A/N: Hey guys, just wanted to say a quick thank-you to those who have helped this story reach 250 favorites with even more reviews to match! It's because of you guys that I'm still working hard on stories like these. I know my content doesn't always match everybody's aesthetic of a good story, but then, show me a book that does, heh. Seriously, thanks for sticking around and giving me extra chances to surprise you guys.
In light of that, and the fact that this story got a very close second on the poll I put up a couple months ago, I went ahead and fully illustrated a six-panel comic for you guys (which took about three weeks of work and a very sore arm), so that you can find it on my Instagram account, which several of you already follow. There are several art pieces of mine on it, both for this story and others that I do, so please check it out and let us know what you think.
Without further ado, please read, review, and most of all, enjoy.
P.S. New artwork coming for next month's chapter release, so look forward to it, though you'll be able to see it a little earlier if you follow me on Instagram, under the handle: the_red_swordsman.
P.P.S. A new poll was just uploaded to my profile page, so go give it a look, especially if you follow my Red Swordsman series in addition to this one.
Cry of the Dragon Balls Arc: Chapter 2
Stars that Darken
Gorun found Azura just as she was coming to, so he hit her with a senzu capsule in order to speed up her recovery.
"Thanks," she grunted as she dusted herself off and looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. "Let me guess- I got brainwashed with Time Breaker energy?"
"Actually, this Zash guy can apparently control people, even without Fu's help," Gorun sighed as he leaned against a tree, feeling rather worn out. "Fun fact, that time-breaking devil is blocking our communications, so until we either smash him to bits or knock out whatever's causing the interference, we're on our own."
"You saw him?" Azura asked sharply.
"Oh yeah," Gorun nodded as he looked up at the sky, which was clouded over. "Another fun fact? He's got Cumber here with him."
"Cu- Oh, jeez," Azura breathed as she recognized the name, her eyes wide. "You're sure?"
"Well, I didn't see his face, but he was huge, his ki felt like a Saiyan's, and very evil," her cousin answered. "They wanted me to leave Zash alone for some reason- threatened to nuke the town if I didn't back off- but other than him becoming stronger due to the input of Time Breaker energy, I don't know what kind of investment he is for them."
"So now what?" Azura asked, sounding every bit as frustrated as he felt. "No backup, we can't go home until this job is finished, and our only lead is being protected by the fact that there's an entire city full of unwitting hostages. Fan-friggin'-tastic."
"I think we might need some local assistance for this one," Gorun said, already knowing what his partner's answer was going to be.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Azura demanded. "We can't involve outsiders in Time Patrol business! Do you want to create another tear in the Book of Beginning to End?!"
"Just listen!" he said sternly, causing her to huff and cross her arms at him. "Based on what we know of this world, there are a lot of different factions called guilds, most of them with conflicting interests of varying degrees. However, it's not uncommon for two or three of them to form a temporary alliance based on necessity."
"You want to pose as wizards from a guild in order to team up with those people that Zash was chasing," Azura said flatly.
Gorun shrugged in response. "We don't have to tell them the full truth, but it sure wouldn't hurt to have some backup, especially if they already have something against this guy. Besides, their memories of us will fade away as long as we don't stick around for too long- how many times did my parents save the prime timeline without the Z fighters ever being aware of their interference?"
Azura appeared thoughtful for a moment before she muttered, "They always forgot about it once the Supreme Kai of Time put the scrolls back in order."
"Bingo," Gorun nodded. "We're veteran time travelers, Azura. Surely this isn't beyond us, right?"
"Hopefully not," she replied as she floated a few inches off the ground. "Otherwise we might need the Super Dragon Balls to fix this mess." Glancing around, she muttered, "Any idea of which way they went? Magic energy is everywhere, I'm having a hard time finding individuals."
"This way," Gorun said confidently as he began to fly through the trees. "I got familiar with their power levels earlier, plus one of them told me where they were planning to camp for the night."
"They just told you?"
"Apparently I have a very trustworthy face."
"That, or they're stupid."
"Oei!"
They flew to the campsite of the people they hoped to ally themselves with, but they made their approach on foot. Gorun and Azura both sensed five respectable power levels, as well as two smaller ones, as they made their way through the forest. It was with great caution that they made their way to a clearing amid the trees that was bordered by a small cliff- after all, they didn't want to panic the people that they were hoping to work with.
They were just about to come out from behind the last of the branches when Gorun heard the voice of the red-haired serving girl from the bar call out, "Whoever's there, come out with your hands up!"
"Friendlies!" Gorun answered as he stepped out of the forest, his hands above his head, Azura, however, refused to show any sign of weakness, and so walked beside him with her hands on her hips.
"These guys can sense energy signatures, too?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Nah, I could smell ya comin' through the trees," said Natsu, Gorun picking him out of the group that they were now faced with. He also saw Lucy and Gray standing in combat ready stances alongside their red-haired ally- Erza was her name, if he recalled. She was now dressed in strong silver armor, and standing next to a little girl who couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen. There were also two cats, a blue one and a white one, but they hardly constituted as a threat to the two Saiyans.
"Good to see you made it out of there in one piece," Gray said as he and Natsu relaxed a little. "Did'ja get Zash?"
"We're actually here to talk about that," Gorun replied as he lowered his hands, feeling a little foolish for having raised them in the first place. "May we join you?" He gestured at a fire that they had presumably been gathered around as he spoke.
"Natsu?" the red-haired woman asked without turning around.
"He's cool," the pinkette replied simply. "He helped me and Lucy escape from that Zash creep. If that chick is his friend, then I guess she's good too."
"My name is Azura!" the blue-haired woman snapped. Gorun could already tell that Natsu's carefree attitude was going to be difficult for his partner to tolerate. Her being on edge about allies within the timeline probably wasn't going to help things, either.
