PART TWENTY: TWO GREAT HEROES

Chapter 98

Translated by npberryhill

While Cell returned victoriously to the designated space of universe 17, the next two combatants were mentally preparing themselves. Tapion of universe 3 and Kulilin of universe 9 were moments away from entering the ring. While the former had not yet been able to fight due to the forfeit of everyone in universe 10, specifically the Namekian called Caracoru, the latter had shown impressive talent against his first opponent, Sauza of universe 8.

The fight immediately following Cell vs the Space Pirate Bojack would finally reveal the musician Tapion’s level and allow the turtle master to test whether or not he wielded true strength and determination.

Tapion was certainly no extraordinary warrior, Kulilin could tell that about him from a glance. That was not to say that he wasn’t a threat, however. Along with his younger brother, Minosha, Tapion had faced off against an awfully powerful creature known as Hildegan. Fortunately for them, neither their physical strength nor mental fortitude had been decisive in the clash. Sometimes strategy wins battles, little tricks and plans—even having an unshakeable will can help tip the balance of power. To neutralize Hildegan there was convened a magical ocarina, one which was capable of stopping the monster with nothing but a simple melody. Along with it was an enchanted sword and two music boxes bestowed with the ability to seal away the demonic being. These artifacts, along with Tapion and his brother, singlehandedly became the salvation of an entire people. Hildegan was stunned by the music, sliced in half by the blade, and imprisoned within the boxes. For their heroism, the brothers were celebrated as heroes.

However, there was a problem. Neither of the pair were able to fully contain their respective halves of the monster’s body. Believed to be the only safeguard, they too were sealed within the music boxes and thrown into the deepest reaches of space—separated to far corners of the universe so as to prevent anyone from ever restoring Hildegan again.

Somehow, today, Tapion stood there free from his eternal prison, fighting in hopes of having his wish granted.

Kulilin, on the other hand, was merely there for the challenge. If he wanted, he could make a wish on the Dragon Balls back in his own universe, but he had none to make. His one desire was to fight against formidable warriors and test himself. His only other goal there was to gather information. He’d experienced the abominable evils of many of the tournament’s contestants already. There were great terrors still free in several of the universes, some of whom he’d already faced in his universe. When the Vargas had first come and explained to them the concept of the multiverse tournament, Kulilin, Yamcha, and Tien had each recalled their past battles. A big part of the reason they had agreed to participate was simply to monitor everyone else.

They were wise to do so. After arriving, they recognized many of the participants as old friends or foes. The Saiyans of universe 13 were a few, as well as Coola of universe 8 and his cronies. They also knew Dabra and Babidi of universe 11 and Android 16 of universe 12. There were two other Videls as well, one in universe 16 and one in the 18th. Then there were the two cyborgs, #17 and #18, though they were different from the ones in their own world. Kulilin had become quite intrigued by each of the universes and how each one could be traced back to a single point where they split. One decision, a different reaction, or even random chance could lead to two entirely opposite universes being created. While Kulilin had already begun to learn about each universe, many of his questions remained unanswered.

‘I’m especially curious about that Saiyan, Son Goku, who seems to know me so well,’ he thought.

The announcement finally came. “For the next bout, we invite Tapion of universe 3 and Kulilin of universe 9 to enter the ring!”

Kulilin’s introspection was interrupted by the loudspeakers. As he received a few last minute encouraging words from his friends, he noticed Tapion a little to the left in front of him. The latter was speaking to one of the Namek organizers.

“Excuse me, sir, could you take me into the ring?”

The Namekian hesitated briefly, but then began levitating. It was the second time since the tournament he’d had this request. The first competitor not able to enter the ring under her own strength had been Syd of universe 6—one of the girls from Bojack’s world, though by no means one of his gang. She had unfortunately perished at the hands of the ruthless Vegeta, one of the Super Saiyans from universe 13.

