Last time on Dragon Ball HPA! The tournament heated up with three distinct matches. Akane fought toe to toe with mysterious Shin, but ultimately could not overcome him and was soundly defeated.
Videl duked it out with the bald, buff Yamu and managed to win after a hard-fought battle.
And Hajime Hinata squared off against Princess Sonia, but was quickly overpowered.
"Guess that sells it then, there's a world of difference between ultimates…and ordinary people."
Now the mighty Goku faces off against Android 18. After repeating that he won't use Super Saiyan in the ring, can our hero defeat the mechanical martial artist originally created for the sole purpose of killing him? The story continues now!
Episode 6: Roar of Unpredictable Fury!
The brass drum was sounded, kicking off the match between Goku and 18. The two of them immediately charged at one another, wasting no time clashing up close and personal. Punches and kicks of numerous quantity flew so fast they were like blurs, even to some of the Z-fighters.
Goku's leg swung up and out as 18 blocked it near her face with her wrist. Goku ducked under a punch by bending over backwards as he clasped his ankles around 18's waist and tried to hurl her out of the ring. 18 caught herself in midair and flew back at Goku before he could get a chance to follow up. She swung down and Goku swung up, their knuckles clashing and causing a shockwave felt by the entire arena. A few more punches and one more kick apiece clashed in the center of the ring. 18 showed a look of competitive determination, but Goku was all smiles and confident as well.
"You're pretty good, 18. I expected at least this much of a challenge," Goku said to her.
18 chuckled. "You sound like you're holding back, even without Super Saiyan."
"Maybe I am," Goku said and something about his voice made it impossible to tell if he was bluffing or not.
The two backed away from each other as 18 fired a volley of energy blasts at Goku in a curved, semi-circle pattern.
Goku, knowing the blasts would hit the audience behind him if he merely dodged, countered the blasts with a continuous energy blast of his own, trailing from his 2 o' clock to his 8 o' clock position. 18 leapt over the beam and aimed to plant her foot in Goku's face, but he grabbed her leg, shocking her as he twirled her around and made to hurl her far away from the arena. 18 righted herself in midair quite a distance from the audience. She kept her eyes on Goku as he rocketed towards her at top speed. She met him halfway, her elbowing colliding into his neck. Goku's extended fist sliding in front of her body, just under her chest.
Taken off guard by the sharp pain in his throat, 18 whirled and kicked Goku in the stomach with the meat of her shin before driving her knee into Goku's upper stomach before he could be launched away too far.
Goku went flying back over the horizon, too far for the tournament staff or the audience to see, leading to boos and complaints.
"Don't worry folks, we planned for this. Please turn your attention to the screen behind me," the announcer said, gesturing to the gigantic screen they'd shown a mock up of the Cell Games on less than an hour ago. "We have choppers all over the island ready to help you catch a glimpse of the action. This wouldn't be the first tournament our combatants took to the skies and we want you to get the competition you crave!" Yeah, who could forget that legendary bout between Son Goku and Tenshinhan, the announcer thought. There was no way we wouldn't have something like that planned just in case. He ran around to the other side of the arena to see the screen himself. There was no way he was going to miss seeing Goku in action after many years of absence.
Meanwhile, high in the sky, 18 had finished catching up with Goku. She kept her distance. Goku was standing with his arms at his sides, body looking loose and not tense at all.
"Thanks for taking the match this far from the audience, 18," Goku told her. "I was worried I was going to have to hold back too much."
"I'm not like you Saiyans," 18 said as she tucked hair behind her ear. "But I wouldn't feel comfortable saying "I beat the almighty Goku" if I beat you using only cheap strikes. How's your stomach?"
"Oh man, I thought lunch was gonna come back up," Goku said and then doubled over briefly only to belch. "But I'm good now. All right, no more holding back. If we're this high up, I doubt anyone's gonna be affected by this."
Although she was a cyborg, 18 still had the capability to sense energy herself and what she could sense was Goku's energy increasing drastically.
"Hey! I thought we agreed no Super Saiyan!" 18 shouted.
"We did," Goku said with a smirk. "But this isn't Super Saiyan. Kaio-ken!" Goku shouted, red energy engulfing his entire body.
"Kaio-what?" 18 questioned only to take an elbow to the shnozz. Goku instantly had the advantage now. He was twice as fast, strong and tough than mere moments ago and he began hammering blows into 18 relentlessly. He thought he had it when he slammed his fists into her stomach and sent her careening towards the ground, but 18 managed to stop herself and fly back up towards Goku before he could come down to finish her off. Her flying uppercut missed and, as she swung to drive her leg into his neck, Goku blocked.
He then grabbed her leg by the knee and spun her around at high speeds, intending to hurl her towards the ocean.
Not this time, 18 thought and charged an energy blast while Goku was spinning her and fired it at his face. Her attack hit home. Now she had an opening. Rushing forward, she lay a smack down on Goku delivering several punches to his face, chest and stomach before finishing her assault with a powerful knee to the gut. She then quickly charged an energy blast and let it barrel straight into Goku's torso, knocking him away.
"Don't think just because you can power up that you've automatically won this!" 18 shouted.
Goku wiped the blood off his lip as the dust around him settled. "Never thought that for a moment," Goku replied. "You're really something 18," he told her with a smile. I wanna save my real strength for Gohan to see how far he's come, but if I hold back too much, 18 will take me down if I'm not careful. He nodded inwardly. All right, let's give this a try. Goku flew towards 18 at top speed, waiting for the exact moment she chose to block and then flew sharply upward.
The confused look on 18's face suddenly made her realize Goku's back was to the sun.
"Solar Flare!" Goku shouted.
18 realized she'd been completely duped by the Saiyan and was completely blinded by his technique. Goku's fist found its home slamming into 18's stomach, taking the wind out of her as he then pressed his palm towards her face and hurled her back towards the arena.
Flying too fast to stop and still reeling from the Solar Flare, 18 could barely see the blue glint as Goku's frame got smaller and smaller.
"Kamehameha!" Goku shouted, unleashing the torrent of ki at 18, intending to finish the job his fist and palm had started.
18 was flying too fast to get proper aerial control and Goku's ki attack was coming in monstrously quick. She began charging ki in her palm as she turned her body. If she couldn't stop herself on her own, her ki would do the job for her.
Unfortunately, as she got a glimpse of what was below her, she noticed the audience and could see young Marron with her arms waving up, a smile on her face.
