As Horkion reached to cover his mouth in horror, all Laswe could think about was how the motion was half strangling him. He also felt ashamed that this was what he cared about: not the fact that Sepis had just died. He had lost all love for the insect – perhaps not as much as he had for his mistress, but enough. There was an icy wound in Laswe's heart that wouldn't allow him to feel sorry for his former companion. When he thought about it, he had never really considered Sepis a friend. He was too weak and cowardly for Laswe to feel an attachment to him. But Laswe had at least felt some fondness toward him for all that Sepis's gifts had provided the Justice. But now, all he could experience was indifference and spite.
Krillin crouched on the nose of the Hammer from where Sepis had leapt, in disbelief at all he had just observed. Anyone could tell what had happened had been an accident, but did it really matter? Sepis had tried to give his friend a way out of this mess and it had cost him his life. Poor guy. Despite what he'd done to the fleet, it turned out he wasn't such a bad guy after all. In the end, you might even call him brave.
Nevrrest kept speaking softly and lovingly to the broken bug as she laid him on the ground, nudging him like a mother bird trying to awaken her dead young. As for Veku, he hadn't moved once since the moment Sepis had first entered the scene. From the moment the energy had disappeared from his hands, he had turned into a statue with flickering mauve eyes. Once again, his parts threatened to wage war, a joust of grieved horror and bitter spite. He took several steps forward, his shadow falling against Nevrrest. The flickering intensified and finally settled to a gentle glow.
He looked at the motionless insect. "I'm sorry, Sepis." He looked at Nevrrest. "So. What do you want to do now?"
Nevrrest visibly shivered like an icy wind had just blown over and her red aura emerged like a tongue of flame rising from the depths of the demon realm. "My Sepis is dead…DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME?!" Next thing anyone knew her fist was embedded in Veku's cheek, turning his head so far it was a wonder it didn't spin like a top.
"Holy cow—shit!" Krillin and Laswe cried in unison, "Her power!"
Veku's body buckled as he was flipped and driven through the air by thundering feet, talons ripping against his defenses. With devastating force, her tail whipped him, her blades threating to tear him apart. Veku struck back with a blow to the side of her head, but she just shoved herself into it like it was a power up, opening her talons and slicing up his side. Blood droplets flew followed by a spray as she ripped a chunk out of his shoulder with her beak. Her hand latch around his wrist, pulling him close as the red light building in her other hand blazed against both their faces.
"BASTARD!" she screamed, "DIE!"
Veku grunted loudly, breaking free of her grip and pushing both arms up, deflecting the attack skyward. She tucked her elbows and slashed her blades into him as both his legs wrapped around her waist. Veku squinted through the blur of motion and blood as he brought his hands forward in a cupped, sideways position.
"I'm sorry, you poor fool. This isn't the opening I was waiting for. But it's mine!" Bright yellow energy blazed. "Hrrr—FINAL KAMEHAMEHA!"
Nevrrest felt the attack before she saw it. It burned against her collar bone, dissolving feathers and scales. But that wasn't all. It struck her glowing band with incredible force, her eyes widening. The band cracked, energy leaking out. As the energy beam continued its flood, it washed over every crevice of the device, the gem first disintegrating and the rest becoming little more than sparks lost on the wind.
(**Scene Break**)
"They've done it!" Dende declared, raising his hands up high.
"Yeah! Woo! Go Dad! Whoop! Yeah!" cried Goten and Trunks, bouncing up and down.
"Alright!" cheered Gohan, "I knew they could do it!"
"Finally," sighed Piccolo.
"It's about time!" Bulma stomped and pumped, "Now it's time to kick her ass!"
(**Scene Break**)
The dragon that was Nevrrest fell through the sky, flaunted in the last of her monstrous glory. She jerked as all the fleet's energy gathered at her chest and shot out of her like streaming comets in the sky. The streams broke into smaller parts, spreading out over the Hammer or taking off beyond the clouds. In that same instant, people woke up. They stood up from wherever they had fallen, revived, restored, and perhaps wearier than they had ever been, but alright.
