"Kill me?" Antauri asked, giving a small but clearly amused smile as he began to slowly fly up into the sky.
Zyleth followed him up, his sharp gaze never leaving the alien warrior.
The two, after reaching a considerable height, stopped and just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
Down below, a few of the injured Saiyans had finally began to stir, seeing that the alien was now about to fight a lone Saiyan child. It would've been almost laughable if it hadn't been for the fact that every single one of them had recognized the child.
Not one Saiyan on Planet Vegeta hadn't heard of him. The child that defeated a veteran Saiyan Elite in his first ever arena battle.
"It's... It's Zyleth..." One of the Saiyans groaned as he stood back on his feet, "He's here..."
"That monster's in for it now..." Said another with a cruel smirk.
Another Saiyan had also managed to struggle to his feet, looking up at the two with a smirk, "He's not fighting the average Saiyan warrior anymore..."
Hearing all of this chatter from above, Antauri glanced down at the injured Saiyans with a inquisitive gaze, "It seems at though your comrades put a lot of--"
In that moment of distraction, Zyleth blitzed towards Antauri at frightening speeds, aiming a heavy punch right toward the alien's split jaw. Feeling the sudden shift in the air, Antauri raised his arm and blocked the punch with relative ease, his eyes narrowing at the child's sudden strike.
Zyleth's eyes widened with a bit of shock.
"--faith in you." Antauri finished before swiping at Zyleth with the arm that was blocking the young Saiyan's fist.
Zyleth quickly brought up both his feet and used Antauri's arm as a springboard, distancing himself away from the alien with a mid-air flip.
Seeing the child putting distance between them, Antauri took the moment to look down at his arm. He could still feel the slight stinging from the punch, a noticeable scratch on his outer shell.
Smirking, he looked back up at the child with a bit of admiration, "I see now why they do."
Zyleth glance down at his fist with furrowed eyebrows. Someone actually managed to not only take a punch from him, but remain relatively unharmed. Meanwhile, the knuckles in his right hand were left with a slight tingling sensation.
This hasn't happened before.
"You're strong..." Zyleth said as he looked towards Antauri, his voice holding bit disbelief and irritation.
"As are you." The alien replied, a smile on his face, "It seems that I may have a good battle after all."
Antauri got into a fighting stance, one that he has perfected over decades of battle. His stance was wide and he clawed both of his hands. His right hand hovered around his right knee while his left was positioned behind the rest of his body.
Zyleth's gaze hardened at the alien warrior before getting into his own stance. His stance was also wide, but he was slightly squatting. His left hand was clawed and hovered above his right, which took on a more relaxed position.
The two studied each other's stances closely, trying to find a weakness they could possibly exploit.
Zyleth could see many openings that he could possibly take advantage of, but he had a sneaking suspicion that those openings were left there by design. There's no way that a warrior as strong as the one in front of him would use a stance that left them completely vulnerable in numerous ways without it being intentional.
Meanwhile, Antauri was having the exact opposite problem when analyzing Zyleth's stance. There were no openings at all in the child's stance. Each time he envisioned himself going in for a strike, he could see himself being easily countered straight away. He could hardly believe that this was the stance of a young child.
The two stared at each other for a minute, the tension between the fighters reaching the Saiyans down below. They watched with bated breath, their hearts pumping with anxiety.
Zyleth kept his breath calm, taking in a deep breath and letting it out before taking in one last breath and suddenly disappearing from everyone's view. Antauri disappeared not even a split second later, confusing the spectating Saiyans.
"What the--?! Where did they--"
The Saiyans looked around art their surroundings, trying to find where the two had gone. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like the sound of explosions going off coming from directly above them.
"Up there!"
Looking up towards the sky, the Saiyans could see the signs of a fight going on above them. The explosions that they thought they heard were really sonic booms caused by the force of Zyleth and Antauri's fists colliding with each other.
And while they could clearly hear the sounds of their battle, they couldn't see anything. The two were moving at such unfathomable speeds that they could only catch split-second glimpses.
---
[Zyleth's POV]
Just what in the Hell is this guy?!
Every punch, every kick, it's like hitting a wall made of solid steel. I'm managing to keep up with him so far, but it's only just barely.
"Impressive! I understand now why you were so confident!" I hear the alien's deep voice sound out, "But you're still green, child!"
I feel pain shoot through my body, finding his knee planted right in my stomach.
"Urrrgh..."
When did he--?!
The alien then grabs me by my hair and kicks me in the side of my head, launching me into the side of the castle wall. I'm embedded into the damn bricks, and I can't help but grit my teeth in frustration as I try to pull myself out.
Sensing the alien approaching, I blast myself out of the hole just barely in time to avoid another kick.
"Look alive, child!" It shouted.
I growl at the alien's words before shooting a blast out of my mouth.
---
[General POV]
In the midst of this ongoing battle, a small Saiyan ship flew down from the sky and landed near the fallen Saiyan teams that were still spectating. The exterior door opened, revealing the King and the rest of Team Black.
Looking at the injured High and Elite class Saiyans, King Vegeta's eyebrows went up in absolute shock before he stormed out.
"What happened here?!" He demanded, looking for an explanation.
Before anyone could answer, Raditz had saw a familiar looking man laying on the ground and immediately rushed over to him.
"Father!" He yelled out worriedly.
Hearing this, Broly quickly followed after Raditz. Vegeta was also about to follow when he was stopped by a cold stare given to him by his father.
"Where is Zyleth?!" The King yelled out at the crowd of Saiyans.
The Saiyans surrounding them were all silent, looking at each other with various conflicting emotions before looking straight up at the sky.
