"The last fighter from the Sixth Universe to fight the current winner, Ranch Brief, is Hit!" announced the commentator. Hit, the purple man, stood up and leaped off the podium down to the ring.
"Down to our last warrior," said Vados.
"Yeah, but it's Hit, so no need to worry," Champa said complacently.
At the center of the ring Ranch and Hit faced each other. Ranch gave him an uneasy look, while Hit just stood there with his eyes closed without a care. She didn't pay him much mind up until now since she was more concerned about Gohan's fights, but now that he was right in front of her Ranch could no longer ignore Hit's foreboding presence. Beneath his calm demeanor she could sense an intense energy. Beerus, thinking that he might actually see an entertaining fight, rang the gong.
"Begin!"
Knowing that holding back wasn't exactly the best idea, Ranch immediately powered up to Super Saiyan Blue. Hit took a fighting stance of his own. The two stared each other down, and neither moved. Ranch absolutely did not want to make the opening blow, and just stood where she was with her guard up. Gulping, she shifted her stance a bit, and Hit suddenly moved in a flash.
Ranch instinctively went to punch him when he managed to get so close out of nowhere, but before she knew it Hit punched her in the face, blowing her away so that she landed on her back. All the spectators were caught by surprise by that act alone.
Standing back up, Ranch wiped some blood beneath her nose, in disbelief that she couldn't even see his attack.
"Give up," stated Hit.
She scowled, harshly replying, "Blow it out your ass!" Powering up, Ranch charged in despite knowing how futile it most likely was. She got in close to him, tried to strike at Hit, but before she knew it Hit had placed a jab into her side, and sent her flying back. Recovering midair, Ranch landed, and cradled the spot where his fist landed. Ranch wondered how in the hell she wasn't seeing his moves. If she just could then she just might be able to take him.
Hit then closed in on her in an instant, Ranch raised her fists to defend, but then Hit began landing strike after strike that she could do nothing against. No matter how she attempted to counter, it did absolutely no good, as he continued doing damage against her.
"Damn!" she cried. Ranch phased out and reappeared farther away, immediately raising both hands with the intent on sending a Double Sunday at him, but like before he once against closed the distance and punched her once more, all without her seeing what the hell he did!
"Mom!" shouted Gohan, seeing her tumble to the ground again.
"Mommy!" Bulla cried in distress.
Trunks was seething as he looked on. "Damn! How…?"
Hit said, "Understand now? Give up."
Ranch growled, "Bite me!" She stood back up aching and panting, wiping off some more blood. Damn, no point in denying that she was done for, but the least she could do was keep on going with that hope that just might revealed some sort of weakness for Trunks to exploit…. That and also go out with a bang. Ranch powered down to her base form. "Trunks!" she shouted.
Caught off guard, Trunks replied, "Yeah?"
"Cover Bulla's eyes!"
Instantly knowing what she was up to, Trunks clamped Bulla's eyes shut as Ranch thrust her arm out palm up, and began gathering energy. A ball of light was produced, and Beerus looked on curiously as Ranch hurled it to the top of the dome. Everyone that didn't know what was to come looked up at the ball, curious at what it was supposed to do. But Roshi and everyone else kept their eyes on Ranch, who had taken tucked away her ribbon as she absorbed the light that now flooded the arena.
A primal urge ran through her blood. Hair sprouted all over her body, the hair on her head receded in, she sprouted a snout, and Ranch began growing to a massive size. When she finished transforming Ranch let off a loud roar that reverberated throughout the arena. If Super Saiyan Blue wasn't enough to take down Hit, then there was no way her great ape form would do anything, but Ranch figured that it'd be worth it even if it only bought her an extra second of time.
"What happened?" Beerus asked with mild curiosity.
Whis started to explain, "You see, Lord Beerus, Saiyans with tails have the ability to transform in a giant ape form when exposed to a full moon. That technique that Ranch used, however, appears to simulate such an event."
"I suppose Frieza constantly referring to them as monkeys wasn't entirely unwarranted," Beerus observed dryly.
On the other side, Cabba was flabbergasted at how Seventh Universe Saiyans had another trick up their sleeve.
