Chapter 25

The sun just arose, and the six fighters entered the cave, which was the home of the Black Dragon Twins. Asoret couldn't fight with them, something about rules. The battle with Vegeta and the Masamune had revised them, and now they were planning to fight Same, to get the Black Relic, so they could head for Sky Dragon Isle and get the last relic. Elvor had bought a new rapier, because the previous one had sort of broken. When they entered the cave, Mura was nowhere to be seen, but when they headed into the next room, Same was already waiting for them.

"Mornin'," she said. "Nice day fer a battle, eh?"

"Oh shut up!!" Elvor mumbled. "Just get this over with! Laze won't last long!!"

Same rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine! Ye humans are bloody annoyin at some points!"

Same raised her hand a little, and within a second, a blade burst forth from it, which was caught easily by Same. She was grasping a dark black and red katana with a Dragon hilt, and mystical carvings across the blade.

"Say bye-bye!"

Same didn't change into a Dragon as the fight began, which made them a little suspicious.

"Bring it on!" Same taunted playfully, a smirk playing on her young-looking face.

Bulma growled, and grabbed her dagger from its sheath, and checked Same's arms, but found out that she didn't have the plate. So, Bulma just attacked. She ran at the Dragon, whom brought her katana up in defense, before running at Bulma as well. In the center, their weapons clashed, and they jumped to the sidelines. Same landed in a crouch, Bulma remained standing, before they shot at each other again. Again a loud clang, and they jumped to the sidelines again, both on their own half.

Same's ears suddenly perked, and she whirled around to block the blow from Goku's blade aimed at her back.

"Some honor ye have," Same said softly, before banging her skull against Goku's sending him back.

Goku landed on his feet, and growled. He shot at her again, and Same's eyes narrowed suspiciously. The grip on her katana suddenly tightened, and her body was surrounded with a pale white color, before it vanished, and she seemed to duplicate, and many times!! Goku stopped dead in his tracks, not sure which one was the right one.

They all shot in different directions, and the entire gang looked around in horror, not knowing which one was real. Kari whirled around as one of the Dragons shot at her, and swung at it, but when she touched it, it vaporized. Kari gasped, when a sudden hit to her spine sent her into a wall. Bulma looked back when she heard the crash, and her eyes widened a little. She looked around the room at the duplicates, among which one of them was real. There had to be a difference between the duplicates and real version.

Vegeta slashed through three of them, but neither of them were real.

"Darn!" he mumbled. "Same! Stop being such a coward and show yourself!"

Ha! Whatdaya take me fer!? An idiot?! Gimme a break!! Same's playful voice called out.

Elvor looked around carefully, his eyes constantly scanning. But he didn't find anything. He heard movement behind him, and he whirled around, the same time that Ancha whirled around to him, holding a pin in her hand. The duo looked exasperated, before turning back to the battlefield.

The side of Bulma's mouth suddenly curved upward, and white sparks surrounded her.

"PHOTONRAY!!!!" she screamed, and fired the small white beam straight at one of the duplicates --- which cried out in pain and surprise as the beam hit.

Same dropped to the ground, and with her concentration broken, the other duplicates vanished. The Dragon shook her head, and stood up.

"Bloody Hell?! How'd ya do tha?!" Same demanded, grasping her katana tightly.

"Well, the only thing different from you and the duplicates, is that the duplicates don't have a red gem on their katanas," Bulma said with a cocky smirk.

Same lifted her sword, and noticed the blood ruby stuck in the Dragon hilt's teeth. She growled and looked up.

"Fuck!!" she cursed, and Ancha was shocked to hear that.

The other Dragons had also cursed, but not like this. Same's grip on her sword tightened, and she crouched. Before she vanished.

Bulma screamed as pain shot through her body, caused by the razor-sharp blade of Same's katana slashing through her skin. Same jumped away, and landed in a crouch. Bulma held her arm, where there was blood seeping onto the ground.

"CURE!!" Vegeta shouted, and the blue sparks centered on Bulma, whom was healed instantly.

Elvor scowled, changed his rapier in a large broadsword and ran at Same, whom simply waited. When their weapons clashed, sparks were sent spraying in every direction, and their blades clashed time and time again. Neither lost eye contact, as if afraid of what might happen if they did. When they briefly jumped away, Same straightened up. A smirk formed on her face.

