Going Native: Smell of Freedom (ch.26) (Patreon)

The Champion scarab was on top of me almost as soon as Fasha caught the scouter. Flipping around, I dodged a missile and with the same action, I slashed at another. These weren't the black holes ones, I realized when I felt my eyebrows singe when I was blasted in the face with what felt like the intensity of a sun. The explosion claimed a part of the ruined space elevator, the heat so intense that parts of it began to melt. 

Through the fire, the Champion flew at me, one arm twisted in an ominous red sword while the other aimed some kind of blaster at me. It wasn't a plasma one, I knew them by sight at this point. It raced forward, steaming from the heat, and I surged forward to meet it halfway. 

The cannons on its shoulders flared to life as I neared, releasing a torrent of destruction that barely slowed me down before we clashed in a shower of sparks. I lashed out with a kick at its head, only to pull back when it's cannons shifted to take off the offending limb. The other cannon aimed at my chest, forcing me to move upwards as the Champion slashed at me. The cannon fired, carving an arc upwards as I flipped out of the way, finding myself behind the scarab. 

That wasn't right, I thought even as I attacked the exposed scarab on its back, sensing a trap. I was proven correct when the scarabs armor surged near its armpits. My eyes went wide when, in a split second, a secondary pair of arms appeared underneath the first, one of them jabbing a blaster in my face. Reacting on instinct, the ki blade that formed around my hand flattened out, shaping into a round shield that I used to deflect the blast of plasma. 

It cracked, breaking within a moment, but that was all that I needed to put some distance between us. That was new. I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all. 

The Champion shifted, turning towards me, the new fake arms shifting until they were both blasters of different types while the original arms became matching lightsabers. The cannons on its shoulder shifted, forcing me to move but I noticed that its armor was rather thin. Before I could act on the observation, a wall of plasma raced towards me from dozens of other scarabs. 

Flying upwards, doing them, I raced towards the formation of scarabs. There were just too many for me to take in a straight fight. If they got one good hit in, the Champion would finish me off before I could recover. 

"One day," I said, weaving through plasma and missiles, preparing a Kamehameha at my side. Technician needed one day to take care of the ship -- to make everything, to test it, to run safety checks and so on. One day to make sure we were ready to leave. Twenty-four hours. I don’t think that had ever seemed like such a long time before now. 

I fired off my Kamehameha, taking out a vanguard scarab and a few scouts before I dove into the wreckage of a building to catch a black hole bomb trying to sneak up on me. Bursting through the other end, I circled around, banking while scarabs fired at me.

This...was a different kind of fight, I realized as I dodged their attacks, readying two Riot Javelins as I punched through another building to avoid them for a moment. This wasn’t a simple clean fight between two opponents or a fast and brutal one. This was unlike any fight I had ever been in before. 

This was a fight of attrition. There wasn’t going to be a grand clash or an explosive finish. I couldn’t afford it. I had to keep the bulk of their numbers wrapped up on me until we could leave, and unless I could take them out with one big attack...no, I had to approach this fight differently. All my fights prior to this were fast, lasting minutes at most, and this one was going to last a full day. 

I had to pace myself. I had to chip away at their numbers. I had to assume that I was going to be fighting for the next twenty-four hours with the same intensity as I’ve spent the past...thirty minutes. That was…

I had to do it. No thoughts about if I could, I just had to do it. I said that I would, and everyone down there was relying on me to keep my word. So I would. And that was that. 

Sucking in a deep breath, I let go of the ki attack that I was building up in favor of darting forward, tearing through a building. A vanguard was waiting for me on the other side, a missile nearly impacting against my face but I dodged out of the way. A black hole flared out behind me, just not close enough to claim anything since I still had all my limbs. Closing the distance between us, I dodged a plasma blast before delivering a kick to the side of the scarabs head, reducing it to a mist. 

As soon as it was dead, more scarabs fell upon me, coming from all angles. I darted into another building, only for the champion to cut me off inside -- a concussive force slammed into me, feeling like the wall hit my insides directly before my body was sent flying out of the building before I could correct myself. Scarabs fired at me, forcing me to retreat into another building. It offered up some cover, but beams of plasma ripped though it just as easily as I had and the Champion wasn’t willing to let me go. 

