Chapter 28: A different threat? The Masked Man reveals himself.
The crowd exploded into a raucous cheer as Gohan and Broly crashed into each other. A mixture of green and yellow auras lit up the arena, causing many spectators to attempt to cover their eyes while simultaneously not wanting to miss any action, though they couldn't even begin to comprehend the speed of the two warriors. In fact, neither Saiyan had actually made contact in quite a while, or a few seconds in normal human terms. Each one of their blows was being expertly dodged by the other.
That didn't last very long however as Gohan ducked under a massive punch from Broly and expertly placed a metal fist into the thigh of his much bigger opponent. The blow didn't do much damage, but it caused the massive Super Saiyan to crouch slightly, stopping any momentum he had in its tracks, and leaving an opening that Gohan had every intention of taking advantage of.
THWACK!
Gohan smashed his knee into the crouched Broly's face, knocking the massive Saiyan back a few feet and causing a bit of blood to drip from the Legendary Super Saiyan's nose. The Half-Saiyan continued his assault, disappearing with his incredible speed and reappearing above Broly, driving a two handed hammer blow to the massive Saiyan's head, sending him crashing to the ground.
Broly felt the blood dripping on his face and quickly regained his composure, looking straight up in the air as the Super Saiyan 2 Gohan charged down at him. Igniting his green and yellow aura, Broly threw himself to the left, narrowly avoiding a crushing blow from his Half-Saiyan opponent the left a sizeable crater in the floor of the Arena.
CRACK!
Broly had driven his massive fist towards his Half-Saiyan opponent's face, but it was blocked by Gohan's now trademark mechanical arm. Taking the full force of Broly's blow, the arm's outer layer had cracked and the internal mechanics had started to spark.
Gohan suddenly found himself unable to move the mechanical limb, his left arm dangling like a loose thread as the Half-Saiyan jumped back and took a defensive stance. "Well...shit."
Back on M-2…
Sitting alone with his legs crossed and eyes closed, Captain Curry had been furiously searching the planet in his mind, trying to sense the faintest sign of Emperor Vegeta's energy. Then suddenly, it emerged. Opening his eyes, the red skinned captain blasted off in the direction of his leaders energy.
Baby stood in unison with General Rilldo as they emerged from Dr. Myuu's lab. Feeling the light of this solar system's star on true skin for the first time since he was created, the machine mutant residing in Vegeta's body sighed, breathing heavily to get used to having lungs for the first time.
Trying his best to not interrupt his master's serene moment, Rilldo could hold back no longer as he could feel Captain Curry getting closer. Turning to face Baby Vegeta, the Machine Mutant General spoke, "Master, we have company."
"I can feel him, General." Baby Vegeta closed his eyes, sighing for a moment and opened them back up to see the red form of Captain Curry closing in from the horizon. "According to Vegeta's memories, this one is his Captain."
"That is correct, Master."
"Well, he could be useful. Let's see how this plays out, do not engage."
"Yes, Master."
Captain Curry closed in quickly, floating in the air above where Baby Vegeta and Rilldo stood. He looked closely at Vegeta, his energy was close, but it wasn't directly the same. Physically, he looked almost identical, but there was something weird about his eyes. He was standing next to Rilldo as well, someone who just took him captive. Something definitely was not right. "Emperor Vegeta?"
Baby did the best he could to keep his voice identical to Vegeta's, looking up as the red skinned humanoid descended, "Captain Curry, have no fear. Rilldo and I have come to an agreement."
"Agreement..?" Captain Curry's feet reached the ground softly as he responded, his intuition continued screaming in his head that something wasn't right. "The Emperor I know would have never let someone who took him captive get away with it..who are yo-GAH!"
Before the Captain had finished, Baby had lifted his hand and shot a red blast directly into Curry's chest, sending the red skinned humanoid flying into the distance, "Well, that didn't work." Lowering his arm, the tuffle controlled Saiyan smiled, "Oh well. Let's get a move on." He slowly lifted into the air, "Come, General. Earth awaits."
Looking off into the direction the Captain had flown, Rilldo shook his head and lifted into the air beside his master, "Yes, Master Baby."
Simultaneously, on Earth..
