[Dende's lookout]
When Vegeta and Dende exited the room of spirit and time, Krillin and Tien weren't there. Vegeta could sense them speeding away together. He nodded towards the shorter namekian and took off without saying anything.
Vados, Champa and Vegeta met in the upper atmosphere, surrounded by stars and cold, fading winds. Vados nodded towards the saiyan warrior, but Champa ignored him. With an angry expression, the god of destruction simply raised his right arm, charged an immense sphere of intense, red energy, and fired it towards the planet below.
Vegeta sped away in an arc, intersecting the sphere from the side and kicking it away into the void. It exploded harmlessly off into the distance, illuminating that side of the world for a few moments.
[Earth, South Islands region]
Meanwhile, Krillin and Tien flew toward the south islands region, rising above the clouds to avoid a nasty storm. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tien asked.
"Yeah," the short warrior nodded, "last I heard, 17 and his family were around that area."
After crisscrossing through the skies above the islands as fast as possible, Tien's vision allowed them to locate 17's boat, docked safely during the unfavorable weather. The two warriors touched down on the upper deck, Tien's eyes wide. "I had no idea it was this big," he muttered.
Krillin smiled. Speeding through the ship's plainly decorated halls and corridors, leaving behind stunned crew members. Moments later they came across Android 17 sitting in a large, empty cafeteria. 17 got up quickly when he saw the two. "What are you doing on my boat?" 17 asked, "didn't we agree to take a few months off from training"?
"Yeah, about that. we've got trouble," Krillin said grimly.
17 sighed. "It never stops, does it."
[Upper atmosphere]
The god of destruction stared at Vegeta, then shouted in anger "how dare you!"
Vegeta hovered in place, arms crossed and looking directly into Champa's eyes. "This world is under my protection. Leave, now."
Champa, red-faced, turned to Vados. "Just remove this thing so I can get on with destroying the planet".
Vados smiled. "You know I can't fight, lord Champa. Especially not your enemies."
"I'm not asking you to fight him," the angry god exclaimed, "just imprison him in your staff or something."
Vegeta smirked. "What's the matter, Champa? Too weak to handle me on your own? Are you afraid of one little mortal?"
"Vados!" shouted Champa, looking up at Vados, "Now!"
Vados turned her eyes to Vegeta, the angels polite smile fading into a serious expression. Her eyes lingered on Champa for just one moment too long, but Vegeta saw. The saiyan spent enough time around Whis to know that angels did have emotions they tried to hide, and for one brief moment Vados' expression radiated contempt towards the round-bellied god.
"Vegeta," Vados began, her eyes polite but cold, "I have a question for you. Consider your answer carefully."
Vegeta nodded, suddenly wary. This can't be good.
"This is my question," said the tall angel. "Are you challenging Champa for his role as god of destruction of universe six?"
Champa's eyes opened in shock, and he stared at Vados in confusion. "What... what are you doing, Vados?"
For a brief moment she looked down at Champa, and Vegeta saw it again, that look of contempt. The angel didn't answer.
Vegeta's mind raced. Both Whis and Beerus had mentioned finding a replacement for the current destroyer, so Vados was probably interested in that as well. If he answered "yes", chances are she wouldn't interfere in the fight, seeing it as an official challenge. If he said "no", Vegeta assumed she'd imprison him in her staff and let Champa destroy Earth. But why would she even bring that up? It was her brief look of contempt, wasn't it? Vados must dislike Champa. Half-forgotten memories of the elegant angel pestering Champa about eating too much and not training enough came to mind. The reasons for her actions didn't really matter, though. In the end, Vegeta didn't have any choice.
"Yes," Vegeta said, "I am."
Vados smiled and flew backwards, gesturing with her staff to signal that the two may begin their fight.
Vegeta cracked his knuckles and smiled at the angry destroyer. Smirking, the saiyan went into a defensive stance, raised one arm towards his opponent with an open palm facing upwards, then moved his fingers inward in the universal 'come at me' gesture.
Champa shouted in rage and charged, unleashing a barrage of kicks and shifted into his super saiyan god form an instant before the destroyer was in range, flaming aura exploding outwards, the warrior's body becoming slimmer and his hair turning vivid red.
The two engaged in hand-to-hand combat above the Earth, flying erratically as they tried to outmaneuver each other, releasing huge shock waves with every blocked strike.
Vegeta expected Champa to be weaker than Beerus, but the difference between the two was extreme. Champa was faster and stronger than the saiyan's current form, but his fighting form was awful. Vegeta was able to dodge or block every telegraphed move, launching a few strikes of his own that startled the feline god with their power.
Below the combatants appeared three figures, approaching fast as they rose from the surface of the planet. Tien, Krillin and 17 couldn't sense Vegeta or Champa directly, but the raw power emanating from every blocked strike served as a clear beacon.
Before the three could come close to the area where the battle was taking place, they were stopped in their tracks by Vados. The angel materialized above them, smiling her cold smile. "Lord Champa has been issued a formal challenge, no one may interfere."
