So. You'd think a fanfic I had finished writing years ago would get updated sooner but. Um. Funny story about that. Life got in the way. But with toriyama sensei's passing recently, I figured now is as good a time as any to get around to updating this fic in particular, to say nothing of my other Dragon Ball fanfics like Launch Time (on AO3) and Minus Goku (finished but still needs to be uploaded on AO3).
Regardless, here's to another chapter. The AO3 version of this fight had these battles with Kale spit up but I decided to just combine most of em into one long chapter to see how that impacts pacing.
Kale's shrieking cry echoed throughout the unnamed world in the neutral space between Universe 6 and Universe 7.
Her aura changed to a sickly off-greenish yellow hue and her power began to skyrocket while her body began to swell with a sudden muscle mass not unlike the Delta transformation that Captain Caulifla had used earlier and for an instant, the two transformations seemed the same.
Then, Kale's height began to increase as it exploded in meters as her body ballooned outward in countless muscles, her back broadened, her arms swelled with Amazonian might. Thighs thickened, and chest (this made Roshi howl in appreciation before everyone else in the stands knocked him out for the rest of the match) swelled in cup sizes.
Her voice deepened, her screams of power becoming more raw and animalistic in harshness that matched her towering build of pure power.
This power, Vegeta even in his blue state, stared in complete stunned confusion and horror. Could this be the Legendary Super Saiyan my ancestors spoke of? Or is this yet another sub transformation that we just have yet to discover? It's not too dissimilar from Grade 3 but even that form didn't turn Trunks or I into… this.
Kale's body continued it's strange swelling of power and muscle, as her lithe arms and legs inflated with rock hard muscles, her trim stomach hardened into a mighty six pack, her neck thicken like a bull and her shoulders broaden to the point where they surpassed even that of Tien's in their width.
"Wow." Goku grinned, impressed with the strange Saiyan's even stranger transformation. "That's a lot of power she's putting out. Didn't even know ki and energy could make your body grow like that, too. Even we're not that big in Grade III..."
Elsewhere in the stand, the civilians of Universe Seven could only stare in equal parts confusion and gobsmacked reverence as Kale's height continued to grow before their eyes.
"S-Stupid question but is anyone else both really scared and kinda turned on right now?" Yamcha was thankful that no one heard his slip of the tongue with Kale's unworldly metamorphosis before their eyes.
"For the last time, yes!" Bulma snapped. He must never know! The blue haired woman thought.
"Whis." Beerus scowled at both Destroyer's.
"Yes, Lord Beerus?"
"Why is the small mortal Saiyan girl becoming bigger?"
Whis mused on the question for a moment. "It would seem, Lord Beerus, that the vice-captain has access to a sort of pseudo God Ki of sorts. Not quite mortal, but not quite the ki of the gods. A half way between the two, if you will."
"Huh. Just how many transformations do Saiyans have? They always seem to be pulling something new out of their backsides, it seems."
"A good question, my Lord. Perhaps that is truly their real gift as fighters?" Whis mused in a tone that was half praise, half criticism.
"Yes, yes!" Chamapa cheered. "Bigger, bigger!"
Vados noticed the unhealthy glint in the Destroyer's yellow eyes. She coughed politely. "Word choice, Lord Champa."
"Shut up Vados, you're just jealous that you can't do something like that."
Vados glared at the Destroyer but said nothing. A being like herself most certainly could make herself as… ungainly as Kale was in terms of muscle mass. But with her divine body being what it was, there would be no point in such foolishness.
Finally, Kale's power began to even out, her body's swelling stopping as she towered over Vegeta. Kale had gone from being slightly under the Prince's height to being the tallest person on both teams, taller even than that of Hit or Piccolo.
Her shadow loomed like the late Demon King's, casting darkness completely over Vegeta.
Kale's white sclera blinked and a small bit of the familiar gray irises came back. She grinned like an oni or ogre of ancient times.
"Oh it feels so, so good to finally be let out for more than just mating for a change."
She cracked her neck and the sound echoed like a gunshot throughout the arena.
Slowly, she walked her way towards the prince. Each casual step she took shook the ground as her feet imprinted the flooring as the now giantess of a vice-captain leered over Vegeta with a demonic grin.
"What's the matter, O' Prince?" Kale's voice was dark as her bronze skin as she chuckled in dark humor. "Is the Legendary Apex Alpha too much for a puny god like yourself to hand-"
"Galick Gun!" The blast, even backed with the control of godly ki, was fired off in haste as the wave of Vegeta's purple energy swept over Kale's entire enormous frame.
Vegeta painted, his face wet with cold sweat as he waited to see the outcome of his attack. The girl's ki had gone from mortal to something not unlike god ki but it was continuously in and out leaving the Saiyan Prince to rely on his own eyes and ears to see what his attack had wrought.
