A/N: Whew, been awhile since I've updated this, huh? Almost 200 Reviews? And 22K Views?! Wow, thanks for the support guys, I really mean it :)
Good to be back on this story, first off! Missed all of you guys and missed my characters just as much!
Reason for the most part about my prior hesitancy in furthering this story was the alternative story, "The Other World Saga" was getting a lot of views from my "Vegeta Chronicles" fans and the prior story vice versa. While this was my intention from the get-go, questions were being brought up like, "Why isn't Goku back yet?" or "Did Goku lose the Tournament?"
Well, I can't spoil anything for those in the dark in the OWS crowd, and I can't give away anything that might be explained later in the VC crowd. So that was the dilemma. But this Arc, for THIS story isn't really focusing a lot on that at the moment. They have a crisis of their own to confront and it won't be with Goku's help.
I won't give anything away, but I'll will say this: The Other World Tournament is a lot more complicated than it was first set out to be. I'm not saying he lost and I'm not saying he won. I'm just saying there's stuff he has to take care of, and he won't be in the VC story for a little while. I'll give updates as this series is furthered, whether its in the story or in Author Notes later on.
Whew...I hope that covers that. If anyone has further questions, I'll try to keep it spoiler free through PM'ing.
With that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy this Chapter I've written out for you ^^
THE VEGETA CHRONICLES
Chapter 16 - Rock you like a Hurricane
Space, Ryuchi Orbital View
Beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder. It is a common phrase that can be translated and taken in any number of ways. It could mean how one finds another living being physically attractive. How a certain piece of debris, in space or on planet, has a poetically artistic visage whereas another would view it as simply trash. While others would view one world as dull, dank, and depressing, even if it is full of vibrant wildlife and many adventures yet to be had.
Despite the planet not having any viewers to behold its wonder, it was still wonderful none-the-less.
Earth's lush eight continents showed varied hues of emerald, white, and grey across the immense landscapes covering the planet. Overencompasing the mass of azure and indigo colored oceans that spread across the beautiful terran orb. Lights shined from the darkest corners of the world, where the Sun wasn't shining brightest, showing the cities that were created and built in all of their man-made splendor. Leaving the half of the star-facing world to be in awe of the majesty that was the Sun shining towards its atmosphere.
But over Ryuchi, it was another matter altogether.
What would be known as the Pacific Divide outlying all sides of this irregular shaped continent and series of islands within Ryuchi's domain was not sparkling or encompassed by the Sun's golden glare. No, instead what would be seen would be a rolling mass of the blackest clouds, swirling around nearly its entire landscape and oceanic mass. Like the eye of a Hurricane of Epic proportions, the swirling black mass of atmospheric negativity crackled and flashed with hundreds upon hundreds of azure and pale flashes of electrical output, visible from orbit.
One side obscured by natural darkness and another blotted out by an unnatural force. It truly spelled out the foreboding word befitting of its titanic mass: Terror.
50 Miles From West City Limits
"Whoa! Look at that!" Yamcha crowed out, as the sky above them seemed to darken within a matter of minutes. Though they were still a good hour away from West City's border, they could see the entire heavens blotch out into a seemingly instantaneous thunderstorm. What's worse, the winds began to pick up and carry powerful fissures of force across the landscape.
"Those clouds look angry!" Maron gasped childishly, cupping her face with her hands, shivering with fright, "make them go away, Yammy-poo! They're glaring at me!"
Struggling with his steering, Yamcha had to exert his own energy around the truck's cabin to keep flying debris from penetrating the windshield and from their vehicle from tumbling over into the parallel valleys running on either side of the highway, "Kinda busy keeping us from tipping over, let alone get impaled by bullet-speeding pieces of dirt..."
"Whatever's pissed the weather off, I blame you!" Launch shouted from within the cargo hold, trying to keep herself from being crushed by the unrestrained crates within its massive space.
"Me?! What did I do?!" Yamcha shouted incredulously back at his blonde passenger.
"You're always screwing some crap up! You tell me!" Launch shouted in return.
"That doesn't justify you blaming me, witch!" Yamcha snarled back, comically bulging veins protrude from his forehead as he looks back at the narrow slit that he could see into the semi-truck's hold.
"Please stop fighting!" Maron begged, her body shivered with fright as a lightning bolt flashed not but a dozen meters above their vehicle.
"Tch, let's just hope Bulma's alright. It feels like this storm is just the start of something worse," Yamcha growled lowly, a bead of sweat crawling down his scalp as he felt trepidation. This ominous power controlling the elements, whoever was responsible, was something far bigger than he could be comprehend.
West City, Shopping District
Gohan's eyes widened as he felt the storm's sudden encompassment of the skies.
One moment it was clear and bright, perfect weather. It was through some spine-tingling pulse of energy that he felt a sudden rise of air currents, dissipating negative electrons at an absurd rate, before blanketing the heavens with a dark thunderous mass. Wind already began to billow down from the flash storm, ripping carts off their hinges and shattering less durable glass.
Panic was already ensuing, and Gohan had a good idea there was another force behind the freak storm.
"What the Hell is up with the sky?! It feels like a hurricane is trying to flatten the city!" Videl exclaimed, the first of them to verbally respond to the frightening discharges of gale force winds.
"I think someone is disturbing the atmosphere's negatives with their own energy!" Gohan explained, his voice raised due to the howling winds that blew sporadically across the city and beyond.
Her eyes widened with fright. An otherworldly force just conjured this storm from nowhere? What terrifying new threat could just do that on a sudden whim. She could tell that the storm was widespread, moving far beyond what she could see to be the end. Not only that, but it all had a foreboding sensation that made her spine tingle with an unnerving edge.
It felt like...a beast...that seemed to claw at her nerves and be all around her and nowhere at once.
"Can you trace the source?" Videl asked, her voice shaking as she tried to cope with the sensation of feeling such ominous energy.
"We're at the eye of the storm," Gohan nodded to the sky above, noting the swirling pattern the storm clouds took, "its almost like a controlled hurricane. There's no opening in this weather, though, and its welled up with an energy I've never felt before. It may be impossible to sense anyone's energy, let alone the culprit or thing responsible for this-"
A nearby scream was heard, causing both teenagers to avert their attention at the damning darkness looming over their head. They'd see a lime green haired girl flung from a balcony of an apartment complex, the fissure of wind carving into the side of the building, shaking it violently.
Videl was there in a heartbeat.
As her body streaked across the airspace in a silver-hued wake of light, her arms wrapped around the child, evading the falling debris and barreling through another discharge of pressurized wind, galing about.
"I got you!" Videl exclaimed, both in relief and joy, as her body levitated high in the air.
"H-Huh?" The girl's eyes opened slowly, blinking with bewilderment. One moment she found herself and the balcony ripped off the side of the building. The next, she found herself in the arms of a beautiful girl, not much older than her. And she was flying.
"W-What's going on?! Are we flying?!" The girl shouted with fear, her arms squeezing around Videl's neck.
"Relax, I'm going to put you down-" Videl trailed off, as her eyes widened with horror. A twister began to descend from the dark clouds, swirling with an almost animalistic guidance, heading straight towards them."
"CRAP!" Videl shouted with bulging eyes, jettisoning herself from the air towards the ground, not even bothering to look back at the monstrous cyclone of destructive power.
It was Gohan's turn to act.
Swiftly, Gohan kicked off the pavement, an aura of gold energy igniting around his body to increase his speed exponentially.
The blur of sun-hued energy ended right in front of Videl as the soles of her shoes touched the ground. Even as her head turned, her pigtails flailing wildly from the thrashing air currents, she couldn't help but stare in awe of what Gohan did next.
