Dragonball Super Z http://hometown.aol.com/juuhachigouda/dbszfic.html By: Juuhachi-gou and MiraiBulma Dragonball Z Freshmen: Part Four "We Were Merely Freshmen" I can't be held responsible 'Cause she was touching her face I won't be held responsible She fell in love in the first place For the life of me I cannot remember What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins We were merely freshmen... --Verve Pipe, "The Freshman" ~*~ The flight deck was dimly lit, full of shadows, the flashing of telltales and the glowing text of readouts the only bright points in the gloom. The figure seated in the center of the circular chamber glowed like a ghost in twilight. Voices came from the shadows around her, muted, hushed, respectful. She sat with her eyes closed, making no motion or sound. "Aisuzu-sama?" Cold, pale eyes snapped open in a dead white face. The frozen- steel gaze tracked over to the one who had dared to speak. "Yes, Byatcha?" The first speaker bowed respectfully from her station. She was rail-thin, even gaunt, with stringy black hair and wide, hollow eyes. Like all the others on the flight deck, except for Aisuzu herself, she wore standard armor that looked ridiculously solid on her skeletal frame. "We are approaching Earth orbit, Aisuzu-sama. You asked to be informed." "Thank you, Byatcha." Aisuzu rose from her command chair, her long tail uncoiling behind her. She walked forward, aware of the furtive eyes watching her every movement, and smiled despite herself. "Put it on the screen," she commanded, knowing she would be instantly obeyed. The forward viewport flashed instantly to life, showing a blue- green world wreathed by clouds against a backdrop of star-scattered space. Aisuzu smiled. Such a pretty little world. Pity it had to die. "Readings, Hora?" A ponderous, bulky figure rose and bowed from the nonexistent waist in her commander's direction. "Scans confirm the presence of life on the surface, Aisuzu-sama. There have also been occasional flashes of high power readings." "Those androids that we thought would have destroyed this dirtball by now," a gravelly voice from the back interrupted. "Hush, Surato," Aisuzu admonished gently. "Do you read the mechs down there, Hora?" "It's hard to get a clear reading on anything," Hora confessed. "There's been some kind of recent spatial disturbance down there that's playing with our scans." Aisuzu arched a black eyebrow. "Disturbance? Of what sort?" "The readings are hard to decipher, Aisuzu-sama, but from what I can determine, there was some sort of temporary spatial displacement." "If I may, Aisuzu-sama?" Byatcha murmured politely. "Of course," their leader said at once. The gaunt figure nodded acknowledgement. "We know from our last visit here that someone on the planet was experimenting with time travel--primitive, doubtless ultimately futile, but surprisingly advanced for the tech level of this civilization. It could be possible that, like the inhabitants of Rellus IV, their experimentation has created a disturbance in timespace so severe that it has destabilized their reality matrix." Aisuzu grunted. She pondered for a moment The unspoken warning in Byatcha's explanation hadn't escaped her. If they were dirtside, even in orbit, when Earth suddenly decided to pull a temporal fade, they'd all be sucked into whatever alternative world--or formless void--the planet vanished to. She'd visited this world ten standard cycles before, seeking rather belated vengeance for the wholesale slaughter of her family, only to find it a barren, tortured wasteland ravaged by a pair of humanoid constructs. She'd watched the fun for a while from high orbit, then the troubles on Rovillus had cropped up, demanding her immediate attention. If the planet were going to destroy itself--one way or another--there seemed no point in wasting her own time and resources helping it along. Still, she'd come back to this world where her father and her younger brothers had died, just to make sure...and it seemed the cursed dirtball was recovering itself. "There are life readings down there?" she asked the air, studying the image of Earth on the screen. "Yes, Aisuzu-sama," Hora confirmed. "The place is sparsely populated, but there is evidence of recent reconstruction, and at the moment I detect no high levels of combat or conflict of any sort." "So either the cyborgs got bored with wholesale destruction and settled down to a life of tranquil reflection, or someone down there managed to stop their rampage. Interesting." Aisuzu turned to face her crew, her face wearing a gentle smile. "Proceed." ~*~ The blue-white force beam smashed down from a cloudless sky, brighter than any lightning. The Tenka bowl was pierced through, shattering with the impact. Nothing remained alive on the mystical refuge as the beam continued on, vaporizing the tall ivory tower below and leaving a crater in the ground ten miles deep. Nothing could have