"I'm Son Gorun," he said by way of introduction as the redhead approached him with an outstretched hand, which he readily shook, a little surprised by the strength in her grip.
"Erza Scarlet," she answered, confirming his memory as accurate. "I'm an S-class wizard of the Fairy Tail guild in Fiore. I take it that you've met Natsu, Gray, and Lucy, then?"
"Briefly, yeah," he nodded. Glancing over at the youngest member of their party, he added, "I don't know her, though."
"I'm Wendy," the girl replied with a polite bow, her long blue pigtails nearly brushing the ground as she moved. "And our exceeds are Happy and Carla. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," he said with a friendly smile as he returned a head bow, noticing that the blue cat was waving at him, while the white one stared at him suspiciously. Looking back to Erza, he asked, "Do you lead this squadron?"
"We're a team in a guild, not soldiers," Erza replied as they moved to sit by the fire. "But yes, I am the senior wizard for this mission. What about you? Are you leading a mission of your own?"
"We're partners," Azura replied before he could get in a word. "And we're here to hunt down some fugitives."
"Are you affiliated with another country's military, then?" she asked as she sat down, cross-legged.
Azura and Gorun exchanged a look before he answered, "Yeah, we're special agents from the country Conton." Azura rolled her eyes at his cover story, but he didn't think that their hosts noticed.
"Conton?" Gray repeated with a slight frown. "I've never heard of that country."
"It's definitely not on Ishgar," Lucy put in.
"No, it's a little place, about the same size as Stella, but further to the north," Gorun said with another friendly smile. "We tracked a pair of terrorists to this place, and we think that they're working with Zash."
"What makes you think so?" Erza inquired.
"When I fought Zash, he had been enhanced with magical methods identical to the ones that we've seen our enemies use," he answered. "I nearly had him beaten so that I could bring him in for questioning, but the people that we're hunting approached me and threatened to destroy the city and everyone in it if I did not leave him where he was."
"That's playing dirty," Natsu growled, the flames in front of him flaring angrily. "Using innocent people to get what they want… Let's go back and give 'em a good thrashing!" He shot to his feet, only to be yanked back down by Lucy, who had an exasperated look on her face.
"Did you hit your head when we landed?" she scolded him. "Or did you just forget that we have what we came for? We need to high-tail it back to Fiore as fast as we can."
"Beg pardon?" Gorun asked, a frown creasing his face.
"Unfortunate though it is, Lucy happens to be correct," Erza sighed. She pointed at the staff that they had been running away with, which was currently being used by the blue cat to draw a picture of a fish in the dirt by the fire. "We only came for the Dragon Cry, as it was originally stolen by Zash from our kingdom."
"Oh, so that's why you took his keys," Gorun muttered, his chin now being cupped by his hand.
"Yes," Erza nodded solemnly. "I wish we could help you, but as it stands, we need to be heading home with all possible haste."
"Why can't we do both?" Natsu asked. "We only need one person to carry the staff back to the boat that took us here. Why don't the rest of us go back and fight Zash? We owe these guys for helpin' us escape."
"Use your brain, idiot," Gray said dryly, earning him an angry look from Natsu. "If we only send one person, then chances are greater of it getting stolen back by Stella before we can get away. We can't afford to weaken our guard."
Gorun was about to offer an exchange of services when Erza suddenly got to her feet, a sword appearing in her hand. "Quiet," she ordered. Gray immediately snuffed the flames at their feet with a burst of ice while each warrior and wizard instinctively formed a defensive circle with their backs facing the leftover embers.
"Azura?" Gorun asked his cousin.
"Six signatures approaching from the direction of the city, though one of them seems pretty weak," she answered swiftly. "I think one of them is Zash. Then there's…" Her voice trailed off.
"What's wrong?" her cousin asked worriedly.
"I think it might be Cumber," she said tightly. Gorun stretched out his senses toward the direction that Azura had indicated, and immediately grimaced.
"That's definitely the one I saw earlier," he told her. "Be ready to go all-out if we need to."
"Done," she replied, her power level already on the rise. "You better not hold back against him, either."
"Who do you think I am, Frieza?"
Before Azura could give him a snappy retort, five figures burst into the clearing, one of them familiar to the enemies of Stella. "Zash," Gray snarled, hurling a burst of ice shards at the traitorous wizard before he could use his hypnotic gaze on any of them.
"Don't look him in the eyes!" Azura shouted as she leaped toward him, intending to clobber the man before he could turn one of them against the others. Unfortunately, someone got in her way, first.
A burly figure, whose cloak had been discarded by his rapid movements, glared at her with raging crimson eyes from beneath a long mane of unkempt hair as his beefy fist smashed into her smaller hand, causing her to hiss in pain. As Gorun rushed the towering figure, he noticed a brown tail lashing back and forth behind him, which narrowed down his heritage quite a bit. There was no mistaking it now- this was Cumber, an ancient, evil Saiyan that had fought against Yamoshi upon his ascendency to godhood.
This also meant that if he and his cousin held back even a little, they might well get killed. This in mind, he shoulder-checked Cumber and shouted, "Azura, get to it!" Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that the wizards were now fighting three warriors in addition to Zash, but he couldn't worry about that right now. If any of them were to have a shot at surviving the night, Cumber needed to be brought down, or at least driven off.
The evil saiyan snarled and snatched him up by the throat, immediately crushing his windpipe as to choke the life out of him, and subsequently ignoring his cousin. Gorun was shocked by the viciousness of the movement, and so he did not have even a second to take a proper breath before Cumber began to squeeze the life out of him.
Nonetheless, he knew that Azura needed a couple more seconds, so he managed to croak out, "Hey… Cumber? Ever think about… getting a haircut?"
