Chapter 19: Awakening on New Namek

Around the time Baby's takeover of the planet Earth reached fruition, Trunks and co. were in the process of becoming acquainted with the residents of New Namek.

"T-This is the Fusion technique, a specialty of the Metamoran race! I had read about it in the records of the previous Grand Elder, but it still shocks me to see a fusion come undone before my very eyes!" said Muri, the current Grand Elder of New Namek.

"Yeah. Unlike what I've heard of the Namekian method of fusion from Piccolo-san, the Fusion Dance we use to combine ourselves has a time limit of 30 minutes," said Trunks.

"Piccolo! Now that name is a blast from the past," said Muri, "it was through his death that Son Goku-san and his friends made their way to the original planet Namek to revive their friends, and through his fusion with the previous Earth Kami that our very own Dende was brought to Earth to replace him! Tell me, is Piccolo doing well? And what of Dende?"

The three Saiyans who made their way out of Planet Reito were brought to a painfully awkward moment of silence, during which all three stared blank-faced at the ground, before Pan collapsed and could barely resist the urge to start crying.

"D-Don't tell me… Has Earth already fallen? H-Has Dende failed you all in his role as the replacement Kami?!"

"….."

"L-Let me interject!" rang a booming, otherworldly voice in everyone's minds, "I am the Kaio of the Northern Galaxy, you may remember me as the one who concocted the plan to teleport everyone but Goku and Freeza to Planet Earth when Namek was on the cusp of explosion many years ago."

"K-Kaio-sama! T-This is probably just wishful thinking, but might you have some good news for us by any chance?! H-Have Oob and the others somehow or other managed to repel Baby's invasion?!" yelled Goten frantically, clearly desperate to grasp onto even the tiniest modicum of hope.

"I-I wish I could say that… The good news is that Baby has yet to ever decide to destroy Earth, and his killing spree has been fairly moderate considering his violent grudge," said Kaio ominously, "the bad news is that… Your prayers have not been answered. Gohan's body was taken, and Baby has usurped control over all of Earth as the new King. He has hardly left King Castle since assuming his position, however I am sad to say he is without a doubt the most powerful being in the universe as of now. Not even the Hakaishin Beerus-sama of this universe could defeat him with any measure of certainty."

"So it's really as we feared…" said Goten and Trunks both, tapping into their shared memory through the prior act of fusion to recall that Baby claimed he would reach the level of a Hakaishin through his acquisition of Gohan's body, "b-but tell me this at least, Kaio-sama!"

"Vegeta's son! Of course, anything within my power to inform you of, I shall."

"H-Has Baby killed the rest of my family?! With his furious grudge against the royal family of the Saiyan race, I-I fear he'll go after Bra and my mother!"

"That's part of the good news I mentioned. Baby has yet to lay his hands on the family that are hiding at the palace of Earth's Kami, I imagine he is saving them for some sort of elaborately planned revenge against you and the Saiyan descendants at large."

"G-Good, you had me real worried there…"

"The situation still couldn't be direr! Baby keeps the six Ultimate Dragon Balls he stole from your group on him at all times through psychokinesis, and I fear his level of omniscience greatly surpasses that of most of the gods of the universe! He knows without a doubt where you are, and his speed surpasses any known spaceship in recorded history! If he were to will it, he could very well ambush you all where you are at now, in a matter of days!"

"I don't think he would bother to do something like that," said Trunks, "from my experience of being integrated with his mind and body when he possessed me and the future me, the size of his bloated ego is probably the only thing that surpasses how perpetually angry he is for the misfortune that befell his race. He's without a doubt biding his time, waiting for us to strike after having long since plotted all of his next moves. He used to be a king, and with the power he's acquired he's without a doubt become unimaginably arrogant."

"He's deriving some sort of sick pleasure in teasing us with the fact that he could wipe out Earth – no, this entire universe in a flash if he wanted to. Baby's managed to outwit us more or less every step of the way, and with the omniscient powers you say he's acquired, he's probably willing to wait another hundred days scoffing at our efforts before he even makes his next move," said Goten.

