The Ronin Balls / The Dragon Armor Chapter 1
"Ryo, behind you! It's . . . who is that, anyway? It's not Talpa. Is it?" Rowen and Ryo had been practicing in the woods and Ryo had been getting a little cocky. Rowen had used the trick before, and he had blasted Ryo in the back. He wasn't likely to fall for it again.
"I'm not falling for it again, Rowen. You can try all you want." This time, however, Rowen had seemed concerned. It didn't seem like a trick . . . Then, there was the fact that Rowen usually did not lie. Still, they were only practicing. All of a sudden, Rowen called his armor.
"Armor of Strata!" Rowen's armor built up, from the foot plates up to the helmet. The golden bow appeared a few seconds before the helmet appeared.
"Rowen, it's just practice! You don't have to do this! It's me, Ryo, your buddy! Please don't do this! Are you crazy?! We're in the middle of a forest! Think of the wildlife, and if you would be so kind as to think of my life at the same time, I would be ETERNALLY grateful. I'll be your slave for life; how's that sound? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE don't kill me! PLEASE! I'm begging you . . . " Ryo went on like this for some time, and Rowen gave him a long hard stare. Ryo was on his knees, and blubbering like a baby. A HUGE sweatdrop appeared on Rowen's forehead. For some reason, he looked around as if he were embarrassed. And he was.
"Ryo! Calm down. I'm not crazy. I KNOW we're in the middle of a forest. But there really IS someone behind you. But I don't think he knows that I know that he's there." Rowen had said all this in a whisper, and had slowly edged closer to Ryo in a fighting stance. To an onlooker it might seem that they were really fighting. But there actually was someone behind Ryo, in the trees. "Ryo, I think you should armor up. It would look like we were fighting to . . . he, she, they, it, them. Don't you?"
"I guess you're right. But if this is a trick, well I guess you know you're gonna get beat down, don't you?" Ryo had been standing there while Rowen had been talking, and then started to pace back and forth like a caged lion while he was talking. He, like Rowen, had barely talked above a whisper, because they had been so close to each other.
"Armor of Wildfire!"
Ryo's armor formed up, starting at the foot plates and working its way to his head. It took longer than expected for the twin katanas to form, but they appeared after about thirty seconds.
"Was it supposed to take that long for my katanas to appear? Usually they appear around the same time as the helmet, don't they?" Ryo had stood there, tapping his foot as he waited for his katanas.
"That didn't happen to me. Maybe it's because they're only supposed to form when you really need them. You didn't even want to, at first." Rowen's face plate had slid into his helmet while he waited for Ryo to finish forming his armor. "Anyway, this is the plan. I'm going to shoot an Arrow Shock Wave at you, but not really at you. It's gonna be kinda weak, because I don't want to damage the trees TOO badly. You dodge, because I'm actually aiming at the guy in the trees. All right?"
"Fine. Just be careful where you shoot that thing, all right? No cutting my arms or legs or head off, okay?"
"Okay. Arrow! Shock! Wave!" Rowen's bow unleashed a kind of mini-energy-arrow. It was still big enough to hurt someone, but not big enough to injure them for any long period of time. The blast flew at Ryo, going the same speed it always did. Had Ryo not been expecting it, he wouldn't have been able to move out of the way in time. But he was, so he could. The blast flew toward the tree at lighting speed, crashing into the tree that the onlooker was in.
"Aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-hhh-hhh-hhh-hhh-hhh-oomph! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Why'd ya' do that?! I was only lookin'! I wasn't gonna hurt anybody!" The "man" that fell out of the tree wasn't a man at all. It was a teenager of about 15. His black, curly hair was in disarray from his fall. As were his shirt and pants which had been ripped. His entire body was covered in leaves and dirt, and his dark brown face, arms and legs were covered in tiny scratches and cuts. His head was forming a large lump from his fall. He had fallen about fifteen feet to the ground, and the same branches that had aided him in getting up the tree had been his worst enemies on the way down, as he hit every single one. He was about 5'7" and had brown eyes. He had to be an American. But Ryo and Rowen couldn't understand why they had understood every single word that had come out of his mouth. Was he speaking Japanese? It didn't matter. They had to find out why he was spying on them.