"-dle." Kale stomped her way through the cloud of dust, completely unharmed by Vegeta's attack. Her dark rumble of bemused laughter sent a chill down Vegeta's spine.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Vegeta felt his face tighten as he scowled for an instant before launching himself forward, hand pulled back to form a right jab before feinting to a roundhouse kick to Kale's massive neck at the last moment.
Kale grunted as her thick knees bent slightly but the giantess remained upright otherwise.
"Good kick." She grunted. "My turn, little man."
The resulting lariat to Vegeta's throat knocked the air from the Saiyan as he felt his back crash into the area floor.
Vegeta strained himself to get up but felt Kale's now enlarged foot press down into his gray armored chest.
"I have a plan for you, puny prince." Kale's dark brown face gleamed evilly. "More pain!"
Distantly, Vegeta couldn't help but be reminded of when he had let his ego allow Cell to achieve his perfect form and the punishing amount of pain he had been put through after that grievous error. What happened next was, if anything, even more humiliating as Kale grabbed the Prince by his boot and flung him about like a flail, smashing his back into another section of the arena.
Kale paused for a moment, soaking in the prince's suffering, before swinging him about with another planet shaking smash. The ring and stands trembled with the kinetic force of Vegeta's body crashing into the ring as debris and dust flew up with each resulting toss around.
"Dad!" Trunks leaned forward, floating in mid air only for Yamcha, Krillin, and Goten to hold him back.
"I-It's alright, Trunks." Bulma said, wincing as Kale continued to manhandle her husband like a ragdoll. "Your father's been through worse." Dammit, Vegeta, did you have to let her transform you idiot! How many times is someone going to have to kick your ass like this before you get it through your stubborn head that that's a bad idea!
After a few minutes of effortless swinging the Saiyan Prince around, even Kale's massive arm had grown tired from all of her swinging as she casually dropped the now unconscious Vegeta unceremoniously to the ground with an indifferent thud.
God ki or no god ki, a body could only take so much punishment before blacking out and Vegeta was after all, only mortal with god ki.
Kale glanced over the prince before turning her attention to the remaining fighters of Universe Seven.
"Pathetic. I was told we would be fighting warriors here today."
Vegeta gurgled and Kale shifted her glance back to him.
"Oh. You are awake, still? Impressive. You are not as big a baby as I thought you were, puny prince."
"Yes," Vegeta hacked hard as he fought down blood and bile standing upright as he summoned forth his god ki once more. "I am a prince, you grotesque freak of nature. A prince of all the Sayians of the Seventh Universe. A prince that still has his-"
Kale's hand shot out casually as she wrapped her palm and fingers around Vegeta's mouth.
"Too much talking," She growled. "Not enough fighting!"
Her palm glowed with the same sickly green-ish yellow ki as she blasted Vegeta at point blank range, sending the completely unconscious and badly beaten prince soaring out of the area.
"Hang on, Gets, I gotcha!" Using his Instant Transmission, Goku teleported just in front of the now completely unconscious Prince before grabbing him with both of his arms.
"Come and give me my next foe to chop down!" Kale bellowed to the Seventh Universe Team. "I can sense your energies and I am amused by your entire tiny itty bitty teeny baby TEAM!"
On the Sixth Universe side, Frost frowned. "Is she always so... boisterous and derogatory to her opponents when she's like this?"
"Oh she's way better than she used to be." Caulifla smiled at the memory. "Used to be she'd just attack everything and everyone in sight. Now? At least the trash talking gives her Apex form a bit of control without sacrificing all the raw power like Delta does. Plus my protage is way cooler when she's all big, buff, and badass as hell like this, right?"
Frost said nothing for a moment. "Er. Quite."
I am starting to see why my Seventh Universe counterpart destroyed his Sayians, weakling as they were in the big picture. The Captain alone has already surpassed me in her Delta or whatever form and the vice-captain is a force of nature in of herself. Destroying the Saiyans now would be too much of a loss to my network of connections as it is. To say nothing of the paperwork. I could say a meteor hit the planet, but you'd have to be an idiot to by that explanation. I'll have to play this all by ear.
"Well, looks like I'm up." Goku's grin faded when he felt his son's hand on his gi. "What's up, Gohan?"
"I think me and Piccolo should go next, Dad."
"Huh?" Goku blinked, confused. He looked up at Kale. "You sure about that, son? Cuz she's pretty damn powerful, and that's not even getting into the size and reach she has on all of us, too."
Gohan nodded, grimacing as he stared up at the waiting giantess, an increasingly bored and annoyed looking scowl on her face. "I
am. I know neither Piccolo or I are going to have much hope in winning but we can at least stall this Kale girl out, tire her out, then that gives you a better shot at beating her."
"Huh." Goku thought it over.
Never a deep thinker by trade, his son's logic did make sense, as much as logic ever made sense to the martial artist like Goku. True, he had Super Saiyan Blue in his corner and that one move he had been working on by himself when he wasn't training with Whis, but if he wasted that on Kale then he'd have played his hand against two more opponents.
