Piccolo was feeling the pressure.
Dodging and swerving around the tangible shadows rising up from the earth he had a tough time evading the sneering embodiment of darkness. In the form of a dragon, he ironically set himself as a twisted opposite for what he represented now. Instead of a Guardian, he was now a menace that lurked in the abyss, waiting to strike at any given moment. Having already taken Chi-Chi and Goten, he knew the only hope of getting them back was to beat him.
A possibility that seemed to be slowly dimming by each second that passed.
"WHAT IS WRONG?! CAN'T KEEP UP?!"
Ryūkage's hallowed shout echoed the space and vibrated his body as much as it ached his sensitive ears. The gleaming pair of red eyes that easily covered the span of his own body kept locked on him. Maintaining his Mao-ken was all he could do, the strain ever present on his body while the abominable force kept attacking. With everyone down, he knew there was only one technique he had yet to use; one that he never used on an enemy...till now.
Just as a claw swiped towards him, his body disappeared in an instant. The blinking teleport signaled him appearing from behind, hands clasped together and forefingers upright with the rest of his digits intertwined. Just when the swirling mass of shadows twisted to face him he pointed it towards Ryūkage and smiled devilishly.
"That's right, get closer you bastard," Piccolo sneered as the looming giant sped towards him.
It wasn't until he rushed forward that Ryū would find his whole body struck. Not physically, but with a combination of fighters. Turning his head which way and that he saw as well felt a searing wave of light. Tenshinhan, Krillin and Chiaotzu struck the pose as a full wave of blinding rays struck him and the shadows within his vicinity. The result would find his body nullified and his original form hanging in midair with an agonized expression etched onto his face.
"You wretches!" He snarled out loud. "I'll send you all to Hell!"
"You first," Piccolo whispered as his pointed digits crackled with pale energy. "NAIL GUN!"
With a roar, he felt himself skid back from the force, feeling as if he fired an explosion from his fingertips. The deceivingly small bolt of light shaped into that of a diamond spiraled with ebbing energy chaotically snapping around it during the milliseconds of travel. Just as Ryū regained his vision he swung out both hands, palms grasping it...
...then would find himself in the midst of an immense explosion that flared out over his entire form. Lancing out till it took the shape of a triangular shape it swirled outward till it peeled away into dissipating luminescence. Flames and smoke soon rolled over in the sky from the impact it made, having flattened the earth and sent the standing fighters to their knees. They were all bleeding profusely, bruised and exhausted from their battle with the shadow dragonic man. Piccolo especially as he defused the Mao-ken, feeling his body ache and plea for rest as he fell to a single knee.
"It's...over," Krillin gasped out, feeling himself fall onto his back with sweat beading off his person. "Right?"
"I...hope so," Tien murmured between his own intakes of breath, turning to look up at the parting smoke. What he saw caused his eyes to stretch and his mouth hang agape. Chills ran through his spine and swept him like a foreboding feeling. "N-No way..."
"He's still alive?!" Chiaotzu cried aloud, looking up horrified as the silhouette was slowly revealed.
Piccolo now knew they had no chance. He was a monster with his shadows and it made him untouchable. They had devised a plan as he kept Ryūkage's focus. But with his last ditch effort technique used, they only had one more bean to use between all of them. And at this point he didn't know if he could beat the man as he was.
"That was close," The man of shadows replied, finally touching down amidst the circle of warriors, now having approached in their effort to keep Piccolo protected. Still the evidence the technique had no effect was proven wrong as they looked at shirtless man, bereft of his upper apparel just as before. Arms sizzled and bubbled, charcoal in appearance with cracks of oozing pus with blood as vapor with a sickening scent of cooked flesh was seen. Sweat also seem to bead around the bruised and bloodied man, the fight seeming to take a toll as he took slow deep breaths. "But, it seems none of us are in a true position to continue fighting at this point."
"He can't even move his arms," Piccolo realized with narrowed eyes, noticing some exposed muscle and bone from where the blast effected him the most. All the way up to the shoulder, his arms looked the most severely injured upon his injured yet still standing frame. "But does he need stamina to use the shadows? Are we really in a stalemate or is he just messing with us?"
Before the answer to his question could be found, a sudden pulse of rising Ki was felt. Everyone present visually twitched and reflexively turned to look around. Eventually they looked in the horizon where a howling wind breached through their proximity. Giving way to a tumultuous quake, everyone present could feel the immense surge of power rocking the foundation of their world.
"T-This power! It must be enormous if it's shaking the ground even from here!" Tien proclaimed as he tried to steady himself on his feet while Krillin nervously chattered.
"T-T-That's Vegeta," The dwarf turned around, sweating bullets as lightning sprayed across the heavens with clouds moving faster than his eyes could catch sight of them. "H-He's pushing himself higher! I never thought it was possible but...I feel like his power is overlapping me. It's shaking the whole planet!"
"So, Shukun is getting his wish," Ryūkage mused, something only Piccolo could pick up with his acute hearing. Closing his eyes he let out a sigh. He'd only open them after a few moments of deliberation, just as the shaking had finally subsided and the storm clouds halted in their breakneck speed overhead. "I decided not to finish you off. I shall wait for my partner, my leader for what comes next."
"Can't believe I'm thinking this, but," Piccolo growled, turning to look over where he felt Vegeta's power apexes in the horizon. "We're counting on you! Don't let us down!"
Gohan had felt a distinct sense of overwhelming power spiral up in the proverbial and literal sense. For a moment he had thought Vegeta's Ki had disappeared but had swiftly came back as if willed back from the brink. Now it was starting to rattle the world in a vice grip, not letting go as it let itself known. The sky swirled with chaotic storm clouds racing over their heads while their entire battle had halted.
The ground shook and cracked, a flurry of howling winds flourished across their battlefield of ash and vapor. Even the tenacious Trench who had withstood their combined assault was left in silence but showed nothing as he observed with the rest. For a moment, they all could catch their breaths. For now, that is...
"Whoa, check out Vegeta!" Yamcha shouted over the unearthly wind that whistled through his hair and around his powered-up frame.
"Yeah, that's some serious power he's dredging up," Trunks confirmed with a raise of his arm, grinning despite himself. "I knew he'd find a way, I just didn't think it'd be this soon."
"But that's a good thing, right?"
"It is, Yamcha, but," The son of Vegeta continued, his smile becoming a mask of grimace and apprehension. "Whoever that other power I've been sensing hasn't been taking his fight seriously with him this whole time. I could feel it on my periphery senses. This is a battle that only he can fight."
"He'll lose," Trench assured with a dark smile. "My Master has no equal, be they Saiyan or from the beyond itself. He shall not be felled by the likes of an arrogant has-been prince such as he."
"Well then," Maron began with a cool tone, her eyes staring at him coldly as she formed a blade of Entropy in her right hand. "If he's still standing after this, I'll make sure to finish him off."
"As if you can lay a hand on him," The muscular man spread his arms, his body spreading in a shadowy veil of menacing energy. Even among the chaos they had time to fix deadly locks of eyes to each other. One cool the other yearning for blood. "Your combined might can't even beat me. Face it, none of you has what it takes!"
"Then we'll have to see," Sky finished with a grim smile, taking a graceful forward stance next to Gohan. "Won't we?"
"Right!" The Ascended son of Goku proclaimed with another eruption of power surrounding him in a golden mantle of chaotically crackling Ki. Just as the shaking of the Earth finished, their combined battle renewed with earnest. They just hoped Vegeta could fulfill his dogma of finishing what has been started.
"W-What's happening?!" Bulma cried out, holding her unconscious son against her as the whole isle based house shook violently. It felt like their entire world was assaulted by the mother of all storms. She struggled to walk forward, with Dende falling on the floor beading sweat like none other. Turning to look at him, she knelt and asked with a free hand to shake him. "What's the matter? Do you know what's going on?"
