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WHOOOOSH!
The silence that took over the stadium was heavy as lead. Tens of thousands of people held their breath, sensing that something monumental was about to go down. The air vibrated with electric tension, as if fate itself had paused to watch.
Ethan stood there in the center of the ring, his black hair swaying gently in the breeze that cut through the stadium. His eyes – now that strange silver color of True Ultra Instinct – gleamed with an intensity that made anyone who looked directly feel a chill down their spine. But the most frightening thing wasn't the aura emanating from him. It was the calm. A calm that seemed to defy nature itself.
"So..." – Ma Junior's voice cut through the air like a sharp blade. The Namekian crossed his arms, a cruel smile forming at the corner of his mouth. "Finally stopped playing hero?"
CRACK! CRACK!
Piccolo's muscles began to contract. His light green skin lost its natural color, gaining darker tones. It was like watching an orange ripen in fast-forward – only infinitely more threatening.
"Hero?" – Ethan let out a low, almost inaudible laugh. "Dude, you still don't get it. I was never a hero to begin with."
RRRRRUMMMMMBLE...
The ring floor began to tremble. Not from the fighters' movements – but from the pure pressure emanating from both of them. It was as if two mountains had decided to face each other, and the earth simply couldn't bear the weight of the situation.
Piccolo's transformation continued. His arms and legs gained that characteristic orange color, darker and more intimidating than his normal form. The red eyes glowed with a malice that made some spectators in the front rows unconsciously take a step back.
"My God..." – someone murmured in the stands. "What the hell is that Ma Junior?"
If they only knew, Piccolo thought with sinister satisfaction. If they knew they were seeing the demon's son in person, half this crowd would've already gotten the hell out of here.
FWOOM!
Without warning, Ethan vanished. Literally. One moment he was there, the next he'd turned to smoke. Piccolo didn't even have time to process what had happened when he felt something like a freight train hitting his stomach.
THWAAACK!
The impact sent the Namekian flying through the air, breaking the sound barrier in the process. SONIC BOOM! The blast made the stadium windows shake, and some even cracked.
But Piccolo wasn't stupid. Mid-flight, he spun his body and managed to position himself to land on his feet at the ring's edge. His feet skidded a few centimeters on the marble surface, leaving smoking grooves.
"What kind of speed is that, kid?" – he growled, wiping a drop of green blood from the corner of his mouth.
Ethan appeared again in the center of the ring, as if he'd never left. But now there was something different. His silver aura began to pulse, creating heat waves that distorted the air around him.
"This is what happens when you stop fighting against yourself" – he said, flexing his fingers. CRACK! CRACK! "When you accept that sometimes you need to be the monster to defeat other monsters."
WHOOOOOM!
Piccolo shot toward him, fists charged with orange energy that left trails in the air. It was a succession of strikes that could demolish an entire building – punches, kicks, elbows, knees, all at a speed that made it seem like he'd grown six arms.
But Ethan... Ethan danced.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
Each attack passed millimeters from his body. He moved like water flowing down stones, flowing between the strikes with a grace that seemed almost insulting. And the worst part – at least for Piccolo's pride – was that the kid wasn't even sweating.
"STAY STILL, DAMN IT!" – Piccolo roared, increasing the speed of his attacks even more.
WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!
"Why?" – Ethan tilted his head, dodging a hook that would've taken his head clean off. "Afraid of getting tired?"
That's when Piccolo showed why he was considered a tactical genius. Instead of continuing that useless sequence of attacks, he did something no one expected.
He stopped.
Simply stopped in the middle of the barrage of strikes and extended both hands toward Ethan.
"How about you try this?" – his red eyes gleamed with malice.
BZZZZZAP!
Two orange energy beams shot from his palms, cutting through the air with a sound like a thousand snakes hissing at once. But they weren't normal beams – they moved strangely, serpentining through the air as if they were alive.
Ethan managed to dodge the first one, but the second...
CRACKLING!
Hit him square in the left shoulder, sending electric sparks throughout his body. For a moment – just a moment – his silver aura flickered.
"Gotcha!" – Piccolo shouted, taking advantage of the opening.
ZOOM!
He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, his right fist charged with enough energy to break a mountain. The strike came from below, aiming straight for Ethan's chin.
WHAM!
Connected.
Ethan flew through the air like a rag doll, spinning uncontrollably. The crowd let out a collective "OOOOOH!" seeing the tournament favorite being sent into space.
But then, something bizarre happened.
Mid-flight, Ethan stopped. He didn't gradually decelerate, didn't position himself to land. He simply... stopped. As if the air had turned to solid concrete.
"Interesting" – his voice echoed through the stadium, loaded with a coldness that made some people's blood freeze. "It's been a while since someone managed to hit me."
When he turned to face Piccolo, the Namekian felt something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Fear.
