Are you sick of Kais and Kioshins yet? I certainly was, back when I was writing this. This chapter will begin to fully draw this Saga to a close, though it is not enough to end it. Unlike the Darkness-induced battles that have taken place for some time now, we have actual significance in this chapter.
By the way, those of you who say Darkness and Light are reminiscent of Dark and Light Goku... don't bother. I'll solve your problem for you now: Darkness is completely and irrevocably evil. After all, it is but a mortal label for that which personifies (as much as the case may be) evil.
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Slicing horizontally, North Kioshin forced East back slightly. Renewing his attack, he pressed forward, forcing his opponent back again and again. South Kioshin flew in from above, but North easily dodged his attack, then sent them both flying. Instead of coming back, however, they both suddenly vanished.
"Cowards!" he yelled, but realized they had teleported. So where had they gone? Sensing the Afterlife, he suddenly felt their energy as it flared up in some manner of combat. Blasting off from the remains of King Kai's planet, North Kioshin sped off in hot pursuit.
Sitting alone on the end of Snake Way, King Kai rolled over and moaned. Only rubble remained where his planet had been, and North Kioshin had destroyed most of the rubble during his fight. Worse yet, the fight there hadn't even decided much. It was going to be a very bad day.
Arriving where he had felt the battle, North Kioshin realized that all was still now. Three forms dived from the shadows, and he barely managed to evade all of them, then jumped back to get all of them on one side of him. Instantly he recognized South and East Kioshin, and then with a sinking feeling recognized the third fighter as West Kioshin. This situation was getting worse by the moment.
Throwing back his arms, East Kioshin attacked North with raw power. Responding in kind, North easily threw back his energy, and the light around him began consuming East's light. Then South threw his energy into the battle as well, and North found himself sorely pressed. Whipping his sword from it's sheath, he raised it over his head and let out a yell. His power glowed with even more light, and began to fight East's and South's at a more even level.
West Kioshin calmly took the gigantic sword off his back. Jumping into the sky, he brought the sword down on the ground hard. A shockwave slammed out in a straight line from the point of impact. North was too busy battling the others to see the shockwave come toward him, tearing up ground along the way.
Already worn out from his power battle with the other two, North Kioshin was rendered unconscious by the shockwave when it struck. The impact blasted him off the ground and through a nearby wall.
Trying to locate Dai Kioshin, Piccolo suddenly sensed the battle of sheer power. It was a bit off his path, but he supposed he needed to stop whatever was going on. Sensing further, he confirmed his suspicions that Darkness was involved somehow. On the Kioshin's planet, no less. Perhaps the situation was even more dire than they had first imagined.
Goku's blow sent Eclipse smashing through the lower Afterlife, snapping mountains as he went. Landing, Eclipse was still pushed back along the ground several feet. Attacking again, Goku was surprised as Eclipse suddenly seemed to just dissolve. Ducking the next instant, Goku barely avoided the kick that had been aimed from behind.
Rolling out of the situation, Goku watched Eclipse carefully. As of this point in the fight, Eclipse hadn't shown the ability to do something like that. It hadn't been a teleport, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. Experimentally, Goku attacked again, and Eclipse used the same technique.
Watching more closely this time, Goku identified that Eclipse had dissolved into what was a nearly invisible fine mist. The mist flew directly through Goku, and behind him; he couldn't feel it. Slicing the mist, Goku found he was unable to harm it. Instead he contented himself with smashing Eclipse's face as soon as he materialized. Falling back, Eclipse only barely avoided being stomped on by transforming into a mist again, this time to appear far above Goku.
However Eclipse was doing it, Goku knew that he probably couldn't do the same. At least, not without a lot of practice first. How, then, was he going to even the odds? Attacking, Goku found that Eclipse was adopting a totally defensive strategy, dissolving any time Goku got near him, and teleporting far enough away he had to try again.
