A sweat drop appearing on his head, a still aura clad Gohan stared down at the robots lining the trench. "What in the world are they?"
"You like them?" Kure asked, putting her hands together and beaming proudly at her creations. "These little critters are called Carbon Active Tech Droids… or CAT Droids for short. My people on Savannah manufacture these little guys to help with our everyday chores and activities, such as cooking, cleaning, researching, and helping to move heavy loads." She then pulled out one of the marbles she'd planted in the ground and held it up for all of them to see. "They're created by scattering these nano-machine capsules and using the soil to help fabricate them. They're really useful when going out on long-term expeditions that require several extra hands." Turning her attention back to her platoon of helpers she'd summoned, the feline woman grinned, pocketed her marble, and clapped her hands together cheerfully. "Alright everybody, fall in!"
At her command, all twelve little robots spun around and moved towards her, their little feet making cute pitter-patter sounds as they gathered together, before looking up at their creator with their full and undivided attention. The sight of them moving into place had all the soft-hearted Z-fighters make a cute 'aww' sound in unison.
Grinning, Kure then pointed at them, "Operations Check: Dance." In perfect sync, every single cat robot began to perform an impromptu lion dance, tapping their feet against the cobblestone surface in an elaborate and choreographed display. Nodding affirmatively, the alien woman then cocked her head upwards. "Stand proud." She then saw every one of her little units place their knuckles on their hips and pump their chests out. "Look sad." The platoon then curled forward, placing their hands against an invisible wall in front of them. "Now sing." All at once, the dozen little droids then started waving their right hand in front of them in a way to imitate speech, as it quickly became apparent to the Z-Crew that these little tykes couldn't make any form of audible response. "Excellent. All of them appear to be functioning normally." Kure then nodded to her squadron and pointed over their shoulders. "Okay everyone. Ready for battle!" The group of automatons then did an about-face and squared off with their soon-to-be adversaries.
Bulma, staring at the contingent of toy soldiers, grinned excitedly. "I really, really want one of those."
Glancing up at the armored scientist, Krillin smiled, "Maybe you can ask her for one later."
"Kitty."
Hearing a woman's voice speak up, the Z-fighters looked around at Eighteen, where they saw the normally composed blonde woman with her hands held out, a cute blush on her face, and her eyes glowing like a child's. Immediately upon seeing her make a grabbing gesture with her fingers, the group quickly realized that she had become thoroughly taken in by the little robots, and wanted to hug one.
When she realized people were staring at her, the android mother quickly snapped out of her daze and looked away in embarrassment.
Upon sizing up the little units for himself, Yamcha chuckled. "Well… I got to say… thank Dende they're not Saibamen."
"Honestly, if Vegeta and Nappa had brought these guys along with them when they first came to Earth, I would've had absolutely no problems fighting them," Gohan commented, doing his best not to laugh when he saw the twelve little cat-robots go through a series of stretches and warm ups with one another.
"Speak for yourself," Zangya spoke, a clear look of amusement pulled across her face, "These little fellas are so cute, I wouldn't want to even think about hurting them."
"Don't be fooled by their appearances," Kure added, drawing the group's attention back to her. "Though they were specifically designed to be non-threatening, their technology is state-of-the-art; the most advanced in our part of space. They're extremely adaptable; equipped with the best liquidware and software from my home planet, allowing them to communicate and interact with any form of life. They're also really hard to destroy and can survive almost anything thrown at them, making them ideal as temporary sparring partners. They're even capable of self-repair." She then cocked her head to the side and grinned. "All of them are currently preset to Level 5. Considering how strong a majority of you are, I think you'll find them to be adequate enough opponents." After saying this, she then raised her hand and pointed towards their targets.
Almost immediately, the twelve robots honed their sensors onto Goten, Trunks, Krillin, Android 18 and Chiaotzu, locking them squarely in their crosshairs. When they realized they'd been paired off, the warriors of Earth quickly took a step back, as suddenly being singled out by a group of silent, cute plastic robots didn't exactly seem like such a funny prospect anymore.
Trunks, cracking his knuckles, grinned excitedly, "Indestructible robots, huh? That sounds like a challenge."
His comments earned a little laugh from Zangya, who gently patted the youngster on the head. "Enjoy your child-friendly automated sparring partner, little prince." Her statement had the hybrid Saiyan blush, while many of the adults in the area snickered at the Hera's jab to the boy's pride. When she looked back at her half-Saiyan roommate at the head of the pack, the woman with orange hair nodded to the Super Saiyan 3 affirmatively. "I think we're all good here."
