"EAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!"

"He just keeps going!" moaned Ryuko, barely able to hear her own voice above Goku's screams and his accompanying whirlwind.

He has to be getting close to the end by now, suggested Senketsu.

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Well, he is shooting off a lot more electricity now. Maybe he's going to-"

A thunderous, blinding crash ripped through the crater, flinging even more earth away. Ryuko was thrown further up the crater wall, the shockwaves binding her to the scorched dirt. The man's cries continued for a few seconds more, their end allowing many tons of soil and rock to settle back where they belonged. Ryuko herself fell back down, landing on her knees. She still felt a little sore from the beam attack, which was contributing to her overall concern for the situation. She had enough trouble with his second form. How was she supposed to deal with a third, especially when she wasn't running at full power? She wearily forced herself back to her feet, as footsteps began to approach. Wreathed in a shimmering, sparking gold aura was Goku, although not quite the Saiyan she had been fighting before.

His brow seemed heavier, even though there was no longer any hair there to accent his scowl. The hair on top of his head had grown, from a spiky mess into an incredibly long spiky mess. His entire body glowed with energy, possessing some unnatural light even where bioelectricity maintained no arcs. For the first time, Ryuko could feel the power radiating from him- it was more of the same, searing energy he channeled into his beams.

"I call this a Super Saiyan 3," he said gravely.

"I don't care what you call it," Ryuko snarled. "I'm not going to just let you win!"

She balled her left fist, wound up, and threw it into the man with all of her strength. The result was what Ryuko assumed an average person felt when punching a brick wall.

Goku briefly gave her a smile. "I hope not. If you did, it wouldn't be any fun."

Immediately after he finished speaking, Ryuko felt something very painful in her gut, and realized it must have been a punch. She felt air fly past her at speeds she only reached in the steepest of dives while falling, except she now traveled upwards. The sky spun past, and she realized that she was being tossed around again. The difference was that before, it had been an annoyance. Now it was painful. Another strike to her back- she saw a glowing blur just before, but couldn't determine if it was a hand or foot she had been hit by- propelled her back towards the ground. She could no longer summon enough strength to counter, or even resist the attacks. She flew, helplessly, towards a grey speck on a tan field, which split into several smaller specks, which became cubes, which Ryuko recognized as buildings.

A town?

She attempted to slow down, just to get a glimpse of it. From this angle, it was an unfamiliar place, but she saw small figures dancing along the main street, and the broken hulks of wrecked machines a fair distance from the buildings.

Northville! If anyone can help me, they'd be there.

Through great effort, Ryuko forced herself out of her spin and banked towards the town, her full speed not quite what it had been a few minutes ago. Soon, those figures in the street became more defined. A small purple one fired glowing streaks into a larger khaki one, a brownish one was splayed out on the ground, and a blue one grappled with a grey one.

Wait… Twilight is fighting Mikasa? Katniss is down? And Holly's fighting Poppy?! There's something seriously wrong down there.

Ryuko, look out!

Ryuko wasn't sure whether her own reaction times had slowed with her fatigue, or whether Senketsu was too busy trying to look at the team to notice until it was too late, but whatever the case was, the Saiyan caught them again with another kick, hurling them in the opposite direction of their allies. They flew back, then up, then sideways, each change in direction adding another bruise, occasionally knocking out teeth, and draining Ryuko's strength further.

We're… not gonna win, Senketsu.

You're right, Ryuko.

But our friends are in trouble… who's going to help them out?

We're the only ones that could.

And if we lose, they're out of luck.

They would be.

And Poppy would keep pushing us around…

We can't let that happen.

Ryuko found herself staring into the sky, motivated by an uppercut that had shattered her nose. Her Life Fibers had begun to repair the damage, but they couldn't possibly keep up with all of the injuries she had collected. Below her, the ground sped past, several times faster than the speed of sound. Above her, the moon dominated the sky, beginning to creep in front of the sun. She knew it was getting bigger, but she didn't have the mental capacity to consider what it meant at the moment. She devoted all of that into making sure she positioned her limbs correctly, appropriately increasing her air resistance so that, when coupled with the thruster on her back, she slowed to a halt. It was excruciatingly difficult, but she succeeded. The Saiyan had not yet arrived.

"Hey, Goku," she said with heavy breaths. There was no one else to make noise over her, so she didn't bother using any extra energy to speak up. The Saiyan heard, and appeared directly in front of her, the searing heat from his ki stinging her wounds.

