(Mars)
(Gohan & Sandra)
For a full minute Sandra stood in silence, watching as her opponent held his position several feet away from her, while at the same time trying to make sense of what he was now doing. Even with all her years of experience training across dozens of civilizations and fighting on over a hundred different planets, this was admittedly the first time she'd encountered something as unusual as this.
At the start of their battle, things had gone completely how Sandra had expected. The two of them opened up with big, obvious moves and wild attacks to gauge one another's abilities, chipping away at the edges of their adversary's guards to see what they were hiding underneath. Once the female warrior managed to get a bead on her opponent's rhythm, she then proceeded to pick apart his attacks one after the other, conserving energy while at the same time using well-timed, compact moves against the demi-Saiyan until she was able to predict her opponent's patterns perfectly.
By the time she'd gotten an accurate bead on Gohan's habits, Sandra had already landed so many head shots against him that he was practically color blind. It eventually got to the point that she could so perfectly guess what he was going to do next that she was able to hit him with both eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back. This eventually led to the two of them standing on the surface of the big red planet orbiting the Solar System, facing each other down with one of them close to passing out.
Sandra was all set to finish her adversary off, not wanting to kill what she believed to be a valuable asset and companion in her future Saiyan Empire. However, just as she was about to knock the boy out and take him back to his world, he suddenly bounced back with a renewed surge of energy and was now squaring off against her with the most bizarre performance she'd ever seen in her entire life.
Shifting from left to right in a wide and narrow stance, the Super Saiyan 3 hybrid was smirking broadly with his hands positioned in a manner Sandra hadn't seen him use before. His fingers were curled and his palms were open in very snake-like gestures, which presented a rather unusual form of guard. Hell, even the positioning of his feet were odd in contrast to his previous stance, where he was shifting weight to his less dominant side. Nevertheless, Gohan was now giving the impression that he was much lighter on his feet this time, instead of being grounded to the floor.
All clues pointed to the fact that he'd changed to a different fighting style. However, while this did explain his change in hand and feet arrangements, it didn't explain why his expression had become sharper or why the pitch in his voice had gotten much higher. It was almost like he was imitating someone… most likely a female.
In the background behind her half-Saiyan adversary, Sandra swore she could see the silhouette of a middle-aged woman with black hair tied into a bun and wearing a yellow oriental martial arts dress. The sensation was completely trippy.
"What's the matter, girl? Feeling less confident all of a sudden?" Gohan suddenly asked in an uncharacteristically snooty, harpy-like voice, which had the female Super Saiyan look at him strangely. The hybrid then smirked and switched his hand positions again, this time leaving his index and middle fingers pointing, while the rest of them curled over. "Hmph. Tell you what; if you don't want to continue this fight, then I'll gladly take a step back and let you give up."
Confounded by the teen's offering of surrender and overwhelming confidence, the self-proclaimed empress scoffed before smirking widely. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke, because if it is, it's a pretty weak one? I found your head banging performance a couple minutes earlier to be far more entertaining."
"Are those your last words? Very well," Gohan responded, still speaking in a higher pitch as his expression once again became more serious and… assertive? "Have it your way!"
Chuckling, Sandra then raised her left fist and clenched it tightly. "I don't know what kind of half-baked scheme you're cooking up in that head of yours, but it'll prove just as useless as the others." She then aimed down her knuckles towards her foe standing squarely in her crosshairs. "No one has ever defended themselves against my hundred percent accurate, light-speed punches." Her eyes twinkled with excitement when she saw her victory just moments away. "Face it. Just a few more hits and you're-" Sandra's eyes then widened in horror when the next thing she saw in front of her was Gohan, "-THE FUCK?!"
"HI-YAH!" the demi-Saiyan yelled, his right leg spinning around and clocking the woman in the side, which she barely blocked with her left arm, but still ended up taking the brunt of the damage.
The blow connecting with the force of a train, Sandra was knocked stumbling to the side with an alarmed look on her face. "I-Impossible!" She then freaked out when a left palm strike followed immediately afterwards, forcing her to evade awkwardly while the boy's hand grazed her face. The attack was so fast and strong that it left a burn mark on her cheek, upon which she hurriedly backed away, just in time to avoid an upward palm strike. When Sandra looked back at Gohan, her eyes reflected confusion and disbelief. "Am I reading him wrong? What's going on? I can't predict his attacks!"