"Vegeta's power," The young Kami declared with a shaky voice, eyes dilated and his mouth parched. "It's...eclipsing my omniscience. All I can see is his power as it soars throughout the cosmos as a tangible feeling. It almost feel like it has no end and yet, its height cannot be determined by me."
"I knew it," She thought, turning to look on in awe as a distant glow could be seen hanging over the swirling sea. Even as Roshi stood out with a protective barrier created by a pair of clasped hands, she had a tingling feeling echoing in the back of her head. A presence, fierce yet protective wrapped around her like a blanket. Tears slid down her face as her quivering smile spread at the knowing who it belonged to.
"You're doing it, Vegeta," Bulma whispered, cradling her child, holding him tightly to her as she closed her moistened eyes. "You're a real Hero to us, now when we've needed it the most. I'm so proud of you."
Chapter 24 - Earth's Champions
It was like looking at the Sun.
The trained senses of the long-lived man gave him the perspective that he was standing next to a star emboldened into the body of an alien warrior of regal background mixed with tragedy and personal torment to his own pride. Lightning danced in the sky as consistently as the bio-energy swirling continuously over his muscular frame. Even his posture had changed; taller, less lean and filled with not blind confidence but absolute determination.
Behind the smile and upraised thumb of smugness, he was aiming not for himself but for others.
A smile of genuine happiness spread across Shukun Akikaze's face, feeling privileged he got to finally see the peak of the Saiyan's power. Reckless he may have been, by throwing him into a corner and threatening those he held close. As a result, he brought up a potential the Pure Blooded Saiyan hadn't possessed before. He even had seconds of doubt to the view he imposed on all the alleged 'heroes' of Earth.
Dismissed with a sigh, he gracefully swirled his body till it took up a forward left hand towards Vegeta with another held back as a visible divide on his right cheek. Crouched at the knees and upright with no lean in the upper body he stared down his opponent with regained composure. He let his power subtly rise up, moving towards to be closer to his own limits. Retaining his smile his eyes narrowed and he laughed.
"Come, Prince!" Shukun bellowed his beckoning.
A beat of his heart and the Apex Saiyan appeared to his left. Swiping his hand through to the neckline, it watched it fizzle out of view as he whipped around to his right. Twisting his right hand to immediately launch a kinetic rupturing punch that shaved the ocean's surface for a half kilometer. Turning to look up at the swift Saiyan's face stoically approaching so quick that he forced his arms up to brace for the incoming impact.
When it came, the feeling of pain exploded in his chest instead of his guarding arms. With arms flying back, eyes widened and a mouth opening the ocean seemed to open in an eye of dry pressure. Spittle and air flew out of his lips as a thunderclap of force let loose from the vicinity with his body flying forth in a coat of excited air that electrified everything in its wake in a blaze of blue light.
Islands were plowed by his rocketing frame, eradicated in explosive waves of pressure from the velocity he was propelled at. Miles were covered by the hundreds in seconds and he only regained his wind when a swathe of destruction was left in his wake. Realizing he sensed no loss of life or relevant placements of soil, he judged that the Prince didn't simply hit him towards a random point.
"He's outpacing me," The white enamored leader thought as he skid back along the sea, his body cooking with steam. "I'll have to compensate. Detecting where he is next to impossible with his Ki dispersing so far outward. I can't even tell whe-"
The line of thought interrupted by a sudden kick to his side, sending him bowing at an unpleasant angle to be driven into continent up north. Buried within walls of sediment, dirt and other minerals the meteorite of momentum was halted shortly before jettisoning upward out of the earth.
Geysering in a trail of silver, Shukun sported definite scuffs on his body where it crackled and sizzled with friction induced burns. Even his mouth trailed blood, much to his glee. Bereft of his cloak, torn by the force of the two hits alone, he now possessed a short white gi top that matched with the equally pale tinted bottom. Bandaged hands and feet reasserted themselves as the racing Super Saiyan launched at him like a comet of golden trailing lighting with outline of azure bolts.
"Divine Teaching," He proclaimed with glowing eyes. As the self proclaimed Hyper Vegeta appeared to land a punch to his left side, he'd find it grazing away, forcing his eyes to open with bewilderment. The force of twelve punches was felt along his body as it sent him flinging back a meter, the sight of arms of light sprouting from all around his adversary's body to spiral around in a deflective yet counterattack worthy measure. "God's One Thousand Arms."
Rushing forward, the phantom limbs soon expanded out like a tree and glowed of a pure snow color. Like a mountain they swooped in and around, rampaging towards Vegeta's insignificantly sized body. Like meteors they crashed into him and sent the long-haired Saiyan swooping across the Earth, digging a long trench of destruction forward that sent fissures of flames jettisoning between them.
Just as he seemed to be enjoying himself at using such a rarely employed technique, a purple flare flashed before his eyes and the sight of Vegeta's beaten frame had vanished. All he heard next happened behind him, making him turn slowly to look over his shoulder. Despite his previously tarnished appearance, scuffs were non-existent save for a small dribble of blood coming down the Saiyan Prince's lips.
"Heh," Chuckled, bending back to reveal a slight smear of blood escaping a bloodied lip. "That tickled."
An invisible swing of his arm and manifested appendages were ripped off in a torrential blaze of golden light. Shukun was barely able to form a psychic barrier around himself to withstand the heat that forced his face to be caked in sweat. Witnessing his technique be rendered not effective but annihilated in an instant made his heart race and his blood course even quicker.
"That's it, Vegeta!" Shukun cried out, the air distorting around him as he summoned his telekinetic power to himself. The ripped and shattered landscape soon became one with the sky, littering it with thousands of boulder sized rotating projectiles. Rotating around them like swiftly spinning planets, the wind became electrified with hyper friction and a tornado of force exceeding that of a natural disaster was formed with the two at its center.
"HM!" He grunted with a clap of his hands, forcing all of the earthen formations to collide with Vegeta the effect was like an atom being split on a high multiplied scale. Golden energy waved outward and spiraled in a webbed formation, the shockwave alone was enough to bend the ground kilometers downward. The Psychic Storm was compressed and highly volatile, he'd be surprised if there was any remains-
Two arms swung out, blowing back the clouds of smoke and steam to wipe away any doubts of survival Shukun had of the Prince of all Saiyans living. The pulsing mantle of gold compressed over his frame solidly deflected everything thrown at his way, glittering tides of electricity flowing up and down his long-haired form. His smirk showcasing his absolute mockery of his psychic assault.
With pulled back arms cocked back, he threw them forward and unleashed a double-handed Kiai that shot out like a concussive rail of power.
"What is he made of?" The man in white pondered, raising his arms just in time to brace against a two-handed shockwave. Thrusting against the skyline he passed over Central City like a finger of God, torrential parting the clouds and flowing forth with a shuddering bed of urbanized soil left in his wake. Unable to stop what he saw coming from the right, the boot connected with his foot with his jaw creating a day-lit eruption of lightning over the continent.
"Ngh!" Grimacing as his vision swirled and some teeth were grounded into powder, he felt genuine pain like none other since ages long since passed. Despite himself the grimace was soon turned into a laugh.
Even as Vegeta approached to strike him again, he managed to jettison Ki to his left and evade the attack. Clawing across the air his bloodied smile a prelude to the sudden barrage of crystal hued blasts of light. They pummeled him incessantly and with incredible speed, unrelenting in their strikes as they were but a handful of meters apart as wafting explosions of light occurred between them.
"I've found you! I found my dream opponent who can push me to the brink!" He cried out with blood-filled saliva flying out along with sweat, his hands a blur as they failed to stop firing energy blasts at his enemy. "Do you know how long I've waited?! How long I yearned for this day to come?!"
