Interception

[Zach]

{Part of this first post is simply a rehashing of anyther post since that topic is now retconned. Since I wouldn't have done anything differently I picked up with original verbiage from the point where Zach arrives over the battlefield.}

Returning to the islands at reduced speed although not Zach's desire, was necessary. Gurin had restored the teen's body following what was his third encounter with the Changeling monster but had not been able to restore to him his energy reserves. The result was the boy's energy being as depleted as it was when the alien started beating him to death. Zach's slow pace was a result of this lack of energy, allowing his body to regenerate his reserve and as he approached the island chain where the battle had taken place, the blonde teenager was once again flying at super sonic speeds. Flying low as the storm clouds generated by Suki's ravaging of the sea mad it impossible to see landmarks from up high, Zach cruised in just over the water in his base form, leaving a trail of kicked up spray in his wake. The destroyed remnants of the island the battle had taken place on were tens if not hundreds of feet bellow sea level now, the ocean still surging into the area to compensate for the sudden lack of land and forcing Zach to fly a bit higher to avoid the turbulence as well as serving to tell him he was in the right place.

Not having the capacity to sense other's energy signatures, Zach had to track and fight solely with his other senses, primary of which was sight so it was fortunate that the area was still disrupted by the action for the teen to know where he was, else he might have flown right by Boliko and his escort given the poor visibility. As events would have it though, since Zach now knew where he was, the young man slowed to a halt to scan the area with his keen vission. Nothing was in sight though, prompting Zach to wonder if in the time that it took him to get to the right place, the monkey king has already passed by, or perhaps turned back. Zach simply didn't know, all he did know was that his target was nowhere to be seen nor heard. Grumbling to himself, Zach looked down to the tiny outcropping of rock that had meraculously survived the pitched battle no more then an hour before hand. Desiring to be as fresh as he could be for the fight he hoped was forthcoming, Zach set down on that outcropping and took a seat on it's surf low surface, allowing his energy reserve to slowly recover and his skin to be cooled by the ocean spray.

[Nam Reikonaga]

Black ugly birds rotated in the sky above the dreary scene as Nam slowly regained consciousness from within the devastated land before he would slowly smolder under the sun. His vision blurred, only seeing incoherent dots in the air. Nam knew what those black birds were; he just couldn’t recall their names. They would always appear on TV shows in desert-like panoramas and eat the decaying flesh of organisms. “Well I’m not dead yet…” he thought, looking at the bean resting gently over his right hand. Should he eat it? Why should he hesitate?

Nam gripped the small green bean and pushed himself to his feet, struggling with his weakened body. The heat was livid and strong, his head felt light. He shielded his face from the sun as his squint eyes scouted the area around him. Nam was bare, with nothing but his pants, in the dead center of a crater; a sample of Mt. Paozu’s fate as he plodded lamely towards the end. There was nothing left. Mountains over 50 feet tall, all of them, crumbled and swayed away by the clash of power between Nam and the white lizard whose name and face would be remembered for decades to come like that of Meishi’s. Only those who fly were saved by the blast –and even then it wasn’t many.

The brunette boy, apart from feeling ashamed, felt extricated from the pressure of battle. This would be, at last, the final sacrifice of peace. Touketsuki Yakedo was gone and it seemed like Earth would return to a time of peace and tranquility –something he has yearned for a long time.

As Nam was about to savagely ravage the exquisite little bean into his dry dehydrated mouth, a familiar power level was faintly moving towards the direction Nam recognized as Metropolis Island. “Zach?”

The elocution of his mind made him balk at the thought of eating that senzu bean and stopped the nearly mutilated man from performing an impetuous action. But in his current situation, Nam could only hope to plod the rest of the way towards the blond man –and who knows how long it would take? Reaching a conclusion, Nam bites off half of the bean and stores the rest. His body slowly regenerated and replenished his stamina, -but he was still limp. Regardless of his weakened state, Nam felt something he never felt before in his life. His body bulged and pumped with power. An extraordinary feeling he couldn’t explain. But without further contemplation, the brunette man dashed through the air as much as his body’s current state allowed.

“Zach!” he yelled out upon arrival, making a rough stop about three feet away from the shirtless wonder. “Take this!” he continued, tossing the other half of the bean towards him.

“It’s over…” he said, catching his breath with a smile despite his dreary appearance. “He’s not dead… but Touketsuki Yakedo has withdrawn and left our planet…” “It’s over…”

Realizing they were back where the fight had begun, Nam observed their surroundings, taking a better look of the aftermath. It was too bad all this damage had to happen before it finally ended. “Where’s Kami?” he asked, promptly correcting himself before Zach did. “–Gurin”


-------------
Edit: FYI, I got the bean from Suki at the end of our fight.

[Zach]

Relaxing on the cold stone surface of the last remaining outcrop of the island, Zach sat Indian style with his eyes closed and let the ocean mist cool him while his energy slowly returned. It was a short while, the interim being no more then a half hour before there was a sudden disturbance. A voice cracked like lightning across his perception, calling his name in much too friendly a manner, the familiarity of it's owner slicing him deeply. At once Zach's anger started to bubble over but the teen did everything he could to mask it, as if Nam had survived his encounter with Suki, then he might be more dangerous then Zach had imagined and so the boy did not want to leave any hint as to his intentions. What cut Zach even deeper though was the fact that Nam was maintaining his pretense, taking Zach for a fool as he'd done since the day they'd met. As Zach finally opened his eyes and climbed back to his feet, Nam closed and tossed him something, something small. With one hand Zach caught the object, turned his palm up and looked at it before turning his gaze back to Nam. A cheat bean, a lousy, freaking cheat bean, well half of one anyway. Did he really think so little of Zach that the blonde would actually need one of these?

'Easy, don't tip him off.' Zach thought to himself. 'Just play along.' Looking back to the bean, Zach drew a half hearted smile across his face and then popped the bean in his mouth but did not chew or swallow it, instead the blonde tucked it between his cheek and gums. Standing still, Zach listened to Nam's brief recount of Suki's departure and then his inquiry as to Gurin's whereabouts. Zach knew Gurin was in Satan City but wasn't about to volunteer that information, instead he responded with a simple shrug and then stepped closer to Nam. The other boy was now wearing even less clothing then Zach which only made the blonde teen regret what he had to do even more. He so had wished he could have had a real relationship with Nam, the other boy was attractive beyond measure and had a personality that complimented Zach's perfectly, at least that's what it was supposed to be. Zach could see now it was all a lie, Nam had played him for a fool for over a year now, making himself out to be Zach's ideal boyfriend, all the while plotting with the rest of those barbarous Saiyans. It made Zach sick to think he could have fallen for an alien so easily.

"Nam..." Zach started hoarsely, closing to an imperceptibly short distance, his broad chest just brushing the other young man's and nothing but intensity and determination showing in his eyes. Nam probably though Zach was going to kiss him again, but he couldn't be further from the truth. Instead Zach raised his arms and moved to wrap them around the other young man, under his own arms, in a hug. "I'm sorry Nam but..." Zach paused again, trying to play up his deception as well as he could. This had to be the deciding moment, the moment everything for the two of them changed and Zach needed to make sure he stayed in control of that moment, if Nam were to escape his grasp a battle between the two of them could only end badly. No this had to be completely one-sided and in Zach's favor.

If Nam made no move to stop his embrace, Zach would wrap his arms around Nam's torso, gently at first and rest his chin on the other boy's shoulder. Oh how Zach had wanted to be close to Nam like this, but now that he knew what the other boy was, the sensation of Nam's body pressed against his own almost made Zach's skin crawl. It was confusing to Zach how someone so incredibly hot could be one of those savages, but he was and now Zach had to deal with him. First though he would play out his deception a little further, keeping his arms wrapped around Nam he would inhale deeply as if fighting back tears. It would be interesting to see what the other boy would do while they were in this position, would he come clean? Would he continue to lie? Perhaps attempt to probe Zach for information regarding his encounter with the Saiyan king. Once thing was for sure though, once Zach felt he had Nam fully lulled and at ease, he would get down to the grim task of disassembling their friendship, one bone at a time.

[Nam Reikonaga]

The moment Nam arrived, he knew something was off. It was the way Zach remained so calm that made him realize. Nam was acting like nothing happened, but Zach was still stuck on their previous encounter. The reminder brought chills down his spine and he could only cringe as the blond man got closer to him. “Zach, I…” he started, discreetly making distance between each other. But the shirtless man embraced the other, stopping him in his tracks. Nam froze on the spot.

"I'm sorry Nam but..."

