Chapter Seventy - Last Resort
Raven sat in her chair staring at the monitors, watching the numbers slowly climb, watching freedom slowly draw closer, and slowly gripping the arms of the chair tighter and tighter. She'd felt the metal start to give way beneath her fingers a couple of minutes ago but had barely registered that fact. It was unimportant. Nothing mattered except the numbers on the screen. Except success.
She could almost feel the sunshine on her skin. Almost taste the fresh air. Smell the grass. Her mind kept wavering between excitement at escape at last... and terror of failure at the last moment. Until the field collapsed things could still go wrong. She couldn't stand the thought of something happening now. A set back this close would be...
Her thoughts trailed off as the numbers suddenly stopped going up. The increase had been steady and constant for the last eleven minutes, no variations of any kind. And now it stopped. Stopped just short of two million RADs, just barely over forty-five percent of what they needed. The halt in the numbers made her grip tighten on the arm rests, the metal collapsing completely under her grasp.
Set backs had happened before and she'd been able to brush them off, even major ones had been tolerable. She hadn't been able to see the end of the tunnel then, like she could now. To see freedom so close and have it pulled from her grasp would be... beyond words. Even just seeing the numbers stop like this she was verging on a panic attack.
"NO!" She suddenly cried, bolting upright and staring in horror and disbelief at the screen. The numbers had just vanished. Completely gone. Which could mean only one thing, the Spirit Bomb had been destroyed.
There was a flash of blue as a loud crack and burst of wind tore through the command room. Those stationed at the various terminals around the room cried out in surprise as the shockwave sent many of them flying. Others managed to hang on, just barely, until the energy burst faded.
Raven was clenching her hands so tightly her nails cut into her skin and drew blood. The red fluid dripping from her fingers as she shook in disbelief and despair. Failure! Now! It could take them weeks, months, to even figure out how to correct this. Who knew how many decades, centuries, or millennia they would need to go back to make their changes?!
"What's happened?" Razor asked, stepping into the command room, Raven's mate right behind him. Both had sensed her sudden power spike and come to see what had caused it. Raven simply motioned to the largest monitor in the room which now, instead of displaying a building power, showed only two words. Signal Lost.
Her mate frowned and Razor sighed. "So, something went wrong." he said, crossing his arms. "I had hoped it would succeed on the first attempt, but this is only a set back."
"I am SICK of set backs!" Raven cried, spinning to face him. "I'm sick of living in this place! This plan of yours has been coming apart at the seams for decades and I grow tired of it!"
"Easy, dear." her mate said, walking over to her. "I know how you feel but this wont help. Razor's the only reason we've got any chance at all."
She closed her eyes and sighed. "I know." she murmured. "I know, but I can't stand this anymore. I just. Want. OUT."
"And we will get out." said Razor calmly. "Time is, after all, on our side."
XXX
Makai, Mazoku Plane
Nefaria lashed out with a hard punch as Aku lifted her, but he easily dodged it, then twisted her around and wrapped an arm around her throat. Pulling her back against his body and tightening his grip he all but cut off her air supply. Before she could attempt to break free she felt a hand against her side and then her eyes snapped wide and she cried out in pain as a dozen hair thin beams of energy sliced clean through her abdomen.
"That's enough of that." he growled. "Now, be a good girl and watch your supposed victory fall to pieces."
Nefaria gasped for air, best she could with the arm pressed against her throat, grimacing against the pain as her body mended itself of the newest injuries. She knew she'd have to bid her time for the moment, any more attempts to escape and he'd just blast more energy through her, weakening her even more. She'd wait until he was distracted by the battle before making her move.
She turned her focus to the battle off in the distance just as Quietus threw his head back and started laughing. And then he stopped and a second later was flying into the sky. Not toward his opponent, just up, and she was confused. She lifted her gaze from the Demon and moved it skyward, following his trajectory, and a moment later spotted the flickering light in the air.
/What is that?/ she wondered. /Wait, could that.../ She stretched out her senses and found it after only a moment and her eyes widened. /That's incredible! There's enough power in that to completely obliterate me!/ She heard a gasp from behind her then and realized her captor had also sensed it out. /Or him, and he knows it./
That last thought brought her a little satisfaction. However, it lasted only a moment as she remembered the only reason she'd found the attack was because Quietus was heading directly toward it. The mortal had been discovered, the plan the Kais had concocted had just failed. That was bad. Really bad. Without the Spirit Bomb their only chance of success was Dabura defeating Quietus himself and, while not impossible, it would be extremely difficult.
Realizing how desperate things were quickly becoming Nefaria let out a sudden burst of energy and managed to break free from Aku's grasp. Turning around to face him again she thrust both of her arms out, quickly gathering energy in her palms. Before she could unleash the forming attack, however, Aku recovered and lunged in, slamming a fist into her abdomen and causing the gathered energy to disperse.
"What did I say?" he said, grabbing her by the hair and holding her up to eye level.
"You... felt that... up there." she said. "Still think... you can win?"
Aku scowled at her, then looked up into the sky again. "It was impressive." he said, the scowl dissolving into a smirk. "'Was' being the operative word."
She didn't need him to clarify. She'd felt the energy suddenly burst and fade. The attack was destroyed. Dabura was almost at the site now, as well, but it would be too little too late. She wasn't willing to just give up but... she had to admit the odds were very much not in their favor now.
XXX
Dabura, still racing skyward, had watched as Quietus reached the mortal and came to a stop. A second later the mortal fell from the sky, his ki vanishing as he did, and then a ball of energy surged up even higher into the sky where it impacted the forming Spirit Bomb. This close to the attack the explosion was blindingly bright and the shockwave slowed Dabura's approach by about a second. Not that another second mattered, he was already too late to save the plan.
