Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the DBZ universe, I'm just borrowing it for some harmless fun.


Despite all the danger, regardless of the bullets flying around and the fact that her friends had been held hostage and could possibly die in this empty, forgotten factory, Videl felt something strange as she fought. For the first time, she was feeling completely free while fighting. The bullets were too slow to hit her, thanks to Gohan's training, and she had full movement in all three dimensions.

It was unlike anything she would have ever imagined.

While she was enjoying the thrill this particular battle was giving her, Videl was still cautious. She could dodge the bullets, but she wasn't ready to see if her muscles were strong enough to block them. so, instead, she flew around the spray of bullets, quickly closing in on her next target.

This particular CCDD soldier was nearly seven foot tall and even with his massive height he was more then a little bulky. When Videl got close, he dropped his gun, instead taking a swing at the petit girl. Videl floated back just enough for the punch to miss, leaving the massive soldier overextended and vulnerable. A kick to the stomach, followed by a punch just underneath his armpit and a finisher on the temple finished him off in a second.

As her latest victim was falling down, Videl did a quick check. Sharpener had taken care of two soldiers on the lower level, so there were still five remaining, all on the stairs.

'That's manageable.' Videl thought. The stairs themselves were their saving grace; it made it nearly impossible for the Soldiers to get an aim on people on higher or lower levels, so each encounter was one-on-one.

Just as Videl was about to fly down a level and surprise the next soldier, she saw Johnson walking out of the hole in the wall she had created. He had flown clear through the screen and wall, but from how he was walking he was completely unharmed.

"How the hell?" Videl started, but she was interrupted by a loud bang to her side. Turning around and ducking to the side, Videl barely avoided a bullet that had been aimed for her head. The soldier from a level below, a medium-sized man with a mass of light-red hair, had decided to take the fight to her.

He kept firing, alternating between full-auto and precision bursts, but none of the bullets even came close to striking the teenager. She was simply too fast. However, the carrot-top soldier proved himself a very accurate shot; every time Videl tried to close the distance, he changed his aim so she couldn't get close.

After the third attempt at rushing in failed, Videl took a different approach. As she dodged another round of bullets she pushed her palm forward and shot a small sphere of energy at the soldier. He saw the blast coming and ducked to the side, but was a little to slow; his gun got struck by a miniature explosion, strong enough to damage the rifle beyond usage, but far too weak to hurt it's wielder.

Before the man's weapon had even fallen to the ground, Videl held him up to the wall by his shirt.

"How did Johnson take my blast without so much as a scratch on him?" She questioned him. The man smirked at her, but didn't seem at all bothered to answer her question.

"We all got upgrades while we were here, to make us stronger and faster and smarter, but no-one was upgraded more then the captain. He's on a whole different level. The Doc that fixed us up, he only gave us some kind of muscle and nerve enhancement. The captain got a couple of physical upgrades as well. There ain't no human that can take him on now, the Doc said."

"Thanks for telling me." Videl released her hold on the man, letting him drop down on the ground, before she hit him straight between the eyes. He went down like an origami crane instantly.

'I'll deal with the other soldiers first, if I go down there I'm a sitting duck.'

Just as Videl made her decision though, she heard a familiar and terrified scream coming from down below.

'Erasa!'

XxX

As he watched the giant CCDD-er who had almost ripped him to shreds fall down, Sharpener fell back on his ass, breathing hard.

'Damnit, I gotta get back up. There's only a few more left.' He told himself, but his body wouldn't listen, not for the moment. His back and chest both hurt like hell. Although the giant man had only held him for a few seconds, it felt like he had nearly ripped Sharpener's arms off and his chest and back muscles were paying for the strain. Not to mention the raging headache he was feeling as well, thanks to his impromptu headbut.

'Damn, that guy was strong. Sorry Videl, I'm gonna need a few seconds here.' Raising his arms, Sharpener began to slowly massage his chest, hoping to ease the pain. It did help some, but it would take a while before he was back to full capacity. That was when he heard Erasa scream from down below.

The scream filled him with new fears and adrenaline, making him forget his pain for a second. As he stood up, Sharpener saw Johnson walking out of the area where Erasa had been hiding. Only Johnson was leading Erasa, who held both Marron and Bra, with one hand. The other held one of the rifles that his team of soldiers used.

