Saiyan Soul

Akiko
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Akiko was delighted when her brothers converged on her. Scooped up in Grisha's giant hands, the little girl let out a happy squeal as she was thrown into the air, then returned the hug without hesitation. The praise was welcome, but Akiko was Just happy to see the giant saiyan again. Sure he was a little beaten up, like herself and Blaze, but her biggest brother was back! He was okay and seemed back to his normal self too!


“Grisha sorry. Leave Kiko behind. Grisha was angry.”

Akiko beamed at her biggest brother. She had been upset when he left her behind, especially when he had said before he wouldn't. Yet, Akiko had never been one to hold a grudge. How could she stay mad at her family? "Is okay, Big brother! Akiko still loves you!" Akiko chimed happily before kissing his nose. The little girl looked back towards Blaze when she realized how quiet he had gotten. Akiko didn't have to offer to heal her brothers or even ask what was wrong before the burst of air hit them. If Grisha hadn't been holding her, the chibi saiyan likely would have been blown away.

Suddenly there he was, in all his ugly glory, and boasting like he owned the universe or- oh... Well he was still boasting like a big jerk! The pressure of his power level though, it was enough to give Akiko a slight headache. They had to fight this... thing. The child's chest got tight at the thought of it. But they had to do it. They had to win too or everyone on earth would be next and Akiko's home could never be free.

The chibi saiyan gave a nod when Blaze looked their way, but soon Grisha was walking forward anyway. “Grisha first.” She was being handed off like a doll again. While it made sense for her strongest brother to go first, Akiko still bit her lip as she was taken by Blaze.

Akiko couldn't just let Grisha go alone the way he was though! "Be careful big brother..." As Grisha marched away, the little girl worked up a little energy, hopefully not enough to get the attention of the bully, and shot it at the giant saiyan as she whispered under her breath, "Akiko first." It was just a bit of energy to help heal the damage of the last battle, at least a little. Fighting wasn't the only training Akiko had been working on. A long distance heal is never a bad thing! Though, it was weaker than if she were able to sit with Grisha and focus like usual.

Once set on her feet, Akiko took a moment to heal Blaze up a little as well before turning her full attention to the fight. She wasn't as strong as them, but she could do that much for her brothers, and cheer them on! "Go Grisha! Show them biggest brother is the strongest!" She yelled when the first hit landed solid. Despite the massive power the big bully gave off Akiko was starting to think this might go Grisha's way.

Then there was a flash. Grisha seemed confused at first, then lunged for Blaze! Akiko's sapphire eyes went wide and she froze. Why would Biggest brother attack them?! He wouldn't! Couldn't! What was wrong with his eyes!? Snatched up by Blaze, Akiko was finally shaken out of it. "Big brother his eyes! Look at his eyes! Their wrong!" She cried while pointing wildly as if Grisha would be hard to spot. "Wake up Biggest brother!" She didn't know if it would work, or if she would even be able to hit Grisha, but Akiko worked up another ball of healing ki and shot at the giant saiyan's face. It was worth a try.

Being in Blaze's arms anyway, the chibi saiyan risked looking away from her spellbound brother to the red bully. What was he muttering about over there? "Let Akiko go! Akiko will punch him right in his stupid face!" She would at least try to teach the cheating red jerk-face a lesson!
 
Grisha’s arms unfurled from his stomach and head ominously rose to glare at the now two emperors that flew into the sky. It was almost as if they knew he couldn't reach them.

Grisha! Can you hear me?!

Grisha gave Blaze a strange look. What he saw was the emperor looking down at him condescendingly. Blaze then warped next to him, smirking confidently.

“Come on Grisha. Let's end this,” Blaze told him.

Grisha looked at Blaze and nodded. Blaze then extended his hand to Grisha and Grisha grasped it. Blaze shot into the sky at the two emperors and before he reached them, he spun in a circle and hurled Grisha at them like a slingshot. Grisha flew like a blur at Blaze. The healing attack Akiko had thrown at him struck him harmlessly in the face before he latched onto her. He tackled the child from Blaze's arms while the emperor followed up with a rapid kick toward Blaze's face. The red alien was grinning sadistically as though he was enjoying himself. Saiyan turned against Saiyan. It was wonderful and there was nothing they could do! The emperor was full of laughs as he attacked Blaze.

Meanwhile, Grisha was falling with Akiko. His fist cranked back, but a sudden scent caused his heart to skip in fear. Akiko…why did the emperor smell like Akiko? He hesitated and glanced back to see Blaze fighting the emperor clone. But where was Akiko? The Saiyan's eyes were wide and his brain was beginning to ache from his frustration. Grisha glanced back at the emperor in his clutches and realized that he wasn't even trying to escape. He had attacked him earlier, and it hadn't even hurt. In fact, his bruises from before were healed. Grisha slowly lowered his fist as his suspicions started to dawn on him. What the hell?!
 
Akiko
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It didn't work.. The chibi Saiyan's attack smacked Grisha right in the face but it had no effect. After being snatched from Blaze's arms everything seemed to happen in slow motion... They fell, yet the little girl made no effort to escape the giant saiyan's painfully strong grasp. That would mean hurting Grisha and Akiko just... couldn't do it. As Grisha wound up for his punch the little girl curled her tail around along with the rest of her body in the smallest ball she could manage while she clamped her eyes closed; bracing herself as best she could for what she knew would be a powerful punch.

The blow never came. The little girl opened one tearful eye, then the other to look at Grisha. "Biggest brother, the Cheating Bully is playing tricks on you." Akiko whined. she was trying to pick her words carefully but it was hard given the situation. One wrong move and Akiko might get squished into a paste by one of the people she loved most. "L-Look." This was going to hurt if it went wrong, but Akiko slowly, gently unwound her tail to give Grisha a very gentle poke. "See? Fluffy tail..." At least she hoped it still felt fluffy, Akiko didn't know how deep the... whatever-this-was went or what exactly he was seeing. She could only guess. "An-An isn't Akiko too small?" Looking into the Giant saiyan's eyes, Akiko's tears flowed even more freely. "Don't trust eyes big brother... trust Akiko."

The chibi saiyan let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding before trying again. "If Biggest brother lets Akiko go, Akiko will help." The little girl managed to get out between sniffles. "B-but Akiko won't fight biggest brother! Akiko loves Grisha." Her healing didn't work, so they had to do something to the Cheating Bully instead! At least, Akiko could try if she got the chance. "Please big brother..." Her gaze turned to Blaze and the Bully to see how her smaller brother was holding up for a moment. He was fighting that powerful monster all alone. If Grisha was the most powerful, Blaze had to be the most skilled, but against that thing... "We have to help other big brother too." Every second like this felt like it lasted forever, though it was likely that very little time had actually passed.
 
Blaze had been holding Akiko trying to keep her safe, but a flash of Ki from the ground caught his attention just long enough for Grisha to rocket up and snatch the Chibi Saiyan from his grasp. And before Blaze could fly after to rescue her, he was intercepted by the creature who splayed his limbs out and smiled wickedly.

"Going somewhere, Saiyan?" He asked with a chuckle.

Blaze snarled, and their battle began.

His punches were heavy. Heavier than Grisha's even. There was a weight behind them, a certain force beyond the power level Blaze was currently sensing. Just how strong was this guy? Blaze was just barely able to keep up initially. His blocks, parries, and evasions helping him escape those brutal blows by only a hairs breadth.

Blaze was already sweating and, much to his own amazement, he was becoming winded. He had always prided himself on his stamina, but this guy was already pushing him to his limits and the fight had only just started. However, the sheer level of effort Blaze had to put into his evasion and blocking of these strikes was insane. But finally it seemed it caught a break as he began to notice a pattern to the attacks coming his way. If they were to lure him in, he didn't care. This was a fight where Blaze had to take every opening presented or he was guaranteed a loss.

An opening came, and Blaze took it. The enemy launched two fast punches with his lead hand and followed with a kick from the back leg. Blaze slid forward into his space and planted a fist into his stomach. The flesh caved, and he bent over against the punch as he went flying backwards through the air. After a moment he stopped himself and straightened up, brushing himself off casually.

