The Three Legendary Saiyans

Chapter 85: Familiar Yet Different

Up in the stands; the cloaked figure almost stood up as a second cloaked figure took a seat next to the first, a wordless exchange being passed between the two mysterious figures until they both silently sat back down to watch the battle progress, the flashing of golden flames illuminating the dark stadium even more so than that of the floodlights as both stared in wonder at the dazzling power.

Casting his deadly stare to Super Saiyan Raijin; furious that the power he had claimed to be the mythical transformation of legend was nothing more than a false pretence, forcing him to feel like a pathetic charlatan when opposed with a morally good version of himself, Cress roared so loudly that the stadium itself trembled as shockwaves of strength resonated off his body that shattered and warped the metal shelters of The Coach's Boxes and Batter's Cage.

Familiar with the stunning effects of being caught in shockwaves; Raijin leapt up off the grass and into the air where he swore he caught sight of somebody in the empty stands, his visions blacking out for an instant as Cress' fist made contact with Raijin's face; the sudden impact sending Raijin flying higher than he had intended only recovering when reaching the domed roof of the stadium.

Cursing his own brief moment of overconfidence; Raijin flexed his jaw as Cress rushed after him and striking him again in the jaw, with Raijin crashing through the roof and up into the air; Raijin thrust out his hand as lightning channelled up his arm as a beam charged as Cress in a rage-induced blind charge ignored.

"Thunder Masenko" Raijin spoke solemnly; the new beam combined that of his Thunder Crash Cannon and his Hyper Masenko with the form of Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, the blast echoing like a shot of thunder as the energy fired out from his palm with lightning-fast speed to the point that Cress barely saw the attack coming until the beam attack struck The Evil Saiyan thus sending him crashing back down into the baseball pitch.

"Still alive?" Raijin called out; floating back down into the pitch's boundaries while smouldering patch of burnt grass and dirt lay where his own beam had taken down Cress, the dirt moving as a figure rose up with a look of fiery rage as Cress was revealed to still be alive.

With the remains of his black armour crumbling from his body after taking such a blow; Cress rose back to his feet, one of the claw scars on his face reopened and bleeding while Raijin stood glowing in golden flames with only bruises from the blows he'd taken.

"How?" Cress bellowed with disbelief; his normally smug expression contorting into a jealous rage as the realisation that the hollow façade he claimed was a Super Saiyan was just that: a pale imitation when compared to the real thing.

"Because I know what you are… you watch and plot but you only get your hands dirty when you know you can win, you think yourself as a king but you are merely a joker" Raijin spoke with a serious tone; talking down to Cress as he had completely figured out The Evil Saiyan.

"But that is just strategy! My power spoke for itself!" Cress bellowed again; drawing on his False Power to its maximum, The Skull growing larger as its jaw opened displaying that Cress himself stood in the jaws like a spectral reaper in an attempt to intimidate Raijin.

"Shut up! I have fought and survived against foes that you can't imagine, men who attack their foe by compressing Time! Bio Androids created for the sole purpose of killing, galactic tyrants and rulers, a pink genie with instant regeneration and unlimited energy! an evil slime clone of my friend, a literal god who wished to eradicate all mortal life! And lastly…. I will conquer you!" Raijin shouted in Cress' face leaving him shocked at how unfazed Raijin was; speaking of his past foes and rivals that he'd overcome, the faces of Recoome, Frieza, Androids 16, 17 and 18, Cell, Cooler, Majin Vegeta, Super/Kid Buu, Beerus, Frost, Hit, Copy-Vegeta, Black, Zamasu, Jiren and Broly all flashing in his mind as he spoke.

For that moment; Cress felt a true primordial fear as Raijin spoke on his battles, his victory's, the struggles he'd survived as he claimed to have fought literal Gods and won, standing helpless to perceive of Raijin as he charged Cress and attacked with punch after kick with no opening for Cress to counter much less block, striking his Alternate-Self repeatedly until Cress was lifted into the air by a swift uppercut to the gut; Cress outstretching his arm and grabbing a metallic beam protruding out from the damaged roof and tearing it free to use as a weapon.

