Mikomi held a hand out and blocked Kibito as he moved to join the battle. When he glanced down at her she smiled and shook her head. "No, let them handle those two for now." she said. "Keep your attention on the others."
Kibito nodded and glanced around. The other Demons had decided to pull back from the battle. The Demon front lines were now beyond the tear which meant they were able to cross through it to the Mortal Plane as they chose to. But he quickly saw that they were no longer flooding through the opening in massive numbers. Instead there was a small group of Demons ushering a handful of individuals through the tear on sporadic occasions.
"What of them?" he asked, nodding toward the tear.
"We must trust those on the other side for now." she replied after moment. "I believe they can hold their own." Mikomi took a deep breath and then let it out in a long sigh. "One thing you must still grow to learn and follow is that Mortals are to be left to their own ends. This invasion may be of super natural design but so long as Mortals step up to face it then they must be allowed to try."
Kibito nodded. Letting Mortals deal with things themselves was one area he'd always had trouble with, even now after four hundred years. Of course, it was a hard transition to make. Going from always being on the front lines protecting to being stuck doing nothing more than watching. And until now watching was the only option he'd had.
He'd been stuck watching when, a hundred years after his death, his world in the South Galaxy had been conquered by a newly forming galactic empire. Stuck watching as his people resisted and fought back with everything they had to restore their basicly peaceful way of life. And stuck watching as the last of his people challanged the general of that empire and died in battle, bringing an end to his race.
It had been a gut wrenching but humbling experience. A hard learned lesson of the nature of the universe. It was not his place to decide who needed saving or who needed to be killed. Mortals were in charge of their own lives. Their fates were in their own hands. But he had gone to welcome each and every one of them as they crossed to Otherworld. And that had been the hardest part of all.
Some had understood why he could do nothing. Some had even disagreed with his desire to help, believing already that Mortal affairs were the business of Mortals, not of the Kais. But those that had not understood, those that had yelled at him for not helping or pleaded with him to save someone they had left behind had been the worst.
But it had also made him understand something that Mikomi had told him when he had first met her. It was a sentiment that could be found on every world in various forms. 'Protect someone for a day and they live to see tomorrow. Teach them to protect themselves and they live to see their grand children.' No matter what the threat, what the challenge, so long as the Mortals strove to stand against it they could not interfere unless they deemed it a threat to the entire Realm. It was their right to stand and defend themselves if they chose.
Kibito turned his attention back to the battle as Goku slipped around a punch from Demona and then slammed a knee into her stomach followed by an elbow into the back of her neck. She quickly countered by slamming an elbow into the Sai-jin's stomach and knocking him away but he recovered quickly and deflected her kick before slamming an energy incased fist into her face and knocking her back.
He then vanished and reappeared behind her slamming a kick into her back before teleporting in front and above her and smashing a fist down into her head knocking her into the ground. He sent a ball of gold energy down after her that exploded on impact. A second later the dust from the explosion blasted apart as Demona surged back up to attack again.
"He's quite good." Kibito said as he watched. "She is stronger than him but he has the upper hand in the battle."
"The other as well, though he has a significant power advantage." Mikomi said. While Kibito had turned to watch Goku's fight she had been watching Bardock's. The elder Sai-jin had avoided every atatck Tenma had attempted and countered half of them with powerful body blows. The two Sai-jins were more than just strong, they were exceptionally skilled as well.
"Gah, hold still damn you!" Tenma yelled as the Sai-jin swerved around a volley of energy blasts.
Bardock smirked and, instead of dodging the last blast, deflected it back at her. Her eyes widened and she tried to slip around it but it slammed into her shoulder and then the Sai-jin's knee pounded into the side of her head. "You may be strong." he said as she recovered. "But you don't have much skill."
"Enough, time to end this!" Tenma snarled as the nails on her right hand began to glow purple. And then she whipped her arm out and four arcs of light surged out toward Bardock like whips. The Sai-jin dodged to the right but the energy followed him and second later his arms were bound to his body. Then she held out her left arm as black and red energy began to gather before her palm.
Bardock tried to move or break the energy bands holding him but he could barely even expand his lungs enough to breathe. He was just about to admit he was out of options when the energy Tenma had gathered shot at him. Seconds before it hit the Sai-jin vanished, the energy closing around nothing and the blast missing completely. There was a loud crack a second later as his foot slammed into the back of her head.
