"Evil… Chaos… Malcontent." Odium spoke, "These are the qualifications that we need for a new herald."
"Master, if I may make a suggestion…"
Deep within a forest, there was a spear. A simple spear that had nothing special about it. It was imbedded in a tree. The tree was also not worth note.
What the spear had impaled on the tree, however, was.
"Rise my new minions…" Odium said, as he sent his shadowy energy towards the three women that had been impaled onto the weapon. His dark energy mixing with the energies that laid dormant in the three women for most of their life.
"Auugh!" The corpses started to regain life. But not only that, they started to combine with one another.
The arms on the left merged into one, lanky but far-reaching arm. The ones on the left remained as three individual arms.
Their feet started to turn into the legs resembling that of a spider, even growing an additional pair in the back.
The three masked heads started to come together, and the masks started to gain some life to them.
The woman that was originally at the end of the spear had her mask contorted and mangled to resemble that of a wolf with a nightmarish grin.
The woman that was furthest from the end had her mask disfigured into that of a clown with a smile of blood red despite the obvious frown, and haunting, hollow, black eyes.
The last one had her mask turn into that resembling the masks within a theatre - the left half resembling that of the mask of comedy, and the other resembling the mask of tragedy.
The three faces all started to turn and contort themselves until each face was facing a different direction. Much like a die, the face in front controlled the actions and what was said until another face took over.
"Coaropotvin. Rise."
"OUr faTHeR faILeD tO prOTeCT uS…" The half mask face said,
"... YOu bROUGHt uS BACk To liFe!" The clown face eagerly mentioned.
"We arE InDEbTeD tO YoU," The wolf face declared.
"OUr nEw MasTEr."
"OuR New FatHEr."
"ouR neW MoTIVaTIoN."
"We ARe thE FORmER DAUghtErs OF AkU. wE aRE noW CoArOPtviNk. anD We sERVe ODiUM!" They cackled.
"Sorry, what did you say? - because it sounds like you said that something came out of nowhere and rubbed broken glass all over your face on the grounds that you were acting quote, 'childish.'"
"That is what I said." The ape-like creature replied, "it was weird because I was just referencing something to another friend of mine."
"Sounds like one of Odium's" Goku thought aloud.
"No, it was definitely one of Aku's minions. It wasn't as intimidating as it used to be. It just… whines when it isn't allowed to get away with what it wants to do." The ape-man explained, "I presume that that is what you are looking for." He said, pointing to a figure hidden in the forest.
"After it!" Superman called, after seeing the figure run deeper into the forest.
"I got a lock on the signature." Goku said, "Wait…"
"What is it?"
Goku's look became grim, "There are three of them."
"What do you mean?" Superman asked, as the duo chased after the creature.
"Three signatures, one body."
Like what happens when you use the fusion techniques?" Superman asked, "Great Scott, this one's fast!"
"That's probably the closest comparison we'll probably get." Goku answered, "I can try to Instant Transmission ahead to cut the thing off. Should we try it?"
"Not until we figure out what we're up against." Superman advised.
"What's there to know?" Goku asked, "They have magic, they probably equal our strength, speed, and durability, and probably some other trick up their sleeve to give them an edge."
"Fair point." The Man of Steel conceded, "But it's that trick they have up their sleeve that has me worried. You said there was more than one energy signature."
"Three to be exact."
"Right. What if they have more than just one trick to use?"
"I'll be careful. Don't worry." Goku assured.
"Go. I'll catch up."
*BZZT!*
"ANd thEy faLL RIGhT inTo oUr HANdS…" Coaropotvin chuckled, NoW, mY MINIonS…" she gestured to the zombie-like beetleborgs that she created from the remains that the local Hero of the Land had left in his wake, "ATTaCK!"
The zombified cyber-bugs moved at various speeds, all converging on the energy signature that was implanted in their sensors.
