Visions
Chapter 75: Unfathomable
His fingers traced the small boulder's edge, up-and-down, back-and-forth, as Gohan worked through his awe. He couldn't take his eyes off of the shimmering point of golden light that wavered in the distance, rippling away from atop the mesa like a beacon.
'Jeez...' Gohan muttered without glancing back to his companion, who was absentmindedly pecking at a crevice in the rock a lizard had bolted into. 'Icarus, you're really missing out…'
0o0o0
This is death.
Vegeta felt his blood recede into him, coalesce into a coagulated lump so thick that he could vomit it. The man- no, monster- on the other end of the mesa stood in place, not tensing a single limb or muscle, and yet made the simple act of waiting guttingly terrifying.
The golden flames cloaking his enemy shone so strong and vitally that Vegeta wondered how a singular being- a singular point- could contain so much energy. He did not need a scouter to know this. Breathing told him how heart-wrenchingly weak he was compared to this… death. A youth who had stood not much taller than him, who was now embodied in a silhouette of pulsating, dogged yellow, had become that.
With the slightest twitch of his neck, Vegeta glanced backward; he saw fragments of metal gliding in the wind away from Turles and Nappa's heads.
Tak.
The sound of someone landing- something he heard a thousand times- had never felt so ominous.
He looked forward again- the monster had shrunk the distance between their chests to feet.
'What... ' Vegeta muttered. He couldn't help himself; he took a step backward, golden aura nearly bowing him to the ground. Up close, there was no mistaking the sharpness in his eyes. 'What are you?'
The monster made a mockery of a grin. 'I don't even know.'
Vegeta blinked; that image of that golden-haired, brown-eyes-turned-blue force seared itself into his nightmares.
The blow came- and it was only when Vegeta, lying amidst rubble at the bottom of what had been the mesa, screaming at sensations as they reached his head, did he realized that, in a span of time he couldn't perceive, he had been punched, head-butted, bunted, knead, elbowed, thrown into the air, kicked back down, piledrived, and sealed into the nascent crack in the mesa with a stomp that split the land in two.
He passed out.
0o0o0
A deafening crack rode across the land, sick enough to send a chill down his spine, and Piccolo, awestruck and terrified, rose away from his cover.
Nothing remained of the mesa; it had split into two jagged halves and crumpled into the desert surrounding it. He choked on his thoughts.
Un… unfathomable...
He had the vaguest sense of what power lurked in the galaxy- had a somewhat more clear sense for what ruled it in the past. But to be put side-by-side by a power of this nature and magnitude… he felt like a pebble being tossed into a raging ocean. This presence engulfed him, strangled him, and made the very act of living a second-by-second struggle. If he closed his eyes he could feel its power pressing on him, on his skin, his mind, his being, on each front seeking to pierce and fill him until he burst.
I should not be here. The unexpected thought rang through Piccolo's mind clear as a bell. If he had even an ounce of self-preservation, he would have been halfway out of the solar system by now. There was no approaching this kind of power.
He had reached that conclusion at the moment those golden flames were torn from the heavens and dragged to the earth- and, yet he was still here. He had even moved away from his cover, so affronted by what he was witnessing.
He didn't have a deathwish; he knew he cared about living.
In the air above the mesa, the stranger, cloaked in gold and throwing out light through the sandstorm, hovered, waiting.
I could never run from this.
0o0o0
Bulma had thought she had taken enough precautions- using satellites to register energy… there was no risk to that, right?
Wrong. In her hands, she cradled the broken circuitry of her device, which had exploded over the course of one measly second. Her wrist, blinking red, continued to inform her- "Those satellites? The ones that cost millions of Zeni and years to develop? Yep- they're gone, too. Blown up. Too much energy to read at once. Nothing more than orbital debris, now."
Sighing, Bulma dumped the metal remains to one side and flung her back to the floor, moaning.
'Damn it!' she yelled, pounding her fist against the metal floor. 'Damn… uh…'
The slightest tremor started rocking the ship back and forth. She sat up; by the time she was standing, metal crates were tipping onto the floor. 'Uhh!...'
0o0o0
Panting- more from adrenaline than any exertion- Turles and Nappa, carrying three pods between them on their shoulders, landed on another rock formation that overlooked the desert. They had been luckier than Vegeta- they had a precious second to react after Traveler's final blow had landed and before the mesa fell out from under them. With that time, they had snatched the pods and dashed away. The pods were the second most important entity to protect on any mission. As for the first…
Body twitching from his unease, Turles looked back at where they had just been. Traveler held himself in the air… is he looking at us?...
'Get ready,' Nappa barked, whipping around Turles's head. He noticed that the older Saiyan was smoothing out his leg armor. 'We're jumping in.'
'You're joking, right?' Turles replied, scowling. 'Did you not see what just happened?'
'I saw exactly what happened,' Nappa growled, turning and stepping closer so that he better intimidate with his stature- or, that's what Turles thought he was doing. 'Vegeta needs our help, and I don't intend to deprive him of it now,' he finished.
Turles was speechless. This oaf is going to drag me down with him! 'We can't fight that!' he shouted.
'I agree.'
Both Saiyans tensed and spun forward; Traveler, aura dimmer but still awful in its choking presence, stood on the rock not ten feet away from them. He was conspicuously still- ignoring the hands that gripped a half-conscious Vegeta by the back rim of his armor and held him up to them.
'You have one chance to surrender,' Traveler said, barely erring a facial muscle from his drawn, mildly disapproving expression. 'I can't promise that you'll get a second one.'
Turles observed Traveler's fingers twisting and bunching, almost like a physical tic, handfuls of the fabric of Vegeta's armor. Slowly, he drew his gaze back to his face.
'Fine,' Nappa, neutral in tone, said from Turles's side. 'Understood.'
With a zip, Nappa vanished from sight.
'What!?' Turles yelped, twisting around. 'Now you run!? BASTARD!'
Across from him, Traveler's head gently turned, eyes tracking something in the distance. 'He's not running,' he said. Then he vanished, too. Vegeta, unsupported, collapsed into a pile.
0o0o0
This whole sequence of events happened so quickly that Turles froze, sight and hearing tuned for any reappearances. He took his time confirming what he thought. Nappa was away, the apparition was away, and Vegeta…
Turles glanced down; Vegeta's armor, much like the man wearing it, was shattered and clinging together by a thread.
His mind jumped to a desperately wanted conclusion; If he was truly a dog to these two, then his handlers were in no position to control him now.
And now… he turned around, stared at Nappa's pod. Get into that ship, and I can start again- get away from all the orders and humiliation…
For a moment he held himself back, waiting to see if his thought could, somehow, invite any retaliation, but none came. It seemed that Fate had decided not to screw him today. He began to walk.
'He's… not running.'
Turles froze halfway to the ship, and swung his head back around. 'You're awake?'
Vegeta, a shadow of what he had been minutes before, had propped his head up by his bloodied, bruised chin amidst the twitching limbs of his body. It was clear he was trying extremely hard to cease being a pile of flesh on a rock. He wasn't having much success.
'And you…' Vegeta continued. His eyes edged to the pod. 'You're not running, either…'
For the first time in years, an order from Vegeta didn't make Turles's insides churn. 'And who's going to stop me?' he said, laughing. 'You? In that shape?'
As if in agreement, Vegeta's eyes dropped down to the rock. 'I can still win…' he tried moving, moaned, and stilled. 'I can… I… I just need a little bit of energy.' His eyes returned to Turles. 'Please… give me the seed from Nappa's ship. With that, I'll have enough.'
'Another order,' Turles said, audibly disgusted. 'What was your mantra, my Prince? Might is everything? If I'm stronger than you are now… shouldn't you be taking orders from me?'
Weakly, Vegeta fractionally tipped his head up. 'I'm your Prince… For you and Nappa, might is less important than-'
Before he knew what he had done, Turles arrived at the ship. 'Be thankful I'm not going to kill you,' he interrupted Vegeta's weak speech, at the same time pulling the pod hatch open manually and climbing inside. 'If not for leaving me with something to start over with, I would have done that already.'
With finality, Turles slammed the hatch closed, and contented himself with an image of Vegeta bleeding out in this lifeless desert as the ship kicked into life around him
0o0o0
Coward. Sight cloudy, Vegeta watched with mild interest as Nappa's stolen ship rose from the ground and slowly ascended into the sky. He didn't have enough strength to be angry. And there was a chance that Turles's cowardice might yet be useful. If he can buy me precious seconds...
Collecting what little energy he had, Vegeta breathed, clenched his jaw, and threw his weight to the side, rolling to his left long and far enough to run over the rock's edge and plummet to the desert floor below.
0o0o0
Yamcha and Chi-Chi successfully dropped beneath their cover, flattening themselves to the ground, as one of the combatants- followed swiftly by a significantly stronger one- sped over their position. Even in his wake, the golden warrior was overwhelming, as his energy suffused into the land and lingered long after he was gone.
