EPISODE SIX - ELIMINATION ROUND TWO BEGINS
The gong rings and the arena falls silent. One of the monks who runs the traditional tournaments walks into the ring centre. "All fighters remaining in the tournament after the qualifying first round battles please assemble."
Mason Titanstalker assembles.
Ryodo walks up onto the stage at this time followed closely by Yokai Reizen.
Ceit stood in a far corner, having missed some of the matches. He did manage to catch a couple of them, however. As they were called to assemble, the changeling moved up to the stage with a simple hop that caused his small frame to float up to the area where the official demanded.
Android Ochocinco stands within hearing distance for a long while, then walks to the ring to join the others.
Last to assemble are Freiza and the mysterious Mystery Man Z, shrowded in a dark hood. Cell follows them onto the stage.
"Oh look, it's the failure." Ceit spoke. As he glanced over to Freiza, a small smile fitted to the changeling's face. Freiza shoots a glance back in Ceit's direction along with a menacing smile.
Mason Titanstalker stares coldly at the other fighters and cocks his head at a strange angle.
The monk speaks "All of you are here because you are purported to be the strongest fighters in the world. You gather here at this Tenkaichi Budokai because you think you can win the title of the strongest. You have all fought and won your qualifying bouts. The second round of fighting is about to begin. We will now ceremonially remove the names of the disqualified fighters.”
Beside Ceit Amiot's name, Chach is crossed off. Beside Mason Titanstalker's name Demon King Poro Poro is crossed off. Beside Ryodo's name Nappa is crossed off. Beside Yokai Reizen's name Chachi is crossed off. Beside Android Ochocinco's name Chacha is crossed off. Beside Mystery Man Z's name Garlic's name is crossed off. Beside Freiza's name Lord Jumbo is crossed off.
"In the round 2 matches, one of you remaining fighters will be given a pass on to round three, as Cell awaits only the final bout in this tournament. All those wanting a bid at the pass, please step forward now."
Ceit remains where he is, preferring to eliminate competition the good old fashioned way of blowing them off the face of the planet. Mason remains where he is as well.
Before anyone else has a chance to step forward, Mystery Man Z places his bid at the pass.
"I am much stronger than any of you, and if you hope to beat me, you will need all the practice you can get." He says this in an almost mocking and disdainful voice as he walks off the stage still cloaked in his hood, his face still unrevealed to anyone.
"Hmmm"
"Very well then, here is the roster of the round two qualifying matches." A large scroll is unravelled as Chinese drums roll in the background. On it are the following names:
Ceit Amiot vs Freiza
Ryodo vs Mason Titanstalker
Yokai Reizen vs Android Ochocinco
Mason nods acknowledging.
"If all fighters will exit the stage, the first fight of the second round of the Tenkaichi Budokai is about to begin." Freiza and Ceit are beckoned by the announcer to remain on stage as the scroll is moved to the official statistics board of the tournament and the stage area is cleaned up from the Round 1 finale entertainment shows.
Mason Titanstalker casually walks back off the stage and heads over to the his seat in the audience to watch the second round. Android Ochocinco walks away without so much taking a look at his next opponent.
Ceit smiles slightly as he found that he was the one who would be able to fight Freiza. Though the changeling had a fearsome reputation... a few decades ago, this would be his chance to clean his race of the disgrace that Freiza brought upon them all. Gathering that his was the first match, he remained where he was, with a simple gaze remaining on the other changeling.
The announcer climbs onto the podium near the arena. “Let the second round of the Tenkaichi Budokai begin!”
Freiza takes a step forward. His appearance is in his untransformed state. "Isn't it just like fate to pit us against each other after the way which you ran your mouth off at me disrespectfully. When I am done with you both me and my father will have fun torturing you for eternity in the afterlife. No doubt you are evil like I and going straight to hell."
As the announcer called for the second match to begin, He seemed unphased by Freiza's words toward him, a small smile fitted to his face. "You would be mistaken to compare me with the likes of you. I was bred to replace you. This fight was fated." His arms were wrapped around his form as he observed the man run his mouth.
"Then let us see who fate and fortune favor."
