With the results of her attack revealing itself from underneath the veil of dust, Hasky, lowering her weapon, gave a loud gasp of ecstasy, at the same time a shade of red formed across her cheeks. She then brought her treasured sword close to her and pressed her cheek against its warm surface. "Oh… that was magnificent. Simply magnificent. The power that this sword gave off, the tingle that ran up my spine when it unleashed its fury… the sensation… is almost indescribable." When her eyes finally landed on the smoking pit that was her battlefield, she saw for herself exactly what'd happened to the group of intrepid and determined Z-fighters.
To put it in simple terms… they were beat. Across the crater to the blonde's left, she could see Videl lying unconscious beside the broken down Android 16, both of whom were covered in burns, scratches, ash, dirt, and had their clothing in tatters. Goten and Trunks were fairing no better, looking as though they'd both been put through a meat grinder made entirely out of fire and brimstone. Paprika on the other hand, who'd managed to summon the strength to jump in front of them at the last second, had her back charred by the blast and was lying unconscious at the feet of the two children. An incredible feat, considering she was barely hanging in there as it is.
And directly in front of the woman about a few yards away, at the very edge of the crater, Piccolo, Vegeta and Zangya, were also lying in three separate, broken heaps. The Namekian was on his back with his entire top disintegrated and the Prince of all Saiyans was on his side, reverted back to his base form and covered in second degree burns. The Hera too was on her stomach, with her face in the mud and her back covered in debris.
While Bulma, Chi-Chi, and the rest of the staff at Capsule Corp were all okay, save for several scratches and dirt marks, the majority of the heroes had all been taken out of commission. The two mothers, who were hanging over by the window supporting one another, could only watch on powerlessly as their enemy looked down upon the fallen with a menacing leer.
"Goten, no," the Son mother gasped, placing a hand over her mouth when she saw her boy had been knocked out.
"My Trunks," Bulma also murmured, unable to believe what was happening.
Bringing her sword down to her side as she took stock of her enemy's condition, Hasky gave a lighthearted chuckle. "You all finally understand the complete futility of the battle you'd just waged. Even with all your great strength and power… not a single one of you stood a chance against the terrifying might and ferocity of Ai." Upon mentioning the artifact's name, she quickly held her sword up and brandished its blade for all to see. "This is the legendary weapon once wielded by the demi-God Gilgamesh; the greatest hero of all time. It is a completely unique existence all its own… an artifact that was created before the concept of the 'sword' was ever conceived in the universe. You could say it was the origin of all blades currently in existence; one that is capable of emitting enough energy to cut through dimensions and destroy entire galaxies with a single swing." She then held it towards the sky and watched it disappear in a cloud of golden light. "Well… this is just a copy of the sword made from a fragment of the original. Compared to its template, it only has a fraction of the strength the real artifact once possessed. Nevertheless, you should feel honored to have been struck down by such a glorious weapon. I only ever use it against opponents who I deem worthy of its blade, but for your group… I made an exception."
It was a startling reveal. However, the impact of it was lost on her audience, due to the fact that all of them were either well out of earshot or had been knocked unconscious. However, thanks to her overwhelming victory against the Z-fighters, Hasky was more than happy to blab on and on about her favorite toy without any fear of reprisal. She was just that confident.
Waving her hair back, the barely scathed and still fresh assassin decided that enough was enough. "I guess that's it then. As brief as it was, it was still fun while it lasted." Stretching her neck and rubbing her palm against her shoulder, Hasky quickly turned her attention to Capsule Corp's main building and began strolling towards it, an act that had the people watching from inside shirk back in fear. "Guess it's time to go kill Son Gohan, collect my paycheck, and spend the next few weeks working on my tan at the beach. Enjoy whatever life you have left in you, boy, because it's about to be forfe-" She then stopped dead in her tracks.
Not because she was having second thoughts or anything. Far from it.
It was because her path was being blocked.
Standing up from where she was lying in the crater, covered in dirt, muck, ash and grime, a still conscious and fully transformed Zangya rose to her feet and stood before her foe with a hateful glare fixed squarely upon her. Panting heavily as smoke rose from her battered and almost broken body, the Hera slowly edged her way into the path of the blonde to cut her off. As soon as she did, the redhead was able to see the master thief look at her in disbelief. In doing so, the Z-fighter held her ground, her body slumped forward and her arms hanging limply from her shoulders.
After stepping into Hasky's path and eclipsing her view of the Capsule Corp headquarters, the Hera straightened up, took a deep breath, and faced her adversary with an unflinching gaze.
Hasky recoiled in shock, "You've got to be kidding me. How did you-" Frown deepening considerably, the blonde clicked her tongue and flicked her hair. "Well… you're certainly a persistent one, aren't you?"
