Dragon Ball - Heart of Adventurers
Written by Demod20 and LastationLover5000
Chapter 51 - Super Saiyan Son Gokū
Chaos
That is the only word to properly describe Bulma's surroundings. Explosions rocked the seats adjacent to herself and the two Patrolmen, the bubble rippling as debris showered the area with fiery flotsam coming from a number of explosions from various sources across the massive entertainment venue.
Like her, the spectators who remained in their private bubbles were unharmed from the crossfire as all other common tourists rushed out in a panic to escape certain death. The few personnel who didn't partake in the battle were escorting and protecting the bystanders,
What started as a friendly, albeit violent, competition has turned into an impromptu death match. The warriors fighting in the arena are moving faster than anyone who isn't Jaco to see. The Herasian employees are embroiled in pitched combat, all while more civilian staff escorted the stadium attendants to safety.
This left the attendants in the bubbles with a choice. Either stay in hopes their ray shields hold up in the midst of the pandemonium, or leave to escape from the madness of pirates and assassins unleashed.
Jaco already knew what decision Bulma has made.
"This is bad!" Mira exclaimed, the normally playful disposition of the teal skinned Patrolman now replaced with visible alarm. "These guys aren't playing around! We need to get the Stream out of here!"
"We're probably better off here," Bulma said, gesturing offhandedly to her left as a crescendo of explosions spread across the seats nearest to them - causing ripples of fire and kinetic energy to flow over their bubble's ray shields. "If we take a step out there, we're toast."
"Y-Yeah," She shrinks, eyes wide as sweat drips down her scalp. "Good point."
"Now you see what I have to deal with," Jaco grumbles.
"What was that?"
"I said grow a SPINE, Mira!" Jaco shouted at Mira with a sudden comically enlarged head for emphasis.
"Me?! You're saying I should have a spine?!" Mira guffawed with a sudden purple tint of anger. "You got some nerve talking that way to me!"
"How am I wrong? You're wanting to bail at first sign of danger, and this is every time you're busybodying into my life!" Jaco spat with a raised finger.
Mira gestures at his shaking legs, dryly snarking, "Look what the clop said to the vessel! You're just as scared as I am!"
"At least I try to deal with it," Jaco retorted, forcefully grabbing his knees; only in succeeding to make the rest of his body vibrate like a bumble bee.
As they continued to argue, Bulma visibly twitched in frustration. Being in the middle of the two made her feel like things could better if her sister was here.
But then she remembers she fosters this kind of antagonism.
"You know what? I think that reward you got is going to your head!" Mira accused, jabbing a finger at his chest while phasing through Bulma's head. "You think you're above your fellow patrollers because you had a close call on Namek."
"I do NOT!" Jaco exclaims indignantly.
"You totally do," Mira scoffed, pulling her arm back and jabbing it down through Bulma's shoulder, glowing light permeating about the point of contact. "And I can't stand that kind of attitude on the force! If you were half the patroller that you claim to be!"
"This again!" Jaco threw himself back in his seat, hands raised with resignation. "Why do you feel the need to embarass me everytime we're around anyone?!"
"It's because," Mira snarked, gesturing mockingly in an identical posture to Jaco's; all the while phasing through Bulma's head, arms and chest . "I'm Jaco, the Super Elite Patrolman! And I don't take crap from anyone cause I'm soooo great!"
"Hey," Jaco raised a hand, grasping her extended hand and pulling it down. "You're too high on the arm stretch."
"That's besides the point-!"
"If you're going to belittle me, at least do an accurate representation of my stylish poses," Jaco snidely nods
"Why…you-!" Mira huffs, her face a deeper purple than thought possible, her hands shakily raising up towards the indignant Jaco.
Bulma had enough.
Two hands surges out, fingers pinching hard at their cheeks. So surprised by this, Mira didn't even phase, wincing in place as much as Jaco did.
"If you feel like bickering further, do so away from me," Bulma said with a grating tone, her eyes staring a cool menace at either Patroller on either side. "In the event you decide to stop, shut your traps and sit down."
The two glared at one another, then nodded to Bulma.
Seated, the pair crossed their arms and looked away as Bulma sighed.
"Can my day get any worse?" Bulma asked to herself.
"Best not tempt fate by speaking your worst fears aloud," Mira said chidingly.
"Excuse me, but was I talking to-"
A sudden BOOM! snapped her out of whatever anger she had. Shaking their booth, Bulma staggered back while Jaco fell out of his seat and Mira did the same.
The ray shields popped like a balloon, the force of the proximity of the impact overheating the internal generator. This exposed the three to the cause of their exposure; a smoldering crater, with someone lying astride their own booth's seats is one of the Herasian employees.
The very one Bulma and Jaco had been greeted with on landing at the space station's docks, Ran.
She is disheveled and bloodied, battle marring her uniform with scrapes and bruises all over. The Herasian grimaces in pain as she squints an eye open to see Bulma - now kneeling beside her - and Jaco standing back with Mira looking on in disbelief.
"You…?" Ran tries to mutter out.
"Hold on," Bulma said, retrieving something from her personal effects. A small purple tin is held up, opening up to reveal a handful of greenish beans within its contents.
"Eat one of these," Bulma said, taking a bean out of the tin and holding it up to the dazed Herasian.
Ran reached a trembling hand to clutch Bulma's wrist, one eye squinting hard at her with the other wide open with fear.
"You need to leave," She stresses out. "We can't protect you, let alone ourselves. These pirates aren't to be trifled with."
"I'll leave when I want to," Bulma said calmly, stubbornly shoving the bean into Ran's mouth. "Now eat!"
"Uh, Bulma-"
"What now, Mira?"
Before she could answer, a palpable stomp impacts the ground right next to her. Bulma's head turned, looking up to see a tall, muscle bound woman of orangish tint and bright red hair. One eye covered by a metal disc that squinted clockwise opened a crimson optic, the other right eye an angular black orb staring coldly down at her. Behind the muscle bound sinew compacted with scars and metal braces about the shins and firearms, she looked to be easily taller than Raditz and permeated a dangerous energy; one comparable to Captain Ginyū.