Blam! The massive saiyan went flying into the trees as a fist wreathed in blue energy collided with his face.
The girl attached to the fist looked at him with something close to disappointment while he struggled to recover his breath. "A haircut?" she asked him dubiously. "Really?" Her Super Saiyan Blue aura didn't change her hair much, and even though normal people could no longer sense her energy, the form was a fearsome one. She was quite proud of achieving it, too. After all, only Goku, Vegeta, and Lettis had ever mastered the blue god energies.
"Hey…" he wheezed. "I didn't see you… coming up… with anything better. Also… he's coming back."
"Then help me do something about it," she said with a scowl as she turned toward the approaching power signature.
"I need… to catch my breath," he told her.
"Why, is it going somewhere?"
"Seriously?!" he coughed. "Buy me a few seconds."
"Fine." She turned to face the oncoming enemy and kicked him upward as soon as he came within range, away from the now-ruined campsite. "You better get up there soon!" she called back as she took off after him.
Even as he tried to settle his nerves, one of the Stellan wizards came shooting toward him on some kind of hoverboard made of a material that he had never seen before. "Try and keep up, Ishgar trash!" he sneered as he aimed the vehicle at Gorun's head.
That was a big mistake. Even winded, the saiyan had lightning-fast reflexes and the strength to bench-press a mountain, as the wizard found out when Gorun yanked the board out from under the rider's feet and brought the transport up and over to crash into his new opponent's head, sending him on a very short trip to meet the ground with his face.
"Idiot," Gorun coughed as he finally managed to regulate his heartbeat enough to concentrate on what he needed to do.
Glancing upward, he noticed that the moon was not quite a full one, so he couldn't absorb enough blutz waves to get to Super Saiyan 4. That left him with just one option.
Tossing the board aside, he firmed up his jaw and released the part of his power that he normally left dormant into the ki paths of his body, allowing the hidden energy to meld with the original flow until the two became indistinguishable. That's when he forced the combined energy to expand and increase in speed as it circulated throughout his body.
As he gazed down at himself, his body became wreathed in a dark purple energy, outlined by a lighter magenta. He knew that if he looked into a mirror, he would see that his gray eyes had remained unchanged, but his hair would now be a rose pink color, and standing on end in the same fashion that it did whenever he went Super Saiyan.
Super Saiyan Rosé… he thought as he blasted off into the sky in pursuit of his cousin and their enemy. It had been a real shock to him, discovering his divine heritage when he tried to access the power of Super Saiyan Blue, only to awaken a power discovered by Zamasu in the guise of Goku Black, a kai in the body of a saiyan.
He had questioned why his mother had never used the transformation, but she had been just as clueless as he. In time, Chronoa had explained that although he was only a quarter-kai by blood, his genetic makeup was more akin to a kai's than his mother, enough so that he utilized the Rosé power instead of Blue.
At first he had been upset, wanting nothing to do with the transformation that had been used to wipe out an entire planet, but a visit from Vegeta had changed that. The Prince of all Saiyans had bluntly told him that if he didn't like the origins of the power that he had been given, then he should change the negative connotations attached to the form by using it for the purposes of good.
Following that, he had embraced the power and with its gifts, he became one of the most powerful Time Patrollers to ever live, right alongside Azura, who constantly tried to prove that Blue was the superior transformation, but only managing to consistently match Gorun instead of surpassing him.
Let's see what Cumber thinks of it, he thought as he zoomed toward the two saiyans that were currently beating the daylights out of each other. Cumber was holding off Azura in his base form, which did not bode well for them. We have to try.
Putting on an extra burst of speed, he threw the hardest kick he could, connecting solidly with the back of Cumber's head, and having the satisfaction of sending the big Saiyan reeling from the blow. Azura, taking advantage of the distraction he provided, lashed out with a Spirit Sword, slashing their enemy in the arm hard enough to draw blood, much to his fury.
Letting out a savage growl, Cumber swiped at Gorun's feet, but the smaller Saiyan was too nimble, shooting upward and blasting his enemy with a Masenko so that Azura could smash him with a Deadly Dance, followed by an Orin combo from her cousin. The two of them continued their chain attacks, not giving the evil Saiyan a chance to catch his breath, let alone use any of his other transformations or techniques.
They continued on like this for several minutes, until Azura managed to land a punch that cracked Cumber's hip bone, causing their enemy to howl in agony. Seeing this, Gorun shouted, "Let's do it!"
"Waiting on you!"
The two of them flew backwards, stopping about fifty meters away from their target, who glared at them with unbridled hatred. With another wordless roar, he charged the two young adults, dark energy trailing in his hands, even as their own power gathered in theirs'.
"Final…!"
"Kamehame…"
"HA!" Together they fired off their strongest techniques, Azura's blue mixing with the rosy energy that her partner wielded until it became a purple beam that smashed into Cumber, sending him tumbling all the way out to the ocean, where he landed in a huge geyser.
As they watched him go, Gorun frowned. "That wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be," he muttered.
"Tell me about it," Azura replied with a scowl of her own. "This must be fairly early in his timeline if that's the all the fight that he can put up."
"Even so, I don't see him giving a Super Saiyan god much trouble," her partner said thoughtfully. "Even if Yamoshi wasn't as strong as Goku when he first ascended, Cumber couldn't have been a Super Saiyan yet."
"It was a full planet that he had to fight against," Azura countered. "Cumber could have hardly fought Yamoshi on his own as he was."
"Still feels too easy," Gorun continued to argue. "Is it possible that he was just a diversion?"
"A diversion from what?" his cousin inquired.
Then they both had the same thought, and they turned to one another and said, "Dragon Cry."