"Like I care."
Appearing in front of Shukun, the cacophony of brilliantly lit explosions ceased as his body's aura pierced the proximity between the two of them. Left a gape, the Prince was now glaring as only small scuffs were upon the Apex Saiyan. Crackling and pulsing with power he sneered with visual anger, teeth grounding into each other as his power continued to course through his blood pumping veins.
"You find this entertainment? You find my pride something to be tossed aside and scoffed? My FAMILY targets of your whim?! How can you call yourself a Guardian when you delight in these offenses to me and those around you?!" Howling like a hurricane, his fist swung up, delivering a jet of discharging Ki that speared into the earth and left it molten hot. "GO TO HELL!"
Firing upward like a vertically aligned rail gun, the explosion of pressure instantly cooled the super heated land beneath their feet. Sent soaring up into the atmosphere, past it and rocketing up to escape the gravitational pull of the planet. The lightning sprayed wake dissipated after the high velocity ride to Space above them.
Earth looked so precious and yet so large in Shukun's sight. Even as his body produced subtly flowing blood leaking from his mouth and his body smoking with dissipating oxygen, it looked so much more important than what he had been delighting. His yearning battle, the objective and their clandestine organization. Where were they now?
It was questions like these that allowed him to ponder just before Hyper Vegeta appeared in a wafting upsurge of light, now above him in the cold grip of the star-filled canvas of night. Two hands clasped together lifted over his head before bringing them down like a hammer to the anvil that was his chest. If sound could be heard, he'd let out a strangled cry as he'd be sent falling like a meteorite, coated in orange tongues of atmospheric reentry that accelerated his already continuous descent.
A last ditch effort of protection was formed, just before he struck the planet below.
The Apex Saiyan took some time to feel satisfaction before he'd follow down to meet where he sent his enemy falling. What ordinarily could take minutes of propulsion under his own power took seconds to have him appear in a lava dried bed of igneous rock. Formed out of the impact of his fallen foe, he approached cautiously as he saw not a body but an object.
It looked like a spherical shell of white, glittering like it was made out of crystal and ice. Taking a few more steps forward, it cracked and then fell around the kneeling form of Shukun. Bleeding and haggard, he chuckled at the scowling Saiyan as he clenched his aching chest, his face emanating sweat as he looked on with a seeming sense of content.
Sighing as the Saiyan stoically stared behind his aura of pulsing Ki, the Leader. "I've been recollecting my life, past actions and the relevance of people like you. Perhaps I misjudged...or rather...I judged too quickly. I had been studying you thanks to Void since your arrival. His usefulness was beneficial and damning, as we all come to know how collateral damage seems to fall in your wake. But, it seems destruction is inevitable when the stakes are as high as your battles have shown to be."
"It seems you really are finished, confessing this late in the game," Vegeta acknowledged, causing the sweating Shukun to smile wider. Raising a hand, a Big Bang Attack formed in the center of his palm, priming with a whine as it swelled in size. "You're wasting my time. Time I should be using to end this."
"You are right about one thing," Shukun stated with a shrinking grin, soon becoming passive as it was knowing within the overcast of azure-white glare of Vegeta's primed attack. "Our time of fun, has come to an end."
"BIG BANG ATTACK!"
A loud harrowing shout escaped Hyper Vegeta's throat. But, as he cried out, he felt a sudden instantaneous feeling of emptiness overcome him. Eyes widened and mouth hung agape, his aura snuffed out as his Ki had burned up completely. Falling to his knees eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell with an outstretched hand, its sphere of destructive energy winking out of sight. Seconds later and his own elongated mane of hair receded back into his scalp, returning to the memorable torch shaped tussle of dark hue.
His form and consciousness had run out completely.
Rising up with a wince, the Circle Leader stared at him with an unreadable expression. Contemplation crossed his eyes as they looked upon him. Minutes seem to pass when in actuality it was seconds ticked by. Closing his eyes, his form bristled a brilliant nova silhouette as his own mind stretched out.
His sudden appearance was unexpected as it was terrifying.
Gohan and Trench were about to barrel towards each other for what felt like the hundredth time before a being of white instantly appeared before them. Worn, bloodied but standing confident it was a sign that he felt dread. His mere sight had even put the being of unstoppable proportions skidding to a halt. Something about his demeanor, however, seemed off.
"Was this really the Master Trench spoke of?" The Ascended Saiyan thought, his brows furrowing as they looked over at Trunks. The glare of familiarity confirmed his suspicions but he couldn't help but get a strange vibe from him. As if he was there but also elsewhere at the same time. Even still his aura seemed calm and not filled with malicious intent. "What is going on?"
"I believe this meaningless battle of mutual destruction has been drawn to a close," Shukun declared, his eyes sweeping across all of the battle worn individuals present. Smiling softly he remarked to all of them with a measure of honor, seeming to be impressed by what he saw. "To think my own disciple hadn't bested you all by now is nothing short of astounding. Carried away he may have been, I'm sure he'll learn from his reckless endangerment to those around him. Isn't that right, Trench?"
It looked like the rebuke had caused all to look at each other with curiosity as well as perplexity. Not only had he complimented them but he was chastising the actions of his pupil. Just when they all thought the organization was on the same page, things like Sky helping them and their alleged boss was now taking back instances as if they were regrettable.
"Master," Trench finally spoke, his voice icy as it was filled with indignant frustration. "Why are you acting in such a way? Are we not to remove these dangers to the planet and the stumbling blocks to our goal?"
"The plan," He continued, his projection seemingly appeared among even Ryūkage's group with the weary fighters looking on with their own brand of surprise at what he was saying. "Has changed. I've decided that, after some thought during my exhilarating battle with the prince, judgement was too harsh upon you. The Earth will always be jeopardized by the scale of your battles and mistakes will always be made in the cause and effect of collateral damage made. Were we at the forefront, the outcome might be less messy but still ultimately similar."
"So what you are saying," Ryū spoke coolly, turning his projected head to him alone to acknowledge his words. "That we are to relinquish our hold over them?"
"More than that," Shukun continued, answering a similar question asked by Sky. "We'll collaborate. It's time we stopped treating each other like enemies and be what we are. Guardians of this world. We have similar methods and have started differently but the goal overall will align. For now, that's all that should matter."
"You expect us to forgive what you've done?" Trunks asked harshly, sneering visibly at the man in white. "You attacked our homes, attempted to kidnap my mother and kill us indiscriminately."
"And I'd do it again if I saw you as threats," The Circle Leader replied coolly, causing the son of Vegeta to growl with anger. Steadied only by Gohan's outstretched hand, he kept himself from outburst as the intent in his words was as pure as his conviction. "My aim was always to protect this world. In anonymity, we've groomed this planet and its people to be prepared for a threat far beyond anyone's scope."
"You keep saying that," Piccolo prompted, gaining the projection's turn to acknowledge him with a tilt of the head. "But you are being really vague about it. What is it that our planet is faced with? A prophecy?"
"No, an inevitability," He replied stoically, his eyes opened with a conviction buried within its clear coated layer of crystal irises. "His name is Archon. He is a being of unrivaled hunger for power and pleasures in the whimsical destruction of existence. He, long ago was seen as an invader. My Lord, my teacher, had faced against him with his peers in an efforts to seal him within vast fabric of existence. But such a time has been eons ago and the invader from outside our own Universe has slowly eroded his prison. In no small part was the herald of destruction who nearly slew his kin and had unintentionally aided in his prison's hold slipping."
"Who is this herald? Who taught you?" Gohan began to query, suddenly taken aback as a gasping voice broke out over the proverbial comm that was their minds.
"HELLO?! IS THIS THING ON?!"
