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duhragonball · 4 years

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[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (150/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: This story takes place about 1000 years before 66 years after the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[24 December, Age 762. Planet Namek.]

Luffa was the Legendary Super Saiyan.

And then she wasn't.

A harrowing battle on the Planet Nagaoka had left her power exhausted, and then a wish on a magic dragon brought her centuries into the future, where she recruited into a temporal police force. During a mission on the Planet Namek, she was horrified to discover that the Saiyans of the future knew nothing about her. She was neither legendary, nor super.

And now, thanks to the body-swapping technique of Captain Ginyu, she was no longer a Saiyan either. She watched helplessly as her own body attacked Son Goku.

"I was going to take your body!" Ginyu said as he battered Goku's forearms with Luffa's fists. "But then what's-her-name spoiled my shot! But I gotta admit, I could get used to this!"

Luffa looked at her hands, which were actually the hands of Captain Ginyu. He was over two meters tall, with purple skin an a swollen cranium adorned with two black horns. Luffa's eyes went wide with fear. There was no tail, or even a phantom pain one might expect to sense when one's tail was removed. Everything felt... wrong. Her senses reeled with the conflicting ki signature of this alien body. It might have been easier to adjust if she had been stuck in a body from a species she was more familiar with. But she had no idea what sort of life form Ginyu's body was supposed to be.

And suddenly, it dawned on Luffa that Captain Ginyu probably had no idea either. This couldn't have been the first time he had used this trick. It was the perfect secret weapon. If he ever faced an enemy that was too much for him, he could turn the tables and increase his power with a single stroke. This giant purple creature couldn't have been Ginyu's original body. It had to be the body of one of his enemies. Ginyu probably stole it on a whim, and knew nothing about its homeworld, or its culture, or anything...

Then she finally noticed Guldo and Jeice flanking her.

"Not so tough now are ya?" Jeice asked. "Did a real number on Burter a minute ago, but now? Looks like yer luck's changed, hasn't it? Yeah, changed to bad luck, that is."

"Enough!" Guldo seethed. "Let's just put this creep down, once and for all!"

To her credit, Luffa still had enough wherewithal to defend herself, but the body of Captain Ginyu was too bulky and strange for her to use well. Worse, she was having trouble focusing on anything but the existential horror of being trapped outside of her own body, with no way to return. Only Ginyu knew the secret of this power, and he would never be foolish enough to switch back. A chill ran down her spine as the realization settled in. She was trapped. Trapped!

And this state of terror proved to be Luffa's downfall. Guldo kept her in check with his psychic powers, and Jeice teed off with some of his ki attacks, but this was a formality, whether they understood it or not. Luffa was already beaten.

"Crusher Ball!" Jeice shouted as he launched a globe of red energy at her. Luffa struggled for all she was worth, but there was no escape. Her telepathic powers and guile had helped her escape Guldo's psi-lock before, but that was in her own body, and Guldo wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Jeice's attack connected, and she blacked out from the pain...

[27 February, Age 850. Toki Toki City.]

...And then Luffa found herself back in the Time Nest. To her relief, she was also back in her own body. She was hurt, but not as badly as she had been in Ginyu's flesh. She stared at her hands, which were now shaking uncontrollably.

"Wh-what happened?" As she asked the question, she suddenly realized how dry her throat was, and how small and pathetic her voice sounded.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Trunks said. She was sitting on the floor of the Time Vault, beside one of the stools at the large octagonal table in the center of the room. He loomed over her like a long shadow, then reached down to help her up.

She didn't take his hand.

"I... I... was..."

"The short version is this: you got your butt kicked," Trunks said. He eventually gave up on pulling her up by the hand, and crouched down to scoop her up in his arms. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"No!" Luffa shouted. "I mean... I'm fine! I'm fine!"

She swatted his hands away, and Trunks backed off and left her where she was. "Look, I don't know what went wrong out there," he said, "but you're not 'fine'. Luffa, we need to get you checked out..."

"I don't need your help!" Luffa screamed. She started grabbing at her short black hair and making snarling noises that sounded like gears grinding together.

"Luffa, you're hyperventilating!" Trunks said. "Let me--"

He reached out to her again, only this time she scrambled to her feet, knocking over one of the stools.

"Get away from me, you bastard!" she shrieked.

"Not until you've calmed down," Trunks said firmly. "I can't let you run amok in the Time Vault--"

He took one step forward, and she threw a punch at his face. The impact sounded like thunder.

Trunks didn't budge. Luffa pulled her hand back and bared her teeth. She wasn't sure whether to back off or to try again. He wasn't even bothering to defend himself. In her present condition, he probably didn't need to.

"If that helps," Trunks said, "then keep going. As long as you don't damage the Time Vault, you can hit me as much as you like."

"Your father was a coward and royalist fool!" Luffa screamed. It had nothing to do with the matter at hand, but she felt the need to shout something at him.

"I know exactly who my father is," Trunks said evenly. "Believe what you want to believe. Nothing you say about him alters the truth."

"What gives you the right to stand here and choose these jobs?" Luffa seethed.

"I did."

They both turned to find the Supreme Kai of Time had entered the room. There was neither mirth nor anger on her face, but a look of abiding concern. Trunks bowed his head as she approached.

"I don't allow fighting in the Time Vault," she said. "Trunks knows this, Luffa, but you're new, so I thought I should mention it. Can you fill me in on what's been going on?"

"It's my fault," Trunks said. "I should have pulled Luffa out of there the moment her earpiece stopped working, but I couldn't find her at first, and then she seemed to do so well afterward."

"Don't make excuses for me, you--"

Chronoa held out her hand to Luffa. "You're hurt," she said. "I can take care of that."

"Wait!" Trunks said. "You don't need to do that! The hospital--!"

"It's all right, Trunks," she said without looking away from Luffa. "I know what I'm doing. And I think this might help Luffa trust us a little better."

Luffa wanted to refuse her, to slap her hand away and scream obscenities at them both. And yet, in spite of her turmoil, there was an even greater dread beneath it. Toki Toki City was the only life she had left. If she turned against the Time Patrol now, what was left for her? Where else could she go?

Reluctantly, she took Chronoa's hand into her own.

"She's hurt pretty badly," Trunks warned her. "You should sit down, at least."

"I'll be all right," Chronoa said. She closed her hand around Luffa's, and placed her other hand on Luffa's shoulder. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated.

The sensation was very similar to the healing effect produced by Pulmon, the Namekian healer from the Toki Toki City Hospital. Luffa closed her own eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to relax. Gradually, the aches and pains faded, and the cuts and abrasions on Luffa's skin were reversed. The mental wounds remained, however, but with her body restored, Luffa could at least see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Luffa finally opened her eyes, only to find Chronoa wincing in pain. It looked as though she had gotten into a fight of her own during those few minutes. The wounds looked familiar to Luffa, and then she realized the Kai's body was hurt in the exact same places that Luffa had been. The Namekian healer's power was nothing like this.

"What did you...?" Luffa asked as Chronoa withdrew her hands.

"Supreme Kai!" Trunks said as he reached out to steady her.

"I'll be all right," Chronoa said. "You weren't kidding, Trunks. She was in rough shape. I'd better head for the hospital myself..."

"I don't understand," Luffa said.

"She has the power to heal," Trunks explained, "but it's an empathic ability. To mend your injuries, she has to take your pain as her own."

"That's crazy!" Luffa shouted. She followed Trunks as he led the Kai to the nearest stool. "You shouldn't have done that! Not when the hospital--!"

"H-here... in the Time Patrol," Chronoa said, "we take care of each other. I can see... that you're deeply troubled. I can't take that pain from you, but... but I can share some of your burden. Now... can you tell us what happened?"

Luffa regarded her for a moment, and felt ashamed of herself for lashing out at them. Despite Trunks fretting over her, Chronoa seemed to bear Luffa's wounds with greater dignity and strength than Luffa had done. She wanted to run and hide in her apartment, but Chronoa had made her point. The least Luffa could do was to honor the Kai's sacrifice with a field report.

"Vegeta was influenced by the enemy's power," Luffa began. "So I went after him first. Then Recoome attacked me. He burned out my earpiece, so I lost contact with Trunks."

"Y-you were right," Chronoa said to Trunks. "You should have pulled her out then and there."

"I'm sorry," Trunks said.

"Kakarot showed up," Luffa continued, "and we fought the Ginyu Force. We thought Vegeta was going to fight alongside us, but he turned and fled. Then Ginyu came back with reinforcements. A few dozen guys from Frieza's spaceship. They were all infected with the enemy's power."

"A few dozen?" Trunks repeated.

"It sounds like whoever's behind this is getting bolder," Chronoa said. She held her ribs and took short shallow breaths. She was a very small woman, even compared to Luffa. It pained her to see the Kai hurt like this. It bothered her even more to know that she was directly responsible for the pain Chronoa was now experiencing.

