IdeasGuy
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Gone Native: The Unmovable Object (ch. 22)
🕑 Added 2021-12-13 15:51:17 +0000 UTCThe tides turned with Broly at my side. Our enemies felt it like a shift in the air as we floated across from one another, Broly's proclamation ringing out between us. I wasn't sure if they knew how powerful Broly was, but it didn't matter. They could barely keep up with me as it was. I looked at the three of them, Shazam, Batman, and Black Adam all meeting my gaze. I couldn't see Batman's face, but I imagine he also wore an expression of grim determination.
Then we clashed. I fell upon Black Adam, trusting Broly to have my back, and we fought together seamlessly. Almost like putting on an old hat. The only difference was that he was stronger now, massively. Both of us were. Black Adams's lips thinned as he blocked a blow from me, only to get kicked in the ribs by Broly.
Batman lunged, only to have his fist stopped when I lashed out with a foot, kicking at his knuckles and forcing the punch back. Black Adam countered, lunging for Broly, only to have my elbow slam into his temple hard enough that his head snapped to the side.
Shazam attacked Broly, who caught his fist, raising one of his own to punish him for overestimating himself. There was the briefest moment of hesitation on his side however, his fist clenched and ready to deliver the blow. That brief moment of hesitation cost him -- Batman took the opportunity to reengage, and kneed him in the stomach before swiping at Broly with the back of his fist.
The blow landed on the side of Broly's head, but his head didn't so much as budge a millimeter. In response, I spun sharply and kicked Batman in the side of the head, and only when he was gone did Broly follow through on his punch, his knuckles flattening Shazam's nose with brutal power.
"Sorry," he told me, and I knew exactly what he was apologizing for.
"Don't be. I don't want to kill any of them either," I told him, and Broly's shoulder slumped ever so slightly with relief. "The goal is to defeat them. Avoid killing where you can."
"Is that true? Or are you making an exception for me?" Broly asked, and it was a fair question for him to ask as he gave me a lingering look. It wasn't an order that I would normally give. Throughout the war… my policy was to kill my enemies. All of them, without mercy or respite. Things had changed, but not that much.
I eyed the heroes. Shazam was clearly concussed, and Batman's suit was breaking apart again, new damage piling up on the old, leaving only Black Adam ready to continue. "It's an exception for them," I admitted. "They have their reasons to oppose me, but after their defeat, it doesn't have to end in their deaths."
"That won't happen," Shazam said, his words slightly slurred. "You won't beat us. Even if you do… we won't ever give up. We'll never stop protecting Earth." He vowed, raising his fists. Perhaps it was because of my good mood now that I had been reunited with Broly, but I found a small smile tugging at the edges of my lips.
"See?" I pointed out, making Broly nod. He understood.
Broly raised his fists in response, "I'm a big fan, Shazam. I always thought you were the coolest member of the Justice League," Broly said with an honest smile, earning a confused blink from Shazam.
"Thanks? You think I'm cooler than Superman?" he questioned, and perhaps it was the concussion talking, but he seemed delighted. On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, Black Adam snarled.
"Enough of this banter. If you wish to dictate the terms of our defeat, then you must defeat us first. Otherwise, this is the blathering of fools," he snapped at Shazam, then at us. I offered a curt nod in response, and with that, the fight continued once more.
I threw myself at Black Adam, and with Broly fighting the others, the holes in his defence were more apparent. I caught him in the cheek with a fist, diverting one of his punches to miss me while I threw up a high knee to catch him in the diaphragm.
He grunted, punching out at me again, only to be caught by the wrist and back handed with the back of my fist, snapping his head to the side as blood flew free of his mouth. Twisting his arm, I punched up, my fist slamming underneath his elbow, and with a pained cry, I dislocated the joint before kicking him in the gut, sending him flying away. Black Adam was powerful. He truly was. It was just that without the others, he couldn't keep me at bay.
