Goku's muscles twitched repeatedly, as it could have been determined from his distressed facial expression it was an involuntary twitch. While the Saiyan had canceled out his drastic Hot-Red mode and therefore reduced the risk of burning his body out of fluid within a pair of minutes, his build remained in its previously amped up state and continued to pulse as if it was still trying to pump blood to satisfy the needs of his previously amped up body. Needless to say, such demand was causing tremendous stress on his body.
It was because of that reason that the fatigued martial artist stood frozen in the middle of a crater that the stage had become with his arms raised over his head, in the position of the Kamehameha wave that he had just employed to push back Piccolo's attack.
"Impressive, you'd think that somebody with a one-track mind like Goku would attempt to strengthen his Hot-Red mode, try to make it draw out more power from him but he instead chose to learn to exercise control. By learning to tap into it for just a moment, whenever he needs it the most, it makes it much less likely to knock him unconscious if he does not settle the fight with it," Tenshinhan observed.
"Heh, so I guess Piccolo Jr. hasn't learned much, huh? Taken down with the same technique that offed his predecessor…" Krillin smirked, leaning on his hands and looking like it was all over. Goku stared into the sky as if waiting for the exact opposite, refusing to believe that the fight of his life was done with.
It was not the survival or demise of Piccolo Jr. that intrigued Chayote the most. It was what Tenshinhan said instead. About Goku learning to tap into Hot-Red mode whenever he needed it and canceling it out when it would have been harmful. It was a lot like the locals from Planet Beiko could do. It was what she needed the most right now. Her rage was an affliction that took the wheel away from her and drove her at breakneck speeds she didn't know toward the nearest pit to hell. If she could only learn to tap into that rage whenever she needed and stay in control when she wanted to, she'd pose no danger to Earth with her reckless decisions…
"Hot-Red Mode. It's a technique accessed through control over your emotions, right?" Chayote turned to the rest of the Dragon Team, she saw Chiaotzu nod.
"Huh? You mean Chayote doesn't know it? I'd have thought that you'd have been the second one to grab it… Yeah, it, alongside the other Ki manipulation modes is accessed through controlling your emotions. You see, depending on your emotions, Ki can be blazing hot, like fire, or fluid and cool like water. I guess it can be a whole lot of other stuff too, we sort of discovered it through the shock of having to deal with the Room of Space and Time…" Krillin scratched the back of his head.
"That's right, come to think of it, I've never seen Chayote us it!" Yamcha pointed out. "I thought she was just taking it easy with her training…"
If that was the case, then perhaps Chayote's goal now was clear. This time they've managed to avoid certain doom brought about by Chayote's poor impulse control and having her anger dictate her decisions but that would not always be the case, especially if the vision Goku had way back in the waters of the Korin Tower about other Saiyans finding them here on Earth would come true…
Goku exclaimed in shock, his eyes flickered and he finally found the strength to lower his hands. His body shrunk down, all of that amped up power burnt out, reducing the body of the young man into something resembling his normal state, though perhaps even more drained than that. Clutching his ribs, Goku couldn't pull his eyes off the sky and before long the rest of the Dragon Team turned their attention there as well.
"It's… Piccolo!" Chiaotzu pointed at a green dot in the sky. Piccolo had shrunken down to his normal size again, his arm and his leg were missing, his body shook overtaken by shock but, before everyone's bewildered eyes, the reborn Demon King roared out and had new limbs burst forth from the stumps of the old ones while he descended on the other side of the stage to confront Goku.
"That's a nice move…" Goku chuckled with all the severity of having broken past his limits and now having to pay the price while still continuing to fight the toughest challenger he'd ever faced brought with it. "You've lost a whole lot of Ki from it though…"
"Hmph… Don't get cheeky with me, you bastard…" Piccolo growled with a sneer. The damage and humiliation that he had sustained in the hands of this Saiyan had removed any hints of elegance and restraint on his face. Damaged and pushed to the corner he might have been, though Piccolo Jr. was now more Demon King Piccolo than ever before. "I can have twice my current Ki but if I'm fighting with just one arm and one leg – I'd have no chance of beating you in a fistfight."
"Guess not…" Goku wiped the dried out blood off his face and wiped some ash and dirt from it, assuming his fighting position while his entire body begged him to stop. "Still, I'm glad you survived. Life on Earth would have been way too boring without a guy like you and we could still use the Dragon Balls around to bring back all the people that the guys from the Demon Realm have killed."
"Dream on, the only thing you're getting is the few handfuls of dirt I'll offer your corpse that I'll leave behind. Call it a shallow grave, if you will…" Piccolo reared his fangs at Goku and responded with a stance of aggression likewise his challenger.
The two took off at once, emptying their lungs with pride and determination of true martial artists, colliding in the middle and pushing at one another until their might created a shockwave bubble that kept on expanding in size, grinding the dirt underneath their feet down to an even wider and deeper crater. Piccolo's eyebeams just narrowly missed Goku's head when the Saiyan leaned it down and avoided the blast, receiving a knee strike for his forethought but responding with a vicious barrage of strikes that Piccolo couldn't protect from at that moment.
