I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. Nor do I own any legal imprinting of whatever theme I'm using, such as a crossover with another anime, movie or TV series. Did I think it up? Yes. Was I the first to think it up? Probably not, but I digress. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just the merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 23: Dark Descent
"…To recap, the World Summit was attacked and King Furry has been assassinated. In addition, nearly all of the regional governors in attendance were killed in the attack. Reports on the ground indicate that Bulma Briefs and her alien friends were seen fleeing the scene shortly after the King's Tower exploded. Dozens of people have also died in the streets from the attack, and hundreds more were injured. Governor Cash was the lone survivor of the attack in the tower and has taken over efforts to see that emergency care is provided. We go now to his statement."
"This was a heinous attempt to carry out a coup and take over the World Government. Our new nation came to the summit in order to foster cooperation and a path back to peace, but instead these aliens and their co-conspirators acted with treachery. This will be repaid, I promise you. In the meantime, we will focus on the immediate needs of the people who have suffered from this horrible attack. In the face of this tragedy, I am pleased to announce that North and South cities have rejoined the World Nation as we were able to come to an agreement before these homicidal villains revealed themselves. Invoking emergency powers, I am the acting sovereign of the World Nation, but I truly wish it were under better circumstances. Know this, I will not rest until they have all been brought to justice! Bulma Briefs, her alien husband, that wretched son of theirs, Son Goku, the lot of them will pay for what they have done!"
"That was Governor Cash one hour after the destruction of King's Tower, more on this after the break…" The television promptly went blank as Bulma threw the remote aside in disgust.
"Well this is about as low as you can go. He took over just like that," Bulma summarized.
Verto nodded grimly as he stood with his arms folded, "He set the entire thing up and sent the coded message to us. Furry was used as a pawn." They had all returned to Kame House and were in the living room, though the kids were outside playing while both androids patrolled nearby. Most of the group was there aside from the androids, even the spy, Jessica. Goku, to the shock of no one, was eating what appeared to be a large number of dumplings from a bowl. The one person missing was Videl, who stayed on the ship because she was feeling ill.
"When I find that pile of scrap metal, there will be nothing left," Vegeta added angrily, standing in a similar pose.
"Well trying to find him hasn't gotten us very far yet. And now the world thinks that we are the ones responsible," Piccolo reminded.
"He's right. We have found the labs but it's impossible to know which one he's at, if he's even there. How many of those clones do you think are running around, doing his bidding?" Bulma asked.
Verto's lip twisted in thought, "If I were to guess, as many as possible. Clearly, it's more than one, or he at least had one on standby. So far, we only know of two at the same time, what if it's a hundred?"
A loud beeping interrupted them as Kain's electronic voice sounded from the scanner which was sitting on the center table, "Pardon me, but I believe Doctor Wheelo is limited to controlling at most three robotic clones of himself at a time."
"How can you be sure of that?" Gohan asked.
"He certainly doesn't seem to have a problem with hundreds or thousands of people he's transformed," Verto added.
"For a computer system, yes that is much simpler to do. But for a human mind it is not so easy to do. Moving, breathing, speaking, you all act independently on our own. If you all had multiple bodies to control at once, it would be exceedingly difficult to do on your own," Kain explained.
Piccolo nodded, "It is essentially the same principle of the split form technique that Tien and I use. Not only would our strength be divided, so would our mental ability, and that is in a temporary situation. Even if Doctor Wheelo could enhance his brain power, it would take quite an effort to control even one or two of those clones at once, and he does not strike me as someone with the mental discipline to do so."
Verto's eyes narrowed before he came to a realization and snapped his finger, "Unless he borrowed some brain power."
"What do you mean by that?" Vegeta asked.
Verto looked a little disgusted at the thought he had, "In the early versions of the cyborgs, they were missing most, if not all, of their physical brain matter; like it had been removed completely. We didn't see that with Sonny or the latter versions thus far. What if he removed them to either enhance his own brain, or implant in those clones with his memories. With his technology and expertise, I have zero doubt he could do either one or both."