The Freiza clone he wasn't worried about, even if that guy was stronger than his Frieza had been before his second return to Earth a few weeks prior. It was the purple fella that Goku could tell was the wild card in all this.
Years of battles and martial arts training told Goku that purple guy was someone to watch out for. Given the lowkey stakes of the tournament Goku naturally couldn't help but get excited at the prospect of fighting him in particular. But first, this vice-captain lady had to be dealt with.
"Alright, but be careful out there, both of you. I know killing is against the rules in this tournament but I'm not entirely sure she knows that, you know?"
Gohan gave his father a sick smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
As Son Gohan entered the ring he then realized that he, ironically, was in the same position his father had been when they had all participated in the Cell Games in what felt like five lifetimes ago.
The key was to see how this Kale woman fought and what weaknesses if any there were to exploit. She had already manhandled Vegeta in his blue form as if it was child's play and while knowing his dad, Gohan felt Goku had to have something up his sleeve, he hoped he didn't need that until the man who had once turned aside the threats King Piccolo and the Saiyans faced off against the biggest enigma on the Sixth team, hit.
"Ah." Kale nodded sagely as she stared down at Gohan. "So book baby is up next, then, eh? Good."
"Before we fight," Gohan said. "I'm curious, is this form of yours a split personality?"
Kale arched an eyebrow as she unfolded her enormously thick forearms which had been crossed against her equally mighty, firm, breasts.
"No. I am just all of Kale's inhibitions and hopes and fears made manifest. I have been called many things: Monster, demoness, a goddess of destruction by one weird fanboy, once," Kale paused as she smirked in twisted pride. "Though, they also called me 'Mommy'."
Gohan blinked, unsure of how to take that last one as Kale continued.
"But for the sake of simplicity, I am still Kale. Just everything she could be if she truly let loose. Does that answer your question, Professor Big Brain?"
Gohan frowned at the massive girl's sarcasm. "It does. I-"
Kale's palm had struck his face before Gohan had even so much as gone Super before his entire body flew back in recoil.
"Good. Then the time for talk is over!" Kale grinned the way only an over six foot tall tower of raw physical power could. "Now we fight like true Saiyans!"
Gohan coughed as he felt the sharp pain in the front of his skull. His nose was busted, now, as he could tell by the wetness near his lips and the taste of faint copper leaking into his tongue. Furthermore, he could feel the arena floor underneath him which meant he was still in the fight.
Though not a fighter by nature like his father was, Gohan knew what Kale had done. A show of strength. A love tap to see how much he could take.
Slowly, Son Gohan got up and glared towards Kale, who had not moved an inch since her palm strike.
No words passed between them as Gohan's ki flared honey gold and his eyes went from black to teal.
Kale giggled a disturbingly girly giggle. "Your power level. It is… is so tiny!"
Gohan said nothing as he tightened his fists further and brought forth more of his power. Not for the first time since he had gotten back into fighting had the scholar regretted letting the Old Kai's unlock of his full power go to waste. His 'Ultimate' state as Goten had called it would have been damn nice to have right about now. As it was, there was always Super Saiyan Del- 2. Super Saiyan 2.
A moment later lightning flickered around Gohan's Super Saiyan ki and Kale finally put her enormous hands on her equally wide hips.
"Oh ho." She chuckled. "Book Baby has some power within him after all. You are almost impressive as child you was against the funny bug man all those years ago. Good! This will crush you like instinct that you are all the more fun."
"I'm not." Gohan scowled. "Finished yet!"
Gohan let out a thunderous roar as his athletic frame exploded in a series of muscles bulged forward from his arms, shoulders, legs and thighs. Even his back swelled in size with newly growing muscle mass.
On the sidelines, Piccolo frowned heavily in disapproval. "What the hell is Gohan thinking? Grade III kills your speed enormously. Gohan knows that better than anyone."
"True," Goku said, taking his son's combination of grade III with Super Saiyan 2 with a somber expression. "But if he is then that says a lot about the sort of threat this Kale girl possesses if even he thinks the trade off in speed is worth it just to lessen the gap between them."
"I-I had no idea Gohan could do something like this." Videl commented as she and the other's stared at Gohan's ever growing body of raw muscular power.
Krillin looked up at her and frowned. "You okay, Videl? Something wrong with your nose?"
"W-What?" Videl dabbed a finger and saw a faint bit of blood. "I-It's nothing, really."
Finally, after what seemed like an entirety, Gohan had finished.
"What do you think?" The scholar's voice was strained as he chose his words carefully. "It's no Super Saiyan 3 but..."
"It's damn impressive." Kale said, nodding in an approval that somehow filled Gohan with dread more than anything else.
"But I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else from a scholar. Though," She smirked as she still towered over Gohan despite his best efforts. "I am still bigger, tiny man."
"Size isn't everything." Gohan replied, coldly.
