Gohan and Paine were floating side by side, each dodging, deflecting, and blocking one of Daikirai's fists. Or, at least, trying to. They were failing at the effort more than succeeding, though both knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was because the Mazoku was toying with them. Even fighting them both at once, using only his right arm against Gohan and his left one to fight Paine, he wasn't just keeping up with them but overpowering them.
As a hard left hook caught Paine across the jaw, spinning her around and knocking her back, Tatamo shot in again and slammed his leg into the side of the Mazoku's head. The blow had as little effect as all the others, and even as Paine rejoined the battle making it three on one again Daikirai still retained control of the fight. Appla had made a few attempts to help but she was even more outclassed than the rest of them.
/It's no good./ Gohan thought, as his most recent attack was blocked just like ninety-nine percent of the ones before it. /Like this I can't do anything. I... I have to at least try to draw it out./ He tried to dodge around a punch but it caught him in the shoulder, sending a burst of pain through his entire body. He shook it off as he pulled back from the fight, hoping Paine and Tatamo could hold their own for a few moments. Then he closed his eyes and tried to focus.
He'd been floating there for only a second when he felt the Mazoku's ki approaching him. Opening his eyes they widened in shock as he saw Daikirai charging him. He tried to dodge again but his opponent was too close and coming in too fast, and an elbow caught him square in the face. Tatamo and Paine surged in again and resumed the battle, and Gohan pulled back once more. But yet again Daikirai charged in at him.
/Crap!/ Gohan thought, quickly swerving around his swing. /He's not going to give me the time to find, let alone draw out, my hidden power./ As Daikirai moved to attack him again a foot suddenly flashed through the air and caught him in the face. It didn't faze him but it did bring him to a stop for a moment, as he turned his focus to his attacker. Red aura pulsing around her Appla quickly shot back, just barely avoiding the kick that had been aimed at her chest.
"Grandma!" Gohan called, pulling away from the Mazoku again. "I need a moment!"
Appla glanced at him, then smiled and nodded. Charging toward Daikirai the Sai-jin pulled back her arms, charging her right fist with neon green energy and the left one with bright pink energy. The Mazoku turned to face her and smirked mockingly at her, the smugness of the look he was give her was infuriating. Before meeting Bardock she'd grown up seeing that look of superiority everywhere, constantly being looked down on because she was reduced capacity, and even now it still grated on her.
The energy around her fists grew brighter as she added even more energy. Still a few feet away she pulled to a sudden stop, arms coming forward and fists cracking together, energies mixing. "Sonic Blast!" she cried. There was a thunderous crack that shook the ground followed by an earsplitting wail as a massive wave of bright pink and neon green energy exploded from her fists, surging across the two feet between the Sai-jin and the Mazoku in an instant.
As always, there was no actual power to the move, nothing but bright light and ear splitting wailing. But that's all that was needed. The Mazoku cried out in pain as he shoved his hands against the side of his head to try and block out the sound, eyes squeezed shut to shield them from the glare. His eyes had already been hit full force by the light, however, and tears ran down his cheeks as they burned from the intensity of it.
Gohan had heard the attack go off, and the subsequent cracks of blows as both Tatamo and Paine took advantage of Daikirai's semi-incapacitation and attacked. However, his own eyes had already been closed before the Sonic Blast had gone off, his focus turned inward to try and locate the power that was hiding there. He focused on what little he could remember of how it felt to draw on that power when he lost control.
He remembered little, almost nothing, of the incident in Makai, but he could remember some of the events when he was younger. Events such as when his power had surfaced against Recoome and he'd tried to hold on to it, how it had felt when he'd first become a Super Sai-jin, and when he'd first reached the second level. He didn't want the anger, the loss of control, so he kept his mind away from the causes of those power bursts and focused only on how his body had felt. How the power had felt.
He also focused on what his grandmother and the warriors she'd introduced him to had told him. Ignore the self doubt, don't even consider the possibility of failure. Let his body relax, let the tension flow out. Focus on his breathing, keep it even and steady, tune out the world around him until only he existed. Until only his power existed.
He wasn't sure how long he floated there, how long it took for the world around him to fade from mind. He just suddenly felt it. A well of power and strength. Not just physical but mental, too. A sense of confidence and conviction he could only remember having felt twice before in his entire life. Against Sanil and against Cell, when he'd tapped into his power and transformed for the first time.
