Chapter Eighty-three - The Ultimate Fusion
Everyone stared wide-eyed and open mouthed as Godock easily knocked Quietus flying and then, golden aura pulsing and blue energy sparking around it, gave chase. They could all feel his power, and it was even more incredible than his opponent's. The fusion quickly over took the Demon and launched into a furious barrage of attacks all too fast for anyone watching to see. The assault was relentless and overpowering and after a few seconds a thundering kick sent the Demon careening toward the ground below.
Godock chased Quietus toward the ground and reached his impact point a couple seconds after the Demon, thrusting out an arm and slamming a fist into his stomach as he reached him. The impact drove Quietus even deeper, shattering the ground and widening the crater. A moment later there was a burst of red and Godock was driven back up into the sky.
Quietus surged up after Godock and the two had locked into a close range flurry of punches, kicks, dodges, and blocks. The pair rose higher and higher as they continued their exchange, an exchange that was nothing more than an invisible blur to those watching. While they couldn't see it, Godock had the advantage. More of his attacks landed while he also was avoiding or blocking most of his opponent's attacks.
A resounding bang echoed across the Grand Kai's world a second later as Godock landed a solid right hook to Quietus's jaw, spinning the Demon around and knocking him back. Though they couldn't see the battle those below could all tell that the fusion was in complete control of the fight. He was about to gave chase when Quietus suddenly let out a cry, came to a stop, and released a burst of ki as his power jumped up even higher.
Godock paused for a second and frowned, he was still stronger than the Demon but the difference was considerably smaller now. Before the power up he'd had a solid advantage. While victory hadn't been guaranteed he'd expected it to be relatively easy. Now they were pretty closely matched. Winning would be considerably harder. Especially with his time limit. His frown suddenly faded into a grin. Things just got more interesting.
Still grinning, the fused Sai-jin shot in toward Quietus, who suddenly thrust an arm out and unleashed a rapid spray of energy blasts. Godock zipped around them, easily dodging them as he charged the Demon, who he reached a moment later, lashing out with a hard kick for his head. Quietus ducked it, however, and then came up aiming an uppercut at the other's stomach. Godock attempted to slip out of the way but was unable to avoid the attack completely and the Demon's fist slammed into his thigh.
The fusion felt his leg go numb even as he lashed out with the other, slamming his heel into the Demon's chest and driving him back. Moving in he smashed his elbow into Quietus's face, eliciting a how of pain from the Demon. His nose had already been fractured by the fusion's initial attack, this latest one had more than likely broken it, and fresh blood flowed from his nose. Godock didn't give him time to recover, to think, and charged right back in again.
As he reached him he slammed a knee into his stomach, doubling him over, then brought his arm down and jammed his elbow into the back of the Demon's neck. He went to follow that up with yet another attack but before he could he felt a hand press against his stomach and then there was a thundering bang as an energy blast slammed into him, point blank. The blow sent him surging backward and before he could recover from it the Demon had caught up to him and smashed a foot into his back. Quietus then reached out and grabbed his head before diving toward the ground below.
A moment later they reached the surface and the Demon moved to smash the fused Sai-jin face first into the ground at full speed but, just before impact, the Demon's hand suddenly closed around nothing and his empty fist slammed into the ground. Godock reappeared behind him and lashed out with a hard kick to the small of his back that sent Quietus surging off into the distance. The gathered Demons and warriors watching the battle scattered out of the way as Quietus shot by, Godock giving chase.
By the time the fusion caught up to him the Demon had recovered, spun around, and managed to block the follow up attack and then launch a counter. Godock ducked and dodged it, then his eyes widened as he realized the counter and been a feint. The realization came to late to avoid the knee that slammed into his chin, snapped his head back, and drove him back into the sky. Quietus followed him up and the two locked into another flurry of attacks, the Demon scowling and the Sai-jin grinning the entire time.
As the battle wore on Quietus grew more and more enraged. Furious that he was so close to ascension and this Mortal had interfered. That every time he thought victory was within his grasp something got in the way. With a cry the Demon suddenly shot backward, surging away from his opponent, and thrust his arms out toward him. The sky around the Demon suddenly began to darken as purple and white light sparked around his hands.
