Chapter 30: The Last Tuffle
On the Sacred World of the Kais..
Trunks stood at the peak of the rock formation, in the middle of the lake. He slowly took a few steps forward at the urging of Shin. At the center of the formation, thrust into the ground, was a large sword. "That's it..?" The Half-Saiyan looked back at Shin and Kibito, who now stood a few feet behind him, "You want me to pull a sword out of the ground?" Trunks had heard of fairy tales and stories that included stuff like this, but he hardly took them to heart.
Kibito's booming voice erupted, "IT IS NO SMALL MATTER, MORTAL. MANY OF THE KAI HAVE TRIED TO PULL THE Z-SWORD, TO NO AVA-"
Shin extended a hand to Kibito, "Now now my friend, there's no need to be rude." The soft spoken god smiled as he took a step toward Trunks, "Yes. I want you to pull the sword out of the ground."
"Okay.." Trunks stepped closer until he was just inches from what Kibito had called the Z-Sword, "I'll give it a shot." The Half-Saiyan spread his legs apart, crouching slightly as he wrapped his hands around the hilt and tried to yank the sword out. Much to his surprise, the sword didn't budge.
Kibito let a smug smirk come across his face as he could see the surprise in Trunks' body language. "See Master, he can't do it."
Trunks grunted, tugging harder on the hilt of the sword, but it remained still. As he started to pull harder, a white aura erupted around the Half-Saiyan. The ground around him began to crack, but still the sword didn't budge.
Shin looked briefly at his servant, "Give him time, Kibito. Don't underestimate the strength of the Saiyans."
The sky began to darken a bit as Trunks continued to struggle, "Who the hell put this thing here?" The Half-Saiyan yelled as his aura began to brighten and his hair spike, "Come on!"
"He's doing it.." Shin muttered to himself, watching in awe at the strength of Trunks, "Saiyans..unbelievable."
Lightning struck around the pillar of stone as Trunks' Super Saiyan aura exploded, "Almost got iiiit.." The Half-Saiyan could feel the sword start to move, but his strength wasn't quite enough, "Damn it!" Trunks let his aura double in size, the crackling of electricity surrounded him as he pulled the blade from the ground. The rock around it collapsed until the only thing left was the sword and the Half-Saiyan, floating in the air.
Floating alongside Trunks was Shin and Kibito, the latter gawking in awe at the feat that was accomplished before his eyes, "I can't believe it.."
"I can't believe how heavy this damn thing is.." Trunks struggled to keep the sword from pulling him down into the water as he reverted back to his normal state.
"It was always said that the strength of the Z-Sword isn't as a weapon, but lies on the inside." Shin smirked, "But Kai legends are rarely taken at face value, now let's get started."
Less than 24 hours later, just on the other side of Mars..
"How much longer, General?" The mixed voice of Baby Vegeta echoed throughout the bridge of the large spaceship.
"We should be arriving within the hour sir."
"Good. I have been waiting way too long for my revenge. Prepare yourselves, men." the grey haired Saiyan body of Vegeta stood up, Baby letting a smile crack upon his host's face. "This is going to be fun."
On a cluster of islands off the coast of South City..
Krillin and Tien stood at the front of a large room, hands behind their backs as they observed a small group of martial artists practicing. "They seem to be learning quickly, it was a good idea to start a new dojo, Krillin."
"It wasn't my idea." Krillin said, "It was Master Roshi's. In fact, where is that old coot?"
In the back of the room was Master Roshi, standing with his walking stick and turtle shell on his back, ogling a few of the female students from behind. "Such a good idea I had.." The Old Turtle Hermit thought to himself as he cracked a slight smirk.
"Master..you wouldn't be up to anything would you?"
The Turtle Hermit quickly put a serious look on his face and he noticed Krillin standing beside him, "Of course not! What are you implying? I am just observing their form!"
Krillin nodded and rolled his eyes, "Come on back to the front, Master."
Master Roshi huffed as he listened to the bald monk, leaning on his walking stick as he made his way to the front of the class. "What's the point of living to be this old if I can't enjoy it?"
Tien was in the front of the class, helping a student with the form of his kicks when he heard a knock on the door. The triclops slowly made his way over to the entrance, opening the door to see a slim, black haired woman in the doorway. "Welcome to the Turtle and the Crane School of Martial Arts, what can I do for you?"
The woman looked to be a young adult, mid to late 20s, her black hair separated into pigtails and wearing a white t-shirt with black shorts. She seemed small in stature, but Tien could feel the determination in his look, "I'm here to challenge the Master of this school."
Before Tien could even respond, Master Roshi had interjected, overhearing the voice of the young woman. "That would be me!" The Turtle Hermit desperately tried to hold back his trademark nosebleed as he observed the attractive, young woman.
"This old man?" The black haired woman looked puzzled, "I heard this school was run by great warriors."
