Piccolo turned to Goku and the others Universe Seven fighters.
"So who faces the female Saiyaman next?"
"Really, Piccolo?" Gohan blushed at the comparison. "Saiyman's a champion of justice. This Caulifla girl's more... militarized than a proper hero of justice."
Piccolo smirked. "And yet both are bombastic in personality. I repeat the question."
"I will." Vegeta declared, stepping forward with fists clenched. "The self-important brat has already called me out by name and insulted my honor. I will now repay her in kind on the field of battle and show her what a true Saiyan warrior looks like."
"Hey Vegeta, before you go," Goku said. "Try not to go Blue if you can help it, okay?"
Vegeta stared at him, confused, then scowled. "And just why, Kakarot, should I do that?"
"Well, we still got that Freiza look alike and that purple guy and who knows what they're capable of? Probably better to hold back on our real power for now. Save it for when we really need it."
A twitch formed under Vegeta's left eye.
"Tch. I will follow my own council into battle, clown. Not yours!"
Vegeta stepped into the ring facing Captain Caulifla with all his usual pomp and arrogance. Caulifla on her part had powered down from her muscled up state into just the regular Super Saiyan form, no doubt in an attempt to save energy.
"About time you got your old man butt up here."
Caulifla grinned like a wolf as she cracked her gloved knuckles. "I've been wanting to punch that smug face of yours since I read all about you in Vados' report."
Vegeta looked Caulifla's naturally trim figure and bodysuit and sneered. "A true Saiyan doesn't need a transformation to hold a warrior's figure."
Caulifla chuckled.
"Really, now? Funny. Cuz I was going to say that a true Saiyan doesn't need to make their muscles so obviously bulgy to show off their overt masculinity. Yeah I'm probably not as bulky as your Saiyan bitches were back home. So fucking what? Your Saiyans were also way weaker than us Sixth Universe Saiyans from what I understand."
The scowl on Vegeta's face told Caulifla she had scored a hit with that remark.
"Your pops, the King of the Saiyans who had the egotistical gal to name a conquered planet after himself, barely came up to a D + ranking and compared to some of the other weirdos that fought for this Frost knock off of yours. Now, call me crazy, but..."
Caulifla smirked. "That's not really that impressive in the big picture now is it, Princeton?"
The small twitch appeared under Vegeta's left eye intensified slightly. With a thunderous yell his black hair turned blonde, his coal black eyes flashed teal and his golden aura sparked with visible flashes of lightning.
Caulifla blinked and let out a low whistle. "Not bad, scumbag. See you already have Beta unlocked in your neck of the woods. That's almost impressive."
"The proper name for this form is Super Saiyan 2." Vegeta said, coldly.
"Tomato, potato." Caulifla shrugged. "You guys really suck coming up with names. 'Super Saiyan 2' Really? That was the best ya could come up with. Not 'Lightening Mode' or something like th-"
Caulifla felt Vegeta's gloved knuckles landing firm into her stomach as he reappeared before her, having vanished mid rant while the Captain had been talking.
"And you, brat, talk too much."
Caulifla coughed and could taste the faintness of copper which in her experience meant blood.
On the sidelines, Kale gulped. "That's not good. He interrupted the Captain."
"They are, in fairness, fighting." Frost pointed out with a yawn.
"No, you don't understand, Lord Frost. You don't interrupt the Captain. Not without paying the price for it."
"P-Pretty good right hook ya got there, maggot." Caulifla gave Vegeta a faint smirk. "But you're not the only one who can play the transformation game, you know?"
Vegeta frowned as he floated backward, his fighting stance now on the defensive. "If you think going grade three will help you-"
Caulifla laughed. "I ain't talking about the muscle form, moron. Or even going Beta like you are now. But I suppose it's best I teach you, the "Prince of all Saiyans" the proper way of these things. The Saldala military way!"
Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms. If nothing else, he still had Super Saiyan Blue to fall back on.
"Is that right? Then go right ahead. Show me what 'the proper way of things' looks like, Captain."
"Gladly."