"Cress; it's high time that you died! Go down to Hell where you belong!" Raijin roared with all the air in his lungs; his voice reaching for miles as he brought down his hammering fist down on top of Cress' chest, striking The Saiyan square in the ribs as Cress spat up blood as the echo of the damage lifted his body up once again as Raijin struck him again with a second punch straight into the ribs that shielded his vitals with the intention of this being the final blow but Cress foresaw the punch coming and parried with his biceps before quickly jabbing Raijin with a punch of Cress' own.

Roaring at the top of his lungs with all of his anger that Raijin had one-upped him; attempting to run Raijin through with the metallic spike once again only for Raijin to instinctively twist out of the spike's path and shatter the spike with a simple palm thrust leaving the following up with driving a vicious straight-kick into Cress' chest, the violent and evil Saiyan spitting saliva in pain as the kick threw him so far backwards that he crashed into the floodlights with the metallic spike still in-hand to conduct the electricity; a shower of glass and metal falling as the air lit up with arcing bolts of electricity while Cress stood in the centre of the explosion being electrocuted to death by the shattered floodlights.

The two Cloaked Strangers watched as Cress and Raijin fought in the air; the sight of Cress crashing into the floodlights and being shocked to death coming as a pleasant surprise and a moment of satisfaction to the pair but their satisfaction turned to shock as what came next came to pass.

Raijin stood in the air transfixed by what he saw; watching as Cress roared in pain from the electrocution while arcing bolts of electricity cast out in all directions causing Raijin to take his eyes off Cress for a split second to avoid the hazardous situation by dropping out from the air allowing him to come to a landing back on the ground and locking his sight of Cress as The Evil Saiyan stepped out of the shattered floodlights with shining golden hair, it reminded him greatly of Vegeta both during his own ascension to Super Saiyan against Android 19 and during The Tournament of Power where he claimed the powers of Royal Blue but seemed strangely familiar to him like he'd experienced the brand of rage and desire for strength before.

"Oh shit…" Raijin muttered upon realising he was too late to stop Cress now; raising his arms to shield his eyes as Cress' body exploded in a fiery wave of golden energy, Cress stood in the air as his slicked-back black hair had shifted into a crown of pure gold while his Skull-Form Aura had also entirely shifted into a menacing golden visage as his golden hair had spiked so much that he appeared to be more akin to a devil than a demon.

"So this is how it feels… to realise a myth and make it reality! Now I truly am superior!" Cress spoke with a cold tone of voice that could cool white-hot metal; his voice coming with that sinister chilling tone as he felt new strength course through his every muscle, the intoxicating power from a first-time transformation overriding his senses as he vanished on the spot only to drive a fist hard into Raijin's stomach and burning away at his vest until the fabric had been entirely incinerated.

Gasping for a breath as Cress had struck Raijin; the heat from Cress' new powers having surprised him but it was nothing he wasn't familiar with, grabbing Cress' arm with both hands as Raijin pulled The Evil Saiyan and slamming him down into the ground with a judo throw but Cress instantly recovered to got back to his feet with a simple backflip, Cress glaring with a confident grin across his despicable face.

Raijin stood silently as he also grinned to his opponent; he too felt the overwhelming power that came with a first-time transformation and that power always had to be directed towards something or someone, for him it had been Frieza before Goku had so rudely transported him to Earth; and for Cress it will definitely be Raijin himself who stood in the path of impulse-driven violence, the thought of powering up further to Super Saiyan 2 and breaking The Seal's hold with a display of strength crossing his mind but he assumed that his cockiness in showing off his transformation might have caused Cress' own ascension.

