Going Native: Desire for a Legacy (ch. 76) (Patreon)

"Everyone, gather on my position. We have an unexpected guest," I ordered Vegeta, Mom, Bardock, Fasha, and Komand'r.

Hal looked to me, then to the glowing orange light in the distance. "Don't you have some superweapon or something?" He questioned as I spread out my awareness further, trying to reach the light billions of miles away, but the distance was just too vast. However, I could track its spread of influence on the battlefield. Orange constructs laid waste to fleets as they approached, the cameras unable to catch a glimpse of their true form before being destroyed.

"Hm? No, I don't," I admitted, thinking it best to nip that misunderstanding in the bud before Hal thought we could rely on a weapon that wasn't there. He let out a strangled noise, prompting further explanation. "I considered building one, but such a weapon is too dangerous in principle. Any mistake in the design could wipe out all life in the galaxy. Worse, it could fall into the wrong hands, or the designs could be stolen. There was never such a weapon in the Vega system."

The Guardians were taking action, I noticed. Dozens of the similarly shaped aliens floated from their home planet, settling in a rough line as they looked off into the distance.

"You… how many people did you get killed with a fucking bluff?" Hal spat, his voice restrained, but I could hear the snarl in his voice.

"A lot," I answered simply, unrepentant. And more were being added to the tally every second. Some factions of the Federation were working on a counter to the rage curse, and they had some success. Their main issue was scope -- the Vega system was massive and they couldn't help everyone all at once. And those they couldn't help slaughtered one another.

"You…" Hal bit out, but he cut himself off.

"Enough, Hal," Ganthet spoke, looking over his shoulder. "Now is not the time. Prince Tarble, might we be able to count on the aid of Frieza?" He asked, his tone clipped, telling me that he already knew the answer.

I didn't even need to ask. My connection to the War world told me all that I needed to know. I could hear through its comms and see through its sensors. For that reason, I knew that Frieza had no intention of helping. He found the situation far too humorous.

"Unlikely," I answered. The Guardians were taking this seriously. Whatever Larfleeze was, he was an enemy that for billions of years, the Guardians had let sleeping dogs lie. "I suppose we should establish a truce until Larfreeze has been dealt with."

Garnet nodded, "It would be prudent-"

Hal seemed to hold a different opinion. "No -- Do you really expect me to work with you after everything? After all of this?" He snapped at me, gesturing to the death around us. "You're my enemy Tarble. More than anyone else. You want a truce? Make this hell stop."

I met his gaze for a moment, "I can't."

"Can't or won't?" Hal snapped and I had to swallow a sigh.

"Frieza is here to be entertained," I told him, being as blunt as possible. I wasn't sure if we would need his help, but having him and his rebellion on my side could only be beneficial. I wanted to deal with Larfreeze before he reached any planets in the system. The machine soldiers should have eaten the bulk of initial losses, so there would be billions of my soldiers on them. "And that's what this battle is. I make it stop? He'll kill everyone in the system himself."

"You expect me to believe you care about that?" Hal snapped, digging in his heels, and I lost my willingness to reason with him. It wasn't that I didn't understand his reluctance. I did. I killed a lot of his friends and I just tried to kill more. We were enemies, and that was that.

"Believe it or don't -- it doesn't matter. We can kill each other later," I pointed out, feeling Komand'r enter the range of my ki sense. The others were still some distance away -- Komand'r was simply the fastest out of all of us since she was capable of natural FTL speeds. The others would have better luck with teleporters, but even then it would take some time.

"It pisses me off that you're assuming that I'm going to work with you," Hal told me, and I met his glare.

"Aren't you?" I pressed and I could see the cogs moving in his head. His eyes darted to Larfleeze, who closed the distance between us at an alarming rate. More than a hundred million miles since the conversation began -- Larfleeze was faster than me several times over.

Hal was silent for a moment and I saw the exact moment that he came to a conclusion because what was left of his face twisted into a scowl. It was almost difficult to tell with so little of his face being left. "I will. But I'm not happy about it," he bit out, his hands clenched into fists. The red splotch in his chest pulsed with rage, and I took that as him swallowing his anger.