It was only after the threat of detection had passed did Yamcha realize how much he had leaned into Chi-Chi as they hid. Once their breathing had calmed down, and they turned to each other...
Her face was very red; he wondered whether his was any more so.
'Sorry,' he said gingerly, removing his hands from around her and standing. 'That, was, uh…'
'Necessary,' Chi-Chi said quickly, standing as well. She stared into the distance. 'They've stopped- they're together.' She pinched her mouth. 'Well, now-'
They both gasped at the same time; the fourth, feeding the golden flames around him like an inferno, appeared in the sky directly above them. He was close enough to definitely say-
'He's… he's looking right at us!' Chi-Chi exclaimed.
'I can see that, Chi-Chi!'
0o0o0
As soon as the chaos in the center of the battlefield had calmed down, Tien pushed up on his jaw, closing it, and bug-eyed, turned to Launch.
'We-'
'Don't say it,' she said. Her feet balanced on her toes; she bounced incrementally up-and-down, ready to throw down. 'Don't say what I think you're going to say, because if you are-'
'We need to-'
'Don't,' she said sterner, glaring at him. 'Discard it totally from your mind, because we're not running.'
'Launch…' Tien said, mouth twisting, 'this is too big to-'
'To ignore?' Launch, dismissively, threw her gaze from him. 'You were going to finish, "This is too big to ignore, right? Because, if you aren't-'
'We need to go!' Tien shouted, his frustration finally ranging beyond his control. 'Pull back, regroup, figure out a plan- do anything except stay here and get roped into this madness!'
She was unmoved- more so, she was adamant. 'I can take those three Saiyans. I can beat them.'
'Yeah? Assuming that I believed that- which I don't- could you handle the guy who just flattened a mesa?'
For a moment she said nothing, her eyes zeroed in on something in the distance. Tien huffed, and started counting down in his head to when he'd fight Launch to get her off the battlefield.
Three… two… one...
'-Wait!' Launch said, as if she had heard his mental counting. 'Look!' she stood and pointed, pushing him away. 'Up there! One's trying to escape!'
Tien followed her arm; true to her word, there was a white blip, red licks of fire burning from its bottom, that was rising into the sky.
'It's the weak one, too! And I don't see that golden guy…' She lifted a leg and threw it over their cover, and lit her yellow-white aura.
Tien started tearing away non-existent hairs from his scalp. 'Are you… are you insane? We'll be discovered!'
Launch finished removing herself from their hiding spot, and spotting a cocky grin, swung to him. 'Please. With my speed-'
A rush of wind, strong and flat enough to nearly topple them, swept over them, and Launch, teetering, threw her gaze to the sky.
She quickly hopped back behind the cover. The golden fighter had reappeared in the sky just above the ship- and he had stopped it, too.
'On second thought…' she said quietly. 'I can wait a little longer...'
0o0o0
Another burst of speed, and he reappeared in front of Nappa.
Sorry,' Traveler said, faux-meaning behind his apology. 'What we were doing?'
He had caught Nappa in an incredibly awkward pose- the Saiyan was surprised halfway committed to a sprint, and had one leg and one arm crooked forward, ready to pounce. 'You!...' he hissed, straightening and turning. 'Damn you!'
'Seriously- what were you trying to do?'
In truth, Nappa didn't know himself. He had been given an order… even if it was to no conceivable end.
Traveler's mood soured at Nappa's silence. 'Let me make this clear,' he said in a clear, ringing voice. 'You have. Nowhere. To run. So…'
With frightening speed, the youth's hand latched around Nappa's wrist and pressed into it, causing the giant to wilt before his eyes. 'How much more difficult are you going to make this?'
'Hurt me all you want,' Nappa said, sucking in breaths in an effort to cope with his pain. 'But no matter how strong you are, you can't be everywhere at once, and every second you spend here with me is a second you keep the other two alone.' Nappa found the conclusion he was aiming for. 'You're only one man.'
Traveler was unimpressed. 'And I can move very fast.'
The air around them blurred, spun, and flipped Nappa's view of the world-
A palm pressed into his abdomen, stopping him. He blinked, fighting off his nausea, and looked around. What?...
'We're back where we started,' Traveler announced. 'So-'
There was a visible hitch in the youth's intended statement- his face furrowed.
'Where's Vegeta?'
Nappa examined the area; without his scouter, he didn't know. Thank the King...
'That was a question.'
Traveler tightened his grip further, causing Nappa to groan and drop to his knees. 'One man can do so much against someone so weak,' he snarled, yellow aura growing thicker around him. 'I think I could kill you with a sneeze for not answering me… should I try it?'
Muttering, Nappa's head rolled backward, fighting off the urge to black-out. He focused his vision on the sky, on a white dot… Wait...
'That's my ship!' The Saiyan shouted, getting Traveler to glance to the sky. 'He's running off with my ship!'
'So he is.'
A quick chop to Nappa's neck silenced him, wrenching the giant into unconsciousness, and without much effort at all, Traveler let his golden aura unfurl and sped into the sky. Catching up to the ship was child's play, and with one hand, he appeared above the craft and stopped it. The engines whirred against his palm, spitting out flame and smoke from the ship's bottom in a futile effort.
Traveler- carrying the ship- reappeared on the ground, and with his other hand, he gripped the hatch's lip and carefully pried it open without damaging any mechanism of the craft. Inch-by-inch, Turles, mortified, was revealed to him.
'I've always wondered how strong PTO ships were,' Traveler said, grabbing the Saiyan by the cuff of his armor and dragging him onto the rock. 'So, thanks for that.'
Another chop, and Traveler was surveying the desert. Vegeta couldn't have gotten far in his condition. He angled his gaze down, peering at the desert floor. Could he have?-
Traveler spotted a flash of movement, and rematerialized on a higher rock formation. He watched his former perch rumble and shake, and then be pushed aside. A low, rumbling noise, almost like the sound of rocks tumbling down a mountain, filled the desert air as the wind whipped up into a frenzy again.
Traveler squinted. Something black and large was shifting around down below.
0o0o0
Suno leaned further out beyond the corner, craning her head to look skyward. 'He's back again,' she told Retu.
He shifted next to her. 'What's he doing now?'
'Standing on the same rock. He's… looking…'
A crashing sound ran through the air. Their cover started shaking, and she saw the rock formation, now devoid of anyone tipping… tipping...
Suno's eyes sprung open. 'MOVE!'
They sprung away, rolling across the ground, seconds before the rock they were hiding behind ripped away from its base and flew over them. The newly formed boulder flew across the desert, hit the ground again, and started sinking beneath the sands.
With their cover gone, the wicked wind of the storm rolled over them, shooting dust and sand across their skin. Coughing, Suno sat up on her arms, glanced around, and crawled over to a blurry brown shape in the growing storm.
She patted him. 'You okay?'
Retu nodded, and gripped her hand to sit up. 'Think so.'
The air grew thicker, choking with sand, and as he pulled himself up, her grip on his hand tightened- and he was yanked off his feet into the air, dangling. 'Woah!' he shouted, seeing the ground disappear into the storm below him. 'What?...'
He looked at Suno again- and saw her silhouetted by a large, black shape. His eyes widened.
'What?!'
0o0o0
He breathed three times; the first breath was shallow, crippled, lacking, and barely pierced him before his shuddering forced it out. Transforming was as much a test of willpower as it was desire. To become the beast and control it, it was required that he embrace it. If at any point he lost that singular focus, that drive to transcend his form and become an avatar of destruction, he would lose his position atop the bucking bull be thrown off, left to plummet into a never-ending abyss. He would become a passenger in his own body, a slave to his desire, powerless...
And that… that is not acceptable. Despite his broken body… it would never come to that.
So he let the first breath go, released any frustration he felt towards its inadequacy, and prepared himself for the second. He stilled his heartbeat, quieting the pain flowing through him, and kept his gaze, unerring, towards the sky.
The second breath gave him a taste- and that was enough. The putrid, disgusting air of this planet filled his lungs, convulsed his chest up and down, and passed out of his shifting mouth between growing teeth. Slowly, his chest started spasming, muscles bounding and shrinking, and led the rest of his body into similar bouts of movement. His arms, legs, hands and feet... they all started throbbing, dancing to an unheard and unknown rhythm. Piece-by-piece old sensation fell away- the pain, bright agony, along with the dull haze that had descended with him to the bottom of the desert- and was replaced by raw, primal pulsing, driving his heart and blood into a frenzy. He felt his limbs grow, his skin tingle and heat from a cloak of growing fur spreading over him, and everything else- the sand in the air and against his back, the whispering in the wind, the choking, dusty air… it all dropped away, dropped… beneath him. Yes… all becomes beneath me… as is right...
The third breath- if he was being honest, he couldn't remember it. It took place sometime between his squirming on the ground and his rise- his round black head and pointed snout that angled to the sky, eyes still focused on that dull ball of blue hovering above him in the sky. The end result was inevitable once he had stared long enough; even the storm, with its roaring spray of sand, could not block the artificial moon's rays from reaching him. It was slow going, but he made it there in the end.
