--- Disturbance, Book 3: Endurance ---
Chapter E13 - Ten Thousand Fists
Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Survivor!-
"You have awakened me from my slumber. What is your first wish?"
Staring up at the giant green dragon known as Porunga, Flute called out the first wish, "I wish for the planet Earth, and surrounding regions damaged or destroyed by Majin Buu, to be restored as it was at the end of the World Martial Arts tournament!" Grinning a little, he added quickly, "With a couple of exceptions..."
-Survivor!-
"And so it begins. Everything is going according to the scenario."
Kellre rolled his eyes at his old friend, a slight grin on his face despite himself; the man had been watching far too much Earth TV with the kids while Kaen and Pi were away. "Looks like the warm-up's finished," he commented, turning to the group behind him and asking, "Are you ready?"
The human girl nodded immediately. "Don't worry. I know my part to play in this."
-One more goddamn day when I know what I want-
-And my want will be considered tonight, considered tonight-
"Uh, guys?" Goku asked slowly, "Not to sound like an idiot or anything, but what's 'Code Boom'?"
Opening his eyes again, satisfied that the signal had gotten through, Kaen replied, "Pi, take Goku and begin phase one; inform him what his part is in this as you go. Gohan, you're with me." With no more words said, the pair blasted off towards the newly regenerated Majin Buu, intercepting him about half a mile away.
Still confused, Goku opened his mouth to repeat his previous question, but Pi just held a hand up, silencing him, before using her other hand to point to a nearby hill. "There. We'll begin preparations on that hill. There are no trees nearby, and more than enough space."
Almost ready to tear his hair out, Goku asked again, "Prepare for what?"
Pi just smiled. "The Spirit Bomb to end all Spirit Bombs."
-Just another day when all that I want-
-Will mark me as a sinner tonight, I'm a sinner tonight, yeah-
Goku gaped slightly. "You want me to use the Spirit Bomb?" Blinking again, he added, "You know how to use the Spirit Bomb?"
She smiled wider. "Yes, and no, respectively. I can't use the Spirit Bomb, but if it works any way like Gohan believes it does, I can use an attack nearly identical." Forestalling Goku's question of 'why', she continued, "As I'm sure you know Goku, the only thing that can completely defeat evil is good, and in our entire arsenal of techniques, the strongest pure good attack we have is either your Spirit Bomb, or my Gaia Bomb. So we're going to combine them."
Blinking once, Goku replied, "Okay... But how are we going to do this? I mean, the Spirit Bomb requires ki from others. Sure, I can get ki from the plants and water and things, but that takes forever, even on a planet that likes me like Earth. On an unfamiliar world, it'll take longer than I think we've got."
Pi just grinned wolfishly. "Which is exactly why the Nameks are, right this second, restoring Earth and its people."
-People can no longer cover their eyes-
-If this disturbs you then walk away-
"YES!" Dende cheered, leaping to his feet and pumping a fist in the air. "I was right!"
Blinking owlishly, Shin had never felt more out of the loop than he did right then. 'Just how much do I not know?' "Uh, excuse my ignorance, but, how are the Nameks going to restore Earth?"
Giving him a tired look, Dende remarked dryly, "Wow, you really don't know anything about our corner of the universe do you?" The former Supreme Kai had the good graces to look embarrassed. "They'd be using the dragon bal-"
"No!" Elder shouted suddenly, bolting to his feet. "The dragon balls must NOT be used!"
Dende scowled at him. "When you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it, but until then, sit down and shut up. It's not your era any more Elder. Times have changed."
-You will remember the night you were struck by the sight of-
-Ten thousand fists in the air-
Shin and Kibito gaped at Dende, surprised at the young Namek's audacity. Before they could say anything, Elder marched up to the demi-god, getting right up into his face and shouting, "You young punk! You have no idea what you're doing!"
Dende's scowl deepened, before he pushed the elder kai to arms' distance away. "I know exactly what I'm doing. As one of the few remaining members of the Dragon Clan, let alone one of the fewer to actually have a working set of dragon balls, I know exactly how they work. I know that every time a wish is made to the dragon, a small amount of evil builds up in them, an evil that takes a hundred years to disperse, and that, if not allowed to disperse, will eventually reach critical mass. But We Have No Choice!"