The King's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and confusion before following their gazes skyward, seeing nothing.
"What are you--"
Just as he was about to ask, another wave of sonic booms sounded off. Looking more closely, he could just barely catch the sight of Zyleth in a confrontation with an unfamiliar alien warrior.
The alien smacked Zyleth into the ground, the child managing to catch himself just before impact. He then dodged and countered the alien right back up into the air, following after it with ruthless aggression.
"Whoah..." Vegeta said in awe as he managed to caught sight of the battle between two warriors.
This was the first time he's seen a real battle between two warriors, besides the usual sparring match and arena battles. In those, your opponent had to stop as to not kill their fellow Saiyan, but this was something entirely different.
The way Zyleth's eyes were completely focused, the anger he was actively displaying, the pressure coming off the alien warrior.
These two were actively trying to kill each other, and Vegeta couldn't help but be completely enthralled.
But while the youngest was entranced, the senior Vegeta was in utter disbelief. The King couldn't believe what was happening for two reasons.
One, there was no data on that alien warrior. The scans previously taken by the ship showed that the strongest power level was only around 15,000, which was why he had been so dismissive of Bardock's desperate plea over the Scouter beforehand.
And two, the fact that Zyleth was going blow for blow with this warrior.
He knew Zyleth was a powerful child, a very powerful child. He knew that he was stronger than him, that was always the goal. But he never imagined that he would already be this far ahead of him this quickly.
It was clear to him now that Zyleth had never actually used anything close to his real strength in any of the confrontations prior to this one. It shouldn't be surprising to him, he knew that by how Zyleth had easily dealt with others, that he was not being serious in any way. But his expectation of what Zyleth's peak was and what it actually is was far beyond what he had imagined.
Unable to keep his curiosity at bay, King Vegeta looked up at where the battle was taking place and pressed the button on the side of his Scouter. The Scouter started to beep, the numbers displayed rising higher and higher before it eventually exploded into a cloud of smoke.
Every indignity that Zyleth had caused him before had suddenly vanished from the King's mind as the his mouth upturned into a scheming smirk.
"Your Majesty, my father is injured bad! He needs to get to the medical machine!" Raditz exclaimed with a voice dripping with worry.
King Vegeta looked towards Bardock's second offspring, clicking his teeth in annoyance before sending out a signal from his Scouter, asking for ships to arrive and take the wounded Saiyans back for medical attention.
As he did this, Vegeta couldn't help but notice the irritation on his father's face.
---
[Zyleth's POV]
"RAAAGGH!" I yelled out as I struck toward's the alien's face.
He brought his arms up in an X shape, blocking my strike. The sound broke the sound barrier again, the alien being pushed back a few feet.
"What is your name?" The alien asked.
I follow up my strike with a kick to the same spot in his arms, quickly spinning around and kicking him with my other foot.
"What does it matter?!" I shouted as I punched the same spot over and over.
Suddenly, the alien grabbed me by my face and started to fly down to the ground at frightening speed before slamming me down head first onto the rocky ground.
I groan in pain as blood starts to fall from my head, my eyes looking at him through the gaps in his fingers.
"My name is Antauri. It is customary for us Vyxilians to exchange names with a worthy adversary." The alien, Antauri, said as his grip maintained.
That tone, that sanctimonious goddamn tone pissed me off.
"Bastard..." I growled through gritted teeth as my eyes glowed a dangerous dark purple.
Antauri saw my eyes through the gaps in his fingers and quickly pulled away to avoid two eye beams that were aimed directly at his head.
I then quickly formed a blast attack, pointing it at the ground and letting it explode, shrouding my immediate area in a cloud of smoke. As the cloud covered me, giving me a small bit of respite, I caught my breath and analyzed how this entire situation was going up until now.
No matter how I look at it, there's only one conclusion to come to.
I was losing.
Usually I'm the one holding back, but now it's me who's being looked down on. That fucking alien is still playing with me. He hasn't gotten serious at all. Even worse, he hasn't shown any signs of actually being hurt.
It's like my attacks are nothing more than bug bites to him.
I haven't seen him showcase even a modicum of pain in this fight, how is that even possible?
Shaking my head, I let out a sigh and summon the pouch of infinite Senzu Beans. I eat one and place another in my mouth before returning it back where it came from.
I have no choice but to use it.
I just hope it doesn't kill me in the process...
---
[General POV]
Jumping back a fair distance, Antauri looked down at his hand and saw that a few of his fingers had been singed in that last attack.
He turned his head back towards the child, who was now covered in a cloud of smoke.
"Interesting."
Seems that the child had more to him than he initially thought. Still a bit weak, but not as bad as the others he had faced just before.
It's a shame really...
That child could've grown into a remarkable warrior. Now here he was, about to die for a war caused by his King's poor decision.
"Have you regained your stamina, child?" Antauri asked as he stepped towards the smoke, knowing exactly what Zyleth was doing, "It's time to continue our battle."
Suddenly, Antauri jumped back a farther distance away, something in his mind telling him to retreat. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking.
This hasn't happened since he was but a child out on his first exploratory.
Looking back up towards the Saiyan child, he saw the smoke slowly dissipate, revealing Zyleth with his eyes closed as a bright red aura surrounding him.
"What?" He muttered, utterly baffled and unaware of just how much danger he's in.
Zyleth's eyes slowly opened and his calm gaze fell onto the shocked alien, who had flinched upon meeting his eyes.
"Kaio... ken..."
---
Antauri: [44,000]
Zyleth (Base): [36,000]
Zyleth (Kaioken) (x2 Multiplyer): [72,000]
[Word Count: 2,322.]