- Location
- Germany
maybe a long term mission with Hawkgirl, away from the worst violence, like headhunting elite enemies?
Going Native (DBZ/DC Comics) (Complete)
- Thread starter Ideas-Guy
- Start date
maybe a long term mission with Hawkgirl, away from the worst violence, like headhunting elite enemies?
- Location
- U.S.
or raid some pirate stashes? or some mechanical enemies?
- Location
- United States, CA
Yeah... Broly going Legendary wouldn't end well for anyone.
When that attack went thru Tarble did it reality hurt him because he is evil now or because of the protections put on his soul fought that alien's evil purge power and that resistance is what caused the pain that Tarble felt?
Feeling the Bleed
- Location
- USA
My brother was doing well for himself, I saw as I got an update about his empire. He was still expanding in Reach space for the most part, but Vegeta himself was now tearing through other kingdoms and empires that had declared war. It wouldn't be long before we shared a border, especially considering he seemed dead set on expanding in every direction.
His empire was deep in debt, an incredible amount. It produced nothing but machines and tools for war, which is why it was still able to function. And it was because of that hyperfocus that Vegeta was able to expand so rapidly.
What would he do if he reached my border? Would he stop or would he continue to expand? I had lost planets. My civilian population was dead set on complaining about everything in the universe. It was like they didn't understand that I was actively doing something about the war -- honestly, the Reach brainwashing their civilians made a lot more sense to me. Not enough to actually go through with it, but enough to understand why someone would decide free speech wasn't worth the hassle. The point was -- my empire was already creaking under the strain of fighting pretty much the entire galaxy.
I did not need my brother invading me as well. We hadn't spoken in years. He refused every call and message. And as a general, I had to accept the fact that Vegeta wouldn't refrain from invading my empire just because I didn't want him to. I had to accept the reality that it was a very real possibility. So… what would I do?
"Vegeta, we haven't spoken in… about seven years," I started, compiling a message to be sent to my brother from the desk in my room. "So, this request will likely come as a surprise. At the moment, I'm en route to subjugate the Khundian Empire's capital with the intent of extracting an unconditional surrender. In my absence, the planet Thanagar will be left exposed to an unacceptable degree. I'm asking you to help me protect it."
If Vegeta decided to take it or not… that would tell me what I needed to know of where we stood with one another. So long as the planet remained in Frieza-force hands that was all that mattered. And… considering the incredible strategic resource Nth metal was… if Vegeta took it…
Then I would just have to take it back.
"As the planet is desired by every faction in the galaxy, you will undoubtedly find your fair share of good fights there. I can't imagine that the Reach has anything that you haven't already killed before," A little incentive to get his aid. "If you accept, then I suppose I'll see you on Thanagar after I've brought the Khund empire to heel."
With that, I ended the message and pressed send. Pushing back from my desk, I floated out of my chair to spare a glance over my barren room. Just a chair, a desk, and a healing pod to sleep in. Nothing else because I had all that I needed. A hand went to my scouter, "Admiral?"
My admiral knew what I was asking for. "Preparations for the fleet are completed. We have green lights across the board," The Admiral said, though he didn't sound happy about it. I couldn't say I understood why he was unhappy, but I did understand why so many were nervous.
We would be attacking the heart of the Khundian empire. And unlike the Thanagarians, our path was promised by the word of an enemy. We weren't making our own way and that made people nervous we were being led into a trap.
Maybe we were, but it mattered little. This was our best shot at subjugating the Khund empire. Their armies would join mine, the same for their production facilities. It might not be enough to take on the whole galaxy, but it would take us a step away from the edge of collapse.
"Are you sure you don't want the Supreme Commander in on this?" The Admiral asked, and I resisted a sneer. The Supreme Commander was proving himself to be my greatest enemy by far. My empire was turned into a punching bag for the galaxy -- most had declared war on the Trade Organization, but they all seemed intent on traveling through my space to wage war.
The armies, both sentient and machine, I had purchased or recruited helped hold the line. But Vril's prediction rang true several months later -- if I didn't leverage myself into a good position within a year, then the Supreme Commander would find a way to cripple my war effort. Only it wouldn't just be through sabotage. My defensive lines would falter and the planets I spent years investing in and taking from the Reach would fall to others.
"I'm certain. We get in, we hit them hard, and the empire falls," I decided. "If everything is green, then begin the operation," I ordered, turning my attention to my plans. The Khundian people used honor like a noose -- it stopped them from going too far, and they were bound by it. They were a hyper aggressive species that were willing to kill one another for any reason at all. Or no reason at all. The code of conduct they lived by curbed their natural impulses.
It's why Gilguk had surrendered and why I was willing to believe that surrender. She had been defeated, she had given her word -- by the laws of her people, she had to keep her word.
Warlords were more than just leaders. They were the ones that held the other end of the noose. When the Khund's natural instincts got away from them, it fell to the Warlord to pull them back. They earned that position by proving their ability to lead and fight, but also that they understood the rigid rules of their society. And that they could live by them and force others to as well.
Which is what this deep strike was about. I just had to take the reins from the current king and most of the empire would be brought to heel. Some would break off, but the core of the empire would follow. That's what I needed -- armies that craved war, who would obey my orders and would jump at the chance to fight most of the galaxy.
That's what I needed to hold the line.
"We're off sir," The Admiral informed. I acknowledge the statement before ending the call, focusing on the map before me. My family, the 501st, my team, the Ginyu Squad, my armies -- all of them were spread across the front. Broly was still on Thanagar, but hopefully, that would end soon.
The goal Broly had given himself couldn't be achieved on Thanagar. The fighting was too intense, and we couldn't handle the constant influx of prisoners. So, Broly chose to kill. He killed because he understood the value of the planet, he understood that we couldn't handle the number of prisoners he gave us and he understood that he was placed on that planet because of how powerful he was.
Broly killed armies. Slaughtered them down to the last man.
And it was destroying him.
"Just a little longer," I said, keeping an eye on the fleet's position. It was a mixture of wink-drive and slipspace. Broly just had to hold out a little longer, and then he could cycle off to another battle where he could go back to his way of doing things and decompress. He hadn't complained or said anything about it, but I knew each death weighed heavily on him. Just a little longer and the war would be back on track.
The trip passed in a blur, a handful of days worth of travel spread over a handful of hours in real time. I ended up catching a handful of hours of sleep, but most of my time was spent sending orders whenever we popped back into real space. The front needed my constant attention. In the end, I was probably lucky that I wasted a handful of years with the Cooler-force. It gave me a handle on how to manage such wide-scale tactics.
It was just difficult considering the variables. Not only did it feel like I was fighting half of the galaxy, but other colors of Lanterns were starting to pop up. First red, some of which helped the Frieza-force, while others attacked. Now, with the same message that Avery had confirmed our pathway to the heart of the Khundian empire, he confirmed the existence of Blue Lanterns. They did seem to be limited in some way, but that was still three enemy Lantern corps that we had to deal with.
Sinestro mobilized his own Corps as a first-response force, but…
A hand went to the rings on my necklace -- one green, one yellow, and one red. It would seem that before this mess of a war was over, I would have a ring for every color of the rainbow.
Regardless, I kept myself busy until I heard the Admiral announce that we had arrived at our destination. Pulling up the map with my scouter as I flew through the halls of my flagship, I saw that we hadn't popped into the middle of an ambush. A promising sign. I also saw a blip that represented Avery and his team approaching from the planet's surface.
I raced to meet them in the docking bay and I arrived just in time to see them walk through the airlock. Avery led the way, looking unharmed. His long term teammates Vas and Canda trailed behind him -- openings in his squad were filled by Shayera and Rocky. The latter was a large yellow bio-android with drills for hands. A silicone and metal-based alien that could upgrade itself with technology and metals. Avery always did prefer diversity rather than pure power.
In the middle of the group was the Warlord Gilguk. A tall woman that wielded a large golden axe. A symbol of esteem. Khund's were willing to use guns, but weapons like swords, spears, or axes were seen as more honorable to use. And that was part of the reason why it was so easy for saiyans to earn their respect -- we fought with our own abilities.
Avery nodded a greeting, which I returned, but he knew who my focus would be on. Gilguk looked me up and down, pushing out from the others so she stood at the front. Tilting her head, an amused expression found itself on her face, "Prince Tarble. You're smaller than I expected."
"I get that a lot," I accepted. It was a petty concern compared to everything else, but I did hope that my next growth spurt wouldn't be so delayed.
"But your legend proceeds you. You fight with honor and valor," she complimented, sounding like she meant the praise.
"And you have kept your word -- in my time as a general, I've found that's a rare thing. Especially when it costs you something to keep it," I returned the compliment, sizing her up. She felt fairly powerful. Powerful enough that I knew that the Nth metal I gave out to Avery had proved to be an equalizer without having read his report.
Gilguk offered a serious nod. "It is the way of our people. Those that fight for their leader show insight on who their leader is. This lot impressed me… but you insult my people if you think all it will take is a single fleet to bring our empire to its knees. We are not the Thanagarian's," Gilguk said, making Shayera bristled before she settled down.
To that, a light smirk tugged at the edge of my lips. "It is no insult. Since you have given your word, there is no need to bring the fleet. We will take a skiff to your capital. There, I will challenge your king."
Gilguk offered a slow blink, suddenly looking a lot less certain while I tossed a capsule to unseal a small skiff. A slender ship not meant for combat. There wasn't much of a point -- if there was a space battle, all I had to do was fly outside and start blasting. Her lips pressed together into a thin line, "You wish to challenge King Kolbo to a Khundmung?"
The others looked lost, and to those that didn't understand the significance of those words, they sounded like nonsense.
"I do," I confirmed with a nod, only to have Gilguk shake her head.
"You-" She started to say that I can't, but she stopped herself. She shook her head again before she sighed, "It is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do. If that is your wish, then so be it. I shall bring your offer to the King and guarantee your safe passage."
With that, she marched onto the skiff, leaving the others to look at me. Avery nodded, knowing my plan while the others just looked puzzled. I could have told them…
But why ruin the surprise?
…
The planet of Khundia looked like a tough nut to crack, I noted as we received a green light to dock after Gilguk confirmed that she was on the skiff. And that I was here to meet the king. I was only mildly surprised when they didn't start shooting to take us out. The planet itself looked like they had dedicated themselves to turning every inch of the surface into a gun.
Buildings that acted as planet-to-space railguns, the streets made for urban warfare… it reminded me of the Reach. Only the planet had three man-made rings, each with a defense platform on it, so every direction of the planet was covered. The fleets hung out in the system, but I suspected most were converging on my location.
The skiff touched down and the docking bay door slid down to reveal the palace of the planet. I stretched out with my ki sense and found the most powerful one within. And he was powerful. I ignored the dozen or so squads taking positions to kill me as I walked out of the ship, followed by Gilguk. Looking around, I saw a simple palace. No thought to decoration or the like. Just hard metal and defensive positions.
"Reminds me of home," I remarked as I walked down the angled bay door. "It even feels like it's ten gs." My scouter told me it was closer to eleven than not. All the better.
"Our people seem very similar. Perhaps we shared an ancestor?" Gilguk wondered as we walked, Avery's squad right behind us. They seemed more nervous about the guns pointed in our direction as we walked towards a giant brick of a building that also seemed to double as a really big gun.
I considered that but shook my head, "It's possible, but much of my people's history has been lost when we blew up our original planet about a thousand years ago. And we didn't seem to be technically advanced enough to achieve space flight."
Gilguk spared me a glance as we started walking up the steps, "Then how did your species survive?"
"Another species was monitoring us and we stole their ship when the Legendary Super Saiyan blew up the planet," I explained. That ship was something that bothered me. Before every moment was spent preparing for the war, I had tried to find a lead on who the ship might have belonged to. I wanted to know who had been monitoring us on Sadala. Only I couldn't find anything like it.
I planned on testing the ship to get an idea of how old it was, which would narrow down my search a bit. But I wasn't likely to return to Planet Vegeta for years. Not to mention the issue of the key needed to get the ship to start working.
"Then perhaps they had taken one of your ancestors from their home and across the stars?" Gilguk wondered. At the very least, that would explain why so many aliens had a Saiyan-like appearance. Some similarities could be explained by nature following the most efficient path, but there were plenty of aliens that just looked like slightly off-colored Saiyans that lacked a tail.
"Maybe," I agreed, wanting to give the idea some thought, but I had other matters at hand. So that mystery would be shelved until I could actually investigate it.
As we reached the top of the stairs, I saw more Khund warriors. These carried oversized weapons much like Gilguk. They watched me carefully as we entered the building -- the palace was more of a fortress, I noted as we were led into the throne room, closer to the powerful presence that I had felt earlier. No one said a word as we made our way through the fortress, my scouter marking out the way, before we reached what could be called a throne room.
In the throne room was a man -- Saiyan-like in appearance, black hair with the sides of his head shaved, leaving behind a long lock of hair that was segmented by metal rings. The color of his hair was matched by his short beard. He was shirtless, displaying a muscular body with tattoos etched into his skin that seemed to pulse with unknown energy. Most eye-catching was the massive slab of a sword leaning against his throne and the broad axe, much like the one that Gilguk wielded, that was resting across his lap.
"Prince Tarble," King Kolbo greeted, leaning forward to look at me. "I have to admit, when we faced each other, I didn't expect it to be in my throne room."
I stepped forward, meeting his gaze evenly. "Most don't," I returned, and that got a slight smirk from the king. "But, I am not here to invade."
"You seek peace?" King Kolbo hissed, and it was amazing how much hate could be put into a single word. He couldn't look more disgusted if I had pulled out a baby and started eating it. Actually, it looked like he would have preferred that instead of seeking peace.
"In a sense -- I challenge you to a Khundmung," I explained, making his eyes widen a fraction before he leaned back in his chair. That caught him off guard.
He shook his head, "You cannot. The Khundmung is for Khund's only. You do not fall under our laws as an outsider."
I knew he would say that. After all, that was the tradition thus far. Since they first unified… every king that they had was a Khund. But that would soon change.
"You declared war on me for violating a sacred law -- and since then I have followed it. I requested that you ally with the Thanagarian Empire so they might prove to be a worthy foe. I have fought you according to your laws, proving that I can show the proper restraint when dealing with those weaker than me," I said, watching his expression melt into a grim realization when he realized where I was going with this. "It was you that decided that your laws applied to me. If you have decided differently, then your reason for war is void and you owe an honor debt."
This is where their honor was a noose. No matter what, I would get what I wanted. I obeyed their laws, proving my worthiness and restraint, and by besting the king, I would prove my strength. If he defaulted on his reason for war, I could call in his honor debt and demand that the Khundian empire ally with me. With a handful of words, I trapped the enemy King into a no-win situation.
Diplomacy was kinda fun, now that I think about it.
The King ran a finger over the edge of a silver-hued axe, considering his two options. "My people cannot be led by a prince to another throne," he said, and I couldn't tell if he was trying to wiggle out of the situation or not.
"My brother will be King of the Saiyans," I answered easily. "It will be a simple matter to disinherit myself from the throne if that is what you wish." Considering the silence, I might have been disinherited already.
King Kolbo shook his head, "No, that will not be necessary. I meant the Trade Organization," he clarified, and that made more sense. I already had my own empire… but I was still a slave to Lord Frieza.
I took off my scouter and sealed it away, not wanting this to be heard. "I will shortly rise to the position of Supreme Commander of the Trade Organization Military Forces. There, I can leverage my position to ensure that you will not be forced to break your sacred laws, and the enemies you face are worthy. Your empire will join mine and, so far, Lord Frieza has allowed me complete freedom in how it is governed."
"Allowed," King Kolbo quoted. "A King is not a King if he must be allowed to do anything. Should you become king of my people, you may lead my people, but Frieza will rule."
I met his gaze for a moment, sending him a silent message. I understood his worries. Lord Frieza had my respect, but as the difficulties of leadership made themselves known to me, I looked to him and realized… that without his power, how he led would never work. He was the stick that kept everyone in line, to keep things moving and progressing.
I had Lord Frieza's favor… but I sincerely doubted that he would think twice if he had to kill me. That fact made it easier to accept that I was a part of a conspiracy to kill him. Even if only barely.
King Kolbo seemed to receive the message in my gaze because he offered a small nod, "I see. In that case, I will accept your challenge of a Khundmung. Gilguk, you are my witness." With that, the king stood up, taking his oversized broad axe and sword in each hand. The broad axe was smaller, a reactionary weapon while the sword was the damage dealer.
"Avery?" I said, unclipping my cape and tossing it to the side. Then I did the same for my armor -- it didn't feel right when he would be fighting in what looked like a pair of either short pants or long shorts.
"Consider the fight witnessed in spirit because I doubt I'll be able to follow it," Avery responded as I walked forward to meet my challenger. I smirked at that before I shifted into a higher stage of the Wrath State, pushing myself to Stage Ten, giving me a ten times multiplier.
There was no signal to start the fight. Once he reached the bottom of the steps that led up to his throne, we both moved in unison as blurs to clash against one another in the middle of the room. The circle was the ring that I had to keep an eye on. Stepping out of it would cost me the match.
Ki gathered in my hands, forming two short spears that I used to block a slash from the oversized sword. It was Fasha's technique, but I think I liked the spears more than my normal ki blades. She was going to be unhappy when she found out that I was using them, though. Still, I paid that thought no mind as I thrust the longer spear towards Kolbo's face, only for the king to dodge the thrust before swinging down with his axe.
I jumped over it, flipping as I did before I touched back down on the ground to dodge a swing from the sword. I wasn't going to fly. In a duel for an empire, I couldn't afford any call outs of unfair play. He couldn't fly, so neither would I. Which also ruled out using ki blasts. I had to win with strength and skill.
Dust was kicked up when the weapon tore through the ground, pieces raining down on me, which I used as cover to dart in and stab at his gut. There was a pretty big height difference -- Kolbo was closer to eight feet than not, and I was barely pushing four. The tip of one spear slammed into the side of his axe before his sword came down. With my other spear, I guided the deadly edge of the hunk of metal away from me, so it slammed into the ground harmlessly.
He was strong. I felt it in every blow. Backing off a bit, through the dust that was kicked up, I saw the hulking giant rushed through the cloud to close the gap. There was a smile on his lips and an almost crazed look in his eyes as he lashed out with his weapons -- out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Avery and the others were bracing themselves against the wind shear that the weapons gave off with each swing.
I dodged every blow, choosing to stay light on my feet. As annoying as it was, my smaller size was an advantage. Spinning the spears in my hand, I reinforced them with more ki to make them strong enough to weather blows. Planting my feet in the ground for a moment, I slammed the edge of my longer spear into the sword's edge, knocking it off course from cutting me in half before thrusting my smaller spear.
An axe blurred towards my head, but I reacted instantly. Twisting in midair, I planted a foot on the flat of the blade as it sailed overhead, and kicked up while I lashed out with my spear. King Kolbo reacted well, just not well enough to avoid my spear cutting into his calf as he backed off. Blood dripped from the wound, but he paid it no mind as he allowed me to land on my feet.
"First blood to you," King Kolbo granted before he threw his axe at me. It spun like a buzz saw, cutting through the stone ground like it wasn't even there. A deep groove marked its path as I dodged to the side while King Kolbo rushed towards me. This time, instead of dodging around, when he swung his sword with both hands, I met his blow.
The bones in my arms rattled, the ground breaking underfoot as it sounded like a sonic boom came from the two clashing weapons. And I found myself smiling back at the king as we struggled for dominance against one another, only to give up the struggle when I heard the twirling axe approach me from behind. Reacting instantly, I leaped up, sailing over the king's head while he seamlessly caught his axe and turned it against me.
Landing on the other side of him, we traded blows at lightning speeds. The ground shook, rumbling from the constant exchange as we attacked, defended, countered, and countered those counters in a rapid exchange. Sparks rained down from his weapons on contact with mine as I poured more and more ki into them to make them denser. I pushed myself to move faster, to hit harder, to force the king onto the defense.
I hadn't realized I'd slipped into Stage Eleven of the Wrath State until I saw a green aura emerge from my arms, and the pain of the Wrath State became more pronounced. Regardless, it did the trick. The king was forced into the defensive, reacting to my swipes and thrusts as I pushed him back.
He realized that he was being pushed back, so he went low, accepting a skewered arm in exchange for a swipe at my legs. I blocked the blow, unwilling to give up my advantage, only to find myself sent flying up in the air. It was simple to orientate myself, but I was more focused on King Kolbo, who launched his axe at me.
It would have been simple to fly out of the way, but I instead choose to block the spinning axe, using the shaft of my weapon to guide its trajectory as I spun sharply to redirect the axe back at King Kolbo. It raced down, but I wasn't done. Gripping my long spear, I took aim before I launched it as my feet touched the ceiling. It crumpled, but I infused enough ki into the metal and stone to toughen it up enough so that I didn't fly through it.
The spear hit the ground first, acting like a missile had hit the ground. There was no grand explosion, but the ground and circle shattered around the point of impact. Almost like a needle caught in a piece of cloth, warping the cloth around the needle before it punched through. The others were forced to fly, but I paid them no mind as I watched where the axe was headed into the cloud of smoke.
With it guiding me, I launched myself down from the ceiling, crossing the distance in a split second and I was upon the king. His eyes didn't even have enough time to widen as my spear punched through the side of his chest, skewering his heart. The momentum carried us as we dug a furrow into the ground, taking us to what was left of the edge of the ring. We were only stopped by his back hitting a stone that served as a wall.
I heard the sound of his weapons clattering to the ground as he dropped them. From the speeds we moved, the wind displaced the dust in the air. The King wore an expression of defeat on his face, blood escaping the edges of his mouth.
He swallowed thickly before he shifted, presenting the hilt of the silver axe to me. "Lead our people well," he requested. He survived just long enough to see me nod. As his hand fell from the hilt of the weapon, I caught it. The thing was far too huge for me, but it was a symbol of my kingship.
"Bow to your War-Master!" Gilguk shouted to those in the room and those watching beyond. Drones with cameras had appeared in the room at some point, broadcasting the fight.
I did it. The Khund empire was mine.
"I'm not one for speeches," I told the cameras as I let the ki spear fade and hefted the oversized axe made for an eight-foot tall man on my shoulder. "But I will say this -- we now stand together. You are not slaves. Our enemies are plenty, as are our fights, but we will be victorious. Of that, I promise."
Not knowing if the cameras would cut off there, I raised a hand and destroyed the lot of them with a ki blast. Only then did I turn my attention to the others. "Message back to Command and tell them that the Khund empire stands with us. Release all Khundian prisoners and arm them. Gilguk, take me to your command center-" I started to issue out orders, only for an expression on Avery's face to cut me off.
It was one I hadn't ever seen before on him.
An expression of fear.
He lowered a hand from his scouter, "Sir, the Warworld has been spotted." I stiffened at the news -- it was impossible not to as the sweet taste of victory quickly vanished. Mongul was a man that few didn't know. An extraordinarily powerful alien that's ship was a planet-sized warship.
My mind raced, and I came to a conclusion. The timing was too good. Or too bad from my perspective.
"He's at Thanagar, isn't he?"
...
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His empire was deep in debt, an incredible amount. It produced nothing but machines and tools for war, which is why it was still able to function. And it was because of that hyperfocus that Vegeta was able to expand so rapidly.
