Chapter 16:
Caulifla's eye twitched in rage as Tink continued to roll on the ground. "Umm, Miss Tink?" Nyx asked, gulping nervously when Caulifla glared at her, causing Tink to swiftly jump to her feet. "Sorry about that Lady Nyx." She apologized, scratching her nose.
Listening to them, Caulifla smiled as she stared at Nyx Talia. "So your in charge?" Caulifla asked forming a red energy ball in her hand, grunting in anger when Tink kicked her in the back of the head, sending the energy ball flying into a nearby area. "Sorry, but I cant let you do that!" Tink stated, waggling her finger. "No one touches Lady Nyx while I live. I promised Drago and Talia that I would protect her." Tinkk explained, cracking her knuckles. "You can knock me out if you want, but I'll never let you get Lady Nyx." Tink added, motioning for Caulifla to come closer. "You're really starting to piss me off. I'll eliminate both of you at the same time." Caulifla announced, clenching her fist tightly. "Never! I shall protect Lady Nyx with my very being!" Tink yelled as she began to punch and kick Caulifla.
Blocking every attack Tink threw at her, Caulifla scoffed. "No wonder you were stronger in the shadows. I wasn't even fighting you." Caulifla stated, laughing. Narrowing her eyes, Tink chuckled. "You let your guard down!" Tink cried as she kicked Caulifla in the leg, staggering her. "Upsy daisy " Tink laughed as she grabbed Caulifla by the hair, spinning her in circles. "Bye bye buddy!" Tink called as she threw Caulifla toward the edge.
Catching herself on a rock, Caulifla stumbled as the world around her spun. "Now you're a horsey! Giddy up!" Tink mocked as she landed on her shoulders, pulling on her hair. "Get off me!" Caulifla yelled as she swiped at Tink.
Sliding off of her shoulders just as Caulifla punched at her, Tink caused Caulifla to punch herself in the face. "What's wrong? Why are you hitting yourself? Are you sad? Does the wittle baby need a hug?" Tink mocked as she spread her arms, motioning at Caulifla to hug her. "Damn you!" Caulifla yelled, charging at Tink. "Whoopsie." Tink announced, cracking a smile as she tripped her.
Rolling forward, Caulifla roared in annoyance as she charged back at her, her eye twitching in rage when she saw that Tink was sitting on the ground, waving at her. Just before Caulifla reached her, the ground beneath her erupted in explosions.
As the smoke cleared, Caulifla stood with a shocked face, stunned by what had happened. "And boom goes the dynamite!" Tink cheered while preforming a ridiculous dance. "Miss Tink, I think we've played long enough. You know what Dad and Uncle Shougen say about wasting time during a fight." Nyx stated, making Tink pout. "Fine, just stand back." Tink reluctantly agreed. Sighing, Tink tapped her wrists.
Caulifla gasped when Tink's fists were covered by golden metal in the shape of giant fists with red gems engraved in one, while yellow gems adorned the other. "Let's get ready to rumble!" Tink cried as she ran towards Caulifla.
Without a second thought, Caulifla blocked Tink's punch with one of her own, crying out in pain, she stumbled backwards as she grasped her fist tightly. "What the hell is this? My hand feels like its on fire! What did you do?" Tink clicked her tongue, waggling her finger in the air. "A girl never reveals her secrets. "She explained as she followed up with a second punch to Caulifla's side; causing her to recoil once again as her body began to spasm. "What the hell is going on!? It feels like I just got struck by lightning. Wait, it's got to be those golden gauntlets of hers." " ding ding ding! Lady's and gentleman we have a winner." Tink mocked, slapping Caulifla on the back; causing her to jump as an intense heat coursed up her spine. "Lady Nyx, why don't you tell this young lady what she's won." Sighing, Nyx shook her head as she giggled. "Alright, Nyx will humor you this time. Miss Tink, Nyx is honored to announce that Miss Caulifla has won the grand prize of elimination!" "That's right, let's go!" Tink cheered as she charged at Caulifla again.