And what an end that was.
With a roar, Vegeta lifted his snout, massive, burly arms raising into the air in-sync, and let loose a mighty, earth-shaking roar. His armor had stretched with him, and still carried the marks of battle, but beyond that there was not a single scratch or bruise on him. This form, the tool which his ancestors had crushed their enemies with for generations… it had given him a second chance at life.
He was now as tall as the rock formation he had fallen off of- which, he noticed now, he had knocked apart while rising to his full splendor. Which means…
His red eyes slowly traced upward and settled on his would-be tormentor; Traveler, splashed with gold, stood watch on a higher-up rock. Oh- what he wanted to do to him!
'Well.' The youth's voice had taken up a completely novel tone to Vegeta's now-massive ears- mild surprise. 'This is new.'
'I'm going to have my fun with you…' Vegeta rumbled, shifting. His massive feet dug into the sand, and shook the land around him. 'After, of course, I extract every conceivable answer I desire from your broken skull.'
The aura around the youth steadily built taller as Vegeta spoke. 'You're certainly strong,' Traveler acknowledged, 'but, by yourself…'
He smiled, aura bellowing; and, somehow, Vegeta saw something incredibly familiar in that expression. 'This won't be much of a fight,' the youth finished.
The wind kicked up again, blurring the air between them with sand. 'You forget.'
He had the satisfaction- the sweet, immeasurable satisfaction- of seeing the youth's eyes widen a fraction before a black, hulking shape sped into the sky behind him.
'BRAAAH!' Nappa bellowed as he brought his hands, knotted into a fist, down on Traveler like a nail. The golden aura flashed, then disappeared, as the rock formation below him collapsed.
'To me, Nappa!' Vegeta barked, as he hinged his mouth open. A purple blast, collecting into a ball in his mouth, started shimmering out of his throat. As soon as Nappa landed behind him, Vegeta swung down to the sand on all fours and unleashed hell upon the stilling pile of debris.
A purple wave, far more powerful than anything the planet had ever seen, blasted out from Vegeta's mouth, engulfing the land in a wide cone. In an instant, a varied landscape of desert was transformed into a glassed, black wasteland.
Huffing, Vegeta stood. 'That should suffice…'he said, chest rising and falling. 'Good riddance. Now…'
He surveyed the desert- and heard the distant sound of rock crashing. 'Must be… Turles,' Vegeta decided.
'Damn lower-class trash,' Nappa complained, digging his feet into the sand. 'Can't control himself during a simple transformation.' He began to move. 'I'll go give him-'
Vegeta placed a massive hand on his shoulder. 'Let him have his fun,' he commanded, his voice shaking the desert. 'The humans won't be foolish enough to attack us while we're in these forms. There's no danger- to himself, at least. So... ' he began turning, and faced away from the path of devastation he had created. 'In that time… we can have our fun, too, Nappa. Do you remember where the nearest settlement is?'
'Tsk, tsk, tsk,' a voice called out to them. 'Too bad about those scouters…'
Startled, Nappa and Vegeta both swung back around. Traveler hovered in the same position Nappa had surprised him in, and regarded them through his shimmering and undiminished gold aura. It was clear to Vegeta that, judging from the shape of his clothes, he had been in that blast… and yet there he was, alive.
An incredible malice, somewhat satisfied seconds earlier, somehow grew even larger. 'Grrr!...' The Prince snarled, nearly frothing. 'VERMIN!'
0o0o0
The dust closed in as the black shape lurched again, and twisting, Retu leaped away from Suno. He narrowly avoided a swatting, massive hand, and backed away until he and it were rehidden by the storm.
Bridled white and red energy swam around him as he landed. Patches of the air would fade in-and-out in places- and Retu quickly determined from what he saw and a growling, roaring sound that he was dealing with a very large enemy.
Grimacing, he dug his backheel into the sand, dragging more of his ki into the air. Light started shining through the storm, and Retu recognized that it was Suno burning his aura dark-red to free herself from the grip of a massive hand.
There was no time to consider where exactly this enemy had come from or why it had come after them. With a growl, he tensed.
'Times 5!'
Kaioken blazing around him, Retu blasted off from the ground, and slammed shoulder-first into the elbow of the arm gripping Suno. The beast bellowed in surprise, stumbled back, and loosened its grip on Suno enough that she was able to worm herself free and zip away from it in her own red aura. Retu rushed to her side.
'You okay?'
'Fine,' Suno said, brushing off his question. 'Got any ideas to beat this thing?'
Retu glanced back forward- their enemy was moving again in their direction. 'Don't get hit?'
Before Suno could answer, a fist zoomed into the space between them, pushing them both back with a flare of wind. 'Good enough for now!' Suno yelled, as her aura darkened and she flew down the monster's arm to its left side.
As she drew the beast's attention, Retu hesitated in the air. Their battle was displacing the sandstorm in the immediate area, and as a result, he had a much better view of what they were up against. Black fur, it seemed, covered this massive creature from head to toe. It would have resembled a stereotypical ape if not for the distinctive canine snout it had.
The snout, and… Retu's eyes drifted down as the beast turned away from him. A thick, loping tail swung behind it, sometimes dragging across the ground, sometimes avoiding it entirely. It was like it had a mind of its own.
He racked his brain- he recalled someone having told him many years after about a battle in West City with King Piccolo. Beyond the old tyrant, there was something else… something… like this?
Drifting in the air brought him closer to the beast. The tail continued swinging, almost rhythmic.
And it stopped. Retu blinked, looked up; a massive black shape raced towards him and bunted him out of the sky, knocking him unconscious.
0o0o0
Point-blank, Suno fired a two-handed blast of golden ki into the beast's side, but to her shock, it burst apart without even piercing its skin. Even more shocking, the beast body shifted faster that she could see, and before she knew what had happened, she was tumbling head-over-heels into the sky-
Until she was hit again, and struck the earth so hard that both her arms bent far enough back to dislocate her shoulders. Fighting off the risk of falling unconscious, and managing her mind-numbing with quick, sharp breaths, Suno lifted her torso off the ground, held herself in that pose for a second, and then rose, lighting her aura red, and crashed onto her back. Her arms shifted forward, and in the process, popped back into her shoulders.
This was, of course, all incredibly painful, and for a few long seconds after that, Suno blinked in and out of unconsciousness.
'Dear… Kami…' Groaning, she pulled herself into a sitting position in an effort to get her bearings. Around her, the storm had kicked up again, making anything beyond the immediate area difficult to see.
She ran a hand across the smooth, bleached rock she sat on. I'm on a rock… there's very clearly a crater beneath me… wait…
Her head tipped to the sky. I was up there… and, from what I remember… Slowly, her head tracked down a diagonal line to her left. It was over there...
The storm held in place, flooding the air with hundreds of fine grains of sand, until it shuddered, disturbed by a loud, powerful growl. It fell away for the briefest moment, revealing… holy...
Suno's jaw dropped as the monster, unobscured by the storm, stomped left-to-right across her vision, whirling its arms through the air as it threaded between two rocky bluffs. It seemed to have forgotten about her.
It seemed to have forgotten everyone, considering that it barreled into a rock formation, leveling it, and Retu was nowhere to be seen.
She gaped as the monster mindlessly crashed into another landmark, toppling it. Its energy… its wild! 'I can't take that thing on my own… I need help…' she muttered, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. 'I need…'
Suno quieted. Something was in the wind. It started as a whisper, then grew into a voice, and then...
'HYAAAAAAA!'
A scream, bulldozing through the air, swept over her. From her left, a crimson-cased bullet, speeding through the sky far faster than Suno could track, impacted the small of the beast's back, staggering it to its right.
Right to her. Suno scrambled backward, hands and feet scraping against the rock, and just managed to pull herself into the air as the beast crunched into the bluff, cracking it. The monster leaned on the two broken halves, shaking its head, as the crimson bullet halted in the air above it.
Suno stared as the figure awaited the beast's next move. Damn, Launch… damn!
0o0o0
Wrapped up in watching the battle unfolding before him- which inevitably forced him further and further back as more of the land was raked by strays blows and blasts- Piccolo repositioned himself atop of a faraway mesa, in a part of the desert where the storm had calmed some. In the distance, two massive black creatures, garbed in white armor and towering above everything else in the desert, roared and swiped at a golden light which dipped and danced between them.
Monsters… Two of the kind that helped to kill my father. Piccolo had dim snatches of that fight- like most events he saw through his father's eyes- and he remembered what power these beasts could possess.
The longer Piccolo spent out here, the more a distinct sense of something being wrong crystalized to him. It was beyond the existential dread he had towards the presence of such mind-numbingly powerful persons on Earth and the fear that he would be forced to flee. Today reminded him of those powers he felt through Guru's memories; powers both amplified and bound by time, staggering enough to never be recounted accurately outside of the age they existed in.
