QUEST FOR POWER 2:

CHALLENGE KINGDOM

By Konrad

PART 5

The always interminable walkabout seemed longer today for the man in the red mask. His name is Reaper and right now he griped his hallberd tightly, fearing the consequences on his head if he used it on anyone who got on his nerves. Now matter how much they'd deserve it... He mused, a worried brow marking his features. he currently barreled past anyone in his way on the walkway. It was the main path in the vast complex of the Shintaisei Gods. Sitting in an inter-dimensional void, unseen from the normal universe, a chain of suspended buildings was interconnected by multiple pathways.

Reaper could've easily admired the view had he chosen. After all, he was thouroughly accustomed to it a long time ago. The Shintaisei's domain seemed to look down on the cosmos, simultaneously astride in two dimensions. On either side of the wide walkway, above and all around Reaper was space. From this vantage view, thousands of stars, nebulae and planets could be seen, as well as all the galaxies. If one watched patiently enough, you could currently watch a sun being born. That would take several lifetimes to appreciate but then again, the Shintaisei were Gods after all. Time would always be on their side.

Reaper had seen all of this before. It never really mattered to him that much in the first place to watch comets whiz by. It did help kill time to watch, though. Since the end of the God War decades ago and the scattering of the Power Stones, things have grown fairly quiet.

So what's the urgency of this mission now? Reaper thought to himself. He frowned briefly under the mask, before noticing a presence up ahead. Another man, hidden in the shadow, stood by a column but Reaper didn't bother to acknowledge him as he walked by.

"Reaper." The other man called out after a short moment.

Reaper stopped. He clenched his fists briefly before taking a deep, slow breath.

"Khas Nahim. What is it?" He stated with barely a glance back. A pair of small devilish eyes, framed by a skinny, almost skeletal blue face, stared back at him with a hint of mocking amusement.

"Nothing much, it's just that you seem... tense." Khas Nahim ridiculed lightly. "I'm guessing our Lords want you for something important."

"Indeed, that is where I'm heading. So I must get going."

"Perhaps it might be something to do with Lord Ryuko's daughter." Khas Nahim continued, ignoring the tone of the voice. "It's been over a decade since she left. You were close with Princess Cer-..."

"I must go see our Lords right away. Good day, Khas Nahim!" Reaper almost growled. He immediately walked off quickly, once again ignoring the man hidden in the shadows.

"Yes, I'm sure our wise Lords know what they're doing. After all, they are mighty and wise!" Khas Nahim laughed as Reaper walked away.

If he wasn't so close to the Lords... Reaper briefly pondered before a thought occurred to him. It was true that he hadn't seen that woman in many years. Somehow he had couldn't shake her off his mind since he was summoned for this request.

Reaper arrived at the great gates of the hall where he was promptly ushered in by pair of guards. Once he entered, the gates noisily and slowly closed behind him. At the other end of the hall, five men sat on giant thrones, their faces obscured by dark cloaks.

"Ah, glad to have you in such short notice. As to be expected." One of the cloaked figures spoke.

"Yes, Lord Ryuko. What is your request?" Reaper replied.

"As you are well aware, we as Immortals of the Shintaisei have taken many steps over long decades and even centuries to bring the entire universe within our lordship. To make all feel our presence." Ryuko continued.

"The great strife and sacrifices of the past are behind us. Most of the gods with the Chuu gene have been enlisted in the Shintaisei… or eliminated." Another one said.

"And we will continue to act behind the veils. Pulling the strings of the universe to our will, subverting any would-be opponents until the time is right. Then we shall come out and all will bow to us!" Boasted a third.

"Your lordship is great!" Reaper added. "You are strong and wise. Hail the Shintaisei!" How ponderous...

"However, this requires much subtlety." Ryuko somberly added. He rose up slowly from his seat and strode to the now wary Reaper. "In order to properly identify future gods, of course. To reduce opposition. And also to prevent from getting too attached to those below us, those which we seek to dominate: Mortals."

"My Lord, so what is the meaning of this?" Reaper wondered aloud.

"As you know my daughter has left for the mortal realm many years ago, onstensibly to hone her skills. And that is a laudable decision for it is possible for mortals to be powerful even without the Chuu gene." Ryuko began explaining. "However, it has come to my attention that my daughter might be liable to stray."

"How do you mean?" Reaper questioned as calmly as he could. So that cursed instinct I had was correct!

"As I have repeated, of our tenets, there is also that we shouldn't get to involved with the mortals for fear of getting attached to them. Also that they would stand in opposition to our ambitions."

"Which would seem to be happening with my esteemed colleague's daughter." Another one of the men spoke up. "Though it's unclear to what extent, all signs seem to indicate that it cannot be long before she would develop attachments to mortals. Most pressing of all would apparently be a powerful Fire Kosajin."

"So what could be done, my lords? Are you proposing something drastic against Lord Ryuko's daughter?" Reaper replied, frowing under his mask.

"That's what I suggested earlier to my colleague." Another lord sneered. "After all, even I didn't hesitate to sacrifice my own son when he... veered... from our ways."

