Dragonball: Universe

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For the most part, the soldiers of the Galactic empire were organized, calculating, and coolly operating under pressure. They struck with efficiency, moved with tactical brilliance, and eliminated their targets with a clean sweep. For the most part. Confusion was always a good countermeasure.

18 smiled. That was what she specialized in.

For the third time, she hurled yet another volatilely charged thrust of ki down on the mobilizing ground forces. Just before the explosion hit, she somersaulted her way across the street to a distant rooftop. After a smashing of glass, and a blinding outburst of light, she crashed through the thin concrete roof layer. The rumble of the earth could be felt just as her feet met the floor. That should have been the last of them...

Without turning around, she backflipped. The trajectory sent her out of the structure, and the android whipped her arms out to slow her decent through the smoke. The smell of burning rubble hit her nostrils, the dust flowing freely through her wildly flapping blonde hair. Reaching out with her hearing, she could make out the shuffling of injured feet. With a quick flicker of the wrist, she had out her KI sidearm, still free falling through the foggy haze. If history taught her anything, it was that there was nothing worse than an injured Galactic. They fought like rabid dogs, frothing mouth and all. Time to put them to sleep.

The sudden rush of clear air told her that she was at ground level. Pushing outward with her artificial ki, she slowed herself to a stop just as the soles of her boots hit the street. A quick glance decided the competency of her confusionary demonstrations... Before, there had been twenty of the monsters; now, there were about half that many, all pissed as hell, with itchy trigger fingers no doubt. The sound of landing startled the survivors, and they hurriedly turned their collective gaze at her. There was a moment of sinking realization, followed by a scrambling for lost weaponry...

And then it began.

Wasting no time, the android launched herself to the left, narrowly dodging the first salvo as it passed underneath her. The two that posed the immediate threat were those closest to her- she decided to remedy the situation. Connecting with the ground gracefully, the creation of Dr. Gero leaped once more to a nearby vehicle, effectively placing the object between her and her attackers. As the gunfire struck its side, she lifted her own KI sidearm, releasing several return shots their way over the top. The Galactics did just what she wanted: ducked. Just as their heads lowered, she darted forward. With a powerful right foot, the automobile was instantly delivered against the two injured soldiers, and ignited upon impact. Two down.

The heat that was forced outward from the explosion passed across her face, and she blinked back the sting of the dust against her eyes. A suppressed wail met 18's ears with the shockwave, but she didn't pay it mind. It was almost like music.

"Good," she whispered. "Burn."

The low whirring of the gun reminded the user it was still receiving power. It was a high pitched tone, a pleasant hum that usually meant adrenaline and victory. Another grin took a hold of her lips. Danger or not, this was too much fun.

She zanzokened through the black ashy smoke, appearing just in front of the remaining aliens. Through her grueling hours of research on the species, 18 had discovered that while the Galactic male sexual organs were drastically different from that of humans or saiyajins, they could be found in the same location. With bone-crunching force, the vicious fighter drove her knee up into the cup of her closest enemy, eliciting a violent eruption of gurgling from his throat. Knowing that the vomit was going to follow, she reached up with lightning-fast reactions, and shut the faceplate of his helmet. Just as she did so, the front splattered with the alien's breakfast from the inside. Another blow to his stomach sent him to collide with his comrades. The distraction of the others having to jump away from the soldier-turned-projectile gave 18 the opening that she had hoped for.

The android made a hop into the center of the group. There were five left standing: two on the left, and three on the right. After briefly scanning the possibilities in her mind, she made the move right, her target being a particularly brawny looking character in the middle of the three. He made an attempt to raise his rifle, but it was too late. Before he even had a chance to scream, the toe of her boot was breaking the bone of his knee, followed by a rapid spinning kick that cracked his spine. 18 grabbed onto his falling body, pulling it close to shield her from the incoming pulser fire. It ripped into him, and he shrieked like an injured jackal. Feeling somewhat merciful, the biomechanically enhanced being thrust her weapon against his back, and fired several rounds out through his torso at the remaining soldiers. Two of her shots slammed against one of the grunts to her left, spinning him to the ground. The stray blasts were enough to send his friends to take cover amidst the burning skeletons of demolished automobiles.

"Vomit" was still rolling around on the concrete from his earlier injury, the others having freed themselves of his weight. They began to lift their weapons, but 18 was faster. After two squeezes of the trigger, it was done.

Simultaneously, a hail of energy bolts began to race from the scattered rubble of the street scene. The android erected a weak ki shield, sprinting towards the fighters that were now struggling for their lives. One of them lunged out of his hiding spot at her, receiving a silencing shot to the chest for his efforts. The final three released a cry of fury at his death, and revealed themselves to her as well. Converging on 18 almost instantly, the Galactics began to abandon the KI's, and in their rage tried to take her out through hand-to-hand combat. The first she defeated with a powerful punch to the ribcage, the second fell after a gunshot, and the third collapsed due to the hole left in his gut by her elbow. The last of them finally hit the concrete.

