Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Ball: Chaotic Future ❯ Chapter 36: Final Conflict ( Chapter 36 )

I DO NOT OWN DRAGON BALL Z OR ANY RACES, PLANETS, OR CHARACTERS RELATED TO IT. GALDRIA, HEVA, TIRIS, IQUELA, MIURA, ZELLIS, SETH, CLEF, HANZO, TWILIGHT AND ALL RELATED CHARACTERS, RACES, OR PLANETS WERE ALL CREATED BY ME.

 

 

Dragon Ball:

Chaotic Future

 

CHAPTER 36

 

Genjin Saga, Part VI

“Final Conflict.”

 

 

 

Miura was paralyzed with agony.

 

“What's happening to him!?” Elysia cried out, turning eyes wide with confusion toward Kirien and Kalen. “What have you done!?” A gasp of pain escaped Miura, and the Galdrian Princess returned her full attention to her suffering lover. “Arius…”

 

“My, my, its working much better than I ever could have hoped,” Kirien said with a slight smile. “I had intended for him merely to become immobilized, but this side affect is quite intriguing, don't you think Kalen?” The other Genjin didn't respond, he merely continued to stare down at Miura, his grey-green eyes alight with satisfaction. After listening to the crossbreed warrior's painful cries for a moment, Kirien finally answered Elysia's question.

 

“You see, Princess, when I created that body for your dear Miura, I made sure that I genetically programmed him to be unable to harm us.” Zellis and Elysia gasped in shock and disbelief as Kirien continued. “Even the merest thought of inflicting pain or death upon Kalen or me will be met with that,” she said smugly, gesturing toward the huddled, pain-wracked body of Miura.

 

“How could you!?” Zellis shouted, standing to her feet and clenching her fists in anger. “I trusted you… I loved you! And this is how you repay me? If you intended on killing us anyway, why go through all the trouble of bringing Miura back, or of life-bonding with me?” The sharp tone of hot rage in the noblewoman's voice died down, becoming more subdued, tinged by sadness and betrayal. “I just don't understand…”

 

“My dear Lady Zellis,” Kirien murmured with a shake of her head. “Restoring Miura to life was necessary to my plans, you see. I needed three Genjins to perform the Sealing Blast, Zellis; myself, Kalen, and one more.” She smiled coolly before continuing. “In Miura, I had my third Genjin, as well as someone that I could control absolutely. And as far as you're concerned, what I felt for you was not love… It was simply, convenience. Not that you weren't entertaining for a while, though,” she teased with a wink. “Anyway, call it an additional insurance policy, if you will.” Kirien's golden eyes narrowed as she focused her complete attention on the young woman who had been her lover for the past several months. “On the off chance that my genetic programming failed to keep Miura at bay, then our life-bond would be a perfect fallback.”

 

“She's… right, Z,” Miura uttered between moans of agony. “The two of you are… linked now… remember?” His bloodshot purple eyes suddenly clenched shut as his body was wracked by another spasm of pain. “If Kirien dies… so do you… And… I won't let that… happen… She… She knows that.” The tears that now flowed freely down Miura's pale and drawn face were more from defeat than pain.

 

“You see, de Galdri?” Kalen boasted, slowly gathering energy for an offensive strike. “There's nothing that you can do. Your remaining friends are far too weak to pose any threat, and you yourself are physically and mentally unable to destroy us.” A smirk of wicked satisfaction split his bearded face. “I am going to enjoy tearing you apart, mutt.”

 

As Kalen spoke, Miura turned his attention to the black-and-green-clad Genjin criminal. Immediately, the excruciating sensations that had flooded his body simply ceased. For a moment he was stunned, unwilling to believe that this bit of luck was actually real. Slowly at first, Miura took all the vengeful rage that he'd had focused on Kirien and channeled it toward Kalen, expecting to be thrown into the jaws of anguish once again. Nothing happened.

 

With a flash of amethyst power, Miura leapt up from the ground and dashed toward Kalen, knocking his adopted-sister and Elysia aside as he did so. The look of undisguised confusion on the Genjin's face was priceless, and Miura was forced to grin as he lashed out with a power-charged roundhouse kick that lifted Kalen from the ground and sent him crashing back into a heap of rubble with an explosion of shimmering energy and debris. The former Emperor refused to allow his enemy a chance to recover.

 

As Kalen burst forth from the destroyed building—again—his vision was filled with a barrage of scintillating purple ki. The Genjin managed to put up a barrier, barely, as he rushed through the onslaught of energy toward its source. This is impossible! he thought. There's no way that his programming could have been overrode, unless… A possibility sprang to his mind that sent chills down his spine. With a scream of wrath, Kalen dispersed the swarming energy around him, unleashing a savage backhand that knocked Miura back and drove him into the ground several yards away.