He let out a long slow breath and opened his eyes again. As he did he was surprised to see Daikirai was still trying to shake the effects of Appla's attack. He'd thought more time had passed but it couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen seconds. The Mazoku was swinging wildly, trying to fend off Tatamo and Paine who were still striking at him every chance they got. While more attacks were getting through than had been before the blows the pair landed still weren't doing any damage.
Gohan clenched his fists and hunched over, a cry building deep in his throat as his aura flared and pulsed, and then his power began to rise. Paine and Tatamo paused in their attacks and turned to look at him, Daikirai turning his clearing vision his way as well, as the Sai-jin's power quickly passed Tatamo's and continued to climb, higher and higher. The Mazoku's eyes widened in shock as the building power neared, then surpassed, Nefaria's.
Still it went up, soon matching his own, and then continuing beyond it. It only increased a little more before slowing, settling, and then holding steady. Gohan straightened up, unclenched his fists, and locked eyes with Daikirai. Appla stared at her grandson in shock. She'd felt Goku and Bardock's full powers before, while watching the pair train, and knew that Gohan was even stronger than them.
She also saw the look in his eyes, on his face, and recognized it from the Cell Games, just without the mask of cold fury over it. It was the same look she always saw on Bardock when he was focused on a fight. The same look she'd seen on Goku's face when he'd first squared off against Cell seven years ago.
/Incredible, Gohan./ she thought, smiling with pride. /Even with everything Goku and Bardock have put themselves through the last seven years... you've surpassed them. You really are amazing./
"H-how!?" Daikirai stammered, staring at the Mortal across from him in complete disbelief. /He's a living Shinkai Mortal, still a child, how could he be so powerful!?/ he wondered. There was a sudden burst of gold a second later as Gohan shot in and smashed a hard left into the Mazoku's head, the blow catching him completely unprepared and knocking him flying. Gohan turned and shot after him.
/This is incredible./ Gohan thought, overtaking Daikirai and slamming a fist into his face, sending the Mazoku plummeting into the ground thirty feet below. He couldn't believe how strong he actually was, the confidence he felt. Though, even as he launched a blast of energy down after the Mazoku, he knew it wouldn't last. It wasn't self-doubt getting in the way, or fear, or anything else like that. Not this time.
It was simply a case of not being accustomed to the power, not being able to manage it, to properly contain or control it. He'd resisted it for so long that his body wasn't able to properly utilize or even handle it. Keeping it all out was putting a greater strain on his body than it should have been, and on top of that it was burning off. Leaking away from him second by second.
Eventually he'd lose the power he had right now because it would have all seeped away, lost to the ether. Which meant he would have to act fast. He'd have to stop the Mazoku quickly, before his power was gone, or he wouldn't be able to at all. And so, even as the dust cloud from his energy blast was still rising, he shot down after his opponent. The Mazoku charged up at him as well, but Gohan was ready and easily slipped around the fist aimed at his head and then slammed his into Daikirai's face, driving him back down again.
Daikirai hit the ground and bounced. On his way back up Gohan reached him again and lashed out with a kick, slamming it into his side and sending him sailing off into the distance before shooting after him. This time, the Mazoku was ready, and managed to block the kick aimed for his head as Gohan reached him. He lashed out with a counter that Gohan barely dodged, then both moved in and slammed their fists into each other's faces.
Even as he was recoiling from the blow Gohan aimed a knee at the Mazoku's stomach. Daikirai managed to block it, however, and countered. Gohan deflected the kick that had been directed at his side, slipped in closer, and smashed a fist into his opponent's chest. He followed that up with a blow to his head, a kick to his side, and then an elbow aimed to his face. While the first two blows made contact the Mazoku managed to, just barely, slip around the elbow.
Gohan turned and ducked, just avoiding having Daikirai's heel slam into his temple. Coming up he fired an uppercut at the Mazoku's jaw, which connected with a crack, snapping his head back and lifting him up into the air. Gohan then spun and lashed out with a kick, smashing his foot into the Mazoku's chest and driving him back. The half Sai-jin went to move in again but Daikirai's arm shot out and a blast of red energy surged at his head. He wasn't able to react fast enough and it hit and exploded.