Like a bullet from a pistol; Cress vanished from Raijin's sight only for a sudden blow struck him in the chest; coughing from the punch to his ribs as Cress wound around him and kicked Raijin in the back, combining punches and kicks to Raijin's body front and back with speeds that Raijin's couldn't predict much less sense with his Instincts.

"A traitor such as you doesn't need this!" Cress roared vindictively; pale white energy spilling out from his right hand into his Pale Blade, slashing down and severing Raijin's Tail from his body in the moment of Raijin's hesitation while he'd been considering releasing his Seal and the consequences of transforming in front of such a foe.

Flinching as his Tail was severed; Raijin felt a panic set into his mind as his Tail was his path into Super Saiyan 4, that moment of distraction gave Cress the opportunity he sought; driving his Energy Blade into Raijin's body and slashing through him leaving an open gash across his chest as Raijin's Instinct allowed him to barely dodge the blade attack.

Cress grimaced as his deathblow failed to some kind of miraculous movement; he'd sworn he'd seen a silver sheen to Raijin's instant movements that he's barely been able to perceive except for the silver visage of Raijin's body but he'd still suffered a wound to the chest, "What the hell was that?!".

"You don't need to know… I don't either, but I take back my joker statement… now you're a worthy foe!" Raijin spoke though he couldn't hide that the sudden silvery energy he'd tapped into had taken a toll on his body as his legs shook from the instant movement, a sign that Cress noticed as he lifted some metal shards from the dirt.

Spotting that Raijin's legs were shaking after that strange silver light had faded; being not one to waste an opportunity to strike as Cress rushed Raijin with a gleeful expression after finding a weakness, winding back his open hand as one of his Pale Blade's formed from his palm but Raijin smirks as his mind predicted the attack coming even without his Tail; bringing up his left knee and striking Cress with the same knee.

With a knee planted in his face; Cress felt his nose flush with blood as the bone broke, countering against Raijin with a fistful of metal shards from the shattered spike and raked the shards across Raijin's exposed abdomen leaving three jagged wounds in Raijin's flesh, grimacing with pain from the blow as Raijin grabbed Cress by the shoulders and flipped the Saiyan only to slam him into the ground.

Gasping from the blow; the pair of Saiyan engaged in a series of punches with each blow targeting a wound or weak point, Cress punching Raijin in his abdomen or his shoulders; while Raijin punched Cress in the face or chest, both Saiyans leaping off from one another as Raijin lowered to the ground while Cress rose up into the air and striking a pose that sent a shiver down Raijin's spine.

With widened eyes; Raijin stared up at Cress as he stood in the air with his arms outstretched in a form identical to that of Vegeta's Final Flash, Cress' grinning face fixed into a maniacal expression as his Golden Skull-Form Aura blazed around him with Cress standing in the laws of The Skull as black energy orbs generated into his palms before bringing them together for a more powerful version of his Dark Shine.

"BLACK SUN!".

With the pitch-black beam firing; Raijin saw nothing but darkness as he was consumed by the beam attack, opening his mouth to scream but no sound escaped as the beam tore through the pitch, stands and roof leaving a burning trail of destruction as the beam continued to tear through the stadium's wall, carrying on to tear through the city itself and taking an untold number of lives in its wake before the beam fizzled out.

The path of destruction left by Cress' Black Sun beam; the destruction having carried over from not only their stadium but also into the city and had torn down numerous buildings and watchtowers including the same building where the fight had begun, "It's done… I have won!".

Cress stood in the air revelling in his victory over Raijin as he was suddenly punched in his lower back interrupted his premature celebration as Raijin had burst out from the scorched ground with a seriously wounded right shoulder that had been burnt black and droplets of blood leaked from the scorched flesh.

Gritting his teeth as his right shoulder and by extension his right arm was wounded; Cress' combat style of disabling his opponents remained even in his powered-up, impulse-driven state, the wound only dulled by Raijin's own energy circulation empowering his being but focussing his energies to dull the pain left him distracted for a second.