"True." Kale's enormity vanished from view for an instant.
"W-Where did she go?" Krillin asked, voicing the question everyone had on their mind.
The former monk's question was answered as Gohan felt the soles of Kale's feet dig into his back as she drop kicked him from behind.
"Which is a good thing I have both brawn, beauty, and speed in this form of mine!" Kale finished as she pressed her mass down into Gohan's muscled back feet first.
Gohan put his elbows on the ground and flung his back upright as best he could as Kale was flung off before floating back to the ground effortlessly on her part.
With some effort due to his new temporary muscle mass Gohan got back up to his feet.
"W-What was that?"
"Me, of course." Kale boasted. "You no doubt thought I was channeling some sort of version of Delta form but not so. I may be big and brawny here, yes, but I am anything but slow. I am Kale, Son Gohan. And I will break you like the puny twig you are!"
Kale vanished for an instant before reappearing in front of Gohan as the scholar's eyes widened.
"But I am not a soldier without some sense of fair play. So for our fight, you have my word as the vice-captain of the Defense Force that I will only match your puny, pitiful speed. That way all that matters is brawn against brawn!"
Gohan frowned at that but remained silent as he shifted his buffed up bulk into a fighting stance. Much as he hated to admit it, these girls knew their Super Saiyan transformations. Neither Gohan nor his father had ever thought to get used to the slower speed of the Grade… 2? 3? The Bulky Buff form.
Partly because someone as relatively pragmatic as Cell would never have allowed them to in the short time they'd had to train before the Cell Games and partly because in a world of ki attacks playing defensive like a weaving boxer just wasn't doable.
But this was a tournament and the standards were different, the scholar realized. Which meant that his own mindset needed to-
Gohan's thoughts were interrupted as Kale's now massively thick forearm of raw muscle came crashing into his neck and face, bowing the half Saiyan over as he crashed backward, the ring cracking upon impact as his spine collided with it.
Right after I learn to stop thinking to myself, Gohan thought with a mental groan as he felt Kale's enormous digits wrap around the collar of his saffron orange gi.
Gohan let out a thunderous yell as golden ki erupted around him, causing even Kale's enormous form to slide back as her grip was broken.
"So. There is a warrior in there after all." Kale grinned like a mountainous demoness. "Good."
Gohan raised his newly expanded, muscled arms so that his hands were in front of his forehead, palms spread wide gold ki appeared in his palms.
"Masenko!"
On the sidelines, Piccolo smirked. "Good to see you haven't forgotten everything you learned in our training, Gohan."
The golden beam of ki blasted over Kale's head and the vice-captain simply smirked as she took the attack without even flinching.
Piccolo glanced at Goku. "If this was anyone else six months ago that would have decided this fight."
Goku nodded. "Yeah. But these Universe Six Saiyans are something else. The fact that that Captain girl already knows Super Saiyan 3 says a lot."
Kale laughed from under the thick cloud of black smoke that had been kicked up from Gohan's attack. Besides a few superficial scrapes, she was otherwise unharmed.
"Is that the best you have, puny man?"
Gohan's newly thickened sewnied leg came cracking down on the back of Kale's skull, the scholar-fighter having vanished as soon as his attack had faded as Gohan followed through with a series of pounding punches and heavy kicking to her broad back and shoulders.
Kale grunted as she felt her enormous knees buckle however slightly before turning around and swinging her enormous arm around to smack her fly of an opponent away.
Gohan just barely ducked the blow, sensing it and using his now slower frame to avoid Kale's now ham-sized fist to his face.
Gohan countered with a punishing palm strike that staggered the now giantess of a woman as Kale stumbled back.
She spat a wad of blood from her mouth, the same twisted grin on her face as her eye's remained cold with controlled bloodlust.
"I can see now how you had as much hype as you have, bookworm."
Kale's arrogance temporarily gone as she shifted her stance and turned around to face the Universe 7 Hybrid.
Once more Kale charged forward like a massive bullet of muscle, arm swinging wildly in another lariat as she feinted at the last moment, lifting her leg up before stomping with a straight forward kick to Gohan's chest.
Were he just a Super Saiyan or even in 2, he could have simply dodged the blow but the Muscle Super Sayian state was too slow for the quick reactions needed and Gohan took the full force of Kale's stomping strike as he now stumbled backwards.
Gohan kept his balance thanks to his trunk thick legs as he once more ducked under another lariat blow from Kale.
Gohan countered with a series of combination punches, knuckles reverberating against Kale's visible chiseled muscles as Kale flinched in recoil before countering with a straight punch that made Gohan see stars for a brief moment.
Reflexively, he shot up into the air, avoiding the upper that Kale had planned as he took the moment to regain his senses. Against anyone else, ki attacks would have been an ideal followup but as Gohan had seen with the Masenko the current power Gohan possessed in terms of his ki wasn't enough to do any lasting damage against Kale.
