The great blizzard which covered the entirety of the Eighth Demon World never ceased. For eons the snow had fallen from the world's eternally white skies. At the realm's coldest point..a greater than normal supernatural cold existed. This cold was a nightmare to all the humans stranded in the world. The cold could freeze any mortal exposed to it..along with all that person's hopes and dreams.
As the Z-Fighters walked up the frozen mountain, their every footstep leaving a print in the snow, one of their number could not help but think and reflect as the endless snowflakes danced their way to the ground.
Goku's eyes gazed upon the mirror-like surface of the walls leading up to the icy tower. Each time he looked into the ice he saw one of his loved ones who had perished, those precious to him that he had been unable to save.
The frozen glare of his grandfather, the elderly man known as Gohan whom he had named his eldest son after was the first one to meet his gaze. The old man's eyes were still and returned Goku's gaze with an icy stare. Chi-Chi meet Goku's eyes the second time he laid eyes on the glass-like ice. The second time was even more painful than the first, for while he had come to grips with his adoptive grandfather's death years ago, he saw only pain in the image of his wife.
The third image in the glass was none other than Gohan himself. The eldest son of Goku returned his father's stare, a look of disappointment and anger perhaps hidden away in his frozen eyes.
It was too much for Goku. The very man who had slain galactic tyrants and universal terrors crumbled under the pain of loss, the very pain that in the past had given him strength was now reducing him to a total emotional wreck.
Goku suddenly sat down, collapsing onto the icy steps which lead up to the tower.
The entire group, which had been ahead, stopped and turned around.
"I don't know why I keep feeling this way..but the pain..Gohan's death..my inability to avenge him..Its just all too much." Goku said, tears falling freely from his eyes which instantly turned to ice the moment they struck the ground.
Kohryu placed his right hand on Goku's left shoulder. Kohryu's white hair and mustache gave him the appearance of a wise grandfather, while his kai robes and golden wings hinted at a wisdom far greater than what any normal mortal possessed.
"The pain of losing Gohan is still fresh on your heart. But do not allow the sorcery which pervades this frozen hell to destroy your will to fight Goku. You are one of the most righteous, bravest mortals I have ever known..you can get past this..I believe in you." Kohryu said with a caring smile.
Bardock placed his left had on his son's right shoulder. The green armored Saiyan had not been much of a father to his son his entire life..but if he could make up a lifetime of not being a parent to his son with this single moment..he intended on doing so to the best of his ability.
"Son I know what it feels like to lose someone. My friends, my wife, any chance I had at having a relationship with my eldest son..I lost it all. Some of it was because of Frieza..but the rest..was my fault. Just know that no matter your feelings..you are not alone." Bardock said.
Vegeta crossed his arms over his black clothed chest and smirked.
"You going to collapse on me now Kakorot? We haven't even discovered the secret to surpassing Super Saiyan Five! Come on now clown..get up." Vegeta said.
Goku smiled weakly and stood.
"Last thing I want is for you to beat me to a new super saiyan level." Goku said as Kohryu and Bardock helped him to his feet.
"There is a first time for everything." Vegeta said with his trademark smirk as the group began to once again climb their way to the icy tower.
Vegeta's black outfit was a black variation of the usual outfit he had used for training and fighting when he wasn't in the mood for Saiyan armor. He had worn a similar outfit when the entire affair with Maijin Buu occurred years ago, only that outfit was blue.
"What is the score? Four to none?" Nouva said with a smirk of his own.
"You stay out of this dragon." Vegeta said, prompting a short and quiet chuckle from Nouva.
Nouva Shenron's golden form contrasted sharply with the silver and white of their surroundings. Possessing a new power within that he had yet to test, Nouva was confident he could handle the next demon king, as it was his turn to fight.
As they walked Goten moved to walk next to his father.
Goten's white combat gai was normally white as snow, but the constant battles over the last few days had stained it in places.
"Dad I know how much Gohan's loss is hurting you. He was my brother..It hurts me too. I also lost Velese..the memory of what I had to do will likely haunt me till the day I die. Just don't forget you still have family. And you still have friends." Goten said with a look of compassion in his eyes as he looked at his father.
Goku silently placed his right hand on Goten's white-clothed shoulder.
"Thank you Goten..that means alot to me." Goku said with a slight hint of sadness in his voice.
Some time passed. The group came to a huge door made of some kind of blue metal. The door was decorated with two swans, each mirroring the other in form.
Trunks walked over to the door and pushed against it weakly. Silently the door opened, revealing a large white room.
The Z-Fighters silently entered, the door closing shut the moment all were inside.
"This place reminds me of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks said, looking around at the seemingly endless chamber of white.
"It has similarities in appearance, but unlike the chamber this room is far from infinite." Vegeta said, using his senses to determine the chamber's size.
"It is as large or small as I need it to be." A feminine voice said from nearby.
All present turned to see a beautiful woman with icy-blue skin, a wonderfully sculpted face with blue lips and eyes, long straight white hair, and a long dark blue dress seemingly composed of tiny diamonds.
"Who would you be?" Goten asked.
