Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Touketsu ❯ War ( Chapter 27 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

War

The white, black haired demon bounded down the gray streets of West City in a rage, half of the derelict metropolis now dead from the Kagemazoku's touch. Touketsu's thinking had completely shifted the moment he embraced his perverse beliefs. Trunks had instantly become a living representation of the woman's deceit, and Vegeta's attachment to the boy lost any influence over Touketsu's mind. When Goten had twice intervened on his friend's behalf, Touketsu redirected all his rage towards Goku's youngest. That young face which he only found mildly annoying before, he suddenly wanted to raze from existence. Now the warriors from the Lookout were here, just as Frieza had predicted. The fires of hatred stoked, only one thought was running through his rabid mind:

Kill them all.

The five warriors all turned to face the demon prince charging towards them on all fours like a beast. In that exact moment, they all accepted the truth: Vegeta was again an enemy. Piccolo glanced to the two dumbfounded boys. He could tell right then and there that Trunks's attachment to his father would hamper his ability to fight, and Goten was highly influenced by his best friend. He grabbed them both and flew them out of harm's way.

Krillin, 18, Gohan, and Tien all fired their ki at Touketsu. He serpentined between the blasts, the shadow casting over his body. The dark ki pulsed throughout the markings on his face and arms, and the stone in his chest burned with ultraviolet light. The fighters flew at the advancing enemy, taking the fight away from Capsule Corp. and Bulma.

Touketsu's body burst into heavy blue and purple flame, and both parties were immediately engaged as they traded and deflected blows. Refraining from using energy attacks as they continued to draw the fight away from Capsule Corp. headquarters, the fighters relied on hand-to-hand combat. Every strike the fighters successfully landed however only seemed to stoke the fires of the demon's berserker rage.

Tien flew at the prince from behind and Touketsu cracked him in the face with his whip-like tail as 18 charged in. Touketsu spun around to deliver a backhanded punch when the android blocked it. Grabbing and twisting his now captured arm, 18 rained down punches into his face with the speed of a jackhammer. Enraged now, the demon swung his captured arm forward as Krillin rushed in to capitalize, launching 18 straight into her oncoming husband as the fight continued. Faster and faster Touketsu moved, his movements becoming less animal and more refined as though undergoing a hyper-evolution.

The quick attacks from the four combatants were triggering something within him. Without being aware he began to mirror his opponents, falling into a rhythm as though moving to the beat of a war drum. After every blow endured when his defenses were breached, with every deflection, every strike and counter strike, his attacks became more honed and disciplined. Krillin, 18, Tien, and Gohan all noticed with growing concern that they seemed to be awaking something that had lain dormant: Vegeta's signature fighting style was at last emerging.

Touketsu landed an uppercut to Gohan's jaw, sending him sailing back and upward before delivering a spinning hook kick to Tien. He leapt to the side, dodging Krillin as the former monk drove his foot into the pavement from his miss. Touketsu delivered a double-axe handle over Krillin's head as 18 flew at him from the front. He kicked her in the face to send her straight into the air, before whirling around to block a swing from a recovered Gohan. The horned demon retaliated, lashing again and again with clawed kicks and strikes wreathed with dripping fire.

Gohan flared his aura, barely believing that he was on the defensive at Super Saiyan 2. The power Vegeta wielded however was unlike anything he or the other fighters had encountered before; whenever they had breached his defenses or endured a blow, they could feel something insidious and suffocatingly oppressive within the dripping flames of his aura. Dark and infectious, the bleeding energy was like a blight. With every strike that the demon prince landed, whether or not it had been blocked, Gohan felt himself losing his focus a little more. His movements were becoming more desperate, sloppy…angry.

Volatile.

Gohan went on the offense, retaliating and meeting Touketsu blow for blow. The demon delivered a spinning back kick which Gohan caught before driving an elbow straight into his thigh. With a scream of rage, Touketsu kicked out with his captured foot, sending a wave of dark energy traveling through his leg. Gohan was blasted off as though he were struck by lightning, sailing away to crash through the wall of a building.

