No humor in this chapter. Heads up for violence and overall dark content
AnonymousDBZFan,
Thank you so much for your continued readership and thoughtful reviews! I had a lot of fun incorporating the oftentimes contradictory stances presented by canon material. Like, the manga differs from the anime, and the differing translations in the anima all differ from each other (and the manga). We've essentially got different storylines for all of them! For example, I was introduced to DBZ through the anime first, so I accepted it as canon that Vegeta was essentially being held hostage on Frieza's flagship while his father attempted a rescue attempt. Much later when I read the manga, Vegeta was described as being on another planet finishing a mission when his planet was destroyed and his father killed. Completely different situations, yet both are (arguably) regarded as canon.
Now that the DB franchise has fully embraced the concept of divergent timelines (something I think the Trunks Saga helped with as well as Marvel), it is easier to accept these inconsistencies that invariably arise. I did find it a fun challenge to incorporate some of that dorky Ocean dub dialog into this and try to have it make sense! Bardock a scientist? Pfft, come on! XD All the more fun to try to make this sound rational, lol.
You brought such a smile to my face, regarding your reaction to Raditz's opinion on the Bond. It really doesn't seem like something a Saiyan would be proud of! But again, what one considerers a weakness can in fact turn out to be a strength.
Oh man, I am tickled over your reaction to Marenna! And you made me laugh out loud ("Vegeta needs an adult?" XD) I can't deny that surprise was exactly what I was hoping for when she finally (for once) laid it all out there. Still, it's such an antithesis to her established personality I was a little concerned about how this development would be taken. It may not make much sense now, but all will be revealed.
AnonymousDBZFan, you are so sweet! I'm so overjoyed that you're enjoying the OCs! I hope that I can continue maintaining the balance between them and canon characters while letting their personalties evolve. Thank you again so much for your readership and for investing your time in writing you supportive reviews!
Execution
Not all battles were external.
Touketsu stood at the periphery of the arena, drained and still miserably hung over. He'd never felt so taxed by mere flight, but he was grateful when the war horn blared to at last ground him. He avoided his cohorts; ruminating over his revelations, he didn't have complete faith in his carefully crafted mask of stoicism.
He'd fallen to the Bond, a phenomenon long believed to only affect low-bred Saiyan weaklings. And like a Saiyan weakling, he appeared to be losing control to the Oozaru ever since his first battle against Nappa. He still retained some control if he could speak and execute complicated attacks, but it was proven that he wasn't fully self-aware during such an episode; the deepened pitch of his voice never so much as registered to him, and recollections of what he did were hazy at best.
Was this Zhernobog's doing? His eyes lowered, his brows drawing together in thought. No, it shouldn't be possible. Even when Zhernobog was at peak power he'd been unsuccessful in changing him back into the Oozaru. Judging by Marenna's attitude, Zhernobog hadn't recovered near enough energy to overpower him.
While that vampire was always feeding on him to a degree, Touketsu had some control over how much. Thoughts and emotions produced little negative energy, while expression of such emotions through action, such as in battle, produced more. When used for destructive purposes, even channeling the Life Force produced negative energy. His Berserker State, the result of unbridled emotion expressed through the dark ki, unquestioningly produced the most of all.
After he somehow lost himself to the Oozaru while in the Detached State and consumed Donomast's soul, he learned that even that form was not impervious to emotions such as rage. That was why the Void Transformation was such an important achievement. Neither using emotion nor producing it, there was no way to generate negative energy for Zhernobog to feed upon. It was perfect. That parasite was essentially surviving off dew.
If Zhernobog wasn't behind these Oozaru-like episodes, what was? Although the Void Transformation didn't generate negative energy, it still paradoxically used the dark ki. Could there be a growing imbalance between his two opposing energies? There were side effects to using the dark ki, he knew that much. It inhibited his body's ability to circulate the Life Force autonomically, thus hampering other abilities: His body's natural recovery from injury, possibly the benefits of the Zenkai boost, levitation, flight…
He'd again be crawling around on the ground like some lowly animal, just like before.
He swallowed. An animal. Was his current form only ever a temporary one, triggered by the sight of his family? Was it inevitable that he'd regress into the Demon Oozaru…permanently? His eyes drifted closed, his hand coming up to message away the growing tension in his brow. His Demon Oozaru form was emotional, and it was incapable of channeling the Life Force. The Dark Energy flowing through him would again become dominant. That parasite could eventually acquire enough energy to subjugate him…
"Our next combatants will be Prince Izo and Prince Chisto versus Prince Vegeta!"
Touketsu lowered his hand, glowering as the audience cheered. Stop. Stop calling me that. It was salt in the wound. He had sacrificed his very identity, the adoration of a son, the affections of a wife, and for what? To steep in the festering remains of his old life, force fed the rancid scraps of its absolute worst parts. He didn't need this nightly mockery on top of his bigger problems.
Cheers of "Kill the bastard!" and chantings of "I-ZO, CHIST-O" filled his ears as he trudged into the arena. He looked up at the young men, his heart slamming in his chest with rising fury. He hated those two kids. He hated how they reminded him of his losses - the loss of his family, respect, honor. He'd been reduced to performing like some circus monkey for these onlookers, his spirit denied true battle. What existence was this? His pride was through with this bullshit dance! The gong sounded.