"I see I managed to find you," The tall woman said, a rueful grin working its way across her face as her eyes beamed down at the lavender crowned scientist. "As first mate of the Swartz Pirates, I - Rava - will take you all into my custody for ransom. I'm sure you can understand the situation you're in and what that means if you all resist, hm?"
"We're probably gonna have a bad time, right?" Bulma asks, a smirk of her own formed on her own face as she stood up protectively over the terrified Hera Employee.
"Then you understand," Rava said with an appraising look. "You must be Son Gokū's mate. I'll ensure you're in prime condition if you don't resist."
She must be the one who beat Ran, Bulma rationalized with a frown. I can't deal with this one recklessly. I'll need a well timed distraction for-
"Stop right there!" Jaco shouted.
…that works
Jaco, the Elite Patrolman, overcome with pride in himself from his spat with Mira had leaped into action. He struck a pose in midair, twirling around to launch a twirling roundhouse kick at Rava's neck.
One where it sounded like a gong like tapping a statue.
"What-"
WHAM!
Another gong sounded as a mighty fist struck Jaco into the ground with colossal force. Buried under a layer of plasteel flooring, legs sticking up, Bulma could deduce he had been rendered unconscious by that blow.
"Apologies for that, sponsor," Rava said with a snicker. "But you know by resisting that you…oh, you're not conscious."
Mira, having seen what happened, ducked behind the seats and tried to pretend she wasn't there. In her eyes, peril or not, this was beyond her pay grade.
But Bulma utilized Jaco's performance of foolhardiness to her advantage.
"Alright, I'll come quietly," Bulma said, raising both hands up in a sign of surrender. It gained a look of satisfaction from the pirate, eyes fixed on her.
Then, with a smile, she splayed the hands on either side of her face.
"TAIYŌKEN!" She shouts out, and a blinding light discharges from her own eyes; akin to that of the Crane Fighter's own martial art technique.
The trick worked, sending out a dazing ray of blindness that overwhelmed the tall woman, causing her to recoil in pain. Stumbling backwards, Rava couldn't see let alone hear Bulma move.
Shunting space in an instant faster than Bulma had ever moved before, disappearing from sight from the shocked Ran's perspective. Appearing in a forward kneeling stance, with gyros humming along her bionic arms, both hands coiling back-
KRAK-KOOM!
-slamming into Rava's torso, warping the air and throttling her back across the stadium's seats straight into the wall with a loud THUUM. The cybernetic eye sparks, showing damage, blood oozed from a leaning head with a massive purple bruise hissing with steam from the point of contact where she was struck.
"Field Test…success," Bulma said aloud, steam wafting off her body from the heat generated by her four limbs.
Peering through seats of the bubble, Mira gawked as much as Ran did. This is the same woman who is a loud mouthed scientist, right?
So awestruck, the bean that was stuffed into Ran's mouth slid back into her throat.
"Ack! Ulk!" She began to retch, choking on the bean as she writhed in a deep blue flush of asphyxiation.
"Hey! Why are you choking?!" Bulma spat, kneeling down astride the suffocating woman. "I told you to eat it, not just leave it hanging in your mouth!"
With a final heave, the Senzu flew out of her mouth on the ground. Ran wiped her mouth while coughing, looking at Bulma with an angry glare.
"I should have told you to chew it, I guess," Bulma said lamely at the flush faced Herasian.
"Yeah, that would have been nice to know," Ran snarks.
Just as peace seemed to settle amidst their side of the battlefield, a racing blur of crimson chased a blur of black straight up the stadium. Whips of onyx flowed out like water, fluid in motion but powerfully struck out to be deflected by swiveling arms and legs by the aggressor.
Thrusting forth a fist straight into the chest, a flash of lightning burst forth, following the lancing of the dark robed assassin slamming into the waking Rava's body.
Landing next to a triage of women, Gokū turned from his own battle and waved lightheartedly at Bulma.
"Hey! Are you doing okay over here?"
"I'm alright," Bulma said with a smile. "Though you shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent."
"I don't need to see him," Gokū responds, a black nailed hand reaching out to grasp him whiffing as he ducks his head down. "When I can feel him!"
Thrusting an elbow into the charging shadow, another successive clang fills the air as he drives his foe back into the wall. It made a comical outline of his opponent, earning a slight giggle from Bulma.
But, just as quickly as before, Kokuto emerged. Like shadow he rippled out of the darkness while hard eyes glared at him from behind a cloth mask of deep onyx.
"I'm impressed," Gokū said, a playful smile across his face while eyes stare hard at the assassin. "I hit you with full force and you don't even look phased. What's your body made out of?"
"This body of mine cannot be destroyed by brute force, Son Gokū," Kokuto said, dusting his cloak off while maintaining eye contact. "No matter how high you raise your ki, my Chakra maintains the Adamantine Body of mine. No Jutsu or technique can harm me."
"Catchra?" Gokū asks with a tilt of his head. "Is that like ki?"
"Essentially."
"Then why call it Catchra?"
"It's what Indrans have called it, and stop saying Catchra!-"
"Are you an Indran?" Gokū asks.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you just say that first?"
Kokuto refused to dignify the question with a response.
Black spikes jutted from each palm, the arms whipping out from his still person like snakes. Gokū swung his arms out, smashing the rods into pieces and grasping both hands of Kokuto's, pulling his body into a rising knee.
KOOM!
Sending him hurtling up into the sky in a spiral of black. As Gokū awaited the inevitable descent back to the stadium, he turned to Bulma with a smile.
"So, how strong is he?" He asks.
"Why are you asking me? Can't you tell?" Bulma asks with disbelief.