"I believe the former would be the most likely sir, but both outcomes are possible. Kochin is an expert in biomechanical research, and Director Schultz was a top-level expert in the human body and was a neuro-surgeon before he founded REDIC," Kain continued.
Hercule was perplexed, "So does that mean he could just put a piece of someone else's brain in other people and control them just like that?"
Verto shook his head, "No, but it would explain how his clones could operate independently from each other as needed. Think of it like ant hive, only the worker ants would have to borrow energy and knowledge from the queen, or king in this case. He could in theory add all that brain matter together for himself, and then partition it off as needed like you can do with a computer storage system. As weird as it sounds, I think that might be more viable for him to do something like that than moving around clone to clone. If what that dysfunctional Kochin clone said is true, he doesn't want to just keep jumping from body to body anyway. Apparently, he's only done it four times, and I know we've destroyed at least that many clones if not more. It would make more sense that his actual brain and consciousness is locked in a jar somewhere and he sends out these avatars to do his work for him. They could come back as needed and be replaced, or they could all be transmitting data of things happening back to his brain. I wonder if that's what that control signal is for, maybe he needs all those cyborgs to help relay it."
"An excellent deduction sir. I shall investigate further," Kain said as he signed off.
"Did that make any sense to you?" Goku whispered to Krillin.
Krillin frowned, "What are you asking me for?"
Goku grimly looked down at his empty food bowl, "Do you have any pudding here?"
Krillin rolled his eyes, "In the fridge, don't eat it all!"
"In any event, this island is likely to be targeted soon. We shouldn't stay here where we can easily be reached," Piccolo stated, ignoring Goku's side activities.
"He's right, but the only place we can be certain of is the lookout. But there's a pretty good chance that they know about it. And the survivors of Nam's village wouldn't be safe either," Gohan added.
Verto looked thoughtful, "I think we're as safe here as we're going to get for the time being."
Bulma glanced at him, "How can you be certain?"
"That was a trap move to pull us in and we knew that already, but Wheelo was depending entirely on us showing up and looking bad. He had to pull all the strings just right and aside from sending in the cyborgs to attack the King at the right time and blow them up; he really couldn't do anything else. It's not that he didn't want to, it was because he couldn't. Attacking us all, here today, or even a week from now, is a very bad idea and he knows it. That won't be his move," Verto replied.
"I get you, after you guys obliterated his best robots, he wouldn't dare try anything like that, at least not right away," Bulma said.
Vegeta gritted his teeth, "Tch! Coward!"
"Unfortunately for us, a smart coward," Krillin joked, though no one laughed.
Verto unfolded his arms at this point, "It's more likely he would try to pick us off one by one if we get separated. So, while I agree that some of us should be at Goku's house to be near the village survivors, we should not split into more than two or three groups going forward. Champ, I recommend not going back to Satan City for a while." Mr. Satan frowned, but nodded at this.
"In any event, I think we should all get some rest before we consider our next move," Piccolo suggested.
As the group split slightly and figured out what they would be doing for the evening, Verto went back to the ship, with the main intention of being alone for a while. When he returned to the computer room however, he found the one person missing from the gathering that he expected to be there. Videl looked particularly troubled as she sat in the chair, but she was not facing the computer screen.
Verto avoided the knee-jerk reaction and elected to go with compassion instead, "You alright?"
When the light hit her face just right, Verto could see she had been crying, a lot. Videl didn't answer for the moment, but she did get out of the chair and step over to Verto before dropping to her knees and hugging him tightly. This was one of the rare times Verto had ever seen Videl in this state despite the number of moments they had shared, and he opted to return the embrace.
"Thank you so much for saving my father! A-After Gohan lost his grandpa, I don't think I can take any more bad news!" she sobbed into Verto's shoulder.
