Goten, slowly rising up from the crater, whimpered painfully as he gripped his arm. That shockwave had been one thing, but the landing had been more painful than anything else. Not only were his clothes in tatters, his body was also wrecked, and his skin was covered in various cuts and bruises. On top of that, he'd seriously banged his arm against something hard. "M-My shoulder… ah…"
Having already sustained significant damage as well, Trunks pulled himself up out of the ditch he'd made a couple yards away. Bleeding and bruised in various other places, the lavender haired boy winced and trembled as he struggled to drag his way out of the hole. "Goten… a-are you okay?" His question went unanswered. When his eyes snapped to their left, he saw the enormous alien they were fighting rear its ugly head back and, giving a loud roar, begin charging another energy attack.
The two boys' eyes widened in horror when they sensed its ki skyrocket and photons of light gather around its mouth, where an enormous pink ball of energy crackled and took shape. The orb bathed the entire countryside in an eerie light and stunned everyone who was watching.
The navy, having recently gone quiet, could only gape helplessly. The Z-fighters scattered across the countryside, unable to move due to the staggering injuries they'd received from only a couple of hits from the monster, were in the exact same boat.
As the beast proceeded to charge, causing the atmosphere above it to warp and twist, Paprika, having suffered a ridiculous amount of damage as well, pulled her body out of the rubble and into the open. Blood dripping down her face, she glared up at the alien over the horizon, which she saw was now charging what looked like a miniature sun in its mouth and had now raised into the sky.
Gasping when she sensed who it was aiming for, the Makyan panicked. "NO!"
Just as Goten picked himself fully off of the ground, his legs suddenly gave way beneath him and he collapsed to his knee. Yelping when he hit the ground, the child gripped his shoulder even tighter. "I… It hurts!" The shock to his body was just too much.
Like everybody else, he too was completely immobilized.
Unfortunately, Goten didn't have time to fuss over his injuries. Seconds after collapsing under the crippling pain racking his form, the enormous beast had finished charging its final blast. With the pink ball of energy compressing and gaining stability in its mouth, the creature then reared back and, throwing its full weight forward, let it loose. With a terrifying screech, the attack exploded from its mouth with a deafening howl, gushing like a river bursting through a dam and generating a blinding flash of light.
Spanning several kilometers in diameter with enough energy behind it to wipe out the entire solar system, the energy attack tore across the landscape and incinerated the area in front of the titan the instant it left its mouth. It was clear the alien had no idea how much power it was putting behind its attacks, but had aimed it so that it not only killed the half-Saiyan that had attacked it, but his friend and the entire West City behind them.
The Z-fighters saw the path of the light speed blast in bullet time and neither one of them were in any condition to do anything. All Piccolo, Krillin and Android 18 could do was watch on in shock as the attack ripped towards the terrified Goten with the intent of wiping him out in one go.
The two demi-Saiyans, both kneeling mere feet from each other, stared ahead of them in horror as the wall of energy thundered towards them. Judging from the sheer size of the attack and how fast it was moving, there was no way either of them could move in time to dodge it, and there was even less time for any of their friends to grab them.
But just when it seemed like they were about to be blasted into oblivion, a shadow suddenly dropped down from the sky and landed in front of them.
Piccolo and everybody else recoiled in surprise when they saw Paprika appear in the path of the blast, her energy blasting off of her and a dome-like shield forming around her and the two little ones behind her.
Then… it happened.
The attack struck Paprika with a deafening shockwave, a scream of agony escaping her lips as the force of a thousand supernovas went off in her face. In spite of the protective shield she'd put up to prevent the attack from reaching her, the teen felt her entire front roast under the blowtorch that was the invading alien's blast, her clothes being ripped apart by the gale force winds and her body being eaten away by the sheer temperature of the cyclone of energy. At first it seemed like her heroic gesture was all for naught and that she was about to be wiped out, along with the two half-Saiyans and all of West City behind her.
