It was a swift, brutal collapse.
The Saiyans of Planet Sadala were by no means inexperienced to war. Throughout history the race had dedicated themselves to the protection of themselves and the galaxy, choosing the path of peace and cooperation over conquest and aggression. For centuries this technique worked, the Saiyans gaining more and more strength as they waged their campaign to maintain the Universe's balance. However, despite everything they had done, everyone they had prepared even for the Tournament of Power it was not enough. No one could blame them though, defending against the full assault of Universe 11 was like trying to push a mountain.
When the Tournament of Power concluded with Universe 7's victory everyone thought the conflict was over, especially when Son Goku wished that all of the Universes except 4 and 9 were to be preserved. However, even the mighty Saiyan warrior couldn't have expected the answer from Universe 11, the close second place. After the Tournament the entire Universe had secretly congregated within itself and decided that to prevent the further corruption and destruction of the multiverse all other Universes would have to come under the control of 11, even Universe 7. And so the rogue Universe quickly militarized itself, bolstering its ranks of Pride Troopers and training its participants in the Tournament of Power to their maximum potential. Once it was complete and Zeno had been persuaded to allow the "friendly" new competition to occur the new Multiuniversal Enforcement Force (MEF) was formed and given one goal: Gain full control of the other 9 Universes, even if destruction was required.
The result was devastating.
Thanks to their participation in the Tournament each Universe was not fully unprepared for 11's assault and with great haste the members of each Universe's team were called to defend their homes from the threat. Nothing could stop the sheer amount of troops though. Thousands upon thousands of Pride Troopers led by the original members of the U11 team crushed everything in their sight with either force of numbers or sheer fighting prowess, overwhelming even the strongest or smartest of fighters. One by one the Universes fell: First the four that had not participated in the Tournament, all of them too lazy and cocky to respect the sheer might of such a move. Then from the weakest to the strongest each Universe was thoroughly conquered: 10 fell without a second glance, 2 fought hard but surrendered quickly after the loss of its prominent warrior Brianne de Chateau. Universe 3 put up an incredibly strong fight, slaughtering hundreds of Pride Troopers in an initial ambush and managing to last for months with its tactics before finally being starved of resources. In less than a year 11 was in full control of eight of the ten remaining Universes, the only two left being 6 and 7. And for 11, 6 was next.
Caulifla stood at the gates of Planet Sadala, arms crossed in front of her chest as she tried to cure her boredom. She was watching the last ships of Universe 6 Saiyans lift into the air and fly off toward neutral space where Universe 7 stood waiting, the last possible safe haven after Universe 6's collapse. Universe 6 had been prepared for the Pride Troopers and had gone at them with everything it had in the first few weeks, pushing the forces of the MEF back with every Saiyan able to fight leading the defense. The next months had been full of struggle and for good reason: Universe 6 had been just as if not more powerful than Universe 11 in the Tournament and the swift militarization of 11 had been matched with Universe 6's quick fortification. Still, with the sheer power of Jiren and the resource control of almost every other Universe in existence the walls could only hold for so long. Now the Saiyan race was in full retreat, running to the open arms of Universe 7 with the plan of solidifying the Universe's outer border and making itself as ready as it could for the final battle. And in order to buy time, one had been left to stall.
Caulifla stood waiting between the iron gates leading into the spaceport of Planet Sadala, waiting for the sky to go black. The Saiyan prodigy tilted her head as she watched the last ship make its escape through the air, whizzing through the atmosphere like a rocket before disappearing into the horizon. She was now the last living creature on the planet.
"Oh well. Guess it's just you and me now, rock." Caulifla said, patting the ground beneath her. "Just you and me, like it should be."
The planet rested motionlessly, silent as it waited.
"Not a talker, huh?" Caulifla said, laying down on the stone pavement as she gazed up at the stars. "Eh, me neither. I always wanted people to get to the point."
Caulifla was alone because she had chosen to be. She didn't know why exactly, though Cabba had argued that it was a stupid burst of pride and self-sacrifice before she had knocked him out. After that, no one had said no to her. Not even Kale, who Caulifla knew without a doubt was crying and holding her knees to her chest as Cabba held her.
Caulifla laughed, remembering how Kale had ruthlessly kicked Cabba's ass the first time she had became the Legendary Super Saiyan, picturing the sheer hatred flowing in her protégée's eyes at that moment.