17 nodded, already following the two divine-level fighters with his eyes. "We understand," added Krillin. Him and Tien could only sense the shockwaves and caught an after-image here and there, but nothing more than that.
After barely avoiding a few of Vegeta's kicks, Champa roared in anger and punched hard towards the saiyan's head. Vegeta was forced to duck down, only to be hit by Champa's raised knee. The brutal head strike sent him backwards and up, spinning madly for a few moments. Champa appeared above his out-of-control opponent and prepared to bash the saiyan with a downward kick, but Vegeta dodged it with some effort.
"Very nice, Champa," Vegeta smiled, wiping at a shallow, bloody gash in his left cheek. "Finally remembered how to fight, I see."
"Shut up and die!" Champa growled. The destroyer's eyes glowed red, then began firing a barrage of thin, deadly beams towards the saiyan warrior. Vegeta immediately flew above his opponent, drawing the beams away from the planet. Even so, some of the attacks pierced the atmosphere, and would have hit the planet itself if Android 17 hadn't blocked them, with some effort. Krillin and Tien gulped, they didn't even see the beams before 17 started zipping around from explosion to explosion, surrounded by his green barrier.
Vegeta managed to dodge most of the piercing energy attacks, and being on the defensive, the other beams weren't powerful enough to damage him. Now hovering some distance away from Champa, Vegeta smirked. A few singed spots on his clothes were the only results. "Pathetic. I can't believe I ever thought you were a threat."
Champa was too enraged to answer. Instead, the god clenched his fists in anger, then raised one arm towards Vegeta, palm open and facing the saiyan. "Dest.." Champa began, but Vegeta moved quickly out of Champa's field of vision, appeared behind the god and kicked him viciously in the lower back. The catlike destroyer screamed in pain, turning around and blocking Vegeta's follow-up strikes.
"I'm not going to just stand there and let you use that technique on me, you know" Vegeta muttered as the two resumed their flurry of strikes. "You'll have to do better than that."
"I'm through playing with you, saiyan," Champa said in cold rage. His body began radiating a purple, menacing aura of destruction energy as the the fight continued. Spinning around, the destroyer's tail hit Vegeta's exposed side, leaving a gash on the saiyan's clothes along with an angry welt on his skin. Vegeta was launched away, momentarily out of control. Champa summoned a massive blast of destruction energy and launched the purple orb at his enemy.
The orb engulfed Vegeta completely, hiding him from view. And there it continued burning, a purple sphere of death slowly consuming whatever was inside it. Champa relaxed, straightening his back and resting his palms on his waist. "Nothing to say?" Champa leered, "Oh, you're trying to resist, aren't you?" The god laughed in glee, turning away slowly to faced the planet. "Good luck!"
Cracking his knuckles, Champa raised his arm again. An orb of red, chaotic energy started growing above his palm, becoming as large as a mountain in a few moments.
Android 17 turned to Krillin and Tien. "You two do your thing, I'm going to try to block that attack." The two nodded, looking at each other with a mix of fear and determination.
With a satisfied grin, Champa launched the red orb towards the planet, but a green barrier shimmered beneath it, and the orb exploded into a furious maelstrom of energy. The surprised Champa had no time to dodge before being engulfed by his own attack.
An angry shout could be heard from within the raging blast. A moment later, the angry Champa launched himself from within, trailing smoke and staring at Android 17 with a murderous expression. Without saying anything, the god charged at the cyborg.
Champa's fist collided with the barrier around 17's body, resulting in a titanic shock wave but leaving the android unharmed and his barrier intact. The destroyer stared at his opponent for a moment, surprised to see him still existing, but then surrounded his fists with destructive energy and punched again, before 17 could even change his posture.
This time Champa's strike pierced through the barrier, causing it to shatter explosively and hitting 17's face with a sickening crunch. The artificial warrior shouted in pain and lost consciousness, then started to fall towards the surface of the planet.
"That's more like it," said Champa, relaxing. "Now, where was I..."
A spike of rising ki from below drew his attention to a bright flash of light blooming nearby. When it dissipated a moment later, a large, muscular warrior was revealed hovering in place. He had no nose and third eye in the middle of his forehead, which was surrounded by six darker spots on his skin. The warrior wore an open, sleeveless vest with padding around the neck and shoulders, barely reaching below the muscular human's chest. On his lower body he wore orange pants under a reddish-brown kilt, and black shoes.
Champa stared, his purpose momentarily forgotten. This was a fusion! Two humans fused into one! Such weaklings using this bizarre technique in hopes of resisting a god of destruction, the situation was so absurd that Champa started laughing.
"You're those two human weaklings from the tournament, aren't you?" Champa asked, still laughing.
Instead of answering, the warrior raised his arms, two disks of white hot energy forming above his palms. As the destroyer's attention was diverted to those disks, a blinding beam of energy shot towards Champa from the warrior's third eye. This new attack almost took the god by surprise, but Champa managed to dodge it and the bright beam shot past him into space.
While the beam was still on its way to its intended target, the silent fusion warrior lowered his arms in a throwing motion, launching both disks towards the god of destruction. The first disk hit, exploding into shards of energy and causing Champa to curse angrily. Then the warrior gestured with his second arm, controlling the other disk and causing it to hit as well, before Champa could regain control. This time the god shouted in pain, a bleeding gash forming on his left arm.
