(Vegeta & Cal)
As for the Saiyan Prince, he was having a party on his own side of the continent. After forcefully dragging his foe away from Central City, the pair had decided to hold up inside a thick, redwood forest, where the ground was flat and the trees were immense. However, this didn't stop massive explosions and shockwaves from ripping the land asunder, as both Vegeta and Cal squared off in a battle for dominance, trying to find out who the best warrior out of the two of them was.
But it wasn't going to be easy. That much was clear. While their fight had started off relatively clean, it had now boiled down to a good old slugfest, one where both fighters were now caving in each other's faces and ribcages with blows that could crush planets.
Receiving a hit square in the guard, Vegeta was sent skidding back along the forest floor till his spine slammed into the trunk of a massive tree. Growling, he then looked up at his foe, who he saw lunge forward with his eyes burning a hot red. Knowing what was coming next, the short man braced himself before he was hit squarely in the chest by the warrior's eye beams, which pushed him through the tree behind him and through the forest at backbreaking speed. An entire line of redwoods was felled thanks to that attack.
After crashing through half of the forest, the battered prince, with great effort, sprang back onto his feet and flew in a wide arc around the area. Ducking and dodging trees, the man powered up with a crack of thunder and sharply changed directions, tearing through a dozen trees before tackling his opponent in the side. His blow sent Cal busting through another row of forest, which toppled over like dominoes. When the dust and splinters lifted, the man in the black spandex was back on his feet and glaring heatedly at his Ascended Saiyan opponent, who was panting from their scuffle.
Bleeding from the forehead and sporting a multitude of other wounds, Vegeta held up his hand and waved Cal over, who was also bleeding from various wounds and bearing an orange skin texture. This indicated that he was still in a powered-up state and was scrapping with everything he had.
"Come on, chump. What else have you got?"
Taking a deep breath, the humanoid alien then took a new brawling stance and focused his energy into his arms. When his limbs ignited, the Saiyan Prince then watched in surprise as ki began to gather around them, before they suddenly took shape. A split second later, Cal could soon be seen holding a circular, Spartan-like shield in his left arm and a square hammer in his right, his energy solidifying into glowing red weapons of war.
The sight of the tools had Vegeta frown distastefully. "Oh, that's just cheating."
Grinning, the gladiator of a warrior then let out a yell and darted forward, swinging at the Super Saiyan with his hammer. The flame-haired man had a split second to dive out of the way before the man's weapon cut through the tree behind him and slammed into the Earth. What followed soon afterwards was an explosion equivalent to a nuclear bomb going off, which sent a pillar of dust and rubble shooting into the atmosphere as yet another enormous crater was punched into the continent.
When Vegeta landed several yards behind the man, the prince threw his hand forward and shouted, "BIG BANG ATTACK!" A golden sphere of energy then shot from his palm and towards the warrior like a missile. Just when it seemed like it was going to hit, the fighter in black spandex spun around and effortlessly slapped the ball of energy away with his shield, sending it over the horizon where it struck a distant mountain and exploded harmlessly. The sight of the man's defensive play actually had Vegeta start to sweat. "Okay. Not bad. I'm actually quite impressed."
Spinning his energy hammer in his hand, the hulking fighter then threw his adversary a smile. "Now… it's my turn." Frowning, Cal then lunged forward with a yell, swinging at his target with his newly formed tool of destruction.
OOO
(Mars)
(Gohan & Sandra)
Blood dribbling down his chin and onto the ground in front of him, a thoroughly beaten and winded Gohan, his left eye black, his face covered in welts, and half of his orange gi top gone, set his battle-damaged body into a wide stance and cupped his hands at his sides. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head as well as the fact that his knees were about to give way, the demi-Saiyan powered up, his golden aura bursting up around him while energy quickly began gathering between his hands. With his female opponent standing squarely in his sights on the other side of the great red desert in front of him, this was his moment to strike.
Lightning shot off of his body and scorched the sand into glass around him as a familiar chant filled the air. "KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" His scream was instantly followed by a terrifying howl as Gohan thrust his hand forward and let loose a torrent of fiery blue energy. His ki exploded from his palms and filled the sky in front of him, the beam swallowing up a good chunk of the ground as it rocketed towards its target like a comet, which tore across the surface of the planet and could clearly be seen from orbit.
Sandra meanwhile, despite seeing the brilliant glow of the attack charging towards her, wasn't swayed in the least. Sporting only a few bruises and scratches from her fight, the Empress merely clenched her fists and, with electricity coursing up and down her body, cocked her right fist back. As soon as she did, her entire arm lit up a hot gold, as she then focused all of her energy into a single point.