 

“Kirien!” he bellowed, locking his cold, grey-green eyes on the russet-haired young woman who stood before him, a slight smile playing across her lips. “What is the meaning of this? You said that he couldn't attack us!” Kalen's body was trembling with fury as he took several steps forward, stopping when he stood face to face with his coconspirator. “This must be some mistake in his genetics, yes?”

 

“I'm afraid not, Kalen my love,” Kirien responded, flashing the Genjin warrior a stern glare. “You must understand something, Kalen: what good are you to me if you can't even beat one lowly crossbreed?” Her expression immediately became serene and full of light again as she softly caressed Kalen's cheek with her black-gloved hand. “I have faith in you, beloved. You should have no problem in finishing Miura off, right?”

 

Before Kalen could answer, Miura was upon him again, and this time the flickering nimbus of light that surrounded him shone a piercing silver and gold in the dimming glow of twilight. A clash rang out, echoing throughout the surrounding city as Kalen and Miura, who now fought bathed in the power of his Genjin transformation, shot skyward, exchanging blows the entire time.

 

“Well then,” Kirien said quietly, turning her glowing gold eyes on Elysia and Zellis. “I guess this means the two of you are mine.”

 

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Kalen fought like a man possessed.

 

How dare she? he wondered as he fended off another blindingly fast combination assault from his silver-haired, blue-eyed opponent. That treacherous bitch! She's stabbed me in the back! Further thoughts were literally knocked from his mind as Miura delivered a tremendous uppercut Kalen's chin which sent the Genjin soaring even higher into the dark night sky. His power is amazing, but I've not yet reached my limit…

 

As if to prove the point to himself, Kalen shot back down toward his young enemy, his body surrounded by an aura of shining emerald power. Unlike Gabriel and Trunks, though, Miura was unaffected by Kalen's mind-numbing Genjin power, and he met the fugitive head on, locking his fingers with those of his adversary's. As the two grappling fighters struggled to overpower each other, they unleashed twin cries of exertion, calling upon even more power than had so far been brought to bear. As this power struggle continued, the eyes of the two combatants locked as surely as their hands had, and each saw a reflection of the other's furious hatred.

 

“Kalen, listen to me!” Miura shouted, narrowing his ice-blue eyes in a furious glare. “Don't you see? Kirien's betrayed us both! We have no reason to fight one another!” The only response Miura received was a sudden increase in the Genjin's already substantial strength. “Please, help me stop her, Kalen! Isn't there a way to destroy her, without taking Z out in the process?”

 

“You're a fool if you think I'll help you,” Kalen spat, digging his fingers into Miura's hands. “After I defeat you, then I will settle things with Kirien! I want nothing to do with a low level dog like you, de Galdri!” With a frightening scream of malice, Kalen let loose with a devastating explosion of ki, which buffeted his Saiyan-blooded opponent and broke their grapple as Miura plummeted to the ground below, his senses reeling from the severity of Kalen's assault.

 

Where's he getting all this power from? Miura frantically wondered as he struggled to right himself before striking the unyielding ruins of West City. Before he had a chance to slow his fall, Kalen was once again upon him, lashing out with a series of strikes, all of which found their marks easily. Before letting up, Kalen grabbed Miura by the neck and lifted him high above his head. With a grunt of effort, the dark-haired Genjin lobbed the former Galdrian Emperor straight down into the pulverized remains of the shattered city.

 

For what seemed to him like an eternity, Miura lay unmoving amidst the rubble, his body throbbing with pain. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the sounds of another struggle, most likely between Kirien and the others, but he was unable to do anything about it as he drifted slowly into oblivion. His vision blurred momentarily, and just before he could slip away into complete unconsciousness, a single thought rushed through his mind.

 

They killed Clef… and Trunks… and Hanzo!

 

Golden-silver energy exploded around him as he took to the air once again, colliding full force with Kalen as the Genjin prepared to descend down upon him. The sound of Miura's knee burying itself deep within Kalen's abdomen rocked the ruins of West City, even bringing a sudden stop to the other struggle that Miura had heard. Kalen's eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth gaped open as Miura pulled his fist back and delivered a bone-crushing punch to the face that sent the Genjin flying off into the distance.

 

With Kalen effectively out of the way for the moment, Miura immediately turned his attention to the battle being fought between Kirien and the two Galdrian noblewomen. As his thoughts turned to helping Elysia and Zellis against the treacherous Genjin woman, Miura's body was rocked by a seizure of familiar pain and, with his Genjin power flickering suddenly out of existence, he promptly fell to the ground far, far below.

 

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The battle stopped suddenly.

 

Somewhere in the sky high above, a sound louder than a thunderclap originated, echoing off the surrounding buildings and shaking the dilapidated city to its foundations. The three women who had been locked in combat froze; Elysia and Zellis gasping for breath as they took advantage of the momentary respite, and Kirien with her eyes locked unflinchingly on the dark evening sky above them. For a long time, no one moved.

 

“Kalen…” Kirien muttered, her usually lovely golden eyes now filled with loathing. He truly can't do anything right, she mused, slowly returning her attention to the two Galdrians before her. “Now then ladies, where were we?”

