Chapter 3: Battle!
All disclaimers apply.
The wind rushed with an ominous howl through the area and the sea appeared anxious—as if it too was a competitor in the tournament. The air smelled heavily of rain. Goku stood on the sandy beach and looked towards the sea. It was as if it led nowhere; as if—if you were to sail straight into the horizon—you would continue to sail forever and not see another piece of land. The beach itself was rather large and completely empty save Goku himself. At the edge of the beach opposite the sea was a thin contingent of palm trees and thick shrubs that formed a sort of barrier separating the beach Goku was on from whatever was behind it. Goku walked towards the forest careful and attentive listening for any movement around him.
Gojyo sat on a cliff overlooking the beach his shakujou lying in his lap. The wind howled and the sky foretold of a storm that could possibly make survival even harder. He knew that he was an open target for any long-ranged attacks, but continued to sit thinking a better area that would allow him to find enemies quickly. He had already seen one person walk into the trees below him and thought he recognized him. He got up and walked down to the base of the cliff. The trees and shrubs were longer than they were wide; in fact, Gojyo estimated that whoever walked in from the beach would come through within a minute.
He stood off towards the center of the cliff's base where he knew he could better his chances at a sneak attack and waited. Just as he had thought, within seconds he heard the rustling of the shrubs being pushed aside. A figure emerged soon and Gojyo launched the crescent blade of his shakujou forward.
As soon as Goku had emerged from the foliage he saw the glint of light reflected off a metallic object. He saw it was a weapon aimed directly at him. He sidestepped the attack easily but became worried. He knew the crescent shape of the weapon, as well as the chain connecting it. He followed the chain to its origin behind a cliff and noticed the length. His eyes shone brighter than would have been if someone had stuck the light of the sun behind his eyes. Running the length of the chain he dodged out of the curving strike of the familiar shakujou and ran to its origin. The first thing he saw was the hair—it reminded him of when they had first met and he thought that his hair would be like fire—next, he noticed the eyes that were of the same color.
"Sha Gojyo!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
His attack had missed; he could tell by the lack of tightening in the chain. What was more, he heard his name called close not too long after. He noticed the figure that stood before him now. The familiar diadem, the golden eyes, that goofy look on his face.
"Well I'll be damned; if it isn't everyone's favorite little monkey!" He laughed drawing the chain of his shakujou back in.
Goku was beside himself with joy, and relief. He ran straight to Gojyo and tackled him playfully.
"Ack! Get off me!" Gojyo screamed.
"I can' believe you're here, Gojyo!" Goku replied. "What are ya' doin' here anyways?"
"Get off me and I'll tell ya'" Goku stood up brushing the dirt from the white tunic he was wearing. "Why are you wearing that?"
"I don' know. I thought we had to." Goku answered. He noticed, though, that Gojyo still had his normal clothes on and felt a bit embarrassed for wearing the tunic.
"Well, you look stupid in those. Not that you already aren't, but you look even dumber than usual." Gojyo said standing on his feet and wiping dirt away from himself as well.
The reunion was cut short and Gojyo heard more rustling of the shrubs and Goku sensed another presence. Out emerged a man, dressed in an oddly colored ring mail; he had long, blue hair that flowed freely from the helm of his armor and carried a very large broadsword that was almost as tall as him at about six feet. Soon after, another figure emerged; this time, the figure was a shorter male that carried a rapier in each hand and wore less bulky armor than his partner. They walked throughout the clearing looking about for Goku and Gojyo.
"What's this; it looks like some people are partnering up. Wha'd' ya' say we do the same, Goku?"
Goku needn't be told twice. He smiled greatly and called the "big guy with the sword".
"You know what they say, Goku. He's got a big sword 'cuz he's tryin' to compensate for somethin' else." Gojyo laughed as he ran out into the clearing and challenged the smaller combatant. "Oi! You. Little dweeb with the two swords! Bring it on little man!" he taunted.
Goku ran up the cliff hoping to surprise the larger opponent. He made himself level with his adversary and jumped down from the edge. Unfortunately, the armored enemy noticed him approaching and swung his great blade horizontally at Goku. Goku watched the blade's motion as he came nearer the imposing strike. As he reached the area he was able to deftly place his free hand on the broad side of the sword and flipped over the swing, and the wielder, and landed softly on the sand behind him. He stabbed at him the Nyoi-Bo and a piercing ring echoed into the distance. Looking back, Goku saw that he had hit his target, but the armor was too thick and it absorbed the weight of the attack. This was going to be a bit harder than fighting crazed youkai for sure! The opponent's eyes glowed behind the helm as he struck again. Goku realized after he dodged the second attack that he had a major advantage as well—his opponent was too slow to be able to touch Goku at all. He set his sights on finding a weakness while dodging from the attacks attempted by the warrior.