Tenma whirled around and growled. "Demona!" she called, looking back toward the other. She was still trying to attack Goku but the Sai-jin was dodging or block everything. "I think we need to regroup."
Demona narrowed her eyes, not liking admitting that they were having trouble with a pair of Mortals, but knowing the other was right. Finally she nodded and pulled away from her opponent. The pair of Sai-jins shot in to prevent them from getting near each other again but the two suddenly shimmered and vanished before appearing again a few dozen yards away.
"You're good for Shinkai scum." Demona said. "And exceptional for Mortals. But this is the end of the line. Even if you got lucky and defeated us there are others stronger than us out there. And of course, Quietus himself."
Bardock shrugged. "Sounds like fun to me." he said, still grinning.
Demona growled but Tenma laughed. "You may think that now, Mortal, but you'd feel differently when he's crushing you under foot. Quietus' power is unmatched in either Realm! But it wont matter, you will be eliminated here." She then turned to the other. "Let's end this sister."
"Yes, let's." Demona replied. The two each pointed an arm down at the Sai-jins, one the right and the other the left, so that their palms were side by side. And then black and purple energy began to gather before them. Goku and Bardock's eyes quickly widened as they felt how fast the energy was gathering. And then, together, they called out "Dark Oblivion!"
The two Sai-jins reacted quickly, cupping thier hands at their sides and then thrusting their arms up. "Kamehameha!" they cried in unison, the blue wave of energy surging out and impacting the large Ki blast only a few dozen feet away from them. The back wash of power from the attacks caused a lot of those in the area to fall over as the two Sai-jins focused on increasing the wave's power to stop the oncoming attack.
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Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena
Goten's eyes widened and he ducked quickly under a tail swipe from Frieza. He went to counter but the Changeling's foot slammed into him and knocked him back. As he pulled to a stop he let out a yelp of surprise and just barely avoided an elbow to the face. "Oh man, this is a lot harder on my own!" he cried just dodging around a punch.
Frieza chuckled. "Realized yet that you can't win?" he asked.
"I can still win." Goten said, smiling. "I just have to take it up a notch. Nibai Kinryoku!" In a flash his aura and hair shifted to silver and his smile grew. "Ok, my turn now!" he cried shooting in.
Frieza stared in shock for a second, not sure what had just happened, but then smirked as the kid neared, confident he could handle any Sai-jin child. When Goten was within range he launched a kick at his head but the small warrior dodged around it effortlessly and then slammed a fist into his stomach that doubled him over. He followed that up with an elbow uppercut to the jaw and then a spinning kick to the chest that knocked the Changeling back.
"That... that hurt!" Frieza cried as he flipped around and landed again. "How dare you! You... you're just a monkey! An infant! I'll show you!" His aura flared up around him as his power climbed and his musscles increased again. A moment later he let out a grunt as his arua subsided back to normal and he smirked. "Now you shall taste my full power, power greater than it ever was before!"
Goten crossed his arms and frowned. "That's all you've got?" he asked. "I wont even have to try."
"What!? Why you! Take this!" Frieza shouted thrusting an arm forward and firing a blast of purple energy at the young Super Sai-jin. Goten just jumped up and kicked it back at the last second. The Changeling barely managed to doge as it surged toward and passed him. "That's... impossible.... No... no monkey child can have that kind of power...."
Goten just grinned and scratched the back of his head. "So, give up?" he asked.
Frieza growled and clenched his right hand into a fist before raising his arm over his head and then raising one finger. Energy quickly began to gather. "I will destroy you!" he roared. "I will obliterate everything if I have to!"
Goten's grin turned into a scowl and then he vanished. Frieza's eyes widened but before he could look for where the child had gone a foot slammed into the back of his neck and he fell forward, unconcious. With that dealt with he turned the way Trunks had gone and took off.
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Cheri felt the twinge of a nearing power and reacted out of instinct. Her large right arm came up and backhanded Ginyu away. Her focus now back on her opponent she turned to face him and growled. The horned alien quickly recovered and then began to power up. She quickly launched a massive fist at him worried that his full power might be greater than her current level but he managed to dodge around it and quickly finished his power up.
Her worry faded when she felt the power up stop at a level far enough under her's she wouldn't have much trouble. But she kept her eyes locked on him and made sure there was plenty of distance between him and her tail. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Akemi concentrating again, trying once again to transform.
/What do I do?/ Ginyu wondered as he concentrated on the Oozaru before him. She was shifting every time he moved to a side keeping her large body between him and her tail. /If I can't remove her tail... I can't switch bodies with her, she's only stronger than me when transformed. Hmmm, maybe the other girl..../ The thought made him grin. That was the answer! But first he'd have to distract the monkey.
Quickly he shot off to the side and fired a volley of energy blasts toward the general direction of the Oozaru's tail. As expected she moved to prevent them from reaching their target but Ginyu was already moving in the other direction and shooting off more blasts. Again she turned to block them and this time Ginyu shot up quickly forming an energy disc over his right hand and then launching it.
Cheri saw it coming and her eyes narrowed. It's arcing path would bring it out around her. If she turned to counter it she'd have her back to Ginyu. If she didn't she could lose her tail. She quickly focused her mind and her aura flared up around her as she lifted off the ground. Flying as an Oozaru wasn't impossible but it was a lot harder, the mind wasn't as good at manipulating Ki in the Oozaru form.
But she manged to get up enough that the disc sped by her harmlessly. That done she turned her focus back to Ginyu who she'd sensed hadn't moved to attack her again. And then she saw why. He was facing Akemi only a few dozen yards from her, his arms and legs out, and glowing. "Change now!" he cried.
"What!?" Cheri's deepend voice bellowed. "Akemi, look out!" she yelled.
The young royal's eyes opened and she saw the stream of light surging toward her. Shock and fear held her in place and a second later the move hit. But then there was a loud crack and bright flash of white and Ginyu left out a scream as he grabbed his head in pain before falling to the ground unconcious. /What... happened?/ Cheri wondered.
Akemi opened her eyes, she'd closed them to shield them from the flash of light, and then looked down at her hands. She laughed and looked toward Cheri. "I guess that don't work on me." she said, grinning.
Cheri just shrugged it off, maybe it really didn't work on Tanarians or something, and then reached out a leg and squashed Ginyu under one of her large feet. "There. Now let's...." Her eyes snapped wide in pain and then her power began to drop as she shrank in size.
"Cheri!" Akemi cried, shooting down toward her friend, and their new enemy.
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Trunks pulled up to the edge of the crater only a minute or so after the light had faded. He could see a rather large man standing in the center of the crater holding someone up by the head and it only took a second for him to realize it was Sakura.
"You're tougher than I thought." Recoome said, grinning, as he looked the girl in the eyes. Blood was running down the side of her face and her arms hung limply at her sides. "I thought for sure you'd die. But look at you, you survived. Though you can't even move now. How about I stop the pain and just crush your head in?" he asked laughing.
"I don't think so idiot!" Trunks called as he charged in. Recoome had time to look up and see the golden streak surging at him but little else before the small Sai-jin had charged into his chest sending him sailing off into the distance and out of sight. He turned around quickly as soon as he hit the large man and caught his friend as she fell, the impact having freed her from his grasp. "Oh man...." he said, looking down at her as he laid her on the ground.
She grimaced a little and smiled. "Thanks, Trunks." she said faintly. "I was... barely able to... block that."
"You call this blocking?" Trunks asked, the worry evident on his voice.
"I'm alive... aren't I?" she asked, laughing slightly.
"Yeah. I guess so." he replied, sitting down beside her. "Just hold on, I can feel the others. They're close."
"It's not... like they'll... be able to... do much." she said. "But that's ok... I'm good... just... hurt... a lot."
Turnks was feeling better as Sakura talked. Her voice was weak but her Ki, though low, was stable. And she was smiling for some stupid reason. "Well, you still look like crap."
"Gee, thanks." Sakura mumbled as she shifted a bit to try and get more comfortable. Though comfortable seemed like a foreign concept to her at the moment. She figured her arms had to be broken in at least ten places each, but they had taken the brunt of Recoome's attack after her quickly errected Ki shield had failed. She was just happy they were the only places broken, the rest was just battered and bruised.
She turned her head to the side quickly as she heard an odd sound. "What was that?" she asked.
Trunks was looking as well and he didn't like what he saw. "The light's opening again, more are coming out!"
Sakura arched her back so that her head was up over the lip of the crater and she could see the light again. Sure enough it was now open and a stream of people were surging out and going off in different directions. Her best guess put the new arrivals numbering around eighty. Not as many as she'd originally worried. She was about to lower herself back down after the light had shrunk but it suddenly expanded again and five more came through.
"Spread out!" one of the five, a woman, ordered. "Remember our orders, find the strongest first!"