"You insult me," he hissed contemptuously. "Your very presence is an insult to my pride! You keep coming back again and again as though you'll ever win? Get out of my sight and train for a while!" he shouted, jerking his head towards the raging bonfire next to them. "Come back when you're an actual challenge!"
The crowd was rabid over his words, screaming with ardent passion for the two princes to take the demon's head off his shoulders. The older prince, Izo, calmly readied himself as his younger brother followed suit. "You would like that, wouldn't you? You and your ilk love battle so much. We're no match for you, so doesn't it make you feel powerful to win so easily? Isn't that what you want? To flaunt your power?"
Touketsu was quaking in rage. He stalked right up to the two brothers. They tensed for battle, but he stopped short. "Hit me," he seethed. After a moment's hesitation Chisto punched him, and he took the shot without a flinch. "Again!" The older brother obliged, and again he absorbed the strike. "AGAIN!" He roared. "DO IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT, DAMN IT!"
They fell into battle, but Touketsu simply blocked and deflected, not returning the strikes. "You're outclassed!" he screamed as he deflected every strike from their hands and swing from their blades, his body darkening. "You've always been outclassed! You kids NEVER had a chance against me!" He raged, his ragged voice cracking under the truth of the words while the crowd roared. The berserker aura seeping from his body began to turn purple, his body shifting between gray and white. In the Imperial box, Marenna's watchful eyes looked on. "Get out my life! Get out of my head!" his eyes flashed Oozaru red for an instant. "GET OUT!"
The blades were knocked out of the young men's hands in quick succession. Grabbing them by the collars of their armor, Touketsu flung them straight into the bonfire.
Queen Zarkala cried out, her eyes wide as she cupped her hands to her mouth in horror. Remmnya's face was twisted in agony as she curled around her now older child, the little boy the only thing keeping her from collapsing in on her flashbacks. Watching from the sidelines, a collective gasp ripped through contesting Familia and Inimicus alike, and Queen Marenna's normally placid blue eyes flared. The whole of the stands fell into dreadful silence, the boys' screams sounding all the louder as they burned alive.
The eerie moment lasted only seconds before the spectators erupted in deafening screams of outrage. Behind Marenna, her daughters sat speechless before turning their shocked faces to their mother. Touketsu was still leaning forward as though frozen in time, his body chalk white again and his eyes starting in surprise. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Raditz, a dumbstruck Nappa slowly uncrossed his arms.
Raditz blinked in disbelief. "He's fucked."
Queen Marenna quickly stood from her seat. Her staff materializing from her hand, she took aim.
Touketsu's back arched when the stream of white energy pierced him, a scream of pain and surprise ripping from his throat. The icy lighting jolted his heart to a stop, and when he opened his eyes he was face down on the arena floor. Vaguely aware of Marenna's voice ringing out to halt the tournament, he took in a gasping lungful of air and blinked away the disorientation.
There was a great quaking beneath him that increased in intensity within seconds, and a massive hand landed on his head. Gripping him by the hair, Zeygorn swung him across the opal floor to face Marenna and yanked his head back as he was brought to his knees. His body completely unresponsive after Marenna's nerve attack, he could do nothing when the point of a sword was pressed to his throat. He winced when blazing heat rapidly built within the metal before plateauing.
His head was pulled so far back it was difficult to breathe, much less swallow. Back arched awkwardly, he gazed up at the disorienting projection of himself being restrained by Zeygorn. A second later the vanquished emerged from the fire behind, each stepping from the flames with an audible 'whoosh'. The Inimicus took their side of the arena, while participating Famila took theirs.
Queen Zarkala's hands drifted away from her face, the sight of her boys emerging a balm to her nerves. She had steeled herself for this night, anticipated it. Not knowing when it would happen, it had still come as a shock. Her eyes teared up, a small smile touching her face as she sniffed. Her brave, enduring boys. It worked. The bloodthirsty warrior prince wore down and snapped faster than she could have ever hoped. Prince Vegeta was theirs now. She descended down to the arena floor to reunite with her children.
Touketsu felt the blade pull away from this throat, the pull on his scalp lessening and allowing him to straighten. "Prince Vegeta," Marenna announced. "You have desecrated the memory of your Familia. This is a grave offense. As by Nav law, offending Inimicus must submit and allow those they have wronged to personally punish and execute them as they see fit."
Touketsu grit his teeth, sweat breaking out beneath his armor as the expansive crowd buzzed with intrigue and anticipation. He cursed his displaced, emotional reaction. So. After all of his training, all of his trials, this was how he was going out. He was to be put down like a dog by unworthies, denied the power to even fight back. He couldn't think of anything more disgraceful.
"Queen Zarkala," Mareena announced, and the Luscepian queen and her children turned to look up at Nav's ruler. "As the matriarch of your family and as representative of all Prince Vegeta's Familia, how do you wish to proceed?"
Zarkala appeared to consider. "I would like a word with this Inimicus."
"Of course."
She stepped up to him, her restrained features betraying a hint of smugness. "How does it feel to be at the complete mercy of another, unable to defend your life?"