 

Elysia and Zellis, their bodies glowing brightly with Galdrian energy, cried out in amazement as Kirien vanished, only to reappear seconds later right behind them. The Genjin warrior unleashed a devastating flurry of attacks against her two foes, focusing most of her attacks on Elysia. It was obvious to the Princess that Kirien was loath to strike out at Zellis if it could be avoided, due most likely to their life-bond, though the brown-haired traitor did manage to force Miura's adopted-sister back on several occasions. With a sudden outburst of yellow-gold Genjin power, Kirien sent her opponents reeling back, their bodies flooded with pain.

 

“We can't…” Elysia gasped between ragged breaths. “We just can't beat her, Zellis.” The piercing pink energy that had hovered around the Princess' body slowly faded from sight as she lost her hold over the Galdrian power that she'd been wielding. “Trunks and Hanzo are gone, and so is Clef… Gabriel is either unconscious or dead, I don't know which, and Arius is unable to harm her. What can we do?”

 

Zellis said nothing, though a morbid thought had sprung to her mind. No, not yet, she chided herself, wiping sweat and blood from her forehead with the edge of her Hunter's cloak. “Elysia, we can't give up. Look at her, she's so damn sure that she's got us beat…” Zellis growled as she watched the confident form of Kirien, who stood calmly several yards away, without so much as a scratch on her black and green armor. “After all she's done, I'll be damned if I let her win!” This last comment was meant more for herself than for Elysia, but the edge in Zellis' voice had apparently steeled the beautiful Princess' resolve as well.

 

“Right,” Elysia said with a nod, standing up straighter and calling once again upon the Galdrian energy that dwelt within her. As her native power flowed through her body, Elysia realized that she was much weaker than she should have been. Of course, she silently understood. It's been a year and longer since I was last on Galdria… My powers are growing weaker, just as Dorian's did when he was stranded here all those years ago… A quick glance at Zellis proved that she, too, was having trouble manipulating the full amount of Galdrian energy that she was used to.

 

Again, with no warning whatsoever, Kirien dashed toward the two Galdrians, her body enveloped by a nimbus of stunning yellow-gold energy. This time, though, Kirien spared no mercy, lashing out even at Zellis with severe blows that would have easily felled a lesser warrior. With their weakening power, Elysia and Zellis were completely overwhelmed, and when Kirien knocked them back again and prepared to obliterate Galdria's Princess with a monstrous discharge of ki, Elysia was certain that death was unavoidable this time.

 

“So long, Princess,” Kirien snarled, thrusting both gloved hands forward. A flash of gleaming power leapt from the Genjin's outstretched hands, and as Elysia prepared herself for the inevitable contact, she clenched her eyes tightly shut. Several moments passed, but nothing happened, much to the Princess' relief and confusion. She opened her eyes slowly, and what she saw rendered her absolutely speechless.

 

Kirien stood exactly where she had been, but the attack that had been meant to destroy Elysia was nowhere to be seen, as if it had dissipated before finding its mark. Kirien herself stood stock still, her shining golden eyes wide and filled with the faint shadow of pain. Her mouth hung open, and a quiet, almost imperceptible moan of agony escaped her. Slowly, the Genjin woman looked down to where a blade of white-hot energy protruded from her left shoulder; a quiet laugh from behind her caught Kirien's complete attention.

 

“You got sloppy,” Gabriel said, his voice subdued by exhaustion and pain. His fiery-red eyes narrowed as he twisted the blade of his energy saber, eliciting another gasp of quiet agony from Kirien, who remained paralyzed with shock. “You're lucky I didn't just stab you in the heart, traitor. If doing so would simply kill you and leave Zellis unharmed, you'd most certainly be dead right now.” There has to be a way to destroy Kirien without losing Zellis, but how?

 

That little bastard! Kirien thought through a haze of pain. That was too, too close… Using the anger brought on by Gabriel's sneak attack as fuel, Kirien ignored the stabbing agony in her shoulder, spinning around to deliver a ferocious backhand to the side of the Prince's head. As Gabriel was sent flying, the blade that had been thrust through Kirien's upper arm was wrenched aside, causing her to cry out and fall to her knees as hot agony shot through her, blurring her vision and causing her to nearly black out. As soon as Gabriel's hand had left the hilt of his weapon, however, the blade vanished and the cylinder of wood dropped harmlessly to the ground.

 

“Now's our chance!” Zellis shouted, gathering all of the energy that she could muster in her weakened and battered state. A cry of exertion and a flash of bright green light accompanied Zellis' rage-fueled attack as it coursed toward Kirien, eating the distance between them in seconds and colliding full force with the stunned Genjin. The ensuing explosion of emerald energy nearly blinded everyone, and the ground shook tumultuously beneath their feet.

