by Jamie L. Word
"Dwindling Hope"
Koji and Usami continued to clash, but now Koji was matching Usami's increased speed! Both fighters appeared heavilly bruised, and both were bleeding from a few cuts on their faces! Despite the intensity of their battle, neither warrior seemed ready to surrender to the other! After several more seconds of this intense fighting, they disengaged and separated yet again!
"Impressive!" Usami remarked with regards to Koji's battle prowess. "Your fighting skills continue to improve! You've even managed to match my speed now! How do you do it?"
"I took my vitamens this morning," Koji replied with a smirk on his face, getting under the skin of Usami just a bit.
"Oh, you Saiyans are all so full of yourselves, aren't you?" Usami declared in aggitation over Koji's clever response.
"And you're not?" Koji inquired tauntingly as he maintained the confident smirk on his face.
"Oh, you're really starting to get on my nerves!" Usami rebuked the mighty Super Saiyan Koji.
"You are very powerful, but this fight is a long way from over," Koji stated calmly as his expression turned a bit more serious. "Are you ready to continue, or are you all out of steam?"
"Very well!" the seething biomechanical beast growled at Koji as he grimaced and prepared for the clash to continue. "Let's get on with it!"
"Bring it on!" the supremely confident Super Saiyan seemed to demand with his confident smirk returning, infuriating Usami all the more as Koji assumed a fighting stance in readiness to continue the fight.
Usami fired a series of finger bolts at Koji, and Koji began dodging them with effort! Usami seemed confident in his abilities to threaten Koji with this attack! Koji seemed amazed!
"Those finger bolts, they're the ones used by both Xarlok and his craven son Tarboz!" Koji thought to himself as he dodged the attacks. "Where did he learn that attack?"
Usami then began firing a series of eyebeams at Koji, but Koji likewise dodged all of those attacks! This was yet another of the attack techniques used by both Xarlok and Tarboz, and Koji noted this!
"Another of the Xarlok family attack techniques!" Koji thought to himself. "It's like he knows the attack techniques of all my old enemies!"
Usami then fired a special beam cannon attack at Koji! This maneuver surprised Koji, but Koji still managed a defense! Koji extended both open hands, palms facing the incoming attack, and, with a brief grunt-yell, generated an invisible burst of ki force, snuffing out the attack completely!
"A special beam cannon attack?" Koji thought to himself as he defended himself. "That was one of the techniques used by the Namek warrior that Kien fused with on this planet! How did he learn that one? It's like he knows all the attack techniques of the original defenders of this planet as well!"
Usami then assumed a kamehameha stance, and Koji was incredulous at the sight of it! Usami smiled as he began charging up the attack and calling out the name of the attack very slowly!
"Not a kamehameha wave!" Koji thought to himself in total disbelief. "To my knowledge, the only ones around here who know that technique are myself, the human Yoshio, and now my son! How did he learn it?"
Usami fired the kamehameha wave at Koji, and Koji flew straight up to avoid the blast, but Usami directed the kamehameha wave to fly up in pursuit of the Super Saiyan! Koji responded by firing a rapid-fire multi-shot energy attack at Usami with one hand while still fleeing the kamehameha wave! Usami covered up to defend himself from the rapid-fire blasts Koji fired at him, and the blasts pummeled Usami's position! Koji then sidestepped the kamehameha wave, and it streaked skyward into space! Koji then closed the distance to punch Usami, but the monster used Yuen's instant transmission technique to avoid the punch by teleporting a distance away from Koji's attack! Both fighters locked eyes in a staredown!
"Tell me this," Koji almost demanded of the incubus android as he glared into Usami's eyes. "Just how is it that you know techniques used by myself, a couple of Nameks I know, and a certain pair of Changelings?"
"I do elicit quite a bit of curiosity, don't I?" Usami replied as he smiled slyly. "I am comprised of cells from some of the greatest fighters in the universe. My creator, Dr. Dreg, was the top technical and scientific expert for the Changeling Xarlok, and he escaped the destruction of Xarlok's forces on the planet Veloria eight years ago.
"While he was there, he acquired cell samples from the Changeling Xarlok, the Namek Kien, the Saiyan Yukio, and you. That is how I know all of Xarlok's techniques, all of Kien's original techniques, all of Yukio's techniques, and yours - including your kamehameha technique. Once he arrived here, Dr. Dreg acquired cell samples from the two Zodorians and the Namek fighter Kuang, which is where I learned the special beam cannon technique. Then, after my second battle with that Kai called Yuen, I absorbed him into myself, thereby acquiring the instant transmission technique, his kaio-ken technique, and the spirit bomb technique.
