Chapter 45: Pride and Power
Wednesday 20th July Age 797
The crowds were bustling outside the stadium. People were rushing to get in and get to their seats. There was the promise of great fights to come on this day. Some fantastic fighters were gearing up for their challenges. The excitement was clear. Noca, Pan, and Holline stood in the waiting area together, having some last-minute talks before the first fight actually began. Well, Pan and Holline were talking, but not Noca. He stood with them, but he appeared deep in thought. Pan knew not to disturb him while he was in this state, especially when his fight would be a challenge against Vegeta.
Speaking of whom, Vegeta was standing with his back against the wall close to the entrance to the stage. He had his eyes closed, also presumably deep in thought. Noca had his eyes on Vegeta, trying to get a read on his demeanour going into this fight, wanting to understand just what Vegeta would be thinking. Nobody really wanted to be in Vegeta's head, but right now Noca wouldn't mind some sort of insight into what was going on up there. Either way, everyone would know soon enough.
The announcer started to get the crowd warmed up, getting them pumped for the day.
"Is everybody ready for what they are going to see today?! We have a group of fantastic fighters just waiting to come out and put on an amazing show for you all. And we still have so many things in store for you. Today will be the first time we use environmental stages for the fights. Each match-up will have to contend with a different kind of stage just to ramp up the entertainment value, and the challenges before our fighters." The announcer paused so that the crowd to cheer, but then he continued. "Are you ready for the first fight?"
The crowd let out an almighty roar, showing their excitement even more. The excitement was at an all-time-high.
"Well, let's bring out our first fighters!" Another roar of cheers. Noca stepped forward, but felt Pan grab his hand. Noca stopped and turned back to face her.
"Good luck out there," She said, in a serious tone. She knew Noca would give it his all, but she still wanted to reassure him. Noca smiled at her and nodded. Holline gave him a reassuring nod as well. Noca turned away from them and walked to the door. He stood beside Vegeta as the two awaited stepping out to begin.
Noca and Vegeta stood in silence for a time. Noca didn't know what to say, or if he even should say anything, but Vegeta took the lead.
"You better not hold back out there," Vegeta muttered, keeping his gaze focussed ahead. Noca smirked and also kept looking forward.
"Don't worry, I plan to show you my all," Noca said as his smirk faded, and his serious demeanour took a hold. There was nothing left to be said as the announcer called them. Noca and Vegeta stepped out, the crowd continued to cheer as the Saiyan duo stepped up onto the stage and took their positions.
"I would like to ask the contestants to stay inside one of the circular tiles while the stage takes shape," The announcer said, Noca and Vegeta looked around, made sure they stayed in position and waited for the stage to sort itself out. Both were unsure on what would happen, but then there were some whirring sounds and suddenly the tiles that the Saiyans were standing on seemed to lift up from the ground and stop at different heights, a lot of towers lifted out of the ground in other positions as well. The stage was slowly coming to be, and it didn't take Noca and Vegeta long to understand what kind of stage they would have.
When it finally stopped moving Noca and Vegeta looked around to assess what had happened to it. There were loads of cylindrical towers of different heights and widths. Some were very thin while others wide enough for two people to fight.
"As you may see, this stage features a tower design, something that not only creates obstacles for the fighters to avoid, but also give them a restricted way of moving around, for example, they will have to jump from tower to tower, so they can get close enough for hand-to-hand combat. This will up the entertainment and challenge, that's for sure. All rules still apply, a ring-out is a ring-out, and nobody wants to fall from that height."
The announcer finished, and the crowd roared once more. Noca and Vegeta looked to each other and smirked to show that this didn't matter to them and it would only make it more fun. Luckily, they could fly so the ring out rule wasn't going to be too difficult.
"Now that the stage is ready, the fighters may begin!" The announcer yelled out as a bell rung out and Noca and Vegeta could start.
As soon as that bell rung out both fighters moved and phased immediately. They weren't gone for too long as there was a clash in the middle of the towers. It was forearm against forearm as both Saiyans crashed against one another and sent out a pulse of energy. They hovered there for a second, but then pushed away from each other, flipping back and both landing on different platforms. Noca barely touched down before Vegeta phased towards him again. To avoid the Prince Noca jumped off of the platform and made it to another one, just a little bit higher, but Vegeta moved towards him again. Noca had barely landed when Vegeta arrived and slammed a punch into Noca's face. The young fighter was knocked back a little but used the momentum to jump back from the platform and land on a lower one. His foot touched the platform and then he pounced back towards Vegeta, but the Prince phased to avoid it appeared behind Noca and kicking in. Noca blocked it, but the strength pushed him away.
