NOTE: Welcome to 2023! What is something you guys are looking forward to this year? Personally, I'm looking forward to Spider-Man! Both the Insomniac game and Across the Spider-Verse.

Zangya's outfit will be revealed later.

In regard to Zancrow, I will admit that originally, I had no plan for him to be a part of the Core Area Warriors. But then I remembered that he uses God Slaying Magic and that WOULD be useful for Hearts. So, yes, expect his crazy ass to appear as well. Will be a very interesting set of battles for the next arc.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 4: Battle for the Dragon Balls

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: "GREEN"

"...za…!"

"Mgh…"

"...Er…!"

"W-wha…" The scarlet knight groaned. Her entire body was burning up as if she was coming down with some sort of fever. Erza's eardrums were ringing from the constant booms that were shaking everything around her. She fought through the pain to open her eyes, seeing a familiar head of pink hair. "Natsu…?"

"OI! Erza, if you don't wake up right now, I'm gonna burn off all your hair-GUH!" The Fire Dragon Slayer was slugged in the jaw by a metal fist, sending him spiraling into the dirt.

"Natsu got K.O'ed!" Erza heard Happy's exclamation.

"Guess, that means Erza's feeling better now." Gray's voice was next.

"Is this normal?" This voice was obviously male, but the knight didn't recognize it.

"Yup. That's Erza and Natsu." Wendy's voice answered.

Erza slowly sat up, fighting against the urge to lay her body back down. When the knight was fully upright, she took notice of her friends looking at her with concern, Lucy and Happy checking up on Natsu, Mai, and one unfamiliar man standing next to her.

"Erza!" Wendy was at her side in a second. "Are you okay? Do you remember anything?"

Erza held her face. "I remember that Cumber attacking us with that black energy, but after that I don't remember anything."

"It was the same way with Goku. He didn't remember anything after waking back up." Carla said.

"Goku?" Erza looked around for the Earth-raised Saiyan, only to see he was nowhere to be found along with Vegeta. "Where is he and Vegeta? Not only that, but I also don't see Cumber either."

BOOM!

SMASH!

CRASH!

BOOM!

Everyone braced themselves as the shockwaves pulsated harshly against the planet. The scarlet knight widened her eyes at the sight before her, two powerful beings clashing violently in the sky. A warrior in blue with a bright blue aura dealt a flurry of well-aimed kicks into Cumber's torso. The monster of a Saiyan roared like a gorilla, grabbing the warrior's leg and bashing him into the ground.

"Who is that!?" Erza gasped.

Trunks answered. "That is Vegito. The fusion of my father and Goku."

"Wait! 'Father'? You must be Trunks!" Erza realized.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you." Trunks smiled at her.

"What did you mean by 'fusion'?" Gray asked.

"Well, the type of fusion they did is the Potara Fusion. It's a technique that involves merging two people together to create an even stronger person." Trunks explained. "And it's not like the fusion is sharing both minds. But both personalities fuse as well to create an entirely new one."

"So, the fusion is a completely different person?" Wendy realized.

"Exactly."

Erza hummed. "It sounds similar to a Unison Raid."

"A Unison Raid?" Mai asked.

"A Unison Raid is a powerful ability that allows two mages of similar magic to unite together to create a powerful attack." Erza explained.

"I see. I'm starting to notice some similarities between some of us.' Trunks said, his eyes turning to Natsu.

Erza nodded her head, standing back up. "It's time we head back into battle-"

"No way! Erza, you're still not feeling well!" Wendy argued.

"Besides as much as I hate to say it there's nothing any of us can do against Cumber. We have no choice but to leave it up to my father and Goku." Trunks added.

"There has to be something we can do." Gray glared at the ongoing battle. The Ice-Make mage hated that he had gone down so easily beforehand, he was grateful that Natsu and Trunks had appeared when they did but it pissed him off that he was saved by Natsu.

"There is!" Natsu yelled, jumping back up. "It's called attack!"

"That is a horrible plan." Mai sighed.

"Will you think for once!" Lucy slapped him on the head. "You wanna jump back into that!" She pointed at the battle between Saiyans. Vegito and Cumber's fists were colliding against one another, cracking the air around them like glass. "I can feel my skin shaking all the way over here! It's like two Acnologia fighting up there!"

"Exactly, that's why I gotta get back into that fight!"

"Why do I even bother with you…?" Lucy groaned.

Wendy looked over at Cooler, who was standing to the side. "I can heal you if you want."

