Chapter Hundred-nineteen
The Beast of Shadows! A Taste of Goku's Power!
In the dark dimension of shadows which he called home, Yakon lurked and sought out his prey. It was a world where light was a foreign concept, an unheard of anomaly, and all because of him. Yakon feasted on the light, gobbling it up in his great, slavering maw. He had drunk deeply of every fire, every lightning bolt, every flash and flicker. From the smallest candle flame to the very sun itself, he had consumed it all. For centuries, Yakon had sat in shadows. Then, in his despair, the Wizard Babidi had found him, promising him a never-ending supply of light in exchange for Yakon's immortal soul.
To be honest, Yakon didn't really know what a soul was so he was happy to accept the deal.
"Yakon," Babidi's voice whispered, echoing in the infinite shadows of Yakon's home. "I am summoning you, my loyal beast. Pocus is dead. I must call on your power to kill our enemies and take their power for Majin Boo."
"Yes, my master," Yakon growled obediently, bowing his enormous head.
"These warriors are quite powerful," Babidi warned, "So I shall use my magic to give you an advantage. You shall be able to do things… your way."
"Oh good, my way. Thank you, Master," Yakon nodded slowly, perhaps even dumbly. Then he blinked, unquestionably dumbly. "...What is my way?" he asked.
"I'm going to turn the level they're on into your dimension of darkness," Babidi explained with irritation clear in his face. "Wait for them to arrive. Once they do, strike from the shadows and kill them!" Then there was silence before Yakon was transported to the second level of Babidi's ship which was swiftly plunged into darkness.
"...My way's not very sportsmanlike," Yakon observed. His wide, frog-like face morphed into a hideous, fanged grin. Good. He never did like playing fair.
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"Jeez," Goku observed as she, Gohan, Vegeta, and Xī all landed in shadows. "It sure is dark in here. What happened," she asked, "Did Babidi just turn off the lights or something?"
"I expect it's far more sinister than that," Xī guessed. "I think he's using another one of his minions. He's saving Dabura for last and, given the conditions of the room, I suspect he's using the monster known as Yakon. He can see in complete darkness and he feasts on light."
"So, a raccoon," Vegeta pointed out dryly. "You're telling us Kakarot has to fight a raccoon. Ow!" he exclaimed as someone walked backward onto his foot. "Watch it!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Gohan apologized quickly. "It's just kinda hard to figure out where anything is."
"Well, I'm back here!" Vegeta said while shoving Gohan hard in the back. Xī gave an "Oof!" as he was shoved into her. "Oh for crying out loud!" Vegeta groaned in exasperation. "Why are we so bunched up?! There's plenty of space!" There was the sound of footsteps and, wordlessly, everyone stuck their arms out and spun in a circle to make sure they all had enough room.
"There," Xī sighed, "Are we all better now?" There were various mutterances of agreement and Xī rolled her eyes, although no one could see it. "Super. Now, can we stay on–"
"Hey," Goku interjected, "Did you guys hear that?" There was a "Whoosh" of air as something rushed right over their heads. Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta ducked, and Xī was simply short enough that whatever it was missed her. They heard a scraping sound like something with claws skidded across the ground in front of them to a stop. "Hey," Goku called out into the darkness, the unsettling sound of heavy breathing and something… dripping, "Are you that Yakko guy?"
"I am Yakon," a deep and bestial voice corrected. "The shadows belong to me. You shall all die here for my Master!" Yakon lunged suddenly, Goku hearing the sounds of claws digging into the earth and pushing off and the rush of air as a very large figure lunged at them. Goku hopped to the side and dodged him again causing the beast to make a very confused noise before this was followed by a rather painful-sounding crash. Perhaps he'd gone head-first into a rock or something.
"You know, even though I can't see you or sense your ki, I can still hear you!" Goku explained to the brute before waving a hand in front of her face and frowning. "Also, you stink!" She dodged a few more swipes from Yakon, throwing out a few light strikes of her own, trying to figure out the size and shape of her enemy so she'd know where to hit. "It still kinda sucks not knowing where you are, though," she muttered thoughtfully before she was suddenly struck with an idea. Like the proverbial light bulb going off, her hair flashed gold and filled the darkened area with bright light as she turned Super Saiyan. "Hey, Vegeta!" she called to the Saiyan King. "Looks like I got a bright idea, huh? Huh?" Goku flashed Vegeta a cheeky grin and he groaned, seething between his teeth.
Yakon stared at Goku's glowing golden hair in wonder, salivating at the sight of that glorious, bright light. Now that Goku and the others could actually see her enemy, they all took a step back, visibly repulsed by the creature.