An accord was struck. At least until Larfleeze was dealt with.

I took in a slow breath before I noticed that the Guardians had raised their hands. And then I saw the space before us be pinched, almost as if the fabric of reality truly was a fabric and the Guardians had scrunched it together. The action brought us closer to Larfleeze, making him more than just a distant orange star.

He was inside my range -- he felt weak, I noticed as I looked to Larfleeze. His body was bone thin while he was clad in a skintight orange and black version of a Lantern suit. A few short tusks emerged from the top part of his mouth, his were eyes blazing orange which matched the coarse fur that covered his face. I wouldn't put him past twenty PL. Yet, looking at him, I could feel power radiating from him that brushed across my skin with a physical force.

"Mine! Mine! MINEMINEMINEMINE! It's all mine! You can't take it from me!" Larfleeze screamed before he lashed out violently, slinging an arm to the side and launching a tidal wave of orange energy right at us. My eyes widened ever so slightly as my vision went orange, the wave of energy becoming the only thing that I could see. It crossed the distance between us almost instantly.

Reaching out with my hands, I caught the energy blast, trying to keep it at bay as it flung me through the vacuum of space. My hands sank into the orange light, pushing it away from me, trying to make it stop, but it just relentlessly sailed forward. I barely even noticed it when my back tore through the hulls of ships. There was no comparing it to any attack from a Lantern I've experienced so far. It was just too vast to be compared to something like an energy blast from Hal or Saint Walker.

Gritting my teeth, I reared a hand back, ki swirling to the palm of my hand before I launched it at the orange wave of energy. The ki slammed into the surface of it, drilling a hole through, and in that split second, I threw myself forward into it. It was a gamble since I had no clue how thick the wave was, but if it was shaped like an arc…

I emerged on the other side mostly unscathed, my clothing taking the worst of the damage and it was self-inflicted from traveling through the ki stream. Glancing back, I saw the tidal wave of orange energy continue to race forward, devastating everything in its path.

That… was a normal attack, I thought to myself, my lips thinning. To Larfleeze, that was the equivalent to a ki attack. A normal, unnamed, ki attack.

"You promised it was Larfleezes'! Liar! Liar! It's mine! You can't take it from me!" Larfleeze shouted, lashing out with another wave of energy, and now I saw just how far he had sent me flying. The Guardians arranged themselves around Larfleeze, bending the energy blast so it sailed past them. It was impossible to tell who was winning between them. However, a split second later, I saw the balance of power shift when another orange light made itself known.

A twisted mass of dark flesh in the general shape of a face, wreathed in an orange light that flickered like flames around it. The creature opened its maw, revealing an orange light that rivaled the sun with how blindingly bright it was. Tendrils emerged from its mouth, lashing out at the Guardians, forcing a few to divert their attention. I saw a blast of green, telling me that Hal had started fighting whatever it was.

I blasted forward, my lips thinning as I raced to rejoin the battle. Two ki spears appeared in my hands before I launched the longer of the two at Larfleeze. It streaked through the air, crossing the distance between us in a flash. His gaze snapped to it before he reached out, clutching it in a clawed hand. "Mine!" He shouted at me as if daring me to try to take back the spear.

Hm. "I'm outmatched," I recognized, continuing to race forward. It was hardly a surprise. The Guardians had feared the creature enough that they formed a treaty to never enter the Vega system. I had never considered the Guardians particularly powerful, but watching them bend reality effortlessly told me all that I needed to know. They too were beyond me. Once again, I was forced into a support role against an enemy I had no hopes of defeating on my own -- exactly like Broly and Mongul.

It was annoying, but unsurprising, so I swallowed my irritation and focused on the fight at hand. I chose to launch the second spear at Larfleeze, the spear sailing through a gap in the Guardian’s formation. The Guardians followed through, bending the space between Larfleeze and the spear to change its flight path. Instead of sticking him in the chest, the spear slammed into him from behind.