"I-It's okay, right? Trunks and Uncle Goten have gotten stronger through the fights on Planet Reito, and I ain't no pushover myself as a Super Saiyan, I'll have ya know!" yelled Pan as she went Super Saiyan, only to fall to her knees from the strain of exerting so much power in her exhausted state.

"Ho! So even the little girl among you is capable of turning into a Super Saiyan! That I find astonishing!" said Muri.

"I hate to say it, but even if we were to go ahead and fuse right now, and team up with Pan and Redjic we'd all have collectively a snowball's chance in Hell against Baby's new power," said Trunks, "but there's still a hundred days or so before we reach the 6-month time limit for this journey, those few months we won't ever let go to waste! We'll train harder than ever before, and even if we just go from a snowball's chance to an iron ball's chance in a hellish inferno, this chance we've been given can't go to waste!"

Muri saw from the fire in Trunks' eyes and from Pan's burst of power that there was untapped potential in the three Saiyans gathered before him.

"Trunks, you said your name was?" asked Muri, "from the way the girl described the other Saiyan man with you, the two seem to be related to Goku-san, but in your case your blood must have been passed from… the evil prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta, is that correct?"

Trunks recalled Vegeta's stories of his attack on the Namekian village he slaughtered and immediately bowed before the elder, saying, "G-Grand Elder! In my late father's stead I apologize for the tragedy he inflicted on your people! I-I can't make excuses for what he's done, but be assured! I'll do everything I can to protect this planet as well as Earth from Baby's clutches – no, from any other villain! I owe it to the memory of the fallen Saiyan race! And to the people my father killed!"

"The sins of the father need not be repaid by the actions of his son," said Muri, "and letting grudges of the past, especially a past undone with our Namekian Dragon Balls, continue to fester new hate is an act of utmost foolishness. What I need of you is for you to sit still and allow me to examine the contents of your mind…"

Muri then brought Goten toward him as well with psychic powers, forcing the unsuspecting warrior into a sitting position as well and tapping into the deepest recesses of their well of potential.

"HAAAAAH!"

Muri's body shined in an orange color and then ignited a yellow glow in both of the Saiyan hybrids, causing the area as far as the eye could see to be momentarily engulfed in a blinding light. Trunks and Goten felt a huge power erupting from within themselves, a power they scarcely knew they ever had. All of the villagers except Muri and the younger tribesmen were blown many miles away from the shockwaves the awakening generated, and Pan even fell out of Super Saiyan in shock. Trunks and Goten stared at each other absent-mindedly before grinning faintly and turning around, and then generating shockwaves in the air directed at asteroids on the other side of the solar system by punching in a shadow boxing style, shattering each and every asteroid precisely. They then high-fived each other and said, "This may still fall short of Baby's power, but it's a start! Finally, we can see light at the end of the tunnel! A hundred days to train presents a hundred possibilities! We've come too far to give up now!"

"An impressive increase in power, but you two are still jumping the gun. Even accounting for the fact that smaller increases in power become larger increases when you two perform Fusion, your combined strength still absolutely pales in comparison to that of someone rivaling the Hakaishin," said Redjic, "but that's all the more reason why I'm interested to see how far you two can go in the hundred days you say you'll have until you battle Baby. Even Baby's patience will likely run thin should you exceed such a delay, so every day on this planet I'll ensure serves purpose. Not just for you two, but for the female Saiyan tyke as well."

"Oh yeah? From the kind of tone you're taking with us, it seems you're quite confident in being a great deal above our powers, Redjic! Care to show me if you're not just talk?" said Trunks as he assumed battle position and immediately went Super Saiyan 2, before equipping himself with his future counterpart's sword, which he'd encapsulated and strapped to his belt.