 

Following Zellis' example, Elysia let fly with a burst of shimmering pink Galdrian power that joined the former Hunter's as it exploded with a roar of fury around the now-unseen form of Kirien. Not a sound emanated from within the tempest, though a glance to the side showed Elysia that Zellis was still standing, which meant that Kirien was most likely still alive. I can't believe Zellis just did that! Elysia thought in horrified shock. If her blast would have killed Kirien, then… She let the though go unfinished as the storm of mixed green and pink energy slowly died down.

 

Kirien had apparently managed to stand to her feet at the last minute, and she had also been able to erect a clumsy defense, one that had barely stood up to the fury of Elysia and Zellis' combined assault. Despite this fact, Kirien had not escaped the conflagration unscathed; her long, black cloak had been completely incinerated from the force of the attacks, and her green and black armor bore numerous cracks and scorch marks. Her usually-pristine russet locks hung limply around a face set in an expression of pure, unrestrained wrath. After several minutes, Kirien dropped her defense and let out the deep breath that she'd apparently been holding.

 

“That was quite impressive,” she said, her voice trembling slightly from shock, anger, or a mixture of the two. “But unless I'm mistaken, you both put everything you had into that attack, yes?” When no answer came, Kirien let loose with a musical laugh. “So then, neither of you has anything left… Very good.”

 

Gabriel, his body no longer imbued with the light of his ancient Power, staggered to meet up with his two allies. A deep purple bruise was spreading steadily along his jaw, and a stream of blood trickled unceasingly from the corner of his mouth. His bright blue eyes were dimmed with pain, and his left arm was held tightly across his broken ribs, yet still he stood unflinchingly before the fury of Kirien.

 

“Well?” he said softly, loud enough only for Elysia and Zellis to hear. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

 

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Miura dragged himself forward.

 

The pain that had stricken him had immobilized him almost entirely; that, added to his collision with the ruined city, had rendered him senseless for a long time afterward. Now, lying on the ground and dragging himself little by little toward the battlefield, Miura could not rid his mind of its violent thoughts toward Kirien, which only added to his torment. Reaching one arm forward again, Miura dug his fingers into the earth and pulled himself forward just a little more.

 

“Going somewhere?” an all too familiar voice asked from above him. Kalen smirked down at the suffering crossbreed, the full moon casting an eerie glow upon his devilish features. Kalen's nose had been obviously broken by Miura's earlier attack, and it was swollen and bruised; his eyes were both blackened, and the right one had swollen almost entirely shut. Despite this, Kalen smiled with unconcealed amusement. “We aren't finished yet!” With a shout of savage enjoyment, Kalen pulled his leg back and delivered a crushing kick to Miura's head, which knocked the stunned former Hunter high into the air. Wasting no time, Kalen quickly followed.

 

Unbeknownst to Kalen, his sudden assault was exactly the thing that Miura had needed to get his mind off of Kirien. All of his anger, all of his frustrations were now focused solely on the bearded Genjin traitor, who Miura was determined to kill once and for all this time. And now was his chance…

 

“This is for Trunks!” the crossbreed warrior screamed, a fountain of silver and gold energy bursting into existence around him as his eyes flashed suddenly cold blue. Miura's shoulder length, straight black hair turned silver and swept upward into a spiky appearance similar to a Super Saiyan's. Turning in midair, Miura flung his right hand down toward Kalen, firing off a solid beam of incredible, shimmering golden energy, surrounded by coursing bolts of silver lightning.

 

So, this is how he wants to finish this, eh? Kalen thought, gathering his own power for a counterattack. “So be it!” the Genjin shouted, launching a two-handed blast of dark green energy. Kalen's attack raced skyward, colliding with Miura's own blast in a blinding display of raw power. For a moment, the two discharges of energy seemed evenly matched, but Kalen only grinned evilly as he suddenly poured more power into his emerald blast.

 

The two energy beams—one an ominously dark green, the other an impossibly bright force of silver and gold—struggled with one another, illuminating the decimated city in an uncanny false dawn. Slowly at first, Kalen's blast began creeping higher and higher, obviously overpowering Miura's own. In response, the former Emperor dug deeper for even more strength, forcing Kalen's beam back down. Once again, neither fighter held the upper hand. This power struggle continued for what seemed like an eternity, and though Kalen was apparently having no trouble keeping his attack power up, Miura was quickly running out of energy.

 

Damn him! He's so much stronger than he ever let on, Miura grimly admitted. If I use any more power, I won't have anything left to use against Kirien— The moment that this thought ran through his mind, Miura realized his mistake. A flood of misery and pain shot throughout his weakening body, giving Kalen the opening he had been waiting for.

 

“You damned fool!” the black-and-green-clad Genjin shouted over the roaring of their contending energy blasts. “You should have left well enough alone!” With a shout of triumph, Kalen sent even more energy into his overpowering attack. The beam of green ki raced higher than ever, meeting no resistance until Miura finally regained his senses. The damage had already been done, though, as Kalen's blast had been stopped just feet away from the trembling crossbreed. Miura pumped as much power as he was willing to spare into his attack, but Kalen's beam refused to be pushed back even an inch. To make matters worse, the Genjin had solid ground under his feet for support, while Miura was forced to hold his position in midair without being driven into the void of space. It seemed hopeless.

