Gohan was mystified by the wondrous sights of technology that was displayed before him. Mr. Kneel led him on a complete tour of the facility, each part almost like its own compact world away from the reality he knew of. The man that he felt cautious about held nothing back and was quite proud to display everything to this seemingly novice recruit of this elusive Inner Circle. While he didn't get to know much about the organization, he at least knew of what their R&D department was capable of.
In one of the planet he got to see dozens of personnel working machinery, crafting all sorts of plating, parts and tools. Some of it being outfitted into large crates, boxes and packaging of the like most likely to be shipped across the world. Others were being received to be inspected for maintenance or callbacks from defects. One such item was the same brand of armor that she knew Bulma was working on back at Capsule Corp, briefly taking him aback before he recovered enough so that the man touring him wouldn't notice.
Another part was showcasing testing of the items, using special contained rooms some as small a dining hall to as large as a football field. Explosives, energy weapons, prosthetics, armor and robotics were all being tested on a variety of dummies, targets or effigies of monsters that were crafted. Some were recognizably of himself or some of the Androids he recognized that were of Gero's own making. All while he was continuously led around until he finally found the most interesting aspect of the factory.
Using his security pass, a hand print and a ocular scanner Mr. Kneel led him into an eerie lit series of rooms. From the sight of some containers he could tell quite a few machines were doing automated surgery, outfitting what he could feel were humans. Their signatures were going from faint to non-existent as their bodies were gruesomely reconstructed from his view. He did his best to hold a straight face, his eyes widened noticeably as Stephen himself even raised a hand to cover his face.
"Sorry about the smell. We do what we can to make this place sanitary but you can only do so much when bio-mechanical surgery is being done. It's like walking into a morgue half the time," He spoke to him as he coughed, waving his hand exasperatedly at the stench of formaldehyde mixed with some dull tissue and metallic blood sifting in the air.
"Is it common to see this much work being done?" Gohan eloquently put the obvious query of how often it is to see human beings butchered and reintegrated as what knew could only be one thing: cyborgs.
"In the past, no, but as of late we hit a big breakthrough," Mr. Kneel admitted, turning to look at him with a serious expression as he kept leading the boy forward. "In the past we had hundreds of our top agents compensate all they can with lesser fine-tuned tech that you saw before and no doubt are used to seeing to this day. In missions that will never be heard of in the world, we lose quite a few to the dangers of their missions that we continue to keep the Earth safe. We never could, on the whole, compare to those off worlders that made themselves known within the last couple of decades. However our breakthrough in bio-mechanics and our Proto-Tech will soon make Earth a self reliant world, even a powerhouse in the galactic community."
"You mean against beings like those aliens who showed up? The Saiyans?" The young Half breed put it as dumbly as he could, doing his best fatherly impression with saucer wide eyes and an open mouth.
"Yes, that's what they're called," Stephen nodded, taking a particular left down a more secure hall. Security cams along with noticeably large mounted weapons tracked onto the pair. When the taller man looked up and stopped he motioned for Gohan to do the same. As it scanned the prior it lit up green across its camera eye. Doing so on Gohan made it start to blink red only for the man to raise a hand and speak aloud. "He's with me, if you please."
After a few seconds of tense deliberation unheard and unseen the light flashed green on the turrets and camera. Approaching the door he opened it and waved for the young man to follow. It was only after entering that he realized just how the wrongness seemed to escalate.
At the far end of the dark room was a messy, blonde haired woman with a white lab coat flanked to her right by a cyan haired girl no older than he was. But it wasn't their company that disturbed them but what they were staring at. His blood ran cold and old memories cropped up at the sight of a muscular man with long spiky hair. The one thing that sold it was a long brown furred tail that floated with him in the rosy colored liquid that suspended him, complete a breathing apparatus placed over his mouth barring nothing else to cover his bare skinned body.
The sound of the door sealing behind him caused him to turn and make him swallow his suddenly dry throat.
"I don't know what compelled you to bring him in here," The Blonde, Doctor Halo, fixing her glasses as she turned to regard Gohan whom was just nary a few meters behind the now stationary Mr. Kneel. "Do you realize how much you're jeopardizing our operations by allowing one of them into one of our top production and testing facilities?"
"He is cute though," Mellow Dee, the preteen girl, commented with a bright smile as she waved at him. "Hi-Hi! My name's Mellow Dee, but you can call me Mell. Nice to meet you, Son Gohan!"
It was almost too much for the son of Goku to absorb. These people, a secret organization that had claimed to be working for longer than he realized had the body of his Uncle, a known sociopath killer looking completely healthy and docile in this facility. The casual nature of how Stephen Kneel brought him in made him suspicious but it was all but confirmed that his lack of feeling Ki wasn't coincidence since he entered.
They intended to deal with him here where no one could help him.
"Who are you people?!" Gohan asked angrily, his aura immediately picking up to unveil a transparent mantle of Ki. The room buckled and energy crackled across the systems around him. Still, despite the display, only Mr. Kneel seemed to be nervous if only because of the deadly serious stare the Doctor was giving him.
"Look! Hear me out!" Stephen turned to place himself in between Dr. Halo and the girl as well as Gohan. Looking between them both with raised hands he smiled nervously as he tried to smooth things over. "I already informed the boss about it. He says since he's young that we should give him a chance to make a choice. Depending on his answer we may be able to get something out of it instead of expending more cost."
"Conversion is 98% impossible, Mr. Kneel. I did the specs and we did simulations what would happen. You should know better than to ask our leader to see if could work, which it won't," She replied coldly, her mesmerizing green eyes glowing among the pink lighting that the tank holding Raditz's body. "He's just as much of a risk as Vegeta is. Given what Sky tried to accomplish utterly backfired, it's no surprise her lack of tact. But even your silver tongue can't work on someone so alien."
"If that's how you feel about me," Gohan interjected, causing the the man to look at him as well as earn the ire of Dr. Halo as he spoke boldly. "Then why do you have a Saiyan's body inside that tank? What do you gain from it?! How long have you had it?!"
"So many questions that I don't feel like explaining to you," Dr. Halo waved dismissively, using her other hand to stroke through her shoulder length hair. "Dammit, Kneel! I can't even use it till we get confirmation it's at optimum capacity! Putting him here is the equivalent of daring a glass cannon to fire at a dragon. It might work but it's probably going to break."
"There's no need for that!" Stephen cried out with both hands now aimed at her, clearly looking afraid. "Daikon is unstable. I just want to give this young man a chance. That's all!"
"I can take him," Mellow Dee volunteered with a grin, her bright turquoise eyes glimmering with mischief as she glanced over at the wary scientist. "Even if I can't, you'd have to rely on the big guy over there. Do you really want to be in the same room as him?"
"No," She replied curtly, sighing with reluctance. Shrugging she gestured to Stephen, her response lighting up his eyes. "You have a minute, two at most."
Without delay, the man turned around to approach the Saiyan hybrid. Before he could take another step Gohan took one back, causing him to halt. His features softened as his smile spread across his visage. Spreading his arms out invitingly, he talked to him calmly.
"There's no reason for us to be enemies, Son Gohan," He intoned, gesturing to himself and then to the boy with thrumming power. "I desire peace and prosperity not just for Ryūichi but all of the world. You are a boy who desires justice and tranquility. Don't you see we're on the verge of doing great things for the Earth?"
"If you really were out for the Earth's best interests, why hide at all?" Gohan asked, his eyes still hard pressed at the man for any hint of deceit given he was the one who led him in a virtual trap. Knuckles cracked at his sides as bio-energy sparked around him and throughout the room, emphasizing his urge to simply snap them for having the body of a man he was terrorized as a child by. "But then again, you're nothing but hypocrites, aren't you? You preach that off-worlders have plagued the Earth with nothing but pure destruction and havoc, but it was a man who created Cell and the Cyborgs. They are products of humanity and you're doing nothing better than simply reap the profits of our enemies in secret."
