The look on Queen Sally's face turned from worry to panic. Several times she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out and she closed it. She looked like a fish struggling to breathe out of water.
Archis stood, turning towards the windows of the castle. The shockwave from the explosion thankfully wasn't strong enough to shatter them, but it had come close. Their creaking was apparent, and noticeable enough for even a layman. Archis closed his eyes, placed his fingers to his temple, and concentrated, looking for power levels.
His eyes snapped open when he found them. There was now one Saiyan fighting, and another being of immense power. The second Saiyan's Ki was completely gone.
"Please..." From behind him, Archis heard Sally begging him. He turned and found her on her knees in front of him. Had he been a lesser, more disrespectful Saiyan, he probably would have offered something perverted at her prostrate stance.
"Please. My son and husband are fighting out there, as well as another Saiyan; a family friend. We'll ally with Castor, just please help them. Save my family!"
Archis' sense of compassion overruled his fear of Tarble. He knelt, placing his hands on the squirrel's shoulders, and he lifted her to her feet. "I'll do what I can," he said. Placing his fingers to his forehead, he released his suppressed Ki and disappeared all at once.
He reached the clearing and the fight without so much as a flash. A yellow hedgehog, sparks flying over his body much like a Super Saiyan, seemed to be waiting for him.
"I felt your power from the castle. What did you do to my mother?"
His hands were balled into fists, and energy seemed to be building into them. Archis held up his hands.
"My name is Archis, and I come from a planet called Castor. I came here to negotiate peace between our planets. She wants me to help you, so I am."
There was a grunt from behind the two of them, and they turned to see Tarble emerging from the crater. The look in his eyes was that of fury, but it wasn't directed at Manic.
"YOU!" He pointed a finger at the Castor Saiyan. "YOU DON'T F*CKING BELONG HERE!"
Archis crossed his arms over his chest, the slightest hint of a smirk crossing his face. "Nor do you. You should probably leave before you get hurt."
Tarble growled, yellow energy forming in his fists. "You think you're so important, still having a planet! Still having a home! Your presence here has desecrated this planet! After I take you out... I AM GOING TO REDUCE THIS SH*THOLE TO DUST!"
With a furious warcry, Tarble launched forward at Archis, with the intent of driving the energy from his fist into the enemy's stomach, to have it explode out his back. He didn't expect the Castor Saiyan to catch his fist.
"I AM THE PRINCE OF SAIYANS! I AM THE STRONGEST OF ALL SAIYANS, EVEN ABOVE MY BROTHER! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Tarble had gone insane in his rage.
Archis merely smirked, placing two fingers of his right hand to his temple, his left still holding on to Tarble's fist. "Bakkurasshu," he said.
Tarble felt like his entire arm erupted in pain. He screamed in agony and wrenched his fist from the Saiyan's grip, holding his smoking arm in pain. He looked back at Archis with pure hate. "How DARE you! You're nothing to me! You're even less than that Tycho b*stard, and he was lower than dirt!" With another growl, Tarble launched at Archis and began throwing a flurry of punches and kicks towards his enemy.
Archis merely moved his head out of the way of each attack, holding on to a fun-loving smile all the while. Just as he had known, Tarble had completely denied the existence of the golden hedgehog in his insistence that Archis needed to die right here and now.
Tarble could see that his attacks were missing, so he stopped aiming for the Saiyan's head and instead tried for some body attacks. Archis seemed to anticipate the change, because his attacks continued to miss. Tarble started changing up his attacks, no longer aiming, just throwing punches and kicks wildly, screaming at Archis in his rage. "WHY WHY WHY? YOU CAN'T BEAT ME, WHY CAN'T I HIT YOU?"
Archis tilted his head just enough that one of Tarble's attacks brushed the bandanna he had on, and in a smooth motion, the cloth was removed from his head. This was done on purpose, so that Tarble could see the shining golden hair that matched his tail. Archis had been Super the entire time, and had hidden it well to anyone who didn't pay attention, much like Tarble.
Tarble jumped back, roaring, and launched a volley of energy attacks at Archis. Archis didn't dodge, but instead deflected every attack away from himself and into the air, where they exploded in a flash of red light. Tarble continued to fire his attacks, and Archis continued to deflect them.
Growing tired of the mindless destruction, Archis placed his the his pointer and middle fingers from both hands to his temples, and concentrated. When he pulled them away, they both had small blue balls of energy levitating over the tips of them. Combining the energy balls into a single orb, Archis grabbed the energy and threw it baseball-style at Tarble. "Ki ShÅsan!"
Tarble, instead of moving, held still, intent on taking the blast and proving superiority. The blast, instead of exploding, entered the Saiyan and disappeared, and Tarble dropped to his knees, suddenly feeling completely worn out. It was like his Ki had been removed from his body. Archis, skidded to a stop in front of the Prince, and grinned, and Tarble stared at him in fury. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT?"
Archis simply kept his smile, and jumped into the air. Tarble followed him with his eyes until he disappeared, at which point he stared forward at Manic, who grinned. "Eat this, Tarble."
The blast the hedgehog let forth was a dazzling gold. Tarble threw up his arms in a futile attempt to resist the blast.
"How? How did I lose... to these stupid... arrogant... weak... HOW?" he screamed into the blast. "AAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!"
After the battle ended, Archis kept an eye on Manic. He collapsed from the expelling of power, and he, along with his family, were collected and placed into the hospital. The second Saiyan was collected into a body bag, and carted off elsewhere. Archis made sure to stay out of the cameras' eyes, not wanting to expose himself to what would no doubt be a media frenzy.
He had lent his help to the battle as best he could, and had not realized that his training had made him as strong as it did. But it didn't matter. The young hedgehog Manic was a wonderful protector, raised and trained well by the fallen Saiyan Tycho. Archis' one regret was that he had not been able to meet the Saiyan before he died.
Entering into the hospital room where Manic lay, Archis strode gently to the hedgehog's bedside. He placed his hand on Manic's shoulder and sighed gently. The hedgehog was asleep, still exhausted from his ordeal.
"Don't linger on your friend's death too long, young Manic," he said, knowing that the hedgehog probably couldn't hear him. "I'm sure you'll see him again. Good Saiyans don't stay dead for long."
He removed his hand from the hedgehog's shoulder, placed his hand to his forehead, and teleported away. He needed to get back to Castor and inform his father of their treaty. Then perhaps he could come back for a visit.