Amidst shrieks and cries and pleas and threats, Gohan deposited
his mother in front of Capsule Corporation's main building and flew back
in the direction of home.
Or rather, what had been home.
Now that nice, peaceful space in the sometime-shadow of Pauzu mountain
was the ground of yet another battle for the future of
Chikyuu. But, Gohan mulled, his wonderfully over-educated brain turning
gears while he flew, was this truly a battle for Chikyuu?
Gohan had to admit that he was quite ignorant of the exact specifics of what was going on. All he really knew was what everyone else knew; (except for Gokuu, which is a bit strange if you think about it) That it had something to do with Sarro. Now, Gohan was not like his mentor, his sister, or Vejiita in the sense that his lack of knowledge gave him a dislike for the Saiyan woman. More akin to his father it made him curious. Sarro was obviously in some deep trouble if she'd come to his father for help. Trouble that possibly had nothing in the least to do with Katera.
Gohan put on his battle face as Pauzu mountain came into view. Regardless
of what was going on and who was really involved,
Gokuu's attacker had destroyed his home, and that was unforgiveable.
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Quaker followed Gokuu into the sky, the air rushing past his ears in an unending 'shhhhhhhhhh' that blotted out all other sound. All the better, the last thing he needed was distractions. A constant noise was worlds better than one that altered and demanded attention.
Son Gokuu was still bathed in that bright red aura. Or, more correctly, he was bathed in it again. It seemed to appear whenever he called on his full power. Flying at top speed, the Saiyajin's aura was practically dripping of him, just like his ki.
Under Kuraft's direction, Quaker had taken a crash course on ki sensing, and was practically quivering on the inside at the feeling. Now that he had opened up his senses to that sense of 'ki' he was mortified. Kuraft was right. This Son Gokuu would have shown piss-poor readings on a scouter, but to one with the right sense...
But, he digressed, he seemed to have hit his limit, and Quaker was stronger. Barely, but he still was.
Pulling fists, Quaker escalated his ki to push his limits and put on
an extra burst of speed. High in the atmosphere, the two warriors engaged,
and the fighting sent shockwaves across the troposphere.
Down below, Piccolo had attacked Katera's attackers, and Katera spent a moment on the ground debating over whether she should attack her attackers for having the gall to attack her, or attack Piccolo for having the gall to attack her attackers whom she Had Been about to attack herself. Eventually attacking her attackers won out over attacking Piccolo for attacking her attackers and she entered the fray.
[Useless fact of the day; the word 'attack' was used fourteen times in the above paragraph. {w/ suffixes included}]
Katera cut down two warriors from behind with one swipe of her blade. Plunging the tip into a third, she painfully wrenched it out and swung it in a diagonal cut down an enemy who dared attack her from behind. Deftly altering her grip, she extended one hand and narrowed her eyes at a cluster of warriors about to gang up on Piccolo.
" SHINE!! " she screamed, blasting them all to the afterlife.
[Somehow I get the feeling I'm going to be pointing this out every time just to be sure. Shine {shi-nay} => die]
Piccolo turned and glared at her for helping him. Fine then, he knew how she felt. Returning his glare with a scowl, Katera twisted her sword in her hands to catch the soldier behind her off guard, and he fell to his knees clutching a gushing wound in his middle. Spinning on one heel, Katera knocked him in the head with her hilt and he fell over, unconcious. With a sneer, Katera moved on to other enemies, leaving him to bleed to death.
Were Piccolo not preoccupied, he would have gaped at her viciousness.
Not only did the Saiyan girl kill with emotionless
precision, but she definately had a cruel streak to her.
Piccolo brushed aside those attacking him and approached the warrior
Katera had left to suffer. Splaying his fingers, he held his
hand out towards the warrior's face and blasted.
Katera's only response was to look over her shoulder, at Piccolo, at the remains of the warrior, then back to the fight she was engaged in. All without any expression.
Piccolo continued fighting, but found himself bothered to the point of distraction.
Something was very wrong...
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Nobody in existance was more aware of the fact that something was wrong than Dende. Mirai Dende, that is.
The wrinkled old Namekuseijin stood on Heavan's Platform nearly quivering with fear. His contact with Sarro in the past was wavering, he couldn't-- couldn't-- he shook his head to clear his thoughts-- couldn't get a good enough hold on her mind to see what was going on.
That, and he who seemed to be Kuraft's right hand had engaged Gokuu prematurely. Nothing was following Sarro's plan anymore. Nothing! It had all fallen apart like an old tea buscuit! Sarro was captured, Gokuu was fighting for his life, and he was stuck in the ****ing future!!
" A-HEM!! " coughed Senpyou pointedly.
Dende blinked out of his mental rant and looked at the old cat questioningly. His voice rasping over his dry throat, he asked, " Yes, Senpyousan? "
" Before drowning in your little ocean of despair, Kami, " he said critically, emphasizing Dende's title, " Kamisama, 'scuse me, perhaps you might like to note that losing contact with Sarro is not the end of the world. She's a big girl, she can handle herself. As for Gokuu, you'll note on that front that he has not displayed his full power, while Quaker has. "
" How did you... " Dende trailed off, his questions loud enough in their silence.
Senpyou's response was a mere enigmatic grin.
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One good smack and Katera's winning streak was cut short again. In a lust for revenge much of Jiiyar's soldiers had begun to ignore Piccolo and gang up on Katera. Try as he might, though, Piccolo could get no closer to Katera than was too far to aid her. She was too small and hidden by those surrounding her, making it impossible for Piccolo to know where it was safe to shoot off Makankousappo without hitting she whom he was saving.
