"AND NOW FOR THE FIRST OF OUR SEMIFINAL MATCHES, EDITH VS MILLICAS GREMORY!"
There was an explosive cheer as the two aforementioned children stepped up onto the stage once again, Edith all teeth as she smiled confidently, while Millicas was more calm and collected, his eyes calculative.
"Edith..." Millicas said suddenly, drawing her attention away from the cheering crowds. "I'm not going to go easy on you Edith." While such a thing would be considered a given during a tournament, it meant something else coming from Millicas.
Despite knowing how strong his power of Destruction was, Edith didn't falter as she declared while taking a ready stance,
"I won't either Millicas!" Nodding in affirmation, Millicas also took his stance as the announcer cried out,
"EVERYONE READY?! BEGIN!!!"
"HAAA!" Edith cried out as she immediately went SSJ, which in her case just meant her hair was suddenly standing on end since it was already a brilliant gold.
"..." Millicas on the other hand was completely silent as he spread his hands out, and covered the entire stage in hundreds of crimson red magic circles that bore the crest of Gremory on them.
At first they did nothing but sit there while spinning slowly, but when Edith rushed right at Millicas one of them lit up, followed by a dozen more as the reddish-black masses of pure Destruction rushed at her.
"!!!"
Seeing this, Edith quickly ducked to the side as quickly as possible, knowing that just one of those hitting her could be...horrible to say the least. Unfortunately, Edith hadn't moved fast enough to completely avoid the attack, resulting in a quarter sized portion of her arm being erased.
"GEH!"
Edith cried out as she clutched her arm, which began to rapidly bleed profusely from the wound. However Millicas wasn't going to give her any time to deal with her wound, as the magic circles all over the stage began to glow as they fired off powerful blasts of Destruction simultaneously.
"AND LOOK AT THIS FOLKS! EVEN AFTER GOING SUPER SAIYAN EDITH HAS YET TO SCORE A HIT ON MILLICAS, WITH HIM INSTEAD TAKING THE LEAD AND CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF THE BATTLE! IT EVEN APPEARS THAT HE HAS THE ENTIRE STAGE UNDER HIS CONTROL!"
The announcer cried out while Edith began a game of cat and mouse, as she constantly moved to avoid the blasts of Destruction while Millicas had yet to move a single step from his starting position.
Even if she couldn't get close enough to hit him though, that didn't mean Edith was out of options as she readily created a powerful spear of light, and threw it at Millicas even as she dodged yet another blast of Destruction.
"..."
Millicas didn't even flinch at the incoming deadly projectile as he activated a magic circle below his feet, creating a swirling vortex of pure Destruction that surrounded his body.
Edith watched with wide eyes as the spear of light she created was swallowed by the Destruction, erasing it completely without even coming close to its target. With her cheeks puffed out in a pout, Edith then created an even larger spear of light that was bigger and more powerful than the last one, but it too was swallowed by the vortex.
"Well this is certainly interesting." Azazel suddenly spoke up from the commenters podium, drawing numerous gazes to himself as he continued,
"As many of you have hopefully surmised, the power of Destruction is one of the greatest offensive attacks one could possess due to it being nigh impossible to block. This is the first time I've seen it used almost exclusively in defense like this." Ajuka nodded in agreement as he added,
"Indeed. While the attack itself is nearly impossible to block, it could be said of the same when used for defense. Instead of 'blocking' attacks as most barriers and other defensive maneuvers do, Millicas is now using his power over Destruction to erase anything thrown at him. If someone wanted to get through that type of defense, then they'd need to cancel it out with a significantly stronger attack."
Though she wasn't paying attention to the commentary going on about them, Edith seemed to arrive at the same conclusion Ajuka did as she decided to get more serious. She didn't seriously think about how to get past Millicas' defenses though, she just recalled one of the things her daddy taught them before, that if they ever encountered a problem that punching or kicking couldn't solve, then they just needed to punch or kick harder.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Edith cried out as the barrage of Destruction attacks slowed due to Millicas' limited visibility, drawing out all of the powers granted to her by her parents, the power of Saiyans, Dragons, Angels, and Devils.
