You'll get more of the Celestial Fighters, too. I think I include all of them, but I'm not too sure. There will be a lot more minor characters featured in this section, including some that don't even exist in the DBZ universe. Meanwhile, we manage to get closer to answers without actually explaining anything.



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Torbie struck, but his blow was slowed by the water enough that Arqua dodged it. Instantly swimming around, Arqua struck him again. Reversing the blow, Torbie sent him through the water, but a few strokes sent Arqua back to him again.

Gritting his teeth, Torbie whirled violently in a circle. The water that was pushed away because of it sent Arqua reeling, long enough to actually get hit. Aruqa grimaced in pain, then gritted his teeth. It was time to get serious about this. Rushing forward, he slammed into him opponent multiple times, using his natural grace in the water to avoid all his blows and get in many of his own.

Punching with all his might, Arqua sent Torbie falling backward in slow motion through the water. Suddenly, he just fell, directly to the ground.

"Big mistake," Torbie grunted, now knocked outside of the water cube, "you'll pay for that."

Righting himself and preparing to swim, Arqua watched Torbie gather energy. He wasn't prepared for the blast that suddenly encompassed his vision. Electrical energy charged through the water around him, frying him to nearly the point of well done. Nodding coldly, Torbie levitated to avoid the rapidly dispersing water and scanned around.

He was instantly alerted to the presence of three more warriors by the sound of their voices. Reaching into his host's memory, Darkness identified them as Froug, Olibu and Maraikoh. Two of the more powerful Celestial Fighters, and one of the weaker. This was definitely more of a threat than before.

"I would never work with the likes of you!" Olibu said haughtily. Below him, Froug fumed.

"Do not mock me!"

"Idiots," Maraikoh interrupted, gazing toward Torbie. "The fight is over. We need to do something."

"I am fighting!" Froug declared. Olibu folded his arms.

"Then you can't expect any help from me."

"Or me," Maraikoh told him. "I'll watch you fail first."

"Fine."

Froug turned and leapt toward Torbie. Instantly the red warrior skated backward, and gestured for Tapkar to attack. The smaller warrior sped into Froug's way, launching a series of spinning attacks toward his head. Ducking, Froug avoided the onslaught, then slammed a backhand into Tapkar's neck. As Tapkar flew through the air with the impact, Froug fired a blast after him that rendered part of the landscape barren and Tapkar finished.

Torbie slammed a knee into the distracted Froug's chest, sending him falling backward. Catching himself on the ground, Froug bounced away and landed on his feet. Rushing him again, Torbie fell victim to a reversal and found his face slammed into the dirt a second later. Froug attempted to smash him from overhead, but Torbie avoided the attack and moved to a much higher location.

Avoiding the blasts that Froug fired, Torbie launched a single blast of his own. Froug launched more blasts for as long as possible, then sidestepped the attack that was coming his way. To his surprise, he saw the blast arc toward him, but couldn't react before it blasted into his body.

Dodging the last blast, Torbie smirked at his successful technique. A second later, Froug flew from the dust of the explosion, kicking him. Stopping himself in the air, Torbie attacked back, and the two began fighting at closer quarters. Neither could break the other's defenses, until in one second Froug made a punch a fraction of an inch too wide.

Instantly realizing his opportunity, Torbie took a swipe in his window of opportunity. Froug had fully intended Torbie to attempt to take advantage of his apparent mistake, and launched a punch as well. However, he had not realized the full extent of Torbie's speed, he failed to push his fist off course.

Both palms slammed into the other warrior's jaw. They were sent flying backward, and slammed into the ground on opposite sides of the now decimated clearing. Torbie and Froug made it to their feet, but only watched the other carefully. Olibu and Maraikoh stood aside, not participating in the conflict. For a while, none of them moved. Then, Froug began to swell. His body grew larger and larger, seeming to inflate up to impossible sizes.

Watching, Torbie attempted to deduce what he was attempting to accomplish. Was this a transformation, or some manner of bizarre attack? A second later he found out, and quite painfully. Letting out all his inhaled air in one forceful burst, Froug successfully blasted Torbie back. Bracing himself, Torbie attempted to weather the blast. When the wind stopped and Froug had returned to his normal size, Torbie had moved back only a few yards. Then, soundlessly, Torbie fell to the ground.

