//------------------------------// // You Want This Ball? // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// "You can't run forever!" Goku shouted after the fleeing Izotz. The glow form his Super Saiyan 3 power illuminated the ice tunnels through which he gave chase, not giving the black clad warrior much place to hide. After a few more minutes of chasing, Goku yelled in frustration and threw a ki blast at the hooded man. It exploded near his feet, causing a big dust up of shattered ice; a hole opened up where the blast had contacted the frozen surface, revealing a large room underneath. Goku assumed Izotz had retreated down there. Jumping down, he looked around for him, but saw nothing until he looked behind him and saw Vegeta, frozen in a block of ice. "Vegeta!" he exclaimed. "Please be alive!" Goku raised his hand to blast open the ice around the saiyan prince, but he was suddenly blindsided by a massive pillar of the same material. It contacted his skull squarely on the side and send him flying back a ways before he regained composure. He stared angrily into what little of Izotz face he could see. "Do you hate me, Son Goku?" he asked. Goku looked at him as if he must be kidding. "I don't just hate you, I'm going to destroy you!" Izotz smiled slightly, then returned to a neutral emotion. "Without your oldest son's mystical kai power, I think you'll find that rather difficult. I was running from him, not from you, Super Saiyan." As he said this, he raised his arms slowly and then flicked his hands upward. A series of sharp ice stalagmites jutted up from under Goku's position. The Super Saiyan jumped into the air once he realized he couldn't avoid the pointed deathtraps on the ground; the deadly frozen liquid seemed to gleam in the light of his power. He was suddenly struck again from the other side; a giant block of ice had detached from the wall behind him and bashed itself into him, sending his form soaring forwards and into another ice block. He hit the obstacle grunting, and slid down; he quickly regained flying position when he realized more spikes had come up where he almost landed. He looked at Izotz again, getting angrier by the second. The bastard was not showing anything; fear, excitement, smugness. Not one single emotion played across his lips nor his body movements. This was nothing but a job to him, it seemed That job had gotten his son killed. Rushing forward with a loud sonic boom which cascaded the surrounding ice blocks, Goku went for his Super God Fist technique just as he had against Aedus. Izotz seemed ready though, and a clear sheet of ice popped up to shield him from Goku's attack. The Super Saiyan rammed his attack into the shield of ice, but all it did was crack it slightly. He moved swiftly to go around it, but Izotz once again threw up another shield before Goku could even throw a punch. This was getting tedious, and that was making the Super Saiyan's blood boil hotter. "Are you done throwing your tantrum like a little child, Son Goku?" The hissing and chilling voice came out. Goku grunted angrily, his muscles tightening with pressure. "I haven't even begun!!" He raised another fist, and brought it down on the shield protecting Izotz. * * * Gohan had covered Goten's body in one of the large blankets they had brought along; the form underneath was still painful to look at. Apple Bloom had stopped crying a little while ago, her face red and puffy from doing so. Her lungs ached, her face hurt, and she had a pit in her stomach that felt like she hadn't eaten in weeks. There was on other feeling...one that was replacing the sadness in her heart. It was a feeling of pure rage. Something she had not felt so strongly in all her years. Gohan attempted to stand up. "I'm going to go find Trunks, and then we're getting out of here..." He went to take off and fly, but he used his broken ankle to push off and just fell on his face with a cry. Apple Bloom came over to make sure he was alright. "Here, Gohan.." she said. "you stay here and watch over your little brother's body. I'll go find Trunks. I'm less noticeable than you, so it's ok." Gohan considered this, and knew she was right. If he got into a skirmish, his ankle would be a problem. Apple Bloom had shown she could fend for herself to an extent, so he nodded and slid himself back to Goten's blanketed corpse. Apple Bloom trotted off down the hall, her eyes fiery with her new mission. No, she didn't intend to find Trunks; for all she cared, he could've been blown up too. Her actual mission was much different. She was going to find Izotz, and she was going to kill him. * * * "Take this!!" Goku's fist smashed through the mural, collapsing the wall it had been painted on. Izotz rose up behind him in the air. The Super Saiyan turned around, his eyes still burning with pure rage over his boy's demise. Izotz showed absolutely nothing. "I'm done playing with you, Goku." Izotz said. "I've wasted enough time. I must take the Dragon Ball and leave." "You're not going anywhere with that ball!" Goku shouted back, and blasted forward once again. Izotz raised his arm and clasped his hand into a fist; in reaction, the ice rose up, taking on the form of an Egyptian coffin. Before the Super Saiyan could react, the sarcophagus swallowed him and slammed it's heavy lid down on him. Goku banged on the inside of the enclosed tomb, but only cracked the thick sheets that now covered him. "A coffin fit for a pharaoh." Izotz said coolly. "Once you exhaust yourself, it will be your final resting place." "And this whole room is gonna be yours, frosty!" came an accented voice. With a questioning grunt, Izotz turned his head and was immediately met with a hoof to his jaw. Apple Bloom had leaped down from the tunnel above and landed a flying kick perfectly on the surprised warrior. The two star ball flew from his grasp and fell onto the floor below with a clink. Apple Bloom didn't let her element of surprise pass by. She flipped upright and charged forward with furious hoof strikes; the speed at which she was moving was much faster than she thought