The hyper-dense ki spear impacted against his back, sending him forward with the spear embedded in him. If only barely. Still, it was evidence enough that I could harm him. It wasn't a complete repeat of Mongul.

Larfleeze cried out -- not in pain, but a wordless shout of frustration. "Mine! Mine! You're mine!" He shouted, his blazing orange eyes meeting mine as he seemed to practically ignore the Guardians that surrounded him. His ring flashed orange, before a figure erupted from it and when I saw what it was, it took everything that I had to not stop dead in my tracks.

My eyes went wide as I met the gaze of the figure, a cocky smirk on their face. "A Saiyan?" I blurted, but that wasn't right. His tail was coiled around his waist, a hide cloth protected his modesty, but most of his body was covered in reddish-brown fur, the only part that was bare was his chest. His hair was a wild untamed mane, dipping past his shoulders and into his eyes.

I knew that form. Years ago, when the Wrath State had been an idea in my head, that form was the thought that drove me to pursue the transformation. I had mistakenly thought that was what the Wrath State would look like.

Now I knew what it was. Super Saiyan 4.

If Larfleeze was some kind of ancient being, how could he have a Saiyan that looked like that? Was there some kind of mental-

Any trace of thought was abruptly cut off when the figure moved. He darted to a Guardian, moving in a blur that I only saw when he came to a stop, a fist punched through the Guardian's chest. "'Ey, always wanted to pop yer lil' bobbleheads!" The Saiyan snarled, a ferocious smile on his face. He looked beyond the Guardian, ignoring how the others recoiled at the sudden loss. "Huh? A naked Saiyan? Tha' fuck happened to yer fur? Ya shave it or somthin'? Ya ain't gonna impress any ladies lookin' like that, ya know?"

He tossed the corpse to the side, his body wreathed in orange light. My lips thinned, but I didn't respond. I couldn't feel his presence at all -- if I wasn't looking right at him, I doubt I would know he was there. But, with the blood of a Guardian on his hand and a satisfied smile on his face, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he was strong.

The Guardians seemed to freeze, knowing the same thing. The entire battle seemed to freeze with the new arrival. All except for Larfleeze.

"Take him! He's mine!" Larfreeze shouted, pointing at me.

"Fight me yourself," I shot back, ki spears forming in my hands. My gaze never left the Saiyan, his blazing yellow eyes meeting mine.

He smirked, "Damn. Ya really did mutilate us, huh? Fuckin' disgrace, that is, but whatever. I'm too dead fer it to be my problem." He decided, his smirk widening as he turned to Larfleeze. "I ain't one fer doin' others' dirty work. How 'bout you bring out that lizard so I can get round two with it, yeah?" He questioned, turning to Larfleeze.

Damn. He really did just take control over the whole situation, huh?

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

I was about to lose this fight.

Gathering my strength, I launched a spear towards Larfleeze, catching the creature by surprise. He brought his ring up, but I flew forward as fast as I could, closing the distance between us. A blast of orange filled my vision, heading straight for me until it suddenly wasn't. The instant my vision cleared, the Guardians redirecting the blast, I thrust the spear forward, aiming towards the Orange Lantern emblem on Larfleeze's chest. The tip slammed into him, throwing him back, but I only just barely managed to draw a drop of blood from the wound.

The ring had to go. The spear spun in my hand while ki gathered in the other -- Larfleeze recoiled from the blow, but he was far from defeated. "Mine!" He screamed at me, grabbing at my leg, tying the hand up. I felt a flash of something, numbness spreading up my leg, but I ignored it in favor of twisting sharply. My shin twisted like a piece of paper, blood gushing from where the skin tore, but it gave me the momentum I needed to deliver a kick to the side of Larfleeze's head.

He felt the blow. Just barely. His head bent to the side, his grip loosened on my ankle, so I was at least strong enough to do some damage.

That same moment, I brought the edge of my ki spear down on his wrist, intent on cutting off the hand, only to find it stopped cold.