"It's weird, it may be due to how he fights but I hardly feel any change in his ki," Gokū said, crossing his arms over his chest, furrowing his brows in thought. "I can sense his attacks but that's about all. Even with a high level Kaioken I can't seem to rattle the guy. Maybe he's holding back, waiting for a moment to raise his battle power."
"Well, he's definitely stronger than the pirate I clobbered earlier," Bulma said offhandedly.
"Hold on, you fought someone?" Gokū asks, an excited grin breaks out on his face. "Who was it? How strong?!"
"It wasn't really a fair fight," Bulma admits, though her face did blush at the praise given from her husband. "I blinded this pirate who beat on the Hera Staff escort of ours. I think she was comparable to the Captain Ginyu guy you and your brother faced against Namek. But, I got past her guard so, I don't know if I'd call it a full on win."
"That's still a win to me," Gokū giggled, rubbing his nose as he stood up straight. "Man, your research really has paid off. I'd love to see you in action someday."
"It was a great success for a field test, but I probably should work out some kinks," She admits, scratching her cheek as she bashfully waves off the compliments.
Gokū's eyes widened, feeling a sudden spike in ki above him, causing his head to snap upwards.
The space where Gokū has kicked Kokuto is now filled with a sheet of darkness. All of the expanse above his head glistened, sparkling off the lights of the battle ridden stadium.
To his ki enhanced sight he could make out what the black is: thousands of black spikes, each one weightless and hovering next to a silhouette draped in darkness.
Hands clasped together, forming a hand sign of two clasped forefingers upright with the rest encircled with palms pressed against one another.
"Ninpo," Kokuto whispered, all the spikes shifting in shape to become four foot long lances around him in the sky. "Kurosei Mizuyari!"
And in a flash, they all shrieked down towards the ground.
No!
A single thought was uttered as Gokū twisted around to embrace his wife and leaped towards Jaco's unconscious body.
KRAK-KAK-KAK-KAK-KAK-KAK-KAKOOM!
The barrage of black spears impacted the stadium stands with a crescendo of explosive force, upheaving seats and shredding plasteel and duracrete infrastructure beneath it. The structure rumbled deep beneath into the satellite itself, startling attendants and bystanders alike.
Mira, eyes wide, found her body riddled with spikes that her body had instinctively phases through. Had she not been a Tangean, she likely would have been a goner just now.
"That's the last time I decide to say hi to Jaco," She said to herself, tentatively slipping away from the dangerous lances of black steel.
Standing upright, she could see a field of stakes where seats used to be, all plunged into craters of duracrete with gnarled seat and floor debris.
Turning her head she gasped with fright.
There, Gokū is bathed in a red aura, his arms spread out with both Jaco and Bulma beneath him. Several lances had slashed through his arms, a handful of spears jutting from his back and legs.
"Are you-?"
"Stay where you are!" Gokū hisses out in pain, looking over at Mira - a cut to his cheek bleeding down his chin onto his wife's horrified face - with a harsh stare. "Don't make yourself a target!"
Tap!
"But where is the fun in that?"
Mira turns her head, seeing a black figure land weightlessly onto a stake several meters behind Gokū. Her blood ran cold as her eyes registered the face, knowing who he was.
Kokuto of the Indra Clan! I'm so screwed!
As Gokū turned to look over at him with an angry glare, he visibly flinched at what he saw.
The cloak has been discarded, unveiling what should have been a humanoid appearance. Instead, the shape is all that is reminiscent of a human where the flesh is of a shimmering metallic black with stitches tearing open between segments of the arms itself. Wiry tissue akin to tendrils swirled out, forming spikes of black steel that changed shape as effortless as water. The mask remains, yet hints of those same tendrils slipped beneath, tearing it open to reveal stretching tissue where lips would be as cold gray eyes stare at Gokū's face.
"Don't be surprised. In the eyes of the Universe, you're as much of a monster as I am, Super Saiyan," Kokuto said with an amused chuckle, narrowing his gaze at the crimson aura of Gokū. "The only difference between us is that I am better at killing than your kind is."
Ba-Bum!
Veins throbbed along Gokū's brow.
"Why…"
Ping!
A rod shot out of his shoulder, narrowly missing Kokuto's head. This followed more spikes shooting out of flexing muscles, blood spraying outward as the aura of blood red ceased with a sudden upward blaze of ki.
The black assassin's eyes wide, seeing as much as feeling the air change around his prey.
The crimson aura shifted into a sudden rising torrential geyser of gold.
"WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS PEOPLE AS EVIL AS HE IS?!" Gokū howled, his body shrieking with a massive eruption of stellar light. His hair rises in a flowing golden-white torch, black eyes became blue, and the wounds along his back and arms become sealed
Bulma stares wide eyed, never seeing this form up close, even when she was revived on Namek.
He looked so fierce, angry and imposing.
Yet, he was clearly not angry at anyone other than a killer who deserved every bit of that hate.
"The Legends are true," Kokuto said, his voice ebbing awe and fear of what his eyes beheld. "A warrior of rage bathed in golden light. You truly are-"
It happened too fast for the eye to see.
Bulma's optics couldn't trace it. Mira couldn't fathom it. And Jaco was unconscious.
But Kokuto, whose centuries of battle and killing gave him perception beyond most mortals in his galaxy, was only barely able to see Gokū's near instantaneous movement. Rippling through the air the man tore through the floor of iron stakes by simply rushing in a straight line.
Looking down, he saw him stop suddenly, his right hand raised with two fingers poised over his midsection.
Then, in a flicker of swift movement, knuckles crossed the gap of two inches straight into his chest.
KOOM!
His back exploded outward, his chest blasting with a golden flash of ki that ripped straight through his invincible body. His mouth puked out bile and blood, his surroundings cracking and shaking the stadium down to the core of the satellite.
No one would know but the staff operations, feeling the orbiting station had tilted, almost off course from the planet it circled.