"I'm sorry about that. Why were you spying on us? Wait, where are my manners? I'm Rowen, the guy who shot that . . . thing at you. And this is my friend Ryo. What's your name? Sorry to be rude, but like I asked earlier: why were you spying on us?"
"Okay, I'll answer these in order. One, I'm Aries. Two, I wasn't spying on you on purpose. I heard you guys fighting, and it sounded like it would be interesting to watch. You must've thought I worked for Talpa or something, didn't you?" The kid was casually brushing dust and dirt from his clothes and picking leaves off of himself and out of his hair while he was talking. Soon all that remained as evidence of his fall was the dirt on his face, the cuts on his body, and the gaping holes in his shirt and pants, through which the latter you could see his underwear.
Rowen and Ryo politely said nothing about his pants, but with a sideways glance at each other, they both knew they would have to do something, because they didn't want the other people at Mia's house to think they picked up a stray kid off the street.
"Hey, Rowen and Ryo. Why are you guys wearing that armor? Are you about to fight someone? Wait a minute. You guys put that stuff on right before I GOT SHOT." He looked at Rowen with this sentence. He turned red with embarrassment. "Were you guys gonna come after me? Not with those swords, I hope," he added, with a sidelong glance at the katanas on Ryo's back. "Especially if it's like what hit me," he added with a shudder.
"Wait. I have a question, too. How did you know about Talpa?" That question had been on Rowen's mind since Aries had mentioned it. Talpa had only been in Japan, right?
"Earth to Rowen. Come in Rowen." Ryo and Aries had been staring at Rowen while he spaced off. "I said that some of the battles and all of the information were broadcast worldwide."
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old buddy, Aries. I missed you at our fight. What're you doin' in Japan, pal? You know "Lord Cain" doesn't approve of lateness. Another young man seemed to appear out of nowhere. This one had blonde hair, blue eyes. He also was about 5'9" and he weighed about 170 lbs. He was dressed like Aries, in American clothes.
"I don't care what "Lord Cain" approves of, Taurus. He's evil; Lord Rinn isn't. You're evil; I'm not. But if you want to fight that badly, then fine. Let's do it. I'll win like I did every other time against you and your kind."
"Big talk, but can you back it up?"
"Why don't we find out?"
Rowen and Ryo expected the boys to rush each other and start brawling, like American movies suggested. Instead, they saw something totally different. Each boy was glowing. Taurus was glowing pure white, and Aries was glowing pure black.
"Armor of Tranquility!"
Taurus flashed black, and white armor with gold highlights appeared around him in pieces. The armor attached itself piece by piece, with the helmet last. The helmet looked like a golden bull's head, and had a white circle with a gold six-pointed star in the middle of the forehead. The gauntlets were gold, and the gloves were white, with two gold spikes on both hands. Two maces with gold spikes appeared, and slid into slips on his back. "Your turn," He said casually to Aries.
"Armor of Chaos!"
Aries flashed white, and black armor with silver highlights appeared around him in pieces. His armor also attached piece by piece, with the helmet last. His helmet looked like a silver ram's head, and had a black diamond, with a silver crescent moon in the middle of the forehead. The gauntlets were silver, and the gloves were black with two silver blades running up to the elbow. Two short-handled battle axes with silver heads and black blades appeared, and also slid into their holders. "Shall we tango?"
"When you're ready."
