Dragon Ball - Heart of Adventurers
Written by Demod20 and LastationLover5000
Chapter 50- Hunting the Mighty
Simià IV, Ferris Prime Stadium
Jaco had rendered himself speechless.
This Earthling, a Saiyan no less, is demonstrated firsthand why people like Bulma and Tights put so much faith in him. His strength is beyond ordinary, which Saiyans at default already exceeded a Super Elite like himself many times over.
The Patrolman slowly, cautiously, felt the numbness in his muscles turn into giddy glee. He found himself giggling; especially after the absurd amount of kan he received thanks to Bulma's obscene bets placed on her husband against the odds.
Though, those winnings are likely to be less lucrative. He read the holo-net chat, and he could tell a wave of fans had been acquired over the last four hours of the current second round of the Ferris Prime Tournament. Already possessing half a million Plus Ratings - with ten percent of them betting on Son Gokū to win in the next round - he knew he had to gamble a higher percentage in order to accrue a greater return profit.
Wait a minute, why am I worried about winning? Jaco questioned as he looked at the brackets of current competitors. I should be the responsible one. Yet, I've been sucked into this tournament because of the victories in my credit. Should I stop while I'm ahead, or is that even an option anymore?
But the Patrolman couldn't stop. Not now. It had been an age since he bet on a sport, especially one he was personally invested in.
Being a Space Cop, there wasn't any reason for him to partake in illicit practices unless he hung around his colleagues; and given how often he operated solo, he never truly got to unwind.
Somehow, Bulma and Gokū made him actually relax and enjoy himself.
"...so, apparently Gokū is slated to fight Rajeel Bloodwolf in the third round," Bulma said, getting the Super Elite's attention.
His unblinking eyes looked back at the brackets on his personal holo-pad, seeing a list of names and found the one Bulma is talking about. Much like Datsu Ragneel, Rajeel himself is a Slayer, a modified being able to channel elemental abilities as well as boast superhuman powers. Datsu had pyrokinesis, Rajeel had ferrokinesis.
I wonder how more formidable he is compared to Datsu, given how handily beaten the latter was?
"Rajeel has been the Ferris Champion for the last two years," Jaco stated aloud, his brows furrowing at this, lips forming a frown. "And before that he was in the semifinals for five other years."
"So he's a veteran who is used to winning," Bulma said lightly, leaning comfortably back into her seat as she looked at the arena below; currently occupied by a pair of warriors, moving at incredible speed along the sandy floor.
The narrator spoke up for the show being put on display to the crowd, informing them of a bipedal machine - named H8R1 - physically imposing at two and a half meters in height with faux broad shouldered build of platinum playing with large bulbous optics over a small spherical voice box, firing a salvo of plasma discharge from one arm shaped into a cylindrical chain turret around its arm.
Its target is at a red skinned woman - named Mazak - whose lithe body zoomed around in a crimson-black blur to avoid the constant blaster fire that detonated around the sandy floor.
H8R1 gurgled something unintelligible, lowering the hissing arm cannon in favor of firing a cable from its other arm. Mazak halted with a jerk, narrowly avoiding the lancing wire that smashed into a loose bundle in the wall.
Turning on her heel, she unleashed a pair of ocular beams straight at the machine-
PIIIIING!
-reflected off a small flat disc of vibrating energy from the cannon arm's palm, sending it straight back at her. Blasting into her chest, she is sent flinging back to the wall.
CRACK!
Where a ripped bundle of bricks whipped back into her back. The wire used her own momentum against her, wrapping around in a twirl, and twisting her around the stadium airspace. Twirled about in a twister of motion, the velocity of which cast a crimson blur across the air.
And then, with a forward stomp of its leg, it hurled her down with the force of a comet; detonating the earth with a large fiery upheaval of sandy debris. The blow shook the stadium, rattling the bubble she and Jaco sat within, a storm of dust swirling about.
Even before the fog of war settled, Bulma's enhanced eyes made out the crumpled form of the warrior known as Mazak. The tomato skinned woman didn't move much, just lurching around in her bindings while blinking clearly to get her bearings.