CLAP-KOOM! Clapping both palms towards the twister, Gohan discharged a Kiai of epic proportions. So much so, that the cyclone completely split apart into dozens of disorienting fissures of air waves. As the shockwave struck the fabric of the dark clouds, it dispersed, seemingly having no affect upon the energy-compressed bundles of water and oxygen molecules.
"Whoa!" Videl shouted with agape shock, her eyes were wide as dish saucers just as the child she cradled in her arms were.
Gohan turned back to look at Videl, his green eyes filled with the determination as his voice was filled with authority, "Videl! We can't take time to look for the culprit! We have to save as many people as we can from this storm! West City needs us!"
"R-Right!" Videl nodded.
The Super Saiyan's energy thrummed with compressed power, just before discharging in a bristling gust of heated wind, as he took to the sky and rushed around the vast capital.
"W-Why was he glowing? Why can he fly?!" The child blubbered out with confusion, causing Videl to roll her eyes. She would blow her hair up, but the intense wind made sure to do that for her.
"Why can't we have just one normal day off?" Videl thought, as she carried the child away to the nearest safehouse.
West City, Outskirts
Vegeta felt anxious. He could feel his blood boiling, aiming to get rid of the stress he built up from his earlier confrontation with his wife from before. He hadn't had a good fight since Bojack, and even then it was simply one-sided. Nothing gave him a thrilling challenge like before. Even Cell's "Super" form wasn't a match for the raw, anger-ridden might he possessed back then. This woman, however, promised a good battle.
On the other hand, he felt a familiar weight fling aimlessly from his left hand. Glancing down, his smile regressed and his eyes widened a fraction. It was the presents that he was gifted by that store owner, aimed to appease Bulma in the first place. Considering how hard it was for him to work up a verbal apology, let alone confess anything, he knew it would be difficult to find a way to rectify his earlier actions let alone what was to come.
As his eyes went back to the impassive, white-clothed adversary and his bag, he let out a berated sigh.
"If we're going to do this, I want some more open space. The sight of weaklings flailing for their lives isn't an appealing backdrop for our battle," Vegeta demanded, encasing the bag in a golden orb of psychic energy for safe delivery.
"You don't get to make demands, hypocrite," Sky responded coldly, her eyes narrowing with disdain as she raised a single palm towards his direction, "you either redeem your honor to me by besting your challenger. Or you run away, like a coward."
Flinging the orb of protective energy to the left, Vegeta's body became engulfed with an azure aura, cracking the air and ground with equal intensity. Raising one arm up to horizontally slant in front of his forehead, curling his forefingers with readiness, he knew that he couldn't lure her away. At the very least, he could tell Bulma that he tried to fight in an unpopulated area.
"My day just gets better and better," Vegeta thought grimly.
With his thoughts and hesitation whisked away by another geyser of wind plummeting to the ground from beyond, the Saiyan Prince charged.
Moving many times faster than a single bullet could be fired and reach its destination, Vegeta appeared within a shimmering blur, face-to-face with the enigmatic Sky. Bending back, he swung his right leg forward in a snap kick to connect with her chin. As the tip of his boot was being evaded by a backwards lean, Vegeta swung his leg out of the way to the side, bringing up the other leg to kick at her in the side of her jaw. When she promptly dropped herself further down, Vegeta ignited his two curled forefingers as he leaped up above her parallel aligned body.
"TAKE THIS!" Vegeta shouted out, discharging a cutting fissure of violet light from his fingertips, aiming to bisect her from the sternum.
The look of unamusement projecting from her ice-hued eyes, spoke volumes of how little she took Vegeta's tactic.
Like an hour hand on a clock, Sky bent her whole body in a pendulum fashion backwards to avoid the deadly blade of light. Before her adversary would realize her evasion, her heels hammered into the middle of his back with thunderous force, launching him straight into the earth within a plume of pressurized air currents.
"Ngh!" Vegeta winced as he landed on all fours, his body arched over the smoldering trench his attack made. As he raised himself in a surprising stagger to be erect and ready once more for battle, he gasped with surprise, "what just happened?!"
"Just a mere taste," Sky explained, her body hovering stoically above him. Her star-hued hair and white coat flourished within the howling winds that billowed around them. "of what the full course of pain that awaits you, Vegeta."
"Enough of your pointless rhetoric!" Vegeta shouted back, launching himself up at her like a rocket, leaving a violet streak of light in his wake.
This time, his fist made home directly into her abdomen, causing her whole body to go limp like a rag doll. The moment he connected his punch, he allowed himself a smirk with triumph, "Take that, you-!"
CRACK! What he didn't count on was the head that lurched forward due to the momentum of the gut strike, hitting him full on into his skull. The force was so staggering, that it felt like he was struck by an adamantine hammer.
His vision dizzied for a few seconds, his ears rang from the concussive force that ballooned out and struck the proximate suburban surroundings with concrete shattering force.
He didn't get a chance to ready himself from the follow-up palm-heel that struck his nasal cavity, the knee kick bludgeoning his chin, and the roundhouse kick that sent him spearing across the air and into the city.
"This battle's just started, and I'm already in this much pain," Vegeta thought, his body barely registering the apartment floor, glass and metal rending apart with his body's momentum. As his body flew out the opposite end of the building, onyx orbs shrank at what came after him. A pink haired girl, in her late teens, in just a black tank top and blue denim shorts with white tennis shoes was flung right out of the window he shattered with his back.
"Darn it!" Vegeta snarled aloud, reaching out and grasped the young woman by the ankle as he somersaulted in the air. With a full-body kiai, he halted his descent just bare meters off the ground.
With a sigh of relief, he dropped the girl unceremoniously onto the sidewalk below, landing onto her backside.
"Ow!" She hissed out, her eyes scrunching up in pain before opening her eyes, ready to glare up at her oppressor.
"Save it for someone who cares!" Vegeta growled down at the woman. The response he got, however, caused his eyes to widen with confusion.
"Y-You're Vegeta! The man who beat Cell and that alien in the Intergalactic Tournament!" The girl beamed, cupping her hands up towards him with adoration, "I'm you're biggest fan! T-Thank you for saving me!"
"You're my...what?!" Vegeta asked incredulously.
The Saiyan wouldn't get a chance for a confirmation. A violent elbow jab striking the side of his head, his senses was once again sent to an awry state of disorientation. Swinging out blindly in the direction his injury came from, he struck nothing but air, and received a spinning kick to his abdomen. The latter blow was enough to cause spittle to fly out of his mouth, plowing through the concrete of the street, leaving a terrible trench of destruction before he indented himself into an abandoned SUV with a thunderous smack.
Sky floated serenely in the air, retracting her leg back to stoically glare in the Saiyan's direction as she murmured with disdain, "Insect. You will know better than to let your guard down, especially at the paltry level you're at now."
"HEY!"
Sky's eyes turned to gaze in the direction of the indignant voice, only to receive a rock directly into her fair complexioned face. It shattered across her visage, a flicker of transparent energy crackled to life for the first time. But it wasn't just the act of attacking her, but the fact what the woman said next that brought her attention to her fully.
"How dare you do that to him! That's my hero you're trashing, and without him looking! Don't you have any honor, you bitch?!" The girl shouted at Sky, shaking her fist with sheer unforgiving anger.
"You...think he's yours?" Sky glared icily down at the girl, as her star-hued hair rose up in the air along with her coat's curtails, enamored by a blinding aura of white light, "fool. I rejected him because he wasn't worthy. Another bug has no right to claim a cockroach that's about to be crushed by the heavens!"