Cooler slightly turned his head to her. "Tch. I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity, it's called being a good person." Wendy said firmly.

Cooler glared at her smaller form. "Pah! There are no such thing as good people. Everyone has an agenda that they wish to achieve behind every action." He pointed at Natsu and Trunks. "You think I saved their lives, because it was the right thing to do? I merely required their usage at the time and once all of the Dragon Balls are in my possession, I'll have no more use for any of you."

"Hm. I couldn't agree more."

Cooler whipped around to see who snuck up on him, only to receive a right hook to his jaw, knocking him back into the ground. Everyone else got on high alert, shocked that this new arrival had managed to sneak up on them without any of them noticing. Especially Gray, who could sense a familiar air around this guy.

This new threat was a tall horned demon with three red eyes. His body is a variety of colors: his skin being pink, his hips, chest, and shoulders being black, his scale-esque areas being blue, and his armored areas being dark pink.

"This guy…" Gray furrowed his brows.

"What is it, Gray?" Lucy asked.

"Can you feel that, Natsu? Wendy?" Gray asked the two. The Dragon Slayers nodded their heads, the smell coming from the creature was putting them off in a different way than Cumber did, but similar to foes they've battled in the past.

"He smells like a demon." Natsu said, shocking the other Fairies.

"A demon!?" Happy exclaimed.

"Like Zeref's?" Erza asked.

"No, but it's a bit similar." Wendy answered.

The demon turned to them, smiling creepily. "Rest assured I have no intention of battling the rest of you. I only came here to grab what I needed. Though, it seems that now might not be the best time for the rest." He raised his hand, showing the two Dragon Balls the group had in their possession already.

"The Dragon Balls!?" Trunks shouted.

Cooler, getting back on his feet, hissed in fury. "How did you-"

"If I were you, I'd keep better attention on my possessions." The demon conjured a portal. "We'll be seeing each other again very soon." He said before vanishing within it.

"Wait!" Trunks ordered as Cooler began charging for the portal. The alien ruler turned to the rest of the group.

"Those who can fight hurry after him! We're getting those Dragon Balls back!" Cooler ordered, heading into the portal.

"I said don't tell me what to do!" Natsu shouted, he grabbed Lucy's wrist. "Happy, keep an eye on things here, we'll be back!" He yelled to his partner.

"Aye sir!"

"N-Natsu wait!" Lucy cried as she was dragged through the portal.

Trunks was next to head into the portal. "Mai! Stay here!"

"Right!" She nodded her head.

Wendy and Gray were running into the portal as well with Erza right on their tail. "Erza, you-"

"If I can stand then I can fight, Wendy! Whatever that Cooler and demon have planned for those Dragon Balls isn't good. No matter what happens we can't let either keep their hands on them!" Erza shouted.

"She's right, Wendy. And I ain't letting Flame-brain get a head start!" Gray added. Wendy had no choice but to agree as the rest of the human Fairies entered the portal, the black mist disappearing right after. Leaving Mai and the Exceeds to watch the battle between the Saiyans.

"Do you think they'll be fine?" Carla couldn't help but worry.

"Of course, they will! Natsu and the others will get those Dragon Balls back!" Happy reassured her.

"And Trunks will make sure nothing goes wrong. We just have to keep an eye on things here." Mai said. The three turned their attention to the clash of titans.

"KAIOKEN!" Vegito shouted, a burst of red mixed with his blue. The Fusion's power increased 10-fold from the boost.

"HRAH!" Cumber's hair turned from black to gold, signifying his ability to turn into a Super Saian.

Vegito smirked. "So, you can do that too, huh? That's good, because this battle would be boring otherwise! Time to get serious!"

"In that case…" Cumber brought his palms together, a ball of strange energy formed between his palms. "Burst and mix!" He shot the ball into the air, creating an artificial moon. Vegito's eyes widened, realizing exactly what Cumber had planned. "Let me show you as well… How I look when I'm serious!" Cumber declared as his body increased in size, golden fur growing all over as his eyes turned bright red. The monster Saiyan finished his transformation into that of a Great Ape. Towering over the Fusion, human, and Exceeds.

"Holy moly!" Happy cried.

"What the hell is he!?" Carla was terrified by the transformation.

Vegito growled in agitation. "Dammit! I'll have to finish this quickly!"

