DB Multiverse

A sinister illumination lit a large portion of the celestial roof on the side of the solar ring. Wigner and Fuller raised their eyes at the same time to check both the sky and their systems with worried looks. Even Lidar, though still stunned, tried to read his personal screen for what could possibly be going on up there.

Quite quickly, transmitted by the commander of the Tethor, the corvette that had intervened, information ran across the immaterial screens of the three Ultras.

The respite was short indeed. Beyond the few clouds that dressed the blue sky, the deep grumbling of furious thunders from multiple explosions were soon to disturb the peace of Helior. Wigner thought better to revise his strategy.

Fuller deciphered the silent instructions from his leader amidst other information coming from his sensors.

Without word or any warning signal, the young Ultra shot straight up in a shower of sparks. Face to the wind, surprised by the manoeuvre, Raditz barely had time to throw himself to the side to avoid a salvo of laser shots by the Heloïte captain.

As he gained altitude to insist on his attack, Wigner swore inside. This invader was as fast as his two partners!

Raditz did not wait to counter the Ultra's charge, the instructions of his prince were very clear. Without preoccupying himself with Wigner, he abandoned him there and took off in pursuit of the younger brat.

Kiwi still couldn't believe it.

He had to mobilise all of his attention to evade the attacks from the renegade Saiyan. But that wasn't the worst. The worst was the fact that the monkey seemed to miss most of his shots barely... on purpose!

Vegeta on the other hand avoided without effort the blast from Frieza's favorite. His pleasure was limitless! He was dominating this halfwit with ease... his elite heritage was finally starting to reveal itself, and soon he would be able to take the place which was rightfully his. Symbols adorned his scouter, a flickering arrow pointing downwards. Recess was over.

He accelerated so quickly that Kiwi lost sight of him for an instant. When he next saw Vegeta, it was as he took a mean punch to the jaw. Vegeta wanted to end this, but not before offering himself a proper beating, Saiyan-style. Mostly, he wanted to smother the pride of the tyrant's priviledged puppet.

Though Kiwi tried to riposte, he could only have the intention to. The only shot he managed to throw barely scraped the peculiar hairline of his adversary. The next punch, received in the stomach, bent him cleanly in half, making him feel like spitting his guts out. Spitting blood instead, his eyes bulging out in pain, he couldn't move whereas the demon monkey was sporting a wide grin, his hand held flat in front of him. After one last insult, a blinding light hit him, then...

Vegeta hardly offered one last look at the ashes of Kiwi, dispersed by the detonation. Without waiting, he dived back towards the hill where he'd left the two Saiyans alone with the Ultras.

Lidar had somewhat recovered his thoughts, and was quite surprised to see, once standing again, to run into the impressive silhouette of the gigantic bald warrior. The barbarian was scornfully eyeing the young Heloïte from his high stance with an ironic smile. Arms crossed, he seemed to be waiting for his opponent to be ready before starting at it again. The Ultra wondered if he had not dreamed having used the lasers on his right fist. Once on his feet, he saw this was evidently not the case. Three small bloody orifices peppered the invader's armour, just below the left shoulder. He had indeed managed to hit him! However the tall stranger didn't seem bothered. Though in this instant, he was static, probably staying immobile to hide his suffering and continuing to show-off.

— Finally ready for round two, boy? I almost got bored waiting.

The colossus' voice was still firm, lathed in arrogance.

— You are wounded, you'd do better to just abandon, grumbled Lidar, his own voice strangled by pain - he still felt the weight of the giant's grip on his throat.

Unclenching his arms, the big guy licked the fingers of his right hand before rubbing them over the blood marks on his armour and laughing loudly.

— You mean this? Ha ha ha! You thought a mosquito bite would stop a Saiyan? Ho ho ho...

Then, to the surprise of the Ultra, he created a ball of energy in the palm of his hand.

— My turn! Eat this!

Nappa didn't have the time to finish his sentence nor launch his attack, when a martial silhouette interposed itself between him and his opponent in a shower of sparks.

— I will continue the fight in his stead, if you dare... I declare him out, announced Wigner without worry.

— I am not out! cried out Lidar, decided to make the other pay for his humiliations.

His screen materialised itself instantly with the message "This isn't for discussion! Cover Fuller and move out".

Lidar activated his mental command to his pulsars. The order was clear and concise, no use in negotiating. Also, the efficiency of the Ultra commando depended on the aptitude of each member to obey and act quickly. And Wigner was right, he hadn't yet fully recovered... his metabolism was still busy repairing the damage from the beating he just took and it was still pumping most of his energy. It was with spite and regret that he took flight and searched for the energy signature of his ally on his screen.

Lidar's state was not the only reason Wigner took his place. The commander had signalled weaknesses in the shields of the troops and destroyers; however, the Ultras were equipped with a superior quality shield. Their version, too delicate to mass produce, and unsuited to cover the length of a battleship - too unstable over such a surface - was the epitome of technology in the field, made to withstand all known weaponry. The Ultras had total confidence in their shields, which had been tried and tested over the years. Yet doubt, even the shadow of doubt, in a fight, was never good. The Ultra leader was curious to test the performance of his protective gear against the strange energy blasts the invaders possessed, rather than risk his men against an unknown threat.