18 gasped briefly and then smiled. All right, Goku, she thought. You win. The risk was too great. Firing an energy blast downward right now would run the risk of hurting too many people, including her baby girl. Sure, she might not hit the audience, but that…was not a risk worth taking.
Smiling, 18 opened her arms and let Goku's attack envelop her, smashing her into the street just beyond the parking lot of the tournament stands themselves.
"Number 18 is out of the ring and therefore out of the tournament!" the announcer declared. "The winner is Son Goku!" the announcer shouted.
The crowd cheered. Vegeta smirked.
"All right, dad!" Gohan shouted.
"Heh, didn't think he'd use Kaio-ken," Piccolo chuckled.
"Same for the Solar Flare. You really never know what that guy's thinking," Krillin remarked.
Coincidentally, moments after Krillin said this, Goku landed in front of where 18 lay in a shallow crater.
"You all right?" He asked, reaching an arm down to help her up.
She graciously took it, letting him help her to her feet. "Yeah, just realizing how soft I've become."
"Soft?" Goku asked, blinking. However, his mind quickly realized what 18 was getting at. He could see everything she was experiencing from his perspective and knew what she must've been thinking. "Ohhhh, yeah, if it was five years ago, you would've blasted at the ground without a second thought," Goku said, laughing nervously. "Kinda glad you didn't though."
"Heh," 18 said slapping Goku's chest. "I wouldn't dream of it. No prize money is worth endangering Marron's life over. I know you'd feel the same about Gohan."
Goku put his hands behind his head and laughed giddily. "Yeah, though, I mean, Gohan could handle himself. I wouldn't put innocent people in the way though."
"Still, even without Super Saiyan, you clearly had me beat. My only chance was to ring you out and even that didn't quite work. Well fought, Goku. Try not to beat your son up so badly it becomes a scandal."
Goku just laughed as 18 walked away.
While Akane was not usually one for petty forms of hygine most times, insistence from Videl that she go wash off her face had led the tanned teen to the restroom. Akane was out of the tournament, but, like Piccolo, remained in the challenger's lobby to get a good view of the action.
Gohan's match was coming up—a commercial break and an endorsement by Hercule were currently breaking up the action—so Akane thought she had plenty of time.
Even if she missed the opening act, Akane knew that any good fight wouldn't show the pinnacle of both fighters' abilities until later in the match. On top of that, Akane's ability to sense ki thanks to her finely honed instincts—and training from Vegeta—let her sense Gohan and this Kibito guy as they faced each other on the arena. This was just as she was shutting off the water, getting the last of the gravy off her right cheek.
It was while she was in the connecting hallway between the lobby and the restroom that she felt Gohan's energy spiking. She'd only felt him so powerful once and that was when Vegeta was giving him a hard time in the name of training.
Akane, excited, ran out to see what she presumed to be the action getting good. She spotted Gohan sparking with energy, hair blond, facing down Kibito.
"Awww yeah! This guy must be really strong if Gohan's bringing that out! Let him have it, Gohan!"
However, Akane's cheer would not be followed up on. Immediately Spopovich got Gohan in a headlock and Yamu injected Gohan with some weird device and she could feel Gohan's life energy fading fast.
Akane's instincts immediately kicked in. She was already eliminated from the tournament and if these guys were gonna violate the rules, so was she.
It was mid-draining of Gohan's energy when Yamu felt Akane's shin connecting with his neck, sending him flying into a nearby wall.
Spopovich got it next as Akane charged up a ki blast, leapt and struck him point blank in the face. "HAAAAAAAAA!" The unleashed energy sent him careening through the wall and out into the parking lot.
Gohan, having not had all his energy drained, but still in pretty rough shape, looked at her in shock. "A-Akane?"
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" Akane shouted, growling at the nearby Yamu. "You son of a bitch!" She raised her right leg and slammed her foot onto the arena with enough force to crack the tile. White ki flared around her as she launched like a madwoman, grabbing Yamu by the neck and hurtling him through the wall.
Shin was left stunned. He had just told Goku and friends not to interfere. Piccolo already telling them he was the Supreme Kai, but no one had managed to account for the loose cannon that was Akane Owari.
Yamu found himself on the receiving end of a bloody beatdown from Akane. Teeth and blood spewing out of his mouth with every punch.
Though Videl was roughly on footing for him, Yamu quickly realized that Akane, in her angered state, was completely out of his league.
He was long unconscious when Goku finally pulled Akane off him.
Spopovich had been unconscious for a while now and was pinned under an overturned car.
"Let me go!" Akane shouted, struggling against Goku. "I'll kill him! He's not gonna get away with hurting my best friend!"
Fortunately for Goku, in spite of Akane's flailing, he was way stronger than her. Therefore, anything that struck him didn't even make him flinch.
"Well, Akane's actions have pretty much put us back at square one," Piccolo remarked as he, Vegeta, and Shin arrived to find the nearly toothless, unconscious Yamu. Krillin and Videl showed up not long after.
"Ho man, this guy needs a hospital stat."
Goku was unbothered by Akane trying to gnaw on his arm and hand to get free as he spoke to Krillin. "Think you can fly him there, buddy?"
"What? Why me? You do it," Krillin stated.
"I'll call an ambulance in," Videl said, having already retrieved her cell phone from the locker room. "It'll be faster."
Still witnessing Akane trying to go nuts prompted Vegeta to finally speak up. "Akane! Enough."
Akane glared at Vegeta.
"Your opponent can't fight back and Gohan isn't keeling over dead. Any further action taken wouldn't be of that as a fighter. Now stand down!"
"Moral high ground speeches from you?" Krillin asked. "Next thing you know, pigs'll be taking to the air."
Vegeta gave a stern look at Krillin who panicked, gulped and took a step back from the short Saiyan.
Shin was just looking at the absolutely pounded in Yamu on the asphalt beneath his feet. He'd fought Akane tooth and nail in their fight earlier but this savagery was something else.
"I think it's time you start talking," Piccolo said.
"What's going on, you guys?" Gohan asked, landing with his feet on the ground.
"Huh? Gohan?" Goku asked.
Gohan looked at where Goku's eyes were aimed and then realized what the issue was. "Huh? Oh. No problem. The fight got called a No Contest due to outside interference. We've got a little bit of time. Thing is, I'm probably not gonna win and might consider dropping out at this rate. I'm in pretty bad shape."
"You sound find to me," Goku remarked.
"Gohan…you're okay," Akane said, surprised.
"Huh? Yeah, of course I'm okay. Heck, I'd be in worse shape if you hadn't stepped in like that." He pat Akane on the head. "Thanks, Akane."
