Episode 20 - Mercury
Tension itself could not decide whether it was palpable or not, as even though everyone, apart from the Angels, was unsure and nervous, they were also full of doubt and did not find themselves tense. What Beranise was doing, apart from it appearing utterly futile and foolish, was impossible, in the eyes of most, if not all, except for, perhaps, her fellow Saiyans, who had to wonder if she had any reason to believe she could actually succeed. Mojito was as unperturbed as the rest of his kin, as he stood with the same, subtly patronizing expression, as if he was merely taking pity on Beranise by indulging her. The Grand Priest silently floated slightly closer, remaining at the same distance from both of them and glanced from one to the other. He briefly closed his eyes, before he raised his hand to signal the start and everyone looked on, most of them certain of the outcome, but still curious to witness such a fight.
"Begin!" exclaimed the Grand Priest, bringing his hand midway down, again, but neither Beranise, nor Mojito moved. The former turned and took a step towards him and with a speed she had not shown before, closed in, appearing next to him. Mojito almost casually turned, having no difficulties following her movements, even as Beranise immediately vanished to get behind him, to where he swiftly turned, stopping a left-fist from her with the palm of his free hand. Beranise was turning inwards with her punch and he raised his palm to face-level, blocking the left foot Beranise swept above him, with a spin-kick she already did, right after her first attack and with the sole of her right foot, from a reverse turning kick - her third attack in the same fraction of time - already stopped by Mojito's hand, who briefly appeared genuinely surprised by the swiftness of her attacks that all seemed to flow into one.
He actually found himself having to move faster than he expected to properly guard against her assault as Beranise flipped and flashed around him, delivering a series of fist and elbow strikes, coupled with feet and knees, all made as fast as those observing could blink, except they did not. They stared, being able to follow the fight even less than the one before it, which seemed to irk Beerus. Mojito still unworriedly retreated some distance, to have a pause, but found he would have none, as Beranise followed to keep the growing pressure on him, which, to his further surprise, he could admit to feeling and a hint of unintentional amusement, not even of the mocking kind, shown on his face, as he possibly never fought a mortal, not even a Destroyer, in-training or fully-fledged, who pressed him the way Beranise had started to. He made a retreat, again, starting to actually regard his challenger with less condescension and exchanged a glance with Vados, giving her a slight, approving smile, which the latter saw, before he had to defend himself, this time, using his staff to block and bat away even faster and stronger attacks that made his eyes briefly widened. His own body was reacting autonomously to it all, of course, but that did not mean he could not feel the added effort he was unconsciously making.
"Unbelievable…" Supreme Kai exclaimed. "She is showing even more power!"
"I can barely see what's going on." Goku stated, serious and slightly shaking from the excitement. "She's definitely increased both her speed and her strength. Even more than she was using against Lord Beerus, for sure." he added and Beerus growled, glaring from him down at Beranise, who was making Mojito move all around the ring, to all corners, on the ground and in the air.
"This is incredible…" Cabba stared in awe, next to Hit. "No wonder she easily won against Lord Beerus." he whispered, but Beerus still heard it and snarled their way.
"Her attacks had been growing faster and stronger, little by little, when they fought." Hit stated. "But, now…she had increased both more quickly and in larger amounts." he analyzed and Beerus, having overheard, suddenly had an uncertain look about him.
"So, does that mean Lord Beerus wasn't the one who was getting weaker, then?" Gohan asked, after his father's comment and Beerus was starting to doubt it, as well.
"No, Lord Beerus was losing control…" Whis pointed out and Beerus' eye twitched from annoyance. "But, at the same time, she was subtly making more effort. Probably, so the difference between them would not be too obvious." he added and Beerus growled at that, realizing Beranise had essentially been toying with him, even if that was not her intention. Suddenly, Beranise made a quick dive, appearing to move downward, but already came back up, with the white shockwaves from the impacts of her series of attack flashing closer to Mojito, who deflected the first few with her hands and staff, but was, then, forced to use his right knee, which he pulled up to block Beranise's own. Everyone, even his fellow Angels were slightly alarmed and more than surprised, most of all Mojito, himself, that someone, besides his sibling, actually made him use all of his limbs. His almost startled eyes locked with Beranise's and they rebuffed each other, both pushing off from their knee.
"Uh!" Beerus made a sound of shock. Vegeta and Gohan slightly gaped.
