," Vegeta grumbled. Aldaris then pulled his good and living arm up to his face, using his chin to press a button on the side of a wristband of some sort.
"Commander, I need immediate recall to Talematros!" he shouted into it like a communicator.
"Right away, High Executor!" a dim voice came in.
"You may have won this round Saiyan, but you will not be as lucky next time!" Aldaris said as he pointed at him.
"Where do you think you're going, were not finished here!" Gohan said, walking his direction. A blue hue of energy surrounded Aldaris as he grinned away.
"He's being teleported elsewhere, get him now!" Vegeta shouted. Gohan fired a quick round of energy blasts, going right through the blue energy field as Aldaris vanished. He sensed him reappear far away at some sort of Protoss city. The energy signal dropped right away, too low to be detected for the moment.
"Damnit!" Gohan shouted at the air.
-
"Where did he go?" Gohan asked with anger as Tassadar punched up the location on board the Norad. He and Raynor had returned with fast shuttles, saying that the forces of the Conclave picked them up after coming to investigate what was going on. They had taken Zeratul down to medical for attention, though it only seemed the wind had been knocked out of him as he quickly rejoined the group.
"He said he was going to some place called Talematros. Where is that?" Gohan asked again, more insistent.
"A suburb of the capitol city, with very tight defenses, no doubt he went there because it is one of the safest places on the planet, other than the capitol itself!" Tassadar explained.
"So he's going to recover and send your armies after us isn't he?" Vegeta asked.
"It is certainly possible, but I doubt he would be that foolish. Although he may use the fleets to defend himself with if we don't get there soon, we have to be prepared for that possibility," Tassadar explained further, concerned a bit.
"What can we do to draw them away from Aldaris so they don't get themselves killed?" Gohan asked, a bit calmer now.
"A diversion would help, but splitting up may not work to our advantage, and what's to stop them from killing you three if you divide. It may not sound like much, but the grand fleet is very formidable!" Tassadar said thoughtfully.
"Is there anyone on the planet that can help us?" Goku asked.
"I may be of some assistance," a voice said from the bridge door. A tall Templar walked through with a few guards coming in next to him. He bore a thick robe that signified him as a high noble.
"Chancellor Zorbon?" Tassadar asked.
"Executor Tassadar, it pleases me greatly to see your life has not been taken. But time is of the essence here!" Zorbon said, wanting to get down to business.
"Then you know of the true events on the Terran planet of Earth?" Tassadar asked, stunned.
"I have my own ways to get the truth, I figured it out long before Aldaris came home. The only problem is the overwhelming power he has obtained, it has made it difficult to deal with him. I do know that neither you nor your Saiyan allies were responsible for the death of Fenix," Zorbon explained.
"How? Surely Aldaris would have erased any such information from his ship logs regarding the true events! He made that mistake on Earth but I doubt he would do it again!" Tassadar exclaimed.
"Why not ask him yourself?" Zorbon asked, motioning towards the door. A painted head of a Zealot emerged, with many metal implants around his body with two very big wrist blades that were currently turned off.
"Praetor Fenix?!" Tassadar said in surprise.
"It is good to see you again Executor, your comrades as well! We have many battles to look forward to!" Fenix said with a bow, a dull golden glow came off of his body.
"But how, you were dead, I know you were!" Tassadar argued while the Saiyans stared wide-eyed.
"That was my doing, when his body was warped back to Auir, I had him put into Stasis immediately and examined thoroughly. I managed to save his life with artificial implants much like Aldaris has now. It was Fenix himself that told me what happened on Earth. He has been in hiding ever since until now," Zorbon explained.
"We have operatives ready to give Aldaris' forces all kinds of headaches by showing false Zerg signals all over the capitol city, that should keep them away from your battle!" Fenix explained.
"There's another problem, there's a possibility that Aldaris is going to Talematros because of its great pylon clusters. He can connect to them and use their energy to enhance his powers. We found this out not long ago when he defeated a powerful Zerg agent by doing this instead of battling him directly! Supposedly he had barely won against this golden warrior before and tried this instead, and it worked quite well to say the least. A large Zerg wave was sent in next, and he eliminated them easily!" Zorbon warned.
"We should attack from all sides then, as long as your people keep away, we should be able to knock out his power sources before he can do anything about them!" Vegeta suggested.
"Then let's get going, fire up the Norad!" Raynor said, cutting in with his own order.
"Wait, what about the boy, he hasn't come out yet?" Bardock asked.
"Leave him be for the time being, he will emerge when he is ready and I will send him ahead," Zeratul said, leaving the bridge and the ship a moment later. As the ship took off, Gohan kept a sharp eye on the view screen with anger, wanting to tear Aldaris' head off even more so now than before.
Run away nowhere
Too chicken shit to face (me)
I'm gonna go there
The fear I cannot taste
You think you got me (you laugh)
You're gonna tumble down (you laugh)
Keep coming for me (fuck off)
I'll drop you on the ground
I fuck with no one
Until you get into my face
Break you down
Mercy, I cannot allow
Through your face, My fist will plow
Watching as your blood pours down
Lets do this now!
Interlude 52.1: Verto and Zeratul
I emerged from the temple very dirty and relieved. I had cut through the cave with my Psi sword and slowly made my way to the surface, having to carefully plow through without the mountain coming down on me. A few times the catacombs were blocked off and I caused another cave in or two by cutting through it. I wasn't sure how long it took me to get out of that dark death trap, but it had been a good clue when I stopped sensing a battle going on. I came outside to no longer sense my friends in the area, nor was the Norad ship still around. Several blemishes and craters outside told part of the story, the only question was who came by for a visit. I scanned farther away, picking up Gohan and the others traveling north and east, a pretty good distance away from where I was. I didn't sense anyone else in that direction. I wonder why they left me.
"I told you to take the time you needed, they went ahead to stop Aldaris from his plans," I heard a voice to my left, causing me to jump in surprise and point a hand towards the source, ready to fire an energy blast. Zeratul was sitting there, slowly coming into view.
"Don't startle me, I might get the wrong idea," I warned, dropping my hand.
"My apologies," he said, and then proceeded to tell me what had happened while I was underground meditating. When he finished up by explaining what they thought Aldaris was going to do, I had heard enough.
"I'll go stop him then," I said, turning to exit the temple.
"Use whatever measures you must to defeat Aldaris, beware of his strong and inexperienced powers. He has taken the life of one fellow Protoss today, he may take more if he feels it necessary!" Zeratul warned as I lifted into the air.
"Don't worry, I'll stop him in his tracks if Gohan doesn't do it first!" I said, powering up slightly and flying into the distance.
Power levels:
Super Mystic Gohan: 700,000,000
Super Aldaris: 650,000,000