Above the Clouds

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The air was heavy, filled with moisture and tension. It was an odd sensation to the full blooded warrior. He hadn't experienced rain before, nor had he experienced storms. He had never been underneath booming thunder heads or beside massive strikes of glowing lightning, that flashed in and out faster than he could comprehend. It was a foreboding sensation, as though he had something to worry about because of the threat looming on the horizon. Broly could only imagine the chaos erupting inside the storm clouds, the tumultuous wind and water, all mixing together before dispersing and falling down on their heads. It was a natural phenomenon here, but he had never seen anything quite like it. Had Broly been even remotely poetic, he may have called it beautiful. But it wasn't anything near that for him.

To Broly, the storm best represented himself. He could only imagine what the physical manifestation of his mind would look like, but had it suddenly appeared above him, it would have looked exactly like the maelstrom brewing above. His jaw line was stuck in place, locked because of the ominous feeling sweeping him from head to toe, producing pressure all over his body. Was this normal, for planet Earth? He couldn't imagine the soft skinned humans withstanding such weather. The clouds were approaching at Hurricane-like speeds, whipping across the skies as if spurred on by some musher commanding the world above. He couldn't seem to understand the reasoning, the process that commanded such a dive across the world. He was smart enough to realize that the storm was still miles away, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it would be upon them in mere moments. There was nothing natural with that moving speed, to his best knowledge.

The clouds were rumbling with a dark rhythm, flashing golden light erupting from within every few seconds as cracks in the sky exploded into the ground. Broly was standing alone outside of Ryouji's empty mansion when the wind picked up, as if he had been waiting for the storm to come. As the rain began to fall around him, he lifted a hand into the air, forming a small ball of glittering green light that was meant to ward off the liquid. He didn't need to be soaked in the rain of Planet Earth, nor did he much want to. It didn't seem normal enough to be something encountered commonly on this planet. It was too heavy, to hard. Then there was the feeling of living energy he could feel within, suggesting that he had been correct in his assumption on the storm's origins. Something had to have been directing it, but what would have had the strength? Pursing his lips as he cocked his arm, Broly prepared himself for his new found ally.

He wasn't worried that Ryouji would harm him, no, quite the contrary. He was worried that he would destroy the boy before he had the chance to learn his secrets. Though he had guts, his strength could have been far better. His ki manipulation was the only thing Broly sought from him, and so far he had been disappointed. It was apparent that he would need to prove himself to acquire such knowledge, which had pissed him off enough even before this storm's arrival. Tensing his arm as he send a newer light up into the sky, Broly signaled for the boy with a flare-like blast, knowing that he would realize what it meant. If he didn't, then he was far less intelligent than the warrior gave him credit for. Impatiently, Broly sent up a final flare to alert the boy to hurry. He wasn't one to be kept waiting.

As the blasts coiled up into the sky, he watched. They were meant to be answered by a returned shot, signalling either the boy's ability to join him, or his inability. For both of their sake, he hoped that the boy would hurry it up. Something was troubling him about this chaotic cloud of cataclysmic proportions. It literally stretched over the entire city as it approached, battering it with winds strong enough to free light poles from the ground and send them flying through the air. He could still see them out of the corner of his eye, though he was no longer focusing upon them. He was busier watching both the flare with his primary line of sight, and the rapidly moving thunderhead that trailed in the air just out of his precise sight.

WC: 754

The cloud that had appeared over West City several days ago has only gotten larger with time. Its boisterous booms of thunder and bright cracks of lightning filled the sky every few minutes, day or night. Less than out of curiosity, it was his longing for a quiet night’s rest that drove him to find the source of the cloud.

Ryouji wanted to see just his new comrade in the midst of combat and had been searching for him for a while. The only problem was that the planet was filled with powerful beings and it was difficult to find just which one belonged to Broly, as he had not yet memorized his ki signature.

