DB Multiverse

These nerve-wracking memories had shaken Satan who tightened his grasp on the small frame with the black ribbon.

He remained like this for a while, his eyes closed, once again, he was making his best to bury the disgusting unease of shame in the deepest corner of his mind.

But this unspeakable abjection always ended up surfacing and tortured him with horrible cruelty.

He eventually opened his eyes, sighing, to look at this young face that couldn't illuminate anything else but the precious picture.

Good thing that his dear little girl hadn't known any of these events!

In any case, this misfortune, from which he had miraculously escaped almost uninjured, had convinced him that the title, of which he had been so proud until now, would put his life in danger from then on.

That was why, during that nightmarish day, it was an unknown guy with thick blond hair who was running as he protected his daughter from the crazy move of a crowd that was running from the apocalypse in total disorder.

As both of them were making a path in the same momentum through the panicked flock, the young girl had suddenly stopped him, holding him by the sleeve.

Weathering the furious tide that was rushing at them... she was trying to look up, standing on tip-toe to make out something, on the other side of the crossroad over there... At the origin of the flock of frightened people...

And he had seen him too!

A young unknown guy wearing an orange and blue fighting suit. He was floating in the air, in the same way than the two walking terrors... His left arm was missing.

His hair, that rose in a strange haircut, was shining with golden light as something luminous was beating around him... By the way, where they stood, they could ear the strange whistling that seemed to emanate from this kind of light. Behind them, the yells of the hysterical crowd were fading away as it got farther away.

So, this mysterious warrior did exist. The rumour had it that he regularly faced the two flying bastards!

The champion looked around him and noticed that they soon enough would find themselves all alone on the road... A target way too clear!

He caught his daughter's arm in order to take her far from this lethal trap.

But to his surprise, Videl tore his shirt and ran straight to the noise of the battle that was now resounding in the next street!

No matter how much he yelled, threatened her, begged her as he went after her, the young girl slowed down only to watch the Dantean show that was the battle between those three things...

Nothing human could be so strong and so resilient!

The blows that the two mechanical bullies and the unknown boy were exchanging were too powerful and too violent to be real!

The impacts made the atmosphere shake as the tar, the concrete, even entire sides of buildings crashed, completely destroyed because of the strength of the blows or of the thrown bodies.

Each of these blows would have annihilated anything... Yet none of the three fighters seemed injured or tired as the fight kept raging.

Forgetting the danger for a while, he too watched the titanic battle. He was fascinated.

It was absolutely incredible... What if that strange young man was able to finally get done with those two walking nightmares?... Who was he?... Where could he come from?... Another cyborg that a genius had built in order to destroy the other two?

But what if he had been built just to defeat them to that he could rule over the world in turn? Perhaps was he worse than them?

Worse!... What it even possible?!...

In any case, he wasn't human, that much was clear now.

It was impossible for a being made of flesh and bones to have such power... And with just an arm!

The intensity of the fight had increased, and these crazy guys were now throwing true rockets at one another's face as if it was nothing but mere slaps!

The raspy slam of explosion brought Satan back to reality... He wrapped his dear girl's shoulders to carry her away from these mad men.

But Videl didn't want to leave. She seemed to be unable to look away from the young fighter in the orange suit. She literally was fascinated by the warrior who seemed to be around her age!

The former champion couldn't hold back the sob that he felt coming from the deepest of his gust...

It was at this moment... At this right moment that he should have insisted, to hang on tight to force her to follow him..

But yet... He was completely soft with this child and he had never been able to refuse her anything.

So he had remained here, right behind her, just shivering as his teeth shattered as he'd have rather lay down his life for her so that she'd not risk her own.

How many times had he travelled back to these terrible moments? … How many time had he lived again those fateful minutes... and to arrive at the same conclusion: it was at this very moment that he should have been a father worthy of the name!

The harshness of the battle was dreadful... The young one armed guy didn't give way to these two monsters!

Yet, in spite of his incredible courage... He started showing signs of breathlessness... whereas the other two didn't show the mere sign of slackening.

Little by little, the mysterious opponent was abused with increased violence... to the great displeasure of the little girl who was more and more tense as she saw him taking blows that he had more and more trouble parrying.

Maybe had he something human in him after all... Because his face was now clearly scarred by bruises, pain and weariness... And there also was an expression that seemed to be shouting the rage he was feeling to be dominated like this.

Mr. Satan felt Videl shivering...

“Go, please... go away now, fast... far...” she was muttering.

As if he had heard this prayer, the fighter chose this right moment to try and withdraw... But 18 brutally blocked his momentum and his body once again violently ripped open one of the buildings of the luckily deserted neighbourhood.

