TORA
Chapter 101: Throwdown
The wind had passed, like the world was holding its breath. They were coming, coming, close. Gero could sense their energies, muted as they were, flitting over the craggy land. He could paint a number: at least 2, likely 5, but certainly not many more than that.
The plan was proceeding as planned. Raditz was functioning as planned.
If Gero had more time he could (maybe would) wonder about all the forces at work presently. It was clear Raditz had some importance — first to the unknown fighter who appeared at his labs on the eve of battle with threats, then to the frighteningly strong… golden one that scoured Gero's lab and pursued Raditz in combat. Gero was near certain the latter was the one who appeared about a year ago and fought the Saiyans who landed on Earth.
There was little that transpired on this planet the past decade that Gero did not know about. He was even aware of when the majority of his enemies left Earth for a time, although his knowledge of what they did during that time, out of view of his various implements and sensors, is lacking.
This is all to say that at any given conflict, he ought to have more information and knowledge at his disposal than his enemies… and yet this hasn't been the case. Since his near-fatal heart attack Gero has been reeling, rushing, and reacting to the enemy's forays rather than the other way around. He was forced to adopt an imperfect, limiting metal body as his biological one failed, weaponize Raditz when he should have been studying the Saiyan, and take such drastic measures as destroying West City and Capsule Corp. when his trump card was at risk of discovery.
All these measures only for intervenors he had no knowledge of to appear at what should be a cloistered and secluded lab not known to anyone but himself. Perhaps that bugged him the most. Even his colleague Dr. Wheelo never knew the exact location of his lab.
A spread of crows zoomed ahead, cawing and flapping out and back into the forest surrounding the bunker. Gero adjusted his legs but remained sitting in his chair. Gero hadn't spared a thought for that poor, deluded man since what he inferred was his unfortunate demise a few days ago. At least, that's what any reasonable person would infer if all contact was lost and an explosion at Wheelo's lab halfway across the planet registered on Gero's sensors.
In another life, Gero might have found the time to utilize the scientific methods Wheelo had imparted to him — transferring the consciousness and presence of one being into a powerful body, conducted on a genetic level without the need for some clumsy external control device or harness to maintain control over the body. A perfect union of mind and matter, made possible by his genius… and the proper DNA.
Gero felt a pang of regret. Raditz would have made a perfect host. The cells cultivated from his tail, grown in a culture, could have even…
Hm. A name eluded Gero.
'19, do you remember our project in the lab? The hidden basement?'
19 turned much like a stone wall. 'I do, Dr. Gero.'
'Do you remember the project's name?'
'It was the T-O-R-A Project, or "Tora", Dr. Gero.'
Curiosity tore at Gero's face. Another question demanded another answer. 'Do you remember the project completion projections, 19?'
'I believe Tora was set to conclude roughly 15 to 20 years in the future.'
'At which point?' Gero didn't know why he was asking these questions. He knew the answers. He simply wanted… confirmation.
'At project completion, Tora would emerge from the incubator roughly the size of an adult human,' 19 went on. 'Slightly denser muscle mass compared to a human, as is typical of an average Saiyan.'
'And did the projection hypothesize what Tora would look like?' Gero asked. His voice sounded thin to his own ears.
'The project would possess black hair and fair to toned skin color, again as typical of an average genomic Saiyan. Tail presence unknown.'
'I see.' Gero found that he was gripping the arms of his chair. Overhead the crows were circling again, cawing and flapping faster. Why was he pursuing this? 'The eyes,' he blurted out. His gaze shot to 19. 'Did the projections say anything about the appearance of the eyes? The pupils?'
'The pupils would likely not have been black,' 19 answered. 'The genes controlling eye color are sensitive to variable sources of genetic information. All the non-Saiyan DNA the Tora project possessed would have produced a distinct phenotype in the growth. As to what that phenotype would be, the projections cannot predict.'
'...'
Birds dove into the forest again, quieting. The wind was coming towards them quicker. The harbinger of the coming climax.
'What is your interest in the Tora project, Dr. Gero?' 19 asked, in an unusual broach of curiosity. 'I can help you access additional information, as the project no longer exists for direct reference.'
Gero intensified his grip on the chair and pushed himself up. 'It doesn't matter.' Gero's narrow gaze swept to the sky. 'Not here, not now. They come.'
0o0o0
The collective brilliance of his aura subsumed their senses and forced them to kneel. Unapproachable, intangible, impossible power. As his knees dug into the dirt Bardock realized that, despite his age, his time spent dead, and his time back alive, he hadn't seen all the galaxy offered. He'd felt Frieza's power first hand — his true power, just for an instant, not that of the comparatively pitiful form Frieza liked to keep up appearances with — on the day Planet Vegeta was destroyed, was consumed by it alongside nearly his entire race, and opened his eyes in Hell secure in the knowledge that would likely be the strongest power he would ever face.
That belief was shattered alongside any will he had to fight, or run, or do anything except cower in the face of the golden warrior standing before him. This — this eclipsed Frieza, he was sure. This was the stuff of legends. What his father told him in hushed tones in a rot-infested shack in the thickest and most dangerous forest on Planet Vegeta. The Legendary Super Saiyan, so unimaginably powerful that its life was exhausted by the transformation and it exited existence like a dying star, destroying the original homeworld of the Saiyans. Even that legend couldn't compare to this.
This being... he couldn't be a Saiyan… it couldn't be.
Bardock dug one hand into the ground, stabilizing himself, and forced himself to lift his head into the maelstrom. 'Are… you?...'
Another burst of energy pushed Bardock back. His hand came loose; he started to tip over, until Kakarot caught him in his arms. Together, they both forced their way off the ground, leaning into the pulsing waves of energy.
'You aren't in a position to be asking questions,' Traveler said, radiating yellow at the center of the storm's nucleus, several feet above a struggling, coughing Raditz, half-submerged in a crater — pinning Raditz in place with each successive wave of energy. 'I made myself clear. Leave now, or die.'
'Dad,' Kakarot whispered into Bardock's ear. 'He hasn't killed us yet, when he easily could have. I don't think he wants to kill us.'