"Yes, we all remember your... sacrifice, Lord Dak." Reaper bit his lip to hide his disdain. "However, forgive me if I speak out of my rank, Lord Ryuko, and more so given my history with your daughter. It is my opinion that your daughter has tremendous potential. I don't believe she needs that kind of punishment."

"Indeed, I share that opinion too, Reaper." Ryuko stated, drawing a slight snarl from Dak. "I have pointed out to my esteemed colleagues that my daughter is not quite so far off that 'sacrificing' her would be necessary. So instead we are to take a different step: since she has made bonds with mortals, they must be broken!"

"But what if she knows, my lord? She would resent..."

"Which is why you'll take care that she doesn't know, of course" Ryuko's eyes narrowed dangerously at Reaper as he spoke.

"Yes, I understand."

"So, the task I... we... require of you is to break that most important bond, to kill this man." Ryuko handed Reaper an electronic file. "I specifically requested you perform this mission, Reaper. I thought you might have a certain interest in this this. After all, who knows if this man could become my daughter's consort without our interference."

Ryuko grinned wickedly as he said that last sentence, eyeing more carefully Reaper. But if the man was shocked, he didn't let his eyes show it.

"So I will leave this to you then. You must go immediately." Ryuko continued. "And of course, as a reward if you needed one, you'd be back to first in line for my daughter's hand, as you always wished I believe?"

"You are gracious... though I'm sure I can't take your reward for now." Reaper bowed before turning and leaving hastily.

Stomping away, Reaper was sure he could feel the Lords smirking behind his back. Blast it! I don't believe this, they deliberately chose me of course because of our past relationship. Are they mocking me?!

Coming to a halt, Reaper took a deep breath and analyzed the situation. I have no choice. A mission is a mission. Besides, if it's true that this man is likely to be her consort, I supposed I should be rid of him anyways. She is mine alone! Reaper pressed a couple of buttons on the device Ryuko gave him. There was a picture, profile and all other relevant information to the target. Hmmm, Sulfus. So that's his name? Well by this time tomorrow, Sulfus, you will be dead!

- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"So, young ones, ready to take me on?!" Blok laughed heartily while Android 18 and Gohan eyed him carefully. Aurora meanwhile took her fighting stance and tried to glare aggressively. But the constant swishing of her tail back and forth betrayed her own fear.

"Look at her." Tempest snickered. "Well, just that should be enough to put her worthiness to rest, right?"

"Tempest, you can cut her some slack." Typhoon retorted casually. "Remember how nervous I was when I took my duties in the Wind a couple of years ago?"

"Seriously? You never seemed nervous to me." Tempest's eyes widened.

"Between you and me, cousin?…" Typhoon lowered his voice and grinned. "I was scared shitless."

The two Wind Kosajin exploded in laughter. Nautikaa barely listened as she awaited the battle to begin.

"Can you imagine for her? She's not only a year younger than I was at the time, she wants to claim leadership of all of us. She must be dying inside!"

"But that's what's different here." Tempest replied, regaining his seriousness. "It's because the stakes are higher, not just for her but for all of us. She's basically come to claim leadership of our future, of the whole race and the planet! On top of that, she's one of those dreadful Colds…"

"She's not what her family is." Nautikaa cut in sharply, freezing the two Winds with an icy tone. Tempest cleared his throat in nervousness.

"I'm not saying that she is automatically just because she has the same blood." He attempted to clarify. "But if she was raised the same way as them, then it's almost the same thing, right? I know I'm blunt… but she could turn into more of the same."

"Aurora was raised mostly by Raikou." Nautikaa replied more calmly. "Thankfully, King Cold never bothered to bring her along. Even more thankfully, Cooler insisted on her staying with Raikou instead of following them."

"What a degenerate family that was." Tempest mused.

"Shhh! You're gonna make us miss the fight." Typhoon softly chided.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the arena, Blok's completed transformation gave him a rock-like hide that seemed to completely replace his skin. He continued to gesticulate and taunt his three opponents.

"What kind of transformation is that?" Gohan asked aloud.

"That's not a transformation." Aurora volunteered. "Remember what Raikou said, the strongest Kosajin can control their respective element. Since Blok is of the Ground clan, he would have abilities related to ground and rock. So it's not really a transformation, just a manifestation of his power. There aren't any more Kosajin transformations that I'm aware of."

"Arlright, so what can we expect?" Gohan asked.

"Um, I don't know." Aurora sheepishly admitted.

"Huh?"

"Well, very few Kosajin can manage that kind of power. Maybe a handful in each Clan. In my family, not even my brother Cooler got that powerful, I heard. Only Father did apparently."

"But you managed to acquire your elemental powers, right?"

"I just barely acquired this ability thanks to Raikou's training, so I'm not quite good at it."

"Well, that's just great." Android 18 spat out. "Very useful! Might as well just go ahead and slug him like any other enemy."

"18, wait!" Gohan yelled as 18 leapt into the air.

"Finally, you're attacking!" Blok snickered.