survived such a strike. ~*~ "So much for Earth's guardian," Aisuzu murmured sweetly. "Not that he would have proved much of a threat, but one can't be too careful, eh, Byatcha?" "Just as you say, Aisuzu-sama." "Aisuzu-sama," Hora announced. "Something's approaching--higher power level than average, though still well below any threat to us." "A ship?" "No, a hominid. Possibly human, though it's hard to tell at this range. Flying." "Probably that boy we detected who was playing tag with the cyborgs last time we visited." The queen of a dying race nodded reflectively. "Well, we've announced our presence," she said. "Time to go meet and greet the welcoming committee." ~*~ Hora and Surato left the ship and took off in the direction of the approaching reading. In contrast to Hora's ponderous bulk, Surato was tall, willowy but without the painful thinness of Byatcha. "There it is," Surato said, indicating a figure hovering in midair. "Male, from the looks of it. Guess Aisuzu was right." "Mm." Hora shook her massive head. "I'm not so sure--that doesn't look like the boy we saw." "He grew up. It's been five years." "I don't think humans change that much when they mature." Surato checked her scouter. "Well, whoever it is, they're no threat. No power to speak of. I don't even know how he stays airborne with power that low." "Well, then, let's do the polite thing and ask." The figure didn't move as they approached. He hung in the air without moving, arms crossed, facing them without giving any sign of either greeting or warning. "Hey, look!" Hora laughed. "Well I'll be-- that looks like Vegeta!" "Who?" "Vegeta. That prince who was Furiiza's boytoy way back when. He's a Saiyajin." "I thought they were all dead." "Well, if it isn't him, it's his twin brother. Even the power- reading's the same--such as it is. Definitely Saiyajin, and I'll bet my last powerpoint that it's the Prince himself." "Fine. If he messes with us he'll be the smoking heap of ash formerly known as Prince." Surato picked up speed and flew to meet the stranger. Chuckling, Hora followed. "So it's true," Vegeta announced as the pair came within hearing range. "And I thought we'd finished with your lot back when Kuura died. Don't you ever learn?" "So you're Prince Vegeta," Hora said, coming to a stop with Surato beside her. "We've heard a lot about you. Thought you were dead." Vegeta smirked. "I got better." "Talk about not learning anything. I suppose you've come to tell us this is your planet and we're supposed to go running off with our tails between our legs and leave the Earth to you?" "Something like that. Of course, that could be crediting your leader with too much intelligence." "How dare you insult Aisuzu!" Surato bellowed, starting forward. Hora stopped her with a gesture. "Simmer down. He's baiting us, spoiling for a fight--more fool he." ~*~ "The poor flowers..." "They'll grow again, Mr. Popo." Dende sat, knees drawn up, on the flying carpet. "And surely, better only the flowers than the flowers and us." "That's very true, Kami." Mr. Popo looked over at the assembled Z Warriors, smiling. "Thank you so much for coming to warn us." "It's nothing, really," Juuhachi-gou said, looping her hair back behind one ear. "Once Marron told us Aisuzu was approaching, we guessed this version would try the same trick as the other one--destroy the Tenka, and Kami, first off, so that the Dragon Balls would be useless." "As it is," Gohan added, "they're so sure no one could possibly know they were coming, they didn't think to check for your ki signatures before they destroyed your palace." "Hm." Karin stroked his whiskers and snorted. "His palace and my tower, you mean." "Hai, Karin-san. We're sorry about that..." "Nahhh, it's okay." The white cat chucked. "When you hang out with a wild man like Gokou, you get used to his rowdy friends dropping in from time to time. Yajirobe's gonna be a little upset when he gets back, but he'll get over it once he figures out I'm still alive." "Yajirobe's still alive?" Gokou said. "For real?" "Yeah, sure. Hey, he actually worked up the courage to plan a strike on the Jinzouningen when you guys all got killed, but I talked him out of it. Guess he felt he owed ya something. I told him, yeah, yeah, you're a hot shot with a katana, but even if you get close enough to attack, you haven't got anything else to fall back on. Stay alive and if that kid of Vegeta's survives, we can always train him to use that sword of his. Speaking of which, where is Ol' Spikey?" Gokou blinked and looked around. So did everyone else. No Vegeta. Gokou's brow knit, then he hissed a breath between his teeth. "*Che* BaaaaaAAAAka! I bet he went off take on Aisuzu himself!" "N-nanda?" Trunks stammered. "But if she's as powerful as Marron says--" "Then we've got a problem," finished Gohan. "Tou-san, what--" he shielded his eyes as Gokou powered up and took off, the wind of his departure whipping the treetops