A black and red aura had flared up around Maku while a purple and dark blue one pulsed around Demona. The two Demons had been locked in close combat, exchanging attacks, blocks, and counters, for about five minutes now. Maku had quickly taken the upper hand in the exchange. He had more than just a minor power advantage on his side, his skill was considerably higher as well.
It seemed as though her red eyes glowed brighter and brighter the longer the battle raged and the angrier she got. Suddenly a hard right hook connected with Maku's jaw driving the Demon back. Demona smirked and charged in pulling back an arm and then driving her fist down into his gut. A quick spin and she pounded her leg into the side of his head knocking him toward the ground. "I am going to enjoy ripping you apart Maku!" she cried gleefully as she charged toward her target.
Bardock crossed his arms and scowled, tapping his foot against the ground. "I think we've been forgotten." he said with a frown.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Goku agreed, scratching a hand through the golden hair on the back of his head. "These two are completely wrapped up in each other. They must have some kind of history."
"History or not it's annoying." His frown turned into a smirk and he glanced toward Goku. "What do you say we remind them we're still here?" he asked.
Goku smiled. "Sounds better than standing here."
"Alright!" Bardock cheered, uncrossing his arms. "I don't think we can take this guy one on one, in our current state, so let's take out the other one so we can take him together. Let's show them why you shouldn't ignore a Sai-jin!"
Appla listened to her mate and son as she watched the on going fight between the two Demons. Demona had caught up with Maku again but the other had blocked and then countered with a kick to the chest that drove her back into the air again. He'd charged up and the two had resumed their close range flurry of attacks from before. When the Sai-jin heard Bardock's declaration she decided standing just ten yards away from them was too close and moved back another thirty. Her distancing herself from the Sai-jin pair didn't go unnoticed by the other dead warriors and soon they were pulling back as well.
Mikomi turned her gaze from the battling Demons as she heard yells sounding near-by. Looking she found Goku and Bardock hunched over and screaming, their bright gold auras swirling madly about them and growing brighter and brighter as the two channeled their energy. Dust began to swirl up around them as their auras began to mix together and then the planet began to quake. And then their auras began to flash and then transformed into a swirling dome of light covering both of them.
The screams from within the dome faded away and then their voices called out together. "Rising Sun!" There was a thunderous crack, brilliant flash, and then an eruption of energy tore free of the dome and surged toward the still fighting Demons. The backwash of power from the attack blew over many of the gathered warriors and Demons and sent some of them flying away for hundreds of yards.
The attack was nearly on them before either Demona or Maku noticed it coming. They both turned, their eyes widening in shock. But Demona's shock turned into fear as she realized the power of the attack and that she couldn't avoid it. Maku's melted into a smirk as he vanished. An instant later the attack slammed into Demona and then surged on as though she wasn't even there.
The Demon left out a scream as she tried to defend against the attack while it tore over her. When the attack faded and the two Sai-jins lowered their arms her screams had already stopped. And then her smoking body fell from the sky and landed with a dull thud beside her sister. Both of them were still alive but neither would be moving for a while. Her dealt with they turned their focus toward Maku who had appeared in the air behind them after his dodge.
"I must admit, to have generated such an attack in the little time she and I were fighting was an impressive feat." he said. "But after a display like that you'll be spent and no match for me."
Goku and Bardock glanced at each other and then looked back up at the Demon. It was Bardock that spoke. "You can't sense ki, can you?" he asked, grinning.
Maku shrugged. "I never bothered to learn." he replied. "Though as easily as you found me just now I see that you can sense ki. So you should know just how out matched you are."
"I don't know about that." Bardock said, working a small cramp out of his shoulder. "Even if we hadn't been fighting you'd still be a little stronger than us. But we've had time to recover thanks to you and her fighting each other and that attack didn't use up too much of our power. We did combine our strengths for it, after all."
The Demon smirked. "Which is the only reason you were able to produce something able to hurt Demona." he said. "But I wont buy your bluffing that you could ever match me. You are Shinkai and Mortal, comparing to my power is impossible." And in a burst of purple he charged down at them.
The two Sai-jins grinned and reacted quickly, both of them suddenly vanishing. Maku's eyes widened in shock but before he could react Bardock's leg appeared before him and slammed into his face. The blow knocked him backward toward Goku who then kicked him in the back sending him up into the air. Bardock had teleported once more and appeared above the Demon before smashing a fist into his face.
The impact knocked him down toward the planet but Goku teleported to intercept and attacked again slamming a leg into the side of his head knocking him in another direction. This time when Bardock appeared to launch the next attack Maku vanished. Bardock vanished a second later and the attempted kick to the back of his head caught nothing but air.
"Oooh, too slow!" Bardock called before slamming his knee into the Demon's stomach. Maku growled and went to attack but suddenly Goku's elbow smashed into the back of his neck and drove him down into the ground.
