A/N: guitarlover56784 - The line's from Daikirai's perspective. He just sees Kibito as another Supreme Kai, he doesn't know if he's still in transition or a full fledged Kai, just that he's wearing the clothes of a Supreme Kai.
Chapter Sixty-nine - Breakdown
Thunderous bangs and brilliant flashes of light filled Limbo as the two Sai-jins battled in the midst of what remained of the Grand Mazoku's planet. The fracturing had finally come to a stop, no more quakes were occurring, no more fragments were breaking away from what little remained of the world's core, the world now a mere ten percent of its original size. Neither of the fighters had noticed this change, too engrossed in their conflict.
A crack much louder, with a flash much brighter, erupted suddenly as one of the pair at last made solid contact with an attack and sent the other rocketing away. He slammed through two of the large asteroids before pulling to a stop, eyes widening an instant later as he saw the foot coming right at his face. Just before the kick made contact he vanished and reappeared a dozen yards further back.
Goku let out a long sigh as he rolled his shoulders, Vegeta lowering his foot and scowling at him. He'd never fought at his full power for this long before, or at this intensity. When he and Bardock had sparred over the last seven years they'd never ramped it up this much. They'd gone to full power a few times, though it had been months since the last time, but they'd never pushed themselves as hard as he was doing now.
The effort and exertion was tiring, and maintaining the transformation for so long was starting to wear him down. The second level didn't cause as much strain now as it had been when he'd first reached it but it was still noticeable, particularly after extended use. Plus, he was alive now, and living bodies had lower limits of strain and stamina than dead ones. Meanwhile, it didn't seem as though Vegeta was having the same issues.
He didn't seem to be feeling the wear or strain at all. Though, he did seem to have developed a tick to his right eye, even from where he was Goku could see the corner of his eye twitching. If it was in some way from the strain of their battle or not he wasn't sure. Somehow, he doubted it was. In a burst of gold he surged in toward Vegeta again to resume the battle, but as he did he felt a change to the on going battle in the Mazoku plane.
He'd had trouble tracking his father's ki when they'd teleported there, and trouble keeping a lock on it after, but he'd managed to and to track the battles as they'd unfolded. And now he'd felt Quietus's power suddenly shoot up. The spike shocked him, slowed him for a fraction of a second, and so by chance he missed being hit by Vegeta's kick.
/With as long as it's taking the Spirit Bomb to form.../ he thought, grabbing Vegeta's ankle, yanking the Sai-jin toward him, and then slamming his elbow into his face. /Quietus's new power's going to add at least another seven or eight minutes to finish, and there was still at least ten minutes to go as it was./
He leaned back out of the way of Vegeta's counter, released his hold on the Sai-jin's leg, then slipped under and behind him and slammed a kick into his back knocking him away. /Eighteen minutes, minimum, until it's finished. I don't think Dabura can hold out that long against such a high power. I'm going to have to end this to.../
His train of thought trailed off as he felt something he didn't like. Quietus was on the move, and not toward Dabura. His ki was heading directly toward Bardock's. /Not good!/ Goku thought, eyes widening. /He must have been discovered. The Spirit Bomb plan's failed. I've got to end this, now, and get to him before it's too late!/
Goku shifted positions, cupping his hands at his side as blue light flared up between his palms. Around thirty yards away Vegeta had come to a stop and turned to face him, scowling, but made no move to counter. That was exactly what Goku was hoping for. They'd already had a direct clash of attacks earlier, one that had stalled out, and Vegeta was clearly planning not to repeat that. Likely he meant to wait until Goku attacked and then dodge, but Goku had a plan to stop that from happening.
He waited until he felt the attack was strong enough to knock Vegeta out but not kill him, and was just about to make his move when he noticed something unusual. Vegeta had raised his right arm and pressed his hand against his face, over the eye that had been twitching earlier. His power was starting to fluctuate, dipping down and then shooting back up, and then the royal started to shake. A second later he pressed both hands against the sides of his head, threw his head back, and screamed.
XXX
Inside Vegeta's Mind
Vegeta pulled back and ducked down, just barely avoiding the kick that had been aimed at his head. The Ancient's foot caught the top few inches of his hair, passing maybe two or three inches over his scalp. Way too close for comfort. He moved to dodge the punch he saw coming next but realized almost at once that there wasn't time. The other was simply too fast and his fist slammed into his left shoulder spinning him around five times from the force of the impact.
