[4] A Grand Power From Within - The Battle's End

Content originated from dates of: March 10 2012 - August 4 2015; March 8 2017; November 29 2021 - January 2 2022; September 7 - 8 2022; September 11 2022; April 17 - 19 2023; April 23 2023

Goten slammed a fist into the android's face, sending him flying across the meadow into a tree. The Son boy jeered at his success as the android frustratedly pulled himself away from the tree. Although the cyborg could have launched a counter attack, he waited. Because just there in the center of the field something unbelievable was happening…

"Son… Goku?" 23's scanners seemed to have malfunctioned because it was almost as if that girl was giving off the same energy signal as his designated target. Yes, he was facing some serious malfunction. There was no other explanation.

Anastazia roared in her grief. A powerful shockwave caught everyone's attention. Now her power was rising exponentially! She was screaming, crying out to the heavens, and… Was she glowing yellow?!

Shard's body dropped to the ground as Anastazia's locked potential ripped out in a blaze of yellow furry. Her hair licked the same color as Goten's and shot towards the sky in a spectacle so rare it was thought to be a mere legend. She underwent a transformation like no other. Well… No other seen by the students, and certainly not something anyone could perform.

"A super saiyan?!" Gohan gasped.

Vegeta, standing just across the field, uncrossed his arms in disbelief, "It can't be!"

"No way!" Goten agreed.

Pan added, "I thought you had to be a saiyan to be able to be a super saiyan…" and received nods from her fellow Z fighters.

In any case, the grieving woman continued to scream in agony now facing the menace responsible, "You…! Y-You killed him! How could you?! I'll make you pay!"

Just as declared, the fresh super saiyan launched to attack the android. Much to everyone's surprise, she even landed damaging hits against the being. He was only able to dodge or block; unable to counter. This was the power hidden within? It was intense and blew the previous two students' power-ups out of the water.

.-.-.-.

Maudie couldn't help the tears fall from her eyes as the shock wore off. Shard sacrificed his life to save hers. Why? Why did he save her? They have children together! Everyone knows that, but yet he gave his life despite that fact. She couldn't help but wonder if it was all her fault. It was her mission, and now it was her life…

The short old man who left previously returned with a small leather pouch, but as he landed he sighed, "Don't tell me… I'm too late…"

The brunette shook her head, attempting to wipe away her tears to no avail. Krillin tried feeding the owl-person anyway in hopes he was just unconscious. One bean… Then two for good measure… But nothing happened. It was just a cold corpse, now.

Krillin finally took a look at the battle and noticed the once raven haired girl was now golden. A tell-tale sign of a transformation he was very familiar with. Could it really be? He looked over to the one man that may have known, but was met with a look not seen often on the man's face. Genuine surprise.

The very man gasped to himself, "A saiyan… All this time…"

"Alright, that's it. No more messing around!" Trunks declared, transforming super himself. Gohan followed suit, and both Son brothers continued their fight now with added intensity. It was four super saiyans and a super vampire versus one machine. Now, they were more than serious.

Gohan commented as he landed a powerful blow that had no effect, "For something that was just broken parts put together, this thing's no joke!"

.-.-.-.

Chloe was losing her mind. How? How could it be possible? She was supposed to be the strongest woman in the universe! How could this passive become so powerful? Just to spite her! At every turn, Anastazia pushed past all odds just to be her equal, and now..?! It just wasn't fair!

"No no no no no no no!" Chloe screamed as she launched back into the fight. She, however, was easily deflected back down to the ground. Her energy was depleted from her earlier beam struggle…

"Here," a voice called to her, and she looked down to see the short old man with his palm up and a small green bean presented to her. "Eat this. It will replenish your energy."

"Tch," the vampire begrudgingly took the bean and chewed it. Offerings were always the most annoying. But then her strength did return, just as the man had said it would. "Thanks, Shorty."

With renewed power, Chloe returned to the fight. She was not going to let Anastazia get the last punch in. That was for certain!

As Chloe landed a strike, Nick decided to join in the fight as well. It was all or nothing, now. Never before have the team lost someone on a mission. Let alone one of their main crew. They would not fail, and they would not leave until the mission was completed. For Shard's sake.

The loss was devastating to those who didn't know him, as well. Pan floated in the air as a cold aura encapsulated her. She growled to the android menace, "You! You killed him! How could you kill an innocent person?!"