By the time he reached Quietus's position the Demon had already turned to face him once again. Quietus dodged around the surging punch the Mazoku King had launched for his head, grabbed him by the ankle, and then pitched him down toward the ground miles below. He didn't go more than a hundred feet, however, before redirecting himself upward again. Quietus was already charging down and the two clashed a second later, exchanging blows and blocks at high speed.
"That was a nice try, Dabura." Quietus taunted. "I don't know how that mortal managed an attack like that, but it might have actually had a chance if I hadn't noticed it." He ducked down under a swing, then came up and slammed a fist into Dabura's stomach, doubling the Mazoku King over and snapping his eyes wide in pain. "But it's the only chance you're going to get. It's time to end this."
Pulling back he interlocked his fingers, raised his arms, and then slammed his fists down into Dabura's back driving him back toward the ground again. In a burst of black and red he shot down after him and smashed his knee into his back, then twisted around and kicked him in the side of the head. The blow sent him off at an angle and spun him over just as Quietus dove in again and started slamming blow after blow into his chest and abdomen.
Over a dozen miles, and nearly five hundred blows later, he landed one last kick to Dabura's chest sending him down the last thousand feet to crash into the ground only a just over a fifty feet from where Nefaria and Aku were. Quietus landed a few feet away a moment later and crossed his arms as he grinned.
"I've been waiting for this moment." he said. "True, I'd wanted to savor it a little longer but I think it better we just end this now. Can't have you pulling any more tricks like that last one, can we? Pure energy... never would have guessed you'd manage something like that. With a Shinkai Mortal, no less!" He chuckled then and shook his head. Now that the danger had passed, that Dabura was defeated, he was in the best mood he'd been in in millennia.
"Speaking of Shinkai Mortals..." he mused, cocking his head slightly. "Seems like that battle on Malchio's world has ended. I can no longer sense either of them, now. Seems that they killed each other, so... no reinforcements are coming. Too bad."
Dabura rolled onto his side and coughed up blood. The damage that had been done on Quietus's last assault had been severe but his body was mending. If he could keep Quietus talking, gloating, for a few moments longer he could recover enough to resume the fight. He groaned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked up at Quietus.
"This war of yours isn't over yet." he said.
"No? I think it looks like it's over to me. I mean, here you are, broken, about to die. With you gone Makai will be wholly under my control."
"But not Shinkai." Dabura said with a laugh.
Quietus scowled. "An issue I will correct." he said. "One Neikan's already gone to work on."
The Mazoku King laughed again. "Are you so sure he can succeed after what you've felt here in the last fifteen minutes?"
Quietus's scowl deepened. He hated to admit it but Dabura had a point. True, Neikan outclassed the two Mortals that had fought on Malchio's world, as well as the third one that had been making that attack, but... In sufficient numbers they could take him. Or another pure energy attack like the one he'd just destroyed could be made. The attack he'd just taken out would have been enough to kill any of the Supreme Mazoku, even Neikan. The scowl faded after a second, however, and he shrugged.
"Doesn't matter." he said, pointing an arm toward Dabura and gathering energy in front of his open palm. "Even if they kill him I can still take out the Kais myself. They wont have you or your magic this time around. Besides..." he smirked a little then, and said his next words only loud enough for Dabura to hear. "None of them would live much past my success anyway."
He was just about to unleash his attack when two powers, quite small compared to the others gathered around him, suddenly appeared a few yards to his right. He turned his gaze their way and his eyes widened in surprise for a moment. One of the two looked like the mortal he'd found creating that pure energy attack and, for a moment, he thought it was the same man. But no, just an extremely similar appearance.
Across the way Goku lowered his fingers from his forehead and took his other hand off Vegeta's shoulder. He spotted Dabura and Nefaria right away, and noted the situations both were in, but his mind was busy searching for his father's ki. Ever since he'd noticed it missing he'd been hoping he'd just been knocked unconscious, his power too low to sense through those of the Mazoku and Quietus. But even here he couldn't sense him.
"It's no good, I still can't sense him." he muttered, before turning his attention fully to the scene before him. Dabura was down, though not completely out. Nefaria was being held by one of the Mazoku and clearly not in any condition to fight anymore. Quietus was... powerful. Stronger than he'd imagined when he first heard about him, and it was exciting. But also problematic.
"Man, I'm not sure this will work without Bardock. But... I guess there's no other choice but to try. Come on, Vegeta."
"No. No way."
Goku froze mid movement and then turned to look at his companion. "Huh, what? Why not?"
"I... I'm not doing... that! It looks ridiculous!"
"But... it's the only chance we have!"
"I am a Royal! We do not... prance about in such ridiculous fashion!"
"Vegeta, come on! What was the point in teaching you if you wont do it? Bardock's gone, so I can't do it with him. It's you and me or nothing, and then this Quietus guy wins! If we don't stop him we can't wish Bulma and the others back!"
Vegeta clenched his jaw for a moment and then sighed as his shoulders sagged. "Alright, alright, fine! I'll do it. But JUST this ONCE, Kakkarotto. You hear me?"
Goku smiled and nodded. "Right! Besides, if we don't get it on the first try I doubt we'll have time for a second."
The three Mazoku and the Demon standing a few yards away watched the exchange in a mix of disbelief and confusion. The pair didn't seem the least bit perturbed by the scene they'd come upon. By the presence of Aku or Quietus. And their conversation made no sense at all. And then the pair begin to go through a bizarre series of motions. Sticking their legs out at odd angles, shuffling sideways, bending at the wasit to touch fingertips, and then...
"Fuuu... sion... ha!"