Chapter 12 - Reckoning
It looked like things took a turn for the worst for the champions of Earth.
Piccolo felt the strain in their battle first and foremost. From what he could tell in the distance was that Goku was struggling with the fused Androids and he heard nothing from the recently arrived Kaiōshin. While Dende and him were holding on, Eighteen had gone quiet in the horizon. Things didn't look promising.
If only Vegehan wasn't busy with that abominable Ki that just emerged.
"It can't be helped now," He thought, clasping his hands with preparation. "All we can do is fight as hard as we can. If anything else, this will be Dende's true first battle as Earth's Guardian."
Meanwhile, his opponent was staving off a flurry of punches Majin Buu was hurtling towards him. Like fluid he bent and warped his shape to best suit the current instance. With arms that transformed into blades he waited until the Djinn had completely missed to tear him into pieces. But doing so only made an unintentional opening for Buu to fire a pair of eye beams directly into his head, tearing it off.
Walking back devoid of a cranium, a new one formed out of liquid metal that was absorbed through the soles of his feet. Features returned and a look of annoyance stretched across the effeminate droid. His enemy pulled himself together just as easily, and gave a childish glare towards him.
"Buu keep breaking you! You keep comin' back! Why?!" The superhero dressed Majin asked with high pitched infuriation.
"Would it help to tell you that I'm an autonomous organism of living machines composed into a singular mass?" He inquired cheekily. In his eyes, the opponent he faced didn't possess an iota of intelligence that his other enemies retained. A walking man-child with too much power to know how to use it. At least, that's what he and the Doctor believed; nothing that had been refuted in this particular squabble. "To put it simply, as long as we fight here, I can never lose."
That's when it dawned on Piccolo. The perfect plan to unfold. He had been charging energy for an attack, and now he knew how to direct it. Closing his eyes, he'd direct this to Dende telepathically, who was also in hiding from their common foe.
He just hoped that Buu could work with them on this; having a rogue element like him was risky, but he was the only one to ensure their enemy was entirely defeated.
"Buu beat you," The pink skinned creature assured her, a sinister smile breaching his visage that unnerved Suigin. "Buu always wins."
Twitching with mounting annoyance, Suigin wanted to prove the abomination wrong. Through the soles of his feet the earth rippled like water, spreading outward till it encompassed thirty meters of established metal foundation. Without even moving, several tendrils rose up from the earth composited of sheets of liquid minerals, forming spear edged tips. They all dived towards Buu, impaling him through every conceivable angle, making a grizzly sight for the onlooking heroes.
Then, a shimmer was seen and Buu's Swiss Cheese appearance vanished like static.
"An Afterimage?" Suigin's eyes narrowed, turning to look around. His own body was capable of sensing energy to a minute detail. However, Buu seemed to not be nearby. It's almost as if he moved across the planet. Or...
His sense of thoughts stopped as he felt a constricting pressure warp the atmosphere around him. Gaping, he shook as he was unable to move. Even the metal he took over beneath his feet was vibrating. Feeling this was the work of Ki, he analyzed its source and knew who it was.
"P-Piccolo!" He seethed out, grounding his molars together. No matter what direction he moved, his malleable form that'd go in and out of defined shape, it didn't help. What angered him was that he was plotting something; something that was triggered by Buu's sudden disappearance. "What scheme have you cooked up?! I can't be destroyed conventionally. You'd have to have power on par with a god to erase me!"
"Thanks for the reminder," The emerald skinned warrior grinned in a barking reply. Veins spread all over his arms, prominently over his forehead, and the telekinetic bonds remained firm through the charged energy he gathered. His eyes looked across the expanse and the Guardian of Earth raised his own hands with a look of visible concentration. "Good thing I got one on my side."
With a loud yell, Dende tore the foundations of landscape with his own telekinesis. The metal warped, groaned and shrieked when it tore off in a shearing motion. An ugly square was torn up and sent soaring high. Both Namekians extended their reach, eyes bulging at the strain of such a long distance being formed between them and the affected.
Releasing at once, Piccolo and his ward gasped for air from the exertion. Quickly, they both began to prime for Masenko. Their enemy however, only tarried for a few seconds.
The metal ground wrenched with him was absorbed into his soles and rippled through his clad black, red-outlined body. Through both hands he created a pair of enormous sickle blades of platinum translucence. Grinning with a murderous glee, he looked down at both of them with amusement as they were priming their attacks.