"Wow, their Ki has plummeted so low right now but they're still going at it!" Krillin gasped. While his current level of strength would have made him a sufficient challenger to the level of energy that Piccolo Jr. and Goku had now, the sheer perseverance and determination of the two and the crystal clear desire to settle this matter between them continued to baffle him.
"I can't tell which one of them has the advantage now…" Yamcha wiped the sweat off his forehead, he was getting tired just following this match alone.
"Neither, from the looks of it. Piccolo had grown his Ki tremendously with his Super-Giant Form so to challenge it Goku had to almost break his body to overcome him. In the end, it seems like both their bodies have broken down to an almost matching state of exhaustion…" Tenshinhan observed.
"Say, say… You're a freak just like Goku, eh?" Yajirobe turned to Chayote "Yer energy's all recovered and such, how 'bout ya blast Piccolo right now an' kill 'im just like dat, eh?"
"Don't be ridiculous…" Chayote muttered. "As if I'd ever allow anyone interfere with this fight. Look at it, Kakarot's having the time of his life. If you consider yourselves his friends, you will let him finish this and not finish Piccolo off until Kakarot is done with him."
"Huh? You mean you don't plan on finishing off Piccolo?" Krillin wondered. "I mean, he is part demon… Probably…"
"Yeah…" Chayote nodded. "But… I'm done interfering with Earth's business. I've caused too many problems for this planet already, I need to scram and take care of my own problems before I can set my foot here again."
Before Krillin could try to pry into what exactly Chayote had in mind, Goku let out a proud battle cry and manage to slip in a straight cross to Piccolo's jaw, before the staggered Namekian could even recover, the Saiyan swept at his legs, sending his opponent spinning in mid-air. Utilizing his flight, Goku threw a rising uppercut to take the battle up in the air, continuing to hammer at his opponent over and over again while pursuing him until a high kick sent Piccolo even higher up.
Just when Goku was about to pursue his airborne opponent up above the clouds, Piccolo stretched his body out in controlled flight and recovered, extending his arms out. Trails of lightning ran down Piccolo's body as he pointed his arms down and smirked with all the ecstasy and malice of a sadist about to inflict a great deal of punishment to his unsuspecting victim.
"Makosen!" Piccolo yelled out while a two-handed destructive wave of light overwhelmed Goku and detonated in almost point-blank range. The satisfied Namekian spread his arms apart, taking a few moments to charge up purple energy spheres in each hand that he then unleashed in a barrage of rapid Ki waves fired at a lightning-fast rate, all of them scattered across the area but homed in at Piccolo's opponent before going too off-track.
After the barrage of fully-charged Ki waves concluded, the reincarnated Demon King took a moment to observe the carnage that he had created and sneer at his opponent. Seeing Goku fallen on his back with dirt raised by Piccolo's rampage covering the young man, the Namekian descended not too far away from his opponent and continued to keep his beady stare focused on his panting and injured prize.
Piccolo took a step closer, preparing to torment his sworn enemy further but Goku's body twitched, freezing Piccolo's in place and in a sudden outburst of energy, Goku kicked up on two feet and dusted his chest off. One of his eyes was beginning to swell up and no matter how hard he patted himself he couldn't wipe off some meaner burns, forcing the injured Saiyan to just wince in pain whenever he touched them but Goku looked up at Piccolo with a genuine smile.
"That was amazing, just when I thought I had you on the ropes…" Goku exclaimed in excitement. "We've gotta do this again sometime!"
"Oh? You're implying that you're going to defeat me and survive this fight then?" Piccolo raised a mocking eyebrow, pointing out the fact that he was not the one to fall back down on his behind from the sky in their last exchange.
"That's right, we're just about even at power, you're just a little bit stronger, but the difference in experience and skill between us is clear. Your predecessor has been plaguing this Earth for a long time and I've got the collective experience of this entire planet and its martial arts masters ingrained in me, ready to stop you," Goku stood perfectly still, choosing not to even take a fighting stance. It was not tough to see what he was doing – it was a good idea too as Piccolo did seem like the type of guy to get psyched out pretty easily.
"Tsk, you cocky fool! How about I put you to your grave right now then?!" Piccolo threw his arms back before extending his right one at Goku and wrapping his left hand around his right wrist as surges of Ki erupted from his body, forming a vibrant, golden aura around him that crackled with lightning, intense enough to send the announcer fifty meters away from him down on his butt.
"Go ahead and try!" Goku challenged his opponent, spreading his legs out and crossing his arms out in front of him. In a clever choice of technique, he decided to wait until the very last moment to use his Kiai to form a protective bubble around him and help him in blocking Piccolo's attack as just stonewalling it would have taken everything Goku had.
"I don't get it, he just stated that Piccolo is a little bit stronger than him, then why deal with his technique by just tackling it head-on? If Goku is more skilled than his opponent, he should try to win through skill!" Tenshinhan objected from the sidelines.
