THE WARLORD
By Konrad
PART 4
Toono stood stunned as Gohan, followed by Yoshuro, walked calmly towards where he was with the fallen Jubian leader. He couldn't believe the numbers on his Scouter. Impossible! How can this kid be as powerful as me? He thought, anger boiling higher in him as the two got closer until they were right in front of him. With Toono standing in between him and the Jubian leader, Gohan stopped.
"Move, please." Gohan stated without so much as looking at the opposing warrior's face.
With a furious yell, Toono launched a wild punch down at the Saiyan. His Scouter didn't pick up the spike in Gohan's power, nor did he see how fast the boy dodged his attack. He only had time to see the foot come swiftly to his face, sending him careening several feet back. Gohan landed back steadily and watched as Yoshuro tended to the severely injured Jubian officer.
"Ah, you must be Lieutenant Guri, the one we talked to earlier." Yoshuro said as he put the Jubian leader over one of his shoulders to carry him to safety to where the Z Warriors were standing. Guri barely had enough energy to nod accordingly. "Don't worry. I brought the warriors from Earth to help us. They'll take care of them!"
Toono, who had just gotten back up, looked puzzled at what was happening. Everybody also stopped fighting to stare at the new arrivals.
"The Earthlings... I can't believe they're here already!" gasped Aleen.
"Well, well. Looks like our reputation precedes us." Vegeta taunted. "Since you seem to expect so much from us, we won't disappoint you, I promise."
"The only thing we expect from you is to die!" yelled back Baramon, getting himself pumped for the fight.
"Ha, I doubt one of you could take me on!" Dukai boasted confidently. "Do you think you can fight everyone here? Cole, Baramon, Djoukien, Aleen, Toono, take all the soldiers to take care of them while I go retrieve what we came for."
Djoukien glanced over at where the Z Warriors were. Gohan had rejoined the group, while Yoshuro, Guri, and all the other Jubians stayed behind them, mindful not to join the fight. He briefly wondered if Vegeta and Gohan were Saiyans.
"Are you sure that's safe, sir?" Djoukien said, wary of being abandoned by his leader. "They are strong."
"Are you afraid of these Earthlings?" Dukai sneered. "You disappoint me... and I'm sure the big boss would be disappointed too."
Djoukien sighed. No getting out of this one peacefully. All the mercenaries got in their battle stances.
"Ah! So you've finally decided you're ready?" Vegeta launched casually without preparing.
The smaller and speedier Baramon abruptly attacked Vegeta and caught him off guard with a headbutt to the stomach. He then joined put his hands together and swung them up at Vegeta's chin, sending him flying back ten yards. Rapidly, Baramon and all of his men came down on Vegeta, landing punch after punch on him while he was still down.
The surprise attack advantaged Dukai's troops. 18 was distracted by checking how Vegeta was doing when she felt a presence near her. When she turned around, she was greeted by Aleen's left foot to her face. The opening gave Aleen and her troops plenty of opportunity to repeatedly land blows on 18. Meanwhile, Tenshinhan was pinned by Cole and his men, unable to go on the offensive. Trunks, Piccolo and Gohan didn't let themselves get distracted as easily as the others. Toono and his men attacked Gohan but were also confronted by Trunks. They punched and kicked furiously but the two half-Saiyans kept up with them easily.
Meanwhile, Piccolo took on Djoukien and his soldiers. He seems strong. His ki feels familiar though. Piccolo thought. But there was no time to think. Djoukien and his men threw punches as fast as they could. Piccolo decided to separate them so he could take them on one by one and finish them quickly. With a powerful ki blast, he sent Djoukien to the ground several dozen yards further. Seeing their leader taken down so easily brought hesitation to the other soldiers. It would be their last mistake. One of them was within arm's length, so Piccolo reached for his neck and broke it. Surprised, the others charged again, this time in disorder at the Namek. The strongest one, a giant of a man, threw a punch but Piccolo simply ducked it and elbowed him in the stomach. The next soldier to attack was dodged and tripped by Piccolo and sprawled to the ground. Piccolo then instantly ended his life by stepping on his spine. The remaining two soldiers stopped and hesitated again. The Namek took the opportunity to send a finishing ki ball into his first attacker. Finally, he turned to face his last two opponents with two fingers to his forehead as he charged rapidly his Makankosappo. The beam travelled fast towards the two soldiers but they jumped out of the way in time and turned to flee.
As if I would make it that easy to escape. Piccolo thought, smirking inwardly. He concentrated and the beam split into two. The two smaller beams then followed the two unlucky soldiers and eventually caught up with them, destroying them instantly. Piccolo then turned around to face Djoukien who was finally getting back up.