"Kakarot and I fought them off," Luffa said, "but then I caught Ginyu using that technique of his. The one we saw in the scroll, where he switches bodies. I knew it would mess things up if he swapped with Kakarot, so I tried to stop him... only I ended up in the line of fire myself."

"Ginyu swapped bodies with you?" Trunks asked.

"And then his cronies finished me off," Luffa said. "I couldn't... there was nothing I could do. They would have killed me if you hadn't brought me back here."

"We didn't bring you back," Trunks said. "The Scroll of Eternity does that automatically when you die during a mission."

"Die?" Luffa asked.

"Not literally, I mean," Trunks said. "When you use the Scroll of Eternity to travel back in time, your ability to alter history is limited. That's why you could participate in that battle on Namek without changing the past. If you get hurt badly enough on a mission, the Scroll will pull you back for your own safety."

"Then... then we can try again?" Luffa asked. "I think if I start over, maybe I can--"

Trunks shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said. "You've had a rough time of it, Luffa. Shenron may have chosen you to be my partner on this case, but I can't keep putting you in danger like this."

"No," Chronoa said. "I'm afraid we don't have a choice, Trunks. At least, not as far as Captain Ginyu is concerned."

They both looked at the Kai, who was now leaning on Trunks' arm for support.

"We can't send Luffa back to the beginning of the mission," she explained. "If we do, we risk jeopardizing the progress she's already made in correcting the flow of history. And we can't send another Patroller in her place, for the same reason."

"That's fine," Luffa said. "Now that I've seen Ginyu's trick, I'll be able to avoid it, and--"

"It's not that simple Luffa," Chronoa said. "At least, not in this case. When you resume the mission, you'll be going back to the moment when you left. That means you'll be back in Captain Ginyu's body. Whatever happens next, you'll need to proceed from that status. I'm sorry."

"The enemy must have been counting on this to happen," Trunks said. "That's why they chose that particular moment in history. They knew if Captain Ginyu used his ability, it would make our job a lot harder, leaving them free to move on to their next target."

"We're in a pinch, sure, but it's not all bad..." Chronoa said. She looked up at Luffa and smiled. "It'll be difficult to win, but you've still got Goku and the others to help you. It might take a few tries to get it right, but I know you can do it."

"A few tries?!" Luffa said. "You've got to be kidding. I could barely control myself in that purple meathead's body, and you want me to go back?"

"We can't send anyone else in," Trunks said. "If the body-change weren't involved, things would be different, but our priority is to contain the changes to the timeline. If we send a second patroller in now, it could destabilize the flow of time in that era."

Chronoa nodded. "It's a risk we can't afford. I'm sorry, Luffa. I know how difficult this must be for you, but there's no other way--"

"No!" Luffa shouted. "I'm sick of hearing that! You're a god, aren't you? You told me this whole city sits outside of time, right? But it all depends on me putting myself through that again? You're insane! Both of you!"

Trunks was about to speak up, to chastise her for stepping out of line, but before he could speak, Luffa ran out of the room, knocking over one of the stools along the way.

"Hey!" was all Trunks managed to say, and then Chronoa gestured for him to stop before he could run after her.

"Trunks. Let her go," she said.

"But no one else can finish the mission! We need her--!"

"Exactly," Chronoa said. "We need her. She's got to work this out for herself. Besides, I still need some medical attention, remember?"

"Oh! Oh, of course!" Trunks said. "Right away."

*******

Luffa spent the next two hours in the shower. There wasn't any particular reason for this. Having nowhere else to go, she returned to her apartment in Toki Toki City, and then she retreated into the bathroom, and then she retreated further still behind shower curtain. The running water offered a distraction, at any rate.

She felt sick and ashamed of herself. It wasn't just the trauma of switching bodies with Ginyu, although that certainly crystallized the panic and fear she had been dealing with all along. Luffa was trapped in the future, a future where her former glory had been nearly forgotten. Her friends and family were all dead, and it seemed that all she had left was herself. Now they wanted her to give that up along with everything else.

She had seen the resentment in Trunks' eyes. He only cared about getting the job done for his precious Kai, and all she cared about was the preservation of a history that Luffa had never known. And what was so great about it anyway? Who was to say that the changes being made weren't for the better? Luffa hadn't given the matter much thought before now. It had been a lot simpler when it was just a matter of busting heads. But now...

Her hands were still shaking. She couldn't remember the last time it had been this bad. Centuries ago, her wife had rubbed scented oils into Luffa's palms and whispered gentle words into her ear. None of it actually helped, but it was the thought that counted, the idea that she wasn't alone in her suffering.

And then she remembered how the Kai had healed Luffa's wounds. Not only healed them, but took the damage onto her own body in exchange.

Luffa didn't want to think about that. She curled up on the tile floor around the drain, and shut her eyes tightly. She didn't want to think about how small the Supreme Kai of Time was. Or how there was no hesitation or fear when she used that empathic power. Or how she endured Luffa's pain with a friendly smile on her face.

It wasn't fair. Luffa wasn't the strongest, not anymore. So why did she still have to be responsible for these kinds of things? Hadn't she done enough? How far was she supposed to take this? How much more would she be expected to sacrifice?

"Hey."

Luffa's eyes snapped open and she sat up and backed to the far corner of the shower. "What the hell!" she shrieked.

It was her roommate. Jayncho simply stood there, holding the shower curtain in one hand as she leaned inside to see what was going on.

"I knocked, but you didn't answer," she said glumly. "I wasn't sure there was anyone in here."

"I locked the door, dammit!" Luffa yelled. She was suddenly grateful that she hadn't bothered to change out her tattered clothes. They were thoroughly soaked by now, but it was far better than the alternative.

"I thought you might have locked yourself out and then left," Jayncho said.

"How did you even get in here?" Luffa asked. The bathroom door was still closed.

"Slid underneath," Jayncho said. The Majin woman was a shapeshifter, and Luffa was still getting used to that idea. Even now, as she noticed Jayncho's black one-piece swimsuit and an inflatable inner tube with a bird's head sticking out of it, Luffa had to wonder if those were actual clothes, or just part of Jayncho's flesh, made to resemble clothing.

"What do you want?" Luffa asked, now more exasperated than furious.

"The shower," Jayncho said. "If you're done, that is. Not used to sharing, really. I've never had a roommate before. Do all Saiyans spend this long in the shower? Nothing wrong with that, I guess. I just didn't know."

"No..." Luffa said after a long pause. "No, we don't. I was just... Never mind. I'll leave you to it."

She rose to her feet and shut off the tap. The hard part was getting around Jayncho while she was holding the pool toy around her waist. Luffa didn't understand what it was for, and wasn't particularly interested in finding out.

"Wait," Luffa said, just as she was about to unlock the door.

"What?" Jayncho asked.

"What does everyone do around here?" Luffa asked. "Everyone here is a Time Patroller, right? So why am I the only one going on these missions?"

Jayncho shrugged. "Lot of things, I guess. Research. Investigations. Upkeep on the city is a whole thing by itself."

"What do you do, then?" Luffa asked.

Jayncho shrugged again. "PQ's, mostly. If you get bored, that's a good way to kill an afternoon. I'd show you, but... I won't."

Luffa nodded and opened the door, leaving Jayncho to her shower.

Before she could step out of the door, she noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye. Luffa turned, and saw Jayncho melting her entire body. Within seconds, Jayncho--swimsuit, pool toy, and all-- collapsed into a puddle of red liquid, and she began to flow through the drain. A moment later, and there was no trace of Jayncho at all.

Luffa made an audible gulp and hurried to her bedroom to change into some dry clothes.

*******

It didn't take Luffa very long to find the PQ station. There was a whole section of the city devoted to this, and crowds of people were gathered outside the registration counter to participate. Luffa felt out of place in the crowd, but she had already tried solitude and found very little solace there. She needed something to do, and there was usually some sort of action to be found in large gatherings like this one.

"Is this your first time?"

A man tapped Luffa on the shoulder, and it startled Luffa so much that she nearly jumped.

"Whoa, sorry there," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't," Luffa said indignantly. "I was just... distracted."

"It's cool. My boyfriend's a Saiyan like you. Seems like he's always half a world away, too. Hey, Mosh! Over here!"

Mosh was tall and had a wiry physique. His fluffy black hair was bundled up behind his head in a ponytail, and his tail was wrapped firmly around the beltline of his armored vest. He wore a scouter device similar to the one used by Frieza's men, but this one extended across both eyes and ears, and looked more like an expensive pair of sunglasses with rose-colored lenses.

"You find us a partner, Ravi?" he asked as he waved hello.

Ravi was shorter than Mosh, but still taller than Luffa. He elbowed Mosh in the ribs. "Can we at least get to know her first before we jump right into that?" he asked.