Not being played for a fool, Goku stopped wasting his energy. Crossing his legs, Goku merely sat in midair, refusing to attack Eclipse. The being nervously considered what to do for a while. Suddenly jerking to the side, Eclipse opened a portal and attempted to dive into it. Sensing what he was doing, Goku launched a flare of ki that blasted Eclipse away from the portal and destroyed the portal itself.
Deciding that tactic wouldn't work, Eclipse merely watched Goku from afar.
"Aren't you going to attack?" he asked.
"Not really."
"Then we have a stalemate, don't we?"
"Not really."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't leave. If you try, I'll have time to connect with a shot. Meanwhile, every second we waste down here gives Piccolo and 18 more time to destroy your minions. Time is on my side."
Eclipse grimaced as he realized what Goku said was true. While this mist form defense was effective, he couldn't possibly win with it. He needed to finish off the saiyan quickly if he wanted to succeed. Already he sensed some small fractions of Darkness disappearing. Now it was a race against time, with the pressure on Eclipse.
He attacked swiftly, but Goku had been fully prepared for that and wasn't caught off-guard. Turning aside Eclipse's punch, Goku swung out of sitting cross-legged to smash both feet into Eclipse, who was knocked away again. Kicking Eclipse in the face, Goku knocked him back and pushed himself away from the conflict. Getting a bit of distance between them, Goku decided to try a technique he had been considering. Grabbing the halo above his head, Goku hurled it toward Eclipse.
Shocked, Eclipse didn't dodge quickly enough. The shining ring made a nasty gash on Eclipse, and sent him flying. It span around and returned to Goku, who caught it and returned the halo to his head. Instead of regaining control of his flight, Eclipse instead dropped straight for the ground, evading Goku's next attack.
Landing on his feet, Eclipse glanced down and smirked. This was quite fortunate. Goku landed on the ground as well, facing off with him, but he couldn't possibly understand what had just transpired. Scooping a spiked red object off the ground, Eclipse smirked once more. Now, they were sitting in a veritable weapon supply.
Grabbing a few more off the ground, Eclipse concentrated, and they shrank down to become red ninja stars. Hurling them, Eclipse grabbed a few more objects and transformed them as well. In a patch like this, he could go for a long time.
Carefully deflecting the shuriken, Goku tried to figure out exactly what Eclipse was doing. Somehow, each of the small red objects on the ground could become a weapon in his hands. They weren't hitting him, but he had a suspicion they would hurt if they did. The real question was, how was Eclipse doing it? Right now, he was accomplishing nothing with them, but there were a ton of pods on the ground here, as if someone was growing a patch of them.
Snagging one off the ground in a brief ninja star break, Goku considered it as he continued deflecting ninja stars. There were possibilities, but he wasn't sure he could really change it. It was possible that Eclipse was the only one who could use them. In any case, he was certain he couldn't make something as complex as a ninja star. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be necessary.
As he continued to fire the shuriken, alternating a kunai at times in just for variety, Eclipse realized Goku had obtained a pod and hurled it toward him. Was he actually going to try and use one? Ceasing to attack, Eclipse watched it carefully. As it flew through the air, however, it did not change. So he had tried, and failed. Eclipse smirked and easily caught it. How ironic it would be to turn Goku's own attack back against him
In his hands, the pod blinked, once. Glancing down in concern, Eclipse wondered what was wrong with it. In another second he realized the truth; it had already been transformed. Essentially, he was now holding a bomb. Of course, in the second it took him to realize this, the pod exploded.
Grimacing and shrugging off pain, Eclipse drew on a bit of the hatred around him to patch up the wound in his chest. He glanced toward Goku, who hadn't used his opportunity to attack. Goku was gathering energy, and he surprised Eclipse by using it all to punch the ground. Rocks flew up all around from the impact, but little else came of it. Just as he was about to comment on its uselessness, the world exploded.