"I'm gonna get you, you stupid kid!" Toono screamed at Gohan. He tried to punch him but the young boy kept blocking his hits easily. This only made Toono more furious and less concentrated on his fighting. Gohan avoided Toono once more and teleported in front of one of his unsuspecting men, sending a ki blast through his chest. Meanwhile, another soldier got cut up into several pieces by Trunks' sword. Trunks finally realized something as he took a quick glance around the battlefield.
"Gohan, mind taking care of the rest of these goons?" He said as another unfortunate one met his sword's business end.
"Of course, why?"
"I saw their leader leave when we started fighting." Trunks said while another enemy met death by his sword. "No one else seems to have noticed and I know in which direction he went so I'll go after him and see what he's up to, ok?"
"Alright, don't keep us waiting!" Gohan replied.
Not far from there, Cole grew frustrated as he watched Tenshinhan get up from the crater he formed when he hit the ground.
"Attack!" Cole commanded. And his group flew down quickly towards Tenshinhan.
Tenshinhan had another idea though and separated into three beings. The warriors stopped in mid-air and were shocked when they were met by three Tenshinhans rapidly attacking. One soldier got slammed to the ground and never got back up. Another Tenshinhan chopped a second soldier at the neck, instantly breaking it. The third Tenshinhan teleported behind a third soldier and punched him hard to the ground before sending a fatal beam at him.
Djoukien and Piccolo stood face to face, separated by about a dozen yards. Djoukien looked fearless and didn't seem too evil like the rest in Piccolo's eyes, not to mention the slightly familiar aura about him. But he was still an enemy today, one that threatened these people, and he wouldn't stop until either one of them was down and defeated.
"Piccolo!" Djoukien said. "My name is Djoukien. I've studied a bit about you and your friends, it's an honour to meet warriors as strong as you and I doubt there's much I can do against you. However, let me warn you that, to those who get in his way, Dudan is much stronger than any of you and he won't let anyone get in his way. I don't think it's a smart idea to test him."
"If you know about us so much, then you should know that we don't really stand for the killing of innocents for whatever reason, regardless of who is more powerful." Piccolo stated calmly. "My friends and I will find a way to stop Dudan or die trying regardless. I appreciate your sense of honour, Djoukien, but only one of us can win today. Now then, shall we?"
Djoukien nodded and immediately charged at Piccolo, with the Namek curious to see what this young upstart was capable of. When Djoukien was merely a few feet from Piccolo, he disappeared. Piccolo didn't focus and thought that he would reappear behind him. But Djoukien merely teleported in front of Piccolo and caught him off guard with a knee to the stomach. He then tried a kick to the side of the head but Piccolo dodged it and jumped back. Djoukien was immediately on him again and threw punches and kicks at a rapid pace but they were all blocked. Seeing this, he flew up in the air, making sure Piccolo wasn't far behind underneath. When he thought he was close enough to him, Djoukien abruptly did a somersault in the air, hitting the Namek on the head. He then descended rapidly and kicked Piccolo in the chin.
He's good. Piccolo thought, smiling. And he's really fast. Too bad he's on the wrong side, we don't have time for these games.
Piccolo started fighting more seriously. Djoukien tried his best but none of his hits were landing on target. On the other hand, the Namek started attacking too and Djoukien was hard pressed to keep up with him. Djoukien blocked several punches and kicks, but Piccolo was still getting more hits on him, tiring him and bruising him severely. Piccolo finally stopped and descended to the ground, followed by the winded Djoukien.
"It's no use, it's ok to give up." Piccolo said. "I got better things to do than spill more blood today."
"N-No." replied the other warrior, panting heavily. "I was trained to always be ready for death at any time, to give it everything I got, to win or to lose..."
Djoukien lunged himself at Piccolo with his right fist ahead. The Namek spun around to avoid the punch and, with a powerful thrust, sent his fist through Djoukien's stomach. The other warrior gasped deeply and spat out blood. Piccolo withdrew his hand and took a step back. As he observed the young man staggering, Piccolo was struck with awe as he finally saw Djoukien's tail, now unwrapped from his body, swish wildly. He finally understood what the familiar ki meant.
"You-You're a Saiyan!" Piccolo gasped.
"Y-Yes." Djoukien responded, clutching his sides. Somehow, he felt like smiling in spite of the pain.
"But how? You're too young to have been around back when your planet exploded!"