"That," Stephen countered with a wave behind him at the tank. "Is just one of many projects. We're going to make the world a better place. Under the rule of a complacent god like the child who took over a decrepit fool and his caretaker liar we've had only one strife after another. Demon King Piccolo, Piccolo Junior, the Saiyans, Cell and recently those Intergalactic Raiders who attacked the arena. Every battle against them put us on the brink of destruction with all of you carelessly allowing them to get to that point! Vegeta, the Namekian, your father and even you put us all at risk. The number of times we almost exposed ourselves to clean up your messes outnumbers your resolutions that ended cleanly. But I ask you, now, to turn away from them and join us-"
"NEVER!" The young man retorted with a shout that cracked the metal flooring and warped the ceiling. Stephen was sent flying from his feet from the vocal Kiai, tumbling back till he skid before the Doctor and Mellow Dee. The girl in the overalls smiled with a pleased expression, as if she enjoyed his violent outburst. In the meantime, Dr. Halo just brushed her bangs out of the way while adjusting her glasses once more. "You were never there, facing evil head-on, doing the right thing! Instead you cower, you hide, and you keep saying it's for the greater good! How many people have to die before you stand up and do the right thing?! And don't you dare bad-mouth Mr. Piccolo and Vegeta! They have done bad things but they've tried to do better! Which is more than I can say about-"
"I've heard enough," A voice called out as the door opened behind him. The crisp hard edge was recognizable to him and sent chills down his spine. A familiar coldness entered the air as he turned to see a tall man with straight raven colored hair and a pair of shades covering his eyes. The trench coat covering him was a jet black while a white muscle shirt and dark jeans covered the rest of his body. Behind him was a woman endowed in majestic white that matched her eyes as well as her hair, her own coat wrapped around her voluptuously shaped body. She seemed to glide through the presence of her partner but was ever-so threatening to see. The origin of the voice spoke, and he spread a dark smile across his face. "It's too bad, Gohan. I spared you once on a whim. Now it seems I'll have to take your life due another poor choice of yours. How unfortunate."
"Trench!" Gohan hissed aloud, barely comprehending the speed the larger man moved before his eyes. An explosion of pain and pressure filled the room, tearing it apart while sending him flying through the reinforced wall. By the time he realized what had happened, he was bowling straight into an unused testing chamber adjacent to theirs. Like a deep pit he fell onto a bed of rocks below, crashing through a few cliffs before finally smashing back first into the minerals.
Wincing as he reached up to feel his swollen face, he saw Trench fall after him, feet first towards him. Grasping the side of the ground he twisted out of the way just before the soles could crush his skull. Cautiously he let out a fierce cry as a spiral of flames spread outward until a magnificent display of Super Saiyan light lifted his raven hair and turned it gold just as his eyes transformed into a shimmering blue.
Hearing two pairs of feet drop behind him, Gohan turned to look over his shoulder at the woman in white stoically staring at him with an equally cold glare while the girl with cyan hair and turquoise eyes just looked at him as if he was an interesting toy. Between the three of them he knew that he had his work cut out for himself. Swallowing hard he settled into the stance of his mentor, clawed out hands, as he geared himself up for a battle.
"Prepare yourself, Son Gohan," Sky declared finally, her hands raising up, causing the air to be filled with static and generate what looked like fog amidst the three of them. "This is where you'll be buried after we bleed your body dry."
Chapter 22 - Masters of the Circle
Raikō felt completely out of her league.
To her perspective, it was like colored streaks flashed faster than the infamous code name, Lightning, had been given to her. Each successive impact thudded like large hands clapping against each other. Wind billowed and swirled within each direction they appeared, instantly disappearing as quickly as they reappeared. But she knew that there was one thing that could be made out clearly.
The Namekian was losing.
For every inch that Piccolo tried to get in her superior's defenses, the other man penetrated his guard multiple times. Ryūkage seemed untouchable flowing like a shadow that remained out of reach for the green skinned warrior. Fluid and all-seeing, the onyx shaded energy flared like flames with every strike he made on the weary former Guardian. Blood flecked upon his gloves and splattered across the ground after finishing his most recent bout of beatings he made on his enemy.
"I'm afraid, with how little stamina you have left," Ryūkage began to mock, his tone even and cool as he looked down as the other worlder hunched over with ichor running down his face. "You are of no contest to me. Your maneuvers are so easily read that you might as well telegraph them to me. Is this how the mighty Demon King and the legacy of my successor has left me?"
"You keep talking," Piccolo rebuked with a bloody grin, finding some energy to laugh as he took a clawed stance once more. "And you're going to find yourself wishing you kept your guard up."
With his piece said, the Namekian launched himself with a roar and a flashing arc of blue in his wake. Spiraling around he pulled back a fist as he pulled back from a prepared attack of his enemy. Dodging for the first time he spun back around to deliver a seismic quaking punch straight towards his the sight of one gloved palm grasped an outstretched fist, absorbing the blow entirely, much to his profusely sweating chagrin.
"My guard is always up, as you've seen clearly," Ryūkage dispassionately commented, using his hold on the extraterrestrial's knuckles to keep him fleeing. Swinging the entire green-skinned man around he swung a kick that'd crack against his successor's chest cavity. A clap of suppressed forced flashed over his abdomen, almost as if the Ki coming from his foot was cushioned by a timely exertion on the Namekian's part. "What?!"
"Got you," Piccolo remarked cheekily, grasping the ankle of the foot connected with his torso. A sudden blur of other worldly motion occurred between the two beings, causing Raikō to blink. Just like before when her enemy appeared behind her, both Ryūkage and the emerald skinned fighter vanished instantly.
Unseen, the pair teleported over the top of an inactive volcano over a small tropical island. The lurching motion caught the eye shaded warrior off guard, but not as much as the sudden surge of swelling coming off his adversary's knuckles he still was holding onto. Becoming the size of a giant's in seconds, the disproportionately sized arm elastically launched out like a bullet. Smashing into the charcoal colored surface of the volcano, the mountain cracked and shattered giving way to a wave of magma that flourished in multiple directions. It wouldn't be long before the entire island was overwhelmed by the lava that spouted out from the now squashed volcano, bubbling over the jungle environment and boiling the seaside.
With Ryūkage right at the epicenter of the natural disaster.
Closing his eyes, he silently paid respects to the vanishing enemy he had disposed of. With his eyes opened, he appeared once again near the human agent whom had stayed perfectly still since their exchange took place.
"W-Where is Ryūkage?!" She asked, clenching her still broken nose with apprehension in front of the Namekian's haggard yet powerful frame.
"I smashed him into a volcano about a few hundred kilometers southwest of here," He replied with a smirk, wiping away the blood leaking out of his mouth. Bruises that had enamored his body slowly disappeared courtesy of his healing factor. Still, he could feel the soreness along with exhaustion racking his body. He was about to reach his limit soon, and all because he had to waste time with that Void character.
"You...what?!" She exclaimed, worriedly turning to look in the direction she was told her boss was at now. "How?! No one said you could telepo-RK!"
"Shut up, and take a nap," Piccolo growled, his hand chopping the side of her turned neck. Watching her fall to the ground unconscious he sighed. Turning to look at the rest of the place he noticed it was all a mess, the house of which Son lived in completely trashed; including his grandfather's small one-room hut.
"What a waste," He breathed out, reaching down to scoop Goten under one arm taking care to maneuver back to the exhausted Chi-Chi. He could tell just by looking at her irregularly slumped posture that she was crippled. Grimacing he didn't even bother asking the stupid question, so instead he knelt down towards and placed a hand over her head. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"I DON'T THINK SO!"
