Cosmic Crisis 3 - A New Enemy

Chapter 39 - The Not so Super Saiyajin

Natalie sat against a tree near the edge of the backyard, looking to her left with an irritated expression on her face. The male species of any race never ceased to baffle her mind. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, which were pulled to her chest. Her tail was partially wrapped around her left ankle and the end of it twitched slightly to prove her annoyance.

"Hey Natalie?" a voice spoke. Natalie turned her head to the right and saw Goku and Gohan standing about 20 feet from where she sat.

"Nani?" she replied, studying them.

"Well we were training in the mountains and decided to stop by." Goku answered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about some things." She answered.

"You don't look fine. You look mad." Goku observed. "Did Vegeta, or Trunks do it?"

"Kakarotto..." Natalie began. "I really don't understand your concern. But-"

"Do you want to train with us?" Gohan interrupted, sensing her frustration.

"Say what?" Natalie said, not sure she heard him correctly.

"Well do you or don't you? I thought I'd ask, seeing as you're angry about something, and training usually alleviates stress." Gohan repeated himself. Natalie stood, brushing the loose grass off of her legs and tail and looked over at the two.

"I don't see why not." She said. "But I thought you guys wanted to visit."

"Yeah, we'll get around to it." Goku said. "Come on, we can go back to where Gohan and I were just a few minutes ago."

"Sure thing." Natalie said. As they took off into the air, she paused for a minute, watching Goku's vapor trail. She knew why he was regarded as the strongest fighter in the universe. Not only did he have the sheer strength, but the wisdom and compassion for others. A typical boy next door. She just didn't understand why someone like him would worry himself over someone like her. After a few more seconds of thought, Natalie jumped into the air and set her pace to follow.

Inside, Ceres and Reena were continuing to unpack their new clothes and put them away in the closet of the room that they shared.

"Well I guess we're stuck here for a while." Ceres commented, folding a shirt and placing it into a drawer.

"Oh it's not so bad, Ceres." Reena said. "We're lucky they accepted us in."

"Yeah whatever." She sighed. "Even so, what do we do now? Just sit around all day? There has to be something. I don't really know what my purpose here is."

"What do you mean?" Reena asked.

"Well, on Vela, we had a job. You know that." Ceres explained. Reena nodded her head. "Now, there is no monarchy, except for the prince and princess, and we don't have a purpose."

"Of course we do." Reena said. "We don't have to base our lives on the lives of them. Besides, Carina, or Natalie said herself that she didn't want us as guardians anymore."

"That's not the point." Ceres argued. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, we'll probably receive some form of schooling." Reena began. "And we have the facilities here to train. We can enhance our abilities. We can start families." She continued, blushing slightly.

"I'm not starting a family with an earthling." Ceres retorted. "I'd rather stay single for the rest of my life."

"Ceres, it's not all bad." Reena said. "Besides, there are others..."

"Like who?" Ceres interrupted. "All of the Saiya-jins are married, engaged, or otherwise taken."

"No, Sirius isn't." Reena said timidly.

"Sirius??" Ceres cried. "There is no way. We have grown up together, and we're nothing more than friends. Got it?"

"Gomen." Reena said. She didn't understand Ceres' sudden outburst, but she paid it no mind.

Trunks, Goten, and Sirius were all training once again. Instead of gravity training, they were just using the larger, enclosed training area.

"So Trunks..." Goten started. "You and Natalie are gonna get married aren't you?"

"Yep." Trunks answered plainly.

"When?" Goten asked, dodging one of Trunks' ki blasts.

"I don't know. She's only sixteen, so probably not anytime soon." Trunks replied.

"You know that Sidra-jin women marry young, don't you?" Sirius interrupted. It was obvious he had now accepted the fact that Trunks and Natalie shared a strong bond and they were not going to separate.

"Well yeah, but-"

"If she were still on Vela, she would probably already be married." He continued.

"Damn, that is young." Goten observed. But when he saw in image of Reena in his head, his thought process changed. "But what's the harm in that, huh?"

"Yeah, we know what you're thinking Goten." Trunks said, smirking.

"Shut up, Trunks.." Goten said, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing profusely. As Sirius laughed at the both of them, they stopped and turned to face him.

