(Meanwhile)
If there was ever a time in the Z-fighters' lives where every single one of them was at a complete loss for words… this was it.
While only a handful of the group had already seen Gohan transform into a Super Saiyan 3 up-close and personal, every single one of them now had the privilege of seeing two Saiyans from different corners of the universe assume the exact same state. Under normal circumstances, merely standing beside the demi-Saiyan would've been enough to have the lower tier members of the group trembling in their boots and sweating bullets. But due to the amount of raw power now sitting in the same place, not only were most of the planet's defenders close to collapsing from shock and fear, but the atmosphere around them was now being heavily affected by the duo's colliding energies.
As if responding to the electrical auras surrounding the golden haired warriors and the bolts of lightning now shooting off of them, the clouds above the city had formed into a massive cyclone, with the eye hovering directly over the two figures. Due to how strong the wind being emanated from both fighters was, almost everyone present in the castle square was having a hard time keeping a sure footing.
Only the members of Sandra's group, Vegeta, Zangya and Paprika were unaffected by the gale blasting dust into their faces.
Laughing nervously, Krillin then shook his head in terror, "Uh… there's… heh… there's two of them." He continued to chuckle while backing away, "Two Gohans… standing in front of each other."
"Two Gohans?" An equally befuddled Chiaotzu quickly glanced across at his friend, "What do you mean by that?"
Looking between the pair of fully charged fighters, a noticeably anxious Zangya answered the short fighter's innocent inquiry. "Sandra and Spike… their power levels are exactly the same." At her distance, there was no way that she could be mistaken. Both warriors' energy signatures were almost exactly identical to one another.
Funny. This was the first time she could remember Gohan ever meeting anyone who was exactly the same strength as him.
Bulma, opening and closing her eyes several times to see if she wasn't seeing things, inhaled sharply, "I don't think I like where this is going." She then engaged her suit's visor, which quickly snapped over her face and provided her additional protection from the storm. At the same time, readings and numbers began jumping up all over the front of the glass, informing her of the current situation. Once her helmet had finished processing, her fears were quickly confirmed. "Yep. I definitely don't like where this is going."
The readings both of them were giving off were greater than anything her computers had ever encountered before. It was like she was standing in the heart of an intergalactic anomaly, which took the form of two aliens surrounded by ethereal light.
With most of the Z-fighters scared out of their wits, and even Vegeta, Android 18 and Zangya appearing stunned at the development, over on the visitor's side of the field, Sandra was taking her time admiring the shocked visage being showcased on her opponent's face. His eyes wide and his jaw slack, she could see her fellow Ascended Saiyan exhibiting all the signs of being completely dumbstruck by her power level and appearance.
It didn't take her long to come to a conclusion. "Amazing… isn't it?" She then craned her head, causing a current of electricity to run down her neck and hit the ground. "It's been over a thousand years since a Saiyan last achieved this kind of power. With the destruction of our civilization on Planet Vegeta and the annihilation of our people, every single race across the Northern Quadrant believed they'd seen the last of the legendary primate forms. But now, in a span of only twenty years, two members of the last generation have managed to not only achieve the first level of Super Saiyan, but two of its subsequent transformations as well."
Gohan, closing his jaw, once again narrowed his eyes upon his adversary. "How…?"
Bringing her hands to her hips, Sandra sighed, "Let's just say that Maya and I had managed to land ourselves in quite a few rough patches over the years." She then glanced back at her best friend, whom she could see was standing in the same spot completely composed, alongside the rest of her contingent. "Not too long ago, the two of us wound up getting captured by a bounty hunter named Remington, and were sold as slaves to Emperor Mao on the Planet Hague, where we were forced to fight as gladiators in his arena. We put up enough of a fight that we managed to convince the big man himself to get involved." Her expression then cringed when memories of that day started to bleed into her head. "He beat both of us to within an inch of our lives and planned to finish us right there in front of the crowd. But then, just as he was about to kill Maya, my anger and desperation kicked in and propelled me into action. I was able to push my body beyond the limits of its abilities and save my best friend, before giving that monster exactly what he deserved." She then looked back at Gohan with a smile. "I take it you had a similar experience on this planet involving your friends?"
The demi-Saiyan, sensing the sincerity in her voice, then put on a warm smile of his own and glanced behind him at Videl. When he saw his girlfriend gaze at him in kind, he turned back to his opponent and spoke through the loud crackling of his aura. "Yeah. It was a pretty bad day for all of us."
Sandra nodded in understanding, "We can talk about it afterwards. But right now, we have a battle to wage and a title to claim." Gesturing for the cameras hovering around her to spread out, the Super Saiyan 3 Empress then slid her legs apart and brought her fists to her sides. "We'll keep all attacks and engagements outside of heavily populated areas, so as to avoid causing too much collateral damage."
Her words immediately signaled Gohan to put his game face on. "Agreed."
The leader then turned to the Z-fighters standing behind her opponent, "I also suggest your friends use this time to pick their opponents. No doubt one or two of them already have somebody in mind."
Vegeta, arms crossed and his eyes fixated on the opposing group, then took a big step forward. "I'll take the big guy." His eyes immediately landed on the towering form of Cal, whom he saw had an intense glare in play. This seemed to put a smirk on the prince's face, as was to be expected of any obstacle he was faced with. "For one; he looks tough, and two, I don't think I like the way he's looking at me."
