Late release, I rewrote nearly all the 4 drafts I made for this chapter lol. I am starting to get backed into a wall. But I finally wrote something I was satisfied with. Though it is shorter than the average chapter.
-
The sun dipped below the clouds, casting long, bruised shadows across the white tiles of the Lookout. I walked toward my assigned quarters, my mind buzzing with the memories of these few days.
I decided to wait for the earth's Dragon ball to wish Ruca of the planet.
I sat on the edge of the sleeping mat, listening to the wind howl at this altitude.
I closed my eyes.
I laid back, staring at the stone ceiling.
"Focus," I whispered. "Tomorrow, we push harder."
--
The pre-dawn light was grey and thin. The air was cold enough to crack stone.
I stood in the center of the plaza, my breath misting in front of me. Kami stood opposite, leaning on his staff.
"Begin," Kami said.
I moved. I kept my energy tightly coiled, focusing on the movements Roshi had drilled into me.
I launched a series of precise jabs, aiming for the air around Kami. He swayed, simply, the tip of his staff tracking my movements perfectly.
Suddenly, Kami slammed the staff onto the tiles.
CLACK.
"Stop," he ordered.
I froze mid-punch. "Master?"
"Your spirit is turbulent," Kami observed, his eyes narrowing. "You are moving, but your mind is elsewhere. It is heavy. Distracted."
I lowered my hand, straightening up. I tried to mask it, but he was right. The frustration had been gnawing at me for days.
"I feel slow," I admitted, looking at my hands. "I am training with the best masters. But..."
I clenched my fist.
"It isn't enough. There are so many monsters, Kami. My progression is steady, but 'steady' won't stop me from dying. I need a leap. I need an explosion."
Kami studied me for a moment. He walked to the edge of the Lookout, looking down at the clouds.
"Patience is a weapon, Cress," Kami said softly. "A tree that grows too fast has weak roots. It falls in the first storm."
"I don't have time to grow roots," I countered. "The storm could strike any moment."
Kami turned back. "There is... another way. A room where time flows differently. A day outside is a year inside. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
My eyes widened. The Room of Spirit and Time.
"But," Kami raised a finger, his expression grave. "It is harsh. The gravity fluctuates. The air is thin. The temperature swings from burning to freezing in seconds. And you can only enter for two years total in your lifetime. Once you use it, the door closes forever."
He looked me in the eye.
"Is the situation truly dire enough to burn that bridge now? Are you at the precipice?"
I hesitated.
Was I? Frieza was on Vegeta, yes. But I wasn't on his Radars. If I used the Chamber now, I would gain power, but I would lose my trump card for later. If I hit a wall later, I would be regretting this decision.
"No," I said slowly. "Not yet. I need to save that card."
"Then you must find another path," Kami said. "If you cannot increase the volume of your spirit quickly, you must change its shape. You need a... how do you say it? A Joker."
A Joker.
A transformation.
My mind flashed to Broly. The Ikari form. The ability to channel the power of the Great Ape without losing the human form.
"I have an idea," I said, stepping forward. "My race... we transform under a full moon. We become Great Apes. The power multiplies tenfold."
Kami raised an eyebrow. "Tenfold? That is significant."
"But we become large targets," I explained. "And usually, we lose our minds. I learned to control the mind, but the form is rigid. I want to access that power... without the size. I want to condense it."
"Condense the beast?" Kami mused. "An intriguing concept."
He smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Show me this Great Ape form. I hope your control is as absolute as you claim. I am quite fond of my temple."
"No worries, Master," I assured him. "I managed to fully control it years ago."
--
We flew far from the Lookout, far from any city. The landscape here was jagged rock and dry canyons, a desolate scar on the beautiful planet.
Kami and Mr. Popo floated a safe distance away.
I stood on a high plateau.
"Here goes," I muttered.
I raised my hand. I gathered Ki in my palm, mixing it with the planetary atmosphere to create a condensed ball of energy that mimicked the Blutz Waves of the moon.
The power ball.
I threw the sphere into the sky. It expanded, glowing with a pale, sickly light. An artificial moon.
I looked at it.
Thump-thump.
The reaction was instant. My heart hammered against my ribs. The red haze tried to descend, but my mental fortress held.
My body expanded. Fur sprouted. Bones cracked and lengthened.
"GRAAAH!"
The roar shattered the silence of the wasteland.
I grew.
I stood there, a mountain of brown fur and muscle. I looked down at my hands. They were massive claws.
I turned my head toward Kami.
"It is done," I rumbled. My voice was deep.
Kami floated higher, hovering near my face. His eyes were wide. He could sense the raw magnitude of the energy now. It wasn't just physical strength; it was a torrent of Ki.
"Incredible," Kami whispered. "The volume of spirit is... overwhelming."
"But I am stuck," I said, gesturing to my massive body. "I can't compress this. How do I keep the power while staying at my normal size?"
Kami flew closer. He landed gently on the top of my head, settling into the thick fur.
"Sit," Kami commanded. "Make yourself comfortable."
I grunted, sitting down on the plateau. The rock groaned under my weight.