Turning to look at the machine with bleary eyes, the machine maintained a stoic visage. H8R1 warbled out something else that came out as gibberish - much like the critical reviews against media made by fans.
"This fight is over," Jaco said, his solid yellow eyes unwavering in their perception of the conflict.
The droid raised its arm, a loud whirring gave way to a charging mass of blue light that cast Mazak in a chilling glare of luminescence; a light so palpable in its shine it disabled its own optics from seeing its quarry proper.
Allowing a pair of ocular beams to fire uninhibited, straight into the cannon.
A flash of white came before a large explosion, blasting the arm and over half of its body. Thrown back from the shockwave it fell apart into a spray of sparks, wires and melting slag of metal.
"NO!" A rotund enviro-suited man cried at the far end of Bulma and Jaco's row. The Dervish cried out, pronged fingers throwing his holo-pad as he jumped up and down with jiggling stomps of outrage. "No fair! Rematch! Rematch! I demand a remaaaatch!"
"Talk about a sore loser," Bulma murmured, with Jaco nodding in agreement.
"WOW! ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE FINISH FOR THE INVINCIBLE MAZAK! WITH THE DERVISH DROID DISMANTLED, MAZAK WINS THE FINAL MATCH OF ROUND 2, CONCLUDING THIS ROUND…AND OFF TO ROUND 3 - THE SEMIFINALS OF THE FERRIS PRIME TOURNAMENT!"
With a nasal sigh, Mazak flexed and tore off the wires wrapped around herself. Standing upright, she cast a rounding glance, as if looking for someone in the crowd.
Even as the narrator kept talking and the crowd went wild with adulation, she turned on her heel and strode back to her platform; descending out of sight without another word.
If my Gokū has to fight that woman, he may be in for a tough battle, Bulma thought with a momentary swell of concern.
"Hey, Jaco!" A voice called from the two's left. Both turned, Bulma blinking and Jaco snapping in a double take.
There outside of their bubble is another Patrolman. Rather, a woman in the Galactic Patrol's colours. A sharp jawed, soft cheeked female with bright cyan skin with light blue eyes and a crop of back length orangish-red hair.
"Mira!" Jaco squawked, standing upright with an indignant pout on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too," Mira frowned, though her smile didn't lessen as she eyes Bulma around his small stature. "I came by to congratulate you, but it seems you have company. Maybe another time?"
"If you don't mind-"
"Actually," Bulma intercepted, leaning around Jaco and extending an arm to the seat between theirs, "We'd love the company."
"Stellar!" Mira exclaimed, giggling as she stepped through the bubble.
"Now wait just a-"
Bulma blinked, seeing to cyan coloured woman step through her colleague just as easily, leaving a bluish shimmer from her body and around what she passed through. Jaco winced, whirling around to raise a protesting fist up; to which he was ignored as Mira plopped down on the seat next to the surprised Bulma.
"Ahhh, that's better," She sighed out with a satisfied grin, eyes closed as she settled into the cushions.
"How…did you do that?" The lavender haired scientist asked with a pair of saucers for eyes.
"Oh, I forgot that this is your first time seeing a Tanger," She piped up, leaning up and turning towards Bulma. With a raised hand, bluish light shimmered as she waved it back and through Jaco, once again causing him to tense up and shake at the contact. "We're phasers, capable of slipping ourselves through solid matter at will. We can also generate our body's mass to project force fields, but it can only take so much damage before it dissipates."
"Fascinating!" Bulma awed aloud with a widened smile, her eyes already cataloguing the biometric data of the woman seated across from her. "So, you can ghost through anything? Are there any drawbacks?"
"Hmmm, I guess you could say that," She hummed thoughtfully, reaching out and grasping some popcorn through Bulma's bucket and bringing it back to her mouth. "If I phase through energy, I get a temporary boost of strength, but I sort of overheat. I also can't phase through things that have some kind of resistance to psychics, such as some of my own kind; or the Herasians."