"Be glad I gave you a quick death, Kokuto," Gokū said harshly, watching his body fall to the ground in a gory heap at his feet. "It's more than scum like you deserve."
As this happened, there had been a moment's halt to the fighting across the Ferra Tournament grounds. Pirates and Hera Staff all were stunned at the sight of the Legendary Super Saiyan destroying such an infamous killer from a faraway galaxy.
Hashin himself is outraged.
"Kokuto, you ass!" He yelled out, raising a bloodied black prong scythe at Gokū's direction from the stadium floor. "You lost to our target! Now how are we going to collect the money?! Do I have to do it for you?!"
"Heh, so that's the trump card," Rajeel said, rising up from the ground in a staggering sway. Though he was covered in slashes across his arms and legs, with a mean gash running down his left cheek, the Slayer seemed to grin over at Hashin.
"So, you want some more, do you?" The Indran asks, turning to bear his weapon at him.
"Actually," Rajeel said with a sigh, eyes dilating till they vanish into the whites. "I'm ending this, too!"
Slamming both of his fists together, a bellowing roar of power emerges from the Slayer. The ground quakes, the stadium trembles and the observing Super Saiyan widens his eyes at what he saw.
So, this is your true power? Gokū thinks, a harsh grin forming over his cut face, eyes staring with a hungry gleam. You're just the kind of person I'm looking for…a new rival!
Rajeel, covered in wounds, grins at Hashin of Indra. In a manner akin to a lotus blooming, so too did the shell of humanity shed to reveal the Slayer's true form.
Scales of gleaming midnight shimmer behind an aura of white, hair of metallic mane waving down his back making clicking sounds akin to chainmail over breastplate. Hollow white eyes stare ahead with a smile of jagged blades.
The tattooed killer felt a twinge of fear, taking a step back as Rajeel took a step forward.
Swinging his scythe around, a clawed hand caught the middle edge of the trio pronged weapon. Sparks showered the air, a loud *clang* reverberates as not a scratch is made along his palm.
"You-!"
SHLK!
His chest bursts open with the lancing motion of Rajeel's free hand thrusting into him. Blood spouted from the mouth, his eyes wide with agonizing disbelief. Of all people, how could this happen to him and Kokuto, the Demon Twins of Indra?
"Dead men don't speak," Rajeel jeers, his hand ripping out of the killer's chest in a spray of gore that paints the sandy arena floor. "They drop."
Sure enough, Hashin's eyes dimmed and life left his body. Falling onto his back, his scythe clangs to the floor, echoing the end of the final brother of Indra's feared Demons.
Both assassins have fallen.
The Pirates, having come into this fight with a level of cock-sure confidence, now faltered. The Herasians themselves are professional, guarding for another return to violence but never the aggressors. They waited for their decision to either run, or fight.
A decision left on Rana Zolinder's shoulders.
Their Captain, locked in stalemate with the Head Hera Staff, had a grimacing expression of tension. Her massive blade grinded against a pair of smooth palms endowed with luminous energy that sparked on contact with her own internal force billowing about her weapon.
"You should leave now, Captain," Rivesh warns coolly, his face remaining stoic even in the face of such physical exertion. "Should you and your forces keep fighting, you'll find yourselves in the same situation as the Demon Brothers of Indra."
Gritting her teeth, she shoved Rivesh back, swinging powerfully at the Herasian. Each and every blow carved through duracrete and plasteel, blowing away flotsam around their heads as he nimbly evaded left and right her wild slashes.
"You don't get it, Hera scum!" She snarled, continuing her wild pursuit of her quarry with her blazing weapon in hand. "I came here to grab someone to get paid for my time here. I'm not leaving without a body, yours or theirs!"
"Wrong."
A hollow voice echoes behind the Pirate Captain. It had been sudden, like a cold chill swept up her back from the presence of a predatory being that dwarfs her own existence. Phantom claws clenched at her neck, threatening to choke her out with a mere flinch.
She hasn't felt such a feeling since…
Stomping down, she twisted around suddenly, surprising the Herasian.
Her large weapon left a trail of golden light, striking something amidst space that appears invisible. The clang follows a burst of luminous rays, unveiling her target like a mirage.
Standing at nearly three meters in height is a large, broad shouldered figure covered head to toe in dull grayish durasteel armor with bluish painted lines over each middle meeting at the front to form a type of alien skull marking unknown to many. Red eyes glared behind narrow slits of the helmet, staring down at the tall woman while a single arm was raised, catching her blade along the gauntlet where rays of light rippled at the point of contact.
The mere sight of him made Rana pale in recognition.
"Destro-!" She choked out.
A shriek stole her voice, light piercing her chest and out of her back. Her sword slips from her fingers as she clutches her chest where a hole smokes where her heart was.
Pointing the blaster to her forehead, she gasps.
Another shriek of light, and her face is drilled by the weapon in hand.
"Your bounty is mine, Rana Zolinder," The armored hunter said coldly, spinning the pistol in one finger before holstering it on his belt.
Gokū felt immediately alarmed. The sheer brutality and efficiency of killing reminded him of the assassin he just dealt with. Worse he seemed to be much more powerful than the others, yet he couldn't feel his ki.
Is he even alive? He thought.
But a different line of thought crossed the underlings of Rana Zolinder.
Seeing their Captain get gunned down in cold blood sparked something in the female pirates. A rage not felt since their original leader had been taken from them; the injustice of losing the light that shines with their goal ahead of the horizon.
The Swartz Pirates lunged across the stadium, using ki, their swift legs or jetpacks to breach the distance at a rapid pace.
Raising a hand, Destro held a small tube with a red switch on it.
Click!
A sudden beep sang across all of the pirates in their approach. Some looked around, others looked at themselves, seeing a flickering red light on a disc the size of a palm.
Before they questioned when they were placed, they all detonated.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Their screams are silenced as dozens of explosions bloom into the air around the stadium, like macabre flowers of flames signifying their immediate demise. With not a single one able to touch the Hunter, all threats are immediately disposed of.
