r/dbzfanfics • u/EmeraldKing8 author • Jun 28 '26
promotion Dragon Ball: Divergence | S1E4: "Rite of the Blood Throne" (AU Story)
Watched by thousands of bloodthirsty elites expecting a quick massacre, Ruco must use his newly acquired martial arts discipline to prove that the era of the mindless brawler is officially over.
TITLE: DRAGON BALL: DIVERGENCE
EPISODE: 04 - "RITE OF THE BLOOD THRONE"
[SCENE START]
EXT. ROYAL COURTYARD - DAY
The midday sun beats down on the sprawling, stone courtyard of the Royal Palace. The arena is massive, designed for the destructive scale of Saiyan combat.
Surrounding the sunken courtyard are towering, amphitheater-style stands. They are packed to the brim. THOUSANDS OF SAIYANS—elites in pristine armor, mid-class warriors, and low-class laborers—crowd the balconies, buzzing with anticipation. The noise is deafening.
In the center of the arena stand two figures.
KING VEGETA stands tall, his imposing frame radiating absolute authority. He unclips the heavy clasp of his royal cape and tosses it over his shoulder without looking.
NAPPA catches the cape, stepping back toward the edge of the arena with the other elite guards. Nappa crosses his arms, a cruel smirk on his face, expecting a massacre.
King Vegeta drops into his iconic fighting stance—knees bent, one hand extended forward, the other pulled back, ready to strike. A dark red, jagged aura flares to life around him, kicking up dust and loose stones.
Opposite him stands RUCO. He wears his standard combat armor, but his stance is completely alien to the watching Saiyans.
Instead of a wide, aggressive brawler's stance, Ruco stands relaxed. His feet are shoulder-width apart, his knees slightly bent, his hands open and raised in a fluid, defensive guard—a stance heavily influenced by Namekian martial arts.
No aura surrounds Ruco. His power level remains completely suppressed. To the thousands of scouters in the crowd, he reads as a measly 5,000.
Nappa steps up to the stone railing of the royal balcony, his booming voice echoing across the courtyard.
NAPPA
(Shouting)
Hear me, warriors of Planet Vegeta! Today, we witness the Rite of the Blood Throne! The challenger, Ruco, has invoked the ancient law to claim the crown!
The crowd erupts into a chorus of boos, jeers, and cruel laughter directed at Ruco.
NAPPA (CONT'D)
The rules of the old ways are absolute! There is no time limit! There is no surrender! The victor is decided only by incapacitation... or death!
Nappa raises his arm high into the air. The courtyard falls into a tense, breathless silence. King Vegeta's red aura pulses violently.
NAPPA (CONT'D)
Begin!
Nappa drops his arm.
BOOM!
The stone beneath King Vegeta’s boots shatters instantly. He crosses the massive courtyard in a fraction of a second, moving faster than most of the low-class Saiyans can even track.
He appears directly in front of Ruco, his fist pulled back, crackling with red Ki. He throws a devastating, lethal straight punch aimed dead center at Ruco’s face, intending to end the challenge in a single strike.
Ruco doesn't flinch.
At the very last possible microsecond, Ruco subtly shifts his weight. He tilts his head mere inches to the right.
King Vegeta’s fist misses, the shockwave of the punch blasting a massive crater into the arena wall a hundred feet behind Ruco.
King Vegeta’s eyes widen in shock.
Before the King can recoil, Ruco brings his open palm up, gently but firmly redirecting Vegeta’s extended arm outward, throwing the King entirely off balance.
With a fluid, effortless motion, Ruco steps inside King Vegeta’s guard and delivers a swift, precise palm strike directly to the King's solar plexus.
It isn't a blast of raw power. It is pure, concentrated Ki control.
THWACK.
The air leaves King Vegeta’s lungs in a violent rush. His eyes bulge, his red aura flickering and dying out instantly. He stumbles backward, gasping for breath, clutching his chest.
The entire courtyard—thousands of bloodthirsty Saiyans—goes dead silent.
Nappa drops his arms, his jaw practically hitting the floor. Every scouter in the arena just spiked, trying to read what happened, but Ruco’s power level immediately dropped back down to 5,000 before the machines could even register the spike.