'How does that help us or Raditz?' Bardock bit back quietly.
Kakarot made a motion — he shifted to the front. 'What do you want with Raditz?!' Kakarot shouted into the wind to be heard.
Traveler continued to scowl. His pause in responding indicated he was thinking. Considering — whether it made sense to do this diplomatically, after all. 'I want Raditz to surrender, and come with me,' Traveler said.
'Come with you — where? Into space?' Kakarot asked.
No response. The nasty expression on Traveler's face told Kakarot he shouldn't press on that. Out of the corner of his vision… Raditz was coughing less.
'Do you know us?' Bardock asked suddenly.
That time they saw a definite flinch. Traveler seemed unprepared, or at the very least surprised by that question. 'Does it matter?' He grated.
'You haven't killed us,' Bardock countered. 'Which means we're curious why you haven't.'
'...you shouldn't be here,' Traveler spat. Energy frothed and churned in the air beside him. 'I told Vegeta to stay away from Earth!'
'Vegeta?' Bardock growled. 'He doesn't control us—'
A surge of energy nearly threw them into the air. 'SHUT UP!' Steam was pooling in the air around Traveler, caught and trapped in place by his unraveling ki. 'YOU'RE SAIYANS! YOU ENABLED EVERYTHING! YOU CAUSED EVERYTHING!' A hand shot out, aiming down at the crater below. Yellow energy rushed between Traveler's fingers. 'MY ENTIRE LIFE, MY WORLD — SAIYANS LIKE YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!'
'We—,' Kakarot struggled to speak against the air pressure, 'We don't know what—'
'TIME'S UP!' A huge energy ball appeared below Traveler, bursting with static and energy. 'YOU'RE IN THE BLAST ZONE!'
Force pressed out — and then in as the golden energy ball kicked up, forcing Traveler into the sky. Below — Raditz pulled back his leg, cloaked in pink ki.
'...' Pink ki swarmed Raditz, forming a shell and hardening into an almost solid material. Sudden energy flooded his mixed eyes. 'CHAOS ROCKET!' He roared.
The earth split as Raditz and his barrier shot into the air, traveling and cutting as a person-sized bullet, and pierced the ascending energy ball slowing from Traveler's stabilizing counterforce.
Time seemed to stop. 'DOWN!' Bardock roared, slamming Kakarot to the ground. A split-second later, a great and mighty light filled their vision, and the entire world shuddered.
0o0o0
The wind slowed as they slowed in turn. Still far above the ground, they viewed the end of the forest from a vantage point. Craggy rock came to a point, where a small concrete structure sat plainly in the land. No one had bothered to hide it from the air. This place was never meant to be invisible.
Launch dragged her scowl closer to the forest. And there they were. 'They're waiting for us,' she said, pointing. 'Watching us.'
'Doesn't seem like they're preparing to run, either,' Rayne pointed out. 'Maybe Bulma was onto something.'
They all felt the battle from across the planet; they all knew they had to be quick. 'Stick close to me as we descend, and be wary of any traps,' Krillin advised them, gliding forward.
Launch coughed. Wind whipped up in motion again. 'Krillin.'
He turned; a ray of light cut through his vision. 'Launch?'
Red ki bloomed into Launch's aura — yellow light poured into the palm of her outstretched arm as raw force. 'Simpler this way, isn't it?'
Before Krillin or Rayne could react, the ball sprung from Launch's grasp, shuddering towards the distant bunker below and exploding into a dome of light. They let the pure energy unleashed by the attack push them through the air, energy blowing past their guarding limbs, as the world raged and cooled after a time. When the air cleared, the bunker and the land in a wide crater around it were gone.
'No more tricks,' Launch said, letting her Kaioken recede. 'And no more fighting on their terms. Not after they killed Chiaotzu.'
Parts of the forest remained; anything near the bunker was more air than matter now, reduced to a hollow set into the land's shape.
It wasn't how she would have started, but Rayne bit her tongue as two shapes floated upward through the dust and smoke. Thin eyes, glowing preternaturally, seemed to pierce the smoke before their owners followed. Loose clothing, unusually striped, broad chests, something resembling skin stretched over concealed metal frames like curing fur stretched over a rack. It all fit them, but not entirely, and not like it would fit humans.
As if there was any doubt as to who they were, the Red Ribbon Army logo was conspicuously placed on the thin one's hat and the thick one's chest.
'Three,' Dr. Gero stated, eyes sweeping over them, unlike his larger, boxier, black-haired companion who said and did nothing. 'Less than I expected, but doubtless a few more will follow.'
'You're outnumbered,' Launch growled, 'and that's before our backup arrives, too.'
'You think that important? Truly?' Thin eyes traced the horizon, shifting under wiry gray eyebrows. 'By all accounts it seems my plan has succeeded.'
Krillin raised his arms, ready to fight. 'Isn't it bad form to disclose that you had a plan?'
For the first time Gero looked at them — the eyes were not just thin, but small. Dot-like, despite visually representing something organic, as if there was no being left inside. Nothing good. Nothing human, at least.
'We have all arrived at the final junction,' Gero said. 'The bunker you destroyed contained nothing within it. I am out of time and out of tools. All there is left to do is wait for pieces on the board to capture each other.'
The comment hit something in the back of Rayne's head — which, not coincidentally, was also where she was keeping tabs on the distant but frightening display of power towards the other side of the world. They had sensed Traveler's monstrous energy shortly before arriving. The most likely explanation was that he had found and engaged…
'Raditz,' Rayne said, speaking her thought. 'You're talking about Raditz, aren't you?'
Gero's face didn't budge. 'He will be a worthwhile distraction, for what that is worth, far less than what he could have enabled...'
'Could have?' Krillin asked.
'But we are out of time.' Gero pinched his thumb and finger together, rubbing them together. '19.'
The large android at Gero's side, motionless and soundless up until this point, suddenly vanished. By instinct Krillin, Rayne, and Launch called upon the Kaioken. Three red beacons billowed furiously in the air, just as Gero unexpectedly pulled back and away from them.
