Chapter 6: Revelation of Power
Goku energetically burst from his position and darted right towards Noca, with the intention to try and win the fight, at least that's how it seemed to Noca who wasn't used to such high energy combat. Goku did feel like that was the only way he could get the best out of Noca, and the Saiyan teen had not been expecting such a severe rise in power, and he was knocked back towards the edge of the ring and very nearly fell off.
As he slipped just over the edge Pan gasped loudly and it drew the attention of people in the waiting room.
Noca managed to stop himself by hovering, but he didn't allow himself too much time to look up and prepare for what was coming. Goku charged up to Noca and kicked him up into the sky and followed on. He arrived next to him, grabbed a hold of the teen's top and swung the teen across through the air.
The young Saiyan was quick to stop himself and halt his movement, but then Goku shot towards him and elbowed the teen in the face, sending him soaring once more.
Yet again, Noca managed to slow himself, but that time he managed to move quickly, and he phased out of view. Goku stopped his movement immediately and smirked to himself, knowing that he could easily track Noca's movements. The teen was darting around Goku at a speed that made it impossible for anyone in the crowd to see him. Goku could very clearly see Noca's body blurring around but he couldn't pinpoint his exact position.
Noca then shot towards Goku but the older Saiyan phased very quickly avoiding any contact, and in the very brief moment Noca was given to think about his next move he also decided to phase away, hoping to avoid being caught by Goku yet again.
This just led to the two of them moving through the sky at tremendous speeds and they were both trying to ensure that they avoided one another. Noca was continuing to try and keep track of Goku's movements but felt that his experienced opponent was truly using his greater well of power to push Noca further. There was also something about his opponent being Goku that was affecting Noca on a subconscious level. He had tried his best to simply push it to the side and focus on trying to do his best, but there was something about it being the Son Goku that was getting to him.
The teen just felt like he was chasing Goku, but he was starting to feel like it was just a trick of some sort and that Goku was stringing him along. He needed to figure out a way to stop Goku's movement so they could get into close combat. Neither of them was moving in a way that made it easy to track, they were both acting unpredictably. Even Goku was having a tough time trying to figure out what Noca's intentions were.
But that was because even Noca didn't know his own intentions. He had to admit that his emotions were probably getting the better of him and he was getting rather frustrated. Goku could definitely sense the change in Noca's emotions and felt concerned that whatever was going on would distract him from the fight.
Down in the waiting area even Pan could still feel what was happening with Noca. She found that she started whispering to herself, asking for Noca to calm down and focus. Somehow, Noca felt like he could feel Pan's sentiment and almost hear her words. There was a comfort. He suddenly stopped moving, almost confused by it, and he looked down towards the waiting area.
Pan noticed this and she was starting to feel like she had maybe distracted him, and honestly, Noca's concentration had been briefly shaken by the feeling he got from Pan, but he knew the words he heard were right and he truly needed to keep himself focussed.
Goku had continued to dart around, attempting to either confuse Noca or at least put him off the scent a little bit. It was quite effective because the teen Saiyan really couldn't pinpoint a final position for Goku and it was making him worry about his chances again. Goku really knew what he was doing. Noca just needed to concentrate.
"Don't use your eyes," the friendly voice of Son Goku instructed, from somewhere. Noca tried to pinpoint it. "Or your ears. Just use your ability to sense energy," Goku continued as he kept moving. Noca realised the older Saiyan was right.
Noca nodded and closed his eyes, ignoring everything going on around him. He just had to trust that Goku wasn't the kind of dirty fighter to use this as an advantage to beat Noca but based on the way the fight had been going up until that point it was clear that Goku just wasn't that type of fighter, especially in this circumstance. He really was training Noca.
With his eyes closed, and his senses focussed, Noca had managed to see another path of energy moving around him. There was a difference this time; it wasn't staying visible for very long. It was fading quickly and Noca was still having a hard time of tracking Goku's movements. It was all so unpredictable. He would dart left, then back right, then up, then down. He would move close to Noca, far away from Noca, and it was just making things so confusing for the teenager.
The boy cursed himself for being too weak for Goku, but then he started to think back over his training in the past few months. How he had surprised Gohan on many occasions, and how he had pushed Vegeta to revealing some of his true power. He obviously hadn't fought at a Super Saiyan level in those training sessions, in fact, as far as Noca was aware, he had never truly utilised the Super Saiyan power. Was this the time to push that power out?