The two boys rushed each other, with speed comparable to the Ronins themselves. Taurus swung a mace at Aries' leg, while swinging the other one at Aries' head. Aries did a horizontal spin, and landed with a foot still in the air. He swung this foot at Tauruses' stomach, while swinging his left axe in a vertical arc at Tauruses' right shoulder. Taurus jumped to avoid the kick, but the axe was there to meet him. Taurus fell, and would have had an axe in his head had he not rolled away. He jumped up, feet first, and swung his right mace at Aries' feet in an attempt to trip him. Aries jumped, and brought his left axe down to meet Taurus. Taurus twisted, and the axe whistled by, an inch from his back. Taurus jumped into a tree, and called down to Aries. "Listen, Aries. I'm not going to lose this battle. You are, and if I have to burn down this entire forest to kill you, I will."
Rowen and Ryo were gaping at the fact that these kids had armor, and weapons, and were this fast. When they heard Tauruses' threat, they snapped back to reality. "Ryo, we've gotta stop him! We're still wearing our armor; We'll both do our moves twice: you to the left and up, me to the right and down. All right?"
"Sure. Anything to stop this maniacal kid. All right!"
"Flare! Up! Now!"
"Arrow! Shock! Wave!"
"Flare! Up! Now!"
"Arrow! Shock! Wave!"
The four attacks blasted at Taurus with lightning speed, impacting with a flash. "Did we get him?"
"HAHAHA! You guys think these weak attacks hurt me? You guys are lame! And so are your attacks. Your armor's okay, but it could be better. But back to the subject at hand: attacks. THIS is how an attack should be."
"Mega! Mace! Blow!"
The spikes on the mace heads all shot off like shrapnel, When the spikes hit something, that thing exploded, so you should already know that a lot of trees and animals died that day. When the smoke cleared and things stopped falling out of the sky, only one tree was left standing in a four-block radius. The tree Taurus was standing on.
"Wow. This is the most damage that's ever done in an unpopulated place. Quite nice, I think. MAN I love being evil!"
"Son of a bitch! You know what's gotta happen now, don't you? You're gonna catch an ass-kickin', and that's all there is to it!"
"If you say so, but I don't think that's gonna happen. What do you guys think?" He made a gesture toward Rowen and Ryo, who stood looking defiant and angry, respectively.
"That's enough chit-chat."
"Stop talking! Just do it already!"
"It's your funeral." Aries stopped for a moment and focused. "Ultra! Axe! Slash!"
The heads of the axes glowed black, then rose off of the handle. They started spinning in place in the air, gaining speed in their revolutions, then shot off at super speed toward Taurus. As they traveled, they seemed to grow in size, as did Rowen and Ryo's eyes. The axes were 1 foot away from Taurus, and then he jumped to the ground. The axes sped off into the distance, and he leapt back up into the tree.
"Ha. What a pathetic attack. All someone has to do is move out of the way, and the axe heads miss. Weak, I tell ya'. WEAK, WEAK, WEAK!"
But instead of sulking, Aries was grinning mischievously. "You know Taurus, that was a "direct attack"."
"Obviously not, because it missed me."
"You should have taken the attack head on. You see, the attack's power increases with the distance it travels. And since it's a "direct attack", it's gonna hit you in about . . . 2 seconds."
Two seconds later, Taurus flew 10 feet from his tree branch and kept sliding once he hit the ground. He would have kept on sliding, but he ran into a tree. Two large axeblades were stuck in his back. He shifted slightly, and they were loosened. He struggled to his feet and they fell on the ground with a loud CLANG! as they connected.
"Do you yield, Taurus?"
"Yes Aries, I do. But only for now. I have much stronger attacks, but I have to charge them first. You will be defeated by me. I was not at full power." Taurus was wheezing while he spoke, and when he was done speaking he leaned back against a tree.
"Neither was I. Well, since you yielded, and you also forgot to cross anything, you have to leave now. See ya' later loser."
As Taurus stalked off, Rowen glanced at his back. There were two large cuts, about 2 feet long, running down his back parallel to each other. Aries' axe heads levitated and returned to the handles while he and Taurus were talking. "Hey, Aries, I think you should power down now."
"Obviously you don't. You guys must have powered down while Taurus and I were fighting."