Though her hair stayed the same, a halo wreathed in sinister purple flames appeared above her head, while her hands shifted into dragon claws and two horns protruded from her forehead. On the right side of her back six golden-feathered angel wings appeared, while six black-leathery Devil wings matched it on her left side.
Edith's change in appearance earned her numerous mutterings from the crowds, which she ignored as she summoned the most powerful spear of light yet as she concentrated as much of her power as she could into this one strike.
"Take this Millicas!" She cried out as the spear slowly descended upon the still swirling vortex, making Edith smile as she watched the two powers connect.
No one made a single sound as they watched the two powers connect in what seemed like slow motion, before the tip of the spear of light began to grind against the swirling vortex of Destruction, making Edith grin with expectation.
For a moment it appeared as if the attack was going to connect, as the vortex began to give under the spear's power, but, right as Edith began to shout in excitement, she watched in horror as the vortex increased in intensity as it consumed her spear of light.
"NOOO!" She cried out in frustration, her hands clenched into fists(though the left side still hurt when she moved it) as she wanted to scream at Millicas. But, right as she was about to do just that, Edith paused as she noticed someone in the stands watching her.
With her light blue skin and white hair, which was tied up into twin tails, Marcarita was especially noticeable to Edith's gaze as she watched her fight. Seeing her now though, Edith was forced to recall something that the 'Angel' was teaching her before.
...
"What are you doing Edith?" The angel asked her curiously as she practiced a bit of a ways away from the rest of the children.
"I'm trying to achieve SSJ2!" Edith exclaimed excitedly, before she want back to focusing on her power like she did the day she first did the SSJ. Marcartia however tilted her head curiously, and said,
"I think you'd be stronger if you tried focusing on you other powers though?" Edith stopped what she doing as she looked at the Angel curiously, and asked,
"What do you mean Marcarita?" The Angel smiled as she explained,
"I can feel numerous types of energy within your body Edith, all of which possess their own unique power. I believe that by getting them all to work in unison would yield much better results than simply brute forcing your Saiyan strength." Though Marcarita tried to say what she meant in a way that Edith would understand, the little Saiyan only tilted her head cutely in confusion as she asked,
"What?" Marcarita laughed wryly as she tried to come up with a new way to explain her idea.
"Do you like music Edith?" She asked after a moment, to which the little Saiyan nodded her head. Glad to have a basis to use, Marcarita conjured a several instruments through her scepter as she explained,
"To create music one uses instruments to help them create a melody." To show her point, Marcarita made one of the instruments, a large harp, begin playing by itself.
One by one Marcarita showed Edith the different instruments she had conjured being played, first the harp, followed by a large violin thing called a cello, a drum, and then a big tuba. Each one was played expertly before its solo performance ended to allow the next one to play. And when they were all finished, Marcarita turned her attention back to Edith as she continued,
"Individually each instrument sounds good if played properly, but if you try to play them all at once randomly..." As she trailed off, each of the instruments Marcarita summoned began to create a loud and jarring noise as they buffeted the duo before stopping suddenly after Edith clamped her hands over her ears.
"...they don't sound good." Marcarita said as she finished her earlier thought, before the instruments began playing themselves again a second later, but this time it was a much better sound as each one complimented the others.
Waving her hands like an orchestrator Marcarita smiled as she finished,
"However, if all of the instruments are playing in unison, then they can create a symphony that would amaze all who hear it. Your powers are the same, as if you can figure out how to properly draw out their full potential, and manage to mix them together in a proper manner instead of brute forcing it, then your strength will escalate like none other's."
...
Edith frowned as she recalled what Marcarita had taught her, as she hadn't been able to properly mix her powers like the Angel suggested. With her needing more power now though, Edith decided to try again even as the vortex surrounding Millicas began to die down.
"This looks interesting." The Grand Supreme Kai said as everyone watched Edith dispel her transformation as she closed her eyes to concentrate, while even Millicas watched her instead of taking advantage of this moment to take the victory for himself.