They didn't get to see the spectacle long, though, because as soon as Ranch opened her mouth wide let off a powerful beam at Hit, he instantly appeared up in the air right in front of her as he drove his fist into her gut. Ranch blacked out and began to fall, while Hit leapt upwards to kick the ball of light into oblivion. Facedown on the floor, the unconscious Ranch shrank back to her normal form.
The announcer checked up on Ranch, and then declared to the audience, "Ranch Brief has lost consciousness! The winner is Hit!"
Beerus grimaced, and Trunks cried, "Dende!"
"On it!" Dende quickly said, getting up and flying over the shocked women.
Trunks joined Dende down in the ring, watching him as he placed his hands over Ranch to heal her. She stirred, and got up on her hands and knees. "You okay?"
"Other than my pride taking a major blow, I'm just peachy," Ranch grimly said, getting back on her feet. "Thanks, Dende."
He nodded, saying, "No problem."
"I'm up next," Trunks said, looking over at Hit. "Any advice?"
Ranch sighed heavily. "Nope. We're screwed."
"Yeah, but if I don't win…" They both looked up Bulla on the podium. "Even if it's hopeless I still have to try."
Smiling somberly, Ranch patted his shoulder as she walked off with Dende. "Did I say you should just throw in the towel? We both know Bulla won't listen to us if we tell her to give up so she doesn't get hurt." Ranch flew back to the podium while Dende went back to his spot.
"Next up for the Seven Universe will be Trunks Brief!" said the announcer, gesturing at him.
"Whis, you have to know what's happening, right?" Beerus asked nervously. "Go tell him what he needs to do."
"Even if I did there's not much of a chance it'd make a difference," Whis stated casually. "And besides wouldn't you rather have Trunks pass or fail on his own?"
"Not if it means losing this!" Beerus said irritably.
The two opponents took their place in the center of the ring. "Before you bother asking I'm not surrendering," Trunks flatly told him.
"So be it," Hit simply said.
Champa rang the gong.
"Begin!"
Trunks immediately turned Super Saiyan Blue, and went in for the attack as fast as he could. In one instant he saw Hit just standing there, but all of a sudden Trunks was on the receiving end of a punch to the gut. He was blown backwards, but despite the pain he was in, as soon as Trunks touched down, he launched himself back at Hit. Trunks dove to the side, and attempted to sweep Hit's legs out from under him, only to suddenly end up getting kicked in the side. The kick sent him up into the air; Trunks recovered, and stubbornly went on the attack again. This time he zigzagged up in the air, sent his first forward to punch Hit in the face, but it was only a feint—he switched things up suddenly by sending his knee into Hit's head. That only resulted in Hit punching Trunks in the face.
When Trunks was hurled backwards by the force of the punch, and he landed on the ground hard, Hit told Trunks, "The more I hit your vital areas, the greater your chances of dying."
Trunks caught his breath, and calmly replied, "Then you'd be disqualified, and it'd be the Seventh Universe's victory by default."
Champa, who had been smug up to that point, panicked and yelled, "Hit! Don't kill him!"
Hit and Trunks just stared at each other for another second, before Hit once more was punching Trunks. Before Trunks was given a chance to recover, Hit began to deliver strike and strike on Trunks, who could do nothing. Hit gave Trunks one last powerful blow that sent Trunks tumbling away.
His family watched helplessly as Trunks was gasping for air as he slowly got on his hands and knees. Trunks was down long enough that the announcer thought about calling it, but stopped when Trunks stood up straight on shaky legs as he spat out blood. "That all you got?" he defiantly said. With Bulla next, Trunks flat out refused to let himself go down easy.
Once again they had a stare down. In one moment they were several paces away from one another, and the next—Hit eyes widened with surprise. He had gone in to punch Trunks again, only to find his fist blocked by Trunks' raised arms. All the spectators ogled in astonishment at the feat. Then Trunks swung his leg around to land a rounding kick on Hit's midriff that send him staggering back. "How?"
"No idea," Trunks said, laughing a bit. "I just guessed and got stupidly lucky. I still don't know what you're exactly doing or how. What? Can you stop time or something?" The silence and the look Hit gave him was answer enough. "Oh…crap."