"Herawhat?" Bulma asked with a cock of her head.
"Don't tell me you don't know who they are!" Mira exclaimed, leaning back and waving her arms about. "Bojack the Unbound and his merciless band of pirates. They are what cemented the reputation and strength of their people over a thousand years ago. The only people who come close to their infamy are the Saiyans…and, well, you probably have seen their handiwork from that Son Gokū's last two matches."
"I have, and then some," Bulma nodded with a proud smile, raising her right hand for emphasis - the golden ring still fastened over the finger since many years ago. "We're married."
"Oh…OH WOW!" Mira exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing in her seat. "That's so lucky of you! Saiyans are a rarity, and I heard they are as passionate in bed as they are in a fight. I'm mighty envious you have a partner like him."
"Th-Thanks," Bulma blushed, averting her gaze as she suddenly felt self conscious of the exposure of her own coupling with her husband.
"Don't be bashful, we can be friends," She leaned over, wrapping an arm around Bulma and leaning her head against the blushing lavender head. "After all," she thumbed across, "Jaco and I used to date, so we can be open with each other."
"You WHAT?" Bulma shouted.
"Ow, my ears," Jaco whined nasally, plugging the pair of holes on each side of his head.
"How?" Bulma whirled her head to look at Jaco, scrunching her face up in a pinching expression. "Why?"
"He made me laugh," Mira said with a giggle, leaning forward to stick a tongue and finger out at Jaco. "And he's kinda cute, don't you think?"
"Cute?!" Bulma shrieked.
"Oi," Jaco dryly spat with an exaggerated lean. "What does that supposed to mean?"
A loud roar of sound halted their jeering, the audience applauding as a swathe of colours painted the arena. Rising up on opposing sides two formidable silhouettes became outlined in halos of luminous spotlight; showing their faces on their bubble screens.
"WE'RE IN FOR A DOOZY EVERYONE! OUR UPCOMING CHALLENGER VERSUS THE CHAMPION! SON GOKŪ VS RAJEEL BLOODWOLF!"
"Oh dear," Mira awed, blinking rapidly at the screen with a devilish smirk. "It looks like your husband is up against quite the challenge. Rajeel is no joke."
"I have faith in him," Bulma said, leaning back with both arms crossed over herself in a huff. "Just sit back and watch."
Mira shrugged, sliding her arm through Bulma to cup her own chin with a skeptical him.
Jaco eyed her curiously, wondering if she knew something they didn't. He knew the basics of Ferris Games, and the martial arts tournament had a history of recurring competitors, often to just keep the commercial gain of their respective sponsors. If Rajeel is a champion and a known semifinal entry, then there must be something that gives him an edge over most.
As he deliberated in his head what it could be, the narrator spoke.
"LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE THIRD ROUND, BEGIN!"
Rana Zolinder strode out of the bar within the spire, her entourage of slender, voluptuous and curvaceous crew leaving the bar armed with an assortment of weapons and wild expressions. A halo of light beamed down from the twilight of glittering spires, revealing a black silhouette blotting out the nearby star overhead.
The pirate captain walked off the edge of the platform, into the light and crossed the surface of light as if it was solid. Rising up into the sky with her subordinates joining a few at a time, a rising tide of bodies rose up to levitate up into a luminous circular opening within the black shape.
As soon as the beam of light took in the last of the crew, it shut off, unveiling a swathe of rectangular gleams of luminescent windows over a large frigate in the moon's atmosphere. Unfurling fins like a fish, four extended arms revved up engines that boomed the sky with propulsion, launching the ship across space towards the planet.
Unaware of a pair of shadows, standing upright on top of the vessel, hidden in the shadows of space.
THUUM!
A thunderous clash shook the arena immediately as the announcement for the round began. The air sent a tidal wave of force through the stadium, buffeted by the ray shields yet still beat at the spectators not covered by private bubbles.