Still, that was no reason not to do his best regardless of the situation. Gohan launched himself with his golden ki flaring around him as he landing a flying punch to the side of Kale's jaw, following through with an ariel roundhouse kick to the back of her head and a series of combination punches and kicks to the neck, skull, shoulders and chest (Gohan made sure to avoid her enlarged breasts subconsciously) that slowly knocked the air from Kale's lungs.
Finally, though, she raised up a hand and snatched Gohan's snapping kick mid-strike as she flung him to the ground like she had Vegeta.
Gohan groaned as he felt the sole of Kale's boot press into his chest, his ribs cracking audibly as he let out an unwilling pained cry.
"Yes!" Kale said, beaming with sadistic pleasure. "Cry some more, book baby!"
"Solar… flare."
"Solar wh-GAH MY EYES!"
The burning of her eyes mattered little to Kale a moment later as she felt Gohan's fists and legs continue to slam into her enormous toro and arms.
Below written 8/5 (around 730 words)
Despite his best efforts, Gohan could tell that his strikes were doing little damage as it was, even in his powered up state. Combine that with the amount of speed that Grade Three killed and the staminia strain it took on the body and there was only so long he could last against someone who had both power and speed at their disposal.
Kale let out a guttal roar as she swung an arms wide and wildy arcs which Gohan barely managed to avoid thanks to years of training against larger opponents. The last blow, however, grazed Gohan as he was knocked back a good distance from the center of the ring to the edge.
Inhaling sharply, his body reflexively transformed back to its base state.
On the sidelines, Piccolo frowned. "This isn't good."
Goku nodded, face stone-like in its seriousness. "Yeah. Gohan's put up a pretty good fight so far but this Kale girl is something else."
He glanced at Piccolo. "Good luck out there, by the way."
Piccolo glared at the Sayian fighter's casual grin.
Back in the ring, Kale continued to grin like a demoness from hell. "Aww, is the whittle scholar out of juice already?"
Gohan grimaced as he shifted into a defensive stance. Eyes flashing teal he focused as he broke through to the second Super Saiyan level.
Kale blinked before her grin returned.
"You really do have potential as a fighter, you know."
"So people keep telling me. Unfortunately and with respect to my father, punching people isn't the most stable of occupations to raise a family." Gohan was stalling for time and knew it but every second he bought was another second Piccolo and his father could use in their fights against Kale.
"A fair point." Kale cracked her monstrous thick neck. "Now, how about we end this?"
Gohan nodded. He had no idea how long he could keep Super Saiyan 2 going at this point and even then the power gap between them, well, he didn't care for his chances to put it another way.
Kale and Gohan lunged towards each other and Gohan slipped past the incoming flying punch Kale had been aiming for only for his eyes to go wide when he felt the vice-captain's knee land straight into his stomach.
The elbow blow to the back of his head knocked the scholar out cold.
Beerus from up high scowled hard to disapproval. "I'd have thought the son of Goku would have put up a better fight then that."
"O contraire, my Lord. Gohan put up a wonderful fight against the vice-captain, considering the strange nature of her transformation and the overall gap in power."
"Then maybe you should have trained him instead of that ego centered 'prince' Vegeta instead."
Whis mused on that concept. "Perhaps you are right. Oh well, hindsight and all that I suppose."
Champa, naturally, was a very happy fat cat as he mewed with a pleased look on his face.
"This is glorious, Vados! We've only lost two fighters so far while those fools in the seventh are down to two!"
"Indeed, Lord Champa, but one of those fighters is Son Goku, does have a history of pulling out impressive victories against all odds."
"Bah. He's a mortal and every mortal's luck eventually runs out."
Outside the ring Tien and Vegeta finally had woken back up.
"Heya guys!" Goku said, offering Tien a hand up which the three eyed fighter took. Goku knew better than to offer Vegeta the same token as the Prince sat himself upright.
"What's the score?" Tien asked.
"Gohan just got knocked out." Goku said, motioning to where his unconscious son was laying down on a bed materialized by Piccolo. "So it's just me and Piccolo left."
Vegeta scowled. "So basically just you." The prince glared up at the still-transformed Kale as she stood waiting for her next foe to knock down.
"Well…" Goku grinned impishly. "Basically."
"Do you think you can beat her, this Kale woman?" Tien said, eyes shifting to the vice-captain with an uneasy look.
"Pretty sure, yeah. Won't be easy, though, but between Gohan and Piccolo tiring her out I should have plenty of gas left in the tank for at least their version of Freiza."
Both Tien and Vegeta couldn't help but notice that Goku had left Hit out of his analyst. The fact that he had troubled both fighters greatly.
Piccolo, Son of Katas, entered with his usual flourish as he dropped his Kiloton cape and cloth turban outside the ring before stepping inside.
Kale arched an eyebrow. "You are stronger than you look, Namkeian."
Piccolo said nothing as he shifted into the stance of the Demon style.
