Chapter Fifty-one - Closing on Victory
"Get ready." Mikomi said softly.
Goku merely nodded, his eyes still closed. He'd felt it too, a small twinge of power from all around them. They had already waited almost ten minutes now for Janemba to return and it felt like he was about to. But for the moment his focus was elsewhere, on his current task of establishing a Perception field thoughout the area. He'd had an idea a few moments ago, while discussing Janemba's possible link to the distorted area and that being why he could teleport.
The Yardart technique, Perception, relied on a low power field of energy directly linked to the user to sense movement. Goku had a theory that the field would work in a similar fashion to Janemba's link to the distortions. It would provide him a connection, a link, between his current location and his destination. With that in place he'd be able to Relocate. Well, that was his thought, anyway. He had no idea if it would work just yet.
Meanwhile Bardock had just finished reforming his arm and was flexing the fingers and making sure everything was where it should be. Arms and hands had a lot of muscles and bones and complex connections between them so it was easy to mess up creating one. Fortunately, it didn't feel like he had messed up anywhere. "Well, I'm ready." he said, floating over to join the others.
"Just in time, it would seem." said Mikomi as red and black light began swirling around a few dozen feet away from them. The light began gathering together into a growing ball of enegy, its power growing right along with it. And then there was a bright flash of red. When it faded Janemba was back and scowling at them.
"Everyone ready, then?" Goku asked, opening his eyes.
"Ready." Bardock and Mikomi replied. Goku gave a small nod and then surged forward in a burst of gold. A second flash of gold marked Bardock taking off in an outward arc to the right while a blue flash showed Mikomi going to the left. Janemba's gaze shifted between the three of them as his scowl grew.
His focus shifted back to Goku as he flashed gold again, his aura flaring up as he added on more speed and pulled ahead of the other two. He was only a dozen yards away when he suddenly vanished and Janemba's eyes widened in shock. The Sai-jin appeared again an instant later right in front of the creature, grinning, and slammed a knee into his face.
/It works!/ he thought happily. /I can Relocate again! It's slower than normal but I can deal with that. Alright Janemba, let's see how you deal with someone who can teleport too./ He vanished again, appearing just beyond Janemba's position as he flew backwards, and grabbed his tail as he went passed. With a cry and quick spin he pitched him off in the desired direction.
Mikomi was already in position as she came surging up from below and slammed both fists into Janemba's back with a loud crack. There was a second crack and a flash of blue as she fired a pair of point blank blasts into the creature knocking him toward the sky. Bardock was there waiting and surged down slamming an elbow into Janema's stomach.
His mouth snapped open as he surged down past Goku and Mikomi and then slammed into the ground throwing debris up into the air to meet them. Bardock and the Supreme Kai surged down after him and smashed their feet into the ground as he dodged their attack but Goku appeared behind him and thrust an elbow into the back of his head causing him to stumble forward. Bardock took the opening to smash an open palm into his face while Mikomi pounded her heel into his chest.
The dual blows sent him sailing backwards as Goku slipped around him. Then all three surged after him, side by side. They reached him just as he was recovering. Goku hit high, jamming his knee into Janemba's head. Mikomi hit in the middle, two open palms filled with energy smashing into his chest. Bardock hit low, a headbutt right to his stomach.
The triple assault sent Janemba flying backward even faster than before and sent him surging through another rock spire. As the tower of rock began to collapse there was a flash of gold light suring toward it before plowing clear through. A streak of blue shot up and to the right arcing out around the debris. The other gold light simply vanished.
Janemba recovered from his backward motion by smacking into something that brought him to a dead stop. As he righted himself again he glanced behind him to see what he'd hit and his eyes widened as he saw Goku's back. He spun around to kick him in the side but the Sai-jin vanished. An instant later Bardock reached him and smashed a foot into his back.
Goku appeared again beside his father, hands cupped at his side, blue energy flaring to life. "Kaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeee." he cried as he watched Janemba's progress toward the outer edge. They were getting him close now, just a little further... Mikomi surged down from above and thrust her leg into the side of Janemba's head before spinning around and then smacking her heel into his face. "Haaaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
The Supreme Kai bolted away quickly as the Sai-jin thrust his arms forward. "HAAAAAAAAA!" The blue energy flared up in his hands and then exploded forward tearing up the ground beneath them as it rocketed toward Janemba. The creature opened its eyes as it continued to fly backwards and glared at the approaching energy wave.
With a sudden shrill cry and flash of red he came to a stop and thrust his arms forward. The Kamehameha slammed into his hands a second later and began to push him backwards for a moment. And then they stalled as red energy built in Janemba's hands as he charged a counter. But then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned his gaze slightly for a better view.