A pair of fists met at the center of the stadium grounds, tendrils of red snaking out from the knuckles. Rajeel's face bore a sharkish grin, while Gokū returned it with his own signature smile.
This guy is strong! Gokū thought, his eyes brightened and his hair rising up with his tail.
"Gehe," Rajeel giggled with a guttural voice. "This is going to be fun!"
Without breaking his contact with Gokū's fist, his left leg swung up and around, toes whipping in an arc towards the Saiyan's right temple. Gokū bent backwards, snatching the ankle.
KRRRRAAAAAK!
Pain exploded across Gokū's skull, his face rammed into by a blur of gray and black. His body thrust across the arena, impaling his head first into the wall, a wave of energy shimmering across the barrier from the force alone, leaving the Saiyan's feet sticking out with spasming arms.
A flash of light and Rajeel recoiled his leg, his tooth smile spread wide with a feral glint in his red eyes.
"RAJEEL HAS STRUCK FIRST! THE MIGHTY CHALLENGER IS LAID STILL IN THE WALL! IS THIS THE END OF THE FIGHT ALREADY?!"
"What happened?!" Bulma cried out, leaning forward with hands on her knees. "That was too fast to see!"
"His leg transformed," Jaco said, furrowing his brow. "But because of the flash, I couldn't see what it was. The sound made it seem like it turned into something solid."
As the pair deliberated in the bubble, Rajeel lowered his foot to the ground. Rolling his right shoulder with his left side facing forward, the Slayer twisted his hips back.
Then, thrust his right arm in another flash of gray overlapped by a flash of green light.
Slamming the hole, Gokū's head flipped upwards an instant before contact, his hands gripping the wall as evidenced how he managed to. Vanished in a streak of crimson, Rajeel recoiled his arm back just in time to cross both hands over his face, deflecting a powerful hammerfist aimed for his head.
The blow cracked the ground below, Rajeel's knees bending as he felt the overwhelming surge of strength Gokū pressed upon him.
"Wow, your husband has a hard head," Mira whistled out, lounging back as she placed an arm behind both of Gokū's sponsors. "Half of the time their heads get crushed on first contact or they pass out from a concussion. He's quite sturdy."
"You have no idea."
Bulma said this, her eyes picking up strange glinting scales forming below Gokū's fist touching the backside of Rajeel's knuckles. They looked to be organic, reacting on reflex on point of contact.
His body must have something close to one of dad's kinetic armor, reactive alloys that harden against extreme blows of force, She deduced.
Rajeel grinned.
A sudden grinding sound echoed, scales protruded out like spikes propelled along chains around the arms. Swinging them back in a crisscross slash, a spray of blood splashed across the floor as Gokū leaped back.
Cuts bled from the right fist and over the front of the orange-blue gi. Launching a barrage of kikoha at the metallic being, Gokū landed with a tap as he watched each orb get deflected by the chainsawing arms of his.
Bathed in a hail of sparks, Rajeel bent his knees and dashed forward in a swift blur of grayish silver. Crimson burst to life across the arena the moment the two blades made contact with two flat palms, ki sharpening them into a pair of swords that grinded in protest against the revolving teeth of scales Rajeel Bloodwolf pressed against his.
Grinning back at the Slayer, the Saiyan parried the two arms in a whipping flourish, widening the gap between the appendages and the dark wreathed shirt. Kicking forward, he was met with a rising knee, deflecting in a loud gong as the two limbs made contact.
Rajeel pulled back his head, his face flashing to unveil a swathe of smooth scales over his human face. Swinging it forward, Gokū met it head-on; literally, bashing his head against the Slayer's skull, a flash of light followed by fissures of energy tearing at the floor and sending waves of force to billow over the crowd.
Sparks flashed with bio-electricity, the two fighters locked in an intense gaze. Smiles exchanged, the warriors rebounded their skulls. Each crash sent ribbons of fierce energy to snap around them, stemming from each crushing blow of their sturdy craniums. Like hammers they loudly struck, each strike palpably intense as it was to behold
A final strike spilled blood, the two sent spiraling backwards across the stadium to strike the walls opposite of each other. Bouncing from the powdered bricks, the pair landed on their feet, both swaying on their feet from their use of head bashes.