"Way worse than a racoon," Gohan muttered as he scrunched up his face. "Way, way worse…" Yakon was a truly monstrous creature. His studded skin was a dark green, with spikes bursting out of his enormous shoulders and running down along his back like spines. His bulging yellow eyes were fixated on Goku's aura, drool dripping from his hideous fangs. His arms, nearly as long as his entire body, ended in gigantic hands as large as Goku's torso, with strange growths coming from his wrists and deadly claws on each fingertip. Unlike everyone else, presumably because there wasn't enough space on his squashed little head, the Majin Symbol was in the center of his chest.
"Such glorious light," Yakon snarled rapturously. "So grossly incandescent! I shall feast on you like I feasted upon the sun!" Goku made a disgusted face.
"Yeah, no," she told him bluntly. "Kamehameha!" She threw her hands out and fired the blue-white beam straight at the monster. He jumped backward on his strange, bent-back frog legs, his mouth opening unnaturally wide. The blast went directly into his mouth and his stomach bulged as he, in no uncertain terms, swallowed the Kamehameha. "...Huh?" Goku asked in confusion.
"Sooo…" Gohan guessed as he turned to Xī, "You weren't kidding about that whole 'feasts on light' thing, huh?"
"What," Xī asked witheringly, "Did you think I was being metaphorical?" Meanwhile, Goku was thinking, even as enormous blades burst out of the growths on Yakon's arms and she dodged his wild, feral swipes. He made her think of that weird, pink rubber guy that she and Suno had fought when they were little. But she couldn't really break open the wall since they were underground and in the desert. But if he swelled up like a balloon from eating light… there was always something you could do to a balloon.
"Hey, ugly!" Goku taunted as she drove her feet into Yakon's chest to send him flying. "Let's see you snack on this!" Then she let out a roar and started to power up, her aura growing larger and brighter as her power rose higher and higher. Yakon practically giggled as he opened his mouth wide and started sucking down her aura, the golden fire disappearing into his gullet.
"What the hells is Kakarot doing?" Vegeta muttered, one eyebrow raising in confusion. What sort of strategy involved, literally, giving your opponent exactly what they wanted? However, as Yakon's stomach continued to distend, Vegeta started to get an inkling. Yakon's eyes went wider than ever and his expression changed to panic as his stomach continued to grow and grow. Vegeta was almost impressed that Kakarot was actually showing something that resembled a strategy. However, whatever he might have been felt quickly changed to disbelief and anger as Kakarot's power continued to climb. This was… this was just absurd! It was… it was…
OoOoOoO
"Inconceivable!" Babidi cried as he watched Yakon explode rather violently. Where the hell had the Kaioushin gotten these freaks from?! What even were they? How could they have such power?! He'd barely gotten anything to resurrect Majin Boo with other than what Spopovich and Yamu had already given him. It was all up to Dabura now…
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'Dabura!' Babidi's voice snapped in the Demon King's mind, disturbing him from his meditation on the third and final level. While most beings meditated in silence, The Lord of the Demon Realm found serene calm in the screaming and wailing of the damned, the sounds of war and destruction. It was a sweet and sonorous serenade to his sinister senses. In this tranquility, he would sometimes find his thoughts returning to home. To his sister and to his father, now dead these ten thousand years. Dabura had sold his soul to Babidi on the promise of the power to slay his father and assume the throne as Demon King. His father had been proud of Dabura's resourcefulness and sheer underhandedness. Treachery was their way, after all.
'Yes, Oh my master?' Dabura asked as he slowly opened his eyes. He could guess why Babidi had summoned him. No doubt Yakon had failed just as spectacularly as Pocus before him. These creatures the Kaioushin had brought together, there was something different about them. He found it most… intriguing.
'Yakon has also fallen,' Babidi announced, as Dabura had expected. 'It all falls on you now, my greatest and most powerful servant.' Dabura unfolded his legs and let his feet drift down onto the ground as he listened to his master.
'I shall lead with my left hand,' Dabura decided as he stretched, flexing his fingers and rolling his neck. He heard Babidi's exasperated scoff and chuckled. 'If I lead with the right, it will be over too quickly. You will not have the energy you require.'
'Fine, fine,' Babidi muttered, the roll of his eyes almost audible. 'Have it your way. But make sure they're dead!' Dabura bowed his head dutifully.
'As you will, it shall be done,' Dabura thought as a hole opened in the ceiling above him.
