Chapter 13: The Fated Battle
Note: 魔= "Ma" or devil; demon
This is Piccolo Daimao's signature in Dragonball (for anyone who doesn't already know)
As the words of the announcer's broadcast processed in her brain, Hatsuko's heart responded by beating faster.
It's…finally time, she thought while stealing a glance at Piccolo. He had his back turned to her near the entrance to the stadium. He seemed to be talking to his friends. Hatsuko swallowed and shut her eyes.
"Now, let's begin our first match! Hatsuko vs. Ma Junior!"
Cheers and applause echoed off of the walls of the stadium. Hatsuko used the enthusiasm as motivation to get up off the floor and start the battle that she had been waiting for so long to fight. She walked slowly towards him. He was now alone, making his way into the ring. She focused on the back of his head.
Piccolo took his place in the middle of the arena. He looked focused and serious, as usual. Hatsuko mirrored his facial expression perfectly. The two fighters seemed to be of a similar mindset. The announcer reminisced briefly about Piccolo's past performance in the Budokai in the final rounds. Hatsuko tried with all her might to muffle his voice with her mind as it processed inside of her ears. Then, all thoughts left her. Her eyes locked with Piccolo's. Their color was a deep, solid black. He never blinked; neither did she.
The announcer had long since finished his introduction. The crowd had cheered to signal the beginning of the fight. Now, the stadium was hushed. All eyes were on the two warriors staring each other down in the arena.
"Why aren't they fighting?" Krillin muttered to himself. He was seated up in the stadium next to his family. Number 18 sat next to him. Her arms and legs were crossed. She was studying Hatsuko intently.
Piccolo took care not to move a muscle or flex his chi in even the slightest way. He lost himself in the color of her eyes. Their smoky blue-gray hue seemed to swirl in her irises. His mind was empty. Finally, he noticed that she had caved. Her eyebrow twitched. In that instant, Piccolo knew it was time to attack.
Disappearing from view, Piccolo fled and reappeared on Hatsuko's left side. Her eyes snapped to his form instantly, guiding her body into a defensive block that shielded her from his sly blow. Piccolo, now a few inches above the ground, returned her block with several elaborate kicks. Each one seemed to be easily evaded by Hatsuko, who was showing no signs of fatigue at all.
When he was through testing her reaction speed, Piccolo set himself down on the arena floor a few yards away. Not once did the pairs' eyes leave each other.
Hatsuko inhaled deeply as she struck a fighting pose that she knew well. She noticed that when she did so, Piccolo squinted.
All at once, she attacked him. Her speed mesmerized him so that he could not keep up at first. He narrowly escaped a few weak blows from her hands, which were outstretched with her fingers glued together and her thumbs carefully tucked into her palms. Hatsuko was not trying to harm him. She wanted to see how fast he was.
"Well, look at them go, folks! Well, if you can…" The announcer trailed off. He could not tell exactly where they were, but he had some idea. The sound of their movements was quite audible. Their clothing shone in the sunlight as well, especially Piccolo's bright white cape.
The two became still again. Both were poised and still staring at each other. Piccolo's knees were bent, indicating that he was on his guard. Hatsuko leaned on one leg and held her arms at the ready, wielding fists.
After a moment of staring they began to spar again. Their movements were again too fast for anyone to see. The audience began to talk amongst themselves nervously.
"Heh, well one can only guess what these two are doing! They seem to be disappearing every time they fight!"
Goku sighed at the announcer's words.
"Man, Vegeta. They've been doing this for about fifteen minutes now. What do you think is up?"
The prince's arms were crossed. He pursed his lips as he watched the fight.
"I don't know, Kakarrot, but I'm getting impatient. They're both holding back and right now they're just toying with each other and the rest of us. If I was out there, I would have started blasting her a long time ago. That Namek is just wasting his time," he said without bothering to look at Goku.
Hatsuko swiftly jerked her upper body from side to side as Piccolo fired his fists at her. She felt the air moving in rhythms with his punches. Her opportunity had come.
Piccolo's connection with his opponent's gaze abruptly ended as her body suddenly fell. His eyes told him that he had successfully punched her, but he had not felt anything. Before he had time to search for where she was, a force collided with his jaw, sending his whole upper body hurtling forward. His strong legs kept him from flying through the air. He merely stumbled before realizing a spatter of blood had landed on the ground in front of him.
Hatsuko collected herself and stood up straight behind Piccolo as she waited for him to recover. She noticed that his blood was purple.
"Urrnnnnnghh," Piccolo grunted as he popped his jaw back into its place. He turned around slowly to face her. He met her eyes once again. This time, he saw a glimpse of triumph in them. He wrinkled his nose and bared his teeth. He suddenly stood up rigidly straight to his full height. He grabbed his collar forcefully and yanked it above his head. In one swift movement, he threw his armor off to the side along with his turban. He moved his head from side to side to crack his neck.
Hatsuko watched his display of macho arrogance with disgust.
Just come at me. Enough of this nonsense…
As if he heard her, Piccolo tensed his muscles. Hatsuko could see them bulging from his loosely fitting uniform. A few veins swelled on the surface of his skin, showing the blood flowing through them with each pulse of his heart. A bright light blue aura of chi leaked out of his pores and surrounded him, deepening in color with every second. He opened his mouth as he yelled.
"HaahhhhhhhhhHH!!!" Piccolo's chi became immense within only a short amount of time. It developed into a flaring mass of light that seemed tangible. It radiated from him in waves, reaching an apex that pointed towards the sky.
