I'M BACK, BITCHES! ~TheUltimateMystic
Chapter 11: Here Comes the Three to the Two to the One
Videl was the first to make a move heading several feet straight up into the air before coming down at Trunks' with a fast diving kick. Trunks narrowly avoided the attack but quickly countered with a kick of his own. Videl blocked the kick with her forearm and instantly countered with a punch to Trunks' face knocking him back a few feet.
"You gotta mean punch."
"Just wait till I get warmed up. I punch harder."
"Duly noted." Trunks replied as he dashed towards Videl.
Trunks swung at Videl with an overhand right. Videl quickly dodged by tilting her head back responding with an uppercut. Trunks caught Videl's fist just as it was about to make contact with his chin. Trunks smirked as he swung Videl away from him immediately following after landing a punch to her jaw increasing the momentum as she headed towards the edge of the ring. However, Videl was able to stop her momentum just as she reached the ring's edge, but just as she stopped Trunks attempted to hit her again.
Videl had her guard up, but the future-fighter feigned the punch with his right hand and came in with his left extended flat outward, creating a blade of wind that broke Videl's guard and sent her hurling out of the ring. Videl managed to stuff herself just short of touching the barricade. Trunks followed up by trying to hit her into the barricade, but Videl countered and the two exchanged a series of punches that ended with them landing back in the center of the ring.
"You have a decent punch yourself."
"Thanks."
"You almost hit as hard as Gohan."
"Almost as hard, huh."
"Almost."
"You know out of context that sounds kinda bad." Sharpner said to Gohan.
"Yeah." Gohan chuckled nervously.
"Then how about this!" Trunks exclaimed as he fired a series of rapid ki blasts.
At first, Videl had no problem deflecting the blasts but Trunks' blasts soon began to pick up speed. Within a matter of moments, Videl was overwhelmed having no choice but to put her arms together in defense. After a few more moments Trunks stopped his barrage to reveal Videl, relatively unscathed save for a few burn marks on her forearms.
"That stung."
"I bet." A slightly surprised Trunks replied.
"Is that all you got? How about I show you a real move."
Videl extended her right middle, ring, and index outward towards Trunks as they began to glow with pale yellowish-white energy.
"Niono! Haaa!" Videl exclaimed as she shot her niono beam at Trunks.
"Come on." Trunks said as he easily sidestepped the attack. "You telegraphed that one."
"Ricochet!" Videl exclaimed as her niono beam bounced off the ground.
Videl smirked causing Trunks to look slightly puzzled as the Niono beam went straight towards his back however Trunks turned at the very last moment but the Niono beam ricocheted off the other side of the stadium and back towards Trunks.
"Okay, I need to put an end to that fast." Trunks said as he formed a sphere of blue ki in each hand before bringing them together in front of him. "Buster Cannon!" Trunks exclaimed as the spheres turned into a beam of ki that was launched at Videl and her oncoming Niono beam.
"Shit!" Videl exclaimed as her Niono beam was bushed then engulfed by Trunks' Buster Cannon. Thinking as fast as she could she fired another Niono beam at Trunks' Buster Cannon. The Niono Beam appeared to be quickly engulfed once again by the Buster Cannon but just after the last bit of the Niono beam disappeared into the Buster Cannon. Videl shouted "Split!" causing her beam and Trunks' Buster Cannon to split in two and completely miss her.
Trunks was now completely open, and seizing the opportunity, Videl launched herself at Trunks while shouting "Gigaton! Punch!" Videl laid into Trunks with a powerful right hook to his face knocking him away and out of the ring just as his Buster Cannon hit the energy-absorbing barricade behind her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, What! A! Match! Your winner by ring out Videl!"
"You do hit harder when you've warmed up." Trunks said to Videl as she helped him up off the ground.
"Told you so."
"Alright, Folks! We're going to give our finalists some extra time to recover due to the earlier double elimination!"
"Nice going you guys." Gohan said to Trunks and Videl as they entered the fighter's area.
"Thanks. Man, that punch was the second hardest thing I've been hit with."
"Second?" Videl replied. "What was the first?"
"Chi-Chi's frying pan…"
"My future mom I take it."
"Yeah."
"What did you do to deserve that wrath?"
"I'd rather not talk about it…"
"Boy, you guys are really making me nostalgic." Yamcha stated. "Heck, next time the world martial arts tournament comes around I might actually fight. Maybe I'd get lucky and get a match against some no-name so I can at least make it past the first round."
"You alright over there, Gar?" asked Gohan who noticed Gar sitting alone in silence.