Caulifla's whole body tensed as one muscle as she balled up her hands into compact fists, her legs spread into a wide, firm stance. "This is my standard form, otherwise known as my base self. And this,"
Her body exploded in an every flickering showering aura golden ki. "Is the first of the Holy Soldier form: Gamma."
"Impressive." Vegeta's voice dripped with sarcasm. "You have masted a form even my seven year old son can do."
Caulifla smirked.
"This-" Her power level exploded out even further as lightning danced around her golden ki. "Is what is properly known as Beta."
"Ah. And now you're almost near my level. Congratulations."
The Captain ignored the Prince's barb. "And this." Once more her grin was wolfish in nature as her entire body tensed up like a giant muscled coil. "Is to go. Even further beyond!"
"Wait." Goku blinked. "This is starting to seem kinda fimil-"
Caulifla let out a warrior's scream as her already enormous ki spiked up even further. All around them the Nameless Planet trembled greatly as the spectators from the Sixth and Seventh Universes looked uneasy.
"H-How can one mortal have such power without even using god ki?" The Supreme Kai of the Sixth Universe stared in terrified awe as Caulifla's ki rippled around the ring.
"Quite showy, but very inefficient." Vados mused.
"Yes, yes!" Champa gripped the air with glee. "Show us everything you've got Caulifla!"
He turned to his brother. Beerus, for his part, merely yawned in boredom.
"Son Goku was quicker to break out his long haired transformation when we first met."
Champa glared daggers as he grit his teeth at his brother's dismissiveness.
"Great." Krillin muttered, voice wobbling thanks to all the shaking. "It's the Lookout and Goku holding off Buu all over again."
"T-that was Goku?" Herucle gawked, the champion of Earth's tanned face slick with uneasy sweat. "I thought the world was ending when everything started shaking like crazy!"
"Hey, Gohan?" Goku yelled over Caulifla's own continuous, planet shaking screams as her power continued to push to ever higher tiers of power. In her base Caulifla was a solid B class. As a Gamma. She was B +. As a Delta and Beta? An A ranking level. But in this new form of hers as her hair lengthened and her eyebrows vanished and her face took a more serious look over all, her power became A ++.
"Yeah, dad?"
"Are my kais always that loud?"
Gohan stared at his father, stupefied. "Seriously?" he screamed. "That's the question on your mind right now?"
"Well, yeah?" Goku yelled back. "No one ever told me how loud I was before all this. Am I anything like that when fighting?"
"Not the time, dad, seriously not the time! But... kinda, I guess?"
On the Sixth Universe side, Kale, Cabba, and Frost all stared at the Defense Force Captain with looks of awe and visibly impressed nature.
"I must say, I had no idea a mere Captain could have that sort of power." Frost commented, blinking rapidly as the winds howled around them in rippling waves of ki. "Though the form is taking quite a while to pull off, I see."
"That's the Captain, for you," Cabba commented. "Always pushing herself past her limits, never stopping because 'good isn't good enough', right, Vice-captain? … Vice-captain Kale?"
"This isn't good." Kale frowned. "If sis is already resorting to using that form against this 'Prince' then it says more about the gap in their power than anything else if she's going all in on something she hasn't even properly mastered, yet."
"She hasn't mastered it yet?" Frost asked.
"No, sir. If she had do you really think she'd be taking this long just to show off?" Kale frowned. "Well, okay, she would. But that's besides the point. I just hope that sis knows what she's doing..."
Finally, in an explosion of golden light, Defense Force Captain Caulifla's screaming ceased as suddenly as it had begun.
"Sorry that it took so long." Caulifla said, smirking. "Haven't had much time to practice this one as much as I'd like. This bad boy is what we Salada Saiyans like to call Alpha mode. But you dumbasses in Universe Seven probably call it something lame like 'Super Saiyan Three', right?"
Vegeta, much to Caulifla's annoyance, merely chuckled.
"Something like that. Your power is impressive, you self righteous, self important brat, I'll give you that. If we were fighting just a little over a year ago I dare say you'd even give me a true run for my money in battle. But you see, there's one very big difference between you and I, 'Captain'."
Despite her enormous power and confidence Caulifla gave Vegeta an uneasy look. "And what's that?"
Vegeta smirked. "This."