"Indeed, I never knew our original home…G-guess I won't know much else either... Well fought...Piccolo..." Djoukien managed one last smile, despite all the pain, before collapsing to the ground and drifting to the afterlife.
Piccolo was stunned by the discovery...and loss…of another Saiyan survivor. Could there be more? Vegeta would want to know this probably. Immediately, he looked for the Prince but, where he last saw him however, there was only a small pile of bodies. And a little further in the distance, Piccolo could make out a figure, Baramon, fleeing. Well, his time is up. Piccolo thought as he turned to look at how the others were doing. A split second later, Baramon was vaporized by a large beam. Piccolo's attention first turned to Gohan's struggle against Toono or, more to the point, Toono struggling against Gohan.
"Get that brat!" Toono yelled to his three remaining soldiers. He was sitting down on the ground, with his mouth bloody. Gohan looked unfazed as the three warriors surrounded him. They all charged at the him at the same. The young Saiyan threw a sweeping kick that sent one soldier against another. The other one went for a punch but missed and Gohan broke his back with a powerful punch. He then turned hurriedly to the other two and destroyed them with a large beam. Toono got up, more frustrated than ever and stunned that such a little boy could beat all of them. He powered up and shot his strongest beam at Gohan but the Saiyan countered it with his own blast. The two powers collided and struggled with equal force but Gohan grew weary of this battle and didn't want it to last longer than necessary. He powered up further and higher than Toono could and he pushed the beam back at the mercenary. It moved too quickly for Toono and, as he could watch in horror, he was swept away.
"That was easy enough." Piccolo said to no one in particular as Android 18 and Tenshinhan also finished their fights with Aleen and Cole respectively. "But it seems everyone knows of us. Yoshuro and the Jubians and now them too. To think, no one knows us on Earth. Hmmf!" He reflected on the irony.
"Hey Piccolo! Where did Trunks go?" 18 asked as she and Tenshinhan landed next to him, a hint of concern in her voice.
"He told me he went after their leader." Gohan bumped in.
"Then I guess he should be back soon enough." Piccolo said.
- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
A few miles away, a small research center was thrown into chaos minutes before. After most of the garrison departed to face Dudan's invasion troops, the remaining soldiers, scientists and staff scrambled all over the base as fast as they could, fleeing when they could or running to take refuge in the protected shelters underground. Still, they knew that they couldn't escape without immediate help.
"Get out of the way!" screamed a panicked young soldier at the main entrance. But the yell came too late as a fireball incinerated his companions. "Damnit! Go to hell!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he emptied his laser charger before also being blasted away. Fearing for their lives, the few remaining soldiers outside scrambled into the compound.
"That's right, run! Maybe an early surrender would've been better than your insane stubbornness." laughed Dukai, floating just above the ground. His Scouter bleeped a few times. "Hmm… I better make this quick. One of those Earthlings is approaching. I've got just enough time to hightail out of here once I'm done."
Dukai flew into the base. He ignored the panicked people as they hurried out of his way and went straight for the biggest chamber. Flaring his energy around him, he caused walls to buckle, the floors to rip apart and people to be blown back by the strength of his force. He burst through the reinforced doors of the main lab, catching the staff off guard as it tried to get all of it's sensitive research. In the middle of the room, a small scroll sat in the midst of circuitry. It's inscriptions read in a language foreign to the Jubians themselves and all along the walls powerful mainframes were busy reading and decoding it. Dukai flashed a smile of satisfaction as he approached the scroll. The scientists, still petrified, knew they were powerless to stop him.
"Ah, so these must be the Incantations. Dudan will be very pleased with this!" Dukai laughed.
"No! You can't take it, you don't know what can happen with this!" one scientist yelled.
"Relax, old man. I think I know what this is for and that's why I'm taking it!"
"You heard him, you can't take that thing and you won't." a voice spoke up from the entrance of the enormous chamber. Everyone turned around to see Trunks glaring intently at Dukai.
"Hmmf! I didn't think you'd arrive this early. No matter!" the evil commander said and he immediately charged Trunks
Trunks was surprised by the speed of the attack and received a punch to the jaw. Using his momentum, Dukai did a bicycle kick that sent Trunks flying a few feet back. As soon as he landed though, Trunks quickly got back up and, sensing Dukai's approach, he caught his adversary's fist in his hand.
"W-What?" went Dukai, surprised. "Oh well, time to get serious." He jumped back away from Trunks and took a fighting stance.
"Me fighting serious wouldn't be fair to you." Trunks taunted.
