Talos flew alone, across the night sky, through the bitter and freezing winds. Past city after city, some ruined and some not. He cared nether way.
To some he would look alone but he was never alone, not really. He would never be alone again.
His red wings easily carried him onwards, like a god of death he gazed down upon the tiny humans below him, fighting their small wars, everyone! Cooler, Shenar even Hao had never had anything more than a small taste of power. Talos had a bigger taste but that was all it was, a taste, not even a quarter of the power he would posses when his masters were released. Ha! But there was much to do before that. All the swords had to find their destined owner.. each sword and the burden each sword carried.
"What are you thinking off?"
Talos didn't jump but it was a narrow thing. Still not used to the voice in his head that claimed to be messenger from the masters, the Fire spirit Nammea. But she shared with him her power, not like Selea and Kaori.. No Talos and Nammea were bonded permanently, their powers and yes, their souls linked through a chain that could never be broken.
" I'm looking back, reflecting on my life so far."
Was he? Amazing what he'd tell other people before he got around to telling himself.
" The past is meaningless, the future doesn't exist. All that matters is the now."
" You sound like you've had a lot of experience."
" I have."
Still, Talos couldn't help but look back, at his life, at both of his lives. One where he was a normal human, no different than millions of others. But he had a family, friends, anything one could need. The other, where he was a Saiyan warrior who had fought for life, for peace and honour and who had tasted death more than once. He felt.. a loss.. Like a chapter of his life had closed and he could never go back. That was true but why would he want to go back? He had everything! Power! Glory! Honour! Nothing was beyond him now. And yet... He felt empty, like he had lost something rather than gained something. Talos realized then, he was not fully transformed, not yet. Still there lingered in him some of the old Saiyan warrior who had fought for the Earth. Why else would he have spared the others back there? Arkh, David, Selea and that other Saiyan. Why hadn't he moved in for the kill while he could?
He was unworthy to serve the masters.
" But you will be, someday. Remember, you were chosen to weld the Sword of Fire, to free me from my prison. There must be a reason, there is always a reason."
" Yes, you're right. I must struggle to rid myself of my former personality, only then will I be worthy of our masters."
" Yes, I see why you were chosen, it will take a long time but I think that you can be worthy of service."
" Thank you."
Arkh paced, fully healed now, he was waiting upon Selea and David to recover, Selea had healed quickly but David had suffered an exhaustion of Ki as well as a lot of burns, not enough to do him damage but it hurt him. A lot.
Everyone seemed to be in shock. Talos had been found! Their friend and fellow warrior! But he had turned on them, why? Was everything before, those years in the Dragon Ball Z universe just a façade? An elaborate game for him? Was this perhaps, the true Talos who had hidden all these years?
Thoughts like these danced through Arkh's head as he paced from one corner of the building to the other. This building, it had once been some kind of house but it was now deserted and worthless.
On the bright side, Jordan was getting better and Yamcha had already begun teaching him Ki based attacks. But one question remained in everyone's mind. What are we going to do now? Would they leave their friend to the mercy of whatever was controlling him , assuming he was being controlled of course, or would they fight him, bring him to his senses?
Considering how Talos had been able to defeat Arkh, Selea and David it was unlikely that they would be able to defeat him alone. If they ganged up on him they would stand a good chance but it was risky. A risk Arkh was not prepared to take. Cooler had one sword, Talos possessed the other, that left only one blade unclaimed, if Cooler was able to get his hands on it, there was no telling what he'd be able to do! And that brought him full circle, had the sword somehow corrupted Talos? But Arkh himself had held it and carried it. He felt no ill effects but perhaps it only worked on humans? Possible but unlikely. Talos had been human at least when they first saw him, so what caused the transformation? Some kind of spirit, perhaps that possessed him? No. No spirit in existence had the pure power that it would required to work such a transformation on a non-Shaman. That left only one real option. The sword, Talos must have grabbed that sword. So they did have magic powers. But what form did they take? Had Talos perhaps made a wish without knowing it? Not likely, how could Talos make a wish to transform him into that without even knowing it?
No, something was up... He didn't like this. They absolutely had to get their hands on one of those swords. Talos seemed to value hit highly, he hadn't loosened his grip on it throughout the entire battle. It would be very easy to track the rouge warrior, his Ki signature was one that Arkh knew off by heart so perhaps the best thing would be to take that sword off him? Would that trigger a transformation back? It might but the more important reason, he needed a close look at that sword, perhaps it contained some kind of spirit and if that was the truth, Arkh needed to know how powerful.
He looked back, considering. Selea would be eager to come with him but Arkh didn't entirely trust her after the whole Boris incident, David was too unwell to move. Arkh had tried to heal him but it was not so easy to heal none-dangerous injuries so he was out. William might want to follow but Arkh had no idea what his powers or fighting style were. Yamcha would love to come but he would only be crushed by Yamcha. Much safer to go alone.
He stepped out of the door, night time. He must have spent more time pondering the question than he'd thought. No matter he could see just as well at night as he could in the day. He gathered his Ki around him, preparing to leap into the air. But a voice made him turn around!
Selea! Behind her, Yamcha and Will.
" Leaving so soon?" She asked.
Arkh sighed, really he should have known better, Selea at least could sense Ki. He had been too caught up in the whole Talos issue to think of that though.
She continued, " Did you think you could just run off and leave us? We're coming as well."
Arkh growled, " It would be safer if you just left this to the experts."
Selea grinned, her wolf spirit forming behind her, " You're not the only Shaman here."
Will said, " I'm coming because you will need help overpowering this Talos."
Yamcha added his part, " I'm here because Talos is my friend, and I wont just sit around while other people try to save him!"
Arkh briefly considered arguing, but that would serve no purpose, they wouldn't let him go off alone. Annoyed, he said, " Fine, keep up if you can."
And sped off into the sky!
Cooler growled, " Is he insane?"
On the screen before him, a metal corridor was filled with flames, incinerating the guard robots in that area. Then, there marched through that corridor, a being all death and fire. Talos, or what had once been Talos. Like the stuff of nightmares, the fires didn't burn him, the lasers didn't harm him. Whenever he came close to one of the metal walls, it started to melt and pool on the floor before him!
He was aware that he was being watched because he looked directly at the screen and called out, " Cooler! The sword! I know you have one!"
With a single thought, Cooler brought up a new picture on the screen, a map that showed the entire metal fortress. Talos had broken in but he was not very far into the building yet. However he was slowly penetrating into the heart of the complex. Towards the sword. Could he somehow sense it? Not possible! He was too far away to sense it! Yet even as he thought that, Talos melted his way through another barricade, he growled and hit a button that turned on the intercom " Shenar, we have trouble. Get some of those elite soldiers up here fast!"
Talos growled as he blasted through yet another set of doors, nothing! He could feel the sword, it called out to him. Wanted him to find it, so that it could in turn find its own master. He had a duty, a job to do. The Masters commanded that he free this blade. He would do it or die trying!