Suddenly he smirked and then dodged around the Kamehameha letting it surge off harmlessly into the distance. Meanwhile he directed the energy he'd gathered toward the Supreme Kai, who he'd seen coming back into attack him again while he'd been busy deflecting the Kamehameha. There was a bright flash of red as the red and black stream erupted from his hands and surged toward her.
Bardock came charging up from below and kicked the end of the attack knocking it up away from its target. At the same time Goku appeared beside Janemba and thrust an elbow back at his face. This time Janemba was able to dodge and then countered with a tail swipe. Goku slipped around it and threw a punch that was dodged and then followed that up with a kick that smacked into the side of the creature's head.
This time he wasn't knocked flying, however, and the close range exchange continued as the two drifted through the air toward the ever nearing edge of the distorted area. "So far... so good..." Bardock said, panting lightly. Trying to guide their opponent to a certain location, and keeping up a high pace so that he wouldn't notice, was already taking its toll on him and Goku. The Supreme Kai was showing less strain from it and the Sai-jin figured it was more due to her being a Kai than her power.
Just a few hours ago, when he and Goku had both been dead, this wouldn't have been nearly as taxing. He'd forgotten how much less strain a living body could take compared to a dead one. And neither he or Goku had ever fought seriously at full power while dead so it was an entirely new experience fighting at this level and intensity, which certainly didn't help matters. Still, progress was being made so he wasn't about to complain.
With a smirk and a burst of gold he charged back in to the battle. He managed to catch Janemba by surprise and slam his knee into the side of his head before spinning around and snapping a kick into his back. Janembea stopped himself after only a few feet and met the charging Sai-jins head on and resumed their close range battle, now two on one.
The two on one exchange soon became three as Mikomi surged in and joined the battle again as well. With the three of them swinging arms and legs at him and moving around him Janemba was hard pressed to keep on the offensive. Something that was quickly irritating him. He left out a cry and a burst of energy a moment later knocking his attackers away from him and then surged in at the closest one, Goku.
But Goku saw him coming and grabbed his arm, spun around rapidly, and then pitched him away and down at the ground. Bardock and Mikomi each fired off blasts of energy after him that he didn't see, as he pulled his descent to a stop, and exploded upon impact. Goku was already surging down and blasted through the dust of the explosion before smashing a fist into Janemba's face and driving him back further.
The Sai-jin glanced down at the ground and smiled, he could see the border of the distorted area down there. Just a little further and they'd have succeeded in their objective. With a cry he shot in after him and, reaching him, unleashed a powerful flurry of punches and kicks to his head, chest, and abdomen that drove him further and further back. And then, with a spinning kick into his chest, he knocked the creature beyond the border of the distorted area and into the normal ground of the H.F.I.L. beyond.
"He's out!" Mikomi cheered as she and Bardock joined Goku.
"Now to take him down." Bardock agreed with a smirk. "Stand back, I'll handle this!" His aura flared up hugely and then he surged in at Janemba who was just climbing back out of the hole he'd made upon impact. As he charged toward him he pulled back his right arm, bent his fingers so that they arced toward Janemba, and began to gather energy in his cupped hand.
Janemba saw him coming and scowled, but then his eyes widened slightly as he looked at the area around him, realizing he wasn't inside the distorted portion anymore. That flicker of concern, of fear, was enough to tell Bardock they'd been on the right track knocking him out of that area and he smirked as he poured on more speed. An instant later, before Janemba had gotten his wits back again, he was on him and his arm thrust foward slamming the gathered energy into his chest.
The resultant explosion flung the creature backwards and Bardock added on more speed to catch and pass him. Coming up from behind he kicked him in the back and up into the sky then surged up, spun around in front of him again, and snapped a kick into his stomach and knocking him further from the distorted area. He floated there for a second before bringing up his right hand and clenching it into a fist, blue energy gathering around it again.
"Alright. Time to end this!" he cried as he shot in at Janemba again. The creature was just coming to a stop when he reached it and slamed his energy encased fist into his chest. The gathered energy didn't discharge, however, and Bardock simply spun and slammed his heel into the side of his head, then an elbow uppercut into his jaw, a knee to the stomach to double him over, and then a downward punch with his left fist which sent Janemba into the ground.
In a burst of gold the Sai-jin surged down after him. Janemba impacted with a thunderous crash and then Bardock reached him an instant later, energy encased fist out stretched and impacting his chest before detonating. The energy errupted into a massive collum of swirling blue energy like a glowing twister of light kicking up dust and tearing up the ground all around it.
"Amazing..." Mikomi breathed softly, as the energy collum began to fade. She'd felt it during Bardock's assault. The entire time he'd been attacking Janemba he'd been gathering more and more energy into his hand. With the close range of the attack she knew there had been more than enough power to take out Janemba. At least, until he reformed again.
"Alright, let's finish up." Bardock said as the energy collum vanished completely and he flew back to the others.
