Aspa breathed. His heart hammered in his chest; his blood boiled. Memories played in his head even as he stared forward. He saw Arms save Rettas and die for it. He saw her fight back, only to be beat down. He saw when the God stood before her, extending a palm. Even that final act of defiance.
Aspa thought. He could hear the Majin in the back of his mind screaming and cursing. And, Aspa understood. He chuckled, seeing his daughter flipping off a God, he could even hear her final curse despite the distance.
For the first time, he understood. He could feel it. What was missing. Why it was she was so bright, why she seemed to push people forward. His daughter, was not normal. No, she was something more, he was sure. Inside his heart, a flame grew. An ember, long left forgotten in the empty core of his heart, like a dead hearth left abandoned. Now, it began to grow and burn.
What made her special, he couldn’t be sure, but he felt that same spirit, that same fire from her that he felt from his father. An endless faith. An endless desire that would consume all, for good or ill. He thought back to everything. Memories flooding into his head. Burning brighter with every passing second.
Of memories walking a wasteland. A cursed land that seemed to shift and change to a mad gods whim. A world cursed by the Majin for the sins of their ancestors. And yet, in those dreary memories, he remembers those rays of hope. A weed growing in the desolate wasteland. Wilting, and yet, still grasping for the heavens. Like how Rettas reached for the stars, even when at her last breath.
Even now, she stood defiant, her spirit burning brighter than any star. The spirit of fire, that every human had carried, he could feel that same fire in her. That same fire that burned and spread, a torch passed about, igniting the souls of all those she met.
He understood how it was. how she continued to surpass herself. How she continued to walk forward, how it was that she never seemed to be crushed under the weight of it all. Because, she must. Because that fire that burned at her core urged her on, seeking to grow until it consumes everything. He could see it in the children, in Bailey and the crew of the Silver Suns, he could feel it in all those she interacted with. Breathing life into them, animating them.
And now, he could feel that same fire she held, inside him. An ember he had thought he had snuffed out, a fire he had rejected with the entirety of his being and yet, even now. It had not abandoned him. It burned. It smouldered. Waiting, just waiting for when he could embrace it, feed it, nurture it.
He could also feel why it was that he couldn’t do what she did, why it was he always seemed behind. Because, he had denied that fire. Subconsciously for sure, but denied it, nonetheless. He had feared that burning spark, what it meant. Feared that no matter what he did, he could never truly be worthy of being her father. That he could never truly reach those heights she had dreamt for him. Wished for him to aspire to.
Only, like his father said, it wasn’t a question of can, or cannot. No, it wasn’t even a question. Seeing that God, preparing to kill the woman that sought the best of him, that called him her father, that woman he so desperately wished to call his daughter with all his being.
It wasn’t even a question of what he should do. Only what he must do. With that thought, he felt the fire inside his being ignite. His body and soul burned. The Majin, whose fingers were clasped around his soul screamed in hate and anger while the fire burned them away. His heart, reforged and re-lit. Burned and beat like a forge.
His body, he could feel it changing. He could feel something, a calling of sorts. He stood. His ki bubbling and coming to the surface. A power growing and pulling out. He could sense it, that fire coming out. Giving him endless power, and yet, he knew, that wasn’t near enough. Almost without thought. He felt for those donated cells of his daughter, those S-cells that lie inside his body. Those very cells that had answered his desperate wish long ago. Allowing him to achieve Super Saiyan.
He had no idea if it would work, only that it must work. If there was some intelligence or will inside those cells, he did not know. But even then, he did it. He forced his ki into them, burned them with his fire, carrying it with a singular intent. A challenge.
Can you keep up?
The challenge was a simple provocation. His will and spirit were inexhaustible, so then, could the S-cells keep up with those demands? Would they even dare to compete? His daughter had told him, that a Saiyan overcomes any challenge, the only thing holding them back was the will to do so. The will she carried the very same fire he now carried. So then, what would happen if he directly challenged it?
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Yet, he felt something. Like two towering ancients staring each other down, assessing one another. His blood, the blood carried by his ancestors, by all of mankind stood its ground even as it locked gaze with the unending imperious gaze of the Saiyan race.
It felt like, the infinite and the endless facing off. Neither giving ground. Neither surpassing the other. Constantly neck and neck. Then all at once, the two stepped forward, arms shot out grasping one another. And he felt it. His blood and the S-cells roared out. His body the battleground. His power spiked.
He didn’t even wait to let it finish. He stomped forward. The distance between him and that God closed in a single instant. Before the God could even dare to finish its execution, he was there. A golden light formed, attempting to stop him, and yet…
It did not. Carrying the combined will, the endless undying spirit of man, with the Saiyan blood to overcome all. He broke through. The shield of light shattered, his fist carried through. Crashing into the God, desecrating it. Sending it flying. He did not follow. He stood. Power coursing through his veins. His body finishing its change and yet, even now, he felt it. Growing and expanding. Continuously pulling out more and more.
