After a full minute of standing and glaring silently across at one another, the demi-Saiyan soon grew frustrated at the atmosphere and straightened up. To put it into layman's terms; he'd had enough. "Hey! What gives?" His question immediately had the crowd's and his opponent's immediate attention. "How the heck are you so strong? I haven't fought somebody as tough as you since Kana and she wasn't even from this planet."
If memories served him well, the only fighters from this planet who were strong enough to give him any sort of trouble were his dad's friends. And even then they would find the task of doing so incredibly difficult as well.
This one packed a wallop.
Catching on to the boy's inquiry, the cloaked, bruised figure spat in disgust and straightened up as well. "Figures a monster like you wouldn't know who I am. I mean, what else can I expect? You did destroy my entire planet without so much as batting an eye."
"Wait. I did what?" Gohan balked, blinking a few times in astonishment as what his opponent just said. "I… destroyed your planet?"
"That's what I just said, you callous prick."
"B-But…" Completely overwhelmed by this person's unexpected claims, the demi-Saiyan shook his head and gave them an intent stare. "Hold on a second. There has to be some kind of mistake. I… I didn't destroy anyone's planet. You must have me confused with someone else."
"Don't play dumb with me, Son Gohan! You may act like you don't remember, but I know full well what you did!" Clenching their fist tightly, the hooded figure snarled and stepped towards him angrily, "I know because I was there! I saw you do it! Five years ago, I watched from afar as you blasted my entire world into oblivion and sent my father plummeting into a black abyss! The inhabitants of earth wouldn't remember witnessing an event like that. After all… my people were nothing more than a mere myth to this world… relics of a time long forgotten."
Feeling something akin to dread coming over him, Gohan narrowed his eyes dangerously and took a step forward as well, "Who are you?"
Grunting at the glare the boy sent their way Paprika then breathed an irritated sigh and reached up with their hand. "Still can't remember? Fine. Maybe this will help jog your memory!" With a swift tug, the figure removed the cloak and threw it onto the wind, revealing to the stadium the fighter it was concealing underneath.
The audience and Gohan received one hell of a shock at what they saw.
The child wasn't human. That was what they immediately got on first glance. If the moss green skin that they had wasn't a dead giveaway, then the pointy ears and the horns growing out of their hair were.
Continuing to take in their appearance, not only did Gohan see that the person had long white, messy hair that grew down their shoulders, but the youngster also wore fighting shoes, red leg warmers, a red belt, black figure hugging pants, a short-sleeved top with red trim and the midriff exposed, and black, pull-on sleeves with a red trim as well. On top of that, the foreigner was also wearing a long red scarf wrapped around their neck, which waved on the wind like a cape as much as their hair.
Aside from looking to be the exact same age as Gohan, the boy was also surprised to see that the fighter was in fact a girl.
Her prominent lashes narrowed as she showed off her fanged teeth and fixed her blood red eyes in a hateful glare upon the demi-Saiyan. "Does this face ring any bells?"
Eyes widening, flashbacks of beings similar to this girl's appearance flew through his head as he thought back to a day prior to Radditz's arrival, one filled with demons and a vortex in the sky. He also recalled memories of a great battle he'd fought many years ago, where the world had fallen under the spell of the Black Water Mist and a group of power-hungry figures threatened to destroy everything he cared about. There was one figure in particular out of that entire group that stuck out in his mind.
His laugh was one of the many that continued to haunt his nightmares.
Gohan swallowed and stammered nervously, a cold chill running up his spine, "Y-You're…"
At that moment, Piccolo also realized who the girl was and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Finally figured it out?" Paprika asked with a smirk, before her expression darkened once more into a look that had the crowds watching shiver with fright. "Garlic Junior was my father. He conceived me four years prior to the day you knocked him into the void known as the Dead Zone." She then clenched her fists even tighter. "Years later, he managed to break free from that wretched hellhole and returned to us. But after only a month of freedom, he was once again tossed into the same prison he'd broken out of by the very person who put him there in the first place. Now, thanks to you, he's trapped forever in a world of shadow and despair."
It was this revelation that finally clicked in Gohan's head.
He remembered all of it; the final battle between his friends and the immortal demon Garlic Junior. Flashes of that day filtered into his mind, showing him an enemy he'd fought long ago when he was only four years old and then came back a second time for revenge years later.
On that day, he threw the power mad conqueror into the void of the Dead Zone and destroyed the rogue planet that was the source of his race's power, the Makyo Star. He figured after dispersing of that demonic realm that he would finally be rid of that nightmare once and for all.
However, it seemed as though fate had other plans for him and he was now staring down the face of his former enemy's daughter.
Gohan frowned, "Your father was a monster who tortured my friends and threatened to destroy the earth. I had no other choice. He had to be stopped."
"And what gave you that right, huh?!" Paprika shot back, her teeth bared in rage. "Thanks to you, my entire planet, my home and the only family I had is now gone! And it's all because of you!" Snapping angrily, the girl shook the tears from her eyes and sneered at the boy staring back at her. "I spent five years training, becoming strong enough to defeat the one who robbed me of my father. And now that I've found you, I'll be able to take my revenge and make you suffer for what you've done!"
Eyes narrowing at every word she spoke, the shaken teen quickly regained his composure and took his stance, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone. All I did was fight to protect my friends from a madman who wanted nothing more than to take them away from me. It was the only thing I could do." He slid his feet apart and took a stance. "But if it's a fight with me that you want… then it's a fight you'll get. Come and get me."
Paprika growled, "With pleasure."
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