Arcing down to finish off the wounded warrior, Froug had a single second to look on in horror before a dark flame engulfed him as well. There was a black explosion, and when it faded, Froug had transformed as well. Blinking his completely dark eyes, he pulled Torbie to his feet, and turned to the two remaining warriors.

Gathering energy over his head, Olibu rose up into the air. When a significant blast had gathered, he hurled it downward toward the two possessed Celestial Fighters. Froug flew out of the way easily, but Torbie was not nearly so lucky. He attempted to take off and jump over the blast. Failing, he was struck head on and ripped apart by the awesome power of the attack.

Olibu floated over the dust below, the perfect picture of a noble warrior. That image was shattered a second later as a decimating kick from Froug sent him tumbling to the ground. Snapping to his feet, Olibu attacked, but found that Froug flowed away from him, unharmed.

As their battle continued, Olibu found himself surprised. Froug had improved since the last tournament, of course, but this was something else. Just from when they had arrived here, his power and speed had undergone a tremendous boost. He put it together a while later, while taking a painful blow to the neck. When this thing, whatever it was, had possessed Froug, it had increased his power significantly.

It shouldn't have been a challenge. Olibu slammed both his fists into Froug, only to have the warrior come back at him a second later. How was Froug this powerful? At any other time before now, Olibu could have ground him to dust effortlessly, but now he found himself hard pressed to keep up with the amphibious warrior.

Launching another massive energy attack, Olibu managed to slow Froug down a bit. He quickly turned to Maraikoh, who had yet to join the fight.

"I need your help!" Olibu called, "this guy's too powerful!"

"I wouldn't help the likes of you," Maraikoh told him.

"We need to fight him together!"

"Never in a thousand years."

Before Olibu could argue further, Froug effectively ended the argument for him. While getting to his feet and listening to their conversation, Froug smiled an incredibly evil smile. It might have been his imagination, but Olibu thought he saw the darkness in his eyes burn brighter. Maraikoh saw the same, and he shivered. Taking a deep breath, he cracked two massive fists and shook his entire dinosaur body.

"Fine! Let's do this!"

Maraikoh rushed forward in the attack, but the delay had already cost them. In the time Froug hadn't attacked, he had been charging up, and now he unleashed all his energy in a wave that blasted both of them backward. Gaining his feet first, Maraikoh rushed forward, attempting to crush Froug with one giant foot. His claws dove into the ground harmlessly, a second before Froug slammed a fist into him.

As Maraikoh went flying, however, Olibu recovered and smashed Froug. While he tumbled, Maraikoh punted him into the sky, where Olibu smashed him down again. Froug tumbled toward the ground, and both Maraikoh and Olibu charged up giant blasts and threw them toward the warrior. There was a brilliant explosion, and it appeared that nothing remained.

Olibu dropped down to the ground by Maraikoh.

"I was wrong," Olibu said coldly. "I didn't need your help."

"I would have been better off without you," Maraikoh retorted.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Both turned immediately to see who had spoken. Froug, on his knees and smoking, glanced up at them and smiled a cruel smile.

"Idiots," he said softly. Then, he rushed forward in attack once again.



"Wait a second." Piccolo stopped short, glancing at something.

"What?" Goku asked, raising his head from one book.

"Come look at this."

Goku and 18 walked over to the shelf where Piccolo was standing, and immediately saw why he wanted them to come. There was an entire shelf that was nearly gone. Only a few books remained on it, while there should have been hundreds. Piccolo glanced at the books that remained. As he suspected, useless.

"What's this about?" 18 asked. Piccolo glanced at them sideways.

"I think someone doesn't want anyone learning about Darkness. From what my other sources say, there should have been a lot of books on the topic here, but now they're gone. Coincidence? Ha."

"Who would have done that?" Goku questioned. Piccolo shrugged.