In the moment of distraction; Cress seized Raijin's left shoulder in his right hand, wasting no time in firing his Dark Shine point-blank as Raijin screamed in pain as the beam blew Cress backwards and into a seating block but dislocated Raijin's shoulder and entire left arm but also leaving a serious burn that bled profusely.

Raijin gripped his burnt and bleeding shoulder in his right hand; flinching slightly as he pushed the arm back into its socket, gasping for breath after taking such a serious blow but what concerned him the most was that Cress' energy and powers were only rising and rising far too quickly, Raijin knew that for this to end he'd have to kill Cress.

Standing in the air; at the core of his Golden Skull-Form Aura with its blazing red eyes glaring out through the sockets and flames billowing out through the open jaw as Cress himself relished in the power he'd reached through Raijin's attempt on his life via electrocution, opening his mouth to speak as his voice echoed in the empty stadium.

"Super Saiyan… Absolute Power!".

"Damn… he's growing too quickly" Raijin muttered to himself; the realisation dawning on him that jumping to his own Full Power Form had induced the sudden growth in Cress' Power Levels allowing him to reach his Absolute Power Form, his train of thought derailed as Cress' power spiked again as he struck with a burst of speed and drove a punch directly into Raijin's chest.

Spitting up blood from the blow as Raijin rolled backwards from the force of the blow; the thought crossing his mind of jumping to Super Saiyan 2 to combat Cress' rising powers but that would only induce Cress to get even stronger by their connection, instead backflipping onto his feet as Cress charged for another blow as Raijin countered and striking back with a swift backhand to Cress' jawline.

Staggering backwards as he'd taken a surprise blow; Cress grinned from ear to ear as he struck Raijin with a punch of his own, Raijin buckled under the blow due to Cress' new Absolute Power Form; leaning on his unwounded arm for support as Cress raised a boot to stamp Raijin's head down into the dirt and end the fight with Raijin's death but a sudden energy blast took Cress off his feet, the sudden beam striking the ground between Raijin and Cress blasting the two apart from each other with Raijin being propelled backwards into The Coach's Box and Cress crashing into the fencing around the Batter's Box.

Climbing out from the shredded remains of The Coach's Box; with heavy breath as his blood kept spilling out from the impalement wounds he'd suffered as Raijin grabbed a hold of the nearest object to pick himself up with only to fall back down into the bench, grunting as he looked at what he'd grabbed only to see one of the same metallic baseball bat's that Cress had used earlier but had tossed aside; slowing himself to grin as he thought to use one of Cress' own tricks against him.

Cress rose from the shredded fencing with blood dripping from various scratches and cuts caused by the fencing, glaring around the seating stands in an angry state; looking to see where that sudden beam had come from but without a Scouter then he'd never find the culprits though he had a good idea who the attacker was based on the fact that the technique used was the Masenko, his attention snapping back as Raijin finally returned to the pitch with a familiar weapon in-hand.

"Really? You're using that" Cress spoke with a mocking tone; his blood dripping from his reopened scars and forcing his right eye closed from the amount of blood streaming down one side of his face.

"Try me…" Raijin answered back with a cutting tone; gripping that bat tighter and began his wind up as he'd seen Yamcha perform before while he was playing Baseball, ensuring to channel his energy into that weapon for added force and striking power.

Gritting his teeth through the pain he felt in his wounds; winding back The Metallic Baseball Bat he'd taken up from The Coach's Box while Cress was unguarded and revelling in his new powers, Cress though blinded in one eye by blood felt exhilarated and invincible after being a true Super Saiyan; expelling the maximum of his strength thus creating a blazing Skull between Raijin and himself.

"This fight ends… now!" Raijin roared with fervour; swinging the bat with all his might with the weapon making contact with Cress' neck, the momentum of Raijin's attack pushing Cress backwards and crashing directly into The Batter's Box where Cress slammed into the ground with such force that he felt his new power leave him on impact.