Still the same moves, bushhead?

Elvor almost dropped his sword in bewilderment, not because of that Same could speak telepathically without even trying, but the way she called him. He finally snapped out of it, and growled. Within a second, the duo was at it again, and Same didn't even seem to lose her spirit. No matter, neither did Elvor. A sudden lash across her arm made her cry out in surprise, as blood began to trickle down.

Kari released a howl of fury as red sparks surrounded her, and she ran at Same as nothing more but a blur. Same groaned as the girl's foot connected with her stomach, the second with her spine, and the last one with her head, sending her flying towards a wall. However, the Dragon flipped around in the air, and landed with her feet on the wall, which she used to give herself some thrust. She was launched at Kari, who shrieked in surprise, and held up her own katana with both hands. Same's blade connected with Kari's, and the Dragon flipped over Kari with the blades still touching. Same whirled around as soon as she landed in a crouch, and the katana almost hit Kari, if the cavegirl hadn't whirled around as well and blocked.

Same suddenly imbedded the sword in the ground, and delivered a kick to Kari's chin. When she crouched again, she gave a strong roundhouse kick to Kari's side, making the girl slide over the ground. When Vegeta ran at her, she reclaimed her blade and blocked the guy's sideways slash with her katana, using but one hand. Vegeta slashed downward at her, but she spiraled away to the right, and lashed out at him, but he blocked easily.

Vegeta growled and swatted the Dragon's feet away from under her, causing Same to topple over. She landed on her back, and rolled to the right to avoid Vegeta's axe, and then to the left, grabbing the katana that had dropped from her hand before. She was back to her feet in an instant, and could just avoid Bulma's dagger from the side, as well as Kari's katana coming from the other side. The two girls fought the Dragon together, and Same was actually starting to have problems defending and avoiding.

Suddenly, Same jumped away, holding her katana in one hand, and standing up straight. With a small huff, she tossed the blade into the air. A sheath suddenly appeared on her back, and she leaned to the side when the blade came down, and it easily slid into the sheath. Then, her clothes seemed to shift, making place for some baggy black pants and a loose black shirt, along with some black sneakers. Same took on a crouch, one hand near her hip and the other raised to just beside her face, claws ready to rip.

Goku finally had enough and ran at her, his sword grasped tightly in his hand. Same's eyes narrowed, and with a leap, she shot at him, not even touching the ground. Easily, she elbowed him in his stomach, and her fist banged hard into his face a second later. The Dragon whirled around and a strong blow to Goku's side sent him back. But it wasn't a kick that sent him away. He'd been swatted away by the Dragon's tail!!

A scaled tail the length of her leg whooshed around behind her, and hit the ground with a whipping sound, leaving a deep indent in the rocks.

"Who's next?" Same asked teasingly.

Bulma growled angrily, and placed her dagger away. She cracked her knuckles, and took on a fighting-position. Same smirked, and fell into a fighting-position as well. The two stood like that for a moment, Bulma with a serious expression on her face, and Same with a cold smirk.

A sudden gunshot seemed to be heard as the fighters' eyes widened a millimeter, and shot at each other at the same time. Their forearms hit and Bulma aimed a punch at the Dragon's face, who caught the fist easily, and tried to kick Bulma below the belt, but Bulma caught that. Same growled, when Bulma suddenly banged her head against Same's. The Dragon took a step back, before stopping to block the kick aimed at her abdomen. Same jumped up, and back-flipped while kicking Bulma to her chin.

Bulma shook her head, and growled. The duo was at each other's throat again, and Bulma even got a few hits in, hitting the Dragon at her jaw, spine, and her abdomen. Same continued to fight with Bulma, not once using her katana again.

Elvor was watching from the sidelines.

'That way of fighting…' he mused. 'I've seen it… somewhere…'

Take a picture, bushhead. They last longer! a sudden voice in the back of his mind said.

His eyes widened, and Same momentarily looked at him from the corner of her eye.

Same rolled out of the way, and whirled around just in time to block another punch from Bulma. Bulma's punches and kicks came at the Dragon faster and faster now, but Same somehow managed to block them all. However, there was one thing that Same had and Bulma didn't. Claws.