"But we both know you won't beat me."
"Don't have to beat you." Piccolo grunted. His ki flared as multiple versions of himself split apart, soon numbering eight in total. "Just have to wear you out." All eight Piccolos declared.
On the sidelines, Tien frowned. "He found a way to perfect the Multi Form, I don't know if I should be jealous or impressed."
"Why not both?" Goku suggested with his usual childish innocence.
Back in the ring, Kale frowned slightly. "It doesn't matter if there's eight or eighty of you, Namke. I will crush you all just the same! In fact, I think you need more warriors!"
The eight Piccolos remained silent as four of them charged Kale's front while the remaining four vanished from view.
Kale smirked mighty as she began blocking and casually dodging each of the four Namke copies with relative ease. They were powerful, to be sure, but her power was far greater as she demonstrated when she slammed her back elbow into one Piccolo, before landing a mighty clothesline on two more and using her other spare arm to land a thunderous chop to the last Piccolo's center.
"Come on, Namke!" Kale roared, arms raised to the Gods. "Is that the best you-"
Four pairs of elongated green arms with pink-red patches suddenly materialized from both sides of Kale as they wrapped around her enormous arms, wrapping them tightly against her chest.
The four Piccolos that Kale had knocked down slowly got up to their feet as they stretched out and wrapped up their own limbs against Kale, tying her arms tighter even further against her broad chest and hearty sized breasts. Kale saw the seventh materialize in front of her, changing up the same energy attack that Gohan had used against her while to her back she could sense the eight and final copy charging a different, if similar, technique.
Kale chuckled. "Clever, Namke."
"Masenko!"
"Makosen!"
The two resulting ki attacks hit Kale point blank as the erupting explosion cloaked her in black smoke.
The remaining six Piccolo's vanished as the front Piccolo charged forward and began fighting with all the skill and strength he had at his disposal. Being able to sense energy, Piccolo could tell that his attacks had struck but that Kale still had plenty of energy left to go, easily.
Kale for her part took every knife-hand strike, every kick, every punch that the Namke threw at her and kept standing where she was. The last Piccolo, kept back eyeing the situation with increasing unease.
Between Gohan and himself Piccolo could sense that Kale was starting to tire however slightly but whether that would be enough to allow Goku enough energy to finish off her, not-Freiza and the mysterious Hit remained to be seen.
When the smoke cleared enough for everyone in the stands to see, Kale halted an incoming punch and casually tossed the seventh Piccolo into the eight by swinging the clone around in a 180 degree swing.
Her body was now covered in more superficial scapes then before, her breathing more heavier, but the Saiyan lust for battle was still going strong.
"Come on, Kale." Caulifla said, voicing her thoughts out loud on the sidelines. "Finish this guy so we can move onto Son Goku and go home."
"Is something the matter?" Frost asked in genuine curiosity. "She seems to be doing fine for herself as is."
"The vice-captain often gets… over confident when she's in this form, Lord Frost." Cabba explained.
"This is my world, Namke!" Kale bellowed. "And you are not welcome in my world!"
Caulifla face palmed. "I'm starting to remember why Kale doesn't like transforming like this. She always says the dumbest shit in this state."
Piccolo scowled as he returned his last clone to his original body.
His blows had damaged her, but there was still more work to be-
Kale materialized in front of him with an explosion of speed that made the former 'demon' reel.
"Surprise, green man." Kale raised her hands, fingers clasped together as she delivered a mighty axe-handed blow to the back of Piccolo's head.
Piccolo crashed to the ground like a green speeding projectile.
On the sidelines, Goku and Tien winced in sympathy.
"Suddenly I don't feel as bad losing against their Captain," Tien commented with his usual dryness.
"Looks like I'm up." Goku said, getting ready to step into the ring when Piccolo slowly stumbled back to his feet, glaring up at Kale in defiance.
Still floating above him, Kale crackled. "You are a tough slug man, I'll give you that!"
Spreading her arms and her fingers wide, she summoned two spheres of green ki as a visible circle of monochrome energy surrounded her hands and forearms for a moment.
"I'll even send you out in style out of respect! Gigantic Impact!"
The two spheres of ki rocketed towards Piccolo before colliding together in a massive explosion as a thick wave of smoke and fog quickly blanketed the arena.
Kale grinned, then glanced down at Goku. "Get in here and fight me next, martial arts magot!"
"I'll face you soon, Kale, but Piccolo's not done just yet!"
Kale's whitened eyes widened. "What are you-"
It was then that she noticed the mine field of ki spheres that surrounded her.
"How-"
"You only paid attention to what your eyes saw." Piccolo said, floating many yards away from her as the Piccolo from below vanished.
"You never thought I'd be able to create a ninth copy, while two versions of me charged up our attacks. Plus, you saiyans often have a habit of not paying attention to your surroundings when in the heat of battle. Setting up my attack while cloaking them from view was easy."