Edith of course ignored them all as she tried to attain the state Marcarita told her about. Instead of thinking about her Devil, Angel, Saiyan, and Dragon powers though, Edith imagined the same four instruments that Marcarita had used for her demonstration.
"What is she doing?" Alex asked out loud from their private viewing room, which Marcarita said from behind him,
"I believe she is trying to put what I taught her into use." Alex looked back at the Angel questioningly, but she only winked at him in response, before directing his attention back to the arena.
There, Edith was channeling her holy Angel powers as she pictured the harp playing in her mind, before she then added the cello to symbolize her Devil powers. At first the result was a turbulent mixing of the two opposing energies, but when Edith managed to mentally 'tune' the cello in her mind, the energies began to clam down before blending into a perfect synergy.
"I can't believe it!" Azazel exclaimed as he watched what was happening before him, but he wasn't the only one as Ajuka too appeared speechless.
The only actual case of someone successfully blending holy and demonic energies to date was Kiba after he achieved his Balance Breaker to create the holy/demonic sword, while every case of the union afterwards was due to research based off of his newly created sword. However now they were witnessing an actual person achieve the same thing, which was amazing even before the power of dragons was added into the mix.
As the drums in her mind synchronized with the harp and cello, Edith's power began skyrocketing as draconic energies became infused with the holy and demonic energies in her body, but she wasn't finished yet. Next was the tuba, which was the trickiest to deal with yet, but after stubbornly trying to get it to work, it too was synchronized with the other three instruments.
Though she still felt as if something was missing, these four 'instruments' was enough for Edith, as she opened her eyes to reveal a eerie violet light.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The little Saiyaness cried out as violet energies swirled around her into a vortex similar to the one Millicas had been hiding within earlier, except hers radiated holy and demonic power instead of the eerie mass of Destruction. Even Millicas was forced to retreat a few steps due to the potent holy energies that made his skin crawl, before the vortex began to fade to reveal the newly transformed Edith.
Her hair stood straight up on end like the typical SSJ transformation, except now it was violet to match the flames that covered her halo, while similarly colored scale patches appeared on her arms and one of her cheeks.
"RAAAAAAAA!"
Edith cried out as she rushed forward once the transformation was complete, sinking her little fist into Millicas' stomach before he had the chance to defend himself, before she followed it with an axe kick that sent him into the stage beneath them.
"Ok, that's new." Alex stated as he admired Edith's new form, especially since there hadn't been a purple haired Saiyan form before. He then turned his attention to Marcarita and asked,
"So what exactly did you teach her?" The Angel smiled as she explained,
"I taught her to try and combine her different powers into one to work together, instead of just forcing them all. I used a few different musical instruments to teach her what I meant about working together, like an orchestral symphony." Alex was silent for a moment as Edith swiftly turned the match to a complete reversal of earlier, where she now had Millicas on the ropes instead of the other way around, before uttering thoughtfully,
"So it's like a 'Super Saiyan Symphony' transformation(SSJS)?" Marcarita blinked as she thought about the name, before smiling as she replied,
"Yes, I think it's exactly like that."
Alex was silent at her confirmation as he watched Edith fight, wondering if any more of his children would also be able of achieving the SSJS with the variety of bloodlines they possessed.
Back in the arena, Millicas felt a cold sweat make its way down his back as he tried to stay ahead of Edith's dangerous attacks, even as the pain from the few hits he did take still hurt.
'Thankfully I started training my body more...' The young Gremory thought to himself as he flashed back to the hellish training he asked his mother to put him through, which toughened his body up so he wouldn't be glass cannon.
But even that training wouldn't help if he let Edith get another hit or two on him during their match, so he had to end it as quickly as possible.
Millicas resolved himself to become more ruthless even against Alex's daughter as he used one of the hidden weapons he had been saving for the finals, cornering himself on one side of the stage as Edith closed in on him, before using Spatial Magic to instantly teleport to the opposite side.
"I'm sorry about this Edith!" He stated sadly, before every single one of the magic circles he had created at the start of the match began to glow.
