The New Enemy

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAANT!!!!"

Beth's despairing voice was all anyone could hear as they beheld the headless and armless corpse in the middle of the arena.

"Who could do such a horrible thing!?!" Cookie cried out as it knelt down next to the corpse, while Freiza just regarded it passively. But then, he suddenly felt a chill.

Space itself shattered beside him as Alex appeared, pure energy and rage rolling off of him in waves so thick that even Freiza could sense it, his tattoos alight as they struggled to contain his strength.

By this point Grant's corpse had begun to dissolve into dust, but the second Alex applied Regeneration magic to it his arms and head were restored, and his eyes shot open to reveal horror and fear.

"Grant. Who did this?" Alex demanded as he knelt beside the boy, his rage barely concealed as he tried to get to the bottom of this.

Grant however seemingly couldn't hear Alex as he glanced around in terror, before focusing on Alex before him. He was then surprised as Grant clung to his fur and declared almost hysterically, "I'm so sorry Alex!"

Rather than throw him off, Alex gently grabbed Grant's hands and asked him, "what are you sorry for? What happened?"

Again however, Grant didn't appear to hear him. All he could say, over and over again, was "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Grant!" Alex yelled while grabbing Grant's head and forcing him to look up at him. "What are you sorry for?"

"He's coming...." Grant uttered fearfully.

"He's coming... He's coming... He's coming..."

Over and over again, just like his apologies, Grant seemed unaware of what was going on around him.

So Alex grit his teeth and opened his mouth wide to reveal his vampiric canines, before proceeding to sink them into Grant's neck. And as Grant's blood filled Alex's mouth, so too did a stream of memories flash before him.

***

*Earlier*

"I hope Beth likes these snacks!" Grant exclaimed as he hurried through the stadium halls, his arms loaded with snack and other refreshments.

Just as he reached the area where their viewing room was, which was fairly deserted, Grant was surprised to feel something pulling on him from behind. Before he could even think to fight back against whatever was pulling him, Grant found himself flying backwards through what seemed to be a portal.

*CRASH!*

All around him Grant heard glass smashing and metal warping as he crashed through what appeared to be a skyscraper, which was then sent crashing to the ground to kill everyone within and below it.

Quickly stabilizing himself in the air to keep from accidentally killing anyone else from knocking down more buildings, Grant angrily turned to see what it was that abducted him.

"Greetings, Saiyan." Sneered a man dressed in a tailored black suit, with matching black hair that was slicked back into place. The only thing appearing out of place on his body was a green watch on his left wrist, but Grant barely paid it any mind as he glared at the man.

"Who are you?" Grant demanded angrily, to which the man adopted an expression of realization as he exclaimed,

"Where are my Manners!?" He then did a bow with and exaggerated flourish of his arm, and declared, "I am Markus, God emperor of this realm, and soon to be God of the entire Omniverse!"

Even as Markus acted completely lax around him Grant was on his guard, until the self proclaimed God looked up at him and remarked, "I believe this is the part where you introduce yourself in turn, Saiyan."

Grant only put himself more on guard, even as he stated, "I am Grant, a Saiyan of Earth."

Markus seemed to find Grant's introduction humorous for some reason, before he turned serious as he said, "very well then, Grant of Earth. I have an offer for you."

Grant was silent as he waited to see what Markus was going to say, which the latter took as his cue to continue as he said, "Join me Grant. Give me what I want from you, and I will let you lead my armies to victory across the Omniverse!"

Grant narrowed his eyes at the offer, not even the slightest bit interested in what Markus wanted from him. Instead, he asked contemptuously, "and if I refuse?"

Markus sneered down at Grant as he said, "then I'll take what I want anyways, and kill you afterwards."

"I think I'll choose the third option!" Grant immediately declared as his energy began to spike.

"Oh? And what option is that?" Markus asked with a bemused expression.

"Kicking your butt and going home!" Grant roared as he began to radiate golden energy, transforming directly into a SSJ2 as he prepared to fight Markus.

'Grant, remember you can still open your own gate. You don't need to fight.' His 'Angel' told him worriedly.

Grant however told him, 'yeah, but I can't keep running from every fight I risk losing! If I don't fight here, then I'll never truly get stronger!'

His resolution affirmed, Grant tensed his body as he prepared to attack Markus. Only, Markus was suddenly in front of him after moving faster than he could follow.

"Too bad, and too slow." Markus sneered, before planting his open palm into Grant's face to send him flying while shattering his nose.