As if caused by this thought, the wall nearest him exploded inwards! He let out a cry and was slammed into the opposite wall, wings closing over his head!
When he got up, two new figures stood between him and his goal. First, Boris! The vampire Shaman stood with a self-sure smirk, his ragged cape blowing in a sudden gust allowed through the hole in the wall.
The second was a figure Talos had not seen for years, had never expected to see it again. " Roran."
Roran bowed mockingly, " Saiyan scum."
Talos held out his blade as it shimmered, super-heating the air around it. " Out of me way, fools."
Boris growled, " Just try it, Talos! I'll drain you dry!"
The vampire shot forward, his fist going through a fading image, he turned but not fast enough! The burning blade came down like lightening, severing his arm!
Boris stumbled backwards as his arm started to regenerate, Roran leapt forwards, with a fist! Talos countered by ducking the blow and landing a punch of his own! Roran slammed into the wall.
Talos didn't give ether of them the chance to recover, he leapt forward, sword posed to sever Boris' head!
The vampire dodged at the last second with a growl his wings appeared and he launched himself at Talos, his dark sword forming in his hand!
Talos blocked the first blow and returned with an overhead slash! He blocked it but Talos continued to rain blow after blow down upon his defences like hammer blows! Boris panted as another blow landed, How was this guy so powerful!
Then, he heard Roran from behind him, " Listen to me! Hold him off for a few more seconds and I'll take care of him!"
Boris nodded, and went back on the offensive! The vampire swung his mighty sword and struck Talos' own with a clang!
Boris' arms ached as he struggled to force the other sword back, perhaps get Talos to lower his defences. But the Saiyan held his own with an easy strength, no shaking, not any doubt of victory in his eyes. Boris feared for his own existence at this point. There was only one other being who possessed such a sure confidence of his own powers, Hao. But Hao was dead and Talos was only a Saiyan! How could this then be? Boris was several times stronger than when he had last fought the Saiyans so Talos should have been overpowered ages ago... How was the Saiyan holding his own? How?!
Slowly, Boris' sword was forced back, the vampire struggled but he couldn't move his own sword!
It dawned on Boris that he was doomed. As the blades slowly came nearer and nearer to his heart. Then, it was time and on a hunch he flung himself to the ground! Talos, surprised by this didn't manage to kill him as Roran cried out: " Chaos Beam!"
A huge beam of blood red energy crackling roaring, thundered its way through the corridor! Talos didn't even have time to scream as it washed over him, obliterating the far end of the corridor and several others.
When the smoke cleared, Talos was still. His body looked battered and beaten, blood leaked from several bad wounds. But he still lived!
Roran breathed " Impossible! That attack has never failed to kill a Saiyan in one shot!" He growled and shot forwards to Talos' limp form.
" Time to die, monkey!"
Talos' eye opened, " You first. Phoenix Wing Burst!"
Twin columns of fire roared forwards, striking Roran head on and sending him flying backwards, trailing smoke and flame.
Talos sensed the second of his death. Now only one stood before him. And soon not even that. Truly the Masters' power was limitless. But now was not the time to muse upon his new found abilities, Boris was still a worthy foe, who could regenerate quickly. Much like Cell or Majin Buu. He also seemed to be several times stronger than when he had last attacked Earth.
He waved his blade, gave a mocking bow and said, " So, are you shaking, Vampire? Are you scared for your life? You should be. That weak being I once was is no more. I'll kill you in one blow!"
He lunged forward, intent on spearing Boris through the heart! A swarm of bats was all that met his blow, he felt them bite into him, trying to suck him dry but with a scream fire erupted from him, forcing some back and killing the rest!
Boris reformed quickly and launched himself forward, sword posed to behead the Saiyan! Talos spun around, blocking again with a clang. Boris switched strategies, sending lightening fast jabs and slashes at Talos, who blocked them easily. But Boris seemed calm, more blows landed more quickly, always light and easily blocked but always the number increased. Soon, Talos' muscles grew heavy, his arms ached and still be blocked, now having taken a single blow and not intending to ether.
With a yell, he lunged forwards Boris leapt back but couldn't prevent a thin scratch from appearing on his chest as the blade tasted blood. Boris growled, angry, " How dare you?"
Talos smirked, holding up a hand and launching a series of Ki blasts! Boris screamed as they ploughed into him and sent him crashing through the nearest all!
The vampire stood up, reeling under heavy injuries that would have killed, or at least knocked out, a human. As his flesh began to close, Talos leapt down from the air! Bringing his sword downwards in the hopes of chopping Boris in half! The vampire leapt aside and returned with a mighty slash!
Talos staggered back, holding a bleeding arm. The cut was not deep but the mere fact that he could still be injured hammered home to Talos the fact that he was in mortal danger.
He went crazy, slashing and slicing with wild abandon! Boris was on the defensive again, blocking the blows, and slowly losing what little remained of his strength!
Talos went low, slashing out towards the vampire's feet! Boris leapt into the air but Talos turned with a smirk and planted a fist right on Boris chest! Grabbing hold of the vampire, he let loose a stream of Ki blasts from his hand directly into the other's chest!
Boris screamed as the attacks went through him! He went limp for a second and Talos threw him into the air! Before he could even try to land safely, the Saiyan chopped him across the chest! A deep cut was formed. Blood gushed from the wounded vampire as Talos pulled back his sword, and held out a hand, smirking " Here's a little gift from me, Firestorm Blaze!"
Thousands of tiny blasts, each no bigger than a pin, launched from his hand and exploded on contact with the vampire, soon Boris was hidden smoke, eventually his screams stopped. Talos could no longer sense his Ki.
He looked around, he was in a strange corridor, nothing and no-one in sight. Guess I got a little side-tracked. No matter, I've taken care of all the defences in this area.
Just then, a figure leapt out of the smoke! Fully regenerated and with his Ki signal returned, Boris slashed at Talos! The Saiyan phased behind him with a kick! Boris staggered but righted himself and charged again!
Talos sighed, " This is going to take all day."
Selea, Arkh , Will and Yamcha hovered above the base. To Arkh it was clear what had happened, Talos had, for some strange reason, broken into the metal fortress. He also, it seemed, had destroyed all the guards that he could find as the small group had only been attacked by a token guard force.
Arkh had to plan now, the building was practically defenceless, now he could strike a major blow for all the worlds, this building looked to be Cooler's command centre on this planet. If they could destroy it or even damage it, the other bases on this plain would lose contact. The lesser battle robots would shut-down. Perhaps it would give this planet a fighting chance.
He relayed his idea back to the others.
" What's the plan then?" Selea asked.
Arkh had already come up with one, it seemed these days that he was the only remaining Z warrior who thought ahead. " If this place is build like the one back home, then the command centre will be in the very middle, the holding cells will be deep underground and there should be a portal to the other two universes somewhere near the 'bot factories. I think that if we split up, we can take out the command centre, the portal and free any prisoners."