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Before the floor opened up, Xī continued to hoot and holler and make obscene gestures toward the ceiling at Babidi. Meanwhile, Gohan was left… perplexed. This was what he'd been dreading for the last month?! This had been a cakewalk so far! For a second, he started to set himself up for disappointment, since it was his turn to fight Dabura next. Almost immediately, though, he realized how stupid that was. He wanted to kill the guy so that Krillin and Mr. Piccolo could turn back to normal, why should he want him to be strong? Still, though, this all felt like a lot of worry and panic for nothing. Cell had been worse than this!
OoOoOoO
"Lllladies and Gentlemen!" Ken announced over the intercom, a tone of relief to his voice now that the proceedings were finally… proceeding, again. "The judges have come to a decision! Due to the rather extraordinary circumstances, we shall be proceeding straight to the semifinals!" The crowd cheered at this, no doubt thankful to get the show back on the proverbial road. "It will be Lazuli taking on Videl Satan," he declared, "And Son Suno taking on the reigning, defending Budoukai Champion and Hero of the World, Hercule Satan!" The crowd's cheers grew even louder as they anticipated a father/daughter final in a grand passing of the torch. It would only be appropriate, wouldn't it?
The announcement pulled Suno out of her meditation, though by now she was more or less back to full strength anyway. She got up off the cot and stretched, preparing to face Lazuli in the finals. Unless Videl had made a lot of improvements in the last two days or tried something really clever, anyway. It would be kind of fun, actually, fighting Lazuli. Just a fight between friends, nothing serious, no major stakes. Just a couple million zeni.
"Hey," Trunks muttered, nudging Goten with his elbow. "Are we going or what? Everyone's gonna be staring at the tournament, they won't even know we're gone!" Goten chewed her lip indecisively and looked back and forth between the ring and the bright, blue sky. If she went, there'd be adventure! But if she stayed…
"I gotta stay and watch Mama win!" she whined. Trunks groaned and rolled his eyes, burying his face in his hand. Why were girls so emotional?
Videl watched Lazuli walk past her with a concerned look, chewing her lip thoughtfully as she got in some last-minute stretches. She saw Suno walking toward her and gave a bitter little smirk.
"I'm going to get my ass kicked, aren't I?" she asked. Suno gave her student a bit of a shrug and patted her on the shoulder.
"Just give it your best shot," she told Suno encouragingly. "That's all you can really ever do." Videl rolled her eyes and walked out to the ring, doing her best to soak in the cheers of the crowd. She figured she could last a couple of minutes, though it was hard to gauge exactly how strong Lazuli was. Something to do with her nanites or something, as Gohan had explained it to her.
"Come on, Videl!" Erasa cheered, cupping her hands around her mouth and doing her best to be heard over the rest of the crowd. Shapna put two fingers into his mouth and whistled encouragement. Videl got into her guard as Lazuli did the same, rolling her shoulders as she waited for the battle to begin.
"Go, mama, go!" Marron cheered from the luxury box, pumping her little fists eagerly from her uncle's lap. Lapis grinned as he watched, figuring that his sis had this in the bag.
"Fighters ready?" Ken asked.
'Ready as I'm gonna be,' Videl thought, giving Ken a nod.
"Begin!" Ken declared. Videl got an intense look in her eyes and decided that she'd have to go straight for the jugular if she wanted to make any kind of impact in this fight.
"Shinsoku Odori!" Videl cried out. A blue ki aura surrounded her and her hair was whipped up in a chill breeze as she launched herself at Lazuli with the speed and sharpness of an arctic wind. Suno gave a surprised whoop from the fighters' area, frankly astonished at Videl's progress. She'd thought that her pupil had only progressed enough to use the Fubuki Odori! Videl came at Lazuli with a tornado kick, doing three full revolutions before driving her foot into the side of the blonde cyborg's head. Or, rather, she was aiming for her head. Her foot just went into Lazuli's forearm to block the strike.
"Not bad," Lazuli admitted with a bit of a smirk. "You almost got me by surprise there." She pushed Videl's foot back and grinned. "Gonna have to be a little faster, though." Videl glared at Lazuli and threw a few more punches and kicks to try and gauge the other woman's defenses and Lazuli at least had the courtesy to pivot her body this way and that with her blocks, when she could have easily deflected Videl's blows by standing still. Videl flew at the blonde cyborg from her sides and behind, trying to strike through any sort of opening in Lazuli's defenses. Frustratingly, she didn't seem to have any.
"Videl attacks with incredible speed," Ken narrated, "But the newcomer Lazuli seems to have an impregnable defense!" Lazuli only chuckled and fought the inclination to roll her eyes at being labeled a "newcomer." Well, she supposed that on the world stage, sure, whatever. Videl threw another roundhouse kick at her, throwing her whole body weight into the blow.
"Come on," Lazuli taunted Videl as she caught her foot in one hand. "You know you can't beat me. I know you wanna give a good fight but you're gonna make me feel…" Slowly, almost comically, Lazuli realized that Videl's foot seemed to be twisted at an unnatural angle. And also, it suddenly carried a lot less weight behind it. She turned her head and realized that she was holding an empty shoe with its straps undone. When had the girl even had the time to take off her shoe? She turned back to Videl and stared open-mouthed, still confused by everything that had just happened, as Videl held a large ki ball over her head. Videl threw it with all her might but, again surprising Lazuli, Videl threw it straight at the ground, sending up the dust and grit to block Lazuli's field of view.
'Dad always says,' Videl thought to herself as she came at Lazuli through the smoke, 'If you can't hit harder than them, you gotta hit smarter than them!' She hit Lazuli triumphantly in the face with a knee, bringing them both out of the smoke as she pushed into the air with all her strength, the pair of them flying into the sky.
"Yeah!" Hercule cheered thunderously. "That's my little girl! Go on, get her! Show her what you're made of!" He couldn't believe it! His little girl could fly! 'I guess I really do need to train harder,' he thought to himself. Maybe he could learn about this "key" stuff.
The two fighters hovered in the air, Videl panting and lacking a shoe, Lazuli rubbing at the spot on her lip where Videl's knee had hit her, actually impressed. She nodded slowly, sizing Videl up and deciding to take her just a little bit more seriously.
"Not bad," Lazuli admitted as Videl dropped out of the Odori state and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "If you were a little stronger… okay, a lot stronger, that would have actually stung." Videl rolled her eyes. "But I think you're all out of tricks," Lazuli continued, "So I'm about to wrap this up." Then, surprisingly, Videl smirked. "Come on, kid, you're barely keeping yourself in the air. I think you're all out of tricks."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises!" Videl taunted as she brought her hands forward. Lazuli watched her, more curious than anything, which worked out pretty well for Videl as she'd never actually done this before. She hadn't even attempted it yet. But, still, if you were gonna go for broke… "Kaaaameee…" Lazuli actually gawked at that, as did the vast majority of those in the luxury box.
"She's bluffing, right?" Launch asked with one eyebrow raised while Kani continued sketching furiously.
"She's gotta be," Yamcha affirmed. "I mean, Suno said it took her the better part of a month just to learn how to fly. Before that, she didn't even know what ki was."
"Haaaameeee…" Videl continued, the tell-tale blue-white light glowing in her hands.
"Sure doesn't look like she's bluffing," Lapis pointed out with a chuckle. Suno, for her part, was utterly bewildered. She'd shown Videl how to create ki blasts but this was something else! How much extracurricular work had the girl been doing?
'No wonder Gohan's crazy about her,' she thought approvingly, positively beaming. Lazuli waited tensely, prepared to at least give Videl the courtesy of actually blocking the blast to absorb it rather than just slapping it aside or teleporting out of the way. Then, Videl spun around so that she was facing away from Lazuli, tilting the angle of her hands slightly.
"Haaaa!" Videl cried, blasting herself into Lazuli shoulder-first. The change in attack plan caught the blonde bombshell by surprise and Videl slammed into her, knocking both of them out of the air and toward the grass outside the ring.
"What ingenuity by Videl," Ken crowed, "What incredible leaps and bounds of progress she's made in the last four years! Will she be able to do it? Can she overcome her more powerful opponent?"
"Come on, Videl!" Hercule cheered. "You can get her! Get her outta there!"
As it happened, she could not. Videl's Kamehameha petered out in her hands, and with it went all of the force she could muster to actually put Lazuli out of the ring. Using the Shinsoku Odori for as long as she had, plus the Kamehameha, with both techniques being used for the first time, was more than Videl's body could handle and she had burned through her ki. Lazuli, holding Videl carefully so that she didn't drop the girl, floated down and put her on the grass, her own feet still not touching.
"Ring out!" Ken declared. "Lazuli is the winner! She will go on to face the winner between Son Suno and reigning champion Hercule Satan in the grand final!" It was as if all of the air had been let out of the arena as Lazuli walked matter-of-factly back to the fighters' area with her hands stuffed in her pockets. "But what a tremendous effort by Videl Satan, folks!" Ken added as Videl pulled herself up to her feet, staggering as she refused any help. The crowd cheered and clapped for her and she waved to acknowledge them unenthusiastically as she walked out of the fighters' area.
"Hey," Suno told her student, giving her a pat on the arm. "You did great. You've come along really far for only a few weeks of training! You've got a lot of potential if you keep going!"
"Thanks, Master Suno," Videl muttered with a lopsided smile as she put her hand on top of Suno's before slipping away from her. Yeah, she could keep going but… what was the point? She'd fought as hard as she could and she hadn't even been able to scratch Lazuli. If what Gohan had told her in all of his stories was true, Lazuli still wasn't anywhere near as strong as some of the others. Suno, Krillin, Tenshinhan… they'd been training with ki their whole lives and they still weren't as powerful. Even if she trained her hardest for years and years and became the strongest human alive… that seemed so small now.
Until her father rushed toward her, his eyes welling up with pride as he grinned from ear to ear. "You were incredible!" Hercule boomed approvingly, grabbing Videl by the shoulders before pulling her into a hug. "You were really somethin' else!"
"You really think so?" Videl asked as she hugged him back. He had seen the fight, right?
"Yeah!" Hercule assured her with an enthusiastic nod, still beaming as he pulled away from the hug. "I'm so proud of you! You really showed what you were made of! My little girl can fly!"
"But I still lost," Videl pointed out. "It wasn't even close!" Hercule grinned and patted Videl on the shoulder.
"I know," he told her, "I know. Losin's rough. Believe me, it took me more than a decade to even get to the finals! But you gotta stick to it! Ya can't measure your success by anyone's movement or power but your own! As long as you keep improvin', you've got nothin' to be ashamed of!" Videl smiled at her father and hugged him again.
"Thanks, daddy," she murmured gratefully. He was right, she told herself. This was only her first time making it to the finals. Even Goku had needed three tries!
"Calling Son Suno and Hercule to the ring," a voice over the intercom announced. "Calling Son Suno and Hercule to the ring." Videl smiled at her father and pulled him into a hug, patting him on the back.
"Go out there," she told him encouragingly. "Show them what the world champ is made of!" Hercule grinned at her and puffed out his chest as he walked out toward the ring, making Videl grin and shake her head. She just hoped Suno would let her dad look good for a little bit before she won.
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Hercule actually went out first with all of his music and pomp and circumstance to the usual rabid reaction from the audience. When Suno came out, the crowd was stunned for a moment to see her actually walk out. After a moment of silence, they went absolutely wild for her, whistling and cheering and screaming. It was, all in all, far more attention than the teacher was used to, and she gave a bashful smile as she waved to the audience while climbing into the ring.
"Fighters ready?" Ken asked as Hercule and Suno stood across from one another in their fighting stances. "Begin!" Hercule let Suno come to him, even if it would probably mean he got eliminated. It wouldn't look good for the world champion to make the first attack against a woman who had nearly been taken out of the arena on a stretcher less than an hour beforehand. Suno came dashing toward him before leaping with a flying kick and he knew something was up for two reasons. The first: he could actually see the kick coming; The second: the kick didn't kill him. It sent Hercule flying but he managed to roll and land on his feet before he came in with his counter-attack, striking Suno with rights and lefts. Once again, he knew something was wrong; He was actually making contact. Suno mostly blocked his punches, but a couple of them actually got through and checked Suno on the chin and under the jaw.
"Incredible fortitude by Suno," Ken declared as she sidestepped one of Hercule's punches and threw a forearm strike to the side of his head, which Hercule deflected with a palm and spun away before coming at her with a jumping knee to the side of the head. "So soon after her brutal encounter with Spopovich, she's in there, slugging with the Champion of the World! And the skill on display by Hercule, truly proving why he is one of the world's best!" Hercule caught a kick from Suno as Ken narrated, flipping her backward through the air and lunging forward to uppercut her under the chin as soon as she landed on her feet.
That was when Hercule saw it. It was just barely something. Maybe so little that he could have ignored it if he wanted to. But he caught it and he focused on it. Suno hit the ground, looked up, and looked directly at him before his fist came under her jaw and she took the blow. But even "took" the blow was generous. She rolled with the impact, letting it lift her off her feet. She was mocking him. Toying with him. Trying to make him feel better about himself. It was the greatest insult to his ability or to his manhood that he'd ever been dealt. She was treating him like a child. He couldn't remember ever being so angry, so mindbendingly furious. He seethed between his teeth, grinding them as his eyes went wide and bloodshot before charging at her with a roar. Hercule leaped at Suno with a spin kick with all of the anger and fury in his body. It was a blow that would have taken a normal person's head clean off. It would have shattered concrete, wrent steel, it would have–
"-Ine! Ten!" Ken shouted as Hercule realized he was staring up at the afternoon sky. Somewhere between throwing the kick and now, he'd been rendered unconscious. "Suno is the winner!" The audience cheered wildly for Suno and she smiled at them, waving again, a little more energetically this time. Then Hercule stood up slowly, rubbing the back of his head, and a hush came over the crowd.
Suno shifted a little uncomfortably on her feet as Hercule walked toward her. She would have kept the fight going for a little longer, just to make Hercule look better, but she'd seen something in his eyes after that uppercut. A murderous level of anger she'd only seen a handful of times in her life. Considering the kinds of mass-murdering megalomaniacs she'd confronted in that life, it said something. She'd never feared for her own safety, of course, but she didn't want Hercule to hurt himself in his anger. So she'd dodged his strike and then caught him in the solar plexus with one quick punch, knocking him out and putting him on his back for the necessary ten seconds. She figured he still looked okay, though.
Hercule grabbed Suno's wrist and, putting on a smile for the people, raised her hand high and gestured to her with his other hand. He laughed as the crowd cheered louder than ever. Then, his goodwill gesture complete, Hercule walked off to let Suno have her moment. He got as far as the fighters' area before the smile melted off of his face and he kicked furiously at the wall until concrete and brick crumbled before he stormed off, leaving the arena. Videl watched her father in concern and contemplated following after him. She'd never seen him take a loss badly before. It was a little worrying.
"Goten," Trunks groaned as he tugged on his friend's sleeve, "Come on! Your mom can totally beat that blonde lady." Or maybe she couldn't. He didn't really care. All the cool grown-ups were off fighting the bad guys! Well, his dad, anyway. He didn't know how cool Goten's dead mom was. Or Piccolo or Krillin. But they were all friends with Gohan, so they were probably lame. The point was, there was action going on and he was missing it!
"No!" Goten said firmly as she pushed Trunks' hand away. "I gotta stay! I wanna cheer on mama if she wins or make her feel better if she loses. Big bro, my mom, and your dad will be fine! We can go see them after."
"You're such a mama's girl," Trunks grumbled with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah!" Goten agreed eagerly and with an emphatic nod. "I love my mama! Don't you?" she asked. Trunks' face turned red with embarrassment at the accusation.
"I am not a mama's boy!" he growled through clenched teeth. Goten was confused as to why Trunks was so upset about it but she didn't have a chance to ask. The match was starting!
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Lazuli smirked as she stripped off her long coat, stretching in her regular gi, a pair of dark blue pants, black shoes, and an orange gi top with the turtle symbol on the breast and the back. Suno smirked right back at her and waited for her to finish her stretches before bowing to her, which her friend returned gladly.
"What a monumental event, ladies and gentlemen!" Ken declared ecstatically. "This is the first-ever Grand Final in Tenkaichi Budoukai history where both fighters are women. We are guaranteed a female Budoukai champion for the second time ever! What a historic event!"
'I dunno about all that,' Suno thought to herself with a grin as she got into her fighting stance, 'But it'll be fun!' Lazuli's chuckle and eye roll at Ken's diatribe made it clear she shared the redhead's sentiment.
"And with that, ladies and gentlemen," Ken continued once he'd regained his composure, "There's only one thing I can think of to say. It's a good day for a swell battle!" He swung his arm down dramatically between the two warriors. "And begin!" Lazuli flashed Suno a grin before bolting toward her like a rocket, the audience at large only able to see what had happened after Lazuli stopped, her foot swinging over Suno's head with a roundhouse kick and Suno having crouched down to avoid the kick. Suno kept down in her low crouch and zipped out under Lazuli's leg to come at her from behind with a straight right. The punch went right through Lazuli's afterimage and Suno grinned, sidestepping a trio of afterimage strikes from her opponent, one from the left, the right, and from above.
"Gonna have to try harder than that," Suno taunted her friend playfully. "I married the woman who pretty much perfected the afterimage!" It was that vast experience with the move that had allowed her to avoid those tricks and not much else. If she had to guess, she and Lazuli were equal in power now. If anything, Lazuli might have the slight edge. While she was contemplating this, she caught a flicker of blonde from the corner of her eye and threw out a feint punch, figuring it was another afterimage and not wanting to commit to it. So it was quite the surprise when Lazuli's real, physical hand gripped her wrist and the other took Suno's elbow, swinging her around by the arm and tossing her out of the ring to the audience. It surely would have been enough to eliminate her… if Suno couldn't fly. As it was, Suno launched herself upward, over the audience's heads, before flying back down to the ring knees-first, planning to smash those knees into Lazuli's face. Now it was Lazuli's turn to jump, sailing over Suno's head and causing her to power-slide nearly the entire distance of the ring, skidding to a stop before she could be ringed out by her own momentum.
"Come on, sis!" Lapis cheered from the box. "You've nearly beat her twice now and the match has barely started! Go get her!" With the others cheering for Suno, it was clear that he, Amy, their children, and Marron were in enemy territory, even if they were among friends.
"You can do it, mama!" Goten called out encouragingly. "You just gotta focus, like you always tell me!" Suno hopped to her feet and turned back to Lazuli as the other woman floated to the ground again, the pair changing their fighting stances slightly. Despite nearly losing twice in a span of ten seconds, Suno couldn't help but grin. She was having fun! For the first time in a long time, maybe for the first time ever, a fight was just fun.
'God,' Suno wondered, 'Is this what Goku feels like all the time?' It was exciting and even thrilling, fighting just for the sake of a fight. It made her body buzz with energy. She gave a cry of excitement and challenge as she attacked Lazuli again, the other fighter answering her call as they clashed in the center of the ring, throwing punches and kicks at one another at a breakneck speed, the air filling with the whip-crack sound of their blows breaking the sound barrier. Suno jumped up and drove her feet hard into Lazuli's chest, using the woman as a push-off point to send herself further into the air, firing ki blasts down at her. The blonde cyborg bombshell thrust out her arms to stop the momentum from being shoved back and spun around rapidly in a circle, turning herself into a cyclone that sucked the ki blasts up before launching them harmlessly into the air where they exploded like fireworks. She was grinning from ear to ear as she came flying up out of the cyclone with a left hook that was aimed for Suno's jaw. Suno deflected it off a forearm and grabbed Lazuli's neck in a headscissors, spinning around and around before hurling her toward the grass. Lazuli caught herself inches before impact and launched back into the air, her opponent giving chase as their battle took to the air.
Much like Suno, Lazuli was relishing the experience of a fight that was just for fun. She'd only been in a handful of proper fights since she and her brother had been turned into cyborgs. There was the battle against Cell, which was terrifying, and her spar which her brother, which had just been another level to their sibling rivalry. Krillin and her had sparred plenty of times but he had never been able to really challenger her. Plus, they tended to get… sidetracked. This was different, though. This was a proper fight with her best friend, and God, she just felt so… free! For what felt like the first time in her life, Lazuli was able to properly flex and enjoy her powers, testing herself and pushing her abilities to the limit.
As the battle raged on, Suno realized their strengths and weaknesses and how she'd need the battle to go if she wanted to win. Lazuli had the edge over Suno in raw power, as well as inexhaustible energy. However, Suno's advantage was in experience and the extra flexibility and speed afforded to her by the Odori style. That speed, unfortunately, was best utilized on the ground, where she had something solid to push off of. Master Frost had never considered using the Odori style while flying, after all, and Suno'd been spending the last several years still trying to adapt it. So she had to get Lazuli back to the ground and fast. ...Fast.
'Sunnuvabitch,' she thought to herself, 'Why didn't I use this already?' Then, aloud, she cried, "Shinsoku Odori!" The arctic blue aura flared around her as she snapped out with a kick that caught Lazuli right on the top of her head, beating her attempt to catch it in her forearms and send the cyborg hurtling down to Earth. Lazuli caught herself as she hit the ring but still wasn't prepared for Suno's doubled speed as she pressed the attack, her strikes swift and artful as they poked through her defenses, driving her toward the edge of the ring. Feeling a victorious surge of energy, Suno spun through the air with a flourish to deliver the winning heel kick.
That was when Lazuli drove her palm into her collarbone, sending her rocketing back. Suno had just enough time to look back over her shoulder and see the fighters' area wall rushing toward her before she crashed into it, thankfully not counting as being eliminated before she pulled herself out, rubbing her head with a groan. Lazuli smirked and tapped two fingers to her temple playfully.
"You forget," she taunted, "I was forced to spend a lot of time watching you fight and use the Odori style, and that was even before spending the last four or five years being your best friend. Plus, Krillin spent plenty of time teaching me the momentum-redirecting ways of the Orin Temple. I just modified those into my own style. You might be faster than me," she admitted, "But as long as I know how to make it so the only thing you're running into is my fist, I think I'll be fine."
"We'll just see about that," Suno shot back as she got into her fighting stance again. "Shinsoku Odori!" Her speed doubled again as she went around behind Lazuli, trying to drive both hands down onto her shoulders with knife hand chops. Her hands went through empty air as Lazuli rolled forward and then sprung back, shoving her feet violently into Suno's stomach. Suno recovered and continued to press her attack, trying to come at her opponent from a dozen different angles, each one being rewarded with a few landing blows before she ran full-force into Lazuli's fist, foot, elbow, knee, and in a few cases, forehead. Suno tried to compensate for this by not going full-force into her attacks so that they wouldn't be carrying so much momentum if Lazuli tried to use it against her, but that just led to Lazuli deflecting her attacks and counter-attacking anyway.
