DB Multiverse

Chapter 110

Translated by npberryhill

Baddack lost none of his ferocity as the fight continued. His power and speed had already been pushed to the maximum, necessitated by the mad titan Cold. His body was scratched all over, but the wounds weren’t deep, and still this fight was only beginning. The Saiyan could continue like this indefinitely, and little by little the Frost Demon’s wounds would worsen. Each blow would be a hammer, driving the nails of Cold’s eventual collapse from exhaustion — just as the vision had shown. Baddack’s visions were never wrong, so long as he gave himself the means to succeed.

Only, Cold had more than one trick up his sleeve. Since the fight had proved more than a trifle for his final form, he would simply take things up a notch. His strength had shot up suddenly, muscles and flesh bulging out like a bodybuilder — quite impressive.

Baddack was instantly wary, dodging as many blows as possible. He’d expected the increased bulk to slow down his foe, but decided not to take that fact for granted and was as cautious as possible. Even so, his attempts proved to be in vain. Cold managed to surprise him at every turn, boasting an even greater speed than before! Baddack took a huge blow to the gut, which crushed his armor as though it didn’t even exist. He gasped, saliva and blood spewing from his mouth. A second crushing punch followed, a third, a fourth...

With a surge of latent energy, Baddack narrowly escaped the next strike and counter-attacked. Once again, his opponent avoided the swing easily. Bypassing the Saiyan entirely, he struck him in the temple and sent him careening into the ring below.

Resilient, Baddack regained his wits and began rising to his feet. Fortunate for him, the Emperor of Universe 8 had not resumed his attack, allowing the Saiyan a brief respite in which to catch his breath. This wasn’t the first time Baddack had observed such a massive bulk increase — Trunks of Universe 12 had demonstrated a strikingly similar transformation. It was confirmation enough that such an ability was not unique to the Frost Demons.

From the best his senses had gathered, the bulked-up form seemed a grade above Super Saiyan, though still being far outclassed by the transformation Vegeta (both of Universe 13 and 18) had used — which was characterized by crackles of blue lightning racing across the aura. It was a long shot, but if he could perhaps reach that intermediate stage, he might yet win this fight... doing so mid-battle, however, might prove too great a challenge. Even having seen it demonstrated, and having some idea how to achieve it, such a thing required at least a little time.

With that thought, the break was over. Cold walked slowly towards the Saiyan, towering and confident. Baddack clenched his fists, summoning the distinct golden aura unique to his species. Each hand was encased in light, a distraction attack to buy time. But he had hardly begun to move forward when Cold vanished, closing the ten meter gap between them instantly. The Saiyan had no time to dodge as an iron hand gripped his jaw with overwhelming force.

Thinking fast, the father of Kakarotto managed to flank his foe with a knee, hitting Cold’s jaw and freeing himself. Baddack then had ample time to finish his previous attack with both hands.

Only, the wicked ruler far outclassed him in reflexes. Cold threw up a shield of energy that diverted the attack over his head, reacting with time to spare, sending the blast into the distance. Had Baddack not been forced to immediately move again, he might have noticed the smug grin of satisfaction upon the titan’s face. But the aging Saiyan couldn’t pause even for a split second, he knew that well. Appearing behind his opponent, Baddack landed a violent knee strike into Cold’s back, launching him forwards. He chased after, continuing to chain the attack with blows aimed at any potential weak point in Cold’s thick physiology. They might have seemed blind strikes to an observer, but he was still stalling for time, trying to figure out how to transform. The ultra muscular form now seemed like his only chance, moreso with each passing second.

His moves were becoming increasingly desperate, and violent. Fists clenched, he smashed the top of the Frost Demon’s skull, causing it to slam full force into the ring. The force of impact even caused Cold’s powerful aura to vanish from around his body. Baddack had no time to think. He knew even an attack like this would not knock out the tyrant, at best he had earned a few seconds — certainly not the 30 he would need.

He withdrew several meters from his foe, concentrating his ki and clenching his fists. He recalled the other Saiyans present at the tournament, each of whom seeming to far surpass himself. He fixed his mind on the transformation of Cold, and Trunks — the change in the feel of their ki, how channeling it through one’s body differently might temporarily increase physical strength and size. How long did it take for the two of them to develop this ability? He didn’t know, but he only had a precious few seconds. Baddack had to try, with all his might...

Cold’s hand moved, almost imperceptibly. Though lying on his stomach, his arms unmoving against the ring, his fingers had moved — and the Saiyan suspected something was amiss. Still, he yelled, straining his ki, attempting to redirect it, to channel it into his physical muscles, through each tendon rather than merely around them. Additionally, he drew upon his anger, a key element to when he had first transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Too late! From one of Cold’s hands, his palm open towards the Varga’s artificial sky, came an energy ball. It launched straight upwards, before curving its course towards the Saiyan target. Baddack relaxed his muscles suddenly, narrowly avoiding the attack which shot a cloud of dust through the ring on impact. He instantly resumed his concentration, knowing every second was crucial. It could click at any second...

Cold was once again on his feet. He didn’t panic. After dusting the rubble off himself, as well as brushing his hands across his body, he resumed his slow steady walk towards the Saiyan. After a few steps, he began to taunt.

“So? Are you able to match my strength or not? I know exactly what you’re trying to do, but even if you succeeded, the added boost would not be enough.” Cold’s face was stern. “Give up. Now.”

The Frost Demon continued approaching. With each heavy step on the ring, Baddack reassured himself that he was still destined to win. He’d seen the outcome, hadn’t he? But what if he had misinterpreted his vision? Cold was now upon him.

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret, monkey. My true power is leagues far and above this, you could never close the gap. I’ll give you one more chance. Give up, prostrate yourself before me now... beg. I might yet spare your life.”

All was now lost, and Baddack knew it. Even if he managed to bulk up for a few minutes, it wouldn’t be enough, not even close. The calmness with which Cold had spoken revealed a much more competent and observant fighter than expected. The demon had analyzed the powers of Trunks from Universe 12 and found him lacking. How had things strayed so far from his vision?

“Screw it all!” Baddack said, letting go of his foe and attempting a final punch.

But Cold vanished into thin air, reappearing suddenly beside him a mere meter away. The mad tyrant’s aura was spherical, focused, a clear indication that this was the end. He then stretched out his hand towards the Saiyan, paralyzing his foe. Baddack couldn’t budge — he was trapped, imprisoned in some kind of energy ball. The next thing he knew, the warrior was being whirled in every direction, launched across the ring like some kind of sports projectile. Cold was somehow able to control the imprisonment ball, bouncing it off of himself and even the energy shield protecting the spectators. All the while, Baddack was in pain, taking one damaging hit after another.

“So long!” Cold said, arms crossed as he launched the grand finale kick.

Baddack was launched downwards like a rocket towards the participants. By chance, it was universe 18 that had been targeted — and one of the few present who knew of this technique was Goku. Many years before, he had been victim to the same at the hands of Freeza. He remembered the shockwave well, a brutal destructive force that could potentially kill not only Baddack but also his family and friends.

With astonishing speed, Goku unleashed all the power of his Super Saiyan 3 glory and raised a single hand high. Baddack collided almost instantly with the energy shield Goku had created, causing an immense explosion, but the good-hearted Saiyan held fast. He finally lowered his hand as Baddack fell unconscious to the ground.

As Piccolo’s white cape fell back around his feet, he couldn’t help but be amazed. His rival from a bygone era had transformed so rapidly, so effortlessly — in the past it had never been that simple. Equally shocking was Vegeta’s reaction to the situation. Rather than brace alongside Goku, he’d remained stoic, arms crossed as he stared down the incoming attack with casual mockery. He too had a family to protect, and yet he hadn't even budged, as though he trusted Goku completely. Was he hiding something?

To Kakarotto of Universe 13, however, Vegeta of Universe 18's inaction appeared to be incompetence. From his perspective, the only reason any Vegeta wouldn't react was that he was unable, caught off guard! His companions also misinterpreted the Saiyan's response, even Emperor Vegeta.

For Cell, though, standing in the area next to universe 18, he knew quite well it was no sign of weakness. Vegeta had a very high level, obviously, and Cell could hardly wait to face him.

“Pfff! He just throws his trash wherever!” the bio-android said, speaking to his old enemies.

“You’re one to talk...” Vegetto uttered from his other side.

Cold glanced down at the Saiyans from Universe 18, as well as Vegetto, grinning.

“A small gift to all Saiyans who still think they’re capable of opposing us!”

“29... and 30. Baddack is eliminated!” Declared a Varga.

King Cold levitated back towards the Universe 8 waiting area as a Namek approached the fallen Saiyan.

Covered in bruises and blood, the Saiyan continued to grumble to himself. “I don’t understand. I saw him defeated...!”

He then received an unexpected visit from Pan. He was her great-grandfather after all, and it broke her heart that he had lost, even if she barely knew him. She remained close while the Namek began using his healing magic. The girl expected nothing in return, she just liked being around him — it was probably the first and last time that she could hold his hand, and it only lasted forty-two seconds.

“Quite a pleasant site,” Dr. Raichi muttered from Universe 3’s area. “Even if I wanted to take care of it myself... But it matters not. Instead, I get a royal delicacy...”

Meanwhile, Kakarotto continued bashing Vegeta of Universe 18 as a weakling, though Nappa interrupted.

“You do realize your father just got owned.”

Speaking both for himself and his brother, Raditz replied, unfazed.

“Why should we care?”

“Heh!” Vegeta huffed with a grin. “Once a low class, always a low class!”

“And what does that say about you!?”

Kakarotto swung at his leader from behind. Vegeta blocked it without even turning around.

“You dumbass! We can all get eliminated for that kind of idiocy! Don’t you think you’ve done enough already?”

Raditz quickly intervened.

“He didn’t mean anything, Vegeta. You know all too well he can’t control his temper, next time just don’t provoke him.”

“Yeah,” Nappa agreed. “Instead, we should be focusing on how we can get the power of that really old guy.” He glanced towards universe 9’s area.

Baddack had returned to his apartment, avoiding eye contact with Raichi who, nevertheless, wore an extremely cold smile. But the Saiyan was too lost in thought to notice. Cold’s power had been a complete surprise. He was certain that the icy tyrant didn’t have that level of power in his own universe, otherwise they would have lost before ever crossing paths with Raichi.

He thought again of the Super Saiyans: both versions of Vegeta with level 2, Vegetto and Kakarotto with an even higher long-haired version, and the same with Gotenks of the 16th and 18th. Then there was Trunks, who although being inferior possessed a far greater strength than himself in the ultra form.

Now healed and alone in his apartment, Baddack resumed his training. He would force himself to go to the next level. He might be out of the tournament, but who knows what the future might hold?