Going Native: Feeling of the Crash (ch.62) (Patreon)

It felt like every bone in my body was broken. And, upon further inspection, it probably felt that way because every bone in my body was broken. They shifted beneath my skin, my muscles picking up the slack to allow me to move at all. "Unnnghhh," I groaned, a pathetic sound as I tried to pull myself out of the crater that I had formed upon impact. The point of impact formed around my body when I tore through a layer of dirt and rocks to land on Nth Metal underneath.

I couldn't fight like this. Bones were a necessary thing because they offered support. Fighting with a broken arm and using my muscles to keep the bone in place? I could do that most of the time. Only issue was that when I fought with a broken arm, I wasn't hitting someone made of whatever the hell Mongul was. With that thought in mind, a Medicine Ball floated above one of my hands -- the fingers were all either broken or dislocated, if not both.

It would have to be a rush job. Bones would need to be reset, but that was better than being dead. The Medicine Ball was a dark purple, as intense as I could make it and I felt my bones shift underneath my muscle and skin. It was an odd feeling. A deep-seated exhaustion seeped into my bones, but I ignored it as I reached up to pull myself out of the hole I was in. There I saw the size of the crater.

I landed on a city -- concrete, lesser metals, and dirt were all cleared away from the point of impact. I hit the planet like a meteor. Just looking at it and I knew I was alive only by the skin of my teeth.

But the fight wasn't over.

Floating out of my crater, I looked up at the planet -- from this point of view, it seemed impossibly huge. It dominated the sky, almost to the point that it was like the only thing that you could see. Broly was still up there. I stretched out my ki sense, looking for them, but they were outside of my range.

A flash of movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A red drone that was firing an energy shot at me. Before the shot made it halfway, I shot a ki blast at it -- punching through the attack and the drone. As I looked at the world around me, I saw countless corpses of all races. A city laid in ruin. And more drones continuing their bombardment.

"The universe is a big place," I muttered to myself, and I distantly worried that I had a concussion. My head did feel light and I was lingering here instead of flying back into the fight. Mostly because I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Mongul, no matter how I looked at it, was completely beyond me. That fight was completely beyond me. My attempts at offering support… I couldn't even breathe in the same room that they had fought in.

Another drone closed in, and I raised a hand to destroy it, only to be beaten to the punch. Shayera flew forward and smashed it with her mace. The drone swayed to the side, smoking dangerously, but it took a few other hits from her to make it explode. Beyond her were Vas and Canda, with the rest of the squad hopefully with Avery. They had on their scouters, which is probably how they found me.

That was too dangerous. With three shots of ki, I destroyed their scouters as they approached. "What-"

"It-" I coughed, some blood escaping up my throat that I spit out. "Don't wear your scouters. Frieza can't know what's going on here," I told them as I wiped my chin of blood. I was sporting some burns, the worst being on my back, but my head was also bleeding. I probably did have a concussion. "Is there anyone left alive on the planet?"

I didn't have time to answer their obvious questions. This whole situation was bad. The worst kind of bad that meant we had no good options. If Lord Frieza learned about Broly now, then not only would he discover that we had been lying about his power level for years… but also that Broly, in the span of a fight, went from the kind of trash that Lord Frieza scrapped off his metaphorical shoes to able to fight on even footing with Mongul.

Lord Frieza would kill Broly. As a start. Then he would likely kill me. Killing the entire Saiyan race was in the cards, honestly.

"Avery is with about half of what we had garrisoned here. We can't contact the others," Vas answered. Meaning that they were probably dead. That was a significant loss.

I blinked a few times, trying to get my thoughts into focus but I was struck with a moment of indecision. I wanted to get back up there. I wanted to fight Mongul. But, I had to question if that's really the best use of me. If fighting Mongul was what I should be doing.

The mission, the team, the pride.

"Have Avery organize a retreat. The army will fall back to regroup with the nearest patrol," I ordered, my tone hard. "I'll cover the retreat." I didn't like it. I hated it, really. The fact of the matter was that I had no clue if we could defeat Mongul. That meant that I had to assume that we couldn't, and that meant I had to preserve the lives of my troops in case we got the chance to take back Thangar. Even if we couldn't, there was no point in them all dying here because of pride. "Broly will delay Mongul."

Shayera's expression shifted and for the briefest of moments, she looked like she was going to take a swing. Even after that moment, her expression told me that she was considering it. "Broly is just a boy-"

"Broly's power level has jumped tens of millions in the span of a few minutes," I cut her off harshly. "He's the only one that stands a chance right now. Get your head in the game -- organize the retreat," I snapped at her, pointedly raising a hand to destroy a handful of drones that were investigating where the others had gone. The drones down here we're dumber. I'm guessing they didn't receive Mongul's personal attention.

Shayera looked up at the Warworld, like she was considering outright disobeying the order in favor of flying up to help Broly. However, Thangarian discipline won out. She gave a jerky nod while Vas and Canda gave more resolute ones. I resisted the urge to look back up at the Warworld, tempted to leave it to them to organize and execute the retreat. But I needed to make sure they got away from the planet. I had to preserve what was left of my garrison -- each soldier was a veteran. They might not be the 501st, but as far as general soldiers, those stationed here were the cream of the crop.

We flew off towards where Avery had found what was left of my garrison. As I stretched my ki sense out, it was easy to find them simply because there was nothing else around. No life at all. The planet's surface was ravaged with countless drones on an extermination mission. My ki sense nearly engulfed the planet, but I could barely make out a handful of others. My army, what was left of it, was the last man standing.

Even without my ki sense, it would be a simple task to find them. Drones swarmed on their location, only to be pushed back by organized gunfire. Their Nth Metal based weapons were the key to their survival -- the remenants of my army were based out of the palace. Defensive positions were established, fall back positions as well behind a defensive perimeter. There were tens of thousands of them. Less than half of the hundred thousand I had stationed here. As I approached, I saw them move like a well-oiled machine, each proving their worth that one of them was worth a hundred of the enemy.

Despite my tiredness, I gathered ki in my hands and picked out my targets. In a flood, the tides of the battle surged into our favor when I destroyed thousands of the drones with a single attack. Ki ripped through them, reducing them to nothing that couldn't even explode on contact. More were on the way, but I gave the troops room to breathe. Even as I flew to Avery, I heard him barking orders to push back out and dig in.

"We're retreating," I told Avery, floating above him. His eyes widened at that. We had never retreated before. I tapped on the side of my head, gesturing to his scouter, and spoke very clearly. "We fall back, regroup, then we push to take Thangar back. I'm covering the retreat and I'll stay to harass Mongul."

This was the least bad choice. Lord Frieza could not learn about Broly. So, I had to pick my poison.

"By your orders," Avery agreed after a moment. He knew about Broly, so he knew what was going unsaid. "Our LZ's and fleet were hit, but we have Junkrat. He'll have a field day," Avery said, and I spotted the alien mechanic with ease. He moved like a tasmanian devil, a whirlwind of chaos and repairs as he raced through the camp touching upon the damages. Avery gave him the message to repair a ship to make a quick escape and he took off.

Avery gave me a lingering look, "How are our odds?"

I looked up at the Warworld, knowing that Broly was fighting tooth and nail to defeat him. A feeling hit me I hadn't felt in years. I felt useless. I felt so weak that I was forced into the sidelines because my enemy was in a weight class that I couldn't even stand in the same ring as them. I forgot how much I hated this feeling.

It was like I was fresh out of the tank fighting Saibamen again.

I failed to answer, so Avery took that as my answer. Instead, I focused on the drones. Vas took one side, Canda rejoined a team on the ground to cover Junkrat as he worked his magic. There was a grim tension in the air as news that we were retreating spread. I felt looks on me, but I ignored them in favor of doing what I could -- destroying countless drones to give my troops breathing room.

Junkrat might be a speedster, I thought when the call came in that he had repaired a ship big enough to get them all out. I'm guessing he found one that needed minimal repairs. "Fall back. I'll cover the retreat," I shouted, ki gathering in my hands before I unleashed it on the drone swarm. It was like kicking over a hill of fire ants -- they just seemed to keep coming no matter how many I destroyed. The ship lifted off, flying to the palace so people could load up.

The retreat barely began when there was a change in the drone swarm. They began to break off, leaving behind a token distraction force. Countless red drones began to fly up to the Warworld in a stream -- the sudden change in behavior was enough to put me on edge, but when I looked up at the Warworld, I realized what had changed. The surface of the planet was changing, peeling back to reveal an ominous red glow.

"What is…" Vas questioned behind me. I knew the answer. I could feel my soldier's presence behind me, and most of them weren't on the ship.

"Get on the ship. Now," I snapped, my hands clenched into fists as what could only be described as fear gripped my heart. I hadn't been able to destroy Mongul's control device. Not only that but… if Mongul could give the order to his drones to fall back and use the main gun… then that probably meant that Broly was defeated. Possibly dead.

There was a dull ache in my chest. Out of everyone I had ever met, Broly had seemed the most invincible. As if he could never be defeated. I knew that wasn't the case, but I didn't know how else to explain why I had never considered the possibility that Broly might lose to Mongul.

"Prince Tarble-"

"Mongul is going to destroy the planet. Everyone, get on the ship and take off. Now," I cut off Avery. As much as fear gripped my heart, resolve gripped my dear. The full red glow on the planet's surface seemed to grow brighter, telling me that it was charging up. I had no clue how long it would take, but I had to assume that I didn't have long. Each second counted -- my troops needed every second to load up and take off.

There was only one real option. I fly up to the Warworld, then the ship gets swarmed by drones when I took the main gun offline. The ship would be left exposed. Likewise, I had no clue what the main gun would take its shot. What gave my troops the best shot of escaping was…

I took in a deep breath, letting the smoke-filled air fill my lungs as I looked up at the red eye of the Warworld. I might not be much compared to Mongul, but I still had my pride. I was still one of the most powerful people in the Frieza-force, and if there was ever a time to display that fact then it was now.

The unknown time limit made my choice for me. Cupping my hands together in front of me, my ki surged forward. A pale blue ball flickered into life as I poured more and more power into it. Gritting my teeth, I pushed past my exhaustion and put everything that I had into the one attack. The power swelled, growing in size, but the nature of a Galik Gun made it unstable. Electrical discharge tore through the ground below me as the wind stirred.

Dust, rubble, then lesser metals were all blown away from me as I gathered my strength. Electricity carved lines through the ground, burning like plasma that melted the Nth Metal below. My hands shook, trembling with tension and exertion, intent on putting absolutely everything that I had into the attack. The sound was harsh, but I heard the sound of the ship lifting off. It seemed that they rushed the evacuation. Good on them.

I wish I had my scouter to give them their orders, but that ship had sailed. Now it was just making sure they had time to escape the blast radius. All the while, I dug deep, finding every hidden reservoir of strength, and channeled it into the unstable ball of ki. The cackle if electricity grew stronger, the lightning more chaotic. At the same time, the red glow of the Warworld grew.

Then, on some unseen signal, we both unleashed our attacks.

"Final… FLASH!" I shouted, unleashing a powerful torrent of ki to meet the red laser beam that was intent on destroying the planet. It was without a doubt in my mind the most powerful attack I had ever unleashed. That much was proven when the two beams slammed into each other in the sky above -- the planet shook at the clash as purple energy bled off where the two met, each struggling to overcome the other.

Clouds were forced to part, revealing the two unending torrents that met in the middle. Only my attack to start to edge back. I lowered myself from where I hovered as if the energy from the Warworld was pushing me down to the ground. My feet met the Nth Metal ground, which felt like it gave me some leverage. Gritting my teeth, I fought to push the energy beam back, my arms shaking as I poured more and more and more of myself into the attack. The Wrath State was already in Stage Fifteen, and the attack was front-loaded. It couldn't be sustained.

"Ahh…" I groaned at first, feeling something inside of my start to pull taut as I was forced to drag more power from the hopefully endless well of the oozaru. I had managed it for a moment before I hit the ground, and if it were possible to have higher stages, then now was the time to find out.

I pulled at that string, trying to drag more power from the well, but it felt taut. Like a live nerve that sent a jolt of electricity through my body, warning me to not pull at it.

Snarling, I yanked at that string. I was used to ignoring my body's limits and now was no exception. A scream ripped itself from my throat as it felt like the string had snapped, flooding my body with agony for a burst of power. The Final Flash surged with power, pushing back the laser beam enough to reclaim lost ground and then some. Thinks of the ground started to tear away while some were beginning to melt from the heat.

With the string broken, power flooded me like a dam. It tore through me like a physical force -- I felt blood drip from my nose, but none of that mattered, I was able to push the laser beam back. And as I poured more and more power into the attack, it was the Warworld that began to falter.

Until, without any warning, it didn't. My attack stalled, the Warworld meeting it evenly before it started to push back-

"AHHHHHH!" I screamed, trying to push it back but I felt the momentum fall against me. My attack wasn't meant to be sustained, much less for half a minute. You can only give everything that you had for so long before you ran out. I fought it tooth and nail, trying to reclaim my progress. I was almost there. So very close. I…

He… Mongul killed Broly. The fact that this was happening meant that Broly was dead. My friend was dead. Killed by a foe I couldn't hope to defeat. Not as I was. Not yet. But… but, at the very least, I would fuck up his planet.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, turning the rage into power. The urge to destroy, something I kept such a tight grip on since I mastered the Wrath State, I let go of it. Rage and hate flooded my mind, dominating every thought. My attack surged once again and the scales had been tipped. This time there was no room for recovery. My Final Flash slammed into the Warworld with a spectacular explosion that lit up the sky.

I wanted to watch my handiwork, but I couldn't. As soon as I let go of the attack as parts of the Warworld above exploded… I felt something was wrong. I dropped to my hands and knees, blood dripping from my nose like a faucet while my vision swam and darkened at the edges. I had pushed myself beyond my limits before, so very often, but something was different this time.

Inside, I felt cold. Empty. Like I broke something I shouldn't have broken. I couldn't tell what was wrong other than that. My chest heaved for breath while my heart hammered at my ribs. Sweat dripped from me as I tried to gather myself, but it took everything I had left to just to remain conscious. I couldn't even bring myself to look up when parts of the Warworld fell to the ground.

Swallowing thickly, I flipped a hand to make a Medicine Ball, but… I didn't know how to describe it. My ki, which always so readily obeyed my commands, felt like it had been replaced with sludge. Yet, there were only fumes where there should be an ocean.

I… I think I made a mistake…

It was worth it though, I thought savagely to myself when I felt a powerful presence enter my range. It was Mongul. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't managed to kill him with the blast but I would have to settle for ruining his day. It was difficult to tell with the sounds of chaos around me, but I heard footsteps. As they neared, I looked up defiantly-

I blinked slowly, trying to clear the haze in my vision. "Vegeta?" I questioned, looking up at either my father or older brother. Because either father had shaved his goatee, or Vegeta had his second growth spurt, making him into an adult. Given how similar they looked, it could be either one.

Vegeta looked down at me with a severe expression on his face. "This is an unexpected sight, Tarble," Vegeta said, and I still couldn't tell if he was my brother or my father. Based on his powerful presence, I'm guessing that he was my brother. The growth spurt made him a lot stronger. I could feel it. "You had better not have defeated the enemy. I didn't come all of this way for nothing."

"I… scouter…" My tongue felt funny. Like it was too big in my mouth, but also kinda numb. My words came out slurred because of it, making Vegeta frown deeply as he took off his scouter. That was good. "Broly… up there. He's…" I couldn't finish the sentence.

"What's wrong with you!" Vegeta demanded to know, kneeling next to me. His dark eyes were narrowed into a glare while the rest of his face was set into a fierce scowl. It didn't match his tone though. Despite it all, despite being ignored by him for seven long years… it was good to see him again.

I shook my head, "I don't… I don't know," I answered. I was getting some feeling back in my tongue, but everything else just felt wrong. I didn't have time for this. Too much was at stake. If I was still alive, then I could fight. And if I couldn't, then I would die. That's how things have always been and they would not change now.

Vegeta had the same thought because he formed a Medicine Ball, and I felt the change almost instantly. If I had to describe it… I had broken out of a mold, so I was spilling everywhere. The Medicine Ball was pushing the spillage back into the mold so it felt like I fit in my own body again.

"Thanks," I stifled a groan as I stood up. I would have to do a serious medical scan when this was done, but for now, I had another problem. "Mongul could still be alive. Broly was fighting him to buy time for the troops to retreat. He could still be alive… He can beat Mongul. We-"

That plan felt wrong. Familiar… I had tried it, hadn't I? It didn't work for me, but maybe with the two of us…?

Vegeta looked up at the Warworld, prompting me to do the same. Nearly a fourth of it had been destroyed and pieces were raining down onto the planet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vegeta smirk.

"There will be no need for that softhearted clown. Mongul is mine," Vegeta decided. That part of him, I hadn't missed that much. Before I could so much as get a word in, Vegeta flew off in a blur towards the Warworld. I watched him go for a moment before I glanced at the Medicine Ball. It's healing light washed over me, and each second I spent under its light, I felt more myself.

Yet, that feeling of…

Again, I tried to form a Medicine Ball, but outside of a flicker of ki, there was nothing. It wasn't obeying my commands. Was it because I was just running on fumes? It was possible, but… I had felt something break inside of me. That string had snapped. I had no clue what it was, but given the circumstances, it had to be bad.

Even still, as I wiped blood off of my chin, I looked at the Warworld above. Vegeta was going to find that Mongul was too much for him. Broly… I could only hope that Broly was still alive. Given the circumstances, it didn't seem likely. And I…

I didn't want to lose Vegeta.

My body didn't even have the strength to scream at me to stay down, but when I pushed myself onto my feet, I found there was a surprising amount of strength left in my limbs. They felt funny like they belonged to someone else, but I managed to walk. Flying… that took ki, which I seemed to be out of. Or I couldn't control it for some reason. I don't know.

"Tarble," I heard a voice call out to me. Looking over my shoulder, I blinked a few times. Shayera was behind me, but that didn't make any sense.

"Did the evac work?" I asked, a spike of worry entering my chest as I took a step forward. But the length of my leg felt wrong. I didn't feel any taller than I was, and upon further inspection, I didn't seem to be any taller, but I still stumbled a step and nearly fell face-first into a burrow filled with molten Nth Metal.

Shayera appeared next to me, hovering around me with wide eyes like she couldn't believe I was in the shape that I was in. "It did. Everyone got off."

"Then why are you here?" I asked Shayera, gather myself. The Medicine Ball that Vegeta left behind had winked out of existence, unfortunately. I… I could only hope that didn't mean he was dead.

And that… out of everything, that's what I hated the most. I wasn't a person that crossed my fingers and hoped that something would happen. I would make them happen with my own two hands. I didn't want to have to hope that Vegeta and Broly were still alive. I wanted to make sure that they lived and fight to make sure that they continued to live. Hope… wasn't who I was.

"I…" Shayera hesitated to answer. Which was an answer in itself.

"It's about Broly, isn't it?" I hazarded a guess. Shayera stiffened, and I let out a breath. "Wasn't hard to figure out. You acted off every time he was mentioned," I told her, my gaze going to my hands. My ki still wouldn't obey me. I… I was really getting worried that I had… broken it, or something.

Shayera hesitated to answer before she offered a small nod. "I joined you to save him. Broly saved my life in the invasion of Thangar. I… I saw how the battlefield killed him. I… had to do something."

I swallowed a laugh, "That sounds like Broly," I remarked. His aversion to killing was easy to spot, but I hadn't known he was saving lives of the enemy. Her motivation was a little vague, but now wasn't the time for twenty questions. "He's still on the Warworld. Hopefully. I… I can't fly. I need you to take me there," I told her. Shayera looked conflicted, which was why I couldn't trust her to just pass along a message. That, and I wasn't sure if Vegeta would listen to anyone but me. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would even listen to me.

"Are you sure?" Shayera questioned. To that, I looked at the molten Nth Metal. She had just confessed to having ulterior motives. Maybe she didn't mean any harm, but maybe she did. I couldn't trust her. I just had to get back on the Warworld.

To that, I answered by putting my hands into the molten metal. My hands were clenched into fists -- flesh blistered and was cooked, the properties of ignoring durability applied even in a nod solid state. That was fine. Pain was something that I was used to.

Shayera gasped at the sight as I pulled my hands out, letting the molten metal drip down my wrists. When it cooled, a rough outline of my fists was shaped into the metal. I wouldn't be able to use any ki attacks, but I probably couldn't do that anyway.

Pushing myself back into my feet, I stood tall despite my injuries. Meeting Shayera's gaze, I nodded, "I'm sure."

She looked like she wanted to argue that point. Maybe she would be right to. Maybe the only thing I would accomplish with this was my death. That didn't matter right now. I had to get into the Warworld. Even if it was only a support role, I had to do something. And she was my ticket back to the battleground.

Regardless of her doubts, Shayera nodded before she reached out. Wrapping a hand around my waist, she pulled me close before her wings fanned out before she jumped up to soar through the air. There, I found that despite what my body felt, I was still very much the same size. Her wings flapped powerfully, letting us sail upwards. It was slow compared to my speed, but in a few minutes, we reached the edge of the atmosphere. Then we reached the Warworld.

Up close, it was easy to tell just how much damage my attack had done to the Warworld. Despite it all, a small grin found itself on my face as we entered a blasted out hallway back on the Warworld.

It would seem, at long last, I was a planet buster.

I pushed the thought to the side and reached out with my ki sense. There, I found several powerful presences. One it was easy to identify as Mongul, but there were two others. Vegeta and Broly. They were still alive. Swallowing thickly, I guided Shayera through the halls, ignoring blue drones that were already repairing the damage. Our approach was hardly anything but secretive as Shayera blasted through hallways, and doors, doing whatever it took to get to Broly. And her desire did her credit.

Before long, Shayera knocked down the final door standing between us and the others. It felt like it was at the center of the planet -- a wide-open room that was bigger than a stadium. Inside was Mongul, who stood across from Vegeta. And, off to the side, in a forcefield Ed cage, was Broly.

Mongul turned to look at me as Shayera let me go. The corners of his lips quirked upwards at the sight of me. "You've made me a liar, Prince Tarble. I told Broly that you were dead." His red eyes seemed to glow as his eyes narrowed, "Allow me to remedy that before he wakes up."

...

A reminder: I'm taking off from 11th to 18th. There won't be updates during that time, but the weekly schedule will resume on the 19th with a chapter of Power Corrupts.