Chapter Twenty

Somewhere along the way back home you awaken with your eyelids feeling like they are made of lead. "Urgh... Did anyone catch the license plate of that truck?"

"Well lookie Oren! He's back."

"I see sis. So... did you calm down yet?

You acted quite strange."

"Yea... I came down. I got a bit power drunk there... By the way why do I feel weird?"

Vados looks over her shoulder and speaks up.

"It seems that the Namekian elder unlocked the dormant Ki inside of you."

"In... english please?"

*sigh* "Every being has a pool of latent energy within them. As you improve yourself some of your efforts... go to waste so to say and settle down deep inside your very being. With this technique it appears you now have access to that very power. I believe as long as you don't become lax with your training this power won't settle back down so you get to keep it."

"Keep doing what I'm doing. Got it!"

"I'm glad you didn't leave empty handed Eric-"

Hyssop also joins in on the conversation.

"You've done so much for us. It wouldn't be fair with you."

"Eh... You're gonna slave away in my kitchen for the rest of your natural life!" You reply with a sly grin. "I think we're even."

"Hehe. I won't object to that."

As the big iceberg gives you an ironically warm smile you land back on Champas planet and pat him on the arm. "You know you can let go of me now. I can still walk on my own."

"Oh sorry..." With a quick apology Hyssop set you down on the ground and supported you until it was absolutely sure you wouldn't stumble.

"Okay. Tha-AAAAAAAAAAA!" You scream as you are suddenly dropkicked out of nowhere and find your face digging a nice little trench into the dirt. Following the rest of your body your legs fall as your neck fails to support them and you moan in pain. "Why-hy-hyyyyyy?"

"Oh E~eeeeeric!" Caulifla calls you out.

"Noooooooo..."

"I heard you made Kale go Super! Do me! Do me!"

"Why me?!"

"I tried fusing with her earlier to figure it out buuuut... I didn't get any closer to the solution. So I need YOU!"

You dig yourself out from what could be described as "your grave" and look up at her.

"You need me huh?" You mumble to yourself.

"First time I ever hear that and it might be the death of me."

"What?" She asks.

Standing up you look at her and respond appropriately. "If you need me that- Erm... Uh...

N-Never mind! Okay I'll help. But you owe me! You got that?"

"Sure, whatever." She starts bouncing up and down. "Now come at me!"

*sigh* You assume your stance and attempt to raise your power, only to find it going out of whack as your ki goes haywire. "Whoa... Gotta get used to that! Okay... NOW!" The white ki surrounds your body like a raging fire as you prepare yourself for battle.

"Come!"

"With pleasure!" Caulifla charges you.

She starts off with a quick series of jabs which you effortlessly manage to dodge. When that fails she decides to do a low sweep with her leg which you counter and as your shins clash. The air vibrates and so does your entire leg, but it does not budge. The onlookers with the exception of the twins and Vados just watch this slackjawed.

"Oh my. It looks like Eric is actually standing up to her. Somewhat." Vados observes.

Caulifla then begins to rapidly move around you, leaving after images behind as she does so. She gets behind you and attempts to strike your neck with a karate chop but you effortlessly evade it and she flies forward uncontrollably as she's carried off by her own momentum. With a quick little pulse of power she causes her body to stop dead. "Grrrr... STOP DODGING!"

"Okay!" You straighten your posture. "I won't move from this spot from now on."

"Cocky bastard! HAAAAAAAAAA!" She flies towards you once more, her fist pulled back and ready to be unleashed with her entire body behind it.

You crack a smile as you begin to warp space but not to a noticeable extent, prepping for the moment when she's ready to touch you.

Finally she throws the punch and in that moment you open the portal right in front of her fist. Immediately afterwards she punches herself in the face and recoils from the shock.

Grabbing her face and hissing she starts screaming. "What the hell?!" She says before shaking off her concussion. "That's the same trick..."

"Yeap. I finally figured it out." Gritting her teeth she lets out a scream and starts attacking you not with big punches but many small ones, each one either curving around your body or going through space-time to strike her. "STOP. IT!"

"Make me!"

"Grrr!"

Lunging at you Caulifla attempts to kick off your head but you use time-skip to spice things up and walk behind Caulifla while she's frozen in place. She flies past you without realizing what just happened. "HAH! MADE YOU MOVE!"

"I grew bored of standing still. Felt like I was falling asleep over there."

"You... you dare..." Oh she's mad now.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" She screams and sends out a shockwave powerful enough to shake your bonemarrow. Feeling the pressure she's releasing you feel your body being pushed back ever so slightly as you grin. That's it! You're making progress! Looking up at you with eyes filled with rage Cauliflas power starts to stabilize. "I'll start pounding you now... I don't know when I'll stop!"

"Oh my!"

"STOP! IT! CRUSH CANNON!"

You pull back your hand and start twisting space around it. "Null Fist... CYCLONE STRIKE!"

Pushing forward you strike the glowing balls of energy with all your might and the force of your clash spreads outward, shaking the trees around you. But in the end the balls get caught up in the turbulence and fly past you in a swirling pattern before exploding behind you. Caulifla watches this and at first you don't get a good enough read on her emotions.