Crakars smiled as she held out a hand to Cheese, helping her out from under the collapsed table. Her smile was as warm as though they were old friends and truly, neither felt that they were otherwise.
"Do you know what this means?" Crakars proudly asked.
"That we're alive?" Cheese sheepishly replied, still shaken by their ordeal.
"It means," she said, looking at the recreation room's cracked and powered down viewing screen, "That we've won."
Order quickly resumed in all of the fleet still in space and they celebrated in bonds of fellowship. They praised the miracle that none of them had died and jeered at the scowling prisoners in their cells, who had been hoping for the worst. On Prison Ship 1, it was like a festival day, prisoners raising their supervisors on their shoulders and clasping each other in joy.
Veku watched the dragon fall as he glided away, landing to look on as her body pulsated and jerked, rapidly de-evolving into a beautiful, brightly colored bird with scales, her plume flourishing to its natural length and her blades breaking off and dissolving. When she landed, it was as though a newborn baby had been struck down by the gods, nestled in the center of the crater like a cradle. Nevrrest stared at nothing as her chest rose and fell, feeling idly at her bare neck and collar.
Veku walked down into the crater and looked at her – and she at him. He knelt down beside her. "Rest, Nevrrest," he told her, "Vegeta's com—"
He popped like a bubble. Nevrrest could only stare as Goku and Vegeta landed in a heap like they'd just been tossed out of a bar, bumping heads as they fell back to back on the ground. They huffed and puffed, bedraggled and covered in minor versions of Veku's injuries.
"Let's never do that again," said Goku, blinking his glowing mauve eyes.
"Let's," agreed Vegeta. He grunted and cut his hand through the air and the glow faded from Goku's eyes.
They quickly shuffled away from each other the moment the link was cut, Goku shifting around like a gymnast as he stretched and Vegeta brushing himself off and turning away, arms folded. Nevrrest stared at them, her colorful feathers puffing and her pupil-less irises shrinking.
"You…bastards." She stood up and crooked her brow painfully. "Exactly thirty minutes…you bastards had a time limit!" She smacked the side of her head. "Damn it! All I had to do was hold out a little longer and…and…" She saw their warriors' gaze on her and her plume lowered, taking a step back. "…What do you intend to do now?"
Goku and Vegeta looked at each other, some silent communication passing between them as they nodded to the other. Nevrrest tipped her head to the side as Vegeta took a step forward and stretched out his hand. The mauve ring of the Empathic Master dissolved from his palm and the energy flames disappeared from his eyes. He grunted, closing them as he massaged and flexed his arms. A new kind of flame appeared in his black gaze and he looked at Nevrrest with a lowered brow, stretching out an arm and pointing at her.
He chuckled once and lifted a corner of his mouth. "Tell me, Nevrrest, how ready are you to die?"
She stared at him. "You must be joking."
"Not really," said Laswe. He hovered several paces behind Nevrrest, his royal attire damaged and smeared. "Though it's almost giving you what you wanted, a deal is a deal." He nodded to the other prince, who looked even less attractive than he did in his ravaged prison uniform. "Try not to have too much fun."
"Hmhmhm…no promises," Vegeta replied, gazing at Nevrrest with hunger in his eyes.
For once, Nevrrest didn't have a snarky reply. In fact, she wasn't even looking at any of them. She was watching Horkion as he edged his way toward Sepis, moaning softly. Vegeta grunted with surprise and offense as she walked right past him. She climbed the slope without once looking back till she was standing at the edge of the green soaked dust where Sepis lay. Horkion stopped his approach and she dropped to her knees, taking the motionless insectoid into her arms. She wrapped his tattered and stained cloak around him and held him like a babe.
"…Kakarot." She looked over her shoulder at Goku with hell in her gaze. "You broke your promise. You said no one else would die." Goku couldn't look at any one. He stared emptily at the ground, frozen in guilt, grief, and pain. Her glare grew wider, her grip on Sepis tighter. "You should have just let me die."