 

Suddenly, a bolt of golden-yellow energy—with a signature that was very familiar to Miura—struck Kalen from behind, causing the Genjin to immediately spin around. As he did so, his concentration on the battling energy attacks wavered, and Miura was able to gain a little more ground, though still not enough. Kalen grunted as he compensated for his lapse, though his attention remained focused on a point of light in the sky above and behind him.

 

“Impossible,” he growled through clenched teeth. Removing one hand from his pulsing green energy beam, Kalen immediately pointed it toward the sky behind him. “So, you didn't have the decency to just die, did you? So be it then, this time I'll make sure I finish the job!” While still maintaining control of the power struggle between himself and Miura, Kalen fired off another blast toward the nimbus of Super Saiyan energy that glowed dimly in the predawn sky.

 

“I don't think so!” Trunks shouted as he barely dodged aside, firing off another barrage of ki toward Kalen. “You should've made sure I was dead, Kalen! This will be one mistake that you won't get a chance to rectify,” as he said this, Trunks, who was still gravely injured from the battle on Namek, focused every last bit of energy that his broken body could muster into one massive attack. “I've been saving this for you, Kalen, so take it!” The blinding sphere of Super Saiyan power tore loose from Trunks' outstretched hand, descending rapidly down upon the startled Genjin. Immediately, the Super Saiyan power that young Prince had barely been able to sustain drained away from, and he plummeted from the sky to crash solidly with the ground below.

 

The massive orb of yellow-gold power struck Kalen square between the shoulders, causing the treacherous Genjin to stagger forward. He momentarily lost his hold over his energy blast, which still contested in the sky above with Miura's, and as he tried vainly to regain control, Miura took advantage of his momentary distraction. With a vicious cry of anger and hate, the former Hunter pushed all of his remaining power into his silver and gold beam, causing it to nearly double in size. The newly empowered attack cut easily through Kalen's faltering blast, driving straight downward until it crashed full force into the screaming Genjin. The screams were swallowed up in a detonation of epic ferocity, and fragments of buildings and earth, as well as flashes of errant energy, exploded outward in all directions. The force of the impact was unlike any that Miura had ever experienced, and the sheer violence of it battered him and drove him from the sky, forcing him to make a hard, but far from painful, landing amidst the now-flaming rubble of West City.

 

The light died down, revealing a massive crater where Kalen had once stood, and no sign of the Genjin criminal could be seen. The city was eerily silent, and as the sun slowly rose over the eastern horizon, its light mingled with the unearthly glow of the gold and silver flames that burned all throughout the area, small reminders of the incredible power that had just been brought to bear by Miura. For a long time, nothing moved in the ravaged city, and not a sound could be heard from anywhere.

 

Miura, now too weak to sustain his powerful Genjin transformation, staggered to his feet, allowing his abused eyes to slowly readjust to the shadowy dawn that enveloped the city. On legs shaky with fatigue, the crossbreed ran around the lip of the crater, searching for any evidence that Kalen may have survived. Just as he'd hoped, though, nothing remained of the Genjin fugitive. With that search completed, Miura took up another, and it wasn't long before he found the battered form of Trunks lying some distance away.

 

The Saiyan Prince was in terrible shape, and the simple fact that he had lived through such injuries was a testament to the strength of the Saiyan race. His face and bare torso were riddled with wounds and burns, and dried blood hung in clumps from his purple hair. From the waist down, Trunks still wore the remains of his black jumpsuit, and his boots were still in fair condition, but the rest of his uniform, and the sturdy vest of Saiyan armor, had been obliterated. Slowly, one teal eye opened to gaze up at Miura, while the other remained swollen shut.

 

“Got him,” Trunks said with a smirk that was a mirror image of his proud father's. Leaning on Miura for support, the battered young fighter miraculously stood to his feet, flinching with pain as he did so. “I can sense more power levels over there,” he indicated with a gesture of his right arm toward the area where Zellis, Elysia, and Gabriel had been locked in deadly combat with Kirien. “Come on, we should go help…”

 

“Right,” Miura agreed, slowly rising into the air with Trunks' left arm draped around his shoulder. “Trunks, how did you get off Namek? We all thought you were dead, since Kalen came back alone in the ship you guys had taken.”

 

“My mother had one extra Capsule ship left over,” he responded with a shadow of a smile. “She made me take it with me… Seems she didn't fully trust Kalen either,” he finished with a soft chuckle. “She's okay, isn't she?” He turned his open eye toward Miura, and the former Emperor could see his concern clearly.