What would he do if he reached my border? Would he stop or would he continue to expand? I had lost planets. My civilian population was dead set on complaining about everything in the universe. It was like they didn't understand that I was actively doing something about the war -- honestly, the Reach brainwashing their civilians made a lot more sense to me. Not enough to actually go through with it, but enough to understand why someone would decide free speech wasn't worth the hassle. The point was -- my empire was already creaking under the strain of fighting pretty much the entire galaxy.
I did not need my brother invading me as well. We hadn't spoken in years. He refused every call and message. And as a general, I had to accept the fact that Vegeta wouldn't refrain from invading my empire just because I didn't want him to. I had to accept the reality that it was a very real possibility. So… what would I do?
"Vegeta, we haven't spoken in… about seven years," I started, compiling a message to be sent to my brother from the desk in my room. "So, this request will likely come as a surprise. At the moment, I'm en route to subjugate the Khundian Empire's capital with the intent of extracting an unconditional surrender. In my absence, the planet Thanagar will be left exposed to an unacceptable degree. I'm asking you to help me protect it."
If Vegeta decided to take it or not… that would tell me what I needed to know of where we stood with one another. So long as the planet remained in Frieza-force hands that was all that mattered. And… considering the incredible strategic resource Nth metal was… if Vegeta took it…
Then I would just have to take it back.
"As the planet is desired by every faction in the galaxy, you will undoubtedly find your fair share of good fights there. I can't imagine that the Reach has anything that you haven't already killed before," A little incentive to get his aid. "If you accept, then I suppose I'll see you on Thanagar after I've brought the Khund empire to heel."
With that, I ended the message and pressed send. Pushing back from my desk, I floated out of my chair to spare a glance over my barren room. Just a chair, a desk, and a healing pod to sleep in. Nothing else because I had all that I needed. A hand went to my scouter, "Admiral?"
My admiral knew what I was asking for. "Preparations for the fleet are completed. We have green lights across the board," The Admiral said, though he didn't sound happy about it. I couldn't say I understood why he was unhappy, but I did understand why so many were nervous.
We would be attacking the heart of the Khundian empire. And unlike the Thanagarians, our path was promised by the word of an enemy. We weren't making our own way and that made people nervous we were being led into a trap.
Maybe we were, but it mattered little. This was our best shot at subjugating the Khund empire. Their armies would join mine, the same for their production facilities. It might not be enough to take on the whole galaxy, but it would take us a step away from the edge of collapse.
"Are you sure you don't want the Supreme Commander in on this?" The Admiral asked, and I resisted a sneer. The Supreme Commander was proving himself to be my greatest enemy by far. My empire was turned into a punching bag for the galaxy -- most had declared war on the Trade Organization, but they all seemed intent on traveling through my space to wage war.
The armies, both sentient and machine, I had purchased or recruited helped hold the line. But Vril's prediction rang true several months later -- if I didn't leverage myself into a good position within a year, then the Supreme Commander would find a way to cripple my war effort. Only it wouldn't just be through sabotage. My defensive lines would falter and the planets I spent years investing in and taking from the Reach would fall to others.
"I'm certain. We get in, we hit them hard, and the empire falls," I decided. "If everything is green, then begin the operation," I ordered, turning my attention to my plans. The Khundian people used honor like a noose -- it stopped them from going too far, and they were bound by it. They were a hyper aggressive species that were willing to kill one another for any reason at all. Or no reason at all. The code of conduct they lived by curbed their natural impulses.
It's why Gilguk had surrendered and why I was willing to believe that surrender. She had been defeated, she had given her word -- by the laws of her people, she had to keep her word.
Warlords were more than just leaders. They were the ones that held the other end of the noose. When the Khund's natural instincts got away from them, it fell to the Warlord to pull them back. They earned that position by proving their ability to lead and fight, but also that they understood the rigid rules of their society. And that they could live by them and force others to as well.
Which is what this deep strike was about. I just had to take the reins from the current king and most of the empire would be brought to heel. Some would break off, but the core of the empire would follow. That's what I needed -- armies that craved war, who would obey my orders and would jump at the chance to fight most of the galaxy.
That's what I needed to hold the line.
"We're off sir," The Admiral informed. I acknowledge the statement before ending the call, focusing on the map before me. My family, the 501st, my team, the Ginyu Squad, my armies -- all of them were spread across the front. Broly was still on Thanagar, but hopefully, that would end soon.
The goal Broly had given himself couldn't be achieved on Thanagar. The fighting was too intense, and we couldn't handle the constant influx of prisoners. So, Broly chose to kill. He killed because he understood the value of the planet, he understood that we couldn't handle the number of prisoners he gave us and he understood that he was placed on that planet because of how powerful he was.
Broly killed armies. Slaughtered them down to the last man.
And it was destroying him.
"Just a little longer," I said, keeping an eye on the fleet's position. It was a mixture of wink-drive and slipspace. Broly just had to hold out a little longer, and then he could cycle off to another battle where he could go back to his way of doing things and decompress. He hadn't complained or said anything about it, but I knew each death weighed heavily on him. Just a little longer and the war would be back on track.
The trip passed in a blur, a handful of days worth of travel spread over a handful of hours in real time. I ended up catching a handful of hours of sleep, but most of my time was spent sending orders whenever we popped back into real space. The front needed my constant attention. In the end, I was probably lucky that I wasted a handful of years with the Cooler-force. It gave me a handle on how to manage such wide-scale tactics.
It was just difficult considering the variables. Not only did it feel like I was fighting half of the galaxy, but other colors of Lanterns were starting to pop up. First red, some of which helped the Frieza-force, while others attacked. Now, with the same message that Avery had confirmed our pathway to the heart of the Khundian empire, he confirmed the existence of Blue Lanterns. They did seem to be limited in some way, but that was still three enemy Lantern corps that we had to deal with.
Sinestro mobilized his own Corps as a first-response force, but…
A hand went to the rings on my necklace -- one green, one yellow, and one red. It would seem that before this mess of a war was over, I would have a ring for every color of the rainbow.
Regardless, I kept myself busy until I heard the Admiral announce that we had arrived at our destination. Pulling up the map with my scouter as I flew through the halls of my flagship, I saw that we hadn't popped into the middle of an ambush. A promising sign. I also saw a blip that represented Avery and his team approaching from the planet's surface.
I raced to meet them in the docking bay and I arrived just in time to see them walk through the airlock. Avery led the way, looking unharmed. His long term teammates Vas and Canda trailed behind him -- openings in his squad were filled by Shayera and Rocky. The latter was a large yellow bio-android with drills for hands. A silicone and metal-based alien that could upgrade itself with technology and metals. Avery always did prefer diversity rather than pure power.
In the middle of the group was the Warlord Gilguk. A tall woman that wielded a large golden axe. A symbol of esteem. Khund's were willing to use guns, but weapons like swords, spears, or axes were seen as more honorable to use. And that was part of the reason why it was so easy for saiyans to earn their respect -- we fought with our own abilities.
Avery nodded a greeting, which I returned, but he knew who my focus would be on. Gilguk looked me up and down, pushing out from the others so she stood at the front. Tilting her head, an amused expression found itself on her face, "Prince Tarble. You're smaller than I expected."
"I get that a lot," I accepted. It was a petty concern compared to everything else, but I did hope that my next growth spurt wouldn't be so delayed.
"But your legend proceeds you. You fight with honor and valor," she complimented, sounding like she meant the praise.
"And you have kept your word -- in my time as a general, I've found that's a rare thing. Especially when it costs you something to keep it," I returned the compliment, sizing her up. She felt fairly powerful. Powerful enough that I knew that the Nth metal I gave out to Avery had proved to be an equalizer without having read his report.
Gilguk offered a serious nod. "It is the way of our people. Those that fight for their leader show insight on who their leader is. This lot impressed me… but you insult my people if you think all it will take is a single fleet to bring our empire to its knees. We are not the Thanagarian's," Gilguk said, making Shayera bristled before she settled down.
To that, a light smirk tugged at the edge of my lips. "It is no insult. Since you have given your word, there is no need to bring the fleet. We will take a skiff to your capital. There, I will challenge your king."
Gilguk offered a slow blink, suddenly looking a lot less certain while I tossed a capsule to unseal a small skiff. A slender ship not meant for combat. There wasn't much of a point -- if there was a space battle, all I had to do was fly outside and start blasting. Her lips pressed together into a thin line, "You wish to challenge King Kolbo to a Khundmung?"
The others looked lost, and to those that didn't understand the significance of those words, they sounded like nonsense.
"I do," I confirmed with a nod, only to have Gilguk shake her head.
"You-" She started to say that I can't, but she stopped herself. She shook her head again before she sighed, "It is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do. If that is your wish, then so be it. I shall bring your offer to the King and guarantee your safe passage."
With that, she marched onto the skiff, leaving the others to look at me. Avery nodded, knowing my plan while the others just looked puzzled. I could have told them…
But why ruin the surprise?
…
The planet of Khundia looked like a tough nut to crack, I noted as we received a green light to dock after Gilguk confirmed that she was on the skiff. And that I was here to meet the king. I was only mildly surprised when they didn't start shooting to take us out. The planet itself looked like they had dedicated themselves to turning every inch of the surface into a gun.
Buildings that acted as planet-to-space railguns, the streets made for urban warfare… it reminded me of the Reach. Only the planet had three man-made rings, each with a defense platform on it, so every direction of the planet was covered. The fleets hung out in the system, but I suspected most were converging on my location.
The skiff touched down and the docking bay door slid down to reveal the palace of the planet. I stretched out with my ki sense and found the most powerful one within. And he was powerful. I ignored the dozen or so squads taking positions to kill me as I walked out of the ship, followed by Gilguk. Looking around, I saw a simple palace. No thought to decoration or the like. Just hard metal and defensive positions.
"Reminds me of home," I remarked as I walked down the angled bay door. "It even feels like it's ten gs." My scouter told me it was closer to eleven than not. All the better.
"Our people seem very similar. Perhaps we shared an ancestor?" Gilguk wondered as we walked, Avery's squad right behind us. They seemed more nervous about the guns pointed in our direction as we walked towards a giant brick of a building that also seemed to double as a really big gun.
I considered that but shook my head, "It's possible, but much of my people's history has been lost when we blew up our original planet about a thousand years ago. And we didn't seem to be technically advanced enough to achieve space flight."
Gilguk spared me a glance as we started walking up the steps, "Then how did your species survive?"
"Another species was monitoring us and we stole their ship when the Legendary Super Saiyan blew up the planet," I explained. That ship was something that bothered me. Before every moment was spent preparing for the war, I had tried to find a lead on who the ship might have belonged to. I wanted to know who had been monitoring us on Sadala. Only I couldn't find anything like it.
I planned on testing the ship to get an idea of how old it was, which would narrow down my search a bit. But I wasn't likely to return to Planet Vegeta for years. Not to mention the issue of the key needed to get the ship to start working.
"Then perhaps they had taken one of your ancestors from their home and across the stars?" Gilguk wondered. At the very least, that would explain why so many aliens had a Saiyan-like appearance. Some similarities could be explained by nature following the most efficient path, but there were plenty of aliens that just looked like slightly off-colored Saiyans that lacked a tail.
"Maybe," I agreed, wanting to give the idea some thought, but I had other matters at hand. So that mystery would be shelved until I could actually investigate it.
As we reached the top of the stairs, I saw more Khund warriors. These carried oversized weapons much like Gilguk. They watched me carefully as we entered the building -- the palace was more of a fortress, I noted as we were led into the throne room, closer to the powerful presence that I had felt earlier. No one said a word as we made our way through the fortress, my scouter marking out the way, before we reached what could be called a throne room.
In the throne room was a man -- Saiyan-like in appearance, black hair with the sides of his head shaved, leaving behind a long lock of hair that was segmented by metal rings. The color of his hair was matched by his short beard. He was shirtless, displaying a muscular body with tattoos etched into his skin that seemed to pulse with unknown energy. Most eye-catching was the massive slab of a sword leaning against his throne and the broad axe, much like the one that Gilguk wielded, that was resting across his lap.
"Prince Tarble," King Kolbo greeted, leaning forward to look at me. "I have to admit, when we faced each other, I didn't expect it to be in my throne room."
I stepped forward, meeting his gaze evenly. "Most don't," I returned, and that got a slight smirk from the king. "But, I am not here to invade."
"You seek peace?" King Kolbo hissed, and it was amazing how much hate could be put into a single word. He couldn't look more disgusted if I had pulled out a baby and started eating it. Actually, it looked like he would have preferred that instead of seeking peace.
"In a sense -- I challenge you to a Khundmung," I explained, making his eyes widen a fraction before he leaned back in his chair. That caught him off guard.
He shook his head, "You cannot. The Khundmung is for Khund's only. You do not fall under our laws as an outsider."
I knew he would say that. After all, that was the tradition thus far. Since they first unified… every king that they had was a Khund. But that would soon change.
"You declared war on me for violating a sacred law -- and since then I have followed it. I requested that you ally with the Thanagarian Empire so they might prove to be a worthy foe. I have fought you according to your laws, proving that I can show the proper restraint when dealing with those weaker than me," I said, watching his expression melt into a grim realization when he realized where I was going with this. "It was you that decided that your laws applied to me. If you have decided differently, then your reason for war is void and you owe an honor debt."
This is where their honor was a noose. No matter what, I would get what I wanted. I obeyed their laws, proving my worthiness and restraint, and by besting the king, I would prove my strength. If he defaulted on his reason for war, I could call in his honor debt and demand that the Khundian empire ally with me. With a handful of words, I trapped the enemy King into a no-win situation.
Diplomacy was kinda fun, now that I think about it.
The King ran a finger over the edge of a silver-hued axe, considering his two options. "My people cannot be led by a prince to another throne," he said, and I couldn't tell if he was trying to wiggle out of the situation or not.
"My brother will be King of the Saiyans," I answered easily. "It will be a simple matter to disinherit myself from the throne if that is what you wish." Considering the silence, I might have been disinherited already.
King Kolbo shook his head, "No, that will not be necessary. I meant the Trade Organization," he clarified, and that made more sense. I already had my own empire… but I was still a slave to Lord Frieza.
I took off my scouter and sealed it away, not wanting this to be heard. "I will shortly rise to the position of Supreme Commander of the Trade Organization Military Forces. There, I can leverage my position to ensure that you will not be forced to break your sacred laws, and the enemies you face are worthy. Your empire will join mine and, so far, Lord Frieza has allowed me complete freedom in how it is governed."
"Allowed," King Kolbo quoted. "A King is not a King if he must be allowed to do anything. Should you become king of my people, you may lead my people, but Frieza will rule."
I met his gaze for a moment, sending him a silent message. I understood his worries. Lord Frieza had my respect, but as the difficulties of leadership made themselves known to me, I looked to him and realized… that without his power, how he led would never work. He was the stick that kept everyone in line, to keep things moving and progressing.
I had Lord Frieza's favor… but I sincerely doubted that he would think twice if he had to kill me. That fact made it easier to accept that I was a part of a conspiracy to kill him. Even if only barely.
King Kolbo seemed to receive the message in my gaze because he offered a small nod, "I see. In that case, I will accept your challenge of a Khundmung. Gilguk, you are my witness." With that, the king stood up, taking his oversized broad axe and sword in each hand. The broad axe was smaller, a reactionary weapon while the sword was the damage dealer.
"Avery?" I said, unclipping my cape and tossing it to the side. Then I did the same for my armor -- it didn't feel right when he would be fighting in what looked like a pair of either short pants or long shorts.
"Consider the fight witnessed in spirit because I doubt I'll be able to follow it," Avery responded as I walked forward to meet my challenger. I smirked at that before I shifted into a higher stage of the Wrath State, pushing myself to Stage Ten, giving me a ten times multiplier.
There was no signal to start the fight. Once he reached the bottom of the steps that led up to his throne, we both moved in unison as blurs to clash against one another in the middle of the room. The circle was the ring that I had to keep an eye on. Stepping out of it would cost me the match.
Ki gathered in my hands, forming two short spears that I used to block a slash from the oversized sword. It was Fasha's technique, but I think I liked the spears more than my normal ki blades. She was going to be unhappy when she found out that I was using them, though. Still, I paid that thought no mind as I thrust the longer spear towards Kolbo's face, only for the king to dodge the thrust before swinging down with his axe.
I jumped over it, flipping as I did before I touched back down on the ground to dodge a swing from the sword. I wasn't going to fly. In a duel for an empire, I couldn't afford any call outs of unfair play. He couldn't fly, so neither would I. Which also ruled out using ki blasts. I had to win with strength and skill.
Dust was kicked up when the weapon tore through the ground, pieces raining down on me, which I used as cover to dart in and stab at his gut. There was a pretty big height difference -- Kolbo was closer to eight feet than not, and I was barely pushing four. The tip of one spear slammed into the side of his axe before his sword came down. With my other spear, I guided the deadly edge of the hunk of metal away from me, so it slammed into the ground harmlessly.
He was strong. I felt it in every blow. Backing off a bit, through the dust that was kicked up, I saw the hulking giant rushed through the cloud to close the gap. There was a smile on his lips and an almost crazed look in his eyes as he lashed out with his weapons -- out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Avery and the others were bracing themselves against the wind shear that the weapons gave off with each swing.
I dodged every blow, choosing to stay light on my feet. As annoying as it was, my smaller size was an advantage. Spinning the spears in my hand, I reinforced them with more ki to make them strong enough to weather blows. Planting my feet in the ground for a moment, I slammed the edge of my longer spear into the sword's edge, knocking it off course from cutting me in half before thrusting my smaller spear.
An axe blurred towards my head, but I reacted instantly. Twisting in midair, I planted a foot on the flat of the blade as it sailed overhead, and kicked up while I lashed out with my spear. King Kolbo reacted well, just not well enough to avoid my spear cutting into his calf as he backed off. Blood dripped from the wound, but he paid it no mind as he allowed me to land on my feet.
"First blood to you," King Kolbo granted before he threw his axe at me. It spun like a buzz saw, cutting through the stone ground like it wasn't even there. A deep groove marked its path as I dodged to the side while King Kolbo rushed towards me. This time, instead of dodging around, when he swung his sword with both hands, I met his blow.
The bones in my arms rattled, the ground breaking underfoot as it sounded like a sonic boom came from the two clashing weapons. And I found myself smiling back at the king as we struggled for dominance against one another, only to give up the struggle when I heard the twirling axe approach me from behind. Reacting instantly, I leaped up, sailing over the king's head while he seamlessly caught his axe and turned it against me.
Landing on the other side of him, we traded blows at lightning speeds. The ground shook, rumbling from the constant exchange as we attacked, defended, countered, and countered those counters in a rapid exchange. Sparks rained down from his weapons on contact with mine as I poured more and more ki into them to make them denser. I pushed myself to move faster, to hit harder, to force the king onto the defense.
I hadn't realized I'd slipped into Stage Eleven of the Wrath State until I saw a green aura emerge from my arms, and the pain of the Wrath State became more pronounced. Regardless, it did the trick. The king was forced into the defensive, reacting to my swipes and thrusts as I pushed him back.
He realized that he was being pushed back, so he went low, accepting a skewered arm in exchange for a swipe at my legs. I blocked the blow, unwilling to give up my advantage, only to find myself sent flying up in the air. It was simple to orientate myself, but I was more focused on King Kolbo, who launched his axe at me.
It would have been simple to fly out of the way, but I instead choose to block the spinning axe, using the shaft of my weapon to guide its trajectory as I spun sharply to redirect the axe back at King Kolbo. It raced down, but I wasn't done. Gripping my long spear, I took aim before I launched it as my feet touched the ceiling. It crumpled, but I infused enough ki into the metal and stone to toughen it up enough so that I didn't fly through it.
The spear hit the ground first, acting like a missile had hit the ground. There was no grand explosion, but the ground and circle shattered around the point of impact. Almost like a needle caught in a piece of cloth, warping the cloth around the needle before it punched through. The others were forced to fly, but I paid them no mind as I watched where the axe was headed into the cloud of smoke.
With it guiding me, I launched myself down from the ceiling, crossing the distance in a split second and I was upon the king. His eyes didn't even have enough time to widen as my spear punched through the side of his chest, skewering his heart. The momentum carried us as we dug a furrow into the ground, taking us to what was left of the edge of the ring. We were only stopped by his back hitting a stone that served as a wall.
I heard the sound of his weapons clattering to the ground as he dropped them. From the speeds we moved, the wind displaced the dust in the air. The King wore an expression of defeat on his face, blood escaping the edges of his mouth.
He swallowed thickly before he shifted, presenting the hilt of the silver axe to me. "Lead our people well," he requested. He survived just long enough to see me nod. As his hand fell from the hilt of the weapon, I caught it. The thing was far too huge for me, but it was a symbol of my kingship.
"Bow to your War-Master!" Gilguk shouted to those in the room and those watching beyond. Drones with cameras had appeared in the room at some point, broadcasting the fight.
I did it. The Khund empire was mine.
"I'm not one for speeches," I told the cameras as I let the ki spear fade and hefted the oversized axe made for an eight-foot tall man on my shoulder. "But I will say this -- we now stand together. You are not slaves. Our enemies are plenty, as are our fights, but we will be victorious. Of that, I promise."
Not knowing if the cameras would cut off there, I raised a hand and destroyed the lot of them with a ki blast. Only then did I turn my attention to the others. "Message back to Command and tell them that the Khund empire stands with us. Release all Khundian prisoners and arm them. Gilguk, take me to your command center-" I started to issue out orders, only for an expression on Avery's face to cut me off.
It was one I hadn't ever seen before on him.
An expression of fear.
He lowered a hand from his scouter, "Sir, the Warworld has been spotted." I stiffened at the news -- it was impossible not to as the sweet taste of victory quickly vanished. Mongul was a man that few didn't know. An extraordinarily powerful alien that's ship was a planet-sized warship.
My mind raced, and I came to a conclusion. The timing was too good. Or too bad from my perspective.
"He's at Thanagar, isn't he?"
...
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- Location
- Germany
Warworld, that should mean Mongul (I or II) in DC🤔
Here? Could be Lord Slug, the Big Gete Star or even Vegeta (if he managed to capture that thing without the universe knowing, Kudos man)
otherwise?
If Vegeta misses a chance to punch a planet-sized Weapon he'll be in a bad mood for a long time
if he makes it, he'll get to look good on TV. Could Ginyu's Ego endure his show being surpassed by one of another Saiyan?
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
Those filthy monkys are stealing our jobs.otherwise?
If Vegeta misses a chance to punch a planet-sized Weapon he'll be in a bad mood for a long time
if he makes it, he'll get to look good on TV. Could Ginyu's Ego endure his show being surpassed by one of another Saiyan?
- Location
- Germany
would be funny if Ginyu is altering between his usual flamboyant dancer self and depressed, in-denial stressed out.
Feeling of the Fall
- Location
- USA
"Gilguk, are you with me?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as every muscle went taut. My mind raced, shifting into high gear as it felt like I needed to do a thousand different things at once. But I couldn't, so the most important had to be dealt with first.
Gilguk nodded, "I will follow you, Warlord," she said in a tone that told me that the words were an oath. That was good. Great even. If the Khund's valued their word and honor any less then this would never work. I would have been forced to choose between letting the empire I just took splinter or a planet of Nth metal.
I tossed a chip at her, one filled with my plans for the Khundian Empire. "For now, enact those first steps. You're in charge," I told her as I started to walk away. The others following me.