"There is always a choice!" Elder shouted back. "Through your actions a terrible evil will be released upon the universe."
"There is already a terrible evil released, thanks to your ilk." Aiming one hand in Shin's direction, he continued, "I, at least, have a put a plan in preparation for when that evil is released. During times of peace, like the past seven years, I have developed a way to slowly release that evil in a manageable form. But when it reaches critical mass, and I know it will eventually, I will be prepared."
That, it seemed, took the winds out of Elder's sails. Spluttering indignantly, the wrinkled kai eventually remarked, "I want it known this plan goes forth against my advice."
"Duly noted," Dende replied coldly. "Now sit down and shut the hell up." As the other four kais (including Kibito) gaped at him, Dende couldn't help but feel a certain sense of satisfaction in taking a stand. 'It feels good to be in control,' the Namek thought idly to himself, 'Now, I just have to hope they succeed. With no more dragon balls after this, there's no plan C.'
-Power un-restrained dead on the mark-
-Is what we will deliver tonight, deliver tonight-
Widening her stance, Pi raised her arms above her head, closing her eyes as she began preparations. 'Spirits of earth, sky and sea, souls of Mother Nature, avatars of the planet, hear my plea. A great evil has come to befoul this majestic planet. I ask your help to destroy him. Please, lend me your power!'
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, slowly at first, tiny pinpricks of light began drifting away from the trees, the grass, the lakes, even the air itself. They began amassing upon each other, above Pi's outstretched hands, until a brilliant blue ball of energy began to take shape. With the crackle of energy, the amassing energy snapped into shape, a perfect blue sphere, containing within it a slightly smaller cyan sphere.
'That's it! Lend me all your strength! Together, we can destroy this creature of darkness forever!' The energy kept coming, the ki ball swelling, growing like a balloon. Within seconds, it had grown from the size of a basketball, to the size of a small car, and it didn't appear to be slowing down any time soon.
'Kaen, phase one is well under way. At it's current rate of growth, I estimate... five minutes until it's as complete as it's gonna get.'
Ducking under a wayward punch from the homicidal bubblegum monster, before planting a ki blast in its chest, Kaen felt a smile come to his face. 'Excellent. Let's just hope Flute doesn't take too long to finish up his task.'
-Pleasure fused with pain this triumph of the soul-
-Will make you shiver tonight, will make you shiver tonight, yeah-
There was a brief, intense flash of light, before the ruined, vacant space outside the view port once more contained the planet known as Earth. A smile on his face, Avarrdo announced, "Stage one of planet restoration complete." As the people in the bridge could all see that, he didn't really need to say anything, but it was for the benefit of the Saiyans in the hold more than anything.
Pressing a few buttons on his console, Kellre continued, "Beginning scan for progress of stage two." The first couple of sweeps found no results, the planet below them dead and lifeless, before one tense minute later, clusters of life returned. There was no discernable order to which people were being revived, though that was because the order matched how they died, which was, in turn, random.
The fact remained, however, that the people of Earth were returning.
Grinning, Kellre remarked, "Taking us out of orbit. Estimated time to arrival in New Vegeta: three minutes." Turning to the human girl behind him, he added, "Videl, you better hop up onto the transporter. Once we pass over Satan City, I'm gonna drop you off."
She nodded, walking to her assigned position. "Yeah, I know. You've overloaded the generators by both drawing the city inside the fourth dimensional hold and charging the Hyperspace Cannon so you can't afford to stop to let me out." Before anyone could remark on the girl's impressive grasp of the situation, she paused and stared wide-eyed at the screen, adding, "Uh... Was that scar always there? Coz I don't remember it..."
Sure enough, on the screen before them, was the massive scar-like canyon carved by Kaen's final attack against Majin Buu. A smirk tugging at his features, Avarrdo commented, "Of course. The boy used Balefire in that attack of his, so as far as the universe is concerned, that scar existed prior to the end of the tournament."
Mind reeling at the power her... friend? wielded, Videl took her spot on the teleporter, sending out a silent prayer that this plan would work, and Gohan would comeback to her.
-People can no longer cover their eyes-
-If this disturbs you then walk away-
Dodging away from Buu's latest assault, Kaen fell back as Gohan took his place, taking a moment to catch his breath. The two had been trading off for a while now, lest one of them falter; to fall now would mean the end of everything.
