(Back on Mars)
At this point, Sandra was beyond confused. "What the hell is a Piccolo?" Seriously, what the hell kind of game was this guy playing?
"Why don't you get a taste of my Wild Demon Fist!" Thrusting his hand forward, Gohan unleashed a golden blast straight at his opponent. The female Saiyan sprang over it and dashed forward, intent on intercepting the boy before he tried anything else. She unloaded a left cross, which the demi-Saiyan blocked with his forearm, before she then threw a roundhouse kick at his open side. However, just before her blow could land, the hybrid's eyes unexpectedly widened and the female Super Saiyan 3 was hit head-on by a concussive shockwave that knocked her to the ground.
Bouncing off of the floor, Sandra sprang to her feet and looked up, only to suddenly get clocked in the face by an elbow when her opponent caught her off guard with a dash. Gritting her teeth from the shot, the woman spun back and attempted to nail the boy with right hook, only to have him catch her wrist and nail her in the stomach with a body crunching knee, which caused the woman to spit up in shock. As soon as she crumpled forward, Gohan then turned into her, gripped her arm over his shoulder and tossed her across the desert.
When Sandra hit the ground face-first, she flipped back to her feet. Landing gracefully, the female Saiyan spun around and charged at her foe, yelling out in frustration. "Enough!" She then lashed out at him with punches, watching him head slip the first two before bringing his arms up and beginning to parry and redirect them. After uncorking a kick into his body that Gohan blocked with his knee, causing her to hop painfully from her shin's impact, Sandra then unleashed a rapid barrage of straights, which struck the teen's guard repeatedly. When she attempted to slip an uppercut in through the gap, Gohan suddenly caught it with his clawed hand and, after yanking her arm down, lunged forward with a mighty roar.
"YAAARAAAAAAAA!" He then struck her across the face with a killer right hook, knocking blood flying from her lips. The woman stumbled away in shock.
Before Sandra could recover, the demi-Saiyan speedily crouched down and sprang forward at an alarming speed. The empress barely had enough time to throw up her guard to block the flying kick that drove into her limbs, knocking her backwards under the force. During which time Gohan smirked in a very Piccolo-like manner.
"You may be able to predict all my moves, but you don't know anything about my friends!" He then suddenly twisted in the air and drove a left kick straight under Sandra's guard and right into her chest. The attack struck with the force of a bomb blast and sent the female Saiyan flying back at breakneck speed, a cry of pain leaving her lips from the vicious blow. When he saw her crash and slide across the desert for a hundred meters, the Super Saiyan 3 from Earth touched down and took a stance. "Every battle I've fought, every conflict I've resolved, and every lesson I've learned… I will show them all to you!" His expression then switched instantly to a new one, his eyes becoming round and his nose… disappearing? That's what it looked like when he then fired off several punches before suddenly settling into a Mantis stance, fingers bent and thumbs pressed against them. When he spoke, his voice became squeaky and higher in pitch, "Now let me introduce the new master of the Turtle School, the fearless and incredibly handsome Krillin and his Northern Praying Mantis style!"
Sandra, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and body covered in more bruises than before, picked herself up and snarled. "Don't get clever with me you-" All of a sudden, she saw her opponent, who was standing half a kilometer away, vanish, a split second before his form fazed into view a few yards in front of her. Preparing a counter, she then fired off a right straight, but mistimed it when Gohan suddenly zipped forward at a lower height than she was expecting and nailed her with a left seiken, which had her reel forward in shock. "He changed his rhythm again!"
In the blink of an eye, Sandra was suddenly bombarded from all directions by punches and kicks as Gohan began darting around her. Seemingly acting like he was three feet shorter than his normal height, he laid into the female Saiyan with lightning fast attacks, shouting with every blow he landed. "Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da!" was the string of yells that left the noseless Saiyan's lips as he laid into the girl's ribs with repeated body shots, before finishing off with a jumping right uppercut that nailed Sandra's head skywards and sent her back flipping through the air.