Gohan was reduced to having one useable arm again, though luckily he was quite used to it, but he wasn't used to the dangling limb. He casually flipped backwards on his one hand to create some distance between himself and an assaulting Broly. When he had it, the Half-Saiyan grabbed his lifeless, mechanical arm and ripped it off. Gohan scoffed at it as he threw it into the crowd, directly to where Bulma was sitting.
The blue haired genius sighed, "Well, guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow." She casually grabbed the limb and turned her attention back to the fight where Gohan had gone back on the offensive. The one armed Half-Saiyan led with a ferocious kick to the head of Broly, but it was easily blocked by the forearm of the larger Saiyan. The yellowish green haired Super Saiyan pushed his lightning clad opponent backward using the same arm he had just blocked with.
"Damn it.." Gohan cursed as he crashed to the ground. He had gotten too used to having both arms again. Struggling to lift himself off the arena floor, the Super Saiyan 2 spit out a mouthful of blood and smiled. "Well, it was a good fight, but I think I'll end this now."
Broly looked at Gohan, perplexed by his statement, "End? You aren't done yet."
Gohan's smiled still hadn't left, but his electrified aura and golden hair had. "I have no chance without both arms, I got too reliant on that mechanical one."
The Tournament Announcer's voice boomed out over the speakers, "It appears that after an incredible bout and the loss of his left arm, Contestant Gohan is conceding the match to Contestant Broly!"
"Are you sure? Your energy has barely receded at all..you're just as strong if not stronger than I am." Broly let his aura fade away, his hair turned back to black as it fell down past his shoulders.
"I am sure." Gohan jumped out of the ring, landing on the grass between the fighting arena and the stands.
"It's official! Contestant Gohan has willingly stepped out of bounds, conceding the match to contestant Broly! Give our contestants a hand for this amazing spectacle!" The crowd erupted into an enormous applause and raucous cheers.
In Vegeta's ship, just above M-2…
Baby sat in Vegeta's throne, inside Vegeta's body, commanding Vegeta's crew who seemed to be none the wiser that their Emperor wasn't really their Emperor, or if they were, they didn't dare speak a word. Rilldo stood beside the throne, taking the place of Captain Curry as the second in command on the ship.
The Saiyan Prince was trapped in his own body, his mind screaming like a tortured prisoner of war. "Damn you, you Tuffle bastard!"
"Do yourself a favor Prince and just give up. I have control."
"There's one thing Saiyan's have that races like yours will never understand, our pride!"
"Where has your pride gotten you today, Prince? If you had just used your full power from the beginning, you could have just destroyed M-2 and never got into this mess. But you had to fight like a warrior, right? Stupid Saiyans."
Vegeta's subconscious screamed with all it's might, but it made no difference on the outside as the Baby controlled body of Vegeta just smiled, turning his head towards the large console controlling what was now his ship. "How long until Earth?"
"Ten days, sir." A nervous, blubbering humanoid alien answered after turning towards the throne.
"That will not do." The Tuffle controlled Saiyan stood up, turning to Rilldo, "General, take over the controls. I want us there by tomorrow."
"Yes, Master." As he did on the planet M-2, Rilldo slowly merged himself with the ship, it's color turning to a bright silver.
Baby Vegeta sat back down on his throne, the cruel smile never leaving his face, "Soon I will have my revenge.."
On the surface of M-2…
Opening his eyes slowly, Captain Curry laid motionless under a pile of rubble, his body ached all over. "Well..that was unexpected.." The red skinned humanoid slowly made his way to his feet, dusted himself off and cracked his neck. The Captain truly had expected to be dead, yet somehow he survived, almost as if whatever controlled Vegeta had held back somewhat. Perhaps there was a bit of Emperor Vegeta left in there after all..or not, Curry wasn't completely sure, the Emperor rarely held back.
The red skinned Captain grabbed a little capsule from within his suit, pressing the button at it's top, revealing a laptop like device. He opened in and quickly typed, calling the only person on Earth who he knew..
Back on Earth…
The Tournament had taken a lunch break and Bulma was taking full advantage as she stood in line to the concession stand along with Chi-Chi, both were hoping to get a crispy batch of fries before the next match. The loud ringing of Bulma's phone nearly gave her a heart attack, she hurriedly searched her pockets for the communication device.