Akane sucked in her face and cast her head down. She wasn't gonna cry. She absolutely positively would not cry. With a deep breath, she brought herself under control and punched a fist into her other hand, looking at Shin. "I'm with the big green guy," Akane said. "Start explaining things!"
Shin sighed. This really wasn't how he envisioned things going down. But, he had no choice. He told the assembled fighters all about Bibidi, Babidi and Buu. By this point, Kibito had also joined the conversation.
"So we just gotta crush this Babidi guy and prevent this Buu guy from escaping?" Akane asked. "Sounds like a plan! Lead the way!" Everyone looked sternly at Akane. "What? What's wrong?"
"Your outburst cost me my only lead," Shin told her. "I had intended to follow Spopovich and Yamu straight to Babidi and his ship, but thanks to you their unconscious and Babidi could just bide his time until a better opportunity arrives."
Akane was not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree, but she could at least put two and two together and come up with four. And her realization led to another fit of anger as she grabbed Shin with two fistsfuls of his shirt and strung him up, shocking everyone.
"What the hell?! You come waltzing in here and use Gohan as bait to hunt down some dark wizard dude! Gimme one good reason I don't crack your skull open!" Akane shouted.
"Well apart from the fact that you tried to do that a little while ago and got beaten to a pulp," Vegeta reminded her. "Shin here is the Supreme Kai, making him the highest authority in the universe."
Akane didn't stop her glare nor her balled fists. Shin could see the anger plain as day on her face. He calmly put a hand on one of Akane's. "I understand. You care about Gohan's well-being a lot, don't you? I apologize. Perhaps my methods could've done with some…refining."
Shin's apology was enough for Akane to promptly let go of him and back away. Kibito let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"So following Yamu and Spopovich is out," Piccolo said. "So what now?"
"I…I don't know. I was entirely banking on covertly letting them lead us straight to Babidi."
"Why don't we just spread out and search?" Videl asked.
Shin gave her a confused look.
"That's a great idea!" Akane agreed. "There are so many of us here, if we split up and go flying around the planet looking for a space ship or some weird ki, we could hone in on him no problem!"
"That could take hours," Piccolo remarked.
Akane chuckled. "Nah, it's good. I'm gonna bring a secret weapon."
"Secret…weapon?" Krillin questioned.
"Akane, you're not gonna bring who I think you are, are you?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah, I am," Akane said, grinning delightfully. "It'll be easy to find Babidi with him around. I'll just get a lucky find."
Gohan sighed.
"What's wrong, Gohan?" Krillin asked.
"You'll find out," Gohan stated.
"So we have something akin to a plan then," Piccolo stated. "What do we do beyond that? The tournament's still going on."
"I don't know about you guys, but I plan to stay here and finish the tournament. I'll catch up in a bit. Gohan, if you can, why don't you fly to Korin's Tower and get yourself a Senzu Bean?"
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, this definitely takes priority over the tournament," Gohan stated.
"Yeah, you could probably use the whole Babidi story to skip your practical. I'll back it up, given how insane this all is," Videl stated.
"Thanks, Videl," Gohan said, nodding to her.
"Goku, I must insist that you," Shin started to say, but Goku merely smiled.
"You've got Gohan with you. Unless this Buu guy gets released, I'm pretty sure he can handle it, right son?" Goku asked him.
Gohan nodded. "Yeah. Leave it to me, dad."
"If Kakarot is staying, I'm not budging an inch either." Vegeta looked at Shin. "If you're going then I'll win our match automatically."
"I must," Shin stated.
"I as well," Kibito pointed out.
"Then it sounds like the clown here just bought himself a ticket to the finals," Vegeta snickered.
"Guess I should probably help Gohan then," Krillin remarked. "Normally I'd tough it out after what that Femme Fury chick did to Piccolo, but with this going on, I'd only be keeping Vegeta and Goku here longer."
"Thanks, Krillin. If I win, I'll give you at least some of the money. I know how much you wanted to compete, pal," Goku told him.
"Videl, you stay here for now," Gohan said. "But if Sonia beats you, come find us."
Akane chuckled, looking at Videl, grinning. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let Gohan get jumped like that again, no matter what."
"Both of you be safe," Videl told them.
"We'll be fine," Gohan stated.
"I can't believe we're brute forcing our way into finding Babidi," Kibito sighed.
"I only hope Babidi doesn't pull something sneaky while we're searching for his needle in the proverbial haystack," Shin pointed out.
"Nah, don't sweat it. With my plan," Akane said, grinning. "We'll find him for sure."
"What should we do once someone's found him?" Piccolo asked.
"Why don't we increase our energy level so the others can find us?" Gohan asked.
"That might put Babidi on guard if we did," Shin stated.
By this point, the ambulance to collect Spopovich and Yamu, plus a police car to arrest the two for assault and battery, had shown up.
"The more we talk, the more he has a chance to do something," Piccolo stated. "As long as the person who found him keeps an eye on him or his ship, we should be able to do something without losing his trail. Besides, what's he gonna do?" Piccolo said with a smug smirk. "Turn tail and run? From how you described it, he needs us to show up or he can't get anywhere."
Shin had to admit that Piccolo had a point.
"Great, then let's get this plan going! I'm gonna clobber this Babidi guy and every single guy working for him!"
The group began to move about to begin the plan as Vegeta spoke to Shin. "Take Kotomi, Gundham, and Peko with you while you're at it." He described what Peko and Gundham looked like to Shin so he could find her among the audience. "They're inexperienced, but they're strong. More than capable of fighting the likes of members of Freeza's old Ginyu Force. If this Babidi intends to throw hordes of minions at you, they'll help keep Gohan from having to step in unless he has to."
"Thank you, Vegeta," Shin said.
He did not receive a You're welcome in return.
However, as Shin began to head off for the stands, he was approached by a young boy with brown hair olive green eyes. "Excuse me, Mr. Shin, sir?"
"Oh, hello," Shin said, raising his hand to greet the teen. "May I help you, youngster?"
"Actually…" The teen seemed deep in thought, only to suddenly bow. "Your Supreme Kainess, my name is Hajime Hinata. I'm a reserve course student at Hope's Peak Academy." He then stood up straight. "I'm not as strong as some of those men you were talking to and probably weaker than the main course students, but…I want to help stop this Babidi guy."
Shin smiled. He recalled Hajime's fight now with Sonia not that long ago. The kid was probably in over his head for the most part. He admired Hajime's bravery, but he could not in good faith let him come along. He looked at Hajime sternly. "I'm sorry, but you might get yourself killed out there."
