Chapter 19 Dragon Universe
"Alright, everyone. Come to me." Whis announced, "It is imperative that we head back to your quarters immediately."
"Wait, what?" Natsu exclaimed, "We barely got started on our training."
"What's going on?" Goku then asked.
"We are about to land on a planet and I can't do that until all of you are secured." Whis stated, as he began huddling the guild members.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Grey yelled. "You can't just drop a bombshell like that and expect us to ignore it a second later!"
"Discussion of that revelation can wait, for now you must return to your quarters, or else my lord will grow impatient and I'll have to deal with the mess that always follows." Whis replied. He then moved Grey and his fellow guild members out of the massive room before turning around, eyeing Goku and Vegeta. "You too need to come along as well." The two Saiyans shot quick glances at each other, before quickly following Whis.
It took some time for the group to reach the living quarters, but once they reached the room, everyone then sat down to rest their feet. "Alrighty then," Whis started, "Everyone, brace for landing."
"Wait, hold on-" Lucy started. But before she could finish, Whis tapped the bottom of his staff on the floor, and instantly, the ship began to shake. But like before, the shaking was only for a short moment, and the ship fell completely still.
"You think you could give us a warning next time?" Gajeel asked, before attempting to stand up. "Where the hell are we, anyway?"
"We've landed on Planet 877, located in the heart of 4032-Green." Whis answered.
"Uh, what? English, please!" Sting exclaimed.
"We've landed on Earth." Beerus said. Everyone then turned to see Beerus standing by the doorway.
"Wait, really?" Goku exclaimed, jumping to his feet and clenching his fist in excitement. "Finally! I've been dying to meet some more fighters." Said Goku, "So, when are we heading out?"
"For you, never." Beerus said.
"Wait, what!?" Goku yelled. "What do you mean? What happened to looking for strong fighters?"
"We aren't scouting this planet out for fighters on this planet, we're here to investigate." Beerus stated.
"Investigate? What for?" Vegeta asked.
"Well, you see, this is what this Earth looks like." Whis said, before projecting the image of the red Earth.
"That's Earth?" Goku then asked.
"Very much so, and you can clearly see, something is very wrong with this planet." Whis answered.
"And hopefully, the investigation will yield us the answers of how, when, and why this Earth looks the way it is. But I don't think we need to guess who's responsible." Beerus said. "So just stay here and wait for us to finish."
"Wait a minute." Goku then exclaimed. "Listen, I get what you're saying, but staying here would do anyone any good. With you and Whis not around, whoever did this could easily ambush us in here."
"And as much as it pains me to admit, Kakarot makes a decent point," Vegeta then stated. "You know this vessel is massive, but that also makes it an easier target for our enemies."
"And what do you suggest we do?" Beerus then asked. "It's not like we could fly around on the ship and investigate that way."
"Just let us go with you, Lord Beerus." Goku answered.
"And that would result in us exposing ourselves and clumping together!" Beerus retorted. "And we don't know if there's still something out there that is controlled by Demigra!"
"Well, even then, I'd rather take those chances than sit idly by while someone might be in need of help!" Erza announced, jumping to her feet.
"Same with me." Natsu said.
"Are you sure?" Whis then asked. "You've recently stated that you've barely even started your training. You won't be ready if we are attacked."
"Well, training or no training, we should still try to do something to help whoever might be out there." Lucy then said.
"Hold it. You're all talking as if we're definitely heading out." Beerus then said. "If we do that, we could leave the ship defenseless. And if that's destroyed, we'll be stuck on this planet even longer!"
"Well, that's not entirely accurate, my lord." Whis chimed in. Beerus turned to face his attendant.
"What are you saying, Whis?" Beerus then asked.
"Well, the main reason for the construction of this being so long was due to the fact that the planning process of designing and building the vessel was rather complex." Whis stated, "But with the design already in place, the process to construction will be much shorter. So there's really no need to be that worried about the ship, my lord."
"That doesn't change the fact that going outside is an unnecessary risk that we can't afford to have right now!" Beerus retorted.
"Lord Beerus, I'm afraid the longer we argue over executive decisions, the longer we remain on this planet and risk further exposure to our enemies." Whis then said. "Why don't we just put it to a vote?"
"Alright, fine." Beerus said, before letting out a breath of frustration. He then turned to face the group. "All those in favor of heading out, stand up." Almost immediately, everyone in the guild that had yet to stand up instantly got on their feet and stood tall and firm. Beerus then placed his hands covering his face, while groaning. "I already regret doing this." Beerus mumbled. He then shot a quick glance at Whis.
"Well, shall we get going, Lord Beerus?" Whis asked. Beerus then stretched his back, making noticeable cracking sounds as his joints loosened. He then took one last glance at the group.
"Grab what you need and prepare for a long walk." Beerus ordered. "We head out soon."
The group was lucky that the planet's red clouds were not poisonous in anyway. In fact, the air was actually quite clean, baring the smell of rubble and smoke. Beerus and Whis had opened a door in a small room sealed off from the rest of the vessel in order to breathe the air. Poisonous air wouldn't have harmed the two of course, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the group. Once the two deities tested the air, Whis immediately removed the walls that kept the air from entering the vessel, letting everyone breathe the air.
"Come on, everyone. Let's get our feet moving." Beerus ordered, gesturing for everyone to follow. Goku and Vegeta were the first to walk out onto a small platform that extended out of the ship. Soon, everyone followed suite and stepped onto the platform.
"Going down." Said Whis. He then tapped his staff on the platform, and the platform quickly detached itself from the ship. But instead of falling down, the platform slowly lowered itself to the ground below. Once the platform touched the floor, Beerus and Whis stepped off said platform and took a good look around them.