"Woah!" Goku exclaimed, as all of the others, who could only see the end result of that scuffle, were stunned. The Zenos were nearly shoving their whole head into the tablets, as the Grand Priest, in front of them, slightly raised his head, not showing the same surprise as his children. Vados slightly narrowed her eyes, as she was visibly beginning to feel concerned. The Gods and their Attendants could all feel the fight, to their utter bewilderment, had entered into another stage none were expecting and neither were they given the time to process all of it, as Beranise narrowed her eyes, charging forward and she was back on the attack, with Mojito, now, fully on the defense, hands, staff and feet, his whole body feeling and needing to move itself in response to her. The Grand Priest glanced at the Zenos and noted they were, without a doubt, engrossed in the fight and beyond pleased.
Arcs of light, seemingly multiple ones, at the same time, swarmed Mojito from all directions and he appeared as though he was doing an odd dance, his body turning every which way it had to, to block Beranise and appeared to still have little difficulty doing so, but his smile, from before, was gone and his face showed some due seriousness. Yet, despite the tone-shift, he did not seem displeased or uncomfortable, in fact, he almost found their bout, as one-sided as it still was, to be refreshing. Caulifla, Kale, Cabba, Hit, Saonel, Pirina, Botamo, Magetta, Dr. Rota and Fuwa watched, along with the Seven, who were grouped up, further along the edge of the platform. Kayen looked over to Vados, who stood between their two groups, to see she was watching the fight more intently than ever before and briefly mused on how she never saw her so focused on any of their actions, as she probably did not have to take any of it seriously, until now. She turned back to the fight, as much as she could make out from it, without looking up at the screens. Mojito had to duck deep from kicks that swept above him and he descended, side-stepping a plunging punch, then, immediately blocked an elbow, as Beranise was right on him, from below. Pushing on with her elbowing, she kicked at him with a blast-enhanced lunge and he kicked back, pushing himself away, for only a brief moment, which he took to note the charred patch left on his robe, before he gripped his staff and he held it horizontally up, above his head, as Beranise used the momentum of her kick and the position of her leg to get higher and dropped down with an axe-kick. She feigned it, pulling her leg in to fall below his staff's guard and kicked with her other foot's sole, which he stopped with a knee, again, the attack failing to fool his autonomous reaction to it, but not to his staff, which Beranise grabbed with both hands, pulling on it and thrust her other foot forward, in his abdomen.
"Oh!" Whis exclaimed, as his eyes widened and Mojito's face showed surprise, but no pain and mild annoyance, as he pulled his staff free, floating back from her with a frown, amidst gasps from the spectators. Vados' fixated gaze deepened as her eyes briefly narrowed. Mojito dusted his robe, slowly lifting his eyes to look at Beranise, who was finally taking more than a second-long pause.
"Very impressive." he stated. "You are performing better than any of the Destroyers any of us had ever trained." Some of them, Giin, Liquir, Quitela and Beerus appeared to take more offense at that than the others.
"Hmph." Beranise frowned and flexed. With a grunt, she flared, much like Goku did, after Jiren targeted his friends, drawing out more power, though there was no aura around her and her appearance remained the same. Mojito raised a brow, unsure if she was merely doing theatrics or more. His answer came with a sweeping-kick he floated up to avoid that spun, upwards, into an elbow strike he blocked with a hand, followed by another kick he stopped with his staff he held to the side with both hands, all flowing into one combo. A mild frown on Mojito's face showed Beranise's attacks became faster and stronger, once again. He still had no concerns and no motivation to even attack, as he was not visibly struggling to keep up, though he was making more effort to keep it that way by admittedly using more power than he ever had to before, apart from when he was training with his sibling, of course. He noticed, however, that Beranise was not showing any signs of fatigue, either, despite her nonstop assault. She likely gotten so acclimated to the form that using it in battle, even at such intensity, took no toll on her body. And she was clearly pushing the form itself as far as she could.
"How long can she really keep this up?" Cabba wondered, over on their platform, as he, Hit and the rest were intensely watching.
"This fight…" Tien started. "It kind of feels like when you fought Jiren, Goku." Goku looked at him. "I mean, I can't sense a thing, but it looks like it, anyway. Except this guy's not attacking back."
"If he did, it would be over, obviously." Beerus stated, arms folded, as he nervously tapped on his forearm with his fingers.
"I don't think so." Goku said and Beerus turned to him to see he had a small smile. "We couldn't even touch Jiren and I don't know about Vegeta, but whenever he did hit back, it felt like he broke every bone in me. But, still…we could take it and he wasn't even going all out, yet, then." he pointed out, as they watched Beranise go on. "I'd say she's doing even better than we did, compared to that. Even if this guy would hit back, she wouldn't just go down. Not at this level." He could see it.
