[M][Namek] The Tempest

[Vad]

Beatrix stood looking at her husband, who had his back turned to her.

"I'm tired of this shit. If I'm going to die, I'm taking as many as those fuckers with me. I'm not sitting here holed up in a concrete prison waiting. It isn't my goal in life." The man retorted.

James turned to Trixie who was staring at her husband. He was now facing the room, his right arm holding the elevator door back; his gaze fixated on his wife's eyes.

"Stop him! Talk to him! Do something to keep him from going to his death!" Pleaded the retired assassin.

Doing exactly the opposite, she joined him in the elevator.

"We're going to distract them. Do whatever you need and good luck. We'll see you on the other side. Wherever that may be." Beatrix stated calmly.

The super saiyan rested on one knee regaining his composure. The current situation was all too familiar. As blood and sweat rolled down the man's partially exposed torso he lifted his hands and examined them. The hands responsible for a lifetime of murder. Trixie had retreated to his mind and was now acting as a third wheel for him. For some unexplained reason he had just experienced a vision from Mercy. Vad and his wife had been fed up with waiting and were getting ready to assault a horde, not too different from this one, of Merkashali soldiers.

" We're going for it again?" Trixie sounded less than pleased, but eager nonetheless.

"You do realize that there is no one to save us. We're probably going to die."

Vad silently acknowledged her. Like he did back on Mercy-sei during the elevator ride to the surface.

With a stiff tug the metal box began its ascent to the surface.

"You realize this is the single worst idea you've ever had, right?"

Vad was silent.

"I'll take that as a yes." Trixie said aloud turning her attention back to the elevator doors.

"Third floor. Two more. You ready?"

Returning to his feet, Vad was now completely surrounded; a tactical nightmare. Just how he liked it. The two generals stood to his left and right, both fatigued, but nothing compared to Vad's condition. Large portions of his armor had been torn away leaving surface lacerations on his exposed skin. Random patches of second and three degree burns covered his left arm where he had deflected a blast of fire with a shield; it had melted onto his arm. His newly unscarred torso was now going to have fresh ones to replace the old. His metal covered tail tightened its grip around his waist, readying for the next assault. Blood and sweat both his own and that of which belonged to his attackers littered his body. Cracking his knuckles a wide smile formed itself on Vad's facial features. He was thrilled.

The situation was dire. With most of the invading force being distracted, Vad only hoped it was enough to get his allies out. As the Merkshali began to close the perimeter the united lovers readied themselves. Out of nowhere the street began to crumble and collapse in on itself. Most of the crowd, including Vad and his wife were sucked into an old catacomb buried beneath the city in an abandoned section of bunker shaking the cities foundation. Trixie had retreated to her husband's mind and was desperately trying to get him to talk.

The screeching of injured lizards and the ones on the surface filled the air. Clouds of dust billowed from the opening on the surface and bits and pieces of road fell into the opening. The remaining Merkashali retreated in fear or pursuit of other food. On the border of the mass of broken Merkashali bodies, some alive, some not, was Vad. He was impaled in two vital parts of his body by a dead warriors claws.

The Saiyan regained consciousness with a jerk and instantly released a mouthful of blood onto the dusty concrete floor beneath him.

"Vad! Stay still honey. You're seriously injured."

A slender claw was piercing the lower part of his rib cage; it was directly through the top of his stomach. He felt another pool of blood rise from his throat and he expelled it onto the same spot as before. Another claw was dug into his lower stomach and to the left through his spleen and colon. He could feel his blood seeping from the wound as well as pooling in his inner extremities. His left arm was numb and upon further inspection through his blurry eyesight he noticed it was buried beneath a pile of corpses.

"Trixie. Slow my heart rate down as much as you can. Release adrenalin, endorphins, the works. Keep me...alive...you can." He wheezed into his mind.

Expelling another pool of blood onto the floor he gasped for air through dry heaving that was causing excruciating pain as his pierced diaphragm was trying to move his lungs normally, but found it only able to partially work. The heavily injured Saiyan felt his wife release the adrenalin into his system and at the same time forcibly keep his heart rate low, negating the adrenalins' stimulant effect. Titling his to head to the left and resting it against the blood soaked concrete, Vad closed his eyes.

"Stay awake! Stay awake babe!"

"VAD!"

The visions of his pain and anguish in that damp dark catacomb moments after leaving the bunker ran through his mind. If it hadn't been for Sage he wouldn't have survived. Tears rolled down his face which made his wife coo in concern. At the rate with which things were going he wasn't going to be able to see Sage again; To protect her one last time. Then there was Piper.

“Let me have a bite of that, babe,” Trixie demanded playfully as she reached an arm across the table and grabbed onto the hotdog in Vad’s hand. Despite all their intimacy, the saiyan frowned and refused to allow his wife to snatch his lunch away from him. Seeing that her husband would not capitulate, Trixie began to tug more visibly on the foil-sheathed meal.

Across the table from the two dueling lovebirds, Piper smiled and took a slurp of her soft drink. The Mountain Dew was a drastic departure from the water and liquid protein shakes that the woman had been drinking during her five-day convalescence within a cramped medical tent. As she continued to drain the drink up through her over-sized straw, Piper reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone. Sliding the screen up, she was able to switch over to the camera and take a picture just as the hotdog and its ketchup- and mustard-laden bun tore in twain. The red and yellow fallout of the explosion rain both ways and left the assassin and his demon wife comically coated in condiments.