Yamcha and Gohan continued to attack Aoia, her stoic expression remaining as she expertly dodged their attacks. "You are not performing at your highest capabilities. Why?" Aoia asked as she continued to dance around their punches. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Gohan grunted as Aoia caught his punch. "You may be able to fool inferior minds, but you cannot hide your fallacies from me. You are performing at a lowered state out of worry for your companion. In a shortened way; you believe that if you fight with the power you have hidden within, you will bring injury to him." Gohan's eyes widened in shock at Aoia's words, gritting his teeth when Yamcha looked at him. "Is that true? Gohan?" Yamcha asked, stepping back. "Yes… It is. I wanted to keep it a secret until we needed it. How did you know?" Gohan asked, grunting when Aoia hummed, a slight smile forming on her face. "I have scanned every member of your team, I have also run multiple diagnostic reports on the possible outcomes of every possible encounter." Gohan took a step back and shook his head in utter shock at what she was saying. "For example; I am aware that the one known as Jiren hides great power within himself. Much more than he is currently exerting in his confrontation with Kukei. I must admit though, that those like you; the ones known as Saiyan's, has left me a little rattled." "Why's that?" Yamcha asked, tilting his head. "Even though I have scanned them all; multiple times. I receive nothing but error reports. Every single one of them; from the likes of Goku, Broly and Vegeta, to even the youngest of them; just like your daughter, Pan." Aoia explained, pointing at Gohan. "That also includes you."
Hearing her words, Yamcha looked at Gohan. "What does she mean? Have you reached another level?" Yamcha asked, watching silently as Gohan looked at Aoia, charging at her without a second thought.
In his haste to avoid answering Yamcha's question, Gohan charged straight into a barrage of Aoia's attacks. "If you do not intend on telling him, than I shall." Aoia ordered as she swept Gohan's legs out from under him. "Your friend, Gohan; will not allow himself to use his highest level of strength and abilities with you nearby. He fears that his power may be to much for him to handle and as a result, may lead to you becoming injured because of his ignorance and/ or incompetence. Because of this, I am afraid that you must step down from this encounter." "What?" Yamcha asked, taking his fighting stance. "As I have just previously announced; you must step down from this encounter." Aoia repeated as she raised her fist towards Yamcha's head.
As she smiled, her arm, from the elbow down rocketed from her body. Yamcha gasped, gritting his teeth tightly as her arm flew past his head. Turning to watch her arm, he was unable to protect himself when Aoia kicked him in the head, sending him flying into Gohan's waiting arms. "I've gotcha." Gohan assured him, lowering him to his feet. "Thanks man." Yamcha sighed, taking a fighting stance as Aoia shook her head. "Why do insist on saving him? He js holding you back from your true potential." Gohan's eyes narrowed at her words, glaring at her with anger. "I caught him because he's my friend. Someone as emotionless as you could never understand!" Gohan yelled as he charged once more at Aoia.
Watching Gohan trading punches with Aoia, Yamcha sighed. "Mabey she's right. I don't feel any different since Merus's training. Even so, I'm not gonna go down without a fight." Yamcha announced, clenching his fist with a smile as he watched Aoia and Gohan.
"You called me emotionless before. You were wrong." "What?" Gohan asked as he kicked Aoia away "I am not emotionless. I feel happiness, anger and sadness toward those that I consider; friends. I choose to push my emotions aside in combat to free my mind, to allow myself to concentrate on the encounter at hand. I also feel unrequited love for my master, yet he is to blind to see it. He would rather be seduced by that cat woman, nevertheless, I will not allow him to succumb to the mortal coil. I simply asked you; why you would choose to help him when he is the one that is holding you back from performing at your full capacity?" Gohan looked at the ground at Aoia's words, unable to fathom a respectable response to her question.
"Now's my chance" Yamcha whispered to himself, smiling when he saw that Aoia had her back turned to him. "Wolf Fang Fist!" Gohan looked up at Yamcha's cry and jumped away from Aoia just as Yamcha charged into her, attacking her with a volley of swift punches, the final strike knocking her head clean from her body.
Her head came crashing to the ground with her body following suit, causing everyone to gasp. "What happened?" "I don't know, her head came off. Is it supposed to do that?" The Zeno's asked, looking at themselves as Yamcha pulled on his hair. "Oh crap!" Yamcha cried, running towards Aoia's motionless body. "Hey! Are you gonna do something about this? She's dead!?" Peiri yelled up at the Grand Priest as he continued to stare at the battlefield; motionless with the same disturbing smile spread wide across his face. "No, I don't think I will." He simply spoke, sending Peiri crashing back into her seat; even more enraged at the Grand Priest. Looking up at him, Whis narrowing his eyes, along with Vados, Marcarita and Kaseaen joined in; watching the Grand Priest, with confused expressions.