"Hey kids, look what I found?" he yelled, pushing Erasa forward, making her stumble and trip. "I'm gonna make this really easy for you. give up or I kill her."

He pointed his gun at Erasa, who was looking more then a little terrified.

"You have five seconds to announce your surrender. One…."

'NO!' Sharpener felt a panic unlike any other rise up inside him as he tried to think. 'There's no way I can get down there in time to stop him.'

"Two…"

Looking around, Sharpener saw the rifle that the giant had used lying at his feet.

"Three…"

'Here goes nothing.' Sharpener picked up the gun and immediately aimed it towards Johnson. He had Johnson straight in his crosshairs.

"Four…"

As soon as he had aligned the shot, Sharpener fired two bursts. Johnson looked up when he heard the sound, in time to step aside from the bullets coming his way. He was in time to avoid injury, but Sharpener's seconds burst still found it's target; the bullets knocked Johnson's rifle out of his hands.

When the rifle was skipping across the ground, Sharpener was already dashing down the stairs, his injuries forgotten in the rush of adrenaline. On the next level he shot another burst, forcing Johnson to step away from Erasa and the girls, then did it again when he reached the ground level. By now Johnson was also coming directly towards him.

"Videl!" Sharpener yelled. "Deal with the other soldiers. I'll deal with Johnson!"

Johnson stopped a small distance away from Sharpener, concentration and thrill written all over his face. Sharpener stepped to the side, the two long-haired men circling each other like predators.

Suddenly Sharpener faked taking aim with the rifle, prompting Johnson to charge in, but the blond instead threw the weapon towards the green-haired man. Surprised by the change of events, Johnson tried to catch the weapon, but didn't see Sharpener's punch coming in afterwards. Sharpener hit Johnson straight between the eyes with his first punch and on his left temple with his follow-up, stunning the older man for a second.

In that second, Sharpener charged forward, tackling Johnson back into the hole that had been created earlier, when Videl had blasted him.

XxX

"Sir! Incoming bogey." The private announced, drawing the attention of his commanding officer.

"What is it and where?" The commanding officer asked, setting down his notepad.

"Unknown sir, but bogey is approaching the area where Videl Satan was last detected."

"Put it up on the main screen, show me what we're dealing with." The CO ordered. At once the screen switched from the militairy's logo to a screen with a single blinking dot. In between blinks the dot had cleared over a quarter of the screen.

"That thing just moved half a click in a split second." The CO was stunned, to say the least.

"Sir, our readings say… no, this can't be."

"What is it private?"

"According to the readings the bogey is moving at a little over four-hundred miles per hour, sir."

"Say what? Contact all surrounding militairy bases, I want to know if anyone has an unauthorized training with a jet."

"Sir, it's not a jet." The same private interrupted. "It's not flying. It's moving on ground-level. It's a ground-vehicle, sir."

"Bogey is not responding to transmissions." Another private announced. "Orders, sir?"

"Contact command and tell them what we've got." The CO sighed. "But by the time we get a search going, that thing will be long gone."

XxX

Based on the gunshots still sounding from the main room, Sharpener understood that Videl was indeed fighting the remaining CCDD soldiers. Unfortunately, he had no time to worry about his friends as he stood across from Johnson.

Sharpener was by no means a small person and he didn't lack confidence, but Johnson was both taller and broader then him and seeing him standing there, his mechanical eye glowing red-ish in the dark room, Sharpener didn't feel all that confident.

Johnson hadn't even bothered taking a stance as he stared down at Sharpener. Sharpener took his stance, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet, when Johnson started to chuckle.

Sharpener took the opening, stepping in and attacking immediately. Every swing of his arms send a flare of pain through his chest and back, but he ignored it as he attacked time and time again.

Johnson, however, stepped aside, ducked below or slapped the punches aside with child-like ease. Sharpener's jabs were evaded, his one-two blocked with one hand and his short upper was equally useless. All the time Johnson just kept on chuckling. Suddenly Sharpener doubled over in pain, crashing to his knees. Johnson had struck without warning, planting his fist deep in Sharpener's abdomen.

As Sharpener sat on his knees, gasping for breath, Johnson took a few steps back.

"I gotta admit two things kid. First off, your boxing is gotten quite a bit better then it was last time you tried to hit me. Congratu-fucking-lations." To show his congratulations, Johnson punches Sharpener again, hitting him in the chest on purpose. The punch forced Sharpener back on his feet and smashed him into the wall behind him.