“So that’s what love looks like,” Piper snickered as she slid the phone shut. The action caused the phone to revert back to the home menu, which was still a year-old picture of Piper and Kaden enjoying lunch. With a smile, the blonde sergeant returned the phone to her pocket and looked up to see that Vad and Trixie were both glaring at her. Even though her two friends were killers, sadists, and a bunch of other pleasant things, Piper couldn’t force herself to fear their callow expressions given the fact that they were dotted with ketchup and mustard.

Through the thicket of sorrow Vad managed to form a smile.

"You never did let me have any of that hotdog." Trixie groaned sarcastically.

Vad bellowed a laugh with renewed vigor. "I'll buy you one after I wipe the floor with these stupid fucks." His courage had been reignited.

"You better."

For Sage and Piper

The veteran soldier had devised a plan. In the brief period allotted to him by the invading army he had regained most of his stamina. The surface lacerations and bruises did nothing to hinder the near masochistic warrior. With a mighty roar of fury Vad's aura erupted outward blowing the cohorts of alien soldiers around him off their feet. Continuing to scream loudly into the firmament Vad pushed his Super Saiyan transformation to its limit. His golden aura grew larger and took on a more violent appearance. He could hear his mothers encouragement as he dumped every ounce of his energy reserves into his Super Saiyan state.

Reaching the peak of his power Vad's torso armor exploded into dust and was carried away by his energy. Quieting his voice he launched his segmented whip at General Gloo. Wrapping it around his waist Vad pulled him close; driving a metal blade through the commanders chest he dropped him to the ground and sank the blade deeper.

No longer possessing pupils the saiyan took on a berserker like look. A shroud of metal fragments began to swirl around Zulenka as he removed the blade from the now mortally wounded alien leader. Pointing his blade at Fum, the newly energized warrior was completely engulfed in the telekinetically controlled shrapnel.

Without warning the cloud of metal fragments shot out in all directions toward the alien horde. General Fum wasn't so lucky. He was about to be assaulted directly and without mercy. Backpedalling to avoid a downward slash he sent an elbow to Vad's face. Forming his blade into a shield the blow was absorbed. Returning the favor the saiyan bashed his newly formed defense into the General's arm knocking it away. Driving a fist at his sternum the saiyan knocked him backward into his own men.

Before the commander could even get to his feet Vad was a transparent image, his scowling face slowly fading away. Shrieks of anguish made the General turn his head. Waves of his troops were being thrown into the air, dismembered, and killed as they fell back to the planet's surface.

A large wave of pink energy flew off in the opposite direction of the warring saiyan. Bursting forth from the cloud of pink energy came an imperial Valkyrie who shredded through alien after alien, screeching with blood lust as she did so. The two lovers proceeded away from the space port in a figure eight, crossing each other's path every five hundred feet.

Now back on his feet General Fum took to the air, his purple aura leaving a trail of energy behind him.

"BRING DOWN THE SAIYAN!" He roared with frustration at his troops.

Just when he thought things couldn't get any more difficult Vad took to the skies. He was nothing but a mere blur as he collided head on with the General. The alien leader obliged the warring veteran saiyan with hand to hand combat. Ducking under a right hook Vad pushed the generals arm toward his chest and plowed his own fist into his opponents face.

The first mistake.

General Fum over powered Zulenka and took hold of his right arm. Using his knee he snapped it at the elbow and used it to throw the ex-assassin down into the horde of alien soldiers below. Vad landed hard, crushing the aliens beneath him. Before the enemy could feast on his flesh a beam of pink energy pierced through the ranks of soldiers.

"Damn him..." Vad croaked as he fumbled to his knees.

Taking his right arm he broke it back into the correct position which made the saiyan growl in pain. Releasing her transformation Trixie took hold of her husband and lifted him to his feet. Vad's aura had shrunk to but a mere outline of his person.

"Release your-" A blade through the stomach ended her stomach.

General Fum had landed behind them. Retracting his weapon the commander pushed the demon forward with his foot.

"No..."

"NO! NO! NO!"

Vad gripped Trixie's suit and rolled her over, completely ignoring Fum's laughter. Placing his good hand on her stomach he felt the warm sensation of her blood run through his fingers. Tears filled his eyes as he looked upon her fragile face as she struggled for air. Grasping the harness around her torso Vad released his transformed state and both of them became transparent. The only thing Fum heard was the screams of Vad's pain as he used the After Image technique. He roared with anger at his inability to kill the two of them.

Plan ruined.

***

Once behind the wall of the space port Vad released his technique and collided a nearby militia unit. Once they realized who had just plowed into them a medical unit was called up front and Vad's wife was taken away to the main terminal.

"Once she's awake radio me. The sooner I can get her back into my mind the better." The corporal in charge of her protection nodded and rush to the terminal to inform the doctors.

Using his left arm Vad placed his right arm into a 'L' shape on his torso and covered the entire thing in steel. Hardening it he created a temporary cast and sling. It hurt like a bitch, but he didn't care. Sitting down on a nearby bench, a female nurse had arrived from the main terminal to take care of his wounds.

"The horde stopped attacking the walls completely. It was as if they were all going for you and your wife." She said, scrubbing one of the deeper cuts his chest.

Vad sighed. "That's at least a shred of good news. I just hope she wakes up."

Looking up at the ship hovering above the spaceport he frowned. The nurse kept talking, but he wasn't paying attention. She was shocked Vad was still able to stand at all after his encounter, but the truth was he was very close to vomiting. Every muscle in his body screamed at him. The fact that he had used After Image to get them back behind the wall was extremely stupid.

Anything for love