"That's your plan? Destroy me in the air? Those attacks wouldn't even faze me," He announced, swinging both transformed limbs casually. The resulting air waves carried the cutting force, slicing significant lengths of the island that let loose debris and the sea beneath it to spout upward. The sight unnerved them, but they didn't waver if only out of desperation. Crossing his blades in front of his body, just below his chins, he narrowed his eyes with a broad malicious smile. "Go ahead. Take your shot. Just know it'll be the last one I'll let slide."
A distant Ki suddenly began to close in.
His eyes widened and his smile disappeared slowly as the source of overwhelming power was getting closer. Turning to look over his shoulder at the Sun, he'd see a halo of rose mingled with flecks of orange and red. Like an approaching meteor, the Djinn's unseen glaring eyes were framed by pulsating veins of anger while moving at speeds that defied logic.
The assumption that he had retreated to another part of the planet was inaccurate, he now realized. Majin Buu had teleported to outer space and decided to bowl downward at an insane velocity to crush him underfoot. Even as he turned to cut him, the fireball of pink-purple-&-white just slammed into him.
And through him.
Suigin didn't have the ability to conceive his own death, just the surprise that his enemy was willing to meteor drop onto him regardless of what happened to everyone else on the island. He'd have smiled as such a terrifyingly unpredictable entity could be as a comrade, but was already disintegrating in the air. Nothing was left of him from the heat, pressure and speed that tore straight through him.
Halting with a defined pop above Dende and Piccolo, Buu's entire body was layered in steam from his accelerated motion. Spewing out vapor from whistling airholes, the Djinn's mood drastically changed from one of anger and annoyance to worry. Ignoring the two paled protectors of Earth, he darted over to where he last saw his friend.
"Buu's here, Mr. Satan! Buu fix you up!" He worriedly doted over his friend, using his hands to generate healing magic over the fetal positioned martial artist. In seconds, his essentials were restored, and Mark woke with a start. But when he saw who it was, he hugged him tightly with tears in his eyes.
"Thank you so much, Buu! I thought I was a goner for sure!"
"Thank Buu more, Mr. Satan! Buu likes that!" Mr. Buu exclaimed with a broad smile, hugging his one and only friend back.
"Oh I'll thank you a million times, Buu! And not only that, but I'll give you a big feast when we get home after we find my daughter!" He exclaimed bombastically.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Buu clapped with glee. "Feast! Feast! Feast! Feast!"
Piccolo could only fall over onto his haunches with disbelief. Joined with him was Dende, who began to restore his vitality and stamina with a simple wave of his hands. After nodding his gratefulness, he couldn't help but gape at what was once a true terror of every world in the cosmos was now a doting constant of the world's biggest hoax.
"I hadn't planned on whatever he was doing, but I'm glad he came through anyways. What a strange creature we have for an ally," Piccolo mused with a sigh.
"At least he's no longer an agent of chaos. I sense only a goodness coming from him, now that he's been befriended by our acquaintance, Mr. Satan," Dende confirmed with a soft smile of his own, sitting next to Piccolo patiently. Turning with a slight look of worry, he remembered the others. "Should we go help them?"
"I think they'll be alright. I got a feeling those Androids don't know exactly who they're faced against," The former Guardian of Earth said mysteriously as he cocked a grin.
"So, that cross-dressing sadist is taken out?" Violet murmured, her arms crossed and her spattering of scuffs with a few nicks dictating superficial injury were made. Not far away from her standing frame was a bloodied, kneeling Eighteen. Despite it all, she wanted a challenge and personally handicapped herself to see how far this inferior model could push her cyborg enhancements.
It was hardly a competition.
A few learned moves and tricks were used to hit her, but it was all like punching a dummy. No real harm was done to her, only sullying her appearance. Looking over at the stubborn and sturdy built former key creation of the Doctor, she couldn't help but cast a look of disgust. This was supposed to be key in destroying anyone who posed a threat to him on Earth?
"Whatever the Hell keeps you going?" Violet queried out, turning to give Eighteen's dirtied bangs and busted up left jaw from where she buried her fist hardest. She clutched her left arm, twisted out of joint while both knees were cut up and bleeding painfully. The tenacity made her grimace, and wonder why she'd fight a hopeless battle. "Don't tell me you want revenge for that little spat we had when we kidnapped the kids."
"Yeah, you guessed it," She rasped out, chuckling with a hoarse chuckle. "I'm petty like that."
"I'm a simple person. If the cost isn't right, it isn't worth the hassle. I'm being paid a lot to make sure this mad scientist can fulfill his scheme. Not to mention," The ex-RR soldier flexed one of her arms and threw out a few ghost punches. Smiling with satisfaction, she turned to look back at her. "Well, you can say once this is said and done, any superficial enhancements I had gained before this pales in comparison to what I am now."