"Was all of that death necessary?" Rivesh asks wearily to the Hunter, daring to lock eyes with the sinister crimson gleam coming from the helmet's glare.
"The dead do not hassle me," He responds simply, leaning down to pick up Rana's body and haul her up by the back of her neck. "I only have two targets left. Stay out of my way."
In ripples of light, Destro disappeared.
Gokū tried looking for him, his eyes scanning the fire and smoke ridden stadium. But just like before he couldn't feel this one's ki. Was it because of his armor, or was there some kind of device jamming his own life energy from being sensed?
"Bulma, can you hand me a Senzu," Gokū asks, his hand reaching out without looking. "I have a feeling I'm going to need to be at my best."
Bulma, her own optics failing to read where the Hunter went, busied on getting her tin out with the beans. She knew it was a good idea keeping some on her person, knowing how easy it would be to misplace a bag that Gokū normally carried around.
The uneasiness in the air didn't abate, even as she handed a bean to her husband. As he plucked one into his mouth to chew, the armored specter appeared again.
This time on the arena floor.
Rajeel, in his heightened state of his Drakon Form, had smelled the metal plating warp towards him. He whirled around, slashing claws at the Hunter, his claws sparking the ray shield that protected his arms.
Nimbly stepping back, arms swirling around to deflect the savage assault from the Slayer, Destro seemed to be a moment faster than the transformed warrior. Shreds of sparks showered the air, Rajeel grinned nastily up at his foe.
"If you think you can claim my bounty like the Pirate, you got another thing coming!" Rajeel yelled out, cocking his fist back.
SHRRRRRIIIIIIIIK!
A blade of stark black propelled itself towards the Hunter, faster than the pillar that struck Gokū by a high order of magnitude. It speared through the abdomen of the giant warrior, piercing out the back and piercing the wall on the other side of the arena grounds.
Blood seeped out of the armor, the air grew still and Rajeel's smirk adorned his features.
Then, a haunting sound came from the helmet of Destro.
"HE-HE-HE-HUHU-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter emitting from the helmet bellowed the air and shook the ground. Rajeel sneered up with a raised brow, wondering what nerve snapped. Didn't he just pierce his armor and cut through his body?
KRAK!
Rajeel's face is smacked by a sudden powerful fist. His brain vibrated, vision spinning as he staggered back a step.
KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!
The Hunter pounded at the Slayer's body. Gauntlets crashing into the hardened scales, each one sending ripples of energy that shocked his insides.
Those same shocks damaging him are what brought his consciousness back from the brink.
Hacking blood, Rajeel glances his head away from a fist that sparked off his jaw.
A firm sledgehammer blow from his own fist slammed into the front of the Hunter's helmet. Light rippled, sparks sprayed, and his hulking form bent backwards with the force of the counterstrike.
Stopping just before hitting the ground, bent at an unnatural angle while firmly keeping feet on the floor, Destro halted the forward momentum of his prey. Pushing up, Rajeel gritted his teeth as his own heels were pushed back while Destro rose upwards from the ground.
Grasping his wrist up to his fist in one massive hand, the larger warrior bent it over-
KOOM!
-crashing his skull with a sudden explosive force from the other fist. Throttled across the arena floor, ears ringing and vision turning white, the whole of his person slammed into the opposite wall with a sudden violent collision.
Blood seeped out of his nostrils, mouth and eyes as spiderweb fissures of his scales marred his head down to his chest.
The blows he felt didn't feel like anything he had suffered from in the past. Not even the battle against Drakons.
Destro unholstered his blaster, raising it up slowly to point at the man. Red eyes gleamed with sinister intent, aiming for a weak spot he could make out along the face.
SHIIIIIIIING!
The pistol fired, a line of light shrieking across space as it sought to drill through Rajeel's head.
Gokū's widened, and Bulma gasped.
A luminous slash tears through metallic hair. Rajeel's form vanished, blurring forward in a charge of white energy. Dodging several more piercing shots by the Hunter, both fists cocked back as he reached the hulking warrior.
"Drakon Art," Rajeel hissed, fists suddenly jackhammering in the hundreds at Destro's front. "Black Iron Rain!"
Thunderous impacts barraged the front of the massive being, tendrils of electricity bursting from the immense pressure of kinetic shocks. His heels skidded back, his arms unable to move from defensive posture and red eyes were dimmedmed in the face of the offensive output.
In the numerous times Rajeel struck, two hands suddenly caught his own, halting the barrage. Crackling with energy as steam hissed off his armor, Destro glared with a crimson gleam escaping his untouched helmet.
KRAK!
A ruthless knee slammed up into his gut, stretching out his back in a warp of force. Rajeel hacked out blood, feeling pain explode from the now cracking scales; the same place Gokū destroyed in their earlier match.
Yet, in spite of the pain, Rajeel used the momentum of the blow to swing his metal head up-
GONG!
-and bludgeon up the chin of Destro's helmet.
The red eyes dilated, a groaning sound was heard and the grip slackens over the Slayer's arms. Twisting himself free, he kicked the Hunter in the waist to stagger onto his hands and knees.
He didn't take time to gloat.
He needed to end him, and now!
Leaping up into the air, he spun around, stretching out his right leg. It extended, transforming into an enormous black sword that grew to colossal size that rushed straight at the stunned Bounty Hunter.
"Secret Art!" Rajeel shouted, Destro's eyes flickering to life in an instant before contact.
"Kuro Ryūjin Ken!"
KRRRRRRAAAACK-KOOOOM!
The stadium, the adjacent crashed ship and the arena all erupted with the shockwave. Gokū held out a hand to billow the air pressure, Mira flying back uncontrollably as Bulma held onto Gokū's waist while Jaco was held by the foot from his Saiyan rescuer.
