Defenders of Sol
Chapter 10: On the Brink of War Part 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, or Dragon Ball Z. That belongs to Akira Toriyama. All of the original characters in this fanfiction belong to either me, or the selected users found on chapter 1 and the prologue. Please support the official release.
Note: I was going to write an insanely long chapter, but I figured it's best that I would separate this into 2 parts. The next 2 parts will be the last chapters of this current arc, and I'll place the battle levels of the characters for the next 2 chapters. Expect a shit load of action, since several fights will be going on for the next 2 chapters/parts. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10:
Sheryl appeared to be awaiting Celeria's arrival at the ring. The younger girl stepped up to the ring, and looked forward towards her opponent. She didn't know anything about her, except the fact that she was a tough one to come by. All that meant to her was, the fact that she has to go all out from the beginning to end. Bullshit has no place in the ring.
Sheryl glanced over at Celeria's tail wrapped around her waist, which intrigued her slightly. She simply smirked in reaction to this, "So you're a Saiya-jin eh? You people aren't as tough as you come out to be." She noted, crossing her arms.
Celeria simply gritted her teeth, though only showed it slightly. The Saiya-jin teen didn't say anything, but stare down at the scar-faced woman.
"Well, I hope you're ready. I dislike it when a fool comes onto the ring and doesn't stand a chance. So show me what you're made of." Sheryl added.
"Now LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" The announcer intervened.
Celeria was the first to make her move, leaping straight at her opponent. Sheryl was surprised at her charge, since she attacked her by jumping, and flying parallel to the ground. Only a superhuman fighter would attack like that.
Once Celeria got within melee range, she fired a quick flurry of punches, in which Sheryl rolled along with. Eventually, Celeria began to throw kicks into the mix of punches as well, mostly made up of simple front snap kicks and roundhouse kicks.
Sheryl, despite being busy with her hands managed to catch her roundhouse kick, and throw a straight punch to her face. This made Celeria stumble back a few feet, and give herself some air to breath.
However, the younger girl immediately went back to attacking Sheryl. She led in with a jumping 360 turn side kick to the head, which Sheryl blocked with her left forearm. Despite the fact that she blocked the kick, it made a strain on her hand. It turns out that her strength might make up for her technique.
Sheryl then countered by flipping herself upside down, and landing a roundhouse kick to her head whilst using her right hand to balance herself on the ground. Celeria was shot into the air, and Sheryl quickly regained her balance and attacked the opposing fighter.
Celeria quickly recovered herself in mid-air, and instantly foresaw Sheryl's charge. To counter her charge, she fired down an energy wave at the scar-faced woman.
The charging warrior widened her eyes in shock as the wave quickly came in on her. Due to her luck, Sheryl managed to fly off to the side of the wave, and letting it hit the ground which left an impressive explosion. She didn't waste any time, and flew right past Celeria, flanking her with a front kick to the Saiya-jin's skull. The young teen cried out in pain and was sent flying straight into the ground, leaving an explosion upon impact. Luckily for her, she landed in the middle of the ring. The fight wasn't over.
Sheryl grinned as her attack was successful, "Oi, is that all you got? I'd be quite disappointed if you're already beaten!" She called out to her, sounding just as condescending as she did months ago.
Slowly, Celeria stood up from the ground. She took a step out of the small crater she made, taking a quick breather. Sheryl landed on the ground as she witnessed her get up, crossing her arms in the process. "There you go, already up and fighting again." Sheryl commented.
Again, Celeria persisted in ignoring her, and focused her full attention on the battle, as if it were an entity itself. She let her instinct take over for most of the time, though this single moment will be different.
The Saiya-jin bent her knees and assumed a horse stance, with her arms fully stretch out in front of her and her palms facing forward directly. Once she was satisfied with her position, she shouted, "Ni Bunkatsu!"
Suddenly, 3 figures spawned in a bright light beside her. The light quickly cooled down, revealing clones of Celeria herself. All of them seem to move differently, and have a mind of their own. What's even more deadly is their ki levels didn't split… They remained the same as the user herself.
Sheryl widened her eyes in astonishment, witnessing something that she least expected. One Saiya-jin like her was fine, but 4 may be a different story. Not to mention, she didn't have to split her ki level to make them.