Tapion asking for assistance was quite a surprise to many, the spectators in particular. Few were willing to bet on a warrior who lacked even the ability to enter the ring—unless of course, it was a hoax, a strategy to fool his opponent into lowering his guard and acting under the assumption he couldn’t fly.

Even if this had been the case, Kulilin wouldn’t have fallen prey to the ruse. He was more than careful enough to have been paying close attention. The Namek was eager to see for himself how Tapion would manage, though, so he quickly grabbed Tapion’s wrist and lifted off heading towards the ring. When he was only a few meters above the surface, the organizer suddenly felt the immense gravity increase, ten times greater than last round for a total of one hundred times above normal. Tapion seemed to slip out of his arms immediately, hurtling toward the ground face first.

The Namekian immediately wanted to apologize, of course. The gravity was far too strong for even him, and his mis-handling of the flight had led to him dropping the fighter. ‘Incredible!’ he thought. ‘This gravity is insane, even to a warrior-type Namekian like myself. And all the while, these fighters so far have been acting like it’s nothing at all!’

As he looked up, he saw the turtle-shell sporting dwarf come jumping out of the universe 9’s area. But the nearer he got, the less in control he was, until Kulilin was falling out of control. A second later he crashed into the ring, landing on the other side of Tapion—who was still face down in the arena.

“Urgh! I weigh a ton!” Tapion said, struggling in vain to lift himself.

“By the rheumatic turtle!” Kulilin exclaimed, his feet hanging under his shell unable to reach the ground.

After a moment, in which neither combatant was able to extricate himself from the effects of the gravity, the spectators began to mumble in astonishment. The Namek was quite surprised himself. It looked like the only fighting the two would be capable of might involve some kind of pathetic crawling. Or worse...

“Wrap me in your aura,” Tapion said, suddenly being enshrouded by a mysterious force.

“Well, what do you know...” Kulilin said, merely as if mentioning the time of day. “Alright, then. Kaioken.”

Both fighters immediately stood to their feet with ease, suddenly strengthened. Around the human was a jagged red aura while a more violet and smooth aura accompanied Tapion. Each one seemed to be behaving as if gravity had simply returned to normal. Then, their eyes met.

“Don’t hesitate to leave if you like,” Tapion began.

“That’s nice of you, but I didn’t come all this way for nothing,” the bearded dwarf replied.

In reply, Tapoin brandished his sword and lowered his chin. Had the blade been wielded by any normal foe it wouldn’t have posed a real threat. But surrounded by this mysterious aura, Kulilin knew it was extremely dangerous. Ki, this Ki in particular, was far more powerful than any physical weapon, as well as anything made by hand or machines. But if Tapion had the edge in weaponry, Kulilin carried on his back the ultimate defense—a shell made of solid Kachin, the densest and hardest metal in all of the universe. However, it was not so simple as just attack against defense. Though he gripped the sword firmly in his right hand, left fist ready to strike, Tapion remained in a defensive position. It was obvious he wouldn’t make the first move. Kulilin’s form remained upright as well, like he was ready for anything. He too appeared to be awaiting the first move. Despite his age, Kulilin was very intelligent, and able to react in half a second.

He assessed his opponent silently. What he found most curious was trying to perceive the strange Ki that emanated from Tapion. It was difficult to measure and felt even stranger.

His efforts seemed to be in vain...

There was something very mysterious about his power. On his own, Tapion didn’t seem at all capable of withstanding gravity one hundred times greater than normal. But with only a few words, this strange power had been revealed and he stood with ease. In fact, it seemed quite similar to the Kaioken, though it differed quite a bit in appearance. Was it some kind of hereditary power or a genetic mutation? Perhaps the power was emanating from some enchanted object in his possession? If that was the case, what was it—the ocarina or the sword? As much of a puzzle as that was, Kulilin was equally curious about the duration of Tapion’s power.

‘He’s in a defensive position...and I can’t maintain the Kaioken for long,’ Kulilin thought. ‘I should attack now.’