"The second thing is, you got guts. Saying you'll 'deal with me'? You got some damn nerve kid. But hey, if you wanna be a martyr for your friends so fucking badly, who am I to stop you. But you know… if you wanna earn the title of martyr, you're gonna have to work for it. so let's see just how much you can take, mister bravery."

Sharpener took a step forward, groggy on his feet, when Johnson stepped forward, his arm pulled back for a punch. Although he wasn't in his best condition, Sharpener still swayed to the side, avoiding the punch by a hair's wide. Instead, the wall behind his head got shattered as Sharpener stepped away.

'Good thing Gohan kept pushing me.' Sharpener tried to cheer himself up as he tried to step away form Johnson. 'At least my body still knows what to do when I'm almost out.' as soon as Johnson was inside his attack range, Sharpener tried to jab, but Johnson caught the punch with ease.

"Time to bring the pain." He smiled a sadistic smile at Sharpener as he pulled the youth forward, smashing his fist into the blonde's head once before letting go of the arm, punching him in the stomach to create some more distance.

"Feeling it yet? I'm gonna take my sweet god-damn time with you."

Sharpener was definitely feeling it, but he wasn't going to show that. instead he tried to remember what Gohan had told him about different defenses. 'Move with the blow in order to reduce it.' he recited, 'mess up the point of impact and carry the forces to reduce pain.'

This time, when Johnson stepped closer, Sharpener only threw up a block, which Johnson took as an invitation to let loose. His first punch send Sharpener skipping back a few paces, only for Johnson to close the distance and strike again with bone-shattering force. This time Sharpener was nearly send flying to the side, barely managing to stabilize himself after a couple of steps.

Johnson struck again, this time striking Sharpener on the chin, sending the teen's head flying upward, his feet lifting from the ground. When he landed, though, Sharpener reassumed his fighting pose as if nothing had happened, making Johnson lift his eyebrows.

"Think toughness will let you live through this? Good fucking luck with that kiddo."

He struck again and Sharpener flew back again, nearly doubling over from the impact. When he planted his heels and came to a stop, though, the blonde resumed his fighting stance like nothing had ever happened. The sudden immunity to punches finally made sense to Johnson.

"Oh, I get it. You're using a soft block. Well, well, well. Time to see how long you can keep that up."

He stepped closer again, ready to punch, but when Sharpener raised his arms to block, the punch never came. Instead, Johnson rushed forward, ducked low and grabbed Sharpener around the waist. With the teen now pushed up against his shoulder, the former inmate stood up again, lifting the teen up and immediately dropping him.

The impact with the ground hard enough to slam the wind out of Sharpener and send fresh waves of pain through his body. Johnson stood over him, grinning down.

"Well kid, that was fun wasn't it?"

He raised his boot and placed it above Sharpener's head, ready to smash it down. Sharpener rolled to the side, pain flaring through his entire body, and managed to avoid a smashed face, but he didn't react in time to stop Johnson's follow up. The kick hit him in the left shoulder, which gave a painful and loud snap as the collarbone broke.

As Sharpener grabbed his broken shoulder in pain, Johnson reached down and pulled the teen up by his shirt.

"Time to bring the pain, martyr-boy."

While holding Sharpener up, Johnson punched him in the face, then the stomach, then the face again. dragging the teen over to the hole in the wall, Johnson lifted him up as high as he could, let go and then punched him full-force in the stomach. This time, Sharpener did double up from the impact, blood shooting from his mouth as he was send flying into the main room again.

Flipping, spinning and turning against his own will, Sharpener flew into the main room with uncontrollable momentum, before he came to a stop against a large container, stopping him in his tracks. Sliding out of the dent his body had created, Sharpener slid down into a sitting position, barely conscious and dripping blood everywhere, when Johnson stepped out of the hole in the wall.

Before Johnson got close, though, something big and heavy crashed into him from the side as Videl rejoined the battle. All the soldiers had been dealt with and Videl had picked up one of them to crash into Johnson.

"Erasa, see how Sharpener's doing." She ordered her best friend, who was sitting a short distance away, looking terrified. "And take the two girls with you."