Noca wasn't sure what was happening, but with that acceptance in his mind, something seemed to unlock and Noca felt like he had tapped into something that had always been there, something he had tasted before, but this time, it was there to grab.
"I will beat you, Goku!" Noca yelled, immediately allowing his power to burst from within, and in a brief moment his aura exploded around him, shining brightly. He was giving off so much power that it had caused even Goten and Trunks to move closer to the action, eager to see if it was really coming from that boy. Even Holline was shocked to see such a showing from her long-time friend.
The young Saiyan needed to attack Goku somehow. He closed his eyes and focussed harder than he had ever done before in his life. He started to follow one of the energy trails again, but realised it was still fading very quickly. Another odd development, the energy line that he had been following was no longer a line, it was a ball. Noca was tracking a ball of energy. No. Noca was tracking Goku himself.
There was a brief moment of celebration in Noca's mind as he realised, he had focused hard enough on his energy senses to be able to track Goku perfectly. Noca had come into the fight with a limited understanding on tracking and following energy, his senses weren't always precise. Now they were.
Noca finally planned his move. He held his hands out straight in front of him and put them together in a position for firing an attack. His eyes remained closed, but he was still following Goku, tracking him with his hands. As he did this, Noca was powering up Ki in his hands. A small ball of energy formed and was growing in size.
Goku was still moving around, but he was fully aware of what Noca was doing, he just wanted to test Noca's targeting abilities. The young Saiyan was having no trouble following Goku's movements and actually managed to spot a sort of rhythm in the way he was moving. Goku was indeed following a pattern of sorts, and that meant Noca may be able to plan a few steps ahead and have a good chance of striking the target.
Noca just had to hope that Goku wouldn't let up any time soon. He needed the elder Saiyan to continue following that pattern, he needed a sign that he wasn't going to shake things up. Noca smirked to himself when he noticed that Goku was doing exactly what he hoped. He just wanted to wait for Goku to pass in front of him at the right moment. He passed by once, twice… three times…
Now.
Noca opened his eyes and fired out his blast as Goku was about to pass by for a fourth time. He had to hope that he had accounted correctly for Goku's speed otherwise the attack would be a waste. The energy wave shot towards the position and Goku was moving so fast that even he wouldn't be able to dodge it easily.
His eyes widened as he noticed the wave soaring right towards him and he did nothing to stop himself from colliding with it in the air, causing a huge explosion to rumble through the air in the sky above the stadium. The whole area was filled with a thick cloud of smoke and no one could tell what had happened to Goku.
The smoke cloud even impaired Noca's vision, but the young Saiyan didn't move his arms. His breathing had become heavier, not out of exhaustion, but honestly out of frustration.
The smoke cloud began to dissipate and Noca was about to discover what had happened to Son Goku. Through what remained of the smoke, Noca could see the shadow of Goku's body, but not the extent of the damages. The atmosphere in the stadium remained silent and everyone was eager to find out what had been happening. The smoke finally cleared enough for Noca to see what was done and noticed the damage was mainly done to Goku's clothes. Half of his top was torn, and part of his left trouser leg had been shredded away.
Despite that, he was smiling, but Noca could tell that the attack had taken something out of him. He had clearly been slowed down. Noca had no intentions on keeping things slow. He shot towards Goku and tried to punch him in the face with his right but the adult Saiyan just turned to the left out of the way and let Noca's arm move across his body. Goku grabbed the arm with his right hand and pulled it down out of the way, creating an opening for his elbow to connect with Noca's face.
Noca jolted back, but then Goku pulled him back in and elbowed him again. He repeated the action a few times, as if Noca was attached by some sort of bungee cord. Each time he struck Noca's face he caused more damage. He didn't even stop once blood started to drop from a cut on Noca's lip. Goku knew it would be painful, but the teen needed to learn somehow.
The boy was getting more and more annoyed, but he was failing to think of a new strategy. He would need to try and let his instincts takeover. That had worked for him in the past. Noca practically let himself give up for a brief moment and as he was pulled back in towards the elbow once more, he ducked away and created an opening for himself. He punched up with his left, striking Goku in the gut.
To his surprise, Noca's attempt had caught Goku completely off-guard. It worked. This gave Noca a newfound sense of determination and he quickly sent up uppercut to Goku's chin, causing the older Saiyan to let go of his arm. The young Saiyan very quickly dropped away after that and darted back in, drilling his foot into Goku's gut. The older Saiyan coughed up some saliva and had to grip his stomach.
