DBZ: The Fallen Empire (Chapter 5: Asylum)

Status
Not open for further replies.
"A noise like that certainly is alarming. Perhaps Vegetto Jr. has already been intercepted?" Mioi offered in explanation. "It gives me a bad feeling in my stomach."

"At least, I hope that was the case."
 
The wave gave Basil a sudden chill. He turned to see Kira wondering about the sudden burst of energy.

"You guys felt that too, right?"

Panich has already been stopped by the pulse turning to the others as well.

"I suggest we take this conversation inside the ship." Her tone seemed demanding. 

----------------------------------------

Bage watched as Brachi began fuming at the sight of the manifested Janembuu. He was ready to aid the others in any way he could.
 
Beerus blinked in confusion for a few seconds, the two floating high in the sky without a noise or movement being made for the next minute. Vegetto Jr. raised an eyebrow, his voice slightly timid.

"Did...did you miss?"

Beerus snarled.

"How could I miss?! You're not even four inches away from me!"

The god suddenly yelped, toppling forward from Jaz's sudden impact. He quickly whirled around, his eyes widening in fury.

"Oh great, and now she's here! What other clumsy fool is going to stand in the way of my job today?!"

===========

Gogeta Jr. frowned, his attention turning towards the source of the sudden shockwave. He then glanced to the side, turning back towards the ship.

"Let's go. The sooner we get this ship off the ground, the better chance we stand for whatever is coming our way."

The Saiyan hybrid didn't wait for a reply, bolting towards the entrance opening while Koth buried his hands into his pockets.

"Right."

============

Vegetto eyed Brachi during her and Xenest's conversation, his aura flaring up from underneath his boots to complete his transformation. His attention turned towards Solaris, before his eyes shifted towards Janembuu, who crouched down slightly.

"For now...let's just try to survive."

The fusion roared, throwing his right arm forward and sending out a massive dark purple blast of energy, rapidly barreling towards Janembuu who stood without reaction as the blast struck the monster head on, engulfing him in a massive cloud of smoke with the room shaking heavily from the force of the blast.

=============

Meanwhile on Zakuul

"Everything is set, Prince Arcann."

The Emperor fixed his collar of his robes, looking into a small mirror while his voice came out from his mechanical.

"Need I remind you the importance of this press conference has on the universe. Our people must maintain soft and easy questions for the media: we can not afford to look weak. The last thing we need is the Empire and the Republic deciding to start wars in the midst of this disaster."

The worker bowed his head.

"Of course, my liege. I have screened an entire script of questions for you to answer that will make sure no one questions the safety of Zakuul after this attack."

Arcann turned away from the mirror, walking past the worker with a narrowed eye and a bland voice.

"Good, you are dismissed for the night."
 
Kira nodded at Gogetta Jr.

"Anything else we need to do to get back into hyperspace?" She asked the general vicinity.

---

Solaris kept back generating more blue orbs of star energy, seemingly trying to come up with a plan.
 
Jaz crashed onto Beerus but managed to grip at his leg to prevent her from falling. At this point, she was barely able to keep herself in the air due to how much energy she needlessly wasted trying to find them. She currently had to rely on Beerus's leg to hold her up in the air. She panted heavily as if she was just finished running a marathon. She took a second to compose herself before looking up to see an angry Beerus.

"Gwah! Mr. Beerus?! What are you doing here?" Jaz turned to face Junior and let out a small sigh of relief that he didn't do anything drastic yet. "Junior! You're okay!"

Jaz climbed her way up Beerus's back and moved one of his large ears out of the way to get a better view of Junior. She smiled under her visor and kept herself piggybacking off of Beerus. She knew that it would make the God mad but she thought it was worth it. She poked the little antennae on the side of her head and exposed her nearly crying face to Junior. She had puffy cheeks from both worry, anger, and the urge to cry.