"My name is Sapphira, Queen of the Eighth Demon World." The woman said with a confident and regal tone.
"Shes..hot." Trunks blurted out.
Goten rolled his eyes.
"Will he ever grow up?" Goten said, to which everyone nearby smiled slightly in amusement.
"And I'm out of your league boy..any other questions?" Sapphira said with a slight smile on her pale features.
Nouva suddenly stepped forward. While the humanoid Dragon's hands were held in a relaxed manner, anyone trained in the art of combat could tell Nouva's position hid the fact he was ready in a moment's notice to jump into combat.
"They have no business with you. It is I who you will have as your opponent." Nouva said confidently.
"Geez it just got another twenty degrees colder in here or something." Trunks said, his body shivering from the sudden increase in temperature.
"Nouva has ceased using a portion of his energy to shield us from the effects of this world. Quickly use your powers to help me build a fire, before we all freeze." Vegeta said.
Sapphira gazed at Nouva silently before answering.
"Come..let us speak in a more..neutral location. Your allies will freeze in seconds the moment I raise my power to fighting level." Sapphira said calmly.
"Lead the way." Nouva said.
Suddenly two spheres of nearly transparent energy appeared around Nouva and Sapphira, who rose into the air and vanished from the perspective of the Z-Fighters.
"Where did they go?" Goten asked as he warmed himself by the fire.
"I sense them on the floor above this one." Bardock answered.
"What kind of place is this anyway?" Trunks asked.
"It is both part of the eighth demon world..and also its own separate dimension. More than that I can't tell." Bardock answered.
"The tower of Ice is in fact the door to the next Demon World. The unique properties of the structure's inside is due to the fact it exists between worlds." Kohryu said.
"So this entire building is a demon door like the others we have traveled to?" Trunks asked.
"Yes..and no. The last two demon doors are different from the others before it. While the doors which granted passage to every world leading up to this one were standard demonic doors both in appearance and in function, this door and the final one take a much different form. It is said that all the normal demon doors which link any two demon worlds, or a demon world with the mortal realm originate in this tower. While the final door connects Demon World with the realms of time, the infernal below, and the celestial realms above, as well as the mortal world." Kohryu said, the Dragon-Kai walking around near the fire as he spoke.
"I've seen the last door. It was I who opened it, as part of an agreement with Azrael for aiding me against Krysis." Bardock said, looking slightly ashamed.
"Remember not to blame yourself. Many others before you have fallen to Azrael's cunning." Kohryu said kindly.
Vegeta sat with both his arms and legs crossed, thinking to himself silently as he sat near the fire.
"Azrael is our final opponent. It is clear that the power of a Super Saiyan Five will not be enough to defeat him..and yet there seems no way to surpass it. Kakorot managed to push past the usual limits of the level when Gohan was killed, but even as he used that greater strength he was still a Super Saiyan Five."
Vegeta remembered his training to surpass Super Saiyan Four shortly before Tlama appeared.
"Each level of Super Saiyan gets harder and harder to achieve. Attaining the first level nearly cost me my life. It took years of training to reach the second level, and even more years to reach the third, a form which Kakorot had mastered while dead. The Fourth level I only attained on my own after remembering who I was and overcoming the primal mind. Finally..it was the help of a higher power..with no possible way to win..which allowed me to reach the fifth level." Vegeta thought.
"Is attaining Super Saiyan Six even possible? Does it even exist? Have we finally reached the zenith of Saiyan power? The highest point possible? I refuse to believe that. Always..always there is room to improve oneself..to transcend one's limitations. Perhaps that is the key. In order to surpass a Super Saiyan Five...one must transcend something which holds them back from greater power."
"Hopefully we can surpass Super Saiyan Five Kakorot. Transcending our current limitations..transcending ourselves." Vegeta thought.
Nouva Shenron and Sapphira had appeared outside the tower. Nouva could see the endless white of the world, all the glaciers, evergreen forests, and tiny villages that dotted the landscape.
Sapphira smiled slightly.
"Why did you bring us outside?" Nouva asked, clutching his hands into fists as he prepared to power up to his full fighting power.
"My power is greatest in the world I rule over. Moreover I realized from watching your battle with your brother that yours is as well. I will allow the clouds to part, so that you may use your maximum potential in our battle." Sapphira said as she too clutched her delicate looking feminine hands into fists.
"How considerate of you. But don't think I will hold back just because your a woman. There is a difference between being honorable and being stupid." Nouva said as an aura of fire formed around his body.
"I had no delusions of you being overly chivalrous. I threaten millions of lives, including some mortals you obviously care about. Underestimating me would be fatal." Sapphira said as a semi-transparent aura of blue cold energy appeared around Sapphira.
"Well then let us see why your the Eighth." Nouva asked, then rushed towards his opponent, fists aflame with red fire.
Sapphira easily dodged several fiery punches before swinging her left arm at Nouva, an act which sent a crescent-shaped object made of the coldest ice at the shadow dragon of fire.
Nouva easily avoided Sapphira's attack by flying high into the sky. Sapphira held both arms crossed. Suddenly an entire mountain of white ice formed over her head which she quickly launched at Nouva.