The words came as suddenly as the hot white pain that erupted from his torso. Looking down he saw a now blood-soaked glove now devoid of the sleeve that covered it; his blood, that is. Pulling out of him he shakily turned to look over his shoulder to see the man he had presumed to be in the middle of a molten island. Instead his coat was eradicated, replaced by the smoldering undershirt that showed signs of being in contact with the intense heat but didn't suffer as much damage as one could imagine. Even his suit paints and shoes were completely untouched. His glasses, however, were removed and showed pupils not that unlike a reptile's with onyx irises making a very bleak pair of orbs glaring at him.
"Did you think I could be disposed of so easily? You're as foolish as my old master," Ryūkage sneered, grasping Piccolo by the neck and throwing him head over heels. Pulling the child from his grip, he lowered the unconscious body gingerly beside her mother and not so kindly planted the Namekian's head into the ground. Kicking viciously away with a rag doll roll, his whole body became enraptured by the same insidious darkness flame.
He had momentarily blacked out even as his green-skinned form dragged to a halt. Not more than two dozen meters away from the household he had been sent by the kick and he slowly drew himself back to consciousness. Coughing up bile, spit and blood he focused all he could on just getting up, pushing up protesting limbs to slowly get back on his feet. With a forced grimace he snarled at the pain of his body's instant regeneration coming back into play, healing him of the wound dealt to his torso.
What was worse, the sight of seeing Chi-Chi, Goten and the other myriad of fallen bodies surrounding him were just...gone. Even as he stretched out his senses not even Ki could be felt of them. As if they were erased, while the dark flaming Ryūkage stood far off from his location.
"Where are they, you-guh?!" Piccolo coughed out, already beginning to sway awkwardly back and forth, promptly falling to one knee. Rasping for breaths he helplessly searched for their Ki and found no traces of them; not to mention any of the unconscious or potentially deceased Circle soldiers. It was just them, and this fearsome enemy of his. "D-Dammit!"
"It seems you've finally reached your limit," Ryūkage observed from the distance between him and his successor. Sighing aloud, he shook his head with aggravation. "I'm honestly disappointed in my troops for being felled by a widower and a toddler. Raikō could have easily accomplished the mission had she not been so unwilling to go full-force from the start. I should have handled this task myself. Then we wouldn't have this embarrassment of a confrontation, Guardian of Earth."
"That title...belongs...to someone else," He declared with intermittent inhales and exhales, each one feeling painful to breathe as much as the last.
"My mistake. The child you left in charge truly is worthy of Guardian," The Circle Leader sarcastically intoned. "He wasn't even on the grounds of my Palace. For someone who has such few duties that my foolish teacher allows, he clearly doesn't know how to follow such simple rules."
"Says the man...who literally...hides in the shadows," Piccolo bit back, snarling visibly at Inner Circle's shadowy commander. "I say you...got no damn idea how to really protect anything. That's why...Popo threw you off...the Lookout. He saw you as...unworthy and-"
"SILENCE!"
Piccolo felt himself bowled over without even seeing the man move. Coughing up blood he chuckled as he fell to his hands and knees. Grinning up defiantly at the infuriated human, he kept speaking regardless, "Looks like...I touched...a nerve. Care if I...hit a few...more?"
Another instant sensation of immense force crashed into the Namekian, causing his neck to crane up and his mouth to open to let out a gargled roar of pain. Seemingly invisible attacks rattled his body, keeping him in place and torturing him where he stood.
"I left the Palace because of his weak-minded ideals," He snarled, smoke seemed to escape his teeth as his onyx orbs pulsed bleak light. Each step he took forward shattered away the look of someone who was human. Veils of sable hue flew from his shoulders, stretching out to be the sight of flaming wings of the darkest night. Flecks of his hair rose up and assumed the fiery disposition of horns on each flank of his crown, his teeth gaining a feral look to them as he drew closer to Piccolo. Glove and shoe covered feet created faux talons of human proportion, granting him a demi-dragon appearance right before the Namekian's eyes.
"I SOUGHT TO CHANGE THIS WORLD FROM THE SHADOWS INSTEAD OF OBSERVE INANELY FROM ON HIGH! I AM DOING THAT AS WE SPEAK! WE ARE PREPARING FOR A WAR THAT CAN DESTROY THE COSMOS AND EARTH WILL BE ITS BATTLEFIELD! YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF MY PURPOSE, PITIFUL NAMEKIAN!"
Like staring down the stature of a god born of human flesh, Piccolo felt truly over his head. As sweat caked his skin he couldn't help but smile lopsidedly. He had only a feeling but now it was confirmed he couldn't help but feel pitiful as his enemy had called him.
"You are right. I am pitiful," He admitted with a sigh, his hand weakly moving toward a shaking open palm. One finger pressed into the soft flesh, a cacophony of white sparks flourishing from the warped tissue. "I've been holding back for fear of my life. At this point, I'm as good as dead anyways. That being said...let me show you...my full power!"
Then, all at once, Piccolo let out a roar of agony as power geysered from his body.
It was enough to make the transformed Ryūkage open his eyes, having briefly remembered feeling an immense power summoned for a few seconds. Knowing it was the energy responsible for doing away with Void, the column of Ki soared up and collided with his malicious aura. The soil, the rocks, the trees and even the air was enamored by the brilliant cerulean light escaping Piccolo's body. Dark eyes contrasting the rest of his brightly beaming form stared down Ryūkage, his skin seeming to vibrate as purple tendrils of bio-energy crackled all around the mainland to simulate what felt like an earthquake.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Piccolo calmly replied, his voice oddly collected despite the pressure his whole being was feeling. "Let the pain commence."
An instant later and his fist crashed into Ryūkage's face, sending the bewilder featured draconic entity flying backwards. The ground lit asunder on Mount Paozu, its peak decapitated by the figure he sent thrashing backwards. Throttling himself up into the heavens he'd appear right as Ryūkage regained his composure. A violent clash later and the sky exploded, rolling flames of deep night and bright day flowed in opposing directions. Lightning sprayed everywhere, crashing into the ocean and earth.
"KNOW YOUR PLACE, NAMEKIAN!"
Ryūkage had punctuated his sentence with a wing slash, cracking the Namekian for kilometers across the parting clouds. Pulling his throbbing arms up over his soaring head as the shadow dragon flew towards him, he instantly appeared above his enemy to hammer fist into his crown. Watching him spiral into the ocean with enough force to duplicate a nuclear warhead, the sea parted with a seismic clap before the beings submersion.
"Funny thing about that," Piccolo quipped, veins pulsing wildly around his brow and limbs, revealing the true physical stress his body was undergoing; even as wild energy continued to engulf dozens of meters around his body. "I don't think I ever got the memo. Could you tell me where that place is after you pick yourself up?"
Spearing through the water, a bleak arc of motion caught the emerald warrior by his jaw, flipping himself over several times. The cracking pressure wave unleashed had yet to fully escape his proximity when Ryūkage's talon adorned foot smashed straight into his face. Driven into the sea below just as explosively as he, an infuriated Ryūkage spat blood with a snarl that turned into a godly bellow.
"UNDER MY HEEL!"
Racing upward, Ryūkage flew down and met him halfway. The resulting collision created another ignition of Ki, their contrasting auras casting a maelstrom of yin and yang hues. Obscuring the Sun their battle raged and could be visible for far off. Hundreds of kilometers it could be felt and the energy could be even sensed across the planet. Such power was rare and had somehow been created by the most unlikely forces.
The only question was, who would hold out longer?
"I-It's insane!" Yamcha cried out, following behind the others with Launch over his back and Maron under his arms. Is ragged uniform was torn but the wounds he had were now gone. From what he felt as well could see in the distant vista was a clash of white and black storm clouds crackling over the sea. The wind was blistering, even from this distance as they happened at irregular successions.