"My daddy said we need to talk, Junior!" Jaz's voice lowered slightly along with her gaze. "He said that I was acting really childish towards you and that I should apologize for being, well... a brat." Jaz paused for a moment. "I'm... I'm sorry I called you a jerk, Junior. You're not a jerk! Daddy told me that if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. He said that I should at least listen to your side of the story and give you a chance to explain..."

Jaz slipped slightly from Beerus's back and yanked at his ear to keep her from falling. 

"Errm, can we continue this on the ground, Junior?" She said nervously. "I don't think Beerus likes it when I piggyback off of him. He's not as comfy like you are."

========

Kire continued his work while listening to music that came from some speakers near his shoulders. He was on his back, patching up something under one of the control panels, humming to the music he played. As usual, his singing voice was horrendous. He seemed to be tone-deaf for the most part.

Back in his lab, whatever Kire was installing or downloading on his computer finished. The computer blinked a couple times before the screen, as well as some of mechanics Kire connected it to, began to move on their own. The computer had become alive and had its own consciousnesses and perception of the things around it. The computer spoke in a static and emotionless voice.

"Data analysis: check. Voice applicator and translator: installed. System reboot: Complete. Helga is ready to operate. No current tasks, entering rest mode."

On the computer screen, a face of two simple dot eyes and a line for a mouth appeared. It seemed to have very basic facial expressions for the lack of emotion in its voice. The little chibi face looked to be asleep with cute Zs on the screen.
 
Zibarica and Paprika followed suit to not waste anymore time. Basil rested a hand on Koth's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile before rushing into the ship after the others.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, alright?" 

-------------------------------------------

The dread saiyan followed the fusion, seeing the large blast and beams hit Janembuu one after the other. He pulled his arms back then fired a volly of purple blasts after the others, to try and wound the beast.
 
(DON'T WORRY, GUYS, I'M ALIVE)
Oriko looked at the group before tilting his head up at the sky, trying to spot the others.

"Man, I hope they're alright up there.. Last thing we need is to lose some more manpower than we already have." He thought to himself before following the rest of the group into the Tombstone.
 
Mioi rubbed her arm as she forlornly followed the group into the ship. "I have little to offer besides my eyesight in terms of managing repairs..." Her gaze slid over to Oriko. "On other things, I am glad you are seemingly well, Oriko, after taking that blast for me when we were cornered by Vaylin in the forest. You have my gratitude for practically saving my life."
 
"Oh, that? It's no biggie..." Oriko hid a chuckle beneath a sober facade as he looked towards Mioi. "Taking a spear or sword or whatever to your heart twice makes you really, really used to painful things. Am I saying that I like pain or don't feel it? Nah, it's just that nothing really beats being stabbed in the heart. Compared to what might've happened to you, that blast was nothing. To be fair, though, I could really use some ice. My head hurts like hell..."
 
Beerus' right eye began to twitch heavily at the touch along his head from Jaz, a low growl beginning to build as she got comfortable on his head. Vegetto Jr.'s expression had softened, smiling for a moment until Beerus suddenly screeched at the top of his lungs.

"GET OFF ME!!"

The god rapidly slung Jaz off of his shoulders, Vegetto Jr. catching Jaz in his arms and floating backwards with another sonic boom from the impact. The Saiyan hybrid grimaced in pain, his attention turning to the sight of the Dread Saiyan's ghostly image floating next to Beerus.

"You will stand down, Beerus. I changed my mind: Junior is no longer a threat."

Beerus kept narrowed eyes, glaring at the two.

"This war means nothing to me. You shouldn't have put your stake into this, Whis."

The Dread Saiyan narrowed his eyes at the comment, his arms crossed behind his back.

"You saw her power. She can destroy even you with her unstable wishes: all of existence is in jeopardy. This war must bring about her end."

Beerus shifted his gaze slightly towards the Dread Saiyan, before letting out a small sigh of defeat.

"Fine, I'll help."

Vegetto Jr. blinked once as Beerus finished, turning his attention to Jaz shortly after.

"Are you alright?"

=======================

"What have you done?!"

Koth clasped his hands on his head, the intense worry clear in his expression. Gogeta Jr. watched on in confusion as Koth suddenly latched his grip onto Kire's shirt collar, shaking him slightly.

"Did you really just hook up an AI to the Gravestone?!"

=======================

Janembuu stood upright as the multiple blasts closed in on him, engulfing him in their destructive energy and shaking the entire room violently. The small glare of the forcefield flicked a few times from the resulting shockwave, the plumes of smoke nearly engulfing the entire room.

Vegetto's eyes widened at the sight of the smoke suddenly disappating away, the violently flare of Janembuu's ominous aura blasting the smoke away. The violently winds subsides shortly after the flare, the monster standing still while the Scion's voice rung out in the room.

Even your combined might was not enough to overcome his hatred, it took the Masters that hold your leash to end his life. How do you expect to overcome him without someone to hold that leash?

Janembuu smirked, rapidly bolting forward towards Xenest and launching his right fist towards the Saiyan's face.

=========================

The open auditorium erupted into indecipherable chatter as Arcann came into view on the center stage. Hundreds of hand held microphones rose from the seats, reporters clammering towards the single podium towering above them. But with a single wave of his hand, Arcann brought the unruly crowd to order and waited for complete silence before speaking.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I will not waste time with pleasantries: Zakuul has just suffered its first terror attack. But we have the situation contained, and the perpetrators have been apprehended."

 The voices of the reporters began to rise, Arcann lifting his hand once more.

"Please hold all questions until I have given you permission to ask. The attack on our soil, began with a raid on a local outpost on the far north end of the capital city. The terrorists were poorly organized, attempting to steal vital intelligence from the Spire, and our loyal Knights were able to defeat the first group. The second group, however, consisted of the known terrorist Firebrand, who managed to steal a prototype super weapon from our armory and launch a massive energy missle that managed to destroy several Eternal ships in its blast. The weapon has since been recovered, Firebrand is still at large."

Arcann bowed his head once for a moment, before raising it up.

"Make no mistake, the criminals responsible for this attack will be apprehended soon and the ones in custody will face harsh justice. Our planet is safer than it was yesterday; your military and powerful Knights have worked to secure our borders. There is no Outlander insurgency: it is a ploy from the Empire and the Republic to sow even more fear into our people's hearts and minds. We will not bow to their psychological propaganda."

Arcann then nodded once to signal reporters' permission to ask question, his finger pointing towards a small man standing upright first.

"The shape of the missle was in the form of a dragon, coated in what appeared to be energy or ki. Can you please elaborate on the science on how we have such technology at our disposal?"

Arcann shook his head once.

"The power behind that prototype weapon is heavily sought after by the Outlanders, and we will not give them any information that could lead to the development of a super weapon outside of Zakuul supervision."

He then turned to another reporter, who's voice came out more timid than the first.

"With all due respect your excellency, the conflicting reports of this situation are too great to ignore. Many have already claimed the energy blast originated from a single warrior, fighting what appeared to be the High Justice herself. Is there any information on the whereabouts on your sister?"

Arcann paused for a moment, his tone breaking slightly for the first time.

"High Justice Vaylin..is currently on a diplomatic mission to the Outer Rim. Any reports of her involvement in this incident are conspiracy theories attempting to sow fear."

The reporter pressed on, however, Arcann's one eye narrowing.

"There are digital images on the holonet, your excellency. If I may direct your attention to the screen."

Arcann blinked once, turning his head slightly as the holo image emitting off of the wall behind him. His single eye continued to widen slightly, the clear image of Gogeta dashing past the Zakuul atmosphere into the void of space with his arm shooting forward covering the screen for a moment. The shaky image managed to capture the massive red energy dragon blasting forward from his fist, the gasps originating from the crowd quite audible. The camera soon panned outward, indicating its position on a nearby Eternal Fleet ship as the two dragons closed on a small image of the transformed Vaylin, soon erupting into a massive red explosion that vaporized a few ships before the camera fell to the same fate. Arcann's eyes turned down, his panic clear despite the mask covering most of his face for a few moments and kept his back to the audience while the reporter continued.