"Death Cannon!" the Demon roared as a massive wave of black energy suddenly exploded from his hands, surging toward Godock. The fusion's eyes widened in shock and he quickly thrust both of his own arms out, his aura swelling out and shifting into a swirling sphere around his entire body turning him into a miniature sun. And then Godock's dual voice rang out.
"Rising Sun!" Suddenly part of the sphere bulged and erupted, a beam of golden energy surging out to meet the Demon's attack. The incoming wave of dark energy had almost been upon him when he'd launched his counter, the two attacks slammed into each other only five feet from where the fusion floated. There was a bright flash as they met, the two attack stalled for a second, and then with a cry from Godock his attack suddenly began to surge forward again.
Quietus's eyes widened in disbelief as the incoming attack shoved his aside like it was nothing. He soon realized it would overtake him completely. Just before it reached him he ended his attack and quickly brought one of his wings up in front of him.
XXX
"This is incredible." Mikomi said as she, Dabura, Nefaria, Vegeta, and Videl all landed near Zenryou and Kibito, while watching the fight to the best of their abilities. "I've never felt powers this incredible before. Never dreamed it was even possible. Zenryou, do you know what they did?"
"Hmm, if I had to guess..." Zenryou mused. "That was the Metamorian Fusion technique. Though I hadn't known it could endure this much stress."
"Stress? What do you mean?" asked Vegeta.
"While most biological merger abilities, such as Namekian Fusion, are permanent, only a few magical or ki based techniques are." Zenryou explained. "The vast majority of such abilities, Metamorian Fusion included, are temporary. In those techniques the two beings are not fully united into one, a degree of separation and individuality, both physical and spiritual, remains. This makes them unstable, and that instability is why they are temporary.
"The instability causes them to naturally break down over time, eventually failing and resulting in the individuals separating again. The more power the merged being has the greater the stress placed on the unstable body. The more stress that's placed on a merged being the faster the merger collapses. This is the first I've seen a temporary technique able to withstand the stress of powers this great. Every other technique would fail before the merged being could even reach Olibu's maximum."
Mikomi turned to look at the Grand Kai as she spoke again. "I would much like to meet one of these Metamorians." she said.
Zenryou sighed. "Unfortunately, there are none here now. The Metamorian home world was utterly destroyed about two years ago. The two Metamorians staying here at the time, the pair that must have taught Goku and Bardock, chose to leave my world for Heaven after that. To be with the rest of their people who had made it there."
"Destroyed?" Videl asked. "How?"
"A rising empire in the South Galaxy." Zenryou replied with a frown. "The same that wiped out Kibito's people three hundred years ago. They sought to conquer the Metamorians, the Metamorians resisted, and the empire came to fear the power of their fusion. In the end, the entire planet was destroyed."
"That's awful..." Videl said.
"Sadly, it is all too common." Mikomi said, shaking her head. "I've seen it happen far too many times."
"Can't you do something?" she asked.
"No." Dabura said, answering for Mikomi. "Mortals are free to live their own lives, and must take care of their own problems. The Kais, like the Mazoku, can not interfere in the natural course of the universe. It is not our place. Our duty is to safeguard our Realms from threats beyond the natural. Threats to the survival of the Realms as a whole."
"We can not know the future." Mikomi said. "We can not know what may come from any course of action. What good may rise from the bad, what harm we may inadvertently cause with our good intentions. Frieza killed billions during his life, wiped out numerous civilizations but, as I have come to understand, without him Goku would never have become a Super Sai-jin. And without that we would not now have this chance at victory, this chance to save both Realms from complete destruction."
Videl frowned, but didn't say anything else. After a moment she peeled her eyes away from the battle and looked around the area as another, more pressing, matter came to her. "Where's Gohan?" she asked. "Goku said he told him to come back."
There was silence for almost a full minute before Zenryou finally spoke up. "Shortly after Quietus increased his power he killed Tien, who'd created the Spirit Bomb. Then targeted Gohan, likely because he'd proven to be almost as powerful as Mikomi. Unfortunately, Yamcha and Hotaru were at the same location. None of them made it."