The Dragon cried in anger, and her claw-like hand hit Bulma's chest, not only making it bleed, but also making a large part of her clothes to rip. Her tank-top hung loosely by only the left side, and a small part of cloth just above her ribs at the right side. The jacket was ruined, torn to shreds. Also, Same's other hand lashed out lower, but Bulma jumped away, causing Same to hit Bulma's skirt, which ripped as well. Bulma landed on her back, and looked up in shock. Same smirked evilly, and it made Bulma's blood freeze.

Elvor placed his rapier away, and stepped forward. Same's smirk faded, and she looked at Elvor in confusion. Elvor didn't speak, just placed his right arm across his chest, a cool look on his face. Same painted the same mask on her face, and did the same. They bowed a little, then lowered their arms, and took on a fighting-position.

Silence hung in the air for some time, as the two glared at each other, as if they had met before. A strange wind blew through the room, and Elvor's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"BLACK WINDS!!!" Same suddenly hollered, and aimed her hand at Elvor as black sparks shot up from around her.

Blazing black winds raced at Elvor, who jumped aside to avoid them. He growled, made a move to grab his rapier, but his hand wavered above the hilt. Suddenly, he smirked.

"LUMINAIRE!!!!" Elvor hollered as he raised his left fist, which became surrounded by glowing white sparks that had shot up before.

He floated up into the sky, and released a howl, as the energy exploded. Same covered her face with her hands, but she momentarily floated up, took the impact, and fell back on the ground.

Same shook her head and stood up, snarling ferociously. Elvor snarled too, but his snarl sounded more playful than anything. Same didn't like that and screamed in anger, before……… they vanished!

"Huh?!" Bulma exclaimed.

Vegeta moved over and helped her up.

"What was that?"

Vegeta shrugged, but he wouldn't look at her. And she knew damned well why.

"Where go? Kari no see Elvor anymore! No see Same either!" Kari said.

They waited for a few minutes, before the two fighters finally returned.

Same fell onto the ground in a bloody mess, but she got up to her feet anyway, spitting up blood. She tossed her hair back, which now hung loose and unrestrained. Her clothes were ripped and shredded, revealing scars and black markings all over her body. Elvor looked a little better, though he was holding his bandana in his hand. He tossed it aside, as though he refused to wear it in this battle.

But… wasn't it over?

"Bastard!" Same hissed angrily, blood pouring from her mouth and nose.

"The battle's over, Same! Hand over the Black Relic and I might be so kind as to let you live!" Elvor threatened.

"Sticks and stones, bushhead! Sticks and stones!!"

"It's over!!" Bulma called out.

"We won, Dragon! Give us the relic!" Vegeta added.

Same growled angrily, her face looking almost as murderous as Vegeta's when he'd been possessed by the Masamune, when suddenly, the Dragon's eyes closed, the left side of her mouth curved up, and chuckles came from her throat.

"Oh really?" Same questioned.

Her eyes suddenly opened to reveal a murderous red color, and she smirked so violently, it gave everyone in the room but Elvor and Kari goosebumps.

"YOU HUMANS HAVE SEEN NOTHING YET!!!!" Same hollered, and a large roar escaped her mouth.

Elvor's eyes widened in horror and he blocked his face to protect it from the strong winds that were created. He peered through his arms…… and gasped in shock.

Looks like Same isn't as easy to beat as the others. And Sky's tougher than her, so that's going to be a tough one.

Reviews:

Ciria: Nah, he's 'healed' now. No, the Masamune was the sword that was wielded by the Hero. [ribbet. giggle] And you don't just 'achieve' that title. You either are, or you're no Hero. And you have to beat Masamune to prove yourself as a Hero. No, she's not Haelles's killer. She's the same woman that gave Bulma and Vegeta the flute that summoned the Wingapede. Well, there's Porre, Haelles's killer is a Porre soldier actually, and then there's the person behind Porre's sudden change. I can't say who that is though.

lacey: Yep. How'd you guess?

Bulma BriefsYue Lover: Yep. Those two are getting married. But it won't last long.

trunks babe: Maybe.

Dragon battle schedule [so far]:

1. Earth Dragon Isle - Terra, the Earth Dragon

2. Water Dragon Isle - Douse, the Water Dragon

3. Mt. Pyre - Pyro, the Fire Dragon

4. Gaea's Navel - Flora, the Green Dragon

5. Marbule - Mura, Eldest Black Dragon

6. Marbule - Same, Youngest Black Dragon [2 ROUNDS]

7. ????????

8. ????????