"King Kai!" Yamcha recognized from his trip to his world, having briefly learned the basics of the Kaio-ken along with Tien there from the wizened and rotund deity. Hearing him suddenly broadcast his voice to everyone made them think something was wrong. "Are you okay? What's up?"
"WHAT'S UP?! WH-Wh-What have YOU been doing?! Me? I was just taking a nap, just enjoying life as a dead man in Other World when SUDDENLY someone's Ki just slips past the Afterlife. Seriously, can't you guys tell me what the Hell is going on and why I felt Vegeta as if he was on the biggest ego trip ever?!"
"He was fighting me," Shukun replied with a nostalgic smile.
A measure of silence was had by all when Shukun casually conversed with the King of all Kais. It was when he let out a loud wail that everyone reached to hold their heads, the man in white simply leaning over with a slightly pained expression on his pleased visage.
"SHU-SHU-SHU-SHUKUN?! I-I thought you...well, I wasn't sure WHAT happened to you. It's been far too long for an old guy like me to remember that far back..."
"How are you, my old friend?" He inquired casually, bringing everyone to a measure of slow understanding of what he meant by 'teacher' and 'kin'.
"Oh you know, okay for being dead. Worked on my car, watched Goku compete in this Tournament hosted over here, and even swiped West Kai's monocle. He'll be sure EYEING everything in sight for it...ehe-eheheehehehehe!"
"I see your sense of humor is still memorable as always," Shukun replied with a roll of his eyes.
"How do you...err...know King Kai?" Krillin asked the short fighter hesitantly, finding all of this so surreal to him.
"You could say I know him quite well," Shukun explained with a wave of his hand, smiling cheekily as he added. "After all, my Lord stands above his station of importance and jurisdiction to the whole cosmos; Lord Kaiōshin that is."
"T-The Supreme Kai!" Piccolo spluttered, eyes practically bulging out of his sockets. "H-How?!"
"I met him eons ago, back when the Earth and this Universe was relatively young," The Circle Leader debriefed the Namekian. "He was cornering the killer of his kin, an evil wizard by the name of Bibidi after he sealed his creation whom is the herald of destruction I spoke of. A homunculus as old as time itself, named Majin Buu, was molded and twisted by the sorcerer, turned into a being of mindless killing proficiency. But he sealed it away as I found him and Kaiōshin doing battle. In my youth all I saw was an obvious evil bringing his power to destroy an obvious good. My considerable insignificance allowed me to kill him without his noticing, much to both of their surprise."
"This seems so unreal," Trunks ran his hand through his trimmed hair, slightly miffed that it was no longer the desired length.
"It's true," Sky confirmed with a serious stare at the still empowered Ascended Saiyan. "I along with a handful of the Elites were divulged this very information. It is hard to believe but he really is who he says he is."
"But...wouldn't that make you even older than Roshi?!" Yamcha pointed out with a look of incredulity.
"By spans of time you cannot measure," Shukun replied with a smirk.
"Crap baskets," The scar-faced bandit looked down with a sputter of his lips.
"I don't buy this," Maron declared, her gaze cold and scrutinizing at the man in opposite white compared to her darker apparel and overall toned appearance. "You can't claim you're older than most of mankind knows it to be. Your discipleship to this Lord of Lords is a hoax. I can't believe a man who'd hide in the shadows while the rest of this world burns could allow such things to happen on purpose-"
"Hold your tongue-!"
"Calm yourself, Trench," Shukun chided looking around both at the devastated forest and the ashen field the parties stood upon. Rolling his neck side to side to produce a series of snaps he rolled his shoulders and coughed slightly. Rubbing his tender side he raised his hands up and clasped them in a prayer stance in front of his face. "It's better I show you. It's one of the few things he taught me before handing me confidence in this world's security. The power over life itself!"
A shimmering aura perpetuated the projections and his real body simultaneously. Like the astral bodies hanging in the outer reaches of Space, he seemed to produce an even higher power than they thought possible. Through such an act a wave of glittering light was carried by way of wind across the planet. One would think it was an irrelevant act but one could notice its effects seconds later.
Soil returned to normalcy returning crops to their ripe state, craters filled and undone of damage with forests becoming plentifully green once more. The islands that were decimated rose up out of the ocean and were restored to their former states of beauty. Mountains long since destroyed the day before or during their battles was renewed. Even those who happened to be caught in the crossfire would find themselves renewed of life and wondering just what happened to them.
Even the injuries on Shukun soon disappeared along with everyone else present on both battlefields that erased any sight of damage they had delivered.
The daunting silence was only filled with a chortling laughter by King Kai as they were all rendered speechless while Trench, Ryūkage and Sky seemed to take it in stride. Mellow Dee hummed happily at the renewed Earth and Gohan just marveled at it.
"This is...unbelievable," Gohan murmured, looking around in a circle as his power relaxed as he felt no tension in his body as well.
Everyone seemed to follow suit, with even Maron withdrawing her form to become a barely clothed blue-haired woman once more. The blossom that had held Launch unfurled and dissipated, revealing her with a head of blonde curly locks with her eyes still clenched tight. She rushed over and embraced her tightly, soon comforted by Yamcha as she cried into the crook of her neck.
"S-She's alright. She survived," She whispered happily.
Meanwhile attention returned to Shukun whom crossed his arms and observed them with a glint of pride in his eyes, "I told you, apart from my band of obscure and strange people working under me, I've always protected the Earth. It's been a long time since I've done something this grandstanding but, eh, you wanted proof and here you go."
"I can tell," Piccolo, appraising Shukun with a different light. "To think a mortal would possess the power of Creation as well as such immense Ki. It explains a lot of things about you and your organization's existence."
"I only have one question," Trunks inclined, his eyes still holding a fierce light of resentment to the man who held immense power. When his gaze was locked he gutturally inquired with an understandable query. "How long have you known about us? And I don't mean about Goku's exploits, I mean things concerning our adventures into space."
"Since the beginning, I've had Void perpetually hang around in the back of your subconscious. His abilities to bend reality within a local area makes him perfect for reconnaissance," Shukun replied with a sigh, a weary smile worn on him like a burden he had yet to be rid of. "I may loathe what a disappointment he is, but his uses are invaluable. He's my best spy next to Sky; though it's not like I needed them to know who each of you were and where you went."
"What does that mean?" The half breed Saiyan asked with an arched brow, snorting derisively as he added with sarcasm. "Are you saying you can see into the future?"
"In a matter of speaking," Shukun added with a grin, waving his hands with explanation. "Of the things my Lord has taught me, Omniscience was one of them. While it is limited as I am not one of his kin my focus can determine the location of people far off and even grant me cognitive access to all the minds of those within planetary reach. It's how I am able to talk to you all at once."
"You couldn't have saw the outcome of this battle," Gohan began to state, ending with a question complemented by furrowed brows. "Could you?"
"Who knows?" The Circle's Leader replied ambiguously. "Combing through every possibility the future can behold, I can make strong estimates as to what is the likeliest outcome. Nothing is certain however. There was a possibility that you could have died or that my subordinates died in their battle against you. Nothing is quite certain."
"But you don't know anything about this Archon, despite this ability?" The young man inquired. As he got an uncomfortable silence from him he felt his eyes widen and his mouth part. "You've...never seen him in the future at all, despite the Supreme Kai's warning?"
"Lord Kaiōshin promises me, once Majin Buu awakens, he'll be free. How long it'll take or exactly how he'll wrought destruction upon the Earth is uncertain," Shukun replied neutrally, retaining a serious visage as he looked at all those around him. "The herald will sound his drums and he will breach his prison. I don't know if it's possible to defeat him but I've done my best to ready this planet. It may happen too soon and we might be bested. It's hard to say-"
"We'll beat him!" Gohan declared with a grin and upraised fist. "We've knocked every obstacle down in our way so far. If we can go against an Evil Emperor like Freeza, a Bio-Android like Cell and even a Intergalactic menace like Bojack you can be sure we'll do what's needed to beat this guy."
