After crash landing on top of the Makyan, the half-Saiyan stumbled away and prepared to fire a blast. But just before he could hit her, Paprika leapt off of the ground and hooked him across the face. The blow landed with terrific force and sent the boy packing, but before he could fly out of reach Gohan managed to land a hook of his own, which connected with a thunderclap.
Trailing spit, both fighters skidded across the ruined surface of the arena to a grinding halt. As soon as their momentums ceased, they then glared across at one another.
The stadium then fell into a deathly silence when the two fighters fixed their hardest glares on the other. With ragged breaths leaving their bodies and sweat dripping from their pores, Gohan and Paprika held their stances, waiting to see who would break first.
It was then the Super Saiyan saw Paprika stumble forward with a gasp and collapse to her knee, an action that was marked by a thump when she hit the hard floor.
The announcer, seeing the girl crumble under the pressure, yelled into his microphone. "It looks like the damage has finally gotten to Paprika! Could this be the end?!"
"No," the Makyan hissed, looking to see the equally beaten Gohan stagger backwards as well, but manage to hold his footing. "No! I can't let this end. Not yet. Not here!" Despite the number of hits they'd landed on each other, she was the one that was losing out in their battle.
This was something she wasn't going to let stand.
"NO WAY! I will not be beaten by this low class retch! I won't lose…" Snarling through her fangs, the girl shakily forced herself back to her feet and, clenching her fists tightly, she threw her head back and cried out to the heavens. "I WON'T LOSE!" A howl then followed as her red aura blasted off of her in an inferno, pelting the young Super Saiyan with debris and sending a gust of wind across the stands. When the spectators were knocked out of their seats and the announcer ducked behind the ring, the entire island shook when Paprika summoned whatever amount of power she had left.
With Gohan holding his ground as best as he could, the beaten and bruised Saiyan looked across in surprise as he sensed the girl's energy levels climbing higher and higher. "W-What…?"
"I'M ENDING THIS FIGHT RIGHT NOW! NO MORE TRICKS! NO MORE RESTRAINTS!" With veins pulsing all over her body, including her eyes, the green skinned fighter crouched low to the ground and took aim with her hand. Holding it out so that all the fingers were extended, white and pink energy began gathering around her palm, forming a shining ball of death that began to pulse and shimmer.
Gohan's eyes widened at the sight, "Oh, crap." His gaze shot behind him, where he saw the stands of people sitting and watching the events unfolding on the ring. Upon which he spun back around and glared across at Paprika, whose entire form was starting to flicker like a red strobe as she continued charging her next attack. "She's blinded with rage. Shit! If she fires it from that position…"
There was a good chance that in her anger… if she missed, she was going to wipe out a great portion of the stadium as well as an entire chunk of the island.
Her form glowing brilliantly like a star in the center of their field, Paprika took aim at her target. Completely unaware of the people sitting in the stands around her, a feral grin formed across her face as her anger and frustration took over, "TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD! PAN BLASTER!" The girl then launched her attack…
The moment she did however, Gohan shot towards his opponent faster than she could react and, with a yell of his own, knocked Paprika's arm skywards, stunning her. With a crack of thunder and a flash of blinding light, a stream of pink energy exploded from her palm like a missile. The sheer force of the blast generated a sonic boom strong enough to crack the floor beneath them and shake the foundations of the entire arena. In that same instant, a beam of energy the size of a comet rocketed into the skies, parting the clouds and leaving the earth's atmosphere altogether, the sight of which caused all of the spectators to cry out in terror.
While the audience took cover, Piccolo, Zangya and Videl all gawked, as the amount of energy that had been put into that attack would've been enough to wipe out the entire planet.
When the stream of ki eventually faded and normal light returned to the stadium floor, Gohan immediately followed up on his quick maneuver by cranking back his right hand and forming a fist. The sight of his action had alarm bells go off in Paprika's head, the Makyan swaying back at the last second to avoid a powerful uppercut aimed for her head. Throwing herself away from her opponent, the demon performed a back flip and landed close to the edge of the ring. She then only had a split second to spring off of the ground and fly into the air to avoid a follow-up blow from the charging Saiyan, who then spun around and pursued her with his gaze.
Shooting into the clouds in a streak of red light, Paprika gritted her teeth and, upon reaching several kilometers up, glared back down at the arena. "Damn you!" Determined to finish the fight, she slowed her flight and prepared to launch one last attack.
However, the second she hit the brakes, Gohan's hand was already cranked back and thrown forward, which then unleashed a blast of brilliant blue energy. "FLASH MADAN!" In a mighty gust of wind, the enormous attack shot into the sky in pursuit of the Makyan, who recoiled in shock at the size of the attack now hurtling towards her.
Gritting her teeth, she brought both hands above her head and took aim. "Fine! I'm going to-" Unfortunately Paprika didn't have time to finish her retort, because the second she began to prepare her counter, she sensed a ki signature appear directly behind her and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Gohan, who was supposed to be on the ground firing the attack, super speed into view and begin diving towards her. "WHAT?! How in the-"
With a deafening 'crack' and a mighty battle cry, Gohan tackled the girl in the spine and knocked her out of the sky at blinding speed. Powering up, with his hands gripping the hapless Makyan's sides, the demi-Saiyan then held the transformed girl upside-down above his head and dove towards his approaching energy blast with the intent to pile drive her into it.
Noticing they were on a collision course with his Flash Madan blast, Paprika's eyes turned white and her mouth flew open in a terrified, bloodcurdling scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
A split second later, the stadium was filled with the tremendous sound of a colossal explosion and a flash of blinding light when the pair crashed headlong into the attack, blue fire rippling out in all directions and causing the entire island to shake. While the audience braced themselves against the gales of wind, Piccolo, Zangya and Videl were able to watch as a body flew out the bottom end of the fireball in the opposite direction the blast had traveled, and collided with the grass outside the crumbling ring. The fighter's impact with the ground was marked by an explosion of dust and debris, which sent a thick cloud over the stands and had the people in the front rows coughing and sputtering.
When the frazzled and shaken spectators finally recovered from the madness of the fight and the sky finally cleared of smoke, they all looked towards the crater where the body had impacted. There, lying sprawled out in the center, they saw Paprika, reverted back to her base form, battered, burnt, bruised, and bleeding from a new series of cuts, lying sprawled out in the center of it.
Rushing over to her, the announcer checked for a pulse. Taking her by the shoulder and giving the green girl a light shake afterwards, the man in the shades sighed in relief and stood up. Clearing his throat and using a cloth to wipe off his dust covered sunglasses, the announcer turned to the audience and made the call, "That's it folks! The winner by ring out and knock out of the second to last match of the tournament is Son Gohan!" The man exclaimed, throwing a hand towards the ring as the Super Saiyan, unscathed from the explosion, dropped down from the sky and landed in the center.
Reverting back to his base form with a sigh, there was a long moment of silence in which the audience spent trying to get over the unbelievable battle that they'd just witnessed. After a full minute ticked by, the crowds of shaken civilians soon recovered from their stunned reveries and rewarded Gohan with a loud cheer and a round of applause. The shirtless demi-Saiyan made certain to bow in gratitude to his legions of fans, before then jogging over to check on the defeated Makyan.
"Congratulations Son Gohan. You've made it to the finals. We will now have a short break to clear up the ring and provide first aid for our contestants," the announcer said, watching as the clearly battered half-Saiyan hopped down from the stage and approached the crater where the unconscious Paprika was lying. The blonde adult made room for Gohan as he stepped up to check on the girl himself, earning a concerned look from the experienced referee. "How are you doing, big guy? Do you need to see a doctor? You took quite a beating out there."
"Nah. Compared to her these are just scrapes. I'll live," Gohan replied, glancing to the side when he sensed Videl rushing over from her spot on the other side of the lawn.
The moment she skidded to a stop alongside him and the tournament official, Piccolo and Zangya also dropped down from the sky, a sight that immediately drew the crowd's attention.
First the two kids were fighting and flying, and now they were being joined by two others who could as well. Just what the heck was going on today?
"Gohan! Are you alright?" Videl asked, hand on her chest as she gazed across at her friend in worry. "Are you hurt?"
The spiky haired half-Saiyan grinned and shook his head, "No. Just some bad bruises and cuts. Nothing a quick visit to Dende's can't fix."
"I'll say," Piccolo spoke, the towering Namekian looking down at his student seriously.
"You look even worse than you did after your fight with that Kana chick," Zangya remarked, placing her hands on her hips and looking at the boy in amusement. "Damn, wonder boy. Do you get your jollies from having your ass kicked around the countryside or what? There's no shame in admitting it."
Gohan chuckled and massaged the back of his head, at the same time stepping away when two orderlies came around with a stretcher, "What can I say? She was a really tough opponent. I had no idea I was going to end up fighting somebody like her in the tournament, much less the Junior Division." He then turned to look down at the girl as she was attended to by the newly arrived officials. "To be honest, she took me completely by surprise when she transformed."
If he had to make an educated guess, he estimated that Paprika was just as strong if not even stronger than Cell had been before he came back. All things considered, if he hadn't taken advantage of her lapse in attention, then the fight would have dragged on even longer than it had and more damage would have been done to the surrounding island. Heaven knows what would have happened if he'd held back with that last hit. The girl probably would have ended up in a far worse a state than she was now.
Piccolo, giving an understanding nod, stepped up to his student and patted him on the shoulder. "You did really well today kid. Good fight."
"Thanks, Piccolo," Gohan replied, at the same time looking down and receiving a warm smile from Videl. After returning it and feeling the girl fondly clasp at his hand, the group then turned when they sensed the orderlies preparing to move the unconscious Paprika.
=====================
If you want to support me and also access 30 advance chapters, join my patreon with the link patreon.com/EddyHazArd
Or just search "EddyHazArd" in the patreon searcher.