"It's Piccolo and...someone else," Dende informed them, looking ahead with a serious glint in his young eyes. "It feels old and fierce. The kind of dark Ki that has become worn and tempered by hardship. Whoever this is must be a terrifying opponent for him to be pushing himself to the brink of death."
"Whoa, wait," Launch called out from over Yamcha's head, causing the scar-faced bandit discomfort much to his chagrin and not to her care. "Are you saying he's fighting at a level that's fucking up the planet but is going to die as a result?!"
"His Ki is strained. I don't know what technique he's using but it must be horribly painful for him to use," Earth's Guardian replied with a look over his own shoulder. "He could die, or maybe he'll pass out before then. It's too soon to tell!"
"Just peachy!" The blonde cried out with a grunt.
"Can you not shout into my ear, please?!" The transporter of two griped back. "I was bleeding out minutes ago. Can't you be a little more considerate?!"
"Excuuuuuuse me, princess," Launch drawled out with heavy sarcasm that only embittered her ride. "If you haven't noticed, I kind of got my own battle scar in the process. So, no need for you to whine about your boo-boo."
"Half my body was scorched! Your paper cut can't exactly compare when I did it FOR YOU," He intoned with a louder shout.
"I didn't ask to be part of the team, as you guys seem to be so inclined to throw your lives away! I fought to survive, not to do some heroic deed," She growled back, the two locking fierce glares from over the latter's shoulder.
It wasn't until a slight shudder could be felt by Yamcha that he realized how utterly quiet Maron had been. Looking down at her black locks he could feel the bleak chill coming off her almost persistently. It almost made his arms numb with how long he'd been carrying her and Launch across the landscape to the open sea. Her black hair felt smooth as silk under his mostly exposed chest but still felt like ice against his skin.
"What is it Maron?" Yamcha softly inquired, his query empathized by Launch enough to be quiet herself.
"I feel something...familiar back the way we came," She whispered, turning to look up at him with stunning dark eyes so unlike her ocean blue he had stared into for many days and nights. "It's so refined and controlled it feels almost nothing like me yet...still familiar. Does that make sense?"
"What, you're still upset about killing your best friend?" He asked with a suppressed sardonic laugh, knowing how genuine she was in calling him an acquaintance of hers. Seeing her lower her head and remaining quiet he wondered exactly what she meant. Sighing he looked forward and saw Kame House, somehow kept structurally sound against the shockwaves that came from the distance. "Well, at least we can regroup and see what we're up against."
With Dende in the lead, Yamcha landed only a handful of seconds after the young Namekian had. There, the saw a pair of new arrivals already in talk with the others assembled on the beach. The only one that seemed to be absent aside from Gohan was the Saiyan Prince himself. To the ex-bandit, that seemed a bit more worrying than he'd care to admit.
"Hey guys," Yamcha said weakly, dropping to the ground, relieving Launch off his back while Maron did her best to distance herself from him. Even after he tried reaching for her he saw a look she gave from him that meant he should keep back. Sighing, he turned to see Tien being tended to by the little Guardian, though for the most part he saw that he had the only injuries out of the collective that was gathered.
"Glad to see you're in one piece," The Triclops fighter replied with a smiling nod to him. "Though it seems your clothes have seen better days."
"Tch, I know right?" Yamcha groaned with agreement, looking down at himself with dismay. "I mean, it's one thing to walk away with injuries or scars. But dammit, that guy really put a number on my wardrobe."
"Maybe you'll go back to wearing a gi, Mr. Bandit?" Krillin asked with a laugh, pointing at himself for emphasis. "Or even wear a headband?"
"Good for you buddy, but I happened to liked my old gear," The scar-faced man commented with a pouty expression. It wasn't until a flash of blinking yellow light lit up his body that he looked at his person to see his clothes were restored to perfect condition. They even seemed to gleam a little bit, making him smile widely and turn to see Dende lowering a hand with a slightly annoyed roll of his eyes. "Hey! Thanks Dende!"
"I'm not a tailor, but you wouldn't stop whining about it," He grumbled as he finished administering healing arts to the tall three eyed human. Lowering his hands with satisfaction he let Launch rush up and embrace him in a tight hug. Turning away as they proceeded to do the 'making out' as humans called it, he looked at Roshi with a gaping expression.
"But...you...you had the beans!" The young Guardian pointed accusingly at the older man whom clutched a bag of beans tightly.
"Why, I do have them. Thank you for pointing that out," The Hermit cracked a wide mocking grin. "We can always count on your godly intuition to help us out, Dende."
"Enough with the jokes! You could've healed him yet you kept the beans for yourself? How selfish is that?!" The green pre-teen glowered with frustration. "My magic isn't a commodity!"
"And neither are the beans, given what Korin said," The Triclops commented as he released his girlfriend from their intense kiss. "I told them to sav 'em for when I had worse injuries and Trunks agreed with me."
"Ah! I see. My mistake," The Namekian apologized with a sheepish laugh at the sunglasses wearing Roshi.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Tien asked Launch as she approached him, her makeshift bra having been replaced with a more dignified top -one yellow and black jacket with a crimson sports bra at her request- but was modest for her normal choice of wear. But it didn't cover the scar that peeked down past her exposed navel. "You got hurt..."
"I-It was nothing," She replied meekly as she tried to hide it ineptly with her hand.
"What, you embarrassed about scars? I got two now," He inquired shortly before tearing off the now healed injury to show a horizontal scar right around his midriff. The dark line was far more noticeable than his lighter diagonal one that he had suffered from Tao. "Bitch almost cut my insides out."
"Wow," Launch gaped, her hand now tracing the line with intrepid awe. Looking down at her own she managed a humored smile. "Our scars cross if we were flush together. Neat."
"See? Having injuries that show aren't so bad," The three eyed man commented with a lighthearted chuckle.
"After this is over," The blonde bombshell let out a sultry purr as she traced the scar more sensually with one finger. "Let's see just how well your scar lines up with mine."
"You're as bad as always," The Triclops murmured with a wry grin, holding her by the waist as his forehead leaned to touch hers.
"But you know you love me like that," She teased with a wink.
A loud cough by Trunks issued his return, along with Puar rushing headlong into Yamcha's arms. As they made a little small talk about it was good to see each other, the Saiyan Hybrid took stock of the ones gathered. Seeing no one else making small talk, he began to converse with the group.
"We really should talk about strategy," Trunks declared as he interrupted the awkward banter, taking a step forward with his hair now freshly trimmed back to a shoulder length. Long compared to most the combed lavender haired, blue eyed Half Saiyan had relented on his mother's pestering now that they were in one place. Finishing that, his mother was left inside with her current Trunks by the unconscious Vegeta. Turning to look at Roshi, whom now held a small bag full of beans with Videl standing next to her sensei he did a full sweep of those nearby. "Including those of us still here, the only ones still out there most likely fighting is Gohan and Piccolo."
"Judging by the look of it," Roshi commented at seeing another color coated flash that followed several more in the distance that almost looked like atomic warheads going off. "I'd reckon one of their top dogs is taking on Piccolo. But given the weakening feel of the latter, I don't know how much more of a beating that green man can take."
"Then we should give him some support, including at least a couple beans to those who feel inclined to go fight with him," Trunks nodded with understanding.
"I'll go," Tien volunteered, releasing his girlfriend as he took a step towards his younger friend. "I'm aching to see what kind of threat that even Piccolo as he is can't manage."
"Lemme go too," Seventeen volunteered, raising both hands up with rapt anticipation. "I want to go at someone a bit more challenging than those bim-bots!"
"Ha-Ha," Eighteen drawled out with a roll of her eyes.
"Oh come on, it was a funny joke," The raven haired cyborg bit back at his sister.
