Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.

Chapter 20

Turk could feel the power emanating off of Zangya. He knew that she was powerful, but this was just incredible. Her aura caused her now red hair to float gently behind her. He could tell that she was likely at the level of Sapphire or Rubio, maybe even Esmerelda. She looked at him with a smile on her face, as if to say 'you have no idea what you're in for.' Turk had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but more than anything, her raw power just made him more eager to fight.

"LET'S DO THIS!" He yelled as he flew at her.

Before he could land his blow, Zangya backhanded him, sending him flying away. Her face showed surprise at the ease in which she rebuffed him and she looked at her hand curiously.

"Hm?"

Turk wasn't gone for long though. He rushed back and landed a few feet from his opponent. "Ok." He started. His face was swollen were she had struck him and he was breathing hard. "Let's try this again. HYAH!" He threw a fist with all his might, but Zangya sidestepped and kicked him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. She followed up with a downward chop that drove him into the ground.

This time, the male hera didn't get back up. Zangya held both hands up to examine them, opening and closing her fists. "I guess training with Gohan really paid off." She said to herself. Then she bent over her downed opponent. "Hey, you alive?"

"Rmmpphhg." Turk moaned.

"That's good. I told you it was going to be short."

"Mghph."

"Sorry. I mean, I know you said you didn't want me to hold back, but I still think I overdid it. Honestly, after only fighting Gohan for a while, I don't really know how to gauge someone weaker than me anymore." She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "I really thought you would be able to take more than that though."

She turned around and started to walk away when a hand grabbed her ankle. "W-wait…" Turk was looking up at her with one eye closed. "I-it can't end here. I didn't get to do anything. I can keep going…" Zangya looked down at him with pity.

"I don't think so. You're done. I'm not going to kill you so let go. I'm going back to help my friend now." She tried to step away, but Turk refused to let go. She sighed. "Look I'm trying to be nice. Stop being annoying and just let go." He just looked her in the eyes with his battered face. The look told her that he wasn't letting go no matter what. "So be it." Zangya charged a ki blast and sent it at the prone figure. She didn't make it strong enough to kill him, just enough to make him let go.

Before the blast impacted, there was a loud crash and dust flew up everywhere, obscuring her opponent and making her jump back away from the dust cloud.

"What the?"

The dust soon settled to reveal a huge, green troll of a woman, kneeling over Turk protectively. At least the woman thought she was being protective.

"Turk! It's alright, I'm here to help." The woman spoke with a husky voice as she looked down at her ally. Turk was clearly no longer conscious and he was foaming at the mouth. "Oh no! What has she done to you!?" She yelled and started shaking the blue man violently.

"Hey, I don't think shaking him is…"

"YOU!" The green woman glared at Zangya. "What did you do to him!?"

"Me!? You're the one who crash landed on top of him!"

"You're blaming me!? I would never do anything to my little Turkleton!"

Zangya found it slightly amusing that anyone would refer to her fellow hera as 'little', but seeing as the woman was two times bigger than herself, she could see why she would call anybody little. Something else the giantess said did catch her attention though. "Your Turkleton?"

Suddenly, the giant green woman blushed. At least that's what Zangya thought she was doing since her face turned an even darker shade of green. She fidgeted nervously as she responded. "I-I just meant that he was my comrade. I didn't mean there was anything special between us or anything." Her blush deepened and she brought her hands to her face. "Oh my, this is so embarrassing." Then her eyes widened. "Wait a minute! Just what are you to Turk anyway!?"

"What? Nothing, I just met the guy. I mean we are of the same race but…"

"Oh, I get it. You think that just because you're both the same species that you can claim him for your own!? Well listen up sister! I won't let you have him without a fight! A maiden in love can overcome any barriers! That's what Opal says anyway."

"Maiden? And who the hera is Opal? Wait, I don't care. Listen, I don't have any romantic interest in him at all." Zangya felt strangely grossed out at the thought of being romantically involved with the other hera. She couldn't explain why.

"What!? So, you were just going to use him to repopulate your species!? How despicable! I cannot stand for him to be used like that! Have you no heart!?" The green giantess kept glaring intensely at the hera woman. Zangya was starting to get seriously annoyed by her constant misunderstandings.

"Look," She really wanted to clear this up. "I." she pointed to herself. "Do not. Want him." She pointed to the unconscious Turk. "For any reason."

"You think you can trick me with your sorcerous ways!? I'm not just gonna let my guard down just because you said your not interested. You think I don't know a villainess when I see one! I read shojou you know. Narrow eyes, super curly hair, incredible beauty with a cruel personality. You have all the hallmarks of a villainess trying to steal the young maidens love interest!"

The giantess was working herself up more with every word. She was breathing heavily by the end of her rant. She stood up and pointed to Zangya.

"Alright then, I know what I must do. I, Esmerelda Taurence, one of the four crown jewels of the Jade empire, challenge you… What was your name?"

"Um… Zangya."

"Challenge you, Um Zangya, to a duel. If I win, you will give up on your pursuit of Turk."

"I told you, I'm not 'pursuing' him!"

"Do you accept!?" Esmerelda demanded.

"Ok, fine whatever, let's just start already."

"Very well. Let the battle for love begin!"

With speed that belied her size, she rushed at Zangya and delivered a drop kick to the smaller girl. Zangya put up her cross guard but was still pushed back several meters.

"Heh, not bad. Let's see how you handle this!" Esmerelda jumped up to deliver a superman punch to her enemy. Zangya was more prepared this time. She jumped up, blocked the punch downward, then delivered a roundhouse to her face. The kick connected, causing the larger girl to stagger, and the hera tried to press her advantage. She pushed in, chopping away at the midsection with her fists. Esmerelda feeling the pain, brought her fists together and brought them down hard. Unfortunately for her, Zangya was already out of harms way. She appeared behind her opponent and delivered a sweeping low kick, knocking her off her feet. Zangya grabbed the girl by her ankle and started spinning her around and hurled her away.

The bulky woman skipped across the ground like a stone skipping on water. She stuck out her hand, digging it into the ground, and stopped herself. She growled in the direction of her attacker, but saw no sign of the redhead. Her eyes darted left and right. "Where'd she go?"

"Right here!" Zangya appeared on the ground right in front of Esmerelda and she launched herself into an uppercut that landed square on the giantess' jaw. She reeled back for a moment before grinning. She grabbed the smaller girl in a bear hug and started to squeeze.

Heheheh, I've got you now!"

Zangya struggled against her crushing arms, but was unable to break free. Esmerelda kept tightening her grip until finally, Zangya let out a grunt of pain. "Gra!"

"Ha! Not so tough now, are you? Let's see how you stand up to this!"

Maintaining her grip on the hera woman, Esmerelda jumped up high in the sky. When the two were starting to fall back down, the giantess turned their heads to the ground and started to accelerate downwards. Zangya kept trying to get loose, but no matter how hard she thrashed around, the woman refused to let go. The two women plowed straight down into the earth. Esmerelda had made sure to hold Zangya in such a way that her head would impact first and the super hera did indeed, take the entirety of the impact, while the giant walked away nearly unscathed.

After driving the girl into the ground like a nail, she felt confident that she had won the battle. "You were a strong opponent, Um Zangya. Too bad for you, I am strength itself." She dusted herself off and began walking back to Turk.

"It's just Zangya!" Esmerelda turned around and met a flying fist to her face that knocked her down. Stunned, the giantess looked at her small opponent. "What? How? You shouldn't have been able to move after that, let alone fight back."

Zangyas' hair was all over the place and her face was covered in bruises and smudges, but overall, she looked ok. "I hate to break it to you, but I've taken hits from opponents ten times stronger than you. That was nothing compared to Gohan or Bojack." Doesn't mean it didn't still hurt though.

"I see. Your love for Turk must be stronger than I thought."

"What? No, I…"

"I apologize for not taking your feelings seriously. But I still refuse to surrender him to you!" Esmerelda leaped in once again to engage her supposed love rival.

Zangya, who was getting pretty ticked off by her constant misunderstandings, decided enough was enough. She caught the incoming fist with both hands, then flipped the girl upside down and slammed her back and forth into the ground over and over again. "FOR! THE! LAST! TIME! I! DON'T! GIVE! A! #$^%! ABOUT! TURK!" She threw her opponent into the sky and fired a massive energy beam at the flying green woman. "HAAAH!" The beam enveloped Esmerelda and Zangya exhaled.

Alright, maybe I went to far. But honestly, why would I want Turk when I have someone like Gohan? At that thought, Zangya blushed slightly. Wait… I meant as a friend. Yeah, that's obviously what I meant… Satisfied with her mental gymnastics, Zangya smiled to herself and nodded.

Zangya looked back up to the sky to see if there was any sign of her opponent. To her surprise, Esmerelda was still floating in one piece. The green giant was burnt and smoking. It was clear that she had taken some serious damage. Zangya could tell, even from where she was standing, that the girl was breathing hard.

"It looks like this fight won't last much longer." Saying this to herself, she flew up to meet her opponent. "Had enough yet?" She asked coolly. Esmerelda looked at the smaller female with absolute contempt and let out a wild cry of fury

"GRYYAAAAAAAHHH!" She charged at Zangya, punching and kicking as hard as she could. Zangya dodged every swinging fist by a hairs' breadth. She caught one of the punches and judo flipped the large girl over toward the ground. Esmerelda tumbled downward through the air, but soon stopped herself and charged right back at Zangya, trying with all her might to land a hit on the slender beauty.

"WHY! CAN'T I! HIT YOU!" She screamed furiously between punches.

"Simple." Replied Zangya as she dodged another punch to move in closer. She leered at the giant, their faces now inches apart. "You're too slow." Zangya landed a spinning heel kick on her opponents' head, sending the giant falling once more to the earth below.

This time, she was not able to stop herself and crashed, causing a crater from the impact. Zangya sped down after her and landed by the craters' edge. Staring down at the girl below with a smile on her face that showed how pleased she was with herself. "Are you going to stay down this time?"

Esmerelda gnashed her teeth at the small girl who was making a fool of her. She got shakily to her feet and slowly floated up to meet her enemy. "You…"

Zangya quirked an eyebrow. "What."

"I can't believe someone like you could force me into this situation."

"Can I take that as your surrender then?" Zangya was getting tired of this fight.

"I'll never surrender to a villainess like you! No, I have something else for you. I don't usually show people this. I don't like others to see this side of me. I'm just glad that Turk isn't conscious to see this monstrosity. Now prepare for a scene from your worst nightmare!"

"The one where Gohan eats all the cake, leaving none for me?"

"What? No."

"Then is it the one where I'm at a restaurant and Bojack leaves without paying the check but none of us brought our wallets so we are stuck there and we just keep ordering more and more food to put off paying but we know that eventually we will have to pay and there is no way to escape?"

"No! It's the one where I turn into a terrible beast and rip you limb from limb!"

"Oh, well that doesn't sound so bad."

"Heheh, believe me, you will soon change your mind about that. Hraaahhhh!" A bright green light enveloped Esmerelda, and Zangya had to avert her eyes. When the light dissipated, Zangya saw, not a horrible beast, but a girl slightly shorter than herself. She had long, dark green, flowing hair and pale green skin that shone with a particular kind of brilliance. Her troll like features were replaced by ones that were delicate and refined. Beautiful was the only appropriate word to describe this form. She also had two horns protruding from her head, like a bull.

