//------------------------------// // An Example // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// "Alright, Piccolo," Sapphic grinned. "let me show you what true godlike power is." Piccolo didn't make any retort as he dashed forward to once again engage the changeling king in combat. Sapphic blocked the first few blows, but the namekian quickly found a weak spot in his one armed defense, and struck like a hunter after his wounded prey. Sapphic was knocked off balance as Piccolo delivered a quick kick to his unguarded side, and forced him to try and regain balance in the air. Before he could however, Piccolo struck again, and sent Sapphic flying back down to the ground, and once more he tumbled down the street, this time not landing on his feet. As the namekian charged in again, Sapphic stood quickly and fired a string of energy balls at the incoming opponent. Piccolo shot each one out of the sky with sniper-like precision with many little ki blasts of his own, and continued towards Sapphic rapidly. He swerved behind Piccolo and tried to bring his armored elbow down on the namek, but Piccolo blocked the strike with his left arm and swung his right fist to bear, and attempted to crush the chestplate of the usurper's armor with a mighty punch. The steel indented, but not enough to cause a fault in it; remarkable armor indeed. Sapphic gave a shout and blew Piccolo away once again. He was tiring of this back-and-forth game, and was intending to put an end to it. He was playing serious; no more easy mode for the so called Super Namek. He lunged after Piccolo as fast as a bolt of lightning and started to pound in his face; the namekian blocked most of the punches, but even with only one arm, Sapphic was an effective fighter. The two separated, and immediately shouted warcries simultaneously as they charged headfirst for each other. The moves were fantastically quick, and the two combatants moved across the sky in tandem with each other's blows. It would be beautiful, thought Appleten; if it weren't for the fact Piccolo could die. She wondered why Piccolo had told her to rest; she was completely fine, and the little blood Sapphic had drawn from her didn't really faze her too much. Besides, she still hadn't even tapped into her huge reservoir of power yet. It wasn't like she was drained or even close to being so. She then supposed she already knew the answer to her own question, remembering the look the namekian had given her. He wanted her to be at full 100% capacity once it was time, and a scrap with Sapphic now might get her to 99% or lower. Not a big drop, but apparently to Piccolo, it was worth risking his life over. "Damn it, Piccolo." She whispered to herself. "You better not pull an Applejack on me..." As if she'd jinxed it ,Piccolo was suddenly sent flying into one of the taller buildings along Canterlot's main street, and it toppled like building blocks around him as he made impact. Sapphic sensed Piccolo's power level underneath the rubble and put his hand out if front of him; palm facing towards him and fingers hooked. "Time to get serious, Piccolo." He said darkly. He threw his hand behind him and a massive ball of ki appeared there; the raw energy it was putting out was astounding, and caused Trunks to start shaking as he looked on. "Scorching Napalm Bomb!" He shouted out, and tossed the massive ball of energy at the site where Piccolo had not emerged from. "Piccolo!" Trunks and Appleten shouted together, moving to step in at any second. Just before the bomb attack made contact, Piccolo's unmistakable form jettisoned out from the wreckage, and barely evaded the explosion that followed as it vibrated the very stones that made up the streets of Canterlot. The light was intense, and the fire that burned when it disappeared could be felt all the way to the castle, it seemed. As Piccolo regained his stance, it was obvious he had not escaped unscathed. It looked as though the bomb had burned away his cape and half of one of his shoulder pads from the mere heat alone. His green skin was much darker in shade in some areas as well. "Do you understand what you're up against, Piccolo?" Sapphic cackled from the sky. "Or do I need to make another example?" "Nothing you do to me is going to make me give up, freak." "What a shame." The tyrant chuckled, lifting his hand to face away from him; to face Appleten and Trunks. "Let's see how you think of this one then.." Realizing what was going on, Piccolo turned to look urgently at his allies. "GET DOWN!" As soon as his words split the air, so to did many, many pears of energy as Sapphic rained hell upon the duo. Appleten was able to dodge every one of the incoming projectiles without a sweat, and Trunks was holding his own as well. The two danced with the ki spears for a few seconds, and Trunks suddenly sensed Sapphic approaching fast; way too fast. He drew his sword and made to slash down at the changeling king, but his blade met Sapphic's own green magical one and the sword given to him by Tapion broke in two like straw. However, the sword was not the only thing Sapphic's magical blade cut through... "Trunks! NO!" Appleten shouted as if she had been the one in his place. Trunks froze as he felt the ethereal and yet solid blade lodge inside his chest; every rapid and frantic beat of his punctured heart causing him more and more pain by the second. Blood began to slowly ooze from the wound and the changeling king laughed menacingly. "Too slow, boy." He chuckled. "Vegeta is looking down on you in shame, I imagine." Trunks' only response was a spat of blood out of his mouth as he coughed one last time, and went limp on the blade of the evil king. Trunks was gone. "You...you monster!" Piccolo shouted, literally tearing what little of his weighted clothing remained on him and charging forward fast enough to cause a sonic boom. He collided his entire body into Sapphic's and pushed him far away from Trunks' body as it fell towards the hard ground lack a sack of flour. Before it hit, Appleten gently caught him and layed him softly against the stone streets. She couldn't stop the tears in her eyes; the Goten half of her in terrible pain at the lose of a close friend since childhood. He'd never even had a chance; that bastard never even gave him a fighting chance. Piccolo thrashed about wildly as if a rabid animal trying to rip Sapphic into tiny shreds of flesh and bone. The namekian's long finger nails making loud and obnoxious scrapping noises as the scratched the steel surface of his armor. Sapphic, now recovered from the surprise of Piccolo's speed, began to counter-attack. He caught one the namek's wrists and spun him around like a top. He prepared to slice him in two and bring the number of his opponents down tone, but as he moved to cut Piccolo down, a sudden and ridiculously long blade of blue ki energy shot between them and stopped Sapphic's own. He looked to see Appleten holding one finger out which the blade of ki protruded from; except, this wasn't the Appleten he'd fought earlier. Her power level was rising steadily, and even though the increase started to slow, it still continued to climb. Where had she been hiding all this power before? She looked at him and snarled as tears streamed down her face. "You're gonna regret that!" * * * "No! Trunks! My son!" Vegeta shouted, grabbing the large TV that King Yemma had set up in the check-in station so he, Goku, and Vegeta could see the battle taking place. "Vegeta, stop! You'll break the television.." Yemma pleaded. "Damn the television! My boy was just executed! He didn't even have a chance to fight back! That's no way for a warrior like my boy to go! No! I won't accept it!" The saiyan prince bellowed, trying his hardest to not reveal the choking sensation that was taking place in his throat. "Vegeta...I...I know this is hard...but you have to calm down..there's nothing we can do..." Goku told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Vegeta released the TV, and fell to his knees, pounding the ground and shaking the whole office. "Damn you, Sapphic!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "I hope that pony tears you apart!"