"N-no way." Videl said, wide-eyed. /G-Gohan's dead? That... that can't be./ She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, reaching out with her senses to find some evidence that the Grand Kai was mistaken. That Gohan was still alive. What she felt a moment later made her eyes snap open again and she whirled toward the energy.
Pale blue skin. White hair. She hadn't been mistaken about what she'd felt. It was the Demon she'd fought in Hell. She, like everyone else, was staring skyward in disbelief and wonder, trying to watch the on going battle. Videl's shocked expression soon faded into a scowl and in a burst of gold she transformed, charging toward the Demon.
Paine barely sensed her approach before she arrived. The powers of Godock and Quietus where overpowering nearly everything else. Videl was nearly upon her before she noticed the Sai-jin coming. And even then it took her mind a few seconds to catch up, to forget about the powers overhead and to place the energy approaching her as the Mortal she'd fought the day before, down in Hell. To remember she was the one killed by Akuhei.
By the time her mind caught up, by the time she realized the girl had no idea what had happened between her death and now, by the time she realized the charging Sai-jin still saw her as an enemy, it was too late. Too late to react, too late to attempt to defend or dodge, too late to do anything but flinch as a fist came surging at her face. There was a crack as the blow hit and the near-by warriors scattered, determined to get out of the way.
The blow knocked the unprepared Paine flying and, with a cry, Videl gave pursuit. The Demon recovered quickly, however, and brought her arm up to block the kick that the half Sai-jin had sent at her head. All the while her mind was racing to try and find someway to convince her that she was not an enemy. A difficult task under most circumstances, one much harder given their history, limited though it was.
Fortunately, she was not left to accomplish this on her own. Videl had pulled back after her kick had been blocked and was attempting another punch when, suddenly, someone appeared between them. The figure caught the incoming punch with a loud crack, stopping it dead. It took both women a moment to realize the new arrival was Mikomi. The Supreme Kai released Videl's hand a second later and the Sai-jin drifted back a couple feet, clearly confused.
"She is not our enemy." Mikomi said.
"What?" Videl asked, uncomprehending. "She's a Demon. She's the one I fought in Hell!"
"I know." Mikomi said. "Gohan and Paine explained the events in Makai. She has abandoned Quietus and his cause. She was the one who helped Gohan to return here, and she aided him in his battle with one of the Supreme Mazoku."
Videl clenched her jaw, clearly not convinced. "She's part of the reason we're in this mess right now. If she hadn't been waiting for us in Hell then Vegeta and I wouldn't have been captured. Goku and Bardock wouldn't have been separated. They could have fused in Makai and defeated Quietus there. And then Gohan wouldn't be dead!"
"If you don't want to trust her, then trust Gohan." said Mikomi. "He offered her refuge. He chose to bring her to Shinkai. To trust her to lead him back here. He believed she was sincere in her desire to leave Quietus and his war behind."
Videl continued to scowl, jaw still clenched, but her hair and eyes shifted back to normal again. "Fine." she said. "But I'm still keeping my eye on her. Gohan can be too... naive for his own good, sometimes." Any response Paine intended to make was cut off by a blinding flash and tremendous explosion that shook the entire planet.
XXX
After Quietus ended his attack Godock's Rising Sun continued on the last few feet unopposed. By the time it reached him, however, the Demon already had his wing up between him and it. The attack slammed into the wing and the fusion let up, knowing it was futile to continue at that point, and the attack exploded creating a billowing dust cloud and sending the Demon flying backwards, smoke wafting from his wing. Even as Godock charged through the dust cloud in pursuit, he scowled. Those wings were annoying him as much as they had Gogeta.
Quietus slid to the side as the fusion reached him, avoiding the punch that had been aimed at his head, and then thrust his own arm forward. Godock saw it coming, saw the Demon's open hand start to glow, and his eyes widened as he quickly jerked back and to the side. The hand sailed past his head, missing him by several inches, but he still felt a stinging pain across his cheek.
Pulling back a few feet, putting a little distance between them, he reached his fingers up and touched his cheek. He felt the burning sting intensify for a moment and when he pulled them away there was blood on the tips. Or whatever it was that passed for blood when you were dead, at least. Either way, his cheek had been cut despite the fact Quietus had never touched him.
