. . . The Following Morning . . .

"Keep firing!" one of the Nudists yelled before his attacker plunged its hand through his chest.

Coughing what tasted like copper, he couldn't drop to his knees with the monster ahead of him. He heard the constant shrieking. Shrapnel pierced the red in the sky, in uneven pops, keeping it muggy. A thick, swirling veil stunk and blocked off most of everything. There was no breaching the lowest level of Honnō City.

The Naked Sun remained afloat not far from the nearest harbor, amidst rubble detached from the only bridge leading to the island. Just before he blacked out he caught a glimpse; some of his peers were left standing. Most of them weren't. He recalled the Elite Four. Teenagers. Somehow, they had the will to continue without the aid of uniforms serving as a few of their strongest resources.

Their best operative, Tsumugu, ran along the deck, emptying clips he had to reload just as quickly. He tackled the closest to him, shoving a pointy barrel through its ocular captivity and pulling the trigger, rolling into a slide so he could let off a swarm of needles at another hoping to stab him in the back. Their leader Mikisugi manned one of the last DTRs still in one piece. One of its legs kicked another across the sky, as the cylinder cluster of barrels that was the machine's gatling gun cranked into a spin.

Its rapid rate of fire tore into its target until there was nothing but a dried body left falling for the ocean. The COVERS stopped at nothing. Being ripped to shreds freed their hosts, or ended them, but their numbers kept. That they killed without mercy gave them the best chance at attrition. The wounded agent's colleagues were dying. He was dying. And all the while a massive problem remained. His vision was fading, but he could make out the perpetual glow it gave off nonetheless.

x.x.x

"Somethin' tells me we're in trouble," Son said to the air.

It felt harder to breathe. What he thought were flakes of ash fell from the cloud cover. It tapped gently against his palm. His calloused hand slowly closed, reminding him of how dry it was. He gave Kuririn an unsure glance.

"Son. Give it to me straight. Do you really think we stand a chance?" Kuririn said, pulling at the ends of his belt until the knot squeezed his pants closer to his waist.

Son remembered their training. Their friendship. Not having an answer, he watched the dingy laces on his boots, then anything else, seeing Ryuko. Senketsu was transformed to protect her as best as he could. To Son's surprise, her stare at him went unbroken. He relented, and he would until Satsuki joined them, catching all of their eyes.

"They cannot penetrate the field around the city," she shared. "Mako. Perhaps it would ..."

"You're not leaving me here! Short stuff can watch my back! And I'll watch his!" Mako said, resolute.

Those watching said nothing for her cheeks puffing out, pushing at the short ends of her hair. She raised the hands she balled, and she narrowed her eyes like she meant what she said. Son smiled at her wearing a familiar gi, too big for her, as it grazed her thighs, while a similar fabric tied tight kept it from opening. Blue straps hugged her wrists, ochre toe-shoes she borrowed fit closely to her feet, since the one she borrowed them from had outgrown them.

"Kuririn," Son said.

"Way ahead of you," Kuririn nodded, red in the face when Mako hopped on his back and closed her arms around his neck.

Satsuki fingered the side of her restored Bakuzan, something like happy to see it whole again.

"You have my thanks, Muten Roshi-sama," she bowed, not yet lowering its place on the flat of her hands.

Roshi closed his mouth. As he finished ogling her, and her half-naked body, he cleared his throat, straightening his sunglasses. He wiped the silly grin from his face.

"Think nothing of it," he said, his hands resting on the small of his back. "Son. Kuririn. You have trained your entire lives for this."

He had the attention of his best pupils just ahead of him, yet he was looking at Ryuko and Satsuki.

"As have you," he added.