Suddenly, he barreled towards his opponent at full speed, dropping the cane he held in his right hand. With his other, he slid his shell over his shoulder to use it as a shield. Tapion reacted quickly, preparing his counter as he swung a large side-sweep at his opponent. The bald man blocked with his shell, which Tapion had expected to slice in half. Instead, the sword seemed to bounce off. The shockwave vibrated up through the blade, jarring the musician’s wrist out of place. Having prevented the surprise attack, Kulilin next flanked his foe with an elbow to the gut. Before even checking to see if his blow had yielded the intended effect, he used his momentum to get behind Tapion. Kulilin followed up with a powerful kick that sent his foe flying a few meters in the air, his body leaving a trail on the surface of the ring.

Kulilin stood still a moment, awaiting Tapion’s reaction. Surprisingly, the musician stood back up quickly, seemingly unharmed.

‘What incredible strength!’ the dwarf thought. ‘He has some kind of barrier protecting him. I’ll have to go in harder and make quicker flanks. To break through that shield, it’ll take some serious blows...’

Across from him, Tapion sheathed his sword, knowing it was useless.

‘He’s much too fast for me...I won’t be able to even touch him. I barely had any time to react, and that shell of his must be indestructible.’

“Sorry about this,” Tapion began. “It looks like I’ll have to be more violent.”

‘More violent?’ Kulilin wondered. ‘He didn’t even touch me!’ The musicians words were a bit of a conundrum. ‘What does he mean by more violent?’

Suddenly Tapion raised his left hand to his right wrist and yelled aloud. “Come out and fight for me!”

Immediately, Kulilin understood the origins of Tapion’s mysterious power—it had been shared with him by a creature within. This being had suddenly begun appearing in the ring, spinning out of the musician’s body like a whirling tornado. Whatever it was seemed to be summoned to come fight for its master. According to the rules of the tournament, this was perfectly legal. That meant now Kulilin would have to fight two opponents simultaneously.

The winds around Tapion grew in size and stature, spinning frantically as the beast was unleashed. A furious gust whipped against Kulilin’s face, blowing his beard around like paper. From the tornadoes, a thick smoke finally formed which then seemed to glob together into a flesh and blood monster. The creature was as enormous as it was hideous.

It was as large as an Oozaru, if not slightly bigger, and had two massive claws supporting its two thick hind-legs in the back. If it tried, the beast could easily double its height just by reaching! Its torso was awesome, wide, and thick. On each side it had incredibly large arms, both leading to a clawed hand. His head looked like something out of a horror story, as if it was stolen right out of a child’s worst nightmare. Last but not least was his ridiculously long tail which was capable of impaling foes at incredible speeds.

Kulilin’s face, which wasn’t one known for expressions, told of his angst. “Well, that’s something...”

Years ago he’d fought against an Oozaru, which had been one of the most terrible battles of his life. But compared to the monster before him, an Oozaru seemed like nothing but a friendly bear.

Amongst the tournament spectators, exclamations of joy rose wildly. The reactions of the other fighters varied, depending on whether or not they had any personal knowledge of Tapion. Vegetto smiled, recalling that in his own universe Tapion had been unable to fully contain Hildegan—almost is if he was proud that he now could. Goku, on the other hand, was shocked that Tapion and the demon had somehow become allies.

What he didn’t yet know was that Hildegan was not actually Tapion’s friend, but rather Raichi’s. Thanks to his scientific genius, the musician had been provided a device that kept Hildegan under his control and allowed him to even give the creature orders.

“Attack,” Tapion said flatly.

The monster roared, turning to the little dwarf—who was still pondering how he could begin to face such a monster—and tried to smash him underfoot.

A monster this size in this level of gravity shouldn’t have been able to move like Hildegan was. Ever nimble, Kulilin narrowly dodged the giant foot from above, leaping backwards and putting some distance between himself and the monster.