"W-Wait, what?!" The girl fell to her buttocks, recoiling in fear of the heavenly woman's apparent scorn, "p-please don't hurt me!"
"I'll do more than hurt you, insufferable-" Sky trailed off, before a violet-hued blur tackled into her, carrying her off within the eruption of a sonic boom.
Flying back from the shockwave that struck her head-on, she fell into a comical heap against the apartment's trash dumpster. As her vision swam, she muttered aloud, "Wait...what...just happened?"
The Lookout, Approximately 500 Miles West of West City
Piccolo was in awe.
Despite of remarkable of instances piling up over the years where this had occurred, time and again, he had regularly steeled himself to expect the unexpected. Ever since Cell, he began to keep his senses sharp and never assume anything. But with that, he still could never fathom the immense power that welled deep within Bojack's deceiving guise of sheer arrogance. How could he believe this?
The air around the Lookout, normally a clear crystal blue in the backdrop, was completely dark. Enormous clouds had rapidly materialize as a widespread dispersal of unnatural energy excited negative electrons and water vapor to be created by such energy. Cumulonimbus shapes took form and rapidly began to flail chaotic winds and spew electrical fissures of energy around them all.
While the winds were terrifying, they did nothing to shake the ancient geostationary orbiting structure. The moisture wasn't unwelcome, due to the Namekian physiology to absorb such secreted liquid, but it certainly didn't make the flashes of cacophonic flurries of lightning any less pleasant.
Fissures of electrical energy, largest he ever witnessed in his life, rumbled and quaked the dark curtain that enveloped this side of the planet. The times of near misses these pillars of destructive energy made by the Lookout's surface were growing by the second.
And still, he stood his ground, as the shield for the teenaged Guardian and his ever-faithful assistant. He had the power, and he knew that he could use it best defending the Lookout from such destructive force.
Within the entrance of the Lookout's main structure, however, a pure-hearted Namekian felt otherwise.
"We shouldn't let him just stand out there alone, Mr. Popo!" Dende growled lowly, his taller and leaner body clenching the staff in his right hand with frustration.
"Now Dende, Piccolo is just doing what he believes is best for you," The midnight-complexioned assistant spoke softly, placing a hand upon his shoulder with empathy, "please keep inside. This storm is not natural, and it is filled with an angry Ki. It could potentially harm someone like you, if you wander outside."
"And that's the problem!" Dende looked up at Popo with a helpless gaze, the frustration turning into sadness, "if I'm supposed to be the Guardian of this world, how can I do that when I can't protect it from disasters such as this?! This isn't even an otherworldly force, compiled of evil men, and I can't do a thing to help them down below!"
"You musn't worry yourself for things out of your reach," Popo responded, looking on out of the entrance at the flourishing cape of Piccolo's, "the best you can do is try to help bring order among the ashes that chaos leaves behind. Pick up the pieces where they fall. You don't have to be a god or a hero, to stop the darkness that befalls the Earth. But you can think of what you can do to better prepare this world from another catastrophe. That is the essence of a Guardian, after all."
As Dende turned his eyes out to look at Piccolo, he saw just how calm he was. Taking in the words of Popo to heart, he realized that's why his past self Kami didn't become a proactive warrior, like the darker part of him did. He may have been called a god, but it was more of an honorary or superficial title. The act of being a Guardian was to guide those of heart and strength to hinder acts of repeating tragedy.
Still, this didn't dissuade his longing stare at the older, wiser, and stronger Piccolo. The being of immense power and heritage. The son of Katas, a prodigy and progeny of many things for their race. He stood out in the storm, protecting the legacy of a place he had rarely spent time in the past. He used to be quick to act, and now as the statue of protection for him and the precious monument for the Earth's history.
The stare transformed into a glistening hope, as he nodded with a knowing smile, "After this crisis is over, I need to do something."
"Oh?" Popo inquired pointedly, wondering what his young superior had in mind.
"Can you protect the Lookout while I'm gone?" Dende asked, sideglancing nervously at the large being, wondering if he was going to be chastised for such a question.
"I will always protect the Lookout, young Guardian. Even in your absence, I shall do so," Popo smiled back with assurance.
"Thank you," Dende smiled back with thankfulness, turning his gaze back into the interior of the Lookout, furthering on the emphasis of this journey.
"May I inquire where you intend to go?" Dende heard his aide ask him.
"In order to protect the planet, I'm going to find a means to do so for the indefinite future," Dende responded, albeit vaguely. Looking over his shoulder, he ventured to his personal room as he apologized, "I'm sorry. That's all I can say. I hope you understand and trust me for my discrepancy, Mr. Popo."
"I understand if the Guardian wants to keep a secret. Kami had always kept secrets, normally for his own personal reasons and I never thought ill of him for it. I trust your initiative is a just one, Dende," Popo responded with a respectful bow.
"You're a good friend," Dende smiled sincerely, placing his hand on the wooden beam before his spartan quarters, "never change who you are."
"I haven't changed for ages, young Guardian. I don't intend to now," Popo answered happily, if not a bit eerily.
A barren valley, 300 Miles East of West City
17 couldn't believe his luck.
He was starting to get bored with the training regiment they had been following, ever since their breakthrough half a year ago. Everything seemed to be routine, and nothing really surprised him. Trading blows with 18 was more about a game of trying to predict the other's movements. It became harder and harder for each of them to land a blow on the other. Krillin on the other hand, while having been taught from them as much as he taught them, didn't scream excitement like his Namekian rival or the Super Saiyans whom never seemed to be within arm's reach during their treks around the world.
But now a storm of Epic proportions was launched upon them.
What would be faint traces of sweat upon his skin would be blown away by powerful gusts of wind. His raven locks flourished underneath his ball cap, as well as the shoulder straps of his black muscle shirt with a belted pair of faded, shredded jeans with a pair of black boots to finish his choice attire. Blue eyes gazed up at the thunderstorm, waiting for the moment to test himself at a passing by fissure of wind or pillar of volatile electricity.
"Isn't this great, sis?! The perfect game to include into our training has finally showed up for us!" 17 asked with an excited tone.
"Not really. Kind've annoying if you ask me," 18 responded with a huff, casually cupping her sides with her hands. Her own hair billowed around with freedom in comparison to her brother's enclosed scalp. Her tank top that stopped short of her navel fluttered more apparently, with thigh length shredded jean shorts and a pair of black-white tennis shoes to match the flapping shirt. In addition to her new choice of attire, she also fancied a pair of fingerless black gloves and matching black wrist bands that her brother wore.
"I second that! Not a big fan of this wind, if you get my drift, hehe!" Krillin acknowledged with humor, rubbing the back of his bald scalp. He himself had drastically changed his visage in comparison to his standard Turtle School gi. A red headband was wrapped over his forehead, matching his sleeveless red and black gi top and bottom, with a orange sash tied around his waist and black slip-on shoes to boot. His own wrist bands were matching to that of 17 and 18, a sort've fashionable bond they shared between each other.
Rolling his eyes, the black-haired cyborg took to the air in a gentle ascent, "Har-Har, little man. Let's get started already! A little storm isn't going to stop me from taking you both on!"
"Aren't you being a little too zealous, 17?" 18 queried in a dry tone, a confident smirk crossing her lips.
"Its usually the same, sis. We usually spar one on one, we both tag-team against the dwarf to toughen him up, or have our own sparring match with him one-on-one," 17 drawled on in a complaining tone. Though the smile kept gleaming with excitement on his face, he didn't let his thoughts be inhibited by their doubts as he took to the sky, "and no freak storm is going to keep this from happening!"
