Author Note: I updated a bit of information in the last chapters. There were a few continuity issues in chapter 2, where I said only rookies could enter the games, but it doesn't make much sense as Elite members can still enter. Such mistake can happen to writers who mostly improvise as they write. So, if you notice any change in the last chapters, I'll make sure to let you know in the author notes.

Playing with perspectives again.


Two brats, one walking steel wall

VIII

There was a brief time-out of five minutes, where the fighters could think a clear strategy against the giant Metal Men. The steel giant of dark armor was releasing steam from his head, angry and determined, waiting for the guards to do the signal to continue, while the other one looked ashamed of itself for going so far in the fight. Renso's Crusher Shield was still intact, with Magetta still trying to get out of the sphere. The young Celeric, named Serik, as the commentator and Frost discussed, would probably no longer be able to fight for a long time, as the weight of a Metal Man is enough to break the bones of anyone beyond repair.

"Was the king so interested in making this such a difficult fight?" Frost asked the commentator (Name's Das, Cabba didn't forget), "he lost one fine soldier on the way."

"The king is a proud man, my lord. He believes Saiyans have to prove their worth. They have to protect the weak, but also prove they are part of the Saiyan race."

"My, my. I can respect such a culture, but hope that man gets better."

"He will, my lord, thanks to some of the best medical equipment coming from you."

Frost smiled, proud of himself, while the audience kept talking to themselves during the time-out.

...

Renso was helping Kora with her burn with Cabba assisting him. She could stand, but couldn't hide the pain out of her face. The captain tore apart a part of his uniform to make some improvised bandages.

"I'm so sorry captain. I didn't expect that thing to burn me."

"Him," Cabba said.

"What?"

"His name is Magetta, he already told you that," Renso answered while helping her with her wounds. "Maybe you should retire, these burns are pretty serious."

"A simple burn won't stop me. I didn't become an Elite so I can simply back off."

"You promised it to the people, right?" Cabba asked.

"What?" She replied, confused.

"Your uniform is pink. It means you pledged loyalty to the people of Sadala, right?" Cabba said with an overexcited smile on his face, which Kora replied very confused.

"I guess. I never really cared about the color of this uniform, though. I just thought it looked good on me."

"Yeah Cabba, is just a uniform. Don't think too hard about it." Renso said, finishing helping her with the bandages. "Well, I already told you to leave, but if you insist, I won't stop you. Just be careful, alright Kora?"

"Yes, captain!" Kora did a salute, and prepared herself for battle, as the time-out was about to end.

"I'm the only one who cares about symbolism?"

"Cabba, quiet," Renso said with his menacing voice, which gave Cabba chills on his spine, and he quickly prepared himself to fight. He felt uncomfortable touching the ground with his feet, as Magetta burned his shoe. The ground was burning due to the heat of the Metal Men, if it wasn't because Cabba trained in the desert, he couldn't possibly stand it.

He saw the other fighters. The two girls were talking with Cress, possibly preparing another strategy, while Taura was as calm as ever, standing there with her arms crossed looking at the dark Metal Man who "kindly" returned the look at her. The older Celeric was alongside her, and from the look of it, he was extremely pissed off, with a dash of energy being released from his body. The child, Vidalia, however, was flying above them.

"isn't she going to fight?" Cabba said to Renso.

"Maybe she is just like you, and tries to avoid damage," Renso said, but after a few seconds, he spoke again. "Cabba, listen to me. Whatever you do, don't lose your cool."

"Huh? Why, sir?"

"Because losing your cool is being unprofessional; is losing your way as a soldier. A soldier who loses his cool will be an easy target. Don't cry, don't scream, just kept it together until the end. That's the way we do things."

"Keeping my cool... I think you told me that in the desert one time."

"You trained in the desert?" Kora said looking from behind her shoulder. "You look too young for it. Did you destroyed any meteor?"

"I...I didn't. Yet."

"Heh. Well, don't feel too bad about it. I'm an elite, but it was only until some months ago I finally did. Is more difficult than you think."

"I...I see." Cabba said.

Despite not knowing her, he felt something, like a small happiness inside of him, and smiled about it. It was the first time he spoke with an elite, and could relate to them. He felt determination going through his veins. "Well! We shall knock them all down, captain!"

"Now you're talking!"

...

The commentator started to talk again.

"Thank you for your patience, you're all too kind dear audience. Now that the spectacle can finally restart! Can these brave warriors survive the heat of the Metal Men?! Let's find out! The match starts again!"

And the two Metal Men released steam from their bodies. Magetta did too, but all he did was to cloud the entire energy sphere, ending up blind. All the Saiyans charged against the Metal Men.

Taura was fighting hand to hand against the dark one, with their punches striking each other, with the audience being shocked at the scene. Cabba saw that and all he could ask is how Taura's hands weren't broken out of the sheer strength. From a punch of her, a burst of cloud appeared, blinding the Metal man.

"Oh! Taura released smoke made out of energy! Impressive!" The commentator said jumping out of excitement.

"Not a big deal, a pretty basic technique," Frost replied, lying bored on his seat.