"Very well. I'd hoped to battle you and Piccolo at once, but the other Saiyan among you can serve as an adequate replacement. The both of you, come at me. I will not consider a loss against me in this match to be grounds for settling anything, but it seems you two should still be reminded of higher plateaus you've yet to reach," said Redjic confidently.

"We'll wipe that confident smirk right off your face!" yelled Trunks and Goten both, as the latter also transformed into Super Saiyan 2, generating a dust cloud that obscured Redjic's line of sight. Goten then grabbed Trunks' wrist and teleported the both of them in a crouching position near Redjic's ankles, upon which Trunks swung at his legs, only for Redjic to casually read and evade the blow, and generate a ridiculously long spear that he used to swiftly strike at Trunks' jaw, knocking him out of Super Saiyan 2. Goten, shocked by how quickly his partner was taken out, flew away from Redjic intending to widen the distance between them and launch a teleportation Kamehameha, only for Redjic to then quickly catch up after only raising his power to a fraction of his full strength. Goten put up somewhat more of a fight due to the moves he'd learned in his training with Goku, but was quickly at Redjic's mercy as well. Redjic grabbed Goten by the collar and headbutted him into submission, knocking him out of Super Saiyan 2 as well.

"I believe I've taught you a fair amount with this demonstration," said Redjic, "the first being that going straight into your full powers immediately signals that you are going for the killing blow. Furthermore, with the healing powers I have researched to be superior to mine and are in possession of the Namekian race, it was easy enough to infer that you would not hesitate to go for a blow that would cripple me. Taking out your sword so rashly makes that far too easy to read."

"D-Damn… We've gained a new transformation, done a lot of training and had power increases on top of that, and somehow you're leagues above us! W-What kind of training did you do?!" said Trunks, both jealous and frustrated.

"That is a matter I will disclose at a time after you've proven yourselves worthy of my faith that you have a fighting chance against Baby at all. After all, we began as enemies, and I still scarcely consider us allies. Think of my training you as giving spoils to my potential rivals. I will not personally aid in the battle against Baby, but I will allow you two to maximize your potential so that you'll make worthy adversaries."

"More of a truce than an alliance, is that it?" said Goten, "I guess we never really did come to any agreement that we were friends, so I can't blame ya. But if you're willing to train us, then go on! What else are we doing wrong?"

"The second is that most seasoned warriors are richly experienced in conventional tag team tactics, and having fused multiple times in just the past month, you two are so well-coordinated in your tag team tactics that taking out one of you immediately cripples the other. Sometimes, the messy way is to get things done. If you're so sneaky as to use the aftermath of your transformation to blind your enemies, you must think outside the box. And finally, I did not even bother to raise my power to any level considerably higher than yours, Goten, and yet you lost composure from Trunks' defeat and decided to flee. That type of fight or flight response can be useful, but it may also result in panic, which will limit your speed and power. And speaking of power….."

Redjic raised himself above the ground with Bukujutsu, and then generated a red barrier around himself before raising his power to about 80% of his full strength, which shattered the barrier and shook the solar system at large. He then said, "even with a barrier impeding the explosion of power I released, going 100% would likely irreparably damage the planet. This is roughly eight-tenths of my full strength, at the moment."

"D-Damn… Y-Your talent has to be something else, Redjic. You just did run of the mill training in the time we haven't met, and we'd still need to fuse into our Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks form to defeat you now…" said Trunks.

"All that says about me is that even with all the spirit inside me, I still have a ways to go. I won't be satisfied until I am the lone warrior whose might is unsurpassed across this universe, and your Gotenks fusion and Baby are both plateaus I need to reach."

"Weird that he'd use the term 'spirit'… is there a secret to his power beyond just raw talent? It does feel kind of like what Nii-san described of Boo's power when he absorbed us and Piccolo-san, the power he released when he went 80% just now…" thought Goten.

"Grand Elder of the Namekians!" yelled Redjic, "You must also release the inner potential of the Saiyan girl! For the battle that is to come, no weak links in their team shall be permitted!"

