Going Native: Feeling the Burn (ch. 63) (Patreon)

"Focus on Broly," I told Shayera in a low whisper as Mongul looked at us. There wasn't a point in hiding it. He knew what our next move would be, "and take my capsules." I couldn't give them to her because my hands were encased in Nth Metal. As her hand dipped down, Mongul sprung into action, as did Vegeta.

They clashed in the middle of Mongul coming to me. A wordless roar ripped itself from Vegeta's throat as he threw a punch that Mongul effortlessly blocked. Yet the Warlord was pushed back underneath a barrage of fists and kicks. Shayera took that moment to take the capsules from my belt and fly off to the left while I went to the right. I had quite a few, but it was obvious which one she would need to use. I just had to give her time to use it.

With that thought in mind, I leaped to the right, the ground warping underneath my foot when I slammed it down to pivot. Mongul looked at me out of the corner of an eye, and he paid for it with a punch by Vegeta to the face. He wasn't flung back, and that told me that Mongul had regained his ability to fly. Meaning that Vegeta felt the worst of the blow. My lips thinned as I threw myself at the alien, my body hiding surprising strength from me.

I raced forward in a blur, and Mongul shifted to face me. A hand lunged for me, intent on engulfing my skull to crush it like an egg. Without my ability to fly, I couldn't dodge on a dime anymore. Gritting my teeth, I slammed a fist into the palm of his hand -- the recently healed bones were still full of fractures I found when I felt one snap under the force of my own punch. But, despite the considerable difference in power, I managed to knock Mongul's hand away.

All the while, Vegeta went high. Fists rained down on Mongul, each one hurting Vegeta more than Mongul, but we were splitting his attention. Using the momentary shock, I seized the opportunity to punch Mongul in the knee, hoping to kneecap him. I heard the Warlord make a sound of annoyance rather than pain. Every instinct I had screamed at me to back off, so I threw myself back. At that same moment, I only just barely avoided a hand swipe that would have killed me and painted the walls with what was left.

Vegeta wasn't so lucky. A hand darted out, grabbing his leg, and I heard bone crunch in Mongul's grip before I threw myself back at Mongul. Vegeta wasn't so weak that he would let a crushed leg give him any pause, and he proved it. Violent red ki formed in his hands, a rapid-fire Galick Gun. The same moment as the ki washed over Mongul, blocking his vision, I jumped up and slammed a fist into the bottom of his elbow. It was impossible to tell if the action hurt him any, but Vegeta was able to slip out of his grasp without having to tear anything off.

I only realized it had been a trap when I felt something slam into me. At first, I thought it was a fist from Mongul, but the fact that I was still alive convinced me that couldn’t be the case. Before I was sent flying off, I saw Vegeta had kicked me in the ribs. At that same second, a fist did lash out where I had been, narrowly avoiding me. His expression was twisted into a scowl, but with that action both of us managed to survive another second in the fight against Mongul.

“How dare you get involved in my fight!” Vegeta snapped at me, and I couldn’t tell if he actually meant the words or he was just trying to buy time for me to get control over myself. I felt a pull when I shot away, my ribs aching, and it was enough for me to right myself and touch down on the ground instead of flying through a wall.

Glancing down at my hands -- I guess between them and my necklace, I had enough Nth Metal to fly a bit. I hadn’t realized how much I used the action until I suddenly found myself without the ability.

Mongul watched both of us with care, his back turned to Broly and Shayera, but I couldn’t believe he was ignorant of what was happening. In the brief exchange, Shayera had managed to free Broly and now she was putting him in my healing tank, which served as my bed. Unlike the Medicine Ball, a healing pod would restore his energy rather than healing at the cost of his stamina. Broly needed time. Even unconscious, I could feel his presence.

If he could heal and get another shot at Mongul, then he could win this time.

“You aren’t going to win on your own,” I answered, eyeing Mongul. The thing on his chest looked partially destroyed, but his headband looked untouched. I guess I had to hit it harder to destroy it. I was tempted to go for his flying device again, but if he cranked up the gravity like he had earlier… “He’s toying with us, Vegeta. He hasn’t taken us seriously at all.”

If he had, then he would simply crank the gravity up to a thousand times the galactic standard. Shayera would be crushed to death. Vegeta and I would likely die of suffocation because we wouldn’t have the strength to even take in a breath. Broly might live, and considering he had been in a cage, that was also something that Mongul wanted. All he had to do was turn that knob with a thought and victory was his.

“Neither of you are worthy of being taken seriously,” Mongul responded, proving as much. To that, Vegeta snarled as the air in the room shifted as he ramped up with power. His presence swelled, enough so I was caught off guard.