"Was wondering why those spheres of ki were still up in the air." Beerus said with a lazy yawn. The Gods and Angles, of course, had seen everything Piccolo had done and weren't surprised in the slightest (though Champa was annoyed at Kale for overlooking what to him was such an obvious trap… in retrospect).
Kale cringed at her own mistake.
"Hellzone Grenade!"
Goku smiled as the orbs of ki landed and Kale's energy dipped even further down.
Kale blasted forward towards Piccolo, grabbing him by the front of his purple gi and flinging him to the ground before landing on top of him feet first.
The Namkeian grunted as the wind and some green blood were freed from his mouth as unconsciousness came to claim him at last.
Kale glared at Goku, breathing heavily. Between Gohan and Piccolo the massive woman's body was starting to show more visible signs of wear and tear with all the countless scrapes and scorch marks on her figure.
She picked up Piccolo with one hand and tossed him to Tien, who barely caught the unconscious fighter.
"Now we fight, Son Goku! Get over here!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming! No need to be all grumpy, you know?" Goku frowned as he came up onto the fighting stage.
As much as he would have liked to have fought Kale at her full power, the logic of the tournament and the relative stakes thereof told Goku that fighting her slightly winded like this was for the best. Besides, he reasoned as he stepped into the ring with the more visibly winded Kale, there's always more fights in the future, anyways.
He took his signature stance: legs bent in a crouch while one fist waited at his hips while the other hand stood with fingers curved defensively in front of his face.
Kale took a moment to collect her breath as she shifted her bulky body into its own broad stance, legs spread firm apart not unlike a sumo wrestler as she waited for the man who had turned aside Freiza and Majin Buu alike to make the first move.
In normal circumstances, Son Goku would have held back from his full base's power just enough to see where his opponent stood next to him. But having seen Kale in action the martial artist instantly summoned the power of Super Saiyan Blue. The Super Saiyan form he and Vegeta had created that combined the power of god ki with that of the transformation.
Goku's hair went from black to cyan blue in an instant and his ki vanished to all but the Gods and Angels themselves.
Kale arched an eyebrow as she gave a labored but still confident grin.
"Your Saiyan friend tried the same transformation before and you saw what happened to him, Son Goku."
"Yeah." Goku smiled lightly. "But I'm not Vegeta, now am I?"
Kale smirked. "True. You're a better man then him, at least. Now show me what you-"
Goku had already vanished, reappeared in front of her, and landed three short punches, an elbow strike, and a knee blow to the enlarged woman's massive torso.
Kale winced as she staggered back from the recoil.
On the sidelines, Caulifla frowned.
"This is bad. Those other fights are starting to take their toll on her and this state has a certain time limit before it starts really hampering Kale's fighting power."
"So turning into a massive, towering female of raw muscle is not in fact good for one's health." Frost mused. "How very surprising."
Frost was not the slightest bit surprised. However, that is good to know if I am ever forced to fight these two in the future, the Emperor mused to himself. Somehow I get the feeling it would take more then my needles to handle the both of them, if I could even hit them in the first place.
Back in the ring, Kale lashed out with a wild haymaker towards Goku's chin only for the cyan haired fighter to lean his head back as the long reaching hands cleaved a blast of air against his face. The follow through hip punch connected to Goku's toro as the martial artist slid back on the soles of his feet.
Despite his situation, Goku's grin remained fixed on his face.
"Man, with a punch like that I can see how you gave Vegeta and the others as much trouble as you have, Kale."
Kale's solid whites glared hard down at Son Goku. "That's 'Miss Vice-Captain' to you, maggot!"
Her roaring voice echoed as the familes of the Seventh Universe all winced in pain from the sheer volume.
Goku's smile had an impish air about it. "Good to know, but as King Kai will tell ya, I'm not the best when it comes to titles and stuff, Miss Kale."
A small twitch began to form under Kale's left eye. She blasted forward, arm raised so that her knuckles would demolish Goku in one blow only for the Earth-raised Saiyan to vanish in an instantaneous burst of speed.
Kale halted, almost stumbling forward due to her increased muscle mass and scowled as she whipped her head around. "Where is he…?"
Goku reappeared in front of her, spinning his entire body around as he landed a full spinning kick as his heel collided with the side of Kale's head.
Kale's head snapped back as a wad of blood shot from her newly busted lips. Kale's leg swung out in Goku's general direction only for the cyan Saiyan to once more weave past the blow, landing a straight one-two punch combo from his hips which forced Kale to stagger backwards.
The Vice-Captain scowled for a moment before a small, twisted smile returned to her face.
"You are more skillful than the boastful prince, and more powerful than your son and the Namek. I will enjoy crushing the last of the seventh universe's fighters as your friends and loved one's watch on help-"
Goku landed a reaching, chambered punch towards Kale's throat, cutting the giantess off mid-speech.