Nouva narrowed his eyes, then became ablaze in a crimson flame before diving directly at the incoming mountain head on.
Sapphira smiled as Nouva was engulfed by her icy creation, but soon her smile turned into a look of surprise as the mountain blew apart in the form of a cascade of water.
Nouva smiled, then formed a giant glass-like lense over his head and pointed it at Sapphira. At the speed of light a beam of heat and power rushed from the lense at the ice queen, who countered by forming a shield made of the same mirror-like ice her tower was composed of.
Nouva's beam collided with Sapphira's shield and was sent back towards the fire dragon, much to Nouva's surprise.
Nouva had no choice but to quickly fly out of the way of his own reflected attack, which was able to easily do.
Sapphira was just beginning to reveal the full scope of her powers. Holding her hands out to her sides, a great earthquake could be heard in the region as two mountains composed of a strange, crystal-like ice emerged from the ground.
Sapphira then pointed one of her hands at Nouva. Immediately two giant dark blue creatures which resembled Nouva himself emerged from the mountains.
"What is she planning now?" Nouva thought to himself, then narrowed his eyes when he realized just what sort of powers Sapphira was employing.
Before Nouva could move both Nouva reflections flew up at him. Nouva attempted to destroy one with a death ray, but the creature blocked his attack with an aura of cold blue flame.
The creature then grabbed Nouva, holding him a short distance from Sapphira herself when she flew over to inspect her prey.
"It is said some of a person's soul is captured in their reflection. Here that saying is truth." Sapphira said with a wicked smile on her face.
"You haven't beaten me yet witch." Nouva said, suddenly radiating a heat thousands of times greater than a normal flame.
The intense heat melted the ice the giant reflections of Nouva were composed of, as well as all the snow and ice and everything else within 12 kilometers as Nouva's body heat achieved the same temperature as the sun.
Sapphira was surrounded by an aura of blue, somehow unaffected by the solar-level heat.
"You underestimate me witch. I am able to generate heat levels as great as a sun..and even greater still if I wished. The only reason I rarely use this power is because there are few opponents who would survive even a second exposed to such heat...and the fact that I refuse to involve innocents in my battles." Nouva said
Sapphira smiled.
"I can see your capabilities dragon. But just as I failed to see your full capabilities, so too did you fail to know that I have not even begun to reveal what I am really capable of to." Sapphira said
"Then show me." Nouva said with a slight smile as he brought his temperature down to the level of a normal fire.
Nouva had another reason he never used his full temperatures in fights. Even his normal level of heat had the prolonged effect of changing an area's climate to that of a desert on most terrestrial worlds.
Using solar levels of heat or higher rendered those regions un inhabitable for centuries, not just from the leftover molten rock and ash, but from the radiation as well. Sure enough the region effected by his flame was now ash. But somehow the area his heat effected had been contained somehow, reduced to a much lesser area than it normally would have effected.
"There is a cold so great that even hopes and dreams will forever be frozen. Even a fire that burns hottest and brightest will be a frozen flame after experiencing this cold." Sapphira said with a wicked smile on her blue lips.
"That will never happen." Nouva said as he began tapping into his full power.
"I don't want to rely on the others if I can help it. If I can finish this fight as Nouva..than I will" Nouva Shenron thought.
"Go ahead..show me your full abilities dragon. You will make an excellent addition to my collection." Sapphira said as she watched Nouva power up silently.
Back inside the tower..
The fog that had obscured most of the chamber had lifted without the presence of the ice queen to sustain it.
The Z-Fighters inside the tower found to their horror the frozen forms of thousands of warriors, as well as countless innocent men, women, and children unfortunate enough to be caught in the Ice Queen's wrath.
While none of the Z-Fighters left the side of the fire..all of them commented on what they saw.
"This is awful." Goten said
"I thought I sensed something when we entered here. Thousands..no, millions of innocent souls are all kept here..held as part of a collection." Bardock said, images of the past horrors surrounding this place filling his mind.
"Is there any way to free them?" Trunks asked.
"Not without shattering the ice. Perhaps defeating Sapphira is the only way to set them free." Vegeta said sadly.
"Every one of the demon kings seems to have shown us another side of evil, some other representation of vileness. Dabura was arrogance, Zaragog was vengeance, Vanterus was vanity, Malastar was lust and so forth. Its just a theory but maybe that is why Azrael has us fight his underlings according to rank?" Goku suggested, showing a rare show of insight.
"Perhaps you are right Kakorot..but what would that make Azrael?" Vegeta asked.
"I can answer that." All heads turned to see Kohryu speak.
"Azrael represents the evil of death itself." Kohryu said plainly.
"Death is evil?" Vegeta asked, curious.
"Orginally mortals were just like the celestial beings, they knew not death, or war or disease. Azrael was once the head watcher in what is now called the Time Fortress. From his post he watched mortals living various happy lives on the various worlds." Kohryu explained.
"But that existence wasn't good enough for him right?" Vegeta asked..begining to have a feeling about where this story was headed.