What did that say about what he was witnessing? He didn't know. But it felt wrong all the same.
Thinking on this only intensified Piccolo's efforts to pick apart more details from his father's death. As that event grew more distant, and Piccolo had more of his own life to examine… he found details of his father's life harder to grasp. With every year, the compulsions weakened, and what he willed himself- well, whatever that may be- replaced them.
Grimacing against a fresh wave of wind, Piccolo drew into his mind. There was a crucial detail he was missing, something that would make sense of the unease he felt. But...
A shockwave rushed past Piccolo's feet, shaking the rock formation he was on. Steadying, the Namekian turned his gaze outward, narrowing his vision on the desert to his right. The storm raged thicker there, harsher; he used his ki sense in place of his eyes to see into it.
Another airburst screeched, and this time, Piccolo was forced into the air as the rock beneath him slid backward. 'What?...' he narrowed his eyes again. The faintest glimpse- something red- lit deep in the storm, and revealed the outline of something black.
His heart dropped in his chest. 'Damn it!' Piccolo shouted, igniting his aura. Energy flooded the air as he burst into the sky, aiming for the zipping growing storm of red dots in the distance. I forgot about the third Saiyan!
0o0o0
With her peripheral vision, Launch tracked Suno back away through the air as the beast below, stung by her previous strike, lumbered to remove itself from the rock it had been smacked against.
Good. Launch's attention returned to her prey once she had moved far enough for her liking. Can't have anyone getting in my way...
The monster was exactly how it'd have been described to her many years ago. Black, rippling fur, swaying in-sync with the creature's howls, framed what was, in Launch's estimation, a giant monkey with a dog-like mouth and nose. If she didn't know better, she would have thought she had been dragged back in time to West City and given the chance to redeem herself in the only battle of her life she felt she had failed in.
Launch took a deep breath, careful to separate life-giving air from choking sand. Her crimson aura hummed an almost melodic tune around her.
She did know better. The stakes here today, the stakes beyond this one fight, were massive compared to those in West City so long ago. And as far as she was concerned, among everyone else, she was the best positioned to beat this thing into oblivion.
Below, the monster cleared the rock and lifted its animalistic head towards her. A sheath of red materialized over Launch's body.
Don't want to disappoint them, after all! She thought, huffing.
'Times 10!'
As the beast jumped into the air, barreling straight towards her, Launch disappeared with a flash of red. The monster passed through where she had been, confused, until Launch slammed heel-first into its head in from behind. The creature spasmed, roaring, and Launch flipped around in the air and landed a number of kicks into the same spot, punching it further away with every blow.
She felt some satisfaction from the kinesthetic feeling of her blows landing… but, on a sudden whim, she sped backward, rising far out of the monster's range.
It was well-timed. As soon as she was away, the monster zipped around with surprising speed and clapped its hands in the spot where Launch was. The sonic boom this made nudged her further back.
Launch frowned through her aura. Incredibly fast-moving for its size… and it hid how well it had recovered right until it counter-attacked. Not as mindless as I thought…
She drew farther back in the air and dispelled her crimson aura, hoping to catch her breath in a brief moment of respite. This thing would clearly require a pounding if it was going to go down for good; Launch had to pace herself to ensure that that happened.
So far, the monster had been content to take its time regaining its footing after her assaults. She hadn't expected, nor did she think it important, that its red eyes wouldn't leave her during this break like it had done before.
A breath filled her lungs- only to immediately be expelled as Launch lit her aura and braced her arms. The beast appeared in the air before her, arm drawn back, and thrust that limb forward with ferocious force.
The impact cracked against her guard, and flung her in a quick, but controlled, trajectory.
'Woah!' she shouted, dropped her aching arms. 'Where'd that come from?'
An ominous answer, comprised of a crunching growl, sounded from behind her. Eyes wild, Launch slammed the breaks on her momentum and sped down, spinning in the same motion. She glimpsed a black-furred limb swing through the air above her, individual strands of hair flattened by the speed, and pressed the base of her hands' palms together.
She fired a quick, red blast. It was nothing of note, and bounced harmlessly off the monster's skin, but it did accelerate Launch's downward momentum to the point where she avoided another wild mid-air stomp from the monster.
This is wild! Launch stared, bug-eyed, as the monster shrouded itself in a blue aura and zoomed after her- and moved faster than her. This thing is actually going to catch up!
Sheesh…
'Times 11!'
Launch's aura intensified, darkening its red hue, and she disappeared midway to the ground. The monster flew past its now-gone target, and without anything to slow down its momentum, crashed face-first into a wide, flat rock plateau, breaking it apart like a plate.
Panting and auraless, Launch reappeared farther away just off the ground. Can't be forced to use my higher levels for everything. Otherwise, this is going to be a very short fight.
As the monster righted itself and became aware of her new position, she discovered that her mouth was very dry. Starting to think that getting this thing's full attention in a fight is a… not good idea.
The monster roared, shaking the air, and charged Launch again, aiming to bodyslam her. Launch flashed her aura and ducked beneath it, then cut back and dive kicked the back of its right leg. It faltered on the ground, howling in a high-pitch, and sank further when Launch skirted around a flailing leg and impacted its lower back with a barrage of punches.
Just need to vary my blows a bit more… Her fists crashed, again and again, until she burst up and started hammering away across the beast's shoulders. Keep it off-guard for as long as… damn.
Launch saw the black-furred flesh move towards her too late- the beast's left shoulder bodied her, flinging her crimson-shrouded body through the air. She shrugged off the pain clutching the front of her body, burned her aura to right herself-
Damn! Halfway righted in relation to the ground, Launch spotted the monster charging after her in the same blue aura it had before. Won't be able to block that!...
'LAAAAAUNCH!'
Skidding into the air behind her, Yamcha swung right and slammed a red-tipped elbow into the beast's right side, knocking its blue trajectory far-enough off to miss Launch by feet. Again, without something to blunt its built-up momentum, the monster crashed into the side of a nearby mesa.
She watched as it collapsed like the others, and just like before, the beast rose away from the ruins, looking no worse from the impact. Its red eyes zeroed in on her.
What… what the hell is this thing made of?
'Launch!' Yamcha, winded, appeared at her side. 'The others are on their way- what's the plan?'
She stared at him. 'The plan? You think I have one?'
'You don't have one?' He stared back, mortified. 'You charged into battle-'
'You're in my way!' Launch shouted, shoving him to the side- just before a massive fist scythed through the air where he was. 'Stay to the side!' she screamed, igniting her aura as the fist receded. 'Its attention is on me!'
'Is that a good thing?' Yamcha shouted back, shrouding himself in the Kaioken.
'Might be!-' She dodged around an arm, roping underneath and back-up, and slammed into the monster's elbow, '-if you figure out how to exploit that!'
0o0o0
Yamcha watched as Launch ducked underneath another massive limb, dancing away from a haze of swipes, and swerved around and blasted into the sky. As Launch alluded to, the beast was pulled in her direction, howling and stomping its feet into the sands, in preparation to fly into the air after her.
He spared a glance to his left- and smirked. Here comes the cavalry!
A line of red auras- each one burning the sand out of the air as it went- swept from the horizon. Tien, who was at the center, titled on his shoulder to glance around. Rayne, Krillin, and Chi-Chi gave him quick, curt nods.
'Let's go!' he shouted, before tilting back around.
Still catching his breath, Yamcha witnessed the line of fighters crash into the beast's back, smashing it face-first to the ground, and swing around towards him. Higher up in the sky, Launch flashed a thumbs-up.
'This thing looks identical to the form Kakarot turned into in West City against King Piccolo,' Tien said, he and the others stopping at his side. He glanced contemptuously over his shoulder. 'All Saiyans must have access to it!'
Krillin had also glanced back; his face was torn. 'If that's true, then they all can be defeated in the same way.' He turned back to them. 'Cut off the tail, and they'll become normal-sized again.'
'It's odd, though…' Rayne murmured, looking skyward. 'There's no moon out.'
'Why's that odd?' Chi-Chi said, mouth pursed.
Rayne hesitated a moment. 'If I remember correctly… Kakarot- and, I guess Saiyans in general- can only transform when there's a lot of moonlight in the night sky. Full moon, and all that.'
'Something to consider later,' Krillin said, redirecting their attention. The monster was pulling itself off the ground. 'For now, I think we have a solid plan- go for the tail.'
'Ready?' Tien asked, as they put more distance between each other.
On the sand below, the beast gave a low, rolling growl, and turned halfway towards them.
Red eyes…
'Go!' Krillin yelled, springing the others into action. He and Yamcha dove left and down, skimming closer to the ground, while Tien and Rayne flew higher and to the right.
As they raced forward, crimson auras blazing, the beast initially looked confused as to how to react. Five fighters, counting Launch's burst into motion high above, were barreling towards it. Its red eyes, narrowed, swept the battlefield, switched from fighter to fighter, and froze.