"Fine. Its your funeral, tough guy," 18 shrugged, cracking her knuckles with emphasis.
"I won't go easy on you, 17!" Krillin announced, a crimson light igniting instinctively around his body.
17's body, in sync with 18's, both burst into an aura of bioelectrical currents. Despite the fact that the lightning flashed dangerously around them, the torrential fissures of wind blasting across the valley, the trio paid no mind to the elements around them. The vigor that 17 held was now equally shared by his sister and her boyfriend monk.
Within an instance of a breathtaking thunderclap, they all collided with each other, creating a ballooning shockwave that rocked the valley like a bomb.
Kame House, Approximately 600 Miles from West City
Chiaotzu worried.
It was a natural reaction that he embraced, mostly out of the helplessness and fear he possessed for being the weakest or smallest of the Z Warriors. His participation in the Saiyan invasion proved his lack of skill and might to handle elite fighters on their league. Even with the training of King Kai, and later the training after their resurrection by Goku during their preparation for the Androids' arrival, he found his own power underwhelming in comparison to his friends.
His brother icon, Tien, had come so far since then. Goku's death seemed to inspire something in them all, which in turn, inspired Chiaotzu to take another avenue of training.
This kind of trepidation wasn't for himself, or Tien, however. It was the sheer scale of which the storm stretched and seemingly blanketed over the entire horizon for thousands of miles. Its fierce winds were already causing terrifying tidal waves to form in the distance, and lightning to come plummeting into the water's surface that exceeded such heights, splitting the water into cut halves.
The atmosphere did provide a good form of practice for him though.
He hovered a good ten meters above the roof of the island's single structure, cross-legged and with hands clasped. His eyes were closed, as his mind was stewed with concentration on maintaining a field of protection around the island and the well-known house that was home to more than just the glory-returned Roshi. It was a place where they all could get lost from civilization, a place of heartfelt memories, and a sanctuary for those who are weary with no other place to go.
"I'm going to protect this precious place of ours. For Tien and all my friends!" Chiaotzu declared within his mind, as the faint traces of wind blew across his person.
He made sure to dress appropriately, not only for his training regimen, but for comfort as well. Gone was the beanie hat, replaced by a black-dyed straw hat, using a white string to tie securely underneath his chin. A long-sleeved black-bordered, dark green kimono wrapped over his developed and dwarfed body, a yin-yang symbol emblazoned upon his chest and back inverted from each other in design aspect. Black tabi slippers were fastened over his petite feet, resting atop and underneath his legs respectively as he hovered with an emerald aura projecting off his body.
"You doing alright up there, Chiaotzu?" Tien asked, having just exited the house's main doorway, looked up at his old friend and surrogate brother with a smile.
Chiaotzu allowed his eyes to open, noticing how the waves didn't seem to be as harsh as before. In fact, the storm's chaotic winds seemed to almost instantaneously grow into regular gusts and not powerful discharges. Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked down towards his best friend's large and stoic frame.
Tien's own choice of attire had changed over the course of the year. An orange-hued, pauldron-less version of Piccolo's cloak was wrapped around his stocky shoulders. Adorning a sleeveless violet tunic and a pair of matching battle slacks, he donned accenting pairs of golden-bordered violet wrist bands, a golden sash wrapped around his waist, with a pair of shin-wraps above his black tabi shoes.
Lowering himself to the eye level, Chiaotzu beamed with acknowledgement, "Yeah, I'm alright. Diverting these waves and gusts of wind psychically is a lot easier than simply overpowering it with my own energy. Nothing to worry about now, though."
"Yeah, I noticed," Tien answered solemnly, all three eyes narrowing their gaze at the rumbling sky above, "it sounds like it quieted down. Don't know if that means its getting serious elsewhere or that its on the verge of calming down everywhere."
"I'll head back up there if it looks like its going to be trouble again," Chiaotzu responded with earnesty.
"Good thinking," Tien nodded with a smile, "I'll keep my eyes peeled down here. In the meantime, see if you can try and contact Master Roshi. See if he's thinking about coming home after his day of training is done."
"Even in this weather, he's training?!" Chiaotzu exclaimed with surprise.
"Ha! Knowing that guy, he's probably going to keep training even if the whole storm came down on him," Tien chuckled with knowing, scratching his chin with afterthought, "I doubt this storm is lethal to any of us. I'm just worried what it could do to the populace of Ryuchi, if not island nations beyond its borders."
"Well, I'm sure the others are helping out where they can. We're Earth's protectors, aren't we?" Chiaotzu inquired his triclops comrade, leaning his head to the side.
"Yeah, I'm sure Gohan and Videl are doing what they can. Piccolo's probably hanging at the Lookout, keeping it safe. Not sure if Yamcha is around anywhere that could use his assistance, though being part of a robin hood gang of his. Vegeta might do something, but I don't think he's heroic enough to risk his neck for everybody. With no Trunks around, we can only hope this storm doesn't last long and the damage extent doesn't go terribly high," Tien thought along, cupping his chin to stroke it solemnly.
"Even if I could ask people to help, this storm is doing something to my telepathy," Chiaotzu explained with an anxious expression, "I can't feel anyone's energy, let alone contact anyone remotely."
Tien's brow dispersed some sweat with that in mind. If Ki couldn't be sensed within this storm, then it most certainly isn't an abnormal phenomenon of nature. What with the way it seemingly appeared within a matter of minutes, it seemed preposterous that the pattern and behavior of thunderclouds could act like this. What with the torrential waves and discharges of electrical power alongside the fissures of wind, this was definitely the work of an otherworldly source.
"I don't like this," Tien muttered, his eyes glaring at the dark horizon. Dozens of azure-hued flashes of electrical discharge were seen among the clouds, as the nature of the storm changed in a matter of minutes since its supposed calming, "I don't like this one bit..."
West City Mountain Range, 40 Miles North of West City
It had been pure luck, no question about it.
His opponent had perfect poise, awareness, and skill to easily overpower him. The fact that his enemy's guard was knocked off when his supposed fan challenged her openly gave him the opening he desperately needed.
Employing his Galick Thrust, he used his own body as a conduit to accelerate himself into Sky and carry her away from the city. Dozens of miles were crossed in a matter of seconds, his opponent still dazed from the mass accelerated tackle, allowing him to continue on his powerful velocity. The force of which allowed him to plummet face-first into a plateau, adjoining the mountains north of West City.
Then, he made impact.
BOOM! An earth-shattering explosion erupted from the collision, creating a mushroom of smoke to billow upwards, in the wake of the surprisingly quieting storm. The violet-hued outline of the energy's blast lit up the darkened atmosphere of the mountain range, giving it an eerie contrast to the constant blue flashes of lightning heralded above in the darkened heaven's mass.
Vegeta backflipped out of the collapsed rubble in a series of somersaults, distancing himself from the exploding debris sans Sky. His shirt was ragged and burnt, a testament to how resilient his aura had been for his person, despite the punishment he withstood from his feminine opponent. He glared heatedly with bared teeth when he saw her rise without showing a true scar from that impact.
If anything, she looked even more livid than before.
"Desperate for a true strike that you would hit me unawares, Saiyan? This truly doesn't bode well, if that's the best you can do in this simple form you possess," Sky iterated icily towards him, her body levitating in a magnanimous manner high above the crater he created.
"Tch! I told you I wanted a better place to fight, woman," Vegeta snapped back, holding up his gloved fists with emphasis, "if you wanted me at my best, then you should have simply agreed to my terms!"
