Cosmic Crisis 2 - The Return of Orion

Chapter 12 - Unexpected Company

Natalie's senses were starting to dull, she could feel it. She was trying to hang on but she was slowly slipping away. She could sense Goten's presence next to her. She wished they hadn't come. Orion would have just taken her and left, not even bothering to look back. She winced as pain shot through her body like a thousand dull knives stabbing her from all angles. Even breathing was painful.

Goten watched as Natalie struggled to take in another breath. He wished desperately that he had a senzu bean, but they had run out after Goku overextended himself during training one afternoon. He wanted to help Trunks, but he knew that he couldn't leave Natalie out in the open, for fear that Orion would get to her. His blood pressure was rising as he watched the evil look of pleasure on Orion's face. He was enjoying this.

"Burning Attack!" Trunks cried, using one of his last reserves in attempt to get Orion down, even if for a second. However, it didn't seem to be effective. Trunks needed to find a way to get that black crystal from him. Maybe then he would be able to be defeated.

Seeing that Trunks didn't have much left, Goten jumped in to take his place, leaving Trunks free to join Natalie's side. He looked to make sure that Orion wasn't looking and picked up Natalie's limp body, taking off into the air for a safer place. Suddenly, an enormous flash of light knocked him off balance and he dropped Natalie by mistake. Just as he was about to go after her, the light dimmed and there stood a young girl, about the age of five or six, holding the Natalie in her arms. Trunks immediately got into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The girl had purple, shoulder length hair that resembled Trunks' with green eyes. She was wearing an outfit that was almost identical to Natalie's: a black tank top and black nylon training pants. Trunks looked absolutely puzzled. The girl stared into Trunks' eyes intently, floating to the ground and setting Natalie's body down gently. Trunks floated down as well, joining her, and immediately went for Natalie. The girl, however, stopped him. "What are you doing!?" Trunks said, raising his voice. She got onto her knees and placed her palm on Natalie's forehead. Trunks tried to stop the girl, but she knocked him back. She suddenly grew a bright aura and her hand glowed brightly as she concentrated. The light caught Orion's attention and he looked up from his fight with Goten.

"What the -?" he said in a low tone. Goten looked up as well, his eyes widening when he saw the scene. Trunks stood in disbelief as the strange girl healed Natalie right before his eyes. After a few minutes, Natalie's eyes fluttered open and she looked around confusedly. She spotted the girl almost immediately and looked up at her in question.

"Who -?" she broke off. Natalie slowly stood up and joined Trunks' side. The girl faced the couple and looked at them with a slight smile on her face. She then ran up and embraced the two. Natalie and Trunks looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces. Suddenly, a blast knocked them forward, sending them flying in different directions. Trunks landed on the ground with a thud but sprang to his feet and spun around. There stood Orion with a furious expression.

"And just who is THIS?" he shouted, folding his arms and glancing at the girl. She cowered in fear when she saw him and he laughed menacingly. "Well whoever you are, you made a fatal mistake." He said and formed a ki blast in his hands. Trunks watched in horror as he hurled it towards the helpless girl. She screamed as the blast surrounded her and exploded. Suddenly, the energy shot outwards and away from her body as her aura formed a shield around her. Orion stood, exasperated. "You foolish girl!" he shouted, firing at her again. His attack bounced away harmlessly, further infuriating him. This time, she fired at him, sending him backward a few feet. Taking advantage of his temporary vulnerability, she lunged forward and pummeled him with her tiny fists. He suddenly grabbed her arms and grasped her wrists in his hands, rendering her helpless. He then began to channel massive amounts of power through his arms and towards her body.

"NO!" Natalie cried, shooting over to where Orion stood and ramming her body into his, causing him to lose his grip on the girl. Natalie thrusted her fist into Orion's chest with all her might, causing him to sputter and cough up a mouthful of blood. She merely dodged when he tried to grab her by the arm, sending her fists flying. After a few minutes of beating on his body, Natalie collapsed, her chest heaving and beads of sweat dripping down the side of her face and landing on the dusty ground. Orion lay a few feet away from her, badly injured. He had wounds on many parts of his body, and his armor was shattered in a few places. Everyone moved back as the warrior struggled to lift his body off of the ground.

"You..." Orion began. He paused to spit some blood onto the ground. "You will be sorry..." he trailed off. Trunks and Goten watched the warrior intently while Natalie lifted herself up. The mysterious little girl was standing by herself a few feet away from the others. "You will be...SORRY!" Orion suddenly shouted, powering up substantially and knocking everyone off of their feet. To their horror, Orion began to transform. His menacing laugh grew deeper and his muscles bulged. His eyes were red with fury and his spiky blonde hair stood on end. "You Saiyans are a very foolish race." He said, his voice booming. Natalie inhaled sharply and took a step back as he looked at her with an evil grin on his face. "As for you Carina..." he said, powering up a tremendous blast. The skies darkened and a gust of wind screamed past them.

"A..." Natalie started, her soprano voice reverberating around the area as the ground trembled violently. Orion just laughed at her. "Ki...yah..." she continued. Orion suddenly brought his fist down and aimed towards her, sending the blinding blast of energy towards her.

<Mother...help me...> Natalie thought to herself.