"We can't be sure. However, only Dai Kioshin and King Yemma have easy access to this library. I'd put a good bet on Dai Kioshin this time."

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"He probably wouldn't want to destroy information that he could use himself, so he most likely took it. Which means that he put it at the safest location possible. Of all the places he has control over, I think his own library is probably the safest."

"So we go there?"

"Yeah. I think I can sense someone there, however."

"I'm afraid I can't. I need to have a ki to use Instant Transmission."

"No problem." Piccolo laid a hand on Goku's shoulder. "How about now?"

In a second, Goku's senses refined, and he found himself attuned to a small ki.

"Is this one it?"

"Right. Let's go."

Touching both of them, Goku focused on the far away ki, and then all three teleported from the library.



When they rematerialized, they were floating over a library very similar to the one they had been at seconds earlier. If not for the lack of a hole in the roof, Goku would have been uncertain if they had actually moved. All of them hung suspended in the air a minute, glancing around.

"Guards," Piccolo whispered, gesturing down below. Goku glanced down and realized that three figures were in front of the gates below.

"Can we get in without bothering them?" Goku whispered back to Piccolo. The Namek looked thoughtful.

"Is there any disadvantage to bothering them?" 18 interjected. Piccolo smiled.

"No, if we try to get in another way we raise the alarm. Whereas if we can take down the guards I could pick this lock if I had a bit of time. So we'll actually attract less notice by starting a fight."

"Let's go then."

Goku dropped to ground level, then casually walked toward the door. 18 and Piccolo flanked him. The three guards were on high alert, and three pairs of eyes instantly turned to them.



Apprentice wasn't sure, but he thought that two of the figures were the Goku and 18 that Dai Kioshin was always ranting about. He knew for certain that the other one was Piccolo. For whatever the reason, they could not be allowed to enter this place. Dai Kioshin had ordered him to kill anyone who came near the library, but Apprentice wasn't sure that he wanted to start a fight with this group.

He looked to either side of him uneasily. Outside of the Celestial Fighters, these two were the strongest in the Afterlife. At least, they had been until this group came. Now he wasn't so sure. Danai appeared to be weak, but Apprentice thought he sensed a greater hidden power within him. So maybe he had some potential. Xenar was mainly just cheap; Apprentice had figured out his gimmick a while ago. But if one of them figured out what was going on too soon, it wouldn't matter.

Now they were close enough he had to say something.

"Halt!"

Slowing to a halt, Goku glanced down at Apprentice.

"I'm afraid I need to get into this library."

"I have orders to stop anyone who attempts to get into this library. I am authorized to use force if necessary."

"That's enough." Piccolo rolled his eyes. "Get out of our way."

"Sir, I cannot-"

"Just cream them," Danai grated. "We can take these guys!"

"Yeah," Xenar agreed. "Our orders were to kill them!"

"Actually," Goku said amiably. "We're already dead, so technic-"

Throwing aside all pretense of restraint, Danai attempted to punch Goku, who easily wove to the side, grabbed Danai's fist, and sent him tumbling across the ground. Instantly, chaos broke loose. Xenar took a swipe at Goku, who ducked, and was slammed from behind by Piccolo. Just as Danai came rushing back, 18 delivered a kick that knocked him into the air. Piccolo and Xenar faced off, and above 18 and Danai were locked in close combat. Apprentice turned to look at Goku, who dropped into a fighting stance and waited.

Piccolo easily blocked Xenar's strike, and reversed his move, sending his opponent over the horizon. Xenar came flying back, but missed Piccolo, who slammed a foot into his back. Falling to the ground, Xenar smashed through a few trees, then slowly rose to his feet to face Piccolo.

He was not at all impressed. All of Xenars attack's had been weak, when he had gotten any time to do them. At first, Piccolo had expected that Xenar was holding power back and would power up, but he had yet to do so, and Piccolo realized he was using all the power he had.

Gathering energy between his palms, Piccolo hurled the sphere of energy he created down to smash into Xenar. There was an explosion, but when the dust cleared, Xenar was unharmed. The next instant he charged upward at Piccolo, who easily dodged out of the way. Putting on a burst of speed, Xenar launched a set of attacks that Piccolo turned aside. Maybe he had been too harsh. Xenar had a bit more in him yet.