On the fifth rotation The Ancient's foot shot out and cracked into his back, between his shoulder blades, and knocked him forward. He'd barely gone more than a few feet when suddenly the man was in front of him, an uppercut surging toward his jaw. Vegeta tried to come to a stop, to tilt his head out of the way, to somehow defend against the attack, but he'd barely had time to register the attack was coming before it connected.
The uppercut knocked his head back and redirected his momentum, knocking him further skyward, but once again The Ancient was already ahead of him, waiting. The man's leg went up and then snapped down pounding into his stomach and sending Vegeta careening toward the ground below. He smashed into the road just a second later with a thundering, and painful, crack. Despite the force of his impact, however, the road remained undamaged.
Dizzy and in pain, but suffering no real damage, Vegeta pushed himself back onto his feet. He could still feel The Ancient's energy above him, unmoved since that last blow. Being able to sense him but not tell how strong he actually was was beyond annoying. He could tell the other was much stronger than him but he couldn't determine exactly how much stronger. Without knowing the actual difference in power it was hard to formulate an attack strategy, since he didn't know what had a chance of actually causing damage.
/If anything can./ he thought with a scowl as he gazed up at his opponent. The Ancient seemed to think the battle could be won, but so far he'd not taken any real damage. While that was a good thing, he also hadn't done any damage to his opponent. The Ancient didn't appear to have taken any damage from the Big Bang Attack that had gone off right in his hands.
Vegeta wasn't entirely sure this battle would ever actually go anywhere. If they couldn't do real damage to each other neither one would ever be able to win. Still, he wasn't about to just give up. He had a fight with Kakkarotto to finish, and he wasn't going to let this... figment, fragment, whatever it was... of his mind take over his body.
With a cry of determination Vegeta surged back up toward his opponent, pulling his arms back and he charged and gathering energy in his palms. He knew a direct frontal attack had little chance of achieving much but at present there were few other options. Reaching The Ancient's location Vegeta focused the energy in his hands down to points and lashed out first with his right fist.
The Ancient dodged around it, bringing an arm up and deflecting the attack away. But Vegeta was already following up with the other arm, his left fist charging toward The Ancient's stomach. His opponent pulled back, twisted around, and avoided the blow, while at the same time grabbing the Sai-jin's right arm. He twisted the Sai-jin's arm roughly while bringing his other arm down and slamming his elbow into the Sai-jin's.
Vegeta left out a scream as he pulled back, gripping his arm to his chest. He could tell no true damage had been done, the joint remained whole and unbroken, but it certainly felt like it had just been shattered. Before his mind could even begin to clear from the pain he felt a hand grab the back of his head and suddenly they were surging down toward the ground.
He was unable to gather his senses enough to react, to break away, before The Ancient smashed his head into the ground, the blow flaring up brilliant white lights behind his eyes. Dazed, fighting through the pain and the disorientation, he still heard the other land a few feet away. With a groan he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, trying to blink his vision back to normal.
"Just. Give. Up." The Ancient growled, crossing his arms and scowling at him. "You can't beat me, you're too soft. Too weak. You've lost what makes you Sai-jin."
"More of this blather?" Vegeta muttered, unsteadily reclaiming his feet. No lasting damage had been done with this last blow, either, but the effects were still the same.
"You can't hide from truth, Vegeta." said The Ancient. "You've lost what made the Sai-jins a great people. Unmatched by anyone, anywhere, in the entire Realm. Ruthless, unrelenting, unstoppable. An enemy stood before us and we crushed them. Now you defer to your lessers, give power to those you should be ruling, show mercy to those you should have left dead behind you. All this emotion, this... compassion... has left you a broken shell of a true Sai-jin. This is why you can't even keep up with a third class."
Vegeta scowled in dislike of the insults themselves as much as the meaning. There was a time, not all that long ago, where a part of him would have agreed, readily and without hesitation. He'd once believed in power for the sake of power, that the only reasons to be strong, to become stronger, were personal ones. That those weaker were less important, beneath him. But that time had passed and instead of instantly agreeing his mind, instead, debated the truth of the words.
/I would have agreed just over a decade ago./ he thought. /But have I not seen the opposite? Have I not experienced the opposite? It was not my quest for power, my wish to surpass Kakkarotto, that allowed me to become a Super Sai-jin in the battle against Cooler. It was my desire to protect Bulma and to save my people from being slaughtered by the Changeling.