"You do not wish for me to join you?" Gilguk questioned. I guess she thought she was getting left out. It was the opposite, really.
"The war is what matters, not the battle. I need the Khundian Empire to help me fight the war. Not this battle," I answered her, marching forward without looking back. She would understand the meaning. All the time, we did things we didn't want to do for the greater good -- to end the war. I most certainly have. Her role was to lead the Khunds in my place, to deal with the war… while I dealt with the battle.
"Understood. May fortune favor you," Gilguk said as we left the building. We headed to the ship and piled on, taking off in moments.
Shayera looked at me, "Do you trust her with an empire?" She asked, and I did recognize I was taking a massive risk. But Gilguk already proved that she was willing to keep her word by bringing us to this planet. Trusting her with power was a different kind of trust, but I thought it was well placed.
"If she betrays us, then the empire falls apart. She knows that she wouldn't be able to lead because betraying us would stain her honor. And since she knows that, I doubt it will happen," I answered, going through preflight checks. This… my FTL was a wink-drive. Slipstream needed a larger ship to make sure I didn't fall out of the universe. "Avery, is Thanagar already under attack?"
Avery shook his head. "Impossible to tell. I just got the message that the War World was spotted in the area. The message was delayed too." The timing was far too perfect. Because of Slipstream time dilation, it hadn't been more than a few hours since I left Thanagar. While it was always possible that the message had been incoming before I left, or that the planet had some kind of stealth feature that kept it hidden until it was too late…
The timing was just too perfect. Though, that did beg the question of why someone like Mongul was trying to dodge someone like me.
"It'll take us two hours to get back to Thanagar," I muttered as the wink-drive prepared it's first jump. The Thanagarian Empire and the Khund Empire were neighborhoods, but there was still a lot of space between them that had to be covered. To that, I heard Avery sigh.
"Too short notice for reinforcements. And if he's already there, then Thanagar could fall in that amount of time."
Mongul the Warlord. There were few that didn't know that name. Once you reached a certain height to broaden your perception of the galaxy rather than a small piece, some names stood out amongst the rest. Lord Frieza was one of those names. As were the Guardians. Mongul the Warlord was a lesser-known figure, but that could just be because his rise to power was relatively new and his reputation was made by the War World.
A hyper-advanced, planet-sized war machine. The name of whoever built it was lost a long time ago, but the war machine was a planet buster. It could be used to take entire systems alone between its main weapons and drone fleets and armies. The Warlord himself was rumored to be powerful, but it was impossible to tell how powerful since he never did any of the fighting himself. All I really knew was that he was someone who could flaunt the Green Lanterns' laws openly -- so… that put him in the same weight class as Lord Frieza.
"I look away from the planet for one minute," I muttered to myself, my foot bouncing as I sat, and I only realized that my tapping foot tore a hole through the metal floor when my foot sunk into the gap meant to house the cables and cords. Seriously, I looked away from the planet for one minute then someone like Mongul the Warlord shows up. And I had no doubt that he was there to claim the Nth metal.
"Vegeta might be coming. Broly… if anyone has a chance of delaying Mongul then it's him," I said. I sent a short message to Lord Frieza and the Supreme Commander. If anything could spur them into action then someone like Mongul would do the trick. I heard Shayera sputter at that, prompting me to look at her.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, looking like she wished she could take back the sound of disbelief. But she couldn't, so she spoke what was on her mind. "Broly is just a boy -- he's strong, sure, but Mongul…" She trailed off when my eyes narrowed. That sounded like it ran deeper than an idle observation. But I could see her question in the eyes of the others, even if they didn't want to ask.
I considered not answering, but if Broly was about to fight Mongul, then there was no point keeping them in the dark. "Broly is stronger than me," I answered, and this time it was Vas who sputtered. That was a closely guarded secret -- on paper, I was the strongest saiyan alive… but that wasn't the truth. "He's been hiding his power level for years -- those jumps in power he's been having? He's just been holding back less."
"Broly? The kid that used to hold onto your cape and just followed you around everywhere? He's stronger than you?" Vass questioned, sounding like she didn't believe it.
"Broly has a mutation that allows him to grow stronger over time. In fights, he constantly improves. The only problem that he has is that he can't use the Wrath State to its fullest extent because there's no one strong enough to stop him when he loses control," I answered. I didn't like this. I preferred going straight into the battle, but the trip there was leaving me time to think of the what-ifs.
"Everything hinges on Broly. If he survives long enough to fight Mongul… then he could beat him," I said, forcing myself to take a breath. My brother had said it best -- our race, the Saiyan Race, was born without limits. That was especially true with Broly. It was entirely possible for him to grow strong enough to defeat Mongul over the course of a single battle. But… that brought its own set of complications.
Shayera looked down at the ground, taking a seat while her wings fanned out to prevent anyone from sitting with her. I looked over the group, finding the rest looking at me expectantly. For me to have the plan to deal with the enemy if worse comes to worse. But we wouldn't know the situation until our feet touched down. We could find that Broly had defeated Mongul on his own, or find him dead. Thanagar could be razed to the ground or we could arrive before Mongul.
So, I threw on a confident look as I considered what we were about to get into.
…
Two hours passed by with painful slowness, but they did pass. My ship winked into existence in the system, not far from the planet of Thanagar. At least, I thought it was Thanagar. In a handful of hours, it looked unrecognizable and I saw that Mongul had certainly beaten us here.
The surface of Thanagar was covered in twinkling lights that I knew meant explosions that could be seen from orbit. Countless lights flaring up, dying, only to be replaced by ten more. The sight would have been mesmerizing if I wasn't stuck on the implications. Floating in orbit was scrap that had once been fleets -- my defense fleet, and the invading fleets of half of the galaxy, all reduced to nothing.
It was impossible to not notice the cause of the destruction. A sizable planet hovered in high orbit as if it were another moon to the planet. Its surface was completely made of metal, almost seamless not counting the places were hundreds of thousands of red triangle-like drones poured from. It was a daunting sight, I had to admit. In all my years of war, I hadn't seen a planet-sized ship orbit bombard another planet before.
"Avery, coordinate with whatever is left of our forces. Mongul doesn't seem to be discriminating," I ordered as I marched towards the back of my ship, hitting the opening sequence. A forcefield appeared to act as an airlock. "After we beat him, we're going to have a very small chance of getting back to strength before the rest of the galaxy tries to take Thanagar." I reached out with my ki sense, but I found nothing. I was too far out. That would change soon enough.
I didn't wait to hear his response, knowing I could trust Avery to get the job done. As the doors opened, I let myself get sucked into the vacuum of space. I didn't bother with a mask. I didn't need to. But I did take out a visor to stay in touch and get any emergency calls. With my destination, I took off as I slipped into Stage Ten of the Wrath State.
Stretching out my awareness as far as I could, I raced towards the Warworld, wondering what I would find there. The name proved that it wasn't just for show, because the moment I felt a powerful presence within the world, the world seemed to take notice of me. I saw a port open in the distance, and thousands of red drones poured out from it. In response, ki gathered in my hands.
As the drones fired their yellow energy blasts, which raced towards me like a solid wall, I formed a Fletcher blast in my hand and sent hundreds of smaller ki blasts towards the drones while with my other I formed a cone to protect myself. The yellow blasts slammed into my shield with physical force, and I worried for my soldiers that fought down below because a hit from them would have torn through their shields and armor like it was nothing.
My ki shield held strong, allowing me to blast forward, while the ki blasts I sent slipped through the wall of fire to slam into the drones. They didn't move in a static pattern, so there was some intelligence behind their movement. An AI, perhaps. Either way, it didn't matter. The ki blasts sped forward, and even as the drones tried to dodge, there were just too many for them to all have room.
As the first few layers were sacrificed, more drones flooded out from the Warwolrd while the remaining ones moved in to envelop me. I paid it no mind and continued forward, aiming for the entrance. The drones closed in, sealing off all hope of escape, and they seemed to be willing to destroy themselves to destroy me. They fired as one, leaving me no room to maneuver or escape, but I didn't bother to. A ki bubble formed around me that I expanded rapidly.
It hit the drones with physical force, batting away their energy shots, making them disperse into the vacuum of space. The drones suffered more -- the drones were powerful, they seemed to be made with the idea of mass production in mind. Most of them exploded when the wall of blue ki slammed into them, setting off a chain reaction.
Regardless, it offered up a perfect opportunity as I continued forward. More drones poured from the ship from the opening, some of them taking potshots, but I dodged those with ease until I crossed the threshold and entered the Warworld. And inside, I saw countless drones. Millions of them. Each waiting to be deployed with racks sliding into place to replace those that I had destroyed.
As soon as my feet landed on a walkway, ignoring the drones, I felt the planet shake a bit. I stretched out with my awareness, the entire planet was now in my range, but I tried to look beneath to the powerful presence that had to be Mongul. His presence… There were precious few that I could compare it to. The closest was probably Captain Ginyu, which was a daunting prospect.
But he had to be defeated. One way or the other, Mongul had to fall this day. We could not lose Thanagar.
Beneath his presence, I found another that I recognized. Even if it was a thousand times stronger than I had ever felt before. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I gathered ki in my hands as I flew forward, blasting through a bulkhead door. The interior was a bit of a let down -- it looked like a normal ship with wide-open hallways. No different from my flagship. Minus the drones that seemed to come out of the walls -- smaller kinds, but in a narrow space, probably just as deadly.
I didn't have time to waste on junk. I locked in on the powerful presence and guessed how much I would have to destroy to get to him. The ship was still planet-sized, meaning it could take minutes, but-
All of a sudden, I felt the presence rush down towards me. Bracing myself for a fight, I expected Mongul to greet me with grace, but instead, he crashed through the ceiling, tearing through the floor and flying right by me like a speeding bullet. A fraction of a second later, I saw a green blur race by as well, giving chase to Mongul. Broly.
I jumped down the hole as well, taking off at my top speed. I felt wind brush against my face as I heard a clap of thunder as I reached the other end of the tunnel that Mongul had made. He had crash-landed in a docking bay of sorts -- a wide-open room. Mongul was a sizable alien, I found. Tall, covered in a dark purple suit with some sort of mechanical aspect centered around his chest. His skin was yellow, and his eyes seem to be glowing red.
Despite getting knocked down here, he didn't look injured-
"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I heard Broly scream at the top of his lungs as he dove in, rushing to attack the alien. They clashed with explosive force -- any trace of form in Broly's attacks was long gone. He fought like a wild animal, just lashing out to make the enemy bleed. Mongul met Broly, on the defensive, but his posture was all wrong. He wasn't forced on the defensive. He was seeing what Broly could do.
Pain flooded my body as I slipped into Stage Fifteen. I couldn't afford to go anything less than all-out right out the gate. Destructo Disks formed in my hands as I flew into the fray. Throwing them both, they went wide while I went low, intending to fight around Broly. The action didn't go unnoticed by Mongul, who spared me a glance as he reacted.
He reached out with a hand and caught a Destructo Disk before effortlessly crushing it in his grip as if it were made of glass. As the ki faded, he seemed to give his attention to me as he accepted Broly's blows to his forearm. In return, I gave him my full attention. The action proved that he was undoubtedly the strongest foe I've ever fought before.
Closing in, I went to punch him in the face, only for a hand to appear to catch the blow. His hand engulfed mine, and beyond the hand, Mongul's red eyes met mine. "Prince Tarble."
Broly's barrage hesitated for the briefest of seconds, his gaze snapping up to me, but I didn't look away. "Mongul," I returned before ki gathered in my other hand. A Tyrant Lancer formed, but before I could unleash the attack into his chest, his hand gripped down on mine and slammed me into Broly with bone-shattering force.
We rode through the floor, and it felt like we were sent through another two before we stopped. Broly let out a small groan underneath me, having absorbed the worst of the impact. But both of us scrambled to our feet, knowing a blow was coming. Broly went left while I went right when Mongul came down. His hands were clasped behind his back, his shoulders squared -- he looked at me directly, choosing to ignore Broly.
"I was disappointed that you were not here when I arrived," Mongul spoke in a gravely tone.
I stood my ground, planning as I spoke. "I was wrapping up some odds and ends with the Khundian Empire," I answered. My scouter was useless at the moment -- both him and Broly were registered as ten million. My ki sense said that both were far beyond that. Broly wasn't attacking blindly, though his face was twisted into a snarl with his eyes blazing yellow. Either Broly had managed to retain control in higher stages of the Wrath State, or his power level had simply skyrocketed.
To that, Mongul smiled lightly. "They have been subjugated?" He asked, focusing on me. I… this wasn't a fight I could win. Not me. Right now, the gap was just too big. No… no matter how I looked at it, Broly was the key to winning the fight. I would act as support and buy Broly time to ramp up to a point that he could fight Mongul on equal footing.
"They have. The Khundian Empire is now a part of my empire," I answered. I looked at Broly, my eyes were hidden behind my visor. He was glaring bloody murder at Mongul, but he wasn't wearing his scouter. It probably was broken off. I just had to trust that Broly would follow my lead.
Mongul smiled, "My empire," He corrected. To that, my eyes narrowed dangerously. "I suppose I should thank you. It was your actions that allowed this golden opportunity to happen -- the defeat of the Green Lanterns was masterfully done. Now the checks and balances of the galaxy are no more. For this favor you have done me, I will allow you to submit to my rule."
The answer to that is obvious. "My submission isn't something so freely given," I refused the offer without a thought before I grabbed my visor and crushed it in my fist. "And you are without a doubt the most powerful enemy I've ever faced. Why would I rob myself of this fight?" The words were mostly for show, but there was a core of truth.
He was an enemy that was completely beyond me, but my Saiyan heritage sang for me to overcome him.
"A pity," Mongul responded before energy began to gather at his chest and that was the cue for the battle to resume. Broly threw himself at Mongul, making him shift to face him. A red beam fired from Mongul's chest and it slammed into Broly. His presence didn't vanish, but I did feel him get blasted through a wall as I rushed in.
While he was dealing with Broly, I went to punch him in the face -- noting whatever could be considered a weakness. The harness of the chest beam and he wore a silver headset. His connection to the Warworld. That, I knew came from whatever was left of my human memories.
My fist slammed into his face, and I felt my knuckles bust because it felt like I had hit a solid wall. Mongul's head bent back ever so slightly, a fraction of a fraction of an inch, but that was it. There was no damage. I felt his face shift under my knuckles, and I knew he would be smiling. I didn't say anything in favor of forming a ki lance with my other hand and went to plunge the tip of it into his eyes.
An old lesson I hadn't forgotten from the Saibamen. If you were fighting a stronger opponent, then hit them where they were weak. And the eyes were always a weakness.
Only the top of the lance never made it to his glowing red eyes before I felt something hit me in the side so hard and fast that I felt it nearly tear me in half. Instead, I folded around the blow before I was sent flying off, tearing through walls so quickly I couldn't tell how many I sailed through. I only came to a stop when I sank into a metal wall like it was made of taffy.
There was pain, but after so many years of ignoring it, I just focused on how the injuries would impact my fighting. My ribs were broken, so was my left arm, but my spine seemed okay because I had only a little trouble tearing through the wall of metal that I was buried in. My organs felt like they had been thoroughly tenderized, but they didn't feel ruptured. With my muscles tensed the right way, I could still fight with no issue.
"How curious," Mongul said, helping me out of the wall by wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling. "I had heard you were the strongest of your race, but that does not seem to be the case?" And that's why I destroyed my scouter.
As he pulled me out of the wall, a Tyrant Lancer formed in a hand that I slammed against his chest. Directly into the chest piece that he wore --, it sparked and I heard Mongul snarl at me before I felt myself fly through the air. Only this time, his hand was still on my neck. The answer clicked into place as I tore at his hand while I tried to fly away -- that device wasn't just a weapon, but the source of his flight..
Without his own method of flight, Mongul was at the mercy of gravity and momentum. As I pulled my head back, I felt his hand squeeze down to break my neck. Or to squeeze my head off. I reacted by pulling back with all of my strength, uncaring that his finger tore deep grooves in my neck and the blood that came spurting out.
It poured down my neck and my chest like a broken faucet, soaking my black undersuit and covering my necklace. Ki gathered in my hands before I sent a nameless attack at him, and this time I sent him through the wall. The moment I felt his ki fly away from me, a hand went to my throat.
Blood seeped between my fingers -- an artery had been torn, but I still had the pieces. Purple light shone from my hands, undoing the worst of the damage. I felt Mongul and Broly clash in the distance, so I was forced to keep moving. Where my hands had touched, purple light remained -- a Medicine Patch, made out of the same kind of light waves that the Medicine Ball was.
Flying through the hole I had blasted Mongul down, I saw him and Broly clash. Without his ability to fly, Mongul wasn't just on the defensive. A fist slammed into Broly, and I saw his head snap to the side while his arm had clear indents where it was broken, but unlike me he wasn't blasted away. He accepted the blow with a scream of rage before driving back in to return the blow a hundredfold. But, despite his strength, Broly didn't seem capable of harming Mongul. Not yet.
Mongul avoided getting blasted through a wall by digging his feet into the ground. The metal pinched where his feet made contact, warping as a furrow formed in the ground. He had ways to stay in the fight.
I flew into the fight, two ki spears materializing in my hands. Broly was knocked back with a blow, and I flew in to catch him. He slammed into me hard enough I thought he would go right through me, but he didn't and I had enough wind left in my lungs to get a message to him. "I'll aim for his headset. Distract him and we can space him."
Broly glanced at me, telling me that he wasn't all gone, and offered a curt nod. He flew forward with renewed strength, the two clashing as I took aim with my spears. His headset was a headband marked with three silver bands. I destroy that, he loses control of the Warworld, then we could just throw him out the airlock.
It wasn't the ending I wanted, but victory mattered more than a good fight. I threw one spear, aiming for his knees as I went wide, acting the part of normal support. Much like my Destructo Disk, the ki spear shattered on impact, his leg not even bending and he wasn't off the ground enough to affect his balance. Broly let out a roar, his fists flying in blurs against Mongul.
Then Broly paused his assault to form a ball of green ki above his head as he screamed in rage, and I took my shot while Mongul was distracted. My ki spear flew from my hand as Broly's unnamed ki blast launched itself at Mongul, the tip of my spear aimed at one of the silver disks. My aim was perfect, right on the mark…
Only it flew straight down when an oppressive force suddenly overwhelmed us. Much like my spear, I hit the ground hard enough to warp it, a low groan escaping me as I tried to push myself up. Broly's ki blast was also affected by the sudden force bearing down on us, but they were less so than I was. I saw Mongul bat the slowed green ki blast to the side before he backhanded Broly.
Mongul took a breath before he looked down at me, "Is this the extent of your strength? This is merely four hundred times normal gravity," he said, taking a step forward towards me, seemingly unencumbered by the intense gravity. I wish I could claim the same. Everything was so heavy, far beyond the limits I had pushed myself in my own gravity training. I couldn't even breathe. It was like my lungs didn't have the strength to inflate and it felt like I was going to be crushed.
Even still, I managed to put my hands underneath me in an attempt to push myself up. My arms shook from the exertion, but I couldn't manage to push myself up a single millimeter. And when I felt Mongul's boot land on my back, it felt like a planet had fallen on me. A strangled gasp escaped me as I grit my teeth to find Broly back on his feet. He was struggling with the gravity as well, but with each step he took, he seemed to get used to it.
Broly's presence swelled with power faster than I could possibly believe. Veins bulged in his neck and forehead, his eyes blazing yellow and his expression was a savage snarl that looked so very out of place on him. "I've had enough!" Broly shouted at Mongul, who spared him a glance as he reached down to pick me up by the back of my neck. The action… I was lucky my spine was okay, or I would have been ripped in half because of the gravity.
I was still channeling Stage Fifteen. Anything less and I would die.
"I've had enough of people like you that think war is something good! That killing millions of people with no mercy is okay just because they're an enemy!" Broly screamed, trembling with rage. "I've had enough. I'm going to destroy you!" Broly snarled the vow. I couldn't even raise my head to look at Broly, the gravity was too much for me.
Damn it all. I forced ki to flow to my hand, but even such a small amount of it felt impossibly heavy. One way or the other, I had to get out of the situation, so I forced myself to channel more ki for when the time came.
Mongul chuckled, "Of the two, you are by far the more interesting one. Very well. You wish to destroy me? Then allow me to respond in kind," Mongul said, his grip shifting a bit before Broly launched himself at us. It was impossible for me to tell what Mongul had planned, but I didn't care to find out either. The ki I gathered slammed into the ground, tearing it out from underneath Mongul and me. With the increased gravity, we shot down like a speeding bullet, and that was enough for me to try to escape. As we fell through the floor, the gravity lessened a noticeable amount -- it had been localized to that room.
I flipped, tearing myself from Mongul's grip to throw myself back into the fight, but Mongul seemed to have other plans. "I've lost interest in you, Prince Tarble. Such a disappointment," he informed before he grabbed me by the chest faster than I could hope to react. I knew what was coming next, my ribs screaming from the pressure, but I grit my teeth and pushed through. I had to do something to better Broly's chances of victory.
As he threw me to the ground, likely to stomp on me to death, I sent a ki blast towards his face. Aimed at the circlet on his head. Ki washed over it, but it was impossible to tell if I had managed to destroy it because the next moment I was gone. He threw me against the ground, and I tore right through it.
I managed to keep my eyes open, wanting to see my end. I shot through the ground like wet tissue paper, but we had been incredibly close to the edge of the planet when the fight began. In a split second, I tore free of the outer shell of the planet, feeling every wall between the start to the end. Mongul… was stronger than I could have possibly imagined, my attempts at flight to stop myself couldn't do a thing to change my momentum -- The planet Thanagar was at my back since I didn't see it, so I would at least be hitting something.
The vacuum of space was quickly left behind, replaced by an incredible heat. My undersuit was being burnt away, flames licking at me as I re-entered the planet's atmosphere. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were screaming for air, but I lacked the strength to so much as take in a breath. Even still, my mind was clear. I knew the situation I was in -- I was one wrong move from certain death. Or, rather, if I didn't make the right move then I was dead.
It was impossible to tell how fast he threw me. Only that I had only a split second until impact, so I did the only thing I could do. I channeled to my back, forming a shield to absorb some of the blow. I pushed everything that I had into it, thickening it as much as I possibly could and then I dug deep. I pulled at the well of power of the Oozaru transformation, trying to strengthen my body as much as possible.
Pain racked my body for just a moment, but only for a moment because I slammed into Thanagar's surface and everything went black.
...
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Gilguk nodded, "I will follow you, Warlord," she said in a tone that told me that the words were an oath. That was good. Great even. If the Khund's valued their word and honor any less then this would never work. I would have been forced to choose between letting the empire I just took splinter or a planet of Nth metal.
I tossed a chip at her, one filled with my plans for the Khundian Empire. "For now, enact those first steps. You're in charge," I told her as I started to walk away. The others following me.
"You do not wish for me to join you?" Gilguk questioned. I guess she thought she was getting left out. It was the opposite, really.
"The war is what matters, not the battle. I need the Khundian Empire to help me fight the war. Not this battle," I answered her, marching forward without looking back. She would understand the meaning. All the time, we did things we didn't want to do for the greater good -- to end the war. I most certainly have. Her role was to lead the Khunds in my place, to deal with the war… while I dealt with the battle.
