Part 2: At Last… The Dragon!
All he did was look at the full moon… and Goku turned into a giant monster monkey! What more could go wrong for Rias and her friends…?!
"RRROOAR!" Goku's deep, prolonged clamor echoed, soaring over the land, reaching the farthest cities and towns, miles upon miles away. Raising his large fists into the air, Goku brought down all his strength like a sledgehammer, striking the ground underneath him with a rabid ferocity, unrelenting.
GBMM! The dirt and stone just below were instantly crushed like a delicate fine china, sending shards of rocky debris everywhere.
"Everyone, get behind!" Taking action, Grayfia threw up a number of magical barriers, each deflecting away the pieces of destroyed earth. Serafall joined in and used her powers to manifest a great, big barrier of blue ice, instantly walling off the great beast from the children.
"GURAHH!" The monster turned, striking away a devil, GOOM, unfortunate enough to be flying by. The instantly annihilated corpse flew off like a bullet fired from a high-powered rifle, crashing into another group of flying devils like a bowling ball completing a perfect strike on an unlucky group of pins.
"Sona-tan," Serafall quickly turned around to face her little sister, "use a magic circle to get everyone out of here! We, the adults, can handle this!" Suddenly, a massive fist crashed through the wall of ice like an 18 wheeler driving through a bouncy castle. ROOOM!
"Tsk!" She snapped her tongue, then threw up both of her arms. "Of course he'd break through!" Suddenly, the destroyed ice reverted itself into a great wave of water, with a mind of its own, engulfing the transform Goku into a ball of continuously spinning pressure. The moving liquid sphere, slowly, lifted the great monkey off the ground, just in time for Sirzechs, high above, to finish charging his attack.
"Hmm." He focused onto the transformed Goku before firing away a massive ball of destructive magic, right into the struggling beast. A chain reaction from both of their magical attacks, Sirzech's and Serafall's, combusted, and the sphere, holding Goku captive, erupted into an unnatural purple fireball, sending out an ear-splitting shockwave. KWABOOM!
["EEEEE!"] Everyone held on for dear life as the devils continually lambasted Goku with magical attacks.
"D-Did you kill him?!" Katerea shrieked at Sirzechs, presently more concerned for her own life now than the future of the Old Maou Faction.
Everyone watched, frozen with anticipation, as a cloud of black, charcoal smoke covered the grounds like a thick fog, blinding them from seeing the results of the combined attack.
"Goku…" Rias whimpered, worried for the boy's life. This was still the same kind and sweet boy that she had come to love and care for, that they were currently facing off against.
"Ha… Ha HA HA HA!" One of the remaining leaders of the Old Maou Faction, Shalba, broke out into a maddening fret of laughter, then mockingly pointed down, below. "Serves that shitty brat right! May he suffer in—"
KRAAA! Suddenly, firing out of the smoke, a single stream of bright yellow light engulfed the hysterical devil and several of his flying foot soldiers, erasing them from existence in an instant.
"RAAAAR!" A massive flux of power dispersed away the dark fumes, revealing the monster that had been previously Goku. His fur had been slightly singed and bloodied, yet despite the combined attach from both Sirzechs and Serafall, all-powerful devils, the great ape only looked like it had been royally pissed off rather than genuinely hurt.
"Incredible, he's made out alright…!" Sirzechs observed the transformed beast from above, astounded, fascinated like a well-exhausted researcher. "Crap, I'll become too much like Beelzebub." He shivered, suddenly, finding his curiosity a tad creepy.
With his rage swelling past the boiling point, the transformed Goku started his rampage over again, lashing out wildly at any and all persons nearby. Like swatting flies, even despite the overwhelming, constant bombardment of magical projectiles hitting him, Goku continued to mow down at the forces surrounding him, modern or old faction alike.
"ARH-RAAR!" Bellowing a mighty roar, suddenly, his attention shifted towards the crimson haired devil, up in the sky.
"Oh…? You've noticed me?" Sirzechs smiled, realizing the monster was targeting him.
"Brother," below, surrounded by a group of her friends, his sister cried out, "please don't hurt him, please!"
"Rias…" Grayfia whispered, surprised by the prideful girl's genuine fondness for the boy she'd been traveling with, then looked up at her husband. "Sirzechs!"