How shit changes. she thought, smirking. She went from wanting to kill him to thinking she's nothing without him. He's gonna have his hands full, serves that manlet right.
The sky around Caulifla started to darken and she brought herself back into focus. As she watched stars blotted out left and right as a hulking black mass covered them, a ship that she had seen too many times and never wanted to see again hiding them from her view as it arrived. Within a minute everything was pitch black except for the light reflecting off the MEF's capital ship and the soft white glow of the Karit Flowers all around her. Caulifla stood and looked straight at the craft from her vantage point, feeling no fear through her heart.
It didn't take them long to deploy, it never had. Everything blurred to Caulifla as she let the events around her speed up, having seen this enough to not care to witness it again. Thousands of Pride Troopers came down like a hive of angry wasps, destroying countless buildings and eliminating entire cities as they ravaged the planet. The explosions were pathetic to Caulifla though despite it all she couldn't help but feel a slight anxiety at the reality that things were finally going to come to an end.
Well, she thought, At least I get to die kicking ass. Not from food poisoning like Champa. Dumbass...
The Pride Troopers took their time to confront her, circling above her location and growing in number as the rest of the planet was fully searched or ravaged for materials. After a while Caulifla got bored and started practicing her style while she waited, curving her movements with a forceful grace that must have looked like the sign of death to most of her observers above. Finally after a few hours Caulifla sensed a change in the atmosphere and was satisfied to see a single figure descending down to her, just the one she had wanted to see.
"Well look who it is." Caulifla called, walking over to the gate and leaning her back against it. "Long time no see, Moustache Man."
Toppo, the second strongest of Universe 11 and the commander of the MEF's forces glared at her calmly as he touched down on the ground, fists to his side. He hadn't changed a bit from the Tournament, his Pride Trooper uniform the same except for a badge indicating his rank in the MEF.
"Caulifla." Toppo said mutually, standing still as he addressed her. "I assume you've been expecting me."
"Yeah." Caulifla said before yawning and kicking a pebble. "Took you long enough, I thought I was gonna have to start butchering your men to get your attention."
Toppo sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, working hard to maintain his patience. "Caulifla, you are fully aware of the circumstances right now."
"Of course I am, Huge Hands." Caulifla said, sarcasm layering her tone. "You want to know where the Saiyans went, what their plan is and if I be a good girl and tell you everything then I'll be given a somewhat fair trial before my eternal imprisonment or brutal execution." Caulifla looked straight at Toppo and smirked. "I think you know what my answer is to that, big guy."
Despite everything telling him to just get on with it Toppo felt the need to try one more time. "Caulifla, you are not someone that deserves to die. When I first saw the Saiyans, I hated them." He balled his fists. "I hated how a race could be so evil to start such a tournament and revel in it just for the sake of fighting. I thought that the race had no hope. But I was wrong." He paced around the pavement as Caulifla listened on, unimpressed. "I had only seen one side of the Saiyans, the side of Universe 7. Universe 6 has proved to be something else entirely, a race with hope, logic, peace-"
"And you STILL attacked us without negotiating?" Caulifla said, letting the anger get through to her voice. "Even when we fought Universe 7 in the Tournament?"
Toppo nodded. "Yes, because we knew that your pride would never allow containment under the jurisdiction of the MEF. But it doesn't have to be the same for you, Caulifla. Universe 11 has been fully willing to look past the actions of those who have been truly fighting for what they believe is right so long as they'll listen and join peacefully. Don't do this to yourself, Caulifla. Don't make this be as it was back in the Tournament."
Caulifla spit onto the ground and stood up, stretching her arms. "Nice speech, really. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to say no. I have friends and family who I promised that I would die fighting for them to ensure their safety and I'm sure as hell not about to be a pet of the Justice Buddies." She cracked her neck and looked again at the MEF Commander, her eyes blazing with energy. "Besides, I still want a rematch."
Above the two fighters several Pride Troopers started to close in before Toppo raised a hand, stopping their movement. "I won't have any unnecessary bloodshed on my hands." He told them before looking back at Caulifla and entering his battle pose, red energy flaring about him. "But very well. If you are choosing the path of evil then I will not hold back. I will bring justice to this Universe, once and for all!"