"Understood. May fortune favor you," Gilguk said as we left the building. We headed to the ship and piled on, taking off in moments.
Shayera looked at me, "Do you trust her with an empire?" She asked, and I did recognize I was taking a massive risk. But Gilguk already proved that she was willing to keep her word by bringing us to this planet. Trusting her with power was a different kind of trust, but I thought it was well placed.
"If she betrays us, then the empire falls apart. She knows that she wouldn't be able to lead because betraying us would stain her honor. And since she knows that, I doubt it will happen," I answered, going through preflight checks. This… my FTL was a wink-drive. Slipstream needed a larger ship to make sure I didn't fall out of the universe. "Avery, is Thanagar already under attack?"
Avery shook his head. "Impossible to tell. I just got the message that the War World was spotted in the area. The message was delayed too." The timing was far too perfect. Because of Slipstream time dilation, it hadn't been more than a few hours since I left Thanagar. While it was always possible that the message had been incoming before I left, or that the planet had some kind of stealth feature that kept it hidden until it was too late…
The timing was just too perfect. Though, that did beg the question of why someone like Mongul was trying to dodge someone like me.
"It'll take us two hours to get back to Thanagar," I muttered as the wink-drive prepared it's first jump. The Thanagarian Empire and the Khund Empire were neighborhoods, but there was still a lot of space between them that had to be covered. To that, I heard Avery sigh.
"Too short notice for reinforcements. And if he's already there, then Thanagar could fall in that amount of time."
Mongul the Warlord. There were few that didn't know that name. Once you reached a certain height to broaden your perception of the galaxy rather than a small piece, some names stood out amongst the rest. Lord Frieza was one of those names. As were the Guardians. Mongul the Warlord was a lesser-known figure, but that could just be because his rise to power was relatively new and his reputation was made by the War World.
A hyper-advanced, planet-sized war machine. The name of whoever built it was lost a long time ago, but the war machine was a planet buster. It could be used to take entire systems alone between its main weapons and drone fleets and armies. The Warlord himself was rumored to be powerful, but it was impossible to tell how powerful since he never did any of the fighting himself. All I really knew was that he was someone who could flaunt the Green Lanterns' laws openly -- so… that put him in the same weight class as Lord Frieza.
"I look away from the planet for one minute," I muttered to myself, my foot bouncing as I sat, and I only realized that my tapping foot tore a hole through the metal floor when my foot sunk into the gap meant to house the cables and cords. Seriously, I looked away from the planet for one minute then someone like Mongul the Warlord shows up. And I had no doubt that he was there to claim the Nth metal.
"Vegeta might be coming. Broly… if anyone has a chance of delaying Mongul then it's him," I said. I sent a short message to Lord Frieza and the Supreme Commander. If anything could spur them into action then someone like Mongul would do the trick. I heard Shayera sputter at that, prompting me to look at her.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, looking like she wished she could take back the sound of disbelief. But she couldn't, so she spoke what was on her mind. "Broly is just a boy -- he's strong, sure, but Mongul…" She trailed off when my eyes narrowed. That sounded like it ran deeper than an idle observation. But I could see her question in the eyes of the others, even if they didn't want to ask.
I considered not answering, but if Broly was about to fight Mongul, then there was no point keeping them in the dark. "Broly is stronger than me," I answered, and this time it was Vas who sputtered. That was a closely guarded secret -- on paper, I was the strongest saiyan alive… but that wasn't the truth. "He's been hiding his power level for years -- those jumps in power he's been having? He's just been holding back less."
"Broly? The kid that used to hold onto your cape and just followed you around everywhere? He's stronger than you?" Vass questioned, sounding like she didn't believe it.
"Broly has a mutation that allows him to grow stronger over time. In fights, he constantly improves. The only problem that he has is that he can't use the Wrath State to its fullest extent because there's no one strong enough to stop him when he loses control," I answered. I didn't like this. I preferred going straight into the battle, but the trip there was leaving me time to think of the what-ifs.
"Everything hinges on Broly. If he survives long enough to fight Mongul… then he could beat him," I said, forcing myself to take a breath. My brother had said it best -- our race, the Saiyan Race, was born without limits. That was especially true with Broly. It was entirely possible for him to grow strong enough to defeat Mongul over the course of a single battle. But… that brought its own set of complications.
Shayera looked down at the ground, taking a seat while her wings fanned out to prevent anyone from sitting with her. I looked over the group, finding the rest looking at me expectantly. For me to have the plan to deal with the enemy if worse comes to worse. But we wouldn't know the situation until our feet touched down. We could find that Broly had defeated Mongul on his own, or find him dead. Thanagar could be razed to the ground or we could arrive before Mongul.
So, I threw on a confident look as I considered what we were about to get into.
…
Two hours passed by with painful slowness, but they did pass. My ship winked into existence in the system, not far from the planet of Thanagar. At least, I thought it was Thanagar. In a handful of hours, it looked unrecognizable and I saw that Mongul had certainly beaten us here.
The surface of Thanagar was covered in twinkling lights that I knew meant explosions that could be seen from orbit. Countless lights flaring up, dying, only to be replaced by ten more. The sight would have been mesmerizing if I wasn't stuck on the implications. Floating in orbit was scrap that had once been fleets -- my defense fleet, and the invading fleets of half of the galaxy, all reduced to nothing.
It was impossible to not notice the cause of the destruction. A sizable planet hovered in high orbit as if it were another moon to the planet. Its surface was completely made of metal, almost seamless not counting the places were hundreds of thousands of red triangle-like drones poured from. It was a daunting sight, I had to admit. In all my years of war, I hadn't seen a planet-sized ship orbit bombard another planet before.
"Avery, coordinate with whatever is left of our forces. Mongul doesn't seem to be discriminating," I ordered as I marched towards the back of my ship, hitting the opening sequence. A forcefield appeared to act as an airlock. "After we beat him, we're going to have a very small chance of getting back to strength before the rest of the galaxy tries to take Thanagar." I reached out with my ki sense, but I found nothing. I was too far out. That would change soon enough.
I didn't wait to hear his response, knowing I could trust Avery to get the job done. As the doors opened, I let myself get sucked into the vacuum of space. I didn't bother with a mask. I didn't need to. But I did take out a visor to stay in touch and get any emergency calls. With my destination, I took off as I slipped into Stage Ten of the Wrath State.
Stretching out my awareness as far as I could, I raced towards the Warworld, wondering what I would find there. The name proved that it wasn't just for show, because the moment I felt a powerful presence within the world, the world seemed to take notice of me. I saw a port open in the distance, and thousands of red drones poured out from it. In response, ki gathered in my hands.
As the drones fired their yellow energy blasts, which raced towards me like a solid wall, I formed a Fletcher blast in my hand and sent hundreds of smaller ki blasts towards the drones while with my other I formed a cone to protect myself. The yellow blasts slammed into my shield with physical force, and I worried for my soldiers that fought down below because a hit from them would have torn through their shields and armor like it was nothing.
My ki shield held strong, allowing me to blast forward, while the ki blasts I sent slipped through the wall of fire to slam into the drones. They didn't move in a static pattern, so there was some intelligence behind their movement. An AI, perhaps. Either way, it didn't matter. The ki blasts sped forward, and even as the drones tried to dodge, there were just too many for them to all have room.
As the first few layers were sacrificed, more drones flooded out from the Warwolrd while the remaining ones moved in to envelop me. I paid it no mind and continued forward, aiming for the entrance. The drones closed in, sealing off all hope of escape, and they seemed to be willing to destroy themselves to destroy me. They fired as one, leaving me no room to maneuver or escape, but I didn't bother to. A ki bubble formed around me that I expanded rapidly.
It hit the drones with physical force, batting away their energy shots, making them disperse into the vacuum of space. The drones suffered more -- the drones were powerful, they seemed to be made with the idea of mass production in mind. Most of them exploded when the wall of blue ki slammed into them, setting off a chain reaction.
Regardless, it offered up a perfect opportunity as I continued forward. More drones poured from the ship from the opening, some of them taking potshots, but I dodged those with ease until I crossed the threshold and entered the Warworld. And inside, I saw countless drones. Millions of them. Each waiting to be deployed with racks sliding into place to replace those that I had destroyed.
As soon as my feet landed on a walkway, ignoring the drones, I felt the planet shake a bit. I stretched out with my awareness, the entire planet was now in my range, but I tried to look beneath to the powerful presence that had to be Mongul. His presence… There were precious few that I could compare it to. The closest was probably Captain Ginyu, which was a daunting prospect.
But he had to be defeated. One way or the other, Mongul had to fall this day. We could not lose Thanagar.
Beneath his presence, I found another that I recognized. Even if it was a thousand times stronger than I had ever felt before. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I gathered ki in my hands as I flew forward, blasting through a bulkhead door. The interior was a bit of a let down -- it looked like a normal ship with wide-open hallways. No different from my flagship. Minus the drones that seemed to come out of the walls -- smaller kinds, but in a narrow space, probably just as deadly.
I didn't have time to waste on junk. I locked in on the powerful presence and guessed how much I would have to destroy to get to him. The ship was still planet-sized, meaning it could take minutes, but-
All of a sudden, I felt the presence rush down towards me. Bracing myself for a fight, I expected Mongul to greet me with grace, but instead, he crashed through the ceiling, tearing through the floor and flying right by me like a speeding bullet. A fraction of a second later, I saw a green blur race by as well, giving chase to Mongul. Broly.
I jumped down the hole as well, taking off at my top speed. I felt wind brush against my face as I heard a clap of thunder as I reached the other end of the tunnel that Mongul had made. He had crash-landed in a docking bay of sorts -- a wide-open room. Mongul was a sizable alien, I found. Tall, covered in a dark purple suit with some sort of mechanical aspect centered around his chest. His skin was yellow, and his eyes seem to be glowing red.
Despite getting knocked down here, he didn't look injured-
"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I heard Broly scream at the top of his lungs as he dove in, rushing to attack the alien. They clashed with explosive force -- any trace of form in Broly's attacks was long gone. He fought like a wild animal, just lashing out to make the enemy bleed. Mongul met Broly, on the defensive, but his posture was all wrong. He wasn't forced on the defensive. He was seeing what Broly could do.
Pain flooded my body as I slipped into Stage Fifteen. I couldn't afford to go anything less than all-out right out the gate. Destructo Disks formed in my hands as I flew into the fray. Throwing them both, they went wide while I went low, intending to fight around Broly. The action didn't go unnoticed by Mongul, who spared me a glance as he reacted.
He reached out with a hand and caught a Destructo Disk before effortlessly crushing it in his grip as if it were made of glass. As the ki faded, he seemed to give his attention to me as he accepted Broly's blows to his forearm. In return, I gave him my full attention. The action proved that he was undoubtedly the strongest foe I've ever fought before.
Closing in, I went to punch him in the face, only for a hand to appear to catch the blow. His hand engulfed mine, and beyond the hand, Mongul's red eyes met mine. "Prince Tarble."
Broly's barrage hesitated for the briefest of seconds, his gaze snapping up to me, but I didn't look away. "Mongul," I returned before ki gathered in my other hand. A Tyrant Lancer formed, but before I could unleash the attack into his chest, his hand gripped down on mine and slammed me into Broly with bone-shattering force.
We rode through the floor, and it felt like we were sent through another two before we stopped. Broly let out a small groan underneath me, having absorbed the worst of the impact. But both of us scrambled to our feet, knowing a blow was coming. Broly went left while I went right when Mongul came down. His hands were clasped behind his back, his shoulders squared -- he looked at me directly, choosing to ignore Broly.
"I was disappointed that you were not here when I arrived," Mongul spoke in a gravely tone.
I stood my ground, planning as I spoke. "I was wrapping up some odds and ends with the Khundian Empire," I answered. My scouter was useless at the moment -- both him and Broly were registered as ten million. My ki sense said that both were far beyond that. Broly wasn't attacking blindly, though his face was twisted into a snarl with his eyes blazing yellow. Either Broly had managed to retain control in higher stages of the Wrath State, or his power level had simply skyrocketed.
To that, Mongul smiled lightly. "They have been subjugated?" He asked, focusing on me. I… this wasn't a fight I could win. Not me. Right now, the gap was just too big. No… no matter how I looked at it, Broly was the key to winning the fight. I would act as support and buy Broly time to ramp up to a point that he could fight Mongul on equal footing.
"They have. The Khundian Empire is now a part of my empire," I answered. I looked at Broly, my eyes were hidden behind my visor. He was glaring bloody murder at Mongul, but he wasn't wearing his scouter. It probably was broken off. I just had to trust that Broly would follow my lead.
Mongul smiled, "My empire," He corrected. To that, my eyes narrowed dangerously. "I suppose I should thank you. It was your actions that allowed this golden opportunity to happen -- the defeat of the Green Lanterns was masterfully done. Now the checks and balances of the galaxy are no more. For this favor you have done me, I will allow you to submit to my rule."
The answer to that is obvious. "My submission isn't something so freely given," I refused the offer without a thought before I grabbed my visor and crushed it in my fist. "And you are without a doubt the most powerful enemy I've ever faced. Why would I rob myself of this fight?" The words were mostly for show, but there was a core of truth.
He was an enemy that was completely beyond me, but my Saiyan heritage sang for me to overcome him.
"A pity," Mongul responded before energy began to gather at his chest and that was the cue for the battle to resume. Broly threw himself at Mongul, making him shift to face him. A red beam fired from Mongul's chest and it slammed into Broly. His presence didn't vanish, but I did feel him get blasted through a wall as I rushed in.
While he was dealing with Broly, I went to punch him in the face -- noting whatever could be considered a weakness. The harness of the chest beam and he wore a silver headset. His connection to the Warworld. That, I knew came from whatever was left of my human memories.
My fist slammed into his face, and I felt my knuckles bust because it felt like I had hit a solid wall. Mongul's head bent back ever so slightly, a fraction of a fraction of an inch, but that was it. There was no damage. I felt his face shift under my knuckles, and I knew he would be smiling. I didn't say anything in favor of forming a ki lance with my other hand and went to plunge the tip of it into his eyes.
An old lesson I hadn't forgotten from the Saibamen. If you were fighting a stronger opponent, then hit them where they were weak. And the eyes were always a weakness.
Only the top of the lance never made it to his glowing red eyes before I felt something hit me in the side so hard and fast that I felt it nearly tear me in half. Instead, I folded around the blow before I was sent flying off, tearing through walls so quickly I couldn't tell how many I sailed through. I only came to a stop when I sank into a metal wall like it was made of taffy.
There was pain, but after so many years of ignoring it, I just focused on how the injuries would impact my fighting. My ribs were broken, so was my left arm, but my spine seemed okay because I had only a little trouble tearing through the wall of metal that I was buried in. My organs felt like they had been thoroughly tenderized, but they didn't feel ruptured. With my muscles tensed the right way, I could still fight with no issue.
"How curious," Mongul said, helping me out of the wall by wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling. "I had heard you were the strongest of your race, but that does not seem to be the case?" And that's why I destroyed my scouter.
As he pulled me out of the wall, a Tyrant Lancer formed in a hand that I slammed against his chest. Directly into the chest piece that he wore --, it sparked and I heard Mongul snarl at me before I felt myself fly through the air. Only this time, his hand was still on my neck. The answer clicked into place as I tore at his hand while I tried to fly away -- that device wasn't just a weapon, but the source of his flight..
Without his own method of flight, Mongul was at the mercy of gravity and momentum. As I pulled my head back, I felt his hand squeeze down to break my neck. Or to squeeze my head off. I reacted by pulling back with all of my strength, uncaring that his finger tore deep grooves in my neck and the blood that came spurting out.
It poured down my neck and my chest like a broken faucet, soaking my black undersuit and covering my necklace. Ki gathered in my hands before I sent a nameless attack at him, and this time I sent him through the wall. The moment I felt his ki fly away from me, a hand went to my throat.
Blood seeped between my fingers -- an artery had been torn, but I still had the pieces. Purple light shone from my hands, undoing the worst of the damage. I felt Mongul and Broly clash in the distance, so I was forced to keep moving. Where my hands had touched, purple light remained -- a Medicine Patch, made out of the same kind of light waves that the Medicine Ball was.
Flying through the hole I had blasted Mongul down, I saw him and Broly clash. Without his ability to fly, Mongul wasn't just on the defensive. A fist slammed into Broly, and I saw his head snap to the side while his arm had clear indents where it was broken, but unlike me he wasn't blasted away. He accepted the blow with a scream of rage before driving back in to return the blow a hundredfold. But, despite his strength, Broly didn't seem capable of harming Mongul. Not yet.
Mongul avoided getting blasted through a wall by digging his feet into the ground. The metal pinched where his feet made contact, warping as a furrow formed in the ground. He had ways to stay in the fight.
I flew into the fight, two ki spears materializing in my hands. Broly was knocked back with a blow, and I flew in to catch him. He slammed into me hard enough I thought he would go right through me, but he didn't and I had enough wind left in my lungs to get a message to him. "I'll aim for his headset. Distract him and we can space him."
Broly glanced at me, telling me that he wasn't all gone, and offered a curt nod. He flew forward with renewed strength, the two clashing as I took aim with my spears. His headset was a headband marked with three silver bands. I destroy that, he loses control of the Warworld, then we could just throw him out the airlock.
It wasn't the ending I wanted, but victory mattered more than a good fight. I threw one spear, aiming for his knees as I went wide, acting the part of normal support. Much like my Destructo Disk, the ki spear shattered on impact, his leg not even bending and he wasn't off the ground enough to affect his balance. Broly let out a roar, his fists flying in blurs against Mongul.
Then Broly paused his assault to form a ball of green ki above his head as he screamed in rage, and I took my shot while Mongul was distracted. My ki spear flew from my hand as Broly's unnamed ki blast launched itself at Mongul, the tip of my spear aimed at one of the silver disks. My aim was perfect, right on the mark…
Only it flew straight down when an oppressive force suddenly overwhelmed us. Much like my spear, I hit the ground hard enough to warp it, a low groan escaping me as I tried to push myself up. Broly's ki blast was also affected by the sudden force bearing down on us, but they were less so than I was. I saw Mongul bat the slowed green ki blast to the side before he backhanded Broly.
Mongul took a breath before he looked down at me, "Is this the extent of your strength? This is merely four hundred times normal gravity," he said, taking a step forward towards me, seemingly unencumbered by the intense gravity. I wish I could claim the same. Everything was so heavy, far beyond the limits I had pushed myself in my own gravity training. I couldn't even breathe. It was like my lungs didn't have the strength to inflate and it felt like I was going to be crushed.
Even still, I managed to put my hands underneath me in an attempt to push myself up. My arms shook from the exertion, but I couldn't manage to push myself up a single millimeter. And when I felt Mongul's boot land on my back, it felt like a planet had fallen on me. A strangled gasp escaped me as I grit my teeth to find Broly back on his feet. He was struggling with the gravity as well, but with each step he took, he seemed to get used to it.
Broly's presence swelled with power faster than I could possibly believe. Veins bulged in his neck and forehead, his eyes blazing yellow and his expression was a savage snarl that looked so very out of place on him. "I've had enough!" Broly shouted at Mongul, who spared him a glance as he reached down to pick me up by the back of my neck. The action… I was lucky my spine was okay, or I would have been ripped in half because of the gravity.
I was still channeling Stage Fifteen. Anything less and I would die.
"I've had enough of people like you that think war is something good! That killing millions of people with no mercy is okay just because they're an enemy!" Broly screamed, trembling with rage. "I've had enough. I'm going to destroy you!" Broly snarled the vow. I couldn't even raise my head to look at Broly, the gravity was too much for me.
Damn it all. I forced ki to flow to my hand, but even such a small amount of it felt impossibly heavy. One way or the other, I had to get out of the situation, so I forced myself to channel more ki for when the time came.
Mongul chuckled, "Of the two, you are by far the more interesting one. Very well. You wish to destroy me? Then allow me to respond in kind," Mongul said, his grip shifting a bit before Broly launched himself at us. It was impossible for me to tell what Mongul had planned, but I didn't care to find out either. The ki I gathered slammed into the ground, tearing it out from underneath Mongul and me. With the increased gravity, we shot down like a speeding bullet, and that was enough for me to try to escape. As we fell through the floor, the gravity lessened a noticeable amount -- it had been localized to that room.
I flipped, tearing myself from Mongul's grip to throw myself back into the fight, but Mongul seemed to have other plans. "I've lost interest in you, Prince Tarble. Such a disappointment," he informed before he grabbed me by the chest faster than I could hope to react. I knew what was coming next, my ribs screaming from the pressure, but I grit my teeth and pushed through. I had to do something to better Broly's chances of victory.
As he threw me to the ground, likely to stomp on me to death, I sent a ki blast towards his face. Aimed at the circlet on his head. Ki washed over it, but it was impossible to tell if I had managed to destroy it because the next moment I was gone. He threw me against the ground, and I tore right through it.
I managed to keep my eyes open, wanting to see my end. I shot through the ground like wet tissue paper, but we had been incredibly close to the edge of the planet when the fight began. In a split second, I tore free of the outer shell of the planet, feeling every wall between the start to the end. Mongul… was stronger than I could have possibly imagined, my attempts at flight to stop myself couldn't do a thing to change my momentum -- The planet Thanagar was at my back since I didn't see it, so I would at least be hitting something.
The vacuum of space was quickly left behind, replaced by an incredible heat. My undersuit was being burnt away, flames licking at me as I re-entered the planet's atmosphere. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were screaming for air, but I lacked the strength to so much as take in a breath. Even still, my mind was clear. I knew the situation I was in -- I was one wrong move from certain death. Or, rather, if I didn't make the right move then I was dead.
It was impossible to tell how fast he threw me. Only that I had only a split second until impact, so I did the only thing I could do. I channeled to my back, forming a shield to absorb some of the blow. I pushed everything that I had into it, thickening it as much as I possibly could and then I dug deep. I pulled at the well of power of the Oozaru transformation, trying to strengthen my body as much as possible.
Pain racked my body for just a moment, but only for a moment because I slammed into Thanagar's surface and everything went black.
...
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darkkrusty
The Forsaken
- Location
- England
I am a Patreon however I only did so to support you and then I would wait for the next update on here, however this time? TO PATREON! I wanna read the next chapter now!
- Location
- Germany
400x standart Gravity (I assume Mongul meant Earth standart)
How is Mongul enduring that? has he some tech that powers him up?
...Broly might be just right to go to earth, learn some peace there, maybe some spiritual martial arts?
Hawkgirl can chaperone him and introduce him to the locals.
How is Mongul enduring that? has he some tech that powers him up?
...Broly might be just right to go to earth, learn some peace there, maybe some spiritual martial arts?
Hawkgirl can chaperone him and introduce him to the locals.
I am reminded that Broly is the legendary super sayan. Watching the one person he respects and who understands who he really is "die" seems just the sort of thing required to kick him over the edge.
- Location
- Germany
right, Super Saiyan Transformation. Pure Heart and Great Anger.
Or just the Legendary Super Saiyan going really all out.
I suspect that Broly held himself back so long that he doesn't know how to really give his all.
Feeling of the Crash
- Location
- USA
It felt like every bone in my body was broken. And, upon further inspection, it probably felt that way because every bone in my body was broken. They shifted beneath my skin, my muscles picking up the slack to allow me to move at all. "Unnnghhh," I groaned, a pathetic sound as I tried to pull myself out of the crater that I had formed upon impact. The point of impact formed around my body when I tore through a layer of dirt and rocks to land on Nth Metal underneath.
