"Oh, wow, look at them go!" Goku cried as he watched the match. "Hotaru's amazing! She's improved so much since the Cell games."
Bardock nodded. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. She's made almost as much improvement as us, without the benefit of being dead."
"It's because of the Cell games." Sora said as she watched her daughter. Hotaru had just teleported and caught Vegeta by surprise from behind.
"What do you mean?" Appla asked.
The Tanarian pursed her lips for a moment before answering. "Hotaru had always had a drive for improving. Pride in her heritage that demanded she make our ancestors proud of her. That surfaced, prior to her awakening, as a resourcefulness in creating new techniques. She developed several Shika-Shidou techniques I saw her use during spars against Sango that she never used again, apparently not finding them useful enough for her tastes.
"She even worked at creating variations of existing moves, such as the Shika-Shidou Bakufuu which was eventually transformed into her Inryoku Chikara. The Shika-Shidou moves Kyoujaku and Iryoku were the basis for her development of the Kinryoku. Another Shika-Shidou technique lead her to the creation of the Kuro Omoi Seichuu.
"Then, as her Awakening drew closer, she began to focus on physical training more and more. She spent days working out, only resting when her body refused to continue, preparing for when she'd be able to start making real gains in power. Once her Awakening came she pushed even harder, determined to catch up to Sango, Akira, and myself."
"Sango's not that much older than her, though." Appla said, interrupting.
"True, only three years difference." Sora replied. "But her Awakening brought about tremendous power in comparison to most. My power climbed to around 4,000 on my Awakening. Hotaru's to only around 750. Sango's, on the other hand, climbed to over 3,000. And I'm not talking about after training during the months when it's easiest. I mean at the exact moment of Awakening. It's not unheard of. Even before the binding of our powers there were those born with powers beyond the normal.
"Anyway, when she came back to Tanaria after the events on Namek she seemed to have found what she'd been looking for. She knew there were others out there, greater than her, but she had surpassed all of us and in less than two years time. I think... she saw that her goal, her dream, wasn't impossible after all. Especially after she transformed against Recoome.
"But then... the Androids. And right from the start she felt like she was being left behind. Like everyone else was making progress, becoming stronger, but she wasn't. She saw what her daughter could do and, though it made her proud, it made her feel like she wasn't good enough too."
"I know that feeling..." Appla said softly.
Sora nodded and continued. "Even after three years of training she didn't come close to comparing to the Androids. And so she used her training in the Room of Spirit and Time to push herself even more. To make herself ready to face them, and to an extent, she did."
"Her attack against Super 13 to help out Sakura and Trunks." Appla said.
"Right. She was able to help them, just a little. But only through the use of the Iryoku and Kameryokuha. Moves created by other people and thus, in her mind, not her own strength."
"I get it." Bardock said. "So after the Cell Games she went back to coming up with new skills?"
"As well as pushing herself harder than I'd ever seen her." the Tanarian replied. "She'd spend an entire day training and practicing, practicing and training." She stopped and laughed a little. "Akemi is actually, in a way, the end result of her finally mastering the creation of the Ikioi Reikon Kougeki."
"Huh?" Goku asked, scratching the back of his head as Bardock and Appla laughed. "I don't get it..." This only made the two Sai-jins laugh harder.
Sora just returned her full focus back to the match. By now Hotaru had used her Konmei and had just stopped in her upward flight. "Well, speak of the devil." she said as she saw energy gathering in Hotaru's hand.
"What is it?" Bardock asked.
"She's preparing the move I told you about." she replied. "The Ikioi Reikon Kougeki."
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Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit
The Tanarian royal charged in again, her right arm held across her chest ready for another slice. Vegeta was still recovering from the last attack, it felt like his leg muscle was trying to cramp up which was making it hard to focus. He did his best to push the pain aside as he saw her coming. At the last second he dodged her swipe, the edge of the blade slicing a couple centimeters of hair off the top of his head as he slipped under her reach.