18 sighed, content with her victory, yet disappointed that there were no more to humiliate. Unless... She turned, throwing her eyes like a fishing net to rest on "vomit". He was still writhing in pain, but trying futilely to raise his messy faceplate nonetheless. Sidearm in hand, she marched towards him. A moment later, he had the vision shield up- only to find the barrel of a ki-enhanced energy weapon fixed on his nose. His eyes widened.

"Hello," she greeted him cheerily. She pulled the trigger, and it was done. Normally, she probably would have allowed him to go tell the rest of the aliens how badly they had been beaten, but in an escape situation like this, survivors meant pursuers. And they were coming out of the woodwork. Overhead, two Slashers zipped by, and the distant sound of Galactic sirens was screeching its way through the canyon of buildings.

18 checked her watch. 11:02. 17 should be arriving any time now... The sooner the better; she had some choice words for the boy...

Suddenly, the timbre of crashing stone flooded her ears. She pivoted to witness her brother and the escape vehicle come barreling up the stairs of an abandoned subway entrance, followed by a plume of dusty smoke. Her counterpart slid to a halt in front of her, breathing heavily. The sight was almost amusing: from head to toe, he was covered in dirt, and his hair was a tangled mess; his rifle was slung across his shoulder.

"Hi," 18 said dryly. "My name is 17, and I'm a pretentious, cocky, actor-of-impulse. Guess who I am?"

"Shutup," he countered, obviously ready for this verbal assault. "It would have hit him."

"And a great amount of good that would have done for us." She shifted her body weight to one leg.

17 was irritated because he knew she was right. He hated it when she was right. He stirred nervously. "Look, are you coming or not?"

"I haven't decided- promise you won't shoot me."

"Oh, for Kami's-" He rolled his eyes. "How about we pretend for just an instant that we are on intergalactic 'wanted' lists, and that aliens are looking for us right now...." His face was as animated as she had ever seen it. "And that those aliens- hypothetically speaking- want to kill us. Can we pretend like that?" The sirens were closer now. After a moment of tense silence, 18 holstered her weapon, and climbed on board the speedcraft, grabbing a hold of 17 for support.

"Say it."

He started up the jets as he spoke. "Fine. Point."

"I want three points."

"Three or three hundred, it doesn't really matter... I'm history when Ubuu gets a hold of me."

With that, they were off, soaring rapidly past the blurred images of buildings on either side of them. Through a subtle movement of the steering mechanism, 17 guided them back into the subway system, making his way through the abandoned web of old with ease. Soon, they would come to the series of tunnels that marked the path to the "Ward." 18 closed her eyes against the stinging wind, and thought of Ubuu. She hoped he was alright...

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The rain had stopped for some time. The beating had not.

"You know," J'erah mused aloud. "I would have hoped that the legacy of Goku would produce a much more worthy opponent- you are nothing." Ubuu felt a fist plow against his side for what must have been the hundredth time. And for what must have been the thousandth time, his muscles tightened with the reflex of pain.

As soon as his body slid in the mud, he was up, returning at J'erah with renewed spirit. He had been drawing his ki in...

The blast that erupted from his hands plowed into the General's frame, sending his person up out of the sewers, and into the streets. Ubuu followed, fists raised and mind focused. The two titans came together with a rattling force, and sent a widening crack to shoot through the concrete like a vein.

"Don't count me out just yet," the Wayward spoke through a crooked grin. J'erah met his stare with a smile of his own.

"That's what I like to see." Without warning, he took a hold of Ubuu's wrist, twisted it, and wrenched upward. The sudden movement lifted him from his feet and into the air, forearm still clutched by his attacker's steel grip. The Galactic pulled back his other fist...

Before he could strike, however, Ubuu reached around with his free hand to grasp J'erah's own arm. With a hefty tug, he pulled his body from its place in the air to plant a headbutt directly into his opponent. He felt the crack of skin on the other, and heard the quiet curse as the pain shot through his face. When the elder stumbled back, the dark warrior rotated his body in midflight, and commissioned his boot to a spot on the alien's chest. His feet hit the ground, and he followed his onslaught with a twirling double kick that connected first against the gut, and ended with a kick to the skull that drove him to his knees. J'erah lifted his eyes to link with Ubuu's just as the hero of Earth threw an explosive blast of yellow energy against his temple.

Not wanting to lose any second, Ubuu was through the smoke in no time flat, finding his enemy waiting on the other side. J'erah had been expecting him, and showed him as much with a series of fists that knocked him senseless. As he impacted the concrete, he let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding.

"You were able to catch me by surprise," J'erah commented. He wiped the blood from his forehead, and smirked. "You broke first blood."

"It was my pleasure."

Ubuu stood shakily, running through the mental tricks that Goku had shown him about letting ki enhance one's senses. Over the years, he had learned to develop this ability to not only sensory enhancement, but to a numbing of sensation and a tautening of strength. It made the ache of battle subside rather quickly, increasing his threshold for pain and overall stamina in dramatic amounts. He drew in the energy around him, and allowed it to enter into him freely. Fighting was easier this way- he may not have the strength, but he would certainly have the speed he needed. The technique was not quite mastered, but he could keep it up for several minutes if he had to. Hopefully, that would be enough...