"What's up?"

"I'm… not giving up… not yet," she panted. "I've got a new… reason to fight."

"Good! Let's see what you've got!"

"C'mon, Senketsu… we're going to finish this." Ryuko floated towards her opponent, gritting her teeth with determination. She arrived within arm's length, and swung her Scissor Blade across his tattered gi. She then slashed at him again, and caught him yet again on the back swing. With every drop of energy she had left, she sliced and sliced, with Goku rocking back and forth slightly against the attacks. She had to be getting somewhere, she thought. This would be enough, she reasoned, to weaken him back to her level.

With a wave of his hand that knocked the Scissor Blade away like a gnat, Goku dispelled that notion. The top half of his gi fell to pieces, but he seemed to have ignored the majority of her barrage.

"Okay. It's my turn again."

He drew his right hand back, and teleported into the distance- close enough that Ryuko could still see him, far enough that all she could see was a golden flicker on the horizon. It rapidly got bigger, however, giving her a brief warning that he was approaching. She was too tired to respond, and even if she had tried, there was simply no way she could have avoided the attack. A hypersonic kick sent her flying harder than ever before, her downward trajectory putting her on a course with the ground. Ryuko simply could not slow down, and so she plowed into the dirt, her inertia enough to tear through soil and rock and veins of minerals, as her body cut a canyon into the surface of the desert one kilometer long and fifty meters deep.

Her entire body was in pain, but soon, Ryuko felt the scraping, sliding pain at her back subside, leaving her with a more general agony. A thin sliver of light peeked out from the dark rocks above her, and even then, half of it was the moon. The earth surrounding her was warm, no doubt from the friction of her passage through, and there was almost something comforting about it. One of the few bits of trivia she picked up on through what little school she cared to attend was that human beings feel at ease in warm, dark, swaddling places- like under several quilts- because it reminds them of the womb. Ryuko had met her mother, and while she would never call anything about her, including her womb, pleasant, she had to admit that she felt very relaxed. Or perhaps that had more to do with how much blood she was losing to internal hemorrhaging? Maybe it was the latter.

Ryuko? Ryuko? What are you doing?!

I… I'm dying, Senketsu. Is this what it felt like… for you?

Don't you say that, Ryuko! You're not done here! We have to win this, for our friends!

But… I… can't…

Senketsu felt something he had not in a long time- an absence of a heartbeat underneath his cloth. For a moment, he denied it- he had made a mistake. Then, an entire second passed without a pulse, and that second grew into ten, and twenty. After that, he knew there was no one to hear his words.

I let her die. I really… let her die. I could have stopped her… I should have told her to give up. But I didn't. I was too caught up in it, just like she was. But most of all, I couldn't protect her. No… I can't let it end like this. That's not what I want her to remember!

Ryuko's battered legs bunched up, placing their feet on the ground beneath them. Her hands found a grip on the rocks that closed them in, and her body hoisted itself to its feet. Her head still hung lifeless, dangling from her neck like a loose string on a threadbare shirt.

As long as I'm still synchronized with her, I can move her limbs. I just need to do this before I run out of blood- without a pulse, I've got about ten seconds, maybe.

The thruster between Ryuko's shoulders sputtered on, and the girl's body flew upwards out of the canyon, bouncing along the walls on the way up. As soon as he cleared the top of the crevice, Senketsu shut down the thruster, causing Ryuko' body to fall onto more solid ground. He immediately desynchronized, to conserve his last few drops of blood.

This had better work.

Senketsu pressed his top half closely to Ryuko's chest, scooting slightly until he located the denser spot that contained her heart. He closed his eye, tensed up, and discharged one thousand volts of static electricity into her body. Miraculously, he felt something move beneath the surface. A pulse. He quickly expanded and contracted, his movements forcing the feeble pulse into a more regular pattern.

Come on, come on…

Triumphantly, the girl sucked down a ragged breath.

Ryuko! Ryuko! Say something, anything!

Okay, how did I get out from underground?

That? I piloted you out.

That's pretty weird. Why? I just passed out.

Senketsu realized that she had no idea what had happened, and decided to explain later.

The view is nicer up here.

Yeah… more moon. Great. I guess Goku's gone? He thinks I'm dead?

Maybe. I haven't seen him.

Then let's get out of here, head somewhere safe so I can heal.

She slowly reached for the bolt on her glove.

No! Don't, warned Senketsu. You need to let your body focus on healing- you lost a lot of blood to your insides. Once you repair yourself, then I can drain the rest out for you. Do it now, and you'll get yourself killed ag-

Again?

You'll get yourself killed.

Okay, I'll lay still. Thanks for waking me up.

You're welcome, Ryuko.

The two remained quiet for a while afterwards, Ryuko simply breathing and looking upwards. Senketsu could tell that her mind was not at peace, however. He knew why- their friends were still in trouble. She was the only one that had a chance at saving them. And now she was stuck, waiting for her body to repair itself.

It's done, said Senketsu softly.

"Great," she said aloud, drawing the bolt across her glove. Senketsu synchronized with her once again, and while he realized very quickly they were not at their full strength, they were still much better than they had been a moment before.

"Senketsu, which way is the town?"

It's a quarter-turn to your left, then straight ahead for five kilometers.

Ryuko turned as instructed, took a step forward, and collided with Goku's chest.

"Hey, there!" the Saiyan cheered, having returned to his dark-haired form. Both Ryuko and Senketsu broke out in a cold sweat. "When I punched you down into that hole, I couldn't detect your energy- it was like you died or something. But while I was heading away, it came back. Thanks for the fight and every-"

"You little piece of shit," interrupted Ryuko.

Goku blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Here I am, just trying to help out MY TEAM, and YOU come along and MESS EVERYTHING UP! And you have the NERVE to BEAT ME UP and LEAVE ME FOR DEAD and just FLY AWAY like NOTHING HAPPENED?!"

"Well, I-"

Ryuko's outfit interrupted him with a burst of steam, before she could. "I DON'T CARE! ALL you can think about is your GODDAMNED FIGHTING. It's ALL ABOUT YOU," she sneered. "'I have to be the strongest! I have to be the toughest! I have to go out of my way to MAKE PEOPLE MISERABLE!' THAT'S WHAT YOU DO, YOU IDIOT ASSHOLE WITH YOUR GODDAMNED STUPID GRIN!"

"That's not what I-"

She silenced with a punch to the gut, which threw him several meters away.

"You know what? I've got a solution! I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR FACE APART UNTIL IT CAN'T FREAKING SMILE!"

Ryuko, I realize that you are angry, but I do not think you should be picking a fight with the man who nearly killed you.

No, he nearly killed me when he was all glowy. He ain't now.

Goku hopped back to his feet. This was, perhaps, the worst possible scenario. He had gone in for a friendly fight, but had managed to get his opponent so worked up that they had to kill him. In retrospect, the same thing had happened to Superman, right after that speech about cardboard boxes. Goku decided to attribute this to his own easygoing nature- he was just too glib for some people. But now, he had a problem on his hands. He wanted to redeem himself from his last fight, and he couldn't do that if he lost. With an opponent as strong as Ryuko, he had one choice left.

"I can't let that happen," he said sternly, floating up into the air. He continued to rise, far into the clouds, as Ryuko stood, bewildered and frustrated.

"What? What the hell? After all that, he really is just running away? Jeez, what an asshole."

That's not what's happening, said a worried-sounding Senketsu.

Goku lifted his hands above his head, clearing his mind and slowing his breathing. He felt a gentle breeze begin to swirl around him, as the emptiness of his head was filled with the voices and thoughts of hundreds of people and animals, and the handful of plants that grew in the desert. Every living thing possessed that basic energy of life, the power that made hearts beat and leaves grow. Goku raised his hands above his head, and became a conduit for a fraction of that power. Above his hands, a tiny blue orb began to take shape.

"Then… what is happening?"

He's charging up, but… it's different from before. He's not gaining power from within himself… it's external. He's drawing power from outside.

"What do you mean, outside?"

He's using the power of everyone in this arena, channeling it into one attack.

"Everyone in this arena… the power of everyone in this arena's got to be-"

Suddenly, the orb over Goku's head swelled to a massive size, dwarfing its wielder and the size of most office buildings.

"Oh, wow," exclaimed the Saiyan. "That charged up really fast!"

"We're gonna have to dodge that, aren't we?"

Most certainly.

"HEY! SCISSOR GIRL!" Goku shouted down towards them. "HERE'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! I'M GOING TO THROW THIS SPIRIT BOMB AT YOU! IF YOU DODGE IT, IT'S GONNA BLOW UP THE WHOLE ARENA! IF YOU DON'T DODGE IT, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'LL GET BLOWN UP! YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU LIKE!"