Noticing the look in his wife's eyes, the current leader of the devils smiled. "Alrighty then, let's do this." Suddenly, a burst of red, heavy aura quickly surrounded Sirzechs; far, far stronger than the enveloped, showy display he had entertained the late Cruzerey with.
"GRRR-AHH!" Suddenly, Goku opened his mouth, firing a massive beam of yellow energy straight towards the super devil. GROAARRR!
"Oh, crap!" Sensing an immediate jolt of dangerous foreboding, Sirzechs deployed a stacked number of crimson barriers to directly stop the incoming attack. "GHH!" He grunted as the lazer shattered and cruised through his magic. Instantly, he dashed to the side, barely dodging the heated, powerful attack.
The explosive light show took out a number of devils behind him, continuing to fly into the dark night like a distant shooting star, until it could no longer seen by the regular naked eye.
"…C'mon!" Discerning that the creature wouldn't be slowing down, Sirzechs quickly grew impatient. He'd try not to badly harm the boy his sister had taken a liking to, but that still didn't mean he wouldn't give him a good fight.
DOOMM! Erupting in a massive bright aura, the devil used his immense speed to transform into a literal human rocket, shooting himself directly at the transformed Goku. SHEWW!
"RAAR!" The monster, Goku, roared as it tried to swat Sirzechs out of the air, but the devil was far too quick for the slow, but powerful creature. Raising his balled fists together, forward in a diving position, he plunged right into the great monkey's chest with an ear-splitting CRUNK!
"GUHURR!" The great ape loudly grunted from the surprise attack and fell over, onto his back. Following his lead, two of the most powerful female devils—the Strongest Queen, Grayfia, and Serafall—rushed Goku as well; and with Sirzechs out of the way, Grayfia fired away a massive, demonic fireball, while Serafall captured Goku inside a miniature, howling snowstorm.
"He sure can take a lot of damage!" Yelled Serafall, as she switched over to using explosive attacks on the great beast.
"Yes," while also fighting, Grayfia nodded, but remained optimistically cautious, "but even if we aren't going all out… we're failing to make any headway, and I'd rather we not mistakenly annihilate him or this side of the human realm."
"RARRR!" To the three's surprise, Goku, suddenly, broke free from the intense beatdown, firing away another, random beam of energy from his mouth. KRAAA! The stream of energy tore into a set of mountains far away, causing an insane explosion, and sending a powerful shockwave across the land. BOOM!
["GAA!"] Everyone screamed as they were sent flying, everywhere.
"WAA!" Bulma shrieked as she fell back towards the ground, dangerously close to grave injury. "NOO—" Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure caught her, landing back down on the ground with her safely secured in his rough, well-trained arms.
"…You," her eyes widened, "Yamcha!"
A handsome young man with long black hair, donning a green vest and an orange scarf that tied around his neck, looked down and stupidly grinned at the young teenage girl. "H-Hey! Ha Ha Ha!" He laughed, then gently let her back down… oddly embarrassed.
"You, the bandit from before?!" Shouted Akeno. "W-What are you doing here?!"
"O-Oh, I was following you guys… nevermind, I'll explain my reasons later! My partner, Puar, is hiding with our vehicle a couple yards back…" He shook his hands, then quickly glanced over towards the great ape, slowly standing itself back up. "Look… right now you've gotta revert that kid's freakish transformation, right?!"
"Y-You know how to save him?!" Sona shouted.
"M-Maybe." He swallowed, nervously, hoping that what he'd say next wouldn't just end up dooming them all, rather than helping out. "His tail… it's his weakness. Cut it off, and we may just be able to stop him!"
"C-Can we?!" Sona turned around, scared and unsure, to face Rias and her new trustworthy friend, Akeno. "Can we save Goku?!"
Rias and Akeno glanced at each other, than faced Sona. At that moment, silently coming to a similar agreement and conclusion, the three girls nodded, smiling bravely.
["YEAH!"]
Rias jumped up. "Big Brother, cut off Goku's tail!" Cupping her hands, she shouted as loud as she could.
Sirzechs, midair, turned around after overhearing his sister's desperate request. "Rias-tan, kiddo, the things you make your older brother do…" He smiled, reassuringly, then returned his complete attention to the monster, presently being bombarded by magical attacks from his wife and friend, Serafall.