Picking up Aoia's head, Yamcha sighed. "I didn't mean to kill her." He apologized, looking up at Gohan; saddened by his actions. "What are you waiting for, you idiot!? Throw her body over!" Berrus yelled from the stands, shaking his fist. "Have some respect for the dead!" Belmond spat, shaking his head. "Please, excuse him." Belmond apologized to Peiri for Berrus's actions, tilting his head when Peiri chuckled. "No, it's alright. Sturan can put her back together. He's done it before." Belmond, rose an eyebrow at her. "Sturan is a genius, he's made backups of her consciousness to place in other bodies that he's made for her. "Interesting, I suppose that being a android has it's perks." Belmond admitted, returning his attention to the arena.
Picking up Aoia's body, Gohan and Yamcha stood at the edge of the arena. "This has gotten bad. First that Zagraeus guy and now this. How many people are going to die today?" Yamcha asked, starring at the head in his hands. "No one else… Hopefully. I just don't understand why the Grand Priest isn't doing anything about it. He's just smiling as he watches us slaughter each other." Gohan agreed, skeptical of the Grand Priest's true motives. "I must agree, it is certainly an intriguing question." "Ahh!" Yamcha shouted, jumping inn pure terror as Aoia's head spoke. "What the-." Gohan's words were cut short as Aoia's body wrapped around him, twisting his arm backward. "Never let your guard down." Aoia ordered, kneeing Gohan in the kidney as she released him.
Yamcha still stood, frozen in fear, mortified by the fact that he was holding a talking head in his hands as Aoia bit his finger. Dropping her head, Aoia laughed. "What are you laughing at?" Gohan asked, rising to his feet. "How easily you forget." Aoia mocked, waggling her finger as her fist rocketed back towards her.
Gohan gasped as Aoia's fist flew past them both and hit Yamcha in the back of the head, knocking him out instantly; sending him falling from the side. Running to the edge, Gohan sighed when he saw that Yamcha had landed on an outcropping rock, face down, unconscious. Hanging his head, he sighed. "A slight miscalculation, I shall deal with him at a later date. My main objective still lies ahead." Aoia stated, reattaching her head. "That's so cool." "I know, imagine if we could do that. It would be so creepy." The Zeno's cheered, laughing at each other.
"Now that the outlying obstacle has been removed. Perhaps you are willing to actually try?" Gohan grit his teeth as Aoia spoke, appearing in front of her without a single word, punching her in the face; sending her flying. Smirking, he cupped his hands behind his back . "Kamehameha!" He roared, firing the legendary beam at her, carrying her into her the large pole in the center of the arena. "Better?" Gohan asked, landing infront of her as she crashed to the ground. "As a starting point… it is, acceptable." she admitted, charging at him.
Tien recoiled as Gazu attacked him with the butt of his sword. "You're pretty good." Tien admitted as he removed his chest armor and shirt, tossing it at Gazu. Catching it; Gazu was amazed at how heavy it was. "Heavier than it looks, isn't it?" Tien asked wile he stretched; now in only his pants and boots. "So, you wear weighted armor for training and battle as well?" Gazu asked, tossing the armor to the ground. "We all do. For instance; Goku's wrist bands and Vegeta's gloves weigh more than most houses. "Interesting. It seems that our Universes are similar in some ways." "How's that?" Tien asked, genuinely interested. "Zagraeus and Shogen had the idea for us to train in weighted clothing as well." Tien's eyes snapped open at Gazu words. "You mean you're all wearing weighted clothes?" Grinning at Tien's question, he shook his head. "Not all of us." Gazu admitted, tossing his singular shoulder guard at Tien who diligently caught it.
The weight of the shoulder guard pulled him to the ground the second he caught it, causing him to gasp in shock. "What? This has to weigh a hundred tons." Tien grunted as he climbed out of the crater the shoulder guard had made. "5 thousand, actually." Gazu corrected, rotating his shoulder.
Tien jumped as Gazu's voice came from behind him. Turning, he gasped when he saw Gazu standing with his arms crossed, a wide smile stretched across his face. "Your Universe is not the only one to realize that training with weighted clothing heightens both speed and strength when removed. " Gazu explained, running around Tien for a moment before slashing with his sword.