She just stares at you blankly before speaking up. "Awesome... You're awesome! Yes! This is what I need! You'll fuel my transformation Eric! So prepare yourself! Because I'm gonna beat you until I go Super Saiyan! Even if it kills you!"

"Y-You mean if it kills me!"

"That's what I said! Even if it kills you!"

*gulp*

Giggling and snickering like a madman you extend your hand and invite her. "THEN COME ON! Show me I'm not wasting my time here!"

Cracking her knuckles and her neck she prepares to attack. "I'm gonna make you choke on those words! HYAAAAAAAAH!"

Closing the gap she starts hurling punches in your face but you casually dodge between them when necessary. When not, you allow your freaky powers to safely redirect her attacks. All the while you fly backwards to create the illusion that you're fleeing from her, adding another layer of frustration to her fight.

But unfortunately she wizened up to your trickery and realized you're just trying to get on her nerves. She's taken it more as a challenge to overcome rather than something to get pissed off about.

Not good. So you choose to take things to a whole new level. Time to go even FURTHER BEYOND!

You kick her away in order to buy yourself some time to concentrate. When recovers from that kick to her gut she flies at you quite predictably.wise And that's when you use time-skip.

"OW!" She speaks up as you disappear from her sight.

"S-Sis?" A confused Kale who appeared on the scene not too long ago but remained in the shadows spoke up. "Are you alright?"

"My butt stings... I think a bug was- Wait..."

She looks over her shoulder and sees you with your tongue sticking out. "YOU!" She starts fuming once more.

"Yes me." You vanish once more and appear right in front of her. "Me me me."

Ping. You disappeared again and Cauliflas head is practically steaming. "S-STOP MESSING AROUND!!!"

You look nonchalantly at your nails. "What? Didn't like the massage? Best I could you in one twentieth of a second. Sorry."

Now blinded by rage and nearly foaming at the mouth she howls as she tries to take you down with an arm crash. But she misses and flies above you. Looking down with eyes full of rage she soars past until eventually she stops herself mid air. Smugly you straighten your back and smile at her.

"How was that tummy rub?"

"Enough... ENOUGH! EEEEEENOOOOOOOUUUUUUGH!" She's coming.

Time to seal the deal. You only hope that this time you won't pop her tail. Pulling back your fist it begins to vibrate intensely. "Null Fist-"

Caulifla prepares to kick you but you block and redirect it with your forearm before smashing your palm into her stomach.

"EARTH-QUAKE STRIKE!"

Her body rumbles and goes limp as she's sent back flying. Crashing back first into the trees and after that, the ground. After making her dig a pretty big crater into the soil you land on the ground and walk up to her, seeing how she didn't immediately attacked you she must've felt that one. When you spot her however you feel the blood almost freezing in your veins as she lays on the ground, curled up and grasping her stomach, seemingly unable to breathe.

"I didn't take you for someone to feign injuries Caulifla. Guess that's why you're so bad at it.

Your lungs aren't in your gut..."

She stops with the wincing and stands up, dirty, injured slightly but nowhere near out of the fight. You should know. The attack wasn't meant to kill this time. "I was out of options.

Your powers are bullshit..."

"So is yours..."

"That's not the point!" She stands up. Angry, frustrated. But... not at you. "I feel like I'm backed against a wall. I can't hit you and you can hit me as much as you want. At this rate I'll loose sooner or later..." She looks down.

"I'm... nothing without that Super Saiyan it seems. She powers down and looks up to you. "I give up..."

"W-What?!"

"You heard me. I give up. I can't beat you as I am now... And that means I'm probably not good enough to go super either." She looks down at her feet as she continues, kicking a small rock away. "When I was just a rebel fleeing from Sadala I thought I was the hottest shit around. I was content. But then that stupid Cabba showed up with his stupid Super Saiyan. Now I'm... I guess I'm still the same as I was back then. Only now... I feel pathetic."

"Caulifla..."

"So yeah... I give up. That's that."

You sigh and slowly walk up to her while trying to explain the situation to the girl.

"Look... Vados said you're suffering from some... affliction. From overusing your Ki or something. If you just sit down, rest and let it pass I'm sure you'll get better and after, it'll be much easier for you to get your mojo back."

Patting her shoulder you give her a little side hug. "And besides, you're one of the most talented girls I know! I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Hmmm... Thanks." She says as she taps the arm you used to pull her in. "But..."

BOOOOOOM

You feel an immense amount of pain as fist encased in a golden aura smashes into your stomach, making you retch. Spitting on the ground you look up at her as she holds tightly onto your hand with a vice like grip and she grins. "That's for touching my ass!" She lets go of your arm only to jump up and deliver an axe kick on your back, which causes you to crash into the ground. "And that's for toying with me!" Caulifla then walks away while mocking you. "Seriously though... you saw through it once and fall for it the next time?"

"B-Because you put effort in the second..."

"Yeap! Honestly, you did such a good job of pissing me off! I felt this bubbling up but held it back because I needed to give you some payback! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Standing in front of you wreathed in a shiny golden aura was Caulifla, now a Super Saiyan.

"Oh yeahhhhh baby! Mommy missed you!"

Strutting over to you she raised you up by the arm. "P-Please don't!"

"Hmmmm? What are you talking about?

I'm just taking my bro to get healed!" She then bumps your shoulder lightly with her fist. "And... Thanks!"