When she spoke, her voice was no longer rough and husky, but smooth and melodious. "Do you see what I mean now? You can barely stand to look at me, can you? Don't worry, I will put you out of your misery and you won't have to look at this hideous form again."

"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" Zangya asked her. She really couldn't see how this could be seen as a hideous monster at all. Especially compared to her last form.

"No need to try to be nice!" Esmerelda snapped. "I know that I'm hideous in this form. Don't you see the horns? And the tail?" She pointed to the horns and reached behind her to pull out a cow tail swinging gently.

"Huh, I guess I missed the tail. But still, I think it suits you. You look cute."

"DON'T TEASE ME!" before Zangya could react, Esmerelda sped up and punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She then sent a right hook into her face and she went flying away.

Zangya couldn't believe how much faster her opponent had gotten. She even seemed to be a little stronger as well. She landed on her feet and put her guard up. Esmerelda appeared in front of her and the two started a fierce exchange.

Esmerelda aimed a 1,2 combination at Zangya which she just barely managed to dodge by ducking. She countered with a hook to the midsection, but Esmerelda blocked and countered with a high kick. The hera leaned back to avoid it but caught a follow-on kick in her arm. She wrapped her arm around the leg and lifted it high, putting the other girl off balance. Falling backwards, she caught herself and began to do a type of breakdance move to sweep Zangyas feet out from under her. The super hera jumped up, flipping over the feet and sticking her leg out to land a kick on her opponent. The kick hit nothing but earth though, as at the last minute, Esmerelda vanished. Only to reappear a split second later behind her enemy and land a solid punch right to her face.

The punch knocked Zangya down, but she was right back up again, ready to continue.

"Who's too slow now?" Esmerelda taunted her foe.

"Still you." Zangya stuck her tongue out and sped away.

Not realizing what had just happened, Esmerelda blinked for a moment before shouting after her enemy. "HEY! GET BACK HERE! WE HAVEN'T FINISHED OUR DUEL!" Then she chased after the red head.

Zangya realized with the last exchange that she needed to change tactics. Her experience taught her that rather than spending time and energy trying to match a superior opponent, sometimes it was better to use a strategic retreat. She had to change locations if she was going to win, and she knew just the place. Flying through the building that was once the mall, she started blasting structures behind her to buy herself more time. On her tail, was Esmerelda, getting more and more frustrated by the obstacles preventing her from reaching her prey.

"Come back and fight you coward!" she yelled as she bowled through a pile of rubble that Zangya had just made. "Do you even want to fight for Turks' love!?"

"I KEEP TELLING YOU! NO, I DO NOT!" Zangya was at the base of a staircase and the green haired girl was closing in. She flew up the staircase and, for some reason, instead of just flying to the top of the stairs to cut her off, Esmerelda followed her using the staircase.

The green haired woman was getting supremely annoyed. Why was this woman running? She should just face her defeat like a real warrior. After many flights of stairs, she saw the girl blast through a door. Following the girl through the smoke caused by the explosion, Esmerelda found herself on a rooftop, with the one she had been chasing leaning casually against a railing. She had one hand extended for some reason.

"Hey, glad you could make it." Zangya quipped.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME!?" She yelled in indignation.

"Yup." Zangya closed her eyes and smiled cutely while tilting her head.

"You will pay for your insolence! Here I come!" But she never came. Esmerelda tried to move, but some invisible force was keeping her from going anywhere. She struggled and tried to flail, but to no avail. Realizing this must be the work of her opponent, she glared at Zangya, who returned her glare with a smile. "What have you done to me!?"

"What?" Zangya feigned innocence. "Oh! You mean my psycho thread? Yeah, pretty handy. Most people don't see them until it's too late."

At this comment, Esmerelda looked closely at herself and realized she was indeed covered in a thin, barely visible, wire. She couldn't see where the wires were coming from, all she could tell was that these flimsy strings were holding her firmly in place.

"You think that these little bits of string will protect you? I'll just break out and then you will be so dead!"

"I doubt that very much. I've only ever met one person who could break out of this technique and you don't even come close to his level of power." Zangya smirked. "Besides, soon you won't have the power to do anything, much less kill me."

"What are you talking…" Before Esmerelda could finish her question, she reverted back to her trollish form. "What!? How did you do that? I didn't release my transformation!"

"Don't tell me you can't feel it?" Zangya asked with an almost disappointed tone. "Your energy was being sucked out of you this whole time and absorbed by me."

"My energy? No, you can't. I…" she started to feel faint and dropped to her knees.

"You know? I think you and Turk would make a great couple. Both of you seem like huge meatheads." Zangya said while shaking her head.

Esmerelda was fading fast. She heard the words that Zangya spoke and thought it was a sincere compliment. "Th-that's nice of you to say. You're not so bad after all, Um Zangya." She fell to her face, unconscious.

Zangya finally dropped her super hera form. "I told you it's just Zangya." She said in exasperation. "Whatever. That was faster than expected though. Maybe my full powered state makes psycho thread drain energy faster." She shrugged to herself. "No matter. Now to find 18."

Break

18 had just landed the final blow on her opponent, knocking her out cold.

"Spare me." She said with contempt.

"Only if you beg!" A deep and sinister voice said, making 18 spin around with her guard up and a fierce expression on her face. She looked around for the new attacker, but couldn't see anyone.

"Show yourself!" she shouted. She was tired and worn out. She was certainly in no mood to face a new opponent, but today didn't seem like her preferences were taken into account.

"BOO!" Someone shouted in her ear, making 18 jump away. She readied herself to fight, but then she realized it was Zangya.

"Zangya!? What the hell? You nearly gave me a heart attack." She chided the blue girl, who was now rolling on the floor laughing.

"HAHAHA! You should have seen your face! HAHAHA!"

"It's not funny!" 18 was starting to turn red. "I just got done with fight where a new person came in every 5 minutes. And that voice was really convincing."

"Yeah, heheh, that was my Bojack impersonation. Glad It works for something." She grinned.

"If it makes you feel any better sis, I probably would have done the same thing."

A guy with black hair and blue eyes walked toward the two friends.

"Hey! 18! It's your brother! Your brother's here 18!" Zangya was incredibly excited for her friend reuniting with her long-lost sibling.

"Yeah… Lapis, this is my friend, Zangya." 18 said casually.

"What's up?"

Zangya looked between the two twins. She couldn't believe they were being so blasé about their reunion.

"What's up!? Is that all you have to say? 18 was frantically looking everywhere for you and all you can say is what's up!?" Then she turned to 18. "And you! Aren't you going to say anything to him? I know how much you missed him. Why don't you, I don't know, hug him or something?"

"Zangya." 18 grit through her teeth.

"So, you were frantically looking everywhere for me, huh?" 17/Lapis asked with every intention of teasing.

18 flipped her hair out of her face and turned away while folding her arms. "It's not that big a deal. I just went to a few fairs and amusement parks. It's not like I was looking for you. Just checked around in case you were there, that's all."

"That's not what you said to me." Zangya interjected. "We even went to fortuneteller Babas to find him! I GOT GROUNDED FROM CAKE FOR YOU!"

"Fortuneteller Babas?" Lapis smirked and 18 said nothing in response so she could continue to hide her face.

To Zangyas' annoyance and 18s' relief. An explosion sounded off in the distance.

"We better go check that out. Time for your debut as the Red Z girl." 18 flew off toward the explosion.

"Hey, I already debuted and it was awesome!" Zangya followed after her.

Lapis stood there staring after the two friends and smiled. "I missed you too sis." He said quietly before taking off as well.

End chapter.

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing these last several chapters and I hope you enjoyed them. But in the end, this is a Gohan fic so, up next, we return to Earths greatest champion, Son Gohan in his fight against Adamantia! About time, right?

Esmerelda-Emerald, Taurus.