Papaya Island, Tenka'ichi Budōkai
The mood this time around was a lot different to the matches beforehand. In the semifinals, 2 of the 4 fighters were out for vengeance and to kill, while the other 2 eventually put them in their place, and emerged stronger because of it. Now, Son Gokū and Caulifla will face off against one another in a tournament for the first time in 6 years. But if the previous 2 matches were any indicator, this was going to be one for the books.
In the ring, both Saiyans had their tails wrapped comfortably around their waists and both gave a formal bow before settling into their respective stances.
Gokū readied himself for an exciting match, but while looking at his opponent and fiance, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. The damage to her gi from the fight prior gave her a warrior's charm alongside her natural toned curves, in addition to her chest being ample, but not excessively so, complimented with a well-toned core where hints of her abdominal muscles could be seen.
Caulifla's mindset was similar as she analyzed the chiseled form of Gokū's exposed torso. Most of the muscles in his upper body displaced his skin, and she imagined that the solidity of it all could be used to grind meat into puree. Gokū was not overly built, but not scrawny either. The balance was practically perfect to her.
Both fighters quickly shook their heads and quickly put those thoughts to rest as another, more chucklesome thought came to mind.
'Great. Now I'm thinking like Rōshi/Bulma…'
"Aaaaaahahahaaaaalright, folks!" The announcer cheered out, still lacking the oomph of an in-person audience, but kept the show rolling regardless. He just hoped that this wouldn't become the norm at some point in life. "We have a rematch that is 6 whole years in the making! More than half a decade ago, Contestant Son Gokū and Contestant Caulifla faced off in the finals eager to take home the gold! Due to circumstances, Contestant Son Gokū forfeited by ring-out, giving the victory to Contestant Caulifla. Will he finally get a win after coming runner-up twice in a row, or will Caulifla take home the gold and earn it?! READY YOURSELVES!"
Both fighters tightened the formation of their stances and readied themselves for the fight soon to come.
"I don't think I've seen these two fight before," Tenshinhan commented from the waiting wings. "This should be a sight to see."
"That's putting it mildly," Kuririn added with a small chuckle. "Back when we were training with Muten Rōshi, I saw those two spar in the off-hours. I almost mistook one evening fight for an earthquake one time."
"Yeah, I remember that," Lunch added, remembering the tremors felt on Elche Island. "Those two managed to impress Blonde all those years ago. Kinda also got me the Martial Artist's bug in the process."
"Um, Blonde?" Tenshinhan questioned, a touch bit confused to what Lunch meant before he remembered the story of her personalities before they merged. "Oh, right. Forgot."
Over in the ring, the drums courtesy of Kami ramped up to a trill until-
GONG!
"BEGIN!"
Both Gokū and Caulifla sprung forth, clashing against one another in the ring. Flurries of limbs started off before Gokū quickly broke off the engagement with a quick backflip. Defying the laws of motion with his power of flight, Gokū then shot back towards Caulifla, right foot first, but the woman dodged out of the way, leaving Gokū to kick nothing but reinforced marble tile that cracked under his force. Caulifla returned in kind with a left hook which Gokū quickly ducked under. This dance of dodging carried on for a few seconds until a cluster of tile pebbles got caught under Gokū's foot, slipping him up.
"HA!"
Caulifla threw a heavy-handed kiai right at Gokū before he could correct his balance and the invisible cannon ball of force sent him flying off the ground. The attack did no damage to him, but it served to stagger him even further, to which Cauliifla leapt forth to keep up the pressure. She struck right at her fiance's abdomen, only to find that it was immediately blocked, and the nerves in her fist and forearm began to spasm from electric arcs.
"DENKIKEN!" Gokū shouted as he tightened his grip on Caulifla's fist and threw her back, regaining some distance. The Saiyan woman quickly shook the spasms out of her hand as her fists began to arc with electricity as well.
"Caught a lucky break with the debris tripping you up," Caulifla sighed as she readied her fists, now brimming with electric power. "Though I'm not surprised you rebounded like that."
"Can't make it too easy, can I?~" Gokū responded with a grin, settling back into his stance, fists arcing with electricity. "You did say you wanted to win this legit. That means I'm not gonna ring-out so easily."
"You say that like you're still holding out on me," Caulifla retorted with a smirk.
"Takes one to know one, am I right?~" Gokū teased back.