A cry of agony left the female Saiyan's lips, until she righted herself and crashed back down to the floor. Dropping down onto one knee, the woman panted to catch her breath. Upon which she then gave a harsh chuckle and looked up with a more enthusiastic look. "Interesting… VERY interesting, Gohan!" She then wiped the blood dribbling down her chin and huffed, "I didn't think I would find you this entertaining!" Rising up clumsily, the female Super Saiyan quickly steadied her legs and powered up, causing her aura to explode around her with a flash of blue lightning. Upon attaining a heightened state of readiness, Sandra then suddenly dropped into a horse riding stance and cocked both fists at her sides. "You're a tough and tricky son of a bitch, I'll give you that. But if you think putting on different faces and acting like an idiot is going to work on me, then think again!" Lightning shooting off of her body, she then rushed forward with a mighty bellow, right fist primed and ready.
Gohan, watching his opponent approaching with a serious glare, then raised both hands over his head protectively. He looked all set to take her head on. However, struck with a sudden wave of inspiration, the boy's expression once again changed.
Just when Sandra was lunging out at him with a roar, the teen suddenly dropped into a crouching stance, pushing his right leg back, holding his left hand up and loading his right. His sudden drop was accompanied by a manly grunt, as his face developed a look of overwhelming confidence and manliness, with a twinkle in the corner of his eye. Making a low thrumming sound, like an orchestra building up to an epic high note, the hybrid Saiyan waited for his opponent to get close, before diving in as well, seemingly intent on meeting his foe head-to-head.
"Eat knuckle, you varmint!" A gung-ho roar left Gohan's lips as his right fist shot forward. "HERCULE PUUUU-Gaaoouh!" The Saiyan's epic attack suddenly transformed into a moment of pure comedy when his foot inadvertently, or deliberately, wound up catching on a rock hidden in the sand in front of him and his body was sent stumbling forward. His trip allowed him to barely dodge Sandra's punch and, much to the girl's utter shock, head butt her right in the solar plexus.
Gohan's slip, topped with the power built up from his punch and general momentum, transformed into an accidental counter that hit Sandra with the force of a buffalo. As such, the Saiyan Empress literally ended up having the air knocked out of her lungs, her body lifted off the floor, and her eyes bugging out of their sockets from the unexpected blow to the spot directly below her sternum. When the shockwave rang out, the girl choked up blood before she was sent stumbling backwards across the sand, clutching her gut.
Knees shaking, a stream of drool wound up falling from the girl's gaping mouth as pain gripped every inch of her body, almost bringing her to the point of collapse. Gasping, Sandra attempted to glare at her opponent, only to see three of him standing awkwardly in front of her, as her vision had become quite blurry, "You… I… *cough* I don't… understand. You were… right in front of me…" She choked in a strained voice.
He did it again! He changed his attack pattern!
Recovering from his "embarrassing slipup" like he knew the original owner of that technique would in a similar situation, grinning and rubbing his head like a buffoon, Gohan took yet another stand and lunged forward. "DYNAMITE KICK!" Before Sandra could comprehend the full degree of her fuck-up, the demi-Saiyan nailed her with an explosive heel to the chin, which struck with a thunderclap and sent the stunned woman rocketing into the sky.
The moment he'd sent his opponent flying, Gohan, clearing his throat, placed his fists on his hips, reared his head back and laughed in an uncharacteristically obnoxious manner. For some reason, to match his new change in persona, his spiky blonde hair had become bushy, almost afro in appearance, and his face looked like it'd grown an illusionary beard and mustache. There was only one person in the world that could fit that description. "Ha-ha-ha! You fell for it! Now let's see how you fair against the World Champ's fighting style! The Super, Ultra Secret, Satan Fist™." Dropping to the ground and assuming a sprinter's stance, the teen suddenly sprang after his foe at a ridiculous speed.
"Tee-Em?" Sandra muttered under her breath, wondering what the hell that could mean. However, realizing she was getting lost in thought, the dazed girl recovered quickly and sprung back into an upright position. "Enough of this bullshit!" Her leg igniting gold, the girl swiftly raised her foot and prepared to fire a blast. When Gohan materialized in front of her, the Empress let him have it. "TAKE THIS!" She then yelled and launched a sidekick at him, firing a golden blast from her sole. Much to the female Saiyan's astonishment, before her blast could even leave the bottom of her boot, Gohan threw himself forward, mounted her leg with his hands, and flipped over her, causing her blast to misfire and shoot across the planet. Sandra looked completely alarmed when her foe performed his surprisingly acrobatic move. "What?" Before she knew it, Gohan suddenly had his arms wrapped around her stomach and was flipping them upside down.