"Azrael saw the mortals, how tiny, puny and powerless they were compared to him. He saw them living eternal lives full of bliss, while he was tasked with watching. Azrael became miserable, he sought out the supreme being, the sovereign one that all celestial beings served, the very being responsible for the order of creation. Azrael said that the mortals deserved not the eternal lives of happiness. He pointed out the flaws of some mortals, the ones which were banished to hellish domains for their crimes. Azrael claimed all mortals were like them, and so they did not deserve immortality." Kohryu said.
"And what happened? Did this supreme being, this God agree with Azrael?" Vegeta asked.
"No, in fact Azrael was rebuked by nearly everyone in the heavens. This only increased Azrael's anger. Azrael journeyed to the mortal realms himself, and encouraged evil and strife wherever he went. Eventually the other Seraphs were sent against him. Azrael ran to the infernal realms, freeing all the demons and other foul creatures trapped there. He also journeyed to the worlds where the criminal mortals were held." Kohryu said.
"How did this bring about death?" Vegeta asked.
"The war shattered the mortal realms. Azrael spread the idea of war to all the mortal worlds he visited, therefore bringing death to mortals. Azrael was eventually contained and trapped in the lowest reaches of the infernal realms..but what was done was done..the mortal realms were forever tainted in evil, the evil of war..the evil of death." Kohryu said sadly.
"So that is why he is the king of demon world..and the incarnation of death I take it?" Vegeta said.
"Yes..there is more..a prophecy regarding the future..but I will not utter it here." Kohryu said crypticly.
Outside Nouva's power and heat climbed to the very limit of what he was capable of. A normal person would have long since been burnt into ash long ago..but Sapphira still flew in front of him..in defiance.
The land earlier effected by his powers was still charred and black, however just as before had his power been limited to that area..so to did it now.
When Nouva had climbed to his limit he flew forward, leaving a trail of red and orange fire in the air as he made his way towards the demonic ice queen.
Sapphira blocked each and every punch and kick from Nouva. Nouva attempted to uppercut Sapphira with a fiery punch, but that to was blocked by a quick reflex from the ice queen's left arm.
Nouva next broke off his assault, then held his hands together in order to execute an attack which was similar to a kamemeha to the untrained eye.
Once Nouva had gathered the required energy, he launched the strongest beam attack he had every created directly at Sapphira, who simply floated in midair as a red beam just as bright and hot as a sun streaked towards her.
While Nouva had forseen some sort of barrier, he never expected Sapphira to hold her hands out, seemingly to catch his attack. But that was exactly what she had done, catching his fire beam with only her two pale-blue hands.
What happened after that Nouva had expected even less as his beam froze over, seemingly and impossibly transformed into frozen water.
Flying a safe distance away, Nouva watched as the frozen remnants of his attack hovered in midair, then shattered.
"Everyone of my attacks she counters, either by just blocking or using one of her ice techniques. Even my hottest flames fail to have any effect. She must have a weakness." Nouva thought as Sapphira floated a distance away, seemingly anticipating his next move.
Nouva decided to fly in for another round of melee attacks. This time he would be carefully watching Sapphira to determine the nature of her power.
Flying in, Nouva swung his right fist at Sapphira, only for the ice witch to easily block his attack, as Nouva expected she would. Nouva then swung his left fist forward. Just before Sapphira blocked his attack Nouva smiled, and fired a point blank Nova Death Ray at his opponent.
Sapphira's eyes widened in surprise as the attack struck her, the flames eating away at her icy blue form unless only ashes were left behind.
Nouva crossed his arms over his chest and hovered down to the ground.
Just moments ago this area was covered in ash from his previous attack, but even as he landed he saw the ice and snow reclaim what was taken from them, any evidence of his attack washed clean away..clean as snow.
Despite the fact he had just seen his opponent destroyed before his eyes...something wasn't right.
Nouva could still feel Sapphira's power. In fact now that her body had been destroyed..he could sense her power much clearer than before. Sapphira was not just a flesh and blood body. She was all the cold, all the ice and snow, it was all part of her.
"Sapphira you can cut the act! I know what you truly are!" Nouva yelled as loud as he could.
Suddenly a loud feminine laughter could be heard coming from every direction.
In front of Nouva a humanoid figure made of ice was formed from the surrounding air.
"Whoever Sapphira is..she has the power to cool air millions of degrees kelvin in less than a second to sub-zero temperatures. I have the feeling she has just been toying with me." Nouva thought.
The figure made of ice solidified, revealing Sapphira as she was before Nouva's last attack.
"So you understand exactly what kind of a being I am. Do you now understand that even the hottest flame is nothing compared to me?" Sapphira asked.
"Yes, but with all that power spread out, you cannot mount a proper offensive. Reflecting my attacks or blocking them is one thing...but those tactics will not defeat the likes of Nouva Shenron." Nouva said with a smile.
"Is that so?" Sapphira smiled at Nouva. He was a clever dragon..that was certain.
"With only a portion of your fighting strength used as you are doing, I may be unable to destroy you, but your also unable to destroy me. In short you have no choice but to show me your real strength, otherwise this battle will go on forever." Nouva said as he placed his arms at his side.
Sapphire began to laugh.