 

“I don't know, Trunks. Z and I arrived too late to save most of the city,” as he said this, Miura felt his throat tighten. And we arrived too late to save Clef… “Trunks, Kirien's betrayed us too.” As the injured Prince gasped in disbelief, Miura went on. “She killed Hanzo before returning here, and she finished Clef off just as Z and I arrived. We all thought you were dead, too.” The amethyst-eyed warrior quickly explained the current situation to Trunks, including the startling fact that he was physically unable to harm Kirien in any way. “Plus, we still need to figure out a way to stop Kirien without killing Z in the process…”

 

“If you can't fight, and Hanzo and Clef are gone, then that leaves me, Gabriel, Elysia, and Zellis to finish Kirien off,” Trunks spoke softly. I'm sorry, Miura… But I don't think that any of us are going to make it out of this one alive…

 

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Kirien attacked.

 

Combat had ceased momentarily after the tremendous explosion had rocked the remains of West City, though the cause of the detonation was still unknown to Kirien and her enemies. As soon as the aftershock had died down, the battle had immediately been joined again, with the beautiful Genjin woman wasting no time in beating her opponents senseless.

 

Elysia was sent reeling after Kirien appeared before her and delivered a stunning kick to the chin, after which the Genjin moved on to her next target. Gabriel stood his ground as Kirien dashed toward him, and though his body glowed brightly with Galdrian energy, he was still too weak to utilize his Heaven's Wrath. Kirien leapt into the air and spun, lashing out with a kick meant to remove Gabriel's head from his shoulders. He ducked, barely, and countered with a straight thrust, hoping to knock the breath from Kirien's lungs. Unfortunately for Gabriel, Kirien's reflexes were far superior to his own, and she easily grabbed hold of his wrist and moved quickly behind him, wrenching his arm out of its socket as she forced him to the ground. As Zellis approached to help her suffering ally, Kirien applied more pressure, causing Gabriel to cry out in agony.

 

“One more step and I swear, I'll rip his arm off,” Kirien said, her vicious threat seeming even more malicious due to the sickeningly sweet smile that had spread across her dirtied face. “If I were to guess, I'd say that explosion earlier means I'm now short a partner… What do you say, Zellis? Will you stand beside me and rule this universe?” She pushed just a little harder against Gabriel's dislocated arm, causing the half-Galdrian to writhe in pain. “Come on, my Lady… Didn't we have a lot of fun together?”

 

At just that moment, Trunks and Miura landed, sparing Zellis the need to respond. Kirien stared icily at the two newly arrived fighters, and she slowly released Gabriel, who immediately staggered forward to rejoin his allies. Elysia, Zellis, Gabriel, Miura, and Trunks stood together, facing off against the frustrated Genjin warrior.

 

“I should have never trusted Kalen with anything at all,” Kirien reflected, taking a moment to look each of her adversaries in the eye. “First he nearly ruins our plan by allowing Tempest to be unleashed, then he fails to hire someone powerful enough to destroy Clef and Gabriel, and then he apparently forgets to make sure you're dead,” she said, tilting her head toward Trunks, who now stood on his own, barely. “I assure you, I won't be so sloppy.”

 

“You knew that Kalen wouldn't be able to beat me, didn't you?” Miura asked, trying to ignore the hot pain that was slowly beginning to course through his weary body. The black-haired fighter was doing everything in his power to push his desire to kill Kirien out of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do it. His hatred for her was simply too powerful…

 

“I figured that you'd find some way to defeat him, yes,” Kirien answered, the corners of her mouth twitching into a small smile as she noticed Miura's silent struggle against his violent, Saiyan nature. “But Kalen was such a boor. I had already planned on ridding myself of him eventually. He was a convenient tool, nothing more, and he had nearly outlived his usefulness.” Her eyes narrowed as she continued. “I do not like to share power…”

 

Further conversation was cut off as first Trunks, surrounded by an aura of bright blue energy, then Gabriel and Zellis, dashed toward Kirien. The four warriors clashed and began a furious struggle, one in which Kirien clearly held the upper hand. After several minutes of fighting at this maddening pace, the four combatants shot straight into the brightening morning sky, having chosen to continue their battle in the air.

 

Miura dropped to his knees as pain overwhelmed him, and he cursed his body for its inability to help his severely outmatched friends. Elysia knelt beside her quaking fiancée, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him close as his body was wracked with burning misery. Sounds from the struggle overhead filtered down to the broken city as dark storm clouds began to blow in from the east, blotting out the bright morning sun.

 

“Arius, I have to go help them,” Elysia softly said, ignoring the tears that ran freely down her face. “I know I'm not the most powerful fighter, but they need every bit of help they can get if they hope to beat Kirien. She has to be stopped, Arius…” As the Princess prepared to take to the sky, Miura reached out to grab her arm in a surprisingly strong grip.

 

“Swear… to me,” he growled through teeth clenched with pain. “You cannot let… anyone kill Kirien, do you… understand?” The ferocity that lay behind Miura's words stunned the raven-haired Galdrian Princess, and she found herself speechless for several moments. “Swear to me,” Miura repeated, with much more force this time.