He snorted in derision. They could take his body, but they'd never take his pride. "Still hung up over your death, huh?" The amphitheater erupted in outrage. He raised his voice in response, his magically amplified words ringing out over Volkfangr. "I know what you're going to do, so grab a sword and kill me while on my knees. You'd never win otherwise."
The boos and jeers only tapered off when Zarkala spoke. "You are not giving the orders, Prince Vegeta." She shrewdly considered him. "You enjoy flaunting your power, don't you? I recall you acting as a Familia's hand in executing her Inimicus. Night after night, your completely outclassed opponent was hacked to pieces. I admit it was a very…inspired method."
Touketsu was barely breathing as they stared each other down. The amphitheater was dead silent. Kunthar stood amongst the other Inimicus, his expression hollow. Remmnya's face matched her assailant's, the light gone from her golden eyes.
Zarkala looked up at the executioner. "Lord Zeygorn." Touketsu stiffened, his quiet breath quickening as the murmurs rippled through the stands.
Zeygorn's six glowing orange eyes lit up with anticipation. "Yes, milady."
"You are our champion tonight."
Cheers ripped through the colosseum. Among the Inimicus, a slow smile spread over Kunthar's face, his wan eyes unchanging. Remmnya looked on, catatonic.
"Mama?"
She blinked at the sound of Amnon's voice, and her bronze brow furrowed. She turned her child to her breast, her hand cradling the back of his head. "Don't watch anymore, Amnon," she whispered.
Zarkala looked down at Touketsu. "Tell me, Prince Vegeta. Do you think you can maintain your winning streak?" His brows drew down in confusion. "Well? Do you?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Easily."
"You Saiyans pride yourselves on battles won. Your pride will die before you do. You will know you are the inferior fighter tonight. You will know what it is to face someone you had no chance against, and you will know defeat before your execution." Touketsu's eye twitched in rage, memories of Namek taunting him. She looked up at Zeygorn. "Lord Zeygorn. Fight to win, and make him suffer as you see fit. Defeat him…but…withhold the final blow for me. I will execute Prince Vegeta on behalf of my family and for all his Familia."
Zeygorn could barely contain his glee as the stands erupted into cheers. "Of course, milady. It is with utmost humility and great honor that I serve as Nav's Executioner once more." At last, he could officially prove his worth to the people and make this manipulative shit suffer for dare seducing his queen. He'd avenge her honor.
"It is decided," Marenna announced. "The battle between Royal Executioner Lord Zeygorn and Prince Vegeta will commence immediately." Cheers and whoops tore through the stands as Zarkala and her children exited the arena to stand just below the Imperial Box.
Zeygorn roughly threw Touketsu face forward onto the opal floor. He got up, shaking off the after effects of Marenna's attack. For too long all he'd wanted was to fight Zeygorn again, but he was now completely unprepared. He was malnourished, sleep deprived, hungover, and preoccupied with disturbing revelations. Physically, he was compromised. Mentally and spiritually, he was a complete train wreck.
Touketsu swiftly apprised himself of his opponent's attributes. Marenna told him the dragon's power was in a constant state of growth so long as he remained fused. He'd been fused ever since his return, and he'd also undergone extensive training in the Fire Realm. He took in his power level. It was modest, evident that he was hiding it again, but it was its nature that put Touketsu on edge: it was vacillating and pulsing as though difficult to contain, a volcano on the verge of exploding.
Touketsu readied himself as he stood across from the armored, three headed black dragon, his still pounding brain strategizing. If his dark ki did have something to do with these psuedo-Oozaru episodes, then his emotional Berserker form could hasten his regression into an animal. Only the dark ki stood a chance against Zeygorn, but he couldn't afford to succumb to wrath. The Void Transformation was the definitive answer. Since last night he'd struggled to reach it, but he had to now.
The gong sounded.
Zeygorn split into Jozop, Ajadzo, and Yudoch, the three instantly circling him. Touketsu masked his confusion. What the hell was he doing? He was much stronger combined. Their power levels were no longer fluctuating, but they were still hidden. He'd poke the bear, see if he couldn't get Zeygorn to divulge something from his playbook. "Think that's wise? Divided you fall."
"We prefer 'divide and conquer,'" The yellow Yudoch smirked as he slithered across the opal floor.
"Perhaps you'd better understand the thinking of a pack animal, beast?" asked the winged, red Jozop. "They attack their prey from all sides in a slash and fall back approach. Every time their prey defends itself from one assailant, another comes in from behind. Eventually the victim tires and bleeds out."
"Thanks for revealing your strategy, dumbass."
"Well, if we give you a sporting chance, then the people will get a better show," said the sinewy, black Ajadzo, his catfish-like whiskers pulling upwards in a smile. "Otherwise this match will be over far too quickly."
Touketsu snarled. Stay detached. His body went jet black, the strumming light becoming ice blue as the cold aura burst forth. It darkened to cobalt and contracted around his body; as when he squared off against Raditz on the beach, it was taking precious moments to transform.
In a trio of deafening roars, all three dragons' respective auras of green, orange, and cobalt exploded around them. Toukestu's darkened face tightened; Their individual power levels spiraled far beyond Super Saiyan 3…and it was tripled.