Ryuko was too quiet. Satsuki could see what the ruin caused. Inactive COVERS were everywhere they stepped, wetting the sand. As their elder raised his chin anyone present followed suit. The ash continued to rain. The wind was cold. It was harsh if ever it picked up. Ryuko found a place next to Son. Locking eyes didn't quiet the darkness between them, as it waved against the ends of their hair. They had no time for goodbyes.

x.x.x

Inumuta, Nonon, Sanageyama, and Gamagori backed into the tightly knit group they could be. They were surrounded, led by Tsumugu and Mikisugi down to a few firearms and whatever ammunition was within arms reach.

"So this is how it ends, huh," Mikisugi almost smiled.

"Get the kids inside. Submerge the ship and don't come back up until you see the sun again," Tsumugu said.

"Not happening," Nonon chirped, leading the pack. "Lady Satsuki told us to stay and help you naked freaks!"

"It pains me to say that for once, she's right." Inumuta tugged the slide of his weapon, pushing his glasses closer to his face.

If they didn't work so well he would've thought the sowing machine shaped design was ridiculous. The COVERS arriving creased the steel their stumps for feet touched down on. They weren't in a rush. Lurching after their prey, everyone tensed when two of the biggest lost their patience. They could leap over ten feet high, ogreish white arms raised to swing them down on whatever they wanted to kill. Tsumugu would have been the first shot fired. He nearly didn't see it happen.

"Kienzan!" they all heard someone cry out.

Instinct told him to duck.

"Get down!" Tsumugu yelled, and without thinking, the others fell prone against the deck's slick surface.

Flat light, spinning its edges into a sharp poking out, moved faster than their eyes could trace. Two more waved through the dark, nearly clashing, cutting through anything in their way to cross paths in the curve down and the carve up. Their buzzing heightened the higher they went. Someone dropped to their defense and let his rider free. He raised one hand in the air again, slowly circling it, conjuring another. Thrusting his muscly arm ahead of him cleared any lined up, splattering the deck with chunks unable to do anything but flop around. Eyes set on the reason.

"We know how to breach the barrier!" Kuririn said. "Get this thing under the water! Now!"

Tsumugu shared a nod with Mikisugi first.

"... You heard the man," the latter said as he stood up. "Everyone! Inside!"

He looked at Mako, holding his hand out, hoping she'd take it. She shook her head. Waiting a moment, he then offered her a nod before lifting his rifle and flicking on the safety. Backing from them, Tsumugu covered their retreat, curious of the short-statured warrior able to hurl power from his fingertips. He saw him leave his place only to reappear elsewhere, then back where he started, then somewhere else at the blink of an eye. The opening on the hull remained until only Mikisugi's head was poking out of it.

"Tsumugu! Get your ass over here!" he said, quickly waving once.

"... Tsk," Tsumugu grit his teeth, hating that he had to leave the fight.

Mako stood at Kuririn's back. She picked up the nearest weapon, caught off-guard by how heavy it was. Her arms were wobbling but she could aim it. She didn't fire lest she shoot Kuririn in the back of his head.

"Whoa there," he said with his hand on the top of it, carefully pushing it down. "You okay?"

"Of course I am!" She played it cool.

They nearly lost their footing as the enormous vessel they stood on woke. Horns bellowed so loud they wanted to cover their ears, coupled with latches clicking into place. Feeling it lower, Kuririn took hold of Mako, and she wouldn't let go of the weapon she managed to keep in her hands. They watched the waves swallow its imposing mass and when it sank, it turned into itself before it couldn't be seen anymore.

"Ryuko will kill me if something happens to you," Kuririn said.

"Can you blame her? We're besties!" Mako replied. "Don't fret short stuff. You're doing just fine."

"... Right," Kuririn smiled on one side of his face.

She shut her eyes, grinning, and weighed next to nothing as he leaned on the direction they were going. Taking off, she held on tight, pressing her soft bosom into the back of his neck, unfazed by the violence and the deafening noise.

x.x.x

When he arrived only the smell was worse. Honnō City's citizens, from the wealthiest to the least privileged, were sprawled out as nothing more than withered meat. Lifeless across as far as a familiar schoolyard allowed him to see. He remembered the first day he stepped through its towering front gate. The sea of bodies led to the one standing at the academy's entrance with his arms crossed. Son thought the COVERS he controlled were trembling in front of him. Whatever he took from them, he did so without hesitation.