A huge wave of blue energy, exploding out from the beast in a sphere, swept aside the storm and slammed into the humans, halting them in place. Krillin was forced to throw up his arms and tap more into his Kaioken to keep himself afloat in the air. That's some serious power! He gritted his teeth, and throwing his gaze to his left, searched for Yamcha.
His heart dropped as a black shape slid his field of vision. Faster than he could react, a massive fist slammed him into the sands, burying him.
'Krillin!' Yamcha cried, before frantically leaping back, avoiding an arm sweep. He lit his aura and dove through the air, charging a blast of blue ki in his left hand. Just need to get to that tail! The monster howled, spinning to keep with him, but screamed as a massive triangle of yellow light hit him from behind.
Panting, Tien lowered his trembling hands… and gasped with precious breath once the smoke had cleared. He had hit the monster's tail dead on, but he had nothing to show for his effort. The appendage continued freely swinging in the air.
That's… that's crazy! Did I miss?
In the blink of an eye, the beast appeared in the air in front of him, arm drawn back.
Or is this thing that much stronger than us?!
Before the beast could smack him, however, Rayne rocketed to his rescue, batting away the hand with her entire body and slamming a skidding leg into the beast's face. Her attack wasn't nearly strong enough to stun the beast, however, and before she had gotten a few feet, its head swung right and bashed back into her, flinging her through the air and into a nearby mesa.
In that time, Tien was able to back away and put enough distance between himself and it, buying himself precious seconds to catch his breath- and then was given even more when Bez, Yajirobe, Chiaotzu, and Suno, joining Yamcha, appeared. Together, they started zipping around the beast and peppering it with light, almost diversionary blows.
He frowned, channeling his suspicion into his face. Almost like they were…
'Distracting it,' Launch said, reaching his side with a flash of red. 'That's what I told them to do.'
'Huh?...' he looked at her. 'Did you just?...'
'Have you and the others thought of any plans? Because we need more of those right now.' She continued on, eyes trained on the battle. It was unclear to Tien if she had even heard him just now.
Strange… 'We need to sever its tail,' Tien informed her. 'So- do you have any powerful energy attacks?'
Launch half-frowned. 'Uhh… well…'
She had definitely heard him this time. 'Any?' he pressed. 'Any at all?'
'You know, I've been so focused on the Kaioken that I haven't really worked on them on them in a while…'
'Seriously!?' Tien shouted in disbelief. 'You've got nothing?'
'You were training with me!' Launch said defensively, glaring at him. 'If anything, it's your fault-'
Out of nowhere, a spinning yellow beam cut through the air- and their argument- and impacted the monster's back. The others engaged with it immediately drew back, aided by the massive shockwave that ripped through the air in the wake of the attack.
Piccolo, expressionless, stood tall on a nearby outcrop of rock on the desert floor, and lowered his outstretched, almost steaming hand. The beast turned to him- but not before exposing its bright and bloody wound, just above its tail, to him and the course desert air.
0o0o0
Both came at him, both charging across the landscape, both turning rock into rubble and changing the landscape with every step. Two fists, rushing towards him from opposite ends, hit him. A devastating shockwave, pulsing through air the storm had long been forced out of, hit the earth and shook it, sifting sand and pushing the ground away from the Saiyans' monstrous feet.
The golden warrior, aura drawn to a massive height, had caught both hits, one with each hand, and with every ounce of his power, kept himself alive in between their fists. He shuddered, throwing every ounce of energy he had into withstanding their assault. With a great groan, he threw back his head, and screamed to the skies.
Traveler felt on the verge of exploding as energy roared out of him, rolling off his skin and pushing against the two fists seeking to crush him. The wall of energy hit the limits of the small, life-giving space he had carved out for himself between their attacks, and pushed desperately against two things that did not budge- until they did just that.
The slightest slip from the fist to his right let Traveler spin in that direction, slamming the hand away with his feet as he did. Freed, he whirled back around, and rammed his entire body into the other fist, golden aura brushed it aside. Momentarily assured of his back's safety, he blasted forward, smacking aside another blow, and smashed into the center of the Saiyan's now-massive armor. He felt the body behind the white plate give way and topple backward as he curved up into the sky and spun around.
Farther away, the second transformed Saiyan- he thought it might be Nappa- cradled one hand and glared at him. The other Saiyan below him- which Traveler now knew definitively as Vegeta, considering how his climb back to his feet completely captured his companion's attention- growled as he rose away from the vertical cliff of rock that had cushioned his impact.
A particular detail stuck out to Traveler; despite his slowness to rise, Vegeta didn't look injured or winded at all. This contrasted nicely with his own condition. I could go on for however long this takes. The same seems to be true for them.
He hadn't planned on any of this- he hadn't even known that Saiyans possessed the form he was currently battling against. Considering what he was doing here, he was not surprised to have discovered difficulties blocking his path. Occupational hazard.
But that gave him no excuse for what he was doing now. His mind told him to think; to come up with an idea to end this fight before time and luck became decisive, uncontrollable factors. At some point, one side would lose. Jumping from blow to blow, with no concern paid to the future except to the immediate strike after the present one, did not win fights… and, yet...
His heart- his being, at some point over the last few minutes, had begun beating in time to his blows. Not when he blocked, or grabbed a handful of sand as he flung himself across the ground- it rang true and clear only when his fist crashed into solid flesh, or released a lancing, cutting blast that singed fur and scored skin. He knew the rage that accompanied the gold-tainted power of this transformation; he expected it, and thus was prepared for the blinding fury that had briefly threatened his clarity of mind upon ascending. He knew what he was here to do- and not to do- so well that it had begun to creep into his dreams. Defeat the Saiyans. His rage, consistently bubbling beneath his consciousness, would not prevent him from doing that.
What he felt now, though… this drumming in his chest… even if he had expected this…
Racing downwards, Traveler dodged a coiled blue blast of energy. He grinned as his fist cracked into the bottom of Vegeta's jaw, whipping the Saiyan's head back.
Nothing was at risk. He was in control. He felt their powers well enough- and he knew he was above them, even in their present forms. So...
Why deny this feeling?
0o0o0
'He… he damaged it,' Tien murmured, unbelieving.
Launch squinted 'Not really. More like a scratch than anything.'
'That's more than I've done- or you, actually.'
'What's with the attitude?' she questioned, glaring at him.
'Can you two stop bickering for one second?'
Tien and Launch both flinched slightly, and drew their attention back to the outcrop- to Piccolo. The Namekian was looking towards them.
'I have a plan,' he went on, speaking directly into their heads. 'A technique, specifically, that'll sever its tail.'
Tien glanced at Launch. 'Do you need help?' he asked.
'To stall for enough time?... Perhaps.' From Piccolo's right hand, snapping, snarling vines of yellow light sprung into the air, sparking and dying into the sands. He placed it against his chest. 'When I'm ready, I'll start moving forward- and that'll be your cue to move out of my way.'
'That's it?' Launch asked.
'That's it.'
With a body-wide clench, Launch's red aura roared back to life, pushing Tien away from her. 'Well,' she breathed, mouth curling into a smile, 'guess I've got some time to kill.'
She dove forward, bridging the gap in seconds, and slammed into the beast's right shoulder, teetering it and releasing a monstrous howl into the air.
Piccolo watched Tien, accompanied by a handful of other fighters, follow Launch's lead and unleash their attack. Kaiokens flickered into existence, and soon enough, the beast, howling with pain and backpedaling, was swarmed by a storm of red, buzzing kis, each one jabbing into their massive target, one blow at a time. It certainly gave him the impression that they were winning.
Growling, Piccolo summoned more of his ki and pumped it into his right hand. Sparks jumped into his vision. Impressions lied. He knew better than any living person alive besides Krillin that the Kaioken was extremely difficult to keep in constant use. For all the effort the humans were putting into their spectacle, eventually, they would be forced by their own exhaustion to call off their attack. When, and not if, that happened, Piccolo knew the beast, enraged, would use its full might to kill them. His father's memories, from what he managed to remember, were quite clear; damage would determine who won this fight, and if they didn't start dealing that out soon, they were going to be overwhelmed in a few minutes' time.
His first blast had been intended to give him an idea of how much power would be needed to harm this thing; the answer, as it turned out, was a lot. He had no confidence that, even if he used that hypothetical technique, he would be able to skewer the monster. It was simply too durable.
Which left the tail. He had caught a glimpse of his father in West City just a few minutes before; he watched the tail detach and the beast shrink back to normal size. If circumstances demanded that he make a bet- and they did- Piccolo would say that the weakest part of this thing, and the part that gave the rest of it its unreal strength, was the tail.
His left hand slid down his right arm, fingers tracing the pink grooves of his forearm, moving parallel to the streams of energy that fell through the air. The chosen hand burgeoned, barely gripping the collected energy. Aim for the tail… Piccolo watched the short human with a sword be kicked away, blade glinting as it across the sands, and Suno be whacked uncontrollably into the air, aura flickering and finally dying. They're dropping like flies...
