"I still can't believe you challenged a god," Marle muttered, glancing sideways at Bulma, who was frowning and annoyed.
Their surroundings were strange: a small square divided into three areas. They were in the second area, surrounded by complete darkness but protected by an iron fence that Lucca had tested.
A streetlight illuminated the area where a man wearing a robe and a bowler hat and carrying a cane was sitting on a barrel. He appeared to be asleep, but his slight movements indicated that he was listening to the young people's conversation. They had just left the third area, which was protected by a simple wooden door.
"The worst thing is that he rejected and dismissed you with a single blow." Lucca, interested in the power of this type of being, said nonchalantly, causing Bulma's expression to become more pronounced.
"At least we earned his recognition. We awakened our magic without his help," said Crono, scratching the back of his neck. He tried to change the subject because he didn't want Bulma to get angrier. Who knows what a girl as strong as her could do if she unleashed her fury on them?
"Their energy levels were impossible to measure, unlike yours." Prometheus, who in this timeline had not lost his memory due to Bulma and Lucca's joint repair, came out to try to mediate the situation.
"Hm... It looks like I'll have to speed up our journey. I can't take much more. Well, we need to collect a special stone. Frog should have recovered the Masamune fragments by now." Bulma slowly relaxed her expression, controlling the anger that had built up inside her.
She had been defeated quite easily, which didn't surprise her because, when she saw the supposed God of War, she couldn't sense any energy in his body. This could be for many reasons, but the most likely one was that he was a divine entity.
It wasn't being defeated by such a being that bothered her, but his words. He dismissed her as just another mere mortal and showed acceptance only to Crono and the others, probably because they were the ones 'destined' to defeat Lavos.
How could she accept such contempt? Especially when the concept of "destiny" was brought up! She decided to go full steam ahead with her plan and get straight to the point until she faced Lavos herself.
"Hey, Gaspar," Bulma called out to the old man, who was pretending to be asleep. He was astonished to hear his name from the girl.
He hadn't heard that name in ages! Since ending up in this forgotten place, he had been alone, watching people come and go and the ages repeat themselves. No one had ever said his name.
Until now.
"Girl..." Gaspar looked up and observed Bulma closely. Because he was a scholar of time, space, and dimensions, his senses allowed him to perceive something that others could not normally see:
A huge figure enclosed in a crystal sphere. White wings adorned its back, forehead, wrists, and ankles. Its body was in a fetal position as it slept. But when it sensed it was being watched, its eyes opened.
"A true interdimensional being!" Gaspar was surprised, but his self-control allowed him to remain calm. He simply nodded before focusing his attention on Bulma.
"You already know where to go. Why are you talking to me?" the old man asked, making Bulma smile as she approached him.
"Can you give me your research data? The knowledge you possess could be very useful to me," she asked respectfully. Gaspar was one of the few beings she knew who could help her with this matter.
She had already explored the natural and energetic sides of her powers, but never the dimensional side. She did not have much information about it.
She had, of course, created machines that explored alternate timelines and even a portal through which to travel to them. However, this was only an application of space and time, not of different or higher dimensions.
"I understand. Let this old master give you his insights." Gaspar raised a hand, and vast magical power surged from his body.
It was the first time Bulma had ever felt such a powerful energy. This man was perhaps the most powerful person she had ever met. But she felt no fear because she could sense Gaspar's emotions. He seemed happy to see that someone could inherit his research.
"Open your mind. Accept and adapt what I am going to teach you," said the old man before touching Bulma's forehead and depositing all of his research, experiments, and results from the past and since arriving at this place:
The End of Time.
Bulma processed this information and stored it in her memory, ready to study it later. Although the research was based on magic, she could apply many useful aspects to science and Ki, improving her technology and techniques.
Imagine an attack that passes through space and appears instantly in front of the enemy! This is possible because it uses another dimension to shorten the path. This was one of her ideas, and she felt that, by studying this information, she could carry it out in the future.
After absorbing all this vast information, Bulma took a step back, feeling a little dizzy but happy nonetheless. She then bowed 90 degrees to Gaspar, showing him her utmost respect.
"Thank you for teaching me, Wise Gaspar, Master." Bulma truly recognized this old man as someone who had guided and enlightened her. Why wouldn't she show him respect?
"I won't hold you back any longer. Go destroy that Lavos," Gaspar said with a smile on his wrinkled face. After spending so much time in this timeless place, he finally felt he could let go of that knot.
...
Two fists collided, sending shockwaves through the forest. A wild laugh accompanied the crash caused by the blow. It came from a scantily clad blonde woman.
"You strong!" Although her language was simple, it allowed her to convey her true feelings at that moment. With her blue eyes, she watched Bulma closely as they faced off.
"You too," Bulma replied. She felt the anger building inside her subside because Ayla was allowing her to vent her emotions.
The group had arrived in prehistoric times. First, they went to the Middle Ages to pick up Frog, who had the Hero's Badge and the two fragments of the Masamune. Although the knight's emotions fluctuated greatly, he did not let himself be carried away by melancholy this time. Instead, he adopted an ironclad resolve upon learning that there were powerful enemies to defeat.