Blood spray filled the air as it erupted from Grant's nose like a geyser, while he himself was sent flying through numerous new buildings, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.

Grant quickly tried to regain control over himself as he flew through the air, righting himself and trying to catch his breath despite the blood pouring out his nose.

Immediately his instincts screamed at him, prompting Grant to try and put his arms up to defend himself, only to receive numerous hits in his side.

"Kidney punch!" Markus cried out cheerfully as if he were playing a game, and not battling a furious SSJ2.

Grant bit back the surge of pain from the hit, and swung his fist at Markus while aiming directly for his face.

Markus didn't even try to defend or dodge the punch, instead taking head on as Grant's fist collided with his nose, and did nothing. It was as if he had punched a solid slab of of steel, except even that would've crumpled under Grant's strength.

"Is that it?" Markus sneered, before sending Grant flying with a small flick from his finger.

Again, Grant carved a path of destruction with his body as he struggled to get himself under control, before flipping himself into an upright position as he put his hands together at his side.

"KAMEHAMEHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Grant roared as he fired a powerful blast of blindingly bright energy at Markus, as he had been unable to hurt him with his fists.

What he hadn't been expecting was for Markus' eyes to glow red, before firing two powerful beams from them that impacted his Kamehameha, and swiftly overpowering it.

Grant poured everything he could into his attack as he tried to keep the red beams from hitting him, but even as he did there was an increasing chill within his mind as he realized exactly what he was fighting.

Before he knew it the red beams had reached him as they broke his attack and blasted him back and into the ground, where he carved out a canyon with his body from the force behind them.

The moment the attack stopped and Grant was no longer being pushed back Markus appeared before him, not a single hair out of place as he seized Grant by the neck and lifted him up.

"Y-you're Superman...?!" Grant choked out incredulously, making Markus snarl as growled,

"DON'T compare me to that whiny little bitch!" Markus then held Grant up higher and declared,

"He was given the power of gods, and yet NEVER even bother learning how to properly use it! I on the other hand, have mastered every form of combat I could get my hands on! I've boosted my strength and powers far beyond what he was ever capable of!"

Markus then gestured skywards, making Grant look up for the first time as he noticed numerous bright yellow Suns hanging in the sky.

"My cells are ALWAYS being enhanced by the numerous Suns I've taken, and I'm also being passively boosted by THIS!" At that point Markus gestured to the watch on his left wrist, which was now yellow in color, and appeared vaguely familiar to Grant, though he couldn't place where he'd seen it before. Not until Markus said,

"The Omnitrix, passively boosts the physical forms of its users, as well as the races it has assimilated, into their peak physical condition! Even as the Suns nurture my cells, the Omnitrix strengthens my body even further beyond what any Kryptonian has ever achieved before!"

By this point Markus was obviously monologuing, but Grant was too horrified to try and do anything about his current predicament. If what Markus was saying was true, then even if he did nothing, he would continue growing infinitely stronger over time!

But the most horrifying part came next, as Markus bragged,

"And the best part is that this isn't JUST the Omnitrix, but I upgraded it to the Ultimatrix! And thanks to you, I have a sample of one of the strongest species in existence to evolve to their absolute pinnacle!"

And as he said that, Grant was horrified to see the Omnitrix transition back to green, before the image of a humanoid figure with a monkey-like tail appeared on it.

"Amazing. Isn't it?" Markus gloated, gleeful from obtaining the DNA needed for their enhancement serum.

"If there is one thing the Saiyans have on the Kryptonians, it's their unrivaled potential and rate of growth." Markus stated in awe, before musing, "I wonder what would happen if I spliced the two together..."

That was as far as Markus' musings went, before a large black blade appeared in Grant's hand, which he flicked upwards.

"!!!"

Markus jerked his head back as the blade flashed by his face, despite the fact that his Kryptonian skin was supposed to be impenetrable. What the two of them hadn't expected though, was that when Markus turned towards Grant there was a stream of blood flowing from his cheek.

"I can't recall the last time I've seen my own blood..." Markus said slowly and calmly, but as he looked directly at Grant once again, his expression began to morph into rage. "You just lost your arm privileges!"

Grabbing Grant by the wrist with his free hand before he could swing the sword a second time, Markus flicked his wrist and there was another fountain of blood, as Grant's arm and the sword went flying.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Grant's scream echoed all around the two of them as his arm was ripped from socket, and his Zanpakutō was sent clattering to the ground. There, Markus readily stomped on it with enough force to shatter the blade while making the entire planet shudder beneath them.