Caulifla breathed in and smiled as golden energy flowed from her back to throughout her body, flaring her energy and hair into a bright gold as her eyes became a bright cerulean blue. She relaxed her muscles as she ascended to a Super Saiyan and looked at Toppo smugly, putting her hands on her hips.
"Alright then, Huge Hands." She entered her battle pose and looked at him expectantly. "Let's go."
For a minute neither fighter moved, allowing their energy to settle into their bodies as they assessed each other for a potential weakness. The air grew silent as the Pride Troopers above looked on from afar, none of them wanting to disturb the moment. Then, with a quick movement both fighters threw themselves at the other, fists raised.
Caulifla shouted and landed the first blow with a strong punch to Toppo's awaiting arm, moving out of the way as he threw a punch at her and with delicate timing deflected his followup blow as she went for his shoulder, missing it by a centimeter as Toppo moved out of the way.
The two combatants entered a fierce competition of trading fists and kicks back and forth as they increased their effort, creating a large hole around them as both worked to gain the upper hand. After a moment Toppo threw his hands down on Caulifla and she blitzed behind him before swiftly shoving her leg into his back and sent him into the ground. Caulifla didn't hesitate and fired multiple ki blasts at Toppo's last location, creating a large billow of smoke and dust as Toppo flew out and went to strike the female Saiyan, seemingly unscathed. Caulifla juked his arm and winced as she felt the power in the blow shoot past her and into the ground before backing up, giving herself a breather. She barely had a milisecond before Toppo was on her again, barraging her with an endless assualt that only seemed to get stronger as Toppo's determination increased.
Caulifla chose her moment carefully and as Toppo threw a painful jab into her shoulder she threw her leg straight up and into his chin like an uppercut, relishing in the sound of breaking bone before attacking full force with her counterattack, driving the Pride Trooper back as she worked with great vigor to shut him down. Despite what she had though the blows seemingly fizzled on Toppo's body and with a grunt her threw out a bulky arm at her and sent her spinning across the pavement outside the spaceport and into a nearby building before with a loud crash it caved in, tons of rock and steel falling into the prodigy as she was encased in rubble.
Toppo landed outside the pile and waited, stance ready. He wasn't surprised as with a loud scream the rubble around Caulifla exploded, her Saiyan glow shining intensely as she flew at him and continued their battle. The two resumed in their stalemate as the ground around them began to shake, the force of their combat creating a miniature earthquake. Toppo leaned out with a fist and caught Caulifla in the jaw as she returned it with a kick to his groin, the two recoiling and spinning back as Toppo held out his left arm.
"Justice Blast!" He called, small orange spheres of energy forming around the base of his finger tips and shooting at Caulifla with great speed. Caulifla leaned right and dodged the blasts, phasing in and out of vision as Toppo adjusted his aim. Finally with a kick Caulifla disrupted the Pride Trooper's assault and pushed him back, Toppo shaking himself off as Caulifla leaped over him and slid along the ground, legs spread and her left hand placed in the dirt as with her right she charged a bright red ball of energy. Toppo turned to face her and his eyes widened.
"Hey Moustache Man!" Caulifla called, turning the energy blast towards him with a grin as the area around her seemed to distort and channel into the red sphere."You need to SHAVE!" On the last word she shouted and channeled a volatile red beam at Toppo, the energy blast carving a clean hole through the ground as it shot towards the MEF Commander with a loud whirr.
Toppo held out both of his hands and steadied himself as the blast flew into him, the red energy stopping at his hands as he held it back with great effort. The blast continued on with a great force as Toppo struggled to hold his ground, his feet being pushed back foot by foot in the dirt as the blast gained more and more leverage on him. With one last burst of energy he pushed back against the blast and directed it upward, the energy skimming his ear as it soared up and into the nighttime air and toward the other Pride Troopers. The army of troopers backed up in panic at the speed of the blast until a lone figure phased in front of it and deflected the blast away from the group, curving it up and out into open space. His black eyes calmly looked over the blast to ensure it was container before looking down at the two fighters.
Toppo had returned to his normal status and was looking at Caulifla. Caulifla was doing the same but the audience of the battle could see her fatigue, barely visible but present nonetheless.
"You can't beat me, Caulifla." Toppo said in a low voice. "You only just beat me in the Tournament because you surprised me. You're a good fighter but you don't come anywhere near the level of Son Goku. This isn't a match you can win, no matter what your pride tells you."