"The image clearly shows the former Sith Emperor's apprentice, Lord Gogeta, fighting with the High Justice. He was reported dead nearly thirty years ago...and now he has resurfaced. There are rumors that even the Sith Emperor himself lives, along with the Republic's most powerful heroes that were slain during their first war. How can we guarantee Zakuul's safety when they are already here, threatening to destroy everything?!"

Arcann stood still for a few moments, the crowd beginning to grow restless in his lack of response. The Emperor soon turned on his heel, however, his calm voice taking the microphone.

"As I said, these are clearly doctored videos meant to scare us. The Sith Empire has spent the last two decades trying to terrorize the people of Zakuul over the holonet, and having caught wind of this latest catastrophe, they mean to send panic through the population by cleverly doctoring and staging these scenes from their home planet. If you look closely at my sister there-"

His finger pointed to the screen, the image slowly rewinding back to a more refined pose she held in combat with Gogeta.

"-her hair is clearly purple. This doctored video failed to maintain the small details in its ambitious plan to fool the people of Zakuul into believing we are vulnerable. When we have never been stronger."

Arcann's eye narrowed into a sharp glare at the reporter.

"You would be wise to do proper research into the situation before trying to throw around conspiracy theories as crazy as that one. The Sith Emperor has been dead for over twenty years, and his apprentice went with him. He is not coming back, and he will never be back. Nor will the so called, "Z-Fighters" from planet Earth, who are just myths passed around the barbaric worlds as a tale to give them hope that someday, they can destroy our great society. Now, if you will excuse me, I must attend to the execution of the criminals responsible for this attack."

The man quickly descended from the podium, the erupting crowd nearly forcing him to stay. Safely retreating backstage, the rage was clear in Arcann's expression as he approached a guard clad in white armor.

"When the reporters leave the building, detain that last reporter and question him in the backroom. Find out whoever gave him that leaked footage, do whatever it takes."

The guard nodded once.

"What shall I do with him after he gives us the information?"

Arcann brushed past the guard, his tone dark.

"Execute him. And anyone related to him: make sure no one finds out the truth on his fate."
 
(OOC: For the record, Xenest is a Human, as his fusees Tempest and Xeno are Human)

Xenest teleported away before the strike could hit him, having teleported into the air before proceeding to bombard Janembuu with the Tenma Gou Zankuu Kouu, while Brachi launched a Super Destructo Disc at Janembuu to cleave him in two, like what Krillin had done to Kid Buu back in Other World.
 
"Vegetto! Is he immune to magic!?" Solaris yelled.

---

"Uh... Why do I feel like I was involved in something like this before? And in the end I had to kill a giant robot?" Kira muttered.

(Wasn't there some Flashpoint involving a Ship AI going rogue?)
 
"An AI?" Oriko questioned Koth. "I mean, as long as it doesn't start sending killer robots for us, it's fine, right?"
 
Jaz didn't say a word to Junior and instantly wrapped her arms around him, hiding her face on his chest. She started to speak but was muffled thanks to her stuffing her face in his chest. After a moment, she looked at Junior with puffy eyes and cheeks. She was holding back her urge to cry.

"I didn't mean to call you a jerk!" Jaz sniffled. "Don't go and wish away your feelings! I don't want you to turn into that ugly version of yourself! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Jaz looked directly at Junior with tears forming on her eyes. "Don't leave me again..."

After a moment or so, Jaz settled down and rubbed her eyes away from the tears.

==========

Kire chuckled at Koth's worry and only waved his hand in a carefree manner.

"Don't worry about it, Helga isn't gonna control your ship. She's mostly there to help me out on a private mission I'm set on doing. She's also the mouth of the Gravestone." He looked back at his sleeping computer. "She's gonna tell us of any other internal damages located on your ship." 