"Excuse me while I'll go calm the others down. Their laughter is getting out of control," She joked with her own wry grin.
"Tch, I still wanna go," He commented with a turn. "I'm a big boy, ma."
"Sure you are, dear," The blonde cyborg cooed exaggeratedly.
"Now-Now you two," Krillin got in between the bickering siblings.
"We might as well all go, then," Eighteen suggested with a shrug.
"Eh, whatever," Seventeen shrugged back, looking to Tien whom didn't seem to object.
"Fine, just as long as he gets a Senzu Bean. He'll either collapse or die if we don't get him help soon," Trunks suggested, turning to see Roshi already shuffling some out of his bag. Tossing three of them to Krillin who caught them all with a hopping leap, he ensured he placed it in a secure sleeve within his top. Seeing that they were all prepared a thought occurred to him. "Gohan still hasn't come back yet from out West. I still feel a faint trace where he went. I might as well go make myself useful. Who else wants to come?"
"I'll help," Yamcha raised a hand gallantly stepping forward, with a broad grin. "I didn't bust my ass for the past few years for nothing. I want to show what I can do in the real action."
"Where you go, I go," Maron quietly spoke, almost so low that it seemed out of character in her boyfriend's eyes. But still she encouraged a soft smile as she looked at him, sword in scabbard still gripped tightly. The buxom woman with night hued hair that spanned down her back to her calves simply looked ravishing even with only a simple black top with short sleeves and a short black skirt with white frills. Her feet remained bare but didn't seem any less soft as a result.
"And I can't let you run off without me," Launch pointed her gauntlet covered hand at her, smiling as Maron beamed at the thought of her best friend coming with. Turning to scowl at the cheekily grinning Yamcha, she didn't even try to mount an aggression. Instead she simply flipped him off, even as Bulma walked the whole way to her side. Turning to look at the woman holding the remainder of the armor pieces she looked up at the mother of two counterparts. "You want me to have your project?"
"I think you'll be safer with it," The scientist encouraged, personally strapping the parts together till they conformed to her body shape and curvature. "Besides, given your new scar, I think it's a good idea if you're going to be playing with the big boys. This armor is nigh unbreakable and I've already did the tests. What I'm unsure is just how long its power will hold out before it burns itself out."
"I'll work around it," She chuckled, watching the greaves and plating fit like a snug glove. The interior padding was as soft as sleeping bag fabric and hugged her neatly. Just like the gauntlets they were an orange color with black outlines, stretching up to create a visibly pleasing wrap around her bosom that stretched out almost like the metal was clinging to her impressive breasts. As a result, it felt a smidgen tight but she appreciated protection over indulgence of comfort. "I think it all fits," she mentioned just before a hood was wrapped up from her neck guard. Soon it placed a visor that created a pair of golden angular eye slits with a circular comm piece that allowed her to breathe circulated air; it blinked a golden color as she spoke. "Nice."
"The HUD allows you a complete 360 degree view and responds to your reflexes. This kind of armor is really cutting edge, but I'm sure it's still in prototype phase for a reason," Bulma rambled as she looked in awe at the armor as the face plate pulled back with a thought. Everything about it screamed scientific prowess and she couldn't help but burn with envy she hadn't come up with it on her own. "I should try to see if I can reverse engineer this kind of stuff so I can try duking it out with ya."
"You do that," Launch rolled her eyes at the insinuation that Bulma, the nerd, would fight with them. Turning to look at Yamcha whom just whistled at her impressive visage. Looking at Maron whom blinked with childish glee at her shiny armor she asked with a wave of her hands. "How do I look?"
"Hot?" Yamcha asked with a goofy smile. "Not as much as Maron but...still hot even armored."
"Other than that, scar-face?" She joked with a smirk.
"Imposing," He nodded with a confident crossing of his arms over his chest. "You'll be ten times better now you got the full set."
"Yeah, we'll knock'em dead!" Maron briefly shouted with exuberance before piping down to a more somber tone. Her thoughts immediately went to Edge and her face became long in its sadness. Even as Yamcha patted her shoulder she only flinched away as her continually icy aura continued to be prevalent around her. "We should really go..."
"Right," Yamcha nodded, turning to Trunks for confirmation.
"Of course," The Saiyan Halfbreed nodded, looking to Roshi for his own set of beans. Grasping them once they've been thrown he looked at Videl as she meekly approached the tall Saiyan.
"I-I want to help too," She declared, her icy blue eyes much like Trunks looked just like he had when he asked his timeline's Gohan to do the same thing. So much so that he closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I know you want to but this isn't-" He began to inform her until something felt incredibly off. It wasn't the raging battle that Piccolo was undergoing or the Ki that was sending howling wind blistering in the distant vista. No, it was what seemed to appear out of the corner of his eye, walking towards the island.
Across the water.
"What the Hell?" Seventeen blinked, finding himself seeing what everyone was. A man draped in pure white with a hood covering hair that spilled out of the cowel's covering to overlap his chest. Bare hands presided over his hips along with equally uncovered feet he almost seemed ghostly with how quiet he had seemingly snuck up on them. He was still six meters away from the shore before he had come to a halt.
Then, so did everyone else.
"W-What-?!" Videl croaked out, feeling her entire body lock up as if it was paralyzed in place. Unable to even turn her head she could hear everyone else mutter their own aggravated and shocked comments about how they were locked down. Even Roshi, whom turned to tilt his head in the direction of the now beach borne architect of their enemy's plans, couldn't gesture to stop him.
"D-Damn!" Seventeen swore aloud, heaving heavily as he tried to move in defiance.
"I can't...move," Eighteen breathlessly whispered.
"Neither can I," Krillin murmured, his own stare at the man as he stepped towards them was full of fear and powerlessness.
"Ngh! Not good," Tien snarled with anticipation.
"Who are you?!" Trunks shouted, his own body trembling under the unseen force that held him down. "Are you another agent of the Circle?! Answer me before I lose what semblance of restraint I have left!"
"Empty boasts, son of Vegeta and Bulma," The man in pure white replied with arms crossed over his chest, smiling calmly. "And I'm not an agent. I am the leader of the Inner Circle, Shukun Akikaze."
The weight of the man's words suddenly became greater than the gravity of their world. Based on the strength of their enemies they just fought, it was now almost incomparable with how easily he held them all in place. All of them now leagues stronger than even the evil space tyrant, Freeza and his father Cold, but now helpless by the most indescribable thing.
A human being; or that's what it seemed.
"Now that I have your undivided, collective attention let me make something clear," Shukun began to speak, his smile evaporating and his facial features turned into a solemn unreadable expression. "You are all loose cannons in the natural world. The people may think you're champions of peace and justice, but you're just another unnatural anomaly. We've maintained true stability in the shadows for hundreds of years...then it all changed with your arrival."
"Yeah, we actually saved people," Trunks remarked from the background.
"Oh really?" The snow-haired man inquired with a bemusing smile. Tilting his head to the side he unfurled his arms to rest on his hips, asking again. "Exactly how many people did you folks allowed to die? A few hundred? Thousands? Millions? By my estimate, Cell's rampage had consumed tens of millions of people. Apart from Piccolo and the Saiyans who wiped out entire cities in the blink of an eye, Cell annihilated islands of people, an entire army plus all those he absorbed."
"We brought them back, though," Krillin argued, his forehead beading with sweat as he tried to use what strength he could summon to break free.
"Oh isn't that nice, you abused the magic wish granting orbs to break the laws of death and life. How noble," Shukun rolled his eyes at the latter's word.
"What did you do?! You stayed in the dark and allowed them to suffer!" Videl surprisingly snapped, unable to even look in the man's direction but still angry nonetheless. "My dad may have lied and did it for the wrong reasons, but he gave everyone hope. You just hid, and twiddled your thumbs. Why do you have any right to judge any of us when we actually tried!"