Ethan's eyes were no longer just silver. There was something deeper there. Something that seemed to look through people, seeing not who they were, but who they could be.
"My turn" – he murmured.
FLASH!
The silver aura exploded around him, but this time it was different. It was no longer calm and serene. It was wild. Primitive. Like a fierce animal had awakened after a long sleep.
Piccolo didn't even see when Ethan moved. One moment he was floating about twenty meters away, the next, he was right there in front of him, his right fist already in motion.
CRACK!
The impact on the side of Piccolo's face was so strong it created a visible shockwave. The Namekian was catapulted in the opposite direction, breaking the sound barrier twice before managing to stabilize.
But Ethan didn't stop there.
ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM!
He appeared at different points around Piccolo, each appearance accompanied by a devastating blow. It was as if there were ten Ethans attacking at once – one hit the ribs, another the legs, a third the abdomen.
BAM! WHAM! THUD!
Piccolo tried to defend himself, but it was like trying to catch rain with bare hands. The strikes came from all angles, at a speed that defied logic itself.
"This... isn't... possible!" – he managed to grunt between impacts.
WHOOOM!
Suddenly, Ethan appeared right in front of him, floating upside down. His black hair swayed gently, defying gravity.
"You know what your problem is, Piccolo?" – he said, as if they were having a casual conversation in the park. "You're still thinking like a common warrior."
THWACK!
An ascending kick hit Piccolo's chin, sending him straight to the heavens. But this time, Ethan went along.
The battle moved above the clouds. Far from the crowd's eyes, far from the ring's rules. There, where only the two of them existed and the blue immensity of the sky.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Energy explosions illuminated the clouds like fireworks. Each exchange of blows created shockwaves that dispersed clouds for miles around.
Piccolo tried to use his reach advantage, stretching his arms to try to grab Ethan. But the kid moved as if he knew each movement before it was even executed.
"How do you do that?" – Piccolo shouted, frustration evident in his voice.
"Simple" – Ethan spun in the air, avoiding a double kick. "I'm not trying to predict your movements. I'm feeling your intention."
FWOOOM!
He counterattacked with a sequence of punches that created a visible pressure wave in the air. Piccolo managed to block most of them, but some got through his guard.
"Intention?"
"Yeah" – Ethan smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was the smile of a predator who had found his prey. "Your muscles contract before you think about attacking. Your ki changes density before you channel energy. Your breathing changes before you make a decision."
BZAP!
An energy beam passed close to Ethan's ear, cutting some strands of hair.
"So you're reading my mind?" – Piccolo growled.
"No" – Ethan shook his head. "I'm reading your body. Your soul. Your essence. And you know what I see?"
He stopped moving for a second, floating motionless in the air. Piccolo, thinking he had an opening, shot toward him with both fists charged with energy.
WHOOSH!
Ethan moved at the last second, but this time it wasn't to dodge. It was to intercept.
SMASH!
He grabbed both of Piccolo's fists, holding them with disconcerting ease. The two stood there, face to face, eyes locked.
"I see fear" – Ethan whispered. "Fear of not being strong enough. Fear of losing to someone you consider inferior. Fear that, deep down, you're exactly what your father always said you were."
Piccolo's red eyes widened. For a moment, the mask of the relentless warrior fell, revealing something much more human underneath.
"Shut up" – he growled, but his voice came out weaker than intended.
"Weak" – Ethan completed the sentence. "That's the word you can't get out of your head, isn't it?"
CRACK!
Piccolo managed to break free from the grip and jumped back, creating distance between them. His hands trembled slightly – not from exhaustion, but from rage.
"SHUT UP!" – he roared, charging energy between his palms. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S WEAK HERE!"
The energy that formed between his hands was different from anything he'd demonstrated before. It was orange, yes, but now it pulsed with golden veins that seemed to have a life of their own.
HUMMMMM...
The sound grew in intensity, making the very air vibrate. Down below, in the stadium, people began to feel a strange pressure in their ears.
"Makankosappo!" – Piccolo shouted, but this time the technique was different. Denser. More deadly.
ZZZZZZAP!
The spiral beam that shot from his hands was so powerful it pierced through the clouds, creating a perfect tunnel through the sky. The energy cut through the air with a sound that resembled the roar of an ancient dragon.
Ethan looked at the technique approaching him. He could feel the destructive power emanating from it. A technique capable of piercing entire planets.
And he smiled.
"Now we're talking" – he murmured, placing his hands in the classic Kamehameha position. "Let's see what you're really made of."
KA... ME... HA... ME...
Blue-silver energy began to form between his palms. But it wasn't a common Kamehameha. The energy pulsed with the same wildness his aura had demonstrated before.
HAAAAAA!
The two attacks met in the middle of the sky with an explosion that made the sun itself seem weak by comparison.