/Even my obtaining the second level was driven by a desire to protect. Raven and her mate are still looming threats, ones I wanted to be ready to face. Not for my own glory and power, as when I wanted to defeat Frieza, but to protect those who matter to me. And... is it so different for Kakkarotto? He became a Super Sai-jin against Frieza not for himself but for the loss of his son./
Vegeta's scowl faded as his eyes widened a little. Seeing the change in his expression The Ancient smirked. "I see you've realized the truth."
Vegeta nodded. "Yes. I have." he said, smirking. "If all you say were true, why then would Kakkarotto be better than I? Yes. I hate to admit it, my pride screams against it, but Kakkarotto IS better than me. Stronger. Time and again, over and over, he has proven himself the superior warrior. And why? Because I've nearly always focused on myself while he has drawn strength from all of those around him."
The Ancient scoffed. "Nonsense. Power comes from within."
"No. Power comes from need. The need to protect those who matter to you. That power made Kakkarotto a Super Sai-jin, made Gohan and Bardock Super Sai-jins, made me a Super Sai-jin, pushed both Gohan and I to the second level. I have gained far more power from others than I have from myself. And now, now I deal with you once and for all!"
With a cry he lunged in at The Ancient faster than the other could see and landed a flurry of blows upon him. Head, chest, abdomen, back, four dozen blows before he could react. The final one slammed him into the ground where he shattered into a thousand pieces, like a statue made of glass. The world around him suddenly exploded in a savage blinding light and a searing pain tore through his mind, but it all faded in an instant.
XXX
Limbo, Remains of the Grand Mazoku's World
Goku blinked in shock and confusion for a moment, then let his attack fade as he watched on. The purple aura flowing around Vegeta was showing signs of gold in it and he was starting to wonder if, maybe, Vegeta was breaking free of this Dark Awakening. Vegeta's aura flared brighter, larger, more gold lacing through it as his white hair started shifting golden as well.
"He... he is!" Goku cried in surprise and relief. Vegeta was changing back to normal again. Aura, skin, hair, all reverting to normal. His power, too, was changing. Goku could feel it falling, slowly at first and then more quickly. Still, even as it bottomed out and stopped dropping he realized it was higher than what had previously been the Sai-jin's maximum.
In a burst of wind and flash of gold Vegeta's aura vanished, his hair turning black as the screams stopped and he lowered his arms and head. The Sai-jin looked around him taking in the ruins of the planet that floated around him, adjusting to the rush of memory that had hit him. He wasn't sure which set of memories had rushed in on the other, his fight with Kakkarotto or The Ancient, and it was disorienting trying to separate them, sort them.
"So... are you, you?" Goku asked.
Vegeta smirked. "More than ever before." he replied, causing the other Sai-jin to blink in confusion. The royal ignored him for the moment, however, and focused on his power. He was noticing the same that Goku had a moment before.
He was stronger now than before. Not as strong as when he'd been under the Grand Mazoku's spell, but stronger. /That Darkness Infusion technique that The Ancient showed me. I lost the power the Mazoku gave, the full yield of my Super Sai-jin forms, but that other power has remained. Well, it's something, anyway./
"So, Kakkarotto." he began. "Why are we still waiting around here for? Don't we have a Demon to defeat?"
Goku blinked a few times, then frowned as he refocused his mind on the Mazoku plane. In the shock of Vegeta's sudden reversion he'd lost track of the powers there. He wasn't sure what had happened since sensing what had to have been Quietus charging toward his father. As he sensed the powers there his frown deepened.
"I can't sense Bardock anymore." he said. "Just before you... changed back... I think he was discovered by this Quietus guy. He... he might be dead."
Vegeta frowned as well, trying to feel out any high powers, but since he wasn't sure where to look to find the Mazoku plane he wasn't able to lock onto anything. "Still, you can create a Spirit Bomb." he said after a moment.
"Yeah, but... the time needed for an attack that large." Goku shook his head. "You haven't sensed Quietus. The Spirit Bomb was something of a long shot to begin with. At this point Dabura wont last nearly long enough for a second attempt."
"So, what?" Vegeta asked. "You're just giving up?"
Goku shook his head again. "No." he said. "The Spirit Bomb was the Supreme Kai's plan, but there is another way. Or... might be, anyway. I'm not entirely sure it would be enough without Bardock. It might be, but if we're going to have any chance at all... you're going to have to be a fast learner."