"Here we go!" He burst into another magnificent aura and flew over to the transformed monkey. "Serafall, stop his movements! Grayfia, cut off his tail!" He ordered.
"Right on!" Serafall adorably laughed, without even the slightest hint of fear. "Let me show you what this magical girl can pull off!" Throwing up her hands, the powerful devil erupted forth a massive mountain of jagged ice underneath the enraged monster, forcing him off the ground.
"GRRR!" Goku roared, annoyed from the rough sting of the nippy cold.
"I'm on him!" Suddenly, faster than light, Grayfia leapt into the fray, getting directly behind the distressed, angry creature. In that exact moment, Serafall had provided the perfect opening for the Strongest Queen. "HAAA!" Manifesting a pair of red blades in both hands, Grayfia rushed forward, after her target, finding the exact spot to bury her two blades.
CHONK! With utter ease, Grayfia lobbed off the creature's tail, causing the transformed Goku to freeze up and stop any and all movement.
ZZZZZZ…
Suddenly, like an impressive magic trick, the massive creature dipped in size, reverting back into the small, naked boy that they had originally come to know. SMP…
"H-He's back." Rias cried, happy beyond joy. "My Goku's back!"
Adventure's End
Being the last remaining, present leader of the badly defeated Old Maou Faction, Katerea quickly surrendered herself to the current government officials, hoping for even a slight hint of leniency in light of her crimes and treason against the devils. Serafall, saddened by her old friend's betrayal, offered to transport her and the other prisoners back into the underworld, leaving Sirzechs and Grayfia behind with the rag-tag group formed by Rias.
Though it was still well past midnight, Sirzechs firmly believed that Goku wouldn't transform again into a great ape after reawakening, especially now that he had no tail.
"This… and this… perfect." After applying a few drops of phoenix tears onto the unconscious boy, Grayfia used her magic to manifest an exact replica of his previous gi over his body.
"Is he going to be okay?" Sairaorg asked, carefully observing each and every one of Grayfia's thoughtful actions. Everyone else was thinking the same, too.
"He'll pull through just fine." She smiled. "He's a tough child, this one."
"Sheesh… what this dope put us through…" Oolong, who'd surprisingly still been around this whole time, whined.
"Oh, cut him some slack." Grinned the young Bael. "He kicked some serious butt. That transformation's wild, dude."
Bulma, who was sitting next to Yamcha, frowned, truly saddened for the boy. "Guess we shouldn't tell him he was the monster that squashed his own grandpa…"
"So what is he… some kinda quirk-user… or supernatural entity?" Oolong crossed his stubby, pink arms.
Grayfia stood back up, returning her hands together like a proper maid. "I'm truthfully not quite sure, myself; and neither is Sirzechs. I'd think him a Yokai, like Sun Wukong, but his energy is very much a human's. Whatever he is… without that tail, he'll never become dangerous that way again."
"Thank goodness…" Nodded Sona.
"Hey! Hey!" Akeno, suddenly, jumped with blisful joy. "He's waking up!"
Everyone circled the young boy, stirring awake from his unconscious slumber. "Hyaaw…" He yawned, then sat up with his legs crossed like a butterfly. "Mmble… mmble…"
["Goku!"] The young girls, immediately, swept him up in a sweet embrace.
"W-What's happening?!" He cried out, surprised, as the girls continued clinging to him.
"You don't remember anything?" Asked Yamcha, who stood up to join the surrounding group.
"Oh, it's you!" Goku pointed, then frowned. "'Bout what?"
"You really don't remember, huh?" Rias smiled as she pet his cheeks. "Well… no matter. You're back, and that's all that counts."
After another minute or so, the girls finally let Goku go… only for him to fall smack onto his butt. FOMP…
"Goku, are you okay?" Asked Akeno, surprised at the boy's sudden lack of balance.
"Dunno," he shook his head as he got back up, "f'r some reason I couldn't stand straight…"
Yamcha chuckled. "Funny what happens when you don't have a tail… well, you'll get used to it."
"Huh?!" Goku's eyes widened after hearing the bandit's words. "My tail?!" He spun around, catching his rear with both hands. "WHOA! It's gone!" He looked up at his friends, suddenly relaxed. "Oh well!"