"Still, she's gotta be peeved." Krillin folded his arms. "I mean, I hate to say it, but him not attacking makes it look like that guy could be holding hand-pads and letting her attack, like they were in a gym."
"Or in one of our sessions." 18 commented, with a flat expression.
"Hey!" Krillin turned to her, feeling burned.
"I think he's past letting her take her anger out on him." Gohan said. "At this point, he just wants to see how far she can push herself. But, then…" he trailed off and fell silent.
"What?" Videl asked, but Gohan kept watching with an uncertain look, as if he was expecting to see something that was not happening. Beranise kept on the pressure and though Mojito appeared to be doing more than before and considerably more than what a trainer, in a gym, would have had to, he was not being challenged, but neither was Beranise giving the impression that she was even close to being at her limit. Where Goku and Vegeta looked beaten, weary and at their wit's and strength's end against Jiren, she did not look desperate or demoralized.
"Why isn't Mojito doing anything besides defending?" Roh asked, still sweating from nervousness.
"Fool! You would have him retaliate!?" Sidra hissed at him. "You know what that would mean for us!"
"Well, isn't that what he would want?" Roh asked. "You heard what she said, My Lord. He wouldn't mind, at all, if we were erased, again. Just the opposite, apparently." he reminded him of Mojito's questionable loyalty and lack of dedication to them and their universe, but Sidra could only do what everyone else was doing. Wait. Over at the 3rd Universe's platform Mosco beeped a few deep robotic lines that sounded impatient, making Ea, their Supreme Kai nervous and his Attendant, Camparri replied.
"Now, Lord Mosco, no need for such words. I am certain Mojito has a reason as to why he is prolonging the fight." he told him. Members of Universe 11 were deeply focused on Beranise.
"As impressive as it is that she could come this far, she has to know it cannot possibly be enough." Khai said, as certain of the outcome as most were.
"What do you think, Jiren?" Velmod asked, looking at him, as did Khai, Toppo and the rest of their warriors, all curious to hear if he cared to give an input, but he remained silent and intensely absorbed by the fight, signifying it was well worth his full attention, which was an answer in itself, the others understood. At the 2nd Universe's platform, Pell and Sour glanced at Heles, whose seemingly worried eyes wavered, nonstop, as she watched Beranise's efforts with a timidity they were not used to seeing. The Gods of the exempt universes, Arak, Inwe, Liquir and Giin were already impressed enough by Goku's efforts during the tournament that they even rose from their seats, in acknowledgement of his skill, but Beranise's performance, coupled with Mojito's comment, would have kept them standing from the start, even if there were any seats. Any feelings of superiority have been swiftly curtailed.
"Why is she still going…?" Cabba could barely keep up. "She's not slowing down. Her attacks aren't getting weaker, either. But…she has to be at her limit." He looked over to the others and saw that Caulifla and even Kale were not following the fight with as much tenseness as everyone else. Like they were still expecting Beranise to do more. But why? And What? Cabba thought and turned back, just as a bright flash of light exploded from Mojito and Beranise's fists meeting, as the latter used a punch of his own to nullify the force of hers, followed by a repelling wave, from his palm that sent Beranise backwards and she landed a good distance from him, in one side of the ring, as Mojito touched down on the other, at the same distance from the center, smiling, almost contently. Or was it still pity.
"That would be enough." he stated, placing his free hand behind his back. "You have managed to go farther than any mortal ever had and for that I am certain our Grand Leaders commend you. As do I. But, surely you see there is nothing more you can do, here." he told her, but Beranise's expression remained the same, as if she did not even hear him. Vados had a satisfied, almost mocking smile, as she genuinely did not know what to expect, beforehand, after she was kept out of Beranise's further training, but she was, now, convinced it would not be anything more than what they have already witnessed. "I admit your conditions were surprising. To attempt to show such lenience, when your universe have been wronged. I suppose Lord Sidra and the rest will be grateful for you. Although, as per your condition, the rest will, now, also meet the same consequences as them, unfortunately." he said with the same faint smile, showing no sympathy, as he glanced at the terror on their face. Beranise still had not moved or even flinched.
"Is she really through?" Tien worriedly asked, knowing what would happen next.
"There's gotta be a way to make them change their minds." Goku looked up at the Zenos, not wanting for a whole universe to be erased, again, as they put their tablets down, seemingly getting ready to erase them.