"A pawn for this, pawn for that. Does your own freedom only valued by how many zeni you collect at the end of the day? Even if it means sacrificing your humanity?" Eighteen growled out with indignation. "How could you toss away something I yearned to get back? What's there to take pleasure in when you know you're soul-less within?"
"I see you don't get the big picture. My cybernetics are so seamless that I barely am aware of what was replaced or improved. This is the next level of cyborg that has outclassed you. Face it, Number Eighteen, you're now a irrelevant piece of tech that I'm here to scrap," She intoned, raising a hand, casting a scarlet colored halo around her gloved extended palm. "Goodbye, Blondie."
"KIKŌKEN!" A loud shout rang out across the air, following the instantaneous discharge of Ki. Near invisible strands of energy struck the outstretched hand of Violet's, making the wrist, fingers and thumb all fall off in clean cuts. Reeling back as blood shot out of her stump, she looked over to see a bruised and heaving Tenshinhan with a single hand pointed; his cupped thumb and digits ebbing vapor from a fresh shot of his new technique. "Now, Chaozu!"
From not far away from Tenshinhan, Chaozu generated a beam of gold that looped around and tangibly wrapped around Eighteen. Despite her substantial injuries, she found herself rejuvenated with a surplus of power. Admiring the coat of warmth wrapped around her, she turned to look at the bewildered Violet and smiled bloodily back at her.
Kicking off the ground, she ran forth and landed critical blow in the form of a blow to the jaw. Blood spewed out from her warped lips, eyes rolled over and in an explosive pop of air, was sent hurdling across the island, tearing through automated factories and crushed underneath by debris. As quickly as the moment of elation came, Eighteen fell to her knees and rolled over onto her back.
"I'm...beat..." She huffed, craning her neck to look at the other collapsing Dragon Fighters. "Thanks...for the help."
"No problem. It's what we do," He muttered back.
"Should we go help Goku?" Chaozu weakly inquired.
"Not in this shape," Tenshinhan remarked with a slight laugh. "But...maybe next time."
"Sounds good," The pale-faced midget nodded with agreement.
"You're both certainly relaxed," Eighteen acknowledged.
"Hey, it's Goku. No two-bit Android is going to stand a chance against that freak of nature," He testified with another dry chuckle. "After all, he's gotten out of more jams than I can remember. He'll come out on top again, I'm sure."
"If the mad doctor hadn't made me and my brother, not to mention Cell, I'd have argued that faith of yours," The Android mirthfully reminded herself as much as them. "But he's your hero."
"I just hope Vegehan can handle that horrifying Ki," Tenshinhan remarked, squinting his eyes with a visible look of concern. "It's like it has a warped persona of its own and growing ever stronger. If this keeps up, we may have a problem worse than Majin Buu ever was."
"I-Isn't that a problem?" Chaozu asked, worried that his three eyed friend spoke the worst possible scenario; but also that he was so calm about it.
"Don't worry," He reassured his old friend with a side-glancing smile. "I've seen this guy fight. No one can beat him."
"I hope you're right," Eighteen thought, closing her eyes while exhaling a sigh. "For everyone's sake."
Kibitoshin distastes violence. Despite the necessity of force being used to help uphold order, his own nature promoted peace and wished to see justice enacted naturally. The fact he had to tangibly act meant that whatever system that was put in place eons ago is a failing, outdated one. He knew that his predecessor was against the idea of him being so involved with mortals during his sojourn across the Universe.
But despite that, he learned much, both about the potential of other mortals but also of his own growing strength.
His fight against this Android 13 taught him that even the machines can surpass the mountain that was Freeza. The mutant of his own race had power unrivaled in the greater part of most galaxies. It brought about the destruction of many races, all of which he felt saddened that in his quest to destroy Majin Buu that he didn't save of his own choice. The responsibility now fell to him if another of that magnitude arose again.
So, even as he staved off his enemy's attacks and returned with bodily blows. The silver haired Android bled around the jaw and conversely across the rest of his exposed tissue. Blue eyes glared and his teeth gnashed visibly. But even still, he looked like he could continue fighting no matter how hard he hit him.
"So it seems I need to improve my physical prowess," He deduced with a furrow of his brows. "My reflexes and speed may be superior but I'll need to work on exercising better control of my Ki's flow when I make contact."
"Yo! Boy!" Thirteen shouted with bare restraint. Fists balled up near his sides as growled out at the still unfazed enemy. "Why yer stickin' ta defense?! Yer a coward or somethin'?!"