A few seconds passed before both fighters charged forth again, the proverbial stun-gloves of the Denkiken primed in both pairs of fists. The clash in the center of the arena released another shockwave, but this time it was accented by lightning that arced around the bubble of the burst, but fortunately dissipated just before the edge of the ring. The static charge was still palpable to those watching as the two Saiyans duked it out. Blocking was out of the question given the technique that was at hand, so the two had to resort to parrying or dodging to avoid having their muscles spasm erratically due to the currents at play here.
Over by the Spectator wing, Muten Rōshi was analyzing the technique and grinned at the progress his two students have made in adapting his own technique. "Heh. Definitely more viable than the ol' Bankoku Bikku Risho, that's for damn sure," The Kame-Sennin commented aloud with a chuckle. "Sure it doesn't have range, but at least you can move while using the technique."
"You're saying that the move they're using was inspired by your technique?" Menra asked, genuinely surprised and also impressed.
"Gokū's handiwork," Rōshi clarified. "Of course Caulifla managed to put a spin on my Kamehameha technique as well."
"Ah yes, I remember your theory on projected ki attacks," Menra mused, thinking back to the days she trained under Mutaito before returning her attention back to the present. "Though I will say that there's something odd about the strength in those two."
"You mean how it's slowly growing as they fight?" Rōshi guessed, surprising Menra in the process, to which he simply chuckled with a smile twitching under his beard.. "Not for me to share with the world out loud, but I'm going out on a limb and thinking it's part of their heritage."
Back in the ring, clashes of fists and lightning echoed across the air, with the electricity dancing in arcs along the tile before vanishing. Caulifla was the first to get struck, only for Gokū's fist to phase directly through her, which was actually her afterimage. Gokū was initially surprised, but quickly caught on and expanded his senses to his mind's eye. He was quick to notice Caulifla's ki right behind him, already throwing a fist at his back, but her fist phased through goku just like before, and thus the Zanzoken duel began, strikes hitting fading afterimages until the two locked fists and were in a power struggle. Despite the strain both fighters were putting on, they were wearing very big smiles, something that was absent from their previous matchups before. With Gokū and Caulifla's fights with Piccolo and Chi-Chi respectively, that was just to put down a quest for revenge. Here, they were having fun, and lots of it.
The power struggle was seemingly even between the two. Whatever ground that was lost on one side was quickly regained and taken in kind before the other side returned the favor. The tide began to turn as Gokū's fists began to cease sparking with electricity and a faint aura began to glow around his fists. The muscles in his fists began to spasm ever so slightly, lacking an electric aura to fend off Caulifla's, but the issue was negated as two bright blue spheres of ki welled up within Gokū's palms, separating the two from their power struggle, and forcing Caulifla back from the sudden build of force.
"Here's a double KAMEHAMEHA!" Gokū roared out as the spheres of ki built up in his palms shot forth right at Caulifla, seeking to send her flying by sheer force. The twin beams connected with a target, but surprisingly were being forced back all of a sudden. Where Caulifla was standing, two beams of her own were forced into Gokū's attack, and the entire time, she was grinning like an excited child.
"Two can play at that game!" Caulifla retorted as she pooled ki into her own twin Kamehameha. The beam struggle seemed just as even as the power struggle from before, but Caulifla clenched both her ring and pinky fingers, causing her beam to shift from blue to red. Her grin only deepened as she brought both of her hands together, forcing the two beams into one like a zipper.
"Oh crap…" Gokū muttered as he swiftly cut off the ki flow to his double Kamehameha and immediately jumped skyward to avoid the explosion from Caulifla's Kamebasuto.
The resulting explosion came, and a large smokescreen obfuscated the entire arena. Gokū looked down and extended his senses out. Caulifla's ki was still flared as it usually is when in the heat of battle, but he could not tell if she suffered backfire from the technique or not. It had to have been minor since her ki had not dropped in the slightest. A string of smoke shot out from the cloud, and free of the screen was Caulifla, a thin layer of soot coating her skin in patches, but overall she was none the worse for wear. She bolted skyward, fist first in a swift uppercut motion. Gokū quickly leaned back, avoiding the high speed fist that was aimed at his jaw, but grazed his cheek ever so slightly. Time seemed to slow to his perception as he noticed the excess momentum in Caulifla's attack and smirked. With a quick spin, Gokū delivered a swift left hook into Caulifla's gut, knocking the wind out of her for just a moment, but the stun was enough for Gokū to follow up with an aggressive sledgehammer move that hight right at the small of Caulifla's back, causing the Saiyan woman to yelp in pain as she plummeted back to earth, dispersing the dust cloud with the sheer force of her fall alone.
Gokū descended back down to the ring, seeing Caulifla prone in a shallow crater of her making, but despite how much that exchange hurt like Hell, she was still smiling.
