Gainin pushed off with his left hand and spun around as he moved through the air. A half second later a blast of red energy impacted and exploded in the space he'd just occupied. In the sixty seconds since Elazeba had maxed out her power he'd not managed to land, or even launch, a single attack. His entire effort had been devoted to dodging. She was new to her power, her skill with it was lacking, but she was high enough above him that it was still problematic.
Though he wasn't about to complain about the situation. If it weren't for her lack of control the battle would have already ended. As it was he'd had a few close calls already. And as his feet touched the ground he back flipped quickly allowing a blast of red energy to sail by him only inches away. /That one was a little too close for comfort./ he thought, springing off his hands and back on to his feet.
He leapt into the air over a kick and surged skyward. The Demon wasn't about to give him time to relax, however, and surged up after him. She was nearly on him when she came to a halt and all attentions, hers, his, and those watching, were diverted another direction, the way Piccolo had gone. Gainin's own sensors had detected the power spike that the others had sensed. Piccolo had just powered up.
"But that's... not possible...." Elazeba said as she stared off toward the distant Nameks. None of them had noticed it earlier but now there were two giant Nameks standing where the Oozaru Cheri had once been. And then bright green light flared up and where there had been two energies a new power began to build quickly.
"Namekian fusion." Vegeta said, scowling a little. "I take it that's Slug and Sanil?"
"Yeah, that's them." Gohan said. "Maybe Videl or I should go check it out...."
Hotaru shook her head. "Piccolo's on his own for now." she said. "These five are more pressing."
"The Tanarian is right." Vegeta added. "Gainin, let's make this quick."
The Cyborg glanced back at the Sai-jin and nodded, then turned and gave a nod to his sister. "Lend me a hand?" he asked. Mijima smirked and then vanished. A loud crack sounded an instant later as she appeared in front of the Demon Gainin had been fighting and slammed her heel down into the top of her head.
As the Demon crashed into the ground below the twins they floated down and landed a few dozen feet away, back to back. Mijima raised her right arm and Gainin his left, their palms side by side. The grass beneath their feet bent as though in a breeze, their clothes and hair flapped, and red and blue energy began to gather before their out stretched arms. The energy swirled and merged forming a purple sphere.
Elazeba climbed to her feet slowly and unsteadily, disoriented by the blow to her head. As she reached her feet she turned to face her attackers and her eyes widened at the sight of the gathering attack. And then twin cries issued from the Cyborgs. "Double Barrel Blaster!" The purple ball of light they'd formed shot off at high speed across the distance between them and the Demon.
She barely had time to register it's approach before it was on her. And then it exploded blasting out a crater nearly forty yards across and more than thirty deep. And it left behind none of the Demon. "One down...." Gainin began.
"Four to go." finished Mijima.
"This isn't possible...." the fat Demon said. "How can any Shinkai Mortal have that kind of power?"
Vegeta snorted. "You pale and tremble after fighting the weakest of us, and yet you expect us to be worried about dealing with your master?" The Sai-jin smirked. "As I said, if this is the best Makai has to offer you've already lost."
"Right, my turn." Hotaru said, stepping forward. "Who's next?"
The fourth strongest of them, the one with the pale blue skin and lizard like face, snorted and stepped forward. "You want to fight us? With such a puny power level?" he laughed. "I'll take this one."
"Hold it Daemon." Angel said. "I think we should take these mortals a little more seriously."
"You can't be serious?" asked the fat one.
"Deval, why would I not be?" she asked, looking toward him. "Underestimating what we would be facing is why Elazeba is dead." Then she turned to the other of the group. "Ciferlu, you can read hidden power, what do you see?"
The dark black Demon closed his eyes, his eyelids glowing faint red from the light of his eyes, and focused on the girl that had stepped forward. Even before they gained their increased power and transformed appearances he'd possessed the ability to see an individual's potential. To see the full extent of their power no matter what means they used to conceal it.
As he focused on the woman he found his senses clouded by powerful magic and it took a moment to peel away at the layers and find what he sought. "Powerful magic flows through her." he said after a moment. "It hides her power from me and binds it from her. She has more power than I can sense but she can not access that power. Of what she can access her strength surpasses that of Daemon though Deval is her superior."
"Nonsense!" Daemon cried. "No worthless Mortal, no Shinkai scum, can have more power than I!" he cried, smacking one of his large fists against his chest. "I will kill her!"
"You will stay where you are." Angel growled. "Deval, you deal with her."
"I can take her!" Daemon roared as he suddenly lunged forward. With his charge his power climbed rapidly and Hotaru barely had time to transform before he was on her. She'd jumped straight to the third level and quickly brought her arms up and deflected the punch aimed for her head. Then her knee shot up and smashed into the Demon's chest with a thunderous crash that cracked several of his ribs.