Zzzt! A scattering of thin pink beams, shot from Gero's eyes, shot through the sky, breaking them apart from each other. Krillin swerved right, aiming to circle and flank Gero in the air. As he dashed right again to avoid a chasing beam, a massive knee crashed into his jaw, whipping him up. Without a cry
19 hulked over Krillin, balled its fists together, and swung down, cracking the air with the sheer force of the hit and punting him into the forest below.
'Hyaaaaaaagh!' From above Rayne dove with her sprawling red aura, plunging her braced elbow into the gap between 20's neck and right shoulder. It went deep but there was less resistance — a lack of natural muscle or bone — than expected and she was delayed a split-second from pulling back. 20's massive left arm began to come around as the body spun —
From below, Launch delivered two strong successive kicks to 20's back, metal ringing through the air, and finished with a one-handed ki blast that sent both 20 and Rayne further up into the air. Rayne took the moment's reprieve and intensified her Kaioken, pushing out her muscles and veins further, and maneuvered to lock limb-to-limb with 20, forearm to forearm, and pushed. As her entire body and face contorted from the effort, aura blasting out in every possible direction, 20's face never changed and never showed any evidence of effort.
Below Launch quickly scanned the sky around them. 'Where's Gero?' She shouted.
'Not a priority!' Rayne barked, locking her other arm with 19 before dashing away and around to jab a red-swathed hand into the Android's back. 20 turned fast enough to block but not counter-attack, and was blasted again in the back by a snarling Launch.
0o0o0
Dust continued to filter down and cloud the air above. Krillin blearily opened and blinked out dirt from his eyes. He saw the distant strokes of auras above, and realized by touch that he was in a sizable crater.
Ouch. Ouch. He gingerly got up, going back and forth between which leg he favored, and winced as he straightened his back. It was a good thing he had been using the Kaioken — he wasn't sure he could have survived that blow without it.
He gazed towards the sky, eyes slowly regaining pace with the fight. Launch and Rayne, fighting together, which allowed them to harass and get a measure of 19. Gero, he couldn't see —
A branch snapped. Krillin immediately flexed, half-crouched, and after a moment's hesitation pressed his hand to the ground. The dirt under his fingers slowly warmed and hummed.
He waited. Every one of his senses was tuned to the forest. A squirrel darted towards a tree to his left.
He'd been warned the Androids didn't have any perceivable ki. Addressing that in a fight was another matter. Krillin slowly stood and studied the forest to his left. The squirrel hadn't darted for any reason he could see. To be safe Krillin twisted his right hand.
As he turned to scan his right a hand shot out of the brush and latched around his neck, ramming his back against an old, half-upturned tree. For a few seconds his limbs flailed and his arms banged on the arm, but all he managed to do was force Gero to raise his grip and dangle Krillin off the ground.
'I see you weren't properly warned,' Gero said in an almost uninterested voice, as Krillin felt a strange sensation coat his neck. He felt the rest of his being shrink from that spot, then rush to fill this void... and felt it disappear, too. 'There is more chaos among your ranks than I anticipated.'
Krillin tried to cough but couldn't. That sensation — he was losing energy somehow, through his neck.
His eyes darted to Gero's free hand, held a few inches from Krillin's torso as if to threaten him. A red ampule rested on the flat palm. This!... He's draining my energy!
The grip around his neck tightened, further restricting his breathing as energy began to pour out of his body and a wet and cold feeling replaced it. His left hand continued to push against Gero's upper arm — his right curled beside him, fingers twisting and pulling on air like it was a web.
Gero's eyes narrowed. 'What are you...' A high-pitched whine rolled over the forest's ambiance. A split- second before contact, Gero released Krillin and dashed back. A razor-thin disc of yellow ki shot parallel between them, curving and cutting through three tree trunks at different angles in rapid succession.
Gero glared at the attack as it curved and spun back towards them, and flicked away a cut strand of fabric from the cuff of his shirt.
'The Destructo Disc,' Gero said dryly. 'I've studied this technique extensively. ' Gero ably dodged the edge as it spun around him, carving a line through the ground. Zipping filled the air before it receded with the attack. 'I commend your attack's newfound longevity, but with your energy diminished... hm?'
Krillin's aura slowly gathered strength, pulsing and growing until flipping red. 'The good thing about the
Kaioken, or at least what I've discovered...' Krillin breathed in, each exhale growing his brilliant, blazing red aura. 'As long as my body isn't dead, there's always more energy to call on.'
Dizziness flooded Krillin's consciousness — controlling this amount of ki after such a rapid diminishment of his natural energy was a little overwhelming. Best not to mention that.
'It matters not,' Gero growled. He pulled back and sharpened his right hand, preparing to pounce. 'No matter what kind, you'll run out of energy eventually!'
Both disappeared from their spots, reappearing deeper into the forest. Blows flowed between them, most either glancing or just missing, sliding elbows and knees doing the most damage, as Krillin sought to avoid any too-close encounters with Gero. He landed against a boulder and jumped off it, rocketing head-first through a leafy tree branch.
Even without any visual warning, Gero shifted to the side before Krillin emerged and grabbed his leg. He almost began — and then dashed away through the leaves as a whine and disc cut through the area out of nowhere, summoned by a dexterous twist of Krillin's right hand.
Krillin hesitated in the air. His Destructo Disc cut away the tree branch... revealing more empty forest. A second later he landed, sending his attack in a loop around him. The forest had fallen quite once again, save for the whine of his disc and Krillin's red aura throoming and churning.
To his right, a squirrel darted in and out of a bush. Alright... Krillin spun around, squinting. Where are you now, Gero?
0o0o0
Unfeeling force fueled Raditz's blows. Rage filled his heart. Blind, furious, bloody, ravenous anger, lashing out at whatever was near. Whatever he could grasp.
His vision cleared as Traveler, swaddled in golden wreaths of energy, slowed and appeared to manifest in Radtiz's grip. Their heads crunched together, sounding out like cannon fire, once, twice. On the third wrench forward, a fist drove into his jaw, knocking Raditz back.