Ignoring the woman's unintended compliment, Zangya clenched her fists and spoke, "As long as I have breath in my body, there is no way I'm going to let you or anyone else lay a finger on Gohan." Her brow furrowed even more as she shot the woman a wave of killing intent. "If you do… there's not a sword in the world that will stop me from ripping your head clean off of your shoulders. That I can promise you."
The alien's threats put an amused grin on Hasky's lips. "From the looks of it, I doubt your body will be able to survive even one more hit from me. Seriously… what can you possibly hope to accomplish in the sorry state that you're in? Huh? Nothing. That's what." She then craned her head and leered at the red head with a menacing air. "But… I suppose I can humor you for a little while longer. It's no skin off my ass. But as soon as I'm done playing around out here, I'm going to waltz into that building, carve out Son Gohan's heart… and show it to you. That way, not only will you be able to see how wrong you actually were, but also if you were able to live up to your promise. How does that sound?"
And that was when the world and the galaxy suddenly seemed to snap.
A clap of thunder rang out followed by a shockwave, one that was powerful enough to generate a visible ripple across the country's surface and almost knock Hasky off her feet.
The blonde haired assassin barely had enough time to steady herself before a second blast of wind crashed into her body and forced her to throw her arms up in defense. Gritting her teeth in shock, the master thief looked through the crack in her forearms to see a bright, green aura burning around her opponent's body, a formation that reached several stories into the sky and became enveloped in currents of gold lightning, which tore at the ground and shredded it like confetti.
Despite the ridiculous amount of noise being produced by the miniature super storm, above the howling winds, the thunder crashing, and the ground being ripped asunder around them, Hasky was still able to hear the bellowing cry from the person at the center of it. In a show of unfathomable rage and force, Zangya, with her fists clenched and her stance wide, threw her head back in a terrifying scream of agony. The action caused her aura to kick up at a much fiercer rate and the lightning that was surrounding her to shoot up into the clouds. Not only did this phenomenon cause the entire countryside to tremble violently and a cyclone to form overhead, but the light being generated by the Hera covered the entire metropolis in a blinding strobe, which had the blonde haired assassin as well as the rest of the audience shut their eyes in pain.
Sparks and embers also flew off of the alien's body, which wrapped around her in a cloak of sparkling flecks, which then led to a bright, white glow wrapping her form up like a cocoon.
Flustered by the shockwaves given off by the infuriated girl, Hasky did her best to hold her ground as the last of the fierce winds died down. When they finally did, the assassin looked back at her target to see what'd happened and her jaw slowly dropped at what she saw.
Standing in the heart of a pillar of green, transparent fire, a newly transformed Zangya emerged from the light. Not only had her skin taken on a darker shade of green, her curly red hair, which once floated behind her like a cloud, had turned spiky and now resembled the hair-styling of a Super Saiyan 3. Furthermore, not only did she have golden streaks in her hair, she also had golden sclera around her eyes, with a single streak across each of her cheeks, and a leaf-shaped one in the center of her forehead.
Her green aura had also become fiercer, blasting around her in an impressive and deadly inferno. When she opened her eyes moments later and fixed them squarely on her foe, a current of gold lightning shot across her body and struck the ground, marking the completion of her transformation.
Chi-Chi and Bulma, who were watching the scene from their second-story position, were gob smacked at what they'd just witnessed.
Even Hasky was initially overwhelmed by the sight of the transformation. However, after staring back at her opponent for a few moments in awe, a smile quickly returned to her face and the assassin grinned confidently. "Oh… it looks like you had another trick hidden up your sleeve, after all. Though the streaks and sclera are a nice touch, I don't see how spiking up your hair and adding some makeup will do you any good in a fight." Despite how intimidating Zangya looked, clad in her newly acquired form, the assassin standing several yards away wasn't swayed in the least, and simply conjured up another cloud of golden dust behind her. "As impressive a light show as it was, it was a sad and completely useless gesture." She then formed another wall of a dozen swords behind her and pointed them all directly at her opponent.
That was when it happened.
Her eyes widening sharply, Zangya suddenly summoned a row of twelve green energy spheres behind her, all of which materialized in a nano-second. The instant they appeared, they then shot forward one after the other at a ridiculous speed, streaking through the air and leaving trails of hot, green energy behind them. In a series of flashes, the energy balls struck the swords hovering in the air behind Hasky and shattered them, causing sparks to fly and loud clangs of metal against metal to ring out.
A split second later, it was over, and Hasky's eyes snapped behind her in alarm. When she saw her swords were all gone, she looked back at her opponent in shock.
"Wait… what the hell just happened?" the blonde thought. Shit, not even her built-in sensors were able to pick up what'd happened.