They had already collected almost everything they needed, except for a special rock in Ayla's possession. Ayla was a human from the distant past, exactly 65 million years ago, with no magical power.
However, this woman was not weak. Bulma felt that the blonde had a strength similar to her own. While Bulma used Ki to enhance herself, Ayla relied on pure muscle strength with no energy manipulation.
'Imagine teaching Ayla how to use Ki...' Bulma's desire to fight was almost as intense as her curiosity and thirst for adventure and invention, so she began to train with Ayla, gradually unleashing her power.
The fight between the two women was chaotic. Ayla's tribe members and Bulma's group had to step aside because the combat became increasingly intense.
Shock waves spread over long distances and sent fragments of earth, rock, and trees flying everywhere. Although Ayla couldn't fly, her attacks were so powerful that they allowed her to reach Bulma, who occasionally lifted her body.
"Is that the power of ancient humans? No, were there humans in this era?" Lucca muttered, unable to believe the scene unfolding before her.
She had made assumptions about Bulma's power, but she never expected that she could cause so much destruction with just her physique. Prometheus couldn't fathom how a human could have so much energy, nor how another human could keep up.
Marle looked at Ayla strangely because she sensed a certain familiarity about the ancient woman. She could see that some of Ayla's facial features resembled her mother's and Queen Leene's.
Frog felt familiar, too, but apart from that, he and Crono watched the fight with a desire to learn. Bulma's use of her body and energy, despite the absence of flashy attacks, demonstrated their potential if they trained to reach that level.
However, the fight was interrupted when a large group of different creatures approached the area. Dinosaurs of various shapes, including flying ones, were heading toward them with bad intentions.
Flying above them were small beings with large heads, green scaly skin, and reptilian eyes. The Reptites, who had evolved from dinosaurs and possessed psychic powers, were humanity's direct enemies at this time.
A huge dinosaur, similar to a T-rex, but much larger, was approaching them. It walked slowly toward them. Its heavy footsteps caused strong tremors, causing Bulma and Ayla to stop fighting and pay attention to it.
An iron collar encircled its neck. On its head was a female Reptite wearing a rough leather tunic adorned with metal armor and a crown of feathers. She was Azala, the Queen of this race and the most powerful psychic.
"Foolish humans!" she declared, projecting her voice with her psychic power so anyone could hear her.
"Azala! Stop fighting! Angry!" Ayla complained, crouching down like a big cat. The piece of furry clothing hanging from her back acted as a tail, making her look like she was mimicking a bristly cat.
"What ugly guys," Bulma said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Luckily, she wasn't a human supremacist; Earth's diversity had surrounded her since birth.
When one of your classmates was a cat girl, your teacher was a humanoid cow, and one of the popular girls was a vampire, your perspective on discrimination broadened considerably.
To her, the Reptites were just another species on the planet, very different from aliens. At least they weren't as ugly as some spacefaring species. She didn't focus on these guys' appearance or the Ki they possessed.
They weren't evil, but they were stained with blood, perhaps from constant conflict with humanity. The same could be said of Ayla. If it weren't for the fact that she felt her Ki was neutral and that this woman was simple, she would have thought that, with all that killer aura, she could be a villain.
Bulma ignored Azala's classic villain speech. She was only thinking that her fight had been interrupted. She looked at the queen strangely, and the queen noticed.
"Why are you looking at me like that!?" Azala growled, feeling a chill run down her scales.
"How long can you take my punches?" Bulma asked before unleashing her purple aura.
"You guys can join in, too," she said, looking at her companions and inviting them to fight against the mixed army of dinosaurs and Reptites.
Bulma had an easy fight, but the others needed the session to gain combat experience and develop their magical abilities. She focused only on Azala, who sensed her intentions and unleashed her psychic power.
While Ayla faced off against the giant dinosaur, Black Tyranno, Bulma and Azala engaged in a more spectacular confrontation. The queen created psychic orbs and lifted large rocks from the ground while Bulma fired energy beams.
Interestingly, Azala had two creatures around her that projected a powerful shield, which made Bulma's Ki blasts barely hurt her.
First, Bulma had to get rid of these annoying beings before dealing with Queen Reptite. Bulma also wanted to learn about this type of defense and adapt it for herself, so she gradually increased her power instead of unleashing it all at once.
She was not like a certain overconfident Saiyan; she was always ready to unleash her maximum power and was always alert to sneak attacks, from which she was saved several times.
Azala was cunning, but Bulma was alert. In the end, the human overcame the Reptite and killed her when she finally broke through her protective shield.
It only took one attack with her full power to reduce the queen to ashes. Then, Azala's army was gradually decimated by Crono, Lucca, Marle, Prometheus, Frog, and Ayla. They got rid of the Tyrant after breaking his back with a powerful kick.
Bulma floated calmly in the air as the wind blew her blue hair. Sensing something, she looked up and saw a red star in the sky. It was far away, but she could already feel the approaching evil of the being.
"You're next, Lavos," Bulma murmured, smiling with a desire to fight.
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AN: The next chapter is the end of this arc. Ayla is the strongest character on Chrono Trigger! And for me, she is Marle/Nadia's ancestor.
There's an animation about the main characters of my original novel 'Witch's Adventure', in this paragraph.