As he came up he launched an uppercut with his left arm using the momentum of his rise to add to the force of the blow. It slammed into her abdomen with a loud crack and she froze, eyes wide in pain. The Sai-jin capitalized on the moment by drifting back a little and then launching up into the air jamming his knee into her jaw.
The blow snapped her head back, lifted her into the air for a moment, and then dropped her onto her back. She rolled to her right and Vegeta's energy blast impacted the ground just missing her. Standing back up she spat some of the blood in her mouth onto the ground before facing the other royal again.
The light around her right hand faded slightly and she put her hands together and did another set of motions with them. "Shika-Shidou... Yaiba!" she cried holding out her left arm. A blade of energy formed around that hand as well as the one on her right returned. In a flash of silver she shot in at Vegeta again and launched another swing.
Vegeta dodged around her right arm, deflected her left at her elbow being careful not to touch the blade, and then countered with a kick toward her stomach. She thrust her left arm down and smacked her palm into his ankle deflecting it. The Sai-jin cried out in pain and pulled back. It felt like his ankle had just been crushed but the pain was fading already, faster than that in his leg.
His eyes snapped wide as he dodged backwards just barely avoiding another slice from her energy blades. He started swerving left and right, up and down, backward and forward, dodging around her swings as quickly as he could. Meanwhile his mind worked on a way of countering this move. Attacking her was out of the question, if she blocked or took a swipe at his outstretched limb she could easily do more damage than him.
Blocking her was definitely out of the question as well. Any kind of contact with those blades did damage and hurt like hell. That didn't leave him many options. And then a thought hit him. What if he blocked WITHOUT touching her or the blades? As he swerved around another swipe he smirked and then brought his arms up in an x across his body. Golden energy flared up around them a second before her blades hit.
There was an odd snapping sound as the energies came in contact with each other, as well as a flash of light, but no pain. Vegeta grinned more as he lowered his arms and the energy along them turned into energy blades of his own. Hotaru scowled at him and took another swing. His left arm came up and blade met blade, stalemating. They pulled back and swung again, blades clashing and deflecting each other.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box
"Oh, wow, look at them go." Krillin said as the two began racing through the sky swinging and dodging. "This is... amazing. Either one of them could give Cell a real run for his money if they fought him now."
Gohan nodded. "Even his stronger form, after Sakura's self-destruct attack." he said. "They'd be out classed power wise but their form and skill is great enough it could balance it out. Fighting them both at once, Cell wouldn't have had a chance. Hotaru's really improved..."
"That happens when you spend nearly every waking moment training." Yamcha said. "I've done more of the business of running Tanaria in the last seven years than her. She's focused on her training almost exclusively, verging on obsession really. She hated how much she'd fallen behind leading up to the Cell Games and was determined to catch up and surpass everyone else again. Her pride demanded it."
Raditz laughed. "And here I'd thought Sai-jin pride was the only one that could border on the fanatical."
Nova was still in a mild state of shock at the powers she was seeing. Hearing mention again of Cell drew her attention. She'd heard that name several times now, in connection to past events that were related to their current powers. "How did... everyone get so powerful?" she asked, looking toward the others. "And just who is this Cell I keep hearing about?"
"He was a creation of a man named Dr. Gero." Mijima said, her face still pointed toward the window but her eyes turned toward the Changeling. "About ten years ago two time travelers came back from the future to warn Goku and the others about the return of the Red Ribbon Army..."
"Goku? Red Ribbon Army?"
It was Roshi that picked up from there. "Goku was the one who defeated Frieza on Namek while the Red Ribbon Army was once a military power on Earth that he took out as a boy. Dr. Gero was one of their scientists and he became obsessed with defeating Goku after that. He set about creating powerful Androids and Cyborgs..."
"Including my sister and I." Gainin interrupted.
Roshi nodded. "Yes. And then they took over the entire galaxy. Trunks and Sakura were the last of us left to fight them and they came back to warn us about them. Thanks to that warning we had three years to prepare for them."