"Really…? You're so crazy." Laughed Rias, unsurprised.
"You don't let much worry you, do you…?" Oolong scratched his head.
"Well, not my tail… but have you guys seen my Power Pole?"
"Yes, I believe it does belong to you." Suddenly, Sirzechs approached the group, handing the orange staff over to its rightful owner. He smiled as he looked down on Goku. "Hello, we haven't gotten a chance to properly introduce ourselves. I'm Rias's older brother, Sirzechs."
"You're that crazy strong guy, wow!" Goku laughed as he happily accepted back his staff. "Thanks! I didn't even know Rias had a brother."
"Indeed." He shifted his glance over to his younger sister, who'd been clinging to Goku. "Now… would you kindly explain yourself…? Mother is in a particularly scary mood."
Rias cutely pouted, while looking down at the ground. "I-I…"
"Your birthday wish." Sona, suddenly, interrupted her best friend.
"S-Sona!" Rias's expression blushed, turning even redder than her crimson hair.
["Huh?"] Everyone, including her brother and sister-in-law, spoke.
"Rias has been far too indecisive and over-thoughtful, and couldn't come up with a gift for your upcoming birthday, Sirzechs,… so she wanted to collect all seven Dragon Balls and wish for the absolutely perfect present." Sona sighed, finally letting the cat out of the bag.
["EEEHHH?!"] The group shouted.
"T-That was your wish, this whole time, Rias?!" Akeno shook her head in disbelief.
"My Rias-tan!" Suddenly, the great lucifer choked up, unable to hold back tears. "You did all this for me?! You wonderful, beautiful sister! I knew you loved your Onii-Chan!"
"S-Stop, everyone!" Rias covered her face. "This is so embarrassing!"
"W-Well, at least it wasn't as dumb as Bulma's." Sona pointed, accusingly, at the teenager.
"L-Leave me alone!" Shouted Bulma. "I just wanted the perfect boyfriend, that's all!"
"Yeah!" Yamcha joined in. "That's why I followed you guys, using the tracker we snuck onto that pig, Oolong! I have major girl phobia, and I wanted to finally date somebody—"
""Huh!?"" The two stopped, turning to face one another. B-BUMP! Suddenly, the two humans started laughing and gleefully dancing with one another.
"Oh, brother. That's why the idiot was tracking us this whole time? Ugh!" Spat Oolong, totally grossed out.
"Well," Sairaorg looked up at the two older devils, "we've got all seven Dragon Balls… so what now? Are you gonna store them somewhere, Sirzechs?"
The leader of the devils glanced at his wife, then back at his cute, red-faced sister. "No. You kids have had one crazy adventure, and have made many new friends… see your journey through."
"R-Really, Big Brother?!" Rias was surprised, yet unbelievably thankful. "Guys, let's do it!"
Everyone else nodded. ["Alright!"]
Conclusion: Separate Ways
On the ground, perfectly aligned together, sat the complete set of the Dragon Balls. With everyone standing behind her, Rias raised out her hands… admittedly nervous, yet excited too.
"Eternal Shenron, I summon you!" She shouted, chanting the mystical words.
Suddenly, the dragon balls glowed with a blinding golden tint, before erupting into a tall, bright flash of incredible light. PEWWW! The light continued to fly upwards, before shifting and changing its shape. The skies, collectively, turned a dark, pitch black as the incredible light continued to sprawl across the sky like a shared link of shooting stars.
"GURAHHH!" A deep voice sent vibrations throughout the bodies of everyone present.
"No… way…" Goku's eyes widened in amazement.
Manifesting from the light, a great, neverending dragon appeared before the crowd; the great, mythical legend had brown antlers, sharp teeth, green scaly skin, red eyes, a long serpentine body, long flowing whiskers, a long snout, crescent-shaped nostrils, and flowing green hair on his cheeks. He was an Eastern dragon, whose kind were known for being benevolent and sacred in Oriental mythologies.
The great dragon looked at the small group, down below him. "I am the Eternal Dragon. Reflect upon your desires, mortals, devils, and fallen alike. For I shall grant any wish… but only one…"
Rias couldn't stop shaking, unable to find the words to speak. Finally, after all this time… she'd finally done it. This was the finish line, and she'd finished strong…
"Goku…" Suddenly, surprising everyone, the young crimson princess turned around and took the young monkey boy by hand. "I've already gotten everything I could ever want in life… so it's your wish."