"Everyone else is risking their lives too. I'm sorry for overhearing the conversation, but I can't just sit here and act like nothing's wrong."
Shin relented, sighing. "Very well, but if you feel your life is in danger, I don't want you to stay. I want you to run. I can protect you up to a point, but I'm not infallible even as a Supreme Kai."
"Thank you, sir," Hajime said, bowing at a low angle. "I'll help however I can."
Shin thought about the consequences of what he'd just permitted and was more resolved than ever to stop Babidi.
After the strange circumstances at least got partially explained to the tournament staff, the brackets were modified accordingly.
Femme Fury would skip her fight with Krillin and Vegeta would go on to fight her in the next round. Meanwhile, with Gohan and Kibito both leaving the tournament, that meant that Goku went straight to the semi-finals. 18, having heard about what was going on, decided to tag along since she was already out of the tournament anyway.
This meant that, after an extended commercial break, that Sonia would be squaring off against Videl.
Vegeta had considered telling Munakata and Sakakura about the situation—they were in the audience after all—but decided against it for now. Munakata's good nature would lead him to trying to get the tournament called off and enacting a state of emergency and Sakakura would either tell Munakata or fly off the handle. Akane was enough trouble, but at least Gohan could handle her at her worst.
Vegeta could only worry about what this "secret weapon" Akane had up her sleeve was.
Said weapon wasn't a weapon exactly, but rather a person. Akane had yanked them from the audience. "So, I need your help to find this Babidi guy. I figured with your talent, we'd find him if you flew on my back a bunch. I'd just naturally stumble into him if you were with me."
Nagito Komaeda, Class 77-B's Ultimate Lucky Student, stood in front of Akane and was elated both by her story and her interest in his assistance. "You want me to help you, Akane? You don't know how happy I am to here that!"
"Look you just gotta lead me to this Babidi guy and after that just stay out of the fight. You'll just be in the way."
"Yeah, that figures," Nagito said, sweating a little. "But, I'm fine with that. I mean, I'll just be the stepping stone that at least promotes your hope so that works out perfectly for me. But man, the Supreme Kai, talk about lucky."
"The hell about this is lucky? Gohan got seriously hurt and now we gotta save the world!"
"Ah, sorry," Nagito apologized sincerely. "I meant, it's just not every day you get roped in to helping the guy in charge of the universe." He shook nervously. "Whoo boy, I hope the good luck of that doesn't mean we'll have no luck finding Babidi."
"I mean, I was already prepared to fly for hours so I'll make do," Akane said. "Now get on my back."
"Uh, yeah," Nagito said, climbing on, left hand accidentally grabbing Akane's well-endowed chest as he secured himself. But, this being Akane, she didn't seem to care.
Like a rocket, she tore off from the ground in search of Babidi. The other Z-fighters, having noticed her take off, took off in their own directions in pursuit of the wizard.
With several of the Z-fighters and members of Hope's Peak Academy off in hot pursuit of Babidi, Videl found herself still grounded and set up to square off against Sonia.
Sonia chuckled uncomfortably as she and her school mate stood in front of each other. "The world is in danger and yet here we are putting on a show for others," She said, looking nervous.
"You didn't have to stick around," Videl said. "It's not it's your reputation on the line here." She locked into a ready stance. "I could've gone to the semi-finals to fight Goku. I don't care." She was guaranteed to lose, but losing to a former Ultimate would've most assuredly not left a black mark on Videl's record. Besides, it'd be her best chance to see what kind of man Gohan's dad was.
"Perhaps," Sonia said, only to put on her game face. "However, Vegeta-sensei has already sent out Gundham to deal with the threat and…I trust him. Besides," she flexed her arm and grasped it with her other hand. "I have not yet had a chance to show what the might of Novoselic Martial Arts is all about. I am a princess to my people first and foremost!"
"Again…you could be out saving the world," Videl reminded her.
"The plan was that we would find Babidi and regroup, yes? He hasn't the power to summon Majinn Buu, correct? Then there is no need to worry. We shall simply end the tournament and go help our friends!"
Videl smiled and clenched her fists, pivoting her back foot. "You know what? Yeah! Let's do this!" Videl exclaimed.
"Please do not hold back on my account," Sonia said. "As a princess of Novoselic I am trained to be deadened to torturous pain so I can handle whatever it is you can throw at me!"
"Don't regret those words!" Videl shouted. "Come on!"
The gong sounded and the match between Videl and Sonia officially began and Videl promptly flew across the arena to make the first move.
As the fight between Sonia and Videl unfolded, Akane's plan to find Babidi hadn't yielded any results yet, but she had confidence in both her speed and her observance to find the bastard responsible for hurting Gohan.
"I guess it might be easier to find him if Babidi was cooking a barbecue in front of his ship," Nagito joked.
Despite the mention of food, Akane didn't respond to Nagito's remark.
"Akane, you okay?" Nagito asked. The words just came out. The well-being of his fellow classmate was far too important knowledge for someone like him, he felt, but it just felt like the right thing to say.
Akane stopped short and leaned upright, forcing Nagito to grasp her shoulders. She stared down at the ocean below.
She put her hand on her chest. "I…never really knew what it was like to have friends before coming to Hope's Peak. Whenever I met someone, I never really bothered to remember their name because the next time I did, I could find myself talking about their corpse. But…Gohan's strong. Stronger than anyone my age I've ever met. When I saw him get attacked like that." Akane's fingers clenched into a fist. "I just found myself thinking that…I absolutely couldn't just stand there and watch Gohan die."
Nagito smiled. "I get it."
"You…do?" Akane was perplexed. Class 77 barely talked to each other amongst their peers outside of a few scant cases. And Nagito was an odd ball among odd balls. Hearing him sound like he could understand Akane's emotions was quite a shock to her.
"Yeah, it's simple. Gohan's your hope," Nagito pointed out to her.
"My…" Akane looked down at her fist, grinned and then threw her head back and started laughing. "You say some weird stuff, Nagito." She leaned back forward, parallel with the ocean and then prepared to take off again, still grinning. "All right, no more delays. Let's find this Babidi guy and stop him from releasing that Buu guy."
All for Gohan's sake, huh? I envy you, Akane, Nagito thought and the pair took off.
The sound of knuckles smashing against knuckles could be heard by the audience as Videl and Sonia appeared to be evenly matched. Sonia rotated her right arm as she pushed against Videl's right arm.
"You're quite strong indeed, Videl. I was worried when you appeared to be struggling against that Yamu fellow," Sonia stated.