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: UNKNOWN

Fu watched the feed of the demon interacting with the group. "Teleportation, huh? Well, that's certainly a convenient skill. I'm certain he's one of the people I gave a ball to. His name was…" The demon scientist hummed, trying to recall the name. "Oh, right, right! Ozotto! He's definitely an interesting subject!"

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: CHAOS

Cooler waited as Trunks and the Fairies stumbled out of the portal. Their new location was a desolate wasteland with black storm clouds storming over their heads. "Did you see where he went?" Trunks asked Cooler.

Cooler ignored him, searching around for their attacker. "I don't see him. Where's he hiding himself?"

"Are you sure chasing after him was a good idea?" Wendy asked.

"A good idea?" Cooler turned to her. "The bastard stole from me, and I didn't even realize it. That is an offense that I refuse to let pass, not only that, but from the way he spoke he seemed to have a good idea of where the rest of the Dragon Balls are."

"So, there's a chance that there's someone here with a Dragon Ball." Lucy realized.

"If there wasn't then he wouldn't have come here. Keep your powers hidden." Cooler ordered, sliding down the hill.

"Keep our powers hidden? What does that mean?" Natsu wondered.

"He means to suppress your KI, but I'm guessing you all don't know how to do that or have KI." Trunks answered.

"Even if we did, I doubt this idiot would have figured it out." Gray pointed at Natsu, who was in his face almost immediately.

"What was that, ice-stripper!?"

"You heard me, fire-crotch!"

"And they're right back to it…" Lucy sighed.

"Feels like we're getting back to normal." Wendy laughed nervously.

"Quit it!" Erza bashed their heads together. "This is a serious situation, and we can't have you two hurting each other!"

"But you just hurt them." Wendy, Lucy, and Trunks sweat dropped. The hybrid couldn't help but laugh, even though the situation was tense he was feeling at ease with the Fairies around. "C'mon, we should hurry." Trunks said, getting the others back on track. The group quickly caught up with Cooler and were shocked at the sight before them.

An entire army was laid to waste, dead soldiers were found all over but the one that caught Trunks' attention the most was… "King Cold!? Frieza's army too!?"

"Who?" Erza asked.

"My father, King Cold. And my brother's pathetic army." Cooler answered. "But these failures are the least of our worries." He turned to the black smoke that entered the wasteland, several strong power levels had invaded his senses. Trunks felt some familiar power levels too, gasping at the five enemies who walked out of the smoke.

"Cell and Bojack!?" Trunks exclaimed.

"Hey, that one looks like Goku!" Gray pointed at Turles.

"That other one looks like a smaller version of Buu, and I don't know who the last guy is but he's a Namekian from my guess." Trunks said, pointing at Kid Buu and Lord Slug.

Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Good that Bojuice guy is here! I owe this bastard an ass kicking!" Flames and lighting erupted around his body. "And no little bodyguards to protect you this time! Lightning Fire Dragon Mode!" The Salamander blasted forth at Bojack, who met the Slayer head on in a clash of fists.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, pulling out a key. "Star Dress: Cancer Form!" Lucy's outfit changed to match the zodiac. Her outfit was a qipao, with long wide sleeves and an obi. Below the waist are pieces of cloth hanging in the form of vertical stripes. As legwear, she wears knee-high socks, as well as flip-flops. In addition, Lucy's hair is tied up in two high pigtails, secured by round, pincer-shaped clips.

The Celestial mage swiftly moved after Natsu, using her enhanced speed to catch up with their movements. She raised both of her blades, blocking one of Bojack's attacks, she was shoved back by the force but was caught by Natsu. "Lucy?"

"Let's beat him together, Natsu!" Lucy hoped he would listen.

Natsu stared at her for a brief moment before smirking. "Alright then! Let's show this pirate bastard what Fairy Tail can do!"

"Aye sir!"

Natsu let her down and rushed Bojack. "Lightning Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!" The lightning infused flame punch embedded itself into the pirate's torso as Lucy jumped over Natsu's shoulders.

"Hyah!" She sliced an X across Bojack's chest and was surprised to see the pirate turn into black smoke. "What!?" She gasped.

"Lucy, watch out!" Natsu shouted as Bojack reformed right above her. He quickly jumped in the way between Lucy and the pirate. "Lightning Fire Dragon: Wing Attack!" He waved his arms, dispersing lightning and flames against Bojack.

Lord Slug fired a volley of KI blasts at Gray, who backflipped away from the Namekian. He slapped a fist into his palm, cold air swirling around his arms. "Ice-Make: Saucer!" He created a spinning ice disk, tossing it at his opponent. Slug was sliced in half by the disk, purple blood oozing from the attack. Gray's eyes widened at the wound he caused. "Crap! I figured he'd dodge that one!"