Before Sheryl could collect her thoughts, the clones began to race over to her, without any real strategy. They all attacked similarly to a mass attack; unorganised with one thing in mind, which was defeat the target.
Sheryl ducked under the first incoming kick, and blocked an incoming left hook with her forearm, but caught a double hammer fist to the head, causing her to double over. Suddenly, the bandit received a knee to the face, which sent her stumbling back. Then one of the clones raced over behind her and delivered a side kick to her backside, which sent her forward tumbling to the ground.
Immediately, another clone rushed in. However, Sheryl countered by attempting to trip her feet. She missed narrowly, as Celeria leaped up in time and delivered a flying axe kick to the side of her mid-section, causing her to gawk and yelp in pain.
The Celeria clone calmly took a step back, giving Sheryl a chance to get back up. None of the clones said a word however, though gave her a look that implied, "So how does it feel to kiss the ground?"
The bandit gritted her teeth in anger as she got to her feet, eyeing all of the clones that stood on the ring. The audience appeared to be more silent than a quite midnight, with an announcer that is too shocked to even udder a word. Flying and shooting beams is one thing, but cloning yourself without the influence of technology is something else.
"Fine, I'll just have to focus on one of you, and throw you out of the ring." The woman thought, as she observed the clones that stood before her.
After a moment passed by, the clones attacked again, with the first one throwing a punch. Instinctively, Sheryl growled and inched herself out of the way of the punch, and delivered an earth shattering turn side kick to her mid-section. Not only did this send her flying back, but the clone was destroyed instantly, along with two other clones. This only left Celeria herself, without the help of her clones.
Sheryl's became shocked at the demise of the clones, and grinned at this fact. Celeria stood still, who also appeared to be surprised at the ultimate weakness of her own technique.
"Heh, I never knew such a technique could present bark but no bite." The bandit stated flatly.
Right after Sheryl finished her sentence, Celeria charged at her yet again, attempting to attack her without any strategy or tactic in mind; just blind movement.
"Of course she'll do that…" Sheryl thought as she timed her opponent's movement.
Once the young teen got within striking distance, Sheryl sidestepped her following punch and sent a powerful knee to her stomach, causing Celeria to yelp. Before she could even make another movement, an elbow came crashing down on the girl's back, which smashed her into the ground.
Sheryl simply took a few steps back, observing the fallen warrior for a moment.
"She's unconscious." The fighter concluded. Quickly, the announcer climbed onto the ring and raced over to Celeria, and bent over. After a few seconds, the answer became clear.
"It seems that Celeria lost by knock out! So the winner is… Sheryl!" The announcer cheered. The crowd of course, cheered for the intense battle that the two females produced. Of course, it is only one among several that are yet to be showcased in front of the crowd.
Zarx simply sighed, "Well there you have it. You weren't kidding about that woman's strength. Celeria could have beaten her if she was actually thinking about the fight though." He noted.
"Yeah, but she's only fourteen. Give her a break." Ryal responded.
Zarx narrowed his eyes and turned towards him, "So? You're sixteen. There isn't much of a difference there yet you beat her a few months back."
"Hey, I'm turning seventeen in a few weeks. Besides, can't you cut them some slack? It's not like they were personally trained by the best fighter of the century." Ryal responded calmly.
Zarx sighed and turned his full attention to Ryal, "That doesn't matter… Don't you realize that aliens will attack this planet at any moment?"
Zejuto, who appeared to be laying back and slacking off the whole time spoke up, "You said that four months ago, green man."
"Maybe you should be getting your sister and preparing for your next fight instead of sitting on your ass and running your mouth, kid." Zarx retorted, but calmly. He can speak his mind, yet still keep his cool.
Zejuto simply chuckled and jumped to his feet, "Yeah yeah, I'll do that."
- A few minutes later –
Zejuto already positioned himself out of the way, watching the Tenkaichi Budokai stuff clean up the last of the mess from the previous fight. His opponent was still unknown to the boy, since he didn't pay attention to the announcement earlier. Of course it didn't really matter though, since his opponent was the weakest out of them all.
"Next up! We have Curtis versus Zejuto! Since Zejuto is already here, Curtis please enter the ring!" The announcer commanded.
Once the message was released, a large, buff man with the build of a grizzly bear walked onto the ring. He was absolutely massive, and towered over Zejuto like comparing a sky scraper to a mouse. However, this didn't seem to faze Zejuto. In fact, the young teen appeared to be excited and full of energy as he usually is.
