Bab 36: Chapter Thirty Six
Feeling the old, residual Slayer parts bubbling to the surface you ask Hit this. "So... are you ready to throw down?"
Hit then smiles and takes his hands out of his pockets. "I thought you'd never ask."
Grinning you turn over to the girls. "How about you Caulifla? And Kale?"
"How about what?"
"Getting some training in!"
"Awright! Sweet! Let's get to it!" Then she notices you and Hit facing off and starts scratching her head. "Wait... I'm confused. Who do I fight again?"
"Me."
Hit then gives you an odd look. "I thought we will be the ones to fight."
"That is also correct!" You give them a menacing grin. "I'll be fighting all of you!"
They all exchange a look that tells you exactly what they are thinking. "Is he retarded?"
But out from the shadows steps a mysterious figure. One you know very well. "Ignore him. D has a penchant for some good brawls!"
The Saiyans and Hit assume their stances and start questioning her. "Who are you and how did you get here?!"
"Relax guys!" You calm them down.
"This is Sala. A friend I picked up from the Makai... or the Demon Realm if that sounds better."
"And between having to cover my ass and putting D's back together I got pretty decent at dressing wounds. So knock yourselves out. I'll try not to let you die."
"Thanks Sala but I think we can play nice and carefu-pffffft HAHAHAHA! Okay. Get some alcohol from the pantry we'll need the disinfectant and the sedative!"
"Got it D. Try not to wreck this planet..."
While cracking your neck your eyes start to turn slowly black. "Okay... Let's do this!"
The others look at each other in search of answers to your behavior but they have nothing. Hit, rather uncharacteristically reels back a bit while raising his eyebrows.
At the same time you see Caulifla finally breaking down.
"Ahahahahaha! Oh boy I missed your crazy ass!" She smashes her fist into her open palm with a grin. "Okay... Let's do this! KALE!"
"Y-Yes sis!"
"What do you say?"
Much like Hit she does something unusual and gives you a determined look. For a second as she pumps herself up she looks like a true warrior. "Of course! I'll follow you!"
"Great!" Caulifla looks over to Hit. "What about you big guy?"
"Just don't get in my way."
"Works for me!"
They all ready themselves. Looks like they don't intend to fight all out right from the start.
You assume a defensive posture and wait for them to come for you. Being the good sports they are they oblige and charge at you all at once.
The three of them begin to unleash as many consecutive attacks as they can with Caulifla going: "ORAORAORAORAORA!" And the other two silently throwing punches at you.
But right from the get go it's apparent that while Caulifla and Kale are perfectly in sync they have a lot of trouble coordinating with Hit. However the assassin is skilled enough to simply dance around them with his time-skip, biding his time until an opening shows up.
Unfortunately for him that still means that the girls get in his way a lot. This match might actually be in your favor.
Grinning as you dodge and weave between their punches and kicks you throw a vicious counter straight into Cauliflas abdominal area, sending her flying back. "SIS!" Kale cries out and begins throwing glowing green balls of energy in retaliation.
Waving your hand, you leave a trail of Ki floating in front of you which serves as a wall or a net, catching Kales blast and causing them to detonate prematurely. Jumping over the explosion you prepare a counter but notice the world going blank around you and quickly turn around using your time-skip and perform a last minute block. Hits drives his knuckle in your forearm and frowns.
"Heh... you didn't forget I can see that, did you?"
His frown turns into a smirk and he shoots out a flash fist crush which sends you flying backwards. With a quick little spin you turn around and put an immediate stop to your flight before retaliating with your own version of the attack. Hit doesn't seem too impressed by it and simply steps to the side. But his confidence is short lived as he notices something going on in his peripheral vision which makes him jump up as your flash-fist curves around in the air and attempts to strike him again.
"What's this?!" He cries.
Like a snake in pursuit of its prey the attack curves and slithers around in the air chasing the assassin around. He tries to use time-skip to get away from it but realizes this is still the same attack so it's not affected by the technique as it's born from it. Finally with a pirouette he turns around and instead of running away he tries countering the attack with one of his own. The two eventually crash into each other, causing arks of purple energy to fly off from them.