Reacting on instinct Gohan brought his arms up, before he could even see again, and blocked the blow that had been aimed at his chest. The two continued to trade blows and blocks as the half Sai-jin's blurred vision cleared and he tried to figure out the best way to end this. They'd only been fighting for two, maybe three, minutes and his slipping power had already declined below that of Daikirai's. If the battle went much longer he'd start to lose what little advantage he had.
He'd prefer to knock the Mazoku out, but there was no way to guarantee that whatever attack he used would render the man unconscious. If it didn't knock him out, or didn't leave him unconscious long enough, they'd be right back where they'd started. Worse, even, because he wouldn't be able to draw out his full power again. The only way to be certain the Supreme Mazoku was out of the battle for good was to kill him. Though Gohan hated that option he realized it was the only one he had.
/The question is, how do I accomplish that? A Kamehameha or Masenko strong enough to kill him in one go would take a little time to prepare. But.../ A thought occurred to him then. A technique he'd learned a long time ago, training for the arrival of Zarbon. He'd insisted on learning it, pretty much begged and pleaded for three months to be taught the move, but the attack's entire point was to kill and he always tried to avoid killing and so he'd never actually used it in battle.
He didn't like it, but it was his only choice given the situation. The only thing he could make strong enough fast enough. Dodging around a punch and moving in close he slammed a hard left punch into the Mazoku's face that knocked him back a few feet. He followed it up with a powerful kick to his chest that forced the Mazoku back another dozen or so yards. He then raised his arms, splayed his fingers out on either side of his face, and was about to buy himself the time he needed to ready his attack when he suddenly felt a major power spike relatively near-by.
/What?/ he wondered, hesitating and looking in the direction of the energy he'd felt. It took a moment to recognize the ki as being Hotaru's, which made no sense to him. The last he'd heard she was on Planet Vegeta still, how would she have gotten to the Grand Kai's world? A little ways off, maybe two hundred yards away, he saw a blinding ball of silver energy even as he suddenly lost track of Hotaru's ki. And not just hers, everyone's. A sudden pressure had pressed in on his mind and seemed to be blocking everything else out.
/I'll worry about that later./ he suddenly thought, turning his focus back to his opponent. Daikairi, however, was still staring into the distance. Gohan realized this was the perfect opportunity and instead of using the Solar Flare as he'd originally intended he lowered his left arm and bent all but the index and middle fingers on his right hand. Energy quickly began to snap around his fingertips as the attack charged.
He kept his focus on the distracted Daikairi, waiting to see when he'd recover from his shock, as he charged the attack. He also kept his mind open and spread out, trying to feel out any of the kis around him. The pressure had started to let up and signals started to get through again. As they did he found Hotaru's energy again, but it was now incredibly low. At least it was stable, however. She didn't seem hurt.
He also realized she wasn't the only one who'd apparently arrived. He could also feel Piccolo's energy out there somewhere as well as a few others he recognized as friends and allies. /Everyone's here./ he realized. Everyone who could stand against the invasion was gathered here. If they lost this battle the entire Realm would fall. This realization steeled his resolve, convinced him completely that his decision was the only right one in this situation.
Daikirai had just apparently remembered him, or maybe sensed the gathering energy of his attack, as he suddenly turned back to face him again. The Supreme Mazoku's eyes widened in shock and, Gohan realized, a little panic. Before the Mazoku could move to run or attack Gohan snapped his arm out pointing his fingers at him.
"Special Beam Cannon!" he cried, the spiral beam of energy erupting from his finger tips. The Mazoku's eyes widened further, the panic being replaced with fear, but his surprise and fear held him in place and an instant later the beam punched into and through his chest, surging out his back and speeding off into the distance. The Mazoku floated there for a moment, disbelief etched on his face, and then fell to the ground as his ki vanished.
Relaxing a little Gohan lowered his arm again and glanced around. He could see and feel Quietus and Mikomi still fighting not far away and considered going to help her but... His power had declined to less than twice his usual level already. Far to low to deal with someone like Quietus, he wouldn't be any real help in the battle she was having. Plus he could still feel Hotaru's incredibly weakened ki and it had him concerned. With one last glance toward Mikomi's location he turned and flew off toward Hotaru.
XXX
Hotaru announced her presence at the battle by charging in and slamming her foot into the back of Neikan's head. The impact made a resounding crack but that was all the effect it had. The Mazoku didn't even flinch. She cursed as she moved back and just barely avoided an elbow to her face. She hadn't really expected to do any serious damage, the power difference was so great, but she'd hoped he'd at least have felt the surprise attack.