"Its been awile since someone has truly amused me. You Nouva have lit a fire in my heart of cold ice...something which I thought I would never feel again." Sapphira said
Nouva only responded with a smile at first.
"I will make you a wager. If you can defeat me at my maximum power with your true strength..I will reveal my true power. How does that sound?" Nouva asked.
Sapphira placed a finger on her chin.
"I agree to your terms. But be warned..my true power may be more than you can handle..even if you reveal your true strength." Sapphira said even as the entire world began to shake.
It was like earlier when she had raised the two mountains, only much more severe. There was no place Nouva could tell in the entire demon world, that was safe from the earthquakes.
All of Nouva's sight was soon obscured. All the ice and snow and cold air on the entire world was gathering before him. What was spread out was concentrating in one spot.
In the midst of the raging storm Nouva could make out a figure shrouded by the storm. It was definitely female in shape.
This brief glimpse of his opponent ended when a tornado of cold, ice and snow appeared around the epicenter of the transformation.
An entire planet's worth of material and power..or condensed and gathered in one spot. From the mind of his father, Nouva had seen many things. Shenron had wondered the universe maintaining the cosmic order before becoming eternal dragon of Earth. Long before he was chained to the dragonballs, Shenron had flown threw collapsing galaxies, he had seen negative suns, gazed upon worlds forged of metal like a blacksmith forges a sword.
But his father had never seen anything like this.
In moments..it was over. The landscape was green, like the new grass of spring. Gone were the glaciers and fields of ice. Instead..a living and beautiful world lay bare for perhaps the first time in millenia.
As for Sapphira, she had changed as well. A cocoon covered her body from her head to her feet. Slowly the ice cracked, and from the icy cocoon emerged a changed being.
Where before Sapphira was dressed elegantly, now she was dressed for battle. Her white hair was now tied in a pony-tail. On her body was what resembled a blue ninja-suit. Only Sapphira's face, arms, and legs were unprotected by the cloth. When Sapphira placed a blue-face mask over the lower portion of her face, that too was covered.
"Now prepare yourself dragon!" Sapphira yelled, then rushed forward at Nouva, who attempted to punch the incoming ninja.
Instead of punching the actual Sapphira, Nouva ended up punching a copy of her made of ice. Just as he had come to that realization did a sharp pain erupt from his back as he felt himself launched into the air from what had been a fierce punch from his opponent.
Nouva managed to stop himself from going far, but Sapphira was one step ahead of him, leaping gracefully threw the air so that she faced him.
Sapphira then held her hands together, cold, snow and ice forming into a sphere in her hands.
Alarmed at the power he was sensing from the attack, Nouva took off into the air.
"An aerial escape will not save you from me." Sapphira said.
"Absolute Zero Cannon!" Sapphira yelled, firing the sphere in the form of a blue-white beam of unbelievably cold energy from her hands in Nouva's direction. Despite being a safe distance from getting hit directly by Sapphira's attack, Nouva still found his wings frozen and a layer of frost over his entire body.
When he landed gently on the ground he felt, to his horror, that it was much harder to raise his temperature. Nouva relied on flame and heat. If he was unable to gather either he couldn't fight.
"Do you feel it Nouva? The cold which freezes even the hottest flame? You weren't even directly hit by my attack...yet your ability to use your element has been lessened considerable just by being near my absolute zero cannon. Just imagine what it will do if it hits you fully?" Sapphira taunted as she walked gracefully over the ground towards him, her every step freezing the ground nearby.
Nouva yelled as he forced his power yet higher, all the ice and cold sticking to him like some disease, that which restrained his fire, was burnt up instantly.
"A lethal attack..but you will actually have to hit me with it if you want to win this fight..and our bet." Nouva said.
Sapphira's only response was to gather energy in both her hands. The energy caused ice to form in both hands in the shape of a snowflake. Sapphira then gripped both snowflakes as a normal ninja would grip a shuriken, or throwing star, and then tossed the objects in Nouva's direction.
Nouva leapt into the air to avoid the first snowflake, and freefalled into the ground to avoid the second.
Nouva then formed a large lense over his head, bigger than any he had formed before.
"Nova Death Ray!" Nouva yelled as he fired a red beam of fiery energy in Sapphira's direction.
Sapphira fired cold energy in front of her, creating a wall of ice which somehow blocked Nouva's attack. Sapphira then stuck her hands forward, forming about ten snowflake shurikens in front of her which she used her mind to send in Nouva's direction.
Nouva blasted a couple of the icy projectiles, but the wave of cold energy unleashed from their destruction warned Nouva that that approach would be fatal, so the fire dragon rolled on the ground, avoiding each snowflake easily.
Nouva quickly reformed his lense when the last Snowflake missed him and yelled "Nouva Death Ray!", sending yet another of his heat rays in Sapphira's way.
This time Sapphira quickly placed her hands together and yelled "Absolute Zero Cannon!", firing yet another icy-blue beam of absolute coldness at Nouva Shenron's incoming attack.
Nouva found his attack swallowed up bit by bit by Sapphira's own attack. Before he would be in range of the attack's cold field, he flew as fast as he could into the sky.