"A VICIOUS BOMBARDMENT TO THE CRANIUM BY BOTH FIGHTERS! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!"
"Hehe, no kidding," Gokū remarked, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. Reaching up to wipe away the blood seeping from a gash on his forehead, chuckling to himself. "Your skin's really hard to break."
"My scales are among the hardest to break in the Northern Galaxies," Rajeel rasped, his metal head marred by repeated bludgeoning but uncracked all the same. Shaking his own head to clear away the dizziness, he giggled to himself. "Here I thought the Milky Way was always going to be a cake walk. But between you and a few other oddballs, I think there's excitement to be found yet!"
Squatting down with a stomp, the earth erupted with a split across the arena floor, Rajeel's own body lighting up with a luminous green aura, his grayish-iron scales shining brightly. Red eyes dilated, teeth grinned in a joyful degree as claws extended from his fingers in preparation for the impending attack.
Gokū laughed aloud, his glee visible as his aura roared to life into a crimson flame. Taking a new stance, either hand lowered with clawed fingers clenched at either side, the flames of crimson ki flowed off his body to a pair of crackling red hands.
The spectators' excitement exploded into a fever pitch. The narrator couldn't be heard beyond their host of incomprehensible cries, a cacophony of sounds that complemented the scene of bright emerald and blood red. The stadium shook so much the sponsor bubble Jaco, Bulma and Mira sat within couldn't repress the vibrations.
Eyes locked on to one another, the pair of matching grins.
Knees bent.
VOOOM!
And Rajeel Bloodwolf moved first. Color bled away, stripped to a void of white as black sketched lines made out the incoming Rajeel. With the ghostly silhouette of a metallic dragon charging ahead, the Slayer swung both claws at either side of Gokū's head.
Claws raked black, hair spraying as Son Gokū bent down in a forward crouch, knees touching his chin.
Stepping back, Rajeel raises both arms up to strike below; failing to see a pair of finger clenched palms slamming into his solar plexus.
"Kamenokowari!"
KRAK-KOOM!
In the moment of impact, a flash of crimson lightning struck the ground, blowing a massive gust of wind outward, blowing standing spectators back to their seats.
Rajeel's eyes go wide, his mouth hangs open as his body shakes in place. The faint sounds of cracking glass is heard, drawing his gaze down to the hissing pair of palms bare inches away from a cracked abdomen; once an immaculate shield covering his mid center, now fragmented and oozing blood.
All goes quiet, Gokū's slow steaming breath all that could be heard beyond the stunned gasp that came from the Slayer.
"U-UNBELIEVABLE!" The narrator finally cut in, trying to regain control over the incredible spectacle that had unfolded. "SON GOKŪ HAS CRACKED THE ARMOR OF RAJEEL BLOODWOLF, SAID TO BE AS STRONG AS KACHIN STEEL! HAS THE BATTLE BEEN DECIDED?!"
Gokū's eyes snapped wide, a pair of shadows rushed down to his spiked mane.
Dashing back from the place he crouched - now a crater where he had squatted at - he beheld two iron pillars conjoined to a pair of elbows. Retracting into scaled arms, Rajeel had regained his mirth as he poised a beckoning grin with an upraised come hither gesture of clawed fingers.
"Come on, Son Gokū," Rajeel said with a giggle, "Shall we continue, since you're starting to take this seriously?"
"Hehe, you're one to talk," Gokū replied with a disarming chuckle, pointing accusingly at the man. "I know this isn't the best you got either."
"You're sharp, Saiyan," Rajeel nodded, placing a hand over his damaged flesh. Metal molded, congealing to knit the scales back into place yet showed a scar in the grooves.
"I got a trump card of my own. I've never used it in a tournament before, but I wager your own best is something you don't use during competitions either," Rajeel surmised, pulling back a bloodied hand to clench it into an upraised fist. "What do you say? Want to go all-out, here and now?"
