The two warriors had resumed the battle several minutes ago in a flurry of movement, brilliant flashes, and thundering cracks. Gogeta wasn't sure how his opponent had avoided taking any damage from his attack but didn't have time to dwell on it, to figure it out, at the moment. He knew he was working on a deadline and didn't have much time to end things.
He estimated about that they'd been fighting for about thirteen minutes so far. In that time it was amazing how little progress he'd yet made in actually stopping his opponent. Quietus felt the blows, reacted to them, clearly was hurt by them. And yet, his energy didn't seem to be going down much at all.
The two were so evenly matched that landing any solid blows that could do real, lasting, and significant damage was all but impossible. It was why he'd used the Big Bang Kamehameha, hoping to deal a lot of damage all at once and speed up his victory. He was on a time limit, after all. Fighting at the second level like this only gave him thirty minutes, almost half of which he'd already burned through.
/If I can't take him down in the next.../ He dodged around a kick and ducked under a punch. /Seventeen minutes we're going to be in a lot of trouble./ he thought, slipping under a punch and then coming up and slamming his elbow to the exposed flesh of the Demon's stomach. That was another thing he was finding annoying in this battle. The hard bone plate that covered Quietus's chest seemed to be quite effective and absorbing impacts. It made it even harder to deal damage.
The elbow to the stomach, however, had done damage. It knocked the wind out of the Demon and doubled him over, and Gogeta wasn't about to waste an opening. He darted out from under him, slipped around and above him, and then slammed a foot into his back driving him down toward the ground. Even as the Demon plummeted to the surface Gogeta raised his arms above his head, quickly gathered balls of golden energy, and then began raining them down on top of his opponent.
The first attack hit less then a second after the Demon did. It exploded in a blinding flash and deafening roar, spewing dirt and rock nearly a mile into the air, beyond where even the fused Sai-jin floated. The second hit less than a tenth of a second after the first. Followed by a massive stream of more, one after the other. Each spewed debris into the air, each shook the ground for miles around.
Nefaria had been attempting to get back on her feet when the attack had begun, and by the third explosion she'd fallen back over. Dabura had turned aside and brought an arm up to shield his face from the flying rocks and debris blasted loose by the explosions. The pair watched on as the assault continued for several seconds before fading as Gogeta brought his arms above his head again and this time formed a single, basketball sized, ball of golden energy which he then hurled down as well.
The final blast hit, swelled, and exploded throwing the debris even higher, raining dirt down on everything within three miles. The dust cloud hid everything from sight, Gogeta couldn't see the ground below him, or his opponent, but he could feel him and he frowned. After a barrage like that he should have taken damage, lost some energy, but he hadn't. He was still just as strong as a few seconds ago. He tensed and released a burst of energy to clear the air, and saw Quietus laying on his back with his legs pulled in and his wings wrapped around him.
/That same position again./ Gogeta thought, frowning. /He pulled his legs way up, more so than normal. Like he wanted to tuck them.../ Gogeta blinked a couple of times, then scowled. /Tuck them under his wings. That has to be it. Somehow he can use his wings to block without taking damage./ There was a burst of red and black then as the Demon suddenly surged up at him to resume the battle and the two fell into a flurry of movement once more.
"That's twice, now, that he almost had him." Dabura muttered. "I really hate those wings."
Nefaria smiled faintly as she worked at getting to her feet again. This time, she managed to stand without ground shaking explosions knocking her over. She was starting to agree with Dabura. If it wasn't for the special properties of Quietus's wings this fight would be going much more in the Mortal's favor. The last two energy attacks he'd unleashed had been powerful and would have done real damage if they'd connected properly.
She still couldn't see the battle, though she was watching the streaks and blurs and flashes as best she could. She wished she could actually see what was happening, follow the battle. Then she'd have some idea of who was winning. It was frustrating, standing right at the edge of the battle, a battle that would decide so much, and being completely unable to even see it. Let alone aid in it.
Beside her, Dabura blinked, not sure he'd just seen what he thought he had. One second the two fighters had been exchanging blows, Gogeta's fist surging in at the Demon's face, and then the next the fused warrior had been behind his opponent, still carrying through with the same attack. His fist had slammed into the back of Quietus's head, knocking him forward a little. Gogeta followed up immediately with a charging knee toward his back, but once again vanished just before making contact.
He appeared, instantly, directly in front of him, his momentum still carrying him forward so that his knee smashed into the Demon's abdomen. Even as Quietus doubled over from the blow the Sai-jin launched another, and again vanished before making contact only to appear at the same instant in another location, still attacking. Blow after blow he began an attack, vanished, appeared, and finished. Quietus tried to keep up but his opponent's random, and instantaneous, movement around him left him unable.
