The Three Legendary Saiyans.
Chapter 49: The Androids' Dance
Androids 17 and 18.
The sounds of battle had began again since the battle of Goku and Jiren; pair of fighters had begun fighting again, 17 and 18 had backed away from the frontlines and the possible sights of the remaining two Maidens: Ribrianne and Roasie for those two were just too dangerous at this moment of The Tournament of Power.
"Are you rested? Recovered enough energy?" 17 asked with concern in his voice; 17 himself sitting atop a Kachi Kachin boulder that had been torn up from a previous battle involving Ribrianne for 17 could still sense her energy amidst the boulder.
"Really… did you forget we have The Infinite Ki Generator" 18 snapped back at her brother; a vein popping in her temple out of annoyance that her twin would even bother with such a question, 18 herself still sat down on a partially torn up section of the floor that hung over the ravine.
"No; but even that particular component of our structure can be overworked" 17 retorted with the same concerned tone in his voice; crossing his legs before glancing down at the tears in his shirt's sleeves and the exposed knees in his jeans though he had suffered little damage during his battle with Ribrianne.
"I suppose you have a point; I'm fine now" 18 rose to her feet and dusting herself off; flinching slightly as her careless brushing had caused her fingers to trace the burnt and injured flesh on her arms from where Roasie had attacked her with her lightning-fast techniques.
Before the pair could move along from their position a bright yellow wrecking ball tore through a wall of Kachi Kachin along with the boulder that 17 was sitting on causing the Android to leap away from the careening orb of destruction; sending sharpened fragments showering over The Androids as the wrecking ball span and ran across the floor before coming to a halt in front of the pair.
The wrecking ball stood revealing itself to be a very wide-bodied woman in a yellow leotard and black shorts, her green-skinned pudgy face smirking widely at the pair; she had a strangely pleased expression despite staring down two enemies on her own, "Fear me for I shall eliminate you; I am Monna of The Fourth Universe!" her voice was high and squeaky for someone of her build.
17 narrowed his eyes at the woman while she smirked at him as well as his twin sister; 17's hands crackled with a green current of electricity while 18's hands flickered with a similar electric current only coloured pink.
18 narrowed her line of sight at the rotund woman grinning at the pair; the corner of her eyes shifting as the air seemed to shimmer like something invisible was moving around, something that moved quickly on its feet and left not even a trace of its path behind itself before a sudden impact swept 18 off her feet and toppling down into the ravine.
"Sister!" 17 yelled; his legs tensing up as he was about to sprint after his sister until Monna moved into his path with a sinister smile and striking the Android with a palm thrust with so much force behind it that 17 was sent flying backwards into the remains of the boulder he'd been sitting on.
All 18 heard as her descent into near-elimination was the sound of fabric being torn to shreds and a flinch of pain in her right leg; glancing up as her jogging bottoms had caught of a jagged section of the arena far down in the ravine had halted her descent, smiling to herself as her pink electrical current sparked back into life as her hands found handholds and pulled herself back up the ravine and bursting back out just as she'd seen Raijin do moments ago; he arc through the air bringing her down on top of Monna with a deadly dropkick to Monna's spinning body.
17 couldn't have felt happier to see his twin sister emerge from the ravine safely though his eyes caught the sight of her wounded leg until something slammed into his back sending the android rolled closer to the edge of the arena, clenching both his knees and skidding to a stop only inches from the edge kept 17 within the boundaries; luckily 17 caught sight of a shimmering figure vanishing into the rocks when getting his bearings back.
Monna felt dazed by 18's sudden dropkick and her rolling body-boulder technique stopped while her eyes rolled dazed for the moment but that was all 18 needed; 18 flipped over Monna's dazed head with all the grace of a ballerina only to prance over by 17's side where the two Androids span on the spot before firing a duel-coloured green and pink beam directly at Monna just as she came back to her senses only to be flung backwards by the beam connecting with her; Monna felt her back crash into the opposing side of the ravine and fall limply into the dark clouds under the arena.
Neither 17 nor 18 could celebrate a victory of Monna as once they'd finished firing their beams something grabbed them both by the head; a pair of three-fingered claw-like hands gripped both Androids by their heads and drove them down face-first into the ground, the pair leaping back to their feet as soon as the clawed hands released them only to find themselves totally alone.
"There's an invisible enemy?" 17 muttered; spitting out a tiny chuck of Kachi Kachin from her mouth after taking a faceplant.
"Appears so…" 18 began to respond to her twin when her vision clouded over with a black and red mist; her fists rising to meet any threat coming their way, she quickly noticed that 17 was also seeing the strange mist when their backs met.
"What's happening? Some kind of illusion or is time running out?" 18 turned on her heels as the mist surrounded the pair; slashing her hands through the mist with a karate chop strong enough to create a gust of wind though the mist lingered.
"Not a chance… by my count we're nearly halfway in terms of time" 17 spoke while remaining calm; pointing out the central pillar which they could still see even with the black and red mist circling them.
Standing before the pair of Androids stood fighters they didn't expect to see again, the transformed Duck-Form leader of the team: Ganos, the tall fox-like monk Majora stood alongside the petite maiden Caway and the purple-robe wearing talisman-user Dercori.
"That's not possible! These fighters have been eliminated already! The Twin Zeno's would have erased them on the spot if they'd even tried to re-join!" 18 shouted as if she'd been offended; recalling that her husband Krillin had defeated Majora while Master Roshi had defeated Ganos, Caway and Dercori singlehandedly.
"They must be an illus…" before 17 couldn't even finish speaking when Ganos rushed him with a huge fist to the face; knocking the Android down flat before he could even react, Dercori and Caway following up with a pair of talismans and an energy throwing knife though 17 was able to raise his barrier in time to shield himself.
18 kicked off the floor only to glide backwards as Majora rushed after her with a flurry of blows followed by the huge wolfman Shosa of whom materialised out of the mist seemingly out of nowhere.
Neither 17 nor 18 could find the conjurer of the phenomenon of phantom fighters as the attacks that landed felt strongly like that of the invisible fighter that had been hunting them previously; both androids performing a double backflip to avoid an incoming stomping descent from Shosa and Ganos followed by a barrage of talismans all exploding against one of 17's Barriers.
The two barely had time to talk to each other much less avoid the attacks of the phantoms; the two Androids nodding wordlessly to each other before firing the same duel-beam that they'd defeated Monna with; the twisting pink and green beams coiling around and barrelling through the phantoms leaving no trace of them.
17 and 18 both knelt down to take a breath when a sudden blow to the backs of their heads caught them off-guard and laid both Androids on the broken floor.
18 slowly came back to consciousness to find herself being dragged towards the edge of the arena; keeping her body limp and spying out the corners of her eyes she bore witness to what might have been the invisible fighter: a tall shimmering shape of a humanoid chameleon dragging them along ever closer to the arena's edge.
In a single fluid motion 18 swept her legs under the chameleon's and knocking the creature to his back, 17 backflipping away before his head collided with the ultra-hard ground again.
"You could have warned me" barked 17's voice; his seemingly limp figure leaping back into life and hovering in the air with the use of his Barrier.
"I didn't know you were awake!" 18 barely hesitated in shouting back; standing over the shimmering figure of
"Never mind; blast him before he gets up!" 17 shouted back; he and his sister firing a wall of air pressure instead of a beam towards the chameleon and thankfully sending the invisible fighter over the edge judging by the lack of its presence and the shimmering figure noticeably falling into the murky clouds.
The two Androids exchanged a brief high-five before turning and being met with the same black and red mist only now a small stout blue and red streaked creature stood amidst the phantoms, a creature with three spikes sticking out of its head and red target-like rings on its cheeks.
The small creature stared at 17 and 18 with wide blank eyes that reminded the Androids of their own eyes when they were still under the control of Dr Gero before their rebellion and seizing their lives back; the creature finally speaking in a child-like voice, "You both have defeated Monna and Gamisalas".
Both Androids 17 and 18 glanced at each other; the caster of the illusions exposed himself though the forms of his entire team formed in the black fog and red mist; all with gleaming red eyes that stared daggers at the duo.
"What is your name?" 18 asked carefully; placing her left hand on 17's right as he was motioning to blast the creature into the ravine.
"Xiangca" the creature identified itself just as the nine phantoms rushed the Androids all at once; the dark shadowy figures growing in height and muscle-mass as Xiangca spoke his name, Androids 17 and 18 both sighs before opening their left and right hands; firing a volley of yellow ki blasts that tore through the phantoms asunder though Xiangca floated inn the air by seemingly emitting steam from his feet.
"Sorry…" 17 and 18 spoke in unison when meeting Xiangca's sad eyes as he floated motionless in the air; blankly watching as the two Androids fired an energy pulse that threw Xiangca backwards and tumbling down through the ravine only to be eliminated.
Observation Stands.
The Grand Priest smiled widely as Xiangca and the tenth member of Team Universe Four was eliminated and teleported into the stands; an uncharacteristic smile spreading as he spoke, "It seems that Team Universe Four has lost all ten of its members… a pity to have to say goodbye".
The Twin Zeno's glanced down at their Godpad's with keen interest; swiping across the screens until coming to the Fourth Universe's listing and spotting that all ten of their member's portraits had turned dark with their subsequent elimination, the Twin Zeno's glanced at each other before gleefully and emotionlessly raising their hands which shone with a dazzling white light.
Quitela screamed as the shining white light began to envelop himself alongside his Supreme Kai: and his defeated mournful teammates, "No! I cant be erased! I didn't get a chance to screw over Beerus and his gang yet! No! Please don't erase me yet!"
With one last defiant child-like scream of protest; Quitela and his team of fighters from The Fourth Universe vanished without a trace of their existence left behind, not even the echo of his voice remained in the dull lifeless realm around The Arena.
The Arena.