Gorun awoke with a raging headache, his vision taking some time to clear enough for him to see that he was sitting in some kind of prison cell made entirely of stone. Frowning, he tried to reach out with his senses for Azura's power signature, but he felt nothing at all. He couldn't even get a feel for his own battle power, which alarmed him greatly. I can't even conjure a scrap of ki like this.
It wasn't until he forced himself into a sitting position that he noticed the metal chains and fetters on his wrists that he was able to think somewhat clearly. Last thing I remember was going with Azura to try and take out Zash, but then… He scowled at the manacles as his memories refused to reveal themselves. There was something about the bindings that was irritating him, aside from the fact that someone had managed to shackle him in the first place. They simply felt wrong, to say the least.
With an angry growl, he flexed his muscles and snapped the chains like dry twigs before he smashed the bindings against the wall, splintering them, and knocking down the stones keeping him prisoner. As soon as the cuffs were free of his skin, he could feel his power returning in full, which filled him with an immense relief. Those things must have some kind of suppression spell on them, he thought as he once again tried to sense for Azura.
He didn't find her, but he did manage to pick up on the power levels of the Fairy Tail wizards from before. As he stepped through the hole in the wall that he had made, he winced as the bright midmorning sunlight struck him.
"Hey!" He turned to see the wizards, minus the blond girl, standing a few meters away from him, all of them eyeing him cautiously. Natsu was the one that had called out to him, and now he asked, "Are you still gonna try to kill all of us?"
"Kill you-?" he began, then stopped himself, the pieces falling into place. "Did I attack you last night?"
"Yeah, and now Lucy is missing!" Gray said angrily. "I thought you and your friend were trying to help us!"
"Hey, Azura isn't here, either," Gorun replied a little testily. "I don't remember fighting any of you, so my guess is that Zash guy brainwashed me into capturing you and her."
"How do we know you're not workin' some kind of side angle with those guys?" the ice wizard demanded, his power level beginning to climb in preparation to use magic.
Gorun sighed in exasperation before he answered, "You don't. But whether or not you believe me, my cousin is missing, and I need to find her. I'm betting that we'll find her in the same place that they took your friend- Lucy, right?"
"We're pretty far away from the city, from what I can tell," Erza said as she made a motion for the others to stand down. "It'll take some time to get there, so we had best get a move on."
"It won't take even a minute if you're with me," Gorun asserted as he closed his eyes and cast out his senses even further, trying to pick up on his cousin. While he still couldn't find them, he could feel a mass of convoluted, evil ki coming from somewhere underground and to the north. "I can't sense Lucy or Azura, but I think I might have found where they've gone. If I'm right, Zash still has 'em."
"How?" Gray asked him suspiciously.
"I can sense magic energy signatures from continents away if I try hard enough," Gorun answered as he opened his eyes. "The only reason I can think of where I wouldn't be able to sense their presence is if they're being bound with the same stuff that they used to hold us in those cells."
"Makes sense, those were bane cuffs," Erza replied, causing Gorun to look a question at her. "Anti-magic particles imbued in an object can counter our ability to use spells, though they do nothing to our physique, unless the particles were somehow inhaled or injected into the bloodstream."
"Got it, bane particles bad," he muttered as he held out a hand and placed his fingers to his forehead. "You guys coming, or not?"
"Just what are you planning to do?" the white exceed, Carla, demanded of him.
"I'm going to teleport to the source of that power, beat the daylights out of Zash, and get our comrades back," he answered. "Not necessarily in that order. Hopefully we can exploit the element of surprise and get out before his benefactors show up. I can't hope to defeat the two of them without my cousin helping me, so I plan to retreat and recover after she's been rescued."
"We?" Wendy repeated.
"If you guys grab onto me, I can teleport all of us together," he explained. "I'm leaving in ten seconds, so if you want to cover ground at the speed of light, I suggest that you get a grip."
The others looked to Erza, who nodded once. "If he's right, we can save Lucy faster," she told them as she moved to grip his outstretched hand. "If he's lying, he won't live to regret it."
"Hehe," Gorun chuckled as he felt the hands of the other wizards attach themselves to his arms and shoulders. "You'd all be lucky to put a scratch on me." His eyes flared crimson just before he engaged his instant transmission.
Lucy had been in some bad spots before, but this might just be the worst one so far. Half-naked and chained to a stone pillar while a creep uses my blood for dark magic, she thought with dread. If she could have shuddered, she would have done so, but Zash's mental control over her was absolute. The only thing that remained free were her facial expressions and inner thoughts, and she suspected that was because he enjoyed torturing his victims more than a weakness in his magic.
The walls and tables were littered with half-melted candles, few of which were lit, and completely piled with evil-looking instruments and tomes. The air smelled like rot, and the stone floor beneath her bare feet was freezing, as if the atmosphere itself was trying stifle any sense of life that entered the room.
She could just make out Azura, who was also dressed in rags and chained up to a pillar on her left, her expression one of fury and defiance as Zash stood before her. "Do try and remember to scream, ladies," he said hungrily as he eyed them like prized pieces of meat. "It makes this so much more fun."
"Yes, sir," Lucy whimpered.
"Yes… sir," Azura gritted out even as Zash turned toward a small table with an ornate box. Opening the lid carefully, he withdrew a wicked-looking dagger from among a cluster of orange orbs with cracks criss-crossing their surface. When she saw them, Azura's eyes bugged out, and she looked like she wanted to yell at the evil man, but Zash had not given them leave to speak just yet- only cry out in agony, and his commands were absolute.