The drug was apparently starting to wear off, since Marron was rubbing her eyes as she tried to get up. But Videl realized that she didn't have time to worry about them when Johnson send his former subordinate flying backwards and appeared unharmed.

Looking at each other, both Videl and Johnson dropped into their stances, stared at each other for a second, and then charged forward.

XxX

In their secured room, removed far from the large chamber where all the fighting was going on, both the Doctor and Styring Behersk were watching the fight with rapt attention.

"What do you say, Doctor?" Styring asked as he watched Videl take out another soldier with ease. "I dare say that both Miss Satan and her friend have exceeded the expectations you had for the human race, no?"

Said blond friend had just pushed Captain Johnson through the hole in the wall, removing them from the sight of camera's, but that simply allowed them full attention on Videl's superhuman performance.

"She is no ordinary human." The Doctor suddenly said. "With the speed she uses when moving and the strength of her attacks, she too must have some sort of cybernetic enhancements. It is impossible for a human to perform as she is."

"I highly doubt that. You clearly know nothing of the good miss Satan. She does not use any kind of enhancements for physical performance, both she and her father have taken a clear stand on this and have had people exiled from their gyms for usage of the weakest performance boosters."

"Well, she is performing higher then a human possibly could. What other explanation do you have for that? The boy is very foolish, but his abilities are within normal perimiters for humans. No matter how much I increase their physical abilities, your soldiers still have the numerous weaknesses of a human body."

"Indeed." Styring simply smiled. "But there is no denying that his performance is admirable. He is outgunned, outclassed and outnumbered yet still manages to turn the tide in his favor. Should he survive this ordeal, I think he will make for a fascinating next test subject, wouldn't you agree Doctor?"

While the Doctor nodded, neither could remove their eyes from the many screens, failing to see that the computer behind them, used to detect intruders, had completely shut down. Instead, their attention was on Sharpener as he flew back into the great chamber, smashed into a metal container and Videl quickly joined the fight.

XxX

Neither Videl nor Johnson wasted time with talking to each other, instead moving straight to fighting. Just before they first met, Videl upped her speed a notch, disappeared from sight and reappeared behind him, lashing out with her leg. Johnson blocked the kick to his back, then disappeared from sight as well, reappearing below Videl and trying to grab her around the waist.

Videl shot up, using her flying to escape his bear hug, then flew to the side and charged at him. Johnson turned, meeting her head on, and the two of them hit each other fist-to-fist. Videl was thrown back by the impact, but stabilized herself in the air, thinking for a new strategy.

Johnson had more brute strength, size, mass and reach then her, but Videl was clearly the more agile of the two, had a slight advantage in speed and she was pretty sure she also had more techniques up her sleeve then he had.

Videl charged forward again, disappearing from sight, then appearing behind Johnson, only to disappear again and strike him from the side this time. Johnson was turning around to counter her when her attack hit it's mark. The punch was strong enough to lift the large male of the ground and even send him flying, but Johnson wasn't seriously hurt. Instead he landed on his feet, turned around and let out a war cry as he charged forward.

Johnson closed the distance, standing at the perfect distance for his own fighting; Videl would have to extend her arms to the fullest to hit him, while Johnson had some room to keep his elbow bent. The range was definitely in his favor.

Videl swung her head to the side to avoid Johnson's straight punch, then tried to step in and punch him in the abdomen, but Johnson blocked with his other hand and immediately tried to take hold of her hand. Videl stopped him by kicking his arm, though it left her unbalanced. Swinging his arm to the side, Johnson took advantage of that and flipped her over. With Videl hanging upside-down for a second, Johnson immediately grabbed her around the waist and twisted around to slam her into the ground with a German Suplex.

As she was smashed into the ground, pain shooting up her entire body, Videl retaliated by kicking Johnson, who was also still on the ground, in the face. As Johnson was reeling back from the impact, Videl rolled in and jumped back to her feet.

'I'm going to need some breath.' Videl thought as she saw Johnson also getting back up on his feet. "Hey Johnson," she tried to make her voice as taunting as she could, but breathing hard made it difficult to goat enemies, "Let's see if you can dance."

Raising her left hand, Videl fired four energy blasts towards the green-haired man. Seeing the yellow coming, he smirked and raised his own left hand. The mechanical device seemed to glow eerily in the light of the coming blasts and Videl had a perfect view of what happened. The mechanical fingers opened at the tips, revealing small barrel-like contraptions that immediately started to glow.