A bright green ball of energy shot forth from the ground about six kilometers south of his current location. That was him; that would be the warrior known as Broly. He was a beast of a man and a true warrior of strength and power. Though not yet, Ryouji planned to sculpt the man into a behemoth of power; whose very name would send shivers down the spines of all those who heard it. The purple haired youth locked into the warrior’s signature and teleported to his location.

“Hello comrade,” Ryouji greeted the man the moment he teleported to his side. “It would seem as though we have some trouble brewing above our heads.” Ryouji had not even looked at Broly, but simply stared up into the cloud. “I have been lead to believe from several sources that up there, in those clouds, lies a powerful object of godly power.” The boy paused as he noticed a strand of lightning skip across the inner wall of the seemingly endless cloud. “If we can go up there and attain the object for ourselves, we would be one step closer to our goals.”

Ryouji didn’t know his comrade too well, but he did know the brute loved a fight and that was exactly what he would give to him.

“Now let’s go pierce through that foreboding cloud and show the gods what true power is!”, Ryouji shouted as an enormous violet magic circle appeared on the ground.

There were strange symbols inside the circle and lines connecting varying parts of the ring to one another. The symbols were characters of an ancient writing that the Shins once used long ago, before the creation of the universal language. It was an old magic of the Shin race, back before the time of their anointed guardianhood. The skills were believed to be out of practice, due to their destructive nature and warping of the user’s mind. Somehow this boy inherited the magical properties of the ancient Shins and was using it to further his goals and create his world.

The magic circle burst with violet energy, sending up a pillar of light straight up into the sky. Normally the pillar would pierce through the clouds, eradicating any molecule that was to stubborn to move out of the way, but not this time. The column of purple energy stopped short, almost as if the cloud itself put up a barrier to prevent any harm from befalling it.

“Looks like we need more fire power Broly,” Ryouji looked over at his comrade. “Let’s see how well it fares against us both.”

(WC: 550)

Broly watched as the cloud above them rocked and boomed with noise and electricity, as his comrade's barrier prevented any rain from bothering them. He could see it as it approached, but something about the boy's energy was eradicating it before it could gain any real ground on them. He would have to remember that strength, if he ever needed it. Something about the circle made it seem powerful, as though it should have shattered through the clouds like a brick through glass. Yet, some unknown force was stopping it. Broly scowled upward, as he watched the cloud progress above their heads.

The boy was right, he would have to aid in this process. It wouldn't be difficult for the pair of them, surely. He already had a technique in mind for penetrating this cloud, provided that the boy continued to apply pressure with his mysterious strengths. Bending his knees until he could squat down no lower, Broly closed his eyes. It was time to break through this bothersome cloud cover and into the world above, the god-like world of power and strength that was surely on the other side. The boy's explanation had at first sounded poor, as if mocking the Saiyan. But now he could see that there was something unnatural about this swirling mass of water and vapor above them. He would be the one to find out exactly what.

Energy suddenly surrounded them, as Broly's strength flared. It was enough to send chills down his spine, and disperse a small portion of the cloud above them. Ryouji's own barrier soon incorporated Broly's energy, nearly doubling their strength. The Legendary Super Saiyan was still crouched as the barrier budged an inch, producing a loud crack of thunder above them. Clearly, they weren't meant to pierce the clouds to see whatever was above, but that only made him want to do it more. He would defy the creatures who lived above, and then spite them with all of his power. Groaning as his muscles began to feel the strain from his own strength, Broly suddenly turned his fire filled eyes upward to the sky.

He wasn't looking at the clouds. He was envisioning the land beyond them, the area he was now determined to reach. He could feel the chill in the air as more and more lighting was discharged and subsequently stopped by the boy's barrier. It was clear that he was protecting Broly and whether consciously or not, it was a boon. Grinning maniacally as he felt his power cap, the Saiyan warrior suddenly released a feral roar as his legs sprung upward from the area the barrier had stopped. His energy began to soar with him, lifting both fighters a short distance into the air as their powers co-mingled to produce a source of energy unrivaled by the cloud, dispersing the condensed vapor to both sides as they accelerated.