However, he did notice the look that the bluenette was giving the orbs, so he turned back to her as he casually waggled the knife in front of her face. "I see you've noticed my wish orbs- and rightly so, for their power is nothing short of astounding," he purred. "Very soon, I'll have enough power to bring Fiore to its knees without even having to lift a finger. And you two lovelies will be right at my side, watching the beautiful carnage and destruction that I will wreak upon this world." Seeing the still-defiant look that Azura was giving him, he chuckled and said, "But first, I'll need to fix that attitude of yours'." Zash's knife began to descend toward the girl's midriff, and her blue eyes blazed with fury, though her body still refused to listen to her commands.
There was a flicker in the air, and suddenly, the three of them were not the only ones in the room. "Rebellion Spear!" Gorun's voice boomed throughout the dark chamber as he was wreathed in a golden flame that smashed into Zash, sending him flying into a cache of torture instruments and experiments.
"About damn time you showed up!" Azura barked at him as he turned and blasted the chains holding her hands and feet in place. "I thought I was gonna drown in blondie's waterworks!"
"Sorry," he grinned as he fired another burst of ki that freed Lucy from her restraints. "I had some extra luggage to bring with me." He was clad in the light of Saiyan divinity- apparently, he wasn't taking any chances with the traitorous knight this time.
"Who're you callin' luggage!" Natsu shouted angrily, causing Lucy to run toward her friends.
"Guys, we need to go!" she urged them. "There are other women trapped in here!"
"You damn brat…" Zash growled from beneath the pile of tools and things whose origins Gorun really didn't want to think about. "Why do you keep showing up?!"
"Go," Gorun ordered the others. "Get the other prisoners out of here. I'll take care of this piece of work."
"Be careful!" Lucy called over her shoulder as the wizards began to retreat out of a door that had been left open. "If he makes eye contact, he can control you!"
"Azura, you go with them," the Saiyan boy said when he felt her presence shift into that of godhood alongside him. "I can handle him on my own, and I don't want to give him the chance to control both of us at the same time." The man was now clambering his way out of the pile, a familiar-looking staff in hand.
"We've got bigger problems than we realized," Azura replied in a low tone. "He's got a set of-"
"Now let the wrath of the dragons flow through me!" Zash bellowed, holding the staff aloft, dark energy surging forth from it.
The blast it created was actually fast and powerful enough to catch the two aliens off-guard, flinging them against the far wall of the torture chamber. As Gorun shook his head to try and clear away the effects of the sudden impact, he grumbled, "Someone wanna explain to me what just happened?"
"That staff contains vast amounts of dragon magic, which we're ill-suited to fight against," Azura hissed. "Didn't you pay attention to the briefing?" Their wounds were light enough that their auras were already healing them, but that wasn't the issue so much as the fact that Zash had been able to hit them at all. He had stood up to Super Saiyan 2 the previous evening, but that wasn't anywhere close to god levels of power. Whatever the staff was made of, it was potent.
"Well, then I guess we'll just give up," Gorun muttered sarcastically as Zash approached them, laughing madly.
"Just shut up and do it, already," Azura growled. Both warriors drew in a breath, shot to their feet, and then held out their right hands. "Prominence FLASH!" A tidal wave of divine ki flew from their hands, both of them fully expecting to have vaporized the arrogant man when the light died away a few moments later.
Instead, they were stunned to see Zash, still laughing at them, and with their power condensed into a little ball that hovered over the Dragon Cry staff. "Amazing, isn't it?" he chortled mockingly. "With this staff, I will be beholden to no one!"
"Then why do you need the dragon balls?!" Azura demanded, her mind racing, trying to think up a way to negate his powers without bringing down the palace on them.
"Dragon balls?!" Gorun yelped as he looked at her. "He has dragon balls?!"
"The worst kind."
"...Son of an Arlian-! Cracked Dragon Balls?!"
"I don't know what you two are blathering on about," Zash growled as he came closer, holding the staff between him and his enemies. "But it's time that your interferences come to a halt!" Energy crackled along the staff, and the two cousins braced impact.
"No, don't hurt them!"
"Eh?!" Zash's attention was diverted for a moment, and then the spell went wild, causing an explosion that ripped through the room, and sending the two Saiyans and a ton of rubble down into the sewers beneath the palace.
For a few moments, nothing stirred, but then Gorun's fist burst through the rocks and allowed him and Azura to exit their presumed grave. "I'm getting real sick of this mumbo-jumbo bullcrap," he grunted, spitting out a few pebbles that had gotten into his mouth. Looking up, he could see that they had been blasted through a couple of layers of the dungeon, and that the contents of the torture chamber were mostly in little pieces.
"If we run into Zash again, I'm gonna rip his head off and feed his spine to Strakk," Azura agreed as she noticed that her already-tattered garment was all but falling apart at this point. "Tell me you've got a spare set of my uniform in your kit."
"Here," Gorun said as he tossed a capsule over his shoulder, hearing a loud pop a second later. "Make it fast, they'll be searching the place, soon."
"What, you can't handle a few faceless henchmen?"
"Not if Cumber and Fu show up."
"Fine, give me a second."
"Ugh…" Gorun's ears pricked up at the sound of a woman's voice, coming from nearby in the rubble. Moving quickly, he leaped over to land in front of a girl that looked to be about twenty years old, and was quite possibly concussed.
"Hey there," he said gently as she swayed while trying to get to her feet. "You okay?"
"I… I am…" Her eyes finally cleared in time to behold his hand reaching out to her, concern written on his face. "You're one of the people that Zash captured!"
"Hang on, do you work for that guy?" Gorun asked with a frown as his hand started to lower. "Do you know what he's planning?"
"I work with him, not for him," the girl answered with a swift shake of her head.
"Gorun!" Azura called out as she leaped over the pile of rocks. "I hear soldiers coming- who's this chick?"
"She works with Zash, but I don't think she's too fond of him," he answered, giving the girl a sideways glance. "Am I wrong?"