A dry laugh escaped Shukun's throat as he looked up at the sky. A nostalgic view was beheld in his old eyes and his smile lingered to one of sadness. Like something he once had but seemed to have forgotten.
"What is it to be young and naive. Perhaps I've lost that perspective after the ages I've lived far too long?" He thought as he closed his eyes. Lowering his head, he turned to look at them all and even at Roshi, whom had been adamantly silent at the beach where Bulma gawked at everything said and witnessed.
With a sigh, he decided to conclude his business.
"I've been alive for far too long. I never had the same kind of enthusiasm that you and your band of misfits share. I accepted a grim reality that all my efforts may be for naught. But now, after fighting Vegeta, and hearing you speak, I've reconsidered our chances for the future," He declared, his voice filled with hope as he turned to look at everyone within his scope. "With mutual cooperation, who knows? Perhaps we have a chance at beating this thing."
"If it means we can coexist in a future this Majin Buu and Archon won't wreak havoc, I'm good for that," Gohan replied with a pleased smile; one that transformed into a sheepish chuckle as he habitually scratched his chin nervously. "I'm not sure how Vegeta will take this news, us becoming allies..."
"Oh, he'll come to terms to accept it," Shukun assured with a mysterious smile. "After all, now that he's found an opponent he couldn't beat, he'll do all he can to surpass me and the eventual return of Goku. Which, by the way, how is that coming King Kai?"
"Hm? Oh you remembered I was here, hahaha! Well, he should be back soon. Give him another few years and he'll be a Champ for sure."
"Marvelous," He spoke sincerely. "I look forward to meeting him in person as well."
"Master," Trench intervened, his eyes glaring at him despite the latter's soft expression aimed towards him. "You're...too soft. Making a decision of this ramification could lead to disaster for us."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Shukun finished with a wink to him, only fueling his disciple's ire. As he turned to disappear in a flurry of swift movement he turned and waved to both parties. "I'll keep you all appraised of how things go. Just please, do yourselves a favor, and don't give us a reason to be enemies again."
"No promises," Trunks replied with a cold stare of his own. "Just make sure you keep your people on a leash. I'll try to make sure father is more cooperative in exchange."
"It's a deal," The man in white smirked with acknowledgement. Turning to look at Ryūkage he waved a hand to him politely. "Ryū, if you'd please return the Sons back to their home."
Snapping his fingers, now part of his healed frame as much as the others who were at one point kneeling around him the shadow dragon nodded with affirmation, "I've taken the opportunity to deposit our resuscitated agents back at our main headquarters. Is there any other loose ends needing to be tied?"
"No, I believe our business is concluded," Shukun replied with a twinkle at those of the Z Warriors. "For now."
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's collective sight. Seconds later, those under his command would join him speeding into the horizon; leaving those they fought at a wonder what they learned not just about their enemies turned tenuous allies...but of a dark future awaiting them in the horizon.
The Following Day, the Son Home
"Hey mom."
They were words that Chi-Chi had waited to hear for a couple of years. Ever since Goten's birth it had been a distant relationship with her son. Not just because Vegeta had seemingly 'stolen' her first born son from her, but because she had almost no one left to share it with. He was Goku's son and his father's spirit lived on in him despite her best efforts to not just educate him, but to control him. Such were the power of his absence left in her heart as much as the reformed house that when he dropped by to visit her she didn't just hug him.
She tackled him.
"OOF!" The surprised demi-Saiyan cried out as his mother had pummeled him bodily to the ground. Before he could get a word in she was already weeping. Tears of happiness and loneliness merged into one shower of thankfulness that he returned. It made him tear up just seeing her like this. "S-Sorry I-"
"I-I'm just happy you came by," She choked, hugging him tightly and kissing his scalp. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."
"That's the thing," Gohan choked out, patting her back to release her constricting hold on him. When she sniffled, wiping her face away with a tissue, she saw him smile and nod to her. "I decided that Goten needs a big brother right now more than I need to get stronger. I'll train, study and be living here so she'll know I'm dependable. That's okay, right?"
It was something that took her by surprise; but again, it felt so much like him.
While her late husband was compassionate about his respect to his family he was always distant and yearning for more out of life. Despite him agreeing to live near his old childhood home the feeling was constant and was only more prevalent when the string of adventures took him to the Afterlife, Space and even to a dimension where they spent a year within a day's span.
Gohan was even more sensitive to these things, something she recognized over the time she found 'allowed' to be charged with his care. From the time of 'training' for Androids and the week of quality family time they had before the Cell Games, Gohan was a tenderhearted boy who dearly loved his family even more than his father. His devotion to Piccolo was probably due to a paternal attachment he formed out of loneliness from his father's absence and something she came to respect.
The day Vegeta came and whisked him away was one of the hardest things she allowed him to do. Even though she saw him for a few moments on and off over the course of the next few years she always felt a longing for her family to return. She even mellowed in her desire to see an accomplished academic come from their family of warriors and royalty. Now she simply wanted what passes as 'normal' family life, even if it involved fighting.
To see him make such a decision on his own only made her smile brightly as she rubbed his face with an outstretched hand, "You've certainly grown into a fine young man, my sweet boy. Yes, yes of course you can. I'm sure Goten will be thrilled to have a big brother around."
Beaming at her acceptance, he reached to hug her formally. As their embrace lingered mother and son could hear a cough. When both turned, Gohan swung his arm to present the worn yet healthy girl of similar height and age to him.
"Mom, you remember Videl, right?" He urged as she approached hesitantly in font of the notoriously high strung woman.
"Oh yes," Chi-Chi stood to full height, nodding with a knowing grin. "I remember you. You're the one who kicked Mūten Roshi across the room when he did his usual thing. Gohan's girlfriend, am I right?"
"Haha, he's a bit changed since then so I feel bad at hitting my sensei," She laughed, admonishing the woman a little for what should be her martial arts master. At the mentioning of her status of relationship with Gohan, however, she immediately blushed and smiled with a nod. "Yes, that I am."
"Well, I'm glad you're doing right by him," She cheekily stated, waving a finger with an upturned nose of pride. "It proves I've raised him well to not be completely swayed by such a pretty thing like you."
"You make it sound like a bad thing," Gohan thought with a confused expression.
"Trust me," The teen girl turned to wink at her boyfriend, in turn making him blush as well. "If anyone has swayed anybody, he's the one to hold my heart in his hands."
"Ohhhhh, how romantic!" Chi-Chi squealed, almost instantly reminded of her younger years and how she had wooed over Goku. While it probably wasn't as accurate or interpreted right as it was in the past, to her this was a nice wave of nostalgia for her to witness.
"Go-Han!~"
An adorable cry rang out from the inside, turning attention to the waddling toddler. Having recognized him from the few times he had visited, Gohan ran towards his little sister and picked her up spinning her around before holding his sibling in front of him.
"Hiya, Goten. You're getting big," He admonished dramatically, earning giggles from the two and a half year old. Setting her down he knelt before her and grinned widely at her. "Guess what? I'm coming to live here now. We'll be able to play a lot more often, in between everything else of course."
"YAY!" She clapped enthusiastically, catching on quick that she'll get a more permanent playmate. As much fun as it was playing with her mom she knew it'd be nice to have someone more closer to her size hanging around.
"I should be heading off myself," Videl mentioned to Gohan from the door, turning to politely bow to Chi-Chi before waving him off. "I have to head home and see how dad's doing. Hopefully he isn't drunk."
"Oh-okay," He replied with a smile, turning to wave-
-only to be surprised when she blinked in front of him and pulled him into a deep, lingering kiss. When they parted she was already gone, zooming off into the air and breaking the sound barrier. Not realizing he was in a daze he turned to look at his mother raising a brow and crossing her arms.