"Impressive." he said.
"What?" asked Nefaria.
"The Mortal's using some kind of teleportation skill. He's beginning an attack aimed at one place, then teleporting and completing the attack in completely different location. An assault like that is nearly impossible to defend against. You can only block attacks from so many directions at one time."
Nefaria nodded. She didn't need the effectiveness as such an attack explained to her. She'd been on the receiving end of one before, when she'd still been alive. Not one of her favorite experiences. She'd lost that battle and been left for dead, entirely because of that attack. She hadn't been able to defend at all.
Above them there was a burst of red light and a streak of gold went surging away from the battle. Clearly Quietus had grown tired of being a punching bag and had released a burst of ki to get his opponent off him. Gogeta recovered quickly, which was good as Quietus had unleashed a massive stream of energy at him. The Sai-jin vanished just before it hit, reappearing a dozen feet above the stream, scowling.
Quietus shared a similar expression. /I can't believe a MORTAL is pushing me like this!/ he thought. His initial reaction had, of course, been incredulous disbelief. He'd never heard of any Mortal with this kind of power. It shouldn't be possible. But his adversary had been right about him, HE wasn't supposed to be this powerful either.
/But I know what gave me my power. I don't know where these Mortals got it from. I doubt they had the contact I did but... what I sensed earlier. The invocation of Kokoro's power in Shinkai. That could explain their powers. But... if they could achieve that with these few that came here... they could have an entire army of such warriors on the other side./
His scowl deepened. His opponent's power was not insurmountable. There were ways he could overpower him. He contemplated pulling out all the stops, revealing his ultimate trump card. He'd never expected to need it, but he was reluctant to use it. He wasn't sure what effect it would have on his end game. If he did use that it was possible he wouldn't be able to sync with Kokoro, and then everything he'd done would be have been for nothing.
/It's not worth the risk, not unless I'm pushed to the point I have no other option./ he decided. His scowl faded a little, being partially replaced by a smirk. He couldn't help it. His mind had wondered to his ultimate prize in all of this and just thinking about it excited him. Conquest of the Realms? Pah! Dabura was a fool. That was paltry compared to what he would have.
"Finally realized you can't defeat me?" he called over, his smirk growing. It had been a couple moments since their exchange had ended and the Mortal had not yet resumed his assault.
"Hardly." Gogeta called back, though he still made no move to attack. In truth, he'd been trying to figure out how to win, and win quickly. His time was running short. He estimated about twelve minutes remained, now, before the fusion would end. If he separated back into Goku and Vegeta before Quietus was dead... it wouldn't end well. Physical strikes just wouldn't get the job done in time, his last assault had done some damage but not enough. What he needed was...
Suddenly he smirked, the idea coming to him all at once. He needed to bypass the Demon's defenses. To prevent him from using his wings to block his attack as he had his last two attempts to end the battle. The answer had been right in front of him all along, he'd even used part of it already, and Goku had planned to do it earlier to end his battle with Vegeta. His smirk grew as he thrust his arms out, blue energy flaring up in front of his hands once more, growing quickly.
"Big Bang...!" he called, his double voice echoing across the plane as the energy in front of his hands continued to swell larger and larger. Across the way Quietus readied himself, smirking as well. Clearly he felt he could handle anything sent his way, and Gogeta had been counting on that.
"Kaaaaaa!"
"What's he doing?" Nefaria wondered, watching the attack swell larger, more and more power being pumped into it. "He's already tried this and it didn't work."
"Meeeeee!"
"Hmmm. Perhaps he believes he can overpower the defensive power of Quietus's wings." Dabura mused. "I don't know if that's possible, but it's a tactic I would be unable to even attempt."
"Haaaaaa!"
Nefaria felt that if he was attempting to overwhelm Quietus's defenses with this attack, he likely had a good chance of it. She couldn't believe how much power the forming attack was putting out, and it wasn't even finished yet. If she were hit with it, she'd be completely and instantly atomized, despite her link to the Realm. Even Dabura would have difficulty surviving.
"Meeeeee!"
Dabura watched as Gogeta's muscles tensed and his arms bent ever so slightly. And then... he vanished. There one second, gone the next. His eyes darted to the side then, as he felt the Sai-jin's power shift location in that direction, and found him now behind Quietus. And only just over ten feet away. The ball of energy in front of his hands almost touching the Demon.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The ball of energy swelled a few feet larger as a stream nearly twelve feet across erupted from it's surface and slammed into Quietus from behind an instant later. The attack had been launched a fraction of a second after Gogeta had vanished and had hit its target a fraction of a second after that. The Demon had barely had time to register his opponent's disappearance before he was hit.