Realizing that this is the end of your little fun you let go of the attack and stop pumping more energy into it. Instead you raise your arms parallel to your body and block an attack from each side as the girls ambush you in a pincer attack. The ground under your feet rumbles and cracks as you stop them and give them a grin. "Heh... nice try!"
Clearly struggling to push you back the girls start voicing their amazement. "Amazing!
You're just like a Saiyan now!"
Smirking you push them away. "I'll take that as a compliment. But I'm still human. REMEMBER THAT WHEN I BEAT YOU!"
Finally you go on the offensive and charge Caulifla first. Before you could throw a punch however Kale intercepts you with a ball of ki in her hand. This time she does the smart thing and doesn't throw it, instead opting to smash it into you manually. "NO YOU WON'T!"
She cries.
But you simply time-skip around her and drop kick Caulifla in the head. The girl flies backwards with a scream as you turn around to see a shocked Kale preparing to attack you once again. "How dare you dodge?!"
Bending backwards you slide under her arm crash and pat her head from behind.
"If you want me to stop then make me!"
"GRRRRR!" She swings at you but you simply fly backwards. Clearly agitated Kale begins to grunt and you prepare for the worst but Caulifla calms her down.
"Easy there Kale. No need to go nuts yet."
She then wipes off some dirt from her cheeks. "But this is interesting... A week ago you could barely fight one of us. And now here you are. How do you explain that?"
"That one week was two months in Super Hell for me. Being outnumbered there was the norm so I got good at fighting groups!"
"Heh... cocky bastard!" She smiles.
"Sis! Should we get serious?"
"Nah..."
"W-What?"
"I say our little pal here got a bit too big for his britches... I say we put him back in place and stop playing around!" Caulifla then starts to make exertion noises as he hair slowly starts to stand up.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Yes sister!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Kale follows suit and now you stare down not one but two Super Saiyans out for blood.
You aren't sure if this is a success or a failure on your part. "How's this?" Kale asks you.
"I almost forgot how incredible you two are...
But-"
"You're not the only ones that can do that..."
They exchange an awkward look before asking the obvious. "What?"
Letting out a smile you explain it to them.
"I think I found out something that might interest you girls a bit." Squatting you start to internalize all your energy and then push it all beyond your natural limits.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
Your hair flutters and the sweat on your body begins to evaporate from the power breaking through your body.
"YEEEEAAAAAARGHH!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Finally your hair stands up and changes color as it floats around. Your body vibrates as each and every cell in it is filled to the brim with raging, barely contained energy. As you open your eyes the girls see that it's still blackened but the iris turned from red to a glowing purple. Panting you speak up. "Haaaaaa... Haaaaaa... So... how's that?"
With their jaws hanging loose they barely manage to collect themselves. "Whoa... Do you see this Kale?"
"Y-Yes..."
Caulifla jumps up in excitement. "That's it! We'll reach Super Saiyan 2 in no time with Eric now!"
You let out a sigh. "Of course there's a two. Why wouldn't there be?"
"Aw come on! Don't be like that!"bThe Saiyan girl cracks her knuckles. 1"For now let's just enjoy ourselves!"
Striking a pose you assume THE STANCE.
"Now you're speaking my language!"
Hit also approaches you and stands beside the girls. "Impressive. It seems you're still far from reaching the limit!" And he assumes the same pose as you. "And seeing how much you've improved already... I too am excited."
Suddenly you get a really bad feeling and swallow nervously.
Hit's the first to make a move. As expected he uses time skip but... it seems like he's using it from too far away. Does he intend to use it as a gap closer?
You don't feel the need to use your own but as you start counting you start to see the problem. One tenth... two tenth... three-
Oh no.
Three tenths of a second have passed and he's already in range to strike you. Not wanting to waste your opportunity you allow him to wail on your weak points for one tenth of a second before you activate your own and finally grab his arm. Hissing in pain you look him in the eye as time-skip ends and the girls finally see what happened. "That's... bullshit!"