"Don't pretend to gawk like a sheep at me, young man. Like I couldn't tell you two sneaked in a kiss," Chi-Chi rolled her eyes with a belabored sigh. "Honestly, when your father comes back, I'm going to have a handful managing all three of you..."
"That just makes life more interesting, doesn't it?" The son of Goku replied with an innocent laugh.
"Yes," She smiled, turning to look at the sky longingly. "Yes it will be."
En Route To Anywhere From West City
"So, tell me again why you're hitching a ride with us?" Seventeen asked derisively. While it was agreed that Krillin and Eighteen would go along with him to find some more thrills while getting some more training in, they were surprised by the company that they joined in. To him it was rude and quite without warning on how they crammed into his truck; something of which he twitched with irritation.
"Well," Launch began, looking better than her pale state but still looking less than her one hundred percent. "Maron insisted we keep off the grid of our 'recreation time' and just hang out with some people. Seeing you guys, I suggested we come with. That isn't a problem, isn't it?"
"You buckled in without even saying why-"
"Sev, let them be," Eighteen interrupted, giving her brother a sharp stare from the front passenger seat. To compensate with their lack of space, she had shamelessly placed Krillin on her lap. It was something the dwarf had no complaints despite the tight belt sliding over both of them.
"Fine," Seventeen rolled his eyes, driving past the now green light of the ordinary street aiming to gun it for the highway. "I guess it'll be more entertaining with some new faces."
"YAY! More friends!" Maron cheered happily in the center backseat next to Yamcha, who felt squished in the far left cushion.
"Well, it could be worse, right?" The scar-faced bandit asked with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah...still, kind of surprised I'm alive," Launch stated, her eyes getting heavy and her vision swimming for a second. Shivering she shook her head as Maron gave her friend a worried look. The blonde in turn just tussled her blue-haired vixen's scalp, kissing it to show her affection. "Really, I'm fine, Maron. No need to worry over me."
"It's not like I'm not thankful you're alright. I just...the process you survived changed you," She stated flatly, her eyes looking deeply into the other's. "You'll have to learn to confront it eventually. If you don't, you could hurt yourself or everyone else around you."
"We'll get to that when we come to it," She dismissed, stretching her arms to rest her head against them. "I'm bushed. Wake me up when we hit a pit stop."
"Okie-dokie," Seventeen chimed as Maron huffed.
"Don't worry about her," Her boyfriend, in an effort to comfort her, stroked her arm with a smile on hsi face. "I'm sure she just misses Tien, with him going back to the wilderness again with Chiaotzu."
"We both know that's not it," She countered, looking at Yamcha seriously. "And we'll have to deal with it soon. Much sooner than later."
"Then we'll help each other out. All of us," He assured her with a kiss, one that Maron was eager to return.
"Ugh, keep it down you two, I'm trying to-" The raven haired cyborg began to complain, suddenly turning to his right to see Krillin and Eighteen sneaking in a few playful pecks. Gawking, he just waved exaggeratedly. "REALLY?! You gotta suck face now?"
"Oi, keep your eyes on the road," Krillin badgered with a scowl.
"Damn, you're all making me jealous AND annoyed," Seventeen declared with a roll of his eyes, smirking as he eyed at the desert road they were now inhabiting. "Next goal, get me a lovely gal."
Kami's Lookout
Piccolo was contemplating his role.
Ever since his battle against Ryūkage he realized he still had a ways to go. Not just in terms of power and technique, but within purpose. Despite however misguided his predecessor had been and the means he used to fulfill his objectives he wasn't wrong in the slightest about his own past mistakes. He was a living example of failure, pointless ambition and unfulfilled rivalry all in one body.
Dende had gone out of his way to mingle with those on Earth, discover something about himself and perhaps come back stronger in his own way. He figured that once was all said and done, he could at least teach his successor how to fight. If the future was as grim as Shukun said it'd be, they'd need all the support they could; even if it put their tether to the Dragon Balls at risk.
"Are you alright, Piccolo?"
Hearing a familiar voice echo behind him, he didn't need to turn from his arm-crossed stoic posture. From the edge of the Lookout, his senses felt far more attuned than anywhere else in the world. Here, not just his hearing and Ki sense, but a remnant of his godly clairvoyance allowed him to peer down throughout the masses. Nothing at the moment had stirred since the day they had parted with the forces of the Inner Circle. It still bothered him that they may have overlooked something but-
"I'm fine, Mr. Popo," He replied finally, letting out a ragged sigh that spoke leagues to the contrary. "I just need some time to contemplate."
"I see," The black skinned genie seemed to stop, placid eyes looking down at the tiles below him. The simple featured being finally relented after inanely counting the squares that'd lead to a cricle. "I wish to apologize to you."
"For what?" Piccolo inquired, still not turning.
"I knew of the man, Ryūkage, once," He admitted, causing the Namekian to finally turn to look over his caped shoulder. Holding his interest he continued with a solemn tone. "You have to understand, when I found him he was but a child possessed by the essence of a powerful being who had been mortally wounded. The boy was dead but he was reborn through him and I took upon his pure heart to make him the next Guardian, the newest Kami as it were. It was a mistake to do so without giving him a childhood, as Dende once had. So devoted was he that he became obsessed with dictating his rule over others and striking indiscriminately.
"I eventually found his righteous heart blinded by seeing only black and white. When I argued with him on a consistent basis he eventually left me, and I never heard from him for a long time. Until now, I thought he may had died or lived a more humbled life. It was foolish to think he wouldn't try to do something nefarious and I am sorry he harmed you or anyone else," He confessed with a bow, his eyes watering up at the depressing memories swelling to the surface.
The story made sense to him. Piccolo himself was a wanderer, having remained alone for decades before finally moving into the real world. His discovery led to great conflict, of course led to the foolish decision to 'purify' himself cowardly to let loose his darkness into physical form. Putting the world in jeopardy, Popo stood by and simply tended to the Lookout, not wishing to be putting blame on himself once again.
"What's done is done, Mr. Popo," Piccolo replied with a smile, turning to look back at the blue horizon on their orbiting palace. "All we can do now is promise to not fail in the same way and help pave the path for a new generation. That's what Dende is to us, after all. A brighter tomorrow."
"Y-You're right," Popo acknowledged with a rising bob of his head, now smiling as he wiped away his tears. "I'll do all I can to support him. I may have lost my will to fight but I can help guide him in any way I can."
"Same here," He grinned with reinvigorated intrigue. "Look forward to it, Dende. Once you get back, we'll whip you into shape for sure."
West City, Capsule Corp
Trunks was feeling at a bit of a loss.
It had only been a day since their world came crashing down. Everything they thought they knew was ripped to pieces and truths were revealed. The apparent clandestine organization belonging to the oldest human alive in their entire history and was the one secretly awaiting a nightmare beyond all of their challenges thus far. His own ability of foresight, among the training he received from the strongest of the Creator Deities -the Kaiōshin- allowed him to predict that their battles could end in favor and had waited for them to elapse while remaining in the shadows.
A part of him felt angry while another was just confused. He never encountered them, not in the slightest in his time. Did they not exist in that future? Or were they wiped out by the terrorizing Cyborgs responsible for his mother's death and the deaths of everyone he never knew or could learn to love?
Sighing, he returned to watching the thrumming Gravity Chamber that doubled as a space ship from the dome shaped. From the feel of his father's Ki, he was already back at training himself as rigorously as he could. The explanation given to him had absolutely enraged him to no end. He was surprised he didn't blow something up to vent it, but had begrudgingly remained silent about the matter since.
Normalcy seemed to be reclaimed; almost, anyways.