Kire slipped away from Koth's grip and dusted himself off. He whistled to his super computer and the chibi face opened its eyes.

"Helga, think you can start working on my translocation device and my hacking hand?" 

"Affirmative." 

"And why don't you introduce yourself to the group?"

"I am an AI known as HELGA." The ceiling on top of the screen opened and mechanical arms came out. It looked like a scene from a movie. The arms began to work on small objects as well as what looked like to be new robotic parts for Kire. "I know a bit about you thanks to my creator's generous knowledge about you. Gogeta Jr., son of Gogeta, nephew of Vegetto, and cousin to Vegetto's son, Vegetto Jr. As of now, my master has only added information about the few of you here."

"That's right. Y'see, Helga is a really smart being and she's gonna be helping you guys out when I'm gone." Kire turned his back to the group and continued his work on fixing the controls of the ship. "If I were you, I'd give Helga your info so she can better assist you. You're gonna want to make friends with her because I won't be here and she'll replace me in knowledge and fixing stuff."

"Indeed. I wish to become of great use to everyone here. I will also give information about anything and everything you wish to know such as family backstories, battle tactics, and the current news of planet Zakuul and its ruler. I highly implore that you not abuse my systems for you will anger my master as well as myself."

Kire smiled at Helga's explanation and seemed to even amaze himself as to how far his capabilities were.

"Anywho, you got nothin' to worry about. Helga isn't like one of those murderous computers like HAL or that Terminator dude. She's as tame as a puppy."
 
((Yup, Directive 7))

=====================

Vegetto Jr. broke out into a warm smile, tightening his grip around Jaz's upper back.

"It's alright Jaz...I'm sorry too. I promise I won't leave you. Not again."

He then perked his head up, watching Beerus casually float past the two with his arms clasped behind his back.

"Come along now, children. We should return to the ship."

======================

Koth turned his head up to the massive screen, his eyes wide and silent while Helga introduced itself to the group. Gogeta Jr. blinked at the mention of his name, frowning slightly and glancing away at the mention of his father promptly.

Koth, however, still grasped tightly onto Kire's collar with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, where is it you intend to go? And I still don't trust this AI...even if you gave her a name. She could still seize control of this ship, one way or another!"

=======================

Janembuu snarled at the blast, skidding along the ground after the explosion caused from Xenest's attack. He turned his head in time to see Brachi's Destructo disk cleanly sever him into two, his upper body slowly tilting off to the right and falling towards the ground.

However, the monster chuckled darkly as his upper half floated up, arms steadily at his side. With a small roar, a pair of matching legs suddenly regenerated from the middle of his cut body. The original pair of legs shifted slightly, the upper half of the monster's regenerating from the cut split.

The two monsters now stood side by side with matching smirks, their sinister stares trained on Brachi and Xenest. Both bolted towards the fights, rapidly closing the gap and launching a barrage of punches and kicks.

========================

Vegetto clenched his fists tightly, his narrowed eyes watching the scene unfold and Janembuu creating a clone of himself from Brachi's deadly strike. He glanced down, Solaris' question falling deaf on his ears in his heavy thought.

If he could do it...then I have to be close.

The fusion slowly lifted his head, exhaling deeply and raising his fists. His muscles tensed heavily, grinding his teeth together before letting out another bellowing roar.

"Kaioken!"

Vegetto gasped suddenly, his whole body violently twitching as the red aura violently surged around his body. Sinister red lightning swirled and struck at the ground around his body, his energy signature rising massively. However, Vegetto began to pant heavily, his legs beginning to shake.

"How....I've only used...the smallest multiplier..."

Vegetto grunted heavily, dropping down onto his left knee and tightly clutching onto his chest.

"Why...am I so damaged?!"

=============================

"You're sure of it?"

Arcann's narrowed eye studied the reading in front of him, sitting down in his throne with the small datapad in front of him. At the edge of the throne, a lone man clad in simple white robes bowed his head slightly.