Hardly a single fighter blinked so much as an eye at the erasure of The Fourth Universe; the duo of Ribrianne and Roasie stood staring down the duo of Dyspo and the beret-wearing Pride Trooper Kahseral.
Cabba sat up while rubbing the back of his head after having been blasted away by Jiren and struck his head on of large Kachi Kachin wall; a slight trickle of his blood dripping from a wound caused his vision and steadiness to be shaky when attempting to rise to his feet though opting to sit back down for a short time and recover some lost energy, Cabba glanced down at his two hands; recalling what Raijin had said to him when he'd finally ascended to the same level that Caulifla had reached and that achievement had him beam with pride in himself… prideful that he is a Saiyan.
Surrounded by spires of Kachi Kachin fragments and her left arm and leg dangling over the splintered ravine set into the arena; Kale lay flat on her back in her normal form having reverted back after briefly being knocked out cold following Jiren's savage shockwave, groaning in pain as she noticed that her right shoulder was bleeding profusely, being unable to stand nor continue to fight in her present state; the only thing that brought her hope and to not throw herself over the edge and into elimination was the sensation of Caulifla's energy nearly.
Jiren and Toppo stood side by side; not speaking though Toppo glared towards Jiren with an unspoken concern for his wellbeing after having taken on Goku and his strange ability to utilise Ultra Instinct and then have to face a team of Hit and Raijin.
Jiren placed a hand against his abdomen where Goku had stuck him first with a double knee strike and Raijin had struck him again with a jabbing punch; he could still feel their energies around the section of his own body, silently somewhat impressed with the Saiyans but those thoughts were unnecessary if they were to win The Tournament of Power.
Toppo glanced over his shoulder towards Jiren; spotting that he'd been examining his abdominal region, his eyebrows raising slightly in interest of why and how Jiren could possibly have bene interested in two Saiyans much less the far more unlikely possibility of him being injured but disregarded the matter upon sensing the multiple fights taking place.
Observation Stands.
The pillar dropped down another section; the deafening boom paired with the murky grey clouds shifting and turning to a lime-shade of green, the fighters pausing as the sudden change to the atmosphere shifted above their heads before resuming their battles.
The Grand Priest's smile widened as the clouds changed and turned; the fighters momentarily pausing to witness the change, "Let it be known that The Tournament of Power had reached its half way point, shall we count all the remaining fighters? Our Lords Zeno's?".
"Yes; please do" Spoke Zeno; the child-like Omni-King sitting happily in his throne with his eyes sparkling and gleaming after having witnessed the efforts to defeat Jiren.
"Please do; yes" Spoke Other-Zeno; his tone of voice and enthusiasm perfectly matched along with the sparkles emanating from his beady little eyes.
The Grand Priest along with all The Gods of Destruction, Supreme Kai's and The Angels gave a swift bow in reverence of The Twin Zeno's, the floating platform in which the Grand Priest stood upon arced through the air until he stood directly over the central pillar of The Arena; taking a sweeping gaze over the immensely damaged arena, witnessing the deep ravines that had split the arena into three sections following The Spirit Bomb's explosion and all the craters caused by multiple transformations, power up's and beam attacks; it would be a lie to say that The Grand Priest has not impressed with the abilities of the fighters present and those who'd been erased.
"From The Second Universe! Ribrianne, Roasie, Zirloin, Zarbuto, Rabanra and Jimizu".
"From The Third Universe! Paparoni, Maji-Kayo, Catopesra, Borareta, Pancea and Koitsukai".
"From The Sixth Universe! Cabba, Kale, Caulifla, Botamo, Pirina and Saonel".
"From The Seventh Universe! Goku, Vegeta, Raijin, Gohan, Piccolo, Frieza, 18 and 17".
"And lastly The Eleventh! Jiren, Toppo, Dyspo and Kahseral".
The Twin Zeno's both cooed in excitement over the count, half of the fighters had been eliminated and three Universes had been erased; the fighters sitting in the stands all sat uncomfortably and glanced amongst themselves in fear of the fates befallen by three Universes so far after hearing their remaining fighter count, though Belmod and his Supreme Kai sat with uninterested expressions for Jiren still stood within The Arena.
Beerus, Whis, Champa and Vados both glanced at each other for their teams had somehow worked together though against their wishes and still suffering defeat at the hands of The Eleventh Universe, the two Gods of Destruction exchanged a glance towards each other; both thinking that their teams might wind up working together again and dispite their mutual dislike for one another, their teams working together to topple The Eleventh Universe's Team might not be such a bad idea.
Next Chapter: Vegeta vs The Third Universe.
Author's Note: some might be wondering what happened to the tiny grasshopper fighter (Damom) from Team Universe Four, he was eliminated during the quakes and arena-splitting explosion of Goku's Spirit Bomb, I had nothing that I could think of doing that wasn't already done in the anime so I sadly had to leave him out; please forgive the long wait for new chapters as my personal life had kept me busy and I'm working on a new story that has captured my passion.