I couldn't fight like this. Bones were a necessary thing because they offered support. Fighting with a broken arm and using my muscles to keep the bone in place? I could do that most of the time. Only issue was that when I fought with a broken arm, I wasn't hitting someone made of whatever the hell Mongul was. With that thought in mind, a Medicine Ball floated above one of my hands -- the fingers were all either broken or dislocated, if not both.
It would have to be a rush job. Bones would need to be reset, but that was better than being dead. The Medicine Ball was a dark purple, as intense as I could make it, and I felt my bones shift underneath my muscle and skin. It was an odd feeling. A deep-seated exhaustion seeped into my bones, but I ignored it as I reached up to pull myself out of the hole I was in. There I saw the size of the crater.
I had landed on a city -- concrete, lesser metals, and dirt were all cleared away from the point of impact. I hit the planet like a meteor. Just looking at it and I knew I was alive only by the skin of my teeth.
But the fight wasn't over.
Floating out of my crater, I looked up at the enemy planet -- from this point of view, it seemed impossibly huge. It dominated the sky, almost to the point that it was the only thing that you could see. Broly was still up there. I stretched out my ki sense, looking for them, but they were outside of my range.
A flash of movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A red drone that was firing an energy shot at me. Before the shot made it halfway, I shot a ki blast at it -- punching through the attack and the drone. As I looked at the world around me, I saw countless corpses of all races. A city laid in ruin. And more drones continuing their bombardment.
"The universe is a big place," I muttered to myself, and I distantly worried that I had a concussion. My head did feel light and I was lingering here instead of flying back into the fight. Mostly because I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Mongul, no matter how I looked at it, was completely beyond me. That fight was completely beyond me. My attempts at offering support… I couldn't even breathe in the same room that they had fought in.
Another drone closed in, and I raised a hand to destroy it, only to be beaten to the punch. Shayera flew forward and smashed it with her mace. The drone swayed to the side, smoking dangerously, but it took a few other hits from her to make it explode. Beyond her were Vas and Canda, with the rest of the squad hopefully being with Avery. They had on their scouters, which is probably how they found me.
That was too dangerous. With three shots of ki, I destroyed their scouters as they approached. "What-"
"It-" I coughed, some blood escaping up my throat that I spit out. "Don't wear your scouters. Frieza can't know what's going on here," I told them as I wiped my chin of blood. I was sporting some burns, the worst being on my back, but my head was also bleeding. I probably did have a concussion. "Is there anyone left alive on the planet?"
I didn't have time to answer their obvious questions. This whole situation was bad. The worst kind of bad that meant we had no good options. If Lord Frieza learned about Broly now, then not only would he discover that we had been lying about his power level for years… but also that Broly, in the span of a fight, went from the kind of trash that Lord Frieza scrapped off his metaphorical shoes to being able to fight on even footing with Mongul.
Lord Frieza would kill Broly. As a start. Then he would likely kill me. Killing the entire Saiyan race was in the cards, honestly.
"Avery is with about half of what we had garrisoned here. We can't contact the others," Vas answered. Meaning that they were probably dead. That was a significant loss.
I blinked a few times, trying to get my thoughts into focus(,) but I was struck with a moment of indecision. I wanted to get back up there. I wanted to fight Mongul. But, I had to question if that was really the best use of me. If fighting Mongul was what I should be doing.
The mission, the team, then pride.
"Have Avery organize a retreat. The army will fall back to regroup with the nearest patrol," I ordered, my tone hard. "I'll cover the retreat." I didn't like it. I hated it, really. The fact of the matter was that I had no clue if we could defeat Mongul. That meant that I had to assume that we couldn't, and that meant I had to preserve the lives of my troops in case we got the chance to take back Thanagar. Even if we couldn't, there was no point in them all dying here because of pride. "Broly will delay Mongul."
Shayera's expression shifted and for the briefest of moments, she looked like she was going to take a swing at me. Even after that moment, her expression told me that she was considering it. "Broly is just a boy-"
"Broly's power level has jumped tens of millions in the span of a few minutes," I cut her off harshly. "He's the only one that stands a chance right now. Get your head in the game -- organize the retreat," I snapped at her, pointedly raising a hand to destroy a handful of drones that were investigating where the others had gone. The drones down here were dumber. I'm guessing they didn't receive Mongul's personal attention.
Shayera looked up at the Warworld, like she was considering outright disobeying the order in favor of flying up to help Broly. However, Thanagarian discipline won out. She gave a jerky nod while Vas and Canda gave more resolute ones. I resisted the urge to look back up at the Warworld, tempted to leave it to them to organize and execute the retreat. But I needed to make sure they got away from the planet. I had to preserve what was left of my garrison -- each soldier was a veteran. They might not be the 501st, but as far as general soldiers, those stationed here were the cream of the crop.
We flew off towards where Avery had found what was left of my garrison. As I stretched my ki sense out, it was easy to find them simply because there was nothing else around. No life at all. The planet's surface was ravaged with countless drones on an extermination mission. My ki sense nearly engulfed the planet, but I could barely make out a handful of others. My army, what was left of it, was the last man standing.
Even without my ki sense, it would be a simple task to find them. Drones swarmed on their location, only to be pushed back by organized gunfire. Their Nth Metal based weapons were the key to their survival -- the remnants of my army were based out of the palace. Defensive positions were established, fall back positions as well behind a defensive perimeter. There were tens of thousands of them. Less than half of the hundred thousand I had stationed here. As I approached, I saw them move like a well-oiled machine, each proving their worth, that one of them was worth a hundred of the enemy.
Despite my tiredness, I gathered ki in my hands and picked out my targets. In a flood, the tides of the battle surged into our favor when I destroyed thousands of the drones with a single attack. Ki ripped through them, reducing them to nothing, to scrap that couldn't even explode on contact. More were on the way, but I gave the troops room to breathe. Even as I flew to Avery, I heard him barking orders to push back out and dig in.
"We're retreating," I told Avery, floating above him. His eyes widened at that. We had never retreated before. I tapped on the side of my head, gesturing to his scouter, and spoke very clearly. "We fall back, regroup, then we push to take Thanagar back. I'm covering the retreat and I'll stay to harass Mongul."
This was the least bad choice. Lord Frieza could not learn about Broly. So, I had to pick my poison.
"By your orders," Avery agreed after a moment. He knew about Broly, so he knew what was going unsaid. "Our LZ's and fleet were hit, but we have Junkrat. He'll have a field day," Avery said, and I spotted the alien mechanic with ease. He moved like a tasmanian devil, a whirlwind of chaos and repairs as he raced through the camp touching up on the damages. Avery gave him the message to repair a ship to make a quick escape and he took off.
Avery gave me a lingering look, "How are our odds?"
I looked up at the Warworld, knowing that Broly was fighting tooth and nail to defeat him. A feeling hit me I hadn't felt in years. I felt useless. I felt so weak that I was forced into the sidelines because my enemy was in a weight class that I couldn't even stand in the same ring as. I forgot how much I hated this feeling.
It was like I was fresh out of the tank fighting Saibamen again.
I failed to answer, so Avery took that as my answer. Instead, I focused on the drones. Vas took one side, Canda rejoined a team on the ground to cover Junkrat as he worked his magic. There was a grim tension in the air as news that we were retreating spread. I felt looks on me, but I ignored them in favor of doing what I could -- destroying countless drones to give my troops breathing room.
Junkrat might be a speedster, I thought when the call came in that he had repaired a ship big enough to get them all out. I'm guessing he found one that needed minimal repairs. "Fall back. I'll cover the retreat," I shouted, ki gathering in my hands before I unleashed it on the drone swarm. It was like kicking over a hill of fire ants -- they just seemed to keep coming no matter how many I destroyed. The ship lifted off, flying to the palace so people could load up.
The retreat barely began when there was a change in the drone swarm. They began to break off, leaving behind a token distraction force. Countless red drones began to fly up to the Warworld in a stream -- the sudden change in behavior was enough to put me on edge, but when I looked up at the Warworld, I realized what had changed. The surface of the planet was changing, peeling back to reveal an ominous red glow.
"What is…" Vas questioned behind me. I knew the answer. I could feel my soldier's presence behind me, and most of them weren't on the ship.
"Get on the ship. Now," I snapped, my hands clenched into fists as what could only be described as fear gripped my heart. I hadn't been able to destroy Mongul's control device. Not only that but… if Mongul could give the order to his drones to fall back and use the main gun… then that probably meant that Broly was defeated. Possibly dead.
There was a dull ache in my chest. Out of everyone I had ever met, Broly had seemed the most invincible. As if he could never be defeated. I knew that wasn't the case, but I didn't know how else to explain why I had never considered the possibility that Broly might lose to Mongul.
"Prince Tarble-"
"Mongul is going to destroy the planet. Everyone, get on the ship and take off. Now," I cut off Avery. As much as fear gripped my heart, resolve gripped my fear. The dull red glow on the planet's surface seemed to grow brighter, telling me that it was charging up. I had no clue how long it would take, but I had to assume that I didn't have long. Each second counted -- my troops needed every second to load up and take off.
There was only one real option. I fly up to the Warworld, then the ship gets swarmed by drones when I took the main gun offline. The ship would be left exposed. Likewise, I had no clue what the main gun would take its shot. What gave my troops the best shot of escaping was…
I took in a deep breath, letting the smoke-filled air fill my lungs as I looked up at the red eye of the Warworld. I might not be much compared to Mongul, but I still had my pride. I was still one of the most powerful people in the Frieza-force, and if there was ever a time to display that fact then it was now.
The unknown time limit made my choice for me. Cupping my hands together in front of me, my ki surged forward. A pale blue ball flickered into life as I poured more and more power into it. Gritting my teeth, I pushed past my exhaustion and put everything that I had into that one attack. The power swelled, growing in size, but the nature of a Galick Gun made it unstable. Electrical discharge tore through the ground below me as the wind stirred.
Dust, rubble, then lesser metals were all blown away from me as I gathered my strength. Electricity carved lines through the ground, burning like plasma that melted the Nth Metal below. My hands shook, trembling with tension and exertion, intent on putting absolutely everything that I had into the move. The sound was harsh, but I heard the sound of the ship lifting off. It seemed that they had rushed the evacuation. Good on them.
I wish I had my scouter to give them their orders, but that ship had sailed. Now it was just making sure they had time to escape the blast radius. All the while, I dug deep, finding every hidden reservoir of strength, and channeled it into the unstable ball of ki. The cackle of electricity grew stronger, the lightning more chaotic. At the same time, the red glow of the Warworld grew.
Then, on some unseen signal, we both unleashed our attacks.
"Final… FLASH!" I shouted, unleashing a powerful torrent of ki to meet the red laser beam that was intent on destroying the planet. It was without a doubt in my mind the most powerful attack I had ever unleashed. That much was proven when the two beams slammed into each other in the sky above -- the planet shook at the clash as purple energy bled off where the two met, each struggling to overcome the other.
Clouds were forced to part, revealing the two unending torrents that met in the middle. Only for my attack to start to edge back. I lowered myself from where I hovered as if the energy from the Warworld was pushing me down to the ground. My feet met the Nth Metal ground, which felt like it gave me some leverage. Gritting my teeth, I fought to push the energy beam back, my arms shaking as I poured more and more and more of myself into the struggle. The Wrath State was already in Stage Fifteen, and the attack was front-loaded. It couldn't be sustained.
"Ahh…" I groaned at first, feeling something inside of me start to pull taut as I was forced to drag more power from the hopefully endless well of the oozaru. I had managed it for a moment before I hit the ground, and if it were possible to have higher stages, then now was the time to find out.
I pulled at that string, trying to drag more power from the well, but it felt taut. Like a live nerve that sent a jolt of electricity through my body, warning me to not pull at it.
Snarling, I yanked at that string. I was used to ignoring my body's limits and now was no exception. A scream ripped itself from my throat as it felt like the string had snapped, flooding my body with agony for a burst of power. The Final Flash surged with power, pushing back the laser beam enough to reclaim lost ground and then some. Chunks of the ground started to tear away while some were beginning to melt from the heat.
With the string broken, power flooded through me like I was a broken dam. It tore through me like a physical force -- I felt blood drip from my nose, but none of that mattered, I was able to push the laser beam back. And as I poured more and more power into the attack, it was the Warworld that began to falter.
Until, without any warning, it didn't. My attack stalled, the Warworld meeting it evenly before it started to push back-
"AHHHHHH!" I screamed, trying to push it back, but I felt the momentum fall against me. My attack wasn't meant to be sustained, much less for half a minute. You can only give everything that you had for so long before you ran out. I fought it tooth and nail, trying to reclaim my progress. I was almost there. So very close. I…
He… Mongul killed Broly. The fact that this was happening meant that Broly was dead. My friend was dead. Killed by a foe I couldn't hope to defeat. Not as I was. Not yet. But… but, at the very least, I would fuck up his planet.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, turning the rage into power. The urge to destroy, something I kept such a tight grip on since I had mastered the Wrath State, I let go of it. Rage and hate flooded my mind, dominating every thought. My attack surged once again and the scales had been tipped. This time there was no room for recovery. My Final Flash slammed into the Warworld with a spectacular explosion that lit up the sky.
I wanted to watch my handiwork, but I couldn't. As soon as I let go of the attack as parts of the Warworld above exploded… I felt something was wrong. I dropped to my hands and knees, blood dripping from my nose like a faucet while my vision swam and darkened at the edges. I had pushed myself beyond my limits before, so very often, but something was different this time.
Inside, I felt cold. Empty. Like I broke something I shouldn't have broken. I couldn't tell what was wrong other than that. My chest heaved for breath while my heart hammered at my ribs. Sweat dripped from me as I tried to gather myself, but it took everything I had left just to remain conscious. I couldn't even bring myself to look up when parts of the Warworld fell to the ground.
Swallowing thickly, I flipped a hand to make a Medicine Ball, but… I didn't know how to describe it. My ki, which always so readily obeyed my commands, felt like it had been replaced with sludge. Yet, there were only fumes where there should be an ocean.
I… I think I made a mistake…
It was worth it though, I thought savagely to myself when I felt a powerful presence enter my range. It was Mongul. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't managed to kill him with the blast, but I would have to settle for ruining his day. It was difficult to tell with the sounds of chaos around me, but I heard footsteps. As they neared, I looked up defiantly-
I blinked slowly, trying to clear the haze in my vision. "Vegeta?" I questioned, looking up at either my father or older brother. Because either father had shaved his goatee, or Vegeta had his second growth spurt, making him into an adult. Given how similar they looked, it could be either one.
Vegeta looked down at me with a severe expression on his face. "This is an unexpected sight, Tarble," Vegeta said, and I still couldn't tell if he was my brother or my father. Based on his powerful presence, I'm guessing that he was my brother. The growth spurt made him a lot stronger. I could feel it. "You had better not have defeated the enemy. I didn't come all of this way for nothing."
"I… scouter…" My tongue felt funny. Like it was too big in my mouth, but also kinda numb. My words came out slurred because of it, making Vegeta frown deeply as he took off his scouter. That was good. "Broly… up there. He's…" I couldn't finish the sentence.
"What's wrong with you!" Vegeta demanded to know, kneeling next to me. His dark eyes were narrowed into a glare while the rest of his face was set into a fierce scowl. It didn't match his tone though. Despite it all, despite being ignored by him for seven long years… it was good to see him again.
I shook my head, "I don't… I don't know," I answered. I was getting some feeling back in my tongue, but everything else just felt wrong. I didn't have time for this. Too much was at stake. If I was still alive, then I could fight. And if I couldn't, then I would die. That's how things have always been and they would not change now.
Vegeta had the same thought because he formed a Medicine Ball, and I felt the change almost instantly. If I had to describe it… I had broken out of a mold, so I was spilling everywhere. The Medicine Ball was pushing the spillage back into the mold so it felt like I fit in my own body again.
"Thanks," I stifled a groan as I stood up. I would have to do a serious medical scan when this was done, but for now, I had another problem. "Mongul could still be alive. Broly was fighting him to buy time for the troops to retreat. He could still be alive… He can beat Mongul. We-"
That plan felt wrong. Familiar… I had tried it, hadn't I? It didn't work for me, but maybe with the two of us…?
Vegeta looked up at the Warworld, prompting me to do the same. Nearly a fourth of it had been destroyed and pieces were raining down onto the planet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vegeta smirk.
"There will be no need for that softhearted clown. Mongul is mine," Vegeta decided. That part of him, I hadn't missed that much. Before I could so much as get a word in, Vegeta flew off in a blur towards the Warworld. I watched him go for a moment before I glanced at the Medicine Ball. It's healing light washed over me, and each second I spent under its light, I felt more myself.
Yet, that feeling of…
Again, I tried to form a Medicine Ball, but outside of a flicker of ki, there was nothing. It wasn't obeying my commands. Was it because I was just running on fumes? It was possible, but… I had felt something break inside of me. That string had snapped. I had no clue what it was, but given the circumstances, it had to be bad.
Even still, as I wiped blood off of my chin, I looked at the Warworld above. Vegeta was going to find that Mongul was too much for him. Broly… I could only hope that Broly was still alive. Given the circumstances, it didn't seem likely. And I…
I didn't want to lose Vegeta.
My body didn't even have the strength to scream at me to stay down, but when I pushed myself onto my feet, I found there was a surprising amount of strength left in my limbs. They felt funny like they belonged to someone else, but I managed to walk. Flying… that took ki, which I seemed to be out of. Or I couldn't control it for some reason. I don't know.
"Tarble," I heard a voice call out to me. Looking over my shoulder, I blinked a few times. Shayera was behind me, but that didn't make any sense.
"Did the evac work?" I asked, a spike of worry entering my chest as I took a step forward. But the length of my leg felt wrong. I didn't feel any taller than I was, and upon further inspection, I didn't seem to be any taller, but I still stumbled a step and nearly fell face-first into a burrow filled with molten Nth Metal.
Shayera appeared next to me, hovering around me with wide eyes like she couldn't believe I was in the shape that I was in. "It did. Everyone got off."
"Then why are you here?" I asked Shayera, gathering myself. The Medicine Ball that Vegeta left behind had winked out of existence, unfortunately. I… I could only hope that didn't mean he was dead.
And that… out of everything, that's what I hated the most. I wasn't a person that crossed my fingers and hoped that something would happen. I would make it happen with my own two hands. I didn't want to have to hope that Vegeta and Broly were still alive. I wanted to make sure that they lived, and fight to make sure that they continued to live. Hope… wasn't who I was.
"I…" Shayera hesitated to answer. Which was an answer in itself.
"It's about Broly, isn't it?" I hazarded a guess. Shayera stiffened, and I let out a breath. "Wasn't hard to figure out. You acted off every time he was mentioned," I told her, my gaze going to my hands. My ki still wouldn't obey me. I… I was really getting worried that I had… broken it, or something.
Shayera hesitated to answer before she offered a small nod. "I joined you to save him. Broly saved my life in the invasion of Thanagar. I… I saw how the battlefield killed him. I… had to do something."
I swallowed a laugh, "That sounds like Broly," I remarked. His aversion to killing was easy to spot, but I hadn't known he was saving the lives of the enemy. Her motivation was a little vague, but now wasn't the time for twenty questions. "He's still on the Warworld. Hopefully. I… I can't fly. I need you to take me there," I told her. Shayera looked conflicted, which was why I couldn't trust her to just pass along a message. That, and I wasn't sure if Vegeta would listen to anyone but me. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would even listen to me.
"Are you sure?" Shayera questioned. To that, I looked at the molten Nth Metal. She had just confessed to having ulterior motives. Maybe she didn't mean any harm, but maybe she did. I couldn't trust her. I just had to get back on the Warworld.
To that, I answered by putting my hands into the molten metal. My hands were clenched into fists -- flesh blistered and was cooked, the properties of ignoring durability applied even in a non solid state. That was fine. Pain was something that I was used to.
Shayera gasped at the sight as I pulled my hands out, letting the molten metal drip down my wrists. When it cooled, a rough outline of my fists was shaped into the metal. I wouldn't be able to use any ki attacks, but I probably couldn't do that anyway.
Pushing myself back onto my feet, I stood tall despite my injuries. Meeting Shayera's gaze, I nodded, "I'm sure."
She looked like she wanted to argue that point. Maybe she would be right to. Maybe the only thing I would accomplish with this was my death. That didn't matter right now. I had to get into the Warworld. Even if it was only a support role, I had to do something. And she was my ticket back to the battleground.
Regardless of her doubts, Shayera nodded before she reached out. Wrapping a hand around my waist, she pulled me close before her wings fanned out and she jumped up to soar through the air. There, I found that despite what my body felt, I was still very much the same size. Her wings flapped powerfully, letting us sail upwards. It was slow compared to my speed, but in a few minutes, we reached the edge of the atmosphere. Then we reached the Warworld.
Up close, it was easy to tell just how much damage my attack had done to the Warworld. Despite it all, a small grin found itself on my face as we entered a blasted out hallway back on the Warworld.
It would seem, at long last, I was a planet buster.
I pushed the thought to the side and reached out with my ki sense. There, I found several powerful presences. One it was easy to identify as Mongul, but there were two others. Vegeta and Broly. They were still alive. Swallowing thickly, I guided Shayera through the halls, ignoring blue drones that were already repairing the damage. Our approach was hardly anything but secretive as Shayera blasted through hallways and doors, doing whatever it took to get to Broly. And her desire did her credit.
Before long, Shayera knocked down the final door standing between us and the others. It felt like it was at the center of the planet -- a wide-open room that was bigger than a stadium. Inside was Mongul, who stood across from Vegeta. And, off to the side, in a forcefield cage, was Broly.
Mongul turned to look at me as Shayera let me go. The corners of his lips quirked upwards at the sight of me. "You've made me a liar, Prince Tarble. I told Broly that you were dead." His red eyes seemed to glow as his eyes narrowed, "Allow me to remedy that before he wakes up."
...
This fight has ballooned a bit, but I've been waiting to write these scenes for ages.
The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!
I couldn't fight like this. Bones were a necessary thing because they offered support. Fighting with a broken arm and using my muscles to keep the bone in place? I could do that most of the time. Only issue was that when I fought with a broken arm, I wasn't hitting someone made of whatever the hell Mongul was. With that thought in mind, a Medicine Ball floated above one of my hands -- the fingers were all either broken or dislocated, if not both.
It would have to be a rush job. Bones would need to be reset, but that was better than being dead. The Medicine Ball was a dark purple, as intense as I could make it, and I felt my bones shift underneath my muscle and skin. It was an odd feeling. A deep-seated exhaustion seeped into my bones, but I ignored it as I reached up to pull myself out of the hole I was in. There I saw the size of the crater.
I had landed on a city -- concrete, lesser metals, and dirt were all cleared away from the point of impact. I hit the planet like a meteor. Just looking at it and I knew I was alive only by the skin of my teeth.
But the fight wasn't over.
Floating out of my crater, I looked up at the enemy planet -- from this point of view, it seemed impossibly huge. It dominated the sky, almost to the point that it was the only thing that you could see. Broly was still up there. I stretched out my ki sense, looking for them, but they were outside of my range.
A flash of movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A red drone that was firing an energy shot at me. Before the shot made it halfway, I shot a ki blast at it -- punching through the attack and the drone. As I looked at the world around me, I saw countless corpses of all races. A city laid in ruin. And more drones continuing their bombardment.