"Well your father actually did pretty well, given the circumstances. Yes, that was me, giving him credit," Verto said with a slight smirk.
Videl pulled back a little and sneaked a small kiss onto Verto's cheek, "Keep it up, maybe it'll be good karma to cash in later."
Verto's eyebrow went up, "Okay, I know it's been awhile, at least for me it has. But we're not going down that road again."
Videl pulled back and stood back up with a sheepish grin as her tears subsided, "Sorry, it's just been really stressful the last few days and I guess my emotions are getting the better of me." A particular scent caught Verto's nose as she stood up, and the answer to her behavior became very apparent to him.
"Well, high emotions are normal for stuff like this. But it isn't normal for you, unless something is different about you. Clearly it hasn't been as long for you as it has for me. So, have you told Gohan?" Verto asked with a deep grin.
Videl was taken aback as her face reddened, "How do you guys do that? Seriously, I just showered an hour ago! I've only known since this morning after I threw up and took the test!"
"I'll just call this the second try on little Miss Pan," Verto joked as he sat down.
"Wait, how did you know what the name was going to be if it is a girl?" Videl asked.
Verto realized he had slipped and rapidly produced a lie, "Oh, um, Gohan mentioned it during the Zerg mess the first time around."
"Oh okay, that makes sense. Sorry, I've just been a mess all day with everything. And I was even fighting that monster the other day while pregnant, I feel so guilty about that. If that would've gone differently…" Videl's eyes threatened to well up again.
Verto was quick to intercede, "But it didn't. You can't plague yourself with what ifs, just what is. You can only control what you can control. Sure, we all do it to some extent, but now you can't because you have more than one person to concern yourself with. And what ifs will flood your head and drive you crazy. But, at least you know now before another battle starts, right?"
Videl nodded and wiped her eyes, "I guess I'll go give everyone the good news. Are you coming?" Verto's phone promptly starting ringing, which brought up a notice on the computer screen and indicated it was an audio-only call.
Verto pushed a button on the console, "Let me take this first, hello?"
"Kid, it's me, Sonny," the voice on the other end said.
"Officer Satsu?" Videl asked.
"Oh, hello Miss Videl. Sorry to be blunt but I don't have much time. Kid, I found something you all are going to want to know about. While you had practically the whole world distracted at the summit, I found out what the cultists are doing next. They're going to do mass gatherings of worship and I assume using those events to turn more people into machines. But they are first going to be holding some sort of summoning ritual. That priest and some witch I've been hearing about are going to try and summon that dark shadow creature I saw. And they intend to sacrifice someone," Sonny explained.
Verto's eyes widened, "I hear you. Do you know when and where?"
"Tomorrow night, and it's going to be in the mountains near that desert we were in. Kid, this sounds really serious, like it's their big move. The storms have subsided in that area, I imagine your computer program can find where the opening is. Meet me there at dusk, and don't come alone!"
The line promptly hung up and Verto sprang into action, "Kain, can you pinpoint the location he is talking about?" The world map including Wheelo's lab locations came up and a large white arrow pinpointed the location, right next to what appeared to be a buried lab location.
"Sir, the storms have indeed subsided in the surrounding area. My knowledge of this base is very limited, so I will not be of much use in charting the area," Kain explained.
"That's fine, did you record the call?"
"Of course, sir."
"Good, get ready to play it again. C'mon Videl, let's go give out the news, both good and bad," Verto declared as he swiftly got up to leave. As the pair moved to leave the ship, Jessica emerged from the opposite side of the hallway.
She elected not to do much more than watch them, before moving back into her provided room, No, not yet. Doctor Cash said I would know when.
"Are you sure this isn't a bit too much?" Android Seventeen asked as he flew through the skies the next evening.