"Okay, definitely overshot that Shoryuken," Caulifla chuckled as she got up, gingerly rubbing her stomach.
"Uh, Shoryuken?" Gokū repeated questioningly, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"Eh, apparently a name for a jumping uppercut attack like that," Caulifla explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "I forget who mentioned it, but I think it's from a video game?"
"Kinda a dramatic name for a basic move like that," Gokū responded while scratching the back of his head. "It's like naming that Double Kamehameha I pulled off something stupid like 'Double Sunday' or something."
Unknown Location
"ACHOO!" A well-built man with wild and overly long hair adorned in armor let out a very massive sneeze but recovered just in time to tilt his head to the side to avoid a slow-moving glob of green plasma.
"If you're gonna sneeze, sneeze on these worm golem things, why don't ya?!" A shorter, far more aggressive man shouted as he unleashed a hailstorm of ki into several targets.
"I'll bear that in mind next time someone talks about me while I'm in battle!" The taller man sarcastically shot back before throwing a lob of pink ki at targets of his own.
Papaya Island, Tenka'ichi Budōkai
"Alright, frivolous technique names aside, let's get back to it!" Caulifla declared as she squared up, prompting Gokū to do the same.
The two fighters sprung forth and met again in the center of the ring, each side trying to gain ground, or if some was lost, regain it. Parries, dodges, switching up of patterns to throw each other off, It was all the spectating Dragon Team could do just to keep up with the fight. Attempts to trip the other up were met with effective retaliation and follow-ups. Stray ki blasts were lobbed from both sides - fortunately aimed upward so as to avoid any structures or spectators - as the two split apart and leapt around the arena, augmenting their jumps with Bukujutsu each time before meeting in the ring again with a flurry of fists. The skirmish broke apart once two punches collided, creating a palpable shockwave that kicked up a lot of dust, and both fighters were pushed back from the force they've thrown. The two stood up and took a moment to analyze each other and themselves.
"Gettin' tired?" Gokū chuckled in between breaths. "Looks like you're… running out of steam."
"Look who's talking," Caulifla jeered back, her breathing just as haggard, but grinning regardless. "Still, I'm having one whale of a time! You?"
"Oh yeah!" Gokū nodded along, finally catching his breath. "No stopping some… evil plan to take over the world, or dealing with… vendettas, just good ol'... mutually assured ass-kicking!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Caulifla agreed, smiling warmly. 'Still, I wanna try and win this fight if I can.'
'Damn! She's good!' Gokū jubilantly exclaimed in his head. 'She's meeting me blow for blow, not to mention matching my technique! I still wanna win this though. I really don't wanna come up short a 3rd time. Wait…'
The proverbial lightbulb came to light above Gokū's head and he began grinning like an idiot, somewhat perplexing Caulifla.
"Alright, I think it's time we decide a winner here!" Gokū declared as he readied himself to charge.
"Oh I see!" Caulifla commented with a smirk, readying herself. "We're gonna throw one last big attack to see who comes out on top!"
"Got a problem with that?~" Gokū taunted.
"Pfft! As if!" Caulifla chuckled.
The two began to charge forth. Both Saiyans pulled their fists back poised to give a knock-out hit. It was when Gokū leapt up and altered his attack into a flying kick that threw Caulifla for a loop, but she was quick to adapt and deliver one of her own. An eerie orange aura soon enveloped the female Saiyan as her eyes turned that ominous shade of yellow.
'Crapbaskets!' Gokū screamed in his head as he fought to dig up the Ikari State himself. Surprisingly, he was able to do so, and the orange aura and yellow eyes came to him as well, increasing his power tenfold.
Eventually, the two met in the center, creating a massive shockwave that rattled the foundations of the ring and the surrounding buildings, despite Kami's improvements. Gokū's foot was buried right into Caulifla's cheek, while her own foot harshly grazed Gokū's jaw, the force sending each other backwards and collapsed onto the floor, their auras dissipating once they hit the floor. Moments passed and while it was clear both were still alive judging by their breathing, neither was getting up.
"Uh, Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer stammered in pure disbelief. "This is a first for my career as an announcer, and maybe even the Tenka'ichi Budōkai itself! Both finalists have knocked each other out! I'll start the 10 count! One! Two! Three!"
"That's incredible!" Yamcha commented as he watched both fighters knock each other out simultaneously. "Figures those two would be so balanced as to knock each other out!"
"Four! Five!"
"I wouldn't be so sure, lad," Rōshi retorted with a small chuckle.
"Six! Seven!"
"What do you mean?" Yamcha inquired.
