Kakarot's Arc

Chapter 9 of 14

Kakarot stood over the three fallen fighters, still catching his breath. Then laughter rolled down from the high seat. A short warrior with wild black hair leaped into the arena and landed light on the sand. Gold bands shone on his wrists. Raddits stepped in front of his brother at once, jaw tight. "That's him," Raddits said low. "The one who owns the throne." This was Warlord Broly, and even Raddits looked afraid. "You want my throne?" Broly grinned. "Then be the strongest there is. Beat me, brother. A fight to the death." Kakarot reached for his golden power. His hair flashed gold and his eyes turned green. He rushed in and threw a punch. Broly caught the fist without moving his feet. Then his own hair drained white, just like Kakarot's had. His eyes went white too. He held the white form steady, calm and easy. "I mastered these forms long ago," Broly said. He shoved Kakarot back across the sand. "Yours comes by accident. Mine comes when I call it." Kakarot's stomach dropped. He did not know how to summon his own white form. It had only come once, when Chi-Chi shouted her love from the wall. He could not force it now. His gold would burn out, and then Broly would break him. From the edge, Chi-Chi gripped the wall. Sir Papa watched with folded arms, and Roshi's face was grim. Broly's grin widened. "But there is a third form. Watch." He spread his arms. The ground began to shake. Lightning cracked down all around the arena and struck the sand in white bolts. Broly's white hair burned red. His eyes turned red too. The air itself seemed to press down on Kakarot's chest. Kakarot's gold flickered. His power was running low, fast. He could not match red with gold. He thought of Chi-Chi, of Raddits, of the love that had lit him before. He tried to feel it on command. Nothing came. The white would not answer to fear or wanting alone. Then Sir Papa's voice cut across the arena. "Stop thinking! Let the body call it!" The paladin had taught him this once, to act on instinct, without the mind. Kakarot let go. He stopped chasing the feeling. He breathed and let his body decide. Heat surged up his spine on its own. His gold hair drained to white. His eyes went white and clear. The panic left. He had done it, awake and by choice this time. But across the sand, Broly stood in his red form, lightning still crawling over his skin. His power dwarfed the white glow around Kakarot. Broly laughed and stepped forward. "Good. Now you'll die at your best." Kakarot could summon his white form at will now. He had solved that. But it was not enough. Broly's third form towered over him, and the real fight had only begun.