With that Freiza burts forth with radiant dark energy. The energy engulfs the arena and crowd and bathe them in an uneasy and sickly feeling. The colors of red and purple explode forth from his body as the fighters sense his power level rising through the roof.
"I will destroy you today, subordinate! AHHHHHHHHH!"
Ceit could feel the tremendous energy being released from the fellow changeling, and Ceit took a similar route by powering up as well. A dark energy gathered at his feet before power began to envelope his form. As the dark aura gathered around him, he kept his eyes closely on the fellow changeling. He knew he was at a rather specific disadvantage. He had a strategy he would attempt, at least.
Freiza speaks. "You fool. You should step down now before I obliterate you and everyone in this arena!"
The crowd looks shocked and the announcer stumbles back at this announcement. "You...no killing! Remember"
Cell speaks up from his special seat near the arena walkway, "Ha ha ha...It's all in good fun."
The announcer lets out a nervous laugh of understanding, "Ha..ha...ha ha....h....a?"
"Please, you're nothing but a piss ant in that form, and you know it. If you want to toss out threats, you better be prepared to back it up with a form that is less pathetic than that one." Some might think Ceit had a death wish, but he held a smug smile to his lips as he spoke.
"You want me to transform? You MUST have a death wish. I will not oblige you yet. In my current form I could clean my boots with your carcass quite easily enough. Prepare for my onslaught. I will test you"
With that and not a word more Freiza disappears from plain view.
Meanwhile Ochocinco is seen sitting in the stands, watching the conflict in progress. Mason Titanstalker moves over to Ochocinco and looks at him. “your mother was a toaster.” Ochocinco ignores the idiotic comment made by Titanstalker. “And your father was a Type Writer.”
In the ring, Ceit stands calmly as Freiza disappears, closing his eyes so that he could reach out with a more accurate sense. That of his third eye, the sense of his own ki feeling out the area. It would be with this sensing ability that he would react to what Freiza intended to dish out to him. He knew what he had to do, he just had to survive long enough to do it.
Within a few seconds Freiza reappears in front of Ciet, arms confidently crossed, and starts stabbing at him over and over swiftly with his tail. The fight is on.
Mason Titanstalker, back in the stands, speaks to Ochocinco again. “You're girlfriend is a TV screen.”
In the ring, Ceit's own tail lashes out in front of his form, in an attempt to block the tail away from his own form. Both arms come up in an attempt to brush off any serious damage. With any luck, if he could come off without much damage, it might provoke the Changeling into what he wanted. 6 swift jabs nail Ceit in the arms and legs as he attempts to block and absorb the damage. All the while Ceit is pushed further and further back. the blows feel like heavy steel being thrust into him.
Ceit wasn't going to waste his Ki against feigned moves. Quite the opposite, he was going to save all of his power for the strategy he was working toward. Instead, he rushes forward in order to lash out with his own barrage of attacks, alternating between punches and strikes from his tail. "Is that all there is to the Great Lord Freiza!?"
In the stands, Mason repeats the edited comment to Ochocinco. “Is that all there is to Russian ingenuity?” He waves hand in front of Ochocinco's face. Clearly he is trying to provoke the android. “Catches bullets with its teeth?” Ochocinco slowly turns his head towards Titanstalker, then turns it back in the direction of the battle.
In the ring, fists and lashes from his tail fly at the changeling who manages to dodge every single attack thrown at him, all 8, except the last one, which strikes him in the gut. Not phased, the changeling Freiza lifts his fist in an uppercut motion.
Mason Titanstalker provokes the android further. “I challenge you to a.... DANCE OFF,” and begins river dancing.
"I don't dance…”
“Mason 1, Commies 0! Is it true that in Soviet Russia, road fork you?”
"You are disturbing."
“Maybe you disturb me, with your face!”
Back in the ring, as Freiza manages to dodge each of Ceit’s attacks, he keeps focused on his overall strategy in the manner. Instead of trying to get defensive in regards to the strike, he leaps up in order to reduce how much power the strike could have. In the same motion, he flips backward in order to firmly plant both feet into Freiza's skull. Both fighters fly backwards at the impact, Freiza a little farther than his slightly heavier opponent.
“You're ugly and your maker dresses you funny!”
"Should be meet, I shall make you meet your maker."