Beside him were Verto, Vegeta, and Gohan, all of whom were informed on the mission. They were going to stop the summoning, one way or another. While they still didn't know enough about what they might be facing, the entire group felt it necessary to stop it before anything else bad happened. Everyone else was either back at Goku's place, or at Kame House, as they felt the show of force between the four would be more than enough.
"If we're going to stop whatever this is going to be, then let's stop it and take no chances," Gohan suggested.
Vegeta smirked slightly, "Losing your nerve, Android?"
Seventeen glared at him, "Hardly, I just don't want to be led on another wild goose chase."
"Sonny didn't sound like this was going to be any run of the mill event. And the way things have gone lately, it would be foolish to ignore it," Gohan warned. Verto remained quiet most of the way there as he recalled that there was likely an unexpected guest coming to this party, and it wasn't the mystery shadow.
This time around, I might finally get some answers. The real dilemma is whether I really want to know those answers.
His silence did not go unnoticed by the group, but they elected not to say anything regarding it as they passed over the desert. The storms had completely ceased, but the land below was utterly devastated. It wasn't glassed over like the destroyed area Verto had found before, but the storms had ripped up the land in such a way that there was no longer any sand. The desert had been pulverized so much that it was a wasteland of random grey rock formations. To Verto, it almost looked like the area had been transformed into a part of Hell. The sky was even rust colored directly above it, and the air was hot and dry. There were even random clouds of smoke over areas of land that were still smoldering.
"How awful," Gohan commented. Seventeen's eyes narrowed as he picked up speed, though their destination was not far off. A few minutes later they landed at the base of the western mountain range, where there was a noticeable gap in the side of the rock. Just inside the gap, Sonny stepped out, glancing around in caution.
"You guys sure know how to make a guy wait. There was a big group of people that came, probably around one to two hundred. I was able to slip away from the crowd as they went down there," Sonny said nervously as he watched for anyone else that might be nearby. Behind Sonny, the entrance to the mountain was utterly dark without as much as a gust of wind coming out of it.
"Well that looks inviting," Vegeta muttered sarcastically as he folded his arms.
"What kind of resistance can we expect in there?" Seventeen asked straight away.
Sonny shrugged, "I have no idea, I haven't dared check it out yet. I might be a robot now, but I'm not crazy!"
Verto lip twitched in annoyance, "Well going off past encounters, we can expect cyborgs with anti-Zerg guns, and probably big robots. However…" Verto paused as he eyed the darkness waiting for them and felt a sudden rush of déjà vu, especially knowing what Soren's real identity was. He had yet to reveal that to anyone else, though considering it would bring up more questions than progress, he chose to omit that information.
"I don't think we're going to see anything we expect this time. Gohan, wait up here," Verto ordered.
Gohan was taken aback, "What? Why?"
"Because we don't know what we are facing this time, and you can be our insurance. If this cave goes down too far, we won't know what's happening up here. If we get into too much trouble, Vegeta can always blow up the mountain to let you know to come help us," Verto suggested.
Vegeta smirked, "I could just do that now you know."
Gohan grimaced, "Alright, if you think it is wise."
"That priest is here, so it may not matter how many of us go in anyway, he can always just snap his fingers or whatever he does to teleport people. He was even telling people not to stray from the path inside, whatever that means. The kid is right, having backup up here is a good idea," Sonny pointed out.
"Good, it's settled," Vegeta growled as he stepped forward and entered first.
Sonny, Verto and Seventeen followed, as Gohan could only look on, "Good luck guys!"
Just inside, it took a moment for everyone's eyes to adjust, but they become acutely aware of a dimly lit path that descended into the cavern, surrounded by cave walls, stalagmite spikes and a few lone torches. It was also drastically colder inside than it was just at the entrance. The path was worn into the dirt and rock, showing that it had indeed been traveling on by quite a few people at once. Once they were out of sight and earshot of the entrance, the darkness of the cave began to feel slightly suffocating, at least to Verto. It was shortly after that the entire group except for Sonny noticed something odd.