"Hardly. I'm merely using you for practice," The Kaiōshin replied honestly. "I haven't found many in terms of mutual sparring partners. So I'm using you to help, 'warm-up', as they say."
"Yer shittin' me! There's no way a backwards thinkin' god like you could be holdin' back!" Thirteen howled out, blood red energy coating around his palms. Clapping them, he'd spread them out, forming what looked like a human-sized sphere with a barrier that spun rapidly around it. The mere presence invoked a scarlet overcast on the environment, shuddering the island's landscape for dozens of meters around their feet. "I'm gonna wipe the smear this will leave of ya with my boot, boy!"
"I wouldn't fire such a dangerous technique so close to yourself," Kibitoshin warned in a soft tone. "It could easily destroy half the planet if released too carelessly. Being at its epicenter would be suicidal."
"SHUT IT, BOY!" The Android howled, throwing the seeking attack directly at his target. But it didn't matter if he ran, this special move -S.S. Deadly Bomber- that he developed could hone in on an enemy and never give up till it caught its mark. Fly to space, dive into the ocean or circle the planet there'd be nothing his upstart of an opponent could do but-
-catch it?
He blinked once, then twice and a third time in a moment of double-take. The attack he certainly pooled an enormous amount of energy into was just, caught, standing there in midair. But, when he checked the Kaiōshin, his person wasn't in a fiery ball of flames in the destructive explosion that'd ensue. Instead, a single palm had caught the exterior aura of the technique.
And with no seen exertion, shrank it till it was the size of a golf ball.
"I warned you and you still did it anyways. I thought you Androids were governed by logic?" Kibitoshin mocked quietly, his palm crushing the Android's strongest technique, letting the sparks fizzle harmlessly from between his closed fingers. "Such actions acquit to a temperamental child, not an emotionless machine. I think you inherited your creator's vices, Android."
Before he could mutter a retort, a distant boom followed a horizon lighting explosion. Turning to look over his shoulder, he gawked at the sight of a smoldering husk of what he assumed was his two counterparts, Fourteen and Fifteen. Their fused form rolled over with its upper torso sparking and spurting out oil to other internal fluids. It's face had its tissue torn off, revealing charred teeth and busted optics.
"Whew!" Exclaimed Goku as he hovered in the air above them, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He reverted back to standard Super Saiyan, and apart from a few noticeable bruises on his jaws, chin and arms, the tattered clothing did nothing to worsen his enthusiasm. "Looks like the Super Kamehameha did the trick. A bit of a shame, it seems there's only one left," Turning to look at Kibitoshin, he raised a brow with curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "Hey, Kibitoshin! Can I have this one too? The other one didn't last very long when I went all-out in Super Saiyan 2!"
"I have it well in hand, Goku-" The Kaiōshin tried to dissuade his eager ally when he lost sight of Thirteen. Looking to see he had stabbed his arm into his deceased compatriot, he looked as if he was after still intact parts. The flesh on his torso and abdomen parted in grotesque folds, reforming as they were absorbed into his body. With widened yes, he realized the worst had happened. "Goku! Look out!"
A guttural laugh followed a shout to the heavens. Android 13 was unleashing his re-purposed new function. Cannibalizing certain special parts from within his counterparts he generated a new state of being that was superior to his augmented one. A ring of synthetic energy lined around his flexing muscles, gaining a stronger physique that made him grow half a head taller with veins pulsate actively around him.
The glow of crimson flowed around him represented the overdraw of power his new core processed, his normally flat mullet now raised up into a vertical spike akin to a Super Saiyan but with silver locks. Red lines were drawn at angles from his sharp brow line, forming target reticles around his now blazing red eyes and a complementary line flowing from his chin to preside under his lower lip.
Chuckling, he looked at an excited Goku and a glaring Kibitoshin. Raising his gloved hands, he formed fists with readiness and maliciously grinned at the two, "Boys. Yer in for it now. The beatin' of a lifetime!"
A distant, yet unsuspecting click could be heard by all three. As quickly as he generated his new form, the spiky haired Android suddenly had his eyes roll up to the back and his mouth drooled unconsciously. And then, unceremoniously, he fell flat on his face in a powered down state.
"Whew, that could've been disastrous!" A distant cry came from the lavender haired scientist. Having dropped her capsule jet not far away, the woman had hoofed to get close to one of the droids that kidnapped her and Chi-Chi's children. Smiling, she waved the remote and pumped her other hand with self gratification. "Wow, my days spent worrying turned fruitful. This new remote works even on the other models. Good thing I came in to help, isn't it?"
"But...Bulma...I...we were about to...he was...but...but..."
"We are grateful for your timely intervention," Kibitoshin cut Goku's stuttering off, the latter completely de-powered and deflated from his newly powered up opponent being shut off. The Kaiōshin bowed his head in thanks while Goku lamely hunched over and idly kicked to the side, turning to squat and stare off in nowhere in particular. Blinking at him, the Potara wielder turned to stare inquisitively at the amused scientist. "Is he going to be alright?"
"Oh pfffft, he'll be fine!" Bulma she dismissed with a hand wave. "I may look like a killjoy, but we have no idea how unpredictably dangerous these Androids or Cyborgs are. I'm not going to let some fight addict put our loved ones and the whole planet in jeopardy when I have something that can end it quickly."
"That's quite pragmatic," The Kaiōshin remarked with an appreciative expression on his face. "They're quite lucky to have you."
"HA! Did you hear that Goku?!"
"...I wanted to fight him," He muttered with an over the shoulder pouting expression. "That was mean, Bulma."
"Oh hush, I'm sure you got to fight someone else before him," She rolled her eyes with a snort.
"But he looked even more fun!"
"Honestly, were you so distracted for the reason you came here in the first place?!" Bulma sharply shrieked, making Goku reel over in shrinking fear of his angry friend. "Where's our kids?!"
"Wait, you both eloped?" Kibitoshin quipped with bewilderment.
Groaning, Bulma turned to explain until she heard familiar pitter-patters of feet. Then, their voices. Looking around she turned to see a familiar spiky haired boy and a bowl cut lavender haired boy. Cupping her mouth with overwhelming emotion, she timed her kneel to grab a jumping Trunks that uncharacteristically leaped into her arms while Goten did the same to Goku.
"Oh my baby boy! You're okay!" Bulma nearly wept as Trunks held her tightly.
"I-I missed you mom! I got scared I'd never see you again!" He confessed.
"I-It's okay. I knew that Veg-...Vegehan would find you," She corrected herself, realizing it was still something she needed to get used to. Parting from him, she looked around dumbfound. "Speaking of which, where is he? I thought he'd be the first one to finish trouncing these buckets of bolts?"
"I feel him," Goku analyzed seriously, his brows furrowed. "It seems like he's having trouble fighting someone. I could'a sworn I thought it looked like-"
"Videl," Goten finished, sounding a bit solemn as he did so. When his dad's eyes fell to his, he looked painfully back at Trunks. Turning back to their parents, he explained. "We saw Videl get plugged into this machine. After she stopped screaming, she got quiet. Then she started talking like a completely different person when they unhooked her. She was scary and not in the usual way."
"That bastard screwed with her. She's crazy," Trunks turned to look at Bulma with legitimate fear. "She hit him, right in front of us. Then just bolted after him. She thinks she's Doctor Gero!"
"Then, that means," Bulma pieced two and two together, realizing the enormity of the situation. Looking up at Kibitoshin and Goku, she nearly cried out. "If Vegehan doesn't beat Gero, Videl will end up killing him!"
Vegehan was conflicted. Even now, in this battle of incredible stakes, he couldn't help but hold out hope that this was just a terrible mistake. The person that helped him maintain sanity, the one person who loved him for who he was and not for what he used to be wasn't the one he was beating repeatedly. Even as he used the fury of this mad scientist into fuel for his punches, kicks and Ki blasts, he had no lethal intent for his vessel; he didn't want to kill her.
And it was costing him.
For every punch he held back, a decisive strike found purchase on his person. Not only was Gero merciless, but he was cunning. He exploited every opportunity that he let his guard drop, that he held back, and that he was still reeling from the blows. The matter of the fact was that the fight was starting to tire him out, while Cyborg Videl's hadn't wavered apart from a few injuries that were repaired by the nanites circulating through her inner workings.
She was becoming his equal, and it was only a matter of time till she surpassed him.
"What's the matter, proud prince?!" Videl cried out with a maddening grin spread across her face. Eyes stretched wide with satisfaction as each of her blows hit a barely defending Vegehan. Pound after impact, he was spewing blood and bile with the devastating assault she made on his body. "Can't find the nerve anymore to fight back?! What a pathetic specimen you are!"
Kicked back, his heels dug across a desolated valley, kicking up hurricane equivalents of airwaves. Gritting his teeth, his vision blurred from that hit. Raising his hands, he launched a flurry of Ki blasts towards her and watched them discarded with mere flicks of the wrists. He tried to dash forward, but lost his footing, his vision briefly going red before returning to normal.
"She's done too much damage," He realized, falling to one knee, heaving heavily as a result. Looking up he watched any sign of injury erased by an eerie crawl of skin that restored her looks and made wounds he strove to make stick disappear. All but some sparse clothing hung onto her, black-purple outlined apparel, the only thing indicating that he had been counterattacking. "And as long as she has limitless reserves combined with that healing factor and the Saiyan recovery, she'll continue getting stronger. Shit. This is bad. Gotta...do...something."
"You can't help it, can you?" She declared, her eyes glowing sapphire as she smirked. "This body is irony. Despite being the one person you valued, it's now being used to crush you absolutely. A weak girl, daughter of a weak con artist, bloodying the mighty fused son of Goku and proud prince. Oh what irony this is!"
The mocking laughter did nothing to make the pulsing pain go away. Grimacing, he tried to will it away but it was no use. She drew closer and closer. Straining to look up, he felt a colossal blow to the head followed by a kick to his ribs. If he could hear them, they'd definitely make a loud cracking sound. Coughing as his whole body spasm, his cheek was grounded by the sole of her boot.
With her tail flicking back and forth behind her, she continued to jeer, "This revenge has been long in the making. Do you realize how long? Decades! I've had to wait decades long since my physical body eroded and my prior cyborg shell dispatched by those punk rejects I gave purpose. Now, I have the perfect vessel," Lowering down, she grabbed his scalp, pulling him up to eye level. His weakened, blood covered face made her chuckle with dark satisfaction. Punching him once more in the abdomen to hear him wheeze made her laugh even louder. "Yes! This is the strength I needed to surpass even the gods! Goku will be next, followed by those two useless children. Then, I'll go after his wife, and that pest's spawn, Bulma! It will be a glorious bloodbath, don't you think?!"
"Goten...Trunks...Chi-Chi...Bulma," Vegehan processed those names, seeing their faces flash before his eyes. A culmination of pain, the sound of their identities being uttered so sadistically and the visage of his beloved being used so cruelly made something deep within switch on. An instinct that had been born with the sleeping beast that was pooled forth with both halves of his whole.
Wrath.
Pupils dilated, his breath hitched and his body became engulfed in a pure white flame. The eruption brought forth a hallowed scream, one that echoed throughout the cosmos and etched itself into the planet. The body of Cyborg Videl was thrown back several meters before righting itself up, a pyre of continuously surging light surging into the heavens and spouting into the vacuum of space.
Lightning stretched out across every tangible world, and beyond. The divine world of the Kaiō shook and quaked, the Afterlife held a cacophony of violent flashes of raging energy, and even further. A world untouched by most mortal kind, a upside pyramid with a leaf-less tree sat upon it and many small moons orbiting was being struck by these angry currents of Ki. Its only two occupants would take notice by it, even as they lingered eons away from the planet known as Earth.
This was the power of the enraged Potara Warrior, Vegehan.
"This is...impossible," She spoke, her breath hitched at the back of her throat. Even with the power of the Super Saiyan transformation she felt like a leaf ready to buckle in the wind. Before her gaze was a mountainous silhouette that loomed over her. Blank eyes glared forth and the outline of someone who looked and felt larger than she knew was made her buckle at the knees. "You were on the verge of death, about to keel over unconscious at least! How?!"
"GERO!" An inhuman snarl bellowed across the constantly flowing geyser of light that flowed around the darkened frame of the embittered Super Saiyan. "YOU MAY BREAK MY BODY, TAKE THE MIND OF THE ONE I LOVE AND TARNISH MY PRIDE! BUT, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL I ALLOW YOU TO HARM A SINGLE HAIR OF MY FAMILY!"
"Y-You think I'm intimidated by you?!" She shrieked out, leaping forward with an arm cocked back. Despite the sweat flowing freely from her body, only manifested by the fear she felt emerge primordially from her inner being, she moved forward. But when she reached only a few meters away did he seem so much larger and the impulse to pull back made her reel back just inches from his actual height.
Nonetheless, she could barely breathe before him, and seeing his hand reach up to attack made her fall to her knees.
"I-I cannot...I cannot move. I can't breathe. I can't think. Why? Why am I helpless?" The doctor wracked the brain he hijacked. It only now dawned on him that he could fathom the sensation of taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing in this vessel. Not only was the fervor of blood lust and love of battle present, but also fear and doubt. Did he, in his own hubris of separating from humanity, be defeated by his own reattachment to emotions?
All he could do now was wait for the colossally perceived fist to ram straight into Videl's face.