"Enough!" Vegeta snapped. He planted a foot forward and pointed a palm. "I don't give a damn about your guilt, Nevrrest. Now face me like the warrior you claim to be or I'll turn his corpse to dust in your arms."
Her gaze shifted to Vegeta and narrowed through her raised feathers. "You would, wouldn't you, fiend?" She looked up. "You! The tiny one! Get down here!"
Krillin hiccupped from his place atop the wreck of the Hammer and pointed at his face. "M-me?"
"Yes! Here—at once!"
"Gee! Yes—ma'am." He hopped off and floated down.
Nevrrest pressed her forehead to Sepis's as he descended, a rumbling chortle sounding deep in her chest. "You were too good for this world…" Krillin stumbled near and she seized him by the collar. "You! You guard this body with your life, you hear?"
"I uuuuhh…" He held up his hands and sweat gathered on his forehead. "I guess?"
"Do it!" she snapped, shoving him over and gently laying the body at his feet. She stroked Sepis one last time and walked away, headed toward Goku, Vegeta, and Laswe. "Well," she said, opening her arms, "Congratulations. You have taken everything from me. So I'll ask again. Now what?"
Vegeta glanced briefly between the mocking Laswe and the stricken Goku. "We're all agreed." He clenched a fist at her. "Your life is mine."
"Veku could have taken it before he disappeared," Nevrrest plainly replied, "I expected him to. He was able. You? I'm not so certain." She took a step toward him. "On the other hand…killing you is all I have left. There is no future without Sepis. And with no way to kill Kakarot, I have no hope of reaching the dragon balls to save him. I have nothing further to lose." She stood over him. "So I accept this most generous gift, Vegeta. If the last sight I ever see is your corpse, I can face the end with satisfaction."
"I'll do one better!" Vegeta retorted, "I'll end your miserable life right here and now and live with the satisfaction of having destroyed you!"
Nevrrest reared. "Well let's finally get it over with then!"
They leapt at each other, mouths open, sparking like lightning, and exploding into golden and crimson light. Vegeta instantly formed a ball of energy over his head and brought it down on Nevrrest like a cudgel. Nevrrest met it with a two handed blast. The explosion rocked everything around them, dust shooting upward and then blowing away as they engaged in close combat.
In all his years as a warrior, Goku had never seen two opponents go at each other so viciously. Sure, he'd seen grudge matches, seen bitterness and rage. But the hatred Nevrrest had for Vegeta was immense, and in the time he'd been imprisoned, Vegeta had developed a hatred for her that rivaled it. It was like watching two cats fight over a scrap of food. That was it for sure, it was a battle of hunger. They were starving for each other's blood. It had all the brutal markings of a fight to the death. And yet…
"Dad!"
Goku looked up as Gohan dropped down out of the sky. "Gohan! I'm glad to see you're okay, son."
"Bulma insisted I come," Gohan explained, "She wanted to come herself, but I talked her out of it."
"Good," Goku nodded, "I don't think Bulma being here would be a good idea for anyone. But why did she want you to come?"
"Why do you think? She's worried about Vegeta. She doesn't like him fighting Nevrrest. She actually wanted me to talk you into doing it instead."
Goku laughed weakly and rubbed his head. "Believe it or not, I think I've actually had my fill of fighting Nevrrest for now. Besides…Vegeta needs to do this."
"Yeah, I tried to tell her you'd say something like that." Gohan studied his father for a moment. "Dad…is everything alright? You look like something's bothering you."
Goku glanced at him and his brow twitched painfully. "It's…not important right now, Gohan." He tried to smile reassuringly. "We can talk about it later. Right now, let's just focus on the fight."
When it came to battle, Vegeta was a thinker – a strategist. When he fought, he was always planning; always thinking ahead to his next move. But when it came to this battle, he didn't have to. In all those long hours he had spent imprisoned, he had already plotted and strategized the entire thing. In the month since all this had started, he had had time to study Nevrrest in more ways than he desired. The match had been set and the rules already decided. Perhaps, even the victor.
