Chapter Eight - Super Mode?
Krillin and Matrix stepped into the ring while the others looked on. "She looks kind of familiar." Gohan said as Matrix turned to face Krillin.
"I thought so too." Goku said squinting at her, "But I've never seen her before…"
"All right! Round one… Begin!" the announcer cried.
Krillin took a fighting stance but Matrix didn't move. /What's she doing? Isn't she even going to try?/ Krillin ran forward and threw a punch, keeping it slow and weak enough not to hurt her. But it never touched, she dodged it without even trying. "Wha…"
He quickly regained his composure and resumed his attack, each new swing growing faster and strong, but each still dodged. /Who is she? How is she dodging all of my attacks?/ Suddenly, as one of his fists flew out she slid to the right and slammed her right fist across his jaw. Krillin flew past the rings edge but stopped himself in mid-air.
"Wow. She's good. Today's been nothing but surprises." Gohan said eyes wide.
He waited for only a second then charged back in. He went to throw another punch but before he could she landed a spinning kick to his head knocking him out of the ring again. This time she followed and with a punch to the stomach Krillin was knocked into the ground, and out of the tournament.
"Oh wow." Trunks said as Krillin pulled himself up. They watched as Matrix walked from the ring and joined the black haired teen and the two bald guys. "Do you think they're all that strong?"
"Don't know." Goku said. "But the last time I saw Spoppovitch fight, he's the really big one, he couldn't even fly. Who ever those two are, they may have taught the others, but I doubt they're all that strong."
Behind them Shin and Kibeto glanced at each other uncertainly. As the announcer called Goku and 18 to the ring Matrix and Mainframe both sat down and leaned back against the wall. "This should be fun." Matrix said with a smile. "The guy who Gero was obsessed with and an earlier model Android. Though I suppose, with the fight he put up against Cell, she doesn't stand much chance."
Mainframe smiled, "Not to mention he's had seven years to train. Though I can't figure out how he's here. He's got the halo, so he is dead. And he's been wished back to life once already with the Dragonballs. Maybe they found a loophole and were able to bring him back for a bit. Shame though. Means we can't kill him."
"You said yourself that he's had seven years to train. If he could get strong enough to match Cell in only the few years notice he had I think he'll be quite fun to play with. What's more that half Sai-jin son of his beat Cell. I can only imagine his power."
Mainframe laughed and looked over at Matrix. "I've never seen you this anxious to fight before. Though it's not just those two I'm interested in. I also want to see how much Vegeta's improved in seven years. And then there's that time traveling brat of his, Trunks. If the kid is that strong I can only imagine what they future version can do."
By now Goku and 18 were both in the ring. "So Goku. This is definitely going to be fun. After all these years I finally get to fight you."
"You've waited almost as long as Vegeta." He said with a smile. "But I'm a lot stronger than I was seven years ago."
18 smiled. "I've learned a few hidden tricks that Gero planted in me. I think they should even they playing field, especially since you can't transform."
The two of them stood smiling at each other in their fighting stances as the announcer backed out of the ring. The match started, but they didn't. They just stood there, smiling. Then 18 lunged at him. He pulled back and ducked and her fist caught nothing but air. He came up behind her and threw a spinning kick at her back. Quickly she turned and brought her arms up to block. The impact still slid her back a few feet.
Before she stopped sliding she was lunging at Goku again the full force of hard left hook catching the Sai-jin across the jaw followed by a knee to the gut and a double fisted blow to the back knocking him to the floor. As he started to get back up his legs shot out and swept hers out from under her. As she fell he reached out and grabbed her feet and tossed her into the air. In an instant he was after her and they began to trade blows as they went higher.
A moment later 18 broke off and dropped down and behind Goku, landing in the ring. Goku dropped and landed across from her leaving the length of the ring between them. "Remember what I said before the match Goku?" she asked. "About the hidden tricks?"
"Yeah."