Gazu hummed when his sword sliced through Tien who instantly vanished. "The good old afterimage, huh?" Gazu chuckled as he threw his sword at the ground directly in front of where Tien appeared at that very moment, leaving him completely speechless. "How did you know?" Tien asked, visually stunned. Smiling, Gazu shook his head. "As I hhave mentioned before; the darkness offers many benefits." Tien squinted at Gazu for a moment, slightly confused by his meaning. "Is that so? How about we try the four witches technique then?" Tien thought to himself, crossing his arms. "If you don't mind my prying, what is the four witches technique?" Gazu asked, his voice echoing inside Tien's head. "No wonder you've been able to see through all of my techniques. You can use telepathy!" Tien accused, pointing in Gazu's direction as he smiled. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag now." Gazu shrugged as he stretched his legs. "Though, I suppose since you asked nicely. I'll show you the four witches technique anyway." Tien stated, closing his eyes.
Squatting, he spread his arms to his sides as he began to yell. Bright lights began to surround as as he continued to yell in pain; his voice echoing across the battlefield, making the other fighters stop momentarily. "The hell is that?" Shogen asked as Broly shook his head.
Noticing that Shogen was distracted, he quickly copied what Shogen had done to him earlier by punching him in the throat and following up by picking Shogen up, above his head. While he was stunned, Broly slammed him roughly, face first into the ground.
Tien continued to yell as he pulled his arms in closer to himself as the light became brighter. As two extra arms sprouted from Tien's back, the lights began to fade.
Standing up straight, he began to breath heavily as Gazu stared, stone faced at him. "Well, is it what you expected?" Tien asked, clenching his fists. "I'm not sure yet." Gazu replied, smiling as Tien ran at him.
Blocking the first two punches with his sword, Gazu tried to counter with a downward slice. Seeing this, Tien caught the sword in his extra hands; causing Gazu to gasp as Tien forcefully pulled the sword from his hands, head-butting him as he threw the sword away. While Gazu recoiled from the attack, Tien grabbed both of his arms with his extra ones, attacking him with lunches while he remained unable to defend himself.
Mimi caught Fleur as Kale tried to throw her off the side and retaliated by throwing a Kunai with a chain attached to it at her; which Merrick easily caught. "How many of these things do you have?" He asked as she yanked on the Kunai pulling Mimi towards her. Smirking, Merrick clotheslined her, knocking the air out of her with the momentum from her chain.
Looking down at him, Kale smiled. "Thanks Merrick." She thanked, smiling. "No problem, I've got you." He replied, tossing her a thumbs up. "Alright, now to deal with the other one." He stated, running toward Fleur who began to fire arrows at him.
Kicking, Merrick grumbled when he kicked clear over Fleur's head. "Sometimes being short has it's perks." Fleur mocked, placing an arrow in the center of his back.
Reaching for it, Merrick growled when he failed to grab it, grunting in pain when a wave of powerful electric currents raced through his body, bringing him to one knee. Gasping when Kale cried out.
Looking up at her, Merrick gasped when he saw Mimi standing on her shoulders. "Nice view from up here." Mimi praised as she looked around, giggling when Kale growled. "Get off me!" Kale yelled as she tried to grab Mimi who jumped over her hand, wrapping the chain of her Kusarigama around Kale's neck.
Jumping off her shoulders, Mimi laughed as she thrust the blade into the ground, using it to steady herself as she began to try and pull Kale down onto her back.
Seeing this, Merrick grit his teeth. "Kale, hold on!" He called, grumbling when Fleur giggled. "Sorry, I have to protect my Universe. I'm sure you understand." She explained, shoving a large, round, glowing orb into his mouth.
The moment it entered his mouth, the orb dissolved into a fine dust; sending him crashing to the ground. "Now just sleep tight alright?" Fleur asked, checking his pulse to make sure that he was still alive.
With her feet pressed against Kale's back, Mimi pulled with all of her strength as Kale began to choke. "Fleur! If your done with him, do something!" Looking at Mimi with wide eyes, she shook her head as her lips curled into a scowl. "Like what!? Fleur yelled, throwing her arms in the air. "Something! Anything! She's too strong!" Mimi cried in rebuttal as Kale began to pull the chain away from her throat. Without thinking, Fleur grabbed an arrow from her quiver and shot it at Kale.
As it struck her chest, the flat mechanism attached to the head burst, sending the same electrical currents through her body as Merrick's. "Alright, what now?" Fleur asked as she folded her bow and hooked it on her belt. "Now help me!" Mimi yelled to Fleur as Kale's body became easier to pull thanks to the paralyzing agent spreading over her body.
"Right." Fleur agreed as she placed the blade of the Kusarigama back into its sheath on Mimi's back. Taking the chain into her small hands, she began to help Mimi drag the weakened Kale towards the edge.