"It's unmistakable. The large surge in power originating from the source was godly ki, although the shockwave was ineffective in damaging whatever it was targetting. But there's no mistaking it: there are only three beings left in this universe capable of that power. You, the High Justice, and-"

"The Sith Emperor."

The robed man instantly fell silent, watching Arcann rapidly rise to his feet.

"I have sat on this throne for too long. Assemble the Fleet: by the end of this day, I will have the Outlanders' heads."
 
Brachi and Xenest were forced on the defensive as the two Janembuus attacked them, but they withstood the attacks, with Brachi teleporting behind her clone and unleashing a vicious Meteor Crash assault in retaliation.

Xenest on the other hand also teleported away, before blasting Janembuu from below with numerous Orochi Skull Pillars to send the monster flying.
 
"Guess not." Solaris muttered as he put his plan into action, looking at the three orbs he had created, his blue Star Form's aura discharging brightly as he created dozens of fist sized blue orbs from his remaining power and the three large orbs he had created. Afterwords he dropped out of his secondary transformation, remaining solely in Dread Saiyan.

"Let's hope this works..." He spread out the orbs all over the area, dangling in the air before dropping out of Dread Saiyan as well, holding a single blue orb in his hand.

---

"You're just as wanted for 'crimes' against the Eternal Empire as the rest of us." Kira warned. "Splitting up the group... Last time we did that..." She shuddered at the thought.
 
"Y-You're such a dork, y'know..." Jaz sniffled but finally brushed away any and all signs of sorrow when Junior held her as tight as he did. Her cheeks turned red but she can pass it off as her crying if anyone asked. She smiled at Junior then turned her head to Beerus, nodding in return.

"Mr. Beerus is right, we should head back." Jaz flicked Junior's head playfully. "Do you have any idea how long I flew to find you? I still need work on flying because I think I use a lot more energy than I need to... I'm sure it'll come to me. Still... it's kinda weird that I can fly and sense energy."

Jaz tried her best to fly but she seemed too tired to move very far. She looked at Junior and scratched the back of her head, almost a little embarrassed to show him how well she flew without him having to teach her.

"You might have to carry me back tho', I don't know how long I can fly for."

=======

Kire sighed at the rebellion that Koth presented to him. He rolled his eyes at Koth's worry about Helga. 

"Listen, Helga isn't gonna take over your ship." Kire shrugged. "Even if she could, what can she do with it? Nuffin'. I know you're worried and all but trust me, I'm not here to stab any backs. You guys helped out my little girl, so I'm just repaying the favor for you guys."

"Affirmative. Master has informed me of the great deeds you all have done for Lady Jaz." Helga butted in. "I wish to aid you as best I can but I can see why Sir Koth is rather distasteful of my programming and state of being."

"Like I said, Helga is as tame as a puppy and she wouldn't do anything unless I command it." Kire paused for a moment. "However, Koth has special dibs on Helga too. This is his ship, after all. You all got dibs on Helga, just ask her something and she'll answer you."

"I will do my best to gather the information you all need."

Kire pushed himself away from Koth, dusting his shoulders and fixing his collar. His eyes narrowed when people asked where he was heading to.

"As for where I'm going, that is none of your business. I can't tell you all my secrets, right?" Kire offered a sly smile. "Let's just say I wanna let the record straight with someone. That's all ya'll need t' know."

Kire walked to his lab while Helga was working intently on a several small devices that appeared to be almost like mini teleportation devices and an arm that had several wires on it. The tips of the fingers seemed to be transparent however. Whatever Kire was planning, he needed to completely change his entire body. He stood at the door and turned to the others, giving them a large smile. 

"While I'm gone, don't be fightin'. I expect ya'll to keep an eye on Jaz for the meanwhile." Kire closed the door to his lab with a loud slam only to open it again to poke his head out. This time, his smile was more sheepish, a little embarrassed. "And I fixed your controls, Koth. Have fun." He slammed the door again and turned to Helga with a more serious look on his face.

"Lock the door, Helga, I got work t' do..."

"Yes master."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom