I took a breath. The source of the moving ki was nearby. A small hole leading deep into the earth was my only guide. The burrow was lined with roots that glowed as ki flowed through them. The air grew thicker and hotter as the ki concentration rose. It began to mist the lower I got. My senses clouded and incapable of sensing beyond my own eyes.
Still, I could hear them. Figures at the edge of my senses watching me, stalking me. The tree creatures, their skin was like braided vines bound together. Their body was dense, yet flexible like a corded whip. Their bones were made up of denser vines. Their organs were wrapped within their frames as if in a netting. They were abnormally tough. Their thick sap like blood making them resistant to bleeding, and the older ones were even able to grow new limbs.
At some point they stopped trying to fight me as I blasted through. I followed the pulsing energy, and it led me to this burrow. It descended deeper and deeper. The air began to take on a hauntingly beautiful visage. Every breath made my blood thrum. It was a long way down. Plenty of time for me to think. To reflect.
Truthfully, I didn't come to this planet originally to make a mess like I was. Rather, the purpose of our visit was to escort the miners. Industrio wasn't greedy. His representative had only told us to help them mine as much as we could before our next mission came in.
Yet… When I saw the jungle. Felt the thrumming life. Flew through it as I chased the alien. I felt an odd sense of fear. Or perhaps a melancholy. Which is why I left so quickly. Originally, I just planned to sit inside the base and simply while away the time. Acting as an overpowered reason for them not to go overboard. Yet, those feelings had manifested themselves in an odd sort of meditative journey.
Perhaps me coming to this forest, going in so deep had frightened them. It likely also emboldened the miners to an extent. They feared for their lives. Especially when they no doubt saw me transform. Slaying massive creatures and wiping out huge swathes of jungle.
The forest was, without a doubt, beautiful. A true jungle. It nearly always rained or drizzled. The air filled with the stench of rot and wet dirt. Humid and heavy. Even during the day, the ground floor was lit up in fantastic colors. Colors that deepened as night fell.
Higher up the trees the closer you got to the sky. Some trees grew so high that it felt like you could even touch the stars. Life thrived. Nature thrived. Birds and animals of countless varieties. A myriad of sounds and delights showed themselves daily, hiding how dangerous they truly were under such bright exteriors.
Bugs the size of a man's torso flew about. Swarms of locust type creatures buzzed around consuming meat and plant alike. Stripping them clean within moments. Even the most dangerous of predators were wary and cautious. Every action you take could be your last. The food you eat might be poisoned, the water hiding something within. The trees themselves hunt for food.
A beautiful nightmare. Watching it all, after throwing off my shroud. Letting my ki free and seeing the dangerous jungle hide and flee. All the more it firmed my resolve. Even as the ki I followed grew denser and my senses flared the more I was convinced what I was doing was right.
The tunnel levelled out. I stepped out into a large antechamber. Heads turning to me. Countless older tree people with roots drilling into their heads looked at me. In the center, on a stage sat a small, almost pitiful tree. A single fruit, beating like a heart. A blood red that bathed the stark white tree in an ominous light.
"So, you've come invader."
I regard them. The collection, the gestalt of tree people. All grafted to the greater tree. Still, as I considered them something felt off, wrong even.
"Surprising you can speak common."
I say casually, my eyes on the fruit as it beat. A slow steady beat.
"Of course, we can. We have watched your kind for many moons. Listened to their words. How could we not decipher your pathetic language."
"It is a little pathetic, isn't it?"
I said mirthlessly. My words seem to have caught them off guard.
"Still, if you learned it, I suppose it served its purpose. After all, common was made for all species to speak a single common language. Even if it falls short."
They fell silent at my words. Likely aware that their little dig instead proved how much more capable we were, in an odd way.
"Rather… I find myself disappointed your little ritual isn't completed."
They tensed at my words. "As expected… You have evaded our hunters for many nights and days. Even now you walk into the heart of the heart tree and stand before us. For what purpose do you fight us? Is it for greed? To mine out the heartblood from the planet until nothing is left? To kill us all and destroy our home?"
I laugh.
"Hardly anything so dramatic. I could care less to be honest."
My words don't make them feel better as they shuffle.
"Instead, I find myself here for a rather boring reason."
"And that reason would be?"
"I don't think your worth telling. At least… Not to a bunch of jailors who think they can control a planet's heart."
They still as I speak the truth. These elders, they hooked into the tree roots. Roots that dug into the core of the world. Making the world's intent a prisoner of their minds. A gestalt prison of sorts. Like an elephant trained since infancy to be led around by a tiny leash.
"Then you've come for the fruit then?"
"Hardly… If I wished to be a slave there are far less obtuse ways to go about it."