"Do you feel that strange feeling?" Verto asked.
Vegeta nodded, "We are not alone."
Verto's eyes shifted side to side, but he could only see the dim path. The continued on and entered a large chamber in which the darkness seemed to expand. Just with his own senses, Verto could tell that the cave in this area was much larger than most buildings. Up ahead, they could see the dim path wind and bend around slightly to various parts of this room before disappearing behind more rock walls. A light rustle of wind caused all four of them to stop in their tracks and listen for another disturbance. That sound came a moment later, and it sounded distinctly like something rattling just slightly.
"What is that?" Sonny dared whisper. Verto held his hand up and produced his spinning Spirit Orb which added a lot of golden light to their immediate area as he held it up over his head. This provided enough light to see how high the ceiling was and at least thirty feet around them. Each of their eyes widened in astonishment as they found they were surrounded by skeletons.
"I'm sorry I asked!" Sonny exclaimed. None of the skeletons appeared to be moving or anything of the like, but they were all at least in the shape of a humanoid, and most had rusty and spiderweb covered swords at their sides.
"Do I even ask what happened here?" Seventeen asked.
Verto's sense of déjà vu increased that much more, because it was the exact same thing that he, Gohan, Goten and Trunks had seen in Soren's cave way back when they had first encountered the wizard on his island. Verto kept his Orb ignited as he moved forward, prompting the rest of them to do the same. It was a surprisingly long way between the entrance to the large dark chamber and the other side where the path actually went. Each of them eyed the mass number of skeletons with varying feelings. The most obvious one was the fear that they would suddenly jump up and move, but so far there was no sign of that happening. Verto kept moving forward with Sonny directly next to him, Vegeta in the middle, and Seventeen bringing up the rear. Verto noted a slight divot in the path and swerved to avoid it, but Sonny did not notice it in time and tripped when he stepped on it. He lost his footing momentarily as he stumbled outside of the path, right onto a skeleton's leg, which did little more than move the ankle slightly.
"Fool," Vegeta grumbled as Sonny recovered and walked back in line. A sudden but rather low hissing and grumbling sound made all four of them stop moving entirely. Verto spotted the movement first as a skeleton started moving on its own.
"Uh oh," Sonny whispered. This skeleton was quickly joined by the rest of them rising up to their boney feet and grabbing their aged swords.
"Well this is something new," Vegeta muttered as he dropped into his fighting stance. Seventeen and Verto mimicked this as numerous skeletons stumbled towards them, filling the cave with the sounds of their bones rattling and some joints popping.
Sonny notably panicked as this was beyond anything he had seen before, "This is insane! What the hell do we do?"
The answer became clear when all three fighters charged Ki blasts and released them in a rapid-fire barrage attack in every direction. The cave became as bright as it could possibly be as hundreds of small gold energy bullets filled the room, ripping through skeletons left and right. None of the dead creatures could take more than a hit or two, and each became a part of a massive, growing pile of crumbling bones all around them. Within a minute, all of the skeletons were down, many of them completely smashed and fallen apart.
"We don't panic, and we deal with the problem as it comes," Verto replied as Sonny looked on in amazement.
"Now I see how you could take on over a thousand cyborgs and barely even be winded," Sonny remarked.
Verto shook his head, "These were weak by comparison and probably just here for shock value. And something like that might draw attention to us, but I'd rather they are dealt with instead of giving them the chance to inflict any sort of damage."
Sonny frowned, "Well excuse me for trying to be normal." Another rattling sound drew their attention to the rather large array of bones on the ground.
"Did we miss one?" Seventeen asked as he charged another blast. The sound grew louder as bones began to displace slightly and the ground shook.
"I don't think we missed whatever this is," Verto noted.