When he was finished summoning chi from deep within his chest, Piccolo knew his time to attack had come again. Before Hatsuko could prepare herself, Piccolo's silhouette disappeared from view. Her heart skipped a beat as she struggled to sense where he had gone.
There it is! She thought as the presence materialized above her. Hatsuko quickly directed her attention to the sky. Instead of finding Piccolo, a bright blue beam of energy descended down upon her. She was quick to get out of the way, but did not leave unscathed. The chi had grazed her neck. A searing pain struck her, eliciting feelings of anxiety and panic.
This energy is incredible. If I had taken that full force, there would have been nothing of me left, she thought as she nimbly flipped around the stadium to avoid Piccolo's subsequent chi attacks. He was rampantly firing them while trying to keep up with her speed.
Hatsuko landed in a kneeling position. She looked straight ahead to see Piccolo charging at her with an energy ball clutched in his powerful hand. His face was devoid of any emotion. As he raced through the air, Hatsuko readied herself to counter. She outstretched both of her arms to her sides and pushed a massive amount of chi into them. She felt them toughening to hundreds of times their normal density. At the same time that Piccolo extended his arm wielding the energy ball, Hatsuko met him with both arms extended in front of her at their full length. When the two fighters collided, a bright explosion of blue and pink chi emanated from them.
Smoke arose after the collision and when it finally disappeared, Hatsuko was nowhere to be seen. Piccolo stood up and sharpened his senses. He detected her spirit at once. He shifted his body to face her. She was standing at the opposite end of the arena. Her stance was calm and collected, as if no confrontation had taken place. She merely stared at him as she had before. He returned her glare.
Hatsuko's fists were balled up tightly. Her arms were tingling from the shock of Piccolo's attack. His chi was stronger than she had ever anticipated it to be. Her aura surrounded her and pulsated slightly. She stood her ground.
Why isn't she doing anything? thought Piccolo as he watched her. He took a few tentative steps forward. He waited for her to make a move. When she failed to, he bent his knees into a defensive stance. He extended his hand to invite her to attack first. She remained still.
Alright, what is this all about? She can't possibly think that she can just toy with me!
"Well, are you going to fight or not?" Piccolo called out to his opponent. The audience began to murmur with anticipation when they heard him speak.
Hatsuko, upon hearing his voice, felt her chi flicker. She fought to keep it under control while she concentrated on his face.
"Look, I don't have all day! If you intend to fight, then let's begin!" Piccolo was growing impatient. Her arrogant behavior had irked him from the very beginning. He could not help but see the resemblance between her poor fighting manner and his at a young age. His temper brewed.
"I demand that you attack me at once!"
Both of Piccolo's hands formed fists now. The veins in his head throbbed with anger. His muscles were so tense that they caused his entire body to quake.
A roar erupted from his throat when she still did not respond. He rushed at her at full speed. She remained collected even as he closed in on her. Before he could reach her, he lost sight of her form. Stunned, Piccolo stopped flying. Hatsuko was gone again. Suddenly, she appeared right in front of him. Her nose was almost touching his. Startled, he recoiled. His eyes were wide with confusion and his teeth ground into each other.
Hatsuko narrowed her eyes. She spoke in a strange tongue that Piccolo understood immediately as his own language.
"I know you, Piccolo Daimao. I know not how you are still alive or the reason you have been so difficult for me to locate for all these years. I have come to destroy you for all the pain you have caused. Prepare yourself." Piccolo's mouth became dry. Her voice echoed around in his head. The familiar words stunned him.
How is this possible? Who is this?
Hatsuko's chi flared out of her body, blowing her hair straight up into the air and then twisting it around itself. The bandages on her forearms came off and wrapped themselves around her hair again to tie it away from her face. She cut the ends off by yanking her arms downwards.
I'll give him a taste of his own medicine.
Slowly, Hatsuko removed her overcoat. She took her arms out of the wide, heavy sleeves and let the coat fall down her torso. An obi kept it in place, which she removed manually. The dark cloth fell gracefully to the ground.
Piccolo swallowed. He noticed that she wore a make-shift top of thickly bound cloth bandages, much like the ones covering her forearms. Her skin gleamed in the sunlight.
Hatsuko built her chi up again to form a highly concentrated aura. The air around her became blisteringly hot. Piccolo's jaw dropped. He was lost for words. Instead, he tried to match her power with his own energy. Before he could think of an attack, Hatsuko punched him square in the face. As Piccolo flew through the air from the blow, he gathered more energy around him. He recovered promptly. She had gone from a position roughly ten yards away from him to punching him. He could not read her movement at all.
Hatsuko readied herself for Piccolo's return. She met him in midair with a spinning kick. The two attacked and blocked each other swiftly in the air for a few moments. During their exchange, Piccolo noticed something on the back of Hatsuko's right shoulder. He strained his eyes to see it whenever she turned her back on him during combat. Finally, the struggle came to a halt.
Hatsuko could tell that Piccolo was preoccupied so she pulled back. She took her place a good distance away from him and crossed her arms. Piccolo faced her. He sighed and then decided he would find what he wanted without asking. He was through being polite. He disappeared and rematerialized right behind her. Then, he saw it: 魔
Piccolo was taken aback yet again. He let out a gasp. Hatsuko responded by turning around and kicking him in the stomach. Piccolo doubled over as saliva spewed from his gaping mouth. She had the mark of the demon inscribed on her flesh.