"I'm fine..." Gar replied in a dismissive tone that suggested otherwise.
"If you say so…"
After the allotted rest period past T.A began to make his announcement for the final round.
"Alright! Alright! Alriiiiight! Ladies and Gentlemen, the final round is here! We started with 16 but now we're down to only two. Two fighters that have proven their fighting prowess and much like their fathers before them seek to cement their spot as a tournament champion! And I'm sure you don't want to wait much longer so I'll keep their introductions short and sweet. Introducing first, on her way to the ring, The Videl Satan! And her opponent, Son Gohan!"
Applause for both fighters rang out from the crowd as Gohan and Videl exchanged a friendly, fierce, and somehow slightly flirtatious stare.
"Videl, are you ready!? Gohan, are you ready!? Ladies and Gentlemen, are you reeeeeeeeady! Then let the match..."
"WAIT!" A familiar shrill voice rang out.
Everyone in the audience sat in stunned silence as Mero burst into the arena and made a quick B-line to the ring. He now had a robotic gauntlet on his left hand.
"Security!" T.A exclaimed. "Could we get security out here immediately?"
"I'm afraid all your security has been quite dealt with." replied mero.
"You didn't…" replied Gohan.
"Relax, they're merely unconscious. Their lives are not the ones I'm after. For twenty years I was raised for this moment! Twenty years of constant, brutal, agonizing training! Twenty years to take the vengeance my father Tao never could!"
Gohan, Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, and everyone that name registered too's eyes lit up at the mention of it.
"You're Mercenary Tao's son?" asked Gohan.
"Yes! I am Mero-Tao!'
"Who's Mercenary Tao?" asked Videl.
"An old enemy of my father's. I encountered him once. I didn't think was even capable of having kids."
"Despite the extensive damage to his body, his reproductive organs remained intact."
'That's the politest way of saying he still has a penis I've ever heard.' Nail said to Piccolo as the observed situation happening in the ring.
"He and my uncle Shen put their disdain for one another aside for one purpose. One goal which I was raised for. Revenge against Son Goku! But one day some years back that goal changed to not just Goku, but his son as well. I never had any intention of winning this tournament. My goal from the beginning was to take you out. This gauntlet supercharges my dodon ray 500 times over!
This will blast you to oblivion and once I'm finished with you I will move on to your precious father! Now take this!" Mero-Tao quickly raised his left arm and extended his fist towards Gohan with no fingers extended as a bright yellow beam began. "Ultra Dodon Cannon!" Mero-Tao exclaimed as a bright yellow energy began to form in his fist, and just as he was about to release the blast he suddenly the gauntlet vanished from his hand. "What...How…"
"Wow, this is quite the piece of tech." Said M. Trunks as he stood next to Mero-Tao, holding his gauntlet. "Sorry, I figured one of you would have made a move soon. I didn't want you to have to expend any extra energy to take him out."
"Actually, I was kind of wanting to see what it could do." replied Gohan, casually.
"Yeah, same." added Videl.
"Well, pardon the interruption then." Trunks chuckled.
"What...are...no...NO! I will not! I cannot be stopped here! I Mero-Tao, son of Tao Pai-Pai, nephew of Crane Hermit Shane, can still KILL YOU! Even with just my full power dodon ray, I should be able to…"
"Could you hurry this up?" Videl interjected.
"Yeah if it's all the same to you we'd like to get on with our match." Gohan added.
"I...How dare you! I will not be made a fool of!" Mero-Tao exclaimed as he quickly extended his left arm forward with his index finger extended. "Dodon Ray!" Mero-Tao fired a beam of energy roughly twice the size of his normal Dodon Ray at Gohan letting out a confident smirk as it neared him but that smirk soon faded as Gohan knocked the blast away and into the ki absorbing barrier behind him. Mero-Tao's eyes widened as he let out a cry of frustration before firing another smaller Dodon Ray.
Unfortunately for Mero-Tao, instead of deflecting it towards the barrier Gohan deflected back towards Mero-Tao causing it to pierce his left shoulder. This caused Mero-Tao to let out a cry of agony as he dropped to his knees.
"Sorry, but you have no one to blame but yourself." said Gohan.
"I...I…You haven't…" The wounded Mero muttered. "You haven't seen the last of me!"
Mero-Tao threw down a small pellet that created a large plume of smoke upon impact and when the smoke was gone so was he.
"I think that's my cue to get out of the ring." Trunks stated as he began to exit the ring. "Have a good fight."
"Great. Now that that's over with, let's get on with the fight." Videl said to T.A as she and Gohan both took their fighting stances.
"Uh. Right. Ladies and gentlemen! I do so apologize for that unwelcomed interruption! So as Videl said, Let's get on with the fight! Videl, are you ready!? Gohan, are you ready!? Ladies and Gentlemen, are you reeeeeeeeeeeeeady!? Then let the match begin!"
Not a word was exchanged between Gohan and Videl but rather they exchanged another flirty but fierce look and a nod as if to say, 'May the best hybrid win'
Both fighters darted in the opposite direction. Gohan went left, Videl went right before both made their way towards the center of the ring. The two met dead center, as if mirror images, each threw a spinning kick, their legs colliding like two broadswords clashing together. The two quickly brought their legs back and began exchanging a barrage of punches, each blocking and dodging each other's strikes while taking to the air.
Their time in the air was brief, however, as Gohn hit Videl with a downward punch, sending her back down to the ring. Gohan attempted to follow it up with another punch, but Videl could roll out of the way just in time. Using the momentum of her roll, Videl promptly countered by sweeping Gohan's leg out from under him. Videl followed up by hitting Gohan with a backhand to his face. Gohan, however, was able to tilt his head back just enough to avoid it.
Unfortunately for Gohan, he was unable to avoid the ricocheting Niono beam that Videl had stealthily fired as Gohan was avoiding her backhand. The beam hit Gohan in his upper back causing him to collapse to the ground.
"Unbelievable!" T.A exclaimed. "Gohan is down thanks to a crafty maneuver by Videl! This match could very well be over!"
"It might be if you started counting…" Videl chided.
"Sorry! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Se…"
Before T.A could reach the count of seven, Gohan sprang to his feet.
"Folks, it looks like Gohan's not quite done yet!"
"I had a feeling that wouldn't be enough." Videl said to Gohan.
"Nope. Hurt a lot though." Gohan chuckled. "Shall we continue this dance?"
"We shall."
Videl and Gohan met again in the center of the ring, engaging in another exchange of blows. They started slow but rapidly and steadily increased the speed of their strikes. Videl couldn't help but smirk a little as she began to put Gohan on the defensive. The precision of Videl's strikes caused Gohan to strike less and block more. Gohan eventually found himself being pushed back towards the edge of the ring, now only blocking Videl's strikes. Soon, Gohan was teetering on the ring's edge.
"Videl seems to have Gohan on the edge! But from what I can tell Gohan doesn't seem to be concerned!"
In fact, Gohan was smiling and the concerned look was on Videl's face. It was then the T.A realized why.
"It looks like Videl is Slowing down…No, wait! It's not Videl that's slowing down!"
It was Gohan who was speeding up. Gohan was now evading her strikes instead of blocking them all while leaning on the edge. Videl couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at the sudden change of tide.
"What's wrong, Videl? You're starting to telegraph your punches." Gohan teased as he continued effortlessly to dodge his lover's strikes.
"Oh, yeah? Telegraph this!" Videl attempted to catch Gohan off guard with a surprise roundhouse kick.
Gohan anticipated this, however, as he grabbed by the leg and threw out of the ring towards the barricade.
Videl managed to stop herself in the air halfway between the ring and the barricade, turning around just in time to meet Gohan as he charged towards her.
They re-engaged in another melee exchange, making their way back into the ring while doing so. The speed of their exchange drastically increased from their previous engagements until most in the crowd couldn't keep up. It was again a dead even stalemate as neither was able to land a strike on the other.
But eventually, the stalemate was broken by Gohan who managed to land a punch on Videl, hitting her in the shoulder, but Videl followed up by hitting Gohan in his face. The two Half-Saiyans began to belt each other with punches and occasional kicks to the shin.
They continued like this for a short while until Videl threw a hard punch at Gohan's face. She felt confident that this was the punch to drop him but to her shock, her punch phased through Gohan, or rather, his after image. Before Videl had a chance to process where Gohan was, he reappeared behind her and delivered a chop to the back of her neck causing her to collapse to the ground.
"I...That...was...intense!" T.A exclaimed.
"Count…"
"Right. Sorry. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!"
Just as T.A was about to shout ten Videl rose to her feet and wiped a bit of dirt from her mouth.
"Not gonna lie. I almost thought I had you there."
"For a second there I almost did too. But I'm not done quite yet."
"That's my girl." Gohan smiled. "How about we settle this a good old-fashioned beam struggle?"
"I like the sound of that."
Gohan and Videl stood on opposite sides of the ring, and Gohan put his hands to his side, and Videl followed suit.
"Mr. Announcer, you might want to back away a bit." Gohan politely suggested.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" T.A exclaimed before leaping out of the ring and bunkering down a few feet away.
Whitish-blue energy began to fill the two fighters hands as they both shouted "KAAAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Gohan and Videl each shot out a sizeable Kamehameha wave. The two beams collided in the center of the ring. The entire arena quaked as Gohan and Videl's Kamehameha's were in an intense deadlock. That was until Videl shouted "COME ON GOHAN WE AGREED NO HOLDING BACK! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"
"ALRIGHT! BUT REMEMBER YOU ASKED FOR IT!"
Gohan's Kamehameha wave slowly but surely began to overtake and push Videl's back. Videl let out a screaming roar as she put her last bit of energy into her Kamehameha which for a brief moment pushed Gohan's back but it ultimately proved fruitless as Gohan's continued to overtake hers.
"No...No...I can still...I can still…" Videl said to herself, not ready to admit defeat before Gohan's Kamehameha fully overtook hers. Videl was pushed out of the ring with great force. It seemed the fight was over when Videl managed to stop herself less than an eighth of an inch away from the barricade, much to everyone's surprise including Gohan's. Videl didn't have enough left to form any ki but she found just enough strength within her to push Gohan's Kamehameha up and away into the ki absorbing ceiling.
Panting, but still standing, or more specifically floating, Videl made her way back to the ring to meet an equally out of breath Gohan.
Neither said a word as Videl slowly approached Gohan. Gohan put his guard in preparation for Videl to mount some more offense. Videl reeled her arm back and attempted to throw a punch, but her arm gave out on her as did the rest of her body as she collapsed to the ground.
"You can get back in the ring now." Gohan said to T.A
"Right." T.A replied as he sprinted over to Videl and began his count. "ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE! ...TEN! Ladies and Gentlemen, YOUR WINNER BY KNOCKOUT! YOUR SATAN UNIVERSITY MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT CHAMPION! SON GOHAN!"
The crowd remained silent, even the Z-fighters, remained silent stunned by the showing of power they just witnessed before breaking into thunderous applause.
Taking in the applause and savoring the victory wasn't Gohan's top priority. That was checking on Videl. Videl was just coming too as Gohan knelt over her.
"Congratulations, champ." Videl said softly as Gohan extended his hand.
"Thanks." Gohan replied as he gently helped Videl up. "It wasn't easy though. I had one hell of an opponent."
"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen! Let's get this show on the road. "Here to present the prize money and the Satan University championship belt, the one, the only MR. SATAN!"
A large array of pyrotechnics erupted from around the arena's giant screen as a remixed version of Eyes of the Lion played over the loudspeaker. Mr. Satan made his entrance with two envelopes of prize money in hand and the championship over his shoulder, all while placating the cheering crowd.
"Yeah! Yeah! Let me hear it! The champ loves you too!'
After a few minutes of that Mr. Satan finally completed his entrance to the ring.
"Dad…" Videl sighed as she rubbed her hand across her face.
"Sorry, Sweetpea. You know your daddy has to make an entrance." Mr. Satan whispered to Videl.
"I know…"
"Alright, let's give these two awesome fighters another round of applause!" Mr. Satan shouted to the crowd. "First, I'd like to present the runner-up, my daughter, Videl, who I'm very proud of, her prize money! Here ya go, daughter. You've earned it."
"Thanks, Dad."
"And now onto the winner! Gohan, you beat my daughter good."
"Ha-ha...You don't have to phrase it like that…" Gohan muttered.
"I am honored to call you champ and present you this prize money and this shiny new belt.
Mr. Satan handed Gohan his prize money and placed the belt around his waist.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" T.A exclaimed. "Let's give it up one more time for Videl Satan and Son Gohan!"
Videl and Gohan stood side by side, holding hands, as they took a bow. It was a picturesque moment, a moment that was about to be shattered as an explosion suddenly rocked the building.
"What was that!? An audience member exclaimed before a second explosion tore open a massive hole in the roof of the building breaking the artificial sky in the process.
Everyone looked up in shock as three figures partly obscured by the natural sunlight floated above. One of them had something in their right hand before dropping it to the ground. The object was light and moved in the wind before eventually landing in the ring.
Gohan's eyes went wide as he realized what it was, a white cape, Dabura's cape…
A/N
So if you're a long-time reader of this series I bet you're wondering where I've been. To make a long story short, some stuff happened and I ended up losing access to this account. But I am glad to say I'm finally back and plan to update this story regularly. Sorry for the long absence, and please let me know your thoughts on the chapter. Have a great day. ~TheUltimateMystic