"When Bojack destroyed our home planet all those years ago, I thought my life had lost all meaning and purpose to it… that any and all dreams I may have had vanished with the other three billion members of my kind," Zangya's voice spoke up, drawing Hasky's full and undivided attention. When the assassin fixed her glare back onto her, the Hera, shrouded in a flame of green energy and golden lightning, narrowed her eyes and continued to speak. "I thought that I was destined to serve under him for the rest of eternity… to remain a slave to his will, with no hope of pursuing anything more. I did everything he asked of me out of fear of his power and the cruelty of his wrath." She then clenched her fists tightly and lowered her head. "But then I met someone… someone who not only had the strength to stand up to that monster, but someone who was able to free me from the prison Bojack had formed around me… and gave me a chance to find meaning in my existence… a reason to live. That person was someone who risked everything to open my eyes to the world and unshackle the chains of my heart… and he became the most important person in my life. It was only after all of that did I find my real reason for living."
Curious by the woman's speech, the blonde assassin cocked an eyebrow. "Really? And what would that be?"
Zangya smiled, her eyes twinkling under the veil of her aura. "He made me realize that I could do anything with my life… that I could chase any dream and any goal that I wanted, so long as I gave it my all and had friends to support me every step of the way. I came to understand that as long as I have people in my life to cherish and protect, they can give me the strength to make any dream I had possible." She then took a step forward and, with a sudden burst of ki, allowed a current of lightning to snap off of her and strike the ground next to Hasky, sending dust splattering over her suit. "And I'll be damned if I'm going to let the one person who made me realize all of this get killed by some blonde haired, wannabe goddess who relies on cheap tricks and thievery to gain power!"
Eye twitching from hearing that little slight to her name, the assassin clenched her fists and lowered her head at the woman. "Do you wish to test me… mongrel?"
The Hera grinned, "You claim that you are some divine being from another world? Well… if that's the case, and you really are the genuine article, then I'll just surpass everything about you and take you down. After all, if a mere human can become a goddess, then there's no reason why a Hera can't!" When she saw her opponent's expression change to one of shock, Zangya slid into a wider stance, clenched her fists tightly, and powered up, allowing her aura to explode off of her with a clap of lightning.
The shockwave she generated sent a wave of dust in all directions, slamming it into the Capsule Corp main building and rattling it, forcing all those inside to hold on for dear life. Chi-Chi and Bulma literally cried out when they felt the floor above them crack, dropping dust and debris right down on top of them. Furthermore, due to the sudden massive increase of ki in the area, Zangya's actions were able to rouse the other Z-fighters from their individual states of unconsciousness.
From their places on the ground, Vegeta and Piccolo looked up to see what the heck was going on. When they spotted their teammate standing several yards away, bathed in a green glow, and noticed the drastic changes to her form and the enormous jump in her power level, all the two wounded warriors could do was gawk and watch to see what would happen next.
Even Videl and Kana, both of whom had regained consciousness, were watching from a distance with half-lidded gazes and amazement reflected in their eyes.
Once she was certain she had enough energy and had her crosshairs locked firmly upon her target, Zangya, assumed in her Super Hera 2 form, cocked her body forward and leapt into action with an explosive start.
"HERE I COME, MASTER THIEF HASKY!" the Z-fighter bellowed, launching herself from her position with a deafening thunderclap and a roar of wind. She then barreled towards her opponent in a blur of green light, tearing a path across the ruined property, "DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH WEAPONS AT YOUR DISPOSAL?!"
Biting her teeth tightly, Hasky conjured up a katana and a claymore directly behind her. After reaching for them, she grabbed both weapons and yanked them out of the air, their golden blades flashing under the rays of the sun as the red lines on her suit lit up with her fury.
"DON'T GET TOO CONFIDENT… MONGREL!" Hasky practically screamed back, before dashing forward and meeting Zangya in the center.
When the two lunged at one another, they collided in the center of the field with a flash of light and a sonic boom, with enough force to split the ground and cause the entire city to jump two feet into the air…
OOO
(Meanwhile…)
Hundreds of miles away from West City towards the North, in a town that was far out of reach of any of the major capitals on the continent, a pair of familiar figures was quietly making their way across the wilderness. Though they managed to blend into their environment and interact with the communities of this period to avoid drawing any suspicion, the two of them still found a way to stand out due to a couple of notable differences in their respective appearances.
For the past couple of weeks since arriving in this time plain, the young female duo, Pan and Eva, had done their best to adapt to their new and unfamiliar surroundings. After spending so many years fighting across a gradually worsening wasteland of rock and ash, which was also under the control of a universe conquering, psychopathic, magical, scientific monstrosity, you could imagine that coming to terms with an ordinary earthling life, in a time when none of that was happening, would be pretty difficult for a pair of adolescent girls. In spite of all their military and martial arts training, there were not many situations in their short lives that'd required them to fit into a world like this.