"Kakarot," he heard him say.

As he spoke, several COVERS salivated at the chance. Son remained perfectly still, a narrowed glare fixed on the one responsible for those that were lost. Turles smiled for the COVERS smothering Son on the way down. He flashed his teeth as the ground he stood on quaked. Any of them attacking Son began to peel away.

"HAAAA!" he managed to shout, snapping loose earth and tossing it with anything crowding his space.

White flaps keeled over, then popped, bits falling with the living against where they hit, curled up in their sleep. Only his eyes moved to check if they were actually alive. They returned to Turles. The figment was still there when the dust cleared.

"Do you see it now?" Turles said. "We Saiyans are meant to dominate the lesser. It is our lot."

"Your lot maybe," Son remarked. "I'm not a Saiyan."

"Tsk. Raised by the weak and he thinks like the weak. Your father would spit on your grave, Kakarot," Turles sneered.

"My name ain't Kakarot!" Son raised his voice. "It's Son Goku!"

Turles dropped his arms, his tail unfurling from around his hips. Son watched the flex of his enemy's ashen chest. Wasting no time, he lowered into a stance best suited to the space between them. Neither paid attention to the pebbles shifting along their bodies, splitting like silent fireworks. When he opened his eyes his fist was stuck between Turles palm. Still grinning, Turles response went unseen, but Son could feel where it slammed his stomach.

He lost his wind, driven from his feet. He didn't have a moment to turn as Turles was there, smacking knuckles against his cheek, sending him back where he shot from. It hurt to rupture the school grounds thick wall, and it didn't end in his tumble along the dirt. The pain from blows he could barely spot was less comforting. Pervasive, each one reached from where it started. He had never been punched so hard in his life. Turles slow approach rubbed it in.

"Is that it? Disgraceful, Kakarot!" he said.

He opened his palm, relaxed with the shine growing before it let off. Son moved from the searing blast vaporizing one half of the stadium. On the rise he traded techniques with the shadow appearing where his fists were and weren't. He remembered to breathe but his opponent was everywhere he looked. Raising his twist with a foot met Turles bracer. He turned over him, shooting back, his elbow stopped, his free hand hooked over Turles ducking. Turles threw another orb that burned to the touch, smacked away from Son's slowing down and keeping his distance. He didn't pay attention to how it lit up the sky.

"Your blood betrays you, Kakarot!" Turles said. "We were born for this!"

Son stopped thinking. He held himself between the air and he wrestled with guilt. His knees slightly bent, nothing under his feet, he exhaled, bringing one hand by his hip, turning it over and rolling his fingers into his palm. Slowly showing one side to his opponent, he opened his eyes, stopping his leading hand to curl his other digits, but he made sure that he kept them loose.

"You're right," he smiled at the idea. "I'm excited in a way I can't explain."

He caught Turles cracking a snide grin.

"... But that doesn't mean all is forgiven." Son's smile faded. "Every life you took Turles ..."

The red luster in Turles eyes gleamed. He leaned his head to the side and crossed his arms under his chest, shrugging.

"I'm just getting started," he said.

His vanishing act was no trick of the light. When they met loudly opened a hole in the dark, jumping back and forth, up then down. It whipped at moisture forced to evaporate on impact.

x.x.x

Ragyo kept her head raised. She felt the centers of her large breasts stiffen under her thin dress. Two weapons in hand were nothing short of giant pin needles. Her fingers wrapped tightly around their lowest ends. Her high heels remained set in the mound she stood on. It gave her the verve she desired as it swirled and licked around her ankles. When she chose to see them they were there; defying gravity as no one else could.

"Finally you accept your role, my daughters," she said smugly. "Do you see them?"