"anD NOw…" the herald wound up a punch, predicting a target would be appearing right about-
*BZZT!*
"Get ready- GRAH!" Goku was launched back by Coaropotvin's punch, and snapped several trees along the way.
"IT's no USe, SAIyaN." The dark beast chuckled with its clown face.
"thIS lAnd iS aBOUt tO bE TAKeN ovER bY THe SHAPeSHIftinG MASteR oF DARkNEss, AKu!"
"How do you figure that? - Last I heard, there was a hero around that was set out to beat him." Goku shot back a few blasts of Ki energy.
"NOw noW, SAiyAN…" The broken theater mask tsked, "WHaT WOulD haPpEn iF a LIttLe somEONe, were to…" She paused for a moment as the wolf portion finished for the clown face, "InTeRfErE?"
Goku's eyes widened, "That would just cause more suffering! You heartless monster!"
"WhY THAnK yoU." Coaropotvin chuckled, "BUt enOUgH abOUT mY plAns, WHaT's youRS? YoU CAN't inTErFERe wiTh the SAMuraI's baTTlE, aND My minIONs arE SEt tO DEStroY AlL!"
"Even that corrupted knight that rubbed glass all over that innocent ape-man's face?" Goku snarled
"WHaT ThE HeLL aRe YoU TAlkINg abOUt?" The theater portion asked, "i NEVer maDe a KNIgHt crEaTURe. IF thERe iS onE, thEN iT Is LIKelY doinG thaT on It'S OWn VOLitioN." The clown part finished.
"Wait, that's not one of yours?" Goku asked, dropping his stance, "Huh, now I kinda feel guilty for blasting him."
"WAiT, dId THe KNIgHT hAVe WHItE ARmoR?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"THaT GUy waS a DICk." The Wolf part answered, "ANNoYINg liTTle prICk ANnoYs evEn mE."
"Now I feel less guilty." Goku shrugged, going back to his stance soon after.
"HONestLY, THiS BODy waS MAdE Of thE DEaD BOdiES Of girLS TrainEd frOm bIRTh tO be LIViNg weaPONs, anD i'VE dONe SomE MEsseD uP STuFf." The clown face cried out.
"Go figure." Goku replied.
*POW!*
He punched her over the horizon and used his instant transmission to catch up, "But that still doesn't mean I won't stop you!" he then used both arms to slam his opponent into the ground.
He tried to sense where his opponent was at the moment, but found nothing.
"WHat'S THe maTTer, HErO?" the herald taunted, "CAn'T SEnsE OUr poWEr lEVEl?"
"So there is more than one soul in there…" Goku noted.
"FINaLLY fiGUreD It ouT HeRo?" the herald mocked, "i STiLl CAn'T BeLieVe thAt YOu leFT YOuR pArtnEr BEHinD. SOmE HEro yoU ArE."
"Superman?" Goku looked back and saw a tree being thrown into orbit.
*BOOM!*
"iT'S hiM Or mE, SAIyan." Coaropotvin goaded, "MAkE A CHoiCE!"
Superman was busy fighting against the zombified cybernetic bugs. "It's like fighting those zombie-bots that Knafwan summoned." He used his heat vision to detonate the rest.
The rest of the beetle bots all exploded in a spectacular fashion.
Much of the melted scrap metal started to merge, and conjoin together.
"Oh yeah." Superman muttered, "definitely like those zombie-bots."
Instead of turning into a new monster however, the metal instead seemed to turn into a strange suit of sorts.
"Uh…"
The suit then rocketed off to somewhere that Superman didn't know.
"Well…" He trailed off, "That's a first."
"AUUGHH!"
"Goku!" Superman realized, "Hang on! I'm on my way!"
Moments ago…
Goku pushed against Coaropotvin's attacks, sending her into the forest.
He started charging his Spirit Bomb.
"Trees! Animals! Anyone who can hear me! Please! Lend me your energy!"
The sphere of ki started to gather energy. Creating a fairly sizable ball of energy.