Against a sky gray with cloud cover, a tense Piccolo watched the battle unfold from his perch on top of a building, the two boys grasped firmly by the backs of their collars. He was one of the stronger fighters of their small group; he couldn't afford to stand on the sidelines. He had to get in there…

Gohan sat up painfully, blood running down his face. His Super Saiyan transformation had temporarily dropped down to 1, but he shook it off; he wasn't about to waste any senzu beans when they still had Frieza to deal with. Gohan could feel his powerful energy rebounding within, but like the building pressure of a volcano it was nonetheless briefly buried out of reach. Seething, he locked eyes with the dark prince, flashbacks of their very first encounter running through his head. Gohan forced himself to stand as the demon rushed forward.

"Tri beam!"

Touketsu faltered, his head whipping up to look in the direction of the shouted command; Tien's attack was rocketing down towards him. The demon prince only just managed to cross his arms over his face when the blast connected, dissipating the shadow and aura around his body and sending him tumbling a mile down the street.

Piccolo's eyes widened: an opening.

"Dad!" Trunks cried, reactively pulling forward in Piccolo's grip.

"Trunks, No!" Piccolo barked as he jerked the boy back. "You two are staying out of this. "Tien!" he shouted, capturing the triclops's attention. "I'm going in. Keep these two away!" Tien flew like a shot to them, grabbing hold of the boys while Piccolo flew down towards Touketsu. The Namekian could hear Trunks call desperately after him: "Piccolo, please don't hurt him!"

Piccolo's features tightened with regret. I'm sorry, Trunks.

The pallid demon was groggily getting back up to his feet when a pair of strong green arms suddenly hooked beneath his own. Piccolo held the immobilized prince in front of him. "Hit him, Gohan!" he shouted.

Gohan had recovered and was now hovering in the air, his power kept at Super Saiyan 1. …With pleasure, a dark voice whispered from deep within. He drew back his cupped hands, his eyes narrowing. "Kaaaaaa…"

Still dazed, Touketsu looked up.

"Meeeeeeh…"

Piccolo flared his ki and braced himself. Long ago, before he had fused with Kami and Nail, this blast could have killed him. Now however it was nothing he couldn't endure so long as he was prepared.

"Haaaaaa…."

Very alarmed now, Touketsu began to struggle in Piccolo's grip to no avail. Crying out in frustration, he lashed his tail out to wrap tightly around Piccolo's left leg as he continued to grapple with the Namekian, trying to pull him off balance.

"Meeeeeh"

"Get OFF me you bast-"

…HAAAAAAA!"

Touketsu's head snapped up, eyes widening to see the energy wave coming at him. With a scream of desperate fury his dark energy pulsed, and he twisted Piccolo's trapped leg right off in a spray of purple blood. Crying out in surprise and pain, Piccolo lost both his balance and his grip on Touketsu. Touketsu planted his feet into the ground and flung Piccolo forwards off his back before leaping out of the way. The spiraling column of energy blazed past Toukestu and Piccolo, tearing through the abandoned buildings in its wake with a deafening roar before exploding.

Touketsu scrambled up when he felt the air behind him shift. His expression darkened, and the shadow quickly pulsed over his body before disappearing, leaving him wreathed in his dripping aura. Without looking he delivered a back roundhouse kick that caught Gohan in the face and sent him flying to Touketsu's right into another building.

Hovering in the air, Krillin attacked. "Kamehameha!" Krillin shouted to release the blast at the demon below. Touketsu quickly dodged it, the blast detonating a building behind him in an explosion of fire and turning several transmuted ones into vapor. The former monk threw blast after blast, the demon prince dodging every one. Finally Krillin blasted down to him and snapped a roundhouse kick aimed at his head. Touketsu threw up an arm and blocked it, then blocked the next blow aimed at his ribs.

They picked up speed. Each and every blow that Krillin attempted was blocked, much to the former monk's growing frustration, and he could feel Touketsu's strange ki begin to eat away at the protective barrier of his own aura like acid. His focus was becoming unhinged with every failed attempt to breach through the demon's defenses, and an uncharacteristic rage began to grow within. Touketsu locked eyes with him, noticing that his opponent was beginning to lose his cool. He cracked a smirk.

Krillin's eyes flared. As a monk he had been taught to avoid violence and preserve life. His beliefs had been put to the ultimate test when he met Vegeta. He had held a sword to the injured alien's throat, and there was no hesitation when he drew the weapon back.