OOO
(Grand Kai's Planet)
Standing in the background alongside his master, Pikkon's eyes widened when he saw the demi-Saiyan on the television screen attack. "That's odd. Gohan's regular movements have changed completely."
"Really?" the grasshopper Gregory chirped while looking back at the green fighter. "They look the same to me."
After analyzing the demi-Saiyan's opening blows and noticing the flustered look that came over Sandra's face, the once worried North Kai then perked up in realization. His glasses flashed and antenna twitched to convey his surprise. "Oh, I see what's going on."
Goku meanwhile, sitting directly beside the magic box to its left, grinned widely when he saw the confident expression on his son's face. "He copied her exactly. Gohan looks just like Chi-Chi."
OOO
(Back on Mars)
It was almost uncanny. His expression, his hand positions, his feet, his movement, his rhythm… they all belonged to the daughter of the Ox King. The proof was all in the practitioner, as the demi-Saiyan fixed his best Chi-Chi-like glare upon his opponent and grinned in a manner only his mother would on her most competitive day.
"That sniveling look on your face tells me that you're not trying hard enough. Come on, girl! Get those fists up!" Gohan exclaimed with a terrifying, high-pitched snarl, giving the impression that he was really baring his fangs. In actuality however, he was just imitating his mother during one of her recent training sessions with Goten. As harsh as it'd been, it was giving him some really cool ideas. "Let it be known that Chi-Chi of the Ox Kingdom doesn't give a damn about leniency! If you think I'm going to let you off with a warning, you're sadly mistaken!"
"Huh? What? I…? Huh?" Sandra babbled, unable to comprehend the tone coming out of Gohan's mouth. She shook her head to try and clear it, all the while ignoring to scorch mark on her cheek.
Forming a grin, the fully pumped up Gohan whispered. "I may not come close to mum's level, but I've learned a few things from her." The teen then dashed forward, approaching Sandra in a blur before lashing out at her with a rotating palm strike. "Heart Fang Slicer! Ha! Ya-ya-ya-ya-YA!" The moment he did, he began opening up on the female Saiyan with a series of wild finger and palm shots, all of which came flying right for her head in a storm.
Sandra, barely deflecting the first couple of attacks, then began dodging erratically as the demi-Saiyan lashed out at her with a flurry of blows. She was so preoccupied dodging his palm strikes that she didn't notice him spin around and slam his knee into the thigh of her forward leg. Losing balance momentarily, the girl quickly leant away, only to receive a swift palm strike in the stomach followed by her chin, which knocked her head skywards. When she stumbled backwards, the female Super Saiyan quickly threw up her guard.
"Shit! Where the hell did this come from?!" Sandra thought, beginning a hasty retreat when Gohan came spinning at her a second time with an onslaught of low kicks and chopping strikes at her head. Blocking an elbow and neck shot, the female warrior clenched her jaw. "Alright! Calm down, Sandra! Even though the speed and intensity of his blows have increased, as long as he doesn't do anything too fancy, I can still take hi-" THWACK! Receiving a palm slap to the face then forced her into a hasty retreat, where she quickly leapt into the sky. When Sandra suspended herself several stories above Mars, she suddenly saw her opponent leap into the air as well and, after suspending himself above her, suddenly plummeted towards her spinning like a wheel.
"No escape! Spinning Cobra Kick!"
Panicking, Sandra brought her arms up high, just in time to block the blow that sent her dropping back down to the planet. When she crashed down on one knee, she then sprang out of the way, dodging the boy when he dropped down at her with a second kick. She wasn't able to get very far when the hybrid sprinted after her shadow like a wild dog.