"Another annoying Mortal." Neikan scoffed. "And a living one, apparently. You're surprisingly powerful for a Mortal, especially a living one from Shinkai, but you're no match for me. I am a Supreme Mazoku. The strongest of the Supreme Mazoku!"
"Keep gloating." Hotaru said, grinning. "I'll enjoy seeing that smug look wiped off your face."
Neikan laughed. "Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed." he said. "I..." He cut off and turned, sensing a large power flaring up not far away. Hotaru felt it too and turned as well, eyes widening as she felt how large it was and who it was coming from.
/No way, Gohan./ she thought, shocked. /That... that's incredible./ Both she and Neikan were brought out of their thoughts at the same time, as a voice called out near-by.
"Thunder Flash Attack!"
The Mazoku spun around, the voice had come from behind him, and got hit head on by the flame like energy. A roar of pain and anger sounded from within the stream, and then a burst of ki blew it apart. Smoke drifted off the Mazoku and the edges of his robes were frayed and damaged. He glared across at Pikkon and growled, then suddenly he was in front of the alien and his knee was buried in the green man's stomach.
Pikkon's eyes went wide in pain as he doubled over from the blow. Then an elbow slammed into the back of his head and drove him down into the ground. Neikan then raised an arm, dark purple energy gathering in his hand. Before he had the chance to launch this new attack, however, Hotaru charged in at him again. As she covered the forty feet between them her hands moved through a series of motions.
"Shika-Shidou Yaiba!" she cried, energy blades surrounding her hands as she reached Neikan. As she zipped passed him she took a swipe at his raised arm and the blade passed through doing no visable damage. The Mazoku, however, let out a cry of pain as he pulled back and the energy in his hand faded. She pulled a quick u-turn and came up behind him jamming both blades into his back.
Neikan's eyes widened in pain as he pulled away. He spun as he moved, lashing out with a backhand, but Hotaru was already gone. She reappeared to his left and slashed through the air with one of her blades, sending the end of it through his neck. Gasping in pain, gagging as the muscles in his neck spasmed, Neikan twisted toward her and fired a kick at her chest but, once again, she was gone before the attack got there.
She appeared above him this time, diving down toward his head. She let out a yell as she thrust her arms down, plunging the blades into his head. Neikan screamed in agony and rage, the rush of pain turning his vision white as he pulled away again. "Agh! I'm going to rip your head off!" he roared, eyes squeezed shut and hands pressed against the sides of his head.
Hotaru grinned. She didn't have the power to physically hurt her opponent but she could definitely keep him busy. At least for a little while. She had no delusions of being able to avoid him forever, even with the Terepo. But she figured she could last long enough for Tien to launch his attack. Once Quietus was gone they could figure out what to do about this guy.
She shot in again, pulling back her right arm to stab him in the chest. She saw his fist coming and vanished a split second before it would have made contact. She reappeared behind him, twisting around to face him and then shooting in at him once more. As he turned to face her again she vanished once more. Neikan growled in frustration, then cried out in pain as Hotaru appeared beside him, slicing one of the blades through the side of his abdomen.
He reacted much faster this time, moving closer to his full speed than he had before, and she saw his back hand coming too late to avoid it. There was a resounding crack as it slammed into her face, and blood spurted from her nose as she was sent sailing backward, intense pain radiating out from her nose which she felt certain had to be broken. Though, she considered herself lucky that he'd only broken her nose and not knocked her head clean off.
She reached up wiped the blood off her face with the back of arm, the energy blades still pulsing around her hands, even as she used the Terepo to vanish once again. An instant later Neikan's foot went through the space where her head had just been. She appeared again about twenty feet behind him, frowning. She'd thought she could avoid him longer than that, she couldn't believe how fast he was. If she got in close enough for him to hit her again he could very well kill her.
/And, as Yamcha pointed out, I've been revived twice already./ she thought. There was no point in dying now, not when the battle was, hopefully, close to an end. /In fact, that would be rather pathetic. Getting killed four minutes before we win. If I weren't already dead I'd die of embarrassment./
As she floated there, trying to formulate a new strategy, Zenryou and Olibu had each launched ki attacks at the distracted Mazoku. The Grand Kai's attack came from behind, a large pulsing ball of blue-white energy, that slammed into his back and exploded. The blast made Neikan stumble forward a little, it had been more magic than ki, affecting the evil energy inside him. While it still hadn't done any real damage he'd actually felt that one.
