Not far away, five figures in red-and-black bodysuits stood shoulder to shoulder, eyes hard. Their gazes slid over Goku, Caulifla, Vincent, then stopped on Kale.
"Little girl. You knocked one of our Pride Troopers off the stage. Walk over here yourself, or do we come collect you?"
Kale shrank behind Caulifla, too scared to speak.
"Who even are you clowns," Caulifla snapped. "What, revenge has to be scheduled? Where were you a minute ago when she was raging? Now that she's back to normal you show up. Some pride. You should rebrand as the Scaredy Troopers."
"You... loud mouth." The leader vaulted down from the ledge, twin light blades flashing into his hands. "You look like the same lot. I will cut you down with her."
"And you two," Caulifla shot a look at Goku and Vincent. "Gonna dogpile a weakened girl too?"
"Of course not." Goku waved breezily. "Hey, little sis, catch your breath. Me, Caulifla, and Vincent can handle this."
Vincent glanced at Goku. Yep. Exactly like the anime. Honest to a fault.
"R... really," Kale whispered, peeking at Goku, then at Vincent Fox, whose cool, handsome face didn't hide the killing intent in his eyes. She ducked lower.
"You are not going anywhere," the leader snarled, suddenly there.
"I am Kahseral, blade of the Pride Troopers of Universe 11."
A flick of the eye beneath his visor, and both light sabers scythed low at Goku and Vincent's midsections.
Goku sprang back, cleanly evading. When he landed he realized Vincent had not moved at all.
"Vincent," he blurted.
Kahseral pinwheeled through the air the next instant, a shoe-print stamped across his face.
At the last blink, Vincent had sheathed himself in Armament, letting the blade kiss his skin with zero effect, then answered with a single dismissive kick.
"Nice," Caulifla whooped.
The remaining four Pride Troopers saw their teammate crash and leapt down in unison.
"Unforgivable."
The one built of stone folded into a wheel and barreled forward.
Goku stayed in base and rushed to meet him.
"Ha. Got you," the rock fighter crowed.
Just as Vincent's fist cocked to meet the impact, the stone body split apart and reassembled, clamping around Goku and pinning him. At the same time a devil-faced Trooper spun up into a white cyclone.
"Justice Tornado."
The howling funnel cut straight for Goku. The rock Trooper increased the weight, drilling both of them into the tiles.
The instant before the tornado hit, Vincent slid in from the side and drop-kicked the whirlwind, booting the devil Trooper out of his own spin.
Goku stopped holding back. Blue light detonated around him.
Bang.
Super Saiyan Blue shattered Tupper's bind in a flash.
"Goku. Your opponent is me."
A familiar voice strode out of the smoke.
"Toppo," Goku said, eyes sharpening. He knew what the big man could do.
Toppo didn't waste breath.
"Justice Flash."
Red blasts fanned from his fingertips, chain-explosions swallowing the sky.
Goku vaulted clear, and the two of them dragged their fight upward.
With Goku gone, Tupper and the devil Trooper turned to Vincent in tandem.
"Run, or fight," the devil sneered.
Both began spinning at once.
Tupper became a massive stone wheel and slammed down.
Boom.
The rolling weight carved a crater into the stage.
"Looks settled," the devil Trooper said, letting his spin wind down, smug creeping into his eyes.
In the pit, Tupper grinned too.
Then his grin died.
The heavy body started rising. Slowly. Inexorably.
Beneath him, Vincent surfaced without a scratch. He had one hand under the rock giant, lifting him like a sack of grain, lip curling.
"Heavy."
He flicked his wrist and hurled Tupper. The stone fighter reflexively spun up again, but the throw fixed his line. He became a galloping wheel racing straight for the edge.
"Stop. Stop. Stop."
Bodies are not voice-activated. Tupper pinwheeled off the stage and into the void.
"Universe 11's Tupper has fallen and is disqualified."
Vincent turned to the devil Trooper. "Your turn. Care to dance."
"No."
Panic erased all his swagger. He whipped back into a tornado and fled.
He was fast. Vincent was faster.
In a heartbeat Vincent overtook him and planted a kick across his face.
"Justice Tornado."
Cornered, the devil Trooper funneled everything into the spin and crashed it into Vincent's leg.
Crack.
Sparks fountained. The spin bled away force in a strange, sloughing rhythm, trying to unspool Vincent's power on contact.
But Vincent's raw strength was monstrous, honed to a razor edge in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
He leaned in. Pressure climbed. The clash went white-hot.
"If that is all, you can leave."
Vincent's voice was flat. The devil Trooper felt the change first. Vincent's power surged. His own rotation stuttered, then ground to a halt under that relentless force.
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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