Ryuko kept her back to Satsuki's, feeling thunder rumble in the clouds above. But they knew what it really was. They could feel Senketsu and Junketsu hugging them tighter. Ryuko shot a glance at her armor, and it glanced back.

"The Life Fibers vast knowledge. The Saiyans indomitable strength. A perfect union! We will birth an empire!"

{... Son is in trouble Ryuko.}

"He's fine. I need you to stay focused. Satsuki."

"I am ready." Satsuki steeled herself.

Thrusters on their backs flashed and could aid how fast they moved. They left each other for two directions. When they stopped against Ragyo's blades, she barely budged an inch from where she stood.

"I see further discipline is in order," she said.

Spinning them both off, Ryuko doubled back, her scissors scraping sparks in the next pass. Satsuki's blade cut loose and she avoided her sister's progress, speeding a response unique to her, curving her blade right and swiping it left. Ragyo hopped from her place on the largest Life Fiber Ryuko didn't care to see. It lunged tendrils at her, desiring all that she was, granting Satsuki a window. She went for Ragyo, blades locked in place, and pushed so her mother could parry Ryuko's instant dash. Ryuko felt something slimy and hot, even through her armored heels. She hacked at it, able to bring the scissor in her right hand up in the nick of time. Ragyo's psychotic gaze was too close for comfort.

"Naughty girls get the paddle!" She arched her next swing.

"Ahn!" Ryuko hurled off into flips she couldn't control.

Sliding her blades together, when Ragyo swung her arms out cut through Satsuki's Bakuzan. Her eyes widened for the deja-vu as it shattered again, and she suddenly needed to grasp at the cold fingers snatching her neck and hoisting her up.

"Dearest Satsuki." Ragyo's mouth curved. "So anxious to see your mother fall. Isshin's disgusting influence, no doubt."

Thinking to cut her open at the belly, Ragyo missed the chance. The hand she pushed forward was dislodged from her wrist. Free to breathe, Satsuki tossed her boot into Ragyo's jaw, then turned over to fly back. Seeing the purple glint of a giant scissor thrown her way she caught it by the handle, bringing it down and across with all of her ire. The satisfaction was seeing its red compliment rip through Ragyo's chest. Ryuko behind her, Satsuki in her face, Ragyo didn't try to move.

"You feel that mother?" Satsuki said with fresh confidence. "Death awaits."

As a pair, they swung their arms into a blinding flurry, stopping abruptly to snatch their weapons lodged in Ragyo's body free, splashed by the red geyser shooting out of torn open cuts.

"I've been waitin' all day to see this bitch bleed," Ryuko sassed.

She set her back against Satsuki's once more, their symmetry exact, and their blades held behind where their knuckles nearly touched.

"I doubt that did it," Satsuki said.

They watched their mother carefully, as she twitched like a worm losing most of its worth yet having the will to press on. The color was already lost in her face. Her deadpan eased into a smarmy, defiant grin. When she opened her mouth blood gushed from it.

"Such strength," she managed to say. "Perfect."

It came for Satsuki first, harshly yanking her down.

"Satsuki!" Ryuko reached for her.

The blade stabbing her in the shoulder turned in slightly. Ragyo caught the wrist she meant to swing and held it still. She brought her head into Ryuko's so hard it knocked the warm red in her nostrils free. She took her by the hair so she wouldn't drop, harshly bringing her face as close to hers as possible.

"We can always force you to comply. Perhaps you would prefer to be taken against your will." Ragyo wiped her finger across the blood touching the top of Ryuko's lips.

As she had some of it, she put it in her mouth and sucked.

{Keep your vile hands OFF of her!}

The spikes jutting past Senketsu made Ragyo jump at the prick. She backed off as Ryuko rained for the hovering mass, flipping into a quick landing on her feet, as it tried desperately to take Satsuki. She cut away at the wriggling tendrils, able to pull her free, losing her balance, springing from her hands if it avoided Ragyo's falling slash.