"Not bad." He said calmly. "But can you do it again?"

He came forward and seemed to pick up the intensity a bit. Blaze had a harder time keeping pace and ended up taking a few hits here and there. But thankfully he seemed to be tanking them well so far. The patterns were harder to detect now, but Blaze picked up on them and took another opportunity to slide out of his attack zone and into a space to land another punch, this time to his mid back followed by a kick to his stomach and then another punch across the jaw sending him sprawling downwards. He caught himself, brushed himself off again, and chuckled up at Blaze as his muscle mass increased slightly. But in that moment, Blaze also felt his power level skyrocket.

Before the punch even landed Blaze knew it was over.

The hit landed in Blaze's stomach and knocked the wind from his lungs sending him flying up into the air before he was kicked downward and landed on the ground creating a sizable crater upon impact. Two blows, and Blaze felt like most of his body had already been broken. Whether they were broken or not was anyone's guess. But Blaze couldn't move. All he could do was look up at the creature as it glared down at him, arms crossed in victory, and then looked to Grisha and Akiko.
 
Grisha landed on the ground with a heavy crash that caused the hard shelf to crackle beneath his feet. He had held onto the emperor, and even oddly to himself, hadn’t felt compelled to slam the creature into the ground when he had landed. It was so disturbing, but his enemy was crying and calling him “biggest brother,” which wasn’t anything like he would have imagined his nemesis to do. No matter what Akiko tried to do to convince him that she wasn’t the enemy, before Grisha’s tainted eyes was the emperor showing him his red tail with the black horn on the end. Grisha released Akiko and stepped back in fear and confusion. As the emperor, he talked and smelled like Akiko.

…Akiko loves Grisha.

Grisha’s eyes widened and immediately he looked from Akiko to Blaze (emperor) who was fighting a clone of their enemy. Something was wrong. Blaze had an easy upper hand on the emperor who before had given them all the chills.

We have to help other big brother too.

The giant Saiyan might have been as smart as a bag of rocks—at least that was what Tobias would have said—but he always believed his nose over his eyes. Things weren’t always what they appeared to be and that was this case. Frowning for he still felt slightly uncertain, Grisha told Akiko, “Help Little Brother.”

Blaze had kicked the emperor into a crater before he looked over at Grisha and grinned. Grisha raced over to him to stand at his side, gazing down at the creature that looked already broken.

“You didn’t finish off the clone you were fighting,” Blaze told him.

He sounded like Blaze, but he didn’t smile like Blaze, and most importantly—Grisha’s nostrils twitched a little—he didn’t smell like Blaze. The one lying in the crater was to his horror, Blaze. Grisha’s fists clenched tightly and he bore his teeth as his anger started to rise. Tricked; he had been nearly turned against his own family. But how? Magic?

“Real enemy here,” Grisha said, indicating the one lying in the crater.

Blaze seemed to grin even more, believing Grisha to have completely fallen for his ploy. “That’s right Grisha. I’ll let you have the honors of finishing him off.”

“Grisha finish!”

Blaze’s eyes grew to the size of saucers when Grisha’s large hand suddenly grasped his face. Baring his teeth angrily, Grisha’s right leg swept to the side to knock Blaze’s feet out from under him and drove the back of his skull into the ground. The earth shattered from the impact and Grisha keeping a tight grip on Blaze’s face slammed him deeper and deeper into the ground. Releasing him, Grisha rapidly hammered his fists into his body amidst enraged screams. For some reason, fighting the impostor made the Saiyan’s blood boil. Grisha could only recall one time where he had been so angry and that was when Akiko was nearly beaten to death at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Blaze had a frustrated look on his face as though he actually found himself between a rock and a hard place. He thrust out his hand to fire a red ki sphere into Grisha’s face. A massive fist broke through the smoke to slam down upon Blaze’s face with so much force that the ground upheaved in a circle around them. Blaze’s feet rose into the air from the fury-fueled blow. A stream of red blood erupted from his nose as Grisha drew back his fist, compelling him to quickly blur out from under him. He reappeared standing outside the crater with a hand clapped over his nose and blood trickling in thin streams down his fingers. Lowering his hand before his eyes, it started to tremble as Blaze saw the blood that covered it.

“You…you made me bleed?” he couldn’t believe it. The emperor could feel the anger heating up his blood as he stared at Grisha who was still locked in his trance. “A brain damaged, imbecilic monkey has made ME bleed?”

Grisha marched out of the crater with his fists balled with purpose. He replied ominously, “Grisha do more.”

Grisha stopped right before Blaze, staring him sternly in his eyes with his hands upon his hips. The emperor lowered his hand from his face and mirrored Grisha’s stance, grinning condescendingly. “Well then, I guess I no longer have a use for you.”

The emperor’s third eye flashed and Grisha’s eyes fluttered as his vision blurred temporarily. Taking an unsteady step back, Grisha rubbed at his eyes and squinted at the towering alien who now stood in front of him. His nose had been right!

“There wasn’t much for me to exploit. You barely have a brain left. I know your weaknesses though…” the emperor bragged, and then a sinister scowl contorted his face. “When I reach Earth, I will personally make Lena my slave…”

Grisha gasped in surprise. How did he know about Lena? He was going to earth to harm her now?

“It’ll be a shame that I won’t let you live to see it. I would have loved to make you my prisoner just so that I could see you suffer,” the emperor diabolically chuckled. “Come Grisha…I know you’re just about exploding with rage. I already know that you can’t beat me. You were perhaps the strongest one here, and if your injury hadn’t crippled your potential, then I might have actually been afraid of you.”

A shadow fell over Grisha’s eyes as he recalled what Lena had told him before he left.

You’re not the strongest Grisha. No matter how hard you try to be, you can’t. You just…when we found you, you barely knew who you were. The ice damaged your brain, so you won’t ever be what you want to be. Please, stop trying to be like Blaze…

I hate you…But I hate you most…

Damaged. He heard it again. Blaze and Akiko never mentioned it. Only Lena and now the emperor had. Grisha always knew he was different, but when he was with his Saiyan family, they treated him as though he was the same. He recalled Blaze lying in the crater, having fought his hardest and Akiko who had been scared to tears for him. The dust rose in a tornado around him once more. Grisha raised his head to once again lock eyes with the emperor. His own eyes had faded in a white blaze.

“No hurt Lena,” Grisha growled. He then bellowed, “THREE EYES NO HURT FAMILY!”

The two vanished, and the only signs of their fight were thunderclaps that flashed across the battlefield. Craters imploded across the ground. One trailed over to Grisha’s ax where he paused in his bout to quickly grab it before disappearing again. Fragments of bone erupted into the sky amidst another thunderclap. Fists struck fists, knees struck knees, and kicks blocked kicks. The over-confident emperor was no longer grinning but scowling as he fought to keep up with the infuriated Saiyan. A red blast suddenly separated the two. Grisha flew back and landed on his feet. He continued to slide backwards as his left hand posted on the ground to slow himself. When he stopped, he remained hunched over, his chest expanding and deflating with his pants. His knuckles, knees, and shins were bruised and bleeding. With his nose wrinkled, teeth bared, and dreads obscuring his face, the Saiyan resembled a wrathful lion.

The emperor was hovering in the air, staring uncomfortably at Grisha. He glanced down at his arms that shook before his eyes—not from fear, but from injury. Exchanging blows with the larger Saiyan had actually started to hurt and he didn’t think his armor could take such a tenderizing beating. The corner of his mouth then cocked in a smirk. “What am I fighting on even ground for?”

He then thrust his hand out toward Grisha and fired a red beam. The Saiyan leapt to the side, dodging it, and broke into a clockwise sprint around the emperor. The emperor fired a few more beams before he vanished and reappeared next to Grisha. His foot sank into his side, abruptly halting the Saiyan’s dash. He then followed up with another grand explosion of red ki that blew him backwards. Grisha emerged from the smoke of the blast tumbling and skipping like a rock across the ground until the emperor appeared once more to slam the instep of his foot against Grisha’s chin. The Saiyan was sent whirling into the air. The emperor began sadistically giggling as he appeared above Grisha and kicked him in the back toward the ground. He then reappeared under the giant and kicked him back into the air. As Grisha winced and bore his teeth through the whole ordeal, his body went twisting into the air until the emperor appeared next to him and slammed his two-taloned foot into his side once more.