Taura then made another energy ring from her hands, and send it to the steel giant. Quickly, she started to do signs with her hand, and the energy ring went above the giant, and put itself surrounding it. The giant couldn't move, and was severely confused by what happened.

"That attack seems oddly familiar, so for that, I'm not going to give you extra points champion." And the emperor did a thumb down while still looking bored. Taura didn't seem to care, she simply walked to Cress, who was trying to concentrate while everyone else was fighting the other Metal Man

"I take it from here, you focus on the dark one."

"Ah, yes, of course!" Cress said, somewhat embarrassed.

"You, Kires! Make sure you defend Cress, since the brat over there is shown to be a dog that doesn't even bite." She said to the older Celeric brother while looking at Vidalia, that from the looks of it, was still flying like nothing.

"Yes, superior!"

...

She overheard her. She hates to admit it, but she felt uncomfortable in her situation. Trying those weird postures, she thought she could win the fight by simply spamming her energy blasts or punching at the walking steel giants, but she was wrong. No matter what the other soldiers did, they couldn't do anything to even scratch them.

The man with the silly goggles on the face raised his hand, and from that moment the Metal Man was rising from the sky, trying to escape the energy ring Taura put it through. Taura was so cool, and yet, she couldn't do anything in her position other than watch.

"You there! If you are just gonna fly there like a moron, why don't you go home?!" Said the older guy from before. What was his name again? Kira? She thought to herself. Whatever, let's just ignore him.

The walking giant kept flying through the air, but the goofy guy wasn't even close to getting him out. The rust bucket was too heavy for him. What was his name again? Did it really matter? She then remembered: a while back, those two nobodies helped him with her combined energy blasts, helping the Metal Man fly away faster.

What is stopping her from doing the same? Is been a while since the last time she could go all out. She smiled, somewhat maliciously at the thought.

She flew with the best her speed could give her, going below where the Steel Giant was. The man whose name she couldn't remember started to scream. "Are you trying to kill yourself, you moron?! Get out of there!"

Yeah, she was. It was exciting.

She started to raise all of her energy, hidden deep between herself, a power she couldn't release for a long time, feeling free again. Her energy kept raising, and from there she raised her hands to the walking steel giant on the air, and screamed from the button of her lungs while releasing a powerful scarlet energy blast. The Steel giant started to ascend faster than with those two girls from before, leaving the arena.

The audience was in shock, silenced at the sight.

"And one of the Metal Men is down, gone from the arena by a combined effort of Cress and that child!"

"Such amount of energy coming from someone so young! Tell me, who is she, my good sir." Frost said excitedly in his seat. The commentator was equally impressed while information came to his antenna.

"The name is Vidalia! She is the daughter of Lady Onion, a relative to the Queen of Sadala, my lord! According to this information, her strength is simply natural!"

"A noble, eh? My, my, new faces all around. Maybe I will find new champions to help me in my quest." Frost said, smiling to himself from the crowd.

She didn't have to say anything. She didn't need to say anything. She looked at Taura, who watched the spectacle. She looked surprised, but at the same time, bored.

The rest of the soldiers looked at her surprised, though, including the Metal Man. It was like they never saw someone like her.

As it should be. She raised her hand looking at the girly looking Steel Giant, and gave the middle finger to it.

The Metal Man started to release steam from its head. It was furious of its friend getting out of the arena, and went running to her, leaving aside the rest of the nobodies facing it. At the same moment, however, the energy shield surrounding the other giant broke, making everyone else focus on that one, leaving her all alone.

That wasn't good. The speed of its punches was actually worrisome, making her evade with difficulty. No matter how strong she was, one punch from that giant could kill her. She kept evading, but the heat in the area was getting through her. This damn uniform, why do I have to wear it?

"What's wrong?" Taura screamed at her, smirking about it while watching "I thought you said you wanted to be a champion!"

What are these two morons behind me doing? She thought to herself, unable to see due to her focus being the rust bucket in front of her. Why aren't they helping me?

The girly looking giant opened its mouth, and she could see lava coming from inside of it. The giant put both of its arms around her so she couldn't escape, while playing with its mouth. Oh crap, I'm going to die by a spit!

She closed her eyes, scared for her life. It felt like an inferno down there. She heard the audience gasping.

"Garlick buster!"

She opened her eyes to a familiar voice, as the metal giant was struck on its mouth by a purple energy blast. The boy from before appeared flying, taking her by the arm and carrying her in a hurry.

"Excuse me for messing with your fight, miss Vidalia!"

...

Cabba couldn't really see her face due to the googles, but he could see she was surprised to see him.

"Excuse me, really! I know is not polite to grab your arm!" And he bowed in sign of respect. She stood up, and patted her pants. She stood silent for a second looking at him.

"Thanks a bunch, but I didn't need your help."

Yeah, right, I heard that line before in a book. You're not fooling me.

She looked behind, looking for Cress and the older Celeric, only to see Cress on the ground, with a hand on his head. His expression was of pure pain. Kires was alongside him, taking care of him.

"What is happening to him?" She asked. Her voice didn't sound as deep as before, while still keeping a certain tone.

"According to the captain, if he overuses that technique, his head starts to freeze. Kires is alongside him to help him move far away from the Metal Men."

"So... that's why no one helped me?" She then muttered something Cabba couldn't understand. He was curious about her. According to the doctor, she had a special oddity on her body like him. Looking at her huge power, he could see that. It was kind of exciting to know more.

"I came as fast as I could to help you. I told you before, since we are both alike in size, we should help each other." Cabba smiled, and gave his hand in order to shake it with hers, but she slapped it.

"Get a grip! I came here to be the number 1, not to be all buddy-buddy!"

"I...I see." He was offended, but decided to let it go and kept smiling. "Still, four hands are better than two, right?"

The Metal Man started to shout again, releasing steam from its head. The place felt like an inferno and Cabba was glad of wearing short pants now.

"Jeez, alright, you can help me! Let's go!"

And she raised her arm and started to attack the walking giant, whose skin was unaffected by the energy attacks. While the level of her attacks was impressive for someone her age, Cabba couldn't help but think she lacked any sort of discipline. He focused his attention on their fight, charging his energy while at it, but it was a pointless struggle. It was like a dog barking at a moving train.

"Your attack won't work, you need to look for a weak spot!"

"Thanks captain obvious, but I don't see any!" She replied while still launching as many energy blasts as possible. "If it cost me everything, I'm going to destroy the entire coliseum just to take this thing down!"

"Him!" Cabba shouted, then remembered he doesn't know who the Metal Man they were facing was. "I think."

"Whatever!"

She then raised her other arm, and combining both a more powerful blast was released, hitting the walking giant on the head.

It did nothing.

"You should have waited for him to open his mouth!"

And the Metal Man started to scream, making the place hotter than before, and from his mouth, a rock was sent flying in Vidalia's direction. Very quickly, Cabba launched the Garlick Buster in its direction. The rock was sent back into the mouth, making the Metal Man cough in pain.

Vidalia looked at Cabba, who kept smiling. Not a smirk mind you, just a gentle smile.

"That's the weak spot, I think!" He said.

"Oh! A nice attack, good, good, yeah. You know, for an apprentice born of humble origins, he did quite a decent feat." Frost said, lying on his seat, looking mildly interested.

"Yeah, your highness. Excuse me for asking, but you seem more interested in the two kids than in the champion and the other Metal Man!" Das said while looking at the match.

"Of course I am. I already know people like Taura and Cress are capable fighters, but sometimes is more entertaining to see the young new fighters. Who knows, a darkhorse may be born out of unknown expectations!" Frost said.

The people cheered at Cabba. It was like a simple word from the emperor could make the sun shine only on him. He blushed, feeling quite thankful of being acknowledged, and looking at the direction of the emperor, bowed in sign of respect.

"Look out, you moron!"

Vidalia struck him down on the head, making him fall to the ground. He quickly got up and saw her getting burned by an attack from the Metal Man.

Her clothes were burning, and she was screaming in anger. With a dash of speed, she released energy from inside of her, screaming from the top of her lungs, burning the armor and clothes she was wearing.

By the end, only a green top and the green pants were left. Her goggles were destroyed, and the ponytail disappeared, letting her spiky hair, shaped like a hedgehog, to be seen.

"What are you doing here?!" Cabba shouted looking at her.

"You!" She shouted at the Metal Man, completely angry. "Is about time I show you who is the boss in this arena, with or without fake names! I, Caulifla, I'm going to knock you down!"


Author Note: I'll admit the reason for writing this fanfic: I have a certain fondness for the Universe 6 Saiyans, but I was less inspired to write about them out of fondness, and more because I wanted an excuse to write something and flesh out my narrative. Some personal real life issues didn't allow me to write original fiction, so I came to write fanfiction instead. Surprisingly, its a very fun thing to do, especially to characters who aren't as explored as the Saiyans, although it kind of annoys me none of my ideas will become a reality XD Just a headcanon thing.

Is possibly for the best, as I improvise a lot when writing, and re-reading the fic it shows, as there are some minor inconsistencies or some wasted opportunities that didn't occur to me at the time.

Because of this, I now I understand why shonen anime like Saint Seiya or Naruto has a lot of "flashbacks" of off-screen training: because the author didn't think of them at the time, and works as a convenient way to introduce information without breaking the narrative. But at the same time, however, it makes it more exciting when the character does something unexpected! (Like Goku doing the Kaio-ken again, or most of Jojo's antics)

But I can see why people would be disappointed and call it an "ass-pull". It happened a lot in the Universal Survival Arc, with Kefla, Aniraza, and God of Destruction Toppo. Let's face it, it wasn't properly foreshadowed in Aniraza or Toppo's case, despite the manual stating it, but the series didn't. I'm trying my best to properly foreshadow things. After all, one of my favorite stories comes from Metal Gear Solid, and re-watching everything is a delight, as it comes full-circle.

Also, the Metal Men are weak to insults in the canon of the series. Do flipping birds count as insults?