"Oh, so you're the weakest guy here huh?" Zejuto asked the enormous man. Curtis narrowed his eyes and stared down at Zejuto, "The weakest? My biceps are twice the size of your body." He stated in a deep voice.
"May the match begin!"
"Well, looks like the match his already started. Guess I should end this quickly." Zejuto mused as he stared straight up at the gigantic person. The Saiya-jin leaped high into the air, and quickly delivered a flying side kick to the man's face, which sent him flying out of bounds. Without time to recover, Curtis ended up on the grass outside of the ring.
"Like I said, the weakest." Zejuto repeated, landing on the ground after he committed his attack. The teen simply turned his back and leaped onto the roof again, where his fellow warriors stood.
"Curtis is out of bounds. That means Zejuto wins by ring out!"
As usual, the crowd began to cheer at the victory of Zejuto, which led Ryal to covering his ears, whilst everyone else remained unchanged since the beginning of the fight.
"Alright, good luck Zarx. You're up next." Zejuto informed the Namekian. Zarx didn't even response or acknowledge Zejuto's statement, and already went off to the ring. Ryal on the other hand, gave a wave at Zejuto. Of course, the teen waved back and sat down on the roof, continuing to slack off just like he did before.
Ryal then turned his head towards Kento, he appeared to be sitting next to the unconscious girl. "So how's she doing?"
Kento raised his head up to see the blond fighter, "She's fine. Just a little rest is all."
- Moments later –
"The last match until the semi-finals will be Zarx versus Eton! May the fighters enter the ring please!"
Zarx, who was leaning up against the wall, looked up upon hearing the announcement. The green man began to walk down the path to the ring. Eton soon began to follow him from within the temple. The two fighters climbed up the steps to take their positions in the ring. Both of them stared each other down, and never spoke a word. All they did was remain still until the announcer would give the call.
"This may make an interesting battle folks! For this side, we have a green skinned man. Nothing is known about him, but we all know that he is an alien from outer space! On the other side of the ring, we have one of the highest ranking fighters under the Crane schools found in the west end of the world! A lot is to be expected from this fight folks!" The announcer spoke into the crowd. However, the two warriors seemed to be unfazed from the announcer's statement.
"It looks like the both of these men are ready to give it their all… So let the fight begin!"
"Alright, this is it." Zarx thought as he instantly shot into his stance, with his hands held slightly low, and his stance was somewhat neutral. He seemed to be very relaxed, displaying a very soft style as opposed to a hard style like Eton's.
Eton was the first to make an attack, by charging in with inhuman speed. Judging by his act, the man must have known Zarx from months back, thus he would charge at such a speed.
The demi Saiya-jin attacked with a furious combo of two-fingers knife hand thrusts directed towards vulnerable spots on the body, such as the neck or ribcage area. Since his assault was swift and rapid, he caught several glancing blows as he kept dodging the strikes. While Eton attacked Zarx, the green man taking several steps back in order to avoid all of the hits. Eventually, the Namekian was reaching the edge of the ring.
Zarx quickly ducked down and swept Eton's feet, causing the man to trip over. Once this was successful, Zarx immediately tried to escape by moving off to the side, though quickly got caught by Eton's leg. The man was sent spiralling into the air from the kick, though quickly shot his arm forward and extended it for dozens of feet. He latched onto Eton's forearm and began to shrink his arm to carry his opponent closer. Once he was within range, Zarx attempted to land an axe kick to the half Saiya-jin's head.
Unfortunately for the green warrior, Eton foresaw his move and jolted his body off to the side, knocked his arm off of him in the process of dodging. After moving out of the way, Eton launched an inward crescent kick towards Zarx's head. The green fighter narrowly ducked under the incoming kick.
Quickly, Zarx shot two fingers forward towards Eton's chest, though stopped the strike before it could land. Since Eton could sense his movements, he didn't move a muscle, whilst he kept a sharp eye on the Namekian.
Zarx smirked at this, getting exactly what he wanted.
"Mankankosappo!" Zarx exclaimed. A yellow beam surrounded by brilliant purple energy spiralling around the centre of the blast shot out of the two fingers, and zoomed straight for Eton's chest. The Crane fighter was quickly caught off guard as he was hit point blank, and got sent further away from the ring.