 

“I'll… I promise, Arius, that I will do everything I can,” Elysia finally managed to say with a quick nod. “Until we can figure out a way to defeat Kirien and keep Zellis alive, no one will kill her. I promise.” Yet even as Elysia said this, a very different thought was running through her mind: I don't think that one of us killing her is even possible. If anything, we'll be the ones who— She immediately forced such thoughts from her mind as she leapt into the sky, her body shining brightly with an aura of pink Galdrian power.

 

Miura remained hunched over on the ground, his face streaked with tears that had nothing to do with the physical agony he was being forced to endure. Z, he thought, trying his hardest to block out the pain. I swore a long time ago that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and I won't go back on my word…

 

Not ever.

 

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Rain pelted the desperate combatants.

 

Midday had faded to afternoon, and afternoon to evening, and still the battle raged on, with the continuing storm as an appropriate backdrop. For hours, Kirien had coolly and efficiently delivered savage punishment upon her wearying opponents as Miura was forced to watch helplessly from below. It seemed painfully obvious what the outcome of this struggle would be, for Kirien now found herself faced with only two adversaries.

 

Shortly after their frenzied conflict had begun, Gabriel was taken out of commission, for the severity of his injuries was simply too much to handle. With his right arm dislocated, the young Prince of Galdria had been forced to fight with his left, and each time he threw a punch or attempted a defense, he had to remove his left arm's pressure from his broken ribs. Eventually Gabriel simply plummeted down from the storm-filled sky to crash mercilessly into the ground several yards away from Miura. And that was where he remained.

 

Elysia, too, had found herself severely outmatched, though she struggled on valiantly for quite some time. As lightning, wind, and a ceaseless rain buffeted her weakening body, the pink-eyed Princess became disoriented, leaving herself wide open to Kirien's assaults. It hadn't taken long for the brown-haired Genjin woman to quickly rid herself of Elysia's interference, and Miura's fiancée soon found herself lying helplessly on the ground mere feet from her lover, who was unable to go to her aid due to the paralyzing pain that continued to course through his battered body.

 

Trunks and Zellis, though, fought on, despite the heavy odds against them. As the two of them struggled in vain to put an end to Kirien's treacherous assault, they were each fueled by a deep sense of betrayal, and a desire to right the terrible wrongs that had been done by the two Genjins. Yet, despite their valiant attempts to stop Kirien, nothing they tried seemed to have any effect on the Genjin whatsoever.

 

Without warning, Kirien lunged forward as her opponents were temporarily blinded by a sudden flash of lightning, ignoring Trunks and rushing straight toward Zellis. A small smile played across her lips as she seemingly materialized before the startled noblewoman, who was given no chance to defend. Kirien immediately unleashed a pointblank burst of concentrated Genjin power which enveloped Zellis in a cloud of agony that pulsed mercilessly around her as she fell from the sky to collide violently with the unyielding ground of the decimated city.

 

A burst of light in the ebony sky signaled Trunks' own descent, though when he crashed into the ruins of West City, he was not alone. Kirien kept a vice-like grip around the depleted Saiyan's throat as she drove him through the dilapidated remains of the city, bashing him from side to side, occasionally crushing his face against the ground as she continued to pummel him. The agonized cries of Vegeta's son echoed throughout the surrounding area as Miura struggled in vain to regain control of his rebellious body.

 

“Miura, can you hear me?” Zellis asked as she staggered toward her hunched-over brother. He made no reply, merely turning his bloodshot eyes to focus his pain-clouded gaze upon her. “Miura… I think I have a way to stop Kirien.” When the former Emperor still made no comment, Zellis continued. “This is a way to stop her… for good.” Realization suddenly struck Miura, driving all pain momentarily from his body.

 

“No,” he said simply, struggling to his feet with Zellis' aid. “No, I won't let you do this. I refuse.” Yet even as he spoke the words, Miura knew that there truly was no other choice. This is the only option we ever really had, isn't it Z?

 

As if in reply to his unspoken thought, Zellis nodded once, locking eyes with her adopted-brother. “Please Miura, please do this for me,” she begged, tears running down her dirtied cheeks, cutting clean paths through the blood and grime. “If you don't she'll—” Zellis was interrupted by a series of escalating, frantic cries of torture as Kirien continued her one-sided fight against Trunks. “Miura, if you don't do this right now she'll kill Trunks!”

 

“Please, don't make me do this, Z,” Miura pleaded, shaking the green-haired young woman by her shoulders. “There's another way, there has to be, I know it!” The words sounded hollow to his own ears. “There has to be,” he repeated, more subdued this time. The cold rain continued to fall, and neither sibling said anything for a long time.