Caulifla laughed, shaking her head and looking at Toppo with a confident grin. "I think you're forgetting something, big guy."
Toppo raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
Caulifla nodded, tightening her fists. "You forgot he taught me."
With a yell Caulifla channeled her energy and the ground around her began to pulse with a vibrant red glow. Toppo backed up as the ground around Caulifla's power began to skyrocket with her voice, the energy around her turning a bright crimson and lighting up the night sky for hundreds of miles. The area around her became more intense, greater and greater until it finally became too blinding to see. The Pride Troopers shielded their eyes until the light cleared, revealing Caulifla in a state of power and calm that Toppo had only seen from one other Saiyan. Somewhere inside him, a worry was assured.
"So you perfected his Kaioken." Toppo said, once more assuming his stance. "A shame, that power could be used for great good."
Caulifla's energy and hair burned a bright red as her form shimmered in the dark, her eyes shining as she replied, "Is that what you think this is?" She mused.
Toppo moved to respond but gagged as the wind was suddenly knocked out of him, Caulifla's fist twisting hard into his stomach. Wind soared wildly around where she has been standing previously as Caulifla moved to continue, jabbing Toppo in his face and sides as she went at him with incredible speed and strength that was far above the Kaioken. With one final kick Caulifla sent Toppo flying hundreds of feet and into the capital, following his course to within a now very open gap in an archive building.
Fifteen meters away from her Toppo stood up, pushing wood and metal off of him as he regarded her with a cold stare. His uniform was damaged in multiple places and Caulifla could see the anger rising up in him as he faced her. Still, that didn't stop her gloating.
"It's funny how you would think my form would be the same," she said, grinning. "When my energy is a completely different color. Care to put the pieces together, big man?"
Toppo shook as he removed the last of the shrapnel from his uniform and stared at her coldly. "That's the power of a god," he said, "It's the same as his, the only difference being that his color was blue."
Caulifla nodded and leaned against the hole in the wall of the building. "Normally I wouldn't stand a chance against you," she admitted, "But I haven't exactly been waiting for you to come and beat me again. Especially when Goku offered to teach me, I couldn't just say no now could I?"
Toppo resumed his fighting position and red energy swirled around him, similar to that of Caulifla's. "It doesn't matter what power you have! For the sake of what is good in this world, I will defeat you."
Caulifla held out a hand and goaded him on, smirking. "Come on then. Try me."
The two fighters came at each other in a loud clash of limbs, throwing and pulling back from blows in rapid movements as the two accelerated to speeds that would've put their fight just minutes prior to shame. The archive building received a new hole in its roof as Toppo was kicked out of the complex by Caulifla, the two resuming their combat in the sky above the city. As the Pride Troopers who had been up to that point confused as to what was happening arrived at the scene Caulifla charged an energy blast and Toppo dodged it only to see it explode across the ranks of his men, dozens being killed instantly as the group reeled back in shock. Toppo turned to glare at Caulifla but she hadn't paused to notice the damage, kicking his head down hard with her foot and blasting him into the city street below. Caulifla felt a moment of satisfaction until she nearly lost her head to an upwards punch by the MEF Commander, leaning back from it with no time to spare and taking a secondary hit to the gut as punishment. Caulifla pulled back and Toppo capitalized, throwing a huge sum of energy at her as he attempted to breach her defenses once and for all. The sky around them boomed and crackled, the few left watching only able to track the fight by the shattering of clouds and air currents.
Making a split second decision Toppo decided to try an alternate strategy. Allowing Caulifla to punch him he wrapped both of his arms around the smaller fighter, bringing her into a bear grip incredibly reminiscent of the one he had trapped Goku in during the Zen Exhibition Match. This time though Toppo used his legs as well, completely encasing the Saiyan in his limbs as he slowly but surely moved to crush her. Caulifla struggled and gritted her teeth as she increased her power but to no avail, the death lock was too much for her to escape from with pure force.
Then a thought struck her, one she hated but also loved at the same time.
"Hey big guy!" Caulifla managed as she stopped her fidgeting, looking behind her at the giant man squeezing her to death. "I'd let go if I were you!"
"Not a chance!" Toppo said, crushing her further. "This ends now!"
Caulifla smiled and allowed her energy to flare up, the aura around her becoming more and more volatile by the second. "Okay, if you say so!"