"Me?" Goku pointed to himself, then turned around to check with the others for confirmation. "Is that okay?"
Everyone, collectively, nodded.
"Go for it, buddy!" Cheered Sairaorg.
"So long as it's nothing too crazy." Smiled Sona.
Sirzechs and Grayfia both nodded.
""We're good!"" Laughed the new lovestruck couple, Bulma and Yamcha.
"Whatever, kid, make it snappy… guess you've earned it." Oolong, surprisingly, agreed.
"Goku…" Akeno locked eyes with him, then beautifully smiled. "There is no one here, present, with a heart as kind and as pure as yours… you deserve this. More so than anyone else."
He turned back to Rias, who simply laughed out of admiration of his sweetness. "Of course, silly. Just realize that once a wish is granted, it'll take at least a year for those seven balls to become Dragon Balls again. Until that year passes, they'll just be spherical rocks… and there'll be no way to track them…"
The boy blinked, still quite unsure of himself, but then nodded towards his friends and gave in. He'd make a wish; one that had been on his mind since seeing the beach for the first time…
"Uh… Mr. Dragon…" Goku got a little closer, finally prepared to make his request… "Bring Akeno's mom back to life!"
Everyone froze, surprised by the boy's wish.
"Ah, an easy request." Suddenly, the dragon's eyes flashed with a bright yellow.
Suddenly, out of thin air, a figure appeared right before Goku. She was a young, beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure and long black hair, tied in a stringy ponytail, reaching all the way down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward, with an orange ribbon keeping everything in its place.
"S-Shuri… M-Moma…?" Slowly, the half-fallen angel girl approached the perplexed woman, stunned.
"A-Akeno…?" The same woman slowly replied as tears began to immediately appear at the sides of her beautiful eyes. "…is that you, m-my b-baby…?"
"M-Moma!" Suddenly, Akeno, too, burst into tears as she ran forward and nearly leapt into her mother's arms. "Moma!"
"My sweet," balling her own stream of emotional baggage, Shuri tightly embraced her daughter, whom she had no doubt assumed she'd lost forever, "m-my sweet baby, Akeno!"
"Your wish is granted." Above, the great dragon spoke. "Farewell."
BOOM! And with that, Shenron disappeared. Suddenly, the Dragon Balls flew into the air, then each individual ball darted off in a different direction, far over the horizon.
"Wow! So that was the dragon, huh? Cool!" Goku laughed, while watching the glowing balls disappear. "So, I guess it worked…?"
"Goku!" Suddenly, leaving her reincarnated mother's side for only a slight moment, Akeno jumped onto the boy, embracing him in the tightest of hugs; tears continually streamed down her nebula, joyous eyes. "Y-You… I love you!" She proudly declared, overwhelmed with love and pure, unadulterated happiness. "The wish, you used it for me…!"
"Well, I thought you were sad when we talked on the beach… so I kinda wanted to do somethin', y'kno?" He grinned, not entirely aware of the incredible gift he'd bestowed upon the young girl.
"My, my, my, so you're the one who brought me back…" Akeno's mom, Shuri, approached the two kids, then knelt down to better look at Goku. "It seems you've blessed my daughter and I with an unpayable gift, you… you will forever (sniffle) have my gratitude…" She leaned forward to hug the two in a warm, motherly embrace.
"Mom, can Goku live with us? I wanna spoil him every single day!" Akeno pulled at Shuri's shoulder, beyond excited.
"No!" Suddenly, an envious redhead rushed them and hugged the boy from behind. Rias pouted with tears in her own eyes. "This boy is mine! I definitely won't give him to you!"
Akeno grabbed Goku from the front, eyeing Rias like a jealous housecat. "He used his wish for me. That proves our love! There's no other boy as wonderfully cute as him, either!"
"N-N-No! That's prohibited! I don't want Goku to know any girls other than me!"
"What about me?!" Suddenly, Sona jumped into the fray. "You two have had your fun long enough, but enough is enough! He's perfect for my family!"
""NO!""