"Mr. Satan doesn't give away his techniques; he provides a license for use." The hybrid then cracked a cheeky grin. "Try this on for size! Hercule Suplex! ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the demi-Saiyan bellowed as he dive-bombed towards Mars's surface with the speed of a comet in freefall and his opponent trapped in his muscular grip.
Seeing what was happening but unable to do anything, Sandra screamed in terror, her eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape. A second later, both Gohan and his adversary collided with the planet's surface, the former driving the girl into the floor headfirst. Their impact caused an explosion similar to an atomic bomb going off, literally splitting the planet down the center and sending a cloud of dust and rubble straight into Mars's atmosphere.
They damn near cut the entire world in half.
OOO
(Grand Kai's Planet)
Sweat drops appeared on a majority of the audience's faces, as King Kai and the others gaped stupidly at the screen. When they saw the cloud of dust eventually begin to fade, the warriors of the dead snapped out of it in their own respective manners, with Olibu being the first.
"Well… that was… unorthodox," the big blonde man in the tunic remarked, shaking his head and folding his arms. "Still, I've got to give the kid points for creativity. Even if it was a little bit unusual, that was still one hell of a move." Dropping his opponent into the surface of the planet? There was no way you couldn't pull that off and not look stylish. It was freakin' badass.
"Yeah. But let's not forget that he tripped over his own two feet just to set himself up for that suplex," Pikkon added, glancing across at his fellow martial artist with a distasteful look in play. "Did he do that deliberately… or was it by accident?"
"I think it was on purpose," Olibu answered with a shrug.
This response had the green warrior shake his head. "Seriously. Who in the world did Gohan have to impersonate to perform such a maneuver?"
"Apparently somebody who calls himself 'The Champ'," Olibu replied, an amused smile tugging at his lips as he then thought back on the name. "A man would have to be pretty strong and pretty renowned to earn himself that kind of title…"
"Yeah. Or a complete and utter bonehead," North Kai continued, watching the television with his hands and fingers interlocked in front of him. Honestly, out of all the fighters Gohan chose to imitate, it had to be that man. Granted it did allow him to catch his opponent completely by surprise, it was still a rather clumsy move… something that Gohan wouldn't normally use in that situation.
After a quick analysis of the situation, Olibu then looked over at the West Quadrant's champion and gave his fellow warrior an odd look. "There's something I don't quite yet understand. If Gohan already knew all of these fighting styles and techniques, why was he being beaten so easily before? Hasn't he already been using all of those movements as part of his regular fighting style?"
"It's because he didn't just change his style," the voice of the West Kai spoke up, drawing the group's attention down to the short man in the monocle. As soon as their eyes landed on him, they saw the purple guardian smile knowledgably, "He changed his rhythm… his persona. Young Gohan did exactly what needed to be done. He noticed that his own patterns were being read, so he remodeled his movements after the people he's fought beside and trained with everyday, adopting not only their techniques, but also their mannerisms and habits. That's why his opponent was caught unawares and is now in a state of panic." Looking up at the warriors next to him, the West Kai grinned. "Do you see now?"
Realization clicking in his head, Pikkon then looked towards the television with a smirk of his own. "That's pretty smart."
"Well… thinking outside of the box has always been Gohan's strong suit," a floating Baba remarked, keeping her hands folded and her eyes on the magic box. At that, her gaze quickly fell upon the back of the full-blooded Saiyan standing beside it. "It kind of reminds me of somebody else from our group who is a master of the unpredictable."
Her amused comment, clearly directed towards him, drew a sheepish laugh from Goku. "Sometimes the most difficult lessons we learn are the ones we never forget."
And believe it or not, Gohan had experienced the hardest and most trying lessons a person in his position can possibly imagine. His past battles and accomplishments were proof of that.