Aspa, took a moment to look down at his bloodied daughter, he saw her wounds, and he felt his anger grow. His fire grew even hotter. His power growing. Even then, he knew what he had to do.
“Take a moment and rest, join up when you can.” He stated, knowing she would be back up soon enough. He felt her gaze on his back. He prepared to leave, when her voice, barely hoarse whisper came out. Yet, the words were like thunder in the silent night. Clear, and sure.
“I’ll be right behind you, dad.” All at once, he knew, his power surged even higher. His whole being and soul erupted out. Suddenly, he felt as if his power had grown by tenfold, at the very minimum. Still, against the God, he knew that wasn’t near enough. But it must be enough.
He charged forward, the God, now recovered shot out of the rubble where it had landed, a gaping ravine and crater decorated where it passed and crashed. Without even giving it a chance to recover, Aspa punched again. His energy sparked and hissed. Covering his fist with everything. Once more, he punched through the screen of light, once more hit the God. The sound of the impact, like hitting a church bell. A resounding noise cried out.
Aspa grimaced, knowing that he hadn’t actually hit the God. Not just that, but every passing second saw the Gods power growing. In response, Aspa knew, his own power must rise to meet the challenge. With a cry, his ki rose again. His body, struggled. His human spirit and Saiyan blood put all they had into empowering him. Constantly pushing each other. Urging each other on.
Once more he surged forward, once more he punched at the God before him. Once more shattering through the now thicker light. Only to be stopped by whatever force prevented him from harming its body. Even then, Aspa saw the scuff, that small mark on its otherwise featureless face. Marring its perfect appearance. Showing to all of creation, that he could in fact, hurt a God.
The more he fought, the more he felt his body approaching its limit. The more he attacked the more the God before him grew and adapted. Yet, in that moment he felt it. From above, ki joined in, raining down on the God.
“ASPA!” The children had joined in, with them he could even sense Bailey. The children and Bailey were hanging back, assisting from afar, knowing that directly getting involved would lead to death. Still, before the God could even consider striking them down, four more figures appeared. Clad in crimson armor and equipped with a bloody blade of ki, was Seri. Standing tall, in an adult form, his features more beast like, was clearly Radda, followed by Reeka who was covered in a flame like aura, flickering with blue motes. Then, came Latus, towering and muscular, erupting out with incredible force, and his aura a bright green.
Joined by the four, they continued beating down the God, or attempting to. Strikes and ki blasts kept shooting out. Ki made of claws cut and sparked against the barriers alongside a crimson blade. The golden shield grew thicker with each passing moment and yet, with each passing second Aspa found it wasn’t just him that could break the shield. Latus, his form was capable of keeping up with him, and yet, Aspa could also feel that like himself, at any moment Latus too will fade.
Yet, when it felt like they hit their limit, when they couldn’t break the shield, a new energy surged out a shout broke through the chaos. The shout, the voice was odd, carrying an overlay, as if two people were talking all at once, the word spoken odd, but familiar.
““RETEGA!!!”” Then the next second, she came forward. A fusion of two people, and for the first time, Aspa considered something he hadn’t considered. He’d seen the broadcast, but seeing the fused form of Rettas and Vega, he realized something. Didn’t he now have two daughters?
That thought immediately caused his ki to redouble itself again. Once more rising to the challenge even as his beleaguered body felt ready to crumble. He charged forward, even as his fused daughters cried out, ““KAIO-KEN!”” Their energy doubling, matching his own. Latus too, roared out, somehow managing to keep pace. Them three charged forward for the God. Blow after blow, they punched and kicked and yet, and YET!
The barrier over the Gods form held. It was a tough nut to crack and as one, they all came to the same conclusion. They didn’t even need to shout, all together they burst forward, punching at the same time, sending the God flying. Then, Aspa began.
“KA!” Retega flew to his side. ““ME!”” The four children came up, channeling their own ki, adding to the growing ball. “HA!” The other children gathered, putting all they had in, followed by Bailey. “ME!” Even then, EVEN THEN! Crying out with all he had, Aspa demanded of his body, of his spirit and blood.
TO GIVE HIM MORE!
““HA!!!””
All at once, the gathered ki of all of them combined. Creation stuttered. The world seemed to stop, and slowly, but inevitably, the powerful energy wave crawled forward. Seemingly, inch by inch. Speeding up with every passing second. Until, all at once. It went forward. Every ounce of their energy poured into it. They could feel it hit the could. Pressing them into the planet. Digging them deeper inside with every passing second.