Grant was given no time to lament the loss of his blade, desperation moving his body as he tried to use his remaining arm to blast Markus with energy from point blank.

Unfortunately this blast didn't do anymore to hurt Markus than anything else Grant did, outside of slashing his face open with his Zanpakutō.

Instead, Markus tapped the backside of Grant's elbow, resulting in a nauseating crack as it bent the wrong way to torture grant. He then followed up with two swift kicks to Grant's knees, shattering both as they too bent backwards.

And when Grant's screams devolved into choked sobs, Markus proceeded to grab the wrist of his other arm before tearing it off as well to generate a fresh round of screaming from him.

Markus then punted Grant in the groin like he was a ball, sending him skirting across the ground to create more damage before he came to a stop in a newly made trench.

There, Markus landed with his feet resting just below where Grant's armpits had been, and knelt down as he asked, "How would you like to see the Omnitrix in action before I kill you, Grant?"

Grant wasn't even allowed to answer when there was a flash of green light, and Markus had transformed himself into some kind of tentacle monster.

What happened next was like a scene from a horrific hentai as Markus plunged several of his tentacles into all of Grant's facial openings, mouth, ears, nose, and tear ducts.

If his mouth hadn't been plugged, then Grant would've been screaming yet again from the pain felt as Markus plunged his tentacles into the soft fabric of his brain, causing him severe pain, yet not actually physically injuring him.

And as Grant experienced the most pain he had ever felt in his life, eclipsing even when Markus shattered his legs and ripped his arms off, a series of images flashed within his mind. Images Grant knew really well.

I see....

Asora...

Morningstar.....

With each hiss of the voice in his head, Grant grew increasing fearful as Markus pulled EVERYTHING from his mind. Everything he knew about Beth, about Alex, and about Asora.

He hadn't even noticed when the tentacles were removed from his head, until Markus said to him, "Thank you Grant. Now I know who my REAL opponent is, Alexander Morningstar."

Tears fell from Grant's eyes as Markus flipped him over so that he was face down.

"Now, I don't believe you'll be needing this anymore." Markus sneered as he gripped the hair on the back of Grant's head, and began to pull on it.

'Grant! If you're going to portal back, this is your last chance!' His 'Angel' screamed in his mind.

"DO IT!" Grant yelled as the muscles in his neck began tear, torturously slowly compared to when his arms had been torn off.

Markus of course didn't realize that Grant was talking to his 'Angel', and with a jerk of his wrist tore Grant's head from his body, right as a portal opened beneath him that the body fell through before closing.

...

"Well, that was surprising." Markus uttered to himself, before shrugging as he turned his attention to the numerous aircrafts that were beginning to circle him and the battlefield, which had claimed the lives of tens, or hundreds of thousands of his civilians.

Holding Grant's head up high, Markus declared for the numerous cameras and survivors that were surrounding him,

"THIS, IS THE HEAD OF THE ASSASSIN SENT TO KILL ME! AN ASSASSIN SENT BY A COWARDLY DICTATOR WHO THINKS HIMSELF A GOD, THE DRAGON EMPEROR!"

Whispers and angry muttering spread throughout the numerous world's that revolved around the numerous Suns Markus had collected, which then quieted down as he continued,

"THESE LIVES, WERE ALL TAKEN FROM US DUE TO HIS VICIOUS WAYS! SONS! DAUGHTERS! HUSBANDS! WIVES! ALL TAKEN BY A MAN TOO COWARDLY TO FACE ME HIMSELF!"

"COWARD!"

"MURDERER!"

"""DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR!"""

"""DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR! DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR! DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR!"""

Over and over again that phrase was chanted throughout Markus' pocket dimension, making him smirk victoriously as a group of small humanoids with grey skin and large eyes appeared. The Galvens, led by his appointed 'Einstein'.

"Take this." Markus ordered, tossing them Grant's head, before adding, "there should also be a pair of arms nearby. Collect them and use whatever remains of the tissue for your super serum research. We march in two years, and I expect my army to be ready by then."

***

"""DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR!"""

The chanting of the people seemed endless to Mashiro Mueller, who was watching the live broadcast alongside the rest of the women Markus had collected and impregnated in their luxurious floating prison.

But she focused on one thing, that Markus had a singular cut along his cheek.

Even now it was still flowing with blood, giving credence to his claims of the dangers regarding the Dragon Emperor since NONE of them had ever seen him injured before.

Mashiro closed her eyes, and thought desperately of the Dragon Emperor, whoever he was, and prayed as intensely as she could.

'Please....save us....'