like a hurricane. "I guess that answers what we do next." "Oniisan..." Goten swallowed, then his chin steadied. "We're going to go fight her now, right? Aisuzu?" "I don't guess we have much choice, Goten," Trunks answered, rising. "We knew we'd have to face her sooner or later-- my papa just took the decision about when out of our hands." "As long as you're here, I'm not worried." Goten flashed Trunks a "V-for-Victory" sign. "We'll show her a thing or two, ne? Deshou?" "Ummm... hai." From the corner of his eye Trunks caught Gohan looking at him and shrugged just the tiniest bit as they all took off after Gokou. Obviously some strong bond had existed between Goten and his Trunks, one the boy was transferring to him quite unconsciously. Trunks wasn't really sure what to do about it-- it didn't seem very kind, somehow, to constantly remind Goten and Bra and Marron that this wasn't their world. It was the only world they had, now, so might as well think of it as theirs too. But he just wasn't sure that he was ready for whatever closeness Goten was looking for in him. With no one but his mother and Gohan-san for company, and then not even Gohan... Trunks wasn't really uncomfortable around people, so much as uncomfortable when faced with someone that apparently knew him inside out, and possibly knew him better than he knew himself. *Almost like Papa, I suppose*, he thought, accelerating and slipping into Super Saiyajin, then dropping back a bit to round up Bra, who was falling behind. "Come on, Bu... imouto-chan," he said. "Get on my back, I'm a lot faster than you are." The little girl-- huge sword slung over her back-- looked down shyly. "Ne, onii, um, Trunks-san--" "None of that. Onii-san's perfectly all right." *Orphan of the storm... me too*, he thought, reaching out to tousle her hair. *We all are in a way. The rough edges will wear off soon, and a little encouragement won't hurt in the least*. "Come on, little bit." Bra's eyes flicked up to him, widening. "Little... bit...?" "Ah.. hai..." Trunks found himself wondering why he'd said that, but didn't wonder a second later when Bra wrapped her tiny arms around his waist and hugged him tight. "You always used to call me that," she sniffled against his lower chest. "Little bit of trouble, you said I was a little bit of trouble, but a little bit goes a long way..." "Well... it does. But it's going to get left behind if it doesn't hitch a ride." "Haiiii, oniisan!" Bra clambered onto his back and clung tight to his shoulders as Trunks took off again, catching up to the others. ~*~ "He put up a brave fight, Aisuzu-sama," Hora announced, dropping the battered body to the cold, hard flight deck at her commander's taloned feet. "But he was relatively easy to handle." "Mm." Aisuzu knelt and took hold of Vegeta's chin, raising his face to study it as if it were some rare artifact. "Furiiza always did like the pretty ones. And you helped kill him, you traitorous little devil." "Shut...Shut up..." Vegeta rasped hoarsely, one eye only half- open, the other shut tight. "You first," Aisuzu purred, kissing the air inches away from his battered face. "But if you tell me, little princeling, how many fighting powers there are on this planet, I might--might--let you live. You aren't up to my fighters' standards, of course, but maybe I can find a place for you somewhere below decks. Polishing our armor, maybe, or scrubbing out the defecatory." Vegeta smirked, his body suddenly losing its limpness. "I've got a better idea, Aisuzu." He stood, all trace of weakness or submission completely gone. "Why don't I send you to Hell for a little family reunion?" "Nani?!" Aisuzu gasped. Vegeta grinned with terrible delight. "And that's King Vegeta to you, ahondara!!" ~*~ A new evening star flared briefly in the darkening sky. Aisuzu's battleship disintegrated in the blast, along with most of her crew. "WHAT?!?!?" Surato shrieked the moment she hit atmosphere. "Little creep was faking us out," Hora grumbled, righting herself. "He wanted us to bring him back to Aisuzu, so he could take out the ship--and us." "Are we the only ones who survived?" Hora checked the vicinity with her scouter. "No. I'm reading Byatcha--of course that tailkisser would make it out okay--and there's Kwanda, and Tsuiiji--there's Daiku and Dammu...oh, and looks like your sister made it out, too." "Suraga's okay? Good--but where's Aisuzu?" Wordlessly, Hora pointed towards the dying western horizon. "Over there dancing with you-know-who." ~*~ Vegeta swung his clasped hands hard, clipping Aisuzu under the chin. Then he flew up above her and drove both feet into the small of her back, just above her long lizard-like tail. The force of the blow drove her down hard; she slammed into the surface of a tall mesa hard enough to shatter it to boulders on her way down. Vegeta followed up the strike with a rapid succession of ki-blasts, pulverizing the shattered mesa to dust. He