"The Saiyan cells from you and Yukio enable me to become stronger after every battle! The cells from the two Nameks enable me to regenerate after suffering damage from an attack! The cell from Xarlok enables me to survive anywhere! I am the perfect warrior! I have no equal!"
"Unless you've failed to notice, I have proven myself up to the task of fighting you as your equal!" Koji proudly proclaimed with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, you have," Usami replied sarcastically as he smirked in response to his own comments. "Up til now!"
With that said, Usami began a long, drawn-out yell, and his golden flaming aura flared dramatically! The ground shook across the entire planet, and strong winds blew out from his flaming aura in all directions! Small pebbles, stones, and rocks began rising from the ground, and some of them were splitting while some were exploding, but some of them were merely rising from the ground! Koji gasped as he sensed Usami's building power!
"Incredible!" Koji thought to himself as his jaw was a-gape. "Where is he hiding all of his power?"
Meanwhile, Kato and Dregor continued to fight, but Dregor began outfighting Kato, pummeling him mercilessly! Kato tried to match Dregor's power and speed, but he couldn't seem to perfectly match the robot in these areas! Dregor continued his dominance of the young Super Saiyan, bruising the boy's face and splitting his lip in the process! Kato managed to dodge a haymaker-style attack by the powerful robot and then put some distance between them, charging up a basic energy blast at the end of a single open hand extended towards the robot! As Kato fired his powerful blast, the robot countered with an energy blast of his own, firing the blast from the palm of one of his hands! The two blasts collided and pushed against each other! Kato then fired another beam of energy from his free hand, and the robot countered with another beam of energy from his other hand! Those two blasts collided and pushed against each other as well!
"I can't believe this stupid tin can with arms and legs is beating me!" Kato thought to himself as he grimaced in the effort to overcome the robot in their clash of energy waves. "I thought I'd be much stronger after training with Dad! Maybe I'm just not cut out for this!"
The robot then fired twin eyebeams into Kato's torso, knocking him across the battlefield! As that happened, Kato's energy waves were stopped, and Dregor's energy waves flew across the battlefield and disappeared in the distance! The robot fired up his footjets and pursued Kato, and Kato regained control of his unplanned flight! The fisticuffs renewed, and Dregor reestablished his dominance in the fight!
Meanwhile, Usami wrapped up his power-up, and the environmental effects subsided! Koji watched in awe as Usami prepared to engage him in battle once again! Usami gave him a gloating smirk!
"Are you ready to begin?" Usami inquired gloatingly as he got himself poised for battle. "I know I am!"
"Very well!" Koji muttered in grim determination as he assumed a fighting stance, a look of disgruntledness on his face. "Let's go!"
They flew into each other once again and engaged in a flurry of various hand-to-hand techniques! Koji fought hard, but Usami seemed to be so much more powerful, and he had regained his speed advantage as well! Usami began hammering Koji all over the place since his incredible power-up, heavilly bruising and bloodying the Super Saiyan! Koji refused to give in to the seemingly more powerful and faster incubus android, and he pushed himself to perform even better to nearly hold his own against Usami!
"This is impossible!" Koji thought to himself as he struggled to keep up with Usami and endure the brutal punishment. "How can I beat him? He's increased his power, his strength, and his speed so much! His power is now so much greater than mine! It's unreal!"
"Oh, come on now, Koji!" Usami taunted in his gloating fashion. "Certainly, you can do better than this!"
At that point, Yuko finally arrived on the battlefield with the pouch containing the last half of the last remaining senzu bean. She quickly landed next to Kien on the ground, knelt, and checked on him.
"Kien! Are you alright? Speak to me!" Yuko cried out as she checked the prone warrior for signs of life.
"I'm alive," Kien muttered as he opened his eyes weakly. "The robot caught me offguard and blindsided me with his attack!"
"Here, take this!" she replied to the weakened fighter as she took the senzu bean half from the pouch and put it in his mouth. "It's only half of a senzu bean, but it's all we have left!"
Seconds after chewing up and swallowing the senzu bean half, the Namek stood up on his feet once again, looking better. He looked at both fights, and then he decided that he could be of greater help to Kato.
"I should help Kato," Kien stoically informed Yuko. "I can be of greater help to him. Then we can triple-team Usami with Koji!"