Will pointed out " If we split up, that'll make it so much easier for the 'bots to overwhelm and destroy us."
Arkh countered, " There's going to be millions of them. It wont matter if we're alone or in a group, they can overwhelm us ether way. If we separate, we'll have a much better chance. And if Talos is causing enough trouble, they'll miss us completely. Once the command centre is down, most of them will be off-line in seconds and we can blow this base to hell."
Will sighed, " I don't like this plan, but it might work and its the best we've got."
Arkh agreed, after much discussion they decided that Arkh would go to the command centre, Will the portal and Selea would free the prisoners while Yamcha would wait outside and keep their exit open.
The three shot downwards, after carefully inspecting the area they entered through a gaping hole in the wall, probably caused by Talos. After receiving directions from Arkh they split up.
Selea moved stealthily, down the corridor, though she had yet to see a single robot it would be wise not to take chances. Her Shamanic powers aided her here. Concealing her from sight and sense, no human would ever be able to find her. She could only hope that the same could be said of a machine.
There! The entrance to the prison, unlike the rest of this area, is was guarded by what looked like five robots, not like the norm, these red 'bots promised a real fight.
She smirked, Time to earn my pay.
Talos slammed into the ground for the fourth time, he growled and kicked upwards, catching Boris in the upper chest and sending him flying backwards! He leapt to his feet yet again. Panting for the first time since his transformation. He was shaking from exhaustion, fighting this vampire was proving harder than it looked. Every time Talos delivered what would be a fatal wound, Boris regenerated! Talos had no lack of power but the tide was beginning to turn, Boris was starting to hit harder, or perhaps Talos was just getting weaker. Ether way it was bad news. He had to complete his mission!
He launched himself at Boris, roaring a battle-cry! He ploughed the vampire through yet another wall, and smashed him into the ground with a cry! He brought hs sword up and sliced downwards! Boris rolled and dodged, striking upwards with his own sword and forcing Talos to leap sideways, he stumbled and fell to his knees but recovered himself in at instant!
Too late, Boris was attacking madly, slash, block, strike, dodge. The dance of battle continued. Sometimes he used a sword, at others he used his fist or Ki. Always Boris regenerated from any damage he took.
Boris brought him to his knees with a fist! Talos cried out and launched a Ki beam from his mouth! Boris, caught unaware of this ability, was hit! He crashed through the roof with a screech.
Talos didn't stand, gasping for air. After several minutes it became clear that Boris wasn't coming down on his own.
And so, drawing power and strength from his mental link with Nammea, Talos floated into the air. Soon he emerged into a darkened room. It seemed closed off and small, the walls were covered in important looking computers and it had been manned by some kind of robots but what they had looked like it was hard to tell from the burnt husks that had survived his beam attack. Most of the computer screens were cracked and broken.
Talos knew Boris was in here somewhere but he was finding it hard to sense things, perhaps he was more exhausted than he thought? No matter, Boris was not in the room.
There! A door lay torn open and hanging limply, Talos entered it and found himself in a long corridor, no lights. It was pitch black. This might have bothered him before the transformation but now he walked easily through it.
Eventually he entered a new rook. It was bare except in the centre. There stood a strange machine, as tall as Talos, numerous wires ran from it and into the walls. It was making a low humming sound and seemed to be vibrating.
A sound came, not much different than the hum being made by the machine but Talos leapt to the side in time to avoid Boris! The vampire growled and slashed downwards! Talos blocked and kicked him in the gut, causing Boris to double over. Talos plunged his blade through the foe! More blood pooled on the floor but it didn't faze Boris! He knowked the Saiyan's legs out from under him, with the sword stuck in Boris' chest Talos was forced to let it go!
The minute his hands left the hilt, he seemed to wither, shrink somehow. With a beat of his wings he'd steadied himself, and dodged a blow from Boris! Not even bothering to extract the sword from his chest the vampire was intent upon killing Talos now.
The Saiyan ducked another blow, getting worried, as his power continued to fall. Without the sword to empower him he could feel his exhaustion catching up with him!
He had to end this now, or risk not having the power to do it later.
His mind raced, how could he kill this thing? He'd tried blasting him, slashing him, burning him, nothing worked! Not even the blade through the heart that legend claimed could kill any vampire.
That infernal humming was getting to him , stopping him from thinking. Wait! That could be it! Yes, it could indeed.
He danced away from another blow and returned! A kick to the vampire's legs caused him to trip, fall, and now!
Talos snapped his wings back, forcing all his remaining power into this one attack, hoping that it worked because if it didn't, he was as good as dead.
" Phoenix Wing Burst!"
Boris was caught by the flames and thrown backwards, tumbling as the fire licked at his flesh! He let out a screech. Fire couldn't kill him but it certainly hurt him more than any other means of attack. At last, he slammed against the machine.
Talos smirked, I hope I have enough power left for this.
He let loose a cry as the heat of his attack jumped, Boris screamed again, struggling to free himself from the flames. Behind him, the humming began to change, growing irregular, jumping and falling in volume. BANG! It stopped, but Talos' attack didn't. It grew hotter and hotter, the machine began to melt, warm metal covering Boris' burning form and adding a fresh wave of pain, the humming began again, perhaps triggered by the heat? Or perhaps it was a back-up. Whatever the case, the machine was alive once more. Alive and melting.
Boris screamed as the molten droplets splashed and covered him. The smell of roasting flesh filled the room. Then, the crackling, electricity triggered by the melting machine began to dance across Boris' twisted form, he screamed now in agony, fire, metal, electricity. It seemed they joined forces to kill him as Talos continued to increase the fire in his attack. Abruptly, Boris was still. Talos kept op the attack as long as he could, and fell to his knees panting.
" I think we got 'em."
" Impressive."
Talos didn't reply, he sank to the ground closing his eyes and letting the darkness take him. The last thing he heard was the machine exploding.
Selea had just finished off the last robot when them lights flickered and dimmed.
The entire corridor was bathed in inky blackness, making her glad that she'd finished with the 'bots before the power failure. If it was that. She doubted very much it just happened to occur when they were sneaking into the building. It must have been one of the others. Ah well, Selea could see just as well at night as she could in the daytime. However it seemed that the lights weren't the only things that were low on power, the door refused to open! She could blast it of course, but that would destroy any element of surprise she had. Then again, if those robots were linked to a computer somewhere, there was a good chance they knew she was here already.
So, fast and dangerous or slow and cautious? The answer was pretty damn clear.
She blew the door open with a single blast. Inside the room, two robots were turning to face her, too slow. She blew them each apart before they could get off a single attack.
As their melted forms hit the ground, Selea scanned the room she was in. Yes, Arkh had described it well.
This was the entrance to the cells, there should have been more guards but it looked like Talos had drawn them all away.
