Generals (9)

'I think I get it now'

I couldn't stop a smirk from emerging as I emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

I felt like Frieza, or at least understood what he felt like, an air of superiority emanating for me as I had pushed myself beyond the peak of what was attainable by the other races in Dragon Ball, even surpassing the pinnacle of my knowledge.

'But I should try to remain humble'

My body had changed dramatically over the course of my training, continuously adapting and growing stronger. My hair had gone full Saiyan, now spiky and black yet maintaining it's original style, messily hanging around my head.

I was just over 9 feet tall, immense muscles mass apparently coded into my DNA, my shoulder to shoulder width just over two feet. My wide frame was packed with dense, heavy muscle, my midsection even more precise than an anatomical diagram. 

I spent a little while thinking about what outfit I liked best and I eventually decided to go with Goku Black's robes. I wore a jet-black long sleeve undershirt and a grey vest on my upper body, and jet-black loose pants with white boots on my lower body.

'And somehow there's still room to grow'

As magical and mystical as Ki was, it was still rooted in biology, which made it even the more nonsensical when I realized that I could still get stronger.

'Maybe later'

"Ah! You're out so soon?!"

I stepped down from the building and met Kami who had an anxious expression on his face.

I bowed.

"I apologize for my intrusion, I'm-"

"You don't need to explain anything," Kami said swiftly. He had seemingly fully absorbed my Ki, now transformed into a 6 foot light-green skinned Namekian, his physique also quite impressive.

His expression changed as his eyes lingered on my form, a soft smile spreading.

"The less I know about you, the better," he softly added. "If I may make a request, it is just that you take over as Guardian of this planet"

'I expected as much'

In Dragon Ball World, Guardians were powerful individuals across key planets that were hand picked either by a Destroyer or a Supreme Kai.

They were tasked with ensuring the prosperity and continual development of the planet and more importantly, were people that could be held responsible if bad things happened.

Successful Guardians where usually gifted with wishes from the Dragon Balls, Namekians having a very shaky relationship with Destroyers and Supreme Kais for that reason.

Consequently, Kami was very eager to hand over his position, the player character of Dragon Ball World becoming the Guardian of Earth a key event in the story.

"You're far stronger than I am and my intuition is that you already have plans for this planet," he deduced. "As you can tell, this place is not homeland, my only request is that you rid me of this burden and take control as Guardian," he said softly. 

I smiled.

"You don't-"

"It isn't an issue, I will take over as Guardian, be with your people"

He smiled at me, catching onto the fact that I knew how much it meant to him.

"Thank you," he said, bowing his head. "A set of seven Dragon Balls are already in circulation, all of which are currently in the hands of the people, I suspect that you are aware of this?"

"I am"

"Then it is all settled, the Earth is in your care"

With those words, Kami used Kai Kai, a technique that was exclusively used by Supreme Kai and Angels, teleporting from Earth to Namek.

'This works out for me too'

As it currently stood, I didn't have a home or a base of operations, the Lookout one of the better examples I could think of.

I closed my eyes and exerted my concentration, the entire structure of the Lookout unearthed from it's stagnant position in the sky, oscillating up and down as I moved it with my Ki.

'I only need the Time Chamber'

FWUUUSSSHH! FWUUUSSSH! FWUUUSSSSH!

I tilted and fired a series dark purple energy orbs at the building and trees on the Lookout, completely erasing everything apart from the room that led into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. 

'I can sense 10 clones'

Among the Earthlings, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

PYUUUU!

Just like that the Lookout disappeared from where it had been, above the Sacred Land of Korin, and it was transported to a large desert region, a few tens of miles away from West City, in the middle of nowhere.

BANG! CRASH! BANG! BANG! BOOOOOOM!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I floated to the edge of the Lookout, curiously looking down.

The only structure in view was a single large rock formation, carefully constructed to hide an underground entrance.

'It's so weird to see it in person'

This area was the secret base of Commander Red, the leader of the Red Ribbon Army. 

In Dragon Ball World, Dr Gero had hooked him up with a series of cybernetic modifications, dramatically increasing his Power Level. He now had a gatling gun for a left arm, a metallic jaw and reinforced chest, as well as an advanced ocular scouter, where his damaged right eye was.

Of course in the grand scheme he was still a small fry but relative to Earth, he was quite the menace.

Needless to say, none of these enhancements stopped my clones from turning him into a human volleyball.

BANG! CRASH! BANG! BANG!

They smacked him around with their palms, his metallic chest dented and conformed while his cybernetic right eye was broken, a thick metallic wire hanging out of his eye..

"Whaaa!? What is that!?" one of my clones remarked, pointing to the Lookout.

A pair of them immediately used Instant Transmission, floating opposite me.

Their jaws dropped as they beheld my figure, ostensibly losing the ability to speak.

"It's faster if we fuse," I asserted.

They both nodded, floating towards me.

PSSSSH! PSSSSH!

Each of them became fluid Ki as I rested my hands on their shoulders, absorbed into my body with ease.

'This kind of fusion is superior'

I cringed slightly at the thought of merging my flesh with the flesh of my clones, this approach far more dignified.

'One can only develop over time'

An deep sense of surprise overpowered me as their streams of consciousness merged back with my own, allowing me to properly compute the massive gap in power.