Edith had barely turned around and focused in on Millicas yet again, before the magic circles unleashed a hailstorm of reddish-black 'bullets' at her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Edith's cries of pain rang out as the literal wall of Destruction left her nowhere else to turn, before her body was assaulted by dozens of 'bullets' that erased anything they touched, be it her skin, muscle, veins, or even bone.
In an instant Alex was at the edge of the arena as he forcibly dispelled the barrage of Destruction, and took Edith's hole-filled body in his arms. Millicas had avoided her vital areas, like her head and chest, but her arms and legs especially looked more like bloody Swiss cheese by this point than actual limbs.
"Edith forfeits! Millicas wins!" Alex announced to the colosseum while hurriedly healing his daughter, which was deathly silent at the bloody and brutal display.
Though he too was stunned at what happened, the announcer coughed lightly before declaring,
"AND WE HAVE OUR FIRST FINALIST LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MILLICAS GREMORY!"
Though at first no one knew how to react to the announcement, a few people began to slowly clap, before eventually genuine applause began to shower him as it became apparent that Edith was ok after Alex healed her. In fact, the only one who still appeared hesitant was Millicas himself, who uttered to Alex's retreating figure,
"Alex...I...I..."
"You don't need to say anything." Alex cut him off suddenly, making Millicas gulp and sweat anxiously, before Alex turned around and continued,
"This is a tournament Millicas. Nothing you did violated the rules, and it was Edith herself who wanted to be in it. So don't you fucking dare apologize." His eyes hardened at that as he stated firmly, "Be a man and hold your head high and proud. You won, Edith lost. That's all there is to it."
Millicas was stunned at Alex's words, as he feared that maybe he had angered him due to how protective Alex was of his children. But seeing that wasn't the case, Millicas let out a sigh of relief and did exactly as Alex told him to.
He held his head high as the audience showered him with praise and cheers, before slowly leaving the stage to make way for the next match to determine who he would be facing in the finals.
"WASN'T THAT AN EXCITING MATCH? BUT THERES STILL MORE BEFORE WE GET TO THE LAST ONE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND THIS ISN'T EVEN THE MAIN EVENT!" Pausing for the cheers that answered him, the announcer then continued,
"AND NOW GIVE IT UP FOR OUR OTHER SEMIFINALISTS, ALEC MORNINGSTAR AND SON GOHAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
The cheers that followed Millicas' exit from the stage were practically deafening as the two whose names were called made their way into the arena. One of them stopped however as he passed his father and older sister, and said with a cheeky smile,
"Don't worry Edith. I'll beat up Gohan and then Millicas for you in the finals!" Edith returned a small smile at her little brother as she said,
"I'll cheer for you Alec." Striking a pose for his older sister, Alec then left her and his father behind as he rushed out onto the stage, missing the part where tears began to fill Edith's eyes.
"Sob...hic...." Edith began to sniffle in her father's arms, drawing his concern as Alex urgently asked,
"What's wrong Edith?! Does it still hurt somewhat ere?!" Checking her over for any injuries he might've missed, Alex was surprised when Edith sobbed,
"N-no.. I-it doesn't h-hurt d-daddy..... I-I'm j-just sad that I lost!" As she declared that the waterworks truly began as Edith came to terms with the first ever real loss she ever had.
Realizing what was wrong, Alex smiled wryly as he held his daughter closer, allowing her to cling to his fur like a little blonde koala as he watched the next match.
On stage Alec was excitedly getting ready for the match, while Gohan was doing the same across from him. As the duo stretched and got ready for their match though, the announcer cried out above them,
"A BIT OF TRIVIA FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T AWARE! AS MANY OF YOU KNOW ALEC IS THE OLDEST SON OF NONE OTHER THAN THE DRAGON EMPEROR THAT CREATED AND IS HOSTING THIS GREAT TOURNAMENT, BUT! HOW MANY OF YOU ARE ALSO AWARE THAT SON GOHAN IS THE THE FIRSTBORN SON OF A PREVIOUS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT ON EARTH? SON GOKU!"
As the projections showed Goku alongside his son, who many of the people recognized from the few seeded people that already had a place in the tournament, there was a mild uproar as they discussed this news in surprise. There were even many amongst them that thought this particular matchup should have been the finals instead.