"Useless. Consecutive Senkos!" the female Super Saiyan 3 shouted, before suddenly thrusting her fist forward in a perfect right cross. While at first it seemed like Sandra had only thrown a single punch, while her attack was being thrown forward, her fist unexpectedly multiplied into several golden arms, all of which impacted Gohan's energy blast.
The result was biblical, as a terrifying shockwave caused by Sandra's consecutive power punches ripped right into the Kamehameha Wave and split it down the center. Seeing it firsthand had Gohan's eyes widen in horror.
"NO WAY!"
His beam split into several and was effectively deflected as the invisible blast from his opponent traveled down his, before slamming into him head-on. The force of several dozen super powered punches ended up knocking Gohan off his feet and causing the force of his own attack to rebound, effectively splitting the ground around him and causing several mountains behind him to explode into a shower of rubble. His body meanwhile, tumbling through the gale of his opponent's counter attack, eventually crashed back into the desert and rolled for about a kilometer.
Gohan managed to slow his momentum and use it to leap back to his feet. However, when he tried to stand, he then collapsed forward, gasping for air as his vision went out of focus.
With his muscles twitching and burning with pain, the teen spent the next minute trying to recover. During which time Sandra, flying over from her spot in the desert, landed several yards in front of her foe. Her shadow fell over the downed half-Saiyan like a cloud, letting him know that she was there and ready to pick up where they left off.
However, after looking her opponent over, she knew right away what the score was.
"Third time's the charm, I guess. Unfortunately, in your case, your third time backfired horribly." After staring down at her foe for several seconds longer and seeing him glare up at her exhaustedly, a frown quickly appeared on her face. "Wait? Is that it?"
Gohan, hearing her question loud and clear, stiffened on the spot, his eyes glued upon the rugged lines of her face.
"Hmph. Honestly… I'm a little bit disappointed…"
OOO
(Grand Kai's Planet)
By this point in the battle, all confidence that the audience in the Otherworld had for Gohan securing a clean victory had been all but wiped clean from the board. The moment King Kai's group saw the demi-Saiyan drop to his knees and his opponent come to stand over him, they knew right away that he was in trouble.
Looking at the teen's condition from his seat and analyzing his status through his extra-sensory capabilities, the blue-skinned guardian of the North and overseer of that region of space bit his teeth together nervously. "This is not good."
Seeing the situation for herself, Baba frowned, "It certainly isn't."
Olibu, standing beside Pikkon with an equally worried expression in play, also lowered his head in dread. "The kid is on his last legs."
"If he keeps this pace up, he's going to die on his feet," Pikkon commented, having kept an accurate count of all the shots to the head Gohan had taken. Seeing him now, gasping for breath on a deserted red planet against an adversary who could clock his every move down to the last nano-second, there was no doubt in his mind that the teen had reached the end of his ropes.
The West Kai, having kept quiet for most of the session, nodded in agreement. "I definitely have to give the kid points for determination. No questions there. But let's face it; his opponent is just too fast and too skilled for him to beat on his own. I think this is the end." The man then looked across at his colleague seated on the fold-out chair next to him. "He should quit before he gets hurt."
At that, King Kai nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid it's over, guys."
"No!"
All eyes quickly snapped to the front, where they saw Goku leaning forward in his seat and staring at the screen intently. At first the man had been perfectly content just lying back with his feet kicked up and watching a pretty thrilling series of battles unfold on the box in front of him. However, about halfway through their viewing time, the Saiyan had quickly begun to notice how one-sided the battle was becoming, and had opted to paying even closer attention to his son's bout. This led to him glaring at the television screen, with a fearful and frustrated look reflected in his gaze.
Hands clenching tightly in front of him, Goku tapped his foot against the grass anxiously, all the while throwing in whatever support for Gohan that he could muster. "My son will never give up. He'll find a way to beat this girl… he has to!"
"Goku, look at him!" King Kai suddenly shouted, pointing at the screen and towards the demi-Saiyan's battered and exhausted face. "Even though they are exactly the same strength, his opponent is picking him apart piece by piece! I've never seen your boy take so much damage before! If he keeps this up and doesn't back down, then she's going to beat him to death!"
"Yes… but-"
"But nothing, Goku!" the blue-skinned trainer yelled, his expression becoming one of firm and unyielding authority. "This girl is too much for him. Any more blows to the head and his brain is going to shut down… and the next thing you know he's going to be knocking on King Yemma's door and asking for the first ticket here. If he doesn't stop in the next few minutes, then I want you to contact him and tell him to stand down. No excuses!"