Ajadzo threw a bolt of crackling ki, and Touketsu dodged it only for it to follow; the gravitational pull of his form was drawing it to him. He didn't want to absorb the immense power, for doing so could put him at risk of losing control to his berserker side.
"Kuroi Tate!" Aborting his attempt to go Void, the darkness diverted up his arm to form his dark shield. It swallowed the attack, and he threw it as a spinning discus. The accretion disk around it taking on the cobalt hue of Ajadzo's energy, it sliced through the air back towards the dragon. Holding two fingers together as he controlled the disk, Touketsu sent it towards the dragon's throat. Separated as they now were, he should not be able to survive a beheading.
Touketsu roared when a fireball caught him in his back; Jozop had attacked from behind. Losing his control over the disk, it imploded on itself. Touketsu got back up, his body going jet black and his cold aura bursting forth. "Hiya-Te!" The icy fires coalesced into his hands as he fell back on his older attack. He couldn't afford to lose any more time trying to reach the Void Transformation - his hangover had left him too mentally compromised. This could work, though. He'd drain those dragons without taking their energy.
He phased behind Jozop and drove an icy punch into his back; the armor flared on contact, dissipating the icy energy in a burst of ephemeral steam. The red dragon spun around and elbowed Touketsu in the face, the fiery energy forcing its way past the protective shadow cloaking his body and right into his head. His body lightened to charcoal, his aura changing as his rage flared. He recovered midair, landing to slide back on all fours before launching himself back at his assailant with a roar.
Jozop drew his weapon, the metal flaring into a massive bastard sword. He slashed the charging Touketsu diagonally from shoulder to chest, sending him tumbling. Jozop snapped his blade in half, the two pieces glowing hot with ki and reforging into two new swords. He tossed one to Ajadzo, and the storm dragon phased behind Touketsu as he got up.
Touketsu's back arched when the electrified katana slashed through his scorched scale mail and into the flesh, galvanizing his gear with electricity and shocking him to his core. His legs rubbery, Touketsu whirled on Ajadzo only for Yudoch to clip his legs from behind with a powerful swing of his tail. Recovering in a backflip, he quickly found himself beset on all sides by the three powerful dragon warriors.
Touketsu blocked, deflected, parried and met them blow for blow in a flurry of attacks, but he could feel exhaustion creeping up on him. When he went after one, another came in and broke through his defenses while he was distracted. They were so much faster than they were before, and each one of them was as powerful as Zeygorn combined. A larger attack like Kurokibatsu would take too long to charge, and the negative energy required for it far too risky. Fending off their attacks, he struggled to stay centered and come up with a strategy.
"Getting frustrated Vegeta?"
Snarling, Touketsu whipped his head around; the last thing he saw was the point of a sword before his vision exploded in agonizing colors. He howled as piercing pain lanced through his eye to the back of his brain, the dragons laughing and whooping as the audience cheered.
Reeling back, his hand went to his right eye to come in contact with a torrent of warm fluid; a veritable waterfall of blood was coating the lower right side of his face. He could feel no tell-tale resistance of the eyeball that should have been beneath the lid. It had been ruptured by the blade, the destroyed organ pushed painfully to the back of the socket. His other eye watering uncontrollably, he'd been rendered all but blind.
The eye...why the hell is it always the- "AAAAUGGGH!"His voice was drowned out by the excited screams of the spectators as his right leg gave out. He dropped to his knee and looked down. Ajadzo's katana had chopped through his thigh, the blade biting into the bone and nearly severing the leg completely. Blood gushing from the ruptured femoral artery, Touketsu looked up just as the blood streaked sword dropped down over his head.
He caught the blade between his hands just before it cleaved his face, a stalemate ensuing. Ajadzo continued to leverage the deadly weapon downward with incredible force, electric ki coursing through the blade. Teeth clenched as he was electrocuted, Touketsu struggled to maintain his grip. The blood-slick blade finally slipped between his palms, slicing down his left eyebrow and cheekbone but thankfully sparing his remaining eye.
Touketsu flinched, screaming in fury as Ajadzo raised the snapping sword and brought it down again. He caught the blade as he pushed himself up on one leg, flinging his adversary away to his left and slicing his palms open in the process. He didn't notice the winged Jozop rushing his blind side, flying low with sword drawn. The weapon flared with blazing hot energy and reforged itself into a spear.
Touketsu screamed when he was impaled, the spearpoint driving through the armor and between his ribs. He gripped the spear shaft, hopping on his good leg in an effort to slow his momentum as Jozop drove him towards the bonfire. Dark ki flaring, Touketsu snapped the spear shaft and flung Jozop away, leaving over a foot of the shaft still protruding from his side.
The other half of the metal shaft in his hand, Touketsu leapt towards Jozop and slammed it into his side, returning the favor. The unfazed red dragon grabbed the spear shaft still sticking from the Saiyan's ribs and jerked him forward like a fish on a hook. Jozop snapped off what remained of the shaft, brought his palm up, and fired straight into the injury.