Eton continued to be blasted backwards, grinding his teeth together. Within seconds, the man shifted his body sideways and backed off, letting the beam burst off higher into the atmosphere. The beam had ripped through his traditional tunic, leaving a burnt mark from where the Mankankosappo hit. Without a word, the demi Saiya-jin ripped his long tunic off, leaving him shirtless.
Taking advantage of the situation, Zarx shot a thick yellow energy wave directed at the opposing fighter, aiming to hit him out of the air and get a ring out. The energy wave swept over Eton's body, causing the green skinned man to grin.
However, Eton left an after image at that very spot.
The Crane pupil appeared beside Zarx, and launches a killer upset punch to his gut, causing Zarx to spit out blood in that instant and double over.
From below, Ryal's pupils shrunk, astonished by the man's speed.
"How can anyone move so fast in the air?" Ryal thought, keeping a steady attention to the fight that displayed before him.
Zejuto also happened to be paying close attention to the battle, marvelled by his sudden burst of speed.
"Wow, I never thought anyone can move so fast." Zejuto commented.
Eton leniently gave Zarx a moment to regain his composure after taking the blow to his gut. He slowly lifted his head up to see Eton looking down at him with his cold stare. The green fighter couldn't even see it coming.
"How'd you…?" Zarx began, before being smacked in the head with a lightning speed axe kick. Zarx hit the centre of the ring like a meteorite crashing through the Earth's atmosphere. Upon landing, debris shot up from his harsh landing and rocks fired into the air like setting off several pounds of TNT.
Eton's face expression remained unchanged as he lowered himself to one end of the ring, crossing his arms in the process.
"As expected from a former Namekian. You came here to warn these people about the war spreading. Don't hide it from me." Eton stated firmly, only loud enough for his former opponent to hear.
Zarx lifted his head off of the ground, with his ears perking up from Eton's words, "What!?"
Eton didn't reply and strolled over to Zarx, and lifted him up by the collar. "Are you planning to stop us?"
Zarx gritted his teeth upon listening to the man's words. "Bastard… How did you know that!?"
"I know what you did last time. Now tell me, or I'll be forced to kill you right now…. I prefer to leave without a mess." Eton demanded in a low tone, careful to only let Zarx listen to his words.
These scumbags are planning to wish for immortality and leave this planet victim to the most monumental war ever recorded, yet here he was being outclassed by a single man.
He trained to the pinnacle of his own abilities ever since he escaped the dying Namek, and landed on the only planet that has the potential to end the dreadful war that nearly caused his race to go extinct.
"These bastards are taking the one and only thing to stop this entire endless conflict, and using it all for themselves. How can this scumbag even attempt to do such a ridiculous thing?"
Zarx's eyes grew, and set them on the man before him. He was bloodshot, as his vision soon began to dye in red, fixing his full attention on Eton. Without a single word, he shot an uppercut to the half Saiya-jin's chin powered with rage. Eton stumbled back from the strike, and quickly recovered. However, the Namekian already closed the gap and sent Eton flying with a powerful roundhouse kick to the head.
"I'll die before I let this war continue on. I came here to stop the madness that killed most of my people, and here you are thinking that you're entitled to everything!" Zarx spat, going straight into a fighting stance.
Eton climbed to his feet, keeping his eyes fixed on Zarx, though refrained from attacking as he desired to listen to what the man had to say.
"I can't believe it! You're willing to give yourself the power to live for as long as you want in exchange to letting billions of people die!?" The Namekian-born fighter continued, expecting an answer from his former opponent.
Eton didn't respond to Zarx's question, keeping silent as his stare pierced through the green combatant.
Zarx cursed under his breath, and charged straight at the Crane fighter. He led off with a straight jab to the head, though Eton ducked underneath the punch and planted an elbow in Zarx's ribcage area. He doubled over slightly from the elbow strike, and immediately received a bone-shattering kick to the head.
The Namekian was forced into the air by the kick, and landed on the edge of the ring. His eyes appeared to be rolled over, and he was left unconscious.
"It appears that Zarx had been K.O'd by that single kick, so Eton will be advancing to the semi-finals!"
Eton, unfazed by the recent fight simply turned to towards the temple and made his way back to the dojang.
"He didn't say a thing… Master is sure to be disappointed."