As he turned toward Zenryou to retaliate he noticed a red glow on the tops of his arms and looked up. A large ball of red ki was charging toward him from above, launched by Olibu. Scowling, Neikan surged upward and swatted the attack away. As it sped off into the distance he continued on toward the Human who'd launched it, but just before reaching him he pulled to a sudden stop, eyes wide.
Behind the Human, higher in the sky, was a quickly growing ball of energy. It was at least seven hundred feet above him and looked at least as big as his fist. At first he hadn't been sure what to make of it, then he remembered what he and Daikirai had heard about the Mortal's plan for the battle back in Makai. That pure energy attack the Shinkai Mortals knew, the Spirit Bomb, and his mind reached out toward the energy mass. Sensing its power was what had brought him to a halt.
/Damn it! They've only been fighting us to distract us!/ he thought. /To buy the time to charge this thing. It's power is already dangerous. Who's making it?/ As he started scanning the area for any sign of the attack's creator Hotaru was trying to think fast. She'd seen him stop, seen where he was looking, and realized the Spirit Bomb had been discovered. If she didn't act, quick, the entire plan would be destroyed and any hope they had of winning, of surviving, would be lost.
/Damn it./ she thought, the energy blades fading from around her hands as they clenched into fists. There was only one thing she could think of that could possibly stop him, but it had almost killed her last time. Still... /I don't have a choice. If it kills me... then I'm sorry, Yamcha. But I have to do what I can to protect my girls./
She vanished again, reappearing a second later twenty yards ahead of Neikan. Her hands were already moving through the motions, as quick as she could. It wasn't fast enough however, she saw the expression on his face shift a second later and knew he'd located Tien. As the Mazoku suddenly shot off toward his new target Hotaru vanished yet again. She materialized about half way between the two of them, raised her arms, and cupped her hands in front of her face making a tunnel to look through.
"Shika-Shidou Konmei!" she cried. Her eyes flashed bright orange and then his did the same a second later. Neikan came to a stop as he slammed his hands over his ears and screamed in pain. Hotaru lowered her arms and quickly shifted positions, cupping her hands at her side. With what she was planning she didn't need to worry about charging it, so instead of pouring ki into her hands she reached out with her mental energy, shaping it into a tunnel between her and the Mazoku.
She hurried at first, but Neikan seemed to be recovering slowly from the Konmei, and so she was able to shape and strengthen the tunnel better than she had in the battle with Cell. She also wrapped herself in a cocoon of mental energy and formed a small bubble of it behind her as well, like a cushion. She was hoping the added time to prepare would reduce the damage she'd be inflicting on herself this time.
Ahead of her she saw Neikan finally starting to show signs of recovery and decided it was time to act. He was fast, she couldn't risk him seeing the attack coming and simply dodging it. Blue light flared up between her hands and she quickly thrust her arms forward. "Kamehameha!" she cried, firing off the stream of blue energy. As soon as she'd released the energy she began focusing on the next step, her muscles rippling as she tapped into the depths of her power. The beam had barely gone more than ten feet before her voice rang out again.
"Genkai Toppa!"
Her aura exploded massively, the Kamehameha turning silver and swelling to four times its previous size. Zenryou, Olibu, and Kibito all turned away from the blinding light, all lost track of the powers around them as a pressure pressed in from Hotaru. When the glare faded away a second later Hotaru still floated where she'd been, panting heavily, wobbling in the air. Then, suddenly, she fell, unable to keep herself aloft any longer. Zenryou shot toward her and caught her just above the ground, landing a second later.
Hotaru looked around for a sign of where the Mazoku had fallen and saw Olibu landing a few dozen yards away. Neikan lay on the ground at his feet, groaning and struggling to stand back up. She hadn't killed him but she'd done some serious damage. The Human pointed an arm down at him and unleashed brilliant burst of red ki that hit and exploded, creating a new blast crater and leaving no trace of the Mazoku.
"Can you stand?" Zenryou asked.
Hotaru shook her head. "I doubt it." she said. "Not for a little while. Just... set me down." The Grand Kai nodded and sat her on the ground.
"I'll stay and keep a watch over her." a voice said, making Hotaru look up. Sure enough, Yamcha had just landed with them, shaking his head. "I can't believe you did that."
Hotaru grinned. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"