"Dragonball AS: 32nd Budokai Saga"

Chapter 46- "Demon vs. Demon"

By- Tiny

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have no idea what the deal with that last match was but I can promise you one hell of a show this time around!" Bardock chuckled, "So what's say we get this little match-up started?"

The crowd, at first silent and gaping, suddenly went wild in a deafening roar of cheering and whistles, making some of the competitors a bit uncomfortable. That was all the response Bardock needed, however, and he continued on with his announcing of the fight.

"Our first competitor is one of this tournament's greatest fighters and most legendary figures," Bardock smirked, "In the 23rd Budokai, he was the runner up after quite a fight with the greatest fighter this tournament has ever had the privilege of seeing do battle, the infamous Son Goku! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Piccolo to the ring!"

The onlookers were deafeningly silent as the former Demon King walked out of the waiting area, a smug smirk plastered on his face. The might Nameksei-jin warrior was clad in his usual battle fatigues, save the cape and turban, with the symbol of the Demon-style on his back. The fact that he was baring his fangs at the crowd didn't help much, but the green warrior cared little for what others thought of him.

"Fighting against Piccolo in this match is the current holder of the title of World Champion," Bardock continued, "He is a formidable warrior in all aspects of the area, trained primarily by former champions Satan Hercule and Son Goku, as well as the fighter named Vegeta. Ladies and gentlemen, your champion, Nijam Ubuu!!!"

The crowd now went wild, cheering for their champion to 'beat the snot out of that demon creature' as Ubuu walked towards the ring. He was dressed in a pair of white gi pants with the Majin symbol over the belt buckle, a black vest over his shoulders much like he wore against Bebi years before. The powerful Majin was already at the second level of strength he could muster, but Piccolo could sense he was hiding something.

"Okay boys, I want a nice clean fight, so don't get excited!" Bardock grumbled, "FIGHT!!!!!!"

Piccolo immediately shot to the second level of Super Nameksei-jin, jumping into the air above Ubuu as the Majin rammed a fist into his elder's middle. Piccolo gritted his teeth in pain, slamming a foot in the Majin's face, knocking Ubuu flat on his back, giving way to a knee in the chest. Dark red blood soared up out of Ubuu's mouth as the Nameksei-jin smirked with satisfaction, jumping back enough to admire his handiwork.

Ubuu didn't stay down long, however, but exploded out of the ring and charged at the massive green warrior, throwing a fist at his head. Piccolo ducked under the hasty attack only to meet a foot on the back of his head, which sent the Nameksei-jin hurtling towards the outer edge of the ring. Piccolo quickly righted himself, however, and threw a small ki shot at his opponent to distract him for a few seconds. Ubuu knocked the shot off into the air, but didn't realize he had done exactly what Piccolo wanted him to.

The powerful Nameksei-jin phased behind his confused opponent and fired a massive green energy attack right into the young man's back. He was at such close range that Ubuu didn't have time to defend himself, bringing a small sense of satisfaction to the Nameksei-jin's spirit. Hanging back to see how Ubuu came out of the experience, Piccolo's face dropped to the floor when he finally saw what the Majin had actually done.

Ubuu had changed during only a few seconds, as Piccolo could tell by his drastic surge in power, as well as by his appearance. Two short horns were sticking up out of the Majin's forehead, much like a demons, and the red hair didn't help matters much. Ubuu's muscles had increased in size so much that his shirt was lying in shreds on the arena floor, but that wasn't the scary part. What really got even Piccolo, a former devil of Earth, was those yellow, cat-like eyes that glared out at him with indescribable anger.

"Not bad, green man," Ubuu chuckled, "Not good enough to get me I'm afraid, but still not bad."

"Pretty cocky for your age, huh?" Piccolo snorted, "Must get that from Vegeta."

"Whatever works in the end," Ubuu shrugged, "At least I know I can back it up against someone like you!"

"You think so, do you?" Piccolo snickered, his aura rising slightly, "Well, we'll just see about that one punk!"