At first Toppo was confused by the Saiyan's willingness to her fate, not sure how it made any sense. Then he started to feel the sharp pains of energy being sent off across Caulifla's aura and realized what she was going to do. Toppo quickly moved to loosen his arms but Caulifla stopped him by headbutting him as hard as she could, dazing him for long enough for her to finish charging the energy around her body. With one more shout she pushed it, the red energy turning an incandescent white as it exploded, both Caulifla and Toppo taking the blast at point blank. The resulting energy expulsion created a ball of bright white light, rouge beams of death flying off from it and either into space or into the city below. The Pride Troopers watching the fight looked at the scene in complete awe, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
When the sphere dissipated and things returned to normal, the Pride Troopers looked around frantically for either opponent, the city below filled with craters and collapsed architecture. They didn't need to wait long: From a pile of rubble Toppo emerged, coughing and lifting himself out as he made it out into the open. He had been damaged badly by the explosion, a deep gash in his left leg and multiple cuts and scars running along his torso and face as he stood and assessed the situation. Multiple Pride Troopers moved in immediately to offer assistance but were like before waved off, the MEF Commander not wanting to risk anything.
Caulifla had been unharmed by the blast, having managed to wrap the energy outward before its detonation. That didn't mean she wasn't drained, though. Caulifla stood watching Toppo from a high rise on one of the larger skyscrapers in the city, panting as she tried to keep herself stable.
That took WAY too much out of me, she thought, fuck...
Caulifla looked at her hands and then at the sky, thinking back to Kale and Cabba.
No, not yet. Caulfila thought, flaring her aura around her. I'm not about to lose like this, not when this is for their sakes.
"OI!" Caulifla yelled down at Toppo, the Pride Trooper glancing up wearily as she made her position clear. "You wanna keep going, Moustache Man? I can do this all day!"
Toppo shook his head and let his red glow rise back into life as he glared at her. "I won't let you win, Caulifla." He said, making his way forward. "No matter how injured I am, no matter-"
"Yeah, yeah." Caulifla said, charging another energy blast at the tips of her fingers. "And I'm not going to give up either. Let's just cut to the fighting, okay?"
The two fighters moved to re-engage in combat but paused upon a call from their spectators. The Pride Troopers were rising back up into the sky, all of them except for one slowly descending to the city floor.
"That's enough, Toppo." Jiren said, landing in front of his comrade. "I'll handle this."
Toppo moved to object but Jiren shook his head, pointing at the sky. "She's just buying time, there's no other reason she'd be fighting alone like this. We've already spent too long watching, the sooner it's over the better."
Caulifla sighed, putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward from her position on the building. "Oh please, I'm pretty sure that's the last thing someone like you would want to do, Jiren."
Jiren nodded. "I wouldn't interrupt if I didn't have to. Unfortunately things have to end eventually, especially when circumstances are like this." He motioned for Toppo to back up and looked at Caulifla calmly. "Although if my assumption is correct this won't take very long, will it?"
Caulifla smirked, not wanting to show him the truth of his statement. "Nah, I think this'll go on for a long time. Maybe you should just let things go and leave me here to die."
"Not going to happen." Jiren said, lifting his hand and charging a large red ball. "And I'm not going to let you stall either."
Caulifla lifted herself up into the sky and charged her own energy, looking at Jiren seriously as she channeled.
"You're a real dick, you know that?" Caulifla said, the air distorting around her energy as it condensed. "I bet your great at parties."
"I don't go to parties." Jiren responded emotionlessly, "But I will go to your funeral."
Neither of them spoke for several seconds, both opponents focusing on getting ready for the final move. Then, just as Caulifla knew Jiren would be ready to fire,
"I bet Goku's gonna be dissapointed if you blow him off like this too."
"Son Goku will die for what he's done, NOW ACCEPT YOUR FATE" Jiren said, shouting as he leaned back and with his palm shot a dark red beam. Caulifla responded immediately with a shout, aiming both of her hands down and sending lighter red energy toward Jiren's attack. The two blasts hit each other with a resounding bang, blowing out any windows that were still intact across the city. The pillars of light pushed against each other ferociously, going back and forth as the combatants worked to overpower their opponent.