A ki spear appeared in my hand that I threw up at Batman, forcing him to dodge and opening him up to take a powerful blow from Broly. His fist slammed into the bat symbol on his chest, the metal warping around his knuckles before Batman was sent flying down to the ground. At the same time, I continued to fight Black Adam, delivering blow after blow upon him. He fought back, accepting the pain and injuries to continue to fight. He had mettle. I would give him that.
But, as I've learned long ago, just having the will to fight didn't make a difference. Black Adam looked at me through swollen eyes, blood dripping down his face as I raised my foot up above my head and brought it down. Yet, in a fraction of a second, as my foot descended, he disappeared and it struck nothing but air.
Black Adam had vanished. I couldn't feel his presence anymore. Nor Batman. And from the surprised sound that escaped Broly, Shazam was gone as well. I stretched my awareness across the globe, pushing my limit, and for the first time, it fully encompassed the entire planet. I could sense everything living on the planet.
"Tarble? What's going on?" Broly asked me, floating nearby. "Shazam just vanished."
I nodded, a frown tugging at my lips. "So did everyone else," I added, feeling no human life on the planet. They were all gone. Not just the humans, but the heroes and villains too. There was no one. The slow evacuation of the planet had been completed, but they had taken their defenders as well. It was as if they had completely abandoned the planet.
All my instincts screamed at me that this was a trap, but it was a question of what kind. And for what purpose. If they were so ready to abandon Earth, then why fight me at all? Their defeat was not certain. Not in the slightest. And none of them would so easily give up. They were ready to fight for Earth to the death. So none of this made any sense.
Slowly, cautiously, I dropped the Wrath State… the Super Saiyan transformation. I felt a bone deep exhaustion slam into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. It was almost painful, just how exhausted I was. My body had been pushed to its limit. Broly looked to me for guidance, but I wasn't sure what I could give him.
"They're planning something," I said, dropping down from the upper atmosphere and heading to where I last felt a number of presences. "What it is, I'm not certain, but they are planning something."
"I'll be ready," Broly said as he joined me down, heading to the city of Gotham. "Tarble, that transformation…"
"Hm. I'm a Super Saiyan," I confirmed as we reached a house. A large one. Landing lightly on the front doorstep, I effortlessly pushed the door off its hinges -- the ki signatures had been underneath the building. "It happened just after the war ended."
"Everyone always thought you were already a Super Saiyan," Broly said, sensing something was off. I didn't need to tell him that the transformation came with a high cost. A cost that seemed /too/ high. "I figured it was true too."
"People thought that because they didn't know that you were stronger than me. Still are," I remarked. Which spoke at how just overwhelmingly powerful Broly was. He had been incredibly strong when I last saw him, able to fight with the Warlord Mongol. But, the bar had been moved up since then. I was confident that I could defeat Mongol now, quite easily.
And simply by having another growth spurt, Broly handily outpaced me without the need to fight. I wasn't one that dwelled on thoughts about fairness or things like that -- they were useless things to think about. But it was also the only way I could think to describe it. The ease of his growth was just unfair.
"I always thought that there was more to being a Super Saiyan than just being strong," Broly said as we stepped into the home -- it was richly decorated with paintings and gold trimming. I didn't care for it. I upturned some furniture, looking for a way down, but so far, I wasn't seeing one. "You always acted like a Super Saiyan."
A memory flashed by, of when I first transformed as the betrayal of my team sunk in. At what they had done. What they planned to do. And the years of lies and secrets. The moment that I had snapped and… I slaughtered them. Killed them.
"No," I refuted with a shake of my head. "I only acted like one once in my life. And I hope, Broly… that I am the last one," I told him without looking at him. I hoped that no one else would have to obtain the transformation I had achieved. Every Saiyan naively coveted it. The power that flowed through my veins. And perhaps it was wasted on me. Perhaps the others would decide it was worth the cost.
And if they did… and sought it anyway, then they would have to die, because there was no room in my empire for the destruction that power mad Saiyans could bring.