"No! Stay back, Pan!" Gohan yelled.

Despite her father's warning, Pan launched herself into the fight anyway. She might have been significantly weaker than the other fighters, but she would make a contribution! At every chance she got, she'd launch her fists and feet at the enemy. With the added fighter, the android was surrounded on all sides.

This, of course, would not last. It isn't long before Pan gets kicked in the shoulder and spun out of the group. Trunks left formation in concern as the others continued their assault.

"Pan, are you alright?!" the man asked as Pan stopped her momentum before hitting the ground. Without answering, she attempted to jump back into the fight but Trunks grabbed her arm before she could, "Woah! Hold on!"

"He's a monster, Trunks! A monster!" the girl pleaded with her best friend.

"Stay out of this, Pan. Please," Trunks more calmly pleaded in return.

The girl had nothing more to say, and turned her head away as tears licked at her cheeks. Trunks rejoined the battle when Pan didn't make any further move to do so. This was far too dangerous for a young teenager like herself. They could have lost Pan if that blast was meant for her instead earlier. It was best to keep her out of the situation all together.

That might be thinking too soon, because just as before, the android began to build up his energy field and released similar blasts to all the fighters shouting, "I've had enough of your nuisance!"

Taking action, Goten began to charge energy for himself, "Kaaa! Meee!"

"No Goten! It won't work!" Gohan panicked.

"Haaa! Meee!" the younger brother continued.

"Do it!" Anastazia encouraged, swiftly putting two fingers to her forehead and performed the instant transmission technique to bring herself to Goten, then bring Goten up real close and personal to his target just as he fired.

"HAAA!" the Son yelled as his attack hit its target and sent the android wheeling. His shirt tore from the extreme blast, revealing his chestplate to take the brunt of the force. The Red Ribbon logo scratched and burnt from the power. The metal peeled away from the force, revealing the Dr. Gero signature emergency bomb in the center of the casing. The bomb was labeled "23".

The android attempted to swing at the two golden fighters through the blast, but was unsuccessful. As the energy subsided, everyone took some space as the bomb was on full display. Gohan cursed to himself that he should have known, but Chloe took action. It wasn't the first time the students of a military force were face to face with a weapon of mass destruction.

Throwing knives lodged themselves into the chest piece, isolating the bomb from the rest of the chassis. Mike and Anastazia grabbed the android's right arm, then Gohan and Trunks held the left. Goten and Nick grabbed the android's legs before he could struggle and allowed Chloe to work. With a bit of leverage, and a smirk on her face, Chloe was able to remove the bomb directly from the body and in one swift motion chucked the bomb into the air and blasted it before it could detonate.

"No more back-up plan. Looks like you're fried now, tin can," Chloe taunted and launched a punch directly into the android's face. With the android pinned, she could deliver blow after blow…

Of course, the android didn't make it that easy. Nick was the weak link as the android swung his leg Nick was holding, sending the brunette flying. Now with his leg free, he kicked towards Trunks, pulling his arm free from Mike and Anastazia's grasp. The two students were then flung into Goten, knocking all three to the ground. Leaving Gohan and Trunks to be punched in the face and launched in the opposite direction.

"I am programed to kill Son Goku," the android's voice came far more robotic than previously. Something was going wrong, because the android attacked Anastazia. Pushing her into a creator on the ground created by their immense energy fields. "Now, you die!"

His arm raised and energy engulfed the bio-hand before plunging down towards the woman pinned to the ground. Thinking fast, Mike sent an energy blast to intercept the attack, knocking the hand off-course and only piercing her left side instead of her full stomach. She howled in pain as the android grunting in annoyance.

"Ana!" the vampire called as he rushed to tackle the android off of her. "Don't even think about it!"

In an attempt to finish off this villain, Gohan began to power up as far as he could push himself to go. Reaching out to the edge of super saiyan, but not finding that next level. As the android remained vulnerable, Goten slammed the amalgamation into the dirt the very second when Mike lost his grip. Goten led the next charge as Gohan and Trunks pinned the android between a collaborated assault.

"Wait a second…" Maudie, who had been somewhat forgotten in the background, spoke to no one in particular. "That must be it!"