He managed to look up and briefly meet Noca's eyes, noticing they had change to teal, the colour of a Super Saiyan's eyes. Goku was getting excited.
The teen dropped away and shot a huge barrage of Ki blasts at Goku, but they were far too erratic so Goku had little trouble avoiding or blocking them all. He swiped them out of his way and shot right towards Noca, with the intention on pushing him to become a Super Saiyan. Noca was shocked to see the way Goku was soaring towards him and instantly tried to swing a fist towards the older Saiyan.
Goku did the same and both fists connected in the air, sending the biggest shockwave of the tournament so far rippling through the entire stadium. Everyone was jostled about heavily and were starting to get really worried about the integrity of the stadium. Both Saiyans remained in the same position, staring right into each other's eyes.
"You should embrace your Saiyan side more," Goku muttered to Noca. Noca's brow twitched but he did well to remain cool. Goku took this as a sign that Noca wasn't going to try and dispute what he already knew. "You've been holding it in, only letting it slip out in small doses. You need to truly embrace who you are, and only then can you learn to control it," Goku continued, almost as if he was talking from experience. Noca's brow furrowed, but he truly listened to Goku's words.
He nodded gently. It was in that moment when Noca truly realised he was getting what he had wanted for the better part of a year. He was being trained by Son Goku. He just hoped he could impress the experience Saiyan warrior enough to show him that he could one day be a warrior in his own right.
"I'm gonna power up to my fullest without turning into a Super Saiyan," Goku mentioned. Noca wanted to protest and say no, but he knew it would help him. It would truly help his Saiyan strength explode out of him. Goku pulled away and let his power raise even higher. Noca was beginning to get anxious again, but he knew it was an unreasonable feeling. Goku wasn't about to try and kill him, he knew that much.
Goku smirked as he could sense that even Noca was letting all of his accessible power flow through him. His eyes had briefly turned teal again and the energy was creating a gust of wind around him. Even his hair had begun to wave and move upwards.
"That's it, keep going," Goku said, taking his teacher role more seriously.
"What?" Noca questioned, unaware that he could just keep pushing further without hurting himself, it was already putting some strain on his body. He wasn't confident.
"Keep raising your energy and soon you'll be at the ideal level for us to carry on," Goku instructed him.
Noca just nodded again, continuing to focus within himself. Goku just folded his arms and moved back, watching as Noca closed his eyes. The teen was trying to locate the area inside himself where all his energy was held, where it was stored, so he could let it all out. He knew it wasn't a physical space, it was all mental, but it helped to visualise an actual place. He was already becoming familiar with that area, but he had always kept such a tight lock on it, this time, he started to let more and more flow through every part of his body.
He needed to familiarise himself with levels of power he wasn't used to, so he could give himself the biggest fighting chance. He soon visualised something in his mind that surprised him. He had a brief vision from one of his dreams, the one where he was at the tournament. He could only see fire, but it was enough to remind him of everything else. He quickly opened his eyes and looked down at the stage, but the entire sequence began playing in his mind. Noca was beginning to lose focus and control.
Goku could feel the significant rise in Noca's energy, it was reaching new heights. The older Saiyan started to hover a little bit away from Noca, creating distance. He could feel that Noca's anger was growing with each passing second as well. It was almost reminiscent of when Goku had first become a Super Saiyan, after he had witnessed the death of Krillin. This led Goku to believe that Noca himself had witnessed tragedy, heartbreak, and it was something that still affected him.
Noca unleashed a guttural scream due to the sheer force of his energy bursting out of him. He had released it in small doses throughout the past year, but this was different. This was Noca unchained. The sheer force of his scream echoed throughout the stadium, and people in nearby parts of the city could hear it also. Pan recognised the way that Noca's emotions were behaving, she knew exactly how he felt, not just because of the connection they shared, but because she had witnessed it in close proximity before. Vegeta saw something familiar too and knew Noca was about to reveal his truth to everyone.
The stadium was beginning to shake more and more, and it was frightening for everyone sitting in their seats. Surely, they were safe, right? The announcer was trying to think of the words to say to calm people down but honestly there was nothing coming out in that moment.
Goku was shocked by the sheer amount of power he was witnessing, this wasn't someone going Super Saiyan for the first time, Goku knew what that looked like. This was someone familiar with the power truly getting their chance to break free and be who they were meant to be.
With one final outburst and explosion of energy, there was a blinding golden light that ignited the whole arena for a moment. Once it finally died away, Noca was hovering there, a Super Saiyan. Goku's smile grew wide, everyone down in the waiting area watched on with shock on their faces.
"He had to be… it makes sense," Gohan muttered, finally coming to the realisation that there was a reason for Noca's rapid adaption to their training. Goten and Trunks watched on in silence, mouths open wide. The friends in the stands all shared the shock and amazement at what they had seen.
Back in the waiting area, Holline couldn't take her eyes off of Noca. She knew a lot about Saiyans, she had witnessed the Great Ape for herself, and she had seen a Super Saiyan for the first time in this very tournament, on that very day. But this was something entirely different. Noca looked like a completely different person.
His eyes were focussed, narrowed, hardened. His hair was golden, shining, standing up on edge, with only a few bits dropping over his forehead. His aura was waving and fizzing around him. His muscles looked incredible. He was different.
Holline was staring with wonder and shock, but Pan was also staring. She had seen Noca become a Super Saiyan, briefly, but it had been different then. This was Noca in control of the form. She was smiling, she was trembling, the whole moment had sent chills through her body. Noca, in her eyes, looked amazing.
Goku began to descend to the stage, Noca followed him and they touched down at the same time. Noca was practically glaring towards the older Saiyan, while Goku wore his smirk.
"Very good," Goku muttered, folding his arms in front of him. "You're in control of it."
Noca's glare fell away and a new realisation dawned over him. He noticed the energy all around him and he looked at his hands, almost as if he hoped to see something, but he could feel the change. He felt… free.
"I'm a Super Saiyan?" Noca questioned.
"Yes, and I'm sure this isn't the first time," Goku stated. Noca kept staring at his hands, he was familiarising himself with the feeling, making sure that he never forgot it.
"This is weird," Noca said.
"Which is why I think we should stop here," Goku replied.
"What do you mean?" Noca asked.
Goku turned away from the teen and looked at the announcer.
"Yo, mister announcer," Goku called out. The announcer looked at Goku, a bewildered expression on his face. "I forfeit, ok?"
"Ok? What?" The announcer questioned, as if he didn't understand Goku.
"No!" Noca exclaimed.
"It's only right," Goku said, turning to smile at Noca as he walked towards the edge of the stage and jumped off, landing on the grass. Everyone was shocked by that sudden choice.
The announcer and Mr Satan watched on with their mouths wide. The announcer had to shake his head and take up his microphone again.
"So, Son Goku has made the choice to drop out of the rest of this fight. He forfeits, meaning that Noca will advance to the next round. Which means that brings the first round and the first day of the tournament to an end. Tomorrow will be the start of the quarter finals, the first fight will be between Vegeta and Wun, then we will watch father versus daughter with Pan up against Gohan. After that it will be Mr Buu against Uub, and finally we will have Ma Junior going face-to-face with Noca. The first fight begins at midday, so don't be late."
Everyone in the audience was shocked that that was the way the day came to an end. They all shuffled awkwardly in their seats until they realised, they could leave, which they all did awkwardly and slowly.
Noca remained standing in the centre of the stage, his Super Saiyan energy flared up all around him, and he was just so perplexed by what had happened. Luckily, the confusion about that ending meant that Noca's focus was shifted away from his energy and he managed to calm down and drop to a level that was easier to control.
Goku stepped back up onto the stage and walked to Noca, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You can release it now," he said, softly, calmly. Noca needed that. He took a breath and let go, and the energy fell away. He returned to his base form just like that.
His energy was still very high, and Noca was feeling very weird. He knew that everyone had seen him become a Super Saiyan and his head was filled with worries, but Goku simply helped by guiding him down off of the stage and towards the waiting area.
Once in there, practically everyone was standing around, staring towards both Goku and Noca.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, boy!" Vegeta exclaimed, "And don't think you're off the hook, Kakarot!"
"Woah calm down Vegeta. Let's all get back to the hotel, rest up, and then we can all talk, ok?" Goku suggested. Pan stood close to her father, almost feeling awkward about seeing her grandfather again, even Goten stood away. They all accepted it was only right they wait until they got back to the hotel, that way everyone could say and ask what they needed to.
Once they left the arena and started walking down the streets the group seemed to shift around, Goku ended up walking ahead with Piccolo, and Pan managed to get Noca near her. She couldn't explain it, but she wanted him close to her in that moment. As the excitement of the tournament faded away, that feeling was replaced by everything Pan had felt since her grandfather left all that time ago.
It was hard for her, and Noca could very much feel that.