I reached out a hand, summoning a ki ball that surrounded both me and Broly before I began to descend through the floor. Wood and metal gave way to concrete, then stone. We dropped down about fifty feet before we emerged on the other side within a cavern. I saw a dinosaur. A giant penny. A number of other trophies, along with a super computer that seemed to cover the far wall.
I also noticed that a coffee cup had fallen on the chair. A platter of food sat on the ground, dropped as if someone had been holding it. Bloody bandages and sheets.
They had been taken without warning, I thought, dropping the bubble shield. Were the heroes not aware of what was being done? I thought it had been part of their plan?
I took in a deep breath as I walked over to the computer, pushing the chair away. Thankfully, whoever had been using it was still logged in when they were taken. I shifted through their open folders and tabs to see that they had the same question as I did -- where was everyone going? They found their answer… or they at least found the most likely culprit.
"Multiversal travel," I remarked, the computer identifying radiation that had been left behind with each vanishing person. Energy sources. A universal kaleidoscope to determine where exactly the humans had been dropped off. Humanity had access to the multiverse. That was a tall order even for my own Empire… more than that, they had refined it. Almost to the point of mastery. "Humanity, you are just full of surprises."
They used a parallel universe as a getaway vehicle. A safe haven. Where they could regroup and heal. Then they could venture out, fight, and if they failed, they would simply vanish back to the other universe. It would be nothing but endless guerrilla warfare on Earth so long as I settled here. Because, if they were capable of this, then they would be able to prevent retalitory incursions from me. In theory, at least.
It would take time and resources for me to be able to attack them in the other universe they inhabited. While they could come and go. This… was Humanity's Plan B. To be such a pain in the ass that I simply wouldn't bother.
"So, does that mean it's over?" Broly questioned as I took a step back. I crossed my arms, frowning in thought. I had to consider my options. Wash my hands of Earth and leave? Settle it and deal with humanities incursions? Invest the time and resources needed until I could take the fight to them? The confrontation wasn't what I expected. Humanity had found a way to sidestep the issue.
I reached into my belt and pulled out a capsule. "No, it's not over yet," I decided. Those that had killed my soldiers would have to pay. They wouldn't get to run away and hide. In this universe or another -- I would hunt them down until the end of existence and creation, and make them pay for what they did to my soldiers. Nothing could change that.
"So, what are we going to do?" he asked me as I tossed the capsule, my bed appearing in a puff of smoke. A healing pod. I changed out the fluid as I considered the question, running through the possibilities in my head.
"They're going to use this time to prepare. And to heal. I'm going to do the same," I decided, stepping into the healing pod and pressing a button so it would fill with fluid. A medicine ball would further sap my already waning strength and endurance, while the medicine pod would rejuvenate me. Broly took a seat outside the pod while I affixed the mask to my face -- my necklace gave me air, but I didn't want to deal with lungs full of fluid. "We're waiting for them to spring their trap. Or until Superman arrives. Whatever comes first."
Broly nodded, acting as my guard. I closed my eyes, letting the fluid soak into me like a salve. Almost instantly, I felt my exhaustion lessen. I opened them when Broly spoke. "I think you're really going to like Earth when everything settles down. It's really peaceful. And there are a lot of things we can do for fun!" he said and I opened my mouth to respond, but I swallowed the words that nearly jumped out of my mouth.
Froot's words still echoed in my ears. I had come to Earth thinking that this was where I would be able to do something like laugh uncontrollably. Or have fun.
So far, that hasn't exactly worked out for me.
"Like what?" I questioned, my voice muffled by the mask, and I closed my eyes when I heard Broly begin excitedly telling me about all he had experienced on Earth. Experiences which were vastly different from mine, so far. He spoke of movies, video games, and spending an entire day doing nothing but hanging out with friends. He told me that he had a job as a deep sea explorer that searched the ocean floor for treasure. He was pretty good at it given that he could endure pressures that even normal steel couldn't.
