At Mount Five Elements on the edge of the world, it was already deep into the night.
Dark clouds loomed, demonic energy swirling.
Inside the brightly lit palace of the Supreme Elderly Lord, beside an incense burner wisping with fragrant smoke, the tiny girl Joey lay sprawled on her back, belly full, sound asleep under a thin blanket.
Annin had shed her armored warrior garb, leaving only a plain white underrobe. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders as she walked barefoot across the red carpet toward the door, humming an ancient, nameless melody.
She stepped into the moonlight.
The cold, silvery light bathed her as she began to dance.
Her movements were a fluid yet powerful martial art—swift as a rabbit, graceful as a crane. At times soft and winding like a murmuring spring, at others fierce and unyielding as an eagle soaring through the sky.
With a whoosh, she threw a punch—
---
THWACK!
A fist wreathed in golden flames tore through the air, smashing squarely into Yamiru's face.
Yamiru's head snapped back, his entire body lifting momentarily into the air.
Seizing the opening, Goku's emerald eyes flashed. He surged forward, fists becoming blurs of lightning as he unleashed a relentless barrage upon Yamiru.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Each strike sent shockwaves through Yamiru's body, the force blasting craters into the stage below. In seconds, the arena floor was pockmarked with holes.
"RAAAH!"
Goku roared, his power peaking as he pivoted into a devastating spinning kick—CRACK!
WHOOSH—
Yamiru went flying.
Goku BOOMED with energy again, streaking after him in a golden arc.
The audience's heads swiveled frantically, trying to track the two figures.
Mid-flight, Yamiru calmly looked down, golden eyes trailing streaks of light. He reached out—
---
A gentle flick of her fingers.
Five streaks of energy dispersed a passing demonic cloud.
Annin danced under the moonlight, eyes closed, frost-like light glinting off every strand of her hair. Her white robe fluttered, a single crimson sash swirling within.
Her aura shifted—suddenly lethal, as if she had stepped back into the battles of forty thousand years past.
Her bright eyes snapped open.
She stretched a hand toward the palace—
---
Yamiru's outstretched hand clamped onto Goku's wrist.
In an instant, he spun Goku like a top before hurling him skyward.
SNAP!
Yamiru dissolved into a streak of white light, chasing after Goku, who—even while hurtling through the air—had already cupped his hands at his waist.
HUM…
A white glow condensed between his palms, soon tinged with gold.
Goku's emerald eyes narrowed—Yamiru, ascending from below, was too fast. He vanished from sight.
Where?!
Goku's gaze darted wildly.
He couldn't sense Yamiru's energy!
No lock-on!
Every hair on Goku's body stood on end. Abandoning the half-formed Kamehameha, he instead palmed the unstable energy sphere and slammed it blindly behind him!
WHOOSH—
Yamiru's figure appeared there—
But the golden sphere passed through an afterimage.
Yamiru materialized behind Goku, reaching out—
Only for Goku, too, to fade into a mirage.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
In the span of a breath, the sky filled with dozens—no, hundreds—of overlapping afterimages of Goku and Yamiru.
---
SWISH… SWISH…
Back in the palace, the discarded armor on the red carpet suddenly levitated, flying toward the door. The clatter roused Joey from her sweet slumber by the incense burner. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked at the countless afterimages of Annin's armored form flickering through the hall.
Peering outside, she saw the same phantom traces of the warrior woman dissolving like mist under the moonlight.
Annin donned her armor piece by piece, her dance growing fiercer, sweat glistening as she lost herself in the rhythm.
---
BOOOOOOM!
The sky itself seemed to rupture, the explosion swallowing the hundreds of afterimages whole.
From the smoke came Goku's long, resonant cry—like a volcano erupting after centuries of dormancy. Golden flames erupted anew, cleansing the haze in an instant.
Goku's energy peaked.
Every Super Saiyan cell in his body awakened, thrumming with battle-lust.