"Yer a feisty one, ain't ya?" I heard before a fist was planted in my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs and folding me over the punch. My eyes darted to the Saiyan -- I had hoped that he would stay out of it, but it looked like the odds really were stacked against me at the moment. "Ya'-" he started, only to be cut off when I launched a ki blast to his face, letting go of the ki spear to follow up the blow with a punch.

My entire arm jarred the instant my fist made contact with his cheek. I was reminded of Mongul… no, I was reminded of the Saibamen. Of my first fight with them.

"Ya'-" the saiyan started to continue, but I cut him off, ripping my leg free of Larfleeze's grasp to knee him in the chest, aiming for the diaphragm. He was a construct, the fact that he came from a ring told me as much, but he still bent over ever so slightly, giving me an opening to cup my hands to my side, a surge of ki rushing to them.

"Galick Gun!" I shouted, washing the Saiyan in ki, intending on blasting him far away enough to give me some breathing room. My mind raced, turning over the battle -- Larfleeze was unhinged. The Saiyan was a wild card. He was a construct in the shape of a Super Saiyan 4, but he seemed aware. He was able to refuse an order. I didn't know if Larfleeze could force him to obey or not, but I had to assume that I would be fighting the two of them. I just needed to make room to maneuver.

At least, that was the plan.

A hand emerged from the stream of ki, as if it were normal water, and gripped me by the throat. The fingers dug in, and I knew it was pointless to continue with the Galick Gun. Instead, my hands went for the forearm, gripping it before I slammed my fist down on his elbow with all of my strength. "Ya' feckin'-" the Saiyan cursed, his grip lessening, letting me rip my neck free of his hand at the cost of just about tearing out my own throat. With my good leg, I kicked him in the gut, throwing myself back just in time to see Larfleeze take aim at me.

"Ya' feckin' fecker!" The Saiyan shouted, sounding annoyed as he threw himself forward, closing the distance between us instantly. Larfleeze fired his shot, and the Saiyan smacked it away with his hand before he turned his attention back to me. Barely a scuff mark to display whatever damage I managed to do. But, I was going to count annoying the absolute hell out of him as a win. "Ya' really wanna do this?! Sidin' with the Guardians?"

My eyes narrowed, a medicine patch forming in my hand that I slapped over my shin, forcing the skin to meld back together and the bone to reform. The action didn't go unnoticed by the Saiyan.

"Don't that hurt? Feckin' twisted your leg all up -- the shit is up with ya'?" He questioned, his own eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms over his chest. And the Guardians didn't make a move. Not even Larfleeze made a move.

"Who are you?" I questioned -- the battle paused. It paused because he wanted to talk and the others were letting him talk. He didn't forcibly pause the battle. He didn't shout for it to stop. He just crossed his arms while he was completely surrounded, and started to speak. And it worked because both sides knew that whichever side he leaned to would win.

The Saiyan looked indignant, "Names don't matter. I've been dead and gone for a long time. But, if ya' gotta call me sumthin', the name is Froot." Froot answered, tilting his head. "Now I getta good look at ya'... You Guardians are real pieces of work, yeah? The baby is killin' himself holdin' that transformation. Feckin' twistin' bones, ripping his own throat… lil shit didn't think twice about it. Can't even feel it, can ya'? All that pain, all that agony… just another feckin' drop in the ocean, yeah?"

… ah. So that's how it is?

"I don't care what the Guardians did to the Saiyan race," I spoke, earning Froot's attention. "There's a war going on around us. It's been going on for over a decade at this point. It ends today. Deal with your shit on your own time, not mine." I said, two ki balls flickering to life in the palms of my hands.

Froot smirked, "Like the 'ttude, but if I said that your little situation is caused by the Guardian's meddlin'? Ya' got caught in the middle of shiftin' inta a higher gear that they said ya' weren't ready for. That pain ya' feelin'? That's their deterrent. Mind shattering agony fer touchin' something that they stole from ya'." There was rage in his eyes, but I wasn't sure if it was necessarily on my behalf.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something -- the Guardians and I are temporary allies. After Larfleeze is dead, we'll go back to killing each other." I pointed out, and Froot's smirk grew into a smile that was filled with teeth.