Though immobile on his feet, ready to react, Wigner tried to analyse the condensed pulsing light the giant was keeping in his hand as if it were a mere ball. The scanners gave nothing of use. Though his systems showed certain parameters such as surface temperature and energy fluctuations of parts of it, they were unable to define the true nature of the strange phenomenon, and thus, the degree of danger it presented. He had to face the facts: the thermodynamics here was completely estranged to him. Was it magic? It was hard to tell... but how else describe this ability to fly without any gear and the ability to manipulate pure energy with bare hands?

A gnarl distorted the moustache of the bald giant.

— Hum... changing players during a game, that's not very honest, he ushered, a dangerous spark in his eyes.

— Killing unarmed civilians isn't either, answered Wigner as the diodes on his temples flashed.

A cruel rictus drew itself in a parody of a smile on the face of the invader.

— The law of the strongest, that's how the world works, amused Nappa.

— Which world are you talking about? tried the Ultra leader.

— The one on which I'll be digging your grave! screamed the large Saiyan, his eyes suddenly alight with fury as he projected his ball of energy, which had just doubled in size.

Wigner wasn't slow to react. He had already deciphered the body language of his opponent before he even spoke his first words. Shot followed by shot, he darted his right fist forward and launched two Blast-balls at the same time as the giant launched his attack, a tenth of a second before he covered himself in a frontal shield set to maximum density.

The Ultra did not have the luxury to observe the effect of his salvo. Though a large portion of the blast from the colossus blew up against the wall of his shield, the vast majority pressed on through the defence system of the Heloïte. Indeed, the attack suffered from cinetic dispersion, but this wasn't sufficient to neutralise it. Hit full-on by the phenomenal shock wave, Wigner found himself projected several metres backwards.

The diodes that bore witness to the activity of the Heloïte leader's system stopped. Stunned, he fought himself to not fall unconscious. Breathing had suddenly become difficult, a few ribs wounded, if not broken he analyzed. His brain was thumping against his skull, his ears were screaming in pain and the parts of his body directly exposed to the attack felt cruelly burnt despite the protection of his armour and his suit of composite tissue. He knew that without his preparation and the Ultra suit, he'd have died instantly. The pain from the cellular reconstruction added to his many pains. He had prepared himself against an eventual weakness from his protective systems, but not to such an extent. Who'd have believed a manifestation created so easily in a bare hand could prove so powerful. On the footage of the fights he had seen during the voyage, the invaders had used larger blasts to cause this level of damage. Decidedly, they had many tricks up their sleeves! The effort need to start his communication system forced a grunt from him. Nevertheless, he tried to control his voice to inform his team: they could not count on their shields against these opponents!

Nappa got up with a grimace. He had evaded the first explosive ball, but not the second. The bastard in the yellow armour had been quite clever, no wonder they had given him the command of the local elite unit! The Saiyan had reacted as soon as he saw the first attack without doubting a second was trailing behind. It was only when he had dived to avoid the attack that he had seen the second one. The little imp had no doubt betted on an evade to the right, because of his own wound to the left... well planned! What's more, these small blasts hadn't seemed very different from those the previous troops had used. Nappa told himself he'd be more careful moving forward.

The fact that he'd been harshly pushed by the Blast-ball's explosion, even though he had reinforced his Ki, wasn't the only reason to his anger. As he was evacuating the disagreeable sensations of his scratched hide, he noticed the leader of the Ultras laying down in pain. He had gone too hardly on him, and Vegeta was going to smack him for it, no doubt about that one.

The glass of his scouter was damaged too, but with a press of his finger, he verified that it still functionned. He lifted his gaze. Up there, in the distance he saw that "his" Ultra had just turned back on himself. No doubt he had noticed the defeat of his captain. A strong detonation bellowed afar, and from the indications of his scanner, Nappa knew Vegeta had eliminated Kiwi and would soon return. He would be better off if he could give a reason to overlook his blunder at the man he was supposed to spare, after all they now know why they had waited so long.

Overturning grass and earth, the giant tore himself from the gravity of the Heloïte ground.

The large invader was rapidly rising towards him, and Lidar was forced to halt his descent. Wigner wasn't answering his calls, but he thought he saw him move and his systems were active once again, so he had to be alive! Suddenly enraged that he couldn't help him, stung by the fire of hatred, he bombarded the aggressor with a shower of laser shots before the show-off could even open his ugly mouth. The joke had gone on long enough! But the bastard was fast, he flew quickly, his manoeuvres agile, and he was impossible to target.

Nappa could have continued toying with the tenacious dwarf, but he didn't have the time for that. He suddenly accelerated. Under the influence of his bloodshot, the Heloïte didn't have a chance to understand.

A fraction of a second later, as Wigner's warning concerning the shields resounded in his temples, an impertinent "Hey!" made him look behind him. But it was too late, as a terrible downwards hit with both hands sent him flying fast towards the fruit trees.

Stunned, the Ultra had briefly raised his head when a colossal missile of muscle and bone landed from the sky on his back at full speed. Literally broken, he didn't even register the explosion that lifted him after and threw his disarticulated body on the branches of a tree bearing chocolate-smelling fruits.