"There is no appeal, this time, I'm afraid." Whis said. "It is unlikely, it seems, that Mojito would ask for one, either. Beranise had certainly demonstrated impressive power, but it is sadly all she could do." he stated and almost all eyes wavered between the 9th and Beranise, whose efforts were ultimate futile.
"No." Gohan spoke and they looked at him. "You're wrong." he said.
"What do you mean, Gohan?" Goku asked, as they all gave him a confused glare. Gohan took a few steps to stand at the very edge of the platform.
"Beranise!" he called to her, but she did not react, as everyone, from all the universes, turned towards him, wondering what he wanted from her and though Gohan got nothing but silence from her, he spoke. "You're holding back, aren't you!?" Vados' eyes, before anyone else's, widened in surprise, as they looked at him, then, at Beranise, including Mojito. "This isn't your full power, is it?" Gohan asked and waited, as their friends were still trying to process if it was even possible that she could have been holding back, at all.
"You're half right!" Beranise spoke and amidst all the furrowed brows, Gohan gave her an odd look.
"Half?" he raised a brow.
"This is my full power." she said and eyes narrowed in confusion at that, as she widened her stance, raising her fists. "In this form." Beranise flexed, as eyes turned wide, again and a brilliant pillar of almost liquid-like silver light exploded, high in the air, from her, casting its pulsating, flowing glow on the whole arena and on the shocked faces of everyone, who appeared as though they were staring at a shining ocean, with the waves reflecting off of them.
"What the-…" Gohan whispered, as a gust of air came that did not grew much in strength, as it swirled around them. The fount of mercury-like substance fell in on itself and slowly morphed into a humanoid shape, encasing Beranise in an opaque cocoon that swirled for a few more seconds before seemingly solidifying.
"She's finally pulling it out." Caulifla folded her arms and Cabba looked at her, in surprise, with Hit.
"You mean, you know about this?" Cabba asked.
"She did it a couple of training session ago." Caulifla noted and looked at Kale. "Our fusion was over a little sooner than usual and we saw her like this, so we remembered. But, she told us to keep quiet about it." The smooth chrysalis rapidly started evaporating, leaving rising vapor trails. "She had some weird name for it…uh, what was it…?" she could not recall. "Super Saiyan Mmmuh…" she trailed off.
"Mercury." Kale spoke. "It was mercury." she repeated and Cabba looked back at what was happening to Beranise, whose body was both burning the strange energy enveloping her away and absorbing it, at the same time. What was not burned away seemingly dried into her.
"Super Saiyan…Mercury?" Cabba whispered as Gohan and the others, too, stood in awe. The light started to fade and the heated air around Beranise cooled as her new visage became clear. Her hair was almost completely slicked back and silver, like solid mercury. And the eyes she opened were the same, the light shifting in them, as if her irises were glass orbs filled with the mercurial essence, nearly glowing from within. Nearly everyone's mouths were ajar, many were outright gaping and even the Angels looked utterly stupefied, having no idea what to make of the new form. Mojito, too, was uncertain of what to expect and as his eyes moved, time seemed to slow, as they widened, in shock, at the impossibility of the speed, with which Beranise was suddenly at his side, a fist already pulled back for a punch and the moment shook both Whis and Vados, along with all of their siblings and even their father had a slightly disturbed look in his eyes. Mojito did not even blink and Beranise was suddenly gone from his sight. His eyes did not find her behind him or above, where she had been, a moment ago, as he turned, even though his body told him where to move and look. He finally faced forward, again, from where Beranise was swinging at him and even though Mojito automatically raised his forearm, vertically up, in front of his face, as Beranise's fist hit, he gritted his teeth from something he had not felt in a long while, actual pain. He pulled back as much as he was knocked back by the attack, to his further surprise, as Beranise was on him, again. He threw his free palm forward, but before he could release a repelling wave, he blinked as Beranise pulsed with a silver light, seemingly coiling past his left arm, like fluid, not even to his unprotected side, but to his right, where he already pulled his staff in defense that was grabbed and shoved out of the way by Beranise's left hand, as her left knee was thrusting inwards, into the side of his face, hitting it hard. If any of the mortals and deities were still in possession of their mental faculties, they lost it all, in that moment. Almost in slow-motion, Mojito's widened eyes narrowed, as the shape of his face returned to normal and his scowl quickly turned into a snarl that disappeared in a flinch, when his body was already responding, limbs moving, to intercept the attacks that came at him.