Mosh rubbed his hands through the bleach blonde curls on Ravi's head. "She's a Saiyan, right?" he asked. "What else do we gotta know?"

Ravi chuckled. "Sorry about him, he's just rude like that."

"Nah, you're outnumbered now, Ravi," Mosh said. "With the Saiyans, small talk is rude. You wanna be polite, you gotta throw up your hands and say 'wanna fight?'"

Luffa couldn't help but smile a little. "He's not wrong," she said to Ravi.

"Oh, is that so?" Ravi asked. "Then how do Saiyans introduce themselves, Mosh?"

"Aw, that's easy," Mosh said. "What you do is you put up your dukes, just like this--" He held his closed fists close to his own face. "Then you look her in the eye and go: Tell me your name, warrior, so that I'll have something to call you when I tell others of my glorious victory."

Part of Luffa wanted to play along with this, but she just couldn't find the words. "I'm Luffa," she said. "Sorry, maybe I'm not up for this. My roommate told me I could find a little action here, but I'm not sure I'm ready for this..."

"It's cool, Luffa," Ravi said. "Maybe you just need some time. Your ki feels kind of choppy, if you don't mind me saying so. I know some guided meditation techniques that could help--"

"Aw, not again, Ravi," Mosh groaned. "You always gotta show off that fancy New Crane School diploma, don't you?"

Ravi gestured at his green gi. The fabric only went over one shoulder, exposing the right side of his chest. Luffa noticed something iridescent in the fabric, which added a little flair to anyone who happened to be looking Ravi when the angle of the light changed.

"You're just jealous because I look so good in this," Ravi insisted. "But I forgot, I'm outnumbered. What do the Saiyans do in situations like this?"

"Simple," Mosh said. "Girl needs a breather, she might as well join us on a PQ." He gestured to Luffa. "You can chill out and watch us do the mission, and if the mood strikes you, you'll be right where you need to be. How about it?"

"Well... yeah, I guess that sounds okay," Luffa said. "I need to see how these things work, anyway."

Ravi was amazed. "You've got to be kidding me!" he said to Mosh. "Since when were you so good with people?!"

"I told you, babe," Mosh said. "She's a Saiyan. Me and her are on the same wavelength, that's all."

Ravi eyed Luffa with mock-suspicion. "Did he put you up to this, Luffa?" he asked. "Be honest. If you don't feel safe, just blink once for yes, twice for no, okay?"

Luffa chuckled in spite of herself, and followed them to the registration desk.

*******

"So, long story short," Mosh said, "There's these things called 'Runaway Time Fragments.' When the Time Patrol cleans up an anomaly or a change in history, it can create after-effects. Some are easier to deal with than others. The ones that need some, ahh, percussive maintenance? Those get assigned to us."

"I still don't get how fighting can fix a time anomaly," Luffa said. "Not that I'm complaining, but it doesn't make sense."

The three of them were gathered around an egg-shapped vehicle parked on the Time Plaza. The top section was covered with a blue canopy, just large enough for three passengers to fit inside. Four struts protruded out of the sides of the fuselage, making the whole thing look like an oddly-shaped insect. Ravi opened the hatch and they all squeezed inside.

"It's complicated," Ravi said as he activated the controls, "but I'll give you my take on it, if you're interested."

"Sure," Luffa said as the canopy lowered over their heads. She noticed Mosh had to stoop quite a bit to fit inside.

"Time, well, it's a lot like a river. What happens upstream defines what will happen downstream," he began. As he spoke, the machine began to levitate and the view of the Time Plaza outside suddenly vanished, leaving only a nondescript swirl of colors in its place.

"It's easy to think of a river as being simple. Like, uh-huh, big deal, it's just water moving down the path of least resistance," Ravi said. "Divert the path, and it flows somewhere else. But there's a whole world in a river. Think about all the things that live up in there, and the sediment along the banks. And it doesn't just flow in one direction, no. You can have eddies and counter-currents along the way. Most of that is natural, and it's the Supreme Kai of Time's job to preserve that natural flow."

"Way I heard it," Mosh added, "she used to do it all by herself, for millions of years."

"Sometimes the flow gets choked off in places, or diverted where it isn't supposed to go," Ravi went on. "She can set things right--don't ask me how-- but even setting things right can have unwanted side-effects. It's like using a squeegee to clean up spilled water. You can shove the spill around, but a little of it always goes off where you don't want it to go. So you have to go back and shove that part too, and so on."

"Okay, but how does fighting figure into it?" Luffa asked.

"Same way fighting figures into everything else," Mosh said. "The really big changes usually involve some kind of conflict. Wars, invasions, duels, revolutions. The Time Fragments are leftover moments from a spill. The little ones aren't hard to deal with, but the big ones? Now, those have enough conflict in 'em that they could escalate. But if we defuse those conflicts--the hard way-- then it keeps them from breaking out and contaminating the rest of the timeline."

"Not bad," Ravi said. "I didn't know you knew so much about Time Fragments, Mosh."

"Took a training course at the annex, that's all," Mosh said.

The view from the canopy had changed once again, and they appeared to have arrived at a rocky wasteland. Ravi used the controls to unlock the hatch, but Mosh shoved it open, as he was anxious to get outside and stand up straight.

"This looks like the place on Earth where I fought Vegeta," Luffa said.

"The Gizard Wasteland," Mosh said. "Lot of PQ's go down here. You got assigned to a mission here?"

"Yeah," Luffa said. "Vegeta and Nappa invaded Earth, and I guess they were supposed to lose, but someone tried to rig the fight."

"I hadn't seen anything about that," Mosh said. He shared a concerned look with Ravi. "Stay on your toes, you hear me? This might be a little different than what we're used to."

"Relax," Ravi said. "We're strong enough to handle this, or the robots wouldn't have authorized us to go on this mission. You just chill out with the time machine, Luffa. This shouldn't take long. Ooh, speak of the devil."

Both men's scouters suddenly chirped, and yellow characters appeared in the eyepieces, though Luffa couldn't make out the readings. Mosh pointed to the southeast. "Got three bogies coming in from this side. Fourth one behind that rocky formation out there."

"Setting up an ambush, maybe?" Ravi suggested.

"Mm-hm. Let's take out his crew first," Mosh said, "and see how he reacts."

Luffa sat down in the shadow of the time machine and made herself comfortable. There was something pleasant about seeing them work, and that made it easier for her to stay on the sidelines and take it in. She recognized the "crew" as more of the Saibamen she had fought in her previous mission. Mosh and Ravi defeated them with ease.

"Piece of cake," Ravi said as they flew back to the time machine. "The robots who handle the PQ database figure out when and where to send us, and all we have to do is defeat the enemies. In this case, looks like it was just some rogue Saibamen. No trouble for us, but if they ran loose in this Time Fragment for long enough, they could cause trouble for the Earth."

"That'd be something," Mosh said. "Imagine a Saibaman taking over the whole planet."

"What about their leader?" Luffa asked. She could still sense the ki of the fourth one. Whoever it was, they hadn't moved from their hiding place.

"Yeah, I guess he wasn't in league with those Saibamen after all," Mosh said. "Might be a coincidence. We should go check it out."

But before they could move out, their scouters chirped again, and Luffa could sense the enemy approaching. "Looks like he's not waiting around," Ravi said. "I can't recognize the ki of this one. It's like an Earthling's, but... different somehow."

"What would an Earthling be doing out here alone?" Luffa asked, but there was no time for anyone to answer. Their mysterious foe suddenly appeared right in front of them, his massive form blocking out the mid-day sun.

"What the--?" Mosh said.

"M-master Chiaotzu?" Ravi asked.

Luffa didn't recognize him until Ravi said the name. She had briefly fought alongside a band of Earthling warriors during one of her Time Patrol missions. There, the one called Chiaotzu was the smallest of their number. His bone-white skin was interrupted only by a pair of red spots on his cheeks, and between that and his ominous thousand-meter stare, he had seemed more like a mythical creature than a flesh-and-blood humanoid.

But here, in this time fragment, Chiaotzu was much, much larger. He was at least as tall as Mosh, but with a much thicker musculature. His gaze was as inscrutable as ever, but this time there was malice in his expression, and a red gleam in his eyes.

"Watch out!" Luffa warned them, "he's going to--!"

The word "attack" never made it out of Luffa's mouth, as Chiaotzu unleashed a powerful wave of destructive energy from his body. She managed to block the brunt of it, but couldn't resist the force of the blast, and found herself tumbling backward. By the time she managed to right herself, she looked around and saw Ravi lying face down on the ground, while Mosh was in the air, fighting a desperate battle against this strange new Chiaotzu.

As Luffa rushed to Ravi's side, she spared a moment of concern for their time machine, but then she spotted it in the same place they had left it. She supposed that the Time Patrol had designed it for these kinds of battles, but all that mattered was that there would be a way to get Ravi to safety if it came to that.