"Well, here I am, oh mighty prince," the woman responded with heavily laced sarcasm, waving her arms with dramatic mocking emphasis, "let's see what the might of a powerful bug is in comparison to the majesty of the heavens."
"You talk too much!" Vegeta growled back, as his body began to crackle with bioelectric pulses. Black orbs pooled into emerald gleaming eyes, muscle mass and body height expanded. His throat snarled ferally as the earth shook and cracked underneath his soles, the storm clouds flashed with synonymous fury, as a golden pyre of light ignited far below. With a lasting shout of exclamation, Vegeta's body exuded a golden aura that complimented his now golden erect widowspeak locks.
Rising up from the ground, Vegeta crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, leveling out to the same height that Sky levitated at. Steeled with a warning, Vegeta uttered a single threat, "If you continue this game, woman, I will not put you down easy. You will die by my hands."
"I doubt you could carry out such a promise as much as you could fulfill your rivalry with Son Goku," Sky retorted dryly, waving her arms out with emphasis, "not that hasn't stopped you from training all these years. By all means, do try and take my life. Just know you will have as much chance of success as a beetle flying into the divine skies."
"I'm tired of hearing your nonsense!" Vegeta roared back. He began unfurling his arms, balling his fists until knuckles snapped audibly. With bared teeth and protruding veins visible upon his expansive browline, the Saiyan Prince had enough of this woman's insufferable rhetoric and insults.
Within a second's expanse, Vegeta charged. Leaving behind a sonic boom impression in the air behind him, Vegeta thrust his fist out, clocking Sky across her jawline, her body's limp stance spinning without the slightest resistance from the earth-shattering punch.
Not allowing her to go far, Vegeta shimmered beside her, scissoring her with a rising knee kick to her back and a descending elbow thrust into her abdomen. The contortion her body made was similar to that of a 'U' shape, her impassioned visage seeming to be dull and expressionless from the strikes.
Grasping her by her coat's collar, Vegeta reared back his right fist, unleashing a number of high-speed punches into Sky's face. After what seemed like an entire minute of merciless attacks, Vegeta reared back the fist once more, charging his energy around the glove's exterior and imbuing it into his clenched digits.
"HRAAAAAH!~" Vegeta shouted out with effort, as his knuckles struck dead-on into her face, creating a blinding elliptical shaped blast of golden bioelectrical energy. What sounded like thunder and looked like a bolt of lightning impaling the ground was the scene that unfolded before Vegeta's eyes, as he watched the woman fling into the mountain below with a mighty crash.
The mineralized formation rose and crumbled, bristling with heat and flames, as smoke filtered within steam rose up into the air from the ground zero impact site. What would be debris was incinerated and shattered instantly from the force of the powerful punch he let loose.
Lowering himself to the ground, the Super Saiyan investigated his handiwork with disdain and displeasure equally. This wasn't a glorious battle, like he hoped it would be. It was simply taking out the trash of another big-talking minion.
Sighing, Vegeta turned on his heels, muttering to himself, "Complete waste of time."
"Going somewhere?" A haunting voice echoed, causing Vegeta to stop dead in his tracks.
As widened eyes slowly turned around to view the source of the voice, he felt a gasp leave his throat, "I-Impossible!"
Sky rose to the air once more, her once immaculate uniform marred by dirt and flecks of rocks clinging to the recesses of the coat. Despite every hit that Vegeta dished out, Sky's body looked no worse than when they started this bout. Her hauntingly ice-hued eyes glared unimpressed at Vegeta's aghast stare, "Your attacks had no harmony, Vegeta. No rythym from which they could dance their way to absolute destruction."
"Enough of this poetic crap!" Vegeta dragged his right heel across the earth underneath him, squatting down with arms pulled back in readiness, "if you won't stay down, I'll have to just hit you harder, witch!"
Vegeta's eyes seemed to deceive him, however. It was within the split second of him finishing his own sentence, that she seemed to materialize right in front of him, standing taller than his hunched and stockier frame.
"Let me show you a truly graceful attack," Sky implored, as her right fist swung forth like a battering ram into Vegeta's chest. The might of the strike caused the earth to indent around them, and the mountains to shatter into fragments like glass. Audible snaps and sickening crunches were heard as the fist turned within the Saiyan's abdomen, causing Vegeta's eyes to white-out with sheer indescribable pain.
Then the arm thrust out, completing the punch.
KRAK-KOOM! Like a rocket being fired at the speed of sound, a warping contortion of distorted air waves flowed around the high velocity flailing form of Vegeta. Every cliffside, every mountain that the Saiyan crashed into was almost oblivious to the obvious pain welling within his chest. The punch was similar to how he had felt when he was pummeled by countless other titans, those who outclassed him in every way, and belittled him for his weakness.
As his back broke through the second mountain he crashed through, Vegeta's fiery sight regained clarity and his body vigor equally. A loud kiai roared out of his throat, as all four limbs splayed out in the air defiantly, shattering the ground and rumbling the remaining natural monuments around him. Lowering his gaze back to where he was thrown through so easily, he saw his opponent soaring towards him.
Raising his arms up above his head, inclined by partially bent elbows, with his hands clenching partway into claws he readied his new technique as his enemy closed in for the kill. A violet expanse of violent energy discharged from his golden aura, making him appear to be a Sun in the midst of a violet maelstrom of destructive power. Contorting with bioelectrical tendrils of black hue, the blazing energy became primed as Vegeta uttered aloud with anger-filled venom,
"Galick Gatling Cannon!"
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! Within the mighty expanse of violet-hued Ki, golden center violet fissures of destructive energy launched in the dozens towards Sky's speeding form and beyond. Every beam that collided to the earth detonated with vertical-focused localization, perfectly avoiding widespread damage while cutting off the amount of maneuverability that his opponent could traverse through the airspace.
Sky moved like water among the pillars of energy artillery. Flipping over one to gently redirecting the course of another with a backhand gesture, Sky flourished across the mass of discharges heading her way. Even as the blasts amassed into a field of burning geysers of voluminous flames and venting energy, Sky didn't seemed to be impeded by her advance.
"W-What?!" Vegeta sputtered with disbelief, upon seeing Sky make her way towards him without being struck by a single projectile he sent her way. He did have enough sense to defuse the energy and redistribute it into his body, leaning to the left to avoid another punch from Sky's left arm. Returning the favor, Vegeta leaned in with a left hook of his own into her nasal cavity.
What Vegeta didn't count on was the sudden emptiness his punch's power seemed to possess once it made contact. The sensation was bizarre, but not enough to warrant attention as much as the immediate knee kick into his pain-ridden abdomen. A gargled scream hissed out of his mouth, widened from the pain he felt, unable to fend off the backhand strike to his temple.
Spinning counterclockwise through the air, it was only by sheer instinct and tenacity that allowed Vegeta to flip back upright, thrusting a kick towards his enemy as he reared back his right hand. As expected, Sky seemed to absorb the hit like a sponge, taking away the devastating impact that should've been inflicted upon her.
Moving in for a counterattack of her own through a right palm-heel thrust towards his face, Vegeta swung an open palm with a basketball-sized orb of volatile energy.
"Big Bang Attack!" Vegeta gutturally yelled out, pushing Sky back as the sphere of energy discharged from his palm like a cannon. With satisfaction, he saw her pinwheel away with the orb of destructively compressed ki wedged within her abdomen. But it was with confusion that he saw her forearms cross just above the energy that launched her across the air.