Noca fell and touched down on a lower platform, taking a second to readjust himself. That second didn't go uninterrupted as Vegeta shot in again, aiming a fist for Noca, but the young man blocked the fist, catching it with a hand. Noca pulled the Prince towards him and attempted to punch Vegeta, but the older fighter moved his head out of the way to dodge the punch. Vegeta then punched up into Noca's gut and followed it up with a right hook. Noca phased immediately after, avoiding a kick from Vegeta. Noca landed on another platform, but his senses warned him of something incoming. Noca jumped up as Vegeta shot his foot down on that platform, cracking it.
Vegeta jumped on towards Noca again. The young man appeared to be backed into a corner, not finding the right moment to take control of the situation and turn the tide of the fight. Vegeta held the power at this moment. Both fighters landed on a platform together and Vegeta threw a barrage of punches, Noca managed to avoid them all and then threw a left jab, but that was caught easily, with Vegeta following on with a left hook. Noca was knocked back slightly and tried to move back in with a punch of his own, but Vegeta phased behind Noca and kicked him in the back.
There was a lot of power in that kick and Noca was knocked flying from that tower and smashed into the side of another one, Vegeta following on immediately once more and smashed a kick into Noca's gut. It was another power kick that was enough to send Noca crashing right through the tower, breaking it in half. The top half of the tower fell to the ground and Noca found himself pinned against another one, but not for long. Noca's aura exploded, he didn't transform, but he managed to throw Vegeta off of him and break the Prince's strong defence. Noca had his opening and attempted to take an advantage and thrust a strong punch into Vegeta's gut, pulling back and then spin kicking Vegeta in the side of the head, sending him flying towards one of the towers.
Vegeta regained control in time to land on the side of the tower and pounced off of it, towards Noca again. Noca backed up into another tower and jumped off of it in a different direction and managed to pinball around, getting behind Vegeta and pushing himself towards the Prince. Noca landed a kick into the older man's back, but Vegeta wasn't put down by the kick and managed to turn to face Noca again. The Prince attempted a couple of punches, but they were both easily caught by Noca who used his strength to pull Vegeta's arms down to his side. Vegeta was using his strength to fight back, but Noca was also putting his strength in. They were at odds with each other and it was looking rather even.
Vegeta remembered an old technique he had used before and he lifted up and slammed his feet onto Noca's chest, but Noca didn't let go, despite the slight pain. Now he just had Vegeta pushing his strength on him. Noca knew he could let go to get out of the situation, but that was almost like giving Vegeta back an advantage. Noca grunted as he felt the pain against his chest. It was no use, he would have to let go. There was no logical way out of the position.
Noca let go, falling back towards the ground as Vegeta went higher. Both carried by their momentum. Noca rolled through the air and as soon as he was facing Vegeta he thrust both hands forward sending an energy blast up towards the Prince. Vegeta was in position to see the blast coming and swatted it away, but Noca was already flying back towards the older fighter. Vegeta was equal to this and attempted to swat Noca away too, but Noca phased again. He appeared behind Vegeta and attempted to kick him in the back of the head, but Vegeta ducked underneath it and swung around to face the young man sending his own energy blast up.
The blast hit Noca and exploded, sending the young man flying up. Noca rolled through the air and managed to steady himself and drop down onto one of the towers. He needed to take a moment to settle. While taking that moment he looked up and saw that Vegeta had taken refuge on a different tower and stood with his arms crossed. There was no traditional Vegeta smirk though. He was in pure serious-mode. Noca took a couple of breaths to steady himself.
Noca grunted and yelled as he leapt from his platform soaring towards Vegeta. He landed in front of the Prince and attempted a right hook that Vegeta ducked underneath and moved slightly behind Noca. The young man tried to swing around and catch Vegeta that way but failed again as Vegeta ducked underneath that arm again. Noca followed it up quickly by punching down with his left, smashing it into the platform as Vegeta phased away. Noca took a massive chunk out of the top of this tower with the power in the punch.
Vegeta appeared behind and Noca tried to follow up and kick back with his right foot, but Vegeta caught that leg with ease. The Prince then swung Noca around so that he had his back towards the platform and then he punched down on Noca, throwing him into the platform, smashing right through it and sending the whole thing plummeting towards the ground. A dust cloud grew around as the rubble fell down, but Noca soared up out of the cloud with an intense speed and smashed his head into Vegeta's gut. Vegeta bent over in pain and coughed up. Noca took a hold of the prince with both hands and rolled, throwing Vegeta through the air. The young man then pulled both hands back and threw them forwards sending a rapid barrage of Ki blasts towards the Prince.