To their left, a mound of dirt and bones were suddenly forced upwards and pushed aside in the darkness. Verto re-lit his Ki-powered Spirit Orb, and what he saw made his spine run cold. A massive being with red skin and horns rose out of the ground with glowing yellow eyes. It had to have been at least two to three meters in height, not including the horns. It was also quite wide, but in a muscular sense. It wore only a loin cloth over its groin, and its arms featured rather sharp looking fingers that resembled claws. The creature also had a very large slab of wood in the shape of a ragged club over its shoulder. Verto had no problems detecting the strength of this new creature that clearly was not human.
"It's a demon!" Verto shouted as he abruptly turned Super Saiyan. The newcomer looked on a grinned wickedly, exposing a few fangs in its toothy smile.
"Which one of you is first?" the demon growled. Seventeen elected himself to the task and charged in as fast as he could. He struck the demon's leg with as hard a kick as he could muster, and the demon merely glanced down. Seventeen was sent flying backwards from a large backhand, though managed to recover and land in a crotched position. This was enough of a demonstration for Verto empower his Spirit Orb and then throw it. The demon swung at it with his empty hand, but missed with the ball of light split into four smaller blasts. They hit the target directly and exploded but did little to nothing.
The demon laughed, "That tickled, give me another one!"
At this point, Vegeta didn't feel like waiting around anymore, and sent dust, dirt and bones flying from around him as golden energy filled the air. Lightning followed as his hair turned gold and his battle cry echoed in the cavern as he transformed to Super Saiyan Two. The demon's laughter faded, and he swung his overly large club down at the group, but more directly at the Saiyan Prince. Verto pulled Sonny out of the way as Seventeen also dodged to the side. Vegeta didn't budge an inch aside from holding one hand up, which stopped the club just inches from his hair before it broke apart cleanly.
The demon frowned as he discarded what was left and ran right at Vegeta, causing the ground to shake from his weight. Vegeta didn't wait for the demon to actually arrive and phased out just as the large red fist came towards him. The demon bent over as Vegeta had buried his own fist into the demon's large abdomen. He didn't wait for the massive monster to recover and phased out again, this time smashing the demon over the head with a double ax-handle shot just behind the horns. The demon collapsed to his knees for a moment before attempting to swat Vegeta away. The demon got back to his feet and turned enough to swing again, missing when Vegeta phased out and he could only see the far dark wall. That wall lit with reflected green light as the demon's eyes widened and he realized his mistake.
"You made a big mistake coming here! Final Shine…Attack!" Vegeta bellowed as he released his energy and thrust his arm forward. The demon was swallowed by the green light as it shot into the wall and exploded. The cave shook with dramatic effect as Verto shielded himself and Sonny while Seventeen used his own barrier to prevent any sort of damage done by flying rocks and debris. When the dust settled, only the horns of the demon remained, separated from what was its head and laying on the burnt ground.
"Wow," Sonny exclaimed. Vegeta snorted slightly and powered down, which darkened the room again by quite a bit.
Verto did the same, "I hope that's the only one of those."
Seventeen shrugged, "If we find another one, we should try and get some information. That was a little too fast if you ask me."
Vegeta chuckled, "You can have the next one all to yourself android. See how you fair."
Verto frowned, "I don't like where this is going. If actual demons are showing up, this is bigger than just Wheelo's little cult. And it seems a little…too easy."
"Yes, there is definitely something bigger at play here. Let's go," Vegeta said.
The group continued and left the large chamber behind as the cave walls tightened again. It wasn't long after that they could see more light in the cave ahead than was previously provided, and the path became a sharp spiral ramp. The light increased and so did the amount of heat they could feel in the air. In a cave that was as chilly as an average spring morning, it now felt like a hot summer day to Verto. They proceeded down the ramp with caution, and after a few complete turns it leveled out. Before them was a round field of blue energy that spanned the path.
"Is this the entrance to the summoning chamber?" Verto asked.
"I would assume so, I think I can hear people on the other side of it," Sonny said.