A blast of energy shot out of each barrel, thinner and longer then Videl's and a bright blue color. Johnson's blasts connected with Videl's, the blasts canceling each other out. Johnson's fifth blast didn't meet a counterpart and kept going towards Videl. The raven-haired crimefighter stepped to the side just before the blue beam hit her, then followed it with her eyes as it collided with a pole behind her. Instead of the explosion she had expected, the blast pierced through the metal object and continued going.

"Satisfied?" Johnson sounded more maniacal by the second and the large red footprint on his face didn't do anything to make him seem more sane. "Now that we know we can dance, how about our audience?"

Johnson raised his hand to the side, aiming his fingers straight towards Sharpener, Erasa and the girls. Videl tried to open her mouth, but Johnson already fired. Moving as fast as she could, Videl managed to run past the blasts and appear before her friends, her own energy shooting out to negate Johnsons' blasts.

She managed to negate the first five blasts, but she hadn't seen the second round he had fired. They were already to close for her to negate, so she did the only thing she could. raising her arms in defense, covering them with a thin layer of energy, Videl took the five blasts. Three were negated by the energy on her arms, one rebounded off and moved towards the ceiling, but the last one found it's mark, coming into contact with Videl's side and cutting right through it.

Screaming in pain, Videl fell down to one knee and clutched her side. The blast had hit her at the right side of her abdomen, making the wound bleed heavily, but thankfully the blood wasn't black. Holding her hand against the injury, Videl had to struggle not to pass out in pain while Johnson walked towards her with a grin on his face.

Before he could stand near her, though, a loud booming sound, followed by the roar of an engine was heard from somewhere. Johnson immediately turned around, looking panicked, before turning away from Videl and dashing towards a nearby rifle. As soon as he had picked the weapon up he turned towards the hole that Sharpener had created when he fired the RPG to create a distraction and took aim.

A second later, a dark motorcycle appeared, jumping through the hole and straight towards Johnson, who was already squeezing the trigger. Looking up at the cycle while it moved through the air, Videl instantly saw and recognized the driver. The helmet was the same as most other motorcyclists used, but the long black trench coat, the belt over it and the large belt buckle saying CCDD were unmistakable.

The Commander of the Capsule Corporation Defensive Division. One of the biggest assholes Videl had ever known and next to Gohan the person she most wanted to see right now.

Videl watched as the bullets fired by Johnson impacted on the Commander's vehicle, but the Commander back flipped off the cycle, spinning in mid-air while the vehicle continued straight into the path of bullets that Johnson fired. While in the air, the Commander pulled out his own two massive sidearms and took aim at the cycle.

Johnson's bullets seemed to do little to the bike but damage it's pain, until they started penetrating the front of the vehicle and damage the engine. It closed in on Johnson fast while the Commander also took aim at the vehicle. Just as Johnson moved to the side to avoid the impact, the Commander shot both of his guns at once. With the superior firepower of his weapons and the better position, the Commander's bullets found their target at once. Impacting in the bike's tank, they machine exploded and covered Johnson in the blast.

Landing on his feet, the Commander turned around and dashed towards Videl and the others. He stood there for a second or two, looking down on her, before he bent down on one knee, pulled up Videl's shirt and ripped the lower half off. He then tied it around her middle, holding it in place with a rough knot. Without a word he stood up, then looked over at Sharpener and the girls.

Just as Videl was wondering why he wasn't doing more, she remembered that the Commander's helmet was more then just a piece of decoration. It had several high-tec functions in it and one of them was probably making a quick diagnostic.

He seemed to deem that Sharpener was alright, since he turned around and looked towards the still-raging inferno. Johnson stepped out of the fire, his clothing burned and ruined, some small burn marks on his arms but no serious injuries that Videl could see.

"Well, if it isn't the master of Holier-then-thou, Lord of all assholes and the biggest fucking jackass I know." He said, fury obvious in his voice. "So fucking glad you could make it. I'm gonna enjoy killing you slowly."

"You can try, Johnson." The Commander said as he raised both of his guns. "But killing me will be difficult when you die by my hand."

XxX

Johnson was only a second behind the Commander in raising his gun, both shooting while running to the side. As the bullets impacted in structures far behind either gunman, the Commander still managed to remove the fight from the wounded hostages. Both stopped their shooting when they ran past an old storage tank, at which point they switched tactics.