""Break it up you three."" Suddenly, two cold voices stopped the frantic girls. The recently revived Shuri and the Strongest Queen, Grayfia, looked down at the girls, both with no-nonsense expressions. Mothers would be mothers, regardless.
"So, you used your wish for a friend, rather than yourself. You're certainly no devil." Laughed Sirzechs, impressed by the young boy's acts of selflessness. "May I ask why?"
"Dunno, I just thought it was the right thing to do, that's all." Goku shrugged.
"Guess what, Goku!" The three humans approached the young boy. Bulma smiled as she pointed to the gleeful Yamcha. "We've decided to go to the city! Wanna come with us? A cute li'l monkey like you will be real popular with the girls!"
"Nah, that sounds boring." Goku denied the invite, but still gleamed, brightly. But, next year, let's hunt Dragon Balls again, 'kay?!"
"TEE HEE! Who needs the Dragon Balls any more?" Bulma giggled, alongside Yamcha. ""Not mee-eee"" They both laughed and held hands, while Oolong looked like he was going to get sick from the lovey-dovey sight of the two.
Goku frowned. "So how'm I gonna find the ball Grampa left me? I don't know how to trace it!"
Bulma smiled, then knelt down to give Goku a circular radar. "No problem, I'll just give you the Dragon Radar! One year from now, press this," she pointed to the top, "and you should get a signal!"
"Shall we go, sweetest?!" Dumbly grinned Yamcha, as he threw a capsule, self-deploying a miniature four-seater plane.
"Goku!" Akeno and Rias ran up to the boy, both happily smiling. "Akeno agreed to becoming the first of my peerage, and her mother is gonna live with us, the Gremory family, down in the Underworld. Big brother, Sirzechs, and Grayfia gave us the okay!"
"So… you'll come with us… right?" Both girls, shyly, awaited the boy's answer… yet they already predicted what he'd likely say as an answer.
"I'm gonna go to the turtle guy's! I wanna train a lot and get real strong!"
Rias and Akeno turned to look at each other, then laughed.
"We figured you'd say that."
"Oh, Goku, you silly boy."
The three friends continued chatting for a little while longer, reminiscing on their journey… thus far… then finally accepting that it was coming to its welcomed end…
"Goku, I wanna get strong, just like you! I'll continued training so that we can fight someday, mono-on-mono!" Sairaorg expressed, saying his goodbye to Goku with a great big smile.
"We'll definitely meet again, Goku, and I look forward to it." Sona smiled, giving him a tight hug. "If you ever want to join a devil peerage, feel free to let me know."
"Goku, I hope you become as great as the invincible master, himself." Sirzechs shook the boy's hand. "Rias will miss you as well."
"Young man, thank you for taking care of my daughter… I look forward to seeing you again, in the future. We are forever in your debt." Shuri smiled, then gently embraced the boy, herself.
"We'll definitely all come to visit you, sometime!" Bulma laughed, waving a goodbye.
"Goku, you've definitely got to visit… and write to me… maybe everyday!" Rias laughed, hugging Goku once more.
"Me too… take care, my darling! I'll miss you terribly." Akeno nodded, following Rias with her own emotional embrace.
Goku nodded towards everybody, then turned around, calling to the sky. "Flying Nimbus!" HSSHHHH… Out of the sky, the yellow cloud descended towards the ground, stopping besides the ecstatic Goku. "O-kay! To Master Roshi's place!" He exclaimed as he got up on top of the magical, flying cloud.
Facing his friends one more time—the beautiful, crimson princess; the shy, gorgeous half-fallen angel; the smart, cute devily scholar; the tough, brave Bael; the witty, teenage Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and the other adults—Goku waved his hand, wearing a bright, happy smile.
["Goodbye, Goku!"] Everyone—even the adults, including the calm Grayfia—cheered.
"So Lo-o-o-o-ong!" SHHHHNN! Goku flew off into the air, scaling the dark night skies… leaving his new friends behind, for the time being…
"Boy! There's lotsa nice people out there! This is gonna be fun! Go-o-o-o-o…!" Goku pointed forward as he continued to fly on… until the next adventure ahead…
I hope you enjoyed the adventures of… hey, wait a minute! We're gonna keep going, and going, and going! Thank you, everyone, for reading this fic, and until next time…
See ya around, next time on "Gotta Heed The Call Of Magic Dragon Balls!"