'You can still fight!' Traveler roared, blood trickling down his face and out from his split lips. A wet welt sat at the center of his forehead. 'That's more like it!'
His outline vanished from sight, and a second later Traveler dove a kick into Raditz's back, pushing them across the sky. 'Give it your all! Everything you have!' Traveler taunted, swarming with gold ki again. His hands smashed together at the base of their palms, cupping. 'There's no way you're getting away again!'
Raditz wracked his body as he slowed. Dull aches lined his flesh where it touched cool metal — a memory popped into his head. In that forest, with the two others. That old, wizened man whose teeth hung from his mouth like glaives and his tongue forked whenever it wriggled to speak. 'Bow to me,' the old man said. 'You are nothing but my creation. Serve me—'
Gero. The name unbidden burst into Raditz's mind. He— I am—
A doubled fist swung down, cracking against Raditz's skull. Taking the initiative, Traveler zipped after as Raditz careened, peppering punches and blows to every inch of his body. As they curved towards the ground Traveler blinked out of sight and reappeared in a golden storm below, both arms bent to the side, bursting with muscle and energy, charging a sparking ball of yellow ki between his hands.
A surge of energy rippled out from Traveler's aura, and his image dissipated again as he led up with two strong, leaping kicks, slamming Raditz back towards the sky. Both hands slammed again against Traveler's side, his ki now ready to explode.
'THIS IS THE END!' Traveler roared, his body and golden aura lurching as he yanked his arms out and forward. 'GOLDEN RAY!' His hands shot into the air, releasing a wide and overwhelming blast. Still spinning, auraless, Raditz's eyes widened a fraction before the blast barreled into him and triggered an explosion strong enough to flatten trees fifty miles away.
0o0o0
'...'
After a long time of formless chaos, Bardock felt the world with his hands, noting the exposed rock around him. He was squatting, but more importantly—
'Still here, Dad,' Kakarot said, exhaling in the same breath. He was on his back behind Bardock. So he had actually succeeded in jumping in front of his son, huh? Too bad… huh…
'I guess…' Bardock said, still unable to see much of anything in the mire of debris and detritus clogging the air and ground around them. 'Not much of a point throwing myself here, was there?'
Kakarot groaned, moving out from underneath a boulder. 'Maybe next time.'
Bardock turned; they held each other's gaze for a second, then quickly got to their feet and used their auras to clear the air.
'There,' Kakarot said, pointing up. 'He's there.'
A quiet sense of confusion, relief, and pride filled Bardock's chest. He's still there.
From their position on the ground, they had a slanted view; Closer and lower to the ground, Traveler remained half-bent, body still shaped by the attack launched from his hands, yellow aura rippling less but nonetheless still pulsing with untapped energy. Farther, higher-up, more distant — within a ball of green, thrumming energy, Raditz held out his hands, touching the barrier of ki with his fingertips. The defense looked pressured, almost buckled — but it had held. Raditz had held.
Enough pride to make lesser men faint swelled in Bardock. He survived the strongest attack I'd ever seen. One that'd shred me down to my atoms.
'I can't believe it,' Kakarot said, voice full of wonder. 'That's really Raditz?... He's… incredible.'
It had been close, Bardock knew. The barrier faded at last, exposing Raditz to the open air. But just barely, he had—
Wait. Bardock glanced at Traveler. No. That's— that shouldn't—
'Something's wrong,' Bardock realized.
'Huh?' Kakarot scowled at him. 'What are you talking about? For the first time, it looks like Raditz might have a chance to win.'
'Look at the golden guy — he's not winded.'
Kakarot squinted. '...What are you suggesting?'
The barrier — it almost buckled, but didn't. Just on the edge of being overwhelmed, and yet…
'He's holding back.'
0o0o0
A quick-moving elbow smashed across Launch's face, whipping her across the air. She righted, growling as her aura intensified again, and on instinct raised her arms and screamed.
Two heavy metal arms slammed down on her guard, failing to smash through and getting caught in her grip. Despite 19's superior position in the air, Launch boosted her Kaioken level, letting her frustration power her towards a grapple. Every ounce of energy was used to force against the android, twisting every muscle possible — and yet no matter how much she committed, 19 had more to counteract.
'Go!...' Her aura roared higher, swarming with energy. She jerked, and throttled her right hand. 'TO HELL!'
A red beam shot from her grip, widening to twice of 19's length and pushing her back through the sky. She hoped for a brief second until, but before the attack had even finished landing, it was pulled and deflected to the side, splitting apart into red waves of light. 19 held its ground mid-air, one harm still extended from the exertion of pushing aside her attack.
'What?... the hell?' Launch breathed, trying to ignore the twisting ache in her muscles.
'My thoughts exactly,' Rayne said, rising in the air behind Launch. She had been batted away from the fight a minute prior. Despite it being that long ago, she was still panting from the Kaioken's wear. 'What the hell is this thing made of?'
'It's harder than us, whatever it is,' Launch said, stretching her limbs to make sure they didn't lock up. 20 remained motionless, eyeing them. As expected of a machine, it wasn't showing any signs of fatigue. 'Not to mention, I don't think we'll win this battle through attrition.'
'I'm getting that feeling, too.'
Launch glanced back. 'How much higher can you take the Kaioken?'
'Probably a few more notches before it kills me,' Rayne said, frowning. 'You?'
'Is that so?' A pleased expression settled on Launch's face. 'How about this, then — I'll hold this thing's attention for as long as you need to prepare a killing blow. Got it?'
Rayne nodded. 'Uh-huh.'
Launch tensed her muscles. 'Alright!' Her crimson Kaioken aura roared to life. 'Round 2, droid!'
The wind lassoed through the air as Launch surged forward, all her weight and force behind her right leg. Streaking red, she hit 19 square in the abdomen, then swung around and elbowed the machine in its neck. Ungodly force and supercharged muscles came in contact with unbending metal. Neither gave.