Knowing that Johnson favored aggressive tactics when possible, the Commander moved back from the crate, waiting for Johnson to jump over and open fire. Instead of jumping over the crate, however, Johnson went for a more direct approach. rushing forward with his entire body, the former captain charged through the container, leaving man-sized holes on both sides of the tank as he appeared, his gun already shooting wildly at the Commander.

For his part, the Commander stayed calm, rolling to the side and avoiding almost all the rounds. One managed to hit him in the arm just before he rolled to the side and it had moved straight through.

'Armor piercing rounds.' The Commander quickly deduced as he kept on moving. 'Those rounds will go through anything, including my armor and me.'

Fortunately, the bullet had only scratched his skin, so there was no wound to speak off. But that did mean he couldn't afford to get hit with even one bullet.

Lifting both his guns again, the Commander stepped away from cover and opened fire on Johnson, who immediately returned in kind. While shooting, however, the Commander kept moving forward, strafing left and right to avoid getting hit, but definitely closing the distance. Seeing this, Johnson also rushed forward, sidestepping the Commander's destructive rounds as well.

As the two warriors closed the distance, they both tried to shoot, only to push each other's guns away. spinning around, they tried to shoot again, only for their guns to clash and shoot at opposite directions. As the Commander changed positions to take aim again, Johnson switched to a different play. Instead of trying to get his rifle in a shooting position, he reached out and grabbed one of the commander's guns in his metal hand and squeezed.

As the gun was crushed in Johnson's grip, making it completely useless, the Commander lashed out with his leg, smashing Johnson's rifle to bits. With no firearm remaining, Johnson tried to step back, only for the Commander to take aim again. Johnson wasn't quite done yet, though as he punched the gun before the Commander could pull the trigger. Caught between Johnsons' fist and the Commander's unmoving arm, the gun was just as ruined as it's twin.

"Round two, go!" Johnson announced as he stepped forward, his fist already flying for the Commander's chest. Stepping aside, the helmet-wearing warrior grabbed Johnson's arm, twisted it around and tried to subdue his former subordinate in a hold. Johnson stepped forward, kicking the Commander and freed himself, only for the Commander to immediately take the offensive. The Commander's fist impacted with Johnson's side, but Johnson held the Commander's arm in place with his own, taking the pain. Standing there, locked in close combat range and both with only one arm, they tried to gain control but failed.

The Commander tried to punch, but Johnson blocked it, tried to flip it around into another hold only for the Commander to twist his arm out and try to elbow instead. That also failed, since the Commander had to block Johnson's sudden hook. Twisting his arm again, the Commander managed to hold Johnson's arm captive much like his own was, holding the two men in place.

With their arms locked out of the fight, the Commander and Johnson both raised their knees and started smashing them together. As their knees met for the third time, the Commander suddenly moved forward, headbutting Johnson and breaking the hold. From there he immediately pressed his advantage, punching Johnson in the face and abdomen as he pushed him back, both fists flying.

In order to escape the punishment his former boss was laying on him, Johnson jumped back, flipped over and immediately pushed forward again. Although Johnson was moving at superhuman speed, the Commander was ready for the sudden charge. He stepped aside just in the nick of time, grabbed Johnson's outstretched arm and spun him around to create momentum. When he reached a high momentum, Johnson rendered nearly helpless as he was dragged around by his arm, the Commander let go, sending Johnson flying through the large chamber.

Johnson crashed into a collection of metal pipes of all sizes, generating a lot of noise as he came to a stop. The impact also made the pipes fall down, though only small pipes had been laid on the top. The large pipes didn't move. The Commander moved forward, slow and weary, when Johnson got back up on his feet. Looking around, the former CCDD captain picked up a long but thin pipe, swinging it as a staff.

The Commander stopped his approach when he reached the pipes scattered on the ground, waiting for Johnson to make the first move, not daring to risk sure footing for a killing blow. Johnson took the invitation with a grin, jumping far and high enough to clear all the pipes in one go, landing in front of the Commander, his pipe-staff already swinging.