It fired off another concussive blast at me. I formed a Destructo Disk in my hand before I held it up as a shield and pushed it forward. This time I didn’t feel like my organs get tenderized, so I’m guessing whatever I just did, it worked. Flicking my wrist to the side, I sent the Destructo Disk at the Champion, only for the two bright red blades to slam against the ki attack while the cannons locked onto me. It already prepped a shot, giving me only a split second to act as the Champion deflected by Destructo Disk. 

White filled my vision as I shaped another shield. This one couldn’t be flat like the others because this was a sustained blast. Curling up, the ki shield I summoned became a cone that the white-hot plasma washed over. The heat was indescribable as plasma washed over me as I channeled more and more ki to my lifeline as it was worn away just as quickly. My armor glowed, steaming from the heat, and it grew hotter until it began to melt. Sweat poured out of every pore in a vain attempt to cool me down, only to evaporate into nothing. 

It was like I was being cooked alive. The sharp pain of the heat multiplying until it was torturous. In a way, it was almost as bad as the pain of the Wrath State. But, only almost. Gritting my teeth, I channeled more ki into the shield, waiting for the blast of plasma to let up so I could make my next move. 

I survived the onslaught, and as soon as it faded, I surged forward. The Champion seemed shocked to see that I was still alive because my feet slammed into its chest and at that moment, I yanked the Destructo Disk that it had deflected out of the building back inside. The Champion reacted, blocking the attack with one arm, only for me to flare the attack to life. It rapidly expanded, warping around the blade of plasma, forcing it to use its other arm. 

The other arms aimed at me, but it was too slow on the draw. 

“Spiral Buster!” I shouted, a dark blue spiraling ki attack erupting from my hands before it made a short trip to crash against the Champion’s chest- no, not its chest. The extra set of arms condensed into a shield, a mockery of mine. With the piercing power of my attack defused, ki washed over the shield almost harmlessly. 

I crossed the distance between us, seizing the initiative, but the element of surprise was gone. The Champion surged forward to meet me and we clashed yet again. 

“Not bad Tarble,” The Champion commented as we erupted through the next few floors before leaving the building. Its voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Still, it was surprising to hear it speak at all. I figured that the Reach would take complete control over a Champion scarab. It seemed like a big risk to take. 

I grit my teeth in response as we sailed into the air, clashing with a flurry of blows while other scarabs offered support from afar. My breathing became deeper as a sinking sensation settled in my gut. How long had it been since Fasha left? Had it even been an hour yet? I didn’t have my scouter, so I couldn’t check, but it settled on me that this fight had barely begun. 

“Could you tell me if the others made it out?” The Champion scarab asked, a note of concern in its voice even as it fired a concussive blast at me that I barely managed to block. My eyes narrowed into slits -- why was it asking about the others? Wait, did it think that the others were already making an escape? Had they? I don’t think so, but if they did, then I wouldn’t know without my scouter…

How long had I been fighting? Had it been hours already and I hadn’t noticed? No, it couldn’t be. And...my team wouldn’t leave me behind like that. I knew they wouldn’t. I had my doubts before, but now I was certain that they had my back in a fight.

“How long has it been since D’xe?” The Champion continued to question, a note of desperation in its voice. The question caught me off guard, almost enough that a blood-red lightsaber nearly took my head off. Why was it asking about D’xe? “It feels like its been years…”

“Who are you?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking as I clashed against its red sabers with a shower of sparks. The Champion scarab let out a rueful chuckle after a split second, the sound was odd and sad. 

“Suppose you wouldn’t recognize me in this getup,” the Champion said as we fought to overpower one another. My mind raced, trying to figure it out until it hit me. I knew who it was. When the Champion continued, it just confirmed it for me. 

“It’s me, Leek,” the Champion scarab said and, for the briefest of seconds, I faltered. Leek made me pay for it in blood. The cannons shifted, the barrel becoming narrower in nature before a bright light shot from them. I reacted as fast as I could, but it was too late. A searing white-hot beam of plasma about as thick as a pencil punched through my chest, just above my heart. 