Touketsu let out a strangled cry as he flew back, the expired blood coming from his mouth in a fine mist when the blast drove the spearhead deep into his lung. He went tumbling to roll onto his side where the ram-horned Yudoch was waiting for him, arms crossed as though he'd simply been watching a show.
"It's time for a little one on one, brothers!" He called to his cohorts. Ajadzo nodded as Jozop pulled the spear shaft out from his side with a grunt, the blood momentarily glowing like molten lava as the wound healed and cooled beneath his armor.
Yudoch raised his right arm with a burst of his green aura. A concentration of ki manifested along his forearm, the long, curving blade of energy resembling a bardiche axe. Touketsu looked over his shoulder, and a with a gasp rolled out of the way as the naga brought the weapon down and into the arena floor with an explosion of power.
Touketsu got to his feet as his most tenacious adversary rushed him. He was going to survive this! "SVAROKEN!" The dark sword was summoned and Touketsu swung for his neck but the naga blocked it with his ki-laced forearm. To his absolute shock, his dark blade was sliced in half before dissipating completely; it was as though Yudoch's energy was a nerve toxin, the power disrupting the very form of his own sword.
Touketsu sidestepped another swing from the ki axe and again summoned Svaroken. Yudoch again intercepted with his snake-like reflexes. They parried and blocked, dodged and swung, and each time Touketsu's sword was destroyed he was forced to recreate it. Increasingly frustrated, desperation took over.
"I'm sending you to hell, you fucking snake!" Touketsu roared, drawing his sword arm back across his chest. Phasing behind the naga, he leapt at him and slashed at his neck. His blade met nothing. Touketsu's single eye wide in rage, he slid forward, his right arm held out straight behind him after the miss and the shadow blade wavering with his fatigue.
Touketsu's right hand was sliced off.
He howled in pain as crowds of Familia and Inimicus alike roared with him; Yudoch had managed to get behind him at his right. To her distant surprise, Remmnya cried out for him.
Touketsu hadn't registered the extent of the injury until he looked to it, his eye widening in shock. He gripped the cauterized stump of his wrist, the corrosive energy of Yudoch's ki weapon having left a chemical burn over it. The thought-disrupting nature of the poisonous energy was temporarily making it impossible for him to recreate Svaroken. He grit his teeth, his brow furrowing. No.
"Looks like I won our sword fight, Vegeta!" Yudoch laughed behind him. His brothers guffawed while the spectators cheered and clapped, laughing hysterically. Huffing in mad disbelief, Touketsu's eye was wild with fury as he looked at the dragons surrounding him. This had all just been entertainment for the spectators. Like they promised him, the dragons were putting on a good show. They could have defeated him already.
His body grew dark, his lips pulling back into a trembling rictus of hatred. In livid denial that he could loose in this humiliating manner, his berserker aura burst forth and he whirled on Yudoch with an unhinged roar, his pride demanding blood. His eye flared Oozaru-red, his body flashing white again as his aura curled into purple smoke.
Yudoch uppercutted him directly in the face, snapping the demon Saiyan's head back and instantly disrupting the transformation from his severely injured body. Ajadzo kicked him in the small of his back, sending him falling forward on his elbows and knees before being sent rolling with a rib-shattering kick from Jozop.
Slavering like a beast being teased and poked with a stick, Touketsu got up and attacked again and again. Out of strategy and energy, he was merely prolonging the farcical match as they each took turns getting their hits in while he was distracted by the other. On the sidelines, their arms crossed, Nappa and Raditz had their heads lowered. They couldn't watch this anymore.
"Vegeta!" Called out Yudoch. "Do you forfeit?"
Standing on shaky legs, Touketsu's vision tilted. His pale face was barely visible beneath the streaks of crimson gore. He could distantly hear the people cheering for his defeat. He drew in a wheezing, gurgling breath. "Never." He clumsily rushed Yudoch. The naga phased out of the way and grabbed him by the hair, laughing when the prince's legs flew out beneath him.
Touketsu instinctively brought his arms up, his left hand gripping Yudoch's in vain as the naga lifted him up and held him out before the roaring crowd. His good eye squeezed shut in pain, he struggled to draw in a rattling breath. Helpless fury built within him, his revenant spirit screaming at his broken body to fight. The shadow fell over him as the dark light strummed through his markings.
"I say it's high time the Saiyan Prince was executed! What say you, Familia?" Yudoch thundered out to the crowd. Both Familia and Inimicus spectators erupted in murderous approval.
"YES!"
"GIVE HIM TO QUEEN ZARKALA!"
"For Nav! For Queen Zarkala! And for you, Queen Marenna!" Yudoch boomed.
Nappa's eyes slid closed.
The sword was driven through Touketsu's back, sliding past his spine and out through his midsection. Touketsu's one eye snapped open wide as he gaped in a silent scream, and he coughed up a fresh torrent of blood. Graying out, the shadow and strumming light of his ki faltered before fading completely.
Touketsu was thrown onto his face. "Queen Zarkala!" Yudoch called out. "This filth will die soon. Please, come do the honors of finishing him before he expires. Zarkala and her sons stepped forth and walked through the temporarily lowered magic barrier, instantly transported to stand in the arena with the others.