"Goku-sa is going to win this, I know! He's waiting to pull his triumph card at the very end, so to not tip Piccolo off!" Chi-Chi pressed her fist to her chest and watched her husband building up energy and resolve to tackle his greatest challenge yet. "Goku-sa, use what I've taught you in Kiai and leave that demon gasping for air!"
"Kiai? It's true that Chi-Chi has the best Kiai out of all of us, I see… So that's what Goku has learned while training with her…" Krillin scratched his chin. "Might not have been the best thing to yell it out loud and tip Piccolo off he's going to use Kiai but… Oh well…"
"Kiai?" Piccolo chuckled, sweating as he pushed his own body to his limit again, building up all the Ki he had and forcing his power level to swell up to heights it hadn't even seen as he prepared his strongest technique. "So you've lost your will to live, at last. That's just fine by me. I've hoped to use this technique once I was done breaking every bone in your body but if you're begging to die so early, I'll show you the mercy I've learned from hosting Kami within my body. Get gone, Explosive Demon Wave!"
An intense sphere of light concentrated from the crackling lightning of Ki around Piccolo's body and grew in size with each passing second. The reincarnation made sure to charge its predecessor's most powerful technique fully and leave not a single ounce of energy that he could have put into the blast in reserve. If the two fought on a neutral fighting ground, Goku would have always had the option of faking his enemy out and diving out of the technique's way but now, if he'd have done so, his wife was standing right behind him with all of his friends located not too far from her.
He truly did intend on taking the blast head-on.
Using one arm for support while the other let his most potent and devastating attack wreak havoc, Piccolo released the wave of energy of incredible power which he seemed to be having trouble even controlling in his hand. The wave seemed like light itself, once dispersing from its user's hand it made sure to spread wide, overwhelm and destroy everything in its path. In the hands of the old Demon King Piccolo it might have had the power to destroy a city or a continent, this power had the might of ending entire worlds and it was all concentrated on obliterating a single, stubborn Saiyan.
The Dragon Team scattered from harm's way, forming Kiai bubbles of their own while Muten Roshi assisted in protecting the announcer with a Kiai bubble of his own as even if the destructive energy was concentrated entirely on decimating Son Goku, the resulting blast reduced the entire Papaya Island to a smoking, rocky wasteland.
"N-No way…" Piccolo's eyes bulged out to an extent that would have been unnatural for a human. His face locked down in shock when witnessing his opponent still floating in mid-air where he decided to confront the entirety of Piccolo's power head-on. "That was all of my power…"
Goku looked shaken by the impact, his body had swollen up again as the Explosive Demon Wave had tested every ounce of the essence of his being and stressed every fiber in his body. Inch by inch, the Saiyan lowered his cross-shaped block and smirked at Piccolo with a triumphant, pain-ridden smile. With the few specks of oxygen he still had in his overstressed chest, the warrior let out a husky chuckle.
"Thanks, Chi-Chi… I might have gotten fried if I didn't learn a thing or two from you…" Goku's body deflated all at once, throwing him into a forward stumble but the martial artist was quick to regain his strength. Just when Piccolo had wondered if perhaps he had scored a successful hit that had crushed his enemy, Goku regained the gusto in his step and charged onward at his enemy, delivering an overwhelming combination of kicks and strikes at Piccolo's unprotected and exhausted body, breaking his arms and tearing lacerations with mere punches and kicks and making the reincarnated demon spit up purple blood as his body gave way to the wrath and will to win that was placed behind the fists of one man.
With a triumphant roar, Goku planted his fist deep into Piccolo's abdomen, driving all will to fight out of his enemy and reducing him to a cradling wimp kneeling on the ground and vomiting his crushed insides while the Saiyan took a leap up into the sky and cupped his arms beside him. The intense cerulean glee shimmered in his hands, just like Piccolo did before him, Goku put all of his willpower and all of his determination, all of the skill he acquired up until this point into one, astonishing attack. The Hot-Red blazes lit up with a scorching inferno that colored Goku's aura and his eyes whited out completely while his skin changed color to a more intense, indian-red color.
"Super Kamehameha!" Goku yelled out as he fired at still collapsed opponent directly underneath him. The flaming blast drowned Piccolo Jr. out like a waterfall drowned out a soul that was lacking in proper discipline and strength to take its washing showers. As Piccolo's body laid sprawled out and decimated on the ground, smoking with trails of steam from his burns that not even the unnatural vitality of a demon could help him overcome, it had become evident that Goku had prevailed.
The powerless but happier than ever hero plummeted from the air toward the ground. Having continuously driven his body to the very limit, the young Saiyan no longer had the strength necessary to move a single muscle but it didn't seem like he much cared. In fact, if the satisfied expression on Goku's face was of any indication, even if he broke his neck on his way down and died the most anti-climactic death ever recorded, he'd have been happy because he'd just had exactly the battle he had expected to have.
From around the falling hero, his friends, his rivals and family raced to him to stop his fall, to congratulate him for becoming the Strongest Under the Heavens and a whole lot of other things on top.