Vegeta's eyes widened with horror as he saw the energy disappear from her gut, and her body stop a good fifty meters away across the burning, dark skyline. Instead, the familiar energies that composed of the Big Bang Attack seemed to ooze in rivulets across her skin, flowing across her white-hued attire like water. When they all flourished into the palms of her hands, he immediately raised his hands to return fire.
"Galick Gun, FIRE!" Vegeta hastily discharged a wide beam of violet-golden light, rushing towards
"White Blaze!" Sky shouted back, shoving her palms directly into the veil of the oncoming freight train that was the Galick Gun's, discharging her white-hued energy into its compressed folds. It bisected through the expansive blast of ki, rushing forward like a comet, unyielding to any of the force that Vegeta thrust in its direction.
Vegeta's eyes almost became blinded by the proximity of the oncoming wave of destructive energy. Letting his arms go limp, halting the output of energy in the pointless battle, Vegeta dropped just shy of the beam's path.
He could smell the ozone of the burning haze, even as it traveled across the horizon, tearing through what mountain peaks were unlucky enough in its path, before detonating into a pillar of silver-hued flames.
A sharp yanking pain upon his golden mane shook him back to reality, vaulting him in his parallel stance in the airspace head-over-heels. What greeted him was another astounding gut punch, as Sky's fist uppercut into his abdomen, driving spittle and blood out of his mouth in a pained cough. He could feel the air pop around him as he was raised up in the air before being brought into a rising knee straight into his chest again.
Swinging him away to the side, Vegeta's vision blurred, unable to see the vicious spinning kick that decked him straight into his left jaw. Pinwheeling down, with force that made his limp body sound like a rocket descending from the darkened skies, his forehead dug headfirst into a fire-ridden, disheveled mountain.
Collapsing with a thunderous crack, the earth around it indented and cascaded violent fissures of wind into other fiery mountains spewing flames from the Galick Gatling Cannon's prior discharges. They defused the flames, darkening the battleground that was West City's northern mountains.
Dispassionately, Sky glared coldly where she sent Vegeta plummeting. Even as her vibrant, star-hued hair glistened within the cacophony of lightning flashes flourishing within the dark thunderclouds, her coat flapping around her white-hued visage, she felt little closure to their battle. Regardless of his tenacity and his fury, she would never reach victory.
"I will see to that," Sky whispered aloud finality to her thoughts.
Directly after she spoke that, she felt the entire scarred mountainside shake, following a throat-tearing scream...
Central City Mountains, Estimated 350 Miles from West City
Roshi felt at ease.
Moreso than ever had in his entire, long-lived lifespan. Power welled deep within his being, but never felt encumbered or burdened by it. It gave him a newfound sorce of vigor and vitality. Such was a potential that he spent the thousands of years he dedicated himself to training that he could find this new side of himself. Gone was the lax, retired, and perverted man he once was. He now was among the strongest, that much he was certain.
He had to thank Dende for his intuition and initiative for modifying the Time Chamber as well as he did. Had he not increased the length of time capable of being spent in the chamber to 39, 900 years, he wouldn't have been able to attain such power, skill, and peace of mind. Though he knew only an Immortal, such as himself, was the only one capable of venturing into the chamber for such an extended period of time without harm being done to his person.
Roshi couldn't help be amazed at what a prodigy the young Namekian was in furthering the ancient legacy of the Lookout to further heights it never could have done with Kami as its Guardian. He knew Popo was proud to assist the young Namekian boy to shepherd the Earth to future greatness.
A thunderous boom brought his mind from musing further. Raising his shade-covered eyes to the dark clouds above him flash dangerously with proximate lightning strikes, he noted its violent nature. Though something had calmed it from the blistering fissures of winds beforehand. Like a ripple across a great lake, something caused it to be disturbed more locally elsewhere.
Even amongst this storm, Roshi didn't feel inhibited at all. Squatting upon a simple square board on a sharp mountain peak, his tower-clog fastened feet crossed over one another, toes flicking habitually. A white-bordered, black gi was fastened over his muscular chest and lower body, leaving his bald head bare in the cold atmospheric temperature he resided upon. Save his white beard that flourished underneath his chin from the occasional gusts, he was pretty spartan in his choice of attire.
The only thing that confounded him was the fact that the storm seemed to have a presence residing within it. As if it is a mere extension of a particular entity or being of extraordinary power. It kept him from sensing the life signs and energy levels of everyone upon Ryuchi's continent and beyond. The scale of such a weather phenomenon was truly not natural.
Though something told him it would pass, just as quickly as it came. Instinct, gut feeling, or intuition, the old master didn't know. He just had an assurance somewhere within his revived body that it truly wasn't going to drag on for much longer.
KRAK-KOOM! During that instant, a bolt of lightning discharged diagonally towards Roshi's body, its mass and power easily larger than any ordinary fissure of electrical discharge. A split instant before it made contact, Roshi's right arm swiveled up instinctively, batting it away upon a current of bioelectric trail he created within the air. As it collided into the ground below with an azure-lit blast, Roshi just chuckled to himself.
"I still got it," He murmured with content to himself, as he continued to meditate and wait out the storm on the mountain peak.
15 Miles East from West City Mountains
Dangerous.
That was the current status of the situation that Trench assessed. It wasn't but a moment's notice that he felt the sudden dispersal of incredible energy across the planet, and he knew only of one entity responsible. Any efforts on appropriating the stolen tech that the 3 Star Bandits liberated were thrown off, as he took initiative to analyze the situation from afar.
Now that he has, he breathed easier. Despite going against his wishes, he could presume Agent Sky went after Vegeta to recruit him. Knowing Vegeta's character, he possibly outright refused her request and possibly insulted her. The temperament that Sky possessed was the most volatile among his squad, including himself. Considering the earlier violence the storm possessed, it was apparent that she was venting her emotions within the storm until something calmed her effectively, if not but a small iota.
The various explosions, thunderous impacts, and flashes of light caused bright colored outlines upon his dark trench-coated form. Its cuffs flapped and flourished about his black slacks, his hands pocketing the coat firmly in place around his person. His midnight shades reflected the orange, red, violet, and golden flashes that transpired in the distance.
A low whistle kept him aware of his other squadmate, squatting a few meters to his left.
The white-ponytailed, black-bodysuited agent stared intently from behind the expressionless leather wrapping over his entire head. He emphasized his attention on the situation by raising a hand just above where his brows would be, peering unseen towards the battle that had ensued before them.
"Whelp...this doesn't look good, does it?" Void asked aloud, in a rhetorical fashion.
"No, you think?!"
"Well, I was just stating a truism. Can't blame me for that, can ya?" Void retorted aloud.
"Oh we can blame you for plenty! Or blame Sky for her asinine attempt of looping in ol' Veggie!"
"Yeah, that was kinda stupid," Void admitted, stroking his chin, "though it is hot to see her beat someone so pompous like him!"
"Agreed!"
"Damned straight, haha!"
"Void," Trench sighed with irritation, rubbing the bridge of his nose in emphasis, "can you keep your personal conversations to yourself? We're supposed to be on reconnaissance."
"Yessir, Mon Capitaine~" Void responded with an erect stance, issuing a mock salute towards his direction.
"What a stiff..."
"Remember what he's capable of and don't speak back. There's a reason why he's the Captain of our squad, after all..."
"Don't need to tell me that twice! I just hate his guts is all!"
"No argument here..."
"Guys! Pipe it down!" Void hissed, knocking on his own head comedically, "Trenchie's not wanting us to chat idly right now, so take a rest, a nap, or some vacation to the back parts of my consciousness!"