The last few days had actually seen the pair experience genuine communication with a person who wasn't one of their family members or close friends in their resistance group. As far as human contact went for them, speaking with their mothers, Kaiser, Bulma, and Trunks, was about as much talking as they got with human beings over any given amount of time, and they were pretty much all relatives to them.
However, being the strong-minded, savvy little fighters that they were, both Pan and Eva were able to meld well into their setting and assert themselves into the urban community. From that point onwards, after acquiring some new sets of clothing that didn't look like rags, tactical gear, or stuff that smelled like open sewer, they were able to go out into the world and explore a time that had since long been forgotten by them for close to a decade.
It was a real culture shock for the young martial artists to actually see trees, rivers that weren't boiling streams of lava, and food shops that weren't broken down or deserted, still intact and fully functioning. Thankfully the cash Bulma was able to lend them to purchase items in this time was still in circulation.
Anyway, after many days of traveling, the pair of tired youngsters had decided to stop off at this small, country town to have a bit of a rest. Using the time to explore the world that they'd never had a chance to see, the two children had taken to wandering the streets for most of that morning, before settling down at a café for a quick break. Ordering a couple of drinks and a piping hot meal, the teenagers sat across from one another, and relished in the orange flavored shakes and spicy yakisoba. Since arriving in this time, this was probably the most delicious food they'd ever had in Kai knew how long.
The pair nearly cried at how tasty it was.
However, keeping it together and not letting their emotions get the better of them, both Pan and Eva spent an enjoyable midday, feasting on scrumptious treats and sauce-based food.
They were right in the middle of the best parts of their meals too, until the red haired girl with the pointy ears sensed something amiss in the air and looked up from her noodles in alarm. As soon as she did, her eyes then darted Westerly-wards, tracking the source of the anomaly back to its source. Her alarmed response was also detected by her sister Pan, who looked across at the Saiyan-Hera hybrid in concern.
"What is it, Eva?" the raven haired girl in the winter coat, boots and beanie asked.
Her sibling, dressed in a fur coat of her own, gloves and a winter beaver, blinked as she gazed across town and onto the horizon. Taking a few moments to analyze the disturbance and certify its origin, the red haired child from the future then balked when she realized exactly what the disturbance was.
"Th-That's mum… she's… transformed into her angelic form," Eva informed with a surprised tone of voice.
Pan, setting her chopsticks down, also looked up with a similar expression of surprise on her face. It didn't take her long to get a fix on the energy signature either. "You mean she's gone into her ascended form? Wow…" Even though she'd felt this energy signature many times before in the future, it still amazed her at how much power these higher level transformations actually possessed. Not to mention they were experiencing these instances of their parents as they were happening, making these moments even more monumental.
Though they weren't close to the scene, the impact of the ascension was still mindboggling in itself. The Kais up in Otherworld could probably feel the energy from this transformation as well as they could, and they were trillions of light years away… practically outside of the universe.
Looking down for a moment to think about what could be prompting her mother to transform to her high level state so soon, Eva then looked back at her sister with a frown, "She must be fighting Hasky-oneechan right now."
"You mean our kenjutsu master?" Pan asked, to which she was quickly graced with a nod from her sibling and teammate. When she ran this answer through her mind, the raven haired teen then clenched her fists on top of their table and frowned inwardly. "This was back when dad's group and Kaiser's company were still enemies with one another. That means Sentinel is still moving around and gathering resources." She then faced her sister with a troubled gaze. "We can't attack yet… not when the full copy of his programming is scattered across different interfaces."
Eva nodded in agreement, "Yeah. We have to wait until the right moment." Seconds later, she then craned her head back around and looked towards the horizon once more. When her eyes focused on the distant clouds, her expression became one of longing and forlorn, something that her sister was able to pick up even from her position.
Upon sensing the shift of concern in her sister's mood, Pan frowned and, reaching forward, poked her sibling in the arm. "I know what you're thinking. Remember what Bulma said? We can't interfere with any of dad's or mum's battles. Doing so will only give away our presence and send the timeline into a downward spiral, just like when Trunks came back from the future to warn dad and the others about the androids."
Staring back at her sister, the red haired hybrid gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as well. However, before her energy could start to rise in response to her frustrations, the adolescent calmed her senses and relaxed. Giving a sigh, she then nodded in understanding and focused her attention back onto her food.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought," the girl replied in a whisper.
It was a remark that Pan wholeheartedly agreed with, "No kidding."
After mulling over in uncomfortable silence for a minute or so, the two returned to their meal.
Even though they had the right sense of mind to maintain proper eating habits just like their parents taught them, they still possessed the diets of a female Saiyan in her youth. That was why they decided to order two to three more servings of food afterwards, before moving on to the next town and closer to their objective.
So much for not drawing attention to themselves.
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