Angel scowled at the sight before her. Ciferlu's words had been proven true, not that she'd doubted him. Daemon was an imbecile. But the girl was impressive, well beyond anything she had expected to encounter while in Shinkai. Especially not while in the Mortal Plane. Maybe in Otherworld, but not here. It made her wonder what kind of force Tenma and Demona had met with.
But she quickly pushed that aside. The new woman, now with red stripes on her body, silver streaked blue hair, and pink eyes, was far more than Daemon could deal with. "Daemon, that's enough, get back here." she ordered.
The Demon had a hand pressed against its chest and was grunting and groaning in pain, anger, and frustration. "No!" he growled. "I will not let this worthless trash shame me!"
Angel's scowl deepened and she raised an arm, pointed a finger at the Demon, and fired a stream of black energy through his head. Daemon collapsed to the ground dead before he even realized he'd been attacked. "Deval, kill her."
The large round Demon smirked. "With pleasure."
Hotaru turned her shocked gaze from the dead Demon before her to the new threat walking her way. Even without powering up this new opponent was already stronger than her current level. Strong enough she wouldn't stand a chance without a boost in power. "You can't take me at that level." she said, slipping into a fighting stance.
"Oh? Is that so?" Deval asked, smirking. He glanced back at his companions. "Hey, Ciferlu, is she maxed out?" he asked.
Ciferlu nodded. "She's at her full power." he replied. "At least, her full accessible power. Whatever is left is bound by powerful magic."
Deval turned back to Hotaru, still smirking. "Well, you heard the man." he said. "So, time to kill you!" With that his stubby legs pushed off and he charged in at Hotaru, right arm pulling back and hand clenching into a fist. One blow to the head would easily be enough to kill her.
Hotaru smirked and crouched slightly. The Demon was so convinced of his superiority he wasn't charging her at full speed. More than enough to easily over take her but not so fast she'd be unable to react. Big mistake. Just as he was almost on her she dropped down low and called out. "Nibai Kinryoku!" As the silver aura flared to life around her, her leg shot up and her foot slammed into his stomach driving the Demon skyward with a resounding crack. And then she vanished.
Angel stared wide eyed at the sudden rush of power and attack the Mortal had produced, and her disappearance. A moment later a second loud impact sounded high in the sky and she looked up to find the woman, her feet planted against Deval's chest, driving him rapidly to the ground. They impacted a moment later with a massive crash that showered debris up and out for hundreds of feet and made the ground quake.
"Ciferlu, I thought you said she was maxed out?" Angel hissed.
"She... she was." the Demon replied. "She had no more power in reserve. And the magically bound power is still bound. I don't understand... the only way she could have more power than I can detect is to have forced it...."
"Exactly." came Hotaru's voice as she walked up out of the dust cloud caused by the recent impact, silver aura still flashing around her. "I can double my power with this move. You're just lucky I can't use higher levels of the Kinryoku in this form or I could boost my power five fold."
"Don't think this is over yet!" a voice called from behind Hotaru. The Tanarian turned quickly and was nailed by a fist to her face as Deval surged out of the last of the dust cloud. The blow sent her sailing off and Deval charged after her.
"He's powered-up." Vegeta said, frowning.
"Yeah, he's almost as powerful as Hotaru." said Videl. "He must have managed it right before the impact, he doesn't seem to be that injured."
Vegeta scowled in agreement as he watched Hotaru recover, block a punch, and then counter with a hard kick that was dodged. "This fight could take a wile." he said. Hearing a faint laugh behind him he turned a little to where the injured Sakura was propped against a rock. It was her that was laughing.
"The only reason... your fight with her... took so long...." she managed to say. "Was because she wanted... a good fight... and she couldn't... risk killing you."
Vegeta arched an eyebrow and then turned back to the fight just in time to see the Tanarian finish an array of hand motions and cup her hands in front of her face making a tunnel to look through. And then her voice rang out. "Shika-Shidou Konmei!"
The charging Demon came to a stop with an ear splitting scream as he pressed his hands over his eyes. The Sai-jin King winced, more at the memory of the technique than the Demon's cries, as he watched Hotaru surge in toward her opponent. She reached him an instant later and unleashed flurry of blows against his head, chest, and stomach. The Demon was so distracted by the Konmei that he was unable to react or block.
Hotaru flipped over him and kicked him the back of the head on her way down driving him down into the ground. As she turned to face him, his grunts and screams of pain fading away, she performed another series of hand motions. "Shika-Shidou Yaiba!" she cried as the fat Demon stood. The energy blades flared to life around both of her hands and in a burst of silver she surged in once more.
Deval turned quickly and slipped around her first swipe and then tried to block the second. He let out a shout of surprise as intense pain lanced through his arm. He jerked back quickly and Hotaru lunged swinging her left arm in a downward slash that cut through his shoulder. No physical damage was done but Deval cried out in pain and moved back again, trying his best to fight the pain and still focus on the battle.
Angel scowled as she watched the Mortal quickly assume control of the match. She was only slightly stronger than Deval, though his power was already beginning to drop, but she had a clear advantage in experience. Especially with fighting at such high levels. She was also attacking with a ferocity the Demon rarely saw, even in Makai. Her attacks were constant, unrelenting, Deval didn't have the time to consider an attack, let alone make one.
"Deval!" she cried as the Demon just avoided being stabbed in the head with one of the woman's odd energy blades. "End this! Now!"
Deval stood panting as he looked toward Angel for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Hotaru once more. The woman stood in a fighting stance, blades at the ready, taking deep and steady breaths. She'd worn herself a little, he could see that, but she was controlling her breathing, letting her body gradually recover.
Meanwhile he was already on the verge of exhaustion. He'd expended a lot more power dodging her than he should have. More than he'd needed to. But his lack of experience with using so much power had made it unavoidable. Still, this short break was what he needed. He let out a long slow breath as he gathered his thoughts and decided on a course of action.
Even with the power he'd lost there was still a way he could win this battle. Grinning he smacked his hands together in front of him. Red and black light flared up around them and then he started to pull them apart. The energy arced between his palms like electricity and crackled and popped like a fire.
Hotaru tightened her stance a little as she watched and let her energy blades fade away. She wasn't sure what the Demon had planned but had already decided her best course of action was to dodge it completely and then end this before he got a second chance to use whatever he was trying to use.
Suddenly Deval thrust his arms forward. "Purifying Explosion!" he cried. The red and black energies leapt from his hands and surged forward in an instant. And then a massive explosion shook the planet as the attack reached its destination. Dirt and debris were launched well into the air.
Deval smirked as he lowered his arms. "One Shinkai scum dow-guh!" His eyes snapped wide as pain lanced through his body. And then he toppled forward and collapsed, eyes open but unseeing, and a large hole through his chest. Hotaru lowered her arm, thin wisps of smoke still wafting up from her hand, and then let her Kinryoku fade away as she reverted back to normal.
Angel scowled and growled. One second the woman was on the receiving end of Deval's attack. The next she was standing behind him, arm against his back, and shooting a beam of energy through his chest. Things were not going as planned and it was starting to annoy her. "Ciferlu, kill her!"
The pitch black Demon unfurled his wings and lunged in at the Tanarian but there was a sudden flash of gold and then a resounding crack as Gohan transformed and came between the two, kicking the Demon back the way he'd come.
"Thanks." Hotaru said, letting out a sigh.
"No problem." Gohan replied as he glanced back toward her.
"Impossible...." Ciferlu said softly, his eyes closed. "I can't read his full power."
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
Ciferlu opened his eyes. "The boy, I can't determine what power he may be hiding. I can feel there is power there but I can't measure its extent. It's like it's too deep, too shrouded. I have never felt anything like it before. I do know this, however, from what I can feel his full power is nearly your equal."
Angel turned her gaze from Ciferlu to the boy and scowled. "Then stand aside, I will deal with this one." she said, walking forward.
"Why don't you just leave?" Gohan asked, slipping into a fighting stance as he flashed and transformed again, now to the second level. From what the one Demon had said it'd be needed in order to fight against her. "I don't want to fight you if I don't have to."
Angel smirked. "I have a mission to accomplish. And the fact you'd rather not fight me tells me you know you can't win."
Off to the side Vegeta snorted. "No, the brat's just a pacifist." he said. "And even if he can't beat you, I can."
"Well then, why don't we just skip him and go straight to you?" Angel asked, her smirk growing. "I have a schedule to keep and the longer this goes on the further I fall behind. And your other friends can't last forever on their own."
"That is up to the boy." the Sai-jin replied.
Gohan stood in silence for a moment, not moving, as he considered the situation. He really didn't want to have to fight, especially since it looked like the only way to stop these last two would be to kill them. But then there were his father and grandfather's last request of him, seven years ago, delivered by the Trunks and Sakura of the future. That he was now in charge of protecting the Earth, their friends, and their family.
While it was true Vegeta was stronger than him he couldn't help but feel, somehow, that this fight was his responsibility. He may not have been on Earth. And he may not have been the strongest of them anymore. But he was the one left in charge of protecting everyone by his father and grandfather. "No. I'll fight." he said at last.
"Very well then, I'll kill you first." Angel said, turning to face him. And then in a burst of black she surged in at him, her power surging up to just above his as she charged.
Planet Vegeta's Lookout
Tatamo's eyes raked over all the fighting occurring down on the planet. It was impossible to truly tell which side was winning. Depending on where you looked a different side would have the upper hand. And if you looked away from somewhere for a moment... by the time you looked back the other side would be in control.
He turned his focus back to where the most important of the battles was occurring as he felt Gohan's power flare up. The boy had just ascended to the second level. /So, it's down to the end now./ he thought. /With luck I will not have need to intervene./