"Here's one of them. It's called Super mode."
"Super... Mode?"
18's head turned skyward and she stiffened up. The dust around her feet began to swirl out and up into the air. A blue glow began to emanate from her body and Goku, as well as the others, began to sense energy from her. And then she was lost inside the blue glow.
"Wow! Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't know what she's doing but it looks impressive! Could this be some kind of meditation technique?!" the announcer cried.
"What is she doing?" Gohan asked.
"Beats me." Krillin replied. "I'm married to the woman and I still don't know what goes on in that mind of hers. Any ideas Trunks?"
"No. I've never seen anything like this before."
Matrix and Mainframe were both watching with interest now as well. "Ah, now what's this?" Matrix asked with a smirk. "The old girl's actually figured out how to use her body. It took her long enough."
"Heh, that's an understatement. You'd think Gero would have told her how to do that. Or at least put the data in her programming. Guess he was worried he'd lose control if she could do this, but then why install it?"
"He was human, human's do stupid things."
"True."
Meanwhile in the ring the glow was dying from around 18. Once it faded they all got a look at the new 18. Her eyes seemed to have a faint glow to them, as did the rest of her. She had slight muscles visible in her arms and legs now and her hair was a bit longer. Along the sides of her neck were strips of metal, as well as metal visible under her eyes in triangle shapes down her cheeks. As she spread her arms out smiling they noticed her palms were metal too.
"Super Mode" she said. and then vanished. Goku looked around quickly but wasn't fast enough to catch her and she slammed her foot into his face, then vanished again.
"This is new." Krillin said wide eyed. "I can actually sense her power."
"Yeah." Gohan said watching her land a hard right into his fathers face. "She's strong. Real strong. But if dad transformed he'd still be stronger."
"Don't think he'll need to." Trunks said. "Do you feel what I do? His power's building. He's not at his max yet, and it feels like hers is steadily dropping. I guess this new form expels all of it's energy quickly. Just moving is draining her."
Back in the ring Goku finally managed to dodge an attack and hit 18. As she turned back to face him he charged at her. Quickly she swung a fist at his face but he passed right through it. As she realized it was only an after image Goku's foot slammed into the back of her head. Then he appeared in front of her and kicked her in the face knocking her toward the stands around the ring. She managed to stop her self over the crowd before she hit and flew back in at Goku, the blue glow around her growing stronger.
Goku felt her power spike up suddenly and disappeared just as she reached him. She turned and saw him above her and charged upward. Goku felt another Spike in her energy and was about to use the instant transmission again but got her fist slammed into his face before he could. Then her energy plummeted to lower than it had been before the spikes.
/So that's it./ Goku said as he realized how her Super Mode worked. /The exposed metal is able to draw in energy from the surrounding area, but she uses it faster than she can absorb it. Those spikes must have been concentrated absorptions, so she can power up now./ He squinted at her as she panted. /But since she can absorb energy from the air she's got unlimited potential, so long as it doesn't blow her up. If I'm going to win I've got to do it now./ He started to take on the Kamehameha stance, then another thought came to him. /If she can absorb energy from the air around her then she can probably absorb my Kamehameha wave too. Guess I'll have to use my hands and feet and knock her out of the ring./
In a flash he charged at her and started pounding her down toward the ground with everything he had. He felt her power going down and a few feet above the ground there was a flash of light and she was back to normal. With a quick punch to the stomach he knocked her into the ground. As the announcer declared him the winner he floated down to 18. Holding out a hand he helped her up out of the small crater she'd made.
"That Super Mode's something else." he said as she stood up. "Any idea how much power you can take in like that?"
"Not really." she said. "Never tried to max out before, and you didn't leave me much time to try in the ring."
"Yeah, well..."
"I was hoping you'd throw an energy wave or something..."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that you'd be able to absorb it so I decided it was better not to." Goku laughed.