Hit continued to stand completely still as he held the small purple ball in Sakura's direction. "This… Isn't good." he grunted as Sakura began to struggle. Craning his neck, he grumbled when he saw Sakura beginning to slowly walk in place. "What is she doing?" Champa asked as Peiri began to laugh. "What's so funny?" Champa asked, now visually annoyed. "Don't count Sakura out yet. I once saw Sakura run so fast; she created a tornado so powerful it helped to lift Vitania's moons back into orbit." The God's starred at Peiri in utter disbelief of what she had just said. "Let me guess, those are the same moons that the big one supposedly stopped from impacting your planet? Stopping their descent with just his brute strength alone?" Berrus asked in a condescending tone. "Yes, actually they are." Peiri answered, causing Berrus to laugh. "It is rude to mock someone else's accomplishments, lord Berrus." Whis berated him. Growling, Berrus looked over at him. "Wait, you're serious?" Berrus asked; fear filling his voice.
Crossing her arms, Peiri smiled. "Don't count us out until the end. We Vitanian's have been through more than you can imagine and we have always come out on top. Even when staring the apocalypse in the face, or having to fight a God. You may cause us to fall but we'll never stay down. Even when pushed to our limits; we will always find a way to push further beyond." Peiri praised as she noticed that Sakura's legs were starting to move faster; becoming blurry as she began to stir up dirt. "What is she doing?" Belmond asked, leaning forward. "since Hit's ability is holding her in place, she is using all of her strength and stamina to speed up the molecules in her body; causing her legs to be able to move at such speeds even though she is still frozen in time." The gods and those on the stands stared at Kaylin as he explained Sakura's movement in complete shock. "Are you saying that that rabbit is so fast even time itself means nothing?" Berrus asked, crossing his arms. "Precisely" Kaylin answered as both Berrus and Champa fell back into their seats.
"At this rate, it won't last" Hit mumbled as he watched Sakura's legs which were now nothing more than a blurry infinity symbol. "Even though she's speeding up her legs she still isn't moving. Unless." Belmond wondered, coming to a conclusion just as a loud bang resounded the stage and a shockwave rocked it to its very core, followed by an intense blue glow. "What just happened? Where's Hit?" Champa asked as Vados placed the end of her staff on his chest. "It seems as if Sakura built up speed in her legs as you saw. What you didn't see; was that once she had built up enough speed, she used it to catapult herself forward at such an intense speed, it created a sonic boom. She then punched Hit while she ran. Where either of them are now, I cannot say." "Are you saying that she reached the speed of sound?" Shin asked, still shaken by Vados's explanation. "Yes and no." Kaylin corrected as the entirety of the stands looked back at him. "What are you talking about? Just say it already." The elder Kai stated, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "She reached the speed of sound and created a sonic boom, but the blue glow that was emitted is called a Luminal boom; which is created by Cherenkov radiation when something reaches not only the speed of sound… But the speed of light." The entirety of the stands looked to Kaylin, completely dumbfounded. "The speed of light!?" both Champa and Berrus yelled as Belmond stared blankly at Jiren who was still fighting Kukei. "What are we doing?" he mumbled to himself.
Scowling, Hiromi pulled his hood over his head. "If this is all your gonna offer, I think it'd be better if we found other opponents." He stated, crossing his arms. "Why?" Merus asked, tilting his head subtly. "You're playing with me. I know I'm not as strong as Shougen or Zagraeus. Hell, I'm not even as strong as Kukei, but I'm still a warrior. If I'm gonna loose, I want to know that I lost to someone using their full power. I'm not a child, I don't need you to let me believe that I have a chance. Do me the honor of allowing me to test my strength. If I loose, at lest let me have the honor that I went down fighting, not; that I went down with falsified hope. I would rather fall with a bang, than with a whimper." Hearing Hiromi's statement, Merus nodded in agreement. "I didn't know you felt that way, forgive me for my ignorance." Merus apologized, bowing respectfully to him. "Don't just apologize to me, apologize to yourself. Do yourself the honor of proving your strength, don't lower yourself to someone else's expectation of power. You're not an Angel anymore, so what? Prove to everyone, to yourself; that you are strong. It doesn't matter if no one believes in you; all that matters is that you believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, others will begin to believe in you." Hiromi explained, clenching his fist.
Looking down at the ground, Merus nodded. "You're right, lets try again." Merus stated, powering up; a cosmic bright white aura Surrounding him." Smiling, he vanished, leaving Hiromi with a large smile on his face.