she could ever go, but she didn't worry about it now. She had to make this slimeball pay; pay for killing Goten. Izotz, completely caught off guard, was near helpless under the constant hard knocks from this mare's hooves. The blows were more powerful than they should have been, and he was going to be knocked out if he didn't think of a way to get some distance. She finished her barrage of punches, and then went for a chop. Izotz took advantage of the momentary stoppage, and grabbed her hoof before she could bring it down. He froze it solid, and then motioned for a chunk of ice from the wall to come forward and strike her down from the air. It did so, and the southern mare gave a painful yelp as she hit the floor and bounced hard. Izotz went to follow up, gathering as much ice as he could around his hand, ready to bash her brains out in one blow. She ducked just in time, and the strike moved forward to the frozen Vegeta; the impact shattered the saiyan prince's prison, causing him to be flung forward a short ways. Izotz cursed himself for his carelessness; now he had to contend with Vegeta. But once he noticed Vegeta was not getting up as quickly as expected, he relaxed a bit, and began to walk towards the recovering saiyan. Apple Bloom, seeing that Vegeta needed time to regroup himself, looked around for something she could distract Izotz with. It looked as though there was only ice everywhere she turned. Then her eyes found the Dragon Ball, and she hatched an idea. "Hey, dungbrain!" She shouted out, causing he icey fighter to turn around. "You want this?" She held the two star ball in her hooves like the holy grail, and Izotz turned to her fully, some anger appearing across his lips. "Put it down, child." He hissed a warning. "You'll be seeing your young saiyan boyfriend again sooner than expected if you don't." She smirked confidently. "Maybe I want to see him again, so come get me, slushy." She plopped the Dragon Ball into her mouth, and galloped down one of the hallways. Izotz gave a grunt and began to give chase to the yellow mare with the karate related cutie mark, his coat flapping furiously behind him as he ran. Vegeta took note of the situation, and silently thanked Apple Bloom. As he finally mustered the strength the stand, he looked at the coffin of ice Goku was trapped in. He floated slowly up o it, still recovering from his ice prison; once he reached the intended death bed, he placed his ear to it, getting a chill when he did so. "K-k-kakarot? Are you...I-I-in there?" He chattered. "Vegeta?!" Goku's muffled reply came back. "Yeah! I'm trapped! You have to get me out! Where's Izotz?" "H-h-he's chasing Apple Bloom a-a-nd th-the Dragon Ball around." Vegeta informed him. "What?! We have to save her, c'mon, Vegeta!" "Give me a moment..." He said, backing away a few feet. He gathered some energy in his right hand; the sparkling green of it made the ice look like emerald. "Final Shine...ATTACK!!" He shouted out, the name echoing off the chamber walls. The beam of energy struck the coffin, but only cracked it more rather than breaking it. Vegeta tried one more time, but it did nothing then. "Damn it!" He shouted. "Kakarot! I can't break it!" "I'll try to use my Kamehameha from in here! Let's hit it at the same time and see what happens!" The muffled voice of Goku suggested. Vegeta nodded. "Ready when you are." "Kame..." "Final.." "...hame.." "Shine..." "HAH!!" "ATTACK!!" The two energy blasts connected with the ice, and for a second it looked like the attempt had failed, but then the ice exploded violently, freeing the Super Saiyan 3 from his tomb. Goku flew over to Vegeta looking pretty hurt. "You hurt yourself with that Kamehameha didn't you, Kakarot?" "Sorry." He admitted. "Wasn't much room in there...and I think I left my senzu beans with Gohan..." "Well, let's go get them and--" "First we have to save Apple Bloom.." Goku interrupted. Vegeta snarled, remembering the mare and her current plight. He nodded, and the saiyans took off at high speeds in the direction the pony and the ice-man had gone. * * * Apple Bloom was running as fast her legs could carry her, but the bipedal ice-bender was somehow keeping a steady pace with her. In fact, he was gaining a bit. She turned into another corridor, and then made another sharp turn to another one. She had no idea why a museum needed so many narrow hallways, but she was happy they did. She could try to lose her assailant in this maze. She looked back, expecting nothing and she saw nothing. She laughed triumphantly, but than ran smack-dab into the legs of the evil hooded figure. He grabbed for her, but she started to run in the other direction. He stopped her advance with a wall of ice, cutting off her only exit from his position. She turned towards Izotz, a small amount of fear in her eyes. But all she had to do was remember what he had done to Goten, and her fear was replaced by anger. She set the Dragon Ball in her hoof, holding it to her side. "You want this ball?" She antagonized. "I want it." He replied coldly. "You want this ball?" She repeated, a little higher pitch in her voice. "I want it!" "You want this ball?" "I want that Dragon Ball!" Finally getting him to lose his cool, he dove for the Dragon Ball in her hoof. She dodged to the side and landed an axe-kick (or the pony equivalent of one) onto the center of his spine, mashing his face into the floor. He put a hand to his face as he slowly stood; that attack had had much more force than it should have. "What are you..?" He asked, hissing loudly. "Me? I'm just a pony. What the hay are you?" Izotz stood up straight, and raised his hands up. At first, Apple Bloom thought he was going to attack, but his hands continued to the sides of his hood. He moved it back revealing a grotesque and rotted face devoid of a nose. The top of his skull was non-existant, and his brain could be seen floating inside what she assumed to be an ice cover to replace where the skull would have been. She felt the room get much colder just then, and saw that it was snowing. Snowing...indoors. "I...am a devil!"