It was a sight to behold. Two fighters, both flaring a bright red firing blasts of the same color at the other with such force that the sky and light around the near area was distorted from attempting to contain the sheer amount of power being given off by the event. Wind and shrapnel flew around as if they were possessed, turning every which way and flying outward as on the ground Toppo desperately attempted to maintain his footing and viewpoint of the beam struggle. The shining metal of the Sadala Palace only furthered the scenes amazement by reflecting the crimson light across the landscape in a disco-esque fashion, lighting up the horizon and landscape with contrails and flashes of bright colorful luminescence.
From her vantage point Caulifla could feel her bones rattling and her muscles stretching to their breaking point as she pushed her energy down on Jiren, the Pride Trooper responding by pushing back twofold. Caulifla had never been fully pushed within her God form, not even by Toppo during their fight. Now though Caulifla found herself at her limit, and as she watched Jiren pushed forward with a determination and power reserve unparalleled by almost every warrior in the Multiverse.
"I WON'T LET YOU WIN, YOU GRAY SHITTER!" Caulifla yelled, going as deep down as she could to draw out the last of her power in one final burst. Her red beam expanded and overflowed with power as it pushed down on Jiren, temporarily giving her the advantage. For Caulifla those few seconds of control felt like hours and she uses every single one of them to figure out what she was going to do.
Then, with an increased effort Jiren's beam overpowered hers and moved with great haste to vaporize her once and for all. Caulifla closed her eyes and let her memories of her life come back, looking for what she was fighting for in the milliseconds she had.
I'm not going to go out like this. She thought, In these few months I've learned so much and come so far with the people I love and I'll be fucking damned if I have to lose to a gray loser in SPANDEX.
Time seemed to slow down as the blast soared up at her, making it's way as with each name in her head Caulifla concentrated and raised her hand in front of her.
I'm doing this for Kale, Cabba, Renso. I'm doing this for Goku, for that cocky piece of shit Vegeta, the King, every Saiyan in existence...
Below her Jiren closed his eyes, waiting for the final moment of Caulifla's inevitable defeat to pass.
...I'm doing this for Botamo, Magetta and Hit. I'm doing this for every creature, every lifeform in this fucked up universe no matter how much I hate them. But most of all, most of all...
Caulifla opened her eyes and looked calmly at the blast.
"I'm doing this to fuck you up, Jiren. Because I'M A GOD, BITCH!" Caulifla shouted and with one final movement of her hand slammed into the beam, altering its course toward her destination of choice and making sure it wouldn't kill her before losing all sensation in her limbs, her energy fully spent.
Jiren opened his eyes when he overheard Caulifla's words and looked on in complete surprise and horror as his own beam was deflected away by the female Saiyan. Not only that, the beam was heading straight for the MEF Command Ship! Jiren forgot about Caulifla completely and moved to intercept the blast but it was too late. The red ray of light flew into the gigantic ship at full force, creating an orange plume where it impacted and multiple more as it ripped through the lower-middle of the ship like butter. To Jiren's inner relief the ship didn't explode entirely but as he watched a large blue and green light erupted from the sky behind the ship, the light flaring outward and lighting up the space around the command ship as it went.
It blew up the reactor core and the automatic redistribution sent all of the energy through the exhaust vents. He realized. The ship's completely immobile.
Jiren looked down to Toppo and his friend returned his look with one of mutual amazement and defeat. Caulifla had won, even if it had been by dumb luck. In a rare showcase of rage Jiren turned his attention on the Saiyan woman whom of which was laying peacefully in one of the craters that pockmarked the city, watching his reaction with a grin.
"Sure does look pretty from down here!" She hollered, "Maybe you should come and look from here too, the dirt is perfect for a failure like you!"
Jiren charged an energy blast and with full force threw it down at her, creating an explosion of smoke in the crater as he turned to Toppo. "Let's go. The council will want a full report."
Toppo nodded and the two flew up, heading toward the damaged command ship at a rapid pace. Toppo couldn't help but look back at the crater as he flew, considering the chances that his guess was wrong.
Cabba stomached the sight of what was left of Planet Sadala as he flew down towards the capital in search of one thing: Caulifla.