"What are you talking about?" Ryo spoke for the first time in a long time. We didn't power down."
"Yes you did. You had to, other wise you would still be wearing your armor, wouldn't you?"
For the first time, Rowen and Ryo realized they weren't wearing their armor.
"Maybe it's because we got hit with those spikes. You got hit, didn't you Ryo?"
"Yeah, I did. Did you?"
"Damn it, Taurus! I'm gonna kick your ass!" All of a sudden, Aries realized what had transpired. "I forgot to tell you guys. That attack that Taurus did drains armor. Basically what that means is that if you're not strong enough, if one of those hits you, it's gonna suck up your armor. If that particular spike returns to the mace, then that power is his until the person whose armor got stolen defeats him."
"So what you're saying is that until we get powerful enough to give him a beat down without our armor, we won't get our armor back."
"Exactly. But there is something that can help you. If someone beats him into submission, but he yields to you, then that counts as a victory for you."
"That's great! So all you have to do is find him and kick his ass again, right?"
"It's not that simple. My armor is more powerful than most armors, but to have such power it needs to charge for about two weeks; a month if you want auxiliary power"
"A month?! Who are we gonna find to fight him until then?"
"Hey, Rowen! I got an idea! What if we can get the other Ronins to fight him?"
"That's a great plan, but what if he beats them, too? We won't be able to call the Armor of Inferno, because we need all five, and then there won't be anyone left to fight him. Except the Warlords, and he might even beat them."
"But think. If Aries' armor has to charge for a month, wouldn't Taurus have to also?"
"Rowen, Ryo, it's getting kinda dark. Don't you think we should head back to what's-her-name's house?" Aries was still in his ripped clothes because calling armor doesn't mend clothes.
"Her name's Mia, and you're right. They'll be worried by now. Let's go."
With those words, Ryo led them out of the forest. He stopped after ten steps. "Hey Aries. I have a question: if our armor was stolen by Taurus, wouldn't the others' armor also be stolen?"
"Most likely not. Like I said, you have to be hit by the attack for it to steal you armor."
"But all of our armors' power comes from the same place."
" That doesn't matter. One of the spikes HAS to come in contact with you, or it won't drain you. But for now, I think we need to get back to what's-her-face's house, don't you?"
"Her name is Mia, and yes."
"Mia. I knew that. Why would you think I didn't know that?"
"I probably thought that because you didn't know that."
"What are you talking about? Of course I knew that. Why would you think I didn't know that?"
"I don't know. Probably because you didn't know that."
"What are-"
"Would you two shut up already?! I'm getting a migraine!"
Aries bent down to pick something up. "Oh no! A Dragon Ball! And a Namek-jin one at that. This isn't good at all...." It was a large gold-orange ball, and it had a small reddish-orange star in the middle. . .
"Okay, everyone! Be quiet! I'm about to summon Sheng Long." Goku was standing outside of the Dragonballs, which were arranged in a circle with the seven-star ball in the middle. He said the words to summon the Dragon, and the Balls started to glow. Sheng Lon shimmered into view. It took longer than usual. The group that had gathered( the usual: Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Bulma, you know who I'm talking about, don't you?) could almost FEEL that something was wrong. In the instant that the dragon should have appeared, a giant suit of what looked like ancient Japanese ronin armor appeared in the sky, and it was as big as the dragon, just not as long. The armor split into nine suits, but only eight of them floated to warriors. Goku got the Armor of Wildfire, Gohan got the Armor of Hardrock, Goten got the Armor of Halo, Trunks got the Armor of Strata, Krillin got the Armor of Torrent, Piccolo got the Armor of Corruption, Vejita got the Armor of Darkness,
and Uub got the Armor of Deception. The final suit, the Armor of Illusion floated to the last person any of them would have expected: Bulma. She seemed as shocked and surprised everyone else, especially Vejita and Trunks. At the EXACT same time they thought, {I can't let her do this. She's my wife/mother.} Kamesennin cursed under his breath for not getting a suit of armor. Weapons appeared in the hands of all the warriors and Bulma(who will be considered a warrior from now on, unless otherwise stated by myself, the author), and if you've ever seen the show, you know what they look like. If not, here's what appeared: Goku- twin katanas; Gohan-spear which could break into three parts; Goten- sickle-looking thing, except with a chain between the blade and the handle; Trunks- golden bow with a quiver that supplies unlimited arrows; Krillin- long-ass trident(more than five feet high if stood on end) a.k.a man-catcher; Piccolo- no-datchi(a.k.a. big-ass sword); Vejita- another big-ass sword except without the shuriken for a hilt and a different look to it; Uub- sextuple (a.k.a six) katanas soaked in poison ( he has six because of his special attack); and finally Bulma- she had extensor blades on the back of her armor, also on her right forearm was a mace attached to a cable, called a morning star.