But it was more than just a fight. It was a conversation. It was a summation of all that had and hadn't been said since their paths crossed. Nevrrest jabbed her resentment for being forgotten. Vegeta struck his anger for her disrespect. Nevrrest insulted him with a slash of her talons and Vegeta berated her with the thrust of his elbow. They mocked, accused, and thwarted with kicks, hooks, and dodges. But nothing in their discourse really stuck until Nevrrest landed a particularly nasty insult to Vegeta's jaw.
There was a loud crack and a pop as Vegeta cried out and fell to the ground, the earth cracking and sinking around him. Before he could react, Nevrrest held out both hands and unleashed a spraying volley of red energy bolts that swarmed down and repeatedly struck him. Vegeta's cried echoed as he jostled around, trying to escape the attack to no avail.
"Oh no-no way!" Gohan cried, leaning forward with horror, "She's got him pinned down!"
"Ooh," said Goku with a tiny smile.
"Dad!" Gohan piped, "This is serious! Vegeta's in trouble!"
The volley continued until Nevrrest seemingly got bored of it and flew down at Vegeta like a rocket. Vegeta gasped, smoking and bruised, scrambling as he got out of the way just as her knee shattered the rock where he had been. He sprinted, trying to gain some ground, but her tail whipped around, catching him across the stomach. The blow carried him in the complete opposite direction, flinging him into the side of the Hammer not far from where Sepis had met his fate.
She flew at him, arms outstretched. The next thing he knew, her hands were around his neck. Squeezing, she slammed him repeatedly against the Hammer's near-impenetrable hull. The vessel echoed with the din as its occupants began to appear at last out of the emergency exits, assisted to the ground as needed by rescue bots. They chattered and pointed at Nevrrest and Vegeta as the blecha attempted to bash the saiyan's skull in. She threw him and kicked him back into the Hammer again, holding him against it with punches.
"Look at them," Laswe remarked, observing the crowd, "They're watching this whole thing unfold like it's a kick-ball tournament. Do they even understand what's going on?" He glanced at Horkion, expecting a response, but got none. The Minarite hadn't stopped staring at Sepis's body and giving off low moans since the moment the Arlian had fallen. Laswe snorted. "Suit yourself. This is an auspicious moment. The least you could do is take it in."
Vegeta hit the side of the Hammer one more time and slid down the hull to the ground, leaving behind a faint smear of blood. Nevrrest hurled herself downward with the intent of landing on him, but was shocked to find him already standing. Vegeta turned his head and spat out blood disdainfully. "Was that all?" he asked.
Her beak snapped, showing fangs. "Your arrogance will be the death of you!"
Vegeta blocked her first two blows and struck an upper cut into her chin. She seethed with anger and deflected his next attack, confusing his guard with her tail. The symphony of hate in their blows was palpable, Nevrrest further misdirecting his guard with a false slash of her foot before shoving a blast directly into Vegeta's open mouth. His body jostled as the explosion thundered internally, the prince vomiting a rain of blood. She followed up by pushing a red sphere against his chest, the explosion sending him flying with a great cry of pain.
"This is brutal!" Gohan cried, "Vegeta's going to get himself killed!"
"If that's what you think," Goku remarked, lifting a finger off his folded arms with a veiled smile, "Then you're really missing the big picture."
"What?" Gohan asked, "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Gohan," Goku wily encouraged, "You can figure it out. Watch closely."
(**Scene Break**)
"Rrrrr, and what is that supposed to mean?!" Bulma howled at Piccolo, clenching her fists around her swollen belly.
"Yeah, come on, Piccolo," Goten persisted, "I don't get it."
"Yeah, Piccolo, spill the beans already!" Trunks complained.
"Hmph," Piccolo snorted, closing his eyes and turning his head aside, "If you're not all smart enough to figure it out, I don't see why I should have to explain it."