She strode across the room, and( after obliterating another door) found herself in the cell block. Well, it was really two huge cages that ran the length of the corridor with the corridor itself running in-between them. The prison doors looked week, they were thin, but Selea knew that it would take all her strength to get through them. There appeared to be no-one in the cells. No, someone was there. His Ki was so weak that she had trouble finding him. There! His once-muscular form was shrunken and withered, his face pinched and skull-like. His clothes stained red in several places and his leg looked like it had been badly broken.
The worst thing was, she recognised him, " Strike!"
She blew apart the walls easily, empowered by her anger. Selea rushed to the fallen Z Fighter. Strike had his eyes closed, his body limp. He was clearly dyeing.
She knelt down beside him, searching for any hint of the powerful Ki he once had. Nothing. Whatever Cooler had done to him, it had sapped his will to live. She could feel his life draining away. She cradled his body, grief shaking her, they couldn't lose another friend! If what Yamcha had told her was true, they had lost enough already, Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, all the others, and now Strike as well!
" You can help him, you know."
" How, Kaori? I don't have a Senzu Bean, I can't heal him like Arkh or Dende. I can't even ease his pain!"
" Are you a Shaman or not? You CAN heal him."
" I don't know how!"
" Yes you do, remember while we trained with Miki? And he hurt himself? He easily healed it."
" Yes but he never told me how he did it!"
" Guess, if you don't then Strike will die and without the Dragon Balls, he'll be gone for good."
She focused her will on Strike's failing body, nothing. She tried to mend his joints, to stitch up his torn flesh by sheer will-power. Nothing.
She was ready to scream in frustration, she tried everything she could think of, the likely and the unlikely but nothing she did could even slow Strike's fall into darkness. She could sense even as she tried to save him, could feel his body shutting down, giving up.
As a last hope, she grabbed his hand and tried to focus her Furiouku through it, to heal him but he didn't improve.
He was going to die because she had no idea how to save him.
" That's not going to work."
She jerked upwards, " Kaori?"
" That wasn't me!"
" It was me."
A thing appeared in the middle of the room, it was some kind of bird, red feathers covered its proud body. It was about the size of a swan. Selea sensed easily that it was a spirit, like Kaori it seemed to have been a normal animal once but been empowered by something.
The spirit said to her, " You'll never save him like that. What you have to do is give him the power to save himself."
" How do I do that?!"
" Simple, as a Shaman you can entire a being's mind, go there. And offer your power to him. If there is still enough of him left to survive, he'll begin to drain your Furiouku to feed his body and heal."
Selea began her task at once, forcing all questions aside for now. Minutes past in a tense silence as she offered her power. At first he didn't take it but then, she felt a drain on her power. Not much but something.. The drain grew stronger and stronger but there was no change in his body.
Then, it vanished, she turned to the spirit but it answered the question before she could even ask it. " It will take some time for a non-Shaman to heal himself but he will not die. If you leave him now, he will be able to survive on his own."
" Why would I want that? I'll take him with me and Arkh can help heal him."
" what if I told you something."
And then, Selea knew. Knew everything that the spirit knew about this place, and that was a lot, but more importantly, she knew what powered the building.
" I should have known... What else could do this?" she said, horrified. Horror turned quickly to anger. A red hot ball of rage that threatened to make her lose control.
She fought it back, Now is not the time for that. I have a job to do now.
Rage allowed her easily to blast away at the floor beneath her, Strike would be fine now. Though he would be unable to heal completely until Arkh could also lend him Furiouku.
She screamed and dove through the new hole, melting her way ever downwards, towards the heart of the complex, past the command centre where Arkh was headed, just left from the World Portal where Will was fighting. There! A room unknown to Arkh. It was maximum security room. Build to take anything she could throw at it. She melted her way into the corridor before it and gazed at the door. Twice her size it looked unbreakable, it was unbreakable.
He rage exploded outwards as she brought her hands together and let loose a beam of Ki! The door didn't melt or break and now robots would be swarming from all over the building to here. To try and stop her, let them come! She would fight them off. She would kill them in their thousands. She took a brake, gasping. That attack had burned off some of her rage but she still wanted to get into that room , to get in and to kill Cooler. Any Cooler.
Then, as if in response to this, the door clicked and opened!
And out stepped a new robot. This one was unlike anything she'd yet seen. It stood tall with a metal body that mimicked a human, no tail. it had four arms, each of them looked strong enough to crush her skull like an egg. it was easily double her height. For a head the 'bot had dragon-like face frozen in mid-snarl. The eyes glinted red.
She took a step back and it sprung! Selea dodged a barrage of fists from all four hands but was unprepared for the speed of the thing! It caught her with a round house kick and sent her crashing to the wall!
She gasped and leapt off it, smashing her fist into it's chest. But the 'bot wasn't fazed. It smashed a fist into her head! Picking her up, it hurled her at the wall once more!
She spat blood, it felt like her back was broken though she could still move so it probably wasn't as bad as that.
But it was bad enough, the robot turned towards her, slowly walking. All hands charged a beam of Ki! It lot loose!
The attack converged and smashed into her!
With a scream she was once more thrown against the wall as the attack detonated!
The robot turned to leave but Selea shot out of the smoke!
And grabbed onto it's back. It struggled but she was unreachable! She punched it as hard as she could, armour cracked, she punched again, and again! After the fifth blow, she was able to plunge her fist into the 'bot's body!
She let out a cry as she launched a Ki barrage! For the last time she slammed into the wall as the robot exploded in a shower of sparks.
Now that it was gone, she sank to her knees. Gasping. She was bruised and bleeding. But still fit for battle. That was good.
She forced herself to stand on aching legs and walked through the open door.
It was like a scene from a horror movie. The room was large and led into several smaller rooms but what she saw her was enough for her. Strange machines filled it, the walls were covered in what looked like ancient writings, In the centre of the room stood a huge computer, the screen showing not only the status of the conquest of this world, but that of the others as well!
She rushed to it, according to this thing. The Shamans had been overrun and their world was expected to fall in mere days. The world of Dragon Ball Z seemed to be putting up a better fight. But the computer estimated that they would fall in just under a week. This world was the worst however, the computer read it as already conquered. All the major cities had been destroyed or captured, no soldiers were left alive, no tanks no bombers, nothing had been left intact.
An evil green light come from behind the computer, she turned and followed it into one of the smaller rooms.
Arkh blew another Cooler to pieces, the control room was a twisted mess, nothing was left intact. He could leave now. Easier said than done. The space between himself and the door was filled with robots. His golden sword cut them down in great slashes, downing five or six at once. More always came. He had been fighting for what seemed like hours but it seemed that he had been wrong when he said that the 'bots would shut down when the command centre was gone. No matter, he could still make his escape. But then, if he left now and the 'bots converged on the others, Selea would probably be safe, she was good at stealth but Will seemed to be the type to just march in and blow up the Portal. If he left now these robots would swarm down there and perhaps overpower Will.
