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 62: Hero's Sacrifice
As Gohan and I flew after Broly, I kept telling the others to hammer the Overmind.
"We'll handle Broly, just keep the pressure on the damned Overmind! Hit it with everything you've got if you have to!" I shouted into the scouter. The overgrown Super Saiyan had gained some ground from us and rapidly closed in on Goku first. Gohan flew closer to me and stopped, yanking me out of flight with his arm.
"What are you doing?" I yelled at him, but stopped when I saw his fingers raised to his forehead. "Go," I said once I realized what he wanted to do. Instantly we appeared in front of Goku where Gohan got a free hit on Broly's face. I got a good look at the Overmind's squirming form just then. Its large body was in shambles and was trying to pull itself together, but the massive amount of energy around it remained the same. Makes sense I guess, after all the damn thing is more energy than matter, or maybe it's an even amount.
I noticed Gohan take off after Broly again, while Goku stood by. I glanced quickly at the shell of the Overmind, spotting a small flash of energy spiking in one spot. I fired a string of mixed energy blasts around that area, seeing it jump around in its broken shell to miss them.
"That's the core! Aim for any sort of energy spikes that you see or sense!" I said aloud. Goku and Bardock didn't waste any time searching for it and firing accordingly, but missing every time. Whatever they hit tore apart easily, but the energy signal kept jumping around while the other parts slowly tried to pull themselves together again.
"Man, no wonder people have trouble killing this thing," I muttered as I took a few more shots at it. Just as I thought I had it isolated, the sounds of fast movement went on behind me and I saw Goku fall out of the sky. I right away sensed Broly right behind me, and spun quickly only to see a fist coming at my face that was way too fast to block. Pain erupted in my jaw, but not anything I hadn't felt before. I stared back at Broly, who looked amazed himself that my head didn't come off.
"How did your head stay on your neck?" he snarled as he pulled back a bit. Must be my training, all of that energy surging through me must have pumped me up a little bit. Broly didn't wait for any answer and came at me again. I ducked under his punch, jump kicked him in the chin, and spin kicked his chest to knock him away. He gathered a quick but potent ki blast in his hands from not thirty feet away, firing a moment later. I quickly gathered an energy shield to block against it and saw the blast blow up right in front of me. Broly's tight grin vanished once the smoke cleared, seeing that I was undamaged as none of the energy got through. Gohan phased in just behind him, a bit bruised but ready to engage him again.
We've blasted the crap out of him, I've hit him with the feedback twice and he got out of it. I doubt the Stasis Ice is going to do much other than piss him off, what's left without just dropping a bomb on his head? I asked myself as I scrolled through the obvious options. Broly looked to be out for blood, and with a constant energy supply feeding him we were going to have to take the Overmind out first. Going for absolute full power on an energy blast was too dangerous to try and we weren't desperate yet. With him attacking all of us to prevent damage to his master, it was going to be difficult to finish off the beast any time soon. It's almost a perfect strategy now that I think about it. I've got to keep Broly down, but how? I thought patiently while Broly was making up his mind on who to go for next. Gohan came at him from behind and another melee broke out while they beat on each other.
I could sense Gohan was stalling for me to act while Broly had his back turned, so I kept going through my options as quickly as possible with the current state of things. Okay, his regeneration and energy supply are the problem that I need to take care of. I need to keep a steady amount of damage on him without letting him up nor burning out myself, the energy won't be a problem if he's too beat up to use it, what should I use, I pondered with a finger to my chin. I glanced over at Vegeta, who was staring back at me from a distance. He gestured with his hands by pulling them together and spreading them out in a straight line and stabbing against the air slightly. Slice him up with the sword, what good would that do? Wait a sec, duh, he's not like Borgos, and therefore he won't regenerate as fast. With all that energy the Overmind is giving him though, he won't stay down, I better keep him down! Oh boy, that could get messy, but if that's what it takes then I may not have a choice! I quickly gathered my green energy sword into my right hand, sighing heavily. I charged at Gohan and Broly, seeing Gohan move just enough for me to move out of Broly's sight range as he countered. Broly took a big double hand swing at Gohan and missed, his back was clearly open as his hands pushed forward with his own momentum. I kicked him in the back with both feet, moving fast enough to carry his momentum along with mine and allowing me to literally stand on him.
"Foolish move boy, I'll squash you and you know it!" Broly laughed without looking back at me.