"Persistent prick. He's not giving me any time to recover." Sandra thought, blocking another series of palm strikes before frowning. "Okay. Focus! I just need to read his rhythm and set up my Senko to finish him off. That'll put an end to this." The woman then began backing down, dodging and parrying the teen's blows. The attacks came flying at her from all angles, slicing and chopping at her vital spots, forcing her to adjust her dodging techniques to accommodate for the difference. After several more seconds of blocking, Sandra was once again ducking and weaving between palm strikes with textbook efficiency. "One… two… three-four… five. One… two… three!" She then saw Gohan stop and smirked. "That's it! I've got the rhythm now!" Bringing her arms up, the Super Saiyan 3 female then primed her right hand, causing lightning to run up and down her body. "So you switched to an open palm style, huh? Well, you almost got me there, but it's not quite going to be enough! Senko!" Her right punch then flew forward at a near untraceable speed.
Gohan, seemingly leaning towards the oncoming blow, saw it approaching him in slow motion. When it appeared he was going to take it, the teen's expression suddenly shifted; the lines on his face becoming more aggravated, the canines in his teeth more prominent, and large veins appearing to pulsate on his forehead.
In the blink of an eye, it happened!
All of a sudden, Sandra's fist was knocked off course when the demi-Saiyan's arm rotated upwards in a clockwise direction and parried the attack. When the shockwave from the punch misfiring occurred, Gohan then let out an animalistic growl and countered with a right claw strike, which corkscrewed towards his female opponent and caused her eyes to widen in shock. Sandra barely managed to slip around his attack, before her eyes followed the punch back to its owner.
"No way! He blocked it?!" the girl shouted, before she suddenly saw Gohan step in close and drive a second claw strike directly into her stomach. He then followed-through with the blow in an upward direction, yelling out at the top of his lungs while his opponent was blasted off her feet.
"MAKEN SHO!" (Demon Blow)
Flying backwards with a cry of pain, Sandra hit the floor before back-flipping onto her feet. Landing firmly, she then directed a startled look towards her foe. "I was sure I had him! How did he manage to deflect my Senko?" It was then she noticed her opponent had taken on a completely different stance from before.
His legs set into a horse riding position, the demi-Saiyan could be seen standing square to his enemy. With both his left and right hands formed into claws, making it appear as though his nails had grown longer, the teen was also glaring across at his adversary with a far more aggressive expression in play. This drew attention to the fact that the details on his face had also become a lot more menacing, with a demonic grin pulled across his lips and his pupils dilated. It was entirely different from the sharper, more feminine appearance he'd taken on before, which told Sandra that her opponent had once again changed his tone and persona.
"You're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for. But that's nothing compared to me," Gohan spoke, this time in a deeper and rougher sounding voice. It quickly became apparent to all those who were watching from Otherworld which of his friends he was now mimicking. "It's time for Piccolo to show you how it's done!" He then gave an evil laugh at the end for extra measure…
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Corvus)
While he was in the middle of moving one of the stone pieces on his side of the board, Piccolo, in the midst of a rather complex and daring plan of attack, suddenly experienced the uncontrollable urge to sneeze, and did so in the form of a loud outburst and a violent shudder.
The Namekian's unexpected shout had his foreign counterpart Gast sitting quietly on the other side of the table look at the warrior from Earth in bewilderment. Seeing the man wipe his nose on the back of his hand drew a blink from the elderly fighter, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Piccolo sniffed, though his expression reflected a mild sense of confusion. After pondering on the unusual sensation and reaction, the former guardian then looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "I think… someone is making fun of me."
Staring blankly at his opponent for a moment, the Namekian in the yellow shawl and tunic smiled. "Such is the way of the universe, huh?"
"Yeah. I guess so," the hero from Earth responded. Choosing to ignore his strange encounter, the fighter decided to carry on with his game, placing his stone piece in the triangle diagonal from his counterpart's army of stones. "Mafe." Crossing his arms, Piccolo then leant back and looked at his adversary sternly. "Your move."
"Ah. I see what you're doing. Well done," Gast chuckled, before then picking up one of the pieces on the right hand side and pushing it forward. "Dole." He then placed his hands on his knees and beamed warmly at his opponent, whom he saw break out into a bit of a sweat. "Now it's your turn to defend."
Tapping his finger impatiently when he saw Gast force him into a pincer move, Piccolo frowned deeply, "Grr…"