"What happened? That wasn't supposed to happen! There was supposed to be a dragon, and wishes, and clouds, and-"
"Bulma! Calm down. We ALL know that wasn't supposed to happen. Let's get some order here people, okay?" Goku, in his new armor of red, was trying to calm everyone down. Nobody was listening; everyone had their own private conversations going on about what had just happened. {Okay, that's it,} Goku thought to himself. He pulled the twin katanas from their sheathes on his back. He was about to attack everyone when he just realized he could just do a Kameahmeha. He re-sheathed the swords, and yelled "KAMEAHME...HA!" Everyone but Goku and Vejita dove to the ground, but nothing happened. They slowly lifted their heads.
"What was, Kakkarott? I will be able to defeat you with no problems. Let's go!" Vejita was, as always, trying to capitalize on the situation.
Kamesennin stroked his beard. "So this is what Great-grandfather was talking about. I never thought this would happen in MY lifetime."
"He's talking to himself again..." Everyone face-faulted at Goku's words. A big-sweat appeared on his forehead.
"You don't understand. When my great-grandfather was a boy, this happened to him. His father had gathered all of the Dragon Balls, and was trying to summon Sheng Long. Instead of the Dragon appearing, a giant suit of armor that looked just like the one we just saw shimmered into view. The armor split into nine pieces. My great-grandfather, his father, and his older brother were there. His father got the suit of armor that Goku wears, the Armor of Wildfire. The other eight armors shot off into the distance. The Armor of Torrent, which Krillin wears, went to a Chinese-American. The Armor of Corruption, which Goten wears, went to an American. The Armor of Hardrock, which Gohan wears, went to an African-American. The Armor of Strata, which Trunks wears, went to a Native American. The Armor of Halo, which Piccolo wears, went to a British person. The Armor of Darkness, which Vejita wears, went to an Australian. The Armor of Deception, which Uub wears, went to a Hispanic person. The Armor of Illusion, which Bulma wears, went to a Japanese-American. These were the nine Ronin Warriors. My great-grandfather was five-hundred years old when he told me this. At the time, there was a great depression that included the entire planet. A dark force which could be defeated by no normal means. These nine warriors fought for one whole year, and during the final battle, all of the warriors were killed with the exception of my great-great-grandfather. With the last of his strength, He cried out to the Kami-sama for help. The fallen warriors stood up, and the symbols on their foreheads began to shine. The symbols were: Virtue, Justice, Obedience, Piety, Wisdom, Loyalty, Life, Trust, and Serenity. Anyway, the symbols began to glow, and the armors became transparent, like ghosts. They floated up, and wafted silently towards my great-great-grandfather. The merged with his armor, and in a blinding flash of light, became the Armor of Void. His health was restored, and in place of the two katanas, were two suits of armor: the Armor of Chaos and the Armor of Tranquility, known together as the "Spoils of War." He called out his attack; 'Fury of Void! ' and his enemy was defeated. Because he couldn't control the attack, my great-great grandfather was damaged, and his armor melted, searing his body, and infusing it with the armor. The attack should have killed him, but didn't because he couldn't withstand the strength of the attack, he transformed into a demon, and demons only die after thousands of years. All that happened was the Kami-sama banished him to Hell, never to return. Unfortunately, he found a way back, and has been waiting for the right time to put his plan into action and try to take over the world again. I know this because his disposition has been passed down my line as a bedtime story. My guess is that he has come back into this world, otherwise the true armor wouldn't have appeared at this time."