"Our mission requires discretion. There are forces beyond your comprehension that are more powerful than any of these threats that is coming. We've waited all this time for it, and all of these conflicts are nuisances at best. We could have intervened at any time should we have wished but that isn't our role," Shukun explained, his tone strict as he looked at all of them, holding nothing but disdain towards him as much as he loathed their collective actions. "My comrades have fought to keep you put down like the band of thoughtless vigilantes you are. How many thousands of people have sustained trauma because of repeated trips to the afterlife only to be thrown back into the living world? Not everyone has the mental and emotional fortitude that such fighters like us possess, but I'm guessing you never thought that far ahead, did you?"
"What kind of threat causes you to hide your nature from the world?" Tien asked, his own eyes wide at the concept of an even stronger threat looming in the horizon. While not impossible it was hard for him to manage thinking anyone stronger than Cell, as even Bojack seemed to fall short of the maniacal bio-android.
"I will not for risking the entire operation, just because you ask," He declared, his eyes fixated fiercely at all of them. "And I don't recall any of you being my closest of colleagues. No, you are all murderers, former monsters and criminals hiding under the guise of warriors of justice. You will cease and desist otherwise I'll destroy you all here while my partner destroys the former Demon King. As well as rid us of one more Super Saiyan problem."
"G-Gohan," Videl breathlessly exhaled, finding herself instilled with a sense of panic. "Don't hurt him!"
"I tried, my dear," Shukun sympathetically, aiming a sad smile in her direction. "I gave him a chance to concede, to join us. But the boy is as hotheaded and dangerous as the Saiyan Prince inside. No, I think it's better if he and Piccolo meet their end. Along with Vegeta after I've properly subdued you all as painlessly as possible."
"You leave my husband out of this you-glk!" Bulma tried to speak out from behind Trunks until she felt what everyone else did, collapsing onto the ground immediately as a result.
The sudden pressure they felt on them became increasingly tight. All of them felt the air seem to vanish and the constriction press on all sides. Even Chaotzu fell to one knee, his own psychic powers barely able to hold off what the rest were already stumbling to their hands and knees from the power he exerted. The small ageless midget looked up with one eye closed and another strained open to look past his straw hat resting over his crown.
"If only he was distracted for a second, maybe I could break everyone free," He thought as he kept himself as withdrawn telepathically as he could. Using all of his Ki would be required here and he hoped such an interruption could happen before they really are all taken out.
Eighteen and Seventeen couldn't help but be brought down by the psychic prowess of a man who didn't look like he was straining any power to do so. Krillin tried pushing himself up from the sand but he couldn't even muster up any power. Gritting his teeth he heard Roshi, Trunks, Videl, Tien, Launch, Maron, and Yamcha all fall onto their faces. The pain of it was so much that he began to see spots, unconsciousness just on the verge of overtaking him.
"Sleep, Z Warriors," Shukun entertained with sarcasm, his arms crossing his chest once more as he observed his handiwork. "Once you wake up, the Namekian and the last remaining Saiyan threats to Earth will be wiped out. Then, you'll be brought into our folds not out of like-mindedness but necessity. I wish this happened another way but that opportunity is now lost-"
"YOU W'EAV DADDY ALONE!" A loud shout suddenly broke over their heads.
"T-Trunks?" Bulma asked, suddenly hearing the younger of the two counterparts shout and leap from the second story window of the small house. Landing in front of them she gawked from her posture on the deck, seeing him take off faster than any athlete. Her three year old son teared across the beach and suddenly collapsed a mere meter away from Shukun's feet. "TRUNKS!"
"Stay down, child, and listen to your mother," Shukun replied, smiling with humor that someone had escaped his notice. "Unless you'd like to join your father in death?"
It happened all too quickly. The ramification of having withstood the sight of feeling of being struck by a monster by the likes of Bojack years ago and then having that same swelling of emotion rise up in his young chest. A foreign hatred burned his blood, his trained senses polished by his father's earnest training on his young frame bringing out more power than he could imagine. Somehow, this sudden sensation overwhelmed him and erupted out of him as he let out a feral cry...
...and a golden light exploded out of his form, hair not lavender but erect with blonde coloration with blue-emerald eyes glaring as he leaped straight for a surprised Shukun.
But that surprise, shared by the collective of what happened, wouldn't yield a positive result.
"I said stay down, boy!" Shukun shouted with a hand backhanding the child directly across the face. The crack could be heard as his form grew limp and his aura immediately snuffed out. He twirled into the air and Bulma could only let her mouth open in terror at the speeding form aimed to smack into the house was her baby boy.
Then, he stopped in midair, caught by an unseen force.
"I'm free," Chaotzu inwardly declared, his eyes glowing a bright emerald as a pulse of psychic energy flowed from his body.
"You-NGH!?" The Circle Leader tried to clarify the one whom had been reading the mind of an unconscious Flare; whom of which was tied up in the cellar of the island house. Instead he felt a sudden psychic bolt hit him straight in the chest, sending him flying back from the house with incredible momentum. Skidding across the water it took him a moment to stabilize his footing till he looked up and aimed his scowl where the white-faced midget was. "He's a strong psychic to send me flying! I guess I'll have to destroy him first-"
It was instantaneous the moment Chaotzu palmed the island and released a telekinetic wave of energy around those whom were brought to their faces. They would feel rejuvenated, empowered even. The Ki that was being brought out through a mental impulse that the small child-like fighter imbued them with. The new skill he learned along with improving his psychic prowess so he could help support.
Because of this, Trunks leaped into action first, sword drawn and already swinging from a crouched posture of the beachfront. A fissure of light was swung, roaring forward to the man in white with a swelling momentum that gained traction and size the closer it got to him. It felt even more magnified thanks to the efforts of Tien's lifetime partner.
The power of their enemy, however, seemed to stem past simply his prowess as a telepath.
"A nice sword arm," Shukun commented as his wrists crossed over each other, hands pointing in either direction. Pulling back his arms the moment the light entered his proximity, the Ki seemed to split in half, crashing through the seaside for a good kilometer's wake of billowing cleaved ocean. Smiling he lowered his hands to dust them in front of a flabbergasted Trunks. "But really, it's just a beam of Ki, no different than any other. It is a malleable force just like the rest of your prided techniques."
"Oh yeah! How about you try this!" Seventeen bellowed out, unlocking the power limiter inside as he rushed with incredible speed to reach Shukun's left flank. Kicking up the air upon his arrival, the water flecks had yet to fall back down as his fist blurred forward till its knuckles hit what looked like a dissolving gust of wind. Then his neck was struck by a downward chop by the man, sending him into the exploding water below.
"Oh look, a Cyborg that used a power-up. However will I defend myself by such a predictable use of brute force?" Shukun queried with a smirk. With the same hand, he swiveled it around to block a punch sent by Eighteen whom used the same attack. Turning to look over at her stunned face, he finished with a tooth spread grin. "Oh wait. I know."
Flipping her over his head he landed an elbow strike into her sternum, sending her flying back with blood flecking out of her mouth, "Like that."
"Eighteen!" Krillin cried out as he powered up and flew to catch her in midair, buffeting the impact she may have had hitting the island.
"Alright, which one of you poor sods are next?" Shukun asked with an amused expression.
"GET BURNED!" Launch angrily shouted, her gauntlets unleashing a fiery blast that sent a fissure of searing energy that curved the sea and cooked the air it ran by. To her dismay, Shukun seemed to disappear on her HUD and only reappeared when her face plate was palmed by him, bringing her whole body to crash by her upper body. "GRK!"
"I believe that you have something that belongs to me," He declared with a low tone, anger seeping into his words as the face plate began to crack under his unforgiving grip. "Allow me to rip it off your corpse!"