Come on! This— Woah! Launch's eyes flicked wide as 19's hand clamped around her ankle. Her leg started howling from the pressure and pain as she was pulled back and forth, then spun, as she intensified her aura to free herself. They formed an orbit, angling towards the ground, as when 19 had the right approach, released her at frightening speed. Like a rocket she shot and crashed against the Earth in a plume of red energy. Then the cone of energy dispersed with a flush of aura.
Launch was standing in a small crater, subsumed by her Kaioken. 'You're ridiculously strong!' She shouted, grinning. 'Luckily!' She took a deep breath and muttered a word — and her aura's churning doubled. 'So am I!'
Invigorated by the higher level of Kaioken Launch spiraled into close-quarters combat, trading glancing blows and near-misses with 19. The android's eyes began to track the fight at a frantic pace. After sliding off 19's shoulder with her fist, Launch ducked below a forearm throw and drove her left fist into 19's side.
Nearly — but 19 caught the attack. For a split-second their gazes met.
Got him. Launch grabbed 19's guard with both arms and vaulted to the left and up, wrapping around the android, and pinned its arms to its back. Aura then flooded out of her back, propelling them towards the ground at a breakneck pace.
19 wriggled and grimaced, and when he banged his shoulder back into Launch's jaw, he succeeded in knocking free of Launch's grip. He turned — and was promptly kicked two more times in the chest by a shimmering Launch. They were too close and 19 was moving too fast; Launch pulled back with her aura and threw up her guard as a massive impact flattened the ground and ranged past her.
For a brief instant Launch let overconfidence take her. The android was tough as hell but she wasn't having much trouble keeping up so far, not to mention she had a few more levels of Kaioken she could call on.
'Pick yourself up, robot!' She shouted, crossing her arms as her red ki pulsed. 'I'm not done slapping you around yet!'
A shockwave rippled across the valley. Below 19 pulled its fist from the ground, specks of dirt trailing off its synthetic skin. If Launch didn't know better, she'd say it was frustrated.
Hairs raised on Launch's neck. 'What's it?...' she muttered.
19 punched the ground again, hard enough to birth a massive chasm, and then rose to its full height and held out its hands, palms open and raised to the sky. Its face betrayed nothing as it clapped.
PHOOM. A pure blast of force flung back Launch, nearly ripping her aura from her. 'What!?' Another thunderclap, and Launch was pushed even further into the air, flying harder against the force thrown at her.
As she lowered her guard, trying to understand how much force 19 was using to push her away, a whooshing brushed across her head and she frantically dodged and spun, avoiding a thick elbow from crashing into her spine. Immediately 19 clapped again, throwing another wave of force against Launch that demanded she fly into it to avoid being carried away.
19's attack went straight to her head, two palms trying to crush her skull in one quick swinging motion, ringing her senses in every way possible; she boosted her Kaioken again. 'HYAAAGH!' Near-blind from the last blow, Launch managed to make contact fist-to-fist with 19, generating a huge explosion of kinetic force and energy that ripped them apart from each other. 19 managed to keep superiority in the air and was pushed higher up — Launch fell towards the ground.
There. Rayne, appearing mere feet above 19, smashed her palms together and called on her highest level of the Kaioken. 'KAMEHAMEHA!' She roared, releasing a minute of collected pure blue energy at near point-blank range, pouring down across 19's head and body. Indefinite noise and light spilled across the sky, ripping leaves from trees in the forests nearby, and choked the air with smoke.
Heavy breathing forced Rayne to relax her aura. Spasms began snaking up and down her body. That was as good a shot as she was going to get in. She hadn't overdone it either — nothing of the blast had swept past the android and reached where Launch had landed.
Something twisted in Rayne's mind. Wait… if nothing got past… Her eyes narrowed on the cloud of debris. There was… still something there?
Her mouth opened and closed as much as it could while still laboring for air. 'That… did nothing?'
As if to answer, 19 surged out of the smoke and spun, spin-kicking Rayne faster than she could track. She sped, crashed, and skidded through a forest below, disappearing into the brush and kicked up dust.
'...' 19 straightened. There wasn't much hair left on the android; some of its synthetic skin had even begun to peel and flake across the top of its body, but the metal revealed showed no sign of damage.
'Hey!' Suddenly Launch was in the air, cloaked in the Kaioken, causing 19 to snap its head in her direction. Her aura shimmered and parachuted up as she dodged a sweeping arm. 'Bastard!' She yelled, charging up and slamming down both legs, intertwined and aura pulsing around them, down on 19's guarding arms. The impact rang out and released a huge storm of red ki, choking the sky.
0o0o0
Energy warped the air and pushed aside the grass and brush in the clearing as fists, kicks, and punches all crashed and ricocheted off each other, a grueling procession of strikes that left no break for either fighter to catch their breath or recover from a sloppy guard. Traveler tanked a point-black pink ki blast to his forearms, snarled as smoke peeled away from his darkened skin, and was unprepared as Raditz materialized behind him and threw his entire weight into a lunging kick aimed for his side.
An immense shockwave of force rode out as Raditz's foot dug deep into Traveler's skin. To both of their surprise, however —
Traveler grabbed the foot and spun, wrenching Raditz over. 'Weak.' He brought down an elbow on Raditz's kneecap, impacting with enough force to shatter an entirely biological limb. In Raditz's case the metal encasing his limb bent but failed to smash apart.
'Grkkk... GRRRK!' Raditz's voice turned guttural, howling and spitting without finding any intelligible words, as he futilely tried to free his foot from Traveler's grasp. Inexplicably, as his whole body was focused on his effort, his right arm began to scratch and pick at his side, almost as if the fingers were trying to worm their way underneath his metal sheathing.
For a brief moment Traveler seemed to consider what he was watching. Quiet, unexpressed emotion. Maybe pity.
Traveler yanked on Raditz and slammed an uppercut into his jaw, wrenching his opponent back only to be wrenched back by Traveler's grip on his foot. He repeated this several more times, landing crushing blows on Radtiz's legs, abdomen, torso, and finally face, the last strike nearly twisting Raditz's head all the way around his body. Facing no resistance, Traveler summoned his aura, lifted, and threw Raditz into the ground by his leg. A miniature storm of debris erupted, traveling past Raditz along with the force generated by the impact.