It had been a week since Planet Sadala's evacuation and a week since Caulifla had last been heard from. From the moment he had woken up in the shuttle Kale had asked him to find her and he had waited, held back only by the threat of the MEF Command Ship in Sadala's orbit. Everyone had been ecstatic when the news came in that the command ship's engines had been rendered useless and Caulifla's almost guaranteed involvement only bolstered their hopes. It had kept Kale satisfied enough to allow Cabba to keep her under control, just long enough for the command ship to finally retreat back to Universe 11 and for Cabba to have the perfect opportunity to go looking for Caulifla. Now Cabba was searching for the Saiyan prodigy within the destroyed remains of Sadala's capital, trying his best to ignore the sheer destruction of it while the scanners did their work.
It was obvious that Caulifla had put up a fight, even when he was approaching the planet it was clear to Cabba that the capital had taken a much, much bigger beating than everywhere else on the planet and the the sheer amount of craters made him doubt it was caused solely by the MEF. So he had gone to scan the capital first, trying his best to both look for Caulifla and not puke at the sight of the destroyed city at the same time. It was hard, she had fucked things up pretty badly.
If you're here, Caulifla. He thought, I hope it's not in pieces.
For the next few hours Cabba scanned the large capital stretch by stretch, his hope slowly but surely failing him as the scans and his own vision proved to bring up nothing. Cabba didn't think Caulifla would've left the capital if she had stayed alive, where would she go? Even then if Caulifla was still alive and hence being herself she would've stayed just to force him to come and get her, it was just how she worked. Despite it all, Cabba still couldn't find her and when the capital scan was complete he landed on the surface and exited the craft, kicking it in frustration as he looked over the scene.
"Damn it, Caulifla." Cabba muttered, kicking a rock over into a nearby crater. "You were all we had. Kale's going to kill us all now, how am I supposed to tell her you're gone?!" He kicked the ground again and yelled in frustration, putting a hand to his head to try and steady himself. "All because of your stupid pride. That stupid, stupid pride."
Cabba sat down and put brought his knees to his chest, looking over the horizon at what remained of the city as he considered his options. After a certain amount of time he dozed off, waking up a few hours later after being pelted in the head with a rock.
"What the hec-AH!" Cabba yelped, rubbing the back of his head as he spun to face his attacker.
Nothing.
As if on cue another rock hit him. Then another, and another! Rocks upon rocks shot themselves at the Saiyan and he worked desperately to protect himself from the assault, finally conceding when he realized there was no point in trying when he was likely to be killed when he went back to Universe 7.
I bet Caulifla would be laughing at me right now if she saw me like this.
And then she was. Mockingly.
Cabba looked up to see Caulifla rolling around in laughter, a giant pile of small rocks assorted at her feet. She was battered, bruised and one of her arms was visibly broken but it didn't seem to trouble her as she soaked up the pathetic sight of Cabba, a common occurrence over the past few months.
"You should've seen your face!" Caulifla managed, stifling a grimace of pain from her arm as she stood up and nearly fell down again from Cabba's expression. "You're so fucking weak it hurts to watch."
Cabba ran to Caulifla and wrapped his arms around her, gently hugging the female Saiyan while taking care to avoid her broken arm. Caulifla looked at him like he crazy and shook her head before she pushed him off, her smile hidden.
"It's so good to see you, Caulifla. We all thought you were de-"
"Yeah yeah, I know. Stop thinking that, okay?"
"But Caulifla-"
"Don't make me say it again." Caulifla scolded, her voice cold as ice as she stared down Cabba.
"A-Alright..." Cabba managed, paralyzed from her stare of death.
"Good." Caulifla brushed herself off and strode to the scouter, leaning her back against it lazily as she assessed him with a smirk. "Now be a good little jobber and take me home, would you? I need to see Kale."
And he did. And she kept calling him a manlet for the rest of his life.
Author's Note: Shut the fuck up and bow, manlet. Respect the pecking order.
Hope you enjoyed this one shot (My first T-rated fanfic), I wrote this to test my writing abilities and to bring life to an idea I had a few days ago. I think it turned out pretty well, all useless Cabba's aside. One thing that I will note is that I am seriously of the belief that Caulifla's equivalent of Super Saiyan Blue would basically be Super Saiyan Red because of her Ki (Goku's ki is blue, Caulifla's is red - Look at their energy blasts.) - This would also mean the Kaioken would basically get switched so that Caulifla's Kaioken would be a dark blue but that's looking too far into it. Point is: She doesn't have SSB. She has SSR!
See you soon,
-Caulifla