Each attack reached the unknown boy more and more powerfully, his defences obviously weakened after each of these... He needed always more time to get up... or to get out of the dusty rubble.

Mr. Satan had trained his daughter to be a seasoned fighter... So she had understood that the outcome of the fight now was clear.

She looked up, her eyes full of tears, to her father's tall figure.

“We have to take him out of here... we can't keep on watching him being slaughtered without doing anything...”

Mr. Satan lost his composure and he didn't know what to say at first.

“Er... I don't see what we could do... He doesn't seem to need any one's help...”

Videl's eyes hardened because of irritation.

“Don't say rubbish! Even without your moustache and with this ridiculous hair dye, you are still the World Champion.... And I'm an excellent fighter too! The both of us can do it!”

Fear, the bite of a truth that wasn't true anymore... all of it fired up the former competitor.

“Exactly! I'm not going to make a fool of myself and fight those two tins! This idiot had been stupid enough to get himself into a real mess, let him try and get out of it on his own!”

“It can't be!” the teenager lost her temper too. She was now vehemently yelling. “When you made us move into this rat-hole and you decided to take this ridiculous look... I didn't dare admit it... But it's now obvious: my father, the one every one admire.. my father I thought was so strong... My father is a coward! Your pseudo-training to be ready to defeat these monsters... it was all just for show... You never intended to go and fight them.... Admit it!!”

Mr. Satan still heard each of these words echoing in his mind, as many of explosive devices dynamiting his heart... In spite of the years, this wound was still open... still as harsh... The cruelty of truth in the mouth of the being he liked most in the entire world.

Truth come out of the mouths of babes, said an old saying... What were these wise adages always implacably right?!

The incredible speech of the one he considered a so little girl just a moment ago... It had literally made him lost his composure... Left him reaction-less... defence-less.

He looked at her as if she had grown fifteen years in one second... The magical fog of her childish honesty had abruptly faded away and let appear the steel of a critical mind sharper than the edge of a sabre.

His little angel's face went from anger to irony that he didn't know... Then a deep determination had eventually invaded her eyes as she moved them back to the fight in session.

Over there... The two machines were now throwing the young boy at each other, as if he was just a toy... The poor guy had more and more trouble protecting himself from attacks he couldn't dodge anymore.

The former champion wanted to scream when Videl rushed forwards... But his throat flattly refused to yell the beloved name!

He remained here... frozen by panic as he watched her going forwards, hidden by the rubble, towards those that frightened him more than anything in the world...

Fallen once again among the fragments of shop window of ripped open shops... The unknown guy got up with difficulty.

His attitude showed the effort as he stood straight once again to go back to the fight... Persisting to defend himself with pride, even though he had already lost.

A cry stopped the three fighters and froze the blood in Mr. Satan's vessels!

Videl was standing there... in the middle of the battle field... A small woman insolently challenging death.

“Two against one! That's quite courageous!”

The poor man had the impression he was being liquefied on the spot... It was a bad dream... It couldn't be his dear daughter over there... right under the nose of these two psychopaths with nuclear energy!

Paralysed by terror... it wasn't even really him who looked the male cyborg move towards the young imprudent girl that just had challenged him.

Floating in the air, his feet a few inches above the ground... 17 slowly turned around the one who had the nerve to interrupt him... Then he landed just in front of her.

“And you offer to team up with him?... You're a bit late, aren't you?”

At first he was frozen by surprise... but then the young fighter reacted with confidence... What Satan didn't know was that, contrary to his opponent, he had analysed the true strength of the young unknown woman... The fact that she could have put herself in danger because of his own weakness against the cyborg appalled him.

“Let her be... I don't know her and she's of no interest... She has nothing to do in this conflict! Come and finish what you've started!”

Farther... Mr. Satan was torn... Coming to a bit... He didn't know what to do...

Should he intervene?... But how?... Should he show himself?... If they recognised him, they could very well kill him right where he stood, simple as that... Videl also could call him “Dad”... And these sadists would then be thrilled to kill her before him, only for the sheer pleasure of it... Not doing anything?... It was inconceivable to let her all alone with such a threat...

His eyes went back to the young fighter in the orange suit... It was this one armed guy's fault if they found themselves caught in such wasp's nest!... What did he have that was so special for his dear little girl to risk her life for a stranger?... It made no sense!

While the brain of the poor ex-champion went dangerously near to implode... Time seemed to take a strange break on the suddenly impressive silence of the interrupted battle.

A silence that had the oppressive thickness of death spreading out her icy talons on the torn apart city.