He then chucked his hands downward, beginning the Spirit Bomb's descent.

Ryuko stamped her foot. "No… no! I am NOT going to let this guy make a fool of me! There's some trick to this, there's got to be! I'm going to stop that bomb!"

Ryuko, wait!

But Senketsu's words fell on deaf ears, or rather, Ryuko's deaf brain. She flew upwards until she reached the slow-moving orb, which was not moving much faster than walking speed. Ryuko cautiously poked the side with her index finger, and was surprised to find that, unlike the beam, this sphere of ki felt quite solid.

Could you please think about this for just one second, Ryuko?

"I am thinking about it," she snapped. "This one is tangible, like Katniss' fireballs. Which means it can be deflected."

But, Ryuko, you can't channel your ki! There's no way for you to interact with it!

"Senketsu, I've got to do something. Plus, I just poked it. I can interact with it just fine."

If- if you say so. But I want you to know that if something goes wrong… I'm glad you were wearing me.

Ryuko let her Scissor Blade fold up, and stuffed it through her skirt. She then hesitantly raised her now-free hands to the orb, and let it fall into them. The surface was just as hot as the beam had been, and her palms began to smoke immediately. Adding to her distress, the bomb continued to descend, pushing her down with it.

"Damn," she cursed. "Let's try and push back. SENKETSU SHIPPU!"

Senketsu converted into his flight form, but the sudden increase in thrust did not push the slowly-advancing sphere back. Instead, it merely flung Ryuko's body against its surface, which was followed by a terrible hiss.

"OW OW OW OW OW!" screamed the girl. "Why won't it work?!"

We both haven't recovered fully from our injuries… we're not up to normal strength yet.

"So what are the chances I can fall back, recover, and try again?"

Low. I don't think we can pull this off!

"If we don't, either we die, or everyone dies! We can't let either of those things happen, Senketsu! I don't care if it hurts me, draw as much blood as you have to! We've got to push this back!"

Ryuko, I don't want to lose you!

"Yeah, and neither do I! But sometimes you have to sacrifice things for your friends! Or did you forget how you left me alone all those years?!"

Ryuko, don't bring that up now- please, I'll see what I can do.

After a few moments, Senketsu's thrusters began to burn more brightly. Ryuko pushed herself away from the bomb, which began to slow down, until it came to a stop, and then reversed direction.

"They're pushing it back," grunted Goku. "Not for long!"

With a roar, his ki burst forth, transforming him into his third form. He quickly brought his palms together, and began to charge. "KA… ME…"

"Dammit, we need to do this quick, Senketsu!"

I'm trying as hard as I can, Ryuko!

"HA… ME…"

"Well, try HARDER!" she screamed, shoving against the Spirit Bomb with all of her might. For a second, they seemed to have overcome its weight. It began to accelerate rapidly towards the charging Saiyan. But their victory was short-lived.

"HAAAAAA!"

The beam shot through what little air was left between the Saiyan and his Spirit Bomb, and upon hitting the sphere's surface, the two ki attacks became one. The force from the Kamehameha forced the Spirit Bomb back down abruptly, undoing the progress the girl and her Kamui had made. Furthermore, the jolt caused Ryuko's arms to sink into the sphere. She shoved her screams back down into her throat, because she wanted to speak.

"Senketsu," she said through gritted teeth. "We have to take it."

No, Ryuko!

Ryuko loved her outfit dearly, but she ignored him, and dove inside the Spirit Bomb. The interior was composed of two things: bright white light, and pain.

Why, Ryuko? I thought you wanted to help our friends!

I do. Which is exactly why I did this. This guy is indirectly putting the fate of a bazillion universes at risk, I'm not about to throw that all away because I'm feeling weak! That's not how I roll.

Then… what are you doing?

Gambling, she replied, her dissolving lips pulling back into a smile. We have to help Holly, and Katniss, and Twilight, and Mikasa, and Alucard, and Kamina, and Simon, and Adam, and Ruby. We have to help every person here. And to do that, we have to stop this. It's not that we want to, we have to, right?

Right, said Senketsu.

Good. I think we have time to say one last thing before we die. Let's do it together, okay?

Senketsu felt a different sort of warmth welling up in his fibers. It was not the destructive warmth outside, but a defiant confidence- the same feeling he felt when he knew Ryuko would win. He knew what to do. Yes.