With a furious roar, Krillin's white aura exploded around him. Touketsu's amused smirk faltered and Krillin's fist connected with his face. His head snapped from one side to the other as Krillin pummeled him again and again in a complete rage. Touketsu's skin began to darken, and the energy pulsed throughout his body. Eyes burning and fangs bared, Touketsu threw up his right hand and caught a punch aimed at his face. With a vengeful snarl he crushed Krillin's hand while the former monk howled in pain. Touketsu straightened, lifting his opponent off the ground to dangle in front of him.

"You wish to pick up where we left off at that tower?" Touksetsu demanded breathlessly. His red eyes grew cold, and his gray skin darkened to onyx as his voice dropped. "I don't think so. You bore me." Touketsu's aura plunged into a frigid blue, and Krillin gasped as he instantly felt his energy being sucked away, his trapped fist growing black as the injuries Touketsu had sustained healed. With a snarl and an explosion of hot ultraviolet flames, Touketsu flung Krillin to the side as he simultaneously channeled the darkness into his ki blade.

Dazed, Krillin rolled onto his side. His eyes widened in alarm to see the ghost-white, fire-drenched demon leaping at him with a roar, the dark blade of energy raised over his head. Krillin quickly got to his feet and leapt back as the blade struck the ground. Weakened and unable to even fly, Krillin crossed his arms over his face as he fell back.

Touketsu advanced and slashed again and again, and Krillin couldn't completely evade the next strike. The blade sliced through Krillin's forearms straight to the bone; the dripping black energy, wreathed in smoldering flames, crawled and ate across the terrible wounds. With a cry of pain he fell onto his back, and the next thing he knew the ki blade was pointed at his throat. The heavy, despotic energy dripped off the weapon and onto his neck, burning and blackening the flesh. Wincing in pain, he looked up helplessly at the twisted prince standing over him.

"Well, well. Now this seems awfully familiar to me," he chuckled. His smirk dropped. "Turnabout's fair play." He raised the blade over his head when 18 barreled into him.

Touketsu lost hold of his weapon. Recovering, he began trading blindingly fast blows with the android. Before the shadow could manifest however she broke through his offensive, delivering a stomp kick to his midsection that sent him soaring through the air. She phased behind him and nailed him in the back with a knee before phasing in front of him to kick him straight in the jaw. Touketsu backflipped mid-air and landed to the ground before immediately charging back towards the blonde cyborg. Completely enraged now, his skin darkened as the energy strummed and flared within, and his body erupted with the dripping indigo aura.

They immediately re-engaged, evenly matched as they traded and deflected blows. Touketsu's expression began to darken along with his body, his aura turning cold. His hands bursting into dripping blue fire, he struck at the woman. Android 18 flinched as the freezing flames burned across her skin; she was on the defensive now, but she was able to endure his attacks with a resiliency that the other fighters simply didn't have.

She threw her hand out to blast him and gain some distance when he caught it. Expressionless, he began to siphon her energy. As his wounds healed and his energy was restored, a gleaming, wolfish grin cracked through a face dark as night. He faltered however when her ice blue eyes held no fear.

She met his perturbed gaze and cooly tucked an errant strand of blonde hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Feel better?" she quipped. Taking advantage of his bewilderment she blasted him point blank in the stomach.

Touketsu hadn't counted on the cyborg's unlimited power source, her energy level unaffected by his vampiric attack. He went flying away from her, his body fading back to white. He tumbled head over heals through the abandoned, burning streets, carving a deep trench before rolling to a stop face down. Pushing himself up on his hands and knees, he lifted his head, his eyes burning with unquenchable hatred. The shadow crept over him, and the ultraviolet energy strobed throughout his markings at lightning speed before infusing the stone in his chest. He burst into flames.

"I'LL FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD!"

With an ear-splitting crack of his tail against the destroyed asphalt, he launched himself at the android. He was in her face before even she could react, taken off guard by the unbelievable increase in his speed. She managed to land several bone jarring strikes to his face and midsection that he didn't even react to, his burning eyes trained solely on hers. He began landing strike after strike in quick succession, driving her back. He landed an upper cut that sent her straight into the air, and he leapt up after her. Spinning in a hurricane of blue and purple fire, he snapped his whip-like tail into her face and sent her crashing down into the wall of a building.