"He's been possessed!" Luffa said breathlessly as she knelt down at Ravi's side. "I've seen this before on other missions, but it looks like it's transformed him somehow."

"Luffa, you've got to... get out of here," Ravi said. "He's too strong. Taught me... everything I know... Mosh can't hold him off for long."

He was right. Luffa could tell that, in spite of Mosh's valiant effort, that he was outmatched, and it was only a matter of time. She decided the best thing to do would be to load Ravi in the time machine where he would be relatively safe. But when she tried to scoop him up in her arms, she found it nearly impossible to move. It was similar to Guldo's paralysis technique, including the rising panic Luffa felt as she struggled in vain against it.

"Luffa, hurry!" Ravi gasped.

"I... I-can't!" Luffa grunted. All she could manage was to lift her head up to see the battle overhead. Mosh was clutching his arm, and Chiaotzu raised his index finger. A bright light appeared at the tip, and it seemed that he was ready to deliver the final blow...

NEXT: Menace of the Mega-Chiaotzu!

#dragon ball #fanfiction #lssjluffafic #luffa #captain ginyu #jeice #guldo #trunks #supreme kai of time #ravi #mosh #chiaotzu #toki toki city #namek #earth #jayncho #finally got the fic synced up between tumblr and ao3

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chemicalmagecraft · 4 years

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Foresight is 20/20 Chapter 10

I laid on my stomach and rested my head on my hands. That I was doing it on a surprisingly-comfortable invisible barrier made of pseudomagically solidified air and even moving forward was natural. Honestly, what do you guys expect at this point? And of course my parasol was floating in just the right position that my entire body was covered even with the odd positioning. Because why not? "So what're we doing today?" I asked Gaara.

"I don't know," he said, fidgeting slightly. "Why are you with me?"

"I literally have nothing else to do. Plus we're raccoon eye buddies."

"Raccoon eye buddies?"

I traced my eye markings. "Raccoon eye buddies. I heard you've had trouble making friends in the past, so I figured you might like some company." I shrugged. "But if you don't, I can fly away."

I caught a tiny smile on his lips. "Don't go. Having a friend would be... nice..."

"Stinks that I'm going to have to leave soon... Maybe we should find you a friend who isn't from another village?"

"How do you make friends?"

I opened my mouth to say something, then paused. "I don't actually know, to be honest. The only person I became friends with without random chance playing a part was Naruto-chan, and he... let's just say he would've become best friends with whoever was the first person to actually show him kindness, and that just so happened to be me. Everyone else, one could argue I was guided to them by fate..."

"What about me?" he asked.

I shrugged. "No offense, but I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Shukaku." He frowned a bit. "That doesn't make our friendship meaningless, if that's what you're worried about." I saw a group of kids playing kickball or something and pointed to them. "Maybe we could ask to join them?" We walked (and floated) over to them. I honestly didn't really know what to say, so I just waved.

"Woah, are you floating?" one of the kids asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Can we... join? I promise to not use my powers if you don't want me to." I lowered myself to the ground, landing gently on my feet.

"Hey, isn't that the Kazekage's son?" another of the kids said. Gaara tensed up, so I squeezed his hand.

"He's cool," I insisted.

"But my mom said he's a demon."

I scoffed. "He has a demon sealed inside him. Big difference." I shrugged. "Sure, he used to have some trouble keeping the thing down, but I fixed that right up for him. As I said, he's cool."

"Thank you, Kouki-san," Gaara muttered.

I gave him a small smile and said, "So are we going to play or what?"

I was picked first. I guess the team captain figured I'd be awesome at sportsball because I could fly or something. Joke's on him, though, because I'm horrible at all manners of sportsball. Even with my ninja training, I was horrendous. On the other hand, Gaara was somehow the other team's best player. It didn't even look like he was trying to hard, he just... drifted over to the ball and launched it over to the goal net thing. Yeah, everyone ended up liking Gaara a lot more than me.

Just as planned.

Okay well I genuinely am terrible at sports but I totally planned it. It wasn't an accident at all. I am a puppetmaster.

kukukuku~

Come to think of it, I could think of a likely suspect. I drifted to an out-of-the-way alley near the Kazekage's house, sending a beacon to the presence as I flew. It responded to my psychic touch sluggishly, like its mind was damaged or something. It felt like sand slipping through my fingers, but I reeled the presence in. As I leaned on the alley wall, the sand in front of me shifted and slowly rose up in front of me, roughly in the shape of an adult woman. "Yo," I said.

"W͡h̘̠̩̱̬̬̱ͦ̔ͯͮ́ͮ̚o̦̙ ̫͖͐͑a͛́̃̆͢r̓̀̂̿͐̒̊e ̝̮̳͓̯͙ỹ̏̈́ͫ͌͊ͨ͞o̙͚͛͌u͛̏̿ͣ͞?̵͕͈͐̐" the sand witch asked hollowly. "...W͕͇̗̱̠͊ͥ͋ͤͭ̄ͅḥ̶͚̞̞̮ͬ̆̋̓̐ō̼̘͆.͇̠̆ͥ..͏̺ ̪̙͈͒̂̈͘a̡̤͔m I͕̫͎̱̮̗?̲̘̺͓̺͙̲͛͒͒̂̄̾ͩ"

I winced. "You... aren't in the best shape, are you?"

She made a few confused noises that I took as a 'yes.'

I tightened my grasp on her mind a bit. "Right, I'm going to try to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

After a few seconds of thought and me poking around in her nonexistent brain, she said, "I̷̤ͦț̢̞͓̲̟ͅ'̻͕͖͇̣̣ͤ̊̓ͯͩ̅ͦͅs̲̦̹͔ͯ́͒̓.̱͞.͕̩̮̥̦̻̇͊̋ͮ̃ͣͪͅ.̲͖ ̍͑͑ͧ̓ͬ̾͏̙̹̮̜͚̩͍G̠̣̗̪͝ȁ̢͉̥̋r̛̠̘̺͖̬̒̔̓͐̍uda.̘̫̲̬̺͓̇̀ͦ̊̍̿.̡̯͍̯̯̤̳̓́̋̍̒ͧ.ͧ͐̉̎͊" I tilted my head a bit and poked a few bits into place. "N̛o͓͉͎͢,̵̫̫̱ͨ̎ͮ ́ͫ̐͜i͖̱t's̀̏̚ ̨̲̬̓̂Ḱ̬̘͋ar͏u͓̥̞͆̂ͣ͟r̙̃̀a," she corrected herself.

"That's good," I said in a soothing tone. "Now, can you please tell me something about yourself? Maybe any family or loved ones you have? I need you to keep focused on something, anything."

"Th͔r̛e̙͎̜͡eͥ̃̒ ̢c̝̹h̲̹̙̎̉͌͘i͍̦̺l̨d̘̐́ṟ̔e͞ǹ̪͙̞̈̿͡,͔͖̯ a̓̇͂́ ̫̖̳͒ͩ̏d̲̮̖͊̄̿au̴g͕͎̀h̪͉͆̚t̵̐͂̚e͆r̴͔̤ ̥a̟̩̎ͦn͕̱̎̆dͣ̍ͦ ͫ͗͆tw̬̫̲ợ̀ ̴͚̩ͦ̂şo͘nś͍͎ͣ.̸ͪ T̹̫̱e̟͈̟͒̊̒mar̔ͥ̈i̥, K̟̪̝̈́͊ͭañ͙͔̼ͮ̌k̲̋uͧ͆ro,̼̓ ä́̄̐n̦͙͈ͮͭͤd̊ͦ́ ͑̓G͙̞̽͊a̬̾ar̗̥ͦͦa," she said. "I ̏͋alͭ̈́̍so ̎ḧ́̒av̅̚e ͪ̓a ̓br̊̊oͨͨthͯͣ̏eṙ̈́,̐ͨ̐ ̽̓Ȳ̈as͋h́ͩá̅mͪͫaͩͤruͭͦ...̒͒̓"

"Good," I murmured. "Now, this might feel a bit weird, but I need to do this to stabilize you." I took out my newest demon gem, one that I'd made from leftovers from the bandits and some insects I'd managed to attract. Okay, it was only almost done, but it was good enough for what I needed it for. I rammed the gem into Karura's sandy "navel," using it to work some yin-yang magic on the unstable chakra that made her up. Her form evened out and red lines spread from the gem to her arms and legs. Then I averted my eyes. "Aw, ew!" I exclaimed. "Put some clothes on!"

"I have no clothes," she noted.

"Then make some out of sand!"

"I have no idea how to do that..."

"And yet you managed to almost do a jutsu I still haven't figured out yet!" I shouted.

"My mind is still hazy..."