"NO YOU-"
"-DON'T!" Yamcha and Maron cried out one after another, the prior of which drew his sword along with the latter to cut him on different angles. The latter from above down the middle and the prior coming directly in front to bisect his middle. When both found their blades grasped between the forefingers and thumbs of either of Shukun's raised hands, their momentum was completely halted.
"Cute," Shukun smirked, bringing Maron down to crash atop Yamcha with a simple gesture, planting a kick that sent them sprawling in a tumble straight through one of the walls of the house. Noticing Tien's Kikoho with a turn of his head, he raised a hand and palmed the searing wave of light, bringing the wave to a complete halt.
"My Tri-Beam-" Tien gasped before feeling his chest struck by an instant punch before his neck was thoroughly wrapped by a cold grip of Shukun.
"I said all your techniques are the same, thus I can bend, break or dispel them completely. I thought you were paying attention but I guess that's what happens when you don't pay attention," Shukun commented with a squeeze around his neck, choking the life out of him. A transformed Trunks let out a loud bellow as he came in with a pulled back sword, aiming to cut him down. Swinging his own foot he deflected the enormous sword with a loud clack as if it was a blunt bat, making the Saiyan Halfbreed stumble back. "Please. You of all people are the least threatening compared to the likes of Gohan and Vegeta. Without those two or the Namekian's tactical mind, none of you pose the slightest-"
Mid-speech, Shukun found an unfamiliar feeling of pain spike across his side. A pair of twisting knuckles crashing through his cloak and modest white top bending his whole frame. The sensation made him spit out with a gaping look of shock, forcing him to bowl over before promptly firing off like a bullet. Soaring off in a sonic impression, Shukun would end up crashing half a kilometer away in the ocean's surface beyond their sight.
Videl found herself blinking, feeling as if all the events transpiring happened in super speed. But when she saw Roshi move, it was as if he evaporated and returned back to a state of reality. She had no comprehension, nor did the collapsed Tien or the flabbergasted Trunks whom remained in his constantly thrumming form with far less hair spiked up than hours before. Even the distant thundering cracks of Ryūkage and Piccolo seemed to be quiet compared to the punch that was issued out by the old master of martial arts.
"Listen to me," Master Roshi leveled his voice seriously, turning to look at the recovering fighters. Even the Cyborgs managed to swim back or lowered down by the headband wearing Krillin. "You must stick to the plan. Go, and help Piccolo or Gohan. They need your help far more than I need it."
"Uh, okay," Trunks nodded dumbly, finding himself taken aback by the sudden mature and imposing tone he had. He had no idea what had happened for the Ki had spiked so quickly he couldn't even sense it. All he knew that whatever training he performed when he was gone was immense and the results spoke for themselves. With a flip of his sword, the automatic switches on his coat latched over the enormous weapon, safely keeping it to his back.
"Taking on that guy is crazy, old man," Seventeen suggested, already feeling as if he got his ass handed to him by an unreal force of nature. "You'll die fighting him."
"Maybe. It takes a lot for an Immortal to die twice after all, haha!" Roshi laughed gallantly.
"B-But Master Roshi," Yamcha began to say something only for the old man to grasp his sunglasses and withdraw them. Seeing his serious beady eyes for the first time in a long while, he looked at everyone solemnly. Almost at once they knew that this was the only chance they had. Nodding, he powered up along with the rest of the collective, with the exception of the two Cyborg twins. "When we're done, you better have won!"
"That's what I aim to do," Mūten Roshi finished with a brave smile, turning to nod even at Videl. "Go. Gohan will need all the support, moral or physical, as he can get. Hurry on!"
"Y-Yes, sensei!" She replied earnestly, her own aura lit up as one with the others.
Taking off, with a simultaneous release of power, Shukun rose from the water to take a stance on its uneven surface like it was brick. Chuckling the white-haired man twisted his hips and rolled his shoulders releasing several audible snaps as various surges of energy flew in different directions. The distant sounds of Piccolo and Ryūkage's bombardment of blows at that point had all but been quelled, sounding as if their fight was drawing to a close already.
"It seems my partner might have to clean up this mess before I get the chance," The Circle Head commented as he zoomed forward, appearing before Roshi with Bulma cradling a limp Trunks from behind whom was kneeling with the Guardian whom chose to be left behind. Staring directly ahead at the aged martial artist's eyes he saw a fire that reminded him of himself. Grinning he waved his arms in opposite directions as he inquired. "What the Hell happened to you in that mystic room? I had reports you were in there for quite some time but this leap of power is ridiculous, especially for you. How much time did you spend in there?"
"Honestly, I lost count after five hundred years but I think I'm in the ball park of forty thousand," The Turtle Hermit shrugged as he admitted with a cheeky grin of his own.
"Well then," Shukun replied with a wide pair of eyes, narrowing soon after with a slim smile. "You have my congratulations for surviving the ordeal. But, given you gained eternal life from the Immortal Phoenix, I'm certain age is the least likely thing to kill you. You must have trained like none other while in there."
"I think I spent most of that time sleeping or too passed out to notice, hehe," Roshi admitted further with a more sheepish expression.
"Really?" The silver haired man asked with a more displeased expression.
"Who knows?" The elder responded cagedly. "All that you need to know is that I got immeasurably stronger than what I was. Thousands of years rolled by but it felt like either an eternity from one perspective and then a blink of the eye the other view point. When I walked out, I felt like a new man, ready to take on anything. Punching you just now made me realize I might have still new things to learn."
"So you felt it?" Shukun queried with a smirk. "I'm guessing you can tell that I'm not an ordinary human being."
"If you had this power for as long as I can guess, why haven't you surfaced? Is your enemy so powerful you fear detection?" The disciple of Mutaito inquired fervently.
"Maybe if you beat me, I'll feel inclined to tell you. Or maybe not," He closed his eyes at saying that. Opening them again they gained a pupiless glaze of white, his whole body encompassed by a ray of holy light. The air grew still and the waves calmed around him, an almost opposite effect than most powers that were exerted. It had a quality that Roshi had never felt in all of his lifetime. So when he shimmered out of view and appeared before the bearded martial artist's body with two fingers pointed at his pectorals he realized just what kind of threat he was up against.
Transforming from poking digits into thrusting fists in a heartbeat, Roshi felt an expulsion of force flow out of his body. Stumbling back he coughed up blood, giving way for a smile of reassurance on his opponent's abilities. That wayward step however gave way into a twisting spin that created a twister of momentum, lighting up with fiery azure light. The instant he had moved, Shukun's smile widened and an arm raised up to block a fissure of light, casting an airwave that dispelled the tornado and light to reveal Roshi's foot.
"That's it!" Shukun cried out, diagonally spiraling up to swing his own foot to crash into Roshi's guard with another thuum. Clash after clash their blows resonated within the sky, shaking the water and throttling his house. A palming thrust colliding into the bald man's face was met with a mutual snap kick to the white-haired man's jaw. As the two parted and landed back in the water the glowing white-eyed mastermind simply grinned ear to ear, disregarding the fleck of blood flowing down his left jaw. "That's it, Mūten Roshi. Show me the power of the God of Martial Arts. Prove to me that you haven't become completely irrelevant in the wake of aliens and cyborg freaks!"
"KA...ME!" Roshi chanted aloud, his upraised hand crackling with bio-energy. Clenching it into a fist he pulled it back, holding his other palm over the glowing knuckles. "HA...ME!"
"I don't remember that stance," The silver-maned leader thought with narrowed eyes, observing the difference in Roshi's signature move. "What is that old codger planning?"
"KEN!" With a shout, all at once, the muscular bare chested man became embroiled in a violently discharging raiment of bio-energy. From his brows to the edges of his beard, energy coursed him like a human tesla coil. The display of power swirled around him, bubbling the ocean and sending waves bristling away with the heavens growing dark in the wake of this magnanimously charged attack. The Ki was so intense that Shukun had to raise an arm to keep himself from the flashes of light coming from his not too distant opponent.