Son Gokū pondered this proposition.
He had come here with the purpose of drawing attention to him with Tullece, maybe getting some goons sent his way so he could find out what he could and where he could get a hold of the Emperor. He never told Bulma, but Kaio must have an inkling given he keeps tabs on Chi-Chi and Tullece for him.
If he transformed into a Super Saiyan, would he keep control if things progressed too far?
Closing his eyes, he reached out with his mind.
Hey Bulma, there's something I want to ask you.
Bulma blinked, her eyes looking at the screen yet heard his words echo in her mind.
"Did he say something?" Mira asked, blinking quizzically with a turn of her head to the screen and back.
"It must be some weird nonsense," Jaco waves off dismissively. "Don't read too much into it. These Earthlings are weird, even by our standards."
"From my perspective, you're the weird one!" Bulma snapped angrily.
"So much for you being quiet," Jaco dryly snarked. "What happened?"
"Gokū asked me for permission to go all-out," Bulma said with a smile, turning to beam proudly at him with a thumbs up. "I want to see him win."
Gokū raised a thumb back, grinning with jubilation.
"Yosh, nothing to hold me back," Gokū said, turning his attention back to Rajeel. "Let's go, Rajeel!"
BOOM!
A massive plume of fire blasted the stadium, a quaking shockwave splitting down the far side of the arena. A host of screams fill the air along with a shift of attention away from the pair of fighters.
Straight up to a descending four finned lance shaped vessel. As long as the stadium itself, and broad enough to fit in the gash it carved into the entertainment center.
"HEY! YOU CAN'T PARK THERE!" The narrator shouted out in outrage. "AND DAMAGING THE STADIUM?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH?!"
Booming from speakers, a strong female voice replied back from the enormous starship.
"This is Rana Zolinder, Captain of the Hunter, Leader of the Swartz Pirates. If you wish to live, stay out of this. We're here for one thing: the capture of Kakarrot, the Legendary Super Saiyan."
A brief flash of light pulsed the stadium, a streak of red speared into the vessel. Smashing the nose of the ship, Gokū grasped the warped metal in one hand and lifted the ship up in the air with a glare.
"I'm here," Gokū said. "Come out and face me. These people have nothing to do with me."
A deep whirring sound echoed the frigate, following lights illuminating the exterior. A number of women leaped from the vessel, filling up the arena floor with their numbers. Armored in exotic robes and plating, complementing their alluring female physiques of various species across the galaxies. They all aimed spears, blasters and hands wreathed in energy, all poised to attack the one they came to capture.
Their Captain, from what Gokū presumed, walked ahead of the others towards him. She is as tall as Piccolo he wagered, with a crown of bronze wrapped around her pinkish forehead, fiery red hair draped down her back with her bodice wrapped in armor that showed off her curvaceous form with a pair of bone shoulder pads connected by a crimson cape.
"Put my ship down," Rana Zolinder spoke in a growl at Gokū, less than a meter apart from him.
THUD!
Dropping the ship, Gokū turned, looking up at her with a serious stare aimed at her.
"Did Tullece send you?" Gokū asked.
"The Emperor?" Rana questioned with a snort. "No, but I'm happy to collect the bounty from him. One billion kan is nothing to scoff, and I'm not about to let anyone snuff you out before I can."
"Actually…"
A voice ebbed out, grating and rough, as something rose out of Rana's own shadow. She turned to look over her shoulder, seeing a pair of individuals draped in black, with one mostly concealed and the other having a head of bleached white hair reaching the shoulders with a black and white painted face appearing line a dark shaman.
"...we might have something to say about that," The first man said, green pupiless eyes staring at her with an emotionless expression.
"The Demon Brothers of Indra?" Rana sneered, recognizing them in an instant. "Stay out of this!"
"We can't," The one in front spoke cooly. "This contract is ours. Once we accept a job, we will complete it. And the Emperor expects the best."
"Which certainly isn't you, Queen Bitch!" The second one guffawed in a shrill laugh.