watched, smirking, as the cloud of debris settled. His smirk turned to a scowl as Aisuzu calmly stood up, brushed off her dusky skin, and smiled congenially up at him. "Is that the best you can do, little princeling?" she purred, mocking him. Vegeta's indigo eyes narrowed to slits. "You want to see the best I can do, ahondara? Then look well!" Fists clenching, he roared, riding the crest of his building rage. His black-red hair flared, turning gold-white, and a crackling, spiked aura formed around him as his body bulk hardened. The muscles expanding. His eyes flared bright green as he glowered down at his long-dead enemy's sibling, and he showed her a slow, menacing smile. Aisuzu gasped. "Su--Super Saiyajin?!" Vegeta threw back his head and laughed. Then he flew downwards. Snarling, Aisuzu shot up to meet him. ~*~ The tight little knot of Aisuzu's female warriors hovered, watching the battle. "I think Aisuzu-sama's in trouble," Suragu ventured. "Shouldn't we help her?" Daiku snorted. "If we dared interfere, she'd thank us by blowing us to bits. She's toying with him, can't you see that? Just taking his measure is all. Super Saiyajin or not, he's no match for her." The Prince of the long-dead Saiyajin race struck at Aisuzu again and again, but never seemed to stagger her for more than a moment. In return, all he won was a series of blows that each would've broken a battleship in half. He backed up a few hundred yards, obviously hurting but still game, and sent a blinding beam straight at her. The small group of elite fighters fell silent, then cheered when Aisuzu simply slapped Vegeta's ki-blast away as one would an insect and answered with one of her own that drove the Saiyajin down out of the sky and into the hard, unwelcoming ground. Kwanda was distracted from her enjoyment of the spectacle by a sudden, insistent cheeping from her scouter. She adjusted the instrument and looked back towards the darkening eastern horizon. "Hey, girls," she said, "we've got company." "Oh, good," Dammu murmured. "Some fun for us. How many?" "Hard to tell--I can read at least three big powers, and a number of smaller ones." "I'll jan-ken-pon you for the biggest one," Tsuiiji offered. "How far off are they?" "About three--" Kwanda broke off with a gasp as a glowing-golden figure simply appeared, shooting towards them like a meteorite. Gokou wasted no time; he barreled through the knot of warriors, scattering them like tenpins on his way past. "VEGETAAAAAAAA!" "Kuso!!" Hora spat as the fighters regrouped. "Another Super Saiyajin? I thought Prince Punching-Bag over there was the only one left!" "Never mind that," Suratto snapped. "Let's head Golden Boy Number Two off before he ruins Aisuzu-sama's fun." "You're not going anywhere," a gravelly voice announced behind them. Aisuzu's fighters rounded on a second group of hovering figures. Two--no, four Saiyajin, the three males glowing that same accursed golden white, the little female wielding a sword almost as long as her own height; two other females, apparently human; and of all things, a Namekseijin, obviously the one who had spoken, tossing his white billowing cape and turban aside even as he smirked at them. "Oh," Hora murmured, "you are all so dead." Piccolo chuckled. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt." The fanged smile dropped off his face. "Now it's your turn." ~*~ Vegeta lay on his back in a vast trench carved by his own body into the earth around him, unable to move, barely conscious, capable only of scowling his hate up at the figure of Aisuzu hovering above him like an angel of death. His death. Again. Aisuzu shrieked in triumph, and a purple flare of energy seared towards him, a beam with his destruction written all over it-- Then a shadow intercepted. Vegeta couldn't make out details, but the shout from just above him was unmistakable. "Ka...me...ha...me...HAAAA!!!!" "Ke...Kakarott," he rasped through bloodied lips. The other Saiyajin didn't respond; shoulders hunched as he marshalled his energy, he was too busy driving Aisuzu's ki-blast up and away from them both. Then he flew up to engage her at close range. Another shadow fell across Vegeta, this one a good deal less benevolent. "As usual," Byatcha sighed. "It's up to me to clean up Aisuzu-sama's messes." She raised a hand casually, a flare of ki building in her outstretched palm. Vegeta could only glare at her. His broken body refused to move. Then--suddenly--Byatcha was simply not there. A flash of sudden motion seized her up and carried her off. The sounds and sensations of a second battle reached Vegeta's battered perceptions, and he struggled to rise, cursing himself to find he was still unable to do so. Eventually, the secondary conflict ended. Someone screamed, but he couldn't tell who, didn't really care if truth be told. Far, far above, he could sense Kakarott facing Aisuzu, alone--and losing. *Fool*, he thought, *to think that you could succeed where I failed. You're not that much better than I am, Kakarott, for all the luck you've had.