A gigantic column of flame burst up from the ground all around both fighters. The flames didn't hurt Eclipse much, but he shielded himself anyway. When they ceased, he dropped his shield and laughed toward Goku.
"A clever attack without any power behind it is worthless," he said. Goku smiled, and it puzzled Eclipse. Glancing down, he realized what Goku had done. Everything beneath them was completely wasted, including the entire patch of pods. Eclipse's weapon supply had been essentially neutralized.
While Eclipse was distracted, Goku flew forward and smashed him with a haymaker. Flipping back and springing off his hands, Eclipse got further away from Goku, who waited. For a second, Goku was puzzled as Eclipse seemed to merely punch the air in front of him. Something seemed to shimmer in front of his fist at the last second, but before Goku could figure out what had happened, a fist flew from the air directly in front of his face and smashed him.
Falling back, Goku jumped on instinct, avoiding the foot that drove into the ground where he had been. Eclipse was still across the field. Again he punched the air, and Goku identified the faint shimmer as a portal of some sort. So that was what he was doing, transporting his attacks across the space. It was a clever move. Goku deflected the fist that came his way.
Copying Eclipse, Goku shoved a fist into the air. His portal was not as energy efficient as Eclipse's, but it had the desired effect. An uppercut slammed into Eclipse's chin, sending him into the air. So they were on even ground. A bizarre fight began, both fighters punching the air and then dodging blows that came from nowhere. Eclipse was mostly on the receiving end of it, but he had done this before, whereas Goku was just learning.
Then Goku began teleporting blocks, stopping all of Eclipse's attacks before they even transported. Until Eclipse figured it out, this completely shut down his attempts. Eventually both fighters stopped, worn out from the battle. Gathering energy behind him, Goku launched a Kamehameha forward toward Eclipse.
Smirking, Eclipse made a portal in front of the on coming wave. Having anticipated something of the sort, Goku used Instant Transmission to move out of the way of anything that might come. Eclipse's portal sent the beam out directly behind where Goku had been, and would have slammed into him had he not teleported. As it was, the beam was stopped by nothing, so continued to speed on its original course and slam into Eclipse.
Smoking from the blast, tendrils of Darkness wafting off him, Eclipse glared down at Goku. Gathering energy, Goku began to prepare for something. Eclipse watched carefully, but was unprepared when instead of attacking Goku merely began jerking wildly about, as if he had lost his mind.
Eclipse didn't understand, and it cost him. Forces slammed into him from all sides. As his body was wracked by hundreds of blows, Eclipse recognized the faint shimmer around Goku. So he had created a portal entirely around himself, and now was transporting attacks at an insane rate. Clever.
Goku ended the assault with an uppercut, leaving Eclipse to fall to the ground. The warrior made it to his knees.
"I'm not finish yet," Eclipse told him coldly, his voice rasping now.
"You're not?" Goku raised an eyebrow.
"You don't understand how much hate I have!" Eclipse roared. Dark flames burst around him, twirling in a tight spiral. When they faded, Eclipse was standing, his Darkness glowing darker than ever. Black energy seemed to radiate off him, and the sky around them darkened.
"I have transformed." Eclipse's voice was again smooth and dark. "I am Total Eclipse."
Forming a fist, Goku attacked.
Landing, Piccolo saw the three Kioshins and instantly assessed the situation. If Darkness was able to possess the rulers of the galaxy, the situation was dire indeed. Needing nothing to provoke them, the Kioshins flew forward in attack. Just as North had been superior to the Kais, however, Piccolo was superior to the Kioshins.
Piccolo ducked West's sword swipe, raised a knee to block East and deflected South's strike with a forearm. Kicking with his other leg, Piccolo sent West flying, then flew into the sky. East began launching bursts of ki at him, Piccolo flew directly at her, dodging to avoid all her attacks. Soon he reached point-blank range, and fired an attack of his own.
