Chapter 12: Prove Your Power
Bulma's hands shook violently as she placed all the golden balls on the ground. Cold sweat clung to her body. The fiery determination that had fueled this decision was slowly beginning to fade, leaving only the fair taste of fear behind. Bulma was terrified. She knew that if she messed up her wish, then her life would be cut short. After placing the balls in a circle on the sandy floor, Bulma took a couple of steps back and surveyed her handiwork. Shakily, Bulma raised her hands up into the air and opened her mouth,
"Come out dragon and grant me my wish!"
The moment she had finished talking, the sky turned from the overpowering orange sunset to a pitch black colour. Before Bulma could contemplate the sky's sudden change, white light exploded from the center of the balls. Out from the balls, a massive bolt of lightning shot outwards into the sky. The lightning snaked upwards, finally coming to a stop about twenty meters above Bulma's head. White light fell off of the lightning, pooling at Bulma's feet, and allowing for the young girl to see the true form of the creature within the Dragon Balls.
"Come tell me your wish... I will grant any one wish you have…," boomed the intimidating beast that had emerged. It's long, green body contrasted with the powerful black sky. The beast had a striking resemblance to the dragons Bulma had seen in story books as a young girl. She was stunned, having to take a moment to fully digest all the information she had just received.
"Speak now, mortal," said the dragon, growing impatient towards the girl. Bulma's entire body was shaking. The fear she has felt before now compiled, swirling into a tornado of paranoia and frustration.
I'm weak, she thought.
I'm too weak to do anything... I might as well be dead…
Bardock's words blanketed her mind.
Stand up and be strong.
Be strong.
Then, Bulma knew exactly what she had to do.
"I want...," She mumbled. As she spoke, confidence grew in her chest.
"I WANT TO BE STRONGER THAN BARDOCK!," she shouted. The dragon pauses for a moment before shutting it's eyes. After a second, it reopened it's eyes.
"Your wish has been granted... Farewell"
Bulma watched as the seven balls floated up into the air before shooting off in different directions. Disappointingly, Bulma didn't feel any different. Tears began to form in her eyes as doubt began to blind her. But then she felt it. It was almost like there was some small voice echoing through her body, awakening the hidden power. Bulma tried to take a step but before she could, the incredible power exploded. She could feel the strength coursing through her blood.
It was almost orgasmic.
And then it was over. The power went back into hiding, but now, Bulma knew where to find it. Rising back to her feet, Bulma gazed over to where the two saiyans were engaging in their desperate battle.
Just you wait, Bardock, she thought, I'll show you how strong I truly am.
Balmont stared down the small girl that stood in front of him. He fought the urge to laugh, scoffing at the fact that she was attempting to stop him. But deep down, he felt the power she held beneath the surface. Impossible, he thought, I would have felt a power like this the moment I arrived on the planet. There's no way someone this strong could have hidden from me. Letting go of Bardock's hair, Balmont opened his mouth and shouted,
"Where the hell were you hiding? There's no way you could have hidden from me, little girl."
The blue haired girl raised her arms up into a messy defensive posture.
"I'm going to take you down, wolf-guy."
Balmont sighed. Much like the saiyans, this girl refused to engage in any sort of diplomacy. Raising his arms, Balmont felt a sharp pain from within his chest. Luckily, his species had a high tolerance for pain so he might be able to last a few more minutes at the most. But Balmont wasn't going to let himself die before he was done. Bardock was going to pay.
And no one was going to stop him.
Bulma locked eyes with the wolf standing in front of her. Fear grew within her chest as she saw what her opponent had done to Bardock. How could someone as strong as him lose? And if he had, what chance did Bulma have to win. Maybe it was useless. All her new power would just go to waste. But something caught her eyes as the wolf raised his arms, preparing to attack. Blood stained his clothes and his breathing started and stopped at random intervals. He was on the brink of death.
There might be a chance, she thought, If I can play my cards right, I'll be able to win this, and when I'm done, you're next…Bardock.
Bulma allowed for the intense energy in body to move into her legs. Though she would have liked a little longer to come to grips with the new power she'd gained, she would just have to make do. She could feel the lightning tingle her muscles as she crouched down. As she stepped forwards, the power exploded, rocketing her forwards toward her opponent. It happened so fast that she barely had enough time to actually ready an attack. She reeled back her fist and aimed a punch directly at the wolf's face.
In the time that it took for Balmont to blink, his opponent shot forwards. Shocked, Balmont shifted his weight, moving his body slightly to the left. The girl stopped her fist millimeters from where Balmont's face had been only moments ago. It caused a massive shock wave that sent small boulders that laid behind the wolf, flying backwards. The girl's assault didn't merely stop there as she prepared a kick directly into Balmont's unprotected side. Luckily, Balmont saw the attack coming and jumped back in response. The kick cut through the air, sending a slicing sound throughout the battlefield. Balmont's heart was racing. The power he'd felt wasn't merely a hoax. It was real. She truly was as strong as that monster. The girl stood with her leg still outstretched from the kick. As she tried to move it back down to the ground, her back leg gave way, forcing her to floor. Quickly, she stood up, dusting herself off and continuing to stare down her opponent. That's when it clicked in Balmont's mind. Finally, the laugh that he had stifled beforehand came out. Before the girl could respond, Balmont began to let his terrifying energy leak out from him. Purple ki flowed off his body and, though Bulma couldn't sense it, his power swiftly rose. Letting out a terrifying battle cry, the purple light engulfed Balmont, growing to almost twenty meters tall. His scream grew louder and louder. It only lasted for a moment. And then Balmont attacked.
Bulma felt the warm flush of embarrassment grow on her face. She had felt so cool and powerful as she had thrown that punch, but now, she was just embarrassed. But something concerned her much more. Her opponent began to laugh. Suddenly, the heat of embarrassment disappeared as something rushed to take its place.
Fear.
Why was he laughing? Was Bulma not as powerful as she had originally thought? Or was he truly that much stronger? Bulma didn't have very long to ponder these questions as purple plasma began to flow off of the wolf. She had once since something very similar happen to Kakarot during one of their rare conversations. He had told her about how his planet was destroyed by someone called Frieza. When Bulma had questioned him on who Frieza was, white plasma began to float off of Kakarot. He had explained the horrific things that Frieza had done to his father and the rest of the saiyan race. As his voice grew in hostility, so did the white plasma grow in intensity. He told her of horrific torture and genocide. He told her of the fear that this monster commanded. And when he was done, Kakarot shot up into the air and dashed off. Though the young saiyan had left, Bulma could still hear his screams of frustration and anger. So she knew that whatever the wolf was doing, it wasn't going to be good for her. But before she could ponder the question anymore, her opponent dashed out of the purple flames and prepared to attack. Bulma couldn't react in time and was punched in the face. It pushed her back a few centimeters and she gingerly raised her arms in defense. Playing right into Balmont's hands. As she raised her hands to defend her face, she forgot to defend her gut, allowing for Balmont's to easily lay into her soft stomach. He got in five or six punches before Bulma responded by slapping him across the face. It threw him back a few meters but he was able to stop himself from falling to the ground.
"Did you just slap me," Balmont's asked, a look of shock and disbelief covering his face. Bulma didn't know how to respond as fear slowly took over her mind.
"Y-yeah… And you better be ready for more of them, " Bulma shouted, desperately trying to make herself seem intimidating. Balmont's just began to laugh.
"My god, I guess I really was right," Balmont laughed. He dashed forwards and grabbed hold of the collar of Bulma's coat, raising her up into the air. Bulma tried to respond with a flurry of quick, but useless, attacks. Balmont easily dodged each one, retaliating with a sharp punch to her gut. The punch forced up blood and bile that expelled itself from Bulma's mouth.
"I don't know how you gained such immense power, girl," spat Balmont, "But you do not deserve it. Your technique is almost nonexistent. You have no control of the unbelievable ki corcising through your body. You don't have the right to wield this. Power is something you must earn and you, you bitch, have not earned it!"
Tears began to flow from Bulma's eyes. "Please… I'm sorry… Just don't kill me…"
Balmont threw the girl's body to the ground. "You aren't even worth my time. Come back when you've earned the power you wield."
Bulma just kept crying. Why couldn't she win? She had the power she needed so why not? It was so frustrating. But she still wanted to beat Bardock, and if she wanted to, then she'd have to earn the power she'd gained. Weakly, she rose to her feet and prepared another attack. Balmont stared at her, the rage bubbling from beneath the surface of his skin.
"Then you will die, girl…"
Purple ki began to burn in his palms, growing larger and larger as time went on. Bulma didn't care if the blast killed her. It would just prove that she has too weak to ever beat Bardock in the first place. If I die, she thought, then I was never worth it in the first place. The ki grew larger and larger as Bulma screamed out and began to dash towards it.
She was going to win.
She would prove herself.
She wouldn't be weak.
Balmont aimed his open palm at the young girl that was dashing towards him. Once Bulma was only centimeters away from him, Balmont shot out the blast of ki, absorbing the girl in its purple flames.
A scream echoed out throughout the battlefield.
It's over, Balmont thought, Looks like you didn't deserve your power, girl.
He turned away and locked his eyes on Bardock's barely conscious body. He wouldn't let himself be distracted anymore.
"W-w-where are y-you g-g-going, motherfucker?"
Balmont froze.
No way, he thought. Slowly, he turned around and saw Bulma's body.
She stood.
Bloody and burned but she stood.
"Looks like I was wrong about you, girl," Balmont said condescendingly, "But that was all the fight you had left in you."
Bulma knew he was right. She had only barely survived that attack and her body screamed out for her to stop. She tried to walk forwards, only being able to take pained and weakened steps. But she needed to win. Out of the corner of her blood covered eyes, Bulma watched as Balmont charged another blast of ki. This is where I die, she thought, I'm really going to die here.
"YOU LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE!"
Bulma was shocked as she heard as familiar voice from behind her.
Please no, she thought, Don't come for me. Just run. Please run.
Kakarot dashed in front of her tired and burned body, causing Balmont's eyebrows to perk up in suprise.
"If you ever touch her ever again," Kakarot spat.
"I'll fucking kill you."
Hey guys, sorry this came out at a weird time but I was away playing with my band during most of this week so I was unable to work on a new chapter but don't worry, the next one will release next Monday. Anyway, who of you guessed that Bulma was the mystery warrior. I just thought that I might give her a more active role in the story as she was kinda pushed to the side during most of the show. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and also, if this is boring you, I'm nearly done with this battle. Maybe two or three more chapters. Anyway, see all of you later.
-mAskMaN09