Gojyo was having no major trouble dealing with his foe whose "quick" stabs had virtually no aim. He used the staff end of his shakujou to attack—as if it were a simple rod. As soon as he got an opening he moved in for a deft strike. He attacked the foe's left leg, catching off guard and weakened, and did the same to the right; then, centering the end of his shakujou directly underneath the man he swung up with a large amount of force. The force was so great that it completely projected the poor guy into the air (incapacitated with pain). Gojyo left no open quarters for the challenger. Throwing out the blade-end towards him, he wrapped him in the chains and the crescent blade's deadly embrace and swung him around in large circles. Finally, he pulled the end down hard bringing the merry-go-round-of-death to a sudden meteor-crash that ended in the complete and utter annihilation of the enemy.
Gojyo walked over to the destroyed body and looked at the mangled body and the blood that had splattered everywhere. "Sorry, guy, you were in my way." The body exploded and a magic circle appeared.
Goku had found the weakness he needed. It was a good thing, as he was beginning to get bored with the adversary. As expected, he had traded speed and agility for power—but he was cheated in the trade, because Goku still overpowered him; what's more, his armor was so thick and heavy that he barely moved his feet. In the course of fighting, the attacker made the mistake of attempting another horizontal strike and Goku managed to get behind him and pull his striking hand further back against his knee effectively breaking it. Ambidexterity would have it, that he was able to use his other arm with about as much efficiency.
The weakness was more obvious than Goku had actually hoped it would be: it was a plain, white crystal that enchanted the armor making it invulnerable. The crystal was in the center of the chest cavity and was easy to break. Without this protection, the armor was about as resistant to Goku's attacks as a wet paper bag. Dealing the final blow, Goku laughed amicably and said "Game over". Just as in Gojyo's case, the body exploded and a magic circle took its place.
They both stepped into the circles and were transported from the area. However, instead of being put back at the main base, they found themselves further out into the ocean. Gojyo looked towards his left and saw the island they had just left. Now they were standing on harsh collections of rocks, about twenty meters in length and width, which jutted dangerously from the ocean floor. The rock's surface was smooth—wet with the rushing waves of seawater—so much that it was dangerous to move at anything above a brisk walk. On one of the rocks sat a being, with scaly, purple skin that boasted spikes—probably poisonous—sat in a meditative pose. Sensing their arrival, the being stood up and brandished a long, silver axe. It stood on two muscular, yet lithe legs and webbed feet. Its torso held rows of gills that fluttered in the growing winds.
"I am Raijiin." It stated coolly in a monotonous tone.
Goku was surprised. This was the first time anyone aside from that girl—Ayanna—that bothered to state his or her name. "I'm Goku." He fluttered.
"It doesn't matter; I just wanted you to know who it was that killed you. So that my name will be told to your gods." Raijiin replied.
"Then save me the trouble of stating mine, 'cuz I don't care who you serve." Gojyo laughed.
Goku tried to rush at him, but slipped suddenly on the wet rocks. "Gah!" he cried as he fell off and was barely able to grab onto another rock. He felt the stinging pain and saw blood emanate from the hand that clung to the rock. This is gonna be hard. Goku thought.
"Your friend is a fool." Raijiin stated walking towards them.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Gojyo said, then attacked. The crescent blade flew at a blinding speed, but Raijiin dodged it effortlessly and continued his slow gait. Gojyo, undaunted, but pissed that his blade missed again, pulled the chain around so that it would trap his foe. The chain encircled Raijiin, but he let it happen; and as soon as it had completely wrapped around him, he jumped into the brisk seawater. Gojyo was taken with him and closed his eyes against the harsh slap of waves.
As that had happened, Goku finally managed to get up and see Gojyo enter the water. He looked on hoping to see where he could jump in, but before he could a flash of lightning struck inches away from him. Another figure, enshrouded by electrical energy, stood brandishing sharp claws. The figure was that of a woman in clothes that hung close to her body, yet covered everything from her clavicle down.
"Well now, I see I do get another fight after all." She sighed noncommittally.
"I…uh, don't have time for you!" his voice grew with his regained composure. He promised himself he would be careful on the rocks; the stinging in his hand warned him to stick to his word.
The water was thick and murky for Gojyo and he knew his opponent had the upper hand here. I guess both of us were stupid. He thought to himself. He watched the chain of his shakujou float upwards and the blade glinted faintly in the dull light. He thought of the situation more carefully: his opponent was an amphibious biped that was way better suited in the water than he was. Gojyo was working on a limited supply of air, whereas his opponent had gills and could breathe under water. His weapon was considerably weaker due to its long-ranged effectiveness and the light weight of the blade; his opponent had a silver axe, deadly on land and in the water.
He saw a blur of purple run past him on his right. Crap! I'm screwed. He thought.
Author's Note: Wow, I have been getting a lot of hits…but not many reviews. I promise I won't bite. I really would like to hear that my readers are enjoying reading my fanfic. Don't be afraid to send me a review, or put this as a favorite to be notified of the latest updates.