His whole body ungracefully jerked around, almost grotesquely turning and twisting, obeying unconscious instinct that was, now, barely enough to fend off the being Beranise had become. In a blink of an eye, he barely drove one punch after another to the side, with his hand and staff, when the third caught him in the other side of his face, to his further offense. Anger flashed across his eyes as he finally retaliated, his fists and feet flying into a blur, met by Beranise's own. A feat he could not believe, even as he bared his teeth from all the close shaves he was getting.
"This…" Gohan started. "This is what it was like watching you and Jiren, when you were both at your strongest." he said and Goku did not need to look at him to know he was talking to him, as he watched with his mouth slightly open, same as the rest. "He can't believe it's happening." Gohan added, looking at Mojito.
"I think that makes all of us." Tien said. Gohan looked at Whis to see he was having difficulty believing it was really happening and so was Vados. Mojito and Beranise flashed around, close to the floor of the ring, then, ascended, appearing higher and higher, but from the looks of it, it was Beranise who was chasing and forcing him to move so erratically, as he could not do anything more, even as he was attacking back.
"Whis…" Gohan spoke. "How strong is your brother compared to you and Vados?" he asked and Whis briefly tore his concentration from the fight to glance at him, but with a look of alarm that has not vanished, even as he turned his attention back to it, while he replied.
"Mojito is somewhat weaker than myself and my sister." he stated. "But, if she is able to fight on par with him like this, then…" Vados was already frowning at what he was going to say. "It will not take long, until she could challenge either of us."
"No!" Vados exclaimed and they all turned to see her with a deep frown, clearly annoyed and even angry at the situation. "That is impossible!" Her eye slightly twitched. "She could not…" she trailed off. Whis seemed the most surprised by his sister's outburst and Vegeta's mocking laughter suddenly broke the tense atmosphere.
"Well, well…" Vegeta said, arms folded. "It looks like all of you underestimated Saiyans, once again." he smirked at her and Vados threw him a rather nasty glare they have not seen from her or any Angel before.
"Hh. She was right." Caulifla spoke and Vados glanced at her. "You hate it that someone can be as strong as you Angels." she told her with a mocking smirk, hands on her hips. Vados gave her the same cold look, before she reined her emotions in, briefly closing her eyes to calm herself and turned back to the action. The Zenos were bursting with excitement, as expected.
"Wow! She really can beat one of them!
"Yes! She promised she could!
"And she kept her promise, too!"
"She really did!"
The Grand Priest briefly glanced at them, looking far less pleased with the situation than they were, as he turned back to it to see Mojito pulling back to avoid a wide side-kick, after which he lunged at Beranise, who was still partially with her back to him, with a forward thrust of his staff. She pulsed, again and even from such a heavily disadvantageous position, she bent, arcing her back and flowed around his attack, snaking from one side of his staff to the other and back, this time, to his undefended side, with an elbow into the free palm he brought up that was still pushed into his nose and made him shut his eyes as he staggered back. He stopped as he lifted his head to look at the blood in his palm and as he looked up, some was thinly trickling from his nose, reaching his growling mouth.
"Ho-ho-Oh, yeah!" Caulifla made a fist in front of herself. "First blood!" she exclaimed. "And against an Angel!" she tauntingly grinned at Vados, who squared her jaw as she glanced at her from the corner of her eyes, not giving her anything more than that.
"This is impossible." Mojito thought to himself, his mouth twitching and anyone could easily hear what he was thinking from the expression on his face, because they were all thinking the same. Beranise pulled back both her fists, leaving trails of silver light that distorted space along their line as she zoomed to Mojito, who horizontally raised his staff, with both hands, in front of him, but Beranise's left foot stepped on it, pushing it down as she kneed him in the jaw with the other leg, making his head snap back, then, thrusting both her fists forward, she fired an instant Double Lance energy-wave that pushed Mojito down, towards the floor of the ring, as he had a hand raised, trying to block it with a protective barrier he was projecting. He landed hard on one knee, cracking the floor as he emerged from the blast, his robes scorched in places, as his body still could not react fast enough to block some of the damage. He did not have a moment to flinch as his still extended hand caught Beranise's fists coming at him, shoving him with his back on the floor, as she bought her other fist down on him. Mojito flipped backwards, letting go of her fist to dodge her other one, with which she punched a small hole in the ring his body could have fit right into.
"Can you tell if he's fighting at full power?" Gohan asked Whis, who took a moment to observe some more, before he replied.
"Considering how he seems to have lost his temper, I doubt it very much that he is not." Whis said.
