Short chapter ahead; paying off OOS tuition takes a lot of money therefore a lot of scholarship essays. A LOT.
Terra charged at Gohan, refusing to look him in the eye as she threw all of her might at him. "You are really trying," Gohan said, dodging her strikes with ease, "and I appreciate that, but could you maybe aim at me for once?"
Terra scowled and flipped back, raising her hands to form spikes in the ground. She whipped them at the Saiyan. Gohan spiked his golden aura, obliterating them as they entered his energy field. "Die, curr!"
Gohan stepped forward, taking spike after spike as if he had his own force field. Gohan caught a punch and yanked her onto a knee strike. Gohan whipped her into the air and held his finger out, sending a barrage of yellow energy beams that stung her whole body. "Tell me, Terra; did you expect to go out like this?"
Terra raised her hands and brought them down, bringing a mud avalanche on Gohan's aura field. The mud disintegrated. Terra charged toward him again and the sky turned red and the ground black. She found herself nailed to a crucifix roughly six feet tall. Gohan stood in front of her in the desolate tournament arena as a black, shadowy version of his former self. Terra didn't recognize him at all. "Where am I?"
"Inside your own mind," Gohan said, his voice echoing off the walls. "The world you will create if you stay on your current path is this."
"What the fuck would you know about my path?" Terra spat.
"My old team and I have killed people like you," Gohan said, "and I'm giving you a chance to repent."
"Repent?" Terra barked, flicking her wrists. The ground didn't move. "What have you done with my powers?"
"Nothing," Gohan said, "in here, you do not need powers because there's nothing for you to use them on." A black katana rose from the mud and into his hand. "Don't worry, you'll get them back soon enough, if you can handle this." He stabbed her in the gut. White blood spattered over Gohan's gi.
"You're going to kill me?" Terra asked painfully.
"No," Gohan said. "You're going to learn not to pull something like this ever again. I'll give you 72 hours to think on what you've done." He stabbed her again, beginning a long procession of mental torture.
Outside her head, Terra stood there motionless, slowly drooling. Gohan looked her in the eyes, not blinking even once. 72 seconds passed and Terra dropped to her knees, making the crowd gasp. "Fuck…"
Gohan looked down. "Are we done here?"
"Fuck you!" Terra barked, letting her aura explode. She burst into the air and slowly pulled at the air, dragging the ring itself into the air.
Gohan flew into the air as Terra raised the ring over her head. Gohan fired a yellow ball of chi into the ring, turning it into dust. Terra's eyes widened as Gohan slowly flew over to her. She let out a cry of rage and fear and let a volley of yellow energy wash over Gohan, seemingly obliterating him. "I gave you a chance!" Gohan's voice shouted. He sent a punch into her gut, arching her over his fist. He burst above the clouds and threw her back down, creating a cloud of dust as she hit the mud square where the ring once was. Gohan burst back down with his fist cocked back, forming a blue aura around it. "Hebinomichi o ochiru! Falling Serpent's Path!" he exclaimed, planting his fist into Terra's chest. The blow shook the arena, splitting one empty section in half. Terra screamed in pain and grabbed Gohan's arm as it pushed at her sternum and snapped it in half. Gohan tossed her aside. "You asked for it."
"Thank you," a voice inside Terra growled. Her symbol started glowing again and the temperature around the arena cooled. Terra stood up as if guided by an otherworldly force. Her eyes turned completely black.
Gohan hopped back and fell into stance. "What are you?"
"I am Asa, mortal," a raspy voice hissed inside her. "Mistress of Nightmares, concubine of him."
"The Master?" Gohan said. "Could you give me a name?"
"It is to remain hidden, fool!" Asa said, "but I'm surprised Raven hasn't figured it out yet."
"If I beat it out of you, will you tell me?" Gohan asked.
"I'll eat your heart on a platter of your bones!" she screeched, charging at him.
"That is a no, then?" Gohan asked, spiking his aura again. The two forces clashed and vanished, staying hidden from visibility for a full minute.
"They're moving so quickly," Trunks said, following the battle with his eyes.
"They won't be fast enough," Vegeta said. "Sure, Kakarot's spawn could defeat her, but I doubt anyone here could touch me once I get into full swing."