Meeting him in the air was Sapphira. The icy ninja winked at Nouva before pointing her right fist in his direction.
"How could she be so fast?" Nouva thought briefly before hearing Sapphira yell the name of her next attack.
"Ice Shatter Blaster!" Sapphira yelled, firing a thin blue-white beam of energy at Nouva from her right hand. The beam quickly reached its target, which was below Nouva, who anticipated wrongly that she would aim for him directly this time.
As Nouva flew downwards he struck, rather hardly a giant mountain made of ice. Finding himself unable to move as the ice traveled up the length of his body. Nouva was made helpless as movement and the use of his fire..let alone fighting became impossible from the supernaturally cold ice.
"A being of flame..imprisoned in ice...how ironic." Nouva thought as the last of his body was frozen over.
Sapphira floated down to the base of the mountain, her feet freezing the grass she landed on instantly.
"I guess I win that bet." Sapphira said.
Nouva could see his opponent threw the clear ice. He was sure she was smiling beneath her mask. It did not matter though..without the use of his flame or the ability to move he could never use his true power.
Inside the tower...
Goku narrowed his eyes as he focused outside the tower on the ongoing battle between Nouva and Sapphira.
"I think its over." Goku said sadly.
"Did she beat him?" Goten asked his father, the two staring at a wall, using their spiritual senses to "see" beyond.
Kohryu walked over to the two.
"Nouva has a way out of this..if only he lets go of the past." Kohryu said.
Outside, inside the mountain of ice, Nouva thought of the power he had been granted. Almost two years ago now, he had been "born" from the overuse of the Earth's dragonballs.
After years of granted wishes, most of which were for the good of the universe, a negative energy had built up inside the dragonballs. The wishing power of eternal dragons always releases the opposite form of energy from the kind of wish granted.
Since the vast majority of the wishes came from selfless desires, the overload created, or rather freed, Omega Shenron, then in the form of the black smoke dragon. Omega was the dark part of Shenron's own soul, given life by the wishes of mortals.
When the dragon created the shadow dragons, only a part of its existence remained..in the form of Syn Shenron, who had in turn also been created by from the wish made by Mr. Popo to revive everyone on Namek that was killed at the hands of Frieza as well as his soldiers.
The size,scope and selflessness of this wish produced a tremendous amount of negative energy, accounting for Syn Shenron's overwhelming power and purely evil nature.
In fact all the shadow dragons except for Nouva were completely evil. Nouva owed his goodness both to the wish that had created him...as well as the person who had held his dragonball dear to him.
The Four-Star Dragonball had been precious to Goku his entire life. Unknownst to Goku..some of Goku's goodness had seeped into the dragonball. That combined with the wish of Demon King Piccolo, had given Nouva a choice between Good and Evil.
Nouva had chosen good the moment he saw the honorable character of Goku, even after he had paid the price twice with his own life for siding with Goku, he still was happy with his decision.
After that..he had existed briefly as part of Omega..but that ended when Omega was destroyed.
Shenron had his own world, and he had created seven dens for each of the shadow dragons, as well as a place for all of them to meet. Goku had been brought there. He was still a child when he arrived.
Shenron had the dragonballs inside Goku. After a month of this, the dragonballs were cleansed of negative energy. Only then did Shenron free the Shadow Dragons.
Nouva remembered how confusing it had been for them all. With both positive and negative energy inside them, all of them had a choice to make. Good or evil was something each had to decide for themselves.
Nouva never imagined it had come to a contest between him and Ece, his own twin brother. But it had, and though he had won, ensuring the shadow dragons would be a force for good, he now could not even use the blessing shenron and the others had granted him..because of the accursed ice surrounding him.
"Your giving up brother? I thought you were tougher than that." Ece said
"Ece is that you?" Nouva asked in his mind.
"Yes of coarse. Were you expecting Santa Claus? Sorry I don't do presents..or maybe I do if you catch my drift." Ece said
"Nouva, if you want to use our power all you need to do is ask." Oceanus feminine voice could be heard saying.
"Our strength together would easily break you from the ice." Rage Shenron said.
"You sure..seems like Nouva is in some strong stuff." Haze said.
"You an imbecile? Of coarse we can break it together." Naturon said with an annoyed tone.
"Enough..all of you. Nouva this is Syn..listen well because I will only say this once. If you desire our power, you must say in your heart and your mind...Shadow Dragons..Unite. Only then will all seven dragonballs be under your power." Syn said.
"Heart and mind..." Nouva thought as the ice grew yet thicker.
"That is correct." Syn responded.
"Shadow Dragons..UNITE!" Nouva cried out in his mind.
Outside the mountain of ice, Sapphira looked up with disappointment at Nouva, who remained frozen in the still-growing ice mountain.
"You said you would reveal your true power..where is it Nouva?" Sapphira yelled.
Suddenly an orange sphere flew into the mountain, followed by another.
"What the?" Sapphira said in surprise. Before the icy ninja could react another dragonball flew into the mountain, followed by a fourth.
"Is this how you gather your power Nouva?" Sapphira asked out loud, her icy blue eyes narrowing at the mountain of ice, inside of which she sensed a growing power.