"This Ki is extraordinary!" He exclaimed, his eyes dilated at what he sensed as much as he could see. "To think he of all people could muster such power!"
Just like the electrical currents discharging off of the old man, his feat of speed was just as quick. Phasing into view out of a arc of hot plasma a right arm of near intangible luminescence streaked forward. Cracking upon impact, a rolling wave of force ballooned outwards, flowing out with a vaporizing wall of steam that was a wall of moisture. Tearing a thick chasm within the ocean, it'd be all seconds later before the sea collapsed on the open space carved into it by Roshi's attack.
"To think," Roshi began to speak as his aura had defused, his smile stretching as the vapor cloud flew off his still energy snapping fist. "That there was a human being of your caliber alive this whole time."
The sound of tension of flesh against flesh could be heard. Any pretense of injury performed on the old man's opponent was dismissed as a pair of crossed wrists had braced against the still outstretched fist. Even as steam rolled off the younger looking fighter's shoulders up from his arms he kept an entertained smile. His likewise bright eyes stared back at Roshi's beady orbs with a fascination that could only be reflected by the Saiyans' hunger for battle. Yet the Turtle Hermit knew, it was far deeper than a simple carnal instinct.
It was an age old desire that had finally been fulfilled.
"That was a good hit, Mūten Roshi," Shukun finally spoke lowering his hands as other recoiled his own arm. "If you were a little faster, that could have inflicted a good bit of damage on me. I believe you when you say you've trained for fifty millenia. Only someone with that kind of wisdom and experience could perform such an advanced Ki technique."
"Ha, you flatterer. We haven't even known each other for a day and you're already trying to get me under the covers?" Roshi replied with a joke, smiling wryly as he chuckled with humor.
"I respect you highly, which is why a shame that it has to be this way," Shukun declared with a more stoic, white-eyed glare that encompassed his whole being in a peaceful aura of luminous, senseless power. "Fight me to your heart's content and then die, Mūten Roshi. Just like the rest will follow suit."
Not bothering with a retort, Roshi leaped forward and clashed with the leader of the Inner Circle. The shockwaves that would follow pounded the sea and heavens, with moves to variation of techniques exchanged upon each other. Neither could give each other reprieve and seemed to be deadlocked in an evenly matched fit of skirmishing blows. Light flashed indiscriminately from the distant attacks that carried away from the shaking Kame House.
Within, resting on the second story on a moved cot beyond the worried glance of Panchy, Oolong and Puar; above the woman cradling the still form of Trunks with a terrified Dende nearby, there was movement. A bare hand twitched at the bedside, with a steady breathing turned into a gasp. When the fingers clenched into a fist, onyx eyes flashed open wide.
The Prince has awakened!
A/N: Whoooooo! Didn't think I'd spring up another VC Chapter so soon didja? I was in such a DBZ Mood (especially after that Super Episode with Cabba vs Vegeta...I mean, I was wondering when the Champa Arc was going to show me something special but DAMN was that great or what?!) I decided to write a continuation. More plot is unveiled, more cliffhangers and of course because I'm such a jerk, the biggest tease of all time. Vegeta WAKES UP!
Now we get introduced to some things.
For starters, like Piccolo's ability he hinted at in the prior Chapter. This is named Kyokkō which means, "Rays of the Rising Sun," which pretty much expresses the ability of his power bleeding out of his body like a star is inside of him. Charging his Ki and storing it away in separate reservoirs of energy he can access at any given time they give him an EXPLOSIVE boost of energy which also strains his body. Think of it as his own way of achieving a form similar to Kaioken but not simply using his own power and multiplying it, but using separate "charges" of Ki to increase his power.
And if you haven't figured it out, he also leaned back on Kami's memories of Instantaneous Movement that he was capable of as a lower realm god. So now he can move instantly with a bit of concentration.
Ryūkage means, "Shadow Dragon," so I'm sure you guys can come up with your own conclusions as to what happened to Chi-Chi, Goten, Raikō and the others.
Writing Shukun in action was a lot of fun on my part; especially with Roshi making the unexpected save. What do you guys think? Let me know in the Reviews below.
Speaking of which, TIME TO RESPOND!
Jack905: You're not entirely wrong. Everyone else is racing off to help before Vegeta wakes up which he DOES do in this Chapter so...points for you? XD
ShadowLDrago: At this point, it's tough to stop making them now that I've already enacted so much referential humor in this series. But hey, at least fans like you appreciate it so it means I'm doing something right, right?
I think I read a comic where that style of Deadpool was portrayed but you were pretty on the mark there with the video game parallel. I DID try to make him unique enough where he isn't just like Deadpool but his own character. I actually think of his "Imaginary Power," as one may think of it as closer to a utilization of what Gremmy did in Bleach but with terrible execution, just in a more...gag power style because, again, this is Dragon Ball! It must happen!
I actually did like Teen Chi-Chi from the end of Dragon Ball onward to the last Filler Arc she was in with Goku. While she doesn't DO much in terms of participation (she practically lets Goku fight all of the battles) she is with him and actually acting like an endearing romantic partner. It's just...such a shame how TOEI created such a nice picture for their relationship only for it to spiral into such a MESSY family focus. I brought it back because I do think if she was given the time of day she can shine brilliantly.
It also gave Goten motivation to transform a'la-Goku's help included which is just the beginning of the little girl's journey into marvelous strength for her age. I made it temporary for the very reason of her age. I doubt she's trained that much if anything. She's a toddler after all, haha!
Ryūkage means Shadow Dragon, doe if you're reading this then you've probably found out firsthand already =w=
See you in the next Review of this Chapter!
Reichenfaust: Hope I didn't disappoint! A lot of things are happening in this Chapter and Ryūkage vs Piccolo is just one of the fights transpiring. Let me know what you think or what you're excited for in the next Review for this Chapter ^^
To be fair, I might make it that the Phoenix was reborn and was utilized in a much more innovative way than simply handing out Eternal Youth to people. Just so I don't give you the wrong impression based on the codenames of characters. Void is special but probably not in the way you think, haha!
See you in the next Chapter! ;)
Mdhunter: LOL Why don't you create a profile for you to post Reviews on? That way you wouldn't have to introduce yourself every time? XD
IN any case, nice to see you and thanks for the praise :)
The Anguished One: Yeah, she was a credible fighter at one point. Who woulda thunk? ;P And agreed, she can be a strong woman while being a parent -w- It's not like there's much else to do in the mountains XD
Given the lack of negative feedback, I'm sure I made a good call with Goten (and Trunks in this Chapter ;P) as she had plenty of emotional need from the trauma impacting her. This does open the doorway for future credible use and a transformation that MAKES SENSE compared to the lazy excuses given to us in Canon by the author. I dunno, I just like the status quos of Super Saiyan transformations having valid catalysts that are emotionally fueled.
And yes, while I liked having a "Deadpool-ish" character I do like to think he's a bit more original than that. Not to mention GAG POWA! XD Yeah, other than that, he's got some more cool abilities he may end up showing off...well...if he comes back from spaaaaaaace! -w-
Hope to see you in the next Review ;)
MalikJamalTimberlake: If he comes back, he may end up being a bit more friendlier, who knows? -w- Also, yeah, I haven't forgotten the zenkais are still applicable. Not just for the now waking up Vegeta, but for Gohan who suffered extreme injury from Tao years ago ;) And regarding for Trunks...eh, I might let him grow his hair back out, I just thought it was so cumbersome to have and it was so easily cut off by Gaze/Ginyu XD
See ya later! ^^
And that's it for me, hope to see you guys soon on the next Chapter of The Vegeta Chronicles!