Grisha flew to the side and the emperor appeared in his path with his horned tail extended like a spear. The Saiyan was impaled. The emperor’s tail passed through Grisha’s stomach and emerged from his back. Grisha’s eyes widened as a well of red blood tumbled from his lips. His hands grasped the tail, holding it to spare him from gravity’s pull. The emperor laughed loudly, throwing back his head in entertainment.

“I TOLD YOU!” the emperor jubilantly roared. “Did you really think you stood a chance? Idiot. I know your weaknesses!”

Briefly, Grisha saw his life flash before his eyes: Lena; Tobias; Blaze; Akiko; and all their fun adventures. Bowing his head, Grisha reached out and grasped further up the emperor’s tail and pulled himself closer to him. The emperor’s jaw dropped when he watched Grisha dragging himself closer. The Saiyan could feel his blood oozing hotly down his back as he did and when he was close enough, he reached out to grasp the emperor by his shoulders and tugged on them until his body was pulled against his own. “Talk too-too much,” Grisha rasped. His arms then locked about the alien in one of his infamous bear hugs. The emperor blinked when he realized what was happening and tried to move his arms, but he couldn’t.

“You can’t hold me! You can’t even fly!” the emperor scoffed. He then winced as he felt Grisha’s embrace growing tighter. Red lightning started to dance around the emperor’s body as began to charge a detonation.

Sensing it, Grisha bellowed for the other Saiyans to take advantage of the opportunity: “HURRY!”
 
Akiko ​

Though to Akiko it seemed to take forever, leaving her to hold her breath and wonder, Grisha finally set Akiko down. “Help Little Brother.” The relief that flooded through Akiko when she heard those words was so great that Akiko nearly dropped to her knees. Rubbing her eyes with her fists to clear her vision, Akiko gave a sharp nod. The little girl waited though, waited until Grisha had the Bully distracted before rushing to Blaze's side.

"Let Akiko help." The chibi saiyan went right to work without waiting for an answer. Akiko closed her eyes and lay both hands on Blaze's chest to start syncing their ki energy so she could heal him more thoroughly. Though faster than before thanks to their training and being familiar with Blaze, it still took a little bit of time. The blue healing energy flowed from Akiko as she tried to keep her mind clear of all else, despite the thunderous sounds of battle happening so close. Akiko focused on the worst of it, ruptured organs, broken bones, the minor cuts and bruises could be left for another time; after they put this Bully in his place.

Once she had done what she could for Blaze, the Ki faded and Akiko stood. "Is that okay? Can you keep going?" She asked hopefully before turning her gaze to Grisha and the false emperor. Grisha had been holding the beast off well, but now things seemed to be turning wrong. The bully was attacking faster, using his ki more. Grisha could do it though! Her brothers could do anyth- "BIG BROTHER!" It was like everything happened in slow motion. Grisha was impaled by the red monster's tail! Akiko was in such shock that the Monster's taunts didn't reach her. Instead the little girl's sapphire eyes, wide in terror, were locked fully on Grisha as he pulled himself up the very instrument that attacked him to clutch the emperor.

“HURRY!”

Akiko snapped out of her daze and furious anger quickly replaced shock. A fragment of Grisha's Axe had landed nearby and Akiko rocketed forward, snatching it as she flew towards the monster like a bullet. "YOU HURT AKIKO'S BROTHERS!" She screamed. Akiko couldn't fallow what Blaze was doing. In that moment, all that mattered was causing the red bully as much pain as she possibly could and saving her biggest brother. With Grisha holding the monster, Akiko had little trouble and absolutely no hesitation diving in from above and plunging the fragment of bone into the monster's third eye. Once it was in, she kept twisting and pushing. Akiko had never wanted to kill someone so much in her short life.
 
Blaze could barely move in the crater.


Even after Akiko's healing of the worst of his injuries, it felt like his entire body had a mountain laying on top of it. The hits he'd endured were few, but they were so heavy and full of raw power which exploded through his muscles, bones, and nerves that it was almost as if he was paralyzed in place. Grisha had charged the creature, finally seeming to come to his senses. But as Blaze looked on he could sense the growing desperation on Grisha's part to keep up and cause damage like he normally did.

The creature was indeed holding back, more so than Blaze dared guess.

When Grisha was impaled, Blaze was only just starting to gain feeling back in his body enough to crawl out of the crater and see what was going on. The blood pouring down his back and his bear hugging the enemy who was charging an attack to break free. Akiko dove down driving a shard of Grisha's axe into its third eye causing it a tremendous amount of pain.

And suddenly, all went white to Blaze and time stood still in his mind.

Was this real?

Images and scenes of his past before, during, and after his meeting with both Akiko and Grisha were flying by almost as if they were 3D projections. To his left, a flash of Dawn's beautiful and loving smile. His parents standing behind her, almost as if to urge him to be with her. To his right, Grisha with Akiko sitting on his shoulders. The chibi Saiyan smiling and playing with his hair while shouting about how her biggest brother is the strongest of all. To the left, the previous image was replaced by friends he'd had growing up. Children, teens, and a few adults. To his right, Trish, Orion, and others they'd met along the way who were gone now.

Then to his left, the first time he trained in combat with Dawn. Their first sparring match, which he easily won but pretended was difficult so she would smile and have a good time. To his right, his first sparring match with Grisha. To his left, a flash of his first tournament and championship victory. To his right, his second and much harder fought victory.

And then, his entire vision was overcome with an image of this vile creature's face.

Blaze looked up as Akiko continued driving the shard into his third eye and the creature writing in pain with Grisha still impaled on his tail.

Blaze had heard what he said. That he'd go back to Earth and make Lena his personal slave.

Blaze's fists clenched beneath him, his fingers digging into the dirt.

If that was true, what would stop him from doing the same to Dawn?

His head lowered, jaw clenched, and his body trembled as the air around him began to shimmer and sizzle as golden sparks of energy crackled to life around him. He wanted to help. But he wasn't strong enough. Dawn. His parents. His friends. Grisha and Akiko. Strong as he was he wasn't strong enough despite himself believing he was before. Until he felt the enormous pressure this enemy exuded he thought that Grisha and he could handle anything. But now...

The skies began to turn a shade darker and the ground began to rumble subtly for miles around...
 
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YOU HURT AKIKO’S BROTHERS!

After the shout, a little monkey flew into the emperor’s face and stabbed his third eye with a shard of bone. The oval ocular popped like a grape. Purple blood gushed around it as Akiko’s little fist twisted it deeper. The emperor screamed. His two remaining eyes were shrunk and swollen in anger, panic, and agony. His arms shook against Grisha’s hold in his desperation to clutch his wounded eye and grab the tiny warrior. Baring his red-stained teeth, Grisha suddenly released the emperor and brought his knees to his chest. He kicked away from the alien, snatching Akiko as he lunged away. The emperor’s tail slid free of his mid-section like a slippery noodle as Grisha plummeted toward the earth with his baby sister safely cradled in his arms. Eyes shaking and darting chaotically in the overwhelming outrage he felt, the emperor tucked his arms and legs into his core and upon thrusting his limbs outward, his entire vicinity turned red.

The red energy was silent as it engulfed all life around it. It expanded in a dome that turned the sky black and leveled the rocky and uneven terrain. A strong gale surged from it, clearing weak vegetation and loose debris. In the middle of the assault, Grisha felt Akiko get ripped from his arms as though they had been separated by a tsunami. Red was all he saw before darkness overtook his vision. The impact of his body crashing into the stony terrain wasn’t even felt. The red ki bomb started to fade. As it receded, it left behind a massive circle of flattened earth. Debris continued to rain from the sky, crackling in the chilling silence until laughter was heard. It was the emperor. His arms were outstretched and he was cackling in mad glee.