"Eight! Nine! TEN! …Uh, they're still both out!"
"Aw man!" Lunch whined, throwing her arms up in the air in disappointment. "Are we really ending that on a draw?!"
"We'll have to see who gets up first!" The announcer declared, putting aside Lunch's misgivings. "The first monks of the Tenka'ichi Budōkai counted on this happening! Whoever can stand up straight will be declared the winner!"
"Huh. That's convenient," Kuririn shrugged. "Now we just gotta see who gets up first."
Slowly, but surely, both fighters began to stir and try to push themselves up. It was clear that that last kick had done a lot, and every move to get up was met with a splitting headache. Caulifla managed to get to her feet first, but immediately collapsed the moment she tried to stand upright. Gokū had to keep himself supported on his leg for a couple of seconds before ultimately standing up with a tired grin.
"Contestant Caulifla is still down while Contestant Son Gokū managed to stand up!" The announcer cheered, seeing Gokū standing, and Caulifla still down. "CONTESTANT SON GOKU IS THE WINNER AND CHAMPION!"
The spectating Dragon Team all cheered at this victory, and then noticed Caulifla slowly stir again. She groaned as she held the bruise on her cheek and did a quick count with her tongue to make sure all of her teeth were intact. All good there.
"Damn, that hurt like Hell!" Caulifla groaned as she struggled to push herself up, but was then greeted by a hand. She looked up and saw it belonged to Gokū, who was wearing his trademark grin. She couldn't help but smile back as she took his hand and was brought to her feet. "Tried to use what little bits of Ikari state I could tap into left in that one."
"No kidding," Gokū nodded with a chuckle. "Moment I saw your eyes flash yellow, I got scared for a second. Especially since I was banking on being the taller one here."
"That's a typical Gokū stunt right there," Caulifla snickered as she watched her fiance sheepishly scratch the back of his head. "Though it looked like you were struggling to tap into the Ikari State also."
"I dunno," Gokū shrugged. "Maybe because you used it in the fight before, it was still fresh for you to grab hold of?"
"Makes sense," Caulifla nodded, holding her chin inquisitively, while also trying to numb the pain in her face. "Maybe it's easiest to tap into it after we go Oozaru. I mean, we didn't get any moon training with Kami after all."
"Uh, Excuse me!" The announcer called out as he approached Gokū with an envelope in hand. "Here's your winnings!"
"Oh, thanks," Gokū thanked as he kindly took the envelope, and then immediately handed it back to the announcer. "And here's some cash to help fix the damage done today!"
"Are you sure about that?" The announcer inquired. "You won it fair and square."
"Well if it's my money, I should get to decide what to do with it, right?" Gokū retorted with a grin.
"Um, Okay then!" The announcer ultimately agreed, taking the envelope back. "You two surely are something else!"
"We get that a lot," Caulifla agreed as she hugged Gokū's arm. "I also can't be too mad that I lost. I can have a rematch any time I want!~"
The Saiyan couple hopped off the ring with a mild stagger, finally unraveling their tails after such an intense and fun fight.
"Way to go, man!" Yamcha cheered for his best friend. "You got the championship title and the girl!"
"Easy for you to say," Kuririn grumbled. "I haven't gotten either."
"Aw come on!" Yamcha consoled with a pat on the back of Kuririn's head instead of his back. The prices for being short right here. "I'm sure the right one is out there somewhere."
Kuririn slyly smirked once Yamcha said that. "Yeah, Might wanna take your own advice there pal."
"H-HEY!" Yamcha exclaimed. "At least I found someone!"
"And you did a marvelous job keeping that!" Bulma sarcastically butted in. "You know the irony here? For someone who themes his technique around wolves, you're surprisingly unloyal!"
"W-WHAT?!" Yamcha stammered, hearing that from Bulma of all people. He opened his mouth to retort, but no words came, and he slowly shrunk back, realizing, Yeah, Bulma's right. Everyone else couldn't help but laugh at the former bandit's misfortune, leaving him to sulk in the corner.
Lunch then immediately perked up. "Oh right! I almost forgot!" She declared as she pulled out a capsule. She gave the device a click and tossed it to the ground. After the 'POI' and cloud passed, on the ground was a present box, addressed to both Gokū and Caulifla. "Tien and I got this for you guys when you got back. I guess you can call it an early wedding gift."
"Box in a capsule, huh?" Caulifla commented. "Is this gonna be like one of those things where there's a bunch of boxes 'till the real gift?"
"Just open the damn box," Lunch rolled her eyes.