"If it was only that easy..."
"That settles it! I'm going traveling!"
"Where are you going to travel to, pra tell?"
"To the farthest corner of this schmuck's head, haha!"
"You're impossible!"
"Sure am! Want to come along? It's going to be a wild time!"
"I'll pass. Someone has to keep on what we're supposed to be doing..."
"Suit yourself! Whoop-Whoop-Whoop!~"
"Did...I hear the sound of a locomotive in my head?" Void inquired with a bewildered turn of his head.
"Its best not to ask where he gets his toys..."
"Once again, fair enough," Void muttered lowly, returning his gaze back towards the mountainside. He saw just in time a white plume of fire rise from the mountain that it collided with, causing him to whistle once again, "I always wondered where Sky gets all that power..."
"You should know by now, Void," Trench mulled on, as he explained, "Sky was born with the ability to harness the power of the planet's core. Through her pores, she disperses that energy in certain volatile, graceful, if not versatile means. One of which that is common is her ability to harness the weather in a stunning manner."
"Hence the sudden lights-out this side of the planet had," Void concluded.
"Precisely. Her control over her immense energy is so great, that she hardly has to use a large sum of it, due to the various martial art styles she's perfected. Redirecting the flow an enemy's attack, be it kinetic or Ki. Letting her body absorb and disperse an attack directly. Her skill is equally unparalleled to the power she keeps compressed within her being," Trench iterated aloud, a dark smile stretching across his tanned face, "next to myself, her power is possibly the greatest among the Inner Circle. Vegeta doesn't stand a chance."
"Unless the sky falls. Aha! Get it? The Sky falls?!" Void quipped, waving arms downwards with emphasis.
Sighing, Trench rubbed the bridge of his nose as he heard the deafening, blood curdling scream shake the mountainside, with a pyre of golden energy rise into the sky, "What am I going to do with you Void?"
"I hope you don't kill me or kiss me. Not a fan of either of those," Void recoiled at the thought.
"Just shut up, Void!" Trench groaned, as he looked on to see what the Saiyan Prince's next move was. He was very certain whatever it was, this moment will be his last.
Unknown, 100 Miles Away from West City Mountains
The air bristled with an intense wind, siphoning in a twisting manner. Far away from the golden light that shined within the scarred mountains, another significant arrival began to make its way in the midst of the darkened valley. As if it was fading into view, a transparent ghosting affect, the bubble-shaped transport whisked itself into view, unseen by any nearby viewers.
As the top opened, a loud whine was heard, with steaming exhaust flowing out of the machine itself. A dark silhouetted figure of tall stature took a step atop its opening, before landing with a dramatic thud to the ground, metallic clinking and flapping of linen heard. The figure rose to full height, obscured within the darkness, even with the various flashes of azure lit lightning crackling above its head.
Long minutes of silence encroached, as the ominously silent figure soaked in the intense atmosphere and the darkened landscape. Was it nostalgia or menace that held its attention? No passing observer could be sure, for the stoicness was unshakeable, even among the terrifying act of nature that roared magnificently around its proximity.
Then, an orb of azure-white energy emanated from its palm. With a sudden decisive spin on its heels, the figure turned the blast directly into transport from whence it came from, causing a magnificent blast to occur. Debris clattered everywhere, cracking and shattering into many pieces, with a faint orange-golden flickering flame glinting in the smoldering ruin of what once was a proud, one-of-a-kind vessel.
Before the figure would turn away, a glinting piece of metal caught its gaze. A single piece of scrap that had a single word etched upon its surface. The word held more weight and meaning to it than it would possibly to anyone else. Kneeling before the single fleck of debris, its hand reached out and grasped a hold of it, gazing upon its heated metallic surface.
As a thunderous explosion heralded the figure's attention, the fragment was quickly slipped into a pocket. The golden pyre of destructive force quaked the land for dozens of miles, sending fissures of cracks upon the Earth's soil, collapsing anything of remotely high stature down into the dirt below. The figure glared wordlessly at the blast, only hesitating for an instant before dissipating through a burst of hyper-speed.
West City Mountains (What's left of them...)
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Vegeta finished shouting at the top of his lungs, the pillar of golden energy skewering into the dark fabric of the heavens, spreading bioelectric fissures across its mighty expanse. What was once a mountainside was now a field of craters, bristling flames, and jagged rock stumps of what used to remain of the large mountain peaks.
His ascension into Super Saiyan 2 was finished, and the Saiyan Prince was thankful. The toll of the battle with this woman, Sky, had been very apparent. Blood trickled from his mouth, nostrils, and around a few gashes near his browlines. His shirt was a ragged piece of what it used to be, a single shoulder-strap to his muscle shirt holding the ripped and scorched fabric. His slacks were ripped and oozing blood of its own, with only the boots and gloves remotely unmarred from the battle's ordeal.
That didn't do anything to lessen the extent of his impressive form, though. Azure-white tendrils of bioelectricity discharged from his pores, flailing around menacingly. A brighter aura of golden light thrummed vibrantly with compressed control, with his hair appearing to be sharper and extended an inch or so up more than usual. His emerald eyes glared up with a dark composure, as he brought all of his attention at the icy pair of star-hued eyes that looked straight back down at him from the high altitude she rested.
"The Final Flash is still imperfect. I can't use a technique of such enormous power and expect her to take it head-on, like Cell," Vegeta began to strategize, inwardly taking into consideration what options he had left, "any variation of the Galick Gun will be deflected or returned fire easily. My Big Bang Attack didn't work either, and I doubt a second discharge even in this state will do any good. Physical attacks may do better now, but her adaptability is too unknown for me to risk any further beatings. That leaves only one technique left: Saiyan Thunder."
A dark smile crossed his face. Looking up, he knew it was fortuitous that this strange human created such a widespread storm. Having not seen a single instance in which she employed it for herself, he knew that it was simply an unnatural phenomenon that she created, not certainly harnessed for herself. With the energy he projected up into the thunderclouds, it would only be a matter of seconds before it was primed for discharge.
With a golden plume of rocketing golden light, Vegeta trailed up high into the air, hovering dozens of meters away from his enemy. He knew that was all the distance he required for this to connect.
"Are you ready? To witness a power unseen by all except my own victim, Bojack?!" Vegeta crowed out with feverish delight, anticipating on wiping that look of stony dispassion into one of true horror.
"You think you are on the precipice of victory? Fool," Sky retorted coldly, raising a hand to point at Vegeta, "this is the pinnacle of your humiliation and defeat you stand upon. Your own delusionary state has blinded you from this."
"SHUT UP, WOMAN!" Vegeta shouted back angrily. Raising his palm up into the air, he began to draw upon the energy that welled within the darkened atmosphere, flashing and crackling with intensity.
Nothing happened.
Vegeta waited a few seconds longer, trying to call upon the energy he let loose upon his ascension. As seconds passed by, he realized something was terribly wrong. His assured, confidence receded into a state of confusion, looking up at the enormous clouds flashing his energy to and fro above his head.
"You should've known better than to trust the heavens not to smite you," Sky answered hauntingly, her hands raising in a slow, methodical manner "you've only hastened your downfall by relying on this last dance of yours. Those steps don't bring my downfall, but only your own."
"No!" Vegeta whispered aloud, his eyes suddenly seeing only a bright golden glow shine down from the dark clouds above his head. It was as if the fabric of the clouds swirled open in a circular pattern, revealing a golden orb with an expanse that seemed to be thousands of meters. Swirling like an enormous sphere of pure energy, crackling with golden and azure tinted tendrils all around its surface, the light was enough to eclipse any darkness that had been wrought upon the battlefield.