-=b Next Chapter: /bI Pride Enraged - Vegeta vs. Kibeto! /I=-
Krillin and Matrix stepped into the ring while the others looked on. "She looks kind of familiar." Gohan said as Matrix turned to face Krillin.
"I thought so too." Goku said squinting at her, "But I've never seen her before…"
"All right! Round one… Begin!" the announcer cried.
Krillin took a fighting stance but Matrix didn't move. /What's she doing? Isn't she even going to try?/ Krillin ran forward and threw a punch, keeping it slow and weak enough not to hurt her. But it never touched, she dodged it without even trying. "Wha…"
He quickly regained his composure and resumed his attack, each new swing growing faster and strong, but each still dodged. /Who is she? How is she dodging all of my attacks?/ Suddenly, as one of his fists flew out she slid to the right and slammed her right fist across his jaw. Krillin flew past the rings edge but stopped himself in mid-air.
"Wow. She's good. Today's been nothing but surprises." Gohan said eyes wide.
He waited for only a second then charged back in. He went to throw another punch but before he could she landed a spinning kick to his head knocking him out of the ring again. This time she followed and with a punch to the stomach Krillin was knocked into the ground, and out of the tournament.
"Oh wow." Trunks said as Krillin pulled himself up. They watched as Matrix walked from the ring and joined the black haired teen and the two bald guys. "Do you think they're all that strong?"
"Don't know." Goku said. "But the last time I saw Spoppovitch fight, he's the really big one, he couldn't even fly. Who ever those two are, they may have taught the others, but I doubt they're all that strong."
Behind them Shin and Kibeto glanced at each other uncertainly. As the announcer called Goku and 18 to the ring Matrix and Mainframe both sat down and leaned back against the wall. "This should be fun." Matrix said with a smile. "The guy who Gero was obsessed with and an earlier model Android. Though I suppose, with the fight he put up against Cell, she doesn't stand much chance."
Mainframe smiled, "Not to mention he's had seven years to train. Though I can't figure out how he's here. He's got the halo, so he is dead. And he's been wished back to life once already with the Dragonballs. Maybe they found a loophole and were able to bring him back for a bit. Shame though. Means we can't kill him."
"You said yourself that he's had seven years to train. If he could get strong enough to match Cell in only the few years notice he had I think he'll be quite fun to play with. What's more that half Sai-jin son of his beat Cell. I can only imagine his power."
Mainframe laughed and looked over at Matrix. "I've never seen you this anxious to fight before. Though it's not just those two I'm interested in. I also want to see how much Vegeta's improved in seven years. And then there's that time traveling brat of his, Trunks. If the kid is that strong I can only imagine what they future version can do."
By now Goku and 18 were both in the ring. "So Goku. This is definitely going to be fun. After all these years I finally get to fight you."
"You've waited almost as long as Vegeta." He said with a smile. "But I'm a lot stronger than I was seven years ago."
18 smiled. "I've learned a few hidden tricks that Gero planted in me. I think they should even they playing field, especially since you can't transform."
The two of them stood smiling at each other in their fighting stances as the announcer backed out of the ring. The match started, but they didn't. They just stood there, smiling. Then 18 lunged at him. He pulled back and ducked and her fist caught nothing but air. He came up behind her and threw a spinning kick at her back. Quickly she turned and brought her arms up to block. The impact still slid her back a few feet.
Before she stopped sliding she was lunging at Goku again the full force of hard left hook catching the Sai-jin across the jaw followed by a knee to the gut and a double fisted blow to the back knocking him to the floor. As he started to get back up his legs shot out and swept hers out from under her. As she fell he reached out and grabbed her feet and tossed her into the air. In an instant he was after her and they began to trade blows as they went higher.
A moment later 18 broke off and dropped down and behind Goku, landing in the ring. Goku dropped and landed across from her leaving the length of the ring between them. "Remember what I said before the match Goku?" she asked. "About the hidden tricks?"
"Yeah."
"Here's one of them. It's called Super mode."