Ignoring Gohan's pleas, 18 fired a rapid ki ball. The shot darted away so fast Aurora could barely track it. She was sure Blok could barely see it too and probably would have a hard time dodging it. But then, as the blast hit him, she wasn't sure he even bothered to dodge anyways.

"So how was that?" 18 gloated. "You barely moved."

"Indeed. As a matter of fact, I didn't move at all!" Blok boasted back as the explosion cleared to reveal him with not a single scratch on his rocky skin.

"Not even a burn mark." Gohan marvelled. "It's like a perfect deflection. But he didn't move to deflect it..."

"What, no damage?" 18 pondered, surprised, before recovering her composure.

Without warning she hurled a torrent of ki balls down to her opponent. Gohan eyed Blok carefully as the latter simply folded his arms. Within a fraction of a second, the ki blasts collided with him directly in rapid succession.

"Hey, Earthling, don't destroy this building!" Tempest yelled.

"At least we're outside Argyle Burg, an already noisy place." Typhoon noted. "So long as we don't make incredible damage, this should be fine."

"A little late for that, cousin. Look!" Tempest pointed out.

"Oh... Yeah, that is a lot of damage." Typhoon muttered when the smoke cleared, allowing a good view of the battlefield.

Surely enough, the arena's floor was destroyed in one section, leveling a good deal of dirt and soil underneath. However a single tile remained intact underneath the immobile form of Blok. He stood with his arms still crossed and a bored expression on his face.

"He didn't move at all..." Gohan wondered. "He didn't dodge and I didn't see him move his arms so he didn't try to block either or deflect either. I don't get it..."

"No, this must be that rock-like skin he made." Aurora reasoned. "It blocked all the shots instantly with no extra effort on his part."

"So basically, no long range attacks? This will be tough."

"What the hell was that? I couldn't dent him, I don't believe this!" 18 cursed as she landed next to her partners. "Now what do we do?"

"Hey, is it my turn to attack?" Blok exclaimed. "I'm not waiting around anymore. Let's go!"

"Oh crap..." Aurora muttered as Blok charged a large blast at the trio.

The shot fired off quickly and they barely got out of the way before it impacted the ground. They tried to disperse but Blok fired off more rounds at them. The best the trio could do was dodge and block the incoming blasts.

"Damnit!" Gohan yelled as another energy blast flew past his head. "He's keeping us at bay, knowing long range is useless against him. Aurora, is there anything you can do?"

"I-I don't know... I mean, I don't fight often..." Aurora stammered, barely cathing her breath.

"Bloody hell, you're completely useless! We're here to help you and you can't do anything for yourself, girl!" 18 screamed, her face flustered.

"18!" Gohan cut in with a reprobative tone. However, the distraction allowed him to be knocked back by a blast.

"Gohan!" Aurora shrieked.

"That's it, I'm going in!" 18 yelled.

The Android dove head first into Blok's blast barrage, blocking and ignoring them as she sped through. Blok flinched at her speed and didn't have time to react as her fist impacted with his face, causing him to stagger a few steps back.

"What the...?!" He stammered.

"Oh good... At least, something can be done." 18 barely caught her breath, her body smoldering from multiple impacts.

"Tch, like I'll let get away with that!" Blok retorted.

He quickly charged and fired a larger blast in his hands. Blown back several feet away, Android 18 fell dazed in a corner. Gohan visibly winced as he watched her fall to the ground.

"Gohan, what do we do now?" Aurora inquired nervously.

"Fromm the looks of it, he's weaker in hand to hand. Besides, it's no good to stay with long range attacks." Gohan noted cooly. "I'm gonna have to get up close but I need a distraction."

"Oh... Oh, I know! Leave it to me." Aurora suddenly lit up. "Here's what I'm going to do..." She whispered to the young Saiyan.

"Oh, that's great!" Gohan beamed once he understood her plan.

"Still more yapping, or do I have to come get you kids too?!" Blok mocked.

"Here I come!" Gohan retorted.

He dashed ahead at the Kosajin. Blok prepared his ki in his hands. He briefly noted Gohan shimmering but ignored it and sent a blast at the young boy, the shot connecting much to his satisfaction. But instead of revealing the falling body of the Saiyan, the smoke cleared to pieces of broken ice shards.

"What the hell...?!" Blok fumed. Feeling the temperature drop suddenly all around him, he looked up and was stunned by what he saw.

All around Blok, a couple dozen ice mirrors, the size of a man, floated in the room. It was hard to tell their location except for the shimmering where they would be. The Kosajin mentally questionned their significance until he caught a glimpse of Gohan dashing to his left. He turned around only to face a now empty ice mirror. More movement happened and Blok whirled around again to see two Gohans rush by in opposite directions before they disappeared, revealing again mirrors. His eyes widened and he took a step back, fists raised up in defense as he could only watch several Gohan's move in just as many directions at a time, unsure of which, if any, were real or just reflections. Meanwhile, the trio of spectators looked on, intrigued.

"Oh? Well that's a surprise!" Typhoon commented with a wide grin.

"Tch, you always say something like that!" Tempest sneered back.

"Well what? That's pretty novel, this could be even more exciting!" The Wind leader replied.

END OF PART FIVE