My arms almost buckled underneath the blow Leek rained down on me, sending me flying downwards, and with the action, I sliced through my collarbone like it wasn’t even there. The wind rushed by my ears as I raced towards the ground, recovering from the near-fatal attack. And revelation. The scarab was Leek? How? How could that be possible?

All I knew was that Leek never got off D’xe when the Reach blew it up, and the others figured that he had died. I was unconscious at the time, so all I had was second-hand details…

I slammed into the rough of a building, punching through several floors before one managed to hold my weight. My left side felt numb, and what wasn’t numb, burned. I was still alive, though, but I saw plasma rushing towards me so that was about to change in a moment. Oddly enough, the revelation that it was Leek gave me more trouble than the wound that he gave me. 

He was a member of the team. We were hardly ever close, though it wasn’t because he hadn’t tried to reach out to me, but even years later, I still recalled how he left me behind when that dragon had attacked us. It was the smart move, and understandable, and I was better off for it, but I still never shook that first impression of him. 

And now, we were the ones that left him behind on D’xe. Where he must have been captured by the Reach and a scarab was attached to him. 

I wonder if he thought we would come to rescue him?

“Ahhh,” I groaned, throwing myself out of the way of the plasma beam that obliterated the building I was in. One hand went to my shoulder, the gap was narrow, but it was noticeable. I couldn’t really move my arm that well, and my breathing was poor. The building collapsed behind me, dust obscuring me for a moment, as I fell with grace across a street. I only had a moment before I got swarmed. 

“What a pathetic show,” I muttered, tensing my muscles on my left side, trying to regain some feeling. The pain was almost a welcomed improvement. My left hand curled into a fist, showing that I still had some control, but I wasn’t sure how much good it would do when my collar bone and a few ribs were missing a quarter-inch segment. 

I told Fasha and the others that I was going to hold off the entire Reach advance for an entire day and I didn’t even last the hour. Now, I wasn’t sure if I could reasonably take on other scarabs, much less that Champion...Leek. The plan to chip away at their numbers, to stall them for however long it took...I couldn’t do it. It was a tall order when I was in perfect condition, but now I was missing a good arm and fighting with one lung. 

A slow breath entered my undamaged lung, my heart hammering at my ribs as I pushed away the self-pity. This wasn’t the time for it. 

I told them that I was going to give them all the time that they needed, so I would. End of story. I wasn’t going to let a little wound like this get in my way. If I wasn’t strong enough to do it now, then I simply had to get stronger. There were no ifs. I had to, so I was going to. 

I let the breath out slowly, savoring the feeling as I focused on the power of the oozaru. None of the others had really questioned why I chose to remain in the Wrath State for the past three days. Part of it was to make the 501st feel safe because I was there -- whenever they would use their scouters, they would see my power level and know that even if a Champion scarab came down, we would win. 

The other part was I was forcing my body to adapt to the Wrath State. The pain never faded, and I doubt it ever would, but my body adapted to the stress of the Wrath State. It was still early, far earlier than I would like, yet I didn’t have a choice. Matillo brought up the point of learning to control the amount of power I drew from the oozaru form, limiting it so it didn’t have to be a times ten. 

However, that naturally brought up the point of was it possible to increase instead? To push the power beyond a time ten multiplier to times eleven, or twelve or so on?

If there was ever a time to find out, then this was it. 

“I’m sorry Tarble,” Leek said, not content to wait for me to pull a powerup out of my ass. He rushed down at me, the blades poised to cut me into in segments with a large X. The cannons were poised on me, as were his second arms. 

The dust that surrounded us began to swirl as I dug in deep. A hum of power that surged through my veins, I pulled on it, dragging more of it from the source, the pain worsening but I could handle it. If it meant that I could make sure we all got off this planet, then I could deal with anything. 

A deep green glow emitted from my body, a shimmering aura as my hair drifted upwards…

Leek’s blades clashed against my ki blades, my muscles tightening to make up for my bones. Spark drifted away from me instead of falling on my face, as they should, the dust continued to swirl around us. A low groan escaped me, feeling the pressure of the power that coursed through me. It was like my veins weren’t large enough to hold it, and now the power of the oozaru was pressing down on my bones with enough pressure it felt like they could snap. 