"Bastards!" Rana snarled out, a hand raised clutching a glowing saber that cracked with bluish energy.
"Umm," Gokū piped up, causing the three to look at the Saiyan scratching his chin with an upraised hand. "Are we going to fight now? I was in the middle of something, so if you could wait your turn, I'll get to you guys afterwards."
"That won't be happening," A voice declared aloud. A crescendo of threatening hums whirred to life as the four turned to look around the stadium stands, all bearing the white and blue uniforms of Ferris Prime on their bodices. A host of the teal skinned, tangerine haired Herasians had white gloved hands forming kikoha in their palms in a calm threatening way.
Manifesting beside Gokū, the attendant who signed him up for the Tournament traipsed up with hands tucked behind the small of his back.
"Son Gokū is a sponsored competitor for our station's broadcasting. If you wish to deal with the man, you should have waited till he left," Rivesh spoke calmly, an icy glare staring at Rana and the bounty hunters. "Leave now, and I won't personally evict you three myself."
The Pirate Captain sneered, her eyes glowing red with fury. The masked hunter looked to his shamanic associate, the pair visibly counting the number of enemies surrounding them.
Cocking a toothy grin, Rana Zolinder swayed from one hip-
SHFT!
-and appeared in front of Rivesh, slashing the energy blade down at a raised palm. Sparks sprayed from the ki that flowed from the hand parrying weapon.
"If I recall," Rana murmured, "The black market pays very well for Herasians. Alive, or dead!"
She enunciates, twisting the blade and slashing out a ribbon of light, sending the Herasians flying back through the air towards the far end of the stadium. Stopping just short, the man coolly rose up to his feet, embroiled in a thick aura of ki that changed his hair from orange to red, his body bulking up and skin turning into a vivid viridescent colour as his blue eyes burned with anger.
"Eviction, it is," He muses, disappearing in a blur.
Reappearing a moment later to engage Rana Zolinder in a deadly dance of sword swings, kicks and palm thrusts.
The host of Herasian employees let loose a barrage of explosive bio-energy at the charging pirates. Amidst the chaos, the spectators fled the stands, their seats quick to become the battlefield of the Ferris Prime security force and the Swartz Pirates.
Leaving Gokū alone with the pair of assassins in black.
"So," Gokū asked, smirking with a narrowed stare at both of the Demon Brothers. "Which of you is first?"
"Allow me," The Shamanic one said, grinning wildly with ovular wide discs for eyes that gleamed with bloodlust. "I want to filet his flesh before eating his heart!"
"Ew," Gokū gagged as he recoiled with disgust.
"I think you're going to be occupied with your own opponent," The Masked one dissuaded with a raised hand.
Blinking, the Shamanic one twisted on his heel, pulling out a blood red triple prong scythe; narrowly blocking a grinding blade of rotating teeth from overhead. A foot connected with the face painted man's jaw, throttling him away across the battlefield before he decelerated in time to parry a series of vicious slashes.
"I was having the best fight I've had in years!" Rajeel bellowed angrily, veins throbbing across his brow and his mane sticking up with punctuated outrage. "I'm going to leave nothing left of you, freaking mime!"
"MIME?!" The Shamanic one shrieked with indignant anger of his own. Whipping his scythe around in a dizzying flourish, he wove his tri-edged weapon straight across the scaled chest of Rajeel-
KRK-SPLRT!
-cutting into his chest along its biting stroke.
"I'm not a mime, you cretin!" He snarled with bloodshot eyes, raising up his bloody scythes to lick the blood across his tongue. "I am Hashin of Indra's Demon Brothers. I'll show you, Slayer, what a real killer is supposed to be!"
The Prominence, Throne Room
Tullece saw what he wanted to see.
Kakarrot, his nephew and currently the only one who can threaten his power in the Universe, is on full display in the Ferris Prime tournament. Whether he knew it or not, Tullece placing a bounty on his head coincided perfectly for arranging the Patrolman sponsoring him into a baited challenge.