The blasts all crashed into Vegeta in the air and exploded around him. The air filled with smoke as the last of the energy blasts exploded. Noca stood on one of the platforms and relaxed himself, but he knew it wasn't over. Vegeta blasted out of the smoke cloud and charged for Noca. The young Saiyan phased out of the way, but Vegeta twisted and turned to fly back towards him, predicting where he would be. Noca reappeared only for Vegeta to spin and smash a kick into his head. Noca was knocked flying into the side of another tower. He bounced off of it and fell, but he managed to stop himself from going any further and steady out. Noca prepared to move to make another attack, but Vegeta phased below the boy and punched up. Noca threw a cross block up the punch hit the middle, but Vegeta opened his hand and released an energy blast.
There was another explosion and Noca was thrown up into the air, above the towers. Vegeta phased next to him and kick him back down. Noca crashed down on to one of the towers and Vegeta landed on another one.
"Will you take this seriously?" Vegeta requested, standing on his tower with his arms folded. Noca looked up at Vegeta with a little bit of a scowl. He pushed up and returned to his feet, closing his eyes and cracking his neck. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, snapping his view to Vegeta. He immediately flashed towards the Prince, attempting to bring himself more into this fight. Vegeta let out a huff and jumped back off of the tower as Noca smashed down on it, but the Young Saiyan followed on after the Prince as he bounced around on the tops of the towers avoiding every attempted attack from Noca.
Vegeta was the one beginning to get frustrated here. He knew that Noca was holding back, to be perfectly honest, Vegeta was too but he expected Noca to go into this fight with a far more victory focussed mindset. As of this point in the fight, there was nothing to suggest that. Vegeta landed on one of the large platforms and Noca dropped down right in front of the Prince and attempted to jab his fist forward quickly.
Vegeta caught the fist and stepped to the side and elbowed up into Noca's face. Noca managed to catch Vegeta's elbow with his free hand, but the Prince imposed his strength and spun around Noca, keeping a hold of his arm and twisting it around his back, and applying a bit of pressure so to inflict pain on the young man. Noca winced, but powered up his aura, pushing Vegeta off of him and then he swung around and landed a punch down on Vegeta's head. The Prince dropped back and Noca moved on him again, phasing behind him and kicking up into his back.
Vegeta shot up but managed to roll in the air and stop himself from getting too far. He looked down on the towers and tried to spot Noca, but there was no sight of him. Vegeta's eyes darted around, but then his right eye twitched slightly and he swung around in time to catch a powerful attempted punch from Noca. The catch caused a small shockwave in the air and there was pressure being pushed in from both fighters as they hovered in that position.
"It's nice of you to try," Vegeta said, backhandedly. Noca growled and pushed more energy into their clash.
"Hard to know if you want me to take things seriously when you don't seem to be trying too hard yourself," Noca replied, clearly not appreciating Vegeta's approach to this fight. Neither was happy with the other. Vegeta closed his eyes and tensed up. Noca sensed the gathering of energy and remained in stance to make sure he was ready to counter whatever came at him. This wasn't something Noca could prepare for easily though.
Vegeta opened his eyes and flashed towards Noca, smashing a kick against the young Saiyan's head. Noca was knocked down into the side of one of the towers. He bounced off of the tower, only as Vegeta appeared in front of him and punched him in the chest. Noca smashed back into the tower again as Vegeta threw a jab for Noca's face. The young Saiyan couldn't react in time and was hit, his head smacking back against the tower, cracking it. Noca attempted a punch for Vegeta's face, but the Prince caught it and pulled Noca in, landing a punch to his gut. Noca coughed as Vegeta retracted his arm and then went in with an uppercut into Noca's chin.
Noca was knocked up into the air and met with a phasing Vegeta who performed an overhead kick and sent Noca down onto one of the platforms again. Noca jumped up immediately, but Vegeta phased behind him and hit Noca down in the kidneys before phasing again. Noca arched in pain and turned, but Vegeta phased to his left and smashed a fist against the side of Noca's face before phasing again. Noca stumbled, not given any time to adjust his movement or do any action of some sort, Vegeta just phased in front of him, dropped down and swept Noca's legs out from under him. Before Noca could make sense of what was going on, Vegeta grabbed Noca and threw him up in the air and followed up with an energy ball. The blast connected and there was an explosion in the air, filling it with a smoke cloud. Vegeta grunted and flew up into the cloud. He blasted all of the way through and when he came out on the other side, he had Noca by the throat.
Noca was completely taken by surprise and tried to break from Vegeta's grip, but the Prince held him close. Vegeta definitely wasn't happy with the young Saiyan's performance so far. He tightened his grip around Noca's throat and held him, so he could look right into his eyes. Noca was angry and Vegeta could tell, but that was good. He should be angry, especially if this is the way he was deciding to perform. Vegeta growled and smashed his own head against Noca's face, cutting the bridge of his nose. Noca felt the blood trickle down and he had his eyes closed from the pain. He slowly opened them as Vegeta reeled back his free hand and smashed a fist into Noca's nose again. He didn't do it once. It was three times, and there was more blood trickling down, the wound made wider. Noca had one eye closed now as another punch came in. After that punch Vegeta let go and let Noca fall down, hitting one of the towers, luckily managing to stay on it.