Two more dragonballs floated into the mountain, which then shattered, revealing Nouva Shenron, who landed on the ground below, which was a small pond from the melted ice.
Around Nouva all seven dragonballs floated, orbiting Nouva like planets orbited a sun.
"Impressive..but you will need much more than that level of strength to defeat me. If that is your true power..I'm disappointed." Sapphira said as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Then I won't disappoint you. Shadow Dragons Unite!" Nouva yelled.
Suddenly, one by one each of the dragonballs flew into Nouva's open mouth. The last ball Nouva devoured was his own, the four-star ball.
Once all seven were inside him Nouva began to power up, yelling both in exertion and pain as his body began to change form.
All seven dragonballs emerged on Nouva's chest. Nouva's body grew taller and bulkier, his formerly thin body becoming buff and muscular. Nouva's wings grew twice as large. Finally, two yellow horns grew out of opposite sides of Nouva's forehead.
An explosion of fire caught Sapphira unprepared, knocking the icy queen backwards a fair distance.
Inside the tower...
"I sense Nouva..but his power is way to high and feels too different to be him." Goku said.
"It feels like when Syn absorbed the other dragons..only Nouva is the one doing the absorbing this time." Goten said.
"That is exactly what just happened...I imagine this fight will be over soon." Kohryu said as the other Z-Fighters began to talk about the very same thing they were sensing.
Nouva emerged from the cloud of smoke the wake of his transformation had created. His skin was no longer golden, but more a reddish copper in coloration. Nouva's head almost looked like a samurai helmut, with the horns arrayed the manner they were.
Sapphira came walking back over, seeing the changed being before her, she could not help but be impressed.
"I am one dragon with the strength of seven. Nouva Shenron is no more..I am Ultimo Shenron." Ultimo said with a voice similar to that of Shenron's.
"A transformation and increase of power does not victory make. Show me what you can do Ultimo." Sapphira said, taking a fighting stance.
Ultimo smiled, then placed his hands together with his fingers pointing upwards.
"Whirlwind Spin!" Ultimo yelled
As Sapphira advanced upon her opponent, a giant tornado suddenly engulfed her and carried her high into the air.
"Whirlwind...Flame!" Ultimo yelled as he combined Nouva's powers with Oceanus', creating a tornado of wind and fire around Sapphira.
Sapphira yelled, fighting against the hot winds with her own cold generating powers. In seconds the tornado was gone and she floated gently down to the ground.
"Was that the best you could do?" Sapphira said arrogantly.
"Dragon Thunder!" Ultimo yelled as the five star ball lit up.
Suddenly Ultimo's entire body glowed with electrical energy. Ultimo then placed his hands together in a similar stance to Goku's Kamehameha.
"Raikou Doragon Raikou!"(lightning dragon attack) Ultimo yelled, firing off a dragon similar to Shenron in form, but made purely of electricity, in Sapphira's direction.
Sapphira was struck painfully by the attack, but before she could counter Ultimo had another attack already executed.
"Aftershock!" Ultimo Shenron yelled as he pounded the ground with his right foot, the seven star dragonball glowing as he did so.
Sapphira found herself forced to guard as the waves of tectonic energy struck her.
"Enough! As impressive as you are...your nothing compared to this! Absolute Zero Cannon!" Sapphira yelled, then fired an enormous blue/white beam of ultra-cold energy from her right hand at Ultimo.
Ultimo smiled as the ice-ray headed towards him, the four-star dragonball glowing as he did so.
Ultimo suddenly heald out his hands towards the incoming attack.
"You think you can catch my most powerful attack like a child's toy?" Sapphira asked.
"Why yes actually." Ultimo said, catching the beam and forcing it into the form of a sphere which he slowly absorbed into the four-star ball.
"Impossible!" Sapphira yelled as she saw her attack absorbed, clutching her fists tightly in anger before she leapt forward at Ultimo, intending on hitting him with a melee attack.
"Ice Lance!" Ultimo Shenron yelled as the four-star ball glowed. Suddenly a spear made of ice appeared in Ultimo's left hand.
Ultimo blocked an incoming kick from Sapphira with his right forearm. The dragon then swung his spear overhead with his left arm and brought it down swiftly upon Sapphira just as she was about to punch him.
The spear struck the ice queen's chest and emerged the other side, a look of shock on the icy witch's face.
"You bastard!" Sapphira yelled as she removed the spear.
"Now..no tricks..no techniques. Show me what you can do." Ultimo said calmly.
"As you wish!" Sapphira yelled, then floated into the sky.
Ultimo flapped his large wings, floating completely opposite with his opponent.
Finally the two were above the clouds of the eighth demon world, each facing the other.
Ultimo crossed his large copper arms over his chest.
"Let us see who of us is the better fighter." Ultimo said
Sapphira said nothing. She simply flew towards Ultimo at faster-than sound speeds.
Ultimo also was silent as he flew towards his opponent at ultra-sonic speed.
When the two combatants colided, a shockwave was created which caused not only the eighth demon world, but all the worlds above to shake briefly.
On the first world...
A couple demons fighting in the eternal war paused as they felt the energy coming from somewhere below.