"You can come out," The son of Vegeta beckoned quietly, turning to look over his shoulder. "I can sense the abnormality around your presence. Hiding yourself is pointless if you make a scene doing it."
A scoffing laugh was heard as light and air swirled around the now revealed form of Sky. Her fur-laced white coat of leather overlapping the tight fitted blouse interconnected with the rest of her belted piece to her heel adorned alabaster colored boots. Wrapped loosely around her it was a miracle it didn't fly off her bare shoulders as she approached with a silver lipped smile on her face.
"The tricks you've picked up in the future continues to amaze me," She mused, standing beside the man. Briefly marvelling at the fluxing power his father was utilizing within the depths of intense gravity she turned to face him. His hair had been restored the day Shukun undid the damage their battles had on people and the environment, allowing for the long locks of lavender to flow into a pool behind his resting upright back. "To think that you disallowed yourself to even trim it is astounding. Even I try to keep my hair down to the middle of my back; you end up surpassing that."
"It was a...heh, kind of a silly promise I made," Trunks replied with a scratch to his chin as he smiled, a far-off look entering his eyes as he looked towards the morning Sun. "She was closer than I'd care to be, given how fixated I was on getting stronger. But, in the end, I didn't belong there. I couldn't protect what mattered so it was pointless."
For a long time, it'd drift into a palpable silence between them. The wind caressed the rooftop and sent both manes of nearly identical tresses whipping around. It wasn't until it died down that she settled into a seat beside him, legs dangling over the edge unlike his one knee up and the other limply kicking. When he turned to look at her curiously, she let out a long, shaky sigh.
"I failed to protect something I loved as well," She began, her eyes marveling at the beauty of the clouds flowing over their heads; how the color of the Sun painted mesmerizing hues over them and the blue dominating the atmosphere ceiling. It helped her cope as she confessed her past to the man she admired next to her. "You see, when I was young I had felt a defined connection to what some people call the Cosmos Pool, others the Well of the Universe. Its an energy field that overlaps and fills the recess of everything we know, deeper than simple Ki does. Whether by fate or instinct, I or it called to me within the center of the Earth. By doing so without skill or tact I unleashed a horrific storm upon the place of my birth, killing my parents and everyone that I've come to know.
"I was horrified and was left wailing for hours to the sky to stop, but it just seemed to grow fiercer. I thought I'd die until Shukun arrived and helped me calm down. He raised me, taught me and cared for me closer than any father I'd know," Sky began to finish, turning to look at him with a sad smile. "The one thing he asked me repeatedly was a simple thing. 'Why do we fall?' He'd say, naturally finishing for me with, 'To learn how to pick ourselves up.' It's those words that have kept me going since that hard, very real day I had been unintentionally responsible for those I love to disappear forever. I had almost asked him to bring my family back to life but I knew better than to disgrace their memories. Sometimes, death should be cherished as much as life is. It molds us into who we are and determines what kind of people we should be in the future."
Trunks couldn't help but marvel at the woman in white next to him. She looked much alike, as far as motif and themes went, to her leader. She had much regret that she carried along with her, much like he had. But she chose to march onward, despite the pain that was bestowed upon her. It was any wonder why she got enraged when her pride was tarnished by Vegeta's refusal to join her when she had openly revealed herself. To him it wasn't a simple request but wishing to have more than isolation.
Something he was all too familiar with.
"I trust you and Vegeta aren't going to have any problems in the future, right?" Trunks changed topic, smiling slightly as he noticed her flush slightly.
"T-Trust me, I've gotten over my little crush and grudge with that proud prince. His woman can have him for all I care," She huffed with a roll of her eyes. "May the heavens look at her favorably, for all its worth..."
"He's not so bad. I think he's mellowed out a little," The lavender headed man implored with a grin. "I think everything that's happened as of late has motivated him differently. Perhaps in the right way."
"Perhaps," Sky replied dryly, not entirely convinced. With a sigh she stood up, turning to walk away and depart from him. Stopping short she bit her lower lip just prior to speaking aloud. "My name is Kyūten, by the way."
"Like the heavens?" He asked with a wry grin, turning to look at her back, knowing she was smiling back. "Alright then, Kyū. I'll see you around."
"Without a doubt," She remarked with an over the shoulder wink, disappearing in a flare of light as she took off into the sky above.
"And you're sure you're alright?" Bulma fussed over her son, still worrying over little Trunks on the couch. While she was grateful for what the little green man did for her child the lingering fear that whatever the man in white, Shukun, did to him had lasting effects still bred a paranoia in her. Still, the healing magic that was used had saved his life and he seemed to be his same bubbly self, much to her relief.
"I'm okay," He replied with a beaming smile, blue eyes that once became a mixture of emerald as he was transformed only a day ago. More focused on his recreational activities at the moment he was quick to point to the TV insistently. "Mom! My show!"
"Oh, alright," She relented with a roll of her eyes. Walking with a sigh she noticed her mother wasn't present in the kitchen but was most likely within their personal garden that doubled as a greenhouse. What she saw instead made her boil inside.
Vegeta, covered in sweat, drinking straight from a two gallon container of juice.
"Uh, hello?" Bulma asked with an upraised brow.
The gulps continued and his attention was savoring his artificially flavored beverage. Even as she waited, the tapping foot and twitching fingers not even bringing him out of his stupor. Letting out a groan she finally stamped on the floor and cried aloud, "Vegeta, pay attention to me when I'm standing in the room!"
Letting loose his lips from the container, the Saiyan prince looked over with a line of drool connected with the juice top. His eyes blinked widely for a few seconds as she looked back with a clear sign of annoyance. Reaching up to wipe his mouth, he spoke coolly back, "Yes, can I help you?"
"Are we really going to do this again?" She inquired with a huff.
"Bulma, I do a number of things. What we do is varied depending on both of our moods. Care to explain to me what this is about?" He asked with a suppressed burp, using one of his gloved hands to cover his mouth to convey some decency on his part.
"Your obsession with training. You're not going to just shut me out, are you? That's what led to us drifting apart for the past year. I rather not go through with that again-"
"It's not an obsession," Vegeta intoned seriously. Sighing, he looked down at the empty jug thoughtfully. "At least, not anymore."
"Oh?" The cyan haired woman asked with a raised brow.
"I know that I was hard pressed in bridging the gap, between me and Kakarot. All this time I refused to submit, even for a moment, that we'd be equals if not him being better than me. But when I had my back against the wall, my life on the line and that man taunting me I came to an epiphany; I owe that fool everything," The Pure Blooded Saiyan confessed, lowering his voice as much as he could to hide what he could from his son; let alone the Namekian sitting on high. "I had believed to be the strongest in the Universe at one point. It was all a lie I deluded myself into thinking. Under Freeza's thumb I was not even the wiser that my whole home world and race was extinguished by his hand. Had I not met the idiot on this planet that fateful day, I wouldn't have rose up in rebellion and become a Super Saiyan. Even his half breed of a son was able to rise to an occasion I had no ability to match, till I lost the son of mine from the future.
"So, to answer your question, Bulma, no. We won't be doing what we had done before. I had just finished four hours of intensive training," He finished with a plop of the jug on the table behind him. Walking up to her he declared his intent with a stoic visage that looked so intense it was only belied by his own soft spoken words. "Now, I'm going to spend some time with my son and then you for most of today. I'll squeeze some more training in before I come to...our bed."
It was a shocking thing for Bulma to hear. While they had intended to make-up only the day before during the time the freak storm came over their heads she had never thought him to change this much. The battle where he went to fight not just on their behalf, but everyone else was the biggest step she saw him take. Now she was beside herself with emotions.
"V-Vegeta," Bulma teared up as she hiccuped her husband's name.