* Again a shadow fell across him--not Byatcha's, but to Vegeta not much more welcome. Juuhachi-gou knelt beside him. "Serves you right for charging off to face this bunch alone," she remarked mildly. "What were you trying to prove, anyway?" "Ba...ka no Jinzou...ningyou," Vegeta growled at her. "I'm a baka? Who's the one lying flat on his back at the end of a trench he dug with his own face, hm?" Juuhachi-gou placed something into his gloved hand, a touch he resented, but could barely feel. "One for you and one for Golden Boy up there," she said. "I have to get back to the others." And with that, she took off and was gone. "Che..." Vegeta struggled to raise his arm, squinted at the two small dark shapes in his numb fingers. Senzou. *Probably laced with poison, coming from that mechanical twitch*, he mused, knowing deep in his heart that it wasn't true even as he thought it. *I hope she doesn't think this means I owe her anything.* He missed his mouth twice and nearly dropped the magic beans before finally managing to shove one between his teeth and crunch into it. Energy flowed along his nerves as he swallowed the fragments, forcing strength and power into his aching limbs. He stood and tucked the second bean into his belt, then launched himself into the air. ~*~ **This is getting very old very fast**, Aisuzu mused as she battered the strange Saiyajin who'd appeared to save Vegeta. This one was obviously powerful--more powerful, possibly, than the fallen Prince--**but not more powerful than me**, she reassured herself. She sent the stranger's weakening form high into the air and readied a killing-strike, firing it at point-blank range. The figure vanished, and her blast cut through empty air. "Not again!!" Aisuzu raged, looking around. "Where did he go?" She looked down at the ground. The trench was there. Vegeta wasn't. "Shoot!!" Aisuzu had never toyed with the Saiyajin as her brother Furiiza had, so she didn't know a great deal about them--but surely even members of that warrior race couldn't heal that quickly. Cursing under her breath, she scanned the area. Her fighters were holding their own against the native forces, but neither Vegeta nor his **brother? Did he have a brother? I don't remember Furiiza mentioning more than one monkey brat he wanted to tame, but maybe he decided at the last minute to collect one more...?** fellow Saiyajin were among them. She scanned, but couldn't pick up any ki readings. It was as though the two had vanished from the face of the planet. ~*~ About a mile above Aisuzu, Vegeta held Gokou by his shirt and fished out the senzou. "Idiot," he snarled. "Mask your ki, you fool, she'll spot us in a moment." Gokou nodded heavily and his ki dwindled at once. Vegeta took the chance to look him over-- not a pretty sight. One eye swollen shut, already an ugly red-purple; thin trickles of blood from a myriad of gashes on his torso and from the edge of his mouth. "You look like something I'd kick into the trash bin without a second thought." "Might.. be kinda nice.. to get some peace and quiet there," Gokou answered, chuckling weakly. Then his one good eye narrowed a bit, expression becoming more serious. "This is bad. She's strong." "I remain amazed by your gift for stating the glaringly obvious." Impatiently Vegeta shoved the senzou in his free hand at Gokou. "Here, eat this so we can get back to more important things." Gokou reached for the bean, but it slipped from his sweat-slicked fingers. He made a grab for it, a half-second too late. "Ut-oh." "Khhhhh--" Vegeta snarled. "You utter imbecile!! I don't have any more of tho--" he stopped as he realized the trajectory the small object was taking. "Oh, brilliant, Kakarott. Stunning tactical move." The senzou bounced off the top of Aisuzu's head, drawing her attention to the two figures high above. With a mad grin of triumph she rocketed higher, drawing abreast of them, hands out to fire. As the beam roared at the pair, Gokou twisted, slamming his own palms out-- not at Aisuzu, but at Vegeta. "MOVE!" "WHUFF!" Buffeted backwards, Vegeta slowed his head-over-heels tumbling just in time to see Aisuzu's blast envelop Gokou. For an instant there was nothing but light; then, as it faded, Vegeta could see a form falling limp towards the ground below. He stared after it, mouth open, struggling to understand. *He... was hurt worse.... and yet he pushes ME... out of the way...? What kind of Saiyajin ARE you Kakarott?!?! * *The kind of Saiyajin who values his own life only when it serves to protect another*, some part of his mind replied. *Have you forgotten so quickly? You could've let him die back there in the Past Time and been the strongest, without question, forever. But the thought of there being no Kakarott was intolerable, and you know why. This is no fool. This is no rival, no enemy, no one to be shamed or subjugated. This is your friend.* With a scream of red rage Vegeta turned and fired, everything he had, burst after burst of energy filling the air around Aisuzu, hammering her till she had to back away to shield herself from his frenzy. Near exhaustion, he let himself plummet after Gokou, struggling to marshal enough ki to control his downward journey. One hand stabbed down, straining, then closing on Gokou's ankle and slowing their fall. Not by much; they still made a fairly impressive crack in the earth from their impact. But it was enough. Gritting his teeth, Vegeta hauled the other man up and dragged them both back into the concealment of some rocks. "If you're dead, you waste of air," he snarled in a low tone, "I will personally drag you by your tail all the way down Snake Way to Kaiou's and back.." "Ee... tail threats... itai..." Gokou laughed, then coughed, trying to get a full breath; his ribs hurt abominably, and he was sure at least one was broken, probably more. "Sankyuu, Vegeta." "Don't thank me yet. I may've just saved you for her to tear apart." Vegeta risked a glance out from concealment. "What is she doing. She's just drifting there." "What else." Gokou closed his eye. "Can't you feel it? She's done playing with us. She's transforming." "N...Nanda," Vegeta gasped, then looked skyward again, feeling the ki rising. "Iie...maasaka.. .she can't get more powerful-- she can't--" "Quick," Gokou said, pulling at him. "Aisuzu's gonna be busy doing that, and her own ki will mask ours." "What are you suggesting, a Fusion? Uso yo! Forget it!" "I wasn't even think of that. I'm too weak, you'd never get your power down to match mine fast enough. Demo.. there is one other thing we can try." "I'm open to suggestions." Gokou moved further behind the rocks, then put his hands towards the sky. "From the mountains.. from the forests.. ocean and wind and all living things ... minna, lend me your strength..." "Are you out of your mind?!" Vegeta demanded. "The Genki Dama will take far too long to gather! What do you expect me to do, play pattycake with Aisuzu while you stand there showing off your armpits?!" "Just keep an eye on her," murmured Gokou, eyes shut. "This won't take that long. Honto." "I knew eventually even your tiny intellect would snap under the pressure," muttered Vegeta, but he moved to watch as Aisuzu's body glowed and changed, growing larger and more bestial, hands taloned, jaw extending like Furiiza's third form till it was a gaping, savage maw that could tear off an arm whole, and--the final touch-- two great wings like a bat's ripping up from her back and spreading to catch the waning sunlight. With a grimace he looked away. "They just keep getting uglier. Kakarott, I hope you know--" he stopped, speechless. Gokou was looking up into the heart of a globe of energy, blue- white but too small to do Aisuzu any real harm. "Onegai, Chikyuu- okaasama," he said, "please let me do this, just this once. You're the only one I can lean on now. It's gotta work. If he can do it, I can do it. If you love me like I love you, help me now." Then he flared to Super Saiyajin and dove up, into the heart of the energy. "KAKAROTT, NO!" Vegeta took a step forward. The Genki Dama could only be summoned and used by a calm heart; the state of being a Super Saiyajin was one of pure rage; Gokou'd explained that long ago to them all, and yet, now, here, he was deliberately letting the Genki Dama envelop him. It would tear him apart, turning back on him like a badly forged sword. It was suicide. Already the power was flaring out, lashing him back against the rocks, so that he had to fling up an arm to hide his eyes from the light. Above, Aisuzu finished her power-up, and as her power settled she could hear from below a scream, going on and on till it should've torn open the throat that made it. More than that, she could feel a power source, and she smiled "Where there's one little monkey, there might be two," she growled. "Now I'll dance on your bones till I break each one of them slowly, little 'King' Vegeta." She arced that way lazily, then twisted aside as a bolt of lightning arced down from the sky to strike at the source of the disturbance she felt. "What are those monkeys up to?" Another followed, and another, and above Aisuzu could see the clouds swirling and slamming into one another, circling like the heart of a maelstrom. Then the shock waves began, racing over the land and shattering everything before them, reaching up to set her struggling to stay aloft. Abandoning the struggle, she dropped lower, wanting to see what the Saiyajin annoyances were trying to pull--as if it made any real difference to her; she would just have to spend longer in taking them down. Below, Vegeta was crouching on his knees, every effort of will bent to staying in one place despite the earth's shaking. Squinting over his arm, he could just make out that the light was fading, and in the core of it a figure... but... changed, somehow. As the light continued to ebb, his jaw dropped in stark disbelief. Kakarott. Alive. Hair a wild long gold mane near to the backs of his knees, his features more pronounced, almost animalistic, and crackles of energy lancing out from his aura in all directions. Beneath his hovering feet the ground was blasted to smooth glass for yards around. Slowly, as if in a dream, he raised a hand, made a fist, then smiled-- a smile as sharp as a razor, a look of triumph. "Yatta," he said, and even his voice was different-- lower, a touch rougher, full of a merciless Saiyajin joy. Then his eyes turned to Vegeta, and for a moment the other warrior stood frozen by that glance. It was like looking into the heart of the sun as you fall into it. "What... what have you done, Kakarott..." he whispered, forgetting to be snide or casually insolent. "What the other Gokou can do," Gokou answered, setting down and walking towards Vegeta. "He thinks of this as Super Saiyajin Three... but for us, I think we should call it Ultra Saiyajin." His gaze flickered over Vegeta's shoulder, and Vegeta turned to see Aisuzu watching, her expression also one of stark disbelief. "Ne, Vegeta, sumimaisen. Forgive me, but I don't got time be nice about this." His hand clamped down on Vegeta's shoulder, and Vegeta screamed. ~*~ "Papa!!" two voices chorused in answer to the distant cry of torment. Trunks was so distracted that he almost didn't bring his sword up in time to fend off Daiku's attack. Bra repositioned herself against her brother's back, parrying a slash from Suratto. "What's happened to him?" she gasped. "Can you feel it? His power?" Trunks could hardly spare the attention to check for his father's ki, but in a moment he didn't need to. The sense of it washed over him--crashed over him, like a storm surge driven before a hurricane. He gasped. "Papa...!" ~*~ With a lazy stroke of her powerful wings, Aisuzu drove herself faster towards her prey. She ignored the brushing waves of power that battered her like a cross-current, gritting her elongated teeth. **This trick might have scared my foolish little brothers, but it won't make me skitter off like a lizard with its tail on fire. I am Korudo Aisuzu, sole survivor of the royal family and rightful ruler of this galaxy, and I shall not be denied.** She came up suddenly short, backstroking with her wings to halt her progress, when she got a closer look at the changes in her opponents. Through the pulsating gold-white auras surrounding them both, she saw that both Saiyajin's hair was now down to half the length of their legs. Two pairs of glowing green eyes fixed on her, glittering beneath prominent brow ridges. Their bodies were bulkier, and the power fairly sang from every pore in both their bodies. Aisuzu smiled. "So you have a transformation too," she hissed sweetly. "Pity it won't do you any good." Vegeta barely heard her. Any resentment he felt towards his longtime low-born rival was washed out with the sense of his own magnified power. *Ultra Saiyajin*, he marveled. And Kakarott's voice answered in his mind, almost as close as in Fusion: *Hai, Vegeta ouji-sama. Now, at last, we are equal.* There was no time for strategies to be talked or thought out, even at the elevated levels of their senses, their rapport. There was no need for it, either. Vegeta could feel the racing of Kakarott's thoughts, the mind that worked so well only during battle, that at other times seemed so slow and feeble. He didn't hear or sense what Kakarott wanted the two of them to do--he knew it at the instant of the other's knowing. Who would have thought of it first, neither could have said. Yet both knew it was the truest course of action to take. Vegeta smirked. And vanished. Aisuzu gasped. "Nani--?" Gokou smiled almost gently at her. He shifted his body in the air and cupped his hands beside him. "Ka...me..." Aisuzu braced herself. "...ha...me..." Aisuzu sneered. **I can take whatever you have to offer me, dirtling. My family massacred your race; you were missed in the cleansing by an accident only. An accident I will soon rectify. Take your best shot; however powerful, it will be avoided. And then you will die.** And Vegeta reappeared behind her, hands out in front of him, palms flat and extended. She sensed his reappearance, as if from nowhere, and froze. Only for a moment. Just long enough. "--HAAAAA!!!!!!!" Gokou shouted, and the power in his hands exploded at her just as Vegeta shouted behind her, "BIG BANG ATTACK!!!!" Caught in the crossfire, Aisuzu shrieked, pinned and helpless as the energies tore away her armor, her skin, her flesh and muscle and bone. Gokou and Vegeta roared with fury as the power both wielded drove Aisuzu upward, helpless and battered, up into the stratosphere, and beyond. ~*~ "Kaa-san! Abunai yo!!" Marron cried out as Hora approached Juuhachi-gou from behind. The Jinzouningen tossed a careless bolt over her left shoulder and instantly blasted Hora to nothingness. Marron gasped; Juuhachi-gou smiled over her shoulder at the daughter of her alternate self. "I knew she was coming a mile away," she said quietly, "but thank you." A motion caught her eye, and she looked upward. She blinked. "Mm...looks like the woman with the weight problem is about to sing." "Nn?" Marron looked up and saw the blast driving Aisuzu up out of visual range. She tensed and flew straight upwards on a burst of incredible speed. "Marron-chan!" Juuhachi-gou started after her, but was cut off by a slim, dark figure in powered armor, now much the worse for wear. "Oh, no you don't, pretty," Byatcha snarled. "We have some unfinished business, you and I." Juuhachi-gou's pale eyes narrowed. "Not for long." ~*~ **Impossible. Unbelievable.** The cold emptiness of space cradled Aisuzu's torn and ravaged body, cooling her skin, freezing her wounds shut. She made no sound, drew no breath; but her heart beat, her brain functioned. Her blood became thick, moving slowly, but did not freeze as her internal system stabilized. It might take her months to regenerate, or years, but she would recover. She would enter dormancy to conserve energy while her injuries knit, while the missing bits of her regrew themselves. At the proper time, she would awaken. And then they would pay. All of them. The whole damned planet full of them. *Aisuzu-sama.* The voice spoke in her mind; no sound carried in space. She forced her remaining eye open and focused dimly on a slim shape with wild pale-gold hair that hovered barely an arm's length away--that is, if Aisuzu had still had arms. **Dare ka...?** she wondered. *Aisuzu-sama.* The voice in her head had a girlish lilt, the tone and taste of a child, the kind of child she would have enjoyed tormenting, given the opportunity. *You killed my parents and made me watch. Then you let me live so I could remember, and hurt, until you chose to put it to an end.* Aisuzu struggled to right herself, but she didn't have limbs anymore, and she couldn't move. She could only stare as the figure came into focus--a slim, human-looking girl, yellow hair, wide blue eyes, face still and expressionless as blank metal. **Such a familiar story...I can't remember who your parents were, child. I left too many orphans on too many planets, cursing my back and promising vengeance through their screams and tears. How ironic that I can't remember the murders I'm to die for.** The girl smiled, a sweet thing of sunlight and youth. *You shouldn't have let me live.* She raised her hands, which glowed blue-white, and the energy blast swallowed Aisuzu whole. ~*~ Piccolo dropped Dammu's corpse to the battle-torn ground, her remains joining those of her comrades. "They named you right, anyway." Gohan appeared at the Namekseijin's side. "Are you all right, Piccolo-san?" "Yeah, kid, right as a legal turn at a stop light. Hmm..." His fathomless eyes tracked upwards. "Wonder where tin girl's going in such a hurry?" he wondered aloud, casually interested. "Ah...?" Gohan looked. "Juuhachi-gou!" Juuhachi-gou's eyes searched the heavens as she ascended. Of course she had no need to breathe, so the dwindling atmosphere was no hindrance to her. In fact, her speed increased as the air grew thinner, causing less resistance. A small, limp figure was falling out of the upper atmosphere; Juuhachi-gou instantly altered her course to intercept its descent. She reached out, and Marron landed neatly in her arms. Juuhachi-gou drifted downwards, cradling the girl to her chest as if she were a baby. She heard Trunks calling her faintly from below, felt the eyes of others on her, and paid no attention. "Marron-chan!" she whispered; then, even more softly: "Musume-chan..." The rounded eyes fluttered open. Not her eyes; undoubtedly her father's, but the face they looked out of was a mirror of Juuhachi- gou's own. "Kaa-san," she rasped shakily, trying to smile. "Yat...ta...I did it...I avenged you...you and Tou-san both." Juuhachi-gou kissed the girl's cold white forehead. "That you did, little chestnut." A soft, weak giggle. "You...haven't called me that...since I was little..." The Jinzouningen drifted down past Gokou and Vegeta as the pair powered down without so much as pausing to wave at them. The last two born on Vegetasei hovered in the air, facing one another, breathing hard, trembling with fatigue. "Chiku...sho," Vegeta breathed. "Kakarott...that was..." "Ultra...Saiyajin," Gokou murmured, with a small smile. "Gomen, Vegeta, I think I'm gonna...take a little...na..." "Bakayarou!!" Vegeta almost fell out of the air himself in the sudden motion he made to catch Gokou. "Idiot," he grumbled as he began drifting groundward, "by all rights I should let you drop and break your fool neck--except I have to wait for you to wake up and get back into shape so I can properly beat you up." End Chapter Twenty