You pant.
He tries to move again but you preemptively throw a punch. Once again he attempts to use his time-skip which apparently lasts five times longer than yours but as he dashes backward you let go of him and continue with your punch as you enter his world of frozen time. Opening a portal to punch through you surprise Hit by striking him in the back of the head, which is enough to knock him off balance and make him waste his remaining four tenths of a second.
"What... was that?"
You smirk as you pull back your hand and punch downward where you've already opened another portal. Hit instinctively blocks upward only to find you smacking him under the chin at full force. Falling backwards he needs a moment to reorient himself.
Seeing this chance the girls now take over the offensive and fly past Hit and towards you.
Caulifla throws her arm out and shoots several balls of red energy. "CRUSH CANNON!"
Your eyes dart around endlessly, alternating between your three opponents and allowing you to form a much wider field of vision in your mind. The attack of Caulifla is obviously a distraction for Kale who's already dashing towards you. With a swipe of your hand you create a portal through which the Crush Cannon can pass and fly straight at Kale.
But the girl simply powers through it with a loud yell and reaches for your arm.
You let her grab you and jump up, wrapping your legs around the entire length of her arm and putting her in a chokehold. If you wanted to you could even dislocate her arm. However this doesn't seem to bother Kale too much.
Taking a quick look at her face you see her blue eyes suddenly growing pupils, causing you to shit yourself. "YEEEEARGH!" She screams and throws her arm at the ground with full force. The ground rumbles as a crater forms under you.
As the air is forced out of your lungs you let go of Kale who seems to snap out of her momentary rage just in time to see Caulifla also charging you, winding up a full force kick.
Thanks to your heightened concentration you manage to stay in the fight mentally and use time-skip at the last moment to avoid her and counter with a vibrating palm strike to her calves. She hisses with pain and falls to the ground as her leg gives out.
But as you prepare to follow up you see a shadow darting past you at a remarkable speed. It's Hit. The bastard actually chose to forego time-skip as you can really easily detect it. "Your guard's down!" He speaks up as he strikes the side of your temple with a single knuckle, causing concentrated energy to pierce through it.
You become dizzy as your head rings and Hit charges up a ball of pure psychic energy and readies to throw it in your face. With every bit of focus you can muster you open a portal under your feet, leading a few meters away from there and you fall through it, completely avoiding the attack. As you fall on your ass and manage to stand up you let out a little chuckle. "Well... this didn't go exactly as planned!"
"Don't feel so down." Hit tries to comfort you.
"You're doing surprisingly well considering your situation."
"Gee thanks. But if we're gonna do this then I'll need to do a whole lot better in that tournament!" Still a bit dizzy you strike a fighting pose and ready yourself to continue.
But while this is far from the ideal outcome it does allow you to get in some "Practice" on another field. With a little taunt you beckon the others. "Are we chatting or training?
COME ON!"
It's the girls that take a swing at you first as they fell for your agitation. Raising your hand you snap your fingers and a circular wall of fire erupts around you, creating a perfect ring to spar in. The girls simply swat the flames aside as they are nowhere near powerful enough to harm them. But that's not the point.
"Come on Eric! Cheap tricks like these won't work!" Caulifla uses her extremely high speed to circle around you and cut off your escape route while Kale attacks you from the front.
"Hi!"
She greets you with a sly grin but fails to notice your own smug expression.
"Who said it's the fire you should watch out for?"
"Huh?" On queue the ground beneath the girls feet begins to shift as a pillar of stone shoots out from it, being warped by your magic and slamming into the underside of Cauliflas jaw.
"OW!"
She's sent back flying which Kale doesn't approve of. "SIS!"
Doubling her speed she gets close enough to reach you and throws a quick jab. Moving your hand around in a circular motion you begin to alter the very air around you, making it more dense and viscous. It's not nearly enough to stop Kale but it slowly her sufficiently, to the point that she has to turn and look at what's happening, allowing you to get the hell out of dodge.