With a twirl of his wrist, Jozop spun his sword to point downwards as it flared with burning energy. Shrinking in size as it was reforged, the energy faded and the blade cooled. He handed the now smaller weapon to Zarkala.
"Thank you Lord Jozop."
"Hold!"
Dark blood bubbling from his lips, Touketsu coughed once and cracked a single eye open.
"Prince Vegeta. Can you stand?"
Barely lifting his head from the floor, he squinted up at the large, magical projection of Marenna looking down at him. He didn't answer, instead slowly pushing himself up. Hunched over and gripping the cauterized stump of his right hand, he put all his weight on his left leg. Blood was pumping rhythmically out of the gash in his right even as the arteries constricted in self preservation.
"You desecrated the memory of your Familia, but you can still set things right," Marenna said softly. His brows drew together. "As this was a match, I will remind you that like all Inimicus you still reserve the right to forfeit your life in the arena as recompense. Apologize to Queen Zarkala. Apologize to her sons Izo and Chisto. Apologize to all the Familia here you have wronged. Do this…and inter your body to the flames of your own volition." A whisper of murmurings rippled throughout.
Touketsu's good eye widened. "What?" He mumbled dumbly.
Queen Zarkala looked to him, intrigued. "Yes. Will you? Will you apologize to me, my sons, and to all your Familia? Will you beg for their forgiveness and carry out your own execution?"
Marenna's expression was as calm and still as the most tranquil pond as she awaited his answer. "You are dying," she said quietly, and Touketsu turned his stupefied face back to her. "Will you step into the Fire of Life, Prince Vegeta? This is your opportunity to forfeit what is left of your life in atonement for your sins. Do so, and redeem yourself." Her voice grew softer, her sapphire eyes becoming glassy. "Cleanse yourself of the darkness that controls you."
He gaped up at her impassive face, blinking when bloody sweat ran into his good eye. "M…Marenna," he whispered, the barely audible word passing like a ghost over his lips. She was telling him to commit suicide. She was done saving him. He couldn't help but admire her for sticking to her word, after all the accommodating she'd done for him. But to grovel and beg for forgiveness? To willingly relinquish his life instead of fighting to the end?
A derisive cry of "Oh, throw yourself in already!" sounded out from the stands, disrupting his conflicting thoughts. A ripple of laughter followed, and Touketsu felt his heart frost over as his fast hardening eye raked defiantly over the audience, his pride bristling. Several more spectators piped up demanding he beg and grovel for their forgiveness, more shouting that he burn, until all the stands quickly erupted into familiar, unified chanting:
"JUMP! IN!"
"JUMP! IN!"
"JUMP! IN!"
Queen Marenna held her hands up, asking the crowds for silence. The jeering taunts tapered off. "Prince Vegeta. Will you step into the Fire of Life?" He looked up at the queen and her unflappable countenance as she sat regal and proud over his shuddering, butchered form.
"You will burn."
His scowl deepened, his expression growing cold. A woman scorned. No. This was not an impartial ruler. This was a female getting off on publicly humiliating him after being refused - just as she did in the courtroom. She was resentful. She was indeed just like the commoners in the stands. He straightened proudly, the lump of ice in his ribcage in stark contrast to his burning wounds. He narrowed his eyes.
"No. I won't."
Deafening jeers and boos erupted from the stands, the people standing and screaming at him to kill himself. Jozop and Ajadzo each seized him by the arms, Jozop grabbing him by the back of the neck as they began leveraging his weakened body to the floor. Struggling, he leaned back and resisted as Zarkala walked away, seemingly distracted by something.
"Wait," Zarkala said calmly. She was kneeling, her back to them. She stood and approached them, sword in one hand and her eyes on the object she was holding. She stopped before Touketsu. Panting, his features tightened when his single eye ticked down at his own severed hand within Zarkala's grasp. "You are too proud to atone for your sins, too proud to inter your body to the flames," she said as she studied her macabre prize. She deigned to look up at him. "Why should I…'assist with your cremation'?" A look of violation washed over his features; she'd been trailing after him like a vulture, eavesdropping even when he spoke to Remmnya. She gave him her back. "Queen Marenna, I ask for permission that his remains be dealt with as I see fit." Touketsu's shuddering breath caught in his throat. "As he is alive, it makes no difference whether his body burns or not. His spirit will not be returning to Nav soon."
Marenna didn't reply immediately. "That is true. What is your proposal?"
Zarkala tilted her chin up. "His body should be butchered and the pieces put on display beneath the Imperial Box where all his Familia can see." Touketsu's eye bugged wide in outrage at this dishonor as the amphitheater erupted into cheers. "His Familia deserve recompense!" Zarkala's voice rang out as the cheering grew exponentially. "His death. Must. COUNT!" Touketsu's head snapped up to Marenna, his jaw tight and his single eye hard.
Marenna placidly held Touketsu's burning gaze. She looked back to Zarkala, her sapphire eyes betraying a glint like melting ice. "Whatever happens to his body is indeed of no consequence. You may."