Anything that possessed a visage of divine retribution, then it was the maelstrom of energy that was about to be wrought atop Vegeta's head.
"Gimoui!" Sky shouted aloud synonymously with both hands clapping together, pointing in Vegeta's direction.
It all happened in an instant.
The sphere seem to contort and expand its mass downwards, dwarfing Vegeta's person, as it swallowed the airspace and landscape equally within a single plummeting strike. The skyscraper massed lightning blast of golden-white energy impaled the earth, destroying any remains of a beautiful mountainside, and burrowed deep into the soil, creating a damning chasm of abysmal depths. Billowing shockwaves cascaded across the rest of the earth, flowing omnidirectionally at all angles, proving and announcing the might it had wrought upon the planet's surface.
Sky stared impassively, unforgiving of what she had done. Her fantasies of the sole prince of the Saiyan race were shattered in a chance meeting, one she took full opportunity with. Seeing how barbarically callous and heartless he was up close, all guise of kindness and compassion towards him were washed away. The storm that manifested was the projection of her anger, and she knew it wouldn't quiet completely. Not until she saw him not living among this world any longer.
That's why, when she saw Vegeta's form hovering in the same altitude, her gaze only hardened further.
Luck
That was the one thing that Vegeta surmised and Sky concluded about his survival. With his arms outstretched to either side, a flickering cyan light emanated around the meter wide space of his body. As a last ditch effort to keep himself from being annihilated by that blast, he psychically weaved his energy into a protective bubble around his body, causing the majority of the energy to flow around him and down into the earth.
But it didn't leave him completely unscathed. Steam rose up from his arms, as blood dripped down his extended biceps and triceps. Burns caked his palms and feet, having been the closest to the rapidly deteriorating barrier. Even his old wounds hastened in opening further, making him truly appear a battered mess.
He was also no longer ascended. Gone was his legendary Super Saiyan power, replaced with the raven locks and onyx eyes, with a regular muscle mass for his short stature. No impressive wells of incredible strength to call upon. No more trump cards he could whip out. Vegeta felt and looked, completely and utterly beaten.
"Not since Cell...and that Cyborg woman...have I felt so utterly defeated," Vegeta thought dejectedly, feeling his arms fall limply to his sides, his body barely keeping the high altitude his enemy possessed.
"The beetle has finally yielded before the might of the majestic heavens?" Sky asked rhetorically, her eyes staring coldly at him and a look of contentment was far from his visage.
"Shut...up!" Vegeta hissed out, feeling what little energy he had left crackle uselessly around him, in emphasis of his undying fury.
"Stubborn to the end," She sighed, almost with disappointment. Had Vegeta not loathed her so much, he might've noticed a sadness behind her starlight colored irises.
Raising her right hand, energy began to ebb and crackle around her pores, readying a final attack, "Farewell, Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans."
Vegeta could tell the energy wasn't unfathomable. She understood how much was needed to land a killing blow, and no more after that. He didn't know whether to be infuriated by her level of precision and skill or be impressed. Either way, he knew this was going to be the end.
"Sorry, Bulma. I guess I won't be able to apologize to you after all," He silently confessed, closing his eyes briefly, before opening them to see his death unfold.
It was during the instant the blinding silver light flew towards him that Vegeta felt a hard smack in his left jaw, that reality once again brought his attention. The force of which caused him to spiral over the massive three kilometer chasm, pinwheeling him onto the dirt with a painful thud, away from what was to be his final moments in life.
"Rgh, who dares?!" Vegeta snarls out at his oppressor, clearly understanding that it wasn't Sky's hand that struck him. He stopped himself when he saw what happened, far away in the high altitude of the darkened airspace.
A dark silhouetted figure, after immediately striking Vegeta, snap kicked the beam of light directly up into the dark sky. Even as it disappeared, the instance was too fast for any onlooker to get a good look at him.
Sky herself was at a lost for words. She didn't even feel this newcomer coming. Everything that her storm overlapped was within her supposed field of sensory, what she could detect down to the smallest of creatures. Not only had this entity concealed its presence, but also had enough control over its energy to deflect one of her techniques so nonchalantly.
"Mind I ask you what you're doing here?" A graveled voice asked from the expansive distance.
Sky bore her glare vehemently at Vegeta's rescuer, causing transparent sizzling snaps of energy to emanate across her white attire, "Dealing with a man whom insulted the Heavens. On right do you interfere with divine justice?!"
"Personal reasons," It answered, stoically unyielding before her.
"Personal? Then we have that much in common. It's personal for me to end the life of that charlatan!" Sky waved her hand to the side defiantly, her voice holding authority.
A belated, tired sigh was heard from the figure. A hand grasped a leather-wrapped protrusion from its back, pulling upwards. Within a flash of lightning, the metal glinted and revealed it to be a claymore of extraordinary length. The blade was easily two feet in diameter, double-edged in nature, with a foot and a half long leather wrapped hilt, a standard cross guard, and a rounded pommel.
When the light receded, the sword lowered to be at a thirty five degree angle from its person, gleaming with growing vibrancy as light trailed from the hilt all the way to the edge. A trench coat was revealed to be wrapped around the figure, blue in hue, with a pair of black muscle shirt wrapped over a largely developed torso and a pair of matte black cargo pants, topped off with a pair of black military-grade, thigh-high boots. Stark white hair flourished with wild abandon in sync with the curtailing recesses of its coat.
Sky's curiosity of who this figure grew as much as her impatience that it stood in her way. Waving an arm out, she shouted in a commanding tone, "Get out of the way!"
"I don't think you understand the situation," the figure responded in an irritated tone.
In a single rising swipe of its sword, all was made clear.
A blazing white light, centered within an azure crescent blast of magnificent energy, past by mere inches to Sky's left arm, causing her eyes to widen with sudden shock.
The blaze of rising energy seemed to expand upon remote trigger, crossing over the entire storm-ridden horizon far beyond what the eye could see. Flowing past the fabric of the clouds, a thunderous clap of force was heard with a deafening boom. In that instant, the skyline became sunny and clear once more, berefting the downcast of gloom and doom that once held Ryuchi's denizens and more hostage.
With sword upraised, the figure itself became fully revealed. A capsule corp insignia resided upon the left upper sleeve of the trenchcoat, revealing a familiar youthful, yet aged visage. With clear blue eyes staring stoically back at Sky's dazed star-hued irises, the once lavender locked man now donned a 4 o'clock shadow of facial growth. Hair long enough to reach his thighs, cascaded majestically in the wind in sync with the coat's lowest edges, around his legs.
Future Trunks lowered his blade defiantly at the dazed Sky, as he graveled on with finality, "This battle, is over."
A/N: Wow, what a Chapter!
Future Trunks is back and is definitely the highlight of this chapter. I hope you were all pleased with the outcome of this update, and enjoyed seeing the long-lost faces that we haven't seen for a good long while. The Androids especially, along with Tien and Chiaotzu, haven't been the centrific focus for this story for awhile, so its going to be good to have them back in the swing of things :)
I threw a few Easter Eggs in there. If you can guess what they are, I'll give you some cookies XD
Also, this may not be my birthday, but here's some cake for ya anyways ;P -gives you cake-
Juicy Info #1: Gimoui translates to, "Justice's Fury."
Juicy Info #2: The Chapter's title page is dedicated to the TFS running gag, and the song, "Rock you like a Hurricane."
Juicy Info #3: Another Chapter is geared up to be released this week Saturday. So double update for Vegeta Chronicles ;)