Covering his hand with a thin layer of fiery ki, Piccolo smashed it down into Xenar's head. He buckled, but then whipped his head up and smashed a hand into Piccolo's midriff. The Namek plummeted to the ground, and Xenar followed in hot pursuit. Catching himself with his hands, Piccolo pushed himself into the air, causing Xenar to plow into the ground. Still, something was beginning to seem wrong to Piccolo. That blow should have easily finished him off.

Launching ki bursts rapid fire, Piccolo caused a rapidly rising dust cloud around Xenar, who was bashed into the ground a few feet. When he stopped attacking, Piccolo saw that Xenar was quite embedded into the rock below. Then to his surprise, Xenar rose to his feet and launched a tremendous wave of ki upward.

Raising his arms, Piccolo deflected the attack, but he was surprised that it took something out of him. Now he was certain, something wasn't right. A germ of an idea began in his mind. It was time for an experiment. Using the full extent of his power, Piccolo smashed into Xenar a couple of times, finishing off his newest second wind. An uppercut finished the combo, and slammed Xenar to the ground.

Firing one bolt of ki, Piccolo watched carefully. It drove Xenar back, but immediately after he charged at him once again. Things finally clicked for Piccolo. He blocked Xenar's strike and smirked.

"I get it," he told his opponent. "You absorb ki energy, don't you?"

"It took you long enough," Xenar mocked. "Do you realize how much stronger I am from your energy?"

"No."

"Triple! Three times my former power level! Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

"Yeah, I think I do. Take this!"

Extending a hand, Piccolo threw a dark sphere of energy. It glittered malevolently as it sped toward Xenar, who laughed.

"You really don't get it, do you? Fool!"

His words ended in a shriek as he caught the ball of energy. Dark electricity ripped through his body, sending it spasming through the air. Xenar fell to the ground, and this time he barely made it to his feet.

"You should be more careful," Piccolo admonished him. "Anti-ki isn't good for you."

"You dared to use anti-ki on me?"

"What did you expect? Did you think I'd fall for the same trick twice?"

"Bah! I still have enough energy to finish you off!"

Power gathered around Xenar as he slowly moved his hands in a circular motion. Piccolo waited patiently. Admittedly, Xenar's trick had been effective, but now Piccolo knew what he was trying to do. The match had ended when he had figured it out, in all actuality.

Xenar's hands met above his head. He whipped them down and launched the largest ki blast he had yet performed. It slammed into Piccolo, making an explosion of pure energy. When the light faded, however, Piccolo had not moved, he was crackling with a light blue energy.

"How would you like some of your own medicine?" Piccolo asked. Xenar's eyes widened a second before Piccolo shot all the energy he had absorbed. The blast sliced into him, and this time Xenar found himself unable to reabsorb his own energy. A second after being struck by the ki, Xenar exploded in a flash of purple light. Dropping to the ground, Piccolo gazed impassively where he had been, then moved to the door.



18's fist seemed to slide past Danai's defenses, and a second later the warrior found himself imbedded in the rock face below. She was good, he granted her that. But he had fought a lot of good fighters in his life and after it, and there was no way he was going to be beaten. Now 18 was flying down at him, and he rolled, anticipating her attack. A blast of ki smashed him the next instant, sending him flying into the air, where an elbow sent him across the sky again.

Firing eight blasts, Danai was surprised to see 18 bat each one aside separately. So this was going to take more than just his normal. Well, that was fine. Spitting to the side, he sneered at her.

"Can you top this?" Throwing his arms back, Danai suddenly seemed to shatter into a thousand pieces. Somehow, the gaps between each separate piece were suddenly filled in. Danai once again floated in front of 18, but now he was around twice as large.

His power had risen, 18 acknowledged, but it had very little to do with his size. Such a small power boost hardly mattered, now he was just a bigger target. He was attacking, and she waited until the last second to dodge. Ducking under his next attack, she struck with a barrage of attacks and whittled away at Danai.