"That's what you think!" I shouted at him, turning my sword downwards and thrusting at the space between my boots. The sword pierced right through and Broly's laugh ended abruptly as he drifted to the ground. I wasn't sure where I got him at, but it was vital enough for him to stop moving and gasp for breath. He landed hard and I used the sword to remain steady as I balanced myself on his back. His energy dropped as fast as his body did, and I kept my sword as it was, impaled in his back.
I quickly looked up at everyone who was watching. "What are you waiting for? Get him!" I shouted and pointed with the other hand at the Overmind's regenerating shell. Several spots of dirt began to loosen in the purple creep and emerged as Zerglings and Hydralisks around me, obviously on orders to liberate Broly.
"Oh...no you don't!" I growled, spreading my energy outward. The Zerg hissed and whined as my energy passed through them, their bodies literally falling apart at the seams before they exploded. I noticed the creep also dispersed into normal brown dirt when my energy hit it, though no plant life was present. Broly started to stir, so I made sure my sword had plenty of energy running up and down through him. He barely made another twitch, and I could hear shallow breath, as only one lung appeared to be working. I sensed a large series of energy blasts being sent and delivered to the Overmind, and knelt down to keep the sword pressure in. I didn't think he'd be getting up, but I didn't want to take a chance either. I heard a large chunk of dirt and rock get thrown into the air as another Zerg spawn showed up from about fifty feet away, this time a huge elephant like Ultralisk. Its tusks were bearing down on me as it stampeded my way, the ground trembling all the way. I stood up a bit, and charged a quick blast just for it. It stopped when the blast came calling, heaving itself into the air to just avoid the small ball of energy. It resumed its course upon landing, not seeing my concentration towards it. The ball swung around at my command and nailed it from behind, ripping through its back and exploding in a shower of body parts. The remains collapsed instantly, and I kept my focus on keeping Broly where he was, which didn't seem to be a problem. I stared up at the countless amount of energy blasts being used on the Overmind from the other Saiyans, Gohan included. The energy signal from the beast never ceased from its current level, but a lot of its body was being decapitated into the air, even freshly regenerated parts. Protoss ships hovered in, and smaller interceptors started to fly around, shooting Psionic laser beams at the Overmind's body in tune with the other energy blasts. The only thing that changed was the amount of debris flying around from the impacts. Damnit, this thing just won't die, but then again, Gohan isn't putting a lot of effort into it.
I paused as I reached for the scouter, "Gohan, what is left up there?" I asked telepathically.
"Only a small portion about the size of my house, for some reason we just can't make a dent, every other part of it has been wiped out!" he answered. Gohan stopped blasting once I contacted everyone through the scouter.
"Everyone get away from the Overmind! Gohan, hit it with maximum power! Remember, you have to use mixed energy for it to work at all," I suggested. The Protoss ships backed off instantly, the other Saiyans only a little. I saw Gohan's bright silver aura go up along with a feral yell as he gathered all available energy. He shot his huge Kamehameha out a few seconds later, and the green beam zipped into the mountainous area and exploded into a huge and bright green ball of power. It took about ten seconds to finally blow up and vanish. I didn't sense anything right away thanks to that kind of output still in the air.
"Gohan, can you confirm the target has been destroyed!" I shouted into the scouter. He paused for a moment, and then I heard a deep sigh as he was forced to power down.
"No, it's still there," he said slowly. I allowed my face to fall slightly while Broly chuckled slightly underneath me.
"From what I can tell, the outer shell of that core was cracked, but the source of that energy is still inside of it. I'm out of power," Gohan explained over the scouter. Broly's laughter rose in volume just a little bit, until I turned my sword just so slightly to stop it.
"And what is so funny?" I asked with a deathly tone.
"Your very best still won't do any good, the Overmind cannot be destroyed!" Broly grumbled out.
"Who says we have used our very best yet?" I asked, turning the sword to the left just a bit and lifting, hovering around the monster's heart.
"Because you are too weak to do it yourself!" he laughed again.
"Don't bet on that, you have barely tasted what I can do! Keep laughing and I'll show you," I said in a low, threatening voice. He laughed some more and I growled a bit, driving the sword into where his heart had to have been. All movement and breathing stopped instantly, as did any sort of energy being emitted. His body convulsed a few times, but the brain efforts to jump start him were of no use, he was dead.
The roar of a Protoss carrier went over my head as the COM chatter ceased over the scouter as Tassadar began to speak; "My friends, I feel that the Overmind has suffered great damage, but we have also suffered a great deal of effort trying to destroy it. Therefore I will drive the Ganthithor into the heart of the beast. If I can channel enough of the Dark Templar energy, I should be able to put an end to the abomination here and now. Clear out everyone, and remember what was done here today!" His transmission clicked off just as a large number of escape pods came out of his ship.
"No, Tassadar, don't do it! We can still do this without needless sacrifice!" I shouted at him through the scouter. He had certainly shut off the communications, because I saw a deep blue and green glow around the front of the ship. I sensed the energy being channeled by the Templar, knowing that he was indeed planning to kill himself in exchange for killing the Overmind. It wasn't the power that he was emitting that surprised me though, it was the raw focus of it and its purity. As energy sources could flow either pure or slightly scattered just a bit, it really determined how good the user was and how they were emotionally at least. I knew Tassadar to be a good-hearted being, but I had no clue he could channel his energy like this. His training with Zeratul must have done this, and that was for the most part meditation from what I've heard. His now mixed energy flowed more purely than Gohan's, and easily as pure as mine when it spread great warmth around the area. I flew up just as the ship was attacked by some remaining Zerg flyers that were hiding in the clouds. I moved to intercept them, but the ship was already catching on fire from the inside. The front of it exploded first, training all the way to the back as the bright blue and green glow erupted from the bridge. It shot like a meteor towards the core of the Overmind as the ship went down in flames. The strike produced a huge explosion that forced me to cover my eyes as a lot of dirt shot into the skies and a small shockwave went over the lands. Protoss ground troops were blown down by it, but otherwise unharmed. I maneuvered through the dust storm to float next to Gohan and Goku, who watched it all from about a half mile away. It took a good deal of time for it to clear out, but all that remained of the Overmind was a crater the size of an asteroid.
"He did it," Gohan breathed out.
"Yeah," Goku said with a sad nod. I looked away from it, feeling that Tassadar didn't need to do that to win. I knew that he did it for his people as well as ours, but the whole concept just didn't settle with me too well. There was no returning either, he had made sure of that. I had brought up wishing the dead Protoss back to life with the Dragonballs as well, but he wanted no part of it for anyone, including himself. Not only that, it felt like he had blown his spirit completely up in that attack, I wasn't sure there could be a body for him in their afterlife if it worked the same way as ours. Then again Vegeta blew himself up as well and he was fine, but this is different energy were dealing with here. I choked back a tear when I glanced down at the unmoving form of Broly. His face lie in the dirt with no emotion, just open, pupil-less eyes like he was in shock. That sight also made me sick to my stomach, and I wanted to turn away from it. I then sensed a spark that felt like a heartbeat coming from him. I stared down to see his hand was gripping something long and thin. I followed it back into the depths of the mountains, where it vanished into the rubble. His body started to move.
"No way," I said aloud. Gohan and Goku quickly found what I was talking about. Broly was getting up slowly, but the appendage he was holding was once part of the Overmind. I sensed a great amount of energy come alive and the small tentacle lit up with energy. It flowed into Broly and his form started to grow just a little bit while he himself screamed and choked just a bit. The stab wound in his chest and back filled in with new flesh, and his skin turned black in color all over, including the Zerg attachments. His hair grew a little longer and lit up into a dark green color. His eyes shifted from teal green to none, and then to glowing red as an evil smile grew. The energy from the Overmind's appendage faded into Broly and his power level shot up dramatically as the wind did, pushing against us with great force.
"What the hell is happening?" Vegeta shouted from behind us. A blue mist sprayed from the tentacle and slowly surrounded and enveloped him, and I instantly knew.
"Fenix, get your troops out of here!" I shouted into the scouter.
"What is going on boy?" Vegeta asked, struggling a bit as the wind pushed against him.
"It's Broly, the Overmind just fused with him!"
"It fused with him?" Goku asked, not so sure.
"Yeah, it did," I said as I stared at the crackling aura around the new form. Its power had now turned into a mixed energy signal rather than just the powerful ki level that Broly already possessed. It was also much stronger than Broly had been, and I knew that we were in trouble. The Broly we knew was pretty much gone, Zerg-Broly was born.
Power levels remain the same, Zerg-Broly: TBD
A/n: I'm sure some of you thought that it seemed a bit too easy, well there ya go. I got a few questions from others about keeping consistent with the Starcraft storyline about this part. For those who don't know it, Tassadar does kill himself to take out the Overmind in the original story, and it does work. Obviously I couldn't have this saga go out on a note like that though. Please do post your thoughts.