"Right." Goku said with a nod. The two of them lifted up higher and then raised their arms above their heads again, reverting to base along the way. A few seconds later the energy they had already gathered and moved to float above them and more energy began to flow into the attack.
XXX
Unkown Location
"What are the levels?" Raven demanded.
"Still holding at 44%, ma'am." the short, pudgy, blue scaled alien at the console replied. "There's been no change."
"Relax." came the voice of her mate from his seat behind her. "It will come when it comes."
"I just don't like this. What if it doesn't go higher? If this doesn't work we'll have no options left."
"I don't think this is the battle we've been waiting for." he replied. "There's not enough power involved. Their opponent doesn't match with the power we have on record for Quietus."
"He's right." said Razor, who was standing beside him. "I understand your impatience and concern but this is not that battle. I am unsure who they are up against but it is not Quietus."
Raven pursed her lips and turned back to the consoles and montiors again. "Can we get some sort of video feed from Otherworld? We had it before."
"Those probes have long since stopped functioning." replied the blue alien. "I could have new ones sent through and to the location of the battle within the hour but it will likely be over by then."
"Do it. I want video of what's going on over there." she ordered. "I don't like that Goku is going after Quietus, instead of him coming here." The alien nodded and then set to work doing as ordered.
"It is a bit troubling." Razor agreed.
"Can they still weaken the field here, if they're in Makai?" asked Ravenna from the doorway.
Razor glanced back at her and nodded his head. "They can, though it'll take more energy to do so." he replied. "I'd estimate an extra 30% would be needed to break the field from Makai."
"Harder, but still do able." said Raven's mate. "I'd possibly be required to defeat Quietus at any rate. Not that it really matters."
"No, I suppose that part can go either way without issue." said Razor. "If Quietus kills them off after they've managed to release us then we'll only have him to deal with. If not then we'll have to fight them ourselves. But either way we'll have no real resistance."
"Well, Vegeta's visions do see them fighting us." said Raven.
"The future is not set." said Razor. "Not when Makai gets involved."
"What do you mean?" Ravenna asked.
"Makai is not part of Shinkai." he explained. "Though they are twin sides of reality as a whole their fates are not interlinked. Events of one Realm are not meant to influence the other. And so the future of Makai cannot be seen by those of Shinkai which means..."
"That people in Shinkai can't see what those of Makai will do." said Ravenna slowly.
"Not accurately, at least." Razor said. "I think the child saw this coming largely because it was being orchastrated mainly in this Realm. We can't be absolutely certain that the future they saw will be the way things go."
Ravenna reached up and rubbed her temples. "I hate dealing with time travel, visions or otherwise." she muttered.
"Energy level increasing!" one of the techs called again. "44.1% and climbing!"
XXX
Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City
Cell's eyes roamed over the gathering before him. Everyone he'd just come from killing plus Yamcha and that one silver haired woman who'd popped up at the Cell Games was there, as were a bunch of kids, one of whom was unmistakably Trunks. And there was some old guy he didn't know. "Don't you people know when to stay dead?" he growled.
"The same could be said about you." Hotaru responded, setting Sakura back down on to the roof. "You want to try your luck again?"
"That wont be necassary."
Hotaru turned her attention from Cell to the man standing with the kids across the street. He was floating up into the air and moving toward Cell. /Who is he? Wait, Goten said they brought help... so where did the kids find him?/ Before she could voice any of her questions, however, Cell did it for her.
"And just who are you?" the Biodroid demanded.
"I would be the Grand Kai." Zenryou replied. "And it is time you go back to where you belong." He suddenly smacked his hands together in front of him as though he was praying. A spark of blue-white light snapped around his body and then his aura flared to life quickly growing in size and brightness. Hotaru's eyes widened as his power suddenly climbed up from unsensable to greater than her maximum in just a few seconds. Cell's eyes widened as well, in his current state the man before him was stronger than him.
The blue-white aura around the Grand Kai suddenly flashed to white, then to solid blue, and then vanished. The Kai's hands, however, continued to glow bright white. As he pulled them apart and pointed them toward Cell the Biodroid drifted backward cautiously. The white glow grew so bright Zenryou's hands couldn't be seen and then it shot out toward Cell and engulfed him.
As the light died from the Grand Kai's hands a ball of white formed around Cell. The Biodroid growled and let out a burst of ki and the ball suddenly shattered causing the Grand Kai to frown. "Well, I was worried about that." he said.
"What, what is it?" asked Cheri.
"Because of the doors being closed my powers here are far more limited than normal." he said. "My link with Otherworld is inhibited so it reduces my influence here. At his current level Cell is too powerful for me to fully contain."