Goten piped up, "What does 'void' mean?"
Chichi smacked him. "Show some respect for your elders!" she scolded him in a loud whisper.
"If we're going to fight this "evil force", then we need to find out the extent of our powers." Goku was addressing all of the warriors. "These will all be one-on-one spars, with the exception of one spar. Who's facing who?"
Vejita was the first to say something. "I'll face you Kakkarott, and win."
Next, Piccolo spoke. "I'll take Goten and Trunks."
Then Uub spoke up. "I'll face Gohan, if he doesn't mind."
"Of course I don't mind, Uub ol' buddy."
That left Krillin and Bulma. Bulma got into what she figured was a fighting stance, and Krillin face-faulted.
"Ready. . .fight!"
Vejita attacked Goku with his no-datchi, figuring to get the initiative AND the advantage because of his larger weapon. Goku stood ready for the attack with his katanas drawn. Vejita swung his sword, and his swing was barely blocked by Goku's smaller and quicker katanas. After the parry, Goku jumped into his counter attack, swinging his katanas at a blazing speed, which Vejita couldn't match with his no-datchi. He somehow flipped out of the way of a horizontal slash by Goku. He marveled at the lightness of the armor. He wondered if he could still fly. . . While Vejita was lost in thought, Goku renewed his attack. Speed didn't seem to work, so he might try brute strength. He brought both of his katanas down with all his might, but weaponry-wise, strength was Vejita's field. Vejita parried the attack, swung his sword toward Goku's mid-section, missed, and used the momentum to carry himself into a 360-degree blade-arc. Goku barely back-flipped out of the way, and analyzed the situation. He decide to use his strength and his speed in unison. He began slashing at the blinding speed he used at first, then added in all of his strength. Vejita lost the spar for four reasons. One: He wasn't as strong as Goku. Two: He couldn't move his weapon as fast as Goku. Three: He didn't have as many weapons as Goku. These three elements played a part in Vejita's defeat in sparring that day. But the biggest role went to the special attack Goku used: the Kameah-Flare. Goku sheathed his swords, and called out: "Kameah...Flare!" The attack COULD have been called a Kameahmeha, but it was made of fire. After the attack, they couldn't give him a senzu, because he was out cold for an hour after their match. Everyone was watching, and asked how he did it. With a big-sweat he whispered in a loud voice, "Uuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm... I don't know?" Somehow Vejita managed to stand up, face-fault and sweatdrop simultaneously, and fall back into unconsciousness. Everyone else followed Vejita's example up to the sweatdrop then fall unconscious part. After Goku won his spar, Piccolo took the field with Goten and Trunks. Piccolo rushed forward and swung his sword, catching Goten and Trunks off-guard. Goten, being shorter, ducked. Trunks being taller, jumped. Piccolo swung again, this time at Trunks. Trunks brought himself down on Goten. They got up and charged. Goten swung his sickle-thing, but Piccolo jumped out of the way. Goten's momentum carried him into a arc similar to Vejita's, and the blunt end caught Trunks in the knees, tripping him. Trunks got up and fired a shot at Piccolo, who deflected it toward Goten with his sword. Goten hopped out of the way and pulled Trunks with him.
"Listen to me, Trunks. We need to work as a team. No more of this one-on-one-on-one stuff, alright?"