He told me about how he had swam to Atlantis once without meaning to. He described what it was like and how pretty it was. Then how he would sneak into other countries for the sake of getting authentic food, paid with treasure. He also told me how Shayera became a mother to him, and helped him ease into this peaceful world where he didn't have to fight.
He told me he was happy.
"Sorry," I told him when there was a lull in the conversation. "I didn't mean for things to turn out like this. I thought Earth already knew that I owned it."
"It's not like you to press your claim like that, though," Broly said, leaning against the pod. "I mean… back during the war, you always did what you saw as necessary. Even the things that were really hard for you. Everyone else did all that we could because we saw that you didn't want to do it, but you weren't going to flinch at the cost. But… why do this to Earth? Does it really matter at all to you?" He wasn't wrong when he noticed the discrepancies in my actions.
"I couldn't care less about Earth," I admitted. "I planned on making it the new Saiyan homeworld, but I think it would cause more problems than it would solve. Our people grew up at war. It's all they know now. I thought by bringing them to Earth, they could find something to fill their lives with other than death and destruction. That's why I came here."
Broly nodded, and I heard him sigh. "I think humans are probably too fragile to share a planet with Saiyans." he agreed with me, sounding sad about it. "But I don't think you're wrong. It's a good place. And a good planet. Some humans are bad, but a lot of them are good and kind. I think they can teach our people a lot."
I wanted humans to influence the Saiyan race. I wanted to take their good parts -- compassion, empathy, and cooperation, to build on the foundation I had tried to create by making them work together to survive.
The human race and Saiyans had a number of similarities, but there was a key difference between us. There were humans that believed that humans thrived because of a survival of the fittest mentality. That the weak were dead weight that were to be freely cast away the moment they dragged the group down.
Those people were idiots. That was how Saiyans evolved. Even as tribes, Saiyans were individuals.
Humans, on the other hand, dominated the planet they lived on with cooperation. With empathy. They could be, and oftentimes were, cruel to one another, but they progressed as a species by relying on one another to survive. They nurtured the weak and carried on those that couldn't provide for themselves. To fight and to kill, they had to convince themselves that the enemy wasn't human, because their brains were wired to not kill their fellow humans.
That's what I wanted for my species. For them to learn and integrate the parts of humanity that shined.
"Hm. I made a mess of it, though. It's not an easy thing to change." I voiced, a sigh in my words. It all started with Adonis. The moment that he fled, the moment he betrayed his team and the Earth to save his own skin… I hated him. Despised him. I let that guide my actions. So, I killed him. Executed him. Things could have been different if I hadn't done that. That point of contention wouldn't have been there between me and the Justice League.
Perhaps there had been a way to peace, but I dashed it because I let personal feelings influence my actions.
"Maybe a little," Broly agreed. "But… weren't you the one that taught me that you learn the most from mistakes?"
That got a small breath of laughter from me. I should have known that one day someone would throw my words back into my face. I just didn't expect it to be Broly.
"It's a nice thought, Broly. If only it was so easy," I said, pressing the button for the drain button as I sensed the trap closing in on us. The fluid drained, leaving me drenched in healing fluid, but otherwise refreshed. Stepping out, I flexed my power to dry myself off and to test the new limits of my strength. The heroes and villains of the world had licked their wounds for a spell -- possibly utilizing time dilation to give them more than the short hour that was given to me.
But, in that hour, I grew stronger. I was still a long ways away from being able to fight Superman in my base form… but I was stronger. In comparison to others…
Three and a half million at my base state. More than a half million jump in power. It said a great deal about the quality of my enemies that my power had seen the largest increase in my life here.
The heroes had licked their wounds and were stronger for it. And so was I.
"Come on, Broly. It's time," I said, heading to the stairs. I didn't bother with the healing tank. I wouldn't need to sleep anytime soon, one way or the other. Broly got up and followed me as we reached the top of the stairs. With a hand, I ripped the door along with it's frame out of the wall and sent it flying through the house with a flick of my wrist. It tore a hole through the wall, revealing the noose that I had expected.