Touketsu roared and struggled as he was brought to his knees. "Thank you, Queen Marenna," Zarkala said with a polite bow of her head as the condemned protested behind her. "Izo, my eldest," she said as she extended the body part to her son outside the arena. Touketsu's severed hand looked like it was beckoning. Izo's silvery skin paled, and he looked uncertainly to his mother. "Please deliver this to the Imperial Box. More will follow." Swallowing, Izo did as he was told. When he exited the arena floor, a black-furred lupine attendant took it from him.
Nappa and Raditz stepped forward, muscles taut. Their knee-jerk reaction was to go to the prince's aid, to spare him from this inglorious execution. But even if they could breach the magical barrier that enclosed the arena, they knew full well that the powerful goddess and the dragons would instantly put a stop to any interference.
Locking his arms at the elbows, Jozop and Ajadzo bent the kneeling Touketsu forward. Yudoch slithered up to him, grabbing him by his long hair and wrenching his head forward and down even as he fought and writhed. Zarkala stepped up to his side, and he stilled when he felt the sword lay over the exposed flesh of his neck, the ki infused blade building with heat. Panting and wild eyed in rage over this insult to his honor, he heard the stands clamoring in blood thirsty anticipation.
"EXECUTE HIM!"
"TAKE THE SAIYAN'S HEAD OFF!"
"KILL HIM, QUEEN ZARKALA!"
Mind racing and blood pumping, Touketsu's veins popped out against tightened muscles. The iris of his widened eye flashed purple, and he squeezed it shut.
No. THEY WON'T HAVE MY PRIDE!
A blank, red eye snapped open.
Touketsu's muscle mass bulged outward once and his body plunged into darkness just as the blade came down. An explosion of stormy black energy burst from his form, purple light pulsing within it like lightning and obscuring everything within the magical dome encasing the arena.
Marenna betrayed a gasp before standing, staff in hand as fleeting stress fractures of weakening white energy flashed over the magical barrier. In an instant the entire thing blasted outwards. Shards of ice-like energy quickly turning to vapor in the consuming blackness, it successfully nullified the dark power before it reached far.
The souls in the stands and the warriors standing around the periphery of the arena instinctively shielded themselves, but they were unharmed; the barrier had taken the brunt of the blast. Yudoch, Jozop, and Ajadzo lay motionless on the arena floor. Zarkala was nothing more than a flickering wisp of energy.
Prince Izo and Prince Chisto gasped in horror. "Mother!"
The insubstantial wisp suddenly expanded outward, again assuming the form of the queen as she slumped to her back in a dark faint. Her sons flew to her aid and helped her up. She moaned, her weakened spirit body shuddering briefly before stabilizing. "Mother, are you alright?"
Her brows drew together for a moment as she dropped her head, her closed eyes screwing tight. She opened them. Unseen by her sons, her blue eyes pulsed once with purple light. She exhaled, and got to her feet, her sons helping her. "I am alright, my sons. Thank you."
The three powerful dragon warriors having since recovered, they looked around. Purple light lit up their eyes as their expressions quickly became furious. The audience was murmuring in confusion.
Touketsu was gone.
Fury descended over Zarkala's metallic features. Her eyes flashed purple for but a second as she whirled around. "Where is he?!" She shrieked. Her sons stepped back, surprised. "He's escaped! He must be found! NOW!" The whole of the stands erupted in fervor over this development. Queen Marenna held up her hands.
"Calm, people of Nav!"
Zarkala whipped around to look up at her, her expression borderline hysterical as her snowy, disheveled hair fell in front of manic eyes. "Queen Marenna, he must be found immediately! His wounds are great - he will die soon. He must be found and brought to justice before that happens! He could be dead now-"
"He will be found," She interrupted calmly. "Lord Zeygorn."
"Yes milady!" All three dragon warriors answered in unison.
"Remain divided. You must split up and search for Prince Vegeta. Time is of the essence." The dragons nodded. They were all too eager to finish that slippery creature off.
"No, wait!" Zarkala cried out. She cast tearful eyes up at Marenna. "Even if he is found before he expires, he could die within moments. He must survive long enough to see his execution. He must not be allowed to slip by his judgement!" she cried, her voice cracking as her face crumpled. Her concerned sons embraced her from either side as the assembly clamored in fervent support.
Marenna's eyes seemed to dull as she cast them downward in thought. "The Water of Life," she said, her soft voice nonetheless ringing out through the amplification magic. She motioned to one of her corvid attendants, who, with a flap of her wings, disappeared from view with supernatural speed. "Zeygorn," she said as she looked back up. "You will each be given a vial of the water. Whosoever apprehends the fugitive, administer it to him. It will be just enough to ensure his survival until he his brought back for execution."
The corvid attendant was suddenly in front of the draconian warriors, handing them each a vial as the growing storm clouds above thundered softly. With a flare of their ki, the dragons took to the skies as the rain began to fall.
"We will do what we can to ensure justice for your family and for all of Prince Vegeta's Familia, Queen Zarkala," Marenna said, her sapphire eyes glittering oceans. "Rest assured a formal announcement will be made concerning the status of the fugitive. The remainder of the Tournament is cancelled," she announced. She held up her staff, and a shower of snowflake-like energy descended upon the Familia and Inimicus warriors in the arena, enveloping those that still had their bodies in a soft, blue-white light. "Please relinquish your temporary bodies to the Fire of Life. Tonight, no one will experience pain. Susmir will remain open to all those that wish to attend."