But, with the energy she managed to build up in her hands at the last second, Paprika was able to deflect the entire bulk of the blast and send it rocketing into the sky. The attack shot off of the planet like a comet, expanding as it did so, not only wiping out a couple of satellites, but several more asteroids when it left the solar system and shot towards another part of the Milky Way. The attack continued to travel for billions of miles, before eventually striking a distant star and destroying it in a colossal blast.
When the beam eventually faded, it revealed another massive trench burned into the surface of planet earth, which began at the place the alien was floating and ended at the spot where Goten and Trunks knelt.
Looking through the smoke left behind in the wake of the gargantuan beam, the two demi-Saiyans then saw the silhouette of their savior emerge. A smile appeared on Goten's face when he recognized the figure as his friend and the boy ecstatically crawled forward in joy. "P-Paprika… you saved us…" He then stopped when he saw exactly what'd happened to her and his eyes widened in shock.
The shield the Makyan had produced had saved them all from being disintegrated. That was the main thing. The side-effect of her courageous act though was far more gruesome than any of them had expected. Not only was she missing both of her hands, but most of the skin on her front had been charred black, she was bleeding from various other wounds, and on top of her ribs, which had been exposed from the amount of flesh that'd been burnt away, but bits of her femur and shin could also be seen.
Needless to say, she looked pretty messed up.
However, with her face remaining intact, Paprika still mustered the strength to grin and pant. "Yeah… that's right… I can take anything you can dish out…" Her expression then became choked up and her eyes widened, after which she collapsed to her knees and fell flat onto her face.
Panicking and ignoring the pain racking his frame, Goten crawled forward as quickly as he could. Stopping right beside the Makyan, the boy took her by the shoulder and shook her, nervously looking into her eyes as she gazed right back at him. "P-Paprika… Paprika… no… no…" Whimpering fearfully, the boy looked her over to see the damage she'd sustained and, beginning to shake from head to toe, he placed a hand on her back and gently shook her again. "W-What did… what did he do to you, Paprika? W-What did…"
The demon girl chuckled weakly and coughed a few times, looking back at the child staring down at her. "Don't worry, Goten. It's… just a little scratch. I-I'll make it… you'll see…" Seeing tears starting to form in his eyes, she beamed at him warmly and grinned in an attempt to comfort him. "It's okay… I'm fine."
"N-No. You're not fine," the demi-Saiyan whispered back, completely ignoring the monstrous alien floating slowly towards them as he tried to bring his friend back around. But considering the wounds she'd sustained and not having the skills or means to help her, there was only so much he could do. "J-Just rest… my… my brother will come and fix you. H-He'll know what to do. He always knows what to do."
Coughing a couple more times, Paprika smiled back at the kid holding her shoulder, "I'm sure he does…" Trying to reach up to push him away, the girl held back as she felt the remains of her ki ebb away and her heart slowly coast to a stop. "But I don't need help… not his anyway. As long as… you're safe… then that's good enough for me." Then, as the last of her strength dissipated, she allowed a couple of tears to escape her own eyes and trickle down her cheeks. "Just… run. Get out of here… while you still… can… G-Goten…"
Then, with her gaze going blank, the Makyan breathed her last and her life force finally vanished.
Eyes widening when he sensed his friend's energy disappear, Goten slowly released her out of shock. Trembling uncontrollably, he nudged her a few more times to see if she was just playing with him. "P-Paprika?" But after a couple of tries and a few pokes to the girl's side, the raven haired youngster's eyes began to water and his expression reflected absolute dismay. "N-No… Paprika…" Shaking her back one blast time, the child then fisted his hands tightly and gritted his teeth, sobbing as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against her head. "No… no… no-no-no… please… no."
Trunks, hearing his friend start to cry, looked on from his spot helplessly and swallowed heavily. "G-Goten."
