by Jamie L. Word
"The Hope Of The Universe"
Kien gasped in horror as he saw the aftermath of the explosion, a giant cloud of smoke in the sky, and he noticed tha Yukio's energy signal had disappeared. He trembled in abject horror at the thought that the mighty Super Saiyan's power was not enough to defeat the murderous monster. Then he grimaced in frustrated rage over his inability to do anything about it. He watched in frustration and hopelessness as the smoke cloud dissipated to reveal that Yukio had been completely vaporized by the explosion. He then saw Usami smiling evilly at his handiwork.
"Grrrrrr! Darn him!" Kien muttered under his breath as his eyes narrowed to a spiteful glare at the sight of the gloating villain. "If only I had more power! If only there was a way for me to stop him!"
"What's the matter, Namek?" Usami taunted Kien, terrifying the Super Namek to realize that the monster's attention was now focused on him. "Green with envy, eh? Why don't you come put a stop to my rampage? Is it because you're too weak? You're all too weak! Should I put you out of your misery now? Would that make you feel any better?"
As Kien looked horrified at the notion of Usami killing him, both Super Namek and synthetic incubus android sensed the approach of two powers from a great distance. They both looked towards the direction from whence they came, Kien in amazement and Usami in curiosity.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Usami responded to his detection of the approaching powers. "I sense a couple of potential challengers on their way here right now. One of them is most definitely Koji. I'd know his energy signal anywhere since I possess some of his cells in my being. But who is the other one?"
"I don't believe it!" Kien thought to himself as his mouth hung open in utter shock. "That's Koji and Kato, and they're both so powerful! It's amazing! They're not near as strong as Yukio was, but this is only their current level of power! They may very well be hiding the bulk of their power until they get ready to fight! But can they really be strong enough to defeat this monster? Maybe if they fight together!"
Seconds later, the two Super Saiyans appeared over the horizon. Within moments, they were hovering in the air just a short distance away from Usami. Usami noted them with interest, and Kien noticed the change in Kato right immediately.
"Look at Kato!" Kien thought to himself again. "He's obviously gotten a lot stronger! His physique is a dead giveaway to that fact! Amazing!"
"Well, two Super Saiyans for the price of one!" Usami taunted the father-son duo. "I hope you're up to it!"
"Kato, go over with the Namek. I'll take care of this," Koji said to his son, not taking his eyes off of Usami, before addressing the monster. "You must be Usami. I wish I could say that it's nice to meet you, but it's not."
"What's this?" Usami inquired with arrogant confidence as he watched Kato fly over to where Kien was hovering in mid-air and hover beside him. "Do you plan to gang up on me from all sides? I must really have you scared!"
"Don't be absurd!" Koji rebuked the monster almost calmly as he continued to glare into the monster's eyes. "I will fight you alone. My son is just here to watch the fight. It will be just the two of us, mano-y-mano!"
"I hope you brought a big sack lunch because it's going to be a long, torturous day for you!" Usami taunted with a chuckle.
"You should wake up and smell the roses, you deluded dolt!" Koji mockingly retorted with a cocky smirk of his own. "You're the one who will regret this day, not I!"
"Alright! Enough talk!" Usami snarled, a bit aggitated by Koji's remarks. "Let's do this!"
"With pleasure!" the supremely confident Super Saiyan replied as his cocky smirk grew wider on his face.
Koji flexed his muscles until every vein in his body bulged, and he began his long, drawn-out power-up yell! He immediately was ensheathed with a flaring golden flaming aura, and powerful winds began to blow out from his aura in all directions! For miles around, the ground began shaking, and small pebbles, stones, and rocks began rising from the ground! Clouds began to gather over him as the sky darkened, and the waters below began churning as waves began crashing violently against land for miles around!
After a few moments, the winds blowing out from his aura intensified to gale-force intensity, and rocks began exploding out of the ground for miles around! Whirlwinds of debris began forming for miles around, on land and over water! The sky went black as radical lightning began flashing in the sky, and the entire planet began to tremble beneath the awesome power Koji was generating! Bodies of water for miles around began parting to the bare floor and forming towering walls of water in their beds, and the ground began to crack open for miles around as lava spewed forth both over dry land and from between the towering walls of water where the smaller bodies of water were parted to the dry land! Mountains began to crumple for miles around, some into the water and some onto the land!
