DB Multiverse

The King’s Orders

The sounds that could be heard were none that anybody could even simulate. Nevertheless, Chilled was making them. It wasn’t unlike the creaking of rusty machinery at work, or the sound of a weak motor, not that the Saiyans had ever heard the sound of anything close to that. Strangely though, the ephemeral cry sounded distorted.

But one thing was clear. These strange sounds meant the death of her opponent. He then fell, crashing unto the ground. Hanasia followed.

No... He wasn’t dead, yet. His eyes swayed, wide open. Even more astounding was that, between these strange cries, he spoke. That is, to himself.

— I can... I cannot... cannot be defeated... impossible... this cannot...

— You are. said Hanasia. She then readied her fist. She would slit his throat if necessary. He had to die.

She struck, hard, really really hard. A shockwave was produced, cracks were forming on the ground, and debris of homes scattered as a result. He had been beheaded.

Back at the Tsufuls’, relief was a weak word to describe the general mood.

— Wonderful!

— Attagirl! That’s our Saiyan!

— She killed him... Killed him! Never has a Frost Demon been killed by any other than his kind to this day!

— Really?

— This what our records say, but it’s highly likely that the Demons’ empire rewrote history. In any case, if it had happened recently, you know, within the past millennia, we definitely would have known about it through foreign networks. But I’ve conducted thorough research, you know. Nothing.

— She did well to strike when she did. We could see that she killed him as his power was increasing exponentially. She might not have come out on top had she let him go through with his transformation.

— Yes, look at our footage. As he was transforming, all of his wounds were healing!

— Send in our teams. We need to appropriate the body. Contact the advisor.

Within Chilled’s ship, all that remained were the flight crew. They weren’t even a dozen. And they were shaking in their boots. Their lord was dead, and that couldn’t have happened. They were in a hostile environment, the center of attention of the natives, who are capable of shooting energy blasts. And their ship was not built for battle. What sad irony. A battleship seemed unnecessary when you had a Frost Demon that could leisurely survive in the vacuum of space to annihilate any attacking vessels. But now...

— Are we done yet? Hurry up already!

— Yeah, I sent all the footage of the events to happened here, but we won’t get a response until several hours!!

— Then let’s get out of here.

— Are you nuts? If we make the slightest move, they’ll attack us.

— We have to leave as swiftly as possible, shooting ourselves straight out of the atmosphere. After a few miles, we’ll be in the clear.

— They’ll hear the engines start!

— We can’t just stay here!

— My liege, are you alive?

He was. He almost had a hard time believing it himself. His notable resilience had made him retain his status as King of the Saiyans for a few weeks now. But he was now already at the final days of his reign. Of course, some Saiyans had reigned for even shorter periods of time, but still. He tried to place his hand on his stomach to gauge the damage done to it, but he couldn’t move it. It wasn’t so much that it wasn’t burried deep within thick rubble, more so that he had lost control over it. He tried moving his other limbs, only to find that he could only tilt his head. A little to the left, a little more over to the right, and he could see his advisor, who was floating in front of him.

— My liege, you have one final order to give before we take the time to find a new King, An urgent one, might I add. Could you help me with that?

— You are but a spy sold to the Tsufuls, the King would say had he the strength to speak. So, he nodded, not wanting to die then and there, stuck in the remains of a castle wall. He wanted to know what had happened over there, and how the beast had been defeated.

The advisor released the King from the restraints that were the ruins to the best of his abilities, put him on his back and flew to the site of the battle. This short moment were agonizingly painful for the monarch, but he was a Saiyan.

Several Saiyans had now gathered around Hanasia, whose transformation had worn off. The majority of them flew. Almost everyone from the capital could.

— You’re really strong! said one of the Saiyans. You were amazing out there!

— Where do you come from? Not from around here, said another while grabbing a piece of her clothing, visibly different from what they were used to wearing. While she wore a rugged piece of animal hide, they all wore far more refined togas, which didn’t smell as strong nor itch.

— Say, are you the Millennial Warrior?

— Saiyan, what’s your name?