"Why are you crying? Isn't this what you-MPH?!" Vegeta began to ask, unable to repel the merger of their lips as her arms wrap around his neck. Rolling his eyes at the emotions of women he'd never understand he went with the flow and savored the kiss. Finally breaking apart he couldn't help but grin wryly as he held her by the waist. "You sometimes make no damned sense, woman."
"I love you," She uttered with a starry look in her moist eyes.
"I know," He replied with a smirk, pulling her in for another kiss.
Not too far away in the near distant future...
It was quiet within the deep void of Space. No noise could be heard echoing through the vacuum, filled with far-off stars with their own solar systems beyond Earth's reach. Glistening with an endless twinkle they'd forever hang like an omnidirectional canopy for the populated world to view with splendor. Little did they know that an oncoming object was burning through that void.
A careening object, producing flames as quickly as it was snuffed out in the oxygen deprived blackness. Its course wouldn't deviate from the rotation of the blue planet beyond. While not large, its cargo was the most vital thing that it had picked up years ago. It wasn't until recently that it was let loose and brought chaos to the crew on board, bringing forth a slaughter to aid in this trajectory.
The delusional entity lying within stumbled out of a stasis sphere, stumbling back and forth as fluids down his tattered apparel and bare skin. Eyes black as the abyss the crackling vessel sailed through saw the orb beyond his gaze. Confusion mixed with wonderment could be had just prior to him falling unconscious on the floor.
"Mother...I..." He gasped aloud before darkness claimed him and the ship streaked uncontrollably towards the blue planet.
A/N: And thus, we've reached the end of this long, long Arc. Apologies to those ahead of time for taking such an extended hiatus to begin with, reception was dropping and so was the feedback along with a friend of mine who helped keep my drive going. Glad to see I am getting a nice turn-out despite how much I've dragged my heels to this point.
But now, I hope I wrapped it up in a way that pleases you all and brings the best closure to a great deal of questions people were wondering about the Inner Circle and their goals. How things will turn out from this point on is your best guess. I already teased you about a character's return and I'll do my best to wrap up another associated series this Summer so that I can renew progress for Vegeta Chronicles once more.
Special shout out to my friends, Kuro and Fire, for helping me keep this update in top shape. Hope he loved the Arc for all the mess and carnage it was worth XD
That being said, I'll now respond to some Reviews from the prior Chapter ^^
Anonymous: The way I see it, Super Saiyan 3 is easy to achieve if you discover the method to utilize it. Like your aforementioned "Super Vegeta" form, all it is just an inflation of power atop the considerable Super Saiyan transformation. SS3 is to the Ascended Super Saiyan form (aka, Gohan's first achievement beyond the others) what the Bulked-Up form is to Super Saiyan. It's an intense charge of power that increases your abilities across the board to ludicrous proportions. However, given Vegeta had never trained his body to withstand the stamina sapping this form burns he went out quicker than ol Freeza with his Golden Form.
In all honesty, I've been saving this moment just because Vegeta's character needed to grow. It did a bit back when he swallowed some of his pride saying that he and Gohan were the strongest instead of deluding himself. Now he does it again, most specifically in this chapter, in where he admits that he wouldn't be where he was now without Goku. The development is what helped strengthen his character in the context of his narrative, not the knowledge of the technique. He has a ways to go, but I'm sure he'll find a way to either perfect this technique or find another way around it.
Thanks for the Review and the continued support. I hope you can be patient enough for when the next Arc begins in the months to come :)
The Anguished One: Technically he became a Shadow Dragon (get the reference? XD) and Maron just has a more elaborate form to show her perfecting her own potential; a fallen angel to be specific. And yes, Vegeta achieved Super Saiyan 3 though no one in their right mind will say that out loud unless it's Goku. He was the one who made up the stupid number scheme because it was simpler for him that way XD
Well, we still have a couple small interceding Arcs before we get to Buu, specifically, but the building blocks are in place. Soon we will reach that destination, the one that most DBZ Fanfiction viewers are all usually pumped up when they find a good ongoing retelling of the original material.
To be honest, that's kind of the reason I started writing Vegeta Chronicles. I was fed up with the stunted character growth Vegeta was receiving in the original material that was looped around to be finalized ONLY in the final Arc of the series. When he died. Terrific storytelling, right? It's for that reason I loved going into detail for how he makes this realization when he was on the verge of death and that only Goku was the one to pull him out of the pit his race almost sunk him into. By agreeing to take his hand, he's admitted that the gap of power between them will always be present and that it shouldn't consume his life but rather help him thrive off it.
Answering your last question, I'm not sure how many other Non-Canon films I'd include for Arcs but I will try to showcase some cameos in the near future. This next Arc will be in its own way, a movie retelling with a lot better narrative and plot progression than the flick. ;)
Can't wait to see ya in the next Chapter! ^^ And hope to see ya when I start the next Arc ;P
ShadowLDrago: LOL thanks for pointing that out :P and yes, he does :)
Mdhunter: Thanks for all of the suggestions, I think they've helped me come up with a unique premise for how my retelling of the Buu Saga will commense. ^^
Glad you loved the Chapter, hope you do with this one as well ;) See ya in the next Review and hopefully the next Arc when I start it :D
MalikJamalTimberlake: LOL Yes, Trench's pun is to be seen here plentifully -w- And yes, Hyper Vegeta IS a corny name but it befits his character completely, to the chagrin of some I assume XD
Goku is pretty much Vegeta's obsession for the most part. To the point of lunacy. But when he gets right down to it, he owes him quite a bit, something of which is covered in this Chapter. Without him, he'd never had a loving family that he in turn would care for or gained as much power or prestige as he does at the current now. With that said, the Super Saiyan 3 form was more of his own will bringing out all of the strength he could muster to the fore and becoming what he exactly needed instead of simply desiring for it. Maybe he'll train and master it, maybe he'll work around it, who knows? -w-
Trunks just passively accessed his Super Saiyan power through his sword. It was a special weapon he crafted using his own Ki, making it far more durable than the Brave Sword he got from...somewhere? (I'll just hand wave it and say he got it from Tapion without confronting the big bad demon within XD) His own variety of power use and skill comes from years of isolation and self determination. Sky wasn't at full power but she was also letting her power run rampant, making it easy to tear through so he wasn't really "OP" as he was just doing a smart thing.
Sky, Trench and Mellow Dee are all very tough fighters probably the strongest next to their leaders, Ryūkage and Shukun. Just because one moment there's a strong Super Saiyan, doesn't mean stronger fighters can't exist. Hell, look at Beerus. He made SS3 Goku look like Yamcha. It's just how the narrative dictates the stats of the characters by the whim of the author. So in that case, I decided that Super Saiyan 2's strong but not THE strongest power around XD
Glad you liked it regardless :) hope to see you in the next Chapter Review and the Arc I'll eventually start in the months to come ^^
GodzillaFollower1998: Glad you liked what I did with Maron and Trench. I tried to make their origin stories unique as well as engaging. Given all the characters I'm juggling, I'm surprised I maintain all of their interactions as well as they come off XD thankfully I got friends who help preview this, so they keep me in check relatively speaking -w-
Yes, Vegeta awakens his maximum power he currently has. The 2nd Grade Super Saiyan 2 as my friend and I coined, as it doesn't require an emotional catalyst but moreover a trained will to dredge up that kind of power to the fore. Given his condition and this being the first time using it, he had relatively 4-5 minutes, plenty of time for some awesome kickassery but not enough to put down Shukun for good. In the future, maybe he'll regulate the power easier but for the moment, this is a last resort form he may or may not use again.
Thanks for the praise and support! ^^ hope to see you in this update and future release of the next arc to come months down the road ;)
And with that, I bid you all farewell for now and aim to please you all when I come back for the next Arc of The Vegeta Chronicles!