"The universe is a big place," I muttered to myself, and I distantly worried that I had a concussion. My head did feel light and I was lingering here instead of flying back into the fight. Mostly because I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Mongul, no matter how I looked at it, was completely beyond me. That fight was completely beyond me. My attempts at offering support… I couldn't even breathe in the same room that they had fought in.
Another drone closed in, and I raised a hand to destroy it, only to be beaten to the punch. Shayera flew forward and smashed it with her mace. The drone swayed to the side, smoking dangerously, but it took a few other hits from her to make it explode. Beyond her were Vas and Canda, with the rest of the squad hopefully being with Avery. They had on their scouters, which is probably how they found me.
That was too dangerous. With three shots of ki, I destroyed their scouters as they approached. "What-"
"It-" I coughed, some blood escaping up my throat that I spit out. "Don't wear your scouters. Frieza can't know what's going on here," I told them as I wiped my chin of blood. I was sporting some burns, the worst being on my back, but my head was also bleeding. I probably did have a concussion. "Is there anyone left alive on the planet?"
I didn't have time to answer their obvious questions. This whole situation was bad. The worst kind of bad that meant we had no good options. If Lord Frieza learned about Broly now, then not only would he discover that we had been lying about his power level for years… but also that Broly, in the span of a fight, went from the kind of trash that Lord Frieza scrapped off his metaphorical shoes to being able to fight on even footing with Mongul.
Lord Frieza would kill Broly. As a start. Then he would likely kill me. Killing the entire Saiyan race was in the cards, honestly.
"Avery is with about half of what we had garrisoned here. We can't contact the others," Vas answered. Meaning that they were probably dead. That was a significant loss.
I blinked a few times, trying to get my thoughts into focus(,) but I was struck with a moment of indecision. I wanted to get back up there. I wanted to fight Mongul. But, I had to question if that was really the best use of me. If fighting Mongul was what I should be doing.
The mission, the team, then pride.
"Have Avery organize a retreat. The army will fall back to regroup with the nearest patrol," I ordered, my tone hard. "I'll cover the retreat." I didn't like it. I hated it, really. The fact of the matter was that I had no clue if we could defeat Mongul. That meant that I had to assume that we couldn't, and that meant I had to preserve the lives of my troops in case we got the chance to take back Thanagar. Even if we couldn't, there was no point in them all dying here because of pride. "Broly will delay Mongul."
Shayera's expression shifted and for the briefest of moments, she looked like she was going to take a swing at me. Even after that moment, her expression told me that she was considering it. "Broly is just a boy-"
"Broly's power level has jumped tens of millions in the span of a few minutes," I cut her off harshly. "He's the only one that stands a chance right now. Get your head in the game -- organize the retreat," I snapped at her, pointedly raising a hand to destroy a handful of drones that were investigating where the others had gone. The drones down here were dumber. I'm guessing they didn't receive Mongul's personal attention.
Shayera looked up at the Warworld, like she was considering outright disobeying the order in favor of flying up to help Broly. However, Thanagarian discipline won out. She gave a jerky nod while Vas and Canda gave more resolute ones. I resisted the urge to look back up at the Warworld, tempted to leave it to them to organize and execute the retreat. But I needed to make sure they got away from the planet. I had to preserve what was left of my garrison -- each soldier was a veteran. They might not be the 501st, but as far as general soldiers, those stationed here were the cream of the crop.
We flew off towards where Avery had found what was left of my garrison. As I stretched my ki sense out, it was easy to find them simply because there was nothing else around. No life at all. The planet's surface was ravaged with countless drones on an extermination mission. My ki sense nearly engulfed the planet, but I could barely make out a handful of others. My army, what was left of it, was the last man standing.
Even without my ki sense, it would be a simple task to find them. Drones swarmed on their location, only to be pushed back by organized gunfire. Their Nth Metal based weapons were the key to their survival -- the remnants of my army were based out of the palace. Defensive positions were established, fall back positions as well behind a defensive perimeter. There were tens of thousands of them. Less than half of the hundred thousand I had stationed here. As I approached, I saw them move like a well-oiled machine, each proving their worth, that one of them was worth a hundred of the enemy.
Despite my tiredness, I gathered ki in my hands and picked out my targets. In a flood, the tides of the battle surged into our favor when I destroyed thousands of the drones with a single attack. Ki ripped through them, reducing them to nothing, to scrap that couldn't even explode on contact. More were on the way, but I gave the troops room to breathe. Even as I flew to Avery, I heard him barking orders to push back out and dig in.
"We're retreating," I told Avery, floating above him. His eyes widened at that. We had never retreated before. I tapped on the side of my head, gesturing to his scouter, and spoke very clearly. "We fall back, regroup, then we push to take Thanagar back. I'm covering the retreat and I'll stay to harass Mongul."
This was the least bad choice. Lord Frieza could not learn about Broly. So, I had to pick my poison.
"By your orders," Avery agreed after a moment. He knew about Broly, so he knew what was going unsaid. "Our LZ's and fleet were hit, but we have Junkrat. He'll have a field day," Avery said, and I spotted the alien mechanic with ease. He moved like a tasmanian devil, a whirlwind of chaos and repairs as he raced through the camp touching up on the damages. Avery gave him the message to repair a ship to make a quick escape and he took off.
Avery gave me a lingering look, "How are our odds?"
I looked up at the Warworld, knowing that Broly was fighting tooth and nail to defeat him. A feeling hit me I hadn't felt in years. I felt useless. I felt so weak that I was forced into the sidelines because my enemy was in a weight class that I couldn't even stand in the same ring as. I forgot how much I hated this feeling.
It was like I was fresh out of the tank fighting Saibamen again.
I failed to answer, so Avery took that as my answer. Instead, I focused on the drones. Vas took one side, Canda rejoined a team on the ground to cover Junkrat as he worked his magic. There was a grim tension in the air as news that we were retreating spread. I felt looks on me, but I ignored them in favor of doing what I could -- destroying countless drones to give my troops breathing room.
Junkrat might be a speedster, I thought when the call came in that he had repaired a ship big enough to get them all out. I'm guessing he found one that needed minimal repairs. "Fall back. I'll cover the retreat," I shouted, ki gathering in my hands before I unleashed it on the drone swarm. It was like kicking over a hill of fire ants -- they just seemed to keep coming no matter how many I destroyed. The ship lifted off, flying to the palace so people could load up.
The retreat barely began when there was a change in the drone swarm. They began to break off, leaving behind a token distraction force. Countless red drones began to fly up to the Warworld in a stream -- the sudden change in behavior was enough to put me on edge, but when I looked up at the Warworld, I realized what had changed. The surface of the planet was changing, peeling back to reveal an ominous red glow.
"What is…" Vas questioned behind me. I knew the answer. I could feel my soldier's presence behind me, and most of them weren't on the ship.
"Get on the ship. Now," I snapped, my hands clenched into fists as what could only be described as fear gripped my heart. I hadn't been able to destroy Mongul's control device. Not only that but… if Mongul could give the order to his drones to fall back and use the main gun… then that probably meant that Broly was defeated. Possibly dead.
There was a dull ache in my chest. Out of everyone I had ever met, Broly had seemed the most invincible. As if he could never be defeated. I knew that wasn't the case, but I didn't know how else to explain why I had never considered the possibility that Broly might lose to Mongul.
"Prince Tarble-"
"Mongul is going to destroy the planet. Everyone, get on the ship and take off. Now," I cut off Avery. As much as fear gripped my heart, resolve gripped my fear. The dull red glow on the planet's surface seemed to grow brighter, telling me that it was charging up. I had no clue how long it would take, but I had to assume that I didn't have long. Each second counted -- my troops needed every second to load up and take off.
There was only one real option. I fly up to the Warworld, then the ship gets swarmed by drones when I took the main gun offline. The ship would be left exposed. Likewise, I had no clue what the main gun would take its shot. What gave my troops the best shot of escaping was…
I took in a deep breath, letting the smoke-filled air fill my lungs as I looked up at the red eye of the Warworld. I might not be much compared to Mongul, but I still had my pride. I was still one of the most powerful people in the Frieza-force, and if there was ever a time to display that fact then it was now.
The unknown time limit made my choice for me. Cupping my hands together in front of me, my ki surged forward. A pale blue ball flickered into life as I poured more and more power into it. Gritting my teeth, I pushed past my exhaustion and put everything that I had into that one attack. The power swelled, growing in size, but the nature of a Galick Gun made it unstable. Electrical discharge tore through the ground below me as the wind stirred.
Dust, rubble, then lesser metals were all blown away from me as I gathered my strength. Electricity carved lines through the ground, burning like plasma that melted the Nth Metal below. My hands shook, trembling with tension and exertion, intent on putting absolutely everything that I had into the move. The sound was harsh, but I heard the sound of the ship lifting off. It seemed that they had rushed the evacuation. Good on them.
I wish I had my scouter to give them their orders, but that ship had sailed. Now it was just making sure they had time to escape the blast radius. All the while, I dug deep, finding every hidden reservoir of strength, and channeled it into the unstable ball of ki. The cackle of electricity grew stronger, the lightning more chaotic. At the same time, the red glow of the Warworld grew.
Then, on some unseen signal, we both unleashed our attacks.
"Final… FLASH!" I shouted, unleashing a powerful torrent of ki to meet the red laser beam that was intent on destroying the planet. It was without a doubt in my mind the most powerful attack I had ever unleashed. That much was proven when the two beams slammed into each other in the sky above -- the planet shook at the clash as purple energy bled off where the two met, each struggling to overcome the other.
Clouds were forced to part, revealing the two unending torrents that met in the middle. Only for my attack to start to edge back. I lowered myself from where I hovered as if the energy from the Warworld was pushing me down to the ground. My feet met the Nth Metal ground, which felt like it gave me some leverage. Gritting my teeth, I fought to push the energy beam back, my arms shaking as I poured more and more and more of myself into the struggle. The Wrath State was already in Stage Fifteen, and the attack was front-loaded. It couldn't be sustained.
"Ahh…" I groaned at first, feeling something inside of me start to pull taut as I was forced to drag more power from the hopefully endless well of the oozaru. I had managed it for a moment before I hit the ground, and if it were possible to have higher stages, then now was the time to find out.
I pulled at that string, trying to drag more power from the well, but it felt taut. Like a live nerve that sent a jolt of electricity through my body, warning me to not pull at it.
Snarling, I yanked at that string. I was used to ignoring my body's limits and now was no exception. A scream ripped itself from my throat as it felt like the string had snapped, flooding my body with agony for a burst of power. The Final Flash surged with power, pushing back the laser beam enough to reclaim lost ground and then some. Chunks of the ground started to tear away while some were beginning to melt from the heat.
With the string broken, power flooded through me like I was a broken dam. It tore through me like a physical force -- I felt blood drip from my nose, but none of that mattered, I was able to push the laser beam back. And as I poured more and more power into the attack, it was the Warworld that began to falter.
Until, without any warning, it didn't. My attack stalled, the Warworld meeting it evenly before it started to push back-
"AHHHHHH!" I screamed, trying to push it back, but I felt the momentum fall against me. My attack wasn't meant to be sustained, much less for half a minute. You can only give everything that you had for so long before you ran out. I fought it tooth and nail, trying to reclaim my progress. I was almost there. So very close. I…
He… Mongul killed Broly. The fact that this was happening meant that Broly was dead. My friend was dead. Killed by a foe I couldn't hope to defeat. Not as I was. Not yet. But… but, at the very least, I would fuck up his planet.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, turning the rage into power. The urge to destroy, something I kept such a tight grip on since I had mastered the Wrath State, I let go of it. Rage and hate flooded my mind, dominating every thought. My attack surged once again and the scales had been tipped. This time there was no room for recovery. My Final Flash slammed into the Warworld with a spectacular explosion that lit up the sky.
I wanted to watch my handiwork, but I couldn't. As soon as I let go of the attack as parts of the Warworld above exploded… I felt something was wrong. I dropped to my hands and knees, blood dripping from my nose like a faucet while my vision swam and darkened at the edges. I had pushed myself beyond my limits before, so very often, but something was different this time.
Inside, I felt cold. Empty. Like I broke something I shouldn't have broken. I couldn't tell what was wrong other than that. My chest heaved for breath while my heart hammered at my ribs. Sweat dripped from me as I tried to gather myself, but it took everything I had left just to remain conscious. I couldn't even bring myself to look up when parts of the Warworld fell to the ground.
Swallowing thickly, I flipped a hand to make a Medicine Ball, but… I didn't know how to describe it. My ki, which always so readily obeyed my commands, felt like it had been replaced with sludge. Yet, there were only fumes where there should be an ocean.
I… I think I made a mistake…
It was worth it though, I thought savagely to myself when I felt a powerful presence enter my range. It was Mongul. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't managed to kill him with the blast, but I would have to settle for ruining his day. It was difficult to tell with the sounds of chaos around me, but I heard footsteps. As they neared, I looked up defiantly-
I blinked slowly, trying to clear the haze in my vision. "Vegeta?" I questioned, looking up at either my father or older brother. Because either father had shaved his goatee, or Vegeta had his second growth spurt, making him into an adult. Given how similar they looked, it could be either one.
Vegeta looked down at me with a severe expression on his face. "This is an unexpected sight, Tarble," Vegeta said, and I still couldn't tell if he was my brother or my father. Based on his powerful presence, I'm guessing that he was my brother. The growth spurt made him a lot stronger. I could feel it. "You had better not have defeated the enemy. I didn't come all of this way for nothing."
"I… scouter…" My tongue felt funny. Like it was too big in my mouth, but also kinda numb. My words came out slurred because of it, making Vegeta frown deeply as he took off his scouter. That was good. "Broly… up there. He's…" I couldn't finish the sentence.
"What's wrong with you!" Vegeta demanded to know, kneeling next to me. His dark eyes were narrowed into a glare while the rest of his face was set into a fierce scowl. It didn't match his tone though. Despite it all, despite being ignored by him for seven long years… it was good to see him again.
I shook my head, "I don't… I don't know," I answered. I was getting some feeling back in my tongue, but everything else just felt wrong. I didn't have time for this. Too much was at stake. If I was still alive, then I could fight. And if I couldn't, then I would die. That's how things have always been and they would not change now.
Vegeta had the same thought because he formed a Medicine Ball, and I felt the change almost instantly. If I had to describe it… I had broken out of a mold, so I was spilling everywhere. The Medicine Ball was pushing the spillage back into the mold so it felt like I fit in my own body again.
"Thanks," I stifled a groan as I stood up. I would have to do a serious medical scan when this was done, but for now, I had another problem. "Mongul could still be alive. Broly was fighting him to buy time for the troops to retreat. He could still be alive… He can beat Mongul. We-"
That plan felt wrong. Familiar… I had tried it, hadn't I? It didn't work for me, but maybe with the two of us…?
Vegeta looked up at the Warworld, prompting me to do the same. Nearly a fourth of it had been destroyed and pieces were raining down onto the planet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vegeta smirk.
"There will be no need for that softhearted clown. Mongul is mine," Vegeta decided. That part of him, I hadn't missed that much. Before I could so much as get a word in, Vegeta flew off in a blur towards the Warworld. I watched him go for a moment before I glanced at the Medicine Ball. It's healing light washed over me, and each second I spent under its light, I felt more myself.
Yet, that feeling of…
Again, I tried to form a Medicine Ball, but outside of a flicker of ki, there was nothing. It wasn't obeying my commands. Was it because I was just running on fumes? It was possible, but… I had felt something break inside of me. That string had snapped. I had no clue what it was, but given the circumstances, it had to be bad.
Even still, as I wiped blood off of my chin, I looked at the Warworld above. Vegeta was going to find that Mongul was too much for him. Broly… I could only hope that Broly was still alive. Given the circumstances, it didn't seem likely. And I…
I didn't want to lose Vegeta.
My body didn't even have the strength to scream at me to stay down, but when I pushed myself onto my feet, I found there was a surprising amount of strength left in my limbs. They felt funny like they belonged to someone else, but I managed to walk. Flying… that took ki, which I seemed to be out of. Or I couldn't control it for some reason. I don't know.
"Tarble," I heard a voice call out to me. Looking over my shoulder, I blinked a few times. Shayera was behind me, but that didn't make any sense.
"Did the evac work?" I asked, a spike of worry entering my chest as I took a step forward. But the length of my leg felt wrong. I didn't feel any taller than I was, and upon further inspection, I didn't seem to be any taller, but I still stumbled a step and nearly fell face-first into a burrow filled with molten Nth Metal.
Shayera appeared next to me, hovering around me with wide eyes like she couldn't believe I was in the shape that I was in. "It did. Everyone got off."
"Then why are you here?" I asked Shayera, gathering myself. The Medicine Ball that Vegeta left behind had winked out of existence, unfortunately. I… I could only hope that didn't mean he was dead.
And that… out of everything, that's what I hated the most. I wasn't a person that crossed my fingers and hoped that something would happen. I would make it happen with my own two hands. I didn't want to have to hope that Vegeta and Broly were still alive. I wanted to make sure that they lived, and fight to make sure that they continued to live. Hope… wasn't who I was.
"I…" Shayera hesitated to answer. Which was an answer in itself.
"It's about Broly, isn't it?" I hazarded a guess. Shayera stiffened, and I let out a breath. "Wasn't hard to figure out. You acted off every time he was mentioned," I told her, my gaze going to my hands. My ki still wouldn't obey me. I… I was really getting worried that I had… broken it, or something.
Shayera hesitated to answer before she offered a small nod. "I joined you to save him. Broly saved my life in the invasion of Thanagar. I… I saw how the battlefield killed him. I… had to do something."
I swallowed a laugh, "That sounds like Broly," I remarked. His aversion to killing was easy to spot, but I hadn't known he was saving the lives of the enemy. Her motivation was a little vague, but now wasn't the time for twenty questions. "He's still on the Warworld. Hopefully. I… I can't fly. I need you to take me there," I told her. Shayera looked conflicted, which was why I couldn't trust her to just pass along a message. That, and I wasn't sure if Vegeta would listen to anyone but me. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would even listen to me.
"Are you sure?" Shayera questioned. To that, I looked at the molten Nth Metal. She had just confessed to having ulterior motives. Maybe she didn't mean any harm, but maybe she did. I couldn't trust her. I just had to get back on the Warworld.
To that, I answered by putting my hands into the molten metal. My hands were clenched into fists -- flesh blistered and was cooked, the properties of ignoring durability applied even in a non solid state. That was fine. Pain was something that I was used to.
Shayera gasped at the sight as I pulled my hands out, letting the molten metal drip down my wrists. When it cooled, a rough outline of my fists was shaped into the metal. I wouldn't be able to use any ki attacks, but I probably couldn't do that anyway.
Pushing myself back onto my feet, I stood tall despite my injuries. Meeting Shayera's gaze, I nodded, "I'm sure."
She looked like she wanted to argue that point. Maybe she would be right to. Maybe the only thing I would accomplish with this was my death. That didn't matter right now. I had to get into the Warworld. Even if it was only a support role, I had to do something. And she was my ticket back to the battleground.
Regardless of her doubts, Shayera nodded before she reached out. Wrapping a hand around my waist, she pulled me close before her wings fanned out and she jumped up to soar through the air. There, I found that despite what my body felt, I was still very much the same size. Her wings flapped powerfully, letting us sail upwards. It was slow compared to my speed, but in a few minutes, we reached the edge of the atmosphere. Then we reached the Warworld.
Up close, it was easy to tell just how much damage my attack had done to the Warworld. Despite it all, a small grin found itself on my face as we entered a blasted out hallway back on the Warworld.
It would seem, at long last, I was a planet buster.
I pushed the thought to the side and reached out with my ki sense. There, I found several powerful presences. One it was easy to identify as Mongul, but there were two others. Vegeta and Broly. They were still alive. Swallowing thickly, I guided Shayera through the halls, ignoring blue drones that were already repairing the damage. Our approach was hardly anything but secretive as Shayera blasted through hallways and doors, doing whatever it took to get to Broly. And her desire did her credit.
Before long, Shayera knocked down the final door standing between us and the others. It felt like it was at the center of the planet -- a wide-open room that was bigger than a stadium. Inside was Mongul, who stood across from Vegeta. And, off to the side, in a forcefield cage, was Broly.
Mongul turned to look at me as Shayera let me go. The corners of his lips quirked upwards at the sight of me. "You've made me a liar, Prince Tarble. I told Broly that you were dead." His red eyes seemed to glow as his eyes narrowed, "Allow me to remedy that before he wakes up."
...
This fight has ballooned a bit, but I've been waiting to write these scenes for ages.
The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
his Ki is broken? That.... did that ever happen in DBZ?
I think its similar to what happened to Goku when he went Blue and used Kaioken against Hit, He was out of it Ki wise for a while. but damn I was really hoping for a Super Saiyan Tarble to pop up but I guess Mongul is gonna have to beat that out of Tarble in the coming fight, bring on the Super Saiyan
Yeah but I get the sense that Broly will ho super sayin first then Tarble later on down the line.
- Location
- Germany
that scene, where do I know it from.
Ah, Megaman X1, Boss Fight against Vile/Vava in the 1st Sigma Stage.
Not that I recall, this is strange, after all total exhaustion is rather common in the Dragon Ball Fights. But this seems new.
he might just be totally empty right now.
But if he really "Broke" something metaphysical... could be his ability to use Ki or the Wall between him and Super Saiyan or something original.
Feeling the Burn
- Location
- USA
"Focus on Broly," I told Shayera in a low whisper as Mongul looked at us. There wasn't a point in hiding it. He knew what our next move would be, "and take my capsules." I couldn't give them to her because my hands were encased in Nth Metal. As her hand dipped down, Mongul sprung into action, as did Vegeta.
They clashed in the middle of Mongul coming to me. A wordless roar ripped itself from Vegeta's throat as he threw a punch that Mongul effortlessly blocked. Yet the Warlord was pushed back underneath a barrage of fists and kicks. Shayera took that moment to take the capsules from my belt and fly off to the left while I went to the right. I had quite a few, but it was obvious which one she would need to use. I just had to give her time to use it.
With that thought in mind, I leaped to the right, the ground warping underneath my foot when I slammed it down to pivot. Mongul looked at me out of the corner of an eye, and he paid for it with a punch by Vegeta to the face. He wasn't flung back, and that told me that Mongul had regained his ability to fly. Meaning that Vegeta felt the worst of the blow. My lips thinned as I threw myself at the alien, my body hiding surprising strength from me.
I raced forward in a blur, and Mongul shifted to face me. A hand lunged for me, intent on engulfing my skull to crush it like an egg. Without my ability to fly, I couldn't dodge on a dime anymore. Gritting my teeth, I slammed a fist into the palm of his hand -- the recently healed bones were still full of fractures I found when I felt one snap under the force of my own punch. But, despite the considerable difference in power, I managed to knock Mongul's hand away.
All the while, Vegeta went high. Fists rained down on Mongul, each one hurting Vegeta more than Mongul, but we were splitting his attention. Using the momentary shock, I seized the opportunity to punch Mongul in the knee, hoping to kneecap him. I heard the Warlord make a sound of annoyance rather than pain. Every instinct I had screamed at me to back off, so I threw myself back. At that same moment, I only just barely avoided a hand swipe that would have killed me and painted the walls with what was left.