"I was struggling because I didn't want to kill anyone and I've always had trouble with ki. Now that I've fixed that problem, I'm more than your match, Sonia." Videl leapt, turned her body and made to kick Sonia in the neck, but Sonia blocked Videl's leg with her wrist. She attempted to uppercut Videl in the chin, but the Ultimate Brawler jumped backwards to avoid getting hit, kicking her feet as she flipped backwards in an attempt to kick Sonia in the jaw.
Sonia avoided the strike and saw Videl charging a ki attack.
"I know you can take it, Sonia!" Videl shouted. "Galick Gun, fire!" Videl unleashed the purple colored energy blast towards the Ultimate Princess.
And it was finally time for the Ultimate Princess to show the fruits of her labors over the past few months. Raising her arms, standing only on one leg, Sonia gathered orange energy in either of her palms as she took a big step forward and declared, "Banisu Beam!" Orange light toward Videl's attack as the attacks exploded, snapped and crackled into sparking lights of purple and orange as they met in the middle of the arena.
Videl was already on her way to Sonia after this burst of energy. Her foot collided with Sonia's cheek with a loud cracking sound, but Sonia took the strike in stride, not even faltering as she fired a ki blast at Videl's stomach. Videl quickly reversed the motion she'd made to kick Sonia and then let loose a kick to knock away Sonia's attack. Unfortunately, this nearly sent the attack flying into the audience. Fortunately, the protective padding at the base of the audience took the worst of it.
Videl looked a little disturbed and guilty, forgetting that this wasn't the training hall, but this gave Sonia the opportunity to grapple Videl in full nelson. Well…partly anyway. Videl's elbow connected into Sonia's face before the princess could finish. As Sonia stumbled back, massaging her nose, Videl got to work on her follow up strikes. Several punches with intensified ferocity landed on Sonia's face before Videl finished with a leaping kick that pushed Sonia to the edge of the arena.
Sonia merely had to glance back at where her foot was on the edge before she leapt high into the air and aimed an energy blast at the floor. Videl leapt out of the way. However, although her leap was about to take her out of the bounds of the arena, she flew upward to gain some height and charged another Galick Gun.
"Galick Gun, fire!" Videl shouted, aiming the blast at the arena for right where she predicted Sonia was going to land. However, her attack missed as Sonia flew up without first touching the ground and slammed her fist into Videl's jaw. Videl flew backwards and the two began throwing punches and kicks about wildly in the air, much to the shock and dropped jaws of the audience.
"You can do it, Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi called from the audience. "Take her down!"
However, if Kazuichi was better at martial arts, he would've noticed that Sonia was primarily on the defensive, barely able to keep up with the ferocity and speed that Videl was performing her strikes. It took one good clonk of Videl's shoe to her face that Sonia knew she would have to try a different tactic.
She flew up and over Videl, but rather than stop behind her, she flew under the brawler, taking her by surprise. She then began to spin Videl about like she was in a competition of hammer throwing.
Videl was hurled at the audience with intense speed, Sonia intending to go for the easy ring out while limiting Videl's options. And, just in case Videl got out of her predicament, she was already charging her next attack. Raising her arms above her head, green lightning crackled with power.
Sure enough, Videl managed to fly on her back over the audience stands and then twisted her body while in the air, righting herself as she orbited around the stands and flew straight at Sonia.
However, by this point, Sonia had finished charging her attack. "Jupita Kyanon!" A gigantic ball of green, electrified ki slammed into Videl, zapping her across her entire body, giving Sonia the prime opportunity to rush her down and strike her across the cheek before kicking her towards the ground, foot planting firmly in Videl's stomach.
Videl went hurtling towards the ground faster than she'd sped towards the audience. Fortunately, the grass below her did not get a free pass of avoiding damage. Turning her body over, Videl fired a Galick Gun as quickly as she could at the ground below to slow her descent. Now in control of her descent, Videl flew towards the center of the arena and then pulled sharply upward to meet up with Sonia, but she couldn't find the blonde in the air.
Videl looked all around. "Wh-where did she go?"
A finger tapped her on the shoulder. Videl knew better than to turn around absentmindedly, but muscle memory was hard to fight and she ate Sonia's elbow to her face. Flying backwards, she barely had time to register Sonia's next attack. "Makyuri Baraji!" Sonia spread her arms out like she was creating a rainbow, generating multiple, blue energy bullets before she snapped her fingers in Videl's general direction, firing only one of them. Videl dodged, but subsequent finger snaps resulted in the rest being fired at Videl with no way to counter them as the bullets didn't dissipate even after passing by her.
Videl took a look at Sonia's face. She looked like she was having the time of her life. "Take this seriously!" Videl shouted, rushing in to punch Sonia in the face, but her punch was caught by Sonia's awaiting palm.
"Is it wrong to enjoy a fight?" Sonia asked. She kicked Videl hard, sending the girl careening into the arena floor. Videl hurt her arm upon impact with the ground.
Sonia floated down slowly, arms raised, palms up, her blue energy bullets surrounding and rotating around her like some kind of barrier. "I must admit that I took Vegeta-sensei's classes with a passing interest, and I might not be a true martial artist, like you seem to be," Sonia's eyes sparkled as she expressed a kittenish smile. "But I am quite fond of fighting with ki after practicing. Although I think Gundham takes it to a bit more of an extreme than I do, which is why he's not participating in the tournament."
Videl stood up and clenched a fist, gnashing her teeth. "Your flashiness makes a mockery of martial arts!" she growled.
"I was under the impression this was martial arts," Sonia said, tilting her head. "Sensei taught us all the same thing, but let us develop on our own, did he not?"
"That's…" Videl didn't have a good counterargument. And Sonia wasn't interested in giving her a chance to come up with one.
Rotating her arm above her head, her energy bullets scattered and then honed in on Videl, smacking her to and fro every which way. Seeing Videl struggle, Sonia extended her arm out and just started firing more of them into the mix. "My Senshi Style will leave you dazzled and mesmerized until you're crushed under my heel." Sonia then leapt into the air and gathered a big white energy ball above her head. Videl barely had enough time to register Sonia's superhuman leap and its existence before it and Sonia were coming down on her head.
"Bow down. Munraito Burasuto!" Sonia detonated a powerful white ki ball in Videl's face, causing an explosion that engulfed the whole arena.
Videl was buried into a foot deep crater, face down, clothes, skin and hair covered in debris and dust.
Gasps, jeers, and cheers erupted from the audience at the state of the daughter of the Satan Castle dojo.