But as you fly up you see Hit taking aim straight at you as he prepares another Flash Fist Crush. He fires the thing and hastily you attempt to create a magical barrier by crossing your arms and imagining an impenetrable wall in front of you.
Sadly "impenetrable" doesn't mean much against Hit and the attack goes right through it and hits you in the stomach.
As you reach for your stomach in pain Hit speaks up. "Interesting little parlor tricks you got there. But it's obvious they aren't perfect yet."
"I know asshole... thanks for reminding me!"
You manage to stand up and wipe some drool off your face as you prepare to bust out the big guns. "I'll show you half baked!"
Spreading your arms and opening your hands you begin to chant. "Darkness beyond twilight
Crimson beyond blood that flows Buried in the flow of time In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness Let all the fools who stand in our way be destroyed by the power you and I possess..."
As the spell goes a black mass forms in each of your hands and as you put them together they expand into their proper size. Staring Hit down you prepare to release the attack but aim past him so it doesn't accidentally hit the poor guy. "NULL! STAAA-"
But as you thrust your hands out Caulifla kicks your hands up, causing you to whiff the attack and shoot it straight up where it explodes moments later. Looking down you see the girl grinning.
"Sorry! You were wide open!" She says as she sweeps her leg, knocking you on the ground.
Climbing on top of you she sits on your chest and jams her hand into your face. "Open wide!"
She begins to channel a scary amount of energy into her arm, to the point that it starts to glow red. Screaming under her you reach up to try and stop her but find Kale holding your arms down. "KHAAAAAAAA-" Your screams are muffled under Cauliflas hand as she bends her arm and shoots the pent up energy out of her elbow to propel her forearm.
"CRUSH BUNKER!"
She fires off the attack, knocking both your "hairdye" and your lights out in an instant.
You don't know how much time it took for you to awaken but judging by the strange grogginess, the headache and the stiffness of your body you'd say at least an hour. "Oh you're alive! Thank god. I thought I killed you there."
"Urgh... Did anyone get the number of that truck?"
"Heh... You know for a weak race you're surprisingly tough. Now I might start believing that demon chick."
"Where... is everyone?"
"They got bored of waiting. I stayed because I felt obligated." Caulifla extends her hand to you. "Come on tough guy. Let's get you up!"
Taking Cauliflas hand you get up and she pats your back until its free of dirt. Turning to you she then starts bombarding you with questions. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. My head is pounding a bit.
But I'm not sure if that's you or the transformation."
"Oh good. I really thought I knocked something loose there."
"Nah. But that was a pretty neat trick there.
Be careful or I might steal it."
"Heh. Your funeral! By the way, what was all that about?" She points at your hair while making weird gestures. "It was pretty cool but came out of nowhere."
"Like yours?"
"Shut up and answer the damn question!"
You shrug. "I 'unno. When I was fighting Frost it just... sorta... happened. I don't know what it is, or whether or not it's something us humans can just do but haven't figured out yet... or if it has something to do with all the weird shit I've been up to lately. But this was the first time I really used it in combat and... yeah. It IS cool. And it helps a ton."
"Like?"
"I... can't describe it. It feels like I need less focus, less effort and just over all less energy to do stuff. I guess because I'm more efficient. Really it feels a lot less like a power boost and more like a... performance enhancer. Like a buff."
"What's a buff?"
"N-Never mind. It just helps."
"Yeah I think I get what you're sayin'.
It didn't feel all that strong but... can't argue with results I guess."
Cracking your neck a bit you look around and get a feel for the situation. Looks like the folks have gathered up in the tower up ahead and started... something. Some sort of a congregation. "What's everyone doing by the way?"
"Hmmm? They went to discuss the tournament and to have some snacks."
"I see. Have the Tuffles returned while I was out?"
"The marshmallow twins? Nah."
"How about Champa and Vados?"
"Nope."
"Darn..."
"What's wrong?"
"I was hoping Vados would put me back together. I guess it's back to the old reliable method of time and rest."
"We could pass the time if you'd like."
You look at her and raise an eyebrow at that.
"With what?"
"I have a few ideas."
"Sure. Sounds good!" You accept her invitation.