"Only things didn't go as planned." Bulma said with a shake of her head. "Goku was still out matched, as was everyone. So we retreated to the Earth's lookout..." seeing the confusion on Nova's face she explained. "It's the place from which each planet's Guardian oversees their world."
"Ah. I know of such a place on my world." she said. "But it has been abandoned for thousands of years."
Piccolo nodded. "My... counterpart had been Guardian of Earth for a few hundred years, and then another Namek took over after he and I merged."
"Namekian Fusion." the Changeling said in understanding. "I've heard of it. I just had no idea it produced such impressive results."
"Piccolo's fused twice." Gohan explained. "And he's not your typical Namek anyway. Long story best told later and not important to the question at hand anyway."
Nova nodded. "So, you retreated to the lookout?"
"Yes." Bulma said. "And used a room there were a year passes in a single day for training. Vegeta, Trunks, Hotaru, and Sakura went in first. While they were in there Cell appeared. He, like Trunks and Sakura, was from the future. But not the same future, a completely different future where the Sai-jin Empire didn't exist since Frieza had wiped out almost all Sai-jins decades ago."
To Bulma's surprise the Changeling Queen didn't seem too surprised or confused about this so she pressed on. "He was designed to absorb Gainin and Mijima here to become stronger. Eventually he absorbed them both."
"So your power now was in response to the threat of this Cell." she said in understanding.
"Partly." Videl said. "We're all a lot stronger now than we were then."
"Mainly because there is another threat waiting out there." Piccolo said.
"Another threat? You got another warning?" asked Nova.
"Not exactly." the Namek replied. "We've known for a long time, since around the time Zarbon came to Earth, that there is a conspiracy out there. Someone has been preparing for an invasion of the entire galaxy for a long time, someone with the ability to boost the powers of their soldiers. The only name we have to go with this so far is..."
"Raven." Nova said, eyes widening a bit.
"You know of her?" Gohan asked, shocked.
The Changeling nodded. "I do. The name has come up several times on multiple worlds. It appears in records as far back as Tundra's rule more than fifteen hundred years ago. We'd find worlds where the name would appear on occasion, including one world that claimed its destruction was her doing. And on several occasions mention was made of her being from the future and that she was creating herself a new empire here in our time."
She furrowed her brow a bit in thought as she tried to remember something. "There were two terms that came up in connection with her. The world that was destroyed said it had been attacked for its resources..."
"Tanaria and Earth were as well." Yamcha said. "Between Frieza's defeat and the warning about the Androids. Only we managed to drive them off."
Nova nodded. "They said the resources were for... for..."
"A Tree of Might?" Piccolo asked, remembering Bardock's explanation of Sanil's sudden power increase during their battle.
"Yes. That was it." she said. "The other term that came up was... Shugotenshi."
"Never heard of that before." Gohan said.
"We should tell Vegeta about this after his match." said Bulma.
"Yeah." Gohan agreed. "Man, over fifteen hundred years ago? Are you sure?" he asked the Changeling. She nodded. "So then, why are they not just attacking? Why have they just been doing things from behind the scenes all this time?"
"I don't know." said Piccolo, scowling. "But I don't like it. They must be waiting for something or preparing for something specific. Being that they're from the future they undoubtedly have knowledge of things to come."
"But if they've been around and interacting with us for the last fifteen hundred years..." Videl began. "Surely things are different between our times now. Enough that things wouldn't match up."
"Don't be so sure." said Bulma. "Don't forget what Cell said. He knew of Goku and the rest of us, save for Hotaru and Sakura. And even his timeline had seen a Trunks from the future as well. Our time and his share some pretty strong similarities and his timeline wasn't affected by Raven."
"How can you be so sure of that?" asked Nova.
"Well..." Bulma began. "The differences between our time and his start much further back than he or Trunks and Sakura could have caused. And obviously, the Trunks who appeared in his time couldn't have altered the past of either time-line causing the differences either."