 

An explosion of energy just feet away from them halted any further attempts at conversation. In the midst of the yellow-gold conflagration, two forms could be seen locked in deadly combat, and as the display died down, Kirien delivered a thunderous final blow that connected solidly with Trunks' jaw, driving the purple-haired youth mercilessly to the ground at her feet. As Kirien turned her attention now to Miura and Zellis, her body was struck by several small blasts of weak, bright blue Galdrian energy. Loath to let Kirien win this battle, Gabriel had somehow found the strength to fight on, despite the severity of his injuries. As the Galdrian Prince and Kirien clashed, Zellis turned her wide, tear-filled eyes back toward Miura.

 

“Please,” she uttered, flinching as Gabriel cried out behind her. “You're the only one who's still got enough strength to do this, I'm begging you! Miura, if you ever loved me at all, even a little, you'll do this… Please!”

 

Looking past his trembling sister, Miura watched in horror as Kirien easily laid waste to Gabriel, who still managed to fight somehow. As he took in this savage tableau, Miura knew, with a cold jolt of understanding, that Zellis was right. He took a step away from the slight young woman before him, seeing a sense of relief fill her emerald eyes as he prepared an attack that would finally end this battle, but at a cost far greater than he was willing to pay.

 

“You see, Miura?” Zellis asked as she slowly closed her eyes. “I'm going to save you for a change.” A calming aura emanated from the soon-to-be-martyr, and it enveloped and empowered Miura, granting him the steel-resolve that he needed to perform his unthinkable task. “Miura,” Zellis said softly. “I… I love you. And thank you.”

 

For a moment, Miura found himself unable to go through with it, but a gentle hand stroked his cheek from behind, and the familiar presence of Elysia bolstered his wavering power with some of her own. With his beloved's strength added to his own, the former Hunter pointed his right hand forward, shutting his eyes tightly and turning his head away as a bolt of searing, blindingly bright purple ki tore loose from his palm, coursing through the air to cut effortlessly through the chest of his valiant sister.

 

Zellis didn't make a sound as the blast pierced her body, and a small smile of relief spread across her deathly-pale face as she was carried several feet through the air before falling to the muddy ground. Rain mixed with the tears that ran down her cheeks, and her chest rose and fell one last time as the green-haired Galdrian noblewoman took her final breath.

 

A shriek of outrage from Kirien caused everyone who was still able to rivet their attention upon the disheveled Genjin woman. She staggered forward, ignoring Gabriel as she clutched at the non-existent wound in her chest, in the same spot that Zellis had been struck. Her eyes bulged, and her body shook with unconcealed wrath as she took a few wavering steps toward Miura.

 

“How could you?” she asked, her voice frail and shaky. “How dare you!?” Kirien stood stock still, rooting her feet to the ground as she focused all of her remaining energy into one final attack. Her black-gloved left hand extended toward Miura as her right continued to cover the spot on her chest where Zellis had been hit, as if to stop the bleeding of a wound she didn't actually possess. “I may be dead, but you're coming with me!” she shrieked as she launched the powerful death-attack toward her former ally.

 

Miura immediately assumed a defensive stance, prepared to deflect this final gambit by Kirien. To his shock, however, the Genjin's blast soared through the air just beside him, scorching his exposed skin but causing no real damage otherwise. He realized then, too late, who Kirien's target had truly been.

 

Elysia crumpled to the ground, her eyes wide with shock as she looked down at the smoking hole through her chest where Kirien's blast had struck. Miura was at her side an instant later, cradling her head in his lap as she struggled to take a breath that never came. Just before the light within her eyes faded altogether, Elysia whispered three words.

 

“Arius… Remember me…”

 

“An eye for an eye,” Kirien said before falling face down in the mud at her feet. Her body convulsed once, then shuddered before finally giving in to the oblivion of death.

 

Rain continued to fall, and on the eastern horizon faint rays of dawn sunlight had started to break through the storm. The warmth brought by this sight was lost upon Miura, though, as he stared vacantly down at the serene face of his dead lover. Silence permeated the wreckage of the city, interrupted only by the steady fall of rain upon the broken ground. Trunks and Gabriel approached warily, their bodies battered beyond anything they'd ever experienced before.

 

No one spoke; it was a long time before anyone even took a breath. The sun eventually dispelled the remains of the storm, casting a faint glow upon the carnage around them, but Miura remained oblivious. Gabriel was about to speak, but was interrupted by single gesture from Trunks.

 

“Just give him some time, Gabriel,” the Saiyan Prince said softly, turning away from Miura and Elysia. “I think we all just need a little time…” That being said, the last of Trunks' energy was spent, and he collapsed on the spot, followed soon after by Gabriel.

 

The only conscious soul for miles around continued to hold his beloved Princess, as if to comfort her in death. And, though he had survived the Genjins' massacre, a piece of Miura had died that day with the two most important people in his life.

 

And he knew he'd never be the same again.

 

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To be concluded in:

 

“It's time to go our separate ways…”

 

The “Dragon Ball: Chaotic Future” Epilogue

 

 

 

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