"Well let's crash the party then," Vegeta said with a deep smirk as he took the lead with Seventeen right behind him. All four walked straight into the light, which grew drastically brighter as they did, to a nearly blinding level. Vegeta was annoyed by this but let it slide as he continued ahead. When the light finally faded, he saw open sky in front of him, and Son Gohan waiting patiently. Seventeen blinked sharply and glanced behind him, but there was only the dark cave entrance.
"How did it go?" Gohan asked, "Where's Verto and Sonny?" Vegeta spun completely and growled as he clenched his fists in realization. Verto and Sonny were not there, because they were still in the cavern depths. He flew directly into the cave, only to be stopped by a large red barrier that shot up through the ground and extended into the skies.
Gohan's face fell, "Oh no, they're trapped!"
Verto and Sonny exited the flash of light and quickly realized that Vegeta and Seventeen were no longer there. He glanced behind him, where the blue field of energy was now gone and only the dark cave was behind them.
"I guess they weren't invited," Sonny said with uncertainty.
Verto scowled, "No shit? Must have been Soren getting Vegeta out of the way. I doubt he was concerned about Seventeen but isolating the two of us says a lot."
"So, do we cancel this whole thing? I don't feel good about going forward if there's more of those demon things ahead," Sonny admitted.
"We don't have a lot of choice. I'm going to keep going, but you can go back the way we came if you want," Verto replied.
"Fuck that!" Sonny shouted at him.
"Gentlemen am I interrupting?" a voice asked. Both Sonny and Verto turned to see Soren before them, removing his hood as he seemed to be holding another robe in his hands.
Verto's scowled lingered, "You could say that. What did you do with Vegeta and Seventeen?"
"I let them leave on their own free will, in a way. Besides, you don't really want the Saiyan Prince down here causing a ruckus. It wouldn't take much effort from him to collapse the mountain and crush everyone down here," Soren said.
"Fine, what do you intend to do? Is Wheelo here to, or just one of his clones?" Verto asked.
"So many questions, so little time. Here, put these on to hide your identities," Soren ordered as he tossed his extra clothing to both of them. Upon receiving, Verto and Sonny unrolled the cloth to reveal a pair of similar robes to what Soren was wearing.
"We must hurry if we are going to stop them from sacrificing their prisoner. She is the key to stopping all of this before it gets any worse as you know. If she dies, chaos will ensue. If you thought that low rank demon you defeated on the way down here was bad, then you do not want to know what comes next," Soren explained as he turned around.
Sonny's eyes narrowed as he slipped on the robe, "What does he mean by that kid? Who is this prisoner of theirs?"
Verto glanced up at him, "I think I know but I am not for certain. I was hoping you knew."
"No idea."
Soren turned and stared at them both, "We must hurry, the ceremony is starting soon. Grab the girl as soon as you can! You'll know who it is once she is revealed."
Verto and Sonny nodded and followed suit as soon as their disguises were on. They turned into a very well-lit portion of the cave, where crowds of people had flocked, all of them dressed in similar robes though many had their hoods off. They were hooting and hollering, many of them were drinking alcohol. Verto made a quick note that there were not any Max uniforms that he could see in this crowd, which he thought was a bit odd. Before the crowd of hundreds, there was a large alter covered in strange markings with a donut-like hole in the middle of it. The hole only had dirt within it, but it still looked strange behind surrounded by stone. Some of the markings were in black ink, but there was also evidence of red ink and even what looked like spilled blood all over it. The altar itself seemed to have a stage like appearance in the front, and there were a pair of figures on the stage alone. One of them was an obvious Doctor Wheelo cyborg-clone, and he looked to be whooping it up with the crowd as he spoke and greeted them. The other was completely covered in a red robe instead of the beige color that everyone else where. The mystery person looked to be more concentrated on the altar than the crowd. Soren motioned the pair towards the left side of the altar and then he himself moved to the right side. The crowd recognized Soren immediately and moved out of the way so he could reach the altar without pause. Verto and Sonny elected to blend in on the far edge, approaching slowly.