— Where’d you learn to fight?

— Saiyan, how did you do the thing with the light?

— Hey, do you like big Saiyans like myself?

In spite of the destruction, in spite of the hundreds of deaths, they were all excited at the battle that unfolded, and at her. Hanasia, however, who had never travelled as far, who should have been awed by the sight of the capital, was internally grieving the deaths of the fallen.

She lifted her head to see arriving a strange pair; a Saiyan carrying another on the verge of death.

— The King! exclaimed a Saiyan right next to her. The duo descended to the group and the advisor began to speak.

— The King has a few orders to declare before he passes away. We must take the bodies of the invaders to the castle. Those who survived must be left alive. And finally, we have to appropriate this flying vehicle for ourselves.

Suddenly, the ship began to shake and emit loud noise. It was about to make its escape.

— Everyone! Grab on to its sides, but do not break it! Place yourself around it to stop it from going where it wants to go !

All of them, gung-ho, threw themselves onto the ship as it took off. So, all that were on it began to push it towards the ground. The walls were resilient, a given considering it is capable of entry into the atmosphere. As such, the walls didn’t tear under the pressure. Parts of it did, however, bend a little. The Saiyans pushed a little harder and suddenly had the upper hand, making the ship crash in the plain closest the to the capital. The engines stopped, and the navigators regretted to have no Gods nor Demons to pray to.

— We have a lot to do. Analyzing and deciphering everything there is to know about this monster’s body. Fix up the survivors if possible and interrogate them. Contact the external systems we can trust, form a council to decide our future actions. Are we to declare an all-out war against the Frost Demons and proudly parade the remains of one of their own, or are we just going to bury everything under the rug in hopes that we can be free of worry for the time they take to investigate this…?

That’s right, this victory was only the beginning. The other Tsufuls pondered what this could mean for their future...

— Nothing will ever be the same again, said Abricota to herself.

The Saiyans that surrounded the ship like a living fishnet as per the advisor command made their way towards the sea in a random, but sufficiently onpoint fashion. Others took the bodies of the invaders, strange-looking clothed animals, and stacked them up. One of them, having noticed that the alien he had picked up was still breathing, looked left and right before breaking its neck, whispering, « Take that, monster! » And threw the corpse onto the stack.

If it hadn’t been the King, no one would have paid any attention to the body of the Saiyan dying on the ground. But because of his status, a few of the Saiyans that held a position in the castle surrounded him. Hanasia approached them, and saw the King’s eyes turn to her. It was obvious enough that he had only a few minutes left. But his gaze was powerful, alive, and also full of pain in light of the circumstances. He was the King. He was twice as old as she was and lived to fight many more battles. By looking at her, he acknowledged her strength and wanted to spend the remainder of his time alive with his eyes on her.

Hanasia dropped to her knees next to him to take him by the hand, a gesture usually reserved for close friends or family. Her Super Saiyan acuity made her understand in that simple gesture even more information about the dying King. She could feel every bit of life left in his body, each pulse, his breaths, the blood flowing throughout his veins. She could feel everything. To know the feeling of a man during his last minutes was both a gift and curse that tortured the empathetic Saiyan.

The King saw her weep, and died in disappointment.

— You are the new Queen of the Saiyans, said a voice behind her. Was this interloper aware of the fact that the King had just died? Or could he just not care less?

— No, she replied, turning around to see that it was the King’s advisor that spoke. I’m not interested.

— At least, stay here for a bit, he finished as he took off the ground. We do owe you a feast, after all. You are most welcome to the castle. And then he flew to towards the sea.

Hanasia stood up and flew away to avoid further questions and congratulations from other Saiyans. She quickly moved to another part of town and discretely landed between two structure. In these parts, no one really paid attention to her. Everyone else were either talking about what had just happened or flew to the landing site.

Something about the capital just filled Hanasia with awe. Each house touched the other, and each were structured in a way to properly pave the streets and roads. Essentially, all was designed very efficiently. Furthermore, all the homes seemed to be equally built from one another. While in a village you may find signs of unpleasant accidents, here, each home was free of the slightest crack. Everything was built to last, finalised, and fixed by the most skilled Saiyans in construction.