"And she's still more than on-par with him, I'd say." Goku spoke.
"Yeah." Gohan agreed. "He can't hit her, but she keeps getting through his defense. He could've caused some serious damage, before. But, now…if she can go on like this, he won't even be able to do much."
"Even if he starts getting a few hits in, he's definitely not gonna stop her, now." Goku had a small smile, enjoying the thrill of just watching it all. And their confidence in the situation was almost immediately proven to be well-placed, when Mojito stabbed diagonally downward with his staff, hitting and tripping Beranise's leg, who tumbled on, as Mojito spun after her to chop the back of her neck, but Beranise, upside down from the momentum kicked his hand up and away from her, but she could not stop being hit in the ribs with the head of the staff and a brief flinch from pain was all she showed as she grabbed the staff's end with both hands, yanking on Mojito with it, who almost looked like he pole-vaulted over her as he flipped, with a hard tug, pulling his staff free from her grasp to face her. They clashed, again and Mojito spun his staff to block a flurry of punches, until one made it through and Beranise stopped the staff with the back of her left fist and she swung with her right. Mojito mustered all the speed he could and brought his staff back, with another spin, batting her fist away and with the lower part, blocked her from raising her left knee to kick with and hit her across the face with the end of his staff. Beranise used the force of the punch and spun with her right foot in a reverse-kick that Mojito dodged, dashing up. He firmly pointed his staff down at her and fired a rapidly expanding green orb that was already too close, but became ten-times larger in the fraction of second it took for it to reach Beranise. She was forced down and along the floor, dragging small, thin canals into it, with her feet as she was pushed along, before she threw the blast off of her, into the air and her hands were still raised towards it when Mojito swooped into her stomach with a foot, kicking her away, with a painful grunt from her.
Mojito pressed on, not wanting to give her an idle moment, but she would not have one, anyway, as Beranise was already making diagonal spinning kicks, firing thin, silver, crescent waves with her feet, as she was backing away and Mojito had to either dodge or cut through them with his staff to close in on her, at which point, Beranise launched upwards, rolling forward, into an energy-enhanced axe-kick and released a wave with it as she came down on him. Mojito raised his staff to block it, but the added force of the energy blast, blew him back down and almost desperately he threw his hand towards the ground to release a repelling wave he used to break his rapid fall and he quickly spun back up to ready himself for another attack his body could already feel was coming. He was immediately driven back by a combo of fists and feet even his instincts were just enough to keep him safe from. And even they proved inadequate on far more than a few occasions, already. This was another one of them as Beranise spread her hands, slapping his free hand and staffed one out, turned left to kick his raised, blocking right-knee away with her own and spun on, counter-clockwise, with the same motion and as he was still turned outwards, kicked him in his left-side, which he took with a snarl. His right foot was instantly sweeping upwards, towards the left-side of her face and she stopped it with the back of her left-fist, but he brought his staff back from the other side and its end across her other cheek, spinning the staff so she would not grab it, again, as he pulled it back, along with his leg, then, he threw his free palm forward, to blast her with both a repelling wave and an energy attack, at the same time. She vanished in it, appearing a second later, scorched and smoking, but still barely any worse for wear and her glare deepening some, which was the only indication for Mojito and the rest that she was even fazed, at all, by it.
"See…" Goku still had the same smile. "What'd I tell ya!"
"Her attacks are more effective on him than what he can do." Gohan observed.
"Still…" Piccolo spoke. "Neither one can do anything more against the other, it seems. This could go on for a while." he stated.
"Well, those Grand Zenos won't be bored, anytime soon, that's for sure." Krillin said.
"And neither will anyone present." Supreme Kai noted. "This is truly unprecedented." he whispered.
"One would think we would both be used to such incredible feats by now, Master." Kibito commented.
"Indeed." Supreme Kai agreed. The 11th Universe, as well as the others were strangely silent.
"Words completely fail me." Khai stated, next to Velmod, who glanced at Marcarita at his side to see even a being such as her was, and could be, shaken.
"I've never seen you like this." he quietly told her. She blinked in surprise at his worried tone and her expression softened some as she looked at him, but she was too late in keeping her calm façade up and quickly turned back to the fight, unable and unwilling to even say she was fine. Velmod regarded her with some sadness, as he could tell she was disturbed. Her brows twitched and narrowed and he heard, before he even looked back, Beranise battering through Mojito's guarding staff with slower, but thundering punches, testing how long he would have the patience to take them on and he did not, for long. Mojito suddenly held his staff out and spun around, with a wide attack, releasing a tornado of repelling force that continued to swirl around as it briefly expanded, following and keeping Beranise away, for a few seconds, before she pulsed, started spinning in the opposite direction and with a deep burst of energy dispersed it, breaking free.