He could no longer see what was going on as they began to ascend through the the air, his senses disoriented by the booms of thunder and blinding flashes of lightning that prevented his vision from properly ascertaining his location, and his ears his altitude. He could only hope that his partner was properly directing them through the clouds, with his superior level of control. It was for that reason, that he had reluctantly formed his energy outside of Ryouji's barrier, so that he could utilize it properly enough for them to move. Had the boy failed, Broly's energy would have merely passed through his own.

So, it was now up to him to control Broly's rising power. It had grown so much since their first meeting, so he only had one question on his mind. Was the boy below him? If not, it meant that he was useless anyway. If he had vanished among the clouds, it meant that he was not able to help Broly contain his rising power. However, something in his head, call it intuition or perhaps a shred of remaining humanity, told him that the Boy was just below, utilizing their combined strength to direct them through their obstacle.

After all, little could withstand such a complicated onslaught of raw physical power and tactical manipulation of ki energy. If only the child were a little more powerful physically, he would have made a perfect Saiyan Elite. Of course, that would have meant Broly would have had to kill him...So, he was fine with the boy being human. Human, and something else unknown to the Legendary Warrior. All he knew about this child was that he couldn't have been a simple human, a mere fifteen year old boy. He was too different for that.

Too dangerous.


WC: 785
TWC:1,539

The amount of energy Broly had contributed was astounding; the barrier around the two warriors was at least ten times as strong as when it was just Ryouji’s energy. There was something about two of their energies combining that increased the power past the realm of simple mathematics.

Ryouji followed closely behind his comrade, making sure to keep the barrier fixed around the two of them. Moving a barrier was difficult enough, but one large enough to fit two people was incredibly tedious. Then the fact that he had to evade the strikes of lightning as well, he was almost amazed at himself. The energy Broly provided helped significantly significantly, as its ferocious nature tore through the clouds like butter.

’I always knew his aura alone could wreak havoc.’

It was difficult to see as the two of them moved up through the clouds. With his minute senses for energy, Ryouji could feel the power of the lightning bolts that lit up the clouds. It was a strange power, something not natural. It was almost like the electricity was generated to create the illusion that it was lightning in order to give this cloud-like energy the deceptive quality of a storm cloud.

What could have been the purpose of this cloud? Its size was enormous, covering up a good portion of the Western half of the Earth. Could something of this size not be natural? No, it had to be; the energy the lightning gave off was just not right. What could have been the purpose of these storm clouds? Who would ever want to create such a thing? It wasn’t as if it was going to do any real harm to anyone or for that matter, any real good either.

With one final push by him and what felt like Broly as well, their bubble of energy pushed through the top of the cloud and into the crystal clear air. He hovered there for a moment, just a few feet above the canopy of the cloud, astonished at what he was now seeing.

It was as if another world was created above the clouds. Large white tiles lay atop the cloud, spread out as a path to walk along and reaching as far as his eyes could see. There were white buildings, made from the cloud-like material, scattered about and ranging from small and simple home-like structures to large and complex skyscrapers. The lightning that they had seen in the cloud was not intended for deception as Ryouji had first thought, but as he could see it run along the walls of various buildings, it looked like it was the power supply for the buildings.

There were also creatures, strange looking things, running about. They came in all shapes, sizes and forms, unlike that of the Human race which tended to keep to one generic look. Some of them crawled on six legs, some of them were simple orbs floating along, a few others had only two arms but looked strong. Some had two heads, some had none. Some of them had no eyes, some had a ton. Some had a wobble to their step, while others simply hop. Some of them had their heads on the bottom, some of them had them on top.

“Just what is this place,” Ryouji said mostly to himself, still taken aback by the very sight of this world. The creatures, the buildings, the very sight of it all was just so unnatural. It was like someone had created this world, something Ryouji ached to do, but that person had no idea of what to create. If that were the case then that is something Ryouji could not forgive. He believed that the single worst act any person could make was to take the power of creation, the power to change reality, and squander it on an imperfect world.

(WC: 656+550=1206)