They snort.
"Then why wait? Why not destroy the fruit?"
"I think I can answer that. I want to fight whoever eats that fruit. And then… I want to kill every last one of you."
"Do you truly think you can kill our avatar?"
That made me laugh.
"I sense that fruit is dangerous, but I highly doubt anyone you send up can use it properly."
They didn't refute. There was no need. Instead, all our eyes fell onto the fruit. The sound of its steady beat filling the chamber and our ears. Once it filled with ki, the branch lowered. A tree person stepped forward. Kneeling as if to accept a gift. The air grew heavy as I felt gazes fall on us. The weight of the world looked and watched as the tree person swallowed the fruit.
For a moment they stilled. The person's body vibrates, sap like blood coming out of their mouth as the fruit altered their body from within. All the ki began to flow into the figure. It felt like I was facing a titan. Their ki so immense and oppressive I had trouble breathing. Yet, I did not bow under the weight. I held my head high and stared back at the figure.
Their form slowly filled out, bulking out. Robes of vine began to form. Wrapping around them like a cloak until what stood before me looked reminiscent of a priest. The gestalt went silent, eyes closed as they controlled the world's will. Preventing it from corrupting their chosen avatar.
I could barely react before I was slammed into. In a blink I blasted out of the burrow. The figure stood opposite me. A massive emerald, green energy ball in their hand oscillating. I twisted out of its path. Barely avoiding the beam that shot out. It didn't explode behind. Simply reabsorbing into the foliage below.
I didn't think. I didn't need to as I fought. I slammed into it. What became apparent as we fought. Our energy clashing and our fists meeting each other body was a difference. A clear difference. I was stronger than it, at least physically. Yet, its ki was nigh inexhaustible. I would smash into it with all I had, organs rupturing, their chest caving in. Only for an emerald ki to flow in and fix the wounds.
It eventually learned. Realizing that I could take it down if we fought in hand to hand. It began to keep its distance. Bombarding me with a dizzying array of energy blasts that filled the sky. I danced. Moving between the roving beams like a feather in a storm. I wasn't trying to do anything special. This wasn't a fight for me. Not really. Still, this wasn't a fight I could run away from.
Still, we had hit a stalemate. But as I watched its ki in action the more in awe I was. Every movement of ki was like a masterful conductor moving an orchestra. Each beam and strike like a full dissertation on ki control.
It made me aware of my own failings. Their ki control was exquisite. Masterful even. Countless techniques were displayed in front of my eyes. I watched like a starved student. Taking in what I could. Breaking down the dissertation into something quick and dirty.
I used my ki like a bludgeon. This entity proved that to me. Even the uses of stolen skills I saw on television and re-enacted were nothing compared to the sheer prowess before me. I wondered how much was the warrior and how much was the gestalt? Besides that, was the world's will, held at bay in the background. Constantly seeking an in. The two entities, gestalt and world's will, were like oil and water. Like a lava lamp the two floated separately, so close, yet never mixing.
It wasn't going to kill me anytime soon. Even when it hemmed me in, the damage I took was far too minimal. Rather, the figure seemed to be holding back. The blasts were pinpoint accurate but lacked in area damage. I considered their toolkit.
Like a blade master with an endless box of tools. They pulled out the tool that fit each movement or action. Yet, in some cases they proved too specific. Strands of ki that hemmed me in like a net. Followed by a single piercing strike like a spike to the jugular. The more we fought the more I understood. A jack of all trades, master of none. All theory and no practicality.
A grandmaster of war that never saw the battlefield.
I instead honed myself using their lessons. Absorbing what I could. In a way it made me think. Its moves were perfect in a closed setting. Yet so many variables slowed them down. The two of us fought, exchanging blows. Yet, instead of focusing on one singular tool they kept changing up as if to find the one key to beat me. As if I could be beat by a singular type of ability.
I feared less of them finding a singular tool to beat me, but a singular tool they had honed to precision. Something they clearly lacked.
Weird wave type attacks that washed away at my form did little. Jarring attacks that seemed to hit my soul did little. Piercing blows were deflected, or I let hit non-vital areas, only to do little. Slashes disregarded but positioned to minimize bleeding. Perhaps if the figure focused on more powerful blows. Blasting out massive blobs of energy would I faced a serious threat.
Yet, I could see why they couldn't. They had a nigh inexhaustible sea of ki to pull from. Yet, that well was like a poison to their soul. Too much energy pulled out would force the oil and water to mix. Wiping away the tree persons existence, replacing it in full with the will of the world. The gestalt aided in the background, preventing such a union, but it could only do so much.