"Well then, we'll just have to beat him down some more." Hotaru said, floating up into the air to join the Grand Kai. During her transit she began to glow orange and then vanished. When she reappeared she was floating beside Zenryou and in her third form. She still wasn't as strong as Cell but the gap was smaller now, and with the Grand Kai helping she didn't think it would be an issue.
Zenryou smiled and gave her nod. "It's been some time since I've fought alongside a Tanarian nearly as strong as I." he said.
Hotaru gave him a look and raised eyebrow but then turned her focus back to Cell. And then in a burst of silver she shot in at him. The Biodroid started to dodge to the left but suddenly jerked to the right as the Grand Kai appeared behind him and then slammed his leg into the left side of his head. Before he had time to recover from the hit Hotaru reached him and slammed her knee into his stomach doubling him over. She then slammed her elbow into the back of his neck driving him down into the street below.
Zenryou thrust his arms down and fired a blast of blue energy at the same time Cell hit the road below. The attack impacted a moment later and then exploded savagely, blasting out a large crater and bringing three nearby buildings crashing down. There was a cry and flash of gold as Cell surged up out of the dust cloud.
He reached his two opponents an instant later and slammed a fist into Hotaru's stomach doubling her over but before he could follow up Zenryou's foot smashed into the side of his head. The blow knocked him off balance for a moment but he recovered quickly and then spun and kicked both of his opponents in the chest at the same time. And then, in a flash of gold, he charged after Hotaru again.
Reaching her an instant later he slammed his elbow down into her stomach before jamming his knee up into the small of her back and then thrusting his fist down into her face and sending her down into the road below. He then quickly dodged to the left slipping around the energy blast from the Grand Kai before turning and firing his own blast at him.
By the time Zenryou deflected it Cell was right in front of him launcing a punch for his head. The Kai blocked the punch but didn't even notice the incoming knee until it slammed into his stomach. The blow knocked him back and knocked the wind out of him but he still managed to slip around the Biodroid's next punch.
And then Hotaru was below them and had hold of Cell's ankles. With a cry she yanked him down and then began to spin rapidly before tossing him toward and through a near-by row of buildings, all of which collapsed as he crashed into the next road over. "This isn't going to get us anywhere." she said as she worked a kink out of her shoulder. "It'll take too long to wear him down, one of us needs to deliver a killing blow."
"That's not possible." Zenryou said.
"What do you mean?" asked Hotaru.
"Due to current problems in Otherworld, the same issues that are inhibiting my powers here, Cell cannot die." he said. "Which is the entire reason I am here. The only way to stop him is to contain him. Once back in Otherworld I can maintain the containment forever if needed, but once this mess is fixed he can be dealt with more permanently."
Hotaru cursed under her breath. "You mean we never had a chance from the start?"
"On your own, no, I'm afraid you didn't." he replied. "And with the current turmoil in Otherworld I wouldn't have noticed the problem for days, at least, had the children not come looking for Goku and the others."
Hotaru glanced back at where the kids all stood with the others and then turned her eyes back toward where she could feel Cell floating back up out of the crater he'd formed on impact. /When this is all over I'm taking Sakura and Akemi out for all the pizza and ice cream they can eat./
XXX
Otherworld, Red Snakeway
Gohan and Videl were flying so fast through the tunnel that they were barely able to react in time to new turns that sprang up after the previous one, and Gohan was already starting to feel tired. They'd sensed Vegeta's power jump up a few moments after their trip had started and realized he'd transformed to the second level. So they'd done the same, not wanting to be left too far behind, though he was still at least five minutes ahead of them and slowly getting further away.
"I don't think I can keep up this pace much longer." Gohan said with a shake of his head. "Man, I thought I was keeping in shape pretty well but this is something else."
Videl laughed. "It's because you mostly do shadow boxing style training." she said. "I don't know what Vegeta does but I usually do full speed laps around the Earth for an hour every morning."
Gohan laughed and shook his head again. "And here I thought I was doing pretty good."
"Oh, hey, he's stopped."
Gohan focused on Vegeta's power once more and sure enough it wasn't moving anymore. "Think he's finally found the end?"
"Kami I hope so." replied Videl. "We've been flying for at least a half hour now, it's getting boring."
The two flew on in silence for the last few minutes until they reached Vegeta and came to a stop. Sure enough they were at the end of the path now and looking out over a very barren and wasted looking landscape. Black and red clouds filed the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Well, this is cheery." Videl said with a look around. "So, how do you suppose we locate this Dabura guy, anyway?"
"I can't sense anyone but us." Gohan said, frowning. "Maybe he left?"
"I'm not giving up that easy." Vegeta said. "We'll split up and search."
"We don't even know what he looks like." Videl reminded him.
"As shocked as those Demons were at our powers I'm sure he'll come to us so long as we keep our powers raised." Vegeta replied. "Let's go." And with that he took off. Gohan and Videl glanced at each other, shrugged, and then shot off in seperate directions as well.