Every single one of their spirits ignited with that shared fire, that fire that Rettas, his daughter had ignited inside them all, and all at once, they cried out one final time. The energy surged, expanded one last time. And suddenly, the direction they fired in, simply, ceased. A chunk of the planet, simply gone. The very fact the planet had even survivd the attack, hell the fact that the planet was even still whole after that was a miracle…
Only… that very miracle, that God…
“Fucking hell!” Rettas yelled, having defused. The loose energy made sensing nearly impossible and yet, through it all. They could still sense it. They could still feel it. The God, was not dead. It still lived. Completely empty of ki, they all fell to the ground and panted. Yet, not a single one fled or cowered. Their spines straightened, eyes forward. Seeing this, Aspa once more realized just how important his daughter truly was. Together, they arrayed themselves. Standing together against the God. Almost unbidden, or perhaps to join them were the others, The Vampire, The Shinobi, Fera, From afar, even jake and his people joined in. Seemingly ready to duke it out.
“A little late to the party, ain’t ya?” Rettas called out.
“Better late then never.” Jake responded flippantly, though, Aspa could see how the young vampire trembled. A renewed undying resolve, that same flame burned inside him. Beside Jake, he saw an older man, his eyes wide, and despite everything he could see those sparking embers inside, that same burgeoning wonder and hope he had seen before.
He smiled to himself. And stepped forward, standing beside his daughters.
“Shall we then?” Aspa asked and as one they readied themselves for the end.
From afar, Norman watched. His hand still clenched. Blood dripping to the floor. He had witnessed their combined attack and he felt something in his chest. A burning sensation. An urge to go forward and yet…
A hand touched his shoulder, causing him to jolt in fright.
“Brother.” He looked over to his sister. The look she gave him, was not a one he knew. She always looked disappointed with him, or angry. Not, whatever this was. “You should go.” She said, her eyes flicking to the fight. The clid vanishing, exposing the God. The starlight from above seemed to make their form shimmer, the being untouched, save for a single mark on its face. A mark, Aspa, the man that proclaimed him his brother had made.
“I can’t.” He started with. His gaze stuck firmly on that being. “I have to protect-“ he didn’t get to finish, a finger came to his lip, silencing him. He turned to face her bewildered. That look on her face that he couldn’t place now more pronounced. She took back her finger and spoke up.
“You don’t have to. I’m a big girl now.” He blinked. And looked at her, then back to their shelter. Since those weird, tattooed people had appeared, he’d been actively protecting his sister and her friends. Doing all he could to protect them, but… sensing that he was going to argue back, she spoke up. Cutting him off.
“Those people fighting that, thing, their your friends right?” His face must have given her what she needed, since she nodded and hummed. “And that man, with the strange hair and everything crackling with all that energy, that must be Aspa, right?” Again, he didn’t speak, but she nodded as if she had her answer.
“You told me, that last time you met him he had called you a brother, that he would lead the way, yes? Then, seeing him now, should you really be back here, protecting us?”
He hesitated again, and this time, she sighed. He looked at her bewildered and he finally realized what that look was. Something he had never seen on her face. It wasn’t anger or exasperation. Not disappointment or anything else. It was something foreign, a look he knew from all those other pirates, that same look they gave when speaking of Rettas. Respect.
“I thought…” He started and she huffed, once more ctting him off.
“What that I hated you?” he nodded slowly. And once more she sighed, brushing a hair behind her. “I don’t hate you dummy.” She started and stopped. Her eyes flicked to the God, slowly taking its time to lord over Aspa and the others. “In fact, like any younger sister, I always looked up to you. I understand why you hid, why you keep hiding and running away. I understand.” She repeated, though, not without some annoyance.
“But, like any little sister, I really want to see my big brother be cool for once, you know? And when you told me about being in the Silver Suns, and everything that happened, sure, it sounded boring, but… I mean, you realize how big of a deal that was?” She continued, poorly. Sensing that, she coughed.
“Right, well, I mean… What I mean to say is, only you can help. Only you can save the day. I know that, you know that. And I don’t need you to be the excuse for why you aren’t stepping out their and for the first time in your life doing something. So, big brother, go, please?”
Norman froze. Never expecting that unexpected plea. No, he knew that plea. That same plea, that same look she used to give him all the time as children. That same begging look whenever she wanted him to stand up for himself. Yet, he never did. At some point, she simply stopped expecting it. Making her into who she is today.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing though.
“But what about the others?” He asked and she huffed, on cue, he turned and saw others approaching her biker gang, her friends.
“Go.” One of them said. Then another and another. All of them urging him on. All of them telling him not to worry. Hearing this and feeling any other excuse eroding away, he gave his younger sister a final look. And she hammered the final nail in.
“Please, just once, I want to see my big brother save the day.”
And like that, Norm knew what he had to do.