I said nothing as I walked out, Broly close behind me before we stepped into the grass. I looked around the front of me -- warrior women. All of them dressed in bronze, carrying shields and spears. A few thousand of them. On one flank, they hand amphibious men and women wielding coral weapons that came in as many shapes and sizes as they did. On the other flank were humans. Soldiers.
And standing before them all were Heroes -- the Justice League. Aquaman's stump had been capped with a hook. His hair was longer too. Seems like I was right about time dilation. Standing next to him was Wonder Woman, looking as strong and proud as ever. There was Martian Manhunter too. The Flash, his legs reattached. Even Dr. Fate had made a return, though I noted that he wore a different body.
After sizing them all up, I looked upwards to see Superman descending from the sky, his cape billowing in the wind. His expression was grim, but resolute.
The silence was deafening. It was as if the planet itself was holding its breath.
"It seems my policy of avoiding killing any of you has bitten me in the ass," I remarked, looking at them all. I saw members of the Batfamily as well. Other heroes and villains that were standing against me to stop me. "Though, I'm glad to see some of you managed to survive your wounds," I said, my eyes going to Wonder Woman.
She offered a curt nod… then a frown when she saw Broly waving at her. But she wasn't put off for long, "King Tarble, there is still time for you to surrender. You cannot hope to defeat us." As she spoke, Superman landed in front of the army assembled to stop me. I met his gaze evenly, and there was a deep frown on his face.
"How many of my men did you kill, Superman?" I asked him, ignoring the offer of surrender. His frown seemed to deepen but he met my gaze unflinchingly.
"You don't have a fleet in the system anymore," he said, not answering the question. My lips thinned as a cold anger rose up within me. I grabbed hold of it, forcing it down, but it only seemed to bloat until it gripped my heart despite my efforts.
"How many?" I asked him again, my voice quiet. Barely more than a whisper, but it carried across the silent area.
Superman continued to meet my gaze, his face softening a fraction. "I focused on disabling thrusters and the engines. There were some hurt in the battle, but I made sure everyone on the ships got on the lifepods. I sent them on the way to your reinforcements." Upon hearing that, I inclined my head to him.
It must be nice being that strong. When you were facing entire fleets of ships and it was an option to not kill anyone to stop them.
"You need to surrender, King Tarble. This has already gone too far. You know you can't win," Superman told me, stepping forward with an open palm.
I looked at Broly, who looked at Superman with a hint of reverence… but, at the same time, as if he were an enemy. Broly sensed my gaze and glanced at me, offering a single nod to show he was committed. I didn't need to check. I never doubted him. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't too troubled at the prospect.
"If I were fighting alone? You'd be correct. There's no way I could beat all of you," I said as I pulled at the power within my veins. The ground tore and shifted, rasing up before being obliterated by the intensity of my aura. My hair shifted as if it were caught in a breeze, bleeding gold, and I felt that emotion again. That raw, overwhelming emotion.
However, with Broly here, it was easier to bear.
"But I'm not alone," I said, walking forward to meet Superman until we were standing nose to nose. "So, I will extend the same offer to you -- surrender. Because you can't hope to defeat the two of us."
I wonder what would give way first, I thought as I saw the answer in his gaze.
The unstoppable force… or the immovable object?
Comments
KaySchus
Really excited to see where this fight goes - I still sort of personally fail to see where the endgame of this entire situation is heading but honestly I don't care. This entire book after the end of the war has been awesome from start to now.
Fake Name
Great chapter
Hrathen
It's fine if Tarble kills them, they'll get rezzed via magic, time travel, multiverse, reality change, or mad science. It's DC nothing sticks in that setting, so he might as well not hold back
Alexandre Ugalde
Top notch stuff, and the multiversal sidestep plus time dilation as a plan B is very on par for DC. Great stuff, looking forward to see if they have preparations to deal with Broly after Batman's fight with him.