"Tch." Mojito clicked his tongue behind his bared teeth, as his defensive move was only half successful. He clenched his shaking fist and for the second time, attacked first, looking to overcome the offending nuisance he felt Beranise was. His body was moving on its own, even as his emotions were running unchecked and though it did not affect his mind to the point where it dulled his senses and instincts, he was still losing more scuffles than Beranise. They both kept blocking each other's attacks, several moves ahead, with one or the other occasionally getting through, connecting with a punch to the face, gut or side, same with kicks that twisted into subsequent ones. It all seemed more graceful on Beranise's part, but perhaps it was only due to the rather baggy attire all Angel Attendants wore and for Mojito it was already torn in multiple places, where pieces of the cloth were hanging and flapping lose as he moved, whereas Beranise's did not appear nearly as worn. Not even slowly, but rather rapidly, they began jousting, with the flashing shockwave from their clashes barely fading, before the next, as they ascended higher with every hit, looking like a pulsating star. In the blinding light of their contact, one would have seen Beranise being hit hard in the face, letting lose a spit of blood, before she dished it right back, with a series of attacks that quickly powered through Mojito's guard, not ending with the fist in his stomach that made him spat, as they carried on, without slowing down. The star that was them stopped rising and after flashing, once more, began zig-zagging downwards, almost into a spiral, in which most could only briefly see two white silhouettes, now and again. Mojito materialized as one of them, trailing smoke, as he was flying backwards, diagonally to the ground. He sneered at an explosion of energy that snuffed out the star's brilliance, from which Beranise shot forth from, like a comet, towards him and he held his staff up, in front of him, at the last moment, as she got slightly above him with a forward roll she turned into a wide axe-kick that trailed a silver band of light around with it, shining like a full moon. Mojito's staff snapped in two from Beranise's heel, the explosion from it obscuring them as it slammed into his face. All every eye saw was Mojito crashing down and tearing up the floor of the ring, before he managed to flip off from it, onto his legs and got on one knee, his hair hanging in his contorted face, as he looked disheveled, his ceremonial robe dirtied with dust, scorch marks and even his own blood. The two broken halves of his staff landed with a clank, near him and he looked at them, enraged, then, up at Beranise, grinding his teeth, clearly at his wit's and patience's end. She appeared to have taken quite a few blows, herself, before she could get to him the way she did, but it amounted to little, for Mojito, as the situation showed. He rose and looked like he was about to launch into an attack.
"That is enough!" the Grand Priest's voice rang out, surprising all, but most of all Mojito, who stared up at him.
"F-father?" he whispered and the Grand Priest fixed him with a stern look. "S-sir?" Mojito referred to him, this time, with less familiarity and he looked confused and hurt, as if his father had no faith that he could continue the fight.
"Heeey….!" The Zenos whined in unison.
"Why did you stop the fight?"
"Yes, why did you? They asked and the Grand Priest's expression quickly changed to a more jovial one as he addressed them.
"My apologies, Sires!" he spoke. "I was merely considering that if we would allow this fight to drag on, there would be no time for other, potentially just as exciting bouts, as I have already assured you there would be. This way, we could have a proper Exhibition with several spectacular matches, as you have hoped and not just this one." The Zenos looked at each other.
"He's right! I wanna see the others fight, too!" one said.
"Yes! Me too!" the other agreed.
"Maybe this one can stop." one told the other.
"Yes! It can stop, now." the other agreed.
"But…" one was confused. "Who won?" he turned to the Grand Priest.
"Yes! Who won, then?" the other asked, as it was not yet clear for anyone.
"Well, even though it is often customary…" he turned to look down. "I do not believe it is necessary for Mojito to yield, at this point." he said and Mojito's eyes widened as his father looked at Beranise. "Lord Beranise, can you accept your victory, such as it is?" he asked and Mojito knew, then, his father did not even allow him to yield, because he would have felt even more humiliated than he already was and he lowered his head in shame. "The 9th Universe shall be spared and Mojito shall resume his duties, there, honoring your conditions. You have more than proven your ability..." he turned to the Zenos. "Would you not agree, Sires?" he smiled.
"Yes! Way more!"
"Just like you promised!"
"You really beat one of them!"