"MEH!" Natalie screamed, sending her counterattack towards the warrior. The two masses collided with amazing force and sent a shock wave outward, obliterating everything within a two-mile radius with the exception of the warriors. Orion's blast was beginning to overtake hers, and it got ominously closer to its victim. Suddenly, the young purple-haired girl screamed in pain and began to flicker in and out of sight.

"What the -!?" Trunks shouted. Natalie continued to pour more energy into her attack, forcing Orion's blast back a few feet. The girl then returned to normal. Orion then started yelling, sending his blast closer to Natalie. Soon his beam was mere feet away from her, and the strange little girl had almost faded out of existence.

"That girl..." Trunks started. He charged a blast in his hands and clasped his hands together to condense it until it was the size of a soccer ball. "HYAA!" he shouted, hurling it towards Orion's back. The blast impacted with his armor, shattering it. Orion screamed in rage but didn't dare take his focus off of the girl. Seeing him to be weakened, the strange little girl's ki glowed intensely as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Akiyah..." she started. Natalie looked at her in wide-eyed confusion. "Meh!" the girl screamed, mirroring Natalie's actions. The combined blasts threw Orion back and he dug his feet into the ground, using the last of his energy to hold them off.

"SUPERNOVA!" the two girls screamed in unison. Trunks and Goten dug their hands and feet into the ground to keep from being ripped off their feet by the inconceivable amount of raw power radiating from the girls. Orion used the last of his reserves to fend off the attack, but his attempts proved to be useless as the energy slammed into his body. Natalie and the girl closed their eyes and sent a superabundance of energy towards Orion's body. Orion felt as if a thousand freight trains had struck him all at once from different directions. He screamed in pain as his armor was torn off of his body and the attack engulfed him, surging in and out of his form in a wavelike fashion. Then, with his last breath, he screamed, "CARINA!" and then powered down, allowing himself to be vaporized instantly. Natalie and the little girl ended their attacks and fell to the ground. They both had pounding headaches and could hear their blood rushing in their ears. They fought to keep conscious, taking in huge amounts of oxygen to feed their exhausted bodies. Trunks and Goten immediately raced over to where they lay. Goten felt the little girl's forehead, realizing that it was extremely warm. They were both flushed and were trying to calm their overextended nerves down to being stable enough to function again. Trunks and Goten didn't dare channel energy into the girls, for fear of overloading their already maxed-out bodies. Natalie winced in pain and turned her head to cough up a little blood. She had severely maxed out her power, causing possible internal damage to herself. The little girl was quite shaken up too. Her nerves were trembling violently and she was fading out of consciousness. She opened her eyes for one moment, looking into the eyes of the purple-haired boy, and then succumbing to convulsions once again.

"They overextended their ki's. Goten we have to get them home, NOW!" Trunks said, lifting Natalie's body and rocketing into the air. Goten grabbed the little girl and followed, blazing across the night sky. Trunks couldn't focus on anything except getting Natalie to safety. His eyes burned as he screamed through the air with brilliant speed, but he pressed on. His father had once been killed as a result of pushing the limits, and he didn't want this to happen to her. He looked back for a fleeting moment, seeing Goten holding the girl in his arms. Who was she, and why did she seem so familiar to him? She even resembled him, in a way, but he swore that he had never seen her before. Tears formed in his eyes as he thought about the deaths of his father and Goku. He then spotted the spherical roof of the Capsule Corporation and increased his speed, his aura flaring. Natalie's hair faded from super Saiyan gold back to its familiar brown color. NO! This wasn't supposed to happen! Trunks didn't even bother opening the window and crashed through it, sending glass flying. He raced through the hallways, shouting for his mother as he shot down corridors. Bulma had fallen asleep on the sofa and awakened with a start when she heard her son's cries. She sprang to her feet immediately and followed the voice. Trunks came to the medical wing and forced a door open, almost ripping it out of its frame as he hurried to get Natalie into the room. He placed Natalie on one bed while Goten set her on another one across the room. Bulma came zipping into the room, running a hair through her bluish green hair.

"Oh god. What happened here!?" she cried frantically. Words didn't come to Trunks' mouth so he just pointed a trembling finger in Natalie's direction. "And who is that girl over there?" Bulma asked. "These are serious inflictions. They need to be put into a rejuvenation tank immediately." She said, running down the hallway. Trunks and Goten didn't think twice and grabbed the girls, following Bulma. When they reached the large room, Trunks kicked down the door and inserted Natalie into one of the tanks, as did Goten with the girl. In a panic, they began to press a series of random buttons in attempt to get them up and running.

"Trunks! Goten! Leave this up to me, will you!?" Bulma cried, pushing them away from the control panels. Natalie suddenly became conscious and realized that she was about to be submerged in water. She then noticed the little girl in the tank next to hers. All of her thoughts came flooding back at once, causing her to hyperventilate in a panic. Tears filled her eyes as she tensed up in attempt to keep herself under control.

<What's happening to me!?> She thought. She was afraid for her life, as well as everyone around her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and forced her eyes open to see Trunks standing in front of her with a look of fear on his face.

"Trunks! Move out of the way so we can stabilize her!" Natalie could faintly hear Bulma's frantic cries. Everything seemed so far away. Was she going to die?