Kato seemed calm as he watched his father prepare to battle Usami! Kien looked on incredulously at the super-charged Super Saiyan raising his energy! Usami then seemed impressed as Koji completed his power-up, the the environmental effects gradually subsided, leaving the pebbles, stones, and rocks which rose from the ground during the power-up to fall like rain back to the ground! Koji and Usami shared a smile as they locked eyes!
"So, you're even stronger than that pompous windbag Yukio was!" Usami proclaimed, signifying he at least was aware of that much. "You might almost present me with a challenge, but I doubt it!"
"Oh, I get your strategy!" Koji taunted with his confident smirk on his face. "You're going to try to talk me to death!"
"Oh, I do so enjoy your Saiyan wit!" Usami replied with a chuckle as he poised himself for battle.
"Why, thank you!" Koji responded as he two poised himself for battle. "Do you wish to lead off, or shall I?"
They both shared another smile, and then they disappeared from sight with a blur! Kien was dumbstruck by their incredible speed, and they fought with such great speed that the mighty Super Namek found it very difficult to keep up with their movements! Kato, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble at all following their movements all over the battlefield! Their attacks resounded in the distance like mighty claps of thunder, and they seemed to be evenly matched in their clash at this point!
"Unbelievable!" Kien muttered in disbelief as he struggled to keep up with the two incredible warriors. "They're completely even in power, strength, and speed! How did Koji do it?"
"We trained for the last few months as Super Saiyans the whole time until it felt natural to be Super Saiyans," Kato answered Kien as he followed the fighters' furiously fast movements without much difficulty. "You see, Dad said that by training until it felt natural to be Super Saiyans, we wouldn't have to transform for the battle, thus saving that energy to use in the fight. We could then focus on increasing our strength, our speed, and our stamina to higher levels without the weakness of the Ascended Super Saiyan and the Ultra Super Saiyan forms.
"Yukio used the Ascended Super Saiyan form, didn't he? We could sense his great power, but we felt his movements from a-far. His big, bulky muscles slowed him down too much to be able to keep pace with Usami, and his endurance suffered as a result. Also, his injuries diminished his fighting effectiveness as well."
"You're right! How could I not have seen it?" Kien muttered aloud in complete amazement. "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, well, keep your eyes on my dad," Kato informed the highly impressed Super Namek. "He'll show everyone just what the Saiyan race is truly capable of!"
Suddenly, an energy blast slammed into the Super Namek from behind, knocking him to the ground! Kien was nearly rendered unconscious by the surprise attack from behind in his weakened state, and Kato turned to see the metallic monstrocity that came from beneath Dr. Dreg's lab! The robotic destroyer prepared to fight Kato!
"You monster!" Kato screamed angrilly at the machine. "Look what you did to Kien! What are you, and why can't I sense your energy?"
"I am Dregor, and I am a robot designed to destroy all life on this planet," the metallic monster replied in its eerie robot voice.
"Well, I'm Kato, son of Koji, and you just made a big mistake hurting the friend of a Super Saiyan!" Kato replied as he powered up for the fight, his golden flaming energy aura flaring initially as he raised his power.
In a blur of motion, Kato launched himself into battle against the mechanical menace! The two combatants clashed at incredible speed, and their fighting seemed almost as intense and energy-laiden as the fight between Koji and Usami! Kien raised up from the ground where he was knocked by Dregor and watched in amazement at the clash between boy and robot, sensing Kato's great energies!
"Incredible!" Kien muttered as he struggled to get back to his feet in a daze. "I can't sense the robot's power level, but Kato's power is enormous! I can't believe that a child can have that much power!"