Still, I didn't dislike this fighting. Not every fight needed to be an incessant trumpet and beat like a marching band. Sometimes, something like the rise and fall of strings worked. Still, it lacked soul. It lacked that final bit. That final push that made the fight truly matter and worth it.
Which is why I learned. Forging my own weapon. Deflecting its myriad of forms and abilities with a select few I found acceptable. My ki flowing better with every moment. It was crude still, but it held some heft. Like a shovel perhaps. A simple item. Barely a weapon some would say.
A multi-purpose tool, so easily forgotten. It can stab, it can slash, it can bludgeon. It can dig trenches, dig graves, even fill holes. Its spaded end could be a shield, or the haft as well. Even the handle could be used to push and shove to some effect. It wasn't a glorious item. Yet the uses it had were manifold. Such was the method I came up with.
My ki blasted like a hammer. Smashing the flimsy constructs. Slashing through what was weak. Reinforcing my body. Dredging up potential as I healed minor wounds. A litany of interesting abilities. I drilled through a wall of ki as I slammed into the thing. The two of us once more met in close combat.
Fist meeting viny flesh. Their body cracking and breaking as they empowered themselves to the limit. Their robes tearing. Leaving only the tattered lower portion of their robe. We smashed through trees and foliage. Until finally I stood before its body. The thing looked at me, something in its eyes.
"Why do you fight?"
I paused. Those words are not entirely his own. The world had taken a slight hold as he pushed. I considered.
"Why do you seek our destruction? The end of our world? The extinction of our species? Is it power? Greed? Something?"
I considered. Aware it wasn't just the avatar, or the gestalt speaking, but perhaps a part of the world itself leaking in. Almost like a prisoner seeking a good enough reason to die. A prisoner more than willing to walk the green mile.
"Nothing so glamorous I assure you. Our mission here was nothing more than to get a small amount of ore before leaving."
"Then why? Why go so far?"
"Personal preference? Mm… no, it sounds silly really. But I can see you won't accept that."
They glared. Staring at me as if in disbelief.
"A whim. I remembered a young girl whom was on a planet much like this. Overrun with vegetation, beautiful yet dangerous. Chased and hunted. Hungry and starved. A girl who so desperately wanted that world to be gone. Yet could only barely accomplish their mission. Forced to fight for recognition that would never come.
Forced to kill and slay for a love she would never receive.
In the end, making a wish, a simple wish. To be better. To make those that never even paid her a single moment of their time proud of her.
I aim to complete that wish. Starting here."
It was a strange declaration. Easily summed up as, I kill to fulfill a wish. I could almost feel the shadow staring at me. Hands clutched like a child excitedly watching their favorite hero on television. In a way, I was her hero. Her ideal. How fucked up was that? It made me want to laugh and rage at the cruelty of the Saiyan's that created such an outlook on life. But what could I do?
In the end, I could only smile. A mile wild sneer on my face. Baring teeth as I fought.
"For such a reason?" It asked bewildered. Yet, I felt a flicker of something in those emerald eyes.
"Yup, there a problem?"
"You would extinct us? Kill the whole planet, just for a whim? For someone you only briefly met? No, do you even really know that child?"
I shrug. "Do I have to?" Their eyes go blank.
I could feel something change. The air grows thicker as oil and water mix. The will of the world finally mobilizing truly. With a single prolonged cry, I felt the world quake. I flew up and out as fast as I could. The trees themselves mobilizing. The whole planet coming to life. I could tell, my nonsensical answer had briefly caused the gestalt to 404, resulting in the world's will taking control.
No, more than that. I could feel as it purged away the extra thoughts and memories. Truly making the avatar its own body.
I didn't relish this moment. I took a careful breath preparing myself. The trees twist and sway. The figure that flew up to greet me was nothing like the one before. There was unity. A sense of singular purpose. All aimed towards me.
It clenched its fist, the trees below twisting into a massive construct. Birds flew, animals gathered and swarmed around the titan before me. The sky shook. Thunder cracked out as rain poured down. My shadow watched in awe. I turned to face it. Our eyes locked. My lips move, 'Witness Me' I mouthed, just right for the shadow to see. A flicker of my eyes to it, causing it to freeze.
I charged forward. The birds slamming like a living tide before me. My ki raking out in a spiral of death. Reaping through the hordes. Slashing blasts of ki cut out, bisecting the countless predators and creatures of the trees that leapt at me. I charged fist first, impacting the world's avatar. My arm shattering as they punch back. Fist meeting fist.
Still, its arm blasted back. Even as I lost feeling in my own. I pulsed my ki, healing it as I slammed forward. Blasting, cutting, and killing. I wasn't near strong enough to kill it, but… I didn't have to be. From the heavens, the skies above, beyond even that into orbit. I could feel the super carrier moving.