"Oh dear, I think I might've overdone it a little," Sonia remarked nervously.
"Contestant Videl is down!" The announcer declared. "I'll start the ten count. One!"
Videl immediately twitched. She was down, but not out.
Sonia bent over. "You might be better off staying down there, Videl."
"Two!"
"Come now, it's just a little exhibition match. Everyone knows you're a great fighter."
"Three!"
Sonia's words, though innocent, really got under Videl's skin.
"Four!"
She crushed an unbroken tile in her grip and began to push up off the ground. "I…thought I told you…"
"Five…huh?" The announcer noticed Videl was getting up.
"Take! This! Seriously!"
From his vantage point in the challenger's lobby, Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. Videl might've been Hercule's daughter, and a human, but there was a key personality trait he could see in the young teen that he admired: pride.
Videl rose up from the ground swiftly and landed an uppercut in Sonia's face. Sonia, taken off guard, rolled with the strike and took to the air. However, Videl was already leaping to meet her. Though battered and bruised, she still had plenty of fight left. She struck forward with her fist, but missed. Sonia had swiftly flown towards her left side and behind her. However, Videl had anticipated this and with her next strike, struck Sonia at an angle in her temple and sent her careening into the arena.
Sonia landed in the crater she had made and slipped on her back. She quickly got up and leapt to the far side of the arena. "Marusu Meihemu!" Creating two, fiery red energy whips, Sonia lashed the strikes at Videl, but Videl's dexterity in the air helped her evade even the closest brushes with Sonia's attacks.
"You keep acting as if ki is some flashy toy to make cool techniques out of, but you don't comprehend its true purpose!" Videl shouted.
Sonia attempted to catch Videl in the middle of another round of her Makyuri Baraji, but Videl evaded these just as she had Sonia's energy whips.
"Ki is an extension of the body!" Videl shouted, kicking away one of the orbs. "An extension of the will!" she said, launching another one towards orbit with her knee. "I'm passionate!" Videl shouted, decking Sonia in the cheek. She followed up with a hook from her opposite hand square into Sonia's face. "Precise!"
She dropped to the ground as Sonia stumbled about, pivoting with her leg extended, sweeping Sonia's legs as she fell to the ground on her shoulder. She then raised her arms high above her head, one palm against the back of her other hand as she charged yellow energy in her frontmost palm. She'd seen Gohan do this over a dozen times. She was sure she could pull it off. "I'm not gonna lose to a pretender like you! MA-SENKOOOO!"
The beam struck Sonia just as she got to her feet and sent her careening into the yet to be fully repaired wall Akane had sent Yamu through earlier.
The crowd cheered.
"And that's a ring out! Videl Satan moves on to the semi-finals to face Son Goku!"
Videl smiled nervously. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh?
Kazuichi sank into his seat. "Aw, man, poor Miss Sonia."
Sonia, bursting out of the rubble, coughed away some dust that had gotten into her mouth. She then noticed Videl standing over her. "Why thank you, Videl." She let the brawler pull her to her feet. "That was fun!" she exclaimed with a smile.
"Man, you are one weird princess," Videl said, hands on her hips, shaking her head. She then gave Sonia a grin. "I know I said all that stuff about taking martial arts seriously and whatnot, but don't change Sonia. You're great how you are. Martial Arts is my thing. You keep perfecting this ki sorcery thing you got going on."
Sonia seemed pleased with Videl's comments. "Why thank you, Videl. I believe I shall. You are quite fierce indeed. I wish you luck in your fight with Goku."
"You should probably head out to help Gohan and the others if you can sense them," Videl said.
"I believe I'll do precisely that," Sonia said. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be though. I used most of my energy fighting you."
"Nah, you'll be fine," Videl said, wiping a finger under her nose. "Gohan's got some kind of bean with him that'll fix you up one hundred percent."
"Well, in that case," Sonia said and immediately took off from the ground. The two students smiled at each other and then Sonia flew off past the horizon.
"Don't go anywhere, folks!" the announcer exclaimed. "Coming up next, even though it was a weird way of getting here, the World Martial Arts semi-finals! Femme Fury versus Vegeta! Son Goku versus Videl Satan! Men versus women! Veterans versus amateurs! More to come after this commercial break!"
True to form, Nagito had, by sheer chance, led Akane and her gut in the right direction of Babidi's grounded spaceship.
"You think that's it?" Akane asked.
"Aren't you supposed to know that?" Nagito asked her.
"Only one way to find out," Akane said as she set Nagito down on a nearby rock formation, flew up high into the air and flared her ki as a beacon to her fellow spaceship seekers.
Within minutes, Piccolo, Gohan, Shin and the others had all assembled around her. Kibito even had Hajime in tow.
"You find it?" Gohan asked.
Akane pointed down towards the ship floating above the surface. "I found that," she stated.
"Ah! That's it! That's Babidi's ship!" Shin exclaimed.
"It is, huh?" Akane asked and then cracked her knuckles. "All right then, I'm gonna pay him back for what those bald bastards did to Gohan!"
"Akane, wait!" Gohan exclaimed, but she was already beelining it for the ground. Frustrated, he followed and Piccolo and the others followed with her. Shin was beside himself with worry. He really really wanted to wait for Goku to clean up this mess.
Akane stood in front of the ship and shouted. "BABIDI! COME OUT AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!"
Deep below the surface, Babidi witnessed Akane's arrival in his little scrying orb. "Dear me, what an unpleasant woman. Wait…" He then noticed Shin behind Akane. "What? What are they doing here?! Where are Spopovich and Yamu?!"
"Clearly they have failed my lord," a sinister voice spoke from the shadows.
Babidi balled his fists in front of his eyes. "Urrrrrgh! Imbeciles! They led the Kai straight to me!"
"Fear not, my lord. Permit me to deal with this rabble. I'm more than capable of handling a group of humans and the Supreme Kai."
Babidi, upon hearing his ally's proposal, watched as the demon king, Dabura, stepped out from the shadows. He instantly calmed down and put his stubby arms behind his back. He grinned. "Hmm, yes. You probably could, Dabura. Very well, I leave the lot of them to you."
Above ground, Akane kept shouting for Babidi, much to the annoyance of the rest of the group.
"Akane, please!" Shin exclaimed. "We shouldn't be antagonizing him like this! The whole point was to search and then get Goku."
"Screw that!" Akane shouted. "I'm gonna deck the little bastard in the shnozz!"
"Oh I don't believe you'll be doing much decking of anything," a calm sinister voice stated as a demonic being with pinkish skin in blue clothes stepped out from the shadows of the entrance of Babidi's ship.