I grumbled a bit and formed a rough "cloth" out of the surrounding sand. "You even made yourself a body out of sand..." I wrapped the cloth around her body. "Right, you have to figure out how to keep that up." I opened my eyes as I felt the chakra of her body taking over the wrapping. Now that she was stabilizing, she looked just about human, only with the red markings and eyes colored like, though not shaped like, Shukaku's. The sand cloth had turned into a sort of cloak that made her really look like a sand witch. "You want to meet your kids now? Just to warn you, though, you've been dead for years, so they aren't exactly expecting you."

"Oh..." She looked very concerned, which was probably a good sign that her mind was becoming less fuzzy. "Oh dear."

kukukuku~

"Heeeey~" I said from outside the Kazekage's window. "Guess what I found today?" Thankfully, his family was already there, so I didn't have to do that much work.

Rasa sighed. "What?"

I smiled a bit. "Actually, it's more of a 'who.' I believe you've met her before, though you probably aren't expecting her." The platform of sand I was standing on floated into the room, deposited me on the floor, then turned back into Karura next to me. "Introducing, for the first time in almost four years, your wife."

"Karura," he gasped.

"Rasa," she scowled.

"Oh right, you were responsible for her death," I said smugly. "Ouch."

"Mom?" Temari asked. "Is it really you?" Karura floated over to her and picked her up, holding her close.

"Temari. I'm so, so sorry I left."

"How did this happen?" Yashamaru asked.

"I don't remember," Karura said, "but I'm grateful it did."

"If I had to guess," I said, placing one hand on my chest, "and I'm sorry to butt in here, but I think I might be the only one here who knows what's going on. So if I'm right, you had Shukaku sealed in her when she was pregnant with Gaara to see how prenatal exposure to Shukaku would influence jinchurikihood, then transferred the raccoon to Gaara, either not caring that she'd die or assuming your medics could resuscitate her because she was only jinchuriki for less than a year. That about right?"

Rasa nodded grimly.

"Right, so obviously that didn't work out quite like you hoped. Don't worry, I can tell you think past you was an idiot. Karura, while dying, found that she loved Gaara so much that she wanted to protect him even after death, so she imbued the sand around her with her will and chakra, or however that worked. In this, her having had Shukaku sealed inside her actually helped, as some of Shukaku's power was left over in her, so it ended up a success despite the fact that she didn't have much knowledge on the subject of yin-yang release, which would have otherwise been vital for that jutsu. 'Course, it still ended up rough, causing her to be scattered and unable to properly gather herself. The existence that was once Karura was scattered to the winds, spread about a wide area of sands and expending so much effort to simply exist that she couldn't do anything, with one exception that I do believe is still in effect." I licked my lips and pointed at Gaara, shooting a demon gem at him fast enough that it'd hurt.

The sand blocked it.

"What was that for?" Rasa, Yashamaru, and Karura simultaneously demanded of me.

I shrugged. "Its trajectory was curved a bit. Looked like it'd hit him, enough for Gaara's still-active defense to catch it, but it would have missed if it wasn't caught. As you can see, a part of Karura was... anchored, I suppose, to Gaara, creating an automatic sand defense." I turned to the door. "Right, you guys probably wanna catch up, so I'mma go work on my seals or something now."

"Wait," Karura said. "There are still holes in my memory."

"Those'll hopefully clear up over time, though unfortunately some stuff is probably lost for good... Can't really do too much more for you. The best thing is probably to try to jog your memory, which I'm pretty sure your family and douchey ex can do better than me."

"Douchey ex?" Rasa asked.

"Until death did you part," I said with a grin. "That's the rules, right?"

Rasa blinked. "...Well you're not wrong. And Karura, I honestly wouldn't put it past you if you wanted to leave me."

"Yeah this is the part where I disappear and let you guys have a heartfelt reunion and however KaRasa's going to go." I grinned as I activated the Transparent Escape Jutsu. "And yes, that was a pun!"

kukukuku~

"Right, so maybe you should stay up on full moons," I told Gaara as I was checking the seal after his horrible, nightmare-filled sleep. "Default won't break at all under the light of the moon."

He rubbed his eyes a little more. "That was unpleasant..."

"Yeah, well at least it looks like it'll only be once every thirty days," I noted. "That should be manageable, right? Better than thirty times in thirty days."

He sighed. "I'm going to miss you when you leave..."

I gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, you can always find me..." I poked him in the chest. "...Riiiiiight here."

"But I would like to be able to talk to you more..."

"I know, I was talking about how you should theoretically be able to use Shukaku's power to telepathically contact me from anywhere in the world."

His eyes widened, and I could see a small twinkle in them. "How?"

"See, there's this thing called biju telepathy that biju have, and any two sources of the same type of biju chakra can be used as a sort of relay for it. You have Shukaku and I absorbed just enough of his power from the seals you guys sent me that I gained his power, which means that we're linked. Now, I should note that because of the seal I placed on you, any time I'm calling you, you'll get a notification from your seal and have to manually allow it. Now let's teach you a new psychic power!"

kukukuku~

"That was delicious~" I sighed in delight after finishing my dinner of the third day, this time some heavenly chicken tikka. "Thank you for the meal~. So how's my favorite chakra spirit ghost thing doing after a full day of life and activity?" I asked.

She poked at her food. "I still have no idea how I'm eating this..." she muttered.

"Magic?" I offered. "You holding up alright?"

"I don't feel as scattered as I did before. That's good, right?"

I shrugged. "I've literally never had to deal with a situation like this before, but that sounds about right." I stood up. "Now, I think it's you're bedtime, Gaara-chan. Let's see how the seal's doing today."

"But I want to stay up," Gaara protested.

Karura wagged her finger. "No 'buts,'" she said, then smiled. "Tell you what, I'll tell you a bedtime story. I've missed the opportunity to do that for too long."

Gaara smiled. "Okay, mother."

kukukuku~

"Goodbye!" I waved to my sendoff party as I mounted my lindwyrm. "I'll miss you all! I wish you the best!" I slumped back into Gai's chest. "And I'm pooped. G'night, Gai."

The journey home wasn't as eventful as the journey there. If there were any bandits, they were scared off by my giant monsters long before I even noticed them. I managed to make a new demon gem with all of the bugs that my gems attracted when we set up camp for the night, especially once we hit the forest. There were a lot of bugs in the forest. Never thought I'd say that positively...

"We're back," I said with a smile as I looked at the gates. "Suna was nice, but I was starting to miss home."

"Yes, Konoha is a nice place," Gai said. "Though I must admit that I'll miss being able to train in both hot and cold environments..."

"Pretty sure you're more than fine on the training front already, dude..."

#fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #naruto #Foresight is 20/20 #F20 CH10

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snaggerleo · 6 years

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"Do you like the Pokémon trading card game?"

Leo looked up from his squatting position, brows furrowed while he tried to determine if the question was some kind of trick. Then again, he had been squatting in front of a modest display of trading cards in a Poké Mart. It was a normal supply stock-up when a couple of cards, Espeon and Umbreon inside a blister pack, had caught his eye. The guy bothering him looked somewhere in his late teens, in a long-sleeved red shirt, sleeves rolled up. Fingerless gloves and a red bandana. The long-sleeve was open to show off a short-sleeved shirt underneath it. Typical trainer fashion, comfortable layers for walking around in.

“I don’t play.” Leo dismissed his comments and turned back to the cards briefly, before leaning on his knees to stand up straight again. “Doesn’t seem like there’s much point when you could just be training Pokémon.”

The stranger laughed and shrugged that off. “That’s like asking why play chess when you could just become a knight and corner a queen.”

“Not the worst career path I’ve heard.”

That earned a chuckle. “Step outside, let’s have a friendly. If you lose, I’ll buy you those cards and teach you the basics of the game.”

That got a suspicious eye from Leo, who didn’t trust free things, but still liked them. And he wasn’t one to turn a battle down anyway. Even if he wasn’t one for card games, there were worse ways to waste time. “If I win, you can buy me a hot dog instead.” It was cheaper than the cards and would benefit him more, so it felt like a fair exchange.

The stranger laughed again. “Name’s Mark. Let’s make it a good one!”

The parking lot was spacious enough for a battle, as long as they didn’t get too over the top. Signs posted around warned against the use of Fire-type attacks, and any Pokemon with external flames were similarly banned from the premises. Mark took a well-worn, downright old-fashioned looking Pokéball from his pocket and let it loose - a Hitmonchan breaking out of the ray of light and jabbing the air a few times before beginning to bounce on his toes. Leo had to admit he was right; the relatively tight quarters were ideal for close attackers. He tossed a Great Ball, and a Hariyama touched down with a heavy thud. Palm on the ground, eyes forward, greeting its opponent properly.

Hotel brought himself to a standing position, hands out defensively, and there was a few seconds of tension while the two Pokémon both waited for their opponent to make the first move. “Comet Punch!” Hitmonchan broke the tension by rushing in, quick boxer’s feet closing the distance while his arms kept up a guard. Once close enough, his fits jabbed out, again and again, slamming into Hariyama’s palms while trying to feel out an opening. Hotel’s defense was solid, but the Hitmonchan’s attacks hurt, and he couldn’t keep guarding with his hands if he wanted to hit anything with them. Or touch things for the next several hours.

Blam. Blam. Blam. Blam. The punches rang out, leather on tough skin, and Hotel was actually forced back from the raw strength. “Push ‘em back!” Leo shouted, and Hotel went on an offensive of his own - those heavy hands slamming forward, cutting the momentum of Hitmonchan’s fists short before slamming into his body. Two, three times, before Hitmonchan was willing to give up ground to avoid the attacks.

“Out of his range, out of his range!” Mark shouted, throwing his arms to his right side to guide Hitmonchan into strafing. Hotel had short arms, his attacks could only reach as far as his hands could. Dodging quickly, Hitmonchan was able to land a heavy blow against Hotel’s side, but his body was strong. The benefit of sumo. Hitmonchan kept piling on hard hooks, and Hotel seemed barely fazed, able to wrap hands around him and straight up lift Hitmonchan off the ground and deliver a good toss against a nearby chain link fence.

Hotel didn’t need to be told to follow up. He leaned down and rushed forward, slamming the ball of his palm against Hitmonchan’s body, threatening to force him through the metal fence - bending it backwards, a hair’s breadth from tearing. Desperate, the Hitmonchan threw its head forward, connecting a headbutt against his opponent and leaving him dizzy so he had the room to counter.

Headbutts were technically illegal in boxing, but his opponent wasn’t a boxer, so you did what you could.

Hotel stepped backward, flinching while the world spun around him. Hitmonchan got his feet under him, slid forward, and pounded a hook against the side of Hariyama’s ear. Sound went away after that, just a loud ringing that became the soundtrack to a dizzy world. One more hard straight into Hotel’s forehead sent him reeling backward, a heavy blow to the top of a bottom-heavy Pokémon sending him reeling backward like a bop clown. Hotel hit the ground with another impressive thud, falling onto his back and needing a minute to recover.

This forced an appreciative whistle out of Leo. “Not bad, not bad one bit. You don’t see a lot of high power Hitmonchan.”

“I only have a few Pokémon that I’ve been training hard for a long time now! Their cards were big time in the card game back in the day!”

Leo pursed his lips. That was probably a good clue to the rest of his team make-up, but he didn’t know dick diddly about card games. Time to go for what worked in normal battles. A flash of light, and Leo’s Espeon touched down, looking poised, watching Hitmonchan like a hawk - spry limbs ready to jump out of the way if his opponent made a move.

Mark wasn’t biting though. Hitmonchan returned to its ball, and a Scyther came out. Echo didn’t waste the opportunity to get in a free hit, a cannonball of kinetic energy, almost invisible if not for the warped light, slammed against the Scyther. It reeled backward, body not strong enough for heavy Psychic attacks, but wasn’t down yet. A problem. Scyther’s wings kicked up dust, filling the air with noise almost like a chopper. The distance between it and Echo was closed almost instantly, with sharp blades spinning and whirling around or thrusting forward to try and control the Espeon’s positioning. Faster than even that Hitmonchan. Leo’s eyes narrowed while he watched, commanding Echo through a defense. Were all of his Pokemon trained like boxers? Interesting technique. Most people would assume Scyther would benefit from sword training, but it can’t hold a sword like something with wrists. Haymakers were the way to go.

If Echo could get in just one more hit, this Scyther would be toast, but he needed space to form up his attacks, and the pressure wasn’t stopping. Leo thought about a pun involving its special Swarm ability being utilized well as a boxer, and immediately wanted to die for having thought it. Echo had to get out. This rushdown style was his exact weakness, and part of why he relied on a teammate in doubles.

The Espeon vanished mid-attack, and his Hitmontop spun into place, kicking the Scyther’s blades away before landing more rapid kicks into his chest. Scyther was actually forced out, but Hitmontop didn’t lose momentum, spinning right into him to keep forcing his attacks out - a powerful defense and offense all in one. Scyther resisted the attacks well, but his stamina couldn’t beat the fresh Hitmontop’s. Hitmontop handsprung off the ground, slamming his entire body into Scyther’s chest once he was open enough, sending the insect to the ground.

Scyther vanished into light and was immediately replaced. There was very suddenly an electrified fist slamming against Hitmontop’s body, not caring at all about either his offense or defense, just one powerful blow that sent Hitmontop reeling across the ground. Electricity crackled around his body while Hitmontop slowed in his spin. “Damn, damn damn...” Leo muttered under his breath. Hitmontop was an outboxer. Scyther was a swarmer. That made this Electabuzz a slugger, who didn’t care at all about balanced fighters. Your defense had to be impeccable or you were going to hurt.

“Get in there!” Hitmontop had to keep up the pressure. He raced forward again, picking up more spinning momentum to add force to his attacks, hard kicks hammering the Electabuzz one after another. Being that close was to Electabuzz’ favor, though. The side of his electric fist powered into Hitmontop’s body - kicks nailing his forearm to bruise it, but not enough to stop the attack, another thunderous haymaker sending him hurdling away. More crackling electricity. The static wasn’t letting Hitmontop perform at his best.

And then Electabuzz did something he’d forgotten Mark’s Pokemon would even be capable of; he gathered electricity in his palm and threw it, a thunderbolt slamming into Hitmontop at range, just one more tool to punish his opponents for not getting in where he needed them to be. Hitmontop was fried. Leo returned him; all he had left was this Espeon.

But Echo had an advantage now. “Set up the offense!” Echo’s eyes flashed, and Electabuzz fired off another Thunderbolt. Not a big deal. Echo had more training than Hitmontop, and could take ranged hits better. He was built to. “Fire!” Another Psychic cannonball slammed into the Electabuzz while he tried closing the gap himself, and he went down.

Scyther immediately tagged in, and went on the usual rush, not wanting to give Espeon time to fire off an attack. But Electabuzz already had. Before Scyther could get close enough to swing, more kinetic energy appeared from nowhere, slamming Scyther into the ground, enough damage to finish the battle. Future Sight saves the day again.

“Whew!” Mark sighed out while wiping his forehead. “Can’t be mad about a battle like that! You beat our tactics! Boxing has its flaws, but it’s worked for us alright so far. You’re a great trainer. No wonder somebody like you doesn’t need outside hobbies.”

“You’re talking too much.” Leo cut him off while kneeling down beside Espeon, treating his partner’s wounds with some fresh berries from a pouch in his coat. Echo slowly ate, getting enough stamina back for proper treatment later. “You’re a good trainer too. Focusing on fewer Pokemon doesn’t make you less talented. Recognizing your limits is an important skill.”

“Guess I owe you lunch, huh?” Mark returned his Scyther and stepped over to offer Leo a handshake.

“Looks like it. But I think I’ll get those cards anyway, and you can teach me how they work while we eat.” He put on a playful smirk and accept that handshake, before they walked back into the convenience store together.

And were promptly kicked out for battling in the parking lot and wrecking the owner’s fence.

#drabble #I wanted to write a Haymaker inspired battle

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askvicothefallenbloodangel · 7 years

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Writober Day 1: From Beneath the Bed

Halloween Art Gauntlet

They stopped following him.

Thevan didn’t lose them. Their howling was still loud and eagerly baying for his blood. But he could sense their frustration and rage at being denied their prey. But beneath it, fueling it, he sensed…fear.

Fear? That didn’t make any sense. He was in the pack’s territory, the seat of their strength where none would dare stand against them. The only possible explanation could be that he had blundered into the domain of someone or something that even the Wulfen couldn’t overcome.

Thevan ducked into a room to catch his breath and regain his bearings. Half of the floor here was missing, allowing him a glimpse into a cavernous chamber roughly carved out from the manufactorium block.

The sight that greeted him gave him pause. Laying supine on the ground many dozens of stories below was the wreckage of an Imperial Knight. Numerous rents and tears in its armor revealed the cause of its demise, though Thevan couldn’t identify what weapons inflicted such damage. More disturbing were glimpses of what looked like dead and rotting flesh within the torn metal, as though he was gazing upon the resting place of a slain, armored giant and not a machine of war.

As Thevan’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, he saw that the rubble the Knight lay upon was not stone and metal, but bones and fur pelts. Lots of pelts, all in varying stages of decay. Was this a sacred site for the Wulfen? Or the lair of something that hunted them for their skins?

Either way, Thevan did not want to linger here lest he be encircled by the Wulfen or cornered by whatever dwelled here. He opened his awareness, and the Outcast strained her senses for any psychic signatures within this Emperor-forsaken place.