“I’ll make you eat those words!” Vegeta roared before he threw himself back at Mongul. I had hoped to distract him for a little longer, but if we were doing it now then we were doing it now. Digging my foot into the ground, I used it as a springboard to launch myself at Mongul’s back while Vegeta took the front. A ki attack was launched at Mongul, only for the sizable alien to deftly dodge it. Then forcing me to do the same.

With my momentum lost, Mongul seemed to appear before me. I had just enough time to hear Vegeta howl with rage before I was forced to act. His hands were clasped behind his back, leaving himself wide open -- he thought I would go for his chest again, but I wanted to go for his head piece. Only I did neither and chose to go low, aiming for his knees.

One of them moved in a blur, yet slowed down right at the time of impact to kick me in the stomach. My own momentum worked against me as I felt his foot nearly touch my spine, but his momentum had enough force behind it that I was sent flying away. I could barely control where I went, but I managed to crash myself into the ground. Coughing up blood, my organs felt like they had been pulverized.

Vegeta threw himself at Mongul, almost like a mad dog, but it was for show. Countless ki blasts washed over Mongul, leaving him no room to dodge, but one of them was a Medicine Ball that sailed right to me. My stamina was already shot, and whatever healing it could offer probably did more damage to me than the actual kick.

Even still, I pushed myself back to my feet. I could feel my strength draining from me, ebbing away. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. I had just pushed myself too hard for too long, but I still had to push a little more. Broly needed every second that we could give him and I could only hope that Mongul’s arrogance would be his downfall.

Taking in a slow breath, I launched myself at Mongul. Ki blasts raced by me as Vegeta distracted him, but it was just not enough. They seemed to wash over Mongul, like water, so my approach didn’t go unnoticed. Mongul shifted as I neared, lashing out with a hand that gripped down on the fist I meant to punch him with. I had just enough time to see him smirk before he threw me in Vegeta’s direction. The stream of ki blasts came to an abrupt end when I slammed into his stomach.

Both of us crashed into a wall before Vegeta roughly pushed me off, “What is wrong with your flying?” He demanded as both of us got to our feet, though one of us had a great deal more difficulty than the other. And it wasn’t Vegeta.

“I pushed myself too hard with that blast earlier. I think… I can’t use ki right now,” I answered, swallowing my initial words. I didn’t even want to consider the possibility that what I did to myself could be permanent. Even if it was, my life could be coming to an abrupt end soon if we didn’t find a way to win this.

That, however, gave Mongul pause. “That was you?” He questioned, sounding like he didin’t believe it. I didn’t bother responding in favor of gathering my strength. Broly wasn’t the only one that needed a dip in it because I felt myself flagging. “I had assumed that it was a defensive platform that my drones had missed. This is a surprise. With your disgraceful showing, I didn’t think you had that in you.”

“You talk too much,” Vegeta snapped at him. I could see a vein bulging in his neck, but when he glanced at me, his gaze lingered on my hands. As much pride as he had, he realized that we were both outmatched. When his gaze flickered up to meet mine, both of our eyes blazing yellow, my gaze slid over to Shayera. She watched the fight, her expression a mix of awe and grim resolve. He got my message.

On an unseen signal, both of us launched ourselves at Mongul. I stuck with low while Vegeta remained high -- a ki blast slammed into the ground to offer us some cover as we neared. I don’t think it mattered much, but it allowed Vegeta to go wide and steal Shayera’s mace. I pivoted, intent on attacking the back of Mongul’s leg. He let the action happen, distracted by Vegeta. My fist slammed into the back of his knee and I felt every bone in my arm quake at the force I delivered.

It was enough to drive Mongul to a knee, and at that same moment, Vegeta reappeared, his own fists coated in molten Nth Metal. He probably should have just stuck with the mace, but now wasn’t the time to complain. My older brother fell on Mongul, and I felt something change in the fight. I darted up, going for Mongul’s head, but an elbow to the ribs, a backhanded attack, was enough to send me flying across the room.

I slammed into a wall, every rib feeling like it was shattered. A low groan escaped me as I fell to the floor, and it was only then that I noticed that I had impacted near Broly and Shayera. That, I realized when I felt my tail start to burn when the tip had fallen into a puddle of molten Nth Metal. Shayera looked at me, her lips pressed into a thin line. I could see the fight in her eyes, but she knew that this fight was beyond her even with her mace. After all, it was beyond me and Vegeta.

Shaking my head, I spent a lingering look on Broly to see him floating in green healing fluid. Having spent so much time in them, his vitals were easy to read on the healing pod's medical display. There weren’t words to describe the relief I felt when I saw that Broly healed as quickly as his strength grew. He just needed more time.