He’s apologizing? But what? It seemed Zach was caught up and choked, not able to express what he wanted, but Nam knew what he must do. The brunette slowly returned the embrace to the other in the same gentle way. It felt weird, but even friends hug, no? “Zach…” he started. “There’s something… I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Here it goes. It was hard to get it through, but everything was finally over. This was the perfect moment to set things straight. Nam focused on the ocean below them as he spoke, trying to ignore the fact that they were hugging. “I never realized what you’ve been going through and you’ll probably hate me for this, but it’s time to let you know…” an eerie silence overcame them for a few seconds before Nam finally revealed his unintended secret. There was no telling how Zach would react, Nam’s heart began to race as he braced himself and prepared for the worst. He closed his eyes shut and spoke:

“I’m a… Saiyan…”

[Zach]

Holding Nam again him, Zach was surprised to feel the other young man's arms encircle him, especially after the manner in which Nam had reacted when Zach had kissed him. It didn't matter though, it couldn't, Zach knew what he was now and couldn't let The boy's tactice for putting him at ease work on him. Then Nam started to speak and the words although Zach' didn't want to hear them were exactly what he expected to hear. Nam confessed, the lie was broken and now Zach, by Nam's own admission, knew for certain he had an alien in his embrace. It was difficult to hold on though, not physically, heck Nam was actually hugging him back, no it was emotionally hard to hold on. Zach could feel his rage boiling over, his muscles tensing and he knew he couldn't control himself for much longer. The red cloud of sheer hatred coloured the teen's vission and if Nam didn't know something was wrong he would now. Zach's embrace around the other boy's trunk tightened as he all but whispered.

"I know Nam... Gurin told me... He told me everything." Zach started and in a flash his aura exploded up arounf the two of them, trippling the blonde's strength. "He told me everything Nam! Did you really think you could play the both of us for fools?!" Zach growled and tightned his grip around Nam enough to make the other decidedly uncomfortable. The boy had to fight to keep from crushing Nam right then and there, he needed to talk, at least squezze out a few more sentences.

"Do you want to know why I hate them so much? Do you?!" Zach yelled. "Those butchers murdered my entire family and everyone I ever knew. My entire town is a crater because of them! And you, you who would serve and lie for them. I... I don't know what hurts more, knowing what you are or that you lied to me about it..." Zach ranted, his voice starting to choke up with strained emmotions. "I can't beleive I... I loved you Nam... I actually, really did. The jealousy aside, I loved you and you lied to me, pretended to be just one of the boys." Zach continued, his grip getting ever tighter, by now surely threatening the structural integrity of Nam's ribcage to say nothing of his ability to breath. He leaned his head back so he could see Nam's face, his own red and hot with anger although the moisture in his eyes belied that along with that anger Zach was in anguish, upset to the core that he'd been so betrayed and that the object of his affection had been the one to betray him.

"Grrrrr.... I'm... Not going to kill you... But you hurt me, you hurt me so much..." Zach carried on, sqwashing Nam's body against his own. "Rrrrrr... The only reason I don't kill you is because I did love you. But that... IS... OVER... NOW!" Zach yelled one final time, his titanic strength constricting his arms around Nam's body with such power that if the other boy had remained in his base form he would surely suffer greatly from the hold.

[Nam Reikonaga]

At last, he said it. Nam revealed his identity to Zach. The brunette was about to further explain in the lack of response, but his tongue tied as their embrace changed in nature. Zach’s gentle grip changed to a violent one and Nam’s arms loosened as he gawked. “Z-Zach…” he whispered, trying to speak, but he was silenced. He listened to his confessions, he understood his reactions, but the more the blond man spoke, the more the other got confused.

Zach spoke as if Nam had committed some sort of crime. Maybe in his eyes, being born from saiyan genes was a crime, but the way he explained it just seemed off to him. What DID Kami tell him? –And since when did he know? Knowing Zach, he couldn’t have known it for long. Definitely, he didn’t know it back then when he moved in to kiss him and he probably didn’t know when he saved Nam from Touketsuki’s telepathic grasp; which meant it had to happen during his final bout with Touketsuki Yakedo.

“Zach I…” he tried, but was once again overwhelmed by the pressure; speaking meant letting go of the air that was being squeezed out of him. Nam could probably break free if he wanted, but somehow, he felt like he deserved it. Zach made him feel like he was truly to blame –but he knew better. Resisting would only fuel Zach’s anger and feed his views. Nam needed to show him that his origins didn’t matter. But should he even if he were to die in the process? The blond man claims he wouldn’t kill him, but it seemed he was going to cripple him at least.