The dust petered and dispersed in the air under Traveler's gaze. When he turned back to his opponent, Raditz's conscience still seemed locked by some sort of paralyzing or distracting itch along his right side, and Traveler noted the presence of a slight concave dent in Raditz's left cheek.
'Weak but durable,' Traveler corrected.
'Hey!' A voice reached them. 'HEY! What are you trying to do, anyway!?' Bardock shouted, using his ki to amplify his aura, voice, and presence across the battlefield. 'Maim him?'
Traveler's gaze skirted across the broken field and landed on him. Unmoving, unliving teal eyes. 'Didn't I make myself clear? Raditz needs to surrender.'
'Well — he won't!'
Kakarot's surprised eyes landed on his father. 'Uh, Dad—'
'Raditz is a proud Saiyan warrior!' Bardock growled, puffing out his chest. 'Surrendering isn't an option for him!'
'Dad,' Kakarot insisted louder. 'He's looking over—'
Traveler blinked out of their view for a second, then reappeared with all the sheer strength of his aura not ten feet away from them, nearly bowling them over with its presence. 'Proud Saiyan?' Traveler said, twisting Bardock's words as his hands curled into fists. 'You think what Raditz now is anything he should be proud of? What's been done to him?' His voice rose in pitch, volume. 'His body? HIS MIND?'
Bardock staggered back a step as Traveler stepped closer. His arms lingered in the air between them for a second before Traveler seemed content to pulse his aura. Lamely Bardock fell onto his back, twitching from what felt like a near-death experience.
'This isn't the Raditz you knew,' Traveler went on in a quieter, more contained voice. He waited a moment before speaking again; in that time he turned to Kakarot. 'You know this.'
Kakarot's vision seemed to collapse on Traveler, waves of force and realization sweeping past him. There was something in the way he was being looked at. This mystery…
'Saiyan?' His father looked at him, cowed and confused. Kakarot wasn't even sure what had come out of his mouth. How would I know? It's just a feeling, but…
'We both know,' Traveler said.
'I… heard that.'
They all quieted and looked farther down the field. He was slouched and panting, but for the first time in the fight, and the first time at all for Kakarot and Bardock, Raditz had a presence among them not grounded in some pretension or illusion about reality— like he was more here in the moment than he was consumed by whatever was going on in his head. Kakarot wasn't sure how he knew this from a look. But a glance to his father confirmed he had seen it, too.
Traveler slowly turned, letting his golden aura whip into the air again. 'Heard what?'
'That's…' Raditz was breathing heavy, as if he was clearing a poison from his lungs. '...my father you're threatening. My… brother,' he forced through clenched teeth, his body trembling for a second. 'They know me.' His arms shook up and down, but with a lash of his head, Raditz clenched them and roared, drawing aura of every color out of his body. A procession of reds and blues and pinks until his body was cloaked with a final, gentle white.
Deceiving in that the small force being emitted was enough to stop Bardock from standing.
It quickly became obvious that they were too close. 'Come on,' Kakarot urged, getting one of his father's arms around his neck and helping him up into the air. 'We need to move back.'
'Don't you threaten them!' Raditz roared, the shaking slowly leaving his body. Suddenly he hinged, crouching into a fighting guard. 'You'll regret it!'
Traveler didn't change his posture in the face of his opponent's preparation. 'I doubt it.'
BRRRRM. All at once both fighters kicked into action, nearly throwing Bardock and Kakarot back onto the ground and trampling the field with the force of their blows. Kakarot scanned the sky in an attempt to follow, but then thought better of it and focused on getting him and his father farther away. When they unsteadily reached the treeline of the surrounding forest, Bardock shrugged off his help and they landed.
'Thanks,' Bardock said gruffly.
Kakarot was distracted — by two things, actually. First he stared at the battle farther off, individual strikes blurring into impact lines and stray energy blasts. 'I can't see them anymore,' Kakarot spoke. 'That's encouraging— for Raditz, I mean.'
'Uh-huh.' Bardock didn't need his son to finish his thought. Raditz may have more strength to call on, after all.
By comparison the trees around them were silent and motionless, barring the errant wave of force ripping through. Kakarot peered into the brush. 'Were you trying to get yourself killed, by the way?'
Bardock shrugged. 'Sometimes, you need to speak your mind.'
Kakarot's eyes narrowed. 'Uh-huh.'
'Might have actually done some good, too.' Bardock did his best to survey the battle. 'From the looks of it, Raditz is fighting at a much higher level now—'
'Dad.'
'Hm?'
Kakarot was still staring into the forest. 'Someone else is here. Someone's watching us.'
0o0o0
For what felt like a lifetime, Krillin had one knee on the ground, feeling his aura thrum beneath his skin and listening intently to the sounds of the forest. When he heard it, he dashed.
He rolled forward, avoiding a grasping hand from Gero from behind, and continued rushing deeper into the forest with Gero close behind. As he ran, his hands gestured and swung behind him, calling up two Destructo Discs from behind them. Gero avoided both with one quick slide to the left, energy thrumming past inches above his head, and then backed away as the two attacks spun in a circle away from Krillin, sawing down huge portions of the forest and freeing up his line of sight. Gero realized what Krillin was doing and circled around, keeping near the edge of this perimeter.
'I thought cowardice was a trait unbecoming of you and your friends,' Gero taunted, blurring away whenever a Disc swung through his position onto to reappear at the opposite end from Krillin. 'Or is what I'm experiencing rank desperation?'
'Consider it smart tactics,' Krillin replied, shrouded in his crimson Kaioken aura. 'It's clear you're at your most dangerous in low-visibility close-quarters.' He found a smirk, despite the strain on his body. 'Why play into that?'
'Then perhaps I misjudged you all.' Gero stopped, straightening. 'You're not as idiotic as I assumed.'
'Why would you assume that to begin with?' Krillin sniped back, trying to conceal his right hand's motions behind his back.'