His concern lasted for a second as he watched Slug reform from the black smoke. "Oh, in that case! No need to hold back!" Black markings appeared on his arm. "Ice Devil: Zeroth Long Sword!" An ethereal long sword formed from Gray's palm. The ice mage swung the blade at Slug, forcing the Namekian to dodge. However, the cold air from the blade scratched his skin, freezing his arms. Slug tried to break free from it, but the ice refused to budge.

"Trust me. You're gonna have a tough time breaking through that ice!" Gray informed him before engaging in battle again.

Wendy dodged Turles onslaught of punches, the Sky Dragon Slayer raised her hand. "Sky Dragon: Wave Wind!" She generated a powerful tornado that blasted Turles backwards, but the Saiyan forced his way through it much to her surprise. "Well, you do look like Goku so maybe that's not too far-fetched. Hehe…" Wendy laughed nervously.

Turles opened his palm unleashing a torrent of energy blasts at the Dragon Slayer, Wendy got serious. "Sky Dragon: Momentary Wind!" Temporarily boosting her speed, Wendy swiftly evaded each blast, bringing herself right up front to Turles. "Sky Dragon: Claw!" Wendy brought down her leg for a devastating axe-kick on Turles' skull, engraving the Saiyan into the ground.

She watched with wide eyes as Turles reappeared in front of her from the black smoke, he grabbed her by the face and brought his knee into her gut. She coughed momentarily before getting blasted away by a KI wave. Wendy recovered her footing as Turles approached. "I can't afford to hold back!" She declared as her hair changed from blue to pink, signifying the activation of her Dragon Force. "Sky Dragon: Roar!" Her breath attack nailed Turles head on, sending him crashing into a mountain.

"Requip: Flight Armor!" Erza activated her magic. This armor is cheetah printed, and the outfit has a large collar around Erza's neck and a tail hanging from the back of her shorts, both made of bushy fur, plus a pair of large cheetah's ears adorning both sides of Erza's head. The knight's reason for using this armor was due to her needing to out speed the pink menace that was attempting to kill her.

Kid Buu's arms were protruding from the ground in attempts to grab her, but Erza's speed was outclassing his grab. The knight made for Kid Buu, raising her blades to stab him. "Sonic Cla-Kah!" Erza stopped suddenly as if her body wasn't responding properly. "W-what happened? M-my magic-Gah!" She cried as Buu's arm wrapped around her neck, strangling her to death.

"Hyah!" Trunks appeared in Super Saiyan form, swinging his sword through Buu and freeing Erza. "Erza! Are you okay!?" He asked as he held her in his arms.

Erza stood on her feet, returning to her normal armor. "Y-yes… I think so. There's just something going on with my magic. I can feel it but then it feels like there's something else there too."

Trunks felt through her energy to figure out what she meant, as he did so he felt her magic and then- "Wait. Is that-" Before he could finish the thought, Kid Buu reappeared in a black cloud of smoke. Trunks blocked the punch with his sword. "What the!? He just came back from that as if I didn't cut him!"

Erza looked at the rest of the battlefield. "And it's not just him. The rest of our friends are also dealing with that with their own opponents as well."

"Then we'll just have to keep fighting until they stop! Can you keep fighting?" He asked Erza.

The knight proudly stood on her feet. "Of course. Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" She changed into her blade heavy armor. "Circle Sword!" Erza declared as multiple swords circled around her body. "Dance, my blades!" Each one descended upon Kid Buu with fury. The crazy Majin shrieked like a wild animal taking each attack head on.

Golden Cooler bashed Cell's head in with his fists, turning the evil Android into black smoke. He huffed heavily, his wounds from his battle with Cumber still weighing heavily on him.

"Y-you've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you, Cooler…" Cooler turned around to see that King Cold was still breathing. "My son…" The king tyrant reached from behind him and pulled out the Four-Star Dragon Ball. "Take a look."

Cooler didn't show any emotion as he stared at his half-dead father, his attention was more focused on the Dragon Ball in his possession. "Now's the time to fight alongside me. Will you put that strength to use for your clan-No, won't you do this for me!?" King Cold pleaded.