As Noca slowly managed to push up to his feet Vegeta phased again. Noca stood up straight and let out a heavy sigh, but Vegeta appeared in front of him and planted a strong fist in Noca's gut, winding him. Noca coughed and choked as he fell over Vegeta's arm.
"What is this?" Vegeta said into Noca's ear, "Can't handle me when I take it seriously?"
Noca coughed again and let out a small chuckle. Vegeta's brow furrowed, but he didn't question it.
"If this is serious then you're an embarrassment," Noca muttered. Vegeta growled and pulled back and sent his knee into Noca's face and then grabbed his head and threw it down into the ground, pushing down. Noca was in pain, but he knew Vegeta was holding back. Neither had transformed after all. Both were stubborn, and it appeared as neither wanted to be the first one to transform. Vegeta let go of Noca's head and punched down, hard. Noca wasn't liking any of it, but Vegeta was overpowering him in their base forms, and he wasn't letting up. Vegeta went to punch again, but Noca rolled and jumped up ready to hit, but Vegeta dodged under Noca's arm and released two quick punches, one to his chest then the next to his face. Noca stumbled back, teetering on the edge of the platform. Vegeta kicked him in the chest to knock him off, but Noca used the momentum to roll back in the air and hit back into another tower. He used that tower to spring himself back towards Vegeta, but the Prince was equal to the movement and punched Noca in the face as he came in, getting him back on the ground.
Vegeta stood over Noca and placed his foot on the young Saiyan's throat, pushing down. Noca could feel his breathing being cut off ever so slightly, but not too much. Noca kicked up, managing to reach Vegeta's back and knock the Prince off of him. Noca jumped back up to his feet and darted for Vegeta. The Young Saiyan attempted to smash a fist down into the back of Vegeta's head, but the Prince turned around and caught the fist. He then twisted up towards Noca and managed to elbow him in the face and take back the advantage. He had a clear opening and Vegeta abused it, putting his hands to Noca's torso and sending him blasting back. Noca flew back crashing into a tower, but as Vegeta shot towards him the young Saiyan dodged of out of the way and bounced to another tower. Vegeta hit the tower and turned, bouncing off as well, chasing after Noca.
As he got close to Noca the young Saiyan twisted around him and attempted a kick to Vegeta's head. Vegeta ducked under and got around Noca, kicking him in the side and pounding two fists into him, knocking him back down onto a platform. Noca stood up, but as he did Vegeta was already standing in front of him. That came as a little bit of a shock to Noca who stumbled back, but immediately darted forward and locked himself in a clash with Vegeta.
"Didn't I tell you to give it your all in this tournament, to take it seriously?" Vegeta questioned, practically yelling in Noca's face. "Show me how strong you are, give me a challenge."
Vegeta powered up, pushing Noca back again and once he had broken Noca's guard he charged forward and threw rapid punches. He jabbed two quick punches, then a right hook into the side of Noca's face then phased, appearing at Noca's front and planted a strong uppercut into Noca's gut, then retracted and brought a strong punch down on Noca's head and knocked him flat on the platform.
Noca was about to push up to his feet again, but Vegeta brought a foot down on his back, hard. Noca grunted in pain. Vegeta wasn't saying anything now, he just stood there and continued to press hard. He then bent down and lifted Noca up and threw him high into the air, following it up with an energy blast. The blast connected with Noca and there was another explosion and a smoke cloud, but Vegeta didn't fly in this one, he just let Noca fall from it.
Once again, Noca landed on a platform, with almost half his body over the edge. The announcer stepped out of the commentary box and looked closer to see if Noca was still in it, otherwise he was ready to call it. There was some tension in the crowd, they expected to see more from the previous finalist, but Vegeta was in control here and Noca seemed to barely try.
Noca slowly started to push up again, still feeling the sting of the cut on his nose and his body beginning to ache from Vegeta's attacks. He hadn't found the right way to bring himself into the fight yet, but Vegeta seemed to really revel in using his base power more than Noca. This meant the time had come. Noca stood up and flashed Super Saiyan, without igniting his aura. Vegeta narrowed his eyes as Noca turned to finally face him. Noca focussed down on Vegeta and flashed towards him, smashing a strong fist into Vegeta's face and sending him blasting back into another tower, which cracked as the Saiyan Prince hit the side. He looked up and smirked, moving away from the tower and flashing Super Saiyan as well. The fight just stepped up.
Hope you all enjoyed the first part of Noca vs Vegeta! I had fun writing a lot of this part of the fight. I look forward to seeing some reviews (maybe) or any PMs. That would be nice.
Next Time... Chapter 46: Surpass Your Master