Katera, meanwhile, was trying to ignore the fact that no matter how hard she fought, she wasn't making any headway. They were closing, no, pressing in on him, and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
Fighting off her rising panic, Katera swung, and nearly fell over when her sword jarred to a stop. She was knocked the rest of the way to the ground and the sword wrenched from her hands. Katera's eyes opened wide, panic spreading through her body like wildfire.
Cussing up a storm, Katera got to her feet and froze.
Poised over his leg, her sword hung about to be broken by one of the larger warriors.
NoNoNO!! This never would have happened had she her adult body! Dammit! She was going to kill that damned Sarro woman!
It never occured to that thought that all the other thoughts in her mind were of her own impending death.
Piccolo didn't know what had caused Katera to stop fighting, but he knew it had to be something bad.
The sword began to descend, speeding up to shatter--
" KATERA!! "
A small green and yellow blur kicked the warrior in the head and sent him face first into the ground. Katera reached up and caught her sword as it went flying, and was promptly knocked to the ground as well. (She still had troubles with it some of the time)
The remaining of Jiiyar's followers had drawn back when Katera got to her feet. They stood in a ring, ready to resume the fight once they had assessed the arrival of the small half-Saiyajin boy.
" Gohan! " was Katera's response to his arrival.
" Yaa, Oneechan! " he greeted and got into fighting stance, just as the warriors all came in to renew fighting.
Katera stood a moment in utter shock. " Onee... chan...? " she trailed off in confusion.
[Oneechan => sister]
" YYYEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!! " Piccolo hollered, pushing his way through the wall of warriors and smacking one away from attacking Katera. Looking down at the shocked little Saiyajin, he gruffly commented, " Gohan's just saved your life, without even realizing how close you truly were to death. I suggest you begin fighting again. "
Katera shot him a dirty look. " I was just about to do that. " In a huff she stalked off and cut down a few warriors with about the attention of an elephant stepping on a flea.
Piccolo smiled to himself, having the time for it since he was again being ignored. (Damn Saiyajin, they took all the attention off him!) There certainly was something about Chikyuu that made every Saiyajin look at themselves and their place in life a little differently. Of course, the Saiyajin never realized that themselves.
Then again, Piccolo hadn't realized it himself until he'd taken in Gohan.
Maybe it wasn't Chikyuu exactly, thought Piccolo in amendment as he looked up to observe the fight taking place there, maybe it was Gokuu.
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Sarro stood at the edge of a great precipice. In all directions there was nothing but darkness. Her clothes were tattered, a metaphorical reference to her resolve.
She'd been thinking a lot of her resolve as of late. First when her mirai self had arrived, and in juxtaposition, when that mirai self had discovered there was no Son Gokuu in her time. Then when things started going wrong. When Yamcha kept persisting, breaking her down with his good intentions.
Now, with her loss. The Great Dark Power Kuraft had won. He'd beaten her. She, the Densetsu no Sarro was defeated... and with nothing to blame but herself.
She'd made the plans.
She'd failed in implementing those plans the best way.
She'd ruined those plans.
She'd become as bad as her enemy.
She'd ruined Chikyuu. The galaxy. The universe.
She'd ruined everything.
Sarro stepped off the edge.
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Punch. Punch. Block. Kick. Punch. Block. Block. Blast. Kick. Punch. Pu-- Block! Punch again. Kick. Kick. Knee. Block.
Gokuu and Quaker fell away from each other. The sound of their panting
filled their ears. Perspiration felt cold against their skin.
Their blood coursed warm beneath their skin. Life and adrenaline filled
their bodies along with an excess of ki.
The lull ended mutually and they attacked again. The clash sent another shock wave across the face of Chikyuu to follow several others, and Pauzu Mountain quivered in it's wake.
Now, here is where there seems to be a bit of a problem with Quaker's memory. Supposedly, anyone who watched Sarro use her 'rewind' ki manipulation remembered it afterward. Quaker was watching. Shouldn't it then be expected that he remember Gokuu in Super Saiyajin form? Does Quaker have an exceedingly short memory? Is he dumber than he looks? Has Kuraft worked it so that he is as ignorant as Sarro's players? Or is he just overconfident?
Don't ask me, I'm just the writer. ~grin~
Still, there was the fact that Quaker had not yet called upon that reserve bit of strength he claimed to have. Sadly, he never got the chance, so we may never have our answer.
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" Watch, " said Potaeo, pointing at the monitor; at Quaker.
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A bolt of energy blacker than the darkest reaches of space dropped from the sky and straight through Quaker to the ground. His tattered cloak flared from the outrush of his energy, and as the energy absorbed Quaker into itself, that ended up being all that was left.
Gokuu watched in awed horror as the cloak fluttered to the ground and the black energy dissipated, cascading like reverse footage of a water spout into the blue Earthian skies, then spread out in the same fashion until all the sky was black.
" That ki...! " Gokuu exclaimed, before shuddering in pain and grasping his head. The Saiyajin gave a shout of pain before loosing his energy and dropping to the ground.
Down on the ground, it seemed Jiiyar's followers were disheartened by their sudden loss of their second leader.
" Quakersama! " several shouted in vain.
Enemies and allies alike watched in aprehension as the skies turned
black and Son Gokuu, the supposed strongest of all, fell defeated from
the air.
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[creeeeeepppyyyy.... yes, well, it seems things are picking up quite nicely. ~coffcoff~ Well! On the bright side, we know what's happened to Sarro! Wait a minute, no we don't! Well, next chapter, for sure, we'll find out, and maybe even what's wrong with Gokuu! Be here next time for Chapter Twenty; More Forbidden Deaths, The Battle with Dark Sarro. Oh, well I guess that gives away the stuff about Sarro...]
[Written by Inseiko, 2000]
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