"Of all the nerve!" Bulma piped, "I outta slap you!"
"I hope he wasn't directing that at me," remarked Dende self-consciously, rubbing a finger against his cheek, "Because I can't see what Vegeta's up to either."
(**Scene Break**)
"He can't be just buying time, can he?" Gohan wondered.
"No, there'd be no point to that," Goku instructed, "This fight's all on Vegeta."
"Then what could he be doing?! He's getting slaughtered!" It was hard to exaggerate. Even as Gohan said this, Vegeta was on the ground being torn up by Nevrrest's talons.
But Goku just shook his head. "Nah…you aren't thinking hard enough. Come on, Gohan. You might not know much about Nevrrest, but you do know a lot about Vegeta. Just think, Gohan."
"What exactly am I supposed to be thinking about?" he asked with exasperation.
"Okay, I'll give you a hint. Think way back to when you were a little kid. Back when you first met Vegeta. What was he like? What was he like when Nevrrest knew him?"
A myriad of thoughts flooded Gohan's mind as Nevrrest built up a giant blast over her head. He'd had a lot of time over the weeks to think about Vegeta and all he'd done. He'd heard Vegeta say more than once that a Saiyan could remember everything from the time he was born. But Gohan was only half saiyan, so the details weren't all clear. The clearest memory of Vegeta from back then that he could come up with was his encounters with the rebelling officer on Namek. Sure, Vegeta was an entirely different person back then, but what did that have to do with what was going on now?
Honestly, he wasn't sure he'd have time to figure it out with the rate things were going. Nevrrest had Vegeta on the ground again – a bloodied and bruised mess. She looked at him lying there and grinned hatefully, pointing two spread fingers at him and charging a blast. In the blink of an eye, Vegeta was back on his feet and seized her by the wrist, making her attack miss. Smirking, he struck her one way with the back of his hand and then the other with his fist. The darkness in Nevrrest's eyes deepened, her whole composure quaking with rage.
"He's insane!" Gohan shouted, exasperated, "All he's doing is pissing her off!"
Panting, she leapt into the air and seized his head in her foot, slamming him under her to the ground. A crack formed, gushing water into a sudden, looping river. The water splashed like rain as she pounded him, her body shaking and breath heaving. Laswe watched this impatiently, tapping his many legs. Horkion continued to moan softly, all his attention on Sepis's body.
To the little man's surprise, Krillin found his attention divided between the fighting and his vigil over the Arlian. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't like anything was going to happen to the body if he didn't keep looking at it. But Krillin had never been one to doubt his instincts. So he kept one eye on the body and the other on the battle.
In the bottom of yet another pit, Nevrrest's hot breath heaved out her open beak as she stood over Vegeta, the saiyan imbedded in the ground. Her feathers rippled as she wetted the edges of her beak and heaved a few more breaths. "Tell me, Vegeta…do you believe in destiny?"
Vegeta's flaming gaze looked up from the dirt. "As a matter of fact, I do."
Her fangs glistened. "Good…then I want you to know it was always your fate to meet your end at my hand. Not even Frieza could rob that from me, it seems. And do you know why?" Vegeta gasped with pain as she slammed her hand down on his head, digging her talons into his scalp as she lifted him into the air. "Because I am the superior being! In every way! And no matter what you do, Vegeta, no matter what path we each might have taken, any battle would end with me beating you!"
Though his eyes were blocked by her palm, she saw a smirk cross his lips. "Hmph. Don't make me laugh." Nevrrest's beak flew agape with pain as the full force of Vegeta's fist impacted with her chestplate, shattering it into a flourish of bone shards and blood.
AUTHOR NOTE
Hey guys! Hope you're as ready for the epic conclusion as I am! And don't forget, A Good Man will be followed up by its sequel, Dragon Ball Z: Light and Shadows. So match sure to hit that "Follow Author" button so that you don't miss out on all the action!
See you in the next chapter!