Acknowledging everyone's decisions, a previously listening Gohan quickly returned his attention back to his foe, who he noticed was still smiling quietly in his direction. With his glare locked and loaded, the half-Saiyan warrior then slid his left foot forward and took a full standing stance, in a manner similar to how he fought as a Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. His action then prompted Sandra to signal for her comrades to back away, which they did by moving off to the side. The Z-fighters followed suit, knowing full well from their friend's expression that their battle was just about to begin and, with the amount of power that'd been pooled into one spot, they didn't want to be anywhere near them when their fists started to fly.
A single hit from a Super Saiyan 3 had the potential to either disintegrate everything in its path or cause a full body of a lesser being to implode on itself. That was something they wanted to avoid at all costs.
As everybody moved to a safer position, Gohan quickly used that opportunity to assess his current status. "My energy levels are good, my head's clear and my body's relaxed. Perfect. Looks like I'm in top condition for this fight." He then quickly set his eyes back onto his foe. "Having my tail back is really helping me to regulate my power level in this state. Without it, I'm just a car running without an alternator. Since my gear is set on overdrive for the entire duration of this form, it makes sense for the body to have an extra valve in place to keep it from clocking out. However…" When his eyes landed on his opponent, he saw that she was also in a similarly calm state. "Since Sandra has also achieved this level, I guess she already has that weakness figured out." Along with a few other chinks he assumed, which made him wonder how powerful this girl actually was.
The clouds overlooking the pair's position continued to swirl above them in the form of a rapidly rotating hurricane, indicating how badly the weather was responding to so much energy sitting in the one region. While the staff and visitors to the castle continued to hold their stations on the very perimeter of the enormous five hundred square meter courtyard, Gohan and Sandra glared one another down. Their arms at their sides and their hair billowing within their auras, the duo held firm to their posts and waited to see who would make the first move. Since they were both practically around the same strength, the first clean hit to land could make a big difference in the long run. It could even mean a big difference between victory and defeat.
The Z-fighters and the visitors were also curious as to who would make the first move. Goten and Trunks gulped, as the tension and atmosphere around them grew heavier by the second.
"Gohan…" the younger sibling whispered.
Kure meanwhile, with her crew of CAT Droids lined up in front of her and standing at attention, tapped her finger against her bicep nervously, while at the same time glancing across at her friend. "Hey. Do you think Sandra will be able to keep her 'bad habits' in check this time?"
In response, Maya shrugged, "Don't know. Hopefully, if this battle goes well, she won't let it come to that. We'll just have to wait and see."
All questions and concerns on the matter were swiftly broken, as moments later one of the two fighters finally threw themselves into action.
Gohan, eyes lighting up with determination, shifted his weight forward and took aim at his foe, his aura intensifying tenfold.
"Take the pace!" he told himself.
However, just as he was readying to attack, Sandra, sensing his intent with split-second accuracy and foresight, suddenly dashed towards her enemy in a blur of motion and skidded to a stop directly in front of him, making it appear as though she'd teleported. Her sudden charge had Gohan freeze up in shock, as he instantly found himself looking directly into the eyes of his assailant hovering just a few inches in front of his face.
The sheer intensity he felt radiating off of Sandra in that moment of pause was enough to have the half-Saiyan stop dead in his tracks and a bead of sweat to trickle down his face.
Without warning, the female warrior fired her left fist straight towards Gohan's face at breakneck speed. Reacting in alarm, the boy threw his arms up to block. The instant the girl's knuckles struck his forearms, a deafening shockwave rang out as a force equivalent to a comet traveling through space struck the boy head-on and sent his body skidding across the ring. Expression reflecting nothing but pure astonishment, the demi-Saiyan barely had enough time to react to the second jab that followed immediately afterwards, which slammed into his arms and blew his guard wide open. Feet digging two identical trenches through the floor, the teen eventually stopped on the other side of the courtyard, where he then found himself gaping at his opponent, whom he could see was standing in a basic fighting stance with a fierce glare fixated upon his person.
The expression she was now wearing was almost identical to that of a wild tiger staring down a helpless mammal. It was a sight that had Gohan literally shaking in his boots.
The fact that smoke was wafting off of his right forearm where an imprint of Sandra's fist could be seen didn't help the matter either.
Krillin, gob smacked by the swift opening, spoke up in concern, "Hey… what's wrong with Gohan?"
"Is the pressure of the atmosphere getting to him?" Yamcha asked.
"No," Tien answered, drawing the group's attention over to him as the three-eyed fighter clenched his fists nervously. "It's the woman standing in front of him. The moment he tried to charge in for an attack, she beat him to it by darting straight into his range and blasting him with a wave of killing intent. The intensity from her presence was so potent that she was able to stop him dead in his tracks."
Videl, looking over her shoulder at the man, swallowed nervously, "If she was able to intimidate Gohan, then… what does that mean?"
Beads of sweat appeared on the bald warrior's brow as he watched their friend face off against his otherworldly adversary. "It means his opponent is strong. The kid probably felt that the moment he was hit by her jab."