"Is there something wrong, Lord Beerus?" Sting then asked. Well that was a stupid question. Sting said internally.
"Take a good look at the area." Beerus replied. Everyone complied, taking several glances at the environment. It didn't take long for them to notice something amongst the rocks and dirt. "You see it, right?" Beerus asked.
"Yeah, these aren't just rocks." Lucy replied. "These are toppled buildings."
"These could be ancient ruins," Mystogan then stated. He had already strayed a little from the group and began giving a close examination on some of the ruins. "But that doesn't seem to be that case, it looks like this building was destroyed not that long ago."
"And how long ago do you believe this building fell?" Beerus asked.
"If I had to make a guess, only a few hours ago." Mystogan then answered.
"Which means that this was a recent attack." Said Vegeta.
"Yeah, probably from that Demigra jerk and his friends." Goku said.
"Which means we should probably stick closer together." Whis stated. "I implore you all to remain wary and keep an eye out for Demigra and his lackeys."
"All of you, listen very carefully." Beerus started, catching everyone's attention. "If any of you notice anything suspicious, whatever you do, do not split off and engage. You turn back and run back and report it to us. Don't even think too hard about it, just run back. Do I make myself clear?" Beerus then asked. Everyone nodded in response. "Alright, let's keep moving!"
It has been 2 hours since the group ventured out into the open. And in those 2, long hours, they have found nothing. No survivors, no animals, not even a tree was spotted. All they saw were ruins, rubble, and dust.
"It's been a while, Lord Beerus." Goku said, "And I'm getting a real bad feeling about this place. It feels like something's watching us."
"Well, I've felt nothing yet, and even if there was someone or something stalking us, it's not like they'll attack us with me and Whis around." Beerus stated. "So how 'bout you quit your whining and keep your feet moving? We're almost done anyway." Goku said nothing in response and just continued walking, as Vegeta made his way closer to Beerus. Once he was close enough, Vegeta then positioned his hands to block his mouth from being seen from the others.
"Lord Beerus, don't you think it would be a better idea to fly instead of walk for the investigation?" Vegeta whispered.
"If the wizards could fly, then that idea would so too." Beerus replied. "But since none of these wizards have made any mention of flying by themselves, I say you keep that ability under wraps until later. Plus I don't think you or Goku could carry every one of those wizards on your backs."
"My lord." Whis interrupted. Beerus quickly shifted his attention towards his attendant, surprised by the sudden outburst.
"What? What is it?" Beerus asked. Whis was looking away at the far distance, with a look of concern on his face. "Whis? What are you looking at?" Beerus then asked. Whis then shifted his attention away from the distance.
"I believe we should head back, right away." Whis abruptly said. Beerus was left confused.
"What, you mean right now?" Beerus asked. Whis then nodded in response. "But we've only been on this planet for 2 hours. We haven't even finished with our investigation." Suddenly, Beerus's face twitched, as he then felt a strange, uncomfortable presence. Then he felt two. "Whis, did you...?" Beerus then asked. Whis nodded. Beerus then took a deep breath, and turn his attention to the two Saiyans. But he then noticed that both Saiyans had their eyes closed, and were facing the direction where Beerus and Whis felt the two presences.
"Are you two napping?!" Beerus yelled, snapping his fingers, trying to gain their attention.
"Just wait a second, Lord Beerus." Goku replied. Beerus then raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" Beerus barked, "Whatever problems you're having right now, we've got bigger ones to worry about!"
"I know, those two strange energies, I felt them too. But right now, I'm sensing another energy, and it's close by." Goku stated.
"What are you talking about?" Beerus asked, growing more and more anxious and impatient as time felt as time passed, with each passing second feeling as if they were speeding up.
"It's pretty faint, but I definitely felt it earlier." Said Goku, still keeping his eyes closed. Then, Goku suddenly shot his eyes open, "I got it!" Goku then yelled, before flying off to a nearby area.
"Kakarot!" Vegeta yelled, as he then immediately followed his Saiyan rival. Goku landed near a small pile of rubble, before immediately pulling off massive chunks of rubble and throwing them aside. The rubble itself wasn't heavy for Goku, but the size of the individual pieces was too large for Goku to pick up more than one piece. Vegeta soon arrived to where Goku was.
"What do you think you're doing, flying off like that?" Vegeta asked. Goku shifted his attention towards Vegeta.
"Oh, good. It's just you." Goku said, still throwing the rubble aside. "You think you can help me with this?"
"Just use your ki to blow it away!" Vegeta then barked. He then lifted his arm, aiming his palm at the pile.
"Wait, stop!" Goku yelled, as he then grabbed Vegeta's wrist.
"What the- Kakarot, let go of my hand!" Vegeta yelled.
"If we use blow away the rubble, we might send the person flying to who knows where." Goku responded.
"You two need a lesson in following orders!" A voice called out. Goku and Vegeta shifted their attention away from the pile to see Beerus and Whis heading right towards them, the rest of the group not too far behind him.
"Perfect, you guys are here too." Goku then said.
"Would it trouble you if I asked what is it that you're dealing with right now?" Whis asked.
"I felt a faint energy just underneath this pile." Goku stated, pointing at said pile. "You think you can help us with getting rid of this stuff?" With no further words, Whis then lifted his staff upwards, with the orb on top beginning to glow.
"I would recommend standing back." Whis then said, before swinging his staff around. Immediately, the pieces of rubble began to glow with a bright green aura, before quickly being levitated and dropped elsewhere. Goku and Vegeta quickly dashed to the now open area. There, they had found a young looking, slender framed man with long red hair that was tied to a ponytail. He also wore a plain-looking, red kimono with a white umanori hakama, with zori and tabi covering his feet. But that wasn't the only feature of the unconscious man, for on his left cheek, lay a cross-shaped scar.
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