Gero lifted his chin. 'It's only logical. The manner in which the Red Ribbon Army was defeated was disorganized, chaotic, and lazy. There was no plan or overarching strategy. You were penalized for such reckless action.'
'Yeah, we were kids, and you still lost to us,' Krillin said. 'What's your point?'
'Nonetheless it was never a problem of tactics.' Gero crept around Krillin, eyes searching for something. Krillin made sure to keep his back away from Gero and turned with him. 'What the Red Ribbon Army lacked was pure strength and force of will. That is why it was so thoroughly defeated and disgraced in its first incarnation, and that is why it will succeed today… or whenever my brilliance reaches its apex.'
As Gero said that he slowed, face creasing in thought. Krillin would have assumed this was some sort of ploy if not for the fact that he didn't move when one of Krillin's Destructo Discs started to swing towards him.
'Pause,' Gero said.
Krillin froze alongside his attacks. What? 'What did you say?' He asked.
'We need to discuss something.' A dark cloud passed over Gero's face. 'Something that has been eating at me for quite a while. Several days ago a tan man with black hair arrived and threatened me, long before you or any of your allies had discovered my lab. He insinuated this was not his world and that he would acquire my specimen, Raditz, for himself. Why did you delay in attacking my lab if this one knew where I was?'
The rapid succession of information stunned Krillin so badly that he nearly lost control of his Destructo Discs, teetering in the air beyond them. This was a bad conversation to have with an incredibly dangerous individual. He kept his mouth shut.
'...' Gero's eyes spoke volumes. He was processing Krillin's reticence. 'So you aren't acquainted with this man,' Gero decided. 'And, judging by the look on your face, you weren't aware, or at the very least wasn't sure, if he was associated with me. Last question, then; where did this tan man come from?'
Krillin kept his mouth shut.
'I have no records of him existing until he appears on the doorstep of my hidden laboratory and threatens to acquire my secret project,' Gero's eyes narrowed. 'Surely you can appreciate the depth of my curiosity.'
'I'm not going to tell you anything,' Krillin bit back.
'But you've already told me so much.' Gero looked away. 'His eyes were blue. Blue…'
Krillin glanced away, studying the distance between his opponent and his attacks. He had sent them to circle at the start of their conversation — now, they were slowly coming around…
'Then he's likely from off-world,' Gero thought aloud, 'if you aren't acquainted with him. That would be the simplest explanation. An alien… perhaps even a Saiyan with blue eyes. Perhaps that phenotype does exist among the Saiyans…' Gero murmured. 'Perhaps… he's some sort of mutant. Some…' Gero's words slowed. '...creation…'
'ENOUGH TALK!' Krillin shouted as his red aura exploded, throwing out and crossing his arms. His Destructo Discs swung through the forest, clearing trees and bushes. Gero shifted away quickly from consideration and sailed into the air, avoiding both attacks. With another sweep of his arms Krillin's attacks pursued him.
Gero's baggy clothes fluttered in the wind as he rapidly scanned the incoming discs. The first one swung around and tried to hit him from behind, but Gero dodged through the air, using a quick blast of ki to accelerate his movement.
Got you! Krillin's left hand swung across, and his other Destructo Disc bore down on Gero from the opposite direction. Gero's head spun, panic briefly flashed on his face — and out of desperation, he pushed his momentum slightly askew, giving his body a few inches of clearance from the brunt of the disc, and stuck out his right hand.
GZZZT. Krillin couldn't see from this angle how his attack had landed. A thin wisp of yellow ki had shot up past Gero, which meant the attack had made contact. But, still… Krillin saw a shape coalesce within the smoke. He… tanked it?
With a shuddering breath Gero dropped out of the sky, landing, and cradling his right hand. There was a thin line cut into its palm — the cut from the Destructo Disc, Krillin realized. And yet, Gero was whole. 'You?...'
'Your attacks are annoying but ultimately ineffective,' Gero said, still sticking out his right hand. Slowly, he placed his other hand at the wrist, bracing it. 'You forget my capabilities.'
The red ampule in Gero's palm suddenly screamed in Krillin's vision. Did… did he absorb my Destructo Disc? How?
'To your own detriment!' Gero shouted, filling his palm with a blast of yellow ki. Krillin attempted to move but stumbled, unaware of how sore he'd made his body from the Kaioken in the last minute by not moving. Damn it! He stood, and realized he wouldn't have enough time to fully dodge the imminent blast. His right hand cut across the air, calling back his remaining Destructo Disc. If he could swing it through…
'BEGONE!' Gero shouted, releasing a flare of light from his palm. Krillin looked away, crouched, and raised his guard, even as his Disc sailed down. The flurry of energy permeating the air swelled to a fever pitch… and then passed over the peak and slowly tapered off. Krillin felt through his ki that his disc had swung into the space between Gero and himself. No resistance.
Huh? Krillin opened his eyes. Gero's hands were still throttled but his head was turned away, eyes fixed on something beyond the forest they were in.
What that was didn't concern Krillin at present. Gero had hesitated. Nothing came. Krillin flicked his wrist and extended his hand.
'Take this!' Gero's attention snapped back as a Destructo Disc swerved towards him, cutting through a sweep of trees in the process. As before Gero turned and backpedaled, giving himself ample room to absorb the ki of the attack.
Five feet from contact, the Destructo Disc wobbled. Krillin smirked and closed his right hand to a fist.
A point-black explosion consumed the forest, more expansive than intense due to the pressurized ki required to form the attack. Shards of light and ki spilled in every direction, some scoring across Krillin's gi, as he dove and took cover behind a boulder. As he pressed his back to the ground whole trees blasted away above him, flattening huge sections of the forest. He felt a give of something below him, and for a moment Krillin thought the ground would collapse into a sinkhole, but the rumbling passed shortly before the extent of the explosion died down. Little white particles filled the air as Krillin steeled himself and stood.
The forest had been leveled. More importantly, nothing lunged or shot at him once he stood. He carefully trudged towards the center of the explosion, parsing the air, and knelt when he saw something non-natural among the debris.