Piccolo, breathing deeply, threw his right hand out in front of him, palm facing skywards. Energy rested in it, collected into an almost fine point, and drained like sand between his fingers.
He would have to give some rare credit for his father; this technique was something he would have never thought of on his own.
Energy churning, he lifted into the sky. Closer to the beast, Launch glanced to him, and hastily grabbed Tien by his shoulder and hauled him away. Bez, Chiaotzu, Chi-Chi, and Yamcha, sensing something was coming, did the same as Launch.
The monster was oblivious as Piccolo, thrumming with his gathered energy, appeared on the sands to its left. With wild sparks flying off of him and scoring the ground, the Namekian throttled and braced his left arm with his right.
A roar swept through the air, causing Piccolo's heart to skip a beat. But for not even an instant did his eyes move from the thick, furred tail swinging behind the beast. He pictured what his father had done, and pushed his right foot back, heel sinking into the sands. 'Hraaaahh!'
His yelling, ebbing with the impending release of his energy, caught the attention of his target. Too little, too late. As it began its slow turn, Piccolo moved his head above his right arm, aiming down it like a cannon, and clenched.
Many things could have happened in the second between Piccolo deciding to fire and actually firing. Many of those wouldn't have impacted the imminent event even slightly- his slaying. But of all the things that could have happened, a plume of sand rose into the air in front of Piccolo, obscuring the beast to him. He squinted, face tight, and shot his gaze forward as his eyes latched onto a shape.
Krillin, shining as red as a star, launched himself into the air, brandishing a hissing yellow disc above his head.
Piccolo's fangs bit into his tongue hard enough to fill his mouth with blood. 'NO!' he screamed, raging, as his attack leaped from his hand and slingshotted underneath the human. 'KRILLIN, YOU BASTARD!'
Just as oblivious to him as their enemy had been, Krillin leaned his full weight back and lurched forward. 'DESTRUCTO DISK!' he yelled, throwing his attack a split-second after Piccolo had launched his.
They had both aimed at the same target- that taunting, squirming tail. It just so happened that Krillin, launching himself from the sand, had slightly misjudged his throw. The disk swerved off-target to the left, and cut deep into the beast's upper thigh. A thick slice of flesh disappeared, and its place, a line of blood spurted out from the cut.
The beast cried, pure pain filling the air for the first time that day, and dropped onto the knee of its injured leg. Piccolo, helpless, watched his attack, so meticulously planned, lance harmlessly past the tail's base and shoot uselessly into the air. Having hit nothing, it dissipated.
Crippling exhaustion gripped him then, trickling into his limbs like grains falling in an hourglass. He couldn't place the emotion he felt. Disappointed anger? Frustrated despair? Contrite horror? The only thing the Namekian did know is, judging from a look shot to him a few seconds later, Krillin felt the same as him.
0o0o0
Hovering in the air above and behind Piccolo alongside Tien, Launch cursed and shook her head in the same motion as two well-prepared attacks spectacularly neutralized each other. She could think of about 100 hundred different ways that five-second event could have played out better than the crappy version they got.
The odds on that… She cursed and shook her head again. Gotta be… carry the two...
A weak grunt reached Launch from her left, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned. 'Tien?'
He was dropping through the air, a pained expression on his face. 'I need to rest,' he said bluntly. 'My body can't take much more of this…'
'Rest?' she repeated, offended at the word. 'You…' her eyes followed his trajectory the ground. 'You, and…'
Launch spied Yamcha and Chi-Chi below; they were both in a similar state to Tien- exhausted by prolonged use of the Kaioken, hunched over, and trying to recover.
'I see,' she said softly. 'Rest, then.'
With a simple nod, Tien acknowledged her sentiment and turned his full attention to descending. Launch watched him, followed by a haggard-looking Krillin, join the others behind Piccolo.
Even he doesn't look that good, Launch thought, seeing the bend to the Namekian's back.
She wasn't exactly fresh herself, but she was genuinely shocked by how weakened everyone else was… though…
Launch moved her attention across the sands and away from Piccolo. The monster, previously buoyed by seemingly unlimited stamina, now was on all fours, howling into the sandstorm as blood pumped from its right thigh.
They had clearly done some damage. So… She focused until she felt the spark of the Kaioken within her, waiting to be called upon. If they can't finish this, I will.
Sure; she didn't have that many great ki attacks up her sleeve. But wouldn't ripping off that monster's tail work just as well?
The more Launch thought about that method of attack, the more she grinned. I like that image. Holding a fifty-feet-long tail in both hands, like a fisherman with their big catch…
On the ground, the beast's cries died down, and dropped its head to its chest. It was so still that it looked like part of the landscape, even though blood still gushed from its wound.
I like that a lot. Launch's aura, rippling red, burst into the air around her. Just one yank…
She squared her attention on the tail. The fur on it pricked- almost like some unwanted sensation had seized its owner's body- and on the verge of charging forward, Launch saw her target tense. Curious, she held back for a moment.
Immediately, a full wave of blue ki, exploding off of the beast, buffeted her. She grimaced, steadied herself- and saw far too late between her guard a growing light down on the ground. The beast had tipped his head up again, charging a purple ball of ki in its mouth… directly at Piccolo and the others behind him.
It had happened far too quickly- out of nowhere, almost- and even as she kicked her aura higher and dove down to help her friends, the growing storm outpaced her. A horrible flash of light screamed at her, and Launch, even though she was cloaked in the Kaioken, was shoved away from the eruption.
0o0o0
Even as a massive, almost world-consuming purple blast fell upon him, shaking the earth and clearing away sand for its total arrival, clarity reigned in Piccolo's mind.
The reprisal was unexpected, but not apocalyptic. From what he could tell, the breadth of the oncoming attack was narrow, and he had held onto to just enough energy to make a quick enough sprint to escape that.
He would live, in other words, unlike… not like…
His head half-turned backward, and eyed the humans who had had the bad sense to gather near him as the beast fired its attack. Damn humans… Every single one of them was rooted in place, almost cowering, in the path of the purple beam bearing down on them. He knew the Kaioken; he saw how deep their breaths were. He would have enough energy to get out of harm's way. They wouldn't.
A true ally of theirs would have stayed and helped them, protected them. Piccolo hardly saw himself as that. He owed nothing to them, and similarly, they owed nothing to him. There were allies of convenience; it was only as true as the fact that they were fighting on the same side today. The humans were aware of this. There might come a time when a different threat is arranged against them, and then…
And then… what? Would I really turn against them? His face tightened a fraction as his gaze dropped to the sand beneath his feet. My father is dead. I can't think of anything or anyone else who could convince me to fight them, besides… well...
The only person Piccolo could think of that could put him and his allies today on a collision course would be himself.
...And I don't want that.
He didn't care for them. He had repeated that fact to himself a hundred times, in every meditation he had had since sharing with them his secrets in the pendulum room two years ago. He believed, wanted to believe it as best he could. Caring for no one's goals but his own… even when he stripped away his father's megalomania and purposeless cruelty, that description of himself felt indisputable.
But it was another thing to do the opposite and work against them, or even not do anything to prevent harm from coming to them. Regardless of what he felt towards them, they were still allies; if he stayed, he might have the power to prevent their deaths. But doing so wouldn't boil down to tactics or percentages- he felt that, without a doubt, even if did help those behind him survive this blast, their chances of winning would not increase. He'd only be saving lives.
Saving lives… Piccolo frowned, shutting his eyes. What would father think?
Do I care about what he thinks?
A flash of light hit the left side of Piccolo's head. Swiveling his head back forward, he realized that he had lost his chance to run; the blast was nearly on top of him. Damn them… damn them for being here and forcing me!... They've!... Purple death consumed everything in sight, incinerating sand and leveling rock. They've killed me!
It was then that four bodies- Chi-Chi, Tien, Krillin, and Yamcha- crashed into his back, each one pressing their hands into him. The force of them all nearly pushed him over.
His mouth moved silently as he righted himself, brain coming to grips with what was happening. He had seconds.
'STAY BEHIND ME NO MATTER WHAT!' he roared, raising his arms and desperately digging his feet into the sand to find something to solid. 'AND GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT LEFT!'
For a heartbeat, he heard nothing in response, and imagined that the bile he tasted in his mouth would be a nice accompaniment for his impending return trip to the afterlife. But, then, the gates opened, and as the purple wave crashed onto him, rending his flesh, a proportionate wave came from behind, knitting flesh back together just as fast as the attack unraveled him.
He truly hoped it would be enough.
0o0o0
Launch, maddeningly, was turned into a piece of flotsam at the exact moment she was needed most. Unapproachable energy rooted her from her spot in the sky, and carried her miles away from the battle before she was able to finally right herself and break the wave's grip on her. Blue energy dispersed into the air around her, mixing with dust-colored sand, and growling, Launch called upon her Kaioken and burst back forward.