Satsuki's chest heaved up and down for the breath she lost, her half of the Rending Scissor supporting her weight so she could take a knee. Try as it did, where they sat melted from the armor giving off a flare that surprised her. She could see Ryuko's, with its much brighter shine, yet she paid no mind to it. Ragyo went for the obvious choice. Before Satsuki could speak again, both of Ragyo's blades were impaled in her stomach.

"AHHN ...!" she screamed before her voice was snuffed out.

"STOP!" Ryuko yelled.

Ragyo smiled to spite her, kicking Satsuki from her weapons and watching her fly off. Pieces of her armor fell from her skin, growing smaller as her drop went unchecked. Her vision fading to black she lost sight of the Primordial Life Fiber, Ryuko's gaping shock, and Ragyo's amusement.

x.x.x

Kuririn didn't have to try to kick the hinges of a door apart. He didn't rush in to step through it as it clanked against harder steel. Mako at his back, she trained the nose of her pistol left, then right, focused.

"She has to be here. Ryuko's mom is, like, super creepy! Her favorite little pet is always somewhere nearby."

Kuririn scrutinized a lab he thought was abandoned. It continued without human hands to keep it. He knew that meant it was just loud enough to keep them distracted.

"I know you're here," he said over the noise. "Let's just talk about this."

*... Talk? To filth? My mistress would never talk to you useless creatures!*

"Okay. That didn't work," he sighed.

He raised his arm, minding his steps as the one over an intercom berated him. He saw it coming and shoved Mako aside. "Limbs" stabbed through the dark, caught in his hands and letting him know they were synthetic. First two, then three, then four, then more than he cared to count. He pushed his head over or around the attempts, working in tandem with his own limbs if it warded them off.

He arched into a handspring, vaulting into a twirl between razor sharp ovals hoping to slice him in half. Before his feet hit the floor he tossed one ball of heat, then another, touching down into balance. He heard one end of the lab burn away too quickly, the shriek of metal forced to lost its tautness. It provided the light he needed. His target remained behind shielding he guessed was unbreakable. The dashboard in front of her offered a choice.

*Just die already!*

Rigid arms brightened translucent cables, and each one let off flame at a missing target. They went for Mako, who also vanished. She reappeared behind the one that took her. Kuririn blocked the next claw shooting after them. He caught it and pulled close to his hardest, taking some of the wall it was attached to with him. Rei's jaw dropped a mile as he stopped himself just ahead of the barrier she thought would hold. His index fingers joined his pointers, straightened at a place beside his eyes.

"Look away Mako!" he yelled in a hurry.

Mako reached for a helmet, fumbling it in her hands, but pushing her face as deep as she could into it when she fell on her knees.

"... Taiyōkennnn!" he cried.

Rei's eyes opened as far as they could behind her sunglasses. Both lenses cracked, rent to pieces. Her vision watered and every muscle in her face froze.

"AHNNNHHNNH!" she screamed for a heightening pain that followed.

The chamber glass shattered against her frantically wiping at her face. She rolled around on the floor, dirtying her pantsuit and pumps. Kuririn touched down inside of it, bending over to check on her. He cradled her in his arms and he could see the damage; smoke wafting from a gorgeous face with no expression. But she was breathing. Just barely.

"Sorry about that," he muttered regretfully.

Mako stood next to him, just as unsettled by the smell of burnt skin, some of it no longer blemish free and smooth. The white of Rei's curly hair frizzed black. Kuririn stood with her, making sure to keep her steady.

"Climb on, Mako," he said and she did.

"Are you all right, Kuririn?" she asked, less chipper, attentive to the side of his face.

"... Not really," he said earnestly.

They mentioned nothing else about it as he took her and Rei from the newly dark. Its machinery continued, uninterrupted, catching fire from a stream of sparks shooting out of whatever he ruined.