“Maybe it should be beat, I should beat your maker...for making you this ugly. Can your kind read?”
Ochocinco ignores Titanstalker.
Back in the ring, Ceit seemed to catch Freiza off guard with that one, and he would try to monopolize on this as quickly as he could. Charging forward swiftly, Ceit rushes to Freiza in order to engage him physically. He couldn't afford to waste his Ki just yet, though he did keep the entire mass of it near the surface, ready to be used upon his command. His hands reach out to grasp Freiza by the horns, proceeding to drive his knees into Freiza's face, one after the other.
Freiza, with great strength, manoeuvres his head round in circles as each knee drives to hit home: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Again, as before, only the last hit hits home, and again as before Freiza follows up with his own uppercut to the skull of his opponent.
Ceit aims to counter once again, with a similar motion that he used previously. If he got really lucky, he would manage to knock him out of the arena as he went up with the uppercut. He thrust both feet into Freiza's head once again.
Both fighters take the hit and fly backwards again several feet, and again as before Freiza a little farther. But he is still far from ring out.
“’Cause I plan on leaving a message imprinted on your forehead, that is if it still exists if you get in my way. I’ll make sure it’s in Russian so you understand.”
Ceit rushes Freiza once again, intending to continue with a similar trend of combat until Freiza was either out of the ring, or played into his hopes of transforming. In the midst of the rush, he appeared to want to double kick Freiza in the chest, but managed to miss entirely, zipping past him. He then grabbed Freiza's tail in order to pull him with a mighty tug, and throw him into the hard stone further toward the edge of the ring. Both fighters tumble to the ground as Freiza wraps his tail around his assailants wrist as he flies towards the ground, yanking Ceit unexpectedly off balance and throwing him even farther than Freiza, even more dangerously close to the ring.
Freiza gets up and smiles menacingly in the direction of his opponent.
"So you want me to transform, do you? WELL NO MORE GAMES!"
"I'd like for you to be a challenge, if that's what you're asking." Said Ceit with a smug grin.
With that, two boils appear in Freiza's back which quickly sprout outwards into two menacing looking tail-like appendages. The tails waive around in the air, one significantly longer than the other and misshapen.
"Its not a full transformation but it will do. Do you like?"
From his seat, Ryodo looks at the tails that have sprouted from Freiza's back and turns slightly green. "Ugh, Dude, That's sick."
“It’s almost as sick as this Russian.”
Ochocinco continues to ignore Titanstalker.
"Have you fallen so low that you can't even access your forms yet? The birthright of your race escapes you, does it!?" Ceit taunts Freiza further, knowing that if he didn't get the option to exploit his ego, that he had a slim chance to walk out of the fight the winner. Rushing forward, he leapt over Freiza's form, only to twist in midair and drive a strong kick into the back of his head.
Freiza quickly dodges the attack, and swinging around plants both tails inches from Ceit's face. The tails both light up, as does Freiza's hands. "Double Ki Beam Attack!" With Shyouken in play, 4 separate beams launch themselves at Ceit.
Ceit watches as Freiza makes somewhat intelligent use of his extra limbs, using all four at once in order to blast him with four beams at once. The thought of countering them seemed ludicrous, as it would work against his entire strategy, and so instead he tries to dodge the blasts altogether. Unfortunately for him, Freiza is much faster and all 4 beams find their mark. The blasts tear into Ceit's flesh one after another ripping pieces of muscle from where they used to be.
Full of holes but still alive, Ceit falls to the floor of the ring on both knees and one hand, clutching himself with the other hand. "Give up now and save the suffering. it's pathetic to watch one of my race cower like that."
“You see, he's almost full of as many holes as you neural processor.”
“Hmmm”
Ceit failed to dodge the strikes, as Freiza was both much faster and much more powerful than he was, and it also seemed like Freiza wasn't going to be leaving himself open for his intended strategy either. Regardless, he would play at it till the end, as he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Holding his bloody holes with his hands, he made his way back to Freiza and attempted to lash out with him multiple times with his tail. "I don't need to hear such words from a disgrace like you who can't even transform anymore!"
10 hits are thrown, and all 10 avoided. Using both arms, Freiza throws two very powerful punches into the chest of his attacker.