Also moving to the front lines, Zangya quickly shifted her gaze to the female Saiyan, whom she saw look in her direction. The Hera grinned, "Alright then, I'll take the broad. She looks to be a little more my speed. Plus I owe her one for that time she slugged me across the face back in town." The woman then looked behind her. "What about you fellas?"
Moving down the line of fighters in the enemy contingent that were still available for sport, Paprika, still appearing as stern as when she first arrived, then focused her gaze on the glasses-wearing female with the cat features protruding from her rear and head. The white-haired warrior with the scarf promptly nodded towards her chosen target, "I call dibs on the space cat."
"You may need a little help with that one. Believe me, she's a lot tougher than she looks," Yamcha added from the sidelines. His words drew a fond look from the alien-cat hybrid in question, which prompted Kure to wink in his direction. The quick gesture in his direction had the baseball player crack a smile, as well as a little blush, "If you don't mind, I think I'll join you two on your little dance." He then rolled his shoulder in a show of excitement.
"Count me in too," Videl spoke up, also eager to knock heads with one of the females there.
Tien, standing side-by-side with Krillin and 18, quickly set his attention upon the remaining foe. "Well, you boys and girls have fun. I've got the big guy." He gestured towards Mobi, the giant android raising his hand and saluting in a very stiff manner.
Goten and Trunks, realizing that all of the competition has been taken, then turned to the senior members of the troop with disappointed looks on their faces.
"Hey. What about us?" Gohan's younger brother asked.
"We don't have anyone to fight," the lavender haired child added, before training his sights on the massive tank standing in the background. "What about that weird, spider-robot thingy? He looks pretty tough."
An enthusiastic smile appearing on her face, Kure swiftly stepped forward while reaching into the pouch on the back of her plug suit. "Hold on. I think I have just the thing." Rummaging about for a moment, the woman then pulled out a small plastic container that she snapped open with her thumb.
The Z-fighters then observed as the woman casually directed her hand at the ground in front of her and, her palm igniting a hot blue, vaporized the entire cobblestone surface, revealing the soil hidden underneath. Upon which she then stepped over and proceeded to push tiny, glowing, marble sized objects into the floor. At first the group didn't think much of it, until a series of nightmarish flashbacks had a majority of the human fighters, including Vegeta, stiffen with panic.
"Uh, guys," Krillin stammered when he finally watched the feline woman hop out of the rectangular garden she'd made, "I may be spit-balling here, but aren't those…?"
"Saibamen?" Yamcha also gulped, causing Gohan to look on in momentary bewilderment as well.
Hearing the Earthlings from her end of the pitch drew a lighthearted laugh from Kure, "Ah. I see you're familiar with that little brand of synthetic soldiers. Considering you have Prince Vegeta in your company, no doubt you would've encountered the little ankle biters sometime in the past." When she glanced at the man in question, the cat woman then folded her arms. "However, the people of my home planet don't use such crude organic creatures for their day-to-day activities. We manufacture a higher class of life form."
Almost as soon as she finished uttering those words, the Z-fighters suddenly saw the exposed earth in the square begin to shift, signaling the imminent birth of a new threat. Ideas started filling everyone's heads, as one after the other the defenders of Earth began imagining the kinds of monstrosities their adversary had planted for them. Krillin anticipated some form of upgraded Saibaman, about two times the size of the original and twice as ugly. Tien envisioned an armor-plated, carapace abomination similar in appearance to Cell, a thought that was equally shared by Yamcha and Vegeta. Even Zangya experienced recurring images of some multi-legged reptile jumping out of the Earth to devour the younglings.
The heroes braced themselves, not knowing what to expect.
But then, as soon as the first creature clawed its way to the surface, every single person in the area, sans the Saiyan Contingent, became taken aback by what they saw.
One after the other, a group of about twelve tiny humanoid beings leapt out of the ground and stood in perfect military formation before their masters. While the time it took for them to grow and sprout was astonishingly quick, it wasn't their inception or their horror-movie appearance to the scene that confounded the Z-fighters. It was the fact that they didn't appear threatening at all.
The creatures resembled little humanoid robots… or more appropriately dolls with body shapes and sizes mirroring plush animal toys with oversized heads. They had a red feline tail protruding from their backs, tiny legs with inflated feet, and tiny arms with comically inflated hands similar in appearance to boxing gloves. They also had collars around their necks that shared design traits to those you would find on Earth's most common house pets, with an identification tag hanging from the lock of each one. Above that, each individual bot had a perfectly round, white head, a red helmet, and white cat ears protruding from said helmets. They also lacked any distinctive details on their faces, with only a pair of tiny blue eyes being the sole, artificial organ present. Furthermore, though the creatures appeared mechanical in nature, their skin was smooth, plastic and rubbery, like the surface of a beach ball. They also shared the same color-coding with one another: white bodies, red limbs, and red helmets, making it virtually impossible to tell each of them apart.
The look on Kure's face showed how pleased she was at the prompt appearance of her 'elite' attack force.
As for the Z-fighters, well… after inspecting the group of soldiers the woman had to bring to the table, they could only say one thing.
"They're…" Videl began.
"Adorable," was the unanimous vote from every single person in the courtyard, Vegeta and Paprika included.