Champa's aura flared dark purple, his face twisted in rage. The god launched himself towards the human warrior, appearing behind his opponent's back. Before the nameless fusion could react, a spinning downward kick crashed into his upper back, sending him plummeting through the atmosphere, completely unconscious.
"Finally!" Champa exclaimed, grimacing as he examined his new wounds. The two attacks left a painful bruise across the god's stomach and an ugly bleeding wound along his left arm.
Once more the angry god of destruction raised his arm, gathering a gigantic orb of red energy in an instant. With a last glance at the blue-green world below, he lowered his arm to forcefully to launch the orb downward...
...or at least tried to. The huge orb started to move, but another blast of purple energy shot into it from behind, causing it to become distended by the impact, then launching it away into space where it bloomed into a massive explosion.
As the red-hot flames cast fading shadows across Champa's form, the destroyer turned around to look at the source of this new disturbance. To his dismay, it came from inside the destructive blast he had fired at Vegeta earlier. A few moments later, Champa's eyes widened in shock when Vegeta started laughing.
Gradually the saiyan warrior's form became visible inside the fluctuating energies of the still-raging blast. But now it was clear that the blast itself was no longer threatening Vegeta. Instead, the angry, purple energies of destruction somehow became a part of the saiyan's own aura. Vegeta himself was wounded, a multitude of ugly gashes and burns covering his entire body. One of his eyes was swollen shut, but the other was full of amusement.
Red hair darkened by the purple colors now spreading through his aura, Vegeta raised his arm towards the surprised god, palm open, fingers held togther and extended up. The threatening gesture snapped Champa out of his surprised state, and the destroyer raised his own arm, aiming an identical gesture toward his opponent.
The two hovered in place for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. "What do you think you're doing," Champa asked angrily.
Vegeta only smiled, drops of blood creating a dark trail below his wounded eye. Then both fighters spoke at once, uttering one word: "Destroy."
At first nothing happened, but both enemies concentrated hard, directing their attacks. Gradually, the zone between them started vibrating with power, a purple and constantly-shifting wall of energy forming, then becoming laced with red lightning.
Both fighters tensed, each holding the elbow of their extended arm and pouring more and more power into the attack. Slowly the two began to rotate around the center of the area between them, as their attacks tried to annihilate each other.
On and on the struggle continued, neither opponent gaining a clear upper hand. Suddenly, both felt an emptiness of ki, a rift so massive that even Champa was caught off-guard by the sensation. Something happened far away in space. Beerus suddenly vanished, leaving all who could sense god ki shaken to their core. Even Vados lost her composure for one moment, her eyes widening.
Champa floundered, his concentration momentarily disrupted by the realization that his brother was gone. But in that moment of shock, Vegeta's attack broke through. The sheet of conflicting energies between the saiyan and the destroyer shattered explosively, and Champa convulsed in pain, feeling the first touch of Vegeta's destruction attack piercing his aura, then coming in touch with his physical body.
"No!" Champa shouted, trying to resist the pain and expel the hostile attack slowly erasing him from existence. But Vegeta continued concentrating, relentless.
"How are you doing this!" Champa screamed helplessly, his purple aura completely gone and small pieces of his body beginning to crumble. "Why can't I stop you! It's my energy you're using! WHY CAN'T I STOP YOU!"
Still concentrating on his attack, Vegeta spoke, slowly and deliberately, pausing between each word to maintain control of his power. "Because you are petty, and lazy, and weak, and so is your energy."
Champa screamed in terror as the saiyan continued. "I took it as my own, and now it's directed by my own will. To fight, to become stronger, to protect my family."
"Vados!" Champa shouted in desperation, "Do something, please!"
The tall angel merely looked at him with a neutral expression, saying nothing.
No longer able to emit sound, Champa succumbed to the disintegrating wave and gradually turned to dust. Where the destroyer from universe six once hovered, now there was only a cloud of formless particles that quickly dispersed. Nothing remained.
Vegeta was exhausted, wounded and barely able to keep flying. The saiyan powered down to his base form, flaming aura fading, his hair turning black and his body becoming more muscular. He looked at Vados warily. "Now what?"
[Surface of the planet]
The people of the village saw amazing things that day. Gigantic explosions in the sky, followed by a slender man crashing into a grove of trees near one of their fields, and another falling man appearing a few moments later, this one much taller and more massive. A group of curious villagers surrounded the crater formed by the impact of the falling figures, when suddenly the big one vanished, replaced by two shorter men.
The two sat, shaking and barely able to move, then stood up slowly.
"I can't believe we're not dead," Krillin said. Touching his lower back gingerly, Krillin then noticed the crowd of people who surrounded them.
Tien crouched by Android 17's prone form and examined the unconscious cyborg. "It's best not to think about it too much. Come on, we need to get him some help." Tien's legs then gave out and the three-eyed warrior stumbled, collapsing to the ground. "And get some help for us, too," he added weakly.