"...An interesting proposal, Father." Cooler said before ending his father's life with a Death Beam through the heart. The Dragon Ball dropped from his lifeless hand and rolled towards Cooler. "Taking advantage of me? Don't make me laugh. Who do you think it was that taught us to never trust familial ties? I'll gratefully take that Dragon Ball. But this is as far as you go, King Cold."

From the mountain top, Ozotto watched the battle between the heroes and villains. "I have to thank those fools for attracting those troublesome smoke warriors." He stared down at the device that was creating them in the first place. "It allowed me to take my time to track down the source. By destroying this, those smoke warriors should disappear as well." He said. But before he could do so, the demon turned around. He grinned evilly at the opponent before him. They had a pink skin with red armor that covered it up. They had a blue oval shaped design on their arms, chest, and head which glowed brightly. "I'll happily take that Dragon Ball I sense from you." Ozotto said.

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: "GREEN"

Vegito evaded each swipe that Cumber's massive paws tried to land, and rushed right at the ape. Pushing him back with a flurry of blows that normally wouldn't hurt someone of that size. Vegito cupped his hands as Cumber powered up his own KI blast.

"FINAL KAMEHAMEHA!"

"RAAAAAAHHHH!"

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: UNKNOWN

"YES! YES! YES!" Fu cheered on the epic battle between Cumber and Vegito. "What an outstanding energy collision! This reading goes far beyond imagination! How amusing these 'Saiyans'!"

BEEP! BEEP!

"What!?" Fu stared at the other screen. It was live footage of the entirety of the Prison Planet. Which in actuality was a bunch of planets locked together by planet sized chains. What had Fu shocked was that the chains were breaking apart. "The chain's breaking!?" For once the scientist was serious. "Now this could be a problem!"

PLANET: PRISON PLANET

AREA: "GREEN"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

POP!

Goku and Vegeta blinked in shock as their Fusion wore off, leaving the two defenseless against Cumber's overwhelming attack!

"W-what happened!? Why did they defuse!?" Happy cried.

"The Potara runs on a time limit! Unless you're gods, then it isn't permanent!" Mai explained much to the Exceeds' shock.

"D-dammit! What crappy timing!" Vegeta said, preparing to block the attack.

"Our bodies are too worn out because of the Kaioken's backlash…" Goku heaved heavily. The two could only wait for the inevitable. That was until an unexpected person appeared between them and the attack.

Fu, who's skin was now an even darker purple and his hair spiked up, brought down his blade. "Time Cutter: Black Hole!" Fu created an X shaped black hole that sucked in Cumber's attack, saving Goku and Vegeta.

"Fu!? He saved us!?" Vegeta was shocked. "Forget about that. Who in the world is he? That enormous KI just now…" The Prince tried to figure out the scientist.

"Okay! I'm stopping the experiment for now!" Fu announced to the ones present. "Sorry, all. It seems I misjudged your power. It was my mistake for not properly reading the data. I hate to cut things off just as they were getting good, but… it'd be truly bad if the Prison Planet started breaking." As he was speaking Cumber was commencing an attack. Fu's eyes dangerously glared at the monster Saiyan. "For the time being, please disperse! Now, until the repairs are complete." Cumber wasn't listening to him at all. "I told you to disperse!" Fu took out his blades.

"Double sword style, Time Cutter: Surprise Blade!" The demon scientist teleported behind Cumber and cut off his tail. Without the appendage, Cumber returned back to his original state.

"D-Damn you! How dare you do that to my tail!" Cumber roared, angrily.

"He returned to normal!" Mai gasped.

"Maybe now they'll have a better chance to stop him!" Happy said.

"I wouldn't bet on that, Tom cat." Carla sighed.

Still hungry for battle, Cumber launched another wave of Evil KI at Goku and Vegeta, much to Fu's displeasure. "You are so persistent!"

But before he could do anything, the attack was stopped completely by two very familiar yet different people. Their hair was long and black, red fur covering their bodies and each one had a red tail.

Carla gasped as she saw the different looking Goku and Vegeta. Suddenly a certain memory played back in her head.

"It's one thing that we had ran into some strange doppelganger of yours and now we're wasting time conversing with this group instead of looking for Trunks!"

"So, this is it! That doppelganger!" Carla could only wonder what was gonna happen next and hoped that Wendy and the others would get back quickly.

Chapter End

NOTE: Next chapter will be the end of the Prison Planet arc!

The Fairies weren't apart for the Vegito vs Cumber stuff, because there was nothing, they possible could've contributed to that so all of that happened as it does in the manga.

Have a great day!