The rain fell like knives cutting through my skin. Lightning hit me, trying to fry my nerves as I fought. Ki lancing out, like thunder in the darkest light. Countless creatures died. Even more of the tree people began to appear. Walls of arrows came like rain from below. Battering into me.
Still, I blasted I cut. Keeping my big moves under my belt due to their long charge times and expensive costs. I moved and danced. Even then I was hit countlessly. I was a rock being weathered away by a horrendous storm. I didn't shy away from the giant. Slamming into it again and again. The avatar never shied from confrontation. Eager to break me and destroy me. Even as I felt something in those swirling eyes.
Respect.
Each blow hurt me down to my soul. Even my limited ki healing did little to stymie the growing damage. I would heal fine, I knew that and even if I didn't, I imagine Doc had a way. Yet, why would I do this? Why would I stand like this.
It was stupid. It wasn't a method to win. It was almost as if I was martyring myself. Yet, mm… When I was a kid, what it was I looked up to. No, what I would have looked up to. A hero. A true hero. Not for good or evil, no, bt somewhat firm in their convictions. Unyielding even when faced with impossible odds. Stubborn to the point of stupidity as they kept standing up for their ideals. Their back ramrod straight. Their face ever forward. Weathering the storm. Facing their enemy. I did not shy from pain. I struck out with all I had.
Perhaps… In a way this was who I wished to be. The ideal me. Standing forward. Facing everything that would come. I didn't need to look back to feel the shadow's awe. To feel that growing faith. It did little for me. It only fed into my growing ego. My need to be seen as who I want to be.
Even when I felt like curling up in a ball and crying. Even when the pain makes my vision flicker. Even as my soul screamed. I held fast. I held true. Just long enough for the ship to get into range.
It rained once more. Metal and hellfire. Tearing into the clouds. Decimating the land. I laughed as the titan before me was reduced to nothing. The bombardment wasting a good chunk of the planet. When it finished, I made my way down to the corpse. The planet itself was struggling to cope with the damage.
I flew into a hole in its chest. Leading to its core. The thing was nearly half dead. Suspended like a heart. Its body pulsing. Its eyes looked at me. A whim, but one that paid well. I ripped into its chest. Pulling out the spent heart. My ki stirring as I looked at it. The will inside depleted and beat.
I looked it over and back to the dying avatar. A small smile on their face. Acceptance.
The heart shaped fruit beating calmly in my hand, lacking any ill intent from before. A little creepy, but… my instincts told me I would gain quite a bit from eating it. My instincts rarely lied to me. I bit into it. The fruit sweet and savory. The juices flowing into me strengthened me, healing my wounds before my very eyes. My ki altering and changing.
"A fine gain."
I said to myself as I stretched. I looked to my shadow, only to find the figure gone. The presence missing. I make my way out of the cavity to encounter a shuttle. Father standing outside.
"Well, I suppose I should have expected something like this… Though, why did you pick that fight Rettas?"
"What ever could you mean Master?"
"It's rather clear you couldn't handle that thing and I doubt you're suicidal."
I gave him a smile as I stepped onto the shuttle.
"Well Master, I'm not alone, am I? I trusted that somebody would interfere if it got big enough and we had a super carrier in orbit. If the tree person had simply stayed small, I could beat it, but mobilizing the whole planet would get your attention without a doubt."
He gave me an odd look.
"I'm not sure I understand exactly what's going on now. I just thought you picked a fight you couldn't win. Now you're saying something about fighting the planet."
I laughed.
"Just get on the shuttle and I can explain. Not like they're going to need us anymore after this."
He didn't hesitate to step onto the ship and as we flew into orbit, I explained exactly what happened. And I kept my personal thoughts quiet as I eyed my empty shadow. My mind was thinking even as I spoke and laughed about my journey. I could almost hear the planet sigh and settle. Watching me go.
And also… I felt like I understood something. Why I had went so far for that little girl. An emotion I had thought I never had. No, a faint remnant of something from ages past. A desire only spoken of once. A wish that had died with my mother's death.
She had died during childbirth. Neither she nor the baby daughter had survived.
Along with it, a wish, to be an older sister…
Despite myself. I found myself struck quiet. A thrum ran through me. Fear, anxiety… And yet… just another chain wound its way around my throat. Tightening its leash. Another curse, another binding that would lead me to my inevitable demise. Or so it whispered to me… But I didn't let it get to me.
I rolled my shoulders and brushed off those feelings. I smiled and talked as if nothing happened. Before long, we got back, and life resumed. Continuing on and on. As it should. Ever marching. Ever moving. Stopping for no-one. To the inevitable end we all must meet. Death.