Coaropotvin snarled at the appearance of the energy. She was well-aware that the attack could annihilate her if it got big enough.
Luckily, she had a backup plan. She sensed that the last of the scraped beetle-bots had fallen, and started chanting in a strange language.
When finished with her enchantment, she started cackling, "HAhAhahA! NOw mY CReATiON…" she started, "ATTaCK!"
A suit made of black metal and magic attacked Goku skin like a symbiote out of hell. It started to bond with him.
"AUUGHH!"
Superman arrived just in time to see a new horror. Goku was trapped in the armor.
"THAnkfUlLY, yoUr friENd neGLEcTEd to TRaiN tO PReveNt suCh aN unforTunatE thinG lIkE a SUiT POSSeSSIng hiM." The herald chuckled, "NOw gOKu." She turned to Superman as the last of the armor attached to Goku, "DeStRoY sUpErMaN!"
"Augh! Superman!" Goku called out, "You have to stop me- AUGH!" Goku could no longer continue the fight against the cursed armor as his body succumbed to the magic.
"THerE IS No stoPpInG THiS ARmOr. YOu wiLL bE foRceD tO KIll youR FRieND!" The herald gloated, "thERE's nO uSe!"
"I… Superman! Get out of- AUGH!" The now possessed Goku struggled to get out in a strained voice.
"Goku!" Superman was in trouble. While he could no doubt take down Goku in a fair fight, he was still his friend, and the enchanted armor would most certainly be trouble for him. Not to mention that they only had the equipment to heal injuries. There was no equipment to resurrect an ally on hand, and they couldn't afford to lose Odium's trail.
"RAgH!" Coaropotvin attacked in tandem with her new warrior, managing to slash at Superman, his bio-electric aura failing against the mystically-enhanced attacks.
There's a way to beat these two. Superman thought, I just have to figure out how…
"Superman! LOOK OUT!" Goku called out as he did a drop kick from behind.
"HRrmM…" Coaropotvin wondered to herself, "WE caN't hAVe yOU ruiNINg AnY suRpRISes." She snapped her fingers and the armor's helmet started to create a mouthplate.
"AUUGH- MFF!" Goku's mouth was sealed off by the cursed armor, effectively rendering him mute.
"Mmgghh!" Goku struggled to even make enough noise to try to fight back against the cursed armor.
Goku then rushed forward to attack Superman, who prepared to blocked the attack-
*POW!*
Only for Goku to disappear and attack him from behind.
"Ugh! Why do I keep falling for that?" The Man of Steel asked himself from the ground.
Superman sensed a change in the air, and rolled over to evade Goku's drop kick. He used his X-Ray vision to track Goku when the latter had burrowed into the ground for a sneak attack.
The armor's hands had morphed into a drill, and Goku started to burrow around underground.
Superman noticed that Goku was burrowing up for a sneak attack, and prepared a counter-attack.
"Hargh!" Superman slammed Goku into several trees, before he disappeared and then reappeared behind his friend.
"HRMM!" Goku struggled to warn Superman of the incoming attack-
"Gotcha!" Superman grappled Goku's leg and started to slam him into the ground multiple times before launching him into a mountain.
"About time I didn't fall for that trick." Superman quipped.
Goku's muffled grumbling seemed to be in agreement.
Superman took the moment of reprieve to take a look around for something to try to knock Goku out of the armor.
"That ball… It's no sun…" He took a closer look, "Goku was charging the Spirit Bomb!"
Goku rushed forward and started charging an attack. More specifically, the famous one.
"Hrrgh!" Superman managed to block the blast in time, "Not used to getting blasted without hearing the attack name."
Superman had to go through his many different visions to try and find something to work with. Ultimately, his Theta Vision revealed something: Goku was still pure, but the armor had an evil aura surrounding it.
The Spirit Bomb! The Man of Steel realized, It should be able to get that armor off of him!
Superman's thoughts started racing. He needed a way to harness the Spirit Bomb to blast the armor off of Goku.