Their musings were interrupted though when the announcer cried out,
"ALRIGHT THEN, FIGHTERS READY?!"
Both boys nodded as they got into their respective stances, to which he cried out,
"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!!!!!!"
Again there was no immediate rush as both boys instead activated their respective SSJ transformations, Gohan directly into SSJ2, while Alec was merely in the base SSJ. Unlike Gohan though, Alec also possessed patches of golden dragon scales, claws, and a pair of antler-like horns poking up from within his golden hair.
Surprising his opponent though was the Phoenix flames that sprung to life along Alec's arms and around his hands, leftovers from his match against Regal.
Gohan wasn't daunted by them though, as he and Alec rushed each other at the exact same moment. When Alec leaped to deliver a powerful axe kick at Gohan's head, the older Saiyan used his superior speed to dodge it as he instead swung his own leg at Alex's exposed chest.
"Ga!"
Alec spat up blood as he was sent flying back to the edge of the stage, where he had to balance precariously while trying not to fall out. Before he could get away from the edge though, Alec had to put his guard up as Gohan rushed him to try and force him out of the ring.
Dragonfying his feet as well to dig the claws down there into the stage, Alec crossed his arms in front of his chest and inhaled as Gohan delivered a punch directly into them.
"!!!"
With the hit forcing the air from his lungs, Alec added a bit of something extra to it as he proceeded to breath Phoenix/draconic flames out directly into Gohan's face, forcing the older Saiyan back.
Being forced to take a distance from the extreme heat of the fire, Gohan swiftly placed both of his hands above his head with the base of the palms together, and shouted, "MASENKO!"
Thrusting his hands forward as he cried out the name of his attack, a powerful beam of yellow energy was fired at Alec from a distance, but the younger Saiyan smirked when he saw the attack rushing towards him.
His claws raised to receive the attack, Alec rushed towards it as he caught the energy in them and tried to hold it even as Gohan continued firing the beam, before opening his mouth and taking a bite.
"AND HERE WE SEE THE POWER OF THE OMNI SLAYER ONCE AGAIN!" The announcer cried out, before shuddering as the sudden chill he felt as Zeno looked at him. Not sure what it was though, he continued,
"FIRST IT WAS PHOENIX FIRE, AND NOW IT IS RAW ENERGY! IS THERE ANYTHING THIS YOUNG MAN CAN'T EAT?!"
Anne smirked at the question, and internally recalled the time Alec ate an actual rock to gain stone properties, before turning her attention back to the match as Gohan swiftly canceled his attack.
The damage was done though as Alec sucked the last little bit of energy Gohan used down his gullet, before swallowing the energy audibly and belching loudly.
"BRAAAAAAAAP! That was gooooooood!" Alec exclaimed while patting his belly in satisfaction, before something happened.
*THUMP!*
His entire body pulsed as the energy coursed through him and began to surge.
"HAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Alec began crying out from the amount of energy his body was trying to absorb, making several people worry that he'd literally bitten off more than he could chew. At the edge of the arena Edith looked up from Alex's chest as the two of them watched what was happening to Alec, the latter preparing to intervene and end the match if he needed to.
However, something happened that none of them were expecting, as the golden energy around Alec began to surge in size and intensity.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The little Saiyan screamed as his energy surged higher than it ever had before, his golden hair growing longer and more wild, while a single strand of it fell in front of his face. Meanwhile the patches of scales covering parts of Alec's body began to spread until they were twice as big, while the antlers on top of his head grew even longer.
There was a collective dropping of jaws as it became apparent what was happening to Alec, while Anne even leapt up from her seat with an ecstatic expression on her face.
"I-IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS!?!" The announcer asked as Alec's transformation neared its final stages, to which Anne excitedly nodded as she stated,
"Yep! Alec is ascending to the SSJ2 form! Until now NONE of Alex's children have reached this stage!" There was an apparent smugness in the way Anne spoke, due to the pride she felt in her son's growth, though his ascension was mostly due to him eating Gohan's energy.