"Yer a scary one, whatsyourname. I mean that, too. Ya' might be weak as hell, but that ain't yer fault really. If ya' were what ya' should be? Ohh… ya' makin' me wish I wasn't feckin' dead." Froot decided, throwing back his head and laughing. It sounded genuine. "In that case, how'a bout you and glow stick team up? We kill the Guardians, then we can kill each other! It'll be barrels of fun! Well, not for ya', but I'll have a good time."

The Guardians haven't said a word. Not in their defence. Not in explanation. Nothing. They just watched the conversation happen. And that was worrying.

"I refuse," I answered flatly. "I gave my word that there would be a temporary truce." My eyes slid to Larfleeze, who rang his hands… not exactly nervously, but more out of anticipation than anything. Despite being surrounded, he only seemed to have eyes on me. It was creepy.

"Shame that is," Froot decided, but there was a smile in his voice. I think he would have been disappointed if I took that offer.

I felt a presence enter my range -- Vegeta and Bardock were on their way. That was good. Between the three of us… well, our chances were better than if it was just me. Hal was fighting that face creature nearby as well. We were outmatched, but that didn't mean that we couldn't win. We just couldn't afford to get distracted by anything other than Larfleeze. He was the source of the constructs -- with him dead, they should dissipate. At least, that was assuming that sentient constructs acted the same way as normal ones.

However, any confidence that I might have had evaporated the instant that the Warworld informed me that Frieza had left the Warworld.

Frieza was getting involved. A simple action, yet I felt all of my control over the situation vanish.

I had to make the most of the time I had before he arrived, because out of a system absolutely filled to the brim with powerful people, Frieza was a wild card that I couldn't predict.

With that thought driving me forward, I spun sharply, the ki balls in my hand flattening out into Destructo Disks that I launched at Larfleeze. The spell that was placed on the battle with Froot's arrival abruptly ended as the two disks raced towards the Orange Lantern. I threw myself towards him, half expecting Froot to interfere, but he chose another target. In an orange blur, he raced towards the Guardians, leaving a laugh of pure delight in his wake as he threw himself at them.

The Guardians were leaving Larfleeze to me.

"Mine?" Larfleeze questioned as I altered the course of the two Destructo Disks, sending them on a long arc when they narrowly missed Larfleeze. The disks slowed to a stop, hiding within a destroyed ship until an opportune moment arrived. My hands clenched into fists, eyeing Larfleeze's ring and the moment I saw it flash orange, I reacted.

"Riot Javelin!" I shouted, a swirling ball of ki firming in my hands that I launched at the stream of orange light while I darted away to avoid the blast. The blast washed over the attack with ease, but the Riot Javelin was designed to slip into vastly more powerful attacks and attack their source. And with my hyper dense ki, the Riot Javelin managed to make it all the way to the ring before it exploded on contact.

Larfleeze recoiled, an aghast sound escaping him as he flew back, his ring appearing fine but his expression twisted. "You hurt it! Larfleeze won't forgive you. He won't ever forgive you!" He shouted, his tone colored by anger. "Larfleeze won't ever polish your construct! He'll hide you under a pile of treasure." The threat was a ridiculous one, but given that he was powered by greed, I'm assuming that was about as grave of a threat he could make.

The ring had to go. It was the most obvious weakness.

I sailed forward, intent on getting into hand to hand range. Something that Larfleeze was reluctant to do. Perfect.

"Larfleeze will make an offer -- You should give Larfleeze your rings, and become a construct." Larfleeze stated, not really making an offer at all. He easily kept pace with me as he retreated, so despite his reluctance to fight, it would seem that he outmatched me physically as well.

"Is that the offer you made Froot?" I questioned, firing off ki blasts as I guided Larfeeze where I wanted him.

Larfleeze shook his head, "No. He wanted to eat the Avarice Entity -- he bet he could find something that I would want more than it. He brought Larfleeze stuff from all across the multiverse, but he never found anything. So, I made him mine." He explained, sounding delighted. "Just like you will be."