"You really did!" They commended her and the Grand Priest expectantly looked at Beranise for her answer, knowing that she would have actually relished declining them and would have continued the fight, not only to quite possibly and completely beat Mojito, but to defy all of them.
"Fine." Beranise muttered, loud enough for them to hear.
"It is final, then, Ladies and Gentleman, the victor is Lord Beranise!" The Grand Priest declared as Mojito quietly knelt, head lowered, his hair hiding his face and snarl. Some of the Seven cheered, along with Cabba and Fuwa, as did some from the 7th, like Goku, Pan, Videl and Krillin.
"That crazy bitch did it!" Caulifla exclaimed and some, like Cabba, Kale and the Seven, were taken aback by her language. Even Beranise raised a brow as she slowly looked up at her, which actually made Caulifla a little nervous. "Uh…" She trailed off, thinking she might blast her or something, but was surprised, along with everyone, when she smirked.
"You're getting a few extra sessions for that, Flower!" Beranise told her.
"Ah, damn it…" Caulifla muttered and the rest were beyond shocked and impressed to see Beranise was acting so candidly, while she was still in her new state. Vados realized, then, that what she thought would happen, but no so soon and not to such extent, had come to pass, after all.
"She has made it her own." she thought as she gazed down at Beranise, who looked over to her just then and caught her searching eyes that had a fair bit of vexation in them, behind which Vados could not hide her acknowledgement of her power.
"Your attention, please, everyone!" The Grand Priest spoke. "Our Grand Leaders will need a short time to replenish themselves and we also have to improvise a system by which we determine match-ups." he announced. "So, now, we shall take a brief intermission! Until then, anyone currently in the ring should vacate it and we shall prepare it for the coming matches, starting with repairs, if one or more Attendants could, please, see to it!" he requested and turned on his platform to talk with the Zenos. Mojito stood, lifting his gaze as two of his siblings, Awamo and Martinu landed on either side of him, both giving him a sympathetic look, before they turned to start restoring the damaged parts of the ring with their staffs, as Korn landed near the two pieces of his staff and used the telekinetic powers of his own to lift and place them next to each other, giving him a disappointed glance, before he flew off with the pieces, up to their father. He looked to see Beranise was landing back on the 6th Universe's platform, where Goku, Gohan, Videl and Pan moved to join her. She reverted to her perfected imperfect Ultra Instinct state as she exhaled.
"Bewaaa!" Pan excitedly latched onto her.
"That was amazing, Beranise!" Goku congratulated.
"It was really unbelievable!" Gohan added.
"I couldn't really see much, even with those screens…" Videl said. "I think Pan could see more than me!" she smilingly noted and Pan giggled with a few nods.
"You knew you would be fighting him, right from the start, then." Gohan understood. "At first I wasn't sure if you were prepared, but, then, as you continued, I figured you wouldn't have challenged him, if you didn't think you had a chance. You really surprised everyone. Even the Angels couldn't believe it." he glanced at Vados, who averted her eyes from all of them.
"So…Super Saiyan Mercury, huh?" Goku smirked. "I can't wait to get better with my Ultra Instinct and have a go at that!" he raised a fist and then remembered all the new faces who crowded around them. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me!" he turned to them. "You girls are all Saiyans, right? You must be tough if she's training you!"
"With the way this event is going we might even get to see, if you let 'em fight, that is." Gohan told Beranise and she looked from him to them to see they eagerly nodded, as expected.
"The 11th must be anxious to fight, even after an opening like this." Cabba told Goku and looked behind him, at Vegeta, who turned his attention to the aforementioned universe's warriors.
"They all are." Gohan stated and they turned towards all of the platforms to see new fire in everyone's eyes that has been fueled by the match, even though many were still shaking, but not from fear.
"Then this is just starting!" Goku exclaimed as Awamo and Martinu finished repairing the ring.
For the first time, in history, an Angel lost to a mortal. Beranise had ascended to a new level and kept her promise to the Grand Zenos, by defeating the Angel Mojito and proved the might of the Saiyan race, once again. With the historic battle, the Second Grand Exhibition Match had its fitting opening. And now, the stage was set for the rest of the multiverse's warriors to show what they were made of, in a competition that already outdid even the Tournament of Power. But, who will end up fighting who? Will it be what everyone hopes and expects? What exciting twists will continue the story of the universes and their strongest fighters? Only time will tell.
THE END
Author's note: As usual, artwork for my multiple OCs can be found on my Deviant Art page with the same username.