"Great! Follow me!" She grabs you by the hand and drags you to the big lake in the middle of the planet where she starts undressing immediately before jumping in the water.
Shrugging you take off everything except your pants and hop in after her. Caulifla blinks a few times before letting out a chuckle.
"Where did that come from?"
"I assumed you meant we should take a swim."
"And where did you get the balls?"
"Super Hell..."
"Ah that." Caulifla then starts swimming around you for a bit while speaking. Occasionally she looks at the surface of the water as if... looking for something. "How was that anyway?"
"Depressing, aggravating and tiring.
I fought almost every waking moment of every day. For the first few weeks I could barely sleep because I was afraid someone or something would cut my throat open."
"Sounds like shit."
"I thought you of all people would apreciate it..."
"I like fighting, it's fun. But only when I'm not forced to. At that point it becomes a chore.
Not to mention no sleep and no fun. What's the matter of fighting for a life where you can't enjoy yourself? I'd just end it at that point and be done with it."
"Huh. How... poignant."
"Buuut it worked out for you. You got fuck strong after all."
"Yeah... I guess it did. But I admit if I didn't met Sala I probably would've lost my mind... More than I already did."
Caulifla then raises her finger and silences you. "Shhhh... Hold on a sec." She focuses on the water before taking a deep breath and diving deep underwater.
You wait in awkward confusion. And wait. And wait. And wait until you start becoming nervous. "Caulifla! CAULIFLA!" Calling after her you prepare to dive but before you could take the plunge you see a shadow emerging from the water. With a huge splash the Saiyan girl surfaces with her teeth embedded into the skin of a HUUUUUGE fish and her fingers holding onto its fin.
"I ghoth ith!"
Shocked by her catch you dumbly follow Caulifla out of the water as she drags the fish onto land. "Hold this!" She throws it to you while she gets to making a roaring fire on which she could roast it. Which she gets around to doing as you watch in dumb confusion. "You always make us food so I thought I'd return the favor!" She grins.
When the thing was finally done she removed the fish skewered on a massive stake she took a bite out of it before handing it over to you. "Eath ith! Iths ghood!"
Giving it a careful little sniff it becomes very clear to you that it's not undercooked at all. In fact it might be a bit overcooked. And under seasoned, given how she didn't add much to it. However as you tear some meat off its bones with your teeth you find the experience to be quite enjoyable. The skin is nice and crispy while the meat while a bit dry due to the shoddy cooking is very tasty. After becoming a proper chef and constantly eating nearly perfect dishes having something so obviously flawed is almost... refreshing.
Caulifla gives you a puzzled look to which you know exactly how to respond to. Taking another bite you speak with your mouth full.
"Iths delishioush!" You hand over the food and get to furiously chewing through all that meat.
Swallowing you watch the Saiyan girl as she hungrily tears into her catch.
"You're a bit of a survivalist aren'tcha?"
"Yesh!"
In between continuously swapping the meat with Caulifla and actually digesting it you start asking her some questions that popped up in your mind.
"So *chew* how did you and Kale become outcasts? If you don't mind me asking."
"I don't. But it's not much of a story.
I got fed up and left. What else is there to say?"
"That's the what. Not the why, or the how."
"You and your big dorky words. *chew* Well at least you're the good kind of dork unlike Cabba."
"Cabba? How's he relevant?"
"Because he wants what I didn't."
Caulifla sits back and stares up at the sky while biting chunks out of the fried fish.
"I was in the elite-"
"You? The elite?" As you let out a snicker Caulifla quickly shuts you down.
"Laugh it up asshole! Anyway yeah. I was born into the Elite. So did Kale. But the life of those self absorbed jerkoffs does not interest me, not one bit. *chew* I fight what I want, who I want, when I want, how I want. That's how I like it. But those guys... They get on my nerves. They think they are so much better than everyone else. And they keep going on and on about "My pride" or "My house" and force that shit down your throat whether you like it or not."
You frown a bit. "But I assume you didn't leave just because you entered a heated debate about philosophy, did you?"