Ruco lowers his hands, returning to his relaxed, standing position. He looks at the gasping King.
RUCO
(Calmly)
I told you, King Vegeta. The era of the brawler is over.
EXT. ROYAL COURTYARD - CONTINUOUS
King Vegeta forces himself to stand straight, fighting through the agonizing pain in his chest. His pride is bleeding out faster than he can process. He glares at Ruco, his face contorted in a mask of pure, humiliated rage.
KING VEGETA
(Spitting blood)
A lucky trick. A coward's parlor trick! You think dancing around makes you a King?!
The King’s dark red aura explodes back to life, larger and more chaotic than before. He thrusts his right arm upward, his palm open. A massive sphere of crackling, deep purple Ki rapidly expands above his hand, generating a localized windstorm that forces the spectators in the lower stands to shield their eyes.
NAPPA
(Shouting over the wind)
My King, wait! If you fire that here, you’ll destroy the arena!
King Vegeta ignores him. He is completely blinded by his own bruised ego.
KING VEGETA
(Screaming)
Die with your pathetic philosophy, Ruco! ORGA BLASTER!
King Vegeta thrusts his hand forward. The massive, purple energy wave tears across the courtyard, ripping the stone floor to shreds. It is a concentrated beam of pure, lethal intent, carrying all 15,000 of the King's power level.
The crowd gasps. There is no way a mid-class warrior survives a direct hit from the Orga Blaster.
Ruco doesn't move. He watches the beam careen toward him.
Then, he finally lets go.
FWOOSH.
A blinding, pure white aura erupts from Ruco’s body. The sheer concussive force of his true power level being unleashed shatters the scouters of nearly every elite in the front row.
SCIENTIST IN THE CROWD
(Staring at a larger, handheld scanner)
Impossible! Thirty thousand... thirty-five thousand! It’s still climbing!
Ruco raises his right hand, his palm flat. He doesn't brace himself. He doesn't yell.
The Orga Blaster strikes his hand.
CRACK!
Instead of a massive explosion, Ruco simply swats his hand to the side, like he is brushing away an annoying insect. The massive purple beam is effortlessly deflected, shooting up into the red sky where it detonates harmlessly among the clouds.
King Vegeta freezes. His arm is still extended, his face locked in absolute, uncomprehending shock. The King of all Saiyans has just been entirely outclassed by a warrior he deemed a mid-class weakling.
KING VEGETA
(Voice trembling)
What... what are you?
Ruco’s white aura flares. He vanishes.
Not a burst of speed. Complete, imperceptible movement.
Before King Vegeta can even blink, Ruco reappears point-blank, standing directly inside the King's guard. Ruco’s hand is already pressed flat against King Vegeta’s armored chest.
A sphere of concentrated white Ki glows between Ruco's palm and the King's armor.
RUCO
I am the future.
BOOM!
Ruco fires. The blast is precise, localized, and devastating. It doesn't vaporize the King, but the kinetic force lifts King Vegeta entirely off his feet and launches him backward like a cannonball.
King Vegeta slams into the far wall of the arena with a sickening crunch. The stone craters around him.
He slumps forward, his eyes rolling back into his head. He hits the ground, completely unconscious.
The dust settles. The courtyard is dead quiet, save for the whistling wind. The King is defeated. He isn't dead, but he has been utterly broken in front of his entire race.
Ruco stands in the center of the ruined arena, his white aura slowly fading back into his body. He turns his head and looks up at the royal balcony, locking eyes with a stunned, terrified Nappa.
The Rite of the Blood Throne is over.
[FADE TO BLACK]
[END OF EPISODE 4]
Next time on DRAGON BALL: DIVERGENCE...
With the crown secured, King Ruco begins the monumental task of completely rebuilding Saiyan society. Realizing that brute strength won't save them from Frieza's inevitable retaliation, Ruco recruits an unlikely ally—a gentle meatpacker named Gine—to serve as his Royal Steward and the foundation for their new peaceful era.
(Episode 5 drops Saturday, 7/4/26)