"This looks bad, folks!" Ken narrated as Suno was forced to stagger back, gasping and wiping a trickle of blood from her lip. "It looks like Lazuli has an answer for everything Suno can throw at her! If Suno can't come up with some trick out of her bag soon, this one is as good as done!"
"He's got ya there," Lazuli agreed with a smirk as she hopped lightly on the balls of her feet, making a show of being pretty much daisy-fresh. "Look, Suno, I don't want you to hurt yourself again. How about you just forfeit? I'll even split half the prize money with you. It's more than enough for me to take Krillin and Marron on a vacation." Suno thought about that for a few long seconds. She could just forfeit, yeah. There were no big stakes here. It was just a fight between friends. Just a fight… that she really wanted to win!
"I'm not done yet," Suno told Lazuli as a resolute grin spread across her face. She'd been really hoping to save this one for Goku, or at the very least, she'd hoped that Goku could be around to watch her use it. She would have been very… impressed. "Shinsoku Odori!" she cried defiantly. Lazuli smirked, getting into her guard and waiting for her attack. Instead of attacking, though, Suno spoke again as her eyes narrowed in determination. "Kaiouken!" The blonde's bright blue eyes widened as Suno's aura flared to a bright and blazing purple before she rocketed forward suddenly at four times her top speed, closing the gap in the blink of an eye as she hammered away with double-strength punches. Her attacks didn't slip but rather barreled through Lazuli's defenses and her bolstered strength and speed allowed her to effortlessly outmaneuver and deflect Lazuli's counterattacks as she battered her closer and closer to the edge of the ring, taking back ground at a blistering pace, tearing up the ring under her feet. With one final, tremendous cry, she slammed Lazuli across the jaw with a left hook that sent her spiraling out of the ring like a top to crash into the barrier separating her from the spectators before she slid to the ground, touching the grass with an expression on her face that could only be described as stunned.
"Ring out!" Ken cried exultantly as Suno powered down. "Son Suno is the winner! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a 25th Tenkaichi Budoukai champion in spectacular fashion!" The experience had taken a lot of energy out of Suno and she collapsed to her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. Goten came flying gleefully out of the fighters' area and into her mother's arms as the arena went wild, the ground shaking under Suno's feet as everyone cheered, stomped their feet, and otherwise made a ruckus.
"You did it, mama!" Goten cheered, Suno barely able to hear her daughter over the roar of the crowd, even though she was right beside her head. Suno looked around at the thousands of people cheering, pumping their fists and chanting her name. She had done it, hadn't she? She'd won! She grinned and put Goten up onto her shoulder as she got to her feet, waving enthusiastically to the audience, blowing them kisses and playing up to the crowd. She wished her parents could have been here to see this. This was one of the best moments of her whole life!
That was when Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and that strange purple woman suddenly appeared in the ring, not twelve feet away from Suno. The audience's cheers quickly died down and Suno looked at her wife with a smile. For a moment, she figured that the incident with the evil wizard Goku had mentioned was already done with. That seemed a bit anticlimactic. For once, she'd had the big adventure. Of course, Gohan at least looked like he'd gotten his exercise for the day. His Great Saiyaman costume was torn to hell and he had a fair amount of scrapes and bruises. That, however, was before she noticed all of the pieces that didn't quite fit…
The stern expressions on Gohan and Goku's faces. The look of terror in the purple woman's eyes. Where were Krillin and Piccolo? She only had more questions as she focused on Vegeta. He was the only one of the three who was Super Saiyan. Not only that but by that lightning aura, he was a Super Saiyan 2, which Bulma had said he'd never been able to accomplish. Veins were bulging out unnaturally across his body and face was twisted into a manic, savage grin. His eyes held that same cold, malevolent hatred that she'd first seen… when he'd tried to kill her. That was when her eyes locked onto it and her blood went cold. There, emblazoned in the center of Vegeta's forehead, was that same strange M tattoo that had adorned Spopovich's flesh. If that kind of magic had turned a normal person like Spopovich into such a monster… what had it done to Vegeta?
A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry that it's been so much of a wait for this chapter. Life picked the perfect time to wallop me right in the balls and it took a little bit to recover. I hope everybody who celebrates it had a happy Halloween and I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I plan to make next week's chapter extra long to make up for the absence! It's good to be back.