Gasping for air, Kale took a ponderous step backwards. The blow had hit with more force then she had expected, with her energy having been as spent as it was and her guard having been down at the same time.
"Sorry." Goku said in a 'not really all that sorry' sort of tone.
"You were just rambling like that and your open guard just said 'hit me'. So I did."
Kale let out a beast-like snarl as she lunged toward Goku with wide, wild swings.
Fast and large as she was, Goku had spent a majority of his life fighting people who were both, amd his muscle memory from those yonger, wilder years came back to him.
Goku effortlessly weaved in and out of her incoming strikes with little trouble, counting with a snapping side kicks for the longer reach as his strikes, combined with Gohan and Piccolo's efforts from before, rapidly started to take their toll on the vice-captain's stamina and overall performance.
"It seems I will have to fight after all." Frost said in a bemused tone as Kale continued to flail around in growing frustration.
Goku continued effortlessly evading every punch and stomping kick that Kale tried to land before finally stepping in, raising his god ki with just enough power as he landed three elbow strikes to her stomach and two hooking punches to her face.
Kale crashed to the ground as her eyes snapped shut, her breath ragged and labored as her body shrank to it's smaller, trimmer, tanner self in mere moments.
"Boo!" Yamcha said.
Much to everyone's surprise, Kale slowly rose back to her feet. Despite the wheezing breaths and shaking arms, there was an unshakable determination in her gray eyes. Now that the vice-captain had returned to normal the battles with Gohan and Piccolo were far more evident, to say nothing of Son Goku's own strikes having added to her countless bruises and scrapes.
"You should give up." Goku told her. "You're clearly running on fumes now that you've shrunken back your base form. You gotta know you can't win this in your current state."
"S-Shut up… B-bumpkin." Kale blinked with a dazed look on her face. "I-I'm still the vice-captain of the Defense Force and I still have my pride as a Saiyan, you... bozo."
Kale's trash talking, as well as her power, was apparently also tied to her transformation.
"Bozo?" Goku blinked, his serious expression temporarily gone. "Is that like a clown? Cuz Vegeta calls me that one a lot."
Kale said nothing as her aura flashed golden, her gray eyes shifting into teal.
Goku's confusion gave way to his more serious look.
"You've got power, Kale, but as you are I wouldn't even need Super Saiyan Blue to beat you."
"You Universe Seven Saiyans are terrible at naming things." Kale said, raising her hands in a rough brawler's stance. "Come on, Son Goku! I could do this all day!" She rolled her shoulder around as if to prove her point.
Goku wondered if this was what it had been like when Freiza had fought him on Namek, too stubborn to give up when given a proper out.
To prove his point, Goku's hair changed from cyan to gold. Not the wild, flaming aura of gold that Kale was using, but the controlled Super Saiyan form he and Gohan had mastered years ago preparing for the Cell Games. Not a transformation of wild, wicked power, but one of calm normalcy.
For a moment, Kale just kept glaring at Goku, wobbling back and forth on her feet before finally crashing to the ground unconscious, this time for good.
"Alright, Kale, rest up soldier." Caulifla said as she picked the smaller girl up under the arm. "You've earned it three times over today."
She stared up at Goku. "You're not as good as the report made you out to be, Son Goku."
Goku blinked again, confused. "Huh?"
Caulifla smiled sardonically.
"You're better. For the first time in a long while Kale and I have a goal to work towards. Besting you and that pompous windbag you call a prince in battle. Regardless of how this tournament shakes out, you and I are going to spar one day. And when we do, it will be totally awesome!"
Goku's confusion turned into a look of contented confidence. He gave her a thumbs up.
"I'd like that, Caulifla."
"That's Captain Caulifla to you, blue boy." Caulifla said over her shoulder as she carried the unconscious Kale back to their side of the sidelines. "I didn't bust my ass for five years just to be called by my name you know!" There was a playful smirk on her face despite her comment.
On the sidelines, Frost sighed. "It seems as if you and I are fighting after all, eh, Hit?"
"So it would seem." Hit replied, eyes still closed.
"Really? Not even a token 'good luck out there, Lord Frost'?"
"You are not my lord." Hit's stoic tone took a sharp turn into agitation.
If he had the ability to do so, Frost would have blanched on the spot. As it was, he looked briefly terrified before regaining himself.
"Well, time to see if this Son Goku truly lives up to the hype." Frost muttered to himself as he floated into the ring.
So that's Kale's rampage and I think I struck a decent balance in terms of giving everyone at this point in Super a decent showing (Vegeta got bodied because, well, its Vegeta, guys. It's kinda his lot in life, honestly) while still giving Kale some reasonable-ish narrative flaws to her big bulky buff form. Otherwise in this AU you'd have to ask the question "So why doesn't Kale just stay like that all the time?" The fittingly Dragon Ball answer would be because she keeps smashing through doorways and bonking her head on ceilings, tbf, but I wanted to give her some realistic ish weaknesses.