With that thought in mind, I threw myself back into the fight. My body was so far gone, it couldn’t even muster the ability to scream for me to stay down. I moved in a blur, intent on giving Broly whatever time he needed. As I neared, Mongul lashed out with a fist that caught Vegeta in the chest, knocking him away while I closed in. Instead of backhanded gestures and swipes, he was making fists.

He saw us as a threat now. That thought was confirmed when our fists slammed into each other. My arm gave out -- bones snapped and blood shot out, my veins rupturing from the pressure. Blood rained down on my face, getting into my eyes, but I pushed back against the oversized fist with all my might. And all I managed to do was make a bruise. If that. The Nth Metal wasn’t cutting it. It was a great equalizer, but I just wasn’t capable of hitting him hard enough to make up for the difference in strength.

Vegeta launched himself at Mongul before he could counter. I shifted, tightening my muscles in my busted arm, and put myself on the opposite side of Vegeta, intent on dividing Mongul’s attention. My brother and I, we moved in seamless harmony. I attacked at Mongul’s legs while Vegeta used his mobility to dart around and attack when Mongul’s attention faltered.

The chest piece started to glow, warning us that we were pushing our luck. Both of us dodged out of the way of a red beam that cut through the air. My heart leaped to my throat when I realized that the red beam was going to slam into the healing pod. It smashed through the transparent viewport and exploded. The liquid evaporated, billowing out in a cloud of steam-

“MONGUL!” I heard a familiar voice rage, and I couldn’t fight the smirk off of my face. Mongul’s expression shifted, looking up before a green blur slammed into him. Where as Vegeta and I, at best, could be called annoying bugs, Broly slammed into Mongul like a wall. The Warlord shot back and it felt like I had been hit in the face with a clap of thunder. In Mongul’s place Broly floated.

He tore off Bah’s ear, veins bulging in his neck and arms. It almost hurt to stand next to him, his presence was so powerful. He didn’t even look at either of us, only having eyes for Mongul, who pulled himself out of a hole in the wall. A glance at Vegeta showed me that he was in awe, and that that fact seemed to piss him off to no end.

“Go for his chest and head,” I told Vegeta, knowing that we had to take those two advantages out of the fight. Broly unleashed a roar of rage that I was going to take as a confirmation, before he flew off to clash against Mongul. There was no comparing it to our fight, even when we fought tooth and nail. The two of them moved in blurs, and each time Broly struck a blow, it was clear that Mongul felt it. The sight of them fighting was daunting, just not enough to stop either of us. Mongul had to be defeated, here and now.

I threw myself into the fray, going for Mongul’s knees at first. This time, Mongul was completely distracted by Broly, so I could attack at my leisure. A fist slammed into the side of his leg, knocking it out of position enough that Broly could slam a fist into his face. Mongul released a snarl as he lashed out at Broly, catching an attack before he punched the boy in the stomach. I darted up, attacking his joints, making myself a distraction.

Vegeta fell into the fray as well. When Mongul went to swat me away like the annoyance I was, he was there to draw attention to himself. And when Mongul focused on him, Broly had recovered enough to deliver devastating blows that the two of us opened the path for. Broly had lost himself -- there was no form or anything resembling it in his attack. He just threw himself at Mongul with ever growing strength.

I felt the flow of battle in a way that I hadn’t in a very long time. Each movement was precise, and one wrong move could mean death. The three of us worked in perfect unison, leading the way for Broly to deliver powerful attacks, but Mongul wasn’t one to take a beating lying down.

“Enough!” He snapped as I hammered my fists against where his kidneys should be. He lashed out at Broly, slamming a fist into him that shot him away before the chest piece began to glow again. Vegeta reacted before I could, and punched it. The energy built up caused an explosion -- heat and fire washed over me, but I paid it no mind as I flew up to destroy his headpiece. Mongul must have already had me in his sights because a hand wrapped itself around my fist before I could.

I acted on instinct. If he got a hold of me, then I was dead. I twisted my body, bracing my feet against his arm while I lashed out with my tail. An old tactic that I had tried and failed with the Saibamen so very long ago. Only then my tail hadn’t been coated with Nth metal. The tip hit Mongul in the eye, making him cry out in pain -- I was rather proud of that. But his grip on my arm didn’t lessen, so I had no choice.