But, the population was for too dense for people to do their own hunting. The surrounding plains must have been void of any prey considering the scale of the population. Clearly, the capital was organized differently.

Hanasia had already reach her third “public space”. Between the houses, she discovered an open and almost aesthetic area, filled with plants, seat and tables. Here, people would meet out all the time, since most would stay in their homes only to sleep, shield themselves from the elements or have some alone time. In this space, there happened to be an open spot, abandoned by those wanting to see what had happened.

While there was no fire in the area, there was grilled meat unlike any she had seen before, sided by fruits she was just as clueless about. She approached a table and gave them a try.

— Hey! shouted a little Saiyan girl two tables away. Who invited you? Clearly, the girl didn’t know how to fly and preferred to take advantage of everyone’s absence to have the banquet to herself. Better than having to run around town and risking getting crushed beneath the ground. Fair reasoning.

— I infited myfelf, replied Hanasia with her mouth full, grabbing whatever she could with her free hand. She didn’t know what she was eating, but they were going down the hatch regardless.

— Get out of here, country bum! cried the little brat, spitting out grapes with each syllable. This is my birthday, and you weren’t invited!

— Happy birfday, continued Hanasia picking up a glass containing opaque liquid. The glass was surprisingly well-crafted, and the same could be said of the plates on the table. Back in Hanasia’s village, recipients were made of whatever people could scavenge. For glasses, the people would carve through the horns of beasts. They would then be stuck onto wooden tables, all of would usually end up useless due to the holes formed, requiring constant replacements. But here, the bottom was flat, and the capacity was generous. What efficiency! And she drank out of it. Never had she tasted anything like it. It wasn’t just fruit juice. It had a little spice to it, but was still good.

— Fine! I’ll be kicking you out myself!

The little girl flung herself onto her, but she was welcome by Hanasia’s extended foot. She threw her arms in every direction, but their length was well beneath that of the leg that separated her from her target. Pointless. Her opponent had no trouble in maintaining the distance, moving her according to where the girl would go, still keeping it in her face, which was very irritating for birthday girl.

— Hm, another glass.

Hanasia moved around in the air to maintain her impenetrable defense to grab another glass of wine, which was promptly downed. On the edge of the table, there was yet another food she hadn’t encountered prior. Chewing on it already. Urgh, no good. She spit it out and grabbed another plate, searching among the dishes she’d tried already. She ended up with a bone to chew on, with cracked between her teeth. She then made her way to another table.

— Artemis’ secret technique! cried the little city girl, who took advantage of Hanasia’s leg for leverage to fling herself towards her. Both her feet were going straight for her opponent’s ribs. But swiftly, Hanasia had turned to the side and it was but with void that her feet connected. Suddenly pushed away by a firm hand, the brat crashed against the ground.

— It’s moronic to cry out the name of your attack before executing it, commented Hanasia as she picked up two glasses of wine, both of which she then tried to simultaneously pour into her mouth, creating a fountain of liquid between her and the ground. No matter, it was already littered with leftover and splattered liquids anyhow, like you would expect from any worthy party.

Hanasia was beginning to feel strange. I wasn’t just the attraction to this new food, and she had already forgotten about her worries of the King, which already seemed like so long ago for her. She also felt like the depth of the world was fluctuating, as though the houses would get closer but back away, while nothing moved at all, objectively speaking. She picked up another glass, only one this time, to drink it slowly. It no longer had that spice to it, it just tasted really good.

— Hiiya! shouted the little birthday girl, charging at her enemy. She hopped to land her a few hits, which were sloppily parried. She continued her assault, landing a few hits, though, their effectiveness remained in question. So, she ended up hanging onto her opponent’s arm, proceeding to bite on it as hard as possible.

— Yeeouch! cried Hanasia, letting go of the last glass. Hanasia tried spinning her arms around in every direction but the biter held on tight. So she flattened her on the ground again, head first this time, which just worsened matters by pushing the girl’s jaw further into her arm and by spilling half the glass, each getting their own swear from Hanasia.

— Nyunyunyunyunyuuuu... grinned the girl who wasn’t letting go, blood trickling down her chin. Her breath was then briefly cut off after Hanasia stuck her foot into her stomach without so much restraint. Then, holding the girl down with her foot, she tried pulling her hand away vigorously, which had no effect. The young attack dog would have rather been quartered than being force to let go, which was going to happen eventually.

Hanasia then emptied the contents of her glass unto the girl’s face, who gargled and coffed, released her hold, and get back so strong that she hurt her own teeth once they touched each other. Shaking her head around as a wet dog would, the little Saiyan washed all the liquid off of, before getting back up to continue her fight. Furious, she then wondered where her opponent had gone.

Hanasia was far behind her, at another table. She had already found more food, chewing on it with her mouth wide open, which she rinced down with another drink. Having a talent for multitasking, she looked at her hand, which bore deep bite marks. Her muscles were red and numb, and there was even a bit of blood. Had she not possessed her terrifying natural resilience, half of her hand would still be in that girl’s mouth.

— You are now my mortal enemy! announced the little girl, pointing Hanasia, who couldn’t care less, having found another glass, with her finger. I will hunt you down to the end of the world if I have to, in a year, ten year, or more if it has to be like that. I will kill you, I will… Daddy!! This girl is bothering me!!!

A few Saiyans had just returned, disappointed in the lack of information they could gather. They came to to find their youngest daughter spitting out blood, and nonchalantly whipping it off. They also found that their banquet had seemingly been attacked (to be honest, it would be hard to tell the difference, really), with a stranger chowing on whatever she could find, her movements clearly suggesting intoxication.

The waves would override other waves. Ah! The ocean, terrifying, uncontrollable, full of secrets... which the Saiyans never really cared for. They were flying about half a mile above the water surface, in a tight formation around an alien spacecraft...

The Saiyans were following the advisor. He was guiding them using the information his bracelet gave him. It had already been several hours. Nothing much for the group, who skillfully maintained the ship so that it would not attempt to flee again. But they were growing bored of that. Not to mention that there weren’t any coasts to be seen within the horizon and it could be several hours before they find land, often times several hundreds of miles away, since they had no way to navigate.

— We’re almost there, said the advisor, sensing their bad mood. Almost there, but where exactly? they asked themselves. No island, nowhere to put the ship down.

And suddenly, between the clouds, emerged a gigantic piece of pavement that shared the color of the sky. An enormous flying cube, nothing that any of them had seen before, aside from an older soldier or two. That is, from afar, when they’d fought the Millennial Warrior near Hanasia’s village. A large square opening welcomed them. The advisor entered. They followed.

— We’re landing! he said before they all made their slow descent. Those that were underneath backed away from the ship and made their prisoner touch the ground. Watch it… warned the advisor… Let’s split! And all would run out of the hole, which was already closing. The moment the last Saiyan exited, the closing sped up, for the ship to be left inside.

— What is this? asked a Saiyan.

— These are the King’s secrets, replied the advisor. Don’t you worry, no one will be able the find the ship here. Even you couldn’t hope to find it again. Come on, follow me. I know the way back to the capital. No need to mention this to anyone...

The advisor knew well that he couldn’t kill them all, and anyway, this kind of stories would just became rumors, quickly contradicted by storytellers, which would often give the story some sort of mystique behind them.

Within the gargantuan Tsuful ship, lights came on and the hangar was invaded by Tsuful soldiers and armed robots. They entered the ship and took the navigators as prisoners.

Once back at the castle, the advisor could see the stack of corpses slumped in a large room, with the halves of their leader next to them. There were also two prisoners, one that was holding onto his stomach, ripped to pieces and another, hardly injured.

The Tsufuls would discretely come to pick up all these bodies during the night, but these two monsters had to go to the infirmary stacked with plenty of Tsuful equipment and meds before they die. He called the few Saiyans of the castle, who, like him, were in on it.

— “The King’s” orders are respected. Now, to find this girl.