"Well what about you Sirius?" Trunks asked.

"What about me?" the Sidra-jin hybrid asked.

"You know. When are you going to find a mate?" Trunks continued. "You can't stay single forever."

Sirius facefaulted and his eye twitched. "What are you talking about? I don't want a mate from Earth."

"You're bound to hook up with someone around here." Goten said. "There's always Ceres."

"No way!" Sirius barked. "Ceres is just a friend and fellow guardian. Not a mate."

"Are you sure about that?" Trunks asked. "I think you two would make a great couple. She's single, you're single, so why not?"

"Because, Saiya-jin, I said so. Besides, she's still infatuated with someone." Sirius defended.

"Orion? Oh she'll get over him when she's busy worrying about you." Trunks offered. "I think you should consider it."

"No, but I'll tell you what I will consider." Sirius said, smirking.

"What's that?"

"Kicking your Saiya-jin ass." He said, getting into a defensive stance. Trunks took his stance as well and began to power up.

"There's no use in you doing that." Sirius said. "Because I put a barrier on your ki while you were too distracted to notice."

"You son of a-...how on Earth do you do that?" Trunks protested, trying to power up, but finding it useless.

"I can't explain that concept to someone like you, because you can't grasp it." Sirius said. "I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, but Sidra-jins do have the advantage when it comes to psychic powers. More so that any other race."

"Well how come Natalie can't do those sorts of things, she's one of you." Goten asked.

"Who's to say she can't?" Sirius asked. "She probably just doesn't know how. She was trained by Saiya-jins, after all. And she had lost pretty much all abilities that she had when she came to Earth. Now she has to gain them back."

"I don't know if I want her to gain that back..." Trunks trailed off.

Natalie, Goku, and Gohan finally arrived at their destination in the mountains. There was a cool wind blowing, which rustled Natalie's hair, blowing loose strands into her face much to her annoyance.

"What now?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Well you can train with Gohan or I, whichever one you want." Goku said. "First, let's see you go super Saiya-jin." Natalie nodded and increased her ki, waiting for the transformation. However, this time was different, because the changes never took place. Natalie, in disbelief, looked down at her hands. Why wasn't it working? She tried it again, this time getting angrier, but nothing happened. Then, she realized it. She must have lost the ability to go super Saiya-jin after the fight with Hermes! She let out a frustrated cry and sank to her knees.

"What's wrong, can't you transform?" Goku asked.

"No..." she said bitterly. "I can't."

"Well don't worry about it then. Let's just stay in our normal forms." Gohan said. Natalie stood again and brushed herself off, facing the younger of the two warriors.

"I've lost my abilities." She said, looking at the ground in shame.

"No you haven't." Goku said. "They just come as easy to you right now. Once you get going, you'll be fine."

"Kakarotto-san...I tried." She cried. Tears welled up in her eyes and she felt like a pathetic failure.

Goku looked over at his son, who nodded quickly and turned back to Natalie. After a fleeting moment, Gohan rushed at her. She looked up just in time and jumped out of the way. Gohan skidded to a halt and went in for the attack again. She continually dodged him until he finally managed to catch her wrist and twist her arm into a position so that she could not move without experiencing excruciating pain.

"I give." Natalie said. "Let go."

"Iie." Gohan said. "You never give. Keep trying."

Natalie, extremely frustrated at this point, gritted her teeth and struggled, trying to block the pain. He still didn't budge, and she felt helpless, which was a feeling she loathed. As her anger grew, so did her ki. Goku and Gohan obviously sensed this, and were waiting for her to reach the crucial point.

"Can't free yourself, can you?" Gohan sneered, trying to push her to the edge. Natalie didn't reply. Her back was facing him and therefore, she did not have to look at his face. Instead she looked at the ground with narrowed, tear-stained eyes, trying to work her arm out of the position is was in. "Maybe you should give up if you really don't think you can do it."

Natalie was boiling. She felt the fire inside her chest burning to get out as she held her breath, her pulse quickening. She had to prove herself as a Saiya-jin, even if she was only a half-breed. Goku and Gohan were legends...and the last thing she wanted to do was appear to be weak in their eyes.