I...wasn’t ready for this technique.

“I’m sorry too, Leek,” I said, a vein bulging in my forehead, my ki becoming green as it surged around my hands. Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds, and we both knew what this was. I couldn’t save him and he didn’t expect to be saved.

This was goodbye. 

With renewed strength, I slashed at Leek, arcs of green ki erupting from my ki blades with enough force that Leek was forced back. I surged upwards, dodging a white blast of plasma from his shoulder cannons, punching through the swirling mist. As soon as I did, the other scarabs fell upon me, thinking that I was weakened, but I was stronger than I’ve ever been. 

My ring rose despite my speeds, drifting upwards until it was practically in front of my nose. 

*Tarble of Planet Vegeta* the ring spoke to me in a synthetic voice. *You have-*

“Fuck off,” I snarled at the ring, weaving through plasma fire as I upped my hands together to funnel ki, prepping a Hellzone Grenade. The plan had changed. I couldn’t afford to pace myself. Not when I had no idea when this power was going to leave me or my body would give out. “You can tell the Guardians I said that.”

It barely registered that my ring was talking to me, but I had far more pressing issues to deal with. I dipped down, throwing my hands out and firing out the ki attacks, the balls of compact ki ripping through buildings as I left a trail of them behind me as I flew through the streets, Leek hot on my tail. 

*Contacting the Guardians* The ring informed me as I spun out of the way of a missile, power surging through my veins. A vein burst in my eye, dying my vision red, but I could still see, so it was fine.

*Prince Tarble-* a voice started but I didn’t have time for it. 

“Fuck off,” I swore at whoever was speaking, then I cut off the communication. Showed how useful the rings were, I had to tell them myself instead of the stupid thing passing the message along.

My ring returned to its rightful place, and at that moment, I twisted in air before clenching my fists, “Hellzone Grenade!” I shouted, dozens of ki blasts exploding in response. Buildings gave out, collapsing into each other as rubble rained down on the street below. I forced myself to take in a deep breath, letting the dust wash over me.

The plan changed. Now it was to destroy as many scarabs as I could with the time that I had. With that thought in mind, I surged forward, rushing through the mist and spared a wish that I still had my scouter while I prepared another ki attack. 

Leek rushed towards me, it's cannons firing, only this time it was another focused blast that cut through the dust and smoke. Ki shaped in my hands, forming Destructo Disks in both hands before I threw them at Leek. He dodged, but I wasn't aiming at him. The disks expanded, spinning with enough force that the dust cleared up some in their wake, revealing that I had claimed a few scarabs. 

I could feel their presence like an itch on my skin, almost. It was weak, only barely there, but it was enough to convince me it wasn't a case of there were too many scarabs for me to miss. 

Leek clashed against me in another shower of sparks, our duel continuing, only now I took the offensive. Even with four arms and two cannons, Leek was pushed back, narrowly avoiding fatal blows as we flew through the ruins of the city. He said nothing now, having said what he wanted, knowing there was no point in asking to be saved, but…

"The team's fine," I told Leek in one of our clashes. They blurred together, time impossible to track. The only thing that I could tell was that the number of scarabs was being chipped away. I could only hope it was because I was killing them and they weren't slipping around me. "Everyone got out alive on D'xe." Except for him, I added silently to myself. 

Leek didn't respond at that time. He didn't respond for another three clashes, each one broken up with me attacking the supporting scarabs, chipping away at their numbers. I couldn't tell if each clash was minutes apart or hours. When he did, it was a voice tinged with sadness, "is Bardock here?" He asked, and I didn't answer. 

The Reach had to be listening in on our conversation, even if they were letting Leek speak to mess with my head. Bardock being promoted was old news for us, but in regular time, he just got promoted to the Ginyu squad. Did the Reach think that Bardock was here? Did it change anything if he wasn't? 

Three more clashes passed before I answered, "he's not. He got promoted," I explained, leaving the details vague. With any luck, whoever was listening to our conversation would underestimate us. 