"Ah, I see." Nova said. "So you think it is the presence of Raven that has allowed the Sai-jin empire to remain and flourish?"
"Most likely. I can't say if it was intentional or not. Considering that her people warned other worlds of the Sai-jins, even threatened them into not siding with them, I don't think it was entirely intentional. Then again, I don't know if those warnings were for the benefit of the Sai-jin people somehow either. It's hard to call."
"It's pretty remarkable when you think about it." Krillin said. "The similarities, I mean. Think about it. They've been altering things for fifteen hundred years, at least. And yet we all still exist here and now. Their changes didn't stop us from being pretty much the same as without them..."
Piccolo suddenly got a sinking feeling, a tight knot in his gut, as a thought came to him that he didn't like the implications to. "Damn..." he whispered.
"What is it, Piccolo?" Gohan asked.
"A thought." he said, turning to face the others. "An unpleasant one. What if Raven and her mate have manipulated the course of time to their own ends but have made sure to keep us here?"
"What? But why would they do that?" Yamcha asked. "Why would they want us to be here? I mean, if they're out to take over wouldn't we be their biggest threats?"
"Or they're using us." Piccolo said, turning to face the battle pit again. "Think about it. Frieza, Cold, Cooler, and the Androids and Cell. Even Slug and Recoome."
"But... Zarbon, Slug, and Recoome, they attacked us!" Krillin cried.
Piccolo nodded. "Yes, they did. But look at the big picture. Zarbon forced us to become stronger and pushed us on to Namek where we defeated Frieza and gained even more power. Slug and Recoome gave us even greater power. Frieza's defeat on Namek lead to the downfall of his entire family."
Gohan swallowed as Piccolo's picture fell into place in his mind. "Zarbon, Frieza, Slug, Recoome... all for the purpose of making us more powerful... to fight the Androids."
"But Trunks and Sakura had to come back to warn us, to help us." Yamcha said.
"Yes." Piccolo said with a nod. "But then, Raven would have known that already, wouldn't she?"
Yamcha's eyes widened. "Oh man..."
"They want us here for something." Piccolo said. "They gave Slug and I our power for a reason, they preserved the Nameks when Frigid came for a reason. They've kept the Sai-jin Empire around for a reason. They've made sure we came into existence, made sure we kept getting stronger... Somehow, we must feature into their plans."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Unknown Location
Ravenna arched an eyebrow as she listened to the conversation in the V.I.P. box. Nova and the others had begun to compare notes on her mother a little while ago and now the Namek had pieced a good bit of it together. "He's smarter than he looks." she said.
"Even I'm impressed." Razor said from where he stood beside Raven. "I didn't expect any of them to piece together their involvement in our plans. Even to this minor extent. Still, it's not like it matters in the end."
Raven's mate nodded. "You're right, it doesn't matter. Even if they were to figure out how they fit, why they fit, there's nothing they could do about it. Especially not this close to the end."
"I've learned not to underestimate them..." Ravenna said, turning from the monitors to look back at her parents. "But I still don't think it's wise to use this plan."
"Still worried they can't beat him?" Raven asked.
Ravenna nodded and her father laughed. "I'm not surprised by your skepticism." he said. "Those on Planet Vegeta are powerful, though Gohan's slacked off too much in his training to make the gains I'd hoped he would, but they don't match the threat that's coming, do they?"
"No, they don't." Ravenna replied. She couldn't see why her father thought these people would win when even he admitted they weren't ready yet. They'd witnessed the power possessed by the coming danger first hand, when it had been sealed away nearly two thousand years ago. An event that had killed one of the two Supreme Kais of the time. None of these people were comparable to his power.
"It's not them we're banking on." Razor said, smiling. "You see, this threat, it's great enough the Kais will throw everything they have at it."
Ravenna blinked and then realization struck her. "Goku..."