Based on what he could see, Kakarrot willingly entered and must have been ruled by his Saiyan blood to challenge himself. The Swartz Pirates, followed by the reveal of the Demon Brothers of Indra looked promising.
That and one more hunter is lying in wait, The Emperor thought to himself, smirking as he watched the live holo-feed.
Almost on cue, a message in the form of audio in his chair played with a mini-Zard projected from the armrest.
"My Lord," He bowed, rising to full height as he continued, "we're almost to Ferris Prime. We'll begin the search for our first recruit."
"Good to hear," Tullece replied with a lazy slouch into his seat. "Though I don't think you'll have to look hard. A desirable quarry is loose in one of their floating stations and he'll likely be there, if not arrive not too long from now."
"Son Gokū is there."
"How did you-?"
"It's been confirmed, then," Zard smirked toothily. "I had a, what is the term? Hunch, yes. A hunch that he is going to be where we're headed."
"Your intuition is sharp, Zard," Tullece said with approval. "Yes, my nephew is in the world of Simià IV, on the Ferris Prime Platform. I'm sure your keen senses will have already informed you where that is."
"Of course, my Lord," He nodded his head. "We shall be there within the hour."
"Let's hope you don't miss the fireworks," Tullece grinned darkly. "I aim to see great things unfold for my daughter's development."
"I don't believe she's ready for a solo confrontation," Zard said neutrally. "But I am confident that between Tapion and I, we can at least survive the encounter with the Super Saiyan."
"So long as the other Super Saiyan isn't around," Tullece sneered derisively with a frown.
"Fear not, my liege," Zard assuredly replied with a wave of his talons. "He will not appear."
"Nothing is certain," Tullece said.
"Trust me, sire," Zard insisted.
Tullece furrowed his brow.
Zard has performed well above expectations as vizier of the Empire. Not only is his counsel sound but he does everything with the utmost respect to his authority and has been nothing short of diligent.
Yet, he had this uncanny sense of being right about everything. Not that he was perfect but any time something about an unknown could appear, it seemed as if he knew.
He's Mage, not a psychic, He insisted in his own mind. I'll question this later. So long as he's loyal it doesn't matter how he gets results. So long as they benefit me I don't care if he's a prophet or just inherently wise.
"I do trust you," Tullece said with a soft smile. "I'll look forward to your next report."
"Very well," He bowed. "Till next time, then."
As Zard dissipated, a flash of gold caught his periphery. Looking upwards, a moment's time of recognition crossed his mind.
Fear of the light from whence it came. The memories of pain, the anger towards such desired power and then the thrill of victory, even if not directly in both encounters.
"Show me what you have got," He said, eyes glaring at the blue eyes and white blonde locks of his nephew in the hologram. "Super Saiyan."
A/N:
Demod20:I had a lot of fun writing this one. Even though I wrote this one, it gave my coauthor a break he needed and it gave me more liberty to do what I wanted with this one. Even though Rajeel is a Fairy Tail insert, I really loved the fight I made with him and Gokū going blow for blow; even the prior fight of Mazak vs H8R1 was a fun prelude to the events that would play out. For anyone who read A Predator Among Us, Rana Zolinder making her cameo appearance here as a Dragon Ball character, along with two other what should be recognizable you guys are ready for the Finale!
LastationLover5000: So, we're at the end of another chapter. I swear we're not making a habit out of solo chapters, we just keep reaching really good stopping points on these that just feel right. So, my co-author penned this chapter, and definitely had a lot of fun with it. I'm enjoy the way out timeline is set-up; not sure what happened in the past yet, but the timeline has slipped to get others from outside the Milky Way to pay this galaxy a visit and throw all kinds of hands. But now the plot of this mini-arc truly kicks in, as Tullece and forces gunning for the head of the Legendary Super Saiyan finally move out into the open! We're going to see Super Saiyan Son Gokū in action for the first time since Namek! Also, as a fun side note, Kamenokowari means "Turtle Shell Splitter". Hope y'all are excited!