"V-Very well… Quite honestly, it flabbergasts me that you will not offer your aid to the cause of defeating Baby, with all of the power at your disposal… But I suppose it is your expression of the pride you have as a warrior. You fight alone. I get it, Nail was like that too before he assimilated himself to Piccolo."

Muri quickly healed the shell-shocked and exhausted Pan, before unlocking the depths of her inner power as well. The release of her strength also generated a shockwave, albeit one significantly smaller than the combined shockwaves of Trunks and Goten's awakening. However, once her power reached this acme, Pan suddenly froze in place and was forcibly turned Super Saiyan.

"G-Goten… Uncle Goten? Trunks? I-I don't know what's going on, but t-this feels like what you call an adrenaline high, I feel like my head is spinning, there's power just pouring out of me…" said Pan as her eyes lost focus, and her aura continued to endlessly expand, forcing Goten to knock her out with a tap to the base of her neck.

"Well, well, well… She really has our family's blood in her. Her power's reached astronomical heights, probably higher than what I had before I trained with Kaio-sama… But due to her inexperience with Ki control and the Super Saiyan form, neither her mind nor body are capable of exercising control over that power. If I hadn't knocked her out, she could've caused a cataclysm with her power alone in due time. Looks like we'll first have to teach her to remain Super Saiyan at all times, then she may prove to be an actual asset against Baby! Things really are looking up, Redjic! We're lucky that we have you to train us, at least!"

"A luck that could easily turn to bad luck for you three," said Redjic as he donned a smirk on his face, "I said that the prior spar against you two wouldn't count for anything, but tomorrow's session won't be so merciful. Each and every battle we wage from this point onward shall instead be battles to the death! You give me one opening, and I shall not hesitate to kill the both of you, and give your niece the exact same treatment!"

"We wouldn't have it any other way! Getting treated with kid gloves just ain't our style!" yelled Trunks as he got back on his two feet and yelled, "Muri-san! Heal us both right now, the next few months we have to train will be nonstop battles to the death, we wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Hmph. It is said that the Fusion Dance requires intervals of an hour between each successful fusion, so that should give us another 20 minutes to warm up. After I've whipped you both into shape in that time, you shall resume our battle as Gotenks."

"You want to challenge us as Gotenks?! It's your funeral!" yelled Trunks and Goten as they again went Super Saiyan 2, upon which they made eye contact with Muri, prompting him to heal Pan. Redjic did not hesitate to exploit this brief opening, upon which Trunks and Goten each grabbed Redjic's arms and legs on both his right and left sides, prompting Redjic to comment, "Good. You're finally thinking outside the box. You must have remembered that I exploited openings, however brief, on Planet Imegga. You read my attack pattern. Impressive, but hardly sufficient!"

For the next 20 minutes, Redjic completely dominated the duo, who honed their instincts to new heights in the short while and managed to avoid Redjic's death blows by a hair each time. Impressed, Redjic let them go at the 18-minute mark, saying "You've both earned yourselves a two-minute break. I actually did try to kill you both this entire time, and you've managed to skirt death with astonishingly increasing proficiency. The next two minutes, you two shall spend explaining what Pan needs to do to master her power. I will be waiting on the highest plateau standing over this planet, the tallest mountain. Arrive immediately via teleportation as Gotenks, and the battle can then resume."

Two minutes later, Trunks and Goten had explained what Pan needed to do and performed the Fusion Dance, merging into Gotenks' base form and teleporting Pan and himself there.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. You ready, Redjic?!" yelled Gotenks as he turned Super Saiyan.

"Good of you to bring the Saiyan girl. Merely watching our battle shall prove to be plenty enough of a lesson. Try not to lose your focus and fall out of Super Saiyan form, lass!"

"Quit yer yappin', I didn't come here to chat!" yelled Gotenks as he charged Redjic at full speed…

To be continued…