Ceit sighed. He wasn't going to do it, and that probably meant he was going to die. The other Changeling was considerably faster than him, and more powerful to boot. Though unable to do much against his superior skill, he would fight until the end. He attempts to duck down and counter the Freiza’s move by shoulder charging into him to knock him away from him.
With that, the punches knock Ceit one - into the air and two - like a baseball and towards the stands. But Ceit manages to take a brunt off the hit by shoulder checking Freiza backwards as he hit, and this saved him from a ring out - for now.
Back in the stands…. “1100110111010001010010111101”
"...You don't appear to be suffering from scarlet fever..."
“That's not what you mom said .... last night?”
Ryodo looks at the frozen guy. "Isn't his mom a toaster or something?"
Mason Nods. “And his father's a type writer.”
Back in the ring… "You are a fool Ceit. Why were you ever invited to this tournament? Had we been on our home world, or planet Vegeta, I would have killed you by now." At that both of Freiza’s new grown tails disappears back into his body.
Ceit squints as the Changeling attempts to taunt him further, and he could feel the last bits of his life force weakening. If the battle lasted much longer, his life would be over. He had his entire reserve of ki energy remaining, however. And though Freiza was apparently not stupid enough to try and use his transformation, Ceit would have to try and do what he could against him in his last moments.
Gathering up his energy, he summons a deep dark void of power into his hands, rushing forward in an attempt to make the blast come at as close a range as possible. "Double Ki Beam!" The words echoed, and two beams of pure black energy fired out at the fellow Changeling in a last ditch effort to put up resistance. The attack was his full ki reserve.
"FOOL!"
Freiza, in response, throws his full might into countering the attack with his own double ki beam attack. He puts his own remaining ki into it.
Ryodo jumps back in his seat as the beams collide. "Woah."
What follows is a light show of such proportions that it envelops both fighters in its glory as well as the ring, and all the fans. The cameras go to static as they are unable to view such light as both fighters pour all their remaining energy into the attack. Even Mason and the android are blinded temporarily. Evil Kai shields his eyes. Cell covers his face.
In the end, only one fighter remains in the ring, the other one vaporized completely from the blast.
The light subsides and the victor is in plain view. Bleeding a lot, but in plain view.
Here is what happened moments before inside the light:
Freiza’s point of view and thoughts: "He's a fool. He couldn't possibly have the same power level as I, the great Freiza, do!"
Ceit’s point of view and thoughts: "If I don't do this now, with all my ki reserves, I will die. I am inches from death and I hardly scratched Freiza! I know putting all my eggs into one basket is risky but I can't afford not to. He'll kill me!"
Back to Freiza: "What????? IMPOSSIBLE! WAIT, NO, I USED ALL MY KI TRANSFORMING AND WITH MY 4 BEAM ATTACK! How could I have been such a fool!"
Back to Ceit: "I'm...going...to....lose.....I ....must ....push.....more.... energy!"
Mason’s point of view and thoughts: “He's a freakin' Russian android, a cold heartless bastard!”
Back to Ceit: “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
Back to Freiza: “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
Back to Mason: “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
Ryodo’s point of view and thoughts: "I look damn cool. But THIS, this is pretty cool."
Back to the present: As the dust settles, one victor remains, the one who didn't waste his energy playing games, but put all he had into it.
The announcer pears through the settling dust and smoke. “Ceit Amiot wins!!!!!”
"Hmm..." The android rises from his seat, and exits the spectator area.
“That's right! Walk away!”
The young Changeling stands, bleeding profusely, but at the very least alive, his gaze lazily shooting around in order to spot the other changeling. "A fated fight, remember my name in hell." As he spoke, he began to limp off the stage, in need of serious medical attention.
“Wait! Hold on! I meant he loses! the rules explicitly state: ‘No killing’ !"
Cell gets up from his box seat. “Forget it, it's a moot point. Freiza was already dead. He can't die twice. He just went back to hell.”
“Oh…”
Ceit Amoit miraculously defeated Freiza.
The second elimination round has officially begun. Who will move on to the semi final matches? Find out on the next exciting episodes of DRAGON BALL XTREME!