With nothing but the sounds of sobs and a child's cries filling the air, the enormous invader's shadow fell over the trench and the beast snarled warningly. Upon which a deafening shriek escaped its mouth as it reared its head back and wailed out victoriously. The stricken Z-fighters could only stare from their spots as the beast slowly turned its attention to its latest victim and began to raise its limbs to flatten the two remaining pests standing in its line of sight.
However, its loud screech, which was meant to bring terror to all those who heard it, instead broke Goten out of his trance.
Between the sight of his friend's body and the sound of the creature responsible for her death reverberating around him, the hybrid just snapped.
Eyes shooting open, the boy rose from the ground and, with a bloodcurdling cry that sent chills down everyone's spines, the child turned to the clouds and screamed out to the heavens. In his rage, Goten allowed his anguish and pain to boil over, and when his aura sprang up around him, it was forever changed. Golden energy blasting from his every pore, the child continued to scream towards the atmosphere as his energy skyrocketed and his hair flashed gold. To accompany the change, his eyes turned a sharp teal and, with an earthshaking shockwave, Goten transformed.
Trunks, Piccolo and the other Z-fighters who were on their feet looked on in disbelief as the child spun around and faced the creature with nothing but hate and fury burning in his face.
"You killed my friend!" Goten snapped, the alien staring down at the child in what could only be described as surprise. "She was my friend… AND YOU KILLED HER!" With one last bellow, the demi-Saiyan exploded from the ground and shot towards the behemoth in the form of a golden bolt.
In an instant, the child collided with the alien's shield with a monstrous punch, generating a sonic boom on impact and shattering three of its layers in one hit. His body overflowing with power and spurred on by his anger, the child began burying punch after punch into the alien's translucent force field, causing it to shirk back slightly in surprise. When punching didn't work anymore, the boy began digging into it with his fingers and tore away at the layers one after the other.
Every blow was accompanied by a cry and every rip was drowned out by a grunt. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER!" Little by little he tunneled through the alien's shield to his foe.
But all of his efforts proved in vain. Being only able to rip apart the surface layers of the barrier, Goten was unable to get through in time when the alien's eyes flashed red and a powerful purple blast engulfed the child. The attack struck the hybrid and overwhelmed him, shooting out and taking the shape of an enormous crucifix, before the Super Saiyan was thrown off of the alien's barrier and sent hurtling through the air. Goten could only cry out in pain when his burnt body was sent spiraling across the land before impacting a distant cliff.
When the dust cleared, the demi-Saiyan could be seen lying unconscious and back to normal in a small crater. Upon which the alien, focusing all of its attention on the child, reared its head back and prepared to charge a second attack to finish him off. But just when the other Z-fighters were moving to come to Goten's defense, or at least tried to, a golden sphere of energy slammed into the monster's side and detonated against its barrier with enough force to lurch it.
"HEY! You! Over here!"
Flinching in surprise, the extra terrestrial stopped and spin in the direction of the gruff voice. When its eyes landed on a mountainous pile of rubble, it spotted a short man with flame-like black hair, wearing white gloves, white boots with yellow tips on them, and figure hugging blue spandex pants and vest, glaring back at it furiously. Though the shout certainly got the creature's attention, it was the man's energy level that held it.
When he saw who it was that had blasted the creature, Trunks's expression brightened instantly. "DAD!"
Vegeta's glare narrowed as his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "I was enjoying a nice day out training in the wastes on the other side of the planet. But then I come home and find some over-sized, mutated octopus trying to kill my son and his friend." The Saiyan Prince snarled as he fixed all of his attention on the invader. "You're going to regret this, you freak! All the way to the GRAVE!" With a loud yell, the warrior tensed and powered up, jumping straight into Super Saiyan without a second thought or care.
The instant his golden aura exploded off of him and punched a crater into the rubble, the Prince launched himself from his spot and charged at the alien, a mighty roar leaving his lips and echoing across the countryside.
The real battle was about to begin.
===============================
If you want to support me and also access 30 advance chapters, join my patreon with the link patreon.com/EddyHazArd Or just search "EddyHazArd" in the patreon searcher.