As he thought it, he sensed the other's Ki jump, clearly he was already fighting. He could no longer sense Selea at all but whether that was because she had been killed or simply lowered her Ki to avoid being noticed he had no idea. And no time to decide ether way.
He jumped over a robot, turned in mid-air and crashed it with a fist! Was it his imagination or where they less coordinated than normal? Perhaps destroying the command centre did some good after all.
A series of beams shot at him! He phases away just in time, and counter-attacked with his own barrage of Ki! The robots fell, crushed and melted by the fierce attack. But more awaited their chance to attack him. Just how many battle-robots did Cooler have here? Arkh knew as a fact that these bases tended to have factories so that might explain the massive amount of soldiers but still... This was really too much. Talos had broken his way in, probably taking out a good portion of Cooler's army. Then Selea, Will and himself had arrived. On the bright side, he hadn't seen any of the Meta Coolers for quite a while, perhaps he'd destroyed them all? That might also explain why the robots where not working together so well.
Whatever the case, he'd better find a way out of this control room. Perhaps then he could aid Will.
He took a robotic kick to the gut! He doubled over but rolled away before the 'bot could attack again! On his back now, he fired a Ki beam directly up! The robot's top half was blown away as the remaining body fell to the ground.
Back on his feet now, Arkh saw his exit! A clear line to the door. Moving at his greatest speed, he made it through that space before the robots could stop him! Astalon's and his own power combined easily tore the door apart and he was out and safe!
Except he wasn't. The robots turned and followed him. But Arkh had expected that. He fired off a storm of Ki blasts, pelting through the doorway, they exploded! Any 'bot not destroyed was knocked back.
With a scream, Arkh shot off across the corridor, he was safe! But no, one robot still stood between him and the exit. A Meta Cooler, by the looks of him. Ah well, Arkh could handle it.
Cooler was not having a good day. Talos' invasion had been dangerous enough. But now there were three more fighters in his base! Arkh, Selea and one who his data banks Identified as William. To tell the truth, he was struggling. With the central computer out, Cooler had been forced to take over the job of controlling the robots himself, he was steadily losing his troops as they died against the fighters, but he had two of them pinned down, Arkh in the command centre and Will in the Portal Arena. Unfortunately, he had lost both the command centre AND the Portal Arena. He could no longer call for reinforcements from the other worlds nor could he contact any other bases on this one. He was on his own. Though he had millions of robots in this base, he could only control a few hundred at a time. Having to split his forces between Arkh and Will meant that he couldn't overwhelm ether of them and was reduced to trying to tire them out.
He also had lost all his Meta Bodies. And was reduced to using this, a proto-type new body. A secret he had carefully kept from Shenar and the the others.
There! Arkh was speeding towards him! Cooler smirked, doubtless he expected a short fight with a normal Meta-body. Not this time.
Cooler screamed and charged! The two met in mid-air! Arkh was thrown back with a look of shock on his face, Cooler phased behind him with a kick! Sending him flying into the room! Arkh smashed through the celling.
Cooler used Instant Transmission and found himself behind the Namek, with a smirk he let loose a storm of Ki blasts! Arkh ducked them and turned, his golden blade smashing into Cooler's chest and cutting away a great deal of armour and important systems.
Cooler regenerated in seconds, many times faster than any of the other bodies. And rushed forward! Arkh's knee smashed into his gut but Cooler didn't feel it! His fist hit the Namek's head, his other pummelling him again! Arkh cried out as the fists smashed into his flesh again and again. The Namek was sent flying back but Cooler phased behind him again with a kick! Arkh smashed into the wall. He fell to the ground and didn't move.
Cooler stalked towards him, but then the Namek looked up and Cooler saw the look in his eye. That look that said: " Go on, do your worst, I'll take it all and get back up. You can't stop me."
And the Namek forced himself to stand, as if his body had taken no damage! Clearly his regenerative powers were stronger than the others of his species Cooler had fought.
The metal warrior shot forwards again but this time Arkh was ready, he ducked under Cooler's outstretched fist, planted his open palm again the metal chest, and let loose with a beam of Ki! Cooler hit the wall hard but he stood easily as the damage was repaired.
Arkh's golden sword was in his hand, ready to fight he leapt forward! Cooler shot through the air, meeting him fist to fist! Shock-waves resounded, bending the metal around them out of shape with a terrible shriek!
Arkh phased away but Cooler followed him. The sounds of massive blows landing and being blocked filled the small corridor, then Cooler was sent flying back to smash against the wall!
Arkh ran at him, the golden blade swept outwards, severing the android's head!
But wire burst from his neck and reconnected him! Before Arkh could recover Cooler threw a powerful punch right at his face!
Arkh shot backwards but caught himself and dodged a new kick from Cooler! He turned in mid-air and let loose with a barrage of Ki! Cooler screamed as they ate away at his metallic form.
But he regenerated faster than Arkh would have believed possible, and fired off a beam of his own! Arkh phased away and appeared behind Cooler with a kick that could shatter steal!
Cooler screamed and fell forward as Arkh raised his sword to end this battle, but Cooler's tail came out of nowhere and slammed into Arkh sending the Namek falling to the ground.
Time seemed to slow for the Namek as he tried to regain control of his fall, he saw as Cooler spun around with a smirk on his face, and fired off a Death Beam at Arkh's face!
Arkh spun in mid-air, screamed as the attack bit into his back but at least he was alive to feel it! He fell to the ground but rolled away before Cooler could attack him again! The robot alien said, " Why not just give up now, Arkh? Its clear that you don't have the power to defeat me. After all, even if you killed all those copies, you still can't match the original."
Arkh gaped at him, "Original? The first Cooler? You are THE Cooler?"
Cooler nodded, " Very perceptive of you. Yes, I am the Cooler you fought in that ship. The one who killed your father. Don't you want revenge?"
Arkh struggled to his feet, " Revenge? I want to thank you."
Cooler shot back, " Then thank me by dyeing!"
And fired off a Ki blast he'd been charging! A huge red ball of death! Arkh looked around wildly, the corridor allowed no room to dodge! Then he'd just have to block!
He screamed as it smashed into him, detonating with extreme force. Pain! Blackness, agony...
Cooler walked towards his downed foe, picked him up with one metal arm, " You fought well... For scum. But you never really had any chance against this new body of mine! What you've witnessed was only five percent of its power. Now DIE!"
He moved his other hand, getting ready to plunge down into the Namek's chest and release a Ki blast that would slowly kill Arkh.
Arkh closed his eyes, Cooler's smirk grew wider, like a shark's grin.
The hand plunhed downwards, glinting evil like a knife or sword. And stopped inches away from Arkh!
Cooler gaped, " What?"
Then, he saw that his arm had been grabbed. A muscular hand held his arm in place, stopping it from killing Arkh. Cooler slowly turned, " Not you!"
The arm led up to a compact and muscular body, wearing the torn and ragged remains of an orange fighting suit! Spiky black hair adorned the head of the greatest fighter in the universe!