"No…"
"Mind if I bring you along to ask some questions?" he asked her as the sounds of footsteps echoed in the sewers. "I'd rather have a conversation in a place that doesn't reek of garbage and other junk."
"Gorun!"
"Gimme a second, I let you change your wardrobe!"
"Make it snappy!"
"Well?' Gorun asked as he reached out a hand to the girl again. "Can we have a talk, away from all the soldiers and angry dark magicians?"
"Time's up!"
The Fairy Tail wizards- having used Virgo's tunneling ability to move quickly and stealthily- had just cleared the city boundaries when Gorun, Azura, and a girl that they didn't know popped into existence in front of them, startling the group and the girls that they had rescued. "You made it out!" Happy exclaimed. "We heard a huge explosion, and we were wondering what had happened to you guys!"
"We're okay, and we seemed to have made a new friend," Gorun said with a slight smile as the new girl peeked out from behind him. "I think she might be able to clue us in on what's been going on with the Dragon Cry." As he spoke, he and Azura dropped out of their god forms.
"Then let's hear it!" Natsu said eagerly.
"First things first," Gorun said as he urged the group to move further into the trees. "These girls that you've rescued- they need medical attention and proper clothing." In the brief moment since he had appeared, he had noticed that all of them were covered in deep cuts, some of which had scarred, while many other looked infected.
"I'm a healer," Wendy said as they found a thicker cluster of shrubs. "I'll see what I can do for them."
"Azura, before you start yelling, go find some clothes for these people," Gorun told his cousin. "It's a small price to pay if we can learn something about Zash and Fu."
"Rrgh… Fine." With that, she was off, keeping her power level low as to avoid detection.
"Thank you for rescuing us," said one woman with short black hair as she bowed to the assembled wizards. "That place was hell."
"Wait, your accent is from Fiore," Lucy said as she approached the other woman. "Did he kidnap you when he stole the staff?"
"Yes," the woman nodded bitterly. "I was the commanding officer in charge of defending the relic, though I had no idea what it was. I am Lieutenant Riana of the White Tigers… Or I was." Her eyes narrowed at the girl that was more or less hiding behind Gorun before she added, "That woman was with Zash when he stole the Dragon Cry and kidnapped me."
"She has information about what he and the kingdom of Stella are up to," Gorun said as he pointed his fingers and zapped the chains binding Riana with startling precision. "She distracted Zash and allowed me and my cousin to flee, when she could have just as easily kept quiet."
"That doesn't-!"
"Calm down," Erza urged the other woman as she gripped her by the shoulder and started to lead her away, so that Wendy could look at her wounds. To her comrades, she said, "Keep a lookout. We don't want to deal with another ambush."
"Thank you, sir," the young woman said as she dipped her head toward the Saiyan youth. "My name is Sonya- I'm an aide to King Animus."
"Nice to meet you, Sonya," he said politely. "I'm pretty sure you heard my cousin yelling at me earlier, but allow me to introduce myself as Son Gorun." After they had exchanged slight bows to one another, he decided to broach the topic at hand. "So, the Dragon Cry. Why steal it? World domination?"
"I don't know what Zash plans to do with it, but King Animus simply wishes to save Stella," Sonya said quickly. "You're familiar with the gem that makes our country so wealthy?"
"Stellanium, right?" Gorun replied, remembering the files that he'd read before coming to the island. "It's some kind of magic rock that gains value the more starlight that it's exposed to?"
"Yes, that's correct," Sonya confirmed. "Only recently, the king discovered that the Stellanium crystals have taken in too much starlight over the years. Soon the energy contained within them will explode, causing unimaginable amounts of destruction and death upon our people."
"Still trying to see how the Dragon Cry fits into this," Gorun said with a slight frown. That staff is tied into all this, I know it. Too much is happening because of it for Fu to just ignore it.
"With its power, we can destroy all the Stellanium on the island, and spare our people from an untimely demise," the girl explained. "I would not have assisted in its theft if I thought that there was another way!"
Gorun kept up his frown as he pondered what she had told him. The briefing said nothing about the crystals or the island's destruction in the correct future… Which means that the Dragon Cry isn't meant to be used for what she's described. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely that someone- either Zash or this King Animus- was lying to the girl about their true intentions.
"I believe that you acted with the best interests of your people at heart," he finally said at length. "But I very much doubt that Zash holds the same principles in high esteem. Not to mention his benefactors are some of the most destructive beings to walk creation."
"Benefactors?" Sonya repeated, her eyes widening. "Are you talking about that dark elf and the large man that keeps his company?"
"Yeah, them," Gorun answered, hope that he might receive some useful answers rekindling in his mind. "What can you tell me about them?"
"The two of them visited his majesty a few weeks ago, offering to assist with our kingdom's problem," the girl replied with a slight shudder. "Their spirits were even more dark and violent than Zash's, so I urged the king not to entertain them, but his intrigue prevailed. They left him with seven orange orbs, saying that when the time came for the Stellanium to explode, we had but to summon a dragon from within the orbs that would grant us our wish to save Stella. Naturally, King Animus was skeptical, so the elf offered to augment Zash's power in order for us to obtain the Dragon Cry more easily. The king agreed, on the condition that his own power be increased, and the dark elf did so. He even insisted that we keep the orbs, just in case our own plans should fail."
"Well, crap," Gorun muttered. "Look, Miss Sonya… don't trust that elf as far as you could kick his friend. Those orbs are called the 'dragon balls', and while they will normally grant you a wish, in this instance, they will surely unleash an evil more powerful and wicked than anything you have ever known."
"Have you seen such artifacts before?" Sonya asked him.
"Yes, they come from my homeland," Gorun half-lied. "Nothing good comes from using them when they are damaged as they are now, and that is an absolute guarantee."