"SENKETSU… KISARAGI!"

Goku did not like to have to use the Spirit Bomb. One reason was that it usually took too long to charge up. The more relevant reason was that it meant that his opponent was past the point of redemption. He hated hearing their screams fade away, because of its finality. Was this girl really the same? No, she was not. She was angry and didn't like him, but Goku knew her heart was probably in the right place. Probably. But he had offended her too much, and now there was no choice. Somewhere, he had gone very, very wrong. But it was too late to fix that now. The deed was done, and soon the screams from inside the Spirit Bomb would cease, the ki would explode, and he could do whatever he wanted for the rest of the round, addled by a guilty conscience. As if to reflect his spoiled mood, the moon completed its eclipse of the sun, drenching the desert in an early twilight. The Spirit Bomb's glow maintained the illusion of daylight. The strange occurrence failed to distract Goku from the glowing orb.

Wait… She's been screaming in there a little too long… what's-

Further adding to his confusion, the Spirit Bomb did not explode, but instead began to glow red. Not a light red, but a vibrant, deep red. It also began to twinkle, which was something he had never seen a Spirit Bomb do.

She's changing the Spirit Bomb?!

The Spirit Bomb continued to transform, its aura disappearing. It stopped looking like a red ball and more like a red cloud, one that was sending sparkles flying in every direction. Immediately after this, the spherical cloud imploded, sucking its thin red filaments into a central point, which then burst into a rainbow of colors. Goku squinted into the center of the rainbow, and felt very conflicted. She had survived the attack. On one hand, he could continue their fight. On the other hand, she had resisted a boosted Spirit Bomb- meaning that she had become significantly more powerful. He decided that talking to her would be preferable to rushing into a situation like this. He began a gentle descent to her altitude.

Ryuko… how did we do it?

It's that magical field Twilight always talks about. We convinced it to turn the Spirit Bomb into Life Fibers. Then we absorbed them. Boom, Kisaragi!

Amazing. I'm sorry I doubted you, Ryuko.

And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, either, Senketsu. But now… we can finish this fight.

I am sure of that, Ryuko.

The Saiyan floated down to a hover in front of them, shielding his eyes from Ryuko's newfound radiance.

"So what was it that you did to that Spirit Bomb? I've never seen something like-"

His words got caught in his throat when his eyes finally registered what he was looking at.

Ryuko's scant clothing was no longer black, but a glowing, vivid crimson, pulsing with gold- like molten metal. Her skirt had disappeared entirely, replaced by glowing fanglike structures that held a position around her waist, forming the illusion of some gaping, floating mouth. Senketsu's twin crests had fanned out further, his right eye-patched one now containing a second functional eye. Atop Ryuko's head, her once-small hornlike protrusions had grown much longer, forming a glowing red hairband. Her clothing was showing more skin than ever before, yet still managed to avoid anything slipping through. But what Goku was interested in was her hair: once black and red, it now stood nearly on end in a spiky torch of yellow.

"Y-you… went… Super Saiyan…" he gasped.

"No. This is Senketsu and I's perfect form, Kisaragi. We've both got a whole new wardrobe."

"Why didn't you do this earlier?! This is awesome!"

"I can only achieve this form with the help of my friends donating their Life Fibers to me. What you saw in that Spirit Bomb, that's what it was."

"Wait, you could only do it with the help of your friends? That sounds a little like…" his voice trailed off, before, "Super Saiyan God," he gulped.

"I don't care what it sounds like to you. Maybe you're not such a bad guy after all, but you're in my way. So get out of my way, or get ready to die."

"I'm not giving up, not when you've just gone Super Saiyan! Now I'm really going to get to test my strength."

Ryuko frowned. "I warned you."

And with that, she kicked him into a nearby mesa, which split down the middle before expelling him on the other side. As if the earth simply couldn't keep up, it took a few seconds for the landform to completely demolish itself, turning into a formless heap of rock. Goku winced as he got up, but even then managed to croak out a pained laugh.

"Now, that's impressive."

Ryuko appeared just above him, arms folded across her mostly-exposed chest.

"Is it?"

Another kick flung him straight upwards, and as soon as Goku reached the top of his arc, he was intercepted by Ryuko again, this time using an impossibly-fast swipe from her Scissor Blade to bat him away. Their Ping-Pong ballet began anew, and thunder louder than ever before echoed across the plains, as if the gods themselves were at war.