"Alright, Goten. Let's move!" At Trunks' words, they blazed towards Piccolo, using all of their speed. They flanked out around him, and Goten jumped. He swung the blade of his sickle-thing, hoping to distract Piccolo while Trunks fired. Piccolo had jumped at the same time as Goten, and their weapons clashed. While they hovered in the air, Trunks fitted an arrow into the bow. He fired, and the arrow whistled through the air. When the arrow was six inches from Piccolo, he did a 180-degree spin, caught the arrow, and spun another 360 degrees, releasing the arrow towards Trunks and hitting Goten with his sword simultaneously. Goten flew backward from the blow, and Trunks jumped over the arrow and called out: "Arrow...Shock...Bang!" A giant golden arrow, surrounded in electricity with an electric ball instead of an arrowhea1d, flew at lightning speed toward Piccolo. Piccolo readied his sword and called out: "Purple...Lightning...Cut!" Piccolo's sword glowed purple, and a bolt of lightning flashed out from the tip. Unlike Trunks' attack, which went whatever way he fired, Piccolo's lightning went straight, then curved AROUND Trunks' energy arrow. The blast hit Trunks in the chest, but because Piccolo had willed it to do that, he wasn't paying attention. Trunks' arrow hit him, then a weak voice called out: "Kameah...Chain!" Ten chains shot up from the ground, grabbed Piccolo, and glowed blue with the energy Goten sent through them. The chains disengaged, and Piccolo fell to the rocky earth beneath him. Smoke was coming off of all three of them, but at least they were awake. Goku gave them all a senzu, and Goten asked Piccolo, "Again?" Everyone face-faulted.
Uub said quietly to Gohan, "Our turn. Go easy on me, okay?"
"Alright, but if I start to lose...."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"Ready...fight!" Uub and Gohan rushed at each other, Uub swinging only two of his six poison-soaked katanas. Gohan had to jump out of the way; he couldn't parry the swing, or his weapon would melt, and he only had one. He swung his spear while in the air, hoping to knock Uub off of his feet. Uub jumped and flung one of his swords at Gohan, who had returned to the ground. Gohan did a 360-degree turn, the sword missing by only centimeters, and lodging itself in the hard-packed soil. It soon fell loose, as it ate away at the ground around it. Gohan split his spear into thirds, and held the two ends. He called out: "Kameah...Quake!" He smacked the ground with the two ends he was holding which were glowing yellow. The ground exploded upward to meet Uub, who called out: "Poison...Slash!" Four extra arms grew, and one stretched out to grab the forgotten sword. The arms started blazing, slashing the swords at a speed that seemed to make Goku's seem like an old person with a walker. Of all the thousands of rocks that flew upward, about THREE got through his defense, and that didn't seem to slow him down at all. When he was done, the extra arms dissolved, and four of the six swords clattered to the ground. Uub picked them up, and put them away.
"Nice moves, Uub. Let's see you do it again!" Gohan rushed forward and poked Uub in the chest, then the stomach, then whacked him in the back of the knees, tripping him. He brought the sharpened edge of the man-catcher down in a quick arc, which Uub deflected with one of his sheathed swords. He did a 'shish-ka-bob', which caught Gohan in the chin, knocking him to the ground. Uub jumped in the air and stomped at Gohan, catching the edge of his armor as Gohan rolled out of the way. Gohan performed a rising flip kick, which Uub dodged by falling to the ground. He then stabbed upward at Gohan with one of his sheathes. Gohan trapped the sheathe with his man-catcher and yanked it from Uub's grasp. He struck Uub in the chest with the blunt end of the man-catcher again, who grabbed it and twisted, wrenching it from Gohan's strong grip and effectively disarming him. Uub did another 'shish-ka-bob', which Gohan this time caught, flipping Uub onto his stomach. Uub used Gohan's man-catcher to trap his ankle and toss him through the air, giving him time to regain lost ground. Gohan righted himself, and fell, landing on the balls of his feet. Uub tossed the man-catcher like a javelin, glancing off of Gohan's armor and knocking him off-balance. Uub rushed forward with his sword drawn, and Gohan picked up the man-catcher, activating it just as Uub reached him. The next few seconds was a straight-out speed tussle, which ended with Gohan holding Uub's neck in a position in which all he had to do was give a twist and his neck would be broken. Two of Uub's six swords were poised in such a way that all Gohan had to do was break Uub's neck and he would fall on them from the weight, effectively impaling himself on two katanas which were soaked in poison. Gohan understood this and knew full well that if he broke Uub's neck he would end up having the more painful of deaths.