/That was the same technique he killed Gogeta with./ Godock thought, shifting his eyes from his fingers and back toward his opponent. /Dangerous, whatever it is. Its got the cutting potential of an energy di.../ Suddenly, Godock smirked. He thrust his arms out to either side as energy began to glow around his wrists. The energy then expanded outward, growing into halos three feet across.
Reaching full width they moved out across his hands coming to a stop about six inches from his outstretched fingers. There, energy grew out from the inner edge of the rings, closing up the hole and turning them into discs. Smirking more Godock whipped his arms forward, the right one first and the left an instant later, pitching the discs at Quietus.
The Demon scowled as the two discs covered the short distance between them in less than a second. He quickly moved backward while twisting to the right, allowing the two discs to zip right past him. Turning toward his opponent again his scowl deepened as he saw two more discs on their way. Just beyond them he saw Godock about to launch two more. He slipped around one of the two already on its way, then lashed out with a wing and deflected the other away.
He intended to charge the Sai-jin at that point but, by then, Godock had already unleashed the next pair of discs. And Quietus saw he wasn't preparing more, he was holding his arms out and moving his hands and fingers around. As he realized that, and its implications, he quickly swerved through the air. But not soon enough. One of the previous energy discs had come surging back at him and sliced a deep gash across his lower back.
An instant later another zipped by his head, only inches away from cutting off an ear. Then another darted past, Quietus just getting his arm out of the way. A third slashed past, tearing a grove through his calf. The Demon cried out in pain, frustration, and anger even as he brought a wing up and blocked a forth. The disc spun and spun, trying to slice through the appendage, but was making no progress.
The other discs were still darting around, however, and one of them cut across the Demon's bicep. He let out a cry of shock and pain and jerked away from the disc. As he did so his wing moved and the attack it had been holding back suddenly surged forward again, charging for his head. He tilted it back out of the way at the last second, saving his neck, but the blade still sliced off part of one of his eyebrow horns.
Quietus spun around once, ranging his eyes across the sky around him, looking for each of the discs locations. Four of them were moving away from him at the moment, each at a different point in their turns back toward him. They were all several seconds away. The other two were on their way back to him, one of them almost upon him. Once he knew where they all were he burst his ki out all around him, but sending the bulk of it toward the two discs charging at him.
The energy burst deflected the two discs off course and the first zipped harmlessly by him, missing by several feet, just a moment later. By then, however, he'd already turned his attention back toward his opponent. With a cry he thrust an arm out toward Godock, palm open, as though intending to hit him despite how far away he was. Though he saw nothing coming at him from the Demon the Sai-jin sensed danger and reacted on instinct, dodging to the side.
His eyes widened in shock an instant later as a violent explosion erupted on the ground a few hundred yards behind him, forging a crater nearly a mile across. His shock turned to concern as Quietus thrust his other arm out in the same fashion. Quickly he dodged to the side again, and again a massive explosion thundered behind him a moment later. As he moved he reached out with his energy and tried to take control of the energy discs again, but before he could another attack was coming and he had to quickly dodge again, breaking his concentration before he could grasp any of the discs.
Another blast exploded behind him a moment later, but even as it did Godock was already reaching out with his energy again. Even as Quietus moved to attack once more he grabbed hold of the nearest disc and directed it back toward them again. This time, when the attack came, instead of moving aside the fusion simply vanished from where he'd been floating. The single disc he'd managed to redirect slashed through the air at that moment as well, but missed hitting the Demon by a couple feet.
Godock reappeared again fifty yards behind the Demon, well out of the way of the attack. Even from his new vantage point, however, he was unable to see what the attack was or where it was until the ground erupted in massive flash and bang. Even as it was still blooming Godock was already acting, retaking control of his energy discs and directing them all back at his target.
Quietus scowled as he turned to face his opponent once more. The Demon twisted one way and then another as the energy discs reached him again. Twisting and turning and sliding through the air he continued doing his best to avoid the attacks. While he was able to avoid them on most passes, and avoid any direct hits, he wasn't able to avoid them entirely. Every few passes one of the discs would bite into him and slice its way across a part of his body.
