"Unexpected Romance: Changes"
Chapter 9- "Invasion: Part 1"
By- Tiny
The platform at the top of Karin's Tower was a paradise in the clouds, a place that only the strongest could reach and only the most dedicated set out for, as well as the home of the planet's guardian. Today, however, this was the site of one of the most savage and full-out sparring sessions that the planet had ever seen between it's three youngest warriors. It was a free-for-all, nobody was teaming up with anyone else as the three of them fought for all they were worth, with Lime taking the bulk of the damage due to not being quite as powerful as her fellow fighters.
Gohan wasn't doing coming out smelling like a bed of roses himself, the young Saiya-jin barely managing to avoid blows from the powerful new guardian, Kale, as the white-haired boy came at him ferociously. Kale was charging at Gohan full force, a ki blast charging in his hand as he moved, but never came into contact with the hybrid as Lime jumped between the two and used her own blast to hit both. The blasts were weak, but were powerful enough to catch the two off guard and send them reeling across the tiled floor before each skidded to a halt on opposite sides of the platform.
The three were tense, all of them enjoying this sparring session tremendously, and were about to charge at each other once again, but stopped when something began to weigh heavily on their senses. It was smothering, so powerful that it was almost hard to believe that they hadn't sensed it before now, but it would have been hard to with them so focused on each other. What made Gohan the most nervous was just how familiar this energy felt, so much like that of his own as it drew closer, finally coming into view as he landed in the center of the platform.
Everyone was in shock as the man looked them over, his red scouter beeping like crazy before finally settling on three numbers, bringing a soft smirk to his face since he could tell they were all holding back. The man looked almost exactly like Goku, save that he was much darker in the way of skin tone and looked far more sinister, almost like a mixture of Goku's looks and Vegeta's temperament. It made Gohan shake in his boots and nearly fall down on his knees, though the sight of the man really did little more than unnerve Lime and Kale.
"Hmm, so you three are the one's Lord Slug has sent me to take care of," Turles smirked, folding his arms over his chest, "I knew you were young, but I was expecting something...well, more."
"F...f...father?"
"Ah, you must be Kakarot's brat, but I'm afraid you aren't far off," the Saiya-jin man chuckled, "Dear Kakarot is my little cousin, his father and my father were brothers, though they hated each other quite a bit, but I didn't come to discuss family. Lord Slug wants you three eliminated so there is nobody can oppose him. I am here to help him reach that goal."
"And what is your master's goal, Saiya-jin?" Kale pondered, "What's so important that he comes to this planet, so far from his own home?"
"Lord Slug wishes to regain his youth so that he may exact his vengeance against the one who betrayed him years ago, Zildar," Turles grumbled, dropping his arms down from his chest, "But enough talk, the time for words is over. Let's see what you three have got!"
Gohan wasted no time in rushing after the Saiya-jin man, his white aura blazing around him as he shot his power level up, swinging his fist right for Turles' head so fast that Lime couldn't follow it. The blow didn't land, however, as Turles ducked under the attack and retaliated with a knee in the hybrid's stomach, sending a spray of blood out of Gohan's mouth. He would have continued the pounding were it not for another, unusually large, power level slamming into him from behind, sending the older warrior spiraling over the edge of the Sky Palace.
Turles looked up just in time to move out of the way of another one of Lime's attacks, her fist aglow with red energy as she swung at him, following the initial attack with a kick aimed for the Saiya-jin's stomach. This blow didn't land either as Turles grabbed the girl's ankle and tossed her into the incoming Kale, sending both children skidding across Sky Palace's floor once again. There they joined Gohan, who was trying to get back to his feet as Turles landed on the edge, looking at the three children with a mixture of disgust and disappointment.
"This is all?" Turles scoffed, spitting on the floor, "I can't believe that Lord Slug saw you three as a threat! You're pathetic, the lot of you!"
"Then maybe we should stop holding back," Gohan smirked, wiping blood from his lips, "Then we'll see who's pathetic!"
Turles didn't show any sign of response as the three young fighter's removed various pieces of their clothing, tossing them aside and allowing them to hit the ground with resounding thuds. The noticeable difference was the sudden spike in their strength, small at first and then rising steadily as the three children began to power up, allowing their energy to soar to new heights. The force was enough to dislodge some of the heavy tiles that made up the Sky Palace, causing them to hover in the air as sparks of raw energy filled the air.
The Saiya-jin man was impressed with their power as he raised his own strength to it's own maximum, although without the showy display and with it going unnoticed by the three youths. Individually the only one who posed a threat was Gohan, and even he wasn't close to Turles, but together the three of them would be a force to be reckoned with. Turles would have to keep them separated during the fight, or else he might not be able to capture the young Saiya-jin hybrid, which would mean death if he lost here or death if he went back empty-handed.
"Okay, let's see what these brats can do now," Turles smirked, falling into stance and twitching his tail, "Worst comes to worst, I've still got my secret weapon..."
Krillin was the first to notice that something was off on the planet when he felt the three young fighter's energy levels soar to maximum, accompanied by another signature that he didn't recognize. It was so distracting that he didn't notice when Yamcha and Tien arrived for their daily sparring session, his dark eyes staring off towards the Sky Palace with deep concern. After all, he had not only helped to train Gohan but had trained with the young hybrid, so it was only natural that he would develop some kind of paternal feelings for the boy.
Krillin was about to take off for the Sky Palace himself when another energy signature arrived on the scene, this one not as familiar to Krillin as those of his friends but far darker and sinister. He turned around to see that his two friends were also facing this new power level, which was being radiated by a short creature with red and white skin, his blazing eyes glaring at them with amusement. He looked remarkably like Frieza, save the difference in skin color and that he was a bit taller, and the resemblance sent a shiver down the human's spine.
Yamcha and Tien didn't look too calm or collected themselves, both of them having already fallen into fighting stances as they stared down the lizard-man, wondering how he got past their senses. They were usually on high alert at all times, especially ever since learning that someone was coming to invade the planet, but clearly they hadn't been on a high enough alert level. The proof was hovering right there before them, it's tail swishing around as it moved a little higher in the air, testing the waters so to speak as he gauged their reactions.
"Who are you?" Yamcha choked out, sweat trickling down his brow, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Lord Slug has sent me to take out the trash, meaning you three," the lizard smirked, cocking his head to the side, "Hardly a test of my superior combat abilities, but so be it. The three of you shall fall by the hands of Blaze, the most powerful Kurudosei-jin ever!"
"In your dreams, hot-head," Tien spat, "We sensed Frieza's power on Nameksei and he was quite a bit more powerful than you!"
"Insolence, you need to learn your place!" Blaze snapped, raising his power to it's fullest instantly, "I'll teach you to respect the power of my race!"
"Bring it on, you over-grown lizard freak!" Krillin gulped, falling into stance, "We're gonna beat your ass five ways to Sunday!"
Blaze spoke no more words and merely charged at the three humans at full force, surprised when the three of them dodged his attacks and Yamcha landed a fist in the lizard man's gut. Pain surged through his body, but he ignored it and continued to lash out against the three men, slashing at them with both powerful energy attacks and his thickly muscled tail. None of this worked, however, as they either dodged the attacks or reflected them back at the user, sometimes retaliating with attacks of their own while not visibly raising their own power levels.
While it may have appeared this way, the only reason that the three humans hadn't been raising anything was because they were already at their maximum, vowing to never hold back against each other. Granted, Blaze at his max was more powerful than they were, but they had designed their training specifically to increase their speed and stamina, not to mention agility and defense. Those skills more than compensated for the lack of power against this sloppy and haphazard fighter they were facing, allowing them to get him surrounded and charge up some of their more powerful attacks.
"Go ahead, fools, you can't hurt me!" Blaze laughed maniacally, "Give me your best shot!"
"Don't mind if we do!" Tien roared, "KIKOU-HA!"
"KA...ME...HA...ME...HA!"
"ROGA FU-FU KEN!"
Blaze's eyes widened as the three attacks slammed into him, causing an explosion that sent the three human's back a few feet before they composed themselves, keeping their bodies tense as they waited for the smoke to clear. They could sense Blaze's energy signature, a bit weaker than it had been but still there, his anger radiating off in waves as the three humans smirked. Their joy was to be short lived, however, as Blaze's power suddenly spiked much higher and the smoke was blown away, revealing a new form of the lizard creature.
His face was covered in a sort of mask as a kind of crest had grown over the top of his head, though rather than the expected white color as his skin had been Blaze's skin tone had changed to a blood red with black where the red had been. His eyes were the only thing that was not either color, glowing a brilliant orange color as he narrowed them at the three humans. Adding to his flaming appearance were the orange and yellow flames that were now burning at the tip of his tail, as well as on the top of his head and at his wrists and ankles, causing everyone nearby to sweat.
"Now, pitiful human scum, let's see you handle me like this," Blaze chuckled, falling into his new stance, "In this form, I am even more powerful than your clown Frieza!"
"He's not kidding, Frieza looks like a joke next to this guy!" Krillin gulped, beginning to remove his weights, "This may be harder than we thought..."
Power Updates
Blaze: 6,500,000
Final Form: 13,750,000
Turles(suppressed): 8,000,000
Gohan(w/weights): 4,000,000
w/o weights: 7,500,000
Kale(w/weights): 3,850,000
w/o weights: 7,200,000
Tien(w/weights): 3,200,000
w/o weights: 5,500,000
Krillin(w/weights): 3,000,000
w/o weights: 5,200,000
Yamcha(w/weights): 2,800,000
w/o weights: 5,000,000
Lime(w/weights): 1,800,000
Kaio-Ken(w/weights): 2,500,000
w/o weights(w/Kaio-Ken): 4,250,000
-Roga Fu-Fu Ken: A move literally meaning "Wolf Fang Fist", it is one of Yamcha's signature techniques from the Dragonball series. This version is a red ki attack that appears in the form of a large wolf's head.
Author's Notes: Well, here we go folks, another installment in the Unexpected Romance saga and the second update that I've made to my stories today! I'm really on a roll, just hope I can keep it up for a bit longer before school starts up again. I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter and don't get too confused by the power chart, though if you have questions I encourage you to ask. Questions do help a writer improve his/her work, so do feel free!
The next chapter will move to the rest of the Z fighters as Vegeta and Piccolo encounter their opponents, the remaining two of Slug's generals, and needless to say they've got their hands full. Meanwhile, Slug looks to make his wish for youth come true as he sends his foot soldiers out into the world to retrieve the legendary Dragonballs! All this and more in the next installment, so stay tuned!!!