"Remarkable." Mikomi said softly. "Though decently outmatched in power the two of them are completely controlling the fight. These two are truly exceptional warriors."
There was a sudden shout followed by an explosion of red and black as Maku launched up into the air with incredible speed. The two Sai-jins quickly moved to either side but then Maku vanished. There was a resounding crack as Goku blocked a kick with a raised arm, the impact making him wince. He countered with a hard left hook but the Demon dodged it and then moved behind the Sai-jin and jammed a knee into his back driving him forward.
Maku prepared to follow but then Bardock surged down in front of him and lashed out with a kick for his head. The Demon blocked it with one arm and then slammed an open fist into his chest sending him chasing after Goku. The younger Sai-jin had just pulled himself to a stop when his father slammed into him. Before the two could start to pull themselves apart Maku appeared above them and drove an elbow into the tops of each of their heads.
They were only feet from hitting the ground when Bardock suddenly shot off to the right in a burst of gold and Goku vanished. The Demon went to turn, expecting his opponent to appear behind him, but Goku appeared before him and jammed his knee into his stomach doubling him over. He followed that up with an elbow to the side of the head and then a kick to the back that drove him down toward the ground.
Bardock arced around and then surged up at the falling Demon and slammed a flying uppercut into his jaw driving him up into Goku's downward moving foot which impacted with his face with a loud crack. The blow slammed Maku down into the ground and the two Sai-jins pulled to a stop above him, panting lightly. The Demon was stronger and faster than them so they'd had to go full out to keep up and the exertion was starting to get to them.
"This is..." Maku said softly, barely audible to the Sai-jins above. "This is... not possible. How can two Mortals be this... this powerful?" he wondered, eyes wide as he stared up at them. "How many thousands of years have you been training here?" he asked, climbing to his feet.
"Thousands?" Bardock scoffed. "We've only been dead for seven years."
"Seven... years? That's not possible! No mortal could have this kind of power in just seven years!"
"It's not like we didn't train before we died." Goku said, stretching.
"You could live to be a thousand..." Maku called up. "And still not be a tenth of my power."
Bardock shook his head. "For invaders you haven't done much homework, you know that?" he asked. "Goku and I are only about two and a half times stronger than we were seven years ago. Hell, we weren't even the strongest alive back then. Though if you'd shown up about three or more years ago you could have taken us. But now? You don't have a chance."
Maku stared up at the two of them taking in what they'd said. /How is that... how is it possible?/ he thought. /Mortals just don't have that kind of power. The strongest Mortals in Makai have all been dead for thousands of years and the strongest of them isn't even a third of Malchio's power.... Yet these two, if they speak the truth, would have been stronger upon their deaths than Makai's strongest Mortal..../
"The son of the one in the orange..." Zenryou began from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back. "He is the one that they meant." Maku's gaze turned from the two Sai-jins to the Kai. He recognized who and what he was upon sight, the clothes giving it away. Zenryou continued. "His son, Gohan, who was only eleven at the time, surpassed my power."
"E-eleven!? But... how?"
Bardock smirked. "Like I told your 'friends' before. We are Sai-jins. Super Sai-jins. The greatest power in the universe."
"That would be the famous Sai-jin pride speaking." Zenryou replied. "Still, not all that far from the truth. The Sai-jins are one of the most powerful races in Shinkai. The Tanarians and Humans as well, though their numbers of high level warriors are much smaller and none currently compare to the Sai-jins. Living or otherwise."
There was a sudden loud cry from the Demon and then a bright flash of red and black energy as he erupted from where he stood. The Demon surged at the two Sai-jins faster than he'd moved yet during their battle. Their eyes widened in shock and they moved to avoid him but he was on them too quickly. Stretching his arms out he clothes-lined both of them in the neck and then spun around as he passed them and slammed his feet into the backs of their heads.
Not stopping even for a second he charged down after Bardock and passed him by before thrusting a knee up into the Sai-jin's stomach. He then front flipped in place and smashed the foot of his other leg into Bardock's chest driving him back up into the air. Turning around quickly he fired a blast of red energy down at Goku who'd just impacted the ground below. Then he turned back to Bardock and vanished.
He appeared a moment later above the Sai-jin and quickly grabbed hold of him, wrapping his arms around the man's chest and pinning the Sai-jin's arms down. In a burst of energy he changed directions and began charging the ground below at increasing speeds. As they neared the energy blast sent chasing after Goku impacted and exploded and the two plunged into the dust cloud the blast created.
A loud crack sounded from within the dust and a massive shockwave blew it apart. But there was no sign of the battling warriors. Another crack sounded high in the sky, a bright flash of white accompanying it, but still no trace of the fighters. Suddenly Bardock appeared overhead surging down toward them but after only a few feet he vanished again.
"Incredible...." Mikomi said, her eyes darting around the sky as she followed the battle.
"What's happening?" Kibito asked as a loud explosion sounded and the three fighters appeared flying away from each other only to vanish again.
"They're teleporting constantly." the Supreme Kai said. "They're fighting each other mid teleport, coming out of the teleport, and then teleporting again usually before we can even see them. They're fighting for the upper hand, for control of this battle."
Another crack sounded and a streak surged down and slammed into the ground throwing up dust and debris once more. In the sky Bardock and Maku appeared across from each other, both panting heavily. And then there was a burst of gold from below and Goku surged back up into the battle. Maku vanished first, and then both Sai-jins followed.
Loud bangs and cracks sounded across the landscape as flashes of white, gold, blue, and red lit up the sky. Suddenly Goku appeared floating a few feet above the Grand Kai, hands cupped at his side. "Kaaaaaaa... meeeeeee..." he called, blue energy flaring to life between his hands. "Haaaaaa... meeeeeee..." And then he thrust his hands forward and vanished as he called out and fired the attack. "Haaaaaaa!"
A thunderous crack sounded as a bright flash of blue flared up in the sky. The shockwave washed out across the planet blowing over the Demons and the dead and shaking the world. Kibito put an arm up in front of his face to shield his eyes from the glare and the dust as he dug his feet in to stop from being blown back.
Everyone turned as a thunderous crash sounded behind them and found a plume of dust surging into the air and shattered rocks raining down. And then Goku and Bardock appeared before the settling cloud, both panting and tired. Goku's gi was in tatters, the top completely shredded. Bardock's armor was cracked, the left side of the chest plate missing completely.
"Remind me... not to do that... ever again." Goku panted.
"Never. Do that. Again." Bardock panted back. He straightened up a little and frowned. "Oh, crap."
Goku nodded. He could feel it too. Maku was still alive and still stronger than both of them. Trying to keep up with him was burning them down too fast. Though Bardock was closer to the Demon in power now than he'd been Goku was even further off. "You know, despite everything, I've not had this much fun in a while." the Sai-jin said as he watched the dust cloud settle.
Bardock smirked and laughed a little. "Same here. But damn, what does it take to kill this guy? He seems to be as durable as us."
"What do you think?" Goku asked, straightening up a little himself now, the dust cloud almost completely gone. "Should we?"
Bardock crossed his arms and frowned in thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nah." he said at last. "I think we can still take him." The Sai-jin tilted his head a moment and then called out. "That is, if he ever gets back up to fight!" Maku had yet to move from where he'd impacted. They could tell he was still conscious, he just wasn't moving.
Goku even crossed his arms after a few moments while Bardock began to tap his feet, both starting to get impatient. Finally Maku sat up, his white hair streaked with dirt and dust. His red eyes were narrowed and he looked rather pissed. The two Sai-jins glanced at each other sharing the same 'here we go again' look, and then turned back to the Demon. Maku was now on his feet and hand his hands up before him as though praying.
"Hey, what's he doing?" Goku asked as the Demon's robes shifted about him as though in a breeze.
Bardock glanced over to Goku. "And just how would I know?" he asked.
Maku heard them but ignored them. He kept his mind focused on what he was doing, his eyes closed tight as he concentrated. Quietus had told them that, should the need arise, they could draw more power into themselves if they tried. He'd warned that so doing would change them, more so than what they already had been changed, and that the results would be unpredictable in nature. Slightly stronger, but unpredictable.
All had agreed to only attempt it if required. Many had decided they wouldn't risk it at all. The fear of no longer being themselves greater than their fear of death. For him it wasn't fear of death that drove him to try it now. It was his bruised ego. For the last thirty thousand years he had been one of the strongest Demons. No match, of course, for any of the Mazoku. But stronger than even each of the sixteen Demon Judges. Only a handful had been greater than him.
When their powers had been granted the scales of power had shifted slightly, gaps increasing or decreasing, some remarkably so. But his status had remained the same, he was still one of the strongest. Even fewer were greater than him now. Nearly unbeatable by any other Demon. He was now even greater than the four Lower Mazoku and the Grand Mazoku. He had been granted power enough to crush everyone but the greatest of Makai.
And yet, here in Shinkai, the inferior and weaker Realm... here he was being challenged, beaten. Not by the Kais, for he could accept that, but by Mortals. Dead though they were they, by their own admission, had not been dead long. He had fought long and hard to obtain the power he had, to get to where he was now, and these two upstart weakling Shinkai scum were beating him. They were beating him and he would not have it!
There was a sudden roar as the wind picked up, raging across the planet and toward Maku. Black wisps of smoke drifted away from the gathered Demons in the wind and flowed to where Maku stood. In moments he was engulfed in a twister of darkness, his voice screaming out from inside at a volume that could be heard even over the roar of the wind.
"I think things are about to get difficult." Bardock said as he fought hard not to get sucked into the twister himself.