Vegeta wasn't so lucky. A hand darted out, grabbing his leg, and I heard bone crunch in Mongul's grip before I threw myself back at Mongul. Vegeta wasn't so weak that he would let a crushed leg give him any pause, and he proved it. Violent red ki formed in his hands, a rapid-fire Galick Gun. The same moment as the ki washed over Mongul, blocking his vision, I jumped up and slammed a fist into the bottom of his elbow. It was impossible to tell if the action hurt him any, but Vegeta was able to slip out of his grasp without having to tear anything off.
I only realized it had been a trap when I felt something slam into me. At first, I thought it was a fist from Mongul, but the fact that I was still alive convinced me that couldn't be the case. Before I was sent flying off, I saw Vegeta had kicked me in the ribs. At that same second, a fist did lash out where I had been, narrowly avoiding me. His expression was twisted into a scowl, but with that action both of us managed to survive another second in the fight against Mongul.
"How dare you get involved in my fight!" Vegeta snapped at me, and I couldn't tell if he actually meant the words or he was just trying to buy time for me to get control over myself. I felt a pull when I shot away, my ribs aching, and it was enough for me to right myself and touch down on the ground instead of flying through a wall.
Glancing down at my hands -- I guess between them and my necklace, I had enough Nth Metal to fly a bit. I hadn't realized how much I used the action until I suddenly found myself without the ability.
Mongul watched both of us with care, his back turned to Broly and Shayera, but I couldn't believe he was ignorant of what was happening. In the brief exchange, Shayera had managed to free Broly and now she was putting him in my healing tank, which served as my bed. Unlike the Medicine Ball, a healing pod would restore his energy rather than healing at the cost of his stamina. Broly needed time. Even unconscious, I could feel his presence.
If he could heal and get another shot at Mongul, then he could win this time.
"You aren't going to win on your own," I answered, eyeing Mongul. The thing on his chest looked partially destroyed, but his headband looked untouched. I guess I had to hit it harder to destroy it. I was tempted to go for his flying device again, but if he cranked up the gravity like he had earlier… "He's toying with us, Vegeta. He hasn't taken us seriously at all."
If he had, then he would simply crank the gravity up to a thousand times the galactic standard. Shayera would be crushed to death. Vegeta and I would likely die of suffocation because we wouldn't have the strength to even take in a breath. Broly might live, and considering he had been in a cage, that was also something that Mongul wanted. All he had to do was turn that knob with a thought and victory was his.
"Neither of you are worthy of being taken seriously," Mongul responded, proving as much. To that, Vegeta snarled as the air in the room shifted as he ramped up with power. His presence swelled, enough so I was caught off guard.
"I'll make you eat those words!" Vegeta roared before he threw himself back at Mongul. I had hoped to distract him for a little longer, but if we were doing it now then we were doing it now. Digging my foot into the ground, I used it as a springboard to launch myself at Mongul's back while Vegeta took the front. A ki attack was launched at Mongul, only for the sizable alien to deftly dodge it. Then forcing me to do the same.
With my momentum lost, Mongul seemed to appear before me. I had just enough time to hear Vegeta howl with rage before I was forced to act. His hands were clasped behind his back, leaving himself wide open -- he thought I would go for his chest again, but I wanted to go for his head piece. Only I did neither and chose to go low, aiming for his knees.
One of them moved in a blur, yet slowed down right at the time of impact to kick me in the stomach. My own momentum worked against me as I felt his foot nearly touch my spine, but his momentum had enough force behind it that I was sent flying away. I could barely control where I went, but I managed to crash myself into the ground. Coughing up blood, my organs felt like they had been pulverized.
Vegeta threw himself at Mongul, almost like a mad dog, but it was for show. Countless ki blasts washed over Mongul, leaving him no room to dodge, but one of them was a Medicine Ball that sailed right to me. My stamina was already shot, and whatever healing it could offer probably did more damage to me than the actual kick.
Even still, I pushed myself back to my feet. I could feel my strength draining from me, ebbing away. There wasn't anything I could do about it. I had just pushed myself too hard for too long, but I still had to push a little more. Broly needed every second that we could give him and I could only hope that Mongul's arrogance would be his downfall.
Taking in a slow breath, I launched myself at Mongul. Ki blasts raced by me as Vegeta distracted him, but it was just not enough. They seemed to wash over Mongul, like water, so my approach didn't go unnoticed. Mongul shifted as I neared, lashing out with a hand that gripped down on the fist I meant to punch him with. I had just enough time to see him smirk before he threw me in Vegeta's direction. The stream of ki blasts came to an abrupt end when I slammed into his stomach.
Both of us crashed into a wall before Vegeta roughly pushed me off, "What is wrong with your flying?" He demanded as both of us got to our feet, though one of us had a great deal more difficulty than the other. And it wasn't Vegeta.
"I pushed myself too hard with that blast earlier. I think… I can't use ki right now," I answered, swallowing my initial words. I didn't even want to consider the possibility that what I did to myself could be permanent. Even if it was, my life could be coming to an abrupt end soon if we didn't find a way to win this.
That, however, gave Mongul pause. "That was you?" He questioned, sounding like he didin't believe it. I didn't bother responding in favor of gathering my strength. Broly wasn't the only one that needed a dip in it because I felt myself flagging. "I had assumed that it was a defensive platform that my drones had missed. This is a surprise. With your disgraceful showing, I didn't think you had that in you."
"You talk too much," Vegeta snapped at him. I could see a vein bulging in his neck, but when he glanced at me, his gaze lingered on my hands. As much pride as he had, he realized that we were both outmatched. When his gaze flickered up to meet mine, both of our eyes blazing yellow, my gaze slid over to Shayera. She watched the fight, her expression a mix of awe and grim resolve. He got my message.
On an unseen signal, both of us launched ourselves at Mongul. I stuck with low while Vegeta remained high -- a ki blast slammed into the ground to offer us some cover as we neared. I don't think it mattered much, but it allowed Vegeta to go wide and steal Shayera's mace. I pivoted, intent on attacking the back of Mongul's leg. He let the action happen, distracted by Vegeta. My fist slammed into the back of his knee and I felt every bone in my arm quake at the force I delivered.
It was enough to drive Mongul to a knee, and at that same moment, Vegeta reappeared, his own fists coated in molten Nth Metal. He probably should have just stuck with the mace, but now wasn't the time to complain. My older brother fell on Mongul, and I felt something change in the fight. I darted up, going for Mongul's head, but an elbow to the ribs, a backhanded attack, was enough to send me flying across the room.
I slammed into a wall, every rib feeling like it was shattered. A low groan escaped me as I fell to the floor, and it was only then that I noticed that I had impacted near Broly and Shayera. That, I realized when I felt my tail start to burn when the tip had fallen into a puddle of molten Nth Metal. Shayera looked at me, her lips pressed into a thin line. I could see the fight in her eyes, but she knew that this fight was beyond her even with her mace. After all, it was beyond me and Vegeta.
Shaking my head, I spent a lingering look on Broly to see him floating in green healing fluid. Having spent so much time in them, his vitals were easy to read on the healing pod's medical display. There weren't words to describe the relief I felt when I saw that Broly healed as quickly as his strength grew. He just needed more time.
With that thought in mind, I threw myself back into the fight. My body was so far gone, it couldn't even muster the ability to scream for me to stay down. I moved in a blur, intent on giving Broly whatever time he needed. As I neared, Mongul lashed out with a fist that caught Vegeta in the chest, knocking him away while I closed in. Instead of backhanded gestures and swipes, he was making fists.
He saw us as a threat now. That thought was confirmed when our fists slammed into each other. My arm gave out -- bones snapped and blood shot out, my veins rupturing from the pressure. Blood rained down on my face, getting into my eyes, but I pushed back against the oversized fist with all my might. And all I managed to do was make a bruise. If that. The Nth Metal wasn't cutting it. It was a great equalizer, but I just wasn't capable of hitting him hard enough to make up for the difference in strength.
Vegeta launched himself at Mongul before he could counter. I shifted, tightening my muscles in my busted arm, and put myself on the opposite side of Vegeta, intent on dividing Mongul's attention. My brother and I, we moved in seamless harmony. I attacked at Mongul's legs while Vegeta used his mobility to dart around and attack when Mongul's attention faltered.
The chest piece started to glow, warning us that we were pushing our luck. Both of us dodged out of the way of a red beam that cut through the air. My heart leaped to my throat when I realized that the red beam was going to slam into the healing pod. It smashed through the transparent viewport and exploded. The liquid evaporated, billowing out in a cloud of steam-
"MONGUL!" I heard a familiar voice rage, and I couldn't fight the smirk off of my face. Mongul's expression shifted, looking up before a green blur slammed into him. Where as Vegeta and I, at best, could be called annoying bugs, Broly slammed into Mongul like a wall. The Warlord shot back and it felt like I had been hit in the face with a clap of thunder. In Mongul's place Broly floated.
He tore off Bah's ear, veins bulging in his neck and arms. It almost hurt to stand next to him, his presence was so powerful. He didn't even look at either of us, only having eyes for Mongul, who pulled himself out of a hole in the wall. A glance at Vegeta showed me that he was in awe, and that that fact seemed to piss him off to no end.
"Go for his chest and head," I told Vegeta, knowing that we had to take those two advantages out of the fight. Broly unleashed a roar of rage that I was going to take as a confirmation, before he flew off to clash against Mongul. There was no comparing it to our fight, even when we fought tooth and nail. The two of them moved in blurs, and each time Broly struck a blow, it was clear that Mongul felt it. The sight of them fighting was daunting, just not enough to stop either of us. Mongul had to be defeated, here and now.
I threw myself into the fray, going for Mongul's knees at first. This time, Mongul was completely distracted by Broly, so I could attack at my leisure. A fist slammed into the side of his leg, knocking it out of position enough that Broly could slam a fist into his face. Mongul released a snarl as he lashed out at Broly, catching an attack before he punched the boy in the stomach. I darted up, attacking his joints, making myself a distraction.
Vegeta fell into the fray as well. When Mongul went to swat me away like the annoyance I was, he was there to draw attention to himself. And when Mongul focused on him, Broly had recovered enough to deliver devastating blows that the two of us opened the path for. Broly had lost himself -- there was no form or anything resembling it in his attack. He just threw himself at Mongul with ever growing strength.
I felt the flow of battle in a way that I hadn't in a very long time. Each movement was precise, and one wrong move could mean death. The three of us worked in perfect unison, leading the way for Broly to deliver powerful attacks, but Mongul wasn't one to take a beating lying down.
"Enough!" He snapped as I hammered my fists against where his kidneys should be. He lashed out at Broly, slamming a fist into him that shot him away before the chest piece began to glow again. Vegeta reacted before I could, and punched it. The energy built up caused an explosion -- heat and fire washed over me, but I paid it no mind as I flew up to destroy his headpiece. Mongul must have already had me in his sights because a hand wrapped itself around my fist before I could.
I acted on instinct. If he got a hold of me, then I was dead. I twisted my body, bracing my feet against his arm while I lashed out with my tail. An old tactic that I had tried and failed with the Saibamen so very long ago. Only then my tail hadn't been coated with Nth metal. The tip hit Mongul in the eye, making him cry out in pain -- I was rather proud of that. But his grip on my arm didn't lessen, so I had no choice.
With a shout, I pushed against his arm with my legs. The bones in the arm were already broken, so it was only flesh that offered any resistance when I tore my arm off just below the elbow. Blood spurted from the wound as I freed myself. That, it would seem, Mongul didn't expect. Twisting in the air, with the only arm I had left, I took my shot at his headpiece. My Nth metal coated fist slammed against it, and this time there was a reaction. Sparks flew as Mongul jerked back.
"Ahhh!" He shouted, a hand going to his head as he grit his teeth. He glared at me with the eye that wasn't closed, baring his teeth in a snarl. There was anger in his gaze. We were hurting him. Good. "You Saiyans… I will give you this -- you are relentless."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I told Mongul as the others recovered. Broly tackled Mongul like a speeding bullet. The two of them flew off, tearing through the wall. I took a step forward, only to stumble and nearly fell on my face. Glancing down at my arms… I still had one arm left. I wasn't dead yet. I had to see this fight through, until the very end… because it was just the start of the challenges ahead.
Vegeta led the way as we gave chase to the two. It was easy enough to track them -- without his ability to fly, Mongul was at the mercy of whichever direction Broly threw him. I heard a shout from Broly ring out, echoing through the makeshift hallways he created using Mongul's body. Gritting my teeth and ignoring my growing lightheadedness, I threw myself into the room that the two were fighting in.
Broly was hammering Mongul into a wall, each punch devastating… I threw myself forward, Vegeta right next to me. We closed the distance in a split second and as one, we each punched Mongul. The wall gave out, and it was only then that I realized that it was the outer shell of the planet because the room began to ventilate a second later.
There was an expression of momentary panic on Mongul's face before he was sucked into the vacuum of space. I could barely fight the wind that nearly dragged me out with him, yet Broly went limp not a second later. With my hands either missing or coated in metal, I was forced to bite his tail to stop him from following Mongul into space. Neither of them had a breathing apparatus, so it would mean death for them.
While I stopped Broly from being spaced, Vegeta stopped both of us… only to be in turn saved by Shayera. The wind was powerful -- the tunnels weren't sealing themselves off, so it was as if the planet was a soda can with the top popped. The openings tore open wider as the pressure built, but Shayera pulled the three of us back. Once Broly had cleared a door, she slammed a fist onto a button and all of a sudden, the roaring wind vanished.
I nearly collapsed in a heap. Broly's tail fell from my mouth as I leaned against a wall while Vegeta stood proudly. The three of us looked down at Broly, who seemed to be unconscious -- a burst of power in response to being attacked? I couldn't tell. I guess it didn't matter.
"Is he dead?" Shayera asked, and I shook my head. I could feel his presence-
Then it was gone. Vanished. The suddenness of it didn't feel like death. It felt like he suddenly wasn't in my range anymore, but that couldn't be possible unless he had crossed hundreds of miles in a few seconds. Which should be impossible at the speeds he had been moving.
"He's gone," I answered roughly. Now that the fight had ended, it felt like whatever strength that I had mustered was bleeding away from me.
Vegeta grunted, "Then I'm done here," he informed curtly, sparing me a glance before he turned away. I looked at him for a moment, wanting to say a lot of things to him, but…
"Thank you," I told him as I slid down the wall, trying to stem the bleeding of my arm with a metal fist and my leg. Wrapping my tail around what was left of my forearm and squeezing helped some, though. Vegeta glanced at me, lingering. "For coming when I asked."
He tsked at that, "It was the first time you've ever asked me for help," he answered. Was it…? I think it was. "You should let go of the Wrath State and power down. It'll help with your injuries."
To that, I blinked. The pain of the Wrath State was internalized after so many years. It wasn't so much that it was manageable, but… in a fight, it was easy to let the pain become background noise. I still felt that pain, though. Even though my grip on the Wrath State had been released. I shouldn't have it active at all, yet the pain felt like I was still in Stage Ten.
"I…" I frowned, wondering what was going on. "I can't," I told him. Leaving the Wrath State was a passive thing -- you just stopped pulling at that well of power, and it would sink down to leave you in your base state. Except… before the string broke, the oozaru power… got stuck in the well, so to speak. And I had no clue how to push it down. "I can't turn it off."
Vegeta gave me a wide-eyed look. That was fair. I did invent the technique, so I should in theory know everything about it. I thought I did until I found myself stuck in Stage Ten. Shaking my head, I was forced to shove the problem to the side. "I'll deal with it later-"
"You said you can't use ki," Vegeta interjected, his tone severe. "Is that permanent? Damnit Tarble, did you just cripple yourself?!" He snapped at me, taking two long steps towards me before crouching next to me. Shayera stilled, edging towards Broly. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the fact she had Bah's ear rolled up under one arm.
I didn't know how to answer. The back of my head thumped against the wall, "I don't know," I answered honestly. "I can't tell if I'm just exhausted… but my ki feels heavy." Comparing it to now, my ki had been silky smooth, and light. Now it was… molasses and tar. Sludge. Heavy and dense… "It… it feels like it does in the oozaru transformation."
That was bad. That was so damn bad.
I had spent a decade fine tunning my ki control. Mastering it to make it do whatever I wanted it to so that I would only be limited by my imagination. All of that was undone. The metaphorical monkey was stuck in the metaphorical well. This… this was so catastrophically bad that I had never even considered it a possibility.
Vegeta's expression harshened at the news, "You won't be able to perform any techniques like that." That was the issue. My laundry list of techniques, some I had mastered and others I was developing… every single one of them was no longer available to me. Not unless I fixed this problem.
But I didn't know how. Maybe… maybe if the string was still attached, if I hadn't broken it, I could shove the power back down. But I had. The string snapped and I was stuck like this. I had crippled myself.
"We have more pressing things to deal with," I stated, swallowing that unfamiliar pang of fear. It was… I don't even know how to describe it. I was missing an arm at the moment, but the loss of my ki felt more crippling. "Broly… Lord Frieza can't find out about Broly."
I turned to look at Broly and Shayera. The former was still asleep, his chest softly rising and falling against the ear that Shayera had placed over him like a blanket. "He's gotten too powerful. If he goes out of control then we can't stop him."
"He's not strong enough to defeat Frieza yet," Vegeta agreed, making Shayera look between the two of us. "Sending him after the Cold family would just be a waste."
"We need to…" My head felt incredibly light for a second, but I pushed the dizziness to the side. "We need to hide his involvement. Broly… didn't have a scouter on when I found him. And Scouters just record power levels…" My head felt full of cotton. "One of us needs to take credit for… Mongul… and Broly…"
I looked over at Broly, the sight completely at odds to the person that had fought mere minutes ago. A memory of just before I left Thanagar surfaced. Of him standing in a field, surrounded by bodies, staring down at the blood on his hands with an expression that could only be described as regret. And my regret had matched his.
He was just too strong. Too strong for me to not use. To not place in such an important role. I fed him false hope about not having to kill anyone, then I put him in a situation where the stakes were just too high to not kill. That was my regret.
My head rolled to the side, and I only realized that Vegeta had made another Medicine Ball when I was nearly blinded by looking right at it. I… I… I would do that again. To Broly. Especially now that he was so much stronger, I had crippled myself and I saw just how big the ocean really was. I saw first hand that there were those in Frieza's weight class. I knew that was true, but I hadn't believed it until…
"Shayera," I turned to the Thangarian. The woman who was motivated solely by protecting Broly. She looked up at me, her expression guarded. "Take Broly… and bring him… " somewhere peaceful. "To earth," I finished. Shayera flinched back while Vegeta frowned. "He'll be out of sight there."
Vegeta offered a slow nod, "We say that he died trying to fight Mongul on his own. We killed him, while Broly stays on some out of the way planet." He agreed with the plan. That was good. And worrying. I couldn't say that I knew Vegeta well anymore, but he was never the type to agree so easily. Meaning he wasn't arguing because he knew I didn't have anything left in me to argue.
Shayera looked between us for a moment, "Thank you. You're doing the right thing," She told us, sliding her hands underneath Broly's legs and shoulders to pick him up. She didn't try to talk us out of the decision. The exact opposite, really. She looked like she was about to flee before we had the chance to change our minds. Next to where she had knelt were the rest of my capsules.
I looked up at Broly, sorely wishing that he was awake so I could explain everything to him… "When he wakes up, tell him I'll see him again," I told her. Shayera met my gaze and offered a curt nod.
"I shall. It… it might not mean much, but it was an honor serving you Prince Tarble," Shayera told me, and her tone told me that the words were true. I offered a shallow nod and with that, Shayera began to leave. I watched her go, wondering what Broly's reaction would be. But this was necessary. This was the smartest option I had. Now the focus would be on me and Vegeta, rather than Broly. Both of us were used to Lord Frieza's attention and all that it entailed.
I let out a quiet sigh as she rounded a corner. I could still feel their presences though, so it wouldn't likely hit me until they were both truly gone. Instead, I turned to Vegeta.
"We have to fix you," Vegeta stated. "When I surpass you, it will be because I'm better than you. I refuse to accept a triumph on a technicality."
The edges of my lips quirked up at that as my eyelids grew so very heavy.
A single thought was running through my head as the last of my strength ebbed away from me.
It was damn good to see my brother again.
...
This arc ballooned more than I thought it would, but I think it's probably my favorite arc so far. The next arc is the arc that brings the war to a close. Honestly never thought I'd see the day sometimes.
Also, in more good news, I'm starting a new story on Thursday. I've been wanting to add a fourth story to my roster for some time now -- tried the quest, but getting instant feedback for a chapter you didn't write like a month ago is very addicting, so I had to put an end to it. This time I decided on building up a backlog of 20 chapters and a bi-weekly release schedule at the start. I thought it would take me a month or two, but I somehow managed to write about 100k words for the story in the span of about two weeks. Don't ask me how. I don't know either.
The story is called A Hard Knock Life (Worm/Cyberpunk 2077) -- A Worm Cyberpunk fusion where the events of Worm take place in the world of Cyberpunk with a few changes due to the fact Cyberpunk is a very different setting than Worm, which takes place in the year 2012. The main protagonist is V, a 17-year-old nobody with dreams of being a Legend in Night City and the story starts with his first job as a mercenary. If you want more information, I'll include a brief summary down below -- but I will say I'm pretty excited for the story. I've been wanting to write a Worm story for a while now and it and Cyberpunk are settings that get along like fire and gas.
The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!
They clashed in the middle of Mongul coming to me. A wordless roar ripped itself from Vegeta's throat as he threw a punch that Mongul effortlessly blocked. Yet the Warlord was pushed back underneath a barrage of fists and kicks. Shayera took that moment to take the capsules from my belt and fly off to the left while I went to the right. I had quite a few, but it was obvious which one she would need to use. I just had to give her time to use it.
With that thought in mind, I leaped to the right, the ground warping underneath my foot when I slammed it down to pivot. Mongul looked at me out of the corner of an eye, and he paid for it with a punch by Vegeta to the face. He wasn't flung back, and that told me that Mongul had regained his ability to fly. Meaning that Vegeta felt the worst of the blow. My lips thinned as I threw myself at the alien, my body hiding surprising strength from me.
I raced forward in a blur, and Mongul shifted to face me. A hand lunged for me, intent on engulfing my skull to crush it like an egg. Without my ability to fly, I couldn't dodge on a dime anymore. Gritting my teeth, I slammed a fist into the palm of his hand -- the recently healed bones were still full of fractures I found when I felt one snap under the force of my own punch. But, despite the considerable difference in power, I managed to knock Mongul's hand away.
All the while, Vegeta went high. Fists rained down on Mongul, each one hurting Vegeta more than Mongul, but we were splitting his attention. Using the momentary shock, I seized the opportunity to punch Mongul in the knee, hoping to kneecap him. I heard the Warlord make a sound of annoyance rather than pain. Every instinct I had screamed at me to back off, so I threw myself back. At that same moment, I only just barely avoided a hand swipe that would have killed me and painted the walls with what was left.
Vegeta wasn't so lucky. A hand darted out, grabbing his leg, and I heard bone crunch in Mongul's grip before I threw myself back at Mongul. Vegeta wasn't so weak that he would let a crushed leg give him any pause, and he proved it. Violent red ki formed in his hands, a rapid-fire Galick Gun. The same moment as the ki washed over Mongul, blocking his vision, I jumped up and slammed a fist into the bottom of his elbow. It was impossible to tell if the action hurt him any, but Vegeta was able to slip out of his grasp without having to tear anything off.