All combat instincts flared to life. His focus was sharper than ever, his fighting spirit at its zenith, his intuition preternaturally keen.
He suddenly ducked—
Yamiru's fist whistled over his head.
"Oh?" Yamiru raised an eyebrow.
THUD!
Goku's counter punch slammed into Yamiru's gut.
BAM!
Yamiru rocketed backward dozens of meters.
Goku blazed after him in a golden streak, spinning midair to deliver a crushing kick—WHAM!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
For several seconds, the golden figure zigzagged across the sky, while the white one was battered like a ragdoll.
WHOOSH…
Yamiru soared upward, wind howling in his ears.
'Just now… Goku—'
At the peak of his ascent, gravity took hold, slowing him until he hung motionless for a split second.
WHOOSH—
A golden figure materialized above him.
Goku's emerald eyes left twin trails of jade light as he clasped his fists overhead, golden lightning crackling around them.
With a roar, he slammed them down onto Yamiru's back!
BAM!
Yamiru plummeted like a comet toward the "tiny" stage hundreds of meters below.
But the golden streak was faster.
Goku descended like a meteor, landing on the stage in what seemed like slow motion. Around him, the audience and the mustached announcer moved as if frozen in time. The energy barrier's surface rippled like liquid. Inside, Gine's eyes shifted slightly. Nearby, Raditz turned his head toward the stage at a glacial pace. High above, Piccolo's mouth opened in a drawn-out gasp.
Golden flames licked at Goku's gi as he crouched, one palm pressed against the shattered ground. His gaze locked onto Yamiru's "slowly" falling form.
BOOM!
He erupted in a pillar of golden fire, shooting upward like a second sun rising in reverse.
WHOOSH—
Yamiru fell with the wind.
The Super Saiyan streaked to meet him, a golden knee driving into his torso.
CRACK!
The sky trembled. Thunder rolled. A bolt of lightning—out of nowhere—lanced down, striking both fighters.
In the blinding flash, Yamiru vanished from the impact point, transformed into a meteor that tore through the clouds, wreathed in atmospheric flames, before crashing silently onto the pockmarked surface of the moon. Another crater joined the countless others.
---
Moonlight glinted off the dancing warrior's armor, shifting between light and shadow.
Joey flitted around Annin, giggling innocently, her tiny form weaving in and out of the martial dance.
Annin, eyes closed, smiled as she sparred playfully with the miniature girl. Beads of sweat flew from her brow, glinting like stars against the night sky.
---
"......"
On the moon, Yamiru floated upright, extricating himself from the crater. He attempted a breath—failed.
Holding his breath, he dusted off lunar debris, utterly unbothered, then circled the moon.
'Tch. No American flag.'
Returning to the crater, he gazed at the beautiful blue Earth, then crouched.
Flickers of white light rose from his feet, enveloping him. Exhaling sharply, his golden eyes narrowed—
WHOOSH!
A white bolt streaked back toward Earth.
---
"Hah… Hah…"
Goku stood panting on the ruined stage, scanning the sky.
"Where'd he go…?" Tights and Bulma craned their necks.
Gine frowned—no energy signature. No way to track him.
Vegeta stared blankly, his mind short-circuiting.
Krillin's bald head glistened with sweat. "Yamiru… didn't just die, right?"
The announcer floundered, coughing into the mic. "Uh… Well… Contestant Yamiru… He…"
Before he could improvise, a meteor-like streak smashed into the stage, obliterating half of it.
"Ah…" A voice echoed from the dust.
Goku turned, chest heaving, as a figure wreathed in white light emerged.
Yamiru grinned. "I'm back."
Goku's breathing steadied. His body ached, sweat drenched his brow—but at the sight of Yamiru, unharmed, his lips curled into a fierce smile.
BOOM!
Golden light exploded around him, brighter than ever.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The Super Saiyan charged, each step fracturing the stage, a golden blur hurtling toward Yamiru.