Shin froze with fear.
Akane pointed to the demon without panicking in the slightest, turning towards Shin. "That the guy?"
"No," Shin said, petrified with fear. "That's…"
"Dabura!" Kibito exclaimed, sweating. "That…accursed wizard. He's even managed to ensnare…the king of the demons!"
"…So he's not Babidi?" Akane asked, sounding confused.
Gundham burst out laughing. "So this is the king of all demon kind, is he? How quaint. This is the being whose boots are to make my evil heart quake with fear is he? I see no cause for immediate retreat!"
"Um, Gundham, I get that you're trying to act cool and all, but the words Demon King aren't exactly something you just brush off," Krillin stated.
"What are you scared for?" 18 asked, ribbing her husband, taking a fighting stance. "I don't see what the big deal is?"
Debura grinned maliciously.
"Get out of my way!" Akane shouted. "I've got a bone to pick with Babidi!"
"And if I refuse?" Dabura asked calmly.
"I'll make you!" Akane shouted as he clenched fist dove for Dabura's face.
However, the king of the demons simply floated into the air. For him, it was casual. For most present, it seemed like instantaneous movement.
With a grin, he aimed his wretched arm, fingers separated, at Akane and fired an energy blast.
"Akane!" Gohan shouted, but much to the shock of everyone present—and even Babidi, who was watching—Akane seemed to dodge the blast instinctively. It was as if she'd known it was coming long before Dabura fired it.
Dabura grinned and chuckled. "You're a quick one."
He fired a few more blasts, but they got similar results. Akane dodged each explosion with grace and finesse. As was to be expected of the Ultimate Gymnast.
Hajime found himself quaking in his boots. He started to wonder if he was out of his depth here.
Dabura, sensing the boy's fear, opted to aim for him instead. Maliciously, he licked his upper left fang and fired a blast.
"No! Not the boy!" Kibito shouted and pushed Hajime out of the way, screaming as he was completely torn from the world.
"Kibito!" Shin shouted.
Dabura chuckled devilishly, but quickly found Akane's foot connecting with his chin and it hurt.
Among all present, Shin was the most shocked of all. Akane had barely stood up to him in her fight with him, yet here she was landing a direct hit on Dabura and caused him to briefly stagger. It was short lived. Dabura's next strike slammed into her gut and sent her careening into the ground, spewing saliva and holding her stomach in pain, as she writhed on the ground.
Gohan growled and briefly clashed with Dabura as Kotomi knelt down by Akane with the bag of Senzu beans. "Here, Akane. Chew this." She put the bean in Akane's mouth.
With a loud crunch, Akane quickly jumped to her feet and felt right as rain. "Whoo boy, man those things are like magic."
Shin, however, did not share Akane's joy. We are woefully underprepared for this. Gohan is the strongest amongst us here and even then.
"Hey! Mr. Demon King!" Akane shouted, charging a powerful ki blast. "Eat this! Kamehameha!"
However, Dabura dodged Akane's strike as her ki attack sailed into orbit, shocking most everyone present, including Shin.
Akane did her best to watch Dabura carefully, but with his next attack, he chopped at Akane's shoulder and promptly broke every bone in her arm.
Akane screamed, holding her shoulder.
"Akane!" Kotomi ran towards her to give her another Senzu Bean, but Shin stopped her. "Hey! Get out of the way! She's hurt!"
"That doesn't mean you need to go into the fray!" Shin told her. "Akane, please! Let's retreat!"
However, he saw the fire in Akane's eyes as she held her broken arm. She didn't look like she had any intention of yielding.
Gohan too seemed hesitant to retreat, but that was only because he seemed confident he could actually take Dabura. Now if only Akane and the others would give him some breathing room.
That was when Dabura made his next move and spat at Akane. The spit flew fast, but, just like with the energy blasts, Akane seemed to know that Dabura's mere saliva was bad news and evaded the loogie despite her broken arm.
However, Krillin had been standing right behind her and the spittle ended up catching him in the clavicle.
"Krillin!" 18 shouted for him in concern.
"Ah! You fool! You should have evaded! The mere saliva of the demon king has the Mitas touch!" Gundham shouted.
Nobody had any chance to ponder Gundham's…Gundhamness, but Shin knew the young animal breeder wasn't far from the truth. "Oh no…I should have warned them."
18 watched in horror, along with the rest of the assembled group, as Krillin turned to stone.
"You bastard!" 18 flew off the handle and struck Dabura in the face. However, unlike with Akane's angry outburst from before, her attack had virtually no effect. This shocked everyone, including Akane who knew that 18 was more than her superior in battle.
The tanned teen also knew what to do next. "18! Get out of the way! He's going to spit!"
18 didn't have time to question the validity of Akane's shout and simply did as the girl suggested, flying sharply upward, just as a hot batch of phlegm fired from Dabura's mouth. The projectile sailed forth and hit merely the ground, but Dabura didn't settle for one simple spat. He fired more projectiles, scattering the group. Two of his spits landed, one of them hit Piccolo and the other…
"18!" Akane shouted.
She and Gohan, more than all the others, were shocked and horrified at what they were witnessing. Akane could barely contain her rage and flew straight at Dabura. "YOU BASTARD!" Ki flaring around her body, her fist slammed into Dabura's face and send him flying through the top of Babidi's ship, causing him to land on the ground.
"Unreal," Shin stated in awe. That was the second time now that Akane had managed to land a painful blow on Dabura.
The demon king pushed up on his arm and began to get to his feet, rubbing his sore nose. "Bothersome girl." He intended to fly towards her and finish her off, but a voice in his head stopped him.
"That's quite enough, Dabura. Why don't we let our guests in?"
"But…Master…"
"The humans might not be so tough, but the boy in the green clothing interests me. And the girl might also prove useful."
"As you wish master."
Dabura flew up and around and into Babidi's ship, laughing all the while as he disappeared into the shadows.
This allowed the Z-fighters to lick their wounds, almost literally in Akane's case. Kotomi handed her another Senzu Bean, fixing her broken arm within seconds. "Man, these things are amazing."
"How many of the devil's legumes did you procure from the forbidden tower, Unknown Hero?" Gundham inquired.
"Twenty," Gohan said, knowing exactly what Gundham was asking for once. "I came prepared. I thought Akane might not want to wait around. I just…didn't think things would end up like this."
"Then let's stop while we're ahead," Shin said. "Please, we only got in this mess because Goku wasn't here."
Gundham laughed. "Fool! You think the fallen hero is some savior angel to be praised? A true hero stands before you, yet you do not cower!"
Shin looked at Gundham in utter confusion.
Kotomi translated. "He's saying that Gohan's at least on par with his old man. He'll see this through for us."
"But…" Shin stuttered.
"Now that I've seen that Dabura guy fight, I think I can take him," Gohan said. "If that was just a taste of his power, I have a hunch he's not gonna be that much tougher than Cell. And thanks to Hope's Peak helping me stay on top of my training, I think I'm about as strong as I was back then, if not more so."
"Babidi still needs that pure energy or whatever to awaken Majinn Buu, right?" Akane asked.
"Yes, but…" Shin stuttered.
"But nothing!" Akane exclaimed. "We're not gonna let our friends' sacrifices be in vain!"
"Akane, not that I don't agree with you," Kotomi said, only to gesture at Dabura's rock garden of horrors. "But don't you think your stupid recklessness has caused enough damage for one afternoon?!"
"But…I…" Akane said, only to stare at the ground and swallow, looking conflicted. However, she knew in her heart of hearts that Kotomi was right. This mess was her fault. "I just wanted to do the right thing."
Gohan put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, Akane. I know you're feeling pretty guilty about what happened, but don't let that guilt eat away at you. I actually made a lot worse mistake when I was a kid and the Earth was in danger. Sometimes we all make mistakes through action or inaction. I agree that we probably should've waited for my dad." He focused his gaze. "But I agree that we can't just stand around while Piccolo, Krillin and 18 suffer."
"You're not serious right now, are you?" Hajime asked, being relatively the only rational one here.
"Ahahahahahaha!" Gundham cackled. "As expected of the Ultimate Hero. Even the statues of the devil's making do not deter your righteous fervor."
"But from this point on, we need to move on with caution. We've got 18 Senzu Beans, but we should be prepared that we might not get a chance to use all of them. Let's all go on ahead and not make another dumb mistake, okay?" Gohan asked Akane.
"Yeah, thanks Gohan," Akane said, feeling a little better.
Gohan patted her shoulder twice. "No problem. Now, come on!" he flew into the darkness of Babidi's ship. Akane quickly followed as did Gundham, Kotomi and then Shin. Peko, bringing up the rear, looked at Hajime. "Are you not coming?"
"I can't fly, remember? And…it's a pretty deep drop. Besides, someone should stay out here to help flag down Goku and Vegeta when they get here."
"Understood," Peko said. "I will not call you a coward for staying behind. It was brave enough for you to come even this far. Godspeed, Hajime Hinata." Peko then flew down the ship chute with the others.
They arrived coming face to face with a strange alien coated in some kind of hardened white material with toad-like lips and greenish yellow eyes.
"A little late, Peko," Gohan told her.
"Apologies. What have I missed?" The swordsman asked.
"This guy's challenging us to a fight. We were gonna let Akane deal with him because she's chomping at the bit for some action, but I elected to go instead," Kotomi said, cracking her neck.
"I see. …And why are we fighting with this weakling instead of dealing with Babidi and Debura?" Peko inquired.
Shin quickly explained things to her.
"I see. Then…please permit me to fight first," Peko explained.
"Uh, Peko, no offense, but do you really—"
Gohan was about to tell her that a bamboo sword wasn't exactly a good idea against an opponent like this, but she quickly silenced his protest by drawing what looked like an oversized nail file from out of her skirt pocket. It almost instantaneously extended outward and morphed into a glowing katana.
"Bulma designed this for me. It's a special weapon designed to harness my inner ki so I can always fight at my full potential. She calls it a Ki Blade."
"Ki Blade, eh? Sounds like something out of a video game," Kotomi said.
The frog lipped man in front of Peko laughed. "Nice toy. I can't wait to break it."
Peko slowly aimed her blade at her foe. "Don't underestimate me. I am Peko Pekoyama, Hope's Peak Academy's Ultimate Swordsman!"
The alien laughed. "Well Peko Pekoyama, at least now I'll know what to carve on your tombstone. But know this, your demise will not be in vain. For every ounce of energy you lose will be given directly to Majinn Buu."
Akane suddenly felt nervous.
"So the ship is actually a cauldron and we are the ingredients," Gundham mused. "That potato headed wizard has thought this out quite cunningly."
Peko did not seem impressed. "Are you going to fight me or is the only thing you're good at running is your mouth?"
"Hold on, you're going to fight him one on one?" Shin asked.
"Of course," Peko responded. "If I fight, then the stronger fighters here like Gohan and Akane don't have to waste their energy and can store up as much as possible for Dabura and Babidi. I am fairly good at judging my opponent." She bent her knees and held her blade aloft behind her back. "This one does not appear to be very dangerous."
"You're crazy!" Shin exclaimed. Gohan put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's leave this to Peko, all right? If things get dicey, then I'll step in, okay?"
"Take him down, Peko!" Akane shouted.
"Gladly," Peko remarked. "When going into combat, a warrior must know the name of their foe. What is yours?"
The alien chuckled. "I am Pui Pui. And you, Peko Pekoyama. You are doomed!" Pui Pui charged at the silver haired swordsman, but his first attack was blocked by Peko quickly adjusting the position of her sword to meet his kick head on. Shin and Pui Pui were both shocked as the alien retreated backwards.
Peko bent her knees and held her sword behind her as though it were slid into an invisible scabbard. Her body was bathed in the glow of her own ki. Sensei, she thought, picturing Vegeta, I'm going to use everything you taught me to vanquish this monster. I hope I do right by you.
Pui Pui changed his stance, raising his arms, fingers together like his hands were knives. "Don't get cocky just because you blocked one attack. From here on out, I get serious."
"Bring it," Peko stated, glaring with intensity. "For my lord, master and sensei and this world, I, Peko Pekoyama shall strike you down!"
Although it was an indirect road getting here, Babidi's minions have unwittingly allowed our heroes to get the jump on him. However, with the loss of Krillin, 18, Kibito and Piccolo, and without the power of Goku and Vegeta backing them up, can our heroes stop the likes of Majinn Buu from being resurrected? And what of Peko? Does she have what it takes to fight off the mysterious Pui Pui? And what about Vegeta? Can he stand up to the power of the mighty Femme Fury without turning Super Saiyan? All these answers and more on the next exciting chapter of Dragon Ball H! P! A!
(Writer's Notes: Sonia's techniques are Engrish based on the powers and planets of the original five senshi from Sailor Moon because Sonia loves her magical girls)