On her back, 18 pulled herself up into a sitting position and gasped as her pain sensors fired off. Her body was now suffering some severe damage. With some effort, she stood up and stumbled forward, bracing her hands on either side of the jagged hole she had been sent through. She stiffened in surprise when she felt the tip of a claw under her chin. Touketsu tilted her head back as he studied her, a fanged smirk on his shadow-cast face.

"Hm. You certainly are a pretty one. Just what kind of history did we have, I wonder?" he mused before his smirk faded and his face grew cold. "It must have been as poisonous as the one with that other BITCH!" He fisted a handful of her hair and hauled her out, throwing her stumbling back out into the burning streets.

18 regained her footing only to meet the back of his fist, his strike sending her pinwheeling to his right to land on her knees. She was just pulling herself up again when she looked over her shoulder to see Touketsu leaping towards her faster than even her computer-enhanced reflexes could react. He snapped his leg into her upper arm, shattering it instantly.

She fell back to her knees with a cry of pain, clutching her injured arm. He stood behind her chuckling morbidly, his tail whipping behind him as the darkness raced up his arm to manifest the ki blade. He raised the sword over his head.

Cradling his dead, blackened hand, A severely weakened Krillin had rounded the corner to see his injured wife kneeling on the street. They locked eyes. "18…No!"

In that moment, 18 thought only of Krillin and their little girl, still at the tower without either of her parents. "Krillin-" Her softly spoken word was cut off as the blade was brought down right over her head, cleaving her in half. Instantly her body was ripped apart and consumed by black fire. Nothing was left.

Krillin gaped in disbelief, tears welling up in his eyes. "18…," he croaked. "18!" He flew at the demon.

Touketsu slashed the blade at the oncoming fighter, catching him from his right clavicle diagonally down through his chest. Krillin went flying off in the direction of the strike and tumbled to the ground before rolling to a stop on his back. The blackened fires were eating at the grievous injury, and he knew he wouldn't last long. Touketsu lazily walked up to him.

"Time to pick up where we left off." He drawled, smirking evilly. "Before we conclude our business however I must thank you, for you taught me a valuable lesson." He raised the blade over his head. "Attachments are for the weak." Krillin closed his eyes as the blade was brought down, and in a blaze of dark fire he was gone. Touketsu straightened and chuckled softly in satisfaction.

"Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo shouted. Touketsu's eyes widened and he whirled around to look skyward. Rather than regenerating his leg, the injured Namek instead chose to divert as much energy as he could into his signature attack. Reacting purely for survival, Touketsu's blade instantly withdrew back into his right hand, casting his body in shadow as he crossed his arms in front of him.

The attack hit him dead on, driving Touketsu back with the force of the impact. Touketsu flared his dripping ki as he pushed back against the attack that threatened to consume him. Gritting his teeth, his tense features suddenly grew dark with cold resolve. In the next moment, his darkened skin became as flat and black as a silhouette, only his burning crimson eyes visible as his aura retracted into a dim corona.

Piccolo's powerful energy wave disappeared into the demon prince as though it had gone down a black hole. The captured energy became one with his own, the enhanced power now strobing throughout the markings on his darkened form. The stone in his chest lit up like a dark star, a pulsing ultraviolet wreathed in a ring of gold.

Touketsu looked up at the Namek and thought only of retaliating in kind. He flung out his right palm in a gesture that was foreign to him but all too familiar to the Namekian. On instinct, he shouted a command:

"KUROKEI!"

The darkness ripped from his body and burst from his hand, a spinning, growing black sphere crackling with ultraviolet and gold energy. It tore through the air and hit the Namek dead-on, trapping him within the sphere. Piccolo howled in agony as he felt his body being crushed. The crackling ki energy around the fast rotating sphere of blackness developed into an accretion, and surrounding objects began being pulled in to join it as the disk deformed over the top of the ever shrinking dark orb.