She looked at the phone curiously, it wasn't a number she recognized by any means, perhaps it was Vegeta she thought. The blue haired genius excused herself from the line, Chi-Chi promised to get her some food before she walked away. Unbeknownst to anyone, Bulma and Vegeta had kept in contact sparingly. The conversations were normally brief and fleeting, but she took great pleasure in every single one. He never called from the same number, perhaps that was a space thing since he was always somewhere different, or perhaps he just didn't want her to be able to call him back.
Bulma could barely look at her ringing phone as she walked somewhere private, her heart was seemingly beating out of her chest. She nervously fixed her hair, hoping she wouldn't look bad for her Prince. No, he wasn't a Prince anymore, he didn't like that. He was her Emperor.
The blue haired woman took a deep breath before she opened her phone, but to her extreme surprise, it wasn't Vegeta on the other end. It was a red skinned alien who was staring her back in the face. "Oh, um..hello?"
Captain Curry kept a stoic face as he greeted the human woman, "Hello..Bulma is it? I am Captain Curry, we met once before, on another one of these calls."
"Oh..yes.." Bulma recalled seeing the Captain before, he had awkwardly walked in on one of her private calls with Vegeta, but she had never thought she would see him again. "Hello Captain. Where is Vegeta?"
"That is what I am calling about..I believe the Emperor has been compromised."
Back at the World Tournament Arena..
The lunch break was over and spectators were making their way back to their seats, save Bulma. Android 16 stood silently in the arena which had been promptly fixed during the break. Opposite of the Android was his opponent, the impressive human, Tien. The World Tournament Announcer introduced both of the fighters to mixed responses, both were relatively unknown to the rest of the world.
Tien smirked at his massive opponent, taking his familiar Crane style fighting stance, "Well 16, I'll give it my all."
Android 16 stood motionless, "I'd expect nothing less from a fighter of your caliber, Tien. I will not lose."
"Beeegin!"
Tien darted forward, smashing into 16 with his full force, but as expected it didn't do much. The three eyed human unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks, but 16 effortlessly brushed them away as if Tien were a housefly. "Damn it.." The human cursed, knowing he was hopelessly outmatched. "I told him I'd give it my all, let's live up to that promise."
Jumping back, Tien put some space between him and his mechanical opponent. The three-eyed human quickly crouched as a red aura began to erupt around him and his muscles began to bulge. Tien's hands twitched slightly as his aura got more violent, bursting outward in a blood red explosion, "KAIO-KEN TIMES TEN!"
Android 16 had already anticipated this course of action, knowing full well that even with the Kaio-ken, Tien was no match for his strength. The massive Android charged, taking his opportunity to strike.
Tien had improved quite a bit in the last year as he was actually able to dodge 16's initial assault, but it was mostly for naught. Even with his strength ten fold, he was unable to match 16 blow for blow. Dodging and blocking where he could, taking blows where he couldn't, Tien was overtaken by his Android opponent.
16 was slowly pushing Tien back to the edge of the arena floor, hoping for a quick ring out. The three-eyed human however, was not gonna go down without a fight. Sensing his proximity to the edge, Tien pulled out his trump card and spread his hands in front of his face, "SOLAR FLARE"
The blinding light overtook the entire arena, leaving many spectators and even 16 blind to the action. "Visual sensors overloaded, temporary blindness ensuing." 16 put his arms in front of his face in a defensive manner.
As the light cleared, Tien was no longer in front of 16, but floating up in the air with his red aura violently shining around him. The three-eyed human's hands were in a familiar triangular shape, energy gathering between them.
16 looked up at his human opponent, "Tri-Beam incoming, no damage precautions necessary." The Android lifted off the ground quickly and burst towards Tien.
"Tri-Beam HA!" The energy blast shot forth from Tien's hands directly towards 16, engulfing the Android in a bright light.
Quickly emerging from the blast, 16 flew straight towards Tien and slammed a fist into the human, knocking him out with a single, thunderous blow. Android 16 caught the unconscious Tien and slowly floated to the edge of the arena floor, gently dropping his human friend onto the grass.