All the Herasians emitted ki barriers, with Rivesh eyeing the carnage with wide eyes of surprise.
In the wake of the powerful slash of ferrokinetic energy, everyone could see a massive gash running along the arena floor past the stands and up the upper ring of the stadium itself. Any residual ray shields had long since overheated from the fighting below couldn't hope to suppress a planetary scarring slash of such magnitude.
"What power!" Gokū exclaimed, setting Jaco down with a thud while lowering his outstretched hand. "If he used that against me, I don't know if I could walk away from it without being hurt."
"Is he…dead?" Bulma asks, her eyes trying to make out where the Hunter is.
"I don't see any trace of him at all," Gokū murmurs. "I think he's done for…"
Landing on the floor with a huff, the scales across Rajeel began to shimmer and revert back to what looked like fair skinned flesh. Red eyes emerged from the whites and black mane regained its luster, and the fatigue held a sense of confidence in his attack landing.
He allowed himself to smirk.
"Who's laughing now?" He asked aloud rhetorically.
"I am."
Rising up from the darkness, a monstrous boot stomps in front of Rajeel. Energy crackled around his body, tendrils of lightning sprouting from his palms and ebbed from the rounded plating of durasteel. The only sign of damage done to him - apart from the hole he pierced in his gut earlier - was a hissing scar across the breastplate over one pauldron, dripping with deep crimson fluids.
"What the Hell are you?" Rajeel asks with a trembling snarl.
"Death," Destro said. "And I've come for you."
SHRRRRRREEEEED!
A massive arm, coiling with lightning, speared through Rajeel's chest and out of his back. The Slayer's face stiffened, mouth ebbing blood as his eyes dimmed with fading life.
"Two down," Destro hissed out, dropping the body on the floor. "One to go."
Ba-Bum!
"Nnngh!" Gokū gnashes his teeth, visibly trembling at what he saw.
The camaraderie with Rajeel Bloodwolf, however brief, has been stolen from him. All the potential for growth, the battles to fight and the life to live, all taken away.
Ba-Bum!
"Another one…right in front of me…!" Gokū snarls out, his body coiling with energy as golden flames roar to life around himself.
"Gokū-"
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Gokū howled, his body already shooting across the distance from where Bulma stood.
Destro turned on his heel, his arm swiveling up like clockwork.
VOOOOM!
The air ballooned out in a massive shockwave on contact, the body of Rajeel caught in Destro's other hand. Seeing this only ignited Gokū's aura even brighter, with Destro's lightning energy enveloping himself against his.
Gold flares against blue, tangible energy that mimics life yet bore none to the senses shocked against Gokū's overwhelming life force. A tensed up fist groaned against a metal firearm, both limbs opposing each other with equivalent strength.
Stomping the ground, the Hunter parried the fist away, thrusting the body of the dead Slayer straight into the Super Saiyan's middle. The crunch of the bloodied corpse being used as a bludgeon staggered back the golden warrior, allowing Destro to fire off a massive burst of electrical energy.
Skidding across the ground, Gokū's aura burned away the electricity, his arms pulled back as bright eyes glared at the outstretched palm of Destro.
"Your Legends don't have your weakness stored in my data," Destro said, red eyes narrowing at Gokū. "You care for this miserable creature; this rotten piece of meat?"
"I don't care that you don't understand it," Gokū speaks harshly, raising a hand up with curled fingers while a clenched fist is held at his side. "But I'll make you pay for it!"
Throwing the corpse of Rajeel's at the Legendary Super Saiyan, Destro drew his pistol as it covered the spot where Gokū could see him.
Firing a shot, it shrieked through Rajeel's body-
PING!
-hitting the far wall, piercing an Afterimage left in the Saiyan's wake.
Swiveling an arm up before cocking his head, an incoming fist of Gokū's unfurled at the last second into a palm that tapped his gauntlet.
WHAM!
Using the arm as a pivot, Gokū somersaulted over the large warrior, landing a powerful axe kick to the back of head. Clanging with sparks flourishing from the rear angle, Destro hissed with a forward leaning skid.
VWOOM!
Twisting his upper body, Destro launched a scythe of lightning across the air with his whole left limb, narrowly missing Gokū as it burned his arm and shoulder in a midair turn from the warrior's counterstrike. Gokū fired a kikoha at his foe, watching him flicker in a charge that dispelled his own ki bullet.
KOOM!
Landing a powerful lightning infused fist into Gokū's horizontal poised chest, the Super Saiyan's eyes widened and his mouth gaped. Thrown back across the arena, Destro zipped in to deliver another haymaker that's barely deflected by the Super Saiyan's arm.
THUUM!
"NGH!" Destro grunts, feeling Gokū's own strong uppercut burn golden ki into his cracked breastplate, further breaking it up.
The Hunter retaliated with a sledgehammer to Gokū's head with a palpate crack!
Gokū snarled with a rising knee that carved up his chest to the chin, staggering him back several steps. One, two, and three vicious jabs at the faceplate and a carving elbow bash further pounded away at the metallic shell covering the giant's body.
Swiveling his metal crown to crash into Gokū's forehead surprised the Super Saiyan, stunning him long enough to halt his offense. A powerful lightning punch whipped his neck, his mouth spraying blood-
KRAAAK!
-at the same time, his leg whipped out to roundhouse kick Destro across the face, cracking the left side's visor down the chin.
Blood spouted from the small crack in the helmet, just as it did from Gokū's broken nose.
Both warriors spun around on their heels, their respective energies coalescing around their impressive forms. Leaping back at each other came a storm of blows, each one slamming against each other with no intentions of dodging them.
Just the intent of destroying one another.
Golden and blue sprayed tendrils of energy, living and otherwise, into the sky. Their silhouettes are indistinguishable to Bulma's sophisticated optics, just the immense amount of power being produced.