It quickly contracted; hidden within its darkness, Piccolo's body crumpled and collapsed in on itself as though crushed by a giant pair of hands. The whirling energy surrounding it was sucked in when the point of darkness snapped back to disappear. A smokey, warped blister in the atmosphere, crackling with residual energy, was all that remained.

Momentarily stunned by the sudden conjuring of the projectile, Touketsu grinned a predator's grin.

Gohan, now hovering in the air not far away, gaped in horror. "Piccolo," he whispered. "PICCOLO!" Without another thought, he shot down towards Touketsu as he powered up to Super Saiyan 2. "You BASTARD!" He screamed, impulsively throwing out a ki blast.

Touketsu whipped around to face his opponent, the shadow casting over him. Emboldened by his own show of power and now flooded with confidence, he flung out his hand with an insane grin. "Kurokei!"

The projectile swallowed Gohan's, and the young fighter was instantly dragged into the circling, gravitational pull of the implosion. He strained against its forces before powering up with a cry of rage. Breaking free, he was released with such force that he momentarily lost control as he sailed through the air. His head suddenly snapped back from a vicious uppercut before a clawed spin-kick tore into his side and sent him tumbling to the asphalt below.

Gohan quickly got back up, the firelight reflecting in his wild eyes as the demon's toxic, ki-laced attacks continued to affect his spirit. Touketsu landed on his feet across from him, the demon's body darkening as the energy pulsed within. He threw out his hand and fired.

Gohan just barely leapt out of the way as Touketsu fired one blast after the other, his body now alternating rapidly between light and dark. He picked up speed, his throaty chuckle of amusement heightening into a deranged cackle as he continued his barrage of relentless and reckless attacks. Vehicles, trees, and buildings all collapsed in on themselves to disappear into unseen voids, the fires of battle whirling in cyclones to be pulled in with them. Touketsu barely seemed to be paying attention to Gohan now; he was simply indulging in the delicious sensation of wanton destruction.

Gohan escaped to the air. Now completely drunk on power, Touketsu threw two hands out to unleash a hail of the matter swallowing projectiles. Laughing manically as he fired at a machine gun rate, the demon's body flashed insanely from light to dark as though he was standing under a strobe light. The projectiles followed Gohan throughout the sky in an arc like an insatiable black dragon, Touketsu laughing the entire time.

"What's the matter, Super Saiyan? Afraid of the dark?" He crowed.

"NO! Uncle Vegeta, don't hurt Gohan!" Goten shouted as he powered up to Super Saiyan. He launched out of the horrified Tien's grasp and flew down to Touketsu.

"Goten, no! Get back here!" Tien called after him as he tightened his hold on Trunks. Shellshocked, Trunks was still torn with indecision as he watched his best friend head towards danger.

Goten nailed a side kick to Touketsu's lower back and sent him flying, effectively putting an end to the onslaught. On his hands and knees as the shadow manifested, Touketsu twisted around to throw a deadly projectile at the boy when he was hit by a ki blast from above. He was sent rolling some distance away before Gohan instantly straddled the now pale demon, raining down blow after blow. Touketsu's tail reached up from behind and wrapped tightly around Gohan's throat. The shadow pulsed once and the white demon burst into dripping flame as he flung Gohan off him. Both got up and rushed each other at the same time, trading blows in a flurry of kicks and punches.

A grim smile crept across Touketsu's face as he met Gohan blow for blow, and he cackled in amusement. "First time I've seen you this riled up, boy! Hard to believe that you're that soft-hearted clown's son." Touketsu blocked a blow aimed for his temple and struck Gohan in the chest, knocking him off his feet. "It's the most miraculous thing - your eyes change. They're certainly not your father's eyes right now," he noted with intrigue even as Gohan immediately performed a nip-up and rushed to re-engage. Blocking and countering, Touketsu continued to dig. "There is a hardness there that I recognize very well. You remind me of another young man I've seen. Ha ha! Hell, I could have mistaken you two for brothers!" he laughed.

Gohan snarled angrily as he blocked and parried, furiously trying to get through the other's defenses. He was experiencing a rage that hadn't been present since the Cell Games. The long dead hatred for the man across from him had clambered out of its grave, and Gohan was right back to the first time he fought Vegeta. The prince had been a relentless, mocking brute and a bully: a full-grown, seasoned warrior beating up on a 5 year old boy that had never seen battle, a boy that had just watched his mentor sacrifice his life for him. With a roar Gohan snapped a roundhouse kick only for it to be blocked.