Hit went to attack again. Trunks threw up both his arms up again in the hopes of getting another block in. Only Trunks guessed wrong this time. Hit landed a powerful uppercut into Trunks' side, and he followed it up with a kick with enough force behind it to launch Trunks right out of the ring. He landed in a heap on the ground beneath, reeling in pain.
The announcer came running up to look down at him. "Trunks Brief is out of bounds! Hit is the winner!"
"Damn!" Beerus cursed loudly. "Here I thought he might've figured something out!"
Whis sighed. "I was at least hoping that Trunks learned to rely on his instincts more after that first block. But then he learned about Hit's power, and began to overthink it."
Ranch went down to pick him up and carry him back to the podium, where they were again met by Dende so that he could heal Trunks. Gohan was by them to watch his father with concern, but Bulla stood on the edge of the podium to glare down at Hit.
Ranch desperately ran over to Beerus. "Lord Beerus, can I please fight in my daughter's place!" she begged.
Beerus scratched his head, feeling absolutely dismayed. "Whatever. It doesn't matter at this point. I'm sure Champa won't raise a fuss."
But the announcer then began, "The next member of the Seventh Universe team to take on Hit is…Bulla Brief! This will be the final match, and the winner's universe will be the champions!"
Trunks, having just been healed, sat up and looked over to where Bulla was. Seeing what she was about to do, he shouted, "Bulla, wait!"
It was too late. Bulla leapt down to the ring, strutting up to the center with determination. Champa roared with laughter at the puny opponent that stood before the legendary assassin.
"You hurt my mommy and daddy!" Bulla said furiously.
"I warned them, yet they still chose to fight on, little one," Hit told her simply. He looked into her eyes, and couldn't help but be impressed with the resolve she was radiating.
"Alright, Hit, take the brat out and secure this win for me!" Champa cried, shooting an energy ball to ring the gong. Hit glanced back at Champa with some annoyance. They truly were nothing more than pawns in the games these gods played.
"Begin!"
Bulla charged forward, and threw a punch at Hit, who simply stepped out of the way of it. Bulla tried to kick Hit, but he again just avoided it like it was nothing. Bulla kept on attacking, and it became almost like some sort of odd dance. While nonchalantly dodging Bulla's slow but determined attacks, Hit's mind couldn't help but become even more disenchanted with the whole thing than he already was.
Hit's eyes wandered up to his own podium, where Champa was annoyed that Hit hadn't already just done away with the girl. Up on the Seventh Universe podium, the girl's parents and brother were looking on with abject fear. Among the spectators were three older women that were beside themselves in terror at what Hit might do to the girl.
Then there was the girl herself. She was clearly a novice, but was undoubtedly well on her way to follow in her parents' footsteps. Hit could easily grab onto her and toss her off the ring—but even if she didn't just fly right back up before hitting the ground, the girl would become extremely disheartened that she lost in such a pathetic manner. Hit could just knock her out, but then he'd run the risk of actually injuring her, which he was absolutely against.
Was this what Hit, the legendary assassin, was reduced to? Not even the Cube, the prize that he demanded for his participation and victory, was worth all this.
Hit stopped moving just as Bulla aimed a punch at his midriff. She managed to connect, causing her to stare up at him in surprise. Hit did nothing for a few seconds, until all of a sudden Hit cried out in pain before he suddenly flew backwards. He hit the dome of the arena, and then fell to the ground.
"O—Out of bounds!" said the announcer, stunned. "Bulla Brief is the winner! The champions are the Seventh Universe team!"
"What…happened?" Bulla wondered, her fist still raised.
Trunks and Ranch didn't care why; they sighed and collapsed on the floor with immense relief. Bulma, Launch, and Chi-Chi also exhaled with relief, but then began to cheer loudly.
Beerus, who was looking away the entire time, heard the cheering on his side, and looked around in disbelief. "We…We won?"
When Bulla returned to the podium, still rather stunned, Trunks and Ranch ran up to give her a hug.
"Great job!" Ranch cried jovially.
Trunks vigorously ruffled her head, saying, "We couldn't be prouder!"
Gohan admitted with some pride in his sister, "You really showed guts out there, that's for sure."
As the Seventh Universe celebrated their victory, Hit glanced their way for a second before heading back to his podium.