She turned away as the warriors began to file into the bonfire, the sprinkling, freezing rain quickly became a deluge. Standing nearby, her daughters caught the way her face crumpled before she was entirely out of their view. They looked at each other, sharing equal looks of pain for their mother. A moment later they dissipated into whirling snow and ascended into the storm.
Touketsu collapsed against the seat of tangled roots in his lair beneath the oak tree. He didn't know exactly what happened, so he had more than likely experienced another episode of that quasi-Demon Oozaru state, that…Demon Sign. This time it played in his favor, but it had also taken a great toll on his already dwindling energy. Doubtless there was a search party out for him; he'd be all the easier to track with the trail of blood he'd left. Were he not so weakened he would have flown off this planet, seeing as how he could survive in space in this form. Being a purgatory realm, the space surrounding planet Nav could well double back on itself, but it could have been a viable place to wait things out.
It was a moot point. His best option to evade capture now was to keep moving through the underground tunnels. Eventually he'd have to wrestle down an Inimcus and take his energy, but he needed to stabilize his wounds first if he were to last that long. His hand went to his midsection. He'd lost a lot of blood, but the sword had missed his trunk aorta, and he was now bleeding less. Between that and the leg injury, it was the lesser of the wounds.
His right hand a cauterized stump, he discarded the heavy leather belt and the attached leg guards one-handed. Next he tore from his body the kilt-like cloth that wound between his legs and around his waist. Gripping one end in his left hand and the other with his tail, he wrapped it around the deep gash on his right leg and pulled tight, stifling a grunt of pain. Next he began gingerly pulling off the cuirass.
He winced. The scales, deformed by the sword blows, had bitten right through the leather lining and into his flesh. The armor came off in pieces, a complete write-off. Divested, he inspected the sword wound still glistening with gore over his midsection. The blade appeared to have slid past his vital organs, though it was hard to tell. He turned his head a bit to inspect the spear wound between his ribs, unable to see well without his right eye.
"Wha…what the hell?" he whispered. He ran his fingers over the completely cauterized wound. The spear point lodged in his body was now sealed beneath the flesh; it must have been that point blank ki blast. It would have to be removed before he could even think about healing himself. Positioning the talons of his index and middle fingers over the seared wound, he pushed through the flesh with a pained grunt and ripped.
He screamed in shock and quickly withdrew his hand. The moment his nails grazed the buried spear point, the metal flared with searing energy. He blinked his good eye in disbelief, a sick feeling developing in the pit of his stomach. The wound was instantly cauterized again. It was that blasted technique of Jozop that he shared with the fusion Zeygorn: he could imbue his metal armor and weapons with his hellish spirit energy. What, it was reacting to his touch now?
Perspiration beading on his forehead and upper lip, He looked around for a moment and leaned over to grab a discarded bone from his kill earlier. He put it in his mouth, biting down hard as he prepared to try again. His hand shaking now, he steeled himself before puncturing through the burned flesh, plunging his fingers between his ribs as he attempted to grasp the spear point.
"MMMMPPPPH!" He growled around the bone clamped between his teeth. The metal had again flared in response, searing his fingers and the surrounding tissue. Panting heavily now as the sweat dripped from his face, he tried in vain to a get a decent grip on the metal. The foreign object flared hotter, flames actually beginning to leap out of the wound. He growled in agony, stubbornly persisting in dislodging the spearpoint even as his body was being destroyed. He squeezed his left eye shut as tears of pain streamed from its corners, and he clenched his jaw hard.
The bone between his teeth shattered under the stress. He pulled his hand away as he screamed in pure frustration and unrelenting agony. His cry of pain gave way to shallow pants; his right lung felt like it had been charred to ash. His left eye screwed shut as he rested his head against the roots behind him. Jozop had learned a new technique, it seemed. It couldn't be removed. Even if he managed to survive long enough to siphon energy from an Inimicus, he'd die from the spearpoint sealed within his body.
A pained scowl descended over his features. He should have just given the finger to the entire assembly and walked into that fire. Going out with his head held high would have been preferable to this. He was looking at a slow, disgraceful death, alone in this oversized burrow like some wounded animal. They'd eventually find him and make a mockery of his remains. He couldn't think of a more degrading way to die.
"There. I told you he was here," whispered a disembodied voice.
His eye snapped open to see drifting snowflakes descending around him.
With a gasp he forced himself to move, lurching forward to tumble down the incline of roots. He flipped over onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows as he pushed himself away. Panting, he watched the snows coalesce. The three princesses materialized, their pale, ephemeral forms making them appear as ghosts. Their icy eyes roamed over the bloody wounds on his naked torso, the red-headed Likha biting her crimson lip.
Touketsu's brow furrowed, an ironic smile pulling at his lips. His ensuing bark of laughter sounded like a sob. There was indeed a more degrading way to die.
As I did while writing the later chapters of Touketsu, I listened to a lot of Game of Thrones soundtracks while writing The Burning Bridge. As a result I think I channeled a bit of "trial by combat" into his chapter, lol. Thank you for reading!