Hearing an insistent beep in his left ear, Kaen reached up to press the button on the device attached to the side of his head, and a second later, a screen slid out, covering his left eye. A modified version of Kaen's own scouter design, which was, in turn, based on the Saiyan-designed scouter the Frieza Empire used for countless years, the device allowed him to view combat stats for the battle at hand; all fronts, even those not in this dimension.
What he saw made him smile.
Pressing the button to transmit audio, Kaen remarked, "Terra is reformed, and her people returning to her. Mothership coming in for a landing. Phase two is go." The words themselves meant almost nothing, chosen to confuse Buu should he be listening in, but for the two others on the planet wearing scouters, it meant everything.
Turning to the Saiyan beside her, and forced to shout over the roar of ki, Pi stated, "It's time to get started Goku. Make sure you've got plenty of room, and prepare the Spirit Bomb. We'll need everyone's energy if this is to succeed."
With a nod, Goku jumped at least thirty feet to one side, planting his legs and raising his arms like she herself had done, and began preparing his ultimate technique. 'People of Earth, please, share your energy with me! If Majin is to be destroyed, we're all going to need to work together!'
-You will remember the night you were struck by the sight of-
-Ten thousand fists in the air-
Goku was a little surprised when the first wave of donated energy arrived so quickly, until he noticed just how strong this energy was; the energy of the six-hundred-odd thousand Saiyans who called the planet Earth home. The Spirit Bomb instantly snapped into being the size of a small car, but with only a few humans donating their own energy, those rare few who knew Goku, that's where it stayed.
Unfortunately, the sudden influx of energy alerted the homicidal monster to their plan to kill him. Stunned enough to stop his assault against Gohan, Buu muttered quietly, "Pretty lights..." All too soon, however, the homicidal rage returned, the creature shouting, "I HATE PRETTY LIGHTS!" before lobbing an energy blast at Gohan. Easily swatting the pink ki ball aside, Gohan wasn't prepared for the follow-up extendo-head-tentacle that wrapped around his neck.
With a sharp tug, Majin Buu wrenched Gohan along, swinging him around like a club to strike the rapidly approaching Kaen, before tossing the two aside like trash and tearing towards the defenceless Goku and Pi. Gritting her teeth, Pi noticed him aiming right for her, and prepared herself to throw the Gaia Bomb skyward, lest the energy be wasted should Buu tackle her. She needn't have bothered, however, as before Buu could travel more than twenty feet, he was intercepted and driven into the ground by a raging purple ki beam.
A smirk on his face, Super Saiyan Two Vegeta lowered his hands, still smoking slightly from the attack. "Ha! You didn't forget about me did you Buu?"
"Vegeta!" Goku cried out ecstatically, a massive grin splitting his features.
A brilliant smile lit up Pi's face too, though it contained a touch of smirk as she remarked, "I guess you're one of the good guys now huh?" Indicating his lack of halo with a nudge of her head, she added, "We only wished back the non-evil people."
A sour look crossed the prince's face for a moment, before being replaced by his trademark smirk. "Just because I'm not evil doesn't mean I'm good." Turning back to the fight, he added, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little revenge to serve up."
As she watched Vegeta throw himself back into the fight with Majin Buu, she couldn't help but think 'Thank you Vegeta. With your help, we might just win this thing.'
-We are the ones that will open your mind-
-Leave the weak and the haunted behind-
Some people would say that the human race, as a whole, were easily excitable, and prone to panic at the first sign of trouble. Problem was, those people were right, for the most part. Currently, the human race had transcended to a new, formerly unknown level of panic, breaking the level set by the Cell incident seven years ago, brought on by a few undeniable facts:
1. Super-powered beings were real, and really capable of the mass destruction they claimed they could do
2. Said super-powered being had killed everyone on Earth
3. Everyone on Earth, bar a select group deemed too evil to be redeemed, was now alive again.
The people were scared, and when they're scared, people will always do the predictable thing: turn to their hero for help. The only problem was, Hercule Satan had no help to give. To that end, the giant space ship that sailed through the air above Satan City was both a blessing and a curse. A curse, because it ramped up the mob's panic level again, forcing him to work harder to calm them down. A blessing, because as the ship passed overhead, there was a flash of light, heralding his daughter.