Meanwhile, Koji and Usami continued their clash, and Koji matched Usami move for move! Their speed seemed to be equal, and so did their strength and energy! Their hand-to-hand clash was stalemated, so Usami broke away and fired a masenko ball at Koji! Koji fired a kamehameha wave into Usami's masenko ball, and both energy waves exploded together when they collided like a nuclear bomb! Usami then fired an energy ball straight up into the air and directed it to fall towards Koji, but Koji fired a powerful energy blast into the energy bomb and blurred out of sight! Usami was unsure of where Koji had gone to, but then Koji reappeared behind him and fired a powerful energy blast similar to Vegeta's big bang attack but more quickly charged and released! Sensing Koji and his blast at the last second, Usami quickly turned and fired a basic energy blast into Koji's blast! Koji's blast slammed into Usami's energy bomb, and Usami's basic blast slammed into Koji's powerful big bang style energy attack, then both collisions produced nuclear-caliber explosions! Usami and Koji then renewed their hand-to-hand combat, fighting with incredible intensity!
After several more moments of this, the two fighters disengaged and separated to reaccess the situation! Neither fighter seemed to be out of breath, and both appeared thrilled at the challenge! They scrutinized each other studiously before addressing each other!
"You're an exceptional fighter, Usami," Koji complimented the terrible monster. "I'm quite impressed with your power and skill."
"Why, thank you, Saiyan," Usami replied in his arrogance. "It's truly refreshing to find someone who can challenge a supreme warrior of my caliber in battle such as you've done up til now. Unfortunately, I am about to show you my true power, and then your fight will be over!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Usami," Koji cooly replied, his countenance becoming more serious after Usami's statement. "I think you're bluffing."
"Sorry to disappoint you, my friend, but I am not bluffing!" Usami responded to Koji's comments. "If you don't believe me, I'll show you!"
Suddenly, Usami blurred out of sight, reappearing behind Koji! Before Koji could turn around to face him, Usami drove an elbow into Koji's back, causing him to stumble forward! Usami then disappeared and reappeared right in front of Koji as he was regaining his balance! Usami executed a legsweep, taking Koji's feet out from under him! Koji used his hand to catch himself and flip back to his feet, but he lost Usami during the effort to regain his verticle base! Koji looked around for several seconds, and the Usami appeared right in front of him! Koji reacted by throwing a punch right at Usami's face, but the monster disappeared, causing Koji to miss with his punch! Usami then reappeared behind Koji, and Koji turned and threw a kick at Usami, but the fiend disappeared again! This sort of scenario played itself out several more times, and then finally Usami appeared behind Koji, and Koji sensed his presense and slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at Usami, grimacing at the smirking fiend!
"What's the matter, Koji?" Usami taunted the bewildered Saiyan. "Am I too fast for you? I told you that you didn't stand a chance!"
With that said, Koji turned around, and the duo exploded into a superfast barrage of hand-to-hand techniques! Their speed had increased greatly, and their fighting was even more intense than before! Kien noted that clash with grave concern over the potential outcome!
"This is bad!" Kien thought to himself as he watched that fight nervously. "Initially, Koji had the advantage of surprise when the fight started, but now he's lost that advantage, and Usami has taken the advantage by increasing his speed so that it now surpasses Koji's! Usami's all over him now! How much longer can Koji hold out?"
Back at the lookout, the others sensed Koji's plight. All of them were worried for their friend, the last hope for stopping the monster who had sworn to destroy the entire universe - and for the young Super Saiyan Kato, who battled the robot Dregor. Yuko was far more than simply worried.
"Yoshio!" Yuko cried out to her brother in desperation. "The last half of the last senzu bean, give it to me!"
"Sure, sis, but what for?" Yoshio replied as he took the pouch that the half-bean was in and handed it to his anxious sister.
"I can't leave my husband and my son out there alone to fight!" Yuko replied in grim determination. "I'm going to take this half-bean to them!"
"Wait up!" Yoshio replied almost courageously as he knew she was about to go alone if she had to. "I'm going with you! The rest of you guys, stay here! We'll be back when it's over!"
The two humans then took flight to rush the last half-senzu bean to Koji and Kato. The others watched them go for a moment. Sumio and Sumie looked at each other, and then they looked at Shun and Jontu. Shun nodded, and then the two Zodorians followed after their new friends.