West attacked again, but Piccolo backflipped over his sword and his head, coming around and driving a foot into his back. South attacked from behind, but Piccolo dug one elbow into his stomach. The force of the attack sent South flying into a stone wall, where he crashed and slumped to the ground.
Whirling forward, West launched a series of sword strokes at Piccolo. Finally, on an overhead strike, Piccolo caught the side of the blade and pushed it aside. His other palm struck West directly, and he smashed backward. All three Kioshins were beaten. Glancing around, Piccolo decided not to kill them. They weren't directly responsible in any way. In any case, if he did kill them, Dai Kioshin would rule unopposed.
Making a few motions with his hands, Piccolo crystalized the Darkness within all three. Grabbing all three crystalline orbs, Piccolo flew off once more. Dai Kioshin still had to be dealt with. Right now, Darkness was only imprisoned, it had to be destroyed. Perhaps Dai Kioshin could be persuaded to give him the needed information. If he managed to get to him before Darkness.
Putting on a new burst of speed, Piccolo flew from the Kioshin's planet and toward that of the galaxy's ruler.
Another blow slammed Goku back, imbedding him into a rock face. Total Eclipse hovered before him, smirking. Goku was impressed by how much power he had gained. So far he had been beating on him. Believing his opponent was immobilized, Eclipse aimed a punch directly at him. Raising a hand, Goku caught his punch. Merely looking annoyed, Eclipse pulled his hand back.
A golden explosion ripped the cliff to shreds as Goku went Super Saiyan, blasting Eclipse backward. Golden light sprang up around Goku, and Eclipse looked worried for a moment. Rushing forward, Goku slammed into Eclipse, who found suddenly that he was far slower than Goku.
More blows slammed into him, and eventually Eclipse managed to escape the conflict and get behind Goku. He took a swipe with one foot for Goku's head, but the saiyan easily ducked. Spinning, Goku caught him in the stomach with one foot. Swiping a hand, Goku launched an arc of ki that blasted him back further.
Healing the cut on his chest, Eclipse powered up once more, darkness surrounding him. Both warriors dove forward at each other, and the impact turned the entire battleground to dust. When the explosion faded, Goku's aura burned brilliantly, and Eclipse's darkness had faded.
Turning, Eclipse raised both hands to the sky. For an instant, everything was darkest night, everything seemed to flash to a negative, and then everything came back to the way it had been. A fist smashed into Goku, and he was sent flying back. Limbs shaking, Goku barely managed to make it to his feet. A weakness seemed to cover him completely; he found standing difficult. By contrast, Eclipse's aura had returned, brighter than ever.
"What have you done?" Goku asked, horrified. Eclipse laughed evilly.
"I've tied the two of us to good and evil. Your power is now directly linked into good in all of existence, and mine to evil. You can guess which of us that benefits."
"Monster!" Goku had no idea how he had done it, but it seemed to be the truth. Every movement he made seemed to be slowed by thoughts of all the destruction he had seen. Looking carefully at Eclipse's aura, he saw all the hatred and violence reflected in it. So that was why he felt so weak. Where was he going to find goodness to power him self? Or how could he reverse whatever Eclipse had done?
Eclipse sped forward, and Goku's eyes blazed viciously. He was not going to just let this happen. Even in this weakened state he was going to fight. Grabbing Eclipse's foot, Goku fell to his back and slammed Eclipse into the ground. Barely getting to his feet, Goku fired a massive ki blast that sent Eclipse back further. It drained him much more than it should have, and Goku didn't think he could pull it off again.
For a while he managed to dodge Eclipse's blows, but then one struck him and it was downhill from there. An elbow slammed him down into the ground, and Eclipse smashed into him again. A head-butt sent him reeling a few steps, and a kick knocked him in the opposite direction. Using all his strength to catch himself, Goku powered up to Super Saiyan 2. The blast managed to slow Eclipse a bit.
Getting one solid hit in, Goku felt his new power already draining. He realized with despair that he had needed Super Saiyan 2 just to stay alive.