Goku had no expression on his face as he held Cooler back from killing his friend, somehow this was so much more terrifying than any expression he could have had.
With no sound, yellow flames erupted from his body! His massive Ki winking into life, his hair flaming golden.
All over the planet, a few beings that could sense Ki, the few that knew him, looked up to the sky. Some in shock, some horror, a few in hope.
Cooler tried to turn but Goku hammered into him with a fist!
The robot smashed into the wall with enough force to punch through it!
As the android struggled to get up. A new hand closed around his shoulder, he looked slowly around, into the new corridor that he had crashed into.
A white gloved hand, a suit of broken armour, a Saiyan prince. Vegeta screamed as his full power erupted!
Cooler had absolutely no time to scream before Vegeta tore off his arm. The prince then sank a fist into his gut and kicked him into the roof!
Vegeta held out a hand, " Cooler, for what you've done. This is unforgivable, I'm going to put a stop to this right now, Final Flash!"
The resulting flash of golden energy was strong enough to melt the corridors around the fight. To punch a hole straight out the side of the building and erupt into the open sky where it detonated in a blinding flash of yellow light.
Goku bent down and helped Arkh to stand, the Namek was unsteady on his feet but nevertheless managed to chock out: "H-how? I thought you were dead."
Goku frowned, pain clear in his eyes, " I'll explain later."
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Selea gasped, and sank to the floor, she was in no danger as yet. The robots were all busy elsewhere, but she had used up a lot of energy freeing Goku and Vegeta. Goku and Vegeta! They were alive! Both of them, the soul of the Z Fighters lived on! Now they could stand strong, now they could push back Cooler, retake their world and destroy all traces of his evil.
" That is all in the future," Kaori reminded her.
" True, but now we have a chance! Before we only had a hope but now...now we have a reality!"
She turned her head, the spirit that had told them of this place, the red bird. She watched Selea carefully as if committing her to memory was some important task. At last, she said,
" I have done something for you, will you now in return do something for me?"
" If I can, and if its not something that would cause trouble, I'll help you, what do you need?"
" In the room below this one, there is a warrior you knew as Talos. He's sleeping now. He's very tired... You need to help him!"
" I don't see the trouble. I mean I'll just carry him out of here."
" No, you don't understand, he's not a human any more, nor is he a Saiyan. He's not a mortal at all, do you understand? He can't just sleep and then wake up fully recharged! He would have to sleep for years! He draws his power from the sword, the blade is out of his reach, if you don't give it back to him he'll never waken!"
Selea paused, Talos was an enemy now, wasn't he? He had been totally ruthless when he defeated them but he had not killed them and he could have, however he was clearly no longer working with them. Yet she couldn't just leave him to die could she?
" I'll help him as long as he promises to leave this place, understand? He's not to harm anyone here."
" Fine."
Selea followed the red bird through the corridors, down several flights of stars, and into what looked like it had once been a room. The walls were burned, melted and stained, in the centre of the room there was a melted mass of what might once have been a machine.
He lay on the floor, exactly where he had fallen.
Before him, there lay the burnt body of what once might have been a person. Stuck in his chest, the blade! She reached out for it, grasping it by the hilt. She had expected to find it charged with power, maybe with a strange and powerful aura that electrified her. No such luck. It looked like a broken sword, blunted and useless. Nothing like the deadly blade it had been when he welded it.
She pulled it free, examining the bent blade, as she had thought, useless. " Are you sure that'll work? The sword looks like its seen better days."
" It will work. Trust me."
Selea moved to place the sword in Talos' open hand but stopped, " Wait, why do you want to help him? And what exactly are you anyway? You don't feel like a normal spirit.
The bird seemed displeased, " Is there really time for this?"
" You told me he'd sleep for years, that means he's in no immediate danger. And I want to know, are you the one who turned him against us?"
" I turned him against no-one, he made his own choice."
"So, you did have something to do with it! What are you? Kaori seems to know but he wont tell me!"
As if called by her thought, Kaori's voice sounded in her head, " Don't push this too far, you don't know what she is! Trust me, if she wanted it, we'd all be dead now."
" He's right but it seems that you wont help me until I help you, very well. But remember you asked for this."
The bird spread her wings and flames lanced outwards! Selea flinched as the fire consumed the world around her, but she wasn't harmed and when the fire died down she was. Somewhere else.
Blackness as far as she could see, no light, heat or life. No warmth hope or justice, no knowledge or death. There was no temperature, nothing.
She looked around, " Where am I?"
" This is an illusion only, be honoured. You are seeing something no living being has ever witnessed. This is the birth of existence. This is Chaos, without any order there are no planets, stars or suns. But there is life of a sort. "
There came swooping past her line of sight, a thing. Living but not living. It had no body but was made up of energy, constantly changing, shifting from one terrible form to another, she could sense the malice it gave off.
" Primordials, beings of Chaos and change, they created worlds for their own amusement, caring not for the life that might one day come into being if they helped it grow. And for millions of years this was all there was. The Primordials or nothing. They had no enemies, they were all powerful. Until.."
Selea saw a new being appear before her, it glittered like a thousand stars, millions of times the size of the Earth. It exuded love and kindness. The Primordials didn't seem to like it.
"The First Spirits, Light and Darkness. Though opposite, they changed the universe with their very existence, they stabilized it. Eating away at the Primordials' power. The Primordials reacted the way they always had, with violence. But for the first time, there existed a spirit with the power to beat them back. The Primordials realized that they would never defeat Light and Darkness. Not in a fight at any rate. They soon realized as well that Light and Darkness could not interfere in any negative way, not without destroying the balance they had worked so hard to form. Thus, the Primordials took on a new name, Demons. Light and Darkness created wonderful worlds,but they were powerless to prevent the Demons from destroying them. For millions of years the struggle raged on. The Bringers of Peace building new worlds and the Demons seeking out and destroying them. And then, it stopped. Light and Darkness decided that they could no longer interfere at all with the universe. If they did, it could unbalance the very fabric of reality. But they would not leave their creation undefended. They split off, each creating two new spirits. From Light there was born Earth, hard, unyielding and trustworthy, and Fire, the embodiment of destruction and purification, the destruction of the Demons.
Darkness spawned Air, embodiment of knowledge, deceit and brilliance as well as Water Change, adaptation and healing. Together, the four Great Spirits could create worlds and defend them. The Demons were fought to a standstill and banished into another realm, a realm of Chaos. And thus, balance was obtained."
Selea was silent for a long time, she knew somehow that the spirit told the truth, at last she said, " But what has this to do with you?"