Ubuu looked ready for blood as he launched himself at Piccolo, who made no attempt to dodge the attack as his opponent drew closer to him. Ubuu drew back to slam a super-charged punch right into the Nameksei-jin's face, which brought a smirk to Piccolo's face for some odd reason. Just before the blow hit, the green warrior let loose with an earsplitting scream as his silver aura knocked the young Majin clean across the ring.

Piccolo's already bulky muscles bulged out even more, ripping the top of his gi clean off as his body increased in size by almost a foot, and the yellow parts of his arms glowed slightly as their coloration darkened. A long, whitish-blue mohawk began to grow up out of the Nameksei-jin's head and down his back, a sight that dazzled the other fighters around to the point of speechlessness. Even the cocky Ubuu was stunned to no ends, but he wouldn't allow anyone else to see that.

"So you've reached a new level of power," Ubuu huffed, "Big deal, green man. I'll bet it wouldn't last two seconds against me at my new strength!"

"Still so cocky," Piccolo snickered, cracking his neck, "And just as foolish..."

"Enough of your talk, let's get this show on the road!" Ubuu roared, launching himself at the Nameksei-jin warrior, "You're a dead man, Piccolo!"

Piccolo gave no verbal response to the Majin, but sidestepped the young man's attack and rammed an elbow down onto his head. Ubuu collapsed to his knees in pain, giving the Nameksei-jin the perfect opportunity to deliver a powerful punch to his ribcage. Ubuu coughed out more blood this time than before, clutching his stomach to try and ease the pain that ripped throughout his entire being.

"It would seem as though I've beaten you," Piccolo smirked, "Any last words before I send you on your way?"

"Yeah...just one," Ubuu snickered weakly, "DIE!!!"

The Majin suddenly jumped into the air and fired a ki blast right in Piccolo's face, expecting to catch the Nameksei-jin off-guard, but was sadly disappointed when the green warrior grabbed Ubuu's leg as it came at his side. Piccolo promptly threw the young boy into the air, chasing after him at super human speeds so he could ram his fist into the Majin's already beat-up face. Ubuu barely registered the attack, as he was still numb from only a few blows earlier. Piccolo followed this attack up with a kick to the spine, knocking the young man back down towards the ring.

Ubuu had just enough strength left to soften his landing, only cracking the surface of the arena rather than tearing it to shreds from slamming into it. Immediately the Majin dropped back down to his most basic form, no longer able to maintain the powerful third level, just in time to see a green fist come barreling into the side of his head. The dark-skinned warrior hurtled outside of the ring, hitting the grassy ground outside hard as he rolled to a stop just in front of the wall.

The crowd was once again deadly silent, watching for any sign of movement from their champion as he lay motionless outside the ring for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the Majin moved a little bit, trying to get to his feet only to collapse onto his back again as the medics rushed out to get him. Piccolo felt bad for his comrade, but at the same time knew that it was going to be him or them and he'd much rather it was Ubuu.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the reigning champion Ubuu has been defeated by ring-out in this seventh match of the Budokai!" Bardock exclaimed, "That means Piccolo will go on to face the winner of the next match in the quarter finals! Let's hear it for this great warrior folks!"

"It really has been a long time," Piccolo mused, ignoring the crowd's booing as he walked to the waiting area, "I've always looked forward to our rematch, Goku..."

Somewhere in the waiting area, the legendary warrior Son Goku sneezed so loudly it caught the attention of everyone around him. As he wiped his nose off, the powerful Saiya-jin was smacked on the shoulder by his soon-to-be opponent in the last match of the preliminaries, the giant Saiya-jin Brolly.

"Not coming down with something before our match, are you Kakarot?" Brolly laughed, "I'd hate to beat you cause you were sick!"

"That's assuming you can even beat me!" Goku chuckled, suddenly all better, "I'll be you can't even land a decent punch, big guy!"

"Oh, I beg to differ Kakarot," Brolly smirked wickedly, "I'm going to savor this victory for a long time..."

NEXT TIME: One match left in the preliminaries and it is between the Saiya-jin warrior's Brolly and his long time rival, Goku. Which of these two powerhouse Saiya-jin will move on to face Piccolo in the quarter finals? More importantly, what are these new moves Goku is using on the massive Saiya-jin he has for an opponent? Find out in the next installment of Dragonball AS!!!!!!!