Creepy. "Not interested," I decided, cupping my hands to the side, a flicker of blue light appearing between them. The ki shaped itself, swelling in power, but I forced more into it as both of us raced forward. "Spiral Buster!" I shouted, thrusting my hands forward and launching the technique at the Orange Lantern. It slammed into a bubble shield, sending Larfleeze through the hull of a ship.

A blast of orange told me the shield had dropped, so I sprung my trap. Using my ki sense to place Larfleeze, the two Destructo Disks flew forward towards him. I spun out of the way of the orange blast, narrowly avoiding it, before I returned fire by sending dozens of ki blasts through the ship that temporarily separated us.

The Destructo Disks arced behind Larfleeze, who seemed to be ignorant of their existence. He only had eyes for me. He leveled his ring at me, his orange eyes blazing with greed. At that moment, the Destructo Disks darted forward, going around Larfleeze before they pivoted to slam down on his extended arm. One on each side, cutting through flesh and bone while chips of ki were broken off and faded from view.

I heard Larfleeze howl in pain, rearing back to clutch his stump of a hand. I rushed forward, forming two ki spears that I launched at him, intent on following up on the opening.

It was too easy. That should have been my warning.

"You!" Larfleeze howled, dodging the spears that impacted against a ship behind him. It was destroyed, revealing Hal and his enemy -- one that needed Saint Walker, Indigo, and another Green Lantern to handle. My lips thinned as the creature began to glow orange, becoming pure light. I realized what was about to happen, so my priorities changed accordingly.

My gaze shifted to the severed hand, the ring resting on a clawed finger.

I blasted forward, rushing towards the hand, the finger came with the ring when I ripped it away.

There weren't words to describe the sound that Larfleeze made, the creature construct condensing, wrapping itself around Larfleeze's finger to become a new ring. Hal and the others reacted, rushing to surround Larfleeze, but he didn't seem to notice or care. "That's mine! It's all mine! Everything! All of it! That's mine! You're stealing from Larfleeze!" He howled, on the verge of hysteria.

I clutched the ring in my hand, it burned at my skin but I had to keep it away from him. He could convert his constructs into new rings, but if we hit the limit of his constructs, then he'd be powerless. It wouldn't be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it could be done. Right now, all we had to do was work together.

The universe had a sense of humor, I found, because the moment I had the thought was the same one that I felt Frieza enter my range. He managed to get here before either Vegeta or Bardock. I whipped around, spotting him in the distance, floating in front of the planet called Oa.

"Lord Frieza," I began, "I've managed to secure a temporary truce with the Guardians and the rebel forces against Larfleeze. He's the largest threat in the system." I spoke, forcing the words out, knowing that we were milliseconds from success or absolute ruin.

I heard Frieza make a noise of acknowledgment, a low laugh escaping the Frost Demon. Despite the chaos around us, I saw Frieza floating before us, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked up at Mogo. Slowly, he reached out a hand towards it.

"I don't recall signing off on any truce," Frieza remarked before his fingers curled down. In response, the surface of Mogo began to crack. My jaw dropped at the naked display of power, distantly hearing a scream of rage and grief from Hal, but it stopped nothing. The surface of Mogo cracked, oceans surging, mountains rising and falling as some unseen pressure exerted on the planet. There came a tipping point when anything broke. That final straw where the pressure was just too much and the object was crushed.

I had no idea that planets were the same.

The moment that Frieza closed his fist, the planet seemed to implode. Almost like an egg. With awe inspiring force, where the pressure was the weakest, the planet's contents surged outward, driven out by where it was at the strongest. Rubble was shot out in every direction, tearing through ships like they weren't even there.

A blur raced by me. Hal. He was heading straight for Frieza, ignoring the destruction as Oa was bombarded with debris from Mogo. It looked like the second planet was going to come apart from the force of the meteorites that rained down on it.

Just like that… the battle devolved in pure chaos.