With that said, Kien flew into the fray, catching Dregor offguard with a flying side kick to the head that knocked the robot to the ground! Dregor slid across the ground, carving a path through the dirt and raising a dust trail behind him as he skidded! Kato was excited to see Kien!
"Kien!" the young Super Saiyan exclaimed with a chuckle of excitement and happiness as he addressed the Super Namek.
"I hope you don't mind if I give you a hand, kid," the Super Namek replied as he assumed a fighting stance in preparation for Dregor's response to his kick, prompting Kato to do the same.
"Hey, the more the merrier!" the perky youngster proclaimed with a more hopeful countenance than he wore a few moments before.
Dregor rose from the ground, a fair distance from the duo! He scanned Kien with his scouter-like sensors, noting the Super Namek's power level! Kien grimaced as he noted what the robot was doing!
"So, Dr. Dreg built this robot with sensors that contain a more advanced version of the scouters used by the Saiyans and the Changelings!" Kien thought to himself as he tensed up and then relaxed for the fight. "Then he knows I'm not at full strength! If I could have gotten a whole senzu bean, I would be at full strength right now, but my energy is still low after first taking that beating from Usami and then getting blasted by this overgrown walking rust bucket! Grrrrrr! This is just great!"
"My sensors indicate that you are even weaker than the boy," Dregor said in his stoic, emotionless, synthesized voice. "It does not compute. It is illogical for you to also wish to die when you could have escaped."
"Well, everyone I've been around over the last few years has been illogical!" Kien replied with a slight smile. "Funny thing is, they've rubbed off on me! Now, if we're done with the small talk, let's just get on with this!"
Kien flew at Dregor to attack him, prompting Super Saiyan Kato to follow his lead! Dregor flew at the duo to meet them halfway for the fight! The trio then clashed with intense and incredibly fast hand-to-hand combat! Dregor seemed to be struggling to keep up with two opponents as opposed to one now, and the mighty duo pressed this advantage hard! Every now and then, Kien or Kato would land a good shot on the robot, but, after almost a minute of fighting, Dregor began adapting to the two-on-one odds and learned to hold his own against them!
Meanwhile, Usami knocked Koji into the water and pursued him into its depths! The two warriors fought underwater for a while, and Usami spent most of the time in the watery depths dodging Koji's punches and kicks! Usami spent about twenty seconds frustrating Koji in their underwater skirmish before flying up out of the water and into the sky unharmed! Koji pursued the menace out of the water, battered and breathing heavilly!
"What's the matter, Saiyan? Having trouble catching your breath?" Usami asked as he mocked the mighty Koji.
"You fiend!" Koji snarled in furious frustration as they hovered in the air, facing off with each other in a staredown. "Don't worry about me! I'll find your weakness! I've trained too hard not to!"
"You might have trained hard, and you're a lot stronger than when Android Prime defeated you as well as stronger than Yukio was when I destroyed him, but my power is still so very much beyond yours!" Usami retorted with an evil smirk upon his face.
"This is impossible!" Koji thought to himself as he grimaced in pain and fatigue. "Despite all of my training in the Chamber of Spirit and Time, I don't have the power to match him let alone beat him! He's got to have a weakness! I've got to try harder! I must win!"
"My, you're aweful quiet over there!" Usami mocked the brooding Super Saiyan with a diabolical grin on his face. "Could it be that you're having second thoughts about our fight? Or are you perhaps silently saying a little prayer before you die?"
"You insolent, overgrown laboratory rat!" Koji growled in his seething rage as he scowled and tensed his muscles, then relaxing his body in preparation for the battle. "How dare you mock me! How dare you!"
With those words uttered, Koji flew into Usami with a blindingly fast flurry of punches and kicks, but the terrible creature managed to cover up, blocking each and every attack with his forearms! This further infuriated Koji, so he picked up the intensity a little and began fighting with even more determination and passion! Koji's face was contorted in his state of rage and determination! Usami noted the increase in Koji's battle prowess as he continued to defend himself against Koji's rage-fueled offensive!
"Amazing!" Usami thought to himself as he continued to defend himself against Koji. "His fighting skills continue to show signs of improvement with every engagement! He somehow manages to get a little better each time we engage in this battle! I thought for a moment that he was on the verge of giving up in frustration and hopelessness, but now he seems as determined as ever to defeat me! How very interesting!"
The clash continued with savage intensity and unfathomable speed, and neither warrior was ready to call it quits in this epic struggle! Their determination was unbelievable, and their power was undeniable! The fate of the universe rested upon the outcome of this one battle!