The brunette took a stance and screamed a power-up. In that same moment, Trunks was able to land a swift punch which damaged the android's left hand. Could there be a correlation between the screaming and the android taking damage? During the periods where it wasn't so loud, the android was able to keep up with all of the attacks but it seemed as soon as someone screamed the android began to stagger and lose focus. Could it be that simple? It was defective…

Anastazia clenched her bleeding side tightly as she attempted to stand up. Krillin noticed and gave her a hand, to which she accepted gratefully. The old man sighed, "I'm sorry. I gave the last Senzu Bean to the other girl…"

"I-I'll be fine, thanks," she grunted in pain. Her power had faltered slightly, but as she got a grip on her pain her power remained tainted in yellow. She didn't need magical beans, anyway. All she needed was the ability to concentrate her powers and she could heal herself just enough to stop the bleeding. She could worry about the extent of the damage later. It was just to the side, so nothing vital was punctured. It could wait until the adrenaline wore off.

With her side no longer an issue, the saiyan woman roared and a fresh yellow aura surrounded her being. Just as Maudie suggested, the android took another blow from Goten to the right leg, making it bend out of shape. They found the weak point. Now it was high time to execute.

"The sound! Loud sound makes him drop his energy field!" Anastazia announced.

Taking the advice, Trunks paused his assault to power up himself, giving Anastazia an opening to rip the android's right arm straight out from the elbow hinge! It was working! Next Goten screamed to enable Gohan and Mike to pull the other arm from the shoulder. Now Mike screamed as Anastazia drew a rapier and stabbed the android through the gaping chest cavity.

The android attempted to retaliate with a kick, but Pan swooped in to push Anastazia out of the way as Chloe punched the thing's head off its shoulders. 23's body clattered to the ground as Anastazia dropped the weapon and sank to her knees on the ground. They had done it. They won.

The saiyan woman turned to the body of her deceased partner and released her transformation as tears came to her eyes and she whimpered, "It's finally over…"

"Tch, look at her," Chloe groaned as she smashed the android's head into pieces for good measure. "Getting attached to an animal."

Mike snarled towards her and she simply shrugged then began collecting the robotic pieces in order to complete their mission. Realizing Chloe was heartless, Mike approached Anastazia and rested a hand on her shoulder in support. He whispered his condolences. Her hand rose to grab his and her silent tears turned into cries.

Shard was her partner. The man she created life with. Things weren't perfect between them, but an end like this wasn't deserved. Not for any side of the party. Shard was their friend, and now he was gone. Taken far too soon.

As Mike consoled Anastazia, Nick sighed and took it upon himself to conclude their business, "Thank you for all your help. You're all formidable warriors. Should we cross paths again, I hope it won't be so… Dark… Of circumstances."

"Of course," Gohan nodded, being the most professional of the Z gang. "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh! Sorry. Name's Nick," the brunette answered, offering a hand which Gohan shook in formal greeting. "We're a part of NWSS. It's a galactic patrol organization."

Goten commented, "Never heard of it."

Nick turned, "We actually came for Maudie. She's a student there just like us."

The girl had joined the group and nodded to confirm that the information was correct. Goten blinked, "Really? No way!"

Maudie addressed Nick, "I'm sorry for the mess. I really botched this mission… Oh, I'm never going to graduate! I'll never hear the end of this! They had to send their best team to rescue me! And…! Oh, Shard! I'm so sorry!"

"The dragon balls…" Pan began to suggest, but Trunks interrupted, "Are gone, Pan."

"It's alright. These sorts of things can happen in a battle," Nick sighed, taking a glance at his sister grieving in the field. He addressed the group in front of him once more, "Thanks again for all your help. Your care for life is… Refreshing."

Before the man could leave, Vegeta approached, "The girl. Will she return?"

Nick hesitated, unsure about this man who merely watched everything unfold, "She calls Earth her home, but I can't tell you when that would be."

"Hmph, very well," came his simple dismissal. A saiyan who calls Earth home? How peculiar…

"Maudie?" Nick signaled the fellow brunette who nodded.

"Right. I'll return with you." She then turned to Goten, "Thanks for meeting with me today, Goten. Maybe we can go for an actual date next time? With hopefully no murderous robots?"

The saiyan chuckled, "Yeah! Sure! I'll look forward to it!"