"Come on Natalie." Goku said, trying to encourage her.

"I'm not holding on too tight, it should be easy." Gohan added, half-heartedly. He knew it was only partially true, but sometimes, little white lies were necessary in life.

"It's...not...easy..." Natalie managed to spit out between clenched teeth. "I...can't..."

"Yeah, you can." Gohan continued. "You can."

She continued to struggle, her ki increasing so fast that her head throbbed. Just as she thought her heart would explode in her chest, Gohan faltered. He allowed his grip to loosen ever-so-slightly. Natalie, instinctively sensing this change, literally ripped her hand from his grasp. Enraged, she reeled back and slammed her fist straight into Gohan's chest, impacting with a sickening crunch. Gohan went sailing backward while Natalie, her rage at its peak, went in for the kill. She sprang into the air and pounced on her unfortunate victim as he was landing, sending them both skidding backward until their momentum was stopped by a tree. Gohan exploded his ki and send Natalie flying, but she stopped herself mid-air and glared lethally at him. In a matter of moments, she was upon him again, and her hands went for a key target: the neck. Gohan, however, stopped her before she could accomplish her goal and grabbed both of her wrists, holding them in place about six inches from his face.

"Natalie, stop." Gohan said, tightening his grip. Natalie growled and jumped into the air, bringing her feet together and kicking him in the same spot that her fist had hit just moments ago. Gohan cried out in pain and clutched his chest, leaving himself open for attack. She took the opportunity and did a low kick into his side, causing him to spin in almost a complete circle, his body reeling around to face her. She powered a ki blast, the energy pulsating in her palm as an evil smirk formed on her lips. With deadly accuracy, she aimed her attack at him. Gohan, however, stood and calmly faced her, dropping his guard. Taken by surprise, Natalie stood in place, her eyes locked on to his form, but she was confused.

"Why are you backing down?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Attack me." He said. She didn't respond. "Go on."

Natalie hesitated. Unconsciously, she allowed her attack to dissipate and her arms dropped to her sides. When she realized what she had done, she knew that she was indeed a failure.

"What are you waiting for?" Gohan asked.

"No." Natalie said, turning her head away ashamedly. "I can't."

"Why not?" Gohan cried. "You can't stop just because I did. Keep going."

"I said NO!" Natalie screamed. "I.. I can't deal with this anymore! I'm through with training. I can't control my anger...and I can't control my power."

"That's why you are here to learn." Goku said, stepping into the conversation. "Nobody is born with the ability to control their ki to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, you lost some of that ability when time shifted."

"I'll learn later. Right now, I just need to go home." She said, turning around and looking in the direction from which she had come. Someone grabbed her arm and she turned around to see Gohan with a ki blast charging in his hand.

"You stay, or I'll fire this at you." He threatened. Natalie's eyes widened for a transitory moment and she wanted to run, but deep down she knew better. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she turned back around and faced him.

"I dare you." She said in a low tone.

"Kamehameha!" he cried, shooting the massive attack in her direction. The blinding light shot at her at incredible speed, incinerating everything in its path. Natalie, powering up her ki shield, jumped into the attack and held up her forearms, crossed over her face, and pushed it back. Gohan fueled more power into it and the attack grew in size and intensity. Natalie, in turn, had to increase the power in her ki shield as her body was pushed backward by the sheer force. She dug her heels into the dirt and tried to keep her footing, but she was rapidly losing her grip on the Earth.

"Akiyah..." she shouted, the power of her ki shield draining her body and condensing into her palms. She tapped into her reserves, performing an attack she hadn't used in months, and screamed as hard as her lungs would allow. "...MEH!" The energy erupted from her hands and shot out like lightning. It pushed back Gohan's blast and grew ever-closer. Gohan put more into his, and started to push hers back. Natalie, driven by anger and Saiya-jin instincts, screamed and gave it everything she had. The crackle of the opposing energy masses intensified as Natalie started to overtake the kamehameha. Just when she thought she had made it, Gohan's attack strengthened and Natalie was beaten. The beam sliced through her attack and slammed into her body, sending her into the air with an impact explosion. With no life-energy left, she fell unconscious before she was drilled into the ground by the shockwave, shattering her ribcage and snapping her spine.