With a shout, I pushed against his arm with my legs. The bones in the arm were already broken, so it was only flesh that offered any resistance when I tore my arm off just below the elbow. Blood spurted from the wound as I freed myself. That, it would seem, Mongul didn’t expect. Twisting in the air, with the only arm I had left, I took my shot at his headpiece. My Nth metal coated fist slammed against it, and this time there was a reaction. Sparks flew as Mongul jerked back.

“Ahhh!” He shouted, a hand going to his head as he grit his teeth. He glared at me with the eye that wasn't closed, baring his teeth in a snarl. There was anger in his gaze. We were hurting him. Good. “You Saiyans… I will give you this -- you are relentless.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I told Mongul as the others recovered. Broly tackled Mongul like a speeding bullet. The two of them flew off, tearing through the wall. I took a step forward, only to stumble and nearly fell on my face. Glancing down at my arms… I still had one arm left. I wasn’t dead yet. I had to see this fight through, until the very end… because it was just the start of the challenges ahead.

Vegeta led the way as we gave chase to the two. It was easy enough to track them -- without his ability to fly, Mongul was at the mercy of whichever direction Broly threw him. I heard a shout from Broly ring out, echoing through the makeshift hallways he created using Mongul’s body. Gritting my teeth and ignoring my growing lightheadedness, I threw myself into the room that the two were fighting in.

Broly was hammering Mongul into a wall, each punch devastating… I threw myself forward, Vegeta right next to me. We closed the distance in a split second and as one, we each punched Mongul. The wall gave out, and it was only then that I realized that it was the outer shell of the planet because the room began to ventilate a second later.

There was an expression of momentary panic on Mongul’s face before he was sucked into the vacuum of space. I could barely fight the wind that nearly dragged me out with him, yet Broly went limp not a second later. With my hands either missing or coated in metal, I was forced to bite his tail to stop him from following Mongul into space. Neither of them had a breathing apparatus, so it would mean death for them.

While I stopped Broly from being spaced, Vegeta stopped both of us… only to be in turn saved by Shayera. The wind was powerful -- the tunnels weren’t sealing themselves off, so it was as if the planet was a soda can with the top popped. The openings tore open wider as the pressure built, but Shayera pulled the three of us back. Once Broly had cleared a door, she slammed a fist onto a button and all of a sudden, the roaring wind vanished.

I nearly collapsed in a heap. Broly’s tail fell from my mouth as I leaned against a wall while Vegeta stood proudly. The three of us looked down at Broly, who seemed to be unconscious -- a burst of power in response to being attacked? I couldn’t tell. I guess it didn’t matter.

"Is he dead?" Shayera asked, and I shook my head. I could feel his presence-

Then it was gone. Vanished. The suddenness of it didn't feel like death. It felt like he suddenly wasn't in my range anymore, but that couldn't be possible unless he had crossed hundreds of miles in a few seconds. Which should be impossible at the speeds he had been moving.

"He's gone," I answered roughly. Now that the fight had ended, it felt like whatever strength that I had mustered was bleeding away from me.

Vegeta grunted, "Then I'm done here," he informed curtly, sparing me a glance before he turned away. I looked at him for a moment, wanting to say a lot of things to him, but…

"Thank you," I told him as I slid down the wall, trying to stem the bleeding of my arm with a metal fist and my leg. Wrapping my tail around what was left of my forearm and squeezing helped some, though. Vegeta glanced at me, lingering. "For coming when I asked."

He tsked at that, "It was the first time you've ever asked me for help," he answered. Was it…? I think it was. "You should let go of the Wrath State and power down. It'll help with your injuries."

To that, I blinked. The pain of the Wrath State was internalized after so many years. It wasn't so much that it was manageable, but… in a fight, it was easy to let the pain become background noise. I still felt that pain, though. Even though my grip on the Wrath State had been released. I shouldn't have it active at all, yet the pain felt like I was still in Stage Ten.

"I…" I frowned, wondering what was going on. "I can't," I told him. Leaving the Wrath State was a passive thing -- you just stopped pulling at that well of power, and it would sink down to leave you in your base state. Except… before the string broke, the oozaru power… got stuck in the well, so to speak. And I had no clue how to push it down. "I can't turn it off."

Vegeta gave me a wide-eyed look. That was fair. I did invent the technique, so I should in theory know everything about it. I thought I did until I found myself stuck in Stage Ten. Shaking my head, I was forced to shove the problem to the side. "I'll deal with it later-"

"You said you can't use ki," Vegeta interjected, his tone severe. "Is that permanent? Damnit Tarble, did you just cripple yourself?!" He snapped at me, taking two long steps towards me before crouching next to me. Shayera stilled, edging towards Broly. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the fact she had Bah's ear rolled up under one arm.