“I am sorry about this,” Tapion said. “I just really need to get my wish.” Truthfully, he felt a little ashamed that he couldn’t defeat Kulilin himself, but in order to achieve his goal he knew he couldn’t fight fairly.

Yet, his opponent would not admit defeat. Pulling his hands around into a familiar position, he began concentrating his Ki. “Kame-Hame...HA!”

His attack streaked toward Hildegan, who’d failed to crush the bald man, but upon contact it merely bounced right off his skin and deflected up into empty air.

“What!?” Kulilin gasped, lowering his hands slowly.

Next, Hildegan opened its mouth wide and unleashed a huge jet of flames, an attack that caught the human completely by surprise.

“Stronger Kaioken!” Kulilin cried, hurrying to escape from the burning flames. While still fleeing the trail of fire, he raised his hand and yelled “Kienzan!”

A spiral energy disc was instantly formed above his palm. Then, with a single clear and precise gesture, he sent the attack right at the Mastadon’s neck.

Only, where there should have been a slicing impact, nothing happened. As if he’d become a huge Tornado, the monster seemed to vanish—leaving the energy disc to fly straight through as if he’d never there to begin with. It continued straight into the energy shield protecting the public before finally being extinguished.

“Nothing is working against this thing!” Kulilin said in frustration. “Well, I think it’s clear that he’s not the one I need to be attacking...”

The smoke seemed to be moving closer to him, as if it was almost ready to re-materialize, but Kulilin acted quickly. He sped away in a loop till he was flying at a low angle just above the ring, aimed right at Tapion. He was a mere ten meters away when he felt the ripples in the air of the monster’s sharp tail, attacking once again. He immediately banked upwards, narrowly dodging the attack, and yelping out loud in surprise.

But the monster still hadn’t finished. It slammed its fist into the ground, hitting empty air where Kulilin had just been. He escaped to the air, gaining altitude quickly. But once again, he had to deal with its sharp tail—twice it nearly got him. Out of breath, Kulilin landed on the ring facing the monster once more.

‘Finally, he’s getting tired...It’s nearly over,’ Tapion thought.

The monster was slow to attack this time, though. That left Kulilin the opportunity to finally figure out a strategy that might work.

The monster was incredibly fast and powerful. Not a single attack so far had even phased him, he’d either dodged by becoming a whirl of smoke or they had deflected off. But Tapion was the one controlling the monster, the one giving the orders. The question was whether or not neutralizing Tapion would cause Hildegan to vanish. Just getting close enough to the musician to do any damage would be difficult enough—the monster was protecting him quite effectively.

It was time for Kulilin to spring his idea. He raised his arms, palms up, as if charging something. Hildegan’s tail stabbed in quickly at him, but he sprang up above the ring shattering appendage. He then stretched out his arms towards the monster and fired a powerful energy beam. Only, it passed just above the monster’s left shoulder.

Yamcha of universe 9, ever the jester, had no hesitations about mocking his friend’s failed attack. “It had to happen eventually, haha! The hermit’s lost his eyesight...ah, the miseries of old age—it happens to us all. Although, I guess it’s not likely to happen to me.”

“Bonehead,” Videl replied, eager to correct his false assumption. “That’s the Kakusan Kienzan.”

“It’s my last chance!” Kulilin said, causing his energy blast to detonate just past Hildegan.

Out of the explosion came nearly a dozen different Kienzan, each one spinning towards the goliath at different angles. Just as Kulilin had hoped, Hildegan began turning into his whirling intangible tornadic form.

Watching on, Gohan of universe 18 was having something of a deja vu. He had only been five years old at the time, but he clearly remembered it nonetheless.

“That’s the same technique he used against the Saibamen that you and Nappa created all those years ago.”

Vegeta, standing beside him, commented as well. “Clever technique. It wouldn’t have done anything to me at the time, but if I recall that Kienzan nearly defeated Nappa. If Kulilin had used this variation of the attack back then, I alone would have been able to escape it.”