"Oh…" Leek sounded an odd mix between relieved and disappointed, our clash continued in silence for some time. "Could you tell him something for me? Could you tell him that I'm sorry for not being there when his dream comes true?" 

Leek broke off before I could answer, my voice rough from my heavy breathing. Blood poured from my nose like a broken faucet, dripping from my face in a river even though I hadn't been hit in the face. My vision was covered with red, almost to the point I couldn't see. My bones ached, creaking under the strain I placed on them while a cold numb sensation started in my fingertips. 

"I tell him," I told Leek, promising myself that I would. To do that, I had to survive this. I had to live, I had to get off this planet. But, even as I thought that I felt my body begin to buckle underneath the weight of my strength. I could feel it, I didn't have a lot of time left in this form. 

"Thank you Tarble," Leek said as we clashed again over the mouth of the tunnel that lead down to the base. 

However, his thanks was undercut by a blood-red lightsaber plunging into me. I felt the burning sensation, prompting me to look down at it, only my ability to fly prevented me from cutting myself in half. My ki blade was in a position to block, but...I guess I didn't manage in time. Huh. I didn't even see the blow coming, having trusted my body to react- wait, was I bigger- 

Leek yanked his blade out, carving through my organs, the blade exiting around my hip. 

"TARBLE!" I heard someone scream as I fell, my head full of fog. I replayed the last few seconds, trying to puzzle out how exactly Leek managed to sneak that attack in, only for my thoughts to be interrupted as I got the ground so hard that I bounced. 

My mask was making it impossible to enjoy the cool feeling of the shielding that protected the planet, my body having long since run out of water to cool myself down. And the hard suit wasn't helping much either. At the very least, the awful pressure crushing my body was gone, and now that it was, I felt so light I could float away. 

It was only then that I realized that I had lost. 

“It’s okay,” a woman’s voice told me as I laid in the rubble. Everything had a red haze to it, but I saw a pair of feet walking towards me, a brown tail left uncurled just barely in view. That wasn’t good, she should be wearing her armor, not whatever clothes she had managed to scrounge up. The saiyan woman knelt down next to me, laying her hand over my much smaller hand, prompting me to look up at her. 

I didn’t recognize her. Her skin was a stark white, as white as white paint rather than a pale skin tone. Her eyes were a dark gray, one of them had a swirl mark that told me that the saiyan was wearing war paint? No, that it was called makeup, or something. Her lips were painted black as well, while her shaggy mane of hair brushed just past her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing normal clothing either, her build slender rather than muscular...if it wasn’t for the tail, I wouldn’t be sure if she was a saiyan at all. 

“It’s all going to be okay,” she whispered, her voice kind as she squeezed my hand. Her voice was familiar. 

“I know you,” I muttered, my head getting foggy. It was getting hard to think. Like my head was full of cotton. 

The unknown saiyan smiled lightly at me, “we’ve met once before.” She answered mysteriously, making my face twist as I tried to recall when we had met. We...oh…

“I’m dying,” I summarized, my tone flat. The woman paused, giving me a slow nod to confirm my words. 

“You are,” she agreed, her tone gentle and kind. “But everything will be okay. You don’t have to be afraid,” her voice was soothing, and my eyelids felt heavy. When was the last time I slept? Three days ago, at least. Maybe four since I had no idea how long I was fighting for. A nap sounded nice...but…

“What about my team?” I asked, willing my eyes open. The fog in my head grew denser with every second, but I pushed it away all the same. The woman smiled lightly at me, brushing the lock of hair that fell into my eyes away. Her fingers were cool to the touch. 

“They’ll be fine. They’re going to get off the planet, and live out long happy lives,” she promised me. I blinked slowly at that, mulling it over for a second that could have been an eternity for all I knew. 

“You’re lying,” I accused without any real heat behind my words. There was no way that was true. Not with Leek blocking our way. With me dead, we didn’t have a counter to him. 

The woman’s smile became sad, “most don’t want the truth when they’re facing the end.” That was fair, I guess. Now, all I felt was...regret. Regrets that I-

“Oi! Tarble!” Another voice spoke up, interrupting my thoughts by the man smacking the side of my head a few times. “Sheesh, you said you’d be in rough shape, but this is something else. Hey, are you even still alive? Oi, Tarble, don’t die yet!” The owner of the voice shifted me over, letting me get a look at him. 