In an instant, his hair went from the blonde of Super Saiyan 2 to a cyan blue and his ki completely vanished from Caulifla's senses.
Kale's eyes widened. "It's the same thing that happened with Lord Champa. His energy has completely vanished!"
"Y-You too, Vice-Captain?" Cabba stared at the Vice-captain. "I-I thought I was the only one having trouble sensing that weird energy of theirs."
Frost merely pursed his lips in annoyance. It looks like I may need my needles after all, he thought.
Hit, who had opened one eye midway through Caulifla's transformation before closing it again, opened both eyes fully as he looked at the Prince with renewed interest.
"Behold! The power of the gods combined with that of the Super Saiyan transforma-"
Vegeta inhaled sharply as his eyes watered. He looked down and saw Caulifla's knee planted firmly in his groin.
"You bi-"
The following haymaker to his face sent the Super Saiyan Blue Prince soaring backwards.
High in the stands, Beerus glared at his twin.
"A groin attack, really?"
Beerus cast a lazy gaze at Whis. "Isn't that against the rules or something?"
"A fair question, my lord." Whis mused as he and Vados shared a look.
Vados merely shrugged. "Technically, we made no charter against the legality of groin attacks in battle."
"Ah." Whis nodded. "I knew we were overlooking something. Oh well."
In the stands of mortals, 18 merely smirked as she remembered when she and her brother had been awakened all those years ago and she had broken both of the prince's arms in battle. Fun times by all unless you were Vegeta, that is.
Back in the ring, Vegeta's eyes bulged as he glared at the Defense Force Captain.
"That was a low blow, brat." he snarled.
"True." Caulifla agreed. "But I'm going up against a weird ki I didn't even know existed before today on a whole nother level from my own. A girl can't help but use every trick at her disposal, you know? How do you think I became a captain?"
Vegeta said nothing as he vanished from view completely, causing Caulifla to frown as her body tensed for impact.
Instinctively she knew he'd aim for her back and it was only with the added burst speed of the Alpha state that she managed to block the incoming kick that would have risked crippling her spine otherwise.
Gripping his extended hand, Caulifla threw Vegeta over her shoulder before following through with a flurry of red ki blasts that exploded thunderously when they hit the Saiyan Prince.
The blasts were just a distraction as Caulifla blasted towards Vegeta with all of her Alpha speed.
She grit her teeth as she landed a series of snapping haymakers and jabs to the prince's abdomen only to stop half way when her teal eyes went wide. Her blows with every ounce of power in them were nothing more than love taps compared to what level of power that this 'Godly' form had given her opponent.
The hairs on the back of Caulifla's neck stood up and a part of her shivered from fear, the other from the Saiyan love of battle. Besides the obvious differences in things like tail and general muscular figures there was one difference that truly set the Saiyans of the Sixth and Seventh Universes apart.
The Saiyans of the Sixth Universe enjoyed fighting those stronger than them whereas their Universe Seven counterparts often lost their nerve against stronger foes.
In spite of herself, Caulifla grinned. "I thought my little protégé and I had reached the peak of Saiyan power before. But you've completely cut the system entirely. You're S Class if I ever saw it, Vegeta."
Suddenly, Caulifla's power shrank enormously as she reverted back to her base state.
"A good captain knows when she's beat. I give up."
Champa's eyes bulged. "You what?!"
"I believe that the Captain has surrendered, my lord."
"I know what she said, Vados!"
Down below, Caulifla ignored the Destroyer's outburst, her gaze still locked onto Vegeta as she continued. "I'm still going to bring you in once your planet's in our universe. The King is going to have some very choice things to say to you, 'Prince'. Though as much as I hate to admit it, I should thank you, I suppose."
Vegeta arched his brow. "What for?"
"For showing me a level beyond Alpha. We called our transformations Holy by destination but you've just proven how foolish we were in that regard. Yours truly is a divine transformation that blows ours out of the water. But power gap or no, I swear as the Captain of the Defense Force of Planet Sadala I will bring your ass in one day, 'Prince' Vegeta."
Vegeta snorted. "I would like to see you try. But, out of respect for your power I will say this: it was a result of training under my current master, the Angel Whis."