Both Gokū and Caulifla began to open the present and found three separate boxes inside. Two of them were equal and square in size - one addressed to each Saiyan, while the third and slightly larger box was addressed to Caulifla specifically. The couple took their respective small boxes and opened them, and were delightfully surprised.
"My grandpa's Dragon Ball!" Gokū beamed as he held the glass amber relic for all to see. He looked over to see Caulifla just as giddy holding the 6-star ball they found together all those years ago. "Aw, you guys shouldn't have!"
"We thought we'd save you a trip," Lunch added, leaning on Tenshinhan's shoulder. "Plus I know how much that… What'd you call him? A clown goblin or something? was hell-bent on gathering 'em, so we decided to take them down a few pegs."
"Please tell me you made them regret it," Caulifla pleaded, remembering all the humiliating and stupid shenanigans the Pilaf Gang had put her and her friends through.
"Ohohohooo yeah, sister," Lunch chuckled as she cracked her knuckles. "But enough about how we whooped a bunch of circus rejects. Open that last box!"
Caulifla rolled her eyes but was most certainly pleased Pilaf got what was coming to him for his meddling, and while Gokū did not say it aloud, he sort of wanted to see that, but was content with the story. He returned his attention to Caulifla as she opened her gift, but both Saiyans looked inside with a bit of confusion.
"Uh, Lunch? This is just a bunch of metal chunks," Caulifla stated as she gestured a hand at the various broken metal fragments and hilt.
"Those shards are actually from the scimitar you used against Piccolo and his minions," Tenshinhan clarified. "We found it in pieces, but couldn't find anyone who could reforge it."
"I could do it," Everyone turned to Caulifla as she was eyeing the fragmented metal in the box. She saw several faces, aside from Gokū's, wearing looks of confusion and bewilderment. "What?! Just because Gokū here forged a ring for me, I can't take a crack at smithing?"
"It's in a lot of pieces though," Kuririn pointed out. "It'll be a pain to put it back together."
"Who said I was gonna put it back together?" Caulifla countered with a smirk. "I'm gonna melt it down and forge it into a katana."
"That sounds awesome!" Gokū agreed. "I think a katana's style would suit you better than a scimitar. Easier flow and handling, y'know?"
"By the way guys," Kuririn spoke up. "Just wondering, when are you two planning to get married?"
"Huh," Gokū hummed as he began to think. "Honestly, I didn't think of that."
"We could have a small ceremony in about 2 weeks from now," Caulifla suggested with a shrug. "I'm not too picky, since-"
"OOOOOOH! Make me maid of honor please!" Bulma squealed as she raised one hand high up in the air. "I'll help plan out the ceremony, reception, I think a Japanese wedding in the mountains near East City would be incredible and…"
Bulma's bubbly ramblings faded into the background as everyone watched her plot everything out, from cake to entertainment to decor and who knows what else.
"I uh, think we've got everything covered, thanks to the Lavender Lunatic," Caulifla jeered dryly, earning a laugh from everyone present.
"I'll be watching from the afterlife, dear," Menra said with a warm smile. "You two go perfectly together, and I'm sure Son Gohan will agree when I tell him."
"Thank you, Menra-Sensei," Caulifla bowed with a warm smile. "And, thank you again for showing up for the tournament."
The student and mentor came together in a big hug as the day began to dwindle away in the sunset. To say that today would be one for the books was certainly an understatement. There was much combat, destruction, rejoicing, victory, and celebration to be had that day. Son Gokū and Caulifla would marry 3 weeks later, 1 week later due to Bulma's planning falling off the rails a couple of times, and Caulifla adopted the surname of Son that day. Exciting times were ahead for the Saiyan duo, but the world did not revolve solely around them, as other events were in play in that time, both on Earth, and beyond.
A/N: 3 months! Not as good as 1 month, but better than 6! Honestly I wasn't planning on this fight so I kinda had to wing it a bit. I did pull a card from canon with the fight between Gokū and "Jackie Chun" and will not apologize for it. That said, I hope this was a fun read. :)
Also, to that one anonymous guest posting reviews on not just my story, but several other successful stories going all "REVIEW MY STORY" and pasting a URL with it (Thank you FF for automatically breaking URLs), Kindly do everyone a favor and fuck right off. If it's your story, it's bad and no amount of review spammage will make it any better, so if you dare spam my review section with your shit again, it will be promptly deleted. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you're simply using it as an excuse to troll, then you can take some rusty barbed wire and shove it up your ass. Apologies if this is too visceral for anyone else, but this type of behavior is unacceptable. Okay, Tirade aside, I shall return again!