by Jamie L. Word
"All-Out Free-For-All"
Yoshio, Yuen, and Kien flew from the fighters' rest area to try to rescue Yuko, as of yet unnoticed by the villains! Koji managed to make it up to one knee, his body still trembling in pain and fatigue from the effort! Xarlok and his crew smiled fiendishly!
"Kien, you take the demon warrior Kun!" Yuen said to Kien as they approached the hostage situation. "Yoshio, you take that fighter who planted the Saibamen! I'll take care of the Saibamen myself! I believe your sister should be able to handle Zheng on her own if she doesn't permit herself to be distracted in the battle! You both know what to do?"
"Yes!" Yoshio answered with fierce determination in his voice and in his demeanor as he focused his attention on the minor minion.
"That strong guy with horns wearing the Saiyan armor is mine?" Kien asked rhetorically. "No problem!"
At the last second, Xarlok's minions noticed the approach of the three fighters from the rest area! Yoshio quickly engaged the minor minion in hand-to-hand combat, and the fight seemed to be very even! Kien and Kun engaged in a flurry of hand-to-hand techniques, and they seemed to be evenly matched as well! Yuen quickly destroyed the Saibamen with a powerful, invisible ki blast, leaving only Zheng to contend with Yuko!
"Uh-oh!" Zheng muttered to himself as he looked at Yuko with more than a bit of concern in his eyes.
"That's the understatement of the year, you creep!" Yuko reprimanded as she engaged Zheng in a closely-contested fight as well.
Xarlok turned to see Yuen standing before him, trembling a bit but forcing himself to stand resolutely in the face of imminent danger.
"Hmmm," Xarlok sighed with passing interest as he directed his attention around the many ongoing battles to finally come to rest on Yuen. "What have we here? Ah, a pitiful little Kai come to stand against the mightiest Changeling in the universe! You're a fool, you pitiful wretch!"
"We'll see about that, you monster!" Yuen screamed as he blasted Xarlok with an invisible ki blast.
Xarlok was unphased by the attack, and this terrified Yuen incredibly, causing him to tremble in fear and disbelief!
"That was one of my most intense ki blasts!" the astonished Kai managed to mutter in response. "It didn't even phase him!"
Meanwhile, Kien and Kun fought hard, but neither fighter could achieve any advantage over the other yet! Also, Yoshio and the minor minion of Xarlok continued to fight, but Yoshio's anger seemed to be giving him a slight edge in that fight! Yuko now seemed to be pummeling Zheng at will, and the Arcosian now found himself helpless against her fury! Koji smiled at that sight!
"Ah, the Earth woman possesses the heart of a warrior after all!" Koji thought to himself as he continued to try to get to his feet. "Now that I like!"
Kun threw a punch at Kien, but the Namek sidestepped the punch, grapped Kun by his armored shoulderpads, and tossed him skyward! From his lower position underneath the hurtling demon, Kien began charging up a masenko ball, and he fired it as the demon began to regain control of his movement! Kun saw the masenko ball approaching, and he heard Kien still screaming under the continuous channeling of energy into the attack! Kun fired a powerful energy blast into the incoming masenko ball and continued to scream as he too was continuously channeling energy into his attack! The two energy attacks collided in mid-air and began pushing at each other!
Meanwhile, Yoshio evaded a kick attempt by his foe and retaliated with a tremendous front kick like a football punt right to the chin of the minor minion, sending him hurtling across the battlefield! He then charged up a kamehameha blast and fired it high up over the minion's position! As the minion was recovering form Yoshio's kick, Yoshio quickly closed the distance and delivered a point-blank solar flare technique into the minion's face, blinding him before Yoshio moved back far from that position once again! Koji smiled at that sight as Yoshio redirected his kamehameha blast to come crashing down upon the minor minion and explode!
"So, the craven brother of the Earth woman is a fighter after all!" Koji thought to himself as he was halfway between kneeling and standing, causing him to grimace in even more pain and anger. "Excellent!"
Xarlok fired a finger bolt into Yuen, and the gravely wounded Kai threw up blood as he slowly collapsed to the ground, horrifying Koji and Yoshio! Xarlok merely smiled at the sight of his handiwork!
"Oh, dear me!" Xarlok taunted in mocking fashion as he gloated over his success. "It looks like I've beaten two overrated jokes in one day! How absolutely delightful!"
Yoshio rushed to Yuen's side with the pouch of senzu beans still on his own hip! Yoshio took a senzu bean from the pouch and put it in Yuen's mouth!
"Here, Yuen!" Yoshio frantically informed the wounded Kai. "It's a senzu bean! Swallow it down quickly!"