Her momentum came to a stop once she had broken through enough of the storm to see what had happened. No amount of battles could have prepared her for what she stumbled back into.
A miles long, incomparably wide section of the desert was… just gone. Most of her friends had been gathered in what was now a geographic scar that stood as a monument to nothing. Something inside her grew cold, almost dead, as her eyes meticulously searched for something, anything, that was left in the wake of the blast. She saw nothing, but she was high up in the sky, and keeping panicked cries from her lungs for a few seconds longer, she reappeared closer to the ground.
She choked immediately on her strained smile.
They were in roughly the same place she had last seen them; it simply took longer to find that spot considering that they were now surrounded by hollowed out, scorched bedrock. Piccolo, the entire front of his body bloodied, ripped, and blackened, stood alone atop a rounded hill of sand and rock. The four others all half-slumped, half-laid against Piccolo's back, drifting in and out of consciousness. With a shudder, Piccolo shedded them off of his back to his left and right.
Launch landed next to them, scanning for any grievous wounds. She was fully prepared to sprint over to Bulma's ship for the scant few senzu beans they had brought.
Piccolo glanced at her through half-slitted eyes. 'I'm… fine,' he breathed, every letter of every word punctuated by the enormous effort he had just made to survive- for himself and those behind him.
'You look half-dead,' she observed, trying to steady her own emotions.
'Which means I'm half-alive,' he replied, brushing off her concern even as he swayed with the wind. 'I would worry… about the battle.'
Launch realized the sharpness of Piccolo's gaze, and followed it. Once turned, she realized; he had never taken his eyes off of what tried to kill him.
The beast, in the wake of such a vicious attack, looked tired- though perhaps that was because of the still-open wound on its leg. Its massive chest drew in and out, each breath a labor, while it slowly got back onto its feet.
'Who's up still?' she asked, scanning the area.
'Don't know…' Piccolo said quietly. Without any warning, he fell backward, landing on top of the pile of people behind him. 'Don't… care.'
She turned, throwing a strange look at him. 'I did my part,' he murmured, eyes struggling to stay open. 'Beyond that… I can't fight anymore.'
'Oh?' Launch flashed a grin, and turned away from him. Her aura, roaring, burst into the air around her. 'On that, we're agreed.'
Sand kicked into Piccolo's face as Launch burst forward, throwing herself straight back into the fray. Piccolo watched this, and with a final shuddering breath, slumped into unconsciousness.
0o0o0
The wind whipped at her clothes, clashed with her own aura. The beast, as if aware of what was about to happen, stumbled backward as she approached.
Launch smirked.
'Times 12.'
With a flash of red so far unseen to the planet, Launch burst through her previous air cone and rammed herself into the beast's gut, driving deep and shoving air out of its lungs. Stunned, the beast continued to fall backward as Launch buzzed around it, delivering deep, devastating blows to its arms, head, back, legs, and hips, every part of it painfully knocked back-and-forth around by a neverending barrage of blows. With a rib-breaking punch to its chest, Launch knocked the feet out from under the monster, and it began toppling backward.
Nuh-uh! Launch appeared behind the beast and rammed herself back-first into it, reversing its momentum enough that it snapped forwards. Not my preferred way! Rock wheezed and crumbled as the monster fell face-first onto the land, and threw out a shockwave that cracked the earth in every direction.
Launch let her aura be gently nudged by this, and with another flash, appeared on the beast's back next to its tail. Even before she gripped the massive, squirming appendage, the flesh beneath her began to shift. It's recovering quicker than I thought it would…
She wrapped her right arm around the tail, notching it underneath her shoulder, and angled herself and the tail slightly diagonal to the monster's back. Better make this quick, then!
'Times 13!'
Her aura roared into the air, matching only the monster's cries as she wrenched on the limb, aiming to pull the entire thing off. To her disappointment, after an initial give, it locked in place. Her muscles, already taxed, began to pulse painfully from the sustained exertion
'Damnit… times 14!' she yelled, yanking harder. Her hair jolted upwards with the higher level, aura shooting into the sky at a frantic pace. Frustrated, she puffed out her cheeks, adjusted her feet, and grabbed the tail closer to the back. Cries from beast came faster, bouncing back-and-forth between her skull, and combined with the coming crunch from using the Kaioken for so long, filled her head with screeching, painful noise.
One more level… this better work!
'TIMES… 15!'
With one last pulse, she wrenched her entire body against the beast, pulling the tail along with her. She got so desperately close- but her initial push lost steam and she felt the tail snap into place in the beast's body, pulling her back an inch. Her muscles were now screaming alongside the beast.
Shit! No dice! If I only had a bit more strength, or something to cut with!...
'LAAAAAUNCH!'
Without losing her grip, Launch spun around her head. Who?... Woah!
Across the desert, not more than a hundred or so feet away, a battered Rayne, her orange gi chock full of tears and holes, stood alongside a glint of metal. With a quick toss, Yajirobe's blade landed in her other hand, balanced its hilt in her palm for a brief second, and she gripped it with both her hands. Her body angled towards the pinned, raging monster, left-shoulder forward, and the blade's tip dipped down to the point where it was mere inches off the sand. Blue ki, sharp and clear, started condensing on the blade's edge.
'I'm sorry to ask you this!' Rayne said, her voice harsh enough to pierce the scream-filled air, 'but I need you to keep that thing on the ground for a little longer!'
Launch grimaced, feeling a muscle in her legs give out. 'That's going to be tough on my own!' she said, alarm creeping into her voice as the beast continued trying to shake her off. 'I'm sort of at my limit!'
'They know!'
Launch froze, and tipped her head skywards on a hunch. 'They?'
Jumping over the edge of a nearby bluff, Chiaotzu, Suno, and Bez appeared and dropped onto the beast's back. They each jumped down to the ground and grabbed one wild appendage, grappling with it and keeping it close to the ground.
Launch's mouth remained open in quiet awe as Rayne's voice cut through her thoughts again.
'FIVE SECONDS!' Rayne yelled, pushing more ki into her blade. 'FOUR!'
Despite the growing circuit of agony that jumped through her, Launch kept up her Kaioken and her grip on the tail. It seemed that the more she pulled, the less the beast was able to move around below her. Well… if it kills me!...
'Three!'
Her hands started spasming, relinquishing her grip; with a quick move, Launch shifted down and wrapped the tail around her torso and between her left arm, and keeping it in place with her enlarged biceps. 'Don't you dare move!...' she threatened herself. 'Don't you!...'
'Two! One!'
She gasped, feeling her right leg give up, going stiff as a plank- and Launch threw herself into the air, sliding and tugging along the tail's grip, as Rayne took her place below her. With a heavy, horizontal slice from her waist, her blue-rimmed blade sliced through the tail, causing a seismic scream to erupt from the beast. Launch's momentum upward initially intensified, then stopped as her Kaioken winked out around her. Suspended in the air, she witnessed the beast begin to shrink back down to normal size before she started dropping back to the ground.
In only a handful of seconds, Rayne stood above a face-down bloodied, mangled, and now tailless Saiyan.
She stabbed the sword into the sand beside her and spat. 'Good riddance.'
0o0o0
Suno stayed on the ground for a minute after the beast had been defeated, catching her breath and watching the others pick themselves up and limp over to their defeated enemy. Chiaotzu and Bez both spoke quickly with Rayne and separated; Chiaotzu jogged over to Launch, who appeared to have fallen unconscious on her descent back to earth, while Bez strode over to Piccolo and the others around him.
Eventually, she, too, picked herself up and strode over to Rayne.
'You alright?'
Silently, Rayne glanced at her, then back to the Saiyan. 'There's something… familiar about this one,' she said, contemplative.
Suno didn't pay her comment any attention; instead, all she could see was how she kept her weight off her right leg- and the broken swelling around her ankle.
'Rayne…' she murmured. 'Your leg…'
'It's fine for now, if I don't move.' she said, grimacing halfway through as she moved more weight off that limb. 'Bulma has senzus. Right now-' her gaze shot past Suno. 'Right now, our only task is to make sure everyone is still alive and end that fight.'
Suno turned along with her. Even now, despite how far away their battle with this Saiyan had taken them, dark clouds and wicked energy swirled on the horizon, portending an evil end for them all.
She voiced what she felt. 'We can't intervene in that fight,' she said, despondent. 'We're ants to them as we are now.'
Closer by, Bez finished checking on the others and limped into the sky.
'You have more energy left than anyone,' Rayne informed her. 'Even if we can't fight in that… we have to end it somehow. Feel how the ground is moving… I think that's their blows, shaking the earth.'
'What!?' Suno said, eyes widening at the ground. There had been shaking… but to come from a fight that far away?... 'That's...'