I didn't know how to answer. The back of my head thumped against the wall, "I don't know," I answered honestly. "I can't tell if I'm just exhausted… but my ki feels heavy." Comparing it to now, my ki had been silky smooth, and light. Now it was… molasses and tar. Sludge. Heavy and dense… "It… it feels like it does in the oozaru transformation."

That was bad. That was so damn bad.

I had spent a decade fine tunning my ki control. Mastering it to make it do whatever I wanted it to so that I would only be limited by my imagination. All of that was undone. The metaphorical monkey was stuck in the metaphorical well. This… this was so catastrophically bad that I had never even considered it a possibility.

Vegeta's expression harshened at the news, "You won't be able to perform any techniques like that." That was the issue. My laundry list of techniques, some I had mastered and others I was developing… every single one of them was no longer available to me. Not unless I fixed this problem.

But I didn't know how. Maybe… maybe if the string was still attached, if I hadn't broken it, I could shove the power back down. But I had. The string snapped and I was stuck like this. I had crippled myself.

"We have more pressing things to deal with," I stated, swallowing that unfamiliar pang of fear. It was… I don't even know how to describe it. I was missing an arm at the moment, but the loss of my ki felt more crippling. "Broly… Lord Frieza can't find out about Broly."

I turned to look at Broly and Shayera. The former was still asleep, his chest softly rising and falling against the ear that Shayera had placed over him like a blanket. "He's gotten too powerful. If he goes out of control then we can't stop him."

"He's not strong enough to defeat Frieza yet," Vegeta agreed, making Shayera look between the two of us. "Sending him after the Cold family would just be a waste."

"We need to…" My head felt incredibly light for a second, but I pushed the dizziness to the side. "We need to hide his involvement. Broly… didn't have a scouter on when I found him. And Scouters just record power levels…" My head felt full of cotton. "One of us needs to take credit for… Mongul… and Broly…"

I looked over at Broly, the sight completely at odds to the person that had fought mere minutes ago. A memory of just before I left Thanagar surfaced. Of him standing in a field, surrounded by bodies, staring down at the blood on his hands with an expression that could only be described as regret. And my regret had matched his.

He was just too strong. Too strong for me to not use. To not place in such an important role. I fed him false hope about not having to kill anyone, then I put him in a situation where the stakes were just too high to not kill. That was my regret.

My head rolled to the side, and I only realized that Vegeta had made another Medicine Ball when I was nearly blinded by looking right at it. I… I… I would do that again. To Broly. Especially now that he was so much stronger, I had crippled myself and I saw just how big the ocean really was. I saw first hand that there were those in Frieza's weight class. I knew that was true, but I hadn't believed it until…

"Shayera," I turned to the Thangarian. The woman who was motivated solely by protecting Broly. She looked up at me, her expression guarded. "Take Broly… and bring him… " somewhere peaceful. "To earth," I finished. Shayera flinched back while Vegeta frowned. "He'll be out of sight there."

Vegeta offered a slow nod, "We say that he died trying to fight Mongul on his own. We killed him, while Broly stays on some out of the way planet." He agreed with the plan. That was good. And worrying. I couldn't say that I knew Vegeta well anymore, but he was never the type to agree so easily. Meaning he wasn't arguing because he knew I didn't have anything left in me to argue.

Shayera looked between us for a moment, "Thank you. You're doing the right thing," She told us, sliding her hands underneath Broly's legs and shoulders to pick him up. She didn't try to talk us out of the decision. The exact opposite, really. She looked like she was about to flee before we had the chance to change our minds. Next to where she had knelt were the rest of my capsules.

I looked up at Broly, sorely wishing that he was awake so I could explain everything to him… "When he wakes up, tell him I'll see him again," I told her. Shayera met my gaze and offered a curt nod.

"I shall. It… it might not mean much, but it was an honor serving you Prince Tarble," Shayera told me, and her tone told me that the words were true. I offered a shallow nod and with that, Shayera began to leave. I watched her go, wondering what Broly's reaction would be. But this was necessary. This was the smartest option I had. Now the focus would be on me and Vegeta, rather than Broly. Both of us were used to Lord Frieza's attention and all that it entailed.

I let out a quiet sigh as she rounded a corner. I could still feel their presences though, so it wouldn't likely hit me until they were both truly gone. Instead, I turned to Vegeta.

"We have to fix you," Vegeta stated. "When I surpass you, it will be because I'm better than you. I refuse to accept a triumph on a technicality."

The edges of my lips quirked up at that as my eyelids grew so very heavy.

A single thought was running through my head as the last of my strength ebbed away from me.

It was damn good to see my brother again.