"And there it is folks! A win by ring out! Our victor is Android 16!" The familiar voice rang out across the arena as the Tournament Announcer declared 16 the winner of the match. "Let us take a quick break before our next match."
Not too far away..
The expression on Bulma's face was one of pure shock as she continued her ongoing conversation with Captain Curry, "Taken over? By what?"
The red skinned humanoid answered in turn, unsure of himself, "I do now know, but just before I went unconscious, I heard him say they were going to Earth."
"Why do they always come here?" Bulma shook her head and looked back at the Captain, "Not that it matters, thank you Captain." She quickly ended the call, heading back towards the arena.
Back at the Arena...
Trunks had taken his place in the fighting arena. Opposite of him was the strange Masked Man, still covered from head to toe. Trunks slowly inspected his opponent, uncertain of the strange man's intentions, though he didn't seem evil. The Half-Saiyan couldn't feel anything coming from the man, which was mysterious in of itself.
"LAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLEMAN, it's time for our first semi-final match!" The World Tournament Announcer's voice again echoed over the arena, "Our first contestant, you all know him, he saved us all from the Androids. He is the Earth's Hero, the Golden Warrior, Trunks Brief!"
The crowd exploded with a thunderous roar in response to it's hero's introduction and Trunks once again basked in the glory of being Earth's hero. The Half-Saiyan could only smile and wave, until he heard that strange man's voice again.
"They love you, as they should." Trunks could almost feel the smile coming from underneath the mask of the Masked Man. "You are impressive, Trunks."
"Our other contestant, shrouded in mystery, the Masked Man!" The crowd didn't register much of a response to the Masked Man's introduction, thus the Tournament Announcer continued, "Begin!"
"Well?" The Masked Man smiled, but stood still. "Show me that Super Saiyan glow."
Trunks smirked back, "As you wish." His explosive aura lit up the arena as Trunks entered his first Super Saiyan state. "Is this good enough for you?"
"It is impressive for sure.." The Masked Man quickly charged the Half-Saiyan, but his efforts weren't nearly as effective on Trunks as they had been on Krillin. Trunks blocked each one of The Masked Man's blows, eventually catching a thrown fist and tossing his opponent across the ring.
Twisting in the air as if he were dancing, the Masked Man gracefully landed on his feet. "Super Saiyans..they really are something."
"Who are you?" Trunks crouched down into a fighting stance, his golden aura danced around him like a graceful fire. "What are you?"
"I don't know if I could explain it to you accurately…" The Masked Man stood up straight, "But if you show me your full power, I'll tell you."
"My full power? Hm." Trunks stood up, thinking for a moment, "Why do you wanna see that? You couldn't even keep up with me at half my strength."
"Oh, I don't wanna fight you at full power. I'd undoubtedly lose. I need to know your strength for something else."
"And what's that?"
"Show me and I'll tell you."
The Half-Saiyan smiled, "Well, I suppose I can show off a bit." Trunks spread his feet and crouched down, arms bent at his sides as he began to scream. As if a golden bomb had went off, Trunks' aura exploded outward, easily doubling in size. Sparks of lightning flew around the Half-Saiyan as if he were a raincloud during a thunderstorm. The bright light emanating from the aura nearly blinded everyone in the area and the force of Trunks' energy pushed the people back like a gust of wind.
Piccolo, Gohan and the other contestants watched from the back in awe of Trunks' energy. They knew he had gotten stronger in the past year, but they had no idea how much stronger.
Gohan could only smile at his former pupil, "And here I thought I closed the gap a bit..damn."
As the light cleared, Trunks stood straight up, lighting cracked and sparked around him, but his aura was nearly nonexistent, much like his Full Powered Super Saiyan form. "This is my full power, though I can't maintain this level for as long as I'd like."
The Masked Man stood in what could only be described as awe. "This is..more than I expected." He slowly stepped closer, "Though I'm not sure even this will be enough."
Trunks was perplexed by the statement, "What do you mean?"
"No matter right now..I said I would tell you who I am." The Masked Man slowly started unwrapping his face, revealing a light purple skin and a large, white mohawk that sprung upward, "My name is Shin, and I am the Supreme Kai of this Universe."