Kami placed his hand on my forehead.
"The moon is merely a catalyst," Kami said, his voice echoing in my mind. "It triggers a reaction, yes. But the power? The power does not come from the moon, Cress. It comes from you. It resides in yourself."
He tapped my forehead.
"Therefore, you do not need the moon. You need to find the source of the reaction within yourself. You need to find the beast."
"Find the beast," I repeated.
"I will guide you," Kami said. "A meditation technique to sound the depths of your spirit. You must remain in this form. Do not revert."
"I am ready."
"Close your eyes."
I closed my massive eyelids.
"Look inward."
--
The darkness behind my eyes shifted.
It wasn't the usual black void of meditation. It was a swirling, chaotic mist.
"Go deeper," Kami's voice guided me.
I fell.
The mist cleared.
I was standing in a room. It was the apartment in the Iron District.
I saw myself. A toddler, dragging my body across the floor under 10x gravity. I saw the struggle. The pain.
The scene shifted.
I was in the depot, lifting crates. I was sweating, my muscles screaming.
'Why do you fight?' a voice asked. It wasn't Kami. It was me.
"To survive," I answered.
The scene shifted again.
I was on Arlia 4. I was cutting the mercenary in half. I saw the gore. I saw the vomit on my chin.
Why do you kill?
"Because I have to."
The memories accelerated.
Me bowing to Zarbon. Me lying to the King. Me manipulating Ruca.
You act, the voice said. You pretend to be a Saiyan.
I paused.
The scene changed. I was back on Earth, in my previous life. I was sitting on a couch, watching Dragon Ball Z. I was eating chips. I was safe. I was human.
You reject this body, the voice accused. You think of yourself as a human piloting a meat suit. You despise the instincts. You suppress the joy of battle because you think it makes you a monster.
I watched the human me. He looked soft. Weak.
"I am human," I whispered.
Are you?
The scene shattered.
I was back on Planet Meat. I was the Oozaru. I was destroying the fortress.
But this time, I didn't look away. I watched myself.
I saw the grin on the Ape's face.
It wasn't just rage. It was... ecstasy.
The thrill of power. The joy of being the strongest thing alive.
You love it, the voice said. You love the fight. You love the blood. You love being a Saiyan.
I tried to deny it. No. I don't like it, it was just fiction for me.
Lies, the voice roared.
New memories flooded in.
Sparring with Ruca. Fighting the Lieutenant. The rush of adrenaline when I realized I could win.
Standing up to the Prince. The satisfaction of putting him in the dirt.
I wasn't doing those things just to survive. I was doing them because I wanted to.
I realized the disconnect.
I had been trying to access the Oozaru power, the essence of the Saiyan race, while subconsciously rejecting my own nature. I was trying to open a door while holding it shut.
"I am a Saiyan," I whispered.
It wasn't an admission of defeat. It was an acceptance of reality.
I wasn't a human anymore. That life was dead.
I was Cress. I was a warrior.
And that was okay.
The beast is not separate, the voice whispered, fading away. The beast is you.
I felt a click deep in my soul. A barrier I didn't know existed shattered.
The energy that had been locked away, the primal, roaring power of the Oozaru, didn't flood me. It integrated.
It became quiet.
--
I was sitting in the barracks, polishing my boots.
The room was noisy.
Suddenly, the world went grey.
The connection to the Main Body, the constant, low-level hum of shared consciousness, snapped.
It didn't break. It just... stopped.
It felt like the Main Body had fallen into a coma. Or a deep sleep so profound that the signal couldn't escape.
I froze, the polishing rag hovering over the leather.
I checked my own status. I was still here. I was still solid.
I remembered the start of the meditation. Kami's voice. The command to look inward.
Then, static.
--
The silence in my head was louder than the roar of the engines.
It had been three months since the connection to the Main Body stopped.
I sat in the cargo hold, staring at my hands.
I clenched my fist. The glove creaked. The last three months had been a gauntlet of constant deployments. We had burned worlds, and with every battle, my body had hardened. The Zenkais were consistent.
I checked my internal reading.
24,000.
I was stronger now than I had been combined before the split.
"You're doing it again."
I looked up. Ruca was standing over me.
"Doing what?"
"Staring at nothing," she said, sitting down on a crate opposite me. "You always look like that recently."
"Just thinking," I said.
Ruca leaned forward. "How's the sensing coming along?"
"Better," I said. "But you're still relying on your eyes too much. You need to feel the pressure before you see the target."
She frowned, concentrating. "It's hard. It feels like... noise. Like trying to hear a whisper in while everyone is screaming."
"Keep trying," I said.
"Hey! Mom! Dad!"
Nappa's booming voice cut through the hold. The giant Saiyan lumbered in, scratching his head.
"Quit flirting and gear up," Nappa laughed. "We're dropping in ten. And try to keep the nursery alive this time. This mission is a hard one"
I rolled my eyes. "We're just doing the job, Nappa."
Ruca stayed silent. She didn't snap back. She didn't throw a retort. She just looked down at her gloves, a small, unreadable expression on her face.
I watched her. She wasn't annoyed.