"Is that right?" Caulifla glanced up at where the angels and Destroyers floated high above them, watching them, before turning her attention back to her team.
"Looks like I'll have to see if our Angel is half as accommodating to new students then if I want to keep up."
Shaking her head, she patted the armored shoulder of Kale and smiled.
"Looks like it's your time to shine, Kale! Kick their asses!"
"Captain," Kale swallowed the lump in her throat as she glanced over at the Saiyan Prince, his flame-like hair still as cyan as when he had fought Caulifla.
"Do you really think we can still win this tournament, considering our power gap between the Seventh Universe and ourselves? With respect to Lord Frost and Mister Hit, I think we may be just a bit out classed if these Saiyans have access to the same divine energy that Lord Champa does."
"Ah, but you see, my one and only vice-captain, we have something they don't."
Caulifla wagged a gloved index finger and winked.
Kale's naturally tanned face blanched. "You can't mean..."
"But I do."
"Oh no."
Frost glanced between the two and frowned, puzzled.
"I'm afraid I don't understand, would either of you two care to elaborate, please?"
"Kale here's not exactly what you would call the 'average Saiyan warrior', right, Kale?"
"My transformations, more specifically my Legendary form, is a bit... different than others, Sir Frost. More... unstable. Wild. The Legendary form is a completely different beast entirely. It's hard to explain."
"So don't," Hit had spoken for the first time since the Cube. "Just go and fight with all that you have. I will clean up whatever else is needed of me in battle and assure our victory."
"What the hitman said." Caulifla ignored the slight glare from Hit. "Just show those Universe Seven assholes what happens when they mess with the Legendary Alpha Apex."
Kale cringed. "Do I have to, sis? You know I hate bringing her out to the forefront in battle. There's not even anything at stake if we lose this dumb tournament..."
"Kale." Caulifla said slowly. "Our honor as soldiers has been besmirched and by a criminal with a galactic body count, no less. As your Captain I order you to bring the she-beast out."
"I was afraid you were going to say that." Kale muttered. In a loud voice she said, "Aye, Captain. One raging monster of destruction, coming right up."
"Raging?" Frost frowned. "Are you saying you need to be in some sort of stressed out state of mind to use this form of yours? Is that really the most practical move for this tournament, because if need be I can enter the fray-"
Kale shook her head firmly. "No, Lord Frost. You stay back for the time being. I've got this."
Kale began to make her way towards the arena. "Besides, my Lord. That's my secret. I'm always stressed."
Kale turned her attention back to the arena and entered with a military-like stride.
Vegeta crossed his arms against his chest, still transformed into Super Saiyan Blue.
"I'm Kale, Vice-captain of the Defense Force." Kale bowed, her voice calm.
As she continued she began to remove her armor until only a practical mini skirt and tube-like top remained. She had learned from experience that when unleashing her the best option was to go with the least amount of clothing. It saved the poor souls in the Armory a lot of time if they didn't have to replace her armor every time she came out to play.
"I just want to let you know something before we begin."
"Which is what?"
"That you have managed to make me very angry with your macho arrogance and smug swagger. It reminds me too much of the bullies my battle sis and I have dealt with back on Salada and if there's one thing I hate more than criminal scum, it's a bully like you."
Kale smiled sardonically to herself before glancing up in the direction of Bulma and Trunks. "I was willing to give you something of a pass when I saw you had a wife and child but since attitude is a terrible as it is, it's only fair that I be the one to dish out your punishment."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "Punishment? What punishment? Just what are you blathering about, woman?"
Kale's gray eyes snapped up at the comment as her polite mask hardened into stone. "You've made me angry, Prince Vegeta." She repeated, her voice almost emotionless as the air around her became to shimmer with waves of her nearly invisible ki.
"And you won't like me when I'm angry."
AN: So that's the big Caulifla vs Vegeta fight. Unfortunately since she doesn't have god ki yet there was only so much I could have her do even with giving her SSJ 3 in the process. But like Vegeta said, if this was a fight six months ago, the battle would have gone far closer and thinking back, honestly, a SSJ3 Caulifla would probably have come out on top in the end.