After nearly thirty seconds of this, numerous close calls and dozens of new cuts and gashes, the Demon's anger boiled over and in a roar of anger and frustration and hate he released another massive burst of ki. Unlike the previous one this one wasn't directed at anything, wasn't calculated. Just an uncontrolled release of ki. The shockwave forced all six discs to veer wildly off course.
The dead warriors and Demons below scattered as two of them came careening toward the ground. One of them arced and curved upward again before reaching the crowd, the other slashed down into the ground in a burst of dust and made its turn under their feet, out of sight. It shot back up a few dozen feet away, shooting out of the dirt and trailing a cloud of debris behind it as it surged back up. The other four had been blown off in different directions through the sky but were soon arcing back as well.
However, before any of them had even begun to turn back, Quietus had locked his eyes on Godock once again. A look beyond rage, beyond hatred, beyond any describable emotion, burning in his gaze. The look was unsettling enough, but the change to his energy had Godock's nerves tingling, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end, every inch of his being on edge.
Bardock had felt it when he'd first sensed the Demon's energy. The way it churned beneath the surface. How the control he presented was an illusion, a thin facade. How close he was to losing control. To slipping into a wild, unreasonable, insane frenzy of power and violence. Now he'd felt that thin layer of restraint shatter. The glint of insanity in Quietus's eyes was nothing compared to the uncontrolled chaotic frenzy of his ki. Hate and death radiated from him like nothing Godock had ever felt before.
"I've had it with this wretched world!" he roared. "I will show you true power, I will tear this Realm to the ground! When I'm through with you THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT!"
That's when the Demon slammed his hands together before him as though in prayer. Wisps of darkness and black smoke began to draw in from the air, from the Demons gathered below them, and toward Quietus. The fusion gritted his teeth and reached his arms out, focusing all his mind on the energy discs, on directing them back at his opponent. He recognized this, knew what this was, and was determined to stop it.
However, by the time the discs were within striking distance a raging twister of energy and darkness had already engulfed Quietus. But there was something different about this twister than those he'd seen before. It wasn't the same as the one that had enveloped Maku or Vegeta. Those had just been swirling vortexes of dark energy and smoke. This had bursts of red, black, and purple lightning like energy surging around and through it.
Suddenly one of those streamers of energy broke away from the dark twister and lashed out across the ground, gouging out a trench thirty feet across and over a hundred yards long. Another shot out into the sky, a third surged out and struck the Grand Kai's mansion destroying a large section of it in a violent explosion. While those below scattered clear of the twister and the bolts of energy that continued to snap out form it Godock ignored them and focused on the energy discs, guiding them in toward the cyclone.
The turbulence around the swirling pillar of energy made controlling the discs difficult. Godock kept losing control of one or two and the rushing winds would blow them off course, shove them away from their target. He managed to get one just to the edge of the twister before the chaotic fury around it ripped the disc from his control and sent it surging off in the other direction. It went nearly fifty feet before he managed to get it back under control again.
And then another burst of lightning like energy snapped away from the vortex, lashing out across the planet. He saw one of the discs heading right into its path, tried to divert it around the energy streamer, but was unable to change its course enough. The bolt of black lightning sliced through the disc, shattering it. He ignored the loss of that disc and focused on the other five, looping them around so they were between him and the twister, then sending them in at the Demon in a straight line. He'd try to use the lead discs to cut a path for the ones behind.
Still three feet away the first disc was suddenly torn off course. Ripped away from his control so violently that it warped and then shattered. The other four continued on, undaunted. The first slammed into the twister an instant later, was caught up in the swirling energy, and vanished. Then the second hit and it shared a similar fate, but before it was lost it managed to cut a small gash through the energy. The third followed, reaching the hole created by the second just before it sealed over. It, too, was shredded by the twister but the hole widened.
Then the fourth disc arrived and the hole was large enough for it to fit through twister. With only one surviving disc Godock hoped his aim had been on target. He'd been trying to take off the Demon's neck but he wasn't entirely sure that Quietus had remained in the same place after the twister had formed, or that the rushing winds within the energy hadn't sent the disc flying off course after it punched through. He got his answer two seconds later as, with a sudden roar, the twister exploded.