The Commander sidestepped the first smash, ducked underneath Johnson's follow up, then spun on his heel to avoid a third strike and fluidly moved into a strike, aimed directly at the pipe. Under the Commander's brutal impact, the pipe immediately broke into two, Johnson now holding two small pipes in his hands. It didn't seem to bother him, though, as he moved into another form right away, smashing the two pipes into the Commander's arms and then backing off before he could be countered.

Johnson was swinging both pipes around in order to figure out their balance, taking a stance like he was using two swords, when he moved forward, stopped just short of the Commander and smashed the two pipes together. The hollow metal objects immediately started to ring loudly, enough to distract anyone who hadn't expected it.

The Commander's reaction was anything but expected, as he suddenly roared in pain and clutched his helmet with both hands, stepping back but nearly doubling over as he did so. Johnson looked equally surprised at the sudden behavior, but he didn't question it. instead, he took his advantage.

Stepping forward, he rained blows on the Commander with the pipes, striking with enough force to dent the pipes, smashing them together to generate the same ear-piercing noise every couple of strikes. The sound seemed to hurt the Commander more then the actual blows.

"What's going on?" Erasa had helped Videl get to her feet while the two larger man fought and had guided her back to where Sharpener and the girls were all sitting. The two girls were now up, though obviously still far from awake. Sharpener looked like hell, but Videl wasn't off that much better herself.

"I don't know." Videl answered, trying to figure out why the Commander was reacting like that. Sure the sound was annoying and possibly painful to the ears, but to react like that? In didn't make any sense… not unless… Videl thought back to her very first conversation with the Commander, one of the most hated conversations she had ever experienced, but one that had opened her eyes.

She had called the Commander a murderer for killing one of the CCDD soldiers that he had defeated, though the Commander claimed it was at the soldier's own request. After she tried to accuse him, he had told her that her father was also a mass murderer, before they changed the subject. He had told her how he could keep control of a fight despite his decreased vision in that helmet.

"This helmet limits my vision, so as a means to compensate I turn the audio receivers to maximum. It allows me to hear my enemy's breathing behind me and your heavy breathing and yelps of surprises when you saw the fight. With that system I have an increase in hearing of about 500 percent. Very useful thought it takes some getting used too."

"That's it!" Videl suddenly said, though a new wave of pain from her injury immediately dampened her spirit. "He hears every sound way louder then normal people do, that means those pipes smashing together is loud enough to shatter his ears. I've got to help him."

Struggling to her feet, pain coursing through her body with every movement, Videl took a few steps forward, when Johnson kicked the Commander back into a clear area. The pipes were now very much dented and bent, but Johnson didn't seem to care as he kept smashing them into his former boss. Videl raised both her hands and took aim, gathering energy as quickly as she could.

Before Johnson could smash the pipes together again, Videl's attack hit him and send him flying off of the Commander. Without Johnson raining blows on him, the Commander immediately tried to get back on his feet, but crashed down to one knee, his coordination next to nothing after the abuse his ears had suffered through.

A short distance away, Johnson got back on his feet, which seemed to make the Commander more focused as well. Steadying himself, the Commander started walking towards Johnson, until the two were within fighting distance again. Suddenly the Commander dashed forward, closing the distance faster then Johnson could react and took hold of his former subordinate in a crushing bear hug, lifting Johnson off the ground.

Johnson struggled all he could, but the Commander's hold was unbreakable. Kicking the coat-wearing man also didn't seem to help as he simply kept increasing the pressure. With both his arms locked at his side, Johnson was left nearly helpless.

From her vantage point a short distance away, Videl saw Johnson, while getting crushed, raise his mechanical hand and paint his fingers towards the Commander.

"Look out!" Her warning was too late as Johnson's fingers opened up and five blasts of blue-ish energy shot forward, piercing the Commander's helmet in five different places and exiting to create five more. The cracks immediately started to expand, spiderwebbing until the entire helmet started to crumble.

It's stability now compromised, the helmet started to fall apart, landing on the Commander's shoulders before continuing their descent to the ground. The Commander had moved his head in time to avoid any serious injuries from the blasts, but that had meant letting Johnson go. Johnson immediately created distance as he could finally look his old boss in the eye.

A distance away, Sharpener, Videl and Erasa were all stunned as they saw the Commander's face. Erasa, being the only one not fighting to stay conscious, was the first to speak up.

"You?"


Unbeta'd thanks to my recent addiction to Smallville. Unless Kushin can pull a miracle beta, in which case he'll replace this message.