Grimly, Rayne nodded. ' I know,' she said. 'Every second that fight goes on, the Earth is in danger.' She turned to her fully. 'As far as I can tell, you're the least injured out of all of us. You need to get over and stop them.'
Suno's mouth hung on a hopeless word. 'How?'
Rayne's gaze skipped across the sands, seemingly searching for something to give her. '...Try and convince the fourth- the one who isn't a Saiyan- to end the fight.'
'He can do that?' she asked, uncertain.
Frowning, Rayne decided to move her expression away from Suno and back to the Saiyan at her feet. 'He's the only one strong enough to do that, now.' The lines in her face deepened. 'Suno- this could be dangerous. Really dangerous. I don't want to send you against your will to-'
'Rayne- it's fine,' Suno said, pulling Rayne's gaze. She was already in the air. 'Just… part of the lifestyle, I guess.'
Unable to look at her, Rayne's gaze dropped to her feet. She rested a hand on the suspended sword hilt next to her. 'Okay.'
'I'll be back soon,' Suno said softly, turning in the air towards the far-off storm. 'I promise.'
0o0o0
She came as close to the unholy clash as she dared and landed on a shaking mesa. Now that she experienced it up-close… the amount of power here on display was insane. To think that any one person, let alone three…
Focus. Suno shook her head. She channeled ki into her throat. Focus...
'Stop this fight!' Suno yelled at the top of her lungs, face going red from the effort. 'PLEASE! STOP!'
The golden fighter, buzzing around limbs faster than Suno could see, suddenly burst away, dogged by sputtering blue light. He was unfazed, however, shaking off the singe to his skin and gi, and cocked back in the air, ready to charge back...
'You're going to destroy the Earth!' she pleaded, face agonizing. Did this stranger even care about the Earth? Did he care about anything? Could he even hear her? Something has to work! 'PLEASE! END THIS!'
For the briefest imaginable second- Suno wondered if she had imagined it- she saw the golden warrior, zipping right to avoid a blast, glance in her direction. She saw her chance- however real it was.
'THEIR TAILS! CUT OFF THEIR TAILS! END THIS!'
0o0o0
'...thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum. thrum…'
Traveler's heart pounded against his ribs, stoked a growing fire in his gut. With every move, every dodge, punch, and kick, the beat grew a little stronger, a little faster, and pushed him harder and harder on. This was the battle of his life; neither side needed to run, and neither side would. They were even- so blissfully even. His heart...
'...thrum, thr-stop- rum-e- thrum, th- plea- thrum, thrum...'
His blood was also humming a wonderfully sweet tone; it marched along his veins, directed his limbs in a long, flowing dance. His aura flashing, Traveler ducked underneath a forearm swipe and hammered a few quick kicks into Vegeta's right elbow, jamming the joint and dropping it to his side. A presence at the back of his head caused him to turn, and bracing, he caught Nappa's fist between his arms.
He grinned, started twisting- until a sudden release of energy floored him, blasting him away from the limb. He gritted his teeth, tuned to the beat in his chest, and flashed his aura, breaking the ki into a thousand shards around him. Pain bloomed, swept over him, and was swiftly dismissed by the march of his heart. Snarling, pulling back his body, and gathering his ki at the same time, he held himself back.
'... thrum, thrum-thr- ease! End this!'
The appearance of someone else's voice- the first comprehensible thing he heard in however long this battle had been going on that wasn't a growl or a scream- pierced through the haze. Suddenly confused, he tipped his head, scanning past a towering red mist that had encompassed the battle in his vision… and… No...
He saw her; saw without a doubt who she was… even though she was younger and her red hair was brighter than how he remembered it. No lines in her face or weight on her back- and she was standing in the midst of a battle that would kill her with a gust, just to shout at him.
He started listening.
'THEIR TAILS! CUT OFF THEIR TAILS! END THIS!'
In what felt like slow motion, he started panting, newly afraid of his own heartbeat, and turned back to the monsters- yes… that's what I've been fighting. Black-as-night-fur, massive snouts and beefy, thick limbs, energy rippling from every part of them… monsters…
And he distinctly saw for the first time the furred tails that hung close to the ground behind them. Monsters… made of people.
His heart thrummed harder, ringing in his head. Grimacing, he clutched his chest, twisting the fabric between his fingers. No… can't… let that happen again! I can't fall back in!...
He spotted a hand, larger than him by far, rushing towards him- and with another grimace, he popped into the air behind the two Saiyans. They tensed, started shaking the ground searching for him.
She mentioned their tails. Using his free hand, Traveler lifted a limb into the air and coalesced gold, shimmering ki into his palm. His fingers began to grip around a solid mass of energy. And without their scouters...
He throttled the construct, a cylinder small enough to grip like a handle, and with a flourish, he threw back his hand, unleashing a long, flowing cable of yellow ki as he did.
...They're blind!
'Hyaaaaa!...' He started shouting, arcing his entire body back as the yellow line of ki snapped back-and-forth in the air behind. The Saiyans started turning to him- but too little, too late. With a lurch forward, he windmilled his free hand forward. The cable flew over his shoulder and raced downward.
'GOLDEN LASH!'
Shimmering in the sandy air, the whip extended as it flew downward, eventually reaching fifty feet in length, and fell upon the tails with a singing snapping sound. Its end began coiling around the furthest beast's tail- and couldn't complete a single wrap around before it cut through the appendage, severing it feet away from the body. That Saiyan began howling as the whip finished its cut through the second tail, slicing it in the same fashion as it had done to the first.
By the time the whip hit the sand, dying into the grains, the two monsters were shrinking. He let his heart calm down, a long, drawn-out process, and finally descended to the ground once he managed to release his golden aura.
Both Saiyans, beaten heavily in their previous forms, now writhed on the ground. Traveler approached Vegeta, his armor broken beyond repair and hands feebly raking through the sand, and stood over him.
To the Prince, he must have seemed blunt, burnt, and auraless, but he imagined that, at this point, his jet-black hair was no less intimidating than it had been before.
'Got anything to say?'
Vegeta, eyes nearly sealed shut by crusted blood and bruising, opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking.
'We surrender.'
A/N: That's in the books. What a ride! Very much enjoyed writing these this and last chapter. Next chapter, we're going to get some… interesting… information. Stay tuned.
I am also going to give a new power scaling system in next chapter, so look forward to that, I guess?
Reviews:
Perfect Carnage: Super glad you thought that way- I hoped to catch readers off-guard with this sudden super Saiyan appearance. :).
As for Bringer of Death spoilers- who knows! There may be a few people who read my fic who have never read that gem of a story… though that certainly isn't likely.
Luke: Stay tuned! Gero is coming around!
Transformers g1's-Prime: Interesting theory! I'll guess you'll have to wait and see xD
I'm happy I provoked that reaction! Even evil people eventually see their dreams and goals, as nefarious as they are, be betrayed by their body and time.
yasho360: Damn! Broly!? I'm really giving people some ideas as to who Traveler is...
TienFan99: If I'm reading your review right (which I very much appreciate you writing, as always), I'll say this; this is and always will be a humans-first fic. There are no prodigious amounts of Super Saiyans planned in the future, but for reasons I can't spoil now (and which will become apparent, I hope, next chapter) the confrontation between Traveler and the Saiyans had to go down as it did in the story.
Tangentially, from a narrative standpoint, I felt that having the humans be universally overwhelmed by the power on display would make clear the different level of power Traveler (and, subsequently, the transformed Saiyans) brought to Earth. Thus, I think them being (initially) seized by inaction drives home that divide.
Of course, even if the humans are initially outmatched and relegated to the side, that doesn't sit naturally with them- eventually, they jumped into the fight and got in their badassery, and brought both fights to an end. Pure power isn't the end-all method to win.
One last thing; if you feel the story is building to a conclusive fight between two sides, 99 times out of 100, you'll be right. Really wish I could say more, but as always, I must keep myself tight-lipped for the sake of spoilers. Once next chapter is out, I'll have more to say on that point.
Cityracer: Glad you liked Vegeta's characterization! I always really enjoy writing his scenes- he has such a specific and particular mindset among the other characters that it always feels refreshing to dip into his perspective. Glad that showed through in the text.
Interesting theory on Traveler + Saiyans! Safe to say these questions will probably be answered soon.
I should have probably made it a bit clearer (though I think I did that this chapter) but, yes, Traveler has gone Super Saiyan before. Note that he doesn't, at any point, call it that, though.
I'm curious; by stating that Gero's goal of attaining biological perfection is a conventional plot point, are you referring to that convention in general, or specifically within dbz fanfiction? I don't think I've seen Gero, in general, be expanded upon much as a character except in a few select (and very good) fics.
I agree with that- emphasizing the sense and tone of that adventure and dynamism in the plot- and only add that, IMO, beam struggles and maximum destruction are good dramatic devices to cap long-running conflicts and rivalries. Conclude the adventure, as it were.
As always, thank you all for your reviews! Next chapter will wrap up Visions; see you then!