Had he not seen her flying during the world tournament, he would've been extremely concerned right about now. With the knowledge that she was perfectly safe, however, Hercule couldn't have been happier, and his smile could've powered Satan City for a week. His daughter was safe, and all was right with the world. "Videl! You're okay!"
-We are the ones that will open your mind-
-Leave the weak and the haunted behind-
Letting herself be drawn into the big man's hug as she landed, Videl would normally have loved the fatherly attention, but for the moment, she had a job to do. After a period just long enough to let her father know she, too, was happy to see he was alright, but she didn't have time, she pulled back, replying, "Hey daddy, I love you too. Now, I need you to do something for me."
Still grinning, the former champ remarked, "Anything for my little girl."
Caught between a grin and a grimace, Videl couldn't help thinking to herself, 'You're gonna regret that blank cheque...' "I need you to call an emergency press conference, right now on every channel. There's a message that needs to go out, and we need to reach everyone on Earth at once."
Blinking, suddenly nervous, Hercule asked, "What message?" Watching his daughter reach into her back pocket and produce a folded piece of paper, he unfolded it carefully, and began reading what was on it. Moments later, he cried out with as much force as he could without drawing the crowd's attention, "I can't read that!"
Scowling slightly, Videl shot back, "Either you read that and ask for the people's help, or I'll tell them the truth about the Cell games, and then ask for their help. Either way, I am getting Gohan and the others the help they need." At the horrified look on his face, hers softened slightly, before she added, "I love you dad, I really do, but there's bigger things at stake here than your reputation; as is, you're lucky they didn't oust you completely. But we need this message to go out, and you're the only one they'll truly listen to. The fate of the universe itself may rest on whether you're willing to take this blow to your ego or not."
-We are the ones that will open your mind-
-Leave the weak and the haunted behind-
Videl had to admit, as she watched the press conference almost build itself around her, when her father put his mind and his influence to something, it got done fast. In the space of two minutes he had managed to get agreements from every station to broadcast the footage from the one remaining camera, and had the stage readied for his speech. She could tell he was extremely nervous about what she all-but-blackmailed him into reading, but quite frankly, Videl thought he was getting off lightly, considering he'd been lying to the whole world for seven years.
Standing to one side as her father approached the podium, Videl crossed her fingers, praying everything would work as planned. She watched her father set the script on the lectern and take a deep breath, waiting for the signal that he camera was rolling, before beginning his speech. "People of the Earth, it is I, Hercule Satan, former Number One Under Heaven Champion, and the man who defeated the terror known as Cell. For many years now, I have lead you to believe I defeated Cell alone, but this is not the whole truth."
Taking another deep breath, he continued, "I had help from a select group of people, as you may remember from the footage. When the fight was over, I wrote them out, claiming sole responsibility for the tyrant's defeat. Because they wanted me to." He paused, letting that comment sink in to the gasp of many a listener, before continuing, "While the method I chose to do so may have been a bit arrogant, they wanted me to overshadow them, because they didn't want the fame, the money, the prestige, or anything else that came of it. All they wanted was to save the world, and fade into the background. They didn't want you to know they existed."
Hercule made another strategic pause, taking a moment to judge the crowd's reaction; so far, quite positive. "They are a handful of people from a race known as Saiyans, an extra-terrestrial race of warriors who sought refuge on this planet, and were granted it. They have lived amongst us in secret for ten years, because, while stronger than the average man, they are afraid of being persecuted. And I don't blame them; the human race never has been very tolerant," he ended wryly; that statement applied to him as well, and he knew it.
-We are the ones that will open your mind-
-Leave the weak and the haunted behind-
Obviously, many people were shocked by the fact that not only were aliens real, they had been living on this planet in secret for TEN years! It was only the aura of calm acceptance that Hercule seemed to radiate, the assurance that everything was fine, that prevented the panic from coming. If Hercule Satan was good at nothing else, he could win over a crowd, and make them believe whatever he wanted them to believe.