"But you said that they do grant the wish that we request?" she asked eagerly. "I could wish for the kingdom to be safe and continue to prosper!"
"You're kind of ignoring the part that includes 'ancient, unspeakable evil'!" Gorun reminded her. "Seriously, you might get what you want, but you could also destroy the world!"
"Then I can simply wish for the evil to be contained when the magic has been cast," Sonya said excitedly. "If what you've said is true, then I can return the Dragon Cry to Fiore and still save my people!"
"Sonya!" Gorun said sharply as he grabbed the girl by the shoulders, frightening her with his intense gaze. "Those dragon balls need to be destroyed, not used. If need be, I will destroy all of the Stellanium on the island in exchange for the safe return of those orbs."
"But if I do that, we lose our kingdom's prime source of trade," Sonya said with a shake of her head. "If there is even the smallest chance that I can keep my people safe and prosperous, then I must take it."
"…Do what you must, but know this," Gorun said in a resigned tone as he released the girl. "If you attempt to make a wish on those abominations, not only will I have to stop you, the world as you know it could be torn asunder. So I'll ask you once more; please, return what was stolen from both kingdoms, and let our guilds handle our traitors."
"My duty is to Stella," Sonya replied quietly. "I-"
"I'll see to your safe return to the palace in exchange for one last piece of information," Gorun said to cut her off. He knew by now that there was nothing more that he could say to change the woman's mind. "Did the two strangers ask for anything in exchange for their services?"
Sonya hesitated, but she could sense that the foreign man had no intention of harming her. "They asked for naught but the ability to move throughout our island, unmolested by the soldiers or wizards. They did not receive money or a title like Zash did when he sought us out for asylum."
Gorun frowned at that, but he only held out his hand and said, "Grab on. I'll take you near the palace, and then we'll go our separate ways. I only pray that you recognize the true potential of the consequences you will wreak on the world- your people included- before you make a wish on those orbs." Like it or not, he had a feeling that Sonya had a part to play in the events to come, and the timeline could not be allowed to come to further harm, which was a distinct possibility if he did not return her to where she belonged.
By the time Azura had returned, Gorun was treating some of the more seriously wounded women alongside Wendy, using his health capsules to restore their vitality. While his cousin clearly did not approve of his use of their resources, she simply made her way over to the girls that had already been treated and started handing out outfits that she had 'appropriated' from some vendors in town.
Once she had given the pile of garments to Erza and Wendy, she pulled Gorun aside and asked in a lowered tone, "What did you find out?"
"Sonya told me that the island is rigged to blow because their gems are absorbing too much starlight," he answered quickly. "I dunno that I buy that, though. Even if we can't sense inanimate energy, something about that reasoning seems fishy to me."
"You think she duped you?" Azura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I think she's desperate to believe in a narrative that justifies her crimes against these people from Fiore," he said with a slight shake of his head. "That's not really the main concern, though. I found out that Fu amplified not only Zash's powers, but also their king, a man named Animus. He gave them the cracked dragon balls as some kind of contingency plan for if their own schemes go awry, which I think is his endgame here."
"You think that he wants to unleash the dark Shenron collective on this world," Azura surmised.
"I'd be willing to bet that he's just curious to see how dragon slayer magic stands up to them," Gorun nodded. "It can't be a coincidence that he chose to interfere in this place when there are two dragon slayers with strong magic present and willing to interfere."
"He does act mostly on his sense of curiosity," the blue-haired Saiyan agreed. "I'd say that we should contact the Time Nest, but our coms were jammed, plus they stole my scouter. You?"
"Yeah, but I'll bet you that Fu asked them for it," her cousin sighed heavily. "They're not supposed to activate for anybody but us, but I'll bet that he finds a workaround if he has enough time. He's pretty damn smart."
"At least we know our objective now," Azura muttered. "Retrieve or destroy the dragon balls, assist in the defeat of Zash and Animus, and capture Fu and Cumber. Should be a walk in the park. What do our supplies look like?"
Gorun checked their satchel before he answered, "A dozen senzu capsules, my spare uniform, and a portable shelter big enough for our old squad."
"Why did you keep that big one?"
"Sue me, I like having a big room," he answered with a shrug. "It's a good thing, too. We'll have enough beds for everyone, except for those that we set up on a patrol tonight."
"Why are we spending the night in a capsule house?" Azura questioned.
"When I left Sonya at the palace, I didn't leave right away." Gorun tapped his ear with a smile as he said, "I kept myself hidden long enough to eavesdrop on her conversation with somebody- I couldn't tell who- which is when she mentioned that they plan to use the staff tomorrow night. If we want to meddle with the timeline as little as possible, we need to stop them whenever these wizards from Fiore go to do it, and I doubt that they're gonna want to try their luck today. If that Erza girl is any kind of a strategist, she'll know that their best chance to succeed is a surprise attack at nightfall, when the guards are in the middle of a shift change."
"Do you have a plan for when Fu and Cumber come out to play?"
"Sort of," he admitted. When Azura's glare intensified, he explained, "Normally when Fu has stuff all lined up, he tends to take a back seat and just watch, so he can do his research properly, such as it is. I'm betting that he sends Cumber out to counter us again."
"If we both fight him, that doesn't leave anybody to deal with the dragon balls," she mused out loud. "If the evil Shenron collective gets loose, this timeline could end up needing a hard reset."
"I know, which is why you're gonna deal with Cumber," Gorun said, surprising her. Seeing this, he added, "What? You would've complained if I sent you to take care of the orbs, so I'm giving you the fun part. One of us has to make sure that those things don't get used, so I might as well make it easier on the both of us."
"Well look at you, delegating like a good squad captain," Azura teased him.
"So you admit that I'm the senior in this partnership?"