But, as quickly as the punch was thrown, it was pulled back as a palpable click sounded. The cyborg body that was built was triggered by the remote control's master command, bringing it to a complete shutdown and her organic body rendered unconscious. The knuckles were a hair's breadth away from the fully collapsed Saiyan Android, and the aura that shook the Universe had disappeared with the rage that burnt out Vegehan.
"B-Bulma?" He queried out, his body on the verge of collapse but maintained standing through sheer will alone. Then he saw that the trembling woman was holding out a remote, something that his memory of the past that such a device was constructed for their past encounter with the Androids. The realization hit him that she didn't sit by worrying, like his mother did.
Chuckling in a raspy tone, he let himself fall onto his back on the cracked wasteland.
"Vegehan!" Bulma ran up to him, with Kibitoshin and Goku looking on from a distance. Both had looks of relief, sensing that their greatest friend and ally wasn't in any danger of dying. Bulma, however, spared him no such courtesy as she slapped him across the face. "Idiot! Why did you make me worry?!"
"I-I can explain-"
"Why you're beat up? Why you obviously ran in without thinking?! Are you so full of yourself that you didn't think of telling me and not needing anyone's help?" She rang out in bullet points of things the fused Saiyan didn't consider. His face hurt to just emote, but the look of stark bewilderment came over him. Eyes closed and he hissed out of his nostrils. Softly, his past life's partner continued. "I know you're the strongest, and I know that can be hard for you to ignore. But, don't you think what happened at the party and now isn't a coincidence? You're so busy pushing everyone away, wanting to live in hermit solitude when you desperately need acceptance and friendship?"
"I can't go back, Bulma," He hoarsely croaked, coughing several times before returning his gaze to hers. Pain within filled those onyx orbs more than what wracked his body. "Am I supposed to go back to school and pretend to live a normal life? Can I still be that stubborn prince who struggled to live with his own family while competing with Kakarrot? The Dragon Balls cannot undo what's been done, so why dwell on the past?"
"But I am still a part of your life. So is Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Chi-Chi AND Goku," She insisted, her hands gripping bloodied hand, tears welling up within her eyes as she smiled at him. "Don't shut us out. It doesn't matter if you're the strongest in the Universe, you still matter to me. And I'm sure I speak on everyone's behalf when I say they feel the same way."
"She's right," Goku piped up from not far away, earning a look of surprise from the fused Saiyan. A broad smile breached the innocent Saiyan's visage, chuckling as he put his hands on his hips. "I'm a little hurt and a little jealous at times when you talk the way you do to me, but I'm really proud my son and my rival could work together to do the impossible. Whatever you do, I'll always remember what you did for us and I'll keep getting stronger so that maybe one day, we can go back to competing like the good ol' days."
"Hah, that'll be the day," Vegehan dryly chuckled, his hand gripping Bulma's with a sore smile spreading on his face. Sighing, he coughed a few more times before looking to Kibitoshin. "Are you done admiring this family drama, Kaiōshin, or do you intend to let me heal naturally?"
"You do realize I can't always stay here and act as your virtual first aid kit, right?" He commented.
"Get over here or I'll have Bulma develop a device to-"
"Fine-Fine," He interrupted the Potara Warrior, knowing firsthand just how dangerous the woman could be if she put her mind to it. Even as he walked over to heal him, he couldn't help but feel something had drastically changed in the cosmos. Something that only his position as Kaiōshin could comprehend.
After restoring Vegehan's vitality, the Fused Saiyan looked over at the unconscious Videl with a mournful gaze. Bending down to pick her up bridal style, he looked to Bulma with wonderment if she could do anything. Bulma looked around her person and saw what looked like a convenient pad placed at the back of her head.
"Will take me a little bit of time, but I'm sure however Gero got inside her head, I can take out. No Dragon Balls required," She reassured him with a solemn expression. Seeing him look at her curiously, she bent her head to the side and expressly warned. "But, that won't change the fact she's been drastically changed forever. Are you sure it'll be okay if we don't do something about what she is?"
"Well, if the mad doctor was even half as right as he was crazy, then Videl should have little problem coping with what's been done. After all, I think it'll be more convenient if she keeps the upgrades; in case I can't always be there to protect her and this doesn't happen again, y'know?" He suggested with a sober whisper.
"I understand. But if she ever feels like this isn't for her, do not stop her from using a wish to undo it," Bulma pressed a finger into his chest. "Got it?"
"Trust me, I know Videl. This won't be the worst thing for her," Vegehan reassured her with a calm smile. "Who knows? She may be one hell of an ally."