Just as she suspected, the Wulfen were attempting to lay ambushes at the most likely escape routes, but a faint presence brushed her mind, one that was unmistakable: a shard of the World Spirit. Somewhere, below the crude metal giant, was an anchor of the moon’s soul, and, by extension, those of her kin. How it survived this long, she could only guess, but she could not simply pass it by, not while she had an opportunity to tie it back to the shattered World Spirit’s other fragments.

But despite her conviction, the Outcast couldn’t help but notice that besides the World Spirit anchor and the Wulfen, she could sense nothing else. It’s never this easy, the Lamenter thought grimly.

Thevan carefully and quietly climbed down the ruined floors of the manufactorium, wincing at every tiny bit of debris that fell loose into the chamber, the quiet crumbling clanging loudly to his ears. No other sound or movement could be detected in the chamber, but he refused to hope that he was alone or undetected by whatever lurked within.

Bolt pistol and Eldar chainsword were already in hand the moment his feet touched the floor of the cavern. Up close, the ruined armor of the Knight and its macabre barrow loomed over him, its imposing presence second only to the terrible stench of death and decay. Thevan was nearly overcome by nausea before he summoned the will to filter out the overpowering reek from his senses. He quietly picked his way around the cairn, not certain what he was looking for save that the faint signature of the anchor seemed to lay somewhere within and below the mound.

He soon found his solution, though he found himself loathe to continue. There was a narrow tunnel just barely wide enough for him to walk through without stooping in the side of the pile of bones and flayed skins. Despite the crude, gruesome materials, it seemed to be stable enough for him to safely enter, but it begged the question of who built it. Thevan took some solace in the fact that whatever monstrosity lurked within, it couldn’t be all that much larger than he was. With a whispered prayer to the God-Emperor for guidance and protection, he entered the tunnel.

It was only thanks to his finely-honed sense of direction that he was somehow able to keep his bearings within the labyrinth of bone and molding flesh, though it was sorely tested. With the anchor acting as his only frame of reference, he was forced to press forward blindly, circling around on himself and doubling back multiple times. The time he was spending wasn’t what worried him, for he could operate for weeks without rest if he had to. But the utter silence of the winding ossuary save for the dripping of putrid fluids and the soft crunch of bones beneath his boots disturbed him the most. If there was anything lurking here, it had to know of his presence by now. The thought only made him advance all the more slowly in the near-total darkness, lest he blunder right into an ambush. Every now and then he could have sworn he saw something scuttling just out of sight or heard the shuffling of bones off in the distance, but then it was gone. Thevan hoped that he wasn’t losing his grip on his sanity. He had been trained far too well to be cowed by fear and paranoia now, not after the horrors he had witnessed before.

Wait. The Outcast paused, extending her senses out as far as she could. There. She turned towards a wall, the arrhythmic hum of the anchor radiating faintly from behind it. It was close, so close. Did this tunnel even go towards it? Did she have to backtrack several kilometers just to get to it? Was the anchor just simply buried? She couldn’t stand it, the tension, the uncertainty. Stowing his pistol and sword, Thevan began digging, quietly at first, but then with increasing urgency, no longer caring if anything heard him or not. If any abominations lurked here, let them come! At least he will then finally face his tormentor and put his fears to death.

Thevan ripped out half a skeleton before he was blinded by a bright flash of psychic energy. When his mind finally adjusted to its glare, he nearly cried out in joy. Visible through a gap in the wall of bones was the roughly hewn surface of a menhir, the anchor of the World Spirit. Without another moment of hesitation, he pulled off his glove and placed his bare hand against the cool crystalline surface.

Waves of pain, confusion, and anguish nearly overwhelmed the Outcast, forcing her to summon all of her psychic prowess just to keep her feet. The fragment of the World Spirit within lunged at her, clinging to her for some measure of hope and stability. Her knees gave out, yet she somehow managed to keep her hand against the menhir, unwilling to break contact. Fear not, she told the wounded shard, I shall show you the way. Ignoring the sharp bones poking at her flesh - no, only borrowed, you will do well to remember that - and the foul fluids dripping down around her, the Outcast reached out with her will, dancing around the numerous slavering predators marauding just on the other side of the veil of reality, leaving them no trace of her passage. Finally, she found the other shards of the World Spirit, loosely bound together like children holding together in the dark.

Come, join your kin. She felt energized just by the mental touch of the others, almost too much for her mortal vessel to bear, but she let it suffer only enough to join the lost fragment to the rest, letting her consciousness take the brunt of the overwhelming emotions and power contained within. Though once sundered, let this joining now hold together, if only just enough to finish our great work upon this blighted world.

Thevan regained consciousness in an instant. The nauseating smell of burning flesh was still hot and fresh in his nostrils, the searing pain on his palm intruding upon his awareness. This was good, as it meant he was only unconscious for but a moment. He silently recited a litany of strength, willing the pain to the back of his mind. This anchor is once again joined to the whole, he told himself. Now to get out of this particular piece of hell.

After checking himself and his wargear one last time, he began retracing his steps as best as his memory would allow. He had barely traveled a kilometer before he stopped, straining his senses against the darkness. A scraping of bone, growing practically deafening after the long, maddening silence, coming seemingly from all directions at once. An earthquake?

No, the denizens finally hunger, he grimly realized. Tightening his grip on his weapons, he started running, the time for stealth now long past.

He saw it after he turned a corner into a long straightaway. In the light of his stab-lumen, a Space Wolf in power armor crawled on his belly towards him with unnatural speed. Thevan immediately knew it was no longer among the Emperor’s worthy when he saw the twin chainblades protruding from the helmet’s vox grill and a second pair of armored arms pulling it over the bone-covered floor. Taking aim at the monstrosity, Thevan fired his bolt pistol repeatedly, most of the rounds deflected into the walls, but a lucky shot pierced one of the cracked visor lenses. The side of the helmet blew out in an explosion of gore, but still the abomination kept advancing. It lunged at him with its chainblade mandibles, very nearly succeeding in impaling him as he managed to parry them to the side.

Thevan shoved the muzzle of the bolt pistol into the remaining lens and fired the last couple of rounds into its skull. As it reeled from the exploding bolts, Thevan thrust the quietly-whirring Eldar chainsword right into the bloody mess, twisting it and ripping it free.

His eyes did not leave the now-still body as he reloaded his pistol, waiting for it to show any sign that it still lived. He could now see that it had not just two pairs of arms, but many, with several breastplates of Astartes armor stacked one on top of the other in a gruesome chain all the way down the tunnel. Just how many Space Wolves and Traitorous Astartes comprised this horror, Thevan did not want to even contemplate. After firing a couple more bolt shells into the remnants of its neck for good measure, he ran down the tunnel on the back of the monster.

He did not make it very far when the macabre chain of corpses began to violently shake, nearly throwing him off his feet. He turned and saw the bloody end of the monster rise up, its arms ripping off the first two segments and revealing another chainblade-fanged head. Thevan leveled his pistol again, but the cracking of ceramite and bone filled the tunnel and several arms reached around at sickening angles, grabbing him and holding him fast. He lashed out with his chainsword and pistol, but for each one hacked off or blasted apart, several more were there to take their place.

Thevan chanced a glance up, and the new head of the monster was nearly upon him after crawling along the ceiling of the tunnel. He raised his sword to block the coming lunge, but the arms grappling him threw him off balance. The monster struck, burying its bladed fangs deep into his chest, their serrated edges tearing through bone and organs with ease.

As his body lost sensation and the pain rapidly disappeared into a cold numbness, Thevan’s silent cry of pain settled into an annoyed grimace.

Will this finally be the end at last? the Outcast wondered wryly.

With my luck, doubtful, the Lamenter replied.

#wh40k #stories #Thevan #Samsara the Cursed Moon #writober #halloween art gauntlet

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chemicalmagecraft · 5 years

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I Would Totally Kick Jiraiya’s Butt Chapter 10

A/N: This is going to be a bit of a shorter chapter because, like I said in my other fic, college stinks and also because I don't want to end an arc mid-chapter either.

kukukuku~

"I don't know," he said, fidgeting slightly. "Why are you with me?"

"I literally have nothing else to do. Plus we're raccoon eye buddies."

"Raccoon eye buddies?"

I traced my eye markings. "Raccoon eye buddies. I heard you've had trouble making friends in the past, so I figured you might like some company." I shrugged. "But if you don't, I can fly away."

I caught a tiny smile on his lips. "Don't go. Having a friend would be... nice..."

"Stinks that I'm going to have to leave soon... Maybe we should find you a friend who isn't from another village."

"How do you make friends?"

"What about me?" he asked.

"Woah, are you floating?" one of the kids asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Can we... join? I promise to not use my powers if you don't want me to." I lowered myself to the ground.

"Hey, isn't that the Kazekage's son?" another of the kids said. Gaara tensed up, so I squeezed his hand.

"He's cool," I insisted.

"But my mom said he's a demon."

I crossed my arms. "He has a demon sealed inside him. Big difference." I shrugged. "Sure, he used to have some trouble keeping the thing down, but I fixed that right up for him. As I said, he's cool."

"Thank you, Kouki-san," Gaara muttered.

I gave him a small smile and said, "So are we going to play or what?"

I was picked first. I guess the team captain figured I'd be awesome at sportsball because I could fly or something. Joke's on him, though, because I'm horrible at all manners of sportsball. Even with my ninja training, I was horrendous. On the other hand, Gaara was somehow the other team's best player. It didn't even look like he was trying to hard, he just... drifted over to the ball and launched it over to the goal net. Yeah, everyone ended up liking Gaara a lot more than me.

kukukuku~

I floated in the air above Suna, my senses extended as far as I could. I'd caught a faint whiff of... something while I was playing with Gaara and the others. I scanned the area, moving around a bit to get the best feel of whatever I was sensing. Whatever it was, it was vast, almost spread out, and felt a bit like Shukaku but without the malice. It was like the sands themselves were possessed, especially around Gaara. I could think of a likely suspect. I drifted to an out-of-the-way alley near the Kazekage's house, sending a beacon to the presence as I flew. It responded to my psychic touch sluggishly, like its mind was damaged or something. It felt like sand slipping through my fingers, but I reeled the presence in. As I leaned on the alley wall, the sand in front of me shifted and slowly rose up in front of me, roughly in the shape of an adult woman. "Yo," I said.

I winced. "You... aren't in the best shape, are you?" She made some noises that I took as a 'yes.' I tightened my grasp on her mind a bit. "Right, I'm going to try to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

"That's good," I said in a soothing tone. "Now, can you please tell me something about yourself? Maybe any family or loved ones you have? I need you to keep focused on something, anything."

"Th͔r̛e̙͎̜͡eͥ̃̒ ̢c̝̹h̲̹̙̎̉͌͘i͍̦̺l̨d̘̐́ṟ̔e͞ǹ̪͙̞̈̿͡,͔͖̯ a̓̇͂́ ̫̖̳͒ͩ̏d̲̮̖͊̄̿au̴g͕͎̀h̪͉͆̚t̵̐͂̚e͆r̴͔̤ ̥a̟̩̎ͦn͕̱̎̆dͣ̍ͦ ͫ͗͆tw̬̫̲ợ̀ ̴͚̩ͦ̂şo͘nś͍͎ͣ.̸ͪ T̹̫̱e̟͈̟͒̊̒mar̔ͥ̈i̥, K̟̪̝̈́͊ͭañ͙͔̼ͮ̌k̲̋uͧ͆ro,̼̓ ä́̄̐n̦͙͈ͮͭͤd̊ͦ́ ͑̓G͙̞̽͊a̬̾ar̗̥ͦͦa,"she said. "I ̏͋alͭ̈́̍so ̎ḧ́̒av̅̚e ͪ̓a ̓br̊̊oͨͨthͯͣ̏eṙ̈́,̐ͨ̐ ̽̓Ȳ̈as͋h́ͩá̅mͪͫaͩͤruͭͦ...̒͒̓"

"Good," I murmured. "Now, this might feel a bit weird, but I need to do this to stabilize you." I took out my newest demon sage core, one that I'd made from leftovers from the bandits and some insects I'd managed to attract. Okay, it was only almost done, but it was good enough for what I needed it for. I rammed the core into Karura's sandy "navel," using it to work some yin-yang magic on the unstable chakra that made her up. Her form evened out and red lines spread from the core to her arms and legs. Then I averted my eyes. "Aw, ew!" I exclaimed. "Put some clothes on!"

"I have no clothes," she noted.

"Then make some out of sand!"

"I have no idea how to do that..."

"And yet you managed to almost do a jutsu I still haven't figured out yet!" I shouted.

"My mind is still hazy..."

I grumbled a bit and formed a rough "cloth" out of the surrounding sand. "You even made yourself a body out of sand..." I wrapped the cloth around her body. "Right, you have to figure out how to keep that up." I opened my eyes as I felt the chakra of her body taking over the wrapping. Now that she was stabilizing, she looked just about human, only with the red markings and eyes colored like, though not shaped like, Shukaku's. The sand cloth had turned into a sort of cloak that made her really look like a sand witch. "You want to meet your kids now? Just to warn you, mullo, you've been dead for years, so they aren't exactly expecting you."

"Oh... oh dear."

kukukuku~

"Heeeey~" I said from outside the Kazekage's window. "Guess what I found today?" Thankfully, his family was there, so I didn't have to do that much work.

Rasa sighed. "What?"

"Karura," he gasped.

"Rasa," she scowled.

"Oh right, you were responsible for her death," I said. "Ouch."

"Mom?" Temari asked. "Is it really you?" Karura floated over to her and picked her up, holding her close.

"Temari. I'm so, so sorry I left."

"How did this happen?" Yashamaru asked.

"I don't remember," Karura said, "but I'm grateful it did."

The sand blocked it.

"What was that for?" Rasa, Yashamaru, and Karura simultaneously demanded of me.

"Wait," Karura said. "There are still holes in my memory."

"Douchey ex?" Rasa asked.

"Until death did you part," I said with a grin. "That's the rules, right?"

Rasa blinked. "...Well you're not wrong. And Karura, I honestly wouldn't put it past you if you wanted to leave me."

"Yeah this is the part where I disappear and let you guys have a heartfelt reunion and however KaRasa's going to go." I grinned as I activated the Transparent Escape Jutsu. "And yes, that was a pun!"

kukukuku~

"Right, so maybe you should stay up on full moons," I told Gaara as I was checking the seal after his horrible, nightmare-filled sleep. "Default won't break at all under the light of the moon."

He rubbed his eyes a little more. "That was unpleasant..."

"Yeah, well at least it looks like it'll only be once every thirty days," I noted. "That should be manageable, right? Better than thirty times in thirty days."

He sighed. "I'm going to miss you when you leave..."

I gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, you can always find me..." I poked him in the chest. "...Riiiiiight here."

"But I would like to be able to talk to you more..."

"I know, I was talking about how you should theoretically be able to use Shukaku's power to telepathically contact me from anywhere in the world."

His eyes widened, and I could see a small twinkle in them. "How?"

"See, there's this thing called bijū telepathy that bijū have, and any two sources of the same type of bijū chakra can be used as a sort of relay for it. You have Shukaku and I absorbed just enough of his power from the seals you guys sent me that I gained his power, which means that we're linked. Now, I should note that because of the seal I placed on you, any time I'm calling you, you'll get a notification from your seal and have to manually allow it. Now let's teach you a new psychic power!"

kukukuku~

"This is awesome!" I yelled as I finally got to avail myself the full joy of having flight-granting crystals adhered to my body. I still made sure to keep close to Karura, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, who were either standing on or being used as a floating sand platform.

"The view is breathtaking from up here," Gaara agreed with telepathy.

"How you holding up, Karura?" I asked.

"...I think I like being a sand spirit." She sounded fine. "My children are enjoying my powers as well."

I smiled. Sure, we were still over a tower because of safety concerns, but we were flying! And the others were having fun.

kukukuku~

"That was delicious~" I sighed in delight after finishing my dinner of the third day, this time some heavenly chicken tikka. "Thank you for the meal~. So how's my favorite mullo doing after a full day of life and activity?" I asked.

She poked at her food. "I still have no idea how I'm eating this..." she muttered.

"Magic?" I offered. "You holding up alright?"

"I don't feel as scattered as I did before. That's good, right?"

"But I want to stay up," Gaara protested.

Karura wagged her finger. "No 'buts,'" she said, then smiled. "Tell you what, I'll tell you a bedtime story. I've missed the opportunity to do that for too long."

Gaara smiled. "Okay, mother."

kukukuku~

"Goodbye!" I waved to my sendoff party as I mounted my lindwyrm. "I'll miss you all! I wish you the best!" I slumped back into Gai's chest. "And I'm pooped. G'night, Gai."

The journey home wasn't as eventful as the journey there. If there were any bandits, they were scared off by my giant monsters long before I even noticed them. I managed to make a new core with all of the bugs that my cores attracted when we set up camp for the night, especially once we hit the forest. There were a lot of bugs in the forest. Never thought I'd say that positively...

"We're back," I said with a smile as I looked at the gates. "Suna was nice, but I was starting to miss home."

"Yes, Konoha is a nice place," Gai said. "Though I must admit that I'll miss being able to train in both hot and cold environments..."

"Pretty sure you're more than fine on the training front already, dude..."

kukukuku~

A/N: And if you were wondering, mullo basically means "vampire," "ghost," or just generally something dead that's still walking about.

#I Would Totally Kick Jiraiya's Butt #fanfiction #IWTKJB CH 10 #naruto #naruto shippuden spoilers #naruto fanfiction

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