"This is nuts kid," Sonny claimed. Verto didn't answer as he kept his eyes glued on the stage but didn't see any sign of the person Soren was speaking of.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! We are just about to commence with the summoning! Are you ready to meet your lord and savior, the great Torev?" Soren called out. Massive cheers signaled the acknowledgement as Verto and Sonny crept closer.
"That is good to hear. I am sure Lord Torev will personally grant you his gift without having to go through the sacrificial ritual. However, there is at least one that must go through with it," Wheelo announced. He pulled a remote control out and pressed the button on it. From the ceiling, an opening emerged, and a masked figure dropped out, falling until the figure was just a few feet off the ground. The figure was covered in a similar robe that kept every feature covered except a pair of white boots and was tied to a rope that extended to the ceiling. Verto attempted to detect the energy signature of this new arrival but could not detect anything.
"This sacrifice will not be one of you. This person is an alien, not unlike the aliens we are fighting against!" Wheelo proclaimed to a loud assortment of boos. As the crowd became more hostile, Verto signaled to Sonny to move towards the middle while he continued to move along the side.
"Lord Torev is not a picky god nor is he a violent one. He wishes to end her life as expediently as possible so her spirit can nourish his own and help bring him to this world," Soren said. Wheelo nodded and pressed another button. The crowd on the left cleared out as another opening emerged, though this time it revealed a pit of boiling lava directly under the captive, who was twitching slightly and showing signs of life. Verto didn't bother waiting any longer and rushed towards the stage, flying through the air and pulling the captive off the tied rope. The hood of the robe Verto was wearing slipped back, revealing his face.
"It's that damn kid!" Wheelo shouted as the crowd grew into an uproar. Multiple weapons were drawn and shot towards Verto as he changed directions and flew back towards the rear of the room. The person he had just rescued made some muffled noises that were definitely feminine, and Verto felt his heart flutter slightly. The anti-Zerg blasters began hitting around him, and he stood up, turning Super Saiyan with a definite tone of anger.
"You leave her the hell alone!" he shouted as his energy flared and the extra robe he was wearing disintegrated. Verto's energy expanded and ripped through all of their weapons, causing them to explode in their hands. The crowd ducked in fear at this angry outburst and dropped the useless guns while the cave shook. On the stage, Soren remained stone-faced, Wheelo was enraged, and the face under the mystery robe grinned slightly.
Verto growled before turning back and ripping the coverings off the liberated captive. The first thing he noticed was the strange but loose-fitting purple and gold dress she wore, which barely seemed to hold onto her neckline. She still had a tight, sleeveless garment on underneath, so there was little risk of being exposed. The next thing he noticed was the lavender color and for a very brief moment, his breath caught in his throat.
Only it wasn't her hair, like he might have been expecting. It was her skin color which was lavender with a hint of pink; and her hair was an auburn-pink color. She had pointed ears and perfectly round golden earrings dangling from them. Her eyes were fairly large for her small frame, but the pupils were a solid black in color. It was at this point that Verto finally realized that this girl was just about as tall as he was, perhaps just slightly shorter, which was also not what he expected. Her mouth was gagged, to which Verto pulled it down so she could speak.
"Verto? How did you find me?" she asked.
Verto blinked sharply in confusion, "Um, who are you?"
The girl was taken aback for a moment, "If you don't know me, that means, oh no!"
"Isn't that sweet? I think it's love at first sight," a different feminine voice said from behind him.
Verto's eyes widened again as he recognized the voice and he turned in shock, "Lenz?" The demi-Saiyan girl in question grinned wickedly as she pulled off her red hood. This revealed blue skin and fangs that did in fact belong to her, just not with the personality she was supposed to have.
"Not quite, little brother. Did you come all the way down here to save little old me? I'm touched," Kaon said.
A/N: And the bottom drops out.