Being a Hakaishin wasn't easy. Labeled a Destroyer the moment you accept the invitation by your faithful attendant and teacher, one had to dedicate themselves to be known as an absolute judge and terror throughout the cosmos. For a God of Destruction to have no presence would better off leave the reins of destruction in the hands of the Kaiō.
But after hundreds of thousands of years pass by, the drive to self improve diminishes and boredom takes hold. No one had come close to challenging him in over a million years since he officially took the job. As a novice in his heyday, he had a number of significant battles that etched into his mind and became nostalgic memories for him to occasionally reminisce.
Some were alive, some had died and some disappeared either from thought or into the blackness of the Universe's expanse. The only thing he cared about within recent memory was what he declared was a vision, a prophecy that a particularly strong individual would emerge. He could see it within his slumbering, a being shrouded in black and a torch-shaped crest of hair, illuminated by an aura one could mistake it for the gentlest of embers with the majesty of a star.
Yes, his name is...!
A series of jolting shockwaves stirred his bed chambers, rumbling the unorthodox shaped world he called home. Rolling to and fro from his bed sheets, he tried to regain his sleep. What denied him such bliss was a forked lightning bolt piercing his room's interior, sparking out and striking the floating orbs near his floating platter shaped bed.
The timer bombs were set off, as a result.
Though no damage was done to him, the suddenness of their activation along with the now subsided tremors. Blinking away the grogginess of his long nap, he yawned out loud. Turning to look side to side, he realized that his attendant wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Whis," He called out. Waiting for another few seconds, he raised his voice in a harsher tone. "WHIS!"
Manifesting out of thin air, a white-crest of smooth white hair with a light blue complexion adorned in a ceremonially dark fatigue uniform. The halo wrapped colleague smiled, a twinkle in his eyes that if the awakened Destroyer noticed, hinted mischief. Despite this, he answered dutifully in that usual aloof sing-song voice of his, "Yes, Lord Beerus!"
"The timer bombs," He mulled out, looking around, noticing a distinct hole where the unknown tendril of light had penetrated through it. "They went off early, I know it."
"Yes, it seems you were awakened a few years ahead of schedule," Whis nodded with affirmation. "There was a freak cosmic storm that shook the fabric of the Universe, and beyond to the Afterlife along with the Sacred World of the Kaiō."
"That's some storm," Beerus murmured, stretching out, his soot covered robes shuffling against his cracking and tensing physique. "It seems that despite this setback, I can go for a little patrol. Let's start with the Eastern Galaxies and work our away around in a counter clockwise fashion to the Northern Galaxies."
"That sounds like a plan," Whis intoned, briefly chuckling as he turned his head away from him with an upturned nose. "However, you'll need to take a bath before we leave. I'll fix us a meal to go after you're fully cleansed."
"Ugh, what are you, my mother?"
"No, I'm your teacher and confidant. As both, I insist you clean yourself and get properly dressed," He returned his gaze and stoically stared down at the indignant cat god.
Glaring back, he gutturally growled as he asked in a dangerous whisper, "Do you want me to destroy you, Whis?"
"With manners like that, I might as well just let you fly on your own across the Universe," He retorted with a sighing huff.
"FINE! I'LL GO TAKE A DAMNED BATH!" Beerus yelled out with annoyance, floating lazily off his bed. Growling between yawns, he lowered down to trot off to the bath that Whis had preemptively prepared. Knowing his habits, he'd likely call for him if it wasn't already made for him.
Within his private thoughts, Whis knew he'd have to tell Beerus the truth behind the so-called "Cosmic Storm". But why give away the secret to a surprise. He rather wait and spring it on him when he least expected. Oh what a humorous reaction he'd have when he realizes that he kept a secret from him.
"Now, to go fix us a nice scrumptious meal!" He declared with a chipper note in his voice.
A/N: And done!
This Arc, as you can gather, took way too long to finish. Call it a combination of scatterbrain focus, procrastination and timing of RL events all of which conspired to make me take a long butt time to finish this. But, for what it's worth, I'm satisfied with how everything got resolved in this Chapter and the Finale to this Arc.
With Beerus awakened early, Whis and him are going to go gallivanting across the cosmos. Expect them to reach Earth in a short amount of time. How long, you may ask? Don't worry, expect to hear something about them in the following chapter.
That's all I got for me. Please leave your thoughts in the Review Section below. Anything else you'd like some more expanded information on, please shoot me a Private Message. I'll see you all on the next update of Dragon Ball Zenkai: The Power of Two!