"Nah... The senpai' told me that I'm gonna work my butt off whether I like it or not. That I'll work for the sake of Sadala whether I like it or not. That I'll fight what they point at whether I like it or not. That I'll marry into the Elite and produce elite babies whether I like it or not." Caulifla frowns. "I didn't like it. Too many rules. Too many obligations. Not enough fun."
"And... Kale?"
"Kale was in an even worse situation.
I don't know if you noticed but she doesn't like to fight. Unless it's with me or... I guess against you too. Unfortunately that's the exception, not the rule. But guess what? That didn't matter to them. They forced Kale to learn how to fight, they kept forcing her to do things she really didn't want to. At least I enjoyed kicking butts. She wanted none of that." Caulifla then sighs. "So after one too many nights of letting her cry herself out on my shoulders I had enough. I told her that we are gonna bounce and beat up anyone that tries to stop us. I even stood on a little soapbox and announced that I'm gonna leave and anyone who's fed up with the system can come with us. Mostly it was low class guys but there were a few elites like us that wanted to leave. And that's how I got my gang in a nutshell."
With all that knowledge suddenly imparted to you, your mind starts to race with the possibilities. "So Cabba-"
"He idoloizes them. He wants to BE them. Without knowing what they are. Stupid dork."
"I see." You stand up and walk over to her.
As your form towers above her form Caulifla begins to mutter. "W-What are you-"
But you kneel down so you're level with her and start ruffling her hair. "I'm sorry. It must've been hard."
She freezes for a moment before reaching up and shoving your arm aside. "Would you stop that?"
"Hehehe! No!"
Finally having enough she forces you away as you continue to try and pet her. With one final push of her shoulder you are knocked on your ass while laughing. "Phew... finally. Anyway it's all good now! I got a gang of scrubs ready to fulfill my wishes, I can fight lots of tough dudes whenever I want and I got fuckstrong thanks to that dork Cabba! In the end everything worked out flawlessly!"
"And you helped Kale. That must amount to a lot."
Caulifla nervously swallows. "Y-Yeah. I guess.
I just wish she stopped calling "Sister" all the time. It's weird... Is it weird?" She looks at you questioning her own words.
"Yeah no... it's definitely a little weird. But endearing at the same time. She clearly respects you."
"Uh-huh. And she's strong too! Even stronger than I am when she puts her mind to it.
If only she could control that stupid berserker rage of hers..."
"Leave it to me! I am the inheritor of the berserker rage! If anyone then I can help her with that!"
"Stop fooling around!" She orders you to stop.
"But I'm serious!" You declare. "We gotta win this tournament. And to do that we gotta bring our A-game. That means you, Kale, Hit and even Cabba!"
"And you. You're also part of this."
"Well duh. But I assume I'll get my ass kicked while trying to get you guys up to speed so... that'll just happen on its own. Now I just gotta figure out which one to do first..."
Standing up you sit back next to the fire and look into it. Gazing into the dancing tongues of flame you start contemplating the situation.
"Hey Caulifla..."
"Hmmm?"
"They said this... Goku fellow is gonna be there and that you want to meet him.
I assume you fought him."
She gulps. "Y-yeah."
"May I ask how did it go? They- Vados told me the guy is freakishly strong... Just... how strong is he?"
"Freakish?" Caulifla asks in a somber tone.
"No. Ungodly more like. That bastard Son Goku..." She tightens her fist. "He... We didn't stand a chance against him. Even when Kale and I used Super Saiyan 2 at once and rushed him he just brushed us off... That was the first time we fused-"
"Kefla-"
"Yes. But even then we lost."
*gulp* "Holy shit."
"Yes..." Caulifla then smashes her fist into her palm. "So that's why I want to challange him again! I'll shove my foot up his ass even if he rips it off!"
That... is definitely NOT something you want to face off against. Looks like that cheesy line of yours might actually be the truth. All of you must bring your A-game for this one. So with newly strengthened determination you speak up.
"Hey Caulifla..."
"Yeah?"
"I'll get back that Super Saiyan 2 of yours!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone