Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.
The Long Road
Chapter 44: Three Monarchs
Vegeta:
There were hardly seconds before Gohan had vanished, that the situation devolved. The collapse of any dialogue, of course, was absolutely fine with Vegeta considering who these pitiful disgraces were. With a huge arm swinging towards him, the Saiyan Prince calmly stepped back in the blink of an eye. A swoosh of wind and force rolled after the recently enhanced fist, leaving a wave of dust and pinkish energy scorching around him for a moment, before smirking directly at Spice himself. This was Garlic's lieutenant, he could tell. The vicious moron had the same kind of attitude Zarbon had, and spineless, dishonourable sycophants often acted the same.
A snarling face stared back at him, red eyes looking at him in a bloody frenzy. Dropping his guard, Vegeta just smirked towards his enemy.
"Do you really think you stand a chance against me? Just earlier today you were nothing compared to me, and now that you've gotten the closest thing to as hint of power, you somehow think that you can just fight Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, alone?"
It was an insult to him to be facing such trash. The demon stopped his attack, instead choosing to stand his full height directly across from him, smiling darkly in return. It was going to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience breaking down this idiot piece by piece. The smug look on his face before he and the rest of Garlic's fools had cast him aside left a foul taste in Vegeta's mouth still. He would wash it out by scattering Spice's ashes across the surface of this planet.
"As if being a Prince matters, I am a King among demons, a monarch among lesser creatures. Being this close to my master makes me ever greater then the Great Demon King Dabura. You arrogant Saiyans put yourselves on such a higher level, when you have been outmanoeuvred at every step by Lord Garlic. For all that supposed power, Saiyan, you seem to have a lot of trouble wielding it. How well did you defend those brat kids of yours, Vegeta? How well did you stand up to Master Garlic in his full grandeur? You're nothing, you're nothing but talk."
With every word, Vegeta felt himself gathering up his hatred for this miserable worm. A blustering moron would be all he could think of. This was exactly like one of Frieza's sycophants. Everything about him wreaked of it. Perhaps in some strange way, this was what he was like at one point of his life, and it only further entrenched his disgust. His words were meant to drive him into an attack, but truthfully he had little interest in blindly rushing forward. This moron would fight him on his terms.
"The last time we fought, you were nothing but a badly crafted speedbump. I don't think I've faced an opponent quite as foolish, weak, or stupid. And now here you are lecturing me? I have nothing to prove to you, demon, if your race is so high and mighty, why don't you come and prove it against the arrogant little Saiyan Prince?"
A confident smile continued to wrap itself around Vegeta's features as he put his head forward, taking a step forward threateningly, but nothing more. His guard was still 'down' even as he did this. The response was immediate, the tall figure in his pink and black armour, seemed to brace himself angrily. Immediately his arms moved into a guard position, waiting for the attack.
"Uhhhh, Spice," Vinegar sounded in, stepping back himself. Behind the white haired demon, Piccolo had been stepping forward as well, clearly intimidating the other, more plainly obviously stupid of the three demons.
It was frustrating that the Namek through to involve himself in his fight, and even more annoying that Kakarot's boy was already heading off to fight their master. But even Vegeta recognized the seeds of the conflict being between the two of them. He would kill the whelp that harmed his family, of course, but he very much doubted Gohan would have the strength to do that before he arrived anyway. It was impressive as always, that a near-death experience had built up his own power so dramatically once again.
Turning his head slightly, Spice seemed to sneer at his counterpart.
"What? It's just the Namek. He's even weaker then Vegeta," Spice snapped.
"Namek," Vegeta cut in, staring coolly past the demons. "Stay out of this, these three are mine."
Slowly relaxing his stance, Piccolo stood his full height, crossing his arms.
"You probably can't beat these three on your own, or at least it will take you too much time," Piccolo pointed out, his voice very flat and telling. "But fine, you're in Vegeta."
The Namek had no sense of a Saiyan's spirit. Despite his strength, he'd never get what it meant to be a Saiyan. It wasn't something that was required of course, given that he was a Namekian, but it was something that would always, in Vegeta's eyes, hold back his green skinned 'comrade'. It wasn't just about winning, it was about showing yourself to be your enemies' superior, it was about pride. These three demons had wronged him, and he was going to slaughter them, and then he was going to kill their master.
And after his near-death, he had the power to do it all, no matter what the Namek thought.
Turning around, Vinegar stared at Vegeta before grinning.
"Short-stuff wants to fight all of us together?" he laughed. "Man, I thought this one was supposed to be dangerous! What's he gonna do? Lose slow?"
The comment sounded dumb, and the look on the giant's face only reflected it further. The bull like creature next to them stepped forward, cracking his own purple gloves.
"He can't do math at all, there are three of us, and one of him, and he doesn't seem all that tough to me."
Before Vegeta could give a response, the three monsters blurred towards him in movement. Even he was surprised by the blitzkrieg and managed to raise his defence at the last moment. Knees collided immediately as he blocked an assault by Spice, before his arm raised to block Mustard next. It was the last assault, a huge elbow from behind, that sent Vegeta flying past Piccolo, who gave him a smug smirk in the last second before he flew past him.
Know it all Namekian-
Before he could recover in the air, his body struck a pillar, shattering the old castle's support before he skidded against the ground, the roof beginning to collapse above him. With a snarl, Vegeta looked to his enemies, only to see the three of them gathering energy. A blinding pinkish light was unleashed a moment later, the three of them uniting their energies into one single assault. It was enough to even make his eyes widen when he felt the ground around him beginning to rip apart before the wall of crackling energy made impact. Opening his palms and channelling his energies, Vegeta thrust his arms towards it as the entire castle seemed to be imploding around him. Before it made contact with him, Vegeta saw a huge piece of the level above come down in front of him, making his eyes widen as the beam collided with that first.
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Piccolo:
It looked like half of the castle around them crashed into oblivion before exploding in a mass of pink power. The entire castle's mass seemed to shift before lightning cast itself violently off the dome. Even Piccolo had to raise his arms to shield himself as the shockwave emanated from the centre of the blast. Lightning crackled through the air from the raw power of the wave. Each one of these demons could destroy the planet if they wanted to, just as every major threat to the planet since Vegeta's first arrival on the Earth. This much focused energy was dangerous to anyone, even Vegeta.
The dome of energy rumbled for several seconds before the bottom of the energy began to vaporize into empty air, leaving only billowing smoke and the wreckage in its place. A debris filled crater now covered the mass of the castle where Vegeta had been. The Saiyan's energy was still in the air, but faint. Of course, Piccolo very much doubted the end of the "Prince" of all Saiyans. Slowly lowering his arms, Piccolo looked up towards his three enemies, just staring at them with a stoney look.
"See that, Piccolo?" Spice asked, turning his head to stare down at him, crimson eyes sparkling with excitement. "Even Vegeta is no match for the likes of us."
"Looks like its my turn," Piccolo responded.
That wasn't true in the slightest, given that Piccolo was already actively scanning with his eyes for Vegeta, now beginning to ignore the demons.
"... Worried?" Vinegar bragged. "Because without that stupid monkey here to help you, you're finished!"
That was enough to get his attention, turning his black eyes up to the biggest and dumbest of the trio.
"Get your attention, little guy? You're nothing but some washed up old man, mixed with some stupid kid, and some foreigner! You never even beat Goku, we beat him no problem!"
Cracking his neck to one side, Piccolo just started to walk towards them, his head cracking the other way a moment later. Even with them floating in the air, he'd start by closing the distance on then ground. They had no idea just how strong he'd become. It was likely they understood his strength from when he defeated Dabura, and they weren't concerned. Well, it was time to show them just what they were up against.
"In fact, I'm almost certain we saw you get crushed by Son Gohan before he fought Broly," Spice followed up, as the three of them zipped to the ground in front of him. "And that was when he was getting help from that sorcerer Babidi."
Passively, Piccolo cracked his knuckles.
"I'm tired of always getting stuck fighting the stupid ones," Piccolo pointed out, staring directly at Vinegar and then Spice. "You're never a challenge."
With a snarl, the giant had the least restraint as he jumped out. He'd watched how they'd assaulted Vegeta, relying on him taking the defensive footing he'd been on. That wasn't going to happen with him. Upping his power in an instant, Piccolo drove right back into the three of them, Slamming his elbow into Vinegar's cheek. The entire head twisted on the huge beast as spittle spat from his face. Behind him, Spice and Mustard appeared, intending to attack him where he'd been, instead finding Piccolo where they had just been.
Stumbling back for a few steps, Vinegar tried to keep his balance, before collapsing onto his back helplessly. He rolled back and pulled himself up, brushing a purple mark appearing next to his mouth, his eyes intensifying with hatred.
"Well, isn't he smart?" Mustard muttered. "Think we only have one trick up our sleeve, Namek?"
Turning around, showing his back to Vinegar and facing Mustard and Spice, Piccolo just stared back at them without betraying a single hint of what he was feeling. Better they see only the impassive and strong outlay, rather then the pleased fighter. Truthfully, he was happy he managed to slip in past Mustard and Spice and land the first blow of the fight. If he could keep them off balance and reacting to him, he just may be able to tie up this fight.
"He's so smug," Vinegar snarled. "You're dead, Namek! You hear that!?"
Turning his head slightly, Piccolo gave a small glint of arrogance in his eyes as he stared back at the giant demon.
"Yea, I heard. If that was a real threat, I'd not need to hear that much hot air moving."
In a blur of pure speed, Piccolo zipped towards Vinegar. The huge monster immediately put up a defence, fearing his attack. Behind him, he knew Spice and Mustard were coming to intercept, and there lay the trap. It was the predictable response. Stopping just short of Vinegar, Piccolo came to a dead stop, appearing in front of him, before disappearing in another flash, heading straight up, before curving back down and around where he'd just been.
Mustard appeared first in front of Vinegar, before Spice did. The three looked confused for a moment, before Piccolo materialized behind Mustard and Spice.
"Where the Hell did he- AGH!"
"Behind!" Vinegar shouted
Driving his fist into the side of Mustard's head, the big demon flew forward, crashing into Vinegar, sending the two of them flying into a stone wall. Crafted bricks shattered all throughout the wall, crumbling all around them as the ruins of the castle further crumbled. Waves of dust cast into the air, overwhelming both Piccolo and Spice in that moment. As soon as he switched into his next attack however, the smoke and dust parted in the air, sweeping away with the strength of the motion. Slamming his knee into the demon's abdomen, Spice grunted, moving to backhand him in response. Sweeping under the wild swing, Piccolo drove his fist up into the air, rising along with it. With a thundering boom, his knuckles landed under the Monarch's chin, sending his bottom teeth into his top set, before launching him straight into the air.
A long figure exploded out of the dust cloud, a trail of the cloud following after him as he helplessly flew into the air.
There was no time to relax, the dust shifted all around him, revealing the furious demons coming to make their assault. Mustard's first strike was blocked easily, deflected away by Piccolo's fist, before an elbow slammed into his back, between his shoulder blades. Piccolo gagged at the injury, before he felt a massive boot sweep up, crashing against the side of his ribs, and sending him flying off his feet, tumbling through the air. A wave of force stopped his travel, before he swept back around, colliding his own fist with Vinegar, who'd moved to follow up his attack. Landing the blow in the same place where his elbow had before, the bruise on Vinegar's cheek split open as purple blood splattered into air, seemingly freezing in the air in slow motion as the giant's face shifted in pain and shock, flying back in the direction he came.
It was only when he'd pushed back another attack, that Piccolo had time to look up as twelve bolts of energy came raining down on him. Spice was high in the sky, having recovered and now launching attacks of his own. Without time to move, Piccolo moved to shield himself as the crackling bolts landed all around him. Fire and energy warped the air and ground around him, before waves of energy shook around him. With his arms up, and his energy out, Piccolo felt his shields and defences weather the assault.
When the energy cleared, huge smoke plums drained from the ground around them.
Two massive energies were now in the near distance. Explosions began rocking a distance place, across the massive castle. It was the sound and energy of Gohan and Garlic locking in battle. Their powers were phenomenal, and terrifyingly enough, he knew full well that Gohan's power had room to grow, significant room to grow.
Across from him, the three demons had reconstituted themselves into their band of three morons. Spice was breathing angrily, a chip on one of fangs from his teeth collided. Vinegar was trembling with anger, blood dripping from his cheek, and Mustard was just snarling.
"I'll kill you Namek!" Vinegar repeated. "I'm going to pick my teeth with your bones! I hate you!"
Well, this was all about making friends, wasn't it?
Instead of playing along with their games, Piccolo immediately found himself focusing his energy. Across from him, he already saw Spice preparing another wave of blasts.
"Let's see you get around these ones, Piccolo!" Spice shouted.
Immediately, he opened fire. Four new bolts shot out, with trails of others following it. Instead of staying low, Piccolo immediately jumped up. His body twisted through the burning smoke clouds, before everything froze. It felt like ten stings covered his body, all tight to one another. Everything seemed to freeze for that brief moment as the bolts of energy chased after him. Shakily turning his neck, Piccolo saw weblines coming from his back, down to the palms of Mustard and Vinegar. The glow of the pink bolts rapidly closed with him as he heard smug laughter below.
"Goodbye, Piccolo!"
Suddenly, the bolts all exploded prematurely in the air, before the lines were cut, causing the webs to dissolve in the air helplessly. Immediately Piccolo felt his energy freed up before he turned his eyes to below him. The glow of the pink explosions illuminated his normally green features, and the pale features of his enemies below. A very familiar energy filled the air.
Vegeta.
"I'm in," Vegeta's voice came from below him, as the Saiyan appeared in the dying light of the blasts he'd dispatched.
Well, this fight just became much more lop-sided.
Eyeing Vinegar from above, Piccolo already began picking out what to do next. Vegeta's own strategy was likely to focus around Spice, the strongest of the three. Well, if he wanted Spice? He could have him. He could have Mustard too. Right now it was more about stopping this senseless game of one on three, and winning the fight.
Vegeta would complain later, but he could complain after they won.
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Vegeta:
Well, that'd certainly been an irritating situation. An entire castle collapsing on top of him, and an immense energy wave? Whatever was he to do. Emerging from the rubble hadn't been the chief cause for him to spend time before making his presence known, instead much of it was trying to gauge what had happened on the other side of the castle. Gohan was now very much engaged in combat with Garlic jr., and Garlic was every bit as pathetic as he believed him to be. Were it not for his supposed immortality, Garlic would have been on the verge of a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Gohan. Though Vegeta was increasingly believe he was as immortal as Cell, or his vile offspring. They were hardly immortal, and died by his hand as well as the others. Garlic would die by his hand as well, when he was completely atomized.
In his mind's eye, he could see the first of the Cell jr.'s that was dispatched, the one he annihilated with his Final Flash. Then there was Cell, who died in a wave of energy composed of Kakarot's, his own, Trunks', and Piccolo's.
Slowly descending from the air, Vegeta's feet found the ground beneath him, and just stared back towards Spice with an arrogant smile.
"Having trouble dealing with that weakling the Namek? That's more sad then anything. My power has grown to be the strongest in the universe. Do you really think that I'd be held back by the lowly likes of you?"
And it was true. The power he sensed from Gohan now was immense, and clearly stronger then Garlic's, but his own had easily surpassed the other Saiyan's. This was all theatre so far, and it was approaching the final piece of this act. If these three struggled to fight Piccolo of all people, they didn't stand a chance against him, especially now.
"You know, earlier today, you may have had a chance against me, but now, even with all of your master's power, you're nothing to me," Vegeta pointed out. "I don't even know why I'm wasting my time with you. I am now the most powerful Saiyan alive."
Immediately he felt the three power levels across from him beginning to spike. The world itself seemed to start shaking uncontrollably as the three powers across from him peaked to the top of their potentials. None of them had yet to match a single level of power he found to be independently intimidating.
"Oh yea?! Well how about this time we-" Vinegar didn't complete the sentence as the ground beneath him cracked with golden energy and the giant fell through.
It was hardly his own, and Vegeta had a good idea whose it was. Piccolo was intervening to kill one of these fools, which struck him as fine. If the Namek wanted to flex his muscles, that was fine. His prey immediately turned attention to what had just befallen their comrade, and Vegeta smirked.
"Well, without the third one of you, I very much doubt this will be as entertaining," Vegeta remarked, looking off to the side with boredom.
"You put yourself so high up, but you're not," Spice spat. "You're just some washed up old monkey, long past his prime. You're talking as if you have all this power, well then why not show us!?"
Mustard immediately looked nervously at his master, and Vegeta immediately determined that the bull may actually be smarter than his master. With a knowing, and arrogant smile, Vegeta braced himself before started to bring the true depths of his power to the surface. It wasn't just being an Ascended Saiyan, it was about how far up the ladder he could push his power. His body had never felt more powerful. This wasn't a time for restraint. Now was a time for him to demonstrate why he was feared throughout the universe whenever his name was spoken.
Power surged through his arms first as golden energy crackled over him, before his aura flared violently around him. Unable to hold back, Vegeta cried out as his power flowed through him. Muscles tightened and his hair shot with golden energy as well, even more so then before. Every second it felt as if his body couldn't hold on to all the power, wanting to explode outwards. Instead random patches of ground and stone tiles ignited with golden energy, before exploding wildly all around him. The skies above seemed to move even faster in response to his power awakening.
This was what it was to be the most powerful, this was what it was to be the best, to be the thing he'd always been meant to be. Before he could boast about his strength, but it'd always been confirmed as lacking. Now, for the first time, when he boasted he was the most powerful being alive, it felt true, beyond all doubt.
The world rocked violently as his power continued to awaken. The ground beneath him crumbled and slid away, revealing only more ruins in a state of complete collapse around him. Floating there, he was a golden light against the darkness of this place, illuminating it with his energy. Finally, his energy peaked, his aura growing to its peek.
Breathing out, the Saiyan did his best to relax his tense body, containing the energy within his form despite his near failure to contain it. Across from him, he saw his two opponents staring at him in complete shock, unable to understand what they were facing off against. Their fear made the full display of his power all the more satisfying. Staring directly at them, Vegeta slowly let his arms down, no longer flexing from his exertion to bring his power out.
He let his power speak for him, as a response to Spice.
"You- You can't be this strong!" Spice finally shouted, his face contorting to one of anger instead of fear. "You can't!"
With a smirk, Vegeta just started to walk towards the two demons, his confidence brimming from his posture. This was going to be simple.
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Piccolo:
As soon as he'd pulled Vinegar down to his level, Piccolo opened up with a blunt assault, dropped the big demon to his knees and slamming his fist into his head again, further splitting the big monster's face open. Slamming against the side of an old wall, stones collapsed all around them once again.
"If you think you're so strong, Vinegar, I'm going to give you the chance to prove it," Piccolo stated. "Now get up."
Right now, the Namekian had nothing to prove. Quite frankly he wanted to end this skirmish as quickly as he could. It'd be easy enough to bleed off most of Vinegar's energy, without Spice around to temper him, he was going to be reckless to the extreme. It was predictable, and he already plotted out the demon's death. The second he got up he'd attack in a rage. The stupid ones always attacked in a rage.
Without fail, the remnants of the wall exploded in front of him as the hulking monster stepped forward, seething with fury.
"Cheap shot!" he roared, before charging towards him. "We'll see how tough you are with-"
The words never finished as Piccolo appeared beside him, kicking the side of the brute's leg in, before slamming his foot into his abdomen a moment later. A wheezing noise escaped the huge demon before a stroke left connected with his face and a half dozen jabs slammed into his chest and face. Before Vinegar could even think about his foot, Piccolo had already lined him up for another round house kick to spin into the brute's face. Blood spat from the monster's mouth before his face spun around and connected with the half remains of the wall. It was pathetic to watch him struggle to his feet again. Well, he was determined, Piccolo would give him that.
When the world started to shake, and the ceiling above started to collapse, both of them detected Vegeta's obvious power level, and its increase. Even if Piccolo had a good idea just how strong Vegeta was, it was still almost unnerving to sense. His Saiyan counterpart would be heading to 'help' Gohan as soon as he dealt with Spice and Mustard. The only problem that could come out of this, were if things broke down between Gohan and Vegeta. They still hardly got along, and Vegeta would be upset when he learned that Gohan was still his superior. These wedges could be exploited by-
Dodging his head to one side as his train of thought broke, Piccolo looked back at Vinegar with an irritated glance. Fine, he'd have to waste more energy to finish the big man off, and then he could redirect himself to more useful endeavours.
Striking the big demon in the stomach with one perfectly aligned hit, the massive muscle mass seemed to implode. The demon gagged blood helplessly as he hunched over, sweat coming down from his eyes going hollow seemingly. Piccolo had focused all of his energy on one point, all of it designed to penetrate not only Vinegar's body, but his aura and energy. When the blow landed, it may not have physically punched through him, but it may as well have.
Casting him aside with a side blow, the giant flew back once more, this time collapsing against the side of a wall without breaking through it. The darkened castle around them revealed almost no secrets, save for shattered pillars and a familiar hole in the wall. Glancing over, Piccolo saw the final resting place of one of Garlic's first minions. With a half amused noise, he remembered how quickly he'd dispatched the monster. Coming back to his feet across from him, Vinegar breathed angrily once more.
"You think you've won!? Well you've not seen anything yet! RAAAAA!" Energy almost boiled out of the giant demon as he began to form some kind of attack. It was physical in its nature, and meant to be a finishing blow. Not that he was even in a place to be finished as of yet. With a wave of pure force, the purple skinned hulk lunged at him, his right fist crackling with deep red energy.
"Demon-Vinegar Crash!"
What a stupid attack name.
As the lumbering monster closed at break-neck speeds, Piccolo brought his own power to the surface, peeling back the surface to reveal what he'd been concealing the entirety of the fight. Just before the two powers met, Vinegar's eyes widened as he felt exactly what he was charging into. Only briefly did a white aura ripple across Piccolo's form as he caught the red coloured fist in the air. Lightning arced all around them as the energy in the fist attempted to explode in a directed wave of devastation. Instead, all of that energy was caught inside Piccolo's fist. The light beamed out of the centre of the impact, and it almost seemed like it would detonate. Instead, it just dispersed, scattering away in a wave of its own destructive force. All that remained was the Namekian warrior holding on to the giant demon's fist.
Trembling with fear, Vinegar only then realized just exactly what he was up against.
"You really needed your friends to stand a chance," Piccolo informed him, before pulling him in one more time, this time by the right arm he had captured in his own hand.
Focusing destructive energy into his own right hand, Piccolo pointed it directly back up at his enemy, emulating the attack that was to have destroyed him. Opening his palm at the last moment as Vinegar desperately tried to resist him, Piccolo shoved his hand in the demon's face.
"And you're attack name was stupid, by the way."
All that followed was a ray of pure light, and the final, horrified and agonized death screams of a demon.
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Vegeta:
With the rate of automatic fire, and the power of thousands of kilograms of bombs each, dozens upon dozens of bolts of burning red energy rained down from above. Roaring, Mustard and Spice circled above, letting loose the barrage. Each blast around him annihilated what was left of the part of the castle the struggle had started in. It was a fruitless attempt to harm him. Each blast passed by him harmlessly, and even when they went off, the very presence of his ki was enough to deflect the concussive force of the explosions. They're motions were erratic in the air, trying to make themselves harder to isolate or track. It was as fruitless as their attacks.
With another series of blasts passing by him while he slipped past them at a blazing fast pace, Vegeta sized up his opportunity to strike. Calculating his approach and determining where his enemies would be, was vital to wining this battle the way he wanted to. The smug look Spice had given him when he'd been vanquished by Garlic and all his other foolish minions, was enough to make his blood boil. The pathetic worm was going to understand the folly of daring to mock him. The first thing to do was deal with the weakest link in the chain.
Staring up, time started to slow down as the bolts of energy from above went from firing at lightning quick speed, down to moving as if they were cotton being blown into the air on a gentle breeze. Moving past the slow moving energy, Vegeta moved around each bolt with grace and with ease, before appearing next to the large demon. He saw the worried expression on his face, knowing the other combatant couldn't even follow his motions.
His voice coming out slowly, the demon spoke.
"Think we got him?" the low, distorted sound came out.
Smirking, Vegeta materialized in real time next to him, no longer using his ki to accelerate his motion.
"Got who?" Vegeta asked, his confident smirk stratching across one side of his face.
The already worried demon's eyes widened, before he turned to see Vegeta, his mouth dropping.
"Th-there's no way!" he shouted, unable to even move in response. It was pathetic to watch these pumped up amateurs try to battle him.
The Monarch seemed to be assessing his options, and picked the one Vegeta already knew he would. Despite his size, and brutish attitude, Mustard struck him as a true, profound coward, and one that was unable to cope with the collapse of his situation. It was the correct assumption. All it took was him floating in front of the giant monster with his arms crossed, for his enemy to become so unnerved that the battle was no longer tolerable for him.
"T-that does it!" With his dark red aura emerging, Vegeta knew immediately it was no attack Mustard was forming. Instead, a streak of crimson energy was left where he once floated.
"No! You idiot!" Spice shouted after him.
Pointing his hand out after him, Vegeta just prepared his energy. As white particles seemed to gather in the air for a moment, they disappeared before a wall of blue energy appeared in front of him, before burning across the sky. In the distance, the red light was caught up in it, before simply being washed away. A scream echoed back over the distance as the demon faced its last moments of existence. Floating there, his hand still extended, Vegeta doubled checked his handiwork, his Saiyan eyes seeing no sign of the demon, and its energy completely gone.
Turning his head, he looked directly at the other victim, his primary target. Spice was left there, floating in the air looking at where Mustard had once been.
"Is something wrong?" Vegeta enquired. "I'm sorry if I ignored you for a moment, I had to crush an annoying bug. You can carry on making a fool of yourself now."
Stuttering for any kind of response, all Spice seemed able to do was choke for a moment before he turned fearfully back to Vegeta, his red eyes filled with fear. Despite being the strongest of the Monarchs, he was nothing to Vegeta, least of all now. Even if he'd had Vinegar and Mustard at his side, the battle would have been laughably one sided. It was only when Vegeta sensed something in the distance, that his mind fled the battle he was in.
Son Gohan's power, grew. It grew again.
It was enough to make him snarl with frustration. It was a foul air carried out on the wind. It was then that Vegeta sensed the real monster, the real Goliath of the battle taking place not too far away. He knew that Gohan had been concealing at least some of his power, but this much? It was infuriating. It was just like Kakarot, and all the worse. It was even worse, because of how arrogant and smug Gohan was. From the Saiyan traitor falling from the sky, to the most powerful Saiyan alive. It was more defiance to his rightful claim as the Prince of All Saiyans.
Across from him, Spice's head turned as well, to look towards the power, before he started to... chuckle?
"I understand now, I understand it all. I know why now why that Kai came here to help us destroy you," Spice laughed. "Even you must sense how much power Son Gohan has. And you hate it don't you? You hate it that he's stronger then-"
Slamming his fist into Spice's stomach, the demon gagged violently, his voice becoming nothing but a long wheeze of air. He clutched his stomach desperately trying to cease the pain, before in one motion Vegeta backhanded him viciously with his right hand. The air broke around them in a massive boom, before the demon's body slammed into the ground below like a massive projectile. In the ruins of Garlic's castle, the last of his demonic lieutenants lay helplessly in the crater.
Landing next to him a moment later, Vegeta just narrowed his eyes.
Coughing several times, Spice just started to laugh again.
Sneering hatefully, Vegeta kicked him over onto his back, making the demon grunt.
"Just a moment ago, you were quivering for your life, and now-"
"You can't hurt me," Spice breathed. "I can see I'm doomed. But I can sense just how doomed you are. Son Gohan didn't just raise his power level because he was losing against my master. Didn't you sense it?... Son Gohan killed him. But my master cannot know death. No matter how you all struggle, you'll never slay the undying. The Kai chose us because we are the only ones who could ever hope to stop-"
"Who is this Kai?" Vegeta snapped.
Just smirking back at him, Spice continued to stare up at him.
"I'll leave that for you to find out, Vegeta," he chuckled through his wheezing noises. "But my master will pull your skull from your body, no matter how much you struggle. He's more a God now, then any of those wretched Kais."
Staring down at him with disgust, Vegeta let his smile come back through.
"Is that so? Well listen well, Spice. I'm going to kill Garlic jr. He'll be seeing you in Hell soon enough. After I send him screaming into the Afterlife, be sure to remember that I told you so when you meet him there."
Pointing his hand down, Vegeta gathered energy once more, this time into a much different attack.
"W-wait!" Spice said, his arm outstretching fearfully... before his smile returned. "The only one who could ever hope to defeat my master, isn't you, Vegeta, and you know that don't you? The only one with even a hope is Son Go-"
Vegeta didn't even want to hear the answer.
"Big Bang Attack!"
In a ball of burning blue energy, Spice screamed out one last time as he was carried away into oblivion.
Across the horizon, in the ocean, a massive blastwave shook the Earth as Vegeta's attack exploded.
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Author's Notes:
I got what I needed done in this chapter. I really wanted to give Vegeta and Piccolo their own time to deal with the biggest major 'outside' incidents, rather then directly tying it into the big chapter like I did between Trunks, Piccolo, Dabura, and Babidi before.
However, I can say, that next Chapter is going to be one to remember. Except Flashbacks, dramatic moments, action, and the climax of this Saga. Gohan, Garlic, Pan, Piccolo, Vegeta... It's going to be one Hell of a ride.
As for how long it could take to produce? I honestly don't know. These kind of giant chapters can take me a while to burn through. It could take me weeks, or over a month, it's all going to depend on how motivated I can keep myself as. I've got tons of stuff envisioned for it. Its going to be a very different kind of fight, in a lot of respects, compared to the normal ones I have. Why? Simply put, and without any reservations, I tell you this.
Gohan is much stronger then Garlic. But the real question is, does it matter?
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Reviewers:
DarkKnightShiva: I know you can't. I hope this is up to standard.
Perfect Carnage: I think I may have answered this by PM.
Marocrache: I'm not taking a break until I get Chapter 46 up, and I'll be taking that break to update some of the other stories I'm working on. But worry not, The Long Road is front and centre for my overall focus. I've already worked out the final details for the next Saga. Except some awesomeness out of Chapter 50-51 sometime.
Tomorrow4eva: God save the Queen and all that stuff, lol. I appreciated your feedback enough to write a scene last chapter to address it. When I saw it and read it from your perspective, I literally said "that makes sense. I'd better address this."
Pyromania101: I'm not gonna spoil anything, but I will say that your prediction isn't going to be exactly... well, right. I'll not say what happens obviously, but Chapters 45 and 46 will be a lot of fun for me to write.
Guest1: Paranoid and slow eh? I'm just assuming you're a troll at this point. Have fun under the bridge.
Guest2: Garlic started off as a demon in Movie 1, so I decided to go with that approach. The character that showed up in the Saga was pretty different from the Movie in a lot of respects, so I decided to combine aspects of both. :)
Sekhelmet: I'm trying, lol.
Kaosmoshpit: I hope people are happy with the resolution of Chapter 46. I've had this planned out since Chapter 15, which is crazy when you think about it. So this has been a long time coming for me. On the way here, I didn't even know if I'd get this far, so its pretty crazy on my end to realize a lot of what I had planned is coming to fruition.
Thanasi: I believe I answered this by PM, but to give a bit of a response to the public? Gohan doesn't enjoy fighting, and he doesn't see training as necessary, because as far as he's concerned he's one of the strongest beings alive. His apathy and arrogance fuel his lack of training. It's just not built in him to do something he's not required to do, especially if he doesn't enjoy it. Gohan is a creature of necessity.
Son Akito: Sadly, no summaries at the beginning of chapters. That'd be waaay too much work. But thank you all the same! :)
ShadowFFD: Super Saiyan III will appear in this story. Not yet, but it will appear. Saying when or how will spoil things, but yea. It's coming, just not yet.
MasenkoX: I don't think so, but the compliment is awesome :D
MaxPain32: Cooler will make an appearance soon. But there are tons of things in the work. When I reveal one of the two main villains for the next Saga, I hope people get excited. It's going to be a great reveal.
DaughterofVegeta: Don't meltdown!
Brelic: I hope the Vegeta and Piccolo vs. All fight was fun. :)
maesde: Next chapter will make or break the saga. Even though I'm super excited, I'm super terrified at the same time XD
dbzfan the first: Wait no longer! :O
Puppetmaster: Goku... may appear... soon?
Vuvuzelahero: The side-show is done. Now for the main course. It's hopefully going to be amazing.
Lmc9389: Answering this review is difficult. All I can say is, Gohan deserves an ass kicking.
iHeartGohan: Pan is a big fixture next chapter. :)
Guest3: I was kinda joking, especially considering most of my readership being American. This may sound shocking to you, but just because we spell some words differently, doesn't change what level of the civilization scale we're on. Calm down buddeh.
XXTITANIA SCARLETXX: All teh updates!
Asweetlilpixie: Next chapter is going to be truly depraved in many respects. I've already worked out a fair number of the lines to be exchanged over it, and how the battle flows. I hope you're opinion changes in Chapter 45, because if I do it right, it'll be the best battle in the story.
DaLightning Kid: Pan's going to have a complex relationship with fighting. But it's going to be fun as hell to explore.
Darknessrising11: The bridge isn't huge, but its big enough for Vegeta to know he's in the inferior between the two of them.
And as always remember, the more feedback I get, the more time I put into getting updates out.