The entire station vibrated, floors of casinos and entertainment centers rattling around with guests all fixing their eyes around them with a few watching the screens of the ongoing battle of the ages. Unbeknownst to all, even the planet below and the distant moon could feel the tremors their battle cascaded from themselves.
It was said that durasteel has the highest resistance to damage in the known universe. Apart from impossibly dense metals like katchin, few forms of manufactured minerals can boast its ability to withstand punishment.
But against the destructive power of a Super Saiyan, it began to buckle and fracture. Even the artificial energy wreathed from within that compensated for the loss of the ray shields that overheated from the battle against Rajeel, couldn't protect Destro from all of the hundreds of blows hammering away at him
For all the strikes that slammed into Son Gokū, it seemed nothing could stop him. Every lightning infused punch, jab, swipe and kick didn't even slow him down. It seemed like rage just pushed him to fight harder with every ounce of blood he was forced to shed.
And then, it gave way.
Kkkkkkkkrrrrrrraaaaaak!
The last piece of the shell that covered the chest of the Hunter shattered, allowing a cacophony of blows to impact his exposed interior. Through the haze of battle Gokū didn't even notice the flesh his fists smashed were intertwined with sheets of synthetic metal with wires and reinforced braces containing a bright core of energy.
One that blasted the Super Saiyan's body backwards in a harrowing eruption of bright, loud plasma.
SHHHHEEEEEEOOOOOOOW!
Skidding to a halt, both of Gokū's arms are scalded and steaming from the last moment crisscross of defending himself. Breathing heavily, the bruised and bloodied warrior peered past his two clenched fists at his foe.
"Magnificent…" Destro muttered out, wheezing heavily as he hunched forward, giant hand clutching his bleeding chest as his core flickered with instability between two pectorals of fibermesh and nano weave. A slanted red eye glistened visibly from the crack of his visor, a hidden respirator seen in the shadow his helmet couldn't conceal. "I haven't hunted prey like you…in over a thousand years. To give me so much trouble…the Legends don't do you any service, Super Saiyan."
Gokū didn't understand what the strange being was saying. He looked alive, yet, his ki is near to non-existent. It appeared machines wired into him are all that is keeping him alive, and giving him incredible power.
It reminded him of the Androids he fought against in Muscle Tower, the good and the bad.
The rage in Gokū is almost quiet when remembering those times.
But the peripheral gaze at Rajeel's body brought it all back to the fore of his mind.
Uncrossing his arms, Gokū leaned forward with knees bent. Toes dug into the ground, crushing it underfoot, catapulted behind him as he launched himself across the air to land the final blow at the wretched monster.
Though, in the eyes of Destro, it was he who was the prey. The image of a massive golden beast with teeth hated and eyes red rushing in a blur towards him to claim his life.
Cocking a lightning infused fist back, he awaited the end.
ssssssHHHHHRRRRROOOM!
An opaque white overcast wiped away the color between the pair of warriors.
Looking up, Son Gokū saw a crescent wave of light of enormous size barreling down at him. Halting his approach he leaped backwards, avoiding it as it dug a new dozen meter long trench into the ground.
What surprised him, however, was the one who landed in front of Destro on the opposite side of the arena floor gouge.
On the opposite side of him is a familiar woman in slender shape and near identical stature to himself. Foot long bangs framed soft but sharp features, black olive eyes partially obscured by the right bang whereas the left is visible as she pushes the bang aside. Angular pauldrons of gold fastened on either side of a white, yellow ribbed suit or armor revealed her arms and legs, her tail unfurling as gold tipped boots shift and gloves pressed on either hip.
"Hello, Cousin," Aspara said with mirth, stonily staring at the bloodied Super Saiyan with a rueful smirk. "Having fun without me?"
"You-!" Gokū snapped, his eyes wide open with recognition before narrowing into a scowl. "Where is he?!"
"Who?" Aspara dryly asks. "I know plenty of unsavory men. You'll have to be more specific."
"You know who," Gokū sneered. "Where's Tullece?"
"Father is busy ruling galaxies," Aspara snorted, rolling her eyes at him. "I have no interest in fighting a half beaten Super Saiyan. I'm on a mission of my own."
"And what's that?" Gokū asks.
Turning her back to Gokū, Aspara looks up at the battle worn Bounty Hunter in the eyes.
"On behalf of the Saiyan Empire, I've come to give you a proposition, Destro the Hunter," Aspara stoically briefs the taller warrior, showing not a sign of fear in her gaze. "You're to work under me, along with others under my command. We're going to perform a dangerous operation that requires every single combatant I can acquire of the highest level of power and ability. Your reputation is beyond what passes for the average bounty hunter and as evidence of you fighting the Legendary Super Saiyan himself, shows that you're not lacking in strength."
Destro quietly wheezes, narrowing a red eyed glare down at her.
"I'm not cheap," He grunts out. "My services will come quite expensive to serve a long-term relationship with one such as the heir to an empire."
"My father will spare no expense," Aspara flatly answers without skipping a beat. Raising a brow, she asks. "Do we have a deal?"
"Agreed," Destro affirmed with a tilt of his scarred helmet. "My ship is nearby. We can talk business less hostile elsewhere."
"That won't be necessary," Aspara said with a smile.
As Gokū overheard their conversation a pair of ki moved overhead. Looking up he could hear the sudden whirring of engines and a square shaped vessel lowering down.
The lower hatch of The Temerity opened, revealing a tall saurianoid, wearing a cross between a plated spacesuit and dark violet rimmed black robes. The purplish orange skinned man stood firmly on the platform, dark beady eyes staring at Gokū intently.
With Tapion at the controls, it was up to him to ensure that Aspara and Destro could make it aboard.
Gokū, even without all the information provided, knew that ship was their escape.
If I capture Aspara, I can lure him out…along with Chi-Chi! He deduced.
Throwing a palm up, he fired a kikoha at the hovering ship.
Zard raised a set of talons expectantly. The ball of destructive light flickered out, as if snuffed out like a candle's flame.