"We'll (pant) call it (pant) a draw," said Gohan, panting.
"If you (gasp) say so," was Uub's reply.
"Okay. It's time for the final battle. Krillin, Bulma? If you please." Bulma walked onto the field. Krillin walked behind her, a bit slower. "Ready...Fight!" Krillin just stood there, in no particular stance. Bulma, on the other hand, circled around him, balancing on the balls of her feet. At Krillin's flinch, she snapped the morning star forward, giving Uub a run for his money. The mace whacked Krillin's helmet and whipped back, and no one even saw her do it. To them it looked like she stopped for a second, then started again. Master Roshi was the first to figure out what happened. "Watch the morning star! The morning star!" Sure enough, as Krillin hopped up, she whipped it out again, wrapped his legs, and yanked. While he was flying, she pulled in the other direction, and he slammed through a tree, into the ground. Goku, Gohan, Goten, Uub, Trunks, and Piccolo all saw the attack. Before he could get up, it whacked him in the chest 100 times. And all Chichi saw was Bulma flinging her arm out again and again. By the time she was done, Krillin had a dent in his armor and trouble breathing. He stood up and called out weakly: "Destructo...Wave!" A tidal wave rose up out of nowhere, and hundreds of orange, glowing, spinning discs shot out of the wave, toward Bulma. Then came her extensor blades. They started slashing right and left, along with her morning star, cutting and smashing the discs like a pile driver with a glass ground. In the end, all one could see were shattered, fading pieces of "glass". Then the tidal wave hit her and almost drowned her. Somehow she managed to fly out of the wave.
"My turn. Illusion...Crush!" Her extensor blades shot forward and grabbed Krillin. He had dropped his weapon MUCH earlier in the fight. What he saw was his wife holding him up in the air. What everyone else saw was him hugging air. Then they saw Bulma's morning star whip forward seemingly with a mind of it's own, and start attacking him without having to retract to Bulma's arm. What he saw was his wife pick up a pan and start beating him with it. Then Bulma said: "Morning... Deception!" The morning star retracted, as did the extensor blades. Somehow, Krillin was still breathing after his beating. Then the morning star wrapped around his neck and started to glow dark purple. Krillin cried out in pain and sadness, because to him, his wife had said "Krillin, you don't satisfy my anymore. I'm going to kill you now." Then she started using her strength to choke him to death.
"Bulma! If you don't stop now, you'll kill him! Bulma? Are you listening? STOP!!"
The power and anger in Goku's voice made Bulma drop Krillin with a prompt THUD! on his ass. Goku sped over and gave him a senzu before he passed out. Vejita began to stir and groan, and the crowd that had forgotten about him ran over to him, knowing that Krillin would be okay. Vejita woke up, and Goku fed him a senzu.
"Why don't I feel more powerful? When a Saiya-jin almost dies, he gets more powerful! Kakkarott, if you did something to me...."
"Calm down before your hairline recedes even MORE. I didn't do anything to you. It's just that you didn't almost die. You just got knocked out, that's all."
"I wish I was a Saiya-jin. Then I would get stronger," Krillin grumbled in the background. He kicked a rock into the distance. "This sucks."
"Since we have this armor, we should learn to control this armor and try to learn as many new attacks as possible. Two or three at least," Goku had decided to take control of the situation. "Goten, Trunks. You two should try to do the Fusion Dance while in your armor. That's all for now. Everybody meet at Kamesennin's house in one week. If you can find Yamcha or the others, bring them with you."