“HA HA HA HA HA! Weak, incompetent fools! I could erase this entire planet like a canvas!” he exclaimed. Lowering his arms, he grinned and his eyes thinned into venomous slits. “Do you hear that?” He referenced the quiet. “That is the sound of death and destruction!” He resumed roaring with laughter.
 
Blaze was blown out of his stupor by the sudden winds and heat of the attack which created the massive circular mark on the ground. He came back to reality and the slightly darkened skies disappeared and the rumbling ceased. He was thrown back, skipping across the land like a stone being skimmed across the water. When he finally skidded to a halt and looked up, he saw the red skinned enemy floating there laughing at them.

His right fist clenched and lifted a handful of dirt up before slamming it back down into the ground.

"Damn it all." He muttered.

He let go of the dirt and looked at his hand.

"Grisha was always the strongest of us. Even now."

He glanced over to where Grisha's body fell, still pouring blood and somehow still, more or less, in tact after the blast.

"What do I do?"

Blaze closed his eyes tightly and laid his head back. Once again the image of Dawn's beautiful smiling face forced its way into his mind, followed quickly by horrific "what if" images of what this creature might do to her if he went back to Earth and found out about her like he did Lena. Dawn's smile was replaced by tears and he could practically see her reaching for him screaming for help.

"I can't."

Tears began to gather in his eyes as his jaw clenched, his body flexed, and his fists shook violently at his sides.

"Damn it all!" He sobbed, slamming his fist into the ground.

Blaze's tail suddenly flickered to life around his waist, seeming almost as if looking for something. It twitched upwards, sideways, and all around almost like a worm nervously looking for a bird trying to consume it.

"Dawn."

His tail began flickering even more wildly, and the skies began to darken once again as that same sizzling and heatwave-like shimmering around his body returned. Bio-electricity sparked around him as the skies darkened even further. And this, the floating emperor took immediate notice of.

"What in the?" He questioned aloud.

He examined the skies and tried to pick up on what was causing this. Sure it couldn't be any of the Saiyans. One was beaten down. One was impaled and unconscious. And one was too small to possibly pose a threat great enough to cause this kind of atmospheric disturbance.

So what was causing it?
 
Akiko ​

All Akiko cared about as she twisted that bone shard into the red bully's eye was saving her brothers and hurting the red monster as much as possible. The energy that brother-hurting monster was building didn't matter. Part of the chibi saiyan hoped vainly that if she shoved hard enough she would push the shard right through the false emperor's head and end him. Unfortunately, even though the will was there, Akiko just didn't have the physical strength to manage it.

Suddenly Grisha's arms were around her, yanking her away from her attack and sending them both flying away. Akiko could barely wrap her mind around what was happening before the force of an explosion ripped her away from her injured brother and sent her flying alone until she slammed into the ground; leaving scared earth and broken trees in her wake. It hurt... a lot. Akiko slowly staggered up, dazed, bleeding, and aching. It could have been a lot worse though. If Grisha hadn't... Wait, where is he?! He was hurt so badly already! Was Blaze caught in the blast?!

Akiko took to the air to search around, though she tried to stay low, lest she draw that red bullies attention. Her brothers were a bigger threat but she did just stab his eye out. Too bad it was only the one. When the sky started growing darker, the little girl paused. It was too early for it to get dark... At first Akiko feared more enemies were closing in, but this was more familiar despite the jump in power. "Big brother?" It came out as whispered awe. He wasn't hard to spot with the air practically sizzling around him. He was okay! Blaze was more angry than she had ever seen him, but he was alright! Then, not too far away, a familiar, bleeding lump. "No!" The little girl squeaked as she dove toward's Grisha. Akiko was in such a rush that she crashed into the dirt next to her biggest brother rather than landing nicely.

Ever quick to bounce back, the little girl scrambled up to sit next to Grisha, or what was left of her big brither, with tears stinging her eyes. "No,no,no! It's okay! Akiko can fix it! It's okay... Biggest brother has to stay! A-Akiko can fix it..." Akiko repeated the words as if that would make them true. She had never healed a wound like this before, and she was injured herself, that would make it even harder. The little girl was still going to try of course! With both hands resting just above Grisha's chest wound, Akiko closed her eyes and tried to focus on her brother's life energy. He had to have some left... he just had to. "Akiko can fix it. Just hold on..."
 
Blaze's body trembled violently beneath the darkened skies. The bio-electricity arced through the air this way and that scorching the ground around him while the heatwave-like shimmer continued to expand further and further away. Previously blinded to the source of the change, the emperor finally looked over towards Blaze and saw the spectacle taking place. He quickly raced down and kicked Blaze up into the air before reappearing above him and slamming him back down towards the ground.

Blaze barely noticed.

He was still lost in his head, images of Dawn and his loved ones flashing through his mind. Images of them being subjugated, tortured, or worse...

His body convulsed as it hit the ground, a crater the size of a football field expanding out beneath him. Blaze's eyes went out of focus for a moment upon impact, but immediately came right back. His fists clenched and slammed into the ground at his sides causing massive fissures to open in the ground which rapidly shot outwards and away from him for over a hundred feet.

The emperor was on him in an instant, punching and kicking and trying to beat what life was left out of him. The blows struck his body causing him to grunt and growl, but none had the same effect as before. To Blaze's conscious mind, they barely registered anymore as his power level continued to surge. Sensing this, the emperor immediately unleashed a much greater amount of his power. The crater beneath Blaze nearly quadrupled in size, and the assault against him began again. But this time, Blaze disappeared before the first strike found its target.

The emperor turned around and looked up, and Blaze floated in the air limp and unmoving; hunched over like he'd just been gut checked. His eyes had gone pure white, and his body convulsed further as the bio-electricity thickened and flared out from his position in the skies striking the ground all around. One even came uncomfortably close to Grisha and Akiko, but did not strike them. Nearby trees were obliterated. Rocks and boulders vaporized. And charred streaks across the ground the only evidence of the arcs passing.

The emperor appeared in front of Blaze and threw a spike-toed kick to his stomach, which was promptly caught by Blaze's left hand. But what horrified the emperor was that Blaze didn't budge. Even in the air with nothing to resist the blow, Blaze didn't budge. Instead, the emperor was pulled off balance and thrown over Blaze's shoulder like an old piece of trash and sent spinning head over heels before he finally regained his composure and attempted to renew his assault once again. But it was no use. He couldn't hit Blaze. Even with his eyes white with rage and seemingly no life left in him, Blaze was untouchable.

And then...

Blaze threw his head back and let out a shriek of fury which shook the air and the planet beneath him. His body became engulfed a shimmering white aura which flared out around him like white fire. The bio-electricity turned a piercing blue in color signifying its increase in temperature and intensity. The aura grew thicker and thicker until Blaze was overcome with white light, invisible within its now blank canvass of Ki. The aura began to tighten around his frame until it seemed like Blaze had become the white light itself.

Suddenly a crack seemed to form along the center. A golden ray of light emerged from within and shot upwards into the skies above parting the clouds. Another crack. Another ray of golden light. Another. And another. And another.

Finally, the white light seemed to explode from within... And Blaze was reborn.

His previously raven black hair was now standing upwards on end and sporting a gleaming golden hue. The fur on his tail had become gold to match, and his musculature had increased slightly in size. His eyes had returned to normal save one thing... His irises were now a deep teal in color, and his power level had skyrocketed manifold.

The emperor was left speechless as he gazed up at this new golden warrior where Blaze used to float.

"What... In the name of the universe is this?" He asked aloud.

Blaze stared straight ahead, completely unresponsive to the world around him... Until a slow turn of his head caused his eyes to land on the emperor with a dark, dangerous scowl appearing on his face.
 
In the dim lighting of the oval cockpit, a beep suddenly ceased, and a Saiyan pilot with layered blades of black hair glanced down at a green screen. The screen had a white grid on it, and in its upper right quadrant was a graph with orange rising and falling bars. “We lost track of the general’s power signature,” the pilot, known as Mustar reported.

The co-pilot was gazing through the ship’s space shield at the foreign planet in front of them. His name was Collar. “Do you think he’s there?”

“Where else would he be?”