Godock scowled through the glare of the explosion, braced himself to hold firm against the shockwave created as it burst open, and clenched his fists in frustration. He could see his energy disc, it had made it through the twister just fine But it had been caught by the newly transformed Quietus. A second later the Demon closed his hand and the disc shattered.
The Demon's appearance had changed significantly, everything about him was different. If Godock hadn't witnessed the change he wouldn't have known it was the same person. A moment ago he'd been seven foot tall, now was just over five feet. His muscles, though still large and well defined, were no longer bulging at the seams. The short, spikey, green hair had turned into a long, flowing, golden mane.
Bone white horns jutted out of the top of his head, from a few inches above his eyes, angling backward and curving slightly. At their base they were easily a foot around and they were nearly three feet long, the tips pointing directly behind him. His pure red eyes had been replaced by pools of darkness glowing with faint purple light. His nose was gone, the entire lower half of his face jutting out in a short snout. The red skin was gone, replaced now by glossy dark purple scales over his entire body. Bone white spikes, about a foot in length, grew outward from his shoulders.
The power the Demon had gained with this change was considerable, though certainly not insurmountable. /But in twenty minutes?/ Godock thought, scowling. He'd already burned through ten minutes of his fusion time. Only twenty remained, and now he was facing an opponent stronger than him. Overcoming him in the time he had left would be difficult. Of course, if Quietus gave him a moment to gather his power and...
"The time is at hand." Quietus suddenly said, his voice completely different than before. It was deep and rumbling, and unlike any voice anyone present had ever heard. Like the sounds weren't being made by vocal chords but, rather, all manners of things. They could hear in it so much more than a voice. There was the rubbing together of cricket legs, the rushing of rivers, the roaring crackle of stars, the groan of glaciers shifting, the sound of beating hearts, the rumble of thunder.
There was that, and there was more. So much more. His voice was everything, the sounds of the universe coming together to form words. "I am become Death, Destroyer of Realms. Lament, for the end has come at last. Rejoice, for the end has come at last." As he spoke he raised his arms in front of him, hands slightly apart, fingers bent in toward each other.
Then there was a spark of black, a flash of red, and suddenly an odd ball of energy flared to life between his hands. It seemed to have a white glow about its edges, though its core looked like transparent swirling blackness. Arcs of red and purple energy crackled across its surface as the Demon raised its arms and held the energy ball over its head like a trophy.
As Quietus raised his head to gaze up at the ball he spoke again. "Relinquish all hope. Relinquish all fear. The end of all things has come. Enter the embrace of oblivion. Void Rupture!" The ball of energy over his head suddenly swelled in size, growing to a hundred feet across in an instant. The black core swirled around and around, like water down a drain, but for several seconds nothing else seemed to happen.
And then everything shuddered. Not just the Grand Kai's world. Not just ground beneath the feet of those below. Godock felt it all around him. Everything seemed to move, the very air in which he floated bucked around him for nearly a second. It was all he could do not to lose his balance as some invisible force tried to toss him about. Those below hadn't fared nearly as well, all had fallen over from the shaking, some knocked flying.
As Mikomi had fallen her eyes had widened in pure terror. She had felt what Godock had felt. Though her feet had been on the ground, and she had felt the world quaking beneath her shoes, she had also felt the very space around her shudder. She had also seen something that the fused Sai-jin had not. During the shaking, for a fraction of a second, she'd seen a crack of pure white form in the sky, then suddenly close again. A tear. Not in the planes but in the Realm itself.
"Wh-what was that?" Videl stammered.
Mikomi swallowed and when she spoke, it was barely over a whisper. "That... that was a Realm quake." she said, climbing back to her feet.
"What's that?" asked Pikkon.
"A very bad sign." answered Dabura. "A sign that Realm is beginning to fail. Shinkai is collapsing. No doubt Quietus's doing."
Mikomi nodded. "He's lost his mind." she said. "He's trying to destroy the entire Realm." She turned her gaze from Quietus to the only hope they had left and called up to him. "Godock! You have to stop him, quickly, or everything will be destroyed!" Even as she called up another quake hit, knocking her over.