At the comment, Dukai growled. As the Jubians took cover wherever they could, the two fighters charged at each other. Their auras collided with each other and they engaged in a furious exchange of punches and kicks. The battle moved quickly from one spot in the room to another as Trunks and Dukai teleported after each other.
While they were airborne, Dukai threw three ki balls that travelled too fast for Trunks to block them. Dukai then tried to land a kick to Trunks' face but the Saiyan ducked and headed down quickly to the ground. Dukai did the same thing but didn't keep up with him. As soon as the evil commander landed, Trunks got on his two hands and did a sweep with his feet to trip him. Before Dukai even hit the floor, Trunks was up and drove him down into the ground with a hard blow from his right elbow. Dukai growled and pushed himself with his two hands to kick Trunks in the air. Trunks took the opportunity to fly further up and tore through the roof of the base, hoping Dukai would be stupid enough to follow as he didn't want to cause too much damage or hurt anyone in the fight. As he wished, Dukai blazed a trail after him, forgetting his mission. The two adversaries exchanged a few more blows before separating. They just floated in the air for a few seconds trying to stare each other down. Dukai finally broke the silence with a laugh.
"Haha! Is that all you got? You talked earlier of fighting seriously." he mocked. This time it was Trunks' turn to get mad.
"So you want to see something real!" the Saiyan replied.
With those words, Trunks concentrated and powered up. Dukai eyed closely his Scouter flickering wildly as the numbers climbed. Trunks' hair rose up and they started to glow gold. His eyes kept going from blue to green to blue before settling to green. Dukai struggled to stay in place as the winds from Trunks' aura blew all around him. Dukai gulped as he faced the Super Saiyan and silently braced himself for the next moves to be made. Trunks smirked.
"Well, what do you think?" he said but his smirk faded slowly as Dukai's lips curved into their own grin.
"I think that's perfect. Energy SUPPRESS!" Dukai yelled and he extended his left hand towards Trunks. A large white beam emanated from it and before he could react, Trunks was engulfed in a giant white bubble. As he felt nothing, Trunks thought the difference in their powers was making him immune to the technique, until suddenly he felt his energy peak then go down. He powered up again but then his power dropped again. In frustration he powered up to his max. This prompted Dukai to put more energy into his beam and bubble combination. Again, Trunks power started to fall.
"What... What the hell is this thing?" Trunks cried out. Dukai laughed.
"Hehehe! This technique is what I call 'Energy Suppress'." the mercenary leader started. "The more powerful I make it, the more energy it can drain from an opponent. Even if I can use a lot of my own power to make it stronger, it can absorb many, many times the amount of energy I spend so it'll make your own power level fall beneath mine. From our information from Earth, I knew that you could go to a much higher level than in our fight and it would've been a waste for me to continue like this knowing you could power up higher than me. So I deliberately enticed you to power up so that my technique could absorb all your power and make sure I wouldn't be outmatched!"
As he struggled against the bubble's power absorption, Trunks couldn't keep up. His power dwindled to the point where he dropped out of his Super Saiyan transformation and it went down even further until Dukai removed the bubble. Both adversaries were panting from their efforts but Trunks knew he was even more drained.
"There! You're now weaker than me!" Dukai exclaimed as a sinister smirk crossed his face. "Ready for some real fun!" Trunks tensed up and braced himself for the worst.
"Pretty tricky technique! Too bad it leaves you drained too." Someone called from underneath Trunks and Dukai. They looked down to see a young man floating lower than them. His hands were brought above and behind his head, a green aura flickering as he was already preparing a beam attack. He smirked at Dukai. "Think you have enough power for this!"
The wide, green beam closed the distance between the two men at a considerable rate, too fast for the mercenary commander. Dukai blocked it with his hands but it was too much and he could only struggle against it.
"W-What? No way, this can't beAAAAARRGHHH..." his final scream resonated far in the distance as the blast finally overtook and completely destroyed him.
Trunks observed with satisfaction as Dukai was disintegrated. Still exhausted he dropped down to the newcomer's level and got his first good look at him. At least a few years older than him, he had short and very well kept black hair. He wore a tight grey top with no sleeves and dark green pants. His slightly squared face sported a friendly smile. Detecting no sign of malice in his eyes or features, Trunks was able to relax a bit more.
"Hey, I'm Trunks. Thanks for the help."
"No problem. Sorry I came a little late to the party!" the stranger beamed. "I'm Chen, I command all the Jubian military. You're one of the Earthlings we sent after, right? I think there's some things I should show you and your friends, you'll have a better idea of what you're getting into."
Trunks nodded and followed Chen back into the base.
END OF PART FOUR