Yuen chewed the bean up and swallowed it as he was instructed. Xarlok was too busy laughing at Yuen's plight to notice what was happening, but Koji noticed the incident and watched with interest. Yuen's wound healed, and, in a moment, he got back to his feet again, amazing Koji.
Meanwhile, Kien and Kun were still trying to overwhelm each other's energy attacks, but Kien's masenko ball had already been charged to a very potent power level before Kun even fired his blast! Kien's masenko ball began pushing Kun's attack back, driving backwards toward the disbelieving demon! Kien increased the intensity of his focus as Kun began showing signs of fear due to the realization that Kien's blast was overcoming his! In mere moments, Kien's masenko ball drove all the way through Kun's attack and slammed into the demon, exploding with the fury of a small-scale nuclear device!
Upon finally getting to his feet, Koji looked towards the Kai and the human as Xarlok finally noticed that the Kai was healed.
"Huh?" Xarlok muttered in confusion, incredulous that the Kai was even alive let alone standing there completely healed once again. "What's this?"
"Hey, Earthling!" Koji called out to Yoshio, getting the attention of the two heroic fighters as well as Xarlok. "Give me one of those beans!"
"What?" Xarlok inquired in puzzled fashion while Yoshio took a bean from his pouch and tossed it to Koji. "What bean?"
Koji caught the bean in his hand, put it into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it, all in haste. Moments later, he looked much better, and he seemed to regain his strength. Xarlok was stunned at this turn of events.
"What's this?" Xarlok muttered in even more bewilderment at the sight of Koji's improvement in condition. "What's going on here?"
Meanwhile, Yuko continued to pulverize Zheng in a brutal display of her fighting prowess and her fierce rage! A few more punches later, and Zheng found himself on his backside on the ground, breathing heavilly and badly battered by the Earth woman's assault! Yuko then punted Zheng's head like a football, rendering the Arcosian unconscious as he slid him a several feet across the battlefield and into the wall behind him with a thud!
"I could let you in on an old saying about the fury of a woman's scorn, but I think the lesson should be well-learned by now!" Yuko proclaimed over the unconscious form of her opponent.
Xarlok now found himself surrounded and alone on the battlefield, and all of the good guys were healthy and ready to fight.
"All of you, get away from here now!" Koji called out to the others as he and Xarlok locked gazes in a staredown. "I will fight Xarlok alone!"
Xarlok smiled an evil smile, and he quickly fired a finger bolt into Yuko! As blood erupted from her mouth, she collapsed a senseless heap upon the ground! They were all horrified at what they saw! Koji began trembling in his rage! Kien and Yeun just stood there in total shock, frozen in horror at what they just witnessed! Yoshio's eyes watered up, and tears began streaming down his face as he beheld his fallen sister! Xarlok laughed evilly at this!
Suddenly, the ground began shaking strongly once again and winds began to howl as the water's waves crashed violently against the land outside of the arena! Small stones began rising off the ground around the arena as the entire arena began to shake, and Koji stood trembling in seething rage! Lightning flashed in the blackened sky overhead with more intensity than before! Small rocks began to split as powerful whirlwinds formed all over the arena and in the surrounding landscape, both over land and over water, and the waters began to part, forming towering watery walls as they parted to the water's floor beneath!
Yuen and Kien noticed this, and immediately they turned their attention to Koji, who was still in 'Golden Flamed' Saiyan form! They heard his ever-intensifying growl of rage! Mountains across the landscape began to crumble as the entire planet seemed to tremble at the awesome power Koji was summoning! This got Xarlok's curious attention onto Koji! The ground opened up in places all along the landscape for miles and miles, revealing boiling pits of lava, and lava erupted from between the parted walls of water out of the exposed floor of the waters! Rocks began to explode as the whirlwinds began to grow stronger and more intense! The very arena began to crumble from the unfathomable energies being gathered by Koji! Yoshio finally noticed this, and he was terrified as he realized the power was coming from Koji!
Koji's stiffened and uprighted hair began wafting dramatically in the great winds as Kien, Yuen, and Yoshio were forced back towards Yuko's wounded body by the force of the winds blowing out from Koji! Actual sparks of electricity seemed to dance along Koji's form and his golden, flaming energy aura! Koji's aura suddenly flared massively as Koji screamed into the heavens! To the amazement of all, his hair turned blond, and his eyes turned green! His golden, flaming energy aura remained, as did the blackened sky and the flashing lightning in the sky, but all the other special effects gradually subsided after a few moments!
Xarlok was startled and momentarily frightened when Koji glared into his eyes with his intense, intimidating gaze, and the remaining heroic fighters gazed upon Koji in awe! The golden, flaming aura surrounding his slightly bulked-up frame, Koji looked very impressive, and he radiated an air of power, strength, and menace towards Xarlok!