There was odd cloud activity, building and blackening before their eyes. Lightning flashed as the clouds started to churn and swirl, and then suddenly their tracker exploded. Both Saiyans jumped in reaction and shivered as a chill crawled across their skin. Even from their position in orbit, the power signature they felt made them shudder.

“Do you think that’s him?” Mustar asked in awe.

“I don’t know. The storm could have affected the reading.”

Mustar frowned as he felt discomfort. “That power level…I don’t think it was the storm.”

The Saiyans regarded the mysterious planet in silence for a few seconds before Collar spoke: “Should we go there or turn back?”

Mustar’s grip tightened on the controls. “We’ve come this far. If we return empty-handed, then the others will kill us. Right now, General Aruga doesn’t even know we’re gone. We have to do this. If we don’t find him, then we might as well not return.”

Collar frowned sullenly down at his lap. “They’ll call us deserters.”

Mustar meditated briefly and then decided, “Starting descent.”

Collar said nothing as their small drop ship plunged into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile…

Grisha was in a shape none of the other Saiyans had ever seen him in and could not have imagined ever seeing him in. Hole in his abdomen and three of his limbs had been incinerated in the blast. His hair had been singed off and still smoked as he laid with his body partially embedded in the unforgiving terrain. His black eyes were open, but empty. Dried blood covered his chin and neck. The Saiyan appeared deceased, and he might as well had been if not for the sobbing child who used her ki to keep the little flame of his spirit alive.

Through the spears of lightning that flashed in the sky, an alien ship in the form of a white comet descended in the distance.
 
Akiko​

The little girl's eyes were clamped tightly shut. Not only do to her concentration, but because she couldn't bare to see her biggest brother broken and injured like he was. His energy was so faint and weak... not like her big brother at all. Though she tried to keep her mind clear and focus, the time Akiko had spent with with her biggest brother kept creeping into her mind. First climbing out of her capsule to see Grisha, Blaze, and the others, healing Lena and getting an oath of loyalty, the tournament, their time in space, then on the planet... Her biggest brother couldn't leave them now. You promised not to leave Akiko. The child thought as she worked.

No matter how she tried, however, Akiko just couldn't heal Grisha. The chibi saiyan had nether the skill nor the strength, as far as ki went, to close every wound; let alone regrow limbs. Still Akiko tried. The child's ki poured out of herself and into Grisha as if a dam had broken. When she finally accepted that she couldn't outright heal her brother, especially not all at once, she instead turned her attention to trying to stop as much blood loss as she could and moving what little blood was left to the most vital places. The little girl was clutching at straws, but if she could just keep him alive long enough... maybe she could heal him a little at a time?

Between trying to keep a tenuous connection to her biggest brother's life force, feeding it just to keep him alive, and trying to manipulate the body itself to preform what little healing she could, Akiko's was running out of ki quickly. The little girl started to feel faint, her energy started to waver, but still she would not stop. The whole time she had been focused on Grisha, however, the hair on the back of Akiko's neck stood on end. In her gut, she could feel a familiar power surging. It wasn't until a bolt of what she first mistook for lightning struck right next to them that Akiko's connection to Grisha was broken. With a squeal of surprise the chibi saiyan dropped backwards, away from her biggest brother. As she lay there drained and dazed, Akiko looked up at what was happening with Blaze and could barely believe her eyes.

Before, her smaller brother had taken a thrashing at the red monster's hands. Now Blaze was still taking a beating but he seemed unfazed... and his power was still rising. Then Blaze was enveloped in a white light and Akiko worried that he might actually explode. Yet the light seemed to cling to Blaze and by the time Akiko could really see her smaller brother properly again, he looked so different that the little girl might not have recognized him at that distance if she hadn't seen the change herself or felt his energy. Akiko's reaction was somewhat similar to the Red Monster. "What happened to Blaze?" He seemed okay, better than okay actually, but what was happening to him?

Seeing Blaze's transformation brought Akiko new hope. Pushing herself up, the child reached out, a little hesitantly, for the mess that was Grisha. What if when she tried again, there was nothing there? No, he had to be there! He had to be! If she could keep him alive for just a little longer... Blaze had to win now! Maybe after her smaller brother won she could borrow some of Blaze's energy to help Grisha too. Would that be soon enough though? Desperate for any source of ki she might use, Akiko looked around. Did... did the animals and trees, the planet itself even, not have energy? It was something the little girl had never considered before, but she wouldn't get a chance to test it out just yet. The aria around them had been pretty decimated by the fighting; Akiko had nothing handy to use. On top of that, something shiny, falling from the sky, caught the chibi saiyan's eye. Not more of them!

Akiko's tired mind raced. Could she move her biggest brother? Hide him? Probably not without killing him. At least if he's not already... Akiko Couldn't finish the thought. Despite how Grisha looked she couldn't accept it. So, after taking a deep breath to study herself, Akiko reach out with her Ki and closed her eyes again, hoping against hope that he was still in there somewhere. She could feed him more of her ki; what little there was left. In fact, she would give him every last bit of her energy if that's what it took! If she could just connect again...
 
Bio-electricity sparked around his body as he floated, glaring at the Emperor. He glared back, unimpressed by the Saiyan's new form despite the changes which had taken place previously. Having had time to take it all in, he smirked at the golden warrior.

"You think this shiny new form will make a difference?"

His hands drew in and clenched into fists. Bio-electricity began arcing around his body and the skies grew even darker as the clouds doubled in thickness. Thunder clapped, and a few stray bolts of lightning struck the area as the Emperor began to unleash the full extent of his power. Yelling in effort, his already large muscles bulged even further followed by his gleaming eyes flashing white for a moment before returning to normal.

For the briefest moment, a look of wonder and worry flashed across Blaze's face.

However, the Emperor then screamed at the top of his lungs as a final surge of energy shot outwards through the air in all directions. Blaze was struck by the wave and turned his head slightly, half closing the near-side eye as a scowl returned to his features. As the wind died down, Blaze returned his gaze forward to glare the Emperor down as the pair sized each other up once again.

"If the energy I'm feeling is anything to go by, it would seem your flashy new form and blonde hair aren't enough. But it was a valiant effort."

Silence was his response.

"Not a talker, eh? That's fine. The time for words is over anyway. Now, it's time to DIE!!"

The Emperor disappeared and Blaze's head was suddenly slammed backwards by a punch too fast to see. He went flying backwards through the air, his golden aura leaving a stream of Ki behind in his wake like a jet stream which slowly faded after a few seconds. Blaze looked towards where he'd been hit only to receive another punch too fast to see from the side sending him off in a new direction. A tiny trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as he looked to where he had been struck. But now he was struck from below. A kick to the back, sending him high into the air before a clutched pair of fists struck his stomach sending him back down towards the planet's surface.

And just before he hit the ground Blaze stopped, his energy pushing down creating a small crater beneath him as he looked up to the skies.

The Emperor appeared right in front of him, slamming his forehead into Blaze's face sending him down into the ground before stomping him over and over and over again. This was followed by a massive and aggressive rapid-fire volley of energy blasts. Hundreds of blasts every single second accompanied by the Emperor's yell of effort as explosion after explosion slowly ate away at the ground around Blaze's position. By this point all that could be seen was the very outer edge of his golden aura which flickered like a candle flame before the Emperor charged a much larger blast of Ki above his head and sent it into the crater. He flew away as a massive explosion shook the planet like a leaf.

The Emperor floated high into the air to avoid the blast and debris, chuckling to himself as he crossed his arms.

"Well. So much for that one."

He looked down to where Akiko sat trying desperately to help Grisha cling to life. He floated down slowly, landing a short distance away as he observed her struggles with glee.

"He's not waking, little one. You may as well give up now."

Akiko glared at him.

"You shouldn't turn your back on big brother!" She yelled up at him.

Laughing to himself at the chibi Saiyan's response, the Emperor floated up into the air and began charging a Ki blast to wipe both of them off the face of the planet.

"Good night, little one. It's been a pleasure."

As he prepared to unleash the blast, a golden light flashed from behind him. Turning to look, he saw nothing and shrugged it off. And as returned to Akiko he barely caught a glimpse of the scowl on Blaze's face as he charged in slamming his forehead into the Emperor's chest. The red fiend went flying, skipping across the ground like a rag doll before coming to a half and coughing up a small puddle of blood. Looking at the liquid on the ground, he growled and looked back towards Blaze who floated calmly... Still scowling.

"You... You wretched vermin!!" He screamed.

The Emperor disappeared, and Blaze did as well. The concussive bursts from the impact of their fists shook the ground under Akiko and appeared in the air in rapid-fire clusters which was indicative of just how fast they were going. It was far too fast to follow. The Chibi Saiyan would barely be able to follow which cluster was actually the most recent. But blow after blow could be felt down to her bones. Every bone-crunching impact.

In the chaos, Blaze and the Emperor traded blows rapidly. But the Emperor was noticing something. No matter how many blows he landed Blaze wasn't slowing down. Each hit struck true. Blaze flinched, bent over, gasped, grunted, coughed, gagged, and even occasionally coughed up a small amount of blood when struck in the stomach or chest. But still he persisted. It was almost as if each blow was causing him pain, but no considerable or consistent level of damage. But how could that be? He was the Emperor of the Universe! Nobody could match him in power or shrug off his blows like this! Nobody!!

The Emperor began digging deeper within himself to find any excess energy he could to throw at Blaze. But blow after blow had the same effect. No matter how hard he hit Blaze, the golden-haired warrior continued coming back for more.

Blaze, meanwhile, was hardly thinking about anything anymore. The fire in his eyes showed anyone who could catch even the slightest glimpse of them what was going through his mind... I need to KILL this thing!

Blaze was having the same problem as the Emperor. Every hit struck true, but the Emperor wasn't losing that much power. It was a complete stalemate. Neither truly gaining an advantage despite them both landing heavy and powerful blows. Some to vulnerable areas and critical points. Blaze even struck the Emperor in a spot which would have paralyzed most humanoid creatures if their nervous systems were anything alike, but evidently this wasn't the case here. He would find no quick or easy victory no matter how much his power had increased.

Minutes passed, and the stalemate continued. Blaze and the Emperor danced and weaved in and out of each other's strikes and trading blows. The Emperor came in with a punch to the face with his right hand, and Blaze responded by leaning outside his punch, passing it with the back of his right hand, and punching the Emperor's side with his left. The Emperor flinched, but quickly retaliated by using his right arm to bend at the elbow quickly brushing by Blaze's hand and elbowing him in the jaw. Blaze flinched against the blow, but used the momentum of it to spin himself around and slam the back of his left fist into the Emperor's head sending him flying.

Brief, violent engagements which almost always ended with one of them being knocked away a short distance before re-engaging for another round.

However, it was rapidly becoming clear which of the two was now starting to gain control.

As they broke from the consistent and seemingly never-ending bouts, Blaze floated calmly with a steady rise and fall of his chest while the Emperor's chest rose and fell rapidly with his heart pounding in his ears.

Blaze blinked, taking notice of this, and his eyes narrowed.

"You're not used to using your full power, are you?"

"Silence, you... Wretched filth... Hahh... I'm perfectly fine!" He boasted, puffing up his chest.

He did his best to hide it, but Blaze's experienced eye caught the struggle of forcing the deep breaths down for the sake of appearances.

"... Fine."

The fight recommenced, but it didn't take long for the Emperor's fatigue to begin to show. His musculature began to lessen, his breathing was ragged, his techniques grew sloppier and sloppier, and Blaze's attacks grew more and more ferocious as the fight dragged on.

Eventually, Blaze knew it was time to bring the fight to a close permanently. He'd had enough of testing this form's new power. Taking the first opportunity to slam a fist into the Emperor's stomach and knock the wind from his lungs, Blaze then jumped away and stiffened his hand with fingers pointed straight and slightly spread apart. He lunged forward and slammed his hand into the Emperor's stomach again, and his fingers penetrated flesh, muscle, and broke through bone to grasp the Emperor's spinal chord. The blow caused him to cough up an enormous amount of blood over Blaze's shoulder. Looking up out of the corner of his eye at the Emperor's shocked and horrified face, he smirked.

"It's been a pleasure." He growled.

The Emperor's eyes opened wide, and Blaze's hand opened as a massive burst of golden Ki erupted from the Emperor's back and threw him backwards through the air. This was followed by a secondary blast of golden Ki from Blaze which grew larger and larger until it engulfed his entire body. And within seconds, the screaming ceased and the Emperor's body was vaporized.

At long last, the fight was over.

Blaze's hands came down and he let out a calming breath as his golden aura slowly vanished and his hair and tail returned to their normal colors. Turning around, he flew back towards Akiko's position.
 
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The Saiyans were flying toward the source of the storm and maintaining a low altitude to avoid visible detection. As they neared the location, their scouters started going haywire. Even without having activated the devices, they turned on and the counter started to go until they detonated. The Saiyans winced as they popped and shattered glass over the wasteland terrain.

“Should we be flying towards this?” Collar called.

Mustar replied, “We have no choice. Where else would we look?”

A golden figure was seen in the sky then. The two Saiyans stopped abruptly, their lips parted in awe.

“Is that a Super Saiyan?” Collar exclaimed in shock.

Mustar was speechless. They continued to watch Blaze as he faced off against some horned creature. Both fighters’ power levels far exceeded their own. They watched, spellbound, until Collar’s eyes wandered down to a small Saiyan whose faint ki glowed over the body of…Collar gasped and pointed down at Akiko:

“It’s him! He’s there.”

Mustar paled at the sight of him. “Did that creature do this?”

“Which one?” Collar asked nervously.

The general always liked challenging tough opponents, but what Saiyan didn’t. But this time, he might have bitten off more than he could chew. The Saiyans landed abruptly around Akiko. They marched over to Grisha and knelt next to him. Collar was resting his fingers upon his neck, while Mustar hovered his hand over his body and closed his eyes as though he were scanning him.

“He’s still alive,” Mustar informed.

Collar nodded in confirmation. Mustar grabbed Grisha’s wrist and hefted his limbless body over his shoulder.

The child protested, “You can’t take Akiko’s big brother! Akiko is healing.”

The two Saiyans looked at each other in confusion before they looked back at Akiko. “Who is this runt?” Mustar insensitively asked.

“She thinks she’s the general’s sister. She’s probably just some exiled Saiyan trash,” Collar muttered.

“Whatever. Let’s leave before we can’t,” Mustar told him.

The Saiyans blasted off, leaving the child behind. They swiftly returned to their ship and situated Grisha’s body in a space cooler. Closing the lid, the cooler instantly froze the Saiyan as clouds of dry ice tumbled over the sides. “That should keep him stable until we get back,” Mustar said.

“I can’t believe we found him. Aruga is going to be furious,” said Collar.

“Well that tyrant piece of shit won’t be in command anymore.”

Getting situated back in the cockpit, the Saiyan pilots readied the ship and sent it back into space.
 
Blaze had sensed the powers near Akiko on his way back, but he was too tired to push himself any further. He had to fly at normal speed. When he returned, Akiko was there and looking incredibly forlorn. Grisha's body was gone, and Blaze didn't need an explanation to know what had happened... What he wanted to know was... Why?

Sitting down next to Akiko, he put a hand on her shoulder and used his thumb to rub her neck.

"Hey... You okay?" He asked, almost rhetorically.
 
Akiko​

It was so very faint, her brother was in such bad shape... but Grisha was alive and Akiko wasn't going to give up on him. It wasn't until the new arrival's landed that she let up. The exchange happened so quickly. Akiko barely had time to process what was going on, to protest, before he was taken away. "No wait! You can't!" Akiko didn't dare grab hold of Grisha for fear harming him further with a tug of war, but when she tried to fallow, the little girl barely got of the ground before dropping back to the dirt like a stone and landed on her face. Akiko staid there for a few moments, clutching the earth under her in her fist. Too much. She had used nearly every last bit of Ki she had to keep her biggest brother alive. It was a wander that Akiko was still conscious and moving around, but her body seemed to be at it's limit. It hadn't been as memorizing as what Blaze was doing, but Akiko had been fighting her own battle... and it felt like she had lost.

Akiko was on her hand, barely holding herself together, when Blaze arrived. She didn't move until he put his hand on her back.

"Hay... you okay?"

"No!" Akiko spun around and threw herself at Blaze, then let the waterworks flow.

Blaze had won the fight. Everyone was safe. This should have been their victory dance but now Akiko just couldn't stop the flood of tears as she berried her face in Blaze's chest and clung to him as tightly as her weakened state would allow. "They t-took biggest brother! He-he was so hurt! Akiko try-" Hiccup "-Tried t-t-o heal him but-but Akiko wasn't strong enough! An-an-an they took him an-an Akiko is sorry! Akiko tried an-an now Biggest brother is- an-an he promised not t-to leave an he was so... an..." That was all Akiko managed to get out between sobs and gasps for air. Though it was muffled from her face being berried before, Akiko's rambling became too disjointed to make sense of and eventually stopped altogether in favor of more sobbing.

They shouldn't have come. Lena was nasty and mean, and hurt her biggest brother, but she was right. They lost Trish and Orion, Blaze was barely strong enough, Akiko wasn't strong enough, Grisha was... Just thinking of the Giant sayian put images of him laying there, mutilated, back in her minds eye. She would never stop seeing it when she closed her eyes. What were they doing to him? Finishing him off? Hurting him? Why would they take him? Where? If she weren't do weak... maybe if she were strong like her brothers Grisha would still be there.

Akiko's little fist suddenly balled up to beat on Blaze, but she couldn't do any damage in the state she was in. "Why didn't you turn gold sooner?" She finally asked. It wasn't fair to Blaze, but Akiko felt like lashing out at everyone. It was her own fault for being weak. It was Blaze's fault for not turning gold sooner, it was Lena's fault because that's what set her biggest brother off so blindly. It was Earth's fault because who cares about earth anyway? And why was Grisha so mean and selfish to leave her?

It just... wasn't fair.
 
Blaze held onto Akiko as she wept and tried to say sorry for not protecting Grisha. But Blaze could feel how drained of energy she was. Even if she'd wanted to protect him there was nothing she could have done. Not in the state she was in. She cried and cried, and all Blaze could do was hold her and stroke her hair in an effort to help her let it all go and finally relax. But by the time the tears slowed and she could speak in proper sentences again, Blaze heard a phrase which cut him to his core.

"Why didn't you turn gold sooner?"

At that, Blaze's hand on her head stopped moving and his breathing hitched in his chest.

"I-"

There was nothing he could say. No excuse he could make. He hadn't been strong enough. He knew that. She likely did too. But right now, in the throes of grief, Akiko was blaming him.

Blaze's hand slowly resumed stroking her hair as he leaned his head forward a bit, letting tears gather in his own eyes. He was never the first to get emotional, but in this situation how could he not be? Even if Akiko was only lashing out, she had a point... He had been capable of this power. Otherwise he wouldn't have attained it. So why? Why couldn't it have happened sooner? Why couldn't he have found it before Grisha tried to take the emperor on and been brainwashed? What had stopped him from unlocking this amazing new power before they got to this planet?

A few stray tears leaked from his eyes to the ground below, and time ticked by very, very slowly.

Until at last a new presence emerged. It was coming from space. A faint power signature almost too far away to sense. But he picked up on it all the same. Slowly it grew more and more prevalent, and he was certain Akiko would have felt it now too. It was strong. Not quite as strong as Akiko when she was at full power, but close. Right now, though, it was stronger than both of them. Blaze didn't know if he'd be able to unlock that golden form if this was a hostile presence. He would try with all his might if it came down to it. But still...

Finally, a ship came into view and landed not far away. It touched down gently, and from it emerged a beautiful young woman with long flowing brown hair tied at the end with a pink scrunchie. She wore a half-tunic top of Saiyan armor, exposing her lightly muscled stomach and belly button. She wore skin-tight blue pants and white boots with a darker blue toe. Her tail twitched and flowed freely behind her, proving her heritage, and on her face was a scouter with a light blue glass display. She tapped it and used it to find their power levels and flew over to them.

When she landed, Blaze had managed to get to his feet, holding Akiko protectively in his arms, and using one hand to strike a defensive pose. She looked ready to fight for a moment until she saw they both had tails.

"Oh! You're Saiyans!" She said and relaxed her posture.

"What happened here?"

... May as well tell the truth.

"The emperor is dead." He said flatly.

"Th-the-... Wait... Wh-what? You said the Emperor is dead?!" She cried, eyes wide and taking a half step back.

Blaze only nodded.
 
Akiko
​
Despite her words, Akiko continued to cling to Blaze as she sobbed, It wasn't really his fault, or Grisha's, or even Lena's. The only fault lay with the Red Monster himself, his minions, and the ones who kidnapped her gravely injured brother. Akiko knew that, somewhere in the more rational part of her brain, but reason and clear thinking were not the things driving the little girl in those moments. Grief, anger, sadness, and a sense of loss had swallowed Akiko up instead. It felt like time had stopped. Nothing would be the same without their biggest brother. Nothing would be right without him.

It took quite a while for the tears to stop completely but Akiko eventually cried herself out. She might have fallen to sleep against her big brother if something hadn't tingled in the back of her mind. A new energy was getting closer. The chibi saiyan looked up at Blaze, then followed his gaze to the sky as her whole body tensed. More of them? Already? Even Blaze had to be warn out from his fight, gold powers or no. Akiko eyed the new arrival suspiciously but said nothing as the lady approached the pair and Blaze took his stance. Even if Grisha were still with them, After fighting the other bad 'brothers', Akiko was no longer so eagure to rush right up and welcome every saiyan she met into the family with open arms. Even if they turned out to be nice... they would just die and leave her.

"Oh! You're Saiyans! What happened here?"

Akiko promptly curled her tail around her waist, but it was too little too late.

"The emperor is dead."

"Th-the-... Wait... Wh-what? You said the Emperor is dead?!"

The saiyan lady seemed to know the Red Monster... probably one of his minions. However, the new arrival also seemed taken aback by by Blaze's words. So, Akiko followed them up, hoping to scare the woman out of any thoughts of attacking them. Akiko wrapped one arm around Blaze's neck to help her sit up more in his arm and pointed at the unknown saiyan with her free hand."That's right! Your Red Monster was no match for Akiko's brothers! They killed him and they can could kill you too, monster lover! So you just- uh... Don't even think of attacking; or else!" Akiko gave a single nod after that to finalize her threat and glared daggers at the stranger. It was something the little girl who first crashed on earth would never even have thought to do, but between losing Grisha and being in a weakened state along with Blaze, Akiko wasn't in a good place in any sense of the word.
 
As Akiko finished speaking Blaze subtly turned her more to face him and lay her against his chest, supporting her with one arm beneath her legs to sit on while he kept the other hand up and ready just in case. The female Saiyan was still in shock, looking around to the battlefield as if searching for a corpse or some sign they were telling the truth.

She tapped the Scouter on her face which flickered to life.

"Yes. This is Nomiya, Scout Number 0696. Please confirm or deny the presence of the Emperor on my location."

A couple long seconds ticked by with Blaze keeping at read. He could just barely hear a garbled voice through the device on her face, which promptly drained of color.

"You're... Joking. How could his power just... Vanish?"

More garbled voices, and an image was sent to the Scouter. A satellite image taken by a nearby emergency vessel in the Emperor's fleet. The tiny still image she received was that of a humanoid clad in golden light with hair and a tail to match fighting with the Emperor. More garbled voices, and Nomiya fell to her knees in shock. She couldn't even answer. She just turned off the device.

She was silent and unmoving with a thousand-yard stare for a long, long time. Blaze was about to try and fly away, but the girl's eyes suddenly welled with tears. She removed the device from her face and crushed it in her hand before cupping them and burying her face in them to weep.

"... Then it's over... We're finally free!!" She cried.

She knelt forward, weeping joyously into her hands and hiding her face as she did so. And in that moment, Blaze felt nostalgic... And he walked over to the woman, Akiko still held against his chest. As he reached her, he held out his free hand to her. She stopped crying long enough to look at his hand before leaping up and wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, crying over his shoulder.

"You've no idea what you've just done, do you?! Thank you!! Thank you so much!!!" She cried, squeezing harder.

Blaze's face started turning blue, and the arm supporting Akiko began to shake.
 
Akiko​

Like Blaze, Akiko remained tense as she watched the woman, ready for her to attack them at any moment. The little girl let Blaze adjust her to a more comfortable position without a fuss, even though it turned her more towards him and away the unknown Saiyan. However, she kept one arm around her brother's neck and did her best to stay turned enough to see what was going on. The lady Saiyan seemed to be checking in with her group. Maybe they should chuck a rock at her at something before the stranger ordered an attack on them.

At least, that's what Akiko thought until the lady saiyan crushed her intergalactic phone and broke down. It could be a trick but... the lady seemed to be actually crying. The chibi saiyan was still a little apprehensive When Blaze approached the woman but she didn't object. At least not until the woman sprang her trap and tried to squeeze Blaze to death! Akiko let out a squeal, being against Blaze and all, then kicked rapidly at the woman and smacked at her with her free hand. "Akiko Will save you big brother! Back! Back Monster Lover!" Her attacks probably wouldn't be very effective given they hadn't had a proper rest or food yet, but she had to try!

After a moment, Akiko got an idea. Because Blaze seemed to be struggling to support her under the lady saiyan's attack, Akiko squirmed free. She tried to fly again but only staid airborn for a moment before dropping to her butt on the ground. Frustrated but still wanting to help, Akiko chucked the closest rock she could find at the new arrival's face. "Quick! Big brother! Turn gold again! then we can get away and get Cheepers an-" What? Go home? Without Grisha? "... leave." The little burst of adrenaline fueled energy she got from the strange saiyan's attack dropped off quickly when she thought of her biggest brother. He was alone and hurt out there somewhere. Maybe they could track him down somehow? Could space ships to that? Could gold saiyans? Akiko searched for another rock within arms reach, just in case Blaze needed more help to get free.
 
Nomiya held tight to Blaze, her tears still flowing. And the young man, with large breasts pressed against him and a woman's arms around his neck was... Fittingly uncomfortable and stuck in a whirlwind of confusion and wondering what in the hell he was supposed to do. She was thanking him, but his vision was going blurry.

And that's when Akiko chucked the rock at the woman's face.

"We've been waiting for that bastard to di-" It his her in the cheek causing her to wince backwards and let him go.

Gasping for breath, Blaze backed up a step clutching his throat as the newcomer checked her cheek for blood. There was a tiny cut below her eye, but she didn't seem to mind. Instead, she turned towards Akiko and smiled at the chibi Saiyan. She walked over to Blaze and gave him a small bow.

"I apologize. I got over excited." She said, wiping her tears away.

"My name is Nomiya. A Saiyan who, like the rest of our race, was enslaved by that red-skinned monster. I was sent out here on a scouting mission, but my ship's power scanner detected two enormous powers coming from this planet before the sensors shorted out."

Blaze had recovered by now and was still finding it difficult not to look down from her eyes to her... Um... Bountiful or-! No! Her... Beautiful! Yes. Beautiful assets.

"Blaze." He replied.

He walked over to Akiko and picked her up again, cradling her head against his shoulder.

"Is she your daughter?"

Blaze nearly choked on spit and coughed several times before composing himself and turning towards her.

"No. But I do consider her family. The younger sister I never had."

Nomiya smiled warmly for them, wiping away a few last vestiges of what remained of her tears.

"It's a pleasure, Akiko. I'm sorry if I scared you." She said with a small bow.
 
Akiko​

Yes! A direct hit and her brother was saved! Akiko thought they would take off after that and gingerly got to her feet. Clearly the strange saiyan couldn't be trusted after attacking Blaze. Yet, her big brother opted to linger, bringing a concerned frown to the little girl's face. Feeling a little insecure around the stranger in her weakened state, especially after everything they'd just gone through, Akiko reached out for Blaze when he came to pick her up and wrapped an arm around his neck again. She had lost two brothers and a sister already, Blaze was all she had left. Blaze Confirming that they were family got a nod from Akiko while she gave her brother a short hug. Normally a statement like that would have gotten a smile and a lot of chattering but Akiko was too drained, emotionally and physically. Losing Grisha was too fresh.

Though Akiko still eyed the saiyan lady suspiciously at first, immune to the assets that had captivated her brother, the little girl relaxed a little when Nomiya apologized and introduced herself. Nomiya did seem happy the red monster was gone and the saiyan lady said she was enslaved so... maybe this new arrival wasn't trying to kill them. Maybe. "Akiko's not scared. Akiko was just protecting big brother." The chibi saiyan finally answered.

With no major threat in sight, Akiko gave Blaze's hair a gentle tug to get him to tilt his head so she could whisper in his ear. "We gots to get Cheepers and go find biggest brother." The little girl whispered urgently. "You can track him... right? Or you can make the Red monster's ship do it?" Though their interaction with Nomiya had been a small distraction, Akiko couldn't forget the most important thing. Grisha had still been alive, if just barely, when he was taken away. They might still be able to save him. Her face may have been smudged with blood and dirt, but Akiko's sapphire eyes were clear and hopeful as she stared up at Blaze, waited for his response.
 
Nomiya chuckled when Akiko said she wasn't scared and nodded.

"Of course. My apologies. A big girl like you wouldn't be afraid of little old me." She said.

Akiko whispered to Blaze about finding Grisha, and he gave her a nod.

"I'll try."

He looked at Nomiya.

"Please excuse me for a moment, Nomiya. I need to concentrate on something."

"Hm? Of course."

Blaze closed his eyes and extended all of his senses as far as they would reach. He focused hard, his brows slowly drawing together as his concentration continued to intensify. And finally, for the briefest moment, he found him. But the feeling was growing fainter and fainter, and within moments vanished entirely.

His eyes snapped open and he turned around, staring down towards the planet... Staring a hole straight through it in his head.

"He's that way." He said quietly.

"Hm?"

He turned around.

"Akiko's the sister I never had, and another is the brother I never had. Grisha. A mountain of a Saiyan who was defeated by the Emperor. Akiko said his body was taken away and I just felt his energy that way." He said, pointing in the direction he had been looking before.

"What's in that direction?"

"Um... The planet?"

"No. I mean out in space. What lies in that direction?"

"I can't say I know for sure. But if you need a lift off this planet I can at least get you to one of our outpost planets for some rest. I can't say if I can offer more than that though. At least not yet."

Blaze's eyes lit up.

"We'll take the offer. Is the outpost in that direction?"

"Well... Yes and no. It's in that general direction, but not that exact trajectory."

"It's fine."

Nomiya came forward and gently pat Akiko's head.

"How about it, Akiko? Ready to get off this planet and go somewhere nicer?"
 
Akiko
​
When the lady saiyan apologized, Akiko gave a little nod. Though, the child couldn't help but feel she was being talked down to; at least a little. "Uh huh, you aren't scary." Nomiya was actually pretty, but Akiko was still a little hesitant. The little girl's attention returned to Blaze when her brother started to concentrate. Akiko held her breath, staring at Blaze so intently that the rest of the world seemed to cease to exist.

"He's that way."

Akiko perked up instantly, then let out a squeal as she wrapped her free arm around Blaze to squeeze him. "You felt Biggest brother still?!" He was still oka-alive, despite being brother-napped! That meant they could still save the giant saiyan! With the Red Monster out of the way, nothing could stop them! They could rest on the way, eat and heal up, then those nasty little Grisha nappers would pay!

Nomiya coming over to pat her head brought Akiko out of her thoughts. The chibi saiyan looked from Nomiya to Blaze and back again before shaking her head no. She was still a little worried that this one was joining them, but it seemed they didn't have many options. "Akiko wants to go but... Akiko doesn't care if it's nice. We gotta to get Cheepers and save Biggest brother." A soft bed and real food would be welcome, but the worn out little girl still had one thing on her mind. She was still grasping at hope for Grisha, but Akiko couldn't just keep pushing everything down, pretending everything was okay, and and acting constantly happy anymore.
 
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