"Is that the best you can do?" Danai laughed, merely wincing from the blows. "Pitiful! Take your best shot!"

Exactly what 18 had been hoping he would do. Using a bit more of her power this time, she drove a knuckle into Danai's stomach. His eyes bugged from the pain, and then 18 applied a bit of ki. He instantly shot over the horizon. Rushing to follow him, 18 passed him up and swung around, smashing a foot into his spine.

Quivering in midair, Danai seemed to be nearly beaten. He suddenly whirled, and one of his claws clipped 18's head. Enough to set her a bit off balance, but not to deal any real damage. She resisted the urge to smirk.

"Don't think I'm done," Danai told her, somehow still optimistic. 18 had to wonder how he thought he had any chance. If he had ever bothered to sense her ki, he should have known she had more than 10 times his own.

"What I did before was just my first level," he smirked. "I can do x3!"

Again he shattered, and when he reformed, he was three times his original size. His height hadn't been small before, but now he towered over 18, laughing horribly. This transformation was actually worthwhile, 18 decided, had he actually had enough power to make it worth it. About what she would expect a warrior to be able to power up normally. Still, he seemed far too confident. So either he had something up his sleeve or he was just an idiot.

Swinging one giant fist, Danai intended to cream 18 on the spot. 18 blocked the massive punch with a forearm, then twisted, sending Danai into a spin. A well-placed kick sent him wildly careening through the air. Soon after, he came flying back, swinging low. Levitating up a few feet to avoid his attacks, 18 kicked him directly in the jaw, sending him backward once again. Smashing both feet into his stomach, she sent him down to earth with a crash.

Before he could get all the way down, 18 overtook him, briefly touched the ground, then deflected off, smashing into the middle of Danai. Though 18 was much smaller her far great momentum propelled Danai up once again. She fired a blast that was intended to incinerate him, but Danai twisted, and it merely clipped him on the shoulder. He landed on the ground, and 18 dropped down across from him.

"You aren't really helping yourself much," 18 told him. "If you just powered up normally it'd save time and probably some of your energy."

"What?"

"Size isn't that great of an advantage. Not if your opponent is faster or stronger. It's really kind of pointless to pull that sort of trick at the level we're fighting at."

"You mock me?" Danai roared, eyes flaming in anger. 18 shrugged.

"I'll show you!" he rumbled on. "I might have let you live before, but now I'm gonna crush you!"

Danai crossed his arms over his face and began growling. Energy crackled over him, then arced into the sky. The leaves on nearby trees were suddenly blown in a violent breeze. Suddenly everything ceased as Danai seemed to turn black and white, then shattered a final time. Nothing appeared to remain, but then a roar echoed over the sky.

"x10!"

As suddenly as he had vanished, Danai appeared, now a behemoth. 18 found herself barely coming up to one of his ankles. Two blazing eyes glared down at her, a gigantic fist slammed into his other palm, sounding like thunder. Examining him further, 18 nearly laughed. For all his size, he hadn't increased in power at all. In fact, a transformation at this level had actually taken a bit of his total energy. She considered ending it with a punch but decided against it.

"Now you will die!" Danai's voice was immense. A fist swung down toward her, but she could have walked out of the way. It slammed into the ground below, sending cracks all across it. Leaping off the ground toward him, 18 gathered energy for another attack. She'd made this one herself, and this situation seemed to be the perfect opportunity to break it in.

While she flew toward Danai, energy began to mount around her, silvery streams that wreathed in intricate patterns. Eventually it appeared as though a silvery fireball had entirely surrounded 18. As she continued to fly forward in her punch, more energy mounted, rising to an almost burning intensity.

When she reached Danai, who found he could not dodge the attack, the silvery energy shattered through him. The monstrosity gaped, then shrank, dissipating down to nearly his former size before he vanished entirely. Smoothing back the lock of hair that had fallen out of place in her attack, 18 focused on Goku and Piccolo's kis and teleported back to the main scene of the battle.



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And next time we get to see Apprentice and Goku fight. Sure, we all know who's going to win, but it's still an interesting fight, ne?