The spirit glared at her " I'm getting to that now. For centuries the Great Spirits ruled in peace. But there was in unbalance, the Demons were slowly fighting their way back into this realm. None of the Great Spirits had the innate Chaos needed to fight the Demons in their own world. Fire, as the one charged with destroying the Demons, saw it as his duty to finish them. He travelled far and wide, eventually he left this universe all together. And met his makers, Light and Darkness, he begged them to reshape him, so that he could fight the Demons in their home. They refused. For they knew that if he entered that realm, he would be corrupted by Chaos and would soon become a Demon himself. But they saw the Earth's plight. And they took Fire, extracted some of his power and shaped it, giving it form and power. They created the Spirit of HellFire. Uncaring, Chaotic, with a love of destruction and death she nevertheless possessed Fire's loyalty to Light and Darkness. And because of her Chaotic nature, the Demons could not corrupt her nor bend her to their will. She left and wiped out all but five of the Demons. Her powers ran wild, fire and rage, death and fire. She was feared by the other Great Spirits, for she did not support the balance as they did. The Bringers of the Balance saw this, but could not bear to destroy what they had created, nor could they try for if they did, the universe would cease to exist. They created another spirit, this they called Dawn Bringer, he was shaped from Spirit of Light and he was all she was not. Loyal and calm, peaceful and just. He tracked her down and she attacked him. But Dawn-Bringer had prepared, channelling the power of the four Great Spirits, he was able to seal her away in a crystal and cast it into the Realm of Chaos."
The universe around he melted away and she found herself back in the room. Talos before her. " What does any of this have to do with you?"
The bird began to fade away, but she replied before vanishing all together, " I am the Spirit of HellFire."
She vanished completely and Selea was left alone with Kaori and Talos. Well, I did promise. She took the sword and put it into his palm. At once it closed over it, a strange aura of flames leapt from the blade covering him and healing his wounds in seconds, and his eyes snapped open! Slowly, he clambered to his feet and looked at Selea, " Thanks for the sword."
" How do you know?!
He smirked, and the spirit of HellFire appeared on his shoulder. " Nammea told me. And I wont harm you. Or anyone else. In fact, I guess I owe you. I'll fix that now."
His wings unfolded easily, the air around him changed, super-heated. He floated into the air, the ceiling above him started to bubble and melt. Then, he turned to her, " I'd warn you friends, this entire building is about to go boom."
And shot off through the roof! A spark, shooting through floor and roof until he smashed through the upper layer and emerged into the warm sunlight!
As he looked, a few guard rushed to engage him but he ignored them.
To Nammea, he said, " Are you sure the sword wont be damaged?"
" It wont be. The power of that sword will guard it"
" It would have been so much easier if you'd told me this first."
" I didn't think you'd have the power to do this, not yet."
" I think I'm ready."
" Then prove it."
" watch me."
He brought his hands together, focusing his power into them, a red energy ball formed in seconds, he tossed it into the sky where is dissipated quickly. The robots were nearly upon him but he still ignored them. He folded his arms across his chest, closed his eyes. Searching deep inside himself, for the power he knew he had.
There! Clouds gathered around him, he moved quickly, gesturing with his hands, his arms seeming to pass through each other more than once. The robots reached him but were flung backwards by an invisible shield of Ki!
And then, he was ready. Talos felt the power fill him, enchant him, make him feel unbeatable. Immortal. He had to fight against that feeling, if he let himself feel like that it would only be a matter of time before he made a mistake and probably died because of it.
The spell tried to twist his mind, offered him anything and everything, power, glory and fame. He ignored it. Demonic magic was difficult and if he let the spell control him rather than the other way around.. Well it would be the end of him.
He pointed one hand at the gleaming metal structure, " HellFire."
A single torrent of fire descended from the heavens, twice as wide and three times as tall as the building it smashed into it, incinerating and melting everything it touched! The ground shook and the heat it put off was enough to melt the guards around him.
The earth cracked and shook, the building collapsed, melting and pooling. The attack lasted only a few seconds but Talos was drained dry. Falling to the ground be barely managed to catch himself before he hit the earth. But looking before him, Cooler's fortress on this world had been wiped out, debris and metal littered the ground, random things had survived, the inside of the building still stood, though warped and twisted. The Z Fighters had survived as well, to their shock the fire had refused to burn or harm them. Talos had kept his word.
Most of them were inside the remaining building and Talos was in no mood to face them now. So he dashed toward the melted remains of what had once been one of Cooler's safe rooms. It had survived because of the thick, armoured walls, roof and floor. But Talos easily punched his way in and found a melted mess, the fire had not penetrated but the heat had.
Still he target was there, a sword lay on the ground before him, in a pool of metal. He reached down and picked it up, the metal didn't burn him. He examined it, blunted, chipped and cracked. Nevertheless it was important to the Masters. He took it and left.
-
Time past, Arkh, Yamcha, Will, Selea, Goku and Vegeta as well as Strike headed back to the city where they had left David. It seemed that Talos' decision to help had done more than just helping them. He had wiped out Cooler's command centre, shutting down millions of robots all over the world! The human armies were regrouping, the few survivors gathering together and fighting back against the few confused robots that still remained active . To all intents and purposes, the war on Earth was over and the humans had won. However, there was still those swords and what Talos wanted with them. Vegeta urged them to forget about Talos and return to their own world, he was itching to pay Cooler back for all that he'd done. Arkh agreed, without the resources of this world, Cooler's armies would falter, not for long but if they could counter-attack now, with Cooler low on resources, they might break through his robots and free another world! With two worlds free, Cooler would falter once more, this time he would not be able to recover fast enough, even if Arkh and the other didn't make it to their home, Goten and Trunks would be able to drive through Cooler's armies if he had only the support of one world. Their power was enough to plough through his reduced armies and destroy his capital! For the first time in a long time, there was hope for all three worlds. But that left one problem, Cooler's World Gate was useless and without it they were stuck here. It was Jordan's idea that they could raid one of the lesser buildings and see if it also had a World Gate. Arkh knew that they all drew their power from the central one but if they could capture one, and if Arkh was right, he could possible activate it long enough to transport them to the last world the Portal had sent troops to.
As it turned out, it did. With no guards, the Z Fighters simply walked into the building. Arkh found that he could indeed hold it activate long enough by feeding it Ki mixed with Furiouku in place of its normal energy.
In seconds he had a sparking blue portal.
Vegeta smirked, " Perfect. Now I can tear that android apart."
Everyone was happy to be going,with the exception of Jordan who had never left his world before. But Yamcha promised him that they would be able to return after all, Arkh could pull this trick on any World Gate!
Arkh said, " I think Vegeta and Goku should go through first, as the most powerful they can take care of any real threats before we arrive. I'll take David, Strike and Jordan last as they're the weakest at the minute.
David started to argue that he wasn't that weak, despite the fact that he still hadn't recovered but Goku put a stop to that, " I'm not leaving."
Everyone turned to him, Arkh said, " But you'll be trapped here, you can't manipulate Furiouku!"
Goku shrugged, " This seems to be a nice place, I'll be happy here."
Vegeta lost his temper, " KAKEROT, listen to me! You're sons are still fighting in our world! One of them is dead! Hear me, DEAD! If we don't get there soon my son my well join him. I will not let that happen. And as much as I hate to admit it, we may need your power so step into that portal before I push you in!"
Goku countered, " Vegeta, you should be powerful enough to handle anything they can throw it you, with David, Arkh, Selea, Will and Yamcha on your side, how can you fail? Besides I doubt I'll be here forever, you can come back for me someday. Talos is still here and somthing's controlling him. I don't leave my friends behind, Vegeta. I'm staying. He turned and started to walk away, but Arkh, who had been thinking, called out " Goku! I'll meet you at this site in ten days. If I'm not here, come back ten days after that. Keep doing this until I get a chance to be here."
Goku nodded, " Good plan, now get going. Good luck."
He turned to the prince, " Vegeta, I trust you more than anyone else here, please don't let any harm come to Goten."
Vegeta nodded slowly, and a look past between the two, it seemed that they had always been connected somehow, Goku who'd stood up for his planet to Vegeta the Planet Pirate, he had fought and won, always he rose to the challenge, like he was doing now. Vegeta at last understood, if he didn't stay to help his friend, he wouldn't be Goku.
He nodded again, " You owe me a sparring match for this, Goku."
Goku, he'd used the other's Earth name. Perhaps the greatest reassurance he could give the other.
" Thanks. I'd better get going."
He said goodbye to everyone and shot into the air, vanishing from sight in seconds.
He stood on a cliff, looking out at the red sky, meteors crashed through the sky, screaming towards the last human city, he looked down, and leapt into the air!
Chaos-Wings flapped towards him, their scaly claws skittering against his red armour, What armour? He let loose a battle cry and blew the meteors out of the sky! His one good eye turned and he saw his next foe. But I have two eyes! A huge Chaos monster from the air, constantly mutating.
He screamed, the rage at the death of everything he knew, always close to boiling point, exploded outwards! His sword, feeding on his rage glowed bright red as fire roared into existence along the length of the blade. He sliced through the monster in one move, and turned! More of them hundreds, no thousands. He was the sole defender, the last guardian. With a scream he charged forwards! His blade met flesh and he severed one of the beasts! More died around him as his berserker fury claimed life after life. But they would get him, he knew. They were too many and too powerful. More died on his blade, and the battle continued! Their claws, clashed against his armour, he blew them out of the sky, or ran them through. Always more would appear. The sky, always red, seemed a particularly sickening shade of blood this day, it was a sign perhaps, no matter. He would make his stand here. Talking about stands, here came the next wave. Chaos-beasts of all shapes and sizes, and there! The other! He screamed and leapt, cutting through the beasts with ease. The enemy say him coming and blocked his blow, steal on steal, blue ice against red fire. He slashed and swung, but he was tired. So tired. Death seemed more release than punishment. But he would not yield! Death was not what would happen to him if he fell now, no his fate would be much worse. He screamed as the other's blade bit deem into his chest!
Blood blossomed outwards, by the looks of it he had only minutes to live. He went crazy, slashing and cutting, but every minute his arms got heavier, his sword harder to hold. He was doomed. The other knew this, saw that his reflexes were slowed, and plunged his sword deep into the warrior's heart!
He plummeted to the ground, pain, and blackness. And something else...
In the melted, twisted ruins of what had once been Cooler's command centre, something moved. A tiny metal finger, probably off one of the Meta Coolers. It twitched again, wires appeared, twisting and fusing together to form a kind of skeleton, metal slowly started to cover the still wriggling wires, as slowly, ever so slowly, one finger became a hand, an arm, created a chest, grew legs and a head. When the process was finished, Cooler looked up at the sky. He'd lost control of his armies, the few survivors operating on back-up programming alone. The World Gate was destroyed but that was perhaps, just as well. This new body had been the only one capable of surviving Talos' attack and even then only just. His other bodies would have lost contact with him, they would create a new Prime Unit. No matter, he had this new body. And something else. The sword was lost but he had held it long enough to complete his objective. The objective that he had kept unknown to Shenar and his followers, from his other bodies as well and that had been hard. He held out an empty hand, wires burst forth, quickly tracing the outline of a sword, metal flowed over it, solidifying and creating the proto-type blade. He swung it a few times, getting a feel for the balance.
It wasn't just an ordinary blade, this sword acted as something of a conductor, boosting his power to incredible levels. His armies may lay in ruins, his bases may have fallen, but he was far from defeated. And, as Shenar would soon learn, Cooler served no master.
Shenar was not happy. All contact lost with Earth-03, he was forced to assume that Cooler had been defeated and killed, no matter. Shenar would have gotten rid of the android sooner or later. This way he didn't have to do it himself. While the other Meta Coolers chose a new Prime, Shenar called his own meeting of those he knew would remain loyal to him. He looked across at them now. Magna, a former Tenth Oracle who served Shenar in exchange for power. Cell, who helped Shenar in return for access to the World Gate technology. Boris and Roran, both unfortunately dead. And lastly, one of the Meta Coolers.
He quickly explained the situation to them , Magna's reaction was immediate, " So, what is the problem? We must reopen the World Gate on that planet and take it back before the humans can resist us!"
Cooler returned with, " Its not that easy, without the resources of that planet, our armies are starting to take losses, not many but I guarantee you that if we move any amount of our forces away from the war, then the Z Fighters will break through and come here. I'd recommend we actually step up our production of Meta-Warriors, if the losses we're taking now are any sign, we haven't got enough units in the field!"
Cell asked, " What about the Shaman? Their world is about to be conquered, surely if we step up the mining we can cope? We can pull most of our armies from that world and send them to this one, after all, only the Shamans have the power to resist us and they're pretty much wiped out."
Cooler replied, " Actually, our repeated attacks have been beaten back. They've set up base in some kind of under-water city."
Cell seemed curious, " How exactly?"
" I'm not sure, the surviving Tenth Oracles were able to transport the others into the city somehow. Its mostly ruins with hardly any food supplies but they use a Furiouku barrier to keep the water out and generate fresh air. It seems to be some kind of holy ground."
" So, what's stopping us from just marching in and killing them all?"
" According to our reports, the entrance to the city was taken easily, they made no attempt to defend it, but the city itself leads into some kind of natural maze, best guess is that it extends miles under the ocean. The maze is separated into several sections with only one entrance to each one. Each entrance is guarded by a single shaman. However, the doors are through a special room, each room is different but they seem to boost the power of the Shaman considerably. None of our units made it past the first room."
Shenar said, " Then, we must crush the Shaman quickly, once they are dead we'll pull the bulk of our forces back to concentrate on the Z Fighters, after the crumble, we shall open up a new portal to Earth Three and retake that. Is everyone agreed to this course of action?"
No-one could spot any problems with this. So Shenar said, " We'll move on the city again as soon as possible, but this time I want some of our elite units there. They will be the second wave should the grunts not be enough."