Another saiyan that I’ve never seen before. He wore armor that almost looked like Frieza-force armor, but it looked like it was made of bone, while he wore some kind of skirt. Wait, no, it wasn’t a skirt, it was the bottom half of his tunic thing that ended around his knees. I blinked slowly at him, idly noting that the air seemed to shimmer around him...like a red aura, almost. 

“King...Vegeta…?” I questioned, thinking that the man looked like King Vegeta if he shaved his goatee and had a slimmer build. He had the same hair, and face...but instead of being twisted in cold disdain as he looked down at me, the saiyan’s face was almost comical with his concern. 

“Ah, no, I’m-” The saiyan seemed to catch himself before he gave a careless shrug. “That’s not important right now. You’ll find out eventually. But, you told me to tell you something,” the saiyan said seriously as if that made absolutely any sense. How could I tell him to tell me something if I’ve never met the guy in my life? What? 

“If you don’t get up right now, then you won’t just die another pointless death...but so will everyone else,” the saiyan with the simmering red aura told me, his tone becoming serious. I blinked slowly at that, my mind slowly mulling over what he said.

He was right. If I didn’t at least take out Leek, then everyone was going to die. Everything would have been for absolutely nothing. 

My gaze landed on the woman saiyan, who looked at the male saiyan with a hint of amusement before her gaze settled on me. She gave my hand a small squeeze, an offer to...die. To leave the responsibilities of this life behind and...move on. In the end, I responded with actions rather than words. 

I pulled my hand from her grasp, a low groan escaping me as I pushed myself up, one hand going to my stomach to keep my insides from falling out. I made it to my knees before I had to take a moment, glancing around me to say something to either the man or the woman. 

Only to see both of them were gone. Had I imagined them?

No, it didn’t matter. I looked up to see my team was fighting against Leek. Had they mastered their Wrath State- my heart dropped when I watched Leek’s blood-red blade tear through one of Borgos’ arms. The others were hanging back, firing off techniques that I barely recognized since they were so much more powerful. They only lasted for seconds before they fled their position. 

They were moving too fast for me to see. The red haze that covered my vision was getting darker, my eyesight seemed to narrow as I tried to follow the fight. My team was losing. They were already one man down, and it wouldn’t be long before Leek picked them off one by one. I wonder if he had said anything to them. I hope not. I…

“My prince!” Someone shouted, breaking my concentration. My vision swam, but I saw it was Lotuce. She stared at me with wide eyes, and I guess I must look quite the sight. Her shock only lasted a moment before she rushed towards me, muttering a quick ‘hold still’ before I felt her press something to my wounded torso. A foam like substance filled the gap that the blade of contained plasma carved through me, freeing up a hand so I didn’t have to worry about my guts falling out. 

“What are you…?” Words felt clumsy and my head was still foggy. Was I breathing? Ah, I think I forgot to do that for a little bit. 

“We’re securing the exit point, the ship is on its way,” Lotuce explained, but that didn’t make any sense at all. This wasn’t an entrance that we made, was it? No…? No, it’s not. “We’re taking a page out of your book. They’ll never expect us to leave out of this exit when we bothered to make others,” she explained as she put more of that foam in my collarbone and chest. It soothed the burns, making them comfortably numb, and that was a bad thing at the moment. 

“...how long?” I asked, looking back at the fight that still raged. I hadn’t noticed, but there were others joining in. There were dozens of oozarus, some of them firing randomly...and I saw them die underneath the attacks of vanguard scarabs flying around. There weren’t many of them, surprisingly, only a few, and that number went down even further when the few oozarus that could control themselves attacked them in return. 

“Not long, the ships almost here,” Lotuce answered me, getting a slow nod.

Leek was still fighting, and so long as he was here, we couldn’t leave. No one could distract him long enough to keep the scarab that controlled him from destroying the ship. 

He had to die.

A hand went up to my mask before I tore it off my face, savoring the taste of smog and dust-filled air simply because it didn’t burn to breathe. My feet settled in a wide stance before my hands cupped at my side, a flicker of ki forming between my hands. A paltry amount to what I could normally produce. 