"This isn't a standard purge," Nappa continued, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Direct order from the Force. High priority. Planet Beluria. The locals are aggressive."
--
We landed in a dense, fungal jungle. The air was thick with spores and humidity.
"Split up!" Nappa ordered. "Zuto, Toma, on me! We take the capital city! Cress, Ruca, take the kids and secure the flanks! Don't let them circle us!"
He blasted off toward the gleaming silver towers in the distance.
I turned to my team.
Vegeta stood with his arms crossed, looking bored. Raditz was double-checking his blaster, his hands shaking slightly. Broly was staring at a giant mushroom, calm and silent.
"Move out," I ordered. "Vegeta, point. Raditz, rear guard. Broly, center. Ruca and I will flank."
We moved into the jungle.
The Belurians didn't wait. They swarmed.
They dropped from the canopy like rain. They were humanoid, but feline, with sleek fur and razor-sharp claws that glowed with energy.
"Contact!" Vegeta shouted.
He fired a volley of blasts, vaporizing three attackers instantly.
"Too slow!" Vegeta laughed, spinning and kicking a Belurian in the head.
He was efficient, deadly, and completely arrogant. He left his back open constantly, assuming his offense was defense enough.
I moved in a blur, snapping the neck of a Belurian that was about to pounce on the Prince.
"Check your corners!" I barked.
"I had it!" Vegeta snapped back, not breaking stride.
Raditz was struggling. "There's too many!" he screamed, firing wild shots into the trees. "Work harder! Work harder!" he chanted to himself, trying to channel my advice, but the sheer ferocity of the locals was overwhelming him.
Broly was a statue in the chaos.
A Belurian charged him. Broly raised a hand.
BOOM.
A green blast vaporized the attacker from twenty meters away.
"Distance," Broly whispered to himself.
Then, the trees exploded.
A specialized squad of Belurian Elites dropped in. They wore heavy armor and carried vibro-spears.
They ignored Vegeta. They ignored Broly. They targeted the weak link.
Three of them lunged at Raditz simultaneously.
"Help!" Raditz shrieked.
A spear tip caught him in the gut. It pierced the side of his armor, sinking into flesh.
"GAAAH!" Raditz fell, clutching his stomach, blood pouring over his hands.
Broly saw it.
He saw the blood. He saw the spear.
His eyes widened. His breathing hitched.
Danger. Pack member down.
The air around Broly began to vibrate. His power level spiked. 10,000... 12,000...
"Broly!"
I was there instantly. I grabbed his face with both hands, forcing him to look away from Raditz.
"Look at me!" I commanded.
Broly's eyes were losing focus, the rage creeping in.
"Raditz is fine!" I lied, my voice firm, anchoring him. "Ruca has him! Breathe! If you explode now, you kill him! Do you understand? You kill him!"
Broly stared into my eyes. He saw the calm. He saw the control.
He took a shuddering breath. The green aura flickered and died.
"I... control," Broly whispered.
"Good." I released him. "Stay here. Guard him."
I turned. Ruca had already dragged Raditz to cover and was cauterizing the wound with a small energy blast. Raditz was sobbing, but alive.
"Secure!" Ruca shouted.
We had stabilized the flank. We were winning.
Then, the comms crackled.
"FALL BACK!"
It was Nappa. He wasn't roaring. He was screaming.
"It's a trap! There are thousands of them! They have heavy walkers! Fall back to the Land-Zone!"
Three figures burst out of the jungle ahead of us.
It was Nappa's group.
They were running.
Nappa was bleeding heavily from a gash on his forehead. Toma was limping, her armor shredded. And Nappa was dragging Zuto by the ankle. Zuto was unconscious, his chest plate caved in, bubbling pink froth at the mouth.
"Move!" Nappa yelled as he passed us. "Get to the ships!"
I looked behind them.
The jungle was moving. A wall of Belurian soldiers, supported by massive, four-legged walkers with heavy cannons, was crushing the trees as they advanced.
"Retreat!" I ordered. "Vegeta, grab Raditz! Broly, move!"
We flew fast.
"We can't take off!" Ruca shouted, firing back at the horde. "The anti-air cannons will shred the pods!"
"We have to clear the walkers first!" I yelled.
But we were pinned. We were stuck in the clearing, backs to the ships, facing an army.
I looked up. The sky was bright. No moon.
"No Power Ball," I hissed. "Too much pressure. If I stop to charge it, they overrun us."
We were stuck in base form.
Then, luck ran out.
A sniper on a distant walker took a shot. It wasn't aimed at me.
It hit Broly.
A high-velocity energy round slammed into Broly's shoulder. It shattered his pauldron and tore through the muscle.
Blood sprayed.
Broly stumbled back, clutching his shoulder. He looked at his hand. It was covered in red.
He looked up. He saw Raditz bleeding on the ground. He saw Zuto dying. He saw the army closing in.
Pain. Fear. Chaos.
He looked for me.
"Cress..." he whispered.
But I was engaged, fighting three Belurians at once. I couldn't get to him.
Broly turned his head. He looked at the enemy.
The anchor snapped.
"GRAAAAAAAH!"