"According to that purple haired kid I taught him a few things. I must have taught you a few things as well," Touketsu continued as they fought. "I see my influence reflected back in your eyes, boy." Touketsu pushed. "We've fought before, haven't we?"

"SHUT UP!" Gohan screamed, his wrath spiraling out of control.

"Ha ha ha! It's true, isn't it? It was I who hardened your heart and mind. I had a hand in shaping you into the warrior you are. I certainly made an excellent teacher!" he laughed.

Screaming in blind fury, Gohan at last broke through Touketsu's defenses. He struck him with a right hook followed by a left uppercut before punching him in the stomach. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Touketsu doubled over and Gohan struck with a ki-laced double-axe handle directly over the back of his neck, sending him straight to the ground.

Touketsu was barely raising himself on shaky arms when he was kicked hard in the face and sent stumbling back up to his feet. Gohan delivered a flying kick to his solar plexus that sent him soaring a mile away before tumbling to a stop on his back. The dark prince drew himself up, barely straightening when Gohan appeared in front of him. Touketsu weakly blocked a knee from his right aimed at his ribs, but he couldn't protect himself from being struck in the temple by a roundhouse from his left. With a cry of pain he was sent soaring, his aura disappearing. He tumbled to the ground 20 feet away to land face down on the pavement.

Never slowing down, Gohan charged up and kicked the prone prince hard in the ribs, sending him rolling several times before coming to a stop on his back. Possessed with an insatiable rage, Gohan leapt up and stomped down hard on Touketsu's stomach, sending blood flying up out of the other's mouth. Gohan stomped down again in pure maliciousness, abject hatred twisting his features.

Blood trickling from his mouth, the pale demon weakly grasped the booted foot that pinned him down. Touketsu squinted up as Gohan charged a powerful ki blast and aimed at his face.

"Die," Gohan hissed. "I want you to DIE!"

"DON'T HURT MY DAD!" In a blur Trunks plowed into Gohan, knocking him off. Those words sliced through the miasma of hatred that had clouded Gohan's mind as they tumbled to the ground, Trunks on top of Gohan.

Gohan looked up into the tear-filled eyes of the 8 year old looking down at him, and he immediately saw himself: a boy who loved his father and mentor, a boy left bereft by his absence. As though awaking from a fever dream he completely snapped out of it. He hadn't simply been trying to stop an enemy; within him there had been a perverse desire to inflict unimaginable pain upon his opponent. Gohan's heart filled with sickening remorse. He tried to form words, appalled at where his mind had been. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how it happened…

"Trunks…I-"

"Trunks!" Tien shouted as he rocketed downwards from his perch. Like Goten, the powerful little boy had gone Super and wormed out of his grasp. Tien had immediately seen Touketsu stirring, and he threw out a hand to blast him.

Touketsu was groggily sitting up, wiping the blood from his mouth when his head snapped in the direction of the voice. With a snarl he threw out his hand.

In the next instant, Tien's outstretched arm crumpled and disappeared from existence, dark energy crackling and lacing up and down the stump of his arm. He screamed in surprise and horror just as Touketsu leapt up from the ground to jettison towards him. With one swipe of a fiery, clawed hand, the ghost-white demon decapitated the triclops and abruptly silenced his screams.

Touketsu landed to the ground as Tien's headless body fell before him with a thud. "That third eye didn't help him see that coming," Touketsu chuckled to himself. He turned to Trunks and Gohan as they scrambled back to their feet some distance behind him.

Touketsu was suddenly in front of them. "Looks like you're good for something after all, BOY!" He shouted as he callously backhanded Trunks in the face, sending him flying to his right and knocking him out cold.

Touketsu snapped his head in Gohan's direction, his expression suddenly cold. His skin plunged into jet black, and his body burst into dripping blue fires as a deluge of the energy erupting from his hands. Gohan's eyes widened as they immediately re-engaged. Touketsu was now completely on the offensive, his teasing attitude gone.

"Trunks!" Goten cried. Too frightened by both Touketsu and his older brother's rabid behavior, the little boy had been rooted to the spot. He was finally spurred into action when he saw his best friend struck, and he flew over to him. "Trunks, get up!" Trunks wasn't responding, and Goten urgently pulled him to cover.

Gohan was beginning to lose ground. Every strike that managed to make it through his defenses weakened him further, the icy fire eating at the wounds left behind by the taloned kicks and clawed strikes. He dropped back down to Super Saiyan 1 as he felt his energy draining. His golden aura took on a brassy hue. His hair began to flicker black. Touketsu's very energy was nullifying his own.

"Vegeta - please stop this. Don't lose yourself! Think about your son!"

Stone faced, Touketsu threw out a fist for a punch when Gohan managed to catch it, quickly followed by the other. Ignoring the freezing fire, the half-Saiyan pulled him down and drove a knee into his chin in desperation. Touketsu's head snapped back, but he immediately brought his horned crown down viciously over Gohan's forehead, stunning him. Touketsu interlaced their fingers and dug his claws into the backs of Gohan's hands.

Gohan gasped as the icy fire blackened his hands, the rest of his skin quickly growing ashen as his energy was sucked away. The blackness crawled up his arms to spread to his chest, and Gohan's eyes began to roll back into his head as the air left his lungs. Now healed, Touketsu nonetheless maintained his grip as he continued to drain Gohan. The teen attempted to raise his ki in effort to free himself, but the energy was simply sucked away as the darkness continued to creep all the way up his neck. He lost hold of his Super Saiyan transformation. The stolen energy strummed throughout the markings on Touketsu's face and arms, the gold light igniting the stone in his chest. Gohan weakly locked eyes with Touketsu.

When he was a boy this man was a terrifying enemy. Gradually, over the years, he had changed; they had become reluctant allies on Namek. Vegeta had saved him from Frieza. He had fought alongside them against the Androids. Gohan himself had saved Vegeta from Cell, and then the prince had come out of nowhere to lend him aid at a critical moment when Cell had almost completely overcome him. He had been the last full blooded Saiyan alive, the only connection Gohan had to an extinct culture after his father died. They had achieved an understanding of each other. With the friendship between his kid brother and Trunks, Vegeta had become family to them. He had come so far. How could it be that they were here again? How had it come to this?

"Vegeta," his voice pleading. "Don't go back to this. Don't do this. This isn't you anymore."

Touketsu regarded him coldly. The gold light that underlit his dark features dwindled to an icy blue as the energy was claimed. "You don't know who I am."

Touketsu was struck in the side by a ki blast and he released his grip on Gohan. Gohan collapsed, severely weakened but alive. Touketsu turned his attention to his attacker. It was Goten. Shaking and with tears in his eyes, the little Super Saiyan was gathering energy as quickly as he could for a Kamehameha. His body still completely unresponsive and his hands blackened, curled claws, Gohan couldn't even grasp the pouch of senzu beans tucked into his gi. He could only look on helplessly as his little brother took on the monster alone.

"Uncle Vegeta," Goten whimpered as he gathered energy. "Please stop-"

Touketsu snarled. "KUROKEI!" He threw out a massive blast, fueled by Gohan's stolen energy.

Goten screamed in terror. Frightened, he hastily deployed his attack to meet dead on with Touketsu's. It was quickly being overwhelmed by the larger attack, and the boy tried in vain to hold his ground.

"Hang on, Goten!" Suddenly Trunks was at his side. He had finally regained consciousness only to see his best friend staring death down in the face. "GALLIC GUN!" he cried. Both joined their attacks, and a stalemate ensued.

"Raise your power, Goten!" Trunks cried.

"I, I can't! It's too hard!"

"Push through! The harder it is and the more you want to stop is when you have to keep going! You can do it, Goten! DO IT!" With a roar Trunks pushed his energy as far as he ever had, a current of voltage briefly snapping up and down his body. Encouraged, Goten cried out as he raised his power. Their attacks began to push back on Touketsu's.

Then, in a blinding flash all three attacks were nullified.

Touketsu stumbled back, his forearm lowering after having shielded his eyes. Incensed, he geared up for another attack when a shrill voice cut through the air.

"TOUKETSU!"