Krillin spoke up next, "Don't be deceived by his looks, Master Roshi has trained some of the strongest warriors this planet has ever seen."
Tien stood to the side, allowing the young woman to step into the training hall. "Students, let's take a break." The three-eyed man motioned for the students to exit down a hallway, "You can have some lunch."
Some of the students muttered as they followed their tutor's instructions, "Master Roshi will show her a thing or two."
Tien and Krillin stood off to one side as Master Roshi took a better look at the girl who so openly challenged him. She was a bit taller than Roshi, but not quite as tall as Tien. "So, do you have any training, young lady?"
Standing across from Roshi, the young woman took a traditional fighting stance, "I was trained by my Father, he was once one of the best Martial Artists on the planet!"
"I see, I see." Master Roshi stood with his walking stick in his right hand, "Well, take your best shot I guess."
"You're just going to stand there? No stance, no defensive position?"
"I have all the defensive position I need, young lady."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." The young woman immediately took the offensive, showing a speed that was rare among humans, something the Turtle Hermit immediately took notice of. Thinking she had the advantage, the woman led with a punch that she was sure would knock that old man down a peg or two. However, much to her surprise, her fist only met air. As she stood dumbfounded, the young woman felt a small poke on her back. Whipping herself around, she came face to face with the smiling Turtle Hermit, who had just poked her with his stick. "Didn't mean to scare you."
The black haired woman shook her head, she couldn't believe the speed of this kooky, old man. It was time to take it up a notch. Quickly she launched herself at the old man, but just before she reached him, she burst up into the air with speed that she hadn't yet displayed. Smirking as she flipped in the air, "I got him this time.." she thought to herself and swung her leg directing towards the back of Master Roshi's head.
Unfortunately for him, the perverted old man was using his advanced speed to sneak a peek down the airborne woman's shirt instead of paying attention to the boot headed straight for his noggin. As the the kick landed, an audible ouch could be heard from the Turtle Hermit, rubbing the back of his head.
The young woman let out a shout of joy, "Ha! I finally got you."
"Indeed you did.." The Turtle Hermit smiled as he began unstrapping the turtle shell from his back and letting it fall to the ground, the weight cracking the floor. "Aah, much better." Master Roshi began warming up his arms, stretching and limbering up, "Now girly, we can really get started."
The young woman stared in awe at the impact the gigantic shell had made on the stone floow. She was flabbergasted that this old man had been moving so quickly with something that heavy on his back, "Um..my name is Videl."
At a remote location, somewhere in the mountains…
The only sound within over a hundred miles was the flapping of Piccolo's cape in the wind. The Super Namek floated above the snow covered ground, cross legged with his eyes closed. Normally he would do this at Kami's floating palace, but there were too many residents there between Broly, Mr. Popo, and Dende to get true silence.
Taking in the surrounding area, Piccolo could clearly feel every speck of energy on the entire planet. Ever since he fused with his other half over a year ago, his senses had improved drastically, he could survey the Earth itself, as if he had been Guardian for all those centuries. Piccolo then thought, in a strange way, he really had been the Guardian all the time, or at least part of him had.
A few moments later, two enormous power levels came to the brink of Piccolo's senses, "Who..who the hell is that?" The large one seemed familiar..but it took the Super Namek a few seconds to place it, "It's..it's got to be Vegeta." Vegeta's energy was definitely different, but that would make sense if he had been taken over as Bulma had suggested. Piccolo opened his eyes and flared his aura, blasting off towards Capsule Corp, "I've gotta tell the others."
At Capsule Corporation..
Gohan was chowing down on a bowl of rice, compliments of Bulma. 16 sat not too far from him, observing the strange, barbaric way that the Half-Saiyan consumed his sustenance. The large Android thought it was convenient that he did not require such things.
The orange-clad Half-Saiyan suddenly dropped his bowl, the resulting loud noise catching the attention of the nearby Bulma, "Gohan, are you okay?"
Gohan was now standing, a serious look coming across his face as he spoke, "Piccolo is on his way...very quickly. Something's wrong."
16 stood up beside Gohan, "We should meet him outside." The large Android slowly made his way into the courtyard, his Half-Saiyan companion not far behind.
It was only a few seconds before the awaited Super Namek landed, "I see you felt me coming. We need to go, quickly."
Gohan closed his eyes, trying to sense what Piccolo had undoubtedly felt, "Ah..I see."
16 was next to speak, questioning the others, "What is it?"
"Vegeta's here." Piccolo said sternly, "We have to go."
Bulma came running into the yard, "Vegeta?! Already? The Captain said he wouldn't be here for ten days!"
Piccolo turned towards the blue haired genius, "Well, he's here now."