On the second world..
The various fighting biker gangs ceased riding..feeling the very world itself shake.
On the third world...
The carnies at the carnival were gathering the carnival's equipment when they felt the world shake. Various owls, crows, and other birds flew into the air.
On the fourth world...
A poor family of humans thanked a higher power for their meal, preying the vampires would not find them that night. The room suddenly shook briefly, but somehow everyone knew whatever happened..happened far away and that they were safe.
On the fifth world...
The various villagers gathered as they usually did in front of the large marble temple to pray to the god of the underworld so that they could continue to live..even if just another day.
When the earth shook, the villagers looked at each other..not sure how to react.
On the sixth world..
A group of desert nomads pitched their tents around an oasis. When the world shook from some unseen power, water flowed in greater amounts then ever before.
On the seventh world...
A large eyeball demon flew around chasing a small rat-like creature. When the world quaked, the smaller creature escaped behind a large red jellybean-like object.
Ultimo blocked a punch from Sapphira. Sapphira blocked a punch from Ultimo. Ultimo and his opponent exchanged blow after blow, each sending a shockwave out which caused the entire world to shake.
Ultimo Shenron struck Sapphira with a well placed right punch, only to strike a double made of solid ice instead.
Ultimo then turned just in time to block a flying kick from Sapphira with his right forearm.
"I grow tired of these games. It is time to end this." Sapphira said, then traced a series of objects in the air.
"One last attack to end this battle then." Ultimo said flying a short distance back from Sapphira, who formed a giant snowflake in front of her.
"Eye of Izanami!" Sapphira yelled as the snowflake in front of her began to spin, creating a miniature hurricane of cold air and ice.
"Mighty Hurricane Fury!" Ulimo yelled as the six-star dragonball lit.
The power of Ultimo's hurricane canceled out the effects of Sapphira's attack, leaving the air turbulent, but not harmful.
"My turn." Ultimo said as blue pinpricks of light gathered in front of him from everywhere. From the good souls in all the demon worlds the energy came. From all the good mortals in the normal universe they came. From heaven they came..from the world of the kais they came.
Tiny amounts of positive energy from all over the multiverse.
The entire world around them had a glow about it, a life that simply was not the norm for demon world.
"What is that accursed attack!" Sapphira yelled in horror as she sensed the pure goodness from the huge mountain-sized ball of blue light in between her and Ultimo.
Ultimo was silent as the blue beams coming from the dragonballs on his chest condensed the huge ball into a smaller, more potent and more manageable form.
"You took the lives of countless for your sick amusement. You caused mortals to suffer for untold generations in an eternal winter. You want to know what my attack is? I will tell you. It is the sum of every mortal's hopes and dreams. It is the love between mother and child. It is every act of kindness ever preformed by mortals in every world and dimension I could access." Ultimo said with a smile on his face, pausing before he finished talking.
"It..has a name. It is the Positive Karma Ball..and it is your doom!" Ultimo Shenron said as he gestured with his right arm towards Sapphira, an act which sent his attack towards Sapphira.
Sapphira placed her hands together in desperation, firing one last Absolute Zero Cannon.
However strong her frozen attack was, it was nothing before the Positive Karma Ball as its gentle blue form ignored Sapphira's attack as it made its way towards its target.
"I am the queen of the frozen...all who have lost hope! I am Sapphira of the Eighth Demon World! I am.." Sapphira started, but was consumed by Ultimo's attack.
"Your finished." Ultimo said, finishing his opponent's sentence as the Positive Karma Ball exploded, completely destroying its target along with itself.
Ultimo looked over the world. Cleansed of the supernatural cold as well as the demonic evil it had been a part of, Ultimo Shenron smiled. Already he could feel the entire world leaving demon world, bound back for the physical universe of mortals.
Inside the icy tower, a doorway appeared in front of the Z-Fighters, who then gathered around it, feeling the cold had vanished.
"What happened to the cold?" Trunks asked, noticing even his breathe wasn't visable anymore.
"Perhaps something happened to the Demon Queen. It seemed to me she was the one controling all the cold." Vegeta suggested.
"Something did happen all right." Bardock said with a smile.
"What? Do you know what happened grandfather?" Goten asked
"Nouva did it!" Goku said happily, breaking the mood.
"Clowns will always be clowns." Vegeta said, rolling his eyes.
"Nouva has indeed defeated Sapphira." Kohryu said with a slight smile.
"Why you doubted my abilities?" A familiar voice said from behind the group.
Ultimo Shenron walked over to the rest of the Z-Fighters.
"Nouva is that you?" Goku asked.
"It is I, but so much more. I am called Ultimo Shenron now." Ultimo said.
"Now that..is cool." Goten said.
"As much as I'd like to celebrate another victory over the demon kings, we have one last world to go..then we take the fight to Azrael..and then Uub, Gohan..everyone taken from us will be avenged." Goku said with a suddenly serious tone.
"Agreed. To the next demon world then?" Ultimo asked.
Bardock, Trunks, Goten, Vegeta, Kohryu, Ultimo and finally Goku paused..then entered the second to last door. One king remained...the last between them and Azrael.