In mathematical terms, I had gotten a few million times stronger in raw Power Levels and my Ki was 16,500% denser than my clones.

'It is good to reap what you have sown'

I teleported down to the clone that held Commander Red by his leg, his cybernetic parts brutalized and damaged beyond repair.

My clones had tried to negotiate with him but he constantly opened fire on them and asserted that he would rather die than co-operate with anybody who challenged his ideals.

Commander Red gulped and gasped, wheezing like an asthmatic.

"Let's fuse"

My clone nodded, his body turning into fluid Ki from range as I exerted my will over him, a stream of white energy glistening off my skin as our consciousnesses fused.

Commander Red hit the dusty desert ground, hot winds blowing my hair forward as I stood beside him.

"Wh-WHO ARE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!!!" he bellowed aggressively.

"I don't enjoy hurting you, just co-operate with me," I said softly. "I want to make use of the Red Ribbon Army, you can still remain the leader and I don't care if you want to be King of the World, just listen to my demands," I said assertively and sharply.

Commander Red flipped onto the sand, pointing his gatling gun arm at me.

"GO TO HELL YOU RAT BASTARD!"

'It is unreasonable to expect him of all people to co-operate'

I couldn't imagine how distressing this was from his perspective.

Imagine spending all this time plotting and scheming, putting resources together and leveraging some of the sharpest scientific minds in the world to assist you with your plan, transforming you in the process into a living weapon, all in order to take over the world.

All for some stranger to barge in and insist you put your dreams and goals to one side so you could become their puppet.

'Skill issue'

I used Time Lag on Commander Red's body, a light purple color encapsulating him for a second. His movements then slowed down dramatically, the bullets fired from his gatling gun gradually chugging through the air.

'It's not wise to kill him'

It was convenient but Dragon Ball had a morality system and killing people unnecessarily would pollute my Ki over time, making the higher-ups of the Universe more antagonistic towards me.

In addition to that, Commander Red was technically a war criminal so there was a little social advantage for me taking the credit, concerning his arrest.

I tilted towards his undercover base of operations, the rock formation staring back at me.

'I probably want to demoralize him though'

There was absolutely no shot the Red Ribbon Army would exist after I was done with it.

I reversed the Time Lag, side-stepping his bullets and grabbing him by the head, forcing him to watch what I was about to do.

With my free hand, I materialized a Destruction Blade, swinging it and releasing an energy wave towards the base.

SHIIIIIIIIING!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Commander Red wailed like a baby as the rock formation was smoothly dissected in half. The rocks collapsed down on the base underneath, destruction energy gradually eating away at them.

I had little empathy for him.

"You should've taken the offer"

I resisted the urge to cut him in half, only stabbing him a few times before executing Time Lag again, an expression of pure anguish frozen on his face.

It wasn't really reasonable to expect him to throw away everything that he had worked for so quickly but that really wasn't my problem.

'Losers lose'

I teleported back to the Lookout, materializing a spherical barrier around his body, my light-purple Ki glistening with energy.

'Onto the next one'

PYUUU!!!

BOOOM! BOOOM! CRASH! BOOM!

'There's only two here'

I peered over the edge of the Lookout, a pair of my clones doing cartwheels and backflips in the midst of Red Ribbon Army soldiers. Standing on top of a tank nearby was a shirtless General Blue, using Telekinesis to compress balls of metal out of destroyed vehicles and heaving it at my clones.

In Dragon Ball World, he was also a little more of a threat, figuring out how to master telekinesis through Ki.

"AHHHH!"

"OOOOOOF!"

"AAIIIYYYYAAAAA!"

 Obviously, my clones evaded, General Blue only hitting clusters of his own soldiers, a frightening number of wounded and dead soldiers bleeding out on the ground.

"Stay still you rats!"

I smiled wryly as I watched the scene, struggling to imagine a scenario where General Blue was convinced by my words and allowed me to control him like a puppet.

'I can just skip a step'

I widened my eyes, a Gravity Blow smashing ruthlessly into the condensed ball of metal General Blue was holding next to his head.

He wasn't pierced by any of the metal but some pieces did slam against his body, knocking him off the tank and onto the hard rocky ground.

Loud exclamations sounded as the Red Ribbon Army soldiers watched what happened, a large number losing courage and dispersing, fleeing from combat.

The remaining soldiers were trampled upon, knocked down by my clones and stomped out by fleeing soldiers.

PYUUU!

I looked down at General Blue, his eyes completely white as foam pooled in his mouth.

'Time Lag'

I used my Ki to freeze him in place. For a fighter at his level, he was basically stuck, multiple weeks needed for him to regain consciousness. 

I used telekinesis to move him to the Lookout, creating a spherical prison for him, just like Commander Red.

"You're out of the Time Chamber already!?"

"How much progress did you make?"

I accelerated towards my clones, both their jaws dropping as I utilized Time Skip.

"It's faster if we fuse"

They both nodded, surprise flashing on their faces as their bodies de-stabilized, becoming fluid Ki, flowing into me.

'It's good to be humble'

Absorbing my clones gave me a fresh perspective and appreciation of how far I had come, each of them representative of how childish and unrefined I used to be.

'I think I should clean this up' 

I materialized my Destruction Sword again, erasing all of the wreckage and dead bodies with a few sword swings, de-materializing it after.

'Onto the next group'

PYUUU!

PYUUU!!!