- 30 minutes later, break time for semi-finals –
Zarx was still knocked out by his previous match, and remained in the clinic due to his condition, meanwhile the rest of the fighters were still located on the roof of the temple, relaxing for the 40 minute break.
Ryal was found lying down with his hands resting on his belly, staring up at the clouds. The area was actually quiet for once, which made things a lot more relaxing. Zejuto appeared to be sleeping, while Celeria was still unconscious from her previous match. So he talked to Kento alone for once, trying to catch up on their affairs.
"Wow… I didn't think it would end up that bad." Kento commented, after listening to Ryal explain to him the whole mess that was occurring.
"Apparently it is. You can ask Zarx about it later, he knows pretty much everything." Ryal responded.
"I didn't know that there were so many strong fighters out there. I thought I was one of the strongest on the whole planet once Muten Roshi was finished training me. Then after coming here, almost everyone outclasses me." Kento spoke, pondering about the sheer power of the previous fighters that fought.
Ryal chuckled at Kento's comment, "You may think we're all strong, but the aliens that are fighting in the war would make us look like fish fry. All we can do is hunt down the dragon balls and train as much as we can."
The shorter fighter simply sighed, disappointed in his own strength. He wanted to be stronger, he truly did. However, his power pales in comparison to the others. Ryal was a descendant of a revolutionary fighter. Zarx was an alien that originated from a powerful race of people. Zejuto and Celeria are also a part of a powerful race of people.
"What am I then?" Kento thought to himself.
"…If the world is in such huge trouble, why did you bring me along? You know I'm only going to slow you down…" Kento questioned.
Ryal rolled over onto his belly and faced his full attention to Kento at this point, staring him dead in the eye, "That is because you're my friend."
The black haired lad was left speechless by his words, and was still left to why he would do such a thing. If he knew him well enough, Ryal would try to make the best decision. That reason couldn't possibly change his mind.
However, Ryal didn't stop there.
"I firmly believe that you can help us out. All it takes is a correct mindset, and dedication. Sitting there thinking that you can't do this isn't going to get you anywhere, but focusing your mind and body on the problems that lay ahead is what will build you as a person. My father always told me to shoot for the moon. In other words, it means you must pick a big goal and aim for it. Even if you don't achieve it, you'll still grow as a person. Sitting there and doubting yourself isn't going to change anything."
Upon listening to this, Kento let out a wide grin and nodded his head in agreement to his message.
"Thanks, I honestly needed that… A lot."
Ryal simply gave him a nod and rolled back onto his back again, continuing to stare into the clouds. Before he could let his mind drift off, an announcer was being made.
"For all of the semi-finalists to hear! We all know that the Tenkaichi Budokai always gives out zeni as a reward for making it this far! But today, we have a bonus that will go along with the zeni! We present you… This!"
Suddenly, two of the staff members rushed onto the stage holding something that was under a cloak, though it appeared to be round. Ryal immediately shifted his attention to the announcer on the ring, with the staff members behind him. Kento sat up from behind the blond man and looked over his shoulder to see what was going on.
The cloak was lifted, and revealed an orange ball sitting on top of a pillow, with what appeared to be one star in the middle of the ball.
"If you win the tournament… You win a dragon ball!"
The blond fighter widened his eyes in shock, immediately coming to several realizations at that single moment. Thoughts began to rush through his mind, and they weren't very good either.
"Damn it, now you can't afford to lose. If that's what I'm hearing, then it's that Crane fighter who is trying to get that dragon ball by winning!" Kento exclaimed in astonishment.
"Ryal, I think you're the only one that could possibly win against that Crane guy. So please… Do me a favour and beat the living tar out of that guy?"
The tall fighter chuckled at his request, "Sure, I'll pull it off. I need to take down the girl who took down Celeria though, which shouldn't be too much of a problem."
The black haired student of Kamesennin smiled half-heartedly, hoping that everything would run smoothly from then on.
End of chapter 10
Well, stay tuned for part 2 which shall bring this arc to a closing, and start up the second arc!
Battle levels for chapters 1 through 8 (Pre time skip)
Ryal: 215
Kento: 12
Lucas: 33
Collin: 17
Crane Fighters: 100 – 150
Sheryl: 180
Zejuto: 155
Celeria: 165
Eton: 320
Zarx: 240
Rodetem: 520
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