Crashing down into the Batter's Box; hitting the ground with such force that his golden hair shifted back to black, with blood still streaming out from his re-opened scars Cress stared out from his hate-filled eye as Raijin stood with the bat as his own golden hair faded to black and the Baseball Bat still in his hand, "I don't understand… you're me… and I am you! How are you so much stronger? TELL ME!".

Raijin waited until Cress finished demanding an answer before answering himself; giving an honest answer to a man who did not deserve the mercy he was showing merely by speaking to him, "Well that is simple; you chose the wrong path in life" Raijin spoke honestly; finishing his words by letting Cress consider what Raijin had said before striking Cress in the head one more time with the bat and knocking the evil alternate into unconsciousness.

Looking down at the unconscious Cress laying in a pool of dirt, dead grass, and his own blood; Raijin felt two thoughts cross his mind with one being dark and the other merciful, seeing a helpless and undefendable Cress caused Raijin to consider killing the alternate version of himself and ending his reign of darkness over Earth but he also thought of how much can be learnt from defeat and that the defeat came from an alternate version of himself might trigger a shift in his character.

Before Raijin could decide on what to do with Cress' fate; his golden hair suddenly faded into black as he collapsed to his knees in severe pain; the burnt flesh of his shoulders searing through his body as all the exhilaration and adrenaline induced by fighting Cress had blocked the pain but now that the fight was over Raijin's wounds were finally catching up with him, the bleeding gashes, burns, bruises, and scratches from Cress' weaponry attacks had had an effect of his body.

Having dropped to his knees in the pain of the wounds he'd suffered; also failing to notice that Cress was stirring from where he lay as Raijin sensed two strangely-familiar and yet different energies, glancing behind him and looking around the empty seating blocks until finding two figures in dark grey cloaks with hoods flying out from the seating blocks and floating over to him only stopping when both figures' feet touched the ground on either side of Raijin, feeling both the stranger's eyes on him.

"You're wounded; allow us to treat those injuries Stranger" spoke The Taller of The Two Strangers; his tall stature giving Raijin a peek under his hood and seeing a strong, green-skinned jawline, a familiar appearance that forced The Good Saiyan to give a friendly smile and nodding to allow The Stranger to treat his wounds, The Stranger taking note of Raijin's agreement and took two cooling gel pads and attaching them to Raijin's scorched shoulders as the smaller of the two taped them down and then bandaged his arms.

"That voice… and that skin" Raijin spoke with an amazed tone; his eyes spotting the familiar, green-skinned hands again along with the gruff voice as that of his Namekian friend back in his own Timeline but also noted that this version had a long scar under his jawline likely caused by a blade.

"I don't know why you bear the same face as that bastard; but you brought him down, I ask that you leave his fate to us" spoke The Smaller Cloaked Stranger; his voice young yet resolute in his actions other than questionable language.

Raijin allowed himself to smile as he knew who both these strangers were under their hoods now; he knew the young voice of the young stranger too well too now that he heard him speak, "You should watch that language… its unbecoming of a young man".

"Now that we're done treating you; you must answer some questions for us" The Tall Cloaked Figure spoke; his gruff voice sounding serious as his piercing eyes stared out from under his hood with a questioning stare as Raijin bore the same face as Cress only minus the scars.

Rising back to his feet; Raijin flet his pain slip away with each second as the cooling gels worked their magic as his scorched flesh was soothed, opening his mouth to speak but no words escaped as his eyes widened in stunned shock as Cress had risen to his feet.

"I will never die to those filthy hands… do you hear me? I cannot be killed until my goals have been achieved!" Cress roared though his re-opened scars and bloodied face as both his arms were outstretched with his hands trembling as he forced his powers to rise when his body was beaten, firing his Black Dawn beam attack with Raijin and the two Cloaked Figure's in its path.