"You're only older than me by twenty-eight minutes!"
"Do we have an arrangement?" Gorun asked Erza as they stood in front of the shelter that he had provided in the woods. Inside were the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards and Zash's former prisoners, all of them sound asleep. Azura was out on patrol, just in case the soldiers from Stella tried another sneak attack on them.
"We get the Dragon Cry, and you get the Dragon Balls," Erza nodded. "That seems like a fair arrangement, as long as you can guarantee that neither Zash nor his benefactors from your country will be a problem."
The two of them shook hands, the bargain struck. Zash, you're going to regret the day that you made a deal with that devil, Gorun vowed silently.
Gorun: The next one is it, right?
Mataras: You are in a really big hurry to get back to the other timeline, aren't you?
Gorun: How would you feel if you were separated from your wife for three months?!
Mataras: ...Okay, that's fair.
Azura: Wusses.
Gorun: Hey!
Mataras: She's just saying that because she can't get anybody to stick around for long.
Azura: And who's fault is that?! Who was in charge of my character design?!
Mataras: Doesn't change the fact that nobody likes you. Or rather, that everybody likes Gorun better than you.
Azura: ...
Gorun: ...Okay, I'm gonna go...
Azura: You have five seconds to start running, Red Swordsman.
Mataras: Thanks. I'm going to need it. You're very fast. Audience, you know the drill- see you in a month for the final chapter of this side story.
Gorun: Next time- The Ultimate Dragon Slayer
Mataras: Run!
Azura: That won't save you!
Next Time on Saiyan Tail...
"So… the one that lives only to fight and conquer has returned to die by the talons of a dragon!" He bellowed a new challenge at the saiyan, as he stood up on his hind legs, making him rise above every building, save for the ruined tower.
"Wrong," Gorun replied as he allowed his tail to unfurl from around his waist, and he gazed up at the shining moon. "I've never lived for the thrill of battle or to conquer others. We've got better reasons to live than that." His earring began to glow on the side of his face, which got him to smile a little
"For our friends!" Natsu declared as he stepped out from behind the rubble that was hiding Lucy and Happy, the potara earring on his head shining as it drew nearer to its twin. "To protect them!" Fire danced on his body as shouted, "That's why we're still alive! That's why we fight!"
"And why we're gonna STOP YOU!" the two of them roared together as they charged at the dragon, the earrings drawing them closer and closer to each other as their enemy echoed the challenge and moved to stab them with his horns again.
Saiyan Tail Profile
Subject: (Xeno) Son Gorun
Saiyan Name: Kaidon
Code Name: Kai
Current Age: 21 yrs
Conception/Author's Commentary
You're all very familiar with Gorun/Kaidon by this point, so you'd think that there's not much for me to put here. However, something to remember is that this isn't the same saiyan that we've been following for the last couple of years. He's older, stronger, and his experiences are very different from his original counterpart. They may have begun the same way, but at some point, they made different decisions that took them in separate directions, producing the men we now see.
I thought it would be fun to at some point explore what Gorun and Azura would look like if he had never left the Time Patrol. I had originally planned to incorporate these versions of them into the main story, but it just wound up getting way too complicated and convoluted for my liking, so I scrapped the idea. However, the idea of Xeno Gorun and Azura was too compelling, so I decided to use them in a 'movie' plot. This way, I don't have to worry about twenty-something different timelines in the main story, and I can still have some fun with their alternative character designs.
This Gorun is on much better terms with Azura, and the feeling is mutual, which has led to a much healthier series of interactions between the two of them. I had wanted to do something like this with a character form his past in the first place, but I realized that someone with good relations to him would not come at him as viciously as I wanted Azura to do, so I had to sour their history with each other. This is a better glimpse into what their friendship could have looked like if it were not for Gorun's selfishness. Maybe someday they'll get to this level of camaraderie in the main story, but we'll have to wait and see on that.
Known Techniques
-Instant Transmission
-Kamehameha
-Double Sunday
-Kienzan
-Masenko
-Big Bang Attack
-Tyrant Lance
-Rebellion Spear
-Hellzone Grenade
-Makankosappo
-Final Flash
-Dragon Fist
-Metamoran Fusion
Known Combo Techniques
-Prominence Flash: an enhanced version Vegeta's Final Flash which is comprised solely of god ki. It is a much more precise attack than its predecessor, despite the fact that neither Azura or Gorun have been able to pull it off on their own just yet. This means that it can be used in close quarters to take down difficult opponents.
-Chaos Control: a move unique to Gorun and Azura, alone. By combining the nature of their paradoxical ki (in that they are essentially the same person from different timelines), a distortion in the fabric of reality is created, causing the target to be briefly exposed to the Time Rift, and subsequently lost to the chaos of unstructured time and space itself, annihilating it from every reality and time. Its destructive capabilities have been compared to the magic of a Hakaishin, though the technique requires much more energy to work than a god of destruction's magic. The first time they accomplished its use as children, both of them were nearly obliterated from the ki drain alone.
Known Transformations/Enhancements
-Kaioken
-Oozaru
-Golden Oozaru
-Super Saiyan
-Super Saiyan 2
-Super Saiyan 4
-Super Saiyan god
-Super Saiyan Rosé
Equipment/Items Used
-Senzu Capsules
-Time Patrol Scouter
-Blue Potara Earrings
-Portable Shelter Capsule
-Clothing Capsule
Accomplishments
-Became an elite Time Patroller by age 17
-Became a Super Saiyan deity by age 18 alongside Azura, making them the youngest to achieve the power
-Replaced his father as a sub-commander of the Time Patrol at age 20 after taking second place in the annual Conton City Tournament
-Also at age 20, became the first actual Saiyan to unlock Super Saiyan Rosé