What remained of Gero's hat had been melted down into a burnt furry black clump. The Red Ribbon Logo was all but recognizable. But disappointingly, there was nothing beyond what could have been fabric scattered around. No metal or pieces of circuitry. Nothing to suggest a substantial blow.
Krillin drew in deep breaths as he stood, attuning to his environment again. The advantage of such a localized explosion was that the immediate area had been shorn of any hiding places where Gero could surprise him from again.
He watched. No movement; the area was still as could be.
Krillin placed his hand on his chest, finding it difficult to get a decent breath in him. Did Gero run? He scanned the explosion's perimeter again, staring at toppled tree trunks and upturned boulders. If Gero escaped again…
A pulse of pain and exhaustion shot through Krillin, making him gasp. He had been out of the Kaioken for too long — his body was finally starting to perceive the strain the technique put on him, in addition to the natural ki he'd lost to Gero earlier.
He pulled his hand away from his chest, at which point he realized there were long thin cuts of various depths scattered over his body, torn into his orange gi and staining the fabric red. Self-inflicted from detonating the Destructo Disc, Krillin realized.
Damn it. I can't chase him like this. Not to mention I don't even know which way he went. Finding him will be near—
Krillin's thoughts were interrupted by a faint brush against his mind. His attention was drawn to the west, back to where the battle had originally started. His eyes widened as he parsed what he was feeling. That's!...
0o0o0
They collided and burst apart once, twice, three times, each time spiking Launch's frustration to a new height. This thing won't quit! With a burst of her Kaioken she appeared behind the android, delivering a deep blow to 19's back that would have winded any other fighter. But in this case she was immediately forced to backpedal, frantically dodging a few quick and heavy chops from an opponent that lacked organs before pulling back again to plan another strike.
Her breaths were coming faster now, she knew. Her current advantage in speed wasn't going to last forever; at a certain point her body was going to run out of time with the Kaioken. And with Rayne having been absent for a while, and Krillin fighting Gero Kami-knows-where…
Launch exhaled, collecting her thoughts into a tidy little box. Then she imagined burning the tidy little box. What mattered now was this battle. If she didn't figure out a solid way to damage this thing, no one would… most likely. She smirked as she pressed her hands together. Probably…
19 seemed to notice she had a plan. It dove towards her, bringing around its massive legs for a spin kick, but Launch dissipated and appeared in the air behind it. It spun, locked onto her, and charged again — this time, she reappeared right behind it, smashing both elbows down on its head.
Launch's eyes widened as she finished following through with the blow. There! The head was mottled with energy damage. A point-blank ki attack might do the trick! Luckily for her… 'Hyaaaaa!' She called on all her energy, pushing her Kaioken to its limit, and aimed her palms down towards the plummeting android. She wasn't usually one to end a fight with one blast, but in this case, it was warranted. And she would only have one shot at this.
She sensed her natural ki permeating the edges of her Kaioken, waiting to be used. If she could just pull on it a little—
Tien appeared in the trajectory of her planned attack, arms crossed and glowering. 'Launch — don't do that.'
The dual shock of seeing him and being chastised chased the ki from her hands and shook her out of her Kaioken. 'Tien!?… how did you—' Was he reading my mind?
'I'm the expert for that type of move, remember? I can tell when someone's about to self-immolate their life energy.' He produced a small brown pouch and tossed it to her. 'Find Rayne and Krillin and make sure you all eat a senzu. I can't imagine they're in any better shape than you.'
That was a concealed compliment. 'Understood,' Launch replied. Then, she added quickly, 'Nice to see you. Took you long enough to get here.'
'Focus on getting the senzus to Rayne and Krillin,' Tien reminded her, turning around to face 19, who had recovered by Launch's strike. 'We'll have time to catch up later. Until then — let us handle this.'
Launch remembered something. 'Us?'
'Yeah.' With a sweep of his arm, Piccolo appeared in front of him and threw off his cap and cowl. 'It's time for a rematch.'
A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for being so patient between story updates. It means a lot! I haven't been writing at quite the pace I've wanted for a while now, and though that's been frustrating, knowing that people are still interested in this story in the form of even a one-sentence review gives me huge boosts of positive energy.
In other news, this story got added to the "Longest Stories" Community on this site, which to be honest, is sorta nuts considering I had never written anything beyond 5,000 words before starting Strength of Many. This chapter itself has pushed this fic past 900k words. So this is all very crazy and very cool. It's been a wild ride and I'm looking forward to what the future brings, ESPECIALLY once this current volume wraps up. The realm of creative possibility is going to drastically expand.
Anyway;
Reviews:
Transformers g1's-Prime: I'm glad you've enjoyed the ride since all the way back when the Zs first stepped into space! Yes… that Yamcha bit in Traveler's mind is… what, exactly? A hallucination? A memory? A vision of the future? Who knows.
You are approximately right on your reading of Turles. He was minuscule enough that his presence was ultimately forgotten.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter of the chaos kicking off!
Perfect Carnage: Bardock does indeed like to bark.
The Saiyans have gotten their shit kicked in a whole bunch in this fic. Wonder when that'll change…
Damgar: Glad you've enjoyed the story so far! Thanks for the kind words!
Hamza9236: Certainly something I might write! Added to my bonus scene idea list.
KagariAsuha: 100 chapters is pretty crazy! Thank you for keeping up! There might be some suggestion of what Traveler knows of his connection to Bardock and Kakarot in this chapter.
Cityracer: Thanks for the review! Rayne wasn't quite a kickass this chapter, but it seems like she stumbled on something important…
Raditz is certainly alive underneath all the wiring and metal… whether he stays that way is the question.
Yeah, ngl, Yamcha and Chi-Chi interacting together is some of the easiest writing for me in this fic. It comes very naturally.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Guest: Glad you enjoy the story; I wished I updated more, too! Hah!
Cooler did not kill Frieza — he ritually defeated him and took control over the PTO and most of the known galaxy. King Cold, unless he's done something offpage, is still in retirement on the Arcosian homeworld.
yasho360: I'm guessing this chapter had more of the action you were expecting last chapter. Hope you enjoyed!