“My prince?” Lotuce questioned, but I ignored her, trying to track Leek with my eyes but he was just too fast. He darted around, battling against my team as they attacked him with coordination that puzzled me. Each one only fought him for a few seconds before another would attack to draw his attention. 

“When...I go Ha...for a second time...I want you to tell my team to back off,” I told her, remembering to breathe as I channeled more ki between my hands. I looked within, finding the power of the oozaru and pulling it forward. A pain that was familiar to me returned, nearly overwhelming me, but I savored the pain. It gave me focus.

I still couldn’t track Leek with my eyes. He darted around, between and through buildings, zigzagging through the sky as he fought against my team and the oozarus taking potshots at him. Slowly, my eyes drifted closed, plunging my world into darkness. My hearing was muddled, I realized, the battle sounding like it was taking place underwater. 

The lack of sight and hearing sharpened my other senses, that itch that I felt earlier stood out that much more now that I was looking for it. I focused on it, submerging myself in the feeling and-

I could sense my team. Their presence flared for seconds at a time, before reducing to their base state. The oozarus had their own kind of pressure -- they were so large and dense and heavy, that it was like they had a physical weight bearing down on me simply by existing. I felt Lotuce next to me, like a small candle in comparison to roaring bonfires. 

It wasn’t unfamiliar to me, I noticed. I felt this before, but I never dwelled on it. The tug in my gut when I was in the presence of a powerful opponent -- all the way back when I was fighting saibamen and there was only a thin door separating us, but I could still feel their presence. Back when I stood before Lord Frieza and I realized how completely and utterly out of my depth I was. I felt this feeling before. I just never tried to use it for anything before.

Leek was a working-class saiyan. His presence was so small, that I nearly missed him, expecting to feel a vast presence because of the scarab that controlled him. Instead, his flame was weak, barely there, almost flickering in the wind. At one time, Leek had a power level of over a thousand, but now...it was like he was already half dead. 

Killing him was a mercy. 

“Ka…” I started, channeling more ki to my hands, a bright blue glow emitting between my fingers. I had one shot at this. I had to bet everything on this attack -- whatever dregs of power I had left, I had to use them. “Me…”

I felt the wind stir on my clammy skin, rubble rising as I gathered more power. Already, I was feeling the pressure of my attack, the compressed ball of ki wanting to unleash, but it was too soon. It wasn’t strong enough yet. “Ha...Me…” I continued, hoping that Lotuce didn’t jump the gun. She didn’t. 

I tracked Leek with this new sense, following him, learning his patterns, and as I did, I felt thousands of other presences creep forward. The ship was coming up. 

I’m sorry it had to end this way, Leek.

“HAAAAAAAAA!!!!” I launched my Kamehameha, the greatest I had ever used. Lotuce shouted her warning through her scouter as a pillar of ki raced upwards. There was no comparing it to any other attack I had made before -- even through my closed eyes, I could see the bright light it was emitting, the pressure it gave off blew back my hair and pushed against my fingers hard enough they threatened to snap backward. My feet sunk into the ground, the metal plating unable to withstand the pressure. 

I felt the others get out of the way, but it was too late for Leek to do the same. My attack washed over him, pushing him back, carrying him to the atmosphere. His presence grew weaker, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he was getting further away. I couldn’t risk it. I needed...even more...power!

The dregs of the oozaru power surged forward, pushing myself even further past the limit. The Kamehameha surged with even greater strength, the ground buckling under the pressure. I felt like doing the same when that awful pressure returned, it felt like my bones were going to break from my own power. 

Then, Leek’s presence vanished.

My attack tapered off, my eyes opening to see the aftermath. The skies had cleared, revealing a hole in the sky that grew larger with every second. The fleet that was positioned above was recoiling as several ships drifted downwards, destroyed and breaking up into pieces as gravity tore them apart. They spread out, taking another formation, but the ships were out of place. An opening for us to leave through. 

At that same moment, the ship surged out of the tunnel, sailing overhead towards the opening that I had created.

I did it.

The last thing I was aware of was a pair of hands that caught me before everything went black.