His pride and faith in his son's strength grappling with his need to save his boy's life, Goku gritted his teeth and balled his fists even tighter. He actually clenched his fingers so hard that his nails drew blood from the skin on his palms. As he watched his son tremble and gasp for air on the television, all the while trying to regain his sense of balance through a drunken and agonizing haze, the father desperately attempted to think of some kind of strategy to beat this female Saiyan.
But try as he might, no matter how he attempted to swing it, he just couldn't.
"What can he do? What can Gohan do?" Goku thought, drawing on all of his past experiences and battles for a solution. "I… I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. He's used every strategy, technique, plan and attack he could come up with, and it's still not enough! He's already given this girl everything he's got. If he tries even one more plan and gets shot down… then… I don't think he'll be able to stand up again." In simple terms, he wouldn't just be beaten… he would be killed.
It was as clear as day. In all their years of fighting and battling evil monsters, this was probably the first opponent that neither he nor his son would be able to defeat.
OOO
(Back on Mars)
When Sandra saw Gohan struggle to get back to his feet, his body shaking like a leaf as he attempted to divert all remaining power to his legs, the girl raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh? You want more?" Receiving no response from the hybrid but a snarl and a grunt as he desperately slammed his fist into his leg to wake it up, the female Saiyan smirked. "I've seen through every one of your attacks so far and cut you down more times than you can count. None of your attacks are even landing on me anymore. Face it. It's over! Why don't you just give it up before you do something that you're going to regret?"
His teeth biting together so hard that you could literally hear them grinding, Gohan then gave a loud yell and shakily began to rise, "Not… yeeeeeet!" The moment he finally managed to stand up, the teen then dropped back to his hands and knees, gasping for air as bolts of pain shot through his system.
Though the girl found his courage commendable, all she could do was continue to try and dissuade the demi-Saiyan into continuing this fruitless battle. "You can barely stand. How do you expect to put up any sort of fight in this condition? Or perhaps you have some kind of death wish I don't know about." When she noticed the boy continue to tremble from head to toe, Sandra then craned her head curiously. "Though your heart is telling you to go on, your body is telling you something else altogether. After all the hits it's taken and all the damage it's received, deep down in your subconscious, your soul is telling you you're about to break… and it's scared. Right now it's doing everything in its power to keep you down." Her smile conveyed nothing but her victory. "I think you should listen to it."
Gohan, amidst all his pain and fatigue, glared up at the woman. When he saw her cool green eyes glaring back at him, full of confidence, the teen felt his body shudder even more. "Oh no. This isn't good." His fingers digging through the hard, red earth beneath him, the Z-fighter then clenched his eyes shut. "My body won't stop shaking." When his arms and legs once again refused to move, the boy then curled forward even more. "D-Damn IIIIIIT!"
Breathing out a sigh, the female Saiyan then slid into her Kai Mui stance and brought her right hand back to form a fist. "You gave me one hell of a fight, stallion… the best one I've had in a long time. But I think I should put an end to this once and for all…"
Rearing his head back, a determined Gohan then did the only thing he knew would keep him from passing out.
"Shaking…" He then thrust his head straight into the rock beneath him, "STOP!" His forehead's impact with Mars's surface caused a comical 'thunk' to ring out, something that had Sandra recoil in surprise.
Even the audience watching the fight from Otherworld was baffled by the way Gohan shut down his anxiety attack, as indicated by how they were now gaping at the television screen.
A few seconds later, Gohan looked up with red bruise on his forehead, swirly eyes and a stupid smile on his face, at the same time he could see stars dancing around him. Being in Super Saiyan 3, the expression he made was even more hysterical. "Uheh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… there… shaking's gone," he replied in a goofy tone of voice characteristic of his family, "All better." He then collapsed onto his rear, still grinning like an idiot.
Blinking at the teen's unusual display, Sandra then snickered before breaking out into a fit of laughter. She then placed a hand against her head in disbelief and worked on steadying her breathing. "Man, you are one weird Saiyan, you know that?" Upon which she then looked up at the slightly dazed man with an admiring gaze. "As funny as that was to see, this doesn't change the fact that you're at the end of your ropes."