"I guess we'll see about that soon, won't we?" Trunks said.
"You're quite prideful, Trunks," Vegeta scoffed.
"I get it from my father," Trunks said.
Gohan reappeared in the sky as he flipped Asa over his shoulder. He landed on the ground and brought his hands to his chest. "Light Grenade!" he shouted, firing a ball of red and yellow energy at the demon.
Asa smirked and she deflected the wave. She looked down, seeing Gohan crouched with an uppercut ready.
"Soaring Dragon Strike!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist into her cheek to send her rocketing into the sky. Gohan fazed out and grabbed her leg, throwing her into the light grenade. He followed up with a wide barrage of chi waves, creating a blinding explosion once he had thrown enough. Asa burst from the explosion and threw a punch at Gohan's face. Gohan leaned back and sent an elbow strike into her ribs, spiking a second clash. Gohan grabbed the back of her head and slammed it into his knee repeatedly before he sent a chi blast to her sternum, making her gasp in pain. He took that as a sign and attacked that spot over and over, driving her into the stands. Asa squealed in pain and fought through the pain, catching Gohan's fist and firing a wide energy wave into him. Gohan held on and sent a punch, breaking her nose. He hit her again, finally making her let go. He brought his hands to his forehead. "Masenko: Ha!"
Asa took the blow and moved forward anyway. She cupped her hands to her side. "Kamehameha!" she shouted, firing the blue wave of death at Gohan.
Gohan took the brunt of the blow and a kick to the face, sending him into the mud hopped to his feet and let forth a volley of energy balls, each slightly missing her. Asa charged and hit the ground with a full powered punch, letting the dust fly as Gohan hopped into the air and flew out of the blast range. "Nowhere to run!" he shouted,flicking his wrist downward. "This is the end!" Hundreds of energy balls rained down upon Asa, gluing her to the ground to take an earth-shattering heel strike to her chest. Asa coughed up blood on Gohan's leg and laughed maniacally.
"You cannot kill me!" she shouted. "I am a demon!"
"You'd be surprised what a strong enough Kamehameha can accomplish," Gohan said, drawing his hands to his sides. "Kamehameha!" he barked, blowing a hole into the mud around Asa with the force of the blow.
Asa let forth a cry of rage and threw Gohan out of bounds. Gohan caught himself midair and flicked his wrist toward himself, drawing her into a powerful pummeling of punches. Gohan let a powerful uppercut hit her midsection. "Soaring Dragon Strike!" he shouted, blowing her out of the ring and into the stands. The crowd roared in applause. Gohan had made it to the finals.
Gohan flew over to an angrily writhing Asa and planted his foot in her chest. "Piccolo, now! Get the container while you still can!"
"What container?" Asa hissed.
"I'm going to put you away and never let you out," Gohan said. Piccolo raced down the stands with a second unplugged microwave and opened it, beginning the latin outcasting phrases. Asa grabbed Terra's hair and started to scream in writhing agony until a black humanoid energy shot out of her mouth and into the microwave. Piccolo slammed it shut.
Terra's eyes glared at the Saiyan. "How dare you," she said weakly. "I-i'll kill you!" she threw Gohan aside and hopped to her feet, tackling him and placing her hands on the side of his head while pelting his back with sharp mud spikes.
"I've lost patience," Gohan said. Gohan jabbed her throat and sent a palm strike into her chin, standing her up. Gohan hopped to his feet and sent a point blank punch into her diaphragm, stopping her where she stood with her eyes wide open. Blood poured from her mouth and she dropped to her knees. Her head hit the cold ground as a light rain started to pour, covering her tears of the worst internal pain she had ever felt. "Medic!" Gohan shouted. Two men with a gurney showed up moments later and vanished with a silent Terra on top of it. He turned to Trunks and his father. "It's your turn."
Vegeta and Trunks walked onto the stage, glaring at each other. They fell into stance and the announcer came in between the father and son. "Are you ready?" the announcer said.
Trunks and Vegeta spiked their auras, shaking the arena with their Super Saiyan transformation. "I've been waiting for this," Trunks said.
Vegeta remembered how Trunks humiliated him as the second Super Saiyan. "So have I."