"Super... Mode?"
18's head turned skyward and she stiffened up. The dust around her feet began to swirl out and up into the air. A blue glow began to emanate from her body and Goku, as well as the others, began to sense energy from her. And then she was lost inside the blue glow.
"Wow! Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't know what she's doing but it looks impressive! Could this be some kind of meditation technique?!" the announcer cried.
"What is she doing?" Gohan asked.
"Beats me." Krillin replied. "I'm married to the woman and I still don't know what goes on in that mind of hers. Any ideas Trunks?"
"No. I've never seen anything like this before."
Matrix and Mainframe were both watching with interest now as well. "Ah, now what's this?" Matrix asked with a smirk. "The old girl's actually figured out how to use her body. It took her long enough."
"Heh, that's an understatement. You'd think Gero would have told her how to do that. Or at least put the data in her programming. Guess he was worried he'd lose control if she could do this, but then why install it?"
"He was human, human's do stupid things."
"True."
Meanwhile in the ring the glow was dying from around 18. Once it faded they all got a look at the new 18. Her eyes seemed to have a faint glow to them, as did the rest of her. She had slight muscles visible in her arms and legs now and her hair was a bit longer. Along the sides of her neck were strips of metal, as well as metal visible under her eyes in triangle shapes down her cheeks. As she spread her arms out smiling they noticed her palms were metal too.
"Super Mode" she said. and then vanished. Goku looked around quickly but wasn't fast enough to catch her and she slammed her foot into his face, then vanished again.
"This is new." Krillin said wide eyed. "I can actually sense her power."
"Yeah." Gohan said watching her land a hard right into his fathers face. "She's strong. Real strong. But if dad transformed he'd still be stronger."
"Don't think he'll need to." Trunks said. "Do you feel what I do? His power's building. He's not at his max yet, and it feels like hers is steadily dropping. I guess this new form expels all of it's energy quickly. Just moving is draining her."
Back in the ring Goku finally managed to dodge an attack and hit 18. As she turned back to face him he charged at her. Quickly she swung a fist at his face but he passed right through it. As she realized it was only an after image Goku's foot slammed into the back of her head. Then he appeared in front of her and kicked her in the face knocking her toward the stands around the ring. She managed to stop her self over the crowd before she hit and flew back in at Goku, the blue glow around her growing stronger.
Goku felt her power spike up suddenly and disappeared just as she reached him. She turned and saw him above her and charged upward. Goku felt another Spike in her energy and was about to use the instant transmission again but got her fist slammed into his face before he could. Then her energy plummeted to lower than it had been before the spikes.
/So that's it./ Goku said as he realized how her Super Mode worked. /The exposed metal is able to draw in energy from the surrounding area, but she uses it faster than she can absorb it. Those spikes must have been concentrated absorptions, so she can power up now./ He squinted at her as she panted. /But since she can absorb energy from the air she's got unlimited potential, so long as it doesn't blow her up. If I'm going to win I've got to do it now./ He started to take on the Kamehameha stance, then another thought came to him. /If she can absorb energy from the air around her then she can probably absorb my Kamehameha wave too. Guess I'll have to use my hands and feet and knock her out of the ring./
In a flash he charged at her and started pounding her down toward the ground with everything he had. He felt her power going down and a few feet above the ground there was a flash of light and she was back to normal. With a quick punch to the stomach he knocked her into the ground. As the announcer declared him the winner he floated down to 18. Holding out a hand he helped her up out of the small crater she'd made.
"That Super Mode's something else." he said as she stood up. "Any idea how much power you can take in like that?"
"Not really." she said. "Never tried to max out before, and you didn't leave me much time to try in the ring."
"Yeah, well..."
"I was hoping you'd throw an energy wave or something..."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that you'd be able to absorb it so I decided it was better not to." Goku laughed.
-=b Next Chapter: /bI Pride Enraged - Vegeta vs. Kibeto! /I=-