"Attacking unprovoked, are we?" Zard asked with a smile. "Surely you're not ruled only by wrath, Super Saiyan. Perhaps you should reconsider your actions?"
"I won't let you people get away," Gokū said, his aura igniting with a sharp shriek as he clenched his hands tightly at his waist. "You people won't hurt anyone else!"
As Gokū lunged across the space between him and the pair on the ground, a sharp ping warned him of something he didn't account for. Looking down, an eruption of light burst from the floor, the crescent wave slammed into him from below.
She hid her kikoha from before to surprise attack me?! Gokū fathomed as he was pushed up and backwards across the stadium airspace.
In those moments, Aspara and Destro leaped up, landing onto the ramp next to Zard with a pair of thuds.
Destro casts one last glare at the Super Saiyan as the ki wave carries him farther away. Then he turns his back, walking up the ramp with Aspara inside the Temerity.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Gokū roared, his voice dispelling the crescent shaped kikoha, freeing himself from its constant momentum.
Racing back in a golden comet blur, Zard placed one hand behind himself while the other outstretched his talons up with the back digits poised ahead.
Gokū's fist thrust at Zard's middle, a soft swift jab sending it up. The same clawed fingers thrust forward, striking him in the solar plexus; combining his charge's momentum with a pulse of ominous crackling energy.
Gokū howled in pain, feeling lightning of a different kind pierce his golden raiment and fry his own body from head to toe.
"I warned you," Zard hissed, the flashes of lightning snapping all around him and the stadium's airspace as he continued to shock the Super Saiyan's body. "But of course I knew you wouldn't listen. Such is the way of those lost to rage. My people are very much the same so I know what a Saiyan like you feels-"
Snatch!
A strong hand latches onto his wrist, twisting Zard's off his chest, pulling the lightning spraying him away.
"You talk too much!" Gokū snarled out.
KRAK!
A powerful punch shatters luminous glass of the space between Zard's snout and jaw, staggering the Saurianoid backwards. The barrier had absorbed the blow yet his body still reared back from the excess of ki that spilled through the seams.
"Heh," Zard smirked, casting a side eye stare at the Super Saiyan clenching his wrist. "And you don't listen."
The Mage snapped a pair of fingers.
And in a flicker, Bulma stood in his place.
Her face, a mask of terror, pain and shock at what just happened with a wild gaze fixed at Gokū.
"B-Bulma!" He croaked out, his shock halting the rage he felt.
The strong grip is immediately unlatched, and his hands raised up while eyes looked for where his foe went.
"Where did he-?"
"Too easy."
Though it was the voice of Bulma, Gokū felt a sudden spike of danger coming from her. Turning to look back ahead, he felt awed by a sudden otherworldly force that cast a massive dome of light from Zard's shape, illuminating the stadium with the mana of the mage that mimicked Bulma's appearance.
Raising a palm at Gokū's face, a blood red sphere that was Gokū's golden kikoha, fired off with a shriek. Swiveling an arm to deflect, Gokū miscalculated the strength of the blast as it swelled to an instantly larger size.
Crashing his own arm against himself, the Super Saiyan is throttled across the air, straight into the nose of Rana Zolinder's ship.
Causing it to instantly explode.
"GOKŪ!" Bulma cried out immediately, seeing the enormous fireball from the ship's detonation. In the wake of the powerful shockwave, the flames billowing upwards with a black column of smoke, the lavender haired woman instantly barreled off the balcony of the seats to land in a roll on the arena floor below.
Rushing to the fiery wreckage, she raised a hand to deflect the heat from her face, stopping her from getting too close. She fumbled within her clothes, looking for a capsule of anything to help out the fire.
And then, a familiar shout is heard.
"HAAAA!" Gokū howled out a powerful sonic boom, shattering the brittle remains of the ship's front and dispelling the flames around him. Heaving heavily, steam rolled off his right arm, burning crimson from the kikoha that struck him into the ship.
Looking over at Bulma, Gokū looked up at the sky and gritted his teeth.
"They got away…"
His voice came out in a ragged sigh. Muscles shrank and golden hair receded to sharp black locks. The Super Saiyan form released, he now felt a bit tired, and pain, from the battles he just fought.
Bulma wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his chest. He weakly hugged her back as he felt relieved Bulma wasn't the one he had gripped so tightly.
But he knew, from the way Aspara spoke, he would see them again. And he needed to be a lot stronger than he is now if he's to stop them for good.
I'll be ready when you are, Tullece, Gokū swore as he glared up at the night sky above the stadium. And you won't run away from me when we settle the score.
Demod20: This is something I have been working on for about the last few weeks and I'm very happy with the end result. Since the holidays, work and other stuff made my co-author quite busy, I was more than happy to take the full brunt for this Finale.
To start off, I wanted to make this one unbroken segment instead of breaking it up into parts, to help sell the shock of one moment to the next. This way I can go from a lighthearted slightly tense section to an exciting action sequence, have momentary breaths before reigniting the tension over again until the end.
The moment of Bulma revealing her cybernetic arms is a personal favorite, but I have lots of references sprinkled in from other media. From Kokuto being a blatant Naruto reference to Rajeel being Fairy Tail and Destro (as well as Zard) being Star Wars. This is why I love writing Action Shounen Fan Stories and moments like these are what make my style of writing speak for itself.
I love the opportunity I was given to help propel the story into a new direction and am eager to show you readers what we have in store for the next Arc. Until next time, I'm Demod20 and I'll see you all in the next update!
LastationLover5000: Happy New Year, all! So this was a very well done chapter! It isn't often I don't do any of the writing, but I've been being kept busy recently, as my co-author says, and I think the action in this fight benefited from a consistent hand and tone. Overall, I'd say he did a bang-up job as well. This mini-arc was a chance for us to set up a few new things for the material going forward, in addition to simply giving you all a change of pace, and I do hope you enjoyed it! We'll see you soon!