No one was going to say that though as Alec finally finished his transformation, with the energy rolling off of him in much more powerful waves than before as he faced his opponent with a almost feral grin.
"ALRIGHT! LETS GO GOHAN!" Alec cried out as he rushed forward at him with speed that he didn't possess before, as he brought a fist down onto the stage that Gohan had just barely managed to dodge as he ducked to the side.
*KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
The entire colosseum shuddered from the force of the impact, forcing Alex to deploy several barriers and magics to keep the battle contained even as he grinned like an idiot from the sudden development.
"No fair!" Edith cried out in indignation from her little brother getting SSJ2 before she did, making Alex chuckle as he remarked,
"You're one to talk with that cool new transformation you used earlier." Alex punctuated his comment with a kiss on Edith's brow, however the little Saiyaness just pouted while feeling like her brother just one upped her with his own transformation.
Meanwhile Gohan felt stupid both for using an attack that Alec could 'eat', and letting him fully absorb it to manage the ascension to SSJ2, though then again the audience would probably be pretty angry if he interrupted the transformation.
Instead of focusing on his mistakes though, Gohan focused on winning the fight as he tried to come up with ways to win against Alec.
Normally he'd still feel confident since he attained SSJ2 months ago, and would be stronger than one who just got it a minute ago. In this case however Alec also used Dragon Slayer magic, which made his attacks significantly more destructive, and also made him much more durable due to his scales. Not to mention his claws and antlers.
The only edge Gohan had against Alec now was the many experiences he'd built up in actual battles ever since he was only five, and the fact that Alec was still unused to his newfound capabilities. The longer the fight dragged on however, the more time he would have to adapt.
'I need to finish this as soon as possible...' Gohan thought to himself as his mind raced for ways to defeat Alec, even as the younger Saiyan turned his attention towards him once again.
Pure energy gathered on Alec's hands even as he took in a deep breath, before releasing it in a powerful beam of energy that swept across the stage as Gohan leapt above it. That was a trap though as Alec quickly rushed him in the air with his claws at the ready, forcing Gohan to use his energy to launch himself forward since they couldn't fly during the match for fairness.
*CRASH!*
The duo collided in air as Alec lashed out at Gohan with his claws, while Gohan tried to angle his body so that he could avoid the deadly claws while delivering a powerful kick right into Alec's stomach.
Gohan then used Alec as a springboard as he tried to launch himself back into the stage, while sending Alec out of bounds. Instead though he felt something tug on his leg to keep him from moving, which was Alec's tail as the younger Saiyan smirked.
Together they began falling back towards the ground, increasing Gohan's franticness as he tried to escape Alec's grip, before he decide to throw his hands up above his head a second time.
"MASENKO!" Gohan cried out as he fired a second powerful beam of energy at Alec, confusing many people since Alec could just eat this one as well to become even stronger.
But as Alec predictably caught the beam of energy at point blank range, and Gohan continued firing it, the power of it forcing Alec's tail to release Gohan's leg as they were sent flying apart from one another. With no way to stop his momentum though, Gohan aimed the beam so that it carried Alec directly out of bounds, making him lose the match as he canceled the attack and landed safely on the stage.
"AND WE HAVE OUR SECOND FINALIST EVERYONE! SON GOHAN!"
The announcer cried out as the audience screamed their excitement from the match, and Alec tried to figure out what just happened. Gohan however just smiled as he canceled his transformation and approached Alec, his hand held out as he said,
"Hey Alec, good match!" The younger Saiyan looked up at him as the realization that he lost dawned on him, but instead of appearing disheartened Alec smirked as he too canceled his transformation and said while taking Gohan's offered hand,
"Yeah it was! But I won't lose next time!"
Nodding in affirmation, Gohan and Alec began to leave the arena as the announcer cried out,
"HOW EXCITING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AND ITS NOT OVER YET! AFTER A THIRTY MINUTE BREAK TO GIVE OUR FINALISTS A CHANCE TO CATCH THEIR BREATH, JOIN US HERE ONCE AGAIN FOR OUR FINAL MATCH, IN THE JUNIOR CUP OF THE UNIVERSAL GRAND TOURNAMENT!"