Though, considering that he didn't know how to harness that power, he was in a bit of trouble.
Screw it. He figured.
Goku started to throw some rapid punches, all of which Superman blocked before Superman grappled one of Goku's arms and flung him into the Spirit Bomb.
Superman's super vision revealed that the cursed armor was dissolving, and the positive energy was reinvigorating Goku's vitals. He took one more look around to try and catch any new sneak attacks.
"Wait… Where's Coaropotvin?"
The herald put quite a bit of distance between herself and the Man of Steel. "A liTTlE whIlE lonGeR… aND thE sAMURAi muSt bE DEstROyeD."
In the distance, a spire was visible. A few kilometers, and she could get in to kill her target.
"It shOUlDN't taKE loNg To-"
"To fall by our hands, Coaropotvin." Superman replied, floating right behind her, "Surrender now, and maybe I'll show mercy."
"AhHhH… SUpErMAn." Coaropotvin trailed off, "i TAkE iT thAT yoU FOUNd A waY tO SAvE yoUr friENd?"
"What gives you that idea?" Superman narrowed his eyes.
"YOu WOUldn'T HAve OFfEReD an ULTimatuM IF yOu didn'T." The herald noted, "NOw WHEre iS he- GraH!"
Goku came out of nowhere and landed a powerful blow to the Herald's wolf face. "A cheap shot for a cheap shot!" He snarled.
"YOu AREn'T EvEn mY TarGet!" the recovering herald 'all' snarled at once.
"Then what…" Goku looked to the spire in the distance, "oh."
"Did you really not notice that?"
"I've spent the last hour and a half trapped inside of a cursed armor, okay? - Figuring out what was going on around me wasn't exactly my top priority." Goku replied.
Superman rolled his eyes, "In other news, it's over, Coaropotvin! It's time for you to surrender!"
"YOu'vE STaTEd thAt ultIMATUm beFORE." Coaropotvin reminded, "iT didN'T thEN, whAt maKEs yoU THink IT wouLd woRK noW?"
"Because this time, I have Son Goku to help me!" Superman replied, "Let's go!"
A flying punch sent the herald towards the horizon, who was then subsequently sent down to the ground by Goku bashing the theatre face as well as the rest of the body several miles underground.
The two nodded to each other as they both followed their opponent into the earth.
"This combination seems to be struggling, Malgore." Odium stated as he watched the battle from his insidious screen, "I hope for your sake, that this one does not fail at completing her task."
"Trust me, master." his 'assistant' assured, "The girls may not be able to defeat the heroes, but their abilities will buy us time."
"Excellent. And if they are successful in killing them, then we would be in luck. That world is destined to be eradicated anyways." He looked towards the screen, "It's almost sad, really. They believe that they can find me by systematically defeating each herald one-by-one."
"They should be thankful that your abilities are limited so that you can only have one herald imbued with your power at a time."
"Hmm…" The Lord of Hatred pondered for a bit, "We can reasonably assume that Coaropotvin will be defeated before her mission is completed, correct?"
His 'assistant' nodded.
"Then perhaps we should look into a future herald as well. We do have some leftover items from that timeline."
"The one that Mewtwo eliminated?" Malgore questioned, "What do we have from there… then?"
"It is time we check the vault then."
Superman and Goku managed to find the general area their target had went to despite her hiding with her natural camouflage and ability to suppress her power level.
"The crystal caves are quite breathtaking." Superman noted as he navigated the area, looking at the glowing crystals…
"RAgH!" Coaropotvin lunged from the shadows and slashed at Superman, leaving quickly by blending into the little shadows that were available.
"Grh!" Superman faltered a bit before using his x-ray vision to scan the area for his opponent.
Goku tried to sense where the herald was, only to be foiled by her ability to suppress her power level.
"IT mUSt bE harD to FIgHT WHeN YOu can'T SeE oR SENse Us, isn'T It?"