Mentally snapping out of it, Gohan then went back to glaring up at his opponent, who he could now see was preparing for a final bout. "Damn it. She's right. Even though I've still got juice to spare, I still haven't figured out a way to beat her. What the hell am I going to do?" A damage report quickly gave him an idea of his current position. "I've taken quite a beating, but it's nothing I can't stand up from. I just have to avoid taking more head shots. Increasing my power isn't an option, I'm almost tapped out… and using a booster at this stage will only burn out whatever stamina I have left trying to force my way through her defenses. There has to be a better way." Gohan then began powering over both of their status levels as quickly as he could, all in an attempt to figure out some kind of weak point. "Her strength and power are exactly the same as mine, and her speed and reflexes are a little more refined. The only things I have going for me are my reach, accuracy, creativity and durability, but she counters all of these by having greater technique, footwork and hand speed. What's more she's able to perfectly predict and counter my every move by reading my rhythm and fighting style, so every attack I try, no matter how fast or powerful it is, is pointle-" It was then, right in the middle of his breakdown, the demi-Saiyan was struck by a sudden wave of inspiration. It occurred to him the moment he thought, "Wait a second… rhythm… my rhythm? My fighting style? My attacks?"
THAT'S IT!
Realization hitting him like a ton of bricks, a devilish smirk slowly spread across his lips. It was a change in his expression that Sandra immediately took notice of.
"So you can perfectly predict all of the moves and attacks I can throw at you, huh?" Throwing the woman this question gave him time to get back to his feet, as he then went about performing his final preparations. Sure, it was going to take all of his concentration and imagination, but he was positive he could make it work. After all, he was a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. "Alright then… if any attack that I try is pointless… then that leaves one option…" He then steadied himself, swaying from side to side when his world did a little bit of a spin. Upon securing his footing and taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, Gohan clenched his fists courageously and steeled his resolve. "Let's see how you handle it…" His eyes then shot up, locking squarely upon his opponent's face, "WHEN THE ATTACKS COME FROM SOMEBODY ELSE!"
Sandra squinted in confusion, "Huh?"
All of a sudden, Gohan's expression altered.
Eyes taking on a sharper and more aggressive tone, the boy quickly slid into a wide stance and brought his hands into open-palmed positions. Upon which he began striking the air in front of him at great speed, his arms waving about in circular and swiping motions. Giving a loud 'ha' in an uncharacteristically high pitched tone of voice every time he struck out, he then switched the positions of his feet and, assuming a much narrower stance, brought his arms about and arched them over into cobra-like positions, with his left being held out the furthest. "Ya-ya-ya-haaaa-HA!" He then shot his foe a firm and unwavering glare, one with a more prominent frown and even more prominent eyelashes than normal. "Are you ready? It's time to teach you a lesson!"
Sandra was baffled, leaning back ever so slightly in a worried manner. "UUuuuuuuuh… what are you doing?"
OOO
(Grand Kai's Planet)
On the sacred training grounds of Otherworld, the audience standing around the television was completely and utterly bewildered.
As relieved as they were to finally see their comrade's son back on his feet and ready for another round, in spite of their best efforts, the small group of fighters and trainers had still been unable to come up with some form of positive solution to fixing their current problem, which was a way of defeating the girl standing in front of the hybrid. However, the moment they saw the boy get up and reset his fighting position, every single one of them became stumped by what they saw him do next.
For some reason, the boy had abandoned his previous fighting form for another one altogether and was now going through some impromptu warm-up routine that involved a lot of high pitched shouts and fancy handwork. At first they thought he was just trying to get some feeling back into his arms and legs after the amount of nerve trauma he'd sustained. But when they heard his voice come through and heard the words that he spoke, they knew immediately that this was something else.
Pikkon, seeing the shift in tone instantly, then appeared just as taken aback as the female Saiyan on screen. "Hold on… Gohan's body movements have changed completely. What's he up to?"
"Beats me," Olibu commented.
Baba, still sitting on her orb, also tilted her head. "Strange. I've never seen young Gohan act like that before. Is he hallucinating or something?"
However, amidst the whispering, questioning and gaping of the audience, Goku, in the spur of the moment, had suddenly gotten out of his chair and moved directly in front of the screen. While the others sitting behind him craned their heads around to try and watch the television being blocked by their star player, the Saiyan father ignored them completely in favor of watching his son's performance. There was a great reason for his astonishment too.
It was perplexing. Though it'd been a long time since they'd last sparred with one another, the father hadn't seen martial arts strikes like that since-
Goku's eyes shimmered in disbelief as a smile slowly spread across his lips. "Those movements… and that pose… that's the Turtle School's Snake-Style Palm Fist! That's Chi-Chi's fighting style!"
No. It wasn't the fact that Gohan was using his mother's fighting style that was surprising; it was the fact that his movements resembled Chi-Chi's exactly!
What was he planning?