I only realized it had been a trap when I felt something slam into me. At first, I thought it was a fist from Mongul, but the fact that I was still alive convinced me that couldn't be the case. Before I was sent flying off, I saw Vegeta had kicked me in the ribs. At that same second, a fist did lash out where I had been, narrowly avoiding me. His expression was twisted into a scowl, but with that action both of us managed to survive another second in the fight against Mongul.
"How dare you get involved in my fight!" Vegeta snapped at me, and I couldn't tell if he actually meant the words or he was just trying to buy time for me to get control over myself. I felt a pull when I shot away, my ribs aching, and it was enough for me to right myself and touch down on the ground instead of flying through a wall.
Glancing down at my hands -- I guess between them and my necklace, I had enough Nth Metal to fly a bit. I hadn't realized how much I used the action until I suddenly found myself without the ability.
Mongul watched both of us with care, his back turned to Broly and Shayera, but I couldn't believe he was ignorant of what was happening. In the brief exchange, Shayera had managed to free Broly and now she was putting him in my healing tank, which served as my bed. Unlike the Medicine Ball, a healing pod would restore his energy rather than healing at the cost of his stamina. Broly needed time. Even unconscious, I could feel his presence.
If he could heal and get another shot at Mongul, then he could win this time.
"You aren't going to win on your own," I answered, eyeing Mongul. The thing on his chest looked partially destroyed, but his headband looked untouched. I guess I had to hit it harder to destroy it. I was tempted to go for his flying device again, but if he cranked up the gravity like he had earlier… "He's toying with us, Vegeta. He hasn't taken us seriously at all."
If he had, then he would simply crank the gravity up to a thousand times the galactic standard. Shayera would be crushed to death. Vegeta and I would likely die of suffocation because we wouldn't have the strength to even take in a breath. Broly might live, and considering he had been in a cage, that was also something that Mongul wanted. All he had to do was turn that knob with a thought and victory was his.
"Neither of you are worthy of being taken seriously," Mongul responded, proving as much. To that, Vegeta snarled as the air in the room shifted as he ramped up with power. His presence swelled, enough so I was caught off guard.
"I'll make you eat those words!" Vegeta roared before he threw himself back at Mongul. I had hoped to distract him for a little longer, but if we were doing it now then we were doing it now. Digging my foot into the ground, I used it as a springboard to launch myself at Mongul's back while Vegeta took the front. A ki attack was launched at Mongul, only for the sizable alien to deftly dodge it. Then forcing me to do the same.
With my momentum lost, Mongul seemed to appear before me. I had just enough time to hear Vegeta howl with rage before I was forced to act. His hands were clasped behind his back, leaving himself wide open -- he thought I would go for his chest again, but I wanted to go for his head piece. Only I did neither and chose to go low, aiming for his knees.
One of them moved in a blur, yet slowed down right at the time of impact to kick me in the stomach. My own momentum worked against me as I felt his foot nearly touch my spine, but his momentum had enough force behind it that I was sent flying away. I could barely control where I went, but I managed to crash myself into the ground. Coughing up blood, my organs felt like they had been pulverized.
Vegeta threw himself at Mongul, almost like a mad dog, but it was for show. Countless ki blasts washed over Mongul, leaving him no room to dodge, but one of them was a Medicine Ball that sailed right to me. My stamina was already shot, and whatever healing it could offer probably did more damage to me than the actual kick.
Even still, I pushed myself back to my feet. I could feel my strength draining from me, ebbing away. There wasn't anything I could do about it. I had just pushed myself too hard for too long, but I still had to push a little more. Broly needed every second that we could give him and I could only hope that Mongul's arrogance would be his downfall.
Taking in a slow breath, I launched myself at Mongul. Ki blasts raced by me as Vegeta distracted him, but it was just not enough. They seemed to wash over Mongul, like water, so my approach didn't go unnoticed. Mongul shifted as I neared, lashing out with a hand that gripped down on the fist I meant to punch him with. I had just enough time to see him smirk before he threw me in Vegeta's direction. The stream of ki blasts came to an abrupt end when I slammed into his stomach.
Both of us crashed into a wall before Vegeta roughly pushed me off, "What is wrong with your flying?" He demanded as both of us got to our feet, though one of us had a great deal more difficulty than the other. And it wasn't Vegeta.
"I pushed myself too hard with that blast earlier. I think… I can't use ki right now," I answered, swallowing my initial words. I didn't even want to consider the possibility that what I did to myself could be permanent. Even if it was, my life could be coming to an abrupt end soon if we didn't find a way to win this.
That, however, gave Mongul pause. "That was you?" He questioned, sounding like he didin't believe it. I didn't bother responding in favor of gathering my strength. Broly wasn't the only one that needed a dip in it because I felt myself flagging. "I had assumed that it was a defensive platform that my drones had missed. This is a surprise. With your disgraceful showing, I didn't think you had that in you."
"You talk too much," Vegeta snapped at him. I could see a vein bulging in his neck, but when he glanced at me, his gaze lingered on my hands. As much pride as he had, he realized that we were both outmatched. When his gaze flickered up to meet mine, both of our eyes blazing yellow, my gaze slid over to Shayera. She watched the fight, her expression a mix of awe and grim resolve. He got my message.
On an unseen signal, both of us launched ourselves at Mongul. I stuck with low while Vegeta remained high -- a ki blast slammed into the ground to offer us some cover as we neared. I don't think it mattered much, but it allowed Vegeta to go wide and steal Shayera's mace. I pivoted, intent on attacking the back of Mongul's leg. He let the action happen, distracted by Vegeta. My fist slammed into the back of his knee and I felt every bone in my arm quake at the force I delivered.
It was enough to drive Mongul to a knee, and at that same moment, Vegeta reappeared, his own fists coated in molten Nth Metal. He probably should have just stuck with the mace, but now wasn't the time to complain. My older brother fell on Mongul, and I felt something change in the fight. I darted up, going for Mongul's head, but an elbow to the ribs, a backhanded attack, was enough to send me flying across the room.
I slammed into a wall, every rib feeling like it was shattered. A low groan escaped me as I fell to the floor, and it was only then that I noticed that I had impacted near Broly and Shayera. That, I realized when I felt my tail start to burn when the tip had fallen into a puddle of molten Nth Metal. Shayera looked at me, her lips pressed into a thin line. I could see the fight in her eyes, but she knew that this fight was beyond her even with her mace. After all, it was beyond me and Vegeta.
Shaking my head, I spent a lingering look on Broly to see him floating in green healing fluid. Having spent so much time in them, his vitals were easy to read on the healing pod's medical display. There weren't words to describe the relief I felt when I saw that Broly healed as quickly as his strength grew. He just needed more time.
With that thought in mind, I threw myself back into the fight. My body was so far gone, it couldn't even muster the ability to scream for me to stay down. I moved in a blur, intent on giving Broly whatever time he needed. As I neared, Mongul lashed out with a fist that caught Vegeta in the chest, knocking him away while I closed in. Instead of backhanded gestures and swipes, he was making fists.
He saw us as a threat now. That thought was confirmed when our fists slammed into each other. My arm gave out -- bones snapped and blood shot out, my veins rupturing from the pressure. Blood rained down on my face, getting into my eyes, but I pushed back against the oversized fist with all my might. And all I managed to do was make a bruise. If that. The Nth Metal wasn't cutting it. It was a great equalizer, but I just wasn't capable of hitting him hard enough to make up for the difference in strength.
Vegeta launched himself at Mongul before he could counter. I shifted, tightening my muscles in my busted arm, and put myself on the opposite side of Vegeta, intent on dividing Mongul's attention. My brother and I, we moved in seamless harmony. I attacked at Mongul's legs while Vegeta used his mobility to dart around and attack when Mongul's attention faltered.
The chest piece started to glow, warning us that we were pushing our luck. Both of us dodged out of the way of a red beam that cut through the air. My heart leaped to my throat when I realized that the red beam was going to slam into the healing pod. It smashed through the transparent viewport and exploded. The liquid evaporated, billowing out in a cloud of steam-
"MONGUL!" I heard a familiar voice rage, and I couldn't fight the smirk off of my face. Mongul's expression shifted, looking up before a green blur slammed into him. Where as Vegeta and I, at best, could be called annoying bugs, Broly slammed into Mongul like a wall. The Warlord shot back and it felt like I had been hit in the face with a clap of thunder. In Mongul's place Broly floated.
He tore off Bah's ear, veins bulging in his neck and arms. It almost hurt to stand next to him, his presence was so powerful. He didn't even look at either of us, only having eyes for Mongul, who pulled himself out of a hole in the wall. A glance at Vegeta showed me that he was in awe, and that that fact seemed to piss him off to no end.
"Go for his chest and head," I told Vegeta, knowing that we had to take those two advantages out of the fight. Broly unleashed a roar of rage that I was going to take as a confirmation, before he flew off to clash against Mongul. There was no comparing it to our fight, even when we fought tooth and nail. The two of them moved in blurs, and each time Broly struck a blow, it was clear that Mongul felt it. The sight of them fighting was daunting, just not enough to stop either of us. Mongul had to be defeated, here and now.
I threw myself into the fray, going for Mongul's knees at first. This time, Mongul was completely distracted by Broly, so I could attack at my leisure. A fist slammed into the side of his leg, knocking it out of position enough that Broly could slam a fist into his face. Mongul released a snarl as he lashed out at Broly, catching an attack before he punched the boy in the stomach. I darted up, attacking his joints, making myself a distraction.
Vegeta fell into the fray as well. When Mongul went to swat me away like the annoyance I was, he was there to draw attention to himself. And when Mongul focused on him, Broly had recovered enough to deliver devastating blows that the two of us opened the path for. Broly had lost himself -- there was no form or anything resembling it in his attack. He just threw himself at Mongul with ever growing strength.
I felt the flow of battle in a way that I hadn't in a very long time. Each movement was precise, and one wrong move could mean death. The three of us worked in perfect unison, leading the way for Broly to deliver powerful attacks, but Mongul wasn't one to take a beating lying down.
"Enough!" He snapped as I hammered my fists against where his kidneys should be. He lashed out at Broly, slamming a fist into him that shot him away before the chest piece began to glow again. Vegeta reacted before I could, and punched it. The energy built up caused an explosion -- heat and fire washed over me, but I paid it no mind as I flew up to destroy his headpiece. Mongul must have already had me in his sights because a hand wrapped itself around my fist before I could.
I acted on instinct. If he got a hold of me, then I was dead. I twisted my body, bracing my feet against his arm while I lashed out with my tail. An old tactic that I had tried and failed with the Saibamen so very long ago. Only then my tail hadn't been coated with Nth metal. The tip hit Mongul in the eye, making him cry out in pain -- I was rather proud of that. But his grip on my arm didn't lessen, so I had no choice.
With a shout, I pushed against his arm with my legs. The bones in the arm were already broken, so it was only flesh that offered any resistance when I tore my arm off just below the elbow. Blood spurted from the wound as I freed myself. That, it would seem, Mongul didn't expect. Twisting in the air, with the only arm I had left, I took my shot at his headpiece. My Nth metal coated fist slammed against it, and this time there was a reaction. Sparks flew as Mongul jerked back.
"Ahhh!" He shouted, a hand going to his head as he grit his teeth. He glared at me with the eye that wasn't closed, baring his teeth in a snarl. There was anger in his gaze. We were hurting him. Good. "You Saiyans… I will give you this -- you are relentless."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I told Mongul as the others recovered. Broly tackled Mongul like a speeding bullet. The two of them flew off, tearing through the wall. I took a step forward, only to stumble and nearly fell on my face. Glancing down at my arms… I still had one arm left. I wasn't dead yet. I had to see this fight through, until the very end… because it was just the start of the challenges ahead.
Vegeta led the way as we gave chase to the two. It was easy enough to track them -- without his ability to fly, Mongul was at the mercy of whichever direction Broly threw him. I heard a shout from Broly ring out, echoing through the makeshift hallways he created using Mongul's body. Gritting my teeth and ignoring my growing lightheadedness, I threw myself into the room that the two were fighting in.
Broly was hammering Mongul into a wall, each punch devastating… I threw myself forward, Vegeta right next to me. We closed the distance in a split second and as one, we each punched Mongul. The wall gave out, and it was only then that I realized that it was the outer shell of the planet because the room began to ventilate a second later.
There was an expression of momentary panic on Mongul's face before he was sucked into the vacuum of space. I could barely fight the wind that nearly dragged me out with him, yet Broly went limp not a second later. With my hands either missing or coated in metal, I was forced to bite his tail to stop him from following Mongul into space. Neither of them had a breathing apparatus, so it would mean death for them.
While I stopped Broly from being spaced, Vegeta stopped both of us… only to be in turn saved by Shayera. The wind was powerful -- the tunnels weren't sealing themselves off, so it was as if the planet was a soda can with the top popped. The openings tore open wider as the pressure built, but Shayera pulled the three of us back. Once Broly had cleared a door, she slammed a fist onto a button and all of a sudden, the roaring wind vanished.
I nearly collapsed in a heap. Broly's tail fell from my mouth as I leaned against a wall while Vegeta stood proudly. The three of us looked down at Broly, who seemed to be unconscious -- a burst of power in response to being attacked? I couldn't tell. I guess it didn't matter.
"Is he dead?" Shayera asked, and I shook my head. I could feel his presence-
Then it was gone. Vanished. The suddenness of it didn't feel like death. It felt like he suddenly wasn't in my range anymore, but that couldn't be possible unless he had crossed hundreds of miles in a few seconds. Which should be impossible at the speeds he had been moving.
"He's gone," I answered roughly. Now that the fight had ended, it felt like whatever strength that I had mustered was bleeding away from me.
Vegeta grunted, "Then I'm done here," he informed curtly, sparing me a glance before he turned away. I looked at him for a moment, wanting to say a lot of things to him, but…
"Thank you," I told him as I slid down the wall, trying to stem the bleeding of my arm with a metal fist and my leg. Wrapping my tail around what was left of my forearm and squeezing helped some, though. Vegeta glanced at me, lingering. "For coming when I asked."
He tsked at that, "It was the first time you've ever asked me for help," he answered. Was it…? I think it was. "You should let go of the Wrath State and power down. It'll help with your injuries."
To that, I blinked. The pain of the Wrath State was internalized after so many years. It wasn't so much that it was manageable, but… in a fight, it was easy to let the pain become background noise. I still felt that pain, though. Even though my grip on the Wrath State had been released. I shouldn't have it active at all, yet the pain felt like I was still in Stage Ten.
"I…" I frowned, wondering what was going on. "I can't," I told him. Leaving the Wrath State was a passive thing -- you just stopped pulling at that well of power, and it would sink down to leave you in your base state. Except… before the string broke, the oozaru power… got stuck in the well, so to speak. And I had no clue how to push it down. "I can't turn it off."
Vegeta gave me a wide-eyed look. That was fair. I did invent the technique, so I should in theory know everything about it. I thought I did until I found myself stuck in Stage Ten. Shaking my head, I was forced to shove the problem to the side. "I'll deal with it later-"
"You said you can't use ki," Vegeta interjected, his tone severe. "Is that permanent? Damnit Tarble, did you just cripple yourself?!" He snapped at me, taking two long steps towards me before crouching next to me. Shayera stilled, edging towards Broly. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the fact she had Bah's ear rolled up under one arm.
I didn't know how to answer. The back of my head thumped against the wall, "I don't know," I answered honestly. "I can't tell if I'm just exhausted… but my ki feels heavy." Comparing it to now, my ki had been silky smooth, and light. Now it was… molasses and tar. Sludge. Heavy and dense… "It… it feels like it does in the oozaru transformation."
That was bad. That was so damn bad.
I had spent a decade fine tunning my ki control. Mastering it to make it do whatever I wanted it to so that I would only be limited by my imagination. All of that was undone. The metaphorical monkey was stuck in the metaphorical well. This… this was so catastrophically bad that I had never even considered it a possibility.
Vegeta's expression harshened at the news, "You won't be able to perform any techniques like that." That was the issue. My laundry list of techniques, some I had mastered and others I was developing… every single one of them was no longer available to me. Not unless I fixed this problem.
But I didn't know how. Maybe… maybe if the string was still attached, if I hadn't broken it, I could shove the power back down. But I had. The string snapped and I was stuck like this. I had crippled myself.
"We have more pressing things to deal with," I stated, swallowing that unfamiliar pang of fear. It was… I don't even know how to describe it. I was missing an arm at the moment, but the loss of my ki felt more crippling. "Broly… Lord Frieza can't find out about Broly."
I turned to look at Broly and Shayera. The former was still asleep, his chest softly rising and falling against the ear that Shayera had placed over him like a blanket. "He's gotten too powerful. If he goes out of control then we can't stop him."
"He's not strong enough to defeat Frieza yet," Vegeta agreed, making Shayera look between the two of us. "Sending him after the Cold family would just be a waste."
"We need to…" My head felt incredibly light for a second, but I pushed the dizziness to the side. "We need to hide his involvement. Broly… didn't have a scouter on when I found him. And Scouters just record power levels…" My head felt full of cotton. "One of us needs to take credit for… Mongul… and Broly…"
I looked over at Broly, the sight completely at odds to the person that had fought mere minutes ago. A memory of just before I left Thanagar surfaced. Of him standing in a field, surrounded by bodies, staring down at the blood on his hands with an expression that could only be described as regret. And my regret had matched his.
He was just too strong. Too strong for me to not use. To not place in such an important role. I fed him false hope about not having to kill anyone, then I put him in a situation where the stakes were just too high to not kill. That was my regret.
My head rolled to the side, and I only realized that Vegeta had made another Medicine Ball when I was nearly blinded by looking right at it. I… I… I would do that again. To Broly. Especially now that he was so much stronger, I had crippled myself and I saw just how big the ocean really was. I saw first hand that there were those in Frieza's weight class. I knew that was true, but I hadn't believed it until…
"Shayera," I turned to the Thangarian. The woman who was motivated solely by protecting Broly. She looked up at me, her expression guarded. "Take Broly… and bring him… " somewhere peaceful. "To earth," I finished. Shayera flinched back while Vegeta frowned. "He'll be out of sight there."
Vegeta offered a slow nod, "We say that he died trying to fight Mongul on his own. We killed him, while Broly stays on some out of the way planet." He agreed with the plan. That was good. And worrying. I couldn't say that I knew Vegeta well anymore, but he was never the type to agree so easily. Meaning he wasn't arguing because he knew I didn't have anything left in me to argue.
Shayera looked between us for a moment, "Thank you. You're doing the right thing," She told us, sliding her hands underneath Broly's legs and shoulders to pick him up. She didn't try to talk us out of the decision. The exact opposite, really. She looked like she was about to flee before we had the chance to change our minds. Next to where she had knelt were the rest of my capsules.
I looked up at Broly, sorely wishing that he was awake so I could explain everything to him… "When he wakes up, tell him I'll see him again," I told her. Shayera met my gaze and offered a curt nod.
"I shall. It… it might not mean much, but it was an honor serving you Prince Tarble," Shayera told me, and her tone told me that the words were true. I offered a shallow nod and with that, Shayera began to leave. I watched her go, wondering what Broly's reaction would be. But this was necessary. This was the smartest option I had. Now the focus would be on me and Vegeta, rather than Broly. Both of us were used to Lord Frieza's attention and all that it entailed.
I let out a quiet sigh as she rounded a corner. I could still feel their presences though, so it wouldn't likely hit me until they were both truly gone. Instead, I turned to Vegeta.
"We have to fix you," Vegeta stated. "When I surpass you, it will be because I'm better than you. I refuse to accept a triumph on a technicality."
The edges of my lips quirked up at that as my eyelids grew so very heavy.
A single thought was running through my head as the last of my strength ebbed away from me.
It was damn good to see my brother again.
...
This arc ballooned more than I thought it would, but I think it's probably my favorite arc so far. The next arc is the arc that brings the war to a close. Honestly never thought I'd see the day sometimes.
Also, in more good news, I'm starting a new story on Thursday. I've been wanting to add a fourth story to my roster for some time now -- tried the quest, but getting instant feedback for a chapter you didn't write like a month ago is very addicting, so I had to put an end to it. This time I decided on building up a backlog of 20 chapters and a bi-weekly release schedule at the start. I thought it would take me a month or two, but I somehow managed to write about 100k words for the story in the span of about two weeks. Don't ask me how. I don't know either.
The story is called A Hard Knock Life (Worm/Cyberpunk 2077) -- A Worm Cyberpunk fusion where the events of Worm take place in the world of Cyberpunk with a few changes due to the fact Cyberpunk is a very different setting than Worm, which takes place in the year 2012. The main protagonist is V, a 17-year-old nobody with dreams of being a Legend in Night City and the story starts with his first job as a mercenary. If you want more information, I'll include a brief summary down below -- but I will say I'm pretty excited for the story. I've been wanting to write a Worm story for a while now and it and Cyberpunk are settings that get along like fire and gas.
There are no heroes in Night City, no matter what the adverts might say. There can't be. If you're a cape in Night City, you either belong to a gang or a corporation, or you're dead. Or you wish that you were. With a legion of capes at their beck and call, the corporations and gangs are stronger than they ever had been before.
For all of V's life, he wanted to be someone in Night City. A Legend. For that reason, he becomes a mercenary and after a disastrous first job, V finds himself butting heads against the best and the worst the city has to offer. The road to becoming a Legend in Night city is a bumpy one, but V is determined to walk it to its end. And if he dies along the way? Chewed up by the city that had defeated so many before him? Then, at the very least, he'd make sure that the city choked on his corpse.
For all of V's life, he wanted to be someone in Night City. A Legend. For that reason, he becomes a mercenary and after a disastrous first job, V finds himself butting heads against the best and the worst the city has to offer. The road to becoming a Legend in Night city is a bumpy one, but V is determined to walk it to its end. And if he dies along the way? Chewed up by the city that had defeated so many before him? Then, at the very least, he'd make sure that the city choked on his corpse.
The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Huh. So his Ki is still there, and not leaking out of him. It's just inaccessible? He has 1 arm (covered in Nth metal), and a tail whose tip is covered in Nth metal. His entire body is broken, and there's no indication if he's gonna get a Saiyan boost this time. But at least his healing pod is ready and accessible!
Also, Broly joins The Team? Not sure if Shayera would have Broly learn about super-heroing (rather than war) but if she does, that's gonna be interesting. there's basically nothing on earth right now that can cause a limit break in Broly. But he does gain power every day just from living so...
Also, Broly joins The Team? Not sure if Shayera would have Broly learn about super-heroing (rather than war) but if she does, that's gonna be interesting. there's basically nothing on earth right now that can cause a limit break in Broly. But he does gain power every day just from living so...
Depending on who's writing the comic there are a few people who could push Broly around. Superman could maybe do it, but wouldn't. There are also a few cosmic scale entities who hang around earth as well.
But the biggest way Earth will strengthen Broly is his conviction. He will form the connections he needs to have something to defend.
And he's going to get a power boost from almost dying.
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Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Losing an arm ain't no thing; even in DBZ canon the PTO could replace missing limbs as they did for Frieza after Namek. Only question is if they replace it with a mechanical prosthesis or cloned tissue.