"She's using her speed to her advantage!" Superman realized, "It's only a matter of time until-"
"Then let's not let her escape!" Goku pointed out as he fired a ki blast into the hole, causing debris to plug up the hole.
"Right!" Superman then followed up by using his super breath to encase it in ice. If Coaropotvin wanted to escape, she would have to bust through the ice, and that would leave her wide open and expose her position.
"You're rather quiet, Coaropotvin. Nothing to say with your only escape route blocked off?"
"YOu won'T DEteR mE, KRYptONIan." her voice echoed throughout the cave, "IN FAct, yoUR TIMe iS ALMost uP!"
Goku was using his ki to illuminate several locations within the cave. In that time, the spider-like herald had managed to crawl past him and set up for a sneak attack.
"GrAH!" Coaropotvin found herself in a chokehold, and the hand that had her was none other than Son Goku.
"Ah ah ah…" Goku taunted while charging up the ki ball to deal damage, "You know the old saying. 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Try to fool me a third time, and you get a ki blast to the face!'" he finished by blasting his opponent to the wall of glowing crystal, exposing her to Superman as well.
"You're done for!" Superman declared as he flew in for a punch.
Coaropotvin managed to dodge it in time, but the crystal had shattered and now, small particles of it were filling the cave's walls, illuminating the rest of the terrain, and revealing that in their brief skirmish, the masks had started to crack.
Goku arrived in time to attack with a ki blast. "Is it just me,or are her attacks getting less scathing every time she tries to attack?"
"I felt it too." Superman mentioned, "Her first sneak attack once we got in here was significantly less damaging, and when she tried the same attack on you, you managed to counter it easily."
*CRASH!*
The duo turned to the ice blockade that they had created earlier, and saw that Coaropotvin was trying to claw her way out.
"Going somewhere?"
She turned her heads and snarled, "YOu won'T- GAUghhH!"
"You aren't going to get away!"
The duo allowed Coaropotvin her wish of escape by forcibly taking her to the surface. Fueled by solar energy, Superman flung her towards the trees, causing them to fall under the force that he was throwing around.
Goku followed up by slamming her into a nearby hill, leaving a hole in it.
"N-nN-No!" The herald sputtered, before fading away into nothing.
"What happened?"
Superman looked around, seeing that everything was fading as well. "I guess, since we're in the world that was home to the Samurai named Jack, he finally finished his mission."
"But…" Goku looked at his hands, "Why aren't we fading?"
"We're not from here." Superman reasoned, "I guess the world is now accommodating to the new timeline that was set in motion."
"I wonder if that Jack guy was still remembered?" Goku wondered.
"Why don't we take a quick look before heading out?" Superman suggested, "With our speed, we should have time."
Indeed the Samurai was remembered. By a lone Cherry Blossom Tree stood a statue.
Should you ever need hope, remember his might.
The statue was of the Samurai. His head held high, a gleam of hope, compassion, and determination in his eyes. His sword sheathed in its hilt, as he looked to the east, as if waiting for the sunrise was the pinnacle of hope.
Goku and Superman paid their respects to the warrior.
They also wondered when his legend would be told again, and be an inspiration to those back at the base…
Their portal opened, and they went to their next destination. Maybe this time, they would finally catch up to Odium.
X: FINALLY finished this. Started this around the series finale of Samurai Jack, and I feel a bit proud about finishing it.
Wade: And just in time for the next season too! You excited?
Pinkie: Yep! Can't wait to meet all those new people, and make some new friends!
X: Death Battle is kicking their season off with… sonofabitch, Black Panther vs. Batman… Seriously, Batman fights for a third goddamn time? Whatever, so we here at the Aftermath Studio decided to kick off the new season with a Goku-Superman chapter.
Wade: 'Studio?' - It's literally just you, and the personas that you created us so that you wouldn't go insane.
X: Whatever. But before we sign off, let's all just say it.
IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!
X: … Seriously? Was Vixen busy? What about Cheetah? Or even-
Wade: -Get over it.