Back on the Sacred World of the Kais…
Trunks' silver aura brightened the landscape, struggling with all his might to wield the Z-Sword against various obstacles that the Supreme Kai had conjured up for him. The Half-Saiyan had been training with the obnoxiously heavy weapon for almost a full twenty-four hours and yet he could still barely move it in his base form. "This thing is ridiculous. Are you sure I can't go Super Saiyan and do this?"
Kibito spoke up, "That would defeat the point of the training!"
The Supreme Kai chuckled, "Kibito is right Trunks, staying in your base form undoubtedly will prove to be more fruitful for this type of training."
Trunks was about to try another swing as he heard a strange noise, "Oh! That must be the communicator Mom gave me.." The Half-Saiyan dropped the heavy sword and quickly answered.
On the other end of the communicator was a hysterical Bulma, "Trunks! Oh thank goodness, it's your dad! He's back already!"
"What?!" Trunks turned to the Supreme Kai, "You have to take me back, now!"
"Your training is not complete!" Kibito shouted, appalled at the audacity of this Half-Saiyan to bark orders at his master.
Shin quietly spoke up, "It's all right Kibito. We will take him back. There's no point in the training if the Earth is destroyed before he gets back." The Supreme Kai motioned for Trunks to come to them, "Shall we go?"
At the behest of his master, Kibito placed one hand on Shin and the other on Trunks as the three disappeared into thin air.
Back on Earth, at The Turtle and Crane School of Martial Arts..
The black haired woman known as Videl was sweating profusely, trying to continue her assault on Master Roshi. She had only mustered that one, single hit on the old man in her many attempts.
"Are you ready to call it, young lady?" The Turtle Hermit was now completely effortlessly dodging her swings due to her fatigue setting in, "In all reality, you are absolutely incredible for your age."
Breathing heavily, the black haired woman stopped her assault, "Alright.." She bowed her head to the old man, "I humbly ask you to train me, Wise Master."
Master Roshi smiled, "I believe we can take on another student." The old man turned to Tien and Krillin, "Don't you concur?"
Krillin and Tien had been silently observing the sparring match, honestly impressed with the girl. Her strength and speed would have rivaled their own back in their tournament days. With some honed training, the girl could be something special, for a human.
"Definitely!" Krillin said excitedly, "Videl, you're pretty astounding."
"Indeed." Tien concurred, "Well, let's get class ba-" The three-eyed man suddenly went silent, turning the Krillin. "Do you feel that?"
The bald monk's face turned from excited to somber, "Yeah..Piccolo, Gohan, heading somewhere, fast. It must mean trouble."
"Let's go." Tien hurried outside, Krillin not far behind him as the two ignited their aura's, blasting into the air.
Videl's jaw dropped as she observed the two leave, "Those guys can FLY?!"
Moments later..
Piccolo, Gohan, and 16 stood in the middle of a barren wasteland, all three staring towards the sky as a ship slowly came into view. Piccolo turned for a moment, noticing the arrival of Tien and Krillin, "Good of you to join us."
"What's going on?" The short monk asked, observing what appeared to be a spaceship slowly approaching where they stood, "Is that.." Krillin could now feel the energy aboard the ship, "Vegeta?"
As soon as Krillin finished speaking, three figures suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Trunks, Kibito, and the Supreme Kai. The purple haired Half-Saiyan walked towards the Z-Fighters, "Hey guys.."
"Why does it always take a global crisis to get us all together?" Krillin cracked a smile at his own sarcasm, trying to lighten the somber mood of the group to no avail.
"I wonder what we're facing here.." Piccolo's stern face showed no emotion as the ship grew closer, "We have no idea how strong Vegeta has gotten, let alone what this..entity has done to him."
"Well, only one way to find out.." Trunks turned towards the now landing ship, "Let's go welcome my father."
The ship soon landed, extending a large ramp and opening up to a shadowy figure. As he exited the ship, the figure was revealed to be the Saiyan Emperor himself, Vegeta. The group immediately noticed the difference in Vegeta's appearance, his black hair now silver in color and strange, red lines on his face. Following slowly behind was a strange looking, silver clad man. He towered over his Saiyan master and appeared much more muscular. The two made their way down the ramp, followed by a squadron of underlings.
As Baby Vegeta took his first step onto the surface of the planet, he took a deep breath and observed the group before him, "Well...it seems we have a welcoming party, General. How accommodating."
Trunks took a step forward, "Welcome home, Father." The sarcasm in the Half-Saiyan's voice immediately implying he knew this wasn't truly Vegeta.
Piccolo was next to speak, "Who are you?"
Baby Vegeta let out a smirk and a light chuckle, "Well, it appears I've already been found out..I am Baby…" His aura ignited and sparked with the power of a Super Saiyan 2, "And I'm here to exterminate you."
Next Chapter - Chapter 31: Saiyan Pride
Author's Note - Thanks for reading! I know it's not a very action packed Chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Trust me, it will pay off!