Taking a quick sip from the glass of water provided, Hercule continued, "Now, however, a new threat looms. One great enough to make Cell seem like an inconvenience. One whose effect has already been felt by almost everyone. One who has forced these Saiyans out of hiding, to fight for us once more. The terror known as Majin Buu." Many a cry of fear went up at that name, but Hercule pressed on. "As many of you are no doubt aware, Majin Buu, in the space of less than an hour, managed to wipe out the entire human race without breaking a sweat. And yet here we stand now, thanks to their help. It's time we return the favour."
Unbeknownst to Hercule, the live feed around the world, displaying the former champ, were simultaneously hacked by a super advanced spacecraft, so the genius occupants could splice in footage of the battle waging even now on the Supreme Kai's planet; another of the modifications to Kaen's scouter design was to add a camera, so home base could observe and correct behaviour, among other things. Continuing unabated, Hercule stated, "Even as I speak, they are waging war against this horrible creature, a creature even I, with all my strength, could never hope to defeat. They have been trained their entire life for moments like this, but even they can't do it alone."
Staring into the camera, almost daring people to look away, he added with a note of finality, "They need your help. Every last one of you." The war camera panned around to show Goku charging the Spirit Bomb. "They need our energy if they hope to destroy Buu. If they fail, Majin Buu will take this second chance they have granted to us away once more. I for one am not going to let that happen." The big man raised one hand to the air, and with his consent given, a streak of blue light broke out of his body and flew skyward. Looking worn out from donating that much energy, but still standing firm, he finished, "I'm doing my part. Are you?"
-People can no longer cover their eyes-
-If this disturbs you then walk away-
When the Spirit Bomb had continued to remain stagnant, the same size it had grown to from the donated Saiyan energy, Goku had begun to despair just a little, that this would be the best they could do. Something he knew was not enough. When Pi had declared her attack complete, and carefully, oh so carefully, merged her attack with his, causing it to grow to just under the size of the Spirit Bomb he'd hit Frieza with, he'd felt a small glimmer of hope, but knew the attack still wasn't strong enough.
When Pi had informed him, shortly before running off to rejoin the fight, that they had a plan for getting the human's co-operation involving Videl and her father, the glimmer of hope had expanded into a bright ray of hope, which had, in turn, exploded into a massive beacon of hope when he felt the human energy start coming in. What he didn't expect, however, was the sheer number of people willing to help.
And the results were staggering.
-You will remember the night you were struck by the sight of-
-Ten thousand fists in the air-
The Spirit Bomb began growing exponentially, rapidly increasing in size, and were it not for the wide open space Pi had chosen for him to begin preparing the attack, no doubt it would have sheered through half a forest of trees. The size was so great, and the energy contained within so immense, that the massive ball of energy was starting to have it's own gravitational field; minor, to be sure, but all of the small, loose particles of assorted rubble began lifting up and floating towards the ball.
And it was still growing.
'Kakarott!' He almost jumped in fright at the sound of Vegeta's voice in his head. 'How much longer until the attack is complete.'
Closing his eyes, Goku focused his thoughts on the massive sink of ki above him, and the still-incoming flow of donations. 'Giving time for the energy to stop coming in, plus the time it needs to settle, I'd say... Five minutes if we're lucky, ten if we're not.' He could almost feel the prince's scowl before the link was cut.
-Ten thousand fists in the air-
Staring at the growling, twitching mass of bubblegum and rage that was Majin Buu, Vegeta commented quietly, "Kakarott says he'll need five to ten minutes."
Groaning in exhaustion, the golden haired teen beside him remarked, "Ten minutes? At the rate we're going, we'll be lucky to last two."
"Well then," the dark haired teen on the prince's other side quipped, "It's past time we started making our own luck then isn't it?"
With a grin, Pi replied from her spot beside Kaen, "Come on boys, let's show this monster what he's got awaiting him on the other side. Let's give him Hell!"
With a roar, the fight was joined once more.
-Ten thousand fists in the air-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
I so never meant for this chapter to take so long to get done. Work's been a bit of a bitch lately. However, I do have the next week off, so who knows? I'm working on a new story, non-DBZ this time, that I'll hopefully get the first chapter done for by New Years.
In the mean time, I leave you with my Christmas present to you, my readers (or Gift Day present for those who don't celebrate Christmas, or are otherwise offended by the term). Code Boom is well underway, but the question remains, will they have enough time to complete it? We'll just have to wait and see.