"Hmm..." J'erah mock-sniffed at the air. His yellow eyes took on a haunting intuitive glaze. "Preparing for something?"

Ubuu tried not to let the question faze him. Could he really sense that? "Should I be?"

"That depends on whether I decide to try or not." He displayed a wicked grin. It sent a quake of terror down Ubuu's frame- he was a monster.

"You're bluffing," he sneered. "Didn't seem to be doing so hot when I got the jump on you."

J'erah chuckled, and lowered his voice gravely. "Didn't I?"

Unexpectedly, he was on the offensive, zanzokening behind Ubuu to throw a shattering punch against him. As his body was sprawled away, he regained control, and decided to use his speed to his advantage. With technique that obviously surprised his combatant, the warrior flew back to plant a volley of attacks. He shoved outwards with his palms against J'erah's torso, knocking him rearward. Without the aid of zanzoken, he zipped to the devilish figure's side, and met the tumble with a well placed elbow. Swinging his leg in a sweeping motion, he knocked the other's feet from under him, and moved atop the alien to provide a potent shower of ki blasts upon his defenseless body.

Having surprising amounts of agility of his own, J'erah pivoted and turned before he hit the ground, rolling and deflecting several of the blasts as they detonated around him. He flipped away, and thrust his right arm in a wide arc.

"Wall!" Ubuu shouted as he hopped back. The invisible projectile slammed against a vertical extension of ki that rose in front of the Wayward leader at the last possible instant. It hummed with energy as the heat coruscated from its surface. Suddenly, J'erah materialised at his side, arm held back...

Ubuu was away in an instant, pulling up another defensive barrier of ki just before him. At that moment, J'erah began to zanzoken around the square at random. He appeared on all sides, launching wave after wave of invisible force. It took all of his concentration for the progeny of Goku to manuever his way around the area at such high speeds, throwing up walls of energy around him as he danced in and out of the mini-explosions of ki. His body was darting to and fro, stepping between stray blasts, as J'erah continued to hurl them down from all about him. He continued the process, waiting for the right moment. Then it happened.

The Galactic warlord appeared directly above him, just as the Earthen contender pushed a barrier in a straight line upwards from the ground. It tore towards J'erah, who barely managed to dodge it before it sliced a tiny sharp cut in his left arm. Ubuu raised his arms, spraying several more of the same attack at the conqueror, who in turn dodged them just as he himself had. He was so fast... The dark fighter made every attempt to catch him off guard, to observe his pattern so that he could break it...

And then Ubuu saw something that terrified him. Amidst the potentially life threatening torrents of ki coming at him, there was a certain confidence in J'erah's cold, knowing eyes. There was a life there that frightened and confused the young man. It wasn't pride, it wasn't arrogance, it was something much worse: amusement. It was all a game to him. And it was then that he feared him more than ever.

Just at that moment, an unimaginable amount of agony struck Ubuu in the abdomen, and he was thrown from his feet face-down into the broken stone below him. What the hell was that? He lifted his head to search... Across the way stood the killer of his mentor, perfectly motionless save for the short gray hair that was flowing gently with the wind. It was a sharp contrast to the storm that raged within the being's soul. His lopsided smile contorted the scar on his visage, gave him the testimony of so many untold and unspeakable evils committed.

"Ah, and now you are thoroughly confused," J'erah said poignantly.

Ubuu was trying to lift himself to his feet once again. He made a grab for the energy around him, but his mind wasn't focusing. The pain was still racking his stomach. "What was that?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"What?" the other replied with a tone of mock concern. "This?"

He threw out a single fist, and though he was well over ten meters away, a thunderclap of power collided with Ubuu's face, flipping him backwards to land with a hard thud. He coughed violently, and rolled over in the rubble. The salty taste of blood was rapidly filling his mouth, and the stench of the sewers had managed to meander into his nostrils. It made him sick to the thought. His head was spinning...

"You're probably wondering why I didn't do this earlier," the Galactic growled. "I mean- if I have a technique that could pulverize my opponents, why not do it and get it over with?" He moved forward slowly, letting his boots resound with echo against the buildings towering around them. He chuckled. "To me, it's more of a rush to let them think they have a chance first. I take a certain pleasure in watching the hope filter out of their eyes just before the horrible truth sets in. Yours was great- Goku's was priceless."

From his spot across the way, J'erah made a kicking motion with his foot, and Ubuu's body was rammed with the sensation of overwhelming throbbing again as he ejected into the air. On the ground, his opponent simply dropped his fist like a hammer, and, in the sky, the dark warrior's frame encountered the invisible manifestation of that action, acted out on him across the gap that lied between them. He was sent plummeting to the earth, and careened through the foundations of a building before contact with the hardness beneath.

Over the sound of the crumbling and falling destruction left in his wake, Ubuu could hear the shrill booming rumble that was J'erah's laugh. It filled the city with its grim inflection- and his own heart with despair. He struggled for breath, and tried desperately to put together a plan as the ki of the other grew nearer. He was still cackling like a madman.

Perhaps it would be the last sound Ubuu ever heard.