Son Gohan smiled. “Heh. A compliment from you, Vegeta? Well that’s rare.”

“The dwarf is inventive, I’ll give him that,” the prince added.

“It’s true,” Piccolo added. “In only a few months time, he developed several new techniques. It seems that in this universe he’s progressed even further and improved them even more.”

In his mind, Piccolo also recalled his own first tournament, which he’d attended in order to eliminate Goku then conquer Earth. Before fighting Goku, he’d had to face Kulilin, who’d given him some real trouble. Even then, he realized that conquering Earth would not be nearly as easy as he thought. Today, Kulilin required even more thought...

Unlike previous incarnations of the move (used in many various universes) which involved energy balls or blasts, these Kienzan seemed to be endowed with reason. After they sliced vainly through the tornado of Hildegan’s form, they made U-turns and continued to press the attack. Their continued pursuit kept the demon in his vapor state, not allowing him the chance to re-materialize.

Tapion immediately understood why. “He’ll try to take advantage of the fact that Hildegan is still in his smoke form. I must be...”

“Maximum Kaioken!”

Kulilin was already upon him. He had used all the resources at his disposal to be at his very fastest. This time, Tapion didn’t see it coming. He took the full force of the dwarf’s punch in his stomach and, despite the aura protecting him, gasped and collapsed onto the ground.

“Do us both a favor and stay down for thirty seconds,” Kulilin said. While the official rules of the tournament stated that one would have to be unconscious for thirty seconds, it seemed that wasn’t always the case. Android 18 from universe 14 had merely been immobilized under Yamcha and the Vargas had begun the countdown.

‘Darn! I just don’t have the experience for a fight like this...’ Tapion thought, in too much pain to even move. He gasped, trying to catch his breath and get back on his fight before the countdown ended.

Fortunately, he could still count on Hildegan. A small whirlwind suddenly materialized behind Kulilin and the monster’s sharp tail came shooting out. Still maintaining the Kaioken, the short fighter barely dodged. Just as he did, another Kienzan sliced through the tail turning it to smoke once again.

Behind him, another tornado formed and an enormous fist lunged out of it. Using the maximum Kaioken he could bear, Kulilin turned and blocked the punch. His entire arm stung from the impact, and it jolted him back and up. The next blow, which came from directly behind him, finally caught him unprepared. The human barely had the split second needed to push the Kaioken beyond his bearable limit, just before the impact. It ended up saving his life, as otherwise the blow would have been instantly fatal.

Launched towards the ring, Kulilin managed to regain control of his body just before impact. However, another of Hildegan’s huge fists was coming straight for him. He ducked below the blow at the last second, which shattered the arena again.

There wasn’t much time left, but the Kaioken was becoming unbearable—even to the point of blurring the bald man’s vision. This time when Hildegan’s tail materialized behind him, he didn’t see a thing. The sharp tail struck him hard in the back, slamming him against the ring but not killing him.

His will to keep fighting completely quenched, Kulilin finally fell unconscious. While Tapion was in awful shape himself, he remained conscious. The Vargas confirmed the fight’s result.

“Victory for Tapion of universe 3!”

In spite of winning, the musician was still disappointed in himself. ‘That was too close, I’ve got to find a more effective strategy...’

Indeed, this had only been his first opponent. In all likelihood, the following battles were all going to be much more challenging. First, he’d have to face Cell, a being capable of regenerating parts of his body like a lizard.

Unconscious, Kulilin was carefully taken by a Namek organizer back to the space of universe 9. While his friends surrounded him, the Namekian began to use his healing magic. Within a few seconds, his injuries disappeared and he awoke.

He, unlike Tapion, was actually quite happy with his performance—in spite of his defeat. He had given his all in combat, he’d just failed to capitalize on an opportunity to tip the balance. Kulilin didn’t see it as a failure.

Now, only Tenshinhan remained from universe 9, who would be competing against Buu of universe 4...