On the ground Dabura grinned as he heard Quietus's cries coming from within the roar of the energy wave. The attack was powerful, and Quietus had been unable to defend against it. After all the trouble he'd had dealing with the Demon both now and two thousand years ago, it was satisfying to see him finally take a real blow.
"No way..." Nefaria said softly beside him, eyes wide. She hadn't expected such a tactic and, clearly, neither had Quietus. /This... this might actually do it!/ she thought. /This might actually.../ Her thoughts trailed off as she noticed something odd above her. The energy wave seemed to be distorting at one point along its length. A growing bulge forming, as though the energy were being forced apart.
And then the bulge started going backward, up the stream toward its source. Faster and faster until it reached the end of the line, and then suddenly a glowing fist shot out of the energy stream and smashed Gogeta in the chest. The attack came to an end and as it faded Nefaria saw that Quietus had managed to turn sideways and bring up one of his wings as a shield, allowing him to plow through the length of the attack.
At first Nefaria wasn't sure why the pair was just floating there, Quietus's fist against the Sai-jin's chest. And then she realized, it wasn't AGAINST his chest. It was INSIDE it. Just as that dawned on her the scowl on Quietus's face was replaced with a smirk, and then a beam of red and black energy exploded out of Gogeta's back. As he fell he began to glow and separate, splitting back into the two Mortals that had formed him.
Even through the shock of the Mortal's sudden defeat Nefaria knew that she and Dabura were next. Acting purely on instinct she grabbed the Mazoku King's arm and the two of them vanished. Quietus had just been turning to locate them and caught a fleeting glimpse before they disappeared. He growled in frustration, launching a ki blast toward where they had been even though he knew it was too late.
"Cowards!" he yelled into the empty sky. No doubt they would go into hiding again. Possibly try returning to Shinkai to seek more allies like the one he'd just slain. His first impulse was to go after them. To head straight for the path between Realms, cross over, and put an end to all of this personally.
He forced himself to calm down, his body shrinking as he reverted to his original state. That was exactly what he'd done last time. He'd been winning in his battle with Dabura and the Mazoku King had fled to Shinkai for help. He'd followed blindly after him and spent the next two thousand years trapped in a crystal. As much as he wanted to chase them down and kill them it was not wise. Patience. He'd waited two thousand years already, a few more hours, a day, wouldn't make much difference.
He turned toward the Mazoku palace and took off toward it. He'd use his magic to contact Neikan in Shinkai, with any luck he hadn't begun his assault yet. He'd tell him to wait, to find Daikirai and gather some intelligence on Shinkai s defenses. He'd give it twelve hours, maybe twenty-four, and then if the two Mazoku didn't have anything problematic to report he would cross over to Shinkai and finish this himself.
XXX
Makai, Somewhere in Purgatory
Nefaria and Dabura popped back into existence standing on one of the small planetoids of Purgatory. The handful of souls nearby came to a sudden stop as they appeared, and then quickly turned and went the other way. Nefaria held her breath for several seconds, half expecting Quietus to suddenly appear in front of them. When he didn't she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Now what do we do?" she asked, looking up at Dabura. She hated to admit it but she was at a loss now, with no idea what to do. All their plans had failed. Quietus was simply too powerful. How could they defeat him now?
Dabura frowned in thought for a moment. "I suppose our only option is to give those Mortal's another chance." he said after a moment.
"Another chance?"
The Mazoku King nodded. "Indeed. Quietus may have killed them but let's not forget where we are. They're dead, which means they're around... somewhere." He sighed. "They're not from Makai, their souls wouldn't be drawn to the check-in stations. They could be anywhere in Limbo. But we find them and I can restore their bodies and they can try again. They did far better just now than anyone else who's challenged him."
Nefaria nodded. They had done fairly well, up until the end there. If they could find the two of them and have them try again, maybe they'd have better luck. Or... "We could find all three." she mused softly.
"Hmm?" Dabura asked, glancing toward here. "Did you have an idea?"
"Instead of just finding the two that merged, we should also locate the other one. The one that had been making the Spirit Bomb." she said. "If we can do both, get that merged warrior to distract Quietus..."
"We can have two chances at stopping him." Dabura said. "Even if the merged warrior fails, the other could attempt another Spirit Bomb. Quietus would definitely be more focused in that battle than he was in ours, he wouldn't be able to spare the time to look at the sky."
"Still, how do we find three lost souls in all of Limbo?"
"We don't." Dabura replied. "The South Mazoku does. Come." And with that, he vanished. Nefaria stood there a second longer and then followed.