“Z-Zach…” Nam tried again, but his bones were crushing against each other. His squint his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he slowly began to fixate. He wanted to explain, but he couldn’t. Zach wouldn’t allow it. Nam and Zach weren’t all that different. He couldn’t really say his entire family was butchered, but he never met his father and his mother was murdered by a saiyan. If Nam didn’t have saiyan genes, would he have been the same as Zach? –Blindly hating anything that had to do with a saiyan? Was it because of his saiyan genes that Nam understood that they weren’t all the same? He was living proof after all –and then there was Antary. In all honesty, he hasn’t met many decent saiyans, but he was sure that they couldn’t all be bad. Nam was an example, but Zach was too blind to see.

The saiyan winced as his face turned skyward in an awkward scream distorted by the intense pain of his dreary situation. He was within the grasp of an Oozaru and the force was too great to break free from. If he had transformed sooner he could have saved himself, but his respect towards his friend –his desire to become transparent and allow his friend to see right through him, to see the real him and not the false accusations that had labeled him down as a common saiyan. Because of these he refused to stop the embrace and now he couldn’t even if he wanted to. He felt his ribcage crush and crack as his breath fell short. All the little energy that senzu bean restored was gone to the point his arms finally dangled lifelessly to his sides.

[Zach]

As Zach squeezed, he could feel Nam struggling against him, the other young man's muscles contracting in a vain attempt to save him from the torment Zach was putting the brunette through. Zach could feel the last of Nam's air leave him, his muscles go lax and then finally when the other boy's body gave up the struggle, the crunch of Nam's bones. That was as far as Zach wanted to take it, as far as he needed to take it, the point was made, Zach would not hesitate to hurt Nam like this again and Nam now knew that he could. Although the blonde's continuing anger at the other boy cried out to inflict more pain, Zach was not a sadist and certainly not a killer, at least that's what he told himself, but with a body count already totally two, the young man knew he had to reign in his rage before he did end up killing Nam.

Releasing his bear hug around Nam's torso, Zach let the other boy drop to the diminutive outcropping of ground and then kicked him over onto his back to make sure the other could see him. Zach's face was still red with anger, he'd been so betrayed and wanted to do so much more to Nam for lying to him all of this time, but knew he'd end up killing him. Crushed was enough, it had to be, at least for now. With Nam on his back and likely in no condition to resist, Zach grinned and dropped down to one knee, that knee though was buried in Nam's midsection, delivering a little payback for their sparring match in the gravity chamber back on the lookout. He almost felt bad for sneaking in the final strike, but justified it to himself was telling him just that, it was payback, they were even now. His knee still planted in Nam's gut, Zach leaned down and fished the half a bean Nam had tossed him, out of his mouth and held it over the boy's face.

"Now, get this through your head. I won't hesitate to do this to you again and again and again if I see you. You and that louse infested king of yours had better get off this planet and go back to that rock you call a home world." Zach started, speaking slowly and calmly in spite of the anger still plainly evident on his face. "I'm going to give this to you now, I don't need it and I don't want it, they negate any useful gains I might get from getting my ass handed to me, as you should know by now. Now once I do give this to you I'm going to leave you here, you'd best run while I'm giving you the chance, otherwise things are going to get unpleasant again and I don't know how well I'll be able to keep myself under control. Got it?" Zach continued, asking if Nam under stood rhetorically. He didn't care of the other boy was wide awake, passed out or somewhere in between, he'd said his piece and that was that. Grabbing Nam's cheeks with his left hand, Zach would force the other young man's mouth open and then drop the bean in with his right. Once, the bean had disappeared into the other boy's mouth, the blonde stood, his crimson aura vanishing as he dropped out of his transformed state, a wave of exhaustion starting to wash over him.

"I'm sorry it had to go this way... Why could you have just been human?" Zach said more to himself then to Nam and then lifted off. He hovered for a moment, about ten feet above the stone outcropping, surrounded by the ocean and gazed down at the other boy. He wanted to take one last look while he could and imprint that image on his memory, to remember Nam as he was, beaten by his had. These dark thoughts didn't bring Zach any comfort though and it was clear to anyone watching that he wasn't enjoying himself, one would almost conclude that the boy might have known he was making a mistake. He was too far gone, consumed by his hatred to turn back now though, all that remain for him was the path he'd chosen, to rid Earth of all hostile alien forces, especially the Saiyans. "Good bye Nam, for your sake, I hope we don't see each other again." Zach added and started to climb away, going just slowly enough that if Nam really wanted to speak to him, he'd be in earshot for a few moments more.

[Nam Reikonaga]

Zach finally let go of his gruesome grip on the brunette, allowing him to drop face first on an outcropping piece of land in the ocean below. Nam tried to move, but he couldn’t; he took the brunt of the fall. As if it weren’t enough, the tortured half-saiyan was kicked over to his back. He could feel all his bones moving like puzzle pieces within him and perforated organs perhaps. Zach may have stated he didn’t intend on killing him, but Nam would certainly die if left in this condition.

The man vaguely glanced above him at the blurring image of his friend blotting out the sun from his face. If he hadn’t spit blood out yet, he certainly did after feeling a knee being jammed into his stomach. The blood spattered over his already bruised body. He couldn’t do a thing but listen to the handful of words Zach wanted to say.

”Zach…” he tried to speak, but he couldn’t even feel his face. All his attempts for speaking were in vain and everything he wanted to say he couldn’t. That was the problem with this man. There was no conversation, -just shut up and listen, was his motto. But what would Nam say anyway? There was nothing he could say because he understood nothing. For some reason, he felt like all this anger wasn’t just focused around the plain fact that he was partly saiyan. There was something more, but he couldn’t decipher it through the blond man’s words. No, how could he possibly guess that Gurin had gone evil? That he twisted the truth to make it seem like Nam was plotting against them? Maybe if he knew this, if he understood what was going on –Just maybe, he’d be able to get Zach to understand.

Nam moaned as the bean was forced through his mouth and watched as Zach began to fly away. The bean did its job. It never ceased to amaze him the effects; sure, he was still pretty beat up, but he would no longer die. He felt his body pump up in a jerking motion as his bones were reformed and organs healed, stopping the internal bleeding. He huffed and puffed, gasping for air as his ability to speak had somewhat returned. But despite all this, he was on the verge of losing consciousness. “Zach…” he said, but he wouldn’t be heard like this.

The brunette braced himself, squint his eyes shut as to endure the intense sharp pain felt all around his body. “This won’t be our last!” he yelled from the top of his lungs, promptly violently coughing out more blood. ”I was born here too…” he thought. There was much more he wanted to tell Zach, but he couldn’t. So he left him a warning. Nam wasn’t planning on leaving. Nam was going to set things straight. And if this really was about his heritage, then the blond man would just have to get over it. His home? What home? If Earth wasn’t his home, then planet Vegeta was even less. Nam had saiyan blood in his vains –but he wasn’t saiyan…

“I’m a half-breed…” he murmured, mainly to himself; doubting Zach would hear him unless he got closer. “Not a saiyan, not human…” his eyes began to water as he remembered his mother’s warnings. How they were careful to hide his saiyan heritage from the world, because she understood that Nam could never live a normal life if the world knew who he was. So his identity was kept in the sidelines, cutting his tail off every time it grew back. It saddened him, to realize that his mother had all the reason in the world. There was truly no place for him –and none of that struck him until this very moment.

“If this isn’t my home… then I belong… nowhere…”

[Zach]

Zach was all set to fly away and indeed was doing just that, but then Nam had to go and try to call him back, yelling out something along the lines of it not being ther last meeting. Zach drew to a halt in mid air and sighed, wondering if the brunette had suddenly developed a masochistic streak. Shaking his head, the blonde teenager turned back to face Nam, still on the ground below. He remained staring at the other shirtless boy for a few moments before starting to glide higher into the sky. What ever wih Nam had for Zach to return, the blonde wasn't going to entertain it. Suki had been dealt with, the Saiyan king was leaving and his spy had been crushed, now it was time to pick up the pieces and get on with life. If Zach ever did run into Nam again, he was sure there would be combat and he would once again demonstrate that Earth was no place for barbarians and alien troublemakers.

"If it's not our last meeting then pray that when we do meet again it's not on Earth." Zach yelled back down to the fallen boy. He still wanted to thrash Nam, to beat that smug sense of self saticfaction out of him even though he knew it would probably kill the brunette. Zach had to keep control however, he couldn't let himself go down that road, couldn't take any more lives, it would make him just as bad as the scum he was trying to defend the Earth from. It was hard to resist the urge to fly back down and beat the tar out of the Saiyan though, taking almost every fiber of Zach's self control just to keep him aloft. 'Get a grip on your self. There'll be plenty of others to beat up, he's had enough for now.' Zach though to himself and continued to clib away. 'But if he ever does come back, oh the fun I'll have teaching him this lesson again.' Zach continued to think darkly as Nam and the tiny